Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Are You a Good Person?
Once again, I have not posted in a few months, largely because I've been busy. Hopefully, I will be posting more often in the near future. In any case, I ran across a well-made cartoon video which I wanted to share, so here it is:
Are You a Good Person?
Bulgarian subtitles (Добър човек ли сте?)
Italian subtitles (Sei una brava persona?)
Korean subtitles
Are You a Good Person?
Bulgarian subtitles (Добър човек ли сте?)
Italian subtitles (Sei una brava persona?)
Korean subtitles
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Witnessing and Discipleship
OK, so I have not posted any new articles in the last five months. I have been very busy, and financial situations and working long hours have been much of the reason that I have not posted anything new in quite a while.
Anyway, I wanted to attempt to address what I believe are two big problems in the Christian church today: (1) the lack of a desire for personal evangelism, and (2) the lack of discipling new believers.
The first point I just want to touch on briefly. It seems that most Christians (at least American Christians) are more interested in going to Christian concerts, or going to a “healing service,” or reading books on how God is going to prosper them and make them happier, than they are about the fact that people are dying and going to Hell every day.
A while back, I sent emails to the Pastors of all the churches in the area that I could find an email for, asking them if there was anyone at their church that I could go out witnessing with. Only one church answered me back, and that Pastor merely forwarded my email to the Youth Pastor. I ended up meeting with the Youth Pastor, and basically, he told me they already had a ‘youth evangelism’ program at their church, where they would invite young people to their church to play games, etc., and if I wanted to go out on the streets and do evangelism, I needed to go back to my own church and talk to my own Pastor about that. So, in other words, none of the churches in the area that I contacted were interested in going out soul winning with me.
A friend of mine (that I used to go witnessing with) would go various places to witness to people, and, though he would ask people in his church to go with him, usually the only one who would go with him was his dad.
Another friend of mine goes with his wife every week (at a time when I’m working) to join with members of a certain local church to go witnessing to people downtown. Though the church has something like 1,000 or more members, only about 3-8 people from that church go downtown to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only three to eight people, out of more than a thousand? That is only a tiny percentage!
“…according to Zondervan Church Source, 97 percent of church members have no involvement in any sort of evangelism. A survey by Christianity Today found that only 1 percent of their readership had witnessed to someone “recently.” Does anything strike you as being wrong with this picture? This does not sound like the people I read about in the New Testament who had so much zeal that they were willing to die for our Lord.” (p. 55, “One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven,” by Mark Cahill.)
So, the first problem is that most American Christians are too involved with worldly issues; too interested in their own comfort, pleasure, wealth, luxury and materialism; too self-absorbed and selfishly interested in their own health and wealth to be overly concerned about the fact that most people in the world are on their way to Hell. They are willing to sit in a pew at their church for an hour to be entertained, but that is all.
The next problem goes one step beyond that.
The Bible says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Notice that it doesn’t say, “Go and make converts,” but instead, “Go and make disciples.” The extremely small percentage of American Christians who are willing to go out and witness to the lost usually end up handing out gospel tracts, or standing on a corner and do street-preaching. They may talk to one or more persons for a short while. And they may even lead that person in a “prayer of salvation.” But after that, the person is usually left on their own.
If someone is led to Christ, they become ‘born again,’ as Jesus said in John 3:3. They become a brand new creation, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says. But if a mother has a baby, and she merely lays that baby down in the street somewhere and leaves it, how likely is it that the baby is going to survive on its own? Now, when a person surrenders their life to Christ so that their life is drastically transformed, God the Holy Spirit comes to live inside that person, and becomes a Guide and a Comforter and a Teacher for that person. So, indeed, a new Christian does have the Holy Spirit to help them. Nevertheless, God did not mean for Christians to lead someone to Christ and then just leave them. That’s why Matthew 28 says “go and make disciples.”
If someone comes up to a professional artist and asks the artist, “How can I become an artist?” and the artist merely presents to that person the concept of how to paint a picture, a mere explanation like that is not going to help that person very much. He may try painting or drawing a few times and might get discouraged, since he has not had any training or support to be successful. On the other hand, if that professional artist takes the person “under his wing” as an apprentice, he will teach that person all he knows and give that person practical on-the-job training.
