Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
God is love. The very foundation of His government is built upon principles of love, which when carried out by created beings produce tranquility, justice, and otherhood. In every precept of the decalogue there is nothing to be found that would drag human beings down to the pit.
Instead, whenever, and wherever the laws of God are obeyed, and wherever God is honored as being The Creator, the other downstream issues usually fall into place, for the acknowledgement of God as Supreme Sovereign, sets the stage for an amicable relationship between the Creator and the created.
But when poor mortals lift themselves up against The Most-High, when we take the glory and praise to ourselves for things that have been accomplished then we would bring upon ourselves the ruin which came upon Pharaoh after he crossed the invisible line between God’s mercy and His justice.
Thus, pharaoh began his downward spiral when he stated that he knew not God. In fact, what pharaoh was really implying by that statement is that he did not acknowledge God in His capacity of Sovereign, and as such, obeying God’s commands was neither necessary, nor relevant in his mind. Let’s read:
Exodus 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.
This particular pharaoh must have known Egyptian history, for it was well chronicled that God worked to save the nation through His servant Joseph, and were it not for God’s mercies the nation would have been brought to its knees by the deadly famine, just like the other nations roundabout.
Thus, for pharaoh to declare that he knew not God, and what God did for Egypt will be the equivalent of a U.S president saying that he isn’t acquainted with the history of this nation, for there are landmarks in America’s history that must needs be remembered by all, let alone the leader of this country.
Therefore, we may safely conclude that pharaoh’s declaration was both atheistic and deliberate, and because of his resulting stubbornness, The God of the universe had to intervene, not only to correct the error, but to set a precedent for future leaders of nations, so that all could reason from cause to effect.
Several steps in the wrong direction were taken by pharaoh and his administration, but God who is rich in mercy, and takes no delight in the destruction of those whom He has created, gave them time and a bunch of opportunities and evidence, so that if they so desired, they might reverse course.
Some of those decisions taken by pharaoh and his administration have been chronicled, so that those who may be in leadership positions across the globe today may track a different course, and thus, spare the people under their jurisdiction, and themselves, the inevitable consequences of wrong-doing.
Some of those wrong actions are listed below with the intent that folks would better understand why adversity is being permitted to multiply currently, and, if we so choose, to change course.
[1] Cruelty
Exodus 5:13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore, ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.
18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet, shall ye deliver the quota of bricks.
Unwarranted cruelty to human beings, regardless of their nationality is an affront to The God who made them, for all individuals are His both by creation and redemption. Jesus Christ shed His blood to save all, irrespective of their race, creed or ethnicity. Thus, if and when cruelty is done to any human being for no valid reason, it resonates directly in Christ.
Especially are nations, and individuals obligated to treat the less fortunate and foreigners, or strangers with special regard. This is one of the reasons why Nebuchadnezzar was forced to eat a lot of grass, for Daniel pointed out undue cruelty as one of the evils done by of his administration.
Several passages of scripture address the treatment of strangers and foreigners, and just in case there are some who may have forgotten, The same God from Nebuchadnezzar’s and pharaoh’s day is still alive and well, and when nations and individuals pursue a similar course, justice will be served in due season. Let’s read:
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.
Daniel 4:27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.
Leviticus 19:9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.
33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Ezekiel 16: 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
The issue of the proper treatment of strangers is so important to God that He saw fit to include it in one of the ten commandments, the only one that carries His name and title, so that persons in high and low places may understand the seriousness of the issue.
In other words, folks were not to enjoy Sabbath rest while the stranger under their roof was being made to work. Rest is intended for all, just as the Sabbath was made for man, all men. Let’s read:
Exodus 20: 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
Exodus 23:12 Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Thus, if all of these instructions are being flagrantly disregarded; if the stranger continues to be abused and mistreated by pharaoh, and if many entreaties, admonishing, and calls for mercy are disregarded by pharaoh and his administration, then the following passages of scripture will kick in, and there would be none to deliver. Let’s read:
Exodus 22: 21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
[2] Stubbornness.
God did everything that could be done to speak to Pharaoh’s conscience. He spoke through Moses and Aaron, He spoke through His providential workings, He spoke plagues and finally when all else failed, He spoke through the very magicians, who were closely affiliated with pharaoh.
What do you do with the leader of a nation who is not listening to God nor those in his administration? The magicians were spiritual advisors to pharaoh and his stubbornness reached a tipping point where even they remonstrated against the way that things were going.
Much of Egypt lay in ruins, many persons had died because of the plagues, the economy was shattered and the citizenry had become disoriented, but still pharaoh would not listen. God can, and is willing to work with anyone who is willing to listen. Folks are not rejected merely because of wrongdoing, it’s if we don’t listen when God speaks that there’s a big problem.
Nebuchadnezzar was stubborn for a while, but at least he listened to Daniel’s reproof, which showed that despite his actions, there was still hope. But pharaoh would not even listen, and he brushed off his own advisors, time and time again. This course of action is productive of evil as the following verses clearly show. Let’s read:
Exodus 8: 19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
Exodus 10:7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Proverbs 27:22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
1st Samuel 15: 22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
[3] Burying heads in the sand.
This one has to do with not only pharaoh, but to his underlings, for it seems that after a while, pharaoh’s mindset had infected his entire administration. The disposition to bury their heads in the sand, also to reason away reality, and their insane allegiance to a mad man that was taking down the entire country to ruin took its toll.
As plague after plague wrought ruin and desolation everywhere, and as pharaoh looked for excuses to reason it all away, that same disposition eventually took a hold on members of his administration, and after a while they became entirely numb to reality, even as the country descended into ruin.
