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“A Rebellion by the Sea; Principles For Living Out God’s Plan For Your Life” Exodus 14

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“A Rebellion by the Sea;

Principles For Living Out God’s Plan For Your Life”

Exodus 14

Introduction

As the Israelite people are leaving Egypt they plunder the Egyptians by asking for gold and jewelry as they are leaving. Exodus 13:17 “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” Their first response to having to fight for their freedom would be to run back to Egypt.

So God purposefully led them into the wilderness. And God led them 13:21 “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.” The pillar of smoke and fire was the presence of God leading His people (and he did so for forty years).

The most direct route from Egypt to Canaan (the Promised Land) was a route that would have taken them about two weeks to make the journey.[1] But God did not take them most direct route – in fact they went in the opposite direction, he took them into the wilderness. It was not the most direct route, it was not the easiest route, and it was not the most logical route – but it was the best route because it was God’s route for His people.

Prayer

Principle #1: God’s Plans May Not Make Sense To Us (vv. 1-4)

Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

God’s people were on their way to freedom, they were headed in a direction that made sense – but then God says, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back” – The direction he led them and told them to turn back was military lunacy – It placed them between the desert and the Red Sea. They were to set up camp in front of the Red Sea. Egypt had been watching, and they noticed how they were wandering in the desert and now had placed themselves in a very vulnerable position – this drew the enemy out to attack. God made His people appear weak to draw the attack of the enemy.

Later in history Jesus would be arrested, beaten, and crucified. It would seem that He was in a very vulnerable position – but this was actually his victory. Colossians 2:13-15 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Jesus triumphed by providing the means of forgiveness by cancelling the debt that we owed against God because of our sin. It appeared to the world and even His disciples that Satan had won – but then Jesus rose from the grave.

Principle #2: God’s Plan Puts Us In A Place To Show His Glory (vv. 5-9)

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

The pharaoh changes his mind – “who is going to make the bricks?” but if he is going to get the slaves back, he would have to hurry. “So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him” There are some key words to point out, “took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt,” and “all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army,” Pharoah took every soldier and horse at his disposal. In one sweep all of Egypt’s strength would be shown, “that I am the LORD.”

The army caught up with God’s people, “and overtook them encamped at the sea.” The people are encamped – not moving. God has set his people up to wait for the chariots to arrive. But this never occurs to Pharoah – that in this battle he is the weak on who will lose the battle. Pharaoh had the three signs God gave Moses (staff to snake, leprous hand restored, and water to blood) He had experienced 10 plagues, even the death of his own first born child – each time he said ok, I’ll follow God’s plan – only to change his mind. Here again, he lets the Egyptians go, and then changed his mind.

“Pharoah’s change of heart shows that he never really truly repented of his sin. He had been given every opportunity to set his captives free. Time after time Moses had told him to let God’s people go. First, he refused. Then the plagues started to come, be began to negotiate. He bargained and bickered, he asked for prayer even begging Moses to give him God’s blessing. But he never let go. When finally, he said that he would do what God wanted, he immediately changed his mind and went back to his sins. Pharoah’s rebellion is a warning to anyone who never quite gets around to doing what God requires.”[2]

1 Corinthians 10:6 says, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.” These things were given as examples of an unrepentant heart – a heart that says they want to turn from sin and submit to God, only to change our mind again and again. And when it is all said and done, they never do anything of any consequence for the Lord.

Principle #3: God’s Plan Requires Us to Show Trust Him. How Do We Show Trust?

We Show Trust By Being Quiet (vv. 10-14)

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

As we move through Exodus we are asking the question, “Will God’s people place their faith in God and follow Him?” When they were forced to make brinks without straw they said, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Exodus 5:21) They did not trust God or his prophet. Here they say, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” “I told you so – we never should have tried, we never should have taken this risk, now look, I was right and now everything is going fail!

