And the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 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. As so far you have not obeyed, 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 to blood, and the fish of the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Israel, over the rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all the pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and the vessels of stone. And 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 to blood, and the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt, 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. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go into Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all of your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frog shall come up on you and on your people and on your servants. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people. And I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses said to Pharaoh, Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and left only in the Nile. And he said, Tomorrow. Moses said, Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile." So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses and the courtyards and in the fields, and they gathered them together in heaps. and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt. And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, And there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in the land of Egypt. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magician said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. and you please bow your heads with me. Almighty God, as I stand here now, shut my mouth. Anything that I have written that is untrue, let it be missed or forgotten. Speak only your truth to your people. And furthermore, God, let your truth come alive in our hearts. Let it stir us, let it be sharp, and let it cut to the heart. Let us be doers of your word, not just hearers. Lord God, fill me to speak for you and shut my mouth. I pray all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen. As we come to the plagues, we have now to look at their full context so that we may properly apply the principle of this passage. Some of these points of context broadly to all the plagues, and they answer side questions that allow us to focus on the main thing. So, what are those side issues? Well, for starters, why is God even doing this? Yes, it's to redeem Israel, but He could do that in a much more simple and direct fashion. It is not beyond his power to do this instantaneously. So why is he doing this? Why is he taking the long way around? After all, we have already been told that Pharaoh's heart is hardened, that the Lord hardened it himself. Why are we still telling him to let the people go? Why doesn't he just end Pharaoh and be done with it? God has already withdrawn all of his grace and left Pharaoh locked in his own devices, his own will, the wickedness of his own heart. He is now unable to repent and obey. Why is God bothering with all of this back and forth? Well, why does anything happen? In Exodus 14, the Almighty declares that He will get glory over Pharaoh and all of his hosts by these unfolding events. It glorifies God to be displayed triumphing over His wicked enemies, and it glorifies God when His justice prevails over sin and things are put right. It glorifies God when His judgment on wickedness is also simultaneously His mercy on His chosen people. And then he says, after I have gotten glory on Pharaoh, all of the Egyptians will know that I am God. I'm not the god of their pantheon. I am not like their demon poser pagan gods. I am the great I am, and there is no other. So we see This is also a destruction of idolatry. In a sense, it's a wiping the slate clean and removing confusion, because Yahweh is a God of clarity, and confusion is a result of sin. In Numbers 33, this same event is described as the Lord executing judgment on the gods of Egypt. If there are not demons or some wicked spirits posing as gods and leading people astray, why would He execute judgments upon them? Our God is King of kings and Lord of lords, and as Psalm 136 says, God of gods. There are other spiritual powers, and their power is very great in our eyes, but they are merely creatures, and they are corrupt ones at that. The Lord our God is one and there is not another like him. The creature is always feeble when contrasted to the creator and his sovereign power is infinite and supreme and there is none who has power unless he has permitted it. All of the plagues visited on Egypt are awesome displays of the truth of God's sovereignty and all of the glory that belongs to him alone and the countless truths that flow out of those ideas, including the heinousness and disgusting stench of our sin to a holy and righteous God, so that we may understand why our sin requires such hard punishment. And now, about the 10 plagues overall, there are 10. 10 is the number of responsibility. And I think we're going to look more closely at that when we get to the end. We're going to do probably a survey over everything. But for now, hold loosely in the back of your mind the similarity and contrast of the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, and all of the 10s in the temple. Everything is a 10 measurement. 