Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS025030S
00:00 [uplifting instrumental]
00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 Glad to have you with us today. 00:19 We are studying the Exodus, 00:22 an incredible period in earth's history, 00:26 in the history of God's people, that gives us some lessons 00:29 that we can learn for our day and beyond. 00:32 We're going to dive deeply into it today: 00:34 lesson number four, "The Plagues." 00:37 If you've ever wondered how we can better understand 00:40 the plagues and get more out of them, 00:42 we're gonna see today why God sent the plagues, 00:45 their significance, and what we can learn from them. 00:48 Let's begin with prayer. 00:50 Father, we thank You for drawing us together today, 00:52 and we ask that You would bless us 00:53 with a deeper understanding of You, 00:56 Your character, Your will, and Your reasons for doing 01:00 the things that You do. 01:02 We ask Your blessing on us today, and we thank You 01:03 in advance for granting that, in Jesus' name, amen. 01:08 So we're glad that you are here, but we are also glad 01:10 that we have the author of this quarter's 01:12 "Sabbath School" lesson with us, Dr. Jiri Moskala. 01:16 Dr. Moskala, thank you again for being with us. 01:18 We're excited to learn something that you have been excited 01:21 about for a good long time. 01:24 >>Dr. Jiri Moskala: Yes, it's true. 01:25 I am very excited, and I'm very happy 01:27 to be with you to study this quarterly today. 01:30 >>Eric: So we're looking at the plagues today. 01:33 We've kind of led up to Moses' encounter with Pharaoh, 01:36 and Pharaoh's not keen on letting the people go 01:40 and makes life more difficult for them. 01:42 And now the plagues begin to come. 01:44 Before we delve into-- or dive into--these plagues, 01:47 I want to look at verse number 1 of chapter 7. 01:50 It's an interesting verse. 01:52 It says, "So the Lord said to Moses: 01:54 "'See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, 01:58 and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.'" 02:01 Now, here we have God telling Moses 02:03 that He's made Moses "as God to Pharaoh." 02:06 What's all wrapped up in this? 02:08 >>Dr. Moskala: Well, I think it's a very beautiful imagery 02:11 here that Aaron is playing prophet, and Moses, God. 02:18 So it's like a very good definition 02:22 to understand who is the prophet 02:24 because the prophet is a mouth of God. 02:28 So it's like Moses is speaking to Aaron. 02:33 So he is the full authority, like divine authority, 02:36 because he is under the God's commission. 02:38 And now speaking to Aaron, and now Aaron 02:41 will be his spokesperson to announce it. 02:46 So this tells us about the specific roles, 02:50 that God is the God who is in command, He is in charge, 02:56 He is in control here. 02:58 And prophet--and we have so many instances 03:02 in the Bible which speaks about the prophets. 03:06 A prophet is a spokesperson for God and has authority 03:10 coming from God. 03:12 So when Aaron is hearing the word from Moses, 03:18 it's like hearing from God and he's delivering it. 03:22 And this is authoritative word also for the audience. 03:27 >>Eric: So this is a significant role that Moses is playing here 03:31 and a significant role that Aaron is plaguing-- 03:35 [amused] Aaron is plaguing here. 03:36 He's playing here, but it has to do with the plagues, 03:38 which we're diving into right now. 03:41 God typically doesn't do arbitrary things. 03:45 He has reasons for doing the things that He does. 03:48 And there are reasons behind these 10 plagues as well. 03:51 Help us to understand the reason that God sends these plagues. 03:54 What are they all about? What's behind them? 03:56 >>Dr. Moskala: Well, before I will speak about, you know, 03:58 why He's sending the plagues, 04:00 I think it's also very important to understand that 04:03 God is not sending these plagues right away. 04:06 He is working patiently, I would say, 04:10 with the stubborn Pharaoh. 04:12 We already heard in chapter 5 that, you know, 04:17 Moses and Aaron came and tell him, 04:19 "This is the word of God: 'Let my people go,'" 04:24 but he refused, and then situation got worse and worse. 04:27 But now, again, Moses and Pharaoh is-- 04:32 and Moses and Aaron is with Pharaoh, 04:35 and the big miracle is performed. 04:39 You know, we read in chapter 7 from verse 8 04:43 that now, not Moses', but Aaron's stick, 04:47 you know, was put on the ground, 04:50 then it changed for the serpent. 04:56 But magicians could do a similar thing. 05:02 But the authority is very clear 05:05 because we read very clearly 05:07 that even though these magicians could do it, 05:12 it was the serpent of Aaron which swallowed other serpents. 