1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:06,600 Oh, Crossing Nation, I love you and I hope you've had a great 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:08,039 week. But I also know there's some of 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,800 you who you've had a week that you were not planning on having. 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,560 And I want you to know that as a church, we are in your corner as 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,520 you navigate the highs and lows of life. 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,200 To those of you who are joining us for the first time or the 7 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,400 first time in a long time, we are so thankful that you are 8 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:24,600 here. And to those of you gathered at 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,560 our physical locations, watching online or gathering on the 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,960 inside, I'm glad that we get to hang out today. 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,000 I got to tell you this, the sermon today, I think you're 12 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:34,640 going to survive it. It's not going to be that bad. 13 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,240 But I've got to tell you, I am so excited about next week's 14 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:39,560 sermon. I almost want to preach it 15 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,240 tonight. And if if you're like me and you 16 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,240 have people that you care about that don't have a relationship 17 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:49,400 with Jesus, next week I'm going to be preaching a message on the 18 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:52,920 10th plague and you're going. A plague sermon does not sound 19 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,720 like the sermon I want to invite a friend to. 20 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,200 What if I told you that that sermon is not just about what 21 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,360 happened in Egypt and the 10th plague, but it is about Jesus on 22 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,240 the cross and it is about the communion that you take every 23 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,120 single week. And if you know a friend that 24 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,320 struggles with shame, if you know a friend that struggles 25 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,840 with guilt, if you know a friend that struggles with the past, 26 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,800 you could not find a better weekend to bring a friend. 27 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,200 And so if you're the kind of people that want to make this 28 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:25,960 region the hardest place on planet Earth to get the hell 29 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:29,360 from, next weekend will be the perfect weekend for you to bring 30 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,320 that friend. You will not be disappointed. 31 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,240 That being said, we are in a sermon series called Decisions 32 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,400 in the Desert. And every single one of us, at 33 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,600 some point in time, we are going to find ourselves in a desert. 34 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,520 And the decisions that you make in the desert, they end up 35 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:50,640 defining us. They determine our destiny and 36 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,800 during this series we are looking at one of the most 37 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,240 famous stories in all of the Bible and one of the most 38 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,080 referenced stories in all of Scripture. 39 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,800 We're looking at the life of Moses and the journeying of the 40 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,600 people of God out of the hands of the Egyptians in slavery in 41 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,520 Egypt, through their journey in the desert all the way to the 42 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,560 promised land, which is a modern day Israel. 43 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,960 This sermon is relevant to what's happening there and in 44 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,480 this series. Not only is it going to help you 45 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,920 understand the Old Testament better, it's also going to help 46 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,560 you see the New Testament and Jesus in a brand new way. 47 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:34,160 It's going to change the way you see Jesus, the way you love 48 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,080 Jesus, and the way you follow Jesus. 49 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,000 Quick recap, the first two weeks we've been focusing on Moses as 50 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,200 the leader. He's the one that God has chosen 51 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,040 to lead the people out of captivity. 52 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,600 And in week 1, Jerry talked about our identity, that you and 53 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,920 I need to see ourselves as children of God. 54 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,160 And that is what we are. And when we view ourselves as 55 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,520 children of God, it changes how we view God because God is now 56 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,200 seen as our Father. But it also changes how we view 57 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,560 other people because they are children of God too. 58 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,040 We also learned, and I hope you guys wrote this down, that 59 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,040 proximity to God is more important than productivity for 60 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,760 God. If you focus on proximity, 61 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,360 getting close to Jesus, the productivity, the things you do 62 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,560 on behalf of Jesus will take care of itself. 63 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,720 Last week we learned about the dangers of trying to do things 64 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:34,720 on our own power and on our own strength, that our confidence 65 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,200 should not come in our ability. Our confidence should come in 66 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:41,800 God's ability as he works through us. 67 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,400 And pride is the most destructive of sins. 68 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,280 God can't use anybody with pride. 69 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,520 So what God does is he tears us down to the foundation before he 70 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:58,120 begins to build us anew in Him. All of this is found in the book 71 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,440 of Exodus, the second book in your Bible. 72 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,560 Now this name, Exodus is actually taken out of the Greek 73 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,760 version of the Old Testament, which people call the 74 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,560 Septuagint. The name Exodus simply means a 75 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,440 going out, a departure. This is found. 76 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,240 This word actually shows up in Exodus chapter 19, verse one. 77 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,079 So they're reading through this book and in Exodus chapter 19 78 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:21,120 verse one, they're like Exodus. You know what we should call 79 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:23,280 this book Exodus? Here's where it is. 80 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,960 On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left 81 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,720 the word there, they exodus Egypt. 82 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,960 On that very day, they came to the desert of Mount Sinai. 83 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,560 They left Egypt, they departed Egypt. 84 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,280 Now, I know that sometimes, and I'm not saying I mean you guys 85 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:45,160 do, but you know a friend who is scrolling on X or Facebook or 86 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,160 TikTok, and something about that algorithm likes to promote 87 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,360 theological morons who like to help you deconstruct your faith. 88 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,440 And they'll say something stupid like, well, Exodus is not in the 89 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:02,440 Jewish Bible. Well, they don't call it Exodus 90 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:04,120 in the Jewish Bible. They're correct. 