2 Kings 20, Hosea 13

Read 2 Kings 20 and Hosea 13.

This devotional is about 2 Kings 20.

The most outstanding quality Hezekiah had was his ability to pray. In verses 1-11 of this chapter, Hezekiah contracted some kind of deathly illness (v. 1) which involved a boil on his skin (v. 7). Isaiah came along and told him to meet with his estate attorney immediately because he was going to die and not recover (v. 1).

Unlike all the kings of Israel and most of the kings of Judah, Hezekiah actually believed the word of the Lord’s prophet. He did not order Isaiah to be imprisoned like Jeremiah was or killed like Jezebel tried to do to Elijah. Instead, he accepted that Isaiah’s words were God’s word.

Next, he didn’t argue with God or try to say that God’s will was unjust. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23a). Hezekiah was a sinner, therefore he was going to die someday, somehow. The lengths of our lives differ, but we all are destined to die by some method at some time. This was Hezekiah’s time and the illness was the way. Hezekiah accepted that fact to be true.

But he didn’t believe that it had to be true. Instead, he believed in the power of God. His first instinct, then, was to turn to God in prayer. His prayer is simple–“Remember, Lord” (v. 3). He did not claim perfection or any right to healing but Hezekiah did remind the Lord that he had lived a faithful, devoted life. He also reminded God that, as Judah’s leader, he did “what is good in your eyes” (v. 3). So personally and “professionally” Hezekiah could say that he had done the will of God.

And that’s it. That’s all he told God in his prayer. He did not directly ask for God’s healing; instead, he said, “remember me” and how I have lived my life and led your people.

God knew what Hezekiah wanted and how sincerely, based on his tears, he wanted it. So God both healed him (v. 7), promised him both another fifteen years of life (v. 6a) and deliverance from Assyria, the nation that had swallowed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. God also performed a miracle, the first daylight saving time fallback (vv. 10-11) to confirm Isaiah’s word.

All of this was accomplished because Hezekiah prayed.

There is no guarantee that God will answer your prayers or mine in this way. Honestly, there was no guarantee that he would answer Hezekiah this way. Hezekiah was the recipient of God’s goodness and love, not a shrewd negotiator with the Almighty.

So there are no guarantees. But. What might be different in your life if you prayed like Hezekiah prayed in this passage?

2 Kings 17, Hosea 10

Read 2 Kings 17 and Hosea 10.

This devotional is about 2 Kings 17.

The first six verses of 2 Kings 17 tell a diplomatic story. They say that Assyria attacked and conquered Samaria, the capitol of Israel (vv. 3, 5-6). The Assyrians did this because Hoshea, king of Israel, quit paying tribute to Assyria and tried to form an alliance with Egypt instead (v. 4). Those were the human reasons for Israel’s destruction as a nation.

Starting in verse 7, the Bible told us that there were spiritual reasons behind this defeat of Israel to Assyria. These spiritual reasons had nothing whatsoever to do with the human reasons described in verses 1-6. Instead, verse 7 told us, “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God” and the next several verses catalog the ways in which Israel sinned against God. The author of this book knew that what happened to Israel was an act of God even though it was accomplished by the Assyrians. This is an example of God’s working in divine providence. Providence is one of two ways in which God works in this world; the other way is through miracles, and that way is rare.

Providence is when God does his will using secondary causes–the actions of other people, natural disasters, or things that seem like luck or coincidence. God used providence–the national aggression of the Assyrians, to punish Israel for her sins.

Miracles are when God acts directly, superseding the laws of nature, to accomplish his will. The ten plagues of Egypt are an example of judgment miracles–direct, miraculous outpourings of God’s judgment on a nation.

If you wonder where God is and why he doesn’t act, it might be because you are looking for miracles rather than actually seeing the indirect work of God through providence. What happens in your life, events around you, or even things that happen on the world stage all happen under God’s divine supervision. Don’t let the fact that there are human causes distract you from seeing the work of God. God’s ordinary way of working is to use human causes to accomplish his will.

2 Kings 7, Daniel 11

Read 2 Kings 7 and Daniel 11.

This devotional is about 2 Kings 7.

Remember that Israel was divided into Israel, the Northern Kingdom and Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Samaria was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom also known as “Israel,” and at the end of 2 Kings 6, Samaria was in big trouble. The kingdom was facing two powerful threats.

