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Awesome Hands – part 51

“With Great Judgments”

Dec. 25, 2013

In today’s study, we are going to read the admonitions given to us in the plagues which follow the lice and flies.

We are also going to see that the intensity of the plagues increase as the Pharaoh’s heart is continually hardened. As the Lord tells Moses, the entire reason Moses is here is to deliver the great judgments of the Lord, and the Pharaoh is raised up for this specific purpose.

Exo 6:6  Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Exo 7:4  But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

Exo 9:16  And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

I am giving this study in regards to the Egyptians and Israel, but when we take the sum of the Word, we can conclude that we are learning the Truth of what is happening within us all as God’s people and also what is happening to others in their own appointed time.

In Truth, we are the Egyptians before we are the Israelites. We live out spiritually what they must go through in this book of Exodus, before we live out the deliverance side of the plagues of which Israel is experiencing.

Judgment is set in motion to set things right and there are two sides of judgment.

One side of judgment comes from the “Deliverer” via His prophets and prophetesses and the other is what befalls whomever judgment is sent to.

2Sa 22:1  And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:

2Sa 22:2  And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

2Sa 22:3  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.

For Egypt, judgment is upon them but so too is judgment upon Israel and we will see how this judgment is worked in us today, Lord willing.

“Judgment begins at the house of the Lord”

Judgment must begin at the house of God, and obedience is the result.

2Co 5:9  Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

In type, this is what we are reading about here in Exodus. Let us see what admonitions we can glean from the great judgments i.e. plagues (also referred to as miracles as is covered in previous studies), which are being delivered to Egypt and its king.

Exo 9:1  Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Exo 9:2  For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Exo 9:4  And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel.

Exo 9:5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.

As these plagues have increased in intensity and peril towards Egypt, so has the delivery of them to Egypt.

For example, when Moses first came to the Pharaoh he would say things like, “when shall I intreat for you,” and the Lord would do it according to the word of Moses. Here is an example of what I reference.

Exo 8:9  And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

Exo 8:10  And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

Now, as things progress, the Lord is letting us know that He alone is in control and He leaves no doubt of that.

When the Lord first starts working with us, we are much like Saul who is renamed to Paul acts. We recognize it is the Lord doing this great work, but we still think WE have something to “do” for the Lord.

Act 22:6  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And a few verses later…

Act 22:10  And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

In other words, we are being told that the Lord will make known to us in due time what it is He has appointed for us to do, but it takes time for the Lord to reveal to us and to write upon our hearts that He is the one who will have His appointed work done in us.

“Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD……” and “Exo 9:5  And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.”

There is a progression of how the Lord works these judgments and there is a wonderful reason why.

When we first are presented with the Words of the Lord, such as Moses coming to the Pharaoh and saying, “thus sayeth the Lord let my people go,” we are given room to consider what the Lord says.

At least, we are from our perspective, given the ability to “choose”. However, as these judgments increase the Lord lets us know assuredly that He alone is in control.

The very act of the hardening of the Pharaoh’s heart is proof of that, but the point I am trying to make is that from “our perspective” we are the ones in control and early on in these judgments the Lord causes us to think we can do something about the plagues which have befallen us.

Exo 9:6  And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.

Exo 9:7  And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

If you recall, the first “plague of separation” was with the flies. Up until the flies, Israel had experienced the water into blood, the frogs and the lice.

Exo 8:22  And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

So, when “things take to the sky” (lice and flies fly in the heavens), there is a separation of God’s people in His land. The “land of Goshen” is separated from the rest of Egypt but now the beasts of the land must be dealt with.

This is all a foreshadowing and an admonition for us today of the process the Lord uses for us all.

First, the land must be presented so that we can go to it i.e. “the promised land”, THEN the beasts in the land must be dealt with.

I know it doesn’t directly seem or appear to be parallel in spiritual admonition, but what we are seeing is that once God has separated the land where His people dwell from the land where the enemies of His people dwell, the “power” of the beasts must be dealt with.

The beasts which are going to be killed will be killed by the hand of the Lord. If you look at each of the cattle groups mentioned, these are cattle which produce wealth for those who own them and are very beneficial for their livelihoods.

