Beginning in 2001, Paul Marcarelli played the “test guy” in commercials for Verizon Wireless. For nine years he could be seen walking across the country uttering those familiar words, “Can you hear me now?” It didn’t matter if he was in the middle of a city or in the middle of a corn field those same words would be uttered. The commercial seemed to leave you with the impression that regardless of where you would go; Verizon could keep you in touch. We all know that in reality; regardless of what cellular carrier you have there will be places where you will not have coverage. There is something about that question that has the ability to get our attention. When someone asks us, “Can you hear me?” it demands a response. There are times when God asks us that same question, “Can you hear me now? He often uses His Word, our circumstances or other people to get us to focus our attention on Him. In our text, Moses and Aaron will appear in front of Pharaoh several times. Despite God’s miraculous power being displayed Pharaoh will refuse to listen. With each miraculous display of God power, God asks pharaoh, “Can you hear me now?” However with each display, Pharaoh’s will seems to become more stubborn and his heart will grow harder and harder. However, God will keep speaking until He finally gets Pharaoh’s attention. Today, we are going to discover that God often deals with us in the same way. He will keep speaking until He gets our attention. Let’s discover some important principles that we can apply to our lives from the events in our text.
I. There are three important things to remember as we read through this account.
A. God told Moses in the beginning that He would hit Egypt with a series of miraculous displays of His power.
1. Moses and Aaron are let in on God’s plan and He also tells them that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart.
2. However, before this at the burning bush God had told Moses that He would display His power in a series of miracles in Egypt.
3. Up till this time it is likely that no one ever appeared before Pharaoh with such authority.
4. The series of miraculous displays begins when Pharaoh asks Moses for a sign to prove that the God of the Hebrews had sent him.
5. Aaron throws his staff down and it becomes a snake. The normal Hebrew word for snake is nahas (4:3) but here the work is tannin which usually refers to a larger more ferocious reptile.
B. Pharaoh’s stubbornness and arrogance requires God to carry out His judgment against Egypt.
1. Like the first time Pharaoh is unmoved by Moses’ request and the initial display of God’s power.
2. God is not setting Pharaoh up for failure but He knows his heart. So the Lord simply allows Pharaoh’s rebellious nature to run its course.
3. Pharaoh probably believes that Yahweh is no match for the collective power of the many gods of Egypt.
4. Because of Pharaoh’s stubbornness and arrogance it will take a while for God to finally get his undivided attention.
C. Moses questioning God about Pharaoh’s unwillingness to listen will prompt the miraculous display of God’s power.
1. When the next time for Moses and Aaron to be dispatched to Pharaoh comes, Moses’ reluctance rears its ugly head.
2. The displays of God’s power are not just for Pharaoh but for the Egyptian people, Moses, Aaron and the Hebrew people. God is going to leave no doubt as to whom the one true God is.
3. So to bring Pharaoh to his knees before his Creator, God launched an elaborate, gradually intensifying, program of disciplinary disasters against Egypt.
4. The miraculous signs that are performed in Egypt is God’s judgment on the Egyptians for the cruel oppression that they directed at His people.
II. A close examination of the first nine miraculous displays of God’s power.
A. There are some important things to know about the signs that God performs in Egypt.
1. Plague is not the best translation of the ten things that God brings upon Egypt. Signs and wonders are a more accurate description because they were miraculous displays of God’s power.
2. All of these signs showed the impotence of Egypt’s many gods and the unlimited power of Yahweh.
3. The nine signs that we are going to look at today are divided into three groups. What Moses says before the first sign of each group will tell us the purpose for that particular series of signs.
a. The first group is to introduce Pharaoh to Yahweh and to establish the power of His presence.
b. The second group establishes the fact that Yahweh is God over Egypt as well as the rest of the world.
c. The third group would establish that there was no power in the entire world that could compare to Yahweh.
4. The cumulative effect of all the plagues was to literally humiliate the Egyptians to the point that they would acknowledge the sovereignty of God.
B. The waters of the Nile River being turned into blood.
1. Moses confronts Pharaoh at the Nile River and announces that God would strike all the waters of Egypt and turn them into blood.
2. This sign is quite destructive as it destroys the drinking water supply and kills all the fish.
3. However, Pharaoh’s magicians are able by some means to duplicate this sign.
4. Pharaoh remains stubborn and unmoved by this initial display of God’s power.
C. The nation being taken over by frogs.
1. Moses appears once again before Pharaoh to demand freedom for the Hebrew people.
2. This sign’s effect will be more wide spread than that of the first. The Egyptians will literally be knee deep in frogs as they will have them in their homes as well.
3. The Egyptian magicians are able to duplicate this feat but the problem lies in the fact that they could not undo it.
4. Pharaoh pleads with Moses for relief and begins to show signs of softening but after the relief comes, Pharaoh returns to his old stubborn self.
D. There are gnats everywhere.
1. This is the final sign in this group of signs that were more of a nuisance than anything else.
2. No warning preceded this sign; the Lord simply instructs Moses about what to have Aaron do.
3. The gnats become as numerous as the dust from which they came.
4. The Hebrew word for gnat is kinnim which is translated other places as lice, fleas or mosquitoes. Regardless what they were some blood sucking was taking place.
5. Egypt’s magicians cannot duplicate this and admit that this is the hand of God but Pharaoh remains unmoved.
E. The great insect infestation.
1. Moses once again appears in front of Pharaoh with the demand of freedom for the Hebrew people.
2. The second group of signs would begin with a swarm of flies that would overtake all of Egypt except the land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived.
