Exodus Week 9 - Sermon - The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart
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Transcript
INTRO
INTRO
Have you ever been in a situation where you were completely out of control
What i mean: Car Accidents
This is a glimpse into reality
You don’t have as much control as you think.
What if you where just a stream of water in another’s hand that could easily be directed?
What if you where just a stream of water in another’s hand that could easily be directed?
1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
Today, we will look at one of the most difficult concepts in all the Bible.
The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart.
Everything in Exodus has been building up to this moment.
It’s the Title Fight: God vs. Satan, Moses vs. Pharaoh
Who is going to win?
Hanging in the balance are the Promises of God.
will he come through?
Will he deliver his people from the most powerful man on earth?
We briefly covered the first three rounds last week.
This week we will touch on Plagues 4-6, but focus in on Plagues 7-9.
We’ll be in , BIBLES
NAME, good to WORSHIP GOD TODAY.
We’ve been working through Exodus
PRAY
PRAY
Oh, Sovereign Lord.
You are most worthy.
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
God in Control
God in Control
We look at this Phenomena of Pharaoh’s heart
It’s important to remember that everything that is about to take place was already foretold by God.
1st Meeting of Moses + God: The Burning Bush
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
On the way back to Egypt
Exod 3:
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exod 4:21
Right before meeting with Pharaoh for the 2nd time.
2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
Exod 7:
It reminds me of Jesus words.
29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
And in the end, God’s Power would Prevail and he would indeed deliver his people from under the power of Pharoah.
THE WHY? - His name would be known.
THE WHY? - His name would be known.
Furthermore the Lord said that He himself would harden Pharaoh’s heart SO THAT his wonders would be multiplied ()
And in the end, God’s Power would Prevail and he would indeed deliver his people from under the power of Pharoah.
2nd thing we need to look at in understanding the hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart is the WHY?
The question that remains is WHY?
Why would God do it this way?
Why the hardening?
“2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
There is One Thing that God wants to accomplish in all of this and more than even the salvation of his people.
That his name would be known.
It’s the Glory of His Name.
9 times in 9 plagues he makes this clear
15 times from the time Moses first goes to Pharaoh until the Exodus.
That my Name might be known
That my Name might be known
“The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against (show my power) Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
“The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against (show my power) Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
“Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand (by God’s power) I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
“Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand (by God’s power) I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
“Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people.
“But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.”
“14 for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth.
“But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
“The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.
“2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you (plural) may know that I am the Lord.”
WHY? - Made to Worship
WHY? - Made to Worship
Third thing we need to consider with Pharaoh’s heart is what we are made for:
Two things we need to see:
We are made to WORSHIP THE LORD.
Without God’s intervention we are completely lost
You
Because seeing God as the most glorious, majestic, magnificent, most worthy of praise is the MOST IMPORTANT THING TO OUR SOULS.
You and I are worshippers.
We are made to Worship.
We are made give ourselves to that which we worship,
Rev
that which we find most valuable,
that which we desire most.
We see this in how as human beings we idolize celebrities,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
give ourselves over to Sports,
worry incessantly about money
You and I are made to worship that which we find most glorious, most worthy, most desirable, most beautiful.
Ultimately we are made to Worship God alone.
1st Commandment.
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
REV
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
“
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
This is the WHOLE POINT of the Exodus.
This is the WHOLE POINT of the Bible
This is the WHOLE POINT Creation.
It’s why you and I exist. It’s why anything exists.
To give HONOR, and GLORY, and POWER, and BLESSING, and PRAISE to GOD ALMIGHTY.
WHY we don’t Worship God
WHY we don’t Worship God
Q: If that’s true then why don’t all things worship God alone?
This is the last thing we need to look at to understand the heart of Pharaoh.
The condition of our hearts apart from God:
Not just hard, but Dead and Dark.
You see God has an enemy.
And evil crept into the world.
Evil - anything that robs God of glory
And evil came into the Garden in Gen 3 and drew our HEARTS away from that which is most worthy
and TOWARDS the one thing we couldn’t escape,
the one thing that we would be forever tempted to put before God
the one thing we thought was truly ours.
OURSELVES
he one way that evil knew he could hurt God.
And at that fateful and universally altering moment when Adam and Eve turned away from God
sin and brokenness entered the world.
And at that fateful and universally altering moment when Adam and Eve turned away from God sin and brokenness entered the world.
Adam and Eve died a death that day, a spiritual death as they were disconnected from the one true source of life, the one thing worthy of worship
Fear, distrust and unbelief had entered the world.
