The Sovereignty of God in Judgement

Opening

Jonathan’s Marathon —Celebrate in all the great occasions of life together.

Scripture today is a marathon—looking at the first 9 plagues Exodus 7-10:29

Today scripture as a pattern for our story—trusting you to read it all

Exodus 7:8–13 (ESV)

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Prayer

Introduction

I love the bible. I really do. I love everything about it. If you’re visiting us today or watching today for the first time, you’ll come to find out that myself, Pastor Jonathan, and this whole church love the bible because we believe, and hold dearly that it is the un-failing, all sufficient Words that God has given to us. We have a high view of this scripture.

To go further, and not to diminish that fact, but one of the other things I love about the bible is the literary nature of it. That it is a good book! It has all the necessary components of a book. A great author, a beginning and an end, plot twists, and dynamic story-telling!!! It is a truly great read. It is fascinating! It is complex!

And what is so cool, to me, is that while you are in a particular chapter that has its own drama, like David hiding from Saul in a cave, or Esther appealing to her king-husband to not kill her people, or an earthquake that shakes a prison to allow Paul and Silas a jail-break…while you have this drama unfolding from page to page, you also have this background story, this meta-story. A story that runs behind. This story spells out the story of redemption and reveals to us who exactly god is, namely by revealing the protagonist of my story, your story, and the story of the bible—Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior.

It was the great teacher, pastor, theologian R.C. Sproul who taught that as we as Christians read our bible looking for the drama. We as Christians teaching our bible, we teach the drama. Because through the unfolding drama in the close story we see the unfolding the big story. Through the action in front of our eyes we begin to learn who our God is.

Well we find ourselves in that place today. A lengthy scripture that is action and drama. And we’re looking at that to see what we can ascertain about our God. How does this story bring him glory? And there is so much to unpack here that we will be looking at this story for the next few Sundays to see how we can best know the God that we come today to worship.

Today we see are looking at the unfolding drama of the first 9 plagues. As we’re looking at these today we will see how God is sovereign. That is how he is in control of everything. And how he executes his judgment, that is his prerogative, to decide all things in life.

For some time the Egyptians had enslaved God’s people and had been particularly oppressive under the thumb of pharoah and the building of a great empire. God had been slow to anger. But God will not hide his anger forever, and now a string of terrible plagues wait as the judgement of Egypt. They, being a nation that loved neither God nor their neighbor, in direct violation of God would now feel the weight of stinging judgment upon their lives in the sovereignty of God.

And so as we look at these judgement. I want us to see two truths about who God is. Just two. But this is such a deep well to draw from. But to see what he is revealing in his story. That is that he is a God that Sovereignly Judges False Gods, and that he sovereignly judges the heart of man.

Follow along with me

Gods Sovereign Judgement of False Gods

Explanation

As we come to this story today let me remind you of where we are. Moses's people are being kept in bondage by pharaoh. God has instructed Moses to go to Pharaoah and call for the release of his people and he will work miraculous signs through the empowerment of God on display in front of Egypt.

He pours out ten plagues, nine of which will cover this morning. The plagues are in this order turning the Nile to blood, an over infestation of frogs gnats and flies (3,4,5), the death of all Egyptian livestock , a plague of boils all over the body of Egyptians, hail and locusts (7, 8) that destroy their agricultural harvests, and finally the ninth plague being darkness to the entirety of Egypt.

As you look at this you MAY see a dispute between Moses and Pharoah. Or perhaps, larger than that we see a conflict between the Israelites and Egypt. But a deeper look reveals this is a battle that is going on between satan and God.

The judgement poured out on Egypt is because they have kept his people in bondage. Because of the hardness of Pharoah to think that he is greater than God. To free the people of God—the plagues act as a liberating force. But the judgement that was carried out in all of this was for Pharaoh's false gods; the Egyptians false Gods.

This is a skirmish between the one true God, and satan who backed the pantheon of false Gods that Egyptians worshipped.

