The Second Plague

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Exodus 8 and the Pattern of Divine Judgment

Exodus after having spent some time last week in Colossians 1 3 through 15. I won't pop quiz anyone if they still know it. It's good to refresh every now and then after you put in so much work to Remember it and certainly Psalm 99 is is gone.

I don't know about you. It is for me. So it's good to keep up with things even every now and then bust off the rust. But we want to press on in the narrative this morning in Exodus chapter 8. We see first God giving a demand and then we see Pharaoh's response to that demand.

And that'll occupy our times we see Not only Pharaoh's initial repentance. But then what happens after he finds relief and we want to highlight that with four points of application at the end. So let's get to it.

First we see God's demands. Exodus 8. Beginning in verse 1 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 on your bed Into the houses of your servants on your people into your ovens into your kneading bowls.

And the frog 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 frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

So The demand is given and this is going to be a formula and the chapters to come let my people Go. That will be the constant refrain the constant challenge that rattles in Pharaoh's eardrums. This is going to be repeated in verse 20 in this chapter 9 1 9 13 10 3.

And then we'll move on from there to that faithful 10th plague in the night of the Passover. We remember that Pharaoh's heart is hard and you remember that was the case two weeks ago where we left off his heart Remains hard after all that we saw in chapter 7 we spoke of that judicial hardening of God that is upon Pharaoh and yet does not render Pharaoh to be a puppet or robotic.

Pharaoh's Exercising his will freely in terms of the bondage of his sin such that he is left without Excuse as every sinner is left without excuse before God God exercises judicial hardening and yet in such a way that he is not the author of sin.

Neither is the actor or the agent removed from their own responsibility or culpability. Aaron unlike Pharaoh obeys what the Lord commands. So we read verse 6. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt.

Significant language here we've already seen the detail in the first plague with the Nile turning to blood that the Rod was to be stretched over five different descriptions of water. Over the river over the pools the streams the ponds all the bodies of water and we're gonna see that language.

Here again with this plague if you remember I mentioned this maybe a few months ago Egypt is really depicted as the land of waters. We began Exodus and the only way into Egypt as it were into Pharaoh's court was through water and the only way the Israelites are coming out is through water.

So as far as the evil Empire is concerned It's hedged in by water and here all of the waters speak to this evocative image. Of course water is a picture of sometimes chaos in the Hebrew Bible more importantly death or Sheol and so we have even with this plague of frogs this imagery of Egypt being like the watery grave the place of death like Sheol itself and yet God exercises his power over this land of death over this corruption among his people and the frogs we read come up and Covered the land of Egypt.

We read past these things so quickly without imagining what the details would be like. What would it be like to experience this play? Few weeks ago. My girls were so delighted. We often go to the fountain across the common to see if there's any tadpoles swimming around.

With a red solo cup in hand to scoop them up. We haven't seen any yet, but the Lord blessed them one week where we found a poor toad hiding behind a tree. You could have had that poor toad. He was having a great day until five toddlers showed up poking at him with a stick.

Throwing him into the fountain, but with one toe there was this fascination and delight. I wonder if that st. Delight would have been there if they couldn't sleep because frogs were Slimely sort of crawling all over them in the middle of the night and every time they opened the microwave or the refrigerator or the car Door frogs just spilled out everywhere.

They looked frogs were hopping about. The term frogs as RA Cole points out in his commentary. It's probably an onomatopoeia. In other words a word in the original that sounds like the noise it makes. And so it most likely is related to croaker.

That would be like the sort of translation that works. Every language has its own unique way of understanding the call of a frog if you're familiar with Puerto Rico. They have the little cookies and that's how they hear ribbit.

It's funny how that works. You could talk to other cultures that maybe our brother could help us with Italian. I don't know what the Scots do for ribbits. But here we have croakers the croakers coming out of the Nile most likely the Israelites being those who had dwelt in Canaan didn't have a lot of Experience with frogs.

The Egyptians certainly did and here it's almost comical. I think God does have a sense of humor and look at this plague that he sends. Here's the evil Empire the global power of the world at this time.

And yet they can be set almost to the brink of a collapse just by having one Creature grow too much in abundance and be out of its place. Think of that for a moment. God just takes one of his creatures.

