Pharaoh is not going to let God's
people go by his own will, by his own purpose. The Lord just
told him, said, you're going to thrust them out. You're not
just going to let them go, you're going to thrust them out. Isaiah
14, 27 says this, the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who
shall dishonor it? And his hand is stretched out,
who shall turn it back? The Lord has purposed for Israel
to come up out of Egypt. He's purposed that. He said that
over 400 years before they ever even went down there. And He
has purposed that they should one day be a nation. Israel the
nation. And the Lord has purposed to
use Pharaoh to show forth His power. I raise thee up for this
purpose, that my power might be known in you, and show my
power in you. And who shall disavow that? Who's going to stay in
God's hand and say, you can't do that? Pharaoh can't stop him. He stretched out his hand. The
battle between Pharaoh and the Lord is just about over. And
there's no doubt, there's no doubt how it was going to come
out from the beginning. We know what the end was before
he ever started. And that's the way it is. We
know the end from the beginning. We know our end from the beginning
that God saved us. God declared the end from the
beginning. And that's what we know here.
We know the end of this story. We know that God says things
and he lets men, he knows how to give a man enough rope to
hang himself. And he knows just exactly how
much to let him have. And then when he gets through
with it, he'll give a jerk on that rope and a man's hung. And
that's what's happening to Pharaoh here. The battle between them
is just about over. There's no doubt how it's going
to end. And it's utter and absolute foolishness to fight or resist
God Almighty. It's awful. And the Scriptures
tells us here in Pharaoh, and it's said so many different times,
that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Harden his heart. Even after
plague upon plague upon plague, nine plagues has already come
upon him. Horrible things has come upon
him. God gave him warning after warning after warning after warning. He said, let my people go. Pharaoh
said, I'm not gonna do it. He's like Nebuchadnezzar. He's
like Nebuchadnezzar when he was walking in pride and he said,
is this not great Babylon that I have built? And God, that day,
that day, God turned him into a beast. That day turned him
into his true nature, into a beast. And when a man walks in pride,
when a man resists God, when a man like Pharaoh stands up
and says, who is the Lord? He sticks to find out. One more
judgment, one more judgment. And the Bible says here that
he will thrust them out, thrust them out. And he said in verse
1, let's go down through this a little bit at a time. And the Lord said unto Moses,
God speaking now, one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterwards, he'll let you go.
There's one mighty, this is going to be the most severe that they've
ever had. This is going to be the worst.
One mightier than Pharaoh. This is the land of Egypt this
night. The king of terrors. With all of his power. With all
the magicians. And all the wisdom and all the
learning. The magicians ain't going to
be able to help Pharaoh. They're not going to be able
to save Pharaoh. Not going to be able to save
what happens in Egypt this night. No will be no withstanding the
angel of death when he goes through this land. And that's what's
fixed to happen. The angel of death is gonna pass
through here. We'll see it in chapter 12. And that's when we
understand that the Passover, God passes over. No withstanding
the angel of death when he comes through there. Wealth can't save
Pharaoh and his firstborn. Size can't help him. And I tell
you, God said, I'm going to go from the highest to the lowest. I'm going to go from animal to
even, God don't care what kind of animal it is. I'm going to
take the firstborn of every beast. I'm going to take the firstborn.
And he said, he will not let you go. He will not let you go. But he said, I'll tell you what
he will do. He'll thrust you out of here. He'll run you out
of here. He'll be glad to see you go. And he says, 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. Oh my. Borrow from the neighbors. Well, this happened before the
Passover night. And this word borrow here does
not mean that it has to be returned. You know, borrow something and
give it back to them, you know. God doesn't teach His people
to be dishonest or deceptive in any way. The word borrow is
168 times in the Old Testament. 162 times it says to ask or beg
or require. But eight times it says, and
I don't understand Hebrew, but it means that when you borrow
it, you know that they're giving it to you, that it's yours, and
that you're taking it to be your own. Eight times. And I don't
understand how the Hebrew of it, I'm a Jew, but I don't understand
Hebrew. I don't understand. I'm a Jew, a true Jew, Gary,
but I don't understand. Hebrews, but anyway says Bala
Here they had been used as slaves They were slaves common slaves
Used as slaves treated as slaves They were the poorest people
Had been made poor by the abuse of the Egyptians and now God's
gonna take these very Egyptians and Make them wealthy by what
those Egyptians have. They're the poorest ones, but
God, they're going to come out of Egypt with lots of wealth
out of Egypt. They're going to come out of
there wealthy people. You've been a slave? I'm going to make
you wealthy. And that's what happens here.
