The following is Pastor Nate’s teaching transcription from Calvary Monterey’s 1/26/21 Tuesday Night Service. We apologize for any transcription inaccuracies.

God is greater than all gods. No one can compete with God. No ideology, no man, no movement, no religion, no god of our making. No goal or mindset or mentality that is contrary to him is greater than him. God is the greatest. This is the sentiment that we should come away with in studying Exodus chapter seven through 13. When looking at the plagues that God unleashed upon ancient Egypt in order to deliver his people, Israel, from their captivity and from their slavery. So today we're going to begin, actually, looking at God delivering these plagues upon Egypt through his man, Moses.

In our last study together, we saw Moses arguing a bit with God. Back in the burning bush episode, Moses had, of course, offered questions and objections designed to push back on the idea that he could be God's messenger, that he could be the one that God would send to deliver his people. And God had responded to each one of Moses' objections with great patience. Finally, Moses submitted, went to Egypt, found his brother Aaron on the way. They came into the land of Egypt and began to tell the people that God had appeared, that God had sent them and told Pharaoh that God wanted him to let his people go.

And of course, Pharaoh's response was to make their slavery harder rather than easier. Rather than let them go in freedom to worship the Lord, he enslaved them further. Rather than have a partnership with Israel like they had had for so many centuries, Pharaoh asserted himself as greater than the people of Israel and the people of Israel, in his mind, we his slaves, were his servants. And so a great showdown has been set up between God and Pharaoh. Pharaoh saying who is the Lord? And God is about to show Pharaoh exactly who he is.

Exodus Chapter 7

God Reassures Moses

But because things got harder before they got better, because the slavery and servitude increased because of Pharaoh's anger, and because the people of Israel, elders included, lashed out at Moses because things had gotten so severe, Moses, at the end of chapter six, had come to God and said, "I can't do this. This is not what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm a man of unclean lips, surely you can't use me for this work." He told God of his personal inadequacy for the task. If the Israelites had not listened to Moses and were not following Moses then Moses in his mind felt what chance is there that Pharaoh will listen to me if the people of Israel will not. So let's read of God's response or reply to Moses in verse one of Exodus chapter seven.

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.

It says, And the Lord said to Moses, "See I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 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." Now I love this because after hearing of Moses' case where he builds up his own inadequacy before God at the end of chapter six, here at the beginning of chapter seven, God simply tells Moses to obey. I've heard you Moses, I've heard your argument, I've heard your theory as to why I should not send you but here's what you must do. You must go and you must obey. God reassures Moses, in a sense here. In his ability through Moses to overcome Pharaoh and lead the people out of their slavery in Egypt. And part of the way that he communicated this to Moses, in verse one, is by telling Moses that he would become like God to Pharaoh.

That he would be the one interceding for Pharaoh. He would be the one that Pharaoh would supplicate, that Pharaoh would come to with requests, asking for mercy. At this point, of course, Pharaoh thinks he's in charge but by the end of the plague episodes, Pharaoh will be approaching Moses, pleading for grace, pleading for mercy, praying to Moses, in a sense. And that's why God says to Moses, "I've made you like God to Pharaoh and your brother, Aaron, shall be your prophet." And so all Moses needed to do was go and to speak everything God said, in verse two, that God had commanded him to speak. In other words, Moses was God's representative before Pharaoh.

Now before we move on in the passage there are a couple of encouragements if not many more, from just these first two verses. First of all, we serve and love and know a God who when we bring to him our frailty, when we bring to him our perceptions of our limitations, he says to us, No, you might be limited but I am unlimited. And he continues to push us forward into the future and the call and the service that he has for us to accomplish. He wants us to push past that discouragement with belief and trust in him.

Secondly, there's an encouragement there about who we are here on earth today. Obviously we're not approaching literal Pharaohs today but Pharaoh and all of the trappings around him can be symbolic of the world system that believers are immersed in today. And Moses and Aaron were like prophets to that world system, or prophets to Pharaoh. They were God's representatives before the world itself, before the perfect man, so to speak, in the eyes of the world and Pharaoh. And so for us, it encourages us to remember and recall that we now, on this side of the cross, as believers in Jesus Christ, are called to be ambassadors for him. We are God's representatives here on earth. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, therefore we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. And we implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. This was Paul's attitude, an ambassador, a reconciler. Bringing the hope of the gospel to the world in which he lived.

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.”