Those who serve their country must at all times be amenable to principles of righteousness, and sound judgement, even if this may put them at odds with those who are in charge. Yes-men are not persons who can be trusted to speak or do right in any given emergency, for their highest motivation is to please their boss, even if doing so could cause great harm.
By remaining silent when they should have said something, by participating in the cruelties done to the Hebrews, they became partakers of pharaoh’s guilt, and as such, when the hammer is going to drop, not only pharaoh will suffer, but all those who aided and abetted him will also go down too.
Thus, it was with pharaoh’s administration. Not one of them would stand up for right and say enough is enough. From the politicians to the military, to the spiritual advisors, everyone, without exception will agree with pharaoh and stand by as the nation went over the cliff. And, so said, so done; they did go over the cliff. Let’s read:
Exodus 11:1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
4 And Moses said, Thus, saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sits upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore.
Exodus 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
God could have brought the last plague first, and He would have scared the living daylights out of those in Egypt. But His judgments were tempered with a whole lot of mercy from the onset, giving pharaoh a chance to reconsider and repent, but he would not.
It was not until the icy grip of death took a hold on the entire nation that pharaoh was brought to his knees, but even then, his so-called change of mind and attitude was only temporary. This goes to show us that even violent judgments against a stubborn person does not always guarantee repentance.
There are some, who like pharaoh, might seem to have a change of heart when their backs are against a wall. These may appear to repent because of the writing on the wall but, given some time or reprieve they would go back to doing exactly what they were doing before, just as it was with pharaoh. Let’s read:
Exodus 14:5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
Pharaoh couldn’t be serious! After burying his own firstborn, after seeing the morgues throughout the land of Egypt overflowing with the dead, and after, the economy has been in shambles because of the national devastations, is he still so stubborn that he will return to his old ways of disregarding reality, and drag others into the snare that’s awaiting him?
Yes, he was serious, and this demonstrates in real time the difficulty God encounters with a perverse person who is set in his or her ways. It is stated that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, but at least an old dog should have learned from experience.
With further evidence of his wrong course of action being given, he still refuses to accept reality. God’s pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night should have registered the facts of the matter in the mind of pharaoh. Especially, when the pillar of fire moved from before the camp of the Hebrews and settled as a wall between them and the Egyptians.
This should have been the last straw that broke the camel’s back, but stubbornness, when indulged can interfere with a person’s ability to reason rationally, and when this occurs, every evidence is interpreted according to what one desires, not according to the facts. This above all else shows a person to be under the control of evil spirits.
This leads us to fright night for pharaoh and those who supported him in a wrong course of action. All who knowingly buried their heads in the sand when they should have stood up courageously and said or did something, all who reasoned away the facts on this or that premise.
And all of pharaoh’s military generals who got their soldiers ready for the battle, knowing full well they were going to lose, and all of pharaoh’s spiritual and secular advisors are going to bite the dust during a fright night like no other, and this time, their will be no chance to reverse course.
The judgments of God against nations and persons are not employed until every means to save them have been utterly exhausted. God bears long with the perverseness of man, but at times things would reach a boiling point where the situation screams for justice.
For pharaoh and his deluded followers to follow the Hebrews into the middle of the Atlantic ocean, as it were, is not only folly; like Balaam who argued with his donkey, such an action by pharaoh shows him to be bereft of reason, and as such, there is no reason for him to continue his existence. Let’s read:
Exodus 14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
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.
24 And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians,
25 And took off their chariot wheels, that they drove them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.
26 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
28 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
In our day, the very same sins and actions taken by pharaoh and his administration are being repeated even as we speak. There is an unwarranted cruelty toward the stranger, minorities, and the poor, and the less fortunate are being thrown under the bus, while fat cats peddle lies and conspiracies.
Like in Egypt under pharaoh, thousands are dying because of the plague, and economies are heading for disaster, as the pandemic continues to take its toll. Then again, there is the burying of heads in the sand by which persons knowingly blind their eyes to grievous evils that would have landed your ordinary John doe in jail for years.
Then there is stubbornness, a blatant disregard of facts on the ground, and a proud unrepentant spirit that has pervaded some in high and low places. God warns us not to partake of this spirit, for when He is ready not only the pharaohs of the day will be taken down, but those also who participated and partook of the same spirit will also go down too.
The presentation of a one-sided God by many false prophets of the day Who, according to their warped understanding, only administers loving-kindness and mercy without impartial justice, belittles the perfect character of God, because love without justice will produce inequities of all sorts.
God is not to trifled with or misunderstood because of His great love towards us. That same Jesus, Who once carried the cross will soon carry a very big stick because mercy as well as justice are blended into an inseparable whole in His government, and thus, the same hand that was stretched forth in entreaty, will soon be stretched forth in strict justice.
In our own personal lives, as believing Christians, let it never be said of us that strangers were ill-treated by us. Let us not bury our heads in the sand when there are wrongs to be righted in our lives. Let us try not to reason away wrongdoing on any premise, and most of all, let us never ever be stubborn.
The momentous scenes passing before our eyes do portend a cataclysmic event on the horizon. Bible prophets wrote about it, they were shown in vision what we are now beholding in real time, and thus, it behooves every person living in this generation to live in readiness, for the time is nearer than when we first believed.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which points us to the soon return of Christ, and it will be well for us to consider recent developments in the light of Bible prophecy, because the predictions of scripture will be fulfilled in the most literal sense. Let’s read:
Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
God Bless!