With this chapter we begin a study of the miracles God did through Aaron and Moses upon Egypt. The miracles get progressively worse. They begin with miracles that show God is with His messengers, and progress to miracles that have more and more of an effect upon the Egyptians, until finally the first born is dead. It is a wondrous thing indeed that God doesn’t suddenly strike the unbelieving Egyptians dead! He gives them opportunity upon opportunity to realize their weakness before Him, striking them down only after 10 undeniable opportunity to turn from their wickedness. He does the same thing for lost sinners. God is a very merciful God, pouring out his wrath only upon those that hear and willingly go away from his pleadings. If God is dealing with you right now, listen to his pleadings. If you turn away from his love and tender drawings, and continue in your wicked ways, His wrath will soon come upon you in greater proportions than you can ever imagine.

Each of the ten miracles of God is designed to progressively show the power of God, the slow destruction of the gods of Egypt, the misery of God upon unbelievers, and their final total destruction.

Each of the ten miracles of God is designed to progressively show the power of God in completely and totally destroying all the gods of the Egyptians.

If there is any passage in the Bible that show the effects of miracles upon the depraved human heart, it is these passages. Many would clamor for wondrous sights to thrill their wicked imaginations while their eternal souls plunge headlong toward a most contemptible end. Instead of the miracles opening their eyes to their coming calamity, it blinds them with glorious light. Instead of seeing the meaning behind the miracles, their thoughts dwell on the result of the miracle and its present effect upon their lives. Instead of seeking the God that caused the miracle, they seek relief from the effects of the miracle. Instead of seeing the power of God in those miracles, they see a God who is wicked. Instead of understanding that this is a battle between Satan and God with themselves in the middle, they have no thought about the goodness or wickedness of religion. Their only though is of their present misery. They are convinced in their own minds about themselves, never seeing the eternal damnation that soon awaits them. They are in a most miserable condition indeed.

It is very important to see that Israel didn’t suffer from the miracles upon Egypt. It is very likely they didn’t completely understand the power of God because it didn’t affect them personally. Of course, it must also be stated that Egypt suffered the consequences of the plagues, but they didn’t understand the power of God either.

1. The answer is that only God can open our blinded eyes, cause our ears to hear, and open the heart so we can believe. May God help us!

2. May we learn from the bad experiences of others, and not have to suffer evil in order to understand.

3. The Old Testament is given to us for an example, therefore, we ought to read and heed what it says.

 

1. Verse 1-7 – Moses and Aaron are given a charge from God.

2. Verse 8-13 – Moses and Aaron works a miracle before God, which hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

3. Verse 14-25 – God turns the water into blood.

Verse 1, And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

I. It is very important to understand that the leader God has chosen must first understand the will of God so he can lead the others in that same will.

A. Nobody was trying to lead Israel out of Egypt before Moses came, but when Moses gets there, those people will appear who believe they can do a better job of it than Moses.

B. This is always the case.

II. God is Elohiym, or the creator God.

A. It is the same word used in Genesis 1:1 when God created the heavens and the earth.

1. God is not saying that Moses will be God.

2. He is saying that Pharaoh will look on Moses the way a saved person looks on God.

III. Aaron shall be a prophet.

A. Pharaoh will look on Aaron as a spokesman of Moses.

1. Aaron will be doing all the talking, but God will cause Pharaoh to understand that he is getting the words from Moses.

2. This is very strange, because normally we believe the one doing the talking is the one in charge.

3. When we deal with people, they ought to see that we aren’t getting the words from ourselves, but from God.

B. Pharaoh will see that Aaron is not saying what he wants to say.

IV. The shame of all this is that Pharaoh will never see God, who is the power behind Moses.

A. Matt. 5:16 - We should so act before men that they will see our good works and glorify our father which is in heaven.

1. Everything Moses is doing is right because God has ordained every bit of it.

2. The reason Pharaoh never sees God is because his heart is hardened.

B. If Pharaoh had opened his eyes to see Jehovah, the story about Israel leaving Egypt would be different.

Verse 2, Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

I. This seems to be a very simple command.

A. It is very simple, but it is more difficult to perform.

B. God often tells us to speak certain things, but we have a tendency to hold back because we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.

C. We need to remember that people won’t completely understand what God wants them to understand unless we tell them all of His Word.

