Greetings in Jesus’ name!

I hope all is well with you and those you love.

This Sunday we will continue in our series, Face to Face, where we are examining the book of Exodus and, in particular, Moses’ relationship with God. The hope is that focusing on the relationship between the two will help inform our own relationships with the Lord. Thus far we have looked at God’s self-revelation to Moses in the burning bush, as well as the call given to him to be the deliverer of God’s people in Egypt.

This week we move to the part of story involving the dynamics between Moses, Pharaoh, and the Lord’s miraculous work in their midst. Moses and Pharaoh are an interesting contrast. They are undoubtedly real people, but they also function in the story as “types” in that, Moses is an example of one who displays the proper attitude before God (humility), and Pharaoh serves as one who does not. Pharaoh is proud and arrogant and thus his heart is hard – Ex. 7:14, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.” Pharaoh’s hardness of heart has tragic consequences for him, his family, and all the people of Egypt.

To prepare for this Sunday, I encourage you to read Exodus, chapters 5-11, which covers the interactions between Moses and Pharaoh, as well as all of the plagues sent on the Egyptians. For those of you who really want to dig deep, I encourage you to read this article produced by the Bible Project. The most frequent question raised from this story revolves around Pharaoh’s hard heart. Sometimes we’re told Pharaoh hardens his own heart, but at other times the text says that God does the hardening. Which is it? The article does a good job sorting through and providing an answer.

Keep your eyes on Jesus! Stay in the Word and in worship, either in person or online. And don’t spend too much time consuming media, social or otherwise; it’s not good for your soul.

Blessings,
Patrick