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The Exodus chapter number 11 and the title of the sermon tonight is a final plague to come, a final plague to come. This is a, it's a very short chapter and it's kind of given us a precursor to the, to the last plague here. And it really is the worst plague. If you think about it, the death of the firstborn, but let's start off first by looking at verse number one. We'll get into that a little bit later, but verse number one, the Bible says, 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. So remember the back and forth has been, let my people go. Same message from God that they can serve me. And then Pharaoh's answer is always no, or you can do it this way. I'll give you, you know, we're going to, let's, let's do it the way I want to do it. And basically God's like, no, I'm going to just put these plagues upon you if you don't let my people go. That's kind of what's been going back and forth so far. And God told Moses in the very beginning that Pharaoh was not going to let the people go. And so basically, everything that God said has come to pass because it always does because God knows everything and his, his word is, you know, when he predicts something's going to happen, it's going to happen when he says something's going to happen, it's going to happen. So it says in verse two, speak now in the ears of the people and let every man borrow of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold. Now this is a very interesting portion because, you know, in the next chapter, when the Exodus actually happens, you'll see that the Egyptians are, the Bible says that he, they spoiled the Egyptians. And usually when you spoil someone, it's talking about the spoils of war. So when they're finally conquered by all these plagues and they let them go, they, the Bible talks about them borrowing from them, but it also say that they're spoiling them. So I don't think that this, this borrow that it's talking about is necessarily, Hey, I'm going to bring this back to you. This borrow is a borrow that they're not giving back. So I don't think, you know, that God is unrighteous to have, you know, us borrow something, you know, in modern times, like whenever we say, Hey, can I borrow something to you? That means that you're going to give something back in equal value, or you're going to give it back at some point, right? Whenever you, when you hear that term, borrow, you're thinking, okay, well, they're going to pay me back. Hey, there's a difference between saying, can I borrow some money? And here, can I have some money? So to us, but, you know, borrow is, is in, and I think in this, in this sense, it's, it's a borrow that you're not giving back, so, so like, I guess you put it like this, when you say, can I borrow a piece of paper, you know, do you think that they're going to give you that piece of paper back without having writing on it or something? No, you're, you're borrowing that when I, when you say it in that way, you're like, can I borrow a piece of paper? And obviously sometimes you might give people some clean sheets back later on because you ran out of paper at school or whatever it was, but, you know, generally when you say that you don't intend to give that exact piece of paper back on tarnished unscathed. And so the English language does this with, you know, it borrows terms and languages from other different languages. So, so we borrow things from, from languages and don't necessarily give it back, I guess is the point, you know what I'm saying? So like German, the Germanic language language was a big developer in the English language, the French language. There's a lot of things in terms of even Spanish that we are put into English. And we're not giving those words back to them. They mean something to us or they're transliterated into something else. So I guess that's kind of a way of explaining it, but I don't want you to think that God's unrighteous to say, Hey, tell the Egyptians that you're borrowing something and then you never give it back as in they ever intended to give it back. I don't think God means for them to borrow something that, you know, cause wouldn't that be unrighteous of God to say, Hey, Hey, can I borrow those earrings? And then I'll give them back sake we're leaving Egypt, you know? So again, I don't think that it's the same way that we would understand borrowing in this sense. So I say that because it could seem like God is asking them to do something that's not right and God does everything right. God is not sinful. He's not gonna, he's not gonna ask the children of Israel to trick people into giving something and then never giving it back. He never intends them to give it back. That's why it's called, they spoiled the Egyptians because basically the Egyptians at the end of chapter 12, they're, they're totally destroyed, but they yet still muster up an army to chase the shoulder of Israel, but I don't want to get that far ahead of myself, but, um, let's look at verse number three. It says, 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 and the site of Pharaoh servants and in the sight of the people, because God made Moses to be like God to them, including Pharaoh and Aaron, to be like a prophet of God to them. And so they did re even though they might not have liked them, they might've hated them, they still respected them and counted them as men of God, not only men of God, but even Moses was almost looked at as if he was God himself. And so that does picture Christ because people really respected Christ and he literally was God himself and man at the same time. So, um, so Jesus was very popular and great in the eyes of the people. So you can see that how Moses is kind of, you know, there was never another prophet that God spoke face to face with like he did with Moses. And so Moses said there was going to be another prophet that rises up like he is. God spoke face to face to Moses. He spoke face to face to Christ. So Jesus Christ is that prophet that it talks about. And let's turn to Mark chapter 12 verse 35. So, um, Jesus was popular and great in the eyes of the people. When he was preaching to Moses, pictures Jesus in this way. He was great in the land of Egypt. He had favor in the sight of the Egyptians because didn't Christ, I mean, with the, with the main people, well, just like the common people, Jesus had, you know, the reason why they had to go and have Judas betray him in the middle of the night when they were all by themselves so people wouldn't freak out and say, what are you guys doing to Jesus? You know, because people love Jesus. The common man loved him. Look at what Mark chapter 12 verse 35 says. It says, and Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, how say the scribes that Christ is the son of David for David himself said by the Holy ghost, the Lord said to my Lord, sit down on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. See, Moses also was a very powerful speaker and a powerful preacher. And when he showed forth the judgments of God with his brother, Aaron, people saw that and that power that he had. Jesus actually, his power was with his words, but he also did great works also. He also did great miracles before people healed there. You know, he was going through and healing all whole villages and towns and reading people of their, their neighborhood demons and, and all that kind of stuff. So, but the, the, the point is, is that Jesus was heard by the common people. The common people loved him and common people today still love him. When we go and knock on doors and stuff like that, the real rich people that need