Exodus 7.14-25


We begin, today, what probably is the most familiar part of the book of
Exodus, the ten plagues. I’m not sure how I’ll deal with these. I probably
won’t preach on each one, individually. But we’ll see. What I’d like to do
today is to step back to see what God is doing in these plagues. What are
the themes that run through this section of the book? What is it that God is
revealing about Himself and about us? So, let’s see what our God has to
teach us today.

Let’s start with this. Yahweh is here presenting Himself as the God of the
Hebrews. He has come to rescue His people, to deliver them from Pharaoh’s
hand. Yahweh is rising up to keep His covenant promises. It is always good
to remind yourself that our God is the God who keeps His promises – always.
The power of that thought is underscored when you consider your God is so
concerned to keep His promises that He goes to war for His people. Our text
is about a war. The ten plagues are ten battles. Because He keeps His
promises, Yahweh has come to wage war so that His people might be delivered.

Now, if the God of the Hebrews is on the one side, who is on the other? Whom
is He fighting against? There are different ways of answering this question,
all of which are correct. But the way that I want to answer it for now is to
tell you that Yahweh fights against the gods of the Egyptians. Consider some
of the plagues. One of them is that there is complete and utter darkness.
‘Yahweh said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may
be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt." So Moses
stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all
the land of Egypt three days.’ [Exodus 10:21-22] Now, why did God chose to
do this? One of the gods of Egypt was Ra, the sun god. And every day he
would faithfully rise in the east to bless Egypt. Ah, but where is Ra now?
Another of the plagues is the profusion of frogs. ‘The Nile shall swarm with
frogs that shall 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 frogs shall come up on you and on your
people and on all your servants.’ [Exodus 8:3-4] Frogs were associated with
two Egyptian gods, Hapi and Heqt. These were gods of fertility. How apt!
‘Egypt, your gods have blessed you with great productivity, many offspring –
of frogs.’ And then, there is the Nile. The annual flooding of the Nile was
essential to the flourishing of Egypt. And so, the Nile was worshiped as a
god. ‘But what has happened to your god, Egypt? What is all that blood?
Could it be that your god is dead?’ The clincher comes at the end of this
section. ‘…on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh.’
[Exodus 12:12] Do you see what’s going on? There is war between the God of
the Hebrews and the gods of Egypt. What we have are ten battles. And in
each, the gods of Egypt of soundly defeated.

Understand what is at stake. It’s not a matter of who is the true god –
Yahweh or these others. You don’t see that kind of thinking reflected here.
What you see, rather, is this. Which god has power – real power, sovereign
power? Who is able to overcome all obstacles in order to accomplish his
will? And so, we see Yahweh mocking the gods of Egypt. They are powerless
before Him. They are wimps. And they are crushed as a result.

There’s something else going on here, and this is very important. Whom will
Israel serve? Remember what Moses said to Pharaoh. ‘Yahweh, the God of the
Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve Me
in the wilderness."’ [Exodus 7:16] Keep in mind what the situation is.
Israel is Pharaoh’s slave. They serve him at this point. Yahweh comes to
deliver His people. But His goal in this deliverance is that they might be
freed to serve Him. It is significant that this word for ‘serve’ is also
translated as ‘worship’. This is a war about worship. By that I don’t mean
what happens on Sundays. It’s about all of life. Whom will Israel worship?
Not just on one day of the week but every day of the week.

What we have here then is a war. But it is not a war about political
freedom – though so many think of it in these kinds of terms. What we have
here is a war about spiritual things. Now, as soon as I use language like
that, an impression is made in your minds. Somehow, a spiritual war, a war
about spiritual things, isn’t like a real war where things are destroyed and
people die. It’s more vague and amorphous. But is it? Think about it. What
would you see if you were in Egypt when this war is finished? You would see
a nation with its economy in ruins. The crops were ruined by the hail and
the locust. The livestock were dead. The power of this great nation – its
army – is gone, destroyed, annihilated. And in every home someone was dead.
Who says that wars about spiritual things aren’t real? Things are destroyed
and people die. Earlier in the service we read from Numbers 31. Did that
feel a little uncomfortable? There were some things that must have stood
out. ‘Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every
woman who has known man intimately.’ [Numbers 31:17] Did you see in your
mind this picture of Israelite soldiers [the good guys!] taking their swords
and spears and killing women and children? That was spiritual warfare. Who
says it isn’t real? People die in this kind of war – and not just in terms
of time but also in terms of eternity. Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, is at
war with the gods of this world and those who stand with them. What we see
in Egypt – and in Midian – are just two instances of that war.

