The Plagues - Tag Team Sermon - Part 2

6 minute intro:

If you remember nothing about last week and the plagues we’ve already discussed. Here are 3 takeaways:

These plagues are clearly the work and hand of a mighty and sovereign God, not natural occurrences and they are intended to reveal just that (not just punishment and misery) but that God is GodThe strikes are judgments against the sins of Egypt - that means the land, the people, the way of life and most importantly its ruler or head which embodied all of these things. There is a rhythm and cycle to the plagues which might seem to be extraneous (unneeded and worn out) but it will thoroughly and without question justify the final vindication and plague.The cycle is - warning, judgment, repentance, relief, hardening...repeat.

7 minute plagues

Location, what it was, and what god/ideology it came against.Micah, which of these five plagues is so different and why are we focusing on it today?

6 minute hail grace offered

Psalm 51:172 Timothy 1:6-7Common Grace or specific - Salvific Grace.What does salvific grace look like?

5 minute 2 Timothy - fear of God is the beginning of wisdom

Discussion of application - Micah challenged us to consider that when we ask “what does this mean to me?” - This is the purpose of all Scripture - 1 Timothy 3:16-17.

Only God’s grace allows you

LIVESTOCK - Wealth and Prosperity:

If we want to streamline this we can give a very boiled down similar run through of each plague. It will save time and allow for more conclusion/application.

The time is sudden - disease can spread rapidly, but not throughout all the livestock of the land in a day - there isn’t enough interaction between the animals for them to communicate the disease to one anotherThe livestock of the Hebrews are saved from the plague not even 1 died if the disease is spreading rapidly it surely would affect all livestock not just select populations (livestock don’t know who they belong to)

“For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” Psalm 50:10, 11

This is attributed directly to the Lord’s hand (v. 3 & 6)Pharaoh verified this miracle (v.7) this hardens his heart. There is no modern equivalent of this save for salvation experience and joy - This is an attack on the false gods of Hathor (goddess with a cow head), and Apis, (bull god – a symbol of fertility).

BOILS - Health

The kiln was where the Hebrews would have made the bricks (the irony of this is that the fuel for the fire of their slavery would now become a mark upon the people who benefited from the slave laborPlague is unannounced but is done in the sight of pharaoh so that he would attribute it to YHWH and not to natural circumstanceMagicians reappear for the last time but only to note they are so afflicted they are unable to come before pharaoh or even stand, they are brought to their knees, metaphorically and literally.

“Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” 2 Timothy 3:8-9

This shows no power in Isis, the goddess of healing, Sekhmet, indeethe goddess with power over diseases. Sunu the pestilence god

“The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.” Deuteronomy 28:27

HAIL (beginning of the final cycle)

This is the 1st plague that will take human lifeTouches fields, livestock and humansAlso this first plague which CAN be avoided by heading God’s instructionNut, the sky goddess. Osiris, the god of crops and fertility. Set, the god of storms.V. 14 - this is aimed at Pharaoh’s heart via - your servants, your peopleV. 16 - for this purpose I have raised you up (let you live, made you to stand) - he could have already obiterated pharaoh, his people the entire land of egypt, but so God’s power and its extent might be shown and fully revealed - God has preserved PharaohThe precise time of day is part of the warning (showing sovereignty but also so that God’s warning could be heeded)

whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

Only by heeding God’s word would the disaster be avoided. Pharaoh would have to recognize that it is YHWH who is sending the plague and who is offering the shelter. Otherwise why speak at all?The Egyptians are not innocent -( v. 34, 10:1) they and Pharaoh hardened their hearts. This simply means they refused to acknowledge what was apparent - the YHWH is the true and only God

LOCUST

God is making a point - I will deal so clearly and harshly with disobedience it will be a warning to all generations Pharaoh’s servants do not understand the fullness of the demand - they persuade him to only let the men go10 But he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Now, therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the LORD your God only to remove this death from me.

DARKNESS

There is no explanation for a 3 day darkness, there is no explanation for a localized darknessRa was the sun god. He was impotent and missingPharaoh asks for them to leave behind the livestock (either so they would be forced to return or so that they could take what was left for themselves) Moses says not only are the livestock to come, but they are required for serving God. God has given them the animalsGOd has preserved the animals God provides what He demands (should I give offering? Has God provided?)Pharaoh is a trapped and cornered animal he now lashes out and threatens Moses with death if he should see him again.

GOD HAS A PEOPLE - God keeps His people for His own purposes. His own glory. Not because they have earned it (but obedience is often an identifying trait, though it quite often is not)

What makes you BETTER than me? - Nothing. God is the one who is good. (v. 7) it is GOD who makes the distinction, not the people!

For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them. Also on their gods the Lord had executed judgments. Numbers 33:4

Pharaoh - own god

What is the truth that would have been read by the Israelites when they read/heard this story and remembered the plagues?

The fact that God is strong and their protector, yes, but to your point that was a daily reminder for them, so it’s kind of like preaching the same message every time. Therefore, what was the primary message?YHWH who speaks all creation into being can and will speak judgment on all, the sole distinction being that He has chosen them. - This is where you are going next week, yes?It’s hard because arguably like you said, the snake and the death are simply bookends, so trying to keep a lot of the meat for the bookend will make these a little more difficult.