The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 8:19,
"Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said."
Three times in this chapter we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart in response to the plagues of frogs, gnats and flies, verses 15, 19 and 32. The Lord had told Moses beforehand that Pharaoh would greet Moses' demand to let the Israelites go to worship God in the wilderness with a hard heart. Indeed, the Lord said he himself would harden Pharaoh's heart insuring he would refuse Moses' demand. In Exodus 4:21, in the account of the Lord's commissioning of Moses to demand Israel's departure from Egypt, the Lord told him, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." The Lord had his reasons for doing so.
God created mankind with his own ability of volition. Along with that ability he has provided us the freedom to exercise it the way we desire. This is seen throughout the Scriptures in places such as John 3:19-21 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that people make their own choices and determine their eternal destiny by exercising their own free wills, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
Yet, God, as seen in the account of hardening Pharaoh's heart will on occasion and for his purposes infringe upon a person's own free will. Paul describes the Lord's manipulation of Pharaoh's heart this way, "For Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden." Romans 9:17-18. It is my understanding that Paul is referring to the fact that since Pharaoh was never going to embrace God by his own personal choice, God hardened his heart further that he might make irrational decisions when faced with these plagues.
Here is another example where the Lord manipulated King Ahab's will as told by the prophet Micaiah to kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.' 'By what means?' the Lord asked. 'I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.'"
Sometimes the ways of God do not fit into the tidy boxes we attempt to place him in. He does what he does for his own purposes and if we become a little to strident in how we understand God and not keep an open mind as we read of him in the Scriptures, we just might miss out on the otherwise wonderful things we can learn about him.
I have to keep reminding myself of this!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
"Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said."
Three times in this chapter we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart in response to the plagues of frogs, gnats and flies, verses 15, 19 and 32. The Lord had told Moses beforehand that Pharaoh would greet Moses' demand to let the Israelites go to worship God in the wilderness with a hard heart. Indeed, the Lord said he himself would harden Pharaoh's heart insuring he would refuse Moses' demand. In Exodus 4:21, in the account of the Lord's commissioning of Moses to demand Israel's departure from Egypt, the Lord told him, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go." The Lord had his reasons for doing so.
God created mankind with his own ability of volition. Along with that ability he has provided us the freedom to exercise it the way we desire. This is seen throughout the Scriptures in places such as John 3:19-21 where Jesus tells Nicodemus that people make their own choices and determine their eternal destiny by exercising their own free wills, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
Yet, God, as seen in the account of hardening Pharaoh's heart will on occasion and for his purposes infringe upon a person's own free will. Paul describes the Lord's manipulation of Pharaoh's heart this way, "For Scripture says to Pharaoh: 'I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden." Romans 9:17-18. It is my understanding that Paul is referring to the fact that since Pharaoh was never going to embrace God by his own personal choice, God hardened his heart further that he might make irrational decisions when faced with these plagues.
Here is another example where the Lord manipulated King Ahab's will as told by the prophet Micaiah to kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab, "Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, 'Who will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, 'I will entice him.' 'By what means?' the Lord asked. 'I will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the Lord. 'Go and do it.'"
Sometimes the ways of God do not fit into the tidy boxes we attempt to place him in. He does what he does for his own purposes and if we become a little to strident in how we understand God and not keep an open mind as we read of him in the Scriptures, we just might miss out on the otherwise wonderful things we can learn about him.
I have to keep reminding myself of this!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
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