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Voddie Baucham - The Tenth Plague Foretold · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, if you have your bibles, please open them to
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  Speaker 1: Exodus chapter eleven. Exodus chapter eleven, it's a very short chapter,
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  Speaker 1: both in terms of the number of verses, but also
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  Speaker 1: in terms of the content. This is a chapter that
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  Speaker 1: really introduces the final plague, and this introduction is important
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  Speaker 1: as we think about this final plague. There is a
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  Speaker 1: sense in which this is not just the last plague,
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  Speaker 1: but it is the plague. This is the plague to
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  Speaker 1: end all plagues. We've left, for example, our pattern of plagues. Previously,
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  Speaker 1: if you'll remember, we had a pattern three sets of
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  Speaker 1: three plagues each and in each set of three, they
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  Speaker 1: were distinguished by the fact that Moses approached Pharaoh first
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  Speaker 1: in the morning near the river, secondly in his official capacity,
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  Speaker 1: and then thirdly there was a plague that went unannounced.
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  Speaker 1: This happened in each of the previous three cycles of plagues.
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  Speaker 1: Those three cycles of plagues are over, and now we
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  Speaker 1: are at this ultimate plague, which stands alone. It stands
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  Speaker 1: alone in terms of not being a part of the cycle,
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  Speaker 1: it stands alone in terms of its severity, and it
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  Speaker 1: stands alone in terms of its outcome. In all of
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  Speaker 1: these ways, this is a singular event. It is unlike
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  Speaker 1: anything that we've seen before. However, it also brings to
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  Speaker 1: a head the question that we have to wrestle with
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  Speaker 1: as we go through the plagues in general, the issue
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  Speaker 1: of sovereignty, judgment, and morality, and that balance between sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: judgment and morality. When you come to this last plague,
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  Speaker 1: the moral question is highlighted because ultimately, this last plague
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  Speaker 1: is about the death of children, the first born in
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  Speaker 1: each household, and when we think about God bringing the
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  Speaker 1: judgment that results in the death of the first born,
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  Speaker 1: it is inevitable that we question the morality of such
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  Speaker 1: an action. But there's also this sense, and we brought
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  Speaker 1: this up before that you know. In Romans chapter nine,
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  Speaker 1: Paul deals with this issue from a theological perspective. Paul
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  Speaker 1: deals with the question of whether or not it is right,
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  Speaker 1: whether or not it is just for God to judge men,
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  Speaker 1: if God is sovereign, whether or not it is just
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  Speaker 1: and right for God to judge men. This is a
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  Speaker 1: question that is dealt with. This is a question it's
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  Speaker 1: dealt with in chapter nine theologically. But the illustration of
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  Speaker 1: that is God's dealing with Moses, and the ultimate expression
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  Speaker 1: and illustration of God dealing with Moses is this last plague,
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  Speaker 1: So that question of sovereignty, judgment, and morality really it's
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  Speaker 1: concentrated here in this last plague. If God is sovereign,
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  Speaker 1: is it right for him to judge? That's the question
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  Speaker 1: with which Paul wrestles. If God is sovereign, is it
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  Speaker 1: right for him the judge? And the answer is absolutely,
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  Speaker 1: it's right for him to judge. And usually we feel
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  Speaker 1: as though we need to protect God. As someone has said,
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  Speaker 1: we feel the need to serve as God pr firm,
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  Speaker 1: and we don't like the idea that God is sovereign
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  Speaker 1: and yet he still holds man accountable. So what we
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  Speaker 1: will do is we will either relax on the sovereignty
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  Speaker 1: or relax on the judgment. In relaxing on the sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: we say, well, no, no, no, God holds man accountable. But
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  Speaker 1: it's because God is really not sovereign. He's sitting back
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  Speaker 1: and he's watching and he's not in control. And we
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  Speaker 1: feel like in doing that we've helped God. Or we
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  Speaker 1: will sort of come down on the judgment that God
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  Speaker 1: is sovereign and this is not really judgment. These are
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  Speaker 1: just things that God allows to happen. You've heard that
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  Speaker 1: one enough, haven't we. There's a difference between the things
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  Speaker 1: that God does and the things that God allows, as
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  Speaker 1: though somehow that alleviates God's responsibility and sovereignty over whatever
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  Speaker 1: it is that happens, because whatever it is that God
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  Speaker 1: is allowing, he's allowing it because He has decreed it.
