Exodus - Part 5
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Welcome...
Introduce self...
Pray...
And the Lord said to Moses, “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.
What is a hard heart?
What is a hard heart?
Biblical idea of heart:
Described the entirety of who a person was, not just emotions
Heart included the idea of will
A hard heart is one that resists God
A hard heart is one that worships creation rather than creator
A hard heart is sick with sin and against God
Dead in your trespasses
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Slave to sin
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
Cannot please God
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Who has hard hearts?
Who has hard hearts?
Everyone!
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
In which you all once walked...
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Who can overcome a hard heart?
Who can overcome a hard heart?
God and God alone
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Our heart is hard, our heart is dead, our heart is a slave...
Our will is hard, our will is dead, our will is a slave...
In our rebellious state, we will not pursue God
Hard hearts are removed through repentance (gifted from God)
God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
What does it mean that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart?
What does it mean that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart?
And the Lord said to Moses, “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.
Pharaoh’s heart was always hard...
Pharaoh was always against God (remember killing the babies…)
There are multiple times throughout this story that the Bible says “Pharaoh hardened his own heart.”
I appreciate what RC Sproul commented on this text:
Since in this context “heart” denotes “will,” God states that He will strengthen Pharaoh’s resolve not to release the Israelites. Strange as this may seem, God will give Pharaoh the courage to do what Pharaoh has chosen to do from the outset. God does not force Pharaoh to act contrary to his own will.
It may seem “unjust” but we know it is not…
We must not overlay our perception of justice on God
Pharaoh was not good or even neutral, he was evil (remember the killing the babies…)
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.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’
So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’
And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’
But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or do you begrudge my generosity?
What implications does this have for us today?
What implications does this have for us today?
Appeal to a God who can overcome hard hearts.
Appeal to a God who can overcome hard hearts.
Rest in knowing God began a good work in you and will be faithful to bring it to completion.
Rest in knowing God began a good work in you and will be faithful to bring it to completion.
Rejoice in any softness you see in yourself.
Rejoice in any softness you see in yourself.
But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.