SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Command.
(2). The Conflict.
(c). The Compassion
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
Some warnings are humorous:
• (1)Manufactures are now growing increasingly wary of being sued,
• When their products are misused,
• So they are attaching warning labels to hundreds of items.
• For example, a child’s Superman outfit bears this warning:
• “Parents, please exercise caution—FOR PLAY ONLY.
• Mask and cape are not protective; cape does not enable user to fly.”
• (2). Kathy’s children’s cough medicine contains this warning:
• “Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication”
• (3). Boots hairdryer:
• “Do not use while sleeping!”
• (4). Marks & Spenser’s bread pudding:
• “Product will be hot after heating!”
• (5). Our Christmas lights from B&Q contained this helpful information:
• “For indoor and outdoor use only”
• (6). Sainsbury’s peanuts;
• “Warning product contains nuts!”
Ill:
• Some warnings are much more serious:
• April 15, 1912 (2:20 a.m.) The Titanic sinks.
• Yet on the 11th April,
• She received six warnings from ships stopped in or passing through heavy ice.
• 5 more warnings came to the Titanic the next day - April 12th.
• 3 more warnings on April 13th.
• And 7 more warnings on the 14th the day before the Titanic hit the iceberg!
• All of these warnings would have been written down as they were intercepted,
• Logged in the radio book, and passed on to the officers on the bridge.
• There was no way that the Captain (Edward John Smith);
• Along with the officers would have been unaware of the huge field of ice,
• That now lay directly in front of them.
• Incredibly the Titanic itself;
• Actually relayed these warnings back to the shore.
• Yet the captain of the Titanic thought his ship was unsinkable,
• And continued his pace of 60 feet every 1.5 seconds.
• Captain Smith ignored warning after warning after warning from his crew & other ships.
• Whether it was pride, stupidity,
• Or faith in his ’unsinkable’ ship that stopped him listening to the warnings,
• We do not know - it was probably a combination of all three.
• But as a result April 15, 1912 (2:20 a.m.) The Titanic sinks!
TRANSITION:
• Thousands of years before Captain Edward John Smith.
• There was another stubborn and foolish man.
• He believed that his kingdom, his empire, his reign was unsinkable.
• His name is believed to be Ramesses II by many Bible scholars;
• Although no-one can be exactly sure.
• Whoever he was, please note that he refused to heed the warnings!
• He rejected and snubbed he instruction given to him.
(1). The command.
• I want you to note that seven times in these chapters (5-10),
• God says to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!”
i.e. Chapter 5 verse 1:
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
i.e. Chapter 7 verse 16:
“Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened”.
i.e. Chapter 8 verse 1:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country.”
i.e. Chapter 8 verse 20:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
i.e. Chapter 9 verse 1:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
i.e. Chapter 9 verse 13:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me”
i.e. Chapter 10 verse 3:
“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
God gives a command and when that happens there are only ever two responses:
• Obedience & disobedience.
• We see both in this story.
• We see the obedience of Moses & Aaron as they bravely deliver God’s edict.
• To stand before the most powerful man on the planet and tell him he is wrong,
• Was not an easy thing to do – but they did it – they obeyed.
• In contrast to Moses & Aaron;
• We see the disobedience of Pharaoh who deliberately rejects this command.
• But Pharaoh ignored the warnings believing that he was ‘unsinkable’.
Look at Pharaoh’s arrogant response to God’s command (chapter 5 verse 2);
• “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him”.
• Pharaoh was not only the most powerful man on earth;
• But he believed himself to be god incarnate;
• He believed he had all the gods of Egypt at his disposal;
• So why would he listen to anyone else.
Application:
• Whenever the word of God is preached and taught or read;
• It causes one of those two reactions - obedience or disobedience.
• I wonder what reaction will you & I give it this morning?
Ill:
• In the 18th century Sir Leonard Wood was visiting the King of France.
• The king was really pleased with him and invited him to dinner the next day.
• He went. But the king said,
• "Sir Leonard, I did not expect to see you. How is it that you are here?"
• "Did not Your Majesty invite me to dine with you?"
• "Yes”, replied the king, “ but you did not answer my invitation."
• Wood then gave this interesting insight:
• "A king’s invitation is never to be answered, but to be obeyed."
• As we apply this first point of ‘obedience’ to our own situation;
• Is God bringing to attention something that we need to deal with?
Notice: How Pharaoh tried to compromise with God in this narrative:
• Question: What is compromise?