So the same is largely true of a brand new Christian. A well-meaning person may have given him a tract and explained the concept of getting saved. He may have even led him in the ‘Sinner’s Prayer,’ and then left. How successful will the new Christian be in his spiritual growth? He may even go to a church a few times but then may get discouraged and quit. What is missing? The answer: Discipleship. The soul winner should have invested much more time with the new Christian, invited him to a Bible Study, offered his phone number or email to answer any questions, invited him over to his house, etc., until that ‘baby Christian’ had matured. The soul winner should have helped him find a good church or invited him to his own church, and even made sure he had a way to get to the church. He should have sat with him in church, answered any questions the new Christian might have about the service, make sure he is enrolled in any discipleship class the church has (and, if the church does not have any discipleship class for new Christians, then one should be started), visited with him later or given him a phone call during the week, and made him feel welcome, loved and cared about.
Soul winning is more than just a numbers game. It has to do with the eternal future of a human being. Will the person wind up in Heaven or Hell? The soul winner should give 100%, starting from leading the lost person to salvation, to preparing and teaching the new Christian to go out and be a soul winner himself.
This may come as a shock, but a drug dealer can provide an example of how to disciple someone. First the drug dealer makes his potential convert a friend. He spends time with him, shows the person his lifestyle and a good time. Soon he introduces the person to drugs---just a little at first. He teaches him how to use the drugs, and soon the person is hooked. When the drugs get too expensive for the person, the drug dealer teaches the person how to sell drugs, thus making the person a fully educated drug dealer himself. Of course, this is a negative example, but if this plan of friendship, habit and education can be used for evil, why can’t it be used for good as well?
If the soul winner would follow similar steps with evangelism (i.e., friendship, caring, utilizing habit/routine and education, accompanied with lots of prayer), it seems that we would then have a lot more Christian soul winners, as well as full churches.
Anyway, I wanted to attempt to address what I believe are two big problems in the Christian church today: (1) the lack of a desire for personal evangelism, and (2) the lack of discipling new believers.
The first point I just want to touch on briefly. It seems that most Christians (at least American Christians) are more interested in going to Christian concerts, or going to a “healing service,” or reading books on how God is going to prosper them and make them happier, than they are about the fact that people are dying and going to Hell every day.
A while back, I sent emails to the Pastors of all the churches in the area that I could find an email for, asking them if there was anyone at their church that I could go out witnessing with. Only one church answered me back, and that Pastor merely forwarded my email to the Youth Pastor. I ended up meeting with the Youth Pastor, and basically, he told me they already had a ‘youth evangelism’ program at their church, where they would invite young people to their church to play games, etc., and if I wanted to go out on the streets and do evangelism, I needed to go back to my own church and talk to my own Pastor about that. So, in other words, none of the churches in the area that I contacted were interested in going out soul winning with me.
A friend of mine (that I used to go witnessing with) would go various places to witness to people, and, though he would ask people in his church to go with him, usually the only one who would go with him was his dad.
Another friend of mine goes with his wife every week (at a time when I’m working) to join with members of a certain local church to go witnessing to people downtown. Though the church has something like 1,000 or more members, only about 3-8 people from that church go downtown to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only three to eight people, out of more than a thousand? That is only a tiny percentage!
“…according to Zondervan Church Source, 97 percent of church members have no involvement in any sort of evangelism. A survey by Christianity Today found that only 1 percent of their readership had witnessed to someone “recently.” Does anything strike you as being wrong with this picture? This does not sound like the people I read about in the New Testament who had so much zeal that they were willing to die for our Lord.” (p. 55, “One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven,” by Mark Cahill.)
So, the first problem is that most American Christians are too involved with worldly issues; too interested in their own comfort, pleasure, wealth, luxury and materialism; too self-absorbed and selfishly interested in their own health and wealth to be overly concerned about the fact that most people in the world are on their way to Hell. They are willing to sit in a pew at their church for an hour to be entertained, but that is all.
