The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
Thunder, Hail, and Lightning Very, Very Frightening (Exodus 9:13-35) Nick Kennicott
What happens when the forces of nature are wielded by a divine hand? Join us on a captivating journey through Exodus 9:13-35 as we explore the seventh plague—the devastating hailstorm that struck Egypt. We'll uncover the science behind hail formation and draw intriguing parallels to modern events like Hurricane Matthew's impact on Savannah, Georgia. This episode delves into the increasing severity of the plagues, each one a testament to God's omnipotence and His unmatched control over creation.
Our discussion takes a profound turn as we examine the biblical doctrine of election and God's purpose behind the plagues. Discover why God used these powerful signs to demonstrate His sovereignty and unique nature to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. We'll analyze the hardened heart of Pharaoh, the culpability of the Egyptians, and the broader implications for understanding obedience to God's will. This reflection is not just historical; it offers timeless lessons on faith and servitude applicable to our lives today.
Finally, we delve into the depths of God's sovereignty and mercy as described in Romans 9. Through the analogy of God as the potter and humanity as the clay, we'll explore the reasons behind God's actions, including the allowance of Satan's existence, to showcase His ultimate power and glory. The episode concludes with a poignant look at Pharaoh's insincere confession of sin, contrasting it with the nature of true repentance. Through this exploration, we reflect on God's ultimate aim to rescue His people and reveal His greatness, urging us to maintain a genuine and heartfelt relationship with Him.
Amen. Join me in the scriptures. Exodus, chapter 9. Exodus 9, this evening we are in verses 13 through 35. And thank you, mr Alvarez, for leading us this evening. We're grateful for all of our students from Reformed Baptist Seminary and their development of their gifts, and certainly want to remember our brother, brandon Fertig, who preached in Pennsylvania this morning I haven't gotten a report, but I trust it went well and pray the Lord's blessing on all the opportunities he gives to our young men to preach the gospel. We're very, very thankful. It's quite a gift he's given to our church to have so many young men desirous of the office and we don't want to take that for granted. So we use these men as we can and they do a great job, so we're grateful. Exodus 9 this evening as we get back in our series through this great narrative.
Speaker 1:I don't usually share my title, but I'm pretty impressed with myself. So tonight's sermon is called Thunder, hail and Lightning Very, very frightening. If you're a Queen fan, you get it. I think one of the most fascinating things about the world that God has created is the weather patterns that we often experience. Now, of course, we hear a lot about the climate that God has created. Is the weather patterns that we often experience. Now, of course, we hear a lot about the climate in our day, but for all of time, man has had to deal with severe weather. Of course, we have the benefit of technology that many never had to predict major weather patterns in preparing for them. I was reminded of this in 2016.
Speaker 1:Many of you will remember Hurricane Matthew. I was living in the Savannah Georgia area at the time. It hit us far worse than it ever did down here. Many of our old oak trees fell down, power lines were down, electricity was taken outfs of buildings were destroyed. Our church building had two trees come through the building. There were massive storm surges that came up downtown and the streets were filled with water. Many of the businesses were flooded, but by that time, many people had evacuated. While there was a lot of physical damage, very few lives were lost. We stayed through that storm in our home, and most of the homes in Georgia aren't designed for hurricanes, so it was a long night for everyone. Hurricanes always seem to come in the middle of the night.
Speaker 1:Another meteorological phenomenon that's always fascinated me, perhaps more than any other, is hail. I've encountered hail a few times, but never anything too serious If you think about what happens. Hailstorms are formed when raindrops are carried upwards by thunderstorm updrafts into extremely cold areas in the atmosphere where they freeze and then they grow as they collide with liquid water drops that freeze on the surface of the hailstone and they get bigger and bigger and then the hail falls when the updraft can no longer support the weight of the hailstone, which can occur if the stone becomes large enough or the updraft weakens. The largest hail stone on record was eight inches in diameter, and major hail storms will often do more than a billion dollars in damage. Think of how crazy that is. It's fascinating Big ice cubes falling out of the sky like rain, and, aside from the damage to houses and cars and crops and livestock, several people have died in hailstorms. If it's large enough, they can travel up to 25 miles per hour before they ever hit the ground. So imagine getting hit by a ball of ice the size of a marble or a golf ball traveling 25 miles per hour. That will do some significant damage.
