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exodus chapter 11 finishing up the plagues this is the segway into the passover and then the tenth plague proper and then we see the actual exodus but chapter 11 is the announcement of the tenth plague so i'll begin reading in verse one and the lord said to moses i will bring one more plague on pharaoh and on egypt afterward he will let you go from here when he lets you go he will surely drive you out of here altogether speak now in the hearing of the people and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor articles of silver and articles of gold and the lord gave the people favor in the sight of the egyptians moreover the man moses was very great in the land of egypt in the sight of pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people then moses said thus says the lord about midnight i will go out into the midst of egypt and all the firstborn in the land of egypt shall die from the firstborn of pharaoh who sits on his throne even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill and all the firstborn of the animals then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of egypt such as was not like it before nor shall be like it again but against none of the children of israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast that you may know that the lord does make a difference between the egyptians and israel and all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me saying get out and all the people who follow you after that i will go out then he went out from pharaoh in great anger but the lord said to moses pharaoh will not heed you so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of egypt so moses and aaron did all these wonders before pharaoh and the lord hardened point the oppression of israel by egypt is in chapter one the birth of moses the deliverer is in chapter two the commission given to moses by god in chapter three then we have the preparation of moses by god in chapter four chapter five was the first meeting between moses and pharaoh chapter six is an assurance of deliverance given by god to moses grounded in god's covenant promises and then the ten plagues begin in chapter seven and they continue here to the end of verse or chapter 11. though the actual execution of the tenth plague comes in chapter 12 at verses 29 to 30. it's bracketed by the past institution of the passover and then the actual exodus proper so that's sort of the outline now in terms of the ten plagues they were a demonstration of god's power that's indicated in chapter 3 at verse 20 chapter 6 verses 6 to 8 chapter 9 verse 16 and then in romans chapter 9 verses 14 to 18. this is well a manifestation of god's judgment not only against pharaoh and the egyptians but also a demonstration that god alone or yahweh alone is the true and living god for in chapter 12 at verse 12 one of the emphases in terms of the plagues is that god would execute against all the gods of egypt i will execute judgment i am the lord so it was a judgment executed against pharaoh against egypt as a whole and against the particular gods there in egypt now the tenth plague is the decisive one it's in the spilling of the blood that we see the end of tyranny and the liberty of god's people so i want to look first at the announcement of the tenth plague in verses one to three secondly the description of the tenth plague in verses four to eight and then finally the rebellion of pharaoh against the god of the 10th plague in verses 9 and 10. well as we come first to this announcement it's similar to what we see in other parts of the plague narrative in fact verses 1 to 3 are somewhat parenthetical they are either something revealed by god to moses as he still remains in the presence of pharaoh or it's something reminiscent of what god had said in fact i think the niv helpfully translates verse 1 that way and the lord had said to moses so that had already occurred moses is still in the presence of pharaoh according to verses 4 to 8 and then again in verse 9 but the lord had said to moses so verses 1 to 3 and verses 9 and 10 are parenthetical they're not necessarily at the time that moses is in the presence of pharaoh that's verses four to eight and the reason why it's necessary to point that out is because of chapter 10 and verse 20 28 it says then pharaoh said to him get away from me take heed to yourself and see my face no more for in the day you see my face you shall die so moses said you have spoken well i will never see your face again. so some understand that he departed at that point and then comes back to pharaoh but that's not what happens he never departed verse 8 in chapter 11 indicates when he actually departed and all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me saying get out and all the people who follow you after that i will go out then he went out from pharaoh in great anger so verses 1 to 3 and verses 9 and 10 are reminiscent of things that had already been told moses they are given to us for sort of narrative help and then specifically when you look at the end of verse 3 it's probably an editorial comment when it says moreover the man moses was very great in the land of egypt in the sight of pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people obviously moses loomed large in the history at that particular time and he says as much in verse 8 all these servants all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me saying get out and all the people who follow you so again reminiscent of things that had been told to moses previously verses four to eight is the actual announcement slash description of the tenth plague so when we look at this particular narrative now we know that there are a series of plagues that had began in chapter 7 at verse 14. the first water into blood the second was the plague of frogs the third was the plague of lice the fourth flies the fifth livestock disease sixth boils seventh hail eight locusts ninth darkness now if it were me that would have been enough for me to say okay you guys can go but we're dealing with pharaoh who had hardened his own