91 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,080 In the Jewish Bible, they actually call that exact same 92 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:09,760 text, the exact same scriptures, a different word. 93 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,520 They call it shamat and that is a Hebrew word for the and it 94 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,720 means names. And the Jewish people decided to 95 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,040 take the very same text and they named it shamat which is found 96 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,880 in Exodus chapter one verse 14. And the word Exodus simply or 97 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,240 the word, the word shamat means names. 98 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,920 So why they are reading the book of Exodus, They go, these are 99 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,120 the names shamat of the sons of Israel who went into Egypt with 100 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,320 Jacob, each of his family, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 101 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,200 Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan NAFTA, Lee Gadnasher. 102 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:40,640 So if somebody ever comes up to you with a little Exodus quiz, 103 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,240 whether you see something says someone stupid, you just send 104 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:46,440 them this link to this sermon, OK? 105 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:48,760 And you'll be surprised. I'm going to start giving you 106 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,600 more and more of those because when I scroll through, I see 107 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,000 people saying stupid stuff. I'm like, I don't have all day 108 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,520 to just dismantle all the stupid that's out on social media. 109 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,800 By God's grace, I'll take it down 1 brick at a time. 110 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,560 OK, now let's catch up on the real story. 111 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,680 Moses and Aaron have been commissioned by God. 112 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,360 God tells them you are supposed to go to Pharaoh and say let my 113 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,080 people go. I want my people to be taken out 114 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,000 of slavery and I want them to come and worship me in the 115 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,360 promised land and so they go to Pharaoh. 116 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,800 God told us that you're supposed to let us go. 117 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:24,480 And you know what they were thinking? 118 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:25,720 Probably the same thing you're thinking. 119 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,640 If God says it, it's going to be pretty stinking easy. 120 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,640 Pharaoh, let us go. Guess what Pharaoh says. 121 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,720 Huge surprise. Pharaoh goes no. 122 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:44,240 Imagine you're Moses and Aaron. You heard God, right? 123 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:50,200 He said we. Yeah, He just said no. 124 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,280 Pharaoh not only says no, he turns to all the Israelites and 125 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:56,560 he says, because you guys are trying to leave, I'm going to 126 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,160 make you keep having to make, since you're in slavery, the 127 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:01,160 same amount of bricks that you've always had to make. 128 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,720 Except this time we're not going to deliver the straw to you. 129 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,840 You're going to have to go out and gather the straw and make 130 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:10,800 the same amount of bricks. This frustrated the Israelites. 131 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,960 And so the Israelites go, hey Pharaoh, cut us some slack. 132 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,360 We can't do this. We can't keep making the same 133 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,720 number of bricks everyday and have to go out and gather the 134 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,360 straw in order to do so. And Pharaoh said, keep making 135 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,240 the same number of bricks that I told you and you have to go get 136 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,040 and they're going. Hold on a second, Moses, Aaron, 137 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:30,640 you showed up. You said you were going to 138 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:32,520 deliver us. You didn't deliver us. 139 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:33,920 You said Pharaoh's going to let us go. 140 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,280 He didn't let us go and he made our job harder. 141 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,840 We went to Pharaoh to say, hey, you've made our job harder and 142 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:40,120 you got to stop making our job harder. 143 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,680 And he said no to that. Exodus chapter 5, verse 22. 144 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,280 Moses turned to the Lord and said, why Lord, have you brought 145 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,440 trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 146 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,200 How many of you have prayed a similar prayer? 147 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,880 Glad you came to church. Verse 20, two or three. 148 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,440 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has 149 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,360 brought trouble on this people and you have not rescued your 150 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,800 people at all. Anybody here ever frustrated 151 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,760 with the timing of God? Glad you came to church. 152 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,400 Let's keep going. Next chapter. 153 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,760 Then the Lord said to Moses, Ready? 154 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:22,960 This is going to help you explain everything that happens 155 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:28,680 in the next 9 plagues. Now you will see what I will do 156 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,280 to Pharaoh. Because of my mighty hand, he 157 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:38,080 will let them go. Because of my mighty hand, He 158 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:40,159 will drive them out of his country. 159 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,000 Pharaoh is not going to let you go. 160 00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:46,760 He's going to kick you out. Let's keep going. 161 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,120 God said to Moses, I am the Lord. 162 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:58,640 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob as God Almighty, but by 163 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,760 my name, the Lord. I did not make myself fully 164 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,200 known to them. Keep going. 165 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:11,320 I also established my covenant, my agreement, my relationship 166 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:15,800 with them, to give them the land of Canaan, modern day Israel, 167 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,600 where they resided as foreigners. 168 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:25,200 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites. 169 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,000 Israelites were in slavery, and if you were in slavery, you'd be 170 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,280 doing a lot of groaning. How many of you you've been in a 171 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:36,720 situation that stinks if you didn't raise your hand? 172 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:41,640 We don't understand you. OK, I'll ask it again. 173 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:45,760 You've been in a situation that stinks and you've wondered, does 174 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,280 God hear me complaining about my stinky situation? 175 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,600 Glad you came to church, God says. 176 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:58,600 I have heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians 177 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,640 are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 178 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:07,160 I made an agreement with your great great grandpa. 179 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:09,400 I made an agreement with your great grandpa. 180 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:13,480 I made an agreement with your grandpa about my relationship to 181 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,960 this family. And I've heard the groanings. 