I just started my journey as a Christian and I’m currently reading the bible. I love these videos for whenever I get confused in my readings. Thank you so much!
Caroline H Congratulations sister. RU-vid is good and I listen to a lot of teachings and many different ministries as well but can I just want to say we must spend quality time with God and His Word more than all these, praying that Holy Spirit teach us His ways. John 14:26. Remember we are to know God in SPIRIT and in TRUTH (John 4:23). The Word of God must go hand in hand with the Spirit of God. May God bless you spirit, soul and body. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hi Caroline, the reason you would be finding it hard to understand the bible along with many other people is because just like me once upon a time, I never had the spirit of GOD. JESUS says, unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of GOD. Seeing is perceiving, to enter the kingdom of GOD you must be born again, this is receiving the Spirit so that you know you are one with GOD and have entered the kingdom(king and his dominion(the king and his people)) thats why JESUS says you MUST be born again, John 3:3-7 acts2:4,33,37,38, acts 10:44-48, acts 19:1-6, John 4:23,24, 1 Cor 14:2,14,20-22, isa 28:9-13, 1 Cor 12:3, zep 3:9, php 3:3, eph 6:18, Jude 1:20, it’s the spirit of the GOD which gives the understanding, Job 32:8, 1 Cor 2- whole chapter and vs 9-16 You need the spirit of GOD and to worship GOD In spirit and in truth which is praying in tongues in the Spirit. Romans 8:9 if we don’t have the spirit of Christ then we are none of his. Many will say LORD LORD in that day, have we not prophesied in thy name etc but he will say depart from you workers of iniquity for I never knew you - mat 7:23. We can only know god when we are born again of his Spirit. JESUS said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father except by me John 14:6. So if JESUS is truth - John 8:31,32 you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free If you follow his word. Simple gospel in a nutshell - you must be born again - repent be baptised and receive the Holy Spirit and worship GOD in spirit and in truth. GOD bless. www.therevivalfellowship.com/ 1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
@@Acts238John37 I mean. I'm pretty sure even if you're a true christian you don't understand everything immediately. If we did we wouldn't need preachers and church. The bible is confusing at times. I don't think that means you don't have the spirit of God in you.
“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'” ― C.S. Lewis
I've read this and questioned each time, for i did not understand. Thank you for helping us understand. The Bible is hard to understand sometimes but I am learning.
A picture the Lord gave me relates to that old quote: the sun shines on the clay and butter, making one hard and one soft. Here it is: There are two soils. The Sun of Righteous shines on both soils with the intent to soften both. On both a seed is cast. One soil rejects the seed. The other soils receives the seed within a crack or cut (circumcision). Then the sun shines on the first soil. With no rain, the already hard soil gets harder and harder until all the water has left. This soil looks like those deserts starving for water with hexagon shaped cracks. Any rain just immediately dries up under such unshaded sun. The 2nd soil has just enough water in which the seed to root. The new leaves give shade to the soil. The roots break up the soil even more. Eventually a new tree grows and drops leaves which decays as organic matter, further softening the soil. The tree invites birds of the air to come who further fertilize and soften the ground below. The tree drops fruit and seeds within to continue to increase the next generation of soil softening. The moral: God does nothing wrong when hearts are hardened. All He does is good - send the sun, the rain and seed. The soil that rejects the voice of the word of God grows hard. As it is written, "when you hear my voice, harden not your hearts"!
Thanks for the explanation. Very simple and clear. @MarG, Jesus used yeast to describe Pharisee’s teaching: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:6. Jesus also used yeast to describe the kingdom of God: “He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough."Matthew 13:33
Very well explained except I read at the start pf Exodus chapther 7 that God told Moses he would harden his heart BEFORE the plagues ever occured. However I agree that Pharoh's pride, ignorance and stubborness affected him and made shaped his heart harded. I believe that God could do this to glorify himself without being unjust, and that by hardening his heart he simply gave Pharoh an approval of the stubborness he hilself choose.
One of the factors of my deconversion was seeing that Christianity requires such obviously hackneyed explanations to make nonsense, make sense. So much of this is preamble to give the appearance of some kind of answer, but it’s really just trying to smooth over what will ultimately be bullshit. Additionally the sermonizing about one’s own sin is used to pull your emotions (like guilt) to the forefront, interfering with your ability to think critically about what’s actually being argued. If Pharoah’s heart is already hard, there’s no reason for God to be complicit in securing his rebellion, making it so that Pharaoh couldn’t repent even if he tried. Pharoah’s natural course of action should’ve led to him refusing to obey God anyway, on this view. In philosophy this is called overdetermination: you have more causes than necessary to bring about a result. Apologists are inherently committed to intellectual dishonesty because they *must* find an answer even if one is not forthcoming. 4:50 is just pulling the wool over the eyes of people desperate for an answer. God did not merely passively allow Pharoah’s heart to be hardened, he actively hardened. Trying to get around that is nothing short of dishonesty.
“And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Exodus 4:21 NKJV There’s only one way to interpret that text.
