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Remember the Lord’s Mighty Works (Psalm 105) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. We are sitting down together
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today to unpack a staggering text, and the mission for this
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particular deep dive is clear. We are taking a magnifying glass
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to Charles Spurgeon's massive commentary on Psalm One O 5,
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specifically drawing from his legendary multi volume work The
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Treasury of David. But we are not stopping with
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Spurgeon alone. We are bringing in the brilliant
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insights of various historical theologians whose notes Spurgeon
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curated and included alongside his own writing to set the
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framework for our conversation. Both of us speak from a
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Protestant Christian perspective, adhering to the
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Westminster Confession. Since you're listening to this,
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you likely already have a solid grasp on Reformed theology.
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You understand the basics of covenant theology, sovereign
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grace, and eternal election. So the fascinating thing today
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is not that God is sovereign, but how Spurgeon and these
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classical commentators map that absolute sovereignty over the
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gritty, mundane, and, well, often brutal historical details
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of Israel's history. We are tracing the steps from
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the calling of Abraham down to the triumphant exodus from
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Egypt. And let me tell you, the
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specifics are breathtaking. We are going to look at how God
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uses famines like summoned workers, how the Egyptian
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plagues were highly targeted judgments on specific local
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deities, and the sheer staggering medical marvel of an
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entire nation leaving centuries of crushing slavery without a
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single sick or feeble individual among them.
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Yeah, looking at this history through the lens of covenant
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theology because it's a distinct view of how God interacts with
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his chosen people. The structure of this Psalm is
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fascinating in itself. It is the first of a series of
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what the commentator Christopher Wordsworth calls the Khafis mini
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domino Psalms. Those are the psalms that begin
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with the command O give thanks unto the Lord.
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There's a brilliant contrast made by some of the older
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commentators between Psalm One O 5 and Psalm One O 6.
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Psalm One O 6 looks at the covenant from the human side,
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how it was kept, or more accurately, how it was
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constantly broken by Israel. But this text, Psalm One O 5, is
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a meditation on the covenant as performed entirely on the part
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of God. It dwells on the predestinating
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will of God electing individuals to holiness.
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Spurgeon notes right at the beginning that the 1st 15 verses
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were actually used as a hymn by King David when he was bringing
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the Ark of the Covenant up from the House of Obed Edom.
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The Ark was the physical symbol of God's presence and His
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covenant, making this historical recount incredibly fitting for
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that occasion. The narrative moves from the
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opening chapters of Genesis right into Exodus and Numbers,
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and it does so with a singular focus on divine initiative.
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That focus on divine initiative really bursts out right in the
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first 3 verses which layout the duty and joy of holy
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conversation. The text says, Oh, give thanks
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unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among
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the people, sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talkie of all
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his wondrous works. Spurgeon makes a fantastic
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observation here that hits very close to home.
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He points out that believers of all people on earth had the most
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amazing series of wonders to talk about.
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He brings this great wry humor into his notes, saying that no
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one would ever be blamed or labeled as a Mr. Talkative if
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their constant theme was the marvels of the Lord.
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Think about that for your own life.
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We love to talk about marvels. You probably like to share
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surprising news, breakdown the plot of a crazy movie, or
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discuss a shocking sports upset. But Spurgeon argues that if you
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believe in the living God, you possess an inexhaustible theme
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that should hold people spellbound.
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The acts of God in history are the most thrilling realities in
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the universe. Spawn on.
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And if we look closely at the progression of verbs in those
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opening verses, we see it is incredibly intentional.
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Give thanks, call upon his name, make known, sing, talk, glory,
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rejoice. It is an escalation of worship
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that moves from internal gratitude to public
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proclamation. The Scottish theologian David
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Dixon brings out a wonderful nuance regarding the command to
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sing. He says that bringing the empty
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vessel of our joy to God, or just singing a pleasant musical
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tune falls completely short. The vessel of joy must be filled
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with the holy matter. We must fill our joyful voices
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with substantive truth, with the very deeds of God.
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You can see this tied directly to the phrase call upon his
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name. Joseph Addison Alexander
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clarifies that this original Hebrew phrase needs to give him
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the descriptive title most expressive of his divine
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perfections. It means to call him by his
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name, Jehovah, ascribing to him eternity, self, existence, and
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that specific covenant relation to his people.
