The Hardening Begins

Exodus 5

In chapter 4 we read Moses make more excuses for the Lord. We also read  that Moses left to go to Egypt and met with his brother. Moses gathered before all the leaders of the Hebrews and he showed them the signs that God showed him earlier and they believed. They believed because they saw the signs. God answered Moses’ disbelief by showing that they would believe.

The first encounter with Pharaoh.

Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh and it went as the Lord planned, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. Remember the people of Egypt would look at Pharaoh as a type of deity or god.  Moses told Pharaoh God wants his people free and Pharaoh was like, “Who is this God that I should obey his voice, I am like a god too.” Because of Moses asking for the people to be set free, Pharaoh decides to make their work harder. He made them not only have to make bricks for the kingdom but now the people have to find straw themselves for making the brick and he did not lighten the load. Pharaoh did this so the Hebrews would not desire to follow after Moses but instead be mad that he came. This was working because the people came to Moses and said, “Why did you come?” Moses then went to the Lord and said, “Why did you have me come?”

The Test of Leadership:

 God was in the process of hardening Pharaoh’s heart and it still needed to be harder. Moses was thinking he would go in say one thing and be done. The people who Moses was over were starting to hate on him and turn on him. He was questioning his existence in this plan of Gods. There were going to be more testing and Moses needed to trust the Lord in his timing. It is so easy for us when we are being used by God to think that it is going to be so easy and there will be no trouble, but in order for us to be used, God needs to mold us and that means sometimes having troubles. There will be tests at  your age. Cling to the Lord now because when you get older it will not be as hard to go to the Lord compared to someone who doesn’t.