February 12, 2006
Cawson St.
Church of Christ
Hopewell,
Virginia
Mural Worthey
Great Texts from Exodus--#2
Introduction: “Lesson
from the Plagues of Egypt”
(Exodus 7-12)
Moses’ call from God to lead
his people out of Egyptian bondage came at the burning thorn bush near Mount Horeb. Even though the angel of Jehovah appeared to
Moses, he was reluctant to go to Pharaoh and confront him because he was
afraid. Moses had earlier killed an
Egyptian taskmaster for mistreating a fellow Hebrew. Moses had been raised in the palace of Pharaoh by his daughter. He was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt and was
mighty in words and deeds. (Acts 7:22.)
He knew the power and ruthlessness of the Pharaoh.
God gave to Moses three signs
of His presence and power. They were: 1)
his shepherd’s staff turned to a serpent, 2) made his hand leprous and then
whole again, and 3) when Moses poured out water on the land it became blood. God promised to be with him and gave him
these signs as evidence of His power and presence.
God knew that Pharaoh would
not easily let His people go. He told
Moses in advance that he would not. But
God warned the Pharaoh of plagues that he would send against him.
The Ten Plagues
1.
Turned the rivers
and ponds of water to blood
2.
Frogs from the Nile River
swarmed their houses
3.
Dust was turned
into lice (or gnats)
4.
Swarms of flies
5.
Cattle became
diseased with murrain
6.
Ashes from the
furnaces became boils
7.
Hail and fire ran
along the ground
8.
Barley and flax
smitten
9.
Swarms of locusts
ate all the green leaves and plants
10. The firstborn
of man and cattle died
These ten devastating plagues
were sent from God against Egypt
because the Pharaoh had mistreated His people, the children of Israel. Remember at first, the Pharaoh highly
regarded Joseph and his kinsmen, but another Pharaoh arose who knew not
Joseph. They made life miserable for the
Hebrews among them, increasing their burdens.
The Egyptians had oppressed the Hebrews for at least 80 years. They had been in Egypt for 430 years. In order to weaken the Hebrews, the Pharaoh
ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the male children at birth. This is subtle infanticide (made to look like
a stillborn rather than killing children).
When the midwives did not comply, he ordered the Egyptians to kill the
male children when they saw them (open infanticide). We need to remember all of this when we read
the plagues against Egypt. There was ample reason or justification for the
plagues.
What are some lessons from
the plagues against Egypt? What do they mean? The Psalms help us understand some of the
lessons. (See Psalm 78:42-54; Psalm
105:26-38; Acts 7:30-38.) The Psalms
generally recount the story of the deliverance from Pharaoh in order to speak
of the glory of God’s power, the forgetfulness of Israel
after witnessing such power, and a reminder that Egypt
was the land of Ham.
(Note the references to Ham in Psalm 78:51, Psalm 105:23-27, Psalm
106:22; from the curse in Genesis 9:24-27.)
Egypt was the land of Ham judged by God and the Canaanites
served the descendants of Shem, the Jews.
#1: The Difficulty in Becoming Free
These ancient events in Egypt are clear
types and shadows of our redemption from sin.
The Hebrews were said to be baptized in the cloud and in the sea when
they left their bondage. (1 Cor. 10:1-4.) They journeyed as strangers and pilgrims
toward the Promise
Land, but many died on
the way. I want to focus on the
difficulty of being freed from the bondage in Egypt, and likewise the bondage of
sin.
Clearly, the reason for the
plagues was due to the power Pharaoh exercised over the children of Israel. His military might was great. They could not have overthrown the power of
the Pharaoh by an uprising. The number
of horses and chariots in that day demonstrated their military power. Egypt reigned as a world power. Without the power of God against Pharaoh, they
would have remained in bondage. The
point is that they could not have freed themselves. In like manner, neither can we free ourselves
from the bondage and power of sin without divine power. It required the life, death, burial and
resurrection of our Lord to free us. (John 8:36.) He demonstrated his power over
Satan and the demonic world during his ministry. He came to set the captives free. (Isaiah 61:1.)
The severity and power of these
plagues against Pharaoh represent the kind of power needed to overthrow Satan
and leave the bondage of sin. No one
should think that they can do it alone.
Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches. . .Without me you
can do nothing.” (John 15:5.) Jesus had to defeat Satan before we could
leave our bondage to sin behind.
#2: The God of Heaven Defeated the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12, Num. 33:4.)
