God Displays His Power

Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 6 Lesson 53

We’re continuing in Sunday School this week by examining how God displayed his power in the plagues of Egypt. What happened in the plagues? Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart and why? How did the Egyptian magicians copy some of God’s miracles? And how should this account affect our lives today?

Our lesson text is Exodus 6:28-10:29.

Auto Transcript

Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

and I really appreciate your prayers and I believe the Lord has answered those prayers well we’re continuing on today in the book of Exodus today’s lesson is on how God displays his power over the last two weeks we’ve been looking at how God sovereignly protected but also how he raised up a special deliverer Moses but today we’re going to see how God’s deliverance through that deliverer actually unfolds again this is gonna be more about God though rather than it is about Moses we’re looking at the mighty plagues that God sends on Egypt now we’re covering a lot of ground in Scripture today Exodus 7 to Exodus 10 so we better get moving much of its going to be in summary fashion we’re gonna start with Moses is confrontation with Pharoah one of his confrontations and then we’ll walk through the different plagues the first nine anyways and consider their significance so let’s pray and we’ll get to it our gracious Lord God thank you for all the things that you provide and yet Lord just so conscious lately of how we do not think rightly about you even even those who claim to know you even a week who claims to know you we don’t often think of you as you really are or even close to as you really are but this passage today God I know it’s to help us see more of who you really are you are a holy and powerful God and I pray that that would come across as I as I seek to explain your word today in Jesus name Amen now I don’t know if any of you have what are called vanity plates on your car license plate where you actually get to pick the message you get to pick the letters and the numbers that appear there but I recently read a news story about a Kentucky man named Ben Hart who chose for himself a special license plate for his car the license plate reads I am g.od I’m God the Kentucky Division of Motor Vehicles actually denied been Hart’s request to have this license plate back in 2016 deeming the plate as quo obscene and vulgar unquote but Hart filed suit over what he considered to be a violation of his First Amendment rights his freedom to speech and freedom of religion and assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation Hart won his lawsuit on November 14th of this year so soon if not already Hart is out there on the road with his license plate proclaiming for all to see that he is God now even if Hart is within his legal rights to have this plate it’s not his action filled with pride and impertinence I mean how could someone have the gall to announce whether he’s joking or not that he is God who would dare challenge and blaspheme the true God in this way yet Hart’s hubris is nothing new in fact it’s in all of us isn’t it every time we sin what we’re really doing is challenging God and exalting ourselves by saying I’m gonna do what I’m going to do yeah I know what you say but I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do I’m gonna decide for myself what is good I’m going to be God no sin it makes us so that we’re not much different from Pharoah in the scriptures who also directly challenges God in Exodus chapter 5 verse 2 after Moses and Aaron initially deliver Yahweh’s message to Pharaoh that he must let the people of Israel go let them leave Egypt this is Pharaoh’s response Exodus 5:2 but Pharaoh said who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice and let Israel go I do not know Yahweh and besides I will not let Israel go now that’s pretty brazen but isn’t that the same attitude of every sinful heart I’m sorry Yahweh who yeah I’m just gonna do my thing I don’t know this Yahweh character through sin our hearts exhibit the same boastful pride as Pharaoh or this Kentucky man that same divine challenge even if our challenge happens more secretly within our hearts but will God abide such provocations well God just shrug his shoulders and move on well God not care whether he receives the honor and glory that he is worthy of in many ways the account were looking at today is an answer to these questions the record of the plagues of Egypt is all about showing the power the holiness the glory and the sovereignty of God over all the earth and over all its people we see directly fulfilled in this account what we read in James chapter 4 verse 6 James 4:6 God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble this count is written to show us that the one true God is one that we must take seriously there should be a holy fear of this God we should not dare to exalt ourselves before him but we are instead to run to him as our Savior as our Lord as our shelter we may get away with stubborn pride in the short term but it is eternally ruinous to oppose God and yet how wonderful it is to humble yourself before God and have him be your God and even fight for you these are the things that we’re going to see today please open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 6 Exodus chapter 6 verse 28 it was where we’re going to pick up our account let me summarize what’s happened between where we were last time in Exodus 4 Exodus 3 and 4 and where we’re going to be today after Moses returns to Egypt and proclaims God’s salvation plan to the Israelites Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh and they ask that Israel might be granted leave to journey three days into the wilderness and hold a feast to God it’s actually initial request that’s pretty mild but Pharaoh cousin Pharaoh not only refuses to let the Hebrews go it uses the occasion to accuse the Hebrews of laziness and decides to make their lives even harder Pharaoh