Truly the Egyptians did have many Gods. 80 major Gods that they worshipped (2,000 with minor). And that even Pharaoh believed himself to be a smaller god.

And so not only is God indignant at the Eyptians who keep his people as slaves, but the gods that Egypt believe in and worshipped were an afront to the one true God. And God in his sovereignty is going to judge the abominations of false worship of these other gods.

In chapter 7 verse 10-11 we see the pattern for the drama in the text. Exodus 7:10–12 “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.”

Once again this is the pattern of what we will see over and over again in some of these first plagues. God will do a thing, and the sourcers, through the claimed power of their gods, will do a counterfeit.

This is always the case when it comes to false gods. They make a close facsimile to God. They try to represent his nature. To mimic who God is and to counterfeit his nature. This is the work entirely of satan. His particular way of doing things is to closely imitate the good things of God which are of course, in actuality, very far away. That he sows tares in amongst the wheat. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 “9 ...the activity of Satan with all power is false signs and wonders,”

Have you ever noticed how the devil never innovates. He always takes from God. This, by the way, is why the false religions of this world that follow these false Gods share similarities with Christianity. Because they take of what God has originated in truth and duplicate to fit their sinfulness.

God then in his power has the sovereign ability to judge. He is a god that does not share his glory. And so as we see foreshadowed in verse twelve the power of God represented in the serpent that Aaron throws down, swallows up the serpent that the sorcerers thrown down serpent, as in coming plagues each response that these false gods give, these representations of satan, they cannot stand to the power of God of Moses.

In fact, the plagues that God picks to sovereignly judge Pharoah, also judge these false gods. Have you ever wondered perhaps why he picks frogs, or flies, or livestock, or hail. These are not randomly picked plagues. But rather they are the judgement against the gods of Egypt. When we take a peek behind the curtain of the unfolding drama we see that each plague represents and defeats a false god:

The first plague—Turning the Nile to blood—a judgment of Hapi, the god of the Nile

The second plague—Frogs— a judgment of Heget, the frog goddess.

The fifth plague—Death of Egyptian livestock—a judgement against Apis, the god of bulls and cattle

The eight plague—Locusts—a judgment against Min the god of crops and grain, that they worship to protect against these locusts.

God is mightier and than these satan-backed false gods and they are swallowed up. By the time we get to the third plague, these sorcerers will not be able to reproduce and counterfeit the movement of the real God (8:18). When we come to the sixth plague, they will be unable to stand against God and before Moses (9:11) because the boils that God has given them is too paintful on their body. And before God’s demonstration of his sovereign judgment is over, these worshipers of Egyptian false-gods will know who the one true God is. In fact, it is these sorcerers that are the first to confess God’s power.

We hear this and I think we let ourselves off the hook a little bit. I mean none of us have a shrine at home for the worship of Amon-Ra. And so we take a glimpse at this judgement god is pouring out on these false gods and say, that is really more precautionary tale for them. But look at the things that the plagues attack.

The plagues attacked their comforts—the ease of drawing water from the Nile that has now turned to blood. The frogs and gnats (or as some translations say lice) were an attack on their cleanliness. The Egyptian people were fastidious about cleanliness and lived in an empire large enough to afford resources to stay clean. These first three plagues attacked comforts

The plagues attacked their possessions— flies through out the land ruined their goods and their land. The death of their livestock was a tremendous loss to both their value and worth. Hail and agricultural pests decimated their crop stands and what they had stored. These plagues took the things they owned.

The plagues attacked their health—boils on their bodies made them unable to move and stand. Loss of food and increase in pestilence brought disease and sickness. These plagues took their health and wellness.

When we put all these together we see an attack on the confidence that people have placed in comforts, in possessions, and in their health or pride of life. This is when for us, it can hit a little closer to home. We may not struggle with bringing our worship to the false gods of this world, but we do have idols that we place over god.

Illustration

The modern prosperity gospel.

Argumentation

After God leads his people out of bondage of Egypt, he is leading them to the promised land. He has made for himself a people with them and wants them to live in accordance with his will and under his law. At Sinai he gives the ten commandments that summarizes the law of the Old Testament.

