He begins in a way which would never be taught in any Christian church and points out some obvious oddities about the story. Why didn't God just get the Israelites out through smiting all the Egyptians, blinding them while the Israelites escaped, or simply killing Pharaoh? Why did God go through the whole "Ten Plagues" thing at all? Fohrman quickly makes it clear that God was after much more than the freeing of the Israelite slaves; He wanted Pharaoh's heart. He wanted to show Pharaoh that He was a God above all other gods and give Pharaoh the opportunity to proclaim Him to the nations of the earth. He is the Creator/Father and we owe him both love and obedience. He is a God like nothing Pharaoh can even conceive.
Fohrman suggests God had a Plan A, "The Easy Way," Pharaoh consents and the off the Israelites go, a Plan B, "The Hard Way," in which Pharaoh, eventually convinced of his own free will, recognizes who God is and submits to His call, or Plan C, "God's Will Prevails Despite Pharaoh." All of the plans would convince Pharaoh of who God is and all would lead to the "birth" of God's first-born (bechor). But in both Plan A and Plan B, Pharaoh would, of his own free-will come to understand God's loving and providential character and respond in a moral fashion by freeing his slaves. In Plan C, Pharaoh would be forced to free God's people, but would never relent of his stubborn refusal to recognize the Creator/Father God.
The hardening of Pharaoh's heart begins early (Ex. 7:13). Moses and Aaron have just demonstrated their God-given ability to cast down their rods, which turn into snakes, and devour those of the Egyptian magicians. This should have been enough. The message was clear: One God to rule them all. But "Pharaoh's heart was hardened." Interestingly, Torah uses two Hebrew words for "harden." Chizuk halev refers to "strengthening" or giving yourself a pep-talk. This is what Pharaoh believes he is doing, strengthening his resolve to not listen to the prophets of Yahweh (YHVH). In the next verse, Scripture will reveal that God sees it as kibbud halev, simple stubbornness.
With each subsequent plague, God ups the ante. The first plague of water turning to blood is duplicated by Pharaoh's magicians. In Pharaoh's mind the ground rests on power and it's a tie. By stopping the plague of the frogs at a time of Pharaoh's choosing, God shows himself to be a God not only of power, but of precision. Pharaoh's Egyptian gods are capricious and random. In one overwhelmingly clear show, God reveals that he is both all-powerful AND precise. The plagues of gnats cannot be duplicated by Pharaoh's team and once again God demonstrates His power over all Egyptian gods. Yet Pharaoh, still believing he is in a power struggle chizuk halev's (courages) himself. In the fourth plague (known as either flies or wild animals) God not only says when, but where he will afflict the land. This level of precision is simply unknown in Pharaoh's world. As Pharaoh continues to strengthen his heart, God unleashed the plague of killing livestock. Yet this time God dictates the time, the place, and the ownership of the affected animals. This is an overwhelming show of godship in the ancient world. Pharaoh's only concern was to verify the precision of YHVH, while concluding with kibbud halev (stubborning) his heart. In the sixth plague of boils, God even takes out Pharaoh's magicians. No one can stand to support Pharaoh; he is all alone. Apparently this broke Pharaoh and God steps in to chizuk halev (courage) Pharaoh's heart. This hardening is often looked at as God forcing His will on Pharaoh. The opposite is true. God simply strengthens Pharaoh's heart to help him stay true to his own desire.
For the next plague, God makes clear to Moses that he is going hard after Pharaoh's heart (9:15, "so that you [Pharaoh] may know that there is none like me in all the earth"). When the seventh plague of hail, a supernatural mixture of fire and ice, hits Pharaoh crosses a line and makes the fatal decision to both kibbud halev (stubborn) his denial of the lordship of YHVH and chizuk halev (courage) his position. He courages his own stubbornness. In verse 27 Pharaoh finally gets it. YHVH is not one of many gods. He is THE God. He is Father; He creates and parents. Like any parent He deserves gratitude and love. He demands justice. For the 1st time Pharaoh sees the contest in terms of morality, not power. No longer "Might makes right, but "Right makes might"! Yet by verse 34 we see his willful and conscious choice to spit in the face of the one he knows to be creator God. Pharaoh is incorrigible.
This is where it shifts to Plan C. God will have his way despite Pharaoh. God hardens (chizuk halev) Pharaoh's heart and announces a new goal: the Israelites will KNOW He is God. In the Hebrew, God states in 10:2 that he will now "play with" Pharaoh, seeing as consent will never come. Chilling. In verse 3, God calls Pharaoh His "slave," intentionally pushing Pharaoh's last button. God knows this will cause Pharaoh, of his own free will, to retreat into his fortress of stubbornness. Pharaoh's grip on power is slipping as his servants beg him to call back Moses and Aaron to repent. Yet Moses twists the knife, allowing Pharaoh no face-saving way out, and contrasts the joy they anticipate in their feast to the Lord with Pharaohs total devastation. God used the completely free-will choice Pharaoh made to cling to his pride to harden his heart. Pharaoh thinks he is "winning" by denying God the recognition Pharaoh knows He deserves.
As the final plague, the death of the firstborn approaches, Israel celebrates the first Passover. This is the night they choose to become the bechor. They will slaughter an animal considered a god by the Egyptians and very publicly paint their door frame with the blood. There is no turning back. The blood is not for identifying whose house to "pass over;" God has already shown Himself more than capable of preserving His people. The blood is the very public acceptance of God's offer. This night, as they pass through a bloody opening, they will be "born again" as God's first born.
Although this part of the book fascinated me, the second half opens another door to understanding this text. As the Israelites prepare to depart, Ex. 14:4 states, "I will get glory over Pharaoh." Does the text indicated God will showboat in his victory. No. Rather Fohrman reminds the reader of an earlier Pharaoh and an earlier trek by the Israelites. He returns to the story of Joseph hundreds of years earlier. At the time of his brothers' betrayal, Joseph may have wondered why his father never came to rescue him. He had no idea that his father thought him dead and mourned for years over the loss. By the time Joseph is reunited with his family, he has made a close connection with his Pharaoh and it stands to reason that Jacob may have worried Joseph no longer considered him his father. When Jacob blesses Joseph's sons and calls them his very own, just before his death, he requests that Joseph carry his body back to the Promised Land. This is a tough ask as Joseph will have to basically declare his loyalty to his own family over his adopted Egyptian father. But Joseph does it, and the kind and loving Pharaoh, along with the whole nation, not only grieves the death of Jacob, he sends Joseph off with a retinue of soldiers and singers all praising the dead patriarch, the father. Then Joseph and his family return.
Fohrman posits that Plan A involved much the same thing. God asks Pharaoh to allow his people three days in the desert in order to see if Pharaoh was made of the same stuff as his ancestor (of course God knew and foretold from the beginning that Pharaoh would fail). Since ultimately God shifted into (what looks like from our perspective) Plan C, God would still have His glorious send-off. The army and the horses would still accompany the Israelites, but this time under duress. God would get his due. Only this time the Israelites did not return. Pharaoh lost everything. His intentional refusal to worship the God who created him led to his downfall.
Since God's original plan that Pharaoh would acknowledge His Lordship and proclaim Him to the world did not take place, Fohrman suggests there is still work to do. It is now our job to do what Pharaoh failed to do: Proclaim the name of the Lord.
