The Dominion of God in the Ordinary
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
8 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. 12 For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. 15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. 16 “You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” 17 ‘Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. 18 “The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” 19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ” 20 So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 “But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. 3 “The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. 4 “So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.” ’ ” 5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?” 10 Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 “The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Introduction
There’s a saying out there that goes, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.” No one really knows who said it originally, but it communicates a simple principle. No one should settle for being the smartest. We should always be learning and putting ourselves in places with people smarter than us. It makes a lot of sense. It requires some humility however. A lot of people like being the smartest person in the room. There’s a sense of security there. If I’m the smartest, no one can correct me. I’ll always be right. We can perhaps understand that line of thinking. The desire for supremacy in multiple forms is tempting at times. Intellectual supremacy is certainly one. How about supremacy of influence, wealth, power, dominion. What if I were to say, “If you’re the strongest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.” That doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it. Sounds like a safe spot to be in! No one can challenge me or my well-being if I’m the strongest person in the room. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing intelligence or strength for our own well-being, but the truth is no one is the smartest or strongest because God is in the room whether we notice Him or not.
In our text today, Pharaoh and the Egyptians have been enjoying a position of power and dominion that is the greatest in the land, until God walks in. He’s always been there, but now he’s truly going to reveal Himself in all His power and dominion that the Egyptians would know, He is the LORD. Whatever extraordinary power and dominion the Egyptians think they can bring to bear, it’s nothing in comparison to God’s dominion over the most ordinary elements of creation.
The extraordinary dominion of men cannot contend with the ordinary dominion of God.
The extraordinary dominion of men cannot contend with the ordinary dominion of God.
1. God’s dominion in the lowly.
1. God’s dominion in the lowly.
7:8 - 10 Staff to Snake
7:14-20 Water turned to blood
8:1-6 Frogs
8:16-17 Gnats
2. The lowly dominion of men
2. The lowly dominion of men
7:11-12 Staff to Snake
7:21-22 Water to Blood
8:7-8 Frogs
8:18 Gnats
3. God’s dominion is absolute.
3. God’s dominion is absolute.
7:12 Staff to Snake
7:20 Water to Blood
8:6, 9-15 Frogs
8:17,19 Gnats
I’d like to make clear from the onset, when I say, “God’s ordinary dominion.” I don’t mean, God’s dominion is ordinary. God dominion is absolute, our final point, and that extends from the most fundamental ordinary elements of our world, the water we drink and the ground beneath our feat to the extraordinary elements of creation, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky.
If you would look with me for just a moment, you’ll see that the plagues start with the lowly things, literally low things, and as the plagues progress, our eyes are turned to heaven.
There are actually four segments to the plagues from a literary perspective. There are three groups of three and then the final plague. Each group of three begins with the phrase much like, “Go to Pharaoh in the morning..” You’ll see that in verse 15 of chapter 7 in our text this morning. You can see a similar phrase, “Rise early in the morning...” before the 4th plague (the second group of three) in chapter 8 vs. 20. and again in 9:13 (before the final 3).
There are unique elements to each trio that I’d like to highlight over the next couple weeks, but overall the plagues progress from lowly to lofty. We begin by looking at the Nile river, the lowest thing in all of Egypt, and we’ll culminate toward Moses stretching his hand toward the sky and the sun is blotted out entirely. Ultimately, The LORD himself from heaven will strike the firstborn sons of Egypt. It’s important we see where we’re going over the next couple weeks and recognize, God will start with the lowly, the dirt, the water, so humble even that man still thinks he can imitate God’s dominion and power, yet even at the end of our text today, the magicians will conclude, “This is the finger of God.” in their inability to imitate Him.
As we jump into the text you’ll notice a bit of a different rhythm to the sermon this morning. Each of our three points is present in each of the plagues. We don’t move on from the first point. We come back to it again and again with each plague, but we’ll see it in a new light with each plague. You might say we’re used to building three or four pillars with the text. Point 1, Point 2, Point 3. This morning we’re building a brick wall, one row at a time, yet when you step back, we’ll recognize three points running through the bricks of the wall.
