Sermon Tone Analysis

This morning, we come to the last of the ten plagues God visited upon Egypt.

This has been an interesting look at the plagues, at least for me.

I remember studying the plagues way back in my childhood Sunday School class; not exactly your typical Sunday School stuff, but Ms. Joan and my other Sunday School teachers (Mike and Kathy, Willie, Gloria) believed in teaching the whole counsel of Scripture (every part of the Bible).

So we studied the plagues.

Over the years that I’ve been a Christian, I’ve read through the plagues several times (yearly read through the Bible).

We went through them during my time at Bible College—OT Survey and several references in other classes.

I know the plagues.

But even at that, even though I came to the plagues quite familiar, I have learned a lot.

I’ve learned that the plagues are the Lord Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, the One True God asserting His power and authority over all things.

I’ve learned that through the plagues He is systematically tearing-down the entire Egyptian belief system.

I saw, for the first time, that in bringing these plagues the Lord is exposing the sham religion of the Egyptians—all of their so-called “gods” are nothing but invented conceptions, man-made idols, false deities they bow before.

These—the plagues—are more than stories of frogs and locusts; these are stories about the Lord and His miraculous work.

In and through these stories, we see our Creator, our Sustainer, our Savior and Lord.

I have known all about the plagues for many years.

Now, I can say I love the plagues—they lead me to worship the Lord more deeply than I had.

This, of course, is the purpose of the plagues.

This is the Lord’s stated reason for the plagues—that Pharaoh and the Egyptians and the Israelites would see the power of the Lord and worship Him.

The Lord says to Pharaoh, over and again: “Let my people go so that they may worship me.”

The Lord is at work here, for His glory and worship.

And He’s working for the good of His people.

All of this, of course, comes at quite a price for the Egyptians.

Pharaoh and his people suffer a great deal—frogs, gnats, flies, hail, locusts, festering boils, on and on.

It’s been rough few months to say the least.

The plagues seem to get worse and worse, more and more severe as they go.

The last two plagues—darkness and death—are just that: worse than the plagues that precede them.

>If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to Exodus 10.

If you are able and willing, would you please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Exodus 10, beginning with verse 21:

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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Darkness

After the plague of locust, the Lord instructs Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt.

And now, without warning, darkness comes over the whole land.

In an instant, it is pitch black in Egypt.

Darkness.

Instant, complete darkness.

Mind you, it’s not nighttime; it’s utter darkness.

Neither the sun nor the moon shine.

No stars in the sky.

It’s darkness that can be felt, darkness that requires one to feel around (probably a better translation of the phrase).

Total darkness.

I’m often too lazy or too sure of myself to turn on a light when walking through our house or the church.

On a handful of occasions, I’ve nearly killed myself walking through the church at night, and that’s even with a little bit of light creeping in from the street lights or from other parts of the church.

You’ve experienced darkness that requires one to feel around, haven’t you?

You walk around with your hands outstretched, seeking to find a wall or a doorframe, a couch or table in order to get your bearings.

The visually-impaired use a cane to tap around in front of them, seeking-out the various obstacles in their way.

Imagine living in complete and total darkness—darkness that can be felt—for three whole days.

Imagine all the stubbed toes...

You can only imagine this, because I’m quite certain none of us have experienced it or anything like it.

We can light our homes with night lights fairly cheaply; there are streetlights, lights in the night sky, the neighbor’s annoying motion sensor light (we are that annoying neighbor, I’m afraid), not to mention the ambient light from our electronic devices.

I would wager that there’s never a time we’re in complete darkness.

It’s funny to me that during this time of year, I hear one comment more than any other:

“I hate that it gets dark so early!”

I can’t count the number of times I hear people say this.

It’s my favorite time of year (I prefer the dark), but I know it really, honestly messes with some people.

People are afflicted with seasonal affective disorder—the shorter days and longer nights cause depression and anxiety.

And still, the darkness that bothers them is not complete darkness.

If we experienced three days of total, complete, unrelenting darkness, we’d freak out; we’d panic, to be sure.

We’d all be committed to the asylum, but wouldn’t be able to find our way.

Without modern technology (i.e. the flashlight I have with me all the time), we wouldn’t leave our homes.

No streetlights, no moon or stars to light the path, no headlights on our cars.

We’d fear even the thought of going anywhere.

So it was: No one could see anyone else or move about for three days (v.

23a).

Complete, total, utter darkness aside, there is something worse going on for the Egyptians.

Of all the many “gods” and false deities the Egyptians worship, the sun god was supreme.

The Egyptians worshipped the sun.

Amon-Re was the supreme deity, the #1 god.

Amon-Re probably would have an “Egypt’s Best god” coffee mug sitting on his desk—that is if he were real.

Every morning, the rising of the sun in the east reaffirmed the life-giving power of their god, Amon-Re.

Like every other Egyptian, Pharaoh was a sun worshipper.

And even more, the pharaoh was the son of Re—the personal embodiment of the solar deity.

Given the supremacy and importance of the sun god, it was only a matter of time before the Lord Yahweh would launch a direct attack on Amon-Re.

He’s already shown His superiority over the gods of the Nile and various other gods.

God saves the biggest deity for last.

But Amon-Re was not difficult to defeat.

All God had to do was to shut out the light.

And this, for the One who spoke light into existence is as easy as flipping a switch.

Easier, even.

Imagine how dreadful this was for the Egyptians—no light at all; the sun and moon refuse to shine for three days.

Every morning when you look to the East (if you could even tell which direction was East), you’d wait in vain for the sunrise.

When your god is the sun, and the sun gets blotted out, you are left with only emptiness and dread.

P.G.

Ryken: “Darkness may not seem like much of a plague, especially compared to the death of men and cattle, but its spiritual significance would not have been lost on the Egyptians.

God was adding insult to all their other injuries.

As they groped around their homes, paralyzed by the darkness, they must have been stunned by the failure of Amon-Re and his son Pharaoh.

The sun gods could not save them; even the light of day was controlled by the God of Moses.”

One doesn’t have to wonder what Pharaoh must be thinking.

Over and over, the Lord has humiliated Pharaoh, showing Pharaoh to be a mere mortal, nothing more than a pawn in Lord’s hand.

Three days of darkness, and Pharaoh’s ready to wheel and deal with Moses.

What started days ago as an offer for just the men to go and worship the Lord has now extended to all of the Israelites—men, women, children.

But not the livestock.

Pharaoh, I think, realizes he has lost, so he’s attempting to find some small victory in the midst of all this.

The Lord will not negotiate, and Moses knows this.

I love what Moses says: “Not a hoof is to be left behind.”

I really wanted to entitle this sermon: “Not a hoof!” but there’s more going on here than just that.

“Not a hoof!” is absolutely right.

The Lord who brings complete and total darkness upon the Egyptians will have the complete and total freedom of His people and all their possessions, livestock included.

Pharaoh, then, essentially makes a death threat against Moses:

This threefold threat makes the justice of the next plague that much more real (keep that in mind: justice).

What’s more, this threat is Pharaoh speaking better than he knows: Moses is about to get out of his sight for good.