heart and then received the judicial hardening of god upon his heart so he is an incorrigible sinner he is a wretched man he doesn't understand the implications or ramifications of his pride and arrogance we saw that last time in chapter 10 in verse 7. then pharaoh's servant said to him how long shall this man moses be a snare to us let the man go israel that they may serve the lord their god do you not yet know that egypt is destroyed so by his actions by his pride by his arrogance he continues to bring destruction to bear upon the people that he is supposed to rule over for their good so ultimately those first nine plagues had essentially been dismissed by pharaoh remember there were times when he seemed to evidence some degree of concession but it was always on his terms you can go out but you have to leave your children you can go out but you have to leave your livestock he always wanted to barter and proffer a deal that would benefit him in the end and secure his uh slave labor force but that was never the terms upon which yahweh engaged in this and notice in terms of the the the end of tyranny announced by uh the promise of liberty and the end of uh tyranny announced here in verse one it says i will bring one more plague on pharaoh and on egypt afterward he will let you go from here so that one more plague on egypt will uh decisively break the back of egypt egypt's oppression over israel and we see how those things go hand hand in hand later on tonight i want to make a few more connections that way but when it comes to the liberty of god's people it typically means the destruction of god's enemies you cannot have one without the other in order for us to enjoy the redemptive benefits secured by jesus christ he delivers a death blow to the devil he delivers a death blow to death itself he delivers a covering for our sin there's always that twin sort of blessing that obtains not only the the liberty of god's people but the end of the tyranny that they had been held under so the reference to one more plague on pharaoh and egypt will signify the end of tyranny with reference to eject and then notice the promise of liberty when he lets you go he will surely drive you afterward he will let you go from here so he'll have the liberty to go out in the wilderness initially to worship yahweh but then ultimately to return to the promised land and to engage in the inheritance that god had promised to the patriarchs abraham isaac and jacob and then so there is this promise of liberty in verse one but there's also this promise of prosperity in verses two and three so we're under the heading the announcement of the tenth plague and so there's the promise of liberty verse one promise of prosperity in verses 2 and 3. notice in verse 2 speak now in the hearing of the people and let every man ask from his neighbor i think that's a preferable translation than the old king james the old king james has let every man borrow of his neighbor they weren't borrowing of their neighbor they were asking of their neighbor such that the neighbors would be willing and happy to give them precisely what they wanted so that they would leave egypt and take their their their vengeful god with them would have been the mindset of the egyptians at that particular point and this verse is ultimately reminiscent of chapter 3 and verse 22. in fact in chapter 3 verses 19 to 20 uh 22 you see sort of a foreshadowing of all that's going to take place in terms of the plague narrative so in verse 19 and chapter 3 but i am sure that the king of egypt will not let you go no not even by a mighty hand so i will stretch out my hand and strike egypt with all my wonders which i will do in its midst and after that he will let you go and i will give this people favor in the sight of the egyptians and it shall be when you go that you shall not go empty-handed but every woman shall ask of her neighbor namely of her who dwells near her house articles of silver articles of gold and clothing and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters so you shall ponder the egyptians so that chapter 3 verses 19 to 22 is programmatic for everything that will follow this is reminiscent of that the lord had said moses knew this moses is still standing in the presence of pharaoh and moses knows that he's going to declare the contours or description of that tenth plague that will be utilized to crush the oppression and to free the captives from their captivity john calvin makes the observation in terms of this request for these articles of silver and articles of gold he says he repeats his command as to the spoiling the egyptians of which mention was made in the third chapter for it was not enough for god to rescue his people from that cruel tyranny under which their wretched lives were scarcely protracted in great poverty and distress unless he also enriched them with large possessions as if they were carrying away the prizes of victory from conquered enemies so what it says there in chapter 3 verse 22 is reiterated here there will be a plundering of the egyptians now it won't take the form of them going with a gun or not guns but knives and swords and all those sorts of things to their neighbors all they'll have to do is ask god has done the heavy lifting god has sent the ten plagues god has sent that ultimate uh that tenth plague which is the ultimate uh uh uh uh judgment upon egypt and egypt uh egypt will be more than happy to see them go and then he highlights the result of this in terms of the prosperity notice in verse 3 and the lord gave the people favor in the sight of the egyptians don't miss that that's grace the people of israel didn't deserve favor in the sight of the egyptians but rather the lord gave the people favor in the sight of the egyptians ryan on sunday night cited deuteronomy 7. god didn't choose israel because they were more numerous and god didn't choose israel because they were more righteous god chose israel according to his own sovereign pleasure it was the free will of god and not the free will of man that drove this connection in terms of god's love upon his people so it says the lord