The Ten Plagues (An Overview)

Exodus 7:8-11:10

L/W-We discussed Moses’ second encounter with Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s response.

In the staff of Moses being turned into a serpent, devouring that of the magicians, we see

Moses presenting the credentials, presenting the authority by which he was speaking…that of God, His credentials and authority as the one and only true and living God; and we see

God’s patience and longsuffering in giving Pharaoh yet another opportunity to repent and let the Israelite people go.

In Pharaoh’s rejection and dismissal of God’s message and messenger, we arrive at pivot point and our sermon this week:

(Sermon is structured a little differently). Over the next several weeks, we will be discussing the judgment God towards Pharaoh and Egypt in the 10 plagues. Yet before we detail each of these, it’s important for us to lay the proper foundation of these plagues and what is underscored in the plagues, to help give us better understanding of the purpose of God’s judgment.

Why the judgment, why the plagues?

The nation of Israel was at a pivot point, they were on a the precipice of a holocaust—initiated and carried out by Pharaoh and the taskmasters/armies of Egypt.

Israel had seemingly come to the end of themselves.

When they began, there was 72 (including Joseph) living in Egypt

Over time, they multiplied to an estimated 2 million (including women and children)

The Pharaohs who would have remembered Joseph had died and a new Pharaohs took over and then began to oppress the Israelites

This translated into 400 years of oppression and all that entailed

In God hearing the cries of His people He called and delivered them a messenger in Moses

In being sent, Moses visited Pharaoh twice, which only produced even more oppression and death

Fears of a holocaust, generations of bondage and enslavement began to overwhelm and consume the Hebrew people

Apart from God intervening—Pharaoh and Egypt were poised to destroy and dismantle Israel as a nation:

Enter God—enter God’s message and messenger (Moses)

In response to Israel’s bondage and Israel’s cries for deliverance, God sent Moses with a message of, “Let my people go.” When Pharaoh hardened his heart and rejected God’s message, God set out, not only to free His people, but God set out to establish He was

The God of redemption/salvation/deliverance

The omnipotent and almighty God

The only One True Living God

And He did so in the 10 plagues against Pharaoh and Egypt:

I. All the plagues were severe:

They posed a threat to Egypt’s survival as a nation

If they continued and had never been stopped—the land would have been devastated

If they continued and had never been stopped—the life of every living thing would have perished or forced to move elsewhere

They ceased b/c of God’s mercy. God’s mercy is what caused each plague to relent

Any of the plagues, if never stopped would have decimated Egypt–including the 10th and final plague

The death of the firstborn foreshadows the death of God’s firstborn—in this we see God’s character of mercy—which in its simplest understanding is God withholding what we deserve to gift us what we don’t—His grace!

II. All the plagues (possibly) increased in intensity

III. The purpose behind the plagues must be understood-(this is the focus of today’s message)

(CONTEXT)

God used the plagues to teach ONE lesson: The Lord (Yahweh/Jehovah) is the God of redemption/salvation/deliverance

Exodus 7:5 “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among

Pharaoh and Egypt lived in open rejection/rebellion of God

Pharaoh denied Him

Exodus 5:2 “And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.””

Pharaoh rejected the message from God

Exodus 7:13 “And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.”

Pharaoh persecuted/tormented/tortured God’s people

Exodus 1:11 “Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.”

Exodus 1:13-14 “So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.”

Exodus 5:11-12 “Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it; yet none of your work will be reduced.’ ” So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.”

Exodus 5:16 “There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick!’ And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.””

Pharaoh was the orchestrator of it all; Pharaoh lived, believed, and led Egypt—under the deception that his way, his gods’ way(s) were the means of “deliverance,” the means of passing into an “afterlife.”

The Egyptians believed in as many as 80 different “gods.” (we will see this as we unpack each of them), yet it’s important to remember this:

False gods

False religion-

False teaching

(These are the corrupt roots that grow a poisonous tree, which produces poisonous fruit)

The Egyptians belief system had an orchestrator: Pharaoh himself; and the plagues were an attack on his role:

(David Jeremiah): “It’s a mistake to say that each plague was an attack on an Egyptian deity (e.g. they didn’t worship, gnats, lice, or flies). However, all the plagues did attack the role of Pharaoh, who was considered a son of the gods.”

