Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P3

Exiting Egypt

The Third Plague – The Finger of God

Exodus 8:16-19

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P3

Read Ex. 8: 16-19

And so now we see the magicians becoming troubled, but Pharaoh became hardened, Why? You might say that the magicians were the scientists of that day. They analyzed what was going on and then reported their findings as fact. Well their findings were that this was beyond the natural and into the supernatural, that nothing but the finger or power of God was able to perform this miracle.

And so, Pharaoh’s heart became hard because if he were to acknowledge what these magicians were saying, what the scientists of that day were saying, then he would have to admit that he had been wrong, and that their whole religious system was a sham.

What is sad is that Pharaoh just heard and saw a strong testimony concerning God and His power. But Pharaoh refused to repent. He shut his ears and his heart and wouldn’t listen.

And again I must point out that we must not be too quick to judge Pharaoh, because in doing so we are then judging ourselves. How many of us have heard God’s message over and over again and refused to listen because it didn’t fit into our schedule or in to our designs. Like Pharaoh, we’ve shut our ears to God’s counsel and refused to listen. Listen to what the Lord says,

But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me (Psm. 81:11-13a NKJV)

And God promises that if we should just listen and walk in His ways, then He would subdue our enemies, and given us all that we would ever need to satisfy.

But Pharaoh hardened his heart because he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong and that his whole belief system was a sham. But that is no different than with people today, especially with the scientific community.

This attitude is seen in much of what is called science today. For many scientists, there is a basic underlying philosophy that rejects God as a possible force in the world. This is seen way back in 1987 when a member of the National Academy of Science was speaking as a Friend of the Court in Louisiana’s Creation case. The representative rejected Creationism because,

“It fails to display the most basic characteristic of science: reliance upon naturalistic explanations.”