The Story of God: God Gives An Out
August 29, 2018
If you were here last week, I shared that saying: “Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on you.” Well, the reality is that all of us are susceptible to being fooled. We can be deceived. I know because it happened in our family. Many years ago, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law were going through a tough patch in their marriage. Jack had separated from Mary, but had come back to give it another try. He talked a good game. He said the right things. But I never trusted him. Yet my father-in-law did. Jack came to him in the middle of winter and told him how God was going to help him get it together. There was this special weeklong retreat for men in Eastern Oregon that was going to help him deal with his problems and become a better husband. He wanted to go, but it was going to cost a grand. Becky and I were the only ones to say, “Don’t do it. Don’t give him the money.” But Bob is a compassionate and generous man. He wanted to help save his daughter’s marriage so he gave him the thousand. But sadly there was no men’s retreat. Jack took off with the money and we never saw him again. It was sad because Bob believed the best in Jack, but Jack took advantage of his generous nature him and fooled him. The reason he fooled him is the same reason we are all susceptible to being fooled: We can’t see into a person’s heart. We can’t see their motives. And we can’t see their sin. But there is one who can: God. You can’t fool God. He knows our hearts. He knows our sins. And He knows our motives.
In fact, that’s just what we’re going to see today as we return to the story of God in Exodus. So if you brought your Bible, let me encourage you to open it to Exodus 9, where God reveals the deceit of Pharaoh’s heart by giving him an out. And as He does, He makes it pretty clear not just for Pharaoh, but for us – that You Can’t Fool God!
So let’s begin to unpack this truth with the plague on the livestock of Egypt. Before we do, let me remind you where we’ve been. Over the past few weeks, every time Moses and Aaron have confronted Pharaoh, Pharaoh has learned something about God.He now knows God’s name. He’s asked Moses to pray to Yahweh twice already. He’s now experienced God’s power.He’s experienced God’s power through four plagues.He now knows God’s Will. And he’s actually agreed to let God’s people go twice, but he reneged both times. For every time God removed His hand of judgment and Pharaoh experienced relief, Pharaoh hardened his heart against God. So now although Pharaoh knows a lot about God, he still has a hard time believing in God. He still has his doubts. And so that’s where we begin as…
God Humors the Skeptic And He begins by repeating His familiar pattern of dealing with Pharaoh. First by revealing God’s Will: “Let my people go,so that they may worship me.” God’s will doesn’t change. By now Pharaoh knows God’s Will, wherein lies the conflict. God calls Israel “my people.” Pharaoh believes they are his property. So Pharaoh stubbornly refuses to let them go.
Next comes God’s Warning: “If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats.” Exodus 9:2-3 Same warning. If Pharaoh doesn’t relent God will send another plague. This time he warns Pharaoh if he continues to resist, all the livestock of Egypt will be destroyed. Livestock, especially cattle were highly venerated in Egypt. They worshiped at least four gods associated with cattle. In particular, the goddessHathor,who was represented with the head of a cow. Hathor was the goddess of love and beauty, motherhood and fertility. And one of her most sacred functions was to protect Pharaoh. You destroy Hathor, and Pharaoh can no longer hide from God’s judgment.
And once again to rub salt in the wound of Pharaoh God says, But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.’” Exodus 9:4 Now for a second time God is deliberately showing His favor to Israel by having this judgment pass over them. He’s adding insult to injury, and again declaring that the Israelites are not Pharaoh’s people, they belong to Him, and He will protect them.
And next comes God’s Timing: “Tomorrowthe Lord will do this in the land.” This declaration tells Pharaoh, that God is in control, “you have no power to stop me.”
Finally comes God’s Judgment: And the next day the Lord did it:All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Exodus 9:6
Once again this is a devastating plague. There were now dead and rotting carcasses all over Egypt. Ever seen a dead and bloated cow? They are massive. The cleanup alone would have been an arduous undertaking. But now, the skeptic in Pharaoh comes out. He is starting to get curious. He wants to know if God’s Word is true. Did God spare the Israelites? And so we see that Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.Exodus 9:7
Pharaoh was a hardened skeptic. Funny thing about skeptics; they seem to thrive on their skepticism. They like to investigate. They like to question, because they need someone or something to be skeptical about. Here, Pharaoh questions the veracity of God’s Word and discovers it to be true. What does he do with this truth? He ignores it. He maintains his stance against God and refuses to let God’s people go.
Some of you know skeptics. Some of you are skeptical by nature. That’s ok. There is a time and place for investigating God. Before anyone can make a decision about trusting in Jesus, one has to answer some hard questions about who he is and what he has done. Skeptics want to know if the Bible be trusted? Skeptics want to know if Jesus is truly divine or was he merely human? And skeptics have questions about the crucifixion. Did Jesus really die for our sins? And what about the resurrection? Did Jesus rise from the dead or was it all a hoax?
So there’s nothing wrong with having doubts. No one can make an honest appraisal of Christianity without answering these questions. However, there comes a time to stop investigating and start believing. Because if all you ever do is investigate, and never open your heart to the truth, you are treading dangerous ground: The same ground as Pharaoh. His heart was so hard that even with irrefutable evidence of God’s power staring him in the face, he still refused to believe.
So now: God Gets Personal Up till now, God’s hand judgment had been on water, land, air and animals. But now God gets personal: Then the Lord said to Moses andAaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” Exodus 9:8-9
So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. Exodus 9:10 This was a significant act. For whenever the magicians wanted to give a blessing, they would do the same thing. But when Moses does it, this act of blessing becomes a curse on all Egypt. With this curse, every Egyptian, including Pharaoh is covered with oozing, disgusting boils.
