Introduction: God's Sovereignty Declared

Reading from Exodus 14:4, 15-18, Weaver introduces the theme that God is absolutely sovereign, doing whatever He pleases, and we have no right to complain.

Exodus chapter 14. Exodus 14, and we're going to be reading three or four verses. The title of the message is "A Hard Truth, But A Truth." Also, I'm going to probably be quoting a lot of scriptures in order to save time, but there are a number of scriptures that you must absolutely see. So if you look in Exodus chapter 14 and verse 4, this is dealing with the destruction of Pharaoh and his army. And the Lord said,

And they did so. Skip down, if you would, to verse 15.

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Wherefore cryest thou unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. And I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten the honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen." The truth of the matter is this: God is sovereign.

In fact, God is absolutely, completely sovereign. In Psalm 115 and verse 3, the Word of God says,

And then in Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 10, God said, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." And then the Word of God says in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 11, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." So God then is the only one that does as He pleases, whenever He pleases, wherever He pleases, and with whomever He pleases. And the truth of the matter is this: we have absolutely no right or reason to complain about His actions, for everything that He does is done in holiness, righteousness, and justice. Moreover, the truth of the matter is He's the Creator and we're the creature. He is the Potter and we're the clay, and consequently He has the right, the absolute right, to make us however He pleases. And the truth is, to dispose of us however He pleases as well.

Man's Hypocrisy in Denying God's Sovereignty

People deny God the right to do as He pleases while allowing governments to assume that prerogative, citing examples of population control and mass deaths caused by governments.

Now, Scripture affirms this truth. You may argue with it. You may detest it. You may despise it. You may challenge it. You may not believe it. But if you want to really be upset about it, then you need to take it up with God, because God is the one who said it in His Word. And this is the truth of His Word. So if you have an argument, you have to argue with Him. You know what's strange to me? Especially that a lot of people will deny God what they will allow for themselves or for others. They will deny God's sovereignty, but they'll allow for man's sovereignty. So, for instance, man oftentimes allows governments not only to assume this prerogative to do as they please and to do as they will, and nothing is ever said about it. But yet they say that God cannot do that.

Let me give you an illustration. Listen to this headline in an article titled, "The World of the United Nations Must Reduce Population Growth." Here's what the article said in one paragraph: "On September 24th and 25th, world leaders will gather at the United Nations in New York to review progress toward UN's 2030 agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, are commendable and summarize the kind of world many of us wish to see in 2030. But if this vision is to have any chance of materializing, governments must now add the 18th goal to dampen population growth." In other words, reduce the population, limit the population.

So governments then assume the right and assume the power to do as they please with their citizens, whether the citizens like it or not. Now, all I can say is just look at the people that have been killed, or I should probably say murdered, simply because of governmental bioweapons and the vaccines that were produced, promulgated, and promoted in association with the government and Big Pharma. There is no need for me to talk about Stalin or Mao Zedong or Pol Pot or Idi Amin or any of these others. When you stop and think that governments are responsible for multitudinous deaths—and I'm not just simply talking about wars. If you were to include all the wars that governments instituted and began for control and/or for materials, the death toll would be absolutely astonishing.

I mean, when you think about Stalin was supposed to have killed several million. Pol Pot killed that many and more. Idi Amin killed—I have no idea how many. But the point I am trying to make is you have to understand that fallen government does the very thing that people say that God cannot do and will not do, because they are saying He does not have the right to make us as He pleases or dispose of us as He pleases. So fallen man, rebellious men, are always mouthing off about what God can do and cannot do, or what God should do or what God should not do. And yet the truth of the matter is God is the only individual, He's the only person that is able to do as He pleases, whenever He pleases, wherever He pleases, with whomever He pleases.

Biblical Basis for God's Sovereign Hardening

Scriptures such as Proverbs 16:4, Jude 4, and Jeremiah 18 show God makes vessels for honor and dishonor; Romans 9 applies this to individuals like Pharaoh.

