Trinity Bible Church

Prayer

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Today we will consider the eighth and ninth plagues God ushers onto Egypt. Could God have accomplished what He needed to in one plague? Certainly, yet He chose to judge Pharaoh and Egypt with ten plagues. Dad, ask your family what life lessons God was impressing upon Egypt (and Israel) through the series of ten plagues. Consider these variables: the hardness of man’s heart, the shallow faithfulness in God that Israel was presently evidencing, the increased dependence on God which Israel would need in the future.

Dad’s Study

The eighth and ninth plagues continue much the same patterns as the prior plagues – God speaks to Moses, Moses speaks to Pharaoh, Pharaoh initially lets Israel go, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened still further, God relents of His judgment. Yet in the face of this impending eighth plague involving an army of locusts, Pharaoh’s servants step to the forefront with some rather sober insight to their master: “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?” (10:7). To such counsel, Pharaoh initially seems to relent and evidence a willingness to let the Israelites go, but soon reverts to his old ways as he drives Moses and Aaron out of his presence.

We know very well that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). We also know very well that over time, hardened hearts become still harder. This hard-heartedness is on full display in Revelation 16 during the tribulation, as unbelievers see and face the wrath of God, recognize its source and seemingly understand its purpose, yet continue to blaspheme God and choose not to repent from their ways and works (Rev. 16:9, 11, 21). Such is the all-consuming bondage to sin. In a foretaste of the unbeliever’s destiny, the ninth plague arrives on the scene in utter darkness over the land of Egypt. Though unbelievers love (spiritual) darkness rather than light (John 3:19), in its futuristic foretaste here (as physical darkness) and in its final fulfillment (Matthew 22:13), unbelievers will hate it!

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Consider these questions with your family today?

1. If we don’t confess sin in a “timely fashion,” what thought and behavior patterns can develop in our lives? (2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 4:27; 1 Timothy 1:19-20; 4:2; James 5:19-20)

2. What is a “timely fashion” for confessing sin? (Ephesians 4:26)

3. Ephesians 4:18-19 paints a picture of the unbeliever, and Ephesians 4:25-5:21 paints a picture of the believer. How does your portrait compare with the Bible’s portrait?

4. Though the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4), it is God who is ultimately and sovereignly in control, even in the hardness of Pharaoh. From Romans 9:14-24, discuss the purposes of God in His hardening of Pharaoh.

Catechism

Question 68

Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21), and leads to holiness in the future.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Prayer

“For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.” Psalm 125:3, 4.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Respect for private ownership is frequently observed throughout Scripture (see Prov. 31:15; Acts 5:4), and reflects the fact that men are held responsible for their actions. There are governments that attempt to limit or do away with private ownership. These are called “socialist,” and in the end, “communists.” Socialism attempts to remove private ownership of land and/or goods as the means of controlling people. Many of the evil kingdoms mentioned in the Bible tended toward socialism with one man having absolute power over all things.

Dad’s Study

There had been four plagues up until Chapter 9: the Nile turned to blood, the frogs, the gnats or lice, and the swarm (of insects, whether of flies or locust). The first three miracles – the staff turned into a serpent (not a plague), the blood and the frogs – the magicians of Egypt could duplicate. The last two made Pharaoh’s “advisors” declare that God was involved, that this was no magic. Now in Chapter 9, three more plagues take place: the death of livestock, the boils, and the hail with fire.

What may be of interest here is how the government of Egypt operated. Read about the plague of the hail, and see if you can see whom the cattle belong to in the passage (9:13-26). You may ask where these livestock came from, since verse 6 tells us that “all” the livestock were killed, except what belonged to the Jews. If you look at verse 3, the livestock or cattle are described as “horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep.” They did not all die, but all types of them died which belonged to Pharaoh, yet not one of the Jews’ livestock died. The legacy of Joseph lived on in at least this way: the Jewish people, though slaves, owned their own livestock.

Remember that the government of Egypt had purchased everything on account of the famine over four hundred years earlier. The Pharaoh was monarch over a government that was socialistic. The government had absolute power. Many believe that it was the first of the eight empires spoken of by the Lord as “beasts” (for further study see Revelation 17:10-12, Daniel 2:31-45 and Daniel 7:3-8). These are the antichrist empires, so named because they particularly persecuted God’s people.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Power in the hands of sinful man may lead to greater corruption, which frequently results in the oppression of God’s people. That is why the founding fathers of The United States worked hard to design a government that would not abuse its power or persecute Christian worshippers. Although Pharaoh had oppressive power, he was raised up by the sovereign hand of God to accomplish God’s perfect will. Has God given you authority over others? Everyone has some authority, whether fathers, mothers, or children. Discuss what authority you do have. How does God want you to exercise that authority according to His will?