decrees that the Hebrews well no longer be provided with any straw for making bricks the Hebrews I have to find and gather straw for themselves but they have to make the same number of bricks as before if they don’t well they will be beaten and this is what happens Hebrews therefore complain against Moses and Aaron for bringing this new trouble on them and Moses for his part he cries out to God knows this asked God why why did you do that that’s not deliverance you haven’t brought anything to this people except trouble once again God was doing something Moses didn’t expect but God assured Moses that everything was happening according to God’s plan Moses then tried to encourage the people to trust God but they wouldn’t listen to Moses Exodus chapter 6 verses 9 to 12 says that they would not listen to Moses now we’re resuming the text where God sends Moses and Aaron back to Pharaoh to confront him again we’re gonna look at now Exodus 6 verses 28 to chapter 7 verse 13 let’s go ahead and read that passage now it came about on the day when the Lord that is Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt that Yahweh spoke to Moses saying I am Yahweh speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you but Moses said before Yahweh behold I am unskilled in speech how then will Pharaoh listen to me then Yahweh said to Moses see I make you as God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet you shall speak all that I command you and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land but I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt when Ferro does not listen to you then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my hosts my people the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by great judgments the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst so Moses and Aaron did it as Yahweh commanded them thus they did Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh now you always spoke to Moses and Aaron saying when Pharaoh speaks to you saying work a miracle and you shall say to Aaron take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh that it may become a serpent so Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a serpent then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers and they also the magician’s of Egypt did the same with their secret arts for each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said let’s start with basic observations of this passage notice how the conversation in verse 29 with God and Moses begins with the declaration I am Yahweh it’s only after God gives this declaration that he then gives a command to Moses notice Moses is response in verse 30 he says I’m not skilled enough to have Pharaoh listen I’m not eloquent of speech what does that remind you of so what he said back in the burning bush he’s still making that excuse I noticed back in chapter 7 verses 1 to 2 our God describes the approach that Moses and Aaron are to use before Pharaoh Moses God says we’ll be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron will be like Moses prophet Moses will speak God’s Word to Aaron and Aaron will speak the same words to Pharaoh now do you think that Aaron was allowed to deviate at all from Moses’s words no certainly not he would be commissioned to say exactly what Moses said Aaron as prophet had to speak the word exactly given to him by his God figuratively Moses in this case now I stressed that arrangement because as one of my theology teachers has emphasized to me at the seminary right here at the beginning of chapter 7 is really a model of how prophecy according to the Bible operates you have a person who receives a word from God and he gives that word exactly there is no fallible prophecy in the Bible no erroneous prophecy no word of God mixed with error no tentative declaration if you’re a true prophet of God if you actually are a prophet you say exactly what God gives you to say that’s what it means to be a prophet if you deviate from that perfect message or you proved to be unreliable the Bible doesn’t say oh you know he was just a like a minor prophet or he messed up it says you’re a false prophet so that’s just an aside this is a model of what Biblical prophecy is now notice another declaration from God at the beginning of verse 3 God says but I will harden Pharaoh’s heart God has told Moses and Aaron what they must do but then he tells them that they will not be successful at least at first and why is that because God says he will harden Pharaoh’s heart what does it mean to have a hard heart yes to resist God or how else can we describe it and to be stubborn to be rebellious to be unwilling to listen to correction or excitation or rebuke this is what it means to have a hard heart now God says that he will harden Pharaoh’s heart he will cause Pharaoh to be stubborn and not listen to Moses and Aaron not do the right thing and notice why God says he will harden Pharaoh’s heart verses 3 and 5 he says that I may multiply my sons however my signs my signs and my wonders that I may multiply my signs and my wonders I’m gonna harden his heart so that I can display my incredible supernatural power I will send great judgments and bring about a great deliverance of my people in the land verse 5 the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh Pharaoh says he doesn’t know who Yahweh is God is going to show Pharaoh who Yahweh is and he’s gonna show all Egypt and he’s going to show all Israel Oh Aaron Moses obey God and they go before Pharaoh God tells them to perform a miraculous sign before Pharaoh when they get there and they do so there’s the end of verse 10 Aaron’s staff becomes a serpent a snake notice Pharaoh’s reaction in verse 11 Pharaoh doesn’t go Wow you men must be from God instead Pharaoh asks his magicians is wise men and sorcerers to see if they can perform the same miracle and amazingly they are able to do so their staffs also become snakes and the text says they did this by their secret arts but notice the end of verse 12 it says