Exodus 7–14

Bringing the sermon home:

Chapters 7 through 10 of Exodus record the first nine plagues that God brought down upon Egypt, with the ninth being three days of pitch darkness, while “all the people of Israel had light where they lived” (10:23). Throughout this record, we see several references to these plagues only afflicting the Egyptians, thus showing that God makes a distinction between those who are His, and those who are not.

Chapters 11 through 13 record the tenth and final horrific plague: the killing of every firstborn man and animal. For the first time, God required something of the Israelites for the plague not to fall upon them: every household had to spill the blood of a lamb at twilight. Salvation was not a matter of ethnicity or background, but of who was and who was not covered by the blood of the lamb, for those who sacrificed the lamb were humbly acknowledging that they were no less deserving of God’s judgment than anyone else. So too our salvation is only by grace through faith in the blood of the Lamb – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 14 then records the crossing of the Red Sea as a great pillar of light leads the people of God out of their bondage to Pharaoh to now serve a new master. The people fear, for they cannot see what awaits them in the waters of the sea or the wilderness ahead of them. Likewise, we cannot see everything that awaits us as we make our way to the promised land, but we are called to take one step at a time as God’s Word gives us the light we need for each step.

Sermon outline:

• chapters 7–13
  
  God’s light exposes evil and illuminates the path to freedom.
  
  
• 14:1-12
  
  You will either serve God, or you will serve an idol.
  
  
• 14:13-31
  
  Follow God’s voice and step out into the great unknown.