God's Providence over the Body and Health

Exodus 9:8-12

Our last look into Exodus dealt with God’s plague against the livestock of Egypt, His judgment against idolatry and false-gods. This challenged us, as a church body, to examine ourselves to see if there was (is), “any wicked way” among us—to recognize and admit the idolatry in our hearts—to repent and confess areas of idolatry---and in forgiveness walk obediently, with our heart and mind focused on Christ as the centrality of where He belongs.

This week, we are discussing God’s sixth plague against Pharaoh and Egypt, a plague of boils—festering boils which would afflict both man and animal, how He would be proving His sovereignty in every part of creation, including body and health.

(READ EXODUS 9:8-12)

God despises idolatry—this is something we discussed heavily two weeks ago, as we unpacked God’s 5th plague against Pharaoh and Egypt. Idolatry, again, are the objects, persons, attitudes, or beliefs which we enthrone in the rightful place of God. The hearts of those mired in idolatry have been deceived and have believed and false a terrible lie; a lie that suggests something/anything other the the Lord God Himself can satisfy, quench, and provide deliverance of man’s brokenness and bondage to sin. The Lord God (Yahweh & Jehovah) is the only true and living God—who is sovereign over EVERY part of creation; therefore He despises people dooming themselves to an eternity apart from Him b/c of idolatry’s (the enemy’s) false and terrible deceit and lie.

Pharaoh and the Egyptians were notorious for their faith and belief in idols, as the idolized some 80 different “gods.” In relation to our discussion this morning, the Egyptian’s idolatry included that of the human body—in fact, the Egyptians believed the fate of the human body was controlled by the science and technology of the day, controlled by the high priests of religion and the occult (occult simply means, the supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices or phenomena)

Pharaoh had these practicers of the occult working alongside his cabinet of politicians—Pharaoh’s “wise men” of the day (see Exodus 7:10-13)

Sadly and tragically however, the idolatry of the human body is not confined to only Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Even today, though there are healthy ways we strengthen our health and care for our bodies, man has fallen short with the false belief we hold some supreme control over the fate and care of our bodies, so much and we go to great lengths to place the destiny of our body and health into worldly minds and hands

***There’s great discussion and debate surrounding modern medicine and the care for our bodies, but this message isn’t so much designated around this, rather it’s about God’s demonstrative power that He is sovereign over EVERY part of creation and that this plague was another step closer to God redeeming His people Israel from bondage:***

In the context of today’s message is to understand that

(First) Pharaoh and Egypt had an idolatry problem, they were depending on themselves, the science and technology of the day, and even the occult to control their body and health.

(Second) God despises idolatry; that He was/is the Lord God, who was going to prove to the Egyptians that He alone is sovereign over our body and health:

In the connection of today’s message, my prayer is that as we unpack what happens and see how God dismantles Egypt’s idolatry, you and I will realize that every circumstance in life, including our physical afflictions (sickness, disease, etc), ought to point us toward God and lead us to cry out to Him.

I. (v.8-10) The Day of Judgment Arrived

Exodus 9:8-10 “So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.”

(CONTEXT)—For the second time, there was no warning of this judgment--

“So the Lord...”—the beginning of verse 8 is directly related to Pharaoh’s indignation, His refusal to obey God’s Word

Pharaoh was given the warning in the plague of the livestock

Exodus 9:1-3 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence.”

Pharaoh refused to repent and refused to let God’s people go, hardening his heart even more

Exodus 9:7 “Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.”

Pharaoh now faced immediate judgment, without warning

Exodus 9:8 “So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.”

Pharaoh was bound to know it was coming, b/c this was the second time judgment fell without warning

(Plague of lice):

Exodus 8:16-17 “So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.”

Pharaoh was bound to have thoughts; he was bound to have wondered what was going to happen:

“Is it possible the Lord Moses speaks of is not going to let Egypt alone?”

“Could the Lord of Moses continue to send judgment after judgment upon Egypt unless I let them go?”

Pharaoh, regardless of whether or not he was entertaining these thoughts, knew the judgment was coming and knew he had been given time to repent, confess His sins and transgressions, and let Israel go.

“...said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.”

Moses, stood before Pharaoh and symbolically scattered ash “toward the heavens,” in the very sight of Pharaoh

“Ashes” (piah)—Hebrew word meaning “soot,” which was symbolic and in a sense, irony.

The Israelites, under oppression, were forced to make bricks, which would have required the use of a furnace (lime-kilns)

God, now, was taking what symbolized oppression and making it a curse upon the Egyptians

***We need to see the Christ connection here*** The Roman cross was a symbol of death, of oppression, and a symbol of judgment

“And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”

The Lord would cause the “soot” to be as fine dust and go throughout the land of Egypt

The Lord would cause the “soot” to bring “festering” boils which would break out on man and animal alike

(CONNECTION—You and me)

(FIRST) A Truth of God

What God had spoken and declared will happen—it will take place—b/c He and His Word are binding

God will ALWAYS act according to His Word, according to who He is, and according to His divine nature and attributes—He cannot act contrary to His name, nature, or attributes; this, though difficult as it may seem to fully understand, speaks to His supreme holiness.

