The Mighty Hand Of God Series

The Mighty Hand of God

Exodus 8:16-19

- We’re continuing our study through the book of Exodus.

- Last week, we looked at the second plague God sent on Egypt, the plague of frogs.

- We compared the “frog problem” with sin, and saw that the frogs multiplied, just like sin does…

- The frogs covered everything, just like sin does once it gains a stronghold in our lives.

- And we saw that the frogs died, which is what sins leads to, death, if the person does not turn to Jesus.

- This week, we’re going to look at the Mighty Hand of God.

- One of the tv shows my boys like to watch is called Power Rangers.

- Power Rangers has been running on tv for a long time, and all the power rangers in the different seasons are different from each other.

- However, one of the things they all have in common is that they all have Zords.

- Zords are these giant robots that the power rangers use to defeat the giant versions of their enemy.

- One of the things that stands out to me when I watch this show is how big the hands on these robots are.

- They’re huge!

- So usually, the attacks the Power rangers use have something to do with the hands on their zords.

- Punching, chopping, holding a giant sword and slashing with it, or holding a giant gun and shooting it…

- The hands on those robots are huge and very mighty…they have a lot of power!

- Obviously, the power rangers and their zords are make-believe, but if they were real, their power would be nothing compared with the mighty hand of God!

- So let’s look at 3 things we see about God in the next plague He sends, the plague of lice!

I.) God can do things the way He wants to- Vs 16

- Sometimes, we think we know how someone or something works, and we expect the same method and outcome every time.

- Then we find out that’s not always the case!

- For example, I was never very good at Algebra class.

- However, algebra was one of the required classes I had to take in order to graduate college.

- I’ll never forget taking the placement exam to see which class I’d have to take.

- I was hoping it wouldn’t be the basic one, because that class didn’t count toward credits for your degree.

- Well, I didn’t do so well, so I ended up having to take that class.

- Once I passed that class, it was time to take algebra.

- Oh, and this was all online, so that made it even more difficult.

- I remember how hard it was.

- But one of the things that made it easier was the way it was structured online.

- For most sections, there were practice questions.

- The practice questions showed you exactly how to solve the problem, step by step.

- So once I looked over the practice ones, I was able to do it step by step with the questions on the test.

- Unfortunately, not all of the questions on the exam had a practice question.

- That’s because it was set up for you to learn the subject, not just memorize the steps on how to do the problem.

- I’d come across a harder one without a practice question, and I’d ask myself, “Why can’t they just do it the same way with all of the problems?”

- The answer is because the creators of the course material were able to create it however they wanted to.

- That’s just a small example, but sometimes, we do the same thing with God.

- We think we know how God works and we expect Him to use the same method and give the same outcome each and every time.

- It’s almost like we put Him in a box, but God has many ways of doing things, and He always accomplishes His will in His way.

- That’s what we see here with the plague of lice.

- With the last 2 plagues, Pharaoh was given a warning.

- God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and to tell him, “Thus saith the Lord!”

- This time, however, God doesn’t tell Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him what the next plague will be.

- Instead, Moses is told to tell Aaron to stretch out his rod and strike the dust of the land, turning it into lice.

- Depending on the translation of the Bible you have, it will either say ‘lice’ or ‘gnats.’

- The Hebrew word can be translated to mean either of those, so it’s not a huge deal which one it is.