The first was a siege laid by the Aramaeans (6:24) which prevented anything–food, other products, people–from entering the city.

The second threat was “a great famine in the city” (6:25).

Either of these problems would have caused economic stress to the city of Samaria. Dealing with both problems at the same time was a disaster. The cost for even the most meager amount of food was an outrageous sum of money (6:25). It was worse than buying food at an airport or in the stadium of a professional sports league. As a result, people were starving and desperate for the most basic essentials of survival. They even turned to cannibalizing their own children just to survive (6:26-29).

Instead of pleading with God for help and appealing to his servant Elisha, the king of Israel blamed the Lord and determined to kill Elisha (6:30-33). Here in 2 Kings 7, that story resumed.

Elisha prophesied that there would be overnight (literally) relief from the famine (v. 1). The prices quoted here in 2 Kings 7:1 are higher than usual, but the products Elisha mentioned weren’t available at ANY price when he said these words. Remember this was a man that God used to multiply oil (2 Kings 4:1-7) and bread (2 Kings 4:42-44) among many other miracles.

Yet, despite his track record, the king’s officer mocked Elisha. His statement in verse 2, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?” was a scoffing response. Elisha’s answer was a prophecy of judgment for him: “You will see it with your own eyes… but you will not eat any it!” (v. 2c).

God kept his promises both to provide for the people (vv. 3-18) and to judge the king’s commander for his unbelief (vv. 19-20). In a situation that looked impossible, God provided in an extraordinary way.

God is able and willing to provide for us but we often blame him for our problems rather than coming to him for his assistance. It is sometimes God’s will for us to suffer but there are other times when we suffer just because we don’t believe God will provide and so we don’t bother asking him.

What is the greatest need in your life right now? Have you sought God’s help and favor in that area, asking him to provide? He is able to provide faster than you can even imagine.

2 Kings 5, Daniel 9

Read 2 Kings 5 and Daniel 9.

This devotional is about 2 Kings 5.

From the time Elijah was taken to heaven in 2 Kings 1, God had been doing many miracles through Elisha. Widows, families who feared God, other prophets, and hungry people who were just standing around received the benefits of these miracles as we read about yesterday in 2 Kings 4.

But the king of Israel, Joram son of Ahab, had seen some of this miraculous power back in chapter 2 when God gave Elisha a message about how to defeat the rebelling Moabites (2 Ki 3). The overarching purpose of these miracles is always to show that Israel’s God is the true God. But, like most unbelievers in the Bible, the demonstrations of God’s power had no affect on Joram’s faith.

Here in 2 Kings 5, Naaman experienced the miraculous power of God through Elisha. God spoke through Elisha and gave instructions that healed Naaman’s leprosy. Naaman was an unlikely recipient of God’s healing grace in this chapter. He was an Aramean and a skillful fighting commander for the Aramean army (v. 1). This made him both an enemy of God’s people Israel and someone Israelites would have regarded as a “heathen.” Yet an Israelite slave girl loved him enough and believed in God’s power so much that she persuaded Naaman to seek God’s power for relief from his leprosy.

The contrasts of faith in this chapter are striking:

  • The slave girl had complete faith that Elisha would bring healing to Naaman (v. 3c: “He would cure him of his leprosy.”).
  • The king of Israel, however, freaked out when he heard what Naaman wanted (vv. 6-7) even though he knew Elisha (3:11) and how powerfully God was working through him (3:15-27). He had no faith that Naaman could be healed.
  • Finally, after Naaman reluctantly obeyed Elisha’s instructions, he came to believe in God and worship him alone (vv. 15-17) because he had experienced complete healing of a fatal disease.

Jesus seized on this story in Luke 4 to make a point about how God saves the unlikely: “And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian” (Lu 4:27). People can see God working up close and directly yet, without the gift of faith, they will not come and worship him alone.

There are many people in our country who don’t believe in God or that he works powerfully in this world today. These people live near churches, know Christians, and some were even raised in Christian families but they are oblivious to the power of God changing lives around them. Instead, it is often the irreligious that God saves and, in national terms, people who live in places with little gospel witness. Many of these people are ready for the gospel and they will eagerly receive God’s grace when you share it with them or when a missionary comes to their land to talk about Christ.