Okay, but God went on to speak to Moses in verse three. He says, "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 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. 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." And so here God is declaring what I'm about to do, it's going to increase the Egyptian's knowledge of who I am, that I am the Lord. Everyone would know, not just the Hebrews, not just Moses, not just the elders, but everyone would know who God was. And it seems that some of the Egyptians, even, would attempt to convert to the God of the Hebrews. When they finally depart from Egypt, there is a mixed multitude.

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.

So it appears that there are some who are Egyptian by race who say to themselves, I've got to be part of this God who has judged all of our gods during these plagues. And so that's what God is predicting, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. Moses and Aaron, verse six, did so just as the Lord commanded them. Now Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. Sometimes in the Bible when someone's age is mentioned, it's mentioned right before something amazing happens. We saw this in the book of Genesis, for instance, the age of the patriarchs was sometimes given when a miraculous birth would occur. And here we learn the age of Moses and Aaron, Moses was 80, Aaron was 83 years old, being Moses' older brother. So he was three years old when Moses was born.

Now this is interesting because what you're seeing here with Moses is that his first 80 years of life, in many ways, were his years of preparation and he would serve the people of Israel as their leader for 40 years until the day of his death. So his most fruitful years were actually age 80 to age 120. Now, part of this should encourage us that the last third of our lives can be fruitful unto God. Now I don't mean to delude you with the idea that you can sluff off for the first two thirds of your life spiritually, never abide in Christ, never read the word, never grow in Christ, never learn doctrines, never make disciples, never try, never serve, never volunteer and then whenever the last two thirds of your life comes and God knows, so magically when that moment occurs, he'll begin to use your life. No. The first portion of life ought to be spent trying, serving, doing, being obedient to the Lord.

And oftentimes, though, those will be years of great preparation. And then there can be the future hope in a person's life of the latter years of their life being incredibly fruitful unto God. Unfortunately, many people will turn 60 years old, 70 years old and say to themselves, I'd love to make a disciple. I'd love to make a mentor. But what I've found is that people that have been doing that their whole life long, or their whole Christian life long, they know how to make disciples. They know how to mentor at age 60 or 70 but when someone has not been doing that up until that point, it's so difficult for them to enter into the ministry, so to speak, at that stage of their lives. But here, Moses and Aaron are a bit of an encouragement about the future fruit that we can bear in our older years, in our last third of our lives.

But probably the bigger message that we should gain from seeing this 80 years old and 83 year old man tag teaming in a battle against Pharaoh and being victorious in it, is something other than just the concept that, hey in our older years we can be used by God in perhaps even more fruitful ways than before. Probably the bigger lesson that we should see here is that God is able to use weak instruments for himself. These are men that are past the splendor of their youth. They're past the time of their physical strength. They're past the time of being physically imposing. They're past that moment in life. And now, in their old years, when perhaps many might look at them and say, there's no way God can use them. They're old. They're weak. They need staffs to get around. Instead, God is going to use their lives.

Serpents and Staffs

And if we're honest about this, this is a great picture of all of us. Because, all of us are actually poor in spirit. All of us fall far short. All of us, in so many ways, are weak. And if we could just tap into that understanding of who we really are, that we have weaknesses, that we are poor in spirit, and if we could just glory in those things and recognize that even in our weaknesses, he is made strong, it might help us realize that he can use imperfect, weak instruments for his purposes here on earth. And so Moses and Aaron did what the Lord asked them to do.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

Now, verse eight it says, then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron. When Pharaoh says to you prove yourselves by working a miracle. Then you shall say to Aaron. Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh that it may become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a serpent. Then Pharaohs summoned the wise men and the sorcerer's and they, the Magicians of Egypt also did the same by their secret arts.

For each man cast down his staff and they became serpents but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs, still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. So Moses and Aaron they go in this passage tells us and they throw down, Aaron throws down his staff before Pharaoh, it turns into a serpent, but unfortunately Pharaohs wise men and magicians and sorcerers they do the same thing. Moses writes by their secret arts, they replicate the miracle that Moses and Aaron just produced but for them with disastrous results. Their snakes were eaten up by Aaron's snake.

Now, the Jewish tradition, was that these magicians were named Jannes and Jambres, you might recognize those names if you're a student of the New Testament, because in Second Timothy chapter three verse eight Paul says that Moses was opposed by Jannes and Jambres. Their names actually aren't in the Old Testament story, but Jewish tradition, had named these men Jannes and Jambres, and apparently it was actually their real names because under the inspiration of the spirit, second Timothy chapter three that's who Paul said they were. Now the question of course is how did they do this miracle? And it won't be the first miracle, or illusion that they produce. They will turn the water into blood, and they will also produce frogs in the first two plagues. Perhaps it was sleight of hand, some kind of trick, like I said, an illusion. But it's likely that it was some kind of demonic sorcery, they were into the occult and all kinds of dark systems of worship there in Egypt at that point. And it clearly says there in verse 11, that they did these things by their secret arts but Aaron staff swallowed up their staffs.

