SERIES: 02 Exodus - 2011
MESSAGE: Exodus 10-11
SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig
SCRIPTURE: Exodus 10-11

MESSAGE SUMMARY
As we study the ten plagues on Egypt, we see not only a preview of future judgment in the tribulation, but also a picture of the believer's standing before God. Let's examine the plagues of locusts and darkness and hear God's warning of the ultimate plague--the death of the firstborn. We'll learn how the Lord targets the false worship systems of this world, and sets His children apart from condemnation.

DETAILED NOTES

  1. Introduction
    1. Difficult Ministry
      1. Moses
        1. Facing unsympathetic king
        2. Placing His people in jeopardy
        3. In the wilderness, millions will complain against him
      2. Jeremiah
        1. Preached 40 years, over the reign of 5 kings
        2. No positive results
        3. Wanted to quit
      3. Jonah did quit
      4. Moses wanted to quit before he started: send someone else! (See Exodus 4:13)
    2. God is patient
      1. Problem: we misinterpret His patience
        1. God is weak
        2. God doesn't care
        3. God approves
      2. "[God] is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish" (2 Peter 3:9)
  2. Exodus 10
    1. God wants every generation to know His story
    2. Most important job is being a parent
      1. "Children are a heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3)
      2. Child's time
        1. 16% in school
        2. 1% in Sunday school
        3. 83% at home
      3. Even unbelievers recognize the value of parenting: "Why do you turn and scrape every stone to gather wealth and take so little care of children to whom one day you must relinquish all?"—Socrates
    3. Eighth plague: locusts
      1. Moses is emboldened to tell Pharaoh he is prideful
      2. Through seven attention-getting disasters, God has been patient
      3. How Long:
        1. First pharaoh is asked by God
        2. Now pharaoh is asked by his staff
      4. Egypt's anti-Jewish policies ruined Egypt
        1. Joseph delivered the country from starvation
        2. Moses brings the country to the brink of starvation
      5. Short-horned locust
        1. 2 inch body, 4-5" wingspan
        2. Travel in columns 100 feet tall, 4-5 miles long
        3. Reproduce in the desert
        4. Migrate long distances
        5. Decimate all green things, bark stripped
      6. Historic plagues of locusts
        1. 1866 in Algiers: 200,000 people died from starvation in the famine that followed
        2. 1951 in Middle East: Hundreds of thousands of miles stripped bare
      7. Pharaoh: "Who are the ones that are going?"
        1. It's dangerous out there!
        2. Only the men should go
          1. Wants them to come back: his slaves, workforce
          2. Compromise ideology
          3. We are also told to compromise: "It's okay to be a Christian, just don't drag your kids into it"
      8. Locusts came on the wind from east (Sirocco wind)
      9. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt (little green grows, now eaten)
      10. God targeted the false Egyptian gods
        1. One god depicted as a locust
        2. Serapis was to protect vegetation from locusts
      11. Locusts don't appear supernaturally; brought in by natural phenomenon
        1. Natural phenomena heightened by supernatural factors
        2. Combination of miracle and providence
          Miracle: extraordinary event; God intervenes, contravenes natural law
          Providence: Supernatural God superintends natural events
          I.e., Ruth gleaning in Boaz's field; Mordecai overhears Haman's plot
    4. Pharaoh: I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you
      1. Confession: the first step, admitting sin
      2. Repentance: the second step, turning away from known sin
        1. "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:10)
        2. Repentance: key hallmark of the Bible
          1. John the Baptists' first message
          2. Jesus Christ's first message
    5. Ninth plague: Darkness
      1. God strikes the foundation of Egyptian theology
        1. Ra (Re) Sun God
        2. Pharaoh considered the physical incarnation of Ra
      2. Darkness felt
        1. Sandstorms
        2. Supernatural absence of light
      3. God reserves the judgment of darkness for severe sin or wickedness (according to the Babylonian Talmud)
        1. Jesus on the cross, darkness for three hours
        2. "You have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death" (Acts 2:23)
      4. Preview of the Day of the Lord: the Tribulation period
        1. "A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Joel 2:2)
        2. Bottomless pit: smoke arose; locusts (See Revelation 9)
        3. Fifth bowl: full of darkness (See Revelation 16)
      5. Pharaoh: God serve the LORD, only let your flocks and herds be kept back
        1. Compromise
        2. God said to leave completely
        3. Pharaoh wants to keep the wealth
          The world wants us to leave our money in the world
          Some won't honor the Lord with their money
          "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness" (Psalm 24:1)
        4. Only hurts self when we fight against God; "Woe to him who strives with his Maker!"  (Isaiah 45:9)
  3. Exodus 11
    1. Now Moses finds out there will be 10 plagues; just one more
    2. Plague - stroke; worse than those before
    3. Moses delivers his final speech before Pharaoh
    4. Collect Egypt's articles of silver and gold
      1. Collect back wages from the Egyptians
      2. Use the riches to guild the tabernacle
    5. All the firstborn in Egypt will die
    6. Why so pervasive a judgment?
      1. God warned Pharaoh
        1. Israel is my firstborn
        2. Pharaoh had killed the baby boys
        3. God works with Pharaoh in a currency he understands
      2. All Egypt had enslaved Israel
      3. God is no respecter of persons
      4. Type of the future judgment:  "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God" (Revelation 20:12)
    7. A dog won't even bark at them
    8. God targets the false gods of Egypt
      1. Osiris: provided safe passage for the dead
      2. Isis: protected children
    9. Firstborn
      1. Focus on the firstborn (i.e. Israel, son, death)
      2. Firstborn often not favored
        1. Abel, not Cain (later Seth)
        2. Isaac, not Ishmael
        3. Jacob, not Esau
      3. First birth not accepted before God
      4. We need a second birth: "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3)
      5. Firstborn represents humanity's best; human effort, not enough

Figures Referenced: Socrates
Cross References: Exodus 4:13; Psalm 24:1; Psalm 127:3; Isaiah 45:9; Joel 2:2; John 3:3; Acts 2:23; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Peter 3:9; Revelation 9; Revelation 16; Revelation 20:12

Topic: The plagues

Keywords: Moses, pharaoh, locusts, darkness, firstborn, miracle, providence, compromise


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