Seeking Obedience

Well, good morning, Church of the Grove.

It is awesome to see all of you with us this morning.

My name's Russ, and I'm one of the pastors here at Church of the Grove.

Always excited to be with you guys, but especially excited if it's your first, maybe, or second time with us.

We want to say a big welcome to you.

Hopefully you were greeted warmly when you came in.

But I want to encourage you that our heart's desire is that you would feel family, you would feel uh welcome, but more than that, that you would encounter the living God that we preach about, that we talk about, that we sing about, that we gather.

We gather in his name.

And so Jesus, Jesus is changed, Jesus changes everything, and he changes one of the means by which he works his transformation is through us studying his word, uh, not just to learn knowledge, but to apply it to our life so our character and our heart and our lifestyles will change.

And so glad that you're with us today.

We're in a series on the life of Moses, on the life of Moses.

I love I love it when we do our biographical studies, and I know I think we've studied Moses.

It's probably been quite a while, uh, but it is one of my favorite stories and characters in the Bible.

And so we'll be in Exodus chapter 5 and and maybe 6 and 7 a little bit today.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

Uh, we're gonna look at primarily the the ten plagues, and um I'm gonna do my best.

There's a lot of a lot to get through, and I I don't want to um uh I don't I don't want to go uh I don't want to give you too much where you don't you know you walk away thinking, man, uh, you know, that was too long, or uh, you know, Russ overdid it, or whatever.

I want to give you enough where you you want to come back.

And and so so today is this is it's it's this idea that following God often means stepping out of your comfort zone, and sometimes doing exactly what God says makes things worse before they get better.

Following God often means stepping out of your comfort zone.

And sometimes doing exactly what God says makes things worse before they get better.

Does that resonate with anybody?

It is sometimes it seems as though, as a matter of fact, we don't know God in his true miraculous character unless there is a miracle needed.

Which means if there's a miracle needed, something's gone off the track, something has gone worse before it got better.

Jay Hudson Taylor once said, There are three stages in any great work attempted for God: impossible, difficult, done.

Three stages in anything attempted for God.

I want you to hear this.

Those of you that we last week we talked about courage to step out, courage to serve.

Everybody has the ability.

God gifts everybody.

He doesn't want anybody to sit on the bench, he wants everybody to be a part of something.

And there's three stages in any great work attempted for God.

Impossible.

It's impossible.

You know, Russ, you you wouldn't, you could, you could never, I would never expect God to accept me.

Allow me to serve Him.

Allow me to be used by Him.

It feels impossible.

And then it moves from impossible to difficult.

Well, it's not impossible, but it's not easy.

And so there's this difficult part.

Whatever it is, is it is it is it a is it fear?

Is it is it a habit?

Is it something you feel like you need to let go?

Um, and then and then finally, I love this last part.

It's done.

God shows up, you obey, you engage, and that's the journey that we see with Moses.

And that's where Moses is in Exodus chapter 5.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

If you've got uh your Bibles open or your electronic Bible and you're a note-taker or not note taker, the the slides will be on the screen to kind of help you follow along.

I hope I can do them in the right order that doesn't um mess Riley up too much back there.

Uh so so here's what we see.

This is where Moses is in Exodus chapter 5, the impossible stage of a great work for God.

Exodus 5 · chapter mention

And so we're we're picking up in chapter 5.

I'm not gonna read word for word, but basically what is happening is the God, the God of Israel, is is it's it's time for Pharaoh to let his people go.

And so he is he is using and speaking and leading Moses and Aaron.

He's given Moses and Aaron the responsibility to go on his behalf, to speak on his behalf to the Pharaoh.

And y'all, y'all heard me talk about the fact that Moses feels inadequate.

He feels unqualified.

I can't speak well.

I've got a speech impediment.

And God says, well, bring Aaron along.

He speaks more eloquently, he speaks better, he speaks well.

I will put the words to you to give and put in his mouth, and he and he can speak.

And so they say, they go to Pharaoh.

Pharaoh, we want our people, we want you to let our people go.

You know, I don't really want to go back and review every detail, but but as a God's people come into Egypt as a small family.

About 70 people.

There's a famine in the land.

Go all the way back.

They had sold, uh, the brothers had sold uh Joseph into slavery.