I always read "The LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart" like: The actions of God (the plagues) caused Pharaoh to hate God more. Just like if someone does something to anger me, it's my choice to get angry, but they acted in such a way to provide the opportunity.
Even when read like you suggest, Noah Eskew, it still makes me wonder: Why would God pursue a path that angers the pharao instead of helping him understand? Why kick a man again and again, when it's so obvious that this makes him more aggressive if anything? Surely an omnipotent god could think of a better, more persuasive way? God didn't even try to speak to the pharao. The first thing anyone should do, to ressolve an issue!
See how paul explains this in 18 Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He WANTS TO HAVE MERCY, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.… ”Now, what are the evidences in this text that the words “He hardens whomever he wills,” in Romans 9:18 means that God freely and unconditionally and without a previous act of this person decides who will be hardened and who will not? 1. That’s what the words most naturally mean. “He hardens whomever he wills,” says that his will and not our will is decisive in hardening. To be sure, our will rebels and is hard against God. But the natural meaning of these words is that God’s will is decisive beneath and behind our willing without nullifying the importance of our will. 2. The exact parallel with mercy shows that the act of God in hardening is as unconditional as the act of God in having mercy. Verse 18 says, “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” So if we believe that God’s showing mercy is unconditional, the most natural way to take the parallel is that the hardening is unconditional. 3. This is in fact exactly what Paul infers from God’s words in verse 15, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” Paul draws out of this in verse 16, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” If that is what “I have mercy on whom I have mercy” means, then it is probably what “I harden whom I harden” means, namely, “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who hardens.” 4. The parallel with Jacob and Esau shows that mercy and hardening are unconditional. Paul said in verses 11 and 13, “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad . . . As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” In other words, the context demands that Paul address not just the love and mercy part of God’s sovereignty but also the hate and hardening part of God’s sovereignty. The parallel with Jacob and Esau in verse 13 shows that the hardening and the mercy are unconditional. 5. The objection and Paul’s answer to it in verse 19 show that Paul did not deal with God’s sovereignty the way most people deal with it today. Paul raises the objection: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” Now at this point most people today say, God finds fault because his hardening is a response to our prior self-hardening. For example, one popular, and usually good commentary says, NEITHER HERE NOR ANYWHERE ELSE IS GOD SAID TO HARDEN ANYONE WHO HAD NOT FIRST HARDENED HIMSELF. THAT PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART AGAINST GOD AND REFUSED TO HUMBLE HIMSELF IS MADE PLAIN IN THE STORY. SO GOD’S HARDENING OF HIM WAS A JUDICIAL ACT, ABANDONING HIM TO HIS OWN STUBBORNNESS. (JOHN STOTT, ROMANS: GOD’S GOOD NEWS FOR THE WORLD [INTERVARSITY PRESS, 1994], 269, QUOTING LEON MORRIS) “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” Let me say this calmly and firmly: that is exactly the opposite of what Romans 9:18 teaches. And the fifth reason that I say so is this: Paul could have so easily removed the objection of verse 19 that way, and he did not! The objector hears Paul say, “God hardens whomever he wills,” and he responds, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” How easily Paul could have answered the objection with all the answers of modern man! And he didn’t. Because they are the wrong answer. They turn his teaching right on its head. He said, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” Indeed he said more - but in a direction exactly the opposite of what people today (or then) expect. 6. Verse 21 shows that Paul sees mercy and hardening as unconditional because he speaks of the objects of mercy and hardening as coming from the same lump of clay: “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump [there’s the crucial phrase!] one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?” The stress is that it was not the nature of the clay that determined what God would do with it. It was the free and wise and sovereign will of the potter. He has mercy on whom he wills and he hardens whom he wills - from the same lump of clay. 7. We read in Romans 11:7: “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” In other words, the decisive issue in who is hardened and who is not is election, not some prior willing or running on our part, but God who elects. “The elect obtained it, the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7). “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13). “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18). goo.gl/DDFQXq
I agree with this, but I still just wish I could know why God does this. It’s not my place to question God, and I’m lucky that he had mercy on me to let me have a softer heart, but I still feel bad for the people who were born to go to hell. There’s nothing different between us, it could’ve easily been me who was predestined for hell; we’re all made out of the same clay after all. So simply being grateful that I was given a soft heart, doesn’t really make me any feel better. Again, I know Paul say’s not to question God, but this idea is pretty depressing. This makes it feel like there’s no point to seeking faith if all it is, is just if you get lucky or not. I guess all we can do though is to humbly pray and ask God to change His mind about our brothers and sisters, and to give them some of the mercy and grace He’s given to us. I doubt He’ll ever do anything to lessen His glory, but maybe there’ll eventually be a way for us to make up the difference enough to save those who weren’t born as lucky as we were. Idk, most of that probably doesn’t make any sense but that’s just what I’m thinking about right now.