Every person ever born since then has been born in a condition of spiritual deadness.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men”
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men”
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men,
“For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners”
“and were by nature children of wrath”
“being dead in our trespasses”
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
psa
PHARAOH
PHARAOH
This bring us to Pharaoh
Pharaoh was born into the same condition of spiritual deadness as the rest of us.
But Pharaoh had power and position.
You’ve heard that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
coined by the English nobleman Lord Acton in 1857
Pharaoh demonstrates this quote perfectly.
He was the most powerful man or the most powerful nation on earth.
He believed himself to be a God
He is the PEAK to which all of us would achieve if possible.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god—
Eze 28:
11 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:
“You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering,
sardius, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;
and crafted in gold were your settings
and your engravings.
On the day that you were created
they were prepared.
14 You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
16 In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I exposed you before kings,
to feast their eyes on you.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities,
in the unrighteousness of your trade
you profaned your sanctuaries;
so I brought fire out from your midst;
it consumed you,
and I turned you to ashes on the earth
in the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who know you among the peoples
are appalled at you;
you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever.”
Eze 28:11-
See
You see Pharaoh’s Heart wasn’t just hard, it was DEAD.
Completely dead to the glory, majesty and splendor of God almighty.
In truth, God really didn’t have to do anything for Pharaoh’s heart to be hard, he simply had to withhold his grace from him.
Friends, this is true of you and me.
Apart from God’s Grace we all are Pharaoh.
ILL: It’s like Water.
Water has no power on it’s own to become steam.
It needs something external to it to act on it and change it.
The heat is like grace.
Furthermore God can chose to remove more heat and then one happens?
The water becomes hard, it becomes ice.
This is kind of how I understand how God is interacting here.
Completely dead to the glory, majesty and splendor of God almighty.
9 Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you?
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.”
In truth, God really didn’t have to do anything for Pharaoh’s heart to be hard, he simply had to withhold his grace from him.
Friends, this is true of you and me.
Apart from God’s Grace we all are Pharaoh.
ILL: It’s like Water.
, See
Water has no power on it’s own to become steam.
It needs something external to it to act on it and change it.
The heat is like grace.
Furthermore God can chose to remove more heat and then one happens?
The water becomes hard, it becomes ice.
This is kind of how I understand how God is interacting here.
THE PROGRESSION OF PHARAOH
THE PROGRESSION OF PHARAOH
Obviously Pharaoh thinks pretty highly of himself.
His is PRIDEFUL
Augustine - Pride is the source of all SIN
When Moses first Visits Pharaoh it’s a direct challenge.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
This probably didn’t go over very well and we learn Pharaoh’s response.
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
Clearly, Pharaoh is already puffed up against this ‘foreign god’
After the Snakes incident the text says
13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
After the Nile - Plague #1
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
After the Frogs - Plague #2
It looks like Pharaoh might bend...
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
After the Gnats (lice) - Plague #3
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
After the Flies - Plague #4
God gives Pharaoh a warning that it is coming
After it comes, Pharaoh again says he will let them go
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
The Livestock - Plague #5
Things start to intensify
It’s the first plague against animals and it is the first to cause death
Warning is given and not heeded and the Plague comes.
But this time as with the Flies, the Israelites are unaffected.
The Lord is making a distinction.
7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
This phenomena so far is kind of like what I see in my children.
Once their Sovereignty is threatened, anger and hardness comes.
I can see it play out before my eyes.
A refusal to relent, to see what has become obviously true.
This is a shade of the hardness we are seeing here.
But for Pharaoh it goes well beyond that.
You have heard of Narcissist who are unable to think about anyone outside of themselves.
They are incapable of empathy — connecting with another.
A Turn for the Worse (Plague 6)
A Turn for the Worse (Plague 6)
The Boils - Plague #6
Intensification continues:
1st plague that human beings are in danger
There is no warning to Pharaoh
And then something else shifts.
12 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
The Lord is the one that actively hardens pharaoh’s heart.
Now, that should alarm you. That should disturb you.
If it doesn’t check your pulse.
If you are like me then everything in you starts to rise up and cry out “that’s not fair”
If the Lord hardens pharaoh’s heart then he can’t be held responsible for who can resist his will?
This is an excellent question and begins to bring us to the heart of the matter.
B/C it also says the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart in Plagues 8 & 9
This is a new Intensification of the Plagues.
The hardening now shifts to what Theologians call the Passive Judgment of God.
We actually see this demonstrated in
- God’s Wrath Revealed.
- God’s Wrath Revealed.
I think something is happening here and it is tied to the whole point of the Exodus — you remember?
that God would get Glory.
That God would be seen as God alone, the Great I am, the one “who is”
shed some light on what I think is happening and it should frighten us.
Roman’s 1:18 depicts God’s righteous wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
God clearly spells out that the center is that man has exchanged the glory of God for images.