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So the singing and the talking are rooted entirely in the
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objective reality of who God is and what he is.
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To create is never just an emotional exercise, it is a
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theological declaration. Which translates so beautifully
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and diverse. 4 Seek the Lord and his strength.
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Seek his face evermore. When we think about seeking the
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omnipotent God, we have to connect this to your everyday
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life. When you feel weak, when the
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circumstances around you feel overwhelming and you feel your
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own resources drying up, you are called to look directly to the
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Almighty Jehovah. You're not looking for a puny,
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localized deity. You were looking to omnipotence
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itself. You need infinite strength to
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bear you safely to your eternal resting place, so you must look
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to the strong One for it. You cannot rely on your own
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resolve. What is striking about that
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verse is the repetition. In the Hebrew text, the word
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seek is used three times. While the words differ slightly
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in the original Hebrew grammar, the sense is an urgent,
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continuous command. Seek, seek, seek.
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Matthew Henry provides a brilliant progression for how
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this works in the life of the believer.
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He points out that those who want strength in the inward man
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must fetch it from God. You cannot generate it
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internally. First, Henry says, you seek him
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for mercy. Then, having received mercy, you
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seek His strength for service, and finally you seek His face
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for happiness. It is a progression from
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personal reverence to imparted strength to the conscious
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enjoyment of His favor. Because God is infinite, this
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seeking never ceases. You seek Him while you live in
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this world, and you will have His favor in the next World,
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where you will be forever seeking it.
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An infinite progression of knowledge, yet forever satisfied
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at the current revelation of it. I think we should pause on that
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idea of continuous seeking and how it relates to time because
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this brings us to the unbreakable covenant.
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In verses 8 through 11, the text says he hath remembered his
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covenant forever, the word which he commanded to 1000
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generations. God remembered his covenant with
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Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There's a note from John Calvin
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here about how time factors into God's promises.
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But it is one thing to say God remembers a promise after five
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years. We are talking about centuries
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here. How does Calvin justify the idea
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that a 400 year delay does not make the promise obsolete to the
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people actually suffering in the mud of Egypt in the meantime?
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That is the crucial tension of the text.
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Calvin's answer is rooted in the eternal nature of God versus the
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chronological limitations of man.
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Calvin points out that a long series of years had elapsed
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between the initial promise made to Abraham and the actual
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performance of it under Moses. The world might imagine that
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after so many generations, the promises are extinguished or
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entirely forgotten. To the Israelite slave making
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bricks, the promise might have felt like ancient mythology.
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The Calvin argues that long spans of time do not make God's
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promises obsolete because God is outside of time.
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He retains his distinctive memory of his decree as the day
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was made solely so he can accomplish it in his appointed
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season. 1000 years is as one day to him.
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This is bedrock of all his dealings with his people.
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He entered into a covenant, and to this covenant he remains
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fiercely faithful regardless of the intervening silence.
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Joseph Addison Alexander notes on the phrase, the word which he
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commanded. Everything God says is spoken
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with such absolute authority that even His promises partake
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of the nature of commands. It is a sovereign decree that
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time cannot erode. Think about the staggering image
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of God making a law for himself by giving the promise to Janeb.
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The sovereign Lord, who is above all law and answers to no one,
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willingly placed himself under covenant bonds.
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Spurgeon calls this matchless condescension.
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God bound himself to act favorably toward His chosen
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people. Regarding the inheritance of the
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land of Canaan, Samuel Chandler explains the Hebrew concept of
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the measuring cord. The English text says the lot of
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your inheritance, but literally it is the measuring cord of your
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inheritance. It refers to the ancient method
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of measuring out land with a physical line.
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The cord becomes a symbol for the specific decreed portion
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that God mapped out for His elect before they even possessed
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an inch of it. Right, and that precise mapping
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out was completely independent of the Israelites worldly status
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at the time. If we connect this to the idea
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of sovereign protection in verses 12 through 15, we see the
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extreme vulnerability of the patriarchs.
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The text describes them as a few men in number, yay, very few and
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strangers. In it Samuel Chandler points out
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the literal Hebrew phrase used here, harmonies numeri.
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It essentially means they were men of number, so few they could
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easily be counted on your hands. They were migrating from one
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nation to another, moving from one Kingdom to another people.