10 candlesticks and so on. And some of you may even remember the sermon from chapter 4 about a father's responsibility. All of this idea of responsibility is floating around in these commandments. And so hold that loosely in mind. We're going to look more at it in the end. There are even the judgments of revelation where there are seven seals and seven trumpets and seven bowls of wrath, but all ten of these plagues, each one of these plagues is mixed in various ways in those bowls and in those seals and in those trumpets of revelation. So here we can see that these plagues, or you will see that these plagues, are all batched in a sense. The first three plagues are grouped together. The second three plagues are grouped together. And the third three plagues are grouped together. And the final plague sort of stands on its own. And that is hinting back at where we looked at the groups of threes, right? Three is the number of life, it's death, it's recreation, it's creation, it's resurrection. And so in these plagues, Some are going to die, and some are gonna find recreation or redemption. And hopefully, by breaking these down into three groups of three instead of a sermon for each plague, by the time we get to the 10th one, since I'm doing this on a sporadic evening services, you'll still remember the first. So, plague one. We've sort of pried the lid off of this box already with our last look into Exodus. The look when we looked at the blood and the water pointing to the cross where they both flowed from the pure side of the Savior. And two, at the mention of the cup of wrath in Psalm 75 where the wine and the water were perfectly mixed, the simultaneous judgment of sin and grace for the people of God. His judgment is perfect. It is never more than it's earned. but it is also never less. No sin escapes his view, and the proper measure of his judgment is stored up and held back by his mercy, waiting to burst forth to purify sin when the iniquity has filled the scales of his justice. After the land is washed in this water and this blood, the people will be redeemed. obviously figuring, once again, Christ's worth. But there is also, there is always more. Remember, that's just what we looked at last time. So in verse 18, we begin to read that the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking from the Nile. Now, this is kind of a weak translation where clarity is concerned. But it isn't still an accurate translation. They will no longer drink from the Nile. Would have been a more clear translation of the idea. What was once a way of life will now not be possible. This isn't weary in the sense of being irritated with drinking nasty, bloody water. Something that you, if you hold your nose, you might still be able to choke down. This is weary in the sense of stopping, like falling down tired kind of weary. It ends. They are not going to drink any more water from the Nile. Everything that they have known about the Nile is over. This isn't just foul water. It cannot be drunk. And then in verse 20, we're told that Aaron struck the water on the Lord's instruction." Now, this was a violent display. This is not a dipping of a staff as you've probably seen in some movies or TV. What is depicted here is a vicious attack, as if Aaron intended to harm the river itself. And indeed, this is the very idea. You see, the Nile was a god in the eyes of Egypt. The Pharaoh was a child of this God, making him divine. And Egypt itself was seen as owing a debt to the spirit of the Nile. You have to remember that Egypt existed because of this river. There was practically no rain. Without the Nile, Egypt would be another Sahara. It would be absolutely desolate. This river and its delta would swell some 26 feet each year in the fall. 26 feet is higher than the hurricane swells that hit below us just two weeks ago. Those swells were only reported around 16 feet. This massive flood of the Nile was gentle as far as floods go. It did not strip the land of its soil, but instead it deposited more fertile, muddy silt. That's what made Egypt the most fertile farmland in the known world. And that, in turn, is what made Egypt the powerhouse of the world at the time. And we can see why the Egyptians became so enamored with the river, how it became seen as a deity. In fact, the deity of the river was named Hoppy. This was a fat man with a woman's breast, and it was clearly unnatural and debased, an unpure mixture of sexual components of mankind, and that clearly was a symbol that would be abominable in the eyes of God. This This false god, Hopi, was a symbol of the fat of the land and the fertility of the river silt. And this pagan river god supplanted the idea of the real creator in the minds of the Egyptians. And now Aaron, in front of Pharaoh and his entire entourage, struck a violent death blow to this god. with the very staff that came to life as a serpent and swallowed the staff-turned-serpents of the satanic priest of Egypt. And if that offense wasn't enough, the Nile did actually bleed. Their god was bleeding. The imagery is like Christ himself showed up to deal the death blow to this serpentine false pagan god. and it very well must be dying, because it smells like death, and none dared to drink it. If life is in the blood, then all of this life is spilled out. The very thing that was a blessing of life became a putrid reminder of death. That awful, disgusting, stomach-churning smell of rotting, vile, blackening blood This is the stench of sin in the nostrils of the Almighty. And it wasn't just the water in the river, but all the waters in the natural ponds and the streams, and all the water in the man-made canals and retention ponds, and all the water in the vessels of stone and wood that was stored up, none of it was potable. And those who once forced labor on the Israelites were now forced to dig for fresh water or thirst to death. And then, to add insult to injury, these so-called wise men of Pharaoh, at a time when fresh water was more precious than gold, went out to match powers of Moses and Aaron and converted more fresh water into blood. I don't know about you, but if that was the kind of help I had, I'd execute him on the spot. Convert the blood back to water, fools. That would be a show of power. If you want to match God, then what have you done? If you want to show power, then you need to overpower him. Turn the water back. That can't be done. No one could undo the work of God. But we don't need that, we just need to delude Pharaoh, we just need to delude the people into believing in the lies of the pagan priests. You just can't find good evil help in any age. Let's be absolutely clear here, let us not pretend this was a magic trick. Scripture is plain that this was by some dark art and not some sleight of hand. God has allowed the enemy to wield some real power for a time, as it suits the will of God, to direct evil against itself. God does not do evil, God does not sin, but he guides