II. The command is according to the desire of Moses.

A. Moses didn’t want to speak to Israel, therefore God doesn’t require it.

1. Moses later speaks to all Israel without Aaron. See the book of Deuteronomy.

2. Moses only thought he didn’t have the ability to speak.

3. God is the one who gives ability.

4. Preaching is not a "natural" gift. It is the gift of God.

B. It is very amazing that God has restricted Himself by something Moses wanted.

1. This shows the absolutely marvelous grace of God.

2. God doesn’t have to hold Himself to any of our restrictions, but He does that we might learn how to trust Him more.

Verse 3, And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

I. I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.

A. Some will probably think God in unjust in doing this.

1. It doesn’t make a lot of difference to God what people think of Him.

2. He is completely happy with Himself, without the presence or opinion of humans!

B. Some believe God hardened Pharaoh’s heart after he hardened it himself.

1. This theory is very close to the idea that God elected sinners after he saw they would believe.

C. Some believe God didn’t actually harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he simply "let him alone".

1. I think it is very obvious that God didn’t leave Pharaoh alone!

a. It should be noted that Matt. 13:28-30, Jesus said to leave the tares in the field until the time of harvest.

b. In that sense, God is leaving these wicked sinners alone until the end of the world.

2. I don’t believe there is any need to explain what God did, especially since God Himself said He hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

3. I think it is best to let the Bible say what it says, and not try to water it down, or explain it away.

D. It must be noted that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened only because God hardened it!

1. Romans 9:16-17 speaks about God’s sovereignty in dealing with this world, and Pharaoh as He sees fit.

2. Rom. 9:16 - God will show mercy on whom He will show mercy.

3. Rom. 9:17 - God will use Pharaoh to show His power in all the earth.

4. It may be that some don’t like this, but it is exactly what God declares.

5. Proverbs 16:4 – God has made everything even the wicked for the day of judgment.

II. There is a large dispute about whether God hardened Pharaoh’s heart or whether Pharaoh hardened it himself.

A. Those people who believe Pharaoh hardened his own heart believe that in order to retain human responsibility in the matter of salvation and works.

B. Those who believe God hardened Pharaoh’s heart do so in order to retain God on His throne.

C. Actually, both are right!

1. God has the right to harden or soften hearts!

2. Every person has the responsibility to come to God in saving, obeying faith.

D. The table at the end of this section gives all the times in the book of Exodus that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and the meaning of the word "hardened."

1. Exodus 7:11 – The actual hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.

2. exodus 7:14 – Pharaoh has a hard heart.

3. Notice how many times God hardened his heart.

4. Notice how many times Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

5. Notice that Pharaoh did exactly what God already knew he would do!

a. Exodus 8:15 declares that Pharaoh hardened his heart, but a careful reading of that passage reveals that Pharaoh only did what God had already said.

b. Exodus 8:32 is exactly like 8:15.

c. Exodus 9:34 can be rightly understood with verse 35. Pharaoh only did what God already said would happen.

6. There are scriptures that indicate that people have hardened their hearts.

a. For a detailed list of these scriptures see the file: c:\workprog\winword\exodus\harden.doc.

b. The "hard copy" of this file is placed immediately after the notes on Exodus chapter 7.

III. God is on His throne, and can do with his own whatever He desires.

A. He is answerable to no man about anything He does. He does not even owe us an explanation!

B. On the other hand, Pharaoh is totally responsibility for his actions.

1. He and he alone will suffer the consequences of unbelief.

2. According to Matthew 13:15, Jesus said the unbelieving Jews have closed their own eyes and ears, and hardened their own heart.

3. Acts 13:46 - Paul and Barnabas preached to the unbelieving Jews, but when they blasphemed, Paul declared, "...seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles."

4. It should also be remembered that there is no scripture in the entire Bible that says that God elected anybody to hell, even though that was John Calvin’s belief.

5. There is a scripture that says that Satan has sown evil seeds (his children) in the world, Matt. 13:38. Therefore those people that are eternally lost have never belonged to the Lord.

IV. God will multiply his signs and wonders in Egypt.

A. We must notice that it is not necessary for God to do this.

1. He will still be God, regardless of whether He reveals His power in Egypt or not.

2. God will still be God after He reveals His power in Egypt.

B. Any person who sees the signs and wonders of God are more responsible.

1. God’s power will be known all over the world.

2. When the spies go into Canaan to spy out the land, Rahab remarks that the people of Jericho still talk about the great victories in Egypt, even though that was over 40 years ago.

Heart Strong’s

Hardened Hebrew

Verse 4, But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, [and] my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

I. How did God know Pharaoh wouldn’t listen?

A. God knows everything.

B. Does it seem cruel to you that God knows Pharaoh won’t listen?

1. Because we aren’t personally acquainted with Pharaoh, it probably doesn’t make us a lot of difference whether he listens or not.

