Sermon Series “Exodus”
11:4-7
“God’s Judgement #3”
Pastor John Bright
Exodus 11 “4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. 6 Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. 7 But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’”
Today we come to the end of the plagues (yea!), but not the end of God’s judgements. After the 10th plague Pharaoh will finally let them go.
Some folks are a little late figuring things out!
In some imaginary place - a priest, a lawyer and an engineer are about to be guillotined. The priest puts his head on the block, they pull the rope and nothing happens. He declares that he's been saved by divine intervention, so he's let go.
The lawyer is put on the block, and again the rope doesn't release the blade, he claims he can't be executed twice for the same crime and he is set free too.
They grab the engineer and shove his head into the guillotine. He looks up at the release mechanism and says, "Wait a minute, I see your problem..." ?
&&&&&&&&&&&&
I’ll say it again, I truly believe that Pharaoh was a despot – a cruel, ruthless ruler of an empire. He had put his faith in the false gods of Egypt. He believed they would protect him no matter what he did… even throwing babies into the river.
This is the final grouping of three plagues, 7-8-9. These will show Pharaoh the awesome power of the One True God to judge all the false gods of the culture. God does this with precision – targeting the Egyptians and sparing the Israelites.
Seventh – hail mixed with fire: Egypt is a land that gets very little rain. This is a supernatural storm that brings destruction on both crops and animals. Neither the god of storms, Seth, nor the sky goddess, Nut, is able to stop this judgement. There was also precision in this plague as it did not destroy everything – Exodus 9 “31 Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.” The used the flax to make clothing. Since some food crops were left there would have been hope if the plagues ended there.
The God who formed the heavens and the earth is now judging their gods of protection – god of the storm and the sky goddess.
There are two mentions of hail in judgements of Revelation:
• Rev. 8:7 – “hail and fire; mingled with blood”
Rev. 16:21 – 75 lb. hail stones
There are records for hailstones that naturally fall:
• The largest officially recognized hailstone on record to have been ‘captured’ in the U.S. was that which fell near Vivian, South Dakota on July 23rd, 2010. It measured 8.0” in diameter, 18 ½” in circumference, and weighed in at 1.9375 pounds.
• Virginia Record – 4.5-inch diameter – Saltville in 2011.
• In the last 30 years there have been three hail storms in the US that caused more than $1 billion in damages.
https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/worlds-largest-hailstones.html
I don’t want to be near any of those so I REALLY don’t want to be around when there are 75-pound, supernatural hail stones falling!
The Egyptians prayed to their gods for their needs. When we have needs where do we turn? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Matt. 6:8
Eighth – locusts: modern swarms of locusts can have up to 80 million insects. This supernatural swarm is far greater and will consume every plant left after the hail. This is what it looked like: Exodus 10:15 “For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.” The ladybugs that have invaded around here this fall are nothing compared to this – the whole landscape black with insects.
I can only imagine the fervor of the priests in the temples – offering many scrifices – chanting many mystical chants – but nothing worked. Anubis and Osiris were the gods of agriculture that protected the fields and crops – not this time! Only the One True God could send the locusts away on a strong west wind. (Ex. 10:19)
In the book of Revelation there is a seven-year period known as the Great Tribulation. Just after the midpoint of this time, we read – Revelation 9 “1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”
I don’t want to be around when these demon locusts are released!
There was food left after the hail, even that is gone now. How do we respond to the words of Jesus – “17 But you, when you fast,…” Matt. 6:16 We usually complain after just a few hours without food. Great moves of God in the Church have come after believers fasted and prayed. Do we need that today?
Ninth – three days of darkness that made it impossible to see each other. This is a supernatural darkness. When we experience no light – true darkness – it is very disorienting. I took diving classes over 30 years ago. One of our dives was in a deep borrow-pit at night. When we got down there and turned off the light, it was one of the strangest sensations ever!
