‘Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”’

-Exodus 5.1-3

God is a God of second chances; He always has been and he always will be. This knowledge of God’s gracious character should give us comfort as we strive to serve him every day. When we fail, God is not waiting to condemn but to forgive. Just as Jesus wasn’t sent to judge the world but the save the world, our Father in heaven would much rather be gracious than wrathful.

We tend to have a skewed vision of God’s character. Some people have even suggested that there was a change in God’s character between the Old and New Testaments. God was eager to punish people and inflict judgmental wrath in the Old Testament, but then, after Jesus came, God sort of mellowed out and decided grace was the way to go.

This shows not only a serious misunderstanding of God’s character and how grace and justice work, but it also shows a gross unfamiliarity with the Scriptures. Much like the Sadducees, who claimed there was no resurrection, were simply unfamiliar with the Scriptures. Their lack of familiarity led them to all sorts of misunderstandings; Jesus would tell them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?”

God has always been gracious, and his love has always triumphed over judgment. However, there were times when people obstinately refused to accept God’s grace, just as people refuse to accept his gracious offer of salvation even today. Pharaoh is a perfect example of how this happens.

When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, he told him to warn the Egyptians that Israel was his first born son and that if Israel wasn’t released the first born of all Egypt would required (cf Exodus 4.21-24). Notice that this was BEFORE any of the plagues came upon Egypt. God warned them well in advance that terrible things were going to happen if they wouldn’t listen to his voice. So, it’s not like the plagues just snuck up on Pharaoh and his child was dead before he knew what was happening. God started off by warning about the ultimate judgment in the series of plagues, but Pharaoh refused the warning.

Additionally, in their first meeting, God gives Pharaoh two chances to allow Israel to leave. Aaron requested that Israel be allowed to leave, and, after Pharaoh’s initial rejection, the proposition is given a second time. This doesn’t sound very much like a God who can’t wait to throw down some plagues all over the Egyptians. This sounds like a God who is being patient and gracious. Just like in the New Testament, right? Go figure. God doesn’t change (cf Malachi 3.6).

Each of the plagues is a warning – a gracious warning – that a terrible judgment is coming upon Egypt by a God who is powerful enough to force the nation to its knees. However, Pharaoh will continually refuse to listen to God’s voice. So, it’s not God who has the problem but mankind. Mankind tends to be stubborn, prideful, willful, ignorant and conceited. It is our stubborn refusal to accept God’s grace which leads to so many of the problems we face. If we could learn to listen better, then many of our problems would disappear.

Let us be those people who are thankful for the second chances that we get from God, but also mindful of God’s word so we can avoid using them.