And then look in verse 3. And the Lord gave the people
favor in the sight of the Egyptians. That word favor is the same thing
as grace. The Lord gave him favor. Now,
how in the world do you know that if He gives you favor, if
you ask something for somebody, if He gives you grace, they're
going to give it to you. And all this was the fulfillment
of a promise. Look over here at Exodus 3.21
with me. Let's look at this. This is a
promise that God made to Moses, and this is the fulfillment of
that promise that's just fixing to happen here. Exodus 3.23 and 20, I believe
it is. and I will stretch out my hand
and smite Egypt with all my wonders while I do in the midst there
if that that he will let you go and listen to this and I will
give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and it
shall come to pass that when you go you're not going to leave
here empty you didn't come down here empty and you're not leaving
here empty you come down here with plenty and you're going
to leave with plenty And but every woman shall barb her neighbor,
and have her that sojourneth in her house, that even use them
as slaves, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothes.
And you'll put them on your sons, and upon your daughters, and
you shall spoil the Egyptians." And that's what God said here.
You're going to spoil the Egyptians. So back over here then in Exodus
11, look what he says here now. And all I tell you, this is the
fulfillment of a promise that David the Lord said, I'll give
you favor in the sight of the Egyptians. This is the fulfillment
of a promise made unto Abraham 400 years earlier. And I want
you to see that. You know, this is, this is God,
God, we look at time and God measures time. He don't measure
time like us. Look what he said over here in
Genesis. You keep Exodus 11. Look at Genesis 15. This is something
that God told Abraham hundreds of years before it ever happened.
Hundreds of years. Four hundred and something years
before it ever came to pass. Genesis 15 and verse 14. Verse
13. And he said unto Abraham, know of a surety that thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall
serve them and listen to this and they shall afflict them four
hundred years God told them, they are going to go down to
a strange land and when they get down there they are going
to be mistreated. They are going to be afflicted. They are going
to be mistreated when they get down there. And they are going
to do it not for a year or two, three, four, five years. They
are going to do it for 400 years. And listen to what else happens.
Also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and listen
to this now, and afterward they shall come out with great substance.
Now God told Abraham that 400 years before it ever happened. You think God's Word can fail?
You think God, when He says something, that's why we believe His Word.
That's why we take Him at His Word. For long, long years, they
labored in the broke kins of Egypt. No outward signs that
they were ever going to leave Egypt. And certainly no outward
signs that they was going to leave Egypt with great substance.
But here's the difference in God's people in the world. God's
people walk by faith and not by sight. They walk by faith.
God done told them what's going to happen. And they walk by faith.
They don't walk by sight. If they don't walk by sight,
they'll say, we'll never get out of here. It's going to be
our rotten life. But God said, you're going out of here and
you're going out with great substance. And again, it says the Lord gave
the people favor. You're talking about God's sovereignty.
Here's God's sovereignty. All of a sudden these people
have been slaves for all these generations. And now God one
day decides to take the Egyptians and change their hearts, change
the way they view God's people. And then they look at them and
they say, oh, them Egyptians, them Hebrews, them Jews are fine
folks. Said, oh, we got to help them.
