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A Hard Truth But Still Truth - Part 1 of 2

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• Put our Bibles today to the book of Exodus chapter 14. Exodus 14. Ah, that's in the Old Testament, Exodus chapter 14. And some of those folks on radio and all might not know that you ask that every week. But you do know the Bible, so that's all right. Exodus chapter 14. The title of the message today is "A Hard Truth, But Still Truth." And I might point out that I will not get to finish this message today.

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• It will take until next Sunday as well. So Exodus chapter 14. And let's read the first 12 verses anyhow. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it you shall 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. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he shall follow 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. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, 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 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 a high hand. But the Egyptians pursued after them, and 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 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, than that we should die in this wilderness."

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• So the title of the message is "A Hard Truth But Still True." There are many hard truths in the Bible. They are hard not only because of our ignorance but also many times they are hard just simply because they go against our flesh. Our lack of spiritual understanding and discernment as well as our depravity make any truth hard and difficult. And yet a lot of times there are hard truths only because we are just unaccustomed and not used to those truths. May I point out the fact that the truth of the matter is when it comes to unsaved individuals they cannot see or hear or understand or comprehend any Bible truth. I've had a number of people on occasion tell me that they cannot understand the Bible. And I look at them in amazement and I say, "You mean you cannot understand 'You must be born again'? Or 'Except ye repent, ye shall surely die'?"

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• You know, to me that is so simple. And yet the Bible does tell us in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 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." So an unsaved man does not have the ability, he does not have the faculties to understand truth. So when someone says they really cannot understand the Bible, either number one, they are not really reading and studying and seeking the Lord for understanding and enlightenment, or they are just lost as a hound dog and that is all there is to it. You have to understand that fallen man by nature is proud, arrogant, and haughty. Man likes to think that the world was created for him, and that the world revolves around him. The truth of the matter is the world is theocentric. Theos is the word for God. Theocentric just simply means it is God-centered. It is not anthropocentric. Anthropos is the Greek word for man.

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• So an anthropocentric world would be that it revolves around man. The truth is it revolves around God and His will. In fact, the Bible tells us Revelation chapter 4 and verse 11, "For thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." So everything revolves around God, it does not revolve around man. But fallen man likes to think that God is at his disposal, that God exists just simply to satisfy his needs and to serve and to bless him. And consequently, fallen man is constantly worshiping the creature more than the Creator. He also takes all the blessings that God gives for granted. And he somehow tends to think that God is obligated to bless him regardless of how he lives and whether or not he serves and honors him or not. So man has been taught basically, fallen man has been taught that God loves him and no matter how he acts, no matter how he disobeys or blasphemes or rebels, that God still loves him.

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• Such is not biblical truth. But that is what fallen man has been taught. And fallen man usually misinterprets the love of God. Now it is true God is love. The Bible says God is love. But fallen man usually misinterprets that to mean, well, if God loves me, and if God is love, then God will never judge me. God is not going to bring me into justice, and God is not going to hold me account for my sins. He would never condemn me because He is love.

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• Now what a lot of people do is this, they will pit one attribute against the other. It is true that God is love, the Bible says that. But the Bible also says that God is righteous, that God is holy, that God is just. The only God that exists is the God that has revealed Himself in the Bible. And He is exactly the way He has revealed Himself. So for someone then to say, "Well I believe that God is love," but then they disbelieve that God is holy, righteous, and just, it's for them to try to pick and choose the attributes that they want to believe. And they either deny the others or they'll just take this one and pit it totally against the other.

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• And what they're doing is they're twisting and perverting the scripture to their own destruction. Now let me show you. I want you to hold Exodus chapter 14, we are going to be looking there, but turn in your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. I want you to see what the Apostle Peter says, not only concerning the Bible, but also particularly concerning some of the writings of the Apostle Paul. Now remember the message is dealing with hard truth and we are going to see some hard truth just momentarily. But notice in 2 Peter chapter 3 and let's begin reading there with verse 14. 2 Peter 3 and verse 14, "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." Now watch verse 15, 2 Peter 3, "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."

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• So, he is saying that there are some things in the Bible that are hard to be understood. And even some of the writings of the Apostle Paul, some things are there that are very difficult to understand as well. And he said, therefore those that are unlearned and those that are unstable usually take them and wrest them to their own destruction. You see the problem is this: when a lot of people run against something that is very hard and very difficult, they just simply run away from them.

