The Second Plague
One God: The Ten Plagues of Egypt • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
The theology of the Plagues. The 10 Plagues of Egypt teach us so much about God.
First of all, the plagues declare that YHWH has all power at His disposal.
Through these plagues, we will discover how God’s people are in the hands of God. The Hebrews, before the plagues, believed they were in the hands of Pharaoh:
and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Through the plagues, God will humiliate the proud, like Pharaoh, and encourage the humble like Moses, involving His servant more and more in the work of liberating the Hebrews.
Second plague’s peculiarities. In this plague we have 2 peculiarities:
It is the last plague that the Egyptian magicians manage to replicate (Exodus 8:7). The enemy is a powerful adversary, but he is not omnipotent.
There is a “more powerful one” than Satan to deal with in life: God. It is wise to count the cost of facing him. There are benefits in allying ourselves with God rather than having him as the decidedly stronger enemy.
Darrell L. Bock
For the first time, Pharaoh asks for help (Exodus 8:8). After only 2 plagues the most powerful man in the world is already on his knees begging YHWH.
Sermon’s outline. Through this second plague I wish to consider:
God’s retribution;
God’s mercy.
N.1 - God’s retribution
N.1 - God’s retribution
God’s retribution. YHWH will show His power against Heka, a frog-headed goddess.
Heka was the goddess of fertility and rebirth.
Heka was the Egyptian deity in charge of keeping the frog population under control.
But YHWH will attack Heka, demonstrating that creation obeys only Him: the One and only true God.
Regarding God’s retribution I would like to consider 3 aspects:
1A. The pervasiveness of the plague.
1A. The pervasiveness of the plague.
The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.
The houses of the Egyptians were composed of 2/3 rooms, all located on the ground floor.
Only the richest also had a first floor.
The text is clear: the frogs, the judgment of God, infiltrated everywhere.
There was no place in all of Egypt where there were no frogs. In fact, there is no place too far away for the judgment of God, there is no place safe or off-limits for YHWH.
He only is safe for eternity who is sheltered behind the finished work of Christ.
Dwight Lyman Moody (Evangelist)
The judgment of YHWH had infiltrated everywhere because the disobedience and sin of the Egyptians had reached every area of social life, every place, every room.
Application. Unfortunately, in North America, pride, sin and disobedience has reached every place: corrupt governments, institutions hostile to the Word of God, at home as in school, in the office as in hospitals, there is rebellion against the one and true God.
As the Church of Jesus we must therefore pray for this nation so that it can repent. If this does not happen, the powerful judgment of God will infiltrate every area of our country where rebellion against God is practiced.
My Favorite Illustrations Judgment
If God does not punish America for her sins, He should apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.
—Billy Graham
1B. The Attitude of the Egyptians.
1B. The Attitude of the Egyptians.
The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ”
You will ask why the Egyptians did not kill the frogs?
Simple: because of their superstition. Frogs, according to the false Egyptian religion, were sacred animals, therefore they could not be killed.
YHWH will let the plague increase because of the Egyptians’ superstition.
Spiritual ignorance, superstition, increases God’s judgment.
Application. How many “frogs” our society could remove, but does not! Immorality, corruption, pride, all “frogs” that could be removed from this generation, but instead are worshiped and protected.
That is why God left them to their spiritual ignorance:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Illustration. While my father was trying to kill a fly, a sister’s daughter was trying to save it.
1C. Post-plague effects.
1C. Post-plague effects.
They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.
Even though the plague ended, it took time to restore normality to the land.
The lesson is simple: while the plague may end, the consequences of our bad decisions can last a very long time.
The consequences of sin include lifelong toil.
John D. Barry; Douglas Mangum; Derek R. Brown; Michael S. Heiser; Miles Custis; Elliot Ritzema; Matthew M. Whitehead; Michael Grigoni; David Bomar
Yahweh forgives the guilt of sin but inflicts the consequences of sin. He cleanses sin’s defilement but may continue its discipline.
Dale Ralph Davis
N.2 - God’s mercy
N.2 - God’s mercy
God’s mercy. In addition to revealing divine power, this plague also reveals YHWH's mercy.
I want to consider 3 aspects of YHWH’s mercy:
2A. Mercy despite egoism.
2A. Mercy despite egoism.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
Although the prayer of the king of Egypt was primarily motivated by his selfishness and personal interest, YHWH stopped the plague.
For Pharaoh, the priority was not his officials, not his servants, or the people of Egypt, but only his own good.
Egoism is the idea that self-interest or personal happiness should be the goal of all actions.
Ben Gutierrez; Lew Weider
No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.
For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Pharaoh wanted to be the first to be freed, he wanted priority, that the plague be removed from him immediately.
The king’s plea was a corrupt and wrong prayer, yet YHWH used mercy towards him and Egypt:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
2B. Mercy despite procrastination.
2B. Mercy despite procrastination.
“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.
Moses gave Pharaoh the opportunity to set a time for the end of the plague.
Instead of asking for that torment, that terrifying calamity to end immediately, the king of Egypt extended the suffering for another day: another 24 interminable hours.
The prophet Haggai lived among a procrastinating people:
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ”
Why put off until tomorrow the relief that God wants to give you?
Why wait for the liberation that the Lord wants to give you right now?
Procrastination is the thief of time, but more so, it is the thief of souls.
Anonymous
Even though Pharaoh was not so determined to receive relief, out of love for the Egyptian people, YHWH stopped the plague by showing His great mercy.
2C. Mercy despite delegation.
2C. Mercy despite delegation.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
Pharaoh does not pray, does not personally beseech YHWH, but delegates the task of doing so to others.
The king of Nineveh. The king of Nineveh didn’t delegate hid duty to intercede for his people:
When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.
Even in this irresponsible attitude on the part of Pharaoh we see the mercy of God.
We would have liked to read of a Pharaoh who personally invokes God’s help and forgiveness, just like the king’s official in Capernaum.
Despite having many servants, this official personally went to Jesus to ask for his son to be healed:
When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
But even though Pharaoh delegated to Moses and Aaron the responsibility of praying for him and Egypt, God showed mercy and stopped the plague.
Illustration. If we want to lose weight, who has to go to the gym? Us! The same thing goes for our soul: I am the one who has to enter the gym of “the Spirit of God” and allow the Lord to heal my heart.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Retribution and Mercy. YHWH, the only true God, is able to send His righteous judgment, but also ready to extend His mercy to those who ask for it:
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
