1. Introduction - John Saffron vs. God Recently a TV series screened called John Saffron versus God. I didn’t get to see it, but I understand it was about this funny guy who is also an agnostic, going all around the world poking fun at religion and thumbing his nose at God. It’s a pretty audacious and foolish title to choose isn’t it? Because you know who is going to win that contest don’t you? In fact, Saffron ended up biting off more than he could chew, when he actually became demon possessed, and had to rely upon the exorcist he thought he was debunking to liberate him from it! The title Saffron chose exemplifies the kind of attitude toward God that has been there in our world since Adam ate the fruit. And the story of the Exodus that we have been following over recent weeks, certainly highlights this attitude in the person of Pharaoh. If Pharaoh had access to a movie crew back in his day, he would have chosen a very similar title for his own documentary. Pharaoh versus The Lord. From the start Pharaoh’s attitude set the scene for a theological battle. It is a matter of who really is sovereign, whose will is supreme, as Romans 9 points out. Neither the will of a human being, nor the power of the gods he worships, are any impediment to the One True God working out his purposes of salvation for his people and the judgement of his enemies. You recall last time that Pharaoh would not even consider allowing the Israelites to have a brief holiday in the desert to worship their God, let alone Moses’ next request which was to allow them to leave Egypt altogether. And because of Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal, even after seeing the miracles Moses and Aaron did, God unrolls his shirt sleeves and gets down to business. He sends a series of disasters on the land and on Pharaoh and his officials. We usually call them simply the ten plagues. Each plague was a direct challenge to the authority of those Egyptian gods who were supposed to control the things that were affected. 2. The Ten Plagues ( Exodus 7:25-12:50) - Nile; Frogs; Fleas; Flies; Livestock; Boils; Hail; Locusts; Darkness; Death of Firstborn PLAGUE ONE affects the Nile. The water of the Nile was the only source of life to the Egyptian people. From it they got water to drink and wash in, fish to eat, reeds to make into papyrus and clothing, and many other benefits. That’s why the Nile itself was considered as divine – it was seen in fact, as the bloodstream of the god Osiris, so turning the Nile to blood was poetic justice really. When Pharaoh resisted the command of God once again, Aaron raised his hand over the waters of Egypt and the water turned to blood. The fish died and the water produced a smell that turned the stomachs of the people. There are many natural explanations for this miracle. But whether God used natural means or supernatural means to change the water into blood (or into what looked like blood), it really doesn't matter. What made the event miraculous was not just what happened but that it happened exactly when Moses said it would. However, the court magicians were able to convince Pharaoh that this was really no big deal and that they could get the same kinds of effect from their "secret arts", so Pharaoh was unmoved by this plague, especially as it only lasted a short time. PLAGUE TWO Seven days after the first plague God says: "If you don't obey the whole country will be overrun with frogs." And so it was. They were in the fields, homes, ovens, bedrooms and even the palace. Pharaoh’s magicians were able to make frogs appear too. But one thing they couldn’t do was remove them! So this time, Pharaoh asks Moses and Aaron to remove the frogs. And they do, but once the crisis was gone, so was the promise to obey God. It's like the promises people make who say, "Lord, if you get me out of this situation I will be in church every Sunday." As soon as the crisis passes, the promise is forgotten. PLAGUE THREE The third plague is an infestation of gnats. Some translators say that the word may also mean lice or fleas. Whatever they were they were everywhere and made people very uncomfortable. This was the first plague the magicians could not duplicate. The power of Satan is vast, but also limited. PLAGUE FOUR Swarms of flies so dense that there was no place you could escape them. They were outside, they were in the homes, they were everywhere . . . . except in Goshen where the Israelites lived. For the first time, God makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. From this time on the plagues happened to the Egyptians only. It was a miracle that the insects came on command, but just as much a miracle that they did not go into Goshen. PLAGUE FIVE The next plague is on the livestock. God gives a specific time that the plague will come. But no animals in Goshen were killed. Pharaoh actually investigated to see if the Israelites had truly been spared. But even when he saw they had, he remained unmoved. What a hard heart! PLAGUE SIX. …was a devastating plague of boils or ulcers so painful that Pharaoh’s advisors could not even stand before Moses. But