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[0:00] Chapter 7, we are looking at God's, again, continued dealing with Moses.

[0:16] ! Remember, in the beginning verse of chapter 7, God overcame the final objection that Moses gave! about doing that work that God's called him to do.

[0:30] And remember what he said, he said simply, I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your prophet.

[0:41] And so, I've hardened Pharaoh's heart, and will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. Now when he said he would multiply his signs and wonders, this is the idea not just that he'll do more and more, but you realize they become more and more severe as it goes along.

[1:03] And then in verses 4 through 7, he speaks concerning the reason for that. He said, but Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt.

[1:14] So, Pharaoh's not going to listen to you, and that's by my design, because I am going to lay my hand. My severe judgment, is the idea, upon Egypt.

[1:25] Bring forth mine armies, and my people of the children of Israel. The idea again there was, bring the children of Israel out like his armies, like they're his armies.

[1:38] Bring them out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. All right, there's, I think, really one of the key reasons for God doing it this way.

[1:53] So that all the people of Israel may know that I am Jehovah. When I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

[2:04] And Moses and Aaron did as commanded them, so did they. Moses was four score years old, and Aaron four score and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

[2:17] So, we left off with that, and then we're going to pick up tonight now in verse number 7. So you kind of remember now, why God is going to do it the way he's doing it.

[2:28] We bring in more and more severe judgments, hardening the heart of Pharaoh in it, until the time comes when he'll let the people go. Now, verses 8 through 13.

[2:39] And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you, then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

[2:59] And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent.

[3:12] Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians of Egypt, they did also, or they also did in like manner, with their enchantments.

[3:23] For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, and he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord said.

[3:37] Key things there that we'll kind of briefly go through. And that is the idea here. Again, the rod that Aaron has is Moses' rod, from back in chapter 4.

[3:51] And as he casts it down the ground, it becomes a serpent. The magicians of Egypt do the same thing, but Aaron's rod swallows their rod. That's very significant.

[4:02] And we'll see the reason why here in just a moment. Now, so, under God's directions, Moses and Aaron's then went into Pharaoh to prove by a miracle that they were then indeed the messengers of God.

[4:17] Messengers of the God of the Hebrews. They are definitely that, and that's what they were to show to Pharaoh in casting down the rod, and it becoming a serpent, and then swallowing up the others.

[4:31] So, he threw that staff down, Aaron did, became a serpent, and we saw in the passage what happens as a result of that. Now, another key thing here is this.

[4:44] We've seen the word serpent, or snake, or viper, or whatever before. Remember, we looked at that when God first told Moses to throw his rod down, and it became a serpent.

[4:55] Remember that? And we jokingly said that he probably ran from that, you know, and all of that. The word serpent here, in this chapter 7, is a different word than that word that was used in chapter 4 when it dealt with the people of Israel.

[5:18] Remember, he did that with Israel too to prove that he was indeed the messenger of God, that God had appeared to him. So, in this particular case, that word used, serpent, is literally a word that means dragon, a general term for a snake-like animals.

[5:37] gives us the idea there's a different significance here when it's performed before Pharaoh than it was when it was performed before the people of Israel.

[5:49] When it's done before Pharaoh, it deals more here with the magicians, the counselors, in their enchantments, and all that they do in their dealings with turning snakes into sticks is the idea here.

[6:09] You know, realize something here. Two-fold ideas going on here. When Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same by throwing their rod or whatever down and it becoming a snake or a serpent, either it's the, some speculation is that in reality as being magicians, you know, magicians use a lot of sleight of hand, that these in essence were really just stiff snakes to begin with, that they had a way of making those snakes like a stick, very stiff.

[6:49] They threw them down and they started moving. Or, and the idea is this as well, you realize we're dealing with Egypt here, dealing with a pagan nation, in which there's great spiritual darkness.

[7:06] You know, we've been going through the Revelation in Sunday school and see the work of Antichrist, that he's done many signs and wonders under the guise of Satan.

