God says this in Exodus 4:21, "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." As I said in the sermon on Sunday, that's a startling sentence.
This is not an isolated statement. God makes this clear time and time again in the book of Exodus; in addition to that, this is referenced and affirmed in other places in scripture.
God is over all and in all. Nothing escapes his sovereign grasp. While such information is challenging to understand, we need to gladly embrace what is truly revealed of God in his word.
Now, there is a temptation to think something like, "Well, I'm so glad Jesus isn't like this. I'm so glad our Jesus isn't like the god of the OT." Not so fast; Jesus says the exact same thing. Let me show you.
Jesus' disciples were perplexed as to why Jesus would teach in parables; they were just so hard to understand. Along with other things, Jesus quotes an OT passage explaining why he would teach in parables. It says, "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them" (Read Matt. 13:10-17)
Do you understand what Jesus is saying? He saying, "I speak in parables to keep the hard, unrepentant in the dark. I'm keeping them from seeing and being healed." That's Jesus; kind, meek and tenderhearted Jesus. So, God hardening hearts and keeping people from repentance is not some obscure, isolated OT revelation; its something we all need to come to grips with.
So, any thoughts?
Pastor Brian
2 comments:
I've always wondered about God hardening peoples hearts. Today in service you compared this section to a poker game where God was all in and so was the Pharaoh, but wasn't God sort of cheating? He made it so that Pharaoh could not change his heart therefore would forfeit his firstborn son.
This frightens me. It makes me think that as I go along in life and if I fight the fight against sin that if I fail and sin one too many times that God may harden my heart and I would be forever lost to him.
Thanks for the comment. Let me say a couple of things.
1. When we form our picture of God, we always want to start with that which is crystal clear and understandable. There's a reason why some things in the Bible are beyond question (i.e. salvation is found in no one else except Jesus; God is supreme; there's no hope for forgiveness a part from enduring faith; God desires everyone to be saved); I can find explicit statements in God's word to support these statements. These things are clear.
Secondly, when we come up to "harder to understand" statements in the Bible (like this one) we want to make sure that we don't abandon what we know to be crystal clear. We want to try to understand what is being said with respect to what we know to be crystal clear.
So, for example, you say you're frightened when you read such a statement, thinking if you sin too much God will harden your heart and you'll be lost forever. Well, there are some things we know for sure:
1. where there is a lot of sin, there is even more grace (Rom. 5:20)
2. our promise of salvation isn't based on how well we can fight the battle against sin; its based on the finished work of Jesus Christ for us.
So, while sin is serious, don't fear being cut off because of that sin; instead, praise God that he's given you eyes to see your sin and that he's given you the gift of repentance. Continue to trust the work of Jesus on your behalf and rejoice that he's made provision for you through his sacrifice.
It seems quite clear to me that God hardens willing participants. Pharaoh certainly is; Exodus also states that Pharaoh hardens his own heart to God. The pharisees already were rebellious and unbelieving; Jesus teaching parables doesn't change what's already true of them, that they reject Jesus.
Without question, there are mysterious elements to this, but as you seek to understand, remember to keep holding tightly to what we know for sure.
Did this help any? Let me know.
Pastor Brian
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