Multiplies it exceedingly and takes it out of its natural habitat and that's enough to bring a world power near the brink of disaster. All by one creature. We're gonna see that again with lice and with gnats and with locusts locusts covering the land as Spurgeon said in his great exposition.

God has never had a loss for means. He can use lions or he can use lice. He can use famines or he can use flies in the armory of God. There is a weapon of every kind from the stars and all of their courses above down to the caterpillars on the ground.

God can do whatever he wants and he can use essentially any little thing that he has made to bring The human race to knots or the evil Empire to not. Here he chooses frogs frogs frogs and more frogs and he's sending these frogs out of their domain in the Nile.

Oh the places you'll go. They come into your house. Into your bed. That's the most disturbing one. It's one thing to throw it out of the old Crockpot, but in your bed when you're trying to sleep. In the houses of your servants on your people on your ovens into your kneading bowls.

There's no escape from these frogs and notice that this is all directed at Pharaoh personally. They're going to be in your bedroom. They're going to be in your bed. They're going to be in the houses of your servants on your people.

This is first beginning with Pharaoh and then from Pharaoh spreading out to affect all of the Egyptians and again notice. The Israelites seem to be untouched just as we saw with the first plague. We don't read of Israelites digging for water.

Neither. Do we deal of God's people dealing with these frogs? Perhaps there's relative safety in the land of Goshen where they had been dwelling. These frogs are now finally touching Pharaoh in a way that the first plague hadn't Magicians had access to clear water apparently Pharaoh did as well.

It was unfortunate as people had to deal with all the blood, but he didn't so he hardened his heart but here This plague is beginning to affect his private life. And so we read Psalm 105 29 the only time frogs is used again in Scripture or seems to be in reference to this plague.

Psalm 105 is an example. He turned their waters into blood killed their fish their land abounded with frogs. Even in the chambers of their kings. So now this is directly affecting Pharaoh. Now frogs in the ancient Egyptian mind were divinized.

They were seen as semi divine creatures and they were respected as such one of the main Egyptian goddesses. Connected to fertility was the goddess Hekhet and Hekhet was Associated not only with fertility but also was seen to assist with childbirth.

That's the irony. Here's the their God of fertility and there's a little too much fertility going on. God's making what they would have seen as the blessings of Hekhet into a curse upon the land. And as we saw with the first plague with the the Nile turning to blood enigmatic or we could almost say a sort of Forced memory of when the Israelite sons were thrown into that bloody River even here we can see perhaps a an answering of that great crime as Desmond Alexander points out.

By stating that the Nile will swarm or team with frogs. We have a link with Exodus chapter 1 verse 7. Do you remember it was then that Pharaoh said the whole land is swarming with these people with these Hebrews?

So then what will we do about it? Will kill all of their newborn sons. And so here that Particular verb swarm draws us back to Exodus 1 in both cases. The land was being filled again. We have God confronting Egypt with her national guilt in this sense.

Also, this second plague points to the more devastating plague to come the tenth plague where God will not just Enigmatically remind them of the death of the firstborn Hebrews, but will quite literally take away the firstborn Egyptians verse 7.

The magicians run to the rescue or at least they try we read they did so with their enchantments. They brought up frogs on the land of Egypt to now here. Of course the text says they did so with their enchantments.

We have to let the text speak. But I would think any Egyptian could have made this enchantment work if frogs are everywhere in the land. Essentially, all they have to do is go Ta-da.

More frogs.

Not hard to replicate the real enchantment would have been removing the frogs which they couldn't even get out of Pharaoh's bedsheets. We see again these magicians. They're about to be outgunned. They could hang for two plagues with the third plague.

They completely surrender. We never hear from them again. And as we saw last time, they're only able to copy the plague which in the irony of the story Actually increases the effectiveness of the plague.

They're adding more frogs when the whole plague is more frogs. That's a problem not a solution. Which is a reminder by the way That in our own day We should beware of modern-day wise men modern-day magicians who in trying to answer problems that most likely or direct Strikes from the hand of God often come up with greater problems rather than solutions.

They'll often find ways to make things far more far worse instead of making things better. If this were to happen today, what would the response be? I think it would be stopped traffic in all the major cities with climate change now posters, I Think it would be Greta Thunberg saying how dare you in her condescending shrill.

No one would connect this to the hand of God. That's what makes the surprising move of Pharaoh that he connects it to the hand of God. I don't know that that would happen in our day and age. We would have all of our magicians come out to speak of climate disaster in the end of civilization as we know it.