WE WILL SEE THE CONNECTION TO THIS SOON!!!

God was sending His messenger of deliverance, Moses, with a message of COMPLETE and DISTINCT deliverance, b/c God was passing judgment on the orchestrator, the culprit, and evil head of what was causing the tyranny and oppression of His people: Listen to what God Himself promises Moses in the 10th plague:

(COMPLETE) Exodus 11:1 “And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.”

(DISTINCT) Exodus 11:7 “But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’”

(CONNECTION-YOU AND ME)--Satan and the world

Operate in open rejection/rebellion of God and God’s message--

Satan’s rejection/rebellion began in the garden when He planted seeds of doubt in Eve and has not ceased in his mission

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?””

John 10:10a “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy...

Rejects God’s message

Isaiah 14:12 ““How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!”

Persecute/torment/inflict God’s people with suffering/trials and tribulations

Satan is the orchestrator of it all:

Through the infection of sin, deceit, and discord—the enemy has planted seeds in man, which have led man to believe in other ways to deliverance

We justify to ourselves that God will deliver us, through:

Rules/Works/Religion—But how is this deception?

Luke 18:9-16 (READ) This the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector; what do we learn from this?

Luke 18:9-12 “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’”

Religiosity and religious activity:

Compares itself to others

Justifies it’s good works and wagers what it “doesn’t do,” as the measure of God’s acceptance

Makes it a point/focus to live so to make a model of our own righteousness, instead of modeling the righteousness we are given through Jesus Christ

Takes confession of sin outward, rather than inward; religious confession is an act Jesus speaks of when He pronounces woes to the Pharisees

Matthew 23:24-26 “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

Religiousness NEVER produces a relationship, NEVER produces a born-again, justified relationship with Jesus Christ—b/c religiousness NEVER requires biblical humility

Luke 18:13-14 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

Biblical humility is the humility to see yourself as a sinner in need of Savior as well as knowing you can do nothing on your own to justify yourself to God—that it’s only through the means and mode of Jesus Christ and the cross:

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

In rules-we believe if we are morally good, God will deliver us

Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”

In works-man believes if we, “do good works” and don’t do “bad works”, God will deliver us

Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.”

Our focus driven on what “WE” do and “WE DON’T” do, versus focusing on what Christ has done

In rules/works/religion-man says

“Look at my church attendance!”

“Look at my tithing record”

“Look at how many mission trips I’ve been on.”

“Look at the knowledge I have of God’s Word!”

“Look at how I dress, talk, etc!”

“Look at what I don’t do!”

“Look at what he/she does compared to me.”

In rules/works/religion we are dependent upon our own standards/ourselves for God’s acceptance—rather than God’s standard of acceptance; confession and faith in Jesus Christ

***Why so tough and so much time on this? Because will even use what “appears” righteous to keep man from surrender. If the enemy can keep you, keep man busy in religiousness and religious activity, keep you pursuing your own goodness, your own works—he’s keeping you bound to something that cannot save you***

We look to false gospels and false religions to provide ourselves deliverance:

There the false gospels of:

Self-reliance

Prosperity gospels

False gospels that preach, “follow your heart,” or “you do you,”

There are the false gospels of manipulation and assumption, which preach you can make your own way to grace:

The prodigal son’s situation (explain)

The prodigal son’s plan: he devised his own way to come back to his father (Luke 15:17-19 ““But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’”

The prodigal son used manipulation—just like Pharaoh

Luke 15:18 “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,”

(Statement of the prodigal son is of similar nature of Pharaoh’s statement to Moses (manipulation))

The prodigal son made an assumption--That he would have to earn/work/strive for grace

Luke 15:19 “and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’”

Satan and the world persecute/torment/enslave man in these things, to keep them bound and tied to the things of this world: he uses means and messages of deception and deceit, to see to it you are enslaved by

Your past

The sin(s) you are living under

Your family (heritage)

Worldly images/identities

The enemy stops at nothing to keep the unbeliever blind from realizing Who’s image they are created in and stops at nothing to keep the believer from living in His image.

