TEN PLAGUES

Sermon of the Week #200648- 12-03, 2006

“And the Lord said unto Moses,” in that statement we have one of the greatest proofs that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Moses said, “And the Lord spake unto him.” If Moses was mistaken, or at best confused, we are faced with the most unbelievable fact—the greatest system of morals the world has ever known, the Ten Commandments, was given unto us by accident. He not only said it once but in the story of the ten plagues that were given to the Egyptians he repeated that statement ten times, ““And the Lord said unto Moses.”” Now here are the ten plagues that fell on the land of Egypt before Pharaoh could be persuaded to let Israel go. The first plague was the turning of the water into blood, ““And the Lord said unto Moses.””

BLOOD

God told Moses to apply his rod to the river and streams and they would become blood. We must note here that the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage began with blood. In a similar manner the deliverance from Pharaoh Devil is not without blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. They did not know it then, but we know now that the Nile River is 3,300 miles long. It is the longest river in the world. If God is going to change a river into blood, He picked the biggest one to show His mighty power. The river turned into blood, the fish died, and the river stank.

The Nile River was sacred to the Egyptians and to make their religion stink like dead fish was not a very nice thing for Moses to do. Moses would have a hard time finding a place to preach today if he did anything to give the impression that any doctrine contrary to the Bible smells like dead fish.

In the book of Revelation chapter seventeen is the story of some plagues that will take place in the last days, and one of them is the turning of the water into blood; blood as of a dead man. The waters of Revelation are identified in that chapter as peoples and languages and tongues. In that sense the waters have become bloodied already for us today. Pharaoh had bloodied the waters when he commanded the Israelies to cast every son into the river. We too have bloodied the waters by our laws on abortion. Like Pharaoh we have killed, but we have killed multiplied millions of infants while Pharaoh only killed a few thousand at most. We have out done Pharaoh. So we are now drinking blood. Look at the violence on the street, and the drugs. The plague of blood is upon us now. ““And the Lord said unto Moses.””

THE FROGS

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he would not let the people go, so the next plague was the plague of frogs. Moses told Aaron to stretch forth his hand over the streams of Egypt, and frogs came up and infested the land. God could have sent a plague of lions and tigers, but frogs are all that He needed for Pharaoh.

There is an incident in Revelation sixteen that fits in here. John said, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” Again we note that if false doctrine is like unclean frogs, we must have a lot of frog theology today, which is a good way to look at any doctrine that contradicts the Bible.

Pharaoh begged Moses to get rid of the frogs. Moses said, “When?” Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Many today are like Pharaoh. They want to postpone salvation. At what time do you want to obey the Lord and be forgiven? I think I will postpone salvation and Heaven. Pharaoh said, “Give me one more night with the frogs. Give me one more night with the Devil. Give me one more night with the bottle. Give me one more night; a little more time with my sin.” And he said, “Tomorrow!”

Tomorrow he promised his conscience

Tomorrow I mean to believe

Tomorrow I’ll think as I ought to think,

Tomorrow my Lord to receive.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,

Thus day after day it went on

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow,

Till youth like a vision was gone.

Till age and his passions had written

This message of fate on his brow

And forth from the shadows came death,

With the piteous syllable, NOW, And he said Tomorrow!

“And the Lord said unto Moses.” The third plague was the plague of lice.

LICE

God told Aaron to stretch out his rod and smite the dust and it would become lice. Pharaoh told his magicians to see if they could scare up a few more lice. The magicians said, “We can’t do it, we are lousy enough already, and besides this is the finger of God.”

This was the miracle that could not be imitated. The Devil imitates God in many areas. Only God could bring a living thing out of dust. If He could make a man out of dust, making lice out of dust was a minor problem. False doctrine may look good, but there is no life in it. The Devil gives man an imitation Bible. Any book purporting to be a revelation of God, except the Bible, is an imitation. Unsuspecting Christians are prone to say, “But there is good in all religions.” When the Devil hears this he says, “GOTCHA!” ““And the Lord said unto Moses.””

THE FLIES

Plague number four regarding the flies is also mentioned in Psalm 78. He sent different sorts of flies among them, which devoured them. They could have wallpapered their homes with flypaper and it would have done no good, a different sorts of flies. Some think that maggots are involved in this plague.

This time Pharaoh relented a little. He told Moses they could leave. And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” Pharaoh was trying to compromise. He said they could sacrifice in the land. God had told Moses, in the third chapter of Exodus to go three days into the wilderness and sacrifice unto the Lord.

This is always the ploy of the Devil. It is all right to be religious, but don’t go too far. Don’t go too far into the Bible. Don’t get too deeply involved in prayer. Stay here in the land. Don’t get too far from Egypt. Avoid extremes. Don’t be a fanatic. Don’t carry this thing too far. Take the Lord’s Supper if you wish, but stay close to Egypt. Don’t go into the wilderness on the Lord’s Day, and save Sunday’s for Egyptian activities. The plague of flies is the plague of compromise. ““And the Lord said unto Moses.””

THE SICK CATTLE

Plague number five was a significant plague because the cattle got sick and died. I don’t know exactly what the disease was, but it killed them. The cattle were gods to the Egyptians much like the cattle are gods to the Hindus. Apis the Bull was one of the chief gods. Later on the Israelites would make a god out of molten gold in the shape of a calf and proclaimed, “These be your gods O Israel that brought you forth out of the land of Egypt.” The Egyptian gods got sick. What a revolting development this was when their gods got sick!

