Now, let's backtrack to Exodus and catch you up on the story. Although it's familiar to most of you, in Exodus we meet Moses. Moses was a man who was raised in Pharaoh's court. At forty years of age, he thinks he's got it all figured out; he's going to help his people get free again, but it doesn't go well. For the next 40 years, he ends up watching over the flocks of his father-in-law out in the desert until he has a burning bush experience. God says, "Moses, you are my guy. I'm going to set my people free." Moses, like most of us, begins to tell God all the reasons he's not qualified to help set the people of God free.
As we've moved forward, one of the things that God says is, "Here are some signs for you first of all, so your people will believe that I've sent you." You may remember one of those signs was that if he threw down his staff, it would turn into a serpent. Another sign was that he could put his hand inside his cloak, and it would come out leprous, and if he put it back, it would come out clean.
Moses is finally convinced and he goes to his people; they're finally sort of convinced. Then he goes to Pharaoh in chapter 5, with Aaron, his brother with him, and says, "Here's what God says: let my people go." Pharaoh says, "I'm going to make your people work harder." Things don't go well. So, last week we got to the point where Moses is still complaining to God: "Okay, that didn't go well. I don't speak well. Here are all the reasons I shouldn't be doing this." And that's going to bring us into chapter 7, where we're going today, and we're going to begin some plagues.
You're not as excited now, remember plagues, right? There we go, alright. So, chapter 7, verse 1, and I'm going to go ahead and read through the chapter. It's a little lengthy, bear with me, but we need to get the context of the story here.
"The Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. He shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my host, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.' Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them."
"Now Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'When Pharaoh says to you, "Prove yourselves by working a miracle," then you shall say to Aaron, "Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh," that it may become a serpent.' So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts; for each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents, but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said."
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. You shall say to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness,' but so far, you have not obeyed.' Thus says the Lord, 'By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water that is the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.'
And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.' Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; thus Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Let's pray. Father, we come before you and ask that you would illuminate this passage in our hearts. Show us the things that we need to pull from it, the things we need to apply to our lives. Father, I pray that you would speak through me as your vessel this morning, that it would be your words that come forth, it would be your thoughts that are put out there. And father, I pray that we would just be ready to receive all that you have for us this morning. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.
So, chapter 7, verse 1, here comes Moses and Aaron. They've got this instruction, and here's what we want to start to pick up on in verse 1. The Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.' One of the things we need to recognize is that God has made us to be a reflection of who He is. What He wants to do in our lives has to reflect His glory to the world around us. Part of what happens in our lives is we have a choice. We can either fully surrender ourselves to that purpose or we can hold back. And when we hold back, the world sees an imperfect reflection of who God is. That's where we have those things that come about, like 'I've been around Christians, they're all hypocrites.' That's when we're not reflecting so well. But when we truly allow Him to have hold of us and to reflect His glory through us, people see something beyond our imperfections. They begin to see the fullness of God.
And the thing we need to remember about Exodus is that Exodus is not a story about Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, Egypt, or Israel. It's a story about God Almighty revealing who He is to mankind. And so, that's the backdrop that we need to look at these passages through. It is God revealing Himself to those who are open to Him and to those who are closed off to Him. And that's what we're going to see in Pharaoh's life.
So, the Lord says to Moses, 'See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and I am sending you to him so that he can see My glory revealed in you.' You have to understand, part of the reason for this is in the Egyptian culture, their gods were represented by tangible things. So if you ever look at Egyptian artifacts, they will take on the likeness of things you are familiar with. Even the River Nile itself had a representation of God. So part of what Pharaoh is going to be contending with is he's going to want to know, 'Now you're saying this God is telling me to let the Israelites go. Well, who is He? Who is He?' Because in Pharaoh's culture, the people actually worshipped Pharaoh as a god himself. And so he's looking for the tangible.
'You show me who this God is,' and the next thing that God says to Moses, 'Your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.' Remember, Moses' big complaint is, 'I don't talk well.' In fact, he ends up in chapter 6, verse 28, with this, 'On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, "I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you."' But Moses said to the Lord, 'Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?' Well, the thing that Moses is realizing is his weaknesses, how he's not up to the task that God is giving him.
So I'm going to let you in on a little secret. None of us are up to the task that God gives us, and there's a reason for that. Because if you could do it in your own strength, your own creativity, your own power, you would get all the credit. And because we are narcissistic by nature, we would gladly take that credit. So, one of the things that God does with us is he puts us in places where His glory can be seen, where it takes so much more than our talents and our abilities. It takes Him to show up, because if He doesn't, it's going to fail. Notice what else takes place here. You shall speak all that I command you.