Speaker 1:And as we get into our text this evening, we are still in the plague narrative and we are reminded once again, and even in the words of Moses himself, that the earth is the Lord's, and we're at the seventh plague, and it's devastating. It causes significant damage, it wipes out even more of Egypt's livelihood and provision, and so, whatever the equivalent to a billion dollars worth of damages in Egypt, this would have been far worse in terms of loss and recovery. Remember, so far, we've seen the Nile turn to blood, we've seen the land covered with frogs, we've seen gnats swarming everywhere, we've seen flies everywhere, we've seen the livestock of the Egyptians killed, we've seen boils emerge on the bodies of the Egyptian people. And these were just the first six plagues. They're increasing in their intensity, they're getting worse and worse. Now, these six that we've already looked at, they make up two of three cycles of plagues that we see. There are three cycles of three plagues, and then the 10th plague stands on its own as the capstone the death of the firstborn.
Speaker 1:But each cycle you can look back and perhaps you'll remember, as we've looked at them, each cycle begins with Moses rising up early to confront Pharaoh. We've seen that twice. We'll see that in this one. The next plague we'll look at, we've seen before he goes, instead of going to meet with him early in the morning, he goes and meets Pharaoh in his court. And then the third plague of each cycle. God just sends the plague and doesn't provide any warning, and so we will see that cycle beginning again for the final time, and this is the plague of hail falling from the sky.
Speaker 1:The intensity of this plague is heightened even more by the lengthier description of everything that happens so far. This will be the longest of the plagues that we read about in Exodus, and so the tension is building. We've already said everything that exists belongs to the Lord. Everything that exists is at his disposal. Remember imagining taking down an entire kingdom with flies or with gnats or with frogs? And yet God relented. He was merciful, and we're reminded here again that even the hail and the thunder and the lightning is all in the hands of God and is there for him to use however he pleases.
Speaker 1:So let's read together this lengthy portion of Exodus, chapter 9, beginning in verse 13. Then the Lord said to Moses rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews let my people go that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you, yourself and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. He says never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now, therefore, send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.
Speaker 1:Then whoever feared the word of the Lord said to Moses. Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
Speaker 1:Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them this time I have sinned, the Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and you shall stay no longer. Moses said to him. As soon as I've gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hand to the Lord, the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord, god. The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud, but the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up. So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hand to the Lord, and the thunder and the hail seized and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. The thunder and the hail ceased and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
Speaker 1:Well, once again we see similar themes to what we have seen in the previous plagues, but they are coming to us with even greater intensity and greater clarity In a single statement. Here the Lord reveals his mercy, his wrath and his sovereign power over all creation. It's right there, in verse 15. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth. You see it right there he declares his mercy, for by now I could have done this. The implication is but I didn't do it yet. But it also shows his wrath. He shows this is what you deserve and it shows his sovereign power. I have the ability to do this. And these are the primary themes we've seen in all the plagues. God is merciful, god gives warning, god tells them exactly what's going to come, but at the same time God will reveal his wrath, and God has the ability to do so. Mercy, wrath and sovereignty it's all right there. So, as we look at this most lengthy description of the plague thus far, remember these realities. If you miss those three themes, you really can't understand the plague narrative at all.
Speaker 1:Now, as we've done with the other six plagues, we should consider once again that this is not just God showing his sovereign power over Pharaoh and the Egyptian people because of their abuse and their enslavement of the Hebrew people. That's part of it. But this is also a direct response, remember to all of the false gods of the Egyptians. Every plague is a direct response to their false deities, and this particular plague targets the Egyptian goddess Nuit. She was worshipped as the Egyptian sky goddess, the daughter of Shu, who was the god of the air, and Tefnut, the goddess of water and fertility. She was typically depicted as having stars on her body, and particularly her hands and her feet, which were seen as the four cardinal points. And so you have a false deity that the Egyptian people are worshiping as the goddess of the sky.
