Missions Paul

In this chapter, God gives Israel instructions for the big escape and, in doing so, sets the pattern for everything the cross would later fulfil.

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lambfor his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. ¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12 v 1-13)

The tenth judgment isn’t just going to appear like the other nine. It will PASS over. The protection this time will not be whether they are a certain nationality, but whether they have blood on their door frames.

This time judgment doesn’t just fall. It passes over. And what makes the difference isn’t a person’s character, their nationality, or their record. It’s blood on a doorframe.

Inside the houses of blood there are instructions on how to eat the lamb, in haste! The people were to be dressed ready for the escape.

The big verse is 13. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

That’s the whole meaning of the atonement; this is the altar, centuries before the cross. It has never been about our worthiness. It was about a substitute lamb who doesn’t survive the night, but the household does.

The Apostle Paul would write, “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

The one major question that this story poses is this: When judgment comes, it will never be about how good you have been but about who you have put your trust in. The only safest place to stand is under His blood.

Egypt and Pharaoh are still holding onto God’s people, and then this happens.

“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” (Exodus 12 v 1-2)

This is a reset. Thank God for these moments.

God often announces a new day when the old day is still with us.

Egypt had its calendar. Its gods governed the seasons and the harvests. But now God draws a line.

He gives His people a new beginning while they’re still waiting for deliverance.

God doesn’t wait for the mess to be over before He starts something new. He starts the new thing in the middle of the mess.

Passover and deliverance happen here in this new month.

Whatever month, situation and difficulty you’re in, and no matter whether you can see the end in sight, God can mark it as the start of something.

He doesn’t just redeem your story. He resets your calendar. He says, “For you, this is your new chapter!”

The nation of Israel had not yet been birthed, but it was already sitting in Egypt.

“Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.” (Exodus 11:7)

There is a “not yet” in you. And it’s sitting in a present circumstance that is fashioning and crafting your character for just the right time.

God was already shaping a nation while Pharaoh still dominated the scene. He’s doing the same with you. Before your answered prayer and the breakthrough you are hoping for, character is already being developed in you.

So because of this, you can change the way you view your today:

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor 4:17)

So because of this, you can change the way you live your today:

“I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14)

Today matters. It is carrying you into the person you will be tomorrow.

Your ‘Egypt’ will not get the final word.

Every chapter of your life, someone is holding the pen. There is always a Hand above the hand of your enemy.

“Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. ² Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbours for articles of silver and gold.” ³ (The Lord made the Egyptians favourably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.) ⁴ So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. ⁵ Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. ⁶ There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. ⁷ But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. ⁸ All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh. ⁹ The Lord had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.” (Exodus 11)

The river had turned to blood. Then came the frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts and then the darkness; all these were displaying that God was the true God above all the gods of Egypt.

Still Pharaoh would not release God’s people.

Now God tells Moses there will be one more. But this time it wasn’t a final request but an announcement.

*About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.*

This time He needs no instrument. He simply comes.

His coming will bring loud wailing and yet His people and even their dogs will be at peace.

*Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.*

We know ultimately what is coming next because we have read the story many times. But here in this moment, Moses walks out of that final audience with Pharaoh, ‘hot with anger’. He has pleaded with this man nine times and seen him go back on his promise every single time.

One thing that Moses carried in his mind was what God had also said to him.

*Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you — so that my wonders may be multiplied.*

Even the toughest battles of life, and many refusals we may face, are never outside God’s plan. It is at these times which God chooses to display Himself.

No one ever writes the ending. God does.

There are moments in our lives where we must insist on no compromise.

You’re leaving to worship with everything you have, since everything you have was bought with everything He had.

“Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.” (Exodus 10 v 26)

 Yes it matters.

 If I just let your men go and worship and keep the women and children back is that ok? Does it matter?

Yes it matters.

 If I just let your men, women and children go and keep your animals back is that ok? Does it matter?

 Yes it matters.

 Not a hoof is to be left behind. It matters that much.

 Pharaoh is not dead. He still tries to bargain a deal on worship.

Most bargains look generous. That’s what makes half-hearted worship so dangerous. It can appear wise

 Do you have to go to church every Sunday?

 Do you have to pray and read the Bible every day?