God’s divine nature/character/attributes are always at work, at the same time, all the time to bring about

Glory to His name, to Himself,

The redemption of man from their sins

God’s diving nature/character/attributes are always at work, at the same time, all the time

The redemption of man from their sins

God’s redemptive story—in sending us His Son, Jesus Christ to this world to go to the cross to save man from his sins (Matt 1:21), entails an choice of eternal proportions:

(SECOND—Some Truths about our Choices)

We must remember two things

We have choice of whether or not we will heed God’s Word, whether or not we will be obedient to how He calls us to live

We are not absent the consequences of those choices

We must remember that our choices ripple effects (stone in a pond)

Choices to disobey God’s Word or to compromise on God’s Word, not only lead us into season(s) in the wilderness, but they can also lead/effect others into a wilderness

Lot-

Elimelech

Choices to obey God’s Word or choices to not compromise on God’s Word, also produce consequences of a different nature—one of favor and blessing:

Abraham and Isaac

Genesis 22:1 “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.””

Genesis 22:5 “And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.””

Genesis 22:15-18 “Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.””

Daniel and his three friends

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself...”

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.””

David’s song/prayer in (2 Samuel 22)

In the context of our verses today, and in the canon of Scripture, there are two critical facts God declares to us through His Word

We must repent, turn from our sins and turn towards God

Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Acts 8:22 “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”

Ezekiel 18:21 ““But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.”

Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

If we reject God—in our refusal to repent and obey Him, His judgment and chastisement is sure to fall on us:

Jeremiah 17:10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”

Matthew 25:31-33 ““When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

1 Peter 1:17 “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;”

2 Peter 2:9 “then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”

II. (v.11) The Purpose of the Judgment

Exodus 9:11 “And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.”

(CONTEXT)—Two-fold purpose of God’s judgment (plague)

(Purpose 1): To prove the Lord alone held power over the body and health

***NOTE: We can do some good for our health and bodies, we can at times, do things which help strengthen our health and bodies, but we cross over into idolatry when we remove God as sovereign (in control) over our bodies and replace it with man-made ideologies, with science/technology, and even today with the occult (witchcraft, spells, etc.)

From positive thinking to cryogenic freezing and everything in between, man has tried and continues to try, in vain, to maintain control of his bodies fate and destiny, even to the point of delaying death:

Of all the modes and means man goes to, no matter the length man strives after to secure body & health, the one thing man, science, positive thinking, the occult, doctors/nurses, and all the rest CANNOT achieve is the

Miracle of heart change

(Purpose 2): To prove the Lord can stop men from standing against Him

***Note*** These magicians claimed to be “priests” of the gods who ruled over body and health;

They had been deceived and where thereby deceiving others

They were blinded by their own human reasoning and scientific technology and advancements of their day

They had trusted in the abilities and dreams of men and rejected the

Up to this point, Pharaoh’s magicians (false messengers) had been standing against Moses—ultimately standing against God, until now. Why?

Because the plague had now stricken them and they could no longer stand against Moses and God. God was clearly demonstrating that He had the power to stop the message of these magicians and sorcerers

III.(v.12) The Response to the Judgment

Exodus 9:12 “But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.”

(CONTEXT)

What makes Pharaoh’s decision so tragic?

Despite God granting Pharaoh chance after chance to repent of his sin, of his oppression of Israel, and his idolatry—

Despite God providing more than enough proof that God was who He said He was,

Despite all the suffering and destruction that had befallen Egypt

Pharaoh was still unwilling to

Believe God was sovereign

Believe there was only one true and living God

Believe there was only one Lord, only one Savior and Redeemer of men

Jehovah

Yahweh

Pharaoh’s heart was still hard and he would not listen to Moses—no matter the trouble or how severe it was

(WORSHIP TEAM) Our connection is in our closing:

How do we see Christ in this account?

Go back and read Exodus 9:8 “So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.”

Go back and recall how

Moses, stood before Pharaoh and symbolically scattered ash “toward the heavens,” in the very sight of Pharaoh

God, now, was taking what symbolized oppression and making it a curse upon the Egyptians

We need to see the Christ connection here:

The Roman cross was a symbol of death, of oppression, and a symbol of judgment; it was the worst form of the death penalty in its time

Death wasn’t instant—it took time

Death wasn’t painless—it was painful

Death wasn’t secret—it was public

The Roman cross, which symbolized death, oppression, and judgment—God used as the modes and means to judge the world and provide salvation for man

God’s salvation comes through His people through judgment

Exodus 17:5-6 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

God’s salvation of man came through the judgment of the cross

How are we to respond?

As we’ve mentioned before, we have a choice

How many times have you heard God’s message of redemption, of His grace/mercy, of His restoration which comes through HIs Son Jesus Christ?

How many times has He proven Himself, so that you might lay down your idolatry, lay down your sin, and call on His name?