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Let’s go ahead, for the sake of time, and we’ll summarize the burning bush
thing. He went up and the thing that’s important is this… let’s come down
here, after Moses came up to the burning bush. Exodus 3:5, “And He said,
Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
where on thou standest is holy ground.” Now this shows that wherever
God is, it’s holy. Now we can draw also a lesson from this concerning the
Sabbath. Wherever God put His presence, that is holy time. That’s why the
Sabbath is holy. Now also we can project that out into what? The Passover,
and all the holy days as well. That’s why they are called holy days, because
God put His presence in it. So wherever God is, that is holy. “Moreover He
said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:5-6). And that’s the point I want to
make here, is that God is following through on His promises to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. And remember, we started out Genesis 15, that He said that
his descendants would be slaves in a land not their own and they would come
out with great substance. Then He also tells them what His name is.
Now, verse 13, “And Moses said unto God,…”, after God said, “I will surely
be with you.” “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath
sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is His name? what
shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:…” Now, we
find - I have a tape on that about Jesus being the I Am. So not only does
this identify the God of the Old Testament, but also it identifies that the
God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament.
“And He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath
sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, the LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is
My name forever, and this is My memorial unto all generations” (vs. 14-15).
So He said, “You go on down there and gather all the elders. Your brother
Aaron is going to meet you, and you go deliver the people.” Now let’s come
to chapter five. So they did that. Moses and Aaron - chapter 4:29, let’s
just get this summary here.
The “I Am” verse is John 8:58. Plus there are other ones in there, which in
my translation, I bring it out. He said, “If you do not believe that I Am
you shall perish in your sins.” So if you don’t have the tape you can write
for it. Write for the “I Am” tape.
Exodus 4:29, “And Moses and Aaron went and gather together all the elders
of the children of Israel: and Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had
spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the
people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children
of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed
their heads and worshiped” (Ex. 4:29-31). Went on their way.
So then here comes the first confrontation between Moses and Aaron and
Pharaoh. Now this is kind of like…how shall I put it? Beverly Hillbillies?
Maybe not quite that bad, but almost. Coming in to Pharaoh. So here they
come. Chapter 5:1, “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh,
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a
feast unto Me in the wilderness.” Now can you imagine that? Here are two
upstart people walking in to the pharaoh of Egypt and saying, “Let the
people go that we can keep a feast.” Well now, he was supreme ruler. And God
raised him up, as He said in the book of Romans, that He raised him up to
show His power to all the earth. And the very fact that it is in the
scriptures and is everywhere around the world, this story is told over, and
over, and over, and over again as a witness that God is greater than Egypt.
And even to this day, testifies that He is greater than Egypt.
So what was Pharaoh’s response? “Why, I am so happy that you two showed up.
I’ve been waiting for you. I had a dream from God.” No. Pharaoh said, “…Who
is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not
the LORD, neither will I let Israel go” (vs. 2). And can you imagine the
effrontery which he felt with these, you know, two upstarts coming in there
and telling him to let them go?
“And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray
thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our
God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. And the king
of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people
from their works? Get you unto your burdens.” Not gonna hear it. “And
Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye
make them rest from their burdens” (vs. 3-5). Now, “rest” means to
sabbatize. So here we have the Sabbath in the land of Egypt long before they
get to Mount Sinai. Of course they didn’t understand it.
And so what did Pharaoh do? “And Pharaoh commanded the same day the
taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give
the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw
for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore,
ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof: for they
be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to
our God. Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour
there in; and let them not regard vain words” (vs. 6-9). So they went out
and did that, and the people of Israel, they were expecting to be let go
just, you know, just like that at the snap of a finger; and things didn’t
work out the way that they want, and it came down just the opposite of what
they expected. Lesson: just because it doesn’t work out the first time,
doesn’t mean that God doesn’t mean what He says. He has other things in
mind.