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  Speaker 1: And if he has decreed it, then he's sovereign over it. Well,
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  Speaker 1: when you uphold both sovereignty and judgment, you inevitably come
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  Speaker 1: to the question of morality. And so we'll deal with
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  Speaker 1: all three of those as we look more closely and
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  Speaker 1: carefully at Exodus chapter eleven. Sovereignty, judgment, and morality. Let's
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  Speaker 1: read this brief chapter, shall we. Exodus chapter eleven. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord said to Moses, yet one plague more I will
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  Speaker 1: bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let
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  Speaker 1: you go from here. When he lets you go, he
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  Speaker 1: will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing
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  Speaker 1: of the people, that they ask every man of his
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  Speaker 1: neighbor and every woman of her neighbor for silver and
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  Speaker 1: gold jewelry. And the Lord gave the people favor in
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  Speaker 1: the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was
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  Speaker 1: very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight
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  Speaker 1: of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people.
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  Speaker 1: So Moses said, Thus says the Lord, about midnight, I
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  Speaker 1: will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every
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  Speaker 1: first born in the land of Egypt shall die, from
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  Speaker 1: the first born of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne,
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  Speaker 1: even to the first born of the slave girl who
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  Speaker 1: is behind the handmill, and all the first born of
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  Speaker 1: the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all
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  Speaker 1: the land of Egypt, such as there has never been,
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  Speaker 1: nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall
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  Speaker 1: growl against any of the people of Israel, either man
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  Speaker 1: or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes
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  Speaker 1: a distinction between Egypt and Israel. And all these your
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  Speaker 1: servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying,
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  Speaker 1: get out you and all the people who follow you.
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  Speaker 1: And after that I will go out. And he went
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  Speaker 1: out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said
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  Speaker 1: to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my
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  Speaker 1: wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And
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  Speaker 1: then there's this sort of parenthetical statement that wraps up
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  Speaker 1: really all of the plagues Moses and Aaron did all
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  Speaker 1: these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
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  Speaker 1: and he did not let the people of Israel go
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  Speaker 1: out of his land. Again, a very succinct chapter here,
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of Exodus, in terms of its brevity
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  Speaker 1: and verses, and in its brevity of content. And yet
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  Speaker 1: here we get a glimpse of something that we have
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  Speaker 1: to understand in order to understand the tenth plague. And
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  Speaker 1: by the way, in order to understand the tenth you
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  Speaker 1: have to understand the tenth plague in order to understand
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  Speaker 1: the passover. And you have to understand the passover in
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  Speaker 1: order to understand the Lord's Supper. So our goal here
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  Speaker 1: is to understand the Lord's Supper. Our goal here is
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  Speaker 1: to understand what it means when we gather before the
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  Speaker 1: bread and the wine, when we gather and and and
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  Speaker 1: commemorate the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: We want to understand what that means. But you can't
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  Speaker 1: understand that unless and until you understand the passover. And
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  Speaker 1: you can't understand the passover unless and until you understand
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  Speaker 1: the tenth plague. And so we begin now and embark
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  Speaker 1: on a journey over the next couple of months to
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  Speaker 1: understand the Lord's Supper, to understand who Christ is, what
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  Speaker 1: he has done, and how we interact with that in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's Supper. And it begins here with understanding the
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  Speaker 1: plague of plagues. First, we understand here the sovereignty of God.
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  Speaker 1: Look at the language that is used, and you will
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  Speaker 1: see the sovereignty of God. Notice in that first paragraph,
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  Speaker 1: yet one more plague I will bring upon Pharaoh. Afterward
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  Speaker 1: he will let you go from here. When he lets
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  Speaker 1: you go, he will drive you away completely. This language
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  Speaker 1: is certain. This language is sure, and it's a language
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  Speaker 1: that says that it's this plague that will end it all.
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  Speaker 1: But notice also the nature of this plague and God's vindication.