This was a sense a way for God to declare war on their demonic gods. Yes, you might be able to produce this kind of sorceress trick. However, what we have done in producing a serpent from a staff is actually stronger than what you have done is the message. God declares war on their demonic gods, part of the message being that God is stronger than their paramount god, that being Pharaoh himself. You see, snakes often represent Egyptian power, think of the fairyonic headdress, which you've often seen in history or images or Indiana Jones, it's often shaped like a cobra. For Aaron staff to turn into a snake, and then consume another snake is nothing less than a direct challenge to Pharaoh's power. So his magicians did what they did, but God did what he did. This means that God, not Pharaoh can manipulate nature, and that's we're going to see all throughout the plagues, God manipulating the natural realm.

So God has the power to manipulate nature. God is actually going to battle Egypt here in these plagues by controlling nature, it does his bidding. Just like Jesus calming the storm God is going to do what he wants to do with the elements, every part of the elements during these plagues. Pharaoh might have thought that he was powerful. He might have had a grandiose self image, but the plagues are going to demonstrate his absolute impotence that he is nothing, and that God has all the strength and power. So they began this with this miniature smaller sign. But notice verse 13, it says that Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh we'll see him in this passage increase in a hardening of his heart and we'll talk about that in a moment.

But to me this little passage is not a type or an image but there is a foreshadowing here that is interesting. You have one serpent eating up all the others. And in a sense you have Jesus, he rose from the dead, the other founders of other religions have all died, they're no longer alive just like the snakes of the Jannes and Jambres staffs are no longer alive. But Jesus is alive, he conquered death, yet the heart of man like Pharaoh here in this passage is often still hard towards Jesus even though he conquered death.

Plague 1: Nile Turned to Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed.

Let's move on in the passage though and see the first of the plagues, in verse 14. “Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go, go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews sent me to you saying, let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed.”

So God gives Moses now directions, they've done the first sign with the staff turning into a serpent and now God tells Moses to go down to Pharaoh in the morning at the Nile River when Pharaoh goes down to the water. And this will now be the beginning of the 10 plagues that God will pronounce upon Egypt and actually it's probably better to call these 10 judgments because some of them are not classical plagues like we would think of in our modern era. But God is about to judge Pharaoh and the thing Moses has to do is to warn Pharaoh about these judgments. The Lord, the God of the Hebrews sent me to you saying let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness but so far you have not obeyed.

Now, I'd like to say a couple of words about the plagues that we're about to read of in these next few chapters. First of all, each plague will begin with the phrase, the Lord said to Moses, the Lord said to Moses. So these are initiated by God, he's the director, the initiator of each one of these judgments, each one of these signs. So every stage of this is being controlled by God. Another thing I want to point out is that each episode ends with some reference to the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, and like I said we'll talk about that in a moment. But each episode begins with the phrase the Lord said to Moses, and it ends with some type of hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Now these judgments can be grouped into three units of three plus one. The 10th judgment is the Passover. And so it's a standalone final judgment, but the first nine you can group in three groups of three.

The first, fourth and seventh judgments, at the beginning of each one of them start with in the morning, go down to Pharaoh. So they're kind of organized in that way, three groups of three. The first three plagues or judgments, Aaron's staff is going to be involved. The second three, no staff will be involved. And in the last three Moses's staff or Moses's hand will be involved. Another thing I want you to know just to kind of get this in your mind frame as we go through this passage is that the 10 plagues occurred over a period of likely about nine months. Part of the way that we know this is because the Nile River rises in July or August, and that's the time of the first plague. And we know that the 10th plague occurred in April, which is the month of Passover, so you've got yourself eight or nine months between the two. And I also want you to know that there are gradual changes that occur throughout the plagues, stuff was happening to people during these plagues. It wasn't just disaster there was stuff going on, there was stuff going on in Pharaoh.

His reaction hardens, but gradually he also becomes more and more open to letting the people go. He offers these different solutions, partial freedom, until finally he says, just let them all go, get out of here and never return. Also, the attitude of Pharaoh's officials, his servants, and the general population, it changes over the course of these plagues. By the end, they're rooting for the people of Israel to depart and giving them great gifts in order to send them on their way. And also the power of the magicians, we just saw these magicians turn staff into serpents like Aaron and Moses had done, but their power is going to decrease dramatically over the course of these plagues. They'll be able to produce some signs or some wonders at first, but then, eventually they'll become unable to do so. And finally, there will come a moment where they're actually victims of the judgments themselves, when we get to chapter nine they're actually going to experience the boils coming upon them. So they're not able to stop these things, their power decreases as the episodes unfold.

