So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory (Exodus 10:3-4).

If you read a passage like this in isolation, you may come to conclusion, "What's wrong with Pharaoh? After seeing all these great miracles, why does he keep refusing to humble himself before God? I certainly would!" But if you search out the context, you will discover that even before Moses was sent, God had already determined to harden Pharaoh's heart so that He might display His wonders (Exodus 4:21; cf. Exodus 10:20). God also determined which plague, the death of the firstborn, would finally move Pharaoh to let Israel go (cf. Exodus 11:1). 

So then, was God's frustrated appeal genuine (i.e. "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?")? Were the conditions genuine whereby God would stay a judgment if Pharoah would let the people go? (e.g. If you refuse to let My people go,... I will bring locusts")?

Let's go even further back to the Garden of Eden. When God called out "Where are you?" to Adam, was it a legitimate question? Or even when He asked Adam whether he had eaten from the forbidden tree, did God not know already? 

There are numerous situations like this. Yet, we know that God knows all things (1 John 3:20) and what is in every human heart (1 Kings 8:39). Consider this acknowledgement from David:

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely (Psalm 139:1-4).

Therefore, while we can say these questions and such are genuine as far as they are expressed and genuinely perceived by those to whom they are posed, we must acknowledge that their purpose fall outside of man's normal perception and experience and their outcomes are not free of God's control and direction.  

Consider then, the offer of salvation. I would pose that the offer is genuine to those who hear it. God's appeals for people to repent are also genuine in this respect; however, we must not suppose that God makes these appeals in ignorance as to their outcome, nor should we suppose that they are free from His control and direction. That is to say that everyone that God intends to save will be saved. God's salvation is not dependent on free will but on God's will. And those that are hung up on the numerous passages that suggest a freedom of will outside of God's control and direction are mistaken. For as the Scripture declares of believers,

He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:4-5).

God chose those who would believe even before He created the world. He predestined those He would save in keeping with His pleasure and will, not our pleasure and free will. The consistent testimony of Scripture with respect to our free will is that we would never freely choose God (cf. Romans 3:10-11). Therefore, God had to overcome our free will with His sovereign will in order to save us. This is the same sovereign will that hardened Pharoah's heart, so that God might display His power. This is the same sovereign will that determined the fate of Judas Iscariot even before he was born. Notice Christ never tried to dissuade or deter him from his fateful course. This is not to suggest that God predetermines everything in our lives, but certainly salvation, every aspect of it, is the work of God (Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 1:6).

Friends, I suppose God could have chosen a divine megaphone to proclaim the Gospel message so that as many people as possible could hear and believe, but He did not. Yet, like Paul, we who have tasted the goodness of the mercy and grace of the Lord want all men to be saved. Perhaps the most "wicked" among us have the widest of all desires as to whom we would want to be saved. As Paul saw himself as the chief of sinners, he wanted every single person, no matter how depraved, to be saved (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23).

Yet, not every believer shares this passion and urgency, and some simply lead quiet and somewhat reclusive lives (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:11), loving fellow believers and living out their witness from where they are at. I see both kinds of Christians throughout Scripture without any judgment of one over against the other. Everyone follows their own unique calling and initiative. So then, whether we spend every waking moment to find every new person to whom we may preach the Gospel or else we simply declare it to those that God brings into our sphere of influence, let us live in keeping with God's calling on our lives without judgment.

And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” (Exodus 12:26-27).

On several occasions the Lord commands the Israelites to explain to their children the meaning of various monuments, festivals and commands. In our present text they were to explain the meaning of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which signified God's deliverance of Israel and His judgment of their captor, Egypt.

In Joshua 4:6 they were to explain the meaning of the monument stones that memorialized the entrance into the Promised Land via the miraculous dividing of the Jordan River.

In Deuteronomy 4:10 and 6:7 they were to thoroughly and often explain the Law given to Moses, so that the children would understand what the LORD required of His people. 

