The Book of Exodus, Part 4: Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro
Intro
Title - Vessels of Wrath and Vessels of Mercy
Series - The Book Of Exodus, Part 4
Text - Exodus 9.14-17
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.
14 For this time I am going to send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.
15 For had I now put out My hand and struck you and your people with plague, you would then have been eliminated from the earth.
16 But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name throughout the earth.
17 Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go.
Background
Background
Background story -
Moses and Aaron goes to Egypt and speaks in the name of God
Pharaoh refuses to recognize the God of the children of Israel
Pharaoh makes the job of the Hebrews heavier by not supplying the straw that they need to make the bricks
Israel complains to Moses and Aaron - Exodus 5.21 “21 And they said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have made us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!””
Moses complains to God
God promises action, but Israel would not listen - Exodus 6.9 “9 So Moses said this to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.”
God begins to harden the heart of pharaoh so that his miracles may multiply
Pharaoh demands a miracle, and Moses and Aaron turns the staff into snake
Pharaoh’s wise men and sorcerers did the same with their magic, but their snakes were swallowed by Moses’
Moses strikes the water of the Nile and it turns into blood. This was the first plague.
Pharaoh’s magicians did the same
chapters 8-10 records the next 8 plagues
1. water turned to blood - Exodus 7.14-25
2. frogs all over the land - Exodus 8.1-15
3. dust turns into gnats/lice - Exodus 8.16-19
4. swarms of flies - Exodus 8.20-32
5. plague/pestilence on the livestock - Exodus 9.1-7
6. soot from the furnace turns into boils - Exodus 9.8-17
7. hail and fire from heaven - Exodus 9.18-35
8. swarm of locusts - Exodus 10.1-20
9. thick darkness that lasted 3 days - Exodus 10.21-29
10. death of the firstborn - Exodus 11-12
ILLUSTRATION #1 - THE 10 PLAGUES
Pharaoh refused to let Israel go 10 times
on the 10th plague he and all Egypt begged Israel to depart from their land
Main Subject
Main Subject
The characters in the story of Exodus can be grouped into two types -
vessels or objects of wrath, and
vessels or objects of mercy
Israel was the object of God’s mercy. They were the reason God has come down, because he heard their cries and saw their condition in Egypt.
Pharaoh, on the other hand, was the object of God’s wrath. And yet God was being patient with him!
How did the drama unfold in these chapters?
God holds back his judgment
God holds back his judgment
Pharaoh deserves the wrath of God, for some reason God did not destroy him immediately!
Pharaoh deserves the wrath of God, for some reason God did not destroy him immediately!
15 For had I now put out My hand and struck you and your people with plague, you would then have been eliminated from the earth.
Pharaoh’s sins that were worthy of God’s judgment
Pharaoh’s sins that were worthy of God’s judgment
he kept the children of Israel in bondage as his predecessors did.
he refused to acknowledged the God of Israel - Exodus 5.1-2
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
he defied the God of Israel by increasing their hard labor
3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will strike us with plague or with the sword.”
4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you let the people neglect their work? Get back to your labors!”
5 Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”
6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying,
7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 But you shall impose on them the quota of bricks which they were making before; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, for that reason they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9 Let the labor be heavier on the men, and have them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”
When God holds back His judgment, people develop varying opinions -
When God holds back His judgment, people develop varying opinions -
some question His existence
some question His power
some question His faithfulness to His word
some becomes even more defiant of their errors
God hardens pharaoh’s heart
God hardens pharaoh’s heart
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
How did God harden pharaoh’s heart?
God hardens only the heart of the unbelieving
God hardens only the heart of the unbelieving
God saw pharaoh’s stubborness - Exodus 3.19
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.
pharaoh has refused to obey God and let Israel go - Exo 5.1-2
God hardened pharaoh’s heart by holding back His judgment
God hardened pharaoh’s heart by holding back His judgment
because his sins were not judged rightaway
because he remains in power
Indications of a hardened heart
Indications of a hardened heart
Pharaoh asked for a sign but refused to believe it
9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may turn into a serpent.’ ”
10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and so they did, just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it turned into a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the soothsayer priests of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
Pharaoh dismissed the power of God by exerting his own power.
his magicians imitated the miracles performs by Moses and Aaron
Pharaoh did not listen even to his own people
18 The soothsayer priests tried with their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on every person and animal.
