Created by God, for God
February 8, 2024
“And the Lord told Moses, “When you arrive back in Egypt, go to Pharaoh and perform all the miracles I have empowered you to do. But I will harden his heart so he will refuse to let the people go.” Exodus 4:21 (NLT)
The stubbornness or hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is a bit of a paradox to me. On the one hand, why would God harden anyone’s heart against God’s own will? As Methodists, we believe God gives everyone free will, but some have asserted that this verse and similar ones point to the concept that God may have predestined some to sin and even condemnation. So does this go against free will?
There are more than a dozen instances in Exodus where Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn or hardened, about half of which are times when God is the source; the others are by Pharaoh himself. Even in the instances when God said he would harden Pharaoh’s heart, though, it was preceded by God’s power revealed and with the opportunity for Pharaoh to align with God’s will.
We see this theme of God’s character echoed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:24. “So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.”
So is someone forever lost from the grace of God? Not so long as they are open to the moving of God’s Holy Spirit, to hear the Gospel of Jesus proclaimed, to be convinced of their sin.
We see this work by God even in Pharoah. In multiple instances, he is in the presence of the miraculous work of God, almost ready to become a servant and ally in accomplishing God’s will, yet he continued to refuse. Look at Exodus 7:3 NLT – “But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.”
Ultimately, God shows that if one will not let his power reign in and through their life, God will reign that power against them. The Wesleyan Bible Commentary says it like this: “But his stubborn disobedience meant that the Lord could use him only as a tragic example of the impotence of the proudest sinner before the wrath of an offended and angry God.” 1
This is not as much a story about Pharoah or even about Moses but about how God presents himself to people and they decide if they’ll accept the gift of God’s presence and align with God’s will.
You were created by God, for God. And he invites you to experience the resurrected power of Jesus by repenting of your sin and believing in Jesus, making Jesus the ultimate leader of your life. Will you say yes to that invitation? And repeat your yes to Jesus in every day, hour, and moment of your life on earth? And become and continue to be an advocate for God’s kingdom work? And never an adversary?
Did you know? In our January On-ramp for 2024 Spring/Summer Grow Groups and Serve teams, 23 people took the on-ramp for the first time, taking God’s next step in his will for their lives! Go God! Go Leeds First Methodist Church!
Sources:
1: Lee Haines, “The Book of Exodus,” in Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), 185.”