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Tag: covenant continuity

Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 13:17-14:31 – Rich Owen

Rich Owen is a minister at City Evangelical Church in Leeds and has some cracking sermons here.

Read Exodus 13:17 – 14:31

Everyone else at the hotel had hired 4x4s to take them to see the lions, but we figured that would show a lack of faith in our clapped out minibus – how hard can it be?  Well, we saw the lions, but we didn’t half get battered about as our driver hurtled round the *bumpy* Ugandan wilderness in his beloved Isuzu.

There is a sense in which we can view the Christian life like holding on white knuckle style, until we get to heaven.  You are saved and now you strive and get battered about trying to live in the light of the promised future – bluntly, between salvation and consummation, we are abandoned to joyless religion.

Our lives are indeed a journey through the wilderness, and Canaan’s rest is still far away.  But we are not left without a guide, a friend who lights our path to the oasis, one who cares and comforts his people and with whom we can fellowship.

This pillar of cloud and fire of verses 21 and 22 acted like a tour guides umbrella leading the people from place to place.  The umbrella shows the tourists where the guide is. Stay with the blue brolly, and you know you are with the guide and heading in the right direction.  Likewise, as Ch 14:19 states it was the Angel of the Lord who was leading the people – he was in the cloud and fire. Walk with the cloud and you know you are walking in the immediate presence of God the Son.  A gospel sign with the gospel word.  Pretty cool huh?

Ch 13:17-21 shows how God wasn’t unsympathetic to the Israelites concerns.  He knew how easy it would have been for them to want to go back and so he leads them via a desert path.  It’s not the easiest route but it is the best one – the one that keeps them in his fold.  The Angel of the Lord was Israel’s shepherd-guide, leading them in person along the way which is best.  He doesn’t chuck a map at them and then leg it!

This is great news for the Hebrews – I love the fact that verse 8 of Ch 14 has them marching out boldly!  Their Saving Lord, the Divine Angel ahead of them in the cloud, they pursued Him with boldness, walking 10 feet tall with their God.

Pharaoh’s pursuit however was equally as bold (Ch 14:1-9).  He sent the best forces after them to cut them down.  They headed the Israelites off and hemmed them in by the sea.

The Israelites thought that they had been abandoned in the wilderness to die by Pharaohs sword.  They turned their eyes from the saving Lord who was with them and instead looked at what was coming and believed that they would have to fight.  Do you see the problem?

They stopped resting upon their communion with the Angel of the Lord.  They un-hid themselves from the Rock and were found standing only on desert sand.  Take your eyes off the Lord Jesus and you end up looking at self and at the world and the inevitable conclusion is fighting, striving … religion.

So what happens next? What should we do when we doubt the presence and fellowship we have with the Father, through Christ and by the Holy Spirit -  His care, his provision? Lets see what happens here first:

A)    Moses delivers a rip snorting call to battle… “you people of the Living God who face adversity, who waver, who have fear, who long for better times, who take their eyes away from the goal – dig in, hold on tight, white knuckle style to the bitter end…”

Or…

B)    They are simply reminded of the glorious gospel of free grace which had saved them.  All they need in the face of the wilderness, the enemy and the longing, is to have their eyes turned back to the Lord, their Immanuel.  "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today… The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Ch 14:13-14)

Look at the one who fights for you.  Look to the Son of the Most High who brought you out of tyranny, who dwells with you.  Stand upon the Rock and be still for he stands before you to face the great enemy.  He will defeat death this day.  He will loose you from your chains and by the breath of his Mighty Spirit he will provide a path to the rest and perfection of his eternal Kingdom.

In other words, WE don’t DO anything except receive again the gospel. Moses and the Israelites were told to stand a watch – they are given another gospel sign.

And so verse 21 (cf 15:8,10) by His Spirit, the Lord drove back the sea which stood in front of them while Himself guarding them against the Egyptians behind them.  The invitation to cross was clear. They came into and received the Lord’s salvation.  Interestingly, the Lord draws the great enemy into his chosen way to save his people.  It is here that he throws the accuser down.  Salvation for his people and victory over evil occur at the same place.

What a gospel we have!

Be still – your efforts won’t save you.  Rest in the Christ who has gathered you into himself, has gone through the waters for you, lived for you, who has taken you through death defeating the enemy, brought you into new life and taken you to the Father’s side.  Be still and see the salvation of the Lord.

