Today, we will be going to Exodus chapter 9.
We will study the statements of God in answer to Pharaoh's stubbornness.
What does God desire that is of utmost importance?
What does God caution us against?
What are the consequences of disobedience?
May the Lord give us understand on these things.
THREE THINGS THAT GOD TOLD PHARAOH.
1. GOD WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO BE RELEASED FROM THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT.
Exodus 9:1 (NIV) "Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
The first thing we can notice in this verse is that God desires for His people to be released from bondage.
"Let my people GO" he said.
As if God was saying, "Release them, Satan."
Give them back their freedom, their joy and their peace.
God wanted Pharaoh to let them go - to cut off the bond of slavery from the Israelites forever.
To release them from physical and spiritual bondage and to give them the freedom of worship.
Something is holding back God's people to their fullest potential and God doesn't want that.
In the same manner, when something is standing in our way of our destiny in Christ, God does not want it.
He wants to give us our spiritual freedom.
And so, God said to Pharaoh: Let my people go that they may worship me.
Do you know that our worship is important to God?
But our worship is being taken away from us.
We cannot worship God when we are under the bondage of Satan.
Satan takes control over our minds through ignorance, through strong holds and deceptions.
This is true if we have not been reading God's Word and there is nothing to combat them.
Then, Satan takes control of our hearts through unforgiveness, through bitterness and hatred.
This is true if we have not been spending time in praying to God.
We become so sensitive over what people says about us and we misinterpret those words and begin to hurt emotionally.
Then, Satan takes control of our words by releasing words of curses and words that would hurt other people.
We are not aware that the more we release those words, the more these words would come back to us to hurt us even more.
When that happens, we are under the bondage to Satan.
No wonder, we have difficulty in coming to church and worshiping God.
When we do not worship God, life becomes so difficult, full of fear, frustrations and defeat.
No wonder, God declares: "Let my people go."
It is only through Christ that we can be delivered from the bondage of Satan.
It is only through worship that we can be liberated from fear and depression.
Galatians 5:1 (NIV) "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
It says that Christ will give us true freedom.
Christ alone will set us free.
Christ will make us to be able to stand firm from the enemy.
And Christ will take away the yoke of slavery from our shoulders.
Our minds can be liberated through the power of God's Word.
When the truth of God's Word enters our minds, we overcome ignorance.
We overcome those strong holds and deceptions of the enemy.
When we worship God with joy, our emotions will be liberated from fear and shame.
We learn to forgive, we overcome our bitterness and hatred towards others.
Through Christ, our words have been transformed and begin to speak words of healing, encouragement and hope.
No wonder, God wanted us to be released from the bondage of Egypt.
Therefore, ask yourself:
Have you been delivered from the bondage of Satan?
If so, are you enjoying as you worship God?
Do you look forward to this time of worship every Sunday morning?
Psalms 95:2 (NIV) "Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song."
This is a picture of a person that has been delivered from the bondage of Satan.
He comes to God in worship with thanksgiving, with eagerness, with energy and fervor.
So, how do you like our worship this morning?
If you have come to church this morning depressed, downhearted, unhappy, pessimistic and discouraged,
God says to you as He said to Pharaoh: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me."
Symbol of freedom:
The Bald Eagle is the symbol of the American freedom from the dominion of Great Britain.
It was chosen on June 20, 1782 because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks.
We could see the eagle with outspread wings on the backs of our gold coins, the silver dollar, the half dollar and the quarter.
The eagle represents freedom.
These eagles live on the tops of lofty mountains, amid the solitary grandeur of Nature.
They have unlimited freedom, whether with strong pinions to sweep into the valleys below or upward into the boundless spaces beyond.
When we worship the Lord, we must soar like the eagle.
In the same manner, the dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
In the Old Testament, it was the dove that signaled the end of the flood.
When Jesus was baptized, the heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove.
When you have the Holy Spirit in your heart, it is a symbol of your spiritual freedom in Christ.
Your body now belongs to God and you have been released from the bondage of sin and death.
2. GOD CAUTIONED HIS PEOPLE NOT TO HOLD BACK.
Exodus 9:2 (NIV) "2 If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,"
The second thing that we need to remember is that God cautioned Pharaoh not to hold back.
It might be that Pharaoh will decline, block or deny the request.
There is a possibility of resistance to God's plans.
And look at the words: "Hold them back."
It means Pharaoh himself was an obstacle, a stumbling block that kept God's purposes to be fulfilled.
He should have let them go but he did not.
To hold back means to resist, to oppose and to withstand the purposes of God as much as he can.
He kept holding them back in worshiping God.
