Pharaoh: Moses and the Origins of the World

Moses is pleading with Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery, and things are… not going well. Three plagues have already hit Egypt, each one worse than the last. You'd think Pharaoh would get the hint, right?

Nope.

"Pharaoh's heart was hardened," the text tells us. And then God speaks to Moses, laying it out plain: "This wicked fellow remains hard of heart, in spite of the three plagues. The fourth shall be much worse than those which have preceded it. Go to him, therefore, and warn him..."

It’s almost comical, isn’t it? The sheer audacity! God is literally sending plagues, and Pharaoh is still digging in his heels.

But here’s where it gets interesting. The fourth plague is announced to the king "early in the morning by the river's brink." Now, why the river? Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, offers a fascinating detail: Pharaoh wasn't just taking a morning stroll. He was a magus, one of the royal magicians, and needed water for his enchantments. Think of it as his morning ritual, a crucial part of maintaining his power (or at least, the illusion of it).

And, as we find in Midrash Rabbah, Moses' daily morning visits were starting to get under Pharaoh’s skin. He was trying to avoid Moses! He left the house early, hoping to dodge his divine messenger. Can you picture it? Pharaoh, the all-powerful ruler of Egypt, sneaking out of his palace like a teenager trying to avoid chores.

But, of course, you can't outsmart God. "God, who knows the thoughts of man, sent Moses to Pharaoh at the very moment of his going forth." So, there's Moses, waiting for him by the river, ready to deliver yet another warning.

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What makes someone so resistant to change, so unwilling to acknowledge the truth, even when faced with overwhelming evidence? Was it simply stubbornness? Pride? Or something deeper, a fundamental inability to see beyond his own limited perspective?

Whatever the reason, Pharaoh’s obstinacy sets the stage for even more dramatic events to come. And it serves as a powerful reminder that sometimes, the greatest obstacles we face are not external forces, but the walls we build within ourselves.