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Articles 2024-2026
God is totally impartial and perfectly righteous in all His works and in the way He makes choices among people according to His own purpose. The fact that He chooses one for a more visible ministry and another for a more hidden ministry does not mean that He loves one more than the other. And in the case of Jacob and Esau, He chose Jacob to be a father of the nation of Israel while choosing Esau to serve what He was doing in Jacob. God’s choice was strategic because Israel would be the place where He would then reveal the Messiah, the One sent to bring salvation to the world.
But Esau’s choices and also those of his descendants to oppose God’s work in Israel ultimately brought Heaven’s devastating judgments.
As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
So, the question arises:
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
Notice that He did not say that He would condemn anyone He decided to condemn. In fact, His above comment was not about who would inherit eternal life and who would not. He made it to His servant Moses who loved Him, who walked in obedient fellowship with Him, and who then began asking for more in their relationship. “Lord, please show me Your glory.” And God chose to have mercy and reveal His glory to His servant (Exodus 33:18 - 19).
Whenever any of us gains any insight into the Lord’s heart and purpose, or whenever He chooses to use us in some precious way, there is simply no basis for any pride in our hearts. He had mercy on us; He had compassion on us; He blessed us. Let us be grateful and worship.
So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
God’s kingdom is not revealed when His people decide within themselves what they are going to do for Him and His purpose, and then try to implement it. Rather, it is revealed when we respond to Him – His initiative and His work in our lives. God’s kingdom is designed to reveal Him, His authority, His timing, and His glory.
The fact that someone decides to be an apostle of Christ does not in fact make him one. Even if he puts the word apostle on his business card. When someone wants to be seen in a certain way it can bring him into direct conflict with the God of heaven who in His mercy is bringing clarity among His people about who He really is. Again, God’s kingdom is about Him – His glory and His name.
And even when unbelievers oppose Him because what He is doing threatens their plans for themselves and for those around them, yet God’s ability to arise and clearly reveal Himself and His kingdom will not be thwarted.
Consider Pharaoh in Moses’ day.
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.”
Again, the point in all this is God’s work of revealing Himself, establishing His purpose, and making His name known. If you had asked Jewish slaves in Egypt why God had raised up Pharaoh at that time, they probably would have responded that it was so Pharaoh’s name would be exalted and that he would become known among the nations. And the prevalent circumstances certainly seemed to confirm that perspective.
But then God arose, revealed His power, and made His name known through Pharaoh. As a result, the fear of the Lord came upon the surrounding nations when they heard of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. And even in our own day, many of us have seen movies depicting the amazing events about how God used Moses in dividing the Red Sea. The Lord’s name has indeed been declared in all the earth because of His interaction with Pharaoh.
And so, today. We see many individuals in various roles of political power and influence, making their plans and their names known. But human history is about God’s emerging kingdom, and about Him making His name and power known in all the earth. After all, the Church has been praying for years: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:9 - 10).
Arise O Lord and make Your name known in our generation!
Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
When Pharaoh hardened his heart against Him (Exodus 7:13, 22: 8:15, 32), the Lord chose to agree with him and to further set him on his chosen course (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27) instead of giving him an experience like the one He gave to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Truly, everyone who chooses wickedness deserves the consequences and no one who chooses righteousness deserves His enabling grace and mercy.
You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 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 like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Moses and Pharaoh were cut from the same cloth. They were both from the same lump of fallen humanity. But God chose one to be His prophet and spokesman and the other to be a mere ruler of an empire. And we know where Moses ended up in his life because the Bible tells us his story. The same is not true about Pharoah. We simply do not know if at some point the works of God in his life prompted him to finally humble himself and cry out to Him for mercy.
As I read Romans Chapter Nine, it seems to me that Paul is not writing merely about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, but also (perhaps primarily) about God arising among men to reveal on earth His glory and His name. And Pharaoh was clearly a vessel of dishonor. While Moses is remembered in history as a man who submitted to God, Pharaoh is remembered for resisting Him. But through it all, God made His name known and advanced His purpose among the nations.
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared (Greek, KATARTIZO) for destruction,
The Greek word translated above as “prepared” is used in Matthew’s gospel to speak of the process where fishermen mended their nets (Matthew 4:21). Egypt was in a process of being woven unto destruction because of her choices. And God wanted to show His wrath on Egypt for its treatment of His people. But He endured them with much longsuffering until the time came to reveal His wrath and His power.
God’s judgment in the midst of the Red Sea came in the morning watch, somewhere between 3:00 am and dawn. During this period of several hours, the Lord troubled the Egyptian army causing their chariot wheels to swerve/fall off and causing them to move only with great difficulty. Finally, they gained some revelatory insight.
and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”
God had made a promise.
And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Even in the midst of His wrath, God’s heart desire was to cause the Egyptians to gain some insight into who He is. And the truth is, we simply do not know if any, some, or even many of these men cried out to Him to forgive them and to have mercy upon them. If anyone did indeed humble himself before the Lord, would He not have had mercy and forgiven him? Even as that man reaped physical death in the midst of Heaven’s judgments? Remember the thief on the cross. He was clearly a vessel of dishonor. It seems that his whole life had been a disaster. But when he cried out to the Lord for mercy, he gained Paradise. And once again, mercy triumphed over judgment.
At the end of the day, human history is about God answering the prayer of His people for His name to be made holy among men, His kingdom to come, and His will to be done on earth like it is in heaven. Even so, hear our cry O Lord! Amen.
Donald Rumble – May 2025
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1 Name : T.SwartzClick to compress comments
Subject: Moses/Pharaoh
Time : 2025-05-03 01:57:45
It is truly a joy to serve as it were incognito for the Lord. Your message was truly an encouraging one. I was recently studying the Passover and I felt the Lord gave somewhat of a revelation concerning the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Why would He do that? Was there a greater purpose? Yes, I believe that it was necessary not only for Moses to be continually obedient and be consistent in going back to to Pharaoh time after time, ie in prayer and interssion for children of Israel. But it was necessary for the children of the slavery (before the Passover) to know that God had sent Moses. They had to have witnessed the way God spoke through Moses concerning the plagues. They had to have reinforced proof that God would use Moses to lead them particularly with the Passover commandments. God truly uses the very things we think are against us for His glory. Why did it take 10 x to finally get the Pharaoh to let the people go? Do you think Moses returning at 80 yrs old that the sons of Israel were just going to say...oh super. Your finally here to lead us out of Israel...i don't think so. And can I just encourage you and all my senior brethren maybe things don't seem to be going the way they should be, despite your pervasive obedience. It ain't over 'til it's over and even then it aint over (learning Tennessee talk.)
That whole story is filled with a lifetime of blessings in teaching. Thank you for being obedient to His calling in your life and may the joy of the Lord fill your cup today!!!
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