HUMBLE PIE TASTES GOOD
Opening Prayer
I praise You, loving God, that I can depend on You to supply all my needs, day by day.
Read Exodus 9:27 – 10:6
27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”
29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.”
31 (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. 32 The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.)
33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. 34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.
The Plague of Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them 2 that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. 6 They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Pride stops us from hearing clearly from God. Like Pharaoh, we can be hard-hearted. Take a moment to humble yourself before God in prayer.Pharaoh continues to try to barter with Moses by offering him deals. He can’t stand the hail ruining his crops. He admits he is sinning and wants Moses to pray and ask God to stop it (vs 27,28).
But it is one thing to promise something and another thing to fulfill your promise (vs 27–35).
People often let each other down by breaking promises. When Pharaoh saw the hail and thunder had stopped, he changed his mind again, and did not let God’s people go.
Genuine repentance involves humility and having a soft heart. It is admitting that we are wrong and being willing to change. But in Pharaoh’s case, there was no real change of heart – quite the opposite (v 34). He was rebuked by God over his pride, and God demonstrated his judgment of Egypt, Pharaoh, and his people in the coming of another plague (vs 10:1–6). The locusts would bring devastation to the land (v 5).
As God’s people today, we also need to be aware of our own pride and hardness of heart. We need to look to Jesus as the one who is the true and good judge. He is the one who delivers us from our sin and brings freedom.
Apply
‘Father God, forgive my pride. May I humble myself daily and follow you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.’
Closing prayer
Lord God, I pray I will be soft hearted not hard hearted, humble, not filled with pride.
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