The Israelites saw the salvation of the Angel of the Lord and placed their trust in Him (14:31).

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Published on 6 Comments on Exodus 13:1-16 – Dev Menon

From the marvellous Dev Menon.  If you're not reading his blog - go and subscribe now.

Read Exodus 13:1-16 - The Consecration of the Firstborn

The death of the spotless lamb of God allows us entrance into the promised land...

In chapter 13, just after the institution of the passover, we learn about the opening of wombs, the entering into the land of milk and honey and a reminder of the unleavened bread.

Egypt is the watery grave of darkness and turmoil, where everything is meaningless and heading nowhere, a prison of no hope. Christ, through His Lamb's blood, has torn an opening out of slavery - into the promised land. In this land there is no uncleanness, the old yeast of malice and wickedness is thrown away.

Exodus 13:9   And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

This truth needs to be made a memorial on our hand and burned between our eyes - the deliverance of the saints; the redemption of the church of the firstborn (Heb 12:23) - for we are all 'firstborn' in Christ. The animals are given as sacrifice - but the children of God are redeemed.

The King leads us in triumphal procession into Canaan, the city of His choosing. He comes, to raise the bones of Joseph to life eternal in this new land.

As we follow our Champion through the wilderness, He leads us by fire and cloud - we also need to take His path - so also we redeem the beasts of burden, the donkeys, that we may walk similarly through the earthly Jerusalem, till we reach that place outside the city wall, and pass through the cross-shaped doorway, and enter the Heavenly Zion.

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And here are a couple of my (Glen's) recent sermons on Exodus 12-15

Passover and remembrance (Ex 12)

Redemption of the Firstborn, Feast of Unleavened Bread, The Red Sea (Ex 13-15)

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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 12:31-51 – Luke Ijaz

Luke Ijaz continues from his last post on the Passover.

Read Exodus 12:31-51

All the gods of Egypt have been judged (12:12) – including Pharaoh, at the cost of his firstborn (12:29).  If Jesus were providing the commentary, he may well say:  “No-one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man.  Then he can rob his house” (Mark 3:27).  Jesus had now robbed Egypt of one of its most valuable possessions.  The health of Egypt’s economy was tied to this slave labour force!  Now the Israelites are to be led away and Pharaoh – and every other authority in Egypt – is powerless to stop them.

“During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go…”  Pharaoh is resigned to the reality of the moment as he tells the Israelites to “go”.  His lapse will not last long (14:5).  But for this moment Pharaoh and all Egypt will be pleased to see the backs of the Israelites.  They have become “the smell of death” (2 Corinthians 2:24-25).

But the LORD had promised to make the Egyptians “favourably disposed towards this people” so that they would not leave Egypt empty-handed (3:21).  The articles of silver and gold and clothing that were now handed over: each of these would be vital in the construction of the tabernacle.  Without these articles there would be no tabernacle!  How then could they worship the LORD?

We are told that the Israelites “plundered” the Egyptians.  It was not theft because those who were “favourably disposed” gave these materials willingly.  The treasures and possessions that we like to consider our own – these things are only ever given to us in trust by the LORD God.  He reserves the right to recall them at his leisure, and when we fail to steward them well.  In Egypt this silver and gold and clothing was being put to no godly use.  But for the Israelites, these very same items were to be made available in service and worship to their God (35:4-9, 29).  Though some, sadly, would be squandered in funding idolatry (32:2-4).

To “plunder” is a strong word.  But here are we not glimpsing something bigger still?  These provisions that the Israelites carried with them out of Egypt – even as they headed into the wilderness – speak to us of a down payment of yet greater riches and provisions to come, when they reached their inheritance.  Are not all those in Christ one day to inherit (even plunder) the whole earth?

We notice something interesting about this mass of people who (literally) choose to follow Jesus out of Egypt.  They are not monochrome!  There is an ethnic diversity represented in this very first group of people called to follow the LORD.  And judging by the huge numbers of Israelites (12:37), to speak of “many other people” (12:38) joining them would suggest a large minority.  Egyptians almost certainly; maybe others – we are not told.  This corrects that common misconception that Israel was defined along merely ethnic lines: as though Israel were in some way ethnically bound, even ethnically restrictive.  But you did not have to be a native Israelite to be counted in.