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They were incredibly vulnerable, effectively acting as wandering
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nomads with no standing army, no fortified cities, and no
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political alliances. Yet they were singularly
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preserved in a hostile ancient Near Eastern landscape.
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They really could have been wiped out completely by any of
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the local Canaanite warlords. But instead we read in verse 14
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he suffered no man to do them wrong.
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Yeah, he reproved kings for their sakes.
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There is a fascinating angle on this from Thomas Goodwin.
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He looks at the negative phrasing.
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Men cannot wrong you unless God allows it.
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Goodwin notes that the world often has an aching tooth
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against the people of God, a natural hostility toward the
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elect. But God puts up a definitive
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invisible barrier. He points out the massive danger
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to kings and states that deal I'll with the Saints.
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God does not just politely ask kings to leave them alone, he
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violently reproves them. He brings a mighty king like
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Abimelech to his knees in a dream, telling him he is a dead
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man if he touches Abraham's wife.
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That leads directly to the famous phrase in verse 15 saying
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touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
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It is vital to understand that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had no
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literal physical oil poured on their heads like later kings or
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priests. The anointing here is entirely
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spiritual. The illusion malarious explains
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that they were called anointed because they were separated by
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God from the multitude of wicked men and endowed with the Holy
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Spirit. They were set apart for a
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specific redemptive purpose. They were wandering through
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hostile Pagan territories, yet surrounded by a divine
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sacredness that made it absolute sacrilege for anyone to molest
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them. This history showcases the
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reliability of the covenant. The gates of hell acting through
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Canaanite kings could not prevail against those whom God
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separated for himself. That idea of absolute sovereign
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protection in Canaan makes what happens next so jarring because
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God does not just protect them in a safe bubble forever.
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He actively uproots them. He creates a crisis.
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We move into the second section of the Psalm, covering verses 16
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through 22, which shifts the narrative to the incredible
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story of Joseph. The language here is stunning.
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Verse 16 says, moreover, he called for a famine upon the
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land. He break the whole staff of
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bread. God calls for a famine.
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Spurgeon notes that God calls for a famine just as a master
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calls for a servant, and it comes at once.
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He breaks the staff of bread, meaning that just as a cripple
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falls to the ground when his physical walking staff is
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snapped, mankind falls when the sustenance of bread is removed.
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This raises A vital point regarding the sovereignty of God
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over natural disasters and climate.
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God is not a passive observer of the weather patterns of the crop
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yields. The commentator AR Fawcett
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compares this to the centurion's words in the New Testament about
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sickness being Christ's servant, ready to come or go at His
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command. Famine operates the exact same
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way. The famine was a terrible, grim
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reality. It was pitiless to the weak and
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bitter to the strong, but it had a distinct merciful purpose for
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the elect. The scarcity of food was God's
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specific method of leading Israel down into Egypt to
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incubate them as a nation. It was a severe Providence, but
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it was a Providence driven entirely by covenant love.
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God starves a continent to move one family to the exact location
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He desires. And that severe Providence
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extends to the agonizing details of Joseph's individual life.
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Verse 17 tells us he sent a man before them, even Joseph, who
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was sold for a servant. His brother sold him out of
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vicious malice, but God sent him.
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Spurgeon points out the incredible irony here.
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Joseph's free passage to Egypt was provided by the MIDI Night
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merchants. If you or I were going to send
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an advance guard to prepare a foreign nation for a massive
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famine, we would send a diplomat with money, a retinue of guards
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and letters of authority, grass, and a teenager as a slave
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completely stripped of liberty, walking in chains straight to
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the auction block in a foreign slave market.
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The physical descent into slavery was only the beginning
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of the trial. We have a look at the intense
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mental anguish described in verse 18.
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Whose feet they hurt with fetters.
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He was laid in iron. The commentators EW Hankenberg
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and Andrew Jukes draw out the psychology of this imprisonment
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based on the Hebrew text. The literal translation of the
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margin reads into iron came his soul.
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It was not just physical chains biting into his ankles.
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It was severe psychological trauma.
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They note that imprisonment brings a unique sickness of
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heart, a massive sense of loneliness and a faintness of
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soul. It is the agony of hopes
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deferred. He was betrayed by his own flesh
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and blood, sold to strangers, falsely accused by Potiphar's
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wife after acting righteously, and then thrown into a dungeon
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where he was forgotten. That is the crushing weight of
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isolation. I want to make a direct
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connection here for you, the listener.