We need to do something for them. He gave them favor, gave them
grace in the sight. You're talking about God's absolute
sovereignty. You look at it naturally, the
Egyptians should hate the Hebrews. Should hate them. And the Hebrews
should hate the Egyptians. Their God had afflicted them
and set plagues upon them, on the Egyptians. And then God turns
around and gives them grace, gives them favor in the sight
of the very people that he had set plagues upon. He did the
plague after plague after plague. And then he says, oh boy. found
favor in the Hebrews. God gave them grace, gave them
favor in the sight of people that he had been plaguing and
judging time after time after time. And I'll tell you this,
beloved. Oh, this shows us the absolute,
God's absolute power and sovereignty. When we receive kindness from
anybody that's ever unregenerated, it's because God has given us
favor in their sight. I'm going to tell you a true
story. This probably happened 25 years ago, maybe longer. I don't know. It's been a long,
long time. My life and my livelihood and
everything about me depended upon one doctor's decision. One
doctor's decision. And I had to go see this doctor. And he could say yay or nay. And it would have changed my
life dramatically. Dramatically. And I prayed, and this is a true
story. I prayed, I said, Lord, go before me. Please go before
me. Because I'm not going to lie
to a doctor. I'm not going to deceive a doctor. You know I'm going to be his
answer. But I said, go before me. And I didn't know who this
doctor was, never laid eyes on him, and I haven't seen him since.
I said, go before me and give me favor in that doctor's eyes.
I went in there and sat with that doctor about 35-40 minutes. Walked out of there, my life
never changed a bit. He just thought, you know, it's
amazing what God will do when He gives you favor in somebody's
sight. And I asked Him to give me favor. I asked Him to go before
me and touch that doctor's heart. It would have changed my life
dramatically. My kids, my wife, everybody's life dramatically.
But God had mercy on me. And that's what we mean about
God. If an unregenerate person shows you any kindness, It's
because God gave you favor in their sight. Gave favor in their
sight. I'll tell you another thing.
I was seeing a doctor the other day. And this doctor told me,
and I see him pretty regularly. He said, you know, we're nothing
but tenants in this world. He said, this earth and everything
in it belongs to the Lord. I've known him, been seeing him
for years. He said, so something's happened dramatically to him.
He said, you know, since we're not, he built a new house and
was talking about selling the farm. He said, I'll tell you
what, we don't own nothing here. He told me that. He said, we
don't own nothing here. He said, we're just tenants. That's so rare to hear somebody
like that talk like that. But oh my, we found favor. And
then look what he goes on to say. and all he's gonna make make
this man make Moses was great make great and then in verse
4 and Moses said thus saith the Lord God said this is what God
said Moses Abraham Pharaoh I'm gonna tell you what God said
and that's what we need to say thus saith the Lord God said
this this is what the Lord said and thus saith the Lord about
midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt about midnight
Right in the middle of the night. And over there in the place it
tells us the darkness was so dark that you could feel the
darkness. There's a darkness that could
be felt. And he says at about midnight I'm going to go out
into Egypt. And what are you going to do when you go out at
midnight down through the middle of Egypt? What are you going
to do? I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to take
the firstborn of everything in the land of Egypt and I'm going
to kill them. They're going to die. They're
going to die. You reckon they knew that? You
reckon they believed that? The Lord said, tonight I'm going
to go through here at midnight. This is in the middle of the
day. I'm going to go through here. and the firstborn of everybody
in Egypt from Pharaoh down to the maiden that lives over here
behind the mill I'm going to kill every firstborn down there
from a cow to a dog to a goat to a heifer don't make no difference
I'm going to kill them and guess what God said I'm going to do
it and he says not only that but he said and they're going
to start crying out there's going to be a cry Oh, this cry is going
to go out through all the land of Egypt. That's how you're going
to hear people screaming and crying and hollering. They're
going to be making the office a bunch of noises. And some of
you know what it is to lose somebody that you really love, a child
or something, and you feel like you're going to scream and you
just can't take it. You ain't got no strength. That's
what's going to happen in Egypt. Great cries go through all the
land. And it's going to be a cry and
such a night that's never ever been before and there'll never
ever be another night like it. Never another night like it.
