Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Authority

So, You Want To Be a Pharaoh

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Civil Government

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-09-22

Synopsis: John Weaver examines the character of Pharaoh from Exodus 5:1-2, defining a Pharaoh as one who possesses great riches, pleasures, and power but refuses to honor, hearken to, or humble himself before God. He argues that every fallen person desires to be a Pharaoh, and that modern-day Pharaohs—whether politicians, abortionists, or professing Christians—exhibit the same pride, rebellion, and hardened hearts. The sermon warns that living like a Pharaoh leads to judgment, while honoring, hearkening to, and humbling oneself before Christ leads to eternal life.

[John Weaver] I will say to the book of Exodus chapter 5, and we'll read the first two verses, Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. You have to listen carefully to the title of the message because I think you'll see the implication of it before I finish today. The title of the message is, So, You Want to be a Pharaoh? So, You Want to be a Pharaoh? Look in Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2,"...and afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus hath the Lord God of Israel let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 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." Here's an opening question. What comes to your mind when you think of Pharaoh? And do not simply content yourselves with thinking about the Pharaoh of the Exodus. There were many Pharaohs. The word Pharaoh just simply means great house, and it was the common title for the kings of Egypt.

[John Weaver] The Pharaohs were kings. They were not only kings, they were pagan kings. And moreover, they also viewed themselves as gods. So if you look in Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12, you'll find when God sent those ten plagues against Egypt, he sent them particularly against the gods of Egypt as well. In Exodus 12 and verse 12, God said, For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast, Now look at this. And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. So the judgments were not just simply against the Egyptians and against the people of the land, per se. It was also against the gods of Egypt. And you have to remember that Egypt was polytheistic, and they worshipped many gods. They worshipped the bull. They worshipped birds. They worshipped the sun god. and they also worship the pharaoh because pharaoh himself claimed to be a god and yet this was the final plague when god threw the firstborn and you found out that pharaoh could not even preserve his firstborn child alive certainly not all the others in the land of egypt as well so clearly then

[John Weaver] he was not a god but i want you to look in your bibles if you would please to the book of hebrews chapter 11 because in this passage There are several truths here that will show you what it was like to be a pharaoh. In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning there with verse 24, look at what the scripture says. Hebrews 11, verse 24, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

[John Weaver] esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect in terms of the recompense of the reward. So let me give you three things here that should be very clear and very obvious. First of all, being a pharaoh involved what you and I would call great riches, because the king of Egypt then had access to whatever was in the land of Egypt. Moreover, He claimed to own everything in Egypt, including the land. So obviously, if you were a Pharaoh, you could have whatever you desired, whatever you wanted, because you had very extensive riches as well. The second thing that is pointed out in this verse is that Pharaoh not only had great riches, he also had great pleasures.

[John Weaver] Because the Bible says that Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. So I want to point out the fact that Pharaoh then could enjoy any sinful pleasure that he desired, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of the heart. It didn't matter. And there was no one to rebuke him. There was no one to reprove him because he could do simply as he pleased. But the point is, It was indeed temporary. He may have been a pharaoh, but every pharaoh died. So he could only enjoy those pleasures, those great pleasures, for a brief period of time. So a pharaoh had great riches, a pharaoh had great pleasures, and then thirdly, a pharaoh had great power.

[John Weaver] So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 41 it is, And I think you can see the extent of this power beginning there with verse 41. So it's Genesis 41 and verse 41. Pharaoh says unto Joseph, See, I've set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, bowed the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." Now watch this,"'And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.'" So he said, I have such power and I have such control, whatever you say is what is going to happen. No man's going to lift up his hand. No man's going to lift up his foot without your say so.

[John Weaver] Now, I've talked about just very quickly that a Pharaoh had great riches. He had great pleasures and also he had great power. Here's the truth of the matter. Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh. Stop and think about this. Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power, that is for sure. In fact, if you want to just simply look around and select a certain group, notice our politicians. Because obviously many of them get extremely wealthy very quickly. Although it may be done deceitfully, fraudulently, but there's great riches there. There's great pleasures there, because obviously they do as they please. And then, of course, there is great power, because what they're doing is basically demanding that we, the people, submit to their every whim and their every desire, because they're endeavoring to exercise the power of a Pharaoh.

[John Weaver] Now, I don't know if you remember this, but I'm going to reiterate it. I told you before that there is a difference between authority and power. You remember in Romans chapter 13 verse 1, the Bible tells you very clearly that every soul be subject to our powers. where there is no power but of God, the powers that be ordained of God. Well, the word powers there happens to be the Greek word exousias, which actually means authority and jurisdiction. So literally it says there is no authority of God but of God. There is no jurisdiction but of God. And so God then basically only ordained three institutions and gave them authority and jurisdiction.

[John Weaver] He created the family, He created the church, and he created what you and I would call civil government. And he appointed these three institutions, and he ordained each one to have a certain degree of authority or jurisdiction. But he not only gave each institution authority and jurisdiction, he also limited that authority and jurisdiction. So no institution, whether it is a family, whether it is a church or whether it is a government, has any authority or a jurisdiction from God to go over and above and beyond that which God has given to it. So God then has set the limits of each one of these institutions. Now, Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power. You see, you can have power without having authority.

[John Weaver] So I could look at Joshua and say, Joshua, you look to be a very rich man, and I know you've got plenty of money, so just give me your money. And he says, I'm sorry, you're probably deceived. But I said, no, no, no, I think you've got plenty of money, just give me your money. Well, he says, you have no authority to demand my money, and I don't. But if I have a Glock and he does it, I have power to take his money. You see what I'm saying? There's a difference, then, between authority and power. So pharaohs, then, are interested in power. They're not interested in authority. Because if you have power, then you can take whatever you want.

[John Weaver] If you have power, it's manifested in the fact that you can bully and you can manipulate and you can control others. So power then allows someone to manipulate and to bully and to control others. Let me give you a good illustration. I'm sure that you remember when Joe Biden said years ago that if you want to take on the federal government, you better have an F-16. You remember that?

[John Weaver] One of these mighty war planes. You better have an F-16. Well, the truth of the matter is, that's a lie. And that was an attempt to bully and manipulate people. You remember when Russia invaded Afghanistan and the Afghanis fought against Russia and defeated Russia? And the Afghanis did not have F-16s. And I read one article, it was just absolutely astounding to me, how the Afghanis brought down those mighty Russian helicopters.

[John Weaver] I don't know how much those things cost, but all their firepower was basically useless in face of a simple instrument. The Afghanis would hide up on a mountaintop in bushes and wait for that helicopter to come over fairly low, right over the mountaintop, and then they would shoot an arrow from a bow that happened to have a rope attached to it, right through the rotors of that helicopter, and the rope would get tangled and the helicopter would come down, and guess what? They didn't hit all the weaponry of that helicopter right there. Wow. Wow. They didn't need an F-16. Just the bow and arrow took care of it.

[John Weaver] And stop and think about this. during the war for independence. Our colonial ancestors fought and won a war against the greatest power in Europe at the time, because England had the greatest army that existed at that particular time. So, obviously and clearly, no, you do not need vast array of expensive toys to fight against tyranny.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just tell you, it is not my intent today to deal with tyranny. There is indeed a very important point I want to make before I get on with what I do want to teach today, and that is this. I want you to understand that pharaohs are not concerned with the lives of others. The lives of others mean absolutely nothing to a Pharaoh. The only thing a Pharaoh is concerned about is his life and his house. You remember the name Pharaoh or the title Pharaoh means great house. So he's concerned about his house. He's not necessarily concerned about your house.

[John Weaver] So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter one, Notice, if you would please, verses 15 and 16. Exodus chapter 1, verse 15, And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shiprah, and the name of the other Puhah. And he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and seat them upon the stools, if it be a son, then you shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

[John Weaver] So, he's not interested in the lives of anyone except himself. Now, I want you to notice, if you would please, he tells these midwives that they are basically to murder any male child. If you'll skip down to verse 22, when that did not work, and Pharaoh charged all his people saying, every son that is born you shall cast in the river, and every daughter you shall save alive. So now you have every Egyptian that has the power and authority, quote unquote, from Pharaoh, although it's an illegitimate authority, but they have the power to take any Hebrew male child and drown him in the river. And the interesting thing is, when he said he commanded all of his people, you have to remember that the Hebrews were considered his people because they were his slaves. And when you read Acts chapter 7, Stephen says that some of these people actually did indeed drown their own children. But Amram and Jochebed did not drown Moses, and they hid him in the river, in that ark. So the point being is here, he could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.

[John Weaver] So let me put it to you like this. Abortionists are pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves. They want to determine who lives and who dies. In fact, unhappily, a lot of doctors are like that today. When you stop and think about euthanasia, that's the same principle. I don't know if you know what the word euthanasia means, but eu is a Greek preposition which means good or well, And thanatos is a Greek word for death. Euthanasia just simply means a good death. In other words, we determine when it's going to be good for you to die, and we will determine what is good for you in dying. You will have a good death. You will have a well death because we will put you to sleep permanently very easily. So that's a pharaoh. He wants to have the power of life and death in his hand. Now, here's the question. Here's the question. What makes Pharaohs like that? What makes Pharaohs so wicked and so vile? And what makes the Pharaoh to be concerned only, listen carefully, with his own safety and his own security and the extension of his own house?

[John Weaver] So if you look in Exodus chapter 1, beginning there with verse 8, look at this. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come on, and let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when they fall without any war, they join also with our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

[John Weaver] Therefore did they set over them taskmasters to afflict them, with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of Pithom and Rameses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew." Look at this, and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. Isn't that interesting? Here's the Pharaoh and those in power being grieved over the fact that someone is multiplying, someone is progressing, someone is being blessed.

[John Weaver] I hope you're trying to just put together and see the big picture. A pharaoh is not concerned with the lives of others. To a pharaoh, anyone else is nothing more than a serf or a slave or a cannon fodder. Lord, you're a sheep to be shorn. You're just someone to be used so that you may advance their position and their power. They could care less about anything else. So when you think about this, the word Pharaoh means great house. I suppose it can also mean great White House as well. When you think about this, If you genuinely believe that our government is really concerned with your life and your health and your economic prosperity, all I can say is you're either deceived or you've been asleep for a hundred years and you don't know what's going on. For instance, those who trust in the power of the Pharaoh discover But their vaccines are not safe and effective. Unless you count being sick and dead safe and effective. Dead, that's out the way. They're safe and effective.

[John Weaver] They will safely kill you. They will safely make you ill. Oh, what about Jonathan Farrow's social security? You say, well, I've paid in social security for 40, 50 years. I want to get something out of it. I understand that. But can you imagine if you had taken the same amount that you paid in Social Security, and for that 40 or 50 years you bought silver and gold, how much would you have today? You wouldn't need Social Security, I can assure you that. You wouldn't need anybody, you wouldn't need anything, because you'd be far better off than you are now. So the point I'm trying to make is this.

[John Weaver] When a Pharaoh sees that the population is getting too large for him to control then he has to thin it down and thin it out and they purvey the myth of overpopulation and so we have to control this. I hope you remember a few years ago there was a big row over the fact that Bill Gates had supplied polio vaccines for folks in Africa and then they came to find out that that polio vaccine also had materials in it that caused the young girls to be sterile. Wow. Isn't that amazing? And now that's exactly what they're saying about the COVID vaccine.

[John Weaver] It is sterilizing men and women as well. So here's my question. Why are pharaohs like that? Well, the Bible gives us an answer. So if you look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter five, notice if you would, verses one and two again, The Bible says, And after Moses ne'er 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. 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. Now, I'm going to give you three truths about a Pharaoh. And those three truths are going to lead to a fourth truth. But here we go. First of all, Pharaohs refused to honor God. Pharaoh of the Exodus said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? So the reason then that this Pharaoh did not honor God was simply because he did not know him. He did not know the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, immortal God of heaven and earth.

[John Weaver] He knew his false gods, but he did not know the one true, the living God. So note this question that they will ask, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? So here's basically what he's saying. Your God is nothing to me. I do not recognize him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. He may be your God, but He has no authority over me. So I do not know Him. I do not recognize Him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. I'm not going to let Israel go. So Pharaoh is basically saying this, I am the sovereign Lord of Egypt and I own no superior. There's no one greater than me. I am the sovereign over Egypt. Since I recognize no sovereign, and especially you, God of you Hebrews, why should I obey him?

[John Weaver] What claim does he have upon me?" And Pharaoh's attitude was, I have no obligation to obey him. I have no obligation to serve him. So what Pharaoh was doing, and you have to remember now, that Egypt was a polytheistic land. They believed in many gods. The heathen in those days believed in what were known as tutelary gods. That is, every area had its own little god, and that own little god only had power over his certain area. You remember in 1 Kings 8, verse 20, when the Syrians then came and attacked Israel in the hills, Israel defeated them. Wipe them out. So now the Syrians are planning coming back and attacking Israel on the plains. Now listen to this.