 Do you have to tell others about Jesus?

 Do you have to tithe and give offerings?

 Do you have to be hospitable?

Do you have to forgive the person who hurt you?

Do you have to guard your thought life?

Do you have to love the difficult person in your church?

 The list goes on and of course the answer because of God’s grace is “No I don’t have to”. But for those who know His grace and love it is definitely “Yes it matters”.

Pharaoh’s third offer looks generous. It looks reasonable. Most bargains do.

But God doesn’t negotiate. Every hoof matters.

Worship cannot be negotiated over. The altar demands our all. To bow before God without surrendering everything is not to bow at all.

Time is running out on Pharaoh, and for Moses the new day is nearly here.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. ²³ No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. ²⁴ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.” ²⁵ But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. ²⁶ Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshipping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.” ²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” (Exodus 10 v 21-28)

Nine plagues in, this one is different from the rest. This is not just darkness. This is a darkness that could be felt (v21).

However, for God’s people, they had light. Lights shining in the thick darkness that the Egyptians were experiencing. That’s quite a gospel theme right there. In one place the darkness of judgment and in the other the light of mercy.

Again, Pharaoh tries to negotiate. Go and worship, take your families, just leave the livestock. It sounds generous. Moses won’t take the deal. “Not a hoof is to be left behind.” Worship that doesn’t cost you everything isn’t worship.

Darkness fell over Egypt for three days. But the greater darkness is always in the hearts of people who will not bend before God.

The question for us is this ancient one: what are we still negotiating with God over?

Pharaoh moves from refusal to negotiation.

He knows that his outright “no” is only escalating the plagues. Resistance to God often looks like a compromise. Instead of a slammed door, it is one that is slightly open, you can show obedience but it isn’t complete.

“Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realise that Egypt is ruined?” ⁸ Then Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “Go, worship the Lord your God,” he said. “But tell me who will be going.” ⁹ Moses answered, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the Lord.” ¹⁰ Pharaoh said, “The Lord be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.¹¹ No! Have only the men go and worship the Lord, since that’s what you have been asking for.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence. ¹² And the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail.” ¹³ So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; ¹⁴ they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—everything growing in the fields and the fruit on the trees. Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. ¹⁷ Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.” ¹⁸ Moses then left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. ¹⁹ And the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea. Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. ²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.” (Exodus 10 v 7-20)

Egypt was in ruins, “How long will this man be a snare to us?” they asked. Even his own advisors could see what Pharaoh refused to see.

If your enemy cannot stop your desire to worship God, he will certainly introduce the idea of compromise.

Only men can go and worship. Moses was told to leave the women, the children and the flocks behind.

But God doesn’t negotiate when it comes to surrender.

So the locusts come. Again Pharaoh repents. “I have sinned,” he says. But the moment the pressure lifts, again so does the repentance.

This ancient story continues to ask us the question: are you offering God a negotiated worship?

God has never wanted a token. He wants young and old, everything you have and are.

Christ didn’t die for part of you. He didn’t hold back an arm on the cross so you could hold back a portion of your heart.

Has God got all of you today?

How long will you refuse to humble yourself?

That question isn’t for the Pharaohs of this world. It is for everyone who is introduced to the way of the cross.

“The Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them ² that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord.” ³ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. ⁴ If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. ⁵ They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. ⁶ They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.” (Exodus 10 v 1-6)

Our lives are not only about here and now, and they are not centred solely around this generation. Look at verse 2 “so that you may tell your children and grandchildren.

God performs His signs so that generations to come will know who He is. Coupled with this, your obedience today is a testimony for tomorrow to someone who hasn’t even been born yet.

But here comes the central question of the passage. “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (v3)

God’s question to Pharaoh was about the condition of his heart. Every plague was another opportunity to repent. But pride kept Pharaoh from bowing before the Lord.

Not “how long will you refuse to obey.” But how long will you refuse to humble yourself? Pharaoh’s problem was pride. He would rather watch his nation devoured than bow his knee.

Where Pharaoh refused to humble himself and was broken, Christ humbled himself and was exalted (Philippians 2:8-9).

The question hasn’t changed in three thousand years. How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Him?