Teaching the next generation of Israelites was critical to Israel remaining faithful to the LORD. The consequence of failure to do this in even one generation would be disasterous. We see this disasterous consequence play out in the Book of Judges, where we read about a generation of Israelites that did not know the LORD or what He had done for them:

After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths (Judges 2:11-13).

The failure to pass on the knowledge of the LORD quickly led to the spiritual and moral decline of the people. Even though the LORD would send them various judges to remind them and restore them to faith, the failure of just one generation to adequately train the next generation created a powerful downward spiral. By the end of the Book of Judges, the spiritual condition of the people began to resemble the pre-Flood generation (cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25) and the moral condition began to resembe that of Sodom (cf. Judges 19:22).

Friends, the charge to train our children in the instruction of the LORD is given to us just as much as it was to the Israelites of old:

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4).

The responsibility for spiritual instruction of children is given to the family, not to the church, nor to Christian schools. Just as the judges of Israel were ineffective in stemming the spiritual and moral decline of the people of Israel from generation to generation, so pastors, Sunday school teachers, and Christian schools cannot replace parents in providing spiritual and moral training to their own children. 

We cannot drop our children off at church for a couple of hours each week and imagine that this is sufficent biblical instruction for them. Even though Christian schools teach a biblical worldview, unlike parents, they do not have an intimate connection with the children, nor do they carry the moral authority to adequately train them.

As parents, we must take the initiative in training our children. We must teach them the Bible every day, demonstrating to them that it is the chief authority in our lives, as well as our primary guide for life, as well as the basis for our eternal hope. We must prompt and answer their questions regarding faith in the Lord. We must give them a language and pattern for prayer. We must model faith in our decision-making, in our interpersonal relationships, and in the setting of our priorities. In these ways we prepare the next generation to carry the mantle of faith in their generation and provide a pattern for them to pass it along to the generations after them.

Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people (Exodus 11:3).

Is this a surprise? Of course Moses would be highly esteemed, for who would not esteem such a great display of awesome power. Even though it was not his own power, it was enough that he was associated with the God that chose him to display such power.

Yet, it was not long before that Moses was moaning before the LORD about his inadequacy for the mission:

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11).

God was certainly patient with Moses, as he gradually came into his role as God's spokesman. Like the Israelites, Egypt and Pharoah, Moses also needed to witness God's power. He too had a crisis of faith and required God's grace to save him. 

Friends, praise God that He includes both the faults along with the virtues of the servants of God in the Scriptures. While we aspire to their virtues, we first identify with their faults. I certainly do. Every time I fret about my ministry, work, family, or personal progress I feel I am identifying with the faults of Moses. When I experience God's grace in all of these areas, I feel I am identifying with the grace Moses received. 

Then, when I read of Moses boldly proclaiming God's Word to Pharoah, I aspire to do the same. With every experience of God's grace, I too gain confidence in the Lord. This is my prayer for all of you, that you too will gain wisdom, strength, and confidence in the Lord as you experience the grace of God in your every life experience. 

Exodus 12:37

And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

v40; The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.
(Much of these ideas are summarized from: http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/39_exodus.html)

Consider the following and the problems that arise:

Genesis 15: 13 tells Abraham that his children will sojourn and be oppressed for 400 years

By the time Jacob enters Egypt, he has 70 people with him. 3 generations later he has 600,000 people.

Exodus 6:16-20 & 1 Chronicles 6:1-3 list the 3 generations (Levi>Kohath>Amram>Moses)

Galations 3:16, 17 Paul confirms that 430 years are from the promise of Christ to the Law of Moses.

Exodus 12:40,41 confirms that the people of Israel lived in Egypt 430 years.

This means, by comparing Genesis 15 and Exodus 12, Exodus 1 to Exodus 12 was 400 years by slavery; and 30 years prior to that they entered Egypt. This again confirms enough time for 3 generations.

The time and the number of generations seem pretty firm. The link suggests that ‘4’ was added to the original Hebrew to change the number from 130 to 430 (why will make sense in a bit). But I disagree in a small part because it assumes that this calculation was not considered before until now. Secondly, this means Paul, under the spirit, was also fooled; since scripture is the inspired Word of God I reject this notion – the amount of time in Egypt was 430.