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• They refuse to face them. I remember when the Lord saved me and called me to preach many, many years ago, I had a strong desire to really learn the scripture. So I put myself on a reading schedule, and I read through the Old Testament every month, and I read through the New Testament every week. Yes, I was doing an awful lot of reading. Well, I ran across some words that really bothered me because I did not understand them. So I went to a pastor friend, and by the way he had been preaching at that time over 30 years.

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• And so I said, "I need your help." He said, "Well sure, I'm glad to help you." I said, "I'm running across some things in Scripture that I don't understand and I want you to explain them to me." He said, "Fine, what are they?" I said, "Well I run across in the Old Testament and in the New Testament these words: elect, election, predestination. I said, I don't understand those things. And I would like you to explain them to me."

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• I have never, ever forgotten what he told me. And I've never forgotten my response. Here's the first thing he said, "Well, John, there are some things in the Bible that we are not meant to understand and we just leave them alone." And then he said, secondly, "There are some things that kill our soul winning zeal and we just let them alone too." And I stood there for a moment with my mouth hanging open and I looked at him and I said, "It just appears to me that if God revealed them in His Word He meant for us to understand them." I said, "Secondly, it appears to me that any soul winning that the Bible kills ought to be killed anyhow."

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• Then I turned around and left. I mean he went one way and I went the other way. But I'm just simply saying you can't run from things just because they are hard or difficult, or just because you think that you do not understand them, or you do not have the answer. A lot of people just simply refuse to accept them, they refuse to believe them, they refuse to bow to them. And so consequently if they can't comprehend it they just simply walk away from it, and sometimes even walk away from the truth. Well, 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 to point out the fact that even our Lord had problems with people when it came to hard truth.

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• Look in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 6. John chapter 6. And let's begin reading there verse 59. John chapter 6 in verse 59. In this passage Jesus Christ is teaching that he is indeed the bread of life. And if you look, let's read verse 58. He says, "This is that bread that came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: but he that eateth this bread shall live forever," talking about himself. Now watch verse 59.

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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 a 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 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. He said therefore I said unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." Watch verse 66. "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." Why did they walk no more with him?

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• "This is a hard saying. Who can hear it? Who can swallow it? Who can understand it? Who can comprehend it?" So because it was hard, because it was difficult, because it went against their flesh, they walked away and they left it. Well, as believers, as children of faith, we may not understand certain truths, but we may not be able to comprehend certain truths. However, we believe them just simply because God has revealed them. And we bow to Him and we say, "Lord I believe and I will trust you until you give me light, until you give me illumination and enable me to understand." So we hold them fast and believe them even though we do not always understand them. We believe that whatever God has revealed, He has revealed for our good and His glory. Why the Scripture says in Deuteronomy 29:29, "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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• Now, when you look back in Exodus chapter 14 the truth is here is a passage that gives us some hard truth. The hard truth is not that we cannot see it. It's not that we cannot understand it. And it's not that it's unclear. It is hard because it is flesh withering and we don't even like to think about it. It's a truth that deals with God's judgment and God's wrath. It is also a truth that deals with God's sovereign power and sovereign choice. It is a truth concerning reprobation. Have you ever heard the word reprobation? Well reprobation just simply means that God passes over certain individuals.

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• He withholds grace from them. He allows them to continue in their sin and their rebellion. He allows them to do what they will, what they want, live their life the way they please. He allows them to do their own things and then He judges them for their actions. There is certainly nothing unjust in that. He has allowed them to do their thing. They are not saved. They will not be saved. They do not desire to be saved.

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• And they eagerly and willingly and ready defy and resist anything that is righteous and holy and godly. In Exodus chapter 14 Pharaoh is an excellent illustration of reprobation. In fact, I will go further and tell you that in this passage the Israelites are an excellent illustration of election. And the Egyptians are an excellent illustration of reprobation.

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• Now, I want to give you some quotes today, just to show you that this doctrine is not only historic, but it has been taught down through the ages as well. For instance, I'm going to give you a quote from Dr. Loraine Boettner. If you would ever read his book on predestination, you would find that it is very simple and easily understood. It is an excellent book, but here is what he said, listen carefully. "The doctrine of absolute predestination of course logically holds that some are foreordained to death as truly as others are foreordained to life."

