Exodus: Journey to Freedom (12:1-13, 29-42)

• April 17, 2023
• Pastor
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Exodus 12:1-13, 29-42

Well, we’ve had two weeks of vacation from Exodus. A two-week hiatus – beginning with Palm Sunday and continuing with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and then, last week, Easter Sunday. So, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn back (now) to the Old Testament book of Exodus – chapter 12.

When you study world history, or American history, or church history – really any kind of history – you come to certain days and events that are so significant that it seems as though the world just shifts. Let me give you a couple of illustrations:

December 26, 1776 – when Gen. George Washington took his Continental Army on a clandestine maneuver across the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to Trenton, NJ, where they defeated British and German forces at The Battle of Trenton. It might not have been the complete turn of the American Revolution, but it was the beginning of the turn.

July 3, 1863 – when 15,000 men ran across an open field and the Confederate Army broke the Union line but could not sustain it and were pushed back. That was the day that Union forces new The Battle of Gettysburg would ultimately lead to victory in the Civil War – and from that moment on, Gen. Robert E. Lee never took the offensive again.

June 6, 1944 – a day upon which the history of the entire world turned, when roughly 160,000 American, British, Canadian, and Australian men landed on the beaches of Normandy, France and pushed back the German forces. And at the conclusion of Operation Overload, it seemed as though the entire Allied Army and, indeed, the world knew that WWII was over. It would take almost a year, from June 6, 1944 to May 8, 1945, but the war would come to an end.

These are just a few examples from our own history where times were marked – the world, itself, seemed to shift – and when we come to Exodus 12, we come to a single night upon which the history of all the world turns in an event known as The Passover. Follow along with me as I read verses 1-13, then we’ll skip down and read 29-42.

1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 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. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 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. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus, they plundered the Egyptians.

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so, this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

“Father in heaven, we thank You for this time that You’ve brought us together. We believe that You have a message for us – not just principles, but a message for our hearts and lives – that we might apply and grow in our knowledge, obedience, and love for You. So, we pray, Lord, that You would reveal Your truth to us. I pray that we, like Peter says, would be “like newborn infants, long[ing] for the pure spiritual milk, that by it [we] may grow up into [our] salvation” (1 Peter 2:2). God, as we study, we study not only the Bible but we study the author of the Bible. We’re looking to find out who You are and what You’re like, and how we can respond to You. For it’s in Jesus’ name that we pray, amen.”

Let me begin, if I might, by just highlight some of the obvious differences that this final plague presents. First, Exodus 11-12 is actually best understood as one complete unit. What Moses is doing for us here, is what film makers do regularly. In the previous chapters and plagues, everything has been narrative. We’ve been reading it and following it like a story. But then, all of a sudden, after the plague of darkness, we get this little interlude where God and Moses and Aaron kind of have a personal meeting. God gives them the specific instructions about the Passover, then in chapter 12, Moses pans away from this little personal meeting to the larger encampment of the Jews. And we see Moses delivering the instructions to the Israelites, and it’s not until midway through the chapter that we get popped back into the narrative of the plague actually happening.

The second thing that’s a bit different is that this is an interactive plague. What I mean by that is that the previous nine plagues had all been carried out directly by God with only minimal involved, mostly by Moses and Aaron. This one involved the entire nation of Israel’s participation.

And the last thing that’s a bit different about this plague from the other nine is that it’s fairly repetitive. Beginning in chapter 11, we get the initial instructions. Then in chapter 12:1-13 Moses relays the instructions. Then in verses 14-28 we get a more detailed description of everything we’ve heard thus far. Then we actually see the plague being carried out (vss. 29-43), and finally (vss. 43-50) we get the formal institution of the Passover. So, it becomes quite clear that God has a message that He wants to get through to these people (and to us).

Interestingly enough, the message that God wants us to see is that the Messiah, the Promised One, God’s own Anointed – Jesus – is the only true hope of salvation from sin and death. And so, I want to highlight just a few key verses and phrases that point this out. The first is…

Jesus – Our Perfect Lamb

Now maybe you spotted this. I bet some of you did. There’s a progression that’s taking place and I don’t want you to miss it. It’s beautiful. These kinds of things when you find them in the bible, it’s like gold. If you’re in the habit of marking in your Bible or you take notes during sermons (that’s a novel idea), then I’m going to tell you want to note. Go back to verse 3, “Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household.” That’s the first progression. Now look at verse 4, “And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.” That’s the second progression. The final progression is in verse 5, “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old.” So, you have “a lamb, the lamb, and your lamb.”

See, there was a time in my life where I heard about Jesus Christ. I was raised in a spiritual environment, in a Christian home, going to church. I heard enough stuff to know that Jesus Christ was “a lamb.” He was a religious leader. He was a good moral teacher. He was an incredible example. But that’s all Jesus was to me at that time. He was “a lamb.”

But then there came the day when the Spirit of God began to convict my own heart about my own spiritual need, and my own sin, and my need for “the lamb.” And I discovered He wasn’t just “a lamb,” He’s “the Lamb.” He’s the answer that I was looking for. He’s the only One that God sent out of heaven to take care of the sin of mankind. And I went from “a lamb” to “the lamb.”

But the glorious day, the graduation day (if you will), is when you go from recognizing Jesus as “a lamb,” to “the lamb,” to accepting Him as “your lamb.” It’s personalized. You personally received the Lamb to yourself. Like Peter says in Acts 4, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Listen what Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Yes, He’s “our savior,” but He’s also “mine” – a lamb, the lamb, your lamb.

Of all the Old Testament festivals, the Passover is the clearest and most striking foreshadowing of the cross. Let me jog your memory. Remember back in Genesis 22, Isaac and Abraham are walking up to Mount Moriah and Isaac says, “Hey pops, here’s the wood and here’s the fire but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” And Abraham says, “My son, God, Himself, will provide a lamb for the offering” (Genesis 22:7, paraphrased).

Isaiah 53:7, the prophet is speaking of the future Messiah and he says, “like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Or how about this from 1 Peter 1:18-19, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Finally, John records the following in his apocalyptic vision, “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain,” (Revelation 5:6) and chapter 13, “Jesus Christ the lamb that was sacrificed from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8, paraphrased).

All the way through, the Bible points to the lamb and the Passover lamb is where it begins in terms of the full foreshadowing of what the cross would do. Clearly, Jesus is our perfect Lamb. And that brings us to the second thing we notice about Jesus in the Passover and that’s His blood, His atonement on our behalf.

Jesus – Our Atonement

Maybe you’ve had someone ask you this before. Or, perhaps, you’ve had this question too. A few years back, Martha Canata asked me this question: Why was blood required to remedy sin? Why didn’t God use water or some other method? What’s the significance of blood? Over in Hebrews 9:22 we read this, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” And that takes us back to Genesis 9:4 and Leviticus 17:11, where God gives Noah and Moses (respectively) the instructions on making sacrifices, and we read, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

You see, man’s sin is so offensive to God, so heinous that basically there’s no possible way that we could have any fellowship with a holy, perfect God unless blood was shed. A sacrifice was made to pay for the sin. In fact, if you go all the way back to Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve committed the first sin we read this, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7).

Now follow me here. We know that the ultimate consequence of that first sin was death. But what was the immediate consequence? (Shame, guilt, nakedness). And how did Adam and Eve seek to remedy that initial consequence of sin? By sewing fig leaves together to hid or cover themselves. Now watch this. If you keep reading in Genesis 3, you’ll remember that God shows up looking for Adam and he’s hiding, right? That’s when God addresses Adam and Even and we get this blame game thing, right? Then God addresses the serpent and lays out his punishment, and God talks to Adam and Eve and lays out their punishment. You remember this, right? Then, listen to what Genesis 3:21 says, “And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

But wait a second, God. They already had something covering their nakedness. Yes, but their covering was insufficient to atone for their sin, and so God performed the first sacrifice in Genesis 3:21 by making them garments of skins. Listen to what the Cambridge Bible Commentary says, “The divine sentence of punishment is thus followed at once by a divine act of pity, as if to certify that chastisement is inflicted not in anger, but in affection.” So, you sinned, and the punishment is death, but then God says, “I’ll tell you what, if an innocent victim dies in your place, we can be together based upon that.” And so, in the Old Testament, it was primarily the blood of a perfect lamb that was sprinkled on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant to atone for man’s sin. But that sacrifice, that atonement had to be repeated again and again and again, until the Perfect Lamb of God came to fully eradicate sin’s effect.

