Lesson #10

EXODUS 10
Lesson #10
THE SUBTLE NATURE OF WORLDLY COMPROMISE

• Memory verse: Proverbs 29:23

• The plagues to this point have created a tremendous devastation to the Egyptian economy.
• The livestock of the nation have been devastated by the murrain (9:3), by the plague of boils (9:8) and by the hail (9:22).
• Many crops have been destroyed by the hail (9:22)

• Read Exo 10:1-11

• Plague #8: Locust

• Background:
• In the western half of the world, we are unfamiliar with the devastation that can be accomplished by this insect. However, much of the African continent, on which Egypt is located, is very familiar with plagues of locust.
• In 1926 a devastating plague of locust began on the Niger River in Timbuktu. This plague lasted 14 years and covered 5,000,000 square miles of Africa. That area is twice the size of the United States.
• The locust is a small insect able to eat 2 times its weight every day. One square mile of a swarm of locust can contain 100,000,000 to 200,000,000 insects. Swarms of 400 square miles have been recorded. Swarms can travel 60 miles in one day.
• The plague in Exodus is a plague of miraculous characteristics:
• It is limited to only one square mile of territory.
• It is limited to a short period of time.
• The intensity is miraculous.
• It is like no other locust plague in past history or in the future. (6)
• “And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.”

(2)

• After God has made a specific difference in the plagues that favor the Israelites and devastate the Egyptians, God emphasizes one of His purposes for the plagues. That purpose is so that the Israelites will know who the Lord is.
• He is the God of mercy.
• He is the God of power.
• The plagues were supposed to be a teaching tool that the Israelite parents could use to teach their children.
• For centuries the Israelites have kept the exodus as a tool to teach their children about God every time they celebrate the Jewish Passover. The historical explanation is built into the Passover ceremony.
• The warning:
• God gives them one day’s warning before the plague begins. This short time period prompts another compromise. This compromise is from the servants of Pharaoh. (7)
• The third temptation to Moses to compromise God’s plan

:

• Pharaoh agreed that the Israelites could go into the wilderness to sacrifice and worship God, with one exception. Only the men could go.
• What would be the result if Moses agreed to the compromise?
• The men would never permanently leave their families behind. Therefore, God could not bring them into the promised land if they still had attachments in Egypt. They would remain forever slaves.
• Similarly, when the believer has attachments in the world, he will never fully commit to God. He will never leave the worldliness behind and fully trust in God. He will always be a slave to the sins of the world.
• Why did Pharaoh offer a compromise to Moses?
• Pharaoh had a problem. His nation was devastated by the plagues. The people and those in the palace around him were suffering.
• Those around the Pharaoh questioned why he did not do something to stop Moses.
• In other words, the people were losing confidence in their leader because he was not handling a major problem. Compromise comes from a position of political weakness.
• The nature and significance of the compromise:
• Man is to be the head of the household. Therefore, on the surface this compromise seems like a reasonable plan. The men would represent their families before God.
• However, it divides the family. God is for the family as a unified group of believers.
• There are many things that divide families in their relationship one with another within the family, and in the family’s relationship to God.
• Discussion:

What are some things in our modern society that divide families? What are some things that separate families from God?

• God’s judgment on the gods of Egypt:
• The earth god, Geb. This god reported to Osiris concerning the non-existent harvests as a result of this plague.
• The common people prayed to a god of locust.

• Read Exo 10:12-20

• “…the LORD brought an east wind upon the land…”

(13)

• Of what significance is there to the East wind? (13)
• All through the Old Testament, the east wind is mentioned as something that is brought by God because of some evil. Therefore, the significance is that the east wind is a figurative phrase that means = God’s judgment.
• Therefore, the plagues are specific events of God’s judgment on the Egyptians. They are not natural events, and they are not isolated miraculous events. They are God’s judgment for specific sins.
• Locust in the Bible are also objects that symbolize God’s judgment. (Rev 9)
• “For they covered the face of the whole earth…”

(15)