Speaker 1:And so what does God do? Well, he does what he's been doing all along he shows them that even the sky is his and all that falls from it. It's another powerful reminder that there is no escape from the hand of the Lord. And so, with that in mind, our first point for us to see this evening is that God makes his purposes plain for all to see In verses 13 through 21,. God once again emphasizes his purposes, but it's prefaced with a theological introduction. God is teaching us his purposes in redemption. It's there in verse 13. Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews let my people go that they may serve me. And so here we see the ground and the goal of redemption. The ground of redemption is God's people. Let my people go. People, let my people go.
Speaker 1:It's always interesting to me when people want to argue about or argue, try to argue against, the biblical doctrine of election and say that God doesn't choose people but that people choose God. And so if I'm in one of those conversations, I typically say do me a favor and fill in the blank. The Israelites were God's blank. And they always say God's chosen people. Okay, thanks.
Speaker 1:God has a people and he redeems them, and this has been his plan and his way since the very beginning. We see it in a micro sense through the Old Testament with the Israelite people, and then we see it come even to greater clarity in the New Testament and beyond, even now, with the church. It is God's people, consecutively, continuously, from the beginning into the end, and, like the Israelites, we've been called by God, chosen as his people, that we may fulfill his goal of redemption. What is the goal that God states? We have the ground, it's the people of God, but what is the goal? It is that we may serve him. Now, we've seen this before, that we are called to be worshipers of God. This is what he wants from us.
Speaker 1:And, by the way, this doesn't mean that we just attend church on Sunday and participate in worship services, but rather that our entire lives are marked as servants of the one true and living God. The way we conduct our lives of the one true and living God, the way we conduct our lives, how we interact with other people, what we think, what we say, how we act, it's all marked by this most important overriding principle that we are the people of God, we are his servants and we want to hear his voice and we want to do what he commands. Of course, not perfectly by any means, but that's the desire of our heart, the thing that we want, the thing that we strive for. We want to do what God wants us to do, and that's what it means to be a servant of God, not with an attitude of compulsion or obligation, like we're God's servants only because we fear retribution, no, but because we know that God commands us to do what is best for us. He created us, he knows what we need, and so it is critically important that we live our lives in service to him, to fulfill the goal that he has established for his people. It's for our good.
Speaker 1:So this theological introduction that he gives here is to remind Pharaoh one, I have a people and two. I want them to be able to serve me, and for that to happen, as I want it to happen, you need to let them go. But you may get to this point in the narrative and you may think well, it makes sense that God would deal with Pharaoh in this way. But why the plagues? Why not just take him out? Why do all the other Egyptians have to go down with him? Well, the Lord explains. He gives at least three explanations. He provides even greater clarity. The first one we see is in verse 14. He says for this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. That's a very powerful statement, isn't it? There is none like me in all the earth, and no doubt Pharaoh is finding out for himself. God is displaying his omnipotence. He's far greater, far more powerful, far more capable, infinitely more awesome than Pharaoh, and with each blow of a new plague it becomes all the more apparent.
Speaker 1:In verse 14, if you're using the New King James Version, it says and really the best way to understand that is to kind of take both of those translations together to get a more precise meaning Because the heart is considered the center of man. It's who we are, it's what we are, our thoughts, our intentions, our desires. It's the control center of man and, as a result, it really refers to the whole person. It's similar to what we see in the third commandment. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. It's not just referring to his name, but it's the totality of who God is which also includes his name. So when you think about this together, you get a sense of what God is after here.
Speaker 1:I will send my plagues to your very heart. I will send my plagues on you yourself. In other words, the very reason for all of this, the very fact that you are hardening your heart against me, will be the place that I strike you to take you down and to free my people. To take you down and to free my people. Your heart, pharaoh, is the downfall of your entire personages, and now, just for you. You have to recognize this because it doesn't only affect you, it affects all of your people. Notice again verse 14, also your servants and all your people. 14, also your servants and all your people.
