Exodus 10:1-11

Pharaoh Still Refuses to Submit

Exodus 10:1

Pharaoh was capable of being a noble and glorious soul, through which God might have shown forth all His power and glory, Exodus 9:16. But he refused, and the profanation of the best made him the worst. There is a crisis in every soul-history up to which God's methods appear likely to turn the proud to Himself; but if that is passed, those methods seem only to harden. Just as in winter the thaw of the noon makes harder ice during the night; so, if the love of God fails to soften, it hardens. In this sense God seemed to harden Pharaoh's heart. The real conflict lay with his stubborn will, which would not yield, Exodus 10:3; although his servants advised him to let the people go, Exodus 10:7. The only result was that the king recalled the Hebrew leaders and made another effort at compromise-“Go now ye that are men. ” The children are always the key to the situation.