Exodus 7:1Ever had a truly dry time in your life spiritually? Where God seemed distant?
His power unavailable to you? Life is pounding you on all sides and God
seems nowhere to be found? Not only that, but God’s enemies and
detractors (worldliness, pseudo spirituality, human philosophies) seems to
be overtaking, overwhelming and drowning out the message of the one, true
God (YHWH)? Maybe you are going through a time like this right now?
Well, you wouldn't be alone. The Nation of Israel (God’s very own people
and possession) had not seen or heard from God seemingly for over 430
years. All that time they got up, went to work, married, raised their children
and seemed to get by in a life of cruel bondage to Egypt, a corrupt kingdom
ruling over them, squeezing every last bit of life and effort out of them, and
they survived and grew into a great multitude in spite of it all, it is not the life
God had envisioned for them, a life of true freedom and abundance. AND…
Not just a freedom as a nation, but personal freedom for each individual.
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For 430 years they struggled and fought and all they had to hold on to was
faith in the WORD passed down to them from their ancestors, (now long
gone) with the message that one day the deliverer would come and they
would be released and redeemed from the bondage of Egypt.
Just how long are they supposed to wait?
By the time Moses came on the scene, Moses, along with Israel, may have
been (perhaps vaguely?) aware of the God of the Hebrews, but how much
could they truly know about HIM? And yet, God held them accountable for
the little they did know.
On the other hand, Egypt had a pantheon of 2,000 names of gods in its
religious system and consciousness. Their gods were all based and
patterned around images with a human body and the head of a bird or an
animal. Animals were chosen to represent the powers of the god. Humanity
had strayed so far from the truth about God, that Egyptian gods and
goddesses represented aspects of the Egyptians’ natural and
“supernatural” surroundings as they sought to understand nature and the
many aspects of the world around them.
In the Egyptians psyche, demons existed and were more powerful than
human beings but not as powerful as gods. They were usually immortal,
could be in more than one place at a time, and could affect the world as
well as people in supernatural ways. (as a large segment of people still
believe and teach today through an endless varieties of supernatural
encounters, mediums, witches, ghosts, UFO’s and extraterrestrials, new
age occultism, ETC.) But there were certain limits to their powers and they
were neither all-powerful nor all knowing. Among demons the most
important figure was Ammut – the Devourer of the Dead – part crocodile,
part lioness, and part hippopotamus. She was often shown near the scales
on which the hearts of the dead were weighed against the feather of Truth.
She devoured the hearts of those whose wicked deeds in life made them
unfit to enter the afterlife. Apepi, another important demon, (sometimes
called Apophis) was the enemy of the sun god in his daily cycle through the
cosmos, and is depicted as a colossal snake.
Most Egyptian gods represented one principle (and physical) aspect of the
world: Ra was the sun god, for example, and Nut was goddess of the sky.
The characters of the gods were not clearly defined. Most were generally
benevolent but their favor could not be counted on. Some gods were
spiteful and had to be placated. In other words, these gods like every god
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Humanity makes up, reflects our flawed human nature and is only as powerful
as we make them. Some, such as Neith, Sekhmet, and Mut, had changeable
characters. The god Seth, who murdered his brother Osiris, embodied the
malevolent and disordered aspects of the world.
The physical form taken on by the various Egyptian gods was usually a
combination of human and animal, and many were associated with one or
more animal species. And an animal could express a deity’s mood. When a
god was angry, she might be portrayed as a ferocious lioness; when gentle, a
cat. The convention was to depict the animal gods with a human body and an
animal head. The opposite convention was sometimes used for
representations of a king, who might be portrayed with a human head and a
lion’s body, as in the case of the Sphinx. Sphinxes might also appear with other
heads, particularly those of rams or falcons.
Many deities were represented only in human form. Among these were such
very ancient figures as the cosmic gods Shu of the air, Geb of the earth, the
fertility god Min, and the craftsman Ptah. There were a number of minor gods
that took on grotesque forms, including Bes, a dwarf with a mask-like face, and
Taurt, a goddess whose physical form combined the features of a
hippopotamus and a crocodile.
