Have you ever tried to comfort someone who was facing difficulties in life with the phrase “God is in control”? We use that phrase to try to bring some peace or relief to someone who might be facing physical, financial, or even spiritual issues in their life. To declare that God is in control means that He is sovereign. He has the power, wisdom, and supreme authority to do anything He chooses within His creation.
It is easy for us to believe in the sovereignty of God when it comes to His rule over nature and the universe. This is mainly because we know we cannot control or change anything beyond our sphere of self. Nature and the universe have existed before us and will continue into the future without us. However, we often find it is difficult to accept God’s sovereignty over our free will. Make no mistake, God is totally sovereign over all and everything. He knows our beginning and our end, and everything in between. God declares in Isaiah 46:8-10:
8 Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (ESV)
There is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s sovereign knowledge. We are to obey God’s will; however, we also have the ability to disobey. We saw this in last month’s bible reading from Genesis. It was God’s will for Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, tend the garden, subdue the earth, and not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1 & 2). Adam ignored God’s will and succumbed to his own will, and sin entered our world.
Our Bible reading for the month of February begins in Exodus chapter 9. January’s reading closes with Moses confronting Pharaoh. God had instructed Moses and Aaron on how to address Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was not impressed with Moses’ message from God. He said he did not know the Lord God of Israel, and therefore, he would not let Israel go. Pharaoh may not have known the Lord, but the Lord God of Israel knew Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. At this point, God would use Moses, Aaron, and His power to reveal Israel’s God to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
There are times when we are confronted with God’s Word and by the man of God who delivers that Word. We may not be impressed by that Word, but we are called to adhere to the Word. If we act as Pharaoh and refuse to acknowledge His warnings, we can certainly be corrected. The Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 12:25:
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven? (ESV)
The Hebrew writer was referring to the exodus generation who rejected the voice of the one sent from God.
Pharaoh’s rejection of God brought on a series of plagues upon his household and all the Egyptian people. The ten plagues against Egypt were divine judgments against the gods the Egyptians served. This was to show them that the God of Israel is above their gods and He is all-powerful and everlasting.
As we have already read in our January readings, as far back as Abraham, before the birth of Isaac, our sovereign God told Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16 that his descendants would be enslaved:
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (ESV)
Why were the descendants of Abraham in Egypt? It was to fulfill the divine foreknowledge of God. God chose Abraham to be the father of the people He wanted to use to bless all of mankind. At the same time, He was being patient with the people who were living in the land of Canaan, which He had promised to Abraham and his descendants. These people were the Amorites, who were descendants of Ham. You remember him as the son of Noah, who was on the ark and survived the flood. How did Ham’s descendants become so wicked? Well, that is another story, but mainly because they rejected God.
Despite the hardship of being in bondage to Egypt, God blessed His people. They had grown from a small family of 70 to a nation of millions. Despite all the efforts the Egyptians made to prevent their growth, it always failed.
Pharaoh considered himself a god over Egypt. He did not acknowledge the God of Israel and was determined to actively reject the commands of God, even after seeing the mighty hand of God displayed in the first four plagues over the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh, through his own choosing, hardened his heart against God by refusing to let God’s people go. Pharaoh had made his choice (free will), which God used to harden Pharaoh’s heart even further, because God knew that Pharaoh would never let His people go. Does God know our hearts? Absolutely!
God warns:
God instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh: ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” (Exodus 4:22-23, ESV)
Even with this warning to Pharaoh, he refused to let the people go. There are many things that are hard for our human minds and intellect to understand. God allows each of us a choice as to what we want to believe, just as He gave Pharaoh the right to choose. The Apostle Paul reminds us of God’s wrath if we continue in unrighteousness. Paul writes in Romans 1:21-25:
“21 For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen”. (ESV)
Those who did not honor God were those who did not know God in a saving sense. They knew about God and that He existed, but refused to allow their knowledge to move into faith. They were given over to a “reprobate mind,” which means that God has given them over to their own demise. They have suppressed the truth and believed a lie, which results in God allowing them to continue to justify their sin and live an ungodly life despite their knowledge that God exists. God does not want us to be lost and go to a devil’s hell, but if we do, we go because of our own unbelief. Luke 19:10 tells us, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
We see Pharaoh choosing not to believe in God, even though he saw the mighty works of God. We see many today who refuse to believe and accept His free gift of a Savior. God knows their hearts just as He did Pharaoh’s. Pharaoh and those like him today could be what we call narcissists. A narcissist is someone who believes they are entitled, demands approval, and requires attention. They have a self-important attitude and are often arrogant. They are never wrong, and when their wrongs are brought to light, they twist the truth to blame others. We see this disorder in many people in our world today. As with Pharaoh, many of these stand in danger of God’s rejection, as He knows they will never open their hearts to Him, and may be given over to their own choosing.
