Exodus and Salvation - Lesson 5

Exodus 14:13-14
And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

The Israelites were standing between a mighty enemy that wanted to slaughter them and place the survivors back in bondage and an impassable sea at their back. You too were pinned between the enemy of your soul and a sea of sin that separated you from God. As scripture says, you were without hope. There was no way for you to deal with your sins except the justice and wrath of God, which would have resulted in your death. The enemy of your soul was far stronger than you and you cooperated with him in your bondage. You were justly and truly by nature a child of wrath.

Ephesians 2:4-5
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

His blood did it. It crushed the enemy of our soul who sought to keep us in bondage and parted the ocean of our sins so that we could pass through and be forgiven.

Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

So the bondage was broken but the people still had hearts of stone. They worshipped idols before Moses could get back down Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments.

Numbers 14:20-23
Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.

Right after this decision by God the Israelites attempted to enter the Promised Land their own way and were defeated. The people had hearts of stone and they needed to be born again and they were; the Israelites were literally born again in the wilderness. The older generation died and another was born. You were born again too.

John 3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

1 Peter 1:22-25
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Is the Gospel alive in you? I think we have heard the quote from Isaiah pretty often. “All flesh is grass” is a good scripture especially if you work with pastures, however, notice the context here. Peter is saying that once you are born again it is permanent. Your body may grow old and die but the Word endures forever. A believer must necessarily live forever because the Work of God lives forever and He can’t be unfaithful to Himself. It is alive in you and your flesh is as grass but that word lives and abides forever.

There is yet another problem for the Israelites and an additional portion of your salvation too. They have been forgiven for their sins, they have been literally born again in the wilderness but they have no merit or righteousness for entering the Promised Land. Once again God acts to complete His promise and fulfill His covenant. And He does it in a way that patterns your salvation. The Israelites follow a man called Joshua (Yeshua or Jesus).

Joshua 3:14-16
So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away

It is mentioned in verse 15 that the river was at flood stage. God wanted to make it clear that the river didn’t just happen to dry up. Once again there was no way to move forward. They didn’t deserve to enter into the Promised Land. They were simply a bunch who were born in the wilderness, didn’t know who to cook anything except manna which they picked up off the
ground every morning, and they didn’t know how to make shoes or clothes. They would have been a pretty useless bunch. But Yeshua was leading and he knew that God would fight for them and make a way where there was no way as they followed along behind the Arc of the Covenant.

Joshua 5:8-9
So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called Gilgal to this day.

Well this was not a strategic military move that would make sense apart from simply obeying
the command of God. Here they were, they finally entered the Promised Land and the inhabitants knew they were there and would fight for the land so they incapacitated themselves for a while. In their history they would have known that this was what Simeon and Levi used to avenge Dinah their sister by killing the Shechemites. But the Israelites were obeying God and he protected them.

Joshua 5:10-12
Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain, on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

The manna stopped because they were now in the land that God had promised them and they could eat the produce there because He gave it to them. It was all an act of Grace from Egypt to the Promised Land.

To briefly cover this sequence again:

1) Israel came out of Egypt after the death of the first-born and Death passed over each Israelite because of the Blood of the Lamb.

2) They were without hope with the Enemy in front of them and the Sea at their backs but God made a way where there was no way and their bondage was broken.

3) Israel was reborn in the wilderness (literally) since all who came out of Egypt died and a new generation was born.

4) Israel, after being reborn, willingly followed Joshua, Yeshua, or Jesus in the Promised
Land.

5) They had no way of entering into the Promised Land. They were helpless to get there and yet God made a way when there was no way. His Arc of the Covenant went before them. We enter in by the New Covenant of Jesus’ Blood and there is no way apart from that way.

6) After entering into the Promised Land they participated in two sacraments. The first is circumcision, which is the Old Testament mirror of our New Testament Baptism. The second is Passover, which is mirrored in the New Testament by the Lord’s Supper.

7) And even the 12 disciples like the 12 stones became a testimony to the faithfulness and ability of God to all the following generations.

Just like you, the selection of Israel for the Promised Land was based on grace and not of works.

