Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ

A Hard Truth - 1

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2015-11-22

Synopsis: John Weaver introduces the concept of hard truths in Scripture, focusing on the doctrine of reprobation as illustrated in Exodus 14. He argues that God sovereignly hardens hearts and ordains the destruction of the wicked for His glory, and that believers must bow to such truths even when they are difficult to accept.

[John Weaver] Exodus, chapter 14, and we're going to be reading verses one through 12. The title of the message today is a hard truth, but still true. And I might also point out this is going to be part one because I cannot finish this message until next Lord's Day. So Exodus, chapter 14, beginning with verse one of the Lord's spoken to Moses saying, speak unto the children of Israel that they turn in the camp before Pi-Hi-Hi-Roth.

[John Weaver] between Migdal and the sea, over against Baal Zephon. Before it, you shall encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will save the children of Israel. They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his hosts, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord." And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, why have we done this, that we've let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, all the chariots of Egypt and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them in camping by the sea beside Hiroth before Baal Zephon.

[John Weaver] And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in this wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, that we should die in the wilderness." A hard truth. There are many hard truths in the Bible. Usually they are hard truths, number one, because of our ignorance.

[John Weaver] But secondly, because they really and truly go against our flesh, our lack of spiritual understanding and discernment, as well as our depravity, makes any truth hard. I want you to understand also, moreover, it is impossible for an unsaved person to understand any truth. Believe it or not, I've had complaints over the years from several individuals who said Well, they did not understand the Bible or they could not understand the Bible. And you have to understand that when people make that statement, one of two things are true. Either number one, they are excessively ignorant and they do not really read or study their Bible, or number two, they're just plain lost. Because 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says this, but the natural man received it, not the things of the Spirit of God. for their foolishness under him, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. So God says that an unsaved man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Moreover, he cannot know them.

[John Weaver] He does not have the facilities. He does not have the discernment. He does not have the spiritual understanding to receive them. Fallen man by nature is proud, arrogant and haughty. And fallen man likes to think that the world was created for him and that it revolves around him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric. Theos is the Greek word for God, which literally means God-centered theocentric. And Anthropos is the Greek word for man. Anthropocentric means man-centered. So the universe then is theocentric. That is, everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man. In fact, Revelation 4 and verse 11 makes this truth exceedingly clear. When the scripture says, For thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor, and power. For thou hast created all things. Now listen carefully. And for thy pleasure they are and were created. So everything revolves around God, not around man. Fallen man also likes to think that God is at his disposal and that God only lives to serve fallen man and to bless fallen man.

[John Weaver] And man, fallen man, is constantly worshipping the creature more than the creator. He revels and glories in the blessings that he receives, but he hardly ever considers and is thankful to the giver of those blessings. Man just simply always assumes that God's going to bless him regardless of how he lives, regardless of how he acts, regardless of whether he's obedient or disobedient. And fallen man has been taught erroneously that God loves him no matter how he acts, no matter how he disobeys, no matter how much he blasphemes, and no matter how much he rebels.

[John Weaver] Such, of course, is not biblical truth. It is far from the Bible. Fallen man will always misinterpret the love of God as well. It is true that God is love. The scripture says that. But Follow Man misinterprets that and thinks that the very fact that God is love means that God will never judge him or that God will never bring him into justice simply because God is love.

[John Weaver] And usually you will find not only unsaved, but Christian people who will take the attributes of God and they will pit one attribute against another attribute. For instance, love is an attribute of God. But so is justice an attribute of God, so is holiness an attribute of God, so is righteousness. And so what they will do is they will take one attribute and they will either pit it against another attribute and say, well, I choose to say that God is love more than God is just or God is righteous or God is holy.

[John Weaver] Or what they will do is simply this. They will choose one attribute that they wish to believe. And then they will refuse to believe all the others that are clearly revealed in Scripture. And what happens is this. Men then twist and misinterpret and misapply the Scriptures to their own destruction. I want you to hold Exodus chapter 14, but I want you to look in 2 Peter chapter 3 and look what Peter says.

[John Weaver] not only about the Word of God, but particularly about some of the writings of the Apostle Paul. Look, if you would, please, in 2 Peter chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 14. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 14. Look what he says. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 14. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless, an account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, and which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. So notice what Peter is saying is there are some hard things in the Bible. That is for sure. And he says even the Apostle Paul has written some very hard things. And he said those who are unlearned in the scripture, those who are unstable, they rest the scriptures to their own destruction.

[John Weaver] That is, they twist those scriptures. They make them mean things that the word of God never meant To begin with, and they interpret them to mean certain things that the Word of God does not mean for them to be interpreted that way. So we run across those hard truths in the Bible. Do you realize that when we run across a hard truth in the Bible, usually most people just run from the truth? I never will forget years ago when God first saved me and called me to preach. And I really had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a Bible reading schedule and I read through the Old Testament once a month, every month. I read through the New Testament every week. So I was reading all the time. And I went to a preacher who had been at that time preaching for about 30 years.

[John Weaver] And I asked him, I said, I need some help. Would you please help me? He said, well, I'll be glad to. He said, what is it? I said, well, I'm reading through the Bible and there are some things I keep reading over and over and I don't understand them and I want you to explain them to me. He said, well, OK, what are they? I said, well, first of all, I keep running across this word elect or election and the word predestination. I said, I don't understand that. Would you please explain those things to me? And he looked at me and so help me.

[John Weaver] Here is exactly what he said. He said, well, John, he said, you have to understand that there are some things in the Bible that we're not meant to understand. And number two, there's some things that kill our soul winning zeal and we just let them alone. Now, you have to remember, I was just a young man. He was much older, had 30 years preaching experience. I was just starting. And I looked at him and I said, it just appears to me that if God revealed them, he meant for us to understand them. And I said, secondly, any soul winning that the Bible kills ought to be killed anyhow.

[John Weaver] And so we parted ways. Now, There are truths in the Bible that are hard. Just because you refuse to accept them, or believe them, or bow to them, does not make them untrue. They are still truth. And just because you do not understand them, or cannot comprehend them, or cannot work them out in your mind, does not mean that you simply walk away from the faith. Some people may. There are some people who read things in the Bible and they will say, well, I just simply don't like that truth. Well, let me tell you, truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not. And truth is still truth, whether you bow to it or not. I want you to understand that our Lord even had trouble. With people who did not like hard things.

[John Weaver] For instance, if you look in your Bibles to the book of John Chapter 6. John Chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 59. John Chapter 6 and verse 59. Let me show you what I'm talking about. There are indeed hard truths in the Bible and here is one of them. And here's what happened to our Lord when He enunciated that hard truth. John Chapter 6 and verse 59. Watch carefully. John 6.

[John Weaver] These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? When Jesus knew it himself that his disciples murmured it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What, then, if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit in their life.

[John Weaver] But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and who should betray him. And he said, therefore, said I unto you that no man can come unto me except that were given unto him of my father.

[John Weaver] Now watch from that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. What did they say in verse 61, this is a hard saying, or verse 60, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And our Lord said, does this offend you? Are you upset because I'm preaching something that you don't understand or you do not like? And of course, they left Him because of that truth. But you see, as children of faith, as believers, we may not understand certain truths. We may not comprehend certain truths.

[John Weaver] But we bow to them and believe them simply because God has revealed them. And we wait for Him to give us light and illumination. What we do is we just bow. We do not run from them like a scared rabbit. We certainly do not deny them like unbelievers. Rather, we hold to them and we embrace them, waiting for our Lord to give us light and illumination. Because we believe and understand that God has revealed all things for our good and for his glory. We believe Deuteronomy 29 29 when the Bible says the secret things belong to the Lord our God. But those things which reveal belong to us and our children forever that we may do all the words of this law.

[John Weaver] So when you get to Exodus chapter 14. There is indeed a very hard truth in this passage. It is hard for our flesh to receive it. It is not that we cannot see it. It is not that we are incapable of understanding it. It is not that the truth is unclear. It's the fact that it is so flesh withering. That we don't like it. It's a truth that's dealing with God's judgment and God's destruction. It is also the truth dealing with God's sovereign power and God's sovereign choice. It is a truth that is known as reprobation.

[John Weaver] Reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to have their own way. He allows them to do their own thing, and then He judges them for their actions. They are not saved, will never be saved, do not desire to be saved, and they eagerly defy and resist anything that is righteous, holy, and good. Pharaoh is an excellent example of reprobation.

[John Weaver] Before I get started today to show you from the scripture, I'm going to give you a couple of quotes. The first one is from Dr. Lorraine Bettner. Dr. Bettner's book on predestination is one of the better books and very easily understood. But here's what he said. Just one paragraph. The doctrine of absolute predestination, of course, logically holds that some are foreordained to death as truly as others are foreordained to life. The very terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out, others are left not chosen.

[John Weaver] The high privileges and glorious destiny of the former are not shared with the latter. This too is of God. We believe that from all eternity God has intended to leave some of Adam's posterity in their sins and that the decisive factor in the life of each is to be found only in God's will. As Mosley has said, the whole race after the fall was one mass of perdition and it pleased God of His sovereign mercy to rescue some and to leave others where they were To raise some to glory, give them such grace as necessarily qualified them for it and abandon the rest from whom he withheld such grace to eternal punishment.

[John Weaver] So what Bettner is saying is the very word election implies a non-elect or reprobation and a reprobation is just simply God's passing over. You remember when David went out to fight Goliath? What does the Bible say? He chose him five smooth stones. When he chose those five smooth stones, he bypassed all the other stones. He didn't do anything to the other stones. They were already dead. They were already stones. They were already useless or worthless in and of themselves. He just chose five to use. And this is reprobation. Here's the Westminster Confession. Listen to this. After the Westminster Confession is dealing with the doctrine of election, it goes ahead and adds this. Now listen.

[John Weaver] The rest of mankind, that is those who are not elect, the rest of mankind God was pleased according to the inscrutable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth. For the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures to pass by and to ordain them to dishonor and wrath for their own sin, to the praise of His glorious justice."

[John Weaver] Now if you're saying, well I don't understand election and reprobation, well let me just tell you there's an excellent illustration of election when God chose Israel, and there's an excellent illustration of reprobation when God refused Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So I want us to look at this. In the first three points, in fact I'm only going to share three points with you today. The main body and the conclusion is going to come next week. But I want you to look, first of all, at a divine plan, a divine plan in verses one through three. Let's look at the first three verses. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they turn and encamp before Pi-Hi-Hi-Roth, between Nigdal and the sea, over against Bel-Zaphon. before you shall encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land.

[John Weaver] The wilderness has shut them in. Now, without us taking time to go back and read chapters 5 through 11 of the book of Exodus, you will have to understand that God has gotten many victories over Pharaoh and over the people of Egypt and all of their false gods. I want you to understand something about this war between God and the Egyptians. The war was not just simply against Pharaoh. It was not just simply against the Egyptians. The war was against all the false gods of Egypt as well. If you look in Exodus chapter 12 and notice in verse 12, Exodus 12 and verse 12, God makes that exceedingly clear. He says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. Now watch, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord." So God then was not just fighting against Pharaoh, who claimed to be a god, by the way. That is one reason why the firstborn had to die.

[John Weaver] because Pharaoh could not even save alive his own child, demonstrating that he was not a god. And all of these judgments that God poured out upon Egypt was not just upon the people, but upon their false gods as well. One would think that after God had judged Egypt so many times, and had defeated Pharaoh, and Pharaoh had to confess that God was God, and that his own magicians and his own gods were impotent, you would think that after God had defeated the tyrant and his people so many times that they would wise up, that they would understand that their gods were false gods, and that the one true and living God was the only God, and that it was be very unwise to continue to fight against him. You would think that, but fallen man is not that wise. In fact, fallen man wickedly thinks that he will ultimately prevail and dethrone God.

[John Weaver] And consequently, he is therefore willing to suffer immeasurably to satisfy his humanistic and proud and arrogant views. Well, God has one last episode in the lives of Pharaoh and his armies. He plans to destroy Pharaoh and his armies and make them an example of his righteous justice. He will knead out to them their just desserts.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at verse 4. I want you to look at this. I'm going to come back to this next week, but I want you to look at it today. Verse 4, God said, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and he shall fall after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh. And upon all his host that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord, and they did so notice if you would, he said, I am going to be honored upon Pharaoh. So there is going to be honor under God in the destruction of his enemies. Now, I want you to look back in Exodus chapter 13. Because we have just read in chapter 14, especially in verse 2, where the children of Israel encamped. And you would have to understand why they encamped there.

[John Weaver] Remember, this is a divine plan. See, God did not take Israel and just lead him in a straight path. right out of Egypt to the promised land. For instance, in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17, the Bible says this, And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God let them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, though that was near. For God said, Let's for adventure the people repent when they see war and return to Egypt.