• This text does not mean that the whole world suffered this plague of locust. It means that a person could not see even an inch of dirt in all of the nation of Egypt, except for the land of Goshen where the Israelites were located.
• The results of this plague:
• All green grass, crops, trees, and herbs were effected by this plague to total destruction.
• Pharaoh’s confession of sin: (16)
• We can see in this plague where Pharaoh again confessed that he had sinned against God as he did in chapter 9. (9:27)
• Notice that the confession was again of only one sin.
• Pharaoh was beginning to feel the pressure from those in the palace around him, and from the common people who were suffering great devastation to their economic health.
• Notice that the confession of sin lasted only as long as the plague continued. Therefore the confession was not from his heart. He quickly changed his mind about letting the Israelites go.

• Read Exo 10:21-29

• Plague #9 Darkness

• The nature of the darkness makes this a miraculous event:
• The darkness was so thick it could be felt.
• The duration of three days.
• Of what significance is the darkness and the three days in verse 22?
• Darkness in the Bible is a specific characteristic of Satan’s kingdom that lacks light and truth. (Joh 3:19 Joh 8:12 Joh 12:46 2Cor 6:14 Eph 6:12 Col 1:13 1The 5:4-5)
• Read 1Pet 2:9
• Read 1Joh 1:5-7
• The number three in the Bible is a symbolic number that usually refers to the Holy trinity.
• In this case the number refers to the unholy trinity whose kingdom is darkness:
• Satan, the father of lies.
• The Antichrist
• The False Prophet
• Like other plagues in this book of Exodus, they remind us of plagues in the future tribulation period:
• A darkness so heavy that it is painful. (Rev 16:10)
• God’s judgment on the gods of Egypt:

  • Horus

  the sun god whose symbol is a winged disc.

  • Harakhte

  was another form of the god, Horus, and related to the sun.

  • Ra

  the sun god, was highly worshipped in Egypt for his faithfulness day after day.

  • Amun-Re

  the sun god of the city of Thebes.

  • Aten

  the deified sun disc.

  • Hathor

  the sky goddess.

  • Nut

  the sky goddess.

  • Thoth

  a moon god who computed time.

  • Pharaoh

  , a representation of the god Ra by whose rays of light the people see.

• The fourth temptation to Moses to compromise God’s plan

: (14-29)

• Pharaoh tells Moses they can all leave Egypt but they must leave all their animals behind in Egypt.
• This sounds like a reasonable compromise. However, its nature is very subtle.
• The major significance of this compromise:
• God had told Moses to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to Jehovah. If they left without any animals, they would have no sacrifice. Without a sacrifice, there is no relationship with a Holy God.
• The importance of the sacrifice of animals in the Old Testament:
• In the Old Testament the sacrifice of animals covered the sin of the people with animal blood. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. (Heb 9:22)
• Read Heb 10:4
• Because the blood of animals could not remove sin, man needed a better sacrifice. That better sacrifice was Jesus Christ on the cross.
• The major significance to the New Testament believer concerning this compromise:
• There are many people today that say they are believers, even believers in Jesus Christ. They say they are Christians, but they do not believe that Jesus died on the cross for their personal sins. They do not accept Him as their sacrifice who shed his blood to take away their sins. Without the forgiveness of sins there is no relationship with a Holy God.
• A secondary significance to the New Testament believer concerning this compromise:
• The animals represented the daily means of earning a living in Egypt.
• The New Testament believer, who spends Sundays in church and the rest of the work week tied to the world, often is caught in the trap of this kind of compromise. In what way?
• When the job and earning a living become so important that the believer acts like a non-believer using cut-throat tactics in business, he has made this kind of compromise his lifestyle.

HOMEWORK
EXODUS 11
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of Exo 10
• Which aspects of your life seem to be dividing your family?
• In what way do you compromise with the world at your job?

• Preparation for Exo 11
• Read Exo 11:1-10
• What relationship does the death of the firstborn have to do with the Israelite bondage in Egypt? (Exo 4:22-23 Col 1:15, 18)

• Memory verse: Psalms 89:27