Absolute Sovereignty Demands Absolute Surrender

Please turn with me to Exodus chapter 9,

Exodus 9 · chapter mention

starting in verse 13,

going all the way to chapter 10, verse 29.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before your word

because your word makes us wise unto salvation

in Jesus Christ

because your word is truth,

because your word is living and active.

We wait on you.

We expect to hear you speak through in your word.

And we pray that as we incline our hearts, our ears to you,

that you would teach us to surrender our lives to you,

that we might enjoy the freedom, the abundant life,

and the grace that is found in Christ alone.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Let me read out loud Exodus 9, 13 to 10, 29.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh

and say to him,

Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews,

Let my people go that they may serve me.

For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself

and on your servants and your people

so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence

and you would have been cut off from the earth.

But for this purpose I have raised you up to show you my power

so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

You are still exalting yourself against my people

and will not let them go.

Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall,

such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field

into safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field

and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.

Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh

hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses.

But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord

left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

stretch out your hand toward heaven

so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt

on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt.

Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven

and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth.

And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail,

very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt

since it became a nation.

The hail struck down everything that was in the field

in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And the hail struck down every plant of the field

and broke every tree of the field.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were,

was there no hail.

Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them,

this time I have sinned.

The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.

Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail.

I will let you go and you shall stay no longer.

Moses said to him,

as soon as I have gone out of the city,

I will stretch out my hands to the Lord.

The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail

so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's.

But as for you and your servants,

I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.

The flax and the barley were struck down,

for the barley was in the year and the flax was in bud.

But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down,

for they are late in coming up.

So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh

and stretched out his hands to the Lord

and the thunder and the hail ceased

and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail

and the thunder had ceased,

he sinned yet again and hardened his heart,

he and his servants.

So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened

and he did not let the people of Israel go,

just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Go into Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart

and the heart of his servants,

that I may show these signs of mine among them,

and that you may tell in the hearing of your son

and of your grandson

how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians

and what signs I have done among them,

that you may know that I am the Lord.

So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh and said to him,

Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews,

How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?

Let my people go that they may serve me.

For if you refuse to let my people go,

behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country

and they shall cover the face of the land

so that no one can see the land.

And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail

and they shall eat every tree of yours

that grows in the field.

And they shall fill your houses

and the houses of all your servants

and of all the Egyptians,

as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen

from the day they came on earth to this day.

Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

Then Pharaoh's servants said to him,

How long shall this man be a snare to us?

Let the men go,

that they may serve the Lord their God.

Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh

and he said to them,

Go serve the Lord your God.

But which ones are to go?

Moses said,

We will go with our young and our old.

We will go with our sons and daughters

and with our flocks and herds.

For we must hold a feast to the Lord.

But he said to them,

The Lord be with you if ever I let you

and your little ones go.

Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

No, go, the man among you,

and serve the Lord for that is what you are asking.

And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt

for the locusts

so that they may come upon the land of Egypt

and eat every plant in the land.

All that hail has left.

So Moses stretched out his staff

over the land of Egypt

and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land

all that day and all that night.

When it was morning,

the east wind had brought the locusts.

The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt

and settled on the whole country of Egypt.

Such a dense swarm of locusts

as had never been before

nor ever will be again.

They covered the face of the whole land

so that the land was darkened.

And they ate all the plants in the land

and all the fruit of the trees

that the hail had left.

Not a green thing remained.

Neither tree nor plant of the field

through all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron

and said,

I have sinned against the Lord your God

and against you.

Now therefore forgive my sin.

Please only this once

and plead with the Lord your God

only to remove this death from me.

So he went out from Pharaoh

and pleaded with the Lord

and the Lord turned the wind

into a very strong west wind

which lifted the locusts

and drove them into the Red Sea.

Not a single locust was left

in all the country of Egypt.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart

and he did not let the people of Israel go.

Then the Lord said to Moses,

Stretch out your hand toward heaven

that there may be darkness

over the land of Egypt,

a darkness to be felt.

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven

and there was pitch darkness

in all the land of Egypt three days.

They did not see one another

nor did anyone rise from his place

for three days.

But all the people of Israel

had light where they lived.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and said,

Go serve the Lord.

Your little ones also may go with you.

Only let your flocks

and your herds remain behind.

But Moses said,

You must also let us have sacrifices

and burnt offerings

that we may sacrifice

to the Lord our God.

Our livestock also must go with us.

Not a hoof shall be left behind

for we must take of them

to serve the Lord our God.

And we do not know with what

we must serve the Lord

until we arrive there.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart

and he would not let them go.

