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Exodus 7

Taught on | Topic: Moses | Keywords: Moses, Aaron, Nile, plagues, Egypt, blood, communion

After 400 years in bondage, the LORD is about to deliver His people out of Egypt. In dramatic fashion, He targets the false gods of Egypt and reveals Who is boss. As we examine the first plague, we'll see the water of the Nile turned into blood: a sign of judgment to the Egyptians--a sign of deliverance to Israel.

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2/9/2011
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Exodus 7
Exodus 7
Skip Heitzig
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After 400 years in bondage, the LORD is about to deliver His people out of Egypt. In dramatic fashion, He targets the false gods of Egypt and reveals Who is boss. As we examine the first plague, we'll see the water of the Nile turned into blood: a sign of judgment to the Egyptians--a sign of deliverance to Israel.
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02 Exodus - 2011

02 Exodus - 2011

Beginning in the brickyards of Egypt and ending in the tabernacle filled with God's presence, the book of Exodus chronicles the deliverance of God's people from Egypt and records the end of their oppression under Pharaoh. It also provides an account of the beginning of a prophecy fulfilled: God promised Abraham descendants beyond number, and on the pages of Exodus we see Israel become a great nation.

In this verse-by-verse study, Pastor Skip Heitzig presents an in-depth look at Moses, the ten plagues, the ten commandments, the desert wanderings, the construction of the tabernacle, and more. As we study, we'll see the grace of God, witness the glory of the Lord, and a catch a glimpse of Israel's coming Savior.

Visit expoundabq.org for more information on this series.

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Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. Current Events: Crisis in Cairo
      1. Protestors in Tahrir Square
      2. Attempt to oust Hosni Mubarek
      3. Wael Ghonim (Egyptian Google executive) "Ready to die to bring change."
    2. Exodus: the Original Crisis in Cairo
      1. A prominent people became slaves
      2. Protesting for release from Pharaoh to go worship the Lord
      3. Seventy went to Egypt with Jacob
      4. In 400 years, they multiplied to 2-3 million
    3. Israel Enslaved
      1. "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." (Exodus 1:8)
      2. The spiritual history of Egypt was forgotten
    4. Like the US, forgetting our spiritual roots
      1. The main text book in schools used to be the Bible
      2. Harvard was developed to train men for ministry
    5. We should remember our spiritual history—personally and nationally
      1. Promotion: Coca-Cola
        1. 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola
        2. 72% of the world has seen a bottle/can of Coca-Cola
        3. 51% of the world has tasted it
        4. Goal to have the world taste
        5. Advertise
      2. Failure to Promote: Arbuckle Coffee
        1. Formerly #1 coffee
        2. Stated goal: we don't need to advertise
      3. Remember our spiritual history and advertise to future generations
        1. So they remember
        2. Communion: "In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'" (1 Corinthians 11:25)
  2. The Showdown
    1. A face off between YHWH and Pharaoh
      1. The true God of the universe
      2. Pharaoh thought he was a god
    2. "Who is the Lord?" (Exodus 5:2)
    3. God will introduce Himself in powerful and dramatic ways
    4. This event becomes the highlight of Jewish history
      1. Passover
      2. Jewish Calendar
    5. Egyptians considered Pharaoh a deity: Horus the son of Hathor. Hathor's father was the god Amon Ra, the sun god.
    6. The Lord will decisively judge their gods
  3. Exodus 7:1-12
    1. Moses as God
      1. Pharaoh couldn't relate to an unseen God
        1. Egyptian gods had some sort of physical manifestation (i.e., statues of stone, metal, wood; deified humanity; objects of nature: the Nile, the sun)
        2. Polytheistic/pantheistic
      2. God performs very tangible signs through Moses, elevating him in the eyes of Pharaoh
    2. Aaron as prophet
      1. נָבִיא - nabi - spokesman, speaker, prophet
      2. As God will transmit his Word through prophets, Moses will transmit message thru Aaron
      3. God speaks to Moses, Moses tells Aaron, Aaron the mouthpiece to Pharaoh
      4. Moses had said "I am slow of speech" (Exodus 4:10) and "I am of uncircumcised lips" (Exodus 6:12, 30)
    3. You shall speak all that I command you
      1. Don't add or take a word away
      2. We too are called to speak the words of God
        1. Don't mess with His words
        2. "If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:18-19)
      3. Churches should teach through the Bible
        1. So we understand "the whole counsel of God" (see Acts 20:27)
        2. Cover every topic important to God, in context, with biblical emphasis
    4. God will harden Pharaoh's heart
      1. חָזַק  chazaq - to fortify or to strengthen (God fortifies Pharaoh's choice)
      2. כָּבַד kabad - heavy, insensible   (Pharaoh makes his own choice)
    5. God's sovereignty interacts with human responsibility
      1. We make a choice
      2. God confirms us in that choice
      3. He uses our decision and His confirmation to fulfill His intention
    6. We can be used by God at any age
      1. Moses 80; Aaron 83 - just beginning ministry
      2. In the Old Testament, the age of a prominent person given when major event occurs
        1. Joseph was 30 when he became prime ministry (see Genesis 41:46)
        2. Abram was 86 when Hagar bore Ishmael (Genesis 16:16)
        3. Abraham 99 when circumcised (Genesis 17:24)
      3. "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
      4. Older people have a lot to offer: wisdom
        1. Caleb was 85 when he asked for the land (Joshua 14:10)
        2. Ronald Reagan was 77 when he left office
        3. George Bernard Shaw was 94 when one of his plays was produced
        4. Benjamin Franklin was 81 when a framer of the Constitution
    7. Pharaoh asks for credentials to authenticate authority
      1. Rod cast, becomes a serpent
        1. Serpent considered symbol of wisdom and magic in ancient culture
        2. "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." (Matthew 10:16)
        3. The Egyptian goddess Wadjet represented by a serpent
        4. Egyptians believed that magic held creation together
      2. Moses did wonders through miraculous power of God
      3. Magicians duplicated the wonder - enchantments: sleight of hand or demonic power
        1. A type of cobra could be immobilized by bending the head back; it became rigid, and when cast down it slithered away
        2. Satan can bring counterfeit miracles
          "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,"(2 Thessalonians 2:9)
          "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect." (Matthew 24:24)
          Satan showed Jesus all kingdoms of the world in a moment (see Matthew 4:8)
        3. Two of the magicians were Jannes and Jambres (see 2 Timothy 3:8)
      4. This is a battle of the gods
        1. Like Elijah on Mt. Carmel (see 1 Kings 18)
        2. Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods
  4. Series of Ten Plagues
    1. Grow in intensity and severity
    2. Purpose
      1. Reveal the person of God
        1. "Who is the Lord?" (Exodus 5:2)
        2. Reveals Himself through mighty signs and wonders (see v. 3)
      2. Reveal the power of God
        1. Targeted at specific Egyptian gods and goddesses (see Exodus 12:12)
        2. There were over 3000 gods in Egypt's polytheistic/pantheistic culture
        3. There is only one true God
        4. Polytheism often began with monotheism: added human reason and developed other deities.
    3. First three plagues upon the luxury of Egypt
    4. Second three plagues upon the lifestyle of Egypt
    5. Final plagues upon Life itself
  5. First Plague: Blood
    1. Divine Instruction
      1. Go to Pharaoh in the morning
        1. Probably summer
        2. Pharaoh probably walked out every day to offer praise to the gods of the Nile
      2. Gods targeted
        1. Hapi - depicted as a fat man with breasts of a woman (fertility and nourishment)
        2. Isis
        3. Khnum
        4. Osiris - Egyptians believed the Nile was his bloodstream
    2. Miraculous Sensation
      1. River stank: as if God says, "Your religion stinks!"
      2. No water to drink: as if God says, "Your gods can't quench your thirst!"
        1. Nile was their source of refreshment and life
        2. Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." (John 7:37)
        3. Jesus said, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  (John 4:13-14)
    3. Resultant Action
      1. Magicians powerless to reverse the miracle
      2. Turn water to blood (water from fresh water sources around Nile [v. 24])
      3. No water for seven days
      4. Preview of coming attractions
        1. "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was." (2 Timothy 3:1-9)
        2. "Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died." (Revelation 16:3)
        3. As he judged the false gods of Egypt, He will judge again
    4. Blood a sign that God wants to deliver His people
      1. To the Egyptians: a sign of judgment—"The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein." (Psalm 24:1)
      2. To the Israelites: a sign of salvation
      3. Jesus shed blood a sign to deliver people once for all.

