Behold, the Power of the LORD!

I’ve referenced Cecil B DeMille’s cinematic classic, The Ten Commandments multiple times. If we’re not careful, though, we’ll let that drive our understating and imagery in our mind’s eye of this incredible account.

This showdown is NOT between Moses and Pharaoh…it is between a hardening Pharaoh and the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.

The LORD told Moses in the beginning of Chapter 7, you will be like God to Pharaoh…translation - you’re going to be the mouthpiece of Heaven on earth, but you’re also going to take the brunt of the rejection.

—without getting too far ahead of things, that’s very similar to the position that you and I find ourselves in when walk in obedience to our LORD’s command to share the good news of the Gospel and make disciples…when rejected, we must remember that they are actually rejecting God while it doesn’t always mean the end of a friendship - sometimes it does - darkness cannot stand the light. In either case, it’s still heartbreaking.

TRANISITION

It’s very easy to get lost in the details of the plagues. There are multi-layered elements that compete for our attention.

Many of the seasoned bible students in the room this morning know that the plagues, in essence, went after many Egyptian gods. In fact, there were some plagues that “attacked” multiple Egyptian gods.

Many of the apologetic- or scientifically-minded in the room will have likely seen at least one of the multiple attempts of those who would hold to the religion of Scientism, trying to undermine the credibility of these being miracles. They have to ignore so many sound scientific principles to make it work in the condensed timeline. Minimally it would taken 50 days, less than one year.

So, is this sermon about the plagues? Is this sermon about Pharaoh’s heart hardening? Neither of those is the main point, but we do love to focus on those sensational elements don’t we?

Is there some sizzle in this sermon about “How to Overcome Obstacles As A Leader?” I can give you a pretty hearty NOT-SO-MUCH on that one!

-----

Notice the first act that’s worth commenting on is OBEDIENCE!

It’s a theme throughout this book isn’t it? It will be a theme throughout our time together this morning as well.

Exodus 7:6–7 ESV

6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

God has just reminded Moses that there is a larger reason why Pharaoh will not let the people go (and this will be difficult - even offensive - for our self-absorbed culture to process)...

The larger reason - the LORD’s own purposes of judgment upon Pharaoh (7:4) and glorification of himself (v. 5).

WAIT…WHAT? God would harden people’s hearts so that he might be glorified even in judgment (Rom. 9:14–23)?

Romans 9:22–23 ESV

22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

This kind of judgment of Pharaoh magnifies God’s grace to a greater degree—think about it - Israel did not “deserve” mercy and deliverance. Israel also deserved judgment. What made them different from the Egyptians? God had set His love on them and made a covenant promise for His glory.

So now Moses and Aaron are going to appear before Pharaoh again. We know well how the last encounter went, how about this one. Let’s read together:

Exodus 7:8–13 ESV

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Exalting Jesus in Exodus That They May Know That I Am Yahweh

Snakes captivated the Egyptians. Pharaoh wore one on his head as a symbol of his authority. He was to be feared, like snakes were feared. The Egyptians were so awestruck by snakes that it led them to serpent worship. They reportedly built a temple in honor or the snake goddess Wadjet, who was represented by a cobra

There are counterfeit signs that indicate the power of darkness at work. A little bit of study here will indicate that we are not talking about snake charmers, or illusionists. This is a display occult practices tapping into the very power of Satan himself. In 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, Paul would articulate this well when he speaks of the “lawless one”’s activity as the activity of Satan - practicing false miracles, signs, and wonders.

This is the reason Christians are to have NO PART in anything connected to the occult. I don’t know of a more appropriate season to make that point in than now. Brother or sister in Christ, you have no business associating with darkness and death “dressed up as fun”! NO! No part…The LORD would tell His people over and over, HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH PAGAN PRACTICES AND WAYS…

NT - Abstain (shrink back from it…keep aloof from it) from EVERY form of evil. Not dab in it for fun’s sake.

We can take courage - one day soon, in the final battle - Jesus will destroy Satan and every lying work and counterfeit gospel Him with the breath of His mouth.

We catch a glimpse of that here in verse 12…Aaron’s serpent SWALLOWED up their serpents! Think about it, they didn’t their staffs back. That had to be embarrassing.

