Moses and Aaron performed all these amazing things in the sight of Pharaoh. But the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn. He wouldn’t let the people of Israel go out of his country.
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “When you return to Egypt, do all the amazing things I have given you the power to do. Do them in the sight of Pharaoh. But I will make him stubborn. He will not let the people go.
Lord, why do you let us wander away from you? Why do you let us become so stubborn that we don’t respect you? Come back and help us. We are the tribes that belong to you.
“The Lord has blinded their eyes. He has closed their minds. So they can’t see with their eyes. They can’t understand with their minds. They can’t turn to the Lord. If they could, he would heal them.” (Isaiah 6:10)
What if God chose to show his great anger? What if he chose to make his power known? But he put up with the people he was angry with. They were made to be destroyed.
But Sihon, the king of Heshbon, refused to let us walk through. The Lord your God had made him stubborn in his heart and spirit. The Lord wanted to hand him over to you. And that’s exactly what he has done.
The Lord himself made their people stubborn. He made them go to war against Israel so he could totally destroy them. He wanted to wipe them out. He didn’t show them any mercy. The Lord had commanded Moses to destroy the Canaanites.
Why are you stubborn, as Pharaoh and the people of Egypt were? Israel’s god was very hard on them. Only then did they send the Israelites out. Only then did they let them go on their way.