Harden Not Your Heart

Well, from my perspective, the hardest part of the sermon is over.

I made it through those names, I think, fairly well.

I can't guarantee the accuracy of the pronunciations.

But if you're anything like me, when you come to a genealogy in Scripture,

it's my temptation to just kind of skip over it, right?

Because we may not know how to pronounce those names.

We don't know who those people are.

We don't know the significance of the genealogy.

And so we kind of just move ourselves forward.

And interesting, someplace in the Bible where there's genealogies, it makes sense where they are.

At the very beginning of Matthew, there's this genealogy that leads up to the birth of Jesus that makes sense to us.

After the creation story, we see this genealogy that tells us of man as they multiply on this earth.

But in our passage today, we see this genealogy seemingly pop out of nowhere.

It seems like it's kind of randomly placed smack dab in the middle of this text.

I wonder if any of you are familiar with the American artist named Bob Ross.

He passed away a number of years ago.

He had this TV show in the States that spanned decades.

I don't know if it was popular here in the U.K.

But he was a guy.

He just had this big hair.

He was very soft-spoken.

And it was a 30-minute TV show, very low production value,

where he's in this dark room with an easel and a canvas and his palette of paint,

and he just talks you through this painting that he's doing over the course of his show.

And whether you're into art or not, this would just mesmerize people.

I remember as a child watching this and just seeing him, his tone of his voice,

and you hear the tapping of the paintbrush on the canvas,

and you just sit still and you watch this masterpiece come together.

But it was interesting.

Almost in every single one of his paintings, there's a point in time where you're like,

no, don't do that.

Because he'd paint these beautiful backgrounds first, this scene of mountains or lakes,

and then he'd start working on the foreground.

And oftentimes he'd paint these big black lines right down the middle of his painting,

and you think, what are you doing?

You're destroying your art.

And then he'd explain this is actually going to be a tree or trees,

and he finishes the finer details, and he recognizes how that fits together.

That works.

That's creating this masterpiece.

It makes sense.

And I think we can find it kind of the same way about this genealogy.

We wonder, why in the world is it placed smack dab in this narrative that's kind of reaching this climax?

It seems to be a bad decision.

And so I think it's important for us to ask, why is it placed here?

What does this have to do with the Israelites in slavery?

And then when we answer those questions, I think we begin to see the beauty of it

in the place and where it sits in this narrative.

And so that's what I want us to focus on this morning.

I want us to consider, first of all, how this genealogy illustrates for us God's sovereign plan.

And then secondly, as we move into chapter 7, to consider man's response to this plan.

So just two points, God's plan and our response.

So let's consider God's plan.

I think as we think of this genealogy, it's important to think about the cultural context in which this passage was written.

In ancient times, a lineage would be something that was really important, that would hold great significance,

particularly to the people of Israel.

Maybe some of us have dabbled with some of those websites like genealogy.com or others

where you can kind of figure out your own genealogy and people in your family tree.

But I would dare say there's probably not many of us here could even name their great-grandparents.

But in this day and age, we see this genealogy being very important.

And it's interesting also that this is a rather incomplete genealogy.

It's rather selective in who it names.

Because while genealogy can be important for historical purposes,

this is important for theological purposes.

It's placed here in this passage because it shows us how God is shaping his people

and the events of this world in order to accomplish his purposes.

And so if we go back to the beginning of Genesis,

we encounter this man named Abram who God comes to.

A pagan man, not worthy of God's attention or affection,

but God chooses to bless him.

And he changes his name to Abraham and said that he, through him,

his family is going to be great and that all nations will be blessed through him.

But just a few chapters later in Genesis,

we see also that God says that his descendants are actually going to become slaves in a foreign land.

And that God will bring judgment on that nation and bring this people of Abraham,

this people known as the Israelites, out of that land with great possession.

And so this promise that was made to Abraham is not simply for Abraham,

but also for his descendants.

The Israelites would have known of this promise.

And that's why they would have cried out to God for deliverance.

And so this genealogy, it connects the past to the present,

tracing the reality of God's sovereignty and grace.

And so that's why it makes sense that it's in the middle of this narrative

to remind the people of Israel of God's covenant promise to them,

that they are a part of a family,

that they are a part of a tribe and a nation that has been ordained by God.

And it's interesting that this specifically highlights the priestly line of Aaron.

Aaron is from the tribe of Levi.

It is the Levites who will be the priests in the years to come.

And so that's all the more important when we think about what Aaron and Moses have been called to do here,

to go before Pharaoh, to enter into this crucial conflict,

to request the release of their people.

So I think I might have mentioned this before,

but when I was in uni, I played rugby,

and I had a part of a really good team.

