Remember God's Power

If you have your Bibles tonight, we will be in Exodus 9 starting in verse 13. Tonight, we will be discussing three plagues before the final one which is the Passover. We’re going to do just a short study on what these are, the significance of them in Egyptian culture, and some points of application that we can learn from it. The Old Testament is full of rich stories of the faith, and of God’s sovereignty, provision, and his power. It begs the question though. Do you ever and think of God’s power? Have you ever questioned his power? The Egyptians and the Israelites did. While we might not openly question the power of God. In our hearts and lives we do. Many of might not question the power of God, but we live lives contrary to what God calls like we do not know him or his power. God might not always bring plagues of hail, locust, and darkness like we’ll talk about tonight, but he does remind us in other ways, chiefly his word. So, let’s dive into this reading and see the power of God.

English Standard Version Chapter 9

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.

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

10 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.

The Ninth Plague: Darkness

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.”

The Seventh Plague of Egypt

Egypt is known for there belief in many gods. They believed a lot of the natural causes that go on where because of these. However, God wanted to make sure that they knew that he was in charge. Sending down a plague of hail flew directly in the face of their gods Nut, Osiris, and Set. Nut was the Egyptian goddess of the sky. Osiris was the Egyptian god of crop and fertility. Set was the Egyptian god of the storm. By bringing the plague of hail God showed the Egyptians that he had power over the skies. From the hail and fire that destroyed the crops and beast of the field showed that God was in charge of the plant yield and life. From bringing such a fierce storm one with hail, as it says, that has never been seen before showed that God was in control of the weather.

The Eighth Plague of Egypt

In the eighth plague of Egypt, the Lord brought Locust. Like the previous plague this was used to show the mighty power of God compared to the Egyptian gods. The god Osiris was in question here. As the Egyptians have long put their faith in the crop and fertility god for a good harvest, the Lord reminded them with the locusts who was in control of the yield.

The Ninth Plague of Egypt

The ninth plague of Egypt was the plague of darkness. Like the previous plague this was used to show the mighty power of God compared to the Egyptian’s gods. The plague of darkness questions the god Ra. Ra was the sun god, but more importantly, the Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was the human incarnation of this god. By causing darkness to cover the land God showed the Egyptians and Pharaoh that even there most powerful god was no match for the LORD.

Put Down the Idols in your Life

The first thing we can learn from these plagues is to put down the idols in your life. The Egyptians from the time of their civilization as the Bible says worshipped these gods. The reason why God used these plagues was to show the Egyptians the uselessness of their gods and idols. I think it’s safe to say all of us in here or hopefully most of us don’t worship the sun god or the god of fertility, but we have idols of our own. Idols are not just images we create out of wood or stone. Some of us have idols in our own rooms and we don’t realize it. Some of us can put video games or even books in front of God. While there is nothing wrong with video games or books, you have to ask yourself: if I’m setting aside more time into these video games or books than I am to Lord, should I really call him Lord? The same can go for sports and fitness. While fitness is good, our body is a temple, do you give more time to the Lord? This is why I play golf so fast. I want to make it as easy as I can to say I give more time to the Lord. In all seriousness, if we call him Lord then start living like he is. One way to start is our second point of application to obey his command.

Obey his command.

When you read each of these plagues you notice that the Israelite camp miraculously was saved from these plagues. This is because of obedience. The people of God are obedient. While we are not the Israelites, this message holds true for us today. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”. Our love for God is shown through our obedience. Just think of your love for a friend. When that friend asks you to do something, aren’t you more inclined to do it than if someone else asked you to do it? If your answer is no, maybe you’re not as good as friend as you think. God is much more than a friend he is holy and set apart, if we call him Lord, we show him that by living lives that are set apart from this world. What is being set apart though? The Israelites had an extensive list to follow if you read through the rest of Exodus and Leviticus, but I believe Paul summarizes it quite well how we should live apart from this world in Colossians 3.

Put On the New Self

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col 3:1–17.If we are to be Holy or another meaning set apart we have to actually look different. We need to be in the world, but not of the world as they say. Lastly we need to proclaim His name.

Proclaim His name.

Exodus 9:16 says, “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”. These plagues, as I mentioned before, are a learning tool. They were used to teach the Egyptians that their gods were powerless and useless. They were also meant to point them to God’s power. Not only for obedience, but to proclaim and we’ll find out later in these stories to teach. We read in Psalm 78, “Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, 3 things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; 8 and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.” There’re two simple things we can learn from this and then we’ll close. First, if we don’t teach our children (or you can put a friend there cause we’re youth) we won’t remember what he has done. Second, if we don’t remember what he’s done how can we proclaim it. Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations. We must proclaim his name.

As we close tonight, the call is quite simple. Live as you are called. Is there something that separates you from this world? If you aren’t living out what the Lord has called maybe examine the lords or idols that are in your life. Today maybe you feel like you are living the right way, are you proclaiming what the Lord has done. To proclaim is to declare insistently. Let’s live like we are called. Like we remember God’s power.