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Week Thirteen, Day One

Moses kept saying “why me?”, but God wouldn’t quit until finally Moses said, “Why not me?”

In Exodus 4:18 we find Moses returning from the backside of the desert to his father-in-law Jethro in order to ask for his leave. I can’t help but wonder if Moses didn’t secretly hope that Jethro wouldn’t let him go. But he does, and, in Exodus 4:21, we find a verse that has always given modern Christians trouble. Since this statement occurs in one form or another 18 times throughout the next few chapters, we probably ought to take a moment to look at it:

When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so he will not let my people go.

The idea of hardening Pharaoh’s heart occurs in different ways: (1) God hardens Pharaoh’s heart, (2) Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, (3) Pharaoh hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

What does it means to have your heart hardened? Obviously, in this case, it refers to Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to listen to Moses or to be persuaded by anything that God does to convince him to do what Moses is trying to persuade him to do. Pharaoh’s soul was callused and unresponsive. He was obstinate and inflexible.

As far as the Hebrews were concerned, God was in charge and in control. If something happened it was God who did it or caused it to happen. They did not make the distinction between God’s permissive will and God’s intentional will.

To them it was the same if God allowed someone to contract a disease and die or if God personally infected them with the virus. The scientific era would not come for many centuries. Without any other explanation, the Hebrews did what primitive people still do today: they attributed anything that was beyond their control to God.

How primitive is your faith? Do you instinctively look to heaven and ask, “Why me?” Or are you able to consider the bigger picture and ask, “Why not me?”

Blessings,

Michael
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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