Many writers have pointed out
how each of the plagues against Egypt
was directed at the various gods worshipped in Egypt. Pharaoh himself was regarded as a god. This was one of the reasons why Moses feared
confronting him. Pharaoh demanded the
court magicians to do the same tricks that Moses and Aaron accomplished. But in each case, their powers were conquered
by the power of God. The magicians even
exclaimed that the things done by Moses were done by the finger of God. (Exodus 8:19.)
The Nile River
was even highly regarded religiously among the Egyptians. It was from the Nile
that they were able to live and prosper.
Idolatry had a powerful hold over the lives of people; it was not easily
broken. In ancient days, idolatry was
the chief religious problem. Instead of
acknowledging the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they worshipped many
gods of their own devising.
Paul wrote to Timothy about the
tactics of those who oppose the truth of God.
He wrote, “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also
oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.” (2 Tim. 3:8.)
Here we learn the names of two of Pharaoh’s court magicians who resisted
the truth. Barnes wrote, “Nothing is
more probable than that the names of the more distinguished magicians who
attempted to imitate the miracles of Moses would be reserved by tradition, even
though they were not mentioned by Moses himself.” (Albert Barnes, Barnes on the New
Testament, Thess.-Philemon, 234.) The
lesson here is that they resisted the truth about God by trying to duplicate
the works of God. Many imitate God,
claiming to be a god and claiming to do what God can do. “This is often the most dangerous kind of
opposition that is made to religion,” wrote Barnes.
We could compare Jannes and
Jambres to Simon the sorcerer in Samaria. (Acts 8:8-9.)
He put himself before others as some great person with special powers. The people even said, “This man is the great
power of God.” (Verse 10.) But Simon knew that he was bewitching the
people and he believed the truth of Philip’s message and miracles.
#3: The Land
of Goshen Was Protected
from the Plagues
Several times in the story of
the ten plagues, the writer points out that Goshen was exempted from the harm done by the
plagues. This fertile area in Egypt was protected from the frogs, gnats, and
flies that could have easily have leaped or flown into Goshen, but God kept them away. (8:22, 9:4, 9:26, 12:13.)
God always makes a clear
distinction between his people and those who oppose Him. Jesus told the disciples about the
destruction of Jerusalem;
the very place where the Church was first established and was the
strongest. By 70 AD there were many
Christians in the city that the Romans were going to destroy. Jesus told them to pray that the siege would
not begin on the Sabbath Day when the gates would be shut or in the winter time
when travel would be more difficult. How
would the Christians escape? Titus the
Roman general who conquered Palestine gave the
citizens an opportunity to get out of Jerusalem
before the siege began. His army backed
up and allowed anyone inside to leave.
Eusebius, the third century historian, wrote that not one Christian lost
his life.
God spared Noah and his
family even in the midst of a Flood that destroyed the world around them. (Genesis 6-9, 2 Peter 2:5.) He likewise allowed a way for Lot to escape Sodom. He fled with his family to Zoar. (Gen. 19:30.) His righteous soul was vexed daily by their
sins. (2 Peter 2:7-8.)
Peter described how God
protects His people awaiting their inheritance in heaven. He wrote, “Who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:4-5) The imagery is that of soldiers being cast
down on every side around the believer protecting him until his inheritance in
heaven is received.
#4: The Passover Instituted (Exodus 12.)
Another example of God
protecting the Hebrews in the land
of Goshen was during the
last plague. The tenth plague was the
death of the firstborn of man and beasts in Egypt. But once again the Hebrews were spared. The fathers were commanded to kill a lamb and
put its blood on the door posts and tops.
When the death angel passed over at midnight, the firstborn sons of the
Hebrews were spared.
The New Testament says that
Jesus is our Passover. (1 Cor. 5:7.) This
is a great lesson from the plagues against the Egyptians. God will send another death angel over the
homes of people around the world and in every age. Those who have disregarded his Word will
suffer an eternal death. Those who are
spared will be those who have the blood of the Lamb of God on their doorposts. We are loosed from our sins in his
blood. (Rev. 1:5.)
How do we know that we are
protected by his blood? This is an
important truth to learn and apply. This
involves spiritual understanding. Do you
know how to place the blood of Jesus on your doorposts? Think about how it is applied to us
spiritually: by faith in his blood (Rom. 3:25), by being in the church bought
with his blood (Acts 20:28), by being baptized into Christ (Rom. 6:3-4), by partaking of the
communion of his body and blood (1 Cor. 10:16), by following the Covenant
sealed by his blood (Heb. 13:20).