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When you feel entirely isolated, when your career has stalled out
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unjustly, or when you feel neglected and misunderstood by
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your own family or your own church, you are sharing in the
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exact type of trial that Joseph endured.
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Your soul might feel like it is laid in iron right now.
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The theology of that specific pain is found in verse 19.
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Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried
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him. The very promises of God, the
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prophetic dreams of his future destiny that God gave him as a
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boy, became his greatest trial while he was sitting in that
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dark cell. That is a massive theological
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point. Edward Zuskam, in his sermons on
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this passage, calls it the trial of man by the promises of God.
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We often think of promises as purely comforting, but the
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promise actually tests the medal of faith to see if it can endure
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the fire. Joseph had these dream visions
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of a mighty destiny of ruling and blessing others.
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But the quietude of his father's tent in Canaan was not the
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preparation needed to rule an empire like Egypt.
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He needed a discipline that would forge a statesman capable
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of withstanding the intense temptations of the Egyptian
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court and handling A devastating national crisis.
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So God led him into circumstances where he was
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fiercely tempted to doubt those very promises.
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How could he rule his brothers when he was wearing the chains
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of a foreign prison? The word of the Lord tried him.
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It tested his soul against the mocking voice of unbelief and
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the apparent evidence of his circumstances.
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God has his specific times, the text says until you have to wait
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for God's until the trial disciplines the individual right
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up to the very moment for the fulfillment of the promise.
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When that until arrives, the reversal is staggering.
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Verses 20 through 22 describe it.
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The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the people,
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and let him go free. He made him Lord of his house
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and ruler of all his substance, to bind his Princess at his
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pleasure and teach his senators wisdom.
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The prisoner becomes the Prime Minister in a single day.
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The scale of authority given to Joseph by Pharaoh is
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breathtaking. He was given the capability to
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bind his Princess at his pleasure.
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The scholar George Phillips notes that this capability of
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binding is the ultimate evidence of absolute civil authority, the
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force of compelling obedience or inflicting punishment on the
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highest nobles of the land. Joseph became the absolute
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manager of the granaries of the known world.
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Even more fascinating, he became an instructor to the senators.
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He taught the elders of Egypt political economy,
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jurisprudence, morals, and divine wisdom.
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As the older commentator Yanceinius points out, it is a
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brilliant spark of divine irony that the Egyptians, who always
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boasted that their land was the native place of human wisdom and
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philosophy, were forced to sit at the feet of a former Hebrew
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slave to learn how to survive. Just as stands here as a
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flawless type of Christ, elevated from the lowest depths
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of humiliation to the highest throne of authority to preserve
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life for his people. We move into the third section
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looking at verses 23 through 27. This covers the multiplication
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of Israel and the mystery of the heart and heart.
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Verse 23 says Israel also came into Egypt and Jacob sojourn in
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the land of Ham. Spurgeon uses a fantastic phrase
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to describe this cultural collision.
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He says the dove was in the vulture's nest.
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Shem the Blessed came to lodge with Ham, the accursed.
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Notice the text says they only sojourned there.
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Goshen was just a temporary lodge.
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It was never meant to be their permanent home.
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Yet while they were living in the vulture's nest, they
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experienced massive, unnatural growth.
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Absolutely. Verse 24 tells us that God
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increases people greatly and made them stronger than their
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enemies. This introduces A phenomenon
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that becomes a proverb in the history of the church.
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The church flourishes under oppression.
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The Egyptian court recognized the demographic threat and tried
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to retard their increase by implementing tyrannical
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measures, forced labor, infanticide, brutal conditions,
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but the exact opposite of their goal took place.
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The physical strength and the sheer numbers of the Israelites
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grew exponentially precisely when they were being crushed
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under the heaviest loads. It demonstrates the absolute
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futility of contending with the decrees of God.
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The more the world tries to extinguish the elect, the more
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they multiply. Now we need to pause here
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because verse 25 raises a heavy question for anyone reading this
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text carefully. It says He turned their heart to
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hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants.
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If God turned the hearts of the Egyptians to hate the
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Israelites, is God the author of their sin?