Hebrew Terms: נָבִיא - nabi - spokesman, speaker, prophet; חָזַק  chazaq - to fortify or to strengthen;כָּבַד kabad - heavy, insensible 
Figures Referenced: Hosni Mubarek, Wael Ghonim, Ronald Reagan, George Bernard Shaw, Benjamin Franklin
Cross References: Genesis 16:16; Genesis 17:24; Genesis 41:46; Exodus 1:8; Exodus 5:2; Exodus 12:12; Joshua 14:10; 1 Kings 18; Psalm 24:1; Matthew 4:8; Matthew 10:16; Matthew 24:24; John 4:13-14; John 7:37; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Timothy 4:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Revelation 16:3

Transcript

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Okay, why don't you turn in your bibles to Exodus Chapter 7 tonight? Exodus Chapter 7, you probably are already there.  But do me a favor, turn your heads to your right and say hi to all the people in the family room.  Wave to them, there you go.  They're your family too and then if you can just look back and see all the people in the balcony, wave to them.  See, we just don't want to neglect anyone here.  Okay, Exodus chapter 7 tonight, that's the study we want to look at and then we want to have our bible study and afterwards we want segue right into the Lord's Supper and take that together.

Let's pray; Father in heaven, we approach your word with a sense of anticipation, eagerness because we believe that even as you have spoken in times past you still speak today.  You speak to the person of your son, you speak to the pages of your word, and you speak in the confines of the human heart of men and women using the very principles that are preserved for us on the pages of Holy Writ.  We pray that you'd instruct us, challenge us, admonish us, encourage us, and ready our hearts as we take the Lord's Supper in a few moments later on, in Jesus name.  Amen.

If you follow the news at all the last couple of weeks, the big headline is Crisis in Cairo.  You know about the people that gather everyday in Tahrir Square in Cairo.  A hundred thousand people last Friday alone gathering together several anti government protest wanting to oust 82, almost 83 year old Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt and that military coalition that he has been in charged of for years.  Mubarak last we have heard the reports, deciding to stay firm as firm as he can to allow stability in the country because when you pull out a leader and there's this major vacuum, anything can happen especially in places like Egypt.

I read an interesting report today from a man by the name of Wael Ghonim, he is the Executive President of Google in Egypt and he is so sick of Mubarak presidency.  He says, "I am willing to die in order to see change in my country."  So there is a crisis in Cairo.  The book of Exodus is the original crisis in Cairo.  A whole group of people who were once prominent and had become slaves are protesting, if you will, the government of pharaoh wanting release from his stronghold wanting to go out into the wilderness sacrifice to Yahweh their god and get their own land as well.

Now just a little back track, if you recall 70 people, that's all.  Seventy people, a part of Jacob's family went down to Egypt and they populated there.  They were there for a number of years under the reign of Joseph who was second in command; Prime Minister of Egypt.  Seventy people go down with Jacob and the family multiplied, the bible said.  Four hundred years later, the time we're studying now, there's between two and three million Jewish people who had become slaves.  They say, well what happened there? Well what happened there, were told in Chapter 1 of Exodus, is there a rose, a king, a pharaoh who did not know Joseph? Joseph was part of his history.  But either he didn't review it or he conveniently forgot it, but he didn't remember what God had done in the spiritual history of Egypt.

When I read that, I thought about us and I thought about how we, like any nation can forget the roots, spiritual roots of that country.  As an example, there was a time in this country when the main textbook was the bible.  Good luck trying to find a bible in a public school nowadays, you might get kicked out.  Harvard University was developed to train up men for the ministry, and again the bible was at the forefront.  Well those days are gone and a lot of people have forgotten that that's the original history.  So we do well to not only remember our spiritual history personally and nationally but to pass it on.

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands because it would be a 100%, how many people have heard of Coca-Cola, who hasn't?  97% of the world has heard of coca-cola, 97% almost a 100% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola.  72% of the world has seen a can of Coke or a bottle of Coke depending on what cultural context you're in and 51% of the world has tasted Coke.  Over half of the entire population of planet Earth has tasted Coke.  The reason for that is Coca- Cola made it their goal to have the world taste their product.  And they went on a huge and are still on a huge advertising campaign.  It's interesting that Coca-Cola advertises.  You think why do they need to advertise they're so big?  They're so big because they advertise.

And, here's the contrast, how many of you ever heard of Arbuckle coffee?  Probably no one.  They were the number one seller of coffee in America at one time.  Everybody in America knew about Arbuckle coffee.  Nobody knows about them anymore because they, as a stated goal said, "We do not need to advertise." So they didn't pass it down to the next generation.  Well you know what, we need to not only remember our spiritual history we need to advertise it to the next generation and the next generation and the next generation.  This is how your grandfather or your father or your mother came to know Christ and here's the legacy of our family.  And you recall that spiritual history so that they will remember their roots.  It's very important and that's why we have communion, often.  Some do it everyday.  I do it once a week with a group of pastors up in my office and we do it as a body of Christ once a month.  We do it often, Jesus said in remembrance of him.  And were passing down that legacy and remembering our spiritual history, our legacy and the roots of our faith and that failed to happen here.  Well here, we come to the great showdown. 

