Whoever among Pharaoh's servants feared the word of the Lord hurried his slaves and livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and livestock in the field (a paraphrase of Exodus 9:20–21).

What amazes me is not that some of Pharaoh's servants feared the word of the Lord, but that any remained who did not. After the astonishing and terrible plagues that preceded this announcement of unprecedented hail, who would risk it?

Perhaps some went around giving naturalistic explanations for all the plagues. That is well and good, but the credibility and authority of one who predicted the future with complete accuracy is quite different from someone who explains things after the fact. Moses spoke, and it happened — whether to start or to stop a calamity. He was even accurate as to its exact nature and timing. He was a true prophet of God.

In fact, through Moses God established the rule for evaluating all prophets:

1. What they prophesy must come true! Moses tells Israel that when a prophet speaks in the Lord's name and the word does not come to pass, the Lord has not spoken it; the prophet has spoken presumptuously, and they need not fear him — and the prophet who presumes to speak what God has not commanded, or speaks in the name of other gods, shall die (a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 18:20–22).

2. What they prophesy must agree with what God has already revealed about Himself! If a prophet or dreamer gives a sign or wonder that comes to pass, and then says, "Let us go after other gods," Israel must not listen, and that prophet is to be put to death for teaching rebellion against the Lord (a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 13:1–5).

In both cases, if someone declared himself a prophet of God, yet his prophecies did not come true or did not line up with Scripture, he was to be put to death. Clearly this would have discouraged anyone from presumptuously declaring himself a prophet or claiming a word from the Lord.

Yet today, friends, I believe many go around presenting themselves as prophets of God whose predictions are about as accurate as a coin toss, and who play on the heartstrings of people who long for special signs and ecstatic experiences. In my view they fail both tests of a true prophet — and even change the rules to suit themselves.

What is most needed today is discernment — and perhaps, after that, discipline. The trouble is that the lines of truth and morality are so blurred. I imagine this has happened because Christians know their Bibles less than ever. As a result, they make judgments not on the basis of a clear perception of truth but on their feelings or a leader's popularity.

Friends, stay in God's Word daily and pray for discernment, so that you will not be caught up in the deceptive winds that plague our generation.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Exodus 9:20 is a small verse with large significance: it is the first time any Egyptians are described as fearing the word of the Lord. The plagues were not only judgments but revelations — God repeatedly says their purpose is "that you may know that I am the Lord" (7:17; 8:22; 9:14, 29), and some in Pharaoh's court began to take that seriously. Later, when Israel left Egypt, "a mixed multitude also went up with them" (12:38), suggesting that some Egyptians and others cast their lot with Israel's God. Even in judgment, God was making Himself known to the nations.

The two tests of a prophet the comment draws from Deuteronomy are important, and the second is perhaps the more searching. Deuteronomy 13 anticipates that a false prophet's sign might actually come true, and yet the prophet must be rejected if he leads people away from the Lord — because God may permit it as a test, "to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart" (13:3). Accuracy alone is not the final test; faithfulness to God's revealed character is. Jesus echoed this when He warned that false prophets would perform "great signs and wonders" (Matthew 24:24) and that some who prophesied in His name He never knew (7:22–23). On the question of prophecy today, Christians differ; see #1799 and #1843.

For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth. But, indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth (Exodus 9:15–16).

Here is the answer to the question of why God did not immediately wipe out the Egyptians, of why He extended their judgment with numerous plagues. He did this to show His power. This also gives sense to what might seem like a perplexing explanation from Paul:

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— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:22–24).

In other words, even though God is willing and ready to judge "the objects of His wrath", He sometimes delays this judgment on them so that He might "make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy." The righteous suffer more so that they might appreciate their deliverance more. The wicked endure for longer so that God might show more of His power through them.

Isn't this exactly what He did in Egypt? God delayed His judgment on the pagan Egyptians so that He might show the greatness of His deliverance to the Jews, as well as His power to the Egyptians, Pharaoh and the rest of the world.

In the first passage cited above, God says that He could have wiped out the Egyptians, but He "allowed them to remain" alive so that He might show them His power and in order that He might give witness to His mighty Name before an onlooking world.

Is there a lesson here? God wanted His power to be known. God wanted His Name to be proclaimed. This was true in the OT and it will be true in the NT. One of the primary reasons Jesus came was to make the Father known:

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (John 1:18).

Jesus also told His disciples, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (John 20:21). This commission to Jesus' disciples extends to us today, as we continue to declare God's Name and His great salvation to our generation.

AI-Expanded Reflection

Exodus 9:15–16 explains that the prolonged confrontation is not evidence that God lacks the power to end it. Pharaoh has been permitted to remain while the Lord’s power is displayed and his name is proclaimed. The distinction between inability and purposeful restraint is central to the passage. The ruler who repeatedly refuses Moses does not thereby become the final authority over the story’s duration or outcome.