182 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:21,120 I've heard what's going on, and I have not forgotten the 183 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,160 relationship and the promise that I made. 184 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,720 Keep going. Therefore Moses and Aaron. 185 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:32,040 Go back to the people that are frustrated about making the 186 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,720 extra bricks. Go back to the people that are 187 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,000 frustrated that they're still enslaved. 188 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,000 Go back to the people that are tired of being in this situation 189 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:48,080 and say I am the Lord, I'm God, and I will bring you out from 190 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,880 under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being 191 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:56,160 slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched 192 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,720 arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 193 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:06,240 I will take you as my own people and I will be your God. 194 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,280 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you 195 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,840 out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 196 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:21,280 Verse 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with an 197 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,520 uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 198 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:27,920 I will give it to you as a possession. 199 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,360 I am the Lord. Let's keep going. 200 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:35,960 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but the Israelites 201 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:40,880 did not listen to him. Been there because of their 202 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,480 discouragement and harsh labor. Let's keep going. 203 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:49,000 Then the Lord said to Moses, Go tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to 204 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,360 let the Israelites go out of this country. 205 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:55,560 Verse 12 But Moses said to the Lord, if the Israelites will not 206 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:58,480 listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me? 207 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,560 Since I speak with faltering lips, let me teach for a bit and 208 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:07,400 then I'll preach. Moses was not responsible for 209 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,000 the results. He was responsible for being 210 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,520 obedient. He was responsible for telling 211 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,480 the Israelites that God was going to let the people go. 212 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:20,400 He was responsible for telling Pharaoh let the people go. 213 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,400 And when God says it, you can trust it. 214 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,440 When God says it, it will come to pass. 215 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,440 It may not be on your timetable, but you can count, you can mark 216 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,720 it. It will happen. 217 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:35,640 There are some of you today that God has told you to do 218 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:37,720 something. He has revealed something to 219 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,800 you. He has convicted you of 220 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,320 something. He has given you a word and you 221 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,120 are presently not seeing any deliverance. 222 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,800 You're not seeing any change or you're not seeing the change 223 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,600 that you thought you would see. You're not seeing the harvest 224 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:57,200 from the seed that you planted. However, you are not responsible 225 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,960 for the fruit. You are not responsible for the 226 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,000 growth. You are responsible for your 227 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,600 obedience to what God has told you to do. 228 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,720 And out of this, God says, I'm going to show everybody, 229 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,160 everybody, look to everybody and say everybody, everybody. 230 00:13:15,560 --> 00:13:20,640 I'm going to show everybody that I am God. 231 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,560 And how does God do it? How does he bring about these 232 00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:28,560 mighty acts to reveal not just to Pharaoh, not just to the 233 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:32,720 Egyptians, not just to the Israelites, but to Aaron and 234 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,400 Moses that he is God? He does it through something we 235 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,480 call the plagues. Now the plagues, there's a 236 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,640 softer word for them, signs and wonders. 237 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,160 When Jesus shows up and reveals himself on earth, he does so 238 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,960 with signs and wonders. We call them the plagues in the 239 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:55,760 Old Testament because they're called the plagues. 240 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,080 But the plagues are also called by the Old Testament signs and 241 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:00,840 wonders. You might not believe me, but I 242 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:02,240 just want to quote God for a second. 243 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,520 Exodus Chapter 7. This is God talking. 244 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,360 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. 245 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:15,240 And though I multiply my I told you, I told you I wasn't in 246 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:16,960 Egypt, He will not listen to you. 247 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:22,720 Then I will lay my hand on Egypt with mighty acts of judgement. 248 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,680 OK, That's where we get plagues. And I will bring out my 249 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:30,800 divisions and my people, the Israelites and the Egyptians 250 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:35,720 will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand 251 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,560 against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it. 252 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,600 These plagues are miracles with a message. 253 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,160 These plagues were designed to teach and to punish. 254 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,640 It was to teach Israel. I am the Lord your God. 255 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,400 I can be trusted. I should be worshipped and I 256 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,920 should be followed. And it is an act of punishment 257 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,000 on the cruelty that the Egyptians have been inflicting 258 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,320 upon the Israelite people. It begins with a crazy story. 259 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,480 God tells Aaron to throw down his staff, his big stick down in 260 00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:14,040 front of Pharaoh and it was going to turn into a snake. 261 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,760 Listen, This is why I am not in the Old Testament because the 262 00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,120 God could tell me to throw my staff down and it could turn 263 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:22,800 into a snake. But when he says pick it back 264 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,440 up, I'd be like, got to go K, I'll beat Usain Bolton out of 265 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,760 that place. So no here, think about this. 266 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:32,520 Put yourself in Aaron in Moses shoes. 267 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,000 You throw it down, it turns into a big snake, like a cobra, OK. 268 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,400 And then Pharaoh's sorcerer's magicians, they throw their 269 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,960 sticks on the ground and they become snakes, too. 270 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,360 What? I thought you were supposed to 271 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,360 show off, and these guys can do what you can do. 272 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:52,040 Would you be a little frustrated by that? 273 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,760 But then Aaron's snake, obviously, it's kind of have a 274 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,040 little bit of a hensel in him because he eats all the other 275 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:00,840 snakes. Like these are Fruity pebbles. 