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  Speaker 1: He vindicates his sovereignty first by vindicating himself as the
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  Speaker 1: triune God. His sovereignty is unparalleled. There is none like him.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to this from the IVP bibical background commentary. In Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh was also considered a deity. We know this already right,
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  Speaker 1: And this last plague is directed at him, and the
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  Speaker 1: ninth plague his father, the son God, was defeated, and
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  Speaker 1: now his son, presumably the heir to the throne will
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  Speaker 1: be slaughtered. This is a blow to Pharaoh's person, his kingship,
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  Speaker 1: and his divinity, and it is also vindication of the
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  Speaker 1: Triune God as father, son, and Holy Spirit. The son
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  Speaker 1: God is supposedly the father of Pharaoh, who is a God,
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  Speaker 1: and the son of Pharaoh is supposedly the heir to
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  Speaker 1: the divine and so God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: In the ninth and tenth Plague vindicates himself as the
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  Speaker 1: triune God and as the one and only God. His
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  Speaker 1: sovereignty is unparalleled. He is not one God among many gods.
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  Speaker 1: He is not just the most powerful God. He is
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  Speaker 1: the only God, and there is no other folks. Ironically,
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  Speaker 1: this is one of the major objections to Christianity. People
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  Speaker 1: will say things like, well, you know, if you read
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  Speaker 1: the ancient myths in the ancient Near East, there are
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  Speaker 1: a lot of things that sound similar to what you
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  Speaker 1: find in the Bible, to which I respond, a man, Hallelujah,
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  Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. There are things that you find in
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  Speaker 1: the ancient Near East and in the ancient Greco Roman
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  Speaker 1: world that sound very similar to the truths of Scripture.
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  Speaker 1: Why because God created us in his image and because
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  Speaker 1: this actually happened, Amen, And because Satan is a deceiver
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  Speaker 1: and he disguises himself as an angel of light. Folks,
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  Speaker 1: if you want to be a deceiver, how do you deceive?
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  Speaker 1: Do you deceive by saying something completely off the wall
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  Speaker 1: that has no connection with the reality, or do you
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  Speaker 1: slightly tweak something that is real and something that is true.
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  Speaker 1: You know that the answer is the latter and not
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  Speaker 1: the former. If God is God, and if this is true,
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  Speaker 1: then we ought to see elements of it all over
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  Speaker 1: the world. We ought to see elements of it in
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  Speaker 1: every culture, and we do. And what God is doing
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  Speaker 1: here is vindicating himself. He says. You think you understand
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  Speaker 1: how the world works. You think you understand Deity, but
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  Speaker 1: you do not. The Sun God is not the Sun God.
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  Speaker 1: The Son was created by me. I can blot it
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  Speaker 1: out when I feel like it. You are not the
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  Speaker 1: son of the Sun God. You're my son. I created you,
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  Speaker 1: and I do with you what I please. And your
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  Speaker 1: son is not Deity in waiting, and I do with
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  Speaker 1: him as I please. And you may not present yourself
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  Speaker 1: as the true Triune God, even though that is not
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  Speaker 1: the understanding that the Egyptians had. God's sovereignty is unparalleled.
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  Speaker 1: His language means this sovereignty is proven. Calvin writes, however
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  Speaker 1: obstinate Pharaoh might be, the hour has now come in
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  Speaker 1: which he must succumb to God. Count you love that Phraise.
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  Speaker 1: However obstinate he was, and he's been obstinate. As I've said,
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  Speaker 1: we read through this, and every time you read through this,
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  Speaker 1: when you're reading through it carefully, something else happens and
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  Speaker 1: you go, Okay, now certain Nope, hardens his heart again,
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  Speaker 1: and we know it's coming. And yet still it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: make sense. However, now he is going to do precisely
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  Speaker 1: what God says he's going to do. Why because God
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  Speaker 1: is sovereign. Also the favor that God gives Moses and
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  Speaker 1: the Israelites, this is that sort of intersection between sovereignty
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  Speaker 1: and providence. The Lord did give the people favor, as
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  Speaker 1: the text says, and the man Moses was very, very
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  Speaker 1: great in the land of Egypt. And that interesting. He
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  Speaker 1: was very great in the land of Egypt. He used
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  Speaker 1: to be great because he was part of the royal family.