- Notice this word, “swallowed.” This same word is used later in Exodus 15:12 to describe the drowning of the Egyptians in the sea. God will swallow Israel’s enemies, and later in the Scripture we are shown how God swallows our great enemy, death ( 1 Cor 15:54).

I thank the LORD for the Holy Spirit illuminating our minds and opening our hearts as we study the Word of God. I am also indebted to many excellent Spirt-filled and gifted thinkers, researchers, theologians, and writers who help serve as a bit of a cloud of witnesses in my study and preparation for preaching. This week, I was especially helped - trying to cover this much ground - by Tony Merida, Tim Chester, and Alec Motyer in their writings on Exodus.

Even in this initial encounter I began to wonder if there was a thread here for the remaining plagues. I believe you’ll notice with me these four elements or emphases in each plague:

OBEDIENCE - Moses & Aaron will be given a clear command from the LORD. They will obey.

GOD’S POWER on display!

Satan’s counterfeits…or attempts.

Pharaoh’s heart hardening as he refuses the LORD.

REMEMBER the MAIN THEME HERE is that GOD’S NAME WOULD BE EXALTED!

Let’s take a look at the plagues.

Water turned to blood. (7:14-24)

Frogs (7:25-8:15)

Gnats (8:16-19)

Flies (8:20-32)

Egyptian Livestock Die (9:1-7)

Boils (9:8-12)

Hail [Thunder, Hail, & Fire rained down] (9:13-35)

Locusts (10:1-20)

Darkness (10:21-29)

Death of the Firstborn (11:1-10)

There’s an article I’ll post for you all later this week that Ashlie came across when our kids were studying this particular part of Egyptian culture and history in their studies at home. Some Faux-Atheists putting philosophy and ideology forward posing as science to discredit the miraculous nature of the Egyptian Plagues. It was an implausible “reach”…the timeline, cohesion, exclusion of the Israelites for some of the plagues, and lack of replication were there enemies…but they tried nonetheless.

But...Some of the plagues may have been natural phenomena “in a sense” - God uses naturally occuring elements in divine ways at the perfect time to make himself known . There may even have been a knock-on effect with the earlier plagues.

- The Nile is polluted, which sends the frogs into the towns.

- The frogs die in huge numbers, which brings gnats and flies.

- These then produce an epidemic of disease, which kills the livestock and spreads boils among humans.

But the timing of the plagues leaves no room for doubt that this is God’s doing.

Most of the plagues are announced in advance, although every third plague (the third, sixth and ninth) comes without warning.

With every third plague (this time the first, fourth and seventh), we are told that Moses appears to Pharaoh in the morning (7:15; 8:20; 9:13).

Four of the plagues mention “tomorrow” as a start or stop time.

Moses grants Pharaoh “the honour” of setting a time for the end of the second plague (8:9–10), while Moses himself sets the time of the end of the fourth plague (v 29).

With the fifth and seventh plagues, the focus shifts. Now the Lord sets the time (9:5, 18; 11:4).

With the final plague, the LORD’s appointed start time is moved forward to midnight (11:4).

Aaron is said to be the agent of the first three plagues (7:19; 8:5, 16–17) and Moses is the agent of the sixth to ninth plagues (9:8, 22–24; 10:13, 21–22). But God is the direct agent of the fourth, fifth and tenth plagues (8:24; 9:6; 11:4). The point is that these plagues did not just happen.

BEHOLD, THE POWER OF GOD - They happened in God’s timing and at God’s instigation, through God’s chosen messengers.

There’s another miraculous element to this…the Israelites had experienced the first plagues alongside the Egyptians.

(We must remember that living in a world under God’s judgment means God’s people sometimes suffer alongside those who are rejecting him.)

But God’s divine sovereignty over these plagues is on full display after the fourth plague as HE protects his people from the hail, the darkness and the death. We are left in no doubt.

We see the obedience of Moses and Aaron on display in EVERY instance. God says do it…this way! They do it! God moves!

(I wonder what would happen if, with childlike faith and wonder, we would obey the LORD with reckless abandon, and see the LORD move for His glory!)

As God displays his power we come to see,

The LORD is the Creator of all the earth and all creation is in his power.