that Aaron’s staff ate up the staffs of the magician’s it ate up those snakes so this is the compounded miracle we have an inanimate piece of wood that becomes a snake and it eats other snakes not just one of the snake but multiple other snakes and then presumably that staff became a piece of wood again so this was truly Oh wondrous occurrence but notice Pharaoh’s reaction in verse 13 it says his heart was hardened now that’s the sentence in the passive voice that’s where the subject receives the action rather than does the action was hardened it’s not said specifically in verse 13 who hardened Pharaoh’s heart with these observations let’s now consider some interpretation questions first why does God begin in verse 29 of chapter 6 with a declaration about his own identity he starts off by saying I am Yahweh why how would that relate to what God says after that all right this is to remind Moses of the basis for everything that’s about to happen obey these commands look forward to what I’m going to do because I am Yahweh actually this has everything to do with Moses objection in verse 30 he says I’m not school of speech Moses did you forget I am Yahweh it is God who’s going to it is God for being who he is that’s going to make everything possible in this great deliverance and all these mighty acts in Egypt even using Moses another question who hardened Pharaoh’s heart in chapter 7 verse 13 it says Pharaoh’s heart was hardened but who did it the answer must be that God hardened his heart and you say well verse thirteen doesn’t say that that’s true but look back at verse 3 chapter 7 verse 3 God says I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so when we see Pharaoh’s heart be hardened we know it’s God now of course Pharaoh is in there too and we’ll say more about that in just a second but we have to ask how is it right for God to harden Pharaoh’s heart I mean after all that’s a good God is a holy God as a loving God doesn’t God love when people are righteous and obedient James chapter 1 verses 13 to 14 it says that God does not tempt anyone he does not lead anyone into sin Abraham in Genesis 18 25 Genesis 18 25 Abraham says shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly you are the judge God shouldn’t you – everything righteously so how can God cause Pharaoh to have a more stubborn and more disobedient heart when God is good and when God is righteous we’ve come again to the so called problem of evil how can a good and holy God use an ordained evil in the world we’ve talked about this question before but that’s relevant again let me say a few things again briefly about it the answer from the Bible to the so called problem of evil is that God somehow and is transcendent greatness is able to ordain evil in such a way that God is not chargeable or blamable for it God is able to ordain evil in such a way that God is not chargeable they blame below for it god never forces anyone to be sinful or stubborn he does not coerce people in that way evil doers even we ourselves whenever we sin evil doers choose to do evil freely because they want to and thus they rightly bear the guilt God’s sovereignty does not absolve a man of his responsibility but we must understand everything is under God’s complete control absolutely everything God ultimately is the one who brings about anything that happens in this life whether good or evil whether prosperity or trouble it ultimately all comes from God now we won’t be able to fully wrap our minds around this truth in this life but we can grasp it in a basic way and I think I mentioned this before but if you want to hear a little bit more of a in-depth treatment of the so called problem of evil I say so called because it’s not really a problem from a from a biblical perspective please look at microcar these blog posts or audio messages called God and evil why the ultimate cause is not the chargeable cause you can find this at the crippled gate org or Grace Church org actually if you just type that name into Google microcard II got an evil why builds macaws not the chargeable cause I’m sure you’ll find it but he’s done a number of messages he’s I said written an article and also done some messages at Grace Community Church which have been recorded and it just as an excellent excellent treatment of the issue of God and evil so you can find more there but let me just say right now God’s absolute holiness yet absolute sovereignty even over sin is what the Bible teaches and we can see this even in Paul’s statement in Romans 9 18 Romans 9 18 Paul says so then he that’s God has mercy on whom He desires and he hardens whom He desires God is able to harden people in sin without being blamable without being chargeable for it he often does this as an act of judgment he is right to do either one according to his good pleasure according to his glorious purpose he is not evil to do so God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility are both true from the Bible and why does God do whatever he does what’s the ultimate motivation for God it is to show forth and enjoy his own glory God is committed to his glory God is committed to his own greatness and that’s why he does what he does and that’s exactly what we see in our passage in Exodus isn’t it God says I’m gonna harden his heart so that I may show forth my signs and wonders in Egypt it’s about my glory and of course God’s glory is our good it is the good of his people he has a kind purpose tied up in showing forth his glory for those that belong to him now here’s another question how were Pharaoh’s magicians able to replicate the miracle of the staff turning into a snake yeah go ahead alright I think you’ve given that answer perfectly really it could be just as you said it could be just illusion it could be the same kind of activity that we see magicians do today these were skilled and crafty men they were knowledgeable about very many things and so they could have employed some of those tricks those techniques that they had come to learn Egypt was same as torch