The original connects this with Romans 9:22–24, where Paul speaks of patience toward objects of wrath and the disclosure of glory to objects of mercy. The connection is appropriate within Paul’s own use of Pharaoh in the preceding verses. Yet Paul’s language should not be reduced to the idea that the righteous suffer simply so they will appreciate rescue more. Suffering may deepen appreciation, but that psychological effect is not the complete explanation supplied by either passage. The texts concern judgment, mercy, power, and the worldwide acknowledgment of God.

The surrounding plague narrative also shows that the display is communicative. Before the hail, those among Pharaoh’s officials who fear the Lord’s word bring their servants and livestock to shelter, while others leave them exposed (Exodus 9:20–21). The warning calls for a response and distinguishes people within Egypt. This detail prevents the episode from becoming a story about an undifferentiated population with no meaningful encounter with the announced word. God’s name is made known through warnings as well as through the event that follows.

Exodus also emphasizes Israel’s knowledge of the Lord. The deliverance is to be remembered and told to later generations, so its significance extends beyond those who first witness the plagues. The repeated acts expose the fragility of Pharaoh’s claims and form a community whose identity rests in the God who brings it out of bondage. Remembering divine power is thus connected with future worship and obedience, not merely admiration for a spectacular past.

John 1:18 brings the theme of making God known to its fullest Christian center in the Son. The revelation of God cannot be confined to overwhelming acts of judgment; it includes the life, words, death, and resurrection of Jesus. John 20:21 then places the disciples’ sending in relation to the Father’s sending of the Son. Their witness is shaped by the one who sends them, including his truthfulness, compassion, and sacrificial love.

The practical application is to bear witness to God’s character with the same care given to announcing his power. We should not presume to identify the hidden purpose of every delayed judgment or personal hardship. We can, however, tell truthfully what God has made known in Scripture and what Christ has accomplished. Patience with unanswered questions, mercy toward those in need, and faithful proclamation belong together. God’s name is honored when his people speak of him accurately and live in a way consistent with the Savior they proclaim.

Do you ever notice that the things happening in daily life, when you're ignoring God, are sometimes meant to turn your eyes back to Him? In Egyptian religion, Pharaoh was himself a god, divinely appointed by birthright. But here Pharaoh comes up against the one God, and he will not win.

At first the plagues seem harmless enough — they don't much affect the economy, morale, or ego of Egypt, but they strike at the needs of the people. When the Nile turned to blood, it hit their main source of drinking water and irrigation. The frogs struck at the Egyptian household. Boils, flies, and lice struck at sanitation and health. When the livestock became diseased, it cut at their way of life — the Egyptians were farmers, and livestock and agriculture were their livelihood. The Lord also began to demonstrate that He was protecting the Hebrews, and that His hand was over them.

The seventh plague of hail, with fire, struck at their economy — mainly barley and flax, and fruits and vegetables. All of this happens so that God reveals a little more of Himself to Pharaoh directly, and so that Egypt would know the land was not Pharaoh's but God's. God makes clear that the only reason Pharaoh was in power was so that God could show how much greater He was. By refusing to let them go, or by negotiating the terms on which they could leave, Pharaoh was trying to demonstrate his own power — and the more he negotiated, the worse it got.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The escalating structure this comment traces is well observed, and the targeting is more specific than economic damage alone. Exodus itself supplies the interpretive key: God says He will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12). Read against Egyptian religion, the sequence reads as a systematic dismantling — the Nile was divinized, the frog associated with a fertility goddess, cattle with sacred bulls and cow-headed deities, the sun with the chief god of the pantheon, and Pharaoh's own son the next divine link in the royal line.

That reframes what the contest is about. It is not a demonstration of superior force against a stubborn king, but a point-by-point demonstration that each thing Egypt had credited with power over life was powerless. The comment's observation that Pharaoh kept negotiating is the human dimension of the same theme: what he is defending in each round is less his workforce than the premise that he has standing to negotiate at all.

"The Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts."

Seeing Egypt's magicians replicate Moses's signs shows exactly why discernment is essential to Christian living. Plenty of people today perform apparently miraculous signs, prophesy, heal, even claim to raise the dead — but are all of these genuinely from the Lord? Many claim God gave them these "gifts," but honestly, I question whether that's always true. As we approach the end times, I expect more and more false prophets to appear, and I worry many Christians won't be able to discern the difference when wolves come dressed as sheep.

Jesus warns to watch out for false prophets, who come in sheep's clothing but are ferocious wolves underneath — recognized by their fruit, since a good tree can't bear bad fruit and a bad tree can't bear good fruit, with every fruitless tree eventually cut down and burned. Not everyone who calls Him "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the Father's will — many will claim on that day to have prophesied, driven out demons, and performed miracles in His name, only to be told plainly that He never knew them, and to depart as evildoers (a paraphrase of Matthew 7:15–23).

