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Exodus 8
Skip Heitzig

Exodus 8 (NKJV™)
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
2 "But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.
3 "So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.
4 "And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants."'"
5 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.'"
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
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 sacrifice to the LORD."
9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, "Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only."
10 So he said, "Tomorrow." And he said, "Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.
11 "And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only."
12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the LORD concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.
13 So the LORD did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.
14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said.
16 So the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'"
17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
18 Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had said.
20 And the LORD said to Moses, "Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: "Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
21 "Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
22 "And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land.
23 "I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be."'"
24 And the LORD did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God in the land."
26 And Moses said, "It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?
27 "We will go three days' journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He will command us."
28 And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Intercede for me."
29 Then Moses said, "Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the LORD, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD."
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the LORD.
31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained.
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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02 Exodus - 2011

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.

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. The birth of a nation
      1. Delivery room - Egypt
      2. Israel birthed into the wilderness and finally Canaan
      3. Exciting, messy, painful
    2. "Exodus" means "the outgoing" or "the exit"
      1. Went into Egypt as a family
      2. Exiting Egypt as a nation of over two million
    3. Themes of Exodus: Redemption and Revelation
      1. God redeems His people and reveals Himself
      2. Like our own testimonies: God saves us and reveals Himself to us
    4. Three parts of Exodus
      1. Domination by Egypt (chapters 1-12)
      2. Liberation from Egypt (chapters 13-18)
      3. Revelation after Egypt (chapters 19-40)
    5. Four epochs of miraculous events in the Bible
      1. Days of Moses - the past
      2. Under the prophet Elijah - the past
      3. Life of Jesus on earth - the past
      4. The Tribulation - the future
        1. Similar to the days of Moses
        2. Days of Moses: birth pains of deliverance to new nation, new values, new law
        3. Tribulation: birth pains lead to new land, new era, new government
    6. First plague: Nile turned to blood
      1. Targeted Egypt's primary source of water and primary natural resource: Nile River
        1. Considered a god
        2. Summer season
        3. Egyptian hymn "Hail to thee Oh Nile that issues from the earth and comes to keep Egypt alive"
      2. Judgment upon the worship system of that false God
    7. Exodus 8
      1. Plagues of frogs, lice, and flies
      2. God answers Pharaohs question: "Who is the Lord?" (Exodus 5:2)
      3. Unmistakable, attention-getting plagues
  2. Second plague: frogs
    1. Heka (Heqt) - frog god
      1. Body of a woman/head of a frog
      2. Wife of Khnum
        1. According to Egyptian belief, he fashioned man from the dust of the earth on his potter's wheel
        2. Heka breathed life into man
      3. Goddess of fertility and resurrection
        1. Thought to help the mother during labor
        2. When Moses (מֹשֶׁ֔ה - Mosheh - drawn out) was drawn out of the water, did Pharaoh's daughter praise Heka?
    2. It was a capital offense to kill a frog, even accidentally
    3. Plague one and plague two are related
      1. Hapi- God of the Nile thought to oversee the alluvial sediments and river ways, depicted holding a frog
      2. Out of the frog's mouth flowed nourishment
    4. The presence of frogs was considered a good omen
    5. The magicians replicated the plague, couldn't eradicate the mess
      1. Counterfeit doesn't disprove the genuine; it proves the genuine exists; it authenticates the original
      2. Pharaoh is a type of Satan (a devil, oppressor, enemy)
        1. Pharaoh's tactic: first violence and persecution; second imitation
        2. Like attacks on the early church persecution then imitation (Simon the sorcerer Acts 8:9-25)
    6. Pharaoh begs for relief
    7. Moses says, "Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you" (v. 9)
      1. Polite, even in judgment ( "Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;" [1 Peter 3:15])
      2. Shows Pharaoh that Yahweh is in charge, even in Egypt
    8. Pharaoh's astonishing answer: "Tomorrow" (v. 10)
      1. Frogs were troublesome, but he could live with it
      2. Like sin
        1. Consumed and controlled by sin
        2. We will deal with it "tomorrow"
    9. Frogs died
      1. Stank
      2. Pharaoh forgot the pact
  3. Third plague: Lice
    1. Targeted Egyptian earth-god: Geb, who reported to Osiris (keeper of the afterlife) the state of the earth for harvest
    2. Hebrew: הַכִּנָּ֔ם - Hakkinnam - gnats
      1. Gnats were considered pollutants to the temple and an insult to the Egyptian gods and goddesses
      2. According to Kiel and Delitzsch, they were "a species of gnats, so small as to be hardly visible to the eye, but with a sting which, according to Philo and Origin, causes a most painful irritation of the skin. They even creep into the eyes and nose, and after the harvest they rise in great swar5ms from the inundated rice fields."
    3. The magicians tried to replicate the miracle, but could not
    4. Egyptian priests - Uab - "pure ones
      1. Physical purity of utmost importance
      2. Shave all hair, bathed frequently, wore linen
      3. Gnats a sign that his prayers to the pantheon were ineffective
    5. Magicians said "This is the finger of God"
      1. Use the term Elohim
        1. Acknowledge some supernatural being above their gods
        2. Do not acknowledge Yahweh
      2. "Finger of God" - reference to God's miraculous power
        1. Belshazzar hand writing on the wall (Daniel 5)
        2. Jesus wrote on the ground in the account of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)
        3. Jesus said, "But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you." (Luke 11:20)
      3. The Lord shows up the false God's of Egypt
  4. Fourth plague: flies
    1. Thought by some to be Ichneumon fly (larvae attach to plants, animals, humans and feed; attach self to edges of eyelids, sting, cause swelling)
    2. God Uatchit or Beelzebub (lord of the flies) targeted
    3. Others think it was a scarab beetle
    4. Kephra, symbol of eternal life
    5. There is a difference between God's people and the pharaoh's people
      1. God makes a difference in judgment between believers and unbelievers
      2. Preview of the future judgment in Revelation 16-19
      3. Suffering of believers
        1. "In the world you will have tribulation," (John 16:33)
        2. "He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)
        3. The source of the suffering is the fallen world under the dominion of the god of this world - Satan
      4. When God is the origin of tribulation, God makes a distinction (See 2 Peter 2:4-9)
    6. God has Pharaoh's attention
      1. For the first time, God gives permission to worship
      2. "in the land"
        1. Compromise
        2. Satan loves compromise
        3. "keep him interested in religion" Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
        4. Could have been tempting to Moses (comfort)
    7. Moses refuses to compromise
      1. Egypt worshipped the cow/ox
      2. The sacrifice could cause an uprising
    8. Pharaoh's hard heart
      1. Willing to lengthen the chain, but still a chain
      2. "Don't go too far"
    9. The condition of our own hearts – Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13:1-23)
      1. Hardened path
      2. Stony soil
      3. Weeds
      4. Good soil

