The Passover

Exodus 10:1 - 12:51

I used to think it was somehow unfair of God to harden Pharaoh's heart and thus force Egypt to go through ALL of the plagues. I reconciled that by understanding God's sovereignty certainly but I couldn't quite get it.
What struck me this morning is that what I think God was really up to in all of the plagues was showing HIS people who He was.
The Israelite people have been in Egypt for 400 plus years, probably with little more than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and perhaps some Joseph stories handed down. When God shows up and communicates through Moses He comes in with a rather significant display.
If you look closely too and do even a tiny bit of research you find out that each of the plagues goes right in the face of one of the gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Seth, Imhotep, Ra...they all take a hit when they're powerless against the God of Israelites.
Now imagine these folks who have been living in slavery in Egypt for 400 years surrounded by the Egyptian religious infrastructure...some of them HAD to have been influenced in their beliefs.
So God hears their cry, shows up, and quite clearly demonstrates His superiority before He ever leads them out the door. Proving who he is AND proving His power over the so called gods of the Egyptians.
All the while somehow managing to make the Egyptian people favorably disposed towards the Israelites...they must have been TICKED with Pharaoh who just wouldn't give it up.
In the end it seems even Pharaoh has an inkling as to who is in charge:
Exodus 12:31
During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take you flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me"
As cool as the stuff that is coming is...the pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, it had to have been awesome to live in Goshen and see God's display of power in the plagues.