Signs, Wonders and Miracles
Exodus: Called Out • Sermon • Submitted
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· 25 viewsSince the dawn of time, mankind has been drawn in amazement to signs, wonders and the miraculous. God, in His grace and mercy, has used signs and wonders to shake awake the hearts of His people and to awaken the hearts of those who are far from Him. The human response to these divine wonders though has revealed the heart condition of each person. When Pharaoh witnessed the signs and wonders, his heart became hard. He was unwilling to move from his hearts condition that he was god. The same picture is seen throughout the New Testament as Pharisees, Sadducees, and governors within the Roman government refused to see the miraculous done before their eyes and attribute the work to the Almighty.
Notes
Transcript
The Hero of the Story
The Hero of the Story
Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
As Moses concludes the genealogy that points to his worth as the one chosen by the Lord, Moses once again reminds us of his shortcomings. In a recap of sorts, Moses reminds the hearer of the true hero of the story, Yahweh.
Yahweh is the agent of action in every step: ‘I have made you like God’ (v. 1); ‘I will harden Pharaoh’s heart’ (v. 3); ‘I will lay my hand on Egypt’ (v. 4); ‘when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel’ (v. 5).
Even the very words that come from Moses’ mouth is from the Lord.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
God continues to be the hero of the story. The Good News of Easter is that it is finished. God has already won the day. Our Hero has already overcome.
Signs and Wonders
Signs and Wonders
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The signs and wonders of the Lord show His power and authority over all of creation.
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”