I have heard some say that they don't like the idea of God "playing both sides of the chess board." I have some verses from Exodus very clearly showing how God was "playing both sides of the chess board " when he hardened Pharaoh's heart and kept asking him to "Let my people go." Notice that every time "as the Lord had said" is used, it is following a similar pattern of words as Exodus 5:21, which makes me conclude that this is what the Lord had said.
Exodus 5:21
And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 7:3-4a
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...
Exodus 7:13-14
Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord has said. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
Exodus 7:16
And you shall say to him, "The Lord, the god of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed.'"
Exodus 7:22b
So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:15
But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:19b
But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Exodus 8:32
But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
Exodus 9:1
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me."'"
Exodus 9:7b
But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
Exodus 9:12
But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
Exodus 9:35
So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
2 comments:
Don't you suppose that God--an infinite being--would be precisely the kind of being fit perfectly for “playing both sides of the chess board?”
That aside, this whole problem of evil thing reminds me very much of a child and parent. I've often heard kids cursing (almost, at least) their parents as if their parents were of quite a Hellish nature—when, in fact, their parents were doing something wonderfully good. Making a kid take medicine, for instance, isn't nice--but it certainly is necessary.
I'm not smart enough to say that all “evil” is a situation like that. Analogies are pretty limited. But letting my mind wander for a moment makes me think that there is probably a lot more “behind the scenes” of this evil question that we may never know.
In some ways, it comes down to faith. Not blind faith, not uninformed, but a faith that says, “I don't understand this—but I can trust God and give Him the benefit of the doubt.”
As I was reading through this, I also noticed Exodus 10:1 gives a reason why God hardened Pharoah's heart.
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD."
I have never seen an explanation in Scripture that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, BECAUSE Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
Rather than saying that all sin is a hardening of God, these verses show that this is a way that God works, and that he most certainly has the right (as you said, He is perfectly fit as the infinite being).
Your analogy sounds more like the discipline of God than the hardening of God.
And you are right that faith is crucial, lest we accuse God of sin, or try to dictate to God what he can or cannot do.
Post a Comment