Category Archives: Character of God

Doubt / Lacking Faith, Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Grace / Forgiveness, Loving / Kind, Merciful, Miracles, Mockers, Obeying God, Speaking, Through Prophets

The Patience of Our Father

Good parents exhibit patience with their children when they are learning to obey. Jehovah is no different. He is our heavenly Father. He loves His people. When He brought the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, He understood that they would need to learn to obey Him. He was not surprised. As such, Jehovah exhibited great patience in dealing with them as they complained and whined about Pharaoh’s army and then food and water. Each time, Jehovah protected them and provided for them.

Exodus 17:1-7

Water in the Rock

      1Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do to this people? A little more and they will stone me.” 5Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6“Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”

Though Jehovah was patient and merciful with His people in this example, we should not take His patience for granted and we should not deliberately put Him to the test.

Luke 4:12

12And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”

As we spend time with our children to teach them and help them grow, we eventually expect them to mature in their understanding, obedience, and respect.  Similarly, our Father in heaven expects this from us also. Let us strive to trust and obey our heavenly Father and praise Him for His patience with us as we grow in maturity, faith and understanding.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Doubt / Lacking Faith, Grace / Forgiveness, Obeying God, Provider, Speaking, Through Prophets

The Grace and Provision of Jehovah

Have you ever gone out of your way to really help someone else who was in need. Not just a little help, but fundamentally transforming their lives in a certain area. Perhaps bringing them out of addiction or adopting them to bring them into a loving home or bringing them to know the joy of Jehovah through Jesus Christ. Imagine if all they did was complain and whine about it and say they wish they were back where they started? How would that make you feel?

It is easy to imagine us losing interest in wanting to continue helping this person when they respond that way… ungrateful. How gracious is Jehovah in His love and provision for His people. Even after He has performed many miracles, over and over in the sight of the people, leading them out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom… many whine and complain. Yes, really.

While we may easily be able to understand if Jehovah responded by sending them back to slavery, we see that is not His way. He tests and teaches His people to follow and obey His instruction. He is preparing them to be ready to take the promised land. They are not ready yet.

Exodus 16:1-21

The LORD Provides Manna

      1Then they set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure from the land of Egypt. 2The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

      4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. 5“On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, “At evening you will know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt; 7and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, for He hears your grumblings against the LORD; and what are we, that you grumble against us?”

The LORD Provides Meat

      8Moses said, “This will happen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to the full in the morning; for the LORD hears your grumblings which you grumble against Him. And what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

      9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your grumblings.’” 10It came about as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12“I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

      13So it came about at evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the layer of dew evaporated, behold, on the surface of the wilderness there was a fine flake-like thing, fine as the frost on the ground. 15When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat. 16“This is what the LORD has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’” 17The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. 19Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” 20But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

Let us each challenge ourselves to avoid grumbling complaints about where and how Jehovah is leading us. Instead, pray He will help us to trust and obey joyfully. Then let us also help one another by focusing on the good things Jehovah provides for us even when times are tough. Finally, let us obey Him and do things His way even if they do not seem to make sense to us!

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Heaven and Hell, Hope, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Prophecy, Salvation

Find Hope In Christ Jesus

We will experience joy and suffering in this world. In the end, all of us will die. Many find this uncomfortable to think about because they do not really believe in life after death… not in the same way they believe in gravity or the wind. Even though we can not see gravity or the wind, we believe because we see evidence of it around us in daily life. It can be a bit harder to fully trust in salvation through Christ and life after death. It helps if we study the Bible, pray for God to open our eyes to His glory, and seek to apply His instructions in our lives. Then we can start to recognize the evidence of God at work in the world and our lives around us more easily.

We can trust completely in God in all things, including what He promises us about life after death for those who submit to and follow Christ… those who truly believe will reflect that belief in their actions.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17

Those Who Died in Christ

      13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Put your faith in God and trust Him in our hope of resurrection after death. Of course, we must submit to and follow Jesus in more than just words. We must do so wholeheartedly. But the faithful can take heart that no matter what this world holds for us, we will go to be with God after and when Jesus returns again, we will rise again physically to be with Him.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Suffering / Adversity

When Times Are Tough, Show God’s Stuff… Don’t Pout And Sit It Out

When things go wrong in your life, do you pout and sit it out, getting mad at Jehovah? or Do you let God’s light and love shine through you? Imagine if people lied about you and tried to kill you. Then you were arrested and left in prison without a trial for years. By the, way… you did nothing wrong. Then you are sent to another city for trial and the boat you are on wrecks and you are stranded on an island. And all this happens to you while you are following God’s agenda for your life faithfully. All of this happened to Paul. He could have become upset and bitter or angry at God and refused to continue walking in faith and sharing God’s word, but he did not. He remained faithful to God through it all and God continued to bless him and protect him… though not perhaps in the way most of us would expect if we asked God for a blessing.