Then Pharaoh said to him,

Get away from me.

Take care never to see my face again.

For on the day you see my face,

you shall die.

Moses said,

As you say,

I will not see your face again.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

Once in a while,

when I'm typing up a sermon at home,

my mouse cursor will just

get a mind of its own

and start moving everywhere

on my laptop.

And my laptop will sometimes

start typing gibberish on its own.

And when this happens,

I go to another room in the house

and discover that my baby girl

has taken control of my wireless mouse

and keyboard while I'm on my laptop.

And of course,

I immediately reclaim my wireless mouse

and keyboard and turn them off

because it's my computer.

And I don't want someone else,

and especially not a one-year-old

that has no idea how to use a laptop

to control my computer.

Because to the extent that the laptop

is under her control,

it's not under my control.

I can't write what I want to write.

I can't read what I want to read.

And I can't do what I want to do

with the computer.

Only one person can truly have

control over the laptop.

Likewise, only one person

can truly have control over our lives.

As Jesus said in Matthew 6, 24,

no one can serve two masters,

for either he will hate the one

and love the other,

or he will be devoted to the one

and despise the other.

As Christians, we acknowledge

the reality that we are not our own,

that we were bought with the price.

So we have to glorify God with our body

and with all that we have.

And yet, when it comes to our daily lives,

often we act like we are our own.

We live for ourselves.

We make compromises with the world

and we seek concessions from God

rather than completely surrendering our lives

to the will of our master Jesus Christ.

But that will not do

because this passage teaches us

that God's absolute sovereignty

demands our absolute surrender.

So we're going to look at plague seven,

the hail, where Pharaoh says,

I will not let you go.

Plague eight, locusts, where he says,

I will let you go, but not your children.

And then plague nine, the darkness,

where he says, I will let your children go too,

but not your livestock.

You see how Pharaoh continues

to seek concessions from God.

And we're going to see how God responds to that.

Ed mentioned in last week's sermon

that the first nine plagues of Egypt

are a series of triads,

three sets of three.

And this is now the third and final triad of plagues.

And there's a sense of progression

and escalation throughout these plagues.

And they're arranged in roughly ascending order

of severity and scale.

And so like the other two triads here,

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh in the morning.

And this refrain comes up again.

Let my people go that they may serve me.

That happens again in chapter 10, verse three.

Let my people go that they may serve me.

And that phrase, serve the Lord,

is repeated at least six more times

in this passage alone.

That's the heart of the passage.

That's the heart of the contest here

between the Lord, Yahweh, and Pharaoh.

Will you serve Pharaoh, the king of Egypt,

or will you serve the Lord,

the king of the universe?

And notice the demand isn't simply let my people go.

It's not let my people go that they may be free.

Rather, it's let my people go that they may serve me.

As the Old Testament scholar J.D. Levinson writes,

Exodus is more about repatriation than emancipation.

It is a movement from one form of servitude to another.

Freedom, independence, autonomy is not the goal.

Servitude to God, dependence on God,

submission to God,

a covenant relationship with God

is the goal of the Exodus.

And that indeed is the only place

where we can truly be free.

The same is true for us as Christians.

As they were for the Jews in the Old Testament.

We are those who have turned

and from idols to serve the living God.

The living and true God.

It says in 1 Thessalonians 1, 9.

Galatians 5, 13 says,

You are called to freedom, brothers.

Only do not use your freedom

as an opportunity for the flesh,

but through love serve one another.

Likewise, 1 Peter 2, 16 says,

Live as people who are free.

Not using your freedom as a cover up for evil,

but living as servants of God.

That's what our freedom consists in,

in servitude to God,

in serving God's people.

We have been freed to serve.

Do we understand that that is our core identity

as a Christian,

that we are a servant of Christ?

We have a master.

Every day we are to ask,

Lord, what do you have for me to do today?

All of our experiences,

all of our competencies,

all of our relationships,

and all of our resources

are to be leveraged in the service

of the Lord God who purchased us

with the precious blood of his son.

That's what it means to be a Christian.

We can't think whatever we want.

We can't say whatever we want.

We aren't to buy whatever we want.

We don't go wherever we want

because Israel, the servant of God,

is God's son, God's servant.

And we cannot, therefore, be Pharaoh's servant.

And so Moses demands,

Let my people go that they may serve me.

The Lord demands that.

However, Pharaoh's stubborn refusal to let them go

leads to a steady escalation

of the God's striking of Egypt.

He says in verse 14,

For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself

and on your servants and your people

so that you may know

that there is none like me in all the earth.