I see these questions before and often copy-pasted. There are a lot of things I dont understand about in the Bible. Of course, I am just a human, my intelligence is nothing compared to God. So I will trust everything to the Lord, I know the Lord will make me understand these hard questions someday. I will trust his wisdom, his intelligence, I dont even deserve to question God and I know I've done it and I am ashamed, I am a sinner and deserves hell so who am I to even question him and about him? I'm happy already about his grace, about the fact that Jesus died on the cross so we wouldnt have to go to hell.
So according to this, after the sixth plague, God didn't allow The Pharaoh even a chance to repent. Also, why were the Israelites above being slaves if they condoned the actions of involuntary bondage?
Why did God punished the Egyptians, killing even the first born (imagine the pain of the mothers) (Are Egyptians not God's children) how can anyone blame the Pharaoh when it was God himself who hardened his heart. Also we should also not forget who saved Moses when he was a baby..
Look at what pharaoh was doing at the beginning. He ordered the execution of all the male Israelite babies. Don’t you think the Egyptians living during that time wouldn’t be in agreement with pharaoh since they viewed him as a god. They could’ve been just as indignant as pharaoh. Also the Egyptians made the lives of the Israelites horrible. They had over 400 years to be lenient toward the Israelites so God’s judgment came to fruition. Imagine if you and your friends continued to break the law whether directly or by being an accomplice. You then can’t say it’s not fair or how are you in trouble if you didn’t actually commit those crimes but were an accomplice of them. And it was the Lord who saved Moses. His plan to use him as a deliverer to his people.
The dilemma with this explanation is that if God is the one that needs to soften my heart, for me to be able to love Him, would mean that everyone who does not love God is because their heart is not soften by God. Therefore they shouldnt be punished for something they mentally or phisically cant do, right?
@@O_tropos you said “if God is the one that needs to soften my heart for me to love him” no you chose to soften your heart when you chose God “God actually gives us a softened heart when we turn to him in search of healing from our hardened heart.” Since we’re all born in a world of sin our heart is hardened but once we choose to love and fight for God ourselves that is when he softens our heart.
@@Kiannamonique I was replying to what he was saying. He said that If God doesnt soften his heart then he wouldnt be saved (or something along those lines). According to him God is the one softening our hearts. Do you disagree with that? Are we softening our own hearts according to you?
Such a long and complicated answer. The simple answer is that God was presenting Himself thru Moses as the one true God. When one is confronted with the truth contrary to what one believes, you can either soften your heart like clay and believe in that truth, OR, you can insist on your convictions and beliefs despite the evidence against them thereby hardening your heart to stick with those wrong beliefs. Pharoah witnessed for himself the truth yet instead of yielding his heart to the truth, he hardened his heart by sticking to his own and rejecting the truth. In essence, the cause of Pharoahs hardening of heart is God.
Well said , but god is far beyond that 😅 why can’t we just admit that we don’t understand so much about God’s logic , the darkness and lights are effective with each other , like pals, no evil no righteous 😅
@@jacobgraemoor5778 ok but like what if that ant farm costed part of your power (lets say that single ant farm is your arm, it got ripped from you) and you saw the ants killing each other. Twice.
The answer made no sense and he contradicted himself by contrasting God hardening Pharoah's heart and God softening someone else's heart. The last verse proves that God chose to harden Pharoah's heart because he can. By his logic (answer) Those who choose not to accept the God of the Bible could be do to God hardening their hearts to prove a point to someone ellse. Sounds like an excuse to explain away what God did. By his logic, God could have softened Pharoah's heart to make a point also.
4:20 god softens the heart of wicked men like you? If we take Pharaoh's story into account. He actually hardens wicked men for His glory. It's almost as if when you come to Christ God is saying " Damn it, I was really going to hit my stride hardening you for my glory in the next season. But you had to become a Christian. I'll have to take that glory instead. And now find someone else to harden for my glory as well. "
Heyy everyone I have a question! Can anyone easily and kindly explain to me why we need to glorify God and why God NEEDS people to glorify him? I know it's not out of ego but i can never find a clear answer!!
Sure Megg I'll do my best as I am still learning everyday myself the ways of the Lord... I know personally in my life I want/need to Glorify God because of everything he has done for me and for everyone on this earth... I mean think about it he sent his son who stripped himself of his own divine privileges as God to take human form and live a perfect life then to die for US... he loves us so muchhh and how could I as a sinful and evil human-being dishonor that? (dishonor would be the opposite of Glorify) Simply put I do it because he deserves it and more... his love for all of mankind shows consistently he loves us unconditionally and will do anything for us that alone deserves more glory and praise we could ever give... To the second half of your question God doesn't need us to... if he did he wouldn't have given us free will he could literally have made us do whatever he wanted...But he is a loving God and doesn't believe in forcing people to do what he wants, but better yet wants us all to love him out of our own free will...our own choice... You see you could go to your room with all dolls and make them love you all you want... But it isn't real because they have not choice.. all God wants is us to love and trust him and bring Glory to his name and show the world how amazing he is... Simply put if someone did something amazing for you would you not want to glorify them? Tell everyone about them and what they did for you? That's God's desire is that we worship him willingly and sincerely and show and tell others about how amazing he is... God doesn't need us... he loves us and wants us to come and see and share with others how amazing he is.... Think of God as a Father (which is he) or simply a parent... the ultimate praise for a parent is for their children to love them and know that they trust them... we want our children to speak positively about us as parents.... Because we love and sacrifice so much for them God is the same way... I hope that helps you even a little bit... Peace be with you and God Bless.