Acts 28:1-10

Safe at Malta

      1When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. 2The natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. 3But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” 5However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

      7Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. 8And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. 10They also honored us with many marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed.

God did not release Paul from prison… He used the experience to let Paul witness before rulers and kings. God did not protect Paul from a shipwreck while Paul was traveling where God wanted him to go… He used it to let Paul witness to people he would not have otherwise met. However God did still protect Paul from the snake, to the glory of God’s kingdom. God’s ways are not our ways. We do best to trust Him anyway, even when we do not understand.

Ask yourself in what ways you may be allowing yourself to be angry or bitter or even a bit disappointed in God based on things not working out exactly like you want. Then go humbly before God in prayer to ask forgiveness for this and ask His help for you to live more joyfully even through tough times. It is when things are darkest that God’s light shines brightest through us… if we let it.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Love, Obeying God, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

What Does God Require From Me?

Have you ever wondered what God (Jehovah) requires of you? There is much debate among even believers about what God requires of His people. We should look to His word for the answer. God has provided in scripture several summaries to help us get our minds around it. However, in order to properly follow it we must study and pray for God’s help and choose to change our ways and follow His. It is a journey of a lifetime and it is a joy and not a burden to those who love God.

Matthew 22:36-40

36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He [Jesus] said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Loving God and loving people. Simple sounding summary but it is often misunderstood because what our society today defines as love is different than what God defines as love. The world tells us that to love someone is to accept them unconditionally as they are… this is not loving God or loving people. Do I show love to my children by letting them do or believe whatever they want? or do I show love to them by instructing and guiding them in truth? I tell my children not to touch a hot stove… I rebuke them and set guidelines for them to steer them in the right way. I show my love for them by guiding and instructing them. They show their love for me by obeying, not by disregarding what I say and doing what they think is right… even when they do not fully understand why I give certain boundaries.

God clearly, and repeatedly, emphasizes obedience to His ways as the answer to “how to love God”. Our motivation is love of God and love of people, but how we demonstrate this through our actions and attitudes is by obeying God’s word.

John 14:15

  15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

John 14:23-24

23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

God provides another summary of what He requires of us in Deuteronomy 10.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

   12“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?

Again we see similar instruction from God. Fear (e.g. respect, revere) God. Walk in His ways and love Him. Do not walk in your own ways or the ways of the world. Serve God with all your heart and soul… not just part of it. Keep His commandments and statutes… for your own good!

Many try to avoid acknowledging the need to obey all God’s commands and statutes as how they should be showing love to God. Instead they want to just call on His name and “have positive thoughts and feelings about Him”. God is displeased by this approach. God wants us to show love by obeying what He has instructed us to do. The first step to doing that is to humbly admit we do not have it all figured out… our society around us and even our church does not have it all figured out. We must pray for His help and study scripture consistently to better understand and apply His instructions to our lives to truly show our love for Him.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Learning To Pray Effectively, Protector / Deliverer

Learning To Pray Effectively: Protection From The Wicked

David was a man after God’s own heart. He wrote many of the Psalms and we can learn a lot from David by observing his relationship with God through the Psalms. Read through Psalm 5 and we will highlight some keys to effective prayer that David demonstrates.

Psalm 5

      1Give ear to my words, O LORD,
Consider my groaning.

      2Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,
For to You I pray.

      3In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

      4For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil dwells with You.

      5The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.

      6You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

      7But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

      8O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;
Make Your way straight before me.

      9There is nothing reliable in what they say;
Their inward part is destruction itself.
Their throat is an open grave;
They flatter with their tongue.

      10Hold them guilty, O God;
By their own devices let them fall!
In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,
For they are rebellious against You.

      11But let all who take refuge in You be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And may You shelter them,
That those who love Your name may exult in You.

      12For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD,
You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Let us consider a few key elements to effective prayer that we can observe in this Psalm.

