How Long will it be before You question Plagues in Your life
Locusts and questions
Darkness for compromise
DBF/Exodus 10/Sept 22, 2002
Do you ever question why certain things happen in this world, in communities and villages around you?
With the various things of darkness surrounding us, I sometimes wonder why people in the communities don’t question these things more often?
Why don’t our communities confront drug dealers, alcohol importer or people who let intoxicated people go out of their homes or businesses and kill themselves or others?
The simplest reason I guess is that they would not want others pointing out things they do that they know is not right.
I am reminded of a story in which a couple of guys where fishing down a river one day.
One looked up and could see a baby crying and splashing as it floated down the river. The man of course ran in and plucked the baby from that terrible situation. Immediately he heard another baby screaming, looked up and saw another one floating down river. He handed the first child to his friend and waded in after the second. He returned to the bank and was thinking how could this be happening.
He couldn’t wonder very long because he shortly heard another scream and returned to the river to get the next baby, handing each successively to his friend who handed them to another person nearby.
That is pretty much the way I see Satan tying up our lives. He hits us with things that consume our time and efforts to keep us from seeing and doing the word of God.
These people would never get to the root of the problem by staying downstream, they would only be involved in taking actions after the problem presented itself.
God calls us to look to him for the truth, and to examine every situation. In the above situation God would call us to venture upriver, stop whoever is throwing the babies in to start with, then pray that they might come to a point in their lives that they accept their sinfulness and repent of it, turn from their evil past, and seek the path of Christ in their lives.
Today let us continue our journey with Moses and Aaron through the path of plagues that are being brought against the nation of Egypt because of Pharaoh’s refusal to “Let God’s People go.”
Locusts and questions
Exodus 10
1And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him: 2And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD. 3And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me. 4Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast: 5And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field: 6And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. 7And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? 8And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. 10And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 15For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only. 18And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. 19And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. 20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
1And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my signs before him:
Are you ready to go as God commands you to go to the lost and dying of this world?
God’s word clearly tells us to go: Matthew 28 says;
18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
And again in Acts 1;
6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Our “Great Commission” call is clear in God’s word, this is what we are all to be about doing.
Will God need to bring terrible plagues around you to get you to do the things that we are directed to do?
Take God’s challenge and do the will that HE has called you too.
2And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.
Why do things happen around you?
It is plain, these things happen as a testimony to the faithful. In the seem manner, when Paul returned to Jerusalem from his missionary journey’s he would give testimony of the great things God had accomplished on his journey. You see Paul never came into the Jerusalem Baptist Convention and proclaimed that Ephesus or Corinth had come to salvation through him. All that occurred that was of any value was that work accomplish by the Holy Spirit, through the blood of the Lamb…Jesus Christ.
The great plagues in our lives come so that we may tell our children and grandchildren how great God has been to us throughout the ages. Are you doing so today?
Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?
Is this a question that the Lord our God can ask of you as HE asked of Pharaoh and the Egyptians?
You see if anything has precedence over God in your life…you are refusing to humble yourself before HIM.
Will you call plagues into your life and the lives of those around you? If you do not want to do so, humble yourself…prostrate yourself before God and admit your error…ask HIM to spare you, your family and loved ones from the plagues that are being visited across our great land today.
7And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
You know that the people of the world really dislike waking up with dry mouth and puke breath. They do not like the stories they hear of their activities the evening before and what they said to their friends under the supposed soothing elixir that was chosen. They get up and complain of their hurting head, hurting eyes, sore body parts, stomach aches and all other manner of things as a result of the call of Satan upon their lives.
In like manner even the servants of Pharaoh understand that because of this “man of God” Moses that many negative things in their “party lifestyle” are being effected and they petition Pharaoh for relief…they ask him to let the men go…but add a compromise.
Are you offering God a compromise today?
