Sermon Series “Exodus”
7:20-25
“God’s Judgement #1”
Pastor John Bright
Exodus 7 “20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their [f]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.”
No fancy sermon title this week. We are starting three weeks of plagues and this is week #1.
It was the first day for a middle school class and the teacher wrote their home work and the board for them to copy – pg. 25 #1-20. After much discussion among the students, one of them asked, “Why to you want us to copy ‘hash-tag 1 dash 2 zero’?”
Times have changed, but God does not!
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One thing is sure – we know more about God because we have both the Old Testament and the New Testament. There is a short description of “progressive revelation” in the box on your Teaching Sheet:
“Scripture teaches what is often called “progressive revelation.” Simply put, this means that God revealed Himself to His people over many centuries, periodically giving new information that built on but did not contradict or deny what came before. Progressive revelation means that while Scripture’s application to old covenant believers is different in some ways from its application to new covenant believers, we do not reject any of God’s Word. It reveals one message of salvation that we cannot fully grasp unless we consider the whole of the Bible.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/progressive-revelation/
As I have told you before – we don’t replace the previous revelation of God with the latter revelation. We add to it, or build upon it.
Our God is still a God of Judgement – I have hear folks say “That God if the Old Testament was a harsh judge, but the God of the New Testament (Jesus) is a loving parent.”
Actually, Jesus was quite judgmental:
• He was really tough on the disciples (especially Peter)
• He had hard words for the religious leaders of His day
• Don’t forget the woman caught in adultery (John 8) – non-Christians will say to us – Jesus said “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”(John 8:7) but they leave out Jesus’ really mean and intolerant final word to this woman – “… go and sin no more.”(v. 11)
When we look to the book of Revelation we see that God is still going to be the Righteous Judge in the future - 16:1 “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” Many compare these “bowls” to the 10 plagues of Egypt.
The attributes of God never change – James 1 “16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” Even in the Old Testament, God is described as loving and merciful: Nehemiah 9:17, Isaiah 54:10 are just two examples.
In the same way that a human parent can both love and discipline a child – God does both in our lives and in our world. IT’S HIS WILL – NOT HIS CHOICE! That’s because His righteousness is part of His will – He must judge sin.
The first three plagues:
Now begins the fulfillment of the promise in Ex. 7:5 “… the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord…”
Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic religions – worshiping one God.
Other religions are polytheistic – worshiping many gods.
In these plagues, the One True God will challenge and beat the false gods of the Egyptian’s polytheism – approximately 2,000!
First – the river Nile, their source of water (for drinking, cooking, bathing) and food (fish were a major source of protein), was turned to blood. The Egyptians had several gods that protected the river – Khnum, Hapi and Osiris. They believed the Nile was the bloodstream of Osiris. So here we see The One True God turn the bloodstream of the god to blood.
Pharoah brings in his magicians. They can turn a bowl of water to blood. What they can’t do is turn the whole river to blood. What is really needed is to turn it back to water. The river gods can’t undo a river of blood.
What about the future? Two of the “Bowls” in Rev. 16 turn water to blood.
What about now? They put their confidence in a mighty river – in what things do we put our confidence other than God Almighty? Money? The government? Relationships? Self? Only in Almighty God can we have confidence – He will never leave me nor forsake me(Heb. 13:5). I can do nothing to make Him love me less, see – He’s crazy in love with me. Want to know a secret? He loves you that much, too!
Second – the land was covered with frogs – even in their homes. The goddess, Heqet, was wife of the creator of the world and they believed she controlled birth (fertility) – she was represented as a woman with the head of a frog. Frogs were considered sacred, like cows are in India. In fact, you could be killed if you stepped on a frog in ancient Egypt. So now they are everywhere and the people would be in fear of killing a frog.
Again, the magicians do the same, but they can’t make that many frogs and they can’t make them go away. God will cause them to die and the people put them in huge, stinking piles – now the river and the land are stinky.
What about the future? Frogs are depicted in Rev. 16 as demons – NOT GOOD!