2. If Pharaoh were you dad or son, it would probably make more difference.

3. This is not right.

4. We ought to be just as concerned with a total stranger as we are those we know.

5. At the same time, we understand that the people we witness to and pray for will be those we are the closest to.

C. I think it would be good for to understand that God has children and Satan has children.

1. The children of God are divided into two groups.

a. Those that are already saved.

b. Those that will be saved.

2. The children of Satan are all in one group - they are all lost and will never be saved.

3. Some of the people we know are children of Satan and will never be saved.

4. Some of the people we know are children of God and will be saved, or are already saved.

II. Why would God have Moses talk to Pharaoh if He wasn’t going to save him?

A. It is God’s will that all lost people be talked to.

1. II Peter 3:9 - God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the truth.

B. We must understand that our job is to proclaim the gospel, and leave the results with God.

1. We must speak with compassion to every lost person.

2. We should not pray and talk more to those people we love.

3. If we are to be like Christ, we will love those He loves, and hate those He hates.

4. It is our responsibility to pray that God return, even possibly before those we pray for are saved.

5. We must place every person completely in God’s hands, because they are already there!

6. As "Christians" we ought to be more concerned with God’s will being accomplished than our own desires.

C. An example.

1. I remember one man I pastored whose lost dad passed away.

2. I had spoken to the dad on several occasions, but he didn’t want to be saved just yet.

3. Others had also spoken to the man, but he wasn’t ready to listen.

4. When he died, the son told me that his dad had his opportunity, and there was nothing that could be done now.

5. This is the truth.

6. Don’t think the son is hard hearted.

7. He is being very truthful.

III. God will lay His hand on Egypt.

A. They are under the condemnation of God because they refused to listen to Moses.

1. Pharaoh did hear, but refused to obey.

2. Because of his position as head of Egypt, all Egypt will come under the judgment of God.

B. God will lay His hand on unbelievers.

1. They have heard that Jesus is the Christ, but have refused to admit to God that they need a Savior.

2. Some people think God is unjust because He sends people to hell, but we must remember they have made that choice themselves.

C. Will God condemn those that haven’t heard?

1. Yes.

2. See Ezekiel 3:17-21 - God sends the watchman to warn unbelievers of coming tragedy.

3. If they fail to listen, their blood is upon their own heads. If the watchman fails to warn them, their blood is upon the watchman.

4. Is it warning enough to know God holds His children accountable for not warning unbelievers?

IV. Who shall come out of Egypt?

A. When I first read this verse, it looked like God would bring out:

1. his armies,

2. and the people of Israel.

3. So I naturally thought He was going to bring out more than the people of Israel.

B. The word "and" is in italics, therefore it is not necessary to include it in this verse.

1. If the word "and" is left out, the meaning is very clear.

2. The armies are the people of Israel, whom God will bring out.

C. The armies of Israel.

1. Israel is made up of 12 tribes, with their own individual leaders and chain of command.

2. God’s people are His armies.

3. Rev. 19:14 - Jesus will come in blood splattered garments, and his heavenly armies will follow him, clothed in white robes.

4. The armies that come with Jesus are His saints.

Verse 5, And the Egyptians shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

I. Egypt will know that God is the LORD.

A. The word LORD refers to Jehovah, or the ever existing one.

1. They will know who Jehovah is, but they won’t trust Him.

2. Satan also knows who Jehovah is, but doesn’t trust Him.

B. The god of the Egyptians is known as the self-creating One.

1. See the attachments to my notes on this chapter. (hard copy only) (or see: Gods of Egypt.doc

2. Each plague God put on Egypt represents the defeat of one of the gods of the Egyptians.

C. It is a shame that Egypt will not know Jehovah God until after His judgments are upon them.

1. Zech. 14:12 - The nations of this world will fight against God until their flesh is consumed of their bones, and their eyeballs dissolved in their sockets.

2. They won’t recognize Jehovah God, and will die in their sins.

3. Phil 2:10,11 - Every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Christ to the glory of God the Father.

4. Every person will recognize Jehovah God, some in this life and some in the life to come.

D. There are so many that will have nothing to do with God today.

1. There is coming a day when they will recognize who God is and how great He is.

a. Romans 14:11 - Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Christ to the glory of God the Father.

b. Phil. 2:10 - Every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2. But it will be too late.

E. This passage explains fully that the battle before us is not between Moses and Pharaoh.

1. The battle is not between Pharaoh and God.

2. The battle is between God and Satan, who has the Egyptians worshipping him through all these gods they have created.

a. The Israelites will worship Satan in the form of a golden calf when Moses in on Mt. Sinai.

b. Men today worship Satan in the form of material possessions, and even images of saints.

c. Rev. 13:8 – All that dwell on the earth shall worship the dragon, who is Satan.

d. One of these days, men will actually worship Satan, knowing they are worshipping him.