The next problem goes one step beyond that.
The Bible says, "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)
Notice that it doesn’t say, “Go and make converts,” but instead, “Go and make disciples.” The extremely small percentage of American Christians who are willing to go out and witness to the lost usually end up handing out gospel tracts, or standing on a corner and do street-preaching. They may talk to one or more persons for a short while. And they may even lead that person in a “prayer of salvation.” But after that, the person is usually left on their own.
If someone is led to Christ, they become ‘born again,’ as Jesus said in John 3:3. They become a brand new creation, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says. But if a mother has a baby, and she merely lays that baby down in the street somewhere and leaves it, how likely is it that the baby is going to survive on its own? Now, when a person surrenders their life to Christ so that their life is drastically transformed, God the Holy Spirit comes to live inside that person, and becomes a Guide and a Comforter and a Teacher for that person. So, indeed, a new Christian does have the Holy Spirit to help them. Nevertheless, God did not mean for Christians to lead someone to Christ and then just leave them. That’s why Matthew 28 says “go and make disciples.”
If someone comes up to a professional artist and asks the artist, “How can I become an artist?” and the artist merely presents to that person the concept of how to paint a picture, a mere explanation like that is not going to help that person very much. He may try painting or drawing a few times and might get discouraged, since he has not had any training or support to be successful. On the other hand, if that professional artist takes the person “under his wing” as an apprentice, he will teach that person all he knows and give that person practical on-the-job training.
So the same is largely true of a brand new Christian. A well-meaning person may have given him a tract and explained the concept of getting saved. He may have even led him in the ‘Sinner’s Prayer,’ and then left. How successful will the new Christian be in his spiritual growth? He may even go to a church a few times but then may get discouraged and quit. What is missing? The answer: Discipleship. The soul winner should have invested much more time with the new Christian, invited him to a Bible Study, offered his phone number or email to answer any questions, invited him over to his house, etc., until that ‘baby Christian’ had matured. The soul winner should have helped him find a good church or invited him to his own church, and even made sure he had a way to get to the church. He should have sat with him in church, answered any questions the new Christian might have about the service, make sure he is enrolled in any discipleship class the church has (and, if the church does not have any discipleship class for new Christians, then one should be started), visited with him later or given him a phone call during the week, and made him feel welcome, loved and cared about.
Soul winning is more than just a numbers game. It has to do with the eternal future of a human being. Will the person wind up in Heaven or Hell? The soul winner should give 100%, starting from leading the lost person to salvation, to preparing and teaching the new Christian to go out and be a soul winner himself.
This may come as a shock, but a drug dealer can provide an example of how to disciple someone. First the drug dealer makes his potential convert a friend. He spends time with him, shows the person his lifestyle and a good time. Soon he introduces the person to drugs---just a little at first. He teaches him how to use the drugs, and soon the person is hooked. When the drugs get too expensive for the person, the drug dealer teaches the person how to sell drugs, thus making the person a fully educated drug dealer himself. Of course, this is a negative example, but if this plan of friendship, habit and education can be used for evil, why can’t it be used for good as well?
If the soul winner would follow similar steps with evangelism (i.e., friendship, caring, utilizing habit/routine and education, accompanied with lots of prayer), it seems that we would then have a lot more Christian soul winners, as well as full churches.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Comparing Jesus and Muhammad
- Jesus was a religious leader
- Muhammad was religious leader and a military leader
- Jesus never killed anyone
- Muhammad killed an estimated 3,000 people, including beheading 700 Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina, A.D. 627
- Jesus never owned slaves
- Muhammad received a fifth of the prisoners taken in battle, including women (Sura 8:41)
- Jesus never married
- Muhammad had many wives
- Jesus never forced followers to continue believing. After Jesus made a difficult saying, "many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Will ye also go away?' Then Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.'" (John 6:31-69)
- Muhammad forced followers to continue believing, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." (Hadith al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Bk. 84, No. 57)
- Jesus taught God was our Father (Matthew 6:10)
- Muhammad taught it was blasphemy to call Allah your father (Sura 5:18)
- Jesus taught man was made in God's image. (Matthew 22:20, ref. Gen. 1:26-27, 9:6)
- Muhammad taught Allah has no image. (Sura 42:11, Sura 112:4)
- Jesus taught "forgive those who trespass against you." (Matthew 6:10-15)
- Muhammad taught to avenge trespasses against your honor, family or religion
- Jesus did not retaliate when violence was committed against him, saying "Father, forgive them." (Luke 23:34)
- Muhammad retaliated when violence was committed against him, ordering the death of his enemies
- A martyr in Christian and Jewish thought is one who dies for his faith.