“We are all going to die, you are doing something evil to us, leave us alone, we want to stay the same, we want to be slaves, we know what is better for us than God or His Deliverer.” At this Moses says, be quiet. Stop talking foolishly and saying things that have no element of faith. Stop it. Jesus warns that when God’s Word lands in a person’s heart, Satan will be right there to yank it back out, “the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in their hearts” (Matthew 13:19).

In response he tells the people to do three things, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD,” – 1) Don’t be afraid, trust that God has a plan, 2) stay where you are, don’t move – if we run every time things get hard, we will never see God work, and 3) watch – stand still and watch God do a mighty thing.

We Show Trust By Moving Forward (vv. 15-22)

15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

As Moses raises his staff the Red Sea slits open and there is a strong wind that dries out the bottom of the sea. The Angel of God and the pillar of cloud was in the front of them, then moves behind them and blocks the Egyptians from being able to attack them.

Hebrews 11:29a “By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land,” (v. 22) The act of faith was to go into the ocean that was split open as a wall on each side. “And the people of Israel went into the midst” Every journey with the Lord begins with a step of faith into something you have never known. You can’t stand on the shore, God has split open the sea, now it is time to move forward, take a step and then another.

“Notice the order here: God did not wait for His people to trust him before he would save them. If he had waited for that to happen, they never would have been saved! Instead God took the initiative. First the people saw their salvation (just as Moses had promised, 14:13); then they feared and believed. This is the pattern and the purpose of salvation. First God delivers us from danger, saving us when we cannot save ourselves. Then we respond in faith, trusting God and worshipping him.”[3]

We Show Trust By Changing How We Think (vv. 23-29)

23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

When the waters settled, all that remained was the sea, and as the hours went by bodies began to wash up on the beach. Thousands of dead soldiers. How many of Israel’s sons had they cast into the Nile, now it is they who are washing up. On the western side of the Red Sea they were runaway slaves. When they arrive on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, they were a liberated people. Their enemy was completely destroyed.

They were not slaves any more – they were something new. Isaiah 43:16-19 “Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17 who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18 “Remember not the former things, or consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” The one who destroys our enemy, tells us to forget the slavery days, “I am doing a new thing,” He is making a way before us. “do you not perceive it?” We must stop thinking like a slave and begin to think like a child of God – who has a purpose and plan set before us!

We Show Trust By Watching What God Does and Believing in Him (vv. 30-31)

30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” Paul describes this moment in history where God’s people were baptized into Moses – to baptize means to “dip under” So to be baptized into Moses means to immerse in Moses. When we are baptized we are not just being dipped under the water – there is a deeper meaning.

“Moses is called to lead Israel (3:10). The Israelites, by following Moses’ leadership and by passing behind Moses through the Sea which separates them forever from Egypt, have thus joined to him forever and are compelled to follow him hench forth. . . The whole nation shared in the gifts of God which he in Moses gave to His people.”[4] When we are baptized into Christ we are forsaking sin, and covenanting together with Christ – I am associating myself with Jesus. He has saved me, therefore I will follow Him. Moses, as God’s given deliverer, leads his people to freedom, so they should follow him. Jesus has given us salvation, so we obey Him and connect ourselves to Him and His ways.

Later in Psalm 106:6-7, the psalmist says regarding God’s people “Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness. 7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.” Our response to this text is to remember the steadfast love of God and to trust Him in all our ways.

______________________

[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 348.

[2] Ryken, 352.

[3] Ryken, 365.

[4] F. W. Grosheide, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1953) 220.

