One Plague More

Text

Exodus 11:1 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.

My title comes directly from this verse…

One Plague More

Introduction

There is a very big backstory for this verse

A whole lot of things take place between Exodus chapter 3 and 11

We do not have time to read it all tonight

But I do need to remind you about the full story

Many of you know the story of the 10 plagues well

Others may have never heard it before in your life

And that is ok either way

I will hit the highlights tonight

and then tell you what the Lord sent me to say

First of all, the story of Exodus

is not merely a story of liberation from slavery;

it is a narrative about of spiritual warfare.

When Moses stood before Pharaoh,

he was not just challenging a king,

but he was confronting an entire pantheon of false gods.

When we read about The "magicians" in the story

You have to understand that they were not just masters of card tricks

Or gimicy slight of hand illusions.

But they were actually what are called the High Lector Priests of Egypt.

This is according to Egyptologist who study all about the Egyptan way of life.

So, These were not illusionists,

They were the religious elites

And considered to be wise sages.

They equivalent to the Levites later in Isreal

Or the Bishops and Cardinals of the Catholic church today.

But since their religion was not worshipping the true God

They were actually worshipping what they thought were gods

but they were demons pretending to be god

So, these magicians, or priests

were conduits of demonic power

who initially matched Moses sign for sign—

proving that the enemy indeed has power.

Anything Moses or Aaron did,

these magicians called on their demonic gods

and they did it too.

So, it proves they had power

but their power was limited

and it was also counterfeit

or a knock-off of God’s true power.

And a side note here

The devil still does this today

He has a counterfeit version of most of the things that God has to offer you.

Love - Lust

Joy - Temporary happiness

Peace - Drugs

But in the story of the Exodus

When they dropped their staff

It became a snake

And then the magicians dropped their staffs

and it became 3 snakes

But what happens next?

Aarons snake ate the other snakes

This was a foreshadowing of what was about to unfold

yes, the enemy has power

But God’s power is greater

The devil might be attacking you

and your family

or your health

or your finances

but you just wait

God is not going to take it on the chin

He’s fighting back

and God is getting ready to send the devil a knockout blow

and you never know when God is about to send that final punch

There might be a few punches left before you see the victory…

or maybe, just maybe…

There’s only One Plague More

And the enemy is done for.

Now, Each plague was not random,

but it was a calculated attack against the demons,

a direct strike against specific false gods

that ruled over everything in Egypt:

Here are just a few examples:

The first plague turned the water into blood

Not some, but all of the water.

The Bible says that even the water in wooden vessels

and Stone vessels was turned to blood.

All the water was changed instantly

This god of the Nile was called…

Hapi (The Nile): He was Worshipped as the bringer of life and the bloodstream of Osiris. They thought the Nile was like the blood veins of another God Osiris. So, it was as if that god had died and was bleeding out. So, YHWH God turned their source of life into death, proving He alone controls life.

The second plague was the frogs

The whole land was covered with them.

Inside and outside their homes

Frogs were everywhere.

The goddess called…

Heqet (The Frogs): was The frog-headed goddess of birth and resurrection. A goddess of fertility. So, By multiplying the frogs, God twisted their symbol of fertility into a curse of death and decay. When all those frogs died, they made the whole land stink. This was a huge strike against one of Egypts powerful goddesses.

The 3rd plague was the gnats,

but some translations called it lice.

I tend to agree that it was lice

but the point is valid either way.

The dust of the earth transformed into gnats of lice.

Remember the 1st plague transformed the water

and this one transformed the dust

There are some who see that this is a reversal of creation

Showing that YHWH God is the true creator

and keeps everything in order alone

and if he wants to reverse it

there is nothing the false gods can do to stop Him.

So, This was a direct attact on the

Geb (The god of the Earth): He was The god of the earth and soil. When the dust became gnats, the priests could not replicate it, forcing them to admit this was "the finger of God." Up til this point they did everything Moses did. He made staffs into snakes, they … He made water into blood, they made… Moses made frogs come, and the magicians or priests of Egypt did the same thing. But notice that they could not take them way. They could only add to the chaos. If a million frogs was bad, then what good did it do to bring more? If all the water was blood, what good did it do to make more? I’ll tell you what I think. These priests were only able to bring chaos, and not order. They could bring the plagues, but they could not take them away… because only God is the Creator and can bring order to chaos. The Egyptian priests could not perform their rituals if they were ceremoniously unclean, and lice would have made them unclean. So, some scholars believe this is why they could not bring the lice in the 3rd plague, and that is why we don’t hear from them again. This is the last plague where they even try to replicate what God does, and when they couldn’t do it, they had to admit… this is the True God at work. We can’t hold a candle to him… and God wasn’t even finished yet. He had 7 more plagues to go after the enemy had to take a seat.

Now, I’m going skip a few plagues for the sake of time,

but just know that they all align with false gods of Egypt

but the most powerful god of Egypt was the noon sun.

You’ve heard him called “Ra”. He is a trinity of gods, the morning, noon, and evening sun are all called Ra. However, the noon sun was the most powerful, and he was called Amun-Ra.

Amun-Ra (The noon Sun): was The supreme "King of Egyptian Gods" and the ultimate power of Egypt. He was attacked in the 8th and 9th plagues. First in the 8th plague God sent a swarm of locusts. Let me read this, so you see what this has to do with Ra, the sun god.

Exodus 10:4–5 ESV

4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field,

Now, here in verse 5, we have this word “face” which is interesting

Because the Hebrew word here is not the word for face

It is not the word for surface

Or the word for ground.