  • David openly comes before God, readily admitting that he is suffering and asks for help.
  • David prays to Jehovah… and only to Jehovah.
  • David commits to meeting God in prayer each morning. He has so much faith God will answer that he says he will eagerly watch after he prays. David expects God to answer.
  • David spends time focused on the character of God… He hates wickedness, no evil within Him, hates those who do iniquity, does not like those who boast in themselves… and so on. David is focused on God rather than just being focused on His problems.
  • David again honors God by committing to bowing before Him.
  • David recognizes God’s abundant lovingkindness as the reason he will be able to come before God.
  • David asks for God to lead him in righteousness… meaning doing things God’s way. David asks God to show him God’s way rather than just answering the way David thinks it should be.
  • David now, far into the psalm, asks God for help dealing with his enemies.
  • David demonstrates his faith and trust in God by acknowledging joy, gladness and shelter that God provides for those who love Him.
  • David again acknowledges that any blessings that come to the righteous come from God, including protection.

Spend some time humbly before God in prayer asking Him to lead you to a more effective prayer life. Ask Him to reveal to you changes that you should make in your prayer life and relationship with God. Expect Him to answer. Make changes in your prayer life based on the elements we shared in this article. Make a plan to study and learn more about effective prayer. It does not have to be complicated. It may even start as simple as joining us every Friday for this extra post on effective prayer and then reviewing and practicing it throughout the week.

You can study more teachings about effective prayer. (click for more: Learning to Pray Effectively teaching or Learning to Pray Effectively category of teachings.)

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Knowing, Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Protector / Deliverer

Taking The Long Way… On Purpose

After terrorists flew planes into the twin towers in New York years ago, many people were shaken and actually turned toward Jehovah for answers. I know a single mother who has been through a lot of trials, and her faith in God has come out stronger than before she endured them. I have read about a particular online blogger who is doing very well today, but first went through a season of unemployment that seemed to be quite scary. Now, he readily praises God in that that situation in his life prepared and seasoned him to be more faithful and trusting of God in his life. In my personal life, the worst failures I endured have brought me closer to God and strengthened my relationship with Him.

We see this same theme throughout scripture over and over. Joseph and David were seasoned and prepared by God through difficult times to be better able to be faithful to God and obey Him.

The same is true when God led the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. The journey did not take long because God got lost. God was actively and intentionally preparing His people along the way for what He knew was to come later.

Exodus 13:17-22

God Leads the People

      17Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. 19Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.” 20Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

When things do not go the way you expect, when God shows you something He is going to do in your life, but you seem to be taking the long way to get there… prayerfully turn to God and ask Him to help you be patient and learn the lessons He has planned for you. Do not consider it a failure just because something does not happen quickly, in your desired timing.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Faith / Trusting God, Father / Yahweh, Heaven and Hell, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Suffering / Adversity

I Go To Prepare A Place For You

When I experience pain and suffering in this world I find much comfort and joy in knowing that Jesus has prepared a place for His disciples. Scripture tells us that we will have suffering in this world, but take heart, Jesus has overcome death and prepared the way for all of His disciples to follow when we leave this world.

John 16:33

33“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

John 14:1-6

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

      1“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4“And you know the way where I am going.” 5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

There is little comfort in this statement for those who do not submit to and follow after Jesus wholeheartedly. Those who reject Jesus will go to hell when they die. For those who are disciples after Christ, it is life giving water. We will be with Him for eternity in heaven. It is an extremely important choice… and we each have to make that choice. The offer expires for each of us when we die.

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Protector / Deliverer, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Stop Defining God By How You Would Do Things

I hear many things said today by people who reject Jehovah and even by those who claim to follow Him that reflect a poor understanding of Him. Yes, even many who claim to follow Jehovah through Jesus Christ still do not understand the God they worship. They try to define God based on how they feel comfortable or what the world tells them is right rather than understand God as He has revealed Himself through the Bible.

“I don’t want to believe in a God that would allow pain and suffering in the world.”

“The God I know would not hurt anyone.”

“God is a God of love so that behavior cannot really be sin or why would he make people that way?”

“God would not hurt animals.”

“God would not use the wicked or suffering to bring about His plan.”

The above are all examples of wildly false statements that people use when they do not understand God. If we constantly try to view God through a man made box in which we constrain artificially how we are willing to accept that He interacts with this world, we will continue to drift farther and farther from Him. If we seek Him as revealed through the Bible and through prayer, accepting Him even when we disagree or do not understand, we will draw near to Him and He to us.

Exodus 11

The Last Plague

      1Now the LORD said to Moses, “One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely. 2“Speak now in the hearing of the people that each man ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.” 3The LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Furthermore, the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.

      4Moses said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6‘Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. 7‘But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8“All these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go 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.

      9Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.