Hebrew Terms: מֹשֶׁ֔ה - Mosheh - drawn out; הַכִּנָּ֔ם - Hakkinnam - gnats
Figures Referenced: Karl Keil; Franz Delitzsch
Publications Referenced: The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
Cross References: Exodus 5:2; Daniel 5;  Matthew 5:45; Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 11:20; John 8:1-11; John 16:33; Acts 8:9-25; 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Peter 2:4-9; Revelation 16-19

Transcript

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It's so great to see you again tonight for a mid-week Bible study and expound.  We're in the book of Exodus as you know, we are not moving rapidly.  We will later on when we get from the narrative part where all the greats stories are like now to some of the details of the law.  We're going to want to pick up the piece a little bit, but it gives us a chance in moving at this phase to go deeper rather than just fly over quickly and notice a few things.  We're able to notice just about everything in the text which is long but a good way to do it.

So, open your Bibles tonight to Exodus Chapter 8 and we'll begin.  The eight chapter of the Book of Exodus and let's pray together.  Father, we come as your community we're your people, something that I noticed as I read our text this week where you identify with your people.  You called those slaves your people.  You called the mind and we love that.  We love that you love to identify with people on the earth who are in a covenant relationship with you the living God.  We're honored to be your sons and daughters and as such.  I pray that we would grow in what that covenant, that agreement is all about that their might be death to our walk with you and we would respond, because not just the New Testament even though we're in that covenant, all of these things we're told in the New Testament.  All of these things from the Old Testament were written for our admonition.  There are lessons that are deep and rich and they apply to us all.  Help them to not be weary of them, but to rejoice in them, to apply them, to understand them and then to teach them to others we ask in Jesus name.  Amen.

We are witnessing a birth in the book of Exodus.  It's the birth of a nation.  The delivery room is Egypt, and the people of God will be birth from Egypt into the wilderness finally to a place called "Canaan," a land of their own.  Birth is always exciting but birth is always messy and painful.  Anybody who's been a part of a birth could tell you their own story.  I still after many years remember when my son was born; it was very painful, not only from my wife but also for me, because in the midst of her labor, she hold off and hit me.  She doesn't remember about it but she was in that period called "transition".

And I'm trying to coach her saying, "Breathe, breathe, breathe."  And I'm just like, you can only take so much of that when you're in an intense pain, so she just bam, I know it hurt.  It was a painful experience.  (Laughter)  And I've been scared ever since, no, I'm just kidding.

Okay, refresher, the word "Exodus" means the outgoing or the exit.  The people of Israel are exiting the land of Egypt.  They went into Egypt as a family.  They're emerging from Egypt as a nation of over two million people.

The themes of the book are redemption and revelation, redemption, revelation.  God redeems His people.  God saves His people, delivered His people and then God reveals himself.  So, redemption and revelation is the theme of the book.  And by the way, I would say that is our story.  If we were to give our testimonies and they would be wonderful to hear, that would be our basic two elements.  We have been saved; we've been redeemed from whatever you are into it.  Whatever age it happen to you, you are redeemed and then begun the process of God revealing Himself to you.

Redemption and revelation, that's your testimony, that's my testimony.  And those are the two themes of the Book of Exodus.  So, as Psalm said and he was right, it applies to our lives very personal, it's very applicable, redemption and revelation.

Now, the Book of Exodus has three distinct parts and we're in part number one.  Let me break them down for you.  Number one is domination by Egypt.  Domination by Egypt, that's chapters one through 12.  That is where the people of Israel feel under the brunt of slavery imposed on them by the Egyptians, dominance by Egypt.  Then a chapters 13 through 18 is part two, liberation from Egypt.  And then finally, part number three which is chapters 19 through 40, revelation after Egypt, the laws are given.

The statues are given, the new value system, the world view that God wants His people to operate on begin in that third section, but we're in the first section which is the domination by Egypt.  And here something else I think is important that helps us framed the whole Bible.  In the Bible, there's four distinct periods of miraculous events, four periods.  There are miracles all through the Bible, but there are four distinct eras or epics(ph).  Number one, the miracles that happened during the life of Moses, the ten plagues and the miraculous way they were administered, rather he was touching the water with the rod or the rod becoming a snake.  It was that whole time period where God miraculously, supernaturally intervene in history.  That's era number one.

Era number two, is in the Old Testament, also under the prophet Elijah.  Many miracles were done through the prophet Elijah and even his successor Elisha.  Again, there were miracles throughout the Bible.  But Moses and Elijah in the Old Testament take the lion share of the miraculous events.

Number three, is the miraculous life of Jesus Christ, that's the one we're most familiar with.  Jesus performed miracles, signs and wonders to authenticate that He was the son of God and Israel's messiah.  So, of all four eras of miracles in the Bible, those three are past, the fourth is yet future, that will be in the great tribulation period when God intervenes once again in history in a worldwide display of miraculous events called the "Judgments" or "The Wrath of the Lamb".