[John Weaver] So there was a shortcut. There was a shorter way. But God didn't lead him that way. God said, No, I don't want to take him that way because They're not trained. They're not fighting. If they see war, they'll get scared. No, I'm not taking them through the land of the Philistines. So the zigzag pattern evidently convinced Pharaoh that neither God nor the children of Israel knew where they were going and that they were confused and unable to escape. That's why in verse 3 of Exodus 14, God said, for Pharaoh will save the children of Israel. They are entangled in the land and the wilderness has shut them in.

[John Weaver] Now, When you stop and think about this, who in the world would encamp nearly two million people with the sea in front of them and the wilderness and fortifications on either side of them with no possible way of escape? Now just stop and think about this. Look if you would, he said in verse 2, speaking to the children of Israel that they turn and encamp before Pi-Ha-Hiroth between Migdal and the sea over against Bel-Zephon before it you shall encamp by the sea. Now Pi-Ha-Hiroth was the entrance to the Straits of Hiroth, two great mountains between which they marched and thus they were enclosed on each side.

[John Weaver] Now he mentions Migdal Migdal was a city in Egypt where a garrison of Egyptian soldiers were undoubtedly kept, and Belzephon was another place of note situated in a high place which had a large prospect, an overview, and also possibly a garrison was stationed there as well. So, what Moses has done now, he has encamped the people where there is no possible way of escape. Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown, in their commentary, said this.

[John Weaver] Let me read it to you very quickly. The Israelites had now completed three days' journey, and in Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by the head of the Red Sea to the desert with a view to a final departure. Now listen. They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit.

[John Weaver] as the chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding sand. But at Ethan, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the south, keeping the gulf on their left, a route which not only detained them lingering on the confines of Egypt, but in adopting it, they actually turned their backs on the land which they had set out to possess.

[John Weaver] A movement so unexpected, and of which the ultimate design was carefully concealed, could not but excite the astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although from his implicit faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly guide he obeyed. The object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue. in order that the moral effect which the judgments on Egypt had produced in releasing God's people from bondage might be still further extended over the nations by the awful events which were to be transacted at the Red Sea.

[John Weaver] So here's this divine plan. God was baiting Pharaoh. He was enticing Pharaoh. God was doing to Pharaoh exactly what He did to the king of Assyria, to Sennacherib. He's putting a hook in his nose. That's what the Bible says in Isaiah 37, verse 29. God speaks to Sennacherib and He says this, Because thy rage against Me and thy tumult is come up into my ears, therefore will I put a hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way which thou camest. God said, I'll just put a hook in you and jerk you around. It's just that simple. And so, just like fishing, what God is doing is baiting Pharaoh. And Pharaoh swallowed the bait. He said in verse 3, watch, for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land.

[John Weaver] The wilderness has shut them in. They can't get away. So here's this divine plan.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to know this, secondly, a divine prerogative. Now watch. Here's the divine plan. God is dangling the bait in front of Pharaoh. But what will guarantee that Pharaoh will take the bait? Well, look in verses three and four. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land and the wilderness has shut them in and I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he should fall after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all of his hosts that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so. So, first of all, Pharaoh was absolutely convinced that the Israelites were completely ignorant of the geography of the land. And they were helplessly lost and in a position where they were absolutely defenseless. They were trapped.

[John Weaver] They could not possibly escape. And Pharaoh's depravity, his wounded pride, his ruthless ambition, his desire to vindicate himself and his gods would push him into taking the bait. Because Pharaoh will say they're entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. But I want you to notice secondly, in order to guarantee that Pharaoh would take the bait, God sovereignly hardened his heart. Now, I know. And you know, or at least you should, if you read your Bible. As you read through the book of Exodus, There will be times when it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. And I want to show you that that is a natural response when one sins and rebels against God, but it is also equally true. That God told Moses before Moses ever went to Pharaoh. That God told him that he would harden Pharaoh's heart. In fact, in Exodus chapter 7 in verse 3, he said this, and I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. So it was God who hardened his heart first.

[John Weaver] And then Pharaoh continued to harden his own heart. Now, let me tell you what the word hardened means. It simply means to strengthen oneself. To make oneself strong, to become more resolute and courageous. Wow. So here's what God did. God allowed Pharaoh to foolishly and wickedly think that he could be victorious in this battle. That he could outwit and out fight God. Are you listening? Fallen man is so stupid and so vain and so arrogant that somehow he thinks he will ultimately win and dethrone God and enthrone himself. That was Pharaoh. That's every man who fights against God. You know what God said in Psalm 10 in verse 4, the wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all of his thoughts. Pharaoh, in the pride of his heart, regretted allowing Israel to leave and foolishly thought that he could either recapture them or destroy them.

[John Weaver] And by the way, tyrants are all alike. It's always simple. What they cannot control, they want to destroy. So if you're not going to serve them, you're of no use to them. And to them, just killing you and getting you out of the way. Is an easy task for them. Because you're useless if you're not going to serve them. Colin Dalich and their commentary said this. When it was announced that Israel had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people.

[John Weaver] and they repented that they had let them go. When and whence the information came, we are not told. The common opinion that it was brought after the Israelites changed their route is not necessarily that which enticed him, for the change in Pharaoh's feelings toward the Israelites and his regret that he had let them go were caused not by their supposed mistake, but by their flight.

[John Weaver] Now the king and his servants regarded the exodus as a flight, as soon as they recovered from the panic caused by the death of the firstborn, and began to consider the consequences of the permission given to the people to leave his service. This may have occurred, now listen, this may have occurred as early as the second day after the exodus. In that case, Pharaoh would have had time to collect chariots and horsemen and overtake the Israelites at Pahahahoroth, and they could easily perform the same journey in two days or one day and a half to which the Israelites, Had taken more than three.

[John Weaver] I want you to understand something. In order to make sure that Pharaoh would follow after. God hardened his heart. God made him think or allowed him to think. That I can get him back or I can destroy them or I can win this thing. After all, now I want you to hold Exodus 14, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. We'll look at this passage in greater detail next week. We'll look in Romans chapter 9, if you would please, at verse 18. Romans 9, verse 18.

[John Weaver] And I'm just telling you, this is God's sovereign prerogative. God may do as he pleases. Notice if you would, Romans chapter 9 and verse 18, the Bible says this, Romans 9 verse 18. Therefore, talking about God now, therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. Isn't that amazing? God said, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll harden whomever I will harden. It's God's prerogative because God is sovereign.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn right on over to Second Thessalonians chapter two, because I also want you to see. That the hardening of one's heart is also a natural consequence of sin, rebellion and disobedience, because when we love sin and disobedience and rebellion more than the truth of God. We're hardening our own hearts and deceiving our own selves. Watch. Second Thessalonians, chapter two, beginning there with verse nine.

[John Weaver] Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and science and lying wonders. Now watch verse 10 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Notice some people are perishing. Because they've been deceived by unrighteousness, why are they perishing? because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now, what happens when you do not receive the love of the truth? Verse 11, And for this cause, because you would not receive the love of the truth, for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure and righteousness. So when you do not receive the truth, You are deluded and you believe a lie. And when you believe a lie and are deluded, you're damned, you're condemned. Why? Because you believe not the truth. And because you have pleasure in unrighteousness.

[John Weaver] In other words, hardening your heart is the natural consequence of rebellion against God as well. You tend to think, boy, I can do this and get by with it. God says, oh no, it doesn't work like that. You see, It's not just Pharaoh whose heart is hardened. God traps all who hate him with a hardened heart because they strengthen themselves in their rebellion against God, thinking that, boy, I'm going to win this thing. God's not going to judge me. God's not going to destroy me. And you see, the Bible says in Romans 2 and verse 2, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth.

[John Weaver] And that is certainly true. The judgment of God is according to truth. So here's the divine plan. God did not draw them or carry them in a straight line. He carried them in a zigzag pattern. He got them around where Pharaoh was going to think, oh, they're entangled in the land. They're dumb. They're so stupid. They have no idea which way to go to escape. And then God hardened his heart thinking, yes, I can do this. I will vindicate myself. I'll vindicate my gods. I will win. And that's what God does to all the ungodly, they think they're going to win against him. But I want you to see thirdly today, a divine predicament. You're going to see this in verses five through 12, a divine predicament. Watch this. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled in the heart of Pharaoh and of his service was turned against the people.

[John Weaver] And they said, why have we done this thing that we've let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. And he took 600 chosen chariots, all the chariots of Egypt and captains over every one of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel went out with a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them in camping by the sea between Pi-hi-hi-roth and Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, and they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, that carry us forth out of Egypt?

[John Weaver] Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Did God plan this predicament? The answer is absolutely. God was not only teaching his enemies, he was also teaching his people. But the lessons. Were different for each party. His enemies were going to learn the power of his might and justice. And his people were going to learn the power of his mercy and deliverance. You need to take note of the fact that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would pursue Israel. You have to understand that God does stir up enemies against us. Usually, when he stirs up enemies against us, it is because of our sin and rebellion against him.

[John Weaver] All you have to do is read the book of Judges. What happened when Israel sinned? He raised up the enemies. And they fought against Israel and subdued them. And Israel was enslaved to various people. But let me show you a little more specifically. I want you to hold Exodus 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. Let me show you how God can specifically and sovereignly raise up enemies when we sin against him. You have to remember that Solomon was one of the wisest men that ever lived, and yet Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, sinned against God and did some very foolish and stupid and unwise things. One of them, he married too many women. Can you imagine Solomon going to take a shower and finding a thousand pair of hoes hanging over the shower stall door. Come on. Oh, Lord, have mercy. Well, that was Solomon. Not only did he marry too many women, he married ungodly women.

[John Weaver] And they were serving their false gods. And when Solomon got old, he built altars for these false gods. Isn't that amazing? Look at it in verse 9, 1 Kings 11, and the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and he had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore, the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rim the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Now, skip down to verse 14. And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite.

[John Weaver] He was of the king's seed in Edom. Note, And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon. God sovereignly raised him up. Look in verse 23. 1 Kings 11 verse 23, And God stirred up another adversary, Razon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah. And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over Ban, when David slew them of Zobah. And they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did, and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria." Notice, if you would, here are men that have been raised up by God as enemies to Solomon.

[John Weaver] Do you understand that usually most of our predicaments come from our own sins, our own ignorance, and our own downright rebellion and stupidity? However, there are times When God sovereignly arranges our predicaments in order that we will be forced to look to him and to trust him and to honor him. We have to understand that he is our help. He is our stay. He is our deliverer.

[John Weaver] He's the only one who can deliver. You have to remember this. There's absolutely nothing that happens by accident in a world ruled by God. And so what God has done in Exodus chapter 14 is this. God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them. You have to consider their situation just for a moment. They've been brought out of the open country. They were alone.

[John Weaver] There was really no place to hide. They were untrained in warfare. They had no weapons. There was nowhere to run. The Red Sea was before them. Pharaoh and his host were behind them. And they had fortresses and mountains and wilderness on each side. Moreover. They did not have any boats. Nor did they have any time to build any boats. They were in a pickle. They were in a predicament. Why did God allow this predicament? Well, first of all.

[John Weaver] He's going to demonstrate not only to Israel. But to the Egyptians, the vanity and the uselessness and the worthlessness of their false gods. Secondly, God is going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation because He now has them beyond any human help or hope. They cannot save themselves. They cannot protect themselves. They cannot deliver themselves. Do you realize that this is exactly what God does when He convicts us and converts us and saves us.

[John Weaver] He brings us to this realization. He brings us to the realization there is not one God except the one true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. There are no other gods. And then secondly, He teaches us that if we're ever saved, He must save us. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot even help save ourselves. So there are two truths that are manifest here.

[John Weaver] First of all, the Israelites were frightfully fearful. Look, if you would, at verse 10. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, let me ask you a question. Would you not be afraid to see one of the mightiest armies in the world at that time marching against you when you understood that you were unarmed and untrained and had no earthly way to defend yourself and no way to escape? You were hemmed in. Circumstantially, it looked like sure death for the Israelites.

[John Weaver] Secondly, not only were they fearfully frightened, but notice if you would, may evidence a faltering faith. Look at verses 11 and 12. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness. Wow. Wow.

[John Weaver] Let me ask you a question. How well do you remember God's deliverances and God's mercies and God's grace and God's power? I want you to stop and think about this. God had just worked all these miracles in Egypt. The people had seen those miracles firsthand. Firsthand, they had experienced those miracles. They had experienced the Passover. They knew that their firstborn child lived while the firstborn child of all the Egyptians died. Firsthand, they had seen, known and realized the power of God. And now they look at Moses and say, Can we just leave us alone in Egypt that we could serve the Egyptians?

