Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Good morning. All right, so God chose one person over another, and chose pharaoh for destruction – what does that mean? So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, why does He still find fault? For who resists His will? In other words how can He condemn us to the bad place, since He is the one who chose us to not believe? On the contrary, who are you, O man who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, why did you make me like this, will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? Again it sounds like we don’t have a choice – it is predestination. This is what others would say, not what is reality. Then a hypothetical: what if God (Paul is not saying that God did, but rather what if He did the following), although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? Why does God wait and not simply zap those who reject Him? After all, that’s why He made them. Remember that Paul said what if God… We will continue this next time. Father thank You that You have a wonderful plan, even though we can’t see it right now. Thank you that we have a beautiful part to play in that plan.