Beginning in chapter 7, the face off, the real showdown between Yahweh, the God of the universe and Pharaoh who thought he was a god along with the other Egyptians in his territory.  Now if you remember, the first time Moses comes before Pharaoh and says "The God of the Hebrews has met with us." and Pharaoh said, "Well who is the Lord that I should obey him?"  You remember that statement?  Kind of a question, it sounds innocent but almost defiant; who is the Lord that I should obey him? Well, he's about to find out, God's about to introduce himself in powerful, dramatic ways that Pharaoh and Egypt will not soon forget.  Who is the Lord? Well you're about to find out. 

Now God will act so dramatically, so decisively, and so unmistakably that this event becomes "The Event", the pinnacle event, the focus event for Jewish people throughout history.  Every year they celebrate Passover.  Passover stands here after the ten plagues and they're finally released after the death of the first born.  It's the dramatic event, so dramatic that the entire calendar for the Jews will revolve around the redemption out of Egypt.  That becomes their first month. 

Now just to note that I think will help you, the Egyptians, considered Pharaoh to be a God, to be a deified and they identified Pharaoh as the god Horus, the son of the god Hathor whom they said Hathor's father was Amon-Ra, the sun god.  So they related the Pharaoh to the worship of the sun. 

Now, you will see beginning tonight, but on into the next several chapters as the showdown of God versus Pharaoh.  God will show Pharaoh whose boss as he judges not just Egypt in some random sort of way but very decisively judges their gods and goddesses.  Verse 1 chapter 7, "And so the LORD said to; Moses, see, I have made you as god to Pharaoh.  And Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.  The Hebrew word Nabi, the one who is a spokesman for God, you're going to be like God the pharaoh.  Aaron your older brother's going to be like your prophet."

"You shall speak all that I command you and Aaron your brother, shall speak to Pharaoh that he must send the children of Israel out of his land."  Pharaoh could not relate to an unseen god, and that's what Moses and Aaron were talking about.  That's why he said, "Who is this god? I don't know him."  Who is an unseen god, he could not relate to an unseen god and here's why.  All the gods and goddesses of the Egyptian had some physical, tangible manifestation.  They were statues of stones or of metal, gold, silver, wood, et cetera.  They were deified humanity or they were the rivers themselves like the Nile or the sun.  Everything was a god.  It was a polytheistic/pantheistic worship system.  It was visible, it was tangible. 

Now, the signs that God is going to perform through Moses are going to be very visible, very tangible.  It's going to affect the life of every Egyptian.  So God's going to do those miracles through Moses.  Thus, elevating Moses in the eyes of Pharaoh to be like god, like a deity.  Look at this guy, able to perform these miracles and so in Pharaoh's eyes, Moses will be like god so powerful, unmistakably.  And as God will later on transmit his word through prophets -- that's the role of Aaron to Moses.  And you remember the lineup from last time, God will speak his word to Moses, Moses will whisper it in the ear of Aaron, Aaron will be the mouthpiece.  Moses said, "Oh, I can't talk publicly.  I'm a man of slow speech or I have a speech impediment".  Uncircumcised lips is the technical term used here in our version.

Verse 2, just noticed, "You shall speak all that I command you."   Now, watch this, you are to just say what I tell you tell to say, don't add a single word, don't take a word away.  Now as uncomfortable as that might make us as Christians, especially those who preached the Word, because there are things in the Bible, we just don't like to deal with.  As uncomfortable as it might make us feel this is what we're called to do.  Speak the Words of God.  Speak everything God has commanded us to say.

God doesn't like us messing with words, especially His words.  Listen to what it says in Revelation 22, "If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.  Whoever adds to the words of this prophesy or takes away, God will take away his part from the Book of Life and from the Holy City and from the things that are written in this Book."

Now, this is why I believe we should teach through the Bible.  I believe churches should teach through the Bible, so that we can understand what is the whole counsel of God rather than just a series on how to reach your full potential, how to think better than you think now and all that crazy none sense.  Just stay to the text of the Bible, and you'll cover every topic that's important to God and important for us and you'll get it in its context, and you'll get it with the Biblical emphasis.  So, instead of those kinds of approaches declaring the full counsel of God Moses was not to edit what God said.  And say, "Well, this is sort of what it means to me, Pharaoh.  I sort to take it like that."  He just, well God said, He will tell him.

Now, I want you to play something else.  I don't want to belabor it because I really do want to take the Lord's Supper with you.  God said, "Moses, you're going to be as God to Pharaoh."  Because Moses essentially was God's representative.  You are in exactly the same role as Moses, did you know that?  To people in the world, you represent God, you're like God to them.  If they don't like something about God or something they hear about God or the Bible, they will often get mad at you for it.  They'll take it out on you, because you're a royal rep.  You represent the King of heaven, the god of heaven.  And it's important that we represent Him in a very clear unmistakable and holy fashion.

Now, Verse 3, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt."  And we already discusses that last time.  Two different words for harden.  One is Chazaq, which means to fortify or strengthen or confirm.  God says, "I will do that."  The other one later on says of Pharaoh that he will himself, Kabad, harden his own heart.

So Pharaoh makes a choice and hardens his heart, Kabad, makes it heavy, irresponsive.  And then God will come along and Chazaq - fortify, strengthen the decision that he has already made.  But Pharaoh will not heed you so that I may lay my hand on Egypt and bring my armies and my people, the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

Here, I see a beautiful example of how God's sovereignty interacts with man's responsibility.  God allows us to set the course, to make the choice.  Then God comes along and confirms the choice that we make.  And through all of it, he'll use both our decision and his confirmation to fulfill his intention ultimately.  He's sovereignly in control and within that sovereign control He allows for human decisions to be made but always to fulfill His intention; and so here we see that interaction and intersection in these verses.

Verse 6, "Then Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded them, so they did."  And Moses was 80 years old.  Now keep in mind, the author of this is Moses quite an admission.  "I'm 80 years old."  And he's just getting started.  You've only just began.  He's 80 years old and he's only just begun his ministry, which will last for years to come, and Aaron, 83 years old, an older brother by three years when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Now sometimes, it's just a sort of a side note.  Sometimes, in the Old Testament, the ages of prominent people will be given just before an event or simultaneous to an extra ordinary event.  For example, Joseph which we're told was 30 years of age and he became the Viceroy or the Prime Minister of Egypt.  In Genesis 16, we're told that Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael through Abraham.  And that's right before that great and monumental birth of Isaac.

