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god has called moses to service he commissioned him to go and call demand that pharaoh let the children of israel go obviously moses was a bit hesitant to accept this particular commission he basically said that he was not eloquent so god said that god was sovereign over the ears and the mouths of men and he would certainly be with moses moses continued to register his objections or his hesitancy so god gave him aaron to assist alongside of him so we come to chapter 7 now and after another assurance of israel's deliverance by god to moses moses still showing a bit of fear and trepidation prior to his meeting with pharaoh on the second occasion nevertheless after this instance we don't see that hesitancy anymore so i'll begin reading in chapter 7 at verse 1 actually chapter 6 verse 28 and it came to pass on the day the lord spoke to moses in the land of egypt that the lord spoke to moses saying i am the lord speak to pharaoh king of egypt all that i say to you but moses said before the lord behold i am a man or i am of uncircumcised lips and how shall pharaoh heed me so the lord said to moses see i have made you as god to pharaoh and aaron your brother shall be your prophet you shall speak all that i command you and aaron your brother shall tell pharaoh to send the children of israel out of his land and i will harden pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of egypt but pharaoh will not heed you so that i may lay my hand on egypt and bring my armies and my people the children of israel out of the land of egypt by great judgments and the egyptians shall know that i am the lord when i stretch out my hand on egypt and bring out the children of israel from among them then moses and aaron did so just as the lord commanded them so they did and moses was 80 years old and aaron 83 years old when they spoke to pharaoh then the lord spoke to moses and aaron saying when pharaoh speaks to you saying show a miracle for yourselves then you shall say to aaron take your rod and cast it before pharaoh and let it become a serpent so moses and aaron went into pharaoh and they did so just as the lord commanded and aaron cast down his rod before pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent but pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers so the magicians of egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments for every man threw down his rod and they became serpents but aaron's rod swallowed up their rods and pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the lord had said so the lord said to moses pharaoh's heart is hard he refuses to let the people go go to pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand and you shall say to him the lord god of the hebrews has sent me to you saying let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness but indeed until now you would not hear thus says the lord by this you shall know that i am the lord behold 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 and the fish that are in the river shall die the river shall stink and the egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river then the lord spoke to moses then the lord spoke to moses say to aaron take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of egypt over their streams over their rivers over their pawns and over all their pools of water that they may become blood and there shall be blood throughout all the land of egypt both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone and moses and aaron did so just as the lord commanded so he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river in the sight of pharaoh and in the sight of his servants and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood the fish that were in the river died the river stank and the egyptians could not drink the water of the river so there was blood throughout all the land of egypt then the magicians of egypt did so with their enchantments and pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the lord had said and pharaoh turned and went into his house neither was his heart moved by this so all the egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink because they could not drink the water of the river and seven days passed after the lord had struck the river amen so beginning here in chapter 7 at verse 14 all the way to the end of chapter 12 are the ten plagues this is the means by which the lord god had demonstrated his power or his outstretched arm in the vindication of his people in the judgment of his enemies and for ultimately the glory of his great name so as i said the chapter starts off with reassurance of israel's deliverance chapter 6 verse 28 to chapter 7 verse 7. secondly the opening miracle before pharaoh in verses 8 to 13 and then finally the first plague the water in the blood in verses 14 to 25. so up until this point after the commission and call of moses we have seen moses in a sense fearful and with a degree of hesitance with reference to doing this particular task now there is a resumption in the narrative at chapter 6 verses 28 to 30. goes back to chapter 6 at verses 12 to 13. remember after verse 13 there was the genealogy to show the family line of moses and aaron so the taxer narrative resumes in chapter 6 at verse 28. so we have this command of god reiterated in verses 28 and 29 and then the hesitancy of moses reiterated in verse 30. so god reassures him just like he did in chapter 6 he assured him there that israel would be delivered here he reassures him and in the first place in verses 1 to 7 god highlights the function of moses notice in verses one and two