Exodus 9 seems a little like the movie “Groundhog Day” in relation to Exodus 8. We are still seeing God tell Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh; Pharaoh refuse to let the people go; God rain down some plague on the people of Egypt, but not on the Israelites and Pharaoh’s hear continuing to be hard.

There is a pestilence on all the livestock.  There were boils on all the Egyptians and their animals.  There was hail and those who had not listened and protected themselves were destroyed as were their animals and all the vegetation. But no hail fell on Goshen.

During the hail Pharaoh admitted his sin and asked Moses to have God stop the hail. Moses did and God did and as soon as the hail stopped Pharaoh continued to sin.

In Exodus 10 things have not changed.  Moses threatens to send locusts. The officials beg Pharaoh to relent and let the Israelites go but Pharaoh refuses. The locusts come. Again, Pharaoh admits his sin and God stops the locusts, but Pharaoh continues to refuse. So god sent darkness over Egypt for three days. The Israelites had light.

Pharaoh says that the Israelites and their children may go and worship God but they must leave all of their animals. Moses explains that the animals must go with them so they may sacrifice. All of the animals must come because they won’t know which animals will be used for the sacrifice until they get there.  Pharaoh refuses.

God wants Pharaoh to become humble and Pharaoh remains proud. It doesn’t matter whether all of his country is suffering he will not relent. If you recall your ancient history the pharaohs were considered to be gods by their people. If Pharaoh  relented to this Israelite God then he would lose his divine status. Status was more important than safety or the life of his people. He must keep his position as god. He continues to refuse to give in.

In Matthew 21 Jesus and his disciples arrive outside Jerusalem. Jesus plans to enter Jerusalem in a big way. He tells his disciples to get a donkey and a colt and Jesus rides them into Jerusalem. The people acclaim him as the Messiah and call him a prophet.

Jesus enters the temple and sees the vendors selling sacrificial animals and exchanging currency. Jesus turns over the tables and accuses the vendors of being robbers in the house of prayer. This angers the chief priests and scribes.

Jesus returns to the temple the next day and has an argument with the priests and elders. Jesus tells several parables that speak out against the chief priests and Pharisees. He accuses them of not accepting God’s plan. As a result they will lose God’s blessings and God will bless others who produce the fruit of the kingdom. They want to arrest Jesus then and there but are afraid of what the crowds might do.

Jesus is no longer keeping quiet about who he is. He is ready to confront all those who would move against God’s will and lead the people down the wrong path. He knows the ultimate outcome of such behavior but he is fulfilling God’s purpose for his ministry.

Like Pharaoh, the priests and Pharisees are unwilling to give up their position to acknowledge that Jesus is the chosen one. They are threatened by his authority. They would rather get rid of him than admit that he might just be right.