Stars: ★★★★★ (Study This Book)

Premise

This book examines the Exodus in multiple ways, including how Moses and Pharaoh interacted before and after each plague, how Pharaoh Joseph served differed from Pharaoh in the Exodus, and how God used all these events to bring more people to him. The author explains how the plagues never had to happen because Pharaoh could have recognized the power of God before they started and details how each of the plagues was intended to communicate a very specific characteristic of God to Pharaoh. These plagues were not to punish the Egyptians but to draw them to God. He discusses how the name that God chose in each circumstance was intentional and how the outcome could have been different each time. Pharaoh chose the most painful path because of his stubbornness and his desire to continue to be a god in Egypt, but he could have chosen God’s mercy and grace for both him and his people.

Loved

1. The Plagues Were Mercy, Not Punishment
   God spoke through the plagues because it was a language that Pharaoh would understand in order to bring him to the understanding that there was one Creator God. Egypt was polytheistic, and the idea of a single God who was ultimately sovereign was an idea that Pharaoh had likely never even considered. This understanding allows us to address several of the other “problems” in the story. For example: why did Pharaoh asked the frogs to be taken away the following day instead of immediately? That seems a strange choice when one’s entire nation is under a plague, but the author argues that Pharaoh is far more concerned about the precision of God rather than the raw power of God. No man could predict the actions of a polytheistic god, so how could Moses know when YHWH would make the frogs leave? Pharaoh needed to know if it was possible. During the plague of the livestock, why did Pharaoh investigate to find out about the animals in Goshen? He needed to know if this Creator God could decide which animals were afflicted.
   
   The plague of fire inside the hail is a turning point in the story because at that moment, Pharaoh could no longer deny that there was a Creator God who controlled all natural forces because in polytheism, the gods of ice and fire would never work together. From that point on, we see Pharaoh making a variety of attempts to save his pride while also acknowledging God, but God only accepts complete worship and surrender, which led to the final plague and the Exodus.

2. Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?
   I finally learned why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. I have read the story of the Exodus since I was a small child, and for as long as I can remember the burning question in my mind has been “Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart?” In fact, this was the crux of my understanding that the plagues were punishments from God. If the plagues were not punishments, why wouldn’t God soften Pharaoh’s heart, I wondered. I thought that by hardening Pharaoh’s heart, God ensured that the Egyptians received their full measure of punishment for enslaving the Israelites.
   
   While I don’t have the space here to explain it fully, I highly recommend reading the book to get the descriptions of two separate Hebrew words that are both translated “harden” through the story. One means to harden as in to make stubborn and the other means to strengthen or provide courage. The places in which each of them is used enlightens us to the dynamic between God and Pharaoh throughout the story. God wanted Pharaoh to choose to submit out of humility and the desire to serve God not because the plagues were too hard. Therefore, God “provided courage” to Pharaoh to withstand the plagues until he was willing to fully submit. (Again, this abridged explanation really doesn’t do it justice…)

3. The Burial of Jacob and the Exodus
   I love the opportunity to make connections between Bible stories that I have never made before. The author makes the very convincing argument that the burial of Jacob and the Exodus are parallel stories. The burial of Jacob gives us the image of the “Exodus That Might Have Been.” If the Pharaoh who ruled during the Exodus had responded like the Pharaoh centuries before him, the march to Canaan would have been a massive celebration, including the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Israelites would have taken their rightful place as the bechor nation and led other nations to God. Instead, the Pharaoh who led during Moses refused to sacrifice his pride and lost his son, his army, and his opportunity to love God.

Didn’t Love

I didn’t love how long it took me to read the book. I did not set aside a regular time to read it, so I read a chapter or two whenever I had a few minutes which was not very often. It took me over six months to finish it, and the book is not very long. I think this might work effectively as a quiet time book where you are reading the corresponding Bible verses each morning alongside the explanations and then writing down ways that you can apply the lessons to your own life. By spreading the chapters out between so many months, I probably missed connections that would have been easier reading through it more quickly. I also had to keep going back to look up the different Hebrew words so that I could follow what the author said in later chapters.

Lessons Learned

• There is so much more to the Bible than we can understand, especially from our 21 century, Western perspective. This book provided depth and insight to stories that I have read for decades. It is so important to keep learning all we can about the many lessons and layers in the Bible.
• God truly desires the discipleship of all, including those we as humans believe are too far gone. When I read the story of the Exodus, Pharaoh seems evil to me, beyond redemption, mostly because I already know how the story ends. I have never considered that maybe there could have been a different ending, had Pharaoh chosen God over his pride.