Let’s jump in.
Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent
Vs. 8 of chapter 7 God speaks to Moses and Aaron and tells them what to expect when they go to meet with Moses and Aaron.
Before any of the plagues begins, God knows exactly what to expect of Pharaoh. He knows his heart will be hardened. He knows He will demand signs. He knows what his magicians are capable of.
I want us to recognize from the very beginning God’s dominion in His sovereign foresight. From the moment God met with Moses on mount Horeb he gave him a sign, when his staff turned into a snake, that He knew the Egyptians would try to match. God knows exactly what Pharaoh’s Egyptians are capable of with their witchcraft, and He sends Moses and Aaron to stoop to their level. God could have led off with darkness. He could have led off with thunder, lightning , and hail from heaven in a cataclysmic first round if you will. But He doesn’t. God shows His dominion by knowing beforehand what Pharaoh is capable of, and stooping to his level that He would put Pharaoh to shame.
Moses and Aaron do exactly as God says, vs 10 Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a serpent, the lowliest and cursed of all animals.
You can imagine this moment of pride as Pharaoh’s magicians walk out, with all their staffs, “You think you can contend with our power, our dominion?” The lowly dominion of men is put on display, as extraordinary as it appears, as all their staffs turn into serpents. They think their powerful with their secret arts. Imagine, the scene that’s in front of them as each one threw down his staff, we don’t know how many, it could be numerous, as all these serpents square off with Aaron’s single staff turned into a serpent. The odds are against Aaron.
Yet God is not subject to the odds. The dominion of God is absolute and Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. These staffs are symbols of authority, and before them is a vivid picture of the authority of God literally swallowing up the authority of Pharaoh. Two humble men and a staff are sufficient to put the absolute dominion of God on display before kings and magicians, because God is not hindered by numbers or humble means. In fact it makes His dominion all the more apparent. God doesn’t need the advantage to make it clear to the world, “I am the LORD.”
I can’t help but imagine two men in a boxing ring. One is a cocky amateur, and the other is a seasoned veteran, but the amateur doesn’t know he’s facing off with a champion. He’s completely blind to what he’s facing as he sizes up this champion, “This old man has nothing on me.” “This will be over in no time.” We all know the champion veteran could finish this amateur in no time, but he dances with him in the ring for a bit. Stoops to his level for a while just to show this amateur how untouchable he is. You can imagine, the moment when the veteran finally reveals his hand, starts fighting like a champion, and the amateur realizes he was going easy on him all along and is all the more humbled for it. God will show his dominion in the lowly things, the things where Pharaoh thinks he has dominion but really doesn’t, in order that Egyptians would know that He is God, He is the LORD.
As much as Pharaoh realizes he’s been out done, his heart is hardened; That inward disposition which clings to the little bit of dominion he thinks he has. He will not listen, so God will continue to contend with the amateur knowing He can finish Pharaoh whenever he wants.
The first plague, Water is Turned to Blood vs. 14
God speaks to Moses, and we get a little reminder of why God is doing this.
Exodus 7:14 (NASB95)
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.
—-
The mission in all of this is the deliverance of God’s people. God’s dominion will be established amongst his people. They will be free, and Pharaoh’s hard heart stands in the way as he holds fast to his lowly dominion that isn’t even his to claim.
So God will continue to show the extent of His dominion to Pharaoh, even in the lowly things.
We see the introductory phrase to the first trio of plagues, in verse 15.
Exodus 7:15-16(NASB95)
15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. 16 “You shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”
—-
God is going to make Himself very clear at this point. He introduces Himself through Moses, “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews,” and makes His dominion clear to Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
God is openly laying claim to the people of Israel as His servants, not Pharaoh’s, and He will strike the Nile with a plague to make His dominion all the more apparent.
