The scene: Moses is tasked with confronting Pharaoh yet again. God tells Moses, "Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, and they will serve Me. For this time, I will send all My plagues against your heart and upon your servants and against your people, so that you will know that there is none like Me on the entire earth" (Exodus 9:13-14).
What's striking here isn't just the warning of more plagues, but the timing. God instructs Moses to go early in the morning. Why the rush?
The Midrash, in Shemot Rabbah, connects this to a verse from Job: “Behold [hen], God is exalted in His power, who teaches like Him?” (Job 36:22). Rabbi Berekhya cleverly points out that hen in Greek means "one." The Midrash interprets this to mean that God is One, and that He "is exalted in his power" by strengthening the righteous. But even more intriguing, the Midrash sees God as teaching the path of repentance.
Think about it. God strengthened Moses to carry out His mission. He gave Moses the fortitude to confront Pharaoh. But get this: He also essentially taught the wicked Pharaoh how to repent! Why? Because God, in His infinite mercy, didn't want to unleash the plagues before giving Pharaoh a chance to turn back.
The text then raises a question: Why does this instruction – “Rise early in the morning” – differ from a previous encounter (Exodus 8:16)? The earlier instruction included, "behold, he is going out to the water." According to the Midrash, Pharaoh, noticing that Moses anticipated his morning trips to the water, changed his routine to avoid him! So, God tells Moses, in essence, "Go to him before he leaves his house. Don't let him avoid the message."
But the real kicker comes in Exodus 9:15-16: “For I could have now extended My hand and afflicted you and your people with pestilence, and you would be eliminated from the earth…However, for this I have sustained you [in order to show you My power, and so that My renown will be told of throughout the earth].” God is saying, "Woe, wicked one! Do you doubt my power to wipe you out? I spared you from utter destruction in the plague of pestilence, not because I couldn't destroy you, but to demonstrate My power and ensure My name is known throughout the world!"
It's a pretty audacious claim, isn't it? God isn't just flexing; He's revealing a deeper purpose. Even Pharaoh's stubbornness serves a divine plan.
The passage concludes with a bleak assessment: “You continue to oppress My people, not letting them go” (Exodus 9:17). The Hebrew word for "oppress" here, mistolel, is a bit obscure. The Midrash interprets it as making the Israelites "like a road [mesila] on which everyone treads," referencing Isaiah 51:23, where the oppressed are forced to "Bow down, so we may pass, and set down your body like the ground." Pharaoh isn't just enslaving them; he's utterly dehumanizing them.
So, what are we left with? A complex picture of divine justice and mercy. God could obliterate Pharaoh in an instant. But He chooses, again and again, to offer a chance for repentance. He uses even the most hardened heart to reveal His power to the world. And even when faced with relentless oppression, the possibility of redemption, however slim, remains. It makes you wonder, doesn't it, about the opportunities for change—both for ourselves and for those we deem beyond hope—that might be hidden in plain sight.