A chapter later, Chapter 17, "Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised in his flesh and his son Ishmael was 13."  So you'll see prominent figures, their age is given simultaneous to some great event taking place in the Old Testament.  80 years old, 83 years old and they're just beginning.  You know, some people are afraid of old age.  And the older they get, the scarier they get because they feel they're going be marginalized or they're not going to be able to add and help out.  And that they're never going to be able to contribute.

I remember when I was quite young and we use to have a little saying years ago among our peer group and it was pretty universal in at least where I grew up, that you don't trust anybody over 30.  And we said that as a teenager, maybe approaching 20, because you know 20 is like the older people are 20.  But when you're over 30, you're sort of over the hill.  And you're untrustworthy.  You just don't get it.  That's what we thought.  Well things have changed since I thought that.  Now I wonder if I can trust people under 30.  This guy is 80, and he's just starting to walk with the Lord.

Now, here's the principle.  You can be used by God at any age, young or old.  Paul told Timothy, "Don't let anybody look down on you because you're young."  But also, it goes for those who have walked with the Lord a long time.  They have a lot to add, they have more to add.  They have wisdom to add.  They should be listened to.  They should weigh in.  They have a lot to share.

Somebody once said that there's four ages of a man.  The first age is when he believes in Santa Claus.  The second age is when he doesn't believe in Santa Claus.  The third age is when he is Santa Claus, and the fourth age is when he looks like Santa Claus.  I think it's safe to say that Moses falls in the category number four.  He's 80 years old.  He probably looked a lot like Santa Claus, just getting started with the Lord.

Let me just press this a little further.  Kaleb was one of the two spies you'll find out who saw the promise land with Joshua and said, "We can take it.  By God's grace let's go for it."  Years later under Joshua, when they're settling the land, in the Book of Joshua, and they get to the place called Hebron and they're dividing up that land.  There's a special little area in a mountain.

Kaleb on his birthday walks forward and says, "Joshua, I'm 85 years old today and I am as strong today as I was 40 years ago even for fighting battles, for going out and for coming in.  Therefore, give me this mountain."  85 years old and you couldn't put that guy in a rest home to save your life.  He was still fighting battles.  He wasn't humming elevator music.  He was go-getter.

At the age of 77, Ronald Reagan was retiring from Presidency.  At age 94, George Bernard Shaw had his first play finally published.  At age 81, Benjamin Franklin became a signor and a framer of the US Constitution, all tremendous advancements in an older age.

Verse 8, Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, "When Pharaoh speaks to you saying show a miracle for yourselves.  Then you shall say to Aaron, take you're rod, cast it before the Pharaoh and let it become a serpent."  No doubt the Pharaoh is going to ask for some credentials.  You boys are making some pretty stiff demands here.  Let my people go and prove that you really are representing this God that you've talked about.  And so the serpent, the rod that we saw a few weeks ago was to be cast down to be turned into a serpent.  Now, a serpent was considered wise and magical in ancient Egypt for that matter in ancient culture.  Even Jesus said "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."

But back in Egypt, there was this wise magical heir to the serpent, like one of the gods or goddesses, "Wadjet" was the patron goddess over Southern Egypt.  She was portrayed as a serpent for her wisdom.

Verse 10, When Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh "And they did just as Lord commanded.  Aaron cast down his rod before the Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.  But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments."  The word enchantments could also be translated magic.  The Egyptians believe that magic was the thread that held creation together.  They were so superstitious and there were spells and incantations, and dreams, and omens.  Everything meant something, mystical and magical.

Now we're left with a little bit of a quandary.  We understand that Moses and Aaron were able to do what they did by the miraculous power of God.  How did these false professors, these false representatives of foreign gods, how were they able to pull it up?  Well the key word is their enchantments.  Now, we don't know if it was some slide of hand or if it was some demonic power.  But it was all based in their enchantments. 

Now some point out that there was and still is today a way to take a certain type of a cobra, certain species of cobra and grab its head and put enough pressure on the right place bending its head backwards and the snake will stiffen like a rod and become completely rigid.  They say it's still practiced today and you can see it in some of hieroglyphics, in the scar of amulets of Egypt where that procedure is actually described in writing their writing.  So that they would take the head, pressure it, pull it back.  The snake would become rigid, they would cast it down.  Again, it's sort of it gets days when you do that and it looses it rigidity and it slithers away. 

We must not think that it's beyond Satan's ability to bring counterfeit miracles.  We have a bona fide miracle of Moses and Aaron.  We could have either slide of hand or demonic miracles taking place here.  After all, Satan does, according to Paul in 2 Thessalonians, "All kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders."  And Jesus, Matthew 24 said, "For false Christ and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive if possible, even the very elect."

Remember when Jesus was on the Earth and Satan took him to a high mountain.  And Satan showed him all of the kingdoms of the Earth in a moment.

He has certain abilities afforded to him by God up to a limit where he can perform signs and wonders.  So these magicians gathered together duplicating the sign.  What were their names?  Well, I just saw lips' moved and I doubt was right.  We know the names of two of them.  Paul writes to Timothy and says, "Jannes and Jambres were two of those pharaoh's, magicians who confronted and opposed Moses."  That's 2 Timothy Chapter 3:8.  So those names are given.

Verse 12, "For every man threw down his rod and they became serpents: but Aaron's rods swallowed up their rods."  Now clearly this is a battle of the gods not unlike what happened with Elijah on Mount Carmel; "and pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not hid them as the Lord had said." 

Now, along the lines of talking about miraculous signs and wonders, somebody text in a question that fits perfectly right about and I will throw it up on the screen.  The question is why doesn't God show signs like he did back then?  That's a good question but I want you to think about it.

For example, go to the Book of Acts, and you read about miracles and signs and wonders happening in Jerusalem as the gospel is getting started and the church is developing and spreading all over the world.  It really doesn't take you long to read the Book of Acts.  You can read the Book of Acts and sit down.  Then in an hour, or a couple of hours you've gone from beginning to end.  Well, you've just read about 30 miracles that have taken place, 30 miracles, signs, and wonders.  But the period in which the Book of Acts, the setting of it, is 30 years.  So in reality, you read this Book that represents 30 years of church history, you have 30 miracles that averages out to be about a miracle per year.  And now, I would say, I think we see that in our modern times.

