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Awesome Hands – part 53

“Not able to see the earth”

Jan. 15, 2013

The show of the power of the Lord has been in full force with the first seven plagues being used to bring judgment to the Pharaoh and Egypt and God’s people as well, spiritually speaking.

All of the ten plagues are for us to learn that we must go through these things to come out of them and to join Moses in the “song of the Lamb”.

In order for us to get to the point of being able to sing this song, we must continue to be subject to the remaining plagues. In this study today, we are going to find that the locusts will leave nothing uneaten.

“I bring the locusts into thy coast”

The locusts follow a spiritually significant and noticeable event in our spiritual lives and that is the plague of hail or otherwise known as a “great earthquake” in our lives.

The plague of hail is an event for us that has never been as grievous and never will be as grievous again as witnessed by us at the time of this plague.

However, this is just another step in the judgment the Lord is pouring out on our old man at this time.

Exo 10:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
Exo 10:2  And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.
Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

There are a few significant phrases written for us here that should be written on our hearts if we are to grasp the control the Lord has over our hearts and minds AND the Love He has for us.

The Lord tells us plainly that He has hardened the heart of Pharaoh and the heart of the servants of Pharaoh so that He can show “His signs” before the Pharaoh.

Additionally, these signs are there so that this story can be told as a REMINDER so that “you may know how that I AM THE LORD.”

If you will notice, we are told the Lord does the hardening but then sends Moses to ask the Pharaoh, “how long will YOU refuse to humble yourself before me?”

At first glance, it seems that the Lord has left us in a peculiar predicament. That would be true if “we” had anything to do with how we act or react. If we are seeing anything spiritually though, we will notice that what the Lord is REALLY after is “our humbling”. This humbling is simply acknowledging that the Lord is in control.

In fact, this is VERY hard for the flesh to do and impossible without Christ doing it in us. When we do admit God’s being sovereign over all, the fear of the Word of the Lord becomes a very significant thought to us!

Because of our refusal to be humbled, the Lord must send locusts.

Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Exo 10:5  And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
Exo 10:6  And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

If you’ll recall how the hail stopped, or was caused to stop, you’ll remember that Moses “went out of the city” and then called upon the Lord to cause the hail to stop.

Exo 9:33  And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

So, this is where Moses and Aaron remained until the Lord tells them to “go in unto Pharaoh.”

“Exo 10:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: …”

At this point it may seem insignificant that this is mentioned but what we are studying with this series is how the Lord works His sovereign hands in our lives and in the lives of those we are sent to say, “thus sayeth the Lord” or “thus sayeth the Word of God”.

Since we are now studying the plague of the locusts, what then is the significance of Moses having been out of the city in order to go in unto the Pharaoh to deliver the message of the Lord that the locusts were/are coming?

In order to answer that, we don’t have to look outside of scripture. What does this “city” represent spiritually?

As with all scripture there is a positive and a negative application to every Word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God.

Since we live by every Word, then we live by the positive and negative applications. With Moses being a type of Christ and Moses going out of the city, what are we being told?

How does the earth mentioned in Exodus 10 have anything at all to do with “the city?”

Luk 9:5  And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.

Mar 6:11  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

So, what city are we speaking about in context of Moses coming to Pharaoh from “without the city”?

Here are a few examples.

Jer 22:6  For thus saith the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
Jer 22:7  And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
Jer 22:8  And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
Jer 22:9  Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

And

Jon 1:1  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
Jon 1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

Why does this happen?

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Did you notice that in Revelation 14 this is done in the presence of the Lamb? Well, with Moses this is happening to Egypt in the physical as a type of spiritual plagues taking place in us.

This judgment will be so great that it will utterly destroy everything and the locusts simply represent a part of that process. However, they also represent the coming of darkness that is brought on us by this plague we live out.

Exo 10:5  And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

The “earth” cannot be seen. In spiritual terms, the “church” of Babylon cannot help us because it is Babylon in us itself that is being judged and destroyed!

Whatever doctrines we hold to be truth will be no help to us when they are confronted by the Word of God of which Moses is bringing to Egypt in type.

