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The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

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One of the most controversial phrases in the Bible has to be when God says that He will “harden Pharaoh’s heart.” (See Exodus 4:21 and 7:3 for two examples.) For the longest time, this statement has troubled me. It seemed as though Pharaoh didn’t even have a choice. I always imagined in my mind that Pharaoh was willing to let the people go earlier but God wouldn’t let him. As if God wanted to make a point using Pharaoh, like some judge who decides a massive punishment for a small crime just to make an example of the person. How could a God who says He is love do such a thing?

As I was recently studying the whole story of Pharaoh and the Exodus I saw a different side of God than I had before (and a different side of Pharaoh). I realized that I had come to the wrong conclusion. The problem was that I was reading God’s statement wrong. Let me explain.

I noticed that throughout the story, the “source” of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart changes. While God does say He would harden Pharaoh’s heart, in some passages (ie: Exodus 7:3, 9:7, 35), it simply says his heart “was hardened.” In others (ie: Exodus 8:15, 19, 32), it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Why the difference? Which is it?

I also learned that the passages use three different Hebrew words* to describe this “hardening” experience. One of the words means “to make rigid or obstinate” (for another place it is used, see Jeremiah 5:3). Another word (used only once—by God) meant “to make stubborn” (for another place this word is used, see 2 Kings 17:14). And the third word (used mainly when Pharaoh hardened his own heart) means “to make dull or unresponsive,” carrying the idea of being insensible (you can also find this word used in Isaiah 6:10). I had always thought “hardening” meant he wasn’t compassionate, or that he had become mean. Yet, these words carry more of an idea of Pharaoh being unwilling to accept or understand things differently than he did going into this experience.

Then I saw a similar scene in the book of Revelation. In chapter 16, John describes the seven bowls of God’s wrath that are poured out on those who have the Mark of the Beast (that’s a whole different, but fascinating, study for another day). As the bowls are poured out, some of the plagues that come upon the earth are similar to those in the story of Pharaoh. What was the reaction of the people that experienced the plagues? “They cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory” (Revelation 16:9). The plagues that fell on those who did not love God already, didn’t convert them. If anything, the plagues made them hate Him even more. You could say that their hearts were “hardened” further towards God.

As I considered these points, it hit me: God’s statement about hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not a plan to force, but an admission that He’d be the cause of it. The signs and wonders that God would do would not make Pharaoh believe, it would only make him more stubborn. It wasn’t that God would force Pharaoh to become obstinate against his will, it was that Pharaoh would choose to become increasingly unresponsive toward God.

God has that affect on people. We always assume that if God showed His power, everyone would automatically believe and bow down to Him. Yet, we only have to look at how the people reacted to Jesus to see that this is not the case. When Jesus performed a miracle of casting out a demon (Matthew 12:22–24), there were some who were convinced of the power of God and began to believe in Jesus. However, the Pharisees, who had already set their hearts against Jesus, only hated Him more, claiming it was through the power of Satan. In fact, the more influential Jesus became, the more they set their hearts against Him—even to the point of plotting to kill Him (see Matthew 12:9–14, or John 11:45–53).

The truth is, when we are confronted with God—with His power, His counsel, or even just the idea of Him—there will be one of two reactions in our heart. Our heart will either be softened towards Him resulting in a relationship with Him, or our hearts will be hardened towards Him, pushing us further away. It all depends on how we enter into the experience.

You see, Pharaoh believed he was a god, so God’s presence and power would only threaten his position. The Pharisees believed they were the epitome of righteous living, so God’s wisdom and grace would threaten their authority. Thus, when God stepped in and revealed His power and wisdom, neither of their hearts were changed, but instead, they both stubbornly resisted and hated Him even more.

God will not force you or me to go against Him, or force us to become mean and hardened, but His presence will affect us. How it affects us is our choice.

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*For those who might like to know which Hebrew words these are, the first is chazaq, the second is qashah, and the third is kabed.

The Struggle is Real

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For the last several weeks I have found it difficult to write in my blog. So much has been happening. With the excitement of publishing my new book, the busyness of the holidays, the craziness of the political scene, and the stresses of major financial burdens, life has been very… interesting. Add to all of this the emotional ups and downs of ministering to people and I have found myself drained—empty emotionally and spiritually.