II. Isaiah 19:21 - There is coming a day when Egypt will really know the LORD.

A. When Egypt knows Jehovah in Exodus, they don’t worship Him.

B. During the millennium, they will know God in such a way as to worship Him.

Verse 6, And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.

I. It is always good to do what God said.

A. Many want the blessings of God without obedience.

B. It is not always easy to obey God, but it always the best!

Verse 7, And Moses [was] fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

I. The age of Moses and Aaron are given.

A. Many might think this is unimportant.

1. It must be important or God would not have included it in His Bible.

2. It is always important for us to notice what God says, whether it seems important on the surface.

B. One reason for the Lord giving the age of Moses is so we can calculate the age of the earth.

1. If the reader will couple Exodus 6:14-27 where the age of Levi (verse 16), Kohath (verse 18), Amram (verse 20) it will be discovered the time Israel spent in Egypt.

2. Levi was approximately 49 years old when he went into Egypt. See ..\OTSURVEY\Book\timeline.sdr

3. It is also interesting to note that Aaron is three years older than Moses.

a. This fact explains Exodus 1:8 – the new king who knew not Joseph passed the law that all the boy babies born would be killed by the midwives.

b. Aaron escaped this hazard because he was born before the new king took the throne.

C. One thing we ought to learn is that there is no place to stop.

1. Some people retire from serving God.

2. Many pastors retire from active ministry, and some ought to retire because they do more harm than good.

3. Even if a pastor retires from active ministry, he should continue faithfully serving God, doing whatever God would have him do.

Information on Egyptian gods are mostly derived from: http://www.egptianmyths.com/deities.htm

Verse 8, 9, And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, {9} When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast [it] before Pharaoh, [and] it shall become a serpent.

I. This will be the very first miracle Pharaoh sees.

A. It won’t be the last.

B. Even though miracles are multiplied before Pharaoh, he fails to believe.

II. Why would Pharaoh ask to see a miracle?

A. It is a sign of unbelief to ask for a miracle.

1. Pharaoh is typical of unbelievers.

2. They seek a miracle, not in order to be convinced that God is God.

a. They don’t really expect a miracle.

b. This would prove to their satisfaction that Jehovah isn’t able to do a miracle.

B. God sees and knows all things, thus knows that Pharaoh will ask.

C. It is probably a sign of the Egyptians that any god would be able to do things mere mortals cannot do.

1. True and false religions are build on the premise that the god they serve can do things that mortals can’t.

2. The problem with false religions is that they demand wonders and signs instead of simple believing faith.

III. The significance of the serpent.

A. The serpent represents some of the major Egyptian gods.

1. When Moses was in Mt. Sinai, and God told him to cast down his rod and it would become a serpent, there was special significance to Moses.

2. The serpent is the protector of all of Lower Egypt.

3. Thus Moses understands that God will remove all protection from Egypt.

B. I do not believe the serpent is a crocodile, as believed by some.

C. Various Egyptian gods said to represent the serpent."

1. The destruction of the serpent reflects the destruction of all the protectors of Egypt, plus the destruction of the main protector of Egypt.

2. The fact that Pharaoh didn’t take notice of the swallowing of the serpent shows he is typical of those that trust in themselves, declaring however, they are trusting a god of some sort. They really aren’t trusting in their god. They are in reality, and they know they are, trusting in themselves. Their god is nothing but a crutch as they get through this life.

3. The destruction of this god (Apep) is especially significant. God Almighty will not only destroy the goddess protectors of Egypt, He will also destroy the enemies of Egyptian goddess protectors! When God destroys the enemies of Egyptian goddess protectors, He is stating that He indeed is God Almighty: that He will soon destroy all gods, and all that place themselves above or equal to Him. I Corinthians 15:24-28 states, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

Verse 10, And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

I. It is not specifically mentioned here, but there is no doubt in my mind that the conversation transpired exactly like God told Moses it would. The details are not recorded here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

II. The miracles by Moses.

A. This is the first recorded miracle in the Bible.

1. Up to this point of time, people have believed the Word of God, not having to see miracles to prove that God means what He says.

2. The earth is approximately 2500 years old at this time. Actually about 2511 years old, according to my calculations.

B. Up to this point, the miracles God showed Moses have not been done before Pharaoh, or any of the Egyptians.

1. Exodus 4:2 - God showed the miracles first to unbelieving Moses.

2. Exodus 4:30,31 - Moses showed the miracles to the unbelieving Israelites. They "believed" when they saw the miracles, but failed to believe when Pharaoh wouldn’t let them go, and began to blame Moses instead of understanding what God was going to do in Egypt.