see i have made you as god to pharaoh that does not mean that moses became divine it does not mean that he became the fourth person of the trinity it simply means in terms of function and role and with reference to represent a representation moses represents the true and living god to this man pharaoh calvin said for that he was made a god to pharaoh means that he was furnished with supreme authority and power whereby he should cast down the tyrant's pride so moses shouldn't fear he shouldn't have this hesitancy he should rather go in the fear of god robert alter a modern commentator makes this observation the reiteration of this bold comparison may have a polemic motivation pharaoh imagines himself a god but i have made you a god to pharaoh and that is likely what is happening pharaoh was as far as he and the people of egypt were concerned divine we noticed that the ten plagues have as a target uh the gods of the nation of egypt they were polytheistic they had a multiplicity of gods and so pharaoh is meeting one who represents the true and living god now of course aaron would be his prophet he would be the one that would function alongside of moses to make known the demand of god most high now note how he says that pharaoh will respond in verses 3 to 5. he speaks of this hardening of pharaoh's heart now i realize we've already dealt with this we saw it in chapter 4 at verse 21 but i will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go so there's a a a statement specifically in chapter four at verse 21 but if you go back to chapter three at verse 19 at the original call or commission of moses god intimates that pharaoh is not going to respond in 319 but i am sure that the king of egypt will not let you go no not even by a mighty hand so 421 he reiterates that but i will harden his heart and here in seven three i will harden his heart so we have this general statement 319 and a specific statement in 421 and then the emphasis throughout the book there are several places where it speaks of god hardening pharaoh's heart and other instances where it says that pharaoh hardened pharaoh's heart now in terms of the theology we need to remember that pharaoh was not a spotless holy harmless individual at this particular time when god announces in chapter 4 at verse 21 that he's going to harden pharaoh's heart pharaoh was already a sinner pharaoh was already one who asserted divinity of himself pharaoh was already one who was benefiting off the slave labor of the children of israel so it's not the case that he was a blank slate that he was some neutral actor and then this vicious god came along and hardened his heart that is absolutely positively not the case god hardens his heart so that pharaoh will dig in his heels so that god can manifest his outstretched arm in demonstrating his power and glory in the vindication of his people and in the judgment of egypt for their sins against god and against the children of israel so god's hardening of pharaoh's heart was ultimately an act of judgment for those persons who would say well that's not fair that god does that our god is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases he is absolutely sovereign the westminster confession speaking about the decree of god the baptist confession is not in this particular book because it's a urc and opc book but the westminster and the baptist are exactly the same here in paragraph one of chapter three god from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeable and changeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass yet so as thereby neither is god the author of sin nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away but rather established now that's a general overarching theological statement would take a long long time to unpack that but suffice to say that god is doing what he's doing with reference to pharaoh as an act of judgment for the pharaoh and as the foil upon which god can demonstrate his power and his glory and he speaks to that in verse 3b notice in 3a and i will harden pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of egypt god is demonstrating something about his being not only to the children of israel but as we'll see in verse 5 he's also demonstrating this to the egyptians and thankfully there are two places in the narrative in the book of exodus where at least some of the egyptians paid an attention at least some of the egyptians listened to the true and living god and as a result they prospered and they benefited so god speaks about the multiplication of wonders and then the devastation of egypt notice in verse 4 but pharaoh will not heed you so that i may lay my hand on egypt and bring my armies and my people the children of israel out of the land of egypt by great judgment so the sin of egypt was not confined to pharaoh all of them were engaged in idolatry all of them worshiped the nile all of them worshiped the various gods that we will see are the target with reference to these ten plagues inflicted by god upon these people and then note the instruction of egypt in verse 5 and the egyptians shall know that i am the lord when i stretch out my hand on egypt and bring out the children of israel from among them that is one of the other purposes behind these plagues let's look at these statements notice in chapter 8 at verse 10. so he said tomorrow and he said let it be according to your word that you may know that there is no one like the lord our god in other words the lord is instructing not only pharaoh but egypt in terms of who he is verse 22 and in that day 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 and then in chapter 9 at verse 14 for at