Exodus: Plagues

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0:00 So the rest of us, we're going to try and make our way through that story too. It's several chapters in the beginning of Exodus. We're spending now the next several weeks going through the whole story of Exodus. And this section about the plagues kind of goes almost from chapter six through chapter ten of Exodus. And we talked last week about the burning bush where Moses had made his way over to Midian.

0:35 He had fled from Egypt and made his way across the desert, fell into the family of Jethro, married one of Jethro's daughters, Zipporah, was tending his Jethro's sheep on behalf of his father-in-law. You know he just kind of melded into that family there. And when he sees that bush that's on fire, he talked about the angel of the Lord inhabiting the bush and the flame.

1:08 And this dialogue happening between Moses and God, one of the things I took away last week from that dialogue was like how open and did it seem. It didn't seem, I mean, it began with the curiosity of Moses. The angel of the Lord comes down to the bush and Moses sees it and goes over. And when he starts to move over to it, God calls to him. And then God tells him what to do and Moses debates God about whether or not he should do it or be the one to do it.

1:42 And God lets Moses debate him. He engages in the debate. And it seems almost like God changes his strategy based on Moses's objections. It didn't seem like God entered into that conversation with Moses planning to add Aaron to the team. But he does there because Moses's objections are so persistent. And so we learn a little bit about the character of God there that God rarely compels people.

2:13 And I had a couple of conversations with people afterwards. This question about does God change his mind and is the future scripted. And it seems like there are critical moments in the story of Scripture where God's relationship to humanity determines God's actions going forward. The future is not some script that's written but is worked out in relationship between God and humanity. And we see that there at the burning bush. That was one of the takeaways for me.

2:45 But now Moses is made his way back to Egypt. Just as God promised Aaron came out and met him on the way. They go and speak to the elders. The elders are not particularly thrilled. They go to Pharaoh and Moses is like, hey Pharaoh, I'm here by the order of God. He said you should let us go out into the desert for three days. We'll worship and then come back. And Pharaoh is like, who the God sends you and why should I listen? No thank you. Try again.

3:15 As a matter of fact, we're going to make the lives of the Israelites harder. Take a word straw. They got to go find their own straw. But keep their quota the same. So things get harder immediately. And Moses is like, wait, what the heck is going on? This is not how you said it would go. And God says Moses, I'm with you. Don't worry about it. Do these things as I tell you to. And it goes very slowly. There's a very almost liturgical rhythm to the story of the 10 plagues. Where Moses meets Pharaoh, the interchange that Pharaoh and Moses have.

3:48 It's very kind of repetitive, almost predictable in the way that they respond to each other. Moses has a particular role to play. Aaron has a particular role to play. God has a particular role to play. So you could break down these 10 plagues in the way that in the things that they do, the way they operate. Who's doing them? They seem to increase in severity over the course of the 10. But the thing that is most interesting to me or perhaps most compelling for me when I think about the 10 plagues is to take a step back.

4:22 And remember where we are in the overarching story of Scripture. That the claim of Scripture is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is also the God of creation in life. That this God imagined the world and spoke it into existence. And created humanity to carry God's own image in them. And set them loose in the garden and gave them one command. Just be created beings. Don't try and be God.

4:56 And the fatal flaw of humanity in the story of Scripture is that for the life of us we have trouble letting God be God. And we keep thinking that though God has given us everything, God must be holding out on us. The God doesn't have our best interests at heart. And so there in the beginning the first ones usurp God's role and can't carry the weight of the responsibility of God's size decisions and it crushes them. And where they once do life without fear, shame, guilt, condemnation, all of a sudden all these negative emotions come rushing in at the same time under the weight of trying to carry God's size decisions.

5:37 And so in an act of mercy God ushers humanity out of the garden away from the tree of life in order that he might preserve for them the opportunity to live forever not under this weight. And so humanity who was designed to live in proximity to the God with the capacity to let the God be God now has been separated from God. This is like Genesis chapter three. This is the very beginning of our story. Part of the core problem of humanity is that we are designed for proximity to God and find ourselves in separation from God.

6:13 And what's happening in Exodus is for the first time the God of creation and life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is beginning to move out of wherever God dwells infinitely and approach creation outside the garden. And so you see the first little sign of it in the burning bush. But then as the God moves towards Egypt in order, remember the very kind of famously pharaohs sorcerers when they can't reproduce one of the first one of the plagues that they can't reproduce.

6:49 They said, surely this has been done by the finger of God that God's hand and arm is moving towards creation to rescue Israel. And as he does creation response. And something happens significantly. You can look this up, but several theologians have mapped the 10 plagues aligning with different deities of Egypt. So the God of Frogs is the God of fertility, the Nile is the God of life.

7:23 And as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of creation and life moves in out of wherever God dwells infinitely to rescue Israel one by one systematically, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob demonstrates his power over the gods of Egypt, convincingly. These frogs will come when I say they'll come and they'll leave when I say they leave. This hail will come when I say it comes and it will leave when I say it. As a matter of fact, this hail will affect all of Egypt, but not Israel. This darkness will affect all of Egypt, but not Israel, not Goshan where the Israelites are.