Megg the premise of your question is faulty. God's NEED nothing, our glorifying God ADDS NOTHING to God, there's never been and there never will be a need in God.
We glorify God because he is: loving, kind, merciful, patient, peaceful and we also fear and respect him because of his great power and wrath. Those things deserve to be glorified because they are good
I'll try to give a most accurate and understandable explination. By glorifying God we show that he is worthy of all we have. We show gratitude to the sacrifice he gave for us through christ and we declare that he is greather than the things of the world. By glorifying God you put aside other worldly addictions for his sake! Don't glorify your phone, your belly, your relations, your money etc. But rather prove to God that you find him worthy of all that you are in your glorification of him. Through bringing him glory we stay close to his narrow road that leads to eternal life. By his love he draws us closer to his kingdom, through our praise and worship, and hold tight to the promise of being reunited with a Father who loves us more than words can say, and more than his creation can testify of. Sorry if it was very badly written, I hope it helped and draws you closer to Gods thruth and everlasting love. May he bless you! I wish you a wonderful day forward! 😊
@@ArcaneArtz ok you said something nice I don't disagree with you but I don't get the logic first of all we did not ask God to create as nature did we eat the forbidden fruit we all became sinners because of Adam so it is God's duty to rectify us for example if you create a robot then later if you find there is a work it is your job to fix it you cannot expect gratification from the robot
So because God wanted to make an example out of Pharaoh the first born sons (what about daughters?) and livestock were killed? You guys conveniently failed to mention that whole infant genocide thing...
And who are you with your limited understanding to question an infinitely wise God. We deserve eternal separation and death for our sin plain and simple... Only by His mercy do we wake up every day. You think you are smart now... One day you will bow before God with the rest of us.
You still didn't address the killing of infants. What happened to them? Why did they have to die? He could've sent scorpions last, I would definitely let the Israelites go instead of scorpions...
God could've done many things differently over the course of history but He chose to do what fit His plan the best. He told pharaoh that would be the consequence and pharaoh didn't listen, God does not lie and He doesn't change His mind. I believe those infants will be in heaven, God has mercy on whom He has mercy, but there is no way to know for sure until I am there.
Ok this is misleading, before Moses went to Pharoah God told Moses that when you tell Pharoah to let my people go, he won't because I will harden his heart.
Exodus 7:3-4 says, “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my people the Israelites.” It seems unjust for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart and then to punish Pharaoh and Egypt for what Pharaoh decided when his heart was hardened. Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart just so He could judge Egypt more severely with additional plagues? First, Pharaoh was not an innocent or godly man. He was a brutal dictator overseeing the terrible abuse and oppression of the Israelites, who likely numbered over 1.5 million people at that time. The Egyptian pharaohs had enslaved the Israelites for 400 years. A previous pharaoh-possibly even the pharaoh in question-ordered that male Israelite babies be killed at birth (Exodus 1:16). The pharaoh God hardened was an evil man, and the nation he ruled agreed with, or at least did not oppose, his evil actions. Second, on least a couple occasions, Pharaoh hardened his own heart against letting the Israelites go: “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15). “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32). It seems that God and Pharaoh were both active in one way or another in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. As the plagues continued, God gave Pharaoh increasingly severe warnings of the final judgment to come. Pharaoh chose to bring further judgment on himself and his nation by hardening his own heart against God’s commands. It could be that, as a result of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even further, allowing for the last few plagues and bringing God’s full glory into view (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27). Pharaoh and Egypt had brought these judgments on themselves with 400 years of slavery and mass murder. Since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and Pharaoh and Egypt had horribly sinned against God, it would have been just if God had completely annihilated Egypt. Therefore, God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not unjust, and His bringing additional plagues against Egypt was not unjust. The plagues, as terrible as they were, actually demonstrate God’s mercy in not completely destroying Egypt, which would have been a perfectly just penalty. Romans 9:17-18 declares, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” From a human perspective, it seems wrong for God to harden a person and then punish the person He has hardened. Biblically speaking, however, we have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23), and the just penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, God’s hardening and punishing a person is not unjust; it is actually merciful in comparison to what the person deserves.
But if the Pharoah was perfectly willing to do what Moses wanted and if God wanted the Israelites to be freed why would God prevent Pharoah from doing that?
What everyone misses is the fact that pharaoh REPENTED. Yes he did repent. THEN…….. God hardened his heart. Why doesn’t anyone want to go there? Not about the heart already hardened then God hardened. No God raised him up to show HIS POWER THROUGH PHARAOH!!
