The Israelites had been in Egypt for 430 years. Many generations had passed since the days of Joseph, and possibly even the stories of him weren't being passed on any more. Even the new Pharaoh didn't know about Joseph. On both sides, I suspect that there was little respect for or fear of God. I am sure the Israelites were discouraged, feeling purposeless and empty. So I suspect God wanted to do something big...
Moses repeatedly went to Pharaoh and asked him to release the people...but when God hardened his heart, God brought curses and suffering on the Egyptians. However...the Israelites were always spared. Now...lets think about how this would look through the eyes of everyone..
Firstly...through the Israelites' eyes. Here was UNDENIABLE evidence that there was a God who cared about them. Probably answering the doubts of many of their hearts. It says in Exodus that when Moses first told the people of God's plan "they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage". For 430 years they had been slaves, and recently, been treated worse than ever before. They probably had lost faith in God...wondered what the point was. Yet...now they were seeing God show up. They would have started to realise that God HAD been hearing their prayers. Realise that He did care about them! I mean, it would have been amazing just seeing the destruction that Moses could cause with God's power, but tangibly seeing God's protection and blessing in the face of such destruction...that would have brought awe amongst the people. Possibly allowed their hearts to soften also, and their faith and prayers to increase. If it was one miracle, it would have been cool. Two...yeah, pretty amazing. But watching miracle after miracle...this was evidence of God's MIGHTY hand. It would have been such a turning point for the Israelites, to get them ready for the journey they were about to go on with God.
Secondly, Pharaoh's magicians and officials. Initially...they probably weren't that impressed. They could make their sticks turn into snakes too. Turn the Nile into blood...no worries. Frogs...easy! But by the fourth miracle, it says "when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not...The magicians said to Pharaoh 'This is the finger of God". So...imagine for one second if God hadn't hardened Pharaoh's heart, and stopped at one or 2 miracles. Then the eyes of the magicians would not have been opened. In the end...they were all begging Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. They were fully aware of the power of God, and they were afraid. And although the bible doesn't talk about it, it makes me wonder what God did in some of their hearts...
Thirdly, the Egyptian people. They had been living the good life. They had had these great servants for 430 years, who I am sure worked pretty hard. They were recently given permission to work them even harder! Life was good. Maybe they were vaguely aware of God, maybe not. But....oh, they were about to become very aware. Like the Israelites, they were witnesses to God's miracles time and time again. However, unfortunately, they were on the other side of the miracles. They would have seen how God protected those He loves. And in the end, they urged the Israelites to hurry and leave. Because of what they had seen, they were in no doubt of God's power and presence. And again...I wonder how God used this to speak to the hearts of some of the Egyptians...
And finally...poor old Pharaoh. I know, I shouldn't be such a softy, but I am. He kept wanting to let the people go, but then God would harden his heart and he would change his mind. Such an important player in this story. I guess though...God may have been hardening his heart towards the Israelites, but was this because Pharaoh kept his heart hardened to God? Throughout all of this, I don't get the impression that Pharaoh really changed in his respect or awe of God. Its sad really...and I guess it shows the danger of pride and arrogance in someone's life.
So...I think from all this, I was again reminded that God works behind the scenes in ways we don't realise. God needed this to be big. I mean...HUGE. God wanted to remind the Israelites of His love, His power, His protection and blessing, in a way that allow them to return to trusting Him, and in a way that would be remembered and passed on for many generations to come. But I like to think that maybe God also had the hearts of the Egyptian officials and people in mind. I don't know what happened to them. The bible doesn't talk about some great Egyptian revival. And it was back in the days where God was seen as quite exclusive - certainly not for everyone. But, as we know today, that's not the heart of God. God IS for everyone. He loves us all and wants everyone to have the opportunity to get into relationship with Him. So...who knows, maybe more happened in people's hearts back then than we will ever know.
Don't be like the Israelites. They saw these amazing miracles....witnessed something we cant even comprehend...and a few days into the desert, they were grumbling and complaining again. And God kept testing them, because He knew the condition of their hearts. He knew that they still didn't yet trust Him. Weren't ready to let go of their independence and fully depend on Him. They tried to collect more Manna than God told them too. Tried to go out on the Sabbath despite God telling them there would be nothing there as he wanted them to rest. He wanted to supply all their needs, and give them rest...but they couldn't let go. Couldn't fully trust Him, despite what they had just witnessed. But thankfully...God is patient and keeps working with His, slowly shaping our hearts in the process.
The God of Moses is the same God we have today. The God of the impossible. The God of miracles. The God who, if you love and trust Him, will protect you, provide for you and bless you. But we have a role too. We have to stop the hardening of our hearts. We have to stop the grumbling and complaining, including when we don't get our own way or when things don't arrive as quickly as we want them. We might be "starving or thirsty" like the Israelites were, but we have to learn to trust that God will never leave us or forsake us. He wont set us free and then abandon us to fend for ourselves. He wants to get us to a place where we fully dependant on Him. Where we stop striving to keep our independence. Where we realise that there is no greater sense of freedom than handing everything over to God, and trusting Him. Sometimes, we may not realise what Hes doing, as He might be behind the scenes...but trust Him. Trust that there is more going on than you realise. Trust that He sees the bigger picture. And...allow yourself to rest in that trust...
so good.
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