- A martyr in Islamic thought is one who dies for his faith while killing infidels
- Christianity teaches God wants a personal relationship with each individual.
- Islam teaches individuals cannot have a personal relationship with Allah, as he is transcendent and unknowable.
- Jesus' religion is known for forgiveness and love
- Muhammad's religion is known for obedience and fear
- None of Jesus' Apostles led armies. A village did not receive Jesus "and when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, 'Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?' But he turned and rebuked them, and said, 'Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.'" (Luke 9:52-56)
- All of the caliphs who followed Muhammad led armies. (Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Muawiyya, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, etc.)
- In the first 300 years of Christianity, there were 10 major Roman persecutions, and Christians were fed to lions in the Colosseum. Never did Christians lead an armed resistance against those who attacked them.
- In the first 300 years of Islam, Muslim armies conquered Arabia, Persia, the Holy Land, North Africa, Spain, Southern France, Central Africa, and invaded vast areas of Asia and Asia Minor.
Fighting is inconsistent with Jesus' example, but not Muhammad's, as the Sirat Rasul Allah records Muhammad personally led 27 raids.
Jesus' teaching on how to treat enemies:
- Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you (Matthew 5:44).
- Resist not evil (Matthew 5:39).
- If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to them the other (Matthew 5:39).
- If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt (Matthew 5:40).
- If someone make you carry something one mile, carry it two (Matthew 5:41).
- Forgive and you shall be forgiven (Matthew 6:14).
- Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matthew 7:1).
- Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
- Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7).
- Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not kill, but I say who ever is angry with his brother is in danger of the judgment (Matthew 5:21-22).
- Treat others the same way you want them to treat you (Luke 6:27-36).
- Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, whatever you do to the very least you have done unto me (Matthew 25:40).
Muhammad's teaching on how to treat enemies:
- Infidels are your sworn enemies (Sura 4:101).
- Be ruthless to the infidels (Sura 48:29).
- Make war on the infidels who dwell around you (Sura 9:123, 66:9).
- Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day (Sura 9:29).
- Strike off the heads of infidels in battle (Sura 47:4).
- If someone stops believing in Allah, kill him (al-Bukhari 9:84:57).
- Take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends (Sura 5:51, 60:13).
- Never be a helper to the disbelievers (Sura 28:86).
- Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them (Sura 2:191).
- No Muslim should be killed for killing an infidel (al-Bukhari 1:3:111).
- The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land (Sura 5:33).
from:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57615
- Muhammad was religious leader and a military leader
- Jesus never killed anyone
- Muhammad killed an estimated 3,000 people, including beheading 700 Jews of the Banu Qurayza tribe in Medina, A.D. 627
- Jesus never owned slaves
- Muhammad received a fifth of the prisoners taken in battle, including women (Sura 8:41)
- Jesus never married
- Muhammad had many wives
- Jesus never forced followers to continue believing. After Jesus made a difficult saying, "many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Will ye also go away?' Then Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.'" (John 6:31-69)
- Muhammad forced followers to continue believing, "Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him." (Hadith al-Bukhari, Vol. 9, Bk. 84, No. 57)
- Jesus taught God was our Father (Matthew 6:10)
- Muhammad taught it was blasphemy to call Allah your father (Sura 5:18)
- Jesus taught man was made in God's image. (Matthew 22:20, ref. Gen. 1:26-27, 9:6)
- Muhammad taught Allah has no image. (Sura 42:11, Sura 112:4)
- Jesus taught "forgive those who trespass against you." (Matthew 6:10-15)
- Muhammad taught to avenge trespasses against your honor, family or religion
- Jesus did not retaliate when violence was committed against him, saying "Father, forgive them." (Luke 23:34)
- Muhammad retaliated when violence was committed against him, ordering the death of his enemies
- A martyr in Christian and Jewish thought is one who dies for his faith.