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How do we understand this through a reformed Westminster
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framework without making God culpable for the wicked actions
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of the Egyptians? This is a crucial theological
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segment, and we must handle it with absolute precision.
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The theologians Matthew Poole and John Calvin provide
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excellent scholastic distinctions here.
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God is unequivocally not the author of sin.
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He did not take wicked hatred and inject it into the pure,
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neutral hearts of the Egyptians. That would violate the absolute
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holiness of God's nature. Furthermore, as Poole points
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out, it was completely unnecessary to inject evil into
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them, because fallen human nature already has that
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wickedness inherent within it. Instead, God turned their hearts
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by withdrawing the common gifts and restraints of His Spirit.
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He removed the hindrances, leaving the Egyptians entirely
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to their own corrupt affections, their racial prejudice, and
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their political paranoia. Furthermore, God governed that
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existing hatred so that it fell upon the Israelites at that
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specific time, accomplishing His decree to make Israel
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uncomfortable in Egypt. If the Egyptians had treated
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them well forever, Israel would never have wanted to leave for
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the Promised Land. Spurgeon uses a brilliant
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analogy to make this abstract theology concrete for you, he
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asks, is the sun to blame because it's Heat hardens clay
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while softening wax. Does the sun create the foul
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smell of the swamp? No, the sun just shines.
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If the sun shone on a bed of roses, it would draw forth
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fragrance. The foulness is already in the
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swamp. The hardness is already in the
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nature of the clay. The evil is entirely within
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human nature. The sovereignty of turning that
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evil to useful covenantal purposes belongs entirely to the
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Lord. The Egyptians use satanic policy
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to try to crush Israel, but God used their very hatred to sever
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the emotional ties between Israel and Egypt, setting the
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stage for the Exodus. Which leads directly to the
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scent deliverers in verses 26 and 27.
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He sent Moses his servant and Aaron whom he had chosen.
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They showed his signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham.
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Once the oppression reached its absolute peak and the cry of the
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people went up, God had the men in readiness.
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He thrust them forward. John Trapp makes a lovely note
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here about God usually sending His servants 2 by 2 for mutual
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comfort and strength. Moses and Aaron differed
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significantly in their gifts. Moses was the reluctant leader
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with heavy administrative burdens, while Aaron was the
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eloquent speaker. Together they made the perfect
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supplement to one another. They were clothed with divine
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might, standing before the most powerful monarch on earth to
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execute judgment. That brings us to Section 4,
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where the historical narrative explodes into the plagues.
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Verses 28 through 36 describe these judgments.
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But before we look at the specific horrors that fell on
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Egypt, how should we understand the nature of the plagues
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themselves? They were not just random
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natural disasters dialed up to 11.
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Right? Spot on.
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The marginal reading of a Hebrew in verse 27 is incredibly
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helpful here. It calls the plagues words of
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his signs. They were speaking marvels.
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They were not arbitrary magic tricks meant simply to terrify.
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They were distinct, pointed discourses testifying to
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Jehovah's omnipotence. Crucially, they were targeted
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surgical judgments on a specific idolatry of Egypt.
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The Egyptian pantheon was vast, and they believe their gods
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controlled every aspect of the natural world.
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These plagues were designed to pour absolute scorn on the
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proudest nation on earth, systematically dismantling their
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theology piece by piece and proving that Jehovah is the Lord
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of all creation. Let us walk through them.
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Verse 28 starts with the plague of thick darkness.
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He sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled, not
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against His word. This was not a normal sandstorm
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or a heavy solar eclipse. This is a thick, palpable
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obscurity that lasted 3 full days.
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The text in Exodus says no one dared to move from their seat.
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Imagine that level of paralyzing terror.
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You are sitting in your house and the darkness is so thick you
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cannot see the person sitting next to you, and you are too
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terrified to even stand up. The historical context provided
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by Thomas Millington brings us vividly to life.
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The Egyptians were fervent worshippers of the sun God
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Osiris or RA, depending on the era and specific cult.
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The Pharaoh himself was considered the literal
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representative of the sun, entitled to divine honors, and
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seen as the source of light and life for the empire.
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By blotting out the sun for three days with a darkness that
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could be felt, Jehovah plunged their chief deity into total
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impotence and chaos. He was a direct strike at the
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pinnacle of their pantheon. Millington mentions a chilling
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Jewish rabbinical tradition regarding this specific plague.