Speaker 1:By setting himself against Israel, pharaoh is setting himself against God. He was exalting himself to a place of deity. By looking to Pharaoh as a God, the people of Egypt set themselves against God. By serving Pharaoh as one of their deities. The servants of Pharaoh were setting themselves against God. And the truth is, as you look at the Egyptians, there are no innocent parties involved. There's no collateral damage in the plagues. It could be easy to read the plague narrative and feel sorry for these Egyptians and think why didn't he just take out Pharaoh, if Pharaoh would have just done what he was supposed to do. All the Egyptians would have been fine, but they too are guilty.
Speaker 1:And beyond that, god says so that you may know that there is none like me on all the earth. Pharaoh and the people of Egypt are getting a world-class theological education from God himself. They are learning firsthand what kind of God he truly is, and that there is none like him. Well, he reveals a second purpose verses 16 and 17. For this purpose, I have raised you up, who you are, because I put you there. This is consistent with what we see elsewhere in the scriptures. We've looked at this before. Remember Daniel 2.21. He removes kings and sets up kings.
Speaker 1:In Romans 13.1,. The apostle Paul writes for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. And so he's saying Pharaoh, you think you're somebody, you think you're great, you're pounding your chest, you're demanding obedience, you're claiming to be some kind of God, but you're not. I put you there, I raised you up, and now I'm going to tear you down. I'm going to show you my power. My name will be proclaimed in all the earth. My name will be proclaimed in all the earth, and so the implication to. That is then that Pharaoh's name will be blotted out.
Speaker 1:My wife and I were talking about this yesterday and I told her that it's amazing, with all the historical evidence we have and we know more about Egypt than most ancient civilizations but with all the information that we have, no scholar really knows who this Pharaoh was. We have multiple dynasties of the Egyptians, but nobody can pinpoint and say it was this Pharaoh that Moses was dealing with. There are a lot of guesses, but there's a reason we don't know. The most he gets is his title. No, the most he gets is his title Pharaoh, but that title was shared with many others. We don't know his name.
Speaker 1:All we know about him is what we read in the Bible. His name will never be proclaimed in the earth, not even in the reading of the scriptures, only the Lord's, and in fact, it's the very thing that the Lord Jesus calls on us to emphasize in our prayers Our Father, who is in heaven. Hallowed be your name on the earth as it is in heaven. This is what God's purpose is to make his name great, to make his name known, to make himself to be seen and evident to all the earth in the same way that he is known and seen in heaven. And so he is here taking out an ax and dealing a deadly blow to the pride and false power of Pharaoh.
Speaker 1:Now, at this point, the skeptic or the critic might look at this and say why would God say, as he says very plainly, that he raised up Pharaoh just so he could strike him down? I know a lot of Christians who want to look at something like this and try to find an alternate explanation for this. But this is exactly what God is saying, isn't it? We must be honest with the text. That's what he says. Well, the apostle Paul thankfully deals with this. He knew there would be objections to this, and so he responds to it in Romans 9.
Speaker 1:And beginning in Romans 9.14, the apostle Paul writes this what shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy, on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then, it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh for this very purpose I have raised you up, but I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then, he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault for who can resist his? And I admit it's a fair question, isn't it? I think it's a fair question, but I also think that Paul's answer to that question is equally appropriate to settle the matter. It should settle the matter, he says.
Speaker 1:But who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded? Say to the molder why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory, for vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory. And that's it. That's the answer the Bible gives us. You have, paul is saying you have no right to question the motives of the creator. He made you and he will do with you what he pleases for his purposes. His purposes for Pharaoh were to show his wrath and to make it known in his power. You may not like it, but, to be very frank, god doesn't care if you like it. This is what it is.