And there’s one more thing I want to highlight for you before we move to our final point, and that’s the sign that the Israelites were to paint on their doors. Exodus 12:7 says, “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat [the Passover lamb].” If you were to imagine the shape of the symbol, the shape of the sign, the marking on the door what would it look like to you? A box with no bottom, right? Now, if you’re a Jew and you’re making that sign do you know what might come to your mind? The Hebrew letter Tav. It’s the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. We have a saying that goes like this, “from A to Z” and what does that mean? Everything. Completeness. Whole. From beginning to end. Similarly, the Hebrews would say “from aleph to tav.”

When these Jewish people were putting the blood of the lamb on the doorposts there’s no doubt in my mind that some of them were thinking this is complete salvation, this is complete redemption, this is complete deliverance. In order for you and me to have complete salvation, complete redemption, complete deliverance we need to have the blood of Jesus applied to our hearts and lives, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Jesus – Our Deliverance

This is the Exodus. This is the exit. They’re exiting the land. They’re “exodusing” the land. They’re leaving. This final plague, this Passover is what takes the children of Israel out across the wilderness into their own land. So, here’s the summary as we close.

The Passover was to commemorate past deliverance, but the Passover was also to predict future deliverance. It commemorated the past deliverance of Egypt, and it predicted the future deliverance of the cross of Jesus Christ. Some of you were with us on Good Friday. If you weren’t, we had a huge wooden cross leaning up across the altar and everyone was given a little piece of red paper and a nail. And we just took some time to write our sins on those pieces of paper and then nail them to the cross. And several folks said that was such a moving experience because it was tangible, it involved participation, it was concrete and physical.

Now, imagine standing in a doorway with a hyssop branch in your hand and you reached down and dipped it in a bowl of blood made by sacrificing a lamb and you were painting on the doorposts and lentil. What do you imagine that experience would provoke? It looks like another lamb who would hang on a cross in that very shape some thousands of years afterwards.

Okay, here’s the principle. A lamb changed the lives of the people of Israel. And the principle is still the same. A lamb can change the life of anyone. Either you’re going to die for your sin or you’re going to let a Lamb take your sin and die for you. Every Billy Graham Crusade, when he used to do crusades, concluded with the same song. “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me and that Thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God I come! I come.”

All of that is based Exodus 12. The only way come to God, the only way to meet with God is over the shed blood of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the only place where God will have fellowship with any person. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would not perished but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“Oh God, we thank You for this amazing truth, this amazing story, this amazing grace that our lives can be different because of a lamb. Our lives can be changed because of a lamb. Israel was able to be saved from physical death because a lamb’s blood was applied to their homes. Lord, we’ve come a step farther. We recognize that Your Son, Jesus, is the promised Messiah, the true Lamb of God, and that we can be saved – not only from physical death but spiritual separation from You – because of the blood of Jesus Christ being applied to our lives.

Father, if there’s anyone here today that has not personally, in their heart of hearts, accepted You as their sacrificial Lamb, I pray earnestly (in tears) that the Holy Spirit would move them to come forward as we sing our closing hymn. Father, for the rest of us, would You continue to apply the blood of Jesus to our hearts and lives, that we might be holy even as You are holy. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.”

The Resurrection – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19, 54-57

• April 10, 2023
• Pastor
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1 Corinthians 15:12-19, 54-57

Well, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Some of you are looking at your Bibles wondering where that is – we’ve been in Exodus so long. 1 Corinthians 15 is in the New Testament. Again, some of you are thinking, “What, there’s a New Testament?” As you’re finding your spot, let me remind you that, today, we join Christians around the world who have been echoing (and will echo) the angels’ Easter greeting.

So, for example, if you lived in Serbia you’d say, “Hristos vaskrse!” In China (you ready for this?), “Jhīdū fùhuó le!” You can believe that if you like. In the Ukraine, “Khristos voskres!” In Spain, “Cristo ha resucitado!” In Romania, “Hristos a inviat!” In Denmark, “Kristus er opstanden!” I can even understand that one, can’t you? “Jesus is standing up.” I love that! “Kristus er opstanden!” In France, “le Christ est réssuscité!” And in Italy, “Cristo è risorto! Veramente è risorto!”

Or my very favorite, a story that’s told by one of my preaching mentors, Alistair Begg. Jimmy was a man in his late 50’s that lived in the west of Scotland. When he became a follower of Jesus, his entire life was turned around. Prior to receiving Jesus as his Savior, Jimmy lived in near homeless conditions; he was under the bondage of alcohol and other things. His conversion was really remarkable. And as people worked with him and tried to encourage him and get him ready for his first Easter, they were explaining to him, “You know, Jimmy, somebody will probably say to you, ‘Christ is risen!’ And if they say that to you, then you reply ‘He is risen indeed!’” Jimmy said, “Okay.”

And so, Easter came around. And, indeed, it happened that Alistair encounters him as he comes into the church. And he says, “Jimmy, Christ is risen!” And then there’s this long pause, and Jimmy says, “Ay, he is, son – nae doot aboot it!” Isn’t that just perfect? He couldn’t come up with the standard reply, but he was in no doubt about the fact that Jesus is alive.

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Father, as we turn to the Bible, what we know not, teach us; what we have not, give us; what we are not, make us. For Your Son’s sake. Amen.”

The Good News of Christianity, this morning, is not simply that Jesus was miraculously born, which He was. Nor is the Good News of Christianity simply that Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, which He did. The Good News of Christianity isn’t even that He died a sacrificial death in our place, which He most certainly did. What makes Christianity Good News is that He did all of that AND was resurrected from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit to live and reign forevermore.

This morning, I want to take just a moment and focus on Jesus’ resurrection and help us to understand that it’s incomparable, indispensable, and inescapable.

The Incomparable Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is incomparable. In other words, there’s nothing that can compare to it. Now, you might say, “Hey weren’t there other resurrections? Wasn’t the daughter of Jairus raised from the dead?” Yes (Luke 8). “Wasn’t Jesus’ friend Lazarus raised from the dead?” Yes (John 11). “Didn’t Peter and Paul also raise people from the dead, and weren’t there even accounts of resurrections in the Old Testament?” Yes (Acts 9), yes (Acts 20), and still, yes (1 Kings 17; 2 Kings 4, 13). But in each case, it was a resurrection only to die again. Each of those individuals indeed was brought back to life, but they died a second time. Jesus’ resurrection was an everlasting and eternal resurrection.

It was Jesus who declared, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). He’s the one who said, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:18, KJV). And so it is, that the Bible very clearly emphasizes the fact that Jesus’ resurrection is unlike any other resurrection. Moreover, the promise to anyone who places their faith and trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ is that because of His resurrection they, too, will experience physical resurrection to live with their Savior in glory. That’s what Paul is addressing here, in 1 Corinthians 15.

The reality of Christ’s resurrection is recorded for us in each of the four Gospels, and we read about the disciples encountering an empty tomb on that first Resurrection Sunday. We read about a personal encounter with a real, living, breathing, embodied Jesus. And the charge given to all of them is the charge that is essentially given to the church: “Come, see that Jesus is the risen Lord. And then, go and tell. Go and tell people. Tell them humbly. Tell them clearly. Tell them simply. Tell them boldly.” But we have failed to do that, haven’t we?

I’m speaking corporately, here. Sure, there are some of us that make it a point to share our faith. But speaking of the whole of Christianity, we’ve stopped proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection. And let me tell you why. It’s in part because of people like me, or rather people in positions akin to mine. You say, “Pastor, I don’t understand. What do you mean?” I mean simply this: so many pastors, preachers, and clergy, instead of accepting the record as stated in the Bible, have decided, for whatever reason, to compromise the straightforward message contained in the Scriptures. And so, what happens is the trumpet gives an uncertain sound. The herald gives an ambiguous message. The preacher’s message is vague, and therefore the Church doesn’t go out to battle.

If it was really the responsibility of the pastor to debunk the gospel, if it was really the responsibility of the Bible teacher to psychologize the whole thing, to sentimentalize it, to domesticate it, that would be one thing. But it isn’t. Every sermon recorded in the book of Acts proclaims Jesus’ resurrection. Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) mentions it twice, “This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:23-24, 32). The charge to you and me today is the same as it was to the first disciples – “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).