Even though rugby is not hugely popular in the States,

it was a big deal at my school.

And one of the reasons for the success of our program was because of our coach.

He was a great coach at teaching the sport.

He was great at kind of creating a game plan,

but also at motivation.

And so before games,

especially toward the end of the year when we were in tournament play,

I remember he'd have a circle around him on the pitch,

and he'd give us this motivational speech,

and he'd point to each one of us in the name of our university on our kit.

And he'd say,

that name means something.

That name means excellence.

That name means aggression.

You do not play for yourself,

but you play for this team and this program

and for every player who has gone before you.

He wanted us to recognize our identity as players of this program

who had won three national championships in a row in just years prior.

And so that makes sense here.

What God is doing here,

he's reminding Aaron,

he's reminding the people of Israel of their own role,

their own calling as God's people.

Aaron specifically,

this priestly heritage and identity he has,

his identity being rooted in God is going to enable him to speak God's words to Pharaoh.

And so you may expect then that after this genealogy,

being in the middle of this passage,

okay,

that's going to change Moses and Aaron's attitude, right?

They were reluctant at first.

This genealogy is inserted here,

so we're going to see a change of attitude for them.

They're going to go forth with great boldness and confidence.

Not so much.

God commands Moses to tell Pharaoh all that he's told him,

just like he did earlier in the chapter,

and Moses again exhibits his self-doubt.

Me?

I'm not a good public speaker.

How is Pharaoh going to listen to me?

The people of Israel didn't even listen to me.

And it's a credit to Moses,

who's the author of this book,

that he doesn't try to paint himself as falsely as some hero here,

because he repeatedly shows himself to be reluctant

and to be nervous and to be doubtful.

But it's actually in Moses' weakness

that emphasizes to us all the more the deliverance comes from Christ alone.

It is God who made a promise.

It is God who has a plan.

It is God who has the power to save his people.

And so that brings us then to point number two.

If this is God's plan that's revealed through his genealogy,

that has been told to Moses and his people,

this is how I will rescue you,

how does man respond?

Well, as we move forward in chapter 7,

in the next few chapters of Exodus,

it really focuses in on two men,

Moses being one and Pharaoh being the other.

And we see these two men,

they act very differently in response to God's plan.

And so I want us to consider Pharaoh's response first,

and then I want us to consider Moses' response.

So how does Pharaoh respond to this plan?

It's resistance.

It's rejection, right?

Look at verse 2 again.

You are to say,

Everything I command you and your brother Aaron

is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country,

but I will harden Pharaoh's heart.

And though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt,

he will not listen to you.

Now think about my rugby program again.

If my coach before the game,

he gives us the strategy,

this is what we're going to do.

We're going to be aggressive in the backs,

or in scrum.

We're going to spin the ball out in the backs.

But you know what?

Even if we stick to our game plan,

if we do all this stuff,

it's likely not going to work for us.

You think,

Well, that's a horrible game plan then.

Like think of a new game plan

that's actually going to work

that's going to give us some sort of motivation here.

But we see here that even though Moses is told,

You're not going to be able to convince Moses,

or you're not going to be able to convince Pharaoh,

this is still the plan for success,

because success would actually come

through God hardening Pharaoh's heart.

And I think this can be a point in the scripture

where we can become really confused

or actually really angry at God and his will here.

Because we can ask the question,

How is it fair that God would judge Pharaoh

when he's controlling Pharaoh's actions?

It's almost as if Pharaoh's like,

it looks like he's a puppet on a string.

And God's going to bring him to judgment

without ever giving him the choice of what he can do

if he's hardening his heart.

But I think even though this is kind of difficult

for us to wrap our heads around,

I think we can say confidently

that God is not actively working evil

in the heart of Pharaoh.

God is not the source of evil.

Pharaoh's heart was already hard.

Just like your heart and my heart,

we came into this world hard-hearted people.

We see this actually throughout the book of Exodus early on.

This proves that he was this evil tyrant.

He ordered ethnic cleansing.

He was killing firstborn sons.

He was working his slaves to death.

He was treating the Israelites as subhuman.

And so this hardening of heart,

I think it's worth thinking about

what it means in this context.

Because oftentimes now when we think of this word

hardening hearts,

it means someone who lacks compassion

or is cruel, they're hard-hearted.

That's not what it means here in this context.

When God is talking about hardening Pharaoh's heart,

it means that he's conveying a sense of being determined

or resolute in purpose.

And so Pharaoh's heart is being strengthened

toward his evil agenda.

He's being allowed to be steadfast and unchanging

in his rejection of God.

And so to say that God is hardening Pharaoh's heart

doesn't mean that he's forcing Pharaoh

to act against his will.

