Egypt is a mess. Speaking through his servant Moses, the Lord has commanded Pharaoh to release his enslaved people. The king of Egypt has stubbornly resisted. Who is this God of yours? I
don’t know him. Severe plagues have hammered the land—blood in the Nile, swarms of frogs, gnats, flies, dead cattle, boils, hail.
Before sending yet another plague, the Lord asks Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (Exod. 10:3). The king’s implied answer is pathetic. He isn’t ready to humble himself. Not yet. Not ever. His hard heart brings on three more devastating plagues. Grasshoppers eat what the hail hasn’t destroyed. A thick darkness confines the Egyptians in their homes for three days. And the firstborn in every family dies.
Temporarily, Pharaoh relents. He releases the Hebrews. They defiantly march away. He changes his mind. He has been a fool to let his slaves go free. He pursues them into the Red Sea, into a deathtrap of his own making.
How long will you refuse to humble yourself? Excellent question. Stubbornness is such a temptation. I’m not giving up this addiction, even if it kills me. I’m not going to work for a living, even if laziness demoralizes me. I’m not going to apologize, even if my pride destroys a cherished friendship. I’m not going to forgive, even if bitterness eats me alive. I’m not going to put my faith in Jesus, even if unforgiven sins damn me forever in a fiery hell.
What’s the reason for this complete foolishness? Stubbornness seems to come from our fierce determination to rule our own lives. Pharaoh is a powerful king. He tells people what to do. They think of him as a god. How dare this Yahweh, the Lord of the Hebrews, order him about? In this case the obstinacy is fairly easy to understand. The king’s royal authority has gone to his head. In reality, though, every stubborn sinner thinks himself king. He thinks he can shake his fist in God’s face and march victoriously into the Red Sea.