That “gospel” includes not only His birth, His life, His death, but also His incomparable resurrection. The only church that will move the world towards the truth of Scripture is a church that is absolutely convinced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Indispensable Resurrection

Secondly, it is indispensable. The resurrection – as a fact of the gospel – is not something that’s nice to have but you don’t really need it. No, when we read the Gospel records and even into Paul’s letters, we realize that Christ’s death and His resurrection are interwoven. One doesn’t exist without the other. As I mentioned a moment ago, when the apostles begin to preach in the book of Acts, they are always moving from the death of Christ to the resurrection of Christ in one complete sweep. They’re not doing one on one day and another on the other. No, they say, “He was buried, but He was raised. He died, but He is alive.”

In fact, right here in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul begins this chapter on the resurrection with just that expression. He says, “I [want to] remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you . . . For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins [according to] the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day [according to] the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, [and] then to the twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-5). Do you see it? Death, burial, resurrection, appearance, all indispensable. You can’t have one without the other.

Why is this so important? Because there’s no salvation for sin unless there’s a living Savior. That’s what verses 16-17 of our text says, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” And the reverse of that is true as well. A living Lord can only be the Savior because He died for our sins. In other words, Paul says, “It doesn’t do us any good if Jesus only died for sins, but wasn’t raised from the dead. Likewise, it doesn’t do us any good if Jesus was raised from the dead, if He didn’t die for our sins.” That’s why we also read verses 54-57, and verse 56 says, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

To separate one from the other is actually to commit heresy. To divorce the two – Jesus’ death from His resurrection, or His resurrection without a death for sin – is to negate the gospel. That’s why, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we’re not solely remembering Jesus’ death, but also His second coming. In this very same letter, when Paul is speaking about the Lord’s Table he says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). If He hasn’t been resurrected, then how in the world is He going to return?

The incomparable resurrection and the indispensable resurrection. Finally, we consider the inescapable resurrection.

The Inescapable Resurrection

It’s inescapable, insofar as it makes clear that eternity is a reality for each of us. Eternity is a reality for all of us. The last time I checked, the death rate was one per person. I didn’t check today, but I’m sure it didn’t change. The Bible even says, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). So, everyone everywhere is asking or will ask the same question: How can I avoid being defeated by that last enemy? You can’t beat him. You can’t buy him off. You can’t appease him. You can’t outrun him. You can’t exercise enough or eat well enough. There is nothing you can do to avoid being overtaken by this enemy. But…

The resurrection says you can overcome this enemy. You see, when you stand over a believer, it’s not the same as standing over an unbeliever, because when you stand over a believer, you know that because of his/her union with Christ they will rise just as Christ rose from the dead. The difference is that they will rise to meet their Savior, to glorify their Savior, to adore and worship and praise (forever) their Savior. Those who don’t place their faith and trust in Christ and receive His free gift of salvation by grace will rise to meet “the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

Folks, life is short. Life is uncertain. To act and believe otherwise is foolishness. So, let me ask you: Have you prepared for your final appointment? The Apostle Paul was speaking to a group of people in Athens – many of them like us: intelligent, nice, law-abiding citizens. And he said to them, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed [Jesus]; and of this [God] has given assurance to all by raising [this man, Jesus] from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).

And what was their response? “[W]hen they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ So, Paul went out from their midst. But some joined him and believed” (Acts 17:32-34a).

Well, here you are this morning. Robert Murray M’Cheyne, the old Scottish evangelist would say, “I speak to you as a dying man.” That’s me. I’m a dying man, and I’m speaking to dying men and women. So, I urge you, I beg you: do not put this off. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). Receive the gift. Believe on Christ. Consecrate your life to Christ. And tell everyone about Christ.

“We bow down before You, our good God, asking that You would write Your Word in our hearts, that we may find ourselves trusting in nothing and no one other than Your beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”

Christ in the Passover – Arielle Randle & Rachel Freidlander

• April 3, 2023
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Christ in the Passover

Presentation by Arielle Randle and Rachel Freidlander from Jews for Jesus.

Our Living Hope (Choir Easter Musical)

• April 2, 2023
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The Mountain Hill Community Church sanctuary choir, under the direction of Worship Leader Ray Schnurr, performs Our Living Hope: Risen Savior, Conquering King, created by Johnathan Crumpton, arranged and orchestrated by Bradley Knight.

Exodus: Journey to Freedom (9:13-10:29)

• March 27, 2023
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Exodus 9:13 – 10:29

Well, where are we going this morning? (Exodus.) Listen, I know that some of you are tired of Exodus, but we’ve only been in this study for 3 months. That’s not even the full length of the first 3 plagues. The first 3 plagues likely started around July/August, and the reason we know that is because of a clue that we read about today. We’re going to see, in just a moment, that the flax and the barley were struck down, but the wheat and the rye weren’t, because they’re late bloomers.

So, from agricultural clues, we know that the hailstorm that we’re getting ready to read about happened in January/February, because that’s when the flax and barley come to bud. If you do a little bit of very rough math, and you figure that the first plague happened in the month of July, and you assume that each plague lasted more/less for a month’s time – then you have:

Plague of the Nile turning to blood (July) / frogs (August) / gnats (September) / flies (October) /dead livestock (November) / boils (December) / Today’s plague of hail (January) / locusts (February) / darkness (March) / Final plague – the death of the first-born (a.k.a. Passover) (April)

Now, that’s not a completely accurate accounting. Some plagues could’ve lasted longer than a month and others, like darkness, which we’ll read about in just a minute, lasted only a few days. But the point is to recognize that this sermon series could be much longer. Plus, you get next Sunday off because the choir is going to lead us in worship. Amen? Alright, I know it’s a lot of reading, so buckle up. Parker has already given me a hard time about it – you can thank him for doing your job after church. Here we go. Exodus 9:13ff:

13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 14 For this time I will send all My plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 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. 17 You are still exalting yourself against My people and will not let them go. 18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 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. 28 Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” 29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 4 For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD.” 10 But he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the LORD. 19 And the LORD turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 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. 24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.” 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.”

“Our gracious Father, some of us are already tired, just from listening attentively to Your Word. So, help us to remain engaged with You this morning. Help me, Lord, to speak a message from You, rather than my own ideas and feelings. May the Holy Spirit do the work of convicting us of sin, righteousness and judgment – that we may be more faithful and obedient followers of Your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen.”

Rather than recount the plagues this morning, I want to just highlight a few things from each one:

Plague Seven – Hail

There’s a little bit of Pharaoh in all of us. Now, I know that might not sit well with you – but it’s true. Even for those of us “in Christ,” there’s still that kernel of rebellion and pride and stubbornness. And God’s words to Pharaoh in verses 14-17 ought to wake us up. It didn’t wake up Pharaoh, but I pray that we hear them as God intended.

The previous 6 plagues, as troublesome as they were, were essentially preliminary. In fact, God’s tone is beginning to sound like the book of Job, isn’t it? Here’s my paraphrase of verses 14-17, “Pharaoh, listen up. I’m getting ready to unleash the full fury of My power against you. Up until now, I’ve been restraining Myself. I’ve actually been holding back. I’ve actually been merciful, to some degree. See Pharaoh, thus far, at any point along the way, I could’ve wiped you off the map and the rest of the Egyptians with you. But I haven’t, because I want to use you to demonstrate My extensive power and My mighty Name to the entire world.”

And for us, sometimes we forget just how big our God really is. We go around living our lives, making our plans, ignorant of the hurt and suffering in our communities and the world. If we’re not careful, we might just end up thinking we’re the king of our own domain; and eventually God will get our attention. It may be a worldwide natural disaster. It may be a personal health scare or a bad diagnosis. It may be the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or the dissolution of a marriage – none of which are, necessarily, the direct result of God’s hand, but are nonetheless allowed by Him. And that’s what God is doing here.

He’s trying to get Pharaoh to wake up to the reality that there’s only one true God and Pharaoh ain’t it. Do we know that God is really and truly the One that’s in control? Or, like Pharaoh (in verse 17), are we exalting ourselves. Listen, Pharaoh had long ago “set himself against God’s people and would not let them go,” and he was still doing it. And as odd as it might sound, there are some people that made a decision a long time ago that God and His Church weren’t going to have a place in their lives. Oh, they’re not going to be ugly or mean or antagonistic about it. They might even come to Church from time to time, but their hearts have been hardened.

If that’s you, then please hear the Word of God this morning. And for the rest of us, would we continually pray for a “broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17) in the presence of our mighty God.