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Then we see something happen that is unexpected.
God gives men (and women) over to their desires and it progressively gets worse
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
And then it describes the end of these kinds of people that God has given over to themselves.
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Romans 2
Sounds a lot like Pharaoh.
This is what Theologians call the Passive Wrath (or judgment) of God.
It is a giving over of someone to their own devices.
ILL: It’s like Water.
Water has no power on it’s own to become steam.
It needs something external to it to act on it and change it.
The heat is like grace.
Furthermore God can chose to remove more heat and then one happens?
The water becomes hard, it becomes ice.
This is kind of how I understand how God is interacting here.
And this is not what you want.
It is a form of Judgment.
some of you say ‘why am i still strugglin’ but this is a good thing.
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
God has given Pharaoh fair warning in the plagues, yet he refused b/c of his PRIDE.
I see that the Lord now actively hardening Pharaoh’s heart as an act of judgment which is supported by the fact that the next two plagues in particular are common metaphors for judgement in the OT
I see that the Lord now actively hardening Pharaoh’s heart as an act of judgment which is supported by the fact that the next two plagues in particular are common metaphors for judgement in the OT
The 7th Plague - The Hail ()
The 7th Plague - The Hail ()
This is the longest section of any of the plagues.
God is actually going to reveal his purposes to Pharaoh in this.
And the INTENSIFICATION continues:
The Hail is associated with God’s Judgment in the OT
The Hail is a danger to land, animals and humans and will cause death.
Once Again the Israelites are protected.
The Full force of these plagues will be directed into Pharoah’s Heart.
Yet, it is also the first Plague in which God gives people a chance for protection.
Let’s read it:
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exod 9:
Moses has given this command in most of the previous plagues, nothings has changed here.
14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
The language here is that the full force of the plagues will be sent into pharaoh’s own heart (“yourself”)
And then God tells Pharaoh exactly what his purpose is:
15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
He’s basically saying look I could have wiped you off of the face of the earth by now. But I haven’t for a reason, and it is a really good one.
NIVAP
The reason I haven’t is because I am using you to spread the word throughout the world that I am God. Understand this well, Pharaoh: You are serving my purpose” (vv. 15–16). The end of verse 16 refers to God’s NAME being proclaimed “in all the earth” (cf. vv. 14, 29). God’s purpose in the Exodus has worldwide implications. There is more at work here than simply liberating a band of oppressed slaves from Egypt. Pharaoh is, unfortunately for him, involved in something far bigger than he understands or has planned for.
The NIV Application Commentary: Exodus Seventh Plague: Hail (9:13–35)
The reason I haven’t is because I am using you to spread the word throughout the world that I am God. Understand this well, Pharaoh: You are serving my purpose” (vv. 15–16). The end of verse 16 refers to God’s reputation being proclaimed “in all the earth” (cf. vv. 14, 29). God’s purpose in the Exodus has worldwide implications. There is more at work here than simply liberating a band of oppressed slaves from Egypt. Pharaoh is, unfortunately for him, involved in something far bigger than he understands or has planned for.
B/C God’s name is most Worthy of Praise
That the Nations would know the Lord.
The same thing in 8th Plague: but for Israelites.
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
Why is God doing all of this?
so that the Nations would know that he is the Lord.
City, Nations and Generations
PRIDE
Then this crushing indictment.
17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.
#8 - Locusts - Same thing.
3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
So God brings the Hail same pattern plays out.
18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
The Locusts come next to finish off what ever was left from the Hail.
HAIL:
25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
LOCUSTS
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.
God’s Word will come to Pass — even Judgment.
DARKNESS
Then it Culminates in the 9th Plague of Darkness:
There is no warning here.
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”
23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
Exod 10
Just a thick darkness — which is meant to show us our TRUE SPIRITUAL CONDITION.
Pharoah just have hard hearts, but DEAD and DARNK hearts.
Apart from God’s Grace we all have DEAD & DARK HEARTS.
Again he gives provision and time for those who ‘feared the word of the lord” to take shelter.
Again Israel is spared.
But the damage of the hail is devastating
25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
Exod 9:
Pharaoh finally calls them in and ‘confesses’
Exod 9:
PHARAOH never turns:
34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
0:
20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
The Hail storm ceases and again.
The 9th Plague - Darkness
34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
Notice again “he sinned again” and ‘hardened his heart’ and his servants did also.
35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
The 8th Plague - The Locusts
The 8th Plague - The Locusts
The 8th Plague - The Locusts
God now tells Moses his purposes as well.
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
so that the Nations would know that he is the Lord.
City, Nations and Generations
So that the Israelites will know that he is the Lord.