I know I am not alone in this. Many struggle with this emptiness. Some of you may find yourselves empty as well. I think it happens most often when we give a lot of ourselves but do not take time to refill our own emotional and spiritual wells. There’s also the stressful moments that can catch us by surprise and throw off our otherwise normally balanced life. It could also be possible that we can become distracted by outside sources and forget to spend quality “me” time with God. In any case, it is not a pleasant experience and can discourage us on our Christian journey.

Strangely, in moments like these, when we need encouragement the most, we tend to hide from people. I wonder if this is because we seem to believe that it is wrong to admit, or rarely hear others admitting, any kind of emotional and spiritual struggles. It’s as if there is an unspoken teaching that struggles are a sign of weakness and weakness is a sin. Or maybe it’s simply a remnant of nature in us: survival of the fittest—don’t let anyone think you are weak—fake it, or die!

Why are we so afraid to admit we struggle? We can’t avoid it. Some may be too scared to admit it, others may be to proud, but every Christian struggles. The Bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). Adding to our already handicapped nature is the fact that our adversary is constantly battling against us (1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:11). It’s not a passive attack either, Satan comes straight at us, full of anger, because he knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12). And if that wasn’t enough, you don’t have to be a Christian long to learn that his attacks increase the closer you get to God. As Paul said, “I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Romans 7:21). With all of this against us, it’s amazing we could have any time of peace!

So we will struggle. Everyone who decides to follow Christ. I know, sounds like a pretty bad deal. Yet, Jesus didn’t shy away from telling us it would be this way. He said, quite bluntly, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). You will get bumps and bruises. You will find yourself empty and discouraged. You will mess up and fall. It will happen. Prepare for it.

BUT… (I love that Jesus wasn’t finished speaking.) “But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Yes, we may struggle on our journey with Jesus, but as long as we rely on His strength, we will not be defeated. Because He is our Refuge and Strength (Psalms 46:1), our merciful Savior (1 John 1:9), and the source of Living Water (John 4:14).

This is God’s response to our struggles: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” To which Paul declared, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9, 10).

Why would we hide our struggles when we have a Savior so willing and able to help us succeed? The very idea of overcoming Laodicea is being honest with our struggles—owning them—so we will seek the help we need: Jesus.

So, yes, the struggle is real. I am running on empty. I struggle—regularly even. But I am willing to own my weaknesses, so God’s power can rest on me and give me victory!

The Great Conflict: Knowing the Enemy’s Schemes

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It has been a few weeks since I’ve been able to write on my blog. While I could suggest several different reasons why, one of the main reasons is because I’ve been under attack—not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, while I was talking with my sister on the phone, she mentioned something that encompassed the struggle I had been going through. She said that she felt like Satan had been working harder lately. My mind immediately went to Revelation 12:12, which says, “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

I can’t help but agree with my sister’s observations. I can see it in the pain and struggles of my friends and family. I can see it in the bitterness and lukewarmness in too many churches (mine included). And I can feel it personally almost on a daily basis. It makes sense though. If Satan is filled with fury because he knows he doesn’t have much time left, how much more fury must he have today since we are closer to the end than ever before?

I’ve already mentioned that our dedication to God automatically places us in opposition to Satan—this is the reason for the spiritual struggles we face. I’ve also pointed out God’s plan for victory. However, if we want to survive this war and remain standing at the end, we must not be ignorant to our enemy’s schemes either. This is vital, because we are warned that Satan is like a roaring lion, prowling around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8)!

The Bible makes it very clear that our adversary has a game plan (Ephesians 6:11). Paul warns us not to be “outwitted by Satan,” nor “ignorant of his designs” (2 Corinthians 2:11). He even counsels Timothy to preach and teach in a way that his listeners (or opposers) can see the truth and “escape from the snare of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26). Fortunately for us, though, his snares have been revealed. We do not need to be ignorant of what Satan is trying to do in our lives.

Believe it or not, Satan has one trick—he may use it in different ways, but he is nothing if not predictable. We can see the single concept that is the foundation of his schemes in his own character: “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” (John 8:44). Deception is the premise on which every trap is set. Therefore, the best way to recognize his traps is to know the truth. For everything that is truth, he has a lie. Even when it comes to himself—Paul says that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” and his servants “disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15). Deception: it’s what he does best. Actually, it’s all he does.