Another aspect that ALL religions try to address is the universal truth of evil,
chaos, and the fallen nature of man. But fail miserably to come up with a solid,
all-encompassing and satisfying answer to the human dilemma called life.
Jeremiah the Prophet (2:5-13) and the Apostle Paul (Romans 1:18-23)
address the corrupt spiritual condition and humanity's sin-induced disposition
and spiritual susceptibility to satanic/demonic/humanistic worship systems.
Mankind is incurably “spiritual”. WHY? BECAUSE WE ARE MADE OUT OF
FLESH AND SPIRIT. Genesis 2:7.
Literally, in the Genesis account we are told that were became living
“souls”. From that point on, humanity’s spirit side would always search
beyond it’s physical boundaries for something beyond itself, regardless of how
far away it has travelled away from it’s creator. God has made provision for
this, but one MAJOR difference between the God of the Scriptures and
the gods of the world…WE COME TO YHWH ON HIS TERMS, NEVER ON
OUR OWN. At our most basic level of spirituality, most people instinctively
know this is true. Christianity (Catholicism) and Islam being the biggest threats
to new age, humanity based spirituality. Egypt (the World) would soon learn
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this lesson in the most graphic way imaginable. And will do so again in the
future.) (Plagues)
The Scriptures tell us, specifically the most carnal, fleshly, indulgent man in
the entire Bible, King Solomon, (under the pen name “Ecclesiastes”) that:
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in
the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning
to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and
to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find
satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything
God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken
from it. God does it so that people will fear him. Ecclesiastes 3:11-14
AND…
He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of
the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of
their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for
Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Acts 17:26-27
AND…
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If we truly reach out for Him, He will be right there for us already waiting.
Deuteronomy 4:15-31
At one time Israel knew their God (YHWH) to be completely and utterly
different than all other man made constructs. When the right time came,
and only God knows what that is? (His prerogative? Man’s readiness to
receive? Only God knows, but His timing is always perfect.)
Moses found out by first hand experience the truth about who and what
God truly is. Israel, Pharaoh, Egypt and the rest of the world was about to
find out the same thing. Just to name a few…
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Moses learned YHWH God was real.
YHWH was the CREATOR and LORD of everything.
Moses learned God was personal and relational
Moses found out God had a plan and purpose for humanity that it would
have to accept or reject by their own free will.
Moses found out all other gods were demonic or false.
YHWH God was nothing like Moses imagined HE would be.
YHWH would not, and IS not anything like the world would
expect, or want him to be.
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Now Moses would have to take what he has learned about God, put his faith
and trust in that knowledge and confront the world, (Egypt) with it’s
authorities and power ( Pharaoh) and it’s endless varieties of man-made
gods, deities, philosophies and beliefs.
At one time Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and
bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11
Moses is no longer asking God that question. Neither should we. We
should realize by now who we are, and where we stand with God.
The world through Pharaoh also said, “Who is the LORD, that I should
obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel
go.” The world is still asking this question, and will continue to ask it,
belligerently, aggressively, until the very end. Hardening their hearts like we
hardened ours but to a point where God has set, a point of no return. (As we
see He will do with Pharaoh, and the rest of mankind. )
But we will see that the hardening of their hearts, including Pharaoh's,
originates within the hearts of these individuals. God eventually will
acquiesce, comply, submit, yield, concede to their will.
So the question becomes: Did God harden Pharaoh ‘s heart intentionally
so that it would be impossible for him to respond to God and be
saved?
First of all, many throughout the centuries and much smarter and greater
bible scholars have come to the conclusion that God is GOD, again, not
subject to our opinions, feelings and dispositions on any issues. So they tell
us that GOD would be well within HIS sovereign prerogative, His right, His
entitlement as our CREATOR to do whatever He wants with us, such as
rendering an individual incapable of recognizing and responding to the
Gospel. The thought of this doesn’t sit well with us. And guess what? It must
have not set well with Moses either?!?
It seems that God and Moses had a little conversation on this entire issue!