3. Exodus 7:8-13 – Moses showed the miracles to unbelieving Pharaoh, and he remained unbelieving still. Pharaoh continued to remain, even though the miracles got stronger and stronger. He remained an unbeliever until the time of his death, and the total destruction of the nation of Egypt.

C. These first miracles are done because of unbelief.

1. Unbelief by Moses and God’s Israel.

2. Unbelief by the Egyptians.

D. Miracles in the New Testament are because of unbelief, or to cause those present to know the work and the worker is from God.

1. Authenticated Christ as belonging to God.

2. Authenticated the church as belonging to Christ.

E. Miracles do not make for strong Christians.

1. Miracles cause the person to be further confirmed in his unbelief – A person that must see a sign or a miracle, will seldom believe the sign or miracle is from God, and will continue in his unbelief.

2. Miracles cause the person to be confirmed in his belief – A person that sees the miracle without asking finds confirmation in his faith that the miracle worker is from God.

III. Miracles of the Bible.

A. Only 9 people in the entire Old Testament did miracles:

1. Moses.

2. Aaron.

3. Joshua.

4. Samson.

5. Samuel.

6. Prophet of Judah.

7. Elijah.

8. Elisha.

9. Isaiah.

B. Only 87 people in the entire New Testament did miracles:

1. Christ.

2. Peter.

3. Paul.

4. The twelve apostles.

5. The 70 that Christ sent out (Luke 10).

6. Stephen.

7. Philip.

C. There is a total of 96 people in the entire Bible that did miracles. There are more people today that say they do miracles!

1. There are even some who declare that if you don’t do miracles, you aren’t being faithful to God.

2. All of these "miracle workers" are false, of course.

3. They are working for Satan, not God.

D. Satan shall increase his use of miracles to deceive the world.

1. Matt. 24:24, For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

2. Rev. 13:13, And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, {14} And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

E. This fire coming down from heaven has always been reserved for God alone, to show His power over all. During the tribulation period, Satan will be allowed this fire from heaven to deceive the people that have refused Christ.

1. Gen. 19:24 - Fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

2. Ex. 3:2 - Moses seeing the burning bush that was not consumed.

3. Ex. 9:23,24 - the seventh plague on Egypt - fire running along the ground. Hail and fire mixed.

4. Ex. 13:21, 40:38, Num. 9:15-17, Deut. 1:33 - A pillar of fire leading Israel by night.

5. Lev. 9:24 - Fire consuming the offering in the tabernacle. (Showed God accepted the work of Moses and the people in building the tabernacle and the offering given.)

6. Lev. 10:2 - Abihu and Nadab (sons of Aaron) destroyed by fire from God for offering "strange fire" before God.

7. Num. 16:35 - Fire from the Lord consumed those offering incense. (They were associated with Korah in his rebellion against Moses.)

8. I Kings 18:38 - Fire consuming the offering in the days of drought in Elijah’s day. This proved that God was stronger than the false god "Baal".

9. II Kings 1:10,12 - Fire from God destroying Elijah’s enemies.

10. I Chron. 21:26 - When David sinned in numbering Israel, God sent a plague of death on the Jews. This was stopped when David offering an offering to God and God accepted the offering by sending fire from heaven to consume the offering.

11. II Chron. 4:1 - Fire in the days of Solomon marked the acceptance of the temple prepared by David and built by Solomon.

F. NOW - Compare Rev. 11:5 "…fire proceedeth out of their mouth…" of the two witnesses - Verse 7 - The devil himself comes out of the bottomless pit and kills them (has the victory of them and supposedly over God Himself). Now in Rev. 13:13 - The devil causing fire to come down from heaven in their sight and deceives them into believing that he has defeated God and now God must do all he asks (tells) Him to do.

Verse 11, Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.

I. Pharaoh calls for three different groups of men to appear before him.

A. The wise men.

1. These are not the same as the wise men that appeared when Jesus was born.

2. These are men who are known for the occult arts.

3. Gen. 41:8 - These are probably the same type of person Pharaoh called to interpret his dream when Joseph was in prison, but they could not.

B. The magicians of Egypt.

1. These are not like magicians today who use "slight of hand" to entertain their audience.

2. They are the bearers of sacred words, scribes and interpreters of hieroglyphic writings.

3. No one could consult the "sacred books of magic" except these magicians.

C. Sorcerers.

1. These are people who "mutter magic formulas" to enforce their will upon others.

II. They did in like manner with their enchantments.

A. They had to gather around and figure out what they needed to say in order to create serpents.

B. Picture all these people gathered around Pharaoh’s throne having a "football huddle," trying to figure out what to do.