19 Then the soothsayer priests said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
God multiplies His signs and wonders
God multiplies His signs and wonders
3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”
16 But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name throughout the earth.
NOTE - God hardened pharaoh’s heart by allowing him to remain or continue to live!
God demonstrated His power is greater than all the deities of Egypt!
God demonstrated His power is greater than all the deities of Egypt!
12 ‘For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and fatally strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the human firstborn to animals; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord.
The 10 plagues against the gods of Egypt
The 10 plagues against the gods of Egypt
water turned to blood - Exodus 7.14-25
HAPI - the god of the annual flooding of the Nile
KHNUM - guardian of the source of water
OSIRIS - the Nile was his bloodstream
frogs all over the land - Exodus 8.1-15
HEQT - Egyptian goddes with the head of a frog
dust turns into gnats/lice - Exodus 8.16-19
GEB - god of the earth
swarms of flies - Exodus 8.20-32
KHEPRI - the god with the head of beetle/fly; he moved the sun
plague/pestilence on the livestock - Exodus 9.1-7
HATHOR - goddess of fertility with the head of a bull
soot from the furnace turns into boils - Exodus 9.8-17
ISIS - goddess of medicine
IMHOTEP - god of healing
hail and fire from heaven - Exodus 9.18-35
NUT - goddess of the sky
SHU - god of wind and air
SETH - god of stroms and disorder
swarm of locusts - Exodus 10.1-20
NEPER and NEPRI - god and goddess of grain
thick darkness that lasted 3 days - Exodus 10.21-29
RA - the sun-god
death of the firstborn - Exodus 11-12
HEGET - goddess of birth
MIN - god of reproduction
judgment against all the gods of Egypt
GOD USED THE STUBBORNESS OF PHARAOH TO EXALT HIS NAME AMONG THE NATIONS!
God demonstrates the riches of His grace
God demonstrates the riches of His grace
22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with great patience objects of wrath prepared for destruction?
23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon objects of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 namely us, whom He also called, not only from among Jews, but also from among Gentiles,
THIS WAS God’s ultimate goal in allowing pharaoh to live on
THIS WAS God’s ultimate goal in allowing pharaoh to live on
To demonstrate the riches of His grace to His objects of mercy - Israel!
He set apart His people!
22 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, in order that you may know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land.
23 I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.” ’ ”
He set apart their properties
4 But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.” ’ ”
5 And the Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”
6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but not one of the livestock of the sons of Israel died.
He set apart their dwelling place
24 So there was hail, and fire flashing intermittently in the midst of the hail, which was very heavy, such as had not occurred in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
25 The hail struck everything that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, from people to animals; the hail also struck every plant of the field, and shattered every tree of the field.
26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail.
He gave them light in time of darkness
22 So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.
23 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 dwellings.
He made all Egypt fear His people!
even dogs feared the Israelites
7 But not even a dog will threaten any of the sons of Israel, nor anything from person to animal, so that you may learn how the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’
God endured with great patience
He held back His wrath against Pharaoh
He allowed pharaoh to live on
Conclusion
Conclusion
THE CONTINUING OF EVIL AND WICKEDNESS DOES NOT MEAN GOD DOES NOT EXIST, NOR THAT HE HAS NO CONCERN FOR THOSE WHO CALL ON HIM…
GOD HAS ALOWED SUFFERING, PROBLEMS, AND TROUBLES TO PERSIST -
SO HE CAN DEMONSTRATE HIS POWER!
SO HIS NAME WILL BE GLORIFIED WHEN HIS WONDERS ARE MULTIPLIED!
GOD IS EXERCISING GREAT PATIENCE OVER THESE VESSELS OF WRATH SO HE CAN SHOW HIS GLORY UPON HIS VESSELS OF MERCY!
Song -