So then, what happened? They came and they told Moses, they said, “Look,
this is getting worse! We’re not being let go.” And so, Moses and Aaron went
back to Pharaoh. Verse 20 - yes this is what they said here. Verse 20,
here’s what the people told Moses and Aaron, “…Who stood in the way as they
came forth from Pharaoh: and they said unto them, The LORD look upon you,
and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of
Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to
slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD…” And see, even Moses didn’t
believe at this point. “…And said, LORD, wherefore hast Thou
so evil entreated this people? And why is it that Thou
hast sent me?” He was even questioning, “Well what am I doing here Lord? I
went and said ‘Let them go,’ and he didn’t let them go. Now what you want me
to do?” “For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil
to this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all” (vs. 20-23).
So God gave him the answer. He said, “Wait, Moses. I’ve got a plan.” “…For
with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he
drive them out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I
am the LORD: and I appeared Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by
the name of God Almighty [which is “El Shaddai”], but by My name JEHOVAH
was I not known to them” (Ex. 6:1-3). So that’s the covenant name of God for
the Old Covenant: Jehovah. He says, “I’m going to release them.”
Now let’s come to chapter 7. Let’s see when God gets down to business what
happens here. And we find this account, now we’re going to find the signs,
and then the plagues. Notice what God said beginning in verse 1, “And the
LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god unto Pharaoh: and Aaron
thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee:
and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he 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 shall not hearken
unto you, that I may lay My hand upon Egypt, and bring forth Mine 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 forth Mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel
from among them. And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did
they” (Ex. 7:1-6).
Now, Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron was 83. So you talk about an old
church. So here’s the first sign. They go in, and the Lord said, verse 9,
“When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you [me]:
then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before
Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent” Now this is important,
because they were serpent worshipers there. “And Moses and Aaron went in
unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down
his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
Then Pharaoh also called the wise man and the sorcerers: now the magicians
of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.” So you see,
there are false miracles and there are things that Satan can do to make it
look like it’s the hand of God. “For they cast down every man his rod, and
they became serpents:…” So here is a snake fight, right out in the middle of
it. “…But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And He hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said” (vs. 9-13).
So then we have the next sign. The second sign is blood being made from
water. Now remember that the Egyptians worshipped the Nile. It was like a
god. And that’s why they had crocodile gods and frog gods, and so forth. So
as he went out there, and stretched forth his rod, verse 20, “And Moses and
Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and spoke the
waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh [right in
front of him], and in the sight of his servants; and all waters that were
in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river
died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of
the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. And the
magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was
hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said” (vs.
20-22). So then after the seven days were fulfilled, then they were able to
drink the water.
Now chapter 8. They come in again. And I think that the movie, “The Ten
Commandments”, they did a really good job in showing this. I think they
really portrayed it. That was one of the good movies that they made. Of
course, it was made years ago. I know Cecil B. DeMille produced it. I think
it was in the ‘50s, some time, it was done. And it’s a classic. And every
year about Passover time they always play the full version of “The Ten
Commandments.” So if it comes on, watch it again.
Ok, here’s the third sign. Frogs. Now if you’ve ever seen Egyptian frogs,
you will know that these are just not the little pestilential things, but
these are huge - about the size of the big head. Now, I just want you to
picture this: the land filled with frogs. Here’s what’s going to happen. God
said, chapter 8:1, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say
unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. And
if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders
with frogs: and the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go
up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and
into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into the ovens, and
into thy kneadingtroughs: and the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon
thy people, and upon all thy servants.” (Ex. 8:1-4). So they stretched out
the rod, and guess what? All these frogs started coming out of the river.
Now imagine all the sound that goes with it. All of the croaking and the
urping and so forth. So the magicians did the same thing, and they brought
up frogs. So three times the magicians were able to counterfeit the miracle
of God.
Now this got to Pharaoh. This did get to him for a little bit. Verse 8,
“Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the LORD, that
He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the
people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. And Moses said unto
Pharaoh, Glory over me [you have your say]: when shall I intreat for thee,
and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and
from thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? And he said,
Tomorrow.” So Moses said, “…Be it
according to thy word. That thou mayest know that there is none like unto the
LORD our God” (vs. 8-10). So they departed. So his heart was hardened.
