Mercy is God's Choice
Notes
Transcript
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
God was Merciful to Israel
God was Merciful to Israel
Quotation from Exodus 33:19. But why does God say this?
The context of the quotation is that Moses is seeking God’s favor for the nation, specifically that God will personally go with them, for it is the only thing that makes them different from other nations Exod 33:12-23. It is part of God showing Moses his glory.
God has already declared his intent to show mercy to Israel
And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
The reason Moses is seeking God’s favor for the nation, is that the previous episode proved that the nation was remarkably hard-headed.
Exod 33:1-6 is God’s reaction to the Golden Calf Incident. He declared that he would not go with them, because they were so stubborn that such a close relationship with a holy God would be the death of them.
The Golden Calf Episode is what had happened. They gave up on Moses and made themselves another God to worship. Moses was on the mountain getting the rest of the Law of God - they only have the ten commandments at this point. They broke first two commandments - no other gods and no images - before Moses had a chance to get the rest of the law.
They had agreed to do this law after hearing God speak directly out of the thunder of Sinai (Exod 19:18-21; 20:3-4; 24:3). The experience of Sinai so terrified them that they begged Moses to intermediate between them and God. They were so frightened that they thought hearing God’s voice would kill them (Exod 20:19-21), and God agreed with them on this (Deut 5:25-29).
They had agreed after seeing the ten plagues of Egypt, including the death of the firstborn where they only escaped the plague by doing the first passover.
They had agreed after God had saved them from the world’s most powerful military coming to destroy them at the Red Sea (Exod 14); after he saved them from dying of thirst by miraculous water (Exod 15:22-27); after he saved them from dying of hunger by providing them miraculous food from heaven (Exod 16), which food they continued to eat for 40 years (Exod 16:35).
Israel had seen so many things that should have convinced them to obey God. Instead they abandon God as soon as they think Moses is gone. It’s clear they really didn’t follow God at all, despite all they had seen. Instead, they were really following Moses.
Therefore God’s statement in context is the promise that God will continue to show Israel grace, because he can and will be gracious to anyone, no matter what they might do. Israel had done everything possible to bring down God’s wrath and force him to kill them instead of showing them mercy. But God was going to be merciful to them anyway, because when God determines to show someone favor, he’ll do it.
God Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart
God Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart
Really?!
Really?!
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
Why?
Why?
Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.
How?
How?
Although God knew what it would take to break Pharaoh and get him to let Israel God, he instead gives Pharaoh many, many opportunities to listen to God and avoid disaster.
The first time, Moses came with no miracles and only asked that Israel would go celebrate a feast. (Exod 5:1-4).
Moses is distraught by the results, as it makes everything worse - the Israelites get their workload increased by having no more straw for bricks (Exod 5:22-23). But God had already made it clear that he knew Pharaoh won’t listen to asking nicely. He will only listen to overwhelming destructive power.
The second time, Aaron threw down his staff and it became a serpent. A miraculous demonstration of power that hurt no one. (Exod 7:8-13).
The next time, before bringing the first plague, God asks again (Exod 7:14-16), giving Pharaoh one more chance to listen before turning the Nile to blood. This did exactly nothing to persuade Pharaoh, because he didn’t care about the suffering of his own people (Exod 7:23).
The next plague, God asks again, and warns him about the frogs (Exod 8:1-4); This makes Pharaoh beg to get the frogs away, but Pharaoh doublecrosses them, as he will continue to do for all the rest. It’s a bit worse than the blood.
The third plague, gnats, gets the attention of the Magicians. They cannot duplicate the plague, and beg Pharaoh to recognize that this is the work of God. But he doesn’t.
The following plagues gradually ramp up the pain - flies, death of livestock, boils, hail big enough to kill anyone outdoors [God warns people for that. If they believed him, they were fine. If not, they died.].
The eighth plague, locusts, is enough to get Pharaoh to make a great show of repentance (Exod 10:16-17), but not enough to actually soften his heart (Exod 10:20).
The ninth plague, darkness, is enough to get Pharaoh to try to make a real bargain rather than just pretend to agree - he wants them to leave their flocks and herds behind (Exod 10:24-27). This is an impossibility because they need the flocks to sacrifice. But Pharaoh is still not ready to unconditionally surrender.
Only the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, is strong enough to get the real change that was needed (Exodus 12:30-33). It isn’t a permanent change, but it is finally real.
God hardened Pharaoh’s heart by being patient when patience only made Pharaoh oppose him more. He didn’t harden Pharaoh by controlling his mind, or by being devious or unreasonable. God’s patience only eschalated the situation and made Pharaoh’s evil and calous nature all the more clear. That is what he intended, but if Pharaoh wanted to, he could have received God’s mercy any time he chose.
Pharaoh wasn’t harder than the Israelites. They saw even more miracles than he did and still wouldn’t obey. The difference was that God aimed to show Israel mercy. But even when God chooses to harden someone, he does it by being the same patient, just, merciful God he always is. When he does this, he has a plan, for if he wants, he can always do what is necessary.