Through Moses, God asks Pharaoh an incredible question: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?" Imagine being confronted by the God of the universe with a question like that! Imagine being the leader of a nation who was so full of pride that he would allow his people to suffer rather than to let go of his ego. The people of Egypt respected God; we know this because when the Israelites asked for their precious gold they freely gave it. By why couldn't Pharaoh ever submit? Sometimes I wonder if God asks us the same question: how long? How long will you refuse to go your own way? How long will you make poor decisions? How long will you avoid me? How long will you refuse to submit? When will you lay down your pride and humble yourself before God? As we see in this story, God will go to great lengths at times to get a person's attention. In this case, it took the deaths of thousands of people. Hopefully, in our lives, God will not have to resort to such measures.
I find it almost unbelievable that Pharaoh had the opportunity of getting the full wow effect of God’s wrath and still had the audacity to stare Moses in the face and say “I will not let your people go.” I wonder what modern day oppressors of God’s people would do if they experienced the wrath of God the way Pharaoh did. Wouldn’t that be great to witness? To hear these marvelous stories passed down from generation to generation each year during the Pass Over feast, it is no wonder that the Israelites where looking for a wrathful warrior instead of a peaceful baby.