Who else here is a TD besides me? Okay, my fellow ADHD friends, you understand this. The thought hits, and it's barely hit, and it's already coming out of the mouth, right? Part of what he's saying here is don't speak until you know what I'm telling you to say. Now, fortunately, as we get older, even with our ADHD minds, the mind moves a little slower, so there's at least a one- or two-second gap before it's flying out, but not much. And so part of what he's telling us is consider your words. Every time we interact with someone, our words can be life-giving, or they can take life away. We can speak out of turn, or we can speak in turn.
And what God is telling Moses is you need to say only what I tell you to say, because if you think you've got this handled and you run off on your own, you're in trouble. But if you'll speak when I tell you to speak, then the plan that I intend to enact through you will take place. But you've got to follow the steps. So some of you who know me well know that I am not the most handy person with my hands. I can work on cars, but that's about it. I work most of the time with my mind.
So yesterday, I decided to tackle a new kitchen sink at the house. Now, it was a very simple kitchen sink, and most of you would be laughing at me. But here's Carl's step one. Okay, now where's this, where's this? I'm following the steps to make sure it gets put in without me losing my temper. When we build office furniture in my household, my wife builds the furniture with me sitting there because I don't follow step one, step two very well. I want to jump ahead, and then I lose stuff, and then I get mad. So we don't do that.
And so when I read this and God is telling Moses, 'Just do what I command you,' I'm like, 'That's probably wise.' Because when I don't follow the directions, things don't go well. If I have a good set of directions and I follow them, things go great. So He's telling Moses, 'You shall speak all that I command you.' Know this is important, not just part of it but everything. There are times where there are things we know we need to say, but they're going to be uncomfortable, and so we will cut it short and not follow through with what really needs to be said. And this is the thing that He's telling Moses: You can't do that. You have to say everything that I tell you, no less and no more.
And your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. So Moses, you don't speak well. I've given you Aaron; he's your counterbalance. He's going to be the one to speak, but he needs to only speak what I've spoken to you and what you direct him to speak. That's the pattern, that's the flow.
Here's the beautiful thing about God. When we have those frailties and weaknesses, invariably He puts people into our life who complement those. So I look at my marriage; my wife is a perfect counterbalance for me. She's merciful, she follows directions, and she's neat and organized. I am none of those things. I'm also a person that, in the context of ministry, I work best when I have people who counterbalance me, who are more merciful, who are more sensitive, who are more creative because that's not how I'm wired. And God in His faithfulness and His knowledge knows that about each one of us, so He doesn't leave us there to flounder in our weaknesses. He puts people in place to complement that. But He gives them the instruction: Moses, I'm going to give you the words, you're going to speak them to Aaron, and Aaron, you're going to speak them to Pharaoh.
Now here's the hard news of that. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Let me ask you a question: Who here loves public speaking? Not too many, what, one of you, right? I actually enjoy public speaking. But I would be really horrified if I knew I was coming into an audience that they're not going to listen to you. Okay, that doesn't sound so much fun. And yet, that's where God is sending Moses and Aaron. Hey, I'm going to give you this hard word. You need to speak all of it, by the way, the audience isn't going to listen. Okay, but what is God doing? He's preparing them for what's ahead. And that's the point that I want you to see. God prepares you for the challenges and difficulties you're going to face.
When you look back over life, you'll see places where He built in something you were going to need to get through the next challenge. Notice what He tells him here in verse 4. Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my host, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. So God is telling Moses, here's what's going to happen. He's not going to listen to you, and I'm going to ratchet up the pressure. And it's because I ratchet up the pressure that the people of Israel are going to be free to leave at some point.
Again, none of us sign up to go through times of intense pressure. None of us want to go through those difficult things. And yet those are the things that mold and shape our character. Those are the things that build our foundation of belief. If I hadn't seen God bring me through this, if I hadn't seen God do this, I wouldn't be able to believe Him in the bigger things. And that's what God is preparing Moses for. So I'm going to do these great acts of judgment. And here's what we want to catch, number 5. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.
This isn't just about Pharaoh; it's not even about the Israelites. It's about everyone. I'm going to use judgment so that these Egyptians realize that I am the Lord. Here's a question for you: When people around you see your life, are they in awe of the god you serve? That's what God is doing here. I'm going to so move on the land of Egypt that the Egyptians are going to talk about that god of the Israelites, that he does some amazing stuff. Just to fast-forward a little bit, what you're going to learn in the next few weeks is that when they leave Egypt, the Egyptians actually give them all of their wealth. 'Please get out of here so your God will leave us alone so we can have some peace.' So here's the point. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.