• Answer: Compromise is simply changing the question to fit the answer.
• There are four examples of that in the story.
• Pharaoh’s first compromise: Worship God in this land.
• (Chapter 8 verses 25-27).
• Pharaoh’s second compromise: Do not go too far away.
• (Chapter 8 verses 28).
• Pharaoh’s third compromise: Only the men should go
• (Chapter 10 verses 7-11).
• Pharaoh’s fourth compromise: Keep your possessions in Egypt.
• (Chapter 10 verses 24-26).
• Despite what he was clearly told, Pharaoh tries to Compromise;
• By changing the question to fit the answer he wanted.
• How often and hoe foolish it is;
• To think we can compromise with God and his word.
Ill:
• A hunter went out into the forest to shoot a bear;
• With winter fast approaching he planned to make a warm coat out of the bearskin.
• Soon he saw a bear coming toward him, he raised his gun and took aim.
• “Wait,” said the bear, “why do you want to shoot me?”
• The hunter replied: “Because I am cold,”
• The bear replied “But I am hungry, so maybe we can reach an agreement.”
• In the end, the hunter was well enveloped with the bear’s fur;
• And the bear had eaten his dinner.
• The point: Disobedience (even partial) is sin;
• And we will always lose out when we try to compromise with sin!
• It will consume us in the end.
• Quote:
• “Obedience is like a computer password to the riches of God.”
Note:
• Some people have a problem in this section of the narrative about Pharaoh’s heart.
• Because we read that God ‘hardened’ Pharaoh’s heart.
• In fact Pharaoh’s heart was hardened ten times.
• But on the first seven occasions Pharaoh hardens his own heart,
• Only then do we read in the last three occasions that God ‘hardened’ Pharaoh’s heart.
• So God only hardened Pharaoh’s heart;
• Only after Pharaoh has deliberately and repeatedly hardened his own heart.
• God simply confirmed the choice that Pharaoh had already made.
• Quote: “The same sun that melts the ice, also hardens the clay”.
(2). The conflict.
• The ten plagues mentioned were not afterthoughts,
• Reflexive reactions, or last minute exceptions in God’s plan
• In fact they serve d as part of his deliberate strategy.
• i.e. back at the burning bush (chapter 3 verses 19-20);
• We read:
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go”.
• i.e. Again in Exodus chapter 4 verse 21:
• While Moses was packing his bags for the long walk west;
• God again repeated what the outcome would be.
“The LORD said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do”.
• God knew exactly what Pharaoh’s response would be;
• He knew exactly each plague that would follow;
• They were as much a part of his plan as the calling of Moses or the Exodus itself.
Ten plagues are mentioned in this section:
• These judgements fall into three groups of three,
• With the tenth plague (death of the firstborn) set last.
• Each group of warnings begins with Moses personally going to tell Pharaoh;
• And each group of three closes after Moses pronounces a plague without warning.
At certain times of the year Pharaoh would go out to the sacred Nile river;
• To participate in certain religious rites.
• When he arrived Pharaoh must have been really irritated to find Moses waiting for him.
• To Pharaoh Moses and Aaron were just national nuisances.
• When in reality they were messengers of the true God.
Their message was not a pleasant one – in fact each message would progressively get worse:
• First plague: The Nile turned to blood.
• Chapter 7 verses 14-25.
• With a warning given in chapter 7 verse 16.
• Second plague: The outbreak of frogs.
• Chapter 8 verses 1-15.
• With a warning given in chapter 8 verse 1.
• Third plague: The plague of gnats & mosquitoes.
• Chapter 8 verses 16-19.
• No warning was given and the Egyptian magicians duplicate (chapter 8 verse 18-19).
• Fourth plague: The plague of flies
• Chapter 8 verses 20-24.
• With a warning given in chapter 8 verse 20.
• Fifth plague: The murrain on the cattle.
• Chapter 9 verses 1-7.
• With a warning given in chapter 9 verse 1.
• Sixth plague: The plague of boils on the people.
• Chapter 9 verses 8-12.
• No warning given and the Egyptian magicians were also inflicted (chapter 9 verse 11).
• Seventh plague: The hail storm
• Chapter 9 verses 13-35.
• With a warning given in chapter 9 verse 13.
• Eighth plague: The plague of locusts.
• Chapter 10 verses 1-20.
• With a warning given in chapter 10 verse 3.
• Ninth plague: The darkness over the land
• Chapter 10 verses 21-23.
