February 19, 2012 – Fighting Discouragement with Gospel Promises – Exodus 5:1-7:7

1.Experience the Lord’s Mercy in Salvation (6:6-8)
2.Experience the Lord’s Wrath in Judgment (7:4-5)

Everyone will eventually acknowledge that that He is Lord (cf., Phil. 2:10-11).

God will deal with his enemies either by “drowning them” or redeeming them through the cross.

In Isaiah 19, there is a promise that Egypt will one day be God’s people. But here, they are rejecting God’s Word.

This is what we want for God’s enemies. We want them to know the real God as Savior. We don’t want the attitude of James and John when the Samaritans refused to believe, or Jonah’s attitude toward the Ninevites. We want God’s enemies to become God’s people.

Now there is a period of time in which God is waiting for those who do not know him. God will have mercy on you.

Trust him as Savior today! Believe in the God who mercifully frees sinners, redeems sinners, adopts sinners, and promises an inheritance to sinners.

The text shows us here that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. We see a tension on Exodus. On the one hand, the Lord is sovereign over everything that is going on here. On the other, Pharaoh is held responsible for refusing to listen.

We need to remember that the Bible warns us about “hardening our hearts” to God’s Word. Psalm 95 uses this phrase to warn Israel in its worship (95:8) and then the book of Hebrews uses Psalm 95 to call the church to continue in the faith (Heb. 3:7-4:13).