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[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] Thank you.

[1:00] As we're studying what is the gospel of the Old Testament. And last week we introduced what is one of the most well-known sections of the book known as the plagues of Egypt.

[1:12] And I tried to show you that from what you might call a theological perspective of really understanding what's behind the plagues. That far more than this being about Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh and the magicians of Egypt.

[1:28] This is a spiritual battle that is taking place between the one true creator God and all of the other Egyptian gods.

[1:38] And I spent time showing how every single plague was associated with a God or goddess of Egypt. And this often, this spiritual battle often takes place on the world stage and has happened ever since the Tower of Babel.

[1:56] And so I kind of took that peeling back all the layers and pulling back all the curtains and getting to what is it essentially taking place with the plagues. Now, what I want to do this week is come back to one plague specifically.

[2:12] And that is the 10th plague. And I want to look at it from not just a theological perspective, but a personal perspective. And yes, I know this is Mother's Day weekend, but we, listen, whether it is Mother's Day weekend, Father's Day weekend, or the 4th of July, we just preach the Bible, okay?

[2:28] We just preach the Bible, and you just never know what passage is going to end up being the Mother's Day sermon that year. So this is it by God's sovereign design, I trust.

[2:38] So Exodus chapter 11, the final plague, I do not want to, I do not believe I would be serving you well as your pastor if I skipped over the last plague and one that really causes a lot of issues for people.

[2:58] So we're going to dive into Exodus 11, and if you're able to stand, I'll invite you to do so as we honor the reading of God's Word. Exodus chapter 11, and verse 1.

[3:11] The Lord said to Pharaoh, yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here.

[3:22] When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.

[3:34] And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people.

[3:47] So Moses said, thus says the Lord, About midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

[3:59] From the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.

[4:16] But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord has made a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

[4:27] And all these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you. And after that, I will go out.

[4:38] And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. And the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron did all the wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

[5:00] That's a beautiful Mother's Day passage right there. Let's pray. God, thank you for this time to spend together. And this is a time we come under the authority of your word.

[5:10] And, Lord, I pray you know my heart's desire in serving your people by helping us work through your character and understanding how you have revealed yourself in these plagues.

[5:25] So come now do what I certainly cannot do, and that is lead us into the truth of your word and a proper understanding of your character and your glory.

[5:38] And I pray it in Jesus' name and God's people said, Amen. You can be seated. You can be seated. Well, Jason Green was the senior editor of Fork, a popular online publication that covers indie rockmans.

[5:52] On the morning of May 17, 2015, he and his wife Stacy woke up in their Brooklyn apartment after a long night of some much-needed sleep.

[6:04] It was actually the first time in months that they had gotten a lot of sleep. The first time in months they had woken up to a quiet apartment because their daughter Greta was usually there.

[6:15] The love of their life. And she liked to start her day at 4.30 a.m. But on this day, Greta was not staying with them.

[6:25] She was at her grandmother's place in Manhattan because Jason and Stacy needed a break. With the demands of their job and the busyness of life in New York City and on top of that trying to raise a toddler, they'd become grouchy and short with one another.

[6:46] So they planned on this Sunday that Greta would be away. They would have a quiet morning. And then together they would go catch an afternoon show.

[6:58] The quiet of that Sunday morning soon turned to chaos. On the way to the show that afternoon, they both checked their cell phones and they both recognized multiple missed calls from Susan, Stacy's mom.

[7:17] When they had finally got in touch with her, they learned there had been a serious accident. Susan and Greta were at the emergency room.

[7:27] Evidently, the two of them were on a park bench close to Central Park and a brick up on the window seal of the eighth floor of an apartment building fell and hit both of them on the park bench.

[7:46] Susan on her leg. Greta on her head. Greta was considered brain dead.

[8:04] The doctors tried their best to save her, but they were unable to do so. Greta did not survive. In the months and years after that event, Jason became the author of a memoir on loss and grief entitled, Once More We Saw Stars.

[8:28] And Jason said this, quote, If there was a God, He's a monster. A cruel taker of life and the permitter of evil.

[8:45] If there is a God, He is to blame for Greta's tragic story and every other one like it.