Speaker 1:I remember as a kid my parents are here. They're going to laugh at me. I always hated it when I asked something of my father and his response sometime was because I said so. But you know what. I'm a dad now and that is a perfectly legitimate response. I don't all the dads are laughing. I don't owe my children an explanation for everything that goes on in my home. I have great kids. I really don't have to say this anymore. I'm thankful for that and what God's making them to be. They understand this and I have an amazing wife who's helped me emphasize this through the years. But the Lord has delegated a responsibility to me and all that goes on under the roof that he has provided, and sometimes the right response is because I said so. This is a good lesson for young parents.
Speaker 1:Your kids will question you to death and sometimes the answer is none of their business. There are certain times when they will ask these questions to try and challenge your authority and see what the limits are, and you have to remind them. I am the one in charge here. This is my domain. You're welcome to exist in it, but it will be according to the principles that I have established under God. And so this is how it's going to go, because I said so. And this is God's response to that question why raise a Pharaoh just to destroy him? Well, he actually gives two answers. The first one is as simple as that, because I did that's up to him. He's the potter. He can do whatever he wants with the clay vessel that he created. But the other answer is in our text. He says so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
Speaker 1:The plague had global implications. God wanted to be worshiped all around the world, and history shows that the plagues achieved God's missionary purposes. If there had been only one plague, it might have been forgotten, but 10 plagues, 10 plagues, were 10 times more likely to be remembered. The Israelites recounted them to their children. We read in Deuteronomy 6, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand Before our eyes. The Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders, great and terrible, upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. The Israelites recited the plagues in their Psalms. Consider Psalm 78. He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore figs with sleet. He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning. God's people never forgot God's triumph over Pharaoh through the plagues.
Speaker 1:But they weren't the only ones. Word of the plagues also spread to all the surrounding nations. We see that in Exodus 15. Or when the Gibeonites met with Joshua, they spoke of the fame of the Lord, saying in Joshua, chapter nine, we have heard reports of him and all that he did in Egypt. Many years later, remember when the Ark of the Covenant entered their camp, the Philistines said we're in trouble. Nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us. Who will deliver us from the hand of this mighty God? They are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.
Speaker 1:The plagues made God famous, and what Paul is making clear in Romans 9 is that to this day, wherever and whenever Christ is preached, wherever the gospel is proclaimed, god is being praised for his victory over Pharaoh, because it is a picture of what the Lord does to rescue his people. But God is not rescuing his people today from a tyrannical Pharaoh in a far off land. No, god is rescuing his people from the grips of Satan. And just like someone will ask about Pharaoh, others will ask Perhaps you've asked If God is omniscient and knows all things? And if God is omnipotent and can do all things, why would he create Satan and allow him to deceive Adam and Eve and wreak havoc on all the earth for thousands of years? Same answer to show his power and his greatness and his glory, to defeat his foe and to show that there is none like him and that his name would Friends. The one true and living God is the creator of heaven and earth. He made you, he made me, he made all that is in the universe. Not one bit of his creation exists apart from his saying so, and he holds it all together by the power of his word.
Speaker 1:We learn in the Bible that Jesus Christ, the God man who came into this world to save sinners from bondage to Satan, is the King of Kings and the Lord of all Lords. And you may think yourself great and mighty, you may have dreams and aspirations to be named amongst the most well-known people in the world. You may hope that one day your name will be written in the history books, but in the end. There is only one name that will be known in all places for all eternity, and that is the Lord. God himself. The mercy of God is revealed even today. The Lord is patient and merciful. Even today.
Speaker 1:He doesn't send plague after plague after plague to get your attention or to beat you into submission. No, instead, he sends his one and only son into this world to save sinners like you and me. And he's not asking you to do a laundry list of deeds. He's not calling on you to clean yourself up. He's not telling you to do enough good to outweigh all of your bad so that he can call you his own. He's demanding one thing, as we heard this morning believe on the Lord, jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
Speaker 1:And, my friend, if you do not know Christ, your heart is far more alike to Pharaoh's than you're willing or even realize. Apart from Christ, you really have only one sovereign in your life, and it's that man or that woman in the mirror. But you need not endure the wrath of God. You need not feel the full weight of his everlasting judgment poured out on you. By faith in Jesus Christ, you can trust in the one who's fulfilled God's law that you cannot fulfill. He died a sinner's death on a cross, shedding his blood, that by faith you can have everlasting life with him. He was raised from the dead to conquer sin and death forever, so that you need not taste death but dwell in everlasting, perfect communion with the one who made you and takes care of you. My friend, look to Christ and live. You were not promised tomorrow. God will not restrain his wrath forever. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Marvel at his great name, the name above every name, the name at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he indeed is Lord forever and ever.
