God is all powerful! He does whatever He pleases in heaven or on earth and no one can question him. Let’s keep that in our mind to start with. In the book of Daniel we read: “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, What have You done?”(Daniel 4:35). His will will come to pass, and his plans cannot be thwarted either by the angels in heaven or by man on earth. In a few words let’s say again: “ God is Sovereign!”
In our previous article entitled “right thinking: God is.” We illustrated God’s sovereignty in his conversation with Moses in order to send him to Pharaoh back in Exodus chapter 4. The conversation goes on when Moses had to go to Pharaoh in obedience to the Lord’s command and perform all the wonders which the Lord had put in his power.
Now what is the purpose of performing wonders to non-believers when God is working? Jesus talking to the Jews said: “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me (John 10:25).”
With all the signs and wonders that Christ has done, they would not believe that He is who He says He is. Then again He said to them: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”(John 10:37-38). Same as the signs and miracles performed in the new testament with Christ and the apostles, this here was the purpose of the signs and wonders that Moses had to perform in the sight of Pharaoh – that he might believe Yahweh, The I AM, the true God of Israel was the One who sent him that he (Pharaoh) would let God’s people go.
Did Pharaoh eventually believe after all the signs and even plagues sent to Egypt to let God’s people go?
Listen to what the Lord God said even before Moses went to Pharaoh: “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” This is a shocking statement here dear friends. God is going to send a messenger to Pharaoh to proclaim his own words, perform mighty wonders so that he may believe, without excuse, and still be responsible for his unbelief. On the other hand the Lord hardened his heart so that he won’t let the people go.
Several times again and again it’s been said in the book of exodus that the Lord hardened pharaoh’s heart. Even after he has suffered all these plagues he would still not let the people go. Although the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said. Now let’s pose this question: why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?
The Lord answers this question here: I will harden Pharaoh’s heart… and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord”(Exodus 14:4). He also says: “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”. (Romans 9:17-18). This is even more shocking: God has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills.
God is absolutely Sovereign dear reader! This may be a hard truth to swallow but it does not change the reality of the truth that is taught throughout the whole bible. In this regard we are not called to contend with God but to humble ourselves; for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.(james 4:6). Now believers and non-believers alike ask this question: if God is sovereign and has hardened Pharaoh’s heart, why is Pharaoh responsible for what he did? The apostle Paul answers this question us in a very clear manner:
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory…(Rom 9:19-23).
What Paul is saying here is this: who are you to question God? You better keep your mouth shut. For God does whatever he pleases in exercising His mercy or his wrath: even on pharaoh and his army who chased Israel and got all drowned into the red sea.(Exodus 14: 27-28).
When thinking about God, we need to be reminded that He is sovereign. And we, the inhabitants of the earth are nothing!(Daniel 4:35).