Now one big difference is that, today, a person’s deliverance from bondage, new birth, and
citizenship as one eligible to claim the promises of God can happen in a few moments.

As we continue the parallel into our sanctification we can see God’s work in Israel as a picture of God’s work of sanctification in your life.

After salvation you may experience a rapid change in lifestyle. Often some real victories are won early in a Christians walk with God. In fact, in John’s epistles he makes it clear that a change in
lifestyle necessarily accompanies salvation. However, during the lifelong process of sanctification you may find yourself working with God, and under his direction, on sinful traits that you thought were already dealt with. For me that can be a disappointing because it really makes it apparent that I still have some problem that I thought I had dealt with.

How would you like for God to tell you that you are old? That is what happened to Joshua.

Joshua 13:1
Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.

Not a great thing for God to tell you but you might hear the same thing with regard to your sanctification. You’ve been saved for a while but there is lots of territory in your heart yet
to be possessed by God.

Attitude can make a tremendous difference. Caleb was a man who remembered Egypt and all the heartbreak and waiting of the wilderness. He was 85 and he had obeyed the Lord. He should have been given the prime real estate along with Joshua. Anything he wanted was his. He got what he asked for. Did he ask for retirement? No he asked for the land of the giants that kept the children of Israel in the wilderness for all those years. The Anakites were the ones who were so fearful that the rest of the spies went back and said no way can we take these guys. He believed in God.

Yet scripture makes it plain that all the Israelites were not completely effective at taking
the land.

Joshua 15:63
Judah could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah.

Joshua 16:10
They did not dislodge the Canaanites living in Gezer; to this day the Canaanites live among the people of Ephraim but are required to do forced labor.

Joshua 17:12
Yet the Manassites were not able to occupy these towns, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that region. 13 However, when the Israelites grew
stronger, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor but did not drive them out completely.

Joshua 17:15-18
“If you are so numerous,” Joshua answered, “and if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go up into the forest and clear land for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaites.” The people of Joseph replied, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the plain have iron chariots, both those in Beth Shan and its settlements and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” But Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You are numerous and very powerful. You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well. Clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours; though the Canaanites have iron chariots and though they are strong, you can drive them out.”

Because of a blend of fear and half hearted obedience the Israelites never really finished driving out the original inhabitants of the land.

Joshua 21:43-45
So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

God did His part and then it was up to the Israelites to do their part. Just as the Israelites didn’t contribute to the move from bondage to the Promised Land (God did it all – Monergistic) you
brought nothing to salvation it was completely of Grace. Just as the Israelites found themselves in a battle in the Promised Land you find yourself in a battle and in need of armor to sanctify your life (synergism).

God told the Israelites to be ruthless and thorough in driving out the inhabitants of the Promised Land. They all need to be gone. However, the Israelites figured that out of sight out of mind was all they needed. Then as they soon found out the enemy didn’t know they were supposed to stay hidden from the rest of the world.

Matthew 5:29-30
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

The context of this scripture is lust and adultery and Jesus is saying in a very strong way to not only avoid the sin but also avoid the situation that leads you to it. What sets up the cycle
of temptation and sin? Figure it out, and you probably know it, and avoid it. What was your ritual of sin? Be ruthless in eliminating things that cause you to stubble.

Matthew 18:7-9
“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

The context here is sin in general. Think of how desperately we hold on to things that lead to sin. We look at addicts who claim they can handle their addiction and they look really stupid to us but we cling to things in our lives that set up patterns of sin. I’m not talking about the sin itself. I’m talking about live style choices that put you in a position to sin. Even things that would be fine for many people to partake of might position you for sin and need to be eliminated from your life. Before salvation, if you listened to country music while you got drunk you may need to eliminate the music too. Before salvation, if you listened to rock music while you did drugs you may need to eliminate rock music from your life. Before salvation, if you sinned with pornography then you
might now need to throw parts of the newspaper advertisements out before you read the paper. You might have to stop TV altogether or severely limit your viewing. Oh yeah you can handle it you aren’t doing the sin yet your just dancing on the edge and you are a strong enough Christian and anyway lots of Christians do it.

