The Impotence of False Deities

The Plagues of Exodus and the Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message.

From Pastor Chris Roseberg. Our readings today are taken from the book of Exodus and we will be looking tonight at chapters 9 and 10. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.

And the Lord said a time saying tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land. And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.

And Pharaoh sent and behold none of the livestock of Israel was dead but the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron take handfuls of soot from the kiln and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh.

It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out and sores on man and beasts throughout all the land of Egypt. So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh and Moses threw it in the air and it became boils and breaking out and sores on man and beast.

And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Then the Lord said to Moses rise up early in the morning present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him thus says the Lord the God of the Hebrews let my people go that they may serve me for this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth for by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth but for this purpose I have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go behold about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall such as never had been in Egypt from that day it was founded until now now therefore send get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.

Then whoever feared the word of the Lord came among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

Then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt. Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail very heavy hail such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt both man and beast and the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.

Only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were was there no hail. Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron said to them this time I have sinned the Lord is in the right and I my people are in the wrong plead with the Lord.

For there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and you shall stay no longer. Moses said to him as soon as I have gone out of the city I will stretch out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's.

But as for you and your servants I know that you do not yet fear the Lord. The flax and the barley were struck down for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in the bud. But the weed and the emmer were not struck down for they are late in coming up.

So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hand to the Lord and the thunder and the hail ceased and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased he sinned yet again and hardened his heart he and his servants.

So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people of Israel go just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. Then the Lord said to Moses go into Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants that I might show these signs of mine among them and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them that you may know that I am the Lord.

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him thus says the Lord the God of the Hebrews how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me. Let my people go that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go behold tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country and they shall cover the face of the land so that no one can see the land.

And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field. And they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen from the day they came on earth to this day.

Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh's said to him how long shall this man be a snare to us. Let the men go that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined.

So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he said to them go serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go. Moses said we will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and our daughters with our flocks and our herds for we must hold a feast to the Lord.

But he said to them the Lord be with you if ever I let you and your little ones go. Look you have some evil purpose in mind. No go the the men among you and serve the Lord for that's what you are asking.

And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. Then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts so they they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land and all the hail has left.

So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night when it was morning the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before nor ever will be again.

They covered the face of the whole land so that the land was darkened. And they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained neither tree nor plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said I have sinned against Yahweh the Lord your God and against you now. Therefore forgive my sin. Please only this once and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.

So we went out from Pharaoh pleaded with the Lord and the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind which lifted the locusts drove them into the sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt.

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not let the people of Israel go. Then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand toward heaven that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt a darkness to be felt.

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt. Three days they did not see one another nor did anyone rise from his place for three days but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and said go serve the Lord. Your little ones also may go with you only let your flocks and your herds remain behind. But Moses said you must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Our livestock also must go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God. And we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let them go.

Then Pharaoh said to them get away from me take care never to see my face again for on the day that you see my face you shall die. Moses said as you say I will not see your face again in the name of Jesus.

False Gods Cannot Save

Amen. All right. When I was a kid I think it was like 78 79 something like that. I'd maybe 79 I'm getting old so I don't exactly you know remember all of the things from my childhood with perfect clarity.

But I had the opportunity to go and see the artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamen or Tutankhamen. I don't know how you pronounce it King Tut. I don't know if you guys remember Steve Martin. Steve Martin actually had a comedy bit that he did during the whole King Tut thing cuz I mean it was all the rage and I remember going through all that.

But Steve Martin and you know he he did this really silly song King Tut. Can you do the funky funky tut. Right. But one of the things I remember very distinctly from my time of seeing the artifacts from the tomb of King Tut was just how many different gods the the Egyptians believed in.

They had a God for pretty much everything. That's kind of how that went. They had a God for everything. And so a good way to consider the ten plagues of that God brought on the land of Egypt is that God was executing judgment against the false gods of Egypt.

And you're gonna note something here they were completely powerless against the one true God. Kind of a little bit of a note here I actually have a graphic to help walk me through this. And so you'll note here the the Nile was turned to blood.

Well with that particular plague three false deities of the Egyptians came a tumbling down. Let me let me name them. And I don't speak ancient Egyptian so I may be mispronouncing this but to begin with the the God named Khnum who was the guardian of the Nile's source.

Well he didn't seem to be doing a very good job. And then of course hoppy hoppy was the spirit of the Nile. And hoppy didn't do a very good job either. And then of course as the story goes according to the mythology of the ancient gods of Egypt Osiris it is said that the Nile was his bloodstream.