Now, of those four periods, are you still following me?  Period number one and period number four are very similar.  In period number one, the miracles of Moses, what emerges from that is a nation.  A new land, new laws, new values, those are the birth pains of the nation of Israel, in the country of Egypt before they get expelled and brought in to the new land.

The fourth, I said the first and the fourth are very similar.  In the fourth or the tribulation period, God through those judgments will eventually led to a new land, that is this earth when Jesus Christ comes back, a new era upon the earth called the "Millennial Kingdom" the last of thousand years with a brand new government so there is a parallel.  One is a preview of the full blown movie which is era number four.

Now, we've already covered the first of the ten plagues that was last week.  Chapter seven the first plague was what?  I'm sorry, it's probably not good to ask a crowd any question because this would be the answer of somebody [mimicking sound] and but I think I know your answer and you are all right.  It was when the Nile River turned to blood.  I think that's you were all mumbling back to me, it's when the Nile River turned to blood.  Why was that significant?  It was significant because the primary source of water and the primary resource, natural resource was the Nile River itself.  It was considered a God to be worshiped.

In fact, people would go down to the river especially during a season.  And we believe this is the summer season when Pharaoh would frequent the river as part of the worship system of the Egyptians.  And there was a hymn that was sung to the Nile River itself.  And here's one of the stanzas, "Hail to thee O'Nile that issues from the earth and comes to keep Egypt alive."  So the first plague was a judgment upon that worship system of that false god the Nile River.

Chapter eight, has three more plagues and we've already given it away what they are, frogs, lies and flies.  Frogs, lies and flies, oh my, it sounds sort of like the Wizard of Oz, lions and tigers and bears, oh my.  These are not pleasant things to dwell on and it was even the less pleasant if you happen to be an Egyptian at this time period.

Now, this plagues as you remember are answering a question that Pharaoh had.  Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord?  Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him?"  After all, Moses and Aaron came in and said, "Yahweh, the God of the Israelites commands you to let His people go."  And He retorted, "Who is the Lord?"  And so God is going to graciously answer His question.  He's going to introduce Himself through a series of unmistakable attention getting plagues.  The first one, we saw last week, the next three we see tonight.

Verse one of Chapter 8, plague number two, frogs.  And the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him," thus says, the Lord, "Let my people go."  Not their people, not those people, my people.  Notice again how he identifies himself calls the mine, "Let my people go that they may serve me.  But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite or smash all your territory with frogs."  So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly.

So the Bible in the New Testament promises abundant life.  Here in the Old Testament, it promises abundant frogs to those who don't obey which shall go up and come in to your house into your bedrooms, on your bed, into the house of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, into your kneading bowls or the place where you make bread.  So, they're having a riveting conversation you might say. (Laughter)  Okay, sorry. (Laughter) Okay, please really.

Verse four, and the frogs -- sound effects and everything, these guys.  And the frogs shall come up upon you on your people and on all your servants.  In Egypt, one of the most beautiful temples for worship was a temple given to the ugliest goddess in Egypt.  And that was the frog-goddess Heka.  If you want to spell it I suppose would be H-E-K-A, sometimes pronounce Heket.  Heket or Heka.

Now, she was depicted as having the body of a woman and the head of a frog.  She was thought to be the wife of another God I mentioned last week.  The God called "Kanum".  So Kanum, married Heka the frog-goddess.  And according to Egyptian legend, now these all helps so we know why these kinds of judgments.  According to Egyptian legend, it was Kanum who fashioned men out of the dust of the earth on his potter's wheel.  He took dust added water, made clay and fashioned men on a potter's wheel, gave that clay statuette to Heka his wife.  She breathes into the nostrils of that man or woman life and so life upon the earth came to be.

Heka, Heket, whatever pronunciation you like, was the goddess of fertility and resurrection.  So, when babies were born, she was thought by the Egyptians to be present helping the women in child birth, which makes me wonder when Moses was found by the Pharaoh's daughter many years before.  And he was called Moshe drawn out of the water.  I wonder if part of the phrase that she gave wasn't to this God as Heket or Heka for helping deliver this child into the world and delivering this child miraculously to her.

We know it's by the will of God, but she probably ascribed that to Heka the false goddess.  Okay, it was an offense to kill a frog in Egypt.  There were certain animals that were considered so sacred sort of like in India, if you kill a cow and I've actually heard of, a bus driver is veering from a cow on the street in order to hit a human, because killing a human is offensive than killing a sacred cow and I kid you not.  So to kill certain animals in Egypt where punishable by death and if you killed a frog even accidentally, you could be killed.  It was a capital offense.

So, number two, plague, is attacking that part of their worship system worship of this goddess.  Verse five, the Lord spoke to Moses say to Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt."  So Aaron stretched out his hand, he hopped right through it (Laugh).  Aaron stretched -- these are little things in sort of to just see if you're with me.  That's all.

(Laughter)

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

As I see it, plague number one and plague number two are related.  If you remember last week, I mentioned the God of Nile called "Hapi".  Do you remember that name H-A-P-I?  And I showed you how grow test he was pictured?  Hapi in many Egyptian hiroglyphics was depicted as holding a frog.  And out of the frog's mouth were issuing streams of abundance or streams of life.  Streams of nourishment, they were called by the Egyptians.

Now, Hapi the God of the Nile was considered to oversee the alluvial flames of Egypt.  It's the sediment that the Nile River lives that is very, very fertile, it's great for crops.  So, Hapi oversee the Nile alluvial sediments and the river ways that emerge from the Nile River, holding the frog and out of the mouth came nourishment.  So here is a judgment where the frogs are a nuisance.  They're not providing nourishment.  They're simply a nuisance, they're everywhere.  Something else, they were superstitious.

So if you were an Egyptian thousands of years ago and you'd walk along, if you'd see a frog, it was a good omen.  To actually have a frog was something good.  Some people are superstitious, they see a bird and they go, "That's a sign."  Or something happens and goes, "Wow, I just saw a two pigeons," or something and they said something, "That's a good omen."  And people are still that superstitious.  They were back then when they saw a frog but you can have too much of a good thing.