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• "The terms elect and election imply the terms non-elect and reprobation. When some are chosen out of others, when some are chosen out, others are left not chosen. 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."

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• "As Mosley has said, the whole race after the fall was one mass of perdition. And it pleased God of His own sovereign mercy to rescue some, and to leave others where they were, to raise some to glory, giving them such grace as necessarily qualified them for it, and abandon the rest from whom He withheld such grace to eternal punishment." All Boettner is saying is this: God chose some and God chose to leave others. It's just that simple. It's just like when David went down to that brook and chose him out five smooth stones. He left the other stones. He didn't do anything to the other stones; the other stones were still stones, they were still dead, he just left them. Well that is what God has done. He has chosen some to eternal life and the other He just left to Himself. Now the Westminster Confession of Faith after it teaches on the doctrine of election says this, "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 ordain

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• them to dishonour, and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice." So like I said, when we look in Exodus chapter 14 you are going to be seeing two pictures. You are going to see a picture of election where God chose Israel and you're also going to see a picture of reprobation where God certainly passed over and God judged Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So, let's look at the first three verses. We're going to only cover three points today. The last two points will come next Sunday, Lord willing.

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• So this is part one of "A Hard Truth." So look in verses 1-3 of Exodus 14, "Now the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it you shall 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."

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• So we have in this passage a divine plan. Now if you were to take the time to go back and read Exodus chapter 5 through 11 you will find that God has gotten many victories not only over Pharaoh and the Egyptians but also the gods of Egypt as well. Now it is true that God was fighting against Pharaoh and there is a reason. And it was also true he was fighting against the Egyptians. But what many people do not understand is this, those 10 plagues were not just against the Egyptians, they were also against the gods of the Egyptians. Have you ever wondered why the firstborn of every family in Egypt had to die?

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• Why that was the last plague? Well, because Pharaoh himself claimed to be a god. And obviously, if he was a god, he could save his own child. But he could not save his own child, nor the children of any of his people, because he was not God. But if you look in Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12, here it is very clearly stated, Exodus chapter 12 and verse 12, the Bible says, God is speaking and 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 was also fighting then against the false gods in Egypt. Now, if I were to take the time, and I'm not going to, to go back and review all of these plagues that God had struck Egypt with, and Pharaoh particularly, one would think that after so many defeats and so many times that Pharaoh had to cry, "Uncle, I give up."

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• "Yeah, you were right. Pray and let this plague pass through me." You would think that after all of these defeats, Pharaoh and the people would wise up and say, "Yeah, our gods are false. The God of Israel is the one true and the living God. And I've had enough of this. I just, I just give up. I surrender." You would think that. But you would be thinking wrong. You see fallen man is not that wise. Fallen man wickedly thinks that somehow he is going to ultimately prevail and dethrone God. He thinks that he can outwit God. Well, God in Exodus chapter 14 sovereignly plans one last episode in the life of Pharaoh and his armies. He plans to completely destroy them and have them honor His righteous justice.

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• Now, I want you to look, if you would please, at verse 4. I'm not even going to be dealing with this thought today, maybe next Sunday a little bit, but I just want you to see this. God said, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow 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. Note if you would, God said, "I will be honored upon Pharaoh and all of his hosts." So God then plans this one final episode to completely destroy Pharaoh and his army and to get honor for himself, because Pharaoh has been wickedly fighting against God.

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• Now, the interesting thing is this, when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, He did not lead them in a straight line. It's kind of like if I'm in Valdosta, Georgia and I want to go to Ocala, the easiest thing for me to do is get on 75 and just head south, it's a straight line. Well, do you realize it was straight line basically? From where they were to where they would cross and get into the promised land, but God didn't take him in a straight line. He zigzagged them around and here's why. If you look in Exodus chapter 13 and verse 17, here's why God, one of the reasons why God gave this zigzag pattern. Notice Exodus 13 verse 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 God kind of led them around like maybe He went from Valdosta to Monticello and then from Monticello He went over toward the coast and then came back around.

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• In other words it was kind of a zigzag pattern. And this zigzag pattern convinced Pharaoh that neither God nor the children of Israel knew where they were going and what they were doing. They were confused and unable to escape. Who in the world, stop and think about this, who in the world would camp nearly 2 million people in front of the sea with wilderness on each side of them, and possible fortifications as well, and no way of escape? And the only avenue they could escape would be the way they came, and Pharaoh and his army was closing in on that way. I mean... Notice if you would, the Bible says in verse 2, speaking of the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth.

