Moses: A Journey from Bondage to Freedom: Judgement and the Battle of God

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

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sermon. God bless. Let me pray again for us.

I pray these words from Isaiah 40. Lord, the

grass, the flower fades, the word will last forever.

For God, we so often cling to these things that

fade. In the hardness of our hearts, we grab

things of this world. God, I pray that the morning

you would soften us. Lord, that we would receive

your word. You'd write it upon our hearts, that

we would earn. and find the life in you. Here's

where we ask in your name. Amen. All right, a

few weeks ago, we were over in Princeton, New

Jersey. Melissa had a tennis tournament, and

so we went over to watch her some. Since we're

in Princeton, which is the first and most historic

Presbyterian college and seminary in our country,

we went to the cemetery, as people do, as Presbyterian

pastors do. We saw the great sights of John Witherspoon,

actually the only minister who signed the Declaration

of Independence. He was also the moderator of

the first Presbyterian General Assembly in the

United States of America. And he was also the

sixth president there at Princeton. We saw the

great grave of the theologian there, Aaron Burke

Sr. And of course we saw the grave of Jonathan

Edwards. regard him as among, if not the greatest

theologian that America has ever produced. I

mentioned a few years ago, at least I think it

was a few years ago, I was trying to think. I

have to think about like, am I reusing illustrations

sometimes, you know? But I think I mentioned

a few years ago that John Edwards' legacy is

great. It's sort of remarkable. John Edwards,

he was born in 1703. When he was 13, he went

to Yale. I don't know what you were doing at

13. When he was 19, he became a minister of a

church in New York City. He became a teacher

back at Yale. And then 20 years, he was the pastor

of a church in North Massachusetts before becoming

a missionary to some of the Native Americans

farther west in what was sort of the early colony,

the Western colony of Massachusetts. There's

an American educator, A .E. Winship. who in 1900

traced Edward's descendants for five generations.

Five generations since John Edwards and Sarah

Edwards. So the five subsequent generations.

And this is what he found out. Among 1 ,394 traced

relatives were one US vice president, three US

senators, three governors, three mayors, 13 college

presidents, 65 professors, 100 lawyers, 30 judges,

60 doctors, 75 military officers, 80 public office

holders, 100 clergymen, and 285 college graduates.

A remarkable legacy for a man who knew his sin.

and through the grace of God. And interestingly,

just actually not long after that, sorry, not

long before that, 23 years earlier, there was

another study by a sociologist who studied this

guy who was born in 1720. That guy was Max Jukes.

He was born in New York. And here's his descendants.

This is a study by Richard Dugdale. Richard Dugdale

traced 1 ,200 descendants over five generations,

finding seven murderers, 60 thieves, 150 convicts,

190 prostitutes, 310 indigents, 440 alcoholics,

and 300 premature deaths, costing New York State

what is equivalent to our day of 30 million dollars

in welfare expenses. And I'm kind of putting

that out there as just here's a soft heart towards

the Lord and here's a hard heart. against the

Lord. But if you know Jonathan Edwards, you probably

know him because an English professor maybe in

high school or maybe in college assigned for

your reading, sinners in the hands of an angry

God, right? If you know one writing of Edwards,

you probably know sinners in the hands of an

angry God. It's one of the great sermons of the

First Great Awakening in the U .S., which largely

happened in the mid -1730s to the mid -1740s.

A huge revival that happened throughout the colonies.

And it's a sermon of God's judgment, yes, but

it's also a sermon of God's mercy, His grace,

when soft hearts turn to the Lord. So this morning,

we're continuing this series, right? We've been

in the book of Acts, kind of looking at the life

of Moses, but also the story of the exodus through

the life of Moses, the beginning of chapter seven.

And I want to say that this part here is sort

of the preamble, the beginning, the first part

that introduces the rest of the plagues. And

here we see this battle of God, the battle of

the gods, the true God against false gods. Moses

has come to Pharaoh here for the second time.

And this sort of introduces these next few chapters.

