When the LORD judges - Exodus 7:19-8:19

Opening Announcements, Worship Preparation, and Prayer

Praise God. Well, welcome Faith Bible Church. This is a church family, isn't it? It really is. And that's the way the Lord would have it. And we're blessed to call this home. And so good to see you all here.

God is blessing so many of us in many different ways. For announcements, ladies, there's going to be a special ladies Bible study this coming Saturday. It's a ladies social. Normally that's done in December, but through a variety of different concerns and things that were going on, moved it to the beginning of the year.

So this is a good way, ladies, to start the year off, to gather together. I know you always have a blessed time when you get together. And so that's going to be this coming Saturday, the 15th at 10 o 'clock.

And they're also going to be having a brunch and a special speaker and hope all ladies, you can all make it. So spread the word. If you know some ladies that aren't here today, let them know. Okay. Okay.

I think that's it for announcements. As we prepare our hearts for worship today and starting this new year, I think it's a good idea to keep certain things in mind. I wanted to read Colossians 3, 16 and 17.

It says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

And if we can only capture that and carry that with us this year, even in this morning, as we worship together and we sing together and we hear God's word spoken to us, preached to us. And what a blessing Pastor Ilgen is.

I'd like to just encourage you to, if you could make it out for a Bible study in the morning at 9 .30. Some of the nuggets and the richness of the Psalms that are being brought out are just really wonderful.

And the scriptures are so deep. If you take the time to study them, it is amazing, but we serve an awesome God. He is infinite. How can we ever come close to tapping the richness of that? But let's try to at least try to skim it or go deeper.

So, okay, well, let's opening in prayer together. Lord God, we do thank you, Father, that you have brought this church family together, Father, by your providence, for your purposes and for your glory, Father.

We thank you that you care for those that aren't here today, those that are sick and ill, that are struggling, Father, possibly emotionally and spiritually, Lord, that you are the great healer. You will care for them far greater than we can, but God may you have your hand upon them today.

And we pray for those that are here, Lord, with the many concerns on their own hearts, Father, that this might be a time of rest and reflection, reflecting on you, that we would do that this morning, Father, that we would give you glory by giving you our full attention and remembering how great and mighty you are, that you have overcome every ill and every sin that ever could come across our paths, because you are a holy God and full of mercy and grace.

So, God, we thank you for this morning. Thank you and look forward to your work in our hearts and our lives, that we would honor you and praise you in every way, Father. We thank you and give you praise in Christ's name.

Amen.

Call to Worship from Psalm 118 and Psalm 106

Psalm 118 verse 29 says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.

And let's stand and sing. This morning I'm going to be reading from Psalm 106.

Verses 1 through 12. Psalms 106 verses 1 through 12. Praise ye the Lord, oh give me thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can shew forth all his praises?

Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, oh Lord, with the favor that thou barest unto thy people. Oh, visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of my chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt, they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

Nevertheless, he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths as through the wilderness, and he saved them from the hand of him that hated them.

And he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy, and the waters covered their enemies. There was not one of them left. Then believed they his words, they sang his praise. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of these words.

Let's continue in song, and let's stand. I think it's always a blessing to hear the children during the worship music, and the fact that we can worship together intergenerationally like that. So please turn with me to Exodus chapter 7, verse 19, to chapter 8, verse 19.

So Exodus chapter 7, verse 19, to Exodus chapter 8, to verse 19. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, say to Aaron, take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood.

And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the Lord commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the side of Pharaoh and in the side of his servants.

And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died. The river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this.

So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river. And the Lord spoke to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, onto your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.

And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses said to Pharaoh, Accept the honor of saying, When I shall intercede for you, for your servants and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.

So he said, Tomorrow. And he said, Let it be according to your word, and you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people.

They shall remain in the river only. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. So the Lord did according to the word of Moses.

And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

So the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast.

All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.

Then the magician said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that we are able to serve and know the living God.

Father, we thank you that you have saved us from all judgments, because that was poured on Christ. Father, as we read and learn about the judgments today, we pray that we would have an extra grateful heart, for what Christ has done for us, so that we would not have to face the judgment that Egypt did, in Jesus name.

The Pattern of the Ten Plagues and the Warning of Divine Judgment

There are 10 plagues that God sent to Egypt. And there is a distinct pattern to how the plagues are categorized, how they are written about, how they're structured. Although the 10th plague, the grand finale, the Passover, is not grouped with the previous nine, the first nine plagues follow a distinct pattern.

