Abounding Grace

Pastor Ed Taylor: I believe as we rise to the call and we step into the story, I think of Moses and Aaron. If they were disobedient and God allowed them to be and didn't convince them, think about the consequences all the nation of Israel would've faced in Moses's and Aaron's disobedience. We have a great opportunity, church, to step into the lives of even the most hardened people and see what God might do.

Guest (Male): Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado presents Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. Today on the broadcast, Pastor Ed brings us a study in Exodus chapters 7 and 8 where a battle is going on, the battle for deliverance by God and the resistance of the Pharaoh.

It's here that we see the power of God displayed in the form of plagues. And through all of this, we receive some wonderful lessons for our lives today. Here is Pastor Ed to draw them out for us.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Take your Bibles and open them, would you, to Exodus chapter 7? We're going to pick up where we left off last time. We couldn't finish Exodus chapter 7, and we hope to get through all of chapter 8. And I've entitled our Bible study today "Today is the Day of Salvation". And I guess you could even say today is the day. It's all we really have is today, in the moment. But today is the day of salvation.

Moses is in it. He's in the day. Moses has stepped into the story of God, the story that God had for him, one he faced with his flesh, one that he faced in reluctance but was met by the supernatural power and the presence of God. It's so good. I was reminded in Philippians, even in those seasons where I might respond in the flesh or I might respond in reluctance, I'm reminded that it's God who works in me.

Did you know that it's God that works in you, both to will and to do for His good pleasure? And the struggle with Pharaoh has begun. Each plague he's facing is another opportunity for him to repent. You know, you can look at it one of two ways. You can be like, "I can't believe what God is doing to Pharaoh and look at the plagues that he's..." But at the same time, Pharaoh didn't have to endure 10 plagues.

He didn't have to go through the whole process. He could've repented even at the first message of Moses without any judgment whatsoever. But every opportunity he was given to repent and to turn and to surrender, God is being very merciful to him time after time. But instead of yielding, Pharaoh will double down in his pride and his arrogance and his resistance and his rebellion toward the one true God.

Pick up with me in verse 12 by way of review of chapter 7. It says, "Every man threw down his rod and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods and Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord had said."

Now, remember, as we move forward, that the plagues really have a two-fold purpose. Number one, they're going to be used by God to bring Pharaoh to his knees, to get his attention. But secondly, they're going to be used by God to show His supreme sovereign power over the false gods, little G, of Egypt.

They'll serve as concrete evidence that Jehovah is the God worthy of worship. I gave you homework last time. I hope you read it in Ezekiel chapter 20 because in the first nine verses of Ezekiel 20, we gain insight into the hearts of the people of Israel during this time of slavery.

And sometimes we look at this and we think, "Well, you know, what is it that they need except to be delivered?" But they didn't just need to be delivered from Egypt, they needed to be delivered from their own sinful self. They were filled with idolatry and abominations that they were unwilling to let go of. And the slavery and the difficulty and everything that they're feeling pressured with is also designed to show God's sovereign love and mercy and grace for them.

Notice in verse 14, "So the Lord said to Moses, 'Pharaoh's heart is hard. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When he goes out to the water, you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him. And the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand, and you shall say to him, "The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying, 'Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness.' But indeed until now you would not hear."'"

Verse 17, "Thus says the Lord God, 'By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand and they shall be turned to blood.'" Now, we don't find the actual word "plague" used until chapter 11 verse 1. But when we do get there, the word plague means a blow or a strike or even a wound.

The Lord is bringing blows to the Egyptians. The longer that Pharaoh resists, the more difficulty they will face and the deeper things would get harder. Now, in the plagues, there are 10 of them. Let me give you categories for them so you can put them in categories in the upcoming studies.

The first three plagues that come upon Pharaoh and Egypt are stressful, distressing. You have blood in the water, stacks of nasty frogs, and then gnats come. And they're distressing, they're kind of annoying and frustrating. The next three will become painful and costly. The flies, the dead livestock, the boils and sores on the skin.

