GOD’S JUDGMENT UPON PHARAOH

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: EXODUS 9:13-35




INTRODUCTION:


  1. There is a cartoon movie out in the theaters that I do not recommend. It is called The Prince of Egypt and is supposedly based upon the life of Moses.
  2. However, there are some serious problems with this movie. First of all, it was produced by the same wicked Hollywood crowd that puts out all of the dirty films that have played such a large part in the moral collapse of our culture.
  3. Secondly, since these unsaved Hollywood producers do not understand the Bible, they had to go to outside religious leaders for help. Guess where they went? Jewish rabbis, Muslim leaders, RC priests, and liberal Protestant apostates. It is a case of the blind leading the blind.
  4. Thirdly, they have taken great liberties with the Word of God. For example, they claim that Moses and Pharaoh were raised as brothers, and that Rameses was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. This would place the Exodus in the 13th century BC, directly contradicting the Bible, which places it in the 15th century. There are many other factual errors as well.
  5. But the biggest problem with the movie is that it misses the whole point of the book of Exodus. Israel’s primary problem was not slavery to Egypt or slavery to Pharaoh. In the Bible, Egypt represents the world, and Pharaoh represents the devil. Israel’s problem was that they were slaves to sin!
  6. And this is America’s biggest problem today – from the White House down to the poorhouse – America is enslaved to sin.
  7. So if Israel’s slavery represents bondage to sin, and Egypt and Pharaoh represent the world and the devil, who does Moses represent?
  8. Moses himself prophesied that God would raise up a Prophet like unto himself, the coming Messiah (Deut. 18:15; cf. Luke 24:27; John 5:46).
  9. With this in mind, let us look into the Word of God. The word exodus means "going out," and the book of Exodus records Israel’s redemption out of Egypt.
  10. The last verse in Genesis says, "So Joseph died, being 110 years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt" (Gen. 50:26).
  11. Then in Exodus 1:7ff, we see the development of Israel’s bondage in the land of Egypt.
  12. The early chapters of Exodus go on to describe the birth of Moses, how his mother saved his life by putting him in an ark of bulrushes and laying it in the river, and how little Moses was retrieved from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2).
  13. Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace, "learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22), spent 40 years on the backside of the desert, and then was ready to face Pharaoh, the oppressor of God’s people.
  14. The first meeting takes place in chapter 5 and sets the stage for the series of confrontations, leading up to the Passover (5:1,2).

 

I. THE PRIDE AND OBSTINACY OF PHARAOH BROUGHT DOWN THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.

    1. Pharaoh’s pride and obstinacy is seen back in Exodus 5:2. This is the response of an arrogant, wicked sinner who defies God.
    2. Pharaoh’s pride and ambition hardened him to his own destruction.
    3. God judged the idolatry of Egypt, and God judged Pharaoh for his pride. God turned the river to blood, and God sent frogs to cover the entire land, and God covered the land with lice, and then a grievous swarm of flies. But Pharaoh was a proud and haughty tyrant. He was obstinate and he would not repent.
    4. Then God sent a pestilence upon all the cattle of Egypt, and after that all the beasts and all the men of Egypt broke out with "blains" (horrible sores and boils all over their bodies), and still Pharaoh would not repent. He exalted himself rather than God (9:13-17).
    5. A Biblical principle: Those who persist in rebelling against God are bound to their choice by God. Pharaoh is a perfect example of this (9:12; cf. Isa. 66:4).
    6. God chooses their delusions, and binds their rebellion upon them.
    7. This also applies to Pharaoh’s magicians (9:11). They were punished for helping to harden Pharaoh’s heart. God deals with those that strengthen the hands of the wicked in their wickedness (e.g. RC priests and liberal ministers).
    8. And so God sent thunder and hail, "and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous" (9:24), and still Pharaoh refused to repent.