And what we see in this little bit, is actually

the same movements that we see in the rest. We

could follow the plagues and they have this same

sort of pattern. And so I want us to look at

these sort of three movements as a way of getting

this big idea of what's happening in the battle

of the gods. Each movement speaks to this big

idea, battle against other gods, against sin

and rebellion, and that this battle is the Lord's.

But there's a great judgment for sin and there

is great judgment or there's great mercy for

those who turn to the Lord. The first sort of

thing that you see is that this is first a battle

with words of the other gods or the gods. There's

a battle between words. So our passage begins

like this. If you have it open, maybe you just

have a really good memory and you can remember

everything that Rebecca just read. So then the

Lord said to Moses, see I have made you like

God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be

your prophet. You shall speak all that I command

you. And your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh

to let the people of Israel go out of this land."

It says, see, I've made you like God. Does that

make you kind of scratch your head? Like, what?

Why is the Lord telling Moses, see, I've made

you like God? Well, maybe you noticed that it

says, and the Lord said to Moses, and actually

here's the first movement, right? There's these

battle with words between God, the true God and

false gods. And every single plague. Every single

movement of these next few chapters begins with

those words that begin this chapter, and the

Lord said to Moses. So you can read that again

in 714. The next section, you can read it again

in 81. You can read it again in 816. You can

read it again in 820. You can just keep reading

that. That's how all of this sort of beginning,

all these movements of these plagues begin with

this idea, the Lord said to Moses. And these

are actually the exact same words that the Lord

had given to Moses. What he's saying is, my words

are the words that you are to speak. It's what

the Lord said to Moses back in chapter four.

You maybe remember when Moses was like, Lord,

I am not eloquent. I should be your spokesperson.

But then the Lord said, I will be with your mouth.

He actually says it twice. I will be with the

mouth of Aaron is what he says. And he says,

to both Moses and Aaron, all the words of the

Lord which he had sent him to speak are the ones

that just speak. And again, it's what we find

in the beginning of chapter five, when Moses

and Aaron first come to Pharaoh, they say, thus

says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people

go. So when we come to the beginning here of

this section, verse 1 of chapter 7, it says,

I've made you like God to Pharaoh. I think there's

this initial thing to scratch our heads, but

there's actually something hugely important here.

We say that the Lord's words are, the words that

Moses is supposed to say are the Lord's words.

This isn't Moses just kind of saying, I'm gonna

come in, I'm gonna tell you what to do, I'm gonna

tell you what to think, I'm gonna tell you how

you're supposed to let these people go. God is

saying, this is my battle, these are my words,

you're just my representative. And it says, I've

made you like a god to Pharaoh. Well, the ancient

Egyptians considered Pharaoh a living god. He

was a son of the great god Ra, the sun god. And

when Pharaoh spoke, it was the gods speaking.

So you have right here at the very beginning,

the clash of the gods, the voice of the Lord.

and the voice of Pharaoh. So when Moses speaks

the words of the Lord to Pharaoh, it's not Moses,

but it's the Lord saying, I'm with your mouth.

I'm going to give you the words to speak. You're

going to be like God. It's going to be a clash

of the gods. It's going to be a battle of words,

battle of the words of the Lord and the words

of Pharaoh, the divine spokes and gods. I want

you to think about this for a moment. People

often Bible, You know, the Bible says we are

sinners. We are in rebellion against the Lord.

The Bible says we are slaves to sin. The Bible

says, like we heard in the Psalm, but we can

read so many other passages, that we love to

make idols and are futile. They're not gods,

but we love to make them. And we worship anything

other than the true God. We make idols of this

world of ourselves, of power, money, possessions,

like we said in our confession of sin. And of

course, there is a bristling, there's a reaction

against this. Likes to be called a slave to sin,

an idol factory, as Calvin might say. So we want

to discount the words of the Bible. They can't

be trusted. Why? Because they were written by

people. That's a common thing. Ah, these are

people writing this. Didn't Moses write the first

five books of the Bible after all? You want me

to believe that this is the true account of where

the world came from, of why it's all so wrong,

of what might be done about it. You want me to

believe that this is the true account of things,

that it counts for all the injustice of the world,

all the pain of the world, for all the destruction

of the world, that the center of all that is

a rejection, a rebellion against God. And so

we often hear attacks on the Bible. Maybe you

know that in your own heart. We want to say it's

just written by people. These are just the words

of Moses and God says, no these are my words.