Catechism

Question 68

Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21), and leads to holiness in the future.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Prayer

Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great (Psalm 25:8-11).

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

1 Timothy 2:2 calls on us to pray for our rulers that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. The implication is that the actions of our rulers will directly affect the tranquility, godliness, and dignity of the people. In America we recently reelected a president whom many believe won reelection because he possessed what they perceived to be a strong moral character. But that has not always been the case. The previous President’s tenure in office was riddled with scandal. Discuss with your family how the personal holiness of our leaders, or the lack thereof, can affect the lives of those whom God has placed under their authority.

Dad’s Study

Pharaoh has hardened his heart to the point that the first two plaques caused him no concern (Exodus 7:23). In Exodus 8 we see some changes taking place that are instructional to us today. First, we see the intensity of God’s hand of discipline on Egypt as a result of Pharaoh’s disobedience becoming greater. Pharaoh’s magicians could still imitate this miracle, but Scripture records that the frogs made the land foul, 8:14, and the plague of gnats could not be imitated. These would have been, at the least, extremely annoying to the cultured Egyptians and caused Pharaoh to ask Moses for relief. Pharaoh’s heart had not changed any, yet the consequences of his sin had become extreme enough that he wanted relief. Notice that this did not cause him to repent and turn from his sin, just the consequences, so when there was relief from those consequences he hardened his heart again and continued in disobedience. Pharaoh’s repentance was a repentance that leads to death, not life (2 Cor. 7:10).

Pharaoh’s disobedience does not affect just him. Pharaoh is the federal head of his nation, as such the consequences of his sin affects the nation, just as the consequences of Adam’s sin as the federal head of mankind, has affected us all. The plagues of Egypt affected the entire land; all of Pharaoh’s people suffered the consequences of his sin. The plagues left the land of Egypt in ruin.

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

We see this experience played out in the life of the church. God chastens the son that He loves. Evidence that we are His is that we respond by repenting of our sin and turning from it, not with a sorrow that is concerned only with the consequences of our sin, but a sorrow that is a true grieving for having offended a Holy God. Sometimes this chastening must become incrementally harsher to turn our hard hearts, yet because of God’s love for His children He applies the rod that brings obedience and saves us from death. This principle is embodied in Matthew 18:15-20 regarding church discipline. The sad truth is though, at times, there are those professing believers among us who do not respond to God’s rod of discipline because of the hardness of their own hearts. They eventually must be put out from among us; put out for the destruction of the flesh that the soul may be saved and to remove the leaven that will contaminate the rest of the body with their sin. This is even more the case when it involves the sins of those whom God has appointed as under-shepherds of His people. In that case this process of discipline is to be done publicly, that all may see and fear. As we confront sinful disobedience in our lives, and in the life of the church, may God be gracious and grant the sorrow that leads to life.

Catechism

Question 68

Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21), and leads to holiness in the future.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Prayer

“Our Father, we are wretched and unable to deliver ourselves from death. But Thou art merciful, bringing no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. How we thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

What is slavery? Take a few moments to define and describe how some in history have enslaved other human beings. What do you think it would have been like to be a slave? A slave owner?

Does slavery exist today? Is slavery limited to one human owning or controlling another? Are there other forms of slavery? For example, are addictions a form of slavery? Can abuse be a form of slavery? Do you think everyone experiences some form of slavery?

God’s people had been enslaved for about 400 years. But, as we have been reading, He has been preparing the way to redeem the Hebrews from their slavery to Egypt. Now God was ready to prove that He is greater than all of the Egyptian’s deities.

Dad’s Study

God is about to confront Pharaoh by Moses and Aaron working miracles. In Exodus 6:28-30, after being recommissioned by God, Moses objected. In Exodus 7:1-7, God reassures Moses that He will accomplish His will, “and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.”

Moses and Aaron proceed to obey God’s command. Aaron’s rod becoming a serpent verified to Pharaoh that the Hebrew’s “god” was powerful, until the Egyptian sorcerers drew upon all the evil forces to copy the miracle. Then, Aaron’s rod swallowed up all the others’. As God promised, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, 7:8-13.

[It is difficult to understand how the defiance of one against God, like Pharaoh, can glorify Him (see Exodus 9:16) just as the compliance of another can simultaneously glorify God. We accept both as "Thy will be done."]