Imagine coming home from work in your chariot n and there's a frog fest around all the streets of Cairo.  Everywhere you go, -- you come home at night.  You open the fridge, there's frog pudding you, try to get bread, there's a frog there in the closet frogs, in the covered frogs and you sleep in to your nice warm bed because you're tired and there's cold slimy slippery frogs.  It was a plague verse seven, this is to me hilarious.

If you ask me a question of why they did it, don't text that question.  I'll just say, "I don't know."  And the magicians, did so with there enchantments.  Oh good, that's what we need when there's a plague, more of it and brought up frogs from the land of Egypt.

Remember the last time just like with the Nile River.  Using their enchantments, they brought more blood out of more waterways after Moses and Aaron did so with the Nile River.  Moses and Aaron bring frogs on the land one thing they can do is interesting.  The only thing they can do is imitate, replicate not eradicate the plague.  They cannot take it away.  As we will see later, Pharaoh begs Moses to talk to God and stop this plague.

Now, we have an example of a counterfeit.  And whenever there's a counterfeit, it's important.  A counterfeit doesn't disprove the genuine.  A counterfeit proves that something genuine exists.  We have a counterfeit sign, counterfeit miracle, counterfeit wonder by whatever it means it was done, we're not told.  But it's simply authenticates that there is an original or a real one an authentic one.  They cannot eradicate, they can simply duplicate.

There's an interesting pattern I see with Pharaoh.  I told you before, I see Pharaoh in many ways as a type of devil, Satan, oppressor, enemy.  Pharaoh's first tactic, he and his people was violence, persecution.  You remember he tried to kill all the male children of Egypt, that didn't work.  He tried to oppress the adults of Egypt, the slaves and make life miserable for him.  That's number one, oppression or persecution.  That didn't work because they kept growing as a people.  Becoming more vibrant, the Lord blessed them.

So phase number two, if persecution doesn't work, let's try imitation.  We'll try to be like them to confuse them perhaps.  If you were to turn in don't do it, but if you were to turn to the book of Acts, I think you find the same kind of attacks in the early church.  A frontal attach, a persecution, a violent attack where the church was effectively driven from Jerusalem because of the persecution.  But as you go on later through the book of Acts, persecution doesn't work because the church keeps growing, so let's try imitation.  You have Ananias and Sapphira in chapter five of the book of Acts pretending to be something that they're not.  They were really hypocrites and they were judged for it.

Later on in Sumeria, Peter goes and finds that there was a man called "Simon Magus" who it says, "Believe to their message."  But he wasn't a true authentic believer but an imitation believer.  Because later on, he sees that the Holy Spirit is given through the laying out of hands and he goes, "Pssst, hey, show me how I can get that kind of power like you're giving to this people I'll even pay you money for it."

And so imitation became the ploy of Satan when persecution did not work.  And I find those things happening and repeating themselves throughout history and even present in the world today.  Let's look at verse eight now.  Then Pharaoh, call for Moses and Aaron and said, "Entreat the Lord or pray to God, talk to your Yahweh.  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 sacrifice to the Lord."  Sounds like he said enough, yes?  Not really, you'll see.

And Moses said to Pharaoh, now watch this, "Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you and for your servants and for you people to destroy the frogs from you and your houses that they may remain in the river only."  First of all, I like you to notice how polite Moses is except the honor.  I'd like to give you the honor Pharaoh, you tell me when you want me to pray and when you want this plague of frogs to stop, accept that honor.  Even in judgment Moses is polite.

Now, take a lesson from that Christians, because sometimes we can get a tidbit arrogant around unbelievers and feel like we have the right the put on the attitude when we're around those people who are under God's judgment.  We drive them away because we're not polite.  Even Peter says in I Peter chapter three, "That we should give people an answer for the hope the lies in us with humility and respect".  That's the approach that Moses takes here.

Now he's telling Pharaoh to give him the time that he wants the frogs to go away.  Why is he doing this?  Simply to show Pharaoh that God, the God Yahweh is super intending this miraculous event.  Look, Pharaoh, you say when and I'll talk to God about it because Yahweh is in charge of every territory including Egypt which you think you are the sovereign ruler over and the deity over and you're wrong.  You can't control this.  Your magicians can't control this.  You say when you want this plague to stop and God will stop it.

Now, we have arguably the most amazing answer ever given in scripture.  Because you would think, if you're the plague going on, you have some crazy thing like this happening.  And somebody said, "Okay, when do you want this to stop?"  The answer, "Now, immediately, get rid of this slimy stupid frogs now."  Look what he says, so he said, "Tomorrow."  Hello, tomorrow?  It's an interesting answer.  These frogs were becoming troublesome.  But obviously, it's nothing he couldn't live with.

So one more night with the frogs, that's all I wanted, just one more night with these frogs.  It's an interesting amazing answer.  When do you want this bad stuff to stop?  "Tomorrow.  One more night with the frogs."  You know what, sin is just like that, sin is exactly like that.

So, when you want to get rid of this mess?  When do you want to leave all that bad stuff behind?  When do you want to stop doing that bad nasty simple habit?  Tomorrow.  Just one more night.  No one has ever woken up in the morning and decided, "I'm going to become one of the 12.5 million American alcoholics today.  I'm going to take this strength and I'm going to live to a life of alcoholism and that's my choice, I'm going to become an alcoholic."  It never happens that way.  They take a drink, might lead to another drink, might lead to another drink, might lead to a habit of these two lifestyle that become something hard to break, but it can enslave a person.

And whether it's alcoholism or drugs, or pornography, or anger there's a lot of things that can enslave a person.  What I find is many of these people caught in these habits will say, "Oh, it's really not a problem.  I can stop anytime I want.  In fact I'm going to stop tomorrow."

