25th April 2024

25th April 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 11:1-10 focus v9-10)


Message (Alan Burke)


In the narrative of all that takes place in the book of Exodus there are 19 references to the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Three time the Lord declares that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 4:21, 7:3, 14:4), six times the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart (Ex 9:12, 10:1, 20, 27, 11:10, 14:8), seven times it is implied that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by the Lord (Ex 7:13, 14, 22, 8:19, 9:7, 35, 14:5) and three times that we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex 8:15, 32, 9:34). 


The Lord God is sovereign over the heart of Pharaoh and at the same time Pharaoh hardened his own heart. The Lord was working in Pharaoh and doing exactly what Pharaoh wanted, he was responsible in all of this. While the Lord hardened his heart Pharaoh continued to do what he wanted to do. The Lord hardened his heart but it was also self induced. 


Ultimately in this all the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was to show who the Lord was. The Lord didn’t need to enact the Ten plagues, he could have done it with the first one and the people would have been free but the Lord bought all Ten Plagues and hardened pharaohs’ heart for his own glory. He was visiting upon the people of Egypt judgement for what they had done to his people for the four hundred years that they were in slavery, for what they had faced at their hands.


Also note that the judgment that was brought upon the first born of Egypt is something that that will come to us all. Hebrews 9:27 tells us that God has appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.  Where those who are not the Lord’s who have not turned to him for his mercy they will face everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for ever.


We will all die, we might feel that it was unjust that God brought this judgment upon the Egyptians but death comes to all, sin has brought death to all for the wages of sin is death. Romans 5 reminds us how sin entered the world through one man, 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned (Rom 5:12), the choice before Pharaoh was to listen to the word of the Lord that came to him through Moses but he did not. 


What Pharaoh, what the Egyptians as a people needed to do, what we need to do to escape the judgment is to cry out to the Lord God and ask that he would show us his mercy. A mercy that we receive because the judgement that we deserve was placed upon another. The judgement that we deserve was placed on Jesus Christ. He experienced the wrath of a holy God against sin. For in his sovereignty, over The, Past Present And Future. For the Lord in eternity past knowing what was going to unfold, the sin that man fell into brought about his eternal plan of salvation, all for his own glory. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer?
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation
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