What are some of God's characteristics? - Page 10

Just some information.

A nettle is a type of herb:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nettle

Cannabis plant:   http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/92647/cannabis

VK4 wrote: Exodus 12:29 God repeatedly tells Moses exactly what calamity he will next visit upon the Egyptians if the Pharaoh does not allow the Israelites to be set free from slavery.  Then he tells Moses (also repeatedly) that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will refuse to allow the Israelites to go, thus bringing a calamity upon his own people, as well as showing him the awesome power of the Israelites’ Lord.  This occurs over and over, bringing calamity upon calamity upon the Egyptian people.  What is troubling about this verse is that when god “hardens the pharaoh’s heart” he is interfering with the Pharaoh’s free will and ultimately bringing punishment on the Egyptians for something they are not responsible for.

 

I decided wanted to touch on this subject for some folks here, would be interesting since vk4 quoted this verse: You see dear readers on this forum, God was very patient with Pharaoh and gave him plenty of opportunities to repent, and in the end, God simply gave him what he already wanted. Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. Despite the evidence of the signs and miracles, he persisted in defying God. So, basically, God seconds Pharaoh’s motion to harden his heart.

This phrase raises the question for us, “Who is responsible for Pharaoh’s hard heart, Pharaoh or God?” If God is the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, how can he hold Pharaoh responsible for his actions? This question gets at the heart of the theological paradox between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.

God’s sovereignty always trumps man’s free will. If God wants anyone to do anything, he has the power to make them do it. If God wanted Pharaoh to repent, he would have. But God chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart to display his great glory. Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

Martin Luther explained the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will this way, “If God did not bless, not one hair, not a solitary wisp of straw, would grow; but there would be an end of everything. At the same time God wants me to take this stance: I would have nothing if I did not plow and sow. God does not want to have success come without work, and yet I am not to achieve it by my work. He does not want me to sit at home, to loaf, to commit matters to God, and to wait till a fried chicken flies into my mouth. That would be tempting God.”

This should cause us great concern and give us great comfort at the same time. On one hand, God holds us morally responsible for every decision we make, including every sin. On the other hand, he has the power to bring good even out of our poor and sinful decisions.

The character of Pharaoh and the story of the 10 plagues on Egypt should cause us to take a look at our own hearts today. Example VK4 Have been hardening his heart toward Christian folks? VK4 had been hardening his heart against God for some reason?

The only remedy for a hard heart is grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered and died on the cross for our hard hearts. Jesus wants to give us a heart transplant. When we repent from our sins, he replaces our hard and sinful hearts with his own heart!

VK4 need's of a heart transplant today? The good news for christian folks today that we don’t have to wait for a donor. He (Jesus) gave his new heart to us!

Like I said show me a source which states that marijuana is anything other than a herb. Your source proves my point about some of the things being posted here. BTW, Red I do not smoke pot and therefore am not a pot head.

Just trying to give information for the purpose of education.  

 

. Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. 

WTF that makes no sense - you are nuts, god hardened it or pharaoh did?????

But God chose to harden

oh so god did, so much for free will, god hardened someones heart, AKA took away their free will just so he could do untold evil acts of punishment just to;

"to display his great glory."

^ right there, unjust, evil, meglomaniac,psychopath....

Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

^ right there, unjust, evil, meglomaniac,psychopath....thanks for clarifyong, og=h waity, i thought you were on gods team???

of course an all powerful god could have just blinked and set the isrealites free, but why use peaceful methods when you are a petty, jealous, murderering POS god.

oh and thanks for admitting that there are other gods, eg the egytian ones, i thought YAWEH was the one true god, i guessed wrong.

 

 

 

RS, all the elephants that legs bent the wrong way would have a survival disadvantage and not breed so much and eliminate themselves from the gene pool - it's called evolution - no god required.

 

and as someone pointed out, gestation periods vary all the time, are all premature babies of the devil??

is pot a herb, seems it has been used that way for thousands of years, the ultra right wingers prolly could not see a way to tax it so they banned it. that is all changing in nearly all developed countries and medical users are mostly ignored by the law and some even get waivers for using it. australian doctors can write a letter of reccomendation for it, but it can;t legally be purchased yet.

clinical trials are starting at even the US has started to decriminlise it eg colorado case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabis

 

 

VK4,

Have you ever heard of the medical condition called “arteriosclerosis?” It is a form of coronary heart disease that refers to the hardening of the artery walls throughout the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong, and elastic.

Over time, however, too much pressure in the arteries can make the walls thick and stiff, restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. If it is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack! The American Heart Association estimates that twice as many people die from arteriosclerotic disease as from all cancers combined!

Vk4, did you know that there is a comparable spiritual coronary disease that affects the human heart? I don’t have any precise figures on how many Americans have it, but I know it is a lot. This disease is known by a number of technical terms including “stubbornness, obstinacy, selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, self-conceit.” It is basically the hardening of the heart. If this condition is not treated, it leads to broken relationships, a broken relationship with God, and ultimately spiritual death!

Many people in the Bible suffered from this spiritual disease, but the clearest case we know about is with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. When Moses and Aaron confronted him about freeing the Israelites from slavery, he refused to listen. He hardened his heart toward Moses and God, and it eventually led to his spiritual and physical death!

Vk4 listen closely as we look at Pharaoh’s life today, I hope that it will serve as a check-up for the hardness of our own hearts!

It isn’t surprising that Pharaoh had this spiritual heart disease. His position made him predisposed to the condition. Pharaoh was the most powerful person in ancient Egypt. The title “Pharaoh” literally meant “the great house” and was given to the hereditary line of Egyptian kings. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ which meant that he ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners. His other title, ‘High Priest of Every Temple’, meant that Pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.

