2011-03-06 (am) Exodus 7.

8-13 Staffs and Snakes

So now, were finally getting into it. The confrontation between God and the god, small g, Pharaoh has begun. God has already begun the process of proving that there is no one like the Lord our God (Ex. 8.10). This is what God proved convincingly to Moses at the Burning Bush, which though on fire, wasnt consumed. God further proved his greatness by turning Moses staff into a snake and back into a staff, making his hand leprous and then healing it. Moses believed because of what God did. Then, when Moses went to the Israelites, Gods actions caused faith in them too. They saw Gods power. They understood what God was doing. They believed that God really had heard their prayers and was going to rescue them. Though they might not have anticipated the time it took for the rescue to happen. And this is something to consider. Israel struggled for a long time. They prayed for years, apparently without response from God. Did they grow despondent? Did they grow weary? Did they doubt Gods care for them, Gods existence? Did they worship the Egyptian gods? As with any society within another society, culture creeped in. We can be sure that Israel/Jacob and Joseph and Josephs brothers passed on their knowledge and experience of God. They would have told the stories of Josephs sale into slavery; his imprisonment, his rise to second in command over all Egypt and how God used him to save his family. We can picture families sharing an afternoon or evening meal. The fathers and mothers told the children about how they came to be in Egypt. Telling them every day
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about the God they worship, how he rescued Joseph, how hed rescue them. Day in and day out. Still, it must have been hard. For 255 years they had been in Egypt (480 years since God promised the land to Abraham). For about 130 years, they were treated as slaves. Their oppression grew worse and worse. And not surprising, some faltered. Some gave up. Some stopped doing the daily devotions. Perhaps they reasoned, We dont need to do it, God isnt there, God doesnt care. God isnt coming to rescue us. Or perhaps they said, Thats just tradition, we dont need to do it. Or perhaps they observed the Egyptians, saw how successful they were, desired to have similar success, and chose to worship the Egyptian Gods. Or perhaps life simply got in the way. As society changed, as they had to spend more and more time working for the Egyptians, they would have had a harder time making time for God. Regardless of their faithfulness or faithlessness (whatever it was or wasnt, they had leaders who listened to Moses and believed) God rescued them. He came at his own time. He came when the time was exactly right. He came when the sin of the Amorites, the Canaanites those living in the Promised Land, had reached its full measure. You see, this is how God works. While his people were suffering in slavery, God was patiently giving as many opportunities for the Canaanites and the others to repent and turn toward him.

What we can learn from this is, God works, no matter what. Gods plan will unfold, on his time, not anyone elses. While Gods people suffer, his grace is extended to others. And that gives us perspective on life, doesnt it? It teaches us that we have to guard our hearts, God guards our hearts, but we must not use present or future circumstances to judge Gods love the way the world judges love. The perfect life, free of problems doesnt indicate blessing. God disciplines, he teaches those he loves through experiences, good and bad. No, whatever we face in this life, we rest secure in the knowledge of Gods grace to bring us through, and his mercy extended toward others, who might believe. As we look at the plagues, we must remember what God was doing. He was demonstrating his power and authority. He was calling the Israelites to faith, especially those who had grown weary and despondent. He was also calling Pharaoh and all Egypt to faith. Now, we might wonder at that. How does beating a nation to pieces call them to faith? As we shall see, the Egyptians had an entrenched pantheon of gods. In order to break them of this false worship, God systematically destroys, overpowers, annihilates, denigrates the Egpytian gods, proving there are not many different gods, but one true God. We know that Pharaoh hardened his heart; he remained, as the Q&A 5 from the catechism puts it, hating God and his neighbour. We also know that many Egyptians believed in Yahweh, and fled Egypt with the Israelites. Some scholars suggest that
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theres evidence that the next Pharaoh was a monotheist who worshipped Israels God. Gods actions impacted everyone, causing either hatred or belief. After their first appearance to Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron return. At their first meeting, Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. The miracles God performed through Aaron and Moses powerfully demonstrate who the Lord is and why Pharaoh and everyone ought to obey him. So Moses and Aaron do exactly as God commanded them. They found audience with Pharaoh. Pharaoh says, Oh, its you again. Theres no God like the any of the gods we worship. You want me to believe that your God exists, then prove it! Perform a miracle for me. So Moses says to Aaron, Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh and God will make it become a serpent. The staff signifies that God is the one working the signs through them for Israels benefit. So Aaron throws his staff before Pharaoh and it becomes a snake. Have you ever wondered why it became a snake? Werent snakes bad? Didnt Satan appear in the form of a snake in the Garden of Eden? Didnt God promise to crush the serpents head? So why a snake now, and why is it a positive sign of Gods power? Well, according to Egyptian mythology, the snake served as a symbol of protection for the pharaohs. This is why Pharaohs headdress had a snake protruding from the

