I DID IT MY WAY

Preaching through Exodus for the first time, has been very challenging; but also very encouraging. As I have been studying and working through the 10 plagues, I have been overwhelmed with the sovereignty and power of God. Given the variety of human weakness involved in these stories, it is amazing how God continutes to work everything according to His plan. And the great reminder for me, because all of these principles still apply today, is that this is not primarily about my goals in life or comfort; but about God getting glory for whatever takes place. And even though evil is done, sometimes by a nation's leaders, God is still in control and able to bring glory to Himself thorugh it. This message was preached on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at Grace Baptist Church in Westlake, OH.

I DID IT MY WAY
Exodus 9:13-10:27

Please turn in your Bible to Exodus, the 2nd book of the Bible…Exodus 8.

MY WAY- [lip synced by Bruce Konya]
And now, the end is here; And so I face the final curtainMy friend, I'll say it clearI'll state my case, of which I'm certain; I've lived a life that's fullI traveled each and ev'ry highwaY. And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Regrets, I've had a fewBut then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemptionI planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway. And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew; When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt. I ate it up and spit it out. I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way. I've loved, I've laughed and cried. I've had my fill, my share of losingAnd now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing. To think I did all thatAnd may I say, not in a shy way,"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels. The record shows I took the blows and did it my way! Yes, it was my way. [Recorded December 30, 1968]

Even if you are younger, you have probably heard about this song that Frank Sinatra made famous and Elvis Presley even sang. Every once in a while, you still might hear a reference to it. The phrase: “I did it my way” is still used in all kinds of life situations and many people reference this song when they say it. This type of attitude is praise in our world today and looked at as a great way to live life.

Thousands of years ago, before anyone thought about writing a song, there was a King who embodied this kind of philosophy of life. He was known as Pharaoh. We have been reading about him in our study of the book of Exodus. After 400 years of Egyptian bondage, God decided it was time to release His people and lead them toward the promised land. He had made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Centuries before; and the time was now right to fulfill them.

God chose an 80 year old shepherd, by the name of Moses, to be the one to lead His people out. Despite all of his weaknesses, Moses was going to be used by God and see the deliverance of God’s people by the power of God Himself. Because Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go, God said that he would brings plagues of judgment on him and the nation of Egypt, so that He, God, would be glorified. God went by the name Jehovah or LORD, to emphasize his covenant relationship with His people.

We have covered the first 2 cycles of 3 plagues a piece, and before we get to the 10th and final plague next week, we will look at the 3 cycle of 3 plagues this morning…plagues 7,8, and 9. In the first 3 plagues, a key question was answered: Who has the power: Pharaoh’s servants or God’s servants? In plagues 4-6, another key question: Who has protection: Pharaoh’s people or God’s people? And this morning, in plagues 7-9, another key question is answered:

Key question: Which land is protected: Pharaoh’s land or God’s land?

Plague 7 (9:13-35)

Exodus 9:13 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.”

I have presented the plagues to you in a way that highlights how God chose to present them: in 3 cycles of 3 plagues a piece, giving us phrases and details that tie them together and some that distinguish them. At the beginning of each cycle, we have the same thing that occurs, which lets us know a new cycle is beginning: The LORD tells Moses to go early in the morning and speak to Pharaoh, with the same exact message as always: Let my people go, so they can serve (worship) me.

The warning:
· Let MY PEOPLE go, to serve me, or its going to get worse, and more personal

Exodus 9:14-16 – “For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

In the New International Version, verse 14 begins: “or this time, I will send the full force of my plagues on you…” This warning is the longest of any of the warnings of the plagues. As we move into this final cycle and build up to the 10th plague, things get more serious, and God becomes more emphatic. In fact, he said, in speaking to Pharaoh, that “this will be on you yourself.” Literally, the phrase is: “on your heart.” Do you think that perhaps God was pointing out that since Pharaoh had hardened his heart, this plague was going to be directly aimed toward it? This was personal, as the King of Egypt had disregarded God, His message, and messengers. He also includes here, in the warning:

· The purpose: I (LORD) put you (Pharaoh) in power, so that I could demonstrate my power, for the glory of my name.