For by now I could have put out my hand

and struck you and your people with pestilence

and you would have been cut off from the earth.

So up to this point,

the disasters that have come upon Egypt

have only affected the surrounding environment,

turning the Nile into blood,

frogs, gnats, swarm of flies,

and disease on Egyptian livestock.

Even the sixth plague,

where the boils appeared on Egyptians,

it only was skin deep.

But now the plague will become more severe.

The Lord says,

I will send all my plagues on you yourself.

And literally the phrase is on your heart.

Now God's saying,

I'm going to strike you where it really hurts.

What's on your very heart.

This is the first time,

the hail,

the plague,

where people will start to die.

And this shows God's forbearance up to this point,

how patient he is to preserve the people

made in the image of God.

The plague is directly tied to Pharaoh's refusal

to let the Israel go

because he refuses to send the Israelites out.

And so God says,

I will put out my hand

and send this plague upon you.

And what is the ultimate reason for these plagues?

If God simply wanted to punish the Egyptians

for their wickedness,

he could have simply wiped them off the face of the earth.

He didn't need to bring plague after plague,

gradually escalating the signs.

But God has his reasons for doing it this way.

He says in verses 14 to 16,

so that you may know

that there is none like me in all the earth.

He could have done that,

but he didn't.

He's using these plagues

to reveal his power

and his name to the end of the earth.

So that the Egyptians too may know

that there is none like him in all the earth.

They are miracles that signify,

they point to God

and reveal who he is.

Remember what Pharaoh defiantly said to God

in chapter five, verse two,

who is the Lord

that I should obey his voice

and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord

and moreover,

I will not let Israel go.

Ever since then,

God has been repeatedly saying

sign after sign

that he is doing this

so that you shall know

that I am the Lord.

But this declaration

also becomes progressively

more expansive.

Formerly he wanted

simply an acknowledgement

of him as the Lord.

Now he's seeking acknowledgement

of his exclusivity

and that he is the Lord

not only over Israel

but over all the land of Egypt.

God's sovereign control

is such that

even this royally stubborn Pharaoh

has been raised up by God,

sustained by God

and brought to this point.

He says,

for this purpose

to show you my power

so that my name

be proclaimed

in all the earth

that God raised up Pharaoh.

Even those who resist

and oppose God's will

in the end

only serve to display

more of God's glory.

We can take comfort

in this reality

as we serve the Lord

because when we face opposition

from those with authority

and power far greater

than ourselves,

we can rest assured

that the Lord

is sovereign over all

and we'll use even them

to show his power.

And for believers

whose life mission

is to glorify God,

this is comforting truth indeed

because our plans

might be thwarted.

Our plans might not go

as we would like them to

but we can take heart

knowing that still

God's going to be glorified.

God's plans cannot be thwarted

and his name will be proclaimed

in all the earth

and we can rest assured

of that even when things

are going awry

according to our estimation.

So the seventh plague

of hail ensues

and we see in verse 19

that God's merciful

even to the Egyptians

in his judgment.

He says,

now therefore send,

get your livestock

and all that you have

in the field

into safe shelter.

For every man and beast

that is in the field

and is not brought home

will die

when the hail falls on them.

So God's giving the Egyptians

a way to be spared

from the hail.

He's being merciful

even to them

in his warning.

And it says

in verses 20 to 21

that whoever feared

the word of the Lord

among the servants of Pharaoh

hurried his slaves

and his livestock

into the houses.

So this is where

we begin to see

the cracks

in the Egyptian ranks.

So far

they had all been united.

They had a united front.

They'd been following Pharaoh

and his

and whatever he said.

But here

they are instead

of heeding Pharaoh,

they're heeding

the word of the Lord

and actually listening

to the warning

and hiding

their belongings,

their livestock

into the field.

And before

the Egyptian magicians

tried to replicate

what Moses has done

had succeeded

in the first two instances

but they had failed

and by the third plague

of the gnats

they claimed

this is the finger of God

and now

even the servants

of Pharaoh

are listening

to the word of the Lord

and in fear

responding to the warning.

And verses 25 to 26

tell us what happened

in the aftermath.

The hail struck down

everything that was

in the field

in all the land of Egypt

both man and beast

and the hail struck down

every plant of the field

and broke every tree

of the field.

Only in the land

of Goshen

where the people

of Israel were

was there no hail.