[John Weaver] This is what they said. God sends a prophet to the king of Israel and he says this and there came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and said thus saith the Lord because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of the hills but he's not God of the valleys therefore I will deliver all this great multitude in divine hand and you shall know that I am the Lord so they said the reason we were defeated over here Israel's God happens to be the God of the hills. But now we're going to fight against them in the valleys. We're going to fight against them in the plain. And we've got to win because they can't be over the hills and over the valleys as well. God said, I'll show you. I'm over everything.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you a quote from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is quoting and commenting on Exodus chapter 5, verse 2. And so, here's what he says. Who is Jehovah? He's talking about Pharaoh's statement. Who is Jehovah? I neither know him, nor care for him, neither value him, or fear him. It is a hard name that he never heard before. But he resolves that it shall be no bugbear to him.

[John Weaver] Now listen, Israel was now a despised, oppressed people, looked on as the tail of the nation, and by the character which they bore. Pharaoh makes his estimate of their god and concludes that he made no better of a figure among the gods than his people did among the nations. Again, ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world.

[John Weaver] Men know not the Lord, or have very low and mean thoughts of him, and therefore they obey not his voice, neither will they do anything for him." Then he comments on this, that I should obey his voice. Now listen to this. This is the attitude of a Pharaoh. I, of a great people, obey the God of Israel, of a poor enslaved people, shall I that rule the Israel of God? be ruled by the God of Israel." Wow!

[John Weaver] No, it is below me. I scorn to submit to Him. Wow! Do you realize that is the attitude of every Pharaoh? Why in the world would I bow to God? I am over Him. Unsaved men who like to be Pharaohs honor themselves And they honor false gods, but they refuse to honor the one true, the living God, because they do not know him. If you remember John 17 in verse three. Our Lord said, and this is life eternal, that they may know thee the one true, the living God in Jesus Christ, who thou hast sent. So without a knowledge of the one true, the living God through Jesus Christ, men are lost and they know not God. So the pharaohs then refuse to honor God. Here's the second thing. If you look in Exodus chapter 5 in verse 2, Pharaohs refused to hearken unto God. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice, let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. A leading characteristic of any Pharaoh is he will not hearken to the word of God.

[John Weaver] He will not heed the word of God. Over and over in the book of Exodus, God demanded that Pharaoh and the Egyptians listen to Him. Well, they did not. Today's pharaohs are no different. They refuse to hearken unto God. They refuse to hear Him. And let me point something out. I could also say they refuse to obey Him. But in reality and in truth, no one ever really hears the Word of God. unless he heeds the word of God. Let me say this another way. No one ever really hears the word of God until he obeys the word of God.

[John Weaver] I just thought of a quote. It was Augustine, the early church father, who said, I heard the gospel all of my life, and then one day I heard it. Well, you know, the truth of the matter is this. In 1 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 22, when Samuel was rebuking Saul, When Saul was claiming to have obeyed God, and then the sheep started blading and the cows started lowing, and he said, if you've obeyed God, what means the blading of the sheep in my ear and the lowing of the oxen? Well, here's what he told him. And Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Listen to this.

[John Weaver] He went on to say, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams. So the fat of rams was the chief part of the sacrifice which was always given to God and now he's taking hearkening and obedience and he's tying them together. He says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the Now, let me give you a New Testament illustration.

[John Weaver] If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. And I want you to see. You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God. So in Matthew. Chapter 21. And let's begin reading their verse 28. Matthew 21. And verse 28, look at this. Our Lord says, Matthew 21, verse 28. Behold, what think ye? He's talking to the Pharisees.

[John Weaver] A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he entered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise. And he entered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether them plain did the will of his father, they send him the first. Jesus said of them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. In other words, the publicans, the harlots repented and obeyed like this first son were the Pharisees. We're saying that we are obedient to God, when in reality, they were not. So, God is telling us, if we really hear the Word of God, if we really heed the Word of God, then of course, we're going to obey the Word of God.

[John Weaver] So, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 7, and I want you to see this, how that God has repeatedly told Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh is not going to listen, he's not going to hearken. So in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4, we read this. Look what it says. Exodus 7 verse 4, But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. He said, Pharaoh is not going to listen to you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 22. Again, he says it. and the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said." Then if you'll look in Exodus chapter 11 and notice verse 9, Exodus 11 verse 9,"...and the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

[John Weaver] Now let me tell you something. Pharaoh would not listen to God. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron. He would not even listen to his own counselors. He would not listen to anyone with what you and I would call common sense. For instance, look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 7 at what his own magicians told him. Exodus 10, verse 7, not only that, but his servants and Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a star in thy sight? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God." Look what they say,"...knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?" What's wrong with you?

[John Weaver] Can't you see this country is being wiped out? He wouldn't listen to God. He wouldn't listen to Moses. He wouldn't listen to Aaron. He wouldn't listen to his own servants. Wow. I want to tell you something. I'm absolutely astounded, and I marvel at the stubbornness and the rebellion of the Pharaoh of Exodus, but I'm also marveling at the stubbornness of modern-day pharaohs who refuse to listen to God, who refuse to listen to common sense, who refuse to seek what is happening. And I'm not just simply referring to politicians, although that would be certainly applicable unto them, but I'm also talking about professing Christians who refuse to hear, who refuse to hear, who refuse to obey.

[John Weaver] And they seem to think that somehow they know better than God and that they can escape the punishment of God. They do not listen to Him because they are a Pharaoh. That is, they are a God unto themselves. Now, God's people will listen to Him. So, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 15, look at verse 26. Notice how this is all tied together. Look what God says, and said, if thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, that is, you've got to pay attention, you've got to diligently hearken, look how it ties to obedience, and will do that which is right in his sight, and will give ear to his commandments, and

[John Weaver] keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee." But note, if you would, how he likens and connects hearkening to doing and hearing to obeying. It's all right there. You see, this is the conclusion that we have to come to, that God is sovereign, that God is God and God must be obeyed regardless of your feelings, regardless of your thoughts, regardless of your situation, regardless of your circumstances, God must be obeyed.

[John Weaver] He's the creator and you're the creature. Wow! He's the sovereign and you're the servant. He's the king and you're the citizen. He is the father and you're the child. So, we must hear and we must heed, but a Pharaoh will not. Here's the third thing. We notice in Exodus chapter 5, in verse 2, that a Pharaoh will not honor God, a Pharaoh will not hearken unto God. But here's why. Because a Pharaoh refuses to humble himself." Look what he said again in verse 2. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey the voice? What? His voice to let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Now the reason Pharaoh would not honor God and hearken to God was because he would not humble himself before God. In other words, he refused to recognize God as his superior. He refused to recognize God as the one true and living God. This points out the pride and the arrogance and the haughtiness of the pharaoh of the Exodus and also the pride and arrogance and haughtiness of modern-day pharaohs as well.

[John Weaver] So let's put this down where it belongs. That pride, arrogance, and haughtiness stem from a rebellious and wicked heart. So what we do is we fail to soberly assess ourselves. We fail to soberly assess our skills. We fail to soberly assess our knowledge. We tend to think that we know better than God. We tend to think that we really don't need Him. And look where we are today. Look at all the knowledge we have. Look at all the technology that we have. You know what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 8? The Bible says knowledge puffeth up. Knowledge for knowledge sake just makes pride and arrogance and haughtiness prevalent. That's all. Look at what people are...

[John Weaver] Do you understand that our own government, as well as independent researchers, are now trying to make people transhuman. We're going to combine artificial intelligence with humanity and we're going to be immortal. We're going to transcend somehow our humanness. And according to them, they're going to fix it where we can live forever. They're playing God. That's exactly what they're doing.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm just simply pointing out knowledge puffets up, and we think that we know better than God. Now, I want you to look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, because there is another application of this, but I want you to see how it's spelled out. In Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, the Bible says this, And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews. Look at this.

[John Weaver] How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me." So Pharaoh's failure to honor God and to hearken unto God was a result of the fact that he failed to humble himself before God. Now, here's my question. What happens when a Pharaoh, a ruler, fails to humble himself before God? Well, look back in Exodus 9 and verse 17. Look at this. Exodus 9, verse 17. God says,"...and yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go." So when a man refuses to humble himself before God, he will exalt himself against the people Now, I've pointed this out on numerous occasions, but I have to point it out again in light of this message.

[John Weaver] Psalm 94, verses 20 and 21. The question is asked, shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a lie? or by law, which frame it may be by law. In other words, a wicked civil government makes sin legal. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God, then that wicked civil government makes sin legal or lawful? And the answer, of course, is no.

[John Weaver] But listen to the next verse. Listen, if you would, please, to verse 21. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood. What did God just say? When a wicked civil government refuses to humble itself before God and it makes sin legal, then ultimately it attacks the innocent and it attacks the people of God. Why? They gather themselves together. They plan. They conspire.

[John Weaver] They want to do this. So in refusing then to humble yourself before God as a Pharaoh, someone with power and someone with force and the ability to exercise that force. If they cannot strike at God, they strike at God's people. We don't recognize God. We don't recognize you. We hate him. We hate you. That's what our Lord said. They hated me. You know, they hated you. They hated me before they hated you.

[John Weaver] If you were of the world, the world would love you, but you're not of the world. Therefore, they hate you. That's what our Lord said. And so a Pharaoh then, is always going to fail to humble himself before God and therefore he's always going to exalt himself against the people of God either in an ungodly attitude or ungodly speech or sometimes just ungodly actions. Wow. Here's something you can put down. Humility always results in submission and obedience to God. Whereas pride always results in rebellion and defiance. So listen to me. Here are three things that make a pharaoh. We're not talking about the pharaoh of the Exodus particularly, but modern-day pharaohs. Three things that make a pharaoh. A refusal to honor God, a refusal to hearken to God, and a refusal to humble themselves before God.

[John Weaver] What is the result of that? Here we go. The result is pharaohs always have hardened hearts. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible just for a moment. But listen to me. When you talk about the hardening of a heart, there is a judicial hardening of the heart. Something that God does. because of sin and judgment. And there is the normal, consequential hardening of the heart, something that man does that is normal and natural because of his sin and his disobedience. So I want you to see what the Bible says about this. So if you look in Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, The Bible said, and he, that would be God, hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearken not unto them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened.

[John Weaver] He refuses to let the people go. So in the one sense of the word, God judicially hardened his heart. In another sense of the word, the consequence of his rebellion, his heart was continually being hardened. Skip down to verse 22 and 23. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Not necessarily that God did it here, but this is the consequence of it.

[John Weaver] Neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Look at this. Neither did he set his heart to this also. He's not going to listen. Nothing is going to impress him. His mind is made up. That's all there is to it. If you look in Exodus chapter 9, and verse 7 Exodus chapter 9 verse 7 and Pharaoh said and behold there was no one of the cattle of the Israelites dead and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go wow now let me give you the truth here it is the more you sin the easier it is to sin That's a fact. The more you disobey, the easier it is to disobey. The more you disregard the Word of God, the easier it is to disregard the Word of God.

[John Weaver] When you first begin sinning and doing things that you know that are wrong and wicked, your conscience smites you. It comes to your mind, this is wrong, This is wicked. I hope not to be doing this. I shouldn't be doing this. By the way, I hope you remember this, because I've taught you in time past that your heart is your mind, but your conscience is also your mind. The word conscience in the English is con-science. Con is a preposition which means with, and science means to know. So the word conscience in English means, that which you know with. The Greek word for conscience is shunēdēsis. Shunē is a preposition which means with and edēsis means to know. Your conscience is that which you know with. And so when you do things that are wrong, initially, your conscience smites you. Your conscience convicts you. Your conscience tells you it's wrong, it's wicked, you ought not to be doing this.

[John Weaver] But the more you sin, the more you press down and suppress that knowledge and that warning and that light. And as long as you continue in your sin and your rebellion, it only gets easier and easier. Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore. The Bible talks about a seared conscience. So when people can sin and never be convicted, their conscience in that particular area is seared. So mark this down.

[John Weaver] Whenever you refuse to honor God, hearken to God, humble yourself before God, the result will inevitably be a hardened heart. You remember what the Bible says about the Israelites there in the book of Isaiah? He said, The show of their countenance doth witness against them. It's in their faces. They were happy with their rebellion. They were proud of their sins. The show of their countenance doth witness against them. It's just like you can look at a doped used intel He is that because of the show of his countenance.

[John Weaver] Same thing with a drunkard. Same thing with a harlot. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, the more we sin, the easier it is to sin and our conscience does not bother us. All pharaohs end up with a hardened heart. Our hearts are no longer tender. Our hearts are no longer sympathetic. We're hardened. Well, let's see. I think the Book of Job, God says even the ostrich is hardened against her own. You can be hardened against your own children. You can be hardened against your own husband or your own wife.

[John Weaver] Now, let me make a couple of applications. I want you to think about this because I've been talking about a pharaoh, and not just the pharaoh of the Exodus, but modern-day pharaohs as well. You know that the scripture teaches concerning Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. You say, yes, I understand that, but what in the world has that got to do with the lesson that you're teaching on Pharaohs? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Genesis, chapter 43. Genesis 43.