gave the people favor in the sight of the egyptians moreover the man moses was very great in the land of egypt in the sight of pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people so the egyptians would ultimately bestow great abundance upon the children of israel turn to chapter 12 to see the fruition of that in verses 35 and 36 it says now the children of israel had done according to the word of moses and they had asked from the egyptians articles of silver articles of gold and clothing and the lord had given the people favor in the sight of the egyptians so that they granted them what they requested thus they plundered the egyptians remember it's pharaoh who's disconnected from the ruin that has come upon the land it's not the people the people understand all too well that their their livelihood has suffered their livelihood has basically been decimated and if their livelihood is to be recovered it is to try and appease these people and get them out of our land the sooner they're out of the land the sooner we can go back to normal it was their coveted pandemic if you will and they were more than ready to have it cease and desist so they were not needing to be prevailed upon with weaponry the egyptians willingly gave it up because the israelites had found favor in their eyes because of the grace of god almighty now notice in the second place in terms of the major outline the description of the tenth play two things to note here in verses four to eight first the divine initiative and secondly the nature of the plague the death of the born but notice in verse 4 and mo then moses said thus says the lord now this is dialogue this is moses before pharaoh telling pharaoh precisely what the tenth plague would involve so this is the description of the play thus says the lord about midnight now notice the emphasis here i will go out into the midst of egypt now god can work either immediately or immediately and the word mediate i think we understand at least some sense of it but i'll give you the definition of how i'm using it acting through involving or dependent on an intervening agent's agency now god's not dependent on an intervening agency it's not how i'm using it but acting through or involving an intervening agency god works immediately in those previous plays it was god's mastery over sovereignty over and omnipotence over the nature itself or the created order it is the use of water into blood frogs lice flies livestock disease boils hails locusts darkness there was even the times where he would have moses lift up his rod that was media god is still sovereign god's still orchestrating it god is still absolutely in charge of it but he is using means to execute his particular justice on on those occasions but with reference to this tenth plague he works immediately notice thus says the lord about midnight i will go out into the midst of egypt now when it comes to that when we look at the actual execution of the plague in chapter 12 at verse 29 we see the same emphasis it says it came to pass at midnight that the lord struck all the first born in the land of egypt it wasn't the flies it wasn't the boils it wasn't the water and the blood it was the lord who struck these egyptian first born turn over to numbers chapter 33 numbers chapter 33 a reminiscence upon this particular event and again moses indicates the immediate act of god upon this situation notice in numbers 33 at verse 3 they departed from ramses in the first month on the 15th day of the first month on the day after the passover the children of israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the egyptians four the egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the lord had killed among them also on their gods the lord had executed judgments again we're not suggesting or i'm not suggesting that god is not to be praised as the sovereign agent when he works immediately through the created order certainly that is the the perfection of god manifested in terms of his sovereignty and his omnipotence but there is something unique about this tenth plague in terms of the immediacy of god working in this killing these firstborn turn over to psalm 135 you see the same emphasis wherein here it's a demonstration of god's greatness in the plagues psalm 135 specifically beginning at verse 5. notice what the psalmist says for i know that the lord is great and our lord is above all gods whatever the lord pleases he does in heaven and in earth in the seas and in all deep places he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth he makes lightning for the rain he brings the wind out of his treasuries he destroyed the firstborn of egypt both of man and beast he sent signs and wonders into the midst of you o egypt upon pharaoh and all his servants he defeated many nations and slew mighty kings sihon king of the amorites odd king of bation and all the kingdoms of canaan and gave their land as a heritage a heritage to israel his people and so it is the direct act of god in this tenth plague in terms of the termination of the firstborn in egypt and then turn over to psalm 136 it is a demonstration of god's mercy in the 10th plague again it's a matter of perspective if you're an egyptian it's an act of god's justice and judgment and punishment but if you're an israelite it is a display of god's mercy notice in psalm 136 at verse 10 to him who struck egypt in their first born for his mercy endures forever so if anyone ever says wow what a horrible thing that god killed the firstborn in egypt no it wasn't a horrible thing it was a demonstration of his mercy a demonstration of his loving kindness a demonstration of his covenant faithfulness that's the emphasis with reference to the psalmist and it is the emphasis that god's people seize upon and worship and praise and glorify him for so going back to exodus chapter 11 we see not only the emphasis on divine initiative but then we see the specific description concerning the death of the firstborn and what moses highlights in the first place is the extent of the judgment in verse 5 and then secondly the response to the judgment in verses 6 to 