Genuine repentance…

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. (Exodus 10:12–20)

Evangelicals often say if we confess our sin and ask for forgiveness, that means we are saved and our lives changed. This did not work for the Pharaoh. Odd, and many are offended that the Bible says God hardened his heart:

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. (Exodus 4:21)

It is a bit shocking, but the Bible says that God knows the human heart and those who try to manipulate God with confessing sin so He will do what they want Him to do are only fooling themselves. Note, this man wanted forgiveness “just this once” indicating a lack of true repentance.

Some say that having a hard heart is the natural result of sin. In other words, if a sinner does “not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gives them up to a debased mind” (Romans  1:28) and if they resist the Spirit, He “takes his holy Spirit from them” (Psalm 51:11). That is, if anyone sins against the light He gives, He withdraws that light. If anyone stifles their natural affections of kindness or compassion, it is a spiritual law that those affections wither and decay. This could be what happened to Pharaoh. It was not so much God's abnormal interference with his attitude, but the natural effect upon his soul when he faked repentance to get his own way. He was not after forgiveness, only wanted the locusts taken away. 

True repentance is about yielding all to God, about accepting His way of doing things. I cannot say, “I will serve You if You remove my problems” as if salvation involves a bargaining chip. My example is Jesus:

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. (1 Peter 5:6)

Jesus, saying yes to You means yes to all things, trusting You to either use them or lose them, depending on Your perfect will, not mine. I can fight and resist the enemy’s lies, but I cannot fight or resist Your will or what You do in my life that makes me upset or uncomfortable. It is yielding to You in faith that brings peace.

 

In His Presence

As a new Christian I read several books and articles about the PRESENCE of God. Since He is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere at the same time, why did the Bible talk about seeking His presence? He cannot be gone. Jeremiah 23:24 even asks, “Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”

After a time, I realized part of the answer is that this involves the favor of God. In the OT, the word used is literally ‘face’ so  God promises Moses that his face will go with him on Israel’s journey to Canaan. In Exodus 33:14, He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Moses recognized this as God’s favor on His people. He makes his face shine on them and turns His face toward them. When He is displeased with them, He sets his face against them, or hides His face, turning it away. He is not gone, but the sense of His pleasure is missing. Moses responded in Exodus 33:15–16 by saying, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

The psalms speak of this in a poetic fashion, knowing God is everywhere but also recognizing that the sense of His presence is vital to their walk with and enjoyment of Him:

Psalm 16:11. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Psalm 51:11. “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

Psalm 95:2. “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

Psalm 140:13. “Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.”

The people of God knew that God is always there, yet that did not mean they were in His favor. In Isaiah 3:8, the prophet said, “For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence.” Even today, people shake their fist at the God they know is present — and fleeing is futile, as the story of Jonah illustrates.

The NT quotes the OT concerning ‘presence’ meaning the face and favor of God (Acts 2:28 and 3:20), but also acknowledges the Lord God being with them, such as when Cornelius invited Peter to speak to his household who were all “in the presence of God” waiting to hear him.

1 Timothy 5:21. “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.”

2 Timothy 4:1–2. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Jude 24. “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy . . . .”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. For me, the bottom line is recognizing that God is always here with me, and with that awareness, paying attention to His will rather than my own. I don’t want to ever lose the sense of His presence. Of course this is not totally possible in this life as I battle sin and whatever Satan might throw at me. However, there is one thing that helps. It was in a classic book (can’t remember which one) that the author suggested God’s presence is like the air around us. If I stop what I am doing and think about the air and then about God, His presence almost always becomes very real to me. This focus is a big part of what it means to gaze into His glory, and by doing that, Scripture says I will become more and more like Jesus. I cannot evaluate that part, but I can say that knowing the nearness of God changes my attitude and deepens my desire to be like Him and stay close to Him.