But this does cause a problem. To start with a population of 70 and get to 600,000 in 430 years requires some extraordinary reproduction. Even if each generation’s progeny had pentuplits, the population would not reach 600,000. Each generation would have to have all the progeny with somewhere between 10 and 11 children.

So I think there is something wrong. The link overlooks the next sentence which speaks of ‘arabia’ a mixed or heterogeneous  people – people joined them from Egypt. So the number can easily be inflated to a real 600,000.

I see no problem so far with the time in Egypt nor in the number to leave Egypt.

What I have not spent time resolving is the logistics of managing these people over the square foot or square mile such a mass of people would occupy.

Numbers 1:46 records 603,550 able warriors; Numbers 3:39 records 22,000 Levites; a total of 625,550; this does not include the elderly, woman and children. Given a multiple of 2.5 for the woman, children and elderly we have a group of 1.563 million, giving each one 25 square feet that’s 39 million square feet or 1.5 square miles. That is a square formation – in a 14 division line (The 12 plus 2 for the tabernacle and holy things; cf Numbers 10: 14-28) the line would be about 15 miles long.

This can be waived off by a miracle by God, but with a little more time investigating I wonder what problems or solutions would be found.

For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the LORD (Exodus 12:12).

It is interesting that God says that these plagues were not simply against Egypt but "against all the gods of Egypt". Perhaps this explains why God chose to use the plagues that He did. God was demonstrating to the Egyptians that there was no god but God, the God of the Israel.

This reminds me of the time Elijah competed with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:16-40), where God demonstrated His power by bringing fire from heaven to completely consume Elijah's sacrifice but where Baal, the storm god, often depicted holding a lightening bolt, was completely unresponsive to the appeals of his prophets.

Scripture does not record many such instances of dramatic divine intervention; however, these are recorded for us to know that there is only one God and no other. Let all of creation bow down and worship Him! And all of us who are chosen, called, and justified by Him, let us live with the assurance that there is no power or wisdom greater than God, and if He is for us, who can be against us?!

So, the Eighth plague of locusts strikes at their crops the other plagues haven't killed off yet. God wasn't satisfied with Pharoah's capitulation; by the end of the plague of locusts, every one else in Egypt BUT Pharoah was convinced that the Israelite people needed to go, and good riddance!!! But Pharoah's stubbornness demands that he still qualify who gets to go and who gets to stay as in 10:8.
 So God says to Moses: call out the locusts. And the locusts ate everything green. Egypt even today is a fertile, very green land, but the locusts laid it bare! However, this still doesn't convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go. So God calls out the Plague of darkness. The land was so dark, that NO one but the Israelites had light whatsoever. This darkness was strong enough to be tangible. In Egyptian religion, the Sun is something that is worshipped for its steadfastness. For it not to shine for days and days convinced Pharoah for a brief time that he had to let the Children of Israel go, but they had to leave their livestock. He would also be gracious and they could take their children.

Moses says in return: we have to have a sacrifices, so we're taking all our livestock. We may have to make a big sacrifice to God, so it all has to go, because we don't know what God will require. Pharoah, of course, doesn't like this one bit!

The last plague, the Death of the firstborn, directly impacts every family in every household in Egypt. Pharoah would have been grooming his eldest son for the kingship from very early on. He would spend time with his child, teaching him things that would be important when his son assumed leadership. Teaching him spiritual things, grooming him to assume the role of king, and how to do what when this happened or that happened. Children are greatly valued in Egyptian society. So for Pharoah's son to die, this is a direct hit at the heart of their society.

Pharoah's other children would be an afterthought. Pharoah would not be grooming another of his children just in case! All his hopes would be pinned on his firstborn being healthy enough to achieve manhood and to take over his kingdom. So when God strikes Pharoah's firstborn down, this is the worst thing that could happen. If Pharoah died, and he does, his successor would either be from his family or from one of his younger sons.