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The tradition suggests that evil spirits were let loose during
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these three days of palpable darkness because the Egyptians
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were glued to their seats in terror, unable to see anything.
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The darkness was filled with hideous shrieks and apparitions,
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driving them almost to madness. It was a terrifying foretaste of
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ultimate, eternal judgement. That is genuinely terrifying.
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From the sky, God moves to the water.
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Verse 29 says He turned their waters into blood and slew their
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fish. The beloved sweet waters of the
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Nile turned into a putrid Crimson flood.
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We have to contrast this with the natural annual reddening of
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the Nile, because skeptics love to say this is just a red algae
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bloom. Right.
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The scholar James G Murphy outlines the absolute
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distinction between the miracle and the natural phenomena.
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The Nile does naturally assume a reddish, turbid hue late in the
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summer due to red earth washing down from the mountains, but
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that natural change brings fertility and does not harm the
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wildlife. This miracle, however, occurred
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instantly at the word of Moses. It killed the fish, which were a
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massive food supply for the populace, and in some cases,
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certain fish were considered sacred animals themselves.
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The river stank horribly, making it undrinkable.
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Furthermore, the stroke was arrested exactly at 7 days by
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divine command, whereas the natural redness lasts for weeks.
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The Nile was the absolute benefactor of the country.
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It was revered as a God itself, named Happy and seen as the
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bloodstream of Osiris. Turning into literal blood was a
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devastating blow to their economy, their physical
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survival, and their core religion.
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Then comes the plague of frogs in verse 30.
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Their land brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of
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their kings. They invaded the royal
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bedchambers. The commentator Josiah Chute
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points out something fascinating here.
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Earthly Princess are usually completely exempt from human
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reproof. You cannot just walk into a
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royal palace and criticize A dictator.
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They are insulated by guards, walls, and protocol.
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But God's judgments penetrate their greatest privacy.
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The frog swarmed past the royal guards into the most select
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guarded apartments of the Pharaoh, getting into his bed
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and his ovens. We must also remember the
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religious context. The Egyptians actually had a
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frog headed goddess named Hecky, whose very domain was supposed
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to be fertility and the protection of childbirth.
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To kill a frog was a crime. So the multiplication of these
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creatures until they became a loathsome, suffocating, rotting
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nuisance was a brilliant mockery of that specific deity.
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Their own God became their tormentor, and they were
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forbidden by their own religion from killing them.
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This theme of absolute, inescapable defilement continues
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in verse 31. He spake.
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And there came diverse sorts of flies and lice in all their
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coasts. I cannot imagine the
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psychological horror of the lice.
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The text says they were in all their coasts, turning the very
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dust of the earth into biting insects.
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The meanest beggars on the street were more approachable
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than the proud Egyptian nobility during this plague.
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The ancient historian Herodotus notes that Egyptian priests
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shave their entire bodies every other day to remain absolutely
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pure for their gods. They wore only linen, avoiding
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wool so as not to harbor any insects.
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That historical detail shows why the lice were such a
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catastrophic judgment. This foul vermin defiled the
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priest physically, making all their religious rites completely
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impossible. They cannot minister before
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their deities while covered in parasites.
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Furthermore, the sacred animals, the APIs bulls, the cats, the
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Itises, were also covered in lice.
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It was an unparalleled slap in the face to human pride and
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ritual purity. Pharaoh and his pristine priests
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were reduced to the most disgusting state of filthiness,
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scratching uncontrollably. As Spurgeon Riley notes what
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incredible armies the Lord can send forth when he fights not
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with majestic angels, but with tiny lice.
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It shows his absolute contempt for human arrogance.
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From the crawling insects God back to the weather.
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Verses 32 and 33 say he gave them hail for rain and flaming
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fire in their land. He smote their vines also, and
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their fig trees, and break the trees of their coasts.
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This was not just a heavy thunderstorm.
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The text and exodus describes lightning running along the
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ground in fiery flakes. The hailstones shattered the
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trees and destroyed all the flax and barley crops.
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Dionysius Lardner recounts historical observations of
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severe hailstorms to give us a sense of the sheer physical
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devastation. He notes storms in Europe where
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hailstones weighed nearly a pound and ancient records of
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stones far larger capable of killing livestock and men
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instantly. When a hurricane of that
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magnitude hits an agrarian society, breaking the mass of
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trees and smashing the vines to splinters, it completely
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eradicates their hope for future harvests.