And this plague wasn’t just personal, it was a vendetta against Egypt’s healing gods. The Egyptians looked to their religion for healing. Many worshiped Amon Re, the creator-god who is described as “he who dissolves evils and dispels ailments; a physician who heals.” Others worshiped Thoth,who was the god of the healing arts. Still others worshiped Imhotepas the god of medicine. But the most common deity of healing was Sekmet,whose priests formed one of the oldest medical fraternities in antiquity. So here’s the irony of this curse: The magicians (Pharoah’s most trusted and powerful healing priests) could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians.Exodus 9:11 Here God knocks Pharaoh’s magicians out of the picture. And their humiliation so absolute, that they are never mentioned again.
This was a brutal blow to Pharaoh. The god who was supposed to protect him had been utterly destroyed. Now his magicians have no power to heal, and he is writhing in the pain and disgust of his own open sores. This God of the Hebrews is ruining him. So does Pharaoh relent? No, for we read: But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses. Exodus 9:12 What? Just when Pharaoh might have come to his senses, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Why? Well up till now, Pharaoh’s defiance has been his own doing. But now, we are going to see God’s purposes in hardening his heart.
Look at verse 13, Then the Lord said to Moses,“Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you upfor this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:13-16
Pharaoh had seen what God’s power can do: his gods have been humiliated, his country ruined, even his flesh felt the sting of God’s wrath, but as far as God was concerned He’s been easy on Pharaoh. Up till now, He’s given him a touch of His mighty hand; but now God’s going to lay the hammer down. But before he does, God calls out Pharaoh’s sin: You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. Exodus 9:17-18 Up till now, Pharaoh thought he could fool God. He knew God’s name. He even had Moses pray for deliverance from two plagues. But he never intended to let God’s people go. He had set Himself against God’s people, and God was calling him out. He was naming his sin. And now God says, “ENOUGH!” Basically, God is saying, “Since you will not let my people go, I going to let you have it!You’re going to experience a category 5 wrath of God storm. And nothing’s going to be left of Egypt. And when I’m done the whole world will know my name and my power.”
This is why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. So that His justice and power would not just be known in Egypt, not just be witnessed by His people, but so that the whole world would know there is One God who is Almighty.
That’s heavy. God’s not playing around. He knows our hearts, He knows our motives and He knows our sin. You can’t fool God. “For the Lord sees not as man sees:man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
God could see right through Pharaoh. Pharaoh thought he had God fooled, but no more. And yet, right when God shines the spotlight of His justice on Pharaoh’s sin, He reveals His grace. God gives an out! God gives a way of escape. He reveals His mercy. Here’s God’s out: Give an order now to bringyour livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’ Exodus 9:19 God gives Pharaoh an out. “Use your power to save your to save your people, just give the order, and no animal or person will die. If you don’t any person or animal caught in the storm will perish. It’s your call.” God gives an out. In the midst of His justice God makes a way of escape. But does Pharaoh take it? Let’s see:
Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. Exodus 9:20 Some of Pharaoh’s officials were now believers. They heard God’s Word and acted on it. They believed God gave a way of escape, so they immediately brought their slaves and livestock to safety.
But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field. Exodus 9:21 They just went about life as usual. They heard God’s Word and ignored it. And theirs now is a cautionary tale. For what happened next was the worst disaster ever: Then the Lord said to Moses,“Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land ofEgypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Ex 9:22-24
How bad was this storm? Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.Exodus 9:25-26 By the time God was finished, the land was totally ruined. The only crops left standing were the seedlings of wheat: The flax and barley were destroyed, since the barley had headed and the flax was in bloom. The wheat and spelt, however, were not destroyed, because they ripen later. Exodus 9:31-32
How bad was it? Crops were leveled and any animal or slave in the fields perished. It was a scene of total destruction. God had laid the hammer of justice down with fury.
So how does Pharaoh respond? With a False Confession: Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” Exodus 9:27-28
Pharaoh confesses his sin. He confesses the he is wrong and God is right. How can this be a false confession?
Two things: One, Pharaoh does not confess his sins to God. When a man is truly sorry for his sins, he takes them straight to God. He is humbled before God and surrenders to His will. This Pharaoh did not do. Oh, he was sorry for the consequences of his sin, for he said, Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail, but he was not truly sorry for his sins.
And two, Pharaoh still did not fear God. He refused to humble himself before God and obey Him. How do we know that? Because there was no change of behavior. You see, true repentance always results in a change of heart that leads to a change of behavior.
You can’t fool God, and now Pharaoh doesn’t fool Moses. Here’s the proof that Pharaoh didn’t fear God: Moses replied,“When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the Lord. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the Lord God.” Exodus 9:29-30
Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.Exodus 9:33-35
You can’t fool God. True repentance is a complete change of heart that produces a total change of life. And by that standard, Pharaoh’s confession was false. He knew the right thing to say, but his heart was still far from God. For once the storm stopped and the plague was over, his heart was as hard as ever. He did not want what God wanted; he just wanted God to leave him alone.
What about you? Do you want what God wants? Is your heart yielded to God’s will or are you still bent on going your own way?
You see, this passage has revealed some pretty telling truths today: One, God will not be fooled by our words. We can say the right things but our hearts can still be far from God.
Two, You cannot fool God.He knows your sins, your heart, your motives.
Three, God will bring justice against a sinful heart that does not repent.
Four, God gives an out. God is merciful. Even though we do sin, God makes a way of escape. Some fear God, take His way of escape and are saved. Others ignore God, take their chances and face the consequences.
The good news today is this: God still gives an out. His name is Jesus. He took your sins upon Himself to make a way of escape for you. Have you taken God’s way? Don’t be fooled by ignoring God and taking your chances. God will not be fooled. But He has made a way. His name is Jesus. Come to Him. Confess your sin. Put your trust in Him and you will be saved.
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