Context No. 2798 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 10:1-6: in context

1The LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; 2and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am the LORD.” 3Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. 6Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

God sends Moses back to Pharaoh and says something hard to hear: I have hardened his heart and his servants' hearts, so that I may work my signs among them, and so that you may tell your children and grandchildren what I did in Egypt, that you may know I am the LORD. Then the demand through Moses: how long will you refuse to humble yourself? Let my people go, or tomorrow locusts will bury the land.

The hardening is a real difficulty, and Scripture sets it right alongside Pharaoh's own stubborn refusals; both are true, and the text does not tidy up the mystery for us. But notice the stated aim. It is not cruelty for its own sake. It is that a story of rescue would be told from parent to child down the generations, that a whole people would come to know their God. Even the severe strokes of God's dealing are pointed toward a memory handed on, toward children who know who the LORD is.

What story of God's faithfulness am I passing on, and am I living now in a way my children could one day tell?

Sources

Exodus 10:2: "That you may tell in the hearing of your son... what things I have done to Egypt... that you may know that I am the LORD."
Romans 9:17: "For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be published abroad."
Psalm 78:4: "We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD."