Reading
SAA Notes
Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? (Revelation 21:27) This question highlights the importance of genealogies in the Bible. It was very important that your name be written in the BOOK! Such books were kept in Jerusalem up to its destruction in 70AD. This is why no Jewish opponent in the First Century ever disputed Jesus’ position as Son of David. The Books were there in Jerusalem!
SJA Notes
* God Above, You are holy. Please teach us today a little more about Your holiness.
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you.”
Wait up, hold on. Which is it?
That God hardened Pharaoh’s heart – Or that Pharaoh hardened his own heart?
Scripture is clear.
Both these things are true.
And it can be a hard word to wrestle with.
God clearly states that He will harden the heart of the king AND that the king will harden his heart against the Lord.
God’s SOVEREIGNTY and our (humanity) RESPONSIBILITY are writ large in this portion of scripture.
We see that we are not robots, not flesh puppets. We have agency and will to harden our hearts.
But we see that God is absolute, He acts, and His will is DONE.
Praise God that in His choosing He has chosen us His people from before the foundation of the world!
Chosen in His love, to soften our hearts through Jesus, to break them and make them new.
Hallelujah, what a Saviour!
* Dear God in Heaven,
Thank You for this passage, hard though it might be for us to read.
Please teach us what it means that You are holy, just and sovereign.
Please help us know You better today.
Amen.