He goes into Egypt.

They think he's dead.

Uh while he they think he's dead, he is rising up the uh the corporate ladder for lack of another term.

He he is rising up to a place where he is second in command in all of Egypt.

And so as as um and so as they're there, a famine takes place.

You know, all this is going over on in Egypt, but back to back to God's family, back to Abraham, back to the people of God.

Um they um they they come over to Egypt.

There's no food, there's a famine in the land.

Abraham says, hey, we we need to send a party.

Maybe they have food, maybe they can help us.

And so they all um transition over uh to Egypt, not all at one time, but but what happens is Pharaoh is so welcoming.

He loves, um he loves Joseph.

He says, Hey, bring your whole family.

Bring your whole family.

They can live here.

As a matter of fact, I've got a place called Goshen.

Goshen is a place where they can establish their land.

And so, of course, the Pharaoh probably didn't know at that time that this small family of about 70 people will grow to a million number, a million people nation.

And so the next Pharaoh feels a bit threatened.

And so then he beg he they begin to um remove, uh they begin to move the Israelites from a place of friendship and just being co-laborers in this land and having their own land.

Now they are slaves.

They are they are there the the Pharaoh is afraid of them.

And you know that you know the story of Moses, he was gonna be, he was gonna be killed like the rest of the Hebrew children.

God supernaturally uh has him pulled out of the river.

He's raised in royalty underneath the leadership of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh is his is his dad at that point.

Um and so he spends the first 40 years of his life living in royalty, and then he leaves, he commits murder, has to leave, and he goes into the wilderness, spends 40 years in the wilderness, meets his wife, has children, and and uh basically becomes a shepherd.

And as he is shepherding his sheep, he walks by a bush.

I wonder how many times he'd walk by that bush.

I wonder how many times he walked by that bush while it was on fire.

But all of a sudden he notices this bush is burning, but it's not being consumed, and then all of a sudden there's a voice that speaks to him out of that bush, and it's God's voice, and God begins to direct him back to what he's called him to, which is to go set his people free from Egypt.

And so he and Aaron, Moses tries to talk God out of it, and so Aaron, Aaron, and uh Moses confront Pharaoh.

Let our people go, let our people go.

We want to go to the wilderness for a three-day journey, and we want to sacrifice, we want to worship in the wilderness.

And Pharaoh says, Hey, don't, you're not, you're not gonna do that.

That's gonna be a distraction to what your people should be doing, the hard work that I've given them to do, to make bricks and to build my city and to build uh my monuments.

And so uh Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers, said, said, Be harder on them.

Make brick, continue to have them make bricks.

But instead of you supplying the straw for the bricks, you stop supplying the straw.

We're gonna add something else to them.

They've got to go collect their own straw.

So he's he's putting more and more burden upon them as they are carrying out what Pharaoh has for them to do.

And so the slave drivers, the foreman, tell the people, this is what the Pharaoh says.

Uh, we're not gonna give you any more straw.

Get it for yourselves.

And and they scattered and and they pushed them harder and harder, and they had to meet daily quotas of bricks, um, and and it had to be the same.

They had to meet the same quota, even though now they are having to go get their own straw to help um uh put together the mixture that would provide uh for um these bricks to be made.

And so at the very end of uh Exodus 5, uh the very end of that little section of scripture, uh they ask, why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today?

Well, duh, you you've you've put more on our plate.

You you are now becoming abusive.

Uh this is this used to be a place for our families, and we didn't mind working, but now you keep putting more and more burdens upon us.

And so Moses obeyed God and confronted Pharaoh.

But Pharaoh responded.

Here's how Pharaoh responded, verse 2.

Who is the Lord that I should obey him?

That's what that's what the Pharaoh says.

Who is the Lord that I should obey him?

Now that is a scary question.

Who is the Lord that I should follow him?

Who is the Lord that I should obey him?

Who is the Lord?

Who has the power to change anything?

Who is the Lord?

Sometimes we see that played out in modern day.

People scoff at the Lord, they scoff at Christians, they scoff at at a Jewish nation.

Who is the Lord that we should obey him?

Who are you?

Some of them found out last night.

Some of them got a response.