Romans 9
What we are being told here is that God CAN do this, and we don’t have the
right to question HIS METHODS and MOTIVES. This also tells us that our
SALVATION begins and ends at the mercy and choice of GOD. Not ours. We
have absolutely NOTHING we can do to add or take away to the process.
WE ARE AT THE COMPLETE MERCY OF OUR CREATOR.
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Can you live with that? BUT, we also can be 100% SURE that this is NOT
how God does things. How can we be?
JESUS CHRIST. (John 3:16-18) If GOD has already concretely
predetermined who gets to go to heaven and who gets to go t hell, and we are
absolutely powerless to do anything about it, why send His Son and have him
rejected, beaten, tortured and murdered on a Roman Cross for all humanity
for all time?
The writers of Scripture just wants to remind us, and WE DO NEED
REMINDING CONSTANTLY…God is in charge here not us. God is GOD,
we are not. And from Genesis to Revelation, we observe that for a
predetermined, unknown time in our lives, WE HAVE A CHOICE. BUT IT IS A
LIMITED ONE.
Please pay close attention to the texts and remember Pharaoh initiated the
entire process of hardening his own heart (as GOD predicted He would many
times) (Exodus 7:13,14,22, 8:15,19,32, 9:7,34,35, 13:5) Then it appears that
somehow , terribly and horrifyingly, Pharaoh reached the limits of God’s
limited freedom for mankind, and it looks like it can happen well within our
lifetimes. (this BTW, is what Jesus refers to as the “unpardonable sin”.)
Just because God knows it is going to happen, and uses Pharaoh’s choices to
accomplish and further HIS plan and will, doesn’t mean Pharaoh had no
choice. Judas Iscariot also had a choice. God seeing the end from the
beginning is able to use our decisions to suit HIS purposes anytime, anywhere
and in any way He chooses. This is what Paul in Romans 9 is trying to tell us.
At some point, that we will never know, nor SHOULD ever know, (because
we would take advantage of God and others even more so) GOD accepts our
decision. But He can make our decisions pan out anyway HE decides.
This is why we MUST make sure we are HIS, and we are constantly flexing,
moving and adjusting to HIS will by the power of HIS Holy Spirit. And He gives
us the unlimited GRACE to do this. If we do this, our choices and decisions
will fall on the KINGDOM side of his will, that is, the things that God has set
for HIS own. If we do not, then our decisions fall within the WORLD side of
His will, and there will be nothing left for them save WRATH and JUDGMENT.
As Egypt will soon learn.
Jesus came to teach us to say to GOD, “Not my will, but THY will be done.
Man in HIS natural rebellious state has the will and freedom to make the
decisions that will one day bring GOD to the point where HE will say to us.
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“Not MY will but thy will be done.” This is why the scriptures are PACKED
with warnings…
Choose God choose life - Deuteronomy 30
Choose whom you will serve – Joshua 24:15
Examine yourselves – 2 Corinthians 13:5
Make sure of your place - 2 Peter 1:1-11
How do I know if I haven't already committed the unpardonable sin???
Simple: are you worried about it? Then you haven’t. If you did, you could
care less.
You may ask me, “If the world truly understood what was going on, and
experiencing these awful plagues and judgments, facing the wrath of God
and going to Hell, wouldn’t they turn to God and receive His salvation?
Wouldn’t they change their hearts and repent?
Fast forward to the future where God will again send plagues on the
World…what will be mankind’s reaction then? You tell me. Revelation 9
So as we can all plainly see… a cosmic showdown between the God of the
Bible, YHWH, the God of the Scriptures, the LORD of all CREATION versus
all the gods of Egypt and the world combined is brewing here in Exodus, at
the relative beginning of the history of the world, and is brewing now.
Moses is stuck smack dab in the middle of it. The Bible says so will we.
With Moses as His representative. With His God-given gifts and newfound
faith. Us with our lives submitted to God and the power and presence of the
Holy Spirit promised to us. Moses was remade new. He would be as “God”
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh has been as a “god” to his people for his entire life, and
all his predecessors before him.
We are to be as Christ-like to a lost and dying world we can.
God commands us to do it. We should be as “God” to all those
within our sphere, our “world”.
Do you believe that?
2 Corinthians 5:19-21
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