die – Praying Pint

52. Wilderness – 16.f. “Each one shall die for his own sin.”

Deu 24:16  “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

2 Kings 14:5-6    And as soon as the royal power was firmly in his hand, he struck down his servants who had struck down the king his father.  But he did not put to death the children of the murderers, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin.”

2 Chronicles 25:4    But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.”

Jeremiah 31:29-30    In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’  But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge

Ezekiel 18:20   The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Understand it thus, if the one be free from the guilt of the other’s sin, and except in those cases where the sovereign Lord of life and death, before whom none is innocent, hath commanded it, as Deu 13 Jos 7:24. For this law is given to men, not to God; and though God do visit the father’s sins upon the children, Exo 20, yet he will not suffer men to do so. (Poole)

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children,…. By the civil magistrates, for sins committed by them of a capital nature, and which are worthy of death: neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers; for sins committed by them that deserve it: (Gill)

Fathers were not to be put to death upon (along with) their sons, nor sons upon (along with) their fathers, i.e., they were not to suffer the punishment of death with them for crimes in which they had no share; but every one was to be punished simply for his own sin. This command was important, to prevent an unwarrantable and abusive application of the law which is manifest in the movements of divine justice to the criminal jurisprudence of the lane (Exodus 20:5), since it was a common thing among the heathen nations – e.g., the Persians, Macedonians, and others – for the children and families of criminals to be also put to death. (Keil)

Among heathen nations it was common for a whole family to be involved in the penalty incurred by the head of the family, and to be put to death along with him. Such severity of retribution is here prohibited in the penal code of the Israelites. Though God, in the exercise of his absolute sovereignty, might visit the sins of the parent upon the children (Exodus 20:5), earthly judges were not to assume this power. Only the transgressor himself was to bear the penalty of his sin. (Unkown)

We all have sinned and are worthy of not only death but eternal torment. We fall short in doing what is right, good, and holy before God. Where is our hope for redemption, salvation, and forgiveness? How can we pass from an eternal torment death sentence into justified eternal life?

Jhn 3:16-21 📝 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

51.z. Wilderness – 16.e. “Doing What’s Right”

Deu 24:5-15 “When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken. “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge. “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. “Take care, in a case of leprous disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt. “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God. “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.

It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife; that they carefully avoid every thing which might make them strange one to another. Man-stealing was a capital crime, which could not be settled, as other thefts, by restitution. The laws concerning leprosy must be carefully observed. Thus all who feel their consciences under guilt and wrath, must not cover it, or endeavour to shake off their convictions; but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the way to peace and pardon. Some orders are given about pledges for money lent. This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others, as much as our own advantage. Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and praise God for thy kindness to him. Poor debtors ought to feel more than commonly they do, the goodness of creditors who do not take all the advantage of the law against them, nor should this ever be looked upon as weakness.

It is not hard to prove that purity, piety, justice, mercy, fair conduct, kindness to the poor and destitute, consideration for them, and generosity of spirit, are pleasing to God, and becoming in his redeemed people. The difficulty is to attend to them in our daily walk and conversation. (Henry)

Jesus died and rose from the grave for our redemption, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Upon His ascension, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to indwell, fill, guide, lead, empower, instruct, convict, and give us power over sin and fleshly and worldly temptations. Fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, patience, goodness, self-control, and faithfulness. When we seek to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions we are an open vessel for which the Holy Spirit will work toward that end. When we are consumed by things of this world and the busyness of life and neglect or complacent of His Word, we are not. The Holy Spirit and God’s Word are inseparable. We do well to intentionally choose to honor Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions – all of the time, seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit with inner sensitivity to that quiet small voice continually speaking into our lives. Growing and maturing in this sensitivity to the Holy Spirit will affect our lives and those we come in contact with. We will see the world for what it is and have eyes and ears to be led by the Holy Spirit and be a beacon of light for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.

