Moses went to Pharaoh many times, carrying messages from God and Pharaoh rebuffed him every time. There was a struggle for supremacy going on — not between Pharaoh and Moses, but between Pharaoh and God.

The ancient Egyptians believed Pharaoh descended from the sun god, Ra, and that when he was crowned he became Horus, the god of protection. When he died he joined Osiris, the god of the dead. These beliefs gave Pharaoh power over his people and if he ever lost his status as a god, he would lose his authority. Life in Egypt would be thrown into chaos.

Pharaoh thought it was his divine right to rule over the Israelites because they were a vital part of his nation’s economy. But the Israelites didn’t belong to Pharaoh, they belonged to God. God created the nation of Israel and it was his plan that had kept them in Egypt for four hundred years.

A Reasonable Request

When God wants to save people from their wicked ways, he usually comes and quietly reasons with them. He wants to win the hearts of people and free them from their sins, but if they resist him, he will turn up the volume and find other ways to get their attention. It’s only after a long time of entreating sinners that God lets them experience the full consequences of sin.

So God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with a simple request. They asked for permission to take Israel into the Sinai desert where they would worship God for three days .

According to the Bible scholar Nahum M. Sarna, in his book, Exploring Exodus, slaves were often given time off for religious festivals. An ancient record discovered in Egypt showed slaves were sometimes absent from work due to “laziness or illness,” but they could also get several days off at a time for religious practices.

Moses and Aaron made a reasonable request, but Pharaoh hardened his heart toward God. So it was time to turn up the volume.

Two Egyptian Gods, Two Plagues

Egypt depended upon the Nile River and the sun to create the rich agriculture that was the backbone of it’s economy. God made these two vital resources the bookends of his first nine plagues. In the first plague, he turned the Nile to blood, and in the ninth plague, he hid the sun behind thick darkness.

The primary god of the Nile River was Hapi and it was responsible for the annual flood season that deposited rich soil for agriculture. The Nile provided water for crops, washing and drinking — it was the river of life for Egypt. By turning the Nile water to blood, God demonstrated his supremacy over Hapi.

The sun god, Ra, was the most important god in Egypt. The Egyptians believed that every night a tremendous battle took place between Ra and Apophis, the demon god of chaos and darkness. Every morning when Ra rose again to bring light and warmth, it had won the battle and kept Apophis at bay. When God brought thick darkness over Egypt for three days he showed that the sun was his servant.

Two Leaders Meet

Pharaoh went down to the Nile River first thing every morning, so God told Moses and Aaron to meet him there and bring Aaron’s staff that had turned into a snake. Moses also had a staff that turned into a snake when he threw it down, but God wanted Aaron’s staff this time.

Every time Pharaoh had his sorcerers respond to a message from God, God used Aaron to perform a miracle. This put Moses on equal status with Pharaoh; they both had “people” to do things for them. Pharaoh had sorcerers, and Moses had Aaron. Pharaoh thought he was a god, but he was actually only on a par with the man Moses.

Egypt’s Troubles Begin

Moses met Pharaoh at the river’s edge and repeated the request that Israel be allowed to travel three days into the wilderness and worship God, but Pharaoh wasn’t listening to God.

“. . . Until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: ‘By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” Exodus 7:16b-18

Aaron stretched out his staff over the Nile and the water turned to blood. The fish died, and the water smelled so bad no one could drink it. But Pharaoh’s sorcerers were able to duplicate the effect with their tricks so Pharaoh was unimpressed. He hardened his heart.

Pharaoh’s Hard Heart

The first five times God sent a plague, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. He did it again when the plague of hail struck. Following each of the other plagues God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Nahum M. Sarna says “the heart” is the Bible’s name for the decision-making center of a person, where self-reflection and moral judgments take place. When a person resists, God he will try to turn his heart, but if he continues to sin and rebel, God will accentuate what they are doing and turn it to his purposes.

The writer of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament warned people about this.

“As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” Hebrews 3:15

The way to avoid a hard heart is to listen to God and do what he says.

Possible Connections Between the Plagues

The first seven plagues may have been connected to each other. When the Nile was turned to blood and all of the fish died, the frogs fled onto the land. God warned Pharaoh that this would happen and he could have stopped it if Pharaoh had agreed to let the Israelites go.

Pharaoh waited until there were frogs everywhere, even swarming his palace before he asked for help. Moses prayed for an end to the plague and the frogs died. They were piled up into heaps and the land reeked of them and we can assume they attracted flies.

The third and fourth plagues of gnats and flies that followed were more than just a nuisance to the Egyptians. Gnats are attracted to fluid in the eyes of animals and people and flies can bite and carry disease. These insects might have been the source of the terrible disease that came on the livestock, the fifth plague.

Inspite of all of these plagues, Pharaoh continued to harden his heart.

The boils that broke out on people and animals in the sixth plague probably came from a disease like anthrax, which began among the animals and spread to people. When Moses threw the soot from the furnace into the air, it was like the fine dust-like spores that were going to settle on the Egyptians and cause disease. God increased the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart with this plague.

God Sends a Storm

The seventh plague was a terrible hailstorm with thunder and lightning that killed every animal and person that was in the open fields. It was the worst storm Egypt had ever seen and Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to pray that it would end. He was frightened, he admitted that he had sinned and he seemed repentant. Moses prayed for him, but when the storm stopped Pharaoh hardened his heart again.

Goshen is Protected

Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was untouched by most of these plagues. Egypt had a tropical climate where insects thrived and disease spread easily, but Goshen had a drier Mediterranean climate with breezes that helped limit pestilence. Maybe God protected Israel using natural resources in the place Joseph chose for them when they first came to Egypt four hundred years earlier.

Pharaoh Fails to Protect Egypt

Pharaoh was supposed to be Egypt’s protector and provider, but he couldn’t stop the plagues God sent. The closest he came to repenting and surrendering to God was during the frightening hailstorm, but even then he hardened his heart again. He wasn’t willing to let God be God.

If only he had done what we are all encouraged to do, and listened to God’s voice. Pharaoh brought tragedies upon Egypt because their losses were more devastating every time he turned away.