There were two places in our readings today that reminded me for the need to know and teach the whole counsel of God. We can’t teach God’s sovereignty, as in God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, without teaching His goodness and love. We can’t teach His goodness and love without teaching about His holiness and justice, as in the verses to cut off what is causing you to sin.

Sin is bad and we can’t lose the seriousness of it in dwelling only on God’s love and mercy.

God desires all to be saved and for all to come to repentance, and we know God so loved the world. There is no maniacal laughter behind God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. He hardened his heart by actually giving Pharaoh exactly what he needed to be saved. He was set up as a god over his people and needed to humble himself. We learned in Joseph’s story that the Egyptians despised shepherds. God sent a Hebrew shepherd to tell Pharaoh what to do. God is so good.