[8:57] Close quote. Now, faith family, listen, I realize that many of us in this room have never been through what Jason and Stacy went through. I know that some of you have or you have gone through something similar, but I bet every one of us, I mean all of us at some point have looked at suffering and loss in the world and we have struggled to reconcile it with the character of God.

[9:26] Maybe for you, it was looking at all the violence that takes place in the world. Maybe for you, it was a personal tragedy or loss that you went through.

[9:37] Maybe for you, it's looking at what seems to be the imbalanced scales of justice or the existence of poverty and human suffering. And on this Mother's Day weekend, no doubt there are moms in this room that have experienced hardships and difficulties that have made you struggle with the character of God.

[9:59] Anybody? I mean, even as a Christian, we look at some of the suffering in the world and we wrestle with it. We struggle to make sense out of it.

[10:12] It is why suffering and evil is the number one reason that people do not believe in God or do not want to believe in God or struggle to believe in God. Comedian and outspoken atheist, Stephen Fry, was asked in an interview one time, what are you going to do when after you die, you're confronted by a God that turns out to be real?

[10:37] Without hesitation, this is what Stephen said, quote, I'd say bone cancer in children? What's that about? How dare you create a world in which there is so much misery that's not our fault?

[10:52] It's not right. It's evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God that creates a world that is full of injustice and pain? These are real struggles, are they not?

[11:08] And it's exactly, listen to me, listen to me, it's exactly the kind of emotion, the kind of reaction, the kind of questions that people have towards the tenth and final plague, the death of the Egyptian firstborn.

[11:27] As I mentioned at the beginning, last week we unpacked the plagues from a theological perspective, trying to show you what's going on behind the scenes, that this is the one true God, Yahweh, who is demonstrating His power over the Egyptian gods, including Pharaoh.

[11:44] That is the ultimate purpose behind the plagues. If you were not here last week, I encourage you to go online and to listen to that. But I need you to understand a bit of how I work and how I wrestle with things as a pastor.

[11:59] I can't move on from the plagues without addressing the elephant in the room. I would feel like a failure to you as your pastor if I did not teach you and equip you to understand, are you listening to me tonight, Faith Family, to understand the character of our God in verses like this.

[12:25] Verse 4. Moses said, Thus says Yahweh, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

[12:50] Even the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on His throne. What do we do with this? I can feel the tension in the room.

[13:02] Good. Because you've got to have an answer for that. You've got to deal with that somehow. You've got to work your way through this.

[13:14] You cannot dismiss it, Faith Family, and I will not let you. What are we to do with passages like this that cause many Christians to struggle and many non-Christians to scoff?

[13:28] Here's the question. How can a loving God who we know, He has revealed Himself to be slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love?

[13:40] How can He ordain something like that? It's a legitimate question. It's one you should ask. And by the way, can I just tell you, God is in no way offended by your asking it.

[13:53] He's big enough to handle your struggle and your question about His character. In his book, The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul writes, Whoever reads the Old Testament must struggle with the apparent brutality of God's judgment.

[14:10] For many, this is as far as they will read. Some people see this as sufficient reason to reject Christianity. These hard sayings seem ample reason to hold God in contempt.

[14:21] Others try to soften the blow by turning the Old Testament into a religious parable or a primitive myth. They'll even go so far as to argue that the Old Testament God is a different God from the New Testament God.

[14:34] A God with a bad temper whose blazing wrath is beneath the dignity of the New Testament God of love. However, we must stare the Old Testament God in the eye.

[14:48] What Mr. Sproul was saying who has since passed to be with the Lord, you have to deal with this. You have to deal with the character of God in things like the ordaining of the tenth and final plague.

[15:04] So are you a big enough boy to enter in? Are you willing to enter into this struggle? Are you willing? Well, you're going to, okay? Unless you walk out and leave, you're going to, okay?

[15:15] But I want to say something before we dive in. I want to say something from the very beginning here that is so critically important and you have to understand this. Notice it on the screen. Not all suffering is an act of God's judgment.