276 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,320 We're eating them up now. Then they start a a series of 10 277 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:07,400 plagues. We're only going to talk about 278 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:08,160 nine. Now. 279 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,840 These plagues happened over a period of about six months from 280 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,880 October to March. We would call this winter. 281 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:17,320 How many here? You don't like winter? 282 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:19,120 You're going to love the plagues then. 283 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,640 OK, So the first plague is he turns the water or water of the 284 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:26,440 Nile into blood. This plague got the attention of 285 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,160 everybody all at once. This is like COVID, no toilet 286 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,920 paper. Like everybody's going, we got 287 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,960 to do something about this. Everywhere they turned, the 288 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,440 water has been turned into blood. 289 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:44,680 This affected the Israelites and it affected the Egyptians. 290 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,640 Crazy thing is, guess what the sorcerer's of Egypt were able to 291 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,840 do? They also were to take water and 292 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,040 able to turn it into blood. This is really interesting. 293 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:02,480 Plague 2 Frogs Seven days after the water of the Nile is turned 294 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,160 to blood, there is a plague of frogs that come up into their 295 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,839 palace, into their homes, into their beds, among their kitchen 296 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,640 instruments. Frogs are absolutely everywhere. 297 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:16,000 Check this out. The Egyptian sorcerers are also 298 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,160 able to make frogs, and you've got to be going. 299 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,200 How come these people can keep doing everything that's 300 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,760 happening? Interestingly enough, though, 301 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,760 the Egyptian magicians can make frogs, but they can't make them 302 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:34,120 go away. So Pharaoh has to come to Moses 303 00:17:34,120 --> 00:17:38,360 and go, hey, can you stop with the frogs, please? 304 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,920 So the next day Moses asked God, and God said OK, and all the 305 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:47,920 frogs died. They died in their houses, in 306 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,200 their courtyards, in their beds, in their kitchens. 307 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:53,600 And so they went around and scooped them all up. 308 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,680 The Bible tells us this. They piled them in heaps, and 309 00:17:56,680 --> 00:17:59,120 the land wreaked of all the dead frogs. 310 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,360 Plague 3 gnats. Our American word would be lice. 311 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:11,040 Ladies, if you know somebody who's had lice, you know this 312 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:12,960 ain't good. We could take a cue from the 313 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,200 Egyptians here. The Egyptians hated gnats. 314 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,160 They hated lice, and so they would shave their bodies so that 315 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:20,440 way the lice would not be attracted to them or determined. 316 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,160 But it did not help one bit. One God sent lice and gnats all 317 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,840 over the land, and the magicians tried to produce the gnats, but 318 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,840 they couldn't. Now here's an interesting little 319 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:33,880 side note. This is why I love the Bible. 320 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:41,720 If you're going through some plagues, do you want Pharaoh's 321 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,680 Sorcerer's making more of the bad thing? 322 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,040 I can imagine just being one of the sorcerer's. 323 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:50,880 Like just assumed you're the jacked up messed up person who 324 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,640 has access to secret arts. You showed up for work one day 325 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,920 and you threw your stuff on the ground and it turned into a 326 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:58,640 snake. It was your favorite staff. 327 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,680 And then Moses or Aaron's staff ate your stick. 328 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,200 And so you walked home without your cane. 329 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,200 Like, what in the world? I like that cane. 330 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:09,920 It's gone. It's now Aaron's and Aaron's 331 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:16,000 snake's, cane's mouth. OK, then you have the you have 332 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,000 the plague of blood. Don't you think you'd want to 333 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,720 make clean drinking water? But what did the sorcerer's do? 334 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,680 They made more bad water. Doo Doo Doo. 335 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:28,360 Like, what are you? What are you doing? 336 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:30,960 Oh, plague of frogs. You know what? 337 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,920 We could use more of more frogs. So they made more frogs. 338 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:38,520 All of a sudden you get to the gnats and the lice and they're 339 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,000 like, you know what? We can't do this anymore. 340 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,040 I don't know if they couldn't do it. 341 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:42,680 If they're like, listen, man, we got to get out of here. 342 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,320 This is getting out of hands. Now, here's what's crazy. 343 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,840 You need to know this. There are indeed dark arts. 344 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,080 There are indeed demonic powers at work in this world. 345 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,800 There are times when there are demonic powers at work in you 346 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,760 and around you, but I want you to know something. 347 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:06,440 They are not at any moment in time, something to be feared 348 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:12,680 because they in no way, shape or form have any power against 349 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,600 prayer, the presence of the Holy Spirit, or the name of Jesus 350 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,560 Christ. We can walk into the darkest of 351 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,960 places over equipped for whatever it is that we face. 352 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:27,480 Plague #4 at which plague would you start to go? 353 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:31,880 Something's going on. The Egyptians are slow learners. 354 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,880 So are the Israelites. Plague 4 flies. 355 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:37,280 There are probably all kinds of different insects, but one of 356 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,040 the insects that was most likely a part of it was the scarab 357 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:41,280 beetle. The reason why this is kind of 358 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,040 interesting is because the Egyptians worship the scarab 359 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:49,200 beetle as a sign of immortality and all of a sudden you are 360 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,920 covered in them. In many ways, the plagues that 361 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,240 God does on the Egyptians are an attack on the gods of the 362 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,920 Egyptians. The the Egyptians were 363 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,720 polytheists. They believed in all kinds of 364 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:03,560 gods. They had gods for absolutely 365 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,080 everything. And through the plagues, God 366 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:10,800 starts basically taking a sniper rifle to each of their gods and 367 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,000 going what about that? What about that? 368 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,520 You can draw a pretty strong connection to the different gods 369 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,080 of Egypt and the plagues that took place. 