Quite the opposite.

God is withholding his restraining grace,

giving Pharaoh the boldness to pursue the pathway

that he so desires.

It's not like Pharaoh longed to submit to God,

but he wasn't allowed to do so.

He was given countless opportunities

over and over again,

these signs and these plagues.

Every single time he rejects God.

We see in this passage,

Aaron throws his rod on the ground

and it becomes a serpent.

Does that impress Pharaoh?

No.

His own magicians do the same thing.

Aaron's staff swallows up their staff.

Is he impressed?

Still not impressed.

With every plague and sign to follow,

we see Pharaoh still not impressed.

His heart still hardened.

No change comes.

And so it's like we see concrete

when it begins to harden.

At some point, there's just,

it cannot make,

you can't make any impression upon that concrete anymore

because it becomes so hard.

And we see the effect of this hardening

in verse 4 and verse 17.

It says his heart was hardened

and he would not listen.

A hardened heart makes him hard of hearing.

And this is true not just for Pharaoh,

but this is true for you and me as well.

We sang this in Psalm 95 earlier.

It says today if you hear God's voice,

do not harden your hearts.

Certainly at all times in our life,

we've probably faced this temptation, right?

To try to close God out for some reason.

We don't want him involved in our life.

We don't want to hear what he has to say.

We want to deal with things our own way.

Many of you know that my family and I moved here

from the States and I practiced law

for a number of years there

and I loved what I did

and I loved who I worked with.

But we started to sense this calling

that God was putting on our lives.

And the temptation for us

was to refuse that calling,

to kind of close our ears off to that calling,

to not even want to spend time in the word

or in prayer out of fear

of what he may tell us to do.

We were tempted to just kind of

enclose ourselves off

in this bubble of comfort and success

and ignore the voice of God.

Maybe we've experienced

similar things yourself.

Maybe it's been tragedy in your life

and you're left asking God,

why?

Why would you allow this to happen?

And we're left maybe questioning

God's love for us

or maybe questioning

whether God even cares.

And so we start to shut down.

We don't want to hear from God

because why in the world

would we want to hear from a God

who doesn't seem to care for us at all?

Maybe we see this in relationships.

Maybe there's been a relationship

that's been in turmoil,

that there's been conflict

with you and another

and you're no longer friends

with that person.

And in fact,

you have withheld forgiveness

from that person.

Maybe even the thought of that person

makes your blood boil a little bit.

And as that develops

in our own hearts,

we refuse to listen

to God's own voice

who tells us

and reminds us

of His forgiveness

and grace in our lives

that we should also extend to others.

Maybe it's a secret sin in our life.

Maybe rather than try to fight

and expose the sin,

we just want to feed it secretly.

Maybe we try to compartmentalize

our lives around it

and rather than expose it,

rather than listen to God's call

of purity and repentance,

we just grow harder and harder

of heart.

It's a horrible thing

to allow our hearts

to become hard

that we fail to hear

the voice of God.

Ultimately, in this passage,

we see the purpose

for Pharaoh's hardened heart

in verses 4 and 5.

Moses is told that

Pharaoh's not going

to listen to you

and that I will lay my hand

on Egypt

with mighty acts of judgment.

I will bring out my divisions,

my people of Israel.

It says,

the Egyptians will know

that I am the Lord

when I stretch out my hand

against Egypt

and bring the Israelites

out of it.

Why does God

harden Pharaoh's heart?

So that Pharaoh

and all of Egypt

will know

who God is.

The first time

that Moses

goes to Pharaoh

in Exodus chapter 5

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

and he tells him

who God,

who this Yahweh is

and what he's supposed

to do,

Pharaoh says,

who is Yahweh?

And why would I listen

to him?

But through these signs,

through these plagues

that are to come,

we see that Pharaoh

will come to know

the power

and the authority

of the one true God.

And as we read on,

Pharaoh's heart

becomes brittle

and it does break,

but it only breaks

through the knowledge

of that God

that comes through

the judgment of God.

And so the same

is true for us.

If we are hard-hearted,

if we fail

to listen to God,

there will come

a day of judgment

when our hearts

will be broken.

God warns this

through the prophet Jeremiah.

He says,

is not my word

like a hammer

that breaks rocks

into pieces?

There will come a day

when God will break

the heart

of every rebel.

But the thing is,

at that point

of judgment,

it will be too late

for any of us

to listen.

But we see

in this passage

there is an alternative.

Though Pharaoh

rejects the plan of God,

we see Moses

do something quite different.

And again,

it's easy to put Moses

on a pedestal,

to think that he's

the hero in this passage

and in this book.