this time i will send all my plagues to your very heart and on your servants and on your people that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth and then in chapter 9 at verse 16 but indeed for this purpose i have raised you up speaking to pharaoh that i may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth see god isn't just the god of israel god is the god of the entire earth that's why in psalm 46 10 we are told to be still and know that i am god and i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted among the earth so this lesson goes forth not only for the encouragement of the israelites but for the instruction of egypt as well and for the pharaoh in egypt and then notice in verse 29 so moses said to him as soon as i have gone out of the city i will spread out my hands to the lord the thunder will cease and there will be no more hail that you may know that the earth is the lord's for people that had gods for a whole host of reasons they are being taught that there is but one only the true and living god now notice in chapter 9 going back for just a little bit to those egyptians that listen notice in 9 20 he who feared the word of the lord among the servants of pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses in this seventh plague this plague of hail the egyptians who paid attention were spared in this particular instance and then notice in exodus chapter 12 at the very end of the the plague cycle at the end of the death of the firstborn we see the children of israel leaving the land of egypt but if you look specifically at verse 38 it tells us a mixed multitude went up with them also and flocks and herds a great deal of livestock so it wasn't simply the israelites in other words god in his mercy saved or spared some that were numbered among the egyptians he is sovereign he is glorious he is merciful to his image bearers so the ones that didn't listen were cut off those that didn't listen were struck by the hail and were ultimately affected by all of these plagues and died at the hands of god's judgment there were however a mixed multitude that departed from egypt at that particular time and in that we see god's mercy extended even to those in egypt so going back to chapter 7 we then see the obedience of moses and aaron in verses 6 and 7. no more hesitancy on the part of moses subsequent to this and then it gives us the age of moses and aaron verse 7 and moses was 80 years old and aaron 83 years old when they spoke to pharaoh kaiser says after 80 years of preparation moses began his life work when most of us are getting ready to dial it down except for u.s senators we have moses and aaron at this ripe old age engaging in this act of deliverance and i think this does two things in the first place it demonstrates that the power is of god it's not young vital spry men that are armed to the teeth or able to you know operate with ninja-like skills and go out and and devastate our the armies of pharaoh and vindicate the people of god no it's the glory belonging to god himself but as well it gives us sort of a window in terms of the oppression that israel had suffered under remember it was right about the time of the birth of moses that we see that increased oppression turned up against the children of israel so it had been now 80 years that they had suffered under the hardship of this task master under the hardship of a godless pharaoh who is ultimately enslaving the people of israel and using them very very dreadfully and now we see that the vindication is coming and that brings us secondly to the opening miracle before pharaoh this was already covered back in chapter four if you look back at chapter 4 verse 1 then moses answered and said but suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice suppose they say the lord has not appeared to you so the lord said to him what is that in your hand he said a rod and he said cast it on the ground so he cast it on the ground and it became a serpent and moses fled from it then the lord said to moses reach out your hand and take it by the tail and he reached out his hand and caught it and it became a rod in his hand that they may believe that the lord god of their fathers the god of abraham the god of isaac and the god of jacob has appeared to you now this was to instruct israel but it also functions to serve as an instruction for pharaoh because god tells moses and aaron to engage in this particular sign when they stand before god so the previous reference and then the command of god in verses 8 and 9 the assumption is is that pharaoh's going to ask do a particular deed to show me that you are from god and i was thinking about this pharaoh had a better understanding of the biblical signs and wonders than charismatics and pentecostals often do they treat signs and wonders it as an end in them in and of themselves but rather as pharaoh or at least the assumption in terms of pharaoh questioning show me a sign to evidence that you are really from god that is how signs and wonders function in scripture they certainly have the benefit of the healing of persons and the feeding of the uh feeding of the poor and the healing of the sick and all that sort of thing but it confirms or authenticates that the man engaged in that activity is functioning on behalf of the true and living god so we have moses and aaron go stand before pharaoh and they comply they do precisely what god had commanded notice in verse 10. so moses and aaron went into pharaoh and they did so just as the lord commanded and aaron cast down his rod before pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent so we see that sign or that wonder that has