[Only One God] Exodus 6:10-8:19 | "Great Acts of Judgment"
[Exodus] Only One God • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 23 viewsSunday, April 03, 2022. Exodus 6:10-8:19 | "Great Acts of Judgment" How will a person know God? It is a fearful and fateful way to know God if a person has refused His witnesses, word, and worship in favor of knowing God through His works alone. So let's discover how the LORD works through this text, especially on the human heart. This message preaches from Exodus 6:10-8:19. The title of this sermon: "Great Acts of Judgment"
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Prayer
Prayer
Father, As we prepare to receive Your Holy Word, we ask that you would give us eyes that we may see, ears that we may hear, and hearts that we might believe and obey. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
I. The Reading
I. The Reading
A reading from Exodus 7:1-7, reading from the English Standard Version translation of the Bible.
This is God’s Word:
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
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.”
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Say Amen
Say Amen
If you receive this word by faith as the word of God and not the word of men, would you Say Amen? Amen.
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
God, the only God, is knowable.
God wants to be known.
He has revealed Himself through His witnesses and Word; through His worship and His works.
God not only wants to be known, but God will be known by all people.
Revelation 1:7 says of Jesus —
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
God will be known by all — one way, or the other. You will know God.
No scenario exists, in which a person will live, and die, and never see and never know God, in this life, or in the life to come.
It’s impossible to not know God.
All will see Him. All will know Him.
The question is —
How will a person know God?
If a person will not receive God’s Witnesses —
the witness of Creation or the witness of Christians who go and speak the truth of the Gospel, then how will a person know God?
If a person will not receive God’s Word —
the spoken word, the written word, the living word of Christ — the means of faith, then how will a person know God?
If a person will not receive God’s Worship —
the word visible, lived out in God’s people who submit to Him and follow Him and obey Him and glorify Him with every area of their lives, then how will a person know God?
That leaves only one way to know God:
God’s Works.
And that is a fearful and fateful way to know God, if you have refused His worship, His word, and His witnesses in favor of knowing God through His works alone.
For listen again, to how God works in this text, toward Pharaoh and Egypt:
The LORD said to Moses:
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.”
How will the Egyptians know that “I am the LORD?”
Answer: I will lay my hand on Egypt... (v.4).
How will the Egyptians know that “I am the LORD?”
Answer: By great acts of judgment (v.4).
How will the Egyptians know that “I am the LORD?”
Answer: When I stretch out my hand against Egypt... (v.5).
A person or a people, who reject God’s witnesses, God’s word, and God’s worship — will know God still, but will know God through God’s works against them.
They will know God as God rejects them, through great acts of judgment.
Perhaps you’ve heard it said this way —
“Everyone will meet Jesus. Will you meet Him as Savior? Or will you meet Him as Judge? How will you meet the Lord?”
Moses has been on his own journey of getting to know this God, the LORD, who has called Him.
Moses has asked many questions of God. He’s wrestled with doubt, and discouragement.
But Moses believes God, and this is evident because Moses obeys God.
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
This is a significant statement of faith in this text, because Moses and Aaron obeyed God, when God told them they would be rejected.
God told Moses and Aaron, up front, that Pharoah would not listen to them.
And more than that, God told them why Pharoah would not listen:
God Himself, would harden Pharaoh’s heart.
The multiplied signs and wonders of God in the land of Egypt are also called “great acts of judgment.”
God would use Moses and Aaron as ministers of God’s judgment upon Pharoah and Egypt.
Is that anyone’s ambition for “retirement years”? To be used of God as ministers of God’s judgment against a king and a nation?
Moses is eighty years old. Aaron is eighty-three years old. And they “did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them” (Ex 7:6-8).
That’s an exhortation for every season of life.
Verse 6 —
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
Faith is for every season of life. Obedience is for every season of life. Knowing God is for every season of life.
Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them.
Even when what God asked of them, would not be received by Pharoah.
Even when what God asked of them, would take awhile — there would be 10 judgments against Egypt.
Even when what God asked of them, would require them to be patient as God is patient, and endure by faith for a future victory.
Moses and Aaron did so, they did just as the LORD commanded them.
And this response is the opposite of Pharaoh’s, who did NOT so. Pharaoh did NOT do what what the LORD commanded him. Pharaoh rebelled.
Pharaoh will not listen. Pharaoh refuses to obey, because Pharaoh does not know the LORD.
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.”
Pharaoh will eventually know the LORD — but not to his salvation, but rather to his judgment.
Whether these works of God that will be performed in Egypt are known as miracles or judgments depends on which side of faith a person is on.
Rejecting God’s grace for a season, rejecting faith, rejecting obedience, rejecting God’s revelation of Himself, can lead to something disastrous — to judgment. That’s the focus of Exodus 7.
The Scriptures exhort us in this way, too —
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin deceives and damages the heart. It hardens the heart.
Every sin has a consequence. Every sin leaves a mark.
It is true, that God’s grace is greater than all our sin, but for the heart that rejects God’s grace, the heart hardens, and hardens more with every sin.
Is it possible for someone who does not know the Lord to repent and believe on his/her deathbed?
Are “deathbed conversions” possible?
Yes, they are possible. Hear me, they are possible!
But they are not probable. Why?
If a person has rejected the light of God and the knowledge of God for so long, and says “I’ll wait until the end when it matters,” “I’ll wait until I need to,” then they have forgotten one thing — their heart hardens as they wait and reject Lord.