But also, keep in mind that God is trying to demonstrate His ultimate power over an entire godless system in Egypt.  The Pantheon of Deities that Egypt believed in, the gods and goddesses and to unmistakably lead his people with great power into their land.  And so much so that will become the fulcrum that they will look back to it throughout their history, the deliverance from Egypt.  So God would do it according to His sovereign plan with great signs and wonders.

Now, beginning in Verse 14, we start reading about the 10 plagues and we're only going to cover one tonight.  These plagues will grow each one greater in an intensity and severity.  And the plagues will serve two purposes.  Number one, to reveal God's person and number two, to reveal God's power -- God's person and God's power.  The question Pharaoh asked is, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?"  God's going to reveal powerfully who He is through mighty signs and wonders.  That's why He says, back in Verse 3, "I'm going to multiply signs and wonders" to reveal this person.  But second, to reveal his power through a series of these judgments.

Okay, I said something and I want to tie it in now.  I said it a few minutes ago.  Each of these plagues they're not random.  They're targeted at specific gods and goddesses in Egypt.  Whether it's the god of the Nile River whether it's the god they worship in the form of a frog.  And we'll go through some of those identities next time. 

But in Chapter 12:12, the Lord says this, "Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute my judgment for I am the Lord."  Now, though there were about 3000 gods and goddesses and thousands of temples around the land, the chief gods and goddesses in their pantheon were the ones that are targeted during the series of plagues.  It was a polytheistic culture, many gods and goddesses.  It was a pantheistic culture.  The Earth is god.  The sun is god.  Everything is tied into being god in some form.

Yahweh is one god.  And he's not like those gods are real anyway.  They're fake.  They can't do anything.  They were made up by people.  There is only one true God.  Let me tell you something about polytheism.  Polytheism, even in ancient cultures, often began as monotheism, where people believed in one god.  But over time, they started at a human reasoning to that belief.  They said, there must not just be one god over everything, because that will be like a lot of work for one person to do.  So he must need other gods and goddesses to help him manage the universe and work in the lives of people.  So they developed by their own reasoning other deities, just like people today can describe God enough power and He needs saints and He needs angels, and He needs a lot of help to get things done, the same idea in the ancient world.

These 10 plagues could be divided up into three groups.  The first three plagues touch the luxury of Egypt.  The second three plagues touch the lifestyle of Egypt.  And the last three plagues touch life itself in Egypt.  The first three - luxury, the water source was turned to blood, so they couldn't conveniently drink.  They couldn't conveniently wash their bodies because of the foul odor and the bloody water.  It became very inconvenient.  They would have to go to other fresh water springs to get any of that done.  And then there frogs that made life really slimy and slippery all over the place, lies all of those with the first three.

The second three touch the lifestyle of Egypt; the possessions that they own, that cattle that they own, flies on everything, pest on the livestock and then boils on peoples' bodies.  And then finally life itself -- hail, destroyed vegetation, the death of the first born which is the 10th plague.  It destroyed all the first born in Egypt.

Let's get down to Verse 14 and begin with the first plague.  Now, the first plague has three parts.  And first of all, we have divine instruction.  Notice, the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hard, because now Pharaoh can do this, but God is making a declaration and an instruction.  "Pharaoh's heart is hard.  He refuses to let the people go.  Go to Pharaoh in the morning, notice when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the rivers bank to meet him, and the rod which is turned to a serpent, you shall take in your hand."

Now, this probably happened in the summer, the summer months.  Around July into August, the Nile River rises and overflows its banks, inundates the land and that's where the greatest abundance of crops come from.  They'll channel and they'll collect that water as the water overflows the Nile in the summer months, and distribute it through the rest of the land.  It would seem that Pharaoh on a daily basis walked out to the river, because God says, "When he goes out to the river, you go meet him.  And you confront him when he goes to the river."

Pharaoh would go down to the river in the summer months, July and August and offer praise to the god of the Nile River, or the gods that would oversee the Nile River.  Songs of thanksgiving were often sung by the Egyptians to the Nile River.  So it became a standard ritual during the summer months for Pharaoh to go down to the banks of the Nile River.  And there are several gods that are associated with the river.  The god Hapi and I will describe him in a minute.  He wouldn't be too happy, but that was his name, Hapi.  Isis is another god of the Nile River and Khnum.  Those three gods were associated with supervising the Nile River.

Now, Hapi was depicted as a big fat man with a breast of a woman which was to speak of fertility and nurturing.  See?  Anybody wouldn't be too happy with that kind of setup.  That's how he was depicted in the Egyptian lore and mythology.  Also, they celebrated the yearly miraculous rebirth of Osiris as they went down to the Nile River.  He was the god of earth and the vegetation.  The Egyptians said that the Nile River was the very –- get this –- bloodstream of the god Osiris, the bloodstream of Osiris.  So that's not a coincidence that the bloodstream was turned to blood.  And by the way, the Egyptians hated blood.  That's why they didn't believe in blood sacrifices.  They hated the idea of literal blood.  It was abhorrent to them.  So now, that source of life and economy is blood.

Verse 16, And you shall say to him, "The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness, but indeed until now, you would not hear."

Then says the Lord, "By this, you shall know that I am the Lord.  Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.  And the fish that are in the river shall die.  And the river shall stink and the Egyptians will loathe or hate to drink the water of the river."  Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over the streams, over the rivers, over their ponds, over all their pools of water."  These are the receptacles where they will collect the water in.

We know something about this.  If you live down on the Rio Grande River Valley, you have the middle Rio Grande canals and rivulets.  These are the depository that will convey water to people's property.  Well they did that back in Egypt.  They cut these canals, these ditches out, these laterals that would lead to Nile River and then they would take the water and collect it in pools.  All that stemmed from the Nile River was turned to blood.  And over all their pools of water, that they may become blood and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and vessels of stone.  So that's the first part of this plague, divine instruction.

Here's the second, miraculous sensation.  Here's the real miracle.  And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded, so he lifted up the rod, stroked the waters that were in the river in the side of Pharaoh, and in the side of his servants.  And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.  And the fish that were in the river died and the river stinks.  And the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, so there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

I wonder if God isn't saying to the Egyptians, "Your religion stinks.  All of your gods and all of your goddesses can't quench your thirst.  It can't satisfy your basic needs.  It can't fix this problem.  This stinks."  It did literally and it also did spiritual.  Now contrast this.  See, they look to the Nile as their source of refreshment and life.  Jesus said, "If anyone's thirsty, let them come to me and drink out of this innermost being will flow rivers of living water."  Jesus said to the woman at the well of Samaria, "If you drink at this water you'll get thirsty again.  But whoever drinks at the water that I shall give, will never thirst."

