Throughout the pages of the Bible, a common theme is established: God is sovereign; He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and in complete control. When we understand and grasp this, it will instill confidence that our victory is assured in Him. We need to gain a greater perspective of the majesty of Father and His exaltation in the universe.
Although we might not understand all of His motives or purposes, when we embrace the fact that God sovereignly chose us because He knew and loved us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), our faith will become unshakable.
Two examples that go a long way to demonstrate His superiority, character and purposefulness are Pharaoh and Jacob. As you read the following passage, open your heart wide to receive how awesome God is and remember He chooses to love you.
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Pharaoh
And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” —Exodus 4:21
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the earth.” Romans 9:17, Exodus 9:16
When we read in the Torah the story of Pharaoh, it is important to note that before Pharaoh hardened his heart, the Lord said to Moses, “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 7:3).
Beloved, I know this is hard for many of us to hear but God is taking responsibility for hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Is He not? (See Romans 9:15–17)
Because of Pharaoh’s hardened heart which resulted in the Lord sending plagues, by the time Israel left Egypt, the whole region had heard about the miraculous powers of the God of Israel. This is exactly what the Lord wanted to do; He wanted Pharaoh to resist Him so that He could respond to Pharaoh’s resistance by doing miracles in order that He would be glorified as a result.
This may seem unfair to some. But Scripture teaches:
“He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” (Romans 9:18,19)
Paul knows that this revelation is difficult to receive and so he writes:
“But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” (Romans 9:20, 21, NKJV)
We must trust and love Him for who He is—God is God. He is good, and He created everything for His own purpose. (Read: Romans 9-11)
We see this same truth illustrated in a similar way in God’s choice of Jacob.
Jacob
“When her days leading to the delivery were at an end, behold, there were twins in her (Rebecca’s) womb (Jacob/Esau)” (Genesis 25:24).
Before the twins were born, God made a choice to favor Jacob based only on His prerogative:
For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.
—Romans 9: 11, 12
God made a choice before either had done anything good or bad. The point Paul is making is that the Lord’s choice of one and not the other was not based upon anything except His sovereign purpose.
Beloved, you and I need to understand that in reality all of humanity is guilty before God. God does not owe any of us anything. But because of God’s grace, He has chosen to show favor to certain ones, not because there was anything better about the ones He chose, but simply because He wanted to do it.
Now again, right away many are reacting to this. “This does not seem fair. This does not feel like God. This is not who God is. God is not unfair or unjust.”
But notice what Paul says in response to man’s objection to the truth I am proclaiming here:
“What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!” (Romans 9:14, NASB 1977)
Do you see the point? Paul knows that what he has written seems unjust to our human understanding. So, he confronts it head-on by anticipating our reaction and emphatically states there is no injustice in God!
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We need to receive God’s Word in its entirety and decide if it is all true or none of it is. We must avoid setting up our own standard of what we think is right and what we think is wrong and which sections of His Word we choose to believe. We need to completely trust and rely on Father—this will bring us into true freedom. Even though we may not always understand, we must not forget Father’s Words:
“’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
The beautiful truth is that even though all humanity is by nature in rebellion against God, in His sovereign grace He chose to save some. (Please read all of Romans chapter 9 and Ephesians chapters 1 & 2 before continuing)
God Chose You!
Who are we to question or doubt God? He doesn’t always fit into our paradigm of what we think is right and wrong. Beloved, we are not talking about God hardening people that want to come to Him. We’re not talking about God hardening innocent souls. We’re talking about God rejecting souls that are already rejecting Him. We’re talking about God hardening souls that are already hardened to Him.
So, God is dealing with a planet that’s in rebellion against Him. He’s not harming innocent people. In fact, the Word of God teaches that all flesh is in the natural hostile towards and at enmity with God (See: Ephesians 2:3). But out of an entire planet that’s in rebellion against Him—He sovereignly chose to save some in His love. So today beloved one, I want to encourage you to rejoice that God has chosen you!
“You did not choose Me but I chose you” (John 15:16).
Rabbi Schneider hosts the impactful television program –Discovering The Jewish Jesus, which is available in more than one hundred million homes in the United States and nearly two hundred nations worldwide. In 2021 he began broadcasting on radio and now airs across America. Rabbi Schneider imparts revelation of Jesus’ Jewish heritage and His fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Questions of how the Old and New Testaments tie together, and how Yeshua completes the unfolding plan of The Almighty Yahweh, are answered with exceptional clarity.
www.discoveringthejewishjesus.com/about-2/rabbi-schneider/