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God was systematically breaking the agricultural infrastructure
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of the empire, proving that their weather gods like Note and
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Seth were entirely powerless. Whatever the hail left standing,
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the locusts finished off versus 34 and 35 read He spake, and the
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locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, and did
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eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of
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their ground. The scale of these swarms is
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almost impossible to comprehend for someone living in a modern
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city. Historical observers give us a
26:51
glimpse of this terror. The commentator M Kalish
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mentions a relatively modern swarm in India that cast a solid
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shadow over 40 square miles. He notes another column in the
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Morotic country that was 500 miles long, completely hiding
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the sun like a dense eclipse. John Burrow notes that when
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locusts pass through a region, they devour every single green
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thing. They even climb trees to strip
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the bark down to the bare wood, leaving the ground looking as
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though a heavy broom had swept it clean of life.
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Commissioned by God, these insect armies leap forward at a
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single word, leaving behind nothing but a desolate, starving
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wasteland. Which brings us to the Master
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Blow. Verse 36 says He smote also all
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the first born in their land, the chief of all their strength.
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The midnight cry in Egypt, the flower of the nation, from the
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absolute pinnacle of the palace down to the miserable slave at
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the grinding mill, was cut off in a single night.
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There was not a house where there was not one dead.
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The divine justice displayed here is terrifyingly exacting.
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James Hamilton describes the scene vividly.
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The unearthly shrieks echoing in the dark as doors burst open,
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The King's messengers rushing frantically through the streets.
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The horrifying realization in the palace that the royal
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Prince, the heir to the throne and a supposed God himself, is
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dead. Pharaoh had decreed the death of
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the Hebrew male children in the river.
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He had relentlessly smitten Israel, whom God explicitly
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called his own first born son. Now the Lord repaid him to his
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face. It was the absolute crushing
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defeat of the Egyptian gods in the Egyptian state, breaking
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Pharaoh's will entirely and forcing them to thrust the
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Israelites out of the land. That launches us into Section 5,
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covering the triumphant Exodus and the wilderness provision.
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Verse 37 says he brought them forth also with silver and gold,
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and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
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They did not leave empty handed, sneaking out like fleeing
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fugitives in the night. They brought out the wealth of
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the empire. It was a just recompense for
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generations of unpaid, forced brickmaking.
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The Egyptians were so terrified of dying that they gladly handed
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over their jewels, their gold and their silver just to get the
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Israelites to leave. The transfer of wealth is
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amazing, but the physical wealth is entirely secondary to the
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stunning medical miracle recorded in second-half of that
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verse. It says there was not one feeble
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person among their tribes. The Hebrew word for feeble
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person denotes A totterer or a stumbler, someone physically
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unfit for service. Out of a population to perhaps 2
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million people who adjusted toward brutal slavery,
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malnutrition, and beatings, not a single one limped.
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Not one had to be carried on a stretcher.
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Matthew Henry points out that they carried none of the
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diseases of Egypt with him into the desert.
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Jehovah Rophie, the Lord who heals, healed them entirely for
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the rigorous trek ahead. When God calls His people to a
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long, arduous March, He equips them for it physically and
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spiritually is a stunning testimony to His comprehensive
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care. He guides them continuously
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through the harsh terrain. Verse 39 says he spread a cloud
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for a covering and fire to give light in the night.
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Think about the practical grace of this.
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In a desert environment, the pillar of cloud acted as a
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massive royal canopy, shielding the entire camp from the brutal,
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scorching Middle Eastern sun. At night, when the desert
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temperature plummets, the fire acted as their central heating
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and streetlights, illuminating their massive town of tents
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better than modern cities. We can connect this directly to
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God's continuous, varying provision for you today.
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The cloud and the fire represent the dual nature of God's care in
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our lives. He provides shade for times of
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scorching prosperity, keeping you from being burned or blinded
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by your own success and comfort. Conversely, He provides a
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brilliant burning light for times of dark adversity, guiding
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your steps and warming your soul when everything around you is
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pitch black and freezing. He's your Son and your shield,
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constantly adapting His manifest presence to exactly what your
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current circumstances require. The provisions in the desert are
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laid out further in verses 40 and 41.