Now, these Egyptians are inconvenienced, they can't drink water or bathe from the Jordan River.  I will say this, the commentators love to get very creative, to give a supernatural element or event in the Bible, some natural explanation.  For instance, some commentators say that the redness comes from minute fungi that could have been present in the Nile River or from red vegetable matter that gave it that red tint.  Still others will say, tiny insects of a reddish hue gave it that color, but it does say it turned to blood.  And those explanations do not explain the suddenness of this event.  All of those explanations require time.  This was a sudden event, and the extensiveness of death to the fish can only be explained by miraculous intervention.  So that's the miraculous sensation.

Now, the third part of this miracle is the result and action in Verse 22.  Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord had said.  Boy, that's weird.  Isn't it a little bit odd that the magicians of Egypt did exactly the same thing that Moses and Aaron did?  I mean if somebody curses your river, why would you go out there and curse it more?  They turn it to blood.  "I can do that watch."  If anything, reverse it.

Now here's the question, if Moses and Aaron struck the water and all of the river, and all of the rivulets, and ditches, and laterals, and ponds turn to blood it sounds like there's not much water left, water that these magicians have to replicate the miracle? Fair question?  The best answer I believe comes to us back in Verse 24 or down to Verse 24, just notice ahead.  It says, "They dug around the river for water to drink."  In other words, around the Nile River were and are some fresh water sources not connected to the Nile itself per se, its flow.

They're few and far between but they are there and they knew that they were there and they turn those into blood, which again I look in Timothy.  It was absolutely stupid because, keep what you've got so you have something to drink.  These magicians are representative I believe of something that's going to happen in the future, a preview of coming attraction so to speak and the kind of deception that will happen in the last days.  Listen to this, this is 2Timothy 3, I alluded to it a moment ago.  "In the last days, parallel times shall come.  Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Now, as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so this also resists the truth.  Men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith but they will progress no further for their folly will be a manifest to all." 

Deception is nothing new, and according to Paul and Jesus and Peter, and John, it will continue all the way through the last days, and even we are counseled to be aware of that, to use discernment because of it.  Verse 23, "So Pharaoh turned and went into his house neither was his heart moved by this."  Wow, his heart is still hardened.  His heart is not moved, but this is only plague number one.  By plague number 10, actually around plague number 8, you'll be going, arm will be behind the back, I give up.  And then it will harden it again, and it's hard and then nine but on 10, he absolutely has to surrender.  As the god of the universe, shows his mighty strength, 10 plagues.

10 plagues, and there are 10 commandments.  And that's the question that we just got texted in.  It says, "There seems to be a pattern with the 10 plagues and the 10 commandments.  Why 10?"  Well, I don't know that there's a direct correlation between the commandments and the plagues.  Why 10?  God chose 10.  Ten is an easy number to remember.  I've got 10 fingers, and 10 toes.  Anybody could remember 10.  And if you're going to teach the 10 plagues to your children, you could use them by their fingers or the 10 commandments.  It's the same thing.

Now, it brings up an issue.  There maybe a correlation, but I submit you if there was a correlation, it would be plainly seen in the Bible.  You see, I figure it this way.  I have enough trouble just reading the Bible and finding out what is really there, rather than trying to suppose what may be there on top of what is really there.  If I can just put in to practice what's already there, I'll be doing good but then to mystify and spiritualize everything to make it correlate can be a mistake.

Now there are types in the Bible and there are patterns in the Bible.  But whenever there are types and patterns, they will be explained.  They will be shown.  One scripture will explain the other scripture.  It's one of the hallmarks to the reformation.  So, there might be a correlation.  Why 10?  God chose 10.  It worked.  He didn't need an 11.

Verse 24, so all the Egyptians dug around the river for the water to drink because they could not drink the water from the river.  So they have to find the springs that they and their magicians didn't contaminate.  And seven days passed, after the Lord had struck the river, the only recourse the people had was to tap into those untapped water sources, the subterranean supply, wherever they could find it in Egypt.  Can you imagine though No water for a week?

We saw, what was is it a week ago, when gas was turned off to some homes right in New Mexico some even maybe your homes, if you're in those areas.  For a few days, in a cold severe weather, people didn't have gas.  Imagine if there was no water available.  For a week, your body needs water.  You can effectively shut down an entire nation.  Certainly God can get their attention.

Now I speak about preview of coming attractions.  Listen to this.  This is in a Great Tribulation Period, Revelation 16 "And the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood."

What happened in Egypt is going to happen in much greater form in the Great Tribulation Period, when God gets the attention of the world.  And like he judged the gods in the past, He will judge the false belief system and the humanism of our modern time with the Great Tribulation Period.  It will turn to blood.

Well, the long and short of it is Pharaoh is going to discover.  It's really stupid to try to fight God.  You can try.  You're not going to win.  You can harden your heart but you're going to lose.  But you know what?  Some people still try that today.  They still hardened their heart.  I don't believe that stuff.  I don't want receive prize.  I don't want to go forward.  I don't want to pray that prayer.  I don't want to live for Jesus.  And that's okay, but it's a losing battle because you see, in the end, you're going to have to do business with God.  It won't just be you alone in the cosmic, loneliness of the universe.  You're going to stand before a Holy God and have to give an account for your life.

And yet, some people in defying God will justify their behavior and said, "Well, God hasn't stopped me.  I live how I live and I do what I want to do and there seems to be no resistant, no cosmic resistance to what I want to do."  And they mistake God's long suffering as being God's approval.  All that approves is your God and the God of this universe is very patient and long suffering just like He gave the Amalekites and the Canaanites 400 years to repent before he judge that nation by bringing the people of Israel out Egypt to inhabit their land and kick all of them out.  God is patient and God is still reaching out.

So what do we learn tonight?  God took the life, blood, the bloodstream of Osiris, the Nile River, and turn it into blood.  Showing the Egyptians, it's not the bloodstream of Osiris.  The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and there's a sovereign God in heaven.  So, the blood that they saw was the Revelation to the Egyptians that God wanted to deliver His people.  The blood was the sign.  God means business.  He wants to deliver His people.  To the Egyptians, it was a sign of judgment.  To the Israelites, it was a sign of salvation.

2000 years ago, God put His son on the cross.  And His son shed blood and that blood was a sign that He wants to deliver people and once and for all by trusting in that finished work, people of all generations could be delivered.  That blood was a symbol of judgment to the world but a symbol of salvation to us, God's plan of deliverance.

I want to close tonight as we take communion, the Lord supper together.  And I'm going to ask the worship team to come up and get ready for that.  I want to read to you a parable.  I want you to imagine this as a real setting in your life.  Here it is.

