Exodus 10: On the Palm of God's Hand, Even Stubbornness Becomes Material for Salvation
Exodus 10: On the Palm of God's Hand, Even Stubbornness Becomes Material for Salvation
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them... that you may know that I am the LORD.'" (Exodus 10:1-2, NIV)
The author of Exodus casts two perspectives simultaneously here. One is an ethical lesson that we should not be proud like Pharaoh, and the other is a theological declaration that even Pharaoh's pride is under God's thorough control. At first glance, these two seem contradictory. It is a mystery difficult for our reason to readily accept that God holds humans accountable while simultaneously governing their hearts.
However, this paradoxical tension starkly reveals both the possibilities and limitations of human existence. Humans possess the tragic possibility of being able to discern right from wrong, yet ultimately choosing not to do what is right. Pharaoh's figure—understanding the cause of the plagues intellectually but rushing toward destruction behaviorally—reflects the inner akrasia within us all, where we think but fail to act. Ultimately, all humans are performing a kind of role-play on the palm of God's vast hand. Even if this view is criticized for treating humans like robots, we cannot deny that on the stage of God's absolute sovereignty, Pharaoh and Moses are essentially the same kind of human beings, differing only in their assigned roles.
Why did God specifically complete ten plagues? It was because, in God's sight, this was the most appropriate tov (good) in a paradoxical sense—to reveal human sinfulness and proclaim His glory. While Pharaoh's endurance through ten plagues is remarkable, the disobedience shown by the Israelites in the wilderness after the Exodus was equally remarkable. Through this we realize: humans possess tremendous willpower, but without God's control (grace), they can only direct that energy toward their own destruction.
I believe that Israel, like Adam or Christ, is merely a "representation" in salvation history, and that God's unforsaking covenant extends beyond Israel toward all creation. The ultimate purpose of the plague miracles that God sought to demonstrate, even by casting Pharaoh as the antagonist, is not someone's destruction but cosmic restoration—that all the world might "know that I am the LORD."
No human stubbornness, no historical tragedy, can escape God's hand. Our human possibility excels at committing sin, but God's possibility excels at using even that sin as material for salvation. Therefore, we should rejoice in being contained within God's control tower. For His sovereign grip is the only safety mechanism that guides our precarious selves toward eternal life.