The Israelites had light because the God who originally spoke light into existance in Genesis One makes it so! The most worshiped god in ancient Egypt was Amon-Ra, the sun god. He was nowhere to be found in this land of bright sunlight.
Matthew 4 quotes Isaiah as a Messianic Prophecy –
“The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.” (9:2)
• Rev. 16:10 – “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.”
• The great darkness of today is the forsaking of God’s Word as the measure of truth – 2 Tim. 3:16-17 Too often, we measure truth by what we “feel is right.”
The Tenth Plague
God knew it would come to this: “22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” Exodus 4
Pharaoh was considered to be a son of the sun god and this is a direct attack on his power. It was Pharaoh that ordered the murder of the male children in Exodus 1. The goddess of protection at birth, Meshkenet (see pic), could not protect the first-born of man or beast. The protector god of Pharaoh and his family – the vulture on the headdress (Renenutet) – could not protect the first-born son in the palace.
To protect the first-born in their houses, the Israelites are told: “…kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.” Ex 12:21-22 (Go to door behind pulpit) This top part – the horizontal part – is the lintel and the sides – the vertical parts – are the doorposts. There had to be lamb’s blood on both the horizontal and the vertical.
What about us? We are born into a world of many gods – yet the One True God calls us out and draws us to Him. To make a way for us – the ONLY WAY – to receive the gift of eternal life, Jesus Christ was crucified. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Crucifixion of Christ is our “Passover” – the cross is like the door of the house and Christ (the sinless Lamb) shed his blood on the “lintel” and “doorpost” … FOR YOU! Look at the horizontal part of the cross on the altar table – the blood of his hands was on that. Then there was the vertical part of the cross that had blood from his head, his back and his feet.
If God did this for us, we should praise Him! And STOP trying to earn your salvation. It’s already been done- see the cross – it’s an open door inviting you to enter in this day! 2 Cor. 6:2 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Don’t wait – nobody is guaranteed to be here next week! Amen.
TEACHING SHEET
(date)
Sermon Series: Exodus
Exodus 11:4-7
“God’s Judgement #3”
Plagues 7-8-9
Seven – hail mixed with fire: Egypt is a land that gets very little rain. This is a supernatural storm that brings destruction on both crops and animals. Neither the god of storms, Seth, nor the sky goddess, Nut, is able to stop this judgement.
• Rev. 8:7 – “hail and fire; mingled with blood”
Rev. 16:21 – 75 lb. hail stones
• When we have needs where do we turn? “For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Matt. 6:8
Eight – locusts: modern swarms of locusts can have up to 80 million insects. This supernatural swarm is far greater and will consume every plant left after the hail. Anubis and Osiris were the gods of agriculture that protected the fields and crops – not this time!
• Rev. 9:3 – the demon locusts from the pit
• There was food left after the hail, even that is gone now. How do we respond to the words of Jesus – “17 But you, when you fast,…” Matt. 6:16
Ninth – three days of darkness that made it impossible to see each other. The most worshiped god in ancient Egypt was Amon-Ra, the sun god. He was nowhere to be found in this land of bright sunlight. Matthew 4 quotes Isaiah as a Messianic Prophecy –
“The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.” (9:2)
• Rev. 16:10 – “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.”
• The great darkness of today is the forsaking of God’s Word as the measure of truth – 2 Tim. 3:16-17
The Tenth Plague
God knew it would come to this: “22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” Exodus 4
Pharaoh was considered to be a son of the sun god and this is a direct attack on his power. It was Pharaoh that ordered the murder of the male children in Exodus 1. The goddess of protection at birth, Meshkenet (see pic), could not protect the first-born of man or beast. The protector god of Pharaoh and his family – the vulture on the headdress (Renenutet) – could not protect the first-born son in the palace.
To protect the first-born in their houses, the Israelites are told: “…kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.” Ex 12:21-22
• The Crucifixion of Christ is our “Passover” – the cross is like the door of the house and Christ (the sinless Lamb) shed his blood on the “lintel” and “doorpost”… FOR YOU!