It uses

the word fire

and thunder

interchangeably

so it seems like

it's thunder and lightning.

there's a

it's a

it's a

it's a thunderstorm

that comes with

huge hail

that's

big enough

to

to kill

livestock

and to kill

a man

and

and it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

it's a

a lot of

a lot of people

will be asking

themselves

well

is this

the end

of the world

so that

kind of

hail

comes down

and

and

and

pharaoh

can't

stand it

and so he

he

seems to

repent

he says

I have

sinned

he says

the lord

is in the

right

I am in

the wrong

so far

so good

because

recognizing

that is

the initial

step

toward

repentance

and faith

in God

there are

people in

this world

who live

their entire

lives

pointing

fingers

at God

and blaming

God

thinking

that

they're

in the

right

and that

God

is in

the wrong

thinking

that

God

is not

done

right

by

them

but

this

is

backwards

the lord

is the

benevolent

creator

of all

the earth

he is a

source

and the

giver

of all

good

gifts

and he

has given

common

grace

to all

of humanity

despite

the fact

that we

are

hell

deserving

sinners

who are

guilty

of treason

against

our

king

it is

we

who

have

not

done

right

by

him

and

yet

pharaoh

here

says

people

sometimes

refuse

to

acknowledge

that

and so

this

is the

beginning

of

repentance

this is

the first

step

toward

God

I

have

sinned

the lord

is in

the right

and I

and my

people

are in

the wrong

pharaoh's

plea to

stop

the hail

is

heated

Moses

pleads

with the

lord

and

he says

he will

plead

with

the god

that

the

thunderstorm

and

hail

might

cease

but

there

are

a couple

clues

here

in

narrative

that

tells

us

that

Pharaoh

is

not

going

to

keep

his

promise

again

because

Moses

says

I

know

that

you

do

not

fear

the

lord

god

and

we

also

get

a

parenthetical

note

in

verses

31

to

32

that

the

flax

and

the

barley

because

they

were

already

nearly

fully

grown

were

totally

destroyed

but

the

wheat

and

the

other

crops

were

not

yet

grown

still

have

some

food

that

they

can

survive

on

and

so

not

surprisingly

when

Moses

prays

to

God

and

God

stops

the

hail

he

says

Pharaoh

sinned

yet

again

and

hardened

his

heart

he

and

his

servants

and

he

did

not

let

the

people

of

Israel

go

I

think

we've

mentioned

this

before

the

word

hardened

literally

means

to

strengthen

it

means

to

strengthen

someone's

resolve

so

Pharaoh's

doubling

down

on his

original

Israel

go

and

going

back

on

his

promise

to

let

them

go

and

yet

God's

sovereignty

is

displayed

here

also

because

he

says

that

the

heart

of

Pharaoh

was

hardened

who

hardened

his

heart

the

passive

construction

implies

that

God

is

the

subject

of

that

statement

and

that's

made

more

explicit

in

chapter

10

verses

1

to

2

and

the

Lord

said

to

Moses

going

to

Pharaoh

for

I

have

hardened

his

heart

and

the

heart

of

his

servants

that

I

may

show

these

signs

of

mine

among

them

that

you

may

know

that

I

am

the

Lord

God

himself

strengthened

Pharaoh's

own

sinful

resolve

and

once

again

the

ultimate

reason

for

that

is

to

display

his

power

and

his

name

that's

exactly

what

the

Lord

has

said

he

would

do

and

Pharaoh

is

hardening

his

heart

just

as

the

Lord

has

said

he

would

do

that

the

Lord

and

his

representative

Moses

they

keep

their

word

they're

faithful

to

their

word

they

if

they

say

they're

going

to

bring

a

plague

they

bring

a

plague

they

say

they're

going

to

remove

a

plague

they

remove

a

plague

but

Pharaoh

is

in

stark

contrast

to

that

because

again

and

again

he

is

seen

to

be

undependable

and

fickle

he

says

he'll

let

them

go

and

then

he

doesn't

again

and

again

and

again

and

he

still

thinks

that

he

is

in

the

right

ultimately

and

that

the

Lord

is

in

the

wrong

and

Pharaoh

is

really

a

picture

of

our

own

fickleness

the

fickleness

of

humanity

how

often

do

people

turn

to

God

in

desperate

situations

and

falling

to

their

knees

in

prayer

confessing

that

they

need

God

and

that

they

can

do

nothing

apart

from

him

that

they

will

always

remember

him

if

they

act

on

their

behalf

and

as

soon

as

that

desperate

situation

is

resolved

they

start

to

live

like

they

have

no

