Some Christians have a very real problem with the subject of war because they are pacifists. They know that Jesus chose not to use violence. When he was about to be arrested he told his disciples to put away their swords. Yet Jesus never taught that force is never necessary in our fallen world. He did not tell soldiers he encountered to give up their jobs. He refused to use force because he knew you couldn’t change people’s hearts by force.

But governments do have a responsibility to use force when appropriate to confront evil, and to keep the peace and provide protection so that people can live in security. In reality God does use his power to bring justice God is going to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt. It seems an impossible task. Moses is fearful of the prospect; Pharaoh and his mighty nation seems an impossible obstacle, but God tells Moses to trust him and to obey him, so the confrontation begins.

Moses and his brother Aaron are to be God’s ambassadors to Pharaoh. They have a message to get across. They have to tell Pharaoh, ruler of one of the world’s greatest and most sophisticated civilizations at the time that God commands him to let the Israelites go.

This Pharaoh is not a wise and just ruler as a previous Pharaoh had been who had welcomed Joseph’s family to Egypt. This Pharaoh is a tyrant. He is not the same Pharaoh who massacred a whole generation of Israelite baby boys, but he ruthlessly oppresses the Hebrew slaves. Now he has to face up to the reality of a confrontation with almighty God.

As Pharaoh continues to refuse to let the Israelites go, God demonstrates his power to Pharaoh, initially with a miraculous sign, followed by nine plagues on the land of Egypt. I do not believe that a plague a week for nine weeks would be particularly good for us, so we are going to take an overall look at the plagues today and see some of the lessons we can draw from them.

Moses and Aaron go to see Pharaoh as God commands them. They demonstrate God’s power by Aaron throwing down his staff; it becomes a snake. Pharaoh also has a trick or two at his disposal. He calls his wise men, sorcerers and magicians. The also throw down their staffs, and their staffs turn into snakes. But Aaron’s snake swallows up their snakes. The power of God is greater than the sorcery of the Egyptians. But Pharaoh still refuses to obey God.

It is time for the plagues to begin. The source of life for Egypt is the river Nile with its source deep in the African content and its outflow into the Mediterranean Sea. It provides drinking water and waters the land making crops grow to provide food for the nation; the Nile made Egypt rich and prosperous. Pharaoh was in the habit of going out each morning to look at the river, in the way that many who have the leisure or the energy to do it would go to the cliffs or the front to view the estuary here in Southend.

God tells Moses to go with Aaron to meet Pharaoh on his morning visit to the Nile. They are once again to tell Pharaoh to let the people go so they may worship God.
To demonstrate that God means business, Aaron holds out his staff and strikes the waters of the Nile. The river turns to blood. The fish die and the stench is terrible. Not to be outdone the magicians also prove that they can change water into blood. But there is nothing to drink for the people; they have to dig for water that isn’t polluted.

Yet Pharaoh still takes no notice. He just goes back into his palace. A week passes, and God sends Moses back to Pharaoh. Once again, the command to let the people go is given. The alternative to obedience this time will be a plague of frogs throughout the country. Pharaoh doesn’t respond, so Aaron stretches out his rod over the river and frogs swarm from the rivers and canals and ponds.

They are everywhere; in the kitchens, bedrooms, even in the palace. Pharaoh can’t just go inside and ignore the problem this time, it’s right there in the palace with him. He calls for Moses and Aaron. ‘Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people’ he says, ‘and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ Moses treats Pharaoh with proper respect, he gives him the honour of choosing the time for the frogs to be gone.

‘Tomorrow’, Pharaoh says. Moses tells him that the next day he will Pray for Pharaoh and his people, that the frogs will go; so that they may all know that there is no one like the Lord God of Israel. The next day the plague is over. There is still a frog population in the river, but the frogs in the city and in the homes and palace are gone.

And as for Pharaoh, well tomorrow’s another day. Now things are getting back to normal there is no point and no need to let the Hebrews go. He hardened his heart. The story of Pharaoh is a tragedy; but it serves, as a reminder for all time that an individual by their deliberate choice to do evil, to break promises can get to the point where God’s judgement is inevitable. God had told Moses that was how it would be with Pharaoh.

So God sends a plague of gnats. Have you ever been bitten by gnats? It’s an awful experience. One group of people learn their lesson at last. Working for Pharaoh, the Egyptian magicians up until this point had managed to duplicate what Moses and Aaron had done, changing water to blood and producing frogs. When it came to the gnats it was completely beyond them. They acknowledge that God is at work. ‘This is the finger of God’ they tell Pharaoh. But Pharaoh still won’t listen.

God tells Moses to go to confront Pharaoh again on his morning visit to the river. God is going to send the fourth plague, a swarm of flies into the land that will ruin everything. But God will distinguish between the Hebrews in the land of Goshen and the Egyptians. The Hebrews will have no fly problem to demonstrate in a very distinct way that God is on the side of the Hebrews.

So the next day it happens. Dense swarms of flies invade the palace and the homes of Pharaoh’s officials and the whole land. In desperation Pharaoh sends for Moses. ‘You can take the people to sacrifice, but you must stay in Egypt to do it’ Pharaoh tells Moses. That’s not good enough, Moses tells him. The way the Israelites sacrifice would offend the Egyptians and there would be trouble. They must go into the desert to sacrifice. Pharaoh agrees to that provided they do not go very far. ‘Now pray for me’ he begs Moses.

