Exodus 10
When I say the word “God” – what comes to mind?
If I say “Jesus” what comes to mind?
You know, reading the Bible is really annoying because it keeps messing with our pictures of God. Whatever picture you have, you’re probably pretty ok with it. And I guarantee you that there are some things in this passage that you did not like. That you kind of slid over and said “nah” and effectively ignored.
These are the ideas that we probably have of God that this passage challenges:
1. God is fair. He would never harden someone’s hard then judge them for having a hard heart – would he? That sounds unfair, and my God would never do that. He’s fair.
2. God does not cause suffering. God would never send a swarm of locusts to destroy the land, would he? My God would never do that.
3. God will, in the end, accept everyone. My God is a God of love. He would never condemn anyone.
1. God is not fair (Divine sovereignty and human responsibility)
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. 2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD.”
Whew. Not easy reading is it. This is no small god with a limited power. This is no god who sits wringing his hands hoping that someone will choose him. This is no god who does not know what is going to happen, either because he is not powerful enough, or because he’s limited his power to a small keyhole-like view of the future. Those are all views of God’s sovereignty you’ll find floating around. And none of them are Biblical.
The Bible reveals to us a God who is terrifyingly sovereign. He is the one who can reach in to the very heartland of Egypt – right into the spiritual stronghold of the palace – and turn the heart of the king any which way he wishes. I have made him and his officials stubborn. Why? So I can display my signs – and that you may know I am the LORD.
This is a God who is sovereign, and who uses his sovereignty to glorify himself. If you missed last week’s sermon – read chapters 7 and 8, download the sermon, and listen to it.
It seems so unfair. He allows Pharaoh to rebel, he even hardens Pharaoh’s heart so he can rebel – so that he can display his power now so that v2 you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians. This whole event is orchestrated (arranged) by God to reveal to us his sovereign power, his grace at rescuing a despised and enslaved people, and his (eventual) terrifying judgement on those who oppose him.
The Bible reveals a God who is patient, and loving, and kind, showing mercy and grace to thousands – but when he rouses himself in anger, we are lost. There is no withstanding him. 4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your country. 5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees growing in the fields. 6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen a plague like this one!”
But, but we might say, that’s not fair. How can he punish Pharaoh for his hard heart when He was the one who made it hard?
Or to put it more generally, more personally – because that’s what we really care about - how does this affect ME: if God is sovereign, how can I be free. And if I’m not free, then how can God judge me for my actions.
This has often been used as an argument against God’s sovereignty, or to try to reduce it. And so we end up trying to make God small or limit his power or say he chooses to not see things- none of which match up to what we read in the Bible. So, either the Bible is wrong and God doesn’t know what He’s talking about when it comes to himself... or we’ve got a problem of understanding!
We misunderstand because we think “logically” that the two are mutually exclusive. That God can not be both fully sovereign, and that we have real choice – real responsibility. But that is EXACTLY what the Bible teaches. How that works out, I’m not quite sure. But since when is reality logical?
God created light. Light is both a stream of photons, like a stream of bullets da-da-da-da AND it’s a waveform swish. Both. At the same time. Which is not possible.
Flash memory in cameras, phones, etc. is equally impossible. Whenever you take a picture with your digital camera you do the impossible. There is a barrier in your memory card to stop the information on it simply “floating” away. But that barrier also means you can’t change what’s on the card. Except, you can. If you do some funky sciency stuff on the quantum level you can make information move onto the card, through the barrier, without actually going through the barrier. It’s like Star Trek, when they “beam” from the ship to the planet. It’s impossible – but it works.
Reality is not logical, and there are many contradictions in nature – is it such a surprise that there should be when we come to the Bible and the relationship of Creator and created? God is sovereign, and we have real choice.
Is that unfair? Well, does Pharaoh want to obey God? No. No he does not. His whole attitude is one of arrogant hostility. He does not care for God. And God, terrifyingly, respects his decision. Pharaoh chooses to rebel against God. And God is fair. He hardens Pharaoh’s hard heart so that Pharaoh will never repent. Even when faced with God’s awesome power, he will not repent, even when it is completely obvious that he should. 7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the LORD their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
You know, there comes a time when God hardens the hearts of those who are opposed to him. When God gives them what they want. We are not automatons, and it is not unfair. Pharaoh did not want to obey God. And God gives him what he wants: God has his enemy.