“The Passover and the Sacrificial Lamb” Exodus 12

Drew Boswell Ministries

“The Passover and the Sacrificial Lamb” Exodus 12

00:00 / 00:41:16

“The Passover and the Sacrificial Lamb” Exodus 12

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“The Passover and the Sacrificial Lamb”

Exodus 12

Introduction

In the plagues of Egypt the Hebrew God showed Himself more powerful than the gods of the Nile (water to blood), more powerful than the gods of the land and harvest (locusts) and the air (darkness, gnats, flies) all the false gods were defeated. During this time God’s people were untouched by the plagues (watching from the land of Goshen). But with the final plague (the death of the first born), God’s people were given specific instructions for what to do so that they would be safe from the last plague – and they had to follow God’s instructions very carefully or they too would experience the same plague as the Egyptians.

Wrath was coming and He would come to the door of every household, Egyptian or Hebrew. It would look upon the door and would at that point choose to enter or move on to the next house. God would provide them a way of salvation. The truth is that the Hebrews deserved God’s wrath just as the Egyptians their oppressor. Just because they were slaves and their lives were incredibly difficult did not mean they were not sinners and deserving of God’s wrath.

Two examples: They didn’t believe God’s prophet and when things became harder with straw and bricks they said, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Later we see Joshua 24:14 “Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.” Even though God would show himself more powerful than all the Egyptian gods, they would still hold on to them. They, like all people were descendants of Adam, and the consequences of the fall of mankind (Romans 3:23).

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” “The tenth plague was a sign of God’s judgement against all humanity.”[1] Like the Egyptians, the Israelites deserved divine judgement; but unlike the Egyptians, they would be saved by grace through faith.

Prayer

God’s People Needed A Way to Cover Their Sin – Atonement

The Qualifications for the Substitute (vv. 1-6)

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

God provided a way for a way for their son to be covered (atoned for) in the form of a lamb. The lamb had to be “without blemish, a male a year old,” This lamb would be a substitute for them to cover their sin, and it had to be perfect. It had to be their best (not blind, or diseased, or injured.)

1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” The perfect lamb given in sacrifice was to point them to a Savior who would never sin.

Instructions About The Substitute (vv. 7-11)

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

The blood from the lamb and its’ slaughter was to be brushed on the doorposts of the home. They were to go into the home and not come out again. The lamb was to slaughtered, butchered, and prepared to eat. It was to be roasted, not boiled, or eaten raw. The entire animal was to be consumed (if it was too much for your family, then get some people to join you).

The meal would be a reminder of the people’s slavery (bitter herbs to remind them of their bitter lives). The unleavened bread was to remind them of the haste they had to leave (there was no time to wait for the yeast to rise). The ate standing up, with their staffs in their hand, and outer garments tucked into their belts so that they could move quickly at a moment’s notice. “This night was the night of their deliverance, their liberation, their redemption, their salvation!”[2]

And when God saw the blood on the doorpost, death would pass over, and the firstborn in the family would be saved. God provides a lamb as the means of forgiveness of sin. A blood substitute was always required, and God always provided the lamb. God provides what is required.

Genesis 4:3-5 “In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.” Abel brought the lamb and his offering was accepted; God required a lamb.

In Genesis 22:7 God tests Abraham by telling him to take his son Isaac to the mountain and sacrifice him there. Isaac knows what is required for a proper sacrifice to God “And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.” Isaac knew a lamb was required. God went on to provide a lamb as a substitute for Isaac. Later in Leviticus 16 a lamb was required for the Day of Atonement.

On this day, one lamb atoned for the entire nation of Israel. So the consistent message of the Bible is that anyone who wants to meet God must come on the basis of the lamb that he has provided. Later John the Baptist would say of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” His blood and sacrifice would cover our sin, and by faith in Him would save us from the wrath of God. 1 Corinthians 5:7b “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

“It is theologically significant that Jesus was crucified right at the time of the Passover feast (see John 13:1; 18:28). It helps us see the connection between the first Passover and the final Passover – the Passion of Christ. The day Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem was the very day the Passover lambs were driven into the city, and when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, he was celebrating the Passover (Matthew 26:17).

