Remember the Severity and Mercy of God
Notes
Transcript
29 And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck 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 livestock.
30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.
32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.”
The firstborn child in the time of Moses held much responsibility and had wonderful privileges. We can understand the tragedy to lose any child, but it was especially devastating to lose the firstborn in those days.
With this in mind, God’s judgment on Egypt—killing the firstborn—tells of the seriousness of their transgressions.
In this passage on the death of the firstborn, we see God’s redeeming power displayed in a “great reversal.”
God began by striking down the firstborns of Egypt. He would end the negotiations with one cataclysmic sign.
He judged all of Egypt without distinction, from the rich to the poor, the good and the bad. God’s judgement stretches to all people regardless of status.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The cries in the land extended to all people. The destroyer was going to go through the mightiest nation in the world like a knife through butter.
Earlier we read God’s word to Moses:
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn.
23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”
Here we see that God kept His word. By means of the tenth plague.
Pharaoh had enacted an unrighteous judgment on the Hebrew boys by throwing them in the Nile, now God enacted a righteous judgment on Egypt’s sons.
We should remember the severity and mercy of God. We are all like Pharaoh. We all deserve this kind of judgment. Some think they will never be judged. They think that they can spend their life as a little Pharaoh, piling up pyramids full of stuff, chasing fame, and refusing to bow down to the true God.
Sadly, they will end up much like Pharaoh unless they look to God alone for mercy. Are you turning to the Substitute, Jesus Christ, that you might receive His mercy?
If you never cry out to the Holy Merciful God to save you from your sin and from your unbelief, you will too will perish. We read verses like John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
What does it mean when it say the word “perish”, perish to what exactly, to where and how?
All who die in their sins in rebellion again Holy God will all end up the same, totally and terrifyingly eternally separated from God.
Oh, many would say in response to that, “Well that isn't that bad I have never needed God in my life in the here and now, being without him in eternity would be okay with me.”
To say such thing means you don't fully understand what lies ahead from those who perish for all eternity.
Lets just take a moment this morning and look at exactly what the Bible reveals to those who die in their disbelief of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The word “hell” is mentioned 32 times in the NKJV.
The word “gehenna” is mentioned 12 times in the NT.
The word “hades” is mentioned 11 times in the Greek NT.
The word “Sheol” is mentioned 18 times in the Hebrew OT.
The phrase “Lake of Fire” is mentioned 4 times in the Book of Revelation.
The word “abyss” is mentioned 2 times once in Luke and then in Romans
The phrase “Bottomless pit” is mentioned 7 times all in the Book of Revelation.
All these places are describing a place or places that are the following...
They are real places
They have been prepared by God.
Each one has an appointed purpose for God’s wrath against unholy disobedience toward a Holy Righteous God.
The Lake of Fire is eternal torment for those whose names are not found in the Book of Life.
The Lake of Fire is also the eternal place of torment for Satan and the fallen Angels who are with him.
The Lake of Fire is inevitable if you have never come to Christ.
It is inescapable once you are there.
It is only avoidable if you will repent and believe in Jesus Christ.
It is often said that Jesus spoke more often about hell than any other person in the Bible. That is true. The Greek word gehenna is found 12 times in the New Testament and is always translated as “hell.”
Christ warned his listeners to be afraid of gehenna.
5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!
Jesus testified that both the soul and the body could enter gehenna.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
What will this place be like?
1. An undying Worm
1. An undying Worm
In Mark 9:48, when Jesus says, “Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (ESV), He is quoting from Isaiah 66:24: “They will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” In both texts the word translated as “worm” literally means “grub” or “maggot.” A maggot would have an obvious association with a dump like Gehenna where dead bodies are thrown; however, the maggot Christ speaks of “will not die.”
Mark 9:48 does not mean that there are literal worms in hell or that there are worms that live forever; rather, Jesus is teaching the fact of unending suffering in hell—the “worm” never stops causing torment. Notice that the worm is personal. Both Isaiah 66:24 and Mark 9:48 use the word their to identify the worm’s owner. The sources of torment are attached each to its own host.
Some Bible scholars believe the “worm” refers to a man’s conscience. Those in hell, being completely cut off from God, exist with a nagging, guilty conscience that, like a persistent worm, gnaws away at its victim with a remorse that can never be mitigated. No matter what the word worm refers to, the most important thing to be gained from these words of Christ is that we should cry out to God now, right now, to show mercy and receive Jesus as the Lord of your lives (John 3:16).
2. Total Darkness
2. Total Darkness
12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
3. Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
3. Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth
Weeping or Wailing and gnashing of teeth is mentioned 7 times. 6 times in Matthew along and Luke 13:28.
50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
4. Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the LORD.
4. Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the LORD.
6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you,
7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,
8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,
5. Tormented in Eternal Flame
5. Tormented in Eternal Flame
10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Hell, although we do not know exactly what it will look like, will be a place of unending suffering and torment from which there will be no escape. Therefore, now is the day of salvation. Now is the day for all to repent and believe the gospel. Now is the day for us to proclaim the good news that Christ has come to save sinners who trust in Him for forgiveness. Those who look to Christ now will be saved from the wrath to come
There were great cries in Egypt, since “there wasn’t a house without someone dead” (12:30).
30 So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
As Pharaoh was humiliated, he was now begging another to bless him (v. 32)!
And in the midst of what seems like a harsh judgment, we should remember John 3:16: God loved the world by protecting His coming Son, the seed of the woman, so that everyone who would believe in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.