Exodus 9:13-35 Hail from Above
- Hail is a judgment from the heavens that falls down on populace. It is divine biblical judgment
- The 1995 Mayfest storm was a damaging hailstorm that struck parts of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex on May 5, 1995. It was the first singular thunderstorm with a damage toll exceeding $1 billion and at the time the costliest nontornadic thunderstorm in U.S. history.[1] Hail up to 4.5 in (11.5 cm) in diameter fell across Parker and Tarrant counties, producing hail drifts as deep as 3 ft (0.91 m) and damaging numerous buildings. The storm also struck the Fort Worth Mayfest – a local outdoor festival – pelting the roughly 10,000 people in attendance with softball-sized hail and resulting in over 60 hospitalizations. Though there were no hail-related fatalities, the combination of the slow-moving supercell that produced the hail and a larger complex of storms led to deadly flash flooding that killed 17 people in the Dallas area. 20 people were killed by the storms.
- Crystal was in that storm! Her and her parents in truck, glass coming in, she was afraid!
- Moses confronts the Pharaoh demands the release of the Hebrew people.
- God warns Pharaoh if he doesn’t comply, God will send some powerful miraculous plagues
- Moses warns of a severe hailstorm like nothing ever seen. Advises Pharoah to pull in belongings.
- Those who heed the warning will save their possessions, those who ignore will suffer.
- Moses stretches out his hand, hailstorm comes, with thunder and fire. It damages everything.
- The land of Goshen, where the Israelites live, is protected by the YHWH
- Pharoah is blasted, and admits he was wicked, asks Moses to intercede, He agrees, the hail stops, but just as Moses said, the Pharoah doesn’t change. His reprieve doesn’t change him.
- Hail falls on Pharoah bc he is a vow breaking adulterer with a false God breaking commandment
1. The Plauge
- The Plague we’re talking about is Hail. Its interesting that there is a clear warning, with clear consequences, and an admittance from the Pharoah that 9:27 And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked.”
- The Hail becomes a judgment of pain and destruction upon the Egyptians
- Pharoah knows that God is righteous and that the People of Egypt are wicked
- They KNOW they are wrong yet they CONTINUE in their sin!
- Then the hail stops- “34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants”
- The admittance of the sin was enough to muster agreement they were in sin, but once the consequences stopped, they continued to sin. Pharoah doesn’t let the Israelites go.
2. The False God
- The false God is Nut. Nut is a daughter of Shu and Tefnut. Her brother and husband is Geb.
- She is considered one of the oldest deities among the Egyptian pantheon,originally the goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the sky goddess.
- Her headdress was the hieroglyph of part of her name, a pot, which may also symbolize the uterus. Mostly depicted in nude human form, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets
3. The Commandment
- You shall not commit adultery- intercourse with someone who is not your married spouse
- It is all forms sexual immorality really. Its more than just the simple act- we’ll get into it
- naw-af’- figuratively to apostatize: – adulterer , commit adultery, woman that breaketh wedlock.
- Apostatize is simply to forsake ones belief. abandon. To believe one thing and then do another
- To commit adultery is to believe something, and then act contrary to the belief. Ruin VOWS
- Adultery is far more than sexual immorality- its going against your vows of belief.
- Bible says- no adultery- not just spousal adultery- Our vows are our biggest strength
- You belief that your spouse is your spouse, but then you act contrary to the belief, you consummate with someone with whom you did not make a vow with. abandon your belief.
- Exodus 20:14: “You shall not commit adultery.” Leviticus 20:10: “The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” Proverbs 6:32: “Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul.”
- This is a very clear command from scripture, both the OT and NT.
- Just like Murder of last week, no society that encourages someone taking another’s spouse
- Its taboo in every culture I’ve ever read about. Even multiple spouses are committed to one.
- This commandment is clear, we all agree with it. We uphold it. Sex is for marriage ONLY M/F
- The NT Standard is even higher than the act of the OT
- Ma 5:27-28 READ Look at woman with Lust
- Paul says the commandments are summed up this way-
- Ro 13:9: are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
- don’t sleep with another persons spouse. don’t lust after them and pursue them. Its wrong.
- Christians will rail on deviant sexual expressions, and not themselves in the same judgement
- 1 Cor 6:9-10: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
- There is no circumstance where adultery and lust is acceptable and we must guard against it.
- He 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
4. The connection
- There’s a few connections here that can be made between Hail, Nut and Adultery
- Nut depicted as female barren chested goddess with suckling pigs who married her brother
- Again, we see God establishing a standard for sexual relations within his creation. “Honor your father and mother” establishes the framework for the relations and relationships, but committing adultery establishes that even within MF rel. its not a free-for-all with your sexuality
- Any and all sexual expressions outside of the M/F marriage relationship is an abomination.
- As I think about the Hail of Exodus, I think of the fire and brimstone of Genesis with Sodom and Gomorrah- Sexual immorality is immorality in the highest order. Gen 19:24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.
- Hail and falling debris is an indication of God’s righteous anger upon a disobedient populace- its his divine judgement. God is judging Egypt’s sexuality and worship of an sexually immoral God.
- Isaiah 30:30 READ “ With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.”
- find it in Ezekiel and Haggai as well. Hail is painful judgement that God brings upon the wicked!
- God brings Hail upon the Egyptians as a judgment upon their worship of a adulterous diety!
