Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 11-12.21 Listen: (9:08) Read: Matthew 22 Listen: (4:56)

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 12.22-51 Listen: (7:31) Read: Matthew 23 Listen: (4:53)
Read: Exodus 13 Listen: (3:30) Read: Matthew 24 Listen: (5:59)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 11.5-8

5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

Reflection: Grief-Driven Anger

By John Tillman

After announcing the plague that would kill the first born of both humans and animals, Moses leaves Pharaoh, “hot with anger.”

Why is Moses angry?

I don’t think Moses was angry about God’s response to Egypt’s crimes. Pharaoh had ordered the death of male Israelite babies since before Moses was born. Egypt suffered one night what Israel suffered for a generation.

I think Moses was angry at Pharaoh’s prior choices that led to this. Pharaoh was running Egypt, full speed into ruin. Moses knew, and likely loved, many Egyptians and they loved and respected him. (Exodus 11.3) But this leader’s pride and stubbornness doomed them with horrific, irreversible consequences.

The text makes it clear that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart at this point. (Exodus 11.10) When humans refuse God’s warnings, appeals, and calls to repent, we harden our hearts. Judicial hardening is when God responds to us hardening our hearts by hardening them further, past the point of no return.

In Nazi-controlled France, the car manufacturer Citroën was forced to manufacture trucks for the Nazis. They lowered the “full” indicator on oil dipsticks to a level that would damage the engines under strain. The engines seized in critical moments, making troops vulnerable to destruction.

In judicial hardening, God lowers indicators, removes warning lights, and lets wickedness rev the engine until it blows. He makes blind those who refuse to see and deaf those who refuse to listen. He turns them over to their sins.

When a person or leader repeatedly refuses correction, rejects the truth, and persists in cruelty and malice, their hardened heart leads to horrific and irreversible consequences. A person’s hard-heartedness will have consequences proportional to that person’s power and influence, spreading beyond their own lives to the lives of others.

Moses’ anger was certainly multi-faceted. But perhaps you have felt anger like I’ve described that is fueled by grief for those suffering or about to suffer consequences chosen by the hard-hearted.

Don’t let anger harden your heart. Lose anger in the practices of Passover.

Remember that grief for the suffering is a holy emotion shared by Jesus. (Matthew 23.37-39)

Remember to be covered by God’s merciful covenant so plagues pass you by. (Exodus 12.13; Luke 22.15-20)

Remember to soften your heart, inviting others to shelter in God’s love from every passing plague. (Exodus 12.48-49; 1 Corinthians 11.33)

Remember to heed the warning lights and spiritual indicators in your life. (1 Corinthians 11.27-32)

Remember to leave Egypt behind as wanderers, seeking a better kingdom.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy Name and glory in your praise. — Psalm 106.47

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Pondering the Plague

Why did Pharaoh not believe? Why did he not give in? Is there anything about which you are refusing to submit to God?

Read more: When They Ask

Passing on knowledge is commanded by God. We are called to teach to our children, younger believers, and those new in the faith.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 10 Listen: (4:44) Read: Matthew 21 Listen: (7:10)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 10.28-29

28 Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”

29 “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”

Reflection: Blessed are the Troublemakers

By John Tillman

The Pharaoh of Joseph’s day was personally blessed and prayed for by Israel himself. While Israel’s children lived there, Egypt enjoyed the blessings of God and was a channel of God’s blessing to the world.

Any nation that simply allows God’s people to flourish can be so blessed. Even the evil nations of Assyria and Babylon, when they acknowledged the God of the Hebrews among them, were blessed. But any nation, even the nation of Israel or a nation calling itself a “Christian Nation,” can become a nation of cursings instead of blessings.

Moses’ Pharaoh treated him like an irritant. From a certain perspective, it’s understandable. Moses was demanding. He inconvenienced the privileged life to which Egypt was accustomed. He destroyed the peace. He disrupted the economy. He upended the established order. Pharaoh considered him a troublemaker.

But Moses was not a troublemaker in Egypt any more than Elijah was a troublemaker in Ahab’s Israel. (1 Kings 18.16-18) In both countries, prophets brought correction through words, demands, and demonstrations of power. The leaders were the troublemakers and made decisions that led toward certain disasters.  

Reading the progression of the plagues and the responses of Pharaoh is like watching a classic tragedy, like Macbeth. He makes horrible choice after choice after choice. We don’t understand how, in the face of so much evidence of God’s power, Pharaoh could still stiffen his neck, harden his heart, and refuse to give in.

