From His Heart

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Today, an eye opening and shocking message. A wake up call to the world. Here's Pastor Jeff Shreve.

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Egypt was ripe for judgment. They were grossly idolatrous. They had gods on top of gods, brutal with their slavery, bloodthirsty in killing the baby boys.

Does not America have those same sins? Idolatry, man. We worship money, we worship sex, we worship power, we worship popularity, bloodthirstiness with the abortion that covers our land.

When are we going to see that judgment is coming?

Speaker 1

This is from his heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today as he continues our study of the Book of Exodus. We all know that the ten plagues God inflicted on Egypt were devastating and destructive. But today we'll begin to learn from the first three plagues that were inflicted upon Egypt and why God was so severe.

With this mighty nation, the message today is entitled "Here Come the Plagues." And it's from the eight-lesson series, "Faithful and True," introducing the one and only God. Now, if you missed any of these lessons, please go to fromisheart.org to catch up to what's already been aired; click the Listen tab right now.

Open your Bible to the seventh chapter of the Book of Exodus. Here's Pastor Jeff to teach us what God can do after he warns disobedient people. Because if we don't listen, here come the plagues.

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When Moses comes to Pharaoh, sent by God, saying, "Let my people go that they may celebrate a feast for me," Pharaoh responds, "Who is Yahweh? Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? I do not know Yahweh. Neither will I let any Israel go." There's a showdown. It's like the gunfight at the OK Corral. God is going to show Pharaoh, Egypt, and the Hebrews that he is the Lord. He says over and over in the book of Exodus, "Then they will know that I am the Lord. I am Yahweh." Who is the Lord? You're going to know who is the Lord because I'm getting ready to unleash plagues upon you.

Now, if you remember when Moses first came to Pharaoh, Pharaoh asked, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" He didn't let them go, and furthermore, he made it worse for them. He made them make bricks without straw, but he said, "Your quota of bricks is going to still be the same." They asked, "How can we do this?" and began to be beaten; it was difficult. The people got mad at Moses, saying, "You've made us odious, and now things are worse than anything." Moses went to the Lord and said, "Lord, you haven't redeemed Israel at all. Why did you send me?"

Now God says, "Now you will see what I will do. I'm going to make a mockery of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. I'm going to unleash the plagues." In Exodus chapter seven, the Lord said to Moses, "See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh will not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my hosts, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt, by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst."

So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. Thus they did. Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. Now, here's the question I want you to consider. You know about the 10 plagues. I mean, the 10 plagues were devastating. It was after plague seven that the servants of Pharaoh said, "Pharaoh, do you not understand that Egypt is destroyed?" I mean, that's how bad it was, because God had three more plagues to go, and Egypt was destroyed after plague three. They said, "This is the finger of God." It was bad, bad, bad for Egypt.

Now, why does God deal so harshly with Egypt? I want to share with you two reasons why, and then three key lessons we learn as we talk about the first three plagues that were inflicted upon Egypt. These judgments, these plagues, punishments, these blows from God to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So why was it so harsh?

Reason number one: Egypt was ripe for judgment. God had told Abraham way back in Genesis 15 what was going to happen in the future. The Lord said to Abraham, whose name hadn't even been changed at that point, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve. And afterward, they will come out with many possessions." God had told Abram that he was going to judge this nation; he didn't tell him which nation it was. It was obviously Egypt, and Egypt was ripe for judgment.

Now, very interestingly, Joseph gets sent to Egypt ahead of time. He's sold as a slave into Egypt. Joseph is the 11th son of his father, Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—that's the lineage. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. When we talk about the children of Israel, it's the children of Jacob. Jacob has 12 sons, 12 tribes. The 12 tribes of Jacob, the 12 tribes of Israel. When Joseph goes down to Egypt, he's sold as a slave. Then he ends up in prison, but then he ends up interpreting the dream for Pharaoh and becomes prime minister of Egypt.

During seven years of plenty, he conducts all the affairs, storing up grain to prepare for the seven years of famine. People come to get grain from Joseph and find out that Joseph isn't dead; he's alive. Jacob, Israel—same person—comes down and moves all his family to Egypt, and Joseph provides for them. The scripture says 70 persons in all came down out of Jacob's family to Egypt. Fast forward 400 plus years, and there are about 2.5 million Hebrews living in Egypt.