It is here that he will reminds them from what they have come from. Exodus 20:2–3 “2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”

This is not only a reminder of the goodness of God and what he has done for his people, but it is also a reminder of the folly of Egypt.

God will judge the false gods of this world.

Application

What things have you placed over God in your own life? What gods dwell in his throne, in his place. Know that he is a jealous God who rightly judges the false gods and idols of our life.

Gods Sovereign Judgement of the Heart of Man

Explanation

Secondly, this morning we see that God sovereignly judges the heart of man. In chapter 7 verse 12-13 it says Exodus 7:12–13 “12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

This is the very beginning of our interaction. This is before the plagues. This is the first interaction between Pharoah and God. Previously Pharaoh didn’t even know who God was but he finds out quickly. It was a determinative showdown. The outcome said a lot. The magicians brought out whatever kind of parlor tricks or satanic magic they had, in a response to what Aaron had done produced a serpent that was transformed by the power of God. This true transformative power was obviously defeating to the false powers of Pharaohs best. Some said that the snake was a sign of Pharaohs kingship and that Aaron staff swallowing Pharaohs staff showed him that his people would overtake the Egyptians.

And really, it could have been over here. Pharoah could have acknowledged the power of God, could have acknowledged his demands and bowed before him. Think of all the loss this could have prevented. All of this loss, death, and destruction could have been over.

Instead, Pharoah hardened his heart, and would not listen. And the worse part about it is that we then see this over and over again in each of the plagues. Each one that gets progressively worse. Moses and Aaron show an exhibition of the power and judgement of God through a plague and Pharoah having an inkling to relent, instead continually hardens his heart.

But if you are carefully paying attention to the narrative that unfolds you will see something very interesting. In some of the plagues, as Pharoah, in the consideration of God’s judgement hardens his heart. Yet, in some you see God harden Pharaoh's heart.

What is the Christian to make of this? Who is doing the hardening of Pharaohs heart and making him obstinate to the will of God?

Many would say that it is Pharaoh who in the first place hardened his heart, in the first interactions the one we’re reading today. That through the interactions of the staffs turning into serpents, the plague of water being turned into blood, the plague of frogs, gnats, flies, and death of livestock that each time Pharaoh hardened his heart. Those many would say, look it was the initial decision of Pharaoh to harden his heart. And so God gave him opportunity after opportunity and then finally when God gave him adequate time to repent, he then turned his heart over. That he he was long-suffering to appeal to Pharaoh and his decisions. And he was!

But the careful observer will notice a problem with that. When we drop back to the beginning of our verses today in chapter Exodus 7:2–4 “2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.

So did God commit to hardening Pharaohs heart long before they met?

Yet others will look to these verses and claim to make God villain of the story. Atheists love to take a verse like this because they postulate that if God hardened Pharaohs heart and the subsequent crimes were of his heart being hardened, then God is responsible for his crimes. Over and over again, Paul’s reaction in the new testament is a saying that means “may it never be.” Or “may God forbid,” such talk.

The truth of the matter is that God sovereignly judges the hearts of man in a way that we cannot understand. It is his judgement. It is his prerogative to decide on the hearts of man.

There is nothing we can do to decide this in a Sunday morning service, in a semester of seminary, or even while we are on this earth. Does God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Yes. Does Pharaoh harden Pharaoh’s heart? Yes. And that’s as much as we can know about that. We live with this irreconcilable tension to the fact.

Recently, someone asked me a question to the nature of the sovereignty of God. The question basically went something like this, “we know that God is sovereign in all things, why did this happen in such-and-such way.” And I thought for a moment, and probably regurgitating something I heard a theologian say, I answered back “if we knew the answer to that then we’d be God.”

We want so desperately to know and understand God. But we can’t because his ways are higher than our ways. To understand the balance of the human heart would be the same as fully comprehending the intricacies of the trinity. Or as one author put it “attempting to fathom infinity.” It cannot be done.