forehead and the headdress itself looks like a flared cobra head. The cobra, the snake protected and watched over Pharaoh. So, when Aaron threw down his staff, at first, it was a surprising act. The staff represented power and authority in the ancient cultures. The throwing down of power would have surprised Pharaoh. But when the staff became a snake, the implication was clear. Pharaohs protection was in danger. A new God, the true God, was challenging his power and authority. He commanded his priests to do the same thing. They also threw down their staffs which also turned into snakes. Now, the scriptures dont tell us why they were able to do this, only that they were able to do it by their secret arts. Did they have supernatural powers? Was it a trick? Were they in contact with the spiritual forces of evil and thus by some demonic activity they were able to change their staffs into snakes? Were only told that they did it. This is the first of three occasions when the Egyptian priests were able to mimic what God did. Each time their arts convinced Pharaoh to harden his heart. They merely reinforced his disbelief. The remarkable thing in this occasion was that Aarons staff/snake eats the other snakes. This is a very clear message that Pharaohs power is limited. In fact, his power and authority is subject to Gods power and authority. Pharaoh may posture and pose, he may run roughshod over Israel, but he cannot do a thing apart from Gods will. He is completely at Gods mercy.

But he refuses to see it as such. He refuses to listen to Moses and Aaron; he refuses to let the Israelites go. He escalates the situation. His stubbornness resulted in tremendous pain for himself and for others. It was a clear warning, he should have known better. But such is the situation of entrenched ideology. People who are of a particular persuasion find it much easier to remain convinced of what they think they know. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence, they refuse to believe. Talk to atheists, talk to people of other faiths, reason, cajole, demonstrate, and people will still refuse to believe. We see it in Pharaoh, we see it in various guises throughout Israels history, but we also see it in Jesus day. Jesus came, like Moses and Aaron, to reveal God to the people. He is Gods Son. He came to save sinners. He came as a mediator between the Father and the people, not just Israel, but also the whole world. He too met with scepticism. Do you remember when Jesus demonstrated his authority by miraculously turning five loaves and two fish into enough for 5000 men, 1520,000 women and children? Remember how the next day, when people grew hungry and asked again for some food Jesus told them about Moses and the people wandering in the wilderness and how they ate the manna from heaven. He then told them that he was the true manna from heaven. That his miracle yesterday was meant to demonstrate his

true power and authority, that he was going to give up his life for them, so that when they eat his body, spiritually, they would be nourished spiritually, given eternal life. But when he told them this fact, who he really was, everyone left. Only the 12 remained. He said to them, Are you going to leave too? Nows your chance, no one is looking! Peter says, Where else can we go? Only you have the words of eternal life. And, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, standing there before a crowd of people, including the disciples, Jesus, recently risen from the dead, talks to them. Many worshipped him, recognising him as Lord and God, the same phrase used with Pharaoh, but others doubted. Doubts are not surprising. People will reject the evidence, as Pharaoh did. Ha! My own priests can do what you do. This is no big deal. Your God is no big deal, your God doesnt exist. People reject the evidence contained in the Bible. The reject the historicity of creation, of the flood, of Abraham, of the captivity, of the plagues, of the exodus, of Jesus. Why? Because they dont want to believe. Their hearts are hardened. We respond with prayer. We respond with continued efforts to teach them the truth. We invite them to church; we invite them to our houses to talk about our faith. We open the scriptures to them, explaining why we believe what we believe. Next week, we hope to celebrate Lords Supper. In that meal, well remember and believe what Christ did. We remember, just like the Israelites remembered even during
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their years of bondage. We remember what God did by his mighty hand, just as the Israelites taught their children the Passover meal. We remember, that Jesus came with almighty power to prove that he is Gods son. Today was the first test. It is like the opening exchange of a swordfight. A parry, a thrust, a clash of weapons, 1, 2, 3, to test the opponent. Then a step back before the next exchange. The conflict escalates. It all happens to demonstrate to Israel, to Egypt and to Pharaoh who is truly God. It all happened so that thousands of years later, we can read the account and we can know that there is one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By the end of the plagues, Pharaoh would know the Lord, but he would still refuse to love him. God is demonstrating his power to us. How have you responded? How are you responding? Are you loving God, worshipping him, accepting his authority over your life? Or are you behaving as Pharaoh did? Amen.