370 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,480 However, while this is happening, the Egyptian gods are 371 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,120 silent. They offer no help, no reprieve, 372 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,680 no rebuttal, no protection. He is showing them that the 373 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,280 thing that you are worshiping did not sustain you, the thing 374 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,160 that you are worshiping did not create you, and the thing that 375 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,760 you are worshiping cannot take care of you. 376 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,080 God is showing the Egyptians and the Israelites that there is 377 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,680 only one true God and He shouldn't be messed with, but He 378 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,160 should be obeyed and He should be followed in many ways. 379 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,400 As you come to faith in Christ, you will have the exact same 380 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,280 experience. You will have to dismantle your 381 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,120 own gods and start seeing them for what they really are. 382 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,320 Now your gods look different, but they're just as devastating 383 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:06,600 for you. It might be your worship of your 384 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:10,680 body, the worship of your money, the worship of your relational 385 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:13,560 status, the relation, the worship of your health, the 386 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,480 worship of your possessions, the worship of your position. 387 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:22,200 And you have a hard time following Jesus because your 388 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,520 true allegiance is to a false God. 389 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:29,000 And just so you know, false gods are no gods and no God will save 390 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,840 you. But something special happens 391 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,960 during this plague. God deals differently with the 392 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,800 people of Israel. You see, the people of Israel, 393 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,920 they lived in Egypt, but they have their own place in Egypt 394 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:42,920 and it was called the land of Goshen. 395 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,840 It was where all the slaves lived, their barracks. 396 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,920 It's where they eights raised. Their family was in the land of 397 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:54,240 Goshen. And in the land of Goshen there 398 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,960 were no flies. Where the people of God were, 399 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,160 there was no plague. If you were standing on the line 400 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,000 of Egypt and Goshen, you'd be covered in flies. 401 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:08,760 No flies. He was showing them that there 402 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,280 is something uncommon about these people who called on the 403 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,480 name of Jehovah. Here we find ourselves with a 404 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,880 little bit more in common with Pharaoh than we want to admit, 405 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,520 because here Pharaoh actually begins to try to compromise with 406 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:30,000 God and compromise with Moses. He goes, listen, don't go away 407 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,200 forever, but if you want to go away for a little while, that's 408 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:33,880 fine. Just don't go too far and, and 409 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:35,880 just take the men, don't take the families. 410 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,600 He starts to enter into a negotiation with God and that's 411 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:44,080 what we do, isn't it? We want an aspect of God, but we 412 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,840 don't want the whole thing. We want to be somewhat faithful, 413 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,000 but not completely faithful. We want to give him ground, but 414 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,920 we don't want to completely surrender. 415 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:54,040 We want to give him the room in our lives, but we don't want to 416 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,360 give him the whole house. And partial obedience is 417 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:01,320 disobedience. How many of you raise your hands 418 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,640 if you as a parent, you counted when you were dealing with your 419 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,440 kids? I'm going to count to three. 420 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:14,360 One, I'm super serious. Two, don't make me get there. 421 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:18,440 Two and one quarter. You know what that is? 422 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:20,920 We are manufacturing disobedience. 423 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:23,480 We are telling them you can obey. 424 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,000 Just don't obey until the last possible moment. 425 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:32,960 God is the best parent of all time and he doesn't count plague 426 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:39,080 5 the death of the livestock. He kills all the livestock in 427 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:43,760 Egypt, but none of the livestock in Goshen. 428 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:55,120 No cows, no sheep. I don't. 429 00:24:55,320 --> 00:25:02,360 That's it, That's all I got. If you are an Egyptian and 430 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:05,960 you're just walking through all the dead animals, you got heaps 431 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:10,560 of frogs smelling up the place, Fluffy gone. 432 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,360 But over here kids are still playing with their dogs. 433 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:16,760 You'd be going. What is going on here? 434 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:26,760 Plague 6 boils, the boyles show up, these warts that are oozing 435 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:31,440 and hurt and they land on the livestock and on the people and 436 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:32,520 you might be going hold on a second. 437 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,400 Didn't God just kill all the livestock? 438 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,000 How are the Egyptians having livestock with boyles? 439 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,640 Great question. TikTok. 440 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,320 Here's a couple things. One, they could have stolen from 441 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,600 the Israelites because the Israelites were their slaves. 442 00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:48,760 So like, hey, glad you guys got all your livestock. 443 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:50,920 We'll take some two. They could have gone to the 444 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:52,960 neighboring countries and bought them, which have been incredibly 445 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:54,800 expensive. Third, remember, these things 446 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:56,600 happened over a period of six months. 447 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:02,760 So these animals get absolutely pelted with boils. 448 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,280 The magicians get mentioned in the text again. 449 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,280 This time the magicians can't stand because they're so 450 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,320 afflicted with boils. So now the magicians are coming 451 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,600 in after like Wheeling themselves in on their little 452 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:20,880 Egyptian wheelchair. They're they're skiing, they're 453 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,440 skiing in Egypt and they can't even stand. 454 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,760 So they used to be mimicking everything that God did and now 455 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,720 they can't even stand in the presence of God's man. 456 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,400 Here's where God hardens Pharaoh's heart. 