When it comes to the way we come to faith in Christ, some of us take the easy path, sitting in church one day, and boom, it hit. Some of us take a little harder path where there's more pressure that has to get applied to our life before we're ready to surrender. And the reason I tell you that is because for some of us, that just takes a little more work. But here's the thing. Somebody's always watching, and they are watching the way you go through those difficulties. And what I found in life is the amazing amount of people who are actually watching. And God begins to work in their life because they watch what you're going through or because of a difficult circumstance.
And that's what God is using with the Egyptians. Hey, Pharaoh is going to harden his heart anyway, so God's going to use that to his advantage so that the people will know he is king of kings and Lord of lords. So verse 5, the Egyptians shall know that I'm the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt, and I bring out the people of Israel from among them. Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord had commanded him. So number one, you need to hear from God. And let me just say this, in your prayer times, if you're the only one doing the talking, you're not going to hear from God. At some point, you have to be quiet and listen. And if you're really serious, you might even want to take a few notes along the way because item number two comes along. They did everything the Lord had commanded him. It's not just enough to hear; I've got to follow through. And if we get really honest, every one of us can find areas in our life where, yeah, I know, really, God wants me to do that. I just am not following through.
And yet, to truly see what God has in store for you, we've got to be obedient to the things that he commands us. Now let's keep going. Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. Now Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. I don't know about you, but if I were going to put my future in the hands of some individuals that needed to go intimidate the ruler of the land, I might choose somebody like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, right? I'm not going to choose an 83-year-old and an 80-year-old man. They don't have quite the intimidation factor. So why did God choose those two men? Because God doesn't do what you and I would do. If those two men could intimidate Pharaoh on their own, who would get the credit? They would. Who would get the glory? They would. God is using unlikely vessels to do his greater work. When you look at your life, remember what I said earlier: the things God calls you to are always going to be bigger than you are. If you really examine them deeply, you're not qualified, you're absolutely correct. He's doing it because he wants to display his glory through you, so that when people encounter you, they go, 'Okay, I know you. You're a knucklehead, but I'm watching what's happening around your life and the impact you have in this world, and it's beyond you. Tell me what you got.'
Alright, so let's keep going here. Verse 8, then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'When Pharaoh says to you, "Prove yourselves by working a miracle," so notice that he's already telling them, 'Hey, Pharaoh's not going to believe you. In fact, he's going to ask for a miracle. Oh, you say you're here to represent this God, prove it.' Hmm. So when you hear that, that's your cue. Then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.' Now, if Aaron was premature in that, if he just says, 'Hey Pharaoh, check that out,' it's probably still going to be a stick because that wasn't God's instruction. God's instruction was when Pharaoh questions you and says, 'Prove it,' then throw down your stick. We need to understand that again, sometimes God gives us a really clear plan of where he's taking us. The danger is we finally go, 'You know what, I got it. I'm locked in. I've got to figure it out, off we go,' only to find out we didn't really have all the information, and so he has to take us on a little journey of life to get us back on course. Right? So take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. We've got to walk in step with the instruction. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Notice the audience; it's not just Pharaoh, it's also Pharaoh's servants. Pharaoh's not the only one seeing what's taking place; his servants are as well. So Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
Verse 11, then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. Oh, God didn't say anything about that. Sometimes we get an instruction from God, and we start down the path, and then we get an unexpected surprise. And what that unexpected surprise is, is it's a crisis of faith. Do you take God at His Word when he said, 'I've got this,' or are you gonna freeze up? Are you gonna improvise? Are you gonna run away because I didn't expect that resistance? I didn't expect that pushback. What am I gonna do? Oh no, I've thrown down my staff, and they did the same thing. Here's part of what's happening for that audience: Egypt is a polytheistic society, meaning they worship many gods, and so magicians were revered in Egypt because of their ability to do things that were beyond understanding, whether that was through conjuring evil spirits or sleight of hand, or however they did it, those things were respected, and that's why Pharaoh called his magicians. 'Hey, can you do this?' And so they throw theirs down, and it becomes a serpent. Well, now what? Moses and Aaron had to stand firm, and when they stood firm, look at what happens. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. See, God needed to demonstrate to the people of Egypt that these gods you worship are not greater than I am. So great, you made snakes. Watch this; your snakes are gonna get swallowed up. The magicians couldn't reverse that; they couldn't have their snakes swallow up Aaron's snake. Don't miss that. God, the devil, is an imitator. He loves to deceive. He loves to put on a show. He loves to try and convince you of things, but God will always show Himself greater if you'll be patient, if you'll trust Him enough to do so.
