Volume 51 Number 12 December 2009
When I took algebra many years ago, at the start of every chapter there would be an axiom (principle) of algebra. One of Webster’s definitions of axiom is “a self-evident truth”. I will use this as the definition of the axioms proposed in this article, and they must be accepted as a self-evident truth to come the conclusion that it was truth that harden Pharaoh’s heart.
The First axiom is that God wants all men to be saved, and this is an important one.
This next is Botts’ commentary, without a specific verse supporting it, but I believe it is Biblically true. “Don’t ever accuse God, of moving a person from the saved, and placing him in the lost, or placing an obstacle between him and salvation he cannot cross.” His desire is for all to be saved and if they are not, they have moved themselves and it was not God who moved them. He is just fulfilling a promise, those who obey will be saved, and those who disobey will be lost. It is God’s desire for all men to be saved: “a self-evident truth.
The Second axiom is that God is not a liar.
The Third axiom is that man is given a choice; making decisions on being a farmer or a lawyer, buying a Ford or a Chevrolet, following God and accepting Jesus as their savior, or rejecting them.
“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.”
(I Kings 18:21). Elijah tells them they have a choice to make: Follow God, or Baal! Then consider Peter and John standing in front of the Sanhedrin, after being told they were not to talk about Jesus any more: “But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” (Acts 4:19). We all know what their decision was. The choice is everybody’s: Choose the word, or the world!The Fourth axiom is a difficult one to fully prove and yet it must be “a self evident truth.” The Bible does not contradict itself. This could be debated for hours on end, because there are many passages we do not fully understand. However if there is a passage that seem to be a contradiction in the Bible then the confusion would make nil and void the second axiom, “God does not lie.”
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
(2 Timothy 3:16). He left the inspired word for our knowledge, and I will blame myself for any confusion, and will not call God a liar just because I do not fully understand a passage.Over 600 years before Christ, Josiah the king of Judah, after many years of neglect and worshipping strange Gods, found the “Book of Law” in the temple and read it to all the people.
“And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 34:30). The books of Chronicles and Kings tell of the reform Josiah accomplished after finding the “Book of Law.”At Berea Paul found the brethren ready to study the Scriptures.
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11). The point here is that both groups studied the Scripture, Josiah learning what God desired of the Israelites after years of neglect, the noble Bereans studying to make sure what Paul told them was correct.It is by study we can more fully understand the scriptures, and better understand how they fit together. Remember always, that many times it takes multiple passages to understand what is being taught. A very abbreviated example, of a Christian, from conversion to death:
Hear & believe:It took many passages from different places to create this abbreviated story, not one of them alone could have given the complete picture. Paul told Timothy what I am trying to say.
“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”(2 Timothy 2:15).Moving now from the axioms, to the application of them. The following are several passages that on the surface sound like God is being blamed for people not believing or understanding. Don’t try to interpret every word, just listen to the main thought that is presented in these passages.
In Mark we find Jesus scolding his apostles for not understanding a parable:
“Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not?” (Mark 8:18).In these verses did you not hear repeatedly of people with eyes, and were not able to see? Having ears and not hearing? In these verses, even though they are worded differently, all are sending the same message: Not seeing or hearing the gospel call! People have organs to see and hear, and yet do not perceive or understand.
Mark 4:12 throws a different light on the concept of not seeing or hearing which, I think, is a more accurate rendition of the meaning of all these verses: “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”In the other verses it seems that God is being blamed for the people’s lack of seeing and understanding. This verse says
‘they’ (not God) see and do not perceive; ‘they’ hear, and do not understand. The problem is with the people, not God.Now we move into opinion or commentary, whichever term you prefer. Let me credit the next two paragraphs, if not an exact quote, very close to the writings of W. C. Dorris and Albert Barnes.
“A hard heart is where truth makes no impression; where preaching is listened to without interest; where the conscience is seared and unresponsive, and where the mind is unaffected by the appeals of friends. It is the very refusal to respond to these appeals that defines a harden heart. Man must make some effort to understand the teaching of Jesus, or else, he will go through life blinded. The hearing, and understanding, is man’s duty, the forgiving is God’s pleasure. He cannot and will not forgive, until man does his part. The scribes and Pharisees, stuffed their ears, and closed their eyes, and hardened their hearts, as the Jews had done many times in the Old Testament.
It was truth that softened the hearts of the Israelites in Egypt, and they follow Moses to freedom. This same truth later hardened the heart of the same people, causing them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. The truths, which drew the disciples closer to Jesus, drove the scribes and Pharisees further from him. Man’s eternal destiny depends upon how he treats the word of God, if it is accepted, it is a steppingstone to heaven, but if rejected a stumbling stone to hell.
In the time of Jesus, many were determined not to believe His teachings.
“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts.” (Matthew 13:15). “Lest at any time” - doesn’t that sound like intentional resistance? The New International Version translates it this way: “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” I believe Matthew is telling us that the lack of hearing and seeing is because they are resisting the truth, lest they see and hear, and follow the word, finding salvation. Instead, they close their eyes and ears, hardening their heart.God hardened the heart of Pharaoh with the truth. Every word of Moses to the Egyptian ruler may not be recorded for us, but we do know that he heard the truth of the situation when it was proclaimed that
“Israel is my firstborn”, and “Let my people go!” (Exodus 4:22; 5;1). Pharoah did not want to hear about the reality of the situation and how the Hebrews were not really his own. His heart was hardened by the resistance to these factual truths, as proclaimed by Moses the servant of the Lord.The self-evident truth is that God desires all to be saved, and this would not be true if he randomly placed an obstacle before a man that he could not overcome. If God hardened the heart of a man, removing the option to decide for himself, that would violate the First axiom; “God desires all to be saved.” This would make a liar out of God, violating the Second axiom, and if He were a liar, the Bible would be of no value; a rather thick worthless piece of obsolete literature.
Let us not blame God for our lack of understanding, let us not resist the teaching in the Bible because we think it has a different meaning in modern times. The self-evident truth is, the word of God has not changed.
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32).I will close with
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, looking at how the Living Bible renders this passage: “He (Satan) will completely fool those who are on their way to hell because they have said no to the Truth; they have refused to believe it and love it and let it save them, so God will allow them to believe lies with all their hearts, and all of them will be justly judged for believing falsehood, refusing the Truth, and enjoying their sins.”Just as truly as God will not place an obstacle in front of man that he can not conquer, He will not excuse a heart that has said ‘no’ to the truth. Let us resolve in our hearts that we will not resist the truth, but humbly accept it to the saving of our souls!
“Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Hebrews 4:7).