it to destroy itself. What is meant for others, what is meant by others for evil God means to use for good, like these satanic magicians. Jesus warns us plainly in Matthew 24, that can be your homework, that there will be false teachers and false prophets who will do signs and wonders so great that they would lead even the elect astray if that were possible. And then Paul further clarifies in 2 Timothy chapter 3, That can be more homework. But these Egyptian priests are no different than the false prophets and the false teachers who prey on the weak and lead people astray. Imagine that. There's no difference between sin 2,000 years ago and 3,000 years before that. But Pharaoh's heart is so hardened in his rebellion that this is exactly what he wants to see. There's nothing like a little confirmation bias to keep that pesky conscience nice and subdued. Remember those times. I had a few myself. As we continue on to plague two, we see in chapter eight yet another moment of mercy. When God tells Moses to tell Aaron to give the Pharaoh, or excuse me, still telling Moses at this time, give the Pharaoh another warning. Let my people go or face further wrath. Of course, Pharaoh disobeys. God has hardened his heart for this purpose. But nonetheless, there was still the moment of mercy where it was offered, an opportunity to obey, but he only showed how the will of Pharaoh's heart was hardened against God. And so again, Aaron stretches out his hand with a staff for the Lord's directions. And here come the slimy, nasty critters contaminating your food supply, in your bed, the place of rest, in the marriage dance. There is no place safe, there is no place sacred. Everything has been invaded by frogs. And there are quite a few images with the frogs. I'm sure you'll remember the phrase, puffed up like a toad, puffed up with pride. Each one of these judgments are connected to particular sins. You can make a note of that for later. That would be our wide view at the end. But these frogs also point to the Egyptian god, Heket. This is a frog-headed woman. Doesn't that sound like a charming abomination? She represented fertility via the breath of life and resurrection via rich craft. There is a direct connection to the Greek god Hecate, which would come later, who was also a witch. They believed so strongly in the resurrection magic of this Egyptian god that they would go so far as to bury these frogs and the coffin of their dead relatives to make sure that the relative would live in the afterlife. Can you just say gross? The Coptic Christians would one day reappropriate this symbol of life and use it to represent the new creature in Christ, in Galatians, in 2 Corinthians, referencing its metamorphosis from a tadpole into a frog. But here in this moment, it was still the representation of the magic spells of demon-poser gods. And right now, her cat was everywhere. Only she was dying in droves. And there was no magic resurrection. There was only the foul stench of death, and it covered everything. You couldn't escape the filth. It was inside. It was in the yard. It was in the country. There was nowhere to run. And trying to find a reprieve from the decay that would remove them from their homes and pile them up, that only built monuments to the squalor. You can haul them out of your sight, but when you lay down at night and close your eyes, you are still thoroughly aware of this most gross situation. Your olfactory senses are under siege, assaulted by the offensiveness of death and rotting carcasses. And of course, Pharaoh's incompetent yes-men demonstrate their power again. They can summon the frog, the symbol of uncleanliness, that cold-blooded animal that lives in dirty, stagnant little puddles and eats bugs. Oh yes, that's helpful. They too can display the disgusting results of sin." Well, whoop-dee-doo. What man can't? There's not one person who ever lived who could not meticulously wreck a piece of creation. I did. I was one of those. Tell me you weren't. If you want to see power, look to the one who can reorder it. who can repair it, even recreate it. Ooh, you brought on more frogs at a time when we're inundated with frogs. I'm sure that was hard. You know, you can probably draw frogs by yourself really easy. If you just go outside and catch some of these awful gnats and concentrate them in a place near some water, you'll probably see frogs. It's not much of a miracle, is it? Let's look at the final plague. Final plague in this batch, Pharaoh just said, Moses, go intercede for me, ask God to give me mercy and I will obey. And then Pharaoh went back on his word because his heart was hard and he was wicked and evil and without the mercy of God he could do nothing else. And after Pharaoh reneged on his on his deal that this third plague came without warning. If you notice, there's no negotiation between Pharaoh and Moses and Aaron. There is not a Pharaoh obey or I will do this moment. These kind of consequences just came without warning. These warnings are moments of grace. They're acts of mercy and we don't deserve them. And it is certain that if we ignore them and scoff at them, those warnings will stop. We are not entitled to grace or to mercy. We are entitled to the consequences of our actions, which outside the spirit, those actions are always sin. But Wrath that is building up on the account of our sin, whether warned or not, those acts of wrath will come. If you ever stop receiving warnings when you are in sin and rebellion, you are in imminent danger. And so for the third and final time, Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff He strikes the dust of the earth at the Lord's command. This is the same phrase in Genesis when it says, God formed man from the dust of the ground. The sins of all mankind are subject to this kind of judgment. And now, Egypt will be inundated with gnats. Now, I researched the gods of Egypt, and I looked and looked for a god that was a god of the earth or the dust and gnats, and I couldn't find one. And I kind of thought to myself, that's very interesting. Maybe, maybe the memory of this god has been wiped from existence altogether. That's possible. But I