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  Speaker 1: But now he's great as he stands in opposition to
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  Speaker 1: the royal family. Why because God has demonstrated and manifested
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  Speaker 1: his power through Moses. This plague is also the plague
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  Speaker 1: that was promised from the beginning. So this is reiterated
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  Speaker 1: sovereignty in chapter four, verses twenty two and twenty three.
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  Speaker 1: Then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Israel is my firstborn son. And I say to you,
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  Speaker 1: let my son go, that he may serve me. If
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  Speaker 1: you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill
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  Speaker 1: your firstborn son. That's chapter four. That's chapter four. What
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  Speaker 1: does this mean? This is very important from a theological perspective.
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  Speaker 1: This means that the other plagues were never meant to
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  Speaker 1: win the day. Let me say that again. This means
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  Speaker 1: that the other plagues were never meant to win the day,
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  Speaker 1: those other nine plagues. God did not send those nine
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  Speaker 1: plagues saying okay, let's see if this works. Okay, that
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  Speaker 1: didn't work. Let's see if this works. Okay, that didn't work.
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  Speaker 1: Let's see if this works. That was not the purpose
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  Speaker 1: of those nine plagues. God has not failed. This is
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  Speaker 1: the plague of plagues. This is the plague that was promised.
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  Speaker 1: The other plagues were for the most part for Israel's
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  Speaker 1: benefit and for the benefit of the watching world. These
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  Speaker 1: plagues were not designed to convince Pharaoh. This last plague
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  Speaker 1: could have been the only plague if all God wanted
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  Speaker 1: to do was get his people. In fact, he didn't
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  Speaker 1: need a single plague. If all he wanted to do
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  Speaker 1: was get his people out, all he had to do
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  Speaker 1: was open the gates. So these plagues served another purpose.
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  Speaker 1: It's very important that we understand this in light of
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  Speaker 1: the sovereignty of God. The sovereign God does not operate
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  Speaker 1: like this in the lives of men. But don't we
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  Speaker 1: say this to people something bad or happen in somebody's life,
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  Speaker 1: and then something else bad and it happened in somebody's life,
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  Speaker 1: and then what do we say if they're not a Christian, Well,
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  Speaker 1: you know, God's trying to get your attention, really, because
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  Speaker 1: that's not what he has to do, Amen, somebody. God
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  Speaker 1: doesn't have to do that to get anyone's attention. God
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  Speaker 1: is God, he is the sovereign Lord of the universe.
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  Speaker 1: He spoke the world into existence with a word. He
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  Speaker 1: doesn't need to send things into your life to get
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  Speaker 1: you ready for salvation. This is not the way God operates,
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  Speaker 1: and this is not how he's operating in Pharaoh's life.
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  Speaker 1: God is bringing these things to Pharaoh so that he
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  Speaker 1: can vindicate himself as God, and so that he can
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  Speaker 1: prepare Egypt to be his people. Notice also that this
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  Speaker 1: is the ultimate proof of God's sovereignty because it actually
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  Speaker 1: turns Pharaoh against his own hard heart. This is not
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  Speaker 1: what Pharaoh wants. Again, I've said it before, and I'll
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  Speaker 1: say it again because it bears repeating. They are those
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  Speaker 1: individuals who don't like the idea of the sovereignty of God,
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  Speaker 1: and they'll use some form of the phrase. You know,
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  Speaker 1: God as a gentleman, and he would never force himself
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  Speaker 1: upon anyone. Liar, liar, pants on fire. If God didn't
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  Speaker 1: force himself on you, you wouldn't be saved. Let me
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  Speaker 1: say that again, If God didn't force himself on you,
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  Speaker 1: you wouldn't be saved. In fact, to say that God
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't force himself on anyone is actually to argue that
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  Speaker 1: man has within himself the ability to be saved apart
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  Speaker 1: from God, and that somehow God is merely waiting and
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  Speaker 1: hoping that man will exercise that thing within. Listen, we
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  Speaker 1: are fallen, we are dead, and our prespasses and sins,
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  Speaker 1: not asleep, not almost dead. We are dead, and unless
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  Speaker 1: God forces himself on us, there is no salvation. Is
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  Speaker 1: why we all pray like Calvinists when we're praying for
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  Speaker 1: our lost friends and family members. God open their eyes,
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  Speaker 1: God soften their hearts. God awaken them, God awake. When
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  Speaker 1: we pray for lost people, we always pray like Calvinists.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody prays for a lost person like an Armenian. How
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  Speaker 1: could you and why would you if that's the way
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  Speaker 1: you believe. Because if you don't believe that God is
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  Speaker 1: sovereign in the salvation of sinners, you don't need to
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  Speaker 1: be praying to God. You need to be praying to
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  Speaker 1: the person. Praying to God assumes that God can do
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  Speaker 1: something about it. God absolutely forces himself on Pharaoh. Listen
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  Speaker 1: again to Calvin. But God not only declares that the
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  Speaker 1: heart of Pharaoh should be changed so that he would
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  Speaker 1: not hinder the people's departure, but that he would be
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  Speaker 1: himself anxious for that which he had so pertinaciously. I
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  Speaker 1: love that word pertinaciously. You have no idea what that means. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: it's okay. Use your context clues which he had so
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  Speaker 1: pertinaciously refused for this is the meaning of the words.
