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The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

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One of the most controversial phrases in the Bible has to be when God says that He will “harden Pharaoh’s heart.” (See Exodus 4:21 and 7:3 for two examples.) For the longest time, this statement has troubled me. It seemed as though Pharaoh didn’t even have a choice. I always imagined in my mind that Pharaoh was willing to let the people go earlier but God wouldn’t let him. As if God wanted to make a point using Pharaoh, like some judge who decides a massive punishment for a small crime just to make an example of the person. How could a God who says He is love do such a thing?

As I was recently studying the whole story of Pharaoh and the Exodus I saw a different side of God than I had before (and a different side of Pharaoh). I realized that I had come to the wrong conclusion. The problem was that I was reading God’s statement wrong. Let me explain.

I noticed that throughout the story, the “source” of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart changes. While God does say He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, in some passages (ie: Exodus 7:3, 9:7, 35), it simply says his heart “was hardened.” In others (ie: Exodus 8:15, 19, 32), it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Why the difference? Which is it?

I also learned that the passages use three different Hebrew words* to describe this “hardening” experience. One of the words means “to make rigid or obstinate” (for another place it is used, see Jeremiah 5:3). Another word (used only once—by God) meant “to make stubborn” (for another place this word is used, see 2 Kings 17:14). And the third word (used mainly when Pharaoh hardened his own heart) means “to make dull or unresponsive,” carrying the idea of being insensible (you can also find this word used in Isaiah 6:10). I had always thought “hardening” meant he wasn’t compassionate, or that he had become mean. Yet, these words carry more of an idea of Pharaoh being unwilling to accept or understand things differently than he did going into this experience.

Then I saw a similar scene in the book of Revelation. In chapter 16, John describes the seven bowls of God’s wrath that are poured out on those who have the Mark of the Beast (that’s a whole different, but fascinating, study for another day). As the bowls are poured out, some of the plagues that come upon the earth are similar to those in the story of Pharaoh. What was the reaction of the people that experienced the plagues? “They cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory” (Revelation 16:9). The plagues that fell on those who did not love God already, didn’t convert them. If anything, the plagues made them hate Him even more. You could say that their hearts were “hardened” further towards God.

As I considered these points, it hit me: God’s statement about hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not a plan to force, but an admission that He’d be the cause of it. The signs and wonders that God would do would not make Pharaoh believe, it would only make him more stubborn. It wasn’t that God would force Pharaoh to become obstinate against his will, it was that Pharaoh would choose to become increasingly unresponsive toward God.

God has that affect on people. We always assume that if God showed His power, everyone would automatically believe and bow down to Him. Yet, we only have to look at how the people reacted to Jesus to see that this is not the case. When Jesus performed a miracle of casting out a demon (Matthew 12:22–24), there were some who were convinced of the power of God and began to believe in Jesus. However, the Pharisees, who had already set their hearts against Jesus, only hated Him more, claiming it was through the power of Satan. In fact, the more influential Jesus became, the more they set their hearts against Him—even to the point of plotting to kill Him (see Matthew 12:9–14, or John 11:45–53).

The truth is, when we are confronted with God—with His power, His counsel, or even just the idea of Him—there will be one of two reactions in our heart. Our heart will either be softened towards Him resulting in a relationship with Him, or our hearts will be hardened towards Him, pushing us further away. It all depends on how we enter into the experience.

You see, Pharaoh believed he was a god, so God’s presence and power would only threaten his position. The Pharisees believed they were the epitome of righteous living, so God’s wisdom and grace would threaten their authority. Thus, when God stepped in and revealed His power and wisdom, neither of their hearts were changed, but instead, they both stubbornly resisted and hated Him even more.

God will not force you or me to go against Him, or force us to become mean and hardened, but His presence will affect us. How it affects us is our choice.

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*For those who might like to know which Hebrew words these are, the first is chazaq, the second is qashah, and the third is kabed.

A Lesson from a Rubik’s Cube

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About a year ago my son became interested in the Rubik’s Cube. After purchasing him one, he went straight to internet help sites to learn how to overcome the cube’s challenge. It took some time before he memorized its specific moves and was able to solve it with no help.