457 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,200 Throughout the 1st 5 plagues, Pharaoh could have turned at any 458 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,840 moment in time, but he didn't. And so at this point in time, 459 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:43,920 because he chose the cruel and God denying path, God hardened 460 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,480 Pharaoh's heart. This is a subtle reminder for 461 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,320 every single one of us. You have time to get your heart 462 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:56,880 right until you don't. So don't waste your time or your 463 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,600 choice. When my kids threaten to leave 464 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:04,880 the house, we move them out. I've told you guys this story 465 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:06,440 before, Maddox. One time is like, I'm leaving 466 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,000 this house. I don't want to be here anymore. 467 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:09,320 Like, OK. And he starts running up the 468 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:10,200 stairs. I'm like, what are you doing? 469 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:11,560 He goes, I'm getting my clothes. I'm like, you don't have 470 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:13,320 clothes? He's like, what? 471 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,560 I go, those are all my clothes. You can't be a thief too. 472 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,760 So if you're leaving, you're leaving without any clothes on. 473 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:19,400 So he comes downstairs. I'm thinking I solved it. 474 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,760 I'm eating free pebbles. He comes down butt naked, walks 475 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,280 outside with a towel around and throws the towel inside and 476 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,920 shuts the door. I'm like, Oh my goodness, so 477 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,040 much like your mother-in-law. Like what do I do with this? 478 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,120 And but then he couple minutes later he opens the door. 479 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:39,240 He's like, I'm staying here one more night because I don't want 480 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,560 do I want my kids to leave? Of course I don't, but I'm not 481 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,800 going to let them barter and have me live in fear constantly 482 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,600 that they can move out at any moments notice and that somehow 483 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,000 I'm going to not be the father I'm supposed to be in those 484 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,040 moments. So you'll harden their heart. 485 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,080 If you want to go, go put them outside, shut the door. 486 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,120 And as soon as they say, I want to be in this family again, I 487 00:27:59,120 --> 00:27:59,760 love you. OK. 488 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,760 Now this time because the magicians, they're going through 489 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:04,640 all their boil stuff. So they're having next plague 490 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,040 hail. Now almost no rainfalls in Egypt 491 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,360 because Egypt is is in the Mediterranean coast and it's 492 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,240 primarily desert. So hail would have been an 493 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,240 almost unknown to them. And they worshipped the sky 494 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,480 goddess and she could not stop the storm from coming. 495 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,720 The hail beat down what was in the crops and the, and, and 496 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,480 through the process of that, it made it incredibly hard for them 497 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,840 to take care of their families because the food had been 498 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,600 decimated Recently, just two weeks ago, I did a wedding out 499 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,040 in Colorado, an absolutely beautiful wedding for a couple 500 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:35,000 that used to be a part of our church. 501 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:36,400 And if you're watching from Denver, we love you. 502 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,360 We had a great time. And on the way out I was like, 503 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,320 you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to take my family to 504 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,320 the top of Pikes Peak. And if you have not done Pikes 505 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:45,600 Peak, you start off in Colorado Springs at about 6000 feet above 506 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:50,720 sea level and then you drive over about 10 miles, 8000 feet 507 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,280 in the air. And my family doesn't do well 508 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:58,160 with heights or my driving. And so it was a real pucker 509 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:00,640 moment for everybody in our family. 510 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,760 And you, you start driving up and like, all of a sudden you're 511 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,720 up high enough at 11,000 feet where there's no more trees, no 512 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,600 more grass. And you just keep going and you 513 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:10,400 come to the edge and you can look over the edge and you go, 514 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,680 if we go off here, we're going straight to Jesus, like this is 515 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,280 an exit ramp straight to him. And so you, we get to the top. 516 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,080 My family's been, we're, you know, they're, they're soft. 517 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,440 And so they've got those little oxygen tanks that you like, sell 518 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,800 at the gas station trying to get all the way up and like, you 519 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,160 guys are a bunch of wimps. And so we get all the way to the 520 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,800 top, we go, we take pictures, we go to the little place inside, 521 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,280 we buy the stupid souvenirs and the stickers and all that stuff. 522 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,040 And as we're getting ready to leave Pikes Peak, and if we 523 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,040 don't know, I got to say this Pikes Peak is so dangerous that 524 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,960 they check the temperature at the halfway point down, going 525 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,120 down to make sure that your brakes aren't too hot so you 526 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:50,560 don't die. We're at the very top as bad as 527 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,680 it can possibly get. We're walking out of the gift 528 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:54,720 shop and on the way up, they said, hey, we might have some 529 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,720 bad weather today. So, you know, make sure you have 530 00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,240 your tank full of gas all the way up and take your pictures on 531 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:00,800 the way down. Just drive to the top because 532 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,400 it, you know, it might get a little spotty up there. 533 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,200 OK, We drive all the way to the top. 534 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,520 Everything's fine. Walk out of the gift and we're 535 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,400 walking to our vehicle and it starts to hail. 536 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,240 I'm not talking like, Oh my goodness, I wonder if my car got 537 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,840 hit. I'm saying hail as we're running 538 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,480 to our car. I've just got on an uncommon 539 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,160 shirt next weekend and I've got on a pair of shorts my wife's 540 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:24,840 got on flip flops. My kids are just wearing 541 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,440 T-shirts and shorts because we're from the Midwest and a 542 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,880 little cold air doesn't bother us none and we're getting 543 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:33,240 absolutely hammered by hail. As I get to my vehicle to unlock 544 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,080 it, lightning strikes the ground about 15 feet from us. 545 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,440 We get in the car. As we are driving down, the hail 546 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,520 is exploding on the pavement and turning to ice. 547 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:51,400 This is my wife. Going down tight. 