Every time we have “trouble” it doesn’t mean God is displeased with us. Sometimes, as Moses did, we will experience “good trouble” when we are doing the right thing. But it is always good to pause and consider if we are “going Pharaoh.”

Moses was a visitation of grace, an opportunity for change. Pharaoh rejected it. Even his leaders realized that Egypt was falling to ruin but he wouldn’t give in to them either. (Exodus 10.7)

We don’t have to look far in the news headlines to see autocratic leaders, bringing their countries to ruin by stubbornly refusing to abandon foolish directions. We don’t have to look far in our own hearts to find moments we resist or resent calls for change that God puts in our path.

Blessed are the troublemakers who demand justice. We should have the humility not to treat them as irritants, but consider whether the source of trouble might instead be our own hearts.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and make melody. — Psalm 57.7

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Ahab and David

Rather than the friendly relationship David had with God and his prophets, Ahab considers Elijah his “enemy.”

Read more: Live Prophetically

 Do not shirk your prophetic calling. There are kings to be confronted and people to be set free. Live prophetically.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 9 Listen: (5:31) Read: Matthew 20 Listen: (4:22)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 9:16–18

16 But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. 18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.

Reflection: When All Hail Breaks Loose

By Erin Newton

Years ago I was crouching in the closet of my friend’s house while the deafening sound of a storm pounded the roof with softball-sized hail (11cm) that damaged our roofs, destroyed our cars, and demolished plant life—a typical spring day in Texas.

Hailstorms in Egypt, however, are rare. Exodus 9 says it was “the worst … ever.” A common hailstorm is a nuisance; a record-breaking hailstorm is a devastating catastrophe.

The signs and wonders from God escalate in intensity and destruction. Gnats and boils were things that caused a disruption, but nothing too extreme. The bloody river and the dead livestock—these signs were all bad, but not as bad as what was coming.

There is no real escape from hail if you’re caught outside. Everyone was at risk from servants in the fields to children in the street. Small hail stings and bruises. Large hail kills.

The hail was so damaging “it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree” (v. 25). It was not just a nuisance. Crops were ruined. Trees were laid bare.

All those years ago, I remember walking out of the house to see everything shattered. The lawn was glistening white, covered in unfathomably large chunks of ice. Limbs and leaves were scattered everywhere. We were spared a tornado that day, but the hail had done equal damage.

Pharaoh thought of himself as a god. He was the sun. He was the cosmic power—at least in his own eyes. There was nothing he could not do, or so he thought. But the hailstorm in Exodus 9 was a display of real divine power.

The Almighty God did not challenge Pharoah to a duel as if he were an equal. He rightly affirmed, “I could have … wiped you off the earth,” (v. 15) if he had wanted. But he is also mighty in mercy—hoping that Pharaoh would repent.

The scene echoes the words later penned in Job: “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you. … Have you … seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?” (Job 38.3, 22-23).

The battle between God and a self-important ruler was on. Pharaoh soon learned, it was not a battle he ever had hopes of winning.

Signs and wonders show us not only how powerful God is, but how powerless humans truly are.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful, for I have taken refuge in you; in the shadow of your wings will I take refuge until this time of trouble has gone by.
I will call upon the Most High God, the God who maintains my course.
He will send from heaven and save me; he will confound those who trample upon me; God will send forth his love and his faithfulness. — Psalm 57.1-3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Idol-Destroying Plagues

The plagues systematically and categorically destroyed everything that Egypt trusted in and worshiped. 

Read more: Lasting Revivals and Normal Idols

It’s easy to be judgmental of ancient people’s idols…But these gods were normal…practical SOP that promised financial ROI.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 8 Listen: (5:07) Read: Matthew 19 Listen: (4:04)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 7.22b-23

22 …Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart.

Exodus 5.2

2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Reflection: Pharaoh’s Epistemology

By John Tillman

The first person God called “prophet” was Abraham. Moses and Aaron were next. It is interesting to compare the results.

God warned Abimelek in a supernatural dream to let Sarah go. God’s prophet, Abraham, would pray for the king and bless him if he did. If Abimelek did not, all his people would die. Abimelek could have hardened his heart and doubted his dream but he didn’t.

God warned Pharaoh through Moses, Aaron, and supernatural signs, to let his people go. If Pharaoh did not let the people go, he and his kingdom would suffer. Pharaoh could have believed the signs but hardened his heart and the hard-hearted find excuses not to listen.

