The Plagues On Egypt

In Exodus 7-10 Moses goes to Pharaoh and asks for God's people to be released. He refuses, making mention that he does not know this God that Moses is talking about. So, in the next few chapters, God, through His infinite power, introduces Himself to Pharaoh. Plagues 1-9 take place and decimate the land and Pharaoh receives his introduction. 

Transcript

 Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. I wanna thank everyone for joining us again this week. We began a new series last week studying through a portion of the life of Moses, including his initial encounter with God in Exodus chapters three and four. And today we're gonna continue that discussion beginning in ex Exodus chapter seven, and we're gonna talk through.

The first nine plagues today, and then we'll conclude our study next week with a conversation around the Passover. And so with that, let's get right to it. Well, John, the story of the plagues is a story that a lot of people are familiar with in, in a lot of ways. I mean, children even learn about them, you know, very, very young.

It is a visual story. It's certainly one that's well known and, and really right on the heels of where we were in chapters three and four when God kind of calls on Moses and he, and he tells him, listen, I've heard the cry of my people in Egypt. I, I'm going to deliver them from there. I want you to go tell Pharaoh to let, to let God's people go and, and they have the back and forth that we talked about last week, and then ultimately that's exactly where Moses goes.

You made mention that the first nine plagues will kind of spend some time talking about, is found in chapter seven through 10, but I really wanna start the very beginning of what that story is and what the plagues themselves kind of represent. And that's really in chapter. Five. And so in chapter four you know, this conversation with Moses ends and, and he has agreed and him and Aaron and they go, and in, in Exodus chapter five, in verse one, it says that Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.

Thus says the Lord God of Israel. Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And then it is Pharaoh's answer to that in chapter five and verse two that really set up the plagues in, in every way. Pharaoh says in verse two, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. And it really is that response that sets up. Plague one through 10. Yeah. It is an introduction in a lot of ways that Jehovah makes to Pharaoh. If he says, listen, you don't know who I am, I'm gonna introduce myself to you. And in a lot of ways, that really becomes a.

Hard lesson learned for Pharaoh and the entirety of the empire of Egypt. Yeah. God is going to demonstrate his power in remarkable ways and, and really I think as you look through, you know, especially these first nine plagues. The specifics of them, the, the, the water becoming blood and the lice and the flies and the frogs and everything like that.

The specifics of them are what give it such a visual appeal for, for certain. However, I think the specifics are less important than what you just described, which is why all of these things are happening. God is demonstrating his power and making sure that. Everyone knows who he is and everyone understands the difference between the God of the universe and the God's, plural, lowercase Gs of the Egyptians.

He is going to prove that he can do things far beyond their capabilities and that he has control over the physical realm. He has control over absolutely everything. And, and, and I think what we end up seeing, what we see it at the beginning of chapter seven, and it becomes really a talking point, not just in this story, but even in broader contexts.

We're told that here, God says in, in verse three of chapter seven, that I'm gonna harden Pharaoh's heart. And, and that becomes a, an a topic of conversation, certainly around this story. But I think what we're really beginning to see is that God's power and the acknowledgement of who he is, is divisive and, and he is going to ask Pharaoh and he's gonna ask every person that's ever walked the face of this earth, are you going to believe in me or not?

You have to choose. You have to make a choice, and I'm going to demonstrate to you who I am and I'm gonna give you every reason to believe who I am. But you have to make that choice. God is divisive in that way, and Pharaoh was unwilling to acknowledge who God was. And so in that sense. God hardened his heart.

He was, he was not going to listen. He was not going to believe, he was not going to submit to the Almighty God regardless of what happened. And so what transpires then is just this havoc that is wreaked upon the people of Egypt over the next several days. Yeah, I mean it, it is a complete introduction that God makes.

To Pharaoh, you made mention, and this is the way that, you know, world Empires would've been certainly at this time, where they would have many, many, many different gods. And they would be over, you know, specific, you know, things, the, the water, the Nile, the, the sun the, the crops. You know, they would have these gods over various things.

And what Jehovah does here is he, he showcases his power over everything. He has power over the Nile. He has power over the water When he turns that water to. Blood. He has power over animals and and what they do, the frogs, the lice, the flies, the locusts. He has power over them. He has power over disease and on bees and on man disease upon the livestock boils upon man.

And he has power over the weather. Yep. The hail that comes, the sun that. Turns off. Mm-hmm. You know, completely in a specific area. And so he's going to showcase his complete power ultimately. I know we're focusing just on the first nine plagues, but he'll even showcase his power over death itself. Yeah.

Life and death. And, and so he is, he is now providing a complete introduction and it is that I have full power. Mm-hmm. I have all the power and, and what is interesting. Is in a lot of ways it, it also shows God's. Long suffering. Mm-hmm. His patience. I mean, he, there's 10 plagues. There's, you know, not one.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's 10 and, and there's, there's options. And you see at different times, Pharaoh allowing the people to go into the wilderness, but then, you know, calling them back and, and, you know, you see some wavering in the midst of that. But ultimately, you know, he, he stays with a heart and heart.

But you know, throughout all of that. God is providing opportunity. Mm-hmm. He's providing opportunity and what cannot be missed. It's hard to, to really get a pick of the timeframe that, you know, each and every one of these, you know, are, are taking. Certainly there's not years. No. You know, in between that it is one pretty much after the other and by the time you get.