As always, I wish I had more time, but let me just say that this hailstorm was unlike anything any of us have ever witnessed. We get wide-eyed when people show pictures of hailstones the size of golf balls, and such. But folks, these hailstones killed man and beast and broke every tree. And let me just make another connection, here, to the book of Revelation. In the seventh bowl judgment (in Revelation 16), we read this, “And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”

Loved ones, this is going to happen again. “Oh, pastor, come on, I can’t believe that’s literal. Surely you don’t think everything in the book of Revelation is a literal description of things that are going to happen?” Well, no, not everything, but certainly some things – and since hailstones were used by God against Pharaoh, I’m inclined to think that Revelation 16 is another literal judgment of God. So may this be another warning for us to wake up, stop exalting ourselves, and share the Good News of Jesus Christ while there’s still time.

Two more things and we’ll move on. Notice that this plague was able to get the attention of some of the Egyptians. Look at verse 20, “Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses.” When the Israelites end up leaving Egypt some of these Egyptians go with them – not many, but a few. In fact, those Egyptians would cause problems later, but some believed. And we know that eventually some Egyptians came to believe in our mighty God, because in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit is poured out on the Church, Egyptians are among the peoples from every nation under heaven that were present.

The final thing I want you to see is Pharaoh’s false repentance (vss. 27-28), “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” Again, we’re not immune from this kind of response either. It’s been suggested that Billy Graham once said there were more “unsaved” people in the pews on Sunday morning, than genuine followers of Jesus.

It looks good. It sounds good. But the Apostle Paul would include this description in his list of people to avoid. He said they “[have] the appearance of godliness, but [deny] its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Or how about this description from Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” Biblical repentance is admitting your sin to the One you’ve sinned against, and ultimately that’s God. There might be other people that you sinned against too, but every sin is ultimately against God. That’s why David said, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight…” (Psalm 51:4).

Pharaoh didn’t do that. He confessed to Moses. He didn’t confess to the One he sinned against. Listen, you can come to me, as your pastor, but it’s my job to usher you into the presence Christ Jesus. He’s the One that died for your sin. And biblical repentance also includes the hearts singular desire to flee sin and its grip on our lives. Pharaoh definitely didn’t do this. So, beware of practicing false repentance.

Plague Eight – Locusts

When we get to Exodus 10:1-2, we discover that all of these events weren’t just for Egypt but also for Israel. They were to tell their sons about their God. Exodus is the story of Israel. It’s THE story that shaped them as a people, and it was to be retold. Not only is Exodus the story of Israel, but if you’re a Christian, then it’s your story too. Like God delivered the Israelites, Jesus delivered us all from our sin, if we’ll only confess our sin and repent and follow after Him. And just like the Israelites were supposed to tell their story; we’re called to tell our story. We’re called to share the Good News of Jesus with our family and friends and anyone that will listen.

Notice that Pharaoh’s servants finally begin to relent. “Just let them go, already. How much longer are we going to let this Moses guy be a snare for us? After all, it’s dangerous out there. There’s lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” We saw this last week. It’s compromise. It’s negotiation. It’s going halfway. The world says, “Listen, it’s okay if you get in to this, but don’t impose it on your children. Don’t drag your family and your friends, and especially your children into this. Let them make their own decisions.” But Moses won’t have it.

Let me make one final comment before we move to the last plague. Many scholars will say that the events we read about were natural events that occurred. They say, “Well, there were other instances where the Nile River turned to blood and frogs came on the land and etc., etc.” And it’s important to know that these were natural phenomena heightened by supernatural factors. All of these are supernatural judgments. God is using the natural elements that they know about, but He added supernatural factors.

For instance, God says, “Tomorrow it’s going to get dark (well, yeah), but the darkness will be here but not there. The hail is going to rain down here, but not there. Your cattle are going to be affected, but not the Israelites’ cattle.” So, these are natural events with God’s supernatural factors added to them. The same is true with these locusts. They were brought in by an east wind. We have a marriage of two important principles, one is the miraculous and the other is the providential.

A miracle is where God intervenes and sometimes contravenes natural law. That’s a miracle. Providence is different. Providence is God superintending natural events and weaving together natural events for His purpose. In Exodus, we have both of them operating simultaneously, the miraculous and the providential. Enough said, let’s move to the last plague.

Plague Nine – Darkness

Nothing says judgment like darkness. Notice verse 21, this darkness was to be “felt.” How do you feel darkness? Well, I think there are at least two ways. The first is to go to an evil place, an evil venue, somewhere you know that bad things are taking place. Maybe you’ve been in a couple of those places, and it just “feels” dark. That’s the first way we can “feel” darkness, but that’s not what’s meant here. For one thing, saying that we “feel darkness” in that sense is more a way of try to describe something – it’s not a literal feeling.

That leads me to the second way that we feel darkness, and that’s literally groping around in the darkness. Again, we have to really pause here and use our imaginations and remember that prior to the invention of the light bulb, when the sun went down the town closed up. There wasn’t any traveling at night. You could only carry a lit torch so far before it went out. So, this darkness was a supernatural darkening of the sun and moon so that there was literally no light whatsoever for 3 whole days.

Can you imagine what would happen if we literally experienced pitch black darkness for 3 entire days? People would lose their minds. Fear would spread like wildfire. Depression and anxiety would consume many people. That’s how darkness is felt.

Furthermore, it wasn’t uncommon to associate darkness with death, and rightly so. But there’s another association with darkness and that’s judgment. In the Jewish Talmud, it was believed that one of God’s signs of judging a people or a nation was darkness. Now, follow me here: how long was this darkness in Egypt? (3 days). What happened when Jesus was on the cross for three hours? (Darkness covered the earth). Let me make one final connection and we’ll be done. In Revelation 16, during the fifth bowl when that final day of wrath has been poured out upon the earth, one of the bowls, the fifth bowl is darkness poured out on the kingdom of the anti-Christ and it’s a severe darkness. The whole kingdom becomes full of darkness.

There’s only one way to defeat the darkness of sin, and that’s to look to the One who “dwells in unapproachable light?” (1 Timothy 6:16). Do you know the Savior? Do you set your gaze upon Jesus every day and find your identity, salvation, and hope in Him? Only He is God. He’s the One that crushed our greatest enemy. The Apostle Paul said, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).

“Father in heaven, we pray that as believers if we have hardened our hearts against You in any way by familiarity, by not putting things into practice, I pray Lord that You would break our hardened hearts and make them like moldable clay again. God, do whatever it takes so that we can hear Your voice and respond to You. Lord, I also pray for those who may not know You personally today. They’ve never truly received Your Son, Jesus, as their one and only Savior. They’ve been religious. They’ve gone to churches. Their friends or parents or children have told them about Jesus. If they’re here today but they’ve never personally received Christ, the I pray they would. I pray for some that have strayed from You – walking away from You – would they reaffirm their commitment to Jesus. It’s in His name that we pray. Amen”

Exodus: Journey to Freedom (8:20-9:12)

• March 20, 2023
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Exodus 8:20-9:12

Well, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Exodus 8. We looked at the first 3 of the 10 plagues of Egypt last week. This week, we’re going to be looking at the second 3, or the second cycle, and that begins with plague number 4.

20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 21 Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.”’” 24 And the LORD did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” 26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He tells us.” 28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” 30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the LORD. 31 And the LORD did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 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.”’” 5 And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.” 6 And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

8 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” 10 So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

“Our Father in heaven, once again we ask for the assistance of the Holy Spirit: that what we know not, He’d teach us; what we have not, He’d give us; what we are not, He’d make us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

So, last week, when I introduced us to the plagues, I offered a couple of general thoughts and observations. For example, they can be grouped in various cycles. One of those cycles sees plagues 1, 4 and 7 all begin with an outdoor morning confrontation with Pharaoh. One of the other things we noted is that the plagues grow in their intensity, and I also mentioned that all of them – to some degree or another – were intended to humiliate the various gods of the Egyptians. Changing the water of the Nile into blood was mocking the Egyptian god Osiris. It was thought that the Nile was his lifeblood. So, to mess with the Nile was to poke fun at Osiris – a god that was incapable of responding.

Causing the Nile to produce a plague of frogs was an affront to the Egyptian god, Heket. Actually, this was one of the Egyptian goddesses of fertility. To the Egyptians, the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility. And guess what, the fertility of the frog was related to the annual flooding of the Nile. So, again, you have our mighty God humiliating the gods of Egypt.

The plague of gnats was directed at Geb. He was the Egyptian god of the earth. Remember what God told Aaron to do in order to bring this plague about? “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:16). God was saying, “I’ll show this false earth god a thing or two. I’ll hit him directly between the eyes and cause his domain to become gnats.” And now we pick up with the…

Fourth Plague – Flies

Whether it was the common housefly that we think about, or whether it was the scarab beetle, we don’t know. Certainly, the scarab beetle is a very well-known image in ancient Egypt, so that’s definitely a possibility. Either way, it seems that this plague was directed at the Egyptian god, Wadjet, who was believed to help the dead enter the afterlife.