8. so notice in verse 5 and all the firstborn in the land of egypt shall die what does that mean well he's going to tell you pharaoh all of the firstborn in the land of egypt shall die and now he's going to say from the greatest of them to the least of them from the firstborn of pharaoh who sits on his throne even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the hand mill and all the firstborn of animals now it's not that the animals were culpable and responsible and moral agents but it was the judgment of god in terms of and i'll argue in just a moment the law of retribution but one thing we ought to observe is that the plague includes all of the firstborn not just the males it would have been a firstborn daughter as well you look at chapter 12 at verse 30 it says so pharaoh rose in the night he all his servants and all the egyptians and there was a great cry in egypt for there was not a house where there was not one debt now unless every single household contained a first-born son i think the implication is clear it was a first born in the household whether it was a son or a daughter the firstborn would would have been executed the plague included all sectors of society again the firstborn of pharaoh the very heir to the throne the deity of egypt a god amongst the egyptians to the servant girl behind the hand mill and even extending to the animals as a punishment upon the nation i mentioned the law of retribution or the lex talionis go back to exodus chapter 4 to see this exodus chapter 4. specifically in verse 21 and the lord said to moses when you go back to egypt see that you do all those wonders before pharaoh which i have put in your hand but i will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go we'll deal with that clause or that phrase when we drop down to verses 9 and 10. but i will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go then you shall say to pharaoh thus says the lord israel is my son my firstborn so i say to you let my son go that he may serve me but if you refuse to let him go indeed i will kill your son your firstborn so god is engaged in the law of retribution at the point of the firstborn so egypt under pharaoh oppressed and attacked and violated and sought to destroy god's firstborn so god retaliates in a way that is perfect and we perfectly consistent with who he is in terms of his of his of his perfections of his will some say he's capricious he's arbitrary remember he's dealing with a race of sinners he's dealing with pharaoh who didn't have a blank slate it wasn't that god hardened an innocent man's heart and made him do these horrible things pharaoh was already engaged in the act of oppression and the act of slavery and he was already engaged in the act at least pharaoh the the pharaohs of egypt killing the firstborn or the sons of of those born to israel so this was a legitimate expression of the justice and righteousness of god in the execution of this particular plague now notice the response to the judgment in verses 6 to 8. the first place there would be a great cry in egypt verse 6 then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of egypt such as was not like it before now nor shall be like it again well the great cry came obviously when everyone discovered the dead body that was living in their house when they discovered their dead animals when they discovered the extent of the wrath of yahweh in terms of his judgment upon their nation this is in contrast to the cries that arose from the israelites to the very ear of god in exodus 3 7 i have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in egypt and have heard their cry because of their task masters for i know their sorrows so i have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land to a land flowing with milk and honey to the place of the canaanites and the hittites and the amorites and the perizzites and the hivites and the jebusites now therefore behold the cry of the children of israel has come to me and i have also seen the oppression with which the egyptians oppressed them so egypt made israel cry out and now god is making egypt cry with reference to this expression of grief at the effect of this tenth plague and then notice in contrast in chapter 11 verses 6 and 7 in contrast to the great cry in egypt there is great calm among the israelites notice in verse 7 but against none of the children of israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast that you may know that the lord does make a difference between the egyptians and israel now there's one of two ways that this particular reference to the dog sharpening his tongue could go the first is the view that egypt could not do anything to israel not even the barking of a dog robert alter translates it or understands it this way that is not even a menacing gesture toward them will be made others say the view is that while there is crying in egypt not even a dog would bark among the israelites in other words while they're crying out in grief for having discovered the dead among them there's not even a dog barking in israel because among the israelites because of the great calm among them uh kaiser makes the observation an unprecedented outpouring of grief would follow but among the israelites there would be such tranquility on the evening that not a dog would have occasion to bark verses 6 and 7. now i know that our particular translation seems to favor the first but against none of the children of israel shall a dog move its tongue but the grammar is a bit more elastic than that and it would allow for either of those particular views whatever view we take i think the end of verse 7 underscores the contrast that you may know whatever the proper interpretation of verse 7 is the end game is that you may know that the lord does make a difference between the egyptians and israel so while there is this great cry amongst the egyptians because of the death of the firstborn there is this great calm and tranquility among the israelites because of the death of the firstborn not theirs of course but of their enemies because this would be the means by which they would