"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was."

- Exodus 20:18-21 (ESV)

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

- Galatians 1:10 (ESV)

"So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil."

- Ronald Reagan, "Evil Empire" (1983)

This Episode's Links:

• Should Christian Parents Send Their Children to Public Schools? - Jen Wilkin, Jonathan Pennington, TGC
• Japan just found out they actually have 7,000 more islands than they thought - Edward Teach, NTB
• Tucker Carlson Releases January 6 Footage That Raises New Questions - Ryan Saavedra, The Daily Wire
• President Ronald Reagan - "Evil Empire" Speech - MCamericanpresident, YouTube

Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone."

- Exodus 18:17-18

"It is said that at one of their meetings in the gymnasium Scipio and Hannibal had a conversation on the subject of generalship, in the presence of a number of bystanders, and that Scipio asked Hannibal whom he considered the greatest general..."

- The History of Rome from its Foundation XXXV.14, Livy

"My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would say simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose."

- Ronald Reagan

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Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.

- Exodus 16:9-10 (ESV)

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“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

- C.S. Lewis

"Yahweh will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

- Exodus 13:14 (ESV)

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It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

- 1 Kings 3:10-14

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

- Matthew 11:15-17

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

- James 1:5

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"These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God."

- Genesis 6:9 (ESV)

You, O Yahweh, will keep them;

- Psalm 12:7-8 (ESV)

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

- Matthew 11:16-17 (ESV)

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"Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment."

- Exodus 7:4 (ESV)

So we read early on in the account of God telling Moses and Aaron to go and speak to Pharaoh, telling him to let the people of Israel go out of the land of Egypt. That is to say, there is not even a possibility of success, humanly speaking, in the near-term. 

Pragmatists and prudential types would have given up straight away, knowing the message would not be heeded. They might have bided their time for years or decades more, hoping and praying for a more opportune administration. Yet God said 'You shall speak all that I command you."

Where God Himself said He would harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not listen to them, so that God could display His power to Egypt, and Israel, and to all generations, some today find fault with God. They say that is cruel, or unjust, or unfair. 

Yet as Paul writes in Romans, the clay does not get to talk back to the potter, asking why he was fashioned for either honorable or dishonorable use. Neither do we have standing to find fault with God.

But we learn another thing here, that sometimes nothing fails like success, and that rewards rather than correction can be a kind of judgment on a nation and people, as well as the rulers of a people.

"During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew."

- Exodus 2:23-25 (ESV)

“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man."

- C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

- Proverbs 4:23

"The one who states his case first seems right,

- Proverbs 18:17

"The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it."

- Proverbs 22:3

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"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

- Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

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