Let's talk about this play in light of the ten. Some see the plagues as paired. There seems to be something to say about the various ways you can connect the dots of the ten plagues. So we're not committing to anyone but appreciating them all.

The first two plagues deal specifically with the Nile. The next two plagues will deal with Insects or things of the air then things of the cattle then things of the crops then thing of things of the land and the people.

Themselves, so there seems to be a pairing of plagues in terms of order. There also seems to be a connection between the first and the tenth. The blood that is shed the second and the ninth where we have the the Nile again producing frogs nocturnal creatures of the night and then the ninth plague is that darkness spreading across the land and So on they seems to be paired as well in terms of cardinal order.

There also seems to be a progression with this plague. We begin with the water outside of their home in the first plague and now Frogs in their homes next lice upon their bodies and so forth. The real key is this Decreation is God's judgment.

Decreation is God's judgment. I hope you remember that from Genesis 1 through 11 there we talked about God as Creator and the emphasis on creation in Genesis 1 through 3 and then in the narrative from 3 forward.

We have man's response of rebellion to the Creator, which is counter creation. So you begin with creation then you have counter creation. God exercising judgment upon that rebellion in the form of Decreation rather than letting the waters recede.

He lets the waters rise up in the form of the flood. That's a D creative judgment and all of that brings about new creation Noah and a new Purchase on humanity as it were when we see the same Emphasis here God's judgment in the form of decreation.

You remember in the ideal pattern of creation? Mankind is to exercise dominion over the creatures that God has made. So the animals are made in their kind with man having rule over them to bring all of God's Decreation into order to be fruitful and multiply and exercise in this capacity as vice-regent Dominion over all of the creatures that God had made.

That's the order of Genesis 1 28. But here in judgment that order is disrupted by God rather than the logic of creation. We have the judgment of decreation. Now man is not exercising control over the animals.

The animals are beginning to invade the man. In fact that word swarm we've already mentioned it Exodus 1 here in Exodus 8. That's the same verb that's used in Genesis 1 20. When creation was swarming or teeming with creatures and God called that good.

Some swarming is good when it's in its proper place and it's proper proportion with man exercising dominion. But then quickly that swarming becomes something bad. Becomes something destructive again. One of the only other places in the Old Testament where frogs are mentioned Psalm 78 verse 45 he sent swarms of flies among them to devour them and swarms of frogs which.

Destroyed them.

Pharaoh's False Repentance and Hardening After Relief

So here we have the reversal of creation. Now all of this together leads to Pharaoh's response. We see initially Pharaoh is repentant beginning in verse 8. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. I just picture him flinging frogs off of his cloak as he does so Entreat the Lord that is plea or beg or pray to the Lord that he may take away the frogs for me and from my People and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the Lord.

Second plague in and this is just frogs and Pharaoh is already showing repentance. Moses could unfurl the mission accomplished banner. We did it. We thought it was gonna take a lot more than frogs. That wasn't so bad.

A bloody river and frogs and look at repentance. We're about to be freed. That's how he probably would have felt. This was such a surprising response. He must have been delighted. Of course Pharaoh was unconcerned unmoved completely with the Nile turned to blood.

Remember what we read in chapter 7. He turned went into his house. Hardened his heart. No heating of God's plague. But here this little inconvenience in his own personal life a few frogs between the pillow and all of a sudden He's ready to repent.

It goes to show the problem with sin. Most people could care less about the consequences of sin until they are Personally devastated personally affected by those consequences. It's why our society is the way it is right now.

People say well, I I certainly don't condone that I wouldn't do it personally. But I'm completely unconcerned about the consequences of these sins. Why. Well, they're not affecting my bottom line. They're not interrupting my personal life.

So I'm okay to let people in dog costumes march down the street and and Have grown men twerk in front of toddlers. I'm okay with that because it's not affecting my personal life. Well, that's a problem.

It's a problem when sin has no concern from the people of God and God's people don't care about the consequences so long as they are personally unaffected by those consequences. Some people go on even when they're affected personally.

They still have no regard for sin. Pharaoh is at least in that respect a leg ahead of many. He calls for Moses. He calls for Aaron. He knows he now is dependent upon them and for the first time he acknowledges the name of the Lord.