51.m. Wilderness – 15.s. “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”

Deu 18:15-22  “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Hebrews 1:1-2    Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Hebrews 2:1-3    Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,

Matthew 17:5     He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

It is here promised concerning Christ, that there should come a Prophet, great above all the prophets; by whom God would make known himself and his will to the children of men, more fully and clearly than he had ever done before. He is the Light of the world, Joh 8:12. He is the World by whom God speaks to us, Joh 1:1; Heb 1:2. In his birth he should be one of their nation. In his resurrection he should be raised up at Jerusalem, and from thence his doctrine should go forth to all the world. Thus God, having raised up his Son Christ Jesus, sent him to bless us. He should be like unto Moses, only above him. This prophet is come, even JESUS; and is He that should come, and we are to look for no other. The view of God which he gives, will not terrify or overwhelm, but encourages us. He speaks with fatherly affection and Divine authority united. Whoever refuses to listen to Jesus Christ, shall find it is at his peril; the same that is the Prophet is to be his Judge, Joh 12:48. Woe then to those who refuse to hearken to His voice, to accept His salvation, or yield obedience to His sway! But happy they who trust in Him, and obey Him. He will lead them in the paths of safety and peace, until He brings them to the land of perfect light, purity, and happiness. Here is a caution against false prophets. It highly concerns us to have a right touchstone wherewith to try the word we hear, that we may know what that word is which the Lord has not spoken. Whatever is against the plain sense of the written word, or which gives countenance or encouragement to sin, we may be sure is not that which the Lord has spoken. (Henry)

From the time of the last Prophet until the coming of Jesus Christ was over 400 years. Can you imagine a time like this? God’s Prophet was among you and proclaiming and declaring what God had to say, and then there was none raised up. It is as if they were left alone to their own whims and establishing some form of godliness after what they thought was right. After one generation there would be little for the common person to know about life with a prophet among them. Every generation after that would just assume the closest they could get to hearing from God would be through the priests. The books of the Law would give these priests hope of God sending a prophet and they looked for it. However after 400 years, it was hard for them to accept it was NOW, when Jesus was born.

No other prophets are to come. Why?? Because when Jesus died and rose again and ascended into heaven He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell each of us who believe, trust, obey, follow, cling to, and rely upon Him for forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart, mind, and soul of every believer to guide, direct, lead, convict, teach, comfort, and encourage. No other prophet is needed nor will come. And yet, there seems to be a famine in a desire to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit in the lives of far too many Christians. Why??

God has given us His Word for us to grow in our knowledge and understanding of His grace, mercy, love, promises, power, might, creation, warnings, blessings, heaven, hell, and judgment. God’s Word is ever-powerful to grow us in the knowledge and understanding. If we were to memorize it all the knowledge and understanding of it would continue to expand in us even if we lived to be one million years old. There will never be a second wasted in the study of it. It is good for the hearts, minds, and souls of all who read, study, and apply it.

49.w. Wilderness – 14.b. “Oh that they had such a heart as this always”

Deu 5:23-29 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ “And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God’s appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be sometimes; when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of providence, or when they come to look death in the face. The only way to be happy, is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. Let believers make it more and more their study and delight, to do as the Lord God hath commanded. (Henry)

Here it is important to call attention to the fact that it was on the entreaties of the people that Moses had taken on him to be the channel of communication between God and them. God approved the request of the people, because it showed a feeling of their own unworthiness to enter into direct communion with God. The terrors of Sinai had done their work; they had awakened the consciousness of sin. (Barnes)

Note how the people heard God speak the 10 commandments, and after hearing they did not want to directly hear it again. Why was this? Was it because they were convicted of sin? Were they convinced of God’s power and might? Did they want to know what God was telling them?

From the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments, the temple construction, the priestly order of worship and sacrifice, to the time the 12 spies went into the promised land to spy it out was 14-18 months. At the time the commandments were given to the people, seeing the power of God in their exodus from Egypt, seeing His power in supply for their needs in the wilderness, seeing His leading by fire and smoke, they said “If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.”

How can they fall away so quickly (14-18 months) to the point of doubting God’s promises, power, and love for them? We can read this from the Bible and think, surely we would not have thought or acted this way, but in reality, the same unbelief demonstrated in the wilderness is common to all mankind. When we speak of belief there is a thought that this is only about believing in God, “that there is a supreme God”, but not taking to heart His holiness and our sinfulness. Believing has so much more to it than this. Believing is trusting in, relying on, and clinging to God, God’s Word, and Things of God.

It was because of their unbelief they were left wondering in the wilderness and that generation was never allowed into the promised land.

John 3:16-21. 16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

47.v. “Wilderness” – 12.a. “When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly”

Num 21:7-9  And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Psalms 78:34    When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.

1 Samuel 12:19    And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.”

Exodus 32:30   The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

John 3:14-15    And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

John 12:32    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Isaiah 45:22    “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.