- A martyr in Islamic thought is one who dies for his faith while killing infidels
- Christianity teaches God wants a personal relationship with each individual.
- Islam teaches individuals cannot have a personal relationship with Allah, as he is transcendent and unknowable.
- Jesus' religion is known for forgiveness and love
- Muhammad's religion is known for obedience and fear
- None of Jesus' Apostles led armies. A village did not receive Jesus "and when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, 'Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?' But he turned and rebuked them, and said, 'Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.'" (Luke 9:52-56)
- All of the caliphs who followed Muhammad led armies. (Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Muawiyya, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, etc.)
- In the first 300 years of Christianity, there were 10 major Roman persecutions, and Christians were fed to lions in the Colosseum. Never did Christians lead an armed resistance against those who attacked them.
- In the first 300 years of Islam, Muslim armies conquered Arabia, Persia, the Holy Land, North Africa, Spain, Southern France, Central Africa, and invaded vast areas of Asia and Asia Minor.
Fighting is inconsistent with Jesus' example, but not Muhammad's, as the Sirat Rasul Allah records Muhammad personally led 27 raids.
Jesus' teaching on how to treat enemies:
- Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you (Matthew 5:44).
- Resist not evil (Matthew 5:39).
- If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to them the other (Matthew 5:39).
- If someone takes your coat, give them your shirt (Matthew 5:40).
- If someone make you carry something one mile, carry it two (Matthew 5:41).
- Forgive and you shall be forgiven (Matthew 6:14).
- Judge not, that ye be not judged (Matthew 7:1).
- Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).
- Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7).
- Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not kill, but I say who ever is angry with his brother is in danger of the judgment (Matthew 5:21-22).
- Treat others the same way you want them to treat you (Luke 6:27-36).
- Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, whatever you do to the very least you have done unto me (Matthew 25:40).
Muhammad's teaching on how to treat enemies:
- Infidels are your sworn enemies (Sura 4:101).
- Be ruthless to the infidels (Sura 48:29).
- Make war on the infidels who dwell around you (Sura 9:123, 66:9).
- Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day (Sura 9:29).
- Strike off the heads of infidels in battle (Sura 47:4).
- If someone stops believing in Allah, kill him (al-Bukhari 9:84:57).
- Take neither the Jews nor the Christians for your friends (Sura 5:51, 60:13).
- Never be a helper to the disbelievers (Sura 28:86).
- Kill the disbelievers wherever we find them (Sura 2:191).
- No Muslim should be killed for killing an infidel (al-Bukhari 1:3:111).
- The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land (Sura 5:33).
from:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=57615
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Who hardened Pharaoh's heart? (Part 2)
Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and that is why he would not let the people go. Repeatedly, he hardened his own heart even further (see Exodus 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34, 35; 10:20, 27). However, it is also true that “the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 9:12; 10:20, 27; 11:10; see also 4:21; 7:3; 10:1). So how are we to understand this? Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Was Pharaoh’s heart hard because the Lord had hardened it? Or did God harden the king’s heart only as a punishment because Pharaoh had first hardened it himself? There are differences of opinion among commentators.
One viewpoint is that God did nothing to make Pharaoh’s heart hard. Those who take this viewpoint, that Pharaoh’s heart was hard because of his own choice, believe that God was actually trying to bring Pharaoh to repentance. The phrase “so that Pharaoh (or the Egyptians) might know that I am God” or a similar thought, appears frequently (Exodus 7:5, 17; 8:10, 19, 22; 9:14, 16, 29; 11:7). The knowledge of God mentioned is more than intellectual knowledge, so the statement is really an evangelistic invitation. The fact that a “mixed multitude” went up out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38) indicates that there were many Egyptians who did believe, and, therefore, the invitation was evangelistic in its outreach.