C. Miracles by "enchantments": (secret, gentleness, flashing, privately).

1. Ex. 7:11 - Rod to serpent.

2. Ex. 7:22 - water turned to blood.

3. Ex. 8:7 - frogs with enchantments.

4. Ex. 8:18,19 - Couldn’t bring forth lice because of God’s finger.

D. Warned to stay from these forms of devil worship.

1. Lev. 19:26 - Israel shall not eat anything with blood, or use any kind of enchantment, or observe times.

2. Deut. 18:9,10.

a. Divination - telling the future.

b. Observer of times - Astrology.

c. Enchanter - Sorcerer - cause a spell to come upon somebody.

d. Witch - "black" magic - a special contact with the Devil.

e. Charmer - control by secret powers - like the snake handlers.

f. Consulter with familiar spirits - asking advice of demons.

g. Wizard - Sorcerer - "white" magic - contact with demons.

h. Necromancer - A person who supposedly contacts the dead and tells the future.

Verse 12, For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

I. They cast down every man their rod.

A. I have been taught and seen in pictures that there were only two serpents on the floor.

1. It is a real shame, but some of the things I was taught in Sunday School wasn’t according to the Bible.

2. When we are taught an error and believe it to be the truth, it is very difficult to get that error out of our minds.

B. This passage declares that every man cast down his rod, which became serpents.

1. I don’t know how many men there were in this Satanic company.

2. Every one of those men cast down their rod, so there were several serpents on the floor.

a. A man told me one time that 100,000,000 Catholics can’t be wrong.

b. Proverbs 11:21 [Though] hand [join] in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.

c. Proverbs 16:5 Every one [that is] proud in heart [is] an abomination to the LORD: [though] hand [join] in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

II. Satan may be able to copy God’s miracles, but God will have the final victory.

A. The fact that God’s serpent swallowed up the Egyptian serpent shows God is triumphant.

B. The serpent is a symbol of the power of Egypt.

1. God used the symbol of the serpent to show His power over Egypt.

2. All the leaders of Egypt would recognize that the power of Moses was greater than their power.

3. They should immediately recognize that their nation was facing a higher power than they had.

4. The Egyptians act exactly like a depraved person will do.

5. They continue fighting God until there is no more fight left.

C. God’s serpent didn’t swallow the other serpents.

1. God’s rod swallowed up the other rods.

a. I don’t know how long it took for the rod of God to swallow the other rods.

b. I know it takes a while for a snake to completely devour another snake or other food source.

c. It might have been that the rod of God swallowed up one rod at a time, thus it would take a while for all the rods to be swallowed up.

d. The sorcerers of Egypt would have to helplessly wait and watch while the rod of God swallowed their rods.

2. The rod is a symbol of power and authority.

3. The Egyptians know this, and so would recognize God had overcome their authority.

D. The magicians, sorcerers, and wise men would have to leave the presence of Pharaoh without their rods.

1. You would think this would make a big impression on them.

2. They would have to look around for another rod to replace the rod swallowed up by Aaron’s rod.

3. They were so steeped in wickedness and rebellion against God they would not allow this to influence them.

Verse 13, And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

I. Here again is the fact that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

A. For a full explanation see the comments on verse 3.

Verse 14, And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart [is] hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. This is as God had said.

Verse 15, Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.

I. Moses is commanded to go in the morning.

A. It is good to do in the morning what ought to be done.

B. It is likely Pharaoh is going to the waters edge to worship one of the many Egyptian gods of the Nile, or some other water.

C. He could have gone to wash, as a previous Pharaoh’s daughter had done in Exodus 2:5.

II. The rod in Moses hand would remind Pharaoh who he was dealing with.

A. When Pharaoh sees Moses and Aaron, he will always see the rod.

1. Exodus 7:1 - Aaron is a "god" to Pharaoh.

2. Therefore Pharaoh faces two "gods" by the waters edge. The "god" of God Almighty (Aaron), and the Egyptian gods.

3. Pharaoh understands that Moses tells Aaron what to say.

4. He understands that the rod represents the power and authority of God who tells Moses what to say and do.

5. Pharaoh was used to seeing "enchantments" (like the rod), but he never saw God.

B. The rod is assurance to Moses and Aaron, but calamity to Pharaoh, and all Egypt.

III. Everywhere Pharaoh goes, Moses and Aaron are there.

A. The first time Moses talked to Pharaoh, he was on his throne.

B. The second time Pharaoh was on his throne.

1. It may have been that Pharaoh would figure out that Moses and Aaron was causing him a lot of trouble, and would ban them from his presence.