[John Weaver] Now you will remember that Joseph was second in command in Egypt and although he had the attire of an Egyptian and now he had shaved himself clean like an Egyptian and now he's entertaining his brethren and the Egyptians are not eating with Joseph and Joseph is not eating with his brethren for a particular reason, but if you look in Genesis chapter 43, notice if you would please, verse 32, what the Scripture says there,"...and they set on for him by himself, that is, Joseph, and for them, that is, the Egyptians by themselves, or his brethren, and for the Egyptians The three separate saints, which did eat with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination of the Egyptians. So the Egyptians then sent bread on for Joseph by himself, because he was actually Hebrew and they knew that, although he didn't look like one at that particular time. And so they set on for his brothers who were Hebrews, and then they set on for themselves all differently because they're not going to commune with the Hebrew.

[John Weaver] They're not going to commune with anybody who looks like someone that believes in God or is involved in a covenant with God. They're just not going to commune with them. Now, hang on. Turn right on over to Genesis chapter 46 and look, if you would please, at verse 34, because Joseph now has his brethren and his father there and he wants them to go to the land of Goshen which is the best part and look what he tells them in verse thirty-four. Let's read verse thirty-three.

[John Weaver] And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and say, What is your occupation? That you shall say, Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers, that you may dwell in the land of Goshen for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So, all Egyptians, and especially the Pharaohs, hated shepherds. Wow. Now, if you are a Pharaoh, then your attitude is expressed by those people in Luke chapter 19 and verse 14, and his citizens sent word after him, we will not have this man to reign over us. That is the attitude of a Pharaoh. He is not going to have Jesus Christ to reign over him. A Pharaoh believes that he is God And he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.

[John Weaver] And therefore, he refuses to bow to Him and obey Him. Moreover, they hate anyone and everyone who worships and obeys Him. Because the obedience of those to the Lord Jesus Christ exposes the disobedience to those who hate the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, they're going to separate themselves. We're not going to be around you. We don't want to be around you. Now, here's another thing. Pharaohs always make hard speeches against God.

[John Weaver] You need to read some of the things in the book of Exodus that Pharaoh thought and Pharaoh said. But let me show you In the book of Jude, Jude 1, there's only one chapter there, but Jude is right before the book of Revelation, and look, if you would please, at verses 14 and 15. Look at what the Bible says about the ungodly. Jude 1, verse 14. An enoch also of the seventh from Adam prophesied of these, saying, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." there are indeed ungodly speeches made against the Lord Jesus Christ.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you this. If you do not wish to end up like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to suffer like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be judged like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be destroyed like a Pharaoh, Do not live and act like a pharaoh, because all pharaohs end up in death and judgment. So that means you must honor the Lord Jesus Christ. You must hearken to the Lord Jesus Christ. You must humble yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ. And moreover, it means, therefore, you will not have a hardened heart. Your heart will be tender. your heart will be malleable, and you can be molded according to the Word of God. You'll be pliable like the clay in the hands of the potter. But if you live like a Pharaoh and act like a Pharaoh, you'll die like a Pharaoh.

[John Weaver] So, let me leave you with this one sentence. If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh. Every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd, because the Pharaoh refuses to honor him, hearken to him, and humble himself before him. It does not pay to be a Pharaoh. unless you count temporary riches, temporary pleasures, and temporary power greater than eternal life. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee.

[John Weaver] We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray today that You would help us Help us immensely in such a way, Lord, that we will not be pharaohs. We'll have no desire to be a pharaoh, that we'd rather be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Moses said, esteeming the reproaches of Christ, greater riches than all of Egypt. Give us, Lord, your grace and your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

So, You Want To Be a Pharaoh

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	925241319532043
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Authority
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-09-22
Dictation Name
Book	Book 008: Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13 — Chapter 19
Source Timed Segments	66

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Question of Pharaoh

Weaver opens with Exodus 5:1-2 and asks what comes to mind when thinking of Pharaoh, noting that Pharaoh means 'great house' and was the title for pagan kings who viewed themselves as gods.

I will say to the book of Exodus chapter 5, and we'll read the first two verses, Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. You have to listen carefully to the title of the message because I think you'll see the implication of it before I finish today. The title of the message is, "So, You Want to Be a Pharaoh?" So, You Want to Be a Pharaoh? Look in Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:1-2

"...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. 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."

Here's an opening question. What comes to your mind when you think of Pharaoh? And do not simply content yourselves with thinking about the Pharaoh of the Exodus. There were many Pharaohs. The word Pharaoh just simply means great house, and it was the common title for the kings of Egypt.

The Riches, Pleasures, and Power of a Pharaoh

Using Hebrews 11:24-26 and Genesis 41:41-44, Weaver shows that being a Pharaoh involved great riches, sinful pleasures, and absolute power, which every fallen person desires.

he was not a god. But I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, because in this passage there are several truths here that will show you what it was like to be a Pharaoh. In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning there with verse 24, look at what the scripture says. Hebrews 11, verse 24,

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:24-26

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."

So let me give you three things here that should be very clear and very obvious. First of all, being a Pharaoh involved what you and I would call great riches, because the king of Egypt then had access to whatever was in the land of Egypt. Moreover, he claimed to own everything in Egypt, including the land. So obviously, if you were a Pharaoh, you could have whatever you desired, whatever you wanted, because you had very extensive riches as well. The second thing that is pointed out in this verse is that Pharaoh not only had great riches, he also had great pleasures.

Because the Bible says that Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. So I want to point out the fact that Pharaoh then could enjoy any sinful pleasure that he desired, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of the heart. It didn't matter. And there was no one to rebuke him. There was no one to reprove him because he could do simply as he pleased. But the point is, it was indeed temporary. He may have been a Pharaoh, but every Pharaoh died. So he could only enjoy those pleasures, those great pleasures, for a brief period of time. So a Pharaoh had great riches, a Pharaoh had great pleasures, and then thirdly, a Pharaoh had great power.

So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 41 it is, and I think you can see the extent of this power beginning there with verse 41. So it's Genesis 41 and verse 41.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 41:41-44

"Pharaoh says unto Joseph, See, I've set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt."

Now watch this,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 41:41-44

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."

So he said, I have such power and I have such control, whatever you say is what is going to happen. No man's going to lift up his hand. No man's going to lift up his foot without your say so.

Now, I've talked about just very quickly that a Pharaoh had great riches. He had great pleasures and also he had great power. Here's the truth of the matter. Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh. Stop and think about this. Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power, that is for sure. In fact, if you want to just simply look around and select a certain group, notice our politicians. Because obviously many of them get extremely wealthy very quickly. Although it may be done deceitfully, fraudulently, but there's great riches there. There's great pleasures there, because obviously they do as they please. And then, of course, there is great power, because what they're doing is basically demanding that we, the people, submit to their every whim and their every desire, because they're endeavoring to exercise the power of a Pharaoh.

Now, I don't know if you remember this, but I'm going to reiterate it. I told you before that there is a difference between authority and power. You remember in Romans chapter 13 verse 1, the Bible tells you very clearly that every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Well, the word powers there happens to be the Greek word exousias, which actually means authority and jurisdiction. So literally it says there is no authority but of God. There is no jurisdiction but of God. And so God then basically only ordained three institutions and gave them authority and jurisdiction.

Authority vs. Power: The Pharaoh's Interest

Weaver distinguishes between God-given authority (limited jurisdiction) and raw power (force without authority), illustrating that Pharaohs seek power to bully, manipulate, and control.

He created the family, He created the church, and He created what you and I would call civil government. And He appointed these three institutions, and He ordained each one to have a certain degree of authority or jurisdiction. But He not only gave each institution authority and jurisdiction, He also limited that authority and jurisdiction. So no institution, whether it is a family, whether it is a church or whether it is a government, has any authority or jurisdiction from God to go over and above and beyond that which God has given to it. So God then has set the limits of each one of these institutions. Now, Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power. You see, you can have power without having authority.

So I could look at Joshua and say, Joshua, you look to be a very rich man, and I know you've got plenty of money, so just give me your money. And he says, I'm sorry, you're probably deceived. But I said, no, no, no, I think you've got plenty of money, just give me your money. Well, he says, you have no authority to demand my money, and I don't. But if I have a Glock and he doesn't, I have power to take his money. You see what I'm saying? There's a difference, then, between authority and power. So Pharaohs, then, are interested in power. They're not interested in authority. Because if you have power, then you can take whatever you want.

If you have power, it's manifested in the fact that you can bully and you can manipulate and you can control others. So power then allows someone to manipulate and to bully and to control others. Let me give you a good illustration. I'm sure that you remember when Joe Biden said years ago that if you want to take on the federal government, you better have an F-16. You remember that?

Pharaoh's Disregard for Human Life

From Exodus 1:15-16,22, Weaver demonstrates that Pharaohs care nothing for others' lives, using abortion and euthanasia as modern examples of exercising the power of life and death.

So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter one, notice, if you would please, verses 15 and 16. Exodus chapter 1, verse 15, "And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then you shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live." So, he's not interested in the lives of anyone except himself. Now, I want you to notice, if you would please, he tells these midwives that they are basically to murder any male child. If you'll skip down to verse 22, when that did not work,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 1:22

"and Pharaoh charged all his people saying, Every son that is born you shall cast in the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."

So now you have every Egyptian that has the power and authority, quote unquote, from Pharaoh, although it's an illegitimate authority, but they have the power to take any Hebrew male child and drown him in the river. And the interesting thing is, when he said he commanded all of his people, you have to remember that the Hebrews were considered his people because they were his slaves. And when you read Acts chapter 7, Stephen says that some of these people actually did indeed drown their own children. But Amram and Jochebed did not drown Moses, and they hid him in the river, in that ark. So the point being is here, he could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.

So let me put it to you like this. Abortionists are Pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves. They want to determine who lives and who dies. In fact, unhappily, a lot of doctors are like that today. When you stop and think about euthanasia, that's the same principle. I don't know if you know what the word euthanasia means, but eu is a Greek preposition which means good or well, and thanatos is a Greek word for death. Euthanasia just simply means a good death. In other words, we determine when it's going to be good for you to die, and we will determine what is good for you in dying. You will have a good death. You will have a well death because we will put you to sleep permanently very easily. So that's a Pharaoh. He wants to have the power of life and death in his hand. Now, here's the question. Here's the question. What makes Pharaohs like that? What makes Pharaohs so wicked and so vile? And what makes the Pharaoh to be concerned only, listen carefully, with his own safety and his own security and the extension of his own house?

The Root of Pharaoh's Wickedness: Ignorance and Contempt of God

Weaver explains that Pharaohs refuse to honor God because they do not know Him, citing Exodus 5:2 and Matthew Henry's commentary on Pharaoh's low estimate of Israel's God.

He knew his false gods, but he did not know the one true, the living God. So note this question that they will ask, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" So here's basically what he's saying. Your God is nothing to me. I do not recognize him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. He may be your God, but He has no authority over me. So I do not know Him. I do not recognize Him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. I'm not going to let Israel go. So Pharaoh is basically saying this, I am the sovereign Lord of Egypt and I own no superior. There's no one greater than me. I am the sovereign over Egypt. Since I recognize no sovereign, and especially you, God of you Hebrews, why should I obey him?

What claim does he have upon me? And Pharaoh's attitude was, I have no obligation to obey him. I have no obligation to serve him. So what Pharaoh was doing, and you have to remember now, that Egypt was a polytheistic land. They believed in many gods. The heathen in those days believed in what were known as tutelary gods. That is, every area had its own little god, and that own little god only had power over his certain area. You remember in 1 Kings 20, verse 23, when the Syrians then came and attacked Israel in the hills, Israel defeated them. Wipe them out. So now the Syrians are planning coming back and attacking Israel on the plains. Now listen to this.

This is what they said. God sends a prophet to the king of Israel and he says this, "And there came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he's not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." So they said the reason we were defeated over here, Israel's God happens to be the God of the hills. But now we're going to fight against them in the valleys. We're going to fight against them in the plain. And we've got to win because they can't be over the hills and over the valleys as well. God said, I'll show you. I'm over everything.

Now, let me give you a quote from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is quoting and commenting on Exodus chapter 5, verse 2. And so, here's what he says. "Who is Jehovah?" He's talking about Pharaoh's statement. "Who is Jehovah? I neither know him, nor care for him, neither value him, or fear him. It is a hard name that he never heard before. But he resolves that it shall be no bugbear to him."

Now listen, "Israel was now a despised, oppressed people, looked on as the tail of the nation, and by the character which they bore, Pharaoh makes his estimate of their god and concludes that he made no better a figure among the gods than his people did among the nations. Again, ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world." "Men know not the Lord, or have very low and mean thoughts of him, and therefore they obey not his voice, neither will they do anything for him." Then he comments on this, "that I should obey his voice." Now listen to this. This is the attitude of a Pharaoh. "I, of a great people, obey the God of Israel, of a poor enslaved people, shall I that rule the Israel of God be ruled by the God of Israel?" Wow!

No, it is below me. I scorn to submit to Him. Wow! Do you realize that is the attitude of every Pharaoh? Why in the world would I bow to God? I am over Him. Unsaved men who like to be Pharaohs honor themselves and they honor false gods, but they refuse to honor the one true, the living God, because they do not know him. If you remember John 17 in verse three, our Lord said,

Scripture Reading — John 17:3

"And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the one true, the living God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

So without a knowledge of the one true, the living God through Jesus Christ, men are lost and they know not God. So the Pharaohs then refuse to honor God. Here's the second thing. If you look in Exodus chapter 5 in verse 2, Pharaohs refused to hearken unto God. "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." A leading characteristic of any Pharaoh is he will not hearken to the word of God.