Moses again goes to Pharaoh and calls out his pride.
Even his servants begin urging him to relent.
But in the end he does not.
and the Plague of Locusts is unleashed upon the land.
They destroy anything that the hail did not.
Pharaoh again pleads for forgiveness (but only this once) and pleads that the plague be removed.
Every single locust is removed, but...
20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
The 9th Plague - Darkness
The 9th Plague - Darkness
This plague comes with no warning.
Darkness covers the whole land
So dark that you can’t even see in front of your face.
Pharaoh summons Moses and tells him to go but to leave all the children and livestock.
Moses says no.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.
What can break through our Dead and Dark Hearts?
What can break through our Dead and Dark Hearts?
Where is our hope?
We are all in darkness
We are all in darkness
We are all in darkness
Jesus says “I am the light of the World”
Creation
God’s demonstration his power over creation.
A complete reversal — back to genesis 1
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
This same God...
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.
Jesus comes and says “I am the LIGHT OF THE WORLD”
What are we to make of all this?
You see Pharaoh’s Heart wasn’t just hard, it was DEAD.
You see Pharaoh’s Heart wasn’t just hard, it was DEAD and DARK
Completely dead to the glory, majesty and splendor of God almighty.
In truth, God really didn’t have to do anything for Pharaoh’s heart to be hard, he simply had to withhold his grace from him.
Friends, this is true of you and me.
Apart from God’s Grace we all are Pharaoh.
ILL: It’s like Water.
Water has no power on it’s own to become steam.
It needs something external to it to act on it and change it.
The heat is like grace.
Furthermore God can chose to remove more heat and then one happens?
The water becomes hard, it becomes ice.
This is kind of how I understand how God is interacting here.
You see this Text is about Who God is
A sovereign God
A powerful God
A God completely in control
But a GOOD GOD!
Chronicles: is God safe? No he’s not safe, but he is good.
And he means good to you.
A God that can save anyone he chooses.
Jesus Saves
Jesus Saves
What would be powerful enough to break through these dead and dark hearts?
Jesus would need to take the full force of the wrath of God
All nine plagues would be put on Jesus on that Cross
All the judgement for Sin
All those were unable and unwilling to come to God,
God would come to us
God’s LOVE THROUGH JESUS is the LIGHT SHINING INTO THE DARKNESS
God’s love is demonstrated in this:
God’s love is demonstrated in this:
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GOD’S LOVE is the only thing powerful enough to restore us.
It’s his most aweaome ATTRIBUTE
Christ had to die so that out dead hearts could be revived.
Jesus reached down into death to bring us out with him.
Only Jesus can take a dead heart and make it living.
Christ had to die so that you and I could live.
“Because I live, you also will live.”
19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Who God is
Who God is
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:17
The Progression of Pharaoh
The Progression of Pharaoh
You see this Text is about Who God is
A sovereign God
A powerful God
A God completely in control
But a GOOD GOD!
Chronicles: is God safe? No he’s not safe, but he is good.
And he means good to you.
A God that can save anyone he chooses for the sake of his name.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name...And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes...25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you...26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules…38“Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
What does this mean?
What if my heart hard?
What if my heart hard?
What if my heart hard?
What if my heart hard?
This is a great COMFORT
GOD has all power, but He desires you
ASK!
O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry!
psalm 88:1-2
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
“the heavenly Father [will] give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
You are here to hear the gospel proclaimed
You are not here by accident.
Jesus I will never turn away someone
all who call on the name of hte lord will be saved.
Believer - Who will go?
Believer - Who will go?
“whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
IF YOU HAVE NOT YET BELIEVED
IF YOU HAVE NOT YET BELIEVED
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Pharaoh never turned, will you?
Romans 10:
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
IF YOU HAVE BELIEVED, WILL YOU GO
IF YOU HAVE BELIEVED, WILL YOU GO
Some struggle with purpose
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Romans 10:14-
You are now the LIGHT OF THE WORLD shining into the Darkness
WHY? - B/C God is Worthy
WHY? - B/C God is Worthy
You see this Text is about Who God is
You see this Text is about Who God is, it is what is MOST IMPORTANT
The the WORLD WOULD KNOW
A sovereign God
A sovereign God
A powerful God
A powerful God
A God completely in control
A God completely in control
But a GOOD GOD!
But a GOOD GOD!
Chronicles: is God safe? No he’s not safe, but he is good.
Chronicles: is God safe? No he’s not safe, but he is good.
And he means good to you.
A God that can save anyone he chooses for the sake of his name.
And he means good to you.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name...And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes...25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you...26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules…38“Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
A God that can save anyone he chooses.
Let’s Pray
Let’s Pray