Let me show you. I want you to hold Exodus 14. We're coming back there. But I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Proverbs chapter 16 and look, if you would please, at verse 4. Proverbs 16 and verse 4, and then we're going to go to the book of Jude. So look, if you would, Proverbs chapter 16 and verse 4, and look what the Bible says. Here it is:

The Lord has made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Now, if you will turn to the book of Jude, which is right before the book of Revelation, and look, if you would, at verses 3 and 4. In Jude verse 3, Jude is telling us that we must contend for the faith. And then in verse 4 he tells us why. Watch this. Here's verse 3.

"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation"—now watch that—"it was needful for me to write unto you and to exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Why? "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, I want you to consider several questions. Think about this in light of these scriptures. How many deserve to be saved? How many people deserve to be saved? And the answer is none. How many deserve to be damned? And the answer would be every one of us.

Now, here's another good question. Could God save everyone if He chose to do so? And the answer is yes. Could God justly and righteously damn everyone if He so chose? And the answer would certainly be yes. But here's what the wisdom of God did. And I'll show you from Scripture. The wisdom of God said, divide the lump. Let some praise your righteous justice and holiness, and some praise your mercy and your grace. So I want you to look, first of all, in the book of Jeremiah chapter 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Jeremiah 18 and verse 1. And there is a good question that God asked in this passage, and I want you to see it. Jeremiah 18 verse 1:

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "O

house of Israel, now look at this question: 'Cannot I deal with you as this potter?' saith the Lord. 'Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build, and to plant it; if it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.' Now therefore go to speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I frame evil against you and devise a device against you. Return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.'"

Now, God said, "You're like the clay in My hands. I'm the Potter." Here's the potter. He's making the vessel. It's marred in his hand. It does not turn out the way he wanted it. And so what's he do? He just throws it away. He just makes it another vessel that seemed good to the potter to make it. He may have been going to make a beautiful vase, but then he turns around and makes it a honeypot. I mean, that's totally up to the potter. And this is what God is saying.

He can do the same thing with nations. Now, you must remember that nations are made up of individuals. And if you will turn in your Bibles now to the book of Romans chapter 9, you're going to see how the Apostle Paul quotes from Jeremiah 18, and he makes the application to individuals. Look at it in Romans chapter 9, and let's begin reading there with verse 17. Romans 9 and verse 17. Look at this. The Apostle Paul says it like this: Romans 9 and verse 17,

—here's an individual—

Now the Bible says that God raised Pharaoh up for one specific reason, and that is to make His power known throughout all the earth. Now watch verse 18: "Therefore hath

He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth." Thou wilt say unto me, "Why doth He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will?" Now look at this response: "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, 'Why hast thou made me thus?' Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory?" So the Bible says that God raised up Pharaoh for this one particular reason: that He might show His power. Now in Exodus chapter 14 and verse 4, here's a word I want to deal with. God said this: "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and then he shall follow after them. And I will be honored upon Pharaoh." Then when you skip down to verses 17 and 18, He talks about being honored again twice.

The Meaning of 'Honor' and 'Hardened' in Exodus 14

The Hebrew word 'kavod' means glory; God is glorified in His righteous judgment. 'Chazaq' means to make strong; both God and Pharaoh hardened Pharaoh's heart.

He said, "Behold, I will harden the heart of the Egyptians, and they shall follow after them. And I will get Me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his hosts, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten Me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, upon his horsemen." Now the question has to be asked is this: How was God honored upon the destruction of Pharaoh and his army? We could ask another question or just simply expand upon the first question by asking it like this: How will God be honored upon the destruction of those who hate, despise, ridicule, and reject Him? Now, first of all, God said three times in Exodus chapter 14 that He would be honored upon Pharaoh and upon the Egyptians. What in the world does the word "honor" mean? The Hebrew word is the word "kavod," which signifies honor, glory. It signifies that which is honorable, that which is heavy. It is the word that is used over and over in Scripture of God's glory. So when He said, "I will be honored on Pharaoh, I will be glorified on Pharaoh, I'll be glorified on the destruction of his armies." Let me give you three verses—I could multiply verses—but here are three verses where the same word "kavod" is used. Isaiah 6 and verse 3, talking about the seraphim that are flying around God and singing, and they say, and they cried one to another, "Holy,

holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." "Kavod," it's the same word. Then Isaiah 40 and verse 5, "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it"—now we're talking about the Messiah—"for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." So he talks about God's glory. And then Isaiah 42 and verse 8, which I will quote a little bit later, and He said, "I am the Lord, and that is My name, and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images." So the honor or the glory that God is going to get upon Pharaoh and his army is the fact that God is going to be glorified in the administration of His righteous judgment and justice against them because of their sin and their rebellion. In fact, if you look back in your Bibles to the book of Exodus chapter 5, I will show you the very words of Pharaoh. Look at it. Exodus chapter 5, beginning there with verse 1. Exodus 5 verse 1:

'" Now you must remember that Pharaoh considered himself a god. Egypt was a nation that worshiped many gods, and one of the main gods was Pharaoh on the throne. So Pharaoh says something like this: "I've never heard of Israel's God. I don't know of Israel's God. I've never heard of any Jehovah or Yahweh.

I don't know who that is. I don't recognize that name. I don't recognize him as God. I will never entertain him as God. I refuse to obey him." This was his attitude throughout all of the plagues. He refused to recognize God. Now, notice if you would next the word "hardened," because God said, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart." The Hebrew word is the word "chazaq," and it literally means to make strong, to harden, to make rigid. It could also have the sense of to embolden and to make strong. Now here's a question: Did God harden Pharaoh's heart, or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? And the answer is yes, God did harden his heart, and yes, Pharaoh did harden his heart.

So let me just give you the scriptures, and you jot them down if you would, but I want you to listen carefully. Then I'm going to try to explain it. In Exodus chapter 4 and verse 21, before it ever started, the Lord said unto Moses,

Then in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 13, "And He hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had said." Then when you get to Exodus chapter 8 and verse 32, listen now: "And Pharaoh hardened his heart at that time also." Which means Pharaoh also hardened his heart in the previous times. But when it says,

so Pharaoh's hardening his heart also all along. Then you get to Exodus chapter 10 and verse 20, "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go."

Exodus 10 verse 27,

And finally in Exodus 11 and verse 10,

Now, so yes, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. And yes, Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

The Nature of a Hardened Heart

The heart refers to the mind; hardening is a process of becoming callous and petrified, as illustrated by the ostrich in Job 39 and the mothers in Lamentations 4.

Now, before I give you an explanation, let's consider the word "heart." What was it that was hardened? You're going to respond, "It was his heart." Well, that's true. But if you remember the message that I preached many years ago on keeping the heart, I pointed out in that message that the word "heart" referred mainly to the mind and to the understanding. The Hebrew word is the word "lev" or "levav." It is translated in our Bibles as "mind" 12 times. It is translated as "understanding" 10 times. This is the exact word that is used in Exodus chapter 14 concerning Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So it has to do with one's mind, with his thinking. Now, let me explain it like this. You remember when the Philistines captured the ark of God, and Eli happened to be, I guess, the lead priest, but often his two sons were under him, and of course, Eli fell backwards and broke his neck.

And because of the wickedness of Hophni and Phinehas, God killed them both in one day. And the ark of God was seized. And so what happened? Now, God began to plague all of the Philistines. And man, they couldn't handle it. And they wanted to send the ark back. And so their priests said this to the Philistines. He said in 1 Samuel 6 and verse 6,

Now note what he said:

—God—

In other words, there is a practical, personal hardening, and there is a judicial hardening from God. And if you'll notice in this passage, the priest said, "Why are you hardening your hearts the way Pharaoh and the Egyptians did when He worked wonderfully among them?"