Huh? Oh my. Why the firstborn? Well
because they had God's firstborn down there. And this tells us
this, that if he takes their firstborn, God said, I'm going
to give you my firstborn, my only begotten. I'll give you
my child. I'll give you my firstborn, the
only one that I've got, the son of my love, the son of my heart,
the son of my delight, the son of my joy. I'm going to give
you my son. I'll give you the one that dwelt
in my bosom from eternity. So God's not going to do anything
to anybody that He Himself is not willing to do and did not
do. Why the firstborn? Because they
had His firstborn down there. Israel. Israel. And God's judgment upon man's
best. That's what it is. God's judgment
is on man's best. His first fruits. The first fruits
of His loins. The first fruits. Do you know,
I've often thought about this. Out of one family, there's no
telling how many firstborns. There might be a grandfather,
a father, and a grandson, and a great-grandson. And every one
of them be a firstborn in one family. God takes grandpa, He takes son,
he takes grandson, and he takes great grandson. You think God's not, God don't
play with people. That's what folks, men and women
don't understand in this generation. They read this and they just
read a story. I see God acting in justice. I see God showing His power. I see God showing His sovereignty. I see God exercising His rights
over a man and a nation who stood in the face of God Himself and
said, we will not do what you tell us to do. We're not going
to do it. That's what Adam said. God said,
do not eat of the fruit of that tree of good and evil. Adam said,
oh, I got to do it. I just got to do it. And that's
like you, I've told you this before. You leave your house
when you had kids and you say, now listen, go all over the house
but stay out of this one room. Do not go in that room. You won't
be a mile from the house and they'll be in that room. If they
have to take a ladder and climb up and lift up the window to
get in, they're gonna get in that room. That's human nature. If you want somebody to do something,
try to get them not to do it. That's what he's saying here.
But when I see this, I don't just see a story. I see God actually
doing His justice. And a just judgment upon this
nation. A just judgment upon this man. A just judgment upon all these
people. Remember when Pharaoh said, I
want every man child from now on, I want them to die. kill
all the Israelites children, their man child. When you see
their wives, those women on their stools, if they have a son, take
him and kill him. That was the firstborn of a lot
of those women. And that's what he said, kill
these children. Kill these infants, kill these
babies. Just like America's doing now. When America starts killing
its babies, I'm telling you, you just went as far as you can
go as a nation. They just passed an abortion
bill up in New York that they can take a baby from its mother's
womb nine months old, nine months, and take it out of her womb and
kill it and be legal doing it. And when they passed that bill,
they stood up and yahooed and clapped. And it's the most liberal
abortion bill that's ever been put out in America. When you
start, and that's what God said to Pharaoh. He said, kill my
children. Kill these boys. And then people
get upset because God's a God of judgment. And said, you wanted
my children to die. You wanted my sons to die. You
wanted the Israelites to die. Now it's time for you to face
the judgment. It's time for you to face the
God that you resisted. God for you to hate the God you
hate. Time for you to find out that
God's got all the power in this universe and you ain't got none.
I don't care if you're sitting on a throne or sitting in a shack
somewhere. You're going to find out that
I'm God. And that's what I see going through here upon the firstborn.
I see God in judgment and justice. That's what I see. And oh my,
look what else he goes on down here to say now. In verse 7,
I love this. But I guess he's going to make
a great difference now. But against any of the children
of Israel, it's time God said, I'm going to make a distinction
now. Not only am I going to give them favor, but I'm going to
make a real distinction between these people. But against any
of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against
even a beast. When Moses said, we're not going
to leave a hoof behind. So they're going out there with
their cattle. They're going out there with their goats. They're
going out there with all their animals. And look what it says.
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move
his tongue, against any man or beast, that you may know, that
you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel. Now that's sovereign grace. I
put the difference between them. I did it. It was only God who
made the difference between Egypt and Israel. It's only God who
does it. Who made us to differ? Why didn't
I stay in Pentecostalism? Why didn't I stay in Legalism?
Why didn't I stay in Fundamentalism? Why didn't I stay in that worse
religion? Why am I still a believer today? Who made you to be something
different than anybody else? Why aren't you going up here
to a place where they don't know God, don't know Christ? Why?
Why are we sitting here listening to the gospel? Why do we sit
here and believe in God's justice and grace? Why? Oh my, God said that you may
know that I put the difference between them. That I did it.