Now, I'm not promoting, I'm not, I'm not, I'm just, I'm, I'm, I always say, um, don't get mad at me.

I'm just delivering the news.

And and and and and it's very interesting how things will play out sometimes.

I think, man, we may be watching um literally the end times played out right in front of us.

And you know what that means?

It means that if you you aren't right with the Lord, get right.

It means if you don't know the Lord, let me introduce you to a loving Savior that wants a relationship with you.

That's what matters in times like this, that we who know Jesus, we rest and fall into uh the arms of Jesus and we follow his direction as he directs us to continue to share the gospel in a world that we have no idea how much time is left and what's going to happen on this planet.

So Pharaoh responds to Moses, tells him, I don't know the Lord.

What does he have to do with me?

And he was correct.

He didn't know God.

But he was about to.

Pharaoh doubled the burden on the Israelites.

They had to make bricks without straw.

When you obey God and things get worse, you find out what your faith is really made of.

When you obey God and things aren't going your way, when things happen that aren't pleasant, a lot of times we, God, why would you let that happen?

Why would a good God allow that to happen?

I get this question all the time.

If God was all-powerful, why couldn't he, you know, change circumstances?

If he was all-loving, how could he let all this happen?

But a loving God knows that sometimes, sometimes we've got to be able to endure some difficulty to get us to a point where we can see his power at work.

And so Pharaoh doubled the burden on the Israelites.

They had to make bricks without straw.

When you obey God and things get worse, you find out what your faith is really made of.

He goes on.

Let me read these verses.

Riley's start at verse 15.

Um, it says, So the Israelite foreman went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him, please don't treat your servants like this.

They begged.

We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand, make bricks.

We are being beaten.

But it isn't your own fault.

Your own people are to blame.

He goes into verse 17.

But Pharaoh shouted, You're just lazy.

Lazy.

That's why you're saying, Let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.

Now get back to work.

No straw be given to you, but but you still must produce the full quota of the bricks.

And the Israelite foreman could see that they were in serious trouble when they were told, You must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day.

Verse 20 says, As they left Pharaoh's court, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them.

The foreman said to them, May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials.

You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us.

And so obedience often brings resistance.

Obedience often brings resistance.

And that's that's the that's the that's the fact of life.

Obedience often um brings resistance.

And so um and so sometimes even when we we we do what's right, people will turn off on us.

That's when we must die to ourselves.

Our plans, our timing, our control, Jesus teaches us.

They're called lazy.

But here's the truth that Jesus teaches us out of the Gospel of John.

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

This is a verse that is that is comforting for those of us that have that have even lost loved ones who love Jesus.

I think of, I mean, I saw this lived out.

My brother Eddie, um, you know, I there's three of us.

Butch is is is uh 69.

I I love being able to say my brother, my older brother is 69.

Um, you know, I just turned 60, and uh, and and uh and so I'm I'm I'm behind him.

But he he um uh so we had a brother between us uh named Eddie and in 1992 uh Eddie Eddie uh went to bed on a Monday night and and did not wake up on Tuesday morning, had a massive, massive asthma attack.

And and so I think of this verse unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

And so you know what happened after Eddie died in 1992?

Uh within just a few years, my dad surrendered his life to Jesus.

And Eddie, Eddie would have said all day long, hey, if if I I'd I'd I'd be willing to give my life in a heartbeat if I knew that it would bring my dad to salvation.

And and that happened.

That happened.

I could go on down the list.

There's at my mother's funeral on May, uh, she died on May 16th, and the very next week we had her funeral, um, uh a man walked up um that had been a classmate of my brother Eddie's, and um he had actually um that there had been a professor.

Eddie was brilliant.

Eddie was absolutely brilliant.

I mean, when I say brilliant, he he didn't have to study, walks in, scores off the charts on SAT, um, and ends up at uh you know desires to go to George Tech.

He was kind of the black sheep of the family, but we were proud of him.

Um I mean uh listen, if if any of my kids, any of my kids go wanted to go to George Tech, I mean, more power to him.

It's a it's a very it's a great school, tough school.

And so, but but he he he had the ability, but he didn't have the discipline, and so so he got he got on probation, and then then he got he then he then he was then he had to leave um uh uh involuntarily, and so he goes over to uh to to de cab and and gets his grades back up.