Pharaoh questioned the prophets’ motives, their political alignment, and their honesty, calling them lazy, troublemakers, deceptive, and divisive. Pharaoh had an identity-based epistemology. “Who is the Lord that I should obey him…?” (Exodus 5.4)

Pharaoh doubled down and reaped disaster. Abimelek relented and reaped blessings. How kings and citizens respond to prophetic warnings matters.

Before being too hard on Pharaoh, consider whether we share his identity-based epistemology. Today, we don’t distrust supernatural prophets. We distrust everything.

If our news source says it, it’s true. If your news source says it, it’s biased. If the facts make our side look bad, they are fake. If scientific results challenge us, it’s a conspiracy. If the courts rule against our side, they are corrupt.

This skepticism extends to biblical teaching. We too often judge the trustworthiness and orthodoxy of pastors by their politics rather than their theological claims. We are in an epistemological crisis. Hard hearts find excuses not to listen. We only trust ear-tickling prophets.

How do we escape this crisis of truth? How can Christians reclaim the mantle of being people devoted to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God?

If I had 10,000 words instead of 400, I still couldn’t answer that. However, I know one step is not asking like Pharaoh, “Who said this that I should believe it?”

We need an Exodus from Pharaoh’s epistemology even if it means wandering in the desert. How we respond to prophets of any kind, matters. Let’s recover a commitment to the truth, no matter who says it or benefits from it.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Tortured Prophets Department

Conspiracy, disloyalty, and financial gain are common accusations used today to discredit whistleblowers and victims. Amaziah is alive and well.

Read more: Conspiracy Theology

“Trust no one” is the mantra for our day. We have seen the news turn from a daily source of information to headlines judged for signs of misinformation.

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Exodus 7 Listen: (3:29) Read: Matthew 18 Listen: (4:25)

Scripture Focus: Exodus 7.1-6

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” 6 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.

Reflection: Live Prophetically

By John Tillman

God makes Moses and Aaron a metaphoric picture of being a prophet.

Prophets speak in a deity’s name as a messenger speaks in a ruler’s name. This was common in preliterate history.

Messengers represented a sender’s words. They delivered a sender’s speech from memory with exact wording and took back exactly worded replies. (2 Samuel 11.19-22; 2 Samuel 14.2-3, 19-20)

Special messengers represented a sender’s will. These messengers went beyond rote memorization. They knew their masters’ minds and spoke freely on their behalf. Examples include Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24.50-58) and Sennacherib’s commander (Isaiah 36.1-5).

Messengers represented a sender’s person. They would be treated with respect due to the sender. Mistreating or disrespecting a messenger was tantamount to treating the sender in the same way. (2 Samuel 10.3-6)

Normal messengers represented the words, will, and presence of their senders. God’s prophets represent the words, will, and presence of God.

There is an important lesson in not responding to prophets as Pharaoh does, but today focus on your prophetic call. You have one.

Whether you can “speak well,” like Aaron, or whether, like Moses, you are “slow of speech” you do not lack any spiritual gift in Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 1.7)

Prophecy is not necessarily foretelling the future, but speaking the truth. When we speak the gospel, we tell the truth about the past, present, and future. “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again,” is a prophetic statement.

Be aware and worthy of your prophetic calling.

Faithfully know and represent his words. Read the Bible to know the words of Jesus and how Jesus treated scripture. Follow his interpretive example. Do not distort, leave out, or reinterpret scripture to justify your sin or anyone else’s sin.

Faithfully discern his will and follow his ways. Know the mind of Christ and follow his way. You cannot do his will outside of his ways. (ref) Get wisdom, though it costs you everything. (ref)

Faithfully represent his presence. Be Jesus’ feet and hands, serving the outcast and hurting. Have no “fear of man” or favoritism for the powerful or the weak, but speak the truth lovingly and firmly. Suffer, die, and rise with him, both metaphorically each day and literally one day in the future.

Do not shirk your prophetic calling. There are kings to be confronted and people to be set free. There are wonders to be shown and rescues to be enacted. Live prophetically.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse

Open, Lord, my eyes that I may see.
Open, Lord, my ears that I may hear.
Open, Lord, my heart and my mind that I may understand.
So shall I turn to you and be healed.

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Invisible Status

Jesus calls “the greatest” those others call “the least.”
Jesus moves the invisible to the best seats at the feast.

Read more: Choices and Hard Hearts

Hardened hearts happen in stages. Our choices matter. Our hearts are hardened or softened day after day.