Pharaoh's Heart & Divine Aseity

INTRO

Well Youth at Calvary, I want to invite you to position your heart, to make the posture of your heart right now receptive to the reading of God’s word. Tonight we will be reading, examining, and applying selected texts about the plagues in Exodus chapters 7-11, and will begin by praying for the Holy Spirit’s illuminating work as we seek to correctly understand the very words of God. If you are not familiar with your Bible, Exodus is the second book in a 5 part series, with the first book called Genesis followed by a second book called Exodus. This five part series is commonly referred to as the Pentateuch or “The Law,” which was “breathed out” by God’s Holy Spirit, and was perfectly communicated through Moses who received this original revelation from God. We will be picking up 400 years later after last weeks lesson about Joseph and his family’s deliverance from certain death. So tonight you will need two items first your bible and i hope that you have it. Second please raise your hand so that a leader can get you a bible reading sheet on Exodus 7-11. You will definitely need one for tonight. We are going to take a zoomed out view of Exodus 7-11 and the heart of Pharaoh in particular.

I want to encourage you to received this word with all eagerness, but be actively examining the Scriptures to see if the things that I am saying are true.

I want to begin with a question: what is God revealing about himself in the midst of our hardship and what is he revealing about us? Which is to say to ourselves what is the purpose of the suffering? If you were to type those questions into google you might get answers like, sometimes God brings you through hard times to help you realize how strong you are, or that you are like Joseph and God will use you to set the bullies straight, or that if you plan enough, and pour your heart and soul into the obstacles that you face, that you will be able to overcome them, or that the pain, of the anxiety and fear are just weakness leaving the body. However, if you were to skip google and go to the G.O.A.T. “The God of All Times” you will find that he has a drastically different response. There will be no placebo to take your mind off the pain. He will like a skillful surgeon address the cardiological implications of your heart condition. Cutting with great precision to remove rot, replacing it with his own son’s heart whom he slaughtered in order to save you.

As I mentioned earlier, we will be picking up from 3,800 years ago regarding Joseph and his family’s deliverance from starvation. Then we will skip ahead 400 years to a once famine ravaged country that is now a thriving first world society. A society that was so first world and advanced for it’s day that some odd men on the history channel have even speculated that aliens must have helped them build this civilization. Although, we as rational people know that little green men weren’t involved. We do know that the Hebrew people were living in slavery as aliens in a foreign land, helping to build a kingdom that was not their own. God hears the cries of his people, and calls his servant Moses saying the following words from Exodus 4:

“When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power.” But God says, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. God goes on to say, I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 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.”

Do you all remember what these great acts of judgement were? They were the plagues outlined in chapters 7-11.

Now, I want to also invite you to stand in honor, of the reading of God’s word. Would you please stand... So my friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ hear the Word of the Lord:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. “Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.” But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. “And the Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.” But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. “So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.”’ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. “So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt’” But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt—on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.’ So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, …if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days” But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. “Then Moses said, ‘Thus says the Lord: “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”’” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

You can all have a seat.

The LORD told Moses, and by extension tells us today, 1. What happened to Pharaoh’s heart. 2. That God is just in hardening Pharaoh’s heart. 3.How God’s people receive mercy.

WHAT HAPPENED TO PHARAOH’S HEART

EX: Now some of you after reading this historical narrative may say this is completely unfair, this is completely unjust, how can God choose to harden Pharaoh’s heart? And you would be partially right. In the sense that, yes, God will harden Pharaoh’s heart. But I want you to notice what happened first. Let’s take a closer look at the texts in order to we can get a clearer picture of what is occurring.

1st. “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4:21, 7:3)

2nd “His heart was hardened (Exodus 7:14, 22)

3rd “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15)

4th “His heart was hardened” (Exodus 8:19)

5th “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32)

6th “His heart was hardened” (Exodus 9:7)

7th “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 9:12)

8th “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 9:35)

9th “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10)

EX: So when does God Harden Pharaoh’s heart? He hardens it after Pharaoh hardens himself. Now when it refers to his heart in these passages you have to understand a little history. And here an ounce of history will be worth a pound of logic.