And then the final four become very dangerous and destructive: hail, locusts, darkness, and death to the firstborn. In a very real way, this gives you the progress of a sinner that resists the word of God, both believer and unbeliever. I think it's harder for a believer because they sin against knowledge.

But for those resisting the work of God, things just get more difficult. And not only do they become more difficult, but like with Pharaoh, the voice of God becomes louder and more intense. Which is why in the New Testament, the Bible describes a conscience being seared like with a hot iron where you don't feel it anymore, you don't hear it anymore, and it's almost like you're living life as an unbeliever.

But He gives them warning, "The waters are going to be struck," verse 17. And verse 18, "The fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river." Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in the vessels of wood and also the vessels of stone.'"

Verse 20, "And Moses and Aaron did so." Remember, that's the pattern that we want in our lives, to do what we're told to do and to do it quickly. Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. He lifted up the rod, struck 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 turned to blood.

The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments and Pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them as the Lord had said.

And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither was his heart moved by this. So all the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink because they could not drink the water of the river. Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.

The precious Nile River, the lifeblood, if you will, of Egypt, becomes blood. And God is establishing His dominion over creation, truly over all the false gods of Egypt. This was a judgment on the Nile itself, on Hapi, the god, little G, of the Nile, and Isis, the goddess of the Nile.

Since the river was the nation's major source of water and life, taking it away was a blow to the nation. It was enough to send a message that God is... I mean, this alone is enough. This alone is enough to move the heart of a hardened man. And then you notice the magicians in verse 22. This is what strikes me the most. It could be even some time to do a little bit of study.

But here the Egyptians, their magicians themselves, they duplicated in some way this judgment. Now, if the magicians really had the power that they claimed to have, they would've reversed it. They would've brought healing to it. But the devil's a liar. He doesn't deliver. He promises that which he can't deliver.

And there's nothing to be impressed here. The magicians are deceived. They're dumb. They're not acting in wisdom. If they truly had all the powers that they claimed to, why didn't they just reverse it? They could've proved they're more powerful. They could've ended this, said, "You know what, Moses? Just leave. You have no power at all." But the answer, of course, is they have no power.

And this has become an issue among many believers that have become superstitious over the power of the enemy. Just overly fearful of the threats of the enemy, of the enchantments of the enemy, when the Bible is very clear that God has all power. You don't need to be worrying about somebody that might put a curse on you or something. "I can't believe it, somebody put a curse." Yeah, but Jesus Christ broke the curse!

We give the devil too much credibility, too much attention. And this is the struggle with Pharaoh. Each plague representing another opportunity to repent. Perhaps some of you have the same story, true story, where God was pursuing you and pursuing you and pursuing you, and time after time, you had the chance to repent but hard heart, hard heart, hard heart till you finally come to the place where, "I give up."

You don't need to wait till things get worse to give up. You don't need to wait for the divorce papers to repent. You don't need to wait for your child to make some decision to walk away from the Lord to repent, to begin to pray with your kids that live in your home, or call your kids that don't live in your home and pray with them in their home. You don't have to wait for things to get worse for you to get right.

Today is the day. You don't have to endure 10 plagues, each getting worse. Instead of repenting, even the people, it says, verse 23, "Pharaoh turned, went into his house, his heart's not even moved by this." Now, his heart was moved, so we have to understand this is not an absolute statement.

What the Bible is saying is his heart wasn't moved toward God. His heart wasn't moved to repent. His heart wasn't moved to be softened. His heart was moved though, to be hardened. He got more firm in his stand against God. And it left the Egyptians, it says in verse 24, to start digging around looking for water to drink.

All because of the bad decisions of the leader of the known world. Which reminds me today, those of you in a position of leadership, and by the way, that's everyone listening to me. We automatically begin to categorize leadership. "Well, you know, I'm not a leader in the church" or "I'm not a leader at work" or "I'm not in the pulpit, I'm not..." No, no.