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The people asked, And he brought quails and satisfied them with
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the bread of heaven. He opened the rock and the
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waters gushed out. They ran in the dry places like
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a river. There is a massive theological
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difference between the giving of the quails and the giving of the
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manna. The text reveals a complex
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mixture of judgement and goodness.
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The quails were given an anger. The people asked wickedly,
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murmuring against God and driven by a base lust for meat,
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remembering the flesh pots of Egypt.
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God gave them what they asked for, but it became a severe
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discipline, sending a plague among them while the meat was
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still in their teeth. The manna, however, is described
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as the bread of heaven, given him pure, sustaining love.
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It was an unmingled good that truly satisfied their daily
31:28
needs without breeding greed. The water from the rock is such
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a beautiful, striking image. God did not just make the rock
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drip enough for a few people to catch water in a cup.
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He cleft it violently and the waters gushed out, running
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through the dry desert valleys like a literal river.
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It flowed on continuously so that those at a distance could
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stoop down and drink their fill alongside their livestock.
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This brings us to a beautiful piece of biblical typology.
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The commentator James Bennett frames the smitten rock as a
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profound type of the person of Jesus Christ.
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The physical rocket horeb was firm, immovable, yet visually
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unappealing. Just as Isaiah says, Christ had
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no beauty that we should desire him.
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Crucially, the rock was smitten by the rod of noses, which
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represents the rod of the Law, just as Christ bore the
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punishing strike of divine justice under the Law.
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Out of that violent smiting poured a pure, abundant,
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perpetual stream of grace for thirsty sinners, a river running
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through the dry, arid places of this fallen world to give life
32:26
to anyone who drinks. What was the goal of all this?
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Why the plagues, the parting of the sea, the manna, the water
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from the rock? We find the answer in the
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concluding verses 44 and 45. God gave them the lands of the
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heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people, that they
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might observe His statutes and keep His laws.
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They inherited a fully cultivated land without having
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to work for it. They moved into stone houses
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they did not build, drank from wells they did not dig, and ate
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from vineyards they did not plant.
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The precise design of all this sovereign grace is stated right
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there at the end, that they might observe His statutes.
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The entire apparatus of redemption, the terrifying
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miracles in Egypt, the miraculous provision in the
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desert, the supernatural protection against kings was
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meant to produce a holy nation. The high calling and the
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glorious election of Israel were intended to make them the
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conservator of divine truth in a Pagan world, an exemplar of
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morality and a pattern of devotion.
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God's grace was poured out in staggering measure so that they
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would be equipped and obligated to live completely for His
33:29
glory. Election is never just about
33:32
being saved from something. It is about being saved for
33:34
something, specifically holy obedience.
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What a summary of history. We have covered massive ground
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today. We traced A solitary, seemingly
33:43
fragile promise made to an obscure family wandering in
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Canaan, through the dark iron fetters of Joseph's dungeon, all
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the way to the utter devastation of the greatest empire on earth,
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and finally into a miraculous desert exodus.
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Every single step, even the agonizing delays, was
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orchestrated by the sovereign decree of God.
34:01
It showcases the absolute steadfast reliability of the
34:04
covenant. God governs the rise and fall of
34:07
massive nations, the turning of the weather, the swarming of the
34:10
insects of the field, and the paranoid hearts of kings, all to
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preserve His elect and fulfill His promises.
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To wrap up our deep dive today, I want to leave you with a final
34:20
thought to Mull over, specifically regarding Psalm
34:22
105, verse 5, which commands us remember His marvelous works.
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Up until now, we have discussed the grand sweep of redemptive
34:31
history. Consider the actual mechanics of
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human memory in your own life. If the sovereign God of the
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universe uses the rise and fall of ancient global empires just
34:40
to keep a single promise to an obscure family, how does that
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alter the way you view the confusing, chaotic global
34:46
headlines of today? Even more, how does it reframe
34:48
that seemingly random, silent or painful trial currently sitting
34:52
in your own living room? If God's memory of His covenant
34:55
directs the entire cosmos, your act of remembering that truth
34:58
might just be the most potent weapon you have against despair.
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Thank you for joining us on Reform Thinking.
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Keep reading, keep thinking, and keep seeking the Lord's
35:05
strength.