And the last thing that I'll say about all the plagues in general before moving on into this plague in particular, is simply this, I think they actually happened. And the reason that I'm mentioning this is because often scholars and even Bible teachers will try to explain these plagues with natural phenomena. But the thing is, is that they're written in such a way where it actually makes the text more awkward if these are just natural events. Take the turning of the Nile River into blood, for instance. God touched all the water the freshwater, the Nile river. And then the magician's did so as well. It's awkward to read it as just a changing of the color or some kind of bacteria that got into the water. Because when they dig into the ground they find a fresh water supply, it just reads as if, no, this is actual blood. The fish are dying, I mean it's a cataclysmic moment. And as we'll go through these passages I think you'll probably be convinced as well that the natural reading at least of the passage is that these are not just natural things that occurred, but God directly intervening in the affairs of man.

And certainly God can use just regular natural events in the ways that he chooses but it seems that he's specifically doing this of his own accord in these chapters. And so, Moses is called to appear to Pharaoh when he goes down to the water. Now it's likely that Pharaoh is going down to the water as a worshiper. When the Nile River would overflow in July and August Pharaoh would actually officiate ceremonies that were commemorating blessings of the river. And many Egyptians actually believed that the Nile was Osiris's, their false god Osiris's bloodstream. And so God is going to go straight for the heartbeats, the center point of what made Egypt and attack the God of the Nile, so to speak, and the river itself.

17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” 19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ”

And so, it says in verse 17 thus says the Lord, Moses continuing to speak. By this you shall know that I am the Lord.

Behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die and the Nile will stink and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there should be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. And so again this judgment is pronounced and we're seeing that it's an extensive judgment. It's not just the river itself but even the water in vessels would be judged by God.

20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 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. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. 25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

Moses and Aaron, verse 20, did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turn to blood. And the fish in the Nile died and the Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt, 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. Pharaoh turned and went into his house and he did not take even this to heart, and all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile seven days past after the Lord had struck the Nile. Now again we see here that the magicians are able to emulate the sign that Moses and Aaron performed. They did the same, it says in verse 22, by their secret arts. Now, if all the water became blood when Moses and Aaron did what they did then where did the magician's obtain water to duplicate the feat. And it seems like the answer is found there in verse 24, that the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, and it produced just a filtration system from the Nile through the dirt down to where they dug, and that was the freshwater then that these magicians turned into blood.

Notice they didn't reverse what Moses and Aaron had done, they didn't make anything better they actually just made it worse. But still they were able to emulate these men and it says in verse 25, seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. This likely means that this plague lasted for seven days. And not that there were seven days from this plague to the next. And before moving on to the second plague. I do want to mention, and just point out to you the idea of what God is doing here as he judges the Nile River, he is going straight for the source of life in Egypt. I mean, what did you have in Egypt, you have this Pharaoh who claimed to be divine, who communicated to his people that they were infinitely blessed because of him, and their systems or practice of worship, and that that is why they were a prosperous people. I think God looked down upon this civilization and saw that the reason that they were prosperous is because they had one of the greatest rivers of the world feeding fair land. So their crops were abundant, they were able to eat and drink, you could build in Egypt because you knew that you could sustain life in the cities around the Nile River.

And so I think God as he looked upon this civilization saw a group that were dependent upon his good creation, he was the giver of a wonderful gift to that nation at that time. They had begun to think that they had accomplished this. And so God allowed for a judgment upon their Paramount God, the river itself, and helped them see that that source of life that actually came from him and that he was the true source of life. And the reason I mentioned this is manifold. For one, I find that just in our christian life there are moments where whether we know it or not, we become dependent upon something or someone that we should not become dependent upon. And sometimes in those moments God will see fit to show us where our real source of life comes from. It's not from the girlfriend or boyfriend, it's not even from the spouse, it's not from the life group, it's not from the job or career. It's not from of course sinful pursuits. These aren't the things that lead to our life, and sometimes God will ask us, or cause us to go through a season or a time where all of that is stripped away and a fresh, we learned the source of life is God.

He is the one that causes me as an individual to flourish. I think another thing that I want to point out here is that this seems to me to be so emblematic of the experience of so many. Sometimes God has to strike the popular concept of the source of life. Of course in our era, in the West many people think the source of life is sexual freedom, our sexual identity. That I am my impulses and desires. Now, some people think that the source of life is just personal freedom, doing what I want, when I want, being me. Some people think that relational happiness is the source of life, even if it means that I need to leave and depart from a relationship that I've covenanted to stay in. But the reality is that so often, God will strike what we think is the source of life.

