"For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh,
'For this very purpose I have raised you up,
that I may show my power in you,
and that my Name may be declared in all the earth.'
Therefore he has mercy on whom he wills,
and whom he wills he hardens.
You will say to me then,
'Why does he still find fault?
For who has resisted his will?'”
Romans 9:17-19
This is undoubtedly one of the more difficult passages in the Scriptures. When you read that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, your human reaction is "that's not fair!" Anticipating that very thing, the Scripture addresses that, saying that some would ask, "Why does he still find fault, or who has resisted his will?" And at this point you're eagerly anticipating the answer…
But here it is.…
vs 20:
"But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God?
Will the thing formed say to him who formed it,
'Why have you made me thus?'"
And that leaves you wondering, because it seems unjust.
The whole matter depends on one thing: whether or not a person trusts the INTEGRITY of God.
To trust the integrity of God means that I have to lay aside my human reasoning and surrender my opinions - to the God who I believe is more intelligent than I, and that he IS fair, IS righteous, and IS right in all he says and does, because that's what he tells us about himself in his Word. If I do not have that level of respect, then the subject ends here. If you do not have that level of respect, read no further for this is not for you.
If you're still with me ...let's start with the statement:
"...he who does not believe God has made him a liar..."
1st John 5:10
Is it possible that God might God be a liar?
According to Scripture, God is THE TRUTH personified.
"I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life..."
John 14:6
You'll say, "you're using Scripture to explain Scripture but we haven't determined the trustworthiness of Scripture."
Exactly. The decision has to be made FIRST - whether or not to trust the Word of God. Do we believe there IS a God who created the universe? If no, then the discussion is over. Go your way. This is not for you.
If yes, we have to put aside our HUMAN REASONING and surrender it to the wisdom of the God who created the galaxies, the universe, created us, and gave us his Word.
When we pick and choose what we'll believe, we're putting our human thinking above the wisdom of the most high God. We're saying in effect, "That can't be right because it doesn't seem right TO ME." By extension, we're saying to God, "You're wrong."
If we do not believe God, if we do not have total respect for the Word of God, we might as well pack it up and move on, put him out of our lives. It is at this point that each person has to make a decision, and I challenge you right now to make that decision, and make it a lifetime decision. Accept the Word of God as truth, or leave him. Don't be lukewarm. Don't be double-minded. Make the decision today.
"...he who does not believe God has made him a liar…"
1st John 5:10
When you make your decision remember that at the end of life it will be shown who was the liar.
If we are to believe the Word of God we have to come to the place where we understand that it is not for us to select something from God’s Word and hold it up to the "light" of OUR understanding and then decide whether to accept it or reject it. When there is a gap between God’s Word and your understanding, you can be sure the fault lies in your understanding. We have to truly understand what he's saying when he says:
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways,' says the Lord.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
Isaiah 55:8-9
And that's the answer. His reasoning is not inferior to our reasoning. His wisdom is not inferior to any man's wisdom. His ways are not inferior to ours. His thoughts and his ways are infinitely superior to that of any mortal man. He gives us his Word and it needs to be settled in our minds that when we come to a passage we do not understand, we put it on the shelf - knowing his Word is true and my understanding is limited.
God doesn't just harden a heart because he likes to hardens hearts. If you investigate further you will discover that Pharaoh had already hardened his heart.
"Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part, you will make me to know wisdom."
Psalm 51:6
But know this also, that when one rejects truth, lies fill the void.
A small glimpse into the greatness of God...
"...Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption,
the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law,
the service of God, and the promises;
of whom are the fathers and from whom,
according to the flesh, Christ came,
who is over all, the eternally blessed God."
Romans 9:4-5
Christ, the eternally blessed GOD...
Satan constantly attacks all things pertaining to the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, Satan has raised up many false religions and all of them in one way or another will deny Jesus, who he is, his virgin birth, his deity (meaning that he is God) and on it goes.
Satan's supreme goal is to prevent people from worshiping Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth.
"But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the TRUE worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth;
for the Father is seeking such to worship him.