Moses says he will pray as soon as he has left the palace, and the flies will be gone the next day. Moses warns him though, not to act deceitfully and break his word about allowing the people to go and sacrifice. Moses keeps his word and prays. The flies depart; but once again Pharaoh breaks his word and keeps the people hard at work in captivity.

Once again, God sends Moses to demand that he lets the people go. If he refuses, the fifth plague will strike the Egyptians the next day a terrible disease will come upon the Egyptians livestock, their horses and cattle will die; but the disease will not affect the livestock of the Israelites. Pharaoh just doesn’t learn. He still refuses to free the people and the next day disease strikes the Egyptian livestock. Pharaoh sends to see how the Israelites livestock are faring and finds them healthy and unaffected. But he still won’t let the people go.

God commands Moses to inflict the sixth plague on Egypt. Moses and Aaron are to take a quantity of soot from a furnace and go to meet Pharaoh. They are to toss the soot in the air; the wind will spread the soot across the land in a fine dust. It will cause festering boils to break out on both people and animals. The plague of the boils happens. Everyone suffers; even the magicians are off work with these terrible boils. But the bible tells us God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

At an earlier stage in the story we were told that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Now God hardens Pharaohs heart. God does not want people to have hard hearts. But when a person has continued stubbornly to choose to harden their heart towards God, in the end God simply confirms their decision. It’s the judgement they have chosen; God simply confirms their choice.

Once again God sends Moses to confront Pharaoh. God has been very restrained in the way he has dealt with the Egyptians. He could have wiped them off the face of the earth, but his purpose is rather to demonstrate to them who he is. Once again the command is issued to let the people go. If Pharaoh does not, God will release the full force of his plagues.

Up until this point there is no mention of human fatalities. But the effect of this plague will be fatal. God will send such a hailstorm that anyone caught outdoors by it will be as good as dead. In fact the Egyptians are warned in order that they might take shelter from the fury of the hailstorm. Warning was given that the hail would fall the next day. So the next day God told Moses to stretch out his hand to the sky.

The hail fell with terrifying thunder and lightning. Crops were ruined. It was the worst hailstorm Egypt had ever seen, but no hail fell in Goshen where the Israelites live. Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron again. ‘This time I have sinned’ he said. Confession and repentance is a very wise path to choose. But there are two ways of being sorry. You can be genuinely sorry for what you have done wrong; or you can just be sorry that you have got found out and are having to suffer the consequences of your sins.

I’m afraid Pharaohs confession was the second sort. There was no real repentance, no change of heart. Moses prays to God and the hail stops; but both Pharaoh and his officials harden their hearts. Yet it came as no surprise to God. In fact God tells Moses that things are not out of control. These event will one day be told to generations to come to remind God’s people of his faithfulness and help in overcoming Pharaoh and leading his people out of Egypt.

God sends Moses to Pharaoh again. Moses and Aaron warn Pharaoh that if he refuses to let the people go, the next day a plague of locusts will come upon the land. The locusts will consume everything that is left in Egypt. Moses and Aaron leave, but at long last even Pharaohs officials have got the message. The tell Pharaoh that the land is ruined; the wise course is to let the people go so they may be spared from any more plagues. Moses and Aaron were called back to Pharaoh. Once again Pharaoh questions Moses about who will go to sacrifice and worship God. Moses says all the people will go. Pharaoh says he will only allow the men to go. That’s not acceptable to God. Moses and Aaron are thrown out of the palace.

God told Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt. An East wind began to blow. By the next morning the land was swarming with locusts. They devoured everything green in their path. Another temporary change of heart comes over Pharaoh. He has sinned. Will Moses pray for him again? Moses prays for Pharaoh. God sends a strong west wind and the locusts are blown away into the Red Sea. But once again, Pharaoh changes his mind and refuses to keep his promise.

And so God commands Moses to stretch out his hand towards the sky. Plague number 9, a thick darkness comes over the land of Egypt. The darkness covers the land for three days. Pharaoh once again sends for Moses. He attempts to bargain with him. He is willing to let the men and women go to sacrifice, but they must leave all their livestock behind.

Moses insists that they must take their flocks with them so that they will have animals to sacrifice. Pharaoh refuses. He tells Moses to get out and never come back or he will pay with his life. Pharaoh and Moses never meet again. The story of the plagues stands as a reminder of the power and persistence of God and his faithfulness to his covenant people.

God is patient. He often doesn’t solve our problems in the instant way we would like him to. When Jesus ascended to heaven he promised to return to earth again. People have often mocked at the belief that Jesus will return. In his second letter, Peter reminds us that the reason why Jesus has not yet returned is because God is patient. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all might come to repentance.

The Hebrews had to learn to trust in God’s faithfulness and care for them. God’s deliverance will come for them. God’s deliverance has come for us all in Jesus. His presence is with us now. He has made known to us the ways of peace. We know that our deliverance will be complete one day in heaven.

 

Amen.

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