2. If this did happen, God would so direct the affairs that they would be in a public place where Pharaoh would be.

3. There is no way to get away from God when He wants His presence to be with you.

C. Sometimes God brought plagues upon Egypt without Moses and Aaron, (or the rod) being there.

1. Exodus 8:24 – God brought the flies without a movement of the rod.

2. Exodus 9:6 – God brought the murrian of beasts upon Egypt without a movement of the rod.

3. These things should show Pharaoh that God, not Moses, not Aaron, not the rod, was bring the plagues.

4. All Pharaoh saw was himself.

Verse 16, And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.

I. The LORD God of the Hebrews.

A. This statement would distinguish the god of the Egyptians from the God of the Hebrews.

1. LORD God means the ever lasting, self-existing God.

2. This is compared to the Egyptian god, Re or Ra, who declared they have created themselves, than created everything else.

3. Pharaoh should understand that he is not fighting Moses and Aaron.

4. They are only God’s messengers.

B. Pharaoh might wonder why God didn’t speak to him directly.

1. First of all, Pharaoh won’t listen to God’s messengers, therefore he won’t listen to God Himself.

2. Luke 16:27-31 - The rich man in hell wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to his five brothers, but Abraham said they wouldn’t listen to Lazarus if they wouldn’t listen to the prophets of God on the earth at that time.

II. Serve God in the wilderness.

A. The wilderness is a large uninhabited pasture or wilderness like area which is located around a large city.

1. There is no danger of Israel wanting to take over Egypt.

a. Israel has a promise of a better land.

b. Israel will go with God’s promise, and not try to stay in Egypt.

2. Israel would be able to worship God in private.

3. Israel must go out of Egypt in order to worship because a blood sacrifice of the type required by God is an abomination to the Egyptians.

4. Genesis 43:32 – The Hebrews was an abomination to the Egyptians.

5. Why would the Egyptians want an abomination to remain with them? MONEY – just like today.

B. It is good for God’s children to worship out of sight of this world.

1. The way we worship is an abomination to the world.

2. The worship of Israel wasn’t viewed by the world, but their public worship was restricted to those that really wanted to worship God.

3. We are not doing anything wrong, but they would say we are.

4. They don’t like the way we live, raise our children, work, play, or anything else.

III. Hitherto you wouldn’t listen.

A. Pharaoh has been told, but he hasn’t really understood.

B. He believes he is in total charge of Israel, not knowing he is accountable to God.

C. It should be remarked that Pharaoh will never really understand what is happening.

1. He is so sure of his own power and authority he refuses to listen.

2. He will chase Israel into the Red Sea, even as the water stands up all around him.

3. He is completely blinded to his weakness and God’s strength.

4. He will die in his sins because he refused to listen to the living words of God.

Verse 17, Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that [is] in mine hand upon the waters which [are] in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.

I. Pharaoh shall know who the LORD is.

A. How Pharaoh will know the LORD is greater than all the gods of Egypt.

1. God will turn the waters which are in the river to blood.

2. The Egyptian gods are supposed to be protecting Egypt, Pharaoh, and the prosperity of Egypt by protecting the waters of the Nile.

3. When the water is turned into blood, there should be little doubt that the LORD has more control over Egypt than all of Egyptians gods put together.

B. This event should show who has more power.

1. To us, who are believers, there is no doubt our God has much, much more power than any Egyptian god.

2. Pharaoh doesn’t take this power struggle to heart, because his gods, the gods of Egypt, are only "dreamed up" by the Egyptians, and they know it.

3. In their hearts, the Egyptians, and this included Pharaoh, know they aren’t trusting their gods – they are trusting themselves.

4. This miracle, and the miracles to follow, reveal that God is stripping away the façade, or pretence, of worship, and revealing Egyptian worship for what it is – worship of self.

5. Luke 18:11 – "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,…"

6. Romans 1:25 – "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen."

C. This event happened in the very place Pharaoh had gone to worship.

1. We wouldn’t like it if somebody came into our church services, and tried to convince us that our worship was in error.

2. Pharaoh doesn’t like it either.

3. It would be exceedingly good if we would be able to see our error and cling to that which is truth, and not hold on to error.

D. The thing to remember is that this knowledge will not do him any good.

1. This knowledge is accompanied with actually seeing with the physical eyes the power of Almighty God.

2. This is a physical knowledge without the spiritual wisdom of what to do with it.

II. I believe the water was turned into actual blood.

A. Some might believe it only looked like blood.

B. The Egyptians knew it was blood, because they didn’t want to drink the water.

C. If it hadn’t been blood, they surely wouldn’t have dug new wells.

D. The Egyptians had turned the blood red with the blood of slain infants, therefore God is justified in turning the water into blood.

Verse 18, And the fish that [is] in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.