Are there areas in your life where you are missing out on seeing the power of God work just because you lack faith and aren’t looking for God’s works? Are there any people in your life that you don’t share the gospel with because you’ve already concluded that they are heathens who won’t listen anyway?

What does this story in this chapter say about those attitudes?

1 Kings 17, Ezekiel 47

Read 1 Kings 17 and Ezekiel 47.

This devotional is about 1 Kings 17.

Yesterday in 1 Kings 16 we saw that Ahab was sold out to evil like no king Israel ever before (1 Ki 16:30). Based on that description of Ahab, we might expect that Ahab’s reign in Israel was a dark time for the Northern Kingdom spiritually and morally. Our expectation is correct; the Northern Kingdom was always far from God both spiritually and morally. It was born in rebellion to God’s Davidic king, worshipped idols from the very beginning of its separation from Judah, and was led by 20 kings who all did evil in the sight of God.

In response to Israel’s sinful ways—particularly the evil leadership of king Ahab, God sent his prophet Elijah to proclaim judgment on Israel. Verse 1 told us that Elijah’s message was, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” This drought would naturally lead to famine which would ravage Israel’s farm-based economy and cause many people to suffer and die.

What’s interesting about today’s passage is that the focus is not on the devastation God brought on Israel, but on the provision God brought to his servant Elijah. At a time when food and water were scarce, Elijah just had to hang out near a water source and God miraculously brought him food carried by ravens (vv. 2-6). Then, when the drought caused the brook he depended on for water to dry up, God sent him to a person who could take care of him.

But the woman God sent to provide for Elijah was a very unlikely caretaker. Instead of sending him to a godly man of wealthy means, God sent him to a widow. This widow lived outside the land of Israel; verse 9 told us that he was sent to “Zarephath in the region of Sidon.” That town was located near the Mediterranean Sea and was a good distance north of the most northern tribes of Israel. Widows, typically, struggled to survive themselves, having no husband to work and provide for the family in an age and economy where everyone in the family had to work hard for the family merely to survive. God told Elijah, “I have directed a widow there to supply you with food” (v. 9b) which suggests that she knew Elijah was coming beforehand. Yet when he arrived and asked her for food, she said, “As surely as the Lord your God lives… I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die” (v. 12).

Not exactly an ancient version of Costco, was she?

Yet Elijah believed the Lord’s word; he comforted her by telling her not to be afraid (v. 13a) but, instead, to trust the Lord’s provision by making food for Elijah first, then for herself and her son (v. 13b-c). This command was based on God’s promise in verse 14: “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’” Amazingly, she believed the Lord’s promise and God provided for her, her son, AND Elijah day after day after day (vv. 15-16).

Then, as if her daily test of faith were not enough, it was tested again when her son died (vv. 17-19). She reacted as anyone would in this kind of tragedy. Why would God keep her son alive day after day from starvation only to see him die prematurely from illness? But God listened to Elijah’s prayer and restored his life (vv. 20-23).

The purpose of these miracles was to authenticate the message of Elijah: “Then the woman said to Elijah, ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth’” (v. 24). The point of this story was to show how God provided for those who trusted in him, even in a dark time spiritually for the nation of Israel. His provision required daily, constant faith, but God never failed to live up to his promise. And, like he did with Elijah, God calls us to trust him and live according to his word and his promises even when times look bleak spiritually and economically.

Every time we elect a new president here in the United States, the side that loses believes that the end is near. Let’s consider that: What if someday we elect the most ungodly person to ever occupy the oval office, someone determined to stamp out biblical Christianity?

Can God provide for us if we are ruled and even persecuted by unsaved and ungodly people?

Of course he can but we have to look to him in faith. Think about the possible anxiety Elijah might have faced. What if the ravens don’t show up with any food today? What if this is the day that the widow’s flour and oil run out? Each day was a test of faith for these people, but God was faithful. May we have the grace to trust him no matter what kind of trial of faith we face in the days ahead.

1 Samuel 9, Jeremiah 46

Read 1 Samuel 9 and Jeremiah 46.

This devotional is about 1 Samuel 9.

The beginning of this chapter told us that Saul came from a good family. Verse 1 told us that his father Kish was “a man of standing.” Saul’s personal appearance was striking, too; verse 2 said he was “as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.”