receive that freedom and that liberty of the sons of god and then notice as well what moses says in verse 8 the demand of egypt verse 8 and all these servants shall come down to me and bow down to me saying get out and all the people who follow you after that i will go out now i'm not suggesting that moses is sinning here i would never say that but what i am suggesting is that this would have had to provoke pharaoh at least in some small way in fact calvin notes the these words inflicted no slight wound on the tyrant's mind he was basically adding insult to injury again not in a sinful way remember he's standing face to face with the tyrant who is opposing the true and the living god who has provoked the true and the living god to the point where that true and living god is going to kill every firstborn in that nation pharaoh had hardened his heart pharaoh was resistant pharaoh wasn't even conscious of the great destruction that had already occurred in egypt at this time as far as pharaoh is concerned he's going to resist this one just like he resisted the other nine moses says your countrymen your servants all the people they're going to come and they're going to beg us to let us leave from this land so as calvin says these words inflicted no slight wound on the tyrant's mind what is something indicative of a tyrant they like control that's what makes them tick and they like control first and foremost over their subjects and of course their slave force well pharaoh's lost the slave force and pharaoh has lost his subjects but pharaoh's too stupid and proud to even recognize it and so moses tells him that all these your servants the same servants that we saw in chapter 10 at verse 7 who said let them go if you don't let them go this whole country is going to be decimated these servants shall come down to me and bow down to me they're not going to bow down to you pharaoh they're not going to plead with you they've already told you the course you should pursue and they're going to say to me get out and all the people who follow you after that i will go out then he went out from pharaoh in great anger curiously calvin spends about that much of a page to describe that that that that moses anger was legit but he shouldn't have gotten carried away brethren he was angry he's face to face with a tyrant i don't know why we'd even have to qualify that and i say that with great esteem and great love for john calvin and i realized the tendency i especially realize it in my heart to gravitate toward a sinful anger but the lord is angry with the wicked every day there is such a concept as a righteous anger and when i look at moses standing before pharaoh i don't think for a moment that any bit of his anger is somehow unwarranted he has the righteous anger of god most high and when it says then he went out from pharaoh in great anger that is a legitimate response from having been in the presence of a man who first resists the true and living god who secondly does it to the destruction of his own people that he is supposed to rule over and care for and make sure that bad things like that don't happen pharaoh i don't know how you administered your kingdom but the biggest probable issue was to make sure that uh that a competitor god didn't come and decimate the entirety of your country you should actually listen to this man moses and then that brings us finally to the rebellion of pharaoh against the god of the tenth plague again this is reminiscent of stuff we already know the lord had said to moses this sets the stage this indicates the reality this explains why the death of the firstborn occurs it's because like the other nine plagues pharaoh hardens his heart like the other nine plagues god hardens pharaoh's heart in an act of justice so notice the pattern verse 9 but the lord had said to moses pharaoh will not heed you so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of egypt that was one of the emphases for this whole construct was so that god could display his powers his signs and his wonders and indicate again something ryan pointed out on sunday evening all of these nations had their gods they had their deities they had a plurality of that well this was an instance where the god of israel was demonstrating his sovereignty demonstrating his glory demonstrating his power and demonstrating his majesty he is executing vengeance against the gods of egypt and this is indicative of that he displays these signs and wonders for or at least in one sense for what for that purpose so he multiplies his wonders for the manifestation of his glory in egypt and ultimately throughout the world now notice the judgment against pharaohs we have this statement the pattern of the rebellion of pharaoh verse 9. this is the common occurrence he will not heed you so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of egypt verse 10 so moses and aaron did all these wonders before pharaoh and the lord hardened pharaoh's heart and he did not let the children of israel go out of his land so in other words he continues to rebel he continues to resist now the first reference we've already seen it it wasn't a clear statement of the heartening of his heart but in 319 god announces to moses he's not going to let you go the first instance where we have the hardening of god of pharaoh's heart is by god and that's in chapter 4 at verse 21. we read that again you need to understand this wasn't god taking an innocent man and saying i'm going to harden his heart so he does all these miserable things so that i can judge him and punish him and display my signs and wonders he was already a sinner he was already dead in atta he was already a rebel he was already a slave driver he was already an oppressor he already had affinity with with pharaohs that had seen the death of the the israelite babies and so he was a wicked man and so throughout the narrative we have several references to god hardening pharaoh's heart but we also have references to pharaoh hardening his own heart and i think that what we see in this is some theology in terms of the degree and in terms of providence and we're going to tie