[7:21] All right? Possibility that that's what happened in Egypt as well. But nonetheless, whatever the case may be, the significance of all of this is this.

[7:32] You think about Pharaoh here and his magicians copying the same thing that Aaron did and throwing the rod down and becoming a serpent. Huh, we can do that too.

[7:45] But what happened? Somebody tell me, what was the significance of Moses' rod, Aaron's rod, whichever you want to call it, devouring the serpents that the magicians created?

[8:05] Aaron's rod swallowed up the others. What's the significance there? More so here. Remember, what was God's purpose in all of this that we just read a minute ago?

[8:18] that Jehovah is God. The God of the Hebrews is Jehovah. When Aaron's rod snake, the rod snake, we'll call it the rod snake, devoured the snakes of the magicians of Egypt, it was a picture of Jehovah overcoming the pagan false gods of Egypt.

[8:48] That's the significance there. Right at the get-go, right at the very first. You know, you get the idea here. You know, we know that it didn't phase Pharaoh one bit, but boy, it sure did the magicians.

[9:03] God, beginning right at the, right at the first, to show his power that it is greater than anything that Pharaoh can conjure up.

[9:14] All right? Now, so there's the picture that we have here. Now, there are three names for the magicians of Egypt that are given in these verses.

[9:28] There's the wise men who are men that know about occult arts. They're men educated in human and divine wisdom.

[9:38] All right? The wisdom of the religion of the Egyptians would be the idea here. Then there's the sorcerers, those that mutter magic formula, especially when driving away crocodiles, snakes, and asps, and so forth.

[9:56] So it was a natural, it was natural that Pharaoh then should call in those guys to deal here with Moses and Aaron and the things that they are performing.

[10:08] Now, the magicians were bearers of sacred words, scribes and interpreters, interpreters of hieroglyphic writings.

[10:20] Books containing magic formula belonged exclusively to the king. No one was permitted to consult them, but the priests and the wise men who formed a kind of a council or a college and were called on by Pharaoh, brought in by Pharaoh on occasions where there are very difficult circumstances to deal with.

[10:42] And so you see the picture, you see the picture here of how Pharaoh really did look upon Moses and Aaron. They rejected, he rejected their word, but this was a very important occasion here, it was a difficult occasion, because Moses and Aaron were before him doing things that were very difficult to answer.

[11:06] So he brought these guys in. So, the magicians belonged to a priestly caste according to Genesis 41, so that the power of the gods of Egypt and the gods of the magicians were manifest in the secret arts that they performed.

[11:24] So, again, when Moses defeats the enchantments of the gods of Egypt, if you were, and were overcome by Jehovah, that showed the supremacy of Jehovah over the gods and demon powers of Egypt that were manifested in these first particular signs that were given.

[11:47] So you see the idea there. Doesn't say, but speculation tells me. Pharaoh knew how these magicians and counselors and wise men performed these miracles.

[12:08] That they were, some of them, just by their magical arts, however those were performed. but there's no real power behind them.

[12:22] And so, Pharaoh had to begin to see the power of the God of the Hebrews. Now, let me ask you this question.

[12:32] If that be the case, why did Pharaoh harden his heart so much? I know God hardened it, but Pharaoh hardened his own heart there for a while. Why is it that Pharaoh rejected all of this so blatantly?

[12:47] If down deep inside, he recognized that the power of Jehovah God was greater than any gods that the Egyptians might try to worship. Remember earlier on, I don't know how long ago it was, but we saw where in reality, when Moses and Aaron first confronted Pharaoh about Jehovah God, he said, who's Jehovah?

[13:10] I don't know him. I don't want to know him. And we saw the idea there that Pharaoh didn't have any inclination toward any gods, even the gods of Egypt.

[13:23] To him, it was just like a chess match, a chess game. You move your pawn, I'm going to move mine. You move your rook, I'm going to move mine.

[13:35] And eventually, I'm going to checkmate your queen, king. It's the king that gets checkmated. Your king. I think that's more so in the heart and mind of Pharaoh here.