“Their quick recognition of its source and purpose, and their swift repentance, are to be put to their credit. It is well for us when we interpret for ourselves God’s judgments, and need no Moses to urge us to humble ourselves before Him.” (Maclaren)

Even among miracles, this was unusual. There was no immediate logical connection between merely looking at a serpent on a pole and living, or refusing to look and dying. But God commanded that such an unusual thing – even a foolish thing – be used to bring salvation to Israel. Jesus referred to this remarkable event in John 3:14-15: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus clearly said there is a similarity between what Moses did here and what Jesus did on the cross. The people were saved not by doing anything, but by simply looking to the bronze serpent. They had to trust that something that seemed to be as foolish as looking at a serpent on a pole was enough to save them. It is likely that some in Israel perished because they thought it was too simple, too foolish to simply look and live. The saving power represented by the serpent could not be exhausted. There was no limit to the number of those who could look and live. Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. We might be willing to do a hundred things to earn our salvation, but God commands us to only trust in Him – to look to Him. (Guzik)

Without seeing a need to repent – people don’t. There is a growing blindness in the world that sees no need for repentance. Sin is just a word religious people use to believe in a fake god that does not exist. Being bitten by a snake with death a certain outcome might give motivation to repent as you see others dying from their lack of repentance and trust in looking at the bronze snake on the pole to save them. Those who did not repent died because of their hardened heart. Though they could see others dying and others living, they gave no thought to belief in what Moses had said to them and they perished for this stubbornness.

Oh that we would see the sinfulness of our sin and the greatness of God’s holiness that would cause us to live out our days with eagerness to know our sin and repent from it for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ

47.o. “Wilderness” – 11.u. “I am your portion and your inheritance”

Num 18:20-24  And the LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel. “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the people of Israel, which they present as a contribution to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of Israel.”

Deuteronomy 10:9    Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.

Deuteronomy 14:29    And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your

Joshua 14:3    but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.

Joshua 13:14     To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.

Psalms 73:26   My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

You shall not have a distinct and separate portion of land, as the other tribes shall. The reason of this law was, partly, because God would have them wholly devoted to and employed in his service, and therefore; free from worldly encumbrances and businesses; partly, because God had abundantly provided for them otherwise by tithes and first-fruits and oblations of all sorts; partly, because God would have their worldly comfort and happiness depend singly upon him and his service, and so would; oblige them to use more zeal and diligence in the advancement of piety, even for their own interest, which was either better or worse as true religion flourished or decayed; see Judges 17:9,10 19:18 2 Chronicles 13:9 30:22 31:4; partly, that this might be a firm bond of hearty love and affection between the people and their teachers, the Levites, who, as they performed religious services for the people, so they received their subsistence from them; and partly, that by this means being dispersed among the several tribes, they might have the better opportunity for teaching and watching over the people, which was their duty, Deu 33:10 2 Chronicles 30:22 Malachi 2:4-7. (Poole)

God was necessarily to be regarded as the greatest possession of all, beyond which nothing greater is conceivable, and in comparison with which every other possession is to be regarded as nothing. Hence it was evidently the greatest privilege and highest honour to have Him for a portion and possession, “he who possesses God possesses all things; and the worship (cultus) of Him is infinitely fuller of delight, and far more productive. (Keil)

42.a. “Let My People Go” – 10. Promise of Death of all Firstborn of Egypt

Exodus 11:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.   But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get 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. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Deuteronomy 4:34   Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Job 27:16-17   Though he heap up silver like dust, and pile up clothing like clay,  he may pile it up, but the righteous will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.

Psalms 24:1  The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Psalms 105:37   Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold, and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.

Proverbs 13:22   A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

Job 34:20    In a moment they die; at midnight the people are shaken and pass away, and the mighty are taken away by no human hand.

Isaiah 42:13    The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

Psalms 105:36    He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their strength.

Psalms 135:8   He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast;

Proverbs 21:13    Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.

Revelation 6:16-17   calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Despite the great calamity to come, God would grant the Egyptians the ability to see the situation as it really was: the fault of their own Pharaoh, not the fault of Moses or the children of Israel. Here for the fourth time we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12, 10:20, 10:27, and 11:10). Yet God never hardened Pharaoh’s heart until he first hardened it against the LORD and His people (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, and 9:7). (Guzik)

“The Lord hath put a difference between those who are his people and those who are not. There are many distinctions among men which will one day be blotted out; but permit me to remind you at the outset that this is an eternal distinction.” (Spurgeon)

Much could be said about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart and passages that show it to be of himself and passages that show it to be of God. A person can be tempted to say that it is not fair, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But, clearly, Pharaoh hardened his own heart first. He did have free will to choose and he chose to defy God and the signs and wonders performed in His name. Let this be a warning and witness to all – a hardened heart does not start out like stone. No, it is soft and pliable but with continual and repeated intentional choosing to defy God, deny God, things of God, God’s creation, and God’s Word (written and proclaimed) the heart becomes harder and harder and harder. At some point, there is no possible softening. This is known to God.