Another viewpoint is that God did everything to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Advocates of this viewpoint argue that the Bible says nothing explicit about God trying to bring Pharaoh to repentance. The first time anything is said about Pharaoh’s heart, it is God who is speaking to Moses, and He is saying, “I will harden his heart so he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21). Since that is the first reference to this hardening, it is probably right to think that Pharaoh’s later hardening of his heart was the result of God’s prior determination. (Of course, God can harden hearts simply by withholding a softening grace, since our hearts are both hard and also harden naturally apart from any direct action by God or anyone else.)
Furthermore, Exodus 9:16 reports a word of God to Pharaoh in which He says: “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” The apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, concluding, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans 9:18). This means that God is sovereign in the matter of salvation and that He owes no one anything.
Whether God intervened in a positive way to harden Pharaoh’s heart or hardened it merely by allowing Pharaoh to harden it himself is beside the point. In fact, the manner in which Exodus mixes verses about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh hardening his own heart indicates that the question of which came first was not even an issue with the writer. In the final analysis, God determines all things, regardless of what the immediately preceding cause may be. What matters in everything is the glory of God. As Paul shows in Romans 9, God’s power, wrath and justice are glorified in His passing by the unrepentant, just as His grace, mercy, and compassion are exalted in the salvation of those who are being saved. In this case, God glorified His justice, power and wrath in His judgments upon Egypt. He displayed His mercy in His redemption of the Israelites.
A third viewpoint is that God and Pharaoh were both involved in hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Sincere Christians have debated the question of the sovereignty of God and the free will of man for centuries. It would seem that both are involved here. Still providing for the sovereignty of God in hardening Pharaoh’s heart, there is also a circumscribed area of freedom in which Pharaoh was responsible for his own choice to harden his heart. Though God twice predicted what would be the outcome, yet it was Pharaoh who consistently hardened his own heart during the first five plagues, and only then does the text consistently say that during the second five plagues (six through ten), the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God’s purpose of revealing Himself and His power can be effected in more than one way. This is not the only instance of God’s using a ruler to show His power and glory to His own people, as well as to the unbelieving world. In addition to Pharaoh, there are other instances in the Old Testament where God displayed His glory by hardening a heart, i.e., Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30), the Canaanites (Joshua 11:20), Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14), and Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:15). On the other hand, Cyrus, whose position was similar to Pharaoh’s, also gave glory to God, in the fact that he very responsively and willingly let the people of Judah return to their land (2 Chronicles 36:22-Ezra 1:8; 5:13-6:14; and Isaiah 44:28-45:13). Pharaoh also could have been raised up by God to show His power and to proclaim His name in the same way that Cyrus did, but Pharaoh chose to be obstinate. In either case, the purpose that “they might know that I am God” was effected.
Christians believe in only one God. We are not polytheistic as the Egyptians were. But many things can take the place of God in our lives: our reputations, money, pleasure, another person, even an imagined right to use our time and talents as we ourselves see fit. God will not compromise with idolatry. The first of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall have not other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). What things are functioning as gods in your life? Are you willing to repudiate them?
Our false gods do not go by the name of “gods,” but anything that sets itself up against God is an idol and should be opposed by Christians. Godless philosophies, such as extreme nationalism, secularism, humanism, and materialism are idols that must be opposed, just as Moses opposed the false gods and goddesses of Egypt.
Pharaoh wanted to compromise with God once he understood that he was dealing with a power greater than his own. However, God will not compromise. He is sovereign, and those who oppose Him will be broken ultimately as Pharaoh was. Are you fighting against God in some area of your life, obeying when you must but trying to win as many concessions from Him as possible? It is important that you abandon such folly and give yourself wholly to Him who is all wise, all-powerful and wonderfully good.