The world’s (what Egypt is a picture of) belief system has an orchestrator in Satan and the cross is the attack against his role

In sending His Son, who was/is both the means and message of deliverance, God was sending man a resounding message of COMPLETE and DISTINCT deliverance. Though we know the cross redeems and brings restoration, the cross also brings judgment on the orchestrator, the culprit, and evil head of what has cause the tyranny and oppression of man

(COMPLETE)—

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.””

“Shall bruise your head...” is the proclamation that the great serpent will be slain/killed/and his hold of sin over man will be no more

God’s judgment was directed at the role of Pharaoh, not so much against the gods they worshipped (though in some form they were).

In our liberation from the wages of sin, God’s judgment of sin had to be directed at the role of Satan—the orchestrator of sin.

The head has to be “squashed,” b/c that’s how you kill a snake/serpent

What killed the serpent wasn’t the death of Christ—it was the resurrection of Christ!

Inasmuch as Christ’s death absolved us of our sins, the resurrection of Christ absolved us from the wages of sin.

In the resurrection of Christ, the orchestrator of sin—Satan has been defeated

In the resurrection of Christ there is the death of death.

For if not for the resurrection of Christ we are still in our sins:

1 Corinthians 15:14-17 “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!”

It is what Pharaoh didn’t see coming and it is what Satan didn’t see coming:

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

(DISTINCTNESS)

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

God used the plagues to demonstrate His omnipotent, almighty power to all the earth and to proclaim His name (Exodus 9:16 “But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”)

(CONTEXT)

Pharaoh and the Egyptians:

Worshipped many Gods—some scholars believe it could have been 80 or so different gods

Idolized images/statues—and Pharaoh (Pharaoh idolized himself for sure)

Way of life was affecting and infecting the Israelites

The Israelites were giving themselves over to the gods, idols, and culture of the Egyptians:

Joshua 24:14 ““Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!”

Ezekiel 20:6-9 “On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands. Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’ But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”

Through the plagues however, God was establishing:

His sovereign and complete power over each of them—proving they were false and powerless compared to His truth and His omnipotent authority

God was establishing Himself as the one true and living God

God was loosening the grip of the idolatrous hold Pharaoh and the Egyptians held on/over the Israelites

(CONNECTION—YOU AND ME)

Satan and the world—have infected and affected man with

A myriad of false gods/false religions/false beliefs

A myriad of idols/images for which man has and continues to give themselves over to: (an idol is anything that takes the place the Christ should rightfully have in your life)

Money/fame/fortune

Relationships

Through the cross of Christ, God has

Established His sovereignty and power over every one of these—proving they have no power or truth to provide us deliverance and satisfaction

Established Himself as the ONLY means by which the powers of hell and Satan—the powers and principalities—are defeated

Loosed the grip of the idolatrous and sinful hold Satan holds over man (those who might respond Him)

God used the plagues to force Pharaoh and Egyptians to free Israel

Exodus 7:4 “But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.”

(CONTEXT)

Israel’s freedom from bondage from captivity/tyranny/oppression, would ultimately come in God’s pronouncement and follow through of the 10th plague

Exodus 11:1 “And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether.”

What’s intriguing is this: Of all the 10 plagues—the one that set Israel free—is the one where only God Himself had to and could accomplish

While the 9 other plagues speak to God’s sovereignty, power, and omnipotence—each demoralizing a “god” of Egypt, none were designed to free Israel

The means by which Israel was to be freed MUST come, HAD TO come through death

(CONNECTION)

The world paints a very false and fatal picture of “deliverance.” The wold is inundated with lies and deceits about what real deliverance is, how to be delivered, and Who is our deliverer.