The next time you are in an argument. The next time you are thinking of storming out of the church door because ‘there’s no love here’, the next time pride rises within you so that you will not back down because you are right; the next time you are about to write someone off; the next time that you are about to win and someone is about to lose, think of these verses:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very natureof a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2: 5-8)

This is the ultimate passage because it reveals a decision made by Jesus in His pre-earthly state. That decision said, “Today, it is not about me.”

Of all that is in heaven, Jesus, Son of God, part of the Godhead, is hearing cries day and night, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.” Beings are laying prostrate, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. “ (Revelation 4) From this position of power and of who He really is, He said, “Today it’s not about me.”

The Yiddish writer I. L. Peretz tells a famous story called “If Not Higher.” In it, a rabbi is believed to ascend to heaven every Friday morning for several hours. His devoted disciples boast that during those hours their rabbi goes up to heaven and talks to God. A stranger moves into town and he’s sceptical about all this, so he decides to check things out. He hides and watches. The rabbi gets up in the morning, says his prayers, and then dresses in peasant clothes. He grabs an axe, goes off into the woods and cuts some firewood, which he then hauls to a shack on the outskirts of the village. There an old woman and her sick son love. He leaves them the wood, enough for a week, and then sneaks back home. Having observed the rabbi’s actions, the newcomer stays on in the village and becomes his disciple. And whenever he hears one of the villagers say, “On Friday morning our rabbi ascends all the way to heaven, “the newcomer quietly adds, “If not higher.” Have we forgotten the way to heaven?

So here’s the question for today. Not “will you obey” for you can obey and still be proud. The question is, will you humble yourself?

Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” Christ answered that question with a towel and a basin, and then with a cross.

What is your faith like on the day of calamity? That is an easier question to answer than – what is your faith like on the day of sunshine and blessings.

“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 up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 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. Give an order now to bring your 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.’ ” Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field. 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 of Egypt; 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. 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. 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.” 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.” (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.) 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 ‭9‬:‭13‬-‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Some believed for they feared the word of the Lord. They took God seriously enough to move their people and animals indoors. Others shrugged their shoulders and didn’t. 

Nothing has changed.

Some people believe what they hear and others don’t. 

The response to the hailstorm is what we see today 

“I have sinned,” Pharaoh says. “The Lord is in the right.” It sounds like repentance. Some may have been convinced. “Pharaoh is saved!” This could have been the declaration.

But Moses isn’t fooled. He knows what will happen. It’s happened before. 

“I know …”

It’s when the rain stops and the sky clears, when conviction has lifted and we start to feel better about life, at that moment, what is the state of our heart then?

Think on this.

Crisis-shaped sorrow isn’t repentance, cross-shaped is. The crisis always ends but Jesus calls us to carry the cross all our lives. 

Think on this.

It’s never obedience after you’ve heard the thunder and seen the hail, but when the sky is still blue.

The officials who obeyed had to walk past neighbours who weren’t moving in the same direction. Maybe they had to explain themselves and maybe they had to look foolish.

“The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.” 

This wasn’t because Israel was better but because they belonged to the one sending the storm.

This is our testimony. We stand in a different place to the world around us. Storms will come but we belong to the storm-giver and that means we have a future!

By now Pharaoh has seen water turn to blood, frogs overrun the palace, gnats and flies fill the air and livestock struck down. Now judgment has arrived on the bodies of the population.

“Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “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.” 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. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 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 ‭9‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭

The soot came from the same furnaces that had scorched Israelite backs, making bricks, under Egyptian taskmasters. Moses tossed it into the air, and it became fine dust over the whole land. Boils broke out on people and animals.

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them. The men who had mimicked Moses’ signs, who had told Pharaoh “this is the finger of a god” are now covered in sores, unable even to appear before the king they serve. The counterfeit collapses. Praise the Lord, it still does, eventually!

Incredibly the saddest part of this passage is not the plague of boils itself but it is Pharaoh’s heart. We may rightfully wonder how many times can someone still deny God. Pride blinded him to the truth, and his continued rebellion left him unable to respond to God’s call.

Sometimes God allows uncomfortable circumstances not merely to reveal His power but to draw us closer to Him. The question is whether we are willing to listen. 

May we never become so resistant that we ignore the gentle conviction of the Holy Spirit.