need

for

God

again

are we

dependent

on

God

only

in

crises

or

do

we

truly

need

him

always

do

we

not

every

single

moment

of

our

lives

have

our

life

sustained

by

his

power

and

provision

how

often

do

we

confess

our

God

tell

him

that

we

are

truly

sorry

only

to

return

to

our

folly

and

sin

do

we

believe

that

sin

really

is

grave

and

grievous

do

we

really

believe

that

God

is

holy

and

that

his

name

should

be

hallowed

Pharaoh

didn't

and

by his

actions

he

declares

I

will

not

let

you

go

and

due

to

Pharaoh's

stubborn

refusal

the

conflict

gets

escalated

again

and

Moses

and Aaron

say to

Pharaoh

in chapter

10

verses

3-6

thus

says

the

Lord

the

God

of

the

Hebrews

how

long

will

you

refuse

to

humble

yourself

before

me

let

my

people

go

that

they

may

serve

me

for

if

you

refuse

to

let

my

people

go

behold

tomorrow

I'll

bring

locusts

into

your

country

and

they

shall

cover

the

face

of

the

land

so

that

no

one

can

see

the

land

and

they

shall

eat

what

is

the

flax

and

barley

that

was

destroyed

by

the

hail

but

the

wheat

and

the

emmer

will

now

be

consumed

by

the

locusts

and

this

escalation

of

the

sign

leads

to

escalation

in

protest

by

the

Egyptian

officials

remember

it

was

after

the

seventh

plague

that

they

first

started

breaking

rank

from

the

party

line

and

now

here

servants

of Pharaoh

pay

attention

to

the

Lord

again

and

they

go

up

to

Pharaoh

to

confront

him

directly

in

verse

seven

they

say

to

him

how

long

shall

this

man

be

a

snare

to

us

let

the

men

go

that

they

may

serve

the

Lord

their

God

do

not

yet

understand

that

Egypt

is

ruined

so

this

is

a

vote

of

no

confidence

for

Pharaoh

they're

going

to

him

and

saying

under

your

leadership

Pharaoh

due

to

your

stubbornness

Egypt

has

been

ruined

so

now

do

something

about

it

and

their

solution

is

cunning

as

much

as

it

is

diplomatic

they

say

let

the

men

go

that

they

may

serve

the

Lord

their

God

the

Hebrew

word

here

for

men

here

doesn't

necessarily

refer

to

adult

males

only

but

it's

often

used

inclusively

to

refer

to

men

and

women

so

it

can

be

translated

people

that's

exactly

how

it's

used

in

Exodus

35

12

it

refers

to

both

men

and

women

in

that

context

so

the

contrast

here

is

not

between

men

and

women

the

contrast

here

is

between

adults

and

children

the

officials

are

suggesting

have

them

leave

the

impressionable

and

controllable

children

in

Egypt

and

send

the

adults

and

you

could

tell

that

that's

what

they're

referring

to

by

Moses

response

because

he

says

in

verse

9

we

will

go

with

our

young

and

our

old

we

will

go

with

our

sons

and

daughters

and

Pharaoh's

angry

reaction

also

confirms

this

in

verses

10

and

11

the

Lord

be

with

you

if

ever

I

let

you

and

your

little

ones

go

look

you have

some

evil

purpose

in

mind

no

go

the

men

among

you

and

serve

the

Lord

for

what

is

that

is

what

you

are

asking

so

the

issue

at

hand

is

the

children

so

formally

in

Exodus

5

18

Pharaoh

refused

to

let

Israel

go

and

he

told

them

to

go

now

and

work

and

those

two

same

commands

are

repeated

here

as

go

and

serve

it's

the

same

Hebrew

word

serve

and

work

and

so

now

he's

conceding

the

point

before

he

wanted

him

to

go

and

serve

himself

Pharaoh

but

now

he

tells

him

to

go

and

serve

the

Lord

he's

making

a

concession

but

he

is

also

seeking

a

concession

from

God

you

can

take

all

the

adults

but

not

the

children

leave

them

here

as

collateral

to

ensure

that

the

Israeli

adults

all

come

back

after

worshiping

in

the

wilderness

this

way

even

if

Israel

ends

up

never

coming

back

and

fleeing

Egypt

for

good

which

Pharaoh

fears

might

happen

then

at

least

they

have

the

God's

plan

for

Israel

is

not

only

for

this

generation

it's

for

all

future

generations

because

from

everlasting

to

everlasting

the

Lord

is

God

he

ought

to

be

worshipped

generation

after

generation

God

does

not

deserve

the

worship

of

us

only

but

of

all

our

children

and

their

grandchildren

as

a

parent

we

can't

say

well

I

believe

God

and

that's

enough

the

kids

can

choose

whatever

they

want