The Lord of All

The Lord of All: Exodus 7:8-13:22 January 22, 2023 If you ever want to get some cheap entertainment, you may want to consider reading some of the warning labels on household products. These are sometimes every obvious warnings, like "caution, coffee is hot" on a hot cup of coffee. Here are five funny warning signs that I found on Reader's Digest (yeah, I didn't know they still existed either): While funny, let's be honest, sometimes we all need warnings or signs to point us in the right direction. I'm directionally challenged, so I know they are quite useful when I'm driving somewhere. In our text today, Exodus 7:8-13:22, we'll see some big warnings from the Lord to Pharoah and Egypt. As you'll soon see, these warnings are nothing like those we just reviewed. These were life changing and life altering. Last week, we concluded our text in chapter 7, verse 7. Verses 3-5 sets up this entire portion of Scripture that we will look at today. It says this: 3 BUT I WILL HARDEN PHARAOH'S HEART, AND THOUGH I MULTIPLY MY SIGNS AND WONDERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, 4 PHARAOH WILL NOT LISTEN TO YOU. THEN I WILL LAY MY HAND ON EGYPT AND BRING MY HOSTS, MY PEOPLE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT BY GREAT ACTS OF JUDGMENT. 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." Obviously, we won't be able to read this entire text, nor can we discuss in significant detail all these signs and wonders that the Lord spoke about. Anything we missed will be discussed during our roundtable time. But it is important to see what God is doing, and why He is doing it. You're likely familiar with this portion of the story. Here, God brings down ten plagues to Egypt and its people. We could very well do a sermon on each of these plagues, then another on the Passover and Exodus narrative in chapters 11-13, but instead, we'll focus the "what" and the "why" of the first nine plagues and pull some applications from them. Then, we will focus some attention on the tenth plague, and the resulting Passover tradition. Let's begin by identifying the main idea of our passage: God demonstrates His power in order to demonstrate His love for His people. This is one of the primary purposes of these plagues. For Israel, these plagues were a reminder of God's power and God's promises to their people. And, as we'll see later, it would serve as a testimony for future generations. For Egypt, it will show that God is Lord of all and is the one true God. Let's take a quick look at chapter 12, verse 12 to help us to see this more clearly: FOR I WILL PASS THROUGH THE LAND OF EGYPT THAT NIGHT, AND I WILL STRIKE ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, BOTH MAN AND BEAST; AND ON ALL THE GODS OF EGYPT I WILL EXECUTE JUDGMENTS: I AM THE LORD. In other words, God is judging the gods of Egypt. So, we'll see that God will bring plague upon plague, not only judging the people, but also bringing judgement on their gods. Before these plagues, however, Aaron and Moses go before Pharoah to show him a sign. It reads in chapter 7:10-13: 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. This sign will now set up the beginning of these plagues but notice how there were a group of sorcerers that were able to duplicate this sign. We will also see that they were able to duplicate the first two plagues. But, by the third plague the sorcerers were no longer able to duplicate the plagues and Moses records these words in chapter 8:19: THEN THE MAGICIANS SAID TO PHARAOH, "THIS IS THE FINGER OF GOD." BUT PHARAOH'S HEART WAS HARDENED, AND HE WOULD NOT LISTEN TO THEM, AS THE LORD HAD SAID. The finger of God is simply an acknowledgment of God's hand, or God's doing. It's used elsewhere to describe creation, the giving of the Law, and the casting out of demons in Luke's gospel. On the screen is an illustration of the ten plagues, and it will remain up while we review them. 1. The first plague is the Nile River's water turned into blood. We also see from the text that all water in Egypt was affected by this. Obviously, this caused the people to suffer, but just as important, God's judgement on the Nile was a judgement of their gods, Hapi, Isis, and Khnum [ka-num]. 2. The second plague was the infestation of frogs. Evidently, there was a god named Heqet, who was a fertility goddess and had the head of a frog. 3. The third plague, which was the infestation of gnats - or some translate as lice. This plague - as seen in 8:16 was the work of the staff striking the ground to turn the dust of the earth to these gnats. This was an attack on the god of the desert, "Seb" or "Set" 4. The fourth plague was similar - flies. These swarms invaded every livable area in Egypt. This was likely an attack on Khepri, who had the head of a fly, and was a god of the morning sun. Chapter 8, verse 22 reveals that the people of Israel were spared from this plague. 