I watched a special on the Valley of the Kings a long time ago, and in this special, they found heiroglyphs that talk about the exodus, and the child of one of the Ramses that died. If I remember correctly, Pharoah's second son assumed the throne at an early age, and his older brother and father had died mysteriously.

I know how they died: the Lord had to show them who He was, and how little They were!

We read these amazing words in Exodus 10:1-2,

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD.

God decreed Pharaoh's heart to be hardened. Then He made it so (Exodus 4:21; 7:3,13,22; 8:19; 9:7,12; 9:35; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17). Now, there are a few instances, where Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:32; 9:34), but it is clear that God took the initiative from the preponderence of texts. Why did God do this? He did this to display His power over the Egyptians and their gods (Exodus 10:1; 12:12) so that Israel, Egypt, Pharaoh and the world might know that He alone is the LORD (Exodus 10:2). Paul also writes in Romans 9:17-18,

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH. So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires" (see also Exodus 9:16) 

Does this seem unjust to you? It appears that God made Pharaoh sin. Lo and behold, the same objections were made to Paul in his day:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? (Romans 9:19-21).

Paul's response to the objection is simply, 'How can a created thing answer back to the Creator? Doesn't the Maker have the right to do whatever He wants?' His rebuke is simply, 'Stop thinking so highly of yourselves. In the final analysis, you are simply clay in the Potter's hands.'

It amazes me how far some theologians, scholars and pastors will go to "defend God's honor" by arguing things like, 'Pharaoh hardened his heart first, and then God hardened his heart. So Pharaoh was already at fault.' Does that change anything? If I first murder someone, then God makes me murder someone else, does that now make God just? But of course Scripture never highlights such distinctions. But we do know that even before Pharaoah sinned, God had already decreed that He would harden Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 4:21; 7:3). And in the language of Paul, we get the sense that God put Pharaoh in power for this very purpose (Romans 9:17, "For this very purpose I raised you up..."). If it was all Pharaoh's doing, then Paul's argument that "God has mercy on whom He desires and hardens whom He desires" falls flat. So, it was not Pharaoh or Pharaoh first but God who hardened Pharaoh's heart.

But in their attempt to "defend God's honor," they do just the opposite. They are dishonoring Him by making Him less powerful than He is. Part of God's divine identity is intimately wrapped up in His sovereignty, even that He alone has the right to freely exercise mercy on whomever He desires and to freely harden whomever He desires. No one and nothing else could make this claim. So, when Moses asked to see God's glory, God answered Him,

And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion" (Exodus 33:19).

Understand, then, that this matter of God's sovereignty, His divine election, even what people understand simply by the buzz word "predestination" is no marginal issue. It is critical part of our understanding of who God is. It is part of His Name!

Now, that said, let us return to the matter of Pharaoh. He is like Judas Iscariot in the New Testament, who God used to achieve His purpose in the crucifixion of Jesus. Why do you think Jesus never tries to direct Judas away from His aweful fate? He even speeds Judas to his end (John 13:27). He rebukes the others to set them straight. He prays for Peter's restoration. But never Judas. Why? It is because Judas was destined for his fate even before he was born:

While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled (John 17:12).

Does that make you a bit uneasy? It should. But does this mean that you should try to ease your discomfort by making something up about God? Certainly not! As Judas was raised up to betray Jesus, so Pharaoh was raised up to harden his heart against the Jews, so that God might display His power through him. 

But some may persist in questioning the justice of God. Don't you realize that God is not subject to the commands He made for people? Why do you insist in measuring God by the measuring stick He made for people? If we intentionally kill a child, any way you slice it, it is "murder." But not for God. Why? Because He is God. He is the Creator. He can give life and take it away. He is the Maker. He is the Potter. And we are but clay.

Don't fall into the error of Job's friends, who tried to box God in with a theology that said that God only punishes the wicked. It is not so. Job was upright, even by God's estimation, yet He still took Job's wealth, family, and even health. Forget about the final restoration, for what justifies the suffering he endured, even for a short time? By God's unresponsive response (i.e. He asks Job lots of questions that Job is unqualified to answer) He shows Job that He alone is God, and He can show compassion on whomever He chooses and vice versa.