You're going to be like God. You are going to

be like God to Pharaoh. This is a battle of words.

God against the false gods. Do we take the words

as from God or do we place ourselves as God?

I can decide. I can decide if this is truly God's

word or not. I can dismiss this part, accept

this part. Maybe I can accept that he commands

me to do this, but I don't know that I accept

he commands me to do or say or whatever. That

calls me to repent. Maybe I'll decide what is

wrong and what is right, what I might need to

repent of or not. There's a clash at play here

with words between the true God and the false

God. And in some ways it is the same clash that

we wrestle with today. But it's also a battle

against the gods the gods of Egypt, the gods

we make to replace the living God. It's not just

this battle of words, but it's also this battle

of the gods. And I think this is also seen in

sort of the second movement that we have not

just actually here in this text, but all throughout

the plagues, okay? So maybe you remember back

to chapter three, when Moses said, well, this

is kind of me paraphrasing. And he's like, the

people aren't gonna listen. Who am I supposed

to tell them sent me when they ask? Maybe your

Israelites never ask that. Moses thinks, when

the Israelites say, who's this God that sent

me, who am I supposed to say? You know what,

somebody does ask that. Pharaoh asks that. Pharaoh

asks in chapter five, right? Pharaoh says, well,

who is this Lord? Why am I supposed to listen

to you? And you can imagine. Pharaoh and the

Egyptians going, okay, Yahweh, I am what I am.

Well, I know, you know, they were thinking, I

know the god Hopi, the god of the Nile. I know

the god Hakket, the frog -headed goddess of fertility

and childbirth. I know the god Geb, the god of

the earth. The god Kepri, the god of, it's a

scarab -like, a fly -like looking god. I knew

the god Hathor. the bovine deity, odd -like cow.

I know the god Sokmit, the god of diseases and

healing. They know the god Nut, the sky goddess.

They know Osiris, the god of fertility and of

agriculture. They knew Ra, the sun god. But who's

the lord? That's what they're saying. Who's this

god? I can list all these other gods, which if

you didn't follow, those followed the plagues,

okay? So Moses and Aaron come and they say what

God tells them to say. And actually they do what

the Lord had told them to do. Aaron cast down

the staff, right? And it becomes like a serpent,

like a snake. But then what happens? And I think

this next part is again, maybe the second thing

that makes us scratch our heads. The next thing

that happens is these wise men and sorcerers

and magicians of Egypt, they go, well, watch

this. And they throw down their staff too. becomes

like a serpent. And what we're supposed to see

is here's a battle. They're saying, oh yeah,

you think your God can do great things. Look

at our power at the sorcerer's hand of all these

gods. We can cast our staff too. It's a battle

between the Lord and the gods of Egypt. And the

Egyptians think, yeah, well we can do that too.

So what? I want us to think about this, okay,

for a moment. Of course, the Nile was like a

god for them. In some ways, of course, the sun

was like a god for them. Every year, there'd

be these rains in the mountains. They were at

the beginning of the Nile. They would rain hard.

And the whole Nile, it still happens, right?

The whole Nile, now there's a dam. But the whole

Nile would flood, right? And bring all this silt,

all this fertile soil down into the floodplain.

with the sun beaming down on it, crops flourished.

It was life blood. The Nile was like the life

blood of Egypt. It was their place from which

they had such prosperity, had such wealth. It

was the sun and the Nile together giving them

the life that they treasured. It was the source

of who made them who they were. Of course, it's

the same thing we do. Our false gods are so often

things sort of who we are, right? There are things

that if taken from us, we would be crushed because

we find our place, our identity, our wellbeing

in them, right? The gods of course of our jobs

and our education, our ability to articulate

things and argue things, think well of ourselves.

Of course our children can become this. We think

how easy it is for so many to spend so much.

