Exodus 5:9
"Let heavier work be laid on the men
that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
Works righteousness is a god that never
rests, never bargains, never stops. It demands. It is relentless. If you take a
moment to express that you find your burden too heavy to endure it, it will only
increase the load reasoning that if you can find the time to complain, you can
find the time to do more. Pharaoh is the epitome of self-righteousness: a
self-made, self-proclaimed god who is unable to tolerate the weakness of his
servants. He demands strength and provides nothing. He requires devotion and
administers lashes. He expects worship and excavates exasperation out of his
most loyal subjects. There is no rest in his brand of righteousness. He is the spirit
of the anti-Christ.
Just this morning, I was reading in the Holiness of God that God never acts unjustly, but he bends over backwards to act nonjustly. He does everything he can to give us mercy - any sin is a capital offense, and yet he deeply wants to make any concessions he can in order for us to not get exactly what we deserve. The god of works is the opposite - even when there's no actual sin to condemn, the power that comes from condemning anything and everything feels too good to pass up.
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