Knowing the Sovereign and Superior God

The purpose of the plagues was to convince Pharaoh to release God’s people from enslavement. While it is not the last time where this is stated, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord…” The goal here is not just to establish the name of the Lord. 

**Illustration on the importance of knowing someone**

To know His name was not going to be enough. Instead, there are three ways through these three plagues that the Lord attempts to establish who He is to Pharaoh. 

First, we notice the 

God’s Sovereignty Over All Creation

To be sovereign is to have ultimate power over something. God proves He is in control over all within each of these plagues. 

I need to first point out the importance of the staff in each of these plagues. The staff represents the presence of the Lord among the people and thus His power. This is the staff that eventually ends up in the ark of the covenant. It is important throughout the exodus and is helpful each time it comes up to recognize when the staff appears. 

As we look at each of these plagues, the Nile turned into blood, the influx of the frogs, and the gnats, they are all filed under God’s creation. The water being turned to blood is a reference more to the color rather than the water actually being turned to literal blood. If it had been turned into blood, there would have far worse consequences. Because the water was turned to a point where fish were killed but that is all, we are led to believe that this is still a significant even and a showing of the power of God even though the magicians were able to replicate it on a smaller scale. Though, were are not told the specifics on how they replicate it, they would not have done anything that would have caused further harm to the people or the land. This goes on for seven days and the people are forced to dig wells off of the banks and the water could then filter through and become useful again. 

The frogs were caused by God as well. Not only does God have the power to rule over just an element such as water, He is also supreme over the creatures that He formed. This next plague is another inconvenience where Pharaoh comes to Moses and Aaron and asks that they call off the plague and he will release the people. 

God’s Superiority Over Other gods

I believe that God chose these first two plagues were intentional because each of them address an Egyptian god. The first is the Nile, which was central to everything that happened in the lives of the Egyptians. It was worshipped but also essential to the crops and anything having to do with water. I’ve already mentioned that Moses and Aaron go to meet Pharaoh near the river and this would have been a regular occurrence for him and the other royalty. We can also think back to the previous Pharaoh’s daughter who was bathing in the river when Moses came floating along. 

The second plague of frogs imitates the god Hapi and the goddess Heqt who were both associated with childbirth and fertility. These were deities who were highly valued just as the the Nile but to see their representation turn on them would have been devastating both for the Egyptians as well as Pharaoh. 

The point here is that God’s reach is far beyond what other gods may offer. His power is greater. His will is better. And ultimately, His way is better. This is why the concept of idolatry is so important for us to think about from time to time because the proponents of other gods would tell you what you’re missing out on. The reality is that those gods are silent. Their value is misguided and dangerous to those who think that there is any way better than that of the one true God. 

Acts 17:22–31 ESV

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The Lord would have us know that He is sovereign over all things, including His own creation. However, in knowing Him we can understand that He is superior over any other gods that are out there. They simply cannot be matched. I would include anything that we prioritize over God and the things of God in this category. 

God’s Superiority Over Man

Finally, we see that the magicians attempt in verse 18 to mimic the frogs. We saw this briefly last week but it should be a reminder that He is good over all things including man. They may think that they know better than God but that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Do you know that God is sovereign over all things? Do you know Him as the superior being over all? Most importantly, do you know Him? How could you not know Him?