Now here comes the next one. God has a way of doing things that really gets
your attention. Verse 16, “And the LORD said unto Moses, say unto Aaron,
Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice
throughout all the land of Egypt.” Now have you ever had lice? “And they did
so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the
earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land
became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.” And Rite Aid ran out of
itching powder. (Laughs) “And the magicians did so with their
enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice
upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is
the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not
unto them; as the LORD had said” (vs. 16-19). Now I wonder how they got rid
of the lice? Who knows? It doesn’t say that they removed them, does it? It
doesn’t say how long they endured. But I tell you what, they must of had a
lice-killing program there, you know, crushing them, killing them, combing
them out of the hair, cleaning out all of the beds, cleaning off all the
clothes, sweeping out the house, putting them up in buckets and burning
them. You know, you’d almost have to just picture how this went on. It
doesn’t tell us how long does what on.
But after that, now then, we have the fifth sign, which is flies. Now have
you ever been bothered by a fly? Imagine swarms of them. Have you ever seen
pictures of people in Africa and their cows with all of these big huge
flies? Well just keep that in mind when we read this here. “And the LORD
said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo,
he cometh forth to the water;…” See, every day it was the obligation of
Pharaoh to go to the river, because he was representative of god, in their
pagan religion, and he would be there at sunrise. So He says, go forth to
the water, “…And say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let My people go, that
they may serve Me” (vs. 20). And Pharaoh probably thought, “We just got rid
of the lice! You’re here again.”
Verse 21, “Else, if thou wilt not let My people go, behold, I will send
swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy
people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full
of swarms of flies, and also the ground where on they are. And
I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that
no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I
am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between
My people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be.” So the Lord did so.
Now it says, verse 24, “…And there came a grievous swarm of flies
into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into
all the land of Egypt:…” (vs. 21-24). And Rite Aid ran out of fly spray.
(Laughs) No way to get rid of them. (Pause – audience comment)
The children of Israel suffered the first four so they would understand that
God is behind it, and to let them know they better listen to God and not do
as Pharaoh. Let’s go on here.
Now it didn’t take long for Pharaoh to react this time. When you have just
one fly that goes like this, you know, doing its little square flight
pattern right in front of you. And you kind of sit there and wait for it to
land on you, and you just wait. All you do is end up slapping your face real
hard. Or there’s a fly that’s coming down on your food. Now imagine swarms
of flies. Just crawling everywhere. Just all over your hair, all over your
arm, all over the walls. You can’t even walk across the room without
squishing the flies that are there. And they’re into the cupboards and
they’re eating everything, and everything is dirty. And there would have to
be fly dung everywhere. I mean, let’s look at this realistic as how it
happens.
“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to
your God in the land.” “Now I’m not going to let you go out. You do it in
the land. I’ll go halfway.” So much with common ground. “And Moses said, It
is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the
Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the
Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?” (vs. 25-26). No.
They were probably animal worshipers, you know, just like the Indians in
India today. The Hindus, they worshiped cows. And if a miracle happens with
a cow, they run and they gather the urine and they gather the dung so they
can put it on themselves, and they can wipe themselves with the manure, and
they can anoint themselves with the urine. Now if the children of Israel
were out there sacrificing to cattle and to sheep, you know, they would
really raise a big stink.
So Moses said, “We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and
sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He shall command us. And Pharaoh said, I
will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the
wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me. And Moses
said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the
swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from
his people, tomorrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not
letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. And Moses went out from
Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD” (vs. 27-30). So Moses went out, the flies
went away, there remained not one the next day.
Now if you were the average Egyptian, and all these flies came in one day
and they bothered you for however many days they had the flies, and then all
of a sudden one day –
phfft - they’re gone. Now you’d begin to think that Moses and Aaron had
contact with God, a greater power than, you know, the sorcerers and the
magicians. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. He didn’t let them go. So
again, “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him,
Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, let My people go, that they may
serve Me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them
still, behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in
the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen,
and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.” Well,
murrain means boils and blains. “And the LORD shall sever between the cattle
of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all
that is the children’s of Israel” (Ex. 9:1-4). Now, you see, God was
also demonstrating to the children of Israel. And the thing is, as we will
see, they didn’t remember these things. By time they got seven days out of
Egypt to the Red Sea, they were complaining to God already. So you see, many
times - and this is a lesson for us- we need to remember the things that God
has done, and not be complaining to God for the things that He hasn’t yet
done.
