Mike D. brought interesting subject "Where was their god?" - Page 1

Pharaoh’s Ego: A King and a god

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!

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? Do you have a Pharaoh-sized ego? 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!

http://www.franklinunitedchurch.com/2011/03/20/pharaoh-the-hardening-of-the-human-heart-exodus-7-14/




Shtal.

Pharaoh Hardens His Heart (7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34)

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)

I like this quote from the link: 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! 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!

This link says: 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.

Where are you in this pattern today? Are you listening to God’s word? Are you taking him seriously from the beginning? Is he speaking to you through someone else? Is he using someone to confront you? How are you responding to his truth? Has he brought some adversity into your life to open your ears? How are you responding? Is your heart getting harder or softer?

This link.
God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart (9:12, 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8)

Plagues 1-5 and 7 very clearly place the blame on Pharaoh for hardening his heart toward God, but we find a very different and interesting picture in plagues 6, 8, 9, and 10. At the end of each of these plagues, the text says “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, just like he said.”

We especially see this in the sixth plague, the plague of boils. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of soot from one of the furnaces and tossed it into the air. The Lord spread this dust all over Egypt and it caused festering boils to break out on people and animal throughout the land. Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t even attempt to duplicate this because the boils affected them so severely. Then in Exodus 9:12, it says, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”

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.

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. Have you been hardening your heart toward some person in your life? Have you been hardening your 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!

Are you in need of a heart transplant today? The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a donor. He is ready to give us a new heart today! Will you accept his offer?



Edit: God said to Pharaoh: King James Version Exodus 9:14-16
I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

Translation1:
For this time I will send all my punishments on yourself and on your servants and on your people; so that you may see that there is no other like me in all the earth. For if I had put the full weight of my hand on you and your people, you would have been cut off from the earth: But, for this very reason, I have kept you from destruction, to make clear to you my power, and so that my name may be honoured through all the earth.


 

This link says: 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.”

At the very end: Pharaoh surrenders and he said this phrases "His God, is God" [In this movie]

Reading scriptures it only indicates that:

King James Version Exodus 14:23 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

King James Version Exodus 15:4-5 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.


It dosen't indicates that Pharaoh himself pursued in his own chariot but I think rather stayed on shore of the sea and seeing with his own eyes the destruction of his Army, which this movie clip below indicates how Pharaoh said at the very end "His God, is God"

SHTAL wrote

 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


  What a blessed friend I have in you on the data base here.


  God bless 
gouda
 ..

I love the use of movies as references, excellent.

I think Mike D. does not plan on playing your game Shtal.

I think loosely translated what he meant was he doesn't believe in your god either.

I think gouda would like to have you come over for a candle lite dinner and seduce you over to the dark side.


SSDD.

Shoal, I believe your heart is in the right place. This a quite a narrative here. Problem is, talk is cheap in America in 2012. With no persecution (an integral part of biblical Christianity), a proffesion that theologically should cost you everything has become little more than the casual musings of the soft, lazy, self concentric, self absorbed, modern American "Christian". Don't believe me, look at the title of the current best selling "christian" book by America's most popular "preacher" : "How to make every day a Friday". It would be difficult to come up with a more clever and honest summation of the pervasive false theology which lyes in stark contrast to the truth of the gospel message. When people think they want to hear some religion, they can just tune into to the criminals on tbn for validation. My point is this, words are thrown around day in, day out, and people simply don't care anymore. Walk it out in front if them; they may love you or hate you for it, but they'll know it's real when they see you sacrifice it all for the truth. I am not implying that you don't walk the walk, just emphasizing that talk is cheap.