To the ninth plague darkness, Egypt is absolutely decimated. Yeah. They are decimated physically themselves. Their animals have died, their crops have been destroyed. Their buildings have been, I mean, it is absolute destruction upon the entirety of that nation. And that was before. Yeah. The 10th plague, which we'll talk more about next week.

Yeah. And one of the things that really stood out to me, you know, reading through this just over the past couple days, is we see it beginning in the fourth plague and you, and then you see it subsequently with each one. I'm not sure why it's mentioned for the first time in the fourth plague, but I do find it interesting how we're specifically told that God spared.

The Israelites from these plagues. For instance, in again, in, in chapter eight, beginning with the, the plague around the flies, it says in verse 22, I will set apart the land of Goshen in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.

There is this chaos, this destruction that you just referenced that is just running rampant throughout the land of Israel, and yet in all of this, God is also showing his providential care for these people. Every, not only does he have the power over all of these different aspects of the physical realm, he also has the power to spare a certain group from the destruction that is being felt all around them, which is just such a wonderful thing to think about as a Christian today.

Because we live in a world that is full of chaos and destruction, and we live in a world that is full of sin and death and sadness and grief, and as Christians, we get to live in this. Pocket of peace and comfort and joy. Not that we aren't completely surrounded by all the destruction, and not that we aren't impacted by it, but, but God has given us the opportunity to live in his care and in his comfort and in his peace, saved by him and given hope.

And you get to see a snapshot of what that looks like throughout these plagues. He protects his people while all of this is going on around them. Yeah. I mean, there's so much to learn, especially about God and about Pharaoh. You see God and you see his patience. You see his providence. You see his love and compassion for his people, his ability to.

To protect them. You see his judgment and justice that's played out and you see his power. You see all of these incredible things. And then on the flip side, there is also things to learn from Pharaoh. Yeah. We've made mention already about, you know, his heart and heart. I mean, there's an incredible stubbornness, you know, that comes, you know, on far that I think sometimes there's a temptation that, that we fall into that we, we put ourselves up against a wall sometimes when we really feel right about something.

Are we for sure about something and we just simply can't be swayed off of that. Yeah, and that's exactly where Pharaoh is and, and when we do that. We act foolishly. Yep. And, and we see that when people are wrapped up in sin we see that, you know, when they're confronted with a lie and they deal with that with another lie.

I mean, it is. Mm-hmm. It, it is people just acting foolish when we're battling our stubbornness and we see that. The greatest example of that is, you know, with the second plague and the frogs, you know, the frogs come out and you know, sometimes we're like, well, the frogs, that's not that that big of a deal or flies.

They're a little bit of a nuisance. Well, we lose sight of how big of a deal. You know, this would be. In chapter eight of verse three, it says that the river will bring forth frogs abundantly. And you, when you go into your house, they'll be into your bed chamber. They'll be on your bed. They'll be in the houses of your servants.

They'll be on your people, they'll be in your ovens. They'll be in your kneading bowls. And the point is they will be everywhere. Mm-hmm. And it's just now the second plague. And Moses goes to Pharaoh and he says, Hey, listen. Well, if the people can go and worship to God, we'll, we'll let these, we'll get rid of these frogs.

And he says, let's do that. And then Moses says, when do you want these frogs to be gone? And in verse 10 it says, let it be done tomorrow. And I, you know, I look at a text like that and I'm like, there is no rationality. Yeah. And the, with the foolishness of stubbornness, he is going against everything that makes sense.

And, and God is giving him every opportunity. To turn his heart, but he just refuses to do so. Yeah. And you're right. When someone has reached the point of, of that stubbornness, of that hardened heart, logic has left the building. Yeah. And, and that's what we see with, with far. Yeah. Gimme one more night. You know, if you don't mind, I'd like to spend one more night with these frogs crawling all around.

Mm-hmm. And then you can take care of it tomorrow. It's almost as if he, he just simply cannot allow Moses to see the suffering that this is causing. Right? He just cannot allow weakness to enter the picture, and, and so his stubbornness is bringing about suffering on everyone's part. But you're right. I mean, that, that's something that all of us have to battle.

We can get so wrapped up in, you know, whatever it might be, politics or you know, family relationships or friend, friend, friend relationships or whatever. We become so stubborn around some of these things that even when faced with the truth about them, we just simply will not give up our position. And that's what we see Pharaoh doing and it just brings about destruction.

As a result of that, and that's why so much of what the Bible teaches about what God wants from his people is to be humble and to have that sincerity of heart that says, listen, I, I need to repent of my sins. I'm wrong. I need God. I need to humble myself before him. If Pharaoh had done that, this whole story would've changed drastically, but his stubbornness and his heartened, a heart just simply would not allow it.

Ultimately, Egypt is destroyed here, but the destruction is at the fault of God. It is the fault of Pharaoh. And you know, you kind of close, you know, with that idea, I, if we allow sin to take over our life, ultimately. We we're gonna pay for that. Mm-hmm. With eternal destruction. And if that is the case, that's not gonna be on God, that's gonna be on us.

Yeah. And, and that ultimately has to be the lesson that's made. So let's close with the passage, the very outset of this, and Exodus chapter seven. We made mention in chapter five when Pharaoh was confronted with letting the people go. He has the who, who is Jehovah? Who is this Lord? And these plagues are gonna introduce God to him.

And so in Exodus chapter seven in verse 17, at the very first plague, God begins this way, thus says the Lord. By this, you shall know that I am the Lord. I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening and rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus as widely and effectively as possible.

Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk to you again next week.