And then they wake up one day and they discovered their whole life is filled with frogs.  They're in the kneading, they're in the ovens, they're in the closets, they're in the bed.  Their whole life is consumed and it's controlling them.  It's nothing they ever signed up for it first.  So, here's my question, what is there in your life?  And I put myself in that category in our lives that God is saying to us, "Get rid of it now.  Deal with it now.  Leave it behind tonight."  And we go, "Okay, that's good, tomorrow."  God is saying by my grace and strength, it can be tonight.

Before I continue verse ten, because I wanted to hang on the word "Tomorrow."  We have a question that was texted in about some of these plagues.  We'll be dealing with them this week and next week.  And the text question and you can see it on your screen up there in front is, "During the plagues, did they affect the Egyptians only or did they affect everyone including the Lord's people?"

Well, you're going to discover the answer if you just hold on a few verses.  I promise you that because you're going to discover that.  It happen in the land of Egypt but God wanted the Egyptians to make sure they understood.  This was a judgment from Yahweh that excluded his people, that this kind of wrath that He was pouring out on the world did not affect His people.  That God was making a very important difference in judgment.  And I'll tell you why that's a great question first of all.  And it's such an important question because that question is a question that answers another question that a lot of people have about the future judgment that God is going to bring upon the earth.  So, let's continue.

In verse ten, and He said, "Let it be according to your word that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God."  And the frogs show the part from you, from your houses, from your servants, from your people.  They shall remain in the rivers only.  And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

And so, the Lord did according to the word of Moses and the frogs died out of the homes, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.  So think matters worst not only that frogs, if dead frogs. (Laughter) Question, what do you feed a dead frog?  A dead fly?  Again, I'm sorry.  Let's go on. (Laughter)

They gathered them together in heaps and the land stink, hard to imagine.  Well, think of a dead fish smell or a frog.  I had examined in the refrigerator the other day and we thawed(ph) it out and we kept it in the refrigerator, maybe marginally just a little bit too long.  And wow what a ripe odor that thing can have.  And even the package of the salmon in the garbage when I smelled it today before I took the garbage out for tomorrow.  Man, it was at rank.

So piles and piles of their dead goddess everywhere stinking, putrefying smelling, verse 15, but when Pharaoh saw that there was relief -- watch this, he hardened his heart and did not hid them as the Lord had said.  Well isn't that sound familiar?  How many times that people promise, "Oh God please just give me this, I promise I'll do this for you."  And then relief comes and he's like, "Did I say that?"  Whatever.  When relief comes, they forget the vow or the covenant or the pact that they make.  So that's the second plague.

Now, let's go to the third plague, lies are mentioned.  So that Lord say Aaron, "Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land."  So he'd go out there, take his rod and hit the dirt, hit the dust.  So that it maybe come lies throughout all the land of Egypt.  And they did so for Aaron stretch out of his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth and it became lies on men and beast.  All the dust of the land became lies throughout all the land of Egypt.  There's an important bit of information you need to know.  One of the Gods that the Egyptians worship was the earth God called "Geb" G-E-B Geb.

Geb, the earth God according to there theology reported to the God "Osiris" that we mentioned a few weeks ago.  Osiris was the keeper of the afterlife in Egypt.  Geb reported the state of the earth or the state of the earth for harvest to Osiris on a regular basis.  They worship Geb the earth God.

Now I'm going to read to you, a first hand count of a traveler some years back traveling through Egypt with an interesting phenomenon.  Here's his words quote, "I know noticed that the sand appeared to be in motion."  Close inspection revealed that the surface of the ground was a moving mass of minute ticks.  Thousand of which who are crawling up my legs.  I bit a hasty retreat pondering the words of the scriptures the dust of the land became lies throughout all the land of Egypt.  Nasty plague, nasty plague.

Was it lies or was it nits(ph)?  I'm asking that because I fear if I don't -- somebody will text that and I'll have to answer it via text, not that I mind that.  But most translation, more modern translations, take the word in Hebrew, is the Hebrew word which is a general word for all sort of little bugs.  And translate it nets(ph) which is very, very important I think.  And more significant than being lies because nets were considered to be pollutants to any of the Egyptian temples.

So if they were overrun with nets, it was an insult to the Egyptian gods and goddesses and that's probably what it was these nets.  By the way, how many of you have ever been to a Passover in America or anywhere, Passover, during Passover time?  Okay, so you know that during Passover, the Passover feast when you're with the family or your friends and you have the meal in front of you, and you go through the ritual called the "Haggadah" and you're reading about what happened in the land of Egypt.

At one particular part of the feast, the host will dip his finger in the glass of wine.  So it's like blood and sprinkles it ten times on the plate.  So, dip his finger in and he'll say the first plague blood and a little bit of wine on the plate.  Dip it again and say frogs, so he go, blood, frogs, lies, flies or, but the word lies, he will often use is nets.  And so it is believed that these little tiny nets that were crawling around Kailyn and Delich, two German authors write this, "There's a species of nets so small as to be hardly visible to the human eye but with the sting."  Which according to Philo(ph) in origin, two church fathers that lived in Egypt, causes a most painful irritation to the skin.  They even creep into the eyes and the nose and after the harvest, they rise in great swarms from the inundated rice fields.  So just try to picture it, down your neck, up to your legs, in your nostrils, in your ears whizzing around and biting what a plague this is.

We lived in New Mexico and a pretty bug-free environment.  I know you have a few of them but not compared to most places on earth.  I was once camping in the Northern Unites States by a Canadian border dead of summer by lake.  And I was attacked by a plague (Laughter) that came.  And we were setting up our tent and there's like swarm of bugs and I didn't care to even look at them and find out what they were.  All I know is I was bitten everywhere and I could hear them and see them and breathe them for days, so we just packed up and left.  This people couldn't, wherever you live in Egypt, this plague filled the land.

