Evangelism through the Plagues of Egypt
Exodus 7:3-5
• General Revelation – God reveals Himself in many ways.
• Often we think of the plagues as just a tool God used in order to free His people from bondage in Egypt, but God also had an evangelical motive behind what He did.
• The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD
• They were specifically targeted to the Egyptian people for a specific purpose.
• They would only come to know God because He chose to “make Himself known.”
Romans 3:11b (NASB95)
There is none who seeks for God;
• God has always sought to reach beyond the nation of Israel to reveal Himself and His character to all people.
Romans 1:18-20 (NASB95)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
• This was the evangelistic purpose of the plagues, so that the Egyptians would know the LORD was God and were without excuse.
Exodus 9:14
• The Egyptians would “know” the matchlessness of God.
• The Egyptians worshipped over 80 different gods; however it was not God’s intention to just get added to the list of those they worshipped. (Russia)
• God’s purpose was that they would know and understand that He is the only all-powerful God worthy of worship.
• This is why we see 10 plagues instead of only one; with each one God was attacking the so-called sovereignty of one or more of their gods.
• Water turned to Blood
o The Nile was the lifeline of the Egyptian people
o Several gods that protected the Nile, the biggest being the Pharaoh himself who claimed to control the flooding of the Nile which was crucial to the agriculture in the area.
• Swarms of Locusts
o Gods that protected agriculture
• Darkness over the Land
o The sun-god Ra, whom Pharaoh claimed to be a descendant.
• It was the LORD alone who controls all things
Psalm 46:8-10 (NIV)
”Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Exodus 9:16
• Not only did God want them to know Him and to realize that He alone was God, but that they would also declare His name through out the earth.
• God is not satisfied with us just knowing Him, but He desires that our praise and worship be so great that it rings out over all the earth.
Isaiah 24:14-16 (NASB)
They raise their voices, they shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord. Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, The name of the Lord, the God of Israel, In the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory to the Righteous One,”
Exodus 9:20
• There were those among Pharaoh’s servants that feared the word of the LORD.
Proverbs 1:7 (NASB)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
• At this point there were some that at least were in a place where God could begin to work on their hearts.
• If you begin to really understand who God is (all aspects of His character) then that will produce a fear of the LORD.
Exodus 12:38
• “mixed multitude” literally means many foreign people.
• No doubt these people were drawn to follow God and His people because of what they saw and experienced during the plagues upon the land.
• As we saw this morning God often uses our testimony of His greatness and might to draw people unto Himself.
• We look forward to a day when all will see the glory and majesty that our God beholds.
Philippians 2:9-11 (NASB)
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• This is what God desires from us now, and this is what He deserves.