Pharaoh continued to actively reject the authority of the God of Israel. As a result, his heart was so hardened that he could no longer make a rational decision. In the first nine plagues, God revealed His power over the gods of Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to submit. Pharaoh, being the leader of Egypt, caused all the Egyptians to be affected by the plagues. Likewise, those who refuse to acknowledge God today bring hardships and burdens on those around them. We see God using Moses and Aaron to announce and perform these plagues. Moreover, we see that Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people, according to Exodus 11:3. The Israelites were also favored in the sight of the Egyptians and received silver and gold jewelry and great possessions from the Egyptians. How did God know this would happen when He told Abraham this hundreds of years before? Could it really be that God is all-knowing and sovereign? Don’t you ever doubt it.
Notice that, in presenting the tenth plague, God did not have Moses say “Let my people go”. Instead, Moses said, “Thus says the Lord”. This proclamation further reveals God’s sovereignty, because God had already pronounced the death of the firstborn through Moses when he first returned to Egypt. Remember chapter four, when God called Israel His first born son? God had warned Pharaoh at the beginning what would happen if he did not let Israel go. This is where God’s word comes to fruition, and it is time for His sovereign judgment. The death angel will pass through the land, and the firstborn of Pharaoh, the Egyptian people, and their livestock will die.
God’s people prepare to be free:
Moses prepares God’s people for deliverance. They must show their faith and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are commanded to prepare the Passover lamb and place the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts of each house. They were to eat the meat with unleavened bread. The meat was to be roasted (not boiled in water or raw). They were to eat it all, and any that remained until morning was to be burned.
They were to eat with their belts fastened, their sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hands. They were to be ready to move on short notice. It was a night of preparation and watching. We, too, are told to watch and be ready. Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming”. (NKJV)
There was a great cry throughout the land of Egypt that night, such as has never been before, or ever will be again. The cry was a cry of mourning, heartbreak, separation, and sorrow like never before. Every Egyptian house was affected. Pharaoh was devastated and gave the command for Moses and all the people of Israel to get out of the land. God’s son (Israel) was free.
Conclusion:
We are to humble ourselves and understand that we need a deliverer, for this world is in bondage to sin. Satan will try to convince us that we can be our own person and believe and do our own thing in life, without any consequences. Satan is a liar, and there is no truth in him. His end has also been predetermined, the same as Pharaoh’s. John 8:44 reminds us that, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies”. (ESV)
The God, who is sovereign, prepared a plan before the foundation of the world. That plan was to send His only begotten Son to this world to reveal God’s will for our lives and to be our sacrificial lamb ultimately. He was born of a virgin, and His name is Jesus. He walked before us, teaching and preaching about our loving God and to seek and save those who are lost. He never sinned and was deemed a perfect sacrifice for us, going to Calvary’s cross and shedding His blood for our sins. Only His blood is acceptable to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus hung on the cross, died, was buried, and God raised Him from the grave, and He sits at the Father’s right hand today, ready to intercede for those who will believe.
If we open our hearts and believe, we shall be saved. The blood of Jesus will be applied to our lives, and eternal death has no power over us. In believing, we have life and have it more abundantly. That life begins the very moment you believe.
Just as there was a reckoning for Pharaoh and Egypt, there will be a reckoning for this world and those who do not believe. There is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and eternal punishment. It is a place of eternal death for those who do not accept and believe in Jesus as their Savior, and it is completely absent from the presence of God.
There is also a place prepared for those who believe. It is a place of eternal life for those who have trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. It is a place of peace, joy, and comfort, a paradise of complete contentment. Once again, we will be able to be with the Lord and walk in His presence forever.
Our sovereign God has predetermined His plan, the end from the beginning, and He has provided a warning to us. We are to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, while it is called today. Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (ESV)
For those who already believe, continue steadfast in your faith. For those who are not ready, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today and be saved.