True, this is a long way from the post-Pentecost explosion in which all cultural boundaries came down and the gospel was propelled out to every culture.  But at this time – when cultural boundaries were first being put in place – these never formed a barrier to the inclusion of people not biologically related to Abraham.  Anyone could turn to the LORD and take upon themselves Israel’s cultural distinctives – and so join a people that were modelling something totally counter to every other culture.

It was the experience of the Passover that united this collection of people on the road from Rameses to Succoth.  Whatever allegiance to Egypt they may have felt – whether enforced through slavery, or given through birth – the allegiance of this people was now to the LORD God.   The Passover had worked that change in their lives.  The Passover would continue to define who they were as a people.  The whole community were to celebrate it (12:47) – annually.  They were never to lose sight of where they came from – and who got them there.

The Firstborn – the only begotten Son of God – would one day be cut off from his Father and die as a bloody sacrifice, in our place.  On that basis we can be counted among the LORD’s people.  Every male born in Israel was given a very real (prophetic?) reminder of that ‘cutting off’: circumcision.  What about those (men) who wanted in?  Then they would have to undergo the same (12:44, 48-49).  You probably would not choose to join Israel on a whim, without really thinking this through.  Circumcision would deflect the half-hearted!  But for those who had glimpsed something of that greater Passover, what was this little cut in comparison?  It would be a welcome reminder to you that another has paid in blood so that you need never be cut off and never will be cut off.

“I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God” (6:9).

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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 12:1-30 – Luke Ijaz

Luke Ijaz is a minister at Holy Trinity, Wallington. He recently preached this cracker of a sermon -  "Do not worry" - at Farm Fellowship.

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Read Exodus 12:1-30

The plagues had threatened the unravelling of creation (10:21), and in their wake a mighty empire had been brought to its knees.  There could not have been a person alive in Egypt who did not now know the power and the name of the true and living God (9:16).  And yet their Pharaoh would still not bow down and worship him as Lord.

One thing remained untouched by the enacting of these “wonders” through Moses: the human heart.   It is doubtful that the heart of any – Egyptian or Israelite – had been warmly affected and drawn to Christ.  More likely they were further embittered and made fearful – because all alike were still under judgement.

The LORD must now act in a very different way, if this nation and its inhabitants were not to be consumed completely.  He must perform the very greatest of his “wonders”: the one that will display most clearly his glory to the watching world…

You see, it would not do for Pharaoh to let the Israelites “go”.  Then the generations to come would be in praise of the king of Egypt as ‘the great liberator’; the reformed champion of human rights.    It is for the LORD to become their Liberator and save them when they are still utterly helpless.  Neither would it do for the LORD simply to take the Israelites by the hand and lead them out of Egypt.  Far be it from the LORD to show such unfair discrimination and favouritism!  For him to take for himself a people on the basis of arbitrary choice would have shown him to be a petty tribal deity – certainly not the Lord of the whole earth.  On what basis could the LORD make a distinction between Egyptian sinners and Israelite sinners (11:7)?

Indeed, a great distinction would be made!  The liberation that the LORD would bring about would mean far more than freedom from the darkness of Egyptian slavery.  The Israelites would be brought out into a dawn of a new day – a day so new that their calendar would need to be reset (12:3).  The hearts of everyone in the land would be cut at the deepest level – for good or ill – and in the process judgement would finally be pronounced on the gods of Egypt (12:12), and their stranglehold over the nation broken.  The people would be shaken to the core and truly new possibilities would open up for everyone.

Everything turns on the firstborn.  More specifically: everything turns on the death of the firstborn.  This death will be the fruit of wrath – the righteous anger levelled at a stubbornly rebellious humanity.  But the fruit of this death itself will be new life for a humanity that is perishing.  How glorious!  The Living God has made it possible for those whose lives are forfeit to be re-established.  Blood for blood, life for life.  Now the LORD can make that distinction between those who will turn to worship him and those who will not; between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

But even the Egyptians are not left without a witness to this gospel.  Christ – in his office of Judge (John 5:23) – passed through the land of Egypt that night and, among the Egyptians, “there was not a house without someone dead” (12:30).  Did any of them overhear the instructions that Moses conveyed to the Israelites, regarding the lambs and the blood on the doorposts?  They certainly failed to heed it.  So all the firstborn perished.

The next day the nation was mourning their loss.  And what a loss!  On the firstborn – the inheritors – hung the peoples hopes for the future.  Now, for a time at least, those hopes were cut short.  But why were any of them left alive?  “It should have been me that was taken!”  Yet these parents were acutely aware that the only reason they – and their families – were still alive was because the firstborn had been taken in their place.  For as long as living memory would endure, there was now in Egypt a witness to what is necessary to avert the LORD’s judgement.