God is... fair. But not in the way we like it. We want him to be fair in the way that we are fair with our children, playing fair when it suits them, but tilting the scales in their favour when it doesn’t. But sometimes God says grow up, dress like a man and be assessed. And terrifyingly he gives us exactly what we choose: God, I am your enemy.
God is not fair? No he is fair. He is just. And his justice is frightening.
2. God causes suffering (God the judge)
12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the hailstorm.” 13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the LORD caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts…..15 Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt. 16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you,” he confessed. .. 19 The LORD responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go. 21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.
Who is the prime mover, the driver of all this? The LORD. Yahweh is his name. God Almighty. He says to Moses. He causes the wind to blow to bring the locusts. He takes them away again. He hardens Pharaoh’s heart. He brings the darkness. The LORD is his name!
This is not some tame God who you can fob off with a bit of confession or a bit of Bible reading. He’s not fooled by a few good works lobbed in his direction – oh, I helped my friend at work, or I washed the dishes for my wife. We can’t get him off our back by saying a few “Hail Mary’s” or taking communion. He’s not impressed with sacrifices offered to idols or prayer five times a day towards mecca or anywhere else. This is the LORD. He will be obeyed. COMPLETELY.
And if we disobey him, he will judge us. He will punish us, because that is just and fair. Is it not right for the criminal to be sentenced? The judge who lets the criminal off is a bad judge. The good judge is the one who sees justice done. The good judge is the one who punishes the unjust.
I’ve been listening to the book of Psalms, and I have been struck about how many of them have to do with suffering – suffering because of the judgement of God. Lord, how long? Lord, how heavy your hand is upon me. Lord. Lord.
It seems the Psalmists knew something we have forgotten: that suffering comes from the hand of the Lord. He commands famine and he commands winds. He sends armies to destroy and he strikes down kings and governors. Nothing happens without his command.
We see this in Revelation as the Lord commands the seals to be opened and the trumpets to be blown and the bowls of wrath to be poured out. All things we see now. The Lord’s judgement is heavy upon us.
Let me stop there and ask a question: what is it that makes punishment punishment as opposed to bullying or torture? Is it not the guilt or innocence of the person being punished? And the intention of the punisher?
We, like Pharaoh, are guilty before the holy God, and our punishment is just. I am a sinner before him. And so are you. We have let our hearts guide us, instead of listening to him, seeking our own comfort and glory instead of doing what we were created to do: to bring him praise and glory!
And so God causes suffering. And in many cases allows suffering. Because, if we’re honest, most of our suffering is not the famine, wind, and storm variety – most is the interpersonal struggles of other people’s sin and our own sin: selfishness, bitter words, betrayal, disloyalty, lies, deceit, violence, gossiping, back-stabbing, cruelty, abuse and so on. And that God does not cause, but allows to happen. As Romans 1 says God in his judgement “gives us over” to our sin. But not all our sin – otherwise this world would be unliveable. Our hearts are like a wellspring of sin, rebellion against God. New ways of sinning come so easily to us – it’s like we have a fountain of sin at our hearts. God does not need to cause us to sin, we do that – what he does is regulate how much we are allowed to express our sin! Most of which he keeps in check. I mean, here we are, still alive, in one of the most pleasant countries in the world to live. God is certainly keeping our sin at bay!
God allows just enough of our sin out to reveal our sinfulness. God sends just enough disasters to remind us that we are not in control, that we are not God. So that we will turn to him. In Revelation we see that God only allows a “third” or a “portion”. All the sin and evil we see on display today is only a small part of what we’re really capable of. That should cause us to fall to our knees and cry out to God “save us!”
You see, that’s something else you read in the Psalms. All their cries are directed…to the LORD. We need to GO TO HIM, like the Psalmists. Where else would we go? The purpose of suffering is to drive us to God. That’s where Pharaoh should have gone.