[13:50] And God knows that. God knows what it's going to take to break him, to cause him to let them go. But, even at that, you recognize what happens here.

[14:04] All right? He's defiant until the very end, even at the death of his firstborn. All right, now, the names of the two principal magicians that were used here, according to Paul in 2 Timothy 3.8, are Janes and Jambres.

[14:27] He says there, Now as Janes and Jambres withstood Moses, so did these also resist the truth, men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. Now, that brings us to chapter 7, verse 8, through chapter 11, verse 10.

[14:46] This is just kind of an overview here, of what happens on down. All right? Since we're going to stop tonight for a while. chapter 8, and I think, really, I don't remember for sure what all I put in your notes, but I think all the rest of this I put in your notes verbatim, so you can have that to look at and remember what's going to happen here, since, and it works out good since we were a little late getting into the study.

[15:17] Now, so, the negotiations of Moses and Aaron before Egypt have begun with the signs that they are messengers of God attested before Pharaoh here, that they are indeed the messengers of Jehovah.

[15:36] He wants them to know that, or he wants him to know that, so that there's no questions about what's going on here, and who's causing all that to happen.

[15:47] These negotiations, if you will, conclude with the announcement of the last blow that God would inflict upon Pharaoh and the people of Egypt, and that, of course, is the death of the firstborn, and we see that begin in chapter 11.

[16:03] Now, the main point of all this that's going on, of course, is to break that defiant spirit of Pharaoh, and induce him then to let the people of Israel go out of Egypt.

[16:18] Now, all the dealings of God with Pharaoh are grouped into three groups, and each of those groups have three plagues each.

[16:32] The first and second, the fourth and fifth, and the seventh and eighth were announced beforehand by Moses that they were going to take place, that they were going to happen. the third, sixth, and ninth were sent without any announcement at all.

[16:49] Again, the first, fourth, and seventh were announced to Pharaoh in the morning and the first and fourth by the side of the Nile, both of them being connected with the overflowing of the river Nile, all right, if you will.

[17:05] The place of the announcement is not mentioned in those first, fourth, and seventh. In the case of the seventh, it was not mentioned because it was hail that came from heaven and it was not connected with any particular locality in Egypt.

[17:24] Now, that grouping is intended by God to create a cause and effect of course. The Egyptian magicians who had imitated the first plagues were put to shame with their arts by the third and they were compelled to see then that this indeed was the finger of God.

[17:48] They themselves were smitten by the sixth plague and were unable to stand before Moses as we see in chapter 9 in verse 11.

[17:59] While after the ninth, Pharaoh broke off all further negotiations with Moses and Aaron. That's in chapter 10 verses 28 through 29. So, the last plague which Moses also announced to the king before his departure differed from the nine former ones both in purpose and form.

[18:20] it was the beginning of the judgment that was coming upon the hardened king and was inflicted directly by God himself. Everything else had something to do with Moses and Aaron.

[18:34] All right? And all of that, all of that, we see that Pharaoh rejected that, his heart was hardened because of that. But this final one, this final one had nothing to do with Aaron, nothing to do with Moses, and God saw to it that Pharaoh recognized that.

[18:56] This was going to be directly from the hand of Jehovah. And that, of course, was the death of the firstborn in chapter 11 and chapter 12.

[19:09] Scripture says, Jehovah went out through the midst of Egypt and smoked the firstborn of the Egyptians, both of man and beast. Notice it says it's God, it's Jehovah that went through the midst of Egypt and performed that judgment.

[19:29] Now, seven of the previous plagues were brought by Moses and Aaron, and of the two that are not expressly said to have been brought by them is one of the one that the dog flies was simply sent by Jehovah in chapter 8.

[19:46] The other was the murrain of beasts simply from his hand in chapter 9. Now, the last blow in chapter 11 which brought about the release of Israel was distinguished from the nine plagues as we said because it was a direct judgment of God.