If you've read about this, you'll know how much

I'm talking about. travel sports so much the

detriment of so much else in their life it becomes

like them for so many a God think how vehemently

we defend our ideas and our knowledge just like

the Egyptians we have so many gods near the very

place that gives us sort of our sense of identity

and our well -being and if taken from us or crushed

from Jonathan Edwards famous sermon he says some

make gods of their pleasure Some choose mammon

for their God. Some make gods of their own supposed

excellencies, or the outward advantage they have

above their neighbors. Some choose one thing

for their God and others another, but men can

be happy in no other God but the God of Israel.

He is the only fountain of happiness. But these

other things that the plagues are all battling

against, were the place of happiness for the

Egyptians, their place of their well -being,

a place that defined who they were. These plagues,

just like the snakes that came from the staff

of Aaron and of all the sorcerers, they are the

battles of the gods. And this is why in verse

five, actually, of our text from this morning

chapter seven, the Lord says, the Egyptian shall

know that I am the Lord. Because Pharaoh had

said, well, who's the Lord? I know all of these

other gods. And Lord, in these acts, in this

battle, that the Egyptians will know who, the

Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord is a

way of saying, they shall know that their false

gods are just that, false. So we turn to these

plagues and what do we find, right? Like I suggest

to you, what we find is exactly God taking on

their gods. There's the Nile God and the frog

God and the God of the earth, the gnats and the

flies and the livestock and disease and the God

of the heavens, rain and hail. There's the God

of locusts. There's the God of diseases. And

there's the sun God. These are not arbitrary

plagues. These are God coming to battle against

all the other gods. to stand against him. And

what God does show in all of it is that he and

he alone is the Lord. They would know that I'm

the Lord. And so the serpent from Aaron's staff

does what? Swallows up the others. They try to

say, oh yeah, we can do that. And the serpent

swallows up the others. I want to say this, one

of the best things and also one of the hardest

things. that can happen to us is for us to be

shown that our gods are worthless. Sometimes

the best thing that can be taken from us is actually

our gods. Like I said, we can make our gods,

and they are great, and they are gifts from the

Lord. But they can't hold the place of God. And

if we put that pressure on them, there's always

going to be conflict. Destruction will always

come. Our beauty. A gift from God. God made us

each fearfully and wonderfully, the Lord says.

And yet we place our well -being in our appearance

and our beauty. As David Foster Wallace says,

you will die a million deaths before they plant

you, if you find beauty to be your God. Or as

he says, if you worship power, you'll... If you

worship... You will end up feeling stupid, a

fraud, and always on the verge of being found

out. One of the best things that God can do for

us is show us just how frail all other gods are.

And the plagues again and again and again do

this. They show that the battle is the Lord's.

Aaron throws down his staff and the sorcerers

say, well, look at our gods. And right there

from the beginning, we have the sign that these

gods are nothing compared to the Lord. The night

was no match for the Lord. Frogs are no match

for the Lord. The God of livestock are no match

for the Lord. The great God, Ra, is no match

for the Lord. So what I'm saying is that the

first movement here is the battle of words. And

we see that again throughout it, right? The Lord

said to Moses, you're supposed to speak on my

behalf because this is between, this is me. And

the second movement we see is this is a battle

of the gods. God will not be mocked. He's taking

down all other gods. There is one true God. But

also this is a battle of the heart. And I think

this is actually a good sort of way, when you're

studying the Bible, I want you to look for the

places where you want to scratch your head and

go, what's going on there? Okay, because I think

a lot of times it's the places where we want

to scratch our head that actually the key is.

So, you know, God says, Moses, you're going to

be like God to Pharaoh. You should be like, what's

going on there? What's happening? And when the

snake, you know, The staff is thrown down and

becomes a snake, and then the sorcerers can do

the same. And there's a battle of snakes. You're

like, what's happening here? Why did the sorcerers

get to do that? You scratch your head going,

well, maybe the Lord's telling me something.

And then there's this other part in this passage,

I'm titling this the Battle of the Hearts, that

I think also makes us scratch our heads. And

I bet you noticed, because it was actually mentioned

three times in our text, in just these few verses,

14 verses. that Pharaoh's heart is hardened.