nothing, most of the time, those types of people don't get saved. But you know who gets saved? The common people, this regular old normal people get saved. Turn to John chapter seven, verse 45, John chapter seven, verse 45. Because there was something also different about Moses than there was about most people. I mean, Moses was the meekest man upon the face of the earth, but also a very powerful preacher, very powerful presence. He led millions of people, literally millions of people. And, uh, so that that's, you know, he had the biggest church that's probably recorded in the Bible, except for the one that we're all going to be together in heaven in, but, uh, John seven 45 says, then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees and they said unto them, why have you not brought him? The officers answered, never man spake like this man, the way Jesus spoke, the way Jesus was with people, even the chief priests, they send these guys to go and arrest him and they hear him talk and they hear the doctrine of these preaching, they're like, I'm not putting my hands on that guy, you know? And they said, never man spake like this man. So, you know, I mean, if you think about it, the Pharaoh's officers and servants, kind of a lot of them felt the same way too, if not just secretly. But, uh, turn to Mark chapter one, verse 28, Mark chapter one, verse 28. Because even though Jesus was despised and rejected of men, he also was very famous and loved by a lot of people. So obviously the powers that be, the principalities of powers, the rulers of the, of the religious system that was in place at that time by the Jews and then by the Roman government, you know, what was ultimately his demise, but the main common people and normal people, everyday people loved him and liked him for the most part. And in Mark one 28 says, and immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. So all he had to do is preach a few times, do some miracles, and people knew that Jesus was the real deal. Turn to Mark chapter 11, verse 18, Mark chapter 11, verse 18. So what am I trying to prove here is that Moses was like Jesus and that the common people hurt him gladly. He was highly respected by the Egyptians. Mark chapter 11, verse 18 says, and the scribes of the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him for they feared him because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. So all the people was astonished at his doctrine. Turn to Matthew chapter 26, verse four, Matthew chapter 26, verse four. It says, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. But they said not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. So a lot of the reason why I think that Pharaoh didn't just try to have Moses killed is because Moses did have the respect of the people, you know, there were obviously a lot of the people were bad and a lot of the Egyptians were being judged and the main people in the government and things like that, and probably even common people also. But there was people, even it alluded to it in the last chapter, how there were, or in the, even in the chapter before that, how, you know, some people left their cattle and still stayed in the fields, but some people respected what the word of God said, what the word of Moses was, and they took their animals and went inside. Because, you know, he, he began to win people over in that way. Now let's go back to our text in Exodus chapter 11, verse four. And so Moses does picture Jesus in a lot of ways. But Exodus chapter 11, verse four, it says, and Moses said, thus saith the Lord about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt and all the first born in the land of Egypt shall die from the first born of Pharaoh that sit at the palm of his throne, even unto the first born of the maidservant that is behind the mill and all the first born of beasts. So this is the last and final plague that's going to take place. It's the 10th plague out of the list of plagues that take place. Obviously picturing the wrath of God in the end times in some way, shapes or forms and Pharaoh picturing an anti-Christ type figure, this reprobate that he is, and even the followers that follow after him, you know, if you compare that to the tribulation or not the tribulation good night, but the end times where God's wrath is being poured upon people, you know, there's going to be people that are following the beast. These guys will be reprobates as well. So, but this plague here is a, is a really bad one because the first born obviously holds some high regard and it is kind of just throughout cultures around the world, a big deal who the first born is, even when Jacob and Esau were born or what other twins were born. And they tied the scarlet, uh, the scarlet ribbon on their ankle. And they, they, for, because of rank and because of things like that, whoever the first born of a twin was, and if they were identical twins, they had to mark which one was the first born so that that person got, you know, their inheritance or whatever. So, but there's just a lot of, you know, the first born child is obviously just a, it's a big deal in most family's lives. I mean, it's your first child, you know, if you're a dad and you've never had a child before, and then you have a child, you know, you don't physically have it. You just, you're someone else is doing all the hard work, but you know, you're there and, you know, in support or whatever. But it's a big deal. It changes your life. When you become a dad, when you become a parent, when you become a mother, something in you changes. And it is a big deal, that first born child that you have. So, this is obviously, probably culturally a big deal to the Egyptians. But I also believe that it pictures, you know, because what happens is later on in the next chapter, we're going to see where this would affect even the children of Israel if they didn't do what God says to do, which was to take a lamb, you know, and do that Passover, and then put the blood on the doorpost of all their dwelling places. And that marked them from being separate from the Egyptians, didn't it? So, it's kind of also pictures in a way the mark in Revelation where you have the 144,000 sealed in their foreheads and then these things don't attack them, they don't hurt them. So, but in this instance, you know, it kind of, it does picture salvation, obviously, because if you don't have the blood of Christ applied to your life, if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood hasn't cleansed you from all sins, everybody is going to die. Every single person, there's not going to be one person that's not affected in the land of Egypt, even their animals get killed if it's the firstborn animal. This is a big deal and it is pictured in the book of Revelation, I believe, and in other places in Scripture. But basically, because of this plague, everyone great and small will be affected in some way, shape, or form. So, because it says that all the firstborn of the land of Egypt shall die from the firstborn of Pharaoh, so it goes all the way to the top, doesn't it? And then that sitteth upon his throne even unto the firstborn of the maidservant. So, you know, what they would consider the most lowly position or whatever, that is behind the mill and all the firstborn of beasts. So, everyone's going to be affected by this. Everyone's going to be, you know, we'll see in the next chapter how badly this affects this nation and it does cause them to let the people go. So, but if you picture this as a picture of salvation, you know, the people that have that blood applied to them, God will pass over those people that have had the