God knows the beginning from the end. He knows who is His and who is not. He knows this before any person is born. There is nothing that happens on earth that would be a surprise to God, where He would say; “I did not see that happening”. God knows the beginning from the end. Every last bit of it. He knows the thoughts and intents of every single person born before they are born. He knows the hairs on the heads of every last person. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows who will honor and glorify Him. He knows who will repent. He knows who will believe. He knows who will abide in faith. He knows who will obey. He knows who will not. He knows who will be ushered into heaven and who will find eternity in Hell. He knows the sin(s) every man will commit before it is even a thought in their mind. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows the beginning from the end.

Who is the man that they dare say to the Creator of all there is, “I am not at fault, You made me like this.” Each person is given knowledge of God in their innermost being and this knowledge is added to by the wonders of creation. No man is with an excuse when they stand before their Creator. It is by free will they choose to deny the One and only True God. They make images of wood and stone and bow down and worship the craft of their hands, or they deny any God at all. They harden their hearts day after day until the hardness is complete. They will never repent or believe in God and His redemption. They reject God’s Word, His grace, love, and mercy. They reject Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, salvation, and forgiveness. They reject eternal life and freely choose eternity in Hell, though they are warned 1,000 times.

While I write this I am humbled beyond words for I was once like these, without a care, without a need of God, without giving thought or concern to eternity, sin, death, heaven, hell, judgment, forgiveness, etc…. And yet, God, in His great mercy and love, softened my heart, opened my eyes and ears, and showed me my sin and the need for redemption, salvation, repentance, and forgiveness. I lived a life of no concern for God or things of God, and yet He pursued me, He kept knocking at the door of my heart, and at the right moment, He got my attention. At the right moment, a neighbor across the street (Rich) asked my wife and me to attend an evangelical meeting at the church they attended. It was at this meeting Thursday, March 22nd, 1979 my sin, God’s holiness, and my need for repentance and a savior were revealed deep within my heart and mind. I know there was nothing deserving within me of this grace and mercy – trust me I know. However, God’s great love brought me to the point of believing or rejecting. As I say this it is not as though I could have rejected it. I don’t really know how to explain it. The message preached and my need so revealed that there was no way I could say no to the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

I don’t know how many times I reject God and things of God throughout my life up to the point of being saved. God does and I am sure it was a lot. God’s grace, mercy, and love are deep and wide. And yet, they have boundaries. These boundaries include “Faith and Repentance” (trust, obedience, reliance, honor, and glory to Jesus Christ). Good intentions, wishing, hoping, denying, rejecting, self-reliance, etc… all fall short of these boundaries of God’s grace, mercy, and love.

Oh, that all of you would see the sinfulness of sin, the Holiness of God, and the need for repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ.

41.s. “Let My People Go” – 1. Nile into Blood

Exodus 7:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. Here is the first of the ten plagues, the turning of the water into blood. It was a dreadful plague. The sight of such vast rolling streams of blood could not but strike horror. Nothing is more common than water: so wisely has Providence ordered it, and so kindly, that what is so needful and serviceable to the comfort of human life, should be cheap and almost every where to be had; but now the Egyptians must either drink blood, or die for thirst. Egypt was a pleasant land, but the dead fish and blood now rendered it very unpleasant. It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for Nile, the river of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. They had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews’ children, and now God made that river all blood. Never any thirsted after blood, but sooner or later they had enough of it. It was a significant plague; Egypt had great dependence upon their river, Zec 14:18; so that in smiting the river, they were warned of the destruction of all the produce of their country. The love of Christ to his disciples changes all their common mercies into spiritual blessings; the anger of God towards his enemies, renders their most valued advantages a curse and a misery to them. Aaron is to summon the plague by smiting the river with his rod. It was done in the sight of Pharaoh and his attendants, for God’s true miracles were not performed as Satan’s lying wonders; truth seeks no corners. See the almighty power of God. Every creature is that to us which he makes it to be water or blood. See what changes we may meet with in the things of this world; what is always vain, may soon become vexatious. See what mischievous work sin makes. If the things that have been our comforts prove our crosses, we must thank ourselves. It is sin that turns our waters into blood. The plague continued seven days; and in all that time Pharaoh’s proud heart would not let him desire Moses to pray for the removal of it. Thus the hypocrites in heart heap up wrath. No wonder that God’s anger is not turned away, but that his hand is stretched out still. (Henry)