For us, this is the same for those we are sent to but we know of whereof we speak having lived through this process ourselves.

“How long shall this man be a snare unto us”

Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Exo 10:8  And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
Exo 10:9  And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
Exo 10:10  And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
Exo 10:11  Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

To understand what was just said, I will read verse 10 in a few other translations.

(ISV)  Then Pharaoh told them, “The LORD will certainly be with you if I let you and your little ones go. I know some evil plan is in your mind.

(ESV)  But he said to them, “The LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.

(BBE)  And he said to them, May the Lord be with you, if I will let you and your little ones go! take care, for your purpose clearly is evil.

Clearly, the Pharaoh was laughing at Moses request because he believed Moses was up to no good. So he tells Moses that just the men can go and he DRIVES Moses out from his presence.

Clearly, things are escalating since even the Pharaoh’s servants are telling the Pharaoh what to do since Moses is a snare unto them.

To gain some perspective, we saw the negative application of “this great city” but what is the positive and what does it have to do

with Moses being a snare unto Egpyt and the Pharaoh?

Psa 48:1  A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
Psa 48:2  Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

So, the opposite of the great city of men is the great city of our Lord, new Jerusalem. How then are they a snare to those they are sent to?

Luk 21:5  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
Luk 21:6  As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Luk 21:7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
Luk 21:8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

Do you think that Christians today think they come saying, “I am”, as in “I am Christ”? Of course they don’t! What we come saying is we are the Christ!

We are His body, His wife the new Jerusalem, the city of our Lord. We, as Moses, leave the city after the hail hits because we don’t belong to that city. We, in this role as prophet, speak God’s commandments and when we and the Words we speak aren’t received, we shake the dust (the EARTH) off of our boots.

This is how we are a snare unto Egypt in all of mankind.

Luk 21:9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
Luk 21:10  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
Luk 21:11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luk 21:12  But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:13  And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

(Darby)  Luk 21:9 And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end is not immediately.

Why isn’t the end immediately coming after this “great earthquake” which is seen in Exodus as the hail storm and spoken about in the Gospels by Christ? Could it be that there is more which must be accomplishing by the 8th, 9th and 10th plagues that Lord will be sending?

Luk 21:14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
Luk 21:15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Luk 21:16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
Luk 21:17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Luk 21:18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

The snare that comes upon Egypt and the Pharaoh is the SAME SNARE that comes upon us all. We get snared by the cares of this world, the cares of the kingdoms we live in, the cares of this life which so easily DISTRACT us from the “day” that approaches.

Luk 21:31  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

The Truth of the sum of the Word is that we all become snared. However, the Lord does this so that we can realize that we are all “chief of sinners”.

The escape we have been given is that the Lord does set a safe place aside for His people to dwell in while these seven last plagues take place all around them so that we can take refuge and not become snared again with wiles of the devil and cares of this world.

For Egypt, they must live this story out physically for us to be able to connect the dots spiritually of what happens to us today spiritually.

Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

When this plague of locusts happens, it will be brought about by Christ being in the mouth of His servants and Christ comes from the east. When the Lord has judged with this particular plague and has eaten up all that can be eaten by the locusts, He puts a stop to it by a “west wind”.

Exo 10:16  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
Exo 10:17  Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
Exo 10:18  And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.
Exo 10:19  And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
Exo 10:20  But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

We must all live out the 10 plagues. They must be lived out so that we can enter into the temple of God. In type and shadow, we can see God’s elect in both bring Egypt and being Moses.

For Egypt, all that remained from the hail storm is consumed and what is to follow is great darkness that can be felt. The last thing left after that is death (the death of the first born i.e. spiritually the old man)

For Moses, he is living out the walk of which the Lord uses him and Aaron to deliver the judgments, the plagues which must happen in order for anyone to come into the kingdom of God/the kingdom of heaven.

For us today, Christ has given us the parable of the temple and the parable of the fig tree to warn us of everything that will come to pass in every generation and to also give us comfort to not so much as meditate on what “we” will say when these things happens to others around us. God alone will give us His Words to speak “in that day” and “in that hour”.

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.