EXODUS #4 Lifting the veil: the self-revelation of our amazing God. Power of God. [The 10 plagues. Exodus 7:14-11:10]

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1 EXODUS #4 Lifting the veil: the self-revelation of our amazing God. 12 July 2010 EXODUS #4 The Power of God [The 10 plagues. Exodus 7:14-11:10] O my people, hear my teaching; Listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old What we have heard and known, What our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; We will tell the next generation The praiseworthy deeds of the LORD His power, and the wonders he has done. Psalm 78:1-4 What parables? What power? v. 12: the miracles he did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. Last week we looked at God s patience as revealed through Moses resisting God s call, when Moses encountered God at the burning bush. This week we look at God s power as revealed through Moses and Aaron s encounter with Pharaoh as they give him God s command to Let my people go. Let s take up the story in Exodus 4:19-23 Moses is returning to Egypt Moses meets with God who speaks to him about 3 aspects of his future: 1. Moses part: perform alll the wonders I have given you the power to do. 2. God s part: I will harden his (Pharaoh s) heart so that he will not let the people go. 3. The issue at stake: God says, Israel is my firstborn son Let my son go but you refused to let him go. Israel is called Son for the first time. God has selected, chosen, adoptedd Israel God is their Father. Moses role is to obey God, so that God s power will be demonstrated through him. Earlier in Exodus Ch. 4 God had given Moses 3 signs & wonders to show as evidence that God had called and sent him: i. The staff that becomes a snake ii. His hand that becomes leprous and then clean again iii. The Nile river water that becomes blood when poured on the ground. iv.

2 Did it feel pathetically silly to confront the world s superpower with 3 signs & wonders? WONDER: makes people stop in their tracks; it catches their attention SIGN: points to something beyond itself; it is to engage our mind. What did these signs mean? i. The staff that becomes a snake On the crowns of the kings of Egypt there was often a cobra with a raised head: threatening its enemies. SIGN: Egypt s power is under God s power. ii. His hand that becomes leprous and then clean again Egypt was notoriously unhealthy and leprosy was reckoned to be incurable. SIGN: Egypt s health is under God s power. iii. The Nile river water that becomes blood when poured on the ground. The River Nile was at the heart of Egypt s existence, bringing black soil into the red desert. Every year the Nile washed, cleaned, renewed and increased Egypt s soil the reason for its fertility. To destroy the Nile was to destroy Egypt. SIGN: The life giving water of the Nile is under God s power. These signs, as well as the 10 plagues reveal God s power as greater than the power of the many gods of the Egyptians. Just as God gave 10 commandments, the number 10 signifying the fullness of the moral law of God, so God sent 10 plagues as a full demonstration of the power of God. Pharaoh s heart: I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. This is partly God looking into the future and knowing what Pharaoh s reaction will be (he doesn t want to lose all his slave labour); it is also descriptive of God s sovereignty to use Pharaoh s stubborn refusal to let the Israelites go to demonstrate his greater power, for the people of that time and for all subsequent generations (including you, here in CMCC, Chiang Mai, today!) [Ex. 9:16] It also speaks of God s judgment, and in our day of do-it-yourself moral standards; in our age when absolutes are outdated and you are not allowed to say that anyone or anything is wrong, and when the message of judgment is deemed unpalatable the messagee of the 10 plagues shows: o There is the wrath of God against sin; o There is the judgment of God against sinners. [That is why the Christian faith is Good News. On the cross, Jesus suffered and died for our sins; he bore in his own body the judgment of God for sin so that you and I are offered a way of freedom, because the requirements of both the mercy and justice of God were met in the cross.]