Now that’s important because other people in the area knew this god as Beelzebub, and in 2 Kings 1:2 we’re introduced to Beelzebub for the first time. And if you look at the Hebrew origins of that name, guess what it means (Lord of the flies, or god of the flies). Later on, the name Beelzebub was changed to Beelzebul, meaning “Lord of dung” or “god of filth” because that’s where these insects tended to lay their eggs. And it shouldn’t be a surprise to any of us that the name Beelzebul is what the Pharisees called Jesus when He healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus said, “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of His household” (Matthew 10:25). Listen, folks, our God knows a thing or two. Don’t you think? This entire plague flies directly in the face of Wadjet, the Egyptian “Lord of the flies” (no pun intended), and, in some sense, it flies in the face of Satan – the true god of filth.

But there are couple of addition things that are different about this plague. For example, notice verse 22. This is the first time that God begins to make an explicit distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.

In the first three plagues there’s some question about whether or not the Israelites also suffered. The text isn’t particularly clear. It seems that the plagues were, indeed, limited to the Egyptians. For example, in the first plague (of the water turning into blood), verse 24 says, “all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink.” It doesn’t mention anything explicit about the Israelites. Now, I say explicit because you have to imagine that the stench from all the dead fish was at least a little noticeable for the Israelites. So, maybe they didn’t avoid everything, but certainly most of the impacts from the plagues were avoided.

When we get to the fourth plague, and specifically verse 22, we realize that God is beginning to show definite signs of His providential and protective care for the Jews. Listen, “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. Thus, I will put a division between My people and your people.”

These are God’s people. These are His children. Like any good Father, He’s going to provide for them and protect them. But make no mistake about it – God knows how to make a distinction. God knows how to rightly divide people. Jesus said, in Matthew 25, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left” (Matthew 25:31-33).

Regardless of your interpretation of the Book of Revelation, there’s coming a day in the future when plagues and judgments will be poured out upon the earth that will make the plagues of Egypt look silly. And I know that there are as many views of the rapture as there are people in this room, so I’m not taking a theological side on the pre/mid/post-tribulation issue, but there’s something you need to know about your God. Our God knows how to make a distinction when it comes to judgment. If you’re a child of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, then you can be assured that you’ll be protected from His ultimate wrath.

There’s one more thing that’s different in this plague – it’s in verse 25. Pharaoh says, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” This is the very first time that Pharaoh gives permission for them to go and sacrifice. But notice the qualifier “within the land.” What’s that called? (Compromise, right). We’re familiar with compromise, aren’t we. Satan is great at negotiating a compromise. He’ll say, “Well, go ahead and go to church but just don’t become one of those Christians. You can visit a church, that’s okay. Just don’t be a fanatic.” Or if you happen to already be a believer, then he’ll say things like, “Go ahead and be a Christian but keep some of those old habits because that’s who you are.” He wants us to compromise.

It’s rare that I recommend books as “must reads” (except for the Bible), but one that I highly recommend is The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis. It’s about a senior demon named Screwtape teaching his nephew Wormwood how to be a good demon and ruin people’s lives. It was written from that perspective. And Screwtape, when he writes to Wormwood, always calls the newly converted Christian your patient. And one of Screwtape’s lines in the book goes like this, “…the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

That’s what Satan does. It’s all about compromise. As Casting Crowns put it, “It’s a slow fade / When you give yourself away / It’s a slow fade / When black and white have turned to grey / And thoughts invade, choices made / A price will be paid / When you give yourself away / People never crumble in a day / It’s a slow fade.”

Satan says, don’t let him go far away with this thing. Negotiate with him. Compromise with him. Tell him to compromise. Go and sacrifice but do it in the land. Stay in the land. And think what a temptation it might have been for Moses to stay in the land. “After all, we could do it in the land. This is where we’ve been living for a long time. We’re familiar with it. At least we get food here. We get provisions here. Maybe we’re oppressed, but it’s better than nothing out in the wilderness.”

Thankfully, Moses has learned that doing it God’s way is the best. So, he says, in verse 26, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the LORD our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?” So, first Pharaoh says, “Go ahead, but do it in the back yard.” Moses, “We can’t do it in the back yard. We’re going to kill animals. You’re not into that stuff. We’re going to get beat up.” Pharaoh says, “Okay, well, go ahead and go. But don’t go very far.” (Sounds like your mom when you were growing up, right.)

So, Pharaoh is lengthening the chain but there’s still a chain. He’s not anxious to let two million people on his workforce take a leave of absence. Again, one of the world’s favorite lines is something like this, “Hey, I hear that you’re in to religion now? Do me a favor, just don’t go too far into it. I mean, I know people that really got in to this Christian ‘born again’ stuff, and they read their Bible all the time. They go to church all the time and they went crazy. I mean, they put their hands up in the air and say ‘Amen’ and stuff. Don’t go that far.”

What happens? Pharaoh hardened his heart again. What’s the condition of your heart? Is it soft before the LORD? Are you still letting God speak to you? You still letting Him in? Or is the world penetrating your heart. Does the Good News stop at a certain place and you kind of think about it, but then harden your heart?

Fifth Plague – Death of Livestock

Remember last week when we looked at the plague of gnats. Do you remember what the magicians said – “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Well, if that was the finger of God, then this is what the full hand of God gets you – the death of horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks. Basically, anything that was left standing that wasn’t a human was killed. Do you see how the plagues are growing more intense? The first couple of plagues were annoying. They were inconvenient. They were bothersome. But now, God is touching their wealth.

Now watch this; in the Nile delta, there were four separate provinces, or areas that had one of these animals as their primary god. Notice that there are three specific kinds of animals mentioned: horses, donkeys, and camels. Then there’s two groups that are generic names: herds and flocks. One of the Egyptian gods that’s being targeted here is Apis. Apis was considered to be the sacred animal of the god Ptah. And in Memphis, Egypt archaeologists have discovered several sarcophagi containing mummified livestock.

One of the other Egyptian gods that’s being targeted here is Hathor. Hathor was another goddess of love and fertility, beauty and joy. She appears in Egyptian art as having the body of a woman and the head of a cow. Some of the depictions show the Pharaoh being suckled by this cow god. In fact, in 1906, they found a sandstone monument showing Hathor, the goddess, and Amenhotep II, (who some believe was the Pharaoh of the Exodus), nestling himself under Hathor’s chin. Talk about humiliating the gods of Egypt; now you’re striking right at Pharaoh’s supposed family tree.

Then there was another goddess or a god that was represented by a cow or a bull and that was Mnevis. So, when God touches the livestock, once again, it’s a direct assault on the ideology, the belief system of these pagan Egyptians. Now, here’s what’s interesting. When we get to chapter 32, (which will be in the year 2032, at this rate) we’re going to be reminded that Moses goes up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. And he’s gone so long that the people think he’s dead. And they get Aaron and they say, “Hey, Moses ain’t coming back and we need a god to worship.” And what do they make? (A golden calf.)

That’s because, in their minds, they’re not used to an unseen god. In Egypt, everything had a god-like representation, visible representations all around them. And so, that golden calf represented, to the Israelites, the strength and beauty and nourishment and tangibility of the false gods they used to worship back in Egypt. Besides the fact that it was false worship, which was bad enough, this is another reason that Moses got so mad. It’s as if Moses was thinking, “Are you kidding me? You just saw what our mighty God did to all the livestock in Egypt with the fifth plague, and yet you’re still worshipping cows!”

And folks, let’s be honest. We’re not too different. Really. In many ways we’re just like the Israelites. Think about the average 15 minutes of commercials: pharmaceuticals, healthcare, class action lawsuits, weight loss, automobiles, alcohol. Now, you tell me; who does it seem like we’re worshipping? (Ourselves, right.) Now, I’m not saying that any of those things are bad. Trust me; when I have nausea, heartburn, upset stomach, diarrhea, then I want Pepto-Bismol. I get it. But until the recent He Gets Us campaign, there have been ZERO commercials even trying to communicate a Christian message. Rather, everything seemed to suggest that we worshipped longer life, better looks, more money, newer toys.

Again, I recognize that this calls for perspective and balance, but last week we had the announcement of three US banks going under: Silicon Valley, Signature, and Silvergate. Now, I’m not in favor of people losing their investments. I’m not in favor of major economic chaos. These are real issues that involve real people. But when God strikes the horses, the donkeys, and the camels – when the bank accounts and investments and portfolios are shaken you sometimes wonder if we aren’t putting a little too much emphasis on Benjamin, Grant and Jackson. While it may sound silly to you and me that Egypt had a god for everything, when we look around us, we’re not too different.

