EXODUS 9:18 - 10 THE THIRD THREE PLAGUES The hardness of the human heart is very difficult to explain. When there is no fear of God before the eyes of men, there is no real standard for them to live by or to make moral judgments by. Self-centered, stubborn people do not learn lessons from the past. They live only for the moment and they think the last disaster and momentous event that happened will be the final one. Arrogantly they deceive themselves into thinking there is nothing worse that can befall them. They have "experienced it all." Pharaoh was told he would be an example to the world to show God's power and man's weakness. Six plagues had past and still Pharaoh's heart was hardened. He did not receive the instruction the plagues had been sent to teach him. He chose to remain in darkness rather than accept the illumination that obeying God will give us. This on-going hardness against a Sovereign God, and refusal to obey Him, is practiced today and is increasing in supposedly "Christian" countries.
The last group of three plagues was no longer given to answer the question, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?" Now the plagues turn to punishment, and for the first time in the plague of hail, thunder and lightning running along the ground, human beings died under the judgment of God. Pharaoh and all his people had learned of God's power and impotency of the false gods of the Egyptians. He had experienced enough lessons to make him know the greatness of God but still he resisted God in a feeble attempt to exert his own will. His self-will should have taught him he had no power against God and God's people than a dog does when it howls at the moon to turn off its light. Instead of being known now as a great leader, he is known world-wide as a loser and a warning for those who will not yield to the Sovereign God. When God is obeyed and we work in harmony with the natural powers of life, we find the earth yields its fruitfulness and we are blessed by God who sends "the rain on the just and the unjust." If we are continually resistant to God's grace and will, we will learn that God can control the forces of nature He created to bring fearful judgment as well as great blessings.
Everything unsheltered was broken down under the forces of nature's power unleashed. Hail destroyed every green thing. The fearsomeness of thunder and lightning was everywhere. There was nowhere in Egypt to escape the uncontrollable power of thunder, lightning and hail. For the first time human beings died and any animals left in the open. Following right behind that plague was the most awful insect that can invade a country. The last vestige of green that was on the ground would have been devoured by the locusts and the ground was black with locusts eating everything before them. Nothing of plant life was left alive. Even Pharaoh's servants remonstrated against him saying that nothing of value in Egypt was left. The half-hearted and deceitful confessions Pharaoh made were valueless as he tried to get a compromise and get Moses to respond on his terms.
Often people try to rationalize events and obvious divine interventions from the limited framework of their own experience. Faith in God goes way beyond what we can visualized. We have to acknowledge God's ways are past finding out. Even after the three days of darkness that was so thick it could be felt, Pharaoh tried the tactic of compromise. Total surrender to God means that a person has come to repentance and God can then deal with that person. Pharaoh never did accept that God was God over all. He wanted his own position in Egypt to be supreme and he wanted the free labor of the Jews to be available to him to accomplish his own goals. In anger he put Moses out from his presence forever. Moses last warning of the death of the firstborn was given and there was no more offer of repentance. Judgment was promised
Every person who rejects the Lord and is determined to go his or her own way will someday call and God will not answer. They will bow their knees before Him but not in repentance. All will acknowledge that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
To try to describe the attributes of God is not possible by any man. When the stubbornness of man remains unchanged, God has a resulting plan. All power in heaven and earth is His to accomplish His perfect will. His plan is known only to Him and that He will surely fulfill.
I don't need to understand all the bad things going on around. All over this world the results of man's sin are everywhere to be found. People do things to try and justify their egos and their doubts. They are searching in all the wrong places to try and bring peace about.
For God to be just, sin must be faced and be legally punished. It is inevitable sin can't be avoided, and death is the result when it is finished. Warnings are given that people might escape the consequences it brings When from rebellious and deceitful hearts of men the wages of sin then springs.
God is longsuffering and He is not willing that any men would perish. It is a wise choice when people submit and God's will choose to cherish. He wants all men everywhere with Him to eventually live. And that we all will find the blessings from His fullness that He gives.
At first, we have pity on those who hear the Gospel. But when truth is rejected and those who hear join with the scornful - Not willing to believe the message because to them it is new -
Then we learn that the judgment warnings are coming and are really true.
Lessons from the past are passed on to us for our lasting good. God wants to save people if only from their hearts they would - Turn from their sin and earnestly the waiting Savior seek If we are wise, we will take the instruction and not their wrong ways repeat.
"Father, I am thankful for those who heeded the warnings they heard in the Gospel here, and turned in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. May opportunities that arise today and every day to speak for Thee be blessed by Thee. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."