Speaker 1:Well, there's a third purpose that God reveals about the plagues, and it comes actually at the end of the plague of hail. In verse 29, moses explains to Pharaoh the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. Like the other purpose statements, this verse speaks of God's power. It emphasizes the unlimited authority that he has over all creation. The plagues were supernatural demonstrations of God's power over the world that he created. There seems to be a special reference here back to verse 22, which says that the storms struck everything growing in the fields of Egypt. Interestingly, there he uses the same Hebrew word that we see back in Genesis, chapter one, where God commanded the land to produce vegetation. There's maybe some kind of connection here. God destroys the very thing that he once created, very much like he's doing with Pharaoh. He grew it up, he's knocking it down. The earth is the Lord's and he will do with it as he pleases.
Speaker 1:Well, there's another important point we see in this plague narrative, and that is that only those who fear the Lord will be spared God's judgment. There are uncomfortable truths in the Bible that we don't necessarily, in our flesh, like to highlight, but that doesn't lessen the truth of what the scriptures say. We see this point time and time and time again throughout the Bible and we see it right here in our text. Yes, god is merciful, god gives warnings, god makes known what is true and what one must do to be rescued, what one must do to escape his wrath. And yet there will always be those who will harden their hearts and close their ears. We see something of this as we read what happened.
Speaker 1:I want to read again this portion, beginning in verse 18, as we think about what is going on with the hail in this plague. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now, therefore, send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them. Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. Then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven. The Lord sent thunder and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt and Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven. The Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down on the earth and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail such as had never been in the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen were the people of Israel were. There was no hail.
Speaker 1:I hope you see it. God is warning the people the hail, the thunder, the lightning or the text says, the fire falling from the sky. I actually like that picture even better. But the hail and the thunder and the lightning, they're all about to fall. Go into your field, gather your livestock, get your slaves and seek shelter. It's like turning on the weather channel and having what's that guy's name that everyone's scared of. If he shows up in your town, run away. What's his name? Jim Cantor? Yeah, get out. Right, this is God showing up and saying the storm is coming, seek shelter. This isn't going to go well and at this point you have two choices you can believe the Lord and obey him, or you can doubt him and see what happens.
Speaker 1:This was a test for Pharaoh. He had a chance to limit the damage. I think at this point we can say he's an idiot. He knew by now that whatever God said was going to happen was going to happen, and so you would expect him to take heed to God's word. But Pharaoh was not about to take orders from Moses, so he refused to bring the livestock in from the fields.
Speaker 1:But as abstinent and hard hearted as Pharaoh was, there were those among the Egyptians who had had enough. Six plagues we've seen plenty. We don't need a seventh and we certainly don't want ten. And so they followed God's instructions. They found cover for themselves, for their slaves, for their livestock. They were listening, even when Pharaoh wasn't, and their slaves for their livestock. They were listening even when Pharaoh wasn't, and they took God at his word. The plagues were starting to serve their purpose. Already the Egyptians were starting to believe the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Their conversion process began with the third plague, when they first recognized. Remember, back in chapter eight, the magicians came. What did they say about the fleas? They said this is the finger of God. But then this cycle, this conversion of the Egyptians, it was complete by the time the Israelites left Egypt because the Bible says in chapter 12 of Exodus that many other people went up with them Egyptians. Many Egyptians went with the Israelites. Some people miss that. Who were these people? Well, some of them may have been slaves from other ethnic groups, but at least some of them must have been Egyptians who put their faith in the God of Israel. But at least some of them must have been Egyptians who put their faith in the God of Israel.