Using this disguise, he often promotes his own ideas as truth, placing suggestions, doubts, and temptations in our minds. He’s crafty too: he was able to deceive Eve with his cunningness (Genesis 3:4, 2 Corinthians 11:3), he convinced Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2), and Ananias to lie to the Apostles (Acts 5:3). He doesn’t stop there either. He is quick to offer an alternative to the Words of God. He began his lies in the Garden of Eden and continues to lie and deceive about salvation to this day. Paul warned against the lie of a different gospel and those who would “want to distort the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7). Sometimes Satan will attempt to distract us, and even blind us, so we cannot see the light and beauty of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Another lie he’ll tell us is about ourselves. He may tell us that we are un-savable or, perhaps, that we are God’s gift to the church and society. Such snares will keep us from looking for a Savior. They will also make us more selfish, judgmental, and critical of others. James warns that these things are not from God: “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic” (James 3:14, 15).

We must also not forget that our enemy is called the “accuser of the brothers” (Revelation 12:10). Hatred in our hearts for another person is not from God, it is another trap set by our enemy. Satan knows that we cannot work for the Kingdom of Heaven if we hate others or are too focused on ourselves. So he encourages us to cover the truth of our selfishness and jealousy with self-righteous ideals. Ah, but Satan also knows that as long as we are fighting amongst each other, we will not fight the real battle against him (Ephesians 6:12)!

While all of these deceptions are bad, none are worse than what Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 11:3—“but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Satan’s greatest trap is to somehow distract, discourage, or seduce us away from a relationship with Christ. The primary web he uses for this is the desires of this world (1 John 2:15, 16). I don’t think Satan cares what it takes as long as we leave Jesus behind. In fact, this is the result of every one of his snares.

We cannot let Satan succeed! God says in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Earlier in that passage, in verse 1, it is explained that what was lacking was a knowledge of God. This isn’t about lacking book knowledge—in the Hebrew language, they didn’t have that concept—this is about experiential knowledge. In other words, we are destroyed because of a lack of an experience with God. No wonder Satan works so hard to keep us from have any experiences!

Now that we know his plans, we must watch and pray so we do not fall into any of his traps. Because he is filled with fury and is fighting stronger than ever before, we must not let our guard down. So we hold on to Jesus more tightly. We humbly submit ourselves to God (James 4:7), stand firm in our faith in Him (1 Peter 5:9, 10), and put on God’s armor (Ephesians 6:13). Then, when we recognize the devil’s schemes, we will be able to resist “and he will flee” (James 4:7)!

 

The Great Conflict: Trouble on the Journey

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I was told many things about what happened after a person became a Christian. I was told that after I chose Christ as my Savior my life would change. I found this to be true; life does change. I was also told that life would be easier. Now, if this meant that Jesus would become the answer to all of my problems and I could claim many different promises in His name, this is absolutely right. But if this meant (as many people assume) that my problems would go away and it would be smooth sailing the rest of my life, it couldn’t be more wrong.

Photo by Isaac Davis on Unsplash

In my experience, the inevitable difficulties of being a Christian causes a lot of discouragement and often makes me doubt my walk with Christ. I had long held to this misconception that if I was a good Christian I wouldn’t have any issues in my spiritual life (or even life in general). So, any time I found myself struggling to be consistent in my walk with God, I thought something was wrong with me. Yet, I found that the attacks in my life seemed to happen when I was trying to get closer to Christ. I saw that my struggles grew the more my desire to know God grew. It seemed the harder I tried to live right, or the greater the mountaintop experience I had with God, the more likely I could expect something in life to throw me down again.

As I would learn later, this whole Christian/ disciple journey is a battle. As Paul said to Timothy: “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3). No one looks forward to hardship. Many do not expect it to be a part of being a disciple either. Jesus didn’t hide this aspect of discipleship from us though. He was clear about the cost of following Him: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). True discipleship is filled with days of self-denial and cross-carrying.

This is not a punishment for following Jesus, it is the reality of choosing Christ over this world. Troubled times are part of our Christian experience because there is a great, cosmic, spiritual war occurring all around us. Every day a battle is fought over us: God, and all of heaven, are fighting for our salvation, while our Adversary and his forces are fighting to pull us away from God. We are a part of this war whether we want to be or not and, ultimately, we all will choose a side—either on purpose or by default.

