Sermon Series “Exodus”
9:1-7
“God’s Judgement #2”
Pastor John Bright
Exodus 9 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them, 3 behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence. 4 And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt. So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.” ’ ” 5 Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”
6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. 7 Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.”
In a court of law, it’s a Judge that dispenses justice (on the football field – referee).
• What did the Judge say when they brought in a skunk to testify? “Odor, odor in the court!”
• When the Judge went to the dentist, he said, “I want you to pull the tooth, the whole tooth, and nothing but the tooth.”
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In our world, it’s God that dispenses justice and judgement.
Thomas Watson wrote about God’s Justice in the 17th century, about 100 years before John Wesley.
Concerning God's justice, I shall lay down these six positions: -
[1] God cannot but be just. His holiness is the cause of his justice.
[2] God's will is the supreme rule of justice; it is the standard of equity. His will is wise and good.
[3] God does justice voluntarily. Justice flows from his nature. He does justice out of love to justice.
[4] Justice is the perfection of the divine nature. He is not only just, but justice itself.
[5] God never did nor can do the least wrong to his creatures. God's justice has been wronged, but never did any wrong.
[6] God's justice is such that it is not fit for any man or angel to expostulate with him, or demand a reason of his actions. We are to adore God's justice, where we cannot see a reason of it.
Thomas Watson, 1620-1686
Most of these relate to the Justice of God not being a choice – God is just. This may seem nit-picky, but it’s important. The last point reminds us that no body (not even angels) gets to question God’s Justice – all of God’s actions are just. When we look in the Bible, when we are told that God did it we can be sure… God did it. In our world, just because something happens it does not mean God did it. We can be sure God allowed it. So, if God allows sin is He sinful? NO! Can God allow injustice and remain a Just God? YES!
On to the next three plagues – but something has changed. The first three plagues affected everyone -
Now the plagues are only on the Egyptians
Exodus 8 “22 And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. 23 I will make a difference between My people and your people.”
The plagues continue
Fourth plague – SWARM – Have you ever been in the yard near sundown and seen a ball of flying insects hovering? Or you have seen them if you have flood lights outside – the insects gather in that beam of light. This is much worse. It’s even worse than the Ladybugs and Stinkbugs that we find inside our homes and gathered on the side of the house or church.
The swarms of this plague were likely another sacred animal that flies and buzz – the scarab beetle (all the Jewish sources I checked point to this). These are commonly known around the world as a Dung Beetle. Their god, Kheper, had the head of a scarab. He was the god that pushed the sun across the sky. Neither he nor the god of the wind, Amun, could remove the great swarm – only the One True God.
The scarab beetles were also known to chew on wood and cloth. In Ex. 8:24 we read, “The land was corrupted because of the swarms…” This refers to a physical destruction.
• There is no mention of swarms in Revelation (11:6)
• The scarab was also a symbol for rebirth/resurrection. Do we believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY to have eternal life? Moses asks for them to go three days into the wilderness (Jesus – three days in the tomb). We live in a world, even in the Church, where people believe there are many paths/ways to God. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Jesus is not “a way” – He’s THE WAY… or is Jesus a liar?
Fifth plague – DEATH – With the death of all livestock, the people would loose food, transportation, and military capability – it would also be expensive to replace the animals that died. This would also be a hit to food production. Did you grow up on a farm where the ground was plowed using a work animal?
Their god, Ptah, was represented by a living bull – the Apis Bull (embalmed at death). Other gods, including the symbolic mother of Pharaoh, were depicted as cows. God is judging all these gods.
• There is no mention of land animals, but in Rev. 8:9 a third of the sea animals will die.
• Making animals sacred is a part of worshiping Mother Nature. Today – if you have a Biblical Worldview – you believe that humans are created in the image of God, but animals are not. When people are surveyed about their beliefs, one question gets a quick answer - If you had to choose between saving your pet or your worst enemy – what would you do? Almost everyone says – “my pet”. Only when it gets to family members will they hesitate. We live in a culture that has de-valued human life. In 2017 there were 862,000 abortions in the US. In 2019, we hear every week about police being targeted for execution by folks who only see the uniform. Why can’t they see a son/daughter, sister/brother, mom/dad? Will God judge us on these things?