05:18 And even though this miracle was done, 05:22 you can read at the end of the miracle, 05:25 verse 13, after Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs, 05:32 "Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard 05:35 and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said." 05:39 So now is for the second time 05:41 when God really gave the chance to Pharaoh. 05:46 And of course there were many other encounters 05:48 we don't know exactly how, 05:51 but the long history of oppression here. 05:55 And now it's the culmination point. 05:58 And before the plague starts, God wants to persuade him, 06:05 even with the sign, 06:07 with a special sign, that He is God, 06:10 a living God is in charge here. 06:12 And then even the plagues are going on-- 06:16 there are situations where Pharaoh 06:19 has still possibility to let God's people go, 06:24 to really obey the word of God. 06:27 Even in some point his magicians is telling him 06:31 this is the finger of God, 06:33 this is the intervention from God, 06:35 "So you should"-- but no, he refused. 06:39 So if you go to the purpose of these plagues, 06:43 I think that very significant 06:45 is in chapter 12-- and we can go to the chapter 12, 06:51 verse 12, when it is stated in regard to the last plague, 06:58 you know, that what will happen: "I will pass through Egypt 07:02 "and strike down every firstborn... 07:04 "both [man] and animal, 07:06 and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt." 07:11 And I think that this is very significant statement here, 07:15 that what God was doing, 07:17 He was not fighting against Egypt. 07:19 He was not fighting against Egyptians, 07:21 but He was fighting against Egyptian gods, 07:24 because Egypt, Egyptians, and now even many Israelites, 07:29 were like slaves in their thinking, 07:32 in their feelings, in their behavior, 07:34 were slaves to these gods. 07:37 And there was a big pantheon of different gods. 07:40 So God intend to liberate them, to be free, 07:46 that they will be not afraid of these forces 07:50 and the interpretation and mythologies 07:53 and all the stories which were associated with 07:57 different gods, in order that made them subjugated, enslaved. 08:02 And then, of course, what you worship or what you fear, 08:07 you serve to it. 08:09 And God is doing these great things. 08:13 And this lesson actually is now speaking about 08:17 the first nine plagues. 08:19 And if you will go to some, you know, 08:23 companion book to the study of this lesson 08:28 and also teacher's edition, I'm giving some more insights 08:32 into these different plagues 08:35 which are playing a very significant role there. 08:38 But simply stated, you know, there are clusters 08:43 like three, three, and three of these plagues 08:46 and then culmination in the last one, 08:49 which will be the study for the next lesson. 08:52 And these clusters are also not only specifically, 08:59 you know, related to different events and so on, 09:03 but also they are showing that behind every plague 09:10 is not one but very often many Egyptian gods. 09:16 And the breakthrough must be done. 09:19 And how God can do it? 09:21 Well, first, by very simple statements, 09:25 but if you go and see the plagues, 09:28 their intensity, they are more and more severe. 09:33 And of course, the last one is the biggest stroke. 09:36 But again, God was always warning 09:39 and didn't want to bring more and more. 09:42 He want that the first one will bring the right results. 09:47 And if you go through it, like, the blood, 09:50 first, you know, statement, the plague 09:54 was about turning water into blood, 09:57 nobody would be hurt yet, from the human perspective, 10:01 from humans. 10:03 It will be turning to show that we are dependent on water, 10:08 but the water, the Nile, is not the Hapi god 10:12 who is giving the water and life. 10:16 This is God who is giving it. 10:18 So it was from the very beginning that not Hapi 10:22 or Osiris, but it is God who is the giver of life, 10:28 giver of water. 10:29 And every plague was against different gods, 10:33 like the second one about frogs. 10:36 And this is like the very famous, you know, 10:41 god of frog, Heqet, 10:45 in Egyptian pantheon of gods. 10:48 And again, God is showing that He is really in control of it. 10:53 He is the creator. 10:55 And Egyptians, you know, 10:58 cannot do anything to take them out. 11:03 So, like, those three plagues are going for everyone. 11:09 But then after the third one, the fourth, it's intensified 11:15 and is now must be seen big difference 11:18 between the Israelites, between God's camp 11:21 and the camp of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians. 11:26 And of course, if people will associate 11:31 with these Egyptian gods, 11:34 the judgment which comes upon the Egyptian gods 11:38 will fall also upon them. 11:40 But God always is warning before. 