"Egypt's Advanced Degree"
Exodus 11

“1 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. 2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbors, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold. 3 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. 4 ¶ And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7 But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8 And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.” (Ex 11:1-10)

A. Jehovah is greater than Pharaoh and all the gods of the land of Egypt and the servant of Jehovah is greater than all the sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, including the chief sorcerer, Pharaoh.

B. Jehovah is the Creator of all things: can change water to blood; bring huge amounts of frogs and flies and lice. There is no fixed quantity of anything on the earth. The amount of things depends only upon the will of God. We will not run out of anything that we need, if we serve Jehovah and not idols; we will never have enough of the basic things if we serve idols who can do neither good nor evil.

C. Jehovah has no trouble about violating the free will of man and forcing him to do what he doesn’t want to do. He did so with Pharaoh and the Egyptians. If he can force Pharaoh to change his mind, He certain is able by the sweet persuasion of the Holy Spirit to change the will of sinful man to embrace the Gospel and follow Christ.

D. He rules over the cattle, the weather, and the light and the dark. He rules in all places and appoints time for all His works and ways.

E. He appoints the places for things.

F. Remember the words of the apostle James: James 4:

11. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

12. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?

13. Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14. Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

15. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

16. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

17. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

G. He calls us, then, to patience. Patience is certainly the ability to wait and discern the times and places for things.

H. Pharaoh was raised up—set, sustained, fortified—by God, for the purpose of contending with God until God had showed all the signs and wonders that He intended to do. Verses 9 and 10 are a summary of all that had gone before. But greater things were yet to come.

A. God can change the mind of the wicked by external means. God has resources that you would not imagine. He has angels, and flies, and hornets, and imaginary fears, noises, and fires and earthquakes.

B. If these are the things that change men’s minds, then the change will only be temporary and shallow. When the distress is passed the mind will appear as it was before.

C. The true change that we call repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit in the implanting of a new nature, so that a man can be said to be born again, born anew, born from heaven, so that he becomes a new creature in Christ. He is given a new set of values and desires.

D. This is not the change that would overtake Pharaoh. He would change his mind, but he would not be changed. There are a couple of passages of Scripture that illustrate this

1. Matthew 12:43-45: 43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

2. 2 Cor. 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

3. True repentance not only requires a change of mind and action, but a change of heart The world knows of sins, although they hesitate at the word; but knows little of sin, the corruption of the nature.

A. Exodus 4:22,23. “I will slay thy firstborn.” The firstborn, the only begotten Son of God, was in Israel. If Pharaoh had believed that all would have been well. But he did not believe.

B. Israel did not believe either, and thought they had these privileges in their own right, and not by the promise of God. I will close with the application from Hebrew 1:

“5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? 6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. 7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. 13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb 1:5-14 AV)