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  Speaker 1: He will not only send you away, but altogether thrust
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  Speaker 1: you out. Pharaoh doesn't want them to leave. Nine plagues
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  Speaker 1: have come and he has refused. His heart is hardened.
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  Speaker 1: This is absolutely against his will. And God's going to
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  Speaker 1: force him to act against his will. How do you
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  Speaker 1: do that? How do you do that? Everyone acts in
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  Speaker 1: accordance with what they believe to be their own best interest.
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  Speaker 1: God forces Pharaoh to recognize finally, that letting these people
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  Speaker 1: go is actually the thing in his own best interest,
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  Speaker 1: even though it is not the thing that he wants,
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  Speaker 1: and every fiber of his being is against it. And
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  Speaker 1: so we see the sovereignty of God. And there is
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  Speaker 1: no doubt that God is sovereign in all of this.
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  Speaker 1: This is not actually a contest between God and Pharaoh.
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  Speaker 1: It has been decided. And this last plague, this plague
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  Speaker 1: of plagues, is where God shows his hand. He says,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to send this last plague, and he uses
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  Speaker 1: language that says this is going to be it. He
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  Speaker 1: will let you go, send everybody to go and collect things,
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  Speaker 1: leaving after this one. But notice that he doesn't say
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  Speaker 1: the Pharaoh's going to be changed Pharaoh's not going to
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  Speaker 1: be changed. That's what's going to drive him and his
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  Speaker 1: chariots to the Red Sea. He's not going to be changed,
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  Speaker 1: but he is going to do what God has designed
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  Speaker 1: and desires for him to do. And yet God is
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  Speaker 1: not going to change who he is as a sinful
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  Speaker 1: human being. He's going to use this for his glory.
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  Speaker 1: This is how the providence of God works out his sovereignty.
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh is sinful, and he's going to act in accordance
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  Speaker 1: with his sin. God is not going to hypnotize Pharaoh,
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  Speaker 1: but God, in his sovereignty, will get Pharaoh to act
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  Speaker 1: even in opposition to the desires of his own heart.
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  Speaker 1: And he's going to do it because he's God. Well,
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  Speaker 1: not only do we see this picture of sovereignty, but
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  Speaker 1: also we see the certainty of judgment. When you look
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  Speaker 1: at the next part of the passage, we see some
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  Speaker 1: of the same language. Verse four, So Moses said, thus
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  Speaker 1: says the Lord about midnight, I will go out into
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  Speaker 1: the midst of Egypt. Every firstborn in the land of
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  Speaker 1: Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: girl who is behind the handmill, and all the first
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: born of the cattle. There shall be a great cry
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: never been, nor ever will be again. But not a
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: either man or beast, that you may know that the
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: Lord makes it this things in between Egypt and Israel,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: and all these Your servants shall come down to me
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: and bow down to me, saying, get out you are,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: all the people you and all the people who follow you.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: And after that I will go out. And he went
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: out from Pharaoh and hot Anger, I will go. The
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: sons shall die. There shall be a great cry, No
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: dog shall growl against us. Your servants shall come down,
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: and I will go out. The judgment of God is certain,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: it's fixed, it's coming, and nothing's going to stop it.
