Jeff Schreve - Here Comes the Plagues
Now, I’ve entitled this series «Faithful and True: Introducing the One and Only God». Pharaoh thought he was God. Now when Moses first came to Pharaoh, well, Pharaoh, he said that, «Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice»? And he didn’t let them go. And Moses went to the Lord and said, «Lord, why did You send me? These things are worse and You haven’t redeemed Israel at all». And now God says, «Now you will see what I will do. I’m going to make a mockery of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. I’m going to unleash the plagues».
Exodus chapter 7, «Then the LORD said to Moses, 'See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh will 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. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.' So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eight-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh».
Now, here’s the question I want you to consider. You know about the ten plagues. I mean, the ten plagues were devastating plagues. It was after plague seven that the servants of Pharaoh said, «Pharaoh, do you not understand that Egypt is destroyed»? I mean, that’s how bad it was 'cause God has three more plagues to go and Egypt is destroyed. After plague three, they said, «This is the finger of God». It is bad, bad, bad for Egypt. Now, why does God deal so harshly with Egypt? I want to share with you two reasons why and then three key lessons we learn as we talk about the first three plagues that were inflicted upon Egypt. These judgments, these punishments, these blows from God to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
So, why was it so harsh? Reason number one, Egypt was ripe for judgment, ripe for judgment. God had told Abraham way back in Genesis 15, what was going to happen in the future. And the Lord said to Abraham, Abraham’s name hadn’t even been changed at that point. It was just Abram, «And God said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions.'» God had told Abram that he was going to judge this nation. Didn’t tell him which nation it was. It was the nation, obviously, of Egypt, and Egypt was ripe for judgment.
Now, let’s look at why they were ripe for judgment. Number one, Egypt was grossly idolatrous. They had gods on top of gods. Grossly idolatrous. Exodus 12:12. In God’s Word Version says, the Lord says this, «I will severely punish all the gods of Egypt, because I am the LORD». And the plagues that come upon Egypt are plagues upon their gods to show to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians and all the Hebrews that the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God. Now the number one commandment of the Ten Commandments, «You shall have no other gods before me». The second commandment, «No idol worship». Egypt had all their gods before the true God, and they had all their idols. And God says, «Judgment is coming, first of all, because you’re grossly idolatrous».
Interesting scripture. You might wanna write this down. Revelation 21:8. Says this, Revelation 21 talks about the new heavens and the new earth, and it is so awesome for those in heaven. And then it says, «But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death». Idolaters is one of those that the Lord lists. God hates idolatry. They were grossly idolatrous.
Secondly, Egypt was brutal and bloodthirsty. Brutal in the way that they treated the Hebrews, enslaving them, and bloodthirsty in the way they treated the Hebrew baby boys. Exodus chapter 1 says this, «And the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor and mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, and all their labors which they rigorously imposed upon them. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named, Shiphrah and the other was named Puah, and he said, 'When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.'»
In verse 22, Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, «Every son,» Hebrew son, «who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive». Brutal with their slavery, bloodthirsty in killing the baby boys. Egypt was brutal and bloodthirsty, and thirdly, Egypt was arrogant and stubborn. Arrogant and stubborn. Think about the arrogance of Pharaoh’s statement to Moses, «Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice»? It’s just that that’s the core of sin, the heart of sin, «Who is the Lord that I, I mean, I’m somebody that I should obey His voice»?
Now you can say, «Well, he had never heard of that name Yahweh,» okay? And so, maybe it was a genuine question, okay? But it was an arrogant question, a prideful question because, «Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice»? Hey, six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him. Number one on God’s hate list, haughty eyes, a proud look. God hates pride. And Egypt was so proud and arrogant, and they were stubborn, so stubborn. Verse 14 of chapter 7. «Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, he refuses to let the people go.'» That word stubborn in the Hebrew, that word means to be slow, to be heavy, to be thick, to be difficult, to be stupid. That was Pharaoh’s heart. He epitomized the people. I mean, he is their representative. He is Pharaoh. He is the head of Egypt.