While he's over at the cab, one of his professors um uh gives him an award for for an academic award.

And so what has happened is all those brains he's now putting to work and actual doing the actual work.

And so when he passed away, that professor came to our family and said, Hey, I want to establish a scholarship in Eddie's name.

And one of the classmates that was with Eddie there at DeCab at that time says, I want to, I want to, I want to make the first gift into the scholarship fund.

And the scholarship fund is still operates every year.

There's students that get get money out of that fund.

And so Dwayne, this is my mother's funeral just a couple weeks ago.

I mean, out of the blue, hadn't seen Dwayne, talk to Dwayne in in forever.

He walks up and and brings a card to Butch, brings a card to me.

He's at my mom's funeral.

Eddie was his friend.

And he says, I just want I just want to come and support you guys.

I knew your mom and I know how much she loves y'all.

And I'm so I he said, I had so much respect for your brother Eddie.

And um, and he he said, I want you to know I'm I'm still giving to that scholarship every year.

Successful businessman.

And and so, so here, and and and and he would say, Dwayne, Dwayne would say, your mother is the person that had the most influence in me, putting my faith in Jesus, because I watched how she responded when Eddie passed away.

And so, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

I hope you see that.

Um things can be difficult, things can be hard, but even all the way to death, you know, death, there's something that there's always something that has to die before life can come from it.

And so um, and uh Moses will go on to learn this, but now he is frustrated with God.

Verse 22, then Moses went back to the Lord and protested.

What it what have you brought?

Why why have you brought all this trouble on my own people, Lord?

Why did you send me?

Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your spokesman, he has been even more brutal to your people.

And you have done nothing to rescue them.

So God says, Why send me?

Why send me?

He he feels abandoned.

But even in his feeling of abandonment, God is working behind the scenes.

Maybe just not the way Moses had expected.

And I think many of us experience the same thing.

We don't sense God at work.

Or we don't see God at work the way that we want to see God at work.

It by no means indicates that God is not at work.

It's very likely that God is at work, maybe just not in the timing you want, or in the circumstances, or the manner that you want.

And see, part of our life is learning to trust.

Trust in the Lord.

Trust Him.

Even in the dark times, trust Him.

The quote, y'all heard me say this quote if you've been around my pastor Ike.

He said, if you can't trace his hand, you trust His heart.

You can't trace His hand.

And this is a pastor that desperately wanted to have children, and his wife finally got pregnant, and they get to the delivery room, and she goes into distress.

And it's one of those one in a cajillion type situations, and I can't remember the name, but literally in the delivery room, they turn to Pastor Ike, my still a pastor to me today, and they said, Do you want us to save you your baby or your wife?

Can you imagine?

I mean, in the in the just the spur of the moment, he says, Save my wife.

We can try to have more children.

Both die.

Both die.

And Ike wrote a book called Treasures from the Dark.

See, people that go through things like that, a lot of times they move down the pathway of bitterness.

Rather than trusting God, even though they can't make sense, they can't trace his hand, trust him.

And somewhere down the line, God is going to reveal, you know, his plans.

And he has.

I wish I had time to tell you that story.

And so here's five things we learn from this exchange between Moses, Pharaoh, and the Israelites.

Number one, obedience often brings resistance.

Obedience often brings resistance.

Do we ever see that happen in our culture?

Obedience brings resistance.

Just like Moses obeyed God and immediately faced backlash, we often, we often think doing the right thing should make life easier.

Listen, I want you to listen to this.

This is a misnomer.

This is maybe connected to what we would call the prosperity gospel.

Hey, you love God, you follow God, you give your money to God.

God is gonna overwhelm you with all kinds of blessings.

He's gonna pour out money and wealth, and He's just gonna blow you away with all these kinds of blessings.

Is that always true in that way?

No, there's a danger to that type of teaching.

There's times where doing the right thing, we understand, I understand how that should make sense that life should be easier, but the opposite is actually sometimes true.

You look at the life of individuals in all of Scripture.

Man, they were following Jesus, giving their life for Jesus, seeing Jesus, walking with Jesus.

But at some point things got worse before they got better.

We face criticism.

For example, a student stands up for their faith at school only to be mocked or excluded.

Thank God I don't, I don't, I don't.

