God's Judgement #2 Series

Sermon Series “Exodus”

9:1-7

“God’s Judgement #2”

Pastor John Bright

Exodus 9 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord 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 be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. 4 And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” 5 Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. 7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.”

In a court of law, it’s a Judge that dispenses justice (on the football field – referee).

• What did the Judge say when they brought in a skunk to testify? “Odor, odor in the court!”

• When the Judge went to the dentist, he said, “I want you to pull the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth.”

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In our world, it’s God that dispenses justice and judgement.

Thomas Watson wrote about God’s Justice in the 17th century, about 100 years before John Wesley.

Concerning God's justice, I shall lay down these six positions: -

[1] God cannot but be just. His holiness is the cause of his justice.

[2] God's will is the supreme rule of justice; it is the standard of equity. His will is wise and good.

[3] God does justice voluntarily. Justice flows from his nature. He does justice out of love to justice.

[4] Justice is the perfection of the divine nature. He is not only just, but justice itself.

[5] God never did nor can do the least wrong to his creatures. God's justice has been wronged, but never did any wrong.

[6] God's justice is such that it is not fit for any man or angel to expostulate with him, or demand a reason of his actions. We are to adore God's justice, where we cannot see a reason of it.

Thomas Watson, 1620-1686

Most of these relate to the Justice of God not being a choice – God is just. This may seem nit-picky, but it’s important. The last point reminds us that no body (not even angels) gets to question God’s Justice – all of God’s actions are just. When we look in the Bible, when we are told that God did it we can be sure… God did it. In our world, just because something happens it does not mean God did it. We can be sure God allowed it. So, if God allows sin is He sinful? NO! Can God allow injustice and remain a Just God? YES!

On to the next three plagues – but something has changed. The first three plagues affected everyone -

Now the plagues are only on the Egyptians

Exodus 8 “22 And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. 23 I will make a difference between My people and your people.”

The plagues continue

Fourth plague – SWARM – Have you ever been in the yard near sundown and seen a ball of flying insects hovering? Or you have seen them if you have flood lights outside – the insects gather in that beam of light. This is much worse. It’s even worse than the Ladybugs and Stinkbugs that we find inside our homes and gathered on the side of the house or church.

The swarms of this plague were likely another sacred animal that flies and buzz – the scarab beetle (all the Jewish sources I checked point to this). These are commonly known around the world as a Dung Beetle. Their god, Kheper, had the head of a scarab. He was the god that pushed the sun across the sky. Neither he nor the god of the wind, Amun, could remove the great swarm – only the One True God.

The scarab beetles were also known to chew on wood and cloth. In Ex. 8:24 we read, “The land was corrupted because of the swarms…” This refers to a physical destruction.