TEXT: Exodus 10:1-11:10, KJV

Youth Focus this week: Being Christian/accepting Christianity BEGINS by our Believing in Jesus’ death, burial and Resurrection but then blossoms into a lifestyle of learning the Word, Worshipping and Working until Jesus returns to take us with Him to Heaven!

Stress the Anti-Christianity of American slavery and explain and teach the chorus of Life Ev’ry Voice                                                                                                                                                            

Memory Verse of the Month: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all” Psalms 34:19, KJV                     Family Focus of the Month: Exodus 13:17 – Leviticus 23:44, KJV                               Watch Word of Month: Service                                                 Hymn of the Month: Lift Evry Voice and Sing

Key Verse: “And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 10:3, KJV

Introduction:

Background:

1^st Plague – Overthrow of Nile                                                                                                                                                 2^nd Plague – Overthrow of Hekket

“14 Signs that Saved persons are being Sanctified”

Chapter 10 

¹And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:

God hardened Pharoah’s heart: Ex 4:21, 9:12, 10:1, 20, 27                                       = 5x                                               Pharoah hardened Pharoah’s heart: Ex 3:19, 5:2, 7:14, 8:15, 32, 9:34 and 13:15 = 7x

Pharoah hardened his own heart by being too Stubborn to submit to the Sovereign God

Transliteration: leb  Pronounced: (labe)      Definition: inner man, mind (36x), will, & heart

Text	Scripture	Thought
Romans 10:9-10,KJV	That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.	Believing begins in the Heart/Mind
Psalms 19:14	May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.	Our Heart/Minds must Meditate on Gods Word daily (i.e chuch reading plan)
Psalms 24:4	The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.	Our Heart/Minds will keep us out of Heaven because accepting Christ is about allegiance to Christ
Matthew 5:8	Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.	Our Heart/Minds must be continually cleansed through Word and Prayer
Psalms 34:19	The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.	A broken heart is the indicator that God has been invited into our lives
Psalms 26:2	Test me, LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;	The Heart/Mind work together with Heart being the lead
Psalms 51:10	Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew the right spirit within me.	The Holy Spirit activates right living, right thinking and right talking in us
Luke 6:45	A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.	What a man says always reveals where a man stands.  Either he/she is Stubborn hearted or Soft hearted!

*In Luke 6:45 Jesus means that consistently sinful words and deeds are indicators of a sinful heart/mind that hasn’t changed because its stubborn.  Such a stubborn hearted person is Not loved less than others by God but they should not be trusted or allowed to exert influence over those who have surrendered and are committed to Christ!

• The most significant sign of Salvation is a softened heart

² And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.

³ And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

• Stubbornness, Selfishness and Superfluous Speaking are not signs of strength but rather signs of surrender to satanic forces   CR: 1 Pet 5:6, “humble thyself”

⁴ Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:

• A softened heart believes and lives like the next Exodus is soon to come

“And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” Revelation 9:1-11, KJV

⁵ And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

⁶ And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷ And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

• A softened heart saves its soul and may the souls of others (families) from destruction

⁸ And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?

⁹ And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.

¹⁰ And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

The Lord be so with you, as I will let you go    

 iow- Pharoah says “Over my dead body”

Pharoah agrees that only Moses and the children can go!

• A soft heart believes in the Biblical vision of family, the Biblical concept of faith and the Biblical definition of friend. 

 “[African Americans] are altogether unfit to associate with the white race, either in social or political relations; and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a profit could be made by it.” 

                                                                                                          Chief Justice Roger Taney, March 6, 1857

¹¹ Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹² And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

¹³ And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

¹⁴ And the locust went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

¹⁵ For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

Osiris was the Egyptian god of agriculture and vegetation

¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

• A soft heart confesses his/her sin immediately

¹⁷ Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.

iow- I promise Not to do it anymore, this is the last time

• A softened heart loves truth and hates lies                                     CR: Prov 6:17, Matt 5:37, KJV

¹⁸ And he {Moses} went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.

• A softened heart still prays for those who persecute them         CR: Matt 5:44

¹⁹ And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

²¹ And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

9^th Plaque is Darkness ………………………………………..Sun god Ra

“The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.”                              Revelation 8:12 , KJV

• Soft-Hearted people are one of the last hopes to this dark world

²² And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

²³ They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴ And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.

• Soft-Hearted people place more value on money/wealth than they do people

²⁵ And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

²⁶ Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither.

• Soft-Hearted people are meek by choice not cowardice

²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

²⁸ 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.

²⁹ And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.

Chapter 11

¹And 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.

Moses had no idea how many plaques nor how long

• Softened hearts remain steadfast in order to see what the end will be

² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver and jewels of gold.

³ And the Lord gave the people favour 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.

⁴ And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

⁵ And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

Why the taking of the firstborn? Pharoah had originally done so to the Israelites, Ishmael’s blessing went to Issac, Esau’s blessing went to Jacob, Adam’s mission to Second Adam.

• A softened heart is a sure sign of the second birth                  CR: John 3:7

⁶ 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 any more.

⁷ But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

• A Soft-hearted perspective is in every way different from the devils perspective

⁸ 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 a great anger.

⁹ And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ And 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 land.