Sermon Quotes | "Divine Reassurance"
“Pharaoh’s heart was particularly important because Egyptians believed it was the all-controlling factor in both history and society…his heart was thought to be sovereign over creation. Therefore by hardening Pharaoh’s heart, God was making a theological point. He was proving that he alone is sovereign over all things. Nothing is outside the purpose of his will, not even the heart of a king.” John Currid
“Granted the Bible’s storyline so far, the assumption is that Pharaoh is already a wicked person. In particular, he has enslaved the covenant people of God. God has not hardened a morally neutral man; he has pronounced judgment on a wicked man. Hell itself is a place where repentance is no longer possible. God’s hardening has the effect of imposing that sentence a little earlier than usual.” Don Carson
“Such judgment of Pharaoh magnifies God’s grace to a greater degree-for surely Israel did not deserve mercy and deliverance. They too deserved judgment. What made them different from the Egyptians was God’s electing decree and covenant promise. So it is for us as well: we deserve God’s judgment and wrath because of our sin, The only thing that makes us different from those who receive God’s judgment is his sovereign grace. In Christ we could not be more secure.” Gospel Transformation Bible
“Even the note about Moses and Aaron’s age is instructive: The two of them were called to lead a great movement at the age when most people have already died (Psalm 90:10). Their contribution to the exodus was not their genius or their experience (what experience did they have leading an exodus?) or their credentials (Moses was a fugitive shepherd and hardly qualified in the eyes of the Israelites) or their vitality or any such thing.” Douglas Stuart
“Moses spent forty years in Pharaoh’s court thinking he was somebody, forty years in the desert learning that he was nobody, and forty years showing what God can do with a somebody who found out he was a nobody.” D.L. Moody
“The image of running was central to Paul’s understanding of his own life, and I urge now that it ought to be the central focus in the minds and hearts of all aging Christians, who know and feel that their bodies are slowing down. The challenge that faces us is not to let that fact slow us down spiritually, but to cultivate the maximum zeal for the closing phase of our earthly lives.” J.I. Packer
“The question is why God bids Moses to preach although He Himself says: Pharaoh will not listen to you. Is it not foolish for someone to say to another: Friend, preach to Pharaoh, but be advised that he will not listen to you: for I intend to harden him? I would refuse such an assignment from anyone and would say: Preach yourself. But the answer is: We are bidden to preach, but we are not bidden to justify people and make them pious. This thought should comfort all preachers and Christians, and everybody should pursue his calling and faithfully perform its duties. Only the Word of God is entrusted to Moses, not the responsibility of making Pharaoh soft or hard by preaching. The Word is entrusted to him; this is God’s will, and this Word he is to proclaim even though no one may want to listen to him. This is done for his consolation that he may not be frightened if nobody wants to follow and obey him. If I could be moved by the fact that my word and sermon are despised, I suppose I would stop preaching. But (says God), go on, Moses, preach!” Martin Luther
“God’s plan for using a human instrument to carry out his divine work of redemption was previewed by Moses and perfected in Jesus Christ.” Phil Ryken
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