Pharaohs Refuse to Hearken to God

Weaver shows from Exodus 7:4,22; 11:9; and 10:7 that Pharaoh would not listen to God, Moses, or even his own counselors, and that true hearing is tied to obedience (1 Samuel 15:22; Matthew 21:28-31).

He will not heed the word of God. Over and over in the book of Exodus, God demanded that Pharaoh and the Egyptians listen to Him. Well, they did not. Today's Pharaohs are no different. They refuse to hearken unto God. They refuse to hear Him. And let me point something out. I could also say they refuse to obey Him. But in reality and in truth, no one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God. Let me say this another way. No one ever really hears the word of God until he obeys the word of God.

I just thought of a quote. It was Augustine, the early church father, who said, "I heard the gospel all of my life, and then one day I heard it." Well, you know, the truth of the matter is this. In 1 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 22, when Samuel was rebuking Saul, when Saul was claiming to have obeyed God, and then the sheep started bleating and the cows started lowing, and he said, "If you've obeyed God, what means the bleating of the sheep in my ear and the lowing of the oxen?" Well, here's what he told him.

Scripture Reading — 1 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?"

Listen to this. He went on to say,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:22

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams."

So the fat of rams was the chief part of the sacrifice which was always given to God and now he's taking hearkening and obedience and he's tying them together. He says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams. Now, let me give you a New Testament illustration.

If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. And I want you to see. You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God. So in Matthew chapter 21, and let's begin reading there verse 28. Matthew 21 and verse 28, look at this. Our Lord says, Matthew 21, verse 28, "But what think ye?" He's talking to the Pharisees.

"A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." In other words, the publicans, the harlots repented and obeyed like this first son, whereas the Pharisees were saying that we are obedient to God, when in reality, they were not. So, God is telling us, if we really hear the Word of God, if we really heed the Word of God, then of course, we're going to obey the Word of God.

So, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 7, and I want you to see this, how that God has repeatedly told Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh is not going to listen, he's not going to hearken. So in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4, we read this. Look what it says. Exodus 7 verse 4,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:4,22

"But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments."

He said, Pharaoh is not going to listen to you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 22. Again, he says it. "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said." Then if you'll look in Exodus chapter 11 and notice verse 9, Exodus 11 verse 9,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:4,22

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 11:9

Now let me tell you something. Pharaoh would not listen to God. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron. He would not even listen to his own counselors. He would not listen to anyone with what you and I would call common sense. For instance, look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 7 at what his own magicians told him. Exodus 10, verse 7, not only that, but his servants, "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." Look what they say, "Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?" What's wrong with you?

Can't you see this country is being wiped out? He wouldn't listen to God. He wouldn't listen to Moses. He wouldn't listen to Aaron. He wouldn't listen to his own servants. Wow. I want to tell you something. I'm absolutely astounded, and I marvel at the stubbornness and the rebellion of the Pharaoh of Exodus, but I'm also marveling at the stubbornness of modern-day Pharaohs who refuse to listen to God, who refuse to listen to common sense, who refuse to see what is happening. And I'm not just simply referring to politicians, although that would be certainly applicable unto them, but I'm also talking about professing Christians who refuse to hear, who refuse to heed, who refuse to obey.

Pharaohs Refuse to Humble Themselves

Weaver argues that Pharaoh's refusal to honor and hearken stems from pride and an unwillingness to humble himself before God (Exodus 10:3), which leads to exalting himself against God's people (Exodus 9:17; Psalm 94:20-21).

So let's put this down where it belongs. That pride, arrogance, and haughtiness stem from a rebellious and wicked heart. So what we do is we fail to soberly assess ourselves. We fail to soberly assess our skills. We fail to soberly assess our knowledge. We tend to think that we know better than God. We tend to think that we really don't need Him. And look where we are today. Look at all the knowledge we have. Look at all the technology that we have. You know what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 8? The Bible says knowledge puffeth up. Knowledge for knowledge sake just makes pride and arrogance and haughtiness prevalent. That's all. Look at what people are...

Do you understand that our own government, as well as independent researchers, are now trying to make people transhuman. We're going to combine artificial intelligence with humanity and we're going to be immortal. We're going to transcend somehow our humanness. And according to them, they're going to fix it where we can live forever. They're playing God. That's exactly what they're doing.

Now, I'm just simply pointing out knowledge puffeth up, and we think that we know better than God. Now, I want you to look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, because there is another application of this, but I want you to see how it's spelled out. In Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, the Bible says this,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 10:3

"And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews."

Look at this.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 10:3

"How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me."

So Pharaoh's failure to honor God and to hearken unto God was a result of the fact that he failed to humble himself before God. Now, here's my question. What happens when a Pharaoh, a ruler, fails to humble himself before God? Well, look back in Exodus 9 and verse 17. Look at this. Exodus 9, verse 17. God says, "And yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go." So when a man refuses to humble himself before God, he will exalt himself against the people. Now, I've pointed this out on numerous occasions, but I have to point it out again in light of this message.

Psalm 94, verses 20 and 21. The question is asked, "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" or by law, which frameth mischief by law. In other words, a wicked civil government makes sin legal. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God, then that wicked civil government makes sin legal or lawful? And the answer, of course, is no.

But listen to the next verse. Listen, if you would, please, to verse 21. "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." What did God just say? When a wicked civil government refuses to humble itself before God and it makes sin legal, then ultimately it attacks the innocent and it attacks the people of God. Why? They gather themselves together. They plan. They conspire.

They want to do this. So in refusing then to humble yourself before God as a Pharaoh, someone with power and someone with force and the ability to exercise that force. If they cannot strike at God, they strike at God's people. We don't recognize God. We don't recognize you. We hate him. We hate you. That's what our Lord said. They hated me. You know, they hated you. They hated me before they hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you, but you're not of the world. Therefore, they hate you. That's what our Lord said. And so a Pharaoh then, is always going to fail to humble himself before God and therefore he's always going to exalt himself against the people of God either in an ungodly attitude or ungodly speech or sometimes just ungodly actions. Wow. Here's something you can put down. Humility always results in submission and obedience to God. Whereas pride always results in rebellion and defiance. So listen to me. Here are three things that make a Pharaoh. We're not talking about the Pharaoh of the Exodus particularly, but modern-day Pharaohs. Three things that make a Pharaoh. A refusal to honor God, a refusal to hearken to God, and a refusal to humble themselves before God.

The Result: A Hardened Heart

Weaver explains that refusing to honor, hearken, and humble oneself before God inevitably results in a hardened heart, both judicially and consequentially (Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7), making sin easier over time.

What is the result of that? Here we go. The result is Pharaohs always have hardened hearts. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible just for a moment. But listen to me. When you talk about the hardening of a heart, there is a judicial hardening of the heart. Something that God does because of sin and judgment. And there is the normal, consequential hardening of the heart, something that man does that is normal and natural because of his sin and his disobedience. So I want you to see what the Bible says about this. So if you look in Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, the Bible said, "And he," that would be God, "hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearken not unto them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"He refuses to let the people go."

So in the one sense of the word, God judicially hardened his heart. In another sense of the word, the consequence of his rebellion, his heart was continually being hardened. Skip down to verse 22 and 23. "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened." Not necessarily that God did it here, but this is the consequence of it.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"Neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house."

Look at this. "Neither did he set his heart to this also." He's not going to listen. Nothing is going to impress him. His mind is made up. That's all there is to it. If you look in Exodus chapter 9, and verse 7, Exodus chapter 9 verse 7,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

Wow. Now let me give you the truth here it is. The more you sin, the easier it is to sin. That's a fact. The more you disobey, the easier it is to disobey. The more you disregard the Word of God, the easier it is to disregard the Word of God.

When you first begin sinning and doing things that you know that are wrong and wicked, your conscience smites you. It comes to your mind, this is wrong, this is wicked. I ought not to be doing this. I shouldn't be doing this. By the way, I hope you remember this, because I've taught you in time past that your heart is your mind, but your conscience is also your mind. The word conscience in the English is con-science. Con is a preposition which means with, and science means to know. So the word conscience in English means, that which you know with. The Greek word for conscience is suneidēsis. Sun is a preposition which means with and eidēsis means to know. Your conscience is that which you know with. And so when you do things that are wrong, initially, your conscience smites you. Your conscience convicts you. Your conscience tells you it's wrong, it's wicked, you ought not to be doing this.

But the more you sin, the more you press down and suppress that knowledge and that warning and that light. And as long as you continue in your sin and your rebellion, it only gets easier and easier. Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore. The Bible talks about a seared conscience. So when people can sin and never be convicted, their conscience in that particular area is seared. So mark this down. Whenever you refuse to honor God, hearken to God, humble yourself before God, the result will inevitably be a hardened heart. You remember what the Bible says about the Israelites there in the book of Isaiah? He said, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them." It's in their faces. They were happy with their rebellion. They were proud of their sins. The show of their countenance doth witness against them. It's just like you can look at a dope user and tell he is that because of the show of his countenance.

Application: Pharaohs Hate the Shepherd

Weaver connects the Egyptian abomination of shepherds (Genesis 43:32; 46:34) to the Pharaoh's hatred of Christ the Good Shepherd, and warns that living like a Pharaoh leads to death and judgment (Jude 14-15).

Now, let me make a couple of applications. I want you to think about this because I've been talking about a Pharaoh, and not just the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but modern-day Pharaohs as well. You know that the scripture teaches concerning Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. You say, yes, I understand that, but what in the world has that got to do with the lesson that you're teaching on Pharaohs? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Genesis, chapter 43. Genesis 43.

Now you will remember that Joseph was second in command in Egypt and although he had the attire of an Egyptian and now he had shaved himself clean like an Egyptian and now he's entertaining his brethren and the Egyptians are not eating with Joseph and Joseph is not eating with his brethren for a particular reason, but if you look in Genesis chapter 43, notice if you would please, verse 32, what the Scripture says there, "And they set on for him by himself," that is, Joseph, "and for them," that is, the Egyptians by themselves, or his brethren, "and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination of the Egyptians." So the Egyptians then set bread on for Joseph by himself, because he was actually Hebrew and they knew that, although he didn't look like one at that particular time. And so they set on for his brothers who were Hebrews, and then they set on for themselves all differently because they're not going to commune with the Hebrew.

They're not going to commune with anybody who looks like someone that believes in God or is involved in a covenant with God. They're just not going to commune with them. Now, hang on. Turn right on over to Genesis chapter 46 and look, if you would please, at verse 34, because Joseph now has his brethren and his father there and he wants them to go to the land of Goshen which is the best part and look what he tells them in verse thirty-four. Let's read verse thirty-three. "And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and say, What is your occupation? That you shall say, Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers, that you may dwell in the land of Goshen for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So, all Egyptians, and especially the Pharaohs, hated shepherds. Wow. Now, if you are a Pharaoh, then your attitude is expressed by those people in Luke chapter 19 and verse 14, "and his citizens sent word after him, We will not have this man to reign over us." That is the attitude of a Pharaoh. He is not going to have Jesus Christ to reign over him. A Pharaoh believes that he is God and he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.

And therefore, he refuses to bow to Him and obey Him. Moreover, they hate anyone and everyone who worships and obeys Him. Because the obedience of those to the Lord Jesus Christ exposes the disobedience to those who hate the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, they're going to separate themselves. We're not going to be around you. We don't want to be around you. Now, here's another thing. Pharaohs always make hard speeches against God.

You need to read some of the things in the book of Exodus that Pharaoh thought and Pharaoh said. But let me show you in the book of Jude, Jude 1, there's only one chapter there, but Jude is right before the book of Revelation, and look, if you would please, at verses 14 and 15. Look at what the Bible says about the ungodly. Jude 1, verse 14. "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, The Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." There are indeed ungodly speeches made against the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you this. If you do not wish to end up like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to suffer like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be judged like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be destroyed like a Pharaoh, do not live and act like a Pharaoh, because all Pharaohs end up in death and judgment. So that means you must honor the Lord Jesus Christ. You must hearken to the Lord Jesus Christ. You must humble yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ. And moreover, it means, therefore, you will not have a hardened heart. Your heart will be tender. Your heart will be malleable, and you can be molded according to the Word of God. You'll be pliable like the clay in the hands of the potter. But if you live like a Pharaoh and act like a Pharaoh, you'll die like a Pharaoh.

Conclusion: Do Not Live Like a Pharaoh

Weaver exhorts listeners to honor, hearken to, and humble themselves before Christ to avoid the fate of Pharaoh, closing with a prayer for grace to follow Christ rather than seek temporary riches, pleasures, and power.

So, let me leave you with this one sentence. If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh, every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd, because the Pharaoh refuses to honor him, hearken to him, and humble himself before him. It does not pay to be a Pharaoh, unless you count temporary riches, temporary pleasures, and temporary power greater than eternal life. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray today that You would help us. Help us immensely in such a way, Lord, that we will not be Pharaohs. We'll have no desire to be a Pharaoh, that we'd rather be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Moses said, esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than all of Egypt. Give us, Lord, your grace and your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Nature of a Pharaoh

Summary: A Pharaoh is characterized by great riches, sinful pleasures, and absolute power, and every fallen person desires to be one.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh... Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power.'