snake-charming perhaps they had manipulated snakes in such a way to make them look like stabs and then cast them forth as if they were stabs that became snakes or as you said Roy this could have some involvement of demonic power we certainly know that demons do some pretty remarkable things in the scriptures in terms of effecting a physical person there was a demon that caused a woman to be bent double there was a demon that caused a little girl a slave girl to be able to predict the future that be able to give knowledge that she wouldn’t otherwise be able to know and other things so as this is a pagan culture just as you said Roy it could be that they were using they were giving themselves over to occult power or it could even be a combination as we see in the book of Revelation there is this connection between deceptive signs and demons there’s something to septum about this and it may even involve occult power but the most significant part of however these magicians did what they did was what happened to the stabs that they cast forward what is the significance of Aaron’s staff eating up the stabs and the magician’s that’s right this is about God’s superiority his supremacy over whatever they are able to do whether it’s their tricks whether it’s even the power of Satan God is greater even the devil is God’s devil as Luther says he’s on a leash we saw in joke he can’t do more than what God allows him to do you cannot oppose God and be successful he is the almighty one and that’s underscored even at the end of this miracle and we’ll see that underscored through all the different plagues that are about to unfold and that’s what we’re gonna turn to now we’re going to survey the first nine plagues of Egypt these first nine displays of God’s great power and judgment will save the tenth the climactic play for next time now this is a lot of text extra seven to ten and it’s too much for us to read and analyze in full right now but we are going to look briefly at each plague and as we do want to notice certain pieces of information and I have them there on your screen I want to notice what the plague was what was Pharaoh’s response to the plague what was the magician response if any if it’s mentioned and then was there an Egyptian deity connected to the plague and he may never have thought about how the plagues of Egypt actually connect to the Egyptian gods themselves right before the last plague tenth plague God says and this is Exodus 12:10 against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments I am Yahweh so these judgments are not only against Pharaoh and the people but they’re against the gods of Egypt themselves even in the first nine plagues God’s judgments take place in realms supposedly under control of these Egyptian gods or that are in have to do with animals or places associated with those Egyptian gods and thus through these great and mighty judgments God shows the true God shows that the false gods are false completely useless completely worthless completely powerless before him by the way though if you look at steady tools connect it to the plagues often they’ll be one deity connected with each plague they say oh this plague was targeting this deity this plague was targeting that goddess or that gone but it’s more likely that multiple deities are in view in each plague indeed all the gods and goddesses of Egypt because there are many one estimate of the Egyptian Pantheon was that there were 1400 gods 1,400 gods and goddesses multiple deities were often associated with the same area of life or the same aspect in Egyptian mythology for instance there are a number of gods associated with the Nile the sacred Nile River there are a number of goddesses associated with fertility but some deities did become more popular and thus more important over time and these would be some of the deities that you might have heard of the gods raw or Horus or the goddess Isis but all of these gods are being targeted not just the important ones with God’s judgments on Egypt and more even more significantly there’s a certain concept in Egyptian religion that is being absolutely assaulted and that is the idea of MOT or it’s also pronounced Maat I’m gonna say mops mock refers to the concept of harmony order balance if you wanted to be righteous considered righteous in ancient Egypt it was by embracing MOT applauding MOT your righteousness was determined on whether you maintained and promoted the order of life your family and society even the gods Pharaoh included are responsible for upholding MOT this cosmic harmony the gods needed to meet earth Pharaoh needed to maintain order in Egypt the gods needed to meet maintain order in Egypt and hold back the forces of chaos this is why it was important to serve and please the gods according to Egyptian religion because if they were not properly served then Egypt would not have its order maintain the gods could not or would not maintain MOT for Egypt now with all this in mind God’s judgments take on an even greater significance they are indeed judgments against the gods of Egypt and against the whole Egyptian religion they have or so we could say that these 10 plagues they are a national and a theological Cataclysm for Egypt but let’s look at the first plague book in chapter 7 verses 2223 and again we’re just surveying this I won’t read all of the verses associated with each plague but look at verses 2223 where would you read so Moses and Aaron did even as Yahweh had commanded and he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in denial in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood the fish that were in the Nile died and the Nile became foul so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile and the blood was through all the land of Egypt but the magician’s of Egypt did the same with their secret arts in Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as Yahweh had said and Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this so what is our first plague it is the water of Egypt turning