It is sad to think that the god of many Americans is sick. Sports, is the god of many Americans, and boy is he sick. Corruption is noted everywhere. It seems an amazing coincidence that most of the sports teams are named after animals and birds just as it was in the land of Egypt; such things as Bears, Tigers, Lions, Panthers, Wolves, Wildcats, Razor Backs, Eagles, Hawks, Bull Dogs, Badgers, and Longhorns. Most Church members can give you the stats on their favorite team; yards rushing or yards retreating, batting averages and so forth and if you asked them to give you five verses regarding salvation from the Bible they could not do it. These be your gods, O Israel that will lead you into the Promised Land. “And the Lord said unto Moses.”

BOILS

God said to Moses and Aaron, “Take hands-full of ashes from the furnace and sprinkle them toward heaven and they shall become boils on the Egyptians.” The boils were so bad that the magicians could not stand before Moses.

You don’t have to be a doctor to understand that boils are the result of corruption inside the body. If God worked the same in this dispensation of grace as He did then, it seems to me that members of the court system would come down with a bad case of boils on the basis of the corruption regarding abortion, homosexuality, and the senseless attitude toward the death penalty. “And the Lord said unto Moses.” And now plague number seven is the plague of hail and fire.

HAIL AND FIRE

We note the same program as before. Again Pharaoh promised to let the people go and again, his heart was hardened and he refused.

I knew a preacher many years ago that told me he had kept a list of all the people who promised him on their deathbed to serve the Lord if HE gave them deliverance. He said that of all the people who made that promise and then got well, he only knew of two who kept their word. Like Pharaoh their hearts were hardened. It is easy to offer a sick body to the Lord, but few are willing to offer a well body, “Lord, this sick body is of no more use to me; it’s not good for anything else so you can have it.”

Pharaoh said, “I have sinned twice”, and he did not mean it. Balaam said, “I have sinned and he did not mean it.” King Saul said, “I have sinned three times and he did not mean it.” Judas said, “I have sinned”, and he did not mean it. David said, “I have sinned”, three times and he meant it. Job said, “I have sinned”, and meant it. The prodigal son said, “I have sinned”, and he meant it. Aachan said, “I have sinned”. I don’t know whether he meant it or not. Thirteen times in the Bible somebody said, “I have sinned”, and more than half the time they did not mean it. I wonder if our record is any better today. “And the Lord said unto Moses.” Plague number eight was the plague of locusts.

LOCUSTS

The locusts seem to have a demonic connotation. In Revelation nine we read of locusts that came out of the bottomless pit, “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”

These locusts of Pharaoh point to the punishment of the unsaved in the presence of these infernal creatures. In Revelation we note that the unsaved shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Here again is the effort of Pharaoh to compromise.  And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, “Go, serve the Lord your God.  But who are they that shall go?”  Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to go and serve the Lord, but leave the kids behind in Egypt. He told them, “Ye that are men go and serve the Lord.” Moses refused to go without the children.

Many there are today who serve the Lord, but their kids are still in Egypt. Ladies and Gentlemen, where are your kids? Are they still in Egypt? Ye that are men may go to the feast on the Lord’s Day, but leave the kids in Egypt. Sometimes you can hear the Egyptian music in the household of the saints. You have heard of writing that was done in hieroglyphics. There are people today who sing in hieroglyphics. It may very well be a blessing that you don’t know what they are singing. Many go up to the feast and leave the kids in Egypt. Once more as before, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and refused to let the people go. “And the Lord said unto Moses.”

DARKNESS

The ninth plague was one of the worst of all, so far. God told Moses to stretch his hand over Egypt, and darkness fell on the land. How dark did it get? It must have been like the darkness of eternity without God. Jude speaks of those for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.

Someone told me of a person who said that if they went to Hell they would have plenty of company. What difference does it make how much company you have you won’t see anybody anyway in that place of stygian blackness? The darkness was not announced to Pharaoh. It came as a surprise. This reminds us of the Second Coming of Christ. It will not be announced on the eleven o’clock news. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and there He is. Those today, which are not in Christ, are in the dark. Paul told the Colossians that God translated us from the darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.

The children of Israel had light in their dwellings. That sounds like the Lord’s Church. The world lives in moral darkness. The prophet speaks of this day and time, when he said in Isaiah five, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that call darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” However, we in the Lord’s Church have light in our dwelling. When we face a serious sickness we have light in our dwelling. When we as Christians face death we have light in our dwellings. “And the Lord said unto Moses.”

SLAYING OF THE FIRST-BORN

The tenth plague was the slaying of the first-born of every family in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh had slain the male children of the children of Israel and now Judgment Day for him has come. God said that He would go out over the land of Egypt at about midnight and kill the first-born.

Moses was told to give the Israelites the instructions about the slaying of the Passover lamb. The blood was to be applied to the two side posts and the upper doorpost of every home in Israel. The Lord said, “The blood shall be a token upon the house where you are. AND WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD I WILL PASS OVER YOU!”

Now it is important to notice that the blood must be applied in the proper manner. It would not suffice to put a bucket of blood on the porch. The blood must be on the two side posts and upper doorpost.

Take a good look at the blood. See the blood from His hands, His feet, His head, His back, but notice in particular the blood from His riven side; the blood that poured forth from His body after He was dead. That was the last of it. Look at that blood with the full knowledge that that is the last blood that will be shed for our salvation. Paul says in Hebrews nine, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” There will be no more sacrifice for sins.

In the New Testament is the application of the blood of our Passover Lamb. The blood must be applied in the scriptural appointed manner. Paul said in Romans the sixth chapter, “Know ye not, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”

To apply the blood we must go to the place where the blood was shed. The blood was shed at His death. We are baptized into His death. We were buried with Him. Our immersion into Christ is the divinely appointed way for us to go to the cross and contact the blood of the Passover Lamb.

We do not know the hour of the Lord’s return, at whatever hour it will be; He will be looking for the blood. When I see the blood, I will Passover you! “And the Lord said unto Moses.”