Exodus 6.28-9.35 / Psalm 35

READ: Exodus 6.28-9.35 / Psalm 35

Verses chosen for meditation: Exodus 7:3-4 “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.”

REFLECT

At first glance, it seemed like God was unfair. God said to Moses that He will be hardening Pharaoh’s heart to do His will. If that was so, can Pharaoh be held responsible for not letting the Israelites go? If that was so, why did God said that Pharaoh had not “obeyed”? How can he obey if his heart was divinely hardened against the plight of the Israelites?

Some might argue that even if God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it is His right to do so. This is because God is sovereign and He can do whatever He wants. 

Yes, I do agree that God is sovereign and He is the Lord of all. Yet, this does not mean God will do something inconsistent with His character. Throughout the Bible, God is portrayed as Someone who is just, righteous, compassionate and full of grace. To think that God would unilaterally bend the will of an Egyptian King so that He can show Israel the full glory of His miracles, seemed very out of His character.

Hence, we need to explore further. As we read in Chapters 7-9, we discovered that there were instances when Pharaoh hardened his own heart. In fact, it seemed like a consistent pattern of Pharaoh hardening his own heart and God hardening an already hardened heart. 

We need to remember that the Pharaoh of the book of Exodus, likely to be King Ramses II was already bias against the Israelites. He was fearful of their might and had felt insecure that one day, this group of people would turn against him. Therefore, he enslaved the Israelites and forced them into hard labor. At one time, he even withheld straws from making bricks and yet wanted God’s people to complete the assigned tasks. 

In other words, God was using an already hardened heart in Pharaoh to do His will. God is sovereign and He can make sure that things happen His way. This was to ensure that the rebellious Pharaoh release the Israelites on God’s terms and not according to his own whims and fancies. 

RELATE

God is sovereign. He will engage us according to His terms. Sure, He will give us choices and the freedom of will to choose. However, it will be according to His terms and not ours. Even then, we trust that God is just and He will always act according to our well-being and not to harm us. 

For example, person A might be praying about job opportunities. Two of those opportunities promise a standard salary package while the third promise a much larger salary package. However, the third also requires that person A goes to the bar and drinks with his clients often. 

In this situation, person A cannot say that God had bless him with the third opportunity and he can just choose it at will. Clearly, it wasn’t something he should be going into because it will affect his well-being. If He is a Christian, it will definitely affect his relationship with God. 

Person A would have to make a choice between the two “standard” opportunities and discard the third. Person A might feel “painful” that he will have to discard the third job opportunity and forgo a much higher salary. Yet, he will be wise to choose within God’s term of engagement and not choose out of that framework.

In my personal walk with God, I have learned precious lessons when trying to do things out of the framework which God has given to me. For example, when I was starting out as a Small Group Leader, I thought I could use my corporate experience to do the work of ministry. I did not seek God often and therefore “his terms” when trying to shepherd the spiritual lives of the members. 

Of course, that did not work out well and I was left feeling burnout and discouraged. I learned that when God calls, I have to engage and obey Him according to His terms and not mine. I can still try to “negotiate” with God like Abraham did for Sodom and Gomorrah; but eventually I need to submit to His sovereignty and divine wisdom. 

REST

Thank You Lord, for allowing us to serve You. You are sovereign and yet full of compassion for Your people. Help us therefore to seek Your face often and try to operate in the center of Your will; rather than to function poorly at the center of our own will. This we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

Jason Phua