Yes, God not only allowed, but caused the firstborn of all the Egyptians to die. He did not only do this for the ruling Pharoah or the rich and powerful but explicitly even to the lowest slave and the cattle as well. Oh, and He hardened Pharaoh’s heart to get to this point without releasing the Hebrew people so that He could demonstrate signs and wonders. Yes, that was God. No, He was not wrong to do it. His ways are above our ways. Just because we don’t understand it does not mean it is wrong. We must break away from always assuming we are wise and understand the big picture… we do not. God does.

I could spend a lot of time debating why God worked this way and how I process it, but instead, let’s go back to what God said about it.

      9Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

God wanted to demonstrate an amazing series of wonders so that the Egyptians and the Hebrew people would know that He is God. This establishes a strong and memorable foundation to help His people as they go on their journey out of Egypt and into the wilderness and eventually into the promised land. These wonders are still talked about today as an example of God’s power and deliverance for His people. They also serve as warning to watch how quickly some of His people forget Him and fall away from faith as the times get tough, despite amazing wonders done in His name.

If we are to draw near to God, we must try to understand Him through studying the Bible and not through surface opinions of our own or the world that try to say what He should or should not do. His followers seek Him to understand Him and we follow Him even when we do not understand Him. We do not redefine who we think He should be to make us more comfortable.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

All Powerful / King of All, Consequences of Sin, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Speaking, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

Do Not Negotiate With God, But Rather Obey

Be careful in your life that when Jehovah speaks clearly to you, you do not negotiate with Him but rather obey. He is our Lord and all powerful Creator of everything. His wisdom and His plans are beyond our understanding. We have not position or power or wisdom with which to negotiate with Him. We either obey or disobey, and then receive the consequences of our choice.

By the time we read the history through to Exodus 10, Pharaoh has been through a lot. He started by trusting in his magicians to replicate the signs and wonders God provided. This helped him rationalize that God is not very powerful or special and thus could be ignored or dismissed. Then, when his magicians could no longer replicate the signs, Pharaoh would relent under pressure and agree to let the Israelites go, but then change his mind as soon as the threat was no longer in front of him. It was as if he was rationalizing that it never happened or could not be repeated once it had passed. Now in Exodus 10, Pharaoh first tries to negotiate or compromise with God by allowing only the men to go worship, when God demanded all the people and their livestock to go. It must have been difficult for Pharaoh, a mighty king, to submit humbly to Jehovah. Pharaoh had already decided the people must return, so was trying to keep the children and now, in Exodus 10:21-29, the livestock from going away with the people.

Pharaoh’s hard hearted attempts to bargain or negotiate with God fail. God has already stated His demands and will not change His mind for the likes of Pharaoh.

Exodus 10:20-29

 20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.

Darkness over the Land

      21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.” 22So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.” 25But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the LORD our God. 26“Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD.” 27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!” 29Moses said, “You are right; I shall never see your face again!”

Be careful that you do not dismiss Pharaoh to easily. We can all be vulnerable to similar patterns of behavior and rationalization. What God tells us to do, we should do and not debate or negotiate. This can apply to His specific will for our lives that He may choose to reveal to us each through prayer or scripture or through other means. It can also apply to His general will, documented so clearly in the Bible. God gave us many instructions to follow to help us know right from wrong and to be set apart from the world clearly to be His people. How many of us though, grow up with a compromised version of which of His rules we are taught we should obey and which we are wrongly taught no longer apply.

Who are we to choose what commandments or instructions we will follow and which we will not? How often I notice that people who claim to follow Him may agree they should not use the Lord’s name in vain, they should honor their parents, not kill, not commit adultery, not steal, not lie, and not covet… but they ignore the Sabbath day, include statues (idols) even in their church and worship, and place many things in priority in their life before God. These things may range from money, lust, sports, job, power, or accepting other false beliefs associated with make believe gods.

God is not pleased when we choose to obey some of what He tells us any more than human parents are pleased when their children obey some of the instructions they are given, but disobey many more. Is a business owner pleased when employees obey half the rules he gives them? Doubtful… he will probably fire those employees. Why then do we expect that we can please God by negotiating or compromising with Him?

Prayerfully examine your own life and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any areas where you are not fully submitted to God. Also, as you study scripture make note of the instructions God gives His people and test whether or not it still applies and you should be following it today. Pay special attention to the Old Testament passages as many churches today teach wrongly that most of the instruction God gave His people in that time are now obsolete, despite Jesus clearly stating and showing by His life that God’s instruction in the Old Testament is still valid.

To learn more, read Understanding the Law – What Does It Mean For Us Today?

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? If you die today, do you know for sure that you would be with God in heaven? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.