Well he seemed to have no ability whatsoever to stop the one true God from doing what he did. And then you think of the frogs. Well then hoppy also got judged again. And then another deity by the name of Hect who who was a fertility God.

Well Hect didn't do his job when all those frogs came upon the land. And then you think of the gnats and or lice. And the the Egyptian God Seb the earth God of Egypt well didn't do his job either. It seems like none of these gods were able to do a thing to stop the hand of judgment of God.

And then you think of all the flies coming upon the land of Egypt. Well wouldn't you know it even the Egyptians had a God who was a fly God and his name was Seb. And Seb clearly was powerless against the one true God Yahweh.

And and and so you got Seb and Ukachit. And then you of course you got the disease of the cattle and four deities just bit the dust there Ptah, Hathor, Menefis, and Amon these are the Egyptian gods associated with bulls and cows.

And they that those gods didn't do any good job of protecting the the cattle of Egypt. And then we talk about boils. Man that I mean just working through all this we got Sekhmet the Egyptian goddess of epidemics Serapis and Amenhotep.

All of them didn't weren't able to do anything to protect the people of Egypt. And then with the hail you got the the gods Nut, Isis, Seth, and Shu. And then with the locusts Serapia that that God bit the dust.

And then with the darkness kind of a big one here you've got Amen-Ra, Aten, Atum, Horus, Thoth, and then of course Ray all of these are Egyptian Sun deities. For three days the people of Egypt stood in darkness and see that's the way it is with man-made deities.

They cannot hear they cannot answer they cannot save. In fact a good way to think about the plagues of Egypt is that this is God's mighty hand of judgment against all the false gods that we human beings craft and create for ourselves.

Even if we call that deity Jesus. You see there is a true Jesus. And then there are a bunch of false Jesus's and false Jesus's cannot save you. Years ago I I did a sketch on my my podcast and we called it the build a God sketch.

And this and and you guys you've heard of the Build-A-Bear shops. The Build-A-Bear shops are an expensive place you know thankfully no one can spend any money like that right now you can't go to the malls so you're saved from having to build any bears.

But it when you go to the Build-A-Bear shop you get to custom make your own bear to your own liking. And then at the end of the process what happens. You get to name your bear. Yeah I do remember this when I when I had daughters that were of a younger age.

But you're gonna note here we human beings we do the same thing. We name our deities all kinds. You know we all kinds of deities out there. So the Jesus I believe in the Jesus I believe in some people say would never send anybody to hell.

Hmm the Jesus I believe in would never never condemn people who are in love with somebody of the same sex. And of course the Jesus I believe in would fill in the blank. Right. And always and again the Jesus that people are describing there isn't the Jesus of Scripture.

He's not the Jesus who is. That's an idol named Jesus. And your Jesus can't save you. Remember first commandment you will have no other gods. No other gods. That means we are to fear love and trust in God the one true God the one that exists above all things.

And so if you have a Jesus that isn't the Jesus of the Bible you know where the Jesus you believe in doesn't say and do the same things as the Jesus who is the one who is the eyewitnesses recorded in the scriptures.

Well then your Jesus cannot save you. So beware of idolatry in all of its forms. I kind of find it very fascinating that as we are all locked up because of the pandemic that you have all of these televangelists out there decreeing and declaring the end of the coronavirus pandemic who have declared it to be over who have cursed the coronavirus.

And you know what. The corona virus doesn't even seem to listen to. A single word they say makes you wonder if the problem is that the Jesus they believe in is not the Jesus found in Scripture. The Jesus they believe in was as powerless as hoppy as Amenhotep of Osiris and Isis and Ra.

That's kind of the issue isn't it. Yeah. And so you'll note here most frightening words in our text today were the fact that well God eventually hardened Pharaoh's heart. You see as we've been reading through these plagues it says Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Pharaoh hardened his heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart. But now in the text that we just read today a complete change. God hardened Pharaoh's heart. And and so one small bit if you would a little a little bit of a snippet from what we just read consider these words from chapter 9 starting at verse 13 Yahweh said to Moses rise up early in the morning.

Present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him. Thus says Yahweh the God of the Hebrews let my people go that they may serve me. Now this is the seventh plague. At this point we're up to plague number seven.

Six full plagues have occurred. And you would kind of think you know it's like wait a second I'm fighting an actual for real deity. You know like Pharaoh would have a one of those aha moments and go. I whoa I you know I finally get this.

I I'm utterly powerless. But see that's the thing about idolatry. It causes you to be completely delusional. So Pharaoh rather than listening to the Word of the Lord and the Word of the Lord was this.

