Exodus 8:1-32
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1,000 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The plague of frogs.
The plague of frogs.
The first plague has passed.The plague of the Nile turning to blood.
We aren’t told how the plague of blood ended.
We are told that:
Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
And now you will begin to see a pattern emerging in these plagues. We will try and cover 2-3 plagues at a time until we get the nation of Israel out of Egypt.
With the first plague Moses will meet Pharoah at the waters edge of the Nile and give him the warning.
With the second plague, Moses will go to Pharaoh, presumably at his palace and tell him to let the people go, and with the third plague, it will just happen no warning given.
Look at verse 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.
The Lord is fighting for his people.
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the fact that God does this.
God goes after his people, and in doing so he goes after the enemy that takes them captive.
But he doesn’t do this so that Israel can just be free from the Egyptians. He is rescuing his people for the specific reason that he desires worship from them.
Same way he works today.
Then God warns with the plague.
“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs.
“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.
“So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.” ’ ”
“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs.
Literally I will plague you with frogs.
Why do we call them plagues?
Plague means to strike.
The Lord is literally striking the Egyptians with plagues.
Interestingly enough, with both of these two first plagues, the Lord does something with idols of the Egyptians.
They worshipped the Nile and in ancient Egypt they believed frogs were a sign of good fortune for them.
If the frogs were croaking, then the land around Egypt was being watered by the Nile and things were fertile.
So they had rules against even killing the frogs.
These first two plagues then, turned those things which they worshipped into curses.
This is what happens with all idolatry.
What one worships will eventually become what blesses them or curses them.
And it happens.
The Egyptian Pharaoh refuses to listen. He hardens his heart, and God brings the pain.
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.’ ”
So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
The magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
Exodus 8:
Now, to be honest, Pharaoh was likely exempt from any real personal turmoil from the first plague by the very nature of his position. He had plenty of servants and they could go and fetch him some water, but this one was different.
Pharaoh, like everyone else would experience the dread of this plague.
This is no ordinary amount of frogs.
“covered the land” is literally the same word used for clothe.
God clothed Egypt in frogs.
Pharaoh gets tired of this pretty quickly.
His magicians again can bring more frogs, but they cannot reverse the curse.
So Pharoah calls Moses
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.”
Listen to Pharoah here. Entreat the Lord.
The LORD.
Here is some recognition at least HE CANT control and the GOD is in control.
Listen to what Moses says verse 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?”
Moses’s confidence is growing. Not only will he pray, but he will allow Pharaoh to specify what day to pray on.
This shows something to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh will know when he specified the frogs leave and he will know that Moses’s prayer worked at that time.
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.
Not sure why he does this.
It really makes no sense at all. One more night of frogs. Certainly he could have said immediately, but he says tomorrow.
Moses: “As you wish. May you know that there is no one like the Lord.”
“The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”
Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh.
The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields.
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.
The LORD answers the prayer, and the frogs died out of the houses the courts and the field. but the plague was not over. The smell is still there.
But then theres verse 15
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
How many times have we seen this?
Entreat the Lord for me, and as soon as the hard times are gone, the hard heart returns.
As a result, The Lord will plague them again.
No warning this time.
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.
Even the magicians realize at this point that they have no match for the gnats.
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.
So there's this fly, and a gnat lands on its back. The fly says, "Is that a gnat on my back?" The gnat says, "Gnat at all." The fly says, "That's the worst pun I've ever heard." The gnat goes, "What do you expect? I just made it up on the fly!"
Basically this word can be any type of two wing biting insect. Gnat, mosquitos, lice.
annoying.
But Pharaoh hardened his heart.
What do we learn about God?
What do we learn about man?
Ex 8:16-