still Pharaoh would not relent. PLAGUE SEVEN The granddaddy of all hailstorms. This time God warned the Egyptians to take cover. Many were coming to fear the Lord by now, and so escaped the worst of it by staying indoors that day, but. this storm "struck everything in the fields-- both men and animals: it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree." (9:25) The EIGHTH PLAGUE is a plague of locusts that eat everything growing in their path. Yet Pharaoh is obstinate. Pharaoh's advisors are willing to concede defeat but not Pharaoh! Instead he resorts to feigning repentance. He says, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you." But Pharaoh wasn't really repentant, and once again when the crisis is over, he refuses to let Israel go. THE NINTH PLAGUE is the plague of darkness that we read about this morning, and the TENTH plague is the death of the firstborn sons. - All but Pharaoh could see the Hand of God! (8:19) In all of this, all the other Egyptians could now clearly see the hand of the LORD. All except Pharaoh. Even the magicians acknowleged that God’s power was greater than theirs. In chapter 8 we read: “The magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘‘This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.” 3. The LORD Rules! (Exodus 10:21-11:10) - God Controls Nature (10:21-22) In the end, anyone, no matter how great or small, who sets themselves up against the will of the Almighty God, will be overthrown. Everyone who sets out to ridicule God and his people, will be brought low themselves. The Lord Rules. That is the message of the plagues, and we see here in the plague of darkness in chapter ten verse 21, that he.rules over nature, literally with a wave of the hand. Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. - God Controls the Egyptians (11:3) Now people often are willing to concede God’s control over nature. But we see in verse 3 of chapter 11, something a little more unsettling. God controls not just nature, but he influences the minds of men and women. He controls the inclinations of the hearts of the Egyptians for the good of his people. It says: “Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” (The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.) Notice that? God made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, so that they willingly gave them articles of silver and gold to take away with them when the time came to leave Egypt. This is a great incentive to us to pray that God would move the hearts of people. We can pray that God will make governments responsive to the plight of Christians who are oppressed. We can pray that school principals and parents and teachers associations will be favorably disposed towards the teaching of religious instruction in schools. We can pray for God to guide the hands of the surgeon who operates. We can pray that God will move the hearts of those who don’t know Jesus to respond to the gospel. - God Controls Pharaoh (11:10) As well as controlling nature and controlling the other Egyptians, those whose hearts were not as hard as Pharaoh’s, the most amazing display of God’s power is that he controls even Pharaoh himself, turning even Pharaoh’s stubborn pride to achieve what God intends all along to happen. Verse 10: “Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.” In the same way that God intensified the effects of natural disasters in the plagues, so God actually strengthened the natural rebellion of Pharaoh's heart. It would have been easy for Pharaoh to let the people go . . . not because he wanted to, but because of the public outcry. He could have saved face and blamed his advisors. But Pharaoh is not repentant even in the face of considerable political heat from his own people. God takes this hardened man and strengthens his rebellion so that God might use Him for his purposes. This is a frightening passage because it shows that unbelief can become so hard that all that is left is for God to use that hardness for his purpose. Because Pharaoh has rejected God’s mercy, God now is going to use Pharaoh to teach others about His power and grace. God says in chapter 9 to Pharaoh "For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." God tells Pharaoh that he deserves to be destroyed and the only reason God hasn't destroyed him is because he is going to use Pharaoh's obstinacy for His glory. Pharaoh may say that he will never glorify the Lord . . . but the Lord is going to use him anyway to do just that. - But Isn’t God Unfair? (Rom 9:14-19) But hang on, isn’t God unfair? This is the very question the apostle Paul anticipates in Romans chapter 9 verse 14” Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” You see, God does not have to have mercy on anyone. We are all rebellious like Pharaoh. We all naturally don’t want God to rule our lives. We want to do things our way. The wonder is not that God leaves some in their hardness of heart, but that he mercifully chooses to soften the hearts of others. The apostle goes on to say: “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: ‘‘Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” - Letting God Be God (Rom 9:21-26) It just really goes against the grain, doesn’t it? You know why? Because our sinful human nature makes us want to believe that we are autonomous. That we are independent of God. That our wills are completely free. That we can choose whatever we want, and that God has no right to step in and change us or impose his will on us. That’s why the apostle brings us to our sense with such stark words. “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” I have heard people say, when they read stories like the Exodus, “well if that’s what God is like, then I don’t want to have anything to do with him! I refuse to believe in a God who controls us for his own purposes and violates our free will.” But friends, that attitude is the very essence of human sin and pride. And when a person becomes a Christian, they submit to his will for their lives, knowing that he is not a tyrant, but a good and loving benefactor. They acknowledge that God is king, he rules, not us. You see, we must let God be God. Either his will is sovereign, or ours is. If God is not able to control us, then we are stronger than He. But he shows how all powerful he is by the fact that even those who determine, like Pharaoh, to defy him absolutely, still end up doing what will glorify God. John Saffron, Kerry Packer, Phillip Adams – they cannot defy God. They cannot win. Not even Satan can defy God’s purposes. In the end, even all of his schemes and evil will somehow be turned around to show forth God’s glory and his mercy and love for his people. - Who Hardened Pharaoh’ Heart? A. God B. Pharaoh’s Sin C. Satan’s Influence D. All of the Above? At this point it may be helpful to point out that it is only our finite human logic that lets us down, not God or his Word. The bible teaches that more than one willing agent can be simultaneously responsible for something that happens. You see, who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Was it God? Yes, it clearly was. The bible says so. Was it Pharaoh? Right again, and again the bible says “Pharaoh hardened his heart.” Was it Satan’s influence? Undoubtedly he gave Pharaoh and his advisors their demonic powers, and he led them into the worship of false gods. The same is true of other great mysteries of Scripture. Judas chose to betray Jesus by his own weakness and greed. Yet Satan entered into him and made him do it. But the bible also says that it was God who purposed this to happen so that Jesus would die for our sin. This multiple agency of scripture happens time and again, and rather than try to analyse or comprehend it, we should just accept it as something that is beyond our understanding. “As high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts and my ways above your ways,” says the Lord Almighty. 4. The Sovereign Mercy of God (Rom 9:14-26) The answer to the problems that God’s absolute sovereign power raises, is the sovereign mercy of God, as Paul points out in Romans nine. - Man’s Desire or Effort vs. God’s Mercy He says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” And he goes on in verses 23 to 26: “What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” - If God’s Will is not Free, then Mercy is not Mercy Either we have free will or God does, and if God’s will is not free, then mercy is not mercy. If God does not choose to shower the riches of his grace on us freely, by his own decision, unaffected by our will, then grace is not grace, and we are earning our salvation by our own efforts and will power. But it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God’s sheer incomprehensible mercy. In the end, all we can say is that he loves me… because he loves me… because he loves me. When we read this story we see the horrible things God does to Egypt. What we may miss is the great lengths God is going to in order to set the Israelites free. Aren't you glad that God is just as persistent in His love as in His judgment? Because if he waited until we came to him, we would never come by our own means. I don’t resent it that God changed my heart, because I couldn’t have done it myself. He is relentless not just in judgement, but in his mercy. We will see this message played out again and again in Exodus. The people grumble and rebel but God continues to show His love. He is the God who pursues His children. What would have happened if God had written you off when you resisted Him? What if He had given up on you when you failed again? The Lord continues to call out to any who will listen. Where are you in this story? Are you rebelling against the will of God and his right to rule? Are you tempted by the rebelliousness of the world around you? Do you want to abandon all that God has commanded? - The Mystery of God’s Free Will Or are you content, through faith in Jesus Christ, to revel in the mystery of God’s free will? To thank him for the wonderful truth that somehow, by his amazing grace, he has overcome our natural unwillingness to trust him, and has saved us by his own free choice and out of his great love for us in the Lord Jesus Christ? 1