That They May Know

Introduction:

This morning, we are going to deal with the first nine plagues, as the tenth plague will be the climax of the the plagues that is vitally connected to the Passover. I am intentionally withholding that 10th plagues because of this. It will be the final blow and God’s means of complete deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

But before we get to that, we are going to see nine plagues. One of the big questions that comes to mind when we read this text is “Why these plagues?” That is what I want to endeavor to answer this morning through this sermon, showing briefly what each plague is, the purpose behind the plagues, and then to bring it home to us. As we walk through this text, I want you to ask yourself some questions, to let this text sink in to your heart. Do I know you Lord God? Will you show me where I’ve traded worship for you for other idols in my life? Do I act like Pharaoh at points in my life?

READ EXODUS 7:8-25

CTS: Know the Lord, that He is the only God worthy of our worship and our lives.

The Narrative of the Plagues: Salvation Through Judgment

The Preview Conflict: Moses, Aaron, and the miracle of the staff into a serpent (7:8-13)

Now the deliverance of God’s people begins in earnest. The encounter of Moses and Aaron versus Pharaoh and his magicians will illustrate a battle between God and the false gods of Egypt, and particularly more, God vs. Pharaoh himself. Remember how arrogant Pharaoh was in chapter 5?

Exodus 5:2 ESV

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.”

God is about to show who He is, and the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart will continue to bring wave after wave of judgment so that God will be able to show how great He, who He really is. He will show who truly is in charge, who is God.

The major theme of the conflict between God and the Serpent is seen here in this introductory sign that will inform the rest of the plagues. This can’t be missed. This account is a continuing battle between the seed of the woman vs. the seed of the serpent. Moses is a picture of the coming seed that will come to crush the head of the serpent. Pharaoh is the seed of the serpent, bent on enslaving and preventing God’s covenant promises to his people, making them suffer.

In this text, I want us to see a few things that will inform the rest of the narrative:

First, see the obedience of Moses and Pharaoh. This is a far cry from what we have seen in the previous chapters. It finally clicked, and Moses and Aaron will continue to obey throughout the rest of the narrative. God’s patience with Moses and Aaron is seen in full.

Second, see the miracle God does: And no greater way to start the conflict by showing how God overpowers. The staff of Aaron would be thrown down, much like it Moses’ staff was earlier and turns into a snake. That snake would be able to be replicated by the magicians in Pharaoh’s court. Was it a sleight of hand or some snake-charming mechanism. Possibly, but I think that would take away from the point of Moses and God’s inspiration. This is the work of Satan. Though false gods are not real, the demonic realm and forces still exist and are able to deceive people into believing in false gods. It is not out of the realm of possibility that this is demonic work, empowered by Satan, to replicate this. God allows this replication (he could have easily not allowed any of this to happen) so that he could show his power over the false gods, the magicians, Pharaoh, and ultimately Satan himself. The staff of Aaron swallowed up the other counterfeit snakes, showing God’s ultimate power over them, counterfeit gods, and Satan himself.

Third, see that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. We’ll see this played out numerous times. Hardened by his own decision, hardened in general, and hardened by the Lord himself. The rejection of the sign of God would continue to be his downfall, a continual rejection of the identity of Yahweh and the realization that He alone is God, not himself. The ensuing plagues will save God’s people through judgment upon Pharaoh and the Egyptian people.

1) Water into Blood (7:14-25)

This begins the first of three cycles of plagues. You will see that the first of each cycle, Moses is told to meet Pharaoh outside. Here in this first encounter on the river banks, where Pharaoh was most likely going to bathe.

The command for Pharaoh is simple. Let my people go. This is God’s word. God is speaking through Moses. Why? So that they can serve me. That’s the simple truth. My people, Israel, my chosen people, are called to worship me. You are hindering them. Let them go. You are not their god. They are not your slave force to serve you. They are called to serve me.

And this plague, and the ensuing plagues, will be for this reason. By this you shall know that I am the LORD. This first would be the Nile turning to blood and all the rivers, canals, ponds, and pools of water throughout Egypt. Even the water in their vessels would be blood. The livelihood of Egypt would be threatened. The Nile, the river they worshiped, would turn against them, showing the futility of worshiping the creation over the Creator.

Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. Aaron strikes the river with his staff and the water turns to blood. The exact instructions were done, and all the Nile and its corresponding bodies of water.

The magicians were able to replicate this. Funny thing is that instead of reversing it, they just replicate. That’s the reality of the work of Satan. Able to copy, but never with any originality. Never helping, but only making it worse. Sure, it showed a little power, but it didn’t help anything.

Yet Pharaoh still hardened is heart because the magicians were able to replicate. He accepted this counterfeit act from his counterfeit gods.

2) Frogs (8:1-15)

The second plague is then warned, directly to Pharaoh (most likely in his palace). The command is the same. Let my people go so that they may serve me.

Heqet, goddess of childbirth and fertility, was depicted as a woman with the head of a frog.

The threat is frogs everywhere. Out of the Nile they will come (again, showing how the Nile, creation, turns on him and the Egyptians). In houses, beds, kitchens, bowls. Everywhere. What a nasty nuisance. Unsanitary. Unable to have water for a while, now it will be extremely difficult to eat and sleep.

Aaron stretches out his hand and the frogs come. The magicians were able to replicate this, but again, not to help, but make it worse. Counterfeit gods, Satan only makes it worse.

The response of Pharaoh is different. He pleads that the frogs will be taken away, even acknowledging that though the magicians could do it, there was no help. Only the LORD would be able to take it away.

Pharaoh says he will let the people go. Moses says when do you want me to ask the Lord. He says tomorrow. Moses and Aaron pray to the Lord to stop the frogs. He does. All of the frogs die, and leave in their wake heaping messes of gathered dead frogs that make the land stink. But Pharaoh lies and doesn’t let God’s people go. Pharaoh hardens his own heart.

3) Gnats (8:16-19)

This third plague comes without warning, which will be the case of the third plague of each cycle. God simply tells Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the earth, and then gnats come out and fill the land. I think we all have at least a little glimpse of what that feels like around here.

All of the dust of the earth becomes gnats, and all over Egypt the gnats come.

The magicians are unable to replicate this one, and no plagues after this. This is beyond their paygrade. This must be the finger of God. Was this a testimony of acknowledgement that Yahweh is the one true God? No. The Hebrew here means more likely, the finger of a god, not one we know about. God is showing his superiority over their gods. He is showing his authority over Pharaoh himself.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen.

4) Flies (8:20-32)

The second cycle of plagues begins, and as we see, these plagues will grow with intensity. Waves of judgment, coming bigger and bigger upon Pharaoh and Egypt.

Flies would be everywhere if Pharaoh won’t let Israel go. And the land Israel inhabits (Goshen) would be exempt from the plague. The insinuation is that this was most likely the case with the other ones, but not Moses is highlighting it to show the difference between God’s people and not.

Now Moses is the main means by which the plagues happen. Aaron will drop out from the rest of the narrative as the bringer of the plagues.

Pharaoh responds again, and he begins to negotiate. Ok, I’ll let you worship, but you’ve got to do it here. I’ll give you time off, but that’s it. He tries his hand at negotiation.

Moses knows better. He knows that this is just a ruse. If they worship here, they know the Egyptians would lose their minds and try to kill the Israelites. That is not part of the command. They need to leave.

Pharaoh comes back with his response: Ok, I’ll let you go, but you can’t go too far away. Plead for me.

Moses says he will plead to the Lord for him, but he tells him not to back down on his promise to let them go. God removes the flies, yet Pharaoh hardens his own heart this time also.

5) Livestock (9:1-7)

Next plague. All the livestock will die. This will be a direct attack on the god of Hathor, the mother and sky goddess who is depicted as a cow. God is God over livestock, and is in complete control of it.

There will be again a distinction between Israel and Egypt. Israel’s livestock will not die. They will need it for their trip out and for their worship.

Pharaoh sees that a large amount of the livestock in Egypt are dead, and that Israel’s is not. Yet even showing the proof, his heart was hardened.

6) Boils (9:8-12)

No warning. Moses goes and takes soot from the kiln in Pharaoh’s palace, throws it in the air in sight of Pharaoh. God miraculously causes this soot to become a substance that rests on all the Egyptians in the land, breaking out boils on everyone, including the magicians and Pharaoh himself.