- Plague is Hail, The false incestuous Goddess Nut cannot stop the Hail from destroying Pharoah
- Only when Pharoah Calls upon YHWH to cease his destruction- does the hail stop! Only YHWH
- Sadly, it doesn’t change the heart of Pharoah. He broke his vow, adulterized with Nut.
- He, like the adulterer- Makes a vow that he does not keep- admits sin and willing to change
- He apostasies his vows. He doesn’t keep what he said he would keep. Adulterer.
5. The standard
- No adultery. Only sex inside of marriage between MF only. Nothing else. It breaks vows
- The standard of the NT is higher- lust is on par with the act, so we must guard our eyes, minds and hearts to not have physical lust for anyone other than our married spouse
- Ps Christian and I hold each other accountable- Keep Doctrine, keep from sexual sin.
- Things need to be said so that its clear- any uncovering of nakedness outside of marriage is sin
- Where’s the line? How Far from the Grand Canyon? Tukwila!
- Parents need to stop normalizing physical relationships for their children in dating because it leads to sexual immorality. You’re not protecting your children from sin! You’re enticing them
- Same with smart phones. Porn is everywhere- protect yourself and your children.
- Watch how your kids dress- and YOURSELF- Why entice someone to lust? Sure, you can do it when they are fully clothed- but whats the line? I don’t need to see cleavage in church. Or on fb
- Its not benign. It will affect your marriage relationship, and cloud your judgment.
- Life is hard enough- stay as far away as you can. Don’t assume. Talk and investigate.
- 1 Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
- Set limits for yourself- what you wont watch, websites you wont go to. Turn it off!
- Don’t be alone or communicate w someone not your spouse. If you’re burning with passion and single, work on finding a spouse. If your marriage isn’t satisfactory, work on it and CHANGE IT.
- My wife and I work on staying attractive to each other and meeting each others needs.
6. No Adultery with anything.
- Its not just the sexual act. Emotional affairs ruin bc of vows. You made vow to spouse not kids
- No one would agree emotionally falling in love with another is ok. Because spouse 1st place
- But its still adultery to let someone else or something else take first place- Keep vows
- Kids- feels natural parents, work, hobbies, friends of the same sex, love of self, etc. ADULTERY
- The day you came to Jesus you gave up everything. Same when you got married. ALL OF YOU
- Work on your marriage like you’re at a job you’re about to get fired from. DO EVERYTHING.
7. No adultery with the Church
- What is a marriage? It’s a connection between two people “two shall become one flesh”
- The word picture that the Bible makes very clear in Ephesians chapter 5 is one of Christ being the bridegroom and the Church being the bride. Adultery is abandoning your vows of membership
- This word picture of the Church being the bride gives us ample connections to be made with not being committed to the Church being spiritual fornication. Taking benefits with no commitment.
- 1 Pe 1:22 say to have sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
- 1 John 3:14 says we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. It’s a serious vow to say to a brother in church you love him
- This word picture that is clear is that you cannot love someone you are not committed to
- You cannot love someone whom you will divorce, cheat on, hurt, or not help or abandon
- This is completely counter cultural to most modern Christianity. There are times when people leave a Church for biblically justifiable reasons, but there are a large contingent of floaters
- Evenmore so, there’s people that build a relationship with a Local church with impure motives
- What they can GET with the LEAST amount of commitment. Fine to take and not give.
- Spiritual fornicators that want all the benefits of the body with no support of it.
- Love the campus, worship, word, people, but just want to be taken care of
- No one sided marriage works and no one sided church relationship works either.
- Hows that adultery? Remember earlier? Apostatize is simply to forsake ones belief. abandon.
- If you were asked, “are you committed to your church” and some of you even made vows to be members of this church, but your commitment wanes through different seasons.
- Your marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church. Your commitment to be his bride is a picture of your commitment to Christ. The Church is the central expression of Christianity on this earth
- Jam 4:4READ Adulterers
- You cant be unfaithful to your spouse and show Christ. be unfaithful to your church and show Christ. world can see what commitment looks like. You cant be unfaithful to God either.
8. Adultery with God
- Adultery only happens in secrecy. You must hide it. The problem with our freewill, is that we can commit adultery on God, do it in secret, and think its all ok. Its not. It will ruin you.
- Cheating on God is adultery. That’s how its described in the Bible. You break vows to God.
- Psalm 73:27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
EZ 16:32-34. Lays out spiritual harlotry in pretty damning terms. God don’t like cheating. - Unless you don’t really have saving faith. You might be able to sin in secret and feel nothing.
- God gives us so much free will. We can live however we want. But not really
- Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
- 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
- We must relentlessly remove from our lives those things that draw us away from the father.
- And its on us. Where we go, what we read, watch, do and think. Be transformed.
- Galatians 5:13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
- Our liberty cannot be used for the flesh. It should be used to love one another.
- God wants all of us. I preach this often. I’m a broken record. For some of you, might be the first time, for some it’s the 100th time. I keep saying it because I know that I’m not there yet.
- There are still parts of my heart I struggle with, that I am not giving up the fight.
- Mat 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [a]mammon
- I love serving Master Jesus. It’s the best life. Best blessings come through full submission
- My life makes the most sense when I’m living for Jesus.
- The message today is simple- Keep your vows, don’t be an adulterer. You will experience the best that life has to offer when you keep your vows
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