Thus says Yahweh the God of the Hebrews let my people go so that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

For by now I could have put out my hand and struck your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth. Does anyone today think that God's not capable of doing that. Yeah I think if we're all kind of convinced that could happen pretty quick right.

But for this purpose I have raised you up to show my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. And Romans 9 the cross reference to this makes it clear so that God can show mercy on those whom he chooses to show mercy to you see all of these judgments all of these plagues all of these pestilences are because God wills desires for Pharaoh to repent and be saved for us to repent of our sins and be saved.

And see you'll note here that the Lord then chastises Pharaoh and says you are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go in a similar way today's idolaters they exalt themselves against God and they exalt themselves against people who believe the truth of Scripture.

Always a funny thing that you know people engaging in idolatry where the the God they believe in is the same name as the God that is and yet the God they believe in is truly an idol. Those idolaters have a funny way of waging warfare against those who believe the truth.

Hunt them down drive them out get rid of them replace them with people who are towing the idolatrous party line. They exalt themselves. So behold about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall as such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now now.

Therefore send to get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter. You're gonna note here the Lord totally said you don't want bad things to befall you. All you have to do is heed my words.

Do you think God was giving just idle threats to Pharaoh like he wasn't capable of actually following through and making good his word. Here I mean six other plagues had already happened. This is going to be the seventh.

And so you'll note here God was merciful to Pharaoh and said bring your livestock in get bring him to self to safe shelter. For every man and beast that's in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.

They'll be stoned to death from heaven if you would. And then listen to these words. Whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses and they were saved.

They didn't die. And so you'll note here those who are idolaters they do not fear the word of the Lord. They do not heed his warnings. They in fact oftentimes doubt and cast all kinds of huge skepticism upon God's judgment and say God would never judge God is love.

Nothing negative ever comes from God. And they do not fear or heed the word of the Lord. And rather than losing livestock they lose their own lives eternally in the process. But then these terrible words whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

And then you always said to Moses stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail and all the land of Egypt on man and beast and every plant of the field in the land of Egypt don't send.

Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth. Now there I've never heard of a hail storm that quite does this. Where you get thunder hail mixed with fire just fire snowballs.

Wow. Okay that's a little bit different all right. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail very heavy hail such as never had been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.

The hail struck down everything that was in the field and all the land of Egypt both man and beast. The hail struck down every plant of the field broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were was there no hail.

So then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron he said to them. And listen to these words this time I sent really this time only this time. What about the other six times. This time he says the Lord's in the right.

I and my people are in the wrong this time. Well we don't call that a confession of sins. That's obfuscation. So he says plead with the Lord for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I'll let you go and you shall stay no longer.

Moses said to him as soon as I have gone out of the city I'll stretch out my hands to Yahweh. The thunder will see. So be no more hell so that you may know that the earth is the Lord's is Yahweh's and it is this planet belongs to him.

It doesn't belong to me. It doesn't belong to you. But as for you and your servants I know that you do not yet fear Yahweh. And the flax and the barley were struck down with the barley was in the ear.

The flax was in bud and the weed and the emmer were not struck down for they are late and coming up. So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh stretched out his hand to Yahweh. The thunder and the hail cease.

The rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased he sinned yet again. And he hardened his heart he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened.

He did not let the people of Israel go. Just as Yahweh has spoken. And the most fateful words of all chapter 10 verse 1 the Lord said to Moses go into Pharaoh. I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants that I might show these signs of mine.

Paul’s Sermon at the Areopagus and the Call to Repentance

The end judgment has come even though he's alive in this earth. At that time God says I'm gonna let you have it your way. And he does. And tragically he perishes. Now a lot of people say well that's that's Old Testament stuff that that's just Old Testament stuff.

God doesn't act that way now. I mean we're called to get along with everybody. And don't all paths lead to to God anyway. Well technically all paths lead to God. Yes. But what happens when you get there in the presence of God is different depending on which path you took.

You see keep that in mind. They all all paths do lead to God. But the day of judgment is a day of judgment against sin. And the first commandment commands us. You will have no other gods before me. Consider the Apostle Paul.

This is a New Testament text in Acts chapter 17. Paul happened to take an unplanned trip to Athens. Things on his missionary journey to Thessalonica didn't go according to plan. The unbelieving Jews decided that they were going to try to kill him and so he had to flee at night and skedaddle to Berea.

And he was doing fine there in Berea until the people of Thessalonica heard about it and they they created trouble for him. So he again had to skedaddle and he skedaddled. This time had one of those really really great unplanned vacation downtime kind of things going on in the city of Athens.

