Passage Read: Exodus 7-10
Meditation Verses: 10:1-3
Thought
After all these plagues so far, there is no fear of God yet in the eyes of Pharaoh and His servants. It is as if they have only been inconvenienced, rather than all of Egypt destroyed. Some of Pharaoh's servants are beginning to realize, but Pharaoh himself has been so hardened as to think he can resist God and survive. But this has all come about by the intention of the Lord. Up till now, sometimes the record says Pharaoh hardened his heart and other times it says his heart was hardened. Going forward, the Scripture explicitly says the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh had lost all reason. He was fully responsible for his earlier choices, now as much as he pleads for forgiveness, he can't give in. He and his father led the Egyptians to abuse the Lord's people, now all Egypt is paying for it. God is sending a message to all the world, and especially to His own people, reminding them of who He is, and that they should repent and believe and worship Him alone, or else suffer terrible consequences.
Application
The Lord alone is to be feared, and I need to quickly humble myself before Him and His every instruction. He has every right to determine my destiny, either to leave me in my sin and condemned state or grant me mercy and open my heart to believe and obey Him. The message has gone out into all the world, and it has reached me. If I humble myself before Him and surrender to His lordship, I will be saved, and I will be counted among those whom He jealously guards. When men hate me and abuse me, the Lord will see and remember and repay their evil--unless they like me humble themselves in repentance and submit themselves to Him. While I should long for the salvation of those who oppose me, and I should warn them and plead with them to repent, yet in the end, it is out of my control. Those who hate the Lord will be destroyed. The only thing I need to be sure of is that their blood is on their own hands alone.