Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
"Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But 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. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.' " Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on men and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt." When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. "This time I have sinned," he said to them. "The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer." Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God." (The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later.) Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses." Exodus 9:13-35
Despite all of God’s actions against Pharoah and Egypt, Pharoah still set himself against God’s people of Israel and refused to let them go…even after all of Egypt was afflicted with boils. One thing was certain…if Pharoah thought God was going to give up, he was badly mistaken.
For after the boils, God brought on a storm that was "the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt, lightning flashed "down to the ground" and "back and forth" while "hail struck everything in the fields—both men and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree." The hail laid waste to everything in Egypt except in "the land of Goshen where the Israelites were." God once again showed Pharoah that He would protect His people…something that Pharoah was showing he was unable to do.
Well, the storm had quite an impact on Pharoah…or so it seemed. For we read that he summoned Moses and confessed, "This time I have sinned…The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don't have to stay any longer." This would almost sound like other hollow promises that Pharoah had made except he uses the word "sinned" for the first time. But look at the context of what he says because we get a clue that he isn’t truly sincere about his repentance. Pharoah says, "This time I have sinned" which would imply that he wasn’t in the wrong the other times when he fat out lied to Moses and God about allowing the Israelites to leave when he had no intention of allowing them to.
The truth of the matter is that Pharoah doesn’t know how to tell the truth. And he has such little respect for God that he feels he can just lie to Him at will. For after Moses "spread out his hands toward the Lord", stopping the thunder, hail and rain, Pharaoh "sinned again" and refused to let Israel go. It’s no wonder that Moses says to Pharoah even before he goes back on his word, "I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God" because they didn’t with the exception of the few who "feared the word of the Lord" and "hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside" when warned about the impending hail.
In this scripture passage, we see a troubling attitude that is all too present in Christians let alone non-believers. For Pharoah had an attitude of insincere repentance in his heart. Pharoah said he had sinned…that the Lord was right and he and his people were wrong but he really didn’t mean it. One can only wonder what God must have been thinking as He looked into Pharoah’s heart and saw a liar and a cheat.
Question: Do you repent before God saying you have sinned, only to turn right around and commit the same sin again? Have you said to God, "I’m sorry" but didn’t really mean it? A few writings ago, I wrote an entry titled "Actions Speak Louder Than Words." Indeed, those words are applicable here as we seek to glean wisdom from today’s scripture to apply to our daily Christian walk. For God just doesn’t want you to repent with words but He wants to see you repent with actions as well. Don’t just say you’re going to do it. Do it! James 1:22 says to "not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." It’s the Word of God that James is talking about. A word that says these things about repentance as we seek to not be like Pharoah…as we seek to be sincere in our desire to turn away from our sinful ways:
2 Chronicles 2:25-26: "But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord's wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord's wrath did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah."
Job 36:9-11: "…He (God) tells them what they have done— that they have sinned arrogantly.
He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve Him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment."
Jeremiah 5:1-4: "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. Although they say, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' still they are swearing falsely." O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. I thought, "These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God."
Zechariah 1:2-6: "The Lord was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty. Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.' But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the Lord. Where are your forefathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your forefathers? "Then they repented and said, 'The Lord Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do.'"
Isaiah 30:15: "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation…"
Matthew 3:8: "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."
Luke 5:27-31: "After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Acts 19:4: "Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
Romans 2:3-5: "So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."
2 Corinthians 7:10: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret"
2 Timothy 2:24-26: "And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."
2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. "
As we start 2008, how well do you rate on the repentance scale? Do you sincerely repent of your sins or do you return to them as quickly as you say "Amen"?
God expects sincere repentance…God deserves sincere repentance…and so does Jesus who was nailed to the cross because of the sins we commit. In my opinion, every time we fail to make good on repentance, it is like telling Jesus we think He sacrificed for us in vain. For our true expression of gratitude toward the Savior, Jesus Christ, would be to do everything in our power to NOT sin. And before you start to think this is an impossibility…ponder this as a closing thought. Jesus was the only person to walk this earth who was sinless. If we place Him closer to us than anything else in life, we will be as sinless as we could possibly be as sinners. We will never be exactly like Jesus but we can aspire to get as close as possible. We can only do this by putting Him in our heart…by putting His words in our mouth…by putting His thoughts in our minds…and by making His actions our actions.
This year, let’s all commit to not just tell God I’m sorry and I won’t do it again but let’s make our actions match our words. I know I have a lot of work to do in this area as I seek to be more like Jesus every day. What about you?
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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