In Israel the witness would need to last that bit longer.  Every year on the fourteenth day of the first month – Passover – they were to slaughter again a lamb at twilight, for all the generations to come.  They were never to forget that their security and life was assured only by the shedding of blood.  These evenings must have been emotionally charged as the family gathered around their table – the firstborn right there in their midst – ready to consume this meal.

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over” (12:13).

This was more than mere commemoration.  The Israelites could never afford to get smug or become complacent.  They needed the ongoing shelter of the blood.  But one thing that this annual sacrifice taught them by the very necessity of its repetition was its insufficiency.  After all, this was only a lamb that they were sacrificing – leaving them with a longing for something more final.

When Jesus came to share a final meal with his apostles it was at Passover.  But this time there would be a break with tradition and the meal would be celebrated in a new way.  No attention would be drawn to the lamb.  Why?  The words that Jesus speaks over the bread and the wine – “This is my body… this is my blood” – make it clear that he himself sits in the place of the lamb.  And this becomes all the more striking when we realise just who this Jesus is: the Firstborn of the Father, the eternal Judge.   The firstborn is about to die; the Judge is about to be judged.  “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

“Then the people bowed down and worshipped” (12:27b).  This is the first time in the book of Exodus that the LORD has received any worship from the Israelites.  Worship is now the only fitting response of those whose hearts have been warmed by all they have seen and experienced.  For the LORD has displayed to the watching world the greatest of his “wonders” – the glorious way in which he can liberate anyone, even the Israelites.

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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 11 – Paul Huxley

Paul Huxley blogs here and his previous Exodus offering is here.

What a difference forty years makes.

When Moses struck the Egyptian down (Ex 2:12), supposing that his brothers would 'understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand' (Acts 7:25), the people 'did not understand' and Moses fled. Now, a generation had passed, and the LORD had promised to bring salvation by Moses' hand. This pattern was repeated by Joshua, who the people could have followed into the promised land (Numbers 14:6-9), but instead rejected God. Forty years of wilderness followed, and the next generation, led by the faithful Joshua entered the promised land.

And here, in Exodus 11, the people are now ready to listen to Moses, God's prophet, preacher and intercessor. So much so that they have the gall to ask their neighbours for silver and gold jewellery, at the LORD's command through Moses (v2-3).

The Egyptians cough up the booty; they looked favourably on the Hebrews (v3). In earthly terms, I can't imagine why they would have done so. Who are the slaves to make demands of the Egyptians, particularly in a time of gnats, locusts, hail, frogs and so on?

Yahweh's name was becoming great.

We've lately had 'natural' disasters in Haiti and Chile and in recent years devastating tsunamis and hurricanes across the world. They seem to be more frequent than ever. People are noticing.

Nine plagues in Egypt, one after another, and the Egyptians could see that there was something different about Yahweh, the Hebrew's God. But there was one further, definitive 'wonder' to be done, so that the Pharaoh would know the special calling of the Israelites (v7). The LORD has planned for Pharaoh to ignore Moses' warning, so that this final sign could be done (v9). Pharaoh intends evil, but God intends good.

Sign number 10 is the sign of signs, the grand finale that no one will soon forget. The firstborn son and cow of all the Egyptians will be killed at 'about midnight' by the LORD himself. We'll see more of the meaning of this in the chapters to come, but for now, we get to see what the outcome will be of this awesome act of God.

Moses and Pharaoh are sick of the sight of each other (ch10 v28-29). Moses, emboldened by Yahweh's signs now predicts that Pharaoh's servants will bow to Moses and plead the Israelites to leave the land (v8).

Pharaoh has diplomatic problems here. The Egyptian economy depends on Israelite slave labour. But he has seen the LORD's wonders, he's heard him speak through Moses (Moses' words themselves are described as wonders in verse 10). Intellectually, by now, he must already know, along with all Egypt, that he must let the Israelites go to worship Yahweh in the wilderness.

But God hardened Pharaoh's heart. It's not as if Pharaoh secretly wanted to let them go and mean old God stopped him. Pharaoh knew the consequences, and hated the LORD and his prophet so much he ignored them.