Sexual freedom actually leads to bondage, despair and depression, personal freedom actually eventually leads to personal enslavement. And when someone pursues their own happiness above obedience to God they end up finding personal sadness quite often. So God here strikes the Nile River as a judgment against the people of Egypt.

Exodus Chapter 8

Plague 2: Frogs

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. 3 The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ”

Let's move on to chapter eight. Then the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go behold I will plague all your country with frogs, the Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom, and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people and into your ovens and you're kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you, and on your people and on all your servants. Now this is a wild plague, don't you think.

In the second plague frogs are produced. And they're to appear everywhere. Now, this was semi normal in the land of Egypt around the Nile River in December, but not in the month of August. Now, here's the thing you need to know before we watch Moses actually perform this sign, they regarded frogs as having divine power. Actually had a goddess that had the form, was in the form of a woman with a frog's head on top of her shoulders. And frogs for that reason were not to be killed, as they were considered a sacred animal. Okay, so you can imagine how badly this plague is going to go for these people with that kind of worldview. And this was an attack on that false god called Heket—or Heqt, wife of Khnum, who is usually represented as a frog.

5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.” 10 And he said, “Tomorrow.” 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. They shall be left only in the Nile.” 12 So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.

So this goddess is going to be judged by God. And the Lord said to Moses in verse five, say to Aaron stretch out your hand with all your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians, they did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt, then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said plead with the Lord to take away the frogs for me and for my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. Moses said to Pharaoh, be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile. And he said, tomorrow. Moses said, be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

13 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. 14 And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 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.

The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people, they shall be left only in the Nile. So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, the frogs died out in the houses the courtyards, and the fields, and they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Now, a couple of comments about this second wild plague. First of all, we see again that the magicians were able to do the same, no relief only duplication making matters worse. But again I think this was sorcery, I think they were tapping into demonic powers to produce the same thing that Moses had done. But the big development in the second plague happens in verse eight when Pharaoh approaches Moses and says, plead with the Lord to take away the frogs. This is a significant shift. He wanted his magicians to remove the frogs but they couldn't, so he has to acknowledge the Lord.

He acknowledged the ability of Moses to mediate with God for the restoration of normal conditions in Egypt. This is powerful. It was a turning of the tables, so to speak. Moses going to Pharaoh asking, excuse me, Pharaoh going to Moses asking Moses to do something for him, pleading with him. Moses has to ask for something to go, his request let the frogs. And of course, Moses has been saying, God says, let my people go, so if you want me to let the frogs go, then let my people go. That's the idea. There's this shift now where Pharaoh has to come to Moses.

Now, it's hilarious to see that when Moses says, when should this happen? Rather than saying today, right now, immediately, Pharaoh says, tomorrow. This is so typical of the way that we are with so many of the sins of life, things that are terrible but we think they're so great. And we say tomorrow. I'll deal with it tomorrow. I want it to go from my life rather than saying, no today is the day of salvation. So there's a little clue here in tomorrow that Pharaoh's heart would again be hardened, and of course that's what we see there in verse 15, there was a respite and he hardened his heart and would not listen to them just like God said.

Plague 3: Gnats

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 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.

The third plaque goes like this, verse 16. Then the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt, and they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth. And there were gnats on man and beast, all the dust of the earth became gnats and all the land of Egypt. The magician's tried by their secret arts to produce gnats but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast, 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. Now in this third plaque, the way that it said in our English translation is gnats it's possible that it means mosquitoes.

It's obviously an ancient and Hebrew word so it's hard for us to know exactly what kind of insect this was, but it's an attack on a God that they had called Geb, that was the God of the land, the God of the dirt itself. And what's interesting here is that the Egyptian priesthood they were fanatics about cleanliness. They were always participating in various washings and shavings to emphasize their cleanness, their purity.

But here, the dust is struck, the dust of the earth becomes gnats, it's climbing everywhere they would have felt so unclean. And here we learn that the magicians they ran out of their power, they could not reproduce these insects or these gnats that were on man and beast. And so they were unable to continue on.

Plague 4: Flies

20 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 21 Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand. 22 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. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ” 24 And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.

Then the Lord, verse 20, said to Moses, rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water. Remember I told you this, first and second and third set of three plagues would began with going out to the water to Pharaoh, so here we have our second group of three plague four, five and six begins with Moses going out to the water, and say to him, that says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. Or else, if you will not let my people go behold I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptian shall be filled with swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand.