If God did not harden pharoh's heart then the inocent people who died on the tenth plague will be spared... Please enlighten me as to why would God allowed it to this extend if he did not hardened pharoh's heart...
Exodus 7:3-4 says, “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my people the Israelites.” It seems unjust for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart and then to punish Pharaoh and Egypt for what Pharaoh decided when his heart was hardened. Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart just so He could judge Egypt more severely with additional plagues? First, Pharaoh was not an innocent or godly man. He was a brutal dictator overseeing the terrible abuse and oppression of the Israelites, who likely numbered over 1.5 million people at that time. The Egyptian pharaohs had enslaved the Israelites for 400 years. A previous pharaoh-possibly even the pharaoh in question-ordered that male Israelite babies be killed at birth (Exodus 1:16). The pharaoh God hardened was an evil man, and the nation he ruled agreed with, or at least did not oppose, his evil actions. Second, on least a couple occasions, Pharaoh hardened his own heart against letting the Israelites go: “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15). “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32). It seems that God and Pharaoh were both active in one way or another in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. As the plagues continued, God gave Pharaoh increasingly severe warnings of the final judgment to come. Pharaoh chose to bring further judgment on himself and his nation by hardening his own heart against God’s commands. It could be that, as a result of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart even further, allowing for the last few plagues and bringing God’s full glory into view (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27). Pharaoh and Egypt had brought these judgments on themselves with 400 years of slavery and mass murder. Since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and Pharaoh and Egypt had horribly sinned against God, it would have been just if God had completely annihilated Egypt. Therefore, God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart was not unjust, and His bringing additional plagues against Egypt was not unjust. The plagues, as terrible as they were, actually demonstrate God’s mercy in not completely destroying Egypt, which would have been a perfectly just penalty. Romans 9:17-18 declares, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” From a human perspective, it seems wrong for God to harden a person and then punish the person He has hardened. Biblically speaking, however, we have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23), and the just penalty for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Therefore, God’s hardening and punishing a person is not unjust; it is actually merciful in comparison to what the person deserves.
I believe the Beatitudes teach directly what kind of heart a Christian has to have. It's very different from Pharaoh or someone in the world. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit.' A person who is broken, desperate & they realize they're nothing at all without God. Immediately the next verse, 'Blessed are those who mourn.' I believe it connects to the first verse & means those who mourn/grieve over their sin! They are sorrowful & see how ugly their sin is. They pray they hate their sin. They recognize the depth of their sin & deeply long for God to change them. Peter in Luke 5:8 & 22:60-62 ; also the tax collector in Luke 18:13,14 are great examples of this humility! Disciples of Jesus are deeply bothered by their sin. If we are bothered, cut, convicted by our sins, we'll turn to God in repentance. We'll Pray for godly sorrow & repent! We have to realize and recognize our spiritual poverty!
Marius VanWoerden. . 8 months ago. . See how paul explains this in 18 Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He WANTS TO HAVE MERCY, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.… ”Now, what are the evidences in this text that the words “He hardens whomever he wills,” in Romans 9:18 means that God freely and unconditionally and without a previous act of this person decides who will be hardened and who will not? 1. That’s what the words most naturally mean. “He hardens whomever he wills,” says that his will and not our will is decisive in hardening. To be sure, our will rebels and is hard against God. But the natural meaning of these words is that God’s will is decisive beneath and behind our willing without nullifying the importance of our will. 2. The exact parallel with mercy shows that the act of God in hardening is as unconditional as the act of God in having mercy. Verse 18 says, “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” So if we believe that God’s showing mercy is unconditional, the most natural way to take the parallel is that the hardening is unconditional. 3. This is in fact exactly what Paul infers from God’s words in verse 15, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” Paul draws out of this in verse 16, “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” If that is what “I have mercy on whom I have mercy” means, then it is probably what “I harden whom I harden” means, namely, “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who hardens.” 4. The parallel with Jacob and Esau shows that mercy and hardening are unconditional. Paul said in verses 11 and 13, “Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad . . . As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’” In other words, the context demands that Paul address not just the love and mercy part of God’s sovereignty but also the hate and hardening part of God’s sovereignty. The parallel with Jacob and Esau in verse 13 shows that the hardening and the mercy are unconditional. 5. The objection and Paul’s answer to it in verse 19 show that Paul did not deal with God’s sovereignty the way most people deal with it today. Paul raises the objection: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” Now at this point most people today say, God finds fault because his hardening is a response to our prior self-hardening. For example, one popular, and usually good commentary says, NEITHER HERE NOR ANYWHERE ELSE IS GOD SAID TO HARDEN ANYONE WHO HAD NOT FIRST HARDENED HIMSELF. THAT PHARAOH HARDENED HIS HEART AGAINST GOD AND REFUSED TO HUMBLE HIMSELF IS MADE PLAIN IN THE STORY. SO GOD’S HARDENING OF HIM WAS A JUDICIAL ACT, ABANDONING HIM TO HIS OWN STUBBORNNESS. (JOHN STOTT, ROMANS: GOD’S GOOD NEWS FOR THE WORLD [INTERVARSITY PRESS, 1994], 269, QUOTING LEON MORRIS) “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” Let me say this calmly and firmly: that is exactly the opposite of what Romans 9:18 teaches. And the fifth reason that I say so is this: Paul could have so easily removed the objection of verse 19 that way, and he did not! The objector hears Paul say, “God hardens whomever he wills,” and he responds, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” How easily Paul could have answered the objection with all the answers of modern man! And he didn’t. Because they are the wrong answer. They turn his teaching right on its head. He said, “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” Indeed he said more - but in a direction exactly the opposite of what people today (or then) expect. 6. Verse 21 shows that Paul sees mercy and hardening as unconditional because he speaks of the objects of mercy and hardening as coming from the same lump of clay: “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump [there’s the crucial phrase!] one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?” The stress is that it was not the nature of the clay that determined what God would do with it. It was the free and wise and sovereign will of the potter. He has mercy on whom he wills and he hardens whom he wills - from the same lump of clay. 7. We read in Romans 11:7: “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” In other words, the decisive issue in who is hardened and who is not is election, not some prior willing or running on our part, but God who elects. “The elect obtained it, the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7). “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” (Romans 9:13). “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18). goo.gl/DDFQXq. . .