So, yes, God does cause suffering, on occasion. And God does allow suffering. And it is all to drive us to him, to seek him out. We are in the darkness, and we are to seek out the light.
3. God does not accept everyone (Darkness or light)
21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.” 22 So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. 23 During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.
The contrast is stark. The land of Egypt was in darkness, under judgement. But Goshen where God’s people lived – there, there was light! It’s a contrast that’s been going on since the plague of flies in 8:22. There is a way out. There is a place free of judgement, a place of safety, a place where there is no suffering, where the Lord’s hand is not against you.
The message is obvious. That’s where you want to be. Under the Lord’s favour. How do you get there? How do you get God’s favour? It’s a desperately important question, particularly given how terrifyingly awesome God is.
Well, we’ve got Pharaoh to show us how not to do it. Pharaoh had a tiny view of God – an idol view of God. Pharaoh tried to placate him – to send him a few gifts, a bit of obedience. Even some repentance with some real, genuine tears. 16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you,” he confessed. And God smashes his pretence. He sees right through to the hard heart of Pharaoh and his hand of judgement weighs heavy: a blanket of darkness covers the land.
Pharaoh does not fear the Lord, does he? He is not afraid of his power, his might, his glory, his holiness. And, to be honest, all to often, neither am I. I try to impress God with my little works of holiness. I try to show God how good I am and that he really owes me because I go to church and read my Bible and pray and confess my sins and take communion and am a Nice Man – all of which are good things – but completely worthless in impressing a holy God. Because all those things are done by a sinful man, a man who’s heart of heart is turned towards self. My glory. My comfort. My honour. Instead of towards God. His glory. His honour. His praise.
Don’t you see? The God of the Bible is not some puppet, some small god that we can boss around or placate. He is vast and unapproachable and frightening. He terrifies us in his anger and frightens us in his wrath. His voice makes us cover our ears. He is the Holy God, fierce in his beauty and majesty, the one who dwells in unapproachable light. What are we but dust? We are nothing, chaff to be burnt up in his presence, an insect to be flicked off.
What are we compared to the Almighty. What is our holiness compared to his?
We are in darkness. We think we are light – but compared to the Lord we are a smouldering wick in the fierce sun – the kind of sun you get in the desert in the Sudan. Bright and powerful and all-consuming! Compared to him even our “light” (our goodness) is shadows and darkness - and the light will burn the darkness – and eventually destroy it. Where the sun blazes, there is no darkness. It is destroyed. So it is with us who try to walk with God.
Do we not see therefore how amazing, how great, how necessary the incarnation was and is? The Incarnation: God becoming man and walking amongst us. That he came in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just wearing a person suit – but actually becoming a human being. Being born as one of us, a baby in a manger, growing up as a child, experiencing pain and hunger and love and emotions – one of us, completely. And then he – the Holy One - took our sin upon his shoulders, and took our place on the cross. Behold the Light of the world! And the world became dark as he was judged. Jesus suffered. Jesus went through the frightening justice of God. He took the full blow of punishment our sins deserved. Why?
Because this was the only way for darkness to become light. It was the only way for unrighteous sinners like us to be made righteous. How stupid we are when we think we can earn our salvation. Match the holiness of this God? It is preposterous, ludicrous, idiotic. That’s why we needed his righteousness.
Why are the people of Israel in the light? Because two thousand years later Jesus died for them. He was in darkness in order to bring them light.
Why did God hear the cries of the Psalmists? Because Jesus suffered in their place.
And why does God hear our cry for mercy? Because Jesus has taken our sins upon him.
God is fair, and that is terrifying, because our choices matter. So God sends suffering and allows our sin in order to drive us to him. Lord, have mercy. In utter helplessness we must come to him, not trying to manipulate him or impress him – we simply stand, hands empty, and plead for mercy. Please, I am in darkness. Transform me into the light of your son, the Lord Jesus.
Because if we do not, we will remain in darkness, and a day will come when God will say 29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see your face again.”
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