Our passage this morning provided another one of those "wait a minute?" kinds of responses. We've seen them before; how could cattle be killed in by the hail when God wiped out the cattle in a previous wonder? A three days journey in the wilderness? I thought God was bringing his people out of Egypt permanently.
At the end of chapter 10, in the tense scene between Pharaoh and Moses, Pharaoh said that he would kill Moses the next time Moses showed his face in the palace again. Even Moses said, "As you say! I will not see your face again." But in chapter 11, Moses warns Pharaoh of the coming wonder. What does this mean?
There are a couple of ways to understand this: 1) While Moses and Pharaoh had a moment of anger saying they wouldn't see each other again, they really didn't mean it. Or the need to meet again because of the coming trouble super ceded their previous "threats." 2) Another explanation could be that Moses warned Pharaoh of this last wonder before he left in chapter 10; a kind of "oh, by the way, before I got know this...."
Clearly, the author of Exodus isn't concerned about this like we are so its something we have to live with. I like the 2nd option, but ultimately, it doesn't change the overall story; God's bringing deliverance through the execution of judgment.
What else are you picking up or seeing Chapter 11?
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