Verse 18.  Now the magicians work with there enchantments to bring forth leis.  Why? (Laughter)  But notice this, first time we read it, but they could not.  They could replicate not eradicate up to this point, now, they can even replicate.  So there were lies on man and beast.  Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God."  But Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them just as the Lord had said.  You know if I have been a magician in Egypt, I have to pack my bags, taking the first flight out of Cairo.  I'm out of town.  And I've send my resume to every other world ruler to see if I could get a job in that country because I don't want to hang around Egypt.  What a horrible thing to be on the list as a magician.

The Egyptian priests were known for there physical purity.  In fact, the word for priest in ancient Egyptian was "Uab" U-A-B, Uab and it meant the pure ones.  The priest shaved all the hair from their head, their face and their entire body.  They bathe in water frequently during the day and they wore linen garments.  Physical purity was of utmost importance to them.  This is something they couldn't control.  And to have this kind of plague on the body of a priest, of an Uab, of a pure one was an indication that his prayers had become ineffective to the pantheon of Egyptian Gods.  Isn't that interesting?

And so that's why this magician said, "Hey, this is the finger of God.  We can't even replicate it."  Of course of our Pharaoh, I'd say, "You mean you tried too?"  But nonetheless, they did, they couldn't do it and they said this is the finger of God.

There's an important distinction in Hebrew, this is the finger of "Elohim" not the finger of Yahweh.  They're not being specific because you remember Moses kept saying, "The Lord Yahweh has sent us."  This is the God Yahweh the God of the Hebrews.

The magicians were saying, "This is the finger of Elohim, in plural, the Gods."  That is they're acknowledging.  This comes from a supernatural source above and beyond their idea and their worship system.  But they're not acknowledging Yahweh yet a very important distinction, something else.  This term "The finger of God" appears in other times in the Bible, either in story form or in exact verbiage.

Let's fast forward to a Babylon when Daniel is standing in the court of Belshazzar because a man's hand is writing on a wall "Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin" you have been weighed on the balances and found wanting.

God used the hand of a man but it was the finger of God writing a message out to the king.  Or, how about Jesus when He wrote on the ground when they were trying to stone that woman caught an adultery the finger of God was writing on the ground.  And then Jesus even used this exact language when he said in the New Testament, "If I cast out demons with the finger of God, then the kingdom of God is come upon you."  The finger of God in the Old Testament, the finger of God in the New Testament, this miracle was designed to show up the Gods of Egypt, the false Gods of Egypt.

Here's a question that we have and let's throw it up before we get into the fourth plague of flies, oh boy.  And the text question is, "Why did Pharaoh never directly attempt to murder Moses and Aaron in these early meetings?"  That's a good question and it's a question that the commentators have dwelt upon and try to give answers to unsatisfactorily.  We don't know why except, A) he had a hunch that if they were able to full off those kind of miracles, maybe he would get in to deeper trouble that would jeopardize his life.

Number two, keep in mind the amount of slaves that where backing Moses and Aaron and wanted to get out of Egypt.  Two and half million, that'd be a big uprising.  If you have a 100,000 people in Tahrir Square in Cairo, the governments of the world are looking at that.  You have 2.5 million people in Egypt throwing and uprising, look out.  So perhaps by numbers of the rebellion of the workforce would be enough to stave him off.

Verse 20 is the fourth plague.  Let's get to it.  We only have 15 minutes left.  Skip, you only have 15 minutes left.  Go ahead, okay, here it is.  And the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water.  There's his daily ritual perform during the summer.  Giving to the Nile River and say to him, that says the Lord, "Let my people go."  Same message hasn't change.  He's on point that they may serve me or else.

Now here's a little caveat attached to the command, "You let my people go or else," or else what?  Here it is, "If you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into you houses, the houses of the Egyptian shall be full of swarms of flies and also on the ground on which they stand."

In my studies, I discovered that most scholars who research ancient Egypt and the environment of Egypt as it is today, say that this fly must've been -- it was known as the ecnumin(ph) fly.  And the ecnumin fly attaches itself to living organism where it can lay its eggs on, its larvae which will feed on that organism.

So, if it's on a plant, those eggs, that larvae will kill that organism and they will attach to animals and even to humans.  When you enrage an ecnumin fly, I am told if you really tick off this fly, it latches itself onto the human body especially the edges of the eyelids, and it stings, it bites and causes enormous swelling of the skin, the cutaneous matter, the eyelids and it's a very miserable state of affairs.  The Egyptians regarded the fly as the manifestation of a God called "Uatchit" so if you watch it like a New Yorker, you watch it, U-A-T-C-H-I-T.  If you were to spell it, Uatchit.

The God Uatchit symbolized by the fly also known by other people in the area as Beelzebub, the lord of the flies, Uatchit or
Beelzebub, two ancient names.  That's one possibility.  Another group believe that this isn't the fly like, well, I just mentioned the Ecnumin fly or the common housefly but the scare of beetle.  Are you familiar with that?  It's a symbol in Egypt.  It's all over the tombs of Egypt.  It's all over Egyptian hieroglyphics that little scare of beetle which represented the beetle God.  I don't mean John, Paul, George and Ringo, that beetle God, but I mean it's the little insect beetle which was the symbol of eternal life.  That's why when kings or people were buried they would often put a little or several little amulets of to represent eternal life.

Verse 22, and then that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen.  Now, we have a question a moment ago about that this happened to the whole land of Egypt do God make a difference with his people?  Here's the answer, in that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen.  The land of Goshen is where the Israelites live as that eastern part of Egypt.  In which my people dwell that no swarms of flies shall be there in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.

Verse 23, I will make a difference between my people and your people.  Please mark that.  Please remember this, "I will make a difference between your people and my people.  Tomorrow, this sign shall be in the Lord deed so."  Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into a servant's houses and into all the land of Egypt.  The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

Here God promises to make a difference in judgment.  In the future, there is a coming upon the earth what happened in Egypt on steroids.  What happened in Egypt on a grander scale in a more intense scale.  You can read about it in the book of Revelation, chapter 16 through 19, swarm after plague after judgment is upon the entire earth.  Millions upon millions upon millions of people will be killed in those judgments.  But something you need to know about your God.  You're God knows how to make a difference when it comes to judgment.