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: This is true in Egypt, and this is true today.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: The judgment of God is certain, it is fixed, it
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: is going to happen, and nothing is going to stop it.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: We see here that Moses is no longer making requests.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Do you notice the tone and tenor this time it's
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: not Let the people of Israel go so that they
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: may serve the Lord or else dot dot dot. Notice
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: also that there is no tomorrow morning at this time.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: He says, at midnight it's going to happen. The judgment
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: of Egypt has finally come. But in this picture of
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the judgment of Egypt, we see something else, the death
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: of God's firstborn son and the sovereign deliverer. Folks, The
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: life of God's firstborn son, Israel required the death of
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh's firstborn son. The life of God's firstborn sons, the elect,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: required the death of God's firstborn son, Jesus. The salvation
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: of God's elect is as certain as the death of
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: the firstborn of Egypt. And know that this is a
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: connection that cannot be lost. This idea of Israel as
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: God's firstborn son, and the prophecy out of Egypt I
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: have called my son. This is a doubly fulfilled prophecy
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: in that Egypt, God's firstborn Israel, God's firstborn son, is
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: called out of the land of Egypt. But also Jesus,
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: as a child, goes to Egypt to escape Herod. Who
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: is Herod? Well, Herod is this king and this ruler
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: who wants to kill the sons of the Israelites. And
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: then Jesus has to come back out of Egypt so
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: that it could be fulfilled again. And in its truest sense,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: out of Egypt I have called my son Jesus is
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: true Israel. He is God's only begotten son, more significantly
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: than being a firstborn son. But he is also God's
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: firstborn son. Why because through this firstborn son is given
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: rise to all the sons of God who will ever
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: be bought by his blood. So that John can say
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: to all those who believe in him, even those who
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: believe in his name, he gave the right to become
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: children of God. But this question of sovereignty and the
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: question of judgment does raise the question of morality. Was
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: this right for God to do? And this question of
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: morality is seen not only in the death of the
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: first born in Egypt, but there are also those who
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: question the morality of God's only begotten son as a
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: means of propitiation. One scholar has referred to the doctrine
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: of substitutionary atonement as cosmic child abuse. But is this moral?
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Is it okay? First three questions that we have to ask. One,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: is God wrong in killing innocent children? Two? Is God
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: wrong for punishing the Egyptians who did not know him?
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: And three is God wrong for punishing the people for
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: the deeds of the king. Why don't I ask these
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: three questions because I talk to people about the Bible
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: all the time, talk to people about the Gospel all
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: the time. And if you talk to people about the
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Gospel long enough, this will come up or something like it.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: The idea of God bringing judgment upon people, the idea
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: of God bringing his wrath upon people, and the idea
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: of innocence being killed when God brings his wrath. This
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: question always comes up, and we need to be able
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: to answer this question. First, is God killing innocent children wrong?
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Several things that I'll say in answering this question. First,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh chose this? Pharaoh chose this? How did Pharaoh choose this?