I. This is the first time any death occurs in the ten plagues, but not the last time.

A. The plagues will gradually grow in intensity until the first born of all families not covered by the blood will die.

II. Some people (some of the modern environmentalists) will believe that God was unjust to kill these innocent fish.

A. We must remember that all these animals belong to God.

B. He can do whatever He wants to do with them, and isn’t accountable to men, or anybody else.

III. It would be hard to imagine the great stench that filled the land at all these dead fish.

A. The plague lasted 7 days, and the river would stink for that complete 7 days.

B. It seems the fish wouldn’t be on the land, therefore when the 7 days were over, the stinking fish would float on down stream and somebody else would have to smell them.

C. It is amazing that the result of sin never stays with just the ones who are guilty.

1. Others will catch the "drift" of the sins of the people before them.

2. Our children will catch the "drift" of the sins of the parents.

3. This ought to make us very careful about the way we live.

IV. The significance of turning the waters into blood.

A. This is the defeat of another of Egypt’s gods.

B. The following are taken from: http://www.egyptianmyths.com/deities.htm

1. The Egyptian god Hapy is shown to be the ancient creator, while Khnemu is one who is portrayed as having created the first egg, from which the sun sprang. Khnemu is the one who made the gods, and sculpted the first man on a potter’s wheel and continued to "build up" their bodies and maintain their life. Khnemu is the god who built up the material universe (with Ptah) under the guidance and direction of Thoth.

2. Evidently Hapy is also a displaced god, although this may not be so.

3. Regardless of whether the above conjecture is true, it is a good point that God Almighty will destroy not only the present gods of Egypt, He will also destroy all past gods, even though those ancient gods are said to retain their power.

4. I Corinthians 15:24-28 states, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."

5. God will destroy all false gods, whether those gods are made of wood, precious stones, gold, or whatever. God will also destroy these gods in the minds of unbelievers. All unbelievers will finally come to realize they are not trusting in a false god, they are trusting in themselves. They really don’t need their false gods to have a false religion, they are worshipping themselves, and the work of their own hands.

6. It will finally be revealed in the hearts and minds of all unbelievers that there is really only two ways of salvation.

a. Salvation is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Salvation is free to us because Jesus paid all the price for us. There is nothing left for us to pay. We are wholly and completely trusting in Christ for salvation. Salvation does not depend on any work any person can do. Salvation is wholly dependent on the work Christ did for us on the cross of Calvary.

b. Salvation is by works.

7. People that are saved come to the place of realizing their works are nothing, and only Jesus can help them. People that remain lost never come to the place of knowing their works are nothing, they continue to trust in themselves, never bending the knee to Christ, recognizing His power to save.

8. They will bow the knee at the Great White Throne Judgment, but it will be too late.

Verse 19, And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and [that] there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in [vessels of] wood, and in [vessels of] stone.

I. All the water in the land of Egypt will be turned into blood.

A. All the water of Egypt is taken from the River Nile, therefore all that water will be turned into blood regardless of when it was taken from the river.

B. If there was any water drawn for sacred purposes, or any other purposes, it would also be turned into blood.

Verse 20, And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that [were] in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that [were] in the river were turned to blood.

I. Moses and Aaron do the miracle in the sight of Pharaoh.

A. This miracle is not done behind their back.

1. They will be able to tell the difference between the way God does a miracle and the way the Egyptians do a miracle.

2. The evidence will not change their minds.

B. There is no record that Moses or Aaron said anything.

1. The Egyptians must speak some enchantments to perform miracles.

2. Moses and Aaron do miracles by the power of God, therefore nothing needs to be said.

Verse 21, And the fish that [was] in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Verse 22, And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.

I. Satan is able to copy the miracles of God, but cannot reverse them.

Verse 23, And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.

I. Pharaoh turned.

A. He will not listen to God.

B. He turns his back on God, God’s man, God’s miracles, and God’s deliverance.

1. Pharaoh not only turns his back on God, he turns his back against his subjects, as well.

2. He didn’t care that his god’s power is destroyed, as long as he is not destroyed.

Verse 24, And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

I. The Egyptians had to dig for fresh water.

A. This would be a hard job when you are thirsty.

B. I think I would be mad if I was an Egyptian.

1. First of all, the stupidity of Pharaoh has caused all this trouble.

2. Now I don’t have any water.

3. I have had to dig in the ground for fresh water.

4. Then the wise men, sorcerers, and magicians take my fresh water and turn it into blood!

C. The gods of Egypt could not produce water, or change the blood back into water.

Verse 25, And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

I. There is an end to the judgment of God

A. The judgment of God upon fallen mankind is limited on this earth.

B. The judgment of God upon fallen mankind is not limited in eternity.