God claimed responsibility for Pharaoh being in the position of leadership he was in. Leaders in this position had killed babies… This leader, that all of God’s people would call evil…this leader, who brought incredible suffering on God’s people…this leader was chosen by God. But, he wasn’t chosen because he was a Christian, or because he would promote God’s ways. He was chosen, as God explained, because it was through His evil rule, that God would show His own power and reveal Himself to all. This was God’s doing. Here is a biblical truth, that not only applies to Pharoah in Exodus, but to all rulers who have taken power in every nation ever since:
The truth:
Psalm 75:7 – “But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.”

Daniel 2:21 – “…Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might…He removes kings and sets up kings…”

Here is what God told Pharaoh through Moses:
Exodus 9:17-19 – “You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”

A continued part of the warning:
· If any person or animal is in the open fields, they will die
The plague, as God said, was going to be the worst hailstorm they had ever seen. And a part of the warning, was that if they wanted any people or animals to survive, they needed to find shelter the next day; or they would die.

Exodus 9:20,21 – “Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.”

The Response:
· Those who believed God’s Word found shelter for the people and animals; but everyone else ignored His Word.

Isn’t that amazing? God gives them warning ahead of time, and so others in Egypt heard about it and had time to act. Those who feared God, that is, they had seen what He could do and believed that he would do what he said – they made sure their families, slaves and animals were all under shelter for the next day. But everyone else just ignored God and went on as usual. How could they do that? Had they been sleeping through the first 6 plagues? They knew what had happened. But, there were still people who had hard hearts, just like Pharaoh, and decided to ignore the message of truth.

Exodus 9:22-24 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt. Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.”

The Plague: Hail on the land of Egypt.
And this just wasn’t another nasty storm. This was a hailstorm that had no historical precedent. This was new. This was devastating. This was the storm of the Century. And this judgment was directly aimed at the land of Egypt.

Exodus 9:25, 26 – “The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.”

· The distinction: The hail destroyed the unprotected people, animals and land of Egypt. There was no hail in the dwelling of the people of Israel.

“On January 28, 1995, the residents of Thomasville, Georgia, endured what meteorologists call a ‘supercell hailstorm.’ Hailstones the size of softballs up to four inches in diameter rained out of the sky and tore into that community.” Can you imagine being outside walking your dog, and these incredible balls of hail begin falling all around you? If you or your dog gets hit by them, you die. The unprecedented hailstorm that came upon Egypt not only did incredible destruction, but seemed, at least for a moment, to shake Pharaoh from his stubborn heart. At first, this seemed to soften him:

Exodus 9:27,28 – “Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

The response:
· Pharaoh said the right things and promised to let God’s people go, if the plague was stopped.

Now, at face value, that sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? He said: I have sinned. That is always a good start for humble repentance. He said I was wrong and God, you were right. I have been punished enough. Take away the hail and I will definitely let your people go. This sounded much better than before, didn’t it? Perhaps Pharaoh did have a change of heart and this would all be over soon. But, I think Moses had learned something about pharaoh’s heart, which God had often told him. A hard heart can sometimes seem soft and pliable; but the real test is whether or not the words will result in the right, humble action before God. Moses doubted it; but agreed to pray to the LORD about it.

Exodus 9:29, 30 – “Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’S. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.”

· Purpose [for stopping the plague]: That you will know the earth is the LORD’S

The purpose was not to reward Pharaoh in any way. Fact was…Moses didn’t believe him anymore, and for good reason. God had told Moses what would happen as well. So, the purpose for the plague going away is that Pharaoh and others would know that God was the one who controlled the earth, that it was His.

Exodus 9:31, 32 – “The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.”

This qualifies what was meant by the phrase everything in the fields was destroyed (v.25). These were the things that were ready for harvest; while the other things mentioned were not yet to be harvested. So, this plague went after the things that were needed the most at that moment. They were destroyed.

Exodus 9:33 – “So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.”

You’ll never guess what Pharaoh did next!

Exodus 9:34, 35 – “But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.”