blood applied to them. If you're saved today, it's only because God looks down and he sees that you have that blood applied to your life and he will pass over you when it comes to that day of judgment. The blood of Christ is what covers our sins. The blood of Christ is what allows us to have forgiveness of sins. We have to have faith in Jesus to get that blood applied to us. So, anybody without that blood is doomed. Anybody. I mean, you know, I talked to a Buddhist today and I just kind of, I felt like she was, she wasn't like really old, but she was older. She was from Vietnam and I just kind of, you know, I kind of pressed a little bit upon her that, you know, she should take a look at what the Bible teaches about what it takes to be saved. And I just flat out told her, I said, you know, that people that, the Bible says that there's people that go to heaven, there's people that go to hell and anybody that doesn't believe in Jesus is going to go to hell. And I was like, I know I'm at your door and, you know, I'm trying to be nice here, but it is what the Bible says because I feel like, well, someone has to warn these people, someone has to warn them that they need to have the blood applied to their life, they need to have the blood covering their sins so that God will pass over them too. Now, if some of these Egyptians would have done that, don't you think that God would have, you know, if there was a saved Egyptian, God would have passed over them too. So, let's turn over to Revelation chapter 13 verse number 15, Revelation chapter 13 verse number 15. Like I said, I've been saying this all along that a lot of this pictures the way worse plagues are going to be in the end times, but this also pictures kind of the mark of the beast in a way. So, but, you know, Satan always likes to copy the things that God does. So the mark for a Christian is a good thing. The mark of the blood being applied to you, that is a mark, like that was the way that they escaped from having this angel come and kill all their firstborn. But it also, so he makes a mark in the end times and that if you don't take this mark then you can't buy, sell, you can't eat, you can't work, you can't survive in the system of the world anymore without having this mark. But God came up with marks first, okay? He marked Cain, didn't he? Okay? The mark of Cain is a mark, isn't it? And you know, in Ezekiel, we'll go there when it talks about marking people on their foreheads. And then obviously, like I said, this mark, the mark in Exodus is the blood applied to them. But in Revelation, Satan is going to counterfeit that because he wants everybody to believe that he is the true God. And so that's what the devil's always wanted, he's always wanted to rule and be God. And so he, his guy, his man on earth is going to be the same way, he's going to be indwelled by Satan. But it says in Revelation 13, 15, it says that he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond. Do you see how it correlates back over to what, you know, the opposite basically of what it's talking about in Exodus? So he's copying that thing. So rich or poor, great or small, you know, free or bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. And this is a very famous portion of scripture, very debated over a portion of scripture. But I mean, 2000 years ago, you might think, well, that seems biometric, you know, to punch in every day. It didn't have like, you know, I didn't have to have a chip in my finger or anything like that. But it took my biometrics and took these two fingerprints, I think maybe my thumbprint, and I could not clock in, I tried to get out of it. But they said, you have to do that in order to work here. So the technology that was, you know, several years ago, that was probably like 12, 10, 11 years ago. But the bio, and you're like, pastor took the mark of the beast. That's not that's not the mark of the beast, okay. But it is precursors to the mark of the beast. So but the technology exists today to implant something that you can use to buy and sell. I mean, obviously, you got your debit card that has the most people are right handed, they take that debit card, and what do they do? They they have that that card scanned in some way, shape or form. So I mean, they're already setting us up for it. And so, you know, well, just why don't you just put the chip in your hand? You know, deep, deep, you can just, you know, they got Apple Pay, you can actually just tap your, I mean, it's gone, it's gone a long way. So we used to have the magnetic strip, and then, you know, they get old in the grocery store person would have to put like it in the bag and just like run it through. Who's had to do that before? Lots of people, right? So then they came up with the chip, and the chip, you have to stick in there and first it was like, you know, we don't have the chip, the chip reader. So some people would have to slide, you got to where you're sliding and then reading. And then now you can just walk up and just tap that chip on top of the thing and it just picks it up. Is there is there anything even more technologically advanced? Oh, yeah, the watch now. But most most right handers put it on the left hand. Who's right handed and puts it on their left hand? All right. Okay. So that's the Apple Watch is the devil. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Samsung all the way. No, I'm just joking. But Steve Jobs was a queer. Anyway, don't give me this Apple stuff. No, I'm just joking. But anyway, where was I at? So verse, let's turn over to Revelation 14, verse three. Revelation 14, verse three. And what happens to the people that take this mark that Satan comes up with? They're doomed, aren't they? But it'd be the opposite with when God puts marks on people. They're not doomed. They're they're protected. Even Cain, like he was wicked. But what was the point of the mark? It wasn't so you could tell he was a different rate. He was black, so that you could be racist or whatever. Covered that last week, I think. But what was the point so that nobody that found him would kill him? And I don't know why he deserved that special treatment. But I'm not God, so I'm not gonna judge what he does. But Cain was very evil. But like I said, the purpose of when God marks somebody, it's usually in some good way. Now obviously we're supposed to mark people that would be contrary to God and things like that, but it's not telling us we need to brand people or put some kind of tattoo on them or something like that, okay? It's like a mental mark or a public mark of saying something about them or whatever. But Revelation 14, verse three says, and they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song but the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. So these 144,000 are redeemed from the earth and they are marked in a special way so that they don't get any kind of God's wrath. Now skip to verse nine, it says, and the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in their forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation, and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the lamb. So when you get the devil's mark, when you get the mark of the beast, then you're inviting God's wrath upon you. And that wrath is not gonna be turned away from you. And the Bible says that you're gonna be tormented with fire and you're going to roast, I mean, you're roasting forever, it's done. Look what it says in verse 11, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. So you don't wanna take that mark, right? Only unsaved devils are gonna take that mark, basically. Once you take that mark, you're