come from god now notice that the magicians of egypt duplicate the effort and this is a bit of a paradoxical or intriguing statement they do the same with reference to the water turned to blood verse 11 says pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers so the magicians of egypt they also did in like manner with their enchantments or their secret arts for every man threw down his rod and they became serpents but aaron's rod swallowed up their rods and pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the lord had set so just a couple of thoughts as we move through this particular section in the first place moses and aaron were not magicians they were not magicians they were ordinary fellows from an ordinary tribe in the people or among the people of israel we see they're 80 and 83 respectively they don't have this long career in the magic arts or the secret art so whatever happens as a result of their their activity it's god working in and through them secondly the magicians were in fact magicians and magicians then like magicians now operated through delusion or illusion or sleight of hand or whatever you know it could do or what they can do to sort of fake or fool people the fact that aaron's rod thirdly swallowed up theirs indicates that they were no match for the living god at least in this particular activity now there are a lot of people that think that the devil was behind this i happen to be one of them and when we look at scripture we'll notice that there are signs and wonders that occur that do not have direct ascription to god in other words they come from the hand of the devil or through the agency or the mediation of the devil there are a text that we should at least be somewhat familiar with in this regard turn to deuteronomy chapter 13. now a few of these texts don't say this is according to the devil but when we see that they're false prophets engaged in such activity we don't conclude that they're done under the power of god directly now everything's under the power of god ultimately but with reference to the devil he becomes sort of the intermediary or he becomes an agent by which false prophets or false teachers or false sort of claimants to supernatural power may work if you look at deuteronomy 13 verse 1 it says if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the lord your god is testing you to know whether you love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul you shall walk after the lord your god and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice you shall serve him and hold fast to him but that prophet or that dreamer of dream shall be put to death because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way in which the lord your god commanded you to walk so you shall put away the evil from your midst so what's happening god doesn't deny moses under the inspiration of the spirit does not deny the actual activity involved in terms of signs and wonders and even prophesying that may come to pass but if the prophet does that and his design is to entice you away from the true and living god then that's not of god directly that is not as a result of god's goodness and providence in conducting these things for your allegiance to him but rather it is an attempt to get you away from him turn over to deuteronomy chapter 18. deuteronomy chapter 18. we have the provision for priests and levites in verses 1 to 8 and then we have the promise of a prophet in verses 15 to 22 sandwiched in between that is a caution against going after the customs of the pagan and the heathen around them in other words israel is governed directly by god it's a theocracy the way that god makes his mind known to that people is through the prophetic ministry and through the priestly ministry in other words it's not soothsayers and witches and necromancers and all these others that will sort of rule over israel but rather it is the word of the living god as mediated through prophet embraced but when you look at verse 9 it says when you come into the land which the lord your god is giving you you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire or one who practices witchcraft or a soothsayer or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer or one who conjures spells or a medium or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead for all who do these things are an abomination to the lord and because of these abominations the lord your god drives them out from before you you shall be blameless before the lord your god for these nations which you will dispossess listen to soothsayers and diviners but as for you the lord your god has not appointed such for you so the recognition is is that when the children of israel go into the land of canaan they're going to meet with these kinds of people and god doesn't say don't go after those people because what they're doing doesn't work no he says don't go after what those people are doing because what they're doing is an abomination it is sinful it is wretched turn over to first samuel chapter 28 first samuel chapter 28 essentially what we have is that saul knows he has no word from the lord god most high so saul seeks out a witch from endor to give him instruction for an impending battle against the philistines and what this witch at endor does is bring someone up she identifies him as samuel they think it's samuel i do not believe it's samuel but i do believe something was in fact conjured up you see a message given relative to the battle that would transpire with reference to saul william perkins the puritan says neither could this be a bear illusion and as i may say a ledger domain which is simply an