Wrath of God vs. Love of God (1 of 5 case studies) The Fristborn of Egypt

The judgments which the Lord poured out upon Egypt are one of the most misunderstood statements of God’s heart in redemptive history. God gives us a clear picture of the depths of His mercy, power, and holiness all in one motion, yet many simply believe the Lord to be “sovereignly” causing all these events out of an affinity to see His enemies squirm. Nothing could be farther from the truth, seeing the Lord does not take delight in the death of the wicked. The climax of these judgments is one that is particularly easy to misconstrue, as it involves the death of innocent children and infants by the hand of the Lord.

In order to understand the Lord’s heart in this matter, we must first know the motive He has in releasing judgment upon peoples and nations. In the case of a stiff-necked people, the Lord brings about calamity and turmoil in order to shake them into humility and dependence upon Him. The Lord is hardly concerned with their comfort and circumstantial well-being in this age compared with His zeal for them to be in His bosom in the next. He uses the gentlest means possible to bring about a true repentance and solid pursuit of His will. God will do whatever necessary to cause individuals as well as corporate bodies to come under the benevolence of His leadership. His hope is that the people will turn to Him before He actually has to bring about trouble on them, and this is why He always proclaims the warning beforehand.

When the Lord brought the plagues on Egypt, His motive was to drive them to a place of submission to His leadership through the release of the Hebrews. He was acting from the wellspring of kind intention He held toward them, not in cold and harsh anger. Though He gave full warning before each plague was loosed, the people refused to turn. The personification of their obstinacy was seen in Pharaoh, who had been given to them as a leader after their own heart. Their conscience became more and more seared at every, “No,” with which they responded to Moses because the Lord was moving in their midst in such a dynamic way.

The plagues also became increasingly worse as the people were hardened because it would take a greater means to turn them to Him. When finally they reached the last plague, the people were in such rebellion that they would rather see their firstborn sons killed than humble themselves before God. It was not an issue of unbelief, for they had seen the precision of the Lord to bring about what He spoke through Moses, and what kind of mercy He gave the Egyptians when it was requested. They fully believed that God would kill their sons that night, and they also knew that they could inquire of Him to restrain His hand. Even still, they chose to keep silent in their pride, desiring to be hardened in stubbornness and self-will. God gave them what they sought from Him: not mercy, but destruction in their own strength. When the Lord brought it about, they were pierced to the core because they understood that it had been their free choice, and the reality of what they had done was too great for them to stomach. They recognized the measure of their hatred for the Lord by saying, “We will all be dead,” (Ex.12:33) in understanding that if they did not submit at that point, they would eventually desire for the Lord to kill them as well rather than give the Hebrews up.

In the midst of this, we might ask how the Lord could bear to kill the innocent because of the sin of the wicked. What was He feeling as He went through the streets of Egypt? Did He have any emotion when the little boys breathed their last by His hand? I believe He wept over the hardness of Egypt and their resistance toward His good pleasure over them. His emotions are reflected by Moses’ response to Pharaoh after telling him of the judgment to come, when it says, “And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger” (Ex. 11:8). If He is pained over the death of the wicked, He surely did not take delight in the death of the innocent babes.

Yet, God put a redemptive factor even in this judgment, and this action was actually one of the most merciful things the Lord could have done to the Egyptians. His vision is so much greater and far-reaching than simply the momentary life of these little ones. Every younger brother and sister of the firstborn could look to this event and marvel at the Lord’s power, seeing the result of their parents’ stubbornness toward the Lord. The Lord touched such an intimate place of encounter when He cut off the firstborn that it would be remembered for generations to come.

From the beginning, it was not the Lord’s will to afflict Egypt, but their own will. The death of the firstborn was the furthest thing from the mind of the Lord when He dreamed of how He could cause the Egyptians to hope and trust in Him. He put every other way of escape before them rather than the death of the innocent, yet they would not receive His mercy. In the end, He gave them what they cried out for, though it pained Him to do so. He made an unmistakable statement of what He is willing to do in mercy and in zeal for His people that when the generations passed, they might not make the same choice as their fathers, but trust His leadership from the beginning.

Rend Your Heart, Not Your Garments (Joel 2)

I love Stuart Greaves; he is so real, and he really walks in the power and truth of the Spirit. He's the leader of the Nightwatch-intrinsically intense-and he spear-heads the Apostolic Preaching Program. There is no one like him who is as vulnerable yet godly as a teacher and leader. Anyway, enough bragging on him... Right now, we're in a season of repentance at IHOP, and here are the notes of Stuarts message to us preceding a solemn assembly:

Isaiah 33:6
The Lord can be with you and you not know it (Jesus in the manger, on the road to Emmaus, Jacob at Bethel, etc.). The awesomeness of the Lord is in our midst right now, and we must recognize it. He is speaking to us in the still small voice, and we must have ears to listen. The Lord is rising up the Nightwatch first in this because it is a signpost to His coming (Matthew 25:6). The natural transitions that are taking place are cues into the spiritual transitions that are taking place.
The Lord wants to move our hearts from being wowed by the stories to being wooed by them. The difference between these two is response. It is very easy to be overwhelmed by the stories and the idea of response that we have, but this only hinders response. It can only be done moment by moment, yes by yes, conversation by conversation, strength to strength, and God breathes on our hearts to push us through to overcome. Within the moment of temptation, you stop, say no, say ‘yes’ to Jesus, and move on (call friends to pray for you as well).
The battle field is our thought life and how we allow our emotions to be stirred. Do I allow things to be stirred in me unto fueling the flesh or do I allow things to stir me unto worship and prayer? We know what to and not to do, but it is the laying of the ax to the root.
“Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap your character; sow your character, reap your destiny.” Gird up the loins of your mind; it sounds exhausting, but it is the only way we have hope. Count up the number of times a lustful thought comes across your mind, then count up the times you have actively sowed seeds of pure thoughts or warred against the thoughts, and evaluate the difficulty based on that, not on your initial experience. We must start the process of forgiveness right at the moment of offense—don’t wait until the root of bitterness is manifest.
“You have done righteousness and loved wickedness.” We must rend our hearts and cherish righteousness in every part. Obedience in fear of consequences is the starting place, but we must get to a place of obedience out of a violent response of love.
The fear of the Lord manifested through anxiety is healthy. If you’re feeling nervous like, “I need to get with it,” that is the fear of the Lord. It drives us to make wise decisions, and that is why it is the beginning of wisdom. Once we respond in righteousness, the peace in that fear is given to us, and that is what is meant by the cleanliness of the fear of the Lord.
Character is about the image of Christ being formed in our mind, will emotions, and whole being (Psalm 51:6). Colossians 3:1-2. The things of the earth he is referring to are listed in 3:5-10, and he lists the things which are above in 3:12-17. Our prayer life in that one prayer meeting begins a month before hand. If we are preoccupied by all of our junk up to that point, we cannot be present with the Lord. “Others may but you may not.” “They are stewarding the drizzle of the Holy Spirit, and I will give to them the deluge.” We don’t want to be professional IHOPpers. What happened to Psalm 22? The way that our hearts stay pliable is by warring the inward fight for our thoughts.
Colossians 3:3. When we have these realities, godliness makes sense. This is the call to fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit. There is a big difference between complaint and hunger. Hunger is aware of the bounty of God in the present, but longs for more. Complaint is only aware of the lack.
Assignment: spend the next month going to the people near & dear to you, and thank them. Be thankful. Thank them, and watch and see if life does not spring up in your heart.