Now let’s continue on here, verse 5, “And the LORD appointed a set time,
saying, Tomorrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.” So He did it.
“…And all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of
Israel died not one.” So Pharaoh’s getting desperate here. “And Pharaoh
sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead.
And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go”
(vs. 5-7). All right, so He put murrain, which is boils and blains, upon the
cattle. And they died.
Now then, we have the seventh sign. So now it’s going come on the people.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 8. “And the LORD said unto Moses and unto
Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle
it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust
in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with
blains upon man, and upon beast [now that’s the remainder of the beasts],
throughout all the land of Egypt.” So they did it. They sprinkled it to
heaven. And here came the boils breaking forth. “And the magicians could not
stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the
magicians, and upon all the Egyptians” (vs. 8-11). Now one boil really lays
you low. How many have ever had a boil? One. The worst kind of boil is
called, what? A Carbuncle? Isn’t that the worst kind? And that is painful.
Now I don’t know if they were covered from head to toe with boils, like Job
was. But what a sight that must of been.
And verse 12, “And the LORD hardened heart of Pharaoh, that he hearkened
not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses. And the LORD said unto
Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto
him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may
serve Me. For I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart, and
upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there
is none like Me in all the earth” (vs. 12-14). Now we get the plagues.
The signs were bad enough.
So here we have the whole purpose of Pharaoh, verse 15, “For now I will
stretch out My hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence;
and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause
have I raised thee up, for to shew
in thee My power; and that My name may be declared throughout all the
earth. As yet exaltest thou thyself against My people, if that thou wilt not
let them go? Behold, tomorrow about this time, I will cause it to rain a
very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation
thereof even until now” (vs. 15-18). So he said, “Whatever left of the
cattle, you get them out of there and get them under cover, because they’re
going to die.” And that’s what happened.
Verse 22, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward
heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt,…” Now can you
imagine the weather reports today, if there were snow in Cairo? I mean, just
snow. “…Upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field,
throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched forth his rod toward
heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the
ground;…” That’s probably because of the lightning. “…And the LORD rained
hail upon a land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the
hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt
since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of
Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail
smote every herb of the field, and break every tree of the field. Only in
the land of Goshen with the children of Israel were, there was no
hail.” (vs. 22-26)
Now this time Pharaoh kinda, almost got the point. I mean, what does it
take sometimes to get people’s attention? Verse 27, “And Pharaoh sent, and
called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the
LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Entreat the
LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty
thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer”
(vs. 27-28). Now I tell you what, after you hear hail and see lightning, and
hear the thunder, and have that stacking up, and of course, you’re used to
this warm climate. Now can you imagine what all of this hail and ice is
going to do? It’s going to drop the temperature; you don’t have any clothes
for cold weather. There you are, hail all round. Man. But he still didn’t
quite get it.
Now verse 34, “And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the
thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his
servants.” And so then, God said, chapter 10, “Now I’m going to bring
another plague.” Now you see, by the time all this is done, there is
virtually nothing left in Egypt. Chapter 10:1, “And the LORD said unto
Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and heart of his
servants, that I might shew these My signs before him; and that thou mayest
tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have
wrought in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them;…” (Ex. 10:1-2).
So there’s a time when we are to read and go through these things to know
that it was the hand of God that did it.
“And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith
the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself
before Me? Let My people go that they may serve Me. Else, if thou refuse to
let My people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see
the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which
remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for
you out of the field: and they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all
thy servants, and houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers,
nor thy father’s fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the
earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh. And
Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto
us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not
yet that Egypt is destroyed?” (vs. 3-7).
