Editor’s note: This is a transcript of a Sunday class audio recording, lightly edited by Claude AI. Spelling has been corrected, sentences and paragraphs have been formed from spoken delivery, and Scripture quotations have been highlighted. Class member contributions and Q&A have been preserved with attribution. Banter, asides, and interjections that drift from the main teaching have been marked [banter] or [interjection] as appropriate. Section headings have been added to aid navigation. The Scripture reading (Exodus 10:1–20) and opening prayer are referenced rather than reproduced in full.

Calling the Class to Order

All right. So we are going to need a reader. We are in the book of Exodus, chapter 10, verses 1 to 20. Let us begin with a reading, and then a prayer. Thank you, Nathan, to the rescue.

[Scripture reading: Exodus 10:1–20 — read by Nathan, a class member.]

Thank you very much, Nathan. If one of the Beyond men could pray for us, that would be much appreciated.

[Opening prayer: offered by John Michael.]

Amen. Thank you, John Michael.

Frog Ministers?

[banter] Now, you might be asking yourself — well, you already know that women ministers are not a real thing — but what about frog ministers? Have you ever thought about that before? I am not sure I can continue in the person of a frog. Perhaps I will just start the video and see if something else appears.

All right, folks. We are into the eighth plague now. There is plenty to say, but I want to focus mostly on the first part — meditations on the opening verses. There is plenty to say about the locusts.

A Side Note: Are We Allowed to Eat Locusts?

[banter] Of course — are we allowed to eat locusts, by the way? Yes, yes we are. I would not fancy it myself, but I cannot refuse it on ethical grounds. Interesting.

Rushdoony’s Account of a Locust Plague

Rushdoony gives an account in his excellent Exodus commentary from the Pentateuch series. He describes one traveller — in Sardinia, I believe, though I am not entirely certain — who reported that the sky was black with locusts. The horses had to be whipped to move through them, as they were nine inches thick on the ground. You would try to take a bite of anything and end up with a locust in your mouth. If you opened a door even a crack — [interjection] pardon the expression — any keyhole at all, they swarmed through it. They were in the cellars. They were everywhere. Life was impossible.

And the stench — apparently the stench is extraordinarily awful. The traveller in question had to put a vinegar-soaked rag up his nose to help deal with the smell. So it is quite something.

Focusing on the Opening Verses: Divinely Hardened Hearts

But I want to focus on the initial passage. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants.’”

What you are going to see in the dialogue that follows are divinely hardened hearts.

Sophisticated Geopolitics: The Court Around the Throne

When we are dealing with geopolitics in the present day — and the Bible, of course, is full of geopolitics, full of internal Israelite politics and international relations, great powers and lesser powers — we must think in terms of the king or Pharaoh, and his court, who are represented here by his servants.

It is interesting that the servants were singled out in the previous plague. The Lord, in his wisdom, drove a wedge between Pharaoh and his servants — and perhaps even between one servant and another.

Can you remember the means that God used to drive that wedge? There was something unique in the seventh plague.

Class member: The plague did not touch Pharaoh, but it did hit his servants who were out in the field.

That is not quite what I am thinking of, though that may also be true. What I am thinking of has to do with the choices the servants could make. God warned them so that they could act on that warning. And some of them did. They got to taste what it was like to exercise a degree of faith in the warnings of God, and to see a very material result from it. That is good.

And so they could say to themselves: if we simply obey what Jehovah’s authenticated messenger says — [interjection] now, when I say “Jehovah’s authenticated messenger,” cast your mind back. How did Moses become an authenticated, proven messenger of Jehovah before Pharaoh and his court?

The Lord spoke to Moses, knowing that Moses would need to be accredited. He said: this will be your means of authentication — this is what you do. And first of all, Moses was authenticated before the elders of Israel. The elders said, “Yes, we will follow you,” which was crucial. Indeed, he would have had to secure their approval before properly representing the nation. That is why the text says, “You shall appear as God before Pharaoh” — that is, as a civil representative, a civil person, before Pharaoh. This was all necessary.

So he is an accredited voice of Jehovah.