548 00:30:53,640 --> 00:31:02,650 Check it out. What up? 549 00:31:08,890 --> 00:31:17,610 It's bad enough I might grow up. There were 14,000 feet up, hard 550 00:31:17,610 --> 00:31:21,480 to breathe, and then we came out of the gift shop and we're 551 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:27,160 pelted by hail. But we made it to the truck. 552 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,000 Oh my gosh. See. 553 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,560 It's sloping off. It's not good. 554 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,880 Yeah, we just have to make it back down. 555 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,920 Kids in the back are like it's party time. $2.00 Panic attack. 556 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:54,240 Take this oxygen. OK, so we go. 557 00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,040 Check back. In 10 minutes from here, 10,000 558 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,800 feet, 10 minutes on the same drive, we are not more than a 559 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:05,600 mile from where we just were and my wife picks up the phone at 560 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:07,400 10,000 feet in elevation. OK. 561 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:12,640 Where are we at, boys? We're at miles. 562 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,120 We're at 10,000 feet. That's ridiculous. 563 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:19,880 It's totally different weather. Check this out. 564 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:30,600 Hey, the only way I can describe that is on top of the mountain. 565 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:36,520 We were in Egypt and at 10,000 feet we were in Goshen. 566 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:39,960 People were walking around with their shirts off taking 567 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,280 pictures. People were crying out to God 568 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:47,360 for help. Plague 8 Locusts. 569 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:49,960 Whatever was not destroyed by the hail gets consumed by the 570 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:51,760 locusts. He has robbed their present 571 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,920 savings, their future supply, and their present supply, or 572 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:56,600 their future supply and their present supply. 573 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,080 Plague 9 Darkness Darkness was especially significant because 574 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,800 the chief God was a God of the sun. 575 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:10,240 The Bible says it was so dark it could be felt, but there was no 576 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:16,840 darkness in Goshen. God kept showing the people of 577 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:20,880 Israel that He is the Lord Almighty, He can be trusted and 578 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:25,520 should be followed and obeyed. And the people in Egypt kept 579 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,600 saying sign and wonder and sign and wonder and God's Providence 580 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,680 and protection. What's happening in these 581 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,760 plagues is a reversal of the creation narrative. 582 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,960 You guys know Genesis chapter one, In Genesis chapter one it 583 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:45,000 begins to unfold and we have God making three dominions and then 584 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,720 he fills these dominions with inhabitants. 585 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:53,440 Day one we get domain number one, we get light and dark and 586 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,960 day four he populates it with the sun, the moon and the stars. 587 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,560 And day two we get a second dominion. 588 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:07,440 This one we get sky and water, and on day five he populates 589 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,880 this dominion with birds and fish. 590 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,800 On day three we get the third dominion, we get land, and on 591 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:20,080 day six God populates it with animals and humans. 592 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:24,960 And you have the whole world going from disorder to order. 593 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,120 And during the plagues you have the unraveling of all of this. 594 00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,280 It is no longer good. It is no longer very good. 595 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:37,760 In fact, it is very bad. And the lines between the 596 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,719 dominions are dissolved. And you have frogs in the beds 597 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:44,040 and flies everywhere, and darkness is felt instead of you. 598 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,360 Not only can you not see, but you can feel the darkness. 599 00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,880 There's no more boundaries between the domains. 600 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:50,600 We're no longer calling this good. 601 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:52,400 The waters and drinkable people are sick. 602 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,639 The cattle are dying, the crops are destroyed. 603 00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:57,360 The plagues are a disruption of all of this order. 604 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,200 God is saying I am the one who brought all of this into 605 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,920 existence and I am the one who can take it all away. 606 00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:11,840 I am Jehovah, I am your God, and if I can do this with the land, 607 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,880 imagine what I can do with you. I am Yahweh. 608 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,920 The plagues are a sign and wonder to everybody to worship 609 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,600 God. It reminds me of when I used to 610 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,000 work out in Oklahoma as a rancher. 611 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:30,000 I worked for a kids camp and my job was to teach horseback 612 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,960 riding to all the kids. And we had received a wild 613 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:37,400 Mustang from Nevada. And we were in the process of 614 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,560 breaking this horse. And the way you break a horse, 615 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,120 if you're going to do it the the sweet way, which is what we did, 616 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,840 just so you know, so I don't get any emails, is you enter into a 617 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:51,200 round pin, which is a round pin of about 20 to 30 feet wide. 618 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:55,520 It's a big round pin and you put the the the horse in there and 619 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,440 then you go in with what's called a lunging whip. 620 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,320 And you don't actually hit it. You just pop it real loud. 621 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,680 Freaks the horse out. You'd freak out if you were in a 622 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,080 pin with me and I started cracking a whip, right? 623 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:05,040 You'd be like, OK, what are we doing? 624 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:06,520 And that's exactly what the horse does. 625 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,440 Like, I guess we're running. I guess we're running. 626 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,120 And you just stand in the middle and you go and he's like, OK, we 627 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:12,880 got to go. We got to go. 628 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:15,000 And then what you do is you after you've ran it for a little 629 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,360 while, you kind of step over like this as it comes around the 630 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:19,240 circle. And the horse, when he sees you, 631 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,720 it immediately turns and it tries to get out of the gate. 632 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,040 It keeps its head over there and it starts running the other way. 633 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:25,760 And you do that for a little bit. 634 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,280 And so you let it run the other way for a little while and then 635 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,320 you get over in front of it to try and stop it and turn it 636 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,840 around. And as you do it, eventually you 637 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,640 start going, OK, when the horse comes around this way, I'm going 638 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,560 to stop. And you give the horse just a 639 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:44,040 second release, a little bit of pressure, and the horse will 640 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:47,560 start looking at you. And then you apply a little bit 641 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,800 of pressure. And if the horse starts to turn 642 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,760 away from you, you jump back over this way and you keep it 643 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:55,280 going in the exact same direction. 