Still, Kish was a farmer like most of the other people in Israel. Farming is labor-intensive, especially for farmers who lived before tractors were invented. So, like everyone else, Saul worked in the family business from a young age. His family was prosperous and he was tall, dark, and handsome (as they say) but he was by no means a trust fund baby.

After the general introduction to Saul in verses 1-2, we are given a glimpse into his daily life. Some of his family’s donkeys were lost and Saul and one of their slaves were sent out to look for them. This was a hassle and a drag on productivity, but searching for missing animals was not out of the ordinary. Saul and his helper looked for the donkeys but could not find them (v. 4) so Saul was ready to give up (v. 5). The servant who was sent with him decided to try divine intervention, and urged Saul to go with him to see Samuel. Perhaps God would give them some insight through Samuel that would help them find the missing donkeys (v. 6).

So far there is nothing spectacular about this story. They lost some animals and couldn’t find them so they asked for God’s help through one of his prophets. Could have happened to anyone on any day.

Yet God was working. The lost donkeys were God’s method for introducing Saul to Samuel and for showing Samuel the man he should anoint to be Israel’s first king (vv. 15-17). God has two ways of working in the world: (1) miracles and (2) providence.

  • A miracle is when the normal laws of nature are superseded by God’s divine act. We see that happening in this passage when God spoke audibly to Samuel (vv. 15-17).
  • Providence is when God works his will through the non-miraculous events and choices of everyday life. The lost donkeys were an act of providence; so was the idea that Saul’s servant had to consult with Samuel (v. 6).

God is capable of miracles, of course, but he uses that method rarely. God’s providence is the normal, everyday means by which he accomplishes his will in this world. What felt like an annoying fact of life to Saul–the stray donkeys—was actually an act of God to lead him somewhere good.

If you look back at your life, where you are today is the sum total of the choices you’ve made and some “random” things that just happened to you but that took you in a different direction, even if it was only a slightly different direction at the outset. Where you are today, then, is not an accident or a random event. It is the providential work of a loving, gracious God.

Not every nuisance in life, like losing your donkeys, leads to some amazing place in the providence of God. Once, my car key broke off in the ignition of my car. It was annoying, but a pair of pliers and a spare car key kept it from being anything more than annoying. As far as I can tell, that problem did not change the trajectory of my life at all. It is just one of the things that we deal with in a fallen world.

But there are times when ordinary problems or seemingly random things take us to a new place in the will of God. We don’t know when it is happening, but we can see it in reverse. My point here is not to say, “Don’t complain about the nuisances in your life because maybe God’s gonna make you king through them!” Rather, my point is to say, do you see the loving hand of God working in your life to lead you to places where you wouldn’t have chosen to go? If so, can you keep that in mind when things don’t go as expected in the future? And, can you trust that God will work in your life through providence today and tomorrow just as he has in the past?

Joshua 3, Isaiah 63

Read Joshua 3 and Isaiah 63.

This devotional is about Joshua 3.

In this short chapter, Israel began crossing over the Jordan River into the promised land. Similar to the way in which he parted the Red Sea for the parents of these Israelites, God miraculously stopped the flow of the Jordan River (v. 16) so that this generation was able to cross into the promised land “on dry ground” (v. 17).

There were two purposes for this miracle. First, this miracle demonstrated to God’s people that Joshua was His appointed leader. Verse 7 says, “And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.’” This miracle gave Joshua the authority to lead.

The second purpose for this Jordan-stopping miracle was to show Israel that God was with them and would drive out the Canaanites. Verse 10 says, “Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.’”

One act of God, then, taught his people two important lessons–that God was with them and that they should follow Joshua. God used a miracle in this case; however, he often accomplishes these kinds of purposes by acting in even non-miraculous ways.

Have you seen the Lord working in your life? Has it happened recently? Did it give you a sense of confidence to remind you that you are in Christ and that God is providing for and caring for you?

Deuteronomy 10, Isaiah 38

Read Deuteronomy 10 and Isaiah 38.

This devotional is about Deuteronomy 10.

Moses’s history lesson ended here in Deuteronomy 10:11. The rest of the book will focus on teaching God’s laws again to this new generation and urging them to follow the Lord in faith and obedience.