old-fashioned word for slight of hand in other words he's saying it's not sleight of hand something happens in first samuel 28 it's not samuel the prophet who had departed but it's some sort of an apparition it is some sort of an appearance by something from the underworld that communicates something of truth so he goes on to say neither could this be a bear illusion and as i may say a ledger domain or sleight of hand of the witch for he plainly foretold saul's destruction which an ignorant woman could not know much less dare she constantly avouch any such matter to the king it remains then that this samuel was a mere illusion of satan so again brethren the idea is not that there is no supernatural dark forces there are now is it the case that there's a demon under every bush and is it the case that there's these demons active and rampant all over the place i don't think that's the case but i do think that the devil has power to engage in activities that ape or imitate what god the lord does davis says scripture describes such practices not as futile but as pagan god forbids israel to use these means not because they do not work but because they are wicked turn to matthew's gospel matthew chapter 24 matthew chapter 24 in a prophecy concerning the destruction of jerusalem in a.d 70 the lord jesus tells what will happen prior to the fall of jerusalem and in verse 23 he says that if anyone says to you look here is the christ or there do not believe it for false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the elect see i have told you beforehand and then turn to second thessalonians chapter 2. ii thessalonians chapter 2 and just a thumbnail sketch of the reality that not all the signs and wonders that persons witness are always directly connected to god second thessalonians is a prophecy concerning what is called the man of sin or the man of lawlessness and in whatever it is the the text is clear in terms of the point being made here so look at 2-5 in 2nd thessalonians do you not remember that when i was with you i told you these things and now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan with all power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this reason notice an act of god's judgment god will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness now hopefully that doesn't uh spawn more questions than you had originally but suffice to say when these magicians duplicate these things that we see being done in egypt there is satanic forces there are dark powers there are those things that are diabolical in nature and we need to be aware of that so when we look at this section now it could have been sleight of hand it could have been ledger domain to use that archaic word or it could have been owing to the devil himself the text tells us that they did it but it doesn't expand or amplify on it but if we ask the question does the bible a tribute to satan works and signs and wonders that are dark and diabolical the answer is most assuredly yes and we need to be aware of that not everything that glitters is gold not everything that claims to be of god is necessarily of god and as we go back in the in the uh the plague narrative in exodus chapter seven we see the effect pharaoh sees that the uh that the magicians are able to duplicate the effort and then it says pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the lord had said so that is that opening miracle and that brings us then finally to the first plague the water into blood we see the statement concerning his heart reiterated verse 14 so the lord said to moses pharaoh's heart is hard he refuses to let the people go god gives moses instruction now to meet pharaoh at the river nile and if we ask the question why does pharaoh go out to the river nile well perhaps it was to bathe now bathing wasn't as common then as it is now but royalty certainly would have bathed we see that his daughter bathed in the river nile in chapter 2 at verse 5. or he could have been going there for his morning devotions remember the nile was a god as far as pharaoh was concerned he could have been down there for religious purposes he could have been down there for his devotions he could have been down there simply to wash but we see god's instruction in verse 15. go to pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the river and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand and you shall say to him the lord god of the hebrews has sent me to you saying let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness but indeed until now you would not hear so in other words reiterate the command to him underscore the gravity of the situation in other words pharaoh if you do not comply with this instruction life is going to get very difficult notice in verse 17 thus says the lord by this you shall know that i am the lord behold 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 and the fish that are in the river shall die the river shall stink and the egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river now with reference to this particular plague again it is a direct assault upon one of the gods of egypt matthew poole makes the observation the river nile which was one of their principal gods and therefore it was it was inexcusable in them that they would not renounce those feeble gods which were unable to help not only their worshipers but even themselves nor embrace the service and commands of that god whose almighty power they saw and felt so the god of denial was not able to either a help the people of his uh of egypt nor even help themselves or help itself from being turned into blood it really underscores the