Do you realize that sin, rebellion, wickedness, and disobedience sear the conscience? It dulls the mind to truth and rebuke and reproof. Now, remember the word "conscience." What is your conscience? Your conscience is also your mind. It's your understanding. If you look at the English word "conscience," "con" is a preposition which means "with," and "science" means "to know." Your conscience is that which you know with. When you look at the Greek word for conscience, "syneidesis," "syn" is a preposition, "eidesis" means "to know." Your conscience is that which you know with. And so the hardening of the heart, it's basically the hardening of the mind. It's when the mind is set against the truth, set against reproof, set against rebuke, set against the wonderful acts of God. Lord, your mind is closed.

You're not listening. You're not looking. You don't care. You don't want truth. So what happens is this: God condemns the sinner because of his rebellion, and the sinner in his rebellion still continues to harden himself against God and against God's Word. So God condemns the man, and then the man condemns himself in his sin and his rebellion. And so God hardened the hearts or the minds of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Now here's another truth. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 8 and look, if you would, at verse 17. This may surprise you. But in Mark chapter 8 and verse 17, and there's other passages in the New Testament, but I'm just going to use this one, it is possible for Christians to have a hardened mind or a hardened heart. In fact, it should be very easy for you and I to have a hardened mind and a hardened heart, because even the disciples of our Lord did. So in Mark chapter 8 and verse 17, "And when Jesus knew it, He said to them"—He's talking to His disciples—"Why reason ye because ye have no bread?

Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Now watch this: 'Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not yet remember?'" Then He told us about how He break the bread, but notice He asked very plainly, "Have ye your heart yet hardened?" He said, "What's wrong with you? You have eyes. Can't you see? You have ears. Can't you hear? You have a mind. Can't you understand?" Now, when He said in verse 17, when He asked, "Have ye your heart yet hardened?" the Greek word for "hardened" there is the word "poroo," from the word "poros," which is a noun, which is a type of stone. And this word is translated as "blind" twice in our Bibles.

However, the word actually means to cover with thick skin, to harden like the covering of a callous, and to make the heart dull or the mind dull, to grow hard, to grow callous, become dull, and to lose the power of understanding. Now, I could say it like this: the word refers to an obtuseness of mental discernment. But I can break it down. It means just to be plain stupid. It means not to be able to think and not to be able to see things. It means to be devoid of what you and I would call consideration and understanding. So let me give you a good illustration, and then I'm going to show you how

this illustration is used by the prophet Jeremiah. So if you will turn back in your Bibles to the book of Job, the book of Job, right before the book of Psalms, and look in Job 39. Job 39, and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Job 39 verse 13. God is questioning Job. Job had wanted to have an audience with God, and God says, "Here I am. Let Me ask you some questions. If you can answer these questions, fine. If not," you know, of course Job couldn't answer everything. So in Job 39, if you'll look there in verse 13, God asked Job,

Well, obviously he didn't. Now watch: "or wings and

feathers unto the ostrich?" Now why does He talk about an ostrich? Look what the ostrich does: "Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the dust." So she digs a shallow hole, lays her eggs, and just covers them with dust and forgets it, "that the foot may crush them"—anybody who walks on them—"or that the wild beasts may break them" or eat them. Now look what He says. "She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers. Her labor is in vain without fear." Why? Why is this ostrich so stupid? Why would she not take care of her eggs? Why would she not take care of her babies? Here's why: "Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath He imparted to her understanding." So the ostrich doesn't know any better. She is hardened.

