7 takeaways from this study

As the Exodus unfolds, Pharaoh’s once-iron will begins to bend. In desperation, he tries to strike a bargain with God. It seems almost laughable — humanity attempting to negotiate with the One who owns everything and owes us nothing.

Pharaoh knows that the Israelites leaving Egypt would create problems for the Egyptian culture and economy, whether the Israelites were gone for a few days or forever. He is still trying to maintain control of the situation. We, however, know Who is in control at all times — God. Pharaoh believed that the one in control is the one with the biggest stick, the most money, and the greatest earthly power.

When we think with a fleshly mind, we work hard to control our own lives and even the lives of our children. But when we think with a God-centered mind, we understand that we have very little control over life’s events. We can control our own actions, but we cannot control the actions of others.

Pharaoh began his negotiation by offering to allow the Israelites to perform their sacrifices within the territory of Egypt.

False gods are appeased by tokens of obedience and token offerings, but God is not one to be appeased. God expects us to conduct ourselves according to a high standard and demands obedience, not appeasement.

There are a few examples of humans negotiating with God, but they are limited in scope. One example that comes to mind is Lot negotiating with the angel to spare a small city near Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction. Lot did not make this request to control the angels or to usurp God’s judgment; he was trying to save lives.

We see something similar in Abraham’s negotiation with God prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham’s negotiation was successful because his motive was to save human life, not to gain power for himself.

Pharaoh, on the other hand, negotiated not to save lives but to preserve his own power and maintain control over others.

Pharaoh attempted to negotiate with Moses several times. Moses pointed out the flaws in his offers—first by noting that making sacrifices in Egypt would cause the Egyptians to persecute them. Then Pharaoh tried to retain control by allowing them to make sacrifices but not to go very far.

God, however, was not willing to negotiate. He continued to strip away more and more of Pharaoh’s leverage.

During the plague of hail, God, for the first time, gave the people of Egypt an opportunity to mitigate the effects of the plague. He told them that if they brought their livestock into their homes, the animals would survive and remain safe. The Egyptians were thus given a choice: to express some faith in God by obeying Moses’ warning or to ignore it and suffer the consequences.

The apostle Paul tells us that our ultimate battle is against the “principalities of the air.” Egypt, like all nations, was subject to these principalities. The Egyptians worshiped many demonic entities, and God’s defeat of particular demons created, in a sense, a power vacuum. As the people lost faith in one demon, they would place their faith in another. These events also served as a warning to the demonic realm, which wondered if God would strike them next.

The demons began to work on Pharaoh’s heart—to soften him and persuade him to capitulate to God’s demands—not to save the people of Egypt, but to preserve their access to the people’s worship. This is when God supernaturally hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God would not allow the demons to escape the consequences so easily.

Pharaoh knew what he needed to do, but his desires conflicted with his understanding of what was right. Both Pharaoh and the demonic powers behind him were trying to save themselves from God’s judgment, creating a tug-of-war that we are witnessing in the text.

In Isaiah 34, we read about God’s orchestrated destruction of Edom, just as He had systematically destroyed Egypt many generations earlier. God set events in motion to bring about Edom’s downfall in a methodical manner.

“And He will stretch over it the line of desolation And the plumb line of emptiness.”

Plumb lines are tools used to create perfectly straight and strong walls, but here God says that He will use the plumb line not to build a wall, but to destroy it.

God’s actions in the Exodus did not move the Egyptians from the worship of demons to the true and pure worship of God, but they did weaken the influence of the priests and magicians of Egypt and altered the orientation of their worship.

God’s destruction of Edom was perfect and complete. He erased them from history, and by A.D. 135, they were gone—eliminated through war and ethnic cleansing. This process began with the Babylonians around 586 B.C.

When the Jews returned to the Holy Land after the Babylonian Exile, they forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism, and the two groups intermarried. From that time forward, the Edomites fought alongside the Jews in various battles and wars, and by the time of the Roman wars, the Edomites no longer existed as a distinct nation.

God used His divine power to crush and destroy Edom as a separate nation, while at the same time using His divine power to preserve the Jewish people. He did not use genocide to eradicate the Edomites; there are still people in the world today who are descendants of Esau (Edom), but they are no longer identifiable as a distinct people. They were absorbed into the Jewish people and surrounding nations.

Why did God do this? Obadiah 1 explains the reasons God chose to punish the people of Edom so completely.

“Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Pharaoh considered himself a god and exercised power, oppressing others as though it were his divine right. Esau was a godless man who taught his descendants to be godless as well and to have no fear of God. Esau lived for himself, thinking only of his own pleasure and power. He exercised that power in the same selfish manner as Pharaoh.

Pharaoh’s attempts to maintain his power and control were futile, as God wanted Pharaoh to understand that he had no real power and nothing of value to negotiate with God.

God wiped out the Edomites as a nation — not through genocide, but for the sake of their ancestor Abraham, He orchestrated world events so that they were absorbed into the Jewish nation. Esau sought pleasure and control, and in the end, lost both. When the Apostle Paul says that Esau’s heart had no room for repentance, it was because his remorse was short-lived. He preferred to wallow in anger and fantasies of revenge against his brother instead.

God didn’t wipe out the Egyptians the way He did the Edomites because, unlike Edom, the Egyptians (outside of Pharaoh himself) showed some fear and recognition of God’s power. Pharaoh’s advisors and some Egyptians acknowledged, respected, and even feared God, while Edom remained totally godless and violent. Edom’s destruction was total because of their persistent hostility and lack of repentance, whereas Egypt’s people showed at least some openness to God, so they were not completely wiped out.

God will listen to us when we “negotiate” with Him to save lives, but He will not negotiate with us to increase our power, influence, or wealth. When we pray to God, our focus should be on saving the physical and spiritual lives of others.

God is the One who loves mankind, and everything He does is for our good. The false gods neither love humanity nor desire what is best for it. The Pharaoh of Egypt and the Edomites became like the demons and false gods they worshiped. This is why God had to humble them — and, in some cases, even wipe them out.

Pharaoh tried to bargain with God, and Esau lived as though he didn’t need Him. Both lost everything in their pride. God does not negotiate for our power or comfort — only for our repentance and mercy toward others. When we humble ourselves and seek His will, He restores what arrogance destroys.

Summary: Tammy