Why was he so harsh with Egypt? Because, reason number one, Egypt was ripe for judgment. Because, reason number two, Egypt needed to know that the Lord alone is God. They didn’t know that. They needed to know that. Verse 5, «And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst». Then they’re gonna know it. And when I destroy them in the Red Sea, they’re gonna know. That the Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. That’s what happened on Mount Carmel under the ministry of Elijah when he called the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel and all the people and he said, «The God that answers by fire, he is God».
And when the prophets of Baal tried to call on Baal, Baal couldn’t answer 'cause Baal’s not God. But when Elijah called on the Lord, the Lord answered with fire and the people said, «The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God». And that’s what’s getting ready to happen in Egypt. Everyone is getting ready to say, «The Lord, He is God». Now, there was a merciful sign before the first plague. God is a merciful God. Remember this about God, God is a Savior. He’s also a judge, but God longs to save. He doesn’t long to judge people for sin. John 3:16, «For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For the Father did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him».
He would have been right to send the Son into the world to judge the world, but He didn’t. He sent Him as a Savior. He’s coming back again as judge. He’s coming back again to judge. «In righteousness He judges and wages war,» Revelation chapter 19, verse 11. So, here we have God sending Moses to Pharaoh. Look at verse 6 again, «So Moses and Aaron did it, as the LORD commanded them, thus they did. And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eight-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh». Verse 8, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, «When Pharaoh speaks to you saying, 'Work a miracle, ' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh.'»
Now, take your staff, he’s talking about Moses’s staff. There’s only the one staff that God caused, in Exodus chapter 4, God caused to be a serpent, and that was called the rod of God. But here they’re just saying, «Hey Aaron,» 'cause Aaron is Moses’s mouthpiece, because Moses was too afraid to just trust God for himself. And so, God says, «Okay, Moses, you have a brother Aaron, let him speak to you. You be like God, he’ll be like your prophet. He can speak through you, so don’t get concerned or confused on the staff».
Everything that’s done is with the rod of God. «So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD commanded, and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said».
First time it says that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. He’s hardening his own heart here. And so, God gives a reprieve. This is before any plagues come. And you have the staff of God going up against the serpent of Egypt. And they were increasingly intense plagues from God that followed. He has a merciful sign and then here come the plagues, verse 14:
«Then the LORD said to Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile, and you shall take in your hand the staff that was 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 behold, you have not listened until now. Thus says the Lord (thus says Yahweh) by this you shall know that I am the Lord, ' He says it again, 'that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it shall be turned into blood, and the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile.' Then the Lord said to Aaron, 'Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over the rivers, over the streams, and over their pools, and over their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood, that there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.' So Moses and Aaron did even as the Lord had commanded. And he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile. And the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood and the fish that were in the Nile died and the Nile became foul so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile, and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them as the LORD had said. Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house with no concern even for this. So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. And seven days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile».
First plague, water to blood, the Nile to blood. Now, the Egyptian god of the Nile was a god named Hapi, H-A-P-I, Hapi. He was the one that was over the Nile. He was the god, they called him lord of the fish and birds of the marshes, lord of the river bringing vegetation. And the Egyptians knew when the Nile would overflow its banks, it would leave behind sediment that made for really good soil and they would grow crops there and they would flourish. But see, they were killing Hebrew baby boys in the Nile, and God says, «Okay, you’re killing my people in the Nile, I’m gonna turn your Nile to blood». Egyptians hated blood. That was an abomination to them. They didn’t have blood sacrifices in Egypt, and God turns their whole water source into blood. That’s the first plague. Then you have the second plague, the plague of the frogs.
Chapter 8, «Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Go to 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 smite your whole territory with frogs. And the Nile was swarm with frogs, which come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into your houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. So, the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants“.' Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, „Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams, over the pools, and make frogs come up out of 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. And the magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt».