7:59 This disease among your livestock will affect all the Egyptians, but not the Israelites because the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the God of creation and life superior and he has aligned himself with the people of Israel. Interestingly enough, at several points in the plagues, the Egyptians have the opportunity to align themselves with Israel if they would like. So, for me, one of the most compelling things about the plagues is to remember what God is up to.

8:44 That God, according to God's wisdom is for Israel and at the right time comes to rescue Israel. It took me a while to, in my life, to realize that it is hard for me to empathize with Israel in this story.

9:22 It's actually easier for me to empathize with the Egyptians. Most of my life, I've been in a position of relative power, right? Like, do you sit comfortably wealthy, culturally privileged? I've not been subjugated or looked down upon for who I am.

9:58 I've not been marginalized for the place that I take up. Consistently, God aligns himself with the marginalized and the disenfranchised in the story of the Church. And so often, when we read the story of Egypt and we see that God is against the Egyptians,

10:30 and make no mistake, God is set against Pharaoh. Pharaoh has the embodiment of Egypt. And he has set Pharaoh up as the enemy in this story. God is set against Pharaoh. He sends Moses walking across the desert, aligns him with Aaron, empowers him with the staff,

11:01 directs him audibly with the voice of God in order to undermine and decimate Pharaoh and the things Pharaoh cares about. God is against Pharaoh in this story. Pharaoh is the enemy of God in this story. Unequivocal. We don't see the, in this story, we don't see the humanizing aspect of Pharaoh.

11:35 We see Pharaoh progressively digging his heels. And finally, the end, we'll talk about it next week, but when you think, finally, Pharaoh has seen the light and lets the people go, the last dying breath is against God to his demise. I want you to think about it. The God of creation and life, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Christ in the Church, the God of Scriptures, is has enemies, is set against Pharaoh.

12:18 Somebody, I was reading around trying to figure out this plague. There's so much you can talk about with these plagues. I mean, so I had to pick. But one of the things I found was this Romans, chapter 9. Romans, chapter 9 gives interesting explanation of God's position with respect to Pharaoh.

12:57 You can look there with me if you want. Romans, remember what's happening in Romans. Paul is trying to explain to a group of the followers of Jesus what it means that Jesus is the incarnate God on earth, that he's been crucified and raised from the dead, that we now live in a world where Jesus is king.

13:33 He's trying to explain that in a letter. So Romans covers a lot of ground. But this section is interesting because remember that Paul was trained, he says, the Hebrew of Hebrew is a student of Gamaliel, he probably had the whole Old Testament memorized. And so often at different points, just the right time when it's appropriate and helpful, Paul is pulling out stories from the Old Testament to exfoliate and explain what's happening with Jesus. And he does it a little bit here in Romans, chapter 9. It's hard to figure out exactly where to start, but let's say verse 10 of Romans, chapter 9.

14:20 He's following on an argument, he's piling on at verse 10. Not only that, but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac, yet before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad in order that God's purpose and election might stand. Not by works, but by him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger, just as it is written, Jacob had by love, but he saw I hated. Verse 14, what shall we say? What then shall we say is God unjust.

14:53 At all, for he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. It does not therefore depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, I raise you up for this very purpose that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

15:25 I mean, there's one way to boil down the story of scripture into this claim. There is a God, and it's not you. God has sent against Egypt, I think, because he is for Israel.

15:56 God's anger, God's judgment is always motivated by God's love. God said, the cry of the Israelites have come to me. And in heart of justice, he comes against what has been done wrong.

16:26 It requires faith to let God make that call. Who's for and who's against? Not my...

16:57 In the story of the ten plagues, he's against Egypt, and for Israel. In your story, he is for you. In your story, God is dramatically for you.

17:36 And you'll see in next week when the Israelites get to leave, there are Egyptians that go with them. Having been compelled by the generosity and the rescue of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they abandon theirs and go with this one. The God of creation in life takes all comers and then defends them with his life.

18:15 The God of creation in life, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is for you and will defend you with his life. That means that in the story of the plagues, we can see a God who punishes those who have wronged us.

18:45 You can trust God to defend you. That means you need no further defense. You can just God to meet out justice. That means you don't have to meet out justice in the world. You are not the arbiter of right and wrong.

19:15 You are not the decider of who is good and evil. You can release wrongdoers to the Lord and trust based on the story that he will meet out judgment on those who deserve it. The idea that God will be against somebody gives me permission to love generously and forgive freely because judgment is not mine to meet out but the voice.

20:00 I think the story when you read the plagues is a hard one. Because no matter how many times we make wrong judgments, no matter how many mistakes we make, we are sure we know best. When I read a story that is very clear that God has decided in his infinite wisdom what is best and he won't tell me the reason, I am sure his reason is wrong.

20:42 And mine is better. He says here I have said against Pharaoh, that's it. I want to harden Pharaoh's heart, lift him up. Now he must be wrong because I don't understand it. Faith says I see a God who defends the ones he loves at the cost of his own life. But defend me. He makes a better God than I do. I let him judge instead.

21:12 What that does is it allows God to be for me completely. Today the invitation is to trust God in order that he might be for you completely. Let me pray. Hey Lord, thank you for the story of the plagues and the Pharaoh and your omniscience and omnipotence. We don't understand it and Lord it is hard to believe.

21:46 Give us hearts to receive your protection, provision and rescue. That let you be God instead of us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.