“A Choice To Obey God’s Word!”

“A Choice To Obey God’s Word!”(Ex.7:1-13).
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you…”
When the LORD called Moses and sent him to tell Pharaoh to authorise the exodus(Ex.3:10), Moses complained that he was not eloquent(Ex.4:10). God told him Aaron will be his mouthpiece(Ex.4:17).
It is in this sense that the LORD said Moses will be like God to Pharaoh. God will communicate his words to Moses, Moses will tell Aaron, and Aaron will communicate it to Pharaoh. This was to take place within a specific context: Moses to Aaron and Aaron to Pharaoh.
Sadly, unscrupulous interpreters twist this text to “play God,” justifying that being like God is a divine appointment.
The other misinterpretation within the doctrine of freewill and predestination is the LORD saying, “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” This hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as the decision of God features nine times in Exodus.
The question is,“If the LORD is the one who makes a heart hardened, is hardening of heart a choice by freewill or it is predestined by the LORD?”
The reverse is that nine other times, Pharaoh hardened his heart as by his own decision.
Even when the first five plagues were brought on the Egyptians, it was Pharaoh who hardened his heart after every plague. It is at the sixth plague that “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart…”(Ex.9:12).
When God hardens a heart, he wants that heart to come to that point of recognition where it realises that, it is not by might, not by power, but it is as the LORD decides. The LORD hardens a heart to display his Sovereignty over all his creatures.
But when we harden our hearts as a matter of choice, we are provoking God’s wrath. Yet he is a compassionate, merciful, and forgiving loving Father. He continues to remind us daily that “Today, if you hear my voice, harden not your heart!”
Prayer of the day and week: Lord Jesus Christ, let your eternal light melt our hardened hearts when we hear God’s word. Amen!
Welcome to a new working day and week! Have a blessed day and week! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
24/02/2025.