[15:30] Somebody say amen. This is really important. Not all suffering is an act of God's judgment. Listen, I am not, I am not, I am not saying that what happened to Greta or what happened in your life is what's happening in Exodus.

[15:47] Oh no, no. In fact, I'm saying just the opposite. What I would say is that the plagues are specific acts of judgment that happened in a specific context.

[15:59] Amen? And so I'm not suggesting that what you have gone through or your suffering is in any way like this in an act of God's judgment. In fact, what I would encourage you with is that this can help you be confident in the character of God no matter what you go through or what suffering you may face.

[16:21] I only use those examples to help you connect with how people struggle with the character of God in the midst of their suffering.

[16:32] So I want us to enter in now to this tenth and final plague of Yahweh ordaining the tenth and final plague and what we understand about who He is.

[16:44] You ready? Here we go. Number one. The tenth and final plague shows us first the justice of God towards evil. The justice of God towards evil.

[16:58] Here's the problem and listen, this happens all the time. This is why it is my calling to make sure that you understand the Bible in context. Because what a lot of people do when they want to raise this issue against the character of God is they start with the tenth plague.

[17:17] But you can't start with the tenth plague because the tenth plague is happening in a context. Are you with me? In other words, the story doesn't start in Exodus 11.

[17:30] The story starts in Exodus... Where does the book start? Chapter 1. You don't even need a seminary degree to figure that one out. Exodus chapter 1 is where the story begins and what happened in Exodus 1 verse 8.

[17:44] Look at Exodus 1 verse 8 through 11. Now there arose a new king over Egypt who didn't know Joseph and he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

[17:58] Come, let us deal shrewdly with them lest they multiply. And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.

[18:09] Therefore, they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. In other words, the story starts by Pharaoh that sees Israel as a threat to his kingdom.

[18:24] They are growing and he's afraid that that's going to overthrow his kingdom. And so, he not only treats them violently as slaves, he even goes on to do this.

[18:36] Remember chapter 1 verse 16. When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and you see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill it, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.

[18:52] You remember this. Pharaoh orders in chapter 1 the death of the Israelite sons. In fact, he throws them into the Nile. And what we see after that, this is so critically important, is that God, in fact, he repeats this on multiple occasions.

[19:09] He says, I see this and I hear your cries and I hear your prayers. I know the suffering that my people are going through and what does God do as this evil is taking place?

[19:23] He acts. He takes one of those sons placed into the Nile and he raises him up to represent God before Pharaoh for the purpose of what?

[19:40] Demanding the evil stop! Let my people go. And how does Pharaoh respond?

[19:52] Chapter 5, verse 1. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Let my people go. Stop with the oppression.

[20:03] Stop with the violence. Stop with the evil. That they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh? That I should obey His voice and let Israel go.

[20:14] I don't know Yahweh. And moreover, I will not let Israel go. And you remember what happened after that. Pharaoh increases the oppression even more.

[20:27] He makes their slavery even harder. Okay? Are you awake? Are you with me? I don't know how you could zone out in something like this, but zone back in. Here's the point. Oh, this is so...

[20:38] Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Think. The tenth plague is not the action of a cruel God who loves causing suffering.

[20:50] It's the action of a righteous God who is judging an oppressive evil empire that has been warned to turn from its evil.

[21:00] somebody say, preach, preacher. This is good right here. Look at it on the screen. The tenth plague is not God preforming evil. It's God punishing evil. It's God dealing with the evil and violence in the world.

[21:16] The tenth plague is not an isolated incident. It's happening in the context of what Pharaoh is doing to the people of Israel.

[21:28] Now, you know this. If you've studied your Bibles, you know that in the Bible there's what's known as the measure for measure principle. You know what the measure for measure principle is?

[21:38] It goes like this. Here's the Old Testament example. This is Leviticus 24, 17. Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good.

[21:51] Life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor as he has done it shall be done to him. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

[22:05] You see that? Now you think, well that's only Old Testament. Yeah, but look at what Jesus says in the very Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7, verses 1 and 2. Judge not that you not be judged.