He said, “This is my body . . . this is my blood” (Matthew 26:26-28). His disciples didn’t understand it at the time, but Jesus was really saying, “The Passover is all about me. I am the sacrificial lamb.”[3] While Jesus hung on the cross, at 3pm is the very time when all the lambs in the city were to be slaughtered.[4]

(v. 13) “The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood,” The blood was shed when they slaughtered the animal, they wiped in on the doorposts, and it meant something had died – a lamb died in their place.[5] By placing it on the door was an act of faith – this blood will save me.

So imagine you are the firstborn, and the lamb is selected four days before the Passover meal. It is brought inside the home and cared for. They would have fed it, watered it, cared for it, played with it. All the time thinking, “this is our Passover lamb.” The lamb they would grow to care for would be slaughtered, gutted, butchered and then eaten (completely) all in a matter of a few hours. Why would God give instructions for the lamb to be brought into the home? Why did Jesus not just die for the sins of mankind? Why did He live amongst us first? Children would ask “Why do we have to do this daddy?” Why do we have to kill the lamb we love?” Dad would then have to explain – so that our sin can be passed over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Npv2Mpbd3w :55 to 1:24

The Details Are Important to Remember (vv. 14-20, 28)

14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

The Passover meal was to serve as a memorial of the shed blood of a sacrificial lamb. They were to remember how God led them to freedom. God gives very specific instructions about how the memorial day was to be carried out – and to ignore these instructions would lead to a person being “cut off from the congregation of Israel.” To fail to observe the day, change the details of the day, or to be casual about how you celebrate the day – would lead to the next generation failing to understand the significance of the Exodus.

We who have the blessing of the New Testament are also given a memorial meal. With the Last Supper we are told to remember that Jesus’ sacrifice was made during the Passover festival in Jerusalem – and it happened this way for a reason. Just like the Passover was to remind God’s people of the Exodus, The Last Supper is to remind Christians what God has done for us, “do this in remembrance of me.”

To change to details, to fail to do the festival the way it is described is very serious – the consequences are severe. All of these details are there for a reason and point to a Savior who sacrificed himself for the salvation of the world. Each detail of the Exodus is pointing to an eventual Savior who not only gives freedom but eternal life – the way of having a relationship with God.

28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

(v. 21) Moses calls the elders together and walks them through what God has said about the Passover, how this was a meal that would be repeated in the years to come, and how to instruct the future generations. And look how the people responded in v. 28 “Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

They showed their faith in God by putting the blood in the door, going inside and not coming out, and celebrating the meal as described. They believed and followed God’s Word and they were saved. V. 50 says, “50 All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.”

The Consequences of Belief and Disbelief (vv. 29-32)

29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus of the Israelites and the death and destruction of Egypt is a picture of salvation. “If you are not a Christian, God is calling you to trust him, to believe that One has been sacrificed to pay your penalty, to bear your burden, to save you from God’s judgement for your sins. That’s the message that his Passover account has for us.

We all deserve God’s judgement even as God judged the Egyptians – we have all rebelled against God. But God in his great love caused this punishment to fall on Christ. The Son of God voluntarily laid down His life for us if we would trust him and repent (or turn from) our sins. Jesus Christ is the Passover lamb sacrificed for all who will be his people.

The Lamb without defect became our substutionary sacrifice, if we will repent and believe. There are many images in the Bible about God and how He relates to humanity – but the Lamb of God, and His substitution for us is the foundation of them all. “Jesus paid it, all to Him I owe, Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

The Israelites took a lamb slaughtered it, and wiped its’ blood in their homes – what do we do today to be saved? Years later Jesus would go to the cross, voluntarily lay down his life and would rise again three days later – what must we do to be saved? Believe on the blood of Jesus – rest in His promise that you will be saved by believing in Him.

If you wish to be saved, you say a prayer something like this, “Dear Jesus, please forgive me for my sin, I turn from my sin. I believe that you died as my substitute, and I place my faith in You alone. I want to follow you, the rest of my life. Amen.”