God is Spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and TRUTH.”
John 4:23-24
The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Some passages are obvious, others are buried in the text. An example of this is in the passage above in Romans. "Christ came ...the eternally blessed God." Therefore, Christ is God. If one reads over this passage quickly, he may not notice this eternal truth.
This is why we must not read the Word of God hurriedly just to get through it, just to say we read it. You won't glean eternal truths by going over it quickly just to get it done. No, every word, every phrase must be carefully considered. This is why I do not follow the "read the Bible in a year" program. To read it in a year requires long passages each day, and to me that becomes a chore. No, I read a shorter portion each day, perhaps one chapter, so that I can look forward to it and meditate on it.
The Lord tells us to meditate in his word in all situations in life. When you're just sitting in your house, meditate on a passage from your morning reading, go over it again and again. Let God's Word come to you while you're out walking, when you're lying in bed, and the first thing when you get up. Meditate on it when you're driving in your car.
"And these words which I command you today
shall be IN YOUR HEART.
You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up."
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
When I read the Word of God I read it out loud so that I'm reading it, speaking it, and hearing it, saturating all my senses with it. Slowly. Deliberately.
Friends, handling the Word of God in all reverence will make all the difference in the world to your growth. The word "meditate" means to chew on. The point is that we are to let the Word of God become part of us. Don't consider it a chore, because once you begin doing this from the heart and seeing the response from God, you'll wonder why you neglected it in the past. God will speak to you through his Word. When I ask the Lord a question, he often answers with a Scripture and it enlightens everything having to do with the question. It's so wonderful, so awesome, so GOOD.
Make God's Word a priority in your life, and it will change everything. Most importantly, it will change YOU.
"Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder
against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked letters from him
to the synagogues of Damascus,
so that if he found any who were of the Way,
whether men or women,
he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."
Acts 9:1-2
Saul, later known as the apostle Paul, was a high-ranking member of the Jewish religious body. He was avid in his love for Judaism, and a staunch defender of it against anyone bringing in any kind of deception or opposition. He searched out the followers of Christ and put them in prison. It was in the process of doing this very thing that he had an encounter with Jesus Christ. He was traveling to Damascus when:
vs 3-5:
"As he journeyed he came near Damascus,
and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.
Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?'
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting...'”
Don't just read those words. Get into the moment. Think of the emotional shock Paul experienced while being so dramatically encountered by the very one he hated. Imagine his astonishment. He must have sat there dazed as he tried to make sense of what was happening. In his wildest dreams he would never have imagined something like this. He was a proud Jewish leader, and here he was being thrown to the ground by the very one whose name he was trying to destroy. When he got control of himself, he asked:
vs 6:
"So he, trembling and astonished, said,
'Lord, what do you want me to do?'"
This story is precious to me because I had a similar, though not so dramatic, event take place wherein I very suddenly came to see that what I believed from my youth was NOT the truth. And I had a similar response. It was so shocking that I reeled from it for three days until I could get hold of myself. And then I asked the same question, "Well then, what IS the truth, and who ARE you Lord?"
People believe what they believe oftentimes because that's what they were taught from their youth. I was taught what I was taught from my youth, and everyone in my life believed the same, all family, friends, teachers, everyone in my life. Like Paul, I was totally sincere in my beliefs. And like Paul, I had an encounter with the Lord that absolutely stunned me as he showed me that what I believed was deception, that most of it just wasn't true, and a lot of it was outright heresy.
My question to you this day is this:
If the truth is something other than what you believe - would you want to stay as you are, or would you want to know the truth?
It's one of the hardest questions that can be asked. Don't answer quickly before evaluating what knowing the truth might cost you. It could cost you alienation from family and friends. But it's a question every sincere person has to consider in his/her lifetime, otherwise his foundation just might be a foundation of sand.
(Luke 6:47-49).
Meditate on this until you "get it." It's serious, it's the most important question you will ever ask. “Who are you, Lord?”
Ask the Lord to show you the truth, being willing to accept it if it is not what you've believed all your life.
You'll forever rejoice that you did.