Who Can Say To Him, “What Are You Doing?” No. 6

As we saw with Samson in the last article, God can take even sinful actions and use them to accomplish His purposes and deliver His people from whoever, or whatever, oppresses them. While Sampson’s example is, I believe, an exceptional one, there is a story that is more familiar to all of us and it creates some special problems of its own.

5. Pharaoh and his hard heart. The slavery and exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt under Moses is certainly one of the most well known events in the Bible. Moses’ birth, his education under Egyptian tutelage, his flight from Egypt, his return, the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea—a wonderful account. Read the first half of the book of Exodus if you need to review. I won’t take the time to do so in this brief article.

The key for my purpose here is Pharaoh, the stubborn Egyptian monarch who refused to let Israel go until God finally, in effect, beat him to a pulp. It’s not terribly surprising that Pharaoh wouldn’t allow the Israelites to leave; they were providing him a massive amount of work—virtually free labor, all he had to do was feed them. Plus, he had a multitude of his own gods and Jehovah wasn’t one of them. And, further, Pharaoh, to the Egyptian people, was a god, so in effect, this was a contest between which god was more powerful—Israel’s or Egypt’s. We know who won.

God used Pharaoh for His objective, of course. “But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth,” (Exodus 9:17, a passage quoted by Paul in Romans 9:16). The Bible often says that “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” although it also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and this appears to be the way it was eventually understood. I Samuel 6:6 quotes some Philistine priests who say, “Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?” But we need to examine Pharaoh’s heart, because it does present an interesting dilemma.

Did God directly harden Pharaoh’s heart, so much so that Pharaoh could not do anything about it? That is, did Jehovah rob the Egyptian king of his freedom of choice? If God directly hardened Pharaoh’s heart, then the monarch lost his will to choose. This would be against every Scripture in the Bible which indicates that man does have control over his decisions. From Genesis 2, when God first speaks to man, to Revelation 22, the last chapter in the Bible, man is told by the Lord what he must do, thus implying humans have a choice in the matter. Indeed, Joshua 24:15 is explicit: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” Did God take this power and right away from Pharaoh, in effect denying the king moral freedom? Did God force Pharaoh to disobey Him? Well, do recall that the text does say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart—if I counted correctly, six times the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and three times—not counting the I Samuel passage above—we read that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. I believe it is important to ask how God hardened the king’s heart. When God acted directly by sending a plague, then Pharaoh’s heart actually softened and he was going to let Israel have some freedom of action. But when God removed the plague, Pharaoh’s heart turned hard again. It appears that God “hardened” Pharaoh’s heart by ceasing His miraculous interventions. And I think that’s why the Bible could accurately say both things, i.e., that God hardened his heart, but that Pharaoh hardened his own. I do not believe that God compelled a hard heart on the king. Again, that would have denied Pharaoh freedom of choice, something nowhere else taught or implied in the Bible. God, as we noted with the Assyrians, is simply using an already wicked individual (or nation) to accomplish a mighty purpose of His own.

But there remains a serious difficulty and that is found in Romans 9, and I must get a few verses before us: “For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" 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?” (vs. 15-21). This is the sugar-stick passage of those who believe in predestination, that is, God determines everything that happens and humans have no freedom of choice at all. If everything we do is predetermined by God, and thus we cannot act differently than we do, then, indeed, “why does He still find fault?” It doesn’t seem that God can very justly blame us for doing things we have no control over. “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?’” It does sound a bit like, “Well, if you don’t like what God’s doing, that’s tough. He’s God. What are you going to do about it?” Not much…

It’s a difficult passage, but I do not believe Paul is teaching determination here, that is, that we have no freedom of choice. The context (always crucial) of Romans 9 is that God selected (or “elected”) the Jews, and no other people, to be His chosen people. That was simply a choice God made—and again, “Who can say to Him, ‘what are you doing?’” Was it unfair of God to select Jacob and not Esau, the Jews and not some other people? No, because it was a selection, not to salvation, but to bring His law, and eventually, the Christ into the world. By choosing the Jewish nation to do this, God did not rob the Gentiles of their moral freedom to opt for righteousness over wickedness. It is imperative to keep in mind that Paul is not talking about freedom of moral choice in Romans 9; he’s discussing God’s purpose in how mankind would be saved—through whom that would happen. That’s God’s decision and no one can accuse Him of injustice. Indeed, we should all be grateful that He gave us a chance for salvation, period. He didn’t have to.

Now, there are other matters here that do need consideration. Some things we simply do not have control over. For example, we cannot choose the time and place of our birth, the color of our skin, certain genetic traits we might have; those are beyond our management, and it could conceivably be suggested that “the potter” has formed us in ways that are beyond our ability to select. But again, this has nothing to do with salvation. Pharaoh could not help being born in Egypt, of the royal family. He was king, and he really had no choice in the matter. But did that mean he had to disobey God? No. It is certainly understandable that, at first, he would have grave misunderstandings due to his ignorance of Jehovah. But after awhile, there was no excuse. Pharaoh refused to submit to God until God forced him into submission—not by a deliberate manipulation of Pharaoh’s heart, but through His miraculous activity in the plagues. God did know what kind of man Pharaoh was, just like God knew what kind of man Sampson was, and what kind of people the Assyrians were (Isaiah 10, second article in this series). And Jehovah, in His infinite wisdom, can take what is there, can take what we are, and use it for His own objectives—the potter and the clay. If we do not honor and obey Him, that’s our fault; and if He uses us in that condition, then…”who can say to Him, ‘what are you doing?’” This whole series of lessons has been designed to help us understand that we will not always understand how God works in this world. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says 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” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Quit…trying…to figure…God…out. You aren’t going to do it. Your finite mind is incapable of comprehending His infinite ways. “The just shall live by his faith,” (Habakkuk 2:4). Our job is to trust our heavenly Father and then let Him take care of matters that are beyond our ability to control or understand.

Pharaoh was a wicked man and he was so by his own choice. God found him that way, and used him. Pharaoh certainly never intended for Jehovah to use him; but He did. We’d be wiser to freely place ourselves at God’s disposal rather than rebel against Him and have Him utilize us that way. Remember, “our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases,” (Psalm 115:3). And there isn’t a thing in the world we can do about that.