Tuesday: Mysteries
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8-9).
Read Romans 9:17-24. Given what we have read so far, how are we to understand Paul’s point here?
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By dealing with Egypt at the time of the Exodus in the manner He did, God was working for the salvation of the human race. God’s revelation of Himself in the plagues of Egypt and in the deliverance of His people was designed to reveal to the Egyptians, as well as to other nations, that the God of Israel indeed was the true God. It was designed to be an invitation for the peoples of the nations to abandon their gods and to come and worship Him.
Obviously Pharaoh had already made his choice against God, so that in hardening his heart, God was not cutting him off from the opportunity of salvation. The hardening was against the appeal to let Israel go, not against God’s appeal for Pharaoh to accept personal salvation. Christ died for Pharaoh, just as much as for Moses, Aaron, and the rest of the children of Israel.
The crucial point in all this is that as fallen human beings we have such a narrow view of the world, of reality, and of God and how He works in the world. How can we expect to understand all of God’s ways when the natural world, everywhere we turn, holds mysteries we can’t understand? After all, it was only in the past 171 years that doctors learned it might be a good idea to wash their hands before performing surgery! That’s how steeped in ignorance we have been. And who knows, if time should last, what other things we will discover in the future that will reveal just how steeped in ignorance we are today?
| Certainly we don’t always understand God’s ways, but Jesus came to reveal to us what God is like (John 14:9). Why, then, amid all of life’s mysteries and unexpected events is it so crucial for us to dwell on the character of Christ and what He has revealed to us about God and His love for us? How can knowing what God’s character is like help us to stay faithful amid trials that seem so unjustified and so unfair? |
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The one point we might miss about salvation, GOD SAVES FROM SIN
When those who live by faith (the just) go to heaven, they are saved from SIN out of love
When those who perish shall be thrown into the lake of fire, IT IS LOVE THAT IS ALSO SAVING THEM FROM SIN
God is in the business of SAVING us from sin
We cannot comprehend what sin is with God
God loves humans, He hates sin
SIN is a master mastered only by grace for where sin abounds grace abounds much more
We need to take this one step further. There is a reason God saves from sin. Sin is inherently destructive and God isn't willing that any should perish. The cross saves us, frees us from the guilt and power of sin. But if we refuse to be separated from sin, sin is still destructive . . . God can't make sin "not sin". He can't make it not destructive. He provides a way of escape, but escape we must.
In order for us to get a grip of Tuesday's lesson, we need to begin reading from Rom 9:14.
This is perhaps Paul's strongest line of evidence defining election as God’s absolutely free choice. In Rom 9:14 and Rom 9:19 Paul puts forward two objections his teaching about election have raised. Rom 9:14 raises a question of justice and Ro 9:19 is a question of responsibility. These objections would only be valid unless Paul points out that God chooses men on the basis of His own free will, instead of man’s will or his works. That is of an act of God independent of men.
"What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!" (Rom 9:14).The problem is that the object of the objector's argument is the point of justice. In theology according Webster's 1828 Dictionary," election has nothing to do with divine justice. It deals with mercy. Therefore, Paul is speaking of mercy. Justice is pay back time. That is the justice of God demands that the death penalty be paid by every sinner “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). If we demand justice, then Rom 6:23 is the answer.
Election is a matter of mercy (Rom 6:18). That is the grace of God. Mercy withholds punishment which is rightfully deserved. Grace surpasses mercy in that it bestows that which is completely undeserved. The man whom God chooses is a man who deserves to die (Rom 6:23). Nevertheless, this penalty has been paid for by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and the sinner is now declared the righteousness of God. The issue is not one of justice, but one of grace. God is absolutely free to bestow His grace on whomever He chooses.
Paul illustrates this point by contrasting lives of two contemporaries (Rom 9:17-19), Moses and Pharaoh. To Moses, God exercised mercy, and toward Pharaoh God exercised His justice. He used both men to farther His purposes. Moses a deliverer of His people and a symbol of the Messiah. As for Pharaoh God says he raise him to display His great power and to proclaim His glory: “... For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth” (Romans 9:17) therefore a symbol of the devil. Thus the bible is clear both men were raised specifically for certain roles in God's redemptive plan. The bible records Pharaoh's direct challenge to God “ Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” (Exodus 5:2). It should be pointed that he didn't choose to disobey God. He didn't know God. Our disobedience to God today is because we don't know him. More than this, his unbelief brought about the release of the nation from its bondage. This is precisely what the unbelief of Israel is accomplishing today. Because of their unbelief the gospel was taken to us gentiles.
PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR HIS STRANGE ACTS.
The Father’s free will is to make the terrible sacrifice of sending his Son to this earth to show his incredible love for us, knowing it would cost his life, and then to make a unilateral promise to save anyone who believes he is telling the truth about himself.
The “foolishness” of the saved is to believe in that promise because of the faithfulness of his Son Jesus and to keep the Word of the Father in their hearts. This faith guarantees nothing on this earth to those who believe. (Revelation 13:10; Revelation 14:12-13.) It is nothing but a call to run our “race” looking single-mindedly to the author and finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2.)
We certainly have to focus on Jesus! If we don't, we'll bem lost! He is the answer to all of our troubles!
We may not always understand God's ways, but the one thing that we do know and understand is that God loves us so much that he sent his only begotten son to die for our sins so that we could have everlasting life. That is all we need to know. We must trust in God.
As Pharaoh's heart was hardened because he had already made a choice of not allowing Israelites to go but it doesn't mean that Pharaoh was excluded from having a choice to accept or reject a free gift of eternal life. At that time, I believe that God did it to show that He is the only Living God who is existing and nations to repent from paganism and idolatry. So even today it can happen as it is written on 2 Thessalonians, when we make wicked choices.
Interestingly in that regard, Pharaoh died trying to prevent the Israelites from leaving. He could have witnessed the power of God in delivering them and submitted to God. But he died fighting God--right to the end.
Remember Pharaoh was also a god on his own, worshiped by his own people? So, here we see a God dealing with a god who considers himself worthy of worship! To deal with such ignorance by mankind, God must crack a big whip so that people may know that he alone deserves worship and adoration. Of all the people i have read about in the Bible who overrated themselves and allotted to themselves places of honor to equal the creator, i like Nebuchadnezzar. Due to his pride and arrogance, God dealt with him by deposing from the majestic throne and sending him to graze in the wild for seven good years; Nebuchadnezzar came back a repented fellow and, to demonstrate that indeed God does not shut anybody out of salvation, Nebuchadnezzar was restored to his honour, even greater honour than what he had before his stint in the wild (For those interested in reading this story, the whole episode is found in Daniel 4). So, even us, if some calamity befalls us and we have some light pointing to the fact that this might be some sort of God cracking a whip, we should simply be as humble as Nebuchadnezzar and not as insolent as Pharaoh.Surely, there are things we will never understand while Still dwelling in these mortal bodies, consequently, we need to strive to understand what we can and leave the rest for our time in the Earth made new.. Shalom
Think about this: IF Pharaoh had responded to God's Divine power and acknowledged Him as his Lord, this also would have demonstrated God's power to save, as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who, having seen the same evidence, accepted God's grace and salvation(see Daniel 4).
But due to Pharaoh's stubborn and futile resistance, God was able to show His infinite power in another way, so that all nations who "watched the evening news" would recognize the God of Israel as the True God. For some, like Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, the demonstration led them to "see, and fear, and trust in the Lord"(Ps 40:3).
It is always the human agent that ultimately decides how God's power will be demonstrated in their life.
I love the counsel for us written in Isaiah 30:15, "In returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Rest in Jesus, rest in His Holy Seventh day Sabbath, quietness and confidence in His Word and His Holy Spirit, and in ALL His Promises.
With all respect to the lesson's authors, I feel like they're getting the story of Pharaoh frighteningly wrong. Maybe I misread, but it sounds like they're arguing God intentionally hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that Egypt *couldn't* let the Israelites go.
Think of the ramifications of that argument. The final plague was the death of children all over Egypt. Do you honestly think God wanted to see that? Because I sure don't, but it's the logical conclusion of the author's argument: God intentionally hardened Pharaoh's heart, so He could kill a bunch of Egyptian kids.
All God did was keep asking Pharaoh to release His people. We've all been in the checkout line at the store behind a kid who really wants something. They keep asking ("please. please. please.") and you can see the parent growing more and more annoyed ("no. no. No. NO! TIMMY, HUSH!"). For lack a better expression, the parent's heart is hardened by the kid's repeated badgering.
God kept asking Pharaoh through Moses, gave him signs, worked miracles in his court, and then sent the first nine plagues. And Pharaoh still refused! If Pharaoh wanted to keep the Israelites enslaved, he didn't have any choice but to harden his own heart in the same way, like the annoyed parent in the checkout line.
