Exodus 9:4 And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle fo Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.
Don’t Let God’s Mercy Be Your Judgment
Pharaoh was ignorant of God because he was arrogant against God. What he did not know about God was based on what he thought of himself. In Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh rather arrogantly says, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” Much of the rest of the next few chapters are all an answer to that question from this arrogant king.
In Exodus 9 God sent plagues on Egypt. Each plague was in context and answered to an individual Egyptian God. It was an attack against the gods that Pharaoh and the others of Egypt had trusted. It was also in context as much as the first verse says, “The LORD God of the Hebrews.” Who is this God who is talking to Pharaoh? It is the Lord God of the Hebrews, the God of the people of Israel.
So, God answered Pharaoh in judgment and in the context of Pharaoh’s false gods. In this chapter, we read about a plague that God sent upon all the animals of the Egyptians, the horrible boils that infected these people of Egypt, and a hail that was mixed with fire. The Bible says that God did all this so that the Egyptians would know that He was the all-powerful God of the Hebrews.
So, who is the Lord God? Is He merely a God of anger? Is He merely a God of mercy and grace? So many times we make our own god by constructing Jehovah as we wish Him to be. God is Who He is, and God reveals Himself to be Who He is, in some measure, depending on how we live before Him.
Was God showing Israel mercy or was God showing Egypt judgment in Exodus 9? The answer is “yes.” God’s judgment on Egypt was God’s mercy on Israel. There is a very important lesson here. Never put yourself in such a position that God must give judgment to you in order to give mercy to another. God was giving mercy to Israel by giving judgment on this implacable, intractable, arrogant, stubborn king Pharaoh.
Wherever you are, remember that God is Who He is. Make sure that you receive mercy from God by showing mercy to others. You can know God’s mercy today if you will show mercy, and you can show God’s grace if you will be humble.