Refusal to Honor God

Summary: Pharaohs refuse to honor the one true God because they do not know Him and consider themselves sovereign.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Pharaohs refused to honor God. Pharaoh of the Exodus said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" So the reason then that this Pharaoh did not honor God was simply because he did not know him.'

Refusal to Hearken to God

Summary: Pharaohs will not listen to God's word, and true hearing is demonstrated by obedience.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'A leading characteristic of any Pharaoh is he will not hearken to the word of God... No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God.'

Refusal to Humble Oneself

Summary: Pharaohs' pride prevents them from humbling themselves before God, leading to exaltation against God's people.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Pharaoh's failure to honor God and to hearken unto God was a result of the fact that he failed to humble himself before God... When a man refuses to humble himself before God, he will exalt himself against the people.'

The Hardened Heart

Summary: Refusing to honor, hearken, and humble oneself before God inevitably results in a hardened heart, making sin progressively easier.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Whenever you refuse to honor God, hearken to God, humble yourself before God, the result will inevitably be a hardened heart... The more you sin, the easier it is to sin.'

Pharaohs Hate the Shepherd

Summary: Pharaohs hate Christ the Good Shepherd and those who follow Him, just as Egyptians abhorred shepherds.

Evidence: Weaver notes: 'Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So, all Egyptians, and especially the Pharaohs, hated shepherds... A Pharaoh believes that he is God and he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd.'

Judgment of Pharaohs

Summary: Those who live like Pharaohs will face death and judgment, as seen in the plagues and Jude's prophecy.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'If you do not wish to end up like a Pharaoh... do not live and act like a Pharaoh, because all Pharaohs end up in death and judgment.'

Key Arguments

Every fallen person desires to be a Pharaoh

Summary: Weaver argues that the desire for riches, pleasures, and power is universal among sinful humanity.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh... Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power.'

Pharaohs seek power, not authority

Summary: Weaver distinguishes between God-given authority (limited) and raw power (force), asserting that Pharaohs pursue power to control others.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power... If you have power, then you can take whatever you want.'

Pharaohs disregard human life

Summary: Weaver uses Exodus 1 to show that Pharaohs value only their own house and are willing to kill the innocent, paralleling modern abortion and euthanasia.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Abortionists are Pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves... He could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.'

Ignorance of God is the root of Pharaoh's wickedness

Summary: Weaver argues that Pharaohs do not know the true God and therefore refuse to honor or obey Him.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Pharaohs refused to honor God... because he did not know him. He did not know the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, immortal God of heaven and earth.'

True hearing is tied to obedience

Summary: Weaver contends that no one truly hears God's word unless they obey it, citing 1 Samuel 15:22 and Matthew 21:28-31.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God... You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God.'

Pride leads to exaltation against God's people

Summary: Weaver argues that when rulers refuse to humble themselves before God, they inevitably attack the righteous, as seen in Psalm 94:20-21.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'When a wicked civil government refuses to humble itself before God and it makes sin legal, then ultimately it attacks the innocent and it attacks the people of God.'

Sin hardens the heart progressively

Summary: Weaver explains that repeated sin sears the conscience and makes disobedience easier, leading to a hardened heart.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'The more you sin, the easier it is to sin... Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore. The Bible talks about a seared conscience.'

Pharaohs hate Christ and His followers

Summary: Weaver argues that just as Egyptians abhorred shepherds, modern Pharaohs hate Christ the Shepherd and those who obey Him.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'A Pharaoh believes that he is God and he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.'

Scripture References

Exodus 5:1-2

Context: Opening text: Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh to let Israel go; Pharaoh asks 'Who is the Lord?' and refuses.

Exodus 12:12

Context: God's judgment against the gods of Egypt during the Passover.

Hebrews 11:24-26

Context: Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing affliction over the pleasures of sin and esteeming Christ's reproach greater than Egypt's treasures.

Genesis 41:41-44

Context: Pharaoh gives Joseph authority over Egypt, demonstrating the absolute power of a Pharaoh.

Romans 13:1

Context: The powers that be are ordained of God; Weaver notes the Greek word exousias means authority/jurisdiction.

Exodus 1:15-16

Context: Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to kill male infants.

Exodus 1:22

Context: Pharaoh commands all his people to cast every Hebrew son into the river.

Exodus 1:8-12

Context: A new king arises who does not know Joseph, fears Israel's growth, and oppresses them.

1 Kings 20:23,28

Context: Syrians thought God was only God of the hills; God proves He is God of valleys too.

John 17:3

Context: Eternal life is knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ.

1 Samuel 15:22

Context: To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Matthew 21:28-31

Context: Parable of two sons: one said he would not go but repented and went; the other said he would go but did not. True obedience is doing the father's will.

Exodus 7:4,22

Context: Pharaoh would not hearken; his heart was hardened.

Exodus 11:9

Context: Pharaoh shall not hearken so that God's wonders may be multiplied.

Exodus 10:7

Context: Pharaoh's servants ask how long he will let Moses be a snare, noting Egypt is destroyed.

Exodus 15:26

Context: If Israel diligently hearkens and obeys, God will put none of the Egyptian diseases on them.

Exodus 10:3

Context: God asks Pharaoh how long he will refuse to humble himself.

Exodus 9:17

Context: Pharaoh exalts himself against God's people by not letting them go.

Psalm 94:20-21

Context: The throne of iniquity frames mischief by law and gathers against the righteous, condemning innocent blood.

Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

Context: Pharaoh's heart is hardened, both by God judicially and as a consequence of his rebellion.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 5:2

Context: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry: 'Ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world.'

Augustine's conversion

Context: Weaver references Augustine: 'I heard the gospel all of my life, and then one day I heard it.'

Russian invasion of Afghanistan

Context: Weaver recounts how Afghan fighters used bows and arrows to bring down Russian helicopters, illustrating that expensive weapons are not needed to fight tyranny.

American War for Independence

Context: Weaver notes colonial ancestors defeated the greatest European power without vast expensive weaponry.

Joe Biden's F-16 comment

Context: Weaver mentions Biden's statement that to take on the federal government you need an F-16, calling it a lie and an attempt to bully.

Bill Gates and polio vaccines in Africa

Context: Weaver references a controversy where polio vaccines supplied by Bill Gates allegedly contained sterilizing agents.

COVID vaccine sterilization claims

Context: Weaver states that the COVID vaccine is said to be sterilizing men and women.

Transhumanism and AI

Context: Weaver mentions government and researchers attempting to make people transhuman, combining AI with humanity to achieve immortality.

Important Quotes

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.

Significance: This is the key verse (Exodus 5:2) that defines Pharaoh's attitude of defiance and ignorance of God, which Weaver uses as the foundation for the entire sermon.

Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh.

Significance: Weaver's central thesis that the desire for riches, pleasures, and power is universal in sinful humanity.

Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power.

Significance: Highlights the distinction between God-ordained authority and raw, coercive power that characterizes tyrants.

Ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world.

Significance: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry to emphasize that Pharaoh's root problem is not knowing or valuing God.

No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God.

Significance: Weaver's argument that true hearing is inseparable from obedience, a key point in his exposition of Pharaoh's refusal to hearken.

How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?

Significance: God's direct question to Pharaoh (Exodus 10:3) that exposes the pride at the heart of his rebellion.

The more you sin, the easier it is to sin.

Significance: Weaver's summary of the progressive hardening of the heart through repeated disobedience.

If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh, every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd.

Significance: The concluding antithesis that encapsulates the mutual hostility between Christ and those who set themselves up as gods.

Discussion Questions

In what ways do you see the desire for riches, pleasures, and power manifesting in your own life or in society today?

Context: Weaver argues that every fallen person wishes to be a Pharaoh, seeking great riches, pleasures, and power.

How does the distinction between authority and power help us evaluate the actions of civil government?

Context: Weaver explains that God gives limited authority to institutions, but Pharaohs seek unlimited power.

Why do you think Pharaohs are so willing to disregard the lives of others, and how does this compare to modern issues like abortion and euthanasia?

Context: Weaver connects Pharaoh's command to kill Hebrew infants with modern practices that devalue life.

What does it mean to truly 'hear' God's Word, and how is that different from merely listening?

Context: Weaver insists that no one really hears God's Word until they obey it, using 1 Samuel 15:22 and Matthew 21.

In what areas of your life are you most tempted to refuse to humble yourself before God?

Context: Weaver identifies pride as the root of Pharaoh's rebellion and warns against exalting oneself against God's people.

How have you experienced the hardening effect of sin in your own heart, and what steps can you take to maintain a tender conscience?

Context: Weaver describes how repeated sin sears the conscience and makes disobedience easier.

Why do you think the Egyptians considered shepherds an abomination, and how does that relate to the world's hatred of Christ and His followers?

Context: Weaver uses Genesis 43:32 and 46:34 to illustrate the Pharaoh's hatred of the Shepherd and His people.

What practical steps can you take to honor, hearken to, and humble yourself before Christ this week?

Context: Weaver concludes with an exhortation to avoid living like a Pharaoh by submitting to Christ.

Applications

Examine your desires for riches, pleasures, and power

Summary: Recognize that the desire to be a Pharaoh is natural to fallen humanity, and repent of seeking these things apart from God.

Distinguish between God-given authority and raw power

Summary: Evaluate whether you are exercising legitimate authority or merely seeking power to control others.

Evidence: Weaver explains: 'Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power... If you have power, then you can take whatever you want.'

Value all human life as created by God

Summary: Reject the Pharaoh-like mindset that treats others as disposable for personal gain or convenience.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'Abortionists are Pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves... He could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.'

Cultivate a true knowledge of God through Christ

Summary: Avoid the ignorance and contempt of God that characterized Pharaoh by pursuing a relationship with the one true God through Jesus.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Pharaohs refused to honor God... because he did not know him... Without a knowledge of the one true, the living God through Jesus Christ, men are lost.'

Obey God's Word as the evidence of true hearing

Summary: Do not merely listen to Scripture but put it into practice, recognizing that obedience is the proof of hearing.

Evidence: Weaver states: 'No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God... You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God.'

Humble yourself before God in every area of life

Summary: Resist the pride that leads to rebellion and instead submit to God's authority, recognizing your creatureliness.

Evidence: Weaver says: 'Pharaoh's failure to honor God and to hearken unto God was a result of the fact that he failed to humble himself before God... Humility always results in submission and obedience to God.'

Guard against the hardening of your heart through sin

Summary: Be aware that repeated sin sears the conscience, and actively repent to maintain a tender heart toward God.

Evidence: Weaver warns: 'The more you sin, the easier it is to sin... Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore.'

Identify with Christ the Shepherd rather than with Pharaoh

Summary: Choose to follow the Good Shepherd, even if it means being despised by the world, rather than seeking the temporary benefits of a Pharaoh.

Evidence: Weaver concludes: 'If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh, every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd... It does not pay to be a Pharaoh, unless you count temporary riches, temporary pleasures, and temporary power greater than eternal life.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:27:04Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T10:56:29Z