“And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto
them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but
who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young
and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and
with our herds we will go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go,
and your little ones: look to it, for evil is before you [me].
Not so: go now ye that are men,…” Just the men. “I'm only going to
let the men go.” Verse 11, “…And serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And
they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence” (vs. 8-11).
So then what happened? Moses went out, raised his rod, and the locusts
came. Covered the land. And I don’t imagine they were itty-bitty things. I
bet they were huge, giant devouring things. And they ate everything. Verse
15, “For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was
darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the
trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the
trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.” Now
here’s worldly repentance again. “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in
haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against
you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat
the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only” (vs.
15-16). So they went out and did it. When they were gone his heart was
hardened.
So then here comes another plague. Now this is quite a plague. You kind of
really have to imagine this. So verse 21, “And the LORD said unto Moses,
Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, but that there may be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness
which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven;
and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:” They
could feel it. It would be kind of like this: have you ever been in a room
with all the doors shut, and you turn out the light, and you can’t see
anything? Now, three days, “…They saw not one another, neither rose any from
his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their
dwellings” (vs. 21-23).
Boy, Pharaoh, he really had it this time. “And Pharaoh called unto Moses,
and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be
stayed:…” “All of our cattle are killed, we want yours.” “…Let your little
ones also go with you. And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and
burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. Our cattle
also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof
must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must
serve the LORD, until we come thither. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, and he would not let them go. And Pharaoh said to him,…” Now this
kind of sounds like the last stand of Hitler, right? Very similar to it.
“And Pharaoh said to him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my
face no more;…” “I’m so important, you better not come in my presence and
see my face any more lest you die!” Verse 29, “And Moses said, Thou hast
spoken well, I will see thy face again no more” (vs. 24-29).
And so then, God said, “I have yet one more plague,” the fourth plague. And
this one is going to be the most devastating of all. So we’ll finish verse
11 here, and the next time we’ll pick it up with the Passover in chapter 12.
Let’s finish Chapter 11 here. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I
bring one plague more upon Pharaoh,…” This is the fourth plague. So
you had seven signs and four plagues. “…And upon Egypt; afterwards he will
let you go hence: when he shall let
you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence all together. Speak now in
the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor,…” Now this
wasn’t borrow, this was spoiling. “…Of his neighbor, and every woman of her
neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold” (Ex. 11:1-2). I imagine they
were so frightened and fearful, that when the children of Israel went up and
said, “I want your gold and I want your silver,” they said, “Here!” Lest
they die. Or, lest more plagues come upon them.
“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,…” Because,
remember, at the beginning in chapter 7, He says, “I have made you a god to
Pharaoh.” So he was very great. “…In the land of Egypt, in the sight of
Pharaoh servants, and in the sight of the people. And Moses said, Thus saith
the LORD, About midnight…” Now, we’ll see that’s the 14th day of the first
month. “…Will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all firstborn in the
land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his
throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the
mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.” That is, which ever ones are left
alive. “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt,
such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. But against
any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man
or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel” (vs. 3-7).
Now let’s understand something very important here concerning the Church.
God has put a difference between His people and the world. A very big
difference. You are the people of God. You represent God and all that He is
to everyone else in the world that comes in contact with you, you see.
That’s very important to understand. And God has called you to be in His
kingdom. Therefore, that’s why He says we’re not to be part of the world.
We’re in the world, but we’re not of the world. Now, just like there could
be no compromise with the children of Israel with the Egyptians in their
dealings with God. So He puts a difference.
“And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down
themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow
thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in great
anger.” Boy. What a witness to Pharaoh. He says, “You get out of here and
don’t see my face anymore.” And Moses just really said, said all these
words, and then left in great anger. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh
shall not hearken unto you; that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of
Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the
LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let children of Israel
go out of his land” (vs. 8-10). And the reason God did that was to show the
children of Israel that He was God, He alone could deliver them, He alone
would fight their battles and overcome them. And if they trusted in Him,
they would be released from their slavery.
Now we come to chapter 12 and the Passover. So we’ll continue next time
with the Passover and the children of Israel.
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