Trump and His Cabinet, Starmer and His Servants

We must think in sophisticated terms. We cannot simply say, “There is a king — that is it.” When we think of Trump, we should think: what about his cabinet? What about the advisors, the court? Because a president is in many ways as powerful as any king who ever lived — more powerful, in fact. We have to ask: what are the people around him like? Previously they were trying to sabotage him; now they at least appear to be working toward his agenda, [interjection] for good or ill.

Let us be sophisticated, because this is the picture the Bible gives us again and again. We see it clearly with Joseph, who had a brief encounter with Pharaoh’s inner circle. We see it with Daniel, who was specially trained and groomed to become part of the court and rose greatly within it.

When we think of Keir Starmer, we cannot think of Keir Starmer alone. We must think: who is putting him in power? Who is enabling him? These people do not float in the air. No matter how powerful a ruler appears, there is a whole apparatus beneath him keeping him up.

It is a point worth driving home, because we want to use the tools that the Bible gives us to better understand the world in which we live.

Verse 2: The Educational Purpose

“That I may show these signs of mine before him.” Now into verse 2. “And that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

Wait a moment. Where did this skip from a confrontation before Pharaoh to telling your son, and your son’s sons? What is this about?

Are you telling me that the purpose behind all of this was an educational one? That God — you see, the Lord here is writing a story.

God Writes a Story in History

We can write stories because we are made in the image of God. A dog cannot write a story. But the Lord is writing a story — and he is writing it in history.

I read two commentaries on this passage, and I nearly could not stomach them, because both were unbelieving. [interjection] One of them — I will come back to this — actually treats the text as just a story. Unbelievably. This is at the heart of the Christian faith, and they treat it as legend.

He writes a story in history. And the purpose of that story is stated plainly.

Why? To Bolster Covenant Children’s Faith

“That you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt.”

So this whole magnificent display of divine power against Egypt — the devastation of the greatest empire on earth — was designed, among other purposes, to be a true story that bolsters the faith of covenant children. Remarkable. Is it not remarkable, the power of God?

The Stars in the Heavens — For Whom?

The Lord creates massive things for the sake of his people. Think of the stars in heaven. What is their purpose, according to Genesis 1?

Class member: For signs and seasons.

Yes, exactly. Let us read it. (Genesis 1:14) — “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.’”

The purpose of the stars is not simply to exist as giant distant objects. God has written them in the sky for signs — for us. He put the stars in the heavens for his people, so that they might be able to mark the seasons and the times of the year. These immense, far-off, extraordinarily powerful objects have meaning, and that meaning is revealed in Scripture as relating to the chief of his creation — those who uniquely bear his image — which is us.

Awed at the Responsibility

So when you think of yourself, we must be awed at the responsibility God gives us. He throws the stars into the heavens for his people. He devastates the most powerful empire in history for his people. And here, he designs the story of the plagues specifically so that it can be told to the sons and the sons’ sons of his people.

“That you may tell in the hearing of your son” — is it the women who are to tell the children? Apparently not, or not primarily. It says your son and your son’s son. It seems to be saying that the fathers should be the ones passing this on to their sons. Obviously nothing stops the women — but the responsibility is placed squarely on the fathers.

God’s Vision Is Multigenerational

So it is interesting that at the heart of this passage — not only do we have an educational purpose, not only do we have the meaning of this mighty devastation of Egypt — but we have God’s heart and God’s vision, which is multigenerational for his covenant people.

If God thinks in terms of multiple generations, can we afford to think only about today, this week, our own lifetime? No. And we cannot even restrict ourselves to our own sons. We should be thinking in terms of generations.

Calvin’s Sons

Calvin had one son who died, and he was mocked for it in Geneva. But was he not able to say that the world is peopled with his sons? Because in his calling he was fruitful.

And that is one of the blessings of Scripture, is it not? Even the eunuch can — (Isaiah 56:4–5) — “I will give you a name that is better than sons and daughters.” There are promises there for us all, and this multigenerational perspective is available to us all.