And a couple of times it's very clear that it's

the Lord that hardens it. But I will harden Pharaoh's

heart and though I multiply wonders in the land

of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Verse

seven, still Pharaoh's heart was hardened and

he would not listen to them as the Lord had said.

And then verse 14 where it says, then the Lord

said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart hardened. He refuses

to let the people go. And I think it's rather

understandable to ask, God hardened Pharaoh's

heart? Right? And out of that question, we're

inclined to think, well, maybe Pharaoh has nothing

to do with this. And then, of course, actually,

maybe the next thought is, what an injustice

of God. Pharaoh should be let off the hook here.

God's just making him do it. His Pharaoh just

a puppet on a string, dangling there. This phrase

is a key part of all of the plagues, just like

those other two movements are. This phrase, the

heartening of the heart. It's actually mentioned

14 times between chapter four and chapter 14.

It's just all throughout it. Text throughout

shows us two things that the Bible says again

and again and again. It's just clearly taught

in the Bible. The Lord is sovereign. He's over

all. And your heart and your actions and your

life, your words, you are a real agent in the

world. This is just clearly taught throughout

the Bible, both things. And they seem like so

sort of extremes, polar opposites. And people

have wrestled with, how do we make sense of these?

How do we place them together? It is a great

act of faith. Both are laid before us, that we're

true actors in the world, that our decisions

and actions truly come from our heart. God is

over all. This whole episode of these plagues

shows us this again and again. And it shows us

also that Pharaoh is accountable for his own

actions. He's responsible for his own actions.

Let me give you a couple of ways that we see

this. Six times alone in the first five plagues,

it says Pharaoh hardened his heart. That's what

it says. He does it. He is deliberately going

against the Lord. His actions, his heart have

real consequences in the world. Five of the plagues,

God makes as a conditional kind of thing. Sort

of a sort of threat of what he's going to do.

if Pharaoh chooses to continue to go against

the Lord. So, you know, they go like this, let

my people go, but if you do not, then this is

what's going to happen. Five of them. What is

clearly being said is, Pharaoh, your life, your

actions, your choices, your heart posture towards

me has a huge effect in the world. The plagues,

in other words, could have been stopped if he

hadn't refused so many times. Another odd thing

that happens in some of these plagues, like two

and four and seven, is that Pharaoh actually

says, okay, okay, okay, I'll let him go. I'm

sorry. I confess, you know, these things. And

then every time he goes back on that. And what

seems very clear is that Pharaoh is a true actor

in the world and his heart truly is hardened

toward the Lord. Some of the plagues, you know,

he really does repent. I mean, he literally says,

please forgive me. A couple of the later plagues,

seven and eight. He asked God to bless him and

then he rejects the Lord. And there's no question,

this is what the Bible teaches, that God is sovereign

over all and your actions matter immensely. Your

heart towards God and the actions and words and

decisions that come out of your heart have real

consequences in the world. Think of this, okay?

Jesus himself in John chapter 15 says these words,

John 15 · chapter mention

if you keep my commandments, you will abide in

my love. Or maybe more strongly in Matthew 15,

he says this, for out of the heart come evil

thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,

theft, false witness, slander. The Lord Himself

is saying your life matters, your heart matters.

All over the Bible we find this truth. All over

the Bible we find that there is a battle for

the heart, to pursue false gods, to pursue the

Lord. So what do we do with this battle? What

do we make of it? Well, interestingly, Israel

is actually warned themselves about their own

hardness of heart by this very story. This is

a message for Egypt, but actually what happens

is that this becomes a message for Israel. Many

times, Israel itself goes after other gods. In

the very book of Exodus, they go after other

gods. They make a statue of a bovine, right?

Reflecting the false gods of Egypt. It's not

just that we find Pharaoh refusing to listen

to the Lord, or the battle of the gods between

Egypt and Yahweh, but what we find is this battle

constantly at play. because it is a battle of

the soft heart towards God and the hardened heart

towards God. So there's a famous Psalm, some

of you will know, Psalm 95. Today, if you will

listen to his voice, what does it say? This is

speaking to Israel. Do not harden your hearts,

as at the day of Miraba, just later on in the

Exodus story. Same wording. You don't harden

your heart. Because a hardened heart has repercussions

in the world, both in this life and the life

to come. The hardened heart is a terrible thing,

not just for Pharaoh and not just for the Israelites,

but for us. There's a battle for the heart at

play in the world. The story of the plagues becomes

a signpost, sort of a example of human rebellion,

of false gods and of hearts that are bent towards

other gods, bent towards the self. bent towards

other things that give us our meaning in our

life, God's judgment comes on false gods. And

also, with his judgment, also has seen his mercy.

