Exodus 7-38

Let's talk about the plagues.

Exodus 7:14-12:30 details the ten plagues that God sent to Egypt to let his people go. And it's obvious that Pharaoh is the villain of the piece; he enslaved these people and refuses to let them go, no matter what! Isn't it obvious that God is super-powerful and will stop at nothing to get His people free? Really, Pharaoh, aren't you just being a dick by clinging stubbornly to this power?

And for the first few plagues, you would be right. Pharaoh's heart is hard, and he refuses to budge. Although God knew that he wouldn't, so i guess He was just sending the plagues to punish the Egyptians for mistreating his people, or to show off his power, or something? Anyway.

After the sixth plague (boils), things shift a little. Exodus 9:12 says, "But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses." The Lord hardened his heart. We see the same thing after the eighth plague (locusts) and the ninth plague (darkness), and after the seventh plague we see that God still knew that Pharaoh would not change his mind. God and Pharaoh are in a stand-off, and God is cheating.

The last plague is the death of every firstborn child in Egypt. Pharaoh's firstborn son, the firstborn son of the peasants, even the firstborn animals of the livestock. God sends an angel to kill children, and He does so after intentionally ramping up the stakes again and again.

Hebrews tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that He could work greater and greater signs and miracles, and thereby prove His greatness and bring glory to His name. Now, intellectually i'm totally okay with this. If God is the all-powerful ruler of the universe who brought me into this world, He has every right to do whatever He wants with my life, including end it, just because He wants to.

But i don't want to hang out with a God like that. I don't like that God. And i don't know what else to say about that.