Expert: Rev C.Brian Ross - 6/22/2009

Question
God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go, but I will harden his heart and he will not let my people go. My question is, why did Moses kept on going back to Pharaoh and saying god said let his people go when he knew he was not going to go. This made Moses look like a fool.

Answer
Dear Chuck,
Thank you for your question – one that has, I suspect, been asked by many before you!

To begin, I would wish to point out that we tend to view events from the standpoint of time.  This means that we look back to the past; look at the present; and look forward to the future.  This is a linear progression, and is as much as our mortal minds can comprehend.  However, it confuses the issue as we tend to think of God as being caught up in the same linear time – sitting before the beginning of time planning everything from the fall of Adam and Eve, to the victory of David over Goliath, to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead; to me sitting at my computer typing up this answer!  

The reality, of course, is that God is outside time, in a dimension that we are unable to even imagine, still less understand!  As such, He sees all of our time instantaneously!  Mind-blowing, isn’t it?!
Now, back to a more specific attempt to answer your question.  I would suggest that Moses was simply being obedient to God’s command – a valuable lesson for many of us when we are instructed to do that which we do not understand, or that we believe to be foolish.  God did not harden the heart of the Pharaoh AGAINST THE PHARAOH’S WILL.  However, in His infinite wisdom, He was demonstrating to both the Egyptians, and to His own chosen people, that:
1.   He is God.  To the Egyptians, the Pharaoh was considered to be divine.  YHWH showed that the Pharaoh was as nothing before His mighty power.  The Hebrews needed to be convinced of this power as well, otherwise they might have chosen not to leave Egypt – which did have its attractions, in spite of their enslavement, and the cruel treatment meted out to them (cf.Ex.16:2ff.; Num.11:5)  It is also worth noting that, according to the prophet Ezekiel, some of the Hebrews had taken to worshipping Egyptian idols (20:1-09), and this had to be dealt with as well.
2.   He is Judge.  The ensuing miracles and plagues were YHWH’s way of judging the false deities of Egypt, and thus bring the Egyptians to the place at which the Pharaoh would, indeed, let the Lord’s people go, and the Egyptians would give them material wealth – which helped to ‘reimburse’ them for the 450 years (app.) of enslavement that they, and their forefathers, had suffered.

As I read over this, I am aware that Moses’ obedience is probably as much as is needed!   However, I trust that what I have offered to you will prove to be helpful.  Please feel free to come back with a supplementary if you require further clarification.

Blessings

C.Brian Ross (Rev)