11:44 And this is probably also a very important lesson for us. 11:48 Then before God is sending His judgment, 11:51 He's always out of love, is warning us, 11:55 giving us His fatherly, motherly advice, 11:58 that this will come-- these are the consequences 12:01 of wrong choices. 12:03 If we have the decision which is bad, of course, 12:09 then the life will be reflected on that. 12:14 So all these plagues playing the role that Pharaoh 12:21 should come to his senses and that he will surrender 12:27 to God and open his heart 12:32 and let God's people go and liberate them. 12:37 So God is teaching the lesson of redemption, 12:40 salvation through all of this. 12:42 >>Eric: So He's giving Pharaoh opportunity after opportunity 12:45 to make a good decision. 12:47 But we see over and over again, 12:49 it says, "Pharaoh hardened his heart," 12:51 "Pharaoh hardened his heart." >>Dr. Moskala: That's correct. 12:52 >>Eric: We're going to see shortly that it says, 12:54 "God hardened Pharaoh's heart." 12:55 But we're going to dive into that after our break 12:57 and see what does that mean, 12:59 because a lot of people have questions, 13:01 "What does it mean when it says, 'God hardened Pharaoh's heart'? 13:03 "If God hardened his heart, then isn't that unfair of God 13:06 to harden Pharaoh's heart?" 13:07 We're going to come to that very shortly. 13:09 You mentioned the companion book to this quarter's 13:11 "Sabbath School" lesson. Tell us a little bit 13:13 about what's in this chapter of the companion book. 13:15 >>Dr. Moskala: Well, in this chapter, I am really dealing 13:18 with the first nine plagues. 13:20 And I am showing the characteristics 13:23 of these plagues, what is behind, 13:25 what's going on, which gods are associated 13:29 with different plagues. Because each plague, as I said, 13:33 is, you know, connected with one or even more Egyptian gods, 13:38 because this was a big pantheon of gods in Egypt. 13:43 And He's helping them to really break through. 13:47 So this is the insight into it and the purpose 13:51 why these plagues and what is the meaning, really, 13:56 of God's judgment. 13:57 >>Eric: So if you're interested in digging 13:59 more deeply into that, understanding 14:01 why God sent each plague, which Egyptian god 14:05 God was endeavoring to show to be powerless, 14:09 then grab ahold of this companion book. 14:12 You will thoroughly enjoy it. 14:14 You can find the companion book to this quarter's 14:16 "Sabbath School" lesson at itiswritten.shop. 14:19 Again, that's itiswritten.shop. 14:21 Just look for the companion book to this quarter's 14:24 "Sabbath School" lesson on the "Exodus." 14:26 And incidentally, if you happen to have missed picking up 14:29 the companion books to any of the last 14:32 "Sabbath School" lessons or the most recent ones, 14:34 you can also order those as well and get caught up on them. 14:38 Again, itiswritten.shop. 14:40 We're going to come back in just a moment or two 14:43 as we continue looking at these plagues in Egypt, 14:47 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 14:49 ♪♪♪ 14:55 >>male announcer: Loving well is a way of life. 14:59 And loving well means wanting the very best for others. 15:03 "Go ye therefore" becomes, "I'll go, send me." 15:08 Send me across the world or across town. 15:12 Work in me to impact lives for such a time as this. 15:16 And if I can't go myself, I want to send others 15:19 who can take the everlasting gospel to the world. 15:23 It Is Written's Office of Planned Giving 15:26 gives you the opportunity to leave a legacy, 15:29 to make a major impact for Christ, 15:33 to lead others to faith in Jesus in preparation 15:35 for eternity. 15:38 Let God use you to enable others to go. 15:42 To learn more, visit HisLegacy.com. 15:45 That's HisLegacy.com. 15:47 [gentle music] 15:54 ♪♪♪ 15:59 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 16:00 brought to you by It Is Written. 16:03 We are delving into those nine plagues, 16:06 the first nine of the 10 plagues in Egypt. 16:08 And as I mentioned just before we went to break, 16:10 you can get the companion book that will give you 16:11 more insight and information. 16:13 You can also pick up the teacher's edition 16:16 of the "Sabbath School" lesson, 16:18 and they also have it available in Spanish as well. 16:21 So delve into those if you would like to get more 16:23 out of the lesson today. 16:25 Dr. Moskala, before we went to our break, 16:28 we talked about Pharaoh hardening his heart, 16:31 but also we find that it says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. 16:35 Help us to understand this. 16:37 We know God is love. 16:38 We know He's also just, but how do we deal 16:41 with God hardening Pharaoh's heart? 