Exodus 4:21-23

 

Moses seemed to have a history of disobeying Yahweh, to the point of infuriating the Lord. It could be that Moses, if his strong, stubborn will could be transformed by the Lord’s persuasion to serve the Lord’s cause, he would be a most remarkable champion of God’s cause, and working to make the Israeli exodus from Egypt and bondage a reality. Here is a reading fro The New American Bible: “The Lord said to him, ‘On your return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put in your power. I will make him obstinate, however, so that he will not let the people go. So you shall say to Pharaoh: Thus says the Lord: Israel is my son, my first-born. Hence I tell you: Let my son go, that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I warn you, I will kill your son, your first-born.”

 

My response: Yahweh must have been worried about Moses’s stubborn refusal to follow orders, because his instructions are repeated in a most forward, explicit manner, in great detail, as if to remind Moses to do as he is ordered to do. Yahweh regards Israel as his first son, so they were God’s favorite and heir, Moses is to tell Pharaoh that if he does not release God’s first-born, Pharaoh’s own favorite son will know harm, being killed by God.

 

Here is that same reading from the Holy Bible (KJV): And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

 

And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto the thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.”

 

My response: Pharaoh has free will, and yet Yahweh hardens his heart while threaten to kill Pharaoh’s first born if he remains stubborn and unyielding, refusing to free the Israelis. It seems like a contradiction that the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart while holding him responsible for freely choosing to harden his own heart. The Bible is replete with such actual or open contradictions, and they cannot all be resolved, but we cannot throw out sacred text because it, does or appears to, in places like this, to defy the rules of logic. Perhaps the contradiction is resolvable if we posit that Pharaoh has already displayed a rigid refusal to release his Hebrew slaves for their free, productive labor is very profitable for Egypt. Or it could be that, by hardening Pharaoh’s heart even more, Yahweh will be able to get him to relent, once he is impressed by the wonders that Moses displays, or because he is frightened of the Lord’s deadly threat against the first-born of Egypt.

 

It is clear that the Lord is very involved with his people, and wants them to serve Him, and be faithful to him. They are not free to do whatever they want, without profound consequences brought against them in this world and in the next.