Falling Into the Hands of an Angry God:
After 430 years of slavery God enlisted Moses to liberate the Hebrews
from their Egyptian captors. Moses went to Pharaoh and demanded the
Hebrew’s freedom saying,
“Thus says the Lord, let my people go!”
But Pharaoh refuses saying, “I don’t know your God and I won’t let them
go.”
Moses had no army, no money, and no friends to fight for him. The only
help to which he could turn was his invisible God.
Everyone in this room has been in this very same position at
one time or another… up against it and with little or nothing to fight with…
the odds stacked against you with more month than money, more enemies
than friends, more problems than solutions, more despair than hope. This is
always the beginning of true religion. It’s when we hit the wall. It’s when
we need a power that is greater than our own. This is when we start looking
for the God we cannot see… the same invisible God that Moses turned to
when he was up against it with Pharaoh.
So God steps in and sends ten plagues upon Egypt. First God
turned the River Nile into blood. Then he sent the frogs. Then came the
gnats, then the flies, then disease to kill the livestock, then boils and sores to
infect the people, then hail the size of softballs, then swarms of locusts, then
thick darkness, and finally the death of the first born. The invisible God of
the Hebrews came to the rescue by sending ten plagues upon Pharaoh and
his people as a judgment upon them for stubbornly defying God’s will and
purpose by refusing to let His people go free.
A friend of mine in prison recently wrote to me. In his letter he
observed: “Tough times will come, BUT God will come through!” I like
the realism of this statement, “tough times will come.” They are not a
surprise. Indeed, they are to be expected. But I also like the hope of this
statement, “But God will come through.” Tough times came for the
Hebrews in their struggle with Pharaoh, but God came through. He visited
Pharaoh and the Egyptians with a judgment of ten plagues.
I.
Falling Into the Hands of an Angry God!
When God sent the ten plagues upon Egypt He communicated a
simple spiritual principal that many of us continue to miss to this day. It’s
this: IT’S A TERRIBLE THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF AN
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ANGRY GOD! In other words, if you defy God you will pay the price. The
Bible says it clearly:
“God will repay…for sins and destroy… for…
wickedness…” (Psalm 94:23)
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God!
Pharaoh was the richest, most powerful man in all the earth, but he
played it fast and loose with God and he fell under God’s judgment. His son
was killed, his wealth was lost, and his country was ground to dust. Not so
much as one green leaf was left to stand. It was utterly destroyed.
But you don’t have to be a world leader to fall into the hands of an
angry God. Some of us play it fast and loose with God’s law and we reap a
harvest of sorrow and regret. We cheat on our taxes only to reap an audit.
We cheat our family of time at home only to reap the whirlwind of angry
children.
And God does not ignore us when we presume to break His laws.
God is not timid when He levels His judgment. Some of us presume that
God is all kind and loving… that he always grades on the curve, but this just
isn’t what the Bible tells us. God can be stern and hard. The Bible tells us:
“… God is no respecter of persons…” (Acts
10:34)
God does not care for rank or race, family, title, or pedigree. When we stand
outside God’s will and stubbornly refuse His leadership He will not hesitate
to humble us before Him. We will get burned when we play with fire, and if
we dance to the devils tune we will pay his band. God is a Holy God of
justice. When we break God’s laws, they break us!
( A couple of weeks ago during the U.S. Open at Pine Hurst South
Carolina golfer Orelsebal this years Masters champion had a horrible round
and he was so mad with himself that he slammed his fist through his hotel
wall breaking his hand, forcing him out of the tournament. That’s what
happens when we break God’s laws… they break us. )
God knows exactly where you are and what you are up to. There is no
hiding from His all seeing eye. If you play, you will pay, and the price that
you pay will far outstrip whatever foolish pleasure you might enjoy. It is a
terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.
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The Prophet Jonah found this out. He defied God and was swallowed
by a whale. Judas found this out. He defied God and was swallowed into the
belly of hell itself.
A sinner in the hands of an angry God is a thing to be feared with all
our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
I remember when I was a kid and misbehaved. I never got too
nervous about my mother’s discipline. But when she said, “I’m going to tell
your father.” Shear terror struck my heart. The Bible says,
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
(Proverbs 1:7)
It’s a good thing to have a healthy fear of God, for the plagues are not
limited to pharaoh.
II.
Five Responses to Ten Plagues:
Not all of us respond to God’s judgment the same way. When judged
and corrected by God some of us get angry, like the child boiling over into
uncontrolled rage after being spanked. Some of us retreat, like the child
who locks themselves into their room. But some of us are grateful for
correction. The Bible says:
“Do not correct the insolent or they will hate you;
correct the wise man, and he will be your friend.”
(Proverbs 9:8 NEB)
All of us need to be judged and corrected at different times in our lives, and
those of us who resist or resent it are those who never grow to maturity.
Of Course, not everyone responds to judgment and correction the
same way. When God sent His judgment of the ten plagues upon the
Egyptians there were five different responses.
The 1st response was Pharaoh’s own hard hearted defiance of God.
But to reject correction only begets more correction.