Since Pharaoh had absolute power in Egypt, he was used to getting his own way. No one told Pharaoh what to do. That is why he ignored Moses’ commands to let the Israelites go. He was going to do what he wanted when he wanted, and he wasn’t about to give up the Israelites who had been their slaves for 400 years. His pride and arrogance made him susceptible to the hardening of his heart!

You see Vk4, Pharaoh’s biggest problem was that he believed his own hype. He actually believed that he was a god! He actually believed that he was in control of his life. He actually believed that he was the sovereign ruler of his nation and his people! His ego and selfishness blinded him to God’s truth.

Many people struggle with this same spiritual disease today. Now I don’t know very many people that have the audacity to call themselves a god, but they tend to believe their own hype. They think that they are actually in control of their lives. They are so selfish that they act like their desires are the only ones that count!

How about you my dear VK4? Do you have a Pharaoh-sized ego? I'm sure you do lol,  Do you actually believe that you are in control of your life? When you make decisions, do you think about how they will affect others? When we have a God-complex, God has a way of reminding us that he is the only one in charge!

When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh in Exodus 7, they displayed the Lord’s miraculous power when Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it transformed into a snake. In this famous episode, Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing by their secret arts, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. And in Exodus 7:13, it says that Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them.

Since Pharaoh hardened his heart, God sent adversity on Pharaoh in the form of ten plagues. The purpose of these plagues was to show God’s power over the false gods of Egypt and to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Unfortunately, Pharaoh responded negatively to every one of the plagues. Throughout the first five plagues and the seventh plague, we see the same pattern: Pharaoh is obstinate toward Moses’ warning, God sends the plague, Pharaoh appears to repent and let the Israelites go, and he changes his mind and makes a conscious decision to harden his heart toward God and his representatives.

This pattern is highlighted in the seventh plague, the plague of hail in Exodus 9:13-35. Pharaoh refused to comply with God’s command, so Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and the Lord sent the most vicious thunder storm in the history of Egypt. Huge balls of ice fell from the sky and killed both men and animals, and it beat down the crops and stripped the trees.

The devastation was so severe that it caused Pharaoh to confess, “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.” (Exodus 9:27-28) But after Moses prayed and the Lord stopped the storm, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts and would not let the Israelites go. (Exodus 9:34-35)

Unfortunately, it describes decisions that many people make in their lives every day. Somebody hurts them with their words or actions, and they respond with anger, stubbornness, and bitterness. And instead of working through the problem, they break off the relationship and harden their heart toward them.

What is even more unfortunate than this is that many people do the same thing to God! When something bad happens to them or their prayer doesn’t get answered the way they want, they become frustrated with God and withdraw from him. When life doesn’t turn out the way they want, they become very self-centered, cut off relationship with God and harden their hearts toward him.

Pharaoh represents the pattern that many people fall into today. They refuse to listen to God or obey him. They pretend like he doesn’t exist and don’t take his word seriously. Then God sends one or more of his servants to speak his word to them. But their pride and selfishness causes them to dismiss it. Then God brings some adversity into their lives to open their ears. They become interested in God for a while, but then they harden their hearts toward him again.

VK4, where are you in this pattern today? lol most folks on this forum knows? Are you listening to God’s word? Of course NOT my dear Vk4, Are you taking him seriously from the beginning? Of course NOT my dear Vk4,  Is he speaking to you through someone else? Is he using someone to confront you? How are you responding to his truth? Of course negatively my dear VK4, Has he brought some adversity into your life to open your ears? How are you responding? Of course negatively, Is your heart getting harder or softer? Of course harder my dear VK4.

science, (you won't find this in the bible;

"VK4,Have you ever heard of the medical condition called “arteriosclerosis?” It is a form of coronary heart disease that refers to the hardening of the artery walls throughout the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong, and elastic...."

bullshit;

" I don’t have any precise figures on how many Americans have it, but I know it is a lot. This disease is known by a number of technical terms including “stubbornness, obstinacy, selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, self-conceit.” It is basically the hardening of the heart...Pharaoh had this spiritual heart disease"

no god hardened his heart, you said so, then you didn't then you did...here is what you said, (my answer in bold);

Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. 

WTF that makes no sense - you are nuts, god hardened it or pharaoh did?????

But God chose to harden

oh so god did, so much for free will, god hardened someones heart, AKA took away their free will just so he could do untold evil acts of punishment just to;

"to display his great glory."

^ right there, unjust, evil, meglomaniac,psychopath....

Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

 

Shtal, where are you in this pattern today? lol most folks on this forum knows? Are you imagining you are listening to God’s word? Of course my dear Shtal, Are you presupposing gods existence without proof  from the beginning? Of course  my dear Shtal,  Is god speaking to you through voices in your head, is that just your imagination? yes my dear Shtal, Is someone using logic, reason and evidence to confront your delusion? Of course my dear Shtal, How are you responding to his truth? Of course negatively my dear Shtal, Has Hams & Hovind and Sye brought lies into your life to close your ears? Of course my dear Shtal, How are you responding? Of course you believe it because you want it to be true despite the evidence that it is not, Is your delusion getting deeper? Of course you are getting more deluded my dear Shtal.

 

 

I heard about the "feeding of the 5,000", but the idea Jesus gives his heart to replace the hardened

hearts of sinners is a new one on me.  Wow !  How many times can he do that trick, Shtal ?     Did

Christian Barnard know about it ?

How many times can he do that trick

I speak what the scripture says

 

but the idea Jesus gives his heart to replace the hardened hearts of sinners is a new one on me.

You can read in Bible: (Ezekiel Chapter 11 verse 19) and (Ezekiel Chapter 36 verse 26) and (2nd Corinthians Chapter 3 verse 3)