But if we look back

to the beginning

of Exodus,

we see over and over again

that it's not just

Pharaoh who's hard-hearted,

but it's also Moses

who is hard-hearted.

We see multiple examples

of Moses being a coward.

He's a murderer.

He's a blasphemer.

He lacks faith.

He continues

to question God.

And yet God

extends his mercy

to Moses.

And as a result,

his heart is softened.

And we see this

play out elsewhere

in the Old Testament.

If we go to the book

of Ezekiel,

the people of Israel

are no longer captive

in Egypt.

They're held captive

by the Babylonians.

And this is what God

says through the prophet

Ezekiel to his people.

He says,

I will give you

a new heart

and a new spirit

I will put within you.

And I will remove

the heart of stone

from your flesh

and give you

a heart of flesh.

And I will put

my spirit within you

and cause you

to walk in my statutes

and be careful

to obey my rules.

Does this not

describe exactly

what happens

to Moses?

This is exactly

what God can do

for us.

When we think about

the softening

of our own hearts,

this is not something

that we can do

on our own

if we just try harder

or try to be better

to think God

will accept us,

to think we're

some means

of softening

our hearts

toward God.

Our hearts

are softened

when we receive

the mercy

of our generous

forgiving God.

It is he alone

who can transform

our hearts.

And so we see

the effect

of this transformation

in Moses' life.

He begins

to listen

and he begins

to obey.

Verses 6

and verses 10.

Moses and Aaron

did just as the Lord

commanded them.

So Moses and Aaron

went to Pharaoh

and did just as

the Lord commanded.

We see this pattern

that begins to repeat

over and over again

in the book of Exodus.

It says,

the Lord said

to Moses

and Moses did

as he commanded.

And it's really

interesting.

I think it's

important that it

actually includes

Moses' age here

and the age of Aaron.

It says,

Moses is 80 years old

when he goes to Pharaoh.

Aaron is 83 years old.

And so does this

not give us hope?

It took Moses

80 years

for his heart

to be softened,

to become sensitive

and tender

to the things

of the Lord.

Is there not hope

for each one of us?

When we recognize

our rebellious hearts,

when we recognize

the path of sin

that we have lived,

that we have a God

who is willing

to forgive

and extend

his mercy to us

that we may receive

his mercy.

And so you think,

no,

I've been apart

from God

for too long.

I've done too much

to earn his shame.

No, you haven't.

I've done too many

bad things

in my life.

I have too many

skeletons

in my closet.

No, you don't.

You are never

too far

from the mercy

of God.

You are never

too far

from the mercy

of God.

But you know what?

It's not ultimately

Moses who's our example

in this passage.

Because if we turn

to the book of Hebrews,

this is what we read

earlier in chapter 3.

It says,

While Moses was faithful

in God's house,

Jesus was counted

worthy of more glory

than Moses.

For while Moses

was faithful

as a servant,

Jesus was faithful

as a son.

And so as we look

back at our passage,

this is not just

some moral lesson

to teach ourselves

to be soft-hearted.

I don't want

to simply encourage

you to see

what you can glean

from the life

of Moses,

but rather

to look at

to who

Moses' life points.

Because a soft heart

is a believing heart.

And so the encouragement

for us,

the call for each

one of us

as we listen

to the voice of God

is to believe

that God's saving plan

that was promised

to Abraham,

that was claimed

by Moses,

has found

his fulfillment

in Jesus,

God's son.

It's Jesus

who's the better Moses,

who's the true

high priest

who came to earth

to deliver

his people

from the slavery

of sin

through the shedding

of his blood

on the cross.

It is only

through his sacrifice

that we can receive

God's mercy.

It is by grace

through faith

in what Christ

has done

that our hearts

can be softened.

And so the reality

of the situation

is,

is just like Pharaoh

and just like Moses,

we are all

hard-hearted.

And we can either

choose to refuse

God's plan

or we can accept it.

And so know this,

God's mercy

has been extended

to you.

God's mercy

has been extended

to you.

And so the invitation

for each one of us

is to receive

this gift of grace

through faith

in the completed

work of Jesus.

And maybe this is

the first time

you have heard

this message

and the Lord

is softening

your heart

even now.

Praise the Lord.

But maybe you've

heard this message

before.

Maybe you have

come to the Lord

in faith

and your heart

has been softened.

But recognize

this gift of mercy

is not a one-time gift.

His mercies

are new

every morning.

And we still

are tempted

to allow our hearts

to be hardened.

And so recognize

with His mercy

our lives

are to be transformed.

Our identity

is to be found

in Christ.

And so may we learn

to hear His voice

and to obey

His will.

knowing that we serve

a loving

and powerful God

whose plans

will always be accomplished.

Hear His voice

and harden not your heart.

His love