The 2nd response to God’s judgement came from Pharaoh’s
magicians. It was a confession. After seeing the plagues they went to
Pharaoh and confessed, “This is the finger of God.” (Exodus 8:19) They
believed God’s hand was in the plagues, but they didn’t do anything about it.
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The 3rd reaction came from pharaoh’s servants. They went to
Pharaoh and complained that the whole country was being destroyed. They
said,
“…do you not yet understand that Egypt is
ruined?” (Exodus 10:7)
Complaining of course doesn’t get us very far, but at least they had the
courage to say something.
The 4th reaction to God’s judgment came from Egyptians citizens.
They had enough of God’s plagues, so they freed the Hebrew slaves and
pushed them out of their land (Ex. 12:33). They figured that if they got rid
of the Hebrew slaves that they would get rid of their God too. In other
words, their reaction was to try and get rid of God rather than follow Him.
The 5th reaction to God’s ten plagues came from a mixture of
different Egyptians. After seeing the power of God’s judgment upon
Pharaoh and Egypt, they decided to join the Hebrew slaves so that they too
could follow God! (Ex. 12:38) This is the response God wants from all of
us. He wants us to change our lives and follow Him. He doesn’t want us
just to confess or complain. He wants us to change.
III
What Is The Response God Wants?
People today have a hard time taking personal responsibility for
wrongdoing. Earlier this year the Rev. Henry Lyons was convicted of
misusing church funds to buy big diamonds, fancy cars, and vacation homes
but he claimed he was a victim of the media and racism. Theodore
Bramwell told police that he didn’t slam his infant daughter’s head into a
wall, killing her, but that she fell out of her car seat while at home. And of
course there is the case of the two teenage boys arrested in Ft. Lauderdale
for raping their 8 year old sister. They blamed their actions on the Jerry
Springer Show. People have a hard time taking personal responsibility. Just
listen to some of today’s book titles at Barnes and Nobles:
The Dog Ate My Homework; Personal Responsibility - How We Evade It
and What To do About It! by Vince Barry
Shifting the Blame: How Victimization Became a Criminal Defense by Davis
Westervelt
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The Truth and The Blame Game by Stan and Jan Berenstain
What God wants from all of us when we come under His judgment and
correction is a changed heart and a new direction. To fall into the hands of
an angry God is a terrible thing, and when this happens God wants us to
humble ourselves. He doesn’t want any excuses or explanations. He wants
our hearts to be broken and contrite. The scripture says,
“The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit,
A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will not
despise.” (Psalm 51:17)
And in His Word God says,
“This is the one I esteem:
He who is humble and contrite in spirit,
and trembles at my word.”
(Isaiah 66:2)
What is a broken and contrite heart? It is one that sincerely grieves for the
wrong that has been committed. God’s ten plagues brought no grief to
Pharaoh’s heart. They only served to harden Pharaoh’s heart. But when we
fall under God’s judgment God wants us to soften our hearts and make
changes.
President Clinton may very well have saved his presidency by
appearing before the American public on television and making an open
hearted confession that he had committed adultery. In his confession he
expressed his profound regret and sorrow, and his contrite heart before the
American public persuaded many to forgive him.
When we do wrong God wants us to feel sorrow for it. He wants our
hearts broken before Him, for when they are broken they are also open… to
change. This is a basic spiritual principal that is important for you to
understand if you are to grow in your relationship with God: WHEN YOUR
HEART IS BROKEN IT IS ALSO OPEN!!! It is not enough just to be
sorry for wrongs. God wants a changed heart and a changed direction.
When you fall into the hands of an angry God His purpose is to change your
direction, for God is not going to change His. The Bible is clear that God
does not change… ever. The Bible says,
“For I the Lord do not change…” (Malachi3:6)
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What was wrong yesterday in God’s eyes is wrong today, and will be wrong
tomorrow. It is not up to God to change and adapt to us, it is up to us to
change and adapt to God.
Some people get angry with the Church because it does not change
with the times. They think the church should accept living together before
marriage because just about everyone is doing it. They think the church
should accept the popular opinion of abortion on demand. They think the
church should bless homosexual marriages because the weight of popular
opinion is for it. But God does not change. The circumstances of people
may change, but God and His principles for living do not change. To
become a Christian does not mean that God will follow us. It means that we
will follow Him. God is not the one who will adapt to us. We are to adapt
to God. This of course means that changes in all of us will have to be made.
We will have to learn new ways of living and new ways of seeing the world.
We all have a choice. We can resist God just as Pharaoh did, or we can
make whatever changes are necessary.
To fall into the hands of an angry God is a fearful thing. It can
destroy us if we let it. But it can also force us to make the changes we need
to become the person that God created us to be.
Here we are wise to remember that God loves those whom he
corrects. The Scripture says,
“The Lord disciplines him whom he loves…”
(Hebrews 12:6)
It may well be that you have fallen into the hands of an angry God, but
God’s discipline is not meant to hurt but to heal. Sometimes the things that
are crooked in our lives have to be broken down so that they can be rebuilt
straight. It may well be that you are now in the grip of God and you are
feeling His pressure. This not intended for your destruction, but so that you
can make whatever changes are necessary to become the person God created
you to be.
“The Lord disciplines him whom he loves!”
This not a threat, but a promise.
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