up this lesson at the end with that observation of a theological nature but i just want to quote calvin i quoted them back in the you know previous chapters when he was dealing with this hardening of the heart of pharaoh he says since the expression seems harsh to delicate ears and it does brethren i know that this is harsh to delicate ears it's harsh to not even delicate ears some of us some people in the church they read that and they get a little uncomfortable with this idea that god hardened pharaoh's heart doesn't seem fair doesn't seem right doesn't seem consistent those are the kinds of things that people utter or sometimes people mutter under their breath he says since the expression seems harsh to delicate ears many soften it away by turning the act into mere permission as if there were no difference between doing and permitting to be done or as if god would commend his passivity and not rather his power as to myself i am certainly not ashamed of speaking as the holy spirit speaks nor do i hesitate to believe what so often occurs in scripture that god gives the wicked over to a reprobate mind gives them up to vile affections uh blinds their minds and hardens their hearts but they object that in this way god would be made the author of sin which would be a detestable impiety i reply that god is very far from the reach of blame when he is said to exercise his judgments wherefore if blindness be a judgment of god it ought not to be brought in accusation against him that he inflicts punishment but if the cause be often concealed from us we should remember that god's judgments are not without reason called a great deep and therefore let us regard them with admiration and not with railing i think what calvin says there is bang on theologically but practically it's bang on as well we may not be able to explain as adequately as say for instance second london confession chapter three paragraph one or second london confession chapter five paragraph two i'll read those in just a few moments we may not have the theology that well worked out but practically brethren who are we to call into question the justice and the righteousness and the judgment of god almighty in other words as he says god's judgments are not without reason called a great deep and therefore let us regard them with admiration and not with railing if we can't sufficiently express theologically all of the contours let us not revile the work of god but rather let us stand in awe at the work of god and work a bit harder on our theological understanding because far too often we let emotion prevail and we say well that doesn't seem right well that doesn't seem fair well that doesn't seem consistent with a god of love the god of love hardens pharaoh's hearts a heart absolutely positively he does and if we can't work all that theology out then the problem is with us and not with god and as calvin says we ought to admire and not rail so in conclusion in terms of the judgment upon egypt we have first the end of tyranny and the liberty of god's people turn to joshua chapter 21. chapter 21. i want to make that connection not only from what we see in exodus 11 but with what we see in joshua 21 and then a couple of places in the book of revelation the freedom of god's people the blessing the felicity the the the bliss of god's people necessarily implies the destruction of god's enemies and you see that in fact if you look at joshua 21 the text specifically is verse 44. but i'll begin reading in verse 43 verses 43 to 45 is ultimately the outline of the book of joshua but verse 43 so the lord gave to israel all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers and they took possession of it and dwelt in it the lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them the lord delivered all their enemies into their hand you see they wouldn't have had the rest without the destruction and removal of their enemies and the same thing that we see in exodus 11. the crushing of the oppression necessarily leads to the freedom of god's people and then turn to the book of revelation revelation 21 and 22 you get these curious statements about the exclusion of the wicked well i think it's the connection the true bliss of the people of god necessarily implies the utter destruction of the enemies of god so in revelation 21 we have this glowing description of new jerusalem coming out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband there's this great wonderful description of this and then in verse 8 it says but the cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death in other words the people of god in the new jerusalem don't enjoy the fullness of rest without the exclusion of their enemies notice in chapter 21 at verse 27 but there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the lamb's book of life and then again in 22 14 blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city but outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie so we see that concept in exodus 11 carried through scripture not just exodus 11 but the entirety of the redemptive act in egypt or from egypt by the powerful hand of god the crushing of god's enemies is consistent with the blessing of god's people and god's people according to the book of revelation rejoice in that not in some sinful sick and sadistic way but in a manner of expressing praise unto god almighty secondly in terms of this particular chapter the rebellion of pharaoh was his issue he's responsible he brought destruction upon his people thirdly we see the perfections of god very clearly and very vividly displayed not only in this plague but in in the entirety of the plague narrative in the first place you see the justice of god in the execution of his wrath upon pharaoh egypt and the gods of egypt you've got the justice of god that's a perfection that the people of god rejoice at that's why you know the proverbs speak of this the death of the wicked is a time of rejoicing for the godly and i fear that we don't have that concept today we feel about guilty if we hear some arch enemy of the church is death well at least according to solomon