First, all of these plagues can be grouped together into three. So one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven, eight, nine. Not only that, the first plague of each cycle, so the first plague, the fourth plague, and then the seventh plague, they all occur in the morning, when Pharaoh is confronted outside.

And the narratives are long for those first plagues of the three. The second cycle of plagues of the triplets, so the second, the fifth, and the eighth plagues, Pharaoh is confronted inside his court.

The third cycle of the plagues, the third, the sixth, the ninth, there is limited confrontation with Pharaoh, and the narratives remain really short. Hence, the plague about the lice was only a couple of verses.

Because of that, we will take a look at a set of three plagues at a time to learn about when God judges a wicked nation. Today's text shows us that both the first and the third plagues start when Aaron strikes something with the staff.

The first one being the water, and then the third one being the dust. All three plagues require Aaron to stretch out his hand over the land of Egypt, and the object of all three judgments is the land of Egypt.

It is the nation of Egypt that is getting judged, and each plague intensifies in the harm being done, and then the recipient of people affected by it, it grows. For example, the first plague barely affects Pharaoh, but by the second plague, Pharaoh will plead with Moses to take that away.

And this morning, we will see three different plagues with three different responses by the nation that is judged by the Lord. This is important for today, because judgment is coming. This is true in terms of the great judgment when Jesus comes back to judge everything, everyone, but it is also true for the many judgments that will come before the final judgment.

After all, plagues, famines, and natural disasters occur in the world as God's judgment against the rebellious people of the world. Now, this is not to say that every natural disaster that we can plug it into, it's like, ah, that's because this sin, or ah, because it's this type of people, this institution.

Now, I'm not arguing that we can do that, right? Unless God reveals it to us, we don't have enough knowledge to say, ah, that earthquake, that's because of so and so. However, we don't want to also take the opposite view where it says God doesn't judge anymore, right?

God still has the authority to judge wicked people. After all, God has been judging nations and even churches for their disobedience, disobedience for millennia, right? Babylon was judged, even though Babylon itself was a judgment for Judah.

And then after that, Persia was judged, so on. Rome was judged. All of these empires don't exist anymore because they were judged for their rebellion against God. I'll give you a specific example in the United States.

In 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, ELCA, gathered in Minnesota to discuss the denomination's view on homosexuality. Of course, it wasn't going the way of the Bible. They were trying to make it allowable.

In fact, they set up beer tents outside the convention center, preaching that Jesus made mistakes and had to come to his senses. Quite a blasphemous view of Christ because he is sinless. On that day, although no weather channels have forecasted this, a tornado formed in the city, Minneapolis, and it went straight toward the convention center.

The tornado destroyed the beer tents in which they were preaching a blasphemous message of regarding Christ. And not only that, it tore down the large iron cross that was on top of the steeple of central Lutheran.

For months, the cross remained upside down as they tried to repair it. In fact, the tornado did not destroy anything else in that city. No person was killed. No car was flipped over. Just the beer tents and the iron cross that once was standing tall at the central Lutheran.

The text today is important for us because we have a righteous God who still has the full authority to judge. And the question that this text asks us this morning is what happens when the Lord judges?

The First Plague: Blood in the Waters of Egypt

What happens when the Lord judges? First, when the Lord judges a wicked nation, the common people, the commoners suffer first. When the Lord judges a wicked nation, the common people suffer first. Previously, the Lord announced that He will send the plagues in order for Egypt to know that who the Lord is.

So, in verse 19, the Lord commands Aaron to perform the first plague. Say to Aaron, take your rod, stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over the streams, over the rivers, over their ponds, over all the pools of water, that they may become blood.

And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone. The command here shows the ubiquity of God's judgment against Egypt. It's everywhere. The judgment is not just in one location, but the whole nation.

It is not just a major river, the Nile, that will be turned into blood, but any water that are on the surface of Egypt, any surface water of Egypt will turn into blood. The order in verse 19 moves from literally moving water to stagnant water, water that does not move, right?

Streams, rivers, ponds, pools of water, and even in the wooden buckets and the pitchers. There is no drop of water the Lord cannot turn into blood. While Egypt believed the deity over the Nile had control over the river, the Lord will show all of Egypt that He has control over all the waters of Egypt, not just the Nile.

Every drop the Lord has control over. There is no single drop of water that is beyond the Lord's sovereign rule. Verse 20 tells us that Aaron and Moses followed through precisely as the Lord commanded.

