Tag: distinction

42.a. “Let My People Go” – 10. Promise of Death of all Firstborn of Egypt

 

Exodus 11:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.  Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.”  And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,  and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.  There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.   But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’  And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”  Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. 

Deuteronomy 4:34   Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

 Job 27:16-17   Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay,  he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.

 Psalms 24:1  The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

 Psalms 105:37   Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

 Proverbs 13:22   A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

 Job 34:20    In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

 Isaiah 42:13    The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

 Psalms 105:36    He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.

 Psalms 135:8   He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast;

 Proverbs 21:13    Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

 Revelation 6:16-17   calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Despite the great calamity to come, God would grant the Egyptians the ability to see the situation as it really was: the fault of their own Pharaoh, not the fault of Moses or the children of Israel. Here for the fourth time we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12, 10:20, 10:27, and 11:10). Yet God never hardened Pharaoh’s heart until he first hardened it against the LORD and His people (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, and 9:7). (Guzik)

 “The Lord hath put a difference between those who are his people and those who are not. There are many distinctions among men which will one day be blotted out; but permit me to remind you at the outset that this is an eternal distinction.” (Spurgeon)

Much could be said about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and passages that show it to be of himself and passages that show it to be of God.  A person can be tempted to say that it is not fair, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  But, clearly, Pharaoh hardened his own heart first.  He did have free will to choose and he chose to defy God and the signs and wonders performed in His name. Let this be a warning and witness to all – a hardened heart does not start out like stone. No, it is soft and pliable but with continual and repeated intentional choosing to defy God, deny God, things of God, God’s creation, and God’s Word (written and proclaimed) the heart becomes harder and harder and harder.  At some point, there is no possible softening. This is known to God. 

God knows the beginning from the end. He knows who is His and who is not.  He knows this before any person is born. There is nothing that happens on earth that would be a surprise to God, where He would say; “I did not see that happening”.  God knows the beginning from the end.  Every last bit of it. He knows the thoughts and intents of every single person born before they are born. He knows the hairs on the heads of every last person. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows who will honor and glorify Him. He knows who will repent. He knows who will believe. He knows who will abide in faith. He knows who will obey. He knows who will not. He knows who will be ushered into heaven and who will find eternity in Hell. He knows the sin(s) every man will commit before it is even a thought in their mind. Nothing is hidden from Him.  He knows the beginning from the end.  

Who is the man that they dare say to the Creator of all there is, “I am not at fault, You made me like this.” Each person is given knowledge of God in their innermost being and this knowledge is added to by the wonders of creation. No man is with an excuse when they stand before their Creator. It is by free will they choose to deny the One and only True God.  They make images of wood and stone and bow down and worship the craft of their hands, or they deny any God at all.  They harden their hearts day after day until the hardness is complete. They will never repent or believe in God and His redemption. They reject God’s Word, His grace, love, and mercy. They reject Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, salvation, and forgiveness. They reject eternal life and freely choose eternity in Hell, though they are warned 1,000 times.  

While I write this I am humbled beyond words for I was once like these, without a care, without a need of God, without giving thought or concern to eternity, sin, death, heaven, hell, judgment, forgiveness, etc…. And yet, God, in His great mercy and love, softened my heart, opened my eyes and ears, and showed me my sin and the need for redemption, salvation, repentance, and forgiveness. I lived a life of no concern for God or things of God, and yet He pursued me, He kept knocking at the door of my heart, and at the right moment, He got my attention. At the right moment, a neighbor across the street (Rich) asked my wife and me to attend an evangelical meeting at the church they attended.  It was at this meeting Thursday, March 22nd, 1979 my sin, God’s holiness, and my need for repentance and a savior were revealed deep within my heart and mind. I know there was nothing deserving within me of this grace and mercy – trust me I know. However, God’s great love brought me to the point of believing or rejecting. As I say this it is not as though I could have rejected it.  I don’t really know how to explain it.  The message preached and my need so revealed that there was no way I could say no to the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

I don’t know how many times I reject God and things of God throughout my life up to the point of being saved. God does and I am sure it was a lot. God’s grace, mercy, and love are deep and wide. And yet, they have boundaries. These boundaries include “Faith and Repentance” (trust, obedience, reliance, honor, and glory to Jesus Christ). Good intentions, wishing, hoping, denying, rejecting, self-reliance, etc… all fall short of these boundaries of God’s grace, mercy, and love. 

