Week 2

12/8/2024

Winter 2025

• Central Passage: Exodus 5-12
• Click here to see the Middle School Sunday school handout for Exodus. The handout details the polemic elements of the ten plagues that demonstrate God's power over the Egyptian pantheon of powerless gods.
• Check out the Middle School Sunday School Resources page for other books of the Bible resources.

This past Sunday, the children's Sunday school classes learned about Moses' confrontation with Pharaoh from Exodus 5-12. The Bible gives us insight into Pharaoh's heart condition. At the heart of his heart condition was an unwillingness to acknowledge the Sovereign God of the Bible, Yahweh (Exodus 5:2). He refused to obey Him and was stubborn in his unbelief. God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 7:3-4), which raises many questions concerning God's sovereignty and human responsibility. God's purpose in Exodus 7 is clear: Pharaoh's heart was hardened so that God could reveal His glory by powerfully bringing (redeeming) Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. 

The concepts of concurrence and a compatibilist understanding of human freedom are valuable. Concurrence teaches that God sovereignly works with human action to accomplish His good plans. Even though sinful mankind intends something for evil (like Pharaoh), God intends it for good (cf. Gen 50:20 with Joseph and his brothers). A compatibilist view of human freedom means that two actors (Divine and human) can work in the same action with different purposes. God's purposes are always good. God is not the author of evil (He is holy in His very nature, Isaiah 6). In the situation with Pharaoh, God hardened someone who already had a hard and rebellious heart. We must remind ourselves and our children of this truth. Pharaoh was already sinful. God did not "make" Pharaoh more of something he was not. These theological issues can be challenging, and it's okay to wrestle. Perhaps better, we should be more open to those concepts wrestling with our thinking (Read Romans 9-11). We respond to these things with awe and wonder at the glory of God (Romans 11:33-36). 

God is all about the redemption of His people. The purpose of Pharaoh hardening his heart and God hardening Pharaoh's heart is not just to better understand human freedom, though those are worthy conversations to have! Instead, we read Scripture, understanding that God wants to save His people, and He will do whatever He has to do to make that happen. Brother and sisters, God will do the same thing for all who love God (Romans 8:28). He will do whatever it takes to save a people for Himself. Do not get lost in the theological forest because of the trees. God will get His glory by redeeming His people, whether it be from physical slavery (like Israel) or spiritual slavery (Romans 8:1-4). For more on the issue of Pharaoh's hard heart, check out this article from The Gospel Coalition.