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. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow, this sign, shall happen. And the Lord did so, there came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants houses throughout all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the swarms of flies. Now what these flies are again it's another insect, it's hard to know exactly what this animal is. They might have actually been biting the people in the land, not just flying around but biting insects. The Hebrew word indicates a bit of a mixture of flying insects so there might have been all sorts of flying insects cruising around at that time. And of course there were various Egyptian gods that were dedicated to different insects and so it's possible that this is a judgment on all of these false gods. But the interesting thing in this fourth plague, is that God would make things different for the people of Israel. He said in verse 22, I will set apart the land of Goshen, that's where the Israelites dwell so they weren't going to experience this particular plague.

And this is fascinating to us, listen. Here's how it works when we experience trials, sometimes even trials that are a result of God's judgment here on Earth. Sometimes God will do this, he will particularly preserve his people. He will protect us, he will keep us out of danger, and out of harm's way. Other times, we will endure the same trials as everyone else. For instance right now in my country in the United States, there are millions of people that are missing. 50 million or so babies that have been aborted over the last 40 years or so. And that means that in the years to come we are going to pay a very natural price, I'm sure that God will intervene in some very direct ways, but I can't presume to always know what those ways are, but there will be indirect consequences of our actions. It's going to be hard for us to pay for the retirement of the next generations, we're going to have a depleted workforce, there's going to be a lot that we don't have. Who knows if the cure for cancer was in the mind of one of those aborted children. We just don't know all the ramifications of those sinful acts, but God's believing people are going to experience those consequences right alongside so many others.

So there are times that we endure the same trials or brokenness or fallen ness of everyone else, at other moments things will be worse for us. Jesus talked about the coming age of persecution for the body of Christ and all over the world there are Christians for whom life is more difficult because they are a Christian. And at all times, in a sense as God's children, we have the unique protection of God, even if he lets us go through it he is watching over us, he is walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death, he is comforting us, he is our shield and our glory and the lifter of our head. Psalm three verse three. So sometimes we're protected, sometimes we go right through it and sometimes it's worse for us than it is for others. And here in this judgment, God began protecting Israel in a unique way, it would have shouted to all of the Egyptians now on their fourth judgment from God, that the God of the Israelites is different. And the Israelites were a different people, and that they should listen to what the Israelites had to say. Listen, brothers and sisters if God wanted to just wipe the Egyptians out in one massive movement he could have. But this gradual progressive ushering in of the judgments was designed by God to produce repentance in the hearts of the people who received it.

All of this was done, verse 22, so that they might know that God is the Lord. So again he's giving them time to repent showing them who he is.

25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.”

26 But Moses said, “It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us.”

Then Pharaoh, verse 25, called Moses and Aaron and said, go sacrifice to your God within the land. This was Pharaoh's compromise, don't leave just here within the land go sacrifice to God. But Moses said in verse 26, it would not be right to do so for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes will they not stone us? We must go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he tells us. And so here, Moses lets Pharaoh know, listen, if we start sacrificing animals right here, inside the Egyptian borders. Because you worship so many of these animals the people of Egypt are going to freak out. We'll be accused and condemned so we've got to get out of town in order to sacrifice as we feel led to sacrifice to our God.

28 So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away. Plead for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” 30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. 31 And the Lord did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.

So Pharaoh said in verse 28, I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness only you must not go very far away plead for me. Then Moses said, behold I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people tomorrow, only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.

I love this here, Moses accepts the counter offer of Pharaoh who said in verse 28, you must not go very far away, he accepts and says, okay, I'll pray to God. But he speaks boldly to Pharaoh and says, don't cheat us again. It's remarkable, Moses is becoming the prominent or the stronger figure as Pharaoh is becoming lesser and weaker. But again, verse 32, Pharaoh hardened his heart. Let's go on to chapter nine and look at plague number five.

Chapter 9

Plague 5: Livestock Die

1 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. 2 For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, 3 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. 4 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.” ’ ” 5 And the Lord set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.” 6 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. 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.

Then the Lord said to Moses, go into 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, verse five, 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. Now again, when God judges the livestock, kills the livestock here in this fifth plague. Many of these animals were considered sacred by the Egyptians. So again, God is judging their gods. And there was actually a male god of fertility that was often represented as a bull or a goddess of the sky that was in the form of a cow, that was being judged here by God. Now this would have been in January when the cattle were led out to pasture after the Nile subsided its inundation upon the land. And so they're out there grazing and God judges these cattle that are fattened up as they eat the grass on the banks of the Nile. And all, verse six, the livestock of the Egyptians died.