[John Weaver] You brought us out here to kill us in this wilderness. Why did you ever take us out of Egypt? Are you listening to me? Do you realize these people were no more than three days out of Egypt? Three days? Can you not remember the power and grace and mercy and deliverance of God longer than three days?

[John Weaver] They began to think they were going to die. Because they forgot God. That's what David said, David said, this is my infirmity when I forgot the years on the right hand of the most high. When we forget God, that's when we get really fearful. You know what Moses said in Deuteronomy 6 verse 23, let me quote it. And he brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land which he sweareth unto our fathers. Notice he brought us out that he might bring us in. God did not bring the children of Israel out of Egypt to drop them in the desert. He brought them out that he might bring them in. God does not save us but drop us. God does not save us just to leave us to the world or to tyrants or to the flesh or to the devil. You know what the Bible says in Philippians 1 and verse 6?

[John Weaver] Listen to this, being confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. If God ever starts something, he'll finish it. You can rest assured of that. And if God ever allows a predicament, he will work it out. He will finish it. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. We're always on solid ground with him. And what God is going to teach these people is that he is God.

[John Weaver] And that he's the deliverer. Let me make some applications. The first one is this, here's a question I want to ask you. Does God have a plan? Don't you think about this? Let's get a little more specific. Does God have a plan for your life? Does God have a plan for your family? Does God have a plan for our nation? Look at the mess that we're in. Well, I can quote it, but I want you to turn there. Look in your Bible. To Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11, I want you to watch this. Ephesians 3 verse 11. This should answer your question. Does God have a plan? Does God have a plan for you, your family, our nation, our church? Look at Ephesians chapter 3, if you would, please. And verse 11. Ephesians 3 verse 11. Here it is.

[John Weaver] According To the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Oh, yes. There was an eternal purpose, an eternal plan. God had everything planned and purposed before the world ever began. Before you were ever brought into existence. God not only ordained the beginning, he ordained the end, and he also ordained all the means in between. That's why the Bible says in Acts 15 and verse 18, known unto God are all of his works from the beginning of the world. Are you listening?

[John Weaver] Nothing is left to chance, fate, fortune, or luck. There are no such things in a world that's ruled by God. God has one eternal plan and purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And yes, God has a plan. I might deal with this a little more next week. Because God's going to get honor on the ungodly. Just like he did on Pharaoh. Here's the second application. Think about this. God may do with us as he pleases. God may do with us as he pleases. He may save us or he may damn us. He may kill us or may keep us alive. Are you listening?

[John Weaver] We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us. Let me show you. I want you to turn to Deuteronomy 32. Look what he says. Deuteronomy 32. We will begin reading with verse 39. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39. Look what God says.

[John Weaver] Deuteronomy 32. And notice, if you would please, verse 39. See now that I, even I am he, and there is no God with me. Look what God does. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and I say I live forever. If I let my bittering sword in mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives from the beginning of their vengeance upon the enemy.

[John Weaver] Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land and to his And if you would turn right on over to 1st Samuel, chapter two, Hannah is praying. This is where she is asking for a son. Notice, if you would please. God gives her the son. And notice, if you would, what she says in 1st Samuel, chapter two, beginning there in verse six.

[John Weaver] The Lord killeth, and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich. He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and He hath set the world upon them. I love verse 9.

[John Weaver] He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be solid in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail." Wow! Do you realize we're in God's hands? He is not in our hands. We're in His hands. And the quicker we realize it, The quicker we should fall at His feet and say, O Lord, have mercy, for I'm a sinner. You may do with me as you will, because you're God. But if it please you, O Lord, have mercy and grace upon me. Turn me. Quicken me. Use me. It's a hard truth. But we are in God's hands. It's a hard truth. God will be honored upon his enemies. It's a hard truth.

[John Weaver] Not everybody is going to be saved. But it's still truth. And God revealed it in his word and we're to bow to it. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank You for Your grace, for Your mercy. Help us, O Lord, to recognize Thy sovereignty, Thy power, Thy greatness, Thy majesty. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

A Hard Truth - 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	122161323226
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-11-22
Dictation Name
Book	This recording is not yet included in a published book.
Source Timed Segments	78

Formatted Transcript

Opening

Exodus, chapter 14, and we're going to be reading verses one through 12. The title of the message today is "A Hard Truth, but Still True." And I might also point out this is going to be part one because I cannot finish this message until next Lord's Day. So Exodus, chapter 14, beginning with verse one:

Scripture Reading — Exodus 14:1-12

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth..." "...between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD."

And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." A hard truth. There are many hard truths in the Bible. Usually they are hard truths, number one, because of our ignorance.

Introduction: Hard Truths in the Bible

Weaver explains that some biblical truths are hard because of human ignorance and depravity, and that the unsaved cannot understand spiritual things.

But secondly, because they really and truly go against our flesh, our lack of spiritual understanding and discernment, as well as our depravity, makes any truth hard. I want you to understand also, moreover, it is impossible for an unsaved person to understand any truth. Believe it or not, I've had complaints over the years from several individuals who said, "Well, they did not understand the Bible" or "they could not understand the Bible." And you have to understand that when people make that statement, one of two things are true. Either number one, they are excessively ignorant and they do not really read or study their Bible, or number two, they're just plain lost. Because 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says this: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So God says that an unsaved man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Moreover, he cannot know them.

He does not have the facilities. He does not have the discernment. He does not have the spiritual understanding to receive them. Fallen man by nature is proud, arrogant and haughty. And fallen man likes to think that the world was created for him and that it revolves around him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric. Theos is the Greek word for God, which literally means God-centered—theocentric. And Anthropos is the Greek word for man. Anthropocentric means man-centered. So the universe then is theocentric. That is, everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man. In fact, Revelation 4 and verse 11 makes this truth exceedingly clear. When the scripture says, "For thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things." Now listen carefully. "And for thy pleasure they are and were created." So everything revolves around God, not around man. Fallen man also likes to think that God is at his disposal and that God only lives to serve fallen man and to bless fallen man.

The Theocentric Universe

The universe revolves around God, not man, and fallen man wrongly assumes God exists to serve him.

And man, fallen man, is constantly worshipping the creature more than the creator. He revels and glories in the blessings that he receives, but he hardly ever considers and is thankful to the giver of those blessings. Man just simply always assumes that God's going to bless him regardless of how he lives, regardless of how he acts, regardless of whether he's obedient or disobedient. And fallen man has been taught erroneously that God loves him no matter how he acts, no matter how he disobeys, no matter how much he blasphemes, and no matter how much he rebels. Such, of course, is not biblical truth. It is far from the Bible. Fallen man will always misinterpret the love of God as well. It is true that God is love. The scripture says that. But fallen man misinterprets that and thinks that the very fact that God is love means that God will never judge him or that God will never bring him into justice simply because God is love.

And usually you will find not only unsaved, but Christian people who will take the attributes of God and they will pit one attribute against another attribute. For instance, love is an attribute of God. But so is justice an attribute of God, so is holiness an attribute of God, so is righteousness. And so what they will do is they will take one attribute and they will either pit it against another attribute and say, "Well, I choose to say that God is love more than God is just or God is righteous or God is holy."

Wresting the Scriptures

Peter warns that unstable people twist hard passages to their own destruction, and believers should not run from difficult doctrines.

not only about the Word of God, but particularly about some of the writings of the Apostle Paul. Look, if you would, please, in 2 Peter chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 14. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 14. Look what he says.

Scripture Reading — 2 Peter 3:14-16

"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

So notice what Peter is saying is there are some hard things in the Bible. That is for sure. And he says even the Apostle Paul has written some very hard things. And he said those who are unlearned in the scripture, those who are unstable, they wrest the scriptures to their own destruction.

That is, they twist those scriptures. They make them mean things that the word of God never meant to begin with, and they interpret them to mean certain things that the Word of God does not mean for them to be interpreted that way. So we run across those hard truths in the Bible. Do you realize that when we run across a hard truth in the Bible, usually most people just run from the truth? I never will forget years ago when God first saved me and called me to preach. And I really had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a Bible reading schedule and I read through the Old Testament once a month, every month. I read through the New Testament every week. So I was reading all the time. And I went to a preacher who had been at that time preaching for about 30 years.

Personal Testimony and the Necessity of Hard Truths

Weaver recounts asking a pastor about election and predestination, and being told to ignore such truths; he insists God revealed them for our understanding.

And I asked him, I said, "I need some help. Would you please help me?" He said, "Well, I'll be glad to." He said, "What is it?" I said, "Well, I'm reading through the Bible and there are some things I keep reading over and over and I don't understand them and I want you to explain them to me." He said, "Well, OK, what are they?" I said, "Well, first of all, I keep running across this word elect or election and the word predestination. I said, I don't understand that. Would you please explain those things to me?" And he looked at me and so help me. Here is exactly what he said. He said, "Well, John," he said, "you have to understand that there are some things in the Bible that we're not meant to understand. And number two, there's some things that kill our soul winning zeal and we just let them alone." Now, you have to remember, I was just a young man. He was much older, had 30 years preaching experience. I was just starting. And I looked at him and I said, "It just appears to me that if God revealed them, He meant for us to understand them." And I said, "Secondly, any soul winning that the Bible kills ought to be killed anyhow."

And so we parted ways. Now, there are truths in the Bible that are hard. Just because you refuse to accept them, or believe them, or bow to them, does not make them untrue. They are still truth. And just because you do not understand them, or cannot comprehend them, or cannot work them out in your mind, does not mean that you simply walk away from the faith. Some people may. There are some people who read things in the Bible and they will say, "Well, I just simply don't like that truth." Well, let me tell you, truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not. And truth is still truth, whether you bow to it or not. I want you to understand that our Lord even had trouble with people who did not like hard things.

Jesus and the Hard Saying in John 6

Many disciples left Jesus because they found His teaching hard; believers should embrace hard truths and wait for illumination.

"These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." "But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

Now watch: "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." What did they say in verse 60? "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" And our Lord said, "Doth this offend you?" Are you upset because I'm preaching something that you don't understand or you do not like? And of course, they left Him because of that truth. But you see, as children of faith, as believers, we may not understand certain truths. We may not comprehend certain truths.

But we bow to them and believe them simply because God has revealed them. And we wait for Him to give us light and illumination. What we do is we just bow. We do not run from them like a scared rabbit. We certainly do not deny them like unbelievers. Rather, we hold to them and we embrace them, waiting for our Lord to give us light and illumination. Because we believe and understand that God has revealed all things for our good and for his glory. We believe Deuteronomy 29:29 when the Bible says, "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."

The Doctrine of Reprobation Introduced

Reprobation means God passes over some, withholding grace and leaving them in sin, as exemplified by Pharaoh.

Reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to have their own way. He allows them to do their own thing, and then He judges them for their actions. They are not saved, will never be saved, do not desire to be saved, and they eagerly defy and resist anything that is righteous, holy, and good. Pharaoh is an excellent example of reprobation.

Before I get started today to show you from the scripture, I'm going to give you a couple of quotes. The first one is from Dr. Loraine Boettner. Dr. Boettner's book on predestination is one of the better books and very easily understood. But here's what he said. Just one paragraph. "The doctrine of absolute predestination, of course, logically holds that some are foreordained to death as truly as others are foreordained to life. The very terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out, others are left not chosen."

Quotes on Predestination and Reprobation

Weaver cites Loraine Boettner and the Westminster Confession to support the logical connection between election and reprobation.

"The high privileges and glorious destiny of the former are not shared with the latter. This too is of God. We believe that from all eternity God has intended to leave some of Adam's posterity in their sins and that the decisive factor in the life of each is to be found only in God's will. As Mozley has said, 'The whole race after the fall was one mass of perdition and it pleased God of His sovereign mercy to rescue some and to leave others where they were; to raise some to glory, give them such grace as necessarily qualified them for it and abandon the rest from whom he withheld such grace to eternal punishment.'"

So what Boettner is saying is the very word election implies a non-elect or reprobation and reprobation is just simply God's passing over. You remember when David went out to fight Goliath? What does the Bible say? He chose him five smooth stones. When he chose those five smooth stones, he bypassed all the other stones. He didn't do anything to the other stones. They were already dead. They were already stones. They were already useless or worthless in and of themselves. He just chose five to use. And this is reprobation. Here's the Westminster Confession. Listen to this. After the Westminster Confession is dealing with the doctrine of election, it goes ahead and adds this. Now listen.

"The rest of mankind, that is those who are not elect, the rest of mankind God was pleased according to the inscrutable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their own sin, to the praise of His glorious justice." Now if you're saying, "Well I don't understand election and reprobation," well let me just tell you there's an excellent illustration of election when God chose Israel, and there's an excellent illustration of reprobation when God refused Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So I want us to look at this. In the first three points, in fact I'm only going to share three points with you today. The main body and the conclusion is going to come next week. But I want you to look, first of all, at a divine plan, a divine plan in verses one through three. Let's look at the first three verses. "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land."