Now the Bible does say, "In the world, you will have tribulation."  And we know that believers as well as unbelievers have their share of hard times as well as good times, diseases as well as health.  Jesus said the son and the -- the what? The rain, thank you, that's the scripture.  The son will fall on the just and the unjust in the rain will fall on the just and the unjust to like.  So we know that as part of the world of mankind, in this world, you will have a tribulation.  But, now, listen carefully, but, that's in this world and the source of that tribulation is essentially from a fallen world under the dominion of the God of this world who is called "Satan".

But when it comes to judgment from the Lord, that something different, when God is the origin of the tribulation not the world and God makes a difference.

And here's the scripture I'm going to read to you that settles that matter.  In II Peter Chapter 2 beginning in verse 4, "For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned, but He threw them in to hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day."  God did not spare the ancient world except for Noah and his family of seven.

Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment and then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood.  Later, He turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth.  He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.  But at the same time, says Peter, "God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who is sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him."  Yes, he was a righteous man who is distress by the wickedness that he saw in her day after day.

So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly people from their trials even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment.  In other words, when it comes to judgment from God, he knows how to make a difference.  He did it in Egypt and He will do it in the future.

Now you'll noticed verse 25, God has Pharaoh's attention.  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God," but notice the qualifier in the land, "in the land."  Now they said, "Hey, we're leaving the land dude.  We're crossing the border line.  We're out of here.  We're going to go under the wilderness."  Pharaoh goes, "Go, but do it in the land.  Stay in the land of Egypt."

This is the very first time when Pharaoh is giving permission for them to go and sacrifice.  But he doesn't want to believe, this is called "Compromise".  We're familiar with it.  Satan is great at negotiating compromise.  He'll say, "Well go ahead and go to church but just don't become one of those Christians.  Don't like be a fanatic.  You can visit a church, that's okay.  But don't be one of them"  Or if you happen to be one of them like I am and you are, then he will say things like, "Go ahead and be a Christian but keep some of those old habits because that's who you are."  He wants you to compromise.

A book that you must read, it was recommended reading in high school and mandatory in college was called the "Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis.  The Screwtape Letters is about a senior demon named Screwtape taking his nephew named "Slubgob" and teaching Slubgob how to be a good demon and ruin people's lives.  It was written from that perspective.  And Screwtape when he writes to Slubgob always calls the newly converted Christian your patient.  And one of the lines of the book says, "To keep your patient interested in religion is the focus."  Just keep him interested in religion.  Don't let him go far away with his thing.  Just keep him interested in religion.  Negotiate with him.  Compromise with him, tell him to compromise.

There was once a hunter who was after a bear.  He saw a bear.  He's about the pull the trigger.  Saw it in his scope because the bear wanted to -- fur coat from the bear.  Beat coat, they're really cool.  That's what he thought.  So he saw it in the scope and the bear turned around and saw the hunter with his scope and the muscle of the gun pointed right out him.  The bear said, "Now wait a minute, what are you doing?"  The hunter said, "I'm about to pull the trigger and kill you."  The bear said, "Now wait a minute, put that gun down.  Let's just talk about this.  I think we can safely negotiate and come to a compromise.  What is it that you'd like?"  The hunter said, "I'd like a fur coat."  And the bear said, "Well, that's good.  That's a good start.  All I want is good meal, so let's talk about this."

So they went off in to the forest.  The gun was put down.  Arm and arm they walk and they talk, and they talk and then negotiate.  And a few minutes later, the bear came out licking its chops, patting his belly and they both got what they wanted.  The hunter got a fur coat and the bear got a good meal. (Laughter)  That's what compromise will do.  You'll eat your lunch or somebody else will.

Go and sacrifice but do it in the land.  Stay in the land and stop for a moment.  And think what a temptation it may have been for Moses to stay in the land.  After all, well, we could do it in the land.  This is where we've been living for a long time.  We're familiar with it.  We at least get food here.

We get provisions here.  We maybe oppressed but it's better than nothing out in the wilderness.  It is hard for people to change and especially the older we get the more set in our ways we become.  We like things the way we're used to them and we don't want change to upset our way of doing things.

This is one of the reasons that the older a person gets statistically, it's more difficult and I say statistically from a human level for them to receive Christ.  According to statistics that are often quoted and given by the Billy Graham Association years ago, it's estimated that if you're 25 years of age -- this is done by those who come to Christ of Crusades, your chances of conversion are one in 5,000.

If you're 35 years of age, your chances of conversion would be one in 25,000.  If you're 45 years of age, your chances of conversion are one in 60,000.  If you're 55 years of age, your chances of conversion are one in 125,000.  And for you to get saved from age 65, 70, 75 and above would be statistically regarded as impossible.  Of course what's impossible with men, Jesus said is possible with God specializes in impossible situation.

But maybe Moses was just tempted, "Yeah, that's a good compromise, that's a good deal.  We'll just stay in the land," but look what he says in verse 26, "It's not right for us to do so for we would be sacrificing the abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.  If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us."  What does he mean?  Well, they worship animals like the cow and the ox and other animals.

For the Israelites to kill them and shed the blood of these animals, blood sacrifices were not the norm in Egypt, they were considered an abomination.  They would be afraid of an uprising from the Egyptians, so this makes perfect sense.  Verse 27, "We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as He will command us."  And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness only you shall not go very far away."

So first he says, "Go ahead but do it in the land."  Moses, "We can't do it in the land.  We're going to kill animals.  You're not into that stuff.  We're going to get beat up."  "Okay, well, go ahead and go.  But don't go very far."  Sounds like my mom when I was growing up.  Then Moses says, "Pray for me.  Intercede for me."  So Pharaoh's lengthening the chain but there's still a chain.  He says don't go far.  He's not anxious to let two million people on his workforce and take a leave of absence.  Don't go very far away.