[22:17] Why? Because the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure, there's the word, measure for measure, with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

[22:30] Do you see? In other words, at a very basic level of justice, we understand that the death of the Israelite children warranted the death of the firstborn in Egypt.

[22:45] At the most basic level, this tenth plague is an act of justice upon evil, upon oppression, and the violence of Egypt.

[22:56] And by the way, if you want to know how this works for you, it's true when you think about the gospel. You with me? Y'all are loving this, I can tell. The wages of sin is death.

[23:12] What your sin resulted in the death of Jesus and the justice you owe is eternal death and separation from God.

[23:26] Measure for measure. And so, that helps a little bit to understand this tenth plague that it's not an isolated event, it's happening in context, and it's not God performing evil, it's God punishing evil, but if you're like me, you're kind of like, that helps, but it doesn't get me all the way.

[23:44] There's still some tension here because God isn't always an eye for an eye God. God isn't just a just God. He is a just God, amen?

[23:55] But He's not just a just God, He's also a gracious God. And so, how do I understand this act of justice from a framework of God's grace?

[24:07] So notice the second point you see here in the tenth plague, the grace of God towards evil. Here's what I mean. This is good. Not only, I hope it's all good, but we're getting gooder as we go, alright?

[24:20] Not only can we not or should we not jump into the tenth plague and forget the context of Pharaoh's evil in Exodus 1, here's what we also, most people don't give credit to when they come to the tenth plague, that is, they don't acknowledge all the offers of grace that come before it.

[24:42] There's all kinds of acts of grace that take place before the tenth plague ever does. Let me take you back before a first plague ever happened.

[24:53] You remember when Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and they performed with the magicians there a sign. Do you remember what the sign was? Remember the whole staff turning into a snake and their staffs turn into snakes and serpents and God's staff swallows up their staff.

[25:14] It was a sign of what's to come. It was a sign that God's judgment was on the way. Look at chapter 7 verse 12. Each man cast down his staff and they became serpents.

[25:27] But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. So Pharaoh sees the sign. God has just said this is what's about to go down but Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said.

[25:43] So there was a warning even before the plague started and then the very first plague was a sign of what was to come as well. What was the first plague?

[25:54] The Nile turned to blood. Why? Why did the Nile turn to blood? Okay.

[26:07] You weren't necessarily supposed to answer out loud but you can, alright? I want you to think why Nile turned to blood? Now I've already told you that God attacks the Nile because there are gods associated with the Nile but why doesn't God just dry the Nile up rather than turning it into blood?

[26:28] The answer is simple. The Nile turns to blood because where did Pharaoh have the Israelite children thrown into the Nile.

[26:40] The Nile turning to blood begins to foreshadow the very judgment that's coming on Pharaoh and Egypt. This very death of the firstborn is foreshadowed in the very first plague.

[26:55] And then look at plague 7 chapter 9 verse 18 says, Behold, about this time tomorrow I'm going to cause a very heavy hail to fall such as never been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

[27:06] Now therefore, send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die even when the hail falls on them.

[27:25] And whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of Yahweh left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

[27:38] Don't you see? This is like, you have got to see this. God, this is our God, in the midst of pouring down just judgment upon the evil oppressive empire of Egypt offers what?

[27:59] Shelter! escape! Protection! In other words, what do you see? Oh, you see the character of God there. God sending the plague justice while at the same time offering shelter grace.

[28:18] Now you compare that to Pharaoh. Pharaoh offered no escape whatsoever for the Israelites. Pharaoh is a God seen by the Egyptians as a God of violence and destruction but the true God is a God who is gracious even in his righteous judgment as he repeatedly offers warnings and escape.

[28:47] Notice this on the screen. Yahweh gave Egypt something Pharaoh didn't give Israel. An opportunity for salvation.

[28:59] An opportunity to be saved. An opportunity to heed the warning and turn but I'm not done. Look in the last plague itself, the death of the firstborn which we'll talk more about in terms of the Passover part of this later.

[29:12] But that Hebrew word Passover simply means to defend or protect. God says, in fact, look at chapter 12 and verse 12. It says, For I'll pass through the land of Egypt that night.

[29:23] I'll strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am Yahweh. The blood shall be a sign for you that is the blood of the Lamb on the houses where you are.