On becoming a disciple, we join the forces of God, by following Him, and are purposely taking a stand against His opposition. This is why we see trouble. This is why there is fighting. By choosing to lovingly obey God, we become a target for Satan’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11).

This is an important key to understanding our trials and sufferings. As in any war, it is important to know where the battlefront is. If we are fighting in the wrong places we will never see victory. Paul advises, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12, emphasis mine). Our fight is not with the physical but with the spiritual—not with people but with powers.

In other words, we are not to fight against each other. If we are distracted from the true source of our struggles and fight each other, we are fighting the wrong battles, wasting our strength, and we will never have spiritual victories. Instead, we are only helping the enemy! Even if a person is used to hurt us or cause us to stumble, we cannot forget that the battleground is spiritual. Our fight is not with that person, but with the spiritual forces of evil. Therefore, as soldiers of Christ, we must focus all of our attention and our energy to fight against our true enemy: that old serpent, the Devil!

Yes, the battle and the struggle is real—we are at war. The more we take our stand for God, the more we can expect conflicts in life to try to knock us down. Satan will not give up. In fact, he is coming at us “in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12).

The Devil may come at us with everything he has, but that does not mean we will be overcome. God didn’t intend to call us to His side to be defeated. He sends us out into this war protected by His whole armor (Ephesians 6:13–18). As His soldiers, we are only protected if we use His armor (I’ll talk about this armor in later blogs). However, armor is useless without the right battle plan. In my next blog, I will talk about God’s battle plan.

Avoiding Spiritual Burnout, Part 2: The Remedy

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In my last post, we looked at the causes of Spiritual burnout. In this post, I want to show you something Jesus said in Matthew 11:28–30, where we will find the remedy—or the prevention—for spiritual burn-out (if we would only follow it).

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). First of all, we must come to Jesus. Remember, the cause of burn out is being emptied of your fuel. One of the reasons we are emptied is because we are trying to get through life on our own resources. We might go to a church self-help course or count on a fellow church member to give us encouragement. Yet, shortly after, we’ll need more just to get by. The truth is that we cannot rely on our own resources or anyone else’s. Our resources are not enough—we need something greater. Of course, there is good news: if you are weary and burdened (or burned out) Jesus can give you rest! Jesus can restore you. Only He can light the flame again!

But here’s the better news: Jesus can keep you from becoming burned out in the first place. He can give you living water and keep the flame alive (see John 4:13, 14). Of course, you have to come to Him. Unless you spend time with Him daily you will find yourself empty. Not surprisingly, the easiest prevention of spiritual dryness is to be constantly plugged into the source of Life. So come plug in. Spend more time with Him. Come to Him with your empty resources and let Him fill you up.

Next, Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29). Verse 30 says that his “yoke is easy and his burden is light.” The next part of the remedy is to give up on our burden and take his. This is a trade. If you are still carrying your burdens, you have never taken on his. So, what is Jesus’ burden? And how can a “burden” be easy?

There are different ideas of what Jesus’ burden may have been, but I believe all ideas of his burden could be summed up in his mission. And that mission is spelled out in Luke 19:10—“The Son of Man has come to seek and save the lost.” Sure, you could say that the cross was his burden, but it was his mission of salvation that led him there—and held him there. Jesus had one thing on his heart every day—one burden, one yoke: the salvation of mankind. So Jesus is asking us to take this burden in place of our own. His was a burden of the Gospel; a burden of pleasing His Father. He’s calling us to take on his burden of service and sacrifice—a burden of grace.

Now catch this, because this is what makes His burden easier than our own: if we focus on the burden of the Gospel and following God’s calling we will focus on others, which means we will have less time to focus on ourselves. The guilt of our sins was carried on the cross. The Gospel frees you from its burden. “Burdens are lifted at calvary!” If we are continually presenting the beauty of the Gospel, how can we not remind ourselves of this?

In addition, when we are carrying His burden—which was God’s mission for Him, and He passed to us (Matt 28:18–20)—we focus on pleasing God. Believe me, pleasing God is MUCH easier than pleasing man. God never asks us to do something we do not have the ability to do with His help. Furthermore, for everything God requires of you, He also provides everything necessary, even help, to complete it. Try finding a person or a church that is like that! Good luck!