And I say that because this text is not the end

of the story for Egypt. I mean, Egypt is one

of the big bad guys in the Bible, right? Think

of the Babylonians and the Egyptians and the

Assyrians. You make your list. One of the big

bad guys in the Bible. This is not the end of

the story for Egypt. In fact, we could look at

Isaiah 19, the middle part of that chapter, the

first half of the chapter is about God's judgment

on Egypt. That's what the first half of that

chapter, Isaiah 19 is. And it's not the old judgment

that's talked about here. It's a new judgment

because they're continuing to rebel against God.

But actually the interesting thing about that

middle part of Isaiah chapter 19 is that Egypt

Isaiah 19 · chapter mention

hears the possible judgment that comes upon them

and they repent and they turn. And God's mercy

is for them. They don't live into a hardened

heart. They repent and they turn to the Lord

and his mercy and his grace is for them. Or I

could point you to Psalm 67. Psalm 67 is one

of my favorite psalms. Cause all the different

people that are mentioned in Psalm 67 are the

enemies of God. And it's mentioned by the North,

South, East, West sort of quadrants. And then

it actually mentions Egypt, the far off people.

The people you'd least expect Babylon is mentioned

in that Psalm. And all of those people come and

they say, all of my founts are in you. They turn

to the Lord. Their hard hearts are softened to

God and they're welcomed. They're welcomed. What

do we do? Of course, reflect on the idea of the

battle of words. Can we receive God's word as

His word? How do we approach the Bible? How do

you approach the Bible? What about the battle

of the gods? Do you know the idols that your

incline make? Will you let God take them apart,

destroy them? But of course, an obvious question

is where's your heart to the Lord? Do you have

a hard heart towards God? Has it been softened?

This passage here that we have, it's one of the

great stories of redemption in the Old Testament.

In fact, next week we're gonna look at the last

plague and some of what's going on there. But

these make up the great story of God and his

grace and his judgment in the Old Testament.

And what is that play right there? is at play

on the cross, the great story of Christian redemption,

the great story of Jesus. It's a battle. It's

a battle of the gods, the powerful, the religiously

controlling people, most of all sin and Satan

and death. It's a battle right there on the cross.

And the resurrection says, the battle is won

by the Lord. In some ways the question is, will

we receive it? Will we have soft hearts towards

it? Will we continue in the hardness of our hearts?

Or will we see that the Lord is taking apart

all other gods and he alone is revealed as the

true Lord? In some ways we could ask the question

like this, will we be like John Edwards hearing

the words of our Lord to repent and repent and

have a soft heart towards him? Or will we be

like Max Jukes, right, who rejects God? And this

world is worse off for it. So let me end with

a little bit from that famous sermon. It says,

and now you have an extraordinary opportunity.

A day where in Christ has thrown the door of

mercy wide open and stands in calling and crying

with a loud voice to poor sinners. It's a wide

open door and the Lord says, come, receive my

grace. Do not harden your hearts. Lord, we think

of this cosmic battle that's in display for us

in the plagues. Think of how we know that to

be the reality of our lives, our hearts, a battle

for the things of this world, for all the false

gods that we make, and inclinate the doubt your

words, doubt your power, proclivity to hardened

hearts. We would be people that have soft hearts,

that repent, that turn to you, that have mercy

because the judgment that was justly do upon

us came upon Jesus. Please make us a people who

hear your words, who heed your words, who put

to death false gods and who have soft hearts

towards you. Please do this Lord. We beg in Jesus

name. Amen. Thank you for listening to Second

City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has

encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate

the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing

to this podcast and joining us in person each

Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at

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and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God

bless.