Now let me tell you something. Israel deserved wrath and judgment
just like anybody else did. You think they were better than
the Egyptians? You think that they were sinners
above the Egyptians? No. They were also rebellious
by nature. You ever say it's by nature? Well,
who made the difference? I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. And I will have mercy upon whom
I will have mercy. Huh? That's the only explanation
that you can find here. Our hearts and wills are no different
than anybody else's. They're really not. They're really
not. You know, God told Israel, He
says, you know, you can't serve the Lord unless you leave the
God that you had on the other side of the flood. God's people
worshiped idols. We had God. We had our own sinful,
we got our sinful natures. Why are we the way we are now? Did we do anything to make ourselves
become believers? Did we do anything to make God
distinguish us from anybody else? Was we better than some other
people? Was we wiser than other people? Was we more dedicated? More devoted? More students of
the Bible? Our hearts and wills are no different
than anybody else's out here. You know who made the difference? The Lord made the difference.
He's the only one who made the difference. That's the only person
who made the difference. Thank God that He made the difference. I certainly couldn't make a difference.
I couldn't. I can't make myself different
right now as a person who's a believer. I can't make myself different
from anybody else right now. Can't do it. I'm thankful, I'm so thankful
that you can't see my heart. That you can't get into my mind.
That you can't have it be like me. I'm grateful. Oh, please,
you don't, you won't, oh, don't be like me. And then he goes
on to say here that not a dog Not even a dog shall move his
tongue. That tells us that every creature is under God's control.
He said he's going to kill the firstborn of the beast. And he
said, here's a dog. And you know, if anything happens
around the house or anything like that, the first thing you'll
do, a dog will bark. He'll bark. He'll bark. And the angel of death is going
to come at midnight through thick, thick, thick, thick darkness.
They'll be weeping, they'll be howling, they'll be crying at
the deaths of the birth born. The Israelites, they're in their
houses, they're packing. They're getting ready by the
millions to go out into Egypt, to leave out of Egypt. And you
think the dogs would be barking, the dogs would be howling. But
a dog never opened his mouth. Against the Jews, against the
Hebrews. Have you heard of the hounds
of hell? Have you ever heard of the hounds
of hell? All they can do is bark. They
can't hurt you. As you know, not a dog moved
his hands. An invisible God locked their
jaws. It's like Daniel when they put
him in the lion's den. All these lions down there. I
don't have any idea there's a bunch of them. The King come down there and
look down in that lion's den and he said, Oh, Daniel. He said, Here am I, O King. Oh,
listen. Ain't nothing. Thank God that
he put a difference between us. And thank God he brought us up
out of Egypt. Thank God that he brought us
up. How? By a Passover lamb. We'll see
next week. A Passover lamb. A lamb for everybody in Egypt. A lamb for every person God set
apart. A lamb. And God said, when I
see that blood, Oh listen, here's this one, they're getting ready
to go out their doors, and they go out their doors that morning,
and you'd think dogs would be going crazy, but there's not
a dog making that sound. Not a dog making a sound. You know, Bunyan and his Pilgrim's
Progress, they was going to go up to this house. Going to go up to this house.
And then when they got close to it, there was two lines. Two lines. And they started up through there,
and boy, they were scared to move. Those lines would jump
out at them, a crowd at them. And then they watched them a
while, and they'd get close, and they'd get close, and them
lions would jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump,
jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, He told me go so far. And so, you know, just keep on
traveling, just keep on moving, just keep on trusting, keep on
believing, keep on coming to Christ, because He's on a chain
and cannot get us. Cannot get us. Our Father, oh, blessed, blessed
Savior, our great and blessed God, Lord, thank you for your
abundant mercy given to us. Oh, it's so abundant, so rich,
so free, so full. Thank you for it. Bless you for
it. Thank you for your dear saints
of God here. Thank you for sparing your people. And we do pray for
Kyle and Annie, Bruce and Sandy, Bill and Dorotha, people who
Face things. Lord, you never take your people
who you're not with them. Never do anything that's not
out of the love and grace of your blessed heart. What's the
best for us? And we thank you for that. Keep
your people as they go. Preserve them. Give them grace
and abundance. and keep them till we can come
and worship together again. We thank you in our Lord Jesus
name. Amen. Let's do 318 in the hymn book. Let's stand together and sing
that. 318. my baby I need Thee every hour, stay
Thou nearby Joy or pain, come quickly and
abide. Life is vain. I need Thee, oh I need Thee. You'll see it right here. My God