doomed, there's no coming back from it. And a lot of people think, well, you can just get saved until the last second. You can decide on your deathbed, on your last breath, to get saved. That's not always true, folks. That's not true. You might have the no mental capacity at that time. People just act like they're gonna be wide awake and totally coherent when they die on their deathbed or something. That's not true. That's not what I've experienced. I mean, I haven't experienced it myself, but I've seen other people in the state before death and it's very heartbreaking to watch, they're afraid. Even if someone's saved, they're still afraid of the unknown. Because when you're close to the end, it's a very terrifying feeling. And obviously, I've seen people go peacefully, but I've seen people go hard that we're saved just because of the fear of the unknown. There's an anxiety that you get with death, and it's hard to get over that. And most people have that death anxiety. But you know what, if you don't take this mark and you get saved, you don't have to worry about that anxiety. I mean, you might have the anxiety here, but in heaven, when you close your eyes and you wake up in heaven, you're gonna have peace. Look at Ezekiel chapter nine, verse one. Ezekiel nine, verse one. Here's another instance where God sets a mark upon people, and it isn't for their bad, it's for their good. So, Ezekiel nine one says, he cried also in my ears with a loud voice, saying, cause them that have charge over the city to draw near even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen with a writer's ink horn by his side. And they went in and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's ink horn by his side. And the Lord said unto him, go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh, and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. So, who's he setting the mark upon? The people that are not bad, but they're good. They're the ones that are upset about everything that's been going on. And they cry for all the abominations that are done. They're preaching against this stuff. And it says in verse five, and to the others, he said in mine hearing, go ye after him through the city and smite. Let not your eyes spare, neither have you pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children and women. But come not near any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, defile the house and fill the courts with the slain. Go ye forth, and they went forth and slew in the city. So here you have another instance, so how does Satan copy the things that God does? Well, I mean, all he had to do was read the book of Ezekiel and figure that out. And so he came up with his own mark, but that mark dooms you. So God's mark usually spares people in the instance where it's written down on these people's foreheads. Do you see how Satan is a counterfeiter and he wants to just implement his own systems and make it look like, see, I do the things that God does. So a lot of people will probably be fooled by that. A lot of people will believe in this false religion with all these lying wonders and things like that, but they chose their path. They didn't want to accept the God of the Bible. They wanted to accept the God that makes them feel good, the God that lets them do whatever they want, the God that lets them talk however they want, the God that lets them fornicate and there's no issues with it, the God that allows them to murder and kill and rape and all these different things, because I mean, what are ultimately these people going to be like? They're going to be reprobates. They're going to be haters of God. They're going to be just all these, all the evil that it talks about in the Bible about these types of people. That's what they're going to be like. And so we want to be people with the right mark. And our mark should be that we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood has been applied to our life. This is the picture of the Passover, which we'll get more into that in the next chapter, but turn back to our text in Exodus 11 verse 6. But see, the firstborn kind of mirrors a little bit that mark system, doesn't it? But it's a mark for the good for the people of God. So Exodus 11 verse 6 says, 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 anymore. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast. So God is saying that there's going to be this great cry through the land of Egypt when this plague happens, and there's going to be nothing like it. And obviously, it was a big, it was a big plague against them. But remember that Egypt is a picture of the world. I know I've said this multiple times, but if you think about it, that's how it does picture. So the world is pictured by Egypt, and obviously, we're not supposed to be of the world, right? So God is making a separation between his people and the nation of Egypt. And when you want to side with the world, and when you want to be a part of the world, you're going to get smoked for that. God is going to come down on you. And you might think that these people are getting away with all the things that they're doing, all this wickedness that's going on, but they're not going to get away with it. And we, being sinners like other people also, but we, in a sense, do get away with our sin. Not in this world, but in the world to come, because we all deserve hell. That's what we deserve. But we don't get hell because there's been a way that's been made for us to escape. But it's interesting, this little term right here where it says, but against the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue. There's not really a lot of good things said about dogs in the Bible. And a dog just walking up and licking you randomly, I mean, it's kind of gross, isn't it? Have you ever had somebody's dog just jump on you and start licking your face? Like, they're just all excited, and then they start peeing on you or whatever. It's like, OK, chill, chill. Usually it's female dogs that do that. They'll just start peeing everywhere, and you're like, hey, OK, calm down. But apparently, it's a big deal to have a dog licking you, because it says a dog won't even move his tongue against the children of Israel. Then you may know how that the Lord doth put difference between the Egyptians and Israel. So there it is, right there, there's a difference. And just like there's a difference between the children of Israel and the Egyptians, God wants us to make a difference between us and the world. That's why the Bible says, love not the world, neither the things of the world. So we're supposed to be separated and living according to the ways that God wants us to live, right? So he has laws and things that he wants his commandments, he wants us to keep. And he wants, when people see us, to see something different than you would see in the world. And I'm not saying the way you dress necessarily, but it could mean that. It could be that you've made a standing like, you know what, I'm gonna wear a dress because that's what ladies are supposed to wear. And that's a conviction that you have because the Bible says, it talks about women dressing like men is an abomination. So you don't want to look like an abomination. You want to look like, and when people say, are you Russian, or, you know, that's what they'll, they would say that to me all the time. You know, like, ooh, Ruski, Ruski, and they're like, no, I just look like I am. But, you know, it's just, people should see a difference in us than what they see in the world. The way we speak, the way we act, the way we treat people, the way we work, and the way we appear, what