We read it right? Entreat the Lord. Entreat Yahweh. That he may take away the frogs from me in chapter 5. He said who is Yahweh. I don't know him. Neither will I heed him but here Pharaoh finally says Entreat Yahweh now I need Yahweh to remove this plague from me.

What a contrast in the first plague. We read Pharaoh's heart grew hard. He did not heed them. But now we read entreat the Lord. I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. That word entreat in Hebrew it comes most likely comes from the verb Atar which would mean to supplicate or make supplication to intercede.

Pharaoh's not saying make a polite request. He's he's begging Moses to intercede for him. This is how that verb is used across the Old Testament. In other words, we have Pharaoh at the end of this second plague recognizing Yahweh as Lord and Asking that he would be interceded for that Moses would go as his mediator and intercede for him with Yahweh.

So we have the contest and it seems so successful the all-powerful Pharaoh who should be vulnerable to this invasion upon his land who should be able to protect his people. Instead cannot keep even the frogs out of his own bedchamber now He's helpless and all of Egypt is vulnerable.

And so as the king who's unable to save his people He must go to the God Almighty the God who is mighty to save his own people. The most powerful man in the world is Reduced to begging Moses to beg for the Lord.

Let me say that again. The most powerful man in the world is reduced to begging Moses to beg for the Lord. That is the effect of the judgment of God he asks for prayer to remove the plague. And what do we see here?

Our prayers are more significant in the course of history than the rulers of the nations in the course of history. Though God's people often feel under the shadow of Babel under the thumb of the tyrant.

Their prayers are more effective to the course of history than the rulers of the mightiest nations on the earth. Do you know that our Thursday prayer meetings have more? Efficacy in terms of the course of the world than any g7 summit that's ever taken place.

Do you believe that? History is governed by God moving his people in and through prayer by hearing and responding to their prayers. Nations rise and they fall on the basis of the prayers of God's people.

If we see that anywhere we see it here and the narrative of Exodus. The whole fall of Egypt was precipitated by God's people crying. Well again, I say this response must have encouraged Moses. In fact, we see almost the delight in the way he responds.

Moses says to Pharaoh verse 9. Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you. He shows him a certain courtesy. First of all notice the meekness of Moses. As soon as Pharaoh shows any sign of relenting Moses is is all sorts of encouragement.

Yes, I will intercede for you. Moses doesn't say well, give me some time to think about it. You know, frankly you've just you've been really difficult and I don't know if I want to intercede for you know as soon as Stubborn Pharaoh shows any sign of relenting.

Moses says yes. In fact, you let me know when let me give you the courtesy. You tell me when and that's when I'll intercede for you. And that's when the plague will be removed. We see the meekness and almost the the joy of Moses for this response coming off of Pharaoh.

We see him returning good for evil. We show we see him showing appropriate respect. And this is exactly what Christians are called to do. We're not to be slow to give mercy nor we to forgo praying for those that are in authority over us.

We are to return blessing for cursing and good for evil. We see that with Moses even here Pharaoh answers tomorrow. I. He's probably assuming that is a hard ask. Probably this will take many many weeks.

It will take perhaps a life cycle some sort of natural phenomenon. Maybe there's some some doubt mixed in with this entreaty. He says tomorrow. Moses replies let it be according to your word that you may know.

There is no one like the Lord our God and the frogs shall depart from you from your houses from your servants from your people. They shall remain in the river only so this is what Redemption would look like not Decreation but rather everything being restored to its rightful order the right amount of frogs in the right place with man exercising dominion over them.

The Lord alone has the power to send and to relieve the plague. Moses knows this. Moses has enough faith to give Pharaoh the ball. You choose when to remove the plague when I go to intercede. God will be able to answer that now.

This is certainly a step of faith on Moses part. But also remember what God had charged Moses with. You shall be as God the Pharaoh. Essentially what you say to Pharaoh shall be. He's being governed according to the will of God.

He knows the purpose of God. He knows the hardening intent of God and he's simply being used in this way and yet it is a step of faith. He had to know that God truly was Sovereign over these creatures that God could in a moment as soon as Pharaoh gave the time Remove the plague from him and of course all of that is so that you may know Pharaoh's already calling out for Yahweh already calling for the plague to cease and Moses says you still need to know him more.

