14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
In this Chapter, God is using the circumstances to bring glory to himself. Through this, Egypt will know that he is God,
Often We can't help but ask why would God harden Pharaoh's Heart. I was wondering to myself, When I refuse to do something, it is God who make me refuse and hearten my heart such that I will come to realise the bad of it later?
It can be confusing at first, but one thing for sure, God created us with a will of our own,We have a choice. I believe Pharaoh, right in the first place was unwilling to let Israel go. He Huber up bitterness because he can do nothing to stop God's will. In the Process, his heart become harden without he himself knowing. (Exodus 8:15,32), all these lead to him bring his army to chase Israel to stop what is about to happen.
When it all seem to end...that the Israelite will be wipe off by Pharaoh's Army, but God lifted up the red Sea for Israel to walk through and in the process kill Pharaoh's Army and Pharaoh himself in it.
We can see 2 important things here about our human nature.
- When we are often face with difficulties, unfair treatment or negative influences, we often leave God out of the picture, and in the process, we build up bitterness against the situation we are in. As this last longer, our heart become harden to the fact that we are beyond help and it is no longer our fault.
I see this in my current job clearly, often felt unfair, mistreated, when I voiced out, the other party also say I judge them. Often I miss out God in the situation, to turn to him for comfort and to pray (which I am still not used to).
- To trust that God is in control. He know the beginning and the end. He know what you are about to do and not to do. When Israel trusted and obey God instruction, peace comes to them and when they started to complain and grumble and choose to do thing in their own way, it is often difficult and failure results.
Being Obedient take more than just understanding and know God's word. It take a constant will and effort to denies our self of our own desire. God's will and instruction will not always appear as logical most of the time.
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