We've got so many students that are walking with Jesus.

Man, I I can't I can't hardly I pity, I pity the fool.

I pity the fool.

That wants to stand up against our army of young believers in our high schools.

You know, I'm not asking for a gang fight or anything, but number two, the blame game is a distraction.

Pharaoh's tactic was to turn the people against Moses, not just to punish, but to divide and distract.

The blame game, it's a distraction.

When a family crisis hits or a church goes through conflict, we tend to point fingers instead of standing firm in prayer and unity.

Thank you, Ruth, for praying for the way you prayed and led our church family in prayer this morning.

That was so sweet and so timely and so accurate and so right on.

Um thirdly, even faithful leaders feel discouraged.

Moses did everything God asked and still felt abandoned.

He doubted God and questioned his calling.

That's deeply human.

If you've ever asked God, why is this happening when I was trying to follow you?

You're in good company.

Listen, I can I can relate to that.

Even faithful leaders feel discouraged.

It's almost impossible not to encounter some discouragement along the way.

Number four, leadership requires faith, not popularity.

Leadership requires faith, not popularity.

Today's culture values popularity, likes, approvals, followers, uh, you know, what, you know, all the all the emojis and things.

We want to see people respond.

We want to uh have more and more followers.

And when I say that, I'm not talking about people that that that are following Jesus.

I'm talking about followers like on Instagram or TikTok or or or what other um platform.

And so so that's that's kind of the way things are.

And so uh leaders and all believers are called to be faithful, not necessarily light.

Whether you're leading a Bible study, a team, or simply trying to live as a light, don't expect applause, expect opposition.

Expect opposition.

There's gonna be opposition.

And and during those times, you're gonna see who stands up and is willing to stand out for their faith.

I loved it when I saw it, and I don't know, I'm a sports fan, and so when I see uh a guy named Clayton Kershaw, who I know loves Jesus with all of his heart and has one of has a very lengthy baseball career, and and you know, at ballparks all over the country and places all over the country, they are having uh what are called pride celebrations.

And and and and and so so the uniform, the hat on the uniform had uh what would be considered, I guess, the pride flag colors on the letters for LA.

But Kurt Kershaw uh wrote out this to the side of his letters, Genesis 12, and and and and and listed the verses.

And if I'm not gonna take the time, go look it up, go look it up.

But it was his response, and what a courageous response.

I'm sure he was fined because he changed the hat that the major league forced him to wear.

But hallelujah, thank you God, for somebody that's willing to stand firm about their faith and and and uh and and leadership requires faith, not popularity.

Number five, stand firm and let God fight for you.

Stand firm and let God fight for you.

When Moses later tells the people at the Red Sea, stand firm, the Lord will fight for you.

He will fight for you, he will fight for you.

Now let's move over to Exodus chapter 6.

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

Exodus 6 gives us amazing insight on how God responds to us in our moments of doubt and frustration.

It said, then the Lord told Moses, now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh when he feels the force of my strong hand.

He will let the people go.

In fact, he will force them to leave this land.

And so, uh verses 2 and 3, he says, I am the Lord.

God said to Moses, I am Yahweh.

We've talked about that, talked about that last week, uh, last few weeks.

I am Yahweh, the Lord.

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, another name for God that means God Almighty, but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.

Remember Yodha, Veha.

This is the sacred, almost unmentionable name of God that is mysterious, but it is how he described himself.

I am that I am.

It's just this idea that God is.

God is.

There's never been a time in the past where he wasn't.

He has always been, he is in the present and always will be in the future.

And that's how he describes himself.

And so and so uh he goes on to say, he reminds Moses who he is, this unchanging, covenant-keeping God, the name of the Lord Yahweh, reveals not just his might, but his personal, faithful character.

And when we doubt, God often brings us back to who he is.

And six, verses four and five, he says, I still remember and I reaffirm my covenant with with them.

Under its terms, I promise to give them the land of Canaan where they were living as foreigners.

You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel who are now slaves to the Egyptians, and I am well aware of the covenant with them.

God hasn't changed the plan.

Even if the people have forgotten, even if they've doubted, even if they've drifted.

Listen, if you forget, if you doubt, if you drift, God does not forget you.

He doesn't walk away from you.