I mean this is the day before photography. So he wasn't taking pictures. And this is the day before tour buses. So he couldn't hop on anything and so but he was still touring the city. And here's what it says about Paul's unplanned trip to the city of Athens.

While Paul was waiting for the brothers at Athens his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. Sadly much of the church is full of idols today. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happen to be there now some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers also converse with Paul and sudden said what does this babbler wish to say.

Others said well he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and he was preaching the resurrection. So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus saying may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting for you bring some strange things to our ears.

Isn't it weird that people get so far lost in idolatry that when you preach the truth to them it sounds like strangeness in their ears. Whoa where'd that come from. That shows you just how far how far idolatry takes us from God.

But we wish to know therefore what these things mean. Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time and nothing except for hearing or telling something new again. You can't all.

You can almost not fault them here because these are the days before television and stuff like that. So I mean are we not kind of the same thing. We do the same thing but not by hearing something new but by watching something.

You can't wait for the next season of stranger things to come out you know give me something to do something to binge watch on Netflix can't wait for the next season of the crap. We're always looking for something new.

So you kind of get the idea. So Paul standing then in the midst of the Areopagus. And this is right in the shadow of the Parthenon in Egypt he says men of Athens I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

But religious is not the standard. The standard is the love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength the one true God. But you're gonna note these are people who have not been raised in Israel.

They have very little contact if at all with people who believe in the one true God. And then Paul says this I note that you are very religious. As I passed along I observed all the objects of your worship.

I found also an altar to the with this inscription to the unknown God. So what therefore you worship is unknown. This now I proclaim to you the God who made the world and everything in it being the Lord of heaven and earth.

He does not live in temples made by man. Nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything. Since he himself gives to all mankind. He gives them life he gives them breath he gives them everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. Pause there for a second consider the implications of what Paul just said. Paul just said that God made all the nations of the earth from Adam.

Are we supposed to believe that. Yeah you are the truth. Right. So and so he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth and having determined allotted periods the boundaries of their dwelling place so that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

Yet he's not. He's actually not far from each one of us. For in him we live and we move. And we have our being as even some of your own poets have said for we are indeed his offspring. So then being God's offspring we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone or an image formed by the art in the imagination of man.

And there's the root of all idolatry the imagination of man. But listen to these words the times of ignorance God has overlooked. And now he commands all people everywhere to repent. He's commanding you who live in Georgia you who are sojourning in Korea those of us in North Dakota Minnesota you have people down in Fargo Australia Western Europe and Africa.

He's calling us all to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world. And right before he judges the world which will be the final exodus the finish of our wilderness wanderings in the crossing of the real Jordan into the real promised land the new earth.

On that day he will judge the entire world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this he is given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. So Paul preaches the resurrection. He proclaims repentance and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ talking how God has overlooked our sins in the past.

In fact even better than overlooked them. He sent his only begotten son to bleed and to die for them. Note this. Then every sin that you've ever committed will always be a breaking of at least two commandments especially the one that is common to all idolatry.

The breaking of the first God calls us to repent. There's a day coming when Jesus will return in glory to judge the living in the dead. And he has assured us of this fact by raising Jesus from the dead.

His resurrection from the dead proves that his sacrifice for our sins was accepted by the father. His rising from the dead proves that he will be our judge on the last day. His rising from the dead also assures us that everything that he said he's come to not condemn us but that we would be saved through him is also true.

So do not harden your hearts against the true Jesus. Repent of all of your false Jesus all of your false doctrine all of your idolatry. And note that with God presently this is the day of salvation. He is rich in mercy slow to anger abounding in steadfast love pardoning iniquity your iniquity and mine.

But the text says that when they heard of the resurrection of the dead they mocked Paul. Others said we'll hear you again about this. So Paul went out from their midst and some men joined him and believed among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

Repentance, Judgment, and the Hope of the Gospel

So brothers and sisters as we are quickly winding up our Lenten season a season wherein we are again called to repent of our own sins. Let us again consider all of the different ways in which we have broken that first commandment and have earned God's wrath and displeasure and an eternity in the lake of fire.

And know for certain that God makes a distinction between those who fear and love him and believe his words and those who persist in sin and unbelief and exalt themselves against the one true God. Do not continue to exalt yourself.

Take note that God is severe against those who persist in sin and unbelief and harden their hearts against his word. This is not something we should take lightly or something we should think doesn't apply to us it does.

The buzzword of the day is repent. The good news of the gospel is that Christ forgives. So repent. Be forgiven. Believe and live in the name of Jesus.

Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church you can do so by sending a tax-free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744 and again that address is Kungsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Avenue Northwest Oslo Minnesota 56744.

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