Clean Transcript

So, You Want To Be a Pharaoh

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

I will say to the book of Exodus chapter 5, and we'll read the first two verses, Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. You have to listen carefully to the title of the message because I think you'll see the implication of it before I finish today. The title of the message is, "So, You Want to Be a Pharaoh?" So, You Want to Be a Pharaoh? Look in Exodus chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, "...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. 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." Here's an opening question. What comes to your mind when you think of Pharaoh? And do not simply content yourselves with thinking about the Pharaoh of the Exodus. There were many Pharaohs. The word Pharaoh just simply means great house, and it was the common title for the kings of Egypt.
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The Pharaohs were kings. They were not only kings, they were pagan kings. And moreover, they also viewed themselves as gods. So if you look in Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12, you'll find when God sent those ten plagues against Egypt, he sent them particularly against the gods of Egypt as well. In Exodus 12 and verse 12, God said, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast, now look at this, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord." So the judgments were not just simply against the Egyptians and against the people of the land, per se. It was also against the gods of Egypt. And you have to remember that Egypt was polytheistic, and they worshipped many gods. They worshipped the bull. They worshipped birds. They worshipped the sun god. And they also worshipped the Pharaoh because Pharaoh himself claimed to be a god. And yet this was the final plague when God slew the firstborn, and you found out that Pharaoh could not even preserve his firstborn child alive, certainly not all the others in the land of Egypt as well. So clearly then
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he was not a god. But I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, because in this passage there are several truths here that will show you what it was like to be a Pharaoh. In Hebrews chapter 11, beginning there with verse 24, look at what the scripture says. Hebrews 11, verse 24, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season."
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"Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." So let me give you three things here that should be very clear and very obvious. First of all, being a Pharaoh involved what you and I would call great riches, because the king of Egypt then had access to whatever was in the land of Egypt. Moreover, he claimed to own everything in Egypt, including the land. So obviously, if you were a Pharaoh, you could have whatever you desired, whatever you wanted, because you had very extensive riches as well. The second thing that is pointed out in this verse is that Pharaoh not only had great riches, he also had great pleasures.
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Because the Bible says that Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. So I want to point out the fact that Pharaoh then could enjoy any sinful pleasure that he desired, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of the heart. It didn't matter. And there was no one to rebuke him. There was no one to reprove him because he could do simply as he pleased. But the point is, it was indeed temporary. He may have been a Pharaoh, but every Pharaoh died. So he could only enjoy those pleasures, those great pleasures, for a brief period of time. So a Pharaoh had great riches, a Pharaoh had great pleasures, and then thirdly, a Pharaoh had great power.
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So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 41 it is, and I think you can see the extent of this power beginning there with verse 41. So it's Genesis 41 and verse 41. "Pharaoh says unto Joseph, See, I've set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt." Now watch this, "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt." So he said, I have such power and I have such control, whatever you say is what is going to happen. No man's going to lift up his hand. No man's going to lift up his foot without your say so.
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Now, I've talked about just very quickly that a Pharaoh had great riches. He had great pleasures and also he had great power. Here's the truth of the matter. Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh. Stop and think about this. Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power, that is for sure. In fact, if you want to just simply look around and select a certain group, notice our politicians. Because obviously many of them get extremely wealthy very quickly. Although it may be done deceitfully, fraudulently, but there's great riches there. There's great pleasures there, because obviously they do as they please. And then, of course, there is great power, because what they're doing is basically demanding that we, the people, submit to their every whim and their every desire, because they're endeavoring to exercise the power of a Pharaoh.
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Now, I don't know if you remember this, but I'm going to reiterate it. I told you before that there is a difference between authority and power. You remember in Romans chapter 13 verse 1, the Bible tells you very clearly that every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. Well, the word powers there happens to be the Greek word exousias, which actually means authority and jurisdiction. So literally it says there is no authority but of God. There is no jurisdiction but of God. And so God then basically only ordained three institutions and gave them authority and jurisdiction.
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He created the family, He created the church, and He created what you and I would call civil government. And He appointed these three institutions, and He ordained each one to have a certain degree of authority or jurisdiction. But He not only gave each institution authority and jurisdiction, He also limited that authority and jurisdiction. So no institution, whether it is a family, whether it is a church or whether it is a government, has any authority or jurisdiction from God to go over and above and beyond that which God has given to it. So God then has set the limits of each one of these institutions. Now, Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power. You see, you can have power without having authority.
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So I could look at Joshua and say, Joshua, you look to be a very rich man, and I know you've got plenty of money, so just give me your money. And he says, I'm sorry, you're probably deceived. But I said, no, no, no, I think you've got plenty of money, just give me your money. Well, he says, you have no authority to demand my money, and I don't. But if I have a Glock and he doesn't, I have power to take his money. You see what I'm saying? There's a difference, then, between authority and power. So Pharaohs, then, are interested in power. They're not interested in authority. Because if you have power, then you can take whatever you want.
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If you have power, it's manifested in the fact that you can bully and you can manipulate and you can control others. So power then allows someone to manipulate and to bully and to control others. Let me give you a good illustration. I'm sure that you remember when Joe Biden said years ago that if you want to take on the federal government, you better have an F-16. You remember that?
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One of these mighty war planes. You better have an F-16. Well, the truth of the matter is, that's a lie. And that was an attempt to bully and manipulate people. You remember when Russia invaded Afghanistan and the Afghanis fought against Russia and defeated Russia? And the Afghanis did not have F-16s. And I read one article, it was just absolutely astounding to me, how the Afghanis brought down those mighty Russian helicopters.
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I don't know how much those things cost, but all their firepower was basically useless in face of a simple instrument. The Afghanis would hide up on a mountaintop in bushes and wait for that helicopter to come over fairly low, right over the mountaintop, and then they would shoot an arrow from a bow that happened to have a rope attached to it, right through the rotors of that helicopter, and the rope would get tangled and the helicopter would come down, and guess what? They didn't need all the weaponry of that helicopter right there. Wow. Wow. They didn't need an F-16. Just the bow and arrow took care of it.
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And stop and think about this. During the war for independence, our colonial ancestors fought and won a war against the greatest power in Europe at the time, because England had the greatest army that existed at that particular time. So, obviously and clearly, no, you do not need a vast array of expensive toys to fight against tyranny.
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Now, let me just tell you, it is not my intent today to deal with tyranny. There is indeed a very important point I want to make before I get on with what I do want to teach today, and that is this. I want you to understand that Pharaohs are not concerned with the lives of others. The lives of others mean absolutely nothing to a Pharaoh. The only thing a Pharaoh is concerned about is his life and his house. You remember the name Pharaoh or the title Pharaoh means great house. So he's concerned about his house. He's not necessarily concerned about your house.
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So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter one, notice, if you would please, verses 15 and 16. Exodus chapter 1, verse 15, "And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then you shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live."
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So, he's not interested in the lives of anyone except himself. Now, I want you to notice, if you would please, he tells these midwives that they are basically to murder any male child. If you'll skip down to verse 22, when that did not work, "and Pharaoh charged all his people saying, Every son that is born you shall cast in the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." So now you have every Egyptian that has the power and authority, quote unquote, from Pharaoh, although it's an illegitimate authority, but they have the power to take any Hebrew male child and drown him in the river. And the interesting thing is, when he said he commanded all of his people, you have to remember that the Hebrews were considered his people because they were his slaves. And when you read Acts chapter 7, Stephen says that some of these people actually did indeed drown their own children. But Amram and Jochebed did not drown Moses, and they hid him in the river, in that ark. So the point being is here, he could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.
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So let me put it to you like this. Abortionists are Pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves. They want to determine who lives and who dies. In fact, unhappily, a lot of doctors are like that today. When you stop and think about euthanasia, that's the same principle. I don't know if you know what the word euthanasia means, but eu is a Greek preposition which means good or well, and thanatos is a Greek word for death. Euthanasia just simply means a good death. In other words, we determine when it's going to be good for you to die, and we will determine what is good for you in dying. You will have a good death. You will have a well death because we will put you to sleep permanently very easily. So that's a Pharaoh. He wants to have the power of life and death in his hand. Now, here's the question. Here's the question. What makes Pharaohs like that? What makes Pharaohs so wicked and so vile? And what makes the Pharaoh to be concerned only, listen carefully, with his own safety and his own security and the extension of his own house?
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So if you look in Exodus chapter 1, beginning there with verse 8, look at this. "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come on, and let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when there falleth out any war, they join also with our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land."
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"Therefore did they set over them taskmasters to afflict them, with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh the treasure cities of Pithom and Rameses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew." Look at this, "and they were grieved because of the children of Israel." Isn't that interesting? Here's the Pharaoh and those in power being grieved over the fact that someone is multiplying, someone is progressing, someone is being blessed.
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I hope you're trying to just put together and see the big picture. A Pharaoh is not concerned with the lives of others. To a Pharaoh, anyone else is nothing more than a serf or a slave or cannon fodder. Lord, you're a sheep to be shorn. You're just someone to be used so that you may advance their position and their power. They could care less about anything else. So when you think about this, the word Pharaoh means great house. I suppose it can also mean great White House as well. When you think about this, if you genuinely believe that our government is really concerned with your life and your health and your economic prosperity, all I can say is you're either deceived or you've been asleep for a hundred years and you don't know what's going on. For instance, those who trust in the power of the Pharaoh discover that their vaccines are not safe and effective. Unless you count being sick and dead safe and effective. Dead, that's out the way. They're safe and effective.
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They will safely kill you. They will safely make you ill. Oh, what about Jonathan Farrow's social security? You say, well, I've paid in social security for 40, 50 years. I want to get something out of it. I understand that. But can you imagine if you had taken the same amount that you paid in Social Security, and for that 40 or 50 years you bought silver and gold, how much would you have today? You wouldn't need Social Security, I can assure you that. You wouldn't need anybody, you wouldn't need anything, because you'd be far better off than you are now. So the point I'm trying to make is this.
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When a Pharaoh sees that the population is getting too large for him to control then he has to thin it down and thin it out and they purvey the myth of overpopulation and so we have to control this. I hope you remember a few years ago there was a big row over the fact that Bill Gates had supplied polio vaccines for folks in Africa and then they came to find out that that polio vaccine also had materials in it that caused the young girls to be sterile. Wow. Isn't that amazing? And now that's exactly what they're saying about the COVID vaccine.
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It is sterilizing men and women as well. So here's my question. Why are Pharaohs like that? Well, the Bible gives us an answer. So if you look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter five, notice, if you would, verses one and two again, the Bible says, "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. 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." Now, I'm going to give you three truths about a Pharaoh. And those three truths are going to lead to a fourth truth. But here we go. First of all, Pharaohs refused to honor God. Pharaoh of the Exodus said, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" So the reason then that this Pharaoh did not honor God was simply because he did not know him. He did not know the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, immortal God of heaven and earth.
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He knew his false gods, but he did not know the one true, the living God. So note this question that they will ask, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" So here's basically what he's saying. Your God is nothing to me. I do not recognize him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. He may be your God, but He has no authority over me. So I do not know Him. I do not recognize Him. Therefore I'm not going to obey Him. I'm not going to let Israel go. So Pharaoh is basically saying this, I am the sovereign Lord of Egypt and I own no superior. There's no one greater than me. I am the sovereign over Egypt. Since I recognize no sovereign, and especially you, God of you Hebrews, why should I obey him?
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What claim does he have upon me? And Pharaoh's attitude was, I have no obligation to obey him. I have no obligation to serve him. So what Pharaoh was doing, and you have to remember now, that Egypt was a polytheistic land. They believed in many gods. The heathen in those days believed in what were known as tutelary gods. That is, every area had its own little god, and that own little god only had power over his certain area. You remember in 1 Kings 20, verse 23, when the Syrians then came and attacked Israel in the hills, Israel defeated them. Wipe them out. So now the Syrians are planning coming back and attacking Israel on the plains. Now listen to this.
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This is what they said. God sends a prophet to the king of Israel and he says this, "And there came a man of God and spake unto the king of Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he's not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." So they said the reason we were defeated over here, Israel's God happens to be the God of the hills. But now we're going to fight against them in the valleys. We're going to fight against them in the plain. And we've got to win because they can't be over the hills and over the valleys as well. God said, I'll show you. I'm over everything.
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Now, let me give you a quote from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry is quoting and commenting on Exodus chapter 5, verse 2. And so, here's what he says. "Who is Jehovah?" He's talking about Pharaoh's statement. "Who is Jehovah? I neither know him, nor care for him, neither value him, or fear him. It is a hard name that he never heard before. But he resolves that it shall be no bugbear to him."
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Now listen, "Israel was now a despised, oppressed people, looked on as the tail of the nation, and by the character which they bore, Pharaoh makes his estimate of their god and concludes that he made no better a figure among the gods than his people did among the nations. Again, ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world."
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"Men know not the Lord, or have very low and mean thoughts of him, and therefore they obey not his voice, neither will they do anything for him." Then he comments on this, "that I should obey his voice." Now listen to this. This is the attitude of a Pharaoh. "I, of a great people, obey the God of Israel, of a poor enslaved people, shall I that rule the Israel of God be ruled by the God of Israel?" Wow!
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No, it is below me. I scorn to submit to Him. Wow! Do you realize that is the attitude of every Pharaoh? Why in the world would I bow to God? I am over Him. Unsaved men who like to be Pharaohs honor themselves and they honor false gods, but they refuse to honor the one true, the living God, because they do not know him. If you remember John 17 in verse three, our Lord said, "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the one true, the living God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." So without a knowledge of the one true, the living God through Jesus Christ, men are lost and they know not God. So the Pharaohs then refuse to honor God. Here's the second thing. If you look in Exodus chapter 5 in verse 2, Pharaohs refused to hearken unto God. "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." A leading characteristic of any Pharaoh is he will not hearken to the word of God.
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He will not heed the word of God. Over and over in the book of Exodus, God demanded that Pharaoh and the Egyptians listen to Him. Well, they did not. Today's Pharaohs are no different. They refuse to hearken unto God. They refuse to hear Him. And let me point something out. I could also say they refuse to obey Him. But in reality and in truth, no one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God. Let me say this another way. No one ever really hears the word of God until he obeys the word of God.
