Must God Prove That He Is God?

Exodus 7:17
This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.

God wanted to get His people out of Egypt and set them free in Canaan. God sent Moses and Aaron to ask permission from Pharaoh. God did not need to ask permission from Pharaoh but He did. When God asks permission it is politeness and not weakness. Not all humility ad kindness should be misunderstood as weaknesses. Pharaoh thought he had power over God because God had made a request to him. When God makes a request, He is not weak and unable to work without us.

God has requested us to give tithes and offerings for example. God is not begging and unable to collect it. God can deduct it from us and we will do nothing about it. God’s request is not a sign of weakness or an inability to execute. When God asks us to do things recommended in the Bible, He is not weak and unable to force His way. Pharaoh misunderstood God’s polite approach and he forced God to prove that He is God. Must God prove that He is God?

When God shows us respect and allows us to see our wrong and ask for forgiveness, is He weak? Does He cease to be God? When God doesn’t kill you immediately you commit sin, and He seems lenient and patient as He waits for you to repent, is He less God? Is He weak? Do you feel emboldened to continue in sin? Do you feel emboldened to continue doing wrong because God has been so nice? He didn’t strike you with a serious illness when you sinned. He didn’t kill you instantly when you harmed others, do you now feel He is no God or a less God? Must God prove that He is God?

Our text today tells us that Pharaoh’s response to God’s kindness forced God to prove through the ten plagues that He is God. God was so good that Pharaoh developed contempt. God was so good that Pharaoh concluded that He doesn’t exist. God was so good that Pharaoh proceeded to hurt and harm Israelites with hard labor and persecution. God would have killed Pharaoh and Egyptians instantly, but He gave them a chance to come to their senses. The chance God gave them, made them misunderstand God. Have you misunderstood God and now continue boldly in sin? Must God prove that He is God?

You have smoked and used hard drugs and you have no lung cancer and you are now boldly proclaiming that church teaching on health is rubbish? You drink heavily and yet you have no liver cirrhosis, now you wonder why people are obsessed with messages of stop drinking alcohol. God’s kindness in letting you smoke and drink without harm until you come to your senses has seemed to you as a weakness of God. Must you suffer lung cancer for you to believe in God? Must your liver collapse and your death draw near for you to believe in God? Must God prove that He is God?

You have always come late to church and nothing has happened to you, now it is a standard habit because God seems unable to enforce early arrival. You commit adultery and fornication and you have no pregnancies, no diseases, never caught, and having total fun. God has protected you from sexually transmitted diseases, God has made sure you do not get caught as He hoped you will come to your senses and quit, but you are now bolder in sin and behave like God is not God. You plan to harm people you perceive as your enemies. God allows you to harm them. You see them suffer and you suffer nothing and now you believe you are above God since He didn’t protect His people from you and somehow you do not repent and you plan to harm many others. Until God hits you hard, you feel He is no God or you feel you can challenge His expectations successfully. Must God prove that He is God?

You do not pray but you make it through many days and now you wonder why anyone insists on prayer. It is a sin to disobey your parents, but nothing has happened to you since you started disobeying. You should love and submit to your spouse, but nothing has happened to you since you constantly became a thorn in the flesh of that family. You are expected to forgive and forget but nothing has happened to you since you held grudges and revenged willfully and harshly. You are supposed to keep the Bible Sabbath. You have read the Bible and you know when the Sabbath is, but you disobey God on this matter and nothing has happened to you, in fact, you seem much more blessed. God has been kindly waiting for you to repent and now you think He is weak and no God. Until He harms you, you feel that He is no God. Must God prove that He is God?

Exodus 7:11
Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:

Exodus 7:22
But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

Exodus 8:7
But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

God started to politely warn Egyptians that if He has to prove that He is God they will suffer harm. God sent to them plagues that were of low intensity so that they can be jolted back to their senses, repent, and obey God. The plagues were of so low intensity that the Egyptian magicians could reproduce and handle them. These low intensity made them think God is weak and non-existent. They would only believe if God did something bigger and drastic. They were indirectly challenging God to bring more harm if He is God. Prove you are God by harming us in a big way, these low-intensity warnings don’t scare us. Must God prove that He is God?

Have you ignored low-intensity signs from God? That accident was too small? That illness is under control? That guilt feeling is fading? That sin is covered? That near divorce situation is now history? That warning letter was just a scare? Unless it is big and harmful to you, you still feel God hasn’t pronounced Himself clearly on this matter? Must God prove that He is God?

God can do things that you can counter, but that doesn’t mean He is no God and He can’t do bigger and greater things. Egyptians could do what Moses had done initially and they thought they were at par with God. Prayerful and hardworking people are blessed materially. That has been countered by corrupt people who steal and consult witches and they too get material benefits. They have countered what God has done. That does not mean that God is weak and non-existent. Must God destroy ill-gotten wealth for us to believe that God is God? Must God prove that He is God?

Exodus 8:15
But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

When God brings relief amidst punishment, some repent totally and others like Pharaoh feel like they have scored against God. When God gives you relief from suffering He brought you, do you repent or you continue sinning? The case against you is now dropped, do you repent or boldly go ahead to repeat the same crimes? Pharaoh seemed to wonder, if I was wrong why did I get relief from this punishment? Pharaoh seemed to suggest that God should prove He is God by giving no relief during punishment. Must God prove that He is God?

Exodus 8:18-19
But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.
Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.

Eventually, God did what the Egyptians couldn’t do. God increased intensity and they suffered serious harm. Now the Magicians acknowledged that God is God. Did it have to get to this level? Did God have to increase the intensity of punishment for them to believe that He is God? Must God punish you harder for you to stop sinning and now repent? Must God prove that He is God?

While Egyptian magicians now believed that it was God, Pharaoh did not. Not everyone responds the same way to God. Some listen to one sermon and they repent. Others need many sermons to repent. Others like Pharaoh will never ever repent even if all sermons were preached and God’s power demonstrated to them. Pharaoh doubted God until God proved He is God by killing His firstborn son. Pharaoh still doubted God until God drowned him in the Red Sea as he pursued the Israelites. Eventually, God proved He is God by killing Pharaoh Himself and at that point, Pharaoh knew that God is God but it was too late. Must God prove that He is God?

How far should God go to prove to us that He is God? Will we keep ignoring Him until He proves it and it may be forever too late? Must God prove that He is God?

Give me faith my dear God. Help me to trust you. May I be a quick learner who does not need You to prove that You are God. Make me sensitive to the will and movements of God, so that You will not have to prove that it is You, my God. Amen!