People in the ancient Near East viewed the heart as the seat of emotions, the intellect, and the will. There the heart referred to the entire disposition of someone or more simply put their whole person.

APP: Some of you are thinking to yourselves what happened to Pharaoh’s heart and how can I avoid it? The answer is located in Romans 1:18-25:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

EX: So the short answer is worship God only, don’t let your loves, and affections be captured ultimately by anything that God has made. Just love and worship God most. But we have a huge problem! We can’t do this on our own...

TRANS: You see all of made kind is under just condemnation tracing all the way back to Adam and Eve’s fall from perfection in the Garden of Eden. The 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith puts it like this, “Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God. And that “sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of, the law of God." And finally that, The covenant (or contract) made with Adam was not only for himself but for his posterity, all of mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression (or sin).”

IS GOD JUST IN HARDENING PHARAOH’S HEART

ILL: Anyone in here ever make a piece of pottery in an art class?

You know, were you form a clay vessel, into a bowl?

Sometimes its to eat the choices of gelato from or maybe you form it into a pot to hold all kind of rubbish. Now if you had a masterful Art teacher they are usually are famous for the utterances of deep profundities that connect the artist to the art. It has been said that,

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” -Henry Ward Beecher (American Abolitionist)

"A vessel is formed from a lump of clay with care, however, it is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful.” -Laozi (Ancient Chinese Philosopher)

In the same ways, God’s breath taking creation shouts his glory, and is revealing him throughout nature itself. And as a skilled potter, God has the creative right to form vessels and fill their empty spaces how ever he wills. Who would dare to say that The Potter has no right over the clay?

Turn in your bible’s with me to Romans 9:14-18:

What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. (Romans 9:14-18)

EX: We are gaining deeper insight into the very character of God himself. We just landed in the middle of one of the apostle Paul’s deepest arguments in the bible. He is addressing whether God’s seemingly arbitrary choice of Jacob over Esau, and now the Gentiles as His people, makes him unjust. As support for God’s choosing of some men and not others, Paul uses the example of this wicked, baby murdering tyrant of a Pharaoh who needed no introduction. Paul uses the example of Pharaoh like we would use Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or any other tyrant ruler in recent history who slaughters God’s image bears without regard.

But here is what I want you to catch: Pharaoh, the Egyptians, Moses, and God’s chosen people all equally deserved the same judgement was poured out on Pharaoh through the plagues. Why is this so? How could God compare someone who is a literal baby killer, and someone who gives up much to follow God?

It’s because the same God who commanded, “Thou shall not murder.” Also said that, “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (John 3:15). But then he goes deeper into the hearts of men again saying, “anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:22)

EX: Do you see what God is saying? The religious God following Israelites and Pharaoh with the Baby Killing Egyptians are in the same boat. You might be crying out in your soul, “how can anyone be saved if salvation isn’t achieved through will (or willing up enough faith)?” Or through tireless work to be a good person?

The Apostle Paul points us back to Exodus 33:16-19 turn in your bibles back to this prayer between God and Moses. Where Moses begs God for him to be their God and to go with them so that they might be a special people. Not because they would be inherently special, but because their God is special.

For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. (Exodus 33:16-19)

EX: Now Moses’ prayer is to see the manifested glory (literally ‘weight’ of Glory) of YHWH. You see for a Holy, Holy, Holy God to show a wretched sinner His Glory is the most terrifying and deadly request that one can make.

But because God knows Moses, because God knows Moses, because God knows Moses he honors Moses request. We learn very little about the actual scene, but we learn a tremendous amount about The Lord as His goodness passes by Moses. The Lord says, “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. God’s revelation will be of his ‘name’ (that is, his nature) proclaimed in terms of his deeds to man. God’s nature is here defined as ‘goodness’ (Heb. ṭûb), and this is further described in terms of ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’. The object of this divine grace and mercy is sinful Israel, and without this quality of ‘loving-kindness’ as God’s basic characteristic, Israel would be utterly lost. along with Pharaoh, and the rest of the sinful world. The name “The Lord” literally means “I AM.”