A Divine Plan: God Baits Pharaoh

God commanded Israel to encamp in a vulnerable position to entice Pharaoh to pursue, as part of His sovereign plan.

"The wilderness hath shut them in." Now, without us taking time to go back and read chapters 5 through 11 of the book of Exodus, you will have to understand that God has gotten many victories over Pharaoh and over the people of Egypt and all of their false gods. I want you to understand something about this war between God and the Egyptians. The war was not just simply against Pharaoh. It was not just simply against the Egyptians. The war was against all the false gods of Egypt as well. If you look in Exodus chapter 12 and notice in verse 12, Exodus 12 and verse 12, God makes that exceedingly clear. He says, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." So God then was not just fighting against Pharaoh, who claimed to be a god, by the way. That is one reason why the firstborn had to die.

because Pharaoh could not even save alive his own child, demonstrating that he was not a god. And all of these judgments that God poured out upon Egypt was not just upon the people, but upon their false gods as well. One would think that after God had judged Egypt so many times, and had defeated Pharaoh, and Pharaoh had to confess that God was God, and that his own magicians and his own gods were impotent, you would think that after God had defeated the tyrant and his people so many times that they would wise up, that they would understand that their gods were false gods, and that the one true and living God was the only God, and that it would be very unwise to continue to fight against him. You would think that, but fallen man is not that wise. In fact, fallen man wickedly thinks that he will ultimately prevail and dethrone God.

And consequently, he is therefore willing to suffer immeasurably to satisfy his humanistic and proud and arrogant views. Well, God has one last episode in the lives of Pharaoh and his armies. He plans to destroy Pharaoh and his armies and make them an example of his righteous justice. He will mete out to them their just desserts.

Now, I want you to look at verse 4. I want you to look at this. I'm going to come back to this next week, but I want you to look at it today. Verse 4, God said, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so. Notice if you would, he said, "I am going to be honoured upon Pharaoh." So there is going to be honour unto God in the destruction of his enemies. Now, I want you to look back in Exodus chapter 13. Because we have just read in chapter 14, especially in verse 2, where the children of Israel encamped. And you would have to understand why they encamped there.

Remember, this is a divine plan. See, God did not take Israel and just lead them in a straight path right out of Egypt to the promised land. For instance, in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17, the Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Exodus 13:17

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."

So there was a shortcut. There was a shorter way. But God didn't lead them that way. God said,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 13:17

"No, I don't want to take them that way because they're not trained. They're not fighting. If they see war, they'll get scared. No, I'm not taking them through the land of the Philistines."

So the zigzag pattern evidently convinced Pharaoh that neither God nor the children of Israel knew where they were going and that they were confused and unable to escape. That's why in verse 3 of Exodus 14, God said, "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in."

Now, when you stop and think about this, who in the world would encamp nearly two million people with the sea in front of them and the wilderness and fortifications on either side of them with no possible way of escape? Now just stop and think about this. Look if you would, he said in verse 2, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea." Now Pi-hahiroth was the entrance to the Straits of Hiroth, two great mountains between which they marched and thus they were enclosed on each side. Now he mentions Migdol. Migdol was a city in Egypt where a garrison of Egyptian soldiers were undoubtedly kept, and Baal-zephon was another place of note situated in a high place which had a large prospect, an overview, and also possibly a garrison was stationed there as well. So, what Moses has done now, he has encamped the people where there is no possible way of escape. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, in their commentary, said this.

Let me read it to you very quickly. "The Israelites had now completed three days' journey, and in Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by the head of the Red Sea to the desert with a view to a final departure." Now listen. "They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit." "as the chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding sand. But at Etham, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the south, keeping the gulf on their left, a route which not only detained them lingering on the confines of Egypt, but in adopting it, they actually turned their backs on the land which they had set out to possess."

"A movement so unexpected, and of which the ultimate design was carefully concealed, could not but excite the astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although from his implicit faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly guide he obeyed. The object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue, in order that the moral effect which the judgments on Egypt had produced in releasing God's people from bondage might be still further extended over the nations by the awful events which were to be transacted at the Red Sea." So here's this divine plan. God was baiting Pharaoh. He was enticing Pharaoh. God was doing to Pharaoh exactly what He did to the king of Assyria, to Sennacherib. He's putting a hook in his nose. That's what the Bible says in Isaiah 37, verse 29. God speaks to Sennacherib and He says this:

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 37:29

"Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."

God said, "I'll just put a hook in you and jerk you around." It's just that simple. And so, just like fishing, what God is doing is baiting Pharaoh. And Pharaoh swallowed the bait. He said in verse 3, watch, "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land."

"The wilderness hath shut them in." They can't get away. So here's this divine plan.

A Divine Prerogative: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart

God sovereignly hardened Pharaoh's heart to ensure he would take the bait, demonstrating His right to harden whom He wills.

Now, I want you to know this, secondly, a divine prerogative. Now watch. Here's the divine plan. God is dangling the bait in front of Pharaoh. But what will guarantee that Pharaoh will take the bait? Well, look in verses three and four. "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in: and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so." So, first of all, Pharaoh was absolutely convinced that the Israelites were completely ignorant of the geography of the land. And they were helplessly lost and in a position where they were absolutely defenseless. They were trapped.

They could not possibly escape. And Pharaoh's depravity, his wounded pride, his ruthless ambition, his desire to vindicate himself and his gods would push him into taking the bait. Because Pharaoh will say they're entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. But I want you to notice secondly, in order to guarantee that Pharaoh would take the bait, God sovereignly hardened his heart. Now, I know. And you know, or at least you should, if you read your Bible. As you read through the book of Exodus, there will be times when it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. And I want to show you that that is a natural response when one sins and rebels against God, but it is also equally true that God told Moses before Moses ever went to Pharaoh that God told him that he would harden Pharaoh's heart. In fact, in Exodus chapter 7 in verse 3, he said this: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt." So it was God who hardened his heart first.

And then Pharaoh continued to harden his own heart. Now, let me tell you what the word hardened means. It simply means to strengthen oneself. To make oneself strong, to become more resolute and courageous. Wow. So here's what God did. God allowed Pharaoh to foolishly and wickedly think that he could be victorious in this battle. That he could outwit and outfight God. Are you listening? Fallen man is so stupid and so vain and so arrogant that somehow he thinks he will ultimately win and dethrone God and enthrone himself. That was Pharaoh. That's every man who fights against God. You know what God said in Psalm 10 in verse 4? "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." Pharaoh, in the pride of his heart, regretted allowing Israel to leave and foolishly thought that he could either recapture them or destroy them.

And by the way, tyrants are all alike. It's always simple. What they cannot control, they want to destroy. So if you're not going to serve them, you're of no use to them. And to them, just killing you and getting you out of the way is an easy task for them. Because you're useless if you're not going to serve them. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary said this: "When it was announced that Israel had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people."

"and they repented that they had let them go. When and whence the information came, we are not told. The common opinion that it was brought after the Israelites changed their route is not necessarily that which enticed him, for the change in Pharaoh's feelings toward the Israelites and his regret that he had let them go were caused not by their supposed mistake, but by their flight." "Now the king and his servants regarded the exodus as a flight, as soon as they recovered from the panic caused by the death of the firstborn, and began to consider the consequences of the permission given to the people to leave his service. This may have occurred," now listen, "this may have occurred as early as the second day after the exodus. In that case, Pharaoh would have had time to collect chariots and horsemen and overtake the Israelites at Pi-hahiroth, and they could easily perform the same journey in two days or one day and a half to which the Israelites had taken more than three."

I want you to understand something. In order to make sure that Pharaoh would follow after, God hardened his heart. God made him think or allowed him to think that "I can get them back or I can destroy them or I can win this thing." After all, now I want you to hold Exodus 14, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. We'll look at this passage in greater detail next week. We'll look in Romans chapter 9, if you would please, at verse 18. Romans 9, verse 18. And I'm just telling you, this is God's sovereign prerogative. God may do as he pleases. Notice if you would, Romans chapter 9 and verse 18, the Bible says this:

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:18

"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."

Isn't that amazing? God said, "I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll harden whomever I will harden." It's God's prerogative because God is sovereign.

Now, I want you to turn right on over to 2 Thessalonians chapter two, because I also want you to see that the hardening of one's heart is also a natural consequence of sin, rebellion and disobedience, because when we love sin and disobedience and rebellion more than the truth of God, we're hardening our own hearts and deceiving our own selves. Watch. 2 Thessalonians, chapter two, beginning there with verse nine.

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

Now, what happens when you do not receive the love of the truth? Verse 11,

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

So when you do not receive the truth, you are deluded and you believe a lie. And when you believe a lie and are deluded, you're damned, you're condemned. Why? Because you believe not the truth. And because you have pleasure in unrighteousness.

In other words, hardening your heart is the natural consequence of rebellion against God as well. You tend to think, "Boy, I can do this and get by with it." God says, "Oh no, it doesn't work like that." You see, it's not just Pharaoh whose heart is hardened. God traps all who hate him with a hardened heart because they strengthen themselves in their rebellion against God, thinking that, "Boy, I'm going to win this thing. God's not going to judge me. God's not going to destroy me." And you see, the Bible says in Romans 2 and verse 2,

Scripture Reading — Romans 2:2

"But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth."

And that is certainly true. The judgment of God is according to truth. So here's the divine plan. God did not draw them or carry them in a straight line. He carried them in a zigzag pattern. He got them around where Pharaoh was going to think, "Oh, they're entangled in the land. They're dumb. They're so stupid. They have no idea which way to go to escape." And then God hardened his heart thinking, "Yes, I can do this. I will vindicate myself. I'll vindicate my gods. I will win." And that's what God does to all the ungodly, they think they're going to win against him. But I want you to see thirdly today, a divine predicament. You're going to see this in verses five through 12, a divine predicament. Watch this. "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people."

A Divine Predicament: Israel Trapped and Fearful

God placed Israel in an impossible situation to teach them dependence on Him, but they responded with fear and faltering faith.

"And they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"

"Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." Now, let me ask you a question. Did God plan this predicament? The answer is absolutely. God was not only teaching his enemies, he was also teaching his people. But the lessons were different for each party. His enemies were going to learn the power of his might and justice. And his people were going to learn the power of his mercy and deliverance. You need to take note of the fact that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would pursue Israel. You have to understand that God does stir up enemies against us. Usually, when he stirs up enemies against us, it is because of our sin and rebellion against him.

All you have to do is read the book of Judges. What happened when Israel sinned? He raised up the enemies. And they fought against Israel and subdued them. And Israel was enslaved to various people. But let me show you a little more specifically. I want you to hold Exodus 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. Let me show you how God can specifically and sovereignly raise up enemies when we sin against him. You have to remember that Solomon was one of the wisest men that ever lived, and yet Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, sinned against God and did some very foolish and stupid and unwise things. One of them, he married too many women. Can you imagine Solomon going to take a shower and finding a thousand pair of hose hanging over the shower stall door? Come on. Oh, Lord, have mercy. Well, that was Solomon. Not only did he marry too many women, he married ungodly women.

And they were serving their false gods. And when Solomon got old, he built altars for these false gods. Isn't that amazing? Look at it in verse 9, 1 Kings 11:

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant."

Now, skip down to verse 14.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite." "He was of the king's seed in Edom."

Note,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon."

God sovereignly raised him up. Look in verse 23. 1 Kings 11 verse 23: "And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria." Notice, if you would, here are men that have been raised up by God as enemies to Solomon. Do you understand that usually most of our predicaments come from our own sins, our own ignorance, and our own downright rebellion and stupidity? However, there are times when God sovereignly arranges our predicaments in order that we will be forced to look to him and to trust him and to honor him. We have to understand that he is our help. He is our stay. He is our deliverer.

He's the only one who can deliver. You have to remember this. There's absolutely nothing that happens by accident in a world ruled by God. And so what God has done in Exodus chapter 14 is this. God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them. You have to consider their situation just for a moment. They've been brought out of the open country. They were alone.

There was really no place to hide. They were untrained in warfare. They had no weapons. There was nowhere to run. The Red Sea was before them. Pharaoh and his host were behind them. And they had fortresses and mountains and wilderness on each side. Moreover, they did not have any boats. Nor did they have any time to build any boats. They were in a pickle. They were in a predicament. Why did God allow this predicament? Well, first of all.

He's going to demonstrate not only to Israel, but to the Egyptians, the vanity and the uselessness and the worthlessness of their false gods. Secondly, God is going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation because He now has them beyond any human help or hope. They cannot save themselves. They cannot protect themselves. They cannot deliver themselves. Do you realize that this is exactly what God does when He convicts us and converts us and saves us? He brings us to this realization. He brings us to the realization there is not one God except the one true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. There are no other gods. And then secondly, He teaches us that if we're ever saved, He must save us. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot even help save ourselves. So there are two truths that are manifest here.