God provides instructions to Moses and Aaron, stretch out your hand over the water of the Nile that it will become blood, that the Egyptians would know, “I am the LORD.”
Aaron strikes the water with his staff and all the water in the Nile, all the water in every river, stream, pool, and kitchen bowl turns to blood.
We maybe take it for granted these days: water. It’s always there when we turn the faucet. We don’t even have to fish it out of a well. We wash everything with it. We can even drink it. Imagine where we would be if Dayton OH were suddenly without water for one day. How fast would things get dirty. How fast would panic set in as everyone got thirsty around 6 or 8 hours later. Still no water.
God doesn’t strike Pharaoh or Egypt directly, but he reminds them how weak they are. How dependent they are. How human they are. What are you without water? God’s dominion over the ordinary things like water, puts on display just how lowly the dominion of man is.
The magicians of Egypt try to keep up with God in vs. 22 as they imitate what God has done with their secret arts. We don’t know exactly what this looked like. The text just doesn’t say. Did the magicians change a bucket of water into blood? It’s tempting to try to discern where their power came from, what is the extent of their power, and so on. I believe we don’t need to be distracted by the power of the magicians and simply note, their secret arts were unable to free them from God’s plague. Even the magicians with all their power were drinking water from ditches dug around the Nile (vs.24) , the only water God allowed the people to drink.
Suppose for a moment you have an extraordinary talent. Let’s say your the finest painter in the country. Your pieces are being displayed in every museum across the country. Everyone is thoroughly impressed by your work, but you can’t read or write. One of the most successful artists of our day is dependent on someone else to get them through the ordinary of life, to write for them and read for them. We might be impressed by Pharaoh’s magicians and their extraordinary powers, but at the end of the day they’re dependent upon God to provide for them their most fundamental needs, water.
We’re not so different if you think about it. It’s humbling to think about. What are we without God? What is the extent of our dominion without the breath in our lungs given to us by God? What amount of our talents, gifts, or powers can we claim glory for, when our very life is given to us?
Paul in sermon on Mars Hill to the Men of Athens puts it plainly.
Acts 17:24–25 (NASB95)
24 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
—-
God’s dominion extends to the ordinary that we may readily take for granted. Our lives and even our breath are given to us daily. Should God withhold them for a moment, we are nothing. Whatever power or gifting we may attain, it’s only sustained as long as God sustains our lives, just like the magicians. They had no means in and of themselves to even provide water apart from what God provided. What kind of secret arts are those that can’t even provide your most fundamental needs?
For seven days, God showed his dominion to be absolute. He laid claim to the very water and displayed his dominion over it. He displayed His dominion over the Egyptians as He deprived them of the most fundamental means of life. How much more would He have the right to claim a people.
Application?
For anyone who is an enemy of God this passage is troubling, but for we who are bought by the blood of Christ I hope this passage would be of some comfort to us. With each plague God is putting the full extent of his dominion on display that Pharaoh would know that He is the LORD and the people of Israel are His. For us today, I hope we might see God’s dominion in the plagues and see his gracious dominion over us!
Paul reasons as much in his letter to the Ephesians
Ephesians 1:18–23 (NASB95)
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
—-
The surpassing greatness of His power, His rule, His power and dominion is a truly frightful thing for those who do not know Christ. That is put on full display in Exodus. Yet for us who believe, it is the hope of His calling. Christ is the head over all things, and everything is in subjection under his feet.
You may recall Christ’s first miracle at the wedding of Cana. With the authority of the Creator he commanded the water that it would become wine. When Christ exercises his dominion and take for himself a bride, us, His church, there’s every reason to celebrate his dominion which is so gracious toward us who believe.
When we’re intimidated or afraid before the dominion of men, we can rest in the supreme dominion of Christ who is the hope of our calling.
When we feel like our lives are out of control and we can’t seem to establish a dominion over the chaos of our circumstances, we can rest in the supreme dominion of Christ who made us His bride.
