God's Fifth & Sixth Strike

Introduction

Scripture Reading

Exodus 9:1–12 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.” ’ ” And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. 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. 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.

Main Point

Outline

Divine Escalation

Divine Domination

Divine Humiliation

1. Divine Escalation

In the opening of chapter 9, we read a familiar refrain… God said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD… “Let my people go, that they may serve me.”’” (9:1).

Then comes the familiar warning, “If you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague…” (9:2-3).

As we’ve studied through Exodus so far, we’ve seen the Nile turned to blood, and then frogs, gnats, and flies overrun Egypt… and now (with a fifth plague or strike) God killed the Egyptians’ horses, donkeys, camels, cows, and sheep…

And with the sixth plague, God sent “boils” and “sores” upon both “man and beast throughout the land of Egypt” (9:9).

It’s interesting to note that the same Hebrew word used in our passage for “boils” is how God described Job’s skin disease… which covered him from head to toe… and provoked him to scrape himself with a piece of broken pottery (Job 2:7-8)… You can read all about Job’s experience in the book of the Bible which bears his name.

No doubt the first four strikes were bad… but these fifth and sixth ones are devastating. Even God calls the fifth one “a very severe plague” (9:3), which is language we haven’t seen before in the Exodus story.

In addition to this, we read in verse 3 that “the hand of the LORD” is what was falling upon Egypt! It’s curious to me that Pharaoh’s magicians said “the finger of God” was at work in the swarm of gnats (8:19), but now the “hand of the LORD” is what is coming against Egypt (9:3).

God’s hand (as a metaphor) would certainly be heavier and stronger than His finger… We know God doesn’t have hands or fingers… eyes or arms… any figure or form at all… but such language is analogical… or metaphorical… It’s “LIKE” or “AS THOUGH” God’s hand is stretched out in judgment against Egypt.

This all… it seems to me… points to a divine escalation of the plagues or strikes from God against the Pharaoh and against the Egyptians. AND this runs us right into a biblical truth that grates against popular ideas about God and His relationship to His created things.

Who turned the Nile river into blood? Who brought horrifying swarms of frogs and gnats and flies?

Who killed the cows in Egypt? Who sent a skin disease throughout all the land?

God made the Nile bloody! God sent the frogs and the gnats and the flies!

God killed the cows! And God sent the disease!

In our passage this morning, we see God’s special judgment on Egypt in the form of some disease that killed the animals and also in the form of some disease that horribly irritated the people’s skin.

These judgments are miraculous and unique, and these judgments are offensive to many people in our day. I mean… How could a loving God actually send painful judgments on people or animals like this?

Ah, but the God of the Bible judges everyone and everything! He weighs and He condemns… and He even punishes and kills those under His judgment.

Biblically speaking, humans are not naturally deserving of kindness and mercy from God… No, every human born after Adam is deserving of God’s judgment.

God owes us nothing… If we are alive one moment… If we enjoy any good thing in life… then this is a divine demonstration of God’s exceedingly great mercy!

But there is another biblical concept worth our time and consideration this morning… related to God’s prerogative to send disease as an act of judgment… especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

You know… for centuries Christians used to commonly speak of God’s providence in the events of everyday life. Christians used to understand that God decides when a person is born and when a person dies… how well the crops grow and how well the chickens lay… when a storm destroys one town and spares another… how one nation succeeds, and another fails.

Christians also used to understand that God heals diseases… and God also sends them… not necessarily for any particular blessing or cursing… but just as a matter of His providential arrangement of all things.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines God’s providence by saying, “God’s works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing of all His creatures and all their actions.”[1] …and 17th century Baptists wholeheartedly agreed with their Presbyterian brethren on this point.[2]

In other words, God’s providence is

(1) His preserving all things – the Scripture says that God “upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3) and that “all things exist… for [God] and by [God]” (Heb. 2:10) –

and (2) His governing all things – again the Scripture says that God “does all that He pleases” (Ps. 115:3, 135:6), including something as impossible as “bringing forth the wind from his storehouses” (Ps. 135:7)… indeed, “in him we [humans and all other creatures] live and move and have our [very] being” (Acts 17:28).

Brothers and sisters, God is in charge of both the good stuff and the bad (Lam. 3:37-38)… and by His providence and for His purposes… He brings both good and bad into our lives.

All of God’s strikes against Egypt were meant to show that “the LORD [Yahweh] is God” (Ex. 4:5, 6:7, 7:5, 7:17)… and we would do well to pay attention afresh today.

God was in charge of the Nile in Egypt… and He is in charge of the floods and famines today.

God was in charge of the frogs and the gnats and the flies… and He still rules every creature, great and small, today.

God was in charge of diseases on both man and beast… and He still governs such things by His holy, wise, and powerful hand today.

We should be prudent, taking precautions and acting with care… but we should not panic, since He who rules all things well has not vacated His throne this morning.

As I mentioned in the announcements today, the coronavirus pandemic is an unfolding event… and there is still much we do not know… We have made adjustments to our church calendar… and we must continue to make special efforts to care well for one another… But we mustn’t panic… We mustn’t forget that God governs all things by His providence…

And we must remember that the goal of life is to glorify God… not merely to survive as long as we are able.

There is much more happening in the Exodus story than God merely showing His power by ratchetting up the pressure against Pharaoh, but we can certainly see more of God’s unique sovereignty over all things in this divine escalation.

[1] See the full WSC here: https://www.apuritansmind.com/westminster-standards/shorter-catechism/

[2] See the London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 here: http://www.grbc.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-1689-Baptist-Confession-of-Faith.pdf

2. Divine Domination

3. Divine Humiliation

4.