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[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 297.

[2] Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence, It Is Well, Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2010) 20.

[3] Ryken, 300.

[4] See Luke 43:44-46.

[5] The theological term for a substitute for one’s sin is or penal substitution and it is the means to be made right with God, or expiation.

“Counterfeits” Exodus 7:8-24

Drew Boswell Ministries

“Counterfeits” Exodus 7:8-24

00:00 / 00:38:22

“Counterfeits” Exodus 7:8-24

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“Counterfeits”

Exodus 7:8-24

Introduction

Let’s play “Real or AI”

For every one of God’s truths there is a counterfeit. How can we, as His people, know the difference between the truth of God’s Word and the counterfeit the Evil One offers? This is what we will talk about today.

Prayer

The Miracle of The Staff to Snake (vv. 8-13)

8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

“All the main themes of the next five chapters of Exodus: the obedience of Moses and Aaron, the counterfeit miracles of Satan and his servants, the superior power of God and his rod, and the perpetual hardening of Pharoah’s heart. All of Satan and his plans will be ‘swallowed up.’”[1]

We see in (v. 10) a Moses that has changed, “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded” He didn’t argue, or give excuses, he did just as God commanded.

The pharaoh says, “Prove yourselves by working a miracle,” – Does God give miracles today to prove Himself? God does not perform random acts of omnipotence but instead displays his miraculous power in order to confirm the truth of his Word. Pharaoh is asking for a miracle as proof that Moses and Aaron are telling the truth, the Word of God.

Religious leaders of Jesus’ day did this same thing, Matthew 12:38 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” The ultimate sign to prove that God’s Word is true is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; which shall not be repeated. The resurrection is the last miracle we need to confirm the gospel truth that Jesus died to save sinners.

11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

There are different ways we could interpret this passage. (1) These magicians were the same as today’s magicians. Through misdirection, slight of hand, and trickery they fool the audience into thinking they see something that they don’t really see. But this is not what we see Moses’ staff became a serpent, and the Egyptian magicians also made their staffs become serpents. The same idea of later when the Nile is turned to blood. Was it really red algae, or a flooding of a particular red soil that made the water look red?

(2) So, Another interpretation would be that these Egyptian magicians really did have some kind magical power. The snake was a symbol of Egyptian power, to when Moses threw down the staff and picked it up again – it would have been very obvious that the Hebrew God was challenging the Egyptian god. It would be like a person goes into the oval office in Washington DC and wrings a bald eagle’s neck. It was a statement. But the text indicates that their trick was a version of what Moses and Aaron did. The Evil One does have power – to try to excuse it away robs it of its’ danger.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Evil has power and it’s alure is very attractive.

There are two powers going head-to-head, and both show their miracle. If you have already “refused to love the truth,” when the counterfeit is given, you will go with what your heart really wants – your sin.

God never said that what He had given Moses as a sign of his authenticity as a prophet could not be duplicated. But the means that they come about the same end was “by their secret arts.” Satan is not capable of creating anything new he must take what God has created and pollute it and pervert it to meet his purposes.

Christ came to save the world from sin and to teach the truth, the Anti-Christ will come to tell lies and to keep people from salvation. Sex within the bounds of marriage is a blessing, sex outside of marriage is sin because it is not how God designed it to be.

Then the Lord’s staff swallows up the magician’s staff. And with that event, the duel begins between God and Satan. The one who truly deserves to be praised, and served verses the false god who only offers slavery and death. At this display of force, pharaoh’s heart is hardened.

Is this fair, that God would harden a man’s heart? Is he making him incapable of obeying him, is it right then to judge him? Scripture is clear that God makes no man to sin.