we're into. And, you know, the Bible is very clear about that. And God is very clear that he wants that separation. That's why he talked about separating the light from the darkness in Genesis chapter one. That's why he says, come out from among them and be separate, sayeth the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, right? So, now look at verse eight, it says, 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 great anger. So, apparently part of this, so God, remember at the beginning of the chapter, God says, go out and preach this to the people? But I believe that Moses is still in the presence of Pharaoh from Exodus chapter 10. I mean, that's the only way I can really, because it kind of seems like he's just out preaching this to people, but he is telling Pharaoh this, because that's what it says, get thee out, and all thy people have, all thy people, because remember the last chapter, just turn back to chapter 10. In the last chapter, remember he said, if I see your face again, you're dead. Now, verse 27, Exodus chapter 10 says, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, they would not let them go, and Pharaoh said unto him, get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more. For in that day, thou seest my face, thou shalt die. And Moses said, thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. So, it seems to be like he just leaves, but I don't believe that that's the case. I think that he's still before Pharaoh at this point in time. God is talking to him and telling him what to do, but because it just doesn't make, it wouldn't make sense if he said, well, I don't wanna see your face no more, and I'm gonna kill you if I see you again, and then all of a sudden he's talking to him again. So, I feel like this is still part of the same conversation. And what we have to understand is that chapter, chapters and verses weren't necessarily in the scriptures a long time ago. So, those things are a modern thing. And so, even with the book of Hebrews, some of it's hard to teach just because some of the same concepts are spilling over into other chapters. But if you realize that the chapters, I think it was Brother Bill that mentioned this, the chapters weren't there a long time. So, it was all just kind of one big thought. And sometimes we like to compartmentalize things into chapters. And it does help us remember things. It helps us remember where certain doctrines are. I think it's a great tool, but you can't always just say, well, it's a different chapter, so this is a different time. And sometimes that is the case, but you gotta kind of follow what the Bible says pretty carefully. And cuz in verse, back in Exodus 11 eight, it says, 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 so, remember the conversation, he's like, that was spoken well, but then here you have him saying that his own people, Pharaoh's people, are gonna bow down to Moses, and there's gonna be a difference between us. The people are gonna cry, it's gonna be a bad day, basically. And it says, and he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. So, this is where I think he walks exit stage left or whatever, where, you know, so I, I believe that this conversation still was, was still taking place from chapter ten, and then he just leaves it, cuz it doesn't say, like, why he left in great anger, but if you see that, like, he's pretty sick of Pharaoh at this time, too, but he's been, he's a pretty, he is a pretty neat guy, because I think if any of us were in front of someone this bad, and we had the clout and power that he had, we might not respond the same way that Moses does to him, but remember that Pharaoh is a king. And God does set up kings, and, and, and, and he destroys kings, and he sets up good kings, and, you know, sometimes bad kings come to rule, but he was still the ruler, wasn't he? He was still ultimately the ruler of Egypt, and Moses did respect him in that way, so you don't see him just, like, saying, you reprobate, Pharaoh, you know, like, he doesn't talk like that, and a lot of times in the Bible, you don't see that taking place. Like, even Daniel, when he's addressing Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar's a heathen king that, like, basically brought him, made him a eunuch, you know, made his friends eunuchs, and, like, basically took all these people, destroyed the temple, took all the stuff out of it, and he's still speaking to them with respect. So, you know that term, like, respect the office? That does apply in some cases. Now, obviously, sometimes I'll get after, like, Joe Biden or whatever, being a reprobate or whatever, but, you know, it doesn't say that Pharaoh sniffed little girls' hairs in front of Moses, so, I mean, I don't know. I think he crossed the line there, I think it's okay to bring that up. And, and you know what, Herod or, yeah, Herod took his, his brother Philip's wife, and John the Baptist preached against him, so there's nothing wrong with preaching against people, but in this instance, it's like, you know, Moses is showing a lot of restraint in the way that he talks to him. But, here you see Moses have this great anger when he walks out. And Moses is a guy that kind of was known for having a little bit of a temper. You know, he did kill an Egyptian and bury him in the sand before he went off to the desert for 40 years or whatever, and then came back. But, you know, he also is the same guy that took the Ten Commandments and went, and smashed them, he smashed the original autographs into a million pieces. You know, like, if we would just have the originals, we could know what the 11th commandment was, or whatever, these idiots. But anyway, and then Moses, you know, he, he gets so angry at one point, God tells him to speak to the rock, and he smites the rock, and then that cost him his ability to go into the promised land with the children of Israel. So obviously, Moses had a little bit of a temper issue, didn't he? And he's like, you know, must we fetch you water also? And it's like, God's the one that was fetching him the water. God's the one, that picture of that water coming out of the rock is the picture of the living water, and, you know, Moses kinda, you know, when God told him to do stuff, he always obeyed, but in that instance, he didn't do it, and that one time he didn't, it cost him, didn't it? So your anger and your temper can cost you something, but it doesn't say that he was angry and sinning here. But Moses was the guy, kinda guy that the, the, the temper percolated up, and then he just kinda let it unleash. And guys can be like that sometimes, men can be like that, but ladies can be like that too. But, you know, the Bible says, be angry and sin not. So it is okay to have righteous indignation. It's okay to be angry about things, but just make sure that you're angry about the right things. Don't get angry and lose your cool with your brothers and sisters in Christ over something that's not really necessary to do. With your spouse, with your children, I mean obviously we all kinda get to the boiling point with, with even raising your children. Do they always listen to your every command? Do they always clean their room when they're supposed to? Do they always do everything that's right? No. And sometimes you have to cloud up and rain on them. But you know, that's just the nature of dealing with human beings. And, you know, Moses here is showing that he's not too happy about the fact. Because really Pharaoh, had he made different decisions, things would have been different. But Moses knows this next thing, there's gonna be a bunch of human beings that die over his pride, over his being a reprobate, over him being hardened. And he basically is just taking the whole country down with him. And having all these people lead, you know, he's leading all these people into a bad spot and causing all these people to be killed. Turn to, oh you're already in Exodus, but look at verse nine. Exodus chapter 11 verse nine. It says, And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. 