644 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,840 But if the horse, instead of turning to the outside of the 645 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:06,960 circle, if the horse starts to look at you, you back up and you 646 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:11,400 just wait a second. Then you ask it to run again and 647 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,320 it starts to run around and you get in front of it and you ask 648 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,400 it to change direction. And the horse that comes running 649 00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:24,680 around, it stops. It starts to think, OK, I'm 650 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,920 looking this way. And every time I look this way, 651 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:31,480 I got to run a whole lot. And I'm kind of a fat horse and 652 00:37:31,480 --> 00:37:34,720 I'm kind of tired of running. I think I'm going to look at 653 00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:38,120 this guy and if I no, I don't trust him. 654 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:42,360 Soon as it starts to go this way, you run all this way, not 655 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:44,080 hitting a horse, just making a lot of noise. 656 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,040 Horse starts running again. All of a sudden it comes 657 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:53,000 running. The moment it turns to you, 658 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:54,400 you're back way off. Good. 659 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,680 You do that about five or six times. 660 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,720 All of a sudden you walk up to the horse, no bridle, no saddle, 661 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:08,120 no lead, no nothing. And you touch it on, on its 662 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:13,880 head, Good boy, good boy. And then you turn around and you 663 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:18,120 walk away, and the horse follows you. 664 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,240 And you can open up the pen and you can walk through the field 665 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,880 and the horse follows you and you can walk into the barn and 666 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:31,920 take it right back to its pen without anything on it because 667 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,360 it has acknowledged that you are in charge. 668 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:40,320 And the moment it stops trying to run from you, and the moment 669 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:44,480 it starts following you, it's life experiences peace. 670 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,120 Because a wild horse will be forever chased by predators. 671 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,960 A wild horse will constantly live in fear. 672 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:56,360 But a horse that has been domesticated, trained, bridled, 673 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:01,200 comes under the sphere of leadership of its owner and it's 674 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:06,280 worries dissipate. God has been showing up in your 675 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,320 whole life in every single one of your circumstances. 676 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:14,600 Some of them He's caused, and some of them you have caused, 677 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,960 and some of them the enemy has caused. 678 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,200 But God has promised to redeem any and every situation and 679 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:26,120 repurpose any amount of pain to get you to look to Him. 680 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,680 And when you do, everything changes. 681 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:32,480 We're moving to a time, a decision. 682 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,720 There are some of you listening to me right now and you've never 683 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:40,760 started a relationship with Jesus Christ. 684 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:43,880 You've never come into that intimate personal relationship 685 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,360 that is not just life altering in this life, but in the life 686 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,480 that is to come. And I just got a simple plea to 687 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:53,160 you. Don't put it off any longer. 688 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,160 Don't wait. The time is right. 689 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:02,720 The time is right now. And if you're here today and you 690 00:40:02,720 --> 00:40:05,080 have questions about what that is or what that looks like? 691 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,680 In just a few moments, when people around you stand and sing 692 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,040 and people begin to raise their hands and worship and other 693 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,120 people come to the steps and pray, I want to encourage you to 694 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:15,440 walk right over there next to that baptistry underneath that 695 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,360 screen, and talk to somebody about starting the relationship. 696 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,880 That makes all the difference. You're going to keep 697 00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:24,120 experiencing pain in this life. You're going to keep 698 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,440 experiencing hardship. God is continually trying to 699 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:33,160 show you, follow me, be my child, live in harmony and in 700 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,560 peace with me, not just in this life, but in the one that 701 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:38,840 matters the most, the one that is to come. 702 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:43,440 Don't put it off to the rest of you, those of you who call 703 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:47,280 yourselves Christians. We must follow God and worship 704 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,240 God so that way we are to the people around us a land of 705 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:57,320 Goshen that they see us and they see the difference of the 706 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:03,280 Providence of God in our lives. Perfect example, some would say 707 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:09,440 that we are in a political nightmare and some would say 708 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,600 that people are losing their ever loving minds. 709 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,920 And wouldn't it be cool if they said how come Christians are 710 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,280 going through this differently? Why do you have so much peace? 711 00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,440 Why do you have so much hope? Why do you have so much joy? 712 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:24,240 Oh, that's because I'm in the land of Goshen. 713 00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:27,080 What's the land of Goshen? Oh, I'm a part of the land of 714 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,240 the people who believe that God is still on his throne, that 715 00:41:30,240 --> 00:41:32,840 he's not going anywhere. If he has power over plagues, 716 00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:34,680 you think he doesn't have power over politicians? 717 00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:37,600 You think his reign is not righteous, that he won't get us 718 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:39,240 through whatever we're about ready to go through. 719 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:41,720 And this world is not my home. So you can't really mess me up 720 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,920 because my world has eternal foundations and it's sustained 721 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,040 by God. It has no light because God is 722 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,240 the light. Well, this is the perfect 723 00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:52,920 opportunity for you and me to be Goshen in our communities. 724 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:56,040 Would you stand? God, I'm asking you to do a work 725 00:41:56,040 --> 00:42:00,400 in our church, a soul stirring work, the kind of work that 726 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,360 could only be attributed to you, to your might, to your power. 727 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,200 You got to pray that we would worship you, honor you, follow 728 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,000 you in every area of our life. In your name I pray. 729 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:09,720 Amen.