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Go back to chapter one, beginning at verse fifteen. Then
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: the King of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Poah. When
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: shall kill him. But if it is a daughter, she
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: shall live. This is an instance where the punishment fits
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: the crime. Pharaoh committed, a crime, an egregious crime, and
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the murder of the sons of Israel. And though these
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: midwives did not comply, know that there were sons of
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Israel who were killed at the order of Pharaoh. That's
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the first thing to keep in mind. Secondly, the sins
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: of parents always affect their children. Amen, the sins of
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: parents always affect their children. Thirdly, no one is innocent.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: No one is innocent. We are all born in sin
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: because of our federal head Atom, and every one of
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: us is a sinner from our first breath, even before
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: we're conceived in sin. Four. This is a microcosm of
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: the fall and the fall that leads to death for
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: all of Adam's children, not just his firstborn. Listen to
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: this in Romans five twelve. Therefore, just as sin came
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: into the world through one man, and death through sin,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: and so death spread to all men because all sin,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: and so death as a whole, the death of every
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: human being is ultimately a byproduct of Adam's sin being
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: judged by Almighty God. So this is not new five.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: Please don't miss this. Anyone who acted in faith could
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: have avoided this plague. Anyone who acted in faith could
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: have avoided this plague. Anyone whose firstborn child died in
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Egypt on this night did so because they did not
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: avail themselves of the good news that was available in
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: the camp of the Israelites, because the answer was there
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: in the blood of the Lamb. Six. There's something worse
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: than death, ay man, there's something worse than death. Here's
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: the seventh thing. We don't ask this question under normal circumstances,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: which proves that we understand it. We just don't like it.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: For example, Egypt is the most powerful nation on earth.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Their children benefit from that, But we don't say is
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: it right for the Egyptian children to be children who
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: live in the most powerful nation on earth? Any more
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: than we say is it right for American children to
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: be born in the most powerful nation on earth? Although
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: there are some people today who believe that we're wrong
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: and it's our fault that we're born in the most
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: powerful nation on earth. Israel is about to be freed,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: and their children will benefit. We don't say, is it
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: right for the children are no longer be slaves just
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: because their parents get free. We don't ask that question.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: These benefits are viewed as normal and natural and acceptable
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: because we understand the connection between parents and their children,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: except when judgment comes. So now God is not wrong.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: He's not morally wrong. First of all, because he's God
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: and nothing he does is morally wrong. He's not morally wrong. Second,
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: because there is no one innocent, he's not morally wrong. Third,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: because the punishment fits the crime. That brings us to
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: the second question. Is God wrong for punishing the Egyptians
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: who did not know him? Bring up any moral issue
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: of the day and today, people will usually respond with
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: something like this, why are you surprised that non Christians
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: are acting like non Christians? I'm not surprised that people do.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how heinous the thing is. You bring
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: up something that's absolutely horrible, and some Christian out there
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: somewhere is going to say, well, I mean, after all,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: they're not Christians. What do we expect? Is it wrong
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: to expect people who don't know God to act morally?
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: And therefore, is it wrong for God to judge people
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: who have not volunteered themselves to be under the obligation
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: of His moral law? Isn't that the question? Is God
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: wrong for coming and judging people who never said, hey, man,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: I'm going to obey your law. God's moral law does
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: not require man's agreement. God's moral law does not require
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: man's agreement. You are under responsible for and accountable to
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: God's moral law, whether you know it or not, whether
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: you like it or not, and whether you agree to
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: it or not. There is no opt out clause. And
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: just like if you get caught speeding, ignorance of the
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: law is no excuse. Amen. Every human being is obligated.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: God's moral law also existed before being codified in the Decalogue. Folks,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: we haven't gotten to the tink commandments yet, and murder
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: is already wrong. Adultery is already wrong, Stealing is already wrong,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: idolatry is already wrong. Every one of the tink commandments
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: is already wrong before we get to chapter twenty of Exodus.
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Every one of them, and men know that they're wrong
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: before we get chapter twenty of Exodus. Why. Because it's transcendent.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: It's transcendent. It's always been true, and men have always
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: been accountable for it. It's written on our hearts. That's
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: why every culture, no matter how far removed they are
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: from the Bible, has some form of the Ten Commandments
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: codified in their law. It's written on the heart of
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: every man. All people in all nations are subject to
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: God's moral law. All people in all nations are subject
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: to God's moral law and will be judged by it.
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: Psalm nine to nineteen. Arise O, Lord, let not man prevail.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Let the nations be judged before you, be judged based
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: on what be judged based on God's moral law Psalm
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: sixty seven to four. Let the nations be glad and
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: sing for joy, for you judge the people's with equity,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: and guide the nations upon the earth Psalm eighty two eight.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: Arise O, God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: all the nations, all the nations Psalm ninety six y
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: ten say among the nations the Lord reigns. Yes, the
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: world is established. It shall never be moved. He will
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: judge the peoples with equity. All of the peoples, All
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: of the peoples. Every human being is accountable and responsible
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: as it relates to God's moral law, and every human
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: being will one day stand before God and be judged
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: for his violations of God's moral law, even you, and
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the only difference is that you are found in Christ,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: who kept the law perfectly on your behalf, and therefore
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: was able to impute his righteousness to you and take
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: your sinfulness upon himself, so that in his active obedience
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: you are made righteous, and in his passive obedience your
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: sin is taken away. And it is only because of that,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: because you are found in Christ, his only begotten son,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: that you will stand before God as just. But you
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: better believe that it is because Christ kept the whole law,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: he thereby makes you righteous. What about the last question?