Ultimately whatever means the world (controlled by Satan) claims as deliverance—avoids the standard by which God established as true deliverance

Deliverance from sin and death come via ONE way; liberty from the bondage and hold of sin come via ONE way—death; but not just any death—for if any of us were to die for our sins—we’d wake up in a place we wouldn’t want to be—for eternity

The death that brings life—is the death of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ

Man’s deepest need is to be freed from the penalty/wage/oppression of sin, freed from the bonds and shackles of sin

In Christ bearing our cross—in and through His accomplishment on the cross—the death of death was accomplished

God used the plagues to show the great distinction b/t Israel and Egypt; the difference b/t those who followed God and those who rejected God

Exodus 8:22-23 “And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ””

Exodus 11:7 “But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’”

(CONTEXT)-Those who followed God (true believers):

Where His chosen people

Under His protective care (in Goshen, God protected the Israelites and the land from the plagues—this is where they lived)

(CONNECTION)-The cross make a distinction:

The cross stands in the gap b/t man and eternal lostness (for those who surrender); yet

The cross stands in the gap b/t man and eternal life—for those that reject it and Christ

The cross judges those who reject it’s message, and

The cross justifies those who submit and surrender to it’s message—Jesus Christ

God used the plagues to judge the Egyptians for their sins; for worshipping false gods, false religions, and idols—for the rejection of God’s message and messenger—and for enslaving God’s people

Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”

(CONTEXT)

The Egyptians

Had rejected God ages before

Had continued to reject God through the ages

Had/were rejecting God even through the plagues

The hearts of the Egyptians were

Hard,

Stiff-necked, and

Prideful and full of idolatry and covetousness

Bent on worshipping any and everything other than the Lord

The hearts of the Egyptians were

Gripped with lust, for

Pleasure, comfort, ease (a look at the various gods they worshipped will tell you this)

Gripped with lust, for

More and more wealth and possessions

The effect of all of this?

The enslavement of Israel

The result of all of this?

The judgment of God against Egypt

(CONNECTION-YOU AND ME)

The world

Rejects God---in ages past, present, and even in the future

Has continued to reject God

Has rejected God even though the message of hope has been given and divine judgment looms

The heart of the world is

Hard,

Stiff-necked, full of

Prideful and full of idolatry and covetousness, and

Bent on worshipping any and everything other than the Lord

Those lost to the enemy and this world are

Gripped with lust, for

Pleasure, comfort, ease (a look at the various gods they worshipped will tell you this)

Gripped with lust, for

More and more wealth and possessions

The effect of all this—is a world

Enslaved in sin/darkness/oppression

The result of all of this--

The promise of divine judgment

John 5:22-29 “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

There is no way to cover up or avoid this judgment

While the plagues also spoke against the various gods and idols Egypt worshipped,

(WORSHIP TEAM)

Just as the evil of Pharaoh and Egypt’s oppression and tyranny against Israel has reached a tipping point, the evil Satan and the system(s) of this world—the oppression and tyranny of sin—will reach a tipping point.

Just as God enacted His divine judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt through the plagues—ultimately realized in the 10th, so has God levied His judgment of Satan, sin, and the evils of this world through the cross of Christ.

And, just as God provided a way out of judgment (Passover Lamb)—so to has He provided you a way out of enslavement and bondage—a way of out the judgment for sin, evil, and darkness—a way out of divine judgment.

Remember the empty cross and the barren tomb stand as a dividing line—for those who will surrender, you have been set apart, marked, and destined for a life in His presence for eternity; but those those who reject/rebel/or think they can find their own way, you stand in danger of God’s divine judgment, a judgment reserved for Satan and those who reject His message and His Messenger

My ask of each of us as we go through the next several weeks: though the idols and “gods” we may be struggling with may stand in stark contrast to Egypts’:

What are the idols in your life that you need God to demolish for you?

What have you been worshipping, other than Christ that you need God to put to death in you?

What are the “gods” in your life that you need the Lord to demolish for you?