The Bible's clear that we, who live in these times have had much greater revelation than the Old Testament saints. The Israelites were saved out of Egypt by the eternal Son of God. But they never saw the Word become flesh, die once for sins, rise again, ascend to heaven and send his Spirit to all his believers.

We have seen more wonders than Pharaoh. He heard God's word through his prophet; we through his Son. The Son, Jesus, offers us everlasting life, peace with God, pleasures forevermore, all paid for in full by him. Shall we neglect so great a salvation? (Hebrews 2:3)

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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 10 – locusts and darkness

For 400 years Egypt had ‘humbled’ Israel (Gen 15:13) – ie they had afflicted and impoverished them.  Moses, at the head of this afflicted people became the most humble man on earth (Num 12:3).  He is therefore the polar opposite of Pharaoh – one raised up before all the earth (Ex 9:16) and who “refuses to humble himself before the LORD.” (Ex 10:3)

This is what the plagues are for - humbling.

In Amos 4 we see plagues falling on Israel (in fulfilment of the warnings against covenant breaking in Deut 28:59) and the constant refrain is - "yet you have not returned to me."

"I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt… yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. (Amos 4:10)

Again when the plagues fall on the whole earth in Revelation 15&16 (which I take to be the time between ascension and second coming, i.e. now) the Holy Spirit laments "but they refused to repent and glorify God." (Rev 16:9)

You are either humbled or hardened by these plagues (see here for how Pharaoh's hardening develops).  First in the land of Egypt, next with the nation of Israel - summed up in the true Son who was humbled at Calvary, then (judgement beginning from the house of God, 1 Pet 4:17)  it flows out to the whole world.  The very same plagues fall and for some they humble, for others they harden.

And we definitely want to be on the humble side. (Ps 25:9; 37:11; 76:9; Isaiah 11:4; 61:1):

“He mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble” (Prov 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5)

“The LORD lifts up the humble, He casts the wicked to the ground” (Ps 147:6)

“For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.” (Psalm 149:4)

“Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD's anger.” (Zephaniah 2:3)

In Exodus, the humbling plagues increase until the climax where it requires a literal sheltering under the blood of the lamb.

For Israel, the plagues that fell on Egypt will judge the people of God (Amos 4-5) and there can be no escape.  (That should really shock us - Israel becomes Egypt!).  There will be a top-down judgement that begins with the true Son, the true Priest, the true King and Most Humble of Men (Dan 4:17).  Christ will be eaten up by ravenous enemies (Ps 22:13) and 'perish' in the darkness (Luke 23:44f).  This is most shocking of all - Jesus, the Son of God becomes like the son of Pharaoh - slaughtered, devoured, perishing in the darkness.

For us, plagues are falling on Babylon which affect the whole world (Rev 15-16).  And the only place of shelter is under the altar (Rev 6).  In this way we become the humble, taking refuge in the Son (Ps 2:10-12).

In Exodus 10, the locusts are described simply as "this death" by Pharaoh.  They devour (v5,12) - like hostile armies (Deut 28:52f; Joel 2:25; Nahum 3:15f), like the sword (Deut 32:42) like Satan (1 Pet 5:8), and like the grave itself (e.g. Num 16:32).

Egypt perishes (v7) at the hand of the LORD.

Without warning the darkness follows hard on the heels of the locusts.  This is the first time this kind of darkness has been mentioned since Genesis 1.  There we encountered the primeval darkness associated with "the deep" and "the waters".  Only by the power of the Word is light separated from darkness.  Again in Exodus 14:20 we will see the Word - the Mighty Angel - separating light from darkness.

But without this great Light of the world, there is only darkness. "Felt darkness" (10:21) which might simply mean darkness that makes you grope.  And calamitous darkness (10:22) which is so much associated with the day of the LORD.

The hardness and madness of Pharaoh is seen in his driving Moses away (v28) - btw does anyone have any thoughts on the parallel between 10:28 and 33:20?

Pharaoh rejects the Priest who has been praying for him, forgiving him and standing between him and the judgements of God.  He wants to be left alone in the darkness.  This is such a powerful picture of humanity opposing Christ.  Even in calamitous darkness we drive Christ away to be left alone in our sin (John 3:19f).  And God always gives people what they most want.  Even in judgement, He only hands people over to what their hearts actually desire.  And so with his priest and intercessor rejected, Pharaoh and his people await their fearful and certain judgement.

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Published on Leave a comment on The promises ARE Yes in Him

What's with the ESV and RSV translation of 2 Corinthians 1:20?