Oh, that all of you would see the sinfulness of sin, the Holiness of God, and the need for repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ.

41.w. “Let My People Go” – 5. Livestock Plague

 

 

Exodus 9:1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.  For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,  behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.  But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’” And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.”  And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.  And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

Moses told Pharaoh that the Israelites would be spared, and Pharaoh believed it enough to confirm this. Nevertheless, he did not change his heart when it was proven that Moses and his God were exactly right. (Guzik)

God will have Israel released, Pharaoh opposes it, and the trial is, whose word shall stand. The hand of the Lord at once is upon the cattle, many of which, some of all kinds, die by God’s own hand. This was greatly to the loss of the owners; they had made Israel poor, and now God would make them poor. The hand of God is to be seen, even in the sickness and death of cattle; for a sparrow falls not to the ground without our Father. None of the Israelites’ cattle should die; the Lord shall sever. The cattle died. The Egyptians worshipped their cattle. What we make an idol of, it is just with God to remove from us. This proud tyrant and cruel oppressor deserved to be made an example by the just Judge of the universe. None who are punished according to what they deserve, can have any just cause to complain. Hardness of heart denotes that state of mind upon which neither threatenings nor promise, neither judgements nor mercies, make any abiding impression. The conscience being stupified, and the heart filled with pride and presumption, they persist in unbelief and disobedience.  (Henry)

Then the Lord said unto Moses,…. The same day the plague of the flies was removed: go in unto Pharaoh boldly, without any fear of him or his court: and tell him, thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews: speak in the name of Jehovah, the God whom the Hebrews worship, and who owns them for his people, and has a special love for them, and takes a special care of them, and is not ashamed to be called their God, as poor and as oppressed as they be: let my people go, that they may serve me; this demand had been often made, and, though so reasonable, was refused. (Gill)

Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle—A fifth application was made to Pharaoh in behalf of the Israelites by Moses, who was instructed to tell him that, if he persisted in opposing their departure, a pestilence would be sent among all the flocks and herds of the Egyptians, while those of the Israelites would be spared. As he showed no intention of keeping his promise, he was still a mark for the arrows of the Almighty’s quiver, and the threatened plague of which he was forewarned was executed. But it is observable that in this instance it was not inflicted through the instrumentality or waving of Aaron’s rod, but directly by the hand of the Lord, and the fixing of the precise time tended still further to determine the true character of the calamity. (Brown)

Many today, like Pharaoh, deny God and His control over all there is. They deny Him as Creator and author of life and all things created. They deny not only the honor and glory and praise and worship due Him but throw aside His grace, mercy, and love. What man can stand on the day of judgment and deny God then? What will a man say when they bow before Him and are cast into the lake of fire that burns forever and ever, where there is no death but continual torment for eternity? We have all been given free will to choose to honor and glorify God with our thoughts, words, and actions. Giving God a casual nod once or twice per week is not honoring and glorifying Him. No, it is deceiving yourself to think it is acceptable worship of the Heavenly Creator, All-Mighty, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, and All-Powerful God. You will do well to examine your heart for its intentions.  Are they focused on things of this world and what pleases their fleshly desires? God is not to be mocked by complacency, neglect, or denial.  Repent and take hold of His free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

20.k. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:8   “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 Mark 16:15-16    And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

 Acts 10:43   To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

 Galatians 3:5    Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith

 Acts 13:38-39    Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,  and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

I must admit I am intrigued by the difference between believing and believing in and on Jesus Christ.  I imagine there are those who believe Jesus Christ.  They believe He is the Son of God.  They believe He was sent by God. They believe He died and rose again.  They believe He is coming again.  The believe there is a heaven and a hell.  They believe the bible is God’s Word.  They believe doing good is right.  They believe in some form of justice for the guilty and innocent.  And yet, for all of this belief, they fall short of what it means to believe on/in Jesus Christ.  The difference is they believe about Him but not in/on Him.  One is an intellectual understanding, belief, and knowledge of the subject – Jesus Christ.  To believe in/on Jesus Christ is completely different.  It is life -changing, life-altering, life-leading, and true peace and joy giving faith.  The bible says this is being born again, made new, and being a new creation.  This newness of life comes from believing in, trusting in, clinging to, relying on, surrendering and yielding to, and obeying Jesus Christ. A persons life is changed.  