It is easy for us to believe in the sovereignty of God when it comes to His rule over nature and the universe. This is mainly because we know we cannot control or change anything beyond our sphere of self. Nature and the universe have existed before us and will continue into the future without us. However, we often find it is difficult to accept God’s sovereignty over our free will. Make no mistake, God is totally sovereign over all and everything. He knows our beginning and our end, and everything in between. God declares in Isaiah 46:8-10:
8 Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” (ESV)
There is nothing that happens that is outside of God’s sovereign knowledge. We are to obey God’s will; however, we also have the ability to disobey. We saw this in last month’s bible reading from Genesis. It was God’s will for Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, tend the garden, subdue the earth, and not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1 & 2). Adam ignored God’s will and succumbed to his own will, and sin entered our world.
Our Bible reading for the month of February begins in Exodus chapter 9. January’s reading closes with Moses confronting Pharaoh. God had instructed Moses and Aaron on how to address Pharaoh, and Pharaoh was not impressed with Moses’ message from God. He said he did not know the Lord God of Israel, and therefore, he would not let Israel go. Pharaoh may not have known the Lord, but the Lord God of Israel knew Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. At this point, God would use Moses, Aaron, and His power to reveal Israel’s God to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
There are times when we are confronted with God’s Word and by the man of God who delivers that Word. We may not be impressed by that Word, but we are called to adhere to the Word. If we act as Pharaoh and refuse to acknowledge His warnings, we can certainly be corrected. The Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 12:25:
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven? (ESV)
The Hebrew writer was referring to the exodus generation who rejected the voice of the one sent from God.
Pharaoh’s rejection of God brought on a series of plagues upon his household and all the Egyptian people. The ten plagues against Egypt were divine judgments against the gods the Egyptians served. This was to show them that the God of Israel is above their gods and He is all-powerful and everlasting.
As we have already read in our January readings, as far back as Abraham, before the birth of Isaac, our sovereign God told Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16 that his descendants would be enslaved:
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (ESV)
Why were the descendants of Abraham in Egypt? It was to fulfill the divine foreknowledge of God. God chose Abraham to be the father of the people He wanted to use to bless all of mankind. At the same time, He was being patient with the people who were living in the land of Canaan, which He had promised to Abraham and his descendants. These people were the Amorites, who were descendants of Ham. You remember him as the son of Noah, who was on the ark and survived the flood. How did Ham’s descendants become so wicked? Well, that is another story, but mainly because they rejected God.
Despite the hardship of being in bondage to Egypt, God blessed His people. They had grown from a small family of 70 to a nation of millions. Despite all the efforts the Egyptians made to prevent their growth, it always failed.
Pharaoh considered himself a god over Egypt. He did not acknowledge the God of Israel and was determined to actively reject the commands of God, even after seeing the mighty hand of God displayed in the first four plagues over the gods of Egypt. Pharaoh, through his own choosing, hardened his heart against God by refusing to let God’s people go. Pharaoh had made his choice (free will), which God used to harden Pharaoh’s heart even further, because God knew that Pharaoh would never let His people go. Does God know our hearts? Absolutely!
God warns:
God instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh: ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” (Exodus 4:22-23, ESV)
Even with this warning to Pharaoh, he refused to let the people go. There are many things that are hard for our human minds and intellect to understand. God allows each of us a choice as to what we want to believe, just as He gave Pharaoh the right to choose. The Apostle Paul reminds us of God’s wrath if we continue in unrighteousness. Paul writes in Romans 1:21-25:
“21 For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen”. (ESV)
Those who did not honor God were those who did not know God in a saving sense. They knew about God and that He existed, but refused to allow their knowledge to move into faith. They were given over to a “reprobate mind,” which means that God has given them over to their own demise. They have suppressed the truth and believed a lie, which results in God allowing them to continue to justify their sin and live an ungodly life despite their knowledge that God exists. God does not want us to be lost and go to a devil’s hell, but if we do, we go because of our own unbelief. Luke 19:10 tells us, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
We see Pharaoh choosing not to believe in God, even though he saw the mighty works of God. We see many today who refuse to believe and accept His free gift of a Savior. God knows their hearts just as He did Pharaoh’s. Pharaoh and those like him today could be what we call narcissists. A narcissist is someone who believes they are entitled, demands approval, and requires attention. They have a self-important attitude and are often arrogant. They are never wrong, and when their wrongs are brought to light, they twist the truth to blame others. We see this disorder in many people in our world today. As with Pharaoh, many of these stand in danger of God’s rejection, as He knows they will never open their hearts to Him, and may be given over to their own choosing.