The Bible says, "against her own," her own babies. Now if you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations, right after the book of Jeremiah, Lamentations, look in Lamentations chapter 4, because Jeremiah is going to use this as an illustration in just a moment. I'm going to show it to you. Now what God is telling us is it is possible for anyone to harden their hearts, yes, even believers. But I want you to watch this: the siege of Jerusalem. Instead of protecting their children, mothers killed, cooked, and ate their own children. If you'll look in Lamentations 4 and verse 10, "The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children; they were their meat in the destruction of

And the words, just like that ostrich has hardened herself against her young, so these women hardened themselves against

their own children and actually killed, cooked, and ate them. Now you're going to say, "Well, I'm so thankful things like that do not happen today." Well, I've got news for you: things like that do happen today. When you talk about aborticide, when you talk about infanticide, when you talk about child rape and child murder, when you talk about people who kill babies for body parts and to drink their blood just so they think they can become younger. I just read recently of an 18-year-old college student in California who was pregnant, was not really showing that much, but she was pregnant. And the pains came upon her, and she left the classroom, went outside, had the baby, threw the baby girl in the dumpster, and then went back into class and sat down like nothing had happened. How can anyone do anything like that? A hardened mind. Read where one gang member who had a wife or at least a live-in girlfriend, and they had two children together, and the gang boss believed that this man's girlfriend was an informant, and he ordered the gang member to kill her and the two children. So what did the gang member do? He took them out on a picnic, had a picnic with his wife and two children, and shot them and left them for dead. Wow. Hardened against their own. Now the Greek word for hardening indicates a process. In fact, it indicates a process

Hardening Can Happen to Believers

Using Mark 8:17, Weaver shows even disciples can have hardened hearts; Christians must examine themselves to avoid petrification through neglect of truth.

that ends in petrification. We have petrified trees, a petrified forest. That's when matter, when it gets mixed with some minerals, turns out to be stone. In fact, that is exactly what happens. And so God is saying this is what happens to the minds when individuals refuse God's truth and they refuse to hear God, they refuse to heed Him, they refuse to obey Him, and they become absolutely petrified in their thinking. That's why in Ephesians 4 verse 19, He talked about individuals who were past feeling. And that's exactly what happens to men like Pharaoh and others. We begin to be past feeling, we have no feelings for anyone, for anything.

And I've got news for you. When Christians are no longer moved by truth, when they're no longer encouraged by truth, when they're no longer motivated by truth, when they no longer long for truth, it's time to examine our hearts and repent, because we are in danger of having a petrified heart. And that petrified heart, that hardened heart, is wicked in and of itself. Now, so when we talk about a hardened heart, don't think it's just the unsaved that can have it. Okay, now let's get back to Pharaoh. The Bible does say that God hardened his heart. Was Pharaoh the only man whose heart the Lord hardened? And the answer is no. If you will turn in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 2, and look at verse 30 and 33, Deuteronomy chapter 2, and you're going to find Sihon. Deuteronomy chapter 2, and look if you would there please beginning with verse 30. I will come back to this passage momentarily. Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 30: "But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the Lord said unto me, 'Behold, I have begun to

Other Examples of Judicial Hardening

Sihon (Deut. 2), the Canaanite kings (Josh. 11), Zedekiah (2 Chron. 36), and the Jews in John 12 all experienced God's hardening because they rejected His word.

give Sihon and his land before thee; begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.' Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the Lord our God delivered him before us, and we smote him and his sons and all of his people. And we took all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, the women, the little ones, and every city. We left none to remain." Now, I'm going to come back there, but notice if you would, Sihon's heart was hardened as well. So look in your Bibles now to the book of Joshua chapter 11. Joshua 11, and look at verses 18 through 20. Joshua 11 verse 18: "There was not a city that made peace with the children of Israel, save the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. And all other they took in battle, for it

was of the Lord to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that He might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favor, but that He might destroy them, as the Lord commanded Moses." So here we go: only the Hivites or the Gibeonites were spared; the rest were hardened and fought. If you would turn over in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 36, you're going to read about Zedekiah. Zedekiah was a wicked king of Judah. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. Look if you would beginning there with verse 11. 2 Chronicles 36 and verse 11. Well, there's a real interesting statement that you need to pay attention to in this passage. 2 Chronicles 36, look in verse 11.

