The Lord Caused the King to be Stubborn

Exodus 07, 08, 09, 10, 11 & 12

The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. 

I have made him and his officers stubborn so I could show them my powerful miracles. 

I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren how 

I was hard on the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them 

so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.”

(Exodus 10: 1 - 2)

All of us have come through many long phases of "waiting for" in our lives. These moments of waiting have not been easy. They are hard to bear. Difficult to endure. They make us fragile and fearful. We begin to question our pillars of faith. We begin to doubt the depths of our belief. Waiting is not easy. 

But, sometimes we notice that our entire long waiting is because of a small obstacle. We know that this particular little barrier is not allowing the entire free-flow to happen. We realise that a small block on the way is keeping us from enjoying the beauty and fullness of the expected blessing. We know that it is easy for God to clear that obstacle for us. And we begin to ask the Lord, "why?" We ask our Lord our God why He is still not allowing this to happen. We begin to compare the power of the Lord and the strength of the obstacle and we realise it is nothing for the Lord. But the question still lingers in our minds. "Why cannot the Lord just clear this barrier with His one breath?" "Why can't my Lord just utter a word on this and everything else will be fine." 

I was recently reading the book of Exodus, chapters 07 - 12. These chapters describe in detail the conversations that took place between Moses, Aron and the king of Egypt. The passage also records the ten plagues that the Lord brought on Egypt until the king of Egypt agreed to give permission for the Israelites to leave the country. The Israelites had lived there as slaves for the last four-hundred and thirty years. While I was reading through, in my natural human thought, my mind became curious about something. I noticed that the king was being stubborn, again and again, even after witnessing time and again the power of the Lord ('I AM'). God showed His power through the various plagues that came one after the other and they literally destroyed Egypt. My mind had just then asked this question! "Why can't God make this king say a big fat 'yes'?" Isn't it too easy for the Lord to make these words come out of this human brain and the thought? But I saw, God did not. And then as I moved further in my reading, the answer was there, and it was very direct.

It was the Lord who made the king of Egypt and his officers stubborn so that He could show them His powerful miracles. Just like a blacksmith would use fire to finally bend the stubborn, rigid, no-bending iron rod, the Lord was making the king stubborn enough to finally make him say "yes" through the mighty miracles. And God made a way for His children. 

Also, on the other side, Moses, Aron and the entire nation of Israel were only worried about the present. They were only concerned about getting out of Egypt, from this life of slavery. But God had already thought about the next generations. He was already doing something greater that would last through generations. Indeed, God was not easy-going when He prepared a nation for Him. The Lord says, "I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren how I was hard on the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.” The stubbornness of the Egyptian Pharao ended on a great memory of events that has been seen, spoken, discussed, tested and proven time and again. 

Today, you may be in such a situation in your life. You may be waiting on the Lord for a blessing. You would have been praying for a blessing for a long time and you can see the blessing almost there. You know that the power of the words of the Lord is more than enough for you to receive that blessing. But there are obstacles, barriers, blocks and much stubbornness. You know that, even after these many years of patient and faithful waiting, the Lord is still not dealing with the barrier. You may shout and cry saying "Lord, why don't you just do it for me?" But remember, the Lord has His miraculous and powerful way of answering you. 

The Lord clearly tells you that He purposefully made the blocks, the barriers, the stubbornness because He wants everyone to know that He was miraculous in your life. When God finally does the impossible in your life, after your long battle with this barrier for these many years comes to an end with the receiving of the yearned blessing, you have a great testimony to share. The people around you are going to know how miraculous the Lord has been in your life and you have a testimony that will be shared for the next generations. So, do not feel left out. Do not lose faith. The Lord our God has caused these obstacles, just like the stubborn heart of the king of Egypt, so that throughout your life His name will be glorified. Our God who does the impossible is just near you. Trust Him until the end. He will bless everything that surrounds you. You will have a story to tell the generations after. 

I pray that, with the graceful presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we may stand firm in the faith, knowing that the Lord is working and He is dealing with the impossible in our lives. Let His name be glorified through our lives and let us continue to tell of His greatness all the time.

May God bless you. 

Yours in Christ,