He is engaging in a conscious act of rebellion against the Creator. He is saying, in effect: I know there is a Creator, that I am duty bound to listen to Him, and I know what He wants from me. But I just don’t care. I’m keeping my slaves anyway. When Pharaoh reneges now, after the hail, he is not keeping the facts at bay; he is taking things he knows to be true and throwing them out, as it were, onto the sidewalk.