futility of the god-likeness of this particular river and then he makes this observation and it was a very proper punishment for them who had made that river an instrument for the execution of their bloody design against the israelitish infants exodus 1 22. now i think that when people read this and i like to think not people in the church today but unfortunately i've met enough of the people in the church today to to to be disabused of that notion not anybody here to be sure but there are people that struggle with these acts of god in the old testament they think it's overkill they think it's over bearing no this is just recompense these people uh drowned babies in the river nile this is righteous with god to repay them and and to vindicate his own elect gil saw it this way as well this is the first plague executed on the egyptians and a very righteous one by the law of retaliation for shedding the blood of innocent babes through casting them into this river so it's like for light the punishment fits the crime you use that river to dispatch our babies god is going to turn that river which you think is god-like into blood such that the fish are going to die such that the river itself is going to stink and such that you will not be able to take the water and drink it so moses and aaron comply with that verses 19 to 21 so not only has god told moses what he's supposed to say to pharaoh but then moses is supposed to instruct aaron with reference to the execution of this particular act of judgment you see that verse 19 then the lord spoke to moses say to aaron take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of egypt over their streams over their rivers over their ponds and over over all their pools of water that they may become blood and there shall be blood throughout all the land of egypt both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone it certainly does reduce the god-likeness of the river nile when it's turned into blood and it's no longer useful for the people of egypt and you see the execution of that in verses 20 and 21 and the summary statement at the end of verse 21 so there was blood throughout all the land of egypt now the magicians are able to duplicate this at least in part but notice how horrible this is if the magicians were worth their weight and salt they would have reversed the nile back into water not taken additional water and turned it into blood now some would say where did they get the water to turn into the blood well perhaps there was some water already collected that had not yet been affected or it's the water that had been sort of dug out according to verse 24 but if they were really magicians and they really had this power and they really had this sort of ability doesn't it seem to make sense that they would instead turn the water or turn the blood back into the water so that everybody in israel or rather in egypt would be happy poole says it is observable that though the devil could do something which might increase the plague or imitate it yet he could do nothing to remove it so again they may ate these things at least in small degrees but not in any meaningful or powerful way when aaron's rod is around or aaron's rod that became a serpent is around the other rods that had become serpents allegedly that serpent ate the other ones again it shows the supremacy and sovereignty of god these false claimants may have a degree of ability origin uh derived from satan but they cannot match the living and the true god with reference to his power and sovereignty but nevertheless this was enough to prevail upon pharaoh and to further increase his hardness of heart notice in verse 22 then the magicians of egypt did so uh did so with their enchantments or secret arts and pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the lord had said and pharaoh turned and went into his house neither was his heart moved by this so you see he is in this place of absolute rebellion and stubbornness in light of the command of the living and true god and then the signs and the wonders produced by the living and true god and then verse 24 so all the egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink because they could not drink the water of the river and seven days passed after the lord had struck the river now some suggest that this couldn't really have been blood in fact some of the commentators suggest it was a movement of the nile with the various other sorts of tributaries and rivers that had flowed into it and it was a discoloration of the water that made it obnoxious to drink as well they would suggest that if the water was really turned into blood this would be a major ecological disaster that would result in mass casualties it did result in mass casualties philo the jew tells us that very thing that it lasted for this period of seven days would certainly indicate the death of a lot of people as a result some say well the plagues all build the the least to the greatest certainly the greatest is the death of the firstborn but the attack upon the nile this principle god sets the tone or sets the stage for this god contest the living and true god yahweh of israel has absolute authority and power and he goes initially for the juggler with reference to the gods of egypt to bring his judgment and to execute his sovereign power in the midst of these people it was in fact devastating and and and most likely many did die as a result of that so in conclusion we see the plan of god the plan of god is to demonstrate his power i think if you keep romans 9 14 to 18 in your mind it helps you to make theological sense of what is occurring here in the book of exodus in romans 