5. The fifth plague - the death of the livestock is an interesting one. Maybe you've seen pictures of these gods, and many of them have the head of an animal. Apis and Hathor were two of these gods, who had the head of a cow. Chapter 9, verse 4 reads: 4 BUT THE LORD WILL MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE LIVESTOCK OF ISRAEL AND THE LIVESTOCK OF EGYPT, SO THAT NOTHING OF ALL THAT BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL SHALL DIE."'" a. Just as we saw with the flies, God is sparing His chosen people from these plagues. b. Once again, we see how the Lord is in complete control of what is happening. God is controlling the elements and choosing who is affected by it. God Himself is all powerful. This is a lesson for Israel, for Egypt, and for each of us. 6. The sixth plague were boils that affected "MAN AND BEAST." By now, I think you get the idea that all these plagues were an attack on Egypt's deities, including Pharoah himself. 7. The seventh plague was hail. This is such an interesting plague as it includes such a large narrative and there's also some interesting, and seemingly unnatural phenomenon going on with the inclusion of fire and rain. Again, we see the power of God in this storm. a. This one affects the Pharoah unlike other times. In chapter 9, verse 27 we read: THEN PHARAOH SENT AND CALLED MOSES AND AARON AND SAID TO THEM, "THIS TIME I HAVE SINNED; THE LORD IS IN THE RIGHT, AND I AND MY PEOPLE ARE IN THE WRONG... 8. The eighth plague is the infestation of the locusts. This is another long narrative, and here we finally see that Pharoah and his officials are becoming tired, and Pharoah's servants are now going to him for all of this to stop. They're telling Pharoah that by his pride and his stubbornness, that Egypt is being destroyed. a. Another lesson here for us. We've seen this theme of Pharoah's heart being hardened. In fact, throughout this entire narrative his heart remains hard. In some cases, God hardens it, and in other cases we see that Pharoah hardens it. b. Hardening means that when someone has seen the clear evidence of God at work, and they refuse to submit, but instead they resist. c. You see, we don't know when and if the Lord will cause a heart to soften. So, our responsibility is to continue to do His will. We are to continue to share Jesus with others. God did not stop after the first plague. God didn't slow down or lessen the impact of these plagues - in fact, you've probably noticed how these plagues became progressively more devastating as they went on. i. Maybe you have a loved one who doesn't know the Lord, and they seem to have a hardened heart, don't stop. Maybe they are hard now, but God is all powerful as we've see with all of these plagues, so we know that God can soften even the hardest heart. 9. Finally, the ninth plague is darkness. This one was direct attack on "Ra", the sun god, who was usually represented by the Pharoah himself. Again, in a powerful display, the place of Goshen, where Israel resided was not under this darkness that plagued Egypt for 3 days. This plague was eerie, look at what 10:23 says: THEY DID NOT SEE ONE ANOTHER, NOR DID ANYONE RISE FROM HIS PLACE FOR THREE DAYS, BUT ALL THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD LIGHT WHERE THEY LIVED. We're going to pause for a moment and come back to the tenth plague. But first, let's discuss some ... PRINCIPLES FOR ME IN THESE PLAGUES Generally, these plagues were distressful, painful, costly, dangerous and destructive. Many of us face trials in our lives that we can say that same of. Addiction, for example, can be costly, dangerous and destructive. So, at risk of downplaying these specific plagues and what they meant specifically and literally to Israel and Egypt, let's see how these plagues apply to us today. First thing we can see here is ... * God will give me an escape route. o For Pharoah, all he had to do was let God's people go. But, as we just saw, out of his pride, he allowed Egypt to fall before his eyes. o 1 Corinthians 10:13 - in addressing temptation - states: NO TEMPTATION HAS OVERTAKEN YOU THAT IS NOT COMMON TO MAN. GOD IS FAITHFUL, AND HE WILL NOT LET YOU BE TEMPTED BEYOND YOUR ABILITY, BUT WITH THE TEMPTATION HE WILL ALSO PROVIDE THE WAY OF ESCAPE, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ENDURE IT. * The principle is the same. God give us opportunities. In fact, in 7 out of 10 plagues, God gave Pharoah a warning - He gave him a way out, an escape route. o Whatever you may be facing today, in this moment, there is a way out. o Next, * Don't test the power of God. o Pharoah tested the Lord. o Pharoah tried to put himself above the Lord. o While God is merciful, He is also a righteous Judge. * The bible says that the wages of sin is death * The bible's theme of judgement is unchanged, but just as we've seen here, God does provide a way out. An opportunity to be delivered from this penalty. * We will see this clearly in the final chapters of our text today. I know we've spent a lot of time in these first nine plagues. Chapters 11-13 discuss the importance and significance