Imagine if God did this today. Imagine if he killed all of the first borns of the Palestinians because they’re occupying some of the holy land he set aside for the Israelites. Would Christians cheer God on for this cruel act?
It makes more sense that Pharaoh was going to let the Israelites go, so God hardened his heart so he could show off his greatness with the plagues. Or he could have simply made pharaoh let the Israelites go but it seems he used the occasion to show how big and bad he was. Even killing the first born of his own people. But God makes the rules, Right? So who are we to judge if we are just characters in his universe?
Pharaoh sacrificed the babies first. And also God hardened his heart. That means that Pharaohs heart was already hard, and he just hardened it more. The Bible says that when people live in sin too long (without repentance), he gives them over to that sin, and you become a reprobate (rejected silver).
God harden paroah heart to show God's power and sovereignty in all things He is in complete control. God has a plan and nothing will frustrate the plan of God not man's will for He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He will make one vessel unto honour "salvation" and another unto dishonor " judgment" who are thou that replies against God? Shall thing thing formed say to Him who formed it, why hast thou made me thus? The pitter has power over the clay "mankind" we are made of clay of the earth. Read 9 to get the full story.
I think that God departs from evil and the result is that a person’s heart is hardened. So, it could be said that a person hardens their own heart by choosing to do evil.
@Larry Cavalli It seems to me that we each must choose what to believe and what to disbelieve. To Illustrate, if one chooses to believe that nothing exists that cannot be detected by the physical senses, they are choosing to disbelieve the science that tells us that much of the total spectrum of light is invisible to the physical eye. They are choosing to believe that the part of the spectrum of light that is invisible to the eye does not exist. So, is belief a choice?
But it doesn't make sense because every time Moses asked for freedom the Pharoah was more or less inclined to give it to him, but then God prevents that by "strengthening his heart"
So as to improve the faith and hope in the action taken by Moses, God hardened the heart of Pharaoh for ten times. On seeing the miracles again and again , the Israelites of about thirty lakhs people ready to get out of the Egypt in one night itself leaving the 400years life in Egypt .
I agree with everything that was said except one thing. Todd Wagner misquoted 2 Peter 3:9. Peter is talking to a specific audience not to the whole world. Also this chapter is not about salvation. It is about why Jesus is delaying His return. He is waiting for the final members of His sheep to come into the fold by His divine power, since He is the One who saves. Salvation is from the LORD (Jonah 2:9). Peter is not saying that God desires the salvation of everyone who has ever lived, something that is contradicted by the election and predestination verses of Romans 8:28--30, Romans 9:10-24 and Ephesians 1:4-11. To correctly interpret 2 Peter 3:9, we must go all the way back to verse one of chapter 3 and read from one all to the way to nine. Peter even says just a few verses before verse nine that God is reserving a day where He will destroy the ungodly. I can't believe how many people pull verse nine out of context just like they do with 1 Timothy 2:4. If God desires the salvation of everyone then everyone will be saved. You mean to say God cannot accomplish what He wants? He is omnipotent and we are impotent. He saves and He gets all the glory.
I bet this gets deleted too since this channel seems to delete every verse that I present that stands in contradiction to what this man is saying. He says that pharaoh hardened his own heart until the sixth plague, after that God himself hardened pharaohs heart. Hmmmm (Exodus 7:13 KJV) And he(God) hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. It is clear that God hardened Pharaohs heart right after Araon cast his rod down and it swallowed the other serpents of Pharaohs wise men. That was before any of the ten plagues had ever taken place. Watch this get deleted too !!!!!!
The verse before talks about Aaron rod swallowing up the wises men's rods which in turn made the pharaoh's heart hardened. In the verse that you present God is announcing to Moses that the Pharaoh's heart had been hardened by their actions.