Pharaoh continued to actively reject the authority of the God of Israel. As a result, his heart was so hardened that he could no longer make a rational decision. In the first nine plagues, God revealed His power over the gods of Egypt, but Pharaoh refused to submit. Pharaoh, being the leader of Egypt, caused all the Egyptians to be affected by the plagues. Likewise, those who refuse to acknowledge God today bring hardships and burdens on those around them. We see God using Moses and Aaron to announce and perform these plagues. Moreover, we see that Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people, according to Exodus 11:3. The Israelites were also favored in the sight of the Egyptians and received silver and gold jewelry and great possessions from the Egyptians. How did God know this would happen when He told Abraham this hundreds of years before? Could it really be that God is all-knowing and sovereign? Don’t you ever doubt it.
Notice that, in presenting the tenth plague, God did not have Moses say “Let my people go”. Instead, Moses said, “Thus says the Lord”. This proclamation further reveals God’s sovereignty, because God had already pronounced the death of the firstborn through Moses when he first returned to Egypt. Remember chapter four, when God called Israel His first born son? God had warned Pharaoh at the beginning what would happen if he did not let Israel go. This is where God’s word comes to fruition, and it is time for His sovereign judgment. The death angel will pass through the land, and the firstborn of Pharaoh, the Egyptian people, and their livestock will die.
God’s people prepare to be free:
Moses prepares God’s people for deliverance. They must show their faith and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They are commanded to prepare the Passover lamb and place the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts of each house. They were to eat the meat with unleavened bread. The meat was to be roasted (not boiled in water or raw). They were to eat it all, and any that remained until morning was to be burned.
They were to eat with their belts fastened, their sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hands. They were to be ready to move on short notice. It was a night of preparation and watching. We, too, are told to watch and be ready. Matthew 25:13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming”. (NKJV)
There was a great cry throughout the land of Egypt that night, such as has never been before, or ever will be again. The cry was a cry of mourning, heartbreak, separation, and sorrow like never before. Every Egyptian house was affected. Pharaoh was devastated and gave the command for Moses and all the people of Israel to get out of the land. God’s son (Israel) was free.
Conclusion:
We are to humble ourselves and understand that we need a deliverer, for this world is in bondage to sin. Satan will try to convince us that we can be our own person and believe and do our own thing in life, without any consequences. Satan is a liar, and there is no truth in him. His end has also been predetermined, the same as Pharaoh’s. John 8:44 reminds us that, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies”. (ESV)
The God, who is sovereign, prepared a plan before the foundation of the world. That plan was to send His only begotten Son to this world to reveal God’s will for our lives and to be our sacrificial lamb ultimately. He was born of a virgin, and His name is Jesus. He walked before us, teaching and preaching about our loving God and to seek and save those who are lost. He never sinned and was deemed a perfect sacrifice for us, going to Calvary’s cross and shedding His blood for our sins. Only His blood is acceptable to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus hung on the cross, died, was buried, and God raised Him from the grave, and He sits at the Father’s right hand today, ready to intercede for those who will believe.
If we open our hearts and believe, we shall be saved. The blood of Jesus will be applied to our lives, and eternal death has no power over us. In believing, we have life and have it more abundantly. That life begins the very moment you believe.
Just as there was a reckoning for Pharaoh and Egypt, there will be a reckoning for this world and those who do not believe. There is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and eternal punishment. It is a place of eternal death for those who do not accept and believe in Jesus as their Savior, and it is completely absent from the presence of God.
There is also a place prepared for those who believe. It is a place of eternal life for those who have trusted Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. It is a place of peace, joy, and comfort, a paradise of complete contentment. Once again, we will be able to be with the Lord and walk in His presence forever.
Our sovereign God has predetermined His plan, the end from the beginning, and He has provided a warning to us. We are to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, while it is called today. Hebrews 3:13, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today”, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (ESV)
For those who already believe, continue steadfast in your faith. For those who are not ready, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ today and be saved.
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