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 hand. And so basically here you have the final straw. He's already told them this is what's gonna happen. And then God tells him he's not gonna listen. But obviously it told us in this chapter that he is going to listen once this plague happens. And everybody in Israel is gonna just shoo them out, get out, get out. You know, you wanna borrow something, here you go. And the children of Israel are gonna spoil the Egyptians, take all this stuff from them. And the Egyptians are gonna give it to them and say, get out of here, here you go. So they get a bunch of free stuff. And really they've been working for nothing. They've probably been given food and board, but they've been ill treated. They've been rigorously working. They're having their children killed. I'm sure that, you know, the vitality rate of people was probably lower. You know, the more you're mistreated, the more hard you have to work, the less your life expectancy is gonna be. And it's like in slavery, they would work people to death, literally. They would work people, they would capture, they would steal men, they'd put them on boats, they'd put them over, and you know, and look, slavery happened and has happened throughout history. Here you have a nation 3,500 years ago that built their empire on slaves. I mean, really, they had a great nation before they turned it into a nation of slaves. But, you know, it started probably in a slow process. Like, think about what Joseph was when he first went to Egypt. What was he when he got there? He was a slave, wasn't he? He was sold by his brothers to some Ishmaelites or something, and then they took him, sold him to Potiphar. Potiphar's wife accused him of, you know, trying to get with her when she was really trying to do that. And then, by the providence and grace of God, Joseph became the ruler. And probably staved off a lot of their, getting their destruction of that nation. But here, here we have it where, you know, they built their backs, or built, excuse me, they built their nation off the backs of a slave army, basically, here. And so, if they borrow something, they probably, this is their reparations for when they leave, okay? This is the reparations of being ill-treated for 400 years, and then, you know, they get to go out with a high hand and a whole nation that's ready to serve God. So, it's actually a pretty, it's a really cool story. But it just goes to show that, you know, that there have been slaves all throughout history. While people just want to make it out like that only black people have been slaves or something, and that we're all supposed to pay reparations now because of something that happened hundreds of years ago. You know, my grandparents came over, traveled over from another country, too. I mean, they weren't forced to travel over from another country. But, and I know this is a sensitive topic, but I just want to kind of bring it up really quickly that, you know, number one, like, there's a lot of evidence that, you know, the black slave trade was enacted by, guess who? The Jews. The sugar colonies that were really big at that time, the Jews were thick into that. The day that they kicked all the Jews out of Spain, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, fact. The other fact is that Columbus wrote in Hebrew. He wrote his, all of his lists of all the people that were on board, he wrote in Hebrew. I'm not saying for sure he was a Jew, but like, you know, if you're leaving the day, like that day when they're like, you either have to be Catholic or you have to get out, and then a whole bunch of people left the nation of Spain, and why were they kicking the Jews out? Well, why did they always kick the Jews out? Because they've destroyed the nation. They've, you know, enacted all these crazy things and done all their wizardry and witchcraft with the Talmud, and, you know, they're just, they're basically, you know, they're cursed people. And so then they go to like, I'm trying to remember everything, but I'm not gonna tell you about everything, because maybe I'll just preach a whole sermon about it sometime, but they go, some of these people go to different European nations that are favorable to them. Because people always want to say that like, England was the main force that started like all this, all the slavery and stuff, but it's just not true. The Dutch did this. The Dutch allowed all those to come into Antwerp, and then they started, you know, and then it started with the African nations, and then there's this like triad of slavery. So, but England didn't get into it. The Jews weren't even allowed in England until, what, 16 something after King James, it was, huh? Yeah, after the English Revolution, there was a English civil war that took place where they killed King James' son Charles, and then, what's his name, Cromwell. Oliver Cromwell allowed the Jews to come back to England. So, and they've been ever since. But anyway, the slave trade is just, it's something that's taken place over history. You know, it's not just black people that have been enslaved. The Irish were being enslaved for a long time, too. The Barbary Coast slave trade was happening in medieval times, and, you know, basically, we even fought with those, we even, as the United States, we fought against the Barbary Coast, and basically, they started, there were so many pirates there that the United States kind of made a treaty with them that they wouldn't continue to plunder their stuff, and I don't know, it's a lot of, I'm not gonna go into the whole history of it, but I'm just telling you this, that white people were enslaved, too. So where's my reparations? My forefathers were enslaved in Europe, so am I supposed to, it's just a, it's a weird thing to think about that you just deserve all this stuff because your ancestor from a thousand years ago was a slave, but the Irish were treated really poorly. They were being enslaved a hundred years before the black slave trade even started, and they called it indentured servitude here, but it was kind of like one of those things where, if you work hard enough and long enough, we'll let you off your indentured servitude, but they would always find things, ways to stack more dead upon them so they'd have to keep continuing to work, and then they discovered that they could just steal black people from Africa and enslave them and make them do all the work, and white people don't really do well in the tropics, so I think that that's kind of part of how that all worked out, but I know that the black slave trade was terrible, it was awful, but the Barbary Coast slave trade was awful too, and they plundered all the towns of England and Ireland and Wales, and they went up as far to Iceland and took people captive there and took them down, and they were slaves in the Ottoman Empire, which was a Muslim empire that was trying to take over Europe, and so they would go and they would just take a whole bunch of white slaves or whatever they were and take them back, so slavery is just a fact of history that every nation has pretty much gone through. It's a terrible, barbarous act that people would force someone to work for something for nothing and