Exodus 9:8-12 - The Sixth Mighty Sign - Afflicted with Sores
Notes
Transcript
The Word Read
The Word Read
Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from Exodus 9:8-12:
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.” So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
Behold, brothers and sisters, this is the Word of the Lord. Please be seated.
Exordium
Exordium
Beloved in Christ,
I invite you to open your copy of Holy Scripture to Exodus 9:8-12 this morning.
A few years ago, I had the privilege to teach through the book of Nahum. One of the great themes of Nahum is that God is jealous for His people. When we often think of God being jealous, we think of God being jealous for us to live all of our lives for His glory instead of giving ourselves to sin. This is a right thought. God desires that we walk in holiness, not committing spiritual adultery against Him by living in sin and worshipping someone or something other than Him. We see this in Exodus 20:4-6:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
In one aspect, God’s jealousy applies to us not giving ourselves to worship to anyone or anything else. However, I had not seriously considered another aspect of God’s jealousy until teaching through Nahum - God is jealous for His people and will be their divine warrior, fighting on their behalf. In Nahum, Yahweh is the divine warrior who fights against the Assyrians on behalf of His people. He also wars against the Assyrians to preserve the Messianic Seed.
Likewise, Yahweh is the divine warrior for the people of Israel in the Exodus. God wars against Pharaoh, Egypt, the magicians, and the so-called Egyptian “gods” in these 10 mighty signs. Thus far, Pharaoh has suffered defeat after defeat and has shown no desire to release the people of Israel. As such, the plagues become more and more severe.
The sermon title is “The Sixth Mighty Sign—Afflicted with Sores.” My hypothesis for these verses is that Yahweh is Israel’s Divine Warrior who will wage war against Pharaoh, his magicians, and all of Egypt on behalf of His people.
Exodus 9:8-9 - The Mighty Sign Promised
Exodus 9:8-9 - The Mighty Sign Promised
And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”
If we were to compare all the plagues, this is the shortest of them. Regardless of the length Scripture gives to this plague, we can be assured of one central truth that we see throughout all the plagues—God is in Egypt, and God is responsible for the plagues.
Like the third plague, Pharaoh was not warned, Moses was not instructed to go before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh did not promise to let the people go. In many ways, the circumstances of the sixth plague mirror those of the third plague. However, the sixth plague was much more severe than the third plague.
In verse 8, Yahweh commands Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and for Moses to throw them in the air in front of Pharaoh. A kiln is an insulated oven heated to high temperatures to harden or dry various materials. During this time, they would have certainly used kilns to dry bricks. This should remind us of the bricks the people of Israel were forced to use as they made bricks for Pharaoh. In poetic justice, kilns that were used to oppress God’s people are now used to bring judgment upon Pharaoh, his magicians, and all the Egyptians. As Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary on the Bible:
If lesser judgments do not work, God will send greater. Sometimes God shows men their sin in their punishment. They had oppressed Israel in the furnaces, and now the ashes of the furnace are made a terror to them.
None of the Egyptians shall be spared of God’s judgment in this plague.
In verse 8, only Moses throws the soot or ashes into the air. Interesting, isn’t it? Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of soot, but only Moses is to throw them. The Lord is pushing Moses forward as the primary leader, and Moses is maturing. In plagues 7-9, Moses will be the primary leader, not Moses and Aaron as it had been in previous plagues. Just a quick note of application: I find it incredibly encouraging that God matures leaders in positions of authority. Moses is no different, and the Lord will use Moses mightily shortly.
In verse 9, Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron that the soot will become like fine dust. This will become like boils, resulting in sores for humans and beasts. These boils were hot and inflamed. The passage here doesn’t explain how people would have responded to such pain, but I’m sure some of you might have thought of Job. In Satan’s first attack on Job, Satan takes Job’s property and kills his children. Satan presents himself to God about his doings on earth. The following interaction takes place in Job 2:4-8:
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
This story's vividness helps us understand the horrible experience the Egyptians would have faced. Job, sitting in ashes, which represents his mortality and his desire to perish, scrapes himself with pottery in hopes that the itching and the pain will cease. Could you imagine being one of the Egyptians at this time? Painful and itchy sores on your bodies. I’m sure we would do anything to stop the pain and itchiness from continuing.
Amid Yahweh giving this command to Moses and Aaron, we return to a basic premise of these plagues: God is sovereign over Egypt’s judgment. Every plague came just as Yahweh stated. It is impossible to believe that these plagues were caused by natural means or mere happenstance. God sovereignly ordained these mighty signs.
As I stated in the introduction, God is jealous for His people. God was jealous for His people as they sat under the oppression of Pharaoh, and He is jealous for you as you sit here this morning. We certainly face enemies in 2025 - the world, the devil, and our flesh. And yet, God does not simply save us from sin and then leave us alone. He becomes our divine warrior as we wage war against our enemies.
