Exodus 6:28-10:29

Exodus 6:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

GOD REVEALS HIS PLAN TO MOSES (Exodus 6:28-7:13)

Moses remained doubtful of his abilities

Exodus 6:30
Moses said to the LORD, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

Moses was still stumbling over his ineloquent way of speech, still thinking his success depended on his own natural abilities – When in fact, his success was purely dependent on God alone!

In response to Moses’ question, God thus reminded him that He alone is in charge. God told Moses that He had made Moses as God to Pharaoh and has made Aaron Moses’ prophet.

Until we truly realize that our success does not rest in our hands but in our complete trust in God’s hands, we will keep on struggling – and be a major stumbling block in God’s plan for us!

When we are self-centered, we only think of the things we can accomplish based on our own abilities. When we are God-centered, we realize that we are just a vessel for God’s power – God works through us. If we allow God to use us, we can accomplish anything – not because we are amazing but because God is all-powerful!

Eventually, Moses learned that God spoke and acted through him. Instead of doubting his abilities, he recognized he just had to surrender himself to God and allow God to work through him.

God hardens Pharaoh’s heart 

Part of the plan to rescue His people, the Lord will harden Pharaoh’s heart, allowing Pharaoh to be over-taken by his hatred for the Jews, to become stubbornly against Moses. However, through signs and wonders, God will show the Egyptians that He is all-powerful and that He is God.

At first, when Moses and Aaron performed the miracles through God to show that they are messengers of the almighty God, instead of humbling himself, he instead had his sorcerers perform the same miracles (Exodus 7:11), to show that he, too, had access to the same powers.

It is important to know that Satan has power. This is why miracles alone do not point only to God. This is why we cannot just pursue or request miracles alone as proof of God’s presence. This is why the Bible says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). People can channel demonic power to do miracles, as shown here by pharaoh's sorcerers. The whole Egypt, because of idol worship, had fallen into darkness and demonic worship. It got to a point so bad that they didn't even recognize God's power!

To differentiate between the miracles of God and demonic powers, look for the message behind it: if the message take away from the true living God, then the source of the power is not of God.

To show that the forces behind Pharaoh’s sorcerers were inferior, Aaron’s “serpent” ate all other serpents conjured by the sorcerers (Exodus 7:12). The true living God is greater than all other gods of Egypt.

Despite all this, Pharaoh’s heart continued to harden. Usually, when we are shown wrong multiple times, like what has happened to Pharaoh, our natural response would be to admit sin and repent. Here, we see that is not Pharaoh’s heart. He chose to harden his heart, and as previously mentioned, God will ultimately give him over to his pride.

GOD SENDS FORTH NINE PLAGUES TO EGYPT (Exodus 7:14-10:29)

Plague 1: Waters become blood

Just as the Egyptians threw Jewish newborn sons into the river, bloodying the river, so now, they get a taste of their own medicine. This plague was against the god of Nile, who the Egyptians worship for fertility and prosperity.

Plague 2: Frogs overwhelm the land

This plague was against the goddess of fertility (who had a frog head with a female body). The Egyptians couldn’t the frogs because they represented a god!

Today, we see many people being given over to sin as well: When we choose to worship an idol with no restraint, God gives us over to it, giving us so much of it that it makes us sick; for example, our addiction to drugs, to sexual immorality, to money, to power, etc.

Why would we ever want to worship a god where more of it leads to disgust? Worshipping the true God is the more, the awesomer!

Plague 3: Lice overwhelm the land

This plague was against the god of desert: Turning dust into lice.

Pharaoh’s magicians were able to reproduce the miracles of God the first 2 times but not the third. At that moment, the magicians knew that God was the force behind Moses and told Pharaoh that Moses was truly under the guidance of God. However, Pharaoh’s heart only grew harder amid all of theses events. At most, Pharaoh would lie to commit to letting Moses’ people go but only to gain reprieve from the catastrophes of the plagues yet never to follow through with his empty promise of commitment.

  

Plague 4: Flies overwhelm only the Egyptians

This was against at least two gods that the Egyptians worshiped that took the form of flies. Unlike previous plagues, the plague of flies only infested the Egyptians, not the Israelites.

As with previous plagues, God was showing the Egyptians, “If you want to worship these things, I'll let you have them up to your fill and see how you still like it.”

Bottom line: God was systematically showing the Egyptians that their gods simply could not stand up to Him. He controlled them, not the other way around.

At this point, Pharaoh finally relented and gave Moses the permission to offer sacrifice to God – but, within the land of Egypt. He wanted to compromise on God’s command, sending His people out to the land of Egypt instead of into the wilderness like God had demanded. He would soon learn that God does not tolerate compromises.