16:44 What's the explanation of that? 16:45 >>Dr. Moskala: Well, I think that this is a big puzzle 16:47 for many students of the Bible. 16:50 And I was also puzzled when, you know, 16:53 as a young theologian and student of the Bible 16:57 was going through and I said, "Well, God, help me 17:02 to make sense of it, to make sense." 17:04 And so I studied that very carefully. 17:09 And what I discovered is that you have, 17:12 like, two statements there. 17:15 Yes, it's true, it stated that God hardened Pharaoh's heart 17:19 or will harden Pharaoh's heart. 17:22 And then you have the statement that Pharaoh hardened his heart. 17:27 So is a contradiction? 17:30 Is God like the capricious God, that if He want to do 17:33 something good, He will still, because He's sovereign, 17:38 harden us and we will disobey, 17:41 and so, and then He will perform what He wants? 17:46 So where will be our responsibility, right? 17:48 So how is it with God's sovereignty 17:51 and also our freedom? 17:54 And it all plays here a very important role. 17:57 So I studied this very carefully and I discovered 18:01 that when we were starting to read in chapter 4 18:05 that God said, "I will harden his heart 18:08 so that he will not let the people go," 18:11 it's a prediction. 18:13 Then in chapter 7, it was for the second time when God said, 18:17 yes, and in verse 3, "But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, 18:23 "and though I multiply my [miracles] signs 18:27 and wonders..., he will not listen to you." 18:30 And then, this is again prediction. 18:35 This is what He will do because I am here in charge. 18:40 He will harden his-- I will actually do it. 18:44 So now, does it mean that everything what will happen 18:50 will happen like on God's intervention, 18:55 that Pharaoh will be like a puppet? 18:57 If he wants or not, he will need to do and play his role, 19:02 this negative role? 19:04 Well, now, after these predictions 19:08 comes the story itself. 19:10 So narrative unfolds. 19:12 And the first narrative with the performance 19:17 even of the sign that God says, "Yes, let my people go. 19:22 "And here I am in charge, I am showing you my power. 19:27 Your magicians are powerless." 19:29 Then, you know, "My serpent will eat even your serpents." 19:33 Everything is different. 19:36 We read that even after this prelude, I would say, 19:41 we have the statement, 19:43 "And Pharaoh's heart became hard and would not listen to them." 19:52 So this is whose decision? 19:54 It's Pharaoh's decision, right? 19:57 And now you go through the plagues. 20:01 And it's very significant for me that at the end 20:05 of first plague you read, 20:09 like, in verse 22: 20:12 "And Pharaoh's heart became hard; 20:14 he would not listen to Moses and Aaron." 20:17 You go to the second plague, it's like against frogs-- 20:21 with frogs. At the end, you have the statement in verse 15: 20:27 "And he"--Pharaoh-- 20:29 "hardened his heart and would not listen." 20:32 You go through the third plague, the same statement at the end: 20:36 "But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, 20:40 just as the Lord had said." 20:41 So God said that because He knew that Pharaoh will do it. 20:47 He will do it. 20:48 Now you go through the fourth plague: 20:50 "And God said, 'Let my people go.'" 20:53 And again, when you go to verse 32: 20:56 "But this time also Pharaoh hardened...heart 21:00 and would not let the people go." 21:02 You go to the fifth plague, at the end: 21:06 "Yet his heart was unyielding 21:09 and he would not let the people go." 21:13 Then you go to the sixth plague, and suddenly there is a change. 21:17 So in the first five and in the prelude, 21:21 it's always decision of the Pharaoh. 21:24 Pharaoh is hardening his heart, he's not listening to the Lord, 21:29 even though it's very clear 21:31 that this is extraordinary work of God. 21:35 He's always after that little end--"Well, yes," 21:39 you know, "pray for me"; in some situations, "I will do it," 21:43 and then again, doing the same, hardening his heart. 21:47 But now from the plague six on, you have the statement, 21:53 "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart 21:55 "and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, 21:58 just as the Lord had said to Moses." 22:01 So now it's God's intervention. 22:05 How to understand it? 22:08 I would give a simple illustration, 22:10 what I give also to my audience 22:12 when we talk about that and to my students, seminarians. 22:17 Imagine the sunshine 22:20 and then two different materials: 22:23 One will be like butter, and another will be mud. 22:27 So when the sun will bring this warmness of his beams 22:35 to the butter, the butter will melt. 22:40 But the same agent now will work with the mud, 22:47 and the mud will be hardened. 