Or we could also say that there are some things that are holding him back from following God.
The Israelites should have been sacrificing to the Lord and worshiping God by now.
But Pharaoh did not allow that to happen.
He was consistently blocking the fulfillment of God's plan.
There are a lot of things in his mind that resisted God's plans and purposes.
In the same manner, God cautioned His people not to hold back.
It is like, Christians have been delivered from their bondage but Satan is still pursuing them.
You see, when a person is being held back, he could not move on.
He could not move forward, he could not progress in his ministry.
He could not run the spiritual race.
Because something is holding him back.
There was an incident in the Bible when Christ invited a man to follow Him.
But he had difficulty in following Christ because something was holding him back.
He kept looking back.
Luke 9:62 (NIV) 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
If you want to put your hand in the plow and move forward, don't look back.
If you look back, you might not be able to walk a straight line.
You might lose your spiritual balance and fall down.
That is why God is alerting us to be careful.
Nothing must hold us back.
One of the things that can hold us back is sin.
Jeremiah 5:25 (NIV) "Your wrongdoings have kept these away, your sins have deprived you of good."
When we don't confess our sins and we allow our sins to pile up, our sins can hold us back.
There are other things in our hearts and minds that can hold us back in worshiping and serving God.
Your friends could be holding you back.
They don't want you to attend church worship.
And so, because of peer pressure, you give in.
Your pride could be holding you back.
You cannot imagine yourself raising your hands in worship to God.
Your family could be holding you back.
They don't know Christ and they don't understand why you need to worship Him.
Your bad experiences in the past or failures could be holding you back.
Your personal biases and prejudices could be holding you back.
Your work could be holding you back.
They just kept on assigning you work Sunday after Sunday, and so, you are used to working on Sundays.
Look at your heart and examine what is holding you back in serving the Lord.
The Bible says, "Let my people go so that they can worship me."
But they were not because they were under the bondage of Pharaoh.
Nothing should hold us back.
So, how do you overcome being held back?
Here are some suggestions:
1. CAREFULLY EXAMINE WHERE YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY.
Analyze your spiritual walk.
Test yourself.
Are you still in the right path or are you slowly drifting away?
If you find yourself drifting away, turn back immediately.
2. COME TO GOD FOR FORGIVENESS AND SPIRITUAL CLEANSING.
Humble yourself to God.
Open your heart and confess your sins to Him.
Our God is faithful and He will forgive us when we come to Him.
3. CONTINUE IN SEEKING THE LORD DAILY.
Stay in Prayer and God's Word.
Stay in fellowship with other believers.
You can' make it alone as a Christian.
We need the strength and prayers of other believers.
Stand firm in your faith.
Expect difficult times in your faith.
Keep on running the spiritual race to win.
Remind yourself of what God has done for you in the past.
And when you persevere to the end, you do not shrink back but you are able to attain what God has promised.
Hebrews 10:32, 35-39 (NIV) "Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised … we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."
3. GOD WARNED HIS PEOPLE FROM THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE.
Exodus 9:3 "The hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field - on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats."
Exodus 9:6 (NIV) "”6 And the next day the Lord did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died."
This is the fifth plague we will study - the plague on the livestock.
All the livestock of the Egyptians died.
They incurred some mysterious illness or epidemic disease that resulted to their death.
These included the horses, the camels, the donkeys, the cattle, the sheep and the goats.
All the livestock belonging to the Egyptians were affected by this disease.
But the Israelite's cattle were unharmed and untouched.
There was a warning from God.
God told him that there will be some dreadful consequences to his disobedience.
But he did not take heed of God's Word.
He refused to listen.
He hardened his heart even more.,
That is why God allowed the devourer to kill all the livestock of the Egyptians.
This is a lesson not only for the Egyptians to learn but also the Israelites and to us Christians as well.
We need to take heed of this warning.
Disobedience will always bring about disaster.
Why is the fifth plague focused on the livestock of Egypt?
What is the significance of the livestock to the Egyptians?
How will this plague teach them a lesson?
According to my biblical research, in the Old Testament, a person who owns a considerable amount of livestock not just silver or gold is considered to be wealthy and powerful.
For instance, Abraham was called by God to a far and distant land.
Because of his faith, he obeyed God without any hesitation.
He wanted God's plan and purposes to be fulfilled in his life.
And so, God blessed him so much that he became very wealthy.
Genesis 13:2 (NIV) "Abram had become very wealthy on livestock and in silver and gold."
Look at the word "livestock" as of equal prominence with silver and gold.
Livestock is a symbol of wealth and economic prosperity of a person.
Not only did God give him silver, gold and slaves but much livestock as well.