What pagan strongholds exist in your heart? Do you have a sin that repeatedly gives you problems? Maybe you need to claim territory for God in a ruthless way. Ask God what areas of your life still need to be dealt with and how to do it.

2 Peter 1:3-4
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

God is on your side just as he was on the side of the Israelites. He’ll help you claim you
inheritance. He fights with you:

Ephesians 6:13-18
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

You’re in a battle so act like it and work with God to claim every part of your heart for Him

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

We can’t just grab our spiritual swords and see sanctification in our lives. It isn’t even a profitable pursuit. You’ll just come up with a bunch of rules and regulations.

Colossians 2:23
Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

You must seek holiness on your knees seeking the leading of the Holy Spirit or you’ll be
moving backwards away from God into legalism. Especially as you find the areas in your life that lead you to sin and seek to eliminate them you can’t assume that they produce righteousness in your life. Jesus is your only righteousness plain and simple. We are trying to live lives pleasing to God and to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit as God commands us. This warfare is for obedience’s sake and not for righteousness sake. You already have the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to you by grace. Righteousness is already my breastplate freely given to me by God to equip me for the fight. Why would I start fighting naked and try to earn my armor as I go.

Exodus and Salvation - Lesson 4

Last week we looked at the first 9 plagues which only hardened Pharaoh’s. This week the fight is nearly completed to free the Israelites. The entire episode with Pharaoh shows how pointless it is to oppose God and gives a case study in how God will use a wicked man according to his wicked nature to accomplish His purposes. God is in control and He’ll make that obvious when He needs to.

God even decrees that the slaves be paid and so affects the Egyptian’s hearts that they give their wealth to them as parting gifts (Exodus 11:3) in fulfillment of God’s promise in (Exodus 3:21). God will from time to time cause people who don’t serve Him to bless us. Remember when it happens to thank God (and remember to thank God when the Body of Christ blesses you too)

Every creature was subject to God (Exodus 11:7) and even as the Israelites started to move out the dogs didn’t bark or chase them.

Death of a firstborn (12:29) – final break from Egypt
Finally the death of the firstborn breaks the bondage. The angel of death passed over the Israelites because of the blood of the sacrifice. Pharaoh and Egyptians begged Israel to leave Egypt at that point.

In our lives God often works prior to our salvation experience to build our testimony, begin to make us aware of His power, and begin to convict us of our sin. One of the key take home lessons as God rocks a person’s world in working out their early salvation is that it may get worse before it gets better. If you pray for someone in bondage to sin, then you may see big problems before you’ll see God’s solution in their life.

Israel’s spiritual condition was pretty grim. We find out how bad things were from other portions of Scripture (Leviticus 17:7; Joshua 24:14; Ezekiel 20:6-9) that they were worshiping idols representing demons and various false gods and they refused to stop as they were brought out of bondage by God. They were wretched and blind spiritually when God took them out of Egypt and they had lots of garbage to get out of their lives.

The plague didn’t pass over the Israelites because they were the children of Israel. Israel merited the judgment of God just like the Egyptians did. It passed over them in fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to Abraham. They heard the promise of God and offered the sacrifice He commanded. Sin was judged in the death of the firstborn and only Grace kept the Angel of Death out of the door of the Israelites who offered the lamb. What happens in Exodus is a foreshadowing of the work of Christ in the New Testament. Every time an orthodox Jew celebrates Passover they have before them a testimony of Christ. The unbroken bone of the lamb, three cups for each person, the empty setting and having the youngest person go to the door and look for the return of Elijah. Even the roast beef now because they can no longer offer a lamb because the temple is gone testifies to someone who has eyes and ears opened by God’s Grace.

Romans 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

The plague passes over you because of the blood of Jesus and the chains of bondage are broken (Exodus 12:12,13). God passed over because He saw the blood and not because of the house or what He saw inside the house. Christ is our Passover. We would do well to eat bitter herbs reminding us of our sorrow for our sins on Easter and remember the bondage we were freed from.