to blood not just the Nile but we see some from other the verses in the context that even water in other places at least that was on the surface was turned to blood and by the way there is no natural explanation for this people sometimes like to try on a natural explanation they say oh with some algae in the water that made it turn red and this algae produced an anthrax virus which caused the frogs to come out of the river and when the frogs died it brought flies it’s a pretty complicated and convoluted explanation but it’s totally it totally stretches beyond what the text is able to take it’s not consistent with biblical text especially when God says I’m gonna do this this is supernatural it’s gonna occur when I wanted to occur so no no this is not a natural explanation that was just assigned a theological significance this is what really happened these were miracles and great judgments of God and the first one is that the water the Nile turns to blood and by the way why is that appropriate why is an appropriate judgment for Egypt who was supposed to be thrown in the Nile baby Moses along with all the Hebrew boys and probably some of them were thrown in the Nile and killed so the Nile has become blood this mechanism for killing God’s people what’s Pharaoh’s response to this plague as his heart was hardened he paid no concern what was the response of Pharaoh’s magicians well they also are able to turn water into blood not very helpful but somehow they’re able to do that now what did Gyptian deity was being judged here again many but one in particular would be the God happy happy was the god of the Nile flood he was associated with fertility he’s often depicted in blue because of the Nile River he was depicted as fat with male and female characteristics to emphasize his abundance his fertile nature but after this first plague the Nile was not bringing the fertility it is bringing death and future faction because God is greater than the gods of Egypt let’s look at the second plague extras chapter 8 verses 5 to 7 X is 8 verses 5 and 7 it says then you always said to Moses say to Aaron stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers over the streams and over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt so we’re in stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt the magicians did the same with their secret arts making frogs come on the land of Egypt so what’s the second plague it’s a frog invasion frogs everywhere and what’s Pharaoh’s response we did you read it in the verses we just read but it appears in the context Pharaoh it first agrees to release the Hebrews if Moses will entreat Yahweh to remove the frogs and then look down to verse 15 it says but when Pharaoh saw that there was relief he hardened his heart did not listen to them as Yahweh had said there’s the phrase there is that Pharaoh hardened his heart even though God is ultimately the one hardening at Pharaoh’s heart it’s also true that Pharaoh was hardening his heart God’s sovereignty remains responsibility they go together what is the magician’s response to this plague they’re also able to make frogs appear not get rid of the frogs but they can make more frogs appear and what deities associated with this plague again several but Hecate or Hecht is certainly one Kent was the Frog goddess goddess of fertility goddess of childbirth usually depicted as a frog or a woman with a frog’s head frogs were considered a a sign of abundance a sign of prosperity in Egypt frogs and great numbers would come out of the Nile every time the Niles fertile floods came in so the frogs were regarded as a symbol of life and fertility it was actually forbidden at certain times in Egypt for people to kill frogs and what an irony then instead of a life in fertility instead a symbol of holiness Hecate’s frogs bring nothing but trouble here they are a pest they are an annoyance all throughout Egypt they’re everywhere this is the second plague let’s look at the third the third appears in chapter or chapter 8 verses 16 and 17 it reads and you always said to Moses say to Aaron stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth then it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt they did so and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth and there were gnats on man and beast all the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt the third plague what’s the third plague it’s gnats dust turning into gnats or lice these are small almost too small to be seen little bugs that bite you and they’re coming on man and beast what’s fair was response to this plague verse 19 it says Pharaoh’s heart was hardened what’s the magician’s response we’re seen in verses 18 and 19 they try to bring forth nets from dust but they cannot and so they conclude they say to Pharaoh this is the finger of God they testify that this really is the one God at work but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened he doesn’t listen to the magician some relevant Egyptian gods for this plague would be Gabe and AK or they both gods of the earth they were supposed to bring help from the earth but that’s not what the earth is bringing it’s bringing these small biting insects if you’ve ever dealt with lice or small indistinguishable bugs you know what a terror they can be they’re all over Aegis even the dust of the earth had become a plague on the Egyptians that’s only the third let’s look at the fourth plague axis chapter 8 verses 20 and 24 so still the same chapter and says now Yahweh said to Moses rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water and say to him thus says Yahweh let my people go that they may serve me if you do not let my people go behold I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into your houses and the houses the view of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they develop but on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people are living so that no swarms of flies will be there so that you may know that I Yahweh am in the midst of