God hasn't changed the plan.

He is the anchoring truth in the middle of all the emotional storms.

God hears, God sees, God remembers.

The people's pain is not ignored.

It's known and felt by their redeemer.

And so when you feel like your situation contradicts God's promises, remember God never forgets his covenant.

When you cry out to God, know that he hears you and sees you.

You are not abandoned.

You are remembered.

Every single one of you matter.

I have to point way back here because none of you are up here.

You matter.

All you back rope Baptists matter.

You matter.

And so God, yet, he says, You matter.

You'll be remembered.

You won't be abandoned.

Verses 6 through 8.

This is what he says.

Therefore, say to the people of Israel, I am the Lord God.

I will free you from your oppression.

I will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt.

I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.

I will claim you as my own people and I will be your God.

Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from the oppression in Egypt.

I will bring you into the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I will give it to you as your very own possession.

I am the Lord.

I love this section of Scripture because God makes seven promises here.

And seven is a significant number in the life of the Bible and spiritual life.

Seven is a very significant number.

But he simply says, I will, I will.

And then he says what he's going to do.

Isaiah 41, 10, he says, I will be with you.

Philippians 4.19, I will provide for you.

Hebrews 13, 5, I will never leave you or forsake you.

I love, don't you love these I will statements?

This is God saying, I will.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

I will give you rest.

Matthew 11, 28.

Isaiah 41.10.

Going back to 41.10, I will uphold you.

1 John 1.9, I will forgive you.

But it says they didn't listen.

They didn't listen.

They didn't believe in the promises.

There's still a measure of fear.

There's still a measure of security.

I'm going to go all the way back down.

I'm going to go all the way to Exodus 7 and see if I can cover this last little bit rather quickly.

God goes on to explain to Moses that he's made Moses like God to Pharaoh.

And by this I do not think that he means that Moses is like a God, but whenever Pharaoh sees Moses, he sees the God of Moses.

And Aaron will be his prophet, his mouthpiece.

Verse 3 tells us that God says he will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he can multiply his miraculous signs and wonders, but still Pharaoh will refuse.

Hard-hearted Pharaoh.

And he brings us to the point in this passage that really kind of is an apex in Exodus 7 through 11.

Not going to go through all that.

If you had to write something down, if you wanted to write something down, if you're a note taker, this is what I want you to see.

God uses opposition to reveal his unmatched power and glory.

God uses opposition to reveal his unmatched power and glory.

Let me talk to you about this.

God's desire is to reveal himself.

God wants to reveal himself.

He wants to reveal himself so he can know you.

He wants to reveal himself so desperately bad that fast forward from this point in Exodus, fast forward, you know, thousands of years, he will reveal himself in the most significant way that he can, which is to become one of us through Christ.

The gospel story.

God becomes man.

God becomes human being through the person of Jesus.

Jesus lives a righteous, perfect life.

And he does it so because he knows you and I can't do that, he does it for us.

Not only does he live a perfect, righteous life for us, he also stands in the pathway and is beaten and crucified.

He does that for us.

He's accepting every bit of the punishment that we all deserve because we've rebelled against the holy God.

And then to prove that he had power to do it, prove that he has power over life and death and to prove that he has power over opposition, he rose from the grave.

He rose from the grave.

So God uses opposition to reveal his unmatched power and glory.

I mean, even you see this all through the Bible, all through the Bible, but you also see it as you follow the history of a nation like Israel.

God uses opposition to reveal his unmatched power and glory.

A tiny, the tiniest, the tiniest country you can imagine taking on these major powers.

And I, you know, I sometimes I wonder if if some of the is you know, some of the leaders in the Israeli defense forces, when America drops a few bombs, I wonder if they're like those Americans, they still think we can't handle this by ourselves.

And I and that's probably not the truth because they're probably the c they're probably working together.

But I know on occasion, sometimes Israel's like, hey, we got it.

We got it.

We got it.

We can do it probably better than you can.

And and and so we we see that.

And so in chapter 7, we see where God comes to a point where he's had enough, and and he's he's gotta deal with opposition and he's gotta deal with it firmly.

So what does he do?

He institute what we call he institutes what we call the ten plagues.

Ten plagues.

Record time we're gonna go through ten plagues.