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I just thought of a quote. It was Augustine, the early church father, who said, "I heard the gospel all of my life, and then one day I heard it." Well, you know, the truth of the matter is this. In 1 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 22, when Samuel was rebuking Saul, when Saul was claiming to have obeyed God, and then the sheep started bleating and the cows started lowing, and he said, "If you've obeyed God, what means the bleating of the sheep in my ear and the lowing of the oxen?" Well, here's what he told him. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Listen to this.
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He went on to say, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams." So the fat of rams was the chief part of the sacrifice which was always given to God and now he's taking hearkening and obedience and he's tying them together. He says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams. Now, let me give you a New Testament illustration.
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If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. And I want you to see. You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God. So in Matthew chapter 21, and let's begin reading there verse 28. Matthew 21 and verse 28, look at this. Our Lord says, Matthew 21, verse 28, "But what think ye?" He's talking to the Pharisees.
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"A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. And he answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." In other words, the publicans, the harlots repented and obeyed like this first son, whereas the Pharisees were saying that we are obedient to God, when in reality, they were not. So, God is telling us, if we really hear the Word of God, if we really heed the Word of God, then of course, we're going to obey the Word of God.
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So, I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 7, and I want you to see this, how that God has repeatedly told Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh is not going to listen, he's not going to hearken. So in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 4, we read this. Look what it says. Exodus 7 verse 4, "But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." He said, Pharaoh is not going to listen to you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 22. Again, he says it. "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord had said." Then if you'll look in Exodus chapter 11 and notice verse 9, Exodus 11 verse 9, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."
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Now let me tell you something. Pharaoh would not listen to God. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron. He would not even listen to his own counselors. He would not listen to anyone with what you and I would call common sense. For instance, look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 7 at what his own magicians told him. Exodus 10, verse 7, not only that, but his servants, "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." Look what they say, "Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?" What's wrong with you?
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Can't you see this country is being wiped out? He wouldn't listen to God. He wouldn't listen to Moses. He wouldn't listen to Aaron. He wouldn't listen to his own servants. Wow. I want to tell you something. I'm absolutely astounded, and I marvel at the stubbornness and the rebellion of the Pharaoh of Exodus, but I'm also marveling at the stubbornness of modern-day Pharaohs who refuse to listen to God, who refuse to listen to common sense, who refuse to see what is happening. And I'm not just simply referring to politicians, although that would be certainly applicable unto them, but I'm also talking about professing Christians who refuse to hear, who refuse to heed, who refuse to obey.
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And they seem to think that somehow they know better than God and that they can escape the punishment of God. They do not listen to Him because they are a Pharaoh. That is, they are a god unto themselves. Now, God's people will listen to Him. So, if you look in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 15, look at verse 26. Notice how this is all tied together. Look what God says, "And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, that is, you've got to pay attention, you've got to diligently hearken, look how it ties to obedience, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and
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keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee." But note, if you would, how he likens and connects hearkening to doing and hearing to obeying. It's all right there. You see, this is the conclusion that we have to come to, that God is sovereign, that God is God and God must be obeyed regardless of your feelings, regardless of your thoughts, regardless of your situation, regardless of your circumstances, God must be obeyed.
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He's the creator and you're the creature. Wow! He's the sovereign and you're the servant. He's the king and you're the citizen. He is the father and you're the child. So, we must hear and we must heed, but a Pharaoh will not. Here's the third thing. We notice in Exodus chapter 5, in verse 2, that a Pharaoh will not honor God, a Pharaoh will not hearken unto God. But here's why. Because a Pharaoh refuses to humble himself. Look what he said again in verse 2. "And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey the voice? What? His voice to let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Now the reason Pharaoh would not honor God and hearken to God was because he would not humble himself before God. In other words, he refused to recognize God as his superior. He refused to recognize God as the one true and living God. This points out the pride and the arrogance and the haughtiness of the Pharaoh of the Exodus and also the pride and arrogance and haughtiness of modern-day Pharaohs as well.
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So let's put this down where it belongs. That pride, arrogance, and haughtiness stem from a rebellious and wicked heart. So what we do is we fail to soberly assess ourselves. We fail to soberly assess our skills. We fail to soberly assess our knowledge. We tend to think that we know better than God. We tend to think that we really don't need Him. And look where we are today. Look at all the knowledge we have. Look at all the technology that we have. You know what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 8? The Bible says knowledge puffeth up. Knowledge for knowledge sake just makes pride and arrogance and haughtiness prevalent. That's all. Look at what people are...
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Do you understand that our own government, as well as independent researchers, are now trying to make people transhuman. We're going to combine artificial intelligence with humanity and we're going to be immortal. We're going to transcend somehow our humanness. And according to them, they're going to fix it where we can live forever. They're playing God. That's exactly what they're doing.
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Now, I'm just simply pointing out knowledge puffeth up, and we think that we know better than God. Now, I want you to look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, because there is another application of this, but I want you to see how it's spelled out. In Exodus chapter 10 and verse 3, the Bible says this, "And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews." Look at this.
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"How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me." So Pharaoh's failure to honor God and to hearken unto God was a result of the fact that he failed to humble himself before God. Now, here's my question. What happens when a Pharaoh, a ruler, fails to humble himself before God? Well, look back in Exodus 9 and verse 17. Look at this. Exodus 9, verse 17. God says, "And yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go." So when a man refuses to humble himself before God, he will exalt himself against the people. Now, I've pointed this out on numerous occasions, but I have to point it out again in light of this message.
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Psalm 94, verses 20 and 21. The question is asked, "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" or by law, which frameth mischief by law. In other words, a wicked civil government makes sin legal. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God, then that wicked civil government makes sin legal or lawful? And the answer, of course, is no.
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But listen to the next verse. Listen, if you would, please, to verse 21. "They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood." What did God just say? When a wicked civil government refuses to humble itself before God and it makes sin legal, then ultimately it attacks the innocent and it attacks the people of God. Why? They gather themselves together. They plan. They conspire.
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They want to do this. So in refusing then to humble yourself before God as a Pharaoh, someone with power and someone with force and the ability to exercise that force. If they cannot strike at God, they strike at God's people. We don't recognize God. We don't recognize you. We hate him. We hate you. That's what our Lord said. They hated me. You know, they hated you. They hated me before they hated you.
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If you were of the world, the world would love you, but you're not of the world. Therefore, they hate you. That's what our Lord said. And so a Pharaoh then, is always going to fail to humble himself before God and therefore he's always going to exalt himself against the people of God either in an ungodly attitude or ungodly speech or sometimes just ungodly actions. Wow. Here's something you can put down. Humility always results in submission and obedience to God. Whereas pride always results in rebellion and defiance. So listen to me. Here are three things that make a Pharaoh. We're not talking about the Pharaoh of the Exodus particularly, but modern-day Pharaohs. Three things that make a Pharaoh. A refusal to honor God, a refusal to hearken to God, and a refusal to humble themselves before God.
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What is the result of that? Here we go. The result is Pharaohs always have hardened hearts. I'm going to show it to you in the Bible just for a moment. But listen to me. When you talk about the hardening of a heart, there is a judicial hardening of the heart. Something that God does because of sin and judgment. And there is the normal, consequential hardening of the heart, something that man does that is normal and natural because of his sin and his disobedience. So I want you to see what the Bible says about this. So if you look in Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, Exodus chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, the Bible said, "And he," that would be God, "hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearken not unto them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened."
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"He refuses to let the people go." So in the one sense of the word, God judicially hardened his heart. In another sense of the word, the consequence of his rebellion, his heart was continually being hardened. Skip down to verse 22 and 23. "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened." Not necessarily that God did it here, but this is the consequence of it.
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"Neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house." Look at this. "Neither did he set his heart to this also." He's not going to listen. Nothing is going to impress him. His mind is made up. That's all there is to it. If you look in Exodus chapter 9, and verse 7, Exodus chapter 9 verse 7, "And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go." Wow. Now let me give you the truth here it is. The more you sin, the easier it is to sin. That's a fact. The more you disobey, the easier it is to disobey. The more you disregard the Word of God, the easier it is to disregard the Word of God.
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When you first begin sinning and doing things that you know that are wrong and wicked, your conscience smites you. It comes to your mind, this is wrong, this is wicked. I ought not to be doing this. I shouldn't be doing this. By the way, I hope you remember this, because I've taught you in time past that your heart is your mind, but your conscience is also your mind. The word conscience in the English is con-science. Con is a preposition which means with, and science means to know. So the word conscience in English means, that which you know with. The Greek word for conscience is suneidēsis. Sun is a preposition which means with and eidēsis means to know. Your conscience is that which you know with. And so when you do things that are wrong, initially, your conscience smites you. Your conscience convicts you. Your conscience tells you it's wrong, it's wicked, you ought not to be doing this.
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But the more you sin, the more you press down and suppress that knowledge and that warning and that light. And as long as you continue in your sin and your rebellion, it only gets easier and easier. Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore. The Bible talks about a seared conscience. So when people can sin and never be convicted, their conscience in that particular area is seared. So mark this down.
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Whenever you refuse to honor God, hearken to God, humble yourself before God, the result will inevitably be a hardened heart. You remember what the Bible says about the Israelites there in the book of Isaiah? He said, "The show of their countenance doth witness against them." It's in their faces. They were happy with their rebellion. They were proud of their sins. The show of their countenance doth witness against them. It's just like you can look at a dope user and tell he is that because of the show of his countenance.
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Same thing with a drunkard. Same thing with a harlot. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, the more we sin, the easier it is to sin and our conscience does not bother us. All Pharaohs end up with a hardened heart. Our hearts are no longer tender. Our hearts are no longer sympathetic. We're hardened. Well, let's see. I think the Book of Job, God says even the ostrich is hardened against her own. You can be hardened against your own children. You can be hardened against your own husband or your own wife.
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Now, let me make a couple of applications. I want you to think about this because I've been talking about a Pharaoh, and not just the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but modern-day Pharaohs as well. You know that the scripture teaches concerning Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd. You say, yes, I understand that, but what in the world has that got to do with the lesson that you're teaching on Pharaohs? Well, let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Genesis, chapter 43. Genesis 43.
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Now you will remember that Joseph was second in command in Egypt and although he had the attire of an Egyptian and now he had shaved himself clean like an Egyptian and now he's entertaining his brethren and the Egyptians are not eating with Joseph and Joseph is not eating with his brethren for a particular reason, but if you look in Genesis chapter 43, notice if you would please, verse 32, what the Scripture says there, "And they set on for him by himself," that is, Joseph, "and for them," that is, the Egyptians by themselves, or his brethren, "and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination of the Egyptians." So the Egyptians then set bread on for Joseph by himself, because he was actually Hebrew and they knew that, although he didn't look like one at that particular time. And so they set on for his brothers who were Hebrews, and then they set on for themselves all differently because they're not going to commune with the Hebrew.
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They're not going to commune with anybody who looks like someone that believes in God or is involved in a covenant with God. They're just not going to commune with them. Now, hang on. Turn right on over to Genesis chapter 46 and look, if you would please, at verse 34, because Joseph now has his brethren and his father there and he wants them to go to the land of Goshen which is the best part and look what he tells them in verse thirty-four. Let's read verse thirty-three.
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"And it shall come to pass when Pharaoh shall call you and say, What is your occupation? That you shall say, Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we and also our fathers, that you may dwell in the land of Goshen for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So, all Egyptians, and especially the Pharaohs, hated shepherds. Wow. Now, if you are a Pharaoh, then your attitude is expressed by those people in Luke chapter 19 and verse 14, "and his citizens sent word after him, We will not have this man to reign over us." That is the attitude of a Pharaoh. He is not going to have Jesus Christ to reign over him. A Pharaoh believes that he is God and he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.
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And therefore, he refuses to bow to Him and obey Him. Moreover, they hate anyone and everyone who worships and obeys Him. Because the obedience of those to the Lord Jesus Christ exposes the disobedience to those who hate the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, they're going to separate themselves. We're not going to be around you. We don't want to be around you. Now, here's another thing. Pharaohs always make hard speeches against God.
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You need to read some of the things in the book of Exodus that Pharaoh thought and Pharaoh said. But let me show you in the book of Jude, Jude 1, there's only one chapter there, but Jude is right before the book of Revelation, and look, if you would please, at verses 14 and 15. Look at what the Bible says about the ungodly. Jude 1, verse 14. "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, The Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." There are indeed ungodly speeches made against the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Let me tell you this. If you do not wish to end up like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to suffer like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be judged like a Pharaoh, if you do not wish to be destroyed like a Pharaoh, do not live and act like a Pharaoh, because all Pharaohs end up in death and judgment. So that means you must honor the Lord Jesus Christ. You must hearken to the Lord Jesus Christ. You must humble yourself before the Lord Jesus Christ. And moreover, it means, therefore, you will not have a hardened heart. Your heart will be tender. Your heart will be malleable, and you can be molded according to the Word of God. You'll be pliable like the clay in the hands of the potter. But if you live like a Pharaoh and act like a Pharaoh, you'll die like a Pharaoh.
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So, let me leave you with this one sentence. If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh, every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd, because the Pharaoh refuses to honor him, hearken to him, and humble himself before him. It does not pay to be a Pharaoh, unless you count temporary riches, temporary pleasures, and temporary power greater than eternal life. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee.
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We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray today that You would help us. Help us immensely in such a way, Lord, that we will not be Pharaohs. We'll have no desire to be a Pharaoh, that we'd rather be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Moses said, esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than all of Egypt. Give us, Lord, your grace and your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T18:27:04Z