Do you get it yet?

Because God has aseity meaning that Because he is “I AM”, “Yahweh" “the LORD” who creates all Space, Energy, Matter, and Time Ex Nihilio (out of nothing), He is the only true being, who is just “being,” therefore he can do as he chooses. Which is to say God because he is God is the only being who truly has the decisive right to choose and make decisions.

EX: Turn back in your bible’s with me to Romans 9:16:

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. (Romans 9:16)

TRANS: Your probably saying… “Wait! So if it depends not on human will (your ability to trust enough) or exertion (your ability to work enough), but on God (who is the freest to make decisions). How does that translate to you getting that mercy?”

That is quite the predicament… Let me bring it full circle with an illustration.

HOW GOD’S PEOPLE RECEIVE MERCY

ILL: Imagine with me if you will that there are two teenagers lets call them Aiden and Emma. They have been watching all of the plagues transpiring with the Nile to blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock, Boils, Hail, Locust, Darkness, and you finally just hear about the Geath of the First Born. Emma looks over at Aiden during the middle of brick making class, and says Aiden are you nervous about the next pandemic plague that’s going to kill all the first born?

It’s just that my mom is the oldest in her family, and I love my older sister. I don’t want anything to happen to them. We have already seen so much death and chaos, I don’t know how I will get through those this if something bad happens you know?

Aiden looks at Emma and says isn’t your family going to slaughter the passover lamb? Aren’t they going to put blood around the door frame? Aren’t they going to do all the things that Moses told us to do?

Emma says well of course Aiden, we’re not stupid.. but you’ve got to admit that it’s all just really scary.

You only have your older brother who is the first born in your family. The other 5 of you are safe, Aiden. It just makes me nervous with all of the things that have been going on around here, you know?

And Aiden looks at Emma without missing a beat, BRING ON THE LAST PLAGUE! I Trust the promises of God; He exclaims confidently!

So Emma trusted God a little and Aiden trusted God a lot.

Now which one do you suppose had their family members die in the last plague —— the death of the first born?

...

Neither… Neither one lost anyone in their families. That’s because the Lord’s mercy isn’t dependent on willing up enough faith or enough trust. The Lords mercy depends not on Man but on the blood of the Lamb!!! That is why the Israelites kept passover every year. You see the Israelites were looking forward to a promised leader who would be greater than Moses. They were looking forward to a King, Priest, and Prophet, that would be named Jesus. Who would die on the cross to give his life as a ransom for many.

GOSPEL TURN: Now days, we look back to the cross. We look to Jesus’s sacrifice for us, and remember it with an ordinance born out of the passover meal called communion.

Communion began on the annual celebration of Passover when Jesus told his disciples to remember his sacrifice as they ate the bread and drank the wine. Just as Israel celebrated the sacrifice of the Passover lamb when the angel of death passed over their homes, so believers in Jesus celebrate and remember his sacrifice of our sins when he died on the cross. This is what the scriptures say:

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes." 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Communion uses bread as a symbol of the body of Jesus and wine as a symbol of his blood. The act of taking communion does not save us, it is an act of worship and remembrance.

So the question becomes this: Have you been covered by the blood of Jesus? Does Jesus know you in a deep experiential way? Have you become a new person since trusting Jesus, has he changed you? Has your desire shifted to where you want to please him more than yourself?

If this is not you, I would encourage you to see a leader so that they can more clearly inform you what true repentance (turning from your sin looks like. And so that they can walk with you in the process of becoming more like Jesus who freely gave himself up for the sins of the world. Meaning a mixed multitude of people from every tribe tongue and nation.

Pray--