Notice where we go here. Verse 13, still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. So this is the end of the demonstrations of powers just through signs. This brings us into the first plague. Okay, Pharaoh, your heart's hardened. I'm gonna turn up the pressure. Let's keep going here. Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him.' This is really important; He didn't send Moses and Aaron back to the palace this time. He sends them to the banks of the Nile to meet Pharaoh in the morning. It's a place of opportunity. Don't dismiss the divine opportunities that God puts in your life day by day. There are people that He sends you into some unusual places at times to intersect for no other reason than this: He's trying to reveal who He is to that person. Don't miss that in your own life. Says, 'Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he's going out to the water, standing on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and taking your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, "The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you saying, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness,' but so far you have not obeyed."' So what's the real issue with Pharaoh? He's not obeying. He's not yielding. He's not allowing God to be in control.
Verse 17, 'Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord."' So I want us to stop for a minute because the question throughout history has been, 'Did Pharaoh have a choice?' If they will have a choice because you keep seeing in here, God says, 'I'll harden his heart.' And what I want to put in front of you is Pharaoh did have a choice, but the thing about God is God will confirm that choice. And so when Pharaoh says, 'I'm not letting them go,' God says, 'Great. I'm gonna reinforce that. I'm going to use that. I'm gonna push you deeper into that decision until it's painful.' Now we know as we go through this, ultimately, Pharaoh relents. The pressure gets to the point that he's willing to say, 'Get out of here.' But he's not to that point. And so God's gonna use his decision to influence other people. So realize this: if you're running from God and your heart's hard and you're not listening to him, and you're gonna try and stand your ground, he's gonna use that for his glory anyway. Somebody will be affected because of the decision you made, and that's what's happening here with Pharaoh.
Let's keep going. So far, you've not obeyed. Verse 17, 'Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, with the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile."' And the Lord said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood."' And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.
So who here has been around in Kansas during some of the drought seasons? We're like your farm ponds and rivers start to dry up, and everything starts to die, mm-hmm, anybody been through that? It is a lovely, lovely smell, makes you want to grab your canteen and dip it right in. We lived on the coast before we moved back to Wichita in Corpus Christi, and we would get red tide that would come in every few years, and they would start to kill off everything, and the stench was so bad, you couldn't go near the beach. You just had to stay away, and it would make your eyes burn and everything else. It's just nasty. So in God's describing this, that's kind of the picture I get. That's not a very appealing circumstance for life. And so that's what Pharaoh is warned of.
Verse 20, look what happens. Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. They kept following directions in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. He lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned to blood, and the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
What's interesting is the Bible is not the only historical writing that records this. There is actually a papyrus, and I don't remember the name of it; it records that there was a time where the Nile turned to blood and everything was dying. And so it's kind of cool to see archaeological evidence actually back up what's in Scripture. So I just put that out there for you. Now, here's the next thing that comes out of that. The magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. Huh, well, that one was kind of confusing to me at first. Well, if all the water turned to blood, how in the world did the magicians turn water into blood? All right, what we're gonna learn is that you could dig down to find water again, which is ultimately what they did. It was any water that was already open, water in pots, water that was in rivers, lakes, streams turned blood. You could still dig down and find fresh water. So that's what the magicians did. They dig down; they find water; they turn it to blood. Pharaoh sees that and says, 'You know what, I don't believe it. I'm people go. I'm out of here.' Here's the point we miss. If they really had power, what would they have done? Turned it back to water, right? But they couldn't, just like they couldn't overcome Aaron's staff; they couldn't overcome the Nile being turned to blood. That's what always happens when the devil tries to masquerade when he tries to deceive you. If you'll watch closely what God is doing, God will show the fraud for what it is.
And here's how we know this in the land of Egypt. Let's keep going here. Verse 23, Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. See, this is what the people of Egypt were starting to experience. Okay, the waters turned to blood, and supposedly our magicians can duplicate that. How come a week later, they can't turn it back to water? What are we going to do? Who is this God that is beginning to exact his wrath upon us? I hope you see what God is using with Pharaoh's heart to stir the hearts of other people. And that's the promise that I want to make to you is that even when you harden your heart towards God, He's going to use it for His glory because there are people who are watching. There are people who will respond to Him in spite of your obstinance. And that's what's happening here with Pharaoh.
And so, the place that I want to leave us today is this. If you've never given your life to Jesus, let me just say this. There's an open invitation to you. Come and let me have your life, and I'll give you something even greater. That's the offer of grace. That's the easy one. But there's also God loves you enough to put some pressure on you to try and get you to mold your heart to Him. And so you may find yourself in some hard places right now. The question I want to ask you is, have you been open to God, or have you been resisting Him? Don't be like Pharaoh. Don't make the pressure have to go up. Just open your heart to Him. The sad part is, people are going to watch the pressure on you, and they're gonna embrace God anyway. Don't miss out.