Exo 9:3  Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Notice, with this plague not only is the Egyptians cattle slaughtered but the Israelites cattle are preserved. This makes the Israelites cattle even more important because in this area they are all that remain to be used and gained from. So with the same plague the Egyptians wealth is destroyed and the Israelites wealth making power and livelihood is increased.

“Handfuls of Ashes”

When the Lord does a work, He does a thorough work. When the Lord uses the hands of His servants to accomplish His will, He does a thorough accomplishing, and He does it for all to see these miracles.

Exo 9:8  And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

Exo 9:9  And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.

Exo 9:10  And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

Exo 9:11  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

Exo 9:12  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

When the Lord brings His judgments, they cannot be ignored. They are as open wounds which cannot be ignored because they will not go away.

With the increasing intensity of the plagues, the Lord also causes the Pharaoh is realize that this is not going to stop. This is similar to how the Lord works with us as He tries us in our fiery trials in order to bring us to Him.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

As I have pointed out several times during these plagues, the magicians had enchantments that could also duplicate what the Lord was doing with Moses and Aaron. However, there comes a time when that no longer happens.

The magicians used their abilities to gain or benefit from while Moses and Aaron were simply taking the rod of judgment they had been given and delivering the commandments of the Lord, “let my people go”.

We should all be hearing this message today in our hearts and minds. The Lord is calling to our old man, bringing judgment upon him, to let His people go.

Just like Egypt, we will deny that the wrath of God has come but after process of time it will be undeniable and then it is too late for us to do anything about it. Of course this is all of the Lord, but it is referred to us the sufferings of Christ and we should take joy in knowing the Lord is working this work for us.

Exo 9:8  And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.

It is when ashes can be used to cause much suffering that we fully realize that we are dealing with a God who will have His will accomplished.

Exo 9:13  And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Exo 9:14  For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.

Exo 9:15  For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

Exo 9:16  And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that MY NAME may be declared throughout all the earth.

Exo 9:17  As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

In type and shadow, it is those who dwell in the devouring fire who are used to deliver these boils and all the plagues because we have been crushed to a fine powder in order to be used.

It may seem like a horrible thing to have these plagues happen, or to be the deliverer of such wrath via the rod in your hand, but for the new man it is wonderful. For the old man it is DEATH.

It is a very humbling experience to know we are used in this capacity.

It is will the plague of pestilence that the Lord will write it upon the hearts of those He is working with just who it is they are dealing with.

It may seem odd, but I empathize very much with the Pharaoh. Sure he has enslaved the Israelites. Sure he tormented them in hard labor.

Sure he continues to allow his people to suffer through these various plagues but it all due to the hardening of his heart of which the LORD ALONE has caused to happen.

The Pharaoh is not of himself choosing to do these things. Likewise, Moses and Aaron have been created for the very purpose of DELIVERING these plagues via the rod in their hands.

“For I will at this time… send ALL MY PLAGUES upon thine HEART…..”

Why Lord?

“For thou …. Shalt be CUT OFF from the earth ….”

(LITV)  And for this reason I have made you stand, in order to cause you to see My power, and in order to declare My name in all the land.

Isn’t it sad to see a blind man? Isn’t it sad to imagine that they have never seen the light of day of which we take no second thought for? How must it feel to be Pharaoh?!

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

We are the light of the world if we believe Christ. As Christ was in this world, so are we.

When we are sent as Moses and Aaron are, there is going to be much tribulation happening. There is going to be much suffering because we are going to see the sun darkened and the moon not giving light.

There is going to be much pestilence witnessing due to the Words we speak to those whom we are sent to and we must be aware of this because it is for THIS CAUSE and THIS TIME that we have been sent.

Exo 9:16  And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that MY NAME may be declared throughout all the earth.

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?

Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Joh 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Joh 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

While we are in this world, we are working the works of the Lord and be forewarned that it will be a work of miraculous plagues which the Lord will write on the hearts and minds of those He causes you to witness to.

Rejoice in this though because it is due to everyone having their heart hardened that we are sent to them.

When we witness in this way, we are showing the power of the Lord and His name is being declared to those whom He is welcoming into His church NOW while in this age and of which will also be used to judge others later in the lake of fire.

In the next study, we are going to continue to cover the seventh plague of hail. This hail storm will also be used to admonish us all of the work the Lord is accomplishing in all of humanity.