God uses this plague to harden his heart, reminding Moses that this would happen.

Exodus 3:19 ESV

19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.

7) Hail (9:13-35)

The third and final cycle begins. Rise early in the morning and meet Pharaoh outside. One big difference here is key phrase in verse 14.

Exodus 9:14 ESV

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.

God says I could have wiped you out already, but I have another purpose in mind. Not only that you may know I’m the LORD, but that also all the nations surrounding will know (Global purpose of God). You exalt yourself as god, but you are not. I am. And I will show you, Israel, and the world I am.

The threat is hail to come down. Hail so large it will kill man and beast. He commands Pharaoh and everyone in Egypt to put them into shelter, including themselves. Those that obeyed, they were saved.

Pharaoh is stubborn, and he left his slaves and livestock in the field. Those that didn’t, the hail fell and killed. Everywhere except Goshen. It killed livestock and killed much of the crops.

Pharaoh confesses his sin and pleads with Moses. But Moses knows that this isn’t genuine repentance. He just wants to stop losing everything. He knows he will turn. But he will pray that God will stop the hail.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, just as Moses said it was. He did not let the people go.

8) Locusts (10:1-20)

God tells Moses that he indeed has hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that these plagues were also for another purpose. That Israel may know him and the coming generations that He is the only true God.

The eighth plague is one of locusts. So dense it would cover the land to where it could not be seen. These locusts won’t just be a nuisance, they’ll destroy any crops that are leftover.

The servants of Pharaoh are in incredulous. How long are you going to let this keep happening to us? Egypt is ruined. The pride of Pharaoh has decimated his own country.

And Pharaoh negotiates again. He asks Moses who is going to go. Moses says everyone. That’s the command. Yet Pharaoh says this is an evil plan. He knows that they will leave for good. He only wants the men to go, but leave the women and children and livestock.

Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron to plead again. They do so. God blows the locusts away, and they are swallowed up in the Red Sea. Foreshadowing. But the Lord hardens his heart.

9) Darkness (10:21-29)

The final plague we will deal with today is the plague of darkness. So dark it can be felt, pitch darkness. No one would get up out of their places because it was so dark. Everywhere except where the Israelites lived.

Pharaoh negotiates one more time: Go, but leave your flocks and herds behind. Moses responds. No, we need those to fulfill our sacrifices and worship.

The LORD hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh is not incensed, and says he does not want to see Moses’ face again. He will kill him. Ironically, the last time that Pharaoh will see Moses face, it won’t be Moses who dies.

The Purpose of the Plagues: That You Shall Know That I Am the LORD

Through that brief run through the plagues, there are a couple of things I want us to see.

First, the purpose of the plagues was one, but had three applications.

That Pharaoh and Egypt would know that Yahweh is the one true God and see his incredible power over all of their gods. He is the God of creation, and creation should not be worshiped.

That the nations would know that Yahweh is the one true God.

That Israel would know that Yahweh was the one who delivered them powerfully from the hands of what seemed like a hopeless situtation with a powerful nation. This would be told the coming generations, and really, we see this story retold over and over again the Bible.

Each of these truths remind us that God is in the business of showing His glory to the world. He has done so in a myriad of ways. Through creation itself. We see this in Romans 1:18-20

Romans 1:18–20 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 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.

This is called natural revelation.

God has revealed himself in power. It is something that should be acknowledged, yet people try to suppress it. But God is in the business of revealing himself. So that he may be known.

The second kind of revelation is seen in what we call special revelation.

What we hold in our hands today is this. And what we have seen in this text is God specially revealing himself through miraculous signs to prove who He is. He is proving himself to Pharaoh, to the nations, and to the Israelites. God is in the business of doing this.

We see the fullness of special revelation when God himself enters into creation itself by putting on flesh. Jesus is the fullness of special revelation, God-in-the-flesh. God the Son came from eternal glory and put on a body like ours. And as he did so, He revealed the kingdom of God so that He may be known. He proved it by his miracles. He turned water into wine, took a small lunch and fed thousands, calmed the raging storm on the seas, healed the sick, raised the dead. Yet people were hardened to this Jesus, who declared himself Before Abraham was, I am.