Plague 6: Boils

8 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. 9 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.” 10 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. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. 12 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Now it's likely that there was some livestock that was kept out of pasture and in the stalls because later in the passage we will see a reappearance of at least some livestock. So it seems that it's the livestock that's in the field as it says that perished in this fifth plague. In the sixth plague it says, verse eight. 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 should 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 and soars on man and beast and the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils for the boils came upon the magician's and upon all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to him as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

In this sixth judgment, boils are spreading throughout the land of Egypt and the delivery mechanism is interesting, soot from the kiln. The very thing used to make bricks. The thing that people of Israel had to do in their forced servitude by Pharaoh. They bring this soot and this residue from the kiln. This symbolic action, it's like your insistence on enslaving this people is the very thing that will lead to your demise, Pharaoh. They probably carried this in to Pharaoh, they throw it in the air and as it spreads symbolically in a sense, boils began breaking out all over the land. Now they of course worshiped gods that were gods of healing and gods that had power over disease. And so God is expressing his power over these false gods. It's also possible that these boils had something to do with the genitalia of men and women.

And this would have been an attack on their goddess of sex and fertility and reproduction, indicating that God was displeased with their behavior. But even with all of this, having occurred the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, it says there in verse 12, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Now, this has often led to a question or a discussion amongst believers in our modern era. Who was it that hardened Pharaoh's heart? God predicted, foretold prophesied, that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened and that he would actually harden Pharaoh's heart. Up to this point in the passage, for the most part, it's Pharaoh who hardens his heart but now we see in verse 12 of chapter nine, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart.

And this often has led into great debates between people about the sovereignty of God and the question of human free will. Was Pharaoh free to actually repent, was he free to receive God's grace or was he destined to this kind of behavior? And one thing that needs to be pointed out is that Moses who wrote Exodus, he made no attempt at resolving the issue. He didn't try to offer commentary, well it was Egypt, excuse me, it was the Pharaoh first who hardened his heart and then God came in and short it up later, it was nothing like that. It was just, he recorded what happened, it was true.

Pharaoh hardened his heart. And also, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, both of them are true. Chapter four, chapter seven, chapter nine, chapter eight, chapter 10. You've got both that occur in Pharaoh's life. And I think that only in the mystery of who God is, the transcendence of who God is can we understand both. I believe that Pharaoh was supposed to repent of his sin, that he was supposed to submit to God, but I also believe that God was sovereign in declaring that Pharaoh would have his heart hardened and that he would be involved in hardening Pharaoh's heart. And so God is sovereignly expressing himself over this man, and he was doing these things for his own glory. It says in Romans chapter nine, verse, 15, I'll have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. For the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I've raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So God has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills.

So again here in this moment here's Pharaoh, his heart is hardened by God Himself. I can't blame God, I can't see any injustice in God. But on the other hand, I cannot completely understand precisely how this worked. Pharaoh hardened his heart, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. The Bible teaches that both are true. And I'll leave it there.

Plague 7: Hail

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.

Then the Lord verse 13, 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.

So now here as we approach that seventh plaque, we get a clue that this is the third set of three plagues because the Lord tells Moses to go down in the morning and present himself to Pharaoh, and to give him directions and again pleading, let my people go, so this is the final set of three plagues. Now, this is interesting because the book of Revelation actually follows a similar type of outline. There are seven not three but seven seals. At the end of the seventh seal the opening of the seventh seal reveals seven trumpets of judgment.

And the seventh trumpet blast leads to seven bowls being poured out upon the earth of God's wrath. Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls but three sets of each. So there's some similarities here in the time of the Exodus being poured out upon Egypt, three, three and three or three sets of judgments from God. And they do seem to increase in severity just like they do in the book of Revelation. Here you have hail and locusts and darkness coming upon the land here at the end. I know that some people believe that the book of Revelation is entirely symbolic. But here's the thing, I don't see symbolism in the book of Exodus these things occurred. So why couldn't it be that these things would occur not symbolically but actually in the future era, just as revelation shows us, so just food for thought as we consider God's word.

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. 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.

For this time, verse 14, 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. For by now God said 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.

So here, God tells Pharaoh, a little secret. I could have rather than send you plague after plague, I could have simply brought severe and swift judgment by putting out my hand but I've been merciful. I've been trying to cultivate a repentant heart within you and your people. But I'm doing these things so that you may know, verse 14, that there is none like me. Again this is a direct attack on the false gods and false religion and paganism that was practiced by Pharaoh, and the Egyptians. All their gods were impotent and God is powerful. He's the only true God. But this is the final warning that Moses is giving to Pharaoh.