the land I will put a division between my people and your people tomorrow this sign will occur and Yahweh did so and there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into the houses of his servants and the land was late wastes because of those swarms of flies and all the land of Egypt so our fourth play is the plague of flies or mosquitoes or some biting insects now I hate flies I hate to hear them buzzing I hate to see them just think everything feeling clean this is what is all over Egypt swarms of flies if you have one fly in your house that’s annoying but imagine a swarm and they’re biting they’re everywhere the sound I’m sure is intolerable but notice there’s special protection on the people of Israel it’s possible this was true even of the first three eggs or maybe those plagues affected areas that the people of it so we’re not in but we’re to see this going forward God keeps making a distinction between his people and people of Egypt and this is again showing this is not some natural phenomenon this is the act of God this is God sending forth mighty judgments what’s Pharaoh’s response well first Pharaoh offers to let them sacrifice he says a stay in Egypt and you can sacrifice Moses says no we are God called us to leave Egypt so when Pharaohs offers refused he promised this to let Israel let’s go if Moses will just import God and have the Flies taken away Moses does so but once again what happened before happens again Pharaoh hardened his heart and it did not let the people go this is wicked he’s deceptive yet this is what God sovereignly ordained magicians are not mentioned in this plague the particular involved here is a little unclear in terms of one that’s highlighted Capri is one offered by Answers in Genesis he was a God who had actually bug for a head scarab a beetle scarabs are not the bugs that are mentioned in particular here so probably Khepri wouldn’t be the God that I would highlight but regardless none of the gods are of Egypt are able to stop these flocks you can see that chaos is really being unleashed in Egypt let’s turn to the fifth plague fifth plague appears in chapter 9 verses 6 and 7 picadors says so y’all wait did this thing on the next day and all the livestock of Egypt died but of the livestock of the sons of Israel not one duck Pharaoh sent and behold there was not evil one of the livestock of Israel dead but the heart of Pharaoh was hardened he did not let the people get one so the fifth plague is a a targeted plague on Egyptian livestock horses donkeys camels sheep goats cows anything that was in the field God says he’s gonna die of plague Farrah’s response once again his heart was hardened magicians not mentioned here but one deity certainly exposed by this plague would be the goddess Hathor a very popular Egyptian goddess she was the goddess of the sky goddess of dance love beauty joy motherhood at foreign lands mining music and fertility always gotta throw fertility on there she’s depicted as a cow or as a woman with a cow’s head but again she is not able to prevent the Egyptian cows and other animals from dying Aman Hathor what happened this is because God is the only God the sixth plague we see in verses 10 to 12 in Exodus 9 look at verses 10 to 12 so they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh and Moses threw it toward the sky and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast the magician’s could not stand before Moses because of the boils but the boils were on the magician’s as well as on all the Egyptians and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to them just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses the sixth plague the plague of boils or sores both on people and on animals pharaoh’s response here we see that Yahweh specifically is said to harden Pharaoh’s heart sometimes it says was hardened sometimes it says Pharaoh hardened sometimes it says Yahweh hardened but these are all true what’s the magician’s response well they come back but they’re not really doing anything useful they got boils to it says they could even stand before Pharaoh it couldn’t stand before Moses these great men these wise men they also are reduced to nothing and certainly one of the Egyptian deities that would be exposed and shamed here would be the goddess Isis you’ve heard of Isis probably goddess of health of marriage of wisdom among other aspects it was extremely popular in ancient Egypt she subsumed Hathor even some what is the thing about mythology in any kind of polytheistic religion they’re God’s kind of overlap sometimes they actually combine there’s like Isis Hathor is a goddess so Isis would overlap a little bit Isis was also often depicted as a woman with a throne on her head because she was the mother of Horus the god of kingship and her priests her priestesses were thought to be skilled healers but this goddess of Health and her priests they are not able to overcome these boils sent by God it cannot protect the people of Egypt this is because only God is God the seventh plague look at verses 23 to 26 verse 23 it says Moses stretched out his hand wait where’s verse 23 there it is Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and y’all wake me you always sent thunder and hail and fire ran down your and Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt so there was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail very severe such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation the hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt both man and beast the hail also struck every plants of the field and shattered every tree of the field only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel were there was no hail what’s the seventh plague it is a hailstorm hail and fire now the fire probably refers to lightning remember ancients didn’t have any concept electricity so when you see this streak this bolt come down from the sky you say that’s fire from heaven that’s probably what’s meant here we have these lightning flashes these lightning