Exodus 7:1-7:13

1Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh. Your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet; he will speak for you. 2Tell Aaron everything I say to you and have him announce it to Pharaoh. He will demand that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt. 3But I will cause Pharaoh to be stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will crush Egypt with a series of disasters, after which I will lead the forces of Israel out with great acts of judgment. 5When I show the Egyptians my power and force them to let the Israelites go, they will realize that I am the LORD."
 6So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three at the time they made their demands to Pharaoh.
 8Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9"Pharaoh will demand that you show him a miracle to prove that God has sent you. When he makes this demand, say to Aaron, `Throw down your shepherd's staff,' and it will become a snake."
 10So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh, and they performed the miracle just as the LORD had told them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his court, and it became a snake. 11Then Pharaoh called in his wise men and magicians, and they did the same thing with their secret arts. 12Their staffs became snakes, too! But then Aaron's snake swallowed up their snakes. 13Pharaoh's heart, however, remained hard and stubborn. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted.

Points of Interest:
• ‘Pay close attention to this’—an important figure in the life of any hero is the mentor. The mentor is usually someone who has taken a similar path before. He can help the hero know what to expect, and teach him how to respond to the challenges he will face. Here, God serves as a mentor for Moses. God gives him a step-by-step preview of the showdown with Pharaoh, letting him know what challenges to expect, interpreting for him what is going on, and giving him keys for success.

• ‘I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh’—Pharaoh thought of himself as divine. But God refuses to treat with him as an equal. The Lord is going to show how much greater he is than Pharaoh by making Moses Pharaoh’s equal—and more.

• ‘I will cause Pharaoh to be stubborn’—this can be a somewhat unsettling notion. It provokes the question, ‘Did Pharaoh have any choice in the matter?’ It’s somewhat comforting to note that God isn’t by any means forcing Pharaoh to act against his nature: Pharaoh has already displayed his own stubborn tendencies. From what precedes this statement and from what follows, it seems clear that Pharaoh is not a mere puppet. He is at the very least complicit with God in sustaining his stubbornness: sometimes the Bible says that God makes Pharaoh stubborn; and sometimes it describes Pharaoh choosing to be stubborn. What seems to motivate God here is a desire to make absolutely clear that the release of the Israelites is his doing. God doesn’t want Pharaoh to be able to claim that he is motivated by his own magnanimity when he finally lets the Israelites go. It’s as if, Pharaoh having called God out in this contest, God wants to insure that they see it through to the very end—God wants it to be a good fight. He wants both the Israelites and the Egyptians to recognize it when he wins.

• ‘Their staffs became snakes, too!’—these magicians are not mere frauds. They have genuine power too. Of course, they don’t have as much power as God; God’s snake defeats Pharaoh’s—a clear foreshadowing of what is to come, but a sign that Pharaoh refuses to recognize.

Taking it home:
• For you: A mentor is a valuable gift and a key to success as we respond to God’s call on our lives. Spend a moment reflecting on mentors you have had. What have you learned from them? Praise God for their influence in your life. Are you facing any situations right now in which you are especially feeling the need for some guidance? Ask God to provide you a mentor, or to be one to you himself.
• For your six: We see here that a stubborn heart can be a dangerous thing. Pray for your six, that they would have soft hearts toward God, be willing to see him and recognize him when he reveals himself to them.
• For our church: Moses is not a lone hero here. He has the companionship and the help of his brother Aaron. Pray for our church, that we would experience more and more of the joy that comes with setting out on a journey of faith together.