First of all, the Israelites were frightfully fearful. Look, if you would, at verse 10. "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD." Now, let me ask you a question. Would you not be afraid to see one of the mightiest armies in the world at that time marching against you when you understood that you were unarmed and untrained and had no earthly way to defend yourself and no way to escape? You were hemmed in. Circumstantially, it looked like sure death for the Israelites.

Secondly, not only were they fearfully frightened, but notice if you would, they evidenced a faltering faith. Look at verses 11 and 12. "And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." Wow. Wow. Let me ask you a question. How well do you remember God's deliverances and God's mercies and God's grace and God's power? I want you to stop and think about this. God had just worked all these miracles in Egypt. The people had seen those miracles firsthand. Firsthand, they had experienced those miracles. They had experienced the Passover. They knew that their firstborn child lived while the firstborn child of all the Egyptians died. Firsthand, they had seen, known and realized the power of God. And now they look at Moses and say, "Can we just leave us alone in Egypt that we could serve the Egyptians?"

"You brought us out here to kill us in this wilderness. Why did you ever take us out of Egypt?" Are you listening to me? Do you realize these people were no more than three days out of Egypt? Three days? Can you not remember the power and grace and mercy and deliverance of God longer than three days?

Applications: God's Sovereign Plan and Our Response

Weaver applies the truths by affirming God has an eternal plan, does as He pleases with us, and we must submit to His sovereignty.

And that he's the deliverer. Let me make some applications. The first one is this, here's a question I want to ask you. Does God have a plan? Don't you think about this? Let's get a little more specific. Does God have a plan for your life? Does God have a plan for your family? Does God have a plan for our nation? Look at the mess that we're in. Well, I can quote it, but I want you to turn there. Look in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11, I want you to watch this. Ephesians 3 verse 11. This should answer your question. Does God have a plan? Does God have a plan for you, your family, our nation, our church? Look at Ephesians chapter 3, if you would, please. And verse 11. Ephesians 3 verse 11. Here it is.

"According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Oh, yes. There was an eternal purpose, an eternal plan. God had everything planned and purposed before the world ever began. Before you were ever brought into existence. God not only ordained the beginning, he ordained the end, and he also ordained all the means in between. That's why the Bible says in Acts 15 and verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Acts 15:18

"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."

Are you listening? Nothing is left to chance, fate, fortune, or luck. There are no such things in a world that's ruled by God. God has one eternal plan and purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. And yes, God has a plan. I might deal with this a little more next week. Because God's going to get honor on the ungodly. Just like he did on Pharaoh. Here's the second application. Think about this. God may do with us as he pleases. God may do with us as he pleases. He may save us or he may damn us. He may kill us or may keep us alive. Are you listening?

We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us. Let me show you. I want you to turn to Deuteronomy 32. Look what he says. Deuteronomy 32. We will begin reading with verse 39. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39. Look what God says.

Deuteronomy 32. And notice, if you would please, verse 39.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:39-43

"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy." "Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people."

And if you would turn right on over to 1 Samuel, chapter two, Hannah is praying. This is where she is asking for a son. Notice, if you would please. God gives her the son. And notice, if you would, what she says in 1 Samuel, chapter two, beginning there in verse six.

"The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them." I love verse 9. "He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail." Wow! Do you realize we're in God's hands? He is not in our hands. We're in His hands. And the quicker we realize it, the quicker we should fall at His feet and say, "O Lord, have mercy, for I'm a sinner. You may do with me as you will, because you're God. But if it please you, O Lord, have mercy and grace upon me. Turn me. Quicken me. Use me." It's a hard truth. But we are in God's hands. It's a hard truth. God will be honored upon his enemies. It's a hard truth.

Not everybody is going to be saved. But it's still truth. And God revealed it in his word and we're to bow to it. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank You for Your grace, for Your mercy. Help us, O Lord, to recognize Thy sovereignty, Thy power, Thy greatness, Thy majesty. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Hardness of Biblical Truth

Summary: Some truths in Scripture are difficult because they oppose human pride and depravity, but they remain true regardless of our acceptance.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'There are many hard truths in the Bible. Usually they are hard truths, number one, because of our ignorance. But secondly, because they really and truly go against our flesh.'

The Theocentric Nature of Reality

Summary: The universe is God-centered, not man-centered; everything exists for God's pleasure, and fallen man wrongly thinks God exists to serve him.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric... everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man.'

The Danger of Twisting Scripture

Summary: Unlearned and unstable people wrest hard passages to their own destruction, but believers should not run from difficult doctrines.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Peter 3:16 about those who 'wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.'

The Doctrine of Reprobation

Summary: Reprobation is God's sovereign passing over of some individuals, withholding grace and leaving them in their sin for His glory.

Evidence: Weaver defines reprobation as 'God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion.'

God's Sovereign Hardening of Hearts

Summary: God actively hardens the hearts of the wicked to accomplish His purposes, as seen with Pharaoh, and this is His divine prerogative.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God sovereignly hardened his heart... God may do as he pleases. Notice if you would, Romans chapter 9 and verse 18... Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.'

God's Sovereign Plan in Predicaments

Summary: God arranges difficult circumstances to teach His people dependence on Him and to demonstrate His power and salvation.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them... He's going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation because He now has them beyond any human help or hope.'

Human Fear and Faltering Faith

Summary: When faced with trials, believers often forget God's past deliverances and respond with fear and doubt, as Israel did at the Red Sea.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'They began to think they were going to die. Because they forgot God... Can you not remember the power and grace and mercy and deliverance of God longer than three days?'

Submission to God's Sovereignty

Summary: Believers must recognize they are in God's hands, submit to His will, and trust His plan, even when it involves hard truths.

Evidence: Weaver concludes, 'We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us.'

Key Arguments

Unsaved Man Cannot Understand Spiritual Truth

Summary: The natural man lacks the spiritual discernment to receive the things of God, making all truth hard for him.

Evidence: Weaver quotes 1 Corinthians 2:14: 'But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'

Truth Remains True Regardless of Human Response

Summary: A truth's validity does not depend on our liking, understanding, or acceptance; it is true because God revealed it.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'Truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not.'

Election Implies Reprobation

Summary: The biblical concept of election logically necessitates that some are not chosen, which is the doctrine of reprobation.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Boettner: 'The very terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out, others are left not chosen.'

God Actively Hardens Hearts for His Glory

Summary: God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was a sovereign act to ensure pursuit, leading to His honor through judgment.

Evidence: Weaver points to Exodus 14:4: 'And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh.'

Hardening Is Also a Natural Consequence of Sin

Summary: Those who reject the truth are given over to delusion and believe a lie, resulting in their own condemnation.

Evidence: Weaver cites 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12: 'God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth.'

God Uses Predicaments to Teach Dependence

Summary: God places His people in impossible situations to strip them of self-reliance and force them to trust in Him alone.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them... He's going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation.'

God's Plan Is Eternal and All-Encompassing

Summary: God has an eternal purpose that includes every event, leaving nothing to chance, and this plan is centered in Christ.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Ephesians 3:11: 'According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

God Does as He Pleases with His Creatures

Summary: God has absolute right over life and death, salvation and judgment, and humans must submit to His sovereign will.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Deuteronomy 32:39: 'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.'

Scripture References

Exodus 14:1-12

Context: The primary text of the sermon, describing God's command to encamp by the sea, Pharaoh's pursuit, and Israel's fear.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Context: Used to argue that the natural man cannot understand spiritual truths.

Revelation 4:11

Context: Cited to show that all things were created for God's pleasure, emphasizing the theocentric universe.

2 Peter 3:14-16

Context: Warns that unstable people twist hard scriptures to their own destruction.

John 6:59-66

Context: Illustrates that many disciples left Jesus because they found His teaching hard.

Deuteronomy 29:29

Context: Affirms that revealed things belong to us, while secret things belong to God.

Exodus 12:12

Context: Shows that God's judgments were against the gods of Egypt as well as the people.

Exodus 13:17

Context: Explains why God did not lead Israel by the shorter route through Philistine territory.

Isaiah 37:29

Context: God putting a hook in Sennacherib's nose is compared to His baiting of Pharaoh.

Exodus 7:3

Context: God's promise to harden Pharaoh's heart before Moses ever went to him.

Psalm 10:4

Context: Describes the wicked who, in pride, do not seek God.

Romans 9:18

Context: States that God has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Context: Explains that those who reject truth are sent strong delusion and are damned.

Romans 2:2

Context: Asserts that God's judgment is according to truth.

1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

Context: Shows God stirring up adversaries against Solomon because of his sin.

Deuteronomy 6:23

Context: Quoted to show God brought Israel out to bring them in, not to abandon them.

Philippians 1:6

Context: Confidence that God will complete the work He began in believers.

Ephesians 3:11

Context: Speaks of God's eternal purpose in Christ.

Acts 15:18

Context: Known unto God are all His works from the beginning.

Deuteronomy 32:39-43

Context: God declares He kills and makes alive, and will render vengeance.

Historical References

Loraine Boettner

Context: Weaver quotes Boettner's book on predestination to support the doctrine of reprobation.

Westminster Confession of Faith

Context: Cited to affirm that God passes by the non-elect and ordains them to dishonor and wrath for their sin.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary

Context: Quoted to explain the strategic encampment of Israel and God's purpose in enticing Pharaoh.

Keil and Delitzsch Commentary

Context: Cited regarding the timing and motivation of Pharaoh's change of heart.

Important Quotes

Truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not. And truth is still truth, whether you bow to it or not.

Significance: Encapsulates the sermon's central premise that hard truths remain objectively true regardless of human response.

The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric. Theos is the Greek word for God, which literally means God-centered—theocentric. And Anthropos is the Greek word for man. Anthropocentric means man-centered. So the universe then is theocentric. That is, everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man.

Significance: Establishes the foundational worldview that God, not man, is the center of all things.

Reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to have their own way. He allows them to do their own thing, and then He judges them for their actions.

Significance: Provides a clear definition of the doctrine of reprobation as taught in the sermon.

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Significance: Key scripture (Romans 9:18) used to support God's sovereign right to harden hearts.

We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us.

Significance: Summarizes the practical application of God's sovereignty for believers.

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Significance: Deuteronomy 32:39 quoted to emphasize God's absolute sovereignty over life and death.

Discussion Questions

Why does Weaver say that some biblical truths are hard, and how should believers respond to them?

Context: Weaver discusses the reasons hard truths are difficult and the proper response of faith.

What does it mean that the universe is theocentric rather than anthropocentric, and how does this affect our view of God and ourselves?

Context: Weaver contrasts a God-centered worldview with a man-centered one.

How does the doctrine of reprobation relate to the doctrine of election, and why is it considered a hard truth?

Context: Weaver introduces reprobation as the logical counterpart to election.

In what ways did God sovereignly arrange the events of Exodus 14 to accomplish His purposes with both Pharaoh and Israel?

Context: Weaver explains the divine plan, prerogative, and predicament in the passage.

What does it mean that God hardens hearts, and how does this truth challenge common assumptions about human free will?

Context: Weaver discusses both God's active hardening and the natural consequence of sin.

Why did Israel respond with fear and complaint at the Red Sea, and what does this reveal about human nature?

Context: Weaver highlights Israel's faltering faith despite witnessing God's miracles.

How does the truth that God has an eternal plan for everything provide comfort and challenge to believers today?

Context: Weaver applies the doctrine of God's eternal purpose to personal and national life.

What does it practically mean to submit to God's sovereignty, especially when facing difficult circumstances or doctrines?

Context: Weaver concludes with the call to bow to God's will and seek His mercy.

Applications

Embrace Hard Truths Rather Than Running from Them

Summary: Believers should not avoid difficult doctrines but bow to them, trusting God for illumination.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We do not run from them like a scared rabbit. We certainly do not deny them like unbelievers. Rather, we hold to them and we embrace them, waiting for our Lord to give us light and illumination.'

Recognize God's Sovereignty in All Circumstances

Summary: Understand that God has a plan for every life and situation, and nothing happens by accident.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Does God have a plan for your life? Does God have a plan for your family? Does God have a plan for our nation?' and answers with Ephesians 3:11.

Submit to God's Absolute Authority

Summary: Acknowledge that we are in God's hands and He may do with us as He pleases; the proper response is humble submission.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us.'

Remember God's Past Deliverances in Times of Fear

Summary: When facing trials, recall God's previous mercies to strengthen faith instead of giving in to fear and doubt.

Evidence: Weaver points out Israel's failure: 'Can you not remember the power and grace and mercy and deliverance of God longer than three days?'