Paul addresses this very same question when writing his letter to the Romans. He speaks to the verses that we look at today about Pharaoh saying that God judges the hearts of whom he will and this is the conclusion Romans 9:18 “18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”

In other words he does so because it is his sovereign prerogative to do so. It is his sovereign prerogative to judge the hearts of men.

And then Paul, who gifted by the holy spirit, anticipates the questions that we already asked. Romans 9:19 “19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” Why are WE to blame if he has sovereignly judged our hearts and then actively had mercy to soften our heart, or in judgement to harden it. How can we still be at fault?

And listen carefully, this is the thing we must get. This is the thing that we must understand about who we are versus who he is. The thing that Pharoah couldn’t see. The very beginning of understanding rightly the God we serve. Paul answers back Romans 9:20 “20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Who do you think you are?

We are but people of the dust, scooped in the hand of God and breathed life into. We as the creation have no merit by which to question what he does from the same lump of dust making one a vessel of honor and the other vessel of dishonor.

In fact, Paul says, it very well could be that God desiring to show his power has endured those that he has hardened, in order to show the riches of his glory to those he has had mercy on.

This is almost exactly what God tells Pharaoh. Exodus 9:16 “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.” You are directly responsible for the hardness of your heart and I too hardened your heart. And now I will raise you up to show the lengths of my power. That the whole world will watch me take apart a powerful nation, defeat their gods, and empower and liberate my covenant people.

We get back to the promises and to covenants of God’s people, back to the beginning of Exodus and further in Genesis—that the work that God’s judgement accomplishes in Egypt enriches the people of God. That they see the works of his hand during his patience with the wicked and know that he is powerful and that their name may be blessed!

Argumentation

Liberal Christianity—that is Christianity that can read what it wants from the bible and totally discard the rest, does NOT like this teaching. They want equality with God to be able to flesh out who he is and analyze. They deny that they are just His vessels to sovereignly judge as he wishes. And really the denial of this truth leaves them with a god of their own making, typically an enlarged versions of themselves. It is no wonder then that, some even assert that they themselves are little “G”-gods. This is not new revelation, it is old heresy—they are literally returning to a thought process akin to Pharaoh’s and supported by satan.

In case we forget, in this series we are looking at the gospel according to Exodus. As I alluded to at the beginning we are looking for the protagonist in the drama of the plagues. What we see is not only a God judges that sovereignly judges the lost, who are hardening their heart like Pharaoh. But we are also reminded that those who have been found mercy in God, who have found salvation, that you too have a judgement against your heart. It was not misplaced, neither has it vanished. No your judgement was sovereignly given as well, except it was placed at an old rugged cross. It was poured out at Calvary. It was taken by God’s son for the atonement of your sins.

And in that, Christian brothers and sisters, when we encounter the topic of God’s judgment, this not a melancholy subject. When the Christian heres the topic of God’s sovereign judgment, it ought to bring us great joy.

Thankful that we softened our hearts toward God, and that he softened our hearts towards him as well.

Application

How do we apply this to our lives? Seek the Lord while he may be found...

Closing

As we close this morning I want to finish from where I began with this idea of the meta-story of scripture. That the scripture we read has two stories, the one that we read and pick-up right from the text (the story of these plagues), and then the background story that runs from beginning to end in the bible. The story keeps the same theme throughout all 66 books that were written across 1,500 years. The story that spells out our story of redemption. The story that is the great jail-break from the bonds of sin. It is ultimately our Exodus story.

I hope that if you see nothing else from that, you would see the sovereignty of God. That He is in control of every minute detail of His creation. That this morning you would walk away with a bigger view of God. Don’t worry about over-doing it. You can’t think too big of him.

And our God, who is sovereign over his creation, has the prerogative to judge that creation.

This morning, don’t harden your heart to that. Let go of whatever little gods you have put before him—give him his proper place. Give in to his kingship in your life. In a moment, we will sing the hymn I Surrender All, I pray that it would be the posture of your heart this morning. Give it all to our God who is capable.

Prayer