[29:37] And when I see the blood, what is he going to do? Say it? Pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

[29:49] So, come on, we see the sign before the plagues even start. We see the very first plague, the blood of the Nile, as a warning. We see in the hail an offer of escape and protection and shelter.

[30:03] And even in the final plague, God is offering a way to be passed over from judgment. He is offering an opportunity to escape and experience His grace.

[30:18] In other words, the plague reveals the righteous justice of God towards evil and the grace of God towards evil. Can I be a Bible nerd for just a moment?

[30:28] You say you're a Bible nerd all the time. You are a nerd. Just hang with me for just a moment because I want to point something out that I think is really, really important.

[30:39] I want to show you a little Hebrew. Who's up for learning some Hebrew tonight? Okay, yeah, most of the hands went up. Good. Somebody's really excited over here. Let's learn a little Hebrew. Now hang with me and then I'll make a point and I think you'll see it's a very important point.

[30:54] So here we go. Look at verse 12 and I want you to notice specifically the lines I have highlighted. I'm going to pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike the firstborn in the land.

[31:05] Now look at verse 13. The blood shall be assigned for you in the houses where you are and when I see the blood I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

[31:18] Now look at verse 27. You shall say it's the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.

[31:30] And look at verse 29. At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. So four times you see the phrase Yahweh struck.

[31:45] The Lord struck. God will strike. You with me? Say yes. In the middle of that. So you got four. In the middle of those four there's this.

[31:59] Look at verse 23. The Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

[32:12] We have ourselves a Hebrew sandwich. Anybody hungry? Here's your Hebrew sandwich. Look at it right. It looks like this. In 12a the Lord will strike.

[32:25] In 13a the Lord will strike. In 27a the Lord will strike. And in 29a the Lord will strike. But in 23b right in the middle the destroyer will strike.

[32:37] And you need to know a little bit of Hebrew to know what this is doing. Hebrew does this all the time. It does this all the time. It loves this kind of structure.

[32:48] And when Hebrew does this it's doing it. Are you listening? What's your favorite part of the sandwich? The meat. Yes that's right. Yeah. Sister after my own heart.

[33:00] Alright. Yeah. The meat. And so when the Hebrew does this it's actually trying to call your attention to what is in the middle. It's highlighting the central statement.

[33:12] Namely that the Lord will not allow the destroyer to strike. Well who's the destroyer? Most the most common ancient Jewish understanding of that is that the destroyer is some type of evil angel.

[33:27] Some type of fallen spiritual being. It's a spiritual being that with Yahweh's permission is allowed to introduce death and chaos into the land of Egypt. Now why is that important?

[33:39] Here's why it's important. Because it shows you how, Lord help me communicate this because this is important. It shows you how Yahweh strikes.

[33:51] How does Yahweh strike? Are you still listening? God when a people, when a nation, when a society has become so hardened towards God that they will not listen to God, He strikes how?

[34:14] By turning them over to fallen spiritual beings which result in death and destruction and chaos and violence and self-ruin.

[34:30] Want some examples? Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon, and Romans chapter 1. The language is right here.

[34:41] Look at it. Although they knew God and did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, they became futile in their thinking and foolish and their hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

[34:54] They exchanged the glory of immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. And God what? Gave them up.

[35:07] Gave them over to the lust of their hearts to impurity to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. Why? Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. They worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever and ever.

[35:22] Amen. In other words, now let's bring it all together. Let's bring it all together. God in His grace warns and warns and warns and offers escape, escape, escape, shelter, shelter, shelter, grace upon grace upon grace until the point they are so hardened, God turns them over.

[35:49] So here's the point. What does it all mean? Here it is on the screen. The tenth plague is not the action of God who loves to punish.

[36:04] It is the action of God who is very patient. He has been patient over and over and over again.

[36:19] 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 says, The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but all should reach repentance.

[36:38] presence. In other words, when you see the tenth plague properly in context, what do you see? You see the justice of God on evil, and you see the grace of God towards evil.