[Tiffany looks up the reference and confirms it as Isaiah 56:4–5.]

Multigenerational Plotting — On Both Sides

After all, we hear a great deal of complaining about secret societies plotting across generations. They have been at it for generations. And you might think to yourself: do you have a generational perspective? Are you thinking in terms of how to reach the children? Are you thinking about sons and sons’ sons?

Let us conform our minds and adjust our vision accordingly.

From the International to the Domestic

“And that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son” — we come here from an international, geopolitical scene — the court of Pharaoh — to something very domestic, homely, and personal. A beautiful thing: a father talking to his son. Can anything be more personal than that?

God’s concern is with the nations, but it is also very much with a father and his son. He sees it. That matters.

“That you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

Be Good Storytellers

Here is a practical thought: let us aim to be good storytellers. Let us build that into our priorities. There are people who devote their lives to writing and dramatising history, and that is a legitimate and important calling.

And we realise that Moses himself — the human author of this text — is a highly skilled writer. There is real artistry in the crafting of this story. Let us not demean those who devote themselves to literary and historical work. Let them devote themselves first to the Lord, that they might faithfully recount things.

A Confession: My History Background

[interjection] My background is in history. I would like to say I studied history, but the most honest thing I can say is that I attended classes where history was taught. I was not a good student. I did not have a good work ethic. But what I did know is that I could not teach history in a secular school, because their version of history is, of course, a lie. You are likely going to have to teach history from a Marxist perspective if you simply read from their textbooks.

The Promise Embedded in the Verse

But let us unpack this further. There is a promise here: “That you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

There is a way of the Lord embedded in that verse. We want to know the ways of the Lord, discover them, and put them into practice — because the ways of the Lord work.

As Myron Golden says wisely: if your life is not working, ask yourself — are you working life the way life is meant to be worked? You will never get the ketchup out of a bottle if you are trying to pour it from the wrong end. Certain things simply do not work that way.

And here we have a promise — a guaranteed example of how things work. The father tells the son and the son’s son. He passes on the story of salvation, judgement, redemption, and liberation. And the promise? If you do these things, fathers, your sons will know that I am the Lord.

So here, in narrative form, is a promise: if you faithfully tell the story, they will believe.

Two Unbelieving Commentaries

I read two commentaries on this passage. The Word Biblical Commentary — which sounds respectable enough — sees the exodus events as what you might call Heilsgeschichte, salvation history in a Barthian sense: that is, it is spiritually significant, but it did not actually happen. There is a whole class of theologians who devote their lives to theology but do not believe the events of the Bible actually occurred. They say, “Oh yes, this is of great spiritual importance” — while denying that it happened in history.

So let us run the text’s own promise through that filter. What will happen if you teach this story as though it did not happen — or actively say it did not happen? What comes out the other end? If you tell it faithfully and believingly to your children, your sons and grandsons will believe. If you teach it as though it never happened, a great many will have their faith shipwrecked.

What do we find at Bible colleges? Exactly that. And what a weight of responsibility — and of punishment — awaits those who are teachers and who promote these books.

I read those commentaries sometimes because they can be useful — they will identify a Hebrew word, or draw out a parallel in another passage of Scripture. But they are not safe guides, and it is no wonder we see the devastation around us.

We should have mercy on those who have attended Bible college. Not all Bible colleges are equal, but many people have had their faith put through the wringer.

Pausing for Questions

Class member: Can I ask a question? When the chain of faith is broken — is the promise still valid if a grandfather steps in?

That is a good question, and I think yes. The text does not say this promise only applies if there is an unbroken chain going back to the exodus event. If a father, or even a grandfather, faithfully tells these stories, the promise holds. And I suppose it extends to those who minister to orphans as well. Whatever the situation, there is a promise there.

Class Question: Is Sunday School an Outsourcing?

Class member: Do you think the problem with Sunday schools is that they have become an outsourcing of this responsibility?

It is certainly weak in many forms. Sunday school material can be dreadful — sometimes it is Marxist in its assumptions; often it is placed in the hands of young women who have had no formation whatsoever for the task. But if it is led by a gifted male teacher, you could see it working.