What about now? They treated nature as divine/sacred – have we become worshipers of nature/Mother Earth?
I have a confession – I am a “Man-made Catastrophic Global Climate Change” denier. You are free to try and change my mind. Just show me one “catastrophic/apocalyptic climate change” prediction more than 10 years old that has come true – just one. I can show you dozens and dozens that were wrong. So if I told you that I had been going to a doctor who had given me dozens of bad/false diagnosis and I’m thinking of going back to that doctor – what would you tell me? Probably – “YOU’RE CRAZY!” Well, the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. Why should I listen to the predictions of climate change disaster from those who were never right before? On top of that, the current climate change hysteria looks a lot like a religion, the worship of mother nature.
Third – the dust is turned into lice (or gnats, or mosquitos, or maggots – depending on your translation.). Folks who want a naturalistic explanation of the plagues use maggots here because they would follow dead, stinky fish and frogs, but how do you explain this plague being “on man and beast”? The dust is transformed telling us about size and number – small and plentiful.
This is a judgment of their earth-god, Geb, but also of their worship of all gods. The priests of ancient Egypt had severe requirements to be “clean” before leading worship and sacrifice. If the priests were covered with lice, they would not have been able to perform rituals in their temples – disrupting the worship of all their gods. Ever have a kid come home with a note – “Head lice have been found in your child’s class”? Immediately, you feel dirty and itchy!
What about the future? No mention of lice in Revelation, but the two witnesses in chp. 11 are able to “strike the earth with all plagues.” v. 6
What about now? Their great pride was destroyed by a teeny, tiny insect – are we receiving the grace promised to the humble?
James 4:6 “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Pride can block grace – how do we come to God? As those who deserve grace – prideful? As those who have a need only God can meet – humble? It’s your choice. Amen
Next week – Exodus 8:16-9:12 The Plagues CONTINUE!
TEACHING SHEET
(date)
Sermon Series: Exodus
Exodus 7:20-25
“God’s Judgement #1”
“Scripture teaches what is often called “progressive revelation.” Simply put, this means that God revealed Himself to His people over many centuries, periodically giving new information that built on but did not contradict or deny what came before. Progressive revelation means that while Scripture’s application to old covenant believers is different in some ways from its application to new covenant believers, we do not reject any of God’s Word. It reveals one message of salvation that we cannot fully grasp unless we consider the whole of the Bible.
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/progressive-revelation/
Our God is still a God of Judgement
Revelation 16:1 “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”
The attributes of God never change – James 1 “16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
In the same way that a human parent can both love and discipline a child – God does both in our lives and in our world. IT’S HIS WILL – NOT HIS CHOICE!
The first three plagues:
Now begins the fulfillment of the promise in Ex. 7:5 “… the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord…” The One True God will challenge and beat the false gods of the Egyptian’s polytheism – approximately 2,000!
First – the river Nile, their source of water and food, was turned to blood. The Egyptians had several gods that protected the river – Khnum, Hapi and Osiris. They believed the Nile was the bloodstream of Osiris.
• Two of the “Bowls” in Rev. 16 turn water to blood
• They put their confidence in a mighty river – in what things do we put our confidence other than God Almighty?
Second – the land was covered with frogs – even in their homes. The goddess, Heqet, was wife of the creator of the world and seen to control birth (fertility) – see pic. Frogs were considered sacred.
• Frogs are depicted in Rev. 16 as demons
• They treated nature as divine/sacred – have we become worshipers of nature/Mother Earth?
Third – the dust is turned into lice. Their god of the earth was Geb. If the priests were covered with lice, they would not have been able to perform rituals in their temples – disrupting the worship of all their gods.
• No mention of lice in Revelation, but the two witnesses in chp. 11 are able to “strike the earth with all plagues.” v. 6
• Their great pride was destroyed by a teeny, tiny insect – are we receiving the grace promised to the humble?
James 4:6 “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Next week – Exodus 8:16-9:12 The Plagues CONTINUE!
