A Helicopter Trip Over the Old Testament - Part 18
- Word Of Life
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
A Helicopter Trip Over the Old Testament
Part 18
Moses - Part 4
Exodus 7-8
(Plagues 1-3)
To tear down the gods of Egypt
God always wants people to know that He is God.
My Goal = That your faith grows more than your knowledge.
#1 Water to Blood
EXODUS 7
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, [Moses] ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” [It became blood]
[God is superior to the gods of the Nile River!]
19 … Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” … 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. 22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts… [Satanic power & Deception]
New Testament
(2 Timothy 3:1-9)
“Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than God— 5 having a form [Appearance] of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, [Keepers of the home] who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning [Endless Podcasts] BUT never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. [It is hard today to know what are actual “facts”, but even if we did, it doesn’t mean that we would necessarily come to the right “conclusions”. We must ask for God’s help.] 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. [Famous names known throughout the ages] They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” [ie Egyptians]
Do not be fooled by impressive signs
Some key passages include:
"For false messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."
(Jesus in Matthew 24:24)
“… how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”
-2 Thessalonians 2:9–10
The "lawless one" [Systems of evil] is described as coming "with all power and false signs and wonders," using them to deceive those who reject the truth.
-Revelation 13:13–14
How are believers told to respond?
“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- 1 John 4:1
•Acts 17:11 commends people for examining the Scriptures to verify what they were taught.
Miraculous claims should be evaluated in the light of:
1. Scripture,
2. The Message being taught, and
3. The person's character, rather than assuming every extraordinary event is either genuine or false.
22 … Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen … 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
#2 The Plague of Frogs
EXODUS 8
“Go to Pharaoh… Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed… [God of Fertility/Childbirth] into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’” 5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff … and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” [Plague 1-3 = Aaron] ... 7 BUT the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. [NOTE: They could mimic, but they could not reverse. Pharaoh asks Moses to reverse it.] 8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away… and I will let your people go… sacrifice…” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray… 10 “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses…” 13 And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps,
14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. 15 BUT when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
#3 The Plague of Gnats/Lice
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.”
[Defn. = “Small biting insect.”]
[Against the earth god Geb, dust and storms]
17 … gnats came on people and animals… 18 BUT when the magicians tried…they could not. Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, 19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” BUT Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.
[Against the god of earth, dust, and storms]
God destroyed the god of Water & Fertility
[Nile]
God destroyed the god of Childbearing & Fertility
[Frogs]
God destroyed the god of the earth
[Gnats/Lice]
Plagues 1-3 affected Israelites & Egyptians.
ie. Christians are not exempt from temptation.
Plagues 4-10 did not affect Israelites.
ie. Christians are exempt from condemnation.
Christians are exempt from Condemnation
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
-Romans 8:1
Christians are not exempt from the typical problems of the world
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
-John 16:33
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
- Romans 8:37
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