think, I think there's actually something else going on here. I think the fact that there isn't an Egyptian god who fits this criteria is the point. And what a judgment this was. One could even suggest that all three of these plagues haven't been so much about physical suffering, but more of an assault on the morale and the psyche of Israel. Is there anything so irritating as a gnat that won't buzz off? Now imagine there are as many gnats as there are grains of dust on the ground. Oh wait, it gets worse. The word here for gnat is a generic term for small flying insect, and it can include all types of gnats, including the simple nuisance gnat, but also including black flies, midges, sand flies, and so many other, a huge list of flying biting blood sucking types. including my personal top choice of love-to-hate critter, the not-so-humble mosquito. Could you imagine mosquitoes as numerous as the dust on the ground? Any other fly that is biting, for that matter, is an issue. You can't ever kill them. They're too quick. When you swing your arm, The air around your hand pushes them out of the way. If you don't allow them to land on you and bite you, you can't kill it. Given the context of the two previous plagues, the life and the death and the blood, and the fact that the fourth plague actually is flies, I think the mosquito is a highly likely choice here. Does it not just drive you up the wall? Does it not make your spine contract and cringe when you think about mosquitoes as numerous as dust? So where is the pagan god for this one, Pharaoh? Well, where is the god of Egypt that controls the gnats and the dust? Maybe that's why the Egyptians know that they are wholly whipped. Maybe that's when the magicians come to Pharaoh and say, look, Pharaoh, we don't have an answer for this one. It's possible we're on the wrong side of this. You know, we don't have control over each individual aspect of creation. You know, we didn't even know that was a thing until this morning, so... Basically what I'm saying is, Pharaoh, there is nobody like their God. This looks like the finger of God. Who can stand before this power? Who can stand in the judgment of their God falls? Where can you run when the mosquitoes or the gnats of any kind, whatever they were, are as numerous as the dust? Where can you find safety for your mind when frogs have filled your bed, in your kitchen, and everywhere that you think you can find an ounce of sanctity or peace? Where do you go when there is no water in the whole land? There's nothing but blood to be had. How do you live when the finger of God is turned against you? Doesn't that phrase alone sound familiar? Because in Luke 11, 14, it tells us that Jesus was casting out a demon that was on a mute. And when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the people marveled. But some of them said he cast out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, while others to test him kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. But he said, knowing their thoughts, or but he knowing their thoughts said, every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and the divided household falls. And if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say, I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if this is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. But if this is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. Isn't it ironic that these priests, these pagan priests, these demonic pagan priests recognize the finger of God, but the Jews said it's by the power of Beelzebul? Wow. Isn't that just like all of us who are blinded by sin? You see, when God shows up and starts working directly in His creation, the power of demons, Satan, and sin are crushed. The kingdom of darkness collapses under the weight of God's kingdom. The Almighty has displayed His sovereignty, His power, His wrath, and He is making it known that He is God and there is no other. He is the Lord over all. not just His people. He is the Lord over all, not just His people. It doesn't matter if you love Him or hate Him. It doesn't matter if you are in rebellion or submission. The Kingdom is here, and He is the King. He is the Lord. He is Yahweh, and there can only be one God, one source of creation. can live in rebellion like Pharaoh, you will find that the display of the king's power is set against you. But if you submit to him, you will find the display of his power and glory is set for your redemption and everything that that entails. The same work of God that is judgment against vile and disgusting sin of man is also simultaneously used to redeem his people out of their sin. If you are at risk of the judgment of God because you are living in rebellion, if you have stubbornly set your heart against God, now is the time to repent. Isaiah 45 tells us that every single person will bend their knee and swear that Yahweh is the Sovereign. If you were here for Sunday school, you may remember the enemies of God crowned Christ in mockery. only to discover it was absolutely true. He is the king. He is a dragon-slaying, bride-in-distress-saving kind of king. He suffered for his bride, and he conquered for his bride. Why? Well, we heard that this morning. A lot. His love endures forever. By the grace of God alone, through faith alone in Christ and His righteousness alone, we can be a part of that greater redemption, a greater redemption than Israel found physically in Egypt, but a spiritual redemption. Remember, your own righteousness is like the putrid rags, reminders of these plagues, and it's riddled with sin, and it's disgusting. But Christ will credit His perfect, beautiful righteousness to you, which, contrastingly, is like a delicious fragrance to the Father. If you trust in Him to make all things right, by His grace, because of His uncomprehendable love for you, He will redeem all of those who trust that He will. He will make you a new person. He will seal you with the Holy Spirit and protect you to the very end. because He is your Lord. Your decision is not whether or not to make Him your Lord. Decision is whether or not He's going to be your Judge or your Savior. Amen.