Rabbeinu BeChaya (Exodus 10:1) comments
that Pharaoh was warned before seven of the ten
Plagues. Pharaoh was also warned in a special
sequence. The third, sixth, and ninth plagues
did not receive a warning. Furthermore, for the
first plague, Pharaoh received the warning at
the Nile River and the second in his palace. By
the fourth plague, pharaoh again received a
warning at the Nile and the fifth in his palace.
The seventh and eighth followed the same
sequence as the fourth and fifth respectively.
Rabeinu Bechaya explains that after each
plague, and during Moses' warnings, when all was
calm, Pharaoh came to the realization that he
was the king and he is the one to make all final
decisions. Even though Moses, through the
plagues, seemingly proved to Pharaoh that he had
no control, when the situation calmed between
the plagues, Pharaoh would forget who is in
charge.
Why would Pharaoh forget? the Rabeinu
Bechaya asks. Pharaoh was warned when he was
comfortably sitting in his palace or enjoying a
swim in his Nile River. These materialistic
surroundings gave him the emotional security
that he was King of the most powerful empire in
the world and no one was going to tell him what
to do.
No matter how severe suffering or
distress may be, emotions allow a person to
forget and think that he is in control when all
is calm. Our surroundings sometimes lead us to
believe that we are safe and ignore the warning
signs.
Shabbat Shalom
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