Exodus 7:1

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I have made thee the god of Pharaoh (Lo! I have made thee like a god to Pharaoh); and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.

Exodus 7:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 7:1

And the Lord said unto Moses
In answer to his objection, taken from his own meanness, and the majesty of Pharaoh, and from his want of readiness and freedom of expression: see;
take notice of, observe what I am about to say: I have made thee a god to Pharaoh;
not a god by nature, but made so; he was so by commission and office, clothed with power and authority from God to act under him in all things he should direct; not for ever, as angels are gods, but for a time; not in an ordinary way, as magistrates are gods, but in an extraordinary manner; and not to any other but to Pharaoh, being an ambassador of God to him, and as in his room and stead to, rule over him, though so great a monarch; to command him what he should do, and control him when he did wrong, and punish him for his disobedience, and inflict such plagues upon him, and do such miracles before him, as no mere man of himself, and none but God can do; and even exercise the power of life and death, as in the slaying of the firstborn, that Pharaoh should stand in as much fear of him, as if he was a deity, and apply to him to remove the plagues upon him, as if he was one: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet;
to declare the will of God revealed to him by Moses from the Lord; so that this seems to be more than to be the mouth and spokesman of Moses and interpreter and explainer of his words, or to be acting the part of an orator for him; for Moses in this affair being God's viceregent, and furnished with a knowledge of the mind and will of God respecting it, as well as with power to work miracles, and inflict plagues, was made a god to both Pharaoh and Aaron; see ( Exodus 4:6 ) to Pharaoh in the sense before explained, and to Aaron, he being his prophet, to whom he communicated the secrets of God, and his will and pleasure, in order to make the same known to Pharaoh. Thus highly honoured was Moses to be a god to a sovereign prince, and to have Aaron to be his prophet.

Exodus 7:1 In-Context

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I have made thee the god of Pharaoh (Lo! I have made thee like a god to Pharaoh); and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.
2 Thou shalt speak to Aaron all things which I command to thee, and he shall speak to Pharaoh, that he deliver the sons of Israel from his land. (Thou shalt tell Aaron all the things which I command to thee, and he shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.)
3 But I shall make hard his heart, and I shall multiply my signs and marvels in the land of Egypt, (But I shall harden his heart, and then I shall multiply my signs and miracles in the land of Egypt,)
4 and he shall not hear you; and I shall send mine hand on Egypt, and I shall lead out mine host, and my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by most dooms; (but he shall not listen to you; and then I shall put my hand upon Egypt, and with mighty acts of judgement I shall lead out my army, yea, my people, the Israelites, from the land of Egypt;)
5 and [the] Egyptians shall know, that I am the Lord, which have held forth mine hand on Egypt, and have led out of the midst of them the sons of Israel. (and then the Egyptians shall know, that I am the Lord, when I have stretched forth my hand against Egypt, and have led the Israelites out of their midst.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.