Trust That God Will Complete What He Starts

Summary: Believers can be confident that God will finish the work of salvation He began in them, even through predicaments.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Philippians 1:6: 'Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.'

Cry Out for God's Mercy in Light of His Sovereignty

Summary: Recognizing God's absolute power should drive us to plead for His grace rather than resist His will.

Evidence: Weaver models this in his closing prayer: 'O Lord, have mercy, for I'm a sinner. You may do with me as you will, because you're God. But if it please you, O Lord, have mercy and grace upon me.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:39:27Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T14:05:14Z

Clean Transcript

A Hard Truth - 1

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

Exodus, chapter 14, and we're going to be reading verses one through 12. The title of the message today is "A Hard Truth, but Still True." And I might also point out this is going to be part one because I cannot finish this message until next Lord's Day. So Exodus, chapter 14, beginning with verse one: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth..."
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"...between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon.
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And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." A hard truth. There are many hard truths in the Bible. Usually they are hard truths, number one, because of our ignorance.
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But secondly, because they really and truly go against our flesh, our lack of spiritual understanding and discernment, as well as our depravity, makes any truth hard. I want you to understand also, moreover, it is impossible for an unsaved person to understand any truth. Believe it or not, I've had complaints over the years from several individuals who said, "Well, they did not understand the Bible" or "they could not understand the Bible." And you have to understand that when people make that statement, one of two things are true. Either number one, they are excessively ignorant and they do not really read or study their Bible, or number two, they're just plain lost. Because 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says this: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." So God says that an unsaved man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God. Moreover, he cannot know them.
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He does not have the facilities. He does not have the discernment. He does not have the spiritual understanding to receive them. Fallen man by nature is proud, arrogant and haughty. And fallen man likes to think that the world was created for him and that it revolves around him. Nothing could be further from the truth. The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric. Theos is the Greek word for God, which literally means God-centered—theocentric. And Anthropos is the Greek word for man. Anthropocentric means man-centered. So the universe then is theocentric. That is, everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man. In fact, Revelation 4 and verse 11 makes this truth exceedingly clear. When the scripture says, "For thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things." Now listen carefully. "And for thy pleasure they are and were created." So everything revolves around God, not around man. Fallen man also likes to think that God is at his disposal and that God only lives to serve fallen man and to bless fallen man.
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And man, fallen man, is constantly worshipping the creature more than the creator. He revels and glories in the blessings that he receives, but he hardly ever considers and is thankful to the giver of those blessings. Man just simply always assumes that God's going to bless him regardless of how he lives, regardless of how he acts, regardless of whether he's obedient or disobedient. And fallen man has been taught erroneously that God loves him no matter how he acts, no matter how he disobeys, no matter how much he blasphemes, and no matter how much he rebels.
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Such, of course, is not biblical truth. It is far from the Bible. Fallen man will always misinterpret the love of God as well. It is true that God is love. The scripture says that. But fallen man misinterprets that and thinks that the very fact that God is love means that God will never judge him or that God will never bring him into justice simply because God is love.
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And usually you will find not only unsaved, but Christian people who will take the attributes of God and they will pit one attribute against another attribute. For instance, love is an attribute of God. But so is justice an attribute of God, so is holiness an attribute of God, so is righteousness. And so what they will do is they will take one attribute and they will either pit it against another attribute and say, "Well, I choose to say that God is love more than God is just or God is righteous or God is holy."
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Or what they will do is simply this. They will choose one attribute that they wish to believe. And then they will refuse to believe all the others that are clearly revealed in Scripture. And what happens is this. Men then twist and misinterpret and misapply the Scriptures to their own destruction. I want you to hold Exodus chapter 14, but I want you to look in 2 Peter chapter 3 and look what Peter says.
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not only about the Word of God, but particularly about some of the writings of the Apostle Paul. Look, if you would, please, in 2 Peter chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 14. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 14. Look what he says. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." So notice what Peter is saying is there are some hard things in the Bible. That is for sure. And he says even the Apostle Paul has written some very hard things. And he said those who are unlearned in the scripture, those who are unstable, they wrest the scriptures to their own destruction.
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That is, they twist those scriptures. They make them mean things that the word of God never meant to begin with, and they interpret them to mean certain things that the Word of God does not mean for them to be interpreted that way. So we run across those hard truths in the Bible. Do you realize that when we run across a hard truth in the Bible, usually most people just run from the truth? I never will forget years ago when God first saved me and called me to preach. And I really had a real hunger to know the Word of God. So I put myself on a Bible reading schedule and I read through the Old Testament once a month, every month. I read through the New Testament every week. So I was reading all the time. And I went to a preacher who had been at that time preaching for about 30 years.
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And I asked him, I said, "I need some help. Would you please help me?" He said, "Well, I'll be glad to." He said, "What is it?" I said, "Well, I'm reading through the Bible and there are some things I keep reading over and over and I don't understand them and I want you to explain them to me." He said, "Well, OK, what are they?" I said, "Well, first of all, I keep running across this word elect or election and the word predestination. I said, I don't understand that. Would you please explain those things to me?" And he looked at me and so help me.
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Here is exactly what he said. He said, "Well, John," he said, "you have to understand that there are some things in the Bible that we're not meant to understand. And number two, there's some things that kill our soul winning zeal and we just let them alone." Now, you have to remember, I was just a young man. He was much older, had 30 years preaching experience. I was just starting. And I looked at him and I said, "It just appears to me that if God revealed them, He meant for us to understand them." And I said, "Secondly, any soul winning that the Bible kills ought to be killed anyhow."
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And so we parted ways. Now, there are truths in the Bible that are hard. Just because you refuse to accept them, or believe them, or bow to them, does not make them untrue. They are still truth. And just because you do not understand them, or cannot comprehend them, or cannot work them out in your mind, does not mean that you simply walk away from the faith. Some people may. There are some people who read things in the Bible and they will say, "Well, I just simply don't like that truth." Well, let me tell you, truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not. And truth is still truth, whether you bow to it or not. I want you to understand that our Lord even had trouble with people who did not like hard things.
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For instance, if you look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and let's begin reading there with verse 59. John chapter 6 and verse 59. Let me show you what I'm talking about. There are indeed hard truths in the Bible and here is one of them. And here's what happened to our Lord when He enunciated that hard truth. John chapter 6 and verse 59. Watch carefully. John 6.
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"These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
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"But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."
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Now watch: "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." What did they say in verse 60? "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" And our Lord said, "Doth this offend you?" Are you upset because I'm preaching something that you don't understand or you do not like? And of course, they left Him because of that truth. But you see, as children of faith, as believers, we may not understand certain truths. We may not comprehend certain truths.
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But we bow to them and believe them simply because God has revealed them. And we wait for Him to give us light and illumination. What we do is we just bow. We do not run from them like a scared rabbit. We certainly do not deny them like unbelievers. Rather, we hold to them and we embrace them, waiting for our Lord to give us light and illumination. Because we believe and understand that God has revealed all things for our good and for his glory. We believe Deuteronomy 29:29 when the Bible says, "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."
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So when you get to Exodus chapter 14, there is indeed a very hard truth in this passage. It is hard for our flesh to receive it. It is not that we cannot see it. It is not that we are incapable of understanding it. It is not that the truth is unclear. It's the fact that it is so flesh-withering that we don't like it. It's a truth that's dealing with God's judgment and God's destruction. It is also the truth dealing with God's sovereign power and God's sovereign choice. It is a truth that is known as reprobation.
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Reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to have their own way. He allows them to do their own thing, and then He judges them for their actions. They are not saved, will never be saved, do not desire to be saved, and they eagerly defy and resist anything that is righteous, holy, and good. Pharaoh is an excellent example of reprobation.
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Before I get started today to show you from the scripture, I'm going to give you a couple of quotes. The first one is from Dr. Loraine Boettner. Dr. Boettner's book on predestination is one of the better books and very easily understood. But here's what he said. Just one paragraph. "The doctrine of absolute predestination, of course, logically holds that some are foreordained to death as truly as others are foreordained to life. The very terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out, others are left not chosen."
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"The high privileges and glorious destiny of the former are not shared with the latter. This too is of God. We believe that from all eternity God has intended to leave some of Adam's posterity in their sins and that the decisive factor in the life of each is to be found only in God's will. As Mozley has said, 'The whole race after the fall was one mass of perdition and it pleased God of His sovereign mercy to rescue some and to leave others where they were; to raise some to glory, give them such grace as necessarily qualified them for it and abandon the rest from whom he withheld such grace to eternal punishment.'"
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So what Boettner is saying is the very word election implies a non-elect or reprobation and reprobation is just simply God's passing over. You remember when David went out to fight Goliath? What does the Bible say? He chose him five smooth stones. When he chose those five smooth stones, he bypassed all the other stones. He didn't do anything to the other stones. They were already dead. They were already stones. They were already useless or worthless in and of themselves. He just chose five to use. And this is reprobation. Here's the Westminster Confession. Listen to this. After the Westminster Confession is dealing with the doctrine of election, it goes ahead and adds this. Now listen.
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"The rest of mankind, that is those who are not elect, the rest of mankind God was pleased according to the inscrutable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy as He pleaseth, for the glory of His sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their own sin, to the praise of His glorious justice."
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Now if you're saying, "Well I don't understand election and reprobation," well let me just tell you there's an excellent illustration of election when God chose Israel, and there's an excellent illustration of reprobation when God refused Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So I want us to look at this. In the first three points, in fact I'm only going to share three points with you today. The main body and the conclusion is going to come next week. But I want you to look, first of all, at a divine plan, a divine plan in verses one through three. Let's look at the first three verses. "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land."
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"The wilderness hath shut them in." Now, without us taking time to go back and read chapters 5 through 11 of the book of Exodus, you will have to understand that God has gotten many victories over Pharaoh and over the people of Egypt and all of their false gods. I want you to understand something about this war between God and the Egyptians. The war was not just simply against Pharaoh. It was not just simply against the Egyptians. The war was against all the false gods of Egypt as well. If you look in Exodus chapter 12 and notice in verse 12, Exodus 12 and verse 12, God makes that exceedingly clear. He says, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." So God then was not just fighting against Pharaoh, who claimed to be a god, by the way. That is one reason why the firstborn had to die.
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because Pharaoh could not even save alive his own child, demonstrating that he was not a god. And all of these judgments that God poured out upon Egypt was not just upon the people, but upon their false gods as well. One would think that after God had judged Egypt so many times, and had defeated Pharaoh, and Pharaoh had to confess that God was God, and that his own magicians and his own gods were impotent, you would think that after God had defeated the tyrant and his people so many times that they would wise up, that they would understand that their gods were false gods, and that the one true and living God was the only God, and that it would be very unwise to continue to fight against him. You would think that, but fallen man is not that wise. In fact, fallen man wickedly thinks that he will ultimately prevail and dethrone God.
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And consequently, he is therefore willing to suffer immeasurably to satisfy his humanistic and proud and arrogant views. Well, God has one last episode in the lives of Pharaoh and his armies. He plans to destroy Pharaoh and his armies and make them an example of his righteous justice. He will mete out to them their just desserts.
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Now, I want you to look at verse 4. I want you to look at this. I'm going to come back to this next week, but I want you to look at it today. Verse 4, God said, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD." And they did so. Notice if you would, he said, "I am going to be honoured upon Pharaoh." So there is going to be honour unto God in the destruction of his enemies. Now, I want you to look back in Exodus chapter 13. Because we have just read in chapter 14, especially in verse 2, where the children of Israel encamped. And you would have to understand why they encamped there.
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Remember, this is a divine plan. See, God did not take Israel and just lead them in a straight path right out of Egypt to the promised land. For instance, in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17, the Bible says this: "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."
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So there was a shortcut. There was a shorter way. But God didn't lead them that way. God said, "No, I don't want to take them that way because they're not trained. They're not fighting. If they see war, they'll get scared. No, I'm not taking them through the land of the Philistines." So the zigzag pattern evidently convinced Pharaoh that neither God nor the children of Israel knew where they were going and that they were confused and unable to escape. That's why in verse 3 of Exodus 14, God said, "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in."
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Now, when you stop and think about this, who in the world would encamp nearly two million people with the sea in front of them and the wilderness and fortifications on either side of them with no possible way of escape? Now just stop and think about this. Look if you would, he said in verse 2, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea." Now Pi-hahiroth was the entrance to the Straits of Hiroth, two great mountains between which they marched and thus they were enclosed on each side.
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Now he mentions Migdol. Migdol was a city in Egypt where a garrison of Egyptian soldiers were undoubtedly kept, and Baal-zephon was another place of note situated in a high place which had a large prospect, an overview, and also possibly a garrison was stationed there as well. So, what Moses has done now, he has encamped the people where there is no possible way of escape. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, in their commentary, said this.
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Let me read it to you very quickly. "The Israelites had now completed three days' journey, and in Etham the decisive step would have to be taken whether they would celebrate their intended feast and return, or march onwards by the head of the Red Sea to the desert with a view to a final departure." Now listen. "They were already on the borders of the desert, and a short march would have placed them beyond the reach of pursuit."
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"as the chariots of Egypt could have made little progress over dry and yielding sand. But at Etham, instead of pursuing their journey eastward with the sea on their right, they were suddenly commanded to diverge to the south, keeping the gulf on their left, a route which not only detained them lingering on the confines of Egypt, but in adopting it, they actually turned their backs on the land which they had set out to possess."