So, it seems, one reason Pharaoh’s heart remained unchanged was because he was focusing on the fact that not everything was destroyed (vs.31,32), so that he would have future harvests; and basically ignoring the fact that God had destroyed the harvest right then and brought destruction because of his hard heart.

The Response:
· Pharaoh hardened his heart, once he saw the plague was gone

SO WHAT? [are we to learn from this detailed description of the 7th plague]?
1. God does what He does, ultimately to bring glory to Himself.
It is easy to be mistaken about this, even from this story. It would easy to think or say that this was all about the protection of God’s people; even that God was showing how He appreciated their faith and therefore honored it. But, we have to recognize what God really said.

This is not, ultimately about His people; and today, this is not primarily about us. Yes, Jesus died for our sins so that we could have eternal life if we believe. But, even in His death, and resurrection, the primary objective was to bring all the glory back to where it belongs: God. If you don’t like that, then you are not going to enjoy worshipping this one and only true God. Because His main desire for you is not your happiness, your goals being reached, or your comfort. His goal for you is to learn how to glorify Him in your life; even in the midst of uncertainty, suffering of any kind…and death.

2. You are not responsible to convince people of the truth, but just to tell them what God has asked you to.
Just as with Pharaoh, there are people in your life who will ignore the message of truth today. You might share with them how God has changed your life, or how He loves them; and yet no matter what you say, they seem to ignore it, and just want to live life for their own benefit. That can very frustrating! But learn a lesson from Moses: When God lays something on your heart to share, no matter how you think it will be received – share it, and leave the results to God. You cannot humble a hard heart; but God can.

3. Don’t “believe” only when it is convenient.
I have heard it said that there are no atheists in a foxhole. That is, on the battlefield, when someone thinks they might die, even if they claimed to not believe in God before, they all of a sudden have an interest in praying to God and asking for Him to deliver them. But, once the battle is over and danger is past, reality returns and God gets put to the side once again (at least in most cases).

Pharaoh was willing to say that he sinned, that he was wrong and that he wanted to do what was right. But, once the plague was taken away, and the immediate threat was gone, so was his so-called confession and repentance. It wasn’t real; but was put on externally, in order to get out of the danger. God was not fooled.

And unfortunately, even those of us who follow Jesus Christ can do the same thing. I know I have. When it is convenient, when others are watching, when the pressure is on, we can say the right words and even act the part of a humble person before God. But, when the danger has past and the pressure is off, the truth is revealed. If I have a truly humble heart, then I will follow through with what is right and fulfill my commitments. If it was just pretend to look good before others, or to escape punishment, then my hypocrisy will be revealed. The challenge for us is to continually seek God…humbly, quickly, confessing our sins and trusting in Him at all times, not just when it benefits us at the moment.

As a pastor, I encounter these types of situations all the time. I have dealt with a man who was in and out of prison all of his life. While in prison, he would confess his sins, say that he trusted in Jesus and that his life was changed. He would talk about how different he would be when he got out; and how he would go to church and serve. But, once he was released, his commitment seemed to go away; and for him, he would eventually demonstrate by his actions that he had not really changed…But talking about it while in prison served his purposes.

I have had people promise all kinds of things, as it relates to problem issues in their lives. For the time being, it might help with a spouse or concerned family member, or even with the church. But, once the pressure is off and the reality hits, the person falls back into old habits and the commitment to change is set aside. Be careful, or the same thing can happen to you.

Plague 8 (10:1-20)

Exodus 10:1,2 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell I the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

The Warning:
· Purpose: God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, to bring the judgment so that the future generations of Israel would talk about and know the LORD.
Last week, I had the question brought to me as to why God didn’t just plague Egypt and be done with them. Why should it last so long? We may not have all the answers, but what God says here gives us an idea. This was all about showing his power over a period of time (all 10 plagues), so that these stories would be passed down over generations.

Exodus 10:3-6 – “So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day. Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.”

· Let my people go or what is left by the hail will be destroyed and the locusts will fill all your houses

Pharaoh had a hard heart, but even his servants recognized whose land had protection and who was more powerful. They pleaded with him to surrender and let the people go. They had had enough!