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.

There's no 'find' in the Greek.  There's no verb at all.  It's just an identity: the promises of God = Yes in Christ.  If you're going to supply a verb, supply "are" - the promises are Yes in Jesus.  This is how all the other versions translate it.

So why insert 'find'?  Is there behind this a biblical theology that posits promises which are first directed towards land and progeny and blessing but then, unexpectedly, come to be about Christ?  You know the kind of thing: Along a hard, meandering road where no-one sees the end, eventually and surprisingly they hit Destination Jesus.  "Oh gosh the promises have found fulfilment in Jesus of all things!"

Isn't it a much more straight-forward point that Paul is making: "Every promise has always (cf v19) simply been Yes in Christ."  Of course promises have included land and progeny and blessing etc, but such promises have always had the same Guarantor - the Messiah!

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UPDATE: One mission-minded pastor's decision to abandon the ESV.


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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 9:8-35 – Nick Martin-Smith

Nick continues his commentary from yesterday.

Read Exodus 9:8-35 - Plagues of Boils and Hail

Following on from yesterday, in the fourth pair of signs that God presents to Egypt, Moses stands and sprinkles two handfuls of soot from a furnace towards heaven; it comes down as dust becoming crippling ‘boils breaking forth blains’ on all who are made from the dust of Egypt.

God calls Egypt the ‘iron furnace’ (Deuteronomy 4, 1 Kings 8).  Furnaces are where substances are ‘tested’ and ‘proved’ by intense heat in the process of purification (interesting side point: the English words ‘pyro-‘ and ‘pure’ are related to the Biblical Greek for ‘fire’).  Heat symbolises suffering; furnaces burn to destruction the impurities, leaving only that which withstands the heat of suffering … they are the places where suffering produces ‘endurance’, ‘character’, and ‘hope’ (Romans 5).

Soot results from incomplete burning (as opposed to ash, which results from complete burning) – incomplete burning implies an impure end result.

Suffering and blessing are given, hand-in-hand in this generation, to believer and non-believer alike, to different degrees in different seasons.  God does so because He  is ‘not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9).  Blessings are given so that we can ‘taste’ what God’s being ‘good’ and ‘love’ means.  Sufferings are given on the one hand so that we can ‘taste’ what the alternative is (so that with eyes opened by the Spirit, we can choose life instead of death, we can surrender to Christ rather than kicking against the word, and so that, having tasted, we may eat of him).  On the other hand sufferings come so that we can grow in the intimacy with God that comes with living and walking in the Spirit, leaning on the Spirit and sharing with him our joys and our pains.

Moses casts the impure product of the ‘iron furnace’ of Egypt towards the heavens, and they are rejected as unclean (Leviticus 13).  Moses (given to be ‘god to Pharaoh’) alone stands; the scribes are unable to stand before him.

Jesus is really cranking up the delineation between him and his people and the Pharaoh and his people.

The false god of Egypt exalts himself (v17)

But (v16) Pharaoh is raised up so that the God of the Hebrews might show His power and Name.

Aaron’s rod heralded most of the first signs.  Most of the second half are heralded by the rod, hand, or hands of Moses.  But, here, Jesus has identified his own hand as having been ‘put forth’ in all of the signs so far.

The second half of this pair of signs is unprecedented: ‘voices and … hail and fire catching itself in the midst of the hail, very grievous’ … lethal, in fact.

Psalm 78:49 (YLT) – “He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers”

Voices, hail, and fire seem to herald God’s judgement on the nations (e.g. Revelation 8:7, 11:18-19, and 16:21-17:1)

Meaning?

Egypt has been tested and found to be impure (remember Daniel 5:27?) – the judgement begins.

And yet, throughout God’s signs, each Egyptian witness to Jesus’ signs has been offered another opportunity to repent (literally ‘re-weigh’ the evidence before them) and join the God of the Hebrews.  Here, in the plague of hail, we see two different responses from the Egyptians.  Some among the servants of the Pharaoh ‘fear the word of God’ (v20), whilst some have not ‘set their heart unto the word of God’ (v21). This is the choice set before all who would endure the signs/judgements of God.  The signs are joined to words and the great desire of the LORD is for everyone to heed the word.

God is patient and merciful and we see, from Exodus 12:38, that, despite all their previous unfaithfulness, every servant of the Pharaoh who feared the word of God and put their trust in him was saved ‘as a native’.