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• Pi-hahiroth was the entrance or the straits of Hiroth where two great mountains were and they were marching between these mountains that enclosed them on both sides. Now later on he mentions Migdal. Migdal was also a city in Egypt and it was thought that there was a garrison of Egyptian soldiers there. And then he mentions Baal-zephon in verse 2 as well which was another high fortified position which undoubtedly held a garrison of the Egyptian soldiers as well.

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• So here Moses and all these people are encamping and they're actually hemmed in. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown in their commentary says it like this, listen carefully, "The Israelites had now completed their three days journey. And at 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 into the desert with a view to a final departure. 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

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• of which they had set out to obtain the possession. A movement so unexpected and of the 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 the heavenly guide he obeyed."

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• Now listen, 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 transacted at the Red Sea. So here's this divine plan that God has. He's going to literally entice Pharaoh to attack. Just like God put a hook in the nose of Sennacherib the king of Assyria. In Isaiah chapter 37 verse 29, here's what God said to the king of Assyria.

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• "Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way which thou camest." So Sennacherib was raving against God and was going to destroy Jerusalem and Judah. God said, "Nah, I'll put my hook in your nose. I'll put my bridle in your lips. I'll turn you back. You'll go back the way that you came." And of course he died then at the hands of his own sons while he was worshiping his false god. So God now is designing to destroy Pharaoh the same way. So what God is doing, He is going to catch Pharaoh as you would catch a fish.

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• You are going to dangle the bait in front of him and try to excite him to get him to attack. And that is exactly what God is doing. So, here's this divine plan. I want you to notice, secondly today, a divine prerogative. So, here is my question. Think about this. If God is going to entice Pharaoh to attack his people, what is going to guarantee that Pharaoh will take the bait? Think about that. You might have a big bass under a rock and you might have the prettiest lure or the best smelling lure, you might have the world's quickest lure, and you can throw it right in front of that big bass, but that does not mean that bass is going to come out and get it. So what is going to guarantee that Pharaoh is going to follow? Well here secondly is the divine prerogative. Watch if you would verse 3. God says, "For Pharaoh will say..." He said, "I know Pharaoh. For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, and the wilderness has shut them in." Now here's the guarantee.

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• "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow 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. First of all I want you to note in verse 3, Pharaoh was absolutely convinced that the children of Israel were ignorant of the geography of the land, that they had fallen into a trap, that they could not extricate themselves. They could not get away. They were absolutely defenseless. They were trapped and he knew they were trapped. And his depravity and his wounded pride and his ruthless ambition and his desire to vindicate himself and his false gods would cause him to fall into the trap. Pharaoh is going to say that. But God said, "I'm going to make doubly sure." So in verse 4, "I will harden his heart." In order to guarantee that Pharaoh would take the bait, God sovereignly hardened his heart. Now, I know as you read through the book of Exodus, you'll find many times when God began sending those plagues upon Egypt that the Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his heart.

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• Pharaoh hardened his own heart. But let me tell you something, God said before the contest ever began to Moses, "I'll harden his heart." In fact in Exodus chapter 7 verse 3 here is what God told Moses, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt." I'll harden it.

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• Now I'm going to show you in just a little bit the natural consequence of sin and rebellion is to harden your heart as well. But here God sovereignly hardened his heart. Now here is the interesting thing about the word hardened. If you'll take the time to look up the word, it literally means to strengthen, to make strong, to make resolute, to make courageous. What do you say? What do you mean to make courageous, to make resolute, to strengthen? Ah, yeah. This is what God did when he hardened his heart. God sovereignly allowed him to think, "I can win this thing. I can overthrow God. I can dethrone God."

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• "I can get these Israelites back. I can win." Fallen man is so absolutely stupid, vain, and arrogant, and ignorant that he thinks that he can outwit and outfight the sovereign God of heaven and earth. That's what God allowed Pharaoh to think. That's what every tyrant thinks. That's what every wicked man thinks. That's why Psalm 10 in verse 4 says, "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek God: God is not in all his thoughts." The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek God. Pharaoh in the pride of his heart regretted allowing Israel to go and he foolishly thought that he could recapture them and or destroy them. Let me point something out. Every tyrant is just like every other tyrant. If they cannot control you they will seek to destroy you. If you're not going to serve them you're useless, you're expendable. And that's what Pharaoh is thinking. I'll either recapture them or, well, I'll kill them. It's just that simple.

