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Pharaoh’s Heart..
Background to Moses..
Act 7:18-23 Till another king arose, which knew not
Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtlely with our kindred, and
evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out
their young children, to the end they might not
live.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was
exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's
house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's
daughter took him up, and nourished him for
her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of
the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and
in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came
into his heart to visit his brethren the children of
Israel.
Moses was to be like a god to Pharaoh, but
Pharaoh had made himself the Sun god – Ra.
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Exo 7:1-5 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I
have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy
brother shall be thy prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and
Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that
he send the children of Israel out of his land.
3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply
my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I
may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth
mine armies, and my people the children of Israel,
out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the
LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon
Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from
among them.
Exactly 20 times it is recorded Pharaoh’s heart was
hardened.
Exo 7:13-14 And he hardened Pharaoh's heart,
that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD
had said.
14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's
heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
Exo 9:12 And the LORD hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the
LORD had spoken unto Moses.
How did God harden the heart of Pharaoh?
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Did Pharaoh have a choice?
Is this like
Calvinism, direct action of the Holy Spirit? Are
we going to resort to superstition?
Exo 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this
time also, neither would he let the people go.
Exo 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that
I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
Jehovah is not known to Pharaoh, his choice!
Exo 9:29-35 And Moses said unto him, As soon as
I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my
hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease,
neither shall there be any more hail; that thou
mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's.
30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye
will not yet fear the LORD God.
31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the
barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
32 But the wheat and the rye were not smitten: for
they were not grown up.
33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh,
and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and
the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not
poured upon the earth.
34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the
hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet
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more, and hardened his heart, he and his
servants.
35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither
would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD
had spoken by Moses.
Hearing the gospel, the good news hardened
Pharaoh’s heart… Men do likewise today on
hearing the gospel.
2Co 2:15-17 For we are unto God a sweet savor of
Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish:
16 To the one we are the savor of death unto death;
and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who
is sufficient for these things?
17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word
of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the
sight of God speak we in Christ.
The Roman Triumph.. Sweet smell of success to
the victors.. death to the loosers..
Rom 2:4-9 Or despisest thou the riches of his
goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?
5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart
treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of
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wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God;
6 Who will render to every man according to his
deeds:
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing
seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal
life:
8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not
obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath,
9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man
that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the
Gentile;
Heb 12:24-29 And to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaketh better things than that of Abel.
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if
they escaped not who refused him that spake on
earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn
away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he
hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not
the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the
removing of those things that are shaken, as of
things that are made, that those things which cannot
be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we
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may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Heb 3:15-19 While it is said, Today if ye will hear
his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation.
16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke:
howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was
it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses
fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom swore he that they should not
enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
19 So we see that they could not enter in because
of unbelief.
Let us believe and obey God…
Now to the Egyptain view of this…
Artapanus wrote that Pharaoh Palmanothes was
ruling when Moses was born. His daughter Merris
(meaning 'Beloved') adopted a Hebrew child whom
she called Mousos that became a Prince.
Artapanus states that Merris married Pharaoh
Khenephres, a Greek translation of the word
Kha'neferre which means 'Ra's glory shines on the
horizon'. The personal name for this Pharaoh was
Sobekhotep IV. Sobek was a crocodile-headed god
of the Egyptians, and Sobekhotep means 'Sobek is
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satisfied'. This Pharaoh was the 24th ruler of the
13th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom.
This is an interesting record from Artapanus. A
Pharaoh in the mid to late 13th Dynasty is what the
chronology presented above would suggest. But
there are two things that make this a more positive
identification of the Pharaoh to whom Moses
(Mousos) was a prince. First, the only other record
of a Kaneferra is a mention of this name on an
isolated fragment from the 10th Dynasty, and there
is no other evidence for this particular king. In any
case this is far too early, being in the Old Kingdom.
There is certainly no other Pharaoh with the thronename Kha'neferre in the Middle Kingdom, let alone
in the 13th Dynasty: it is unique. However, there is a
second point of key interest. Artapanus writes that
this Pharaoh appointed Prince Mousos to
administer the land on his behalf. Even more
importantly, Artapanus states that Prince Mousos
led a military campaign against the Ethiopians to
extend the frontiers of the Egyptian Empire into
Upper Nubia. The records available to us reveal
that, of all the Pharaohs of the 13th Dynasty,
Kha'neferre was the only one to launch such an
expedition. Indeed, a stela in the British Museum
tells of this 13th Dynasty Campaign into Nubia in
Kha'neferre's reign. The identification is therefore
certain. Artapanus knew what he was writing about.
The outcome of the Campaign was interesting.