When we fear the loss of our well-being and our dominion over our well-being, we can rest in the supreme dominion of Christ who redeemed us, bought us, with His own blood.
In the supreme dominion of Christ we can rest and rejoice!
Israel’s rejoicing is a ways off yet as, God is not done with Pharaoh of course. verse 1 of chapter 8,
God give Moses more instructions. Another plague will come unless Pharaoh recognizes God’s dominion over His people.
Again, Aaron will stretch his staff over the water of the Nile and from it will come frogs which cover the land of Egypt,
New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 8
“The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls.
—-
What does God choose to shame the wise and the powerful? Does he call upon the wind, the lightning, perhaps great beasts, lions, maybe earthquakes. No, he continues to use the lowly things. The harmless little things that kids play with when they find them. Frogs.
Nowhere is safe from them. They invade every aspect of the Egyptian life. At some point the Egyptians would have been able to distance themselves from the blood which was so prevalent. Perhaps you could go dig your hole, find some water enough to quench your thirst, and go to sleep at night.
This however is much different. There’s no escaping them! God uses frogs of all things to say, there’s no escaping my dominion. How many other ways could God have made that simple point, but again, God’s dominion in the lowly proves to be no match for the magicians.
Verse 7 They imitate God, by some means drawing frogs from the Nile up on the land of Egypt, but what is their power and dominion worth if their king is still crying for mercy?
Verse 8
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”
—-
The great king of Egypt with all his magicians and their secret arts have been bested by frogs as the king gives in. From the very beginning of the book of Exodus, what was Pharaoh afraid of?
Exodus 1:9–10 (NASB95)
9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.
10 “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”
—-
Pharaoh wasn’t bested by his enemies, or even the millions of Israelites which he enslaved. It didn’t require an army, or a nation. It didn’t even require people. Just a bunch of frogs, frogs directed by the hand of God to bring Pharaoh to seek the LORD’s mercy. We’re two plagues in and Pharaoh’s lowly dominion is made abundantly clear. He says to Moses, an exile of Egypt, a shepherd, “Entreat the LORD that He remove the frogs from me and from my people...
As we look at verse 9, Moses puts the absolute dominion of God on display,
Moses says,
New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 8
The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”
—-
Moses knows, God is in absolute control of the frogs. They can go as fast as they’ve come as soon as God decides, but to make it absolutely evident to Pharaoh, he says, “Just tell me when.”
Dominion is evident perhaps most evidently in power, but also in timing.
Suppose you look at a large company on paper.
50 staff.
millions in assets and equipment.
Millions in revenue every year.
As your talking with the owner you think, boy there’s a lot of potential here. A large dominion if you will. This is a big company, but then you ask the important question. Can you deliver on time?
As it turns out the company is almost bankrupt because they can’t deliver the product on time. In spite of all their potential, there’s no dominion because the product can’t be delivered on time.
On the other hand, when you see a business that knows how to deliver. When they say, it’ll be done by this day, and they deliver. Everyone recognizes, these guys have it under control. They have dominion!
Moses puts God on display, and asks, “When do you want it delivered?” Tomorrow? It’ll be here tomorrow.
Exodus 8:10 (NASB95)
10 Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.
—-
Moses prays to the LORD and the LORD exercises his absolute dominion and delivers right on time.
Exodus 8:13–14 (NASB95)
13 The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields.
14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul.
—-
Once again, the dominion of God is not something to be feared for those who are in Christ yet it is something that should humble us. If we look to Jesus’ ministry once again, He puts His dominion on display in a similar way before his disciples as they’re fishing. He says to Peter, an expert fisherman at this point, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:5–6 (NASB95)
5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”
6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;
—-
In all that time they spent fishing, all night, and they caught nothing, yet when Christ speaks with his authority, their nets are breaking and the boats are nearly sinking.