9 14 the apostle says what shall we say then is there unrighteousness with god certainly not see this is always the operating assumption of the child of god the pagan looks at narratives like we find in the book of exodus and says well that doesn't seem fair that doesn't seem right that doesn't seem just that doesn't seem legit pharaoh didn't know any better the people of egypt didn't know any better and this doesn't seem right that god would do that the operating assumption on behalf of the people of god is that there is no unrighteousness in god that is absolutely inconceivable on the part of someone who professes faith in jesus that there would actually be capriciousness or arbitrariness in the part of god paul says that what shall we say then is there unrighteousness with god now he's treating in terms of god's sovereignty in the election of sinners unto salvation by jesus christ the lord so if somebody says well that's not fair that god chose one and he doesn't choose the other paul says it is absolutely consistent with who god is there is no unrighteousness with him certainly not and then he appeals to this section in the book of exodus for he says to moses i will have mercy on whomever i will have mercy and i will have compassion on whomever i will have compassion so then it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of god who shows mercy for the scripture says to the pharaoh for this very purpose i have raised you up that i may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth we read that exodus 9 16. therefore he has mercy on whom he wills and whom he wills he hardens now when it comes to the pagan charging god with unrighteousness over his treatment of pharaoh and the egyptians i'm not surprised by that i'm surprised by professing christians that struggle or i roll when it comes to the power of god being demonstrated upon a group of idolaters and enemies of the people of god this is righteousness on behalf of god this is the plan of god to vindicate his people to judge his enemies and to bring glory to his great and awesome name we see secondly the power of god in the passage over the nation of israel they are not a willing people at this point remember back in chapter 6 verse 9 so moses spoke thus to the children of israel but they did not heed moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage they are recalcitrant they are stubborn as well and yet god in his mercy overrules that because of his great love with which he loved them and the compassion that he had for them he is going to exercise his power over them and vindicate them we see the uh the the power of god over the pharaoh of egypt obviously god hardens his heart god knows that his heart is hardened such that he can tell moses precisely what is going to transpire we see god's sovereignty over the nation of egypt and over the forces of nature itself so when we look at this section it demonstrates not only his plan but his power and then thirdly the judgment of god never forget exodus 12 12. exodus 12 12 is key for understanding and interpreting all that precedes exodus 12 12 for i will pass through the land of egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of egypt i will execute judgment i am the lord so it's not just upon uh pharaoh and egypt but it's also upon the gods of egypt and then finally the mercy of god see every act of judgment of god against the enemies of god is conversely a mercy of god to his people psalm 136 i'm sure that we read that i think i read it last week the mercy of the lord endures forever and when god vindicates his elect when he releases them from the bondage of this kind of of oppression then god is to be praised and celebrated for his great mercy and for his great grace which he has displayed to his people well hopefully as we move through we'll continue to see the emphasis on god's sovereignty and power in terms of vindicating his own elect who cry to him day and night well let us close in a word of prayer our father we thank you for your word we thank you for the the clarity of holy scripture and the consistency of it the theology provided by the apostle paul and by moses the prophet of god in the book of exodus itself and i pray that we would stand in awe that we would marvel at your sovereignty at your power at the fact that you are a god who judges the enemies of god and a god who vindicates his own elect to cry to him day and night we give thanks to you for your mercy and for your loving kindness we give thanks to you for the gospel of our salvation because father we know that we were enemies we know that we all went astray like sheep we know that none of us were righteous no not one there was none of us who sought you out there was no fear of god before our eyes so we give praise to you that you sought us that you found us that you conquered us that you took out our old stony hearts and put in new fleshly hearts that you granted us the graces of faith and repentance and that now we are your your beloved your children we rejoice in your goodness to us we ask that many more people would come to know christ as lord and savior through the preaching of the gospel we think of our own loved ones and family and friends that we know we pray father that you would give us courage and boldness and hearts of compassion to direct them to the savior and we pray that you would open hearts and cause them to receive that truth to believe that truth and to know the joy of being found in jesus christ again we thank you for this time that we can meet together bless the the church of christ in this place and we ask that you would be glorified here and we pray in jesus name amen