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Published on 1 Comment on Plagues: The Story So Far – Nick Martin-Smith

Nick Martin-Smith loves Jesus.  He's a teacher and if you talk to him for longer than 30 seconds he'll get you playing touch rugby. Ask him about starting sports outreach ministries in your church.  He the man.

We are in the midst of a dramatisation of Jesus’ Gospel of Salvation (the version ‘starring’ the Pharaoh, with God’s words being spoken by Moses and Aaron).  We’re at the bit in the story where God is showing his enemy and the watching world the wonders of his power, his righteous judgements, his grace, and his steadfast love.

Moses has already received three signs in chapter 4 to authenticate his ministry.  Then in chapter 7:8-13 Aaron seems to sum up these authenticating signs into the one sign of his serpentine staff.  Traditionally people then say that 10 signs follow.  Yet if we simply read the flow of the narrative from when they are enslaved without hope to when they are free (i.e. chapter 7-15) then actually we have twelve signs.  And the 12th - the Red Sea - is crucial to their deliverance and has massive significance in the bible.

Perhaps then it's useful to think of the 12 signs against Egypt and it might be helpful to think of them as six pairs of signs.  They develop from signs to Pharaoh, then to Egypt and then to the whole world (see Exodus 15:14; Joshua 2:10 etc, etc).

Each pair shows ‘faithless sin’ followed by ‘fatal judgement’.  And in each pair we have the death of innocents rather than the guilty (think of how God’s prophets die in pursuit of the lost) and we have the symbolic death of ‘sin’ rather than the sinner (think of the substitutionary sacrificial system).

In the LORD's grace, this pattern of innocents dying for the guilty is repeated again and again until we get a final judgement.  At the Red Sea we finally have the death of the guilty and life for those whose guilt has been taken by their Lamb, the LORD Jesus.

It's an interesting question to ask who was affected by these signs.  As far as I can tell the effects of at least five (if not nine … if not all) of God’s signs fell on Egypt alone.

Let's examine them individually.

The first pair:

First, Aaron’s rod becomes a serpent (symbolising ‘sin’). The scribes and magi do likewise but their rods (i.e. what they lean on - and therefore their labours and hopes) are entirely consumed … yet the scribes and magi themselves are not consumed in this spectacle of flying fangs and venom!

Next, Aaron’s serpentine rod smites the waters (symbolising the Holy Spirit’s work in creation) of Egypt to produce blood (symbolising ‘life’ and ‘soul’ in the body, or ‘death’ out of the body).  When sin blemishes the work of the Spirit, death results.   Again, the scribes can also replicate this act, but are unable to reverse it.

Meaning?

The witness of this initial sign ‘pair’ appears to be that the one upon whom Aaron depends to stand is made sin in order to destroy the wages of sin for his people, but sin in the face of God results in death.

Then Aaron’s stretched out rod brings frogs out from the river; when God's angels (‘messengers’) intercede, they die and their 'stink' is revealed. ‘Frogs’ symbolise the spirits of demons: 'false gods' who go to the kings of the earth to unite them against Jesus; a 'stink' is symbolic of the death that is the result of Man's works in unity with false gods, rather than with God's word (John 11:39, Isaiah 50:2, Joel 2:19-22, Ecclesiastes 10:1, Exodus 16:20).

So the work of the Holy Spirit in Egypt is to reveal the hordes of false gods 'watering' Egypt.  At God's hand there will be an ultimate death, both for them and for all who drink in their lies. Again, the scribes seem to be able to replicate this, bringing yet more 'unclean spirits' onto the land (crazy!), but they are not able to rid themselves of them.

The second pair:

Aaron's rod then strikes the land, the dust of which becomes gnats.  The scribes cannot replicate this sign, and confess God. 'Dust' is the frame of Man, to which our soul cleaves and the spirit is given (Psalm 103:14, 119:25, Ecclesiastes 12:7).  It symbolises mortality.

Having tried to devour the Man of the dust, the serpent is cursed to ‘go’ on his belly and devour the dust of the earth: dust is the tiny, insignificant, broken end-result of God’s destructive work of judgement (Deuteronomy 9:21). Gnats also symbolise mortality, as well as a perverse focus on the less 'weighty' things of God’s Law (Isaiah 51:6, Matthew 23:23-24). So the one on whom Aaron leans originally brought life up from the dust but, if that life’s subsequent means are false, its end is death.

Meaning?