The second half of the verse shows us that there were witnesses to the start of the first plague. It's in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

When the Lord performs a sign, He does not have to do it secretly like the Pharaoh's magicians. He does it publicly and precisely as He has said He would. And this also shows that the Nile turning into blood was not a natural phenomenon, but was a precise act of God.

Even God's enemies got to witness this act lest they try to explain it away. Right? In the modern days, many liberal theologians try to explain it away saying, oh, this was a natural occurrence with the sediments building up with the mineralization of Nile and it turns reddish color.

But the act of God has, it's done at the right time, at the right moment that God said He would do. And it's not just the river here. It's even the water that's in the wooden containers. How can you explain that?

Verses 21 through 25 tell us the result of the first plague. First, verse 21 tells us who was directly affected by God's judgment. The fish that were in the river died and the river stank and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river.

So there was blood all throughout all the land of Egypt. There are three most impacted figures. First, the fish in the river. They died. They died even though they didn't rebel against God, but the nation of Egypt did.

But by the consequence of God's judgment, the fishes died. Second, the commoners of Egypt who relied on the river for drinking water, they were greatly inconvenienced. They could no longer go to the second largest river in the whole world for water.

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. And all the land of Egypt witnessed this plague because all the surface water turned into blood. It didn't matter whether your neighborhood was not by the Nile, you didn't have the nice scenic view.

Well, your picture of water that you set out for you to drink, that turned into blood all of a sudden because of Pharaoh's disobedience. Because of Pharaoh's disobedience, the first casualties are the fish of the Nile.

Because of Pharaoh's hardened heart, the common Egyptians lost their main source of water. Imagine if your tap water is not drinkable anymore or the filter system breaks down, but it happens for the whole city.

Because of Pharaoh's wicked mind, all the land of Egypt witnessed their collected water turned into blood. They had to find a new source of water that morning when they woke up. There was no part of Egypt that the Lord's judgment left untouched.

It was a visible sign of who the Lord is. Verses 22 to 23 show us the response of God's first judgment from Pharaoh and his court. Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them as the Lord had said.

And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. First, the magicians can only imitate God's plague. However, they're unable to undo the plague, right? They're not able to turn the blood back into water.

They can only copy at a small scale. It is like a child assembling a toy house and pretending it's a real house. It's a small scale. Pharaoh's response is that of stubborn unbelief. He does not care that his people are suffering because of the judgment that he deserved.

Instead, he hardens his heart and goes into his house. That's important. He goes into his house. Why does he go into his house? Pharaoh will no longer be affected by the first plague if he is not near the river.

After all, Pharaoh does not have to dig along the Nile to get drinkable water. He has servants doing that for him, right? Pharaoh's not getting his fingers dirty to get water. All Pharaoh needs to do is to stop looking outside, and he can avoid the stench of death along the Nile.

In one sense, Pharaoh is not directly affected by the first judgment. He just lost his scenic view for a while. Verses 24 to 25, however, show us the effect of God's judgment on the nation of Egypt. Even if Pharaoh doesn't suffer, the nation does.

So, all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink because they could not drink water from the river. And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river. Even if Pharaoh is unaffected by the first plague, his people were greatly affected.

They had to find a new source of potable water. So, they dug around the river for any groundwater as groundwater wasn't affected by the first plague. And this continued on, not just a day, but for seven days.

And what is the significance of this? Imagine the Egyptians are digging around the river to survive. Each shovel full of dirt would remind them why they have to dig around the world's second largest river ever.

They've depended on this for thousands of years. But all of a sudden, they have to dig around it in order to get water. And every time they dig, it is because of the God of their slaves who judged their land.

The deity of their slaves was superior to the God of the Nile. And this happened for seven days as they're digging by the river. And that's the stink of death pierces their nostrils. They would realize their Nile God failed to restore the river.

The second day, still blood. The third day, still blood. The fourth day, still blood. The fifth day, still blood. The sixth day, still blood. The seventh day, still blood. Is the Lord, the Hebrew God, actually stronger than our God?

That's the type of thought that would be going in their minds as they're digging for water for seven days straight. Is the God of our slaves actually more powerful than our gods? Who is the Lord? Just from the first plague, the Lord was accomplishing what He promised in chapter 7, verse 5.

And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. For seven days, they got to experience who the Lord is. And He was better than their gods. When God judges a wicked nation, it is all too common that the common people suffer first.

The nation's rulers often has protection from the plague. They get carried out by the helicopter when the earthquake strikes. They have bunkers to hide into when there are riots. But when God judges a wicked nation, the great majority of people suffer.