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• You look at what most leaders have done to their own people. Look what Joseph Stalin did. Look what Mao Zedong has done. Look what Castro did. Look at what Idi Amin did to their own people. They don't care. Let me give you another quote right quickly. Keil and Delitzsch in their commentary says 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."

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• "When and whence the information came we are not told. The common opinion that it was brought after the Israelites changed their route has no foundation in the text. For the change in Pharaoh's feelings toward the Israelites and his regret that he had let them go were caused not by the 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 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, as 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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• Now, let me point something out. I'm showing you this divine prerogative. It is indeed God's prerogative to either harden or soften our hearts. God does not owe salvation to anyone. The only thing that God owes anyone is justice. And to be absolutely honest, folks, I don't want that. If we get justice, we get what we deserve. If we get salvation, we get mercy and grace, and that is that which we do not deserve. I'm going to show you beforehand that actually each of us are in God's hands, and He may do with us as He pleases. But I want you to hold Exodus 14 and look in your Bibles to Romans 9.

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• I will deal with this passage in more detail next week, Lord willing. But look in Romans 9 and verse 18 and see what the scripture says about God's sovereign prerogative. Romans 9, look if you would please at verse 18. Here it is. Romans 9 verse 18. Here's the conclusion the Apostle Paul came to after he gets through teaching. He says this, "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." God said, "I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and whom I will I will harden. It's my prerogative. I'm the Creator. I'm the God. I'm the Sovereign. That's my prerogative."

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• Now, I must hasten to point out, as I've already stated, that the hardening of the heart and the deception of the mind and the false thought patterns usually arise from our own refusal to bow to God, His truth, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The hardening of our hearts is a natural consequence of sin, rebellion, and disobedience. When we love sin and rebellion and hate truth our hearts are naturally hardened.

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• Now I want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and let's begin reading there with verse 9. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 9. I want you to see this. Watch carefully 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 9, "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." Now watch carefully, "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." So those who are perishing are deceived in unrighteousness. Why are they perishing, being deceived in unrighteousness? Here's why.

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• "Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." What happens when you refuse to receive the love of the truth? Verse 11, "And for this cause"—that is because you refuse to 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 in unrighteousness." So the natural consequence of sinning against God and rejecting God and His truth is to be deceived, to be hardened, and to believe a lie. And by the way, if you don't believe the truth, the only thing left is a lie. And thus you're deceived. So, and by the way, it's not just Pharaoh whose heart is hardened. God traps all who hate Him in the same way.

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• Because it will lead to their own overthrow and their own destruction. You must understand that whatever God does is right and just and holy. And the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 2 and verse 2 that we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth. And whenever God judges, it's going to be holy, righteous, and true. So here's God's prerogative. God said, "I will harden his heart."

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• "I'll let him think that he can really outfight me, and outwit me, and I'll get the honor upon him." And so Pharaoh strengthened his own heart and God strengthened his own heart in that thought. And by the way, every man that fights against God thinks that "I'll be the exception. I'll get by. I'll win. Others may lose but not me." And it destroys them. Thirdly today.

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• I want you to see a divine predicament found in verses 5-12 of Exodus 14. So watch this: we have the Divine Plan where God is going to entice Pharaoh. We have the Divine Prerogative where God is going to harden His heart. Now here is the Divine Predicament. Let's look in verse 5, "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and 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 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 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 are 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 this wilderness."

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• Now, let me ask you a question. Did God sovereignly plan this predicament? And the answer is, absolutely. God was going to teach His enemies a lesson, and God was going to teach His people a lesson. However, that would be two separate lessons to the two parties. To His enemies, He's going to teach them the lesson of His power and His might and His justice. And to His people, He's going to teach them of His grace and mercy and deliverance.

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• Now, I want you to understand that God did harden Pharaoh's heart so that he would pursue Israel. Let me put it to you like this. I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not. God hardened Pharaoh's heart. God stirred him up against the children of Israel. In fact look in verse 5, "And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people."