strikes and the hail and maybe rain along with it pharaoh’s response to this plague is interesting he confesses again this is in the context he confesses that God is the righteous one and that he and his people are the wicked ones hey that’s an improvement Pharaoh also promises to send away the Hebrews once Moses stops the storm but as soon as the storm stops Pharaohs sins again he hardens his heart he and his servants according to verse 34 the magician’s may have been included in those servants a feature goddess of this plague would be the goddess Newt goddess of the sky her body actually was supposed to be the sky she sometimes depicted as a woman with a pot on her head or as a cow but again Newt is totally unable to protect the Egyptians from this traumatic hailstorm it was unlike any other storm experienced in Egypt by the way you may be noticing that animals keep on occurring even though all the livestock live Egypt died in an earlier plague this is because there were some this is likely because there was some time in between the different plagues I will see that more clearly in just a moment so it appears the Egyptians were able to obtain more animals maybe they took some from the Hebrews who didn’t have their animals died or with some of the wealth they had they bought other animals in the mean time before the next plague arrived so this is not a contradiction in the scriptures but now we turn to the eighth plague and for this we go to chapter 10 chapter 10 look at verse 12 and also verses 16 to 20 so look at chapter 10 verse 12 then you always said to Moses stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant at the land even all that the hail has left now flax and barley were destroyed in the hailstorm I’m just giving this as a aside a parenthesis but wheat and Spell they ripen later about a month later so this shows that there’s a time there’s a little break between the last plague and this next one it seems that there were pauses of various lengths between all the different plagues even though they presented pretty on top of each other and our next now jump down to verse 16 describing the locusts and what they wrought in Egypt then Pharaoh heard Lee called from Moses and Aaron and said I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you now therefore please forgive my sin only this once and make supplication to Yahweh your God that he would only remove this death from me you went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to Yahweh so you always shifted the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea now one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt a Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart did not let the sons of Israel go so the eighth plague is like gigantic locust swarm every green thing and every plant in Egypt is eaten now I don’t know about you I’ve never lived through a locust swarm but if you’ve ever seen videos of locusts they can be pretty terrifying they literally bring a cloud of darkness with them because there are so many and then they just eat everything anything that that is a plan they will eat this of course is gonna lead to very serious food problems in Egypt what’s Pharaoh’s response well before the plague occurs actually he allows two Hebrew men to leave he says you men can go but everyone else has to stay behind Moses refuses this offer after the plague Pharaoh confesses his sin as we bid and he asks Moses to intercede again once Moses does Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart and Pharaoh will not let the people of Israel go what’s the magician’s response here they’re not mentioned specifically but we do see in the context that Pharaoh’s servants and they may have included the magicians probably included the magicians they actually plead with Pharaoh to just let the Hebrews go Pharaoh don’t you see that Egypt is ruined just let him go but it doesn’t listen to them is there a particular God highlighted here answers to Genesis suggest Seth or set God that vegetation though from my own research I don’t see set associated with plants he was actually the god of storms the god of deserts and god of chaos and God of War now the locusts do come from the desert so set may have been involved but again no it’s none of the gods of Egypt are able to stop these devastating locusts this brings us to the last plague the ninth plague that we can discuss today again there’s another one beyond that but look at Exodus 10 verses 21 2:23 and then it will also read verses 27 and 29 so X is 10 21 to 23 then you always said to Moses stretch out your hand toward the sky that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt even a darkness which may be felt Somoza stretched out his hand toward the sky and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days they did not see one another nor did anyone rise from his place for three days but all the sons of Israel had light in their dealings jump down to verse 27 but Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he was not willing to let them go then Pharaoh said to him get away from me be aware I do not see my face again during the day you see my face you shall die Moses said you are right I shall never see your face again it’s the ninth plague I think you can say rightly that these are getting more and more intense the ninth plague is a plague of darkness a darkness that can be felt I do not know what that means but I’m sure it was very very frightful for the people of Egypt it lasts for three days but the place is a visual the omens are visual they have light because this is a supernatural darkness this is not some ash cloud this is not even the locusts swarm this is a supernatural darkness after the plague Pharaoh agrees to let the Hebrews go if they’ll leave their flocks behind I like Moses is response he says we’re not gonna leave a hoof behind God has called for all of it together Moses refuses and Yahweh hardens Pharaoh’s heart and she drives Moses from his presence one God certainly targeted in this