Remember that God is the giver of good gifts to His people.
He will not withhold anything that is good for us.
He provides wealth and prosperity to His own people when they obey Him.
That is part of God's blessings of obedience.
That is why I encourage you to be obedient to God voice every day of your life.
However, sometimes having wealth can be a stumbling block to obedience.
When we focus more on the material things of life rather than in God, we are like Pharaoh who is holding back his obedience to God.
Remember the story of the rich Young ruler in the New Testament in Mark 10:17-27?
There was a time when this rich young ruler came to Jesus to ask: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said, "Obey the commandments."
The rich young ruler replied: "I have kept all these things from my youth until now."
But Jesus looked at him with compassionate love and told him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me."
It was actually a challenge for the man to obey God unconditionally.
It was also a question for life's priority.
But he was held back by his wealth.
He was holding on to it with all his might.
He had difficulty in following God.
He went home sad, depressed and sorrowful.
Because of this, he could not receive the gift of eternal life from God.
His vast wealth hindered him from entering the Kingdom of God, just like Pharaoh.
That is the same thing when we withhold our tithes to the Lord.
Malachi 3:8-12 (NIV) 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed,for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
The Bible says that there are Christians who are being held back by their love for material things.
If we withhold our tithes, we are robbing God.
To rob means to steal, to deprive, to cheat and to hijack.
When we withhold our tithes, we are stealing from God.
We are like robbers and common criminals.
And so, God commanded us to bring the whole tithes.
It means the entire, the complete, the full tithes.
They had to be brought before the Lord when you worship Him in the sanctuary.
And then, it says, "test me."
It means to examine, to analyze, to assess.
You evaluate for yourself the result of your obedience.
Because God will do something you have not yet seen.
He will throw open the windows of heaven for you.
That means, He will give you a bountiful, abundant and overflowing blessing.
And he will prevent the pests from devouring our crops.
He will put an end or block any future financial catastrophe that you might experience.
This is different from the thought in Exodus 9:6.
In there, God's hand will bring a terrible plague upon the livestock of Egypt because of his disobedience.
In here, God's hand will prevent the pests or curses from devouring your crops because of your obedience.
In both cases, God's hand is involved, but of different implementation.
So, which one will you choose.
STORY:
Colgate is a household name.
Upon hearing that name, most people in America think immediately of toothpaste.
But if you knew the man behind that name, you will immediately think of his partnership with Christ to make this company a reality.
It was on January 25, 1783 that Robert and Mary Colgate had a son.
They named him William.
When William was 15 years old, his family moved from their home in England and settled in Hartford County, Maryland.
Then, only about a year later, young William left home because his father was too poor to continue supporting him.
He took all his possessions with him in a bundle and headed for New York.
He started by forming a partnership to manufacture soap and candies.
Despite his hard work, the partnership failed and experienced two set-backs.
But Colgate would not give up.
A Christian friend who worked as a canal-boat captain advised Colgate,
"Give your heart to Christ.
Give God all that belongs to Him.
Make an honest soap.
Give a full pound... Someone will be the leading soap maker in New York.
It may be you."
He lived by those words and made certain to always pay what he owed.
As William studied the Bible, he was intrigued by the words of Jacob in Genesis 28:20-22
"If God is with me and will give me bread to eat....I will surely give the tenth unto Thee."
Jacob then promised to give the first fruits of his labor to God.
At the same time, Colgate made a similar promise.
He would give ten percent of his profits faithfully to God's work.
Not just his work but his profits all for God.
After several years, he was able to establish himself again in the soap business.
He became very successful and within six years, he diversified into many products.
He fulfilled his promise.
He gave his ten percent.
Colgate and Company became the first great soap-making company in he United States.
The business began growing almost faster than he could keep up with it.
He instructed his accountants to increase his giving to 20%, then to 30%.
Every time he increased his giving, his company prospers all the more.
Not only did his business prospered but his family as well.
He married Mary Gilbert in 1811 and eventually had eleven children from her.
Today, Colgate-Palmolive is one of America's oldest and most successful Fortune 500 companies.
Its worldwide sales revenue exceed nine billion dollars annually and it offers its products in 22 countries and provinces around the globe.
Its product lines include oral, personal, household and fabric care as pet as pet nutrition.
Brands and products include such well-known names as Colgate, Palmolive, Speed-Stick, Fab, Murphy, Ajax, and Irish Spring.
The success of Colgate-Palmolive is a testimony to what God can do with a young apprentice committed to following his dream and acknowledging the God who fulfills dreams.
The Lord protected his business from the devourer.
I hope he will do that to you as well.
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