Sunday, January 15, 2012

Plagues In Our Lives/わたしたちの生活における災い


  (1446 BC: Then/ 2012AD: Now) 

    Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.   
    ローマ15:4 これまでに書かれた事がらは、すべてわたしたちの教のために書かれたのであって、それは聖書の与える忍耐と慰めとによって、望みをいだかせるためである。

 Ex 7-11  出エジプト 7-11
And the Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.

1.Water to Blood-could not drink から
7:19  The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs’—and they will turn to blood. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.”
   The river is turned into blood. It was the distress of the Egyptians. Here is the first of the ten plagues.  It was a righteous plague, and justly sent upon the Egyptians; for the Nile, the Great River of Egypt, was their idol. That creature which we idolize, God justly takes from us, or makes bitter to us. The Egyptians had stained the river with the blood of the Hebrews' children, and now God made that river all blood and not only the river but all water—everywhere.  When people thirsted after blood, sooner or later they had enough of it. It was a significant plague; Egypt had great dependence upon their river. Truth will find us out as Truth seeks no corners. It is sin that turns our waters into blood.

2. Frogs-slimy frogs  かえる
 8:2-4  If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

3. Gnats or Lice-on the body  ぶよ あるいはのみ
8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.”

4. Flies-filth  あぶ
8:21 If you do not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.

5. Livestock Diseased-food 家畜の疫病
9:3 The hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. There was a very grievous fast-spreading disease like that of anthrax.

6. Boils-Personal   うみの出る腫物
9:8-9 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on men and animals throughout the land.”

7. Thunder and Hail 雷と雹
9:18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.

8. Locusts-ate everything the hail missed  いなご
10:4-5 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields.

9. Darkness-grouping without the Light of God. 暗闇
Go look at the first missionary journey of Paul when he had been set on an island-at Paphos, the false prophet named Bar-Jesus tried to keep the leader of the island from hearing the Gospel. Acts 13:11“Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.”  Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Same kind of darkness BUT this one could be felt!  Not just a man made blind-but all the Egyptians!
 
10:21-23 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

10. Angel of Death-Firstborn had the birthright. 死の使い! All the dreams for the family was in that one child.  It took the life of Pharaoh’s son as well; the hope of the Nation.
11:4-7 So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.’ Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.

   After all these ten plagues on the Pharaoh’s country, one condition remained.  His heart was cold and hardened.  Can you even imagine that kind of response to these events?

   All this resulted in the leader of that great land of Egypt letting the People, the Hebrews, go. His heart was hard. Difficult to understand such hardness as his country was broken, economically shot, health wise, in the grabage and with so much personal loss. And yet, the Pharaoh was not all that convinced. And you and I would need to understand that he is no different from people today. Even ourselves. What did it take before we gave into the Way of God in our lives? Some of us came kicking and screaming into the faith—while others came running into the Light.  How does this historical event in Egypt help us understand the Hand of God?  How does it help us see our need for the Almighty?  How does it help us understand our need for a Savior?  A Savior from all the idols we have placed in our lives—as the Egyptians did so many years ago.

    While all this happened to the Land and People of Egypt, how did it affect the lives and hearts of the Hebrews? Did it help them in any way? Was their Faith in their “I AM THAT I AM” God made more sure? Did it help them in their walk of faith as they stepped out into the vast unknown?  In a word: no. Both responded the same way.

We need to learn from our past. わたしたちはわたしたちの過去に学ぶ必要がある
     One fact about our past is this! We can’t change our past. What was done was done. We need to learn from the past mistakes and successes but, try as we might, we can’t change the past.  Having said that, why then do we rehearse our past mistakes? Why do we allow the Evil One room in our minds to bring up our shortcomings time and time again?

     One reason is we might believe that we can still make changes in our past. That isn’t reality, is it? Yet we try.  If only I had said … If I only had chosen the other one …  I wish I had not … Why did that happen to me…?
     You can see that this will get us nowhere, yet we try. I hear a lot of this from people. I regret …   If only I had …  What a difference it would have made if …  That kind of living is like the Hebrews wanting to go back into Egypt. Oh, life back then was great!  We had all the good foods, we had work, and we had family times!  Truth is, you were slaves back then. You were hungry for Life itself. You were over worked. And your families were in bad shape.  NOTHING about the Good Old Days were all that good!
     Seems to be a trend to try and relive the past.  Whether it is retro music or haircuts or styles in cloths, the past was not all that good. You have come so far since then. And you have seen that some of the decisions you made were made ill advised.  Some of the conversation that you were involved in did not bring Glory to the Lord BUT what can be done with them now?

We need to put our full trust in the One who has called us. わたしたちは神に全幅の信頼を置く必要がある

     Let it go. Forgive yourself.  I know you might want to hold on to them, but let it go! Don’t allow yourself the room for reliving the past. Give it to the Lord Who will touch it in His Own way. He will bring true refreshment to our souls. The old song back in the mid 70’s went: すべてをイエスに捧げよ


Give Them All To Jesus  by Phil Johnson and Bob Benson, Sr.
Are you tired of chasing pretty rainbows? Are you tired of spinning round and round? Wrap up all those shattered dreams of your life. And at the feet of Jesus, lay them down.
Give them all to Jesus, Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys. Give them all to Jesus. And He will turn your sorrows into joy.


     The Lord WILL give His Peace to us as we learn to trust Him fully. And for many of us this morning, we have already put our trust in Him who has given us New Life in His Son, Jesus.  Some of us, as well, have not moved from that decision. We need to expand our Faith. We need to exercise our faith in many ways. I will hand out  a handout that has some verses to read and meditate on during this coming week. Add to your Faith a Heart to Trust.  Give them all to Jesus. (See list of verses at the end of this message.)
   Now, we may never see the Plagues upon our lives like those in Egypt received from the Hand of the Lord. But when hard times do come—and they will—we need to be found trusting Him.  Failure to do so will not only be sad, it would be a waste of a life. Trust God. Let each of us learn to do that in community. You can depend on this fellowship to help you. I can say that because I know you are able to help each other in your trust of God.       What matters in your life?      Please read Matthew 11:28.

"Failure is achieving success in something that ultimately doesn't matter." 失敗とはどうでもよい何かに成功することである。 Dr. Dixon in Chapel at CIU 1/10/2012.

Life for something that is well worth the life He saved.  Give it ALL to Jesus.

 (From the handout- Ps 46:1-2; 84:11-12; 37:3-5; 40:4; 125:1; Proverbs 3:5-6; Luke 12:32; Mark 6:31-32; and 1 Peter 5:7.)

Walk with the King today and be a blessing!