Sermon Tone Analysis

*Exodus 7:14-10:29*

*Proclaim the Greatness of the Lord*

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I hope you were able to read Exodus 7:14-10:29, as I suggested in the email this week.

This morning we’ll just touch on some highlights from those descriptions of the nine central signs that God used to display His greatness and deliver His people from Egypt.

There are many small details in these nine descriptions.

You can reference the chart in your notes for some of them.

But we want to focus on several areas of the Lord’s sovereignty displayed in these plagues, as well as several areas of application for us.

As we mentioned last week these plagues seem to be organized in three sets of three; there is a clear progression as they quite build in their severity.

And so even a quick reading of these things shows that this is the Lord’s sovereign action, the execution of a very clear plan and purpose.

Let’s just overview all nine, and I’ll point out several areas of God’s sovereignty that are displayed here.

*Plague 1: Water to Blood (7:14-25)*

READ 7:14-17

We live in a nation of natural contrasts and very diverse natural resources; it’s hard for us to imagine life in a country where everything revolves so completely around one river: but in Egypt the Nile is everything.

And for the ancient Egyptians the Nile was worshipped as a great god.

Without the annual flooding of the Nile there was no life in Egypt; so at any cost, you must keep the god or gods of the Nile happy.

So God fittingly chooses to begin this display of His sovereignty with the Nile.

In verse 20 Aaron uses the rod to strike the Nile, making it clear that this is not Aaron’s work but God’s.

And the Nile turns into blood.

There is some dispute over whether this is actually blood or not, since the Hebrew word can describe the substance blood or the color (blood-red).

Regardless the Nile is changed both in appearance and chemical makeup, because verse 21 says the fish died.

This extended to any surface water connected with the Nile as well, in other pools and vessels, as v.19 describes.

This strikes at the heart of the Egyptian culture and religious system, while displaying God’s sovereign authority over nature.

But Pharaoh’s magicians are able to duplicate this on some sort of minor scale, and Pharaoh’s heart is hard.

Notice that God’s mercy is seen, both in the thorough warning He gave to Pharaoh, detailing exactly what will happen and why, and also in the fact that when the Egyptians dug they found water that was safe to drink.

*Plague 2: frogs (8:1-15)*

Seven days later another warning, then the plague of the frogs.

READ 8:3.

The Egyptians had a goddess who was represented by a frog; so once again this is part of the world they worship, and God turns their supposed deities against them.

Certainly having swarms of frogs everywhere is very uncomfortable.

This text is the culprit behind one of my most famous sermon blunders.

Preaching on Genesis 1, I mentioned the word “swarm,” which also appears here in verse 3. Now the NASB says that the frogs were in their kneading bowls, but I paraphrased that as bread pans.

The only problem was I didn’t say bread pans – what came out was “bed pans” – the frogs were in their bedpans.

It is probably true – the frogs were in both bread pans and bed pans.

This is much more invasive: with the first plague they could go home and possibly get away from the ramifications of that plague.

But now the second plague comes into their homes.

Nothing is off-limits to God.

He is sovereign over every area of our lives - literally.

We also see God’s sovereignty over timing.

READ 8:9.

Pharaoh, why don’t you use your great authority to make an important decision: when would you like God to sovereignly demonstrate His glory by removing the frogs?

Clearly the only one who is really sovereign over the timing is God.

Again the magicians are able to pull off some sort of imitation, and when Pharaoh saw that God sent relief he hardened his heart.

*Plague 3: gnats (8:16-19)*

READ 8:16-19 Again here we see God’s sovereign control over nature.

This plague especially seems to have a very miraculous nature to it, as it says the dust became gnats.

This is the word for any flying, biting insect, so this could be something like mosquitoes.

Now this time the magicians fail; yet Pharaoh’s heart is hard.

*Plague 4: flies (8:20-32)*

The gnats are followed by swarms of flies.

What’s especially new here is READ Exodus 8:22-23.

