A Prelude to Plagues

A PRELUDE TO PLAGUES

Exodus 6:28-7:13

A Template for Plagues

Today we begin the part of Exodus that is the plague section –

-The plagues take front and center in the narrative in chapters 7-11.

-We are beginning the “plague part” –

But the message from the text we look at this morning is more nuanced than simply “The

plagues are here!”

-The verses we will read are like a template for the plague section or part.

-Because in the plague part we see these recurring themes –

-Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh

-Pharaoh resisting and hardening his heart

-God doing signs and wonders

-A gained knowledge of God

Read Exodus 6:28-7:13

Pray

Moses and Aaron Confront

-A word about Aaron –

-Aaron is Moses’ older brother who God calls along side of Moses to be his

spokesperson – Or to put it more textually, his “prophet” (7:1)

-Aaron is the main subject of the genealogy in 6:13-25

-Moses writes that genealogy just before the all the confrontations to show

that Aaron was a significant part of the ministry and that it serves for later

when the tribe of Levi become the priests.

-So, even though God, sticking with the pattern in Genesis, skips over the oldest

and makes the younger son the more dominate one, Aaron is still a major player in

the narrative.

-We need to talk about Moses – Because the thing that keeps jumping out at me is the

number of times Moses tries to convince God that He’s got the wrong guy!

-When God appeared to him in the bush Moses said –

-Pharaoh won’t believe me!

-The Children of Israel won’t believe me!

-I can’t do anything – I have no skills!

-I can’t talk!

-He’s at it again, 6:30 – “But Moses said to the LORD, ‘Behold, I am of

uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?’”

-Something I find very interesting and instructive about Moses –

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-He records for us his own doubts and insecurities –

-Hypothetically speaking, he didn’t have to tell us about his doubts and

insecurities – he could have left that between him and God.

-I say “hypothetically because it was God’s will that it be part of His

Word.

-So, what’s his point in writing about it?

-So that everyone who would hear or read the story in the future

would know that he was weak, but that God was strong!

-Moses would tell you that the story of Exodus was about God not Moses!

-Ill. Of writing a book about the leadership skills of Moses…

-This is taught in the NT –

-2 Cor. 4:5, 7 – “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as

Lord with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake…But we have this

treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God

and not to us.”

-All of Moses’ objections have been met with God saying, “I will…” or something similar.

-7:1 – “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and

your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.’”

-Human inability meets God sufficiency

-Human weakness meets God strength

Pharaoh Rejects and Hardens

-7:3 – “But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.”

-Clarification from something I said in few weeks ago –

-In the end everyone gets what they want.

-By that I don’t mean that Pharaoh wanted flies, flogs, locust, darkness and

death.

-What he wanted was life without God –

-He wanted a life that God didn’t rule over or even involved in.

-In the end that’s what Pharaoh, and every unbeliever, will get.

-On the other hand, a believer wants life with God –

-They want the rule of God, the involvement of God.

-They love God and want to spend eternity with Him – and in the end that is

what they will get!

-The difference is what you do with Christ –

-Faith that receive Him or unbelief that rejects Him.

-When God hardened Pharaoh’s heart He had a lot to work with –

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-It’s not that God took a sincere and seeking heart and turned it to reject God and

His ways –

-His heart was already set against God and God just made it even more so.

-God didn’t create his hard heart, He just confirmed it.

-Let’s be warned again by Pharaoh’s hard heart –

-The NT principle that Pharaoh illustrates is 1 John 5:16-17

-This is intentionally vague because it could be any sin that we refuse to

repent of – until the heart is hard beyond return.

-Hebrews 3:7 and 15 – “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as

in the rebellion.”

God Performs Signs and Wonders

-7:3b-5 (read)

-The works that God will do that are recorded in the coming 6 chapters, are described

here as –

-v. 3 – “signs and wonders” and v. 4 – “acts of judgment”

-The “acts of judgment” (plagues) are signs and wonders.

-We could see it as ten plagues sandwiched by two signs –

-The first sign is the snake swallowing incident and the last is the parting of

the Red Sea.

-In between are the 10 plagues.

Plague

#

Plague

description

Egyptian god attacked Warning

before

Time of day Instructions to

Moses and

Aaron

1 River Nile

to blood

River Nile was worshipped

as a deity – source of life

Yes Morning Confront

Pharaoh

2 Frogs Heqt – goddess with frog

head; Khnum god of fertility

and resurrection and

married to Heqt

Yes ? Go to Pharaoh

3 Gnats Priestly ceremonial washing

and white clothes covered

with black gnats

No ? None

4 Flies Uswashit – fly god Yes Morning Confront

Pharaoh

5 Livestock Apis – bull god; Hathor –

goddess in form of cow;

Yes ? Go to Pharaoh

4

Mnevis – god appears as a

bull

6 Boils Sekhmet – god who

prevented diseases; Sunu –

god who prevented

diseases; Serapis – god of

healing; Imhotep – god of

healing

No ? None

7 Hail Nut – sky goddess; Seth and

Isis – god and goddess of

crops

Yes Morning Confront

Pharaoh

8 Locusts Seth and Isis – god and

goddess of crops

Yes To go Pharaoh

9 Darkness Amun-Ra – sun god; Atum

god of setting sun

No None

10 Death of

firstborn

Pharaoh

-Observations from the 10 Plagues –

-One – God demonstrates His sovereignty over Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt

-Two – The plagues go from bad to worse –

-The first three strike against human comfort

-The second three strike against the necessities of life

-The third three are death and destruction

-Three – Organized with patterns

-Four – The represent Creation in reverse –

-Creation = Chaos to Order

-Plagues = Order to Chaos

-Five – Distinguish between God’s dealing with the “righteous” and “unrighteous”

-All the plagues had devastating effect on Egypt while it is implied or

explicitly stated that Israel was kept out of the plagues.

-What is the purpose of the plagues?

-One – To judge the wicked

-Two – To save the righteous

-Three – To teach

-v. 5 – “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD…”

-Take this in contrast to Pharaoh in 5:2 – “Who is the LORD that I should

obey Him? I don’t know the LORD…”

-The plagues are one big teach!

5

Gained Knowledge of God

-What do these “signs and wonders” teach?

-That God is sovereign over the nations –

-i.e. – Aaron’s staff snake swallowing the Egyptian sorcerer’s snakes

-That God will bring His just judgment on the unrighteous

-That God will save His people

-That there is no God besides the LORD God

-That He creates and destroys; He has the power of life and death

-The purpose is clear – to teach –

-The question is “Are you listening?”!!!

For You