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. Now I want you to watch how evil he was: "And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord." So Jeremiah was giving him God's Word, and yet here he is, arrogant, haughty, and rebellious. "And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. But he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover, all the chief of the priests and the people transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen, and polluted the house of the Lord, which He had hallowed in Jerusalem."

I'm going to come back to Zedekiah, but turn right over in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 12. And I have to be very selective for time's sake, but here are enough scriptures that you can understand. Yes, hearts are hardened by God judicially as well as practically. Look if you would please in John chapter 12, beginning there with verse 37. John 12 and verse 37. Here it is. Look at this. John 12 verse 37: "But though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him, that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, 'Lord, who hath believed our report?'" Isaiah 53:1, "and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Now watch: "Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said, 'He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart'"—which would be the mind—"'and be converted, and I should heal them.' These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory and spake of Him." Interestingly here, the Bible says there were many whose hearts were hardened. Now it should be pointed out in each of these passages that I read, men fail to believe God and His Word.

They fail to obey. They fail to recognize God's wonders. They fail to apply anything. Just like in John 12, "and though He did many miracles before them," in other words, they paid no attention. When you don't listen to God, when you don't listen to His truth, when you do not hear His Word, there's an automatic, normal, natural hardening against God, and then God judges that hardening, and it still continues to harden. So you have a judicial hardening as well. Now, even judgment does not cause a man to listen. The hardening of his heart, for instance—have you looked in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 9? You would think that some men would wake up, but listen to this. Revelation chapter 9 verse 20: "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues"—horrible plagues—"yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor their sorceries, nor their fornication, nor their thefts." In other words, here men are so hardened in sin and rebellion against God, the most severe judgment is not

going to deter them. Now, here's a quiz question. Think about this: Is it wrong for God to give men that which they want? Is it wrong for God to give men that which they desire? And the answer is no. Pharaoh, Sihon, Zedekiah, and others did not want God. They did not desire God. They did not want the rule of God. They did not want the Word of God.

God Gives Men What They Want

God allows the wicked to pursue their rebellion, leading to their own destruction; Pharaoh's pursuit into the sea demonstrates insane stupidity resulting from a hardened mind.

They fail to obey. They fail to recognize God's wonders. They fail to apply anything. Just like in John 12, "and though He did many miracles before them," in other words, they paid no attention. When you don't listen to God, when you don't listen to His truth, when you do not hear His Word, there's an automatic, normal, natural hardening against God, and then God judges that hardening, and it still continues to harden. So you have a judicial hardening as well. Now, even judgment does not cause a man to listen. The hardening of his heart, for instance—have you looked in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 9? You would think that some men would wake up, but listen to this. Revelation chapter 9 verse 20: "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues"—horrible plagues—"yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor their sorceries, nor their fornication, nor their thefts." In other words, here men are so hardened in sin and rebellion against God, the most severe judgment is not

going to deter them. Now, here's a quiz question. Think about this: Is it wrong for God to give men that which they want? Is it wrong for God to give men that which they desire? And the answer is no. Pharaoh, Sihon, Zedekiah, and others did not want God. They did not desire God. They did not want the rule of God. They did not want the Word of God.

They wanted to rebel against Him. They wanted to do whatever they wanted to do. And God said, "All right, I'll let you do exactly that." Do you realize if God wants to destroy a man, all He has to do is let him alone, and he'll destroy himself. Same thing is true of a nation. Just stop and think about it. I told you the heart was the mind. He hardened the mind. And I told you the word literally meant to lack consideration and lack discernment. To show you how stupid—and I'm using the word purposely—how insane Pharaoh was. His mind was so hardened. Can you imagine any army commander who happens to be chasing his enemy, and all of a sudden here's a supernatural miracle of God? The sea opens up and stands on walls of water on each side. Israel walks across on dry ground. Israel is almost over, and here comes Pharaoh and his army chasing them inside these walls of water. Now stop and think about that. They're encompassed on each side with a wall of water. Their enemy is in front of them, and there's no way to turn around.

