We are moving into chapter seven of Exodus with our word for today. נָתַן give, hand down, set, place, lay, put, prove. It is used 1,993 times in the Old Testament. In our chapter today our word is used by Pharaoh who wants proof. He literally wants a miracle put right in front of him so he can see it. Exodus 7:8-10 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, תְּנ֥וּ ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
He wants proof that this so called God is actually real. We have seen before that Pharaoh was mocking God saying I don’t know the LORD or YHWH or reality nor will I let you go. As we have seen earlier that those who don’t know God think worship is a waste of your time and theirs. I like how the prayer in Nehemiah summarizes what will be happening very soon. Pharaoh wants to see some action and he gets more than he bargained for. Nehemiah 9:9-11 You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea. You וַ֠תִּתֵּן sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name for yourself, which remains to this day. You have got to love how God calls himself I Am or Reality. I’m the one that makes my will reality. Pharaoh will be humbled because God shows up in a huge way and silences his mocking. We see this theme of people demanding proof or a miracle set in front of them but they come at God with unbelief already in their heart. They don’t really want evidence they just want to mock God and God’s people. The religious leaders also come to Jesus already with unbelief in their hearts. Matthew 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” We see the same thing when Jesus is before King Herod. Luke 23:6-11.
To these and the many other unbelievers Jesus gives them no miracle because they don’t want evidence they have already made up their mind because they love something other than God that is blinding them to the evidence God has already given them. Jesus spells this out very clearly in John. John 3:18-21 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. The good news is that if we come to God with belief seeing the evidence he has already put around us every day God will draw us to himself. I’ll close with this great passage of the power of the good news of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