• No warning given and Pharaoh refused to see Moses again (chapter 10 verse 27-29).
• Tenth plague: The death of the first-born son.
• Chapters 11-12. 7 verses 14-25.
• This was the final judgement.
You might think that as each plague:
• Occurred just as God described it; and at the time announced;
• Might help convince Pharaoh and his advisors;
• That the true God of the Hebrews was in control of these special events.
• Add to the mix that his own magicians and sorcerous;
• Could neither prevent them nor reverse them
• Yet still he remained hard-hearted;
• He was in every way a stubborn, dogged, proud and unyielding rebel!
Notice:
(a).
• How the plagues increase in intensity.
• They build up from discomfort to disease to danger and to death.
• There is also a movement from the plagues affecting nature to plagues affecting people.
• These plagues gradually get worse as Pharaoh refuses to respond to the warnings.
• Pharaoh was stubborn and proud and refused to obey the true God;
• As a result he caused heart-ache and misery for all the Egyptian people!
• I guess that the saying is true: “No-one sins in a vacuum”.
• All our disobedience and sin will affect someone else somewhere!
• Every sin you commit will have ripple effects in the lives of others,
As you scan the passage covering the plagues that shook the land;
• That little word “all” is there again and again and again.
• “All the land…all the livestock…all the men and beasts….”
• Finally and tragically we read “All the firstborn”.
• The whole nation suffered as a result of Pharaoh’s callus, obstinate response;
• The saying is true: “No-one sins in a vacuum”.
(b).
• The plagues were actually a declaration of war against the gods of Egypt.
• What we have in this chapter is a religious tournament taking place.
• Because each plague is an attack on a particular god worshipped by the Egyptians.
• i.e. Khuum – was the guardian of the Nile.
• Hapi was the spirit of the Nile.
• Osiris – the Nile was believed to be the bloodstream of Osiris
• i.e. Heqt - was a frog like god of resurrection.
• Hathor – was a mother goddess who was a cow
• Apis - was a bull of the god Ptah, a symbol of fertility.
• i.e. Imhotep - was the god of medicine.
• Nut – was the goddess of the sky.
• Seth – was the protector of crop.
• i.e. Re, Aten, Atum and Horus – were all sun gods.
• Pharaoh himself was said to be divine.
The plagues that God sent on the Egyptians were specific and targeted;
• The message was very, very clear.
• The one invisible God of the Hebrew slaves;
• Is far more powerful than all the Egyptian gods put together!
(c). Compassion
As I mentioned earlier these plagues although severe, actually reveal the Mercy of God.
• Someone has asked, “Why all the theatrics?
• Why didn’t God just cut to the chase and kill the Egyptian firstborns to begin with?”
• For that matter, if God had wanted to,
• He could have killed all the Egyptians dead in one fell swoop.
• Why didn’t He?
• After all for the Hebrew slaves that would have been problem solved!
The simple answer to that question is mercy.
• God is a patient God,
• And he is a merciful God.
Ill:
• Moses had earlier reminded the Pharaoh of that very fact:
• God sent the message in Chapter 9 verse 15:
“By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth”
The simple answer to that question of why God did not destroy the Egyptians in one hit is mercy:
• God is a patient God,
• And he is a merciful God.
• And that is illustrated in the narrative.
• We noted earlier that the plagues started small and ended large.
• They build up from discomfort to disease to danger and to death.
• It was in his mercy that God went through nine arduous plagues;
• Before he began killing Egyptians in the tenth plague.
• God is a patient and a merciful God,
• One who gives us chance after chance after chance to repent.
• He takes no delight in death.
• But eventually if we refuse to listen, then this book bears witness to the fact;
• That severe judgement will fall!
Quote: Proverbs chapter 29 verse 1
N.I.V. Bible:
“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy.”
E.S.V. Bible:
“He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing”.
Punch line:
• I started this sermon with a reminder from our own recent history.
• The story of Captain Edward John Smith and his ship the Titanic.
• Yet on the 11th April,
• She received six warnings from ships stopped in or passing through heavy ice.
• April 12th: 5 more warnings came to the Titanic.
• April 13th: 3 more warnings.
• April 14th: 7 more warnings!
• Incredibly the Titanic itself;
• Actually relayed these warnings back to the shore.
• Yet the captain of the Titanic ignored warning after warning after warning;
• And as a result on April 15, 1912 (2:20 a.m.) The Titanic sinks!
Question: How many warnings do you need before you will listen to and obey God?