As Christians, God has bestowed upon us delegated authority from Jesus himself, given us the opportunity to proclaim peace on someone's house, to share the Gospel into their life, to lead them in the ways of the Lord. You know, when you give, listen, I don't know if you've ever considered this, but God puts somebody on your heart, you go downstairs, you buy them a Bible or you take one there that we have to give away and you want to give it away to someone. When you give that Bible away, you are leading someone toward the Lord.

You are giving them direction toward God. You are saying without words, and although you might, depending on the relationship, you may be able to, but just think. Maybe it's the person that has been working diligently at Walmart and you just happen to go through the same line each time you go there, and it's the same precious woman that's there, and you can see she's tired, and in the conversations you have waiting, you kind of find out she's going through it and you just feel a burden.

"I think I want to give her a Bible. I need to give her a Bible. I'm going to give her a Bible." And you end up getting it, and you don't even know, you don't even have time to explain it to her, but you hand it to her the next time you're shopping and you say, "I think this will help you." You have taken a leadership position in her life. You have said directly and indirectly that you love her, that you care about her, and that you have given her this solution to every weight that she's carrying on her shoulders.

As leaders, people, men and women, those around us, they have to deal with the benefits or the consequences of our decisions. Let's take that same example of that precious woman that works at Walmart and you decide, "No, I feel like God's telling me to give her a Bible. No, no, no, that's not... No, no. What am I? Who am I giving Bibles away? I mean, she's at work and I don't want to bother her and after all, what if she doesn't want it?"

And you know how all the talking yourself out of taking a step of faith, and you don't do it. Now, certainly if God's putting that on your heart and you're disobedient, God will raise someone else up. And the next time you go through, she's handing you a church card inviting you to her church and you're like, "Whoa, what happened here?" "Oh, you know, I was just here one day and somebody gave me a Bible. I got the God and I'm saved!" and you're like, "Oh, that's so good! Could've been me!"

But let's just say in the interim, you decide not to be obedient to a clear word from God, clear as clear could be. She's going to suffer the consequence of that, digging around trying to find fresh water. They didn't have to do that. They could've continued to go for the fresh water if Pharaoh would've made the right decision.

I believe as we rise to the call and we step into the story, I think of Moses and Aaron. If they were disobedient and God allowed them to be and didn't convince them, think about the consequences all the nation of Israel would've faced in Moses's and Aaron's disobedience. We have a great opportunity, church, to step into the lives of even the most hardened people and see what God might do.

Well, notice it doesn't get better. Verse 1, seven days later, the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, "Never mind, changed my mind."'" No, that's not what it says in my Bible. What does it say in your Bible? Go tell him, "Let my people go." What does God want? He wants His people to go. You need to release them, Pharaoh.

And this is the repetitive instruction. You go back and you tell them to let My people go that they may serve Me, verse 2. "But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house and into your bedchamber and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading boards. And the frogs shall come up on you and on your people and all your servants."

Quite the judgment or plague that's coming. It's hard to even imagine. It sounds almost exaggerated. It sounds as if for a hard-hearted person that the blood and the magicians and, "We got... We got through that. It's a week later, we found a way to survive. And you're going to do this to us?"

Well, notice verse 5, "And the Lord spoke to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, over the ponds and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt."'" So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, you dummies, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

Just as God said, so it happened. In Egypt, the frog was a sign of fertility. They worshipped the frog goddess, Heket, H-E-Q-E-T, the goddess of the resurrection, fertility, childbirth. This goddess was represented by a huge frog's head, Kermit the Frog. And so God reveals His judgment once again on a very important god to them.

What they were worshipping became loathsome. That's some of the testimony in the house tonight, you know? Your false worship became loathsome to you. It became destructive and disgusting to you. That's one of the prayers I have when I have a wife come and say, "You need to pray for my husband because they're caught up in this sin" or a husband that comes, "You got to pray for my wife, caught up in this sin" or kids.