Think we can do it.

How about if we how about if we go through the ten plagues and we come back and talk about it a little more in detail next week?

Would that be okay?

We don't have to follow the exact plan.

There's somebody who determines that.

And I I think I can change it if I want to.

Um, the first plague, water turned to blood, Exodus 7, 14.

And and not gonna read the whole passage, but I want you to see what it was like.

The Nile River, the heart of Egyptian life was turned into blood.

Fish died, river stank, the Egyptians could not drink the water.

By the way, this is Exodus 7.

So if you want to go back and read Exodus 7, Exodus 8, um you can read the accounts of these specific, um, specific uh um uh uh plagues.

And so uh they couldn't drink the water, even water stored in wooden and stone jars was was turned to blood.

Why God chose this plague, this was a direct attack on the Egyptian god Happy or Happy, H-A-P-I.

It's the deity of the Nile, showing that the God of Israel had power over Egypt's most precious resource.

Where's David?

Uh David Dish, he may be that there he is.

David David asked me if there was a correlation between um the false gods, and so I don't know that I have one for every plague, but but is that is that is that that's kind of what we're talking about, right, David?

And so uh number number two is frogs.

Frogs, who loves frogs?

I love frogs.

Mm-mm, good, taste like chicken, right?

Listen, I grew up, man.

We went we went out frog gigging, uh, you know, down in Henry County with all the other uh country redneck people, and we'd bring it back and and we'd have frog legs.

And what do they taste like?

Chicken.

I mean, almost like most stuff tastes like chicken.

Um and so what it was like, frogs came up from the Nile in vast numbers.

They they entered homes, beds, yuck.

Beds, you're laying there asleep, honey, honey, is that you?

Honey, you don't seem like yourself.

It's because you're not.

Not so, so, um, and so the frogs, uh, they were everywhere.

They were unbearable.

It mocked the goddess Hecate, H-E-K-E-T, who was who was represented by a frog.

Instead of fertility in life, frogs became a sign of judgment.

Number three is gnats.

Gnats, Exodus eight.

And so read those few verses, 17 through 19.

What was it like?

Dust turned into gnats, infesting people and animals.

They were inescapable, making life miserable and priest uh ceremonially unclean.

Why did God choose this plague?

It demonstrated God's control over even the smallest elements of nature, and it attacked their sense of ritual purity and the power of the magicians.

Let me just say this.

I lived in Savannah for a period of time, and I lived in South Georgia for that period.

I lived in other places in South Georgia.

I will never go back unless God picks me up physically and puts me back there.

You know why?

Because in the spring and in the fall, the gnats are horrendous.

They're horrendous.

I was an umpire and a referee and um in baseball, basketball, and and uh uh what something else, one other, one other, not football, but um I I my main thing was umpiring at this point when I was umpiring, and I'm literally uh standing behind home plate, and me and the catcher are are taking breaths simultaneously, and the gnats all breathe in.

We take a big breath, and all the gnats breathe into, you know, come into our mouth, and then we'd breathe breathe out at the same time, and the gnats, you know, are and you're swatting and trying, and and you're you're thinking about think about all these six and seven, eight-year-old kids trying to play baseball in a gnat infestation.

And and and uh, you know, I'll so great place to visit, horrible place to live.

Um all right, and uh nothing against y'all if y'all like Savannah.

Um it's it's it's a unique.

But number four is flies.

Flies.

What was it like?

Dense swarm of flies filled Egyptian homes and ruined the land.

Goshen, where the Israelites live, was spared.

By the way, all of these, all of these plagues infested and affected all of where the Egyptians lived.

God's people lived in a community called Goshen or Goshen.

And let me tell you this: none of the plagues had any impact among God's people.

That's God's protection.

So they're watching, they're watching God's power and place.

Death of livestock is the fifth one.

The sixth one.

And by the way, why God chose the plague of the death of livestock, it was an economic disaster and an attack on gods, such as Hathor and Apis.

God's favor toward Israel was again made visible.

Boils, boils.

This plague, ashes thrown into the air caused boils to break out on people and animals, including magicians who could no longer stand before Moses.

Why God chose this plague?

God struck the people's health, shaming, healing gods like Sekhmet.