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• "And they said, Why have we done this? How can we be so stupid as to let these people go?" Wow. So God turned His heart. Did you know that God does stir up enemies against us? Usually He stirs up enemies against us because of our sin and our rebellion against Him. All you have to do is read the book of Judges. You remember how the people would forsake God and follow Baal and Ashtaroth and then God would deliver them into the hand of their enemies?

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• But let me tell you there are specific illustrations of this in the Bible. For instance if you would turn, hold Exodus 14, but turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 11. You remember Solomon supposedly the wisest man that ever lived. Well he couldn't have been too wise to have a thousand wives. But, can you imagine him going in to take a shower and having a thousand pair of pantyhose hanging on the shower curtain? Lord have mercy but anyhow Solomon when he got old not only loved too many women, but he also loved ungodly women, women that God had forbidden him to marry, and he married them. And when he got old he began to build altars for their false gods and serve those false gods. So in 1 Kings chapter 11 God is angry with him. Notice if you would please verse 8 says, "And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods." 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,

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• 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. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." Now watch, "And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom." Note, "And the Lord stirred up an adversary to Solomon." Skip down if you would please to verse 23. Here it is, "And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah."

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• "And he gathered men unto him, and became a 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, besides the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria." Notice if you would, God raised up these adversaries. He raised up these enemies.

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• So let me just simply repeat this, obviously most of the predicaments that we find ourselves in come and arise out of our own stupidity, our own ignorance, our own sin, our own rebellion. However, there are times when God sovereignly arranges a predicament in order to teach us to love Him, and to trust Him, and to obey Him. It's in these predicaments that we learn that He is our trust and He is our stay and that we must honor Him and worship Him.

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• And that He is the only one that can deliver us. Nothing happens by accident in a world that is ruled by God. Nothing. So God now has sovereignly got Israel into this predicament. God has brought them into this predicament and into these straits from which no power, no human power, or human art could extricate them. I want you to stop and think about the situation that they are in just for a moment. They had been brought out of the open country and were now alone.

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• And they really now had no place to hide. They were untrained in warfare. They had no weapons. The sea is in front of them. Mountains and fortresses on either side of them. And Pharaoh and his vast army is coming up rapidly behind them. They did not have any boats. And they did not have any time to build any boats. From all human circumstantial observances, they were dead meat. They were just dead meat.

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• That's all there was to it. Now, why did God bring them into this predicament? Well, I think there are two obvious reasons based upon our text. First of all, He's not only going to teach the Egyptians this, Israel this because Israel still had problems with this later on. But He was going to teach them that all the gods of Egypt were false gods and they could not deliver. And He's going to show them if you serve a false god you're going to end up dead just like Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, it's just that simple. And then the second thing He's going to show them is that He will be their deliverer. He will save them.

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• Their salvation, their deliverance is nothing from their hand. It's all of God. You know, you can take this and apply this spiritually. I realize when God saves people, He uses sometimes different circumstances, but in one sense of the word, we're all alike. And when God saves us, we do know two things. Number one, we do know that there is none other God save the one true and the living God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. We know that. And the second thing we know is this. There's no way we could ever save ourselves and nothing and no one could ever save us but God. That's exactly where He put these people. He put them in this predicament where they understood that if they ever got delivered it was going to be from God.

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• Now, let me show you what happens. Look at this in Exodus chapter 14, go back there if you would please at verse 10. There are two truths that are manifest right here. First of all the Israelites were frightfully fearful. Look in 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, before you condemn them for being afraid let me ask you a question, if you had been there and you couldn't go forward and you couldn't go left, and you couldn't go right.

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• And the mightiest army in the world at that time was marching in on you. And you had no weapons, and no way to defend yourself, and nowhere to run. The tendency would be to be fearfully frightened. Yeah, and they were. Of course, now they did one right thing here. They cried out to the Lord. But look, secondly, this is a sad thing. They evidenced a faltering faith even though they cried out to the Lord. Look what they said in verses 11 and 12.

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• "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 this wilderness."

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• By the way, this is so amazing to me. I want you to stop and think about this. Here's my question, I want you to take note of how quickly we forget the grace and mercy and power of God. I want you to understand that these people had seen and experienced first hand the grace and mercy and power of God. They had observed, they had seen all the plagues in Egypt. They knew what God had done to the Egyptians. They knew that. They also had experienced the Passover. They were there when they applied the blood and God passed over them and God slew all the firstborn of the Egyptians. They knew first hand of the mighty grace and mercy and power of God.