Jesus’ blood is that payment for your sin so that God is just and our justifier. So Jesus blood brings forgiveness in that it meets the just demands of a holy God for our sins and justifies us. So the sacrifice brings forgiveness from God and brings thanksgiving and praise in our hearts as we take our place in the Body of Christ by faith.

Jesus is the Lamb of God and God placed many links into Scripture to drive this point home to us. In Exodus 12 the Israelites were told to change their calendar in response to Passover. Of course our calendar changed as well. Those saved by the blood killed the lamb. The lamb was selected 4 days before Passover and Jesus ministry started with John proclaiming Him the Lamb of God and Jesus ministry lasted between 3 and 4 years. The lamb was without blemish and Jesus lived a perfect life and in eating the lamb we see a foreshadowing of communion. It was eaten on the night of the sacrifice so that communion never is separated from the sacrifice. There are folks going to churches claiming to be Christian who claim Jesus as a spiritual leader but don’t believe in the atonement. They take communion but they’ve forgotten the sacrifice.

The application of the blood to the left and right picture Christ’s hands pierced for us; the threshold, where the blood was poured out, illustrate His feet and the base of the cross; and the lintel His head where the crown of thorns was placed.

The hyssop used to apply the blood may also illustrate the scourging that Christ was subjected to.

The leaven is a picture of sin and was put away not to save the individual but because the person was saved. It gives a picture of our sanctification after God has saved us.

You can imagine that today it is very inconvenient to eliminate all leaven from a house. It is also not very economical. One trick that is sometimes used is to put all the leaven in one of your closets and then rent the closet to a gentile friend. That way the leaven in not in your “house” since you’ve rented the closet to someone else. That is very much like the way we handle sins in our lives. We try to contain them in a closet that we think God won’t notice. However, God sees our thoughts and the intent of our heart. We should be thankful that we can’t fool Him and that He will lead us gently as a shepherd but with a holy thoroughness that will result in our sanctification.

Exodus and Salvation - Lesson 3

Aaron was sent into the wilderness ahead of Moses to meet him at the mountain of God. After sharing together they were ready to enter Egypt and begin the salvation of a people that were slaves, idolaters, unlovable complainers, and didn’t deserve salvation in the least. Yes, that’s right they were just like you.

The redemption of the Israelites was a result of the Covenant that God had established earlier with Abraham. You’re also saved in response to the promises of Grace first given to Abraham. You’re a gift to His dear son.

Ephesians 2:1
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

You were by nature a child of wrath. You were just as stubborn as Israel and you are each just as great a testimony to the Grace and Mercy of God. It doesn’t matter if God saved you when you were 8 years old or 80 years old.

When we see a heart that is tender towards God it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and it testifies to God’s glory. We are no different from the Children of Israel and we run just as quickly to attribute God’s work to an idol of our own making. When you were saved, did the Gospel seem wonderful, reasonable, so clear and precious? Did the Gospel seem like water in a dry and thirsty land? Did it seem like something you had searched for all your life? Do you really think that glorious responses like those to the truth of God were birthed in hearts of stone?

Moses and Aaron saw the Holy Spirit work in Exodus 4:29-31. God gave encouragement and this was in part response to desperation and I’m sure a “let’s give it a whirl ‘cause what have we got to lose” response too. But Scripture says that they believed and we can have confidence that the Holy Spirit was at work and that Moses and Aaron were encouraged. Moses and Aaron would have greater challenges later but God blessed them with a good start.

God was going to take the Israelites by force. Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh that God says “Let My people go ..” in Exodus 5:1. Although God had told Moses that the Israelites would worship on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 3:12) and that they would see the promised land so why did this relatively small request come out of Moses’ mouth (or probably Aaron)? This small reasonable request showed the anger and arrogance of the Egyptian Pharaoh. Pharaoh blows them off and refuses and then even says they must make bricks without straw. Then the people blame Moses (Exodus 5:21) and then Moses blames God (Exodus 5:22-23). Not a pretty picture. This reminds me of what it looks like in a person’s life when God starts a work. It can be ugly. A person who was at least civil to you may become rude and hateful. When the Holy Spirit starts to convict an individual and the Holy Spirit begins to work in their life things don’t necessarily turn out all roses and violins. Thorns and yelling can be more representative of the Holy Spirit beginning a work in a life. The Bible says that our natural inclination is opposed to God not in agreement with Him. Remember that poem in which the author compared Gods work in his life to the “Hounds of Heaven”? He didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy at first. At first he felt like dogs were chasing him.

When Moses complains to God, He says, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh” (Exodus 6:1). God says that Pharaoh will drive them out of Egypt. The Israelites were still defeated (Exodus 6:9) and didn’t believe Moses and Moses wasn’t so sure he believed Moses. God continued in mercy and Grace to direct them and sent them before Pharaoh to give the first of the signs (Exodus 7:8-13). Remember that authority and power that the staff represented and so when the Egyptians copied the trick Aaron’s staff swallowed theirs. This act by God served as a warning that God’ authority was superior to the authority of Egypt. However, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Exodus 7:13.

Ten plagues were sent against the chains that held the Israelites. Pharaoh cycled between being hardened, negotiating, and lying until the 10th plague against the firstborn after Pharaoh had struck at the children to start the process.

God had many purposes in the plagues that he sent against Egypt. Even the Egyptians in their sin could see some of the points.

First, the plagues manifested his power and His authority. The Bible tells us that “then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God (Exodus 8:19). It tells us that Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” (Ex 18:10-11). It even served as a demonstration of His power and authority to other nations. Rahab of Jericho knew what God had done and helped the Israelites (Joshua 2:8-9) and the Philistines also had heard and were afraid (1 Samuel 4:8)

Second, the plagues were punishment for the treatment of the Israelites “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you (Exodus 10:16).

Third, God judged satanic rulers. “For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn which the Lord had smitten among them; upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments (Numbers 33:4).
Finally, these plagues were part of testing and developing a testimony and relationship for Israel with God. For example, in Deuteronomy 4:33-34 Moses asked Israel, “Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?”

The plagues are not a random collection of events. The plagues were chosen to express God’s purposes. There are a number of striking things to note about the 10 plagues. For example

In Plague 1 the Nile turns to blood as a symbol of death; in Plague 10 the first born in all the households of Egypt die. In Plague 2, frogs (nocturnal) symbolize darkness; in Plague 9 the actual darkness is the plague. In Plague 3, the Egyptian magicians confess that it is the hand of God in judgment; In Plague 8, Pharaoh confesses that it is God judging Egypt; In Plague 4, God exempted the Land of Goshen; in Plague 7, God exempted the Land of Goshen. While in Plague 5 and Plague 6 the cattle of the Egyptians were attacked. God really likes symmetry.

The plagues are progressive in that they get progressively more severe and they make progressions in groups of three with the Plague 10 on the first born being a final and separate plague. The first three attacked comfort. The second three attacked possessions. The next three brought desolation and death.

The plagues also represent attacks on the gods of the Egyptians. We’ve already discussed the importance and worship that the Nile received in the lives of the Egyptians. So turning it to blood and bringing frogs up out of it were attacks in the face of their god. Also the gnats were viewed as unclean and prevented the Egyptian priests from ministering at their pagan altar. The plague of flies was directed against Beelzebub (the Fly god) and God then went on to attack their systems of animal offerings.

Nile to Blood (7:20) – had a warning from God
Where Moses turned a small amount of Nile water to blood as a sign of warning, God turned the entire river to blood.

Frogs (8:6) – had a warning from God
After an interval of 7 days, so that Pharaoh had time to repent, and it seems the first 2 plagues came on Sabbath days since the Egyptians were not giving the Israelites the option to honor the Sabbath.

Lice (8:17) – had no warning from God
This was a direct attack on the pride of the Egyptians and their belief in their cleanliness.

Flies (8:24) – had a warning from God
The Israelites were exempt from this plague. The swarms were apparently of a mixed group of flies and they were biting flies.