Finally, notice that God protected the Israelites in this plague, just as He did in the previous one. The livestock of the Israelites wasn’t touched. Pharaoh even sent people to check it out, and once again he hardened his heart. There’s a Proverb you may want to write down in the margin of your Bible. Proverbs 28:14 says, “Blessed is the man who fears the LORD but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.” By this time, I’m sure that the everyday Egyptian was thinking, “What’s next? What kind of a plague could happen after this? Come on, Pharaoh, you gotta see that there might be something to this God of the Hebrews.”

Sixth Plague – Boils

Something to notice about this plague. In the previous plagues there was a warning, “Okay, you’ve got 24-hours to think about this. Tomorrow this is going to happen.” But not this time; no 24-hour grace period. “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 9:8-9).

Anybody watch TLC on cable? Recognize the name Sandra Lee (a.k.a. Dr. Pimple Popper)? I know, bad image, right. But that’s what we’re dealing with. Listen, sometimes you have to get a little creative when reading the Bible – not creative in the sense of changing the meaning. I haven’t changed the meaning. I haven’t changed anything about what God did or didn’t do. All I’ve done is give you a modern image to help you feel the weight of what’s actually written on the page.

One of the doctors that researches diseases in the Middle East noted that in the summertime, there’s a phenomenon called “Nile Blisters.” The intense heat in Egypt along with the dust of the land, you mix that together and you get these Nile blisters, and the skin turns almost purple. And all these pimples start forming on the skin and soon they cluster into thick ulcerations around the entire body. The Egyptians called it “Hamm el Nil,” that’s their Egyptian term, which means the inundation of heat.

This plague is meant to humiliate the goddess, Neit, sometimes spelled Nuit, or Nut. I like N-U-T the best. She was a nut. She was the sky goddess – the domain that brought all the blessings of the atmosphere upon the earth. There was this incantational prayer, and the priest of Egypt would take the soot and throw it into the air, and it would be a blessing from the sky goddess, Nut. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Hebrews, the Great I Am has taken that which was once a blessing and has now made it a curse.

One final comment and we’ll be done. In all the plagues thus far, Pharaoh has been hardening his own heart, hardening his heart. Time and time again, and finally we read (in verse 12), “But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.” Remember, we talked about this. When people ignore the repeated promptings of the LORD time after time after time, He will confirm the decision made in their hearts.

The New Testament refers to this as a reprobate mind. Listen to Romans 1 (and we’ll be done), “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things… And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:18-23, 28).

If God is calling you today. If you sense the Holy Spirit convicting you of your sin and your need to receive the free gift of God’s grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ, then please do not leave this building until you speak with me or someone that knows Jesus. For the rest of us, may we once again be reminded of the absolute sovereignty and power and majesty of our almighty God. Yes, we’ve been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Yes, we’re His chosen and beloved children. Yes, “if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). But He’s still God, and He still calls us – like the Israelites – to leave our Egypt that we can serve Him and worship Him.

Exodus: Journey to Freedom (7:14-8:19)

• March 13, 2023
• Pastor
• 0 Comments

Exodus 7:14-8:19

Once again, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Exodus. As most of you know, last month Parker and I took a trip to Lake Tahoe to do some skiing. It was Parker’s first-time skiing and flying, both of which he really enjoyed. And during the first flight I had an opportunity to talk to him a little bit about flying. Now mind you, I’m not a pilot or an aeronautical engineer, but we were sitting over one of the wings. So, we could see the slats on the leading edge, and the flaps, spoilers, and ailerons on the trailing edge: all responding to the pilot’s input.

One of the other things that we talked about were all of the gauges and switches and displays in the cockpit – one of which is a gyroscopic instrument called an “attitude indicator.” [show picture]. Basically, it shows the position of the plane in relationship to the horizon. Now, you might think that’s not needed, but if you’re flying in dense clouds during the day or night and you can’t see the horizon, or the ground and lights below or the stars, sun and moon above then you can get disoriented real quick. So, when the plane is climbing you have what’s called a “nose-high attitude.” The blue dips below the horizontal line, showing that you’re climbing. And when the plane is descending you have what’s called a “nose-down attitude.” The brown creeps above the horizontal line.

Obviously, there’s a lot of monitoring the plane’s attitude, and sometimes it’s necessary to change the attitude in order to change the performance of the plane. Well, today, we reach the point, in Exodus, where Pharaoh is about to crash. His “nose-down” attitude makes his heart hard, and God uses that to demonstrate His power and sovereignty. Follow along with me, beginning with Exodus 7:14.

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 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.’” 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.’”

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.

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3 The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.’” 5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.” 12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. 13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So, there were gnats on man and beast. 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.

“Father, in heaven, once again we ask that You might open our eyes and ears to the truth of Your Word. Lord, even in the pages of this Old Testament book, we ask that we might get a glimpse of Your great and mighty power and sovereign rule over all of life – including our own. May we hear from You today, and would the Holy Spirit make the needed adjustments in our hearts and lives, in order that we might be more obedient and faithful followers of Your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.”

Outside of the Red Sea crossing and the actual, literal exodus event, the ten (10) plagues of Egypt are pretty much known by most people. Even if you didn’t grow up in the church, you probably have at least some familiarities with the plagues. Maybe you don’t know all of them or the order in which they come, but you know that God did something miraculous in order to show Himself, to Pharaoh, as the One true God. Well, that’s where we are.

The way this is going to work over the next several weeks is like this. We’re going to look at the first three plagues today. Next week we’re going to look at the middle three. The last Sunday of the month we’ll look at the last three (that’s 9). Then, on the night of Palm Sunday (April 2) at 6PM, we’ll be hosting Arielle Randle from our ministry partner, Jews for Jesus. He’ll be walking us through Christ in the Passover, which is the final decisive sign of God’s power and reign.

The final plague: the death of the firstborn. The only way to avoid having your firstborn child killed was to kill a spotless lamb and put the blood of that lamb on the doorposts and on the lintel (we’d call it the header). That blood would act as the protective covering for the entire house, so that when the Spirit of God brought His judgment against Egypt the Israelites would be sparred.

That seminal event would become the backbone of the religious life for the Jewish people, and it’s precisely this event that Jesus would use, in the New Testament, as an equally dramatic sign showing His divine power over sin, death and the grave. Likewise, the only way for you and me to avoid our own ultimate destruction is to be covered in the blood of Christ – our spotless Passover Lamb. So, let me invite you to make plans to be here on Palm Sunday night (6PM).

Well, today, is a rare occasion. I only have one major point. But even though I only have one point, we’re actually going to see it played out in three different ways in these first three plagues. If you have obsessive tendencies, or you just really need to have three points for it to be considered a “good” sermon, well then, you’re still good. Here’s the single point:

Our God Is the Lord Almighty

There are certainly other ways of saying this. In fact, God actually says it this way in Exodus 7:16 “Thus says the LORD, ‘By this you shall know that I am the LORD.’” The “this” that God is referencing there are these plagues – “By these plagues you’ll know that I am the LORD.” And speaking of plagues, let me offer a word or two about the list. There are 11 signs, but only 10 plagues. The first sign was the staff-to-serpent thing that we read last week (vss. 8-13). It’s not a plague; it’s just a sign.

As for the plagues, there are 10 of them and there are all sorts of ways that theologians, Bible teachers, and preachers have tried to group them in order to highlight different things. For example, if you just take them in the order that they’re given (leaving the 10th by itself), then you have 3 cycles of 3, and the duration of the first 3 looks like this: long, long, short. The duration of the second 3 is long, short, short. And the duration of the final 3 is back to long, long, short.

Now, there’s nothing inherently spiritual in that. This isn’t one of those things where you’re looking under every rock, reading the Bible backwards and upside down trying to find some hidden meaning. Some of you remember the 60’s-70’s. There was this myth that you could play records backwards and get hidden messages. It was common to hear preachers talk about this when heavy metal bands were all the rage, “There’s a satanic message in all that stuff.” For sure, there was, in some of it, but not all of it.

That’s not what we’re talking about here. But it is interesting to consider that the cycle runs long, long, short – followed by long, short, short – and then back to long, long, short. It’s likely that this kind of pattern helped Moses and the Israelites remembered the sequence of the plagues, in order to share it with future generations.