And this does not bode well for America. We live in a country that has legally murdered over 60 million unborn babies since the wicked Supreme Court took the right to live away from these babies. And I don't even know what kind of judgment America will face over time for that kind of crime against humanity, that kind of crime against people made in the image of God, 10 times more than what Hitler did to the Jews.

Yet we celebrate it. Media celebrates it. People boast on social media. And this is an important call for the church to go on our knees to pray for this nation. Christians will be saved. Their souls are eternally secure.

But this wicked nation is in long overdue for a judgment, for the sin against God. And we have to go on our knees for God's mercy and grace, that people would repent and turn back to God and not lean on their own understanding.

Nothing but a great merciful act of God could turn his rightful judgment away from this nation. We must pray for our leaders. We must pray for our neighbors, because nothing but their changed hearts by the gospel of Jesus will actually change their mind that their view of abortion is wrong.

Our goal as the church, our prayer as the church, is not for them to become more conservative, but for them to be saved, so that they actually live as saved people under the worldview of the Bible. That's the only hope we have.

And who knows, we might see a judgment that far surpasses what Egypt has seen in our lifetime. May God have mercy on us. Second, what happens when God shows mercy to the wicked nation? Although God graciously shows mercy, a wicked nation hardens its heart.

Although God graciously shows mercy, a wicked nation hardens its heart. The beginning of the second plague starts similarly to that of the first. The Lord commanded Moses to warn Pharaoh. Verse one commands Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me.

Here, the demand is no longer a temporary worship service in the wilderness. Now God is demanding Pharaoh to let his people go once and for all. It is a total freedom to serve the Lord. It is a complete change of master.

God will not settle for anything less than the total freedom of his people to serve his, their rightful master, their true master, the Lord. Verses two through four describe the judgment that will fall on Egypt when Pharaoh refuses God's command.

But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. So the river shall be bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.

And the frog shall come up on you, on your people, and all your servants. The irony of this plague is that it takes away the escape route that Pharaoh used during the first plague. Remember during the first plague, he went to his house to avoid the effects of the bloody Nile.

He didn't have to see it. He didn't want to see it. And he got drinkable water from his servants. Out of sight, out of mind. Now the judgment will come to him. God depicts the plague that starts from the Nile.

Where does it directly go? His house. Pharaoh's house. Not only that, not just his palace, to his bedroom. Not only that, onto his bed. Pharaoh's most intimate personal space will be filled with God's judgment.

And he will not only see it, but he will feel it. It will be slimy. It will be squished. And it will affect whomever is associated with Pharaoh. The frogs will go into the houses of his servants. Before the Lord came to judge Egypt, it was a privilege to be associated with Pharaoh.

It was a privilege to be part of Pharaoh's inner circle. When the Lord came to judge Egypt, it became a curse to be associated with Pharaoh. Furthermore, this plague also will be ubiquitous. It will strike all the land of Egypt.

It will be unavoidable. The frogs from the Nile will be on, on the Egyptians, right? They'll be on them, on their skin. Their skin will touch their slimy skin. In their ovens, it will be on their tools that they need the most every day.

How are they going to cook? They're going to, well, they're going to be cooking with frogs. They're kneading bowls. They're going to have to keep on removing frogs as they keep jumping back in. And verse four summarizes the comprehensive impact of this judgment.

And the frog shall come up on you, that's Pharaoh, on your people, and on your servants. They will be climbing and jumping on you, whether you like it or not. And this time, even Pharaoh will not be able to escape this plague.

After Pharaoh rejects the command, the Lord initiates the second plague via Aaron in verse five. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, say to Aaron, stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

Verse six shows Aaron's obedience, which leads to God's Word being fulfilled. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. They covered it. Again, the Lord's judgment did not leave any part of Egypt untouched.

The Lord has full control over Egypt. The Lord, whether Egyptians acknowledged it or not, is sovereign over Egypt and the nature of Egypt. The Lord did not need any permission from the Egyptian gods to initiate his second plague.

He can judge a foreign nation because that's who he is. He has authority to judge even the nations that don't acknowledge him. He need not to ask permission. Verse seven shows that the magicians imitated the plague on a small scale, but this time Pharaoh, in his desperation, could not ignore Moses.

In verse eight, he calls up Aaron and Moses, entreat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me, from my people, and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord. The fact that Pharaoh asked Moses to entreat the Lord to take away the frogs means he is acknowledging that the Lord has authority over Egypt.

