Exodus 9:8–35

Hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it all the way from the book of Genesis to the book of Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you. We have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into God's word. All right, let's pray.
Father we thank you thank you thank you that you are an amazing God gracious generous abounding and loving kindness you've given us this time to read your word and we pray that as we read it that you would teach us help us to understand it Lord we pray in Jesus's name Amen Exodus chapter 9 beginning at verse 8 So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace and let Moses scatter it towards the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.
And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt. And it will cause boils that break out and soars on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils to break out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not heed him just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
For at this time I will send all my plagues to your very heart and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up that I may show my power in you and that my name may be declared in all the earth. as yet you exalt yourself against my people, in that you will not let them go. Behold, tomorrow, about this time, I will cause very heavy hail to rain down. Such has not been in Egypt since its founding in town now.
Therefore, send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home, and they shall die. He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. But he who did not regard the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field throughout the land of Egypt. And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground, and Jehovah rained hail on the land of Egypt.
So there was hail and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since before, since it became a nation. And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt. All that was in the field, both man and beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said to them I have sinned at this time Jehovah is righteous and my people and I are wicked and treat Jehovah that there may be no more Mighty thunder and hail for it is enough. I Will let you go and you shall stay no longer So Moses said to him as soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord and The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail that you may know that the earth is Jehovah's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear Jehovah God.
Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops. So Moses went out from the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hand toward Jehovah. Then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more and he hardened his heart he and his servants so that the heart of Pharaoh was hard neither would he let the children of Israel go as Jehovah had spoken by Moses well It's a longer passage, but there's a reason why I wanted to read this.
Because as we read this passage, when we ask ourselves, what's this about? We see in the sixth plague that there's boils. We that's this is just then the next plague that happens in verses 8 through 12, right? This is what God does he Moses takes the dust he throws it up in the air.
It becomes boils right these these Almost like open wounded sores on the people's bodies growths that are irritable But God doesn't give him relief The magicians can't do it either, right? They're in so much pain and irritation that they won't come around Moses, or they won't come around Pharaoh. They can't do this miracle, and they're too busy in their sufferings that they don't even try. But the last verse, verse eight, but Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh. He did not heed him just as Jehovah had spoken to Moses. So here in verse eight, it's the Lord who hardens Moses's heart. Sorry, the Lord who hardens Pharaoh's heart. Why would God do that? Why is God allowing this to happen?
Well, I think this is answered in verses 14 and following. God speaks to Moses He tells him that he's going to go to Pharaoh and he tells him the next plague is going to be really bad. The God of the heavens is going to come out. So far, things have just been dust on the earth, flies, flies, frogs, you know, the Nile River into blood, blood all throughout the land, even in pots and suffering. But now God is going to show up in thunder and lightning and hail. He's going to prove right with demonstrable signs that it is not whatever god they have who controls the rain and the sun the hail and the the the lightning and the thunder it is jehovah alone maker of heaven and earth the god of the israelites that's who's really god For at this time I will send my plagues to your very heart and on your servants and on your people that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. God is showing it is just him.
All their gods, all the Egyptians gods are nothing but idols and he is going to prove his power. And then in verse 16, for this purpose I have raised you up." God is saying, you're not the son of Ra. You are not the son of the Sun God. No. No, there's not someone else who rose you up.
It was Jehovah who set up Pharaoh on his throne. And God says, I'm the one who gave you that position of authority. Remember what he had done in his providence with Joseph? Pharaoh, I'm the one who put you on your throne, and this is why I made you king. that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth."
This pharaoh was hell-bent on destroying and oppressing God's people. And God allows this man to come up. He allows this persecution to happen. He allows this hater of God's people to rise to power so he could cast him down, so he could show the strength of his right hand, the might of his power. He's going to do a redemptive work and he's going to show definitively to that generation of Egyptians that he is God.
Now, some of them listen. Some of them listen, some of them realize. Oh, hold on. Every time Moses and Aaron go out there and they talk, stuff happens. They said to get the the servants and whatever livestock we have left to get it in in because the hail and the storm is going to be bad. So everybody get in. Others of them don't have hard hearts. They don't believe it. They're still stuck in their their religion of idolatry. They still hate the Israelites and everything that they teach and stand for.
And so they say, no, we're going to keep them out there in disaster strikes. It wasn't bad enough for the livestock to get plagued, it wasn't bad enough that they had fly or lice and flies all over the place. But now their crops are damaged by the hail. Now, some of their livestock and even their servants are killed in God's wrath because the hardness of their hearts. They don't want to believe God. They will not believe God. They hate the God of the Israelites and they hate the Israelites until they say no. Pharaoh.
Pharaoh leaves. Finally says, OK, I'll let you guys go. And Moses says, you're going to go back on your word. Right. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear God. And he hardens his heart again. Is it Pharaoh who hardens his heart or is it God who hardens his heart? Yeah. Yeah. It's not either or. It's both and. Which is the primary cause? Well, it's God. But the secondary cause is fully on board with it.
Out of his fallen will. Out of his sinful heart, Pharaoh doesn't want to love God. And the Lord here is actively hardening his heart along with him. This is this is what the Lord does sometimes with people who are reprobate. And he does it for a purpose, not because he's capricious. But for his own glory. for the good of his people. He's doing amazing, wonderful works.
The early church struggled with this too, as they thought about what was the purpose of raising up Nero to be king. As he goes on a rampage, an irrational scapegoat rampage, murdering Christians by the scores, putting them on crosses to line his garden and lighting them on fire as human torches. Why would God allow a king like that? Why would God allow Diocletian, who brings down full imperial persecution on the church? Why would God allow that to happen? Because God even uses suffering for his glory, for the furthering of his kingdom.
Sometimes in the darkest hours of human history, the light is shining the brightest. So we need not fear. You don't need to fear when the wind and the rain, the hail and the storm comes. We just stand in awe. We heed the warnings. We trust in him. We cling to him.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you. for who you are and who you have shown yourself to be. There is no God like you. There's no God besides you. Father, we pray that we would trust you. We trust that you have a plan, even for why you raise up rulers, principalities, presidents, and prime ministers. That you even have a plan in our lives. For you have redeemed us by the blood of Jesus. So Father, we pray that we would trust in you. In Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.