Exodus 10:7-11 – “Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined? So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go? Moses said, We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD. But he said to them, The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”

The Response:
· The servants of Pharaoh encouraged him to let the people go
· Pharaoh offered to let some of the people go; but when Moses said everyone had to go, along with their animals, he drove them out of his presence.

“In a documentary about locusts, a team of journalists placed themselves directly in the path of an advancing army of locusts. The reporters had their microphones on as the swarm drew near and described the sound as similar to that of an approaching 747 airplane. As the infestation overran their positions, the roar became so great you could hardly hear the narrator describe the action. It was deafening.

When those creatures – millions of them!..leapfrogged over one another and finally left the area, it was as though the landscape had been burnt. The ground wasn’t charred, but every leaf was stripped off every tree. Every green thing had been consumed. You have never witnessed such a complete job of devouring.”

Exodus 10:12-15 – “Then the LORD said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left. So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.”

The plague: Locusts destroyed the land of Egypt

Exodus 10:16-19 – “Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me. So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD. And the LORD turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt.”

Response:
· Pharaoh confessed his sin, asked for forgiveness, with the thought of releasing God’s people if the plague would just be taken away

We’ve seen this before haven’t we? Pharaoh said: “just this once, forgive my sin”; and he hinted that he would let God’s people go if God would just stop this plague. So, Moses talks to God about taking the plague away, and He does. To the point, where verse 19 says: “not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt.” The plagues themselves were pretty dramatic, but the removal of the plagues were also precise and incredible.

Exodus 10:20 – “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.”

The Response:
· God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let God’s people go

Earlier, in 9:16, God had told Pharaoh that He put him in power, so that God could accomplish His own glory through him. And this was part of that plan. Yes, Pharaoh also hardened his own heart; and was responsible for it. But, God makes it clear, that He personally was involved in making sure that Pharaoh did not let His people go, until the time (God’s timing) was right.

SO WHAT? [can we learn and apply from this 8th plague]
1. Pass the word about what God has done, to future generations
In 10:2, God said He was doing this so that in the future, people would pass these stories on to the next generations. God also said this to Israel, later, when they were getting ready to enter the promised land. They were not to forget all the great things God had done for them and they were to tell those stories to their children and grandchildren; so that they could know who the LORD was.

Deuteronomy 6:20-24 – “When your son asks you in time to come, What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you? Then you shall say to your son, We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.”

Nothing has changed for us today. Instead of our stories all being based on ourselves, the stories we are to tell are about the power and greatness of God. When was the last time you told a family member about something great God has done for you? When was the last time you pointed out something that happened and connected that to how God is at work and blessing in your families’ and friends’ lives?

2. Partial obedience is no obedience at all
In verse 11, Pharaoh said he would be willing to let the men go, but the not the children. This was not obedience, with a humble heart. This was selfish manipulation. King Saul tried the same type of thing in I Samuel 15. God had ordered him to wipe out an entire community including the animals. But, for various reasons that seemed good to him, Saul spared the wicked king, as well as some animals. And this was the prophet Samuel’s words of response to Saul:

I Samuel 15:22 – “…Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…”

Let’s bring this down to us today. If you pick and chose what you want to obey, you are not really obeying. If you obey part way, or do half the things God has asked, you are not obeying. God is a jealous God. He doesn’t want part of you, but all of you. When he asks you to forgive someone, don’t do it half-heartedly or too quickly without thought or externally but not in the heart. Don’t just do your part, in your mind, by coming to church and listening to a message. The real test is after the message has been preached:

James 1:22 – “But prove yourselves to be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Just as half the truth is a full lie, so obeying part of the way is full disobedience. Learn the lesson of Pharaoh. God will teach this lesson over and over again when His people are wandering about in the desert.

Plague 9 (10:21-27)

Exodus 10:21 – “Then the LORD said to Moses Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”

The warning: NONE

Just as with the first 2 cycles of plagues, with the 3rd plague comes no warning, just judgment. There is warning after warning, but eventually the warnings run out.

Exodus 10:22, 23 – “So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.”

