BIAY Day 27 - Hardening
Exodus 9-11, Psalm 22:12-31
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
We continue with and ramp up the plagues today. Here are a few observations of mine:
Hardened heart (9:7) - Evidence doesn’t break the hard heart of Pharaoh. This is something. Pharaoh investigates how the plague impacts the Egyptians vs the Israelites and confirms the difference. Yet facts aren’t enough to change his hard heart.
“Feared” vs “ignored” (9:20-21) - This is a fascinating distinction. Here are the verses with this curious contrast: “Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.” The opposite of “fearing” the Lord is “ignoring” Him. Remember the faith/fear dynamic I mentioned already, how our fears reveal our true faith. Ignoring God is important if one wishes not to serve Him because engaging God means risking a live encounter in which we may end up fearing His awesome power or having faith that He marshals that power on our behalf. If we want nothing of Him, ignoring is our only option.
Harmful Hubris (10:7) - At the plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s officials even council against his obstinance: “Pharaoh’s officials said to him, ‘How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?’” Pharaoh is supposed to make decisions based on the best interests of Egypt. But he has become so obsessed with keeping the Israelites under his thumb that he is doing it harm. He has given himself over to his sin such that he simply cannot think straight.
Questions:
What do you make of the contrast between fearing the Lord and ignoring the Lord?
When has sin kept you from thinking straight?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, keep my heart soft toward you. Amen
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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