You can't blame God for Pharaoh being so cartoonishly hard-headed. He had plenty of obvious warnings from God, and he chose to ignore every single one. If he'd relented after the first plague, the other nine wouldn't have been necessary. Instead, he hardened his own heart against God.
All God wanted was freedom for His chosen people. (After all, they had a world to go evangelize!) Pharaoh had a choice to say "fine, leave" at any time, and I'm not sure why the authors seem to be arguing otherwise.
Concerning the last two questions for this portion of the lesson: Paul writes: "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."
From the "Great Controversy" comes this important admonition: "Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?"
Our need is to pursue a diligent study of God's word, which is the "secret place of the Most High", where we may "abide in the shadow of the Almighty".
As a communicator on the Internet, I hear a lot of defensive argument about our Christian beliefs and standing for the truth. Much of it is delivered with an arrogance that is at odds with the principles of Christianity. Condemnation comes much easier the compassion. Often our approach has been like the Pharisee standing on the corner, thanking the Lord in a loud voice that we are not like those whose sins are overt and distasteful. If there is one lesson we can learn from Jesus' interaction with sinners, it is the compassion and understanding he showed to sinners. His greatest condemnation was against the religious people of the day who proclaimed they were defending God, but were in fact living hypocritical lives of arrogance and lack of compassion.
Standing firm for God is not a display of erudite defensive argument but living a life of compassionate service. It is useful to re-read the Gospels seeking to understand how Jesus interacted with sinners.
Maurice, is that how you read the quote from Ellen? Why is that? In this world, temptation to deny the Lord abounds daily in the lives of those who desire to honor God through faith in His goodness and provisions for saving sinners. This faithfulness will often place them in peril for their very life, or at least their livelihood or close relationships. The need to be grounded and faithful is vital today if it ever was. I find such statements encouraging and not in anyway being defiant or combative against anyone lost in sin.
I would suggest reading it while picturing yourself standing on the plain as everyone around you falls in worship of the golden idol, while your love for God keeps you standing in reverence for Him who has promised you eternal life if you are found faithful in all things. This day is coming again, and as then, the smoking furnace will be there in the background, being heated 7x hotter than usual. The need for the experience described in that quote is vital to obtain today.
We are in a universal war of good vs evil, but for the one who is won by the love of God and is transformed by His grace, this will not be personal or vindictive toward anyone, but will be determined and diligent to help save others from a terrible and eternal loss, while the great powers of the earth will be brought against them.
The stakes are eternal and irreversible, and for those finally lost; terrible.
Also, the Jesus who suffered the little children, touched lepers and forgave publicans, is also the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who must and will destroy the wicked at last, but not for pleasure or with joy. Yet He will be forced, by them, to remove them from His creation forever, and is there anyone you know that you would wish this end upon? We cannot help any without having the experience as described.
No, that is not how I read it, but it is how I see Ellen White's words being used. As I write this comment, sitting in a community where Ellen White lived over 100 years ago, I am reminded of what Ellen White did for those in need here. I am reminded of the time that she ate Pipi Soup (Clam Chowder) with the ancestral members of our family. Her connection with people was real and much appreciated. The history of my own family and the way that early Seventh-day Adventists showed compassion on a family with "moral" issues is a testament to the influence and compassion showed by Ellen White. Only last week I was reminded that my grandmother's siblings were assisted with their education and that my grandmother was searched for and found so she and her family could be encouraged to surrender to Jesus.
I hear all too often about "standing for the truth" and so on, when the great principles of living for the truth are totally ignored. Standing for the truth is living for the truth. If we are compassionate towards others and the Lord impresses us to speak a message of condemnation we stand a chance of communicating our values. Standing on the high moral ground is of no use if nobody can hear us.
I would like to address the last two questions at the bottom of today's study:
It is only as we dwell on the character of Christ and what He has revealed to us about God and His love for us that we can be changed into His image and reveal His character to the world around us, as He has commissioned us to do. That means spending time each day with Jesus and making as sure as we can that He is, indeed, our Lord and Master of all we are and do.
No amount of knowledge can make up for a genuine day-to-day walk with Jesus.
When we know God, we can trust Him amid whatever trials He allows us to go through, resting in the assurance that, with the trial, He will also provide the strength to bear it.