However, if all you do is deposit your child into Sunday school or children’s church and consider the job done — that is a complete abdication of responsibility.

The deeper problem is the expectation that has grown up: leave it to the qualified experts, the qualified clergy, the qualified Sunday school teachers. Whereas the Lord has entrusted you with that responsibility and given you a promise: faithfully tell the story, and they will know that I am the Lord. That is an empowering word, not a burden. The Lord has not outsourced this to institutions — he has entrusted it to fathers.

Rushdoony on a Father’s Responsibility

This reminds me of Rushdoony recounting the story of a man whose daughter was made pregnant out of wedlock. There was a question as to what should be done. Rushdoony said to the man: it is not the wife who decides, it is not the couple who decides — you decide. You are the father.

Apparently, that man stood ten feet tall from that moment on, and gave faithfully to Chalcedon from that day forward. In an age that tears men down and makes them look foolish, this is a tremendous shot in the arm. Yes, it is a responsibility — but it is a shot in the arm. This is how a man finds himself: by fulfilling his responsibilities before God.

Verse 3: “How Long Will You Refuse to Humble Yourself?”

All right. “Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.”’”

This is the first time this precise wording appears in the narrative — and apparently the first time in all of Scripture. It is quite something to say this so directly before the god-king Pharaoh. “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?”

Sin vs. Sins

What is the difference between sin and sins? Is there a difference?

Class member: One is general and one is specific.

Precisely. Sin refers to original sin — the nature we inherit from Adam, the inward disposition. Sins are the individual transgressions that flow from that nature.

Theologically, sin is the desire to be one’s own god — to determine good and evil for oneself. That is what sin is. And we inherit that desire from our first parent, Adam. It is the disposition itself, from which individual sins flow.

Civil Rulers Are Particularly Prone to Sin

Civil rulers are particularly prone to this, because above all others they have the power of life and death, all the money, and all the prestige. Think of Nero, who drained the empire of riches to build his vast palace — seeking to live as a god. Or the ruler who bankrupted his own state to build that fairy-tale castle [interjection] — I cannot remember which one in Germany, but he was a very vain man.

When we are in sin, this is our position: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before the Lord?” This is the sin — the sin that produces all other sins.

Tiffany’s Insight About Trump and Pride

Tiffany (class member): “That the Lord is far from the proud, but he gives grace to the humble” — Tiffany’s comment about Trump came to mind here. Just how closely related pride and sin are. “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” And of course when we hear the word “pride” today, we think of the vaunting of sexual deviance — which is, of course, simply a refusal to humble oneself before God.

Tiffany’s Reflection on Hardening and Softening

Tiffany (class member): “I was just thinking about the contrast of pride and humility. The only way we are humble and broken before the Lord is that he has done the opposite for us — the opposite of what he did with Pharaoh. We have talked before about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, and also about the passages where Pharaoh hardened his own heart — it is both. But the only way we can be humble and broken before the Lord, acknowledging our emptiness and need, is that the Lord does the opposite for us — he gives us a new heart. He takes away that stony heart and gives us a soft heart. And he continues to do that. So we keep praying: Lord, make my heart tender towards you, pliable in your hands like clay. Show me where there are areas of hardness in my life, where I am not listening, not being obedient. It is the Lord who hardens and softens, and we ask for his loving discipline if we are tempted to pride — because we know he is far from the proud and gives grace to the humble.”

Good. Let us press on.

The Covenantal Formula

“Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.”

We have a covenantal formula here. The structure is: a command; if the command is disobeyed, a negative sanction; and if obeyed, the positive sanction of the negative sanction not falling. This is covenant logic throughout.

And in all of this, the Lord is also at war against the gods of Egypt. He hardens the hearts of the servants and of Pharaoh himself — to their destruction — so that through that hardening and that judgement, he leads them down the only road that ends at the destination marked: “I acknowledge that God is the Lord.”

Van Til’s Button

Van Til puts it this way: if there were a button a man could press that would suppress the image of God in him, or suppress the knowledge of God, every natural man would have his finger on that button at all times. This is what we are constantly seeking to do in our sin.