[20:06] It was not affected through the medium of any natural occurrence as was the case in most all, if not all, of the others. Remember, one of the things of Pharaoh was no doubt that this is nothing new.

[20:22] All right? This is nothing new. These things have happened all the time. It's like our weather now. Amen? Yeah, I am amazed. I am amazed.

[20:34] It didn't take much to amaze me. How people on the news and weather people on the news are just going bananas over how hot it is.

[20:46] Throwing all the records on here and where we fit and all the record books and all of that. It's not as if it's not happened before. Amen? It has.

[20:58] Somebody posted on Facebook a sign back, when was it, babe? The old city service sign on the city service building down there was 116.

[21:10] That was 56. It was 116. So it's nothing new. And so with Pharaoh and all these plagues that happened, yeah, it's nothing new. We've had it, but there's one difference.

[21:22] There's one difference in them. The magnitude of them was much greater than anything they've ever had before. And that's what, that was the work of God in doing that purposely so that they could continue to realize and recognize that this is of God.

[21:41] You've got to think about Pharaoh in his times in the evening, at night, or whatever, after all these things go on, and he recognizes the severity of that stuff, and he's got to be thinking in the recesses of his mind, this ain't normal.

[22:00] Amen? This isn't normal. There's something to this idea of the God of the Hebrews. All right. Now, each of these, each of these plagues were supernatural works, blow after blow, following one another in less than a year.

[22:21] All right? And brought about through peculiar circumstances. Another aspect of that triple division is the first three plagues covered the whole land and fell upon the Israelites as well as the Egyptians.

[22:37] But, when the fourth one proceeded, there was a separation brought about in all of that, because those things did not fall upon the Israelites.

[22:53] it just fell upon the Egyptians. Now, you talk about something causing you to think more, that'd be it. All right?

[23:05] Now, only the Egyptians suffered from the last six plagues. The Israelites in Goshen were entirely freed from those plagues. Again, the last three were distinguished from the others by the fact that they were far more dreadful than any of the previous ones, bore visible marks of being the forerunner of the judgment which would inevitably come upon Pharaoh and his people in his continued opposition to the will of the God of the Hebrews.

[23:37] So, on and on we could go about the divisions here. But, in reality, the first three plagues showed that the God of Israel was Jehovah, chapter 7, that he revealed that he ruled as Lord and King over all the occurrences and power of nature which the Egyptians, for the most part, honored as divine.

[24:02] Keep that in mind when you're thinking of that. That a lot of this stuff the Egyptians thought were divinity, all right, had some form of divine nature to them.

[24:14] And Jehovah here is showing that he has power over all of that. Don't you wish God gave some indication here about the heart and mind of the people of Egypt, not just Pharaoh?

[24:26] Pharaoh rejected, but what about the people? Why were they thinking about all of this stuff? Now, so, again, when some of these plagues came, Pharaoh seemed to change his mind a little bit, but as soon as those plagues were gone, then his heart was hardened once again, he would not listen to the things of God.

[24:51] Now, finally, Pharaoh's heart was altogether hardened, so enraged with Moses and Aaron.

[25:01] Don't you imagine that he got so fed up with them keeping coming back to him. Amen? One plague had happened, nothing, they'd come back. Here's what's going to happen now.

[25:14] Kept on going, they kept coming back to get in his face, if you will. He was so enraged with their persistence in their demand that they let the people of Israel go, that the time came in chapter 10, when he drove them away, broke off all further negotiations, and threatened that he would kill them if they ever came back to see him again.

[25:41] Yeah. Now, that's what's pictured on down the road, and we'll go down that road whenever we get back to this.

[25:56] Let's pray. Father, again, thank you for your loving kindness, and thank you, Father, for our time in the book of Exodus to this point, and I just pray that you will continue to work on our heart and mind the things that you've shown us throughout these weeks, and enable us to use them to further strengthen our walk with you and our work for you.

[26:19]  And now we thank you for the remainder of the evening, pray to bless it, and we'll thank you for it now, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. .