But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn. Because his heart was hard, Pharaoh refused to let the people leave, just as the Lord had predicted through Moses. [Exodus 9.34-35]
If we can see it, Pharoah's story can very easily be our story. It all has to do with how we deal with our circumstances.
How do we deal with our circumstances?
First, we must understand what our circumstances are! Are our circumstances merely "circumstantial" or, is there a reason behind them? Does every circumstance have a meaning or, do things just happen? Our answers to these questions reveal our knowledge and/or belief in God's Word, the Bible.
It wouldn't be long after Moses' and Pharoah's interactions regarding the Israel's release from Egypt, that Moses would be given, and would write volumes of information on many topics, all of which pertained to "relationship with God." Included in this plethora of information, Moses was given very specific and detailed information about circumstances. These circumstances were categorized by whether they were good (blessings) or bad (curses).
In Deuteronomy 28, God demonstratively states that good circumstances are the direct result of obeying Him and that bad circumstances are the direct result of disobeying Him.
While the story of Moses and Pharoah should serve as evidence enough about the distinction between good circumstances and bad circumstances, God, knowing man's heart-inclination toward hardness, went on to confirm this distinction in Deuteronomy 28.
The difference between Pharoah and us today is that Pharoah understood his circumstances. Pharoah and his magicians tried to explain them away, but they eventually conceded that God was working against them through their bad circumstances (plagues). Even still, as soon as the bad circumstances subsided or went away, Pharoah once again rebelled.
In contrast today, and as would be expected of a God-less and Word-less society, no association is made between obedience or disobedience to God as it relates to good or bad circumstances respectively.
However, there is a catastrophic failure among "God's people" today in that they too, just like the God-less and Word-less people of the world, do not interpret their circumstances according to God and His Word. They resign their understanding of circumstances to randomness as if God no longer makes a distinction between those who are His and those who are not.
“Go back to Pharaoh,” the Lord commanded Moses. “Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go, the hand of the LORD will strike all your livestock—your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats—with a deadly plague. But the LORD will again make a distinction between the livestock of the Israelites and that of the Egyptians. Not a single one of Israel’s animals will die! [Exodus 9.1-4]
Jesus' Advent brought a renewed picture of the distinction between those whose circumstances were cursed and those whose circumstances were blessed. Jesus demonstrated God's enduring desire to bless mankind with good circumstances in every miracle He performed. Jesus made a clear distinction between bad circumstances and good circumstances.
The same Bible that makes the distinction between blessings (good circumstances) and curses (bad circumstances) tells us that Jesus suffered the penalty for disobedience (that yields curses) when He submitted to the Cross:
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” [Galatians 3.13]
The benefit of Jesus' work on the Cross however is reserved only for those who believe. Jesus was not unclear about what believing in Him looked like:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
And, just like Pharoah had to make choices about his hard heart, a would-be follower of Christ has to make choices about his hard heart:
For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]
The distinction between a hard heart and a heart submitted to God is evident in circumstances. Jesus said that the person who abandons their hard heart will experience good circumstances - they will be healed.
Jesus also said a person submitted to God and His Kingdom will experience no lack:
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]
Even though God was very clear about blessings and curses, and even though Jesus spoke directly to that same end regarding good or bad circumstances, the idol of religion makes all manner of claims otherwise but does so at the peril of having turned blind eyes and deaf ears to God's Word. Blind eyes and deaf ears are among the defining characteristics of idols and those who trust them:
Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.4-8]
The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 135.15-18]
How indeed do we then deal with our circumstances?
Father, I have willfully and hard-heartedly ignored Your clear and distinct messages through my bad circumstances calling me to repentance. In my idolatry I have, in blindness and deafness, failed to rightly see my circumstances and consequently failed to experience all the blessings Jesus secured for me on His Cross. May I be strengthened today to give up this my own way, take up my cross, and distinctly follow Jesus. So be it.
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