False Repentance

Exodus 9:27-35

“27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Pray to the Lord! Enough of God’s thunder and hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your officials, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (Now the flax and the barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and stretched out his hands to the Lord; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.”

After the seventh plague, the Pharaoh “repented”.  The act of repentance involves sincere and heartfelt regret and remorse for one's sins accompanied by actions of “turning away” from past behaviors to behaviors that are consistent with God’s will. 

The Pharaoh knew the language of repentance but the language was not sincere.  The repentance of the Pharaoh was just words.  

When the hardship of the storm and the hail had ceased, the Pharaoh lapsed into his old behavior.

There is an old saying that there are no atheists in foxholes.  When we are suffering, we often make insincere promises to God.  When our suffering ceases, we resume our lives as if we made no promises at all.  

Before we can be forgiven for our sins, we must repent, not just with words but with our hearts.  

And then the way we live must reflect our hearts.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)