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"A movement so unexpected, and of which the ultimate design was carefully concealed, could not but excite the astonishment of all, even of Moses himself, although from his implicit faith in the wisdom and power of his heavenly guide he obeyed. The object was to entice Pharaoh to pursue, in order that the moral effect which the judgments on Egypt had produced in releasing God's people from bondage might be still further extended over the nations by the awful events which were to be transacted at the Red Sea."
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So here's this divine plan. God was baiting Pharaoh. He was enticing Pharaoh. God was doing to Pharaoh exactly what He did to the king of Assyria, to Sennacherib. He's putting a hook in his nose. That's what the Bible says in Isaiah 37, verse 29. God speaks to Sennacherib and He says this: "Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest." God said, "I'll just put a hook in you and jerk you around." It's just that simple. And so, just like fishing, what God is doing is baiting Pharaoh. And Pharaoh swallowed the bait. He said in verse 3, watch, "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land."
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"The wilderness hath shut them in." They can't get away. So here's this divine plan.
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Now, I want you to know this, secondly, a divine prerogative. Now watch. Here's the divine plan. God is dangling the bait in front of Pharaoh. But what will guarantee that Pharaoh will take the bait? Well, look in verses three and four. "For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in: and I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so." So, first of all, Pharaoh was absolutely convinced that the Israelites were completely ignorant of the geography of the land. And they were helplessly lost and in a position where they were absolutely defenseless. They were trapped.
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They could not possibly escape. And Pharaoh's depravity, his wounded pride, his ruthless ambition, his desire to vindicate himself and his gods would push him into taking the bait. Because Pharaoh will say they're entangled in the land, the wilderness has shut them in. But I want you to notice secondly, in order to guarantee that Pharaoh would take the bait, God sovereignly hardened his heart. Now, I know. And you know, or at least you should, if you read your Bible. As you read through the book of Exodus, there will be times when it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. And I want to show you that that is a natural response when one sins and rebels against God, but it is also equally true that God told Moses before Moses ever went to Pharaoh that God told him that he would harden Pharaoh's heart. In fact, in Exodus chapter 7 in verse 3, he said this: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt." So it was God who hardened his heart first.
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And then Pharaoh continued to harden his own heart. Now, let me tell you what the word hardened means. It simply means to strengthen oneself. To make oneself strong, to become more resolute and courageous. Wow. So here's what God did. God allowed Pharaoh to foolishly and wickedly think that he could be victorious in this battle. That he could outwit and outfight God. Are you listening? Fallen man is so stupid and so vain and so arrogant that somehow he thinks he will ultimately win and dethrone God and enthrone himself. That was Pharaoh. That's every man who fights against God. You know what God said in Psalm 10 in verse 4? "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts." Pharaoh, in the pride of his heart, regretted allowing Israel to leave and foolishly thought that he could either recapture them or destroy them.
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And by the way, tyrants are all alike. It's always simple. What they cannot control, they want to destroy. So if you're not going to serve them, you're of no use to them. And to them, just killing you and getting you out of the way is an easy task for them. Because you're useless if you're not going to serve them. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary said this: "When it was announced that Israel had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants turned against the people."
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"and they repented that they had let them go. When and whence the information came, we are not told. The common opinion that it was brought after the Israelites changed their route is not necessarily that which enticed him, for the change in Pharaoh's feelings toward the Israelites and his regret that he had let them go were caused not by their supposed mistake, but by their flight."
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"Now the king and his servants regarded the exodus as a flight, as soon as they recovered from the panic caused by the death of the firstborn, and began to consider the consequences of the permission given to the people to leave his service. This may have occurred," now listen, "this may have occurred as early as the second day after the exodus. In that case, Pharaoh would have had time to collect chariots and horsemen and overtake the Israelites at Pi-hahiroth, and they could easily perform the same journey in two days or one day and a half to which the Israelites had taken more than three."
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I want you to understand something. In order to make sure that Pharaoh would follow after, God hardened his heart. God made him think or allowed him to think that "I can get them back or I can destroy them or I can win this thing." After all, now I want you to hold Exodus 14, but I want you to look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. We'll look at this passage in greater detail next week. We'll look in Romans chapter 9, if you would please, at verse 18. Romans 9, verse 18.
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And I'm just telling you, this is God's sovereign prerogative. God may do as he pleases. Notice if you would, Romans chapter 9 and verse 18, the Bible says this: "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Isn't that amazing? God said, "I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll harden whomever I will harden." It's God's prerogative because God is sovereign.
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Now, I want you to turn right on over to 2 Thessalonians chapter two, because I also want you to see that the hardening of one's heart is also a natural consequence of sin, rebellion and disobedience, because when we love sin and disobedience and rebellion more than the truth of God, we're hardening our own hearts and deceiving our own selves. Watch. 2 Thessalonians, chapter two, beginning there with verse nine.
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"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." Now, what happens when you do not receive the love of the truth? Verse 11, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." So when you do not receive the truth, you are deluded and you believe a lie. And when you believe a lie and are deluded, you're damned, you're condemned. Why? Because you believe not the truth. And because you have pleasure in unrighteousness.
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In other words, hardening your heart is the natural consequence of rebellion against God as well. You tend to think, "Boy, I can do this and get by with it." God says, "Oh no, it doesn't work like that." You see, it's not just Pharaoh whose heart is hardened. God traps all who hate him with a hardened heart because they strengthen themselves in their rebellion against God, thinking that, "Boy, I'm going to win this thing. God's not going to judge me. God's not going to destroy me." And you see, the Bible says in Romans 2 and verse 2, "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth."
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And that is certainly true. The judgment of God is according to truth. So here's the divine plan. God did not draw them or carry them in a straight line. He carried them in a zigzag pattern. He got them around where Pharaoh was going to think, "Oh, they're entangled in the land. They're dumb. They're so stupid. They have no idea which way to go to escape." And then God hardened his heart thinking, "Yes, I can do this. I will vindicate myself. I'll vindicate my gods. I will win." And that's what God does to all the ungodly, they think they're going to win against him. But I want you to see thirdly today, a divine predicament. You're going to see this in verses five through 12, a divine predicament. Watch this. "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people."
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"And they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?"
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"Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."
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Now, let me ask you a question. Did God plan this predicament? The answer is absolutely. God was not only teaching his enemies, he was also teaching his people. But the lessons were different for each party. His enemies were going to learn the power of his might and justice. And his people were going to learn the power of his mercy and deliverance. You need to take note of the fact that God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he would pursue Israel. You have to understand that God does stir up enemies against us. Usually, when he stirs up enemies against us, it is because of our sin and rebellion against him.
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All you have to do is read the book of Judges. What happened when Israel sinned? He raised up the enemies. And they fought against Israel and subdued them. And Israel was enslaved to various people. But let me show you a little more specifically. I want you to hold Exodus 14, but look in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 11. 1 Kings chapter 11. Let me show you how God can specifically and sovereignly raise up enemies when we sin against him. You have to remember that Solomon was one of the wisest men that ever lived, and yet Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, sinned against God and did some very foolish and stupid and unwise things. One of them, he married too many women. Can you imagine Solomon going to take a shower and finding a thousand pair of hose hanging over the shower stall door? Come on. Oh, Lord, have mercy. Well, that was Solomon. Not only did he marry too many women, he married ungodly women.
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And they were serving their false gods. And when Solomon got old, he built altars for these false gods. Isn't that amazing? Look at it in verse 9, 1 Kings 11: "And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant." Now, skip down to verse 14. "And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite."
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"He was of the king's seed in Edom." Note, "And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon." God sovereignly raised him up. Look in verse 23. 1 Kings 11 verse 23: "And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria." Notice, if you would, here are men that have been raised up by God as enemies to Solomon.
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Do you understand that usually most of our predicaments come from our own sins, our own ignorance, and our own downright rebellion and stupidity? However, there are times when God sovereignly arranges our predicaments in order that we will be forced to look to him and to trust him and to honor him. We have to understand that he is our help. He is our stay. He is our deliverer.
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He's the only one who can deliver. You have to remember this. There's absolutely nothing that happens by accident in a world ruled by God. And so what God has done in Exodus chapter 14 is this. God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them. You have to consider their situation just for a moment. They've been brought out of the open country. They were alone.
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There was really no place to hide. They were untrained in warfare. They had no weapons. There was nowhere to run. The Red Sea was before them. Pharaoh and his host were behind them. And they had fortresses and mountains and wilderness on each side. Moreover, they did not have any boats. Nor did they have any time to build any boats. They were in a pickle. They were in a predicament. Why did God allow this predicament? Well, first of all.
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He's going to demonstrate not only to Israel, but to the Egyptians, the vanity and the uselessness and the worthlessness of their false gods. Secondly, God is going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation because He now has them beyond any human help or hope. They cannot save themselves. They cannot protect themselves. They cannot deliver themselves. Do you realize that this is exactly what God does when He convicts us and converts us and saves us?
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He brings us to this realization. He brings us to the realization there is not one God except the one true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. There are no other gods. And then secondly, He teaches us that if we're ever saved, He must save us. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot even help save ourselves. So there are two truths that are manifest here.
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First of all, the Israelites were frightfully fearful. Look, if you would, at verse 10. "And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD."
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Now, let me ask you a question. Would you not be afraid to see one of the mightiest armies in the world at that time marching against you when you understood that you were unarmed and untrained and had no earthly way to defend yourself and no way to escape? You were hemmed in. Circumstantially, it looked like sure death for the Israelites.
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Secondly, not only were they fearfully frightened, but notice if you would, they evidenced a faltering faith. Look at verses 11 and 12. "And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." Wow. Wow.
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Let me ask you a question. How well do you remember God's deliverances and God's mercies and God's grace and God's power? I want you to stop and think about this. God had just worked all these miracles in Egypt. The people had seen those miracles firsthand. Firsthand, they had experienced those miracles. They had experienced the Passover. They knew that their firstborn child lived while the firstborn child of all the Egyptians died. Firsthand, they had seen, known and realized the power of God. And now they look at Moses and say, "Can we just leave us alone in Egypt that we could serve the Egyptians?"
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"You brought us out here to kill us in this wilderness. Why did you ever take us out of Egypt?" Are you listening to me? Do you realize these people were no more than three days out of Egypt? Three days? Can you not remember the power and grace and mercy and deliverance of God longer than three days?
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They began to think they were going to die. Because they forgot God. That's what David said. David said, "This is my infirmity: when I forgot the years of the right hand of the most High." When we forget God, that's when we get really fearful. You know what Moses said in Deuteronomy 6 verse 23? Let me quote it. "And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers." Notice he brought us out that he might bring us in. God did not bring the children of Israel out of Egypt to drop them in the desert. He brought them out that he might bring them in. God does not save us but drop us. God does not save us just to leave us to the world or to tyrants or to the flesh or to the devil. You know what the Bible says in Philippians 1 and verse 6?
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Listen to this: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." If God ever starts something, he'll finish it. You can rest assured of that. And if God ever allows a predicament, he will work it out. He will finish it. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. We're always on solid ground with him. And what God is going to teach these people is that he is God.
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And that he's the deliverer. Let me make some applications. The first one is this, here's a question I want to ask you. Does God have a plan? Don't you think about this? Let's get a little more specific. Does God have a plan for your life? Does God have a plan for your family? Does God have a plan for our nation? Look at the mess that we're in. Well, I can quote it, but I want you to turn there. Look in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11, I want you to watch this. Ephesians 3 verse 11. This should answer your question. Does God have a plan? Does God have a plan for you, your family, our nation, our church? Look at Ephesians chapter 3, if you would, please. And verse 11. Ephesians 3 verse 11. Here it is.
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"According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Oh, yes. There was an eternal purpose, an eternal plan. God had everything planned and purposed before the world ever began. Before you were ever brought into existence. God not only ordained the beginning, he ordained the end, and he also ordained all the means in between. That's why the Bible says in Acts 15 and verse 18, "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Are you listening?
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Nothing is left to chance, fate, fortune, or luck. There are no such things in a world that's ruled by God. God has one eternal plan and purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. And yes, God has a plan. I might deal with this a little more next week. Because God's going to get honor on the ungodly. Just like he did on Pharaoh. Here's the second application. Think about this. God may do with us as he pleases. God may do with us as he pleases. He may save us or he may damn us. He may kill us or may keep us alive. Are you listening?
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We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us. Let me show you. I want you to turn to Deuteronomy 32. Look what he says. Deuteronomy 32. We will begin reading with verse 39. Deuteronomy 32, verse 39. Look what God says.
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Deuteronomy 32. And notice, if you would please, verse 39. "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy."
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"Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people." And if you would turn right on over to 1 Samuel, chapter two, Hannah is praying. This is where she is asking for a son. Notice, if you would please. God gives her the son. And notice, if you would, what she says in 1 Samuel, chapter two, beginning there in verse six.
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"The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them." I love verse 9.
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"He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail." Wow! Do you realize we're in God's hands? He is not in our hands. We're in His hands. And the quicker we realize it, the quicker we should fall at His feet and say, "O Lord, have mercy, for I'm a sinner. You may do with me as you will, because you're God. But if it please you, O Lord, have mercy and grace upon me. Turn me. Quicken me. Use me." It's a hard truth. But we are in God's hands. It's a hard truth. God will be honored upon his enemies. It's a hard truth.
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Not everybody is going to be saved. But it's still truth. And God revealed it in his word and we're to bow to it. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word. We thank You for Your grace, for Your mercy. Help us, O Lord, to recognize Thy sovereignty, Thy power, Thy greatness, Thy majesty. Give us grace that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:39:27Z

A Hard Truth - 1

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver introduces the concept of hard truths in Scripture, focusing on the doctrine of reprobation as illustrated in Exodus 14. He argues that God sovereignly hardens hearts and ordains the destruction of the wicked for His glory, and that believers must bow to such truths even when they are difficult to accept.