To that end, Moses began with an exhortation to God’s people to follow the Lord wholeheartedly (vv. 12-13). Note that in verse 13 Moses said it was “for your own good” to fear, obey, and serve the Lord. Then in verses 14-22, he gave God’s people some reasons to follow God. These are all reasons based on God’s grace–grace that they had already received. Those reasons to follow the Lord are:

  • God’s electing love (vv. 14-19).
  • God’s miraculous power which he used on Israel’s behalf (vv. 20-21).
  • God’s preservation of Israel and how he prospered them with population growth despite being slaves in Egypt (v. 22).

As part of his discussion of God’s electing love in verses 14-19, Moses explained that despite God’s awesome greatness (v. 17), he is just and kind to those who are weak, specifically widows and foreigners (v. 18). Following God’s example, then, Israel was “to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

Although few if any of us were literally foreigners like the Israelites were, it is also true that most of us were not very remarkable when God’s grace came to us in salvation. God was merciful and chose us even though we were ordinary or average at best. God’s compassionate nature toward the weak and exploitable as detailed in this passage should cause us to look out for and show compassion for the weak and exploitable people around us. We

have some ministries in our church, such as our benevolence offering which we receive on communion Sundays or our food pantry, where you can help people in need. But God wants us to develop an awareness of others around us who have these kinds of needs. Some needy people are obvious but many fit into the background of our lives, overshadowed by our own needs, problems, and concerns.

Let’s ask God to give us a greater perception of people who need help or someone to champion them in their plight. Then, as we see them, let’s do what we can to help. This is one way in which we emulate the grace and mercy of God our Father.

Exodus 29, Proverbs 5, Psalm 77

Read Exodus 29, Proverbs 5, and Psalm 77.

This devotional is about Psalm 77.

Sleepless nights are a fact of life for most adults. Some have them frequently, others rarely, but all of us have times when we are too worried or wounded or whatever to sleep. The songwriter here in Psalm 77 described one of those times in the opening stanzas of this song. Verse 2 says, “at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted” while verse 4 says, “You kept my eyes from closing.”

God’s word has taught us believers to seek the Lord in those moments when we can’t sleep and the Psalmist did that in this song (vv. 1-3a). When he ran out of ways to ask for God’s help, he turned his mind to the ways God had revealed his power in the past. Verse 5 says, “I thought about the former days, the years of long ago,” and verse 10 says, “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.’” Which miracles, you ask? Verses 15-20 describe the miracles God used to deliver Israel from the Egyptians through Moses and Aaron. When. this songwriter lived, those miracles had happened hundreds of years before. They were not memories he conjured up from his personal experiences in the past; they were acts of God that he had read about in the books of the Law and heard taught in the tabernacle. Recalling these gracious works of God historically gave Asaph confidence to trust God for his need. In verse 13, the author wrote, “Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” Notice that all these verbs are in the present tense–you are holy, you are the God who performs miracles, etc. Because God had worked the past, the author was confident he would work in this situation.

When you can’t sleep at night, cry out to the Lord for help, then think about all he has done in the past that is recorded in the scriptures. Let their words give you confidence in God’s power for your life.

Exodus 18, Job 36, Psalm 66

Read Exodus 18, Job 36, and Psalm 66.

This devotional is about Exodus 18.

Whatever his background and beliefs, Jethro heard of God’s deliverance for Israel from others (v. 1b) but Moses described what happened personally (v. 8). Moses did not just describe the miracles and the plagues God had used to Jethro; according to verse 8b Moses also told his father-in-law “about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.” This would include the food and water miracles as well as God’s deliverance from the Amalekites which we’ve read about over the past few days. All of this was more than enough evidence that the God of Israel is true.

Jethro’s confession of faith in verse 11, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods…” may sound like the words of a man who believes in many gods with YHWH being the best, but it is actually a common OT way of expressing true faith. Couple that statement with the fact that Jethro “was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel” (v. 9) and that he “brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God” (v. 11) and it seems clear that Jethro was truly converted at the time described in this chapter.

Moses’s testimony of God’s work was a powerful instrument in the conversion of Jethro. Have you considered how God might use your testimony to save others? Not just your testimony about how God saved you, but also of the other things he has done in your life? Think about how your salvation and walk with God has impacted your life, then be ready to share that whenever the door opens.