Speaker 1:Don't let anyone tell you that in the Old Testament all we have are Israelites who are God's people. He has people even in the Old Testament, even early in the Old Testament, from other tongues, tribes and nations, and this is certainly the case among some of the Egyptians. Even when he was judging Pharaoh for his sins, god had a plan for Egypt's salvation. This plan can be traced throughout scripture. For example, jeremiah prophesied Egypt's return to favor in Jeremiah 46. Ezekiel 29,. Ezekiel told of the nation's return from exile. Isaiah 19,. Isaiah promised a day when God would say blessed be Egypt, my people, and when the Egyptians would acknowledge him as Lord. These promises were fulfilled ultimately on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church and the Egyptians heard the apostles declare the wonders of God in their own language in Acts, chapter 2.
Speaker 1:The salvation of Egyptians started with the Exodus, when God saved some of Egypt with Israel. The practical lesson to learn from their example is that salvation always comes as a response to God's word. Some of Pharaoh's officials, the text says, feared the word of the Lord. Now, that doesn't mean they were I'm sure they were but this doesn't mean entirely that they were afraid of God. But it also means that they feared God's word and that they treated it with the respect that it deserved. They obeyed God's word and when they obeyed the word of God, they were rescued from the worst hailstorm that Egypt had ever seen. Remember, they live in a desert. This wasn't a normal occurrence for them, but this is how salvation always comes by responding to God's word with faith and obedience, by trusting, by obeying. But of course, not every Egyptian listened to the word of the Lord. As God said, the hail came, the thunder came, the lightning came and everything and everyone that was found in the field was struck dead Every plant, every tree, every beast, every man. It's a devastating reality.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes we can just read these things in scripture and we sort of pass by it because it's only one or two sentences or we know the story well, so we don't pause to think about it, but think about it. Think about looking out your window and seeing your neighbor standing in the field. And you know, this great storm, like nothing you've ever seen before, is on its way. And he's standing in his field and the rain starts a little bit and maybe he laughs and says it's just rain. And then the thunder rumbles a little bit in the sky and he says it's just thunder, and then the fire falls from the sky and his cow is struck dead and before he can do anything at all, the hail starts and it gets worse and worse and worse. And then all of a sudden golf balls are falling from the sky, and then baseballs, and then softballs and who knows, even then maybe soccer balls Hail of tremendous size falling, while fire is falling and rain is falling and thunder is breaking through the sky and it's loud, and all around him his crops are being destroyed, his animals are being lame, dead, and then, right on his head, one piece of hail and then another, and then another and he's knocked to the ground and he continues to get pounded until he dies. There has been no storm like this in the history of Egypt in two millennia. It is a sign of the intensity of the judgment of God. It's a sad sight to see from your living room window.
Speaker 1:But what can you do? You listened to the word of the Lord. You did what he commanded. You listened to the word of the Lord. You did what he commanded. You sought shelter, but now for him it was too late. Remember when all of the people laughed at Noah what are you doing, man? What are you preparing for? What a silly thing. But then the rains started and they came and the water level rose and rose, and rose. And when Noah and his family were on the ark, people came. You imagine they're standing on the outside pounding on the door. It was too late. They'd been shut out because they did not believe the word of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Brothers and sisters, when we look to Christ, we do what God commands. We seek shelter in him. But for those who stand on've seen with the other plagues, the Lord is good to his own people, it says. It says only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. Imagine if you were Egyptian living right on the border with Goshen, it'd be like a Florida rainstorm it's dark and stormy in your front yard and sunny in the back. The Israelites were spared, they were preserved, they were protected. When you are a child of God, he takes care of you, he protects you, he loves you, he does good to you. No doubt we recognize we don't deserve it, but we are his children and he does good to us. He is for us. He will shield us from the hail.
Speaker 1:Verse 32 is interesting. Moses notes that some of the crops were not yet out of the ground, so they were not struck down, and so in some ways you see God's provision to continue providing for these people. But this next crop is going to be significant for the next plague. So we'll leave that for now, but remember that for next time. And then, finally, if you look at verses 27 through 35, we see God's sovereignty in Pharaoh's admission of sin and we see it for its untruthfulness. Preach a whole sermon on the nature of true repentance from this passage.