Here’s another example of grouping. The first cycle are plagues 1, 4 & 7. Those are the first plagues in each cycle (1, 4 & 7). The interesting thing about 1, 4 & 7 is that Moses was instructed to meet Pharaoh outside early in the morning. The second cycle would be plagues 2, 5 & 8, and the neat thing there is that Moses was instructed to meet Pharaoh inside, presumable in Pharaoh’s court. The third cycle would be the last plagues 3, 6 & 9, all of which seemed to be outside in the presence of whoever happened to be around.

Those are just a few of the ways that scholars have tried to examine the plagues. Again, I don’t want us to get overly caught up in or enamored by something that isn’t clearly outlined for us in the normal reading of the passage. But it’s interesting to consider. Now there is one thing that we can say for sure and that’s the fact that as we move along, we’ll notice that they get more intense, and they’re all directed at humiliating the pantheon of Egyptian deities.

The first plague is turning the Nile into blood, which demonstrates God’s power over nature. We’ll see other demonstrations of power over nature when we get to plagues 7 & 9. But this one is unique because the Nile was such a large part of Egyptian life. It was their superhighway. It was the way they made a living and watered their livestock and grew their crops. Additionally, it was believed that the Nile was the actual lifeblood of the Egyptian god Osiris. So, for God to turn the Nile into blood was more than just a physical inconvenience. It carried a spiritual significance too.

When the fish died and caused the water to stink it’s as if God was saying, “Your religion stinks!” When the water became temporarily polluted so that they couldn’t drink from it, it’s as if God was saying, “Your gods can’t quinch your thirst.” Now think about that in light of what Jesus said in John 7, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37). Or what He said in John 4, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (4:13-14).

The skeptic says, “Oh yeah, well Pharaoh’s magicians were able to replicate the miracle so what do you say about that?” Well, only two things. First, that’s what magicians do. They deceive. They trick. They manipulate. In all likelihood they simply added something to the water to give it the appearance of blood. And second, while I might not be able to fully explain exactly what the magicians did (or didn’t do) to replicate this plague, the one thing I know for sure is – they were powerless to reverse it.

This first plague was a sign of what’s still yet to come. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those . . . always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men” (2 Timothy 3:1-9). Or how about this short passage from the hand of John, “The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea” (Revelation 16:3).

Folks, listen to me; just as God judged the false gods of Egypt, He’s coming again to judge the living and the dead. Do you know Jesus? If not, then let me tell you that the gods of this world – money, fame, power, prestige, knowledge – all of them will be humiliated by the Lord God Almighty on that day. Only the blood of Jesus can save you.

The second plague is the multiplication of frogs. Again, we really need to slow down when reading texts like this, because we have a temptation to simply read black words on a white page. We need to employ our imaginations a little bit.

Some of you were without internet on Thursday, or perhaps you remember what it’s like to be without power. Or think about the folks in the Seirra-Nevada mountains: enough snow already. It doesn’t take very long – perhaps an hour, certainly 3-4 hours – and the novelty of no internet and no power has worn off. It’s been a week of bloody, stinky water, and digging new shallow wells to locate uncontaminated water, and all of a sudden you have a new inconvenience to deal with – frogs.

The frogs were so bad that they literally got into everything: houses, bedrooms, beds (remember that they likely slept on mats at floor level not on raised platforms like us), cookware, ovens. They were even promised that the frogs would get on people. In other words, don’t think that you can just sweep them out of the way and find yourself a closet where you can be protected. Literally, they were everywhere.

And imagine the noise. You know what it’s like to go camping and try to sleep, right? Many of you have water features at your homes. In the summertime it can get downright impossible to hear yourself talk with all the croaking and bleating. And imagine the mess. When you have this many of anything, surely some are going to get stepped on, or rolled over on when trying to sleep, or cooked in the oven. (Listen, I know that some of us southern folks enjoy some fried frog legs, but this is ridiculous.)

In fact, this plague, unlike the previous one, was so bad that Pharaoh begged that Moses bring it to an end. The previous plague wasn’t too bad for Pharaoh. After all, he could have servants bring him fresh water from a new well. But notice verse 4 of chapter 8, “The frogs shall come up on you [Pharaoh] and on your people and on all your servants.” Pharaoh wasn’t protected this time. And we’ve already mentioned the sound they must’ve made. Also, like the first plague, although the magicians were able – in some form – to replicate the plague, they were powerless to remove them.

Pharaoh begged Moses to end this plague, and notice Moses’ response (v. 9) – “Well, big guy, why don’t you just tell me when you want them gone.” This is brilliant, because it gives God another opportunity to show Pharaoh that He’s the One true God. See, if the frogs naturally went away or were killed off little by little, then there could be all kinds of explanations. But giving Pharaoh the opportunity to set the time takes those explanations away. In other words, this plague was the point by which Pharaoh should’ve been able to admit that there was a true, powerful God behind all of this. Yet he refuses, which is a warning for anyone, who, though confronted with the reasonableness of biblical truth, nevertheless refuse to believe.

Pharaoh’s answer (“Tomorrow”) might surprise us. We’d think that he might ask for immediate relief. Then again, perhaps it was near the end of the day, and Pharaoh anticipated that it might take some time for Moses to intercede on his behalf. And don’t let the fact that Pharaoh seeks Moses’ intercession pass you by either. He’s beginning to see that his magicians can’t help.

I see this all the time in hospitals; when calamity strikes, our non-Christian, non-believing neighbors will seek us to intervene in prayer. But don’t be surprised when they refuse to believe, even though prayer might have brought the very answer they were seeking. Nevertheless, like Moses, we pray for our enemies and those that persecute us and those that mistreat us (Matthew 5:44, Like 6:28). And if you’ve been putting off your confession of Jesus until “tomorrow” don’t – repent and believe today, while there’s still time.

Finally, our last plague (for today) is gnats. If you’re reading the KJV, NKJV or ASV, then you get the word “lice,” but every other translation has “gnat” and I believe it’s the best. Again, think about camping and summertime and the swarms of little gnats and “no-see-ems.” I have literally suffered this plague.

Summer and late-spring parades at The Citadel in full-dress uniform were absolutely awful – especially as knobs, because your body was so new, so fresh. Upperclassmen had endured years of this plague, and thus their necks and ears and arms had been turned to leather by the harsh Charleston sun. I can still see it – drenched in sweat, the sun baking you from the inside out, the smell of the salty marsh, Charleston sewage, and gun powder from the cannons. A smorgasbord of human statues that weren’t allowed to swat or twitch or blink or blow. It was “gnat nirvana.” (I originally wrote “gnat heaven,” but changed it because gnats won’t be in heaven. PRAISE GOD! Plus, “gnat nirvana” has a nice alliteration to it.)

There’s one difference between this plague and the previous two, and that’s the fact that the magicians couldn’t replicate it. And that was enough to convince them this was, indeed, a supernatural occurrence that only God could produce. Their confession in verse 19 isn’t a confession of faith, but a recognition that true and genuine miracles will always overwhelm and defeat false and deceptive works of man.

Folks, our God is the Lord Almighty and His deeds, His actions, His salvation, His truth and miracles, His grace and goodness, His righteousness and holiness WILL win out in the end and be victorious over every earthly god to the praise and glory of Christ Jesus!  That’s what we’re getting a glimpse of in these plagues.  It’s not just about setting the Israelites free, although that’s certainly in focus here.  This is a story that proves that our God Is the Lord Almighty – and we praise HIm for it.

Exodus: Journey to Freedom (5:1-7:13)

• March 6, 2023
• Pastor
• 0 Comments

Exodus 5:1-7:13

Well, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Exodus 5. As you’re finding your spot, let me just say that we have A LOT of ground to cover today. In fact, some of you might even wonder why I’m going to read all of this. And to be fair, that’s a legitimate question to which I have three (3) answers.

First, the Apostle Paul instructs us to in 1 Timothy 4:13, “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.” Second, it was practiced in both the Old and New Testaments. Ezra, the priest, read from the Book of Law from “early morning until midday” (Nehemiah 8:3), and Jesus stood up in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah (Luke 4). Finally, and I hate to say it, but it’s true – there are some of us that won’t hear the Word of God for another seven days. We won’t read it. We won’t listen to it. We won’t sing it; even though all of us have access to it. So, I’m going to be sure that we hear it this morning.

By the way, this is another reason why I hope you bring your own copy of the Bible to church. If you’re following along in your Bible, then you’re more prone to engage in the story, than if you’re just listening. So, let’s read, beginning in Exodus 5:

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore, they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22 Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O LORD, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, He has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered Your people at all.”