When we began this series I told you that the story of Israel is the story
of the Church. Your God has come to deliver you. The war in Egypt is a
picture of the war that rages today. And what is at issue? It’s all about
worship. Whom will you serve? The gods of this world call you to serve them.
They offer you great promises. Many have listened. And so, we hear the god
of comfort. ‘Come, worship me, and I will make your days pleasant.’ One
promise of this god is the promise of retirement – a time when you don’t
have to work but rather take your ease; a time to enjoy the good life. But
look at those who worship this god. They slave away – yes, slave away – now
trying to save up. And they are anxious. ‘Will I have enough?’ And when the
golden years aren’t so golden they become bitter. Beware the god of comfort.
He cannot keep his promises. Then, there is the god of security. This one
promises enough power, enough control over your life so that you can feel
safe. But consider what you hear and read. Each day is filled with stories
about threats to our safety. Some political party has an agenda that will
supposedly ruin your life. ‘We must band together to protect what we have.’
Or, terrorists are out to get you. So, the Department of Homeland Security
must develop even newer measures for our protection. Or, the paper reports
about another business closing and more people without a job. Are we really
safe from evil touching our lives? Can we be? Do not listen to the god of
security. Then there is the god of personal freedom. He calls you to cast
off the old restraints. Pursue your dreams. Live to enjoy your life so that
you will flourish as your own person. And as a result we have all these
individualists who have no clue about community and complain about how
lonely they are. Yahweh is crushing these gods by mocking them and showing
them for what they are.

Remember that this is a real war. It’s not just the gods who suffer. People
die. People you know. There’s Uncle Bill. Nice old guy. Filled with some
great stories about the time when he was growing up. Family get-togethers
are fun because of him. Nice old Uncle Bill, so pleasant, so much fun,
wouldn’t hurt a fly. And at his funeral they talk about how he’s telling
stories in heaven. But old Uncle Bill never claimed to be a disciple of
Jesus. Sure, he’d be at church every once in a while, but there was no
evidence of the power of the Gospel in his life. Uncle Bill is another
casualty of the war. Uncle Bill has died – eternally.

Last thought. The plagues are a picture of the Gospel. Your God has come to
deliver you. Do you know how He did that? He died. Jesus fought the most
important battle of this war and won it – hands down – by dying. He crushed
the god of this world on that cross. He fought the war and won it by dying.
And that is exactly how you are to fight – and win – this war. You fight it
by dying. You die to your dreams, your desires, your very reasonable
expectations. You die to your claims to comfort, security or personal
freedom. You deny yourself, you pick up that cross and you die. Jesus
modeled this for us when He said, ‘Not My will but Thine be done.’ It is
here that we can see that there is a big part of us that still serves the
silly idols of this world. There are things that we desire and expect, and
if we don’t get them we’re very disappointed if not a bit angry. There are
many things that we will freely give up but there are some things – some
dreams and hopes – that we still cling to. In this we serve the gods of this
world and not Jesus. And that is an awful sin. It’s here that it’s good to
know that our God is ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness…’ [Exodus 34:6] He understands our weakness.
The Spirit points out the different ways in which we worship these gods,
these idols. When He does that you need to come to Jesus to repent and to
believe, and to once again renew your fight against the idols of this world.
Jesus gladly receives sinners who repent of their sins ‘And Jesus said to
all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it
profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?’
[Luke 9:23-25]. Come, fight against the gods of this world. Die with Jesus
that you may live forever with Him.