Speaker 1:But here Pharaoh, in verse 27, does something really fairly amazing, based on what we've seen thus far. Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them. This time I have sinned. Notice how he said that this time I have sinned, the Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Well, it's less than a complete confession of sin, because he doesn't admit any wrongdoing prior to this. But Moses wants you to see those words I confess my sin, I have sinned. This time the Lord is the righteous one and I and my people are the wicked ones. Moses is showing us here how the one who claims to be a God and the one who claims to be righteous admits his own wickedness. God is sovereign. God is upright. Pharaoh is not. Pharaoh is turning to Moses and asking him for prayer once again, and so he has to promise to let them go in order to find relief from the plague. And Moses responded I will pray for you in verse 29. I will pray for you, but I will pray for you so that you will know that the earth belongs to the Lord.
Speaker 1:Pharaoh was unable to pray for himself. He needed someone else to intercede for him, because he's like so many people, so many people who, instead of praying to the Lord and pleading with God, want to call a minister when they're in a desperate situation but don't have their own personal relationship with God. Nevertheless, he believed in the power of prayer and he actually it actually served to increase his guilt all the more. Charles Spurgeon explains it like this. He said in certain instances the man's hope in prayer is the result of a condemning faith, is the result of a condemning faith. There is a justifying faith and a condemning faith. What say you? Does faith ever condemn men? Yes, when men have faith enough to know that there is a God who sends judgment upon them, that nothing can remove those judgments, but the hand that sent them and that prayer moves that hand. There are persons who yet never pray themselves, but eagerly cry to friends, entreat the Lord. For me, there is a measure of faith which goes to increase a man's condemnation, since he ought to know that if what he believes is true, then the proper thing is to pray himself. Pharaoh was such a man.
Speaker 1:Perhaps his unwillingness to pray explains why Moses was so skeptical about his confession. Moses saw right through Pharaoh. He's telling him sure, I'll go, I'll do this thing, it will stop. But Pharaoh, I don't believe you. Nor should he have. He knew that Pharaoh's confession was false, because he knew that when a man is truly sorry for his sins, he takes them straight to God. There's no repentance without the fear of the Lord, and we must recognize that, more than anything else, sin is an offense against the holiness of God. A confession that acknowledges sin without fearing God is a false confession that falls short of true repentance. And so Moses prays.
Speaker 1:Pharaoh is revealed once again as a liar. Having promised to release the people, he hardens his heart, he changes his mind and he lies. The God of Israel is really mocking this so-called God of Egypt and is showing his sovereignty even in Pharaoh's admission of his sin. God makes his purposes known for all to see, and only those who fear his word will be spared from judgment. Proverbs 28, 13 reminds us he who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Brothers and sisters, may we keep short accounts with our great God, rest in him, trust him, love him, obey him. He and he alone is worthy, and his name shall be great on all the earth. Amen.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for these great reminders from your word, of your power, of the greatness of your name, of your worth and of all the reasons that you have done what you have done, first and foremost, that you may receive all the glory, but also, lord, to redeem a people. Lord, we're grateful to be among those people, and for any who is not here tonight, I pray, lord, that, unlike Pharaoh and unlike his servants who did not listen, that they would hear your word and they would believe to fall, that they not be crushed under the weight of your judgment, but rather they be swept up and kept forever and ever in the warmth of the bosom of your son. Would you do that, o God? Would you do that here tonight, right now? Send your spirit, save those who do not know Christ, that they may know what it means to love and walk. With a merciful, gracious God. We pray oh Lord, you would do this that you would be glorified in the salvation of another soul, and we pray it all in Jesus name. Amen.
Speaker 1:Receive your benediction, congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. In all your troubles and darkness, remember what you are and have. You have been loved with an everlasting love. You are supported by everlasting arms. You are recipients of everlasting life and heirs of an everlasting kingdom, all sealed and made sure by the blood of an everlasting covenant. Amen.