What strikes me here is the suggestion to Pharaoh that there are only two kinds of people: my people and your people – the people under my rule, and the people under yours.

And there is a clear division between the two.

It’s hard not to think of Jesus words that there are only two gates and two ways: a broad way and gate that leads to destruction, a narrow way and gate that leads to life.

Or Jesus’ promise that when he returns he will separate the nations, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

God is sovereign over destinies: and there are only two possibilities.

You are either on God’s side or against Him; part of God’s redeemed people or not; you have come to God as your ruler or you continue to live your own way.

Pharaoh begins to show more signs of cracking here; but then when relief comes he immediately hardens his heart.

*Plague 5: livestock (9:1-7)*

READ 9:3-7 The severity is increasing now: you see the phrase in verse 3 /very severe pestilence/.

In any place where farming is central to the economy, your wealth is often measured by the size of your flocks and herds.

So since livestock were so important, they had many gods that were symbolized by cows and rams and bulls.

But God shows that those are not gods at all, by sending a sickness that takes the life of many of the livestock of Egypt.

We know it doesn’t kill all of them since some are left to die in a later plague.

Verse 6 “all the livestock” can just as likely be translated “all sorts of livestock” or “livestock from all over.”

This was a widespread destruction of their personal wealth, showing that God is sovereign over wealth.

Psalm 50:10, /every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills/.

When they gave offerings for the building of the temple, David said to God /For// all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You/ (I Chron.

29:14).

There is no wealth on planet earth that is not God’s.

And He will do what He pleases.

*Plague 6: Boils (9:8-12)*

READ 9:8-12 The death of the livestock was a huge blow, but it didn’t hit home like this one: because this one was their bodies.

Now God displays His sovereignty over health.

This is unnervingly personal; this is my body; this is my health.

We eat right and exercise and take care of our bodies, as we should – yet we aren’t the ultimate authority in our own health: God is.

Painful sores break out on the Egyptians, and there isn’t any mention of this plague being removed – it may be possible that these sores remained as the other plagues unfolded.

READ v.15 God clarifies as bad as these things are, He is showing considerable restraint.

The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart – and we move on the plague 7.

 

*Plague 7: hail (9:13-35)*

This is a storm with devastating hail, rain, and continuous thunder and lightning.

Verse 24 describes it as /very severe/.

God warns Pharaoh that this is coming, and once again allows Pharaoh to exercise his ruling authority, and spare the animals and even people by bringing them all indoors.

It’s a terrible situation for Pharaoh; if he issues a country-wide edict for all people and animals to stay indoors, he is telling the whole country that Yahweh is in control and far more powerful than him; if he doesn’t issue such an order, he may face a massive loss of life throughout his kingdom.

Apparently the word was spread, and people chose whether to heed the warning or not, and those who ignored the warning died, both people and animals.

Every plant of the field was also damaged.

This shows God’s sovereignty over the weather.

In a farming society the weather is of major importance, and much of their religious rituals involved the weather.

God shows that He’s actually in charge.

And READ 9:29.

Moses apparently walks right out of Pharaoh’s palace, into the hailstorm, untouched.

Yet when God stops the storm, Pharaoh and his servants have hard hearts.

*Plague 8: locusts (10:1-20)*

READ v.5 This great swarm of locusts, and they will eat all of the vegetation not destroyed by the hailstorm.

READ 9:30-32.

Pharaoh had a little secret, he thought he’d finally caught a break.

Because while the hail did a huge amount of crop devastation, two of the crops had not yet ripened.

They were too small to be permanently damaged.

So Pharaoh had this little secret – unfortunately God is sovereign over the secrets of our hearts.

And so in this very next plague, God says “By the way, all those crops that escaped the hail – the locusts will eat them.”

The tiny bit of economic hope they still had as now been destroyed.

Then God blew the locusts back out of Egypt, and further hardened Pharaoh’s heart.