Moses and Aaron are now instructed to confront Pharaoh with the first plague (7:14-19). Each of the plagues would interact with, and then demonstrate superiority over one or more of the Egyptian’s deities. The Nile River was believed to be under the control of the Egyptian gods, which gave life. By turning the water to blood, God destroyed Egypt’s source of life, and even saw it produce death (7:20-21). When God acts, man responds. The sorcerers (like madmen) only intensified the judgment by duplicating the miracle, people of Egypt sought for fresh water (to save themselves) by digging wells, the Pharaoh persisted in resisting God (7:22-25).

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

What enslaves you? Idols or gods? Destructive actions or willful habits? Powers or authorities? False conclusions or wrong attitudes? Ideologies or philosophies? Fear or pride? Whatever opposes God and His truth enslaves and oppresses His people (that’s you and me). God can conquer His enemies. As we come to know and trust Him, whatever it is that enslaves us, God will destroy, because He has lifted us to freedom in Jesus Christ.

Catechism

Question 68

Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21), and leads to holiness in the future.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Prayer

“Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen.” -Psalm 105:3-6.

Today’s Hymn

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David, 1719. Music: Antioch, arranged by Lowell Mason, 1836.

The tune is the piecing together of themes in Handel’s Messiah found in the chorus and in the instrumental interludes in “Lift up your heads” and the introduction and interludes of the recitative “Comfort ye.” John Wilson in “Handel and the Hymn Tune: II, Some Hymn Tune Arrangements,” in the January 1986 volume of The Hymn has traced the tune’s origins to A Collection of Tunes, ed. T. Hawkes, 1833, and Voce de Melodia, ed. William Holford, ca. 1835. It was popularized in the USA by Lowell Mason who included our version in Occasional Psalm and Hymn Tunes, 1836, and for no stated reason named it ANTIOCH (see Henry L. Mason, Hymn-Tunes of Lowell Mason, 1944).

JOY TO THE WORLD
Click here for tune.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

Thought Provoker

Did you ever become so engrossed in the details of an event that you forgot the outcome? Maybe the plot in a mystery novel became so exciting, you forgot “who done it?” Maybe the contest between your favorite sports teams was so filled with home runs, touchdowns, or goals that you didn’t remember who won. In these chapters of Exodus, the drama is so exciting and a bit overwhelming; it is easy to forget the main message-God.

Dad’s Study

Before God revealed His power in the Ten Plagues, He reminded Moses of His name. God’s name reflects His character and work.

1. As you read verses 1-9, ask: What assurance did God give Moses? By what name did God establish His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? (God Almighty, El Shaddai). Here is God’s answer to Moses’ prayer from Exodus 5:22-23: “Remember Moses, I have shown myself to be Omnipotent!”

2. By what name was God further revealing Himself? In our English Bibles, God’s personal name is printed in a different format for our benefit. The word “God” is usually translated from the Hebrew word Elohim, and means “ruler, owner.” The word “Lord” (with a capital L followed by lower case letters) is usually translated from the Hebrew word Adonai and means “almighty one.” But the word Lord (with a capital L followed by smaller capital letters) is translated from the Hebrew word Yahweh. While we can’t be sure how this name is pronounced, we do know this is God’s personal name rather than a descriptive title. Earlier in Exodus, God revealed to Moses that His name means I Am. We could amplify this meaning by saying: “Lord means ‘The One Who Causes All Things To Be The Way They Are.’” The Lord was about to demonstrate to Israel His ability to keep the covenant made with their forefathers and to Egypt how powerful He really is.

3. As you read verses 10-13, 28-30, ask: How did Moses and Aaron respond to God’s command to speak to Pharaoh? These verses are great reminders that Moses needed constant encouragement. So do we. Our Lord provided a means for us to receive constant encouragement from Him as well, through His Word and the fellowship of the saints.

4. By way of application, ask: Have the blessings of the Christian life become more important to you than the One Who Causes the blessings? How does God’s name(s) give you encouragement to be obedient today?

Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Truth in Practice

Here are some subjects you might find helpful for the next several chapters. Even using a one-volume Bible dictionary can provide enough information to assist in understanding the chapters of the Ten Plagues. Of course, personal interest and/or time constraints will determine your indulgence in further study. Enjoy!

Religion? What was the Egyptian religious system? How closely was Egypt’s geography related to her religion? What religious role did Pharaohs have? How does Egypt’s religion demonstrate man’s attempt at self-preservation?

Pharaoh? Who was the Pharaoh when Moses was born? Who was the Pharaoh of the great oppression? Who was the Pharaoh of the exodus? What can be learned about the lives of each Egyptian ruler? Of God’s enemies, which is most like the Pharaohs of Egypt?

Catechism

Question 68

Q. How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16), trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past (Acts 20:21), and leads to holiness in the future.

Popularity: unranked [?]