Their heart hardens and callouses so that in that day, they are not likely to want to trust the Lord. They have grown accustomed to not trusting Him.
They are not likely in that last day, to be willing to receive the truth.
God will work His saving power in Egypt, in the sight of all, through ten plagues. Ten strikes. Ten signs and wonders.
Everyone will see the same works of God, but not everyone will respond in the same way to God.
The Scriptures make clear, that the rejection of the Pharoah is not a seeing problem, it is not a hearing problem; it is clearly a heart problem.
And this heart problem exists in all human beings born into the world. It is the problem of sin.
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
7.1-2
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
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.
Moses and Aaron are commissioned again by the Lord to go to Pharoah, and they are not commanded to do anything other than speak.
In this way, all the work belongs to God. This takes the pressure off of Moses.
Don’t be discouraged, Moses. Just speak - I, the LORD, will do everything else.
This is God’s work. This is God’s doing.
(See House, OTT, 100).
Our English translations soften the language of verse 1.
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
The Hebrew language is stronger. It does not include the word “like.”
“See, I have made you God to Pharaoh.”
The Hebrew doesn’t have the word “like.”
Obviously, Moses is not God. Moses has not taken on this responsibility of being God.
But God has made Moses God to Pharoah. God is working, God is acting, through Moses.
Moses is God’s visible representative, God’s spokesperson, such that Pharoah rejecting Moses is the same as Pharoah rejecting God.
In this way, Moses points us to Christ who is to come.
Christ is greater than Moses, for Christ IS God. Rejecting Christ is rejecting God.
7.2
7.2
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.
When the text tells us that Moses speaks to Pharoah, we must remember that it will be Aaron’s voice that speaks for Moses. Aaron becomes Moses’ mouth.
Aaron is God’s gracious provision for Moses, who could not speak well.
God’s works continue —
7.3-4
7.3-4
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.
Where does God do His work?
Verse 3 tells us that God does His work on the human heart.
3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
At the beginning of the first plague (or sign), a few verses later —
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
Pharoah’s hardened heart is a result of Pharoah’s refusal, and this began before the plagues.
Again, the important and decisive verse —
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.”
God does not do to Pharaohs heart, what Pharaoh has not first already done to his own heart.
Brothers and sisters, when we allow sin into our own hearts — that’s not God’s doing.
That’s our own doing. That’s our own rebellion. That’s our own way. That’s our own worship.
Sin is a result of our own human actions. God does not make anyone sin. God opposes sin! Sin opposes God.
The hardening of our hearts does not condemn us before a holy and righteous God.
SIN condemns us before a holy and righteous God!
A person will not experience the judgment of God because their heart was hardened. A person will experience the judgment of God because of sin in the heart.
These plagues that are about to begin, will begin with the Lord speaking to Moses, and will end with Pharoah’s heart hardening.
The Plagues progressively get worse. And this says something about God’s longsuffering and patience. God is patient! God is slow to anger!
But these plagues also show the deceitfulness of sin, and the hardening effect of sin on the heart.
Each plague might be an opportunity for Pharaoh to repent, but instead it is an opportunity for the further hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.
And so it is, that there is a dual-sided nature to these great acts of judgment.
The very same acts that are meant to punish and judge the Egyptians, are the same acts that will deliver Israel from their burdens and harsh slavery.
The very same acts that are meant to punish and judge Pharoah, are the same acts that will strengthen Moses with courage and faith.
There is a dual-sided nature to these great acts of judgment.
The LORD says:
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.”
This brings us now to —
The [Christ] Conclusion
The [Christ] Conclusion
This compels us to give serious consideration to Jesus and His death on the cross, and what that means now for sin, for sinners, and for the saints.
Christ’s death was an act of judgment against human sin.
Some even suggest that Christ died from a broken heart. Certainly, his heart was broken for the sin of the world as he endured the judgment of God in the place of sinners.
Christ’s death was sufficient to atone for all sin, even for Pharoah’s sin, but it was not efficient for Pharoah’s sin, because Pharoah did not have faith in God. (see T.George for sufficient/efficient).
As we consider the cross of Christ, we all look at it and see the same work of God. But not everyone will respond in the same way.
Some respond in faith, and believe the Gospel that says by the blood of Christ, we are forgiven of sin and are washed white as snow and are born again to new and eternal life by God’s grace.
Some respond in disbelief, or worse — they delay to believe. And the heart hardens.
This is why every time the Gospel is preached, it is another opportunity for grace and faith. But every time the Gospel is preached, it is also another opportunity to leave, hardened.
Why does God give us so much insight into Pharaoh’s heart in the Scriptures?
After all, only God can see a person’s heart - and God reveals the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.
Why does God reveal that to us?
So that all who have ears to hear and eyes to see, might repent and believe the Gospel today!
The cross is for you, or the cross is against you.
The same cross is the clear judgment of God against all sin, and it is ALSO the invitation of God for all to be forgiven and have peace with God.
But if we reject the Work of God — the cross,
and the Word and Worship and Witness of God — Jesus Christ,
then what hope do we have left? We have no hope left.
Listen to what Jesus says about two men, a Rich Man and Lazarus —
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.
20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side.
24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.
26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—
28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’
29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’
30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Jesus was raised from the dead to the glory of God the Father! God offers eternal life for all who turn from sin and turn to Christ!
As we hear about Pharoah and his hardened heart, we all are exhorted to —
Come to Jesus, while we still can!
And to tell the world, before it is too late!
Let all who have ears to hear, HEAR the Word of the Lord!
Amen.