3. This second group of plagues would be much more devastating than the first group.
4. The word translated flies is arob which simply describes some type of flying insect.
5. Pharaoh appeals to Moses to have the insects removed and apparently seems to bend a little bit but once the insects are gone his stubbornness surfaces again.
F. The death of all of Egypt’s livestock.
1. The fifth miraculous sign will increase in intensity and will be like the fourth by affecting the Egyptians but not the Hebrews.
2. Pharaoh’s stubbornness now brings disease on all the livestock in the field. Not all the livestock will be affected because a good portion of them are stabled during this time of the year.
3. Many scholars believe that the livestock came in contact with the heaps of dead frogs that were left from the second miraculous sign and then contracted hoof and mouth disease.
4. Pharaoh sent officials to investigate Moses’ claim that Yahweh would distinguish between the Egyptians and the Hebrews and found that everything was just as Moses said it would be.
5. Despite losing a good portion of their livestock, Pharaoh still refused to let the Hebrew people go.
G. Everyone is breaking out with boils.
1. This is the final miraculous sign of the second group. Pharaoh receives no warning before this display of God’s power.
2. God directed Moses to take handfuls of soot from a furnace and toss them into the air in Pharaoh’s presence. That Moses said nothing threatening while performing this action is difficult to imagine.
3. This will be the first time that human beings would feel the full brunt of God’s power as sores broke out all over their bodies.
4. At this point Pharaoh’s magicians do not have the stomach to face off against Moses anymore.
5. God at this point strengthens Pharaoh’s resolve not to let the Hebrew people go.
H. The unbelievable hail storm.
1. God instructs Moses to appear in front of Pharaoh and present His demands once again. This miraculous sign will be the first of this final group. This group of signs will be more intense and will begin bringing destruction to the land of Egypt.
2. Moses lets Pharaoh know that Yahweh is about to reach out His hand in a way that will destroy Egypt but the land of Goshen will remain unaffected.
3. Despite being warned in advance of the approaching hail storm, Pharaoh does not budge. However, some of his officials who have begun to fear Yahweh will heed the warning.
4. As the ferocious storm hits; crops, livestock and people will be destroyed.
5. Pharaoh admits being wrong and pleads with Moses for relief and the storm ends. However, once the danger was passed Pharaoh’s stubbornness and arrogance surfaces once again.
I. The massive swarm of devastating locusts.
1. Moses once again appears in front of Pharaoh warning him of the impending destruction if he continues to disobey Yahweh.
2. There would be a massive swarm of locust that would destroy all the crops that the hail storm had not destroyed.
3. Pharaoh’s advisors realized that the future of Egypt was at stake and begged for the release of the Hebrews. However, Pharaoh refused to give in.
4. By morning the ground was literally black as it was covered by locusts that ate everything in sight.
5. Pharaoh summons Moses and admits his wrong. Moses then prays and God removes the locust. After the locusts are gone Pharaoh changes his mind.
J. Who turned out the lights?
1. Like the last miraculous sign in each of the previous two groups this one happens with no advance warning.
2. Darkness descended upon the land of Egypt. The darkness was so overpowering that it is described as a darkness that could be felt. However, the land of Goshen was untouched by the darkness.
3. What seems to be described here is what is called the khamsin, a sand storm of such proportions that the light of the sun was blotted out completely. For three days the Egyptians did not dare exit their homes.
4. Pharaoh summons Moses to offer a compromise, all the Hebrews could go but they must leave their livestock which was more than likely the only livestock left alive in the nation.
5. Moses refused to accept the compromise and Pharaoh warns Moses if he ever lays eyes on him again he would have Moses put to death. This will set the stage for the final and most devastating of all the miraculous displays of God’s power.
III. Two life-changing principles that we can take home.
A. God’s judgment is deserved and complete.
1. God will never discipline someone without a just reason.
2. God’s love for us will not allow Him not to discipline us when we insist on living a sinful lifestyle.
3. God’s heart desire is that His discipline will always cause us to turn back to Him in repentance.
4. We can rest assured that if we decide to repent and turn back to Him, He will forgive all of our sins.
B. God’s blessings are always abundant.
1. God’s blessings will always accompany His grace and forgiveness.
2. In our text Egypt was feeling the brunt of God’s wrath but Israel was enjoying His abundant blessing.
3. Israel when they were disobedient often felt the brunt of God’s wrath but when they turned back to Him; His blessings would flow once again.
4. We need to realize that even if we are feeling God’s discipline right now, if we turn back to Him, His blessings will flow into our lives once again.
Closing:
There is an old tale in Scottish history, that a bridegroom was murdered by a friend on the festal day. The cup that his friend presented to him was mingled with poison; and when death was in the castle, the culprit took the fleetest horse from the stable and plunged into the forest. All night long the hooves of that horse struck fire as he went at galloping speed through the forest. The man wanted to get away from the scene of his crime, and would not let the fleet animal rest, but plunged the spurs deep into the horse's flanks. All night on and on, and as the dawn was breaking he emerged, horse bespattered with foam, breathless from the forest--right before the castle. He had ridden hard, but he had ridden in a circle: he thought he was going away from his crime, and in the morning he came to it.
Ah, you cannot get away from your sin unless God takes you away. You cannot by speed of foot get away from your sin, your sin will go to the grave with you, your sin will go to the great white throne with you. You cannot race your sin, you had better give it up, and see whether God in His mercy hath not some plan of redemption from sin.