Plague: darkness

This was not just that the electricity went out for 3 days; which would have been bad enough (even if they had electricity!) This was complete darkness, so that they could not even see one another, nothing, for 3 days. Only those 100% blind could try to describe what that was like. What did verse 21 say: this was “a darkness that could be felt.” Can you imagine it? Because of the darkness, they couldn’t really do anything, not even move freely in their own homes. This plague basically disabled the entire country, so that everyone would have to just stay where they were and contemplate this plague and who it as that had the power to bring it on them.

Dr. Alfred Edersheim, A Hebrew scholar wrote this:
“Let us try to realize the scene. Suddenly and without warning would the [darkness come]. The air, charged with electricity, draws up the fine dust and the coarser particles of sand till the light of the sun is hid, the heavens are covered as with a thick veil, and darkness deepens into such night that even artificial light is of no avail. The floating dust and sand enter every apartment, pervade every pore, find their way even through closed windows and doors. [It is a plague on Egypt’s very air supply!] Men and beasts make for any kind of shelter, seek refuge in cellars and out-of-the-way places from the terrible plague. And so, in utter darkness and suffering, three wary nights and long days pass, no one venturing to stir from his hiding.”

· Distinction: Egypt had no light, but Israel had full light

Once again, God brought distinction by bringing the plague to the land of Egypt but not Israel. As verse 23 states, “but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.” This was no accidental power outage, this was no mistake. This was a specific plague by God on the land and people of Egypt.

Exodus 10:24-26 – “Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind. But Moses said, you must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”

The Response:
· Pharaoh said that all the people could go, including the children; but not the animals

Unbelievable! Pharaoh now says the children can go but he wants the wealth, food and everything else the animals bring to stay with them. Moses says that is impossible because it was those very animals that they were to use in worshipping God through the animal sacrifices. It was so precise, Moses said in verse 26: “…not a hoof shall be left behind…”

Perhaps Pharaoh thought he could restore his own livestock by having Israel’s and then he could just send his army to retrieve the people later.

Exodus 10:27 - “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.”

SO WHAT?
1. God’s people and the land they occupied had His protection
Land was a part of the promises that God had given to His people. Land was a very important issue and reason to fight back then; and it still is today, especially in the Middle East. Today, we saw that the plagues focused in on a particular land: Egypt, while the land where God’s people were dwelling, gets God’s protection.

Remember, that a key phrase in this story has been: The Earth is the Lord’s, a reminder that even all the land is created by Him and His to do with as He pleases.

Even if we don’t see this happening the same exact way today, we still know, that near the end, according to the Bible, the chosen nation of God return to their land; and all the people of God, in the end, are protected and have the special land that God is preparing for them.

2. God will do as He pleases, and makes sure His will comes to pass
Although we have used the old song that said I did it my way to describe the attitude of Pharaoh that many have today, there is only one person that can truly say this, and be right about it: GOD! He is the one that will be able to say, when this is over: I did it my way. He is truly in control.

The prime example of that, in this story, is the truth that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. We cannot fully understand this, even though we have explained it the best we can over the past few weeks. But, we can accept it as truth, according to biblical principle:

Isaiah 55:8 – “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Daniel 4:35 – “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, What you have done?”

Psalm 115:3 – “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

3. Make it a goal of your life, to say in the end: “I did it God’s way.”
This doesn’t mean you are perfect. It includes the truth that you fail, that you sin, often. But, it reflects your heart, a humble heart before God. You aren’t concerned about your will, your way; but you truly want to please God by living life His way. So, you make sure you read your Bible and pray; and you make sure you are a part of a church that preaches God’s Word; and you get involved with others who are growing in their walk with God who can help you walk with God more closely. You ask God to keep you sensitive to sin; and you confess your sins to God as soon as He brings them to your attention. You want to live out the truths of God’s Word, and you trust it, even if there are things you cannot fully understand or explain. Each day, your goal is to please God. This is possible, no matter how you have sinned in the past, or how often you fail. This is about your commitment, now, to move ahead to live life God’s way. Now that is a truly successful life!