The day is over, you're driving home from work, you turn on the radio and you heard a blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly.  Strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before.  It's not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead.  Some doctors are going over to investigate it.  You don't think much about it.  But on Sunday coming home from church, you hear another radio spot that says, "It's not three villagers.  It's 30,000 villagers."  CNN announces the doctors from the Centers for Disease Control are heading to India to investigate.  By Monday morning, when you get up, it's the lead story.  It's not just India, but now Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran.  It's the lead story in every radio and television show in your area.  The disease has been coined the "mystery flu". 

The President makes a public announcement that he and everyone else at the White House are praying for the people suffering from the Mystery Flu.  Shortly after that, the President of France makes announcement that shocks Europe.  He's closing their borders.  No flights will be allowed into France from India, Pakistan, Iran, or any of the countries where the mystery flu has been identified.  That night you watched CNN before you got to bed.  Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping French woman appears on the screen, she sobs, there's a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu.  The reporter informs viewers of the symptom.  No signs of anything in the first week, followed by four days of fever, chills, difficulty in breathing and then death.

Britain closes its borders but not before the mystery flu is reported in South Hampton, North Hampton, and Liverpool.  It's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement.  "Ladies and Gentlemen, due to national security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been cancelled.  If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry they cannot come back until we find a cure for this disease."

On Wednesday night, at a church prayer meeting, somebody runs in from the parking lot and urges, "Turn on the radio, turn on the radio."  While the church listens to a little transistor radio through a microphone placed in front of it and the announcement is made.  "Two women are lying on a Long Island Hospital dying from the mystery flu.  Within hours, the mystery flu sweeps across the country, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, and California.  The Center for Disease Control is working around the clock to find an antidote.  Nothing is working."

Finally, the news breaks.   The code has been broken, a vaccine can be made.  It's going to require the blood of somebody who hasn't yet been infected.  To the emergency broadcasting network, people are asked to make their way quickly to their local hospital and have their blood type checked.  Hospitals will provide further instructions.  When you and your family get to the hospital Friday night, there's a long line.  Doctors and nurses are busily pricking fingers, taking blood, labeling and categorizing everything.  They check your blood, your wives, and your kids.  You're told to wait in the parking lot with the others.  You stand silently among to sea the people.  Breaking the silence, a young woman comes out of the hospital yelling a name and waiving her clipboard.  She yells it again.  Your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me."

Quickly, they take your boy inside.  "Wait a minute.  Hold it."  You insist as you follow them into the hospital.  The doctor informs you, "We think he's got the right blood type.  His blood is clean.  His blood is pure."  Five, 10 minutes later, the doctors and nurses come to you crying and hugging one another.  Some are even laughing.  It's the first time you've seen anyone laugh in the week.  One of the doctor's shakes your hand and says, "Thank you, sir.  Your son's blood type is perfect.  It's clean.  It's pure.  And we can make the vaccine."

As word begins to spread across the parking lot, people begin weeping with joy, praying and laughing.  The grey-haired doctor pulls you and your wife aside and says, "May we see you for a moment?  We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor, and we need you to sign a consent form."  You begun to sign but then you noticed that the space on the form stating the number of pints to be taken is empty.  "How many pints are you asking for?"  The doctor smile fades.  Quietly he says, "We had no idea that he would be a child.  We weren't prepared.  We need it all.  We're talking about the world here.  We really need it all."  "But can't you give him a transfusion?" you plead.  "I'm sorry.  If we have clean blood, we would.  Please, will you sign?"  In numb silence, you signed the paper.  Gently the doctor asks, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?"  You walked back to the room where he sits on the table, "Daddy, Mommy, what's going on?"  You take his hand and you say, "Son, your mommy and I love you.  And we would never let anything happen to you that didn't have to be.  Do you understand that?"

The doctor returns and says, "I'm sorry.  We've got to get started."  People all over the world are dying.  You leave, but as you leave you hear your son crying out, "Dad, dad, why are you leaving me?"  The next week during the funeral ceremony to honor your son, some folks slipped through it.  Some come with a pretentious smile and you know they're only pretending to care.  Others don't come at all because they've gone to the lake.  During the ceremony, you want to jump up and say, "My son died, don't you care?" 

Well you can see that parable is?  A story of the father giving his son and the blood of his son as the vaccine for the sin of the world, don't you care?  We gather, because we care.  We care, we know, we want to declare and we want to pass on that legacy reinforcing it to our own hearts and passing it on to our children.