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. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

But for this purpose, verse 16, I've raised you up to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. God here announces why Pharaoh is who Pharaoh is, he's been blessed by God, he's grown a powerful nation because God has raised him up to show God's power over the most powerful man in the world.

In fact, this is one of the things that we as modern believers are supposed to get out of this passage of Scripture. Sometimes we become impressed with, or despairing because of world rulers. And we think that their power is so unlimited, and we fear what they might say or do to us as his people, but instead we should trust the power of God. He is stronger than even Pharaoh himself.

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. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.” ’ ” 20 Then 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.

Then God goes on, verse 18, behold about this time tomorrow I will cause a very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from that day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field in the safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them. Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into his houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

I've often thought of this response to God's warning about the plague of hail as a great emblem of how I want to live my life. Remember what Jesus said when he concluded the Sermon on the Mount, he talked about the man who built his house upon the rock and the man who built his house upon the sand. These men responded in different ways. They did different things. And when I read this little passage I see two responses, there's the person who feared the word of the Lord, who respected God's word who thought he was telling the truth and because of that they acted in a certain way. Their lives changed because they respected God and his word, they expected that hailstones were about to start falling and so they behaved accordingly. But the people who didn't pay attention to the Lord, or pay attention to his word they also acted accordingly, and they left their livestock and their servants out in the fields, and they were struck with the hail. So, to me this has always been beautiful and emblematic of the kind of life that I want to live.

22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 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. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

As I'm reading the word, as I'm in Bible study, as the spirit is searching me with the Scripture, I want to respond to what he tells me to do I want to fear the word of the Lord and apply it to my life and act, rather than say, that was a nice Bible study, that was great. It was moving, and I really enjoyed it, and then to walk off as if nothing has changed. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plan to the field in the land of Egypt. Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire rained down on the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail such as it had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 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, only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were there was no hail.

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.”

So now again, as I said at the beginning of the teaching, Moses in these final three plagues he is the one stretching out his hand not Aaron and his staff. Then Pharaoh sent, verse 27, 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. 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. Now this is a half confession from Pharaoh as much as it's sounding better and getting better, here it's a half confession, he says, this time I have sinned, this time I have sinned. As if he hadn't sinned previously. So a half confession, perhaps you've heard a half confession before.

29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.” 31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.)

Something like, I'm sorry that your feelings are hurt, well, okay, that's not really admitting anything. Here Pharaoh gives a half confession, this time, he says, I've sinned. Moses said to him, as soon as I've gone out of the city I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God. (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) This gives us a little time marker February, or January is the time that the flax and the barley were in the bud and they were struck down by the hail. So crops are now being destroyed because of these plagues. So what we're seeing here is creation and total chaos.

As we wrap up this chapter and as we wrap up this study, we're seeing creation and total chaos. The plagues in a lot of sense are creation reversals, animals being harmed rather than helping humanity, or harming humanity. The frogs coming into the homes, stinking upon their death. Light, as we're going to see ceasing and darkness taking over, water is becoming a source of death rather than life. And of course creation is meant to be a blessing, but here it's become a curse. But its creation in chaos, like at the flood. But this is God expressing his power over it, like he did at Mount Carmel when Moses, or when Elijah called down fire, lightning to consume the sacrifice, or when Joshua asked for the son to stand still in battle, or in the future when the lion and the lamb lie down together, or the resurrection of Jesus. All of these things are above nature, God over the natural realm. And so it can help us see that here you have creation and chaos, it can actually give us hope the coming day where the order will be restored and no more chaos will occur.

33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 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. 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.

So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the Lord and the thunder and hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured out upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 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. God is so patient here with Pharaoh. Time after time he withholds the plague. He intercedes, he gives the man mercy. And this actually should be thought of whenever we talk about or discuss the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. God was always responding to even the half truth or the half confession or the half repentance of Pharaoh, God's in control, he knows what he's going to do, he knows what Pharaoh is going to do, but still he's responding to this man. By the end of our study today what began with Moses asking for Pharaoh to do things now we're seeing Moses really is in that position of authority and Pharaoh has to come to him. But still Pharaoh would not let the people go.

And again as we look back upon this story I think it's meant for us not to simply think about plague after plague but to think and meditate upon the power of God. How God saved Israel out of a calamitous environment, how God saw their pain and agony and heartbreak and how God rescued them. Because that same God who was powerful then is powerful for us today. God bless you church. Have a great week.