Let’s go back and look at those counterfeit attempts:

Water turned to blood. (7:14-24) / REPLICATED

Frogs (7:25-8:15) / REPLICATED

Gnats (8:16-19) / TRIED AND FAILED TO REPLICATE

Flies (8:20-32) / --

Egyptian Livestock Die (9:1-7) / --

Boils (9:8-12) / THEY’RE AFFLICTED AND CAN’T EVEN STAND

Hail (9:13-35) / THEIR HEARTS HARDEN

Locusts (10:1-20) / THEY ASK PHARAOH TO SUBMIT

Darkness (10:21-29) / ---

Death of the Firstborn (11:1-10) / REGARD MOSES HIGHLY

How about the EGYPTIAN GODS being dismantled before their very eyes. Here are just a few:

Water turned to blood. (7:14-24) /

The Egyptians worshiped the Nile as their creator.

At least three deities were associated with the Nile: Osiris, Nu, and Hapi

6. Boils (9:8-12)

Exalting Jesus in Exodus That They May Know That I Am Yahweh

Egyptians also looked to their false gods for healing. This included Amon Re, Thoth, Imhotep, and Sekhmet. The plague was an attack on all the false gods the Egyptians trusted for healing. In our day, medicine is a wonderful tool, but it is not God.

8. Locusts (10:1-20)

Exalting Jesus in Exodus That They May Know That I Am Yahweh

God was continuing to humiliate the Egyptian gods. This time it was an assault on the gods of the fields. Many Egyptians depended on Min, the patron god of crops; Isis, the goddess of life (who prepared flax for clothes); Nepri, the god of grain; Anubis, the guardian of the fields; and Senehem, the protector against pests. These gods failed miserably.

9. Darkness (10:21-29) / ---

Darkness would have been terrifying to the Egyptians because they also worshiped the sun. “Every morning the rising of the sun in the east reaffirmed the life-giving power of Amon-Re” (Ryken, Exodus, 304). The sunset represented death, but the sunrise offered them the hope of the resurrection.

Pharaoh was known as the son of Re, the incarnation of Amon-Re. Amon-Re for most was the king of all Egypt’s gods. But Amon-Re, the biggest of all of Egypt’s gods, could not help them!

>>Let me say a word about this: We are a conflicted bunch in this civilized world we know as the West. With all of our technology, modern scientific understanding, medical advances, and communication tools, we cannot stop death. When it comes naturally or unnaturally by tragedy - we hate it. We look for a scapegoat to blame. We’ll do anything to prevent it, and guilt ourselves sick with hindsight trying to find a reason for it.

“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” (Heb 9)

Are you afraid of death…because you know you’ll stand before God the Holy Judge?…you should be.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (Heb 10:31) with no mediator.

Egypt will testify that THE LORD IS CREATOR OF ALL THE EARTH AND ALL CREATION IS IN HIS POWER!

The LORD alone is the Holy, Righteous Judge

In all 3 cycles of the plagues, we see those elements at work:

Obedience

God’s Power

Counterfeit efforts

Pharaoh’s hard heart!

REMEMBER the MAIN THEME HERE is that GOD’S NAME WOULD BE EXALTED - that He would be known as the LORD God Almighty who reigns over Heaven and Earth: (we covered this last week)

He will make that known to to ISRAEL!

Exodus 3:15 ESV

15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

He will unfold that truth to EGYPT

Exodus 7:5 ESV

5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

In fact, ALL NATIONS will know of God’s NAME because of His Power shone through the Exodus of God’s people!

Exodus 9:16 ESV

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE HARDENING OF PHARAOH’S HEART:

Everything falls apart. Egypt is unmade. All around Pharaoh the very fabric of his world is falling apart, disintegrating into chaos, darkness and death.