(The above information is from BSF Notes, BSF International, Lesson 7, “Battle Against the Gods of Egypt – Exodus 6:28-10:29”
One viewpoint is that God did nothing to make Pharaoh’s heart hard. Those who take this viewpoint, that Pharaoh’s heart was hard because of his own choice, believe that God was actually trying to bring Pharaoh to repentance. The phrase “so that Pharaoh (or the Egyptians) might know that I am God” or a similar thought, appears frequently (Exodus 7:5, 17; 8:10, 19, 22; 9:14, 16, 29; 11:7). The knowledge of God mentioned is more than intellectual knowledge, so the statement is really an evangelistic invitation. The fact that a “mixed multitude” went up out of Egypt (Exodus 12:38) indicates that there were many Egyptians who did believe, and, therefore, the invitation was evangelistic in its outreach.
Another viewpoint is that God did everything to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Advocates of this viewpoint argue that the Bible says nothing explicit about God trying to bring Pharaoh to repentance. The first time anything is said about Pharaoh’s heart, it is God who is speaking to Moses, and He is saying, “I will harden his heart so he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:21). Since that is the first reference to this hardening, it is probably right to think that Pharaoh’s later hardening of his heart was the result of God’s prior determination. (Of course, God can harden hearts simply by withholding a softening grace, since our hearts are both hard and also harden naturally apart from any direct action by God or anyone else.)
Furthermore, Exodus 9:16 reports a word of God to Pharaoh in which He says: “I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” The apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, concluding, “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans 9:18). This means that God is sovereign in the matter of salvation and that He owes no one anything.
Whether God intervened in a positive way to harden Pharaoh’s heart or hardened it merely by allowing Pharaoh to harden it himself is beside the point. In fact, the manner in which Exodus mixes verses about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh hardening his own heart indicates that the question of which came first was not even an issue with the writer. In the final analysis, God determines all things, regardless of what the immediately preceding cause may be. What matters in everything is the glory of God. As Paul shows in Romans 9, God’s power, wrath and justice are glorified in His passing by the unrepentant, just as His grace, mercy, and compassion are exalted in the salvation of those who are being saved. In this case, God glorified His justice, power and wrath in His judgments upon Egypt. He displayed His mercy in His redemption of the Israelites.
A third viewpoint is that God and Pharaoh were both involved in hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Sincere Christians have debated the question of the sovereignty of God and the free will of man for centuries. It would seem that both are involved here. Still providing for the sovereignty of God in hardening Pharaoh’s heart, there is also a circumscribed area of freedom in which Pharaoh was responsible for his own choice to harden his heart. Though God twice predicted what would be the outcome, yet it was Pharaoh who consistently hardened his own heart during the first five plagues, and only then does the text consistently say that during the second five plagues (six through ten), the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. God’s purpose of revealing Himself and His power can be effected in more than one way. This is not the only instance of God’s using a ruler to show His power and glory to His own people, as well as to the unbelieving world. In addition to Pharaoh, there are other instances in the Old Testament where God displayed His glory by hardening a heart, i.e., Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30), the Canaanites (Joshua 11:20), Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14), and Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:15). On the other hand, Cyrus, whose position was similar to Pharaoh’s, also gave glory to God, in the fact that he very responsively and willingly let the people of Judah return to their land (2 Chronicles 36:22-Ezra 1:8; 5:13-6:14; and Isaiah 44:28-45:13). Pharaoh also could have been raised up by God to show His power and to proclaim His name in the same way that Cyrus did, but Pharaoh chose to be obstinate. In either case, the purpose that “they might know that I am God” was effected.
Christians believe in only one God. We are not polytheistic as the Egyptians were. But many things can take the place of God in our lives: our reputations, money, pleasure, another person, even an imagined right to use our time and talents as we ourselves see fit. God will not compromise with idolatry. The first of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall have not other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). What things are functioning as gods in your life? Are you willing to repudiate them?
Our false gods do not go by the name of “gods,” but anything that sets itself up against God is an idol and should be opposed by Christians. Godless philosophies, such as extreme nationalism, secularism, humanism, and materialism are idols that must be opposed, just as Moses opposed the false gods and goddesses of Egypt.