You've got to be stupid to fall into a trap like that. You have to be insane. Look at Sihon. I didn't read all of that, but you can go back to Deuteronomy and read it. Deuteronomy chapter 2, you know what Israel did? They came to Sihon and said, "Look, we're not interested in your land. All we want is your permission to pass through the land. We will go by the King's Highway. We'll not turn to the left hand or to the right. And we're gonna need food and water, and so we will buy from you with money. All we want to do is just pass through." Can you imagine some man being so insanely stupid as to pass down and to pass by a peaceful and prosperity package? I mean, all they want to do is walk through. He would make money. Listen.

All he had to do is said, "Well, yeah, I'll set the price at 50 bucks a quarter" or whatever. I mean, you know. But no. He was so insanely stupid, he thought that he could take his people and go out and fight against a million men. And God, of course, gave his land into their hand. I'm just saying, this is what happens to the mind. Now, did God receive honor and glory from Pharaoh and his destruction and the destruction of his army? Yes. What did He say? "They shall know that I am the Lord."

All their false gods were worthless. They were useless. They were no good. Pharaoh himself, who claimed to be a god, could not even save himself. In other words, God's destruction of these wicked people just demonstrated His godhood, His control.

God Glorified in Destroying the Destroyer

God demonstrates His godhood by destroying tyrants who play God; Revelation 19 shows heaven rejoicing in God's righteous judgments.

Now, the thing is this: stupid, sinful, and wicked people like Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, you all know Harari, who are proclaiming themselves as gods. Now whether Klaus Schwab said this or not, I don't know. I was not around him, but I read where he said this. He may not have said it, but I did read it, and it was a quote from Klaus Schwab who said, "We are gods, and you will either submit to us or die." Well, Klaus Schwab and some of the others are going to find themselves like Pharaoh and like Sihon, because their minds are hardened against God, and God has already said in Isaiah 42 verse 8, "I am the Lord; that is My name, and My glory will I not give to another, nor My praise to graven images." Now I want you to stop and think about this. I don't care if you're talking about Pol Pot, Stalin, Idi Amin, I don't care what tyrant you're talking about. Any tyrant who wishes to try to play God has to try to demonstrate his godhood in one of two ways: number one, either by killing others—"I hold the power of life and death in my hand"—and/or controlling others, in the words, "You will do as I say. You will own nothing and be happy. You'll eat insects and you'll be happy." Yeah, that's when people are playing God. They're either trying to kill other people or they're trying to control other people. So here's the thing: God demonstrates His godhood by destroying the destroyer. That's what He said in Romans 9. That's what He said in Exodus chapter 14.

"I will endure these vessels of wrath with much longsuffering," and God does. And God allows them to rebel, and God allows them to gather all the riches they want together. God gives them exactly that which they want, and then He destroys them. You know, the Bible says this in Jeremiah 4 and verse 7. Listen to this: "The lion has come up from his thicket"—we're talking about God—"the lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the heathen is on the way. He has gone forth from his place to make the land desolate, and thy city shall be laid waste without an inhabitant." God destroys the destroyer. And in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 10, the Bible says, "Neither murmur ye, as some also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer."

Now this might be a hard truth, but it's still truth that God is going to be glorified in the destruction of His enemies. If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to Revelation chapter 19, and look if you would please at the first three verses. Revelation 19, and look if you would please at the first three verses, beginning with verse 1. The Bible says this: "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and honor and glory and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.' And again they said, 'Hallelujah!' And her smoke rose up forever and ever." Wow. Yeah, God will receive honor and glory in the destruction of His enemies. He did so with Pharaoh. He will do so with those who are against Him today. Now I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, because I want to make just a couple of applications. If you'll look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, here's the first application: it should be a comfort to the saints of God

to know that God will judge the wicked and that we will rejoice in His deliverance. I know people who are so anxious, they're so discomforted, they're so agitated over what is happening. And although I don't want what is happening, I don't like what is happening, I know that God is in control. I know that God is gonna work it out. But I want you to look what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7. He said, "And to you who are troubled"—you who are upset, you who are agitated, you who are anxious, you who are troubled—"rest with us." Rest with us, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the

Application: Comfort for the Troubled

Believers should rest in the truth that God will judge the wicked, as 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 promises vengeance and glorification of Christ.