What Road Are the Western Nations On?

[interjection] I wonder — as I hear glimpses that Western governments may seriously be considering sending troops to Ukraine, and I think: surely they would never do that. Surely they will not push the current agenda to that degree. Do they not realise how foolish they are?

But God has a road in mind for every nation — a road that will eventually lead to the destination marked I acknowledge God to be the Lord. So that is just a thought.

Verses 4–6: The Locusts Predicted

“Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.”

The Economic Implications

The hail we talked about last week was already absolutely devastating for those who left their cattle and servants out in the fields. Previous plagues had already done immense damage. Now the text says explicitly that whatever survived the hail would now be completely gone.

The devastation is mind-boggling in financial terms. Even those who might have had some savings — you could think of them as a kind of middle class — after this plague, even they would have lost everything. It has gone from affecting the most vulnerable to making even the moderately prosperous destitute.

And so we mark that and say: when the Lord is at work judging a land, the economy is not going to survive.

Historical Locust Plagues

The book Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham gives two accounts of locust infestations through history: one where 80,000 lives were lost, and another where 200,000 were lost. When there is no food, there is no food. And if you could somehow procure food from outside the land, what would prevent the locusts from devouring that as well? You are in a total quandary. That is precisely why Pharaoh later calls it “this death” — because that is what it is.

Lenin and Collectivisation

Consider what happened under Lenin when farms were collectivised and harvests were seized before they were ready. The Ukrainian famine. Millions died. What might the Lord have in store for us in our own day, in order to humble us from our pride? This is devastating — totally devastating.

Greek Deities Chasing Locusts

It is interesting that Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham also details Greek deities — various figures said to be like Hercules — who were credited with chasing locusts away. The author suggests that many of those Greek traditions originated in Egypt, and that the Egyptians at some point were given credit for driving the plagues away. This connects to what God is doing throughout: systematically humiliating the entire religious structure of Egypt, from the top of the hierarchy to the bottom. He is making a fool of their gods.

A Dark Pantomime Comedy

It is like a very dark comedy at this stage. You think: surely they are going to capitulate now. It is like a pantomime — “Behind you, behind you!” Seven plagues have already come true exactly as promised. They have already seen that obeying the warnings spares them. And still they resist. It makes them appear not just proud, but foolish to the nth degree. All wisdom has departed from them.

And that is a significant aspect of our own day. Pride in civil rulers, and foolishness in civil rulers — to their own harm, to their own destruction.

We should be encouraged by that. This is a great deliverance of God’s people. When we see civil rulers behaving with spectacular foolishness, we should say: this means a great deliverance is coming.

”They Shall Fill Houses” — And He Turned and Went Out

“They shall fill your houses.” And then: “He turned and went out from Pharaoh.”

That is what we should do. We deliver the word of God, and we stop. We shut up. We do not linger to negotiate. We say what needs to be said, and we leave.

Verse 7: The Servants Turn

“Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?’”

This is the genius of God. This is the wisdom of God made manifest. He had previously worked so that some of the servants, acting in faith, had brought their servants and their beasts inside and were spared. A wedge was driven. And now, the moment Moses is out of the picture, the servants are at Pharaoh: “Are you stupid? Egypt is destroyed. This is your fault.”

God, in his wisdom, has made this depend on Pharaoh — so that the rift between Pharaoh and his servants, upon whom he depends, is widened still further.

Bargaining With God

But note what counsel the servants offer in verse 7: let the men go, but keep the women, the children, and the aged as hostages, to ensure the men come back.

Their hearts are hard. They were there; they heard; they know rightly what has been said. But sin is so foolish. Sin says: I can bargain with God. I can dicker with God. I can meet him halfway and hold something back. This is the heart of sin.

Moses and Aaron Brought Back

“So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh.” They are being summoned back — Pharaoh realises he cannot ignore this man. He is going to have to bargain.

And he, showing how dependent he is on his advisors, simply repeats their advice. It is like Solomon’s son Rehoboam, who took the counsel of the young men and said, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins — he scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” He says: “Go, serve the Lord your God. But who exactly is going?”