Interestingly, solving the challenge did not make him bored of it. Instead, he played with it daily, asking us to “mix it up” in different ways and naming a color he would begin with. Then, he wanted to see how quickly he could solve it—many times it would be under a minute. It wasn’t long until he made solving the cube look easy. Lately, he will even casually look away while solving it because he has become so comfortable with it. No matter how difficult we thought we’d made it, he’d soon have all the sides and colors solved. No matter how messed up it was, the Rubik’s Cube was no longer a challenge to him.

Then, one day, he began a campaign to encourage me to learn to solve it. After awhile of asking, I finally gave in (just this week) and began my quest to find the solution. I also studied the specific moves and learned its patterns. I’ll admit, it was a lot of fun trying to figure it out—I had wanted to solve it since I was a kid (of course, back then I could only ever solve one color). The first several times I found myself having to peek at a cheat-sheet in order to be successful. However, I was soon able to see the patterns, and even more, the solutions and was able to successfully solve it without any help! (My son got very excited when he watched me do it by myself.)

And then I noticed something my son had already learned: I wasn’t able to mix up the cube in any way that would make it unsolvable. No matter how messed up I made it it never looked more difficult. This dawned on me even more when I heard one of my son’s friends say, after thoroughly mixing up the colors, that there was no way it could be solved. I remembered thinking the same way not long before. Yet, as I watched my son quickly (way quicker than me!) solve it once again, I understood why he had such confidence with it—why my confidence was also growing: I knew its solution.

All of a sudden a thought came to me: this is similar to our struggles in life and God. Let me explain. We think things in our lives can get so messed up that there’s no solution (no cure, no forgiveness, etc), yet we only feel this way because we don’t know how to solve such situations. Yet life, no matter how “mixed up” we might make it, is just as easy for God to solve because He knows the solution. Just as Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Yes, our lives may become so mixed up we cannot see a way out, but we do not have to worry, Jesus knows the solution. He won’t panic or become worried that He won’t be able to solve our messy lives, because He has already conquered any problems we may face.

I believe that if we could see our situations from His point of view (able to see every pattern and every resolution), we would never think anything was impossible (for Him) and would never view any situation as unsolvable (to Him). Maybe this is why it is easier for us to have faith in Him in the situations He has already brought us through—because we’ve witnessed His hands solve the problem. Yet, if we will fully trust our jumbled lives in God’s powerful hands, no situation we ever face will be impossible or unsolvable!

The Covenant: What God Requires

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It wasn’t the question that was strange, it was the one who was asking (Mark 10:17). The parallel story in Matthew 19 says the man was young; Luke 19 says he was a ruler; all three of the Gospels agree he was rich—he was a rich, young ruler. But a question was eating away at this rich young man. So He ran up to Jesus and blurted out the question: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It may have been his youthful, business oriented boldness that caused him to ask, but he asked what everyone wanted to know. What does God require of me?

Jesus answered by listing off commandments—mainly the last 6 commandments (Mark 10:19). He didn’t start with number one, like we might think. Even if it was in His plan to get to the first four, He was interrupted before He could. The young man cut in to say, “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (Mark 10:20). The young man’s boldness is a very interesting thing. Think about it: he actually interrupted God to speak of his own perfection. There may have been a big smile on the young man’s face. So far, he was passing the test with flying colors. This may have been a regular thing in his life.

Of course, Jesus wasn’t finished. I like that Mark says that Jesus looked at the young man and loved him. “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). Selling everything was not a general requirement for all people, it was the essence of what this young man needed. It revealed to him the real issue in his life: what really came first in his life?

The core of Jesus’ requirement to the young man is summed up in an answer to a question from the pharisees about the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Quoting from Deuteronomy 6:4, 5, Jesus summed up God’s requirements—“the one thing” the young man lacked—“the one thing” many lack: putting God first in life. How do we do this?

If we look at the first four commandments in Exodus 20—the ones Jesus skipped when talking to the young man—we will see what He was talking about. In the first part of the covenant God says, “have no other gods before Him” (Exodus 20:3). He asks us to be faithful to Him. In order to love God with all that we are we must remove anyone or anything that might take His place in our hearts. Our first priority, our only allegiance, our greatest love should be towards God. Our agreement with God says that we will not put anyone else in His place.