It isn't the person performing miraculous signs, but the person doing God's actual will — whether or not signs accompany it — who is truly His child. Egypt's magicians could perform miraculous signs too, but it was Moses who was doing God's will.

We're all familiar with the phrase "to obey is better than sacrifice" — similarly, Lord, help us obey You more than chase after miraculous signs and wonders.

AI-Expanded Reflection

The magicians' limits are worth noting alongside their imitation abilities, since the narrative doesn't let their success run unchecked — by the third plague, they're already unable to replicate what Moses does, telling Pharaoh directly that "this is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:18–19). Their power to imitate was real but had a clear ceiling, distinguishing genuine divine authority from clever counterfeit fairly quickly once the signs grew demanding enough. That's a useful, textually-grounded encouragement for this comment's own concern about discernment in the last days — counterfeits can genuinely mimic real power for a while, but Scripture's own pattern suggests imitation eventually reaches limits the real thing doesn't.

Friends, what a foreboding passage of Scripture this is. Like Judas Iscariot, born into the world to become "the son of perdition" and betray the Lord Jesus (cf. John 17:12; Acts 4:27–28), Pharaoh too was born into the world to harden his heart and be destroyed, so God's deliverance could be shown all the greater. As Proverbs teaches, the king's heart is like a stream of water in the LORD's hand, turned wherever He wishes (a paraphrase of Proverbs 21:1) — exactly the principle exemplified in Pharaoh, whom God says He raised up specifically to display His power and make His name known across the earth (a paraphrase of Exodus 9:16). Could God have arranged things differently, without using Pharaoh and Egypt this way? Certainly — but He didn't. Was God wrong to harden Pharaoh's heart for His own glory before the watching world? If you'd say so, consider this: would you say it was wrong for God to place the eternal judgment of an entire world of sinners onto the shoulders of the single most innocent person who ever lived? Before judging by merely human standards, consider Paul's own argument.

Paul cites this very text to teach on God's sovereign will — God has mercy on whom He wills, and hardens whom He wills (a paraphrase of Romans 9:18). Some might object that this seems unfair (cf. Romans 9:19), but as Paul explains, we can't apply the same standard of fairness to God that we apply to each other, since He's the Creator and we're His creation. As Creator, He can do as He chooses with what He's made — only human pride would deny Him that right. He has the right to save, and the right to destroy. This is also why God can justly take the lives of children under His own direct judgment (as with the children of Canaan, or the Amalekites in Saul's day), while we as human beings cannot — the distinction lies entirely between Creator and creature, between Lawgiver and those subject to the Law (cf. James 4:12).

Scripture teaches that God has subjected everyone to disobedience, precisely so that in the end He couldn't be called unjust for saving some and judging others (a paraphrase of Romans 11:32; cf. 3:9, 19, 23, 26) — since everyone deserves judgment, there's no injustice in judging some, or even most. But God shows remarkable generosity toward the few He graciously chooses to save (cf. Matthew 20:1–16 and its lesson about the landowner's generosity). It's for the sake of His own purposes that He doesn't immediately destroy those "prepared for destruction" in the present age (cf. Romans 9:22–23; Exodus 9:16) — God is glorified through both the righteous and the wicked, both the saved and the condemned. This is also why God didn't wipe out all of Egypt with a single plague (cf. Exodus 9:15–17) — He wanted to demonstrate His power to those being judged, those being delivered, and the watching world alike, through an extended series of "great and mighty" acts of judgment.

So what's the proper response for us? Not to join hands with the ignorant and perishing in declaring God unfair, but to serve Him with fear and trembling, always acknowledging that we too stand among the saved not because of anything good in us — neither our works nor even our faith — but entirely and completely because of God's own grace. As for exactly why God chooses to save one person and not another, that remains a mystery beyond our full understanding, and all we can do is declare with Paul the depth of God's wisdom and knowledge, His unsearchable judgments and untraceable ways — since everything is from Him, through Him, and to Him, to whom belongs all glory forever (a paraphrase of Romans 11:33–36).

AI-Expanded Reflection

As with several similar comments elsewhere in this collection, it's worth stating plainly that this argument represents one serious, historic position within a genuinely contested Christian debate over divine sovereignty and human responsibility — many careful readers of Romans 9 read Paul's argument about Pharaoh's hardening as describing God working through, rather than unilaterally determining apart from, Pharaoh's own repeated choices (Exodus itself records Pharaoh hardening his own heart in several instances before God's hardening is mentioned, e.g., Exodus 8:15, 32). Whatever position one reaches on that specific mechanics question, this comment's closing posture — humility, gratitude for grace rather than confidence in one's own worthiness, and acknowledgment that God's precise reasons remain genuinely beyond full human comprehension — is one virtually all Christian traditions would affirm together, regardless of how they resolve the harder theological question underneath it.