 

II. THE INSINCERE REPENTANCE OF PHARAOH BROUGHT DOWN THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (9:27).

    1. At first glance, it might appear that Pharaoh had genuinely repented, but let us look more closely: "I have sinned this time…" Pharaoh was not being honest with God. He had sinned all the time – by turning his back on God, and by worshipping idols, and by persecuting God’s people, and in a thousand other ways.
    2. Nothing is more hypocritical and offensive than insincere repentance. As soon as "Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were ceased, he sinned yet more…" (9:34).
    3. There are many sinners like this. They cry big crocodile tears when they get into trouble but as soon as the pressure is off they revert back to their wicked ways. Over the years I have seen many sinners raise their hands and come forward at the invitation, and then disappear.
    4. And not only do these insincere hypocrites continue to defy God but they also drag their associates with them – "he and his servants" (9:34b). It is bad enough that some sinners are determined to go to hell but it is particularly sad to see them try and drag everybody else down to hell with them (e.g. husbands, wives, children, friends, etc.).
    5. Pharaoh’s servants recognized that they were under the judgment of God, but Pharaoh persisted in his unbelief (10:7).
    6. Sometimes even Christians are guilty of insincere repentance. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to pray for him but he had no intentions of getting right with God (9:27,28).
    7. It is hypocritical to ask for prayer when you have no intentions of obeying God. People try and sound pious by saying, "I know I am not the Christian I ought to be, but…" Well, how come you are not the Christian you ought to be? Sometimes when people ask for prayer they are really insincere, and have no intention of going to prayer meeting, no intention to stop smoking, no intention to start tithing, no intention to start dressing right, no intention to go soulwinning, etc.
    8. Don’t be a hypocrite like Pharaoh. Hypocritical church members are judged by God also (cf. Acts 5:1-11).

 

III. THE HARD-HEARTEDNESS OF PHARAOH BROUGHT DOWN THE JUDGMENT OF GOD (9:34,35).

    1. Proverbs 29:1 says, "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
    2. Pharaoh was "often reproved." He hardened his heart and sealed his own fate.
    3. Clay when it is left out in the hot sun gets hard. In like manner, so does the sinner’s heart when he continues to rebel against God, when he insists on doing things his way, rather than God’s way.
    4. In the book of Exodus, there are 22 references to Pharaoh’s hard heart. This is the process: God warns the sinner, but the sinner hardens his heart, and then God hardens his heart for him. This is the irreversible, unalterable judgment of God. It is irrevocable!
    5. Pharaoh had reached the point of no return. The only thing left for him was the unalterable judgment of God (10:3,27-29).
    6. Some people have questioned how God could have hardened Pharaoh’s heart. First, it must be emphasized that Pharaoh initiated the whole hardening process by hardening his own heart (8:15,19, 32; 9:7,34,35).
    7. Some would object and say, "What about Exodus 4:21 and 7:3?" In both these cases God was just revealing to Moses what was going to take place. God is omniscient. God knew what Pharaoh’s reaction would be. Every single man and woman, boy and girl, has an opportunity to get right with God. Whether they do or not is up to them, but certainly God knows what the outcome will be.
    8. God revealed many things to Moses that He will never reveal to you or me, but this is the bottom line: God sent those plagues as a warning to Pharaoh. He disregarded God’s warnings and God gave up on him.
    9. I believe to be judicially hardened by God is the sorest judgment a man can be under this side of hell.

CONCLUSION:

  1. "The LORD brought an east wind upon the land" of Egypt (10:13), and soon the land was completely covered with locusts (10:13-16).
  2. In the Bible, the locust is a symbol of God’s judgment. The book of Joel vividly describes a locust plague which devoured the land as God’s judgment upon them.
  3. And the book of Revelation also mentions a locust plague that will come upon this earth, when God pours His hot wrath upon this sin-loving world (Rev. 9:1-12).
  4. Each and every time I preach – here, in other churches, on the radio, etc. – I know there are people listening who have hardened their hearts like Pharaoh.
  5. Are there people listening who will some day be tormented by these hideous locusts described for us in Revelation chapter 9?
  6. Could there be someone here today who is in this dangerous situation? Perhaps you are close to the point where God says, "Enough! You have exhausted my patience. You are as obstinate as Pharaoh and now your judgment is sealed."


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