The Church is the bride of Christ. We see this imagery in various places in the New Testament. He is the bridegroom who will return for his bride in the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul desires to present the Corinthians as a pure virgin to Christ. He has a fatherly love for the Corinthians and desires to present them to Christ on the great wedding day, His second coming, as pure. In Ephesians 5:21-27, Scripture shows how tenderly Christ loves His bride, even knowing there are imperfections in her. We also see this in one of the very last verses of the Bible, Revelation 22:17:
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
Christ is the great bridegroom of the Church. As the perfect, loving Bridegroom, Christ does not leave us at the altar to fend for ourselves. Imagine if a husband left his wife to fend for herself. No protection against enemies, no desire to provide for her, no desire to come alongside and care for her in her weaknesses, afflictions, and tribulations. We would all agree that this is a picture of an uncaring, unloving, and potentially abusive husband. Yet, this is not the way of Christ as the Bridegroom.
Christ does not leave His bride in moments of affliction. He is jealous of them. He will not allow enemies to consume her. As God brought the people of Israel out from under the oppression of Pharaoh, so Christ brings His people up out of the oppression of sin, the world, and the devil.
How many of us can testify to knowing the experiential presence of Christ in moments of deep affliction? When Christ’s enemies surrounded you, you can state, “There was such a closeness of Christ during that season. I knew His enemies were attacking, but Christ would be victorious.”
How many Psalms did David write as he cried out to God to be his refuge because his enemies were attacking him? He writes from places of deep despair as Saul, the Philistines, and tragically, sometimes even the Israelites strategize against him. Yet, he always looked to God for security and refuge.
David looked to Yahweh for refuge when his enemies overwhelmed him. In the Exodus, the people of Israel will learn that Yahweh is their great Divine Warrior and Divine Defender. We look to Jesus as our Divine Warrior and Defender. He tells the bride, “I will not forsake nor you leave. Take refuge in me. I will gain the victory!”
Exodus 9:10-12 - Painful Sores Upon
Exodus 9:10-12 - Painful Sores Upon
So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
These verses show us that the word of the Lord becomes a reality. The boils and sores affected both the Egyptians and their beasts. The end of verse 11 would lead us to believe that the people of Israel were once again spared from this plague. Yahweh continues to show His people compassion, grace, and mercy.
As every plague has ended thus far, Pharaoh’s heart is still hardened. Our passage ends with the note that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. This may be difficult for us to stomach today. We know what is ultimately coming - the 10th plague, where Yahweh will kill firstborn children. Why then did Yahweh harden Pharaoh’s heart?
But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
I want us to look at something exciting in these verses. Look at the beginning of verse 10, “So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh.” Look at the beginning of verse 11: "The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils.” Intriguing. Moses and Aaron can stand in front of Pharaoh without a problem. Yet, the magicians could not stand before Moses due to the plague.
As I have mentioned many times in our study of Exodus, Moses is a type of the Christ who is to come. Moses was the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, yet he foreshadowed a prophet who would be even greater - Jesus Christ. Before Stephen is stoned in Acts 7, he quotes Deuteronomy 18:15 as he responds to those who opposed him in Acts 7:37-38:
This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.
Jesus Christ is the prophet that Moses foretold. In Question 24, the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks:
Reformed Confessions of the 16th and 17th Centuries in English Translation, Vols. 1–4: 1523–1693 Chapter 115: Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647)
Q. 24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation (
As the great prophet, by His Word and His Spirit, Christ reveals salvation to those who belong to Him.
Is it no wonder that the magicians were unable to stand before Moses as boils ravaged them? It will be no wonder when unbelievers are unable to stand before Christ Jesus on the final day.
When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
As the magicians were unable to stand before Pharaoh in this plague, so unbelievers will be unable to stand before Christ on Judgment Day. Final judgment has come to the world, and those who have rebelled against Christ by not repenting of sin run to hide from the Lamb of God and His wrath. They ask the question, “Who can stand?” They know they cannot withstand the wrath and judgment of the Lamb.
Christ is our Great Divine Warrior
Christ is our Great Divine Warrior
In our passage, we have seen that Yahweh is the Divine Warrior who wars on behalf of His people. We have seen how unbelievers cannot stand before Him in the sixth seal. Finally, Christ is our great Divine Warrior who will come and make war at the end.
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
There is Christ, our great Divine Warrior, defeating all the nations who rebelled against Him. In Revelation 20, we read that He will defeat Satan, and then the final judgment will be given. Those who opposed Christ will be sent into the lake of fire. All of Christ’s enemies will be made a footstool for His feet. Christ’s enemies and our enemies will be defeated.
Our Great Divine Warrior fights the final battle and defeats His and our enemies. Have you ever thought about the truth that one day, Christ will defeat your enemies? Death will be defeated. Those pesky sins that we hate going back to repeatedly will be finally defeated. Diseases that wear on our mortal bodies will be defeated. The enemy that knows just how to attack us will be defeated. Yes, Christ will defeat all His enemies AND your enemies.
Conclusion
Conclusion
CityAlight - Yet Not I, But Through Christ in Me
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
"Yet not I, but through Christ in me"