@@brandontoy4914 no sir. It does not say that Aaron's rod swallowing up the wise mens rods is what made Pharoah's heart hardened ! (Exodus 7:12 KJV) For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. (Exodus 7:13 KJV) And he(God) hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. As it states, God hardened Pharoah's heart from the beginning. God even said that he will be the reason why Pharoah's heart would be hardened. (Exodus 7:3 KJV) And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
@@SalohcinDranreb it’s the action that was taken by Arron which in turn hardened Pharaohs heart. I believe that the he is referring to Arron because of what he did prior to pharaohs heart hardening. Also it doesn’t make sense for God to refer to himself twice if he proclaimed who did what in the beginning of the sentence. The next verse says, “And the Lord said unto Moses, pharaohs heart is hardened, he refuse the to let the people go. God presented pharaoh with situations in which he could’ve chosen to take another path or remain in the same, either way it was of his own volition once the ball was in his court. Felt like I said “hardened” forty times in this lol.
@@brandontoy4914 🙄 just can't accept when your wrong huh ?! Exodus 7:13 is narrative sentence. So God isnt referring to himself at all there. So then it wouldnt be twice, would it ? And Aaron couldnt have made Pharoah's heart to hardened, considering that Aaron didn't do anything but throw his rod down. Aaron isnt the one who made the rod turn into a serpent, is he ?! God is ! And therefore, God, who made the rod turn into a serpent, God, who made the serpent swallow the wise mens serpents, is the one who made Pharaohs heart harden. Even if I was looking at it from your point of view based on events that happened prior to Pharoah's heart hardening, your still wrong. Just as it states in Exodus 7:3, God said he will be the one who hardens Pharaohs heart. (Exodus 7:3 KJV) And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. In fact, the Midrash teaches God made Pharaoh’s heart as hard as liver ‘into which even if boiled a second time, no juice enters; so also was the heart of Pharaoh made, like liver, and he did not receive the words of God. I guess Christians know more than Jews about the Torah though huh ? Which seems to be the attitude most Christians have today. 🤔
It's not about having an "Ego" but rather, ALL the glory and praise belongs to HIM. He wants humanity and his angels to understand that, so that his creations do not lose perspective. After all, wasn't it Lucifer who lost his "perspective" and sought to glorify himself??? If HE does not remind us who to glorify, we will tend to find other things to bring glory to. Whether it be a false god or the god that we make ourselves out to be.
@@abisamraj4408 God doesn't need worship. He already is an infinite being (He gets nothing from it). He knows that we get the benefit when we praise and worship Him.
@@michaelford3444 these guys are bad explainers of this. Pharaoh sacrificed the babies first. That means that Pharaohs heart was already hard, and God just hardened it more. The Bible says that when people live in sin too long (without repentance), he gives them over to that sin, and you become a reprobate (rejected silver)
@@Josiahministries Thank you very much. It just shows that people doesn't read the word of God and just spit out anything without thinking or reading. Plus most of these ungodly people ( Philistine, Ammonites, Egyptians etc ) used to do child sacrifices for their gods.
Romans 1 gives the answer. God gives people over to a depraved mind only after they sin relentlessly and unrepentantly. Calvinists would have us believe he just does it arbitrarily. The truth is God would never have hardened his heart if he hadn’t first hardened his own hear. God showed his glory through Pharaoh as a punishment. Everyone’s heart is hard for sure, but Pharaoh was on a whole other level. Not all people would have responded the same as Pharaoh. No way any unbeliever would not relent at those plagues. If God did that to say the pharaoh over Joseph he would have repented.
Calvanism is not biblical guys and for me the fact that God had to harden Pharoahs heart in order to use him proves this. Surely if Pharoah was totally depraved his heart was already hard.
According to the video, he says that the pharaoh was already a terrible person and had constantly resisted against GOD. Keep in mind that GOD at any point could have acted on the pharaoh and it would have been just but chose not to until the 6th plague. At this point GOD decided there was no chance of redemption so he decided to harden the pharaohs heart to further display his full sovereignty over the pharaoh and all of the false gods ie egypts gods.
I sincerely appreciate your response… However, it seems to me that there is a real cognitive dissonance in your message - on the one hand, you (correctly) recognise that God is absolutely sovereign over absolutely all things, including (in fact, especially) the salvation (or spiritual rebirth) of those whom God elected as His own (before He laid the foundations of the earth) (Eph 1 cf)… But then, you make an impassioned appeal to people to ‘soften their hearts and respond to God’s free offer of redemption in Christ’ - if I understand you correctly, then you are reducing God’s sovereign act of redemption to nothing more than works (Rom 9:16)… Did I understand you correctly? I hope I did not…
love what you doing, helping me so much with my Biblestudy. what is your view on the Sabbath, we keep it, but there is lots of people that disagree. Louise from South-Africa
my heart is not hard, and it never was, what a stupid generalization. I will harden his heart,so I can make him rebel agains me. You forget the second part of the sentence, so that he will not let the people go.