Now, while we must acknowledge God's sovereignty, the Scriptures also demonstrate that God is not a capricious God. While He often works in unconventional ways, He is not a God of disorder. As far as we can understand, God works everything for His glory, that is, in such a way that all creation might know that He alone is God. 

In keeping with displaying His glory to the greatest degree, God does not destroy Pharaoh and Egypt right away. This is why we read in Exodus 9:15-16,

For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 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.

So, God chooses to extend the stay of "vessels prepared for destruction," namely, Pharaoh and Egypt, so that He might display His power through their slow and protracted judgment and destruction. Paul writes about this in Romans 9:22-23,

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory.

Paul gives us the two-fold purpose of why God allows those "prepared for destruction" to persist on the earth. First, it is to display His wrath and power through them. Rather than wipe them out all at once, He would use them for His purposes, whether by hardening their hearts or judging them with a protracted series of plagues. In so doing, people would be amazed with every escalating judgment. God will do this again in the last days, for in the book of Revelation, every series of judgments, from the seal judgments to the trumpets to the bowls, increases in intensity and breadth of destruction. 

Second, it is to contrast "the objects of wrath" with "the objects of mercy," to contrast those "prepared (or perhaps "prepared themselves") for destruction" with those "whom He prepared in advance for glory." In other words, the salvation of the Israelites would be that much more glorious against the backdrop of the many plagues, the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, and the later climactic destruction of the Egyptian army through the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea.

So, whether in God's protracted judgment of those destined for wrath or God's gracious deliverance of those chosen for mercy, the end is God's glory. God is glorified in both judgment and mercy. 

Finally, some have appreciated the thought-provoking questions that I throw out from time to time. Here's another one: "While it is clear that God has chosen some for salvation, is it equally valid to say that God has chosen the rest for condemnation?"

Those of you, who have spoken to me or read my other comments will probably know my answer to this; however, I would like to know how you would respond to this question. 

600,000 thousand men,  that's a lot of people! Assuming an equal amount of women, then that's 1.2 million men and women. If we add children and the elderly, then likely over 2 million total polulation. I just can't imagine seeing 2 million people walking out of Egypt, it's an incomprehensible amount.

Friends,

Did you notice how Pharaoh tried to grant Moses' request but with conditions? He would tell him that they could go, but they needed to stay near. Or else, he would tell them just the men could go. After this, that only the people could go, but that they should leave their livestock. Pharaoh tried to be partially obedient, even mostly obedient, but not completely obedient. As a result, more plagues came upon Egypt.

Remember King Saul, the first king of Israel? God commanded him to destroy all of the Amalekites and everything of theirs, but Saul allowed the king to live and kept some of the best cattle. Later, when Samuel confronted him, Saul argued that he wanted to offer the cattle as a sacrifice to the LORD. This prompted the famous words of Samuel, "God desires obedience rather than sacrifice" (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22). Because of Saul's only partial obedience, the kingdom was taken away from him.

Today, how many of us partially obey the Lord? How many serve God only with part of our hearts? Part of our passion? Part of our money? Part of our time? How many of us pick and choose what part of Scripture we will agree with and which part we will follow? Consider another famous verse, namely, God's encouraging charge to Joshua in Joshua 1:8,

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

I know that a number of you have committed to read the Bible every day, even to share and encourage each other every day. Praise God! I know of nothing better in this life. Like Mary at the foot of Jesus listening intently, you  have chosen that one most important thing, the best thing, and by God's grace it will not be taken away from you.

Now that you are doing this, I would encourage you to highly esteem what you read, and as the Spirit is teaching you, to put into practice what you are reading, never being satisfied until you are completely obedient in every way to everything the Lord commands in His Word. God takes no pleasure in those that draw back in their faith and obedience to Him (cf. Hebrews 10:38). But I have yet to meet a person, who in humility and devotion eagerly reads God's Word, who is not also ardently seeking to live in obedience to Him. But for this, I do not credit such a person, but the grace of God that mysteriously and powerfully works through His Word by His Spirit.