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• And would you please listen to me? These people are not more than three days out of Egypt. What? Can we not remember God's grace and mercy and deliverance more than three days? "It would have been better for us to die in Egypt. Didn't we tell you? Just let us alone. Let us die in our servitude. We'll be happy just to be slaves till we die." What? In less than three days they had already forgotten everything that God had done for them.

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• Well, I got news for you. Plenty of Christians are like that today. It doesn't even take three days for most of us. Moses said in Deuteronomy chapter 6 in verse 23, listen to this. "And he"—that is God—"brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers." Moses said God brought us out of Egypt that He might bring us into the Promised Land. He didn't bring us out to drop us in the wilderness. He didn't bring us out to let Pharaoh kill all of us. He brought us out that He might bring us in.

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• Do you understand this is applicable to our Christian life. God does not leave us. God does not forsake us. God always finishes what He starts. The Bible says in Philippians 1 in verse 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." So if God has started a work in you, if He has regenerated you and convicted you and converted you, guess what? He's going to keep it up until he finishes it in eternity. He's not gonna drop you. He's not gonna leave you in the wilderness. So here's the point. Here's the divine predicament that these people are in and you're gonna see next week, yeah, it was God who worked it out. God places us in a predicament that he has sovereignly designed, He'll work it out. Because he's going to use that to teach us and he's going to use that to teach other people as well. Here was a divine plan, a divine prerogative, and a divine predicament. Now let me make just a couple of applications.

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• The first one is this. Here's a question. Does God have a plan? And the answer is absolutely. I want you to look in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11. I can quote this verse, but I want you to see it. Look in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 11. Ephesians 3 and verse 11 you're talking about a plan. Yes. God has it here. It is Ephesians 3 verse 11, "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Do you realize there is an eternal purpose, there is an eternal plan which God purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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• He's going to bring everything to pass. God has not only ordained the beginning, He's ordained the end, He's ordained the means to the end, He's ordained every detail. Nothing is left to chance, fate, or fortune. That's why Acts 15 and verse 18 says, "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Nothing left to chance. Everything is according to a divine purpose and a divine plan that God has in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark it down, there is a purpose for everything.

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• Here is the second application and I do want you to turn to Deuteronomy 32 and 1 Samuel chapter 2. Deuteronomy 32 and then go ahead and find 1 Samuel chapter 2. As you get to Deuteronomy 32 here is the second application. Listen to this: God may do with us as he pleases. Stop and think about that. God may do with us as he pleases. And God may save us, or God may damn us, or God may kill us, or God may keep us alive.

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• The truth is we are in His hands. And the sooner we realize that, the sooner we are going to submit to Him, and bow to Him, and seek to honor and worship and serve Him. Here's what I mean. Look in Deuteronomy 32 and let's begin reading there verse 39. God may do with us as he pleases. Look what he says 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:

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• 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." What did God say? "I kill and I make alive.

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• I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. I am God alone." God is not in our hands, we are in His hands. If you will turn to 1 Samuel chapter 2, Hannah is giving praise to the Lord. She's brought Samuel to the Lord. And here's what she says concerning God. Verse 6, "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." Do you realize that God is God? And when I say that, if you understand this, as wicked and as vile as many of our political leaders are, and the world leaders are, they are in God's hands.

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• He can take them out whenever He wants to take them out. And He will teach them exactly like He teaches Pharaoh and like He taught Pharaoh. They will discover who God really is. It's a hard truth when you realize that God's in control, we're not in control. It's a hard truth when you realize not everybody's going to be saved. It's a hard truth when you realize you can't save yourself. You can't do one thing. But the only thing you can do is bow to God's truth and ask Him for grace and mercy. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we pray to Thee and ask that You would teach us. Build us up in the most holy faith. Give us, Lord, grace to bow to these. And, Lord, just because something is hard, may we not run from it. May we not deny it. But, Lord, may we bow before it. And if we don't understand it, seek Thee for illumination. Wait upon Thee for enlightenment, because it is Thy Word, and Thou art God.

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• Give us grace to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

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• you you

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:13:26Z