The Holy Spirit's work among the wicked is to reveal the false teaching that the wicked live by, Jesus’ authorship of life, and the ultimate death of false spirits and false men alike.

The third pair:

Here God uses Aaron and Moses to speak but not to signal - there’s no casting, smiting, or stretching of any rods: God sends and God is.

And God separates: briefly, first there’s the ‘grievous’ beetles (Youngs Literal Translation) sent to consume and corrupt the land of Egypt, but not Goshen.  Goshen is ‘separated’ and ‘divided’ from Egypt.

Then God’s hand is ‘a pestilence very grievous’ that consumes the land-creatures of Egypt, whilst the ‘cattle’ of the sons of Israel are ‘separated’.

Meaning?

Up until now, God’s prophet has spoken and shown signs of death - this time God speaks and shows actual death.

Each pair of signs symbolically shows ‘faithless sin’ followed by ‘fatal judgement’.  ‘The wages of sin is death’ … but Romans 6 goes on: ‘the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus’.

Through judgements Jesus divides and separates ‘His People’ from ‘Not His People’, protecting us from true spiritual death. This is what these signs were pointing to.

Tomorrow, we’ll start to look at the second half of the six pairs of signs.

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Published on Leave a comment on Exodus 7:14-8:15 – Paul Huxley
Paul Huxley should blog more (as I'm sure you'll agree when you read this).  You can read more of his stuff at his blog: Theologymnasium.
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God's covenant people, from whom will eventually come the serpent crusher, who will bless all nations, are in Egypt. Like Abram, their father, they entered Egypt due to famine (Genesis 12:10), they are brought out through great plagues (Gen 12:17), and they will plunder the Egyptians (Gen 12:16, 20).

But right now, the situation's not looking good for the Israelites. They are slaves, being treated 'ruthlessly' (Ex 1:14). Although Pharaoh's initial attempt at Eugenics failed (Ex 1:17), the blood of Israelite boys was surely spilled in the Nile, after Pharoah commanded 'all his people' to murder the young Hebrew males (Ex 1:22). They have been crying out for 80 years (2 x 40, 2 periods of testing), and now God answers definitively.

So Moses and Aaron bring about the first plague; the water of the Nile, and then the rest of the land is turned into blood. As we've seen, there was no shortage of blood for the LORD to use, but the sheer quantity is remarkable. Whose blood is it? It seems to be the LORD Jesus creating blood cells ex nihilo (out of nothing). And as the Egyptians take this ex-water in their wooden and stone vessels (v19) they find that it stinks, and they cannot drink. This is a cup of judgement.

Contrast this with Jesus much later, at the Wedding in Cana (John 2). That time, he created grape cells out of nothing, and it tasted like fine wine. That was a cup of blessing. Later still, Jesus' blood would be poured out like wine, and to those who received it in faith would receive blessing, and those who profaned it drunk judgement on themselves (1 Cor 11:29).

Back with Moses, and despite seven days of foul stench across Egypt, Pharaoh's heart remains hard (Ex 1:22). A week passes, and the day of the LORD comes again (you can call it the LORD's day if you like). Pharaoh has failed to respond to the word he received last week, and it's time for another cup of judgement.

This time, the curse comes up from the water in the form of frogs. Frogs are 'creeping things' if you use Biblical categories. Like the serpent who was made to crawl on his belly (Gen 3:14) the frog is unclean. My wife has a minor obsession with frogs, thinking that they are green and cute, which is why we have a frog-shaped CD rack. But frogs in the Bible are always associated with judgement.

That's certainly how Egypt took them. Although Pharaoh was impressed when his magicians replicated the water into blood routine, when his magicians filled the land with even more frogs (Ex 8:7), Pharaoh starts to repent (v8). He sets a deal up with Moses. Make the frogs go, and I will let your people go. But when the LORD took the plague away, and everything settled down, Pharaoh once again, hardened his heart, changed his mind, and kept the Israelites as slaves, just 'as the LORD had said (v15).

All that the LORD has said through his prophet Moses, is coming true. His mighty hand is being stretched out across Egypt to rescue his people. Although Pharaoh seems to have outsmarted the LORD, and got away with breaking his promise, there is yet more judgement to come.

Pharaohs, MPs, vicars, husbands, parents make promises to us; very often that under their leadership, we will receive great blessing. But the LORD is the only one who can promise blessing, in the full knowledge that He will surely do it (1 Thessalonians 5v24).

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