0435. Pharaoh Said, "I Have Sinned"

Pharaoh Said, "I Have Sinned"

"And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked" (Exo_9:27).

Pharaoh stands prominently before us as an example of one who is sorry unto death. He cried, "I have sinned," but he cried only when he was terrified by the thunder and hail and the fire which the Lord sent upon the land of Egypt.

There are many who harden their heart and stiffen their neck against God until some great disaster overtakes them.

Illustration: We heard of a man on board a steamer, who was blatantly blaspheming God; he claimed to be an infidel and an atheist; he said he had no use for God nor the Bible. One day, however, he fell overboard. Immediately he began to pray, and to cry unto God for help and for mercy. Some of the seamen rescued him. Afterward he was asked by one of the passengers: "Why did you pray so hard, while in the waters?" He replied, "Infidelity and atheism are all right when you are aboard the ship, but they will not do when you are about to be drowned."

Pharaoh cried unto Moses; and acknowledged that he had sinned. Moses then went forth and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord and entreated Him. Then the Lord stopped the thunder and the hail and the fire. Immediately, "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart."

Illustration: A young man who was shot while living in sin thought he was going to die. A visiting pastor found him crying over his sins and pleading with God for mercy. No one could have seemed more sincere; no one could have cried unto God more earnestly. The minister tried to pray for the young man, but somehow felt that there was no true repentance in his tears. The young man recovered. Immediately he returned to his life of sin and of shame. Within two years he was sentenced to the State Penitentiary for added crime.

The story of Pharaoh brings a solemn lesson. Those who cry out unto God "I have sinned," simply because some awful judgment has befallen them, will, ninety-nine times out of one hundred, go on in their sinful ways when the judgment is removed.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR