Trust in Me

Thank you, Mr. Kester. Good morning, everyone. Mr. Richards made the comment today about the kind of odd weather we're having here. Shannon and I, the last four times we've come over here, have said, hey, maybe this will be the last month that we'll have to look at snow. We said that in March. We said it, well, I guess it's only been two months now. It just feels like four. But, yeah, boy, when are we going to start getting some of that spring-like weather that we have? And I guess then you think about it.

And it's Oregon. This is spring-like weather. So there you go. You know, brethren, each year in the spring of the year, we as a church take the time to stop and commemorate an amazing journey. It is the journey of a people chosen by God, a people who were to be removed from their bondage and promised a new life, a fresh start in a land that had been promised to them long before any of them had even been born.

It was a chance to dwell with their God in the land of His choosing forever more. The journey which began the day following the past over, as the Israelites left Egypt, ended triumphantly seven days later as the Israelites miraculously crossed the Red Sea. You know, symbolically, we in the churches of God know this journey was so much more than just the literal exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. During this time frame, the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, were instituted. And those days were having significant meaning to the ancient Israelites as they commemorated the events of the exodus year after year.

Also pointed forward to a time in the future when these days would have additional symbolism and additional meaning in the New Covenant with Christ's blood as God removes us from the bondage of our spiritual Egypt. Is it a coincidence that the Old and the New Covenant share holy days? That the symbolism of ancient Israel's exodus from Egypt is the same symbolism of the exodus God's people are making today? That the blood of Christ has taken the place of the blood of the Lamb was to be put upon the doors of the Israelite houses? Or that we are leaving a bondage of a different sort today? Is it a coincidence that these days line up and have absolutely so much in common?

Absolutely not. We know that. Our God is not arbitrary. He didn't set up the institutions of the Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, and then just marvel at Himself and how they all just happened to line up. We recognize these things were intended from the beginning. God had it planned out. The symbolism, the connections, the interlacing of these events in the holy days were set from the beginning of time itself. In other words, it was all according to plan. And brethren in God's plan, everything is done for a very specific reason.

So when we read through these accounts each year, we really need to recognize none of these instructions that we see are coincidence. None of them are just, well, we'll just have them do this this year. They're all set up for very specific reasons. Let's start today by turning over to Exodus 14. We're going to take a look at one of those very specific instructions given by God. And I took it easy on you guys today.

We're not actually leaving the book of Exodus, so not going to be a whole lot of flipping around. It's just I'm going to have to keep myself lively so no one falls asleep.

You know, make everybody turn pages and that keeps them awake. So Exodus 14, we'll turn over to verse 1. Exodus 14 verse 1. Exodus 14 verse 1 says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, verse 2, Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Piharephoroth. Clearly I don't speak the ancient names of some of these places, so my apologies. But between Migdul and the sea, opposite bales of fawn, you shall camp before it by the sea.

We see here a very specific instruction. God actually wants them to turn around and to go back to a very, very specific spot. And that specific spot is named. It's between Migdul and the sea, opposite bales of fawn.

Now what is so intriguing to me about this passage, the Israelites had already passed this spot. They'd walked right by it and God says, turn around and go back. Go back to this specific location. Now, if you're like me and you think like me, the next question out of your mouth is why. Why here? Why this place? Why turn back and camp here?

In order to appropriately answer this question, we have to go back and we have to examine the events that led up to this point. We all know this story by heart. You know, Moses, an Israelite by birth, the adoptive son of Pharaoh's daughter, is chosen by God to free the people of Israel from their enslavement. Through the process of meeting with Pharaoh, who waffles more frequently than IHOP on his promises to release them, Moses is incapable of getting Pharaoh to let his people go into the wilderness for a festival to God. So God is then required to put his plan into action. He begins to send horrible plagues upon the land of Egypt. These plagues were also sent for very specific reasons. In fact, they were even strategically chosen by God in order to demonstrate to Israel, Egypt, who he was and the power that he held, and that he could be trusted to do what he said he would do.

At the time, in Egypt, Israel didn't understand that. And we have to understand where Israel was at at this point. They've been slaves for 400-plus years. As such, generation upon generation had seen the supposed power, wonders, and miracles of the Egyptian gods. Their leader, Pharaoh, was believed to be a god himself. They were so deep into idolatry, with each subsequent generation, that knowledge of God is lost a little more, and a little more, and a little more.

Ways, customs, beliefs of their people began to fade into an amalgamation of Egypt.

And then here comes Moses, talking about a god that they couldn't see, didn't understand fully, who wanted him to leave the quote-unquote comfortable life that they held in Egypt for a life in the desert.

Where is this god? They couldn't see him, and their trust then lay in what they were most comfortable with, the things that were tangible, the gods of Egypt.

In order to redeem his people from bondage, God needed to gain their trust, and discredit the gods of Egypt that they'd come to believe in. God's very specific about the culmination of his plan in Exodus 12, so let's flip over there real quick. We'll take a look at Exodus 12, verse 12, and see what he plans to do. So Exodus 12, verse 12. Exodus 12, and again, this is the culmination of the plans here. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord.

The second half of that scripture is a large portion of God's plans, that by the end, the final plague of this process, the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, that God will have exacted judgment against all of the gods of Egypt. This statement is again corroborated in Numbers 33-4. I told you we're staying in Exodus, we're not going to turn there.

It says that even as the Egyptians were burying their dead, that God executed judgment against all the gods of Egypt. This altercation was never just between God and Pharaoh. God had a statement to make. He was the one true God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, and he was more powerful than the entire pantheon of Egypt's gods. And it was a big pantheon. Egypt had gods for just about any little thing out there. It was a very large pantheon. But by overpowering the Egyptian gods, he was able to kill two birds with one stone. First, he demoralizes the Egyptians, and he shows them that he is the one true God. And two, he strengthens the resolve of the Israelites and their trust in him as their God. The show of force against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt began before the plagues even started, with Moses and Pharaoh's first couple of encounters. Let's go ahead and turn over to Exodus 7. We'll go back just a little bit. Exodus 7. We'll start in verse 9.

So Exodus 7 and verse 9 says, When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, Show a miracle for yourselves, then you shall say to Aaron, Take your rod...

Lost my place, I'm sorry. Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh and let it become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went into the Pharaoh, and they did so just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, so the magicians of Egypt, and they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. So at this point, Aaron and Moses are kind of going, Oh, okay, you can do that too. All right, well now what? But then we see that God does have the final say in this. Pharaoh's heart grew hardened by that. He saw that, Hey, my magicians could do the same thing and didn't heed them as the Lord had said. Oops, I skipped one. Something else happened there. I'm sorry. For every man threw down their rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. So Aaron's rod ended up going through and consuming the rods of the magicians of Egypt. You know, it wasn't a coincidence. Again, God is not arbitrary. It wasn't a coincidence that a snake was chosen for this. Ancient Egypt revered serpents. In particular, one serpent, the cobra. Okay, the ancient Egyptians used to call them Uri, and it was a symbol of the power of rulership. The cobra symbolized rulership. In fact, it was an art motif through Egypt, many of the major tombs, many of the palaces, and in fact, the front of Pharaoh's headdress itself depicted a cobra ready to strike. King Tut's throne was decorated with a coiled cobra, and that cobra symbolized the power that Pharaoh held. By overcoming the snake, you symbolically overcome the power of Pharaoh. We see, scripturally, this event wasn't enough. Pharaoh was not convinced. He hardened his heart, thereby requiring the beginning of the ten plagues on Egypt, and again, each of which was symbolic. I'd like to spend some time today examining these plagues and the specific Egyptian deities that each of these plagues challenged. In doing this, we can set up the background for answering the question that we began with. Why Israel found themselves camped in that specific location by the Red Sea? The first plague we see, we see the Nile River turn to blood, the very first plague. So the Nile River was the literal lifeblood of the Egyptian Empire. Literal lifeblood of the Egyptian Empire. Without the Nile River, Egypt would have never come to the greatness that it achieved. And it was a great civilization. It's one of the major civilizations that was recorded throughout history. But without the Nile River, it would have just been another small, little desert civilization, limited in its size and in its power by its access to water. The Nile provided the water necessary to keep the entire civilization, both the upper and the lower kingdoms, alive. The Egyptians recognized this, had established the godhood of the Nile River early on. In fact, Adolph Ermin has a book out called The Ancient Egyptians. He has actually recorded the following prayer to the Nile River. It's unreal.

Interesting.

The godhood, the essence of the Nile River. And according to the Egyptians, they referred to Hoppe as the giver of life to all men. So it was a literal lifeblood to the Egyptian people. So imagine the surprise. Imagine the surprise on the faces of the Egyptian people when the events of Exodus 7 take place. Let's take a look at that real quick.

Exodus 7, verse 20. Here is this water that nourishes this country. Keeps this country functioning. And now all of a sudden, verse 20, says, And Moses and Aaron did so just as the Lord commanded. God had told them to strike the water. And they lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants.

So it was important to make sure that Pharaoh and all of his officials and all of his servants saw them do this. God did not want this attributed to a random happenstance. And He wanted them to see that His servants and through them His power had done this. In the sight of Pharaoh and the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river, and so there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. So we see again the magicians were able to replicate it. They were able to at least replicate it in some way. There's some discussion over whether or not it was kind of trickery that they had used, or whether they really did have some sort of powers through whatever. But Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by all of this.

So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink because they could not drink the water of the river. So they had no access, short of digging themselves, essentially new wells, digging themselves locations where they could get water. And it says, verse 25, And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river. So for seven days the god Hapi lay completely impotent in the land of Egypt, completely incapable of doing anything to undo what God had done.

In addition, it's had a couple of effects on a couple other gods, Hat Met, the fish goddess, incapable of keeping the fish alive, and the waters of the Nile, which actually represented to the Egyptians the lifeblood of Osiris, actually turned to blood, which some sources have said is an abomination to the Egyptian people. Three gods, shown to be completely powerless in the shadow of an invisible god that no one could see, and that no one at the time really fully understood. But again, we see that all too familiar pattern that after the magicians were able to replicate the miracle, Pharaoh said, Uh-uh, not gonna do it.

People are saying. God says, okay. Step two. We see the second plague. God takes the battle to the goddess Hecht, H-E-K-T, bringing millions of frogs out of the Nile River. Hecht was a frog-headed goddess whose followers were amongst a fertility cult. Now, there's some irony in that, because that fertility cult ironically couldn't control the fertility of these millions upon millions of frogs that had come up out of the river.

There were so many the Egyptians began to loathe them. The stench became a sore spot. All the prayers they sent to Hecht were ignored. Nothing got rid of the frogs. Until God obviously decided that it was time to end the plague. The frogs remained, decayed in the houses, cupboards, beds, anywhere else the frogs happened to die. And there were heaps of dead, stinking frogs all over Egypt. Hecht was completely powerless. Completely powerless. But again, verse 15 of Exodus 8, we see that this demonstration was not enough. Verse 15 of Exodus 8, Once again, Pharaoh saw that there was relief.

He hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said. What Pharaoh did here was he took God's mercy in ending the plague for weakness. He said, oh well, it's gone. It's fine. It's over. And again, his heart was hardened. The next plague, God takes lice, causes lice to come up from the dust of the ground and afflict all of Egypt's inhabitants. We'll start in the next chapter after verse 15 and verse 16.

So Exodus 8, verse 16, we see the third plague of lice. So the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Now, I'm going to stop right there for just a second, and then we'll come back to this next section. You know, the Egyptians didn't have a specific god of lice-inviting insects. They didn't. They didn't have a lice god.

And frankly, the word lice makes you kind of get that creepy-crawly feeling. I work in education. You always hear of these situations where they have a lice outbreak somewhere, and you just kind of go instantly. You start itching. I mean, they have that kind of visceral reaction in people. So you can imagine just the hordes of lice that were upon every person and beast in Egypt. It would have been a pretty incredible thing to have seen. Not to experience, necessarily, but to have seen.

But, you know, again, they didn't have a specific lice god. But by striking the dust of the earth, they did have a god of the earth. They did. That god of the earth's name was Geb. And if Geb were so powerful, well, why won't he answer your prayers to return these lice to the dust from where they came? Why can't Geb do that? And the next thing to notice in this section, too, is the next scripture that we stopped at.

Now, the magicians, this is verse 18, so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. We see here the final step. This is all the farther the magicians of Egypt could go. They couldn't go any further. In fact, it says, the magicians said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. So they said specifically to Pharaoh, you are dealing with God. This is not magic. This is not something fake. This is not trickery. And from that point forward, Pharaoh knew who he was dealing with. Still hardened his heart. Still didn't do what he needed to do, but he knew who he was dealing with at that point. So he didn't heed them just as the Lord had said.

The request came again. So we see in Exodus 8, verse 20, the request comes again. And unfortunately, again, another plague is required. Pharaoh is just not giving in. So we'll take a look at the fourth plague here. So Exodus 8, verse 20. And the Lord said to Moses, Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. So catch him basically before he comes out to take his bath. Get him before he comes out. Then say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Or else, if you will not, let my people go. Behold, I will send swarms. And my Bible has of flies in italics. And there's a specific reason to that. We'll get there in just a sec. So, swarms of flies upon you and your servants, to your people and into the houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand. Now verse 22 is important. And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies will be there. In order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a difference between my people and your people. And tomorrow will this sign be.

Verse 21 doesn't specifically say what insect is actually involved here. Every Bible I've seen says flies. There are a few that have commentaries of gnats. In fact, I even saw you look up the word Arab, which is the swarm, the word swarm there in Hebrew. It means exactly that. And then it says, for example, mosquitoes. Could have been mosquitoes. I found a really intriguing suggestion that someone had. And again, this is just complete conjecture. But said that maybe it was scarab beetles. Very possible scarab beetles. Scarab beetles do fly. They're also insanely holy to the Egyptian people. Very, very holy to the Egyptian people. So the Egyptians actually worshiped the scarab. They did have a specific scarab-headed god named Kefara, who was a manifestation of the Egyptian god Adam, who was associated with creation and resurrection. And you might think to yourself, what does a dung beetle have to do with creation? And the reason that they attributed it to it is when they rolled the dung of the animals, they lay their eggs into the dung, and from that dung sphere, new life develops. And so they attributed that to creation and also, in some cases, to resurrection. There is evidence, actually, and they found some of them in tombs, that these small little insects were actually embalmed and buried with the pharaohs. And it's, again, a possibility. It's hard to tell based on the information. It is a possibility that Adam, which is the scarab-headed god Kefara, he is one of the nine chief gods. So it's possible that that plague of scarabs may have been the case instead of flies in this case. But again, we don't know for sure. There is actually a Lord of the Flies in Egyptian mythology. His name is Beelzebub. I know there's a book called that as well. I see some grins. But yeah, there is a Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies, and he was an Egyptian god of the flies as well. So it's possible that it went either way. Either way, whatever it was, Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron back. It was quick this time. Okay, get back here. You can go. You can go, he tells him. You can go. But you're going to have to make your offering within the borders of Egypt. Okay, and we'll take a look at that real quick. It's verse 26 within Exodus 8. Actually, 25 is where Moses... or Pharaoh calls for Moses. It says, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Go, sacrifice to your God in the land. And we see Moses' response here. It's interesting. Moses says, It's not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, in other words, within the borders of Egypt, will they not stone us?

Moses knew the animals they were commanded to sacrifice to God were sacred to the Egyptian people.

Israelites go when they start sacrificing cattle within Egypt's borders, and the Egyptians absolutely would have stoned them. The Egyptians at the time held cattle to be as sacred as the Hindu people do today. They held cattle to be as sacred as the Hindu people do today. In fact, possibly more so.

There was no way Moses and Aaron were going to do this. They told Pharaoh as much. There's no chance that we're not going to do this. Now, in a bit of what I'm sure is intended irony, I'm almost certain this is intended irony, the very next plague that transpires against Pharaoh is what?

Death of the cattle. Absolutely. The next plague is death of the cattle. And that hit Pharaoh and the Egyptians where it hurt, attacking those sacred animals that they held to be so sacred.

The bull god Apis was worshipped early, early, early in the Egyptian Empire. In fact, he was one of the first gods that was worshipped among the Egyptians. And the worship of the bull, there's also a corresponding cow-headed goddess, rather, named Hathor. Both the worship of Apis and Hathor had been going on for thousands of years and was deeply entrenched in Egyptian religion. The Pharaoh himself actually took the symbol of the bull. So the Pharaoh took on the symbol of the bull because the symbol of the bull represented power, represented strength, represented virility. And so in Pharaoh, those were those traits that he wanted to embody. Pharaoh himself actually kept a live bull that was supposed to represent the god Apis. Apis. Apis. There we go. Supposed to represent Apis. And he kept that bull in a life of luxury in the palace. That bull had its own servants. And every year they killed the bull. Pharaoh ate of the bull's flesh to embody the power, and then the servants were sent out to find the Apis for the next year. That bull had to have specific characteristics. Apis looked one way. So when they found a bull that was quote-unquote Apis, they brought it, and that bull lived a life of luxury for a year in the palace. Apis was a renewal of life for Pata, and I don't know how that's pronounced exactly again. I don't speak Egyptian. But Pata was believed to be the Egyptian creator. And eventually in the new kingdom, Apis was associated with Osiris, and what happened is time went on in Egypt. You know, some of these distinct gods that were distinct gods early on started to become blended together, and as the Greeks started to become influenced, or started to influence Egypt as well, other gods started mixing in. And so the pantheon of Egypt got very, for sake of a better word, amalgamated as time went on. But imagine the distress amongst the Egyptian people. Just imagine for a moment the distress amongst the Egyptian people when they walk outside one morning, and every single one of their sacred cattle are dead. Or in the process of dying. They believe that it may have been... they say specifically it's a moraine, which just essentially means disease. Some people have theorized that it could have been anthrax, which is a fairly common bacterium, but that God may have hit them with anthrax. But it's a disease where the head droops, and they look weak, and they stumble, and they lean. So imagine just for a minute coming out and seeing all of these cattle in that fashion. And then, to find out, the only living cattle in the entire area belonged to the Israelites in Goshen, because those cattle weren't touched. That's a sore spot. You can imagine that's a sore spot. In addition to cattle, the word actually doesn't necessarily just mean cattle, it means livestock. But God specifically says they killed sheep, they killed donkeys, they killed camel, they killed other livestock. Essentially clearing out Egypt. Clear them out.

Pharaoh sent his people to spy whether or not Israel's cattle were alive or dead, and upon finding their cattle still alive, he hardened his heart again. It's hard to tell for sure, but perhaps this time his heart was hardened out of anger rather than just pure stubbornness.

But whatever it was, it was hardened nonetheless. God gives Moses a new set of instructions. You know, at this point, Moses is starting to become quite the thorn in the side to Pharaoh. This guy keeps showing up, and every time he shows up, something horrible happens. It's just great, I love it. So God tells Moses in Exodus 9, verse 8, his next set of instructions. So he says, 9, verse 8, There is some discussion in some circles, and in fact, two of the commentaries, believe it's Barnes and James and Fawcett Brown, said that there actually was a type of ritual that was done in Egypt that was similar to this.

There was a god in Egypt called Typhon, and God Typhon was a weather and a storm god, and kind of was believed to be the person in charge of the skies and in charge of the heavens. And part of it is, when they started to have weather that was influencing crops and all that kind of thing, they would actually take ashes from the furnaces. But at that point in time, there's also some commentaries that seem to indicate that in the process, they actually burned people as part of a human sacrifice and took those human ashes and then sprinkled them into the air.

And in the theory, as the winds carried the ashes, everywhere the ashes landed, would then be blessed and be protected from the calamity. So it's very possible that this was done specifically for Moses to show the Egyptians, the pharaoh, his officials, the magicians, magicians and Egyptians, they just sound too similar. Too much jinns in Egypt. But this was a ritual they would have been very, very familiar with. This is something that when the Egyptians saw this happen, what it went, Oh! Oh, look, look, look!

He's offering to Typhon. Look what he's doing. Except that every time the Egyptians did it, nothing happened. This time, Moses throws these ashes into the air and a large cloud of dust forms. And now all of a sudden, that dust lands and suddenly Egypt is struck with boils from head to toe.

And it doesn't say small boils. It doesn't say small boils. It doesn't say large boils either. But it says that they were reduplicated. They were inflicted significantly. And we can imagine, this was not a comfortable thing. This is also one of the very first plagues that is wrought directly against the Egyptian people. Now, let me just think, wait a second. The Nile turning to blood? Inconvenience.

They were still healthy enough to dig wells. They could still get water. Frogs, again, inconvenience, but they could work around it. Flies and lice? Okay, they're considerably more than an inconvenience, I'm sure. But it didn't directly affect their overall health. It was outside of their bodies. It wasn't their own bodies suddenly erupting in these boils or in these different things. And so with this plague, we start seeing a direct attack upon not just the specifically gods of Egypt here, but also the Egyptian people.

So we start seeing that the Egyptian people now are being directly affected by this. Now, we don't know exactly how long they sat with boils. It doesn't specifically say they were afflicted with boils for 30 days or whatever. But there is something interesting, because we go between plague 5, which is killing all of the cattle within Egypt, and then we go to plague 7, where they are specifically instructed to take their cattle and bring them inside. It must have been long enough that they were able to track down some cattle.

Whether or not that was taking them from the Israelites, whether that was trading with their neighbors and gaining some cattle for whatever. But it specifically says that all of their cattle were killed in the previous plague. The only living cattle was those that the Israelites had. So they had some time to get some cattle. Again, could have been a couple of days, could have been a week, could have been a month. We really don't know. We really don't know.

What we do know is their prayers for deliverance from the pain and the soreness of their boils and their blains. The Egyptians would have petitioned the god Imhotep, the goddess Sekhmet, as well as Seropsis, which were all gods of healing and medicine. But again, as before, their gods were completely powerless. Completely powerless to undo what the god of Israel had done. We also see here that Pharaoh's magicians have become completely irrelevant. At this point, they're not even hardly in the story anymore. These guys, you know, they're in here just to show they had so many boils, they couldn't stand up. But they are completely powerless to replicate this and are afflicted to themselves.

Again, the point, they couldn't stand up. So they've been taken out of the picture. But in Exodus 9, 14, Moses returns to Pharaoh with the same message. Let my people go so that we can go and we can worship our god in the place of his choosing. God takes his message one step further, telling Pharaoh what's going to happen again if he does not comply.

So Exodus 9, verse 14, For at this time I will send all my plagues to your very heart and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. God's saying, look, I could have wiped your entire civilization off of the planet by now. I haven't.

I haven't. But from this moment forward, my plagues are going to be on you, they're going to be on your people, and they're going to be on everything you've got. You know, God, to a certain extent, starting with plague number seven here, kind of pulls off the gloves. And I, you know, not to say that He didn't before, but this was big time now. You know, they were directly being affected by these from this moment forward.

He then goes on, okay, then goes on and says, But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, and that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth. And yet you exalt yourself against my people, in that you will not let them go.

Behold, tomorrow, about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such has not been seen in Egypt since the founding until now. And He specifically gives them a warning. Hey, verse 19, Send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field, and is not brought home, and they shall die.

Verse 20 is interesting. He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to his houses.

Again, those that did not were caught in the storm and were killed.

God really has Pharaoh on the ropes at this point. You know, thinking from a little bit of a boxing analogy here, these plagues forward are set specifically to hit Pharaoh and his people where it hurts most. And that's personally.

Specifically against them. And in addition, there is a change of pace here. Let's take a look real quick. Verse 31 of chapter 9. I found this really interesting.

Chapter 9, verse 31 gives us some timing. It gives us a hint as to kind of some timing of all of this. Verse 31 says, Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head, and the flax was in bud, but the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are later crops.

If you look at the information on Egypt in their growing seasons, the wheat harvest in Egypt was done around April or May. So the wheat harvest was done right around April or May, and the flax and the barley that are mentioned there are more like a late February, early March harvest. So if we couple that with Exodus 5.12, let's go back there real quick. So we're looking at, again, they talk about in here, that the wheat had not popped up yet, and that the flax and the barley were right around February, March, when they were in the head. If we go back to Exodus 5, verse 12, it says, So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw. So for stubble, that would mean that the wheat harvest would have had to already have been done, and the stubble was left in the field. So if we look at the timing of this, we see that the Israelites had to then gather that straw to make their bricks. The Egyptians actually used to deliver it to them. It didn't make them work, quote-unquote, too hard. Now they're having to go back out and look for it themselves. But yeah, it's almost a year. So you look at the time frame. End of April, which would have been about the wheat harvest, end of April, end of May. So that's when Moses first goes to Pharaoh and makes Pharaoh angry, and he doubles all the efforts of the Egyptians. But the second time that he went was right around January-February. So you count that out, that's May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, January-February. It's like six or eight months. Six or eight months' worth of time from the first plague, the first time that Moses goes to Pharaoh, essentially right around there, to plague number six. Now, starting with plague number seven, we're talking February. We're talking February-March. And those last four plagues were done between February-March and Passover. We're talking a month and a half to two months' time for four major plagues. And so for the Egyptians at that time, it would have had to have felt like a rapid-fire succession. Just one plague after another. As they were kind of reeling from one, the next one starts.

In this case, Pharaoh and Egypt are on the ropes, and they're taking one hit after the other. It was beginning to wear on them. In fact, in verse 20 of chapter 9, we'll go back there real quick. Verse 20 of chapter 9, we actually see that some of the Egyptians are starting to pay attention and are starting to listen. So in verse 20 of chapter 9, we see it says, He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of the Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. We mentioned that earlier. Those were the ones that actually, when it was all said and done, still had something left. Still had servants, still had livestock. Those that did not and those that didn't take to heart what God had said found everything dead. After the hail rained down on Egypt, the goddess Newt, the goddess of the sky, was completely incapable of stopping it.

The fields burned, destroyed. Isis, the protector of the crops, was completely impotent. And Pharaoh calls Moses an Aaron and confesses this time. This is interesting. Confesses this time that Egypt has sinned against the Lord. And in saying that, he actually uses the Lord's proper name. You can see it in the Hebrew there. He's actually using God's proper name, asking specifically for the hail to be stopped. And then once again, as soon as it is, mistakes God's mercy for weakness and hardens his heart again. Now, it's possible at this point that maybe he thought, just as they were spaced out so much before, that there would be another month or so between this one and the next one. We find that's definitely not the case. Okay, definitely not the case. Pharaoh's given another chance. Moses and Aaron come before him, and through Moses, God asks, Pharaoh, how long is it going to take? How long do we need to keep doing this? Before you will humble yourself and let my people go. Again, we see that familiar pattern again. Pharaoh doesn't yield, and Moses leaves. But notice in this same section here. Notice in this same section here. And we're looking at nine verse... I've got to find it real quick. My apologies.

I totally lost it. One second. Nope, totally lost it. My apologies. But there is one section in there, and it must be in the next chapter, but I don't have time to check for it real quick. Where one of Pharaoh's officials actually say, Hey, can we just maybe give him what he wants? Because the country is ruined. The country is completely and totally destroyed. Sir, can we please let him have what he wants? So Pharaoh again tries to make some sort of a concession. This is right after Pharaoh is told what's going to happen with the locust. So we're going to be in Exodus 10.

There we go. And we're in verse 7 now. It says, Then Pharaoh's servant said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? And Hebrew actually is a noose. So how long shall he be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord. Do not know that Egypt is completely destroyed. So they recognized it. We see the rest of the plagues happen in rapid succession. God brings three days of darkness against Egypt after the locust. The locusts have come in and taken and eaten every green thing that was left. After the hail trampled everything down and burns. The locusts come in and destroy anything and everything. And just as before, Isis, the protector of the crops, was completely silent. Nepri, the god of grain, was powerless. The Muthis, the goddess of fertility and crops, had no power against the hordes of locusts that had descended upon Egypt. Once again, God has shown that he is completely, completely more powerful than the pantheon of Egypt. The three days of darkness were brought in. In fact, it's recorded as being an oppressive darkness, a darkness that you could feel. It's oppressive darkness. Some have theorized that it meant severe sandstorms that actually blotted out the sun. They had a hard time breathing. It's actually recorded. Josephus records that their sight was obstructed and their breathing was hindered by the thickness of the air. And they were under terror, lest they be swallowed up by a thick cloud. This darkness, after three days and as many nights, was dissipated. Egypt had a principal deity. That principal deity was Amun-Ra. And Amun-Ra was the god of the sun. Pharaoh was believed to be the son of Amun-Ra. In fact, he called himself the son of the sun.

Most importantly, he's one of the most powerful, most worshipped gods in Egypt. But even he was capable of doing absolutely nothing against the oppressive darkness that attacked the Egyptian people. In addition to Amun-Ra, Horus, the god of the sunrise, Tem, the god of the sunset, as well as Shu, the god of light, could do nothing as well. And for that matter, the moon and the stars, which were also believed to be deities by the Egyptians, couldn't even be seen for three days.

It's like they just left. Pharaoh at this point partially gives in. He says the entire host of Israel can leave with the condition that their cattle and their livestock must remain. Moses says, what are we going to sacrifice? What do you want us to do? Want us to take what you guys have and go and do it? He says, it's not going to work. In fact, Pharaoh at that point gets so upset that he goes as far as telling him, if I ever see you again and you ever look upon my face again, I will kill you, to Moses. And Moses says, you have spoken well, I will not look upon your face again. Negotiations are over. Negotiations are over at that point. Next step of the plan, we know very well, as that is part of the established Passover, it was a direct attack upon the godhood of Pharaoh himself.

Pharaoh was believed to be a god, and Pharaoh's son, his first-born son, would be the one who would take over as Pharaoh next. He was also believed to be a god.

So far, the Egyptians have seen their entire pantheon of gods completely helpless before the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And as death passes over Egypt, all of the firstborn from the son of Pharaoh all the way down to the firstborn from the livestock die. Israelite males and firstborns, however, are preserved.

Pharaoh, as a god, was helpless to protect his own son, and none of the other gods of Egypt were capable of preventing the deaths of the children of Egypt. This plague was utterly devastating to the Egyptians. Let's take a look at Exodus 12, 29, real quick. Exodus 12, verse 29.

This specifically gives us information on the 10th plague. It says, Exodus 11, 6, actually records something that God had spoken to Moses when he told him what he was planning, that he informed Moses that there would be a cry in Egypt that would never be equaled again in history.

For a moment, those of you with children especially can imagine this. Imagine the anguish of waking up to find your firstborn child laying dead in their bed. Every single child, firstborn child, throughout Egypt.

It was a devastating, absolutely devastating plague upon the house of Egypt. Pharaoh finds his own son dead, and the irony in this, and the kind of the message that was sent, is that even Pharaoh's own son was nothing special. He died like every firstborn of every animal in this country. Nothing special. He wasn't a god, just like the cattle. God, through the 10 plagues, executed judgment against the gods of Egypt, and each subsequent plague became more terrible than the last. First, the assault and the lifeblood of the nation. Then frogs, lice, flies, dead cattle, boils, hail, locust, darkness, and then the death of the firstborn. Every plague sending the message that I am more powerful than your gods. In the process of the 10 plagues, God had emphatically shown that he was the one who held the power and that he could be trusted. Israel headed out of Egypt the next morning. In fact, the Egyptians were so happy to finally be rid of them, they gave them whatever they wanted to get them out of there.

Gold, silver, sure, whatever you want, just take it and get out.

They feared for their lives. They actually said at one point, you know, we're afraid for our lives. Take the gold, take the silver, it doesn't matter. So much worth was actually given. Verse 36 says that the Israelites plundered the Egyptians. And following all of that, they left Egypt and set out following the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

Seven days later, they found themselves camped on the edge of the Red Sea opposite Beel Zafon. Pinned on one side by the Red Sea, the other side, Pharaoh's army, Israelite morale must have been at an all-time low.

But why here? Again, go back to that question we asked at the beginning. Why here? Why this specific place?

Why not someplace else?

Now, the benefit of hindsight for us is we know there was a miracle planned.

We know there was a miracle planned, and that, frankly, our God is powerful enough that a miracle could have been wrought anywhere along the Red Sea.

He could have separated the Indian Ocean if he really felt like it.

So why here? Because in this miracle, there is a lesson for the Israelites.

There was one more God that stood in the way of Israel leaving Egypt.

One who had been, for the most part, previously untouched by the other plagues, and the Israelites were camping right in front of him.

Beelzaphon. He was a Canaanite God, primarily.

The name means Lord of the North, and his principal residence was to the north on Mount Zaphon in Syria.

Mount Zaphon is an equivalent. It's like a Syrian version of Mount Olympus.

And on Mount Zaphon, Beelzaphon is the chief God. He's the Zeus of that mountain.

He is sometimes known as Baal of Syria. He was the god of the sea and storms. And he was represented in art as a bronze idol standing on the base of a pyramid, or standing like at the top of a pyramid, as a pyramidal base. And he had his right hand raised in the air. The Egyptians had another name for this God. They called him Set.

It was common practice in those days to place shrines and idols along trade and shipping routes, so to allow passerby to make offerings and sacrifices to the gods for safe passage.

Often times, because there were so many countries around, one of those idols represented two or three different gods to those different countries. And that was the case with Beelzaphon. This particular idol was miles from home, but many believe there was a shrine set up there specifically to allow Canaanite travelers, Egyptian travelers, and whoever else might be passing through to offer to that idol to receive a safe journey.

The Israelites would have known about this god. They would have known. What he represented, the protector of the sea, the Red Sea itself, and camped at the feet of that bronze idol with their backs to what he controlled would have been unnerving. Particularly as Pharaoh and his chariots roll in on the other side and pin them against the idol and the sea.

Verses 9 and 10, we can take a look at that, verses 9 and 10 of Exodus 14. Exodus 14, verse 9 says, So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pihr-Hiraf before Beelzaphon. And verse 10, When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, so they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

So they were in a point where they were stuck between, quote-unquote, a rock and a hard place. Or in this case, between an idol and thousands of angry Egyptians. Pharaoh felt that maybe all of the other gods have failed me. Maybe Set will deliver. Or, if Set doesn't deliver, maybe that Canaanite god will, Beelzaphon. Whatever the case may be, I think this is the way to get the job done, is what Pharaoh was thinking. You know, for the host of Israel camping in the shadow of this idol, this represented a test. And it was, will you or won't you? I have this idol at your backs. Pharaoh is breathing down your necks with a whole host of chariots. You saw what I did to all of those gods in Egypt. Here is one more worthless god. Will you finally, will you finally trust in me? Will you finally do what I need you to do? So what happens? Exodus 14, verse 11.

Exodus 14, verse 11.

They said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us to bring you, or why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness?

I often wonder if God realized how long 40 years was going to be at this point. He had just beaten all of the primary gods of Egypt via the plagues. In addition, he had discredited every minor god in the pantheon, delivered them from Pharaoh's hands, proved that he could be trusted, puts them in a stressing situation, an unwinnable position. All he wants them to do is to trust in him for their deliverance.

Call out to him for their salvation, which they did in verse 10, the end of verse 10, it says, they did cry out to God. But then immediately following said to Moses, What have you done? You've drug us out here. They didn't have faith that God could deliver them. God, however, as we know, is always faithful to his promises. He parts the Red Sea, the Israelites cross, Pharaoh and the chariots are destroyed, and in doing this, God conquered the idol Zaphon. He showed that there was power over the very sea that Zaphon was supposed to have control over and led his people to safety in a new land. In doing so, he effectively crushed the very last God standing in Israel's way as they left Egypt. But it's an interesting dichotomy because in conquering the last God on their way out of Egypt, he also conquered the very first God on their way into Canaan.

The parting of the Red Sea and the conquering of Baal Zaphon should have been a demonstration of might that was not easily lost on the Israelites. This should have been inspiring. It should have been enough for them to turn away from the sins of Egypt and to obey God. But again, with hindsight, we know that wasn't the case. The Israelites as a people were spiritually broken. They were unable to follow God's laws despite all the incredible miracles he performed, due in part, again, to their time in Egypt. On this journey, along with all of their unleavened cakes and all of their items and all of their belongings, they were also carrying one other thing with them, and that was Egypt. In fact, when the law was given—we fast forward a little bit, we won't go there—but when the law was given, what was the very first idol created?

It's a golden calf, a representation of the bull god Apis, the king of the gods of Egypt on earth. The very first thing that they do when they start getting, What are we going to do? Moses hasn't come back. I know, let's make a golden calf to Apis.

They were spiritually broken. They didn't learn a thing. They learned nothing. After all the incredible miracles that God had wrought in Egypt, after conquering every god that stood in their path, delivering them across the Red Sea, they hadn't learned a thing.

You know, spiritually, brethren, today represents the day that God performed the amazing miracle of parting the Red Sea, conquering Beelzaphon in the shadow who Israel had camped. And we've busied ourselves with the last seven days with the focus of trying to keep sin from our lives, removing it from our lives and trying to keep that way, walking the way that our god has shown us. And now, today, as we're metaphorically camped in the shadow of that idol facing the journey on the other side of this day, how much of Egypt have we brought along with us? How much of Egypt are we carrying with us along with all of those other things? How much of Egypt are we carrying? You know, God desires us to put aside the old, desires us to live a new life in Him. In fact, the procession of Israel through the water that day represented that, as our baptism represents it to us today.

His purpose for this day and this moment in history was for them to leave it all behind and to never look back.

How much of Egypt are we hauling around with us? How much of our old comforts are we still hauling around? You know, we know it is so easy to sin. It is so much harder to struggle against it and to move forward.

Our spiritual life is a journey, not unlike the journey that the Israelites undertook so many years ago.

It is not easy. It is wrought with danger at every turn. Sometimes, just like the Israelites on that day, we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. Or again, between a huge idol and a bunch of angry Egyptians.

Just remember, during these difficult times, when the journey looks impossible, God desires us all to do what the Israelites could not.

That is trust in Him. So the question remains, will you or won't you?