Sixth plague - DISEASE – All of the Egyptians (not Israelites) have large sores on their skin. Moses throws ashes into the air – brick kiln or human sacrifice? This is the first disease to directly affect the bodies of the Egyptians. It is a judgement of their gods of healing. Considered to be one of the most powerful of Egyptian gods, Sekhmet could bring disease to those who oppose her; she also knew how to heal and was the patron god of doctors. Skin disease also made the priests/magicians unclean – yet the servants of Yahweh can stand before Pharaoh.
All their gods and their religious practices must be judged.
• In Rev. 16, the first “bowl of God’s wrath” is skin sores on those who have taken the mark of the beast.
• What do we do first – consult Dr. Google/worry/fret OR cry out to the Great Physician (“and by his stripes we are being healed” Isa. 53:5)? This is NOT a condemnation of medical science! I would never deny my child $5 of antibiotics, but we also prayed! I recently went to Dr. Paul for an insurance checkup. While I was there, I asked him to look at a place on my foot – been there for about a month with no pain or itchy or anything. Told him, “I checked with Dr. Google and read there were 9 ways for it to kill me, so I chose not to worry about it.” Too often we google it and that starts the dominoes to fall one after another. Let’s make prayer our first response – always – in everything!
God is still in the business of healing folks today!
Next week – Exodus 9:13-12:30 The Plagues END!
TEACHING SHEET
(date0
Sermon Series: Exodus
Exodus 9:1-7
“God’s Judgement #2”
Concerning God's justice, I shall lay down these six positions: -
[1] God cannot but be just. His holiness is the cause of his justice.
[2] God's will is the supreme rule of justice; it is the standard of equity. His will is wise and good.
[3] God does justice voluntarily. Justice flows from his nature. He does justice out of love to justice.
[4] Justice is the perfection of the divine nature. He is not only just, but justice itself.
[5] God never did nor can do the least wrong to his creatures. God's justice has been wronged, but never did any wrong.
[6] God's justice is such that it is not fit for any man or angel to expostulate with him, or demand a reason of his actions. We are to adore God's justice, where we cannot see a reason of it.
Thomas Watson, 1620-1686
Now the plagues are only on the Egyptians
Exodus 8 “22 And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. 23 I will make a difference between My people and your people.”
The plagues continue
Fourth – The swarms of this plague were likely another sacred animal that flies and buzz – the scarab beetle. Their god, Kheper, had the head of a scarab. He was the god that pushed the sun across the sky. Neither he nor the god of the wind, Amun, could remove the great swarm – only the One True God.
• There is no mention of swarms in Revelation (11:6)
• The scarab was also a symbol for rebirth/resurrection. Do we believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY to have eternal life?
Fifth – With the death of all livestock, the people would loose food, transportation, and military capability – it would also be expensive to replace the animals that died. Their god, Ptah, was represented by a living bull – the Apis Bull (embalmed at death). Other gods, including the symbolic mother of Pharaoh, were depicted as cows.
• There is no mention of land animals, but in Rev. 8:9 a third of the sea animals will die.
• Making animals sacred is a part of worshiping Mother Nature. If you had to choose between saving your pet or your worst enemy – what would you do?
Sixth – All of the Egyptians (not Israelites) have large sores on their skin. Moses throws ashes into the air – brick kiln or human sacrifice? Considered to be one of the most powerful of Egyptian gods, Sekhmet could bring disease to those who oppose her; she also knew how to heal and was the patron god of doctors. Skin disease also made the priests/magicians unclean – yet the servants of Yahweh can stand before Pharaoh.
• In Rev. 16, the first “bowl of God’s wrath” is skin sores on those who have taken the mark of the beast.
• What do we do first – consult Dr. Google/worry/fret OR cry out to the Great Physician (“and by his stripes we are being healed” Isa. 53:5)?
Next week – Exodus 9:13-12:30 The Plagues END!