Moses Is Calm and Clear

Moses had been told from the beginning that Pharaoh’s firstborn would be killed. That had not happened yet. But Moses was not confused or hopeful. He was calm. He was detailed. He knew exactly what the Lord had said to him, and he was very clear about it.

“We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds; for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

This is what God’s servant is to be. Calm, detail-oriented, knowing exactly what the Lord has said, and clear in stating it. He is a faithful messenger. He is a faithful house servant.

No Dialogue, No Negotiation

What we see here is attempted negotiation. There has been a great deal of talk in recent times about dialogue — dialogue with other faiths, dialogue about ethics, dialogue about Christian practice. But the gospel, and Christian ethics, are not up for dialogue. The minister of God can only do one thing, in a thousand and one different ways: say what God has said, in the way God has said it.

Moses was very clear. We must be clear as well. We cannot alter or diminish the demands of God. We cannot say, “I will obey him here but not there.” The total liberation of the children of Israel from Egypt was contingent upon the complete faithfulness of God’s appointed representative.

And so too: if we want to inherit the promises of God, if we want our sons and our sons’ sons to know the Lord, we must faithfully tell them — for example — the exodus story, the ten-plague story, that they might believe.

The thrust of Scripture is not that we speak about God from a position of scholarly detachment. We learn about the Bible so that we might hear it and fully obey every word. That is the spirit we must have. Show me more, Lord. Give me the grace to obey here, and to keep on obeying and knowing more of your word, that I might inherit what you have promised.

Pharaoh’s Sarcasm

“The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go.” He was being sarcastic — in a pig’s eye, as we might say. “Beware, for evil is ahead of you.” He is saying: you have an evil intention. “Not so. Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired.”

Being Prepared for People Who Lie to Your Face

Are we prepared for people who, when we speak plainly, look us in the face and say, “You did not say that”? Are we prepared for people who take the plain words of God and totally misrepresent them for their own ends? We had better be, because this is what people who are high on sin do. Are we prepared to stand our ground?

“And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”

Herodotus: A Pilgrimage of 700,000

It is interesting to note — from the book Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham — that Herodotus, the Greek historian, records accounts of up to 700,000 men only making a pilgrimage to a particular temple, not counting the children. That is remarkable. This puts into context the entire dynamic: “Let us go three days’ journey into the desert, that we might worship God and make sacrifice to him.” This was a known and established thing in Egypt — mass religious pilgrimages on that scale. Herodotus also mentions that women would go as well.

And yet Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. And is it not just like a worldling to attribute evil to the very person who is most faithful? Did not Ahab do exactly that to Elijah? He said: “You troubler of Israel.”

Wrapping Up

All right. I am sorry I did not keep a better eye on the time. There is more to cover, but that should do for today.

There is plenty here: plenty of promises, plenty of warnings, plenty of instruction on how to deal with proud people, and plenty of strategy — how God divides one party of the ruling class from another, how he precipitates the disintegration of Pharaoh’s authority. Those who previously would never have questioned Pharaoh are now confronting him, driven to it by a series of foolish mistakes brought on by pride — divinely empowered pride and hardness of heart — leading to their own destruction.

So when we see pride in civil rulers, when we see spectacularly foolish decisions, we should say: Aha. The Lord is at work here. He is doing something. He is doing it so that they might know that Jehovah is the Lord.

Class Question: Was Goshen Spared?

Class member: “It does not specify that the land of Goshen was protected from the locusts, does it?”

It does not, but I think we can safely assume it was. Goshen is presented throughout as a separate land from Egypt, and Egypt is the target. So we can reasonably infer exemption, even though it is not spelled out.

Class member: “Given the timing, I think this would have been early March — and I believe it would have been the wheat harvest that was affected, which is the main harvest.”

So can we extrapolate from that, and say that when we look at Keir Starmer, we can comfort ourselves in knowing that God is at work in the United Kingdom?