Pharaoh wanted to compromise with God once he understood that he was dealing with a power greater than his own. However, God will not compromise. He is sovereign, and those who oppose Him will be broken ultimately as Pharaoh was. Are you fighting against God in some area of your life, obeying when you must but trying to win as many concessions from Him as possible? It is important that you abandon such folly and give yourself wholly to Him who is all wise, all-powerful and wonderfully good.
(The above information is from BSF Notes, BSF International, Lesson 7, “Battle Against the Gods of Egypt – Exodus 6:28-10:29”
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Who hardened Pharaoh's heart? (Part 1)
Exodus 7:3 says, “But I will harden Pharaoh's heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.”
And yet, Psalm 95:8-10 says, “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”
So why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart, especially in light of Psalm 95, where God commands people not to harden their hearts?
The Bible says that, after the plague of blood, Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen; he turned, went into his palace, and did not even take this to heart. Later, after the plague of frogs, the Bible reports Pharaoh as saying, ‘I will let your people go; but when he saw relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen.’ After the plague of gnats, the Pharaoh still would not listen. Nine times in Exodus, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is ascribed to God. Another nine times, the Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart. However, a careful examination shows that the Pharaoh alone was the agent of the hardening in each of the first five plagues. Not until the 6th plague did God confirm the Pharaoh’s willful action. Soft soil allows plants to be planted and grow, while hard, dry soil does not allow for the easy growth of plants. The seed of faith could not take root in the hard, dry soil of Pharaoh’s heart. So, then, why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? He simply reinforced the attitude that Pharaoh already had. God was the One Who brought the plagues, so God could keep Pharaoh’s mind from being changed by them. Ultimately, it was to glorify the Name of the only One Who rightfully deserves to be glorified and praised. In order for God to demonstrate His glory (and His power over all the Egyptian gods, because each of the plagues was directed toward specific Egyptian gods) and bring about all the plagues He had planned to demonstrate, Pharaoh had to be held back until the last plague was complete.
Romans 9:14-27 says:
“What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, "I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, 'MY PEOPLE,' AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, 'BELOVED.'" "AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, 'YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,' THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED.”
(The above information is from BSF Notes, BSF International, Lesson 7, “Battle Against the Gods of Egypt – Exodus 6:28-10:29,” as well as NIV footnotes and my own notes)
And yet, Psalm 95:8-10 says, “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, "When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. "For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.”
So why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart, especially in light of Psalm 95, where God commands people not to harden their hearts?
The Bible says that, after the plague of blood, Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen; he turned, went into his palace, and did not even take this to heart. Later, after the plague of frogs, the Bible reports Pharaoh as saying, ‘I will let your people go; but when he saw relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen.’ After the plague of gnats, the Pharaoh still would not listen. Nine times in Exodus, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is ascribed to God. Another nine times, the Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart. However, a careful examination shows that the Pharaoh alone was the agent of the hardening in each of the first five plagues. Not until the 6th plague did God confirm the Pharaoh’s willful action. Soft soil allows plants to be planted and grow, while hard, dry soil does not allow for the easy growth of plants. The seed of faith could not take root in the hard, dry soil of Pharaoh’s heart. So, then, why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? He simply reinforced the attitude that Pharaoh already had. God was the One Who brought the plagues, so God could keep Pharaoh’s mind from being changed by them. Ultimately, it was to glorify the Name of the only One Who rightfully deserves to be glorified and praised. In order for God to demonstrate His glory (and His power over all the Egyptian gods, because each of the plagues was directed toward specific Egyptian gods) and bring about all the plagues He had planned to demonstrate, Pharaoh had to be held back until the last plague was complete.
Romans 9:14-27 says:
“What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, "I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, 'MY PEOPLE,' AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, 'BELOVED.'" "AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, 'YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,' THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD." Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED.”
(The above information is from BSF Notes, BSF International, Lesson 7, “Battle Against the Gods of Egypt – Exodus 6:28-10:29,” as well as NIV footnotes and my own notes)
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