Pharaoh said to Moses: get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die. The escalation in Pharaoh's language from earlier audiences is dramatic. He has gone from asking for prayer to threatening Moses with death. The threat of death from the one who claims authority over life and death is the clearest expression yet of the spirit behind Pharaoh's entire resistance: this is a ruler who believes his power is ultimate. John 19:10 records Pilate making the same claim to Jesus: don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you? Both Pharaoh and Pilate believe they hold the power of death; both are confronting someone over whom they have no such power. The threat of death is Pharaoh's most desperate act — it is the weapon of a man who has nothing left.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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