treat them ill like they do. The Bible says that someone that kidnaps someone is to be put to death. Amen. Yeah. So I don't look at slavery as a high thing, obviously, and nobody should, but how does God feel about it? Well, when his people were enslaved and they cried unto the Lord, the Lord heard them and had respect to that prayer, and what did he do? He enacted an action plan to get them out of there and to free them, and at the same time, letting the whole world know that there's a God in Israel, and so he allowed all these people that were slaves to walk out with all the jewels in their earrings, because you see later on in the Exodus where they're like making things. Some of them made golden calves and went back the wrong way, but there are also things that were used to make the tabernacle. So God allowed them to go out with a high hand and with all this stuff, and God just works plans out mightily and he's worked in the nations of this world for many, many thousands of years. And so how would we apply all this to us? Well, I would just say this before we get into the next sermon, I'll just quickly talk about this, but how do we apply all these plagues and things like that to our life? Well, you know, as a saved Christian, God can still plague your life too. And so if you're getting out of line, you're getting out of church, you're getting out of God's will, you're getting yourself into trouble, you're not keeping God's commandments, you've kind of gone off into your own set of idolatry, and I'm not saying worshiping a literal statue, but maybe you're worshiping sports, maybe you're worshiping music, maybe you're worshiping television, maybe you're worshiping movies, maybe you're worshiping video games. Are you cutting into all of God's time with all the other garbage that you're doing in your life? Are your hobbies more important to you than what God's will is? And here's the thing, God took and he judged the gods, quote unquote, the small Gs, these demon gods or whatever, and people put their trust in them, people had these specific gods, these Egyptians, and God not only destroyed them as far as their name, God just showed how much more powerful he is, but the fact that they're worshiping them, God is judging the people for that thing too. Now obviously we're saved and we can't lose our salvation, but God can still punish us on this earth, and that is something that you should be aware of, because, and here's the thing, whatever it is that you're putting before God, whatever it is and whatever you're thinking about in your mind right now, whatever it is that's more important to you than God is, be afraid of the fact that he might take out his wrath upon whatever that is that you are putting before him in your life, whether that's your children, whether that's your spouse, whether that's your parents. It could be a human attachment, and here's the thing, we're supposed to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, with all of our minds, with all of our soul, with all of our strength. God is supposed to be number one in our lives, and the people in the world don't understand this concept, but you should understand this concept, and so if something in your life is interfering with your relationship, quote unquote, I mean it is a relationship with God, whatever, is it interfering with your worship of God? Is it interfering with the time you spend with the Lord? Because like I said, the Bible says, my little children flee from idols. Who's he talking to? The little, he's talking about saved people. Flee from idols, get away from that stuff, and it might not be Jesus hanging on a cross on a crucifix or something. It might not be some statue of Mary. It might not be some fat Buddha at a Chinese restaurant. It might not be skinny Buddha that's in somebody's garden at the house that you knocked on, but you know what, it could be something, whatever else it is that you're putting in front of God as an idol, be careful about this because God just might plague your life also. He might plague your life, and you're like, well, what advantage do we have? We have the word of God, we have the Holy Spirit, and we should walk accordingly. And this is like, obviously this is stuff that needs to be preached about because, you know what I don't want to happen to this church? I don't want people to get so complacent that we just kind of just go through the motions and that half the church is backslidden and not really zealous for God. They're just coming here, it's the same old thing, like it's a Catholic church or something that you just have to go to every week because it's part of your religion or something. I don't want that. I want our church to be fired up and zealous and loving the Lord and being zealous. And obviously I'm not saying don't have fun, have fun. But don't put that stuff in front of God. Don't put your family in front of God because you know what, God has his way of rooting things out of your life. Is that what you want? If you're worshiping your family or loving your family more than you're loving God, I mean that's a scary thing to think about. I don't ever want to be put in that position where I would have to have something happen to somebody I love because God's like, I gotta get this idol out of your life so you can serve me. You know what I'm saying? That is a scary thought. But what will it take to have a zealous and fired up church? And I'm not saying that everybody's not fired up. I know that in a church this size, there might be people that are just kinda drawing back and they're following from afar and they're at the world's fire just warming their hands with Peter. Not following closely with the Lord. What is it gonna take? An army of sodomites outside of our door for everybody to get right with God? Like that's kinda weird, isn't it? Oh, well the sodomites came and I just made me want to come back to church. Well how about coming to church for when times are good? Why does it have to be some big controversy that's going on or some controversial sermon being preached? Why can't we just get right with God, be right with God, and focus on the things of the Lord and obviously put everything in its place, its right proper place. And maybe it's time we do a spiritual inventory checklist on the things that we're failing on in life because I'm sure that everybody in this room is failing in some area of their life. Yes. Or sinful. I'm in the same boat with you guys, I'm sinful. But do you ever self-reflect? Do you ever do a checklist and say, well how am I doing in this department? How am I doing on my Bible reading? How am I doing on my soul-winning? How am I doing on my church attendance? And these are things I bring up a lot, but the fact is, is that when people just always casually miss church, I know that their heart's not in it. And you know who else knows that your heart's not in it? God knows that your heart's not in it. And he's long-suffering and willing to just let us slide by for a while hoping that we'll get it right, hoping that someone listens to the preaching of God's word and says, you know what, I gotta get these things right in my life. What's it gonna take? Because we can't just keep going through the motions and expect the same results. We can't just keep putting things in front of God as more important than being here in the house of the Lord and doing spiritual things. Love your family, raise your family right. But don't say, well, you know what I mean, we just need some family time. We're just gonna take every Sunday afternoon off. You're in a dangerous position, you understand that? That is a dangerous way to