Water to blood. (7:14-24) / BECAME HARD

Frogs (7:25-8:15) / HARDENED BY PHARAOH

Gnats (8:16-19) / WAS HARD

Flies (8:20-32)) / HARDENED BY PHARAOH

Egyptian Livestock Die (9:1-7) / WAS UNYIELDING

Boils (9:8-12)) / HARDENED BY THE LORD

Hail (9:13-35)) / HARDENED BY PHARAOH

Locusts (10:1-20)) / HARDENED BY THE LORD

Darkness (10:21-29) / HARDENED BY THE LORD

Death of the Firstborn (11:1-10) / HARDENED BY THE LORD

Kelly Clarkston sings, What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…I’m not sure that holds true. It can make you harden your heart toward the LORD…what if you only had one shot? That would still be an act of grace & mercy from our Holy LORD?

Adversity can be a stepping stone toward holiness and sanctification or a stumbling block toward sin and callousness of heart!

The plagues are a pointer to something bigger and more terrible. God told Pharaoh his judgment would come and it did. And God has told all humanity that judgment is coming. These plagues from thousands of years ago are a sign to us that God’s coming judgment is real.

HE IS THE CREATOR!

HE IS THE JUDGE!

THE LORD IS THE GRACIOUS SAVIOR!

In Exodus 11, we see the LORD pulling the curtain back on what is about to happen to Egypt…there will be blood!

Exodus 11:4–7 ESV

4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’

We started with a picture of blood…a sign of blood. Death was foreshadowed at the beginning. Now real life will be required.

Pharaoh was warned of this final plague in verses 4-8. We knew it would be this costly way back in Exodus 4:22-23.

Chapter 11 reminds us of the sacrifice of life required for the salvation of HIs people.

This started with blood and ends with it. There can be no Exodus…there can be no escape from slavery to the enemy without blood.

In Genesis 3:21, as a result of Adam & Eve’s rebellion, blood was required from the animals used so they could be covered. There can be no covering of sin without the shedding of blood.

GOD SAVES ISRAEL! His judgment and mercy are side by side.

CONCLUSION:

When many of us say we want to see the Power of God, we mean some miracle that works in our favor!

Egypt met the real God…as they beheld his power.

- This God is Almighty Creator. He rules over creation alone. He is sovereign. He is the jealous God. He will not share His glory with another.

- This God is the Righteous Judge. He will punish people according to their sins.

- This God is the Gracious Savior. He is merciful. He will save all who cry out to Him in humility and genuine repentance.

Our world has seen a global pandemic…and most of the world has done its best to carry on as normal. Instead of stopping and taking notice of our God & King! Instead of learning that we CLEARLY CANNOT CONTROL OR EXPLAIN AWAY ALL AGENTS OF SUFFERING AND DEATH, we have looked for folks to blame. Let me remind you of this startling statistic 100% of people born will die.

But let me bring it home a little closer than that.

Week after week, you can sit in a congregation, or watch online the power of God on display. (You say, what sign…what wonder?) The glorious Gospel of our Jesus Christ proclaimed faithfully as men of God obediently stand between Heaven and Earth behind the sacred desk and call men and women and boys and girls to HARDEN NOT THEIR HEARTS, BUT TO OBEY THE LORD’S COMMAND TO REPENT AND BE SAVED!

There are those same elements:

A call to obedience

while God’s power is on display

pushing back against the counterfeit Gospels from Satan himself

with some hearts softening…but some hardening!

Though we were created in the image of God, Your sin, my sin, all of creations rebellion agains this Holy God looks just like Pharaoh’s: “LORD? WHAT LORD? I’M CALLING THE SHOTS IN MY LIFE.” We sound like the crowd at the crucifixion, “We’ll not have this Jesus to rule over us!”

God will not overlook sin. The wages of sin is death - not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God.

But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

God sent his son. Jesus Christ is true God and true man, was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary. He led a sinless life and was crucified to death on the cross as the sinner's substitute, shedding His blood for the forgiveness of sins. The third day He arose from the dead in the body which had been laid in the tomb. He ascended into heaven, where at the right hand of God the Father He is now the high priest and advocate of the redeemed.

Sinful man can be saved only by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, on the basis of His substitutionary death and resurrection. Those who receive the Savior are born of the Holy Spirit, adopted as children of God, and kept eternally secure.

Will you fall like Egypt under the judgment of God or will you be saved today? Don’t harden your hearts...

BEHOLD THE POWER OF GOD!

Let’s pray.

>>>>>>

Benediction

To Him who is the the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Related Media

Related Sermons