Even the magicians, Egypt's spiritual advisors were afflicted.

Seven is hell.

Hell, why why God chose this plague?

It stuck at gods of weather and agriculture.

It struck at gods of weather and agriculture and showed God's ability to control nature in powerful, terrible ways.

Locust is number eight.

Locust is number eight.

Devastated the food supply and mocked their agricultural gods.

Darkness, darkness.

God chose this plague.

It directly challenged Ra, the sun god, which was worshipped in Egyptian life.

The darkness also symbolized judgment and separation from God.

And then finally, finally, finally, the death of the firstborn.

The death of the firstborn.

At midnight, the Lord struck down Exodus 12, 29.

At midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh and all of his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night and a loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt.

You can imagine there was not a single house where someone had not died.

What was it like at midnight?

Every Egyptian firstborn.

Now, what does this remind you of a little bit?

It reminds you of the edict that was set by Pharaoh to kill all of the Jewish boys.

And so God struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt.

Of course, this did not affect God's people.

It didn't affect the Israelites.

Pharaoh and all his officials and all the people of Egypt woke up during the night.

Loud wailing was heard throughout the land of Egypt.

There was not a single house where someone had not died.

What was it like at midnight?

Every Egyptian firstborn, from Pharaoh's son to prisoners to livestock, died.

Every household was struck with grief.

Israelite homes, they were covered by the lamb's blood.

So what was happening among God's people while this tenth plague is taking place?

We call it the what?

Passover.

The Passover.

Take a lamb, lay it over the threshold of your home, and sacrifice it.

You cover the post, the mantle and the post around the door, the door post.

You cover it with the blood of God.

And so when the death angel would fly over each home and it saw that blood, it passed over.

It passed over, leaving those inhabitants alive.

Why did God choose this plague?

This final act of judgment struck Pharaoh's family and supposed deity.

It brought Israel's deliverance and inaugurated the Passover, a shadow of Christ, the true Lamb.

And I want you to see that.

I want you to see that.

It is is is they they laid this lamb down on the on the uh the little threshold.

And they sacrificed that lamb.

That lamb is a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus, who came to save and to set the world free from sin and slavery.

And this is why John would go on and give us this encouragement.

1 John 4, 4.

But you belong to God, my dear children.

You've already won a victory over those people because the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

And so when you face opposition, whether from people, circumstances, or your own doubts, obedience might lead to hardship, but it also positions you for God's blessing and God's work.

God's promises are unwavering even when we feel weak or afraid.

And God's power will always outshine the world's resistance.

So here's a question.

Will you trust him?

Will you trust him even when the pressure increases?

Hey, when all seems, when it seems like all the world is going to hell in a handbasket, so to speak.

It's falling apart.

Countries are at odds with other country other countries.

Will we trust him even though we will encounter resistance?

Will we trust him with the potential fallout from world events?

We can trust God.

He has never left us.

He is always beside us.

He is always with us.

He is faithful to the end.

He will not give up on you, regardless of the circumstances.

He will be with you.

He will be with your family.

He'll be there in the throes of your marriage.

He'll be there as you're raising your children.

He'll be there in your neighborhood.

He'll be there in our schools where we educate our kids.

Listen, I know bad things can happen, but when we see opposition, when we see difficulty, it should help us lean in to God because He's good.

You know, it would be okay to clap.

It would be all right.

It'd be okay.

So let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

Father, thank you for your grace and your goodness.

Thank you for the way that you have shown up in our life.

Thank you for your faithfulness.

Thank you for this story.

Thank you for what it teaches us.

Thank you for the fact that you fight for us and that, Father, we have victory.

You give us victory, and that victory comes through Christ.

God, we don't have to wonder about it, wait on it.

We just simply need to embrace it.

And so, Father, I see a victory.

I see a victory.

That's the song we're going to sing.

I see a victory.

He is bringing victory.

He is good and he is faithful.

And if you need Jesus, this is the morning for you to call out to Jesus.

Jesus said, repent and believe the good news.

If you need encouragement, call out to the Lord.

Call out to Jesus.

If you need to come pray at this altar, if you want somebody to pray with you, come find me on this front row.

We want to encourage you in any way we can.

Father, thank you for your goodness in Jesus' name.

Amen.