Exodus 9:22–35 – Obedience is a true measurement of a yielded heart

The purpose of the plagues God had sent was to deal with Pharaoh’s heart. And a responsible heart will take God’s Word seriously. God always means what He says and will only say what He means. He provided the solution to avoid the devastation of the hail that He was about to send. The few who had chosen to believe His word were spared from the agony of the judgment. Pharaoh and his officials and many of his people obviously didn’t. So, they had the full brunt of God’s judgment. It was the worst that the Egyptians had since the formation of the nation. The devastation was so great that it was said that everything was destroyed except for the unripened wheat.

Our heart is God’s prime concern. When our heart is set on obeying God, our life will be transformed. Whenever we are confronted by the Word of God, there can only be two responses: fear it or ignore it. We fear and obey it for our own good, and if we choose to ignore the Word of God, it will be to our own peril. Pharaoh and his people discovered this in the most regretful way. Take note that once again God made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians. In Goshen where God’s people were located, no hail fell upon them. It pays to be a part of God’s redeemed community.

We are told so great was the devastation that Pharaoh confessed that he had sinned. But of course, we know that this was a false confession. It was meant only to find relief from the pressure. For as soon as the pressure was off, he hardened his heart against God and His people again. There is a certain kind of confession that looks like repentance but it really is not. It is merely a regret with no intention to change. True repentance will always lead to serious changes in one’s life because it is a matter of the heart. It is a heart set to obey God and to please Him. Pharaoh obviously was not. For as soon as the hail stopped falling, his heart was hardened again.  

What sort of heart is God looking for? Without a doubt, He is looking for a responsive, undivided heart. God always measures our heart by the way we respond to His Word. A responsive heart always takes God at His word. It knows that God never makes a promise and not keep it. The key to a God-pleasing life is to yield to Him with a surrendered heart. A surrendered heart is always seen in obedience to all the instructions of God. Here are the Lord Jesus’ own words in John 15:7-10, ^“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”  We abide in God when we abide in His Word. Let us seek to be God’s obedient people!