1 But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

10 So the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

1 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 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.” 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.

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.

“Our Father and our God, You are full of wonders that no mere human can comprehend. Lord, we seek to understand You and Your ways, in order that we might live accordingly. We pray that the Holy Spirit would help us to see and understand Your truths as outlined in these verses. Open our eyes and our ears – that we may see You and hear You in these pages of Exodus. For we offer this prayer in Jesus’ name, amen.”

These verses set out, for us, the initial attempt of Moses and Aaron to liberate the Israelites from Egypt, and I’m reminded of the shipping company that advertised a job opening for a radio operator. Tons of people flocked to the office and were waiting their turn to be called. In fact, the conversations of the people were so loud that you couldn’t hear the loudspeaker.

Another applicant entered the crowded waiting room, filled out his application, and sat quietly for a few moments. All of a sudden, he got up and walked into the office marked PRIVATE. A few minutes later, he came out of the room with a huge smile on his face – he was hired.

People in the waiting room began to protest: “Hey, we’ve been waiting here a lot longer than you. What made you think you could go in there before us?”

He replied, “Any one of you could’ve landed this job, but none of you were listening to the Morse Code signals coming over the loudspeaker. The message said, ‘We desire to fill this position with someone who is constantly alert. If you’re getting this message, come into the private office immediately.’”

Well, Pharaoh was in that same position. He was a poor listener. Moses and Aaron came with the simple message, “God says to let my people go!” But Pharaoh wasn’t interested in that, and when you fail to listen to God (or His Word), then you’re inviting trouble.

I just want to highlight a few things this morning. The first is…

Obedience To God Doesn’t Mean Easy Sailing

In fact, it might mean hardship, suffering, and persecution. There might even be times where you say, “Why, God?” After the initial request, which is all of chapter 5, that’s exactly what Moses said to God. “O Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22, HCSB). When Moses followed God, things actually seemed to get worse.

Have you ever suffered hardship even though you were seeking to be obedient to God? Maybe you remember being a young Christian in school trying to follow Jesus. It seemed that our friends tempted us all the more. We were called “holy rollers” or “Jesus freaks” or “Goody Two-Shoes.” That’s a tough place to be.

Maybe you remember being single and desiring to be married, or perhaps you’re single now, and you had certain standards for a spouse. Friends and well-meaning folks sometimes tried to get you to lower your standards for someone, even though they may not have been committed to following Jesus. Obeying Jesus in singleness is difficult.

All of us know what it’s like to be an employee or an employer. There are all kinds of situations that challenge our obedience to Christ in the workplace. Knowing about someone breaking a company policy or even the law. Did we report it? If so, what were the ramifications. Maybe you felt like the Israelites. “Hey, we’re just doing what’s right and the boss doesn’t like us, so he turns up the heat and expects the same production.”

As the employer, as the boss, as the owner of the company, sometimes the decision was easy – it was illegal, it was egregious, it was a pattern – you had to terminate someone. Other times you felt compelled to offer grace. Sometimes, maybe even many times, it didn’t matter what decision you took (as the boss) you were going to be criticized either way.

This principle is even true for pastors and missionaries and ministers and people with Christian “callings.” I’m sure that Allen didn’t share this with you two weeks ago, but he and Ruth originally felt called to be missionaries. They went through all the necessary training to learn South American culture and language and so forth. They went to Ecuador and Ruth became highly ill. I’m not sure exactly what the issues were, but they had to come home. When Ruth got well, they went back. She got sick again, and they had to come home again. Allen and Ruth will both tell you that those years were tough – even as they sought to be obedient to God.

Obeying God isn’t a pain-free life. It doesn’t automatically mean that you’re going to be popular. It doesn’t mean you’ll be immune from problems like cancer. It doesn’t even mean that you won’t encounter serious spiritual warfare and times of despair. Moses was finally in the center of God’s will, yet he met serious opposition. So, the question isn’t, “Will we ever have moments of discouragement?” The question is: “How will we deal with deep discouragement? Where will we go for help, strength, and sanity?”

The Israelites went to Pharaoh with their complaints. Not a completely unrealistic thing. After all, he was the one they were subjected to. But everyone has to answer to God – whether they believe in Him or not – so why not go to Him, especially if you’re considered part of His chosen nation, His chosen people. The same is true for us. When life is hard. When things don’t make sense. When we’re struggling to get from day to day, financially, emotionally, spiritually… Cry out to God. It’s okay. Shoot, even Jesus cried from the cross out with a question, “Why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Our questions, our desires for understanding and truth, aren’t sinful so long as they’re made humbly, honestly, and faithfully. So, as we wait on God to provide the answer or some insights, how do we deal with our discouragement? By trusting gospel promises.

Obedience to God Is Trusting Gospel Promises

Let’s walk through these quickly:

First (and we’ve seen this before), God is in control. It’s so easy to forget this. Why? Because we live by sight so much more frequently than we do by faith. Look, God answers Moses’ cry in chapter 6:1, and His answer is simply a reminder that there’s only One person in control and it’s not the man with the snake on his head – it’s the One who has the snake under His heel. The Apostle Paul put it like this, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28, NKJV).

He’s always using circumstances to shape us into His Son’s image. We don’t always know what He’s doing, but He has a way of doing things in His own time. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking on behalf of God, once wrote, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8, ESV). God is in control. He sustains us. Fight discouragement with this truth.

Second, God keeps His covenant. Time and time again, we read that God remembered His covenant. Exodus 2:24, “God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Twice, in chapter 3, in the burning bush scene, God tells Moses that He’s “seen their affliction and heard their cry” and that He “will deliver them.” At the end of chapter 4 (we saw it last week), when Moses and Aaron originally met with the elders and the people, they believed that God had “seen their affliction” and they bowed down in worship. And in chapter 6, verse 5, God says, “I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered My covenant.”

The psalmist said, “[God] remembers His covenant forever” (Psalm 105:8). For us, this is the idea of preaching the gospel to ourselves. What do I mean by “preaching the gospel to ourselves?” Well, ultimately, God kept His covenant promise through the blood of Jesus. Through our faith in Christ, you and I are part of an eternal covenant, established by Jesus’ own blood. And because of this, we can find peace and rest during life’s discouraging times. We have a Savior who died, who rose, who ascended to the Father, and is even now interceding for us. He’s forever faithful to His people.

Third, (and finally) God saves! He frees us. He delivers us. He redeems us. He adopts us as His children. He gives us an inheritance. And He demonstrates His justice and His mercy. Really quickly, I want you to notice the many “I will” statements that God makes here.

Look at Exodus 6:6-8 (one more time): “Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians (that’s freedom), and I will deliver you from slavery to them (that’s deliverance), and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment (that’s redemption). I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God (that’s adoption), and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession (that’s inheritance). I am the LORD.’”

Now, flip over to Exodus 7:3-4 (once again): “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 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 (that’s demonstrating God’s justice and mercy – justice against the enemies of God and mercy to those of us that are His children).”

Dr. Tony Merida is Dean of Grimké Seminary in Richmond, VA, and in his commentary on Exodus he writes the following:

My friend Dennis Omondi and his bride, Allison, live in Kenya. Their adoption story was recently on MSNBC. They told the story of Benjamin. Benjamin was thrown into an 18-foot hole in a Nairobi slum. This hole was the public toilet. A passing stranger heard his cry and spent two hours digging down into the muck to rescue him from death. Benjamin was taken in by New Life Home Trust and eventually placed into the loving family of Dennis and Allison. (Merida, 44)

What a picture of what God did for Israel! What a picture of what He has done for us! We were in a pit, yet now, we’re in the arms of the Father, who “redeems [our] life from the Pit; He crowns [us] with faithful love and compassion” (Psalm 103:4). “He brought [us] up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set [our] feet on a rock, making [our] steps secure. He put a new song in [our] mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:2-3).

This is what preaching the gospel to yourself looks like. Do you know Christ Jesus? Do you have a personal relationship with the One who died to deliver you, to redeem you, to adopt you, to give you an inheritance and cause you to be an object of His mercy? Trust Him as Savior today! Acknowledge and confess your sins. Cast yourself – heart, soul and mind at the foot of the cross and receive God’s grace, by faith, in Jesus.

For the rest of us, trust God’s promises. He’s in control. He remembers His covenant. He saves us from sin, death and the grave by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Preach that to yourself. Sing the gospel. Pray the gospel. Meditate on the gospel. Hear the gospel. Fill your mind with it. Work it down deep and bless His holy name!