Again, one of the world's favorite lines is something like this, "Hey, I've heard that you're in to religion now?  Do me a favor, don't go too far into this thing."  I've heard that people that really got in to this Christian Born Again stuff like they read their Bible all the time.  They go to church all the time and they went crazy. (Laughter)

Whatever you do, don't go very far.  It's the same old line.  I dated a girl before I married wife Linda(ph) and I got to lead her to the Lord, Linda Brown, this is an Orange County.  And I'll never forget, Linda came to Christ, she started reading a Bible, going to church and she had an appetite for the things of the spirit.  When I run into her old friends, they said, "Man, you have ruined our friend Linda."  You've just like taken all the fun out of her life.  She's like went too far into this thing.  What have you done to her?

Then later on when I took her home one night after church, her father pointed his finger right at me and said, "You are ruining my family."  She is bringing a Bible into my home. (Laughter)

So, I want you to know, "We are a very religious home.  We go to church every Sunday, but my daughter's gone too far."  What the world question, can you go over board in loving Jesus?  Now, I will say, I will conceive that you can have a zeal without knowledge.  You can do stupid things in the name of the Lord and make it bad for everybody.  I remember a guy a years ago when you would walk into one of the place that they would hold would be yelling in people.  In the name of Lord, all that I did is make anybody even remotely interested in spiritual things click turn off never want to listen to it again, they're all nutcases.

So you can have zeal without knowledge.  You can become self-righteous and that's not nauseating to the world.  But what's interesting is the world will say, "You've gone too far.  You're like lift your hands and like get excited and like sing loud.  Yet, don't go to a basketball game and go [Mimicking Sound] and shout later."  It's like, really, and you're not a nut.

And that I've said verse 29, Moses said, "Indeed, I'm going out from you and I will entreat the Lord that this swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh from his servants, from all his people.  But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord."  And Moses went from the Pharaoh and he entreated the Lord.  And the Lord did according to the word of Moses.  He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people not one remained.  Notice that little detail, not one remained unmistakably.

God who's in charge of this but Pharaoh hardened is heart, at this time also neither would he let the people go.  Boy, does this guy have a heart of titanium, so hard, so rigid.  Blaise Pascal the ancient philosopher said, "The heart has its own reasons that reason does not know."  And the reasonable man would say, "Give it up Pharaoh, dude, you don't have a chance.  This is the finger of God."  And if His finger can do this, wait till the hand of God comes upon you.  But as Pascal said, "The heart has its reasons for that reason does not know."

What's your condition of your heart tonight?  You'll recall that Jesus spoke of four types of soil in the New Testament.  A sorrow went out to sow seeds, some of it fell upon the way side or the path where people walk.  It was very hard.  And so that the birds of the air and Satan and his minions stole the seed before it could even take root.  Some people heard the word of God I mentioned on because I don't want to listen to it.  Other people, Jesus said, "That those who hear the word like those where the seed falls upon soil that doesn't have much depth of earth."

And they listened for a while and they got all excited for a while.  They got emotional for a while but when the trials comes just like the sun the beats down on the earth and dries it up that little seedling, sometimes the world just and the trials of this world kill it.   Then Jesus said, "There were seed the fell upon soil that was stony and rocky and had weeds around it.  And the weeds came in and choke it up and it couldn't bear a fruit."  And then Jesus said the four types of seed fell upon good soil and I brought four fruit, 36 and a hundred fold.

What is the condition of your heart tonight?  Is it soft before the Lord?  Are you still letting God speak to you?  You're still letting Him in?  Is the world penetrating your heart or does it stop at a little certain place and you kind of think about it?  And then maybe hardened your heart a little bit and don't let the Lord have control of all of you?

Let's bow our heads and as we do, we think, we meditate, we contemplate.  The condition of our heart before the Lord, is it soft, is it supple?  Have we grown rigid, un-teachable in certain areas?  Unapproachable in other areas where God has been trying to speak to us and we have walls carefully built of reason and rationale and we don't really think upon it deeply enough, so as to let His truth enter our very core.

Are you the kind that receives the word eagerly but in times of hardship, you fall away?  Are you the type that receives the word but the cares of this world, the riches of this world the desire for other things choked it and it becomes unfruitful(ph) or are you bearing for a fruit?  Some a little bit, 30 fault(ph), some more 60, some a lot a 100 fault.  All of that depends on the condition of your heart.

Now, as we're thinking and praying through this, we're contemplating still as we close.  If you recognize and maybe up to this point, you've had a shallow heart or even a hardened heart.  And you've heard about this statistics of people coming to Christ.  And yet the Lord is dealing with you and he's been telling you for a while, you need to surrender.  You need to give your life to me tonight.  You need to let go and let me live my life through you.

Maybe He's been telling you that and you know His been telling you that or for some of you.  He's telling you to return to your first love because you have backslid and you'd fallen away, you're not really walking with Christ.  If either of those described you tonight as our heads are bowed, I want to pray for you as we close.  I want you to raise your hand and raising your hand you're saying, "Skip, that's me, I need to get right with God.  I'm going to do it tonight.  Here's my hand.  Here's my heart, pray for me."  God bless you and you and you toward the back, you in the very back.  On the side to my right, on the extreme right, right up toward the front, in the middle.  Anyone else, raise their hand up.

Father, you see these hands and you know this hearts like you know all of our hearts.  And I pray that as you draw men and women to yourself as we rejoice in your work in their lives.  You would solidify.  Solidify in their hearts.  The Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord above all other God, all of their pursuits, let them know the joy of salvation and we pray they would bear much fruit in the days and weeks ahead, in Jesus name, Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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1/12/2011
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Exodus 1
Exodus 1
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
completed
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Exodus 2
Exodus 2
Skip Heitzig
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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
completed
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Exodus 3-4
Exodus 3-4
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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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Message Summary
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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2/9/2011
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Exodus 7
Exodus 7
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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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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
Skip Heitzig
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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.
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
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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