and at least according to the saints in heaven they rejoiced at the destruction of the enemies of god there's something about the justice of god that for whatever reason the church has a little difficulty in fully embracing and rejoicing in secondly we see the sovereignty of god in his control of nature and in his immediate execution of the firstborn and again i want to make sure everybody understands i am not suggesting that when god works immediately when he works through means that it's not god working it is god working he chooses to use means i simply wanted to point out in that tenth plague he works immediately that all of the the credit if you will given to the execution of the firstborn is given to yahweh himself as well we have the omnipotence of god in the elimination of the of the firstborn in one swift act this didn't happen over a period of months and years and you know decades and then ultimately in terms of perfections we see the mercy of god in the redemption of israel and that's underscored as i said in verse 3. the lord gave the people favor in the sight of the egyptians when you uh we'll look at a text in just a moment and then in verse uh at the end of verse seven uh that you shall uh that you may know that the lord does make a difference between the egyptians and israel again it's not because israel was more numerous it wasn't because israel was more righteous it wasn't because israel was a great bunch of guys and girls it was because god in sovereign grace chose them as vessels of mercy to demonstrate that perfection now finally in terms of the providence of god he not only hardened pharaoh's heart and he not only gave israel favor in the sight of egypt but prior to the giving of israel favor in the sight of egypt he actually turned the egyptians hearts against israel psalm 105 verses 23 to 25 says israel also came into egypt and jacob dwelt in the land of ham he increased his people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies he turned their heart to hate his people to deal craftily with his servants now the point that i want to underscore is this is that the sovereignty of god in his decree is seen i mentioned second london confession chapter three paragraph one again i'm not suggesting that this is you know an unbiblical this is a compendium of biblical theology brought into a summary statement the divine say god has decreed in himself from all eternity by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably all things whatsoever comes to pass yet so as thereby is god neither the author of sin nor has fellowship with any therein nor is violence offered to the will of the creature nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second cause is taken away but rather established in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his degree the point of that statement just as we you know boil this all down is that while god does what he does in terms of the egyptians and pharaoh the egyptians and pharaoh do what they want to do when the confession talks about first and second causes the first cause is the reason for the second cause but the fact that there is a first cause does not diminish the responsibility of the second cause and i think that comes out in chapter five at paragraph 2. it says although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of god the first cause all things come to pass immutably and infallibly god by definition make sure everything comes to pass immutability immutably and infallibly so that there is nothing anything befalls any by chance or without his providence yet by the same providence he orders them to fall out according to the nature of second causes either necessarily freely or contingently in other words what pharaoh does pharaoh wants to do what egypt does egypt wants to do under the absolute sovereign control of god almighty again the theology may be a bit intricate and it may be a bit deep but the theology in those two statements does reflect bible teaching with reference to some difficult issues that the people of god have to navigate through and it doesn't do us any good to say well god acted one way here and he acted another way here thankfully he's nicer in the new testament that's simply not an option we need to take the whole of scripture we need to synthesize the whole of scripture and we need to make sure that we protect the perfections of god the person of the the the being of god rather and what god's word says concerning things like he heart and pharaoh's heart such that we don't say well because he hardened pharaoh's heart pharaoh wasn't responsible no pharaoh was all too willing to do precisely what he did so second london confession in chapter three which concerns of god's decree and chapter five which concerns of god's providence give us a theological framework to understand statements like this so that we don't end up confused or with contradiction or just baffled as to what scripture teaches and i may make a plug here god willing will be coming to chapters three and five in the not too distant future where we hope to deal with some of these sorts of things so i want to close in prayer and if anybody has any questions we can deal with that our father we thank you for your word we thank you for not only the bible certainly the bible as our authority our infallible infallible guide our inerrant word we thank you for good theology good men in the past good good work in terms of confessions and creeds and helps and lord we pray that we would think consistently and and know what scripture says concerning what at times appear to be difficult matters when you harden the heart of men and you do so to manifest your power and your glory throughout the earth we pray that we would take calvin's advice that we would not rail against such things but we would stand in awe at such a great god and certainly the apostle paul teaches us that so clearly in romans 9 who are we to question you help us to be humble help us to be subject and help us to be worshipers of such a great and glorious god and we pray this through jesus christ our lord amen any questions about