Well, a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph, and they got nervous because there were so many Hebrews. They said, "What if they don't side with us? If we go to war, we could be in trouble." So that's when they began to enslave them. They were ripe for judgment.

Now let's look at why they were ripe for judgment. Number one: Egypt was grossly idolatrous. They had gods on top of gods—grossly idolatrous. Exodus 12:12 in God's Word version says, "The Lord says this: I will severely punish all the gods of Egypt because I am the Lord." The plagues that come upon Egypt are plagues upon their gods to show Pharaoh, all the Egyptians, and all the Hebrews that the Lord, He is God.

The number one commandment of the Ten Commandments is, "You shall have no other gods before me." God says, "I am the only God. You don't have another God before me." That means instead of me or alongside of me, there is no other God. I alone am God. The second commandment is no idol worship. Egypt had all their gods before the true God and all their idols, and God says, "Judgment is coming."

First of all, because you're grossly idolatrous. An interesting scripture you might want to write down is Revelation 21:8, which talks about the new heavens and the new earth. It is so awesome for those in heaven, but it says, "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons, and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death." Idolaters are one of those that the Lord lists. God hates idolatry.

Secondly, Egypt was brutal and bloodthirsty. They were brutal in the way they treated the Hebrews, enslaving them, and bloodthirsty in the way they treated the Hebrew baby boys. Exodus chapter one says, "The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks, at all kinds of labor in the field, and all their labors which they rigorously imposed upon them."

Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah. He said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death. But if it is a daughter, then she shall live." In verse 22, Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son, Hebrew son who is born, you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive."

They were brutal with their slavery and bloodthirsty in killing the baby boys. Now, Pharaoh is a picture of the devil, and the devil is going up against God. Know this about the devil: he always wants to kill the babies. What happened when Jesus was born? What did Herod say? "Go into Bethlehem and kill all the babies." They're killing Hebrew baby boys in the Book of Exodus, and in the New Testament, in America today, we're killing boys and girls by the untold millions through Planned Parenthood. The devil always wants to kill the babies.

Egypt was brutal and bloodthirsty. Thirdly, Egypt was arrogant and stubborn. Think about the arrogance of Pharaoh's statement to Moses: "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" That's the core of sin, the heart of sin. "Who is the Lord that I?" I mean, I'm somebody that I should obey his voice. You can say, "Well, he had never heard of that name, Yahweh." Okay, so maybe it was a genuine question, but it was an arrogant question, a prideful question.

Six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to him: number one on God's hate list is haughty eyes, a proud look. God hates pride, and Egypt was so proud and arrogant. They were also stubborn. Verse 14 of chapter 7 states, "Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go." That word "stubborn" in Hebrew means to be slow, heavy, thick, difficult, or stupid. That was Pharaoh's heart. He epitomized the people. He is their representative. He is Pharaoh, the head of Egypt, and the people were heavy in heart. They were slow, difficult, and hard.

The other word used for Pharaoh having a hardened heart is the Hebrew word "chazak," which means obstinate, hard, and rigid. In Exodus 7:3, God says, "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that I may multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt." You might wonder, "Well, Pharaoh didn't do that; God did that to Pharaoh."

Interestingly, if you take some time to read the book of Exodus, you'll find there are seven references to Pharaoh hardening his own heart before God ever hardens his heart. The first reference to God hardening his heart is in Exodus 9:12. The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart seven times before that; Pharaoh hardened his own heart. What do we glean from that? When Pharaoh hardened his heart repeatedly, God began to say, "Okay, that's the direction you want to go. You're taking a step in that direction. I'm going to give you a shove. I'm going to push you in that direction. You are going to have a hard heart. I'm going to solidify and fortify your decision."

Arrogant and stubborn—think about those sins that made them ripe for judgment. Does not America have those same sins? Idolatry? We worship money, sex, power, and popularity. Brutality and bloodthirstiness with the abortion that covers our land. Arrogant and stubborn—we're so ripe for judgment. God has let down the hedge of protection on our land. I believe he's trying to wake people up to say, "Hey, what is it going to take for you to get right with me? What is it going to take for you to pray and seek my face?"

Because we, as the people of God, hold the key. "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." God is waiting on us. When are people going to wake up? When are we going to call upon the Lord? When are we going to see that judgment is coming? Because just as God sent judgment to Egypt, he's going to send judgment to us.