Livestock diseases (9:6) – had a warning from God
Judgment against possessions and wealth of Egyptians.

Boils (9:10) – had no warning from God
It seems reasonable that Moses took ashes from a furnace used as an altar for a pagan god of the Egyptians and sent another plague.

Hail (9:23) – had a warning from God
For a people who always looked down to the river for their needs and water this judgment from the heavens must have rocked their world.

Locusts (10:13) – had a warning from God
Eliminated food for animals and for man as well.

Darkness (10:22) – had no warning from God
They worshiped the sun god Ra so this was God’s way of showing that Ra was no true God.

10. Death of a firstborn (12:29) – final break from Egypt
Finally the death of the firstborn breaks the bondage. The angel of death passed over the Israelites because of the blood of the sacrifice. Pharaoh and Egyptians begged Israel to leave Egypt at that point.

God who loves symmetry, used 3 groups of 3 with a warning before the first two in each group of three and no warning for the third. The tenth plague stands alone because the relationship to passover.

In our lives God often works prior to our salvation experience to build our testimony, begin to make us aware of His power, and begin to convict us of our sin. One of the key take home lessons as God rocks a person’s world in working out their early salvation is that it may get worse before it gets better. If you pray for someone in bondage to sin, then you may see big problems before you’ll see God’s solution in their life.

Exodus and Salvation - Lesson 2

Moses eventually renounces his position as the son of Pharaoh. He gave up power and authority. This is analogous to the temptation of Christ in the wilderness when the enemy of your soul offered Him everything if He would bow down and worship him. Moses chooses to suffer with the people of God rather than enjoy sin for a little while. He valued God’s salvation over the riches of Egypt. All of this response was faith driven as Scripture tells us. God did remarkable things in the heart of Moses and there are many parallels with Christ.

God’s preparation of Moses teaches us things about our preparation for service to God as well. Moses spent years herding sheep so leading a group that is smelly and dumb was already on his resume and maybe because of that he wasn’t as eager to lead as he was when he was younger. Protesting isn’t a good thing but at least in Moses’ case it expressed a humility that had prepared him. Those who make wild claims about what they’ll do for God and forget that without God’s power they will not do good for God are bound for correction. That corner of the desert was good for Moses.

When Moses is before the burning bush, he asks God what he should say His name is when the Children of Israel ask (Exodus 4:13). This is when we learn one of the most wonderful but simple names of God. God tells him to say that “I am” sent him. The name has a weight of meaning that conveys I was, I am, and I always will be. It is such a comfort to know our God does not change and it faithful through all ages. Notice also that God began to act on behalf of the Israelites before they had a clue. They weren’t calling out in his name and Moses knew they would want to know who he was working for. The other great contrast here is that our God “is” while all other gods do not exist. He is eternally self existent. And when Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” He was making a clear statement that He was God. The Jews didn’t miss it and picked up stones to kill Him.

Notice that God told Moses what was going to happen. God calls His shot in Exodus 3:16-22 but Moses doesn’t believe it. God says that “they will listen to your voice (3:18)” and Moses says “they will not believe me or listen to my voice”. We shouldn’t argue with God. I know I’ve done it and God is merciful to me; but even I probably wouldn’t directly contradict Him. I’d at least rephrase it. However, when you find yourself disagreeing with God (as He has been pleased to reveal Himself in Scripture) then please do the smart thing and admit you’re wrong. However, here is an encouragement to serving God. Moses wasn’t smart enough to avoid directly contradicting God and yet God used him and didn’t toast him where he was standing. God will use you as He pleases and you don’t have to be perfect before it will happen. Just repent when you make mistakes. If God ever decides to only use people who didn’t make mistakes then we could all just quit and go home now.

The Rod that Turns into a Snake
God gave Moses signs to show to the Israelites. First He gave Moses the sign of his rod that became a stake. Moses was taught a practical lesson. His rod or staff was his support. It helped him walk. When he was tired he leaned on it. So it was a picture of God’s Grace that when cast away reveals the danger we’re in from the enemy of our souls. So Moses was taught that the staff, as a picture of God’s Grace was something to lean on constantly.

The other aspect is the picture of rule and authority. The Lord has said that the day will come when He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. So in the casting down we see delegation of rule and authority and the picture in particular of the corruption and evil in Egypt oppressing the Israelites. Moses, as God’s representative, had no problem taking it up again. The rod never slips from God’s hand and God never has trouble taking it up again. We can trust completely in God’s sovereignty over this world.

The Leprous Hand
The second sign was found when Moses put his hand inside his shirt and pulled it out and found it leprous. Secondly, he did it again and found it healed (Exodus 4:6-8). Leprosy was seen as a symbol of sin and is used in that way here. It was obviously a demonstration of God’s power to send and cure a disease that would then mean that He could save the Israelites from Egypt. Our hands are not fit to serve God apart from His Grace. We are sinners by nature and corrupt our work for God with sin. So if God says show me your hands then I know that in my flesh, there is sin and I’m not fit to serve Him. But the second time that Moses pulled his hand out and it was clean shows that God will use us by His Grace. He cleanses us and purifies our work and receives it by His Grace. We corrupt our work for God. We can acknowledge in our head that a good work is a work done at God’s direction, when He directs it, in the way He directs it, and with no thought but for His glory. However, in practice, we are veteran high fivers who think we need God to pin a gold star on every time we get lucky and do something halfway right. Oh well, it is humbling to see how easy our hearts depart from serving God in holiness but don’t forget the second picture of the hand that was healed and looked perfect. God will purify our works. Just repent when you sin and seek God with your whole heart by His Grace.

Nile Water to Blood
The Nile was life to Egypt. It was in a real way worshipped by the Egyptians. So for Moses to take water from the thing that brings them life and wealth and turn it into blood on dry land turns a blessing into a curse. Instead of life you get death.

So this is a solemn warning. If you reject God’s rule and authority, if you refuse healing from sin, then God warns that good things will become bad things in your life. Even the blessing of life isn’t a blessing anymore if you die without Christ.

So Moses was the first man ever formally called by God to service. God prepared him without any formal training but he had 40 years as a Prince of Egypt and 40 years as a shepherd in the desert. However, God’s Grace was the real preparation for service. God dealt personally with Moses. God still deals personally with us and uses Scripture to teach us His will. God enabled Moses by giving him what he needed for the task he was called to do. Moses’ response, which is often like our response, is that we aren’t suitable for the job. We actually raise an irrelevant objection and display more trust in just about anything than God’s ability to do His will.

Moses finally decides to obey God. But when he goes to do the decent thing and let his father-in-law know what he needed to do he just says he needs to go see his brothers.

God shows His foreknowledge in Exodus 4:21-23. God will use a wicked man according to his wicked nature and there is nothing he can do to effectively stop the plans of God. How would you surprise God? He knows for certain how Pharaoh will act but Pharaoh is making real decisions and God is not just predicting the future behavior of Pharaoh. God stands outside time and sees the end from the beginning. His knowledge is perfect and He knows not just all that will be (because He sees it) but also all that could be. We’ll talk more about God’s sovereignty as we work through Romans in a few weeks.

A few verses indicate the gravity of our roles as men in families in Exodus 4:24-26. Moses had not circumcised his son by Zipporah. There is some room for questioning if the one in danger of death was Moses or his son but since Zipporah is the one who finally circumcises her son it looks like the judgment fell on Moses. Zipporah wasn’t happy about but then Moses and his household was ready to move on into Egypt. It is not reasonable to think that this came as a surprise to either Moses or Zipporah. From the response of Zipporah it looks like it was a longstanding problem the just couldn’t last in the kind of work that the family was moving into. It is a real challenge to men to live godly lives and represent biblical principles in their family. The child involved was probably his firstborn named “Gershom” and Moses had obviously neglected his responsibilities. We have biblical responsibilities too and God expects us to be aware of those and to fulfill them. We no long have circumcision as a sign of our covenant relationship but scripture teaches us how to lead our children into a covenant relationship with God and just like Moses we shouldn’t neglect our family even for a ministry.