Lord, I really wish to serve you…as long as it is where I choose to go…and with whom I choose to go…and under the conditions that I brings about to go…and as long as I have the proper residence…and salary…and position…
If so think about the impending darkness that will come upon the Egyptians.
You should remember that those who labor under their own strength are in certain darkness right now. The people around you and I are in darkness and think they see, they think they know, and they think they are all right…after all when they question their buddies after multiple drinks they always tell them that they are anyway.
Of course, when you really need them they are normally in another bar, telling someone else the same thing in order to hear the same thing back from them. Deception grows and grows and grows. Satan as and through Pharaoh offers a compromise…you go just leave your women and children they will be fine…except of course if you don’t return.
Truth is continuous and what we are called to put forth. By it some will be saved.
12And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
I would imagine that this plague hurt badly, in a totally agrarian culture without the benefit of freighters or mass transportation, if the immediate food source is consumed there is no replacement or easy means to replace or replenish it.
Theologically, this would weaken Pharaoh significantly. You see in the Egyptian culture and theology, Pharaoh was the living incarnation of the Son God “Ra”. As a god Ra should have the power to counter or stop anything that would menace the nation of Egypt. But Ra was powerless to stop or do anything about the plagues brought upon Egypt by Jehovah—Our Creator and God.
Do you trust fully in God today?
Trust HIM for your home, food, job, service…in every and all aspects of your life.
As Jesus says in Matthew 11; “28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I would imagine about now that the Egyptians were weary and needed rest. After blood, frogs, lice, flies, disease on beasts, boils on man and beast, hail, and now locusts their may have been one or two saying “Enough already”.
I would imagine it, yet I see around me daily people under plagues of sin in their lives telling God the same things that Pharaoh did. Don’t need it…don’t want it…not for me…maybe later…
What happens later, the darkness comes and death. We do not know the times appointed to these certainties in our life, which is why you should make a decision today.
Because darkness is sure to come and with that let’s look at the ninth plague.
Darkness for compromise
21And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 26Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. 27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
21And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Do you know of anyone afflicted by such darkness that may be felt?
I have visited communities in Alaska and elsewhere that I could feel the darkness around the community. The darkness of the sins of adultery, alcoholism, lying, deception, sexual promiscuity and sexual abuse abound in these communities.
These communities have no Evangelical Christian presence and this means that Satan has been and is still in control of daily aspects of that communities life.
How will they hear if we do not go? How can they accept Jesus Christ if HE is never offered? These are questions Evangelical Christians in this great state and the United State will be required to answer, because God will demand an answer to HIS faithful cause.
24And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
Compromise is insidious and will present itself continually in our lives because of the minions of the deceiver in and around us. Just as Pharaoh sought many compromises, Satan offers many compromises in your life.
Well, you can still be a good Christians if you only drink a little alcohol and cuss out only those that really deserve it…not so, this is not the example of Christ who did not even raise his voice to the people who killed HIM.
Well, you can go out and have sex with this girl or that, after all God wouldn’t want you to be alone would he…not so, God certainly does not call us to flings but to become a completion with the chosen one that God himself brings into our lives if we will only faithfully seek HIM and HIS ways.
You see Satan tells you halve truths…and a halve truth is a full lie…remember that. You must know God’s word fully to be successful in turning away and turning away from the deceptions of Satan around you.
I am also struck that the darkness was for a space of three days. I think of my great light, Jesus Christ…the light that was placed in a place of darkness for three days…but praise be to God that he is the light of this world.
We must first and foremost accept HIM as our Lord and Savior in order that HE might be our certain light. God stands ready today, Jesus is knocking on your hearts door.
Will you let him in?
If you would like to come forward and ask Jesus Christ into your heart, we ask that you do so now or if you would just like to get right with God for trying to compromise in your walk with HIM, we ask that you come forward.
We would also like to know your prayer needs today. We consider it a high priviledge and honor to pray to God who alone can answer our every need, through prayer in the blessed name of Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer.
