Exodus Chapter 10
I don't believe God would have hardened Pharaoh's heart if he would have not previously rebelled against God and made the tasks of children of Israel hard. The Pharaoh before him actually ordered the killing of innocent children. God was justified in all that happened to Egypt. Here is what Paul says regarding this:
I'm sure that God would have preferred that Pharaoh would repent and fear God saving not only himself but all of Egypt. The children of Israel would have been allowed to leave and all be peace between the two countries. But as Romans 9:22 says, God endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath. Their sins and lack of willingness to change made them fit for destruction. There are other verses that says to us that God is not willing that any should perish.
I never believe that God creates some to go to hell and some to enter heaven. That would not make any sense. Our own rebellion against God condemns us. Some of us listen when the word is preached and others of us do not listen. Those of us who know the truth should continually seek God in prayer for the lost around us and for our loved ones who are not saved. We must not give up on them. God wants to save them. We must not give up and think they must be the ones fitted for destruction. Look at all the chances Pharaoh had to change his mind but he refused. What happened to Pharaoh is similar to what will happen in the latter days. When people keep rejecting the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ over and over again, their hearts get harder every time. In the days of the future tribulation it will be harder to be saved but not impossible. Here is verses that explain further why the heart is hardened. This is talking of the future person who is coming to work the works of Satan. He is the beast or antichrist. Here is the reason many will be deceived.
Why are they deceived?
These did not want the truth, they did not want to repent of sin because they wanted to keep sinning and not have to turn from it. They will continue on in this way until God sends them a spirit of delusion that they might believe a lie. When we reject Christ, the way of salvation, we open ourselves up to evil spirits that deceive. We may either end up believing a false doctrine or not believing in God at all. That is how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh knew better but preferred to continue in unbelief. The main cause of Pharaoh's stubbornness is he didn't want to let Israel go because the Egyptians didn't want to have to do work themselves. They wanted the slaves to do it. This is why the southern plantation owners didn't want to give up their slaves in the United States. They were so use to having slavers do the hard work that their lifestyles would change dramatically if they let the slaves go. We must remember though that rich plantation owners were few in number compared to the majority of white people who never owned slaves neither believed in having slaves. A majority of white men fought on the side of the north that objected to slavery. Blaming all white people for slavery is wrong. Less than 25 percent of white people lived in the south during that time and among that 25 percent only a few were rich enough to buy slaves. I wouldn't be surprised if only the rich in Egypt owned slaves but that I don't know for sure. Still all suffered by the actions of Pharoah unless they believed and did things to keep from suffering judgment. There comes a time though when we might have to choose to live in poverty rather than receive the riches of this life and lose our souls. Riches in themselves are not bad but if we get them by using other people, taking advantage of others, or robbing others, it is wrong. Our attitude must never be to advance financially at the cost to making others lose financially. The Egyptians lived well but at the cost of the Israelites living poorly. That should never be the case. Again though I state that there may have been poor Egyptians around also.
We still hear the story of the Exodus because of all the things that happened here.
Locusts really make a mess. There is some that even think the sound the locusts make is, "Pharaoh, Pharaoh." The next time they come I plan to listen and see if that is true. I don't know because I never bothered to go outside and listen. They come only after a few years, some say seven, others 17.
The rest of the Egyptians were starting to fear this God of Israel but they had to obey Pharaoh. In situations where the government forbids the observance of the true God, sometimes people have to choose to believe and serve God or fear the king. If they fear the king, their lives may be spared but they lose their souls for eternity. If they fear God and turn to Him in spite of the fear of death, they are really saved and granted life eternal. There are a few countries in the world today that have the death penalty in place for those that convert to Jesus Christ.
Here Pharaoh tries to ensure that they return and he doesn't lose his economy plan. Compromise never works in the case of God. We may compromise on labor disputes, congressional decisions and other things but we can't compromise the word of God.
Pharaoh feared letting them go because the economy would suffer but it suffered anyway. Egypt was being destroyed as Pharaoh's servants had warned him.
Some Christians who struggle with sin after they have been saved from sin are like Pharaoh in a way. One day they repent and the next day they go back into unbelief. These types are not rooted and grounded in the word. They have no assurance of salvation and only feel saved at certain times. This is why the verse by verse teaching of the word of God is necessary along with our praise and worship services. It is vital for all of us. The only trouble is that it's hard to get many of us to sit still long enough to be taught or to discipline ourselves to study the word on our own. Worship, praise and even being excited about it, is great and should never be suppressed. If we shout and praise football heroes, how much more should we worship God; but the in depth study of the word is vital to keep us stable and faithful when the music stops and the trials come our way.
Just imagine what this must have been like. They couldn't see to cook, change a diaper, or even move. It must have been scary.
Again he tries compromise but as Moses said, they needed the flocks to be able to worship God. Before the Messiah came as the ultimate sacrifice for sins, they had to make animal sacrifices continually to point toward the one that was to come. Without the shedding of innocent blood there is no remission of sins. When sin entered the world it brought a death penalty. Something had to die for sin not to be held against us. The animals are innocent. The sacrifice had to be pure and innocent so that the sin could be laid upon them and they died for sin. Yet the law could not remove the sin. We needed something more powerful. We needed a sacrifice provided by God Himself, a perfect sacrifice. Only God Himself, who sent His own Son was able to provide the sacrifice that would remove the sin of the whole world. However, the sacrifice only counts toward those that believe in the one who came to die for their sins. Jesus Christ. It may be that old religions that gave themselves over to human sacrifice may have known that one was to come to be the perfect sacrifice as promised to Adam and Eve, but they decided by the help of the old deceiver, Satan, to try to do it themselves. They were supposed to offer clean animals only until God Himself provided the perfect sacrifice for sins. There are many religions in the world today that try to get to God, man's way instead of God's way and it doesn't save anyone. The Jews had the only religion that waited on God for His promise to send a deliverer. The trouble is that somehow they were deceived into thinking the deliverer was to deliver them from Roman oppression instead of a deliverance from sin and they missed His first coming. The religious leaders and the nation as a whole didn't believe in Him when He did come. However, the church started with Jews, the Apostles being the first to receive Christ and others later. The Gentiles were grafted in along the way never replacing the Jews just joining in with the others who had received Christ. Thank God for that.
I think Pharaoh knew they were not coming back.
As Pharaoh threatened Moses with death if he shows his face to him again, death will come to Pharaoh's own household. We can't get away with threatening those that truly represent God. DC
|
||
|
HOME |
SITE MAP |
BIBLE STUDY INDEX
©2025 oldpathlighthouse.com |
||