And I get that sense that it's time for a prayer like this, that you can just sense it and feel it, see it in their face, the desperation. And I start to pray that they would hate the sin. That it would become loathsome to them. That what they started to enjoy, like the Prodigal Son, remember? He's sitting there with no money, no friends, no food, big famine, and a separation from his dad.

What he thought would give him pleasure became loathsome to him. So much so that when he considered going home, he didn't even want to be a son anymore. He believed that through his sinful actions toward his dad that he lost his sonship. "I'll just go home as a servant. I'll just..." But the key wasn't how he went home, the key was just that he went home. The father would take care of it from there. Just go home.

How many today need to hear the word of the Lord, "Just come home"? Come back to the Father. Just bring your mess. Get an Uber and come here drunk, or come here high. Don't drive here, but come home. Make the phone call and repent. But just come home. God will begin to do the work. Humble yourself.

Take the brokenness of the water that's turned to blood as it might be a reminder to you of the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses all your sins. And take note of the loathsomeness of the frogs that came up. And they were everywhere. One frog enough, somewhere in your clothes or in your hair, that would be enough, don't you think? I mean, some of you go, "Well, I got a lot of frogs." Stop it. You're very unique. Let's just put it that way.

They're disgusting animals. And to come up everywhere, you sit down to use the restroom and there's a frog. You go into to go to bed, there's a frog. You're about ready to make some bread, wouldn't you know it? There's a frog in the flower, a frog... There's frogs everywhere. Detestable, loathsome. And the magicians, what do they do? They duplicate it. They give more. It's already bad, but there's more.

Which reminds me, not only do the magicians not have the power they claim, but they don't care about the people. The devil doesn't care about you. You know that? And those that might operate within them, the world system and such, the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world and the devil doesn't care about you.

The friends that are calling you out to party and come back because you... They don't care about you the way they think they do, drawing you back into sin, making things worse. You know, you think you come to the place where you are, you're finally seeking the Lord, things are starting to look up for you, you've been sober for 20 days or whatever, you just find yourself in just a great...

And then the phone rings. It might as well say in caller ID 666, but it's not the devil himself. It's somebody operating in that realm saying, "You know, you got to come back with us. It'll be alright. We'll watch you. Just take a drink. We'll watch you. We'll make sure you don't..." And you're like, "What? Do you not understand I've been sober, bro? Do you not understand I wrecked my life? Do you not understand that God's working in my... like, don't you?"

"No, no, no, we know. We know, we're going to take good care of it. We just miss you! We miss the fun! We miss..." No, you don't even care about me! Sometimes people just need to be told the truth. And it doesn't even have to be some ugly conversation. It's like, "Yeah, if you cared about me, you'd keep me away from that stuff. If you cared about me, you'd see... You'd see it the way I saw it, the damage in my life. You'd see."

Guest (Male): Well, thanks for studying alongside us on Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. If you'd like to hear this message from Exodus again, just go online to aboundinggraceradio.org or listen wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer an app, too. Just search for Ed Taylor in the App Store.

In Hebrews, we read that without faith, it is impossible to please God. So to say faith is important would be an understatement. It's the key to a successful Christian life. But what is faith? Where does it come from? How does it work? What does it accomplish? Those questions and more are uncovered in a book we'd like to recommend to you by Chuck Smith. It's titled Faith.

When you give a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace, ask for a copy of Faith. Give us a call at 877-30-GRACE and we can help you with that. That number again, 877-30-GRACE. Also, please remember it is your financial support that helps us continue Abounding Grace on this station and many others like it. We're constantly hearing great reports of what God is doing in our listeners' lives and your support helps to make that possible. So thank you.

You can make a secure donation online at aboundinggraceradio.com. We have new service times here at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado. We meet together Saturdays at 6:00 PM, Sundays at 8:00, 9:45, and 11:45 in the morning. For more information, call 877-30-GRACE or log into calvaryco.church.

Glad you're taking time out to study the word with us and be sure to join Pastor Ed Taylor tomorrow for Abounding Grace when we'll continue our series in Exodus. Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church, Colorado, here in Aurora.