You know that he has power to bring the plague upon you, but there's still more you need to know about this Lord God. I'll do this so that you may know there's no one like the Lord our God. This is not the God of frogs.

This is the Lord God who created the heavens in the earth. That's essentially what Moses is saying. And if you rejected here, you'll see it in greater ways yet to come. You'll see it in boils. You'll see it in cattle.

You'll see it in darkness. You'll see it in the next generation of Egyptians being wiped down and if you reject it there. You'll see it as you watch your best soldiers drown in the Red Sea. All of this together demonstrates that Yahweh is the sovereign Lord Creator God over the heavens and the earth.

That is what every ruler must come to know. Verse 12. Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. How do you think that went? It must have been high-fiving. You know, let's let's go to market basket on the way home.

We got to get some prime rib. This is a night to celebrate. And of course Moses immediately cries out to the Lord. Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh that verb.

It's a very important verb. We've already seen it and we'll see it again. So ah it matches the crying out at the beginning of Exodus. When the the people were enslaved in misery and they cried out to God.

They were essentially begging for his help. They were though without an intercessor. They were interceding for themselves and so we see this commonly wherever a Fervent prayer a prayer out of trouble or desperation is offered.

It's often with this verb. Ah, it's often this form in treaty or supplicate. We see the truth what James said of the Prophet Elijah the prayers of a righteous man are effective. Pharaoh understood that Pharaoh desired that.

Wouldn't that be something to see in our nation? Rulers desiring righteous men and women to pray. Will you please pray to your God for me? Will you please pray for me? Wouldn't that be music to our ears?

We also see this is a further step of presenting Moses as the mediator God has appointed. He is now mediator as it were between Pharaoh and the Lord God and soon he'll be mediator in more deeper significant ways to God's own people and God himself in fact going on Pharaoh's behalf.

Though Pharaoh didn't deserve it Pharaoh was hard and stubborn and cruel. It would have been like begging for mercy upon a war criminal and yet Moses swallows his own sense of Pride his own will and and he in mercy and righteousness Supplicates to the Lord and that's going to only prepare him and help him when he has to deal with his own stubborn Hard-hearted cruel people and he has to in righteousness in holiness beg God to spare them and show them mercy.

He's learning how to do this here even here in chapter 8 we have a long way to go through Exodus and Numbers. Even here in chapter 8 Moses is being strengthened with all might according to God's glorious power for all Patience and long-suffering and he's developing it all with an earnest consistent and sustained life of prayer.

I Hope we'll see this again and again as we work through Exodus. Moses, of course according to the writer of Hebrews was a man of faith. Let me go a little bit further. Moses was a man of.

Prayer.

Moses was a man of prayer and these kinds of prayers from these kinds of men received this kind of answer. The Lord did according to the Word of Moses. Isn't that amazing? Moses cried out and the Lord did according to the Word of Moses.

What a simple exchange. Pharaoh and all of the people and all of the magicians and all the priests are all crying out and what does that crying amount to? More frogs. More misery. More plague. One righteous man Goes to the Lord and cries out.

And what's the instantaneous response? The Lord God did according to his prayer. All of the frogs died out of all of the houses out of all the courtyards all the fields and They gathered them together in heaps and the whole land stank.

What's worse than swarms of living frogs? Heaps of dead frogs, I would think. When I was in fifth or sixth grade, we had a little green tree frog. I don't know I must have done something right or my parents did something really wrong that we went to Petco and came home with a frog.

But we had this green little tree frog and we called it Elvis and every day when I got home from middle school I'd put a little cricket in his enclosure. And one day I came home and Elvis didn't seem to be too hungry.

In fact Elvis didn't seem to move at all. He seemed to be completely frozen and shriveling. And this was in the middle of a summer and probably didn't have enough water in his tank. And I'll never forget I think to this day what that smell was like when I removed the top of it.

It was disgusting and that was one little green tree frog. This is no exaggeration to say the land stank. And so the Ebeneezer's of this plague are all around the Egyptians not piles of stones, but piles of frog carcasses.

The word here you remember in Hebrew how you emphasize things as you double it up and the word for heap here is doubled up. It's cummerine cummerine heaps of heaps massive endless sites of heaps frogs.

Everywhere putrefying and filling the air with this noxious smell. Remember in chapter 5 verse 21 the the foreman the Hebrew foreman had cried out and Part of their cry out was against Moses and Aaron and what did they say?