of the final and tenth plague and the resulting Exodus. That's where we'll spend the rest of our time together today. Here are the important aspects of these few chapters. * The announcement of the tenth plague is given. Chapter 11:4-5 reads: 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. * Following this warning, God marks the history of Israel - everything surrounds this event. Chapter 12:2 says 2 "THIS MONTH SHALL BE FOR YOU THE BEGINNING OF MONTHS. IT SHALL BE THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR FOR YOU o This illustrates the significance of this event in history. o In this plague, the Lord instructs Moses and Aaron that all the firstborn in Egypt would be killed, unless they had the blood of the Passover lamb on the door posts of their homes. Thus, when the angel of death passed over their homes, if there was blood on the doorposts, their firstborn would be spared. o So, at midnight, when this occurred, Israel was spared because they listened to the Lord, but as we read in Exodus 12:30: AND PHARAOH ROSE UP IN THE NIGHT, HE AND ALL HIS SERVANTS AND ALL THE EGYPTIANS. AND THERE WAS A GREAT CRY IN EGYPT, FOR THERE WAS NOT A HOUSE WHERE SOMEONE WAS NOT DEAD. o The following verses tells us that Pharoah sent Israel away. He had suffered enough, he no longer wanted to deal with the God of Israel. Then, the people of Israel took up their possessions, and they leave Egypt in haste. * The observance of Passover for Israel memorialized this event of God sparing Israel from this tenth plague. For us today, it carries a deeper significance. * I love how Warren Wiersbe put it, and I'm paraphrasing. o The idea of the Passover Lamb was introduced back in Genesis 22 when Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Isaac asked, where will lamb come from. Abraham knew that the Lord would provide this lamb. o Much later, John the Baptist in John 1 calls out to Jesus and identifies Him as "THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD" o This designation of Christ as the Passover Lamb is confirmed by our early Christian church leaders, namely Philip, Paul, Peter and John. * So, this was to be memorialized during the time of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (as seen in chapter 13) * Part of this meal included unleavened bread, which later we see that leaven signified impurity among the people. * Another aspect of this Passover meal was to consume bitter herbs, in order to remind the people of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. * In the New Testament, we see that the Jews and the early church also observed the Passover meal. When Jesus observed this meal in what we know today as the Last Supper, He used the third of four cups of wine passed during this meal, which was the cup of redemption, and He stated that it represented of His blood that He would shed for us - again, identifying Himself as the Lamb of God. The blood on the doorposts spared the people of death, just like the blood of Jesus conquers death and saves the people. The conclusion of this tenth plague resulted in the Exodus of God's people. This observance of the Passover reminds Israel every year of what the Lord had done for them, and most importantly points them to Jesus, the Messiah. Unfortunately, for many Jews, they have not yet made that connection. They have not yet understood that Jesus is the Passover Lamb. Once again, there is a lesson for us today as well. Our main idea today reminded us that: God demonstrates His power in order to demonstrate His love for His people. I think is critical to our understanding of the text today. So, as we close today ... PRINCIPLES FOR ME IN THE PASSOVER First, * God is Lord of all. o We witnessed God's power and control over all things in this account today, didn't we? o He controls the elements. o He crippled a powerful nation and their gods and at the same time, he exalted a nation that was enslaved for 400 years. o God is powerful. o Next, * Only the blood of Jesus can save you. o Through these seven chapters that we covered today, we saw that the sorcerers couldn't save them, their so-called gods couldn't save them, and Pharoah couldn't save them. o What was the result? All of the Egyptians faced judgement and torment, their land was destroyed, and their firstborn were killed. o God had a purpose, so they would know that He was Lord. o The final judgement before the Exodus was that picture of the Passover Lamb, that saved the people of Israel from that same judgement. o Today, He offers that same way out, through the finished work of Jesus, and the blood He shed. As we conclude this morning. If you are putting anyone or anything above the Lord, know that He is Lord of all. If you have any doubt about the power of the Living God, the God of Israel, remember this story and how God controlled the elements to show that He is God. He is Lord of all. Have you accepted this? Are you following Him as a result of this truth? If not, would you reconsider? Let's pray. 2