Opening

Scripture Reading — Exodus 14:1-12

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth..." "...between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD."

Introduction: Hard Truths in the Bible

Weaver explains that some biblical truths are hard because of human ignorance and depravity, and that the unsaved cannot understand spiritual things.

The Theocentric Universe

The universe revolves around God, not man, and fallen man wrongly assumes God exists to serve him.

Wresting the Scriptures

Peter warns that unstable people twist hard passages to their own destruction, and believers should not run from difficult doctrines.

Scripture Reading — 2 Peter 3:14-16

"Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Personal Testimony and the Necessity of Hard Truths

Weaver recounts asking a pastor about election and predestination, and being told to ignore such truths; he insists God revealed them for our understanding.

Jesus and the Hard Saying in John 6

Many disciples left Jesus because they found His teaching hard; believers should embrace hard truths and wait for illumination.

The Doctrine of Reprobation Introduced

Reprobation means God passes over some, withholding grace and leaving them in sin, as exemplified by Pharaoh.

Quotes on Predestination and Reprobation

Weaver cites Loraine Boettner and the Westminster Confession to support the logical connection between election and reprobation.

A Divine Plan: God Baits Pharaoh

God commanded Israel to encamp in a vulnerable position to entice Pharaoh to pursue, as part of His sovereign plan.

Scripture Reading — Exodus 13:17

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."

So there was a shortcut. There was a shorter way. But God didn't lead them that way. God said,

Scripture Reading — Exodus 13:17

"No, I don't want to take them that way because they're not trained. They're not fighting. If they see war, they'll get scared. No, I'm not taking them through the land of the Philistines."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 37:29

"Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest."

"The wilderness hath shut them in." They can't get away. So here's this divine plan.

A Divine Prerogative: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart

God sovereignly hardened Pharaoh's heart to ensure he would take the bait, demonstrating His right to harden whom He wills.

Scripture Reading — Romans 9:18

"Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."

Isn't that amazing? God said, "I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. And I'll harden whomever I will harden." It's God's prerogative because God is sovereign.

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

Now, what happens when you do not receive the love of the truth? Verse 11,

Scripture Reading — 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Scripture Reading — Romans 2:2

"But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth."

A Divine Predicament: Israel Trapped and Fearful

God placed Israel in an impossible situation to teach them dependence on Him, but they responded with fear and faltering faith.

And they were serving their false gods. And when Solomon got old, he built altars for these false gods. Isn't that amazing? Look at it in verse 9, 1 Kings 11:

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant."

Now, skip down to verse 14.

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite." "He was of the king's seed in Edom."

Note,

Scripture Reading — 1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25

"And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon."

Applications: God's Sovereign Plan and Our Response

Weaver applies the truths by affirming God has an eternal plan, does as He pleases with us, and we must submit to His sovereignty.

Scripture Reading — Acts 15:18

"Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world."

Deuteronomy 32. And notice, if you would please, verse 39.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 32:39-43

"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever. If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy." "Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people."

A Hard Truth - 1

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	122161323226
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Exodus: Bondage, Deliverance, and Passover: The Superiority of Christ
Genre	Sermon
Date	2015-11-22
Dictation Name
Book	This recording is not yet included in a published book.
Source Timed Segments	78

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: Hard Truths in the Bible: Weaver explains that some biblical truths are hard because of human ignorance and depravity, and that the unsaved cannot understand spiritual things.
The Theocentric Universe: The universe revolves around God, not man, and fallen man wrongly assumes God exists to serve him.
Wresting the Scriptures: Peter warns that unstable people twist hard passages to their own destruction, and believers should not run from difficult doctrines.
Personal Testimony and the Necessity of Hard Truths: Weaver recounts asking a pastor about election and predestination, and being told to ignore such truths; he insists God revealed them for our understanding.
Jesus and the Hard Saying in John 6: Many disciples left Jesus because they found His teaching hard; believers should embrace hard truths and wait for illumination.
The Doctrine of Reprobation Introduced: Reprobation means God passes over some, withholding grace and leaving them in sin, as exemplified by Pharaoh.
Quotes on Predestination and Reprobation: Weaver cites Loraine Boettner and the Westminster Confession to support the logical connection between election and reprobation.
A Divine Plan: God Baits Pharaoh: God commanded Israel to encamp in a vulnerable position to entice Pharaoh to pursue, as part of His sovereign plan.
A Divine Prerogative: God Hardens Pharaoh's Heart: God sovereignly hardened Pharaoh's heart to ensure he would take the bait, demonstrating His right to harden whom He wills.
A Divine Predicament: Israel Trapped and Fearful: God placed Israel in an impossible situation to teach them dependence on Him, but they responded with fear and faltering faith.
Applications: God's Sovereign Plan and Our Response: Weaver applies the truths by affirming God has an eternal plan, does as He pleases with us, and we must submit to His sovereignty.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Unsaved Man Cannot Understand Spiritual Truth

The natural man lacks the spiritual discernment to receive the things of God, making all truth hard for him.

Weaver quotes 1 Corinthians 2:14: 'But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.'

Truth Remains True Regardless of Human Response

A truth's validity does not depend on our liking, understanding, or acceptance; it is true because God revealed it.

Weaver states, 'Truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not.'

Election Implies Reprobation

The biblical concept of election logically necessitates that some are not chosen, which is the doctrine of reprobation.

Weaver quotes Boettner: 'The very terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out, others are left not chosen.'

God Actively Hardens Hearts for His Glory

God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was a sovereign act to ensure pursuit, leading to His honor through judgment.

Weaver points to Exodus 14:4: 'And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh.'

Hardening Is Also a Natural Consequence of Sin

Those who reject the truth are given over to delusion and believe a lie, resulting in their own condemnation.

Weaver cites 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12: 'God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth.'

God Uses Predicaments to Teach Dependence

God places His people in impossible situations to strip them of self-reliance and force them to trust in Him alone.

Weaver says, 'God has brought the Israelites into the straits of which no human power or art could extricate them... He's going to demonstrate to Israel His power and His salvation.'

God's Plan Is Eternal and All-Encompassing

God has an eternal purpose that includes every event, leaving nothing to chance, and this plan is centered in Christ.

Weaver quotes Ephesians 3:11: 'According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

God Does as He Pleases with His Creatures

God has absolute right over life and death, salvation and judgment, and humans must submit to His sovereign will.

Weaver quotes Deuteronomy 32:39: 'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal.'

Scripture References

Exodus 14:1-12: The primary text of the sermon, describing God's command to encamp by the sea, Pharaoh's pursuit, and Israel's fear.
1 Corinthians 2:14: Used to argue that the natural man cannot understand spiritual truths.
Revelation 4:11: Cited to show that all things were created for God's pleasure, emphasizing the theocentric universe.
2 Peter 3:14-16: Warns that unstable people twist hard scriptures to their own destruction.
John 6:59-66: Illustrates that many disciples left Jesus because they found His teaching hard.
Deuteronomy 29:29: Affirms that revealed things belong to us, while secret things belong to God.
Exodus 12:12: Shows that God's judgments were against the gods of Egypt as well as the people.
Exodus 13:17: Explains why God did not lead Israel by the shorter route through Philistine territory.
Isaiah 37:29: God putting a hook in Sennacherib's nose is compared to His baiting of Pharaoh.
Exodus 7:3: God's promise to harden Pharaoh's heart before Moses ever went to him.
Psalm 10:4: Describes the wicked who, in pride, do not seek God.
Romans 9:18: States that God has mercy on whom He wills and hardens whom He wills.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12: Explains that those who reject truth are sent strong delusion and are damned.
Romans 2:2: Asserts that God's judgment is according to truth.
1 Kings 11:9-14, 23-25: Shows God stirring up adversaries against Solomon because of his sin.
Deuteronomy 6:23: Quoted to show God brought Israel out to bring them in, not to abandon them.
Philippians 1:6: Confidence that God will complete the work He began in believers.
Ephesians 3:11: Speaks of God's eternal purpose in Christ.
Acts 15:18: Known unto God are all His works from the beginning.
Deuteronomy 32:39-43: God declares He kills and makes alive, and will render vengeance.

Historical References

Loraine Boettner: Weaver quotes Boettner's book on predestination to support the doctrine of reprobation.
Westminster Confession of Faith: Cited to affirm that God passes by the non-elect and ordains them to dishonor and wrath for their sin.
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary: Quoted to explain the strategic encampment of Israel and God's purpose in enticing Pharaoh.
Keil and Delitzsch Commentary: Cited regarding the timing and motivation of Pharaoh's change of heart.

Important Quotes

Truth is still truth, whether you like it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you believe it or not. Truth is still truth, whether you understand it or not. And truth is still truth, whether you bow to it or not.

Encapsulates the sermon's central premise that hard truths remain objectively true regardless of human response.

The universe is theocentric, not anthropocentric. Theos is the Greek word for God, which literally means God-centered—theocentric. And Anthropos is the Greek word for man. Anthropocentric means man-centered. So the universe then is theocentric. That is, everything revolves around God. It does not revolve around man.

Establishes the foundational worldview that God, not man, is the center of all things.

Reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals, that he withholds grace from those individuals, that He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to have their own way. He allows them to do their own thing, and then He judges them for their actions.

Provides a clear definition of the doctrine of reprobation as taught in the sermon.

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Key scripture (Romans 9:18) used to support God's sovereign right to harden hearts.

We are in his hand. And the sooner we recognize this and bow to him and submit to him, the better it will be for each of us.

Summarizes the practical application of God's sovereignty for believers.

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Deuteronomy 32:39 quoted to emphasize God's absolute sovereignty over life and death.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why does Weaver say that some biblical truths are hard, and how should believers respond to them?

[Context]

Weaver discusses the reasons hard truths are difficult and the proper response of faith.

[Question]

What does it mean that the universe is theocentric rather than anthropocentric, and how does this affect our view of God and ourselves?

[Context]

Weaver contrasts a God-centered worldview with a man-centered one.

[Question]

How does the doctrine of reprobation relate to the doctrine of election, and why is it considered a hard truth?

[Context]

Weaver introduces reprobation as the logical counterpart to election.

[Question]

In what ways did God sovereignly arrange the events of Exodus 14 to accomplish His purposes with both Pharaoh and Israel?

[Context]

Weaver explains the divine plan, prerogative, and predicament in the passage.

[Question]

What does it mean that God hardens hearts, and how does this truth challenge common assumptions about human free will?

[Context]

Weaver discusses both God's active hardening and the natural consequence of sin.

[Question]

Why did Israel respond with fear and complaint at the Red Sea, and what does this reveal about human nature?

[Context]

Weaver highlights Israel's faltering faith despite witnessing God's miracles.

[Question]

How does the truth that God has an eternal plan for everything provide comfort and challenge to believers today?

[Context]

Weaver applies the doctrine of God's eternal purpose to personal and national life.

[Question]

What does it practically mean to submit to God's sovereignty, especially when facing difficult circumstances or doctrines?

[Context]

Weaver concludes with the call to bow to God's will and seek His mercy.

Applications

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