I fear many believe that the work of Jesus Christ was a blanket forgiveness over all of mankind’s sins and that all who do good things in this life will go to heaven.  They live good lives and can be kind and loving but they never really see a personal need for personal forgiveness of their personal sin.  Their belief in the blanket covering has blinded their personal need for forgiveness.  

Ask God to reveal to your heart if you are believing in/on Jesus Christ or believing about Him.  Only a heart seeking for God to open their hearts, minds, and souls to the wisdom and understanding for the need for forgiveness will see Jesus Christ as redeemer and savior.  It is in this understanding that belief about changes to believing in/on Jesus Christ through faith and trust.  The difference is that this God-given wisdom and understanding will lead to a person calling out to Jesus Christ to save them.  There should be no doubt in your heart, soul, and mind about this.  

13.s. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Zechariah 11:4   Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”  So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. In one month I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” And I took my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

Ezekiel 22:26    Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

Ezekiel 8:18     Therefore I will act in wrath. My eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”

Hebrews 10:26-31   For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,  but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

From Matthew Henry’s Bible commentary;  Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church and nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds woefully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they regarded it not. The Good Shepherd would feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty, denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their national covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony which hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world are enmities to God; and God hates all the workers of iniquity: it is easy to foresee what this will end in. The prophet demanded wages, or a reward, and received thirty pieces of silver. By Divine direction, he cast it to the potter, as in disdain for the smallness of the sum. This shadowed forth the bargain of Judas to betray Christ and the final method of applying it. Nothing ruins a people so certainly, as weakening the brotherhood among them. This follows the dissolving of the covenant between God and them: when sin abounds, love waxes cold, and civil contests follow. No wonder if those fall out among themselves, who have provoked God to fall out with them. Wilful contempt of Christ is the great cause of men’s ruin. And if professors rightly valued Christ, they would not contend about little matters.

5. Weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you

Luke 16:19  “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Malachi 3:18     Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

2 Thessalonians 1:8    in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,  when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

James 1:11-12    For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

James 5:1-7     Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you.  Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.  Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire.

Psalms 50:22    “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

I wonder if we see the significance of intentionally desiring, following, honoring, and obeying God.  I wonder if we think our commitment is close to giving our whole heart, mind, and soul to Him.  Reading these verses give me concern with what I see in our culture of what it means to live for God.  When the culture waters down this commitment, people live more for self and less for God.  Pleasing themselves with what is satisfying to their eyes, yielding to the desires of the flesh, and giving God not more than a glance most days.

It is sad but so true, that we find every reason and excuse to live for self rather than seeking what is pleasing to God.  Prosperity seems to always lead people away from God and adversity, for the most part, brings them toward Him.  I heard a radio preacher this week say “if you are always walking in the sunshine, more than likely you are walking in a desert void of living water and food.  Prosperity can have a “desert” effect on our lives.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  We can choose to live for God, seek after God, desire to humbly serve God, worship God, honor God, follow God, listen to God, obey God.  This choice has to be heart, mind, and soul deep.

.Hell is real. Separation from God is real.  Torment is real.  There is no second chance once you die.  How many people went about their day today not thinking it would be their last?  How many people think they have time to spare before they will fully commit to God?  If they knew the day and the hour(no one does) certainly they would be ready but they never are.  We don’t choose God to avoid hell.  We choose God because of who He is.  We choose God because of the great mercy, grace, and love He has given to us in and through Jesus Christ.  We choose God because He first chose us.

God is not mocked and our lives should not mock the great grace, mercy, and love given to us by which we may be saved.  Search your heart and you will know the level of commitment you are living to God.  Don’t make the mistake of using what the culture says is commitment.  Use His word and see where He leads you into this commitment.  Do not delay another day.