EXODUS 14:1-9 – “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.”

THEME OF THE DAY: IT COULD HAVE BEEN US.   The exodus of God’s people from the many years of bondage in Egypt is a riveting account.  It is full of the displays of the power of God in delivering His people as well as its devastating displays against the ungodly Egyptians.

There is one manifestation of God’s power in the life of Pharoah that causes us to pause, wide-eyed, and thank God it did not happen to us.  Here it is . . . “And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharoah King of Egypt”.

This is not the first time in the book of Exodus we would read of the hardening of the heart of Pharoah.  It appears in chapters four (one time), seven (four times), eight (three times), nine (four times), ten (three times), eleven, and fourteen (three times).  Now there are some people who would immediately cry out, “Not fair.  God hardened Pharoah’s heart so he couldn’t repent and be saved.”   Let’s not be tempted to join that crowd because we also read in the book of Exodus these words – “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants” (Exodus 9:34).

Here is one of those great mysteries, even a dilemma to finite man.  Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Yes. Did Pharaoh harden his own heart? Yes.  Does this make sense?  It does to God and that is not only what matters, but where we need to stop.  To us, it seems a contradiction but not to God.  Charles Spurgeon was once asked to reconcile the doctrine of divine election in salvation and every person’s responsibility to respond to the Gospel. They seemed to be at odds with each other. His answer was, “At odds? No, they are friends, and friends don’t need to be reconciled.”

So, what about the hardening of Pharoah’s heart by God and himself?  How should we respond?  Two ways.

First, realize everyone outside of Christ has a hardened heart to the things of God especially the gospel – “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Ephesians 4:17-18).  God, and God only must soften the heart of every sinner to believe and receive the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

The second response to the hardening of the heart is praise. Yes, praise that includes thanksgiving to God for Him not leaving us like Pharaoh – having a hard heart incapable of reconciliation with Him.

PRAYER:  Father, I praise You for choosing me to be in Your family all because of grace and nothing of myself.

REFLECTION: Be humbled we are saved.  It wasn’t because of us, but of sovereign electing grace.