And the greatest act was his own death on by crucifixion, to pay the penalty for our sins, to remove our sin debt by taking upon the wrath we deserve, and rose from the dead to defeat the death that we all face. Why did He do this? So that we may know that He is the Lord. Jesus took upon the judgment of sin, the plagues we deserved ourselves, and took on the full force of that wrath so we could have life eternal, a new exodus!

Jesus proved to be God, our Savior, and that we put our faith and trust in Him, the one who brought about the new exodus, life from death, freedom from slavery of sin and death! He shows the folly of every false religion and idols of our own making. Jesus provides for us a better way:

In the new Exodus, Jesus will lead all God’s people out of the slavery of sin and death, and home to their promised inheritance—the new creation in which the whole world will be redeemed.

N. T. Wright

The Application of the Plagues: The Exclusivity of God

And with those doctrinal truths comes application for us. What God was breaking down in Egypt and in Israel themselves was this proclivity to worship false gods and creation itself. What God was showing was what he would command later on in Deuteronomy that the Israelites remember, and that we as Christians remember as well.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

What God is doing through His Son Jesus is to show us that He is the only One worthy. He is the only God. He is the only Savior. He is the one who delivers and makes us His own people. There is no other god. He wants to replace our ill-placed worship. We are naturally idol worshipers because of the sin of Adam.

But we may think, I don’t have any idols. But let us think of some ways where we can stray into idol worship, because we worship what we love.

Reliance on created things rather than God

Money, possessions, jobs

Relationships

We try to replicate God’s work in other things, thinking those things are God and will satisfy us. Yet just as those magicians did, these counterfeit gods are useless and only make things worse. When money fails and destroys, when possessions lose their appeal, when the job wears you down, when your spouse fails you because they are not your Savior, when your kids wander and fail and do not fulfill you.

Worshiping comfort and pleasure

What do we mean by this? Like Pharaoh, we can negotiate with God.

God, I believe you are real, but isn’t that enough? I’ll live a relatively good life. I won’t murder or cheat on my spouse. I’ll try to raise my kids right. That’s enough, right?

God, I’ll come to church a couple times a year. That’s enough right? I’ll entertain that, but asking me to come every Sunday? That’s too much.

God, I’ll give my Sunday to you, but beyond that, the rest of my life is mine to decide what I do with it. Sunday is fine, but let me handle what my life is going to be about.

God, I’ll let you in to my home, but don’t take my kids from me. They can’t go across the nation or across the world. I can’t handle them being that far away.

God, I’ll give you anything in regards to my finances, but don’t ask me to go somewhere are away from here. This is home, and I can’t leave here.

And the thing is, that’s negotiating with God. And it’s not what God intended for us. And we think it’s going to be more comfortable, but God didn’t call us to be comfortable. He called us to follow Him. He promised His presence, His provision, and His power. And to the end of which we live, that we glorify Him through making disciples of all nations.

In essence, what I want you to see is that God is in the business of breaking down our idols and showing Himself as the only true God.

Lost: Do you know Jesus? He is the only true Savior. He exclusively declares salvation is in him alone. Repentance and faith in Jesus, and a life that follows Him. We surrender it all to Him. He is worthy, for He is the Great I Am who saves us from the shackles of sin and gives us eternal life. We deserve hell. Jesus took the judgement that we deserved so that we could receive life!

Church: What do we idolize in our own individual lives that God is showing is destroying us and taking away our worship of Him? What do we idolize in our own church culture that we need to repent of and get rid of? Traditions that have no biblical basis. Actions that do not glorify God.

Conclusion:

Jesus is calling you to reorient your love. For He loves you and gave Himself for you, to show you that He is greater than all things. Everything else will fail you. They won’t save you, sustain you, and give you purpose. Jesus does. Trust Him with your life.

Matthew 22:36–39 ESV

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

That is made possible through Christ, the Great I Am, through His own death, burial, and resurrection. He destroys our idols, our sin, through His gracious work.

Let us pray these words that William Cowper aptly put.

The dearest idol I have known,

Whatever that idol be;

Help me to tear it from Thy throne

And worship only Thee.

—William Cowper

William Cowper