SIGNS: WATER TO BLOOD (EXODUS 7:14-25)
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
MOTHER'S DAY AND THE PLAGUES!!!
INSTEAD OF PLAGUES LETS THINK ABOUT SIGNS.: SIGNS OF SOVEREIGNTY.
GOD IS MOSTLY PORTRAYED IN SCRIPTURE IN MASCULINE TERMS BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY. THERE IS A REPEATED REFERENCE IN THE SCRIPTURE TO GOD AS A MOTHER.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT JESUS MADE UP.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.
OUR CULTURE EXPRESSES THIS AS "MAMA BEAR". DON'T MESS WITH A MAMA BEAR. IN EXODUS, GOD IS ACTING AS A MOTHER PROTECTING HIS YOUNG.
The story of Exodus is complex.
The story of Exodus is complex.
1. God is bringing judgment and justice upon the Egyptians.
1. God is bringing judgment and justice upon the Egyptians.
2. God is rescuing and redeeming the Hebrews.
2. God is rescuing and redeeming the Hebrews.
3. God is demonstrating his sovereignty and supremacy over the gods and nations of his world.
3. God is demonstrating his sovereignty and supremacy over the gods and nations of his world.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
HARDENED = HEAVY.
At this time the Egyptians believed that when someone died the person went to judgement in the underworld. The individual’s heart—which was thought to be the very essence of the person—was weighed on the scales of truth. On one pan sat the feather of truth and righteousness; on the other lay the heart of the deceased. If the heart was heavy or weighty with misdeeds, the person was unjust, condemned and thrown to the Devouress to be eaten. If the heart was pure, the deceased would go to the Egyptian afterlife.
15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ”
FIRST. THE NILE IS WHERE THE STORY STARTED. BABIES BEING THROWN INTO THE NILE.
SECOND. THE NILE IS SYNONYMOUS WITH HAPI.
HAPI IS A MALE/FEMALE GOD OF FERTILITY. SEEN AS THE GOD THAT GAVE BIRTH TO EGYPT AND CONTINUES TO GIVE BIRTH WITH THE YEARLY FLOODS.
19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”
LIT. ‘Blood will be on all the land of Egypt and on the wooden [things] and stone [things].’
WOOD & STONE = IDOLS
EGYPTIAN PRIESTS WASHED THE IDOLS OF THEIR GODS WITH WATER EVERY MORNING.
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. 25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
THIRD: WATER AND BLOOD ARE SYMBOLS OF LIFE.
MASORETIC TEXT: IT WAS FILLED SEVEN DAYS = COMPLETE DOMINATION
GOD IS THE ONE WHO TRULY GIVES LIFE AND MAINTAINS IT.
God can and will judge the wickedness of our culture.
God can and will judge the wickedness of our culture.
Cultural attack on the imago dei.
Somewhere someone is wishing someone a happy birthing person day…
Pro abortion groups are protesting this morning at churches.
God can and will be shown supreme and sovereign over our cultural gods.
God can and will be shown supreme and sovereign over our cultural gods.
Most modern commentators try to explain the signs/plagues as natural phenomena. We have rejected the supernatural and have become blind to the spiritual forces and powers that wage war against us.
money. sex. power.
identity. individualism.
God can and will rescue and redeem his people.
God can and will rescue and redeem his people.
16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed.
DID NOT LISTEN – LO SHEMA – LISTENING AND COMING IN ALINGMENT
THIS IS IN CONTRAST TO MOSES AND AARON WHO DID WHAT YHWH COMMANDED.
THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT. THINK BACK TO ABRAHAM'S FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. IN GEN 22, SACRIFICE OF ISAAC...
18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.