And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against Jehovah your God, and against you.
The locusts have stripped Egypt bare, and Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron in haste. His words sound like those of a broken man — but what is a confession like this worth?
Pharaoh does not send for Moses in a calm hour of reflection. He calls him while the locusts eat his land. He names both the Lord and His servants as the ones he has wronged. But he asks for one thing only: this plague gone.
Under the pressure of this severe blow, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron into his presence again. He confessed his sin against the Lord their God and against them. He begged forgiveness, and asked them to plead with the Lord their God "only to remove this death from me." The Lord heard the plea of Moses. He removed the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea.
God answered Moses and lifted the plague. That mercy shows His patience with a rebel:
God is never impatient, even in the face of open rebellion. He waits for His own time, bearing with the wickedness and ungodliness of men in long-suffering and grace.
Pharaoh had said these words once before, when the hail fell. Saying them a second time raises a hard question.
Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned" (9:27). He said it now again. But confession under fear — what is it worth? … In this there was no work of conscience, no real repentance. He wanted God's hand removed from his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart stayed as hard as ever.
A confession can use the right words and still change nothing. The test is not the wording but the will behind it.
He gives us the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to look humble, if that helps him avoid reaping the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastening, Pharaoh did not mind a little confessing. But he had no idea of forsaking his self-willed way. The fair words he spoke in verses 16 and 17 of our chapter were merely an effort to avoid further punishment.
The same three words come from very different men in Scripture. The outcomes split in two.
Many men in Scripture take the place of saying, "I have sinned." It is very remarkable that not all of them get cleansing. David (2 Samuel 12:13), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:33), Job (Job 40:4; 42:6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5; 64:6), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 14:7, 20), Daniel (Daniel 9:5), Micah (Micah 7:9), the prodigal son (Luke 15:21), and the thief on the cross (Luke 23:41) all took the place of sinners. They all received cleansing or blessing. But look at Pharaoh (Exodus 9:27; 10:16), Balaam (Numbers 22:34), Achan (Joshua 7:20), Saul (1 Samuel 15:24; 26:21), Shimei (2 Samuel 19:20), and Judas (Matthew 27:4). These all confess they have sinned, yet they perish. … There was no hatred of the sin. There was no desire to turn from it and give it up. There was no true repentance.
David used the same words. The difference was who he had in view.
In David's case how different. He was not thinking of his reputation before men, and how that could be saved. He saw and confessed what his guilt was before God. He cast himself on Him without reserve.
Self-interest can study God's dealings closely. The aim is not to be changed, but to work out how little it must give up.
Human nature can take warnings and steer its course to escape the worst of judgment, and never soften in the least into true repentance. It is only another form of selfishness. Such a heart will save itself. It takes just enough interest in God's past ways to learn one thing. It wants to know how to go on ignoring and despising Him with the least danger to itself.
- Pressure: The confession comes while the locusts eat Egypt. The timing shows what produced it.
- Words: He says the right thing. He had said it once before under the hail, and changed neither time.
- Motive: He asks for the plague to go, not for sin to go. He wanted relief, and relief was all he got.
- Test: God gives mercy to the one who confesses and forsakes. Pharaoh did the first and never tried the second.
- Outcome: David, the prodigal son and the dying thief said "I have sinned" and found blessing. Pharaoh, Saul and Judas said it and perished. Same words, different heart.
And now, forgive, I pray you, my sin only this time, and intreat Jehovah your God that he may take away from me this death only!
The locusts have stripped Egypt bare, and Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron in a hurry. He names his sin, asks pardon "only this once," and begs for the plague to go — but is saying the right words the same as meaning them?
This is not the first time Pharaoh has admitted fault.
Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned" (9:27). He said it now again. But confession under fear, what is it worth? "I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you" (10:16-17). In this there was no conscience work, no real repentance. He desired the removal of God's hand from his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart remained as hard as ever.
Admitting a wrong and leaving it are two different acts. Pharaoh does only the first.
He is the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to look humble, if that lets him escape the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastisement Pharaoh did not mind doing a little bit of confessing, but he had no idea of forsaking his self-willed way. His fine words in verses 16 and 17 were only an effort to avoid further punishment.
Pharaoh wants "this death" taken away — the ruin in his fields. One writer describes a second kind of sorrow that never goes further than that.
The second is the sorrow that goes with the fear of the consequences, and not because of the hatefulness of the sin itself. This experience is selfish through and through. It is not godly grief, which produces a repentance leading to salvation without regret. It is worldly grief, and that produces death (2 Cor. 7:10). In this sorrow the devil seems very near. He mocks the soul in its distress and adds to its fears, while the soul vows again and again to avoid that trap in future, if only it can escape the consequences. He can mock with confidence. He knows that while the soul stays self-centred, it will go back to that same weakness, as the dog returns to its vomit.
Pharaoh asks Moses to pray. That plea grants what he once denied — this God, and no other, can lift the plague.
God had now sent eight plagues, and this last one was dreadful... Could Pharaoh still say, "Who is the Lord? I do not know the Lord"? What an answer he had already received. The Lord he did not know had power over the waters, power over the ground, power over people and animals, and power over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues. He did what the idols could not.
Very different people have said the same words. The heart behind them, not the phrase, decided the outcome.
But others have said, "I have sinned," and it came to nothing; for God reads the heart, and He knows the motive of the creature. Pharaoh could say, "This time I have sinned" (Ex. 9:27), when the thunder and hail alarmed him and he wanted them gone. Yet he had not repented. Once the mighty thunder stopped, he sinned still more and hardened his heart. He confessed the same a second time, after the locusts destroyed all the plants the hail had spared. But his only aim was to get rid of that plague (Ex. 10:16-17). Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned." Yet he gave away the state of his heart when he added, "Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel" (1 Sam. 15:30).
Set against Pharaoh's bargaining is David, who said far less and received everything.
"I have sinned against the Lord." It was a short, real, solemn confession. David admitted that he was in God's hands and deserved only death for his offences. "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die," was the prophet Nathan's immediate and reassuring reply... There was nothing for him but the sovereign mercy of God. Could that mercy reach him? God did not leave him in doubt for a moment.
- Pressure. Pharaoh speaks only because the locusts have ruined Egypt. Ask what a confession made under fear is worth before you trust it.
- Words. He confesses, but he does not forsake. He will look humble to escape punishment, but he will not give up his own way.
- Relief. Grief that hates the damage instead of the sin is selfish. It goes back to the same sin once the pressure lifts.
- Motive. God reads the heart, not the sentence. Pharaoh and Saul said the same words as David and gained nothing.
- Mercy. David's short, real confession met an immediate answer: his sin put away, his life spared.