Next He says, “do not make any idols or worship them” (Exodus 20:4–6). God is asking us not to “make” anything, or allow anything, to take His place in our lives. Idols often steal our worship and rule our lives—whether it is money, a symbol, a celebrity, or even our favorite religious writer/ speaker. We can even get to the point where we think that we are God’s greatest example to mankind pushing the only perfect example, Jesus Christ, aside. But, putting God first means that we will not allow any created thing to replace God, or what He does, in our lives, and therefore take our worship and service from Him.

Then He says, not to take His name in vain (Exodus 20:7). It literally reads, “do not take my name upon yourselves in emptiness.” This means more than the misuse of God’s name in your speech, but more importantly, improper representation of God’s name in your life. He’s basically saying, “honor my name, represent my character well.” It is easy to build up or tear down someone’s name, or reputation. 2 Timothy 3:5 describes people “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” These are those who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk—representing God with an empty life. Loving God with all that we are means that we will live in such a way as to keep His name holy and honorable.

Finally, He says, “remember His Sabbath by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8–11). Part of our covenant with God includes remembering to meet with Him on His special day, the Sabbath. In fact, we would do everything to make sure we spent the whole day with Him—not just one or two hours—because He is our God and we love Him and want to spend time with Him. If we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul we would look forward to and protect our time with Him on His holy day.

Jesus was clear about what God wanted: total devotion to Him. The young man’s response to Jesus answer? “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22). What a tragedy! To be in the presence of Jesus and yet walk away sad. This was obviously the hardest thing the young man could have heard. What God required was impossible for him. He was asked to put the Kingdom of God before his own kingdom and he could only walk away. His desire for eternal life was not as great as for his earthly riches.

This is what the covenant requires of all of us towards God as well. God asks you and I to put aside our kingdoms and seek His. He asks that we love Him above all else. He asks that we follow Him. This is what God requires. So we have two options: uphold our end of the covenant and put God first, or walk away. But know this: Jesus says that not one who has left anything behind for His sake and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this life and in the life to come (Mark 10:29, 30). It may be the most difficult choice of your life, but don’t let another tragedy happen. Don’t walk away sad—choose Christ!

The Great Conflict: God’s Plan for Victory

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In my last post, I talked about why we seem to have so much trouble on our journey with God: we are in the middle of a spiritual war. Sides have been drawn and battles fought. It is possible, though, that most days you feel like you’re on the edge of defeat. I have learned, in my own struggle, that the only source of spiritual victories in my life is to follow God’s plan for victory, not my own.

God spells out His battle plan in Exodus 14. It came at an intense moment in Israel’s beginning. They had recently been freed from slavery in Egypt, but were suddenly trapped by the Red Sea. This was their first confrontation as followers of God; the first time they felt like trouble was their reward for following God. Pharaoh and his army were charging in upon them and the sight of the army causes them to wish they had never left Egypt (ever notice that almost every trial they face resulted in them wishing to return to slavery?). It is at this pivotal moment that God reveals His plan for victory to His newly formed army. It is the core of every battle plan God uses.

The first thing outlined in God’s battle plan for us: “Do not be afraid” (Exodus 14:13). Can you imagine being in the heat of battle and someone next to you is screaming over and over, “We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die!” Fear can spread quickly. Due to this, before any battle, if an Israelite soldier was afraid, they would be sent home (Deuteronomy 20:8). God knows that fear is contagious, and many victories have been forfeited because of fear. Sadly, we can be so afraid of defeat and failure that many times we won’t even try.

We struggle with this fear even though God promises over and over that He will be with us. Actually, He does more than simply “be” with us, He fights for us! Deuteronomy 3:22 says, “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you” (emphasis mine). This is the same reason He puts in His battle plan: “…you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you. …The Lord will fight for you” (Ex 14:14). This is no doubt why David says: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1). And why Paul can say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). With God as our light and salvation, and our fortress, who should we fear? We don’t have to fear because God is with us, and is fighting for us! Victorious spiritual soldiers are courageous—not because of their strength, but because they trust in the power of their God.

Next, God’s plan says that we must stand firm. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today” (Exodus 14:13). God’s battle plan requires that each of his soldiers take their stand. They must hold their ground—be committed. This isn’t about being committed to an idea, it is being committed to God and His plan. When you join the battle, you cannot be on the fence about Whom you stand for. You must understand and be committed to His cause. It means that you will be ready and willing to obey any order at any given time. Too often, we find ourselves running ahead and asking God later if it was something He wanted us to do. To be victorious you must not move until told to move. You will rest when you are told to rest, and fight when you are told to fight. It means you are focused—focused on Him. By standing firm, nothing else in our lives come before serving our Master and His plan.