Nicely presented. However, if God can soften anyone's heart then it would be beyond our choice. For if our hearts are hardened beforehand then to soften our hearts would be to go against our will. If He can do this then that means that He predestines us arbitrarily (for only some are saved) based on no other reason other than He can. It cannot be for the sake of His glory, for what honor / glory is there in making one obey by changing one's heart. Is God not worthy to win our hearts through our free will that He has to make us into Stepford children? You say on the one hand that God softens hearts because He is merciful, but then you say that "for whatever reason God didn't soften Pharaoh's heart like He did Moses". This contradicts what you are trying to put forward as God being merciful (and just). For if He knows how to do good to one (Moses) then by that same law He is obligated to do the same for all. But Romans 8 tells us plainly that God selects whom He will not for His glory, and not for His sovereignty, but because of His foreknowledge of what choices we as free-moral agents will make. (Rom. 8:29-30). This post covers the problem of how God hardens Pharaoh's heart justifiably: www.removingveils.com/god-hardened-pharaohs-heart-justice/
God said why he did it in exodus 7:3 so he can show (multiply) his signs and wonders.....what were his signs and wonders.....he tortured and killed. Read it for yourself.
Pharaoh sacrificed the babies first. And also God hardened his heart. That means that Pharaohs heart was already hard, and he just hardened it more. The Bible says that when people live in sin too long (without repentance), he gives them over to that sin, and you become a reprobate.
@@trippingonfaith7094 Cognitive dissonance happens in nearly all societies and structures in the whole world. That doesn't disprove God. It's not God's fault, people don't read for themselves, and in full context (I read the Bible first, and if someone says something about it, I check it, to make sure it lines up with scripture). Many people don't read it for themselves, and just believe every thing these new "preachers" say
jociah there are no absolutes in this world period! My biggest issue with religious folks is the fact they cannot be ok with maybe, not sure, possibly, uncertain, error, mistakes, misrepresentation,.....etc etc. you only accept absolute infallibility yet you cannot even agree amongst each other.....foolishness and you all couldn’t identify the Holy Spirit if it wore a red hat saying make America great again!
Hi My name is Edwin From India mumbai your video is awesome brother today i subscribed your video and pressed the bell icon now waiting for learn something new thank you brother
@@RolandRencewiggP As the speaker said... Pharaoh did not desire saving from God. He considered himself a god. Moses was obviously a much more humble person.
I noticed you missed this section Romans 9: 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still BLAME us? For who is able to RESIST HIS WILL?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you MAKE ME LIKE THIS?’”
When it says: "shall what is formed say the one who formed it, 'Why have you made me like this?' it is talking about our ignorance to the fact that we were created with choice for good and bad. We are not robots with no choice of what we do with ourselves God does not force us all to do bad things. Pharaoh's mind was already made up about the Israelites. God could judge him then and there but He decided to use him as an example of what happens when you choose to oppose Him. Hope that clarifies that.
I have. That's why I am asking you to support your assertion. To me it makes no sense to say that "who is able to RESIST HIS WILL" has anything to do with having free will, unless you are trying to spin it into something more in line with modern sensibilities. Oh. And it says clearly in Genesis and in Romans 9 that Pharaoh decided to let them go but that God made him change his mind. Why? For the sake of justice? No. To show God's power.
Still Messed up, They say the God is all powerful. Cant he just beam all Israelite outside Egypt. Instead of going through all these cheap magic tricks and killing innocent children including animals. Seems to me the people who wrote this shit does not think about the logic of all powerfulness. Similar to Epicurus quote, Biblical god is either all powerful and malevolent, or not all powerful. He cannot be all powerful and all loving.
Pharaoh sacrificed the babies first. And also God hardened his heart. That means that Pharaohs heart was already hard, and he just hardened it more. The Bible says that when people live in sin too long (without repentance), he gives them over to that sin, and you become a reprobate.
Well... Good is from God he is the one who kind of created the standard(and everything else).. Good is in essence anything God would do where as evil or "sin" is the opposite... Something God would never do. Some things are more difficult for us to understand as humans... We tend to do or feel that whatever we want is good in our own eyes and thus it is good... But what can be right to one person might be wrong to another... That's where God comes in and why we have a bible to help us understand what is good for instance there might be things in the bible that had I not known God had said not to do them I would think is okay or good in my eyes but is wrong to him... So I need to try and understand why it is wrong and change my own ways to his ways because he is Good.... If he wasn't working for the forces of good he wouldn't have given up his title and privileges in heaven to come down to earth and die for OUR mistakes and sins.... if sacrificing your own life for those who don't deserve it isn't good then I need to relearn what is...
This scripture doesn't make sense You cause someone to do certain job for you and blame him for the cause, just to glorify your name, by killing innocent children. Wicked god Everything about Christianity doesn't make sense
So, his heart was already harden and it progressed as God kept doing the plagues, so God allowed his heart to harden more and more and he used it to his advantage 👌