Exodus 17, Job 35, Psalm 65

Read Exodus 17, Job 35 and Psalm 64.

This devotional is about Exodus 17.

The people of Israel lived as slaves in Egypt. They were oppressed and abused by the Egyptians, but at least the Egyptians provided for their needs. Now that God has liberated them, they have their freedom. But that meant their Egyptian overlords were no longer there to provide them with food and water and shelter.

In yesterday’s reading, they looked back with nostalgia on their time as slaves. In Exodus 16:3b we read, “in Egypt… we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” It seems like they were exaggerating how well the Egyptians provided for them but, faced with starvation and dehydration, the meager provisions of slavery seemed better.

Here in Exodus 17, Moses and the Israelites needed a miracle to survive. God provided that miracle through Moses (vv. 5-7) and then protected them from the attacks of the Amalekites (vv. 8-16). Before providing these things, however, God let Moses and the Israelites feel the crisis of their lack of water and food. Why?

One reason was so that the people would learn to depend on him. As a “free” people, they would need to learn how to provide for themselves. But God wanted them to know that they were not alone; he was watching over them to provide for them and bless them. These crises in the desert were designed to make God’s people look to him when they needed help, not to the Egyptians who had provided for them for so long.

These crises had another affect as well. Did you notice how God made a point in verse 5 of having Moses and the elders of Israel stand before the people? And, in the battle with the Amalekites, notice how Joshua was designated by Moses to lead the battle (v. 9) and then the Lord commanded Moses to make sure Joshua heard his commands about the Amalekites (vv. 14-15).

All of these things were designed to teach the people to trust the Lord and the leaders he chose for them. They were also designed to teach the leaders that God would be with them and make their leadership effective. Crises have a way of revealing what and who we trust and each one is an opportunity to relocate our trust in a godly direction.

Keep this in mind if you’re facing a crisis or if you encounter one soon. Is the Lord testing your faith and exposing whether or not your trust is where it should be? Use the moments of trial in your life to turn to the Lord in full dependence so that your trust is fully in him.

Exodus 7, Job 24, Psalm 55

Read Exodus 7, Jobs 24, and Psalm 55.

This devotional is about Exodus 7.

In verse 3, God said, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.”

In verses 13 and 22 the Bible says, “Pharaoh’s heart became hard.”

Only spiritual stubbornness would allow a man to see God’s miraculous works over and over again without believing his messengers and letting his people go. In verse 5 God said that “the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” It is amazing, isn’t it, that they didn’t know that he is the Lord long before that. The staff-to-snake miracle (vv. 8-12) and the Nile-to-blood miracle (vv. 14-22) seem to me like very convincing proofs. Yet Pharaoh would not let God’s people go. Why? Because God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (v. 3) and because his heart became hard(er) (vv. 13, 23).

When God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart, he did not “create fresh evil” (as one of my seminary professors used to say) in Pharaoh’s heart. Instead, he allowed Pharaoh to deny the implications of what he had seen and refuse to believe that God’s hand was behind these miracles. We see that in verse 14: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.’” The word “unyielding” helps us understand what was happening in Pharaoh’s heart in this chapter. God was showing him many convincing proofs but he would not yield to those proofs by admitting that YHWH was real and more powerful than he was. So when God “hardened” Pharaoh’s heart, he allowed Pharaoh to choose unbelief. Instead of sending the convicting power of the Spirit to soften Pharaoh’s heart, God allowed Pharaoh to respond to these miracles however Pharaoh wanted to respond to them. And, the way that sinners want to respond to God’s work is with unbelief.

This is why unbelievers can reject Jesus Christ even though they see God answer prayer or admit that they believe in life after death or realize that they have no explanation for the existence of sin. Without the convicting power of the Spirit, nobody would ever believe God and submit to his Lordship.

This is why we have no right to be proud about our faith. Your faith in Jesus is not the result of some clever insight you had to believe the gospel; it is the result of God’s gracious work in your heart by his Spirit, softening your heart to respond in faith to the gospel.

It is also why you and I must pray for God to work in the hearts of unbelievers when we sow the seeds of the gospel. Unless God softens the heart, the ears that hear his word will reject it.

Are you thankful for God’s grace that softened your heart to trust in Jesus? Are you praying for his work in the hearts of others around you so that they, too, will recieve the gospel message?