God Pronounces Judgement

Intro

review the story so far

3 body parts

Lips, heart, and hand

Moses Faltering lips

Moses again seeing his speech inability to be disqualifying thing

If we were limited by our inability, then there would be no one in ministry, no one spreading the gospel, no one doing…really…anything

Instead, God knows our inability, and actually planned for it.

who better to approach the Pharaoh than one who grew up in his household, who better to speak to him, than one born free and not a slave?

You will be God to him

Hebrew text says “I have made you God to Pharaoh.”

he spoke with divine authority, as if God himself was speaking through Moses

In Egyptian royal ideology, the pharaoh was considered to be a divine being. So by calling Moses God, Yahweh is beating Pharaoh at his own game. It is not the king of Egypt who is god; rather, it is this shepherd and leader of slaves who is God.

And this Moses-God defeats Pharaoh in a manner that leaves no doubt as to the true nature and source of his power: He controls the elements, bugs, livestock, fire from heaven, and the water of the sea; he even has authority over life and death. Moses is not simply like God to Pharaoh. He truly is God to Pharaoh in that God is acting through Moses

by being God to Pharaoh, Moses points us to Christ who is God to us because…well…he is.

Exodus 7:1 NASB95

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.

  Marcus Brownson, who served as pastor of Philadelphia’s Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1897–1924, wrote:

Our Lord has no eyes, no feet, no hands to use now but those of His people in His Church which is His body. Each member has a function and an obligation.… As it was in the Church of the early days of Christianity, when men, women and even children went everywhere talking of the Saviour and of redeeming love, so should it be today. Evangelism is the office of all believers. Every believer in Christ holds an office in the Church, the office of witnessing for Christ, and it is the highest, most honorable, most useful office in the world, “the office of all believers.”1

1 Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 196–197.

Pharaoh’s Hard Heart

What Moses did not understand was, that when he said, “God, Pharaoh will never listen to me” God said, “Exactly!”

God used Pharaoh’s rebellion to prove that God alone had the power to rescue His people.

both the Israelites and the Egyptians

God’s words have a double effect

either you accept it or your heart is hardened and you reject it

They assumed that Jesus was trying to convert everyone. If that had been his purpose, then we would virtually have to conclude that his preaching ministry was a failure, because at the time of his death Jesus had only a handful of followers. Most of the people who heard him preach rejected him.

However, the truth is that God’s Word has a double effect. Some hearts are softened by it, while others are hardened. Some people believe the good news and are saved; others reject it and are lost forever. At the human level, the difference is a matter of personal choice, which is why the book of Exodus often states that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.1

Does Jesus love everyone and want everyone to be saved? Of course! But he knew not everyone would be.

God’s Mighty Hand

There are two sides to God’s hand

with the palm of his hand he will rescue and save his people

with the back of his hand he will smite the Egyptians for treating his people so.

Exodus 7:4 NASB95

“When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.

But God’s mighty hand of salvation was also a mighty hand of judgment, and at the same time that he saved the Israelites, he would punish the Egyptians. The word translated “judgment” here is actually the Hebrew word for “vindication” (shaphat), which suggests that the reason God had to judge Egypt was to protect his honor. Pharaoh was keeping God’s people in bondage. He was even murdering their baby boys. So God vindicated his name by visiting Egypt with the plagues of his justice, especially the death of the firstborn.1

1 Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 202.

With his palm he gently led the Israelites out of bondage, while at the same time giving the back of his hand to the Egyptians1

1 Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 202.

Conclusion

God is once again showing Moses what will happen but in the end, God will punish those who harm his children, at the same time bringing his children to safety.

Either God will rescue and restore us here on earth, or he will rescue and restore us in Glory.

either way, he will rescue and he will restore