Cry Uncle Already

“And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?” (Ex 8:9 AV)

Moses’ way of asking Pharaoh to cry Uncle.  “when have you had enough?”  “how much more are you going to put up with?”  “are you done, yet?”  We know this was the tone because of the little phrase, “Glory over me.”  Moses is telling Pharaoh to pay him the proper respect.  Through Moses, the LORD is asserting His authority to chastise, inflicting hardship for the purpose of repentance.

The LORD is often seen as a God of grace who would never do such a thing.  However, the God of grace whom we worship is also a God of authority and justice!  This was the kind of preaching we had a generation ago.  It was abandoned because we felt it was too much of a turnoff.  So, we emphasized the grace of God to the neglect of the judgment of God.  God does not compromise.  It is His way or the highway.  Or, should we say, it is His way or the hell way.  Yet, in these questions we do see the grace of God.  How? You might ask.  Simple.  By asking the questions, the LORD is opening the door of repentance to the errant sinner.

When my father spanked us, he sometimes used the same tactic.  He would ask us if we had had enough.  His intent was to break the will so that when confronted with the same opportunity to rebel, we would not.  This was grace on his part.  Rebellion is always destructive.  In asking the question, the penitent can cry uncle.  In essence, he surrenders.  He gives in to the one inflicting the harm and surrenders to whatever is demanded of him.  He repents and surrenders!  This is God’s grace.  Not the absence of affliction.  Rather, the use of affliction to change the destructive pattern the sinner has chosen for himself.