When Moses responded that they needed to go out into the wilderness, Pharaoh, once again, tried to strike another compromise, that they can go into the wilderness but not too far away from Egypt. Moses accepted this compromise and advised Pharaoh to not lie to God anymore. However, as we have seen from previous examples, once God removed the plague, Pharaoh only hardened his heart, never to let the children of Israel go.

Exodus 10:24

“Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back.”

Again, Pharaoh tried to force Moses to compromise: Go but don't take your livelihood there.

This is how Satan wears us down. He keeps coming at us with compromises. Satan is the master of deception, because he is that darn good at masking his lies and seductions. He’ll tell us, “Yeah, go and serve God, but keep coming back to me for fun.”

Instead of abiding completely in His will, we often still want to head our way, and so we bargain with God. We will say something like, “Just let me do this, and I promise I will come to church more often or donate more money.” And just like Pharaoh, when God delivers us from a situation, we immediately forget the promises we’ve made, and we just keep moving on, living in our sin.

This is how Satan ties us to this world. When we start compromising God’s values, everything turns to gray. Where do we draw the line when everything is blurry?

Plague 5: Pestilence overwhelms only the livestock of the Egyptians

The Lord waited for one day before He brought the plague on all the livestock in the fields of the Egyptians. This exemplifies God’s grace, allowing those who heard the message the time to repent.

Our God is a God of Grace. He doesn’t want to judge; He wants us to humble ourselves and relinquish our pride. Why should we humble ourselves and bow down? Let us face it: We are not gods. We did not create this universe out of nothing. After thousands of years of research, we have but merely scratched the surface of how this world works. God, on the other hand, made this universe, made this world, made us. Who is greater? God or us?  Why kid ourselves? God is greater than us. Face the facts and behave accordingly.

God is so full of grace, he has given us a way to return to Him WITHOUT being judged for our sins. As long as we accept Him and the blood of Christ, God alone will take the burden of our sins. This is how much God does NOT want to judge us!

Unfortunately, there are many people whose hearts are hardened like that of Pharaoh’s. Despite God’s grace, their hearts only continue to harden more.

Plague 6: Boils break out in sores on only man and beast of the Egyptians

This plague was the first to affect the physical condition of man. Some people use this as an example where illnesses are the result of sin.

Illnesses can sometimes be the result of having sin. For example, Mark 2:1-12 – When Jesus healed the paralytic, He said, your sins are forgiven, suggesting that the reason why he was crippled was because of the sins in his life. Once his sins were forgiven, he was able to walk again.

However, sometimes, illnesses are just illnesses. Our spirit currently resides in a corrupted body that cannot withstand the forces of this corrupted world – and decaying is part of the natural process, as the result of sin (Genesis 3), for example, John 9:1-3.

John 9:1-3

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

What’s the takeaway? Focus on GOD, not on the effects. There are numerous reasons why we are stuck in a horrible place – be it dying of a chronic illness or withering away spiritually. This world is not God vs. us. There are demonic forces out there, wrecking spiritual warfare against God and His kingdom. And there are angelic forces out there, protecting us from such demonic attacks. My point is, when things go in a direction against our will, it’s not just a simple matter of “Oh, we sinned, so we are punished.” It can be a natural evolution of our corrupted bodies. It can be demonic forces wanting to pull us away from God. It can even be ourselves, consciously or unconsciously being the biggest hurdle in our own lives. The best thing to do in situations like this, when we are confused about why some things are happening to us, clear our mind, calm our hearts, and just humbly approach God. Ask. Bear our souls to Him. His is our loving Father. He listens. He answers. He protects.

Plague 7: Hail and fire come down on every man and animal that is out in the field, only in the land of Egypt

Exodus 9:20-21

He who feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. But he who did not regard the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.

Finally, after the 7th plague, Pharaoh admitted sin.

Exodus 9:27

“I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.”

While on the right track for at least admitting sin, Pharaoh was not sorry that he sinned. He was sorry for the consequences of his sin. Aka, Pharaoh was only sorry because he got caught. The minute the pressure was off, the Pharaoh went right back to his old ways. Once Pharaoh received reprieve from the plagues, his heart was immediately hardened and refused once again to let Moses’ people go.

Exodus 9:30

“As for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.”

Plague 8: Locusts eat up only the land of Egypt

Plague 9: Darkness takes over only the land of Egypt

This plague was against the sun god, the greatest god that the Egyptians worship.

Egypt is a type of world. Just like the children of Israel were to be rescued out of Egypt, so shall Christians be rescued out of the world.

Pharaoh is a type of Satan. Both work very hard to keep their slaves under bondage. Both offer the same compromise: go worship God but don't separate yourselves from the world, don't leave the world.

Satan wants us to be ineffective. He knows that once we fully receive Christ, he's lost. And so, he wants us to live under his compromise: just enough religion to make us feel safe but not enough to truly save us.