3 After the first 5 and the 7 th plague, Pharaoh hardened his heart ; after the 6 th. 8 th, 9 th & 10 th plagues we read that God hardened his heart. E.g. Ex. 7:13 Pharaoh s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said and in Ex. 9:12 but the LORD hardened his heart. Pharaoh made choices whereby he became increasingly set in his ways, and from God s perspective, the point of no return had arrived and he must face the just consequence of the hardness of his heart. As Abraham instinctively knew: The judge of all the earth will always do right [see Genesis 18:25] When Moses first goes to Pharaoh to tell him to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh replies: Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go. [Ex 5:2] PHARAOH HAS THROWN DOWN THE GAUNTLET LET THE CONTEST BEGIN! PHARAOH GOD and all the gods and goddesses of Egypt vs The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob READ Exodus 7:14-24 [the rest of the narrative of the 10 plagues is in 8:1 11:10] See the sheet The ten Plagues and Ten gods and goddesses of Egypt WITH the sheet of the plagues and what happened. Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not and I will not let Israel go. [Ex 5:2] know the LORD God s answer to Pharaoh:- 7:17 that you might know that I am the LORD 8:10 that you may know that there is no-one like the LORD our God (when God will answer Moses prayer concerning the timing of when the plague of frogs will finish) 9:14 that you may know that there is no-one like me in all the earth 8:22 (when the Israelites are unaffected by the plague of flies) that you may know that I the LORD, am in this land. The 10 plagues reveal God s power as greater than the power of the many gods and goddesses of the Egyptians, and of the ultimate power of the great Pharaoh. Our response:- (based on observations and experiences in Thailand, Pakistan and immigrant communities in England). There is the power of the one true God You can put your life into the hands of the all powerful God and there are other spiritual powers.

4 and you can follow these other powers. The problem with this is that you never know which power is the strongest and so people seek (and often pay for) protection from other powers, in the form of talismans to put in the home or wear, special prayers, curses, seeking their fortunes, making merit, doing certain exercises. PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC:FEAR When you put your life in the alll powerful hands of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, that is a safe place. Ps 91:1 He who dwells in the shadow of the Most High, Will rest in the shadow of the Almighty Ps 34:6 This poor man called and the LORD heard him, and saved him from all his fears. As Christians we are to live in this safe place, and rest in the power of God. As the body of Christ, we are to be this safe place We should look with compassion on those who do not know this fear-free place of safety and hold out arms of help we are to Embrace our world with the power of God. B ham door to door fear of evil spirits. Anything to offer?? Yes and it s free, and it s sincere. Psalm 135:5 & 9 I know that the LORD is great, that our LORD is greater than all gods He sent his signs and wonders into your midst O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. But let s make another application that s closer to home for each of us What are the powers of gods and goddesses in our lives? Imagine your life as the land of Egypt with these different areas under the power of different gods Are there areas of your life not yet yielded to the sovereign power of God? o Is there a power that dominates part of your life? o Is there a power that causes you to think or act in a certain way? A power that shows itself in an addiction / health issues / relationship needs / unbreakable habit / lack of control / constant problems in a part of your thought life Maybe you reason with yourself that it s

5 Because of your upbringing or your background Because of a lack or deficiency in your developing years Because of a mistake that you made Because of a trauma crisis or bad experience Because of your DNA, or something you can t explain Are there powers at work in your life that are not subject to the greater power of the One true God? If so, are you willing to work with the power of God s Holy Spirit, to defeat oppressing powers in your life? That, too, is a function of the fellowship of the church. Psalm 68:34 & 35 Proclaim the power of God, Whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Finally, the God of Power will fulfill his purposes for this world that he created. God who demonstrated his power to Pharaoh and the Egyptians over all the lesser gods and goddesses of Egypt, is the God who will demonstrate his power for the world he has created. God equipped Moses to be the deliver His people from slavery in Egypt God sent Jesus as the Saviour of the world to rescue mankind from sin & from fear This God of redemption has said that there is a day coming when the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and he will bring it to pass! Just as he called Moses, he calls us to partner with him and to work in his power for this glorious hope; Just as Moses delivered his people from bondage, so God, by His power, wants us to be free; Just as Moses was obedient to God s purpose for him and demonstrated God s power to Pharaoh, so God will demonstrate His power in and through us as we do His work in His way. Psalm 105:1-4 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; Make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; Tell of his wonderful acts. Glory in his Holy name; Let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice, Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. AMEN.