According to Artapanus' understanding of ancient
sources, Mousos was victorious against the
Nubians. He extended Kha'neferre's jurisdiction at
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least 200 kilometres further south than any other
12th or 13th Dynasty ruler. This fact caused
Egyptologist J. H. Breasted to label Kha'neferre
(Sobekhotep IV) as the greatest Pharaoh of that
era. At Kerma, beyond the 3rd Cataract of the Nile,
a governor's residence was established to
administer the province with a statue of Kha'neferre
outside. Artapanus concludes his account by saying
that this victory brought Mousos such popularity that
Kha'neferre became jealous and forced Mousos to
flee to Arabia. Then, after Kha'neferre was dead,
Mousos returned to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
A Historical Cross-check
As the historical details are all correct as far as we
have them, we can only conclude that Artapanus is
correct about Mousos as well. This point can be
partly cross-checked. Around 300 AD in a work
called 'Evangelicae Preparationis' the Christian
historian Eusebius quoted from this account by
Artapanus, as did Clement in his 'Stromata'. Even
more importantly, the Jewish historian Josephus in
'Antiquities of the Jews' confirms the story of
Kha'neferre and Mousos with the Upper Nubian
War from other ancient sources, thereby giving it
unusual authority. This tends to confirm the
conclusion we arrived at from Biblical dating that
Moses (Mousos) was a 13th Dynasty figure, and the
Exodus must have occurred towards the close of
that Dynasty.
The Writings Of Ipuwer.
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Given this identification of the period that Moses
operated in, it is possible to extend the analysis
somewhat to cover other aspects of the topic. One
point is clear already from history. The 13th Dynasty
ended in a period of turmoil that closed the Middle
Kingdom and led to the 2nd Intermediate Period. It
is precisely from this setting that we have an
important Egyptian document that is still available
for examination in Leiden in the Netherlands. It is
called the 'Ipuwer Papyrus'. Incredibly, this
document provides support for the Plagues at the
time of the Exodus under Moses. Some of these
may be of interest:
The Plague of blood in Exodus 7:20 - 21 is
paralleled by 'Plague is throughout the land. Blood
is everywhere. ... The river is blood.' (Ipuwer 2:5 - 6,
10). The Plague of fire with hail in Exodus 9:23 - 24
has its counterpart in Ipuwer 2:10 where we find the
comment 'Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are
consumed by the fire.' This Plague also destroyed
the flax and barley (Exodus 9:31). Ipuwer comments
(5:12 and 6:3) that 'The land is given over to
weariness like the cutting of flax. ... Forsooth, grain
has perished on every side.' The Plague of
darkness (Exodus 10:22 - 23) evoke the comment
from Ipuwer that 'The land is not light ...' (9:11).
The final Plague of death (Exodus 12:30) is
commented on by Ipuwer in 2:13 and 3:14 (as well
as 4:4 and 6:16) as follows: 'He who places his
brother in the ground is everywhere ... It is groaning
that is throughout all the land, mingled with
lamentations ... Forsooth, those who were in the
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place of embalmment were laid on the high ground.'
As the Israelites left, Exodus 12:36 states that they
plundered the Egyptians. Ipuwer laments 'The
storehouse of the king is the common property of
everyone' (10:3).
Egypt Conquered Without A Single Battle!
This Papyrus therefore lends support to the
contention that the Plagues of Moses occurred at
the close of the Middle Kingdom. But that is not all.
Ipuwer noted that these plagues came about the
time that the invading Hyksos entered Egypt. He
states (2:5 - 6) 'The nomes are laid waste: a foreign
tribe from abroad has come into Egypt.' This
connection with the Plagues and the Hyksos is an
important link because of an additional comment
from the Egyptian historian Manetho. He called the
Plagues 'A blast of heavenly displeasure.' He went
on: 'We had a king called Tutimaeus. In his reign it
happened. I do not know why God was displeased
with us. Then unexpectedly from the regions of the
East, came men of unknown race. Confident of
victory they marched against our land. By force they
took it, easily, without a single battle. ...' (W. Keller,
'The Bible as History', p. 101).
Pause right there just for a moment. These Hyksos
conquered Egypt 'easily, without a single battle.'
How remarkable! Where was all the might of the
Egyptian armies that had conquered Nubia a few
years before. 'Without a single battle' implies that
there was no Egyptian Army to fight against them.
Why not? Unless Pharaoh's armies had just been
destroyed in the Red Sea and there were no military
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personnel left. That can be the only logical
conclusion one can come to. Manetho's comment is
therefore an important piece of contributory
evidence.
Many commentators now note that the Hyksos are
the Biblical Amalekites.
The treasure Cities of Pithom And Rameses.
Two final comments may be appropriate. The
Israelites were involved in building the treasure
cities of Pithom and Rameses. Firstly, it has often
been thought that this indicated that Rameses was
the Pharaoh of the Oppression, if not the Exodus.
However, Rameses was the name of a district in the
Delta area even in the days of Joseph (see Genesis
47:11). The city took its name from the region, not
the Pharaoh.
As for Pithom, there is something unusual about the
construction of this city. The lower courses of brick
at Pithom were filled with good chopped straw. The
middle courses had less straw, but included some
chopped reeds from the Nile. The upper courses of
brick were pure clay, without any trace of straw or
reeds. Here is a silent testimony to the accuracy of
Exodus 5.
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Acts 13:12
Then the deputy, when he saw what was done,
believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the
Lord.
Pharaoh could have been astonished at the signs
done by Moses and Aaron!
James 1:21
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your
souls.
I Peter 1:22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of
the brethren, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently:
INVITATION:Acts 2:38
Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one
of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit.
I Peter 3:15
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But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be
ready always to give an answer to every man that
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear:
Hearing, believing, repenting, confessing,
baptism; - walking in new life being added into
Christ’s church, such a person can wear the
description ‘Christian’.
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