So, You Want To Be a Pharaoh

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver examines the character of Pharaoh from Exodus 5:1-2, defining a Pharaoh as one who possesses great riches, pleasures, and power but refuses to honor, hearken to, or humble himself before God. He argues that every fallen person desires to be a Pharaoh, and that modern-day Pharaohs—whether politicians, abortionists, or professing Christians—exhibit the same pride, rebellion, and hardened hearts. The sermon warns that living like a Pharaoh leads to judgment, while honoring, hearkening to, and humbling oneself before Christ leads to eternal life.

Introduction: The Question of Pharaoh

Weaver opens with Exodus 5:1-2 and asks what comes to mind when thinking of Pharaoh, noting that Pharaoh means 'great house' and was the title for pagan kings who viewed themselves as gods.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 5:1-2

"...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. 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."

The Riches, Pleasures, and Power of a Pharaoh

Using Hebrews 11:24-26 and Genesis 41:41-44, Weaver shows that being a Pharaoh involved great riches, sinful pleasures, and absolute power, which every fallen person desires.

Scripture Reading — Hebrews 11:24-26

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." "Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."

So if you look in your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter 41 it is, and I think you can see the extent of this power beginning there with verse 41. So it's Genesis 41 and verse 41.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 41:41-44

"Pharaoh says unto Joseph, See, I've set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried before him, Bow the knee, and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt."

Now watch this,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 41:41-44

"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."

So he said, I have such power and I have such control, whatever you say is what is going to happen. No man's going to lift up his hand. No man's going to lift up his foot without your say so.

Authority vs. Power: The Pharaoh's Interest

Weaver distinguishes between God-given authority (limited jurisdiction) and raw power (force without authority), illustrating that Pharaohs seek power to bully, manipulate, and control.

Pharaoh's Disregard for Human Life

From Exodus 1:15-16,22, Weaver demonstrates that Pharaohs care nothing for others' lives, using abortion and euthanasia as modern examples of exercising the power of life and death.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 1:22

"and Pharaoh charged all his people saying, Every son that is born you shall cast in the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."

The Root of Pharaoh's Wickedness: Ignorance and Contempt of God

Weaver explains that Pharaohs refuse to honor God because they do not know Him, citing Exodus 5:2 and Matthew Henry's commentary on Pharaoh's low estimate of Israel's God.

Scripture Reading — John 17:3

"And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the one true, the living God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

Pharaohs Refuse to Hearken to God

Weaver shows from Exodus 7:4,22; 11:9; and 10:7 that Pharaoh would not listen to God, Moses, or even his own counselors, and that true hearing is tied to obedience (1 Samuel 15:22; Matthew 21:28-31).

Scripture Reading — 1 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?"

Listen to this. He went on to say,

Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 15:22

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken is better than the fat of the rams."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:4,22

"But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:4,22

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 11:9

Now let me tell you something. Pharaoh would not listen to God. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron. He would not even listen to his own counselors. He would not listen to anyone with what you and I would call common sense. For instance, look in Exodus chapter 10 and verse 7 at what his own magicians told him. Exodus 10, verse 7, not only that, but his servants, "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." Look what they say, "Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?" What's wrong with you?

Pharaohs Refuse to Humble Themselves

Scripture Reading — Exodus 10:3

"And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews."

Look at this.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 10:3

"How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me."

The Result: A Hardened Heart

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"He refuses to let the people go."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"Neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house."

Scripture Reading — Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7

"And Pharaoh sent, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go."

Application: Pharaohs Hate the Shepherd

Conclusion: Do Not Live Like a Pharaoh

So, You Want To Be a Pharaoh

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	925241319532043
Subject	Civil Government
Course	Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13: Authority
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-09-22
Dictation Name
Book	Book 008: Civil Government: Magistracy, Authority, and Romans 13 — Chapter 19
Source Timed Segments	66

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Question of Pharaoh: Weaver opens with Exodus 5:1-2 and asks what comes to mind when thinking of Pharaoh, noting that Pharaoh means 'great house' and was the title for pagan kings who viewed themselves as gods.
The Riches, Pleasures, and Power of a Pharaoh: Using Hebrews 11:24-26 and Genesis 41:41-44, Weaver shows that being a Pharaoh involved great riches, sinful pleasures, and absolute power, which every fallen person desires.
Authority vs. Power: The Pharaoh's Interest: Weaver distinguishes between God-given authority (limited jurisdiction) and raw power (force without authority), illustrating that Pharaohs seek power to bully, manipulate, and control.
Pharaoh's Disregard for Human Life: From Exodus 1:15-16,22, Weaver demonstrates that Pharaohs care nothing for others' lives, using abortion and euthanasia as modern examples of exercising the power of life and death.
The Root of Pharaoh's Wickedness: Ignorance and Contempt of God: Weaver explains that Pharaohs refuse to honor God because they do not know Him, citing Exodus 5:2 and Matthew Henry's commentary on Pharaoh's low estimate of Israel's God.
Pharaohs Refuse to Hearken to God: Weaver shows from Exodus 7:4,22; 11:9; and 10:7 that Pharaoh would not listen to God, Moses, or even his own counselors, and that true hearing is tied to obedience (1 Samuel 15:22; Matthew 21:28-31).
Pharaohs Refuse to Humble Themselves: Weaver argues that Pharaoh's refusal to honor and hearken stems from pride and an unwillingness to humble himself before God (Exodus 10:3), which leads to exalting himself against God's people (Exodus 9:17; Psalm 94:20-21).
The Result: A Hardened Heart: Weaver explains that refusing to honor, hearken, and humble oneself before God inevitably results in a hardened heart, both judicially and consequentially (Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7), making sin easier over time.
Application: Pharaohs Hate the Shepherd: Weaver connects the Egyptian abomination of shepherds (Genesis 43:32; 46:34) to the Pharaoh's hatred of Christ the Good Shepherd, and warns that living like a Pharaoh leads to death and judgment (Jude 14-15).
Conclusion: Do Not Live Like a Pharaoh: Weaver exhorts listeners to honor, hearken to, and humble themselves before Christ to avoid the fate of Pharaoh, closing with a prayer for grace to follow Christ rather than seek temporary riches, pleasures, and power.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Every fallen person desires to be a Pharaoh

Weaver argues that the desire for riches, pleasures, and power is universal among sinful humanity.

Weaver says: 'Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh... Every sinful man wants great riches. He wants great pleasures. And also he wants great power.'

Pharaohs seek power, not authority

Weaver distinguishes between God-given authority (limited) and raw power (force), asserting that Pharaohs pursue power to control others.

Weaver explains: 'Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power... If you have power, then you can take whatever you want.'

Pharaohs disregard human life

Weaver uses Exodus 1 to show that Pharaohs value only their own house and are willing to kill the innocent, paralleling modern abortion and euthanasia.

Weaver states: 'Abortionists are Pharaohs who want to exercise the power of life and death themselves... He could care less about a family, he could care less about lives.'

Ignorance of God is the root of Pharaoh's wickedness

Weaver argues that Pharaohs do not know the true God and therefore refuse to honor or obey Him.

Weaver says: 'Pharaohs refused to honor God... because he did not know him. He did not know the sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, immutable, immortal God of heaven and earth.'

True hearing is tied to obedience

Weaver contends that no one truly hears God's word unless they obey it, citing 1 Samuel 15:22 and Matthew 21:28-31.

Weaver states: 'No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God... You don't really hear the Word of God until you obey the Word of God.'

Pride leads to exaltation against God's people

Weaver argues that when rulers refuse to humble themselves before God, they inevitably attack the righteous, as seen in Psalm 94:20-21.

Weaver says: 'When a wicked civil government refuses to humble itself before God and it makes sin legal, then ultimately it attacks the innocent and it attacks the people of God.'

Sin hardens the heart progressively

Weaver explains that repeated sin sears the conscience and makes disobedience easier, leading to a hardened heart.

Weaver says: 'The more you sin, the easier it is to sin... Pretty soon, your conscience doesn't even bother you anymore. The Bible talks about a seared conscience.'

Pharaohs hate Christ and His followers

Weaver argues that just as Egyptians abhorred shepherds, modern Pharaohs hate Christ the Shepherd and those who obey Him.

Weaver states: 'A Pharaoh believes that he is God and he hates the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.'

Scripture References

Exodus 5:1-2: Opening text: Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh to let Israel go; Pharaoh asks 'Who is the Lord?' and refuses.
Exodus 12:12: God's judgment against the gods of Egypt during the Passover.
Hebrews 11:24-26: Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing affliction over the pleasures of sin and esteeming Christ's reproach greater than Egypt's treasures.
Genesis 41:41-44: Pharaoh gives Joseph authority over Egypt, demonstrating the absolute power of a Pharaoh.
Romans 13:1: The powers that be are ordained of God; Weaver notes the Greek word exousias means authority/jurisdiction.
Exodus 1:15-16: Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to kill male infants.
Exodus 1:22: Pharaoh commands all his people to cast every Hebrew son into the river.
Exodus 1:8-12: A new king arises who does not know Joseph, fears Israel's growth, and oppresses them.
1 Kings 20:23,28: Syrians thought God was only God of the hills; God proves He is God of valleys too.
John 17:3: Eternal life is knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ.
1 Samuel 15:22: To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
Matthew 21:28-31: Parable of two sons: one said he would not go but repented and went; the other said he would go but did not. True obedience is doing the father's will.
Exodus 7:4,22: Pharaoh would not hearken; his heart was hardened.
Exodus 11:9: Pharaoh shall not hearken so that God's wonders may be multiplied.
Exodus 10:7: Pharaoh's servants ask how long he will let Moses be a snare, noting Egypt is destroyed.
Exodus 15:26: If Israel diligently hearkens and obeys, God will put none of the Egyptian diseases on them.
Exodus 10:3: God asks Pharaoh how long he will refuse to humble himself.
Exodus 9:17: Pharaoh exalts himself against God's people by not letting them go.
Psalm 94:20-21: The throne of iniquity frames mischief by law and gathers against the righteous, condemning innocent blood.
Exodus 7:13-14,22-23; 9:7: Pharaoh's heart is hardened, both by God judicially and as a consequence of his rebellion.

Historical References

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 5:2: Weaver quotes Matthew Henry: 'Ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world.'
Augustine's conversion: Weaver references Augustine: 'I heard the gospel all of my life, and then one day I heard it.'
Russian invasion of Afghanistan: Weaver recounts how Afghan fighters used bows and arrows to bring down Russian helicopters, illustrating that expensive weapons are not needed to fight tyranny.
American War for Independence: Weaver notes colonial ancestors defeated the greatest European power without vast expensive weaponry.
Joe Biden's F-16 comment: Weaver mentions Biden's statement that to take on the federal government you need an F-16, calling it a lie and an attempt to bully.
Bill Gates and polio vaccines in Africa: Weaver references a controversy where polio vaccines supplied by Bill Gates allegedly contained sterilizing agents.
COVID vaccine sterilization claims: Weaver states that the COVID vaccine is said to be sterilizing men and women.
Transhumanism and AI: Weaver mentions government and researchers attempting to make people transhuman, combining AI with humanity to achieve immortality.

Important Quotes

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 is the key verse (Exodus 5:2) that defines Pharaoh's attitude of defiance and ignorance of God, which Weaver uses as the foundation for the entire sermon.

Every fallen man, every depraved man, every sinful man wishes to be a Pharaoh.

Weaver's central thesis that the desire for riches, pleasures, and power is universal in sinful humanity.

Pharaohs are not interested in authority because authority is limited, but they're interested in power.

Highlights the distinction between God-ordained authority and raw, coercive power that characterizes tyrants.

Ignorance and contempt of God were at the bottom of all the wickedness that is in the world.

Weaver quotes Matthew Henry to emphasize that Pharaoh's root problem is not knowing or valuing God.

No one ever really hears the Word of God unless he heeds the word of God.

Weaver's argument that true hearing is inseparable from obedience, a key point in his exposition of Pharaoh's refusal to hearken.

How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?

God's direct question to Pharaoh (Exodus 10:3) that exposes the pride at the heart of his rebellion.

The more you sin, the easier it is to sin.

Weaver's summary of the progressive hardening of the heart through repeated disobedience.

If every shepherd is an abomination to a Pharaoh, every Pharaoh is an abomination to the Great Shepherd.

The concluding antithesis that encapsulates the mutual hostility between Christ and those who set themselves up as gods.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

In what ways do you see the desire for riches, pleasures, and power manifesting in your own life or in society today?

[Context]

Weaver argues that every fallen person wishes to be a Pharaoh, seeking great riches, pleasures, and power.

[Question]

How does the distinction between authority and power help us evaluate the actions of civil government?

[Context]

Weaver explains that God gives limited authority to institutions, but Pharaohs seek unlimited power.

[Question]

Why do you think Pharaohs are so willing to disregard the lives of others, and how does this compare to modern issues like abortion and euthanasia?

[Context]

Weaver connects Pharaoh's command to kill Hebrew infants with modern practices that devalue life.

[Question]

What does it mean to truly 'hear' God's Word, and how is that different from merely listening?

[Context]

Weaver insists that no one really hears God's Word until they obey it, using 1 Samuel 15:22 and Matthew 21.

[Question]

In what areas of your life are you most tempted to refuse to humble yourself before God?

[Context]

Weaver identifies pride as the root of Pharaoh's rebellion and warns against exalting oneself against God's people.

[Question]

How have you experienced the hardening effect of sin in your own heart, and what steps can you take to maintain a tender conscience?

[Context]

Weaver describes how repeated sin sears the conscience and makes disobedience easier.

[Question]

Why do you think the Egyptians considered shepherds an abomination, and how does that relate to the world's hatred of Christ and His followers?

[Context]

Weaver uses Genesis 43:32 and 46:34 to illustrate the Pharaoh's hatred of the Shepherd and His people.

[Question]

What practical steps can you take to honor, hearken to, and humble yourself before Christ this week?

[Context]

Weaver concludes with an exhortation to avoid living like a Pharaoh by submitting to Christ.

Applications

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