And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened,…. Or “heavy” (c), dull and stupid, stiff and inflexible, and cannot lift up his heart or find in his heart to obey the will of God. (Gill)

These plagues were selected by God as miraculous signs, because He intended to prove thereby to the king and his servants, that He, Jehovah, was the Lord in the land, and ruled over the powers of nature with unrestricted freedom and omnipotence. For this reason God not only caused them to burst suddenly upon the land according to His word, and then as suddenly to disappear according to His omnipotent will, but caused them to be produced by Moses and Aaron and disappear again at their word and prayer, that Pharaoh might learn that these men were appointed by Him as His messengers, and were endowed by Him with divine power for the accomplishment of His will. (Keil)

Do you ever wonder if there are degrees of hardness that can affect the heart of a person who willingly denies and rejects God’s call on or into their lives? I know of people who have said God pursued them for years. They knew it and they kept turning away from it and blocking it. Yet, at some point and after many years of rejecting God’s call they repented and followed after God. Their life changed forever. They spoke of the ache in their heart for how long they rejected the peace, joy, hope, love, courage, and power they now have. They spoke of the falseness of what they filled their lives with thinking it was truly better than what God offered. They spoke of the forgiven shame, but more importantly the peace and power they had now by the grace and mercy of God’s love.

I look at Pharaoh and obviously his advisors and how their hearts were hardened much harder, more firm, and unyielding. There does appear to be some degrees of hardness of the heart, mind, and soul from which no man can recover. Pity the person who rejects and denies God’s call of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life.

40.g. “the Book of Beginnings – ends”

Genesis 50:22 So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived 110 years. And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph’s own. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Joseph lived a life of dramatic faith. Yet in the end, this is how he was remembered in the Hebrews 11 Museum of Faith: By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones (Hebrews 11:22). This was faith, because it trusted God’s promise to His people, it knew where God’s people belonged, because it looked to the future, and it proclaimed God’s faithful promise in any way possible – even through a dead man’s bones! This promise was fulfilled some 400 years later, when Israel left Egypt (Exodus 13:19). This command showed that Joseph’s heart was in the Promised Land. It also proved him to be a man of great faith, trusting in things not yet seen.

Some promises of God take a long time to fulfill, and we must persevere in trusting God. George Mueller was a remarkable man of faith who ran orphanages in England. In a sermon preached when he was 75 years old, he said 30,000 times in his 54 years as a Christian he received the answer to prayer on the same day he prayed it. But not all his prayers were answered so quickly. He told of one prayer that he brought to God about 20,000 times over more than 11 years, and he still trusted God for the answer: “I hope in God, I pray on, and look for the answer. Therefore, beloved brethren and sisters, go on waiting upon God, go on praying.”

Joseph died looking forward to God’s unfolding plan of redemption, and that is where the Book of Genesis – the Book of Beginnings – ends. It concludes looking forward to the continuation of God’s eternal, loving, wise plan. (Guzik)

39.n. “God will be with you”

Genesis 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

One portion above your brothers: This referred to Joseph being father of two tribes, while each of his brothers only fathered one each.

Which I took from the hand of the Amorite: Apparently, while still in Canaan, Jacob battled for control of a portion of land from the Amorites, and he deeded the land to Joseph and his descendants. The descendants of Joseph would take this land some 400 years later.

God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers: This completed a wonderful work regarding Jacob’s recognition of God’s presence in his life.

· I am with you (Genesis 28:15): God gives the young believer every possible assurance of His presence and grace.

· I will be with you (Genesis 31:3): God expects the growing believer to trust He will be with him, even when he only has the promise of His presence.

· God… has been with me (Genesis 31:5): God gives a glorious testimony to the mature believer, able to say how God has been with him, even when he hasn’t felt His presence in the way he wished.

· God will be with you (Genesis 48:21): God gives the mature believer the opportunity to encourage others with the promise of God’s presence.

(Guzik)