[36:51] You see His character as a just God and a gracious God, and that helps me even more. It helps me to see His justice, and it helps me to see His grace, but those two things are not the ultimate clincher, and I close with this.

[37:08] This is the ultimate clincher of understanding the character of God in the tenth plague. Look at verse 4 again in chapter 11. Moses says, Thus says the Lord, about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die.

[37:26] We see third and finally here, the sacrifice of God for evil. I'm done with this. Hang with me. Does the word first born ring a bell to you?

[37:39] It should. I mean, first of all, if you understand the Bible, you know, well, there's the firstborn in the Old Testament. That is, the firstborn son receives all the inheritance. We know that part. We know that Israel is called God's firstborn.

[37:54] But when you come to the New Testament, who's the ultimate and greater firstborn? Jesus. Look at Colossians chapter 1 verse 15.

[38:06] He, that is Jesus, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Revelation chapter 1 verse 5. For from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of earth.

[38:21] In other words, when you get to the gospel, when you get to the gospel, it all comes together. Listen to me. Listen. we see the justice of God on evil, and we see the grace of God towards evil through the sacrifice of God's firstborn for evil.

[38:47] The tenth plague is a foreshadowing of what God will do at the cross. Jesus. Here's how Paul describes it in Romans chapter 3 verse 25.

[39:01] Jesus was put forth as a propitiation, a sacrifice by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, that is His justice, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over, we'll come back to that, former sins.

[39:20] It was to show His righteousness at the present time so that He might be the just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

[39:33] How many times I've said that the little story of Exodus is foreshadowing the larger story of the gospel? And what is the big story of the gospel?

[39:45] What is the big Exodus? What is the ultimate Exodus? Last verse here, Hebrews 2 14 and 15 says, Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise became human.

[39:58] He took on flesh that through the death of the firstborn, He might destroy the one that has power of death, that is the devil, and deliver, Exodus language, all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

[40:15] Here's the point, and I'm done. The gospel story is a story of an enslaved people. under the rule of evil, a spiritual pharaoh by the name of Satan, who wants nothing but death and evil and violence.

[40:34] And in order for justice to be done towards sin and grace to be offered to the sinner, what did God do? He gave His firstborn. He delivered up His firstborn Son to set you free and to deal with evil and sin once for all.

[41:03] So I stand before you and offer you two paths. You want justice?

[41:15] Be like Pharaoh and continue to turn from the warnings of God to come and be saved. The wages of sin will be death.

[41:28] Or, take the path of God's grace offering you salvation in the delivering up of His firstborn and the gift of God will be eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[41:50] Don't you see? The tenth plague actually reveals the beauty of the gospel and the beauty of the character of God.

[42:01] And don't misunderstand. I understand why Jason and others like Jason struggle and are outraged at evil and suffering in the world.

[42:12] But listen to me, listen to me. No one is more outraged at evil than our good and gracious I am. And He's proved that.

[42:26] How? By the cross itself. For at the cross, faith family, God demonstrates His righteousness towards sin and His love towards the sinner.

[42:42] At the cross, God proves how much He loves the world because at the cross, He gave His firstborn for us.

[42:56] And all God's people said, Amen. Let's pray. Let's pray. Lord, these are deep and heavy things, but we cannot ignore them.

[43:07] We must, as R.C. Sproul said, we must look into the character of God. When we come across hard passages like the tenth plague, we must not be afraid to look in and to see Your character, to see Your justice, to see Your grace, and to see even above all of that how they come together in the gospel itself.

[43:35] So, Lord, I pray that while I know this doesn't answer every single question we're going to have on this road of life, I do pray that it shows us so much of Your character that we know that we can run to You and trust You and cling to You in our dark moments and those moments of suffering where we cannot understand Your ways, we can look to things like this and know that You are good and right.

[44:11] It's just so, Lord, I don't know what people in this room have all gone through or maybe what they're going through right now, but we thank You for passages like this that force us to understand the character and the glory and the nature of our God.

[44:29] Now help us as we come to this moment and remember the gospel through communion as we take time to think on the cross to see Your justice and Your grace coming together at the giving of Your firstborn.

[44:46]  And Lord, may our answers all be found there. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.