God Is at Work in the UK

Absolutely yes. The spectacular stupidity and spectacular hubris of a man who apparently thinks he is still at the height of the British Empire — we could certainly say that the Lord is at work there.

Now, it does not mean the United Kingdom will survive in its present form. It does not mean anything like that. But it does mean that the Lord’s purposes will be advanced.

Class member: “And what we should be expecting, in all of this, is to see God’s glory — to see God reveal himself.”

Yes, absolutely. That more and more people would say: God is the Lord. And I think that dynamic is already visible. We have noted it on several occasions — be it something as relatively trivial as Kanye West, or incidental with Tyson Fury, or the calls from intellectuals like Douglas Murray or Tom Holland. Even Paul Joseph Watson has mentioned certain things. These are signs we did not previously see. What we previously saw was only unbelief and scorning.

The New Atheists Discredited

Even the so-called New Atheists — I think I am right in saying they have been largely discredited. They no longer have the respect or the cultural weight they once held. And we have Richard Dawkins describing himself as a cultural Christian. And Sam Harris — I watched a video of him today for the first time, and he was being thoroughly dismantled. I do not think that would have happened ten years ago.

With the eyes of faith, let us be looking out for that. And perhaps even within the churches — let us look for signs at least.

Telling Other Deliverance Stories

One more thought: we can take the exodus story as a model and apply it to other deliverances. Think of the Spanish Armada. Think of the Pilgrims, and how they were preserved when they first came ashore in America — the native peoples who would have destroyed them the year before apparently had been devastated by disease and were no longer in a position to resist them.

We must tell those stories, in imitation of this exodus model, so that others might know that the Lord is God. A godless history is a nursery for unbelief.

Archbishop Ussher’s Annals of the World details history in terms of the covenant — was a given people obedient to the covenant or not? As a fellow Northern Irishman — Ussher was Archbishop of Armagh — that should be our approach.

Class Comment: The Marxist Naming of Things

Class member: “It made me think of how the Marxist wing of politics always names itself ‘progressive’ — when it is obviously not progressive in the slightest, it is regressive. Their organisations name themselves things like ‘family planning’ when the opposite is true. Black Lives Matter — which, in practice, meant black lives did not matter. It is always the exact opposite of the name. The NAC — the New American Commentary — has to be as deceitful as possible even in its naming, to ensnare people.”

Yes, that is exactly right. The work of subversion is always taking place within the church — throughout history, that seems to be the pattern.

Closing Prayer

Lord, would you cause us to rejoice in your word, Father, and rejoice that you are the God of generations — thousands of generations of those who love you. We thank you that the wicked are reduced to two and three generations, Lord, and we see your ways in history. And sometimes our faces are pressed so close to the glass that we cannot see anything — we have no perspective. Thank you that your word gives us perspective; that it illuminates and exposes the pride of man and the foolishness of man, showing us that we are entirely in your hands, Father, and directed entirely for your purposes — specifically for your people, Lord. So help us, Father, in our various capacities, to pass on the true story of your salvation, your deliverance, your judgement, to the next generation, Father — that they might know that God is a God who always gets exactly what he wants. He got exactly what he wanted: they were expelled from the land, because of God’s wise providential hardening of hearts and bringing of judgements. And so too, you will accomplish exactly what you want for these islands, Father — in your time, exactly and precisely — and you will not bargain; you do not have to bargain with anyone. We give you glory for that. Help us to rely on your promises, to see by faith that you are absolutely at the helm here. And help us by faith to put our lives on the well-worn track of your word, and say — in God’s name, we are going to advance and inherit the land by faithfulness, Father, by covenant. Grant us this. Be with us. Encourage our hearts throughout this week. Help us to see ourselves always as your fellow workers, whatever task we may be engaged with. We thank you that this is the victory that overcomes the world — even our faith, Lord. Give us an overcoming faith, in increasing measure, we pray. And do be with the sons and the sons’ sons, Father. Be our consolation always. In the name of Jesus we pray, and for his sake. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Nathan. We pray you all have a great week. Take care. So good to see you all. Bye-bye.

Scriptures Referenced