The third and final part of the remedy is also in verse 29: Learn from me. This doesn’t say learn about Him, but learn from Him. Walk and talk with Him, sit at his feet, and follow Him. You see, Jesus’ teachings can keep us from becoming burdened. What does He want us to learn? Many things, no doubt, but there are two specific things He points out about Himself: that He is gentle and humble in heart. If we want a peace the world doesn’t understand, then we need to be different from the world. We need to be gentle, not forceful; humble, not proud. In these there is no rest. There is no peace. Gentleness and humbleness are important. These are the two characteristics we will need to carry His burden. These are the padded shoulder straps that make His burden easier and lighter. And since these don’t come naturally in our sinful state, we need to learn them from Him.

So there it is, the remedy for Spiritual burnout. It may not be what you were expecting, but it truly works. So, how are you spiritually? How’s your heart? Have you found yourself at a plateau? Are you missing a spark you once had? It doesn’t matter what it was that might have caused you to dry out. If you feel the passion is gone, and it’s hard to keep on fire for God, then listen to Jesus’ invitation! He says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37b, 38).

For all of you that are weary and burned out Jesus is calling you to come and be refilled. He’s calling some of you to learn from him, calling some of you to serve, calling some of you to sacrifice, and He’s calling all of you to come.

Avoiding Spiritual Burnout, Part 1: The Cause

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Burn-out is a word with which many people today are familiar. It has, unfortunately, become too common a word for us. It taunts us: a society of people on the verge, or in the midst, of burnout—and we don’t always see it coming.

I find it interesting that this phrase is used when battling uncontrollable fires. They start a “burn off” fire in opposition to a raging grass or forest fires in order to burn up the remaining fuel, in turn causing the raging blaze to go out. This term has been adopted into the rest of our lives because burnout is what happens when you use up all your resources, or fuel, and are left empty. In fact, the original meaning of the word burn-out is “to stop producing a flame.”

Maybe you are feeling burned out in areas of your life right now. The biggest tell-tale sign: emotional exhaustion. It is not the same as being stressed, but rather being drained. You see, burnout is not the same as stress. We often mix up these two. Stress can, at times, lead to a burnout, but it is not burnout. Stress is about things being “too much,” and burnout is about “not enough.” If stress can make you feel like you are drowning in a situation, then burnout will make you feel parched. Because of this, like stress, burnout can cause you to lose your perspective on things. It can cause you to lose your passion. It can cause you to stop producing a flame. Hmm.

I wonder: can we end up using all of our spiritual resources until we find ourselves spiritually empty? Are we in danger of losing our flame? I believe, unfortunately, that we are. In fact, we are in more danger of this than ever before. Spiritual Burnout is one of the greatest threats that face us today. We need God’s help. We need it now.

Before we can overcome it, though, we must learn what causes it. I have found that there are two main things that burden us spiritually; two things which quickly lead to spiritual burn out (there are many things that can burden us, but I believe that the following two situations are a foundation to all the others).

The first cause of burn-out is that we can be overly burdened by personal guilt—or our own unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Notice what David says in Psalm 38:4—“My guilt [iniquities] has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” As long as we think we are not forgiven, or can’t be, the heaviness placed upon us is too much to bear. By focusing on our own sins and struggles, rather than on God, we take on a burden that can drain us spiritually. As we struggle to fight the quick-sand battle of “being better,” we may ultimately find ourselves without any spark of passion left for God.

Next, in Numbers 11:11–14, we find Moses struggling. He basically tells God, “These people are putting burdens on me that are too heavy to bear.” So the second foundational cause is that we can be burdened by the requirements put on us by those around us. The expectations of others are often impossible to fulfill. Of course, too frequently, the expectations we have for others, or they have for us, are greater than even God requires. Thus, we can work hard to meet man’s requirements only to find our selves dried up spiritually.

So in essence, our spiritual burdens boil down to these two things: focusing on ourselves and trying to fulfill man’s requirements. These are “flame killers.” If we are doing either of these we are headed for serious burnout (if we’re not already there).

Of course, just because you may be spiritually and emotionally spent, feeling less passionate about the things of God, or just “running on empty,” you must not assume that there’s no hope. There’s always hope when it comes to God.

In my next post, we’ll read about this hope—we’ll find the cure.