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Is God wrong to punish people for the deeds of
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: their king in a way we've already answered that this
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: is federal headshift. We're punished for the deed of our
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: federal head Adam, and we are found righteous because of
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: the deeds of our federal head Jesus. So be really
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: careful how you answer this question, because if your answer
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: is no, it's wrong. Every individual should stand on their own,
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: then you get to go to hell. Because the only
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: way anyone avoids hell is through this doctrine of federal headship.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: We're under the federal headship of Christ. Our king died
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: on our behalf. Our king kept the whole law on
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: our behalf and we are counted righteous because of what
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: our king did. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. So we've
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: already answered that question from a theoretical perspective and a
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: theological perspective, But from a practical perspective, is this right? First,
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: leaders are representatives of their people, not just as one
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: nation before another nation, but as a nation before God.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: The leaders of a nation represent that nation. Secondly, God
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: always punishes nations for the sins of their leaders. This
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: is something to keep in mind, by the way, as
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: we go to the polls on Tuesday. Amen, somebody God
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: judges nations for the actions of their leaders. Thirdly, people
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: must choose between the wrath of their leaders and the
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: wrath of God. People must choose between the wrath of
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: their leaders and the wrath of their God. What do
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: I mean by that? Here's what I mean by that.
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: When there is unrighteousness in a nation, people always have
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: a choice. We are not forced to follow unrighteousness. And
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: we have an example of this in Acts chapter four,
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: do we not, Where Peter and John are brought in
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: before the Sanhedrin, the leaders of their civil society and
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: the leaders of their civil society telling them to stop
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: preaching in the name of Jesus. What is their response
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: whether it is right to obey you rather than God.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: You be the judge, But we cannot but speak of
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: what we have seen and heard. And in the next
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: chapter they gladly accept the punishment that is coming for
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: their disobedience to their unrighteous leaders. Nations are held accountable
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: before God, heads of household are held accountable before God.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: Leaders and churches held accountable before God. And almost always
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: the consequences that they suffer are suffered by them and
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: those whom they lead. And this final plague is no different.
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh is responsible and accountable before God. He's a mass
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: murderer who's guilty of genocide. The punishment that is about
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: to come fits the crime. The people who are following
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: him have every opportunity to not follow him when the
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: gates open. There are Egyptians who go out with Israel Amen.
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: There are Egyptians whose houses will have blood on the door.
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: There are Egyptians who's firstborn will be saved. God is
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: absolutely just. But here's the other thing. Before we ask
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: the question, is it just for God to do this
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: to men? Know that God did this to himself, that
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: He crushed and killed his only begotten son so that
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: those who were found in him might go free. This
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: is the gospel. So as we see here this picture
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: of the doorpost and the lintel, and so on and
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: so forth, and the death angel coming, and as we
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: think about the horrors of that night, think about this.
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: These are horrors with which God is acquainted personally and
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: intimately through the death of his only begotten son on
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: the cross, the only innocent one ever to die. And
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: he died on behalf of sinners who are not innocent
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: in the least. So as we think about sovereignty, judgment,
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: and morality, we have to think about it through the
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: lens of a gospel. We have to think about the
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: sovereign God who poured out his judgment on his son
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: so that he might be both just and the justifier
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: of the one who places faith in Jesus, so that
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: you can have sovereignty, justice, and morality all wrapped up
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: in one. Is God justified in doing what he did
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: to Egypt. Absolutely absolutely, And we're justified because he did
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: the same thing to Jesus. If you are here today
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: and you're trusting in anything other than this, let me
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: just say to you that there are only two options.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Option number one, you stand on your own under the
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: federal headship of Adam and await the judgment that is
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: to come. Option number two, you turn from your sin.
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: You turn to Christ, place your faith in him as
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: your federal head, and through his active and passive obedience,
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: have your sin imputed to him and his righteousness imputed
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: to you, so that through his death you find life.
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: This is the message of Exodus eleven. This is the
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: message of the entire Bible. This is the good news
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: that was worth getting up for this more w