live your life. And it might not happen tomorrow, and it might not happen next week, and it might not happen next month, it might not happen six months from now or a year from now, but you will reap what you sow. You will reap what you sow, and your spiritual life is gonna reap when you're not walking in the Spirit. So we need to be a people that's walking in the Spirit, and how do you wanna apply this, all this stuff, all these plagues and everything? Well, apply it like this. God plagued the Egyptians, but you know also, if you actually read all the books of Moses, what did he say is gonna happen to his people if they don't follow him? His people, if they start doing and living the same way that the heathen do. What did he say he's gonna do? He's gonna curse them, he's gonna drive them out. And the ultimate end is people eating their own children. That's a scary thought, isn't it? But how far do you have to go before you let God kick you in the pants with some preaching or the skirt? But how long, what's it gonna take? I don't want God to have to just continuously just persecute our church all the time so that we'll get it right. This church should be filled up every single week. Quit making excuses of why not to be here or how not to be here and just show up for church and serve God. This church should be full. That parking lot's full over there every week and they're not even going to heaven. And the people that are going to heaven are just finding any reason to not show up and not be spiritual and not go soul-wanting. It's weird. It's bothersome. And maybe I need to get some stuff in my life right too, but you know what, that's the importance of doing self-checks on yourself. What am I spending my time doing? Am I spending my time doing spiritual things or is it always, is it 99% worldly and 1% spiritual? Is it six hours of video games every day? And obviously, there's a debate about video games, but if you're not doing it, have you read your Bible that day? Have you done, you know. And I just don't want to attack video games. It's an easy target, but there's other things too. There's other things too. I mean, if all you do is tinker on your car and you never spend time with your wife, then you're never spending time with your wife. And obviously, you want to spend time with your spouse and love them and get along with them and live a pleasant life with them, but if you're never around, you're never around to spend time with your kids, you're missing key parts of their life and then 10 years later or 20 years later, you're gonna look back and you go, man, I wish I really would have paid more attention to my kids. I really wish I would have paid more attention to what was going on and now I can see where I could have done things better with them, I could have done things better with my spouse and you know what, I was too wrapped up in my own self and I failed in all these areas. You don't want that guilt. You don't want to look back and feel that way. So you know what you do? You get right now. You get right now. And so when God is speaking to you through his word and he's just, he's laying things upon your heart and then you're like Pharaoh and you're like, okay, I repent, forgive me of my sins and bless me also and then it's like as soon as God allows you to have the things that you want, then you're like, anyway, I'm not letting the children go. We don't want to be like Pharaoh. We don't want to be like that. That every time you rub the genie that he does something for you and then you're like, okay, I got what I want. I got the job that I've been praying for for so long and now I'm just gonna worship that job. I'm just gonna work all these stupid hours where I can never go to church. Thanks God for giving me this great job and now you're at a church. That's spitting in God's face. It's like hawking a loogie in God's face. And loogies are disgusting. But let me tell you something. You pray for something and God says, here you go. Here's the desires of your heart. Thanks for putting me first. Thanks for praying for me or praying to me and for your needs. And then you get what you want and you just dump him. Do you think that retribution is not coming towards you if you do stuff like that? Oh, I got my new business and it's doing so great. Sorry, I just can't be in church. That's a bad way to look at things. That's a bad way to look at things. I mean, just think about, and sometimes I see people make these mistakes and I'm just like, what are you doing? And I don't wanna meddle in people's lives. I don't. I want everybody to just live their own lives and whatever. I care about you. But when I see dangerous habits starting to form or I see someone pray for something so hard and then they get it and then they just dump God like he's nothing because they got what they wanted out of the genie, it's garbage. Don't give God your garbage time. Don't give God your garbage, your excess. Seek his face. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. It's not the opposite of that. It's not seek ye first the kingdom of God and he'll add those things to you and then you can just dump him when you get what you want. That's not how it works. You seek him early, you seek him often, and put him first and you know what? He's gonna make sure you have a happy and blessed life. And obviously we live in a fallen world where people die and people get sick and people get injured. But you know what? Thank God for the great days that you have on this life. Thank God for the great family you have right now because you know what? You're not gonna be able to enjoy those children being children forever. So why don't you be the best parent you can be right now. Be the best spouse you can be to your spouse right now. Be the best church member you can be right now because you might not always have your health. You're definitely not gonna always have your children in your home unless they're just, raise them to be bums or something. They're gonna be keyboard warriors in your basement or something. I mean, I don't know. Anyway, I've rambled on for long enough but I just, you know, I want there to be a spiritual application here and I think that it's important for us to check where we're at and you know, if you walk out of here like, oh Pastor Thompson's crazy, he's got his own problems. Yeah, I do have my own problems. But I'll tell you what, I do like to self inventory and see where I'm at and you know, if I see that I need to make changes, I wanna try to make those changes. And we should all be like that. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this great chapter and Lord, it's short but it teaches us a lot of things and Lord, I pray you'd help us as Christians to love you and put you first above all things and Lord, that we would be the great Christians that you've called us to be. Lord, in a church like this, people aren't always hearing things that the people hear here at their churches. Lord, I just pray that that would be actually something that does start to happen in this country where the Bible's being preached and people are being challenged. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to challenge ourselves and our lives and see where we're at and take a spiritual inventory of what we're doing and how we're living our Christian life. Lord, help us to make the changes. Lord, help us to have the strength to overcome some of the sins that so easily beset us. I pray you'd bless each and every person as they go home. We thank you for a great church service. We thank you for the people that got saved. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.