Now this might be a hard truth, but it's still truth that God is going to be glorified in the destruction of His enemies. If you'll look in your Bibles very quickly to Revelation chapter 19, and look if you would please at the first three verses. Revelation 19, and look if you would please at the first three verses, beginning with verse 1. The Bible says this: "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and honor and glory and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, for He hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.' And again they said, 'Hallelujah!' And her smoke rose up forever and ever." Wow. Yeah, God will receive honor and glory in the destruction of His enemies. He did so with Pharaoh. He will do so with those who are against Him today. Now I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians, because I want to make just a couple of applications. If you'll look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, here's the first application: it should be a comfort to the saints of God

to know that God will judge the wicked and that we will rejoice in His deliverance. I know people who are so anxious, they're so discomforted, they're so agitated over what is happening. And although I don't want what is happening, I don't like what is happening, I know that God is in control. I know that God is gonna work it out. But I want you to look what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7. He said, "And to you who are troubled"—you who are upset, you who are agitated, you who are anxious, you who are troubled—"rest with us." Rest with us, "when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the

glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints and be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day." But did you hear what he said? "And to you who are troubled, rest with us." In other words, it should be a comforting truth to the child of God. God will destroy the destroyers. He will judge them. He will receive honor and glory. Now in light of this, you're going to ask me how He's going to receive honor and glory. Do you remember that passage in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5, where the Word of God says it like this: "Let this mind be in you which also was in

Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Guess what? Pharaoh will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Sihon will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Bill Gates will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Klaus Schwab will confess it. Harari will. Everyone will confess it.

Application: Warning Against Hardening Our Hearts

Hebrews 3-4 warns Christians not to harden their hearts through unbelief and sin's deceitfulness; the remedy is to hear, heed, and obey God's Word daily.

They will not necessarily be saved, but they will be forced to acknowledge there's only one God, and He's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. God will be glorified. God will be honored in the destruction of the wicked. If you'll look in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, here's my second and last application. I want you to watch this. Hebrews chapter 3, because as I pointed out earlier, it is not just simply the unsaved who may harden their hearts. Christians may harden their hearts as well. Hebrews 3 verse 7: "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, 'Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not known My ways.'" How did they get such a heart? They did not know God. They did not know His ways. They would not listen. They would not learn. They would not heed. They would not hear. They would not apply. Skip down if you would now to verse 12. Look at it: "Take heed, brethren"—He's talking to believers—"take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in

departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." When we think that we can sin and get away with it and that God will not chasten us, we're deceiving ourselves. We're hardening our hearts so that we may sin against God. Hebrews 4 and verse 7, look at it again: "He limiteth a certain day, saying in David, 'Today, after so long a time,' as it is said, 'Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.'" What's that mean? Listen, heed, hear, obey, submit. That's what it means. Our hearts are hardened by refusal to listen and hear and heed and obey the truth of God. The easiest way to not have a hardened heart as a Christian is to hear His Word, apply His Word, obey His Word, and bring our lives in conformity unto His Word. Harden not your hearts. Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. It may be a hard truth, but it is a truth.

Conclusion and Prayer

Weaver concludes that God will be glorified in the destruction of His enemies, and prays for holiness and obedience.

God will be glorified in the destruction of His enemies. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You, Father, that Thou art God and Thou art God alone. Beside Thee, there is none other. There are many who claim to be God and like to play God, but there's only one true and living God who's revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. And we bow to Thee through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and ask for Your divine help in our lives. Make us holy. Make us godly. Make us obedient. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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