Finally, the last part of God’s plan: be still. “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Ex 14:14). It may sound like it is saying the same thing as before, but the Hebrew word here literally means “be silent.” What had the Israelites been doing? Complaining. For God’s battle plan to work, we must stop our mouths too—stop complaining. Complaining causes us to look at the problem rather than the solution. When we complain, we are questioning the battle plan. When we complain we can’t hear the battle plan. What reason would we have for talking over God anyway? We don’t need to point out the problem—it’s obvious. We can’t add to the strategy of His plan—it is already perfect. So what could we have to say? Nothing. Therefore, we are to be silent. Silently listening for God’s next instruction. If we read further in the chapter, we’ll find that once Israel stopped complaining they were able to see the Red Sea part.

Friends, we are in the middle of a tremendous war. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we proclaim satan our enemy. Therefore, as long as sin exists, we will have trouble in this world. So what is God’s plan for victory? Be silent, trust Him, and take a stand.

You see, God doesn’t need Super-Soldiers or mighty fighting machines—He’s got angels. What He needs in us are soldiers that will stand for Him. He’s not asking us to have faith in our strength. He doesn’t ask us to be the best fighters. He’s not even asking us to fight. He just asks us to stand.

Are there trials in your life? Stand firm—God is your refuge! Are temptations attacking more than ever? Stand firm—God is your strength! Are there more losses than victories in your spiritual life? Stand firm—God is your salvation! In other words, when Satan tries to advance in your life, you stand your ground with Christ.

We must remember, though, that victory is not winning every battle, it is about winning the war. There will be losses. There will be struggles and pain. You may feel like giving up. You may think that God has abandoned you. But do not give up! He will not abandon you! Jesus promised, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis mine).

Worship: The Return of Reverence, Part 2

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In part 1, I talked about how reverence is missing in worship because something else is missing in our hearts. In this post, we will see what is missing so reverence can return.

When searching for the source of reverence we must consider the Children of Israel: despite their frequent lack of faith and spiritual stumbles, they were a reverent people. Sometimes they were seen as overly reverent. They had a deep reverence for His sanctuary. They had strong reverence for God’s name. But they weren’t always like this. Notice this encounter with God: “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we’ll listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin’” (Exodus 20:18–20). What caused great reverence for God? They saw the awesome power of God on that mountain and became afraid. They were in awe of God; they feared Him.

This wasn’t meant to be a momentary feeling for God’s people either. Notice what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” He found, at the end of his successful life, that fearing God is our whole duty. It is part of our responsibility of God’s people. It is the foundation of what the Christian life is about. We’ve heard the obedience thing, but when’s the last time you were encouraged to fear God?

Some suggest that those Old Testament ideas have no place with modern Christianity. Notice, though, this message in the book of Revelation: “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, ‘Fear god and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water’” (Revelation 14:6, 7). This is God’s last day, gospel message for the world. What are the angel’s first words? Fear God. Revelation’s message is calling mankind back to what we were created for; calling us back to the fear of God! I do not think it is coincidence that the angel calls us to fear God before calling us to worship Him. This is because our worship (and reverence) originate from our fear of God. The reason we no longer have reverence in our churches and our worship is because we no longer fear God.

You may be wondering if I’m suggesting that you’re supposed to be afraid of God. Yes and no. For a long time we have been taught that we don’t have to fear God—“We have a loving God; you don’t have to be afraid of Him.” But this has given us the wrong idea about fearing God and has caused us to cease from doing it. But fearing God isn’t supposed to be a bad experience. David says in Psalm 112:1, “Blessed is he who fears the Lord.” Also, Moses told the Israelites not to be afraid, yet said that they need the fear of God with them. The fear of God is not a frightful fear. It is not a fear terrorists produce. It comes from love, not punishments; blessings, not curses; mercy, not cruelty. It is holy, righteous, and pure. But it is fear.

What kind of fear is it then? Psalm 96:4–6, says, “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and glory are in His sanctuary.” This fear is an awe of His splendor, majesty, strength, and glory. It comes from the complete acknowledgment that He is the Author of life.