plague is raw Sun God and he’s one of the most important of the Egyptian deities raw was thought to have dominion over all the creation Egyptians saw the Sun representing a light and warmth and growth it was ra’s own light so blotting out the Sun bringing darkness there was a huge blow to raw the gods Egypt and Egyptians themselves now we had to walk through that somewhat quickly but these are make sure you understand these are incredible works of God mighty wonders and judgments imagine living through these plagues can you imagine it can you imagine enduring all these different things being there in Egypt these things really happened and why God says outside at the beginning these were to show forth my greatness my wonders even tells Pharaoh in one of those texts we didn’t read I could have destroyed you already but you know why I didn’t so I could show forth my glory here in this land that you may know and everyone may know that I am Yahweh God was showing forth his glory in accomplishing a mighty judgment a terrifying judgment on Israel’s oppressors but a mighty deliverance for Israel God’s people God says Pharaoh was raised up specifically for that purpose by the way do these judgments remind you of anything else in Scripture that’s right you go to Revelation which is if that relationship read so if you remember the way eschatology plays out Jesus comes back for his church snatched them away in the rapture and there’s a period of seven years of terrible judgments on the earth and those are what is described in Revelation and then at the end of that tribulation Christ come Christ comes back as the conquering king to establish his kingdom that thousand kingdom but if you read those judgments in Revelation some of them sound like what’s here in fact the one about darkness that we see the ninth plague in Egypt there is a plague of darkness also in the end times and it’s also a darkness that can be felt actually says in Revelation that it causes pain they nod their tongues because of the pain of that plague of darkness this is because God is a consistent God God is a holy wrath Oh God against sin and sinners and he judges Egypt here and he will judge all sinners all unrepentant ones one day in that tribulation period of course there’s judgment beyond that anyone who does not know God when he dies will also be subject to judgment and ultimately that judgment is hell but we’re reminded of God’s judgment to come even when we look at the judgments on Egypt now God is very patient and gracious he even shows patience and grace throughout this account he’s giving time for the Egyptians to repent for Pharaoh to repent to recover but his patience does not last forever judgment eventually comes that’s why the bible exhorts us your sorts you to come to God do not remain stubborn in sin because judgment is coming you may be able to get away with it for a certain amount of time you may even convince yourself oh because I go to church because I call myself a Christian I’ll be alright but we must beware we must beware of challenging God Pharaoh challenged God and God said alright that’s enough I’m bringing in my judgment how do I do the same I don’t do the same for us or he might do the same you never know what God will do that’s why God says come now come now before God’s anger flashes forth you do not want to challenge God he is the Great God there is no one like him he is holy he is powerful and he is wrathful against those who oppose him but yet look at how gracious how how he is a God of vengeance on behalf of his own all these terrible things I haven’t Egypt they are acts of grace on behalf of God’s people even in the tribulation period in the judgments to come there is a there is a rejoicing of God’s people on that day it would say God you are finally bringing the justice that we were crying out for they were killing your people they were persecuting your people and as it says that one time in Revelation and you’ve given them blood to drink they deserve it now there’s an aspect of that which is like oh like I can’t even think about that because it’s it’s due terror terrible – terrorizing and yet it is good and just of God which side of that judgment do you want to be on do you want God to be acting on your behalf or against you it’s one of the things that this passage is meant to bring out to us I’ll just list a few other applications were pretty much out of time but some questions some concepts me to think about I had them listed there God will judge stubborn sin come to God before that time do not remain stubbornly Pratt would instead be clothed with Christ and oh the goodness of God rather than the anger of God if you have questions or comments about what you’ve heard today please email me or we’ve come to the ninth plague but the tenth plague is a special plague that would be commemorated in a special way in Israel and that’s what we’ll talk about next time let me close in prayer God you are as your scripture says a consuming fire for those who stubbornly resist say I’m God I’ll do what I want I’m not gonna gnaw llege that fuga Oh Lord there is terrifying judgment you have been gracious even to those people even to Lescott and Lord for those of us in Christ you’ve actually brought us out from that from being a child of Wrath and you’ve made us your own child but God for anyone for whom that is not true I pray that you’d bring them even today in this morning they’d be rescued from judgment they would not experience anything like what Egypt experienced but they would instead experience what you’ve promised your people which is dwelling with you forever enjoy but I pray that the people at Calvary and anyone listening they would Revere you as the God who brought the plagues on Egypt who with a mighty hand delivered his people from the bondage and oppression that was there I pray God that they would meditate on that and Lord that we would all see you more in the way that you ought to be seen in Jesus name Amen alright that’s all for this week see you again next time