America’s “Pharaohs”
Holy Spirit told us nineteen times in chapters 4-14 of Exodus that Pharaoh’s heart was “hardened.” It is rare for God to repeat Himself that frequently in Scripture; obviously, it means He’s making an important point. Several of the verses clearly indicate that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but many of the references state that God also did so. Since He neither forces nor tempts anyone to sin (James 1:13-14), what does this mean? Holy Spirit is informing us Pharaoh hardened his heart to an irredeemable level, at which time God chose to harden it further to serve His purposes. Yahweh not only delivered Israel, He also used Pharaoh’s pride, stubbornness and obstinacy to expose the false gods of Egypt (Numbers 33:3-4), and reveal Himself as the true God to the people of Egypt (Exodus 10:1; 14:4).
The hardening of one’s heart to the point of exhausting God’s mercy and redeeming grace, as Pharaoh did, is a fearful thing to consider; only a high level of evil could do so. God is long-suffering and kind. He identified Himself to Moses as, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth;” (Exodus 34:6; NASB). But Pharaoh’s pride and wickedness had caused him to reach this point. He actually said in Exodus 5:2: “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” (NASB)
I fear that some leaders in America have hardened their hearts to this level of evil. I realize that only Yahweh, the Supreme Judge, has the right and ability to determine this. Yet, the justification of killing babies, even after their birth; trafficking in children (and ridiculing movies exposing it); mutilating the bodies of confused children - all for the love of money - is an incredibly high level of evil! Fomenting racial hatred, division and violence in order to gain or protect power is an indicator of very hardened hearts. Arrogantly mocking God and His Word, while promoting idolatry, immorality, lies, and injustice is a shockingly high level of pride, deception, and rebellion. God said He hates these things, that they are an abomination to Him (Proverbs 6:16-19). Abomination is toebah, which means “disgusting, abhorrent, abominable.” (1) The root word means “to loathe, detest, or abhor.” (2) Strong words regarding how God feels about these things.
Without question, many arrogant leaders and voices of influence in America are saying with Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” As they continue to harden their hearts, they run further and further from the grace of God. And though we cannot be sure of who has crossed that awful finish line, of this I am confident: God is using their hard, evil hearts and actions to awaken the American people, just as He used Pharaoh’s hardened heart.
Many Americans, far more than in 2016 or 2020, now see the evil in America’s government - lying, corruption, two-tiered justice, dishonest elections, weaponization of agencies against citizens, corrupt judges, censorship, White House drag shows, hatred of our God-given roots, and more. Far more of our citizens now see the level of corruption and dishonesty in the media. And the wickedness of our education department, not to mention its ineptness, is disgusting to most Americans. Millions more people are now aware of just how far America has fallen, and are seeing the need for radical transformation. This had to occur.
Just as He did with Pharaoh, God used the Left’s lust for power and control, their pride, and the hardness of their hearts as the fuse. Their anger and hatred of outsider Donald Trump - along with his obvious threat to their power - was the match that lit the fuse. God allowed them enough success to believe they were now firmly and irreversibly in control. Thus, there was no longer a need to hide their intentions. What were once covert and subtle attempts to control became brazen abuses of power. Hidden and disguised strategies became full-on, in your face, “we don’t have to hide it anymore – we are taking over your country,” actions. They took the bait and now, like Pharaoh, they and their hardened hearts are speeding pell-mell toward the Red Sea.
God is making a mockery of them, just as He did Pharaoh. In Exodus 10:1-2, God stated His plans: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the presence of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.’” (NASB) The word translated “mockery” could also be translated “fools” - God made fools of the Egyptians. Many American leaders have looked like fools for quite a long time; now they are leaving no doubt!
History will not be kind to them. In First Samuel 2:30, the Lord said, “those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant.” (NASB) The primary meaning of qalal, the Hebrew word translated insignificant, is “cursed.” (3) Those who despise and dishonor the Lord will be cursed and become insignificant. History will, indeed, remember them as fools, just as it does Pharaoh.
Moses wrote a song about the Red Sea deliverance of Israel and judgment of Pharaoh; you can find it in Exodus 15. In the Jesus People Movement of the 70s, we sang several choruses taken from the words of this great chapter. One of my favorites - though it would likely be too graphic for many “sensitive” charismatic churches today - was taken from verses one and two:
“I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt Him.” (KJV)
Perhaps Bible-believing churches should start singing it again. I will include a link at the end of today’s post, for any who are interested. We also sang another great chorus from this chapter, verse three, which unabashedly declares: “The Lord is a warrior…” (NASB)
He is, indeed. Do not doubt it.
Pray with me:
God of power and might, You take no pleasure in judging Your enemies, but instead delight in mercy. Yet, when it becomes necessary, You do judge them. Our prayer today is that for all of Your enemies who can and will receive it, show them Your salvation. Open their eyes to the evil of the god they serve, deliver and cleanse them from his influence. Reveal Christ to them, and His great offer of mercy and salvation.
Yet, because we are confident that You are a perfect, all-wise Judge, we also pray Psalm 68:1-2: “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before God.” (NASB) Deal strongly with the hard-hearted oppressors of the weak and vulnerable. May the Pharaohs of the earth be removed from their places of power.
Deliver the children, protect the babies, rescue our sons and daughters, Father. Reap the great harvest! Show Yourself both merciful and strong, loving and powerful. You are Savior and Judge, Lover and Warrior. Allow nothing and no one to stop the coming outpouring of Your glorious Holy Spirit. Let no mocking Pharaoh stop the great 21st century Exodus; allow no Herod to stop our generation’s book of Acts.
We confidently bring these biblical requests before You on the basis of Christ’s victory and authority; therefore we are certain they are received by You with pleasure. Amen.
Our decree:
We boldly decree that the Red Sea victory was a picture of the Cross, and therefore cycles throughout all of history. We shall see it again!!!
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
Listen to the song “I Will Sing Unto the Lord (Horse and Rider)”.
1. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2990), ref no. 8441.
2. Ibid. Ref no. 8581.
3. Ibid. Ref no. 7043.