What kind of fear is it? Jeremiah 5:22 says, “‘Should you not fear me?’ Declares the Lord. ‘Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, and everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.’” This fear is the product of the awareness that everything happens in this world because God allows it—He is truly in control.

What kind of fear is it? Matthew 10:28, Jesus says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who is able to kill both the body and the soul in hell.” This fear is the result of knowing that God is your Judge; that your eternity lays in His hands. This is the fear of God.

If we want to truly worship, we must have reverence; if we want to have reverence, we must learn to fear God again. We cannot teach our selves to worship, because we can’t “plan” worship—worship just happens. We cannot teach our selves to be reverent, because we can’t “program” reverence—it is the natural result of the fear of God in your heart. So, if we are lacking worship or reverence, we must remind ourselves Who God is and why we should fear Him!

We have the blessings in our lives to remind us of His love, if we’ll look for them. We have the vast heavens, which declare His glory, to remind us that a mighty God is in control. We have His Word to remind us of His mercy and grace to offer sinners like us undeserved justice.

Our God is awesome and He deserves to be feared. Fear Him because He can create with mere words. Fear Him because He is still in control—not just of our world, but the whole universe! Fear Him because the God who is your Judge is also your Savior!

Learn to fear God, then you will be filled with reverence and awe.

Learn to fear God, then worship will begin.

Worship: The Return of Reverence, Part 1

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I heard a story once of a woman who entered a Haagen-Dazs store on the Kansas City Plaza for an ice-cream cone. After making her selection, she turned and found herself face to face with Paul Newman, who was in town filming the movie Mr. & Mrs. Bridge. He smiled and said hello. Newman’s blue eyes caught hers and caused her knees to shake.

She somehow managed to pay for her cone, then left the shop, heart pounding. She had been in the same room as Paul Newman! When she gained her composure, she realized she didn’t have her ice-cream cone. She started back into the store to get it and met Newman at the door. “Are you looking for your ice cream?” he asked. She nodded, unable to speak. “You put it in your purse with your change.”

Wow. I guess you could say she was a big fan of Paul Newman. Some might even say that she revered him. We could even go as far as to say she worshiped the ground he walked on!

As funny as it is, this story also saddens me. It is too accurate of an example of how many of us treat our earthly heroes. You may have even treated someone you respect this way. But what about God? When was the last time God made you speechless? When was the last time God quickened your pulse… in worship?

I have heard many express what should or should not be in a worship service. I have been instructed as to what is proper to do in worship. Some say that there are many ways to worship; others say that there is only one way to worship. In my search I’ve found that there are actually two kinds of worship mentioned in the Bible: acceptable and unacceptable.

Isaiah 29:13 reveals unacceptable worship. It is just lip-service. The heart isn’t in it. They don’t feel anything. They just show up and do what they are told. Their fear/ worship is dictated by rules men have made. God despises this worship—thus, it is unacceptable. Acceptable worship, then, must come from the heart. Our emotions must be involved. So, where do we start? Hebrews 12:28 says, “let us off to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” [emphasis mine].

You see, reverence is often missing in our worship. It has been said that we need to bring reverence back into the sanctuary. Yes, we do. God said, “…have reverence for my sanctuary” (Leviticus 19:30). Yet, it seems to me that if we are irreverent in His house, it is because we have a lack of reverence for God, Himself!

Many say that we need to have more reverence during our worship service. I agree. However, if we do not have reverence to begin with, worship cannot happen! We cannot go to church without reverence for God or His sanctuary, and leave saying we have worshipped Him—worship doesn’t happen simply because we sing some songs! We must have reverence before we can even begin to worship.

This is where reverence belongs. This is the part reverence plays. It is the beginning of worship.  It is what fuels worship. It ends in acceptable worship. We cannot have worship without it. If we lack worship, it may be because we do not start with reverence. Yes, we need reverence in the sanctuary. Yes, we need reverence in our worship. But what we need most of all is reverence for our God!

I got excited when I learned this. I wanted to know how I could get this reverence in my life so I could pass it on. So, I looked for “7 easy steps to reverence,” or “21 irrefutable laws toward a reverent life,” but I couldn’t find anything. In my search for a quick-fix for reverence, I saw that it cannot be achieved by simply following some rules or learning a few steps. Instead, reverence the result of something happening inside you. If we lack reverence, it is because something else is missing in our heart.

In part 2, we will look at what is missing and how reverence can return to our lives and our worship.