Additional Messages in this Series

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1/12/2011
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Exodus 1
Exodus 1
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The Lord has the pages of history and the plans for our lives in His sovereign control. Through blessings and hardships, His Word is true and His promises sure. Join us as we launch the interactive expound Bible study, with a look at Exodus chapter one, where we'll examine the people, their prosperity, and the pharaoh's problem.
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1/19/2011
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Exodus 2
Exodus 2
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What legacy will you leave when you pass into eternity? How will your faith influence those who come after you? As we consider the life of Moses from his birth to his banishment, we witness the providential hand of God and the impact of his parents' wholehearted faith.
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1/26/2011
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Exodus 3-4
Exodus 3-4
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When God calls you, how do you respond? Do you make excuses--running in the opposite direction? In this study from the book of Exodus, we see the Lord present Moses' calling on a silver platter. As we examine his encounter at the burning bush, let's explore five common excuses for disobeying God's will.
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2/2/2011
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Exodus 5-6
Exodus 5-6
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After presenting his list of excuses before the Lord, Moses finally asks Pharaoh to let Israel go. But when Moses submits himself to the Lord things get harder for Israel. We'll learn some important principles about spiritual warfare and the sovereignty of God as we dive into Exodus 5-6, where "The Great Confrontation" between Moses and Pharaoh begins.
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2/16/2011
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Exodus 8
Exodus 8
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Frogs, lice, and flies--Egypt endures further hardship as Pharaoh refuses to heed the Lord's command to let His people go. We'll discover how each of these plagues brings a false Egyptian deity into the scope of God's judgment, and examine the condition of our own hearts to God's Word.
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2/23/2011
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Exodus 9
Exodus 9
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Through a series of ten plagues, the LORD reveals to Egypt both His person and His power. As we examine the plagues of diseased livestock, boils, and hail, we see the LORD specifically target the lifestyle of Egypt as He again takes aim at the gods in their pantheon. Join us in our study of Exodus 9, where God hardens Pharaoh's heart for the first time--and we weigh the conditions of our own hearts as well.
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3/2/2011
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Exodus 10-11
Exodus 10-11
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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.
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3/9/2011
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Exodus 12
Exodus 12
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After nine previous plagues, the LORD ensured the deliverance of His people in the plague of the death of the firstborn. Before the Angel of the LORD visited Egypt, God provided a way of escape for His people, and the Passover was instituted. Let's take a careful look at this commemoration of Israel's deliverance and learn how Passover predicted our own deliverance as well.
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3/16/2011
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Exodus 13-14
Exodus 13-14
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Emancipation -- to free from bondage, oppression or restraint; to liberate. In Exodus 13-14, a portrait of deliverance is painted; as God's people were set free from bondage in Egypt, so we are redeemed in Jesus Christ. Let's look closely to gain a greater understanding of our freedom from sin and our new life in Him.
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3/23/2011
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Exodus 15
Exodus 15
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When the children of Israel were delivered from bondage in Egypt and their enemies were destroyed, they responded with songs of praise. As we review Exodus 15, we'll consider the songs of Moses and Miriam and learn some important characteristics of true worship.
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4/6/2011
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Exodus 16
Exodus 16
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At first, the children of Israel celebrated their deliverance--but then they looked back to Egypt. In the midst of their grumbling, the Lord showered them with grace and rained manna from heaven. As we examine Exodus 16, we learn more about God's faithfulness and discover some interesting parallels between that bread from heaven and the true Bread from heaven: Jesus Christ.
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4/13/2011
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Exodus 17-18
Exodus 17-18
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The children of Israel were on a 40-year road trip, but in spite of God's gracious provision and protection, they were never satisfied! In Exodus 17-18, they encounter two road hazards: confrontation and disorganization. As we travel life's path, bumps in the road are inevitable; this passage reminds us that when there is no way, God can make a way.
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4/27/2011
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Exodus 19:1-20:7
Exodus 19:1-20:7
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In Exodus 19-20, the children of Israel prepared themselves for a new conditional relationship with God and the Mosaic covenant was introduced. When we examine their preparations, we gain a greater understanding of the purpose of the Law and the function of the Ten Commandments in the lives of Christians.
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5/4/2011
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Exodus 20:8-21:36
Exodus 20:8-21:36
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In this study from Exodus 20, we take a look at the Ten Commandments and the precepts of the Law. We'll learn to apply these teachings to our daily living and gain a greater understanding of its role in pointing us to salvation through Jesus Christ.
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5/11/2011
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Will the Real Exodus Pharaoh Please Stand Up?
Dr. Steven Collins
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In this message, Dr. Collins explains that the Bible is trustworthy, even in matters of history. Using logic, historical analysis, and a firm belief in the historical reliability of the biblical narrative, he demonstrates why he believes Tuthmosis IV was the Pharaoh at the time of Israel's deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
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5/18/2011
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A Legal Defense of the Biblical Gospel in an Age of Secularism
Craig Parton
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In this message from Craig Parton, we consider the topic of apologetics. We'll explore the history and value of lawyers' defense of Christianity, dealing with objections to the faith, what apologetics is and is not, and why and how all believers are called to defend the faith.
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5/25/2011
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Exodus 21
Exodus 21
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As we turn our attention to the precepts of God's Law, we remember that it serves as a tutor leading us to Christ. Let's consider how God's Law applies to our lives, remembering we cannot have a relationship with the Lord based upon the Law--only upon redemption through Jesus Christ.
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6/1/2011
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Exodus 22:1-23:14
Exodus 22:1-23:14
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While God's Law can never make us righteous, it does reveal God's standard, providing a gauge of just how bad we are and pointing us to the Savior. Let's take a look at more particulars of the Law in this study of Exodus 22-23. We'll consider both God's great care for us and the choice He provides: to obey or to disobey.
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6/8/2011
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Exodus 23:14-24:18
Exodus 23:14-24:18
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In this study from Exodus 23-24, we discover some interesting parallels between Israel and the church. We'll consider three Jewish feasts, the Promised Land, and the covenant relationship between God and his people through a mediator.
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6/15/2011
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Exodus 25
Exodus 25
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The book of Hebrews calls the tabernacle "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things" (Hebrews 8:5). As we look carefully at each article included in the tabernacle and consider the detail of God's instruction, we discover a beautiful picture of Christ.
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6/22/2011
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Exodus 26-27
Exodus 26-27
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Jesus is our great High Priest, who makes a way for those who follow Him to have fellowship with the Father. As we examine the details of the tabernacle recorded in Exodus 26-27, we'll see shadows of heaven and of Christ Himself, and come to appreciate Jesus even more.
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6/29/2011
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Exodus 28-29
Exodus 28-29
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In Exodus 28-29, we learn about the calling, ordination, and consecration of the Old Testament priests. As we study the preparations and details, we consider our calling as a royal priesthood, and remember our freedom in the Lord must be balanced with submission to Him.
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7/6/2011
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Exodus 30-31
Exodus 30-31
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It is easier for us to grasp and remember what we see and experience. For example, if you watch a chef on television prepare a cake, or better yet if you actually get out the ingredients, bake it yourself, and eat it, you have a greater appreciation for the food than if you just read a recipe. The tabernacle is God's picture of Christ, His ministry, and our home in heaven. Let's continue our careful study of Exodus, beginning in chapter 30, and uncover the significant truths revealed in the furnishings of the tabernacle.
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7/13/2011
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Exodus 32:1-29
Exodus 32:1-29
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The Lord revealed His tender care and awesome power to the children of Israel--yet in just forty days they became disconnected from Him. As Moses communed intimately with God on the mountaintop at Sinai, the people attempted to worship Him in the wrong manner on the valley floor. As we examine Exodus 32, let's consider their sin and how it was dealt with.
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7/20/2011
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Exodus 32:30-33:23
Exodus 32:30-33:23
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As Moses stood on Mt. Sinai receiving a revelation from God, the people in the valley engaged in revelry and pagan worship. In the aftermath of their sin, we peek into Moses' prayer life: his intercession for the people and his hunger for the Lord.
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7/27/2011
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Exodus 34
Exodus 34
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In Exodus 34, God's covenant with Israel is reestablished. Moses returned to the top of Mount Sinai, again received the Ten Commandments, and God's choice, presence, greatness, and power are confirmed.
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8/3/2011
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Exodus 35-37
Exodus 35-37
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In these chapters, we see God's people walking in obedience to what the Lord had commanded them--the people used their resources and talents to honor Him. A free will offering is collected, the construction of the Tabernacle begins, and the vessels, oil, and incense are made. Let's learn from their example how we too can be joyful givers and obedient followers.
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8/10/2011
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Exodus 38-40
Exodus 38-40
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In Exodus 38-40, the construction of the tabernacle is completed by the craftsmen, presented to Moses, set up, and dedicated to the LORD. Israel had been delivered from bondage in Egypt, and God had become the center of their lives.
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There are 28 additional messages in this series.
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