22:50 And I think that this is, you know, 22:52 like the condition of our heart. 22:56 And we should be not like mud, but like butter. 23:00 And I think that here is the very lesson 23:02 for each one of us, that our heart should be not hardened. 23:08 This is why in the Bible you have always the statement: 23:11 "If you hear today the word of God, 23:15 listen, do not harden your heart," 23:17 as God's people in some situation, or even Pharaoh here. 23:23 We need to melt because of God's love. 23:27 We should open ourself to God as the flower is opening 23:33 to the warmness of the sunshine. 23:36 And if we will follow in this way, 23:39 then, of course, it will be different. 23:42 But Pharaoh consistently is hardening his heart. 23:47 So even though God would love to save him, 23:51 any other action of God's love, 23:54 God's intervention into his love, 23:56 is like the sun who is beating on the mud, 24:04 hard, who is hardened already, is like that mud, 24:07 and it's hardening more and more. 24:10 And it's blind because, you know, when we refuse God's Word, 24:15 we are more and more blind, and then, of course, 24:18 more and more severe calamities and judgments of God are coming. 24:23 >>Eric: So these are Pharaoh's decisions. He is choosing 24:28 to be in defiance of God. >>Dr. Moskala: Exactly. 24:31 >>Eric: And his heart is that clay-type heart, as opposed 24:34 to a butter-like heart, which God would have us have. 24:37 There's an interesting statement 24:39 in Exodus 8 and verse 19 24:41 made by the Egyptian magicians, and they say, 24:43 "This is the finger of God." 24:45 They see the plagues happening, and they say, 24:46 "This is the finger of God." 24:48 Help us, in the few minutes that we have left, to understand 24:51 what they were recognizing or what they were admitting. 24:55 >>Dr. Moskala: Well, they are now recognizing that they, 24:58 even though before they could counterpart 25:02 or make similar things, but they could not reverse it, 25:07 because this was all the magic, you know, play. 25:12 Now they are recognizing that they are not even able 25:16 to make it similar, to modify it somehow, 25:20 to look like they have these powers of magic arts. 25:28 They have to even admit, "We are powerless. 25:32 What is going on is really God's finger." 25:36 It means it's God's intervention; 25:38 it's God's judgment. 25:40 So if you are dealing with God, be careful. 25:45 Surrender. Let God's people go. 25:49 But now Pharaoh is not listening to God, 25:53 not listening to Moses and Aaron, 25:55 but he's not listening even to his close people, 25:59 whom he trusted all the time and who are misleading him. 26:03 And now they are openly, honestly saying, 26:06 "Well, we recognize 26:09 "it's not now what is human power. 26:13 Even we recognize it's God's power here is working." 26:19 >>Eric: And even though they recognized it 26:21 and professed that, even then, 26:23 Pharaoh did not soften his heart. 26:25 >>Dr. Moskala: That's correct. 26:27 >>Eric: We've got just about a minute left. 26:28 I wanna give you an opportunity to talk to somebody 26:31 who might be watching this program, who looks at themselves 26:34 and they say, "I sense that God has been reaching out to me 26:37 "and calling to me and guiding me and directing me, 26:40 "but I've been responding with a heart of mud, 26:42 a heart of clay that has been hardened." 26:45 What would you tell them if they're wondering 26:47 whether their heart of clay or heart of mud 26:50 could be transformed into a heart of butter, 26:53 to use your illustration-- what would you tell that person 26:56 about the possibility of that happening? 26:57 >>Dr. Moskala: I would say, if God is speaking to you, 27:01 listen carefully. 27:03 The very fact that God is speaking to you 27:06 is already a sign of His grace. 27:09 So you don't need to despair that now you already 27:13 in your life hardened your heart so far 27:16 that you are a mud and then you cannot make any change. 27:20 No, God is speaking to you, and even though the voice 27:25 of the Holy Spirit and His Word may be 27:28 very tiny and small, listen. 27:33 And more you will listen, and you will be prompt to follow Him 27:38 because it's obedience is also the result of God's call; 27:43 then you can really open your heart. 27:47 And every step when you will obey God's voice, it will be 27:53 easier and easier, and your life will be happier and happier. 27:58 >>Eric: Thank you, Dr. Moskala. 27:59 And thank you for joining us. 28:01 I want to invite you to join us again next week. 28:04 We're going to be delving into the Passover 28:07 here on "Sabbath School," brought to you by It Is Written. 28:09 [uplifting instrumental] 28:25 ♪♪♪ 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.aberdeen.io] |
Revised 2025-07-15