This is the first time Pharaoh acknowledges the power of the Lord. Pharaoh has nowhere to hide as the frogs have infiltrated his most personal space, and he is forced to admit who the Lord is. Pharaoh has to entreat the Lord instead of his many gods because he has to admit only the Lord can take away the frogs.

Whether he knows it or not, he implicitly acknowledges that the Lord is superior to all of his Egyptian gods. In verse eight, Moses graciously accepts Pharaoh's request. The honor is yours to tell me when shall I plead for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile.

To this, Pharaoh replies, tomorrow. That is assumed to be the earliest possible date because to intercede, unlike our most prayers today when it can be done in five seconds, intercession in the ancient days took a long time.

So for Pharaoh, the earliest possible time would have been tomorrow, not today. And Moses confidently replies in verses 10 through 11, may it be according to your word so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

The frogs will depart from you and your houses and from your servants and your people, they will be left only in the Nile. Moses is confident that the judge of the world is also the deliverer. The one who has the full authority to judge has the full authority to show mercy.

That's how it is in our lives. The one who can judge is the one who can show us deepest mercy. That's why Christ had to die. He was the only one who could show us mercy by taking on our sin on the cross because he's also the judge.

The judge decides how one is redeemed. The judge is the redeemer. Verses 12 to 15 show exactly that, a deliverance. When Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs of the land, verse 13 show us that the Lord did according to the word of Moses.

The frogs died when Moses interceded for Pharaoh and Egypt. They all died at the same time so that the piles of the dead frogs were all over the land. And while the last plague, the water stank, this time the land stank.

God was merciful in ending the plague at the intercession of Moses. God had compassion on the wicked nation for Moses' sake. Yet, Pharaoh hardened his heart once again, despite God's mercy and grace, according to verse 15.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the Lord had said. For this evil ruler, God's mercy did not lead him to repentance, but further hardening. That's how twisted he was.

He could not see the vast grace of God's mercy in ending this plague early. And this is a common occurrence in church history. Whenever the church is going downhill, God raises up someone who is devoted to His word, who is delighted in the gospel, and a revival happens, a reformation happens, and then that instance of mercy only lasts so long.

After they die, the nation or nations go back to their filthy ways, if not worse off than before. There are so many pastors, so many brave and godly men and women of God whom God raised up to turn the tide of the nations.

I'm thinking of pastors like Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, or even in this country, Jonathan Edwards. One might even say Billy Graham. But after a certain time, the mercy that God gave to the nations, the nations don't quite repent.

They're relieved but they don't repent, right? Can we imagine Western Europe right now, how immoral and impure it is, and what kind of filth they celebrate? But that was the continent in which the reformation started, when God raised up leaders to point the church back to the true gospel, to be saved through faith alone, through grace alone.

Yet they, even the churches that named themselves after Luther, as we have seen earlier, do not quite follow what Luther has preached, right? They have totally degraded who Christ is. And that's how sinful we are.

That's how sinful the world is. Even when the nation, the wicked nation, has shown mercy, we go astray. Even if mercy comes to us face to face, look us in the eyes, we'll turn away. That's the depravity of human soul.

Yet God is still merciful to save even one of us. And God is still merciful to sustain His church until Christ comes back. Third, when the Lord judges a wicked nation, they have to confess the Lord's superiority.

When the Lord judges a wicked nation, they have to confess the Lord's superiority. After Pharaoh hardened his heart, again the Lord speaks to Moses to commission him for the third time. Verse 16, say to Aaron, stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the land so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Depending on the translation, the third plague is lice, mosquitoes, or even gnats. It is hard to precisely know what type of insect it was, but we know that it was some sort of biting insect. And Moses' main job was not to describe insects, but the effect of the plague.

So we can't be sure. So if your translation goes with lice, gnats, or mosquitoes, go with that. They were just very annoying insects that sucked the blood out of men and beasts. While the first plague started when Aaron struck the river, the third plague starts when Aaron strikes the dust of the land.

The Lord rules over not just the waters, but land as well. And this is an important point for a paganistic worldview, because they had deity for everything. God of the Nile, God of the sand, God of the frogs, God of the cats, God of the dust.

Yet Moses is not introducing a new deity. Now this time my other God will strike for the third plague. No, it's the same Lord. The Lord rules over all. And that is a transformative, it's a new view in the ancient world.

There is one deity who rules over all. To quote Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian, there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry mine.

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry mine. The Lord is the Lord of all, whether they like it or not. Verse 17 shows us the result of this plague.

And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Just like the previous two plagues, we see the pervasiveness of this plague. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. When God judges, he makes it clear that it is not a natural phenomenon.