Every man’s heart is in God’s hand and it is God that restrains him from sin, not forces him into it. However, when a person resists and resists long enough the worst thing that could happen to them is for God to let them go and allow them to do all that their heart truly desires. Romans 1:24-25 “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Like a dog on a leash pulling away from its’ owner, the owner just let’s go of the leash and the dog runs toward what his heart desires. Man at his core/heart level is wicked and corrupt and only desires to do evil. Therefore, God in his mercy and grace restrains them. It is a choice we make to run away from God – to harden our hearts toward God.

2 Samuel 6:6 “Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?” So, when it says that God hardened their hearts, it means that in his omnipotence he kept pharaoh’s heart in the hardened state – he couldn’t change his mind. All grace was removed and his heart was able to fully pursue what it truly desired.

Many Scriptures tell us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise vas some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

The atheists says, “give me more evidence. Then I will believe.” “The real issue is not the evidence, but what a person does with it. The Israelites were given the same signs that Pharoah was given (see Exodus 4), and they believed and were saved. But pharaoh later perished, which is what happens to everyone who follows Satan.”[2]

People are condemned to their own depravity because they do not believe in God’s truth.

The Miracle of the Nile To Blood (vv. 14-24)

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” 20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

This is the first of what the Bible calls “signs and wonders,” We use the word plague, from the Latin meaning “blow or wound,” because this is what God says, “I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it.” (3:20)

“In order to understand these plagues we need to understand that they were directed against the gods and goddesses of Egypt and were intended to show superiority to the God of Israel to the Egyptian gods. There were about eighty deities in Egypt, all clustered about the three great natural forces of Egyptian life: the Nile River, the land, and the sky. It does not surprise us, therefore that the plagues God sent against Egypt in this historic battle follow this three-force pattern. The first two plagues were against the gods of the Nile. The next four were against land gods. The final four plagues were against the gods of the sky, culminating in the death of the firstborn.”[3]

Later in Numbers 33:4 Egypt is mentioned, “On their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” God is showing that He is the ultimate God, all-powerful, and He is the only one worthy of mankind’s worship.

The annual flooding of the Nile brought new life and sustenance to over 1,000 miles of Egyptian-dominated settlements, and the watery event was perceived by the Egyptians as the best evidence that the gods of the Nile were pleased. Moses through Aaron struck the Nile and it turned to blood. The river was their lifeblood, the basis for their entire civilization. It was their means of transportation, they ate the fish for the river, the river watered their crops (without the Nile they would be in a desert), it would flood annually leaving behind a rich layer of new soil, they drank the water – everything revolved around the Nile.

Many times this is how God gets our attention and causes us to look toward Him. He takes away those things that we thought we would always have, those things that we take for granted. For the Egyptians it was the Nile. This is something that they thought would always be there, something that had always been, like air.

Then the Egyptian magicians “did the same by their secret arts.” What I find interesting is that if they were to look around all the water had been turned to blood. Now they manage to find some water left, but in their effort to one-up God, they turn that water to blood as well. Who really won? What it not make much more sense to turn the blood back into water?

The chapter closes with a picture of the Egyptian people digging along the Nile, trying to find fresh drinkable water – the once great Nile River is now a picture of death and filth. The people are left to their own resources when their gods fail them. Pharoah “ turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.” His heart is hard and this is just the beginning of showing all of Egypt’s gods to be false.

Conclusion

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, ‘That’s not jade!'”

How will we know the truth from Satan’s lies? We have the answer in our hands, like the jade in the boy’s hand. When we study it, and live – when the lies and counterfeits come we know instantly that these are not real.

Don’t be fooled into living a counterfeit Christian life, live the real thing. God desires to show and prove Himself to you, don’t harden your heart.

This morning, don’t harden your heart to the truth of God’s love and mercy. Open your life to his will and calling for you.

The first desire for your life is the same as it as for the Pharaoh. Believe His word and let go of what is keeping you out of His will. Whatever sin it is, having a relationship with God is far better. A-B-C

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[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching God’s Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 182.

[2] Ryken, 190.

[3] Ryken, 192. Ryken is quoting Boice.