It is actually the Hebrew word for “Eye”.

Almost all English translations translate it as “face of the earth”,

but if you look at the YLT, it says…

Exodus 10:5 YLT

5 and it hath covered the eye of the land, and none is able to see the land, and it hath eaten the remnant of that which is escaped, which is left to you from the hail, and it hath eaten every tree which is springing for you out of the field;

One issue here is that Bible Translators are experts in Hebrew, or Greek, and English, and probably in Theology

But they are not experts in Egyptology

You can’t be an expert in everything

So, I don’t fault them

but they are seeing this phrase “eye of the land” in Hebrew

and assuming it must mean face of the earth.

But according to those who are experts in Egyptology

The phrase “eye of the land” is an Egyptian metaphor for the Sun.

And the Sun is considered the “Eye” of their god Ra

who is supposed to be watching over them

and protecting them

but When these locusts came

The swarm was so thick

That it covered up the “eye of the land”

Or rather, it blocked out all the light from the Sun.

They could not even see the Sun in the middle of the day

Which would have been seen as a direct attack

on their biggest baddest god in Egypt.

And if you read further,

You see this is exactly what it means…

Exodus 10:14–15 ESV

14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

… (expound)

But God wasn’t done yet…

He didn’t just attack the noon sun

The next plague attacked all 3 of them

And the moon god too.

In the 9th plague, The plague of darkness, it was the total defeat of Ra. All 3 modes of Ra. The rising sun, the noon sun, and the setting sun. You have to understand this from the perspective of the Egyptians. It would have been as if their supreme god was killed when the Sun stopped shining for 3 days. When our God was in the tomb for 3 days, he came out and defeated death, hell and the grave. But this plague of darkness made the Egyptians realize that Ra was not in control of the sun, YHWH was. The sun sets and rises at the command of YHWH God, not Ra. Ra had no power to bring the light from the sun back.

Many of us are in a place of chaos right now.

We see the chaos in our own lives and recognize the same enemy at work.

These demons that ruled over Egypt

are still here today fighting some of you.

I’m not saying we need to blame everything on the devil

and I’m not saying we need to elevate him or focus on him

but some of the things happening lately are easily to connect to the enemy

The devil does not want a church in Deactur

that preaches what we preach

and baptizes in Jesus’ name

and still calls people to holiness

and preaches the baptism of the Holy Spirit

Satan wants to shut this place down

and he can send some plagues now and then

and we know from the Exodus story

that those Egyptian priests did have some ability

to call on their false gods

which were really just demons

and they could call on them and turn staffs into snakes

and they could turn water into blood

and they could bring swarms of frogs

but eventually they had to take a seat

to the one who holds the world in his hands

You may feel the weight of these demonic attacks today.

But the story of Exodus does not end in chaos or defeat for God’s people.

Because after systematically dismantling every false god Egypt trusted in,

God declares in Exodus 11:1: "I will bring one plague more upon Pharaoh."

Exodus 11:1 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.

I’ve come to tell somebody tonight

The enemy has been cornered.

The false gods have been silenced.

God is preparing the final blow that brings your freedom.

He already beat the devil into the ropes

and shown him who really has true power over all things

And God is getting ready to send one plague more

One more strike against the enemy of your soul

You’ve been watching plague after plague in your life

wondering when this battle will end

And it seems like it might go on forever

But, I came to tell you that the end is near

God has one plague more

and the enemy will be defeated

The trial you are in will be over

the storm is about to be calmed

The victory is just around the corner

There’s just one plague more!

Come on somebody!

I know you have been battling sickness

Infection

Cancer

Pain

Stress

Anxiety

Depression

Financial trials

The loss of loved ones

And the devil keeps showing up saying hes the one in charge

He brought the bloody water

He brought the frogs

He can turn your staff into a snake

He’s got all this power he says

But the devil’s fun is about to be over

Because the finger of God is about to move

Just a little pinkie finger of God

And when God is through

The devil will not only leave you alone

but he’s going to beg you to leave

(preach it)

Closing

That final plague that God brought

Was very significant

It wasn’t random

None of the plagues were random

God systematically destroyed the gods of Egypt in plagues 1-9

But the final plague was not an old ancient god or goddess

God took the firstborn son of Pharoh.

He killed the next king of Egypt

Why?

You see, the kings of Egypt thought they were gods

In fact, the King was believed to be the human incarnation of Ra

They believed that when they died

They became the king of the underworld

and then their Son or heir would step in

and he would become the next incarnation of Ra

So, the son of the king was thought to be the son of god.

When you study this out even more

You can see a direct connection to the gospel

Jesus was the incarnation of God the Father

Colossians 2:9 ESV

9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

So, the King of Egypt could not conquer death or darkness

And when his own son died in the 10th plague

They thought that the son of god died

The only difference is that Egyptian king’s son could not come back from death or darkness…

but God’s true son can…

Colossians 1:13–15 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Again in…

2 Corinthians 4:4–6 ESV

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

COme on somebody…

The god of this world, Paul says

may have blinded some unbelievers

but the true God

Jesus Christ our Lord

He put the light back into our hearts

and casts out all the darkness

Pharoah thought he was the Sun god in flesh

But he didn’t have any power over the light or the darkness

and God took away his future when he took his son

because Pharoh’s son could not defeat death

but God’s son did

And so, tonight, if the devil has been fighting you hard

let me just remind you

Greater is he that is in us

Than he that is in the world

He about to send the devil one more plague

And then we are all going to be free from bondage in Egypt

and walking in victory