Sermon - Oculi 2023 - Exodus 8:16-24

The Plague of Flies, James Tissot, circa 1896-1902

God redeems His people from the devil’s kingdom

1. The exodus foreshadows our deliverance from this world

2. The dividing line between God’s people and this world is redemption

Following the creation and the flood, the most significant event in the Old Testament is the exodus out of Egypt. God began the ten commandments by saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The Passover was a weeklong feast to be celebrated yearly, which was a memorial of what God had done for His people in the exodus; God commanded: “You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’” The exodus was so significant because it made it clear that God redeems His people from the devil’s kingdom with a mighty, yet merciful, hand.

Numerous films have been made which depicted the events of the exodus, most popularly the movie The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston, so it’s a somewhat familiar biblical history. Here’s the context: You remember that Israel had 12 sons, one of whom was his favorite: Joseph. Joseph’s brothers hated him and ended up selling him as a slave into Egypt. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, so that when God gave pharoah a dream Joseph was able to discern its meaning, namely that in seven years there would be a seven year famine. So Pharaoh promoted Joseph to second in command of Egypt in order to handle this famine. In time Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt seeking food, so Joseph was reunited with his family after forgiving his brothers. Israel and his sons and their families all moved to Egypt where they were richly provided for since Joseph was so powerful in this country. God blessed and preserved the Israelites through Joseph’s suffering.

After numerous generations the Israelites were great in number but reduced to a slave class in Egypt, suffering much. This new Pharaoh didn’t want the Israelites to overpower the Egyptians, so he commanded the midwives to kill the Hebrew sons when they were born, but thankfully they lied and didn’t do that. So Pharoah then commanded that all the Hebrew boys be cast into the Nile river. God heard the cries of the Israelites and sought to deliver them out of Egypt and bring them into their own land flowing with milk and honey. So God sent Moses.

Moses’s mother placed him in a floating basket at the edge of the river where one of Pharaoh’s daughters came to bathe, and Moses’ sister stood by watching. When Pharaoh's daughter saw baby Moses, she had pity on him. So Moses’ sister asked her if she should go and find a Hebrew wetnurse, and she was permitted, so who did she find? Moses’ mom! She was then paid to raise her own son until he was weaned. Afterwards Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s household, living like a prince, at least until he killed an Egyptian and fled Egypt.

God called Moses from the burning bush to return to Egypt and deliver the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land. Knowing that Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people go easily, God stretched out His hand against them with ten plagues (we heard two of them today). Each time God demanded Pharaoh to let His people go, or else He would send a plague. But each time, Pharaoh refused and “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them.” Finally God sent the tenth plague, in which the firstborn male died in every house, unless the household had spread the blood of a perfect male lamb on the lintel of the door so that the angel of death would pass over. Only after this final devastating plague did the Egyptians let the Israelites go. (Until Pharaoh changed his mind again, pursued the Israelites, and was drowned in the Red Sea.)

God thus delivered His people out of Egypt, out of their slavery! The Passover was for the Israelites a most significant celebration, because it’s a reminder of God’s divine deliverance of His people. Moreover, the exodus foreshadows our deliverance out of this world. It’s not a coincidence that Jesus entered Jerusalem in order to be crucified at the same time as the Passover. On Maundy Thursday when the first born unblemished male lambs were to be slaughtered and eaten, Jesus instituted the greater sacrament, the Lord’s Supper, in which His body is eaten. Then on Good Friday, during the Passover celebration, He, the Lamb of God, was crucified to take away the sins of the world. Just as God delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, now God does even more by delivering us from our bondage to sin and death!

This means that the exodus out of Egypt is a significant event in our redemption history, because Jesus’ death and resurrection is the greater fulfillment of the exodus. This also means that the exodus still matters for us today. One point I’d like to draw out of the Exodus is God’s use of the plagues.

Why did God send ten plagues upon Egypt? The answer is two-fold: First, to show that God casts down the false gods of our age, and second, to reveal God’s mercy. The first point, God casts down the false gods of our age. Each of the ten plagues corresponds to an Egyptian deity. So when God brought about these plagues, He was proving that He was more powerful than the gods that the Egyptians worshiped. God does the same in our own age: He casts down our idols and our false gods to prove that He alone is almighty. 

The second thing is that the plagues reveal God’s mercy, but this perhaps seems counterintuitive. The plagues sound like nightmares! They look more like God’s wrath than His mercy! But only at first glance. Remember that God could’ve immediately destroyed the Egyptians, but He didn’t, instead He gave them opportunities to repent and listen to His Word. He sent them plagues, which were obviously frightening and miserable, yet it gave them a chance to repent and do what God said. Even in His wrath God is merciful towards us sinners. So unlike Pharaoh whose heart was hardened when He rejected God’s Word, let us repent when given the opportunity. 

Remember what Jesus says at the end of our Gospel reading: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Repentance and redemption are at the heart of the exodus, because they’re at the heart of Christianity and what God is all about! The division between God’s people and worldly people is redemption. God told Pharaoh: “On that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” The Hebrew word there for “division” is “redemption,” thus the dividing line is whether God has redeemed you or not. Who are those who have been redeemed? They are those who hear the word of God and keep it, who repent and believe the promises of God! God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to hear and keep His word, to be one of the redeemed, but He refused and his heart was hardened.

You, dear Christians, have been redeemed from the devil’s kingdom! You, like the Israelites, have been brought out of the Egypt of this world and into God’s promised kingdom. Like the mute demon-possessed man, you’ve been possessed now by the Holy Spirit. This deliverance is yours through faith in Jesus. He has delivered you from the domain of darkness and brought you into the marvelous light of His kingdom. Like the Israelites were delivered from Pharaoh through the Red Sea, so have you been delivered from Satan through the baptismal font. So now at the hearing of God’s Word, don’t harden your hearts like Pharaoh, instead hear the word of God and keep it!