How do we know that? Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Lord is holy, holy, holy. The Lord hates sin, and he's patient with us, but his patience doesn't last forever. Why was he so harsh with Egypt? Because reason number one: Egypt was ripe for judgment. Reason number two: Egypt needed to know that the Lord alone is God. They didn't know that; they needed to know that.

Verse 5 states, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst." Then they're going to know it. When I destroy them in the Red Sea, they're going to know that the Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. That's what happened on Mount Carmel under the ministry of Elijah. When he called the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel and all the people, he said, "The God that answers by fire, he is God."

When the prophets of Baal tried to call on Baal, he couldn't answer because Baal's not God. But when Elijah called on the Lord, the Lord answered with fire, and the people said, "The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God." That's what's getting ready to happen in Egypt. Everyone is getting ready to say, "The Lord, He is God."

Now, there was a merciful sign before the first plague. God is a merciful God. Remember this about God: He is a savior; he's also a judge. But God longs to save. He doesn't long to judge people for sin. John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For the Father did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him."

He would have been right to send the Son into the world to judge the world, but he didn't. He sent him as a savior. He's coming back again as judge. He's coming back again to judge in righteousness. Revelation 19:11 states, "He judges and wages war."

So here we have God sending Moses to Pharaoh. Look at verse 6 again: "So Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them. Thus they did." Moses was 80 years old, and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. Now stop right there. How old was Moses when he began his ministry? 80 years old. How old was Aaron? 83. How old are you? A lot of people say, "Well, I'm too old. We just retired." Olin Owens, one of my dearest friends in the whole world, is 84. I pointed out this scripture to him. I said, "Olin, you want to be a slacker, and you're only 84. Moses is getting rolling at 80."

Hey, God can use you even if you're in your 80s or beyond. Verse 8 states, "Now, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, "Work a miracle," then you shall say to Aaron, "Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh."'"

Now take your staff—he's talking about Moses' staff. There's only the one staff that God caused in Exodus chapter 4 to become a serpent, and that was called the rod of God. But here they're just saying, "Hey, Aaron," because Aaron is Moses' mouthpiece. Moses was too afraid to just trust God for himself. So God says, "Okay, Moses, you have a brother Aaron. Let him speak for you. You be like God; he will be like your prophet."

So don't get concerned or confused about the staff. Everything that's done is with the rod of God. So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For each one threw down his staff, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

For the first time, it says that Pharaoh's heart was hardened. He's hardening his own heart here. God gives a reprieve. This is before any plagues come. You have the staff of God going up against the serpent of Egypt. If you remember, the Pharaohs had a cobra in the middle of their headdress. The cobra was a symbol of divine authority because Pharaoh said he was a god, and they would worship the cobra and the serpent. So you have the staff of God going up against the serpent of Egypt.

Speaker 1

Wow. What a recalling of this event that really happened and stands as a giant warning flag for this generation for sure. You're listening to part one of the lesson called "Here Come the Plagues" from Pastor Jeff Shreve's series "Faithful and True" introducing the One and Only God. Now this entire eight-lesson series is what we're airing this month, and it's also our thank you gift for your support.

From His Heart is heard each day on over 850 radio stations around this nation and also around the world on TV and always online. Pastor Jeff receives no income from this ministry. Listen, God has done so much to grow this ministry and change lives over the past few years when so many were searching for real hope in these difficult days.

When you make a gift to From His Heart this month, you are impacting the world for Christ through this ministry. This series will take you on a journey through the Book of Exodus to help you discover that God always comes through and always provides for His people. When you make that gift, request it in the format of your choice. Call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-24253) or go online to fromhisheart.org.

And remember, as you give, you will help us faithfully share the truth to people around the world each and every day and help them discover that God is indeed faithful and true to them too. God bless you.

As we close out today, a big thanks for joining us, and I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to be here next time for part two of this stirring and challenging message from Pastor Jeff called "Here Come the Plagues" from the Faithful and True series. That's on Monday when we'll again open up God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.

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There is Tre, there is bless There is hope that you always dream love he can heal every scar. So with real truth, Real love, Real from His Heart.

Speaker 1

From His Heart is the listener-supported broadcast ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more. Go to fromisheart.org.