October 20, 2014Comments Off on Exodus 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee,Marilynn Dawson
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Exodus 8:9 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?
I am in the middle of reading through the plagues God sent upon Egypt. When I got to verse 9 of chapter 8, I couldn’t help laughing! Most in modern Christian society tend to read the Scriptures with such solemn flair, but here in this verse, we have a publicly recorded colloquial outburst straight from Moses himself! By now he had finally agreed with God that no matter what God was going to do, Pharoah was going to buck and resist. So when Pharoah calls for Moses and Aaron to end the current plague, Moses responds with both sarcasm and mock surprise. “Glory over me” comes across as akin to “well my word” or “would you look at that” or “well glory be” or even “by golly”.
Basically, Moses is encapsulating the thought, “Well lookie here, Pharoah wants us to pray to stop the plague, imagine that. Well dear ruler, when exactly shall I pray on your behalf?”
Even the great patriarchs of Scripture couldn’t resist the odd moment of sarcasm. Yes, this is not the only example in Scripture. Even Christ HImself uses sarcasm from time to time when talking to the Pharisees, or about them in the Gospels. There are times when a situation or conversation just invites it! The trick is using it wisely so as not to hurt others. There is such a thing as sarcasm that mocks others. Moses was clearly mocking Pharoah in this instance, but mocking sarcasm does nothing to improve relationships. Cutting people down to size using a so-called joking demeanor does far more harm than even the recipient is aware of at the time. Scripture says our communication, as much as possible, should uplift those in the family of faith. We are told not to devour one another with our words, and sarcasm can most certainly do that. Sarcasm can’t be avoided at times, but we must be careful with it.
Exodus 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee,
I am in the middle of reading through the plagues God sent upon Egypt. When I got to verse 9 of chapter 8, I couldn’t help laughing! Most in modern Christian society tend to read the Scriptures with such solemn flair, but here in this verse, we have a publicly recorded colloquial outburst straight from Moses himself! By now he had finally agreed with God that no matter what God was going to do, Pharoah was going to buck and resist. So when Pharoah calls for Moses and Aaron to end the current plague, Moses responds with both sarcasm and mock surprise. “Glory over me” comes across as akin to “well my word” or “would you look at that” or “well glory be” or even “by golly”.
Basically, Moses is encapsulating the thought, “Well lookie here, Pharoah wants us to pray to stop the plague, imagine that. Well dear ruler, when exactly shall I pray on your behalf?”
Even the great patriarchs of Scripture couldn’t resist the odd moment of sarcasm. Yes, this is not the only example in Scripture. Even Christ HImself uses sarcasm from time to time when talking to the Pharisees, or about them in the Gospels. There are times when a situation or conversation just invites it! The trick is using it wisely so as not to hurt others. There is such a thing as sarcasm that mocks others. Moses was clearly mocking Pharoah in this instance, but mocking sarcasm does nothing to improve relationships. Cutting people down to size using a so-called joking demeanor does far more harm than even the recipient is aware of at the time. Scripture says our communication, as much as possible, should uplift those in the family of faith. We are told not to devour one another with our words, and sarcasm can most certainly do that. Sarcasm can’t be avoided at times, but we must be careful with it.