Peter realizes, this is God who commands the fish of the sea to do as he will, and says, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
For the hard hearted the dominion of God is despised and rejected. For the believer, for us the church, the dominion of Christ brings to us an abundance of all that is good. In this abundance of mercy we’re humbled and brought to repentance.
Romans 2:4 (NASB95)
4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
—-
We can rejoice in the dominion of Christ for the bride that we are, and yet might we let his gracious dominion show us His glory and bring us to repentance. I want to emphasize here, that it’s important we see His gracious dominion. Our repentance as Christians is done in faith not fear or self-preservation. Repentance is a faith-filled exercise in which we see clearly the mercy and grace of God and respond with penitent hearts that we may be forgiven.
Pharaoh’s response however is not one of faith. It’s one of self-preservation and as soon as the plague subsides, he takes this opportunity to reassert himself. Once again he hardens his heart to God’s demands.
In response, God doesn’t even give Pharaoh opportunity to relent and simply sends Moses to strike the earth, sending the third plague, gnats.
The Plague of Gnats
Starting in verse 16, in just four verses, we see once again God’s dominion prevailing over Pharaoh and his magicians, and where does God begin? The dust of the earth. Once again, God exercises his dominion over the lowly things. It’s not the first time God has taken the dust of the earth and worked wonders with it.
Genesis 2:7 (NASB95)
7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
—-
From the dust of the ground God can bring Adam himself and life in his image. From that same dust he can bring the greatest of plagues afflicting man and beast alike.
vs. 17, “There were gnats on man and beast.”
You may notice a little progression now from the first plague.
The water turning to blood was certainly an affliction, but it could be left in the next room.
The frogs were absolutely a hindrance as they invaded even the beds of the Egyptians.
Now these gnats, some think this could also be lice, are literally on top of the animals and the people of Egypt.
As God is putting the dominion of Egypt to the test, he’s also closing the distance, using the most ordinary and small things like dirt and lice to say, everything is mine! Nothing is withheld from my sovereign rule. My dominion is absolute!
At this point the magicians try to respond, but they’ve been outdone. They’re lowly dominion is evident in their own acknowledgement of God’s supreme authority.
Exodus 8:19 (NASB95)
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
—-
We might ask ourselves today, what does the world see when the look at the church? Do they see the dominion of God? Do see something in which they might conclude, “This is the finger of God.” Today we don’t have grand plagues or wonders to show the world the dominion of God that they might respond, “This is the finger of God.” We wish for that at times don’t we? If I could just have one good miracle, then all my neighbors and family would know, God is real. Throughout this whole passage, God is using plain things to display His glory, and we shouldn’t think that we need miracles for God’s dominion to be evident.
John 13:34–35 (NASB95)
34“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
—-
Very ordinary isn’t it? From the very beginning of the plagues God is making the point to Pharaoh, these are my people! God still wants to show the world, these are my disciples, and he will accomplish that end through very ordinary means. Changing our hearts that we would love one another.
The Corinthians too stumble here, thinking that the greatest thing they can do is display magnificent gifts, but Paul says let me show you a better way. Love each other.
Love in us is evidence of God’s dominion in us, might we put it on display! Let’s put the kingdom and the dominion of Christ on display for all to see, as we love one another. Whether the world recognizes it or not, they can’t imitate true love. They can make cheap imitations of a lot of things, but they can’t imitate the love of Christ in us.
There are two steps here that sound simple, yet are more difficult than we might imagine.
Love one another in the fellowship of the saints.
Invite the unbeliever to see it.
In conclusion
we have reason to rejoice in the dominion of Christ because we are His bride. His power and His might and absolute dominion is reason to celebrate because we are His!
Might we be humbled by His dominion. One day Jesus will judge the living and the dead and we who have received mercy will be spared His just punishment. Might such mercy bring us to repentance knowing there is forgiveness in Christ.
Might we put on display the uniqueness of Christs dominion in us which the world simply cannot imitate in the love of Christ.
In light of Christ’s dominion we rejoice, we are humbled, and we display it in love.
Let’s Pray