You've made us a stench in the land. Well now there is an actual stench in the land and it's not Moses. It's the judgment of God upon Egypt. The Nile had brought this stench when it turned to blood and now frogs everywhere turn this land which had been so abundant and lush with Vegetation and produce and agriculture now it has become a stench.

All of this in contrast to what God is going to draw his people toward a land flowing with milk and honey. Now what does Pharaoh do? Last verse of our passage this morning verse 15 when Pharaoh saw that there was relief He hardened his heart.

He did not heed them. Even as the Lord had said so all of that repentance all of that Intercession all of seeing God's hand not only bring the frogs But remove the frogs. All of that amounted to this as soon as Pharaoh saw relief He hardened his heart as soon as some of that pressure was removed.

He hardened his heart. That the Hebrew for relief there it comes from a verb that means to be wide or spacious. So the idea is as soon as he could breathe. As soon as there was room to actually move around.

As soon as he was no longer bogged down with the sense of judgment or plague in that very moment He could breathe. He used that breath to defy God. Four points of application. In fact, we see really three warnings.

And then I think a note of hope. Three warnings and a note of hope. I Think we see a warning to all those Who have tendencies like Pharaoh? So let me lay those out in these three warnings first. We have a warning for those who do not turn to seek the Lord.

Do not turn to seek the Lord. We start there. We always start here a warning to those who do not turn to seek the Lord. Of course Pharaoh beginning in chapter 5 would not turn to seek the Lord. Isaiah 9 13 paints the predicament for the people do not turn to him who strikes them nor do they seek the Lord of hosts?

Do you see why God is striking according to Isaiah 9 so that people would turn and seek? So this is a warning to those who do not turn and do not seek. We read that Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not heed.

We see the response of those who heed God's Word Moses and Aaron and we see the response of those who do not heed God's Word Pharaoh he hardens his own heart. He looks for any excuse. He quantifies. This is something that's personally going to affect me or can I wait this out?

That is the response of those who do not turn who will not seek. This is always the case with what we would call willful unbelief. Willful unbelief. John Owen he describes a traveler going on his way and then a violent thunderstorm and all of this rain begins to pour out.

What does that traveler do? Well, he immediately goes out of his way. He goes to find shelter a tree. Maybe someone's house as Soon as the storm has passed. He goes back to his way. And Owen says so it is with men in bondage unto sin they have a certain direction that they're going and Because judgment has come because some calamity or distress has come upon them now.

They're put out of their way. But as soon as it passes, they're back to their way again. That's not sin forsaken as Owen says that's sin interrupted. That's not rebellion removed. That's just rebellion paused.

And.

Many people delude themselves with the thoughts that somehow they're walking in God's mercies and graces. Because their rebellion has been paused. But unless you're turning results in seeking the Lord you should have no such assurance.

So first and foremost, this is a warning to those who do not turn to those who do not seek the Lord. Second. It's a warning for those who seek tomorrow. But not today. What does Pharaoh say tomorrow. I Find that to be one of the most perplexing aspects of the narrative.

You let me know when you want this plague to be removed. Wouldn't you just say now like right now. Why does he want to have one more night with frogs crawling all over him? Why does he say tomorrow? rather than now today.

Let that be a warning to you so many people say in so many ways tomorrow and like Pharaoh. Their heart hardens overnight. Eternity will likely reveal how many? Initial stirrings. Moments of of almost warming revelation a desire a conviction.

I Think maybe yes, maybe I will surrender to the Lord. Maybe I will take that step of faith the most terrifying costly thing I could ever do. Commit my life to the Lord. Turn to him in repentance and faith make him my Savior and my God.

Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. And then their heart hardens overnight and that scene plays out week by week by week. Until they just no longer come. Some weeks ago Greg and I went to a conference up in Maine a conference on Spurgeon and one of the Talks was on Spurgeon's great love and emphasis on open-air preaching which characterized most of his early ministry.

And then of course as the churches around him grew he really had very little opportunity to do open-air preaching. So busy and often it posed some sort of public risk to gather 50 ,000 people on a street corner.

You know on on two-story buildings made in the way they were made but he always encouraged his students and taught them to be open-air preachers. And Ed Roman who gave that particular talk gave an excerpt of one of his his nightly evangelistic sermons.