QT 17 Mar 10

Ex 10:28-11:8 (NIV) Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die."

10:29 "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."

11:1 Now the Lord had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. . . ."

4 So Moses said, "This is what the Lord says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt — worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave." Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

NOTE: Both men were quite angry. God had given Moses instruction on the last plague prior to the meeting, so now he gives the last plague and leaves. Pharaoh was angry because his nation was destroyed and he was being forced to do something he did not want to do. Moses was angry because Pharaoh's hard-heartedness had ruined the nation, probably people that he knew previously and cared for when he served in the previous Pharaoh's court.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with being angry at God for a period of time. I believe it is a natural, human reaction to the pain in life. Jonah was angry at God, but he was not rejected. Moses, though not angry, used every excuse in the book to avoid doing what God called him to do. His description to his Father-in-law of the reason for his going to Egypt confirmed that he really didn't believe God at first. But God was patient with Moses, up unto the point where he refused to obey God, then his anger burned against Moses. So the problem is not anger toward God, but disobedience to what God has called us to do. Jonah was also disobedient and nearly lost his life for it. But Jonah's anger only brought about circumstances to teach him truth.

The message for us is to listen and obey. The consequences of disobedience are great. God can overlook doubt and anger, but he will not overlook for long disobedience.