Exodus 5:1-2

Therefore, irreverence will do what? It will produce disobedience. There is a very good example of this in Exodus the 5th chapter.

I think that we can almost go to the point of saying that Pharaoh's response was not merely irreverent, but it was sarcastic—almost smart-alecky. To Pharaoh, Moses' God was only one among many gods.

I want you to consider this, because the Israelites were in Egypt for many hundreds of years, and Pharaoh was not just born one minute before this. He was aware of the history of Egypt. He was aware of the history of Israel being in Egypt, and how they got there. He knew about Joseph. Those things were available to those people. He knew about the God of Joseph. He knew about the God of the Israelitish people. He was not born in a vacuum, and he was not put into this position without knowledge of what was going on within his own nation. So, it was not that Pharaoh had not heard God's name. What is meant here by his reply is that he did not recognize God's authority.

He did not recognize God's sovereignty, would be another way of putting it. In that reply Pharaoh set the tone for everything that followed. It is interesting to note that in Isaiah 19, right at the end of the chapter, that God says, "In that day Egypt will know me."

Exodus 5:1-2

This is a very interesting admission when this term “to know God” comes into our life. Why is this relationship just given to us? It is so we will not answer like Pharaoh did. We will instead respond, “I know the Lord.” In verse 2 Pharaoh said, “I do not know the LORD,” . . .