Egypt worshiped frogs. They had a special goddess named Heket. H-E-K-E-T or H-E-Q-E-T, sometimes spelled either way. She was the goddess of fertility and she had a frog face. They like frogs. They said frogs show fertility and so we like frogs. And God says, «Well, you like frogs, I got a whole warehouse full of frogs I’m gonna send to you. They’re gonna come up all over you. You’re gonna find them in your bed at night. You’re gonna find them in your cabinets, you’re gonna find them in your in your bowls. They’re just gonna be everywhere. You’re gonna have a frog fest for a while here because I am bringing judgment upon you and I’m gonna crush this goddess Heket». And Pharaoh, it says in verse 9 or verse 8, «Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the LORD that He may remove the frogs from me and from my land, and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD».
Plague number two, he’s ready to let the people go. He didn’t care anything. He had no concern when the Nile became blood. He’s got concern now 'cause his land is overrun with frogs. And he says, «I’ll let you go,» but when the plague of the frogs ceases, when there’s relief, he hardens his heart again. And then you have plague number three, the plague of the gnats. Verse 16, «Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, „Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt“.' And they did so, and 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 throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth 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 did not listen to them, as the LORD had said».
Now, that the Egyptian god of the earth and the dust was Geb, G-E-B. He’s the god of the earth, the god of the dust. So what does God do? He causes the dust to become gnats. Some versions say lice, but most theologians believe these are gnats. Now, two church fathers lived in Egypt. And these two church fathers, Philo and Origin, they said they were gnats in Egypt that were nasty little creatures. They would sting you and they were painful and they would creep into your eyes and into your ears and into your nose. They called them biting midges. They call them sand gnats. They call them punkies. They call them no-see-ums 'cause they’re so small. Smallest ones are one twenty-fifth of an inch. They call them flying teeth. I have a picture of one blown up so you can see what these gnats were like. It’s a little gnat, bite you. There’s a man with gnats on his hand. And they would bite you and it would create create a sore. They had gnats all over the land. And the Egyptian magicians tried so hard. «Maybe we can make some more gnats». No, we can’t make any more gnats. «Pharaoh, this is the finger of God 'cause we can’t make any gnats».
Plague numbers three is gnats. So, we’ve had water to blood, we’ve had frogs, we’ve had gnats. And they’re already saying, «This is the finger of God». God is just warming up. He had a bunch more plagues getting ready to come down the pike. Egypt needed to know that the Lord alone is God. So, what do we learn from Egypt’s sin and stubbornness? 'Cause it’s gonna be seven more before Pharaoh finally breaks. What do we learn from the first three plagues? Number one, a hard heart will face increasing pressure from a good God. Pharaoh kept hardening his heart.
Hey, I know when I preach on any given Sunday or Wednesday or any other time of the week that I might be preaching, Jesus told us there are different kinds of soil. There’s the hard soil, there’s the shallow soil, there’s the thorny soil, and then there’s the good soil. The good soil, when the seed comes into the good soil, it receives it, it welcomes it and produces a crop 30-fold, 60-fold, even 100-fold. The seed that falls on the hard pan, that doesn’t penetrate at all, and the birds of the heavens come and snatch it away. The birds of the heaven are pictures of the devil coming and snatching away the seed. Hey, the Word of God, when it goes out into your heart, what does it find? What does it hit? What kind of soil do you have? Is it hard?
Pharaoh’s heart was hard. And God had to keep bringing more pressure and more pressure and more pressure, and the pressure comes from a good God. Why? Because God wants you to respond to him. A hard heart will face increasing pressure from a good God. Secondly, when you see God at work, at work in your heart, yield to Him and follow through. Very interesting, I left these scriptures out on purpose, and I’ll go through them very quickly.
Exodus 8, verse 8, with the plague of the frogs, «Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, 'Entreat the LORD that He may remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the LORD.' And Moses said to Pharaoh, 'The honor is yours: tell me when I shall entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you in your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile.' Then he said, 'Tomorrow.' So he said, 'May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. And the frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people: they will be left only in the Nile.' Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh and the Lord did according to the word of Moses and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. So they piled them in heaps and the land became foul. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said».
Hey, when God begins to work in your heart and you know he’s working in your heart and you know your heart is hard, what do you do? Today if you hear his voice, harden not your heart, behold, today is the day of salvation, you respond to Him. Come now, do business with God now. Now is the acceptable time. Behold today is the day of salvation.