Editorial Note: This is a transcript of an audio recording of a Sunday Bible class held on 30 March. It has been lightly edited by Claude AI for readability: spelling has been corrected, paragraphs and sentences have been introduced where necessary, and banter or conversational interjections have been marked as such. Scripture quotations are highlighted. The content and meaning of the original talk have not been altered.
Sunday Bible Class — Exodus (Plagues)
March 30
Scripture Reading
(Read aloud at the opening of the class)
“It is so grievous that there was none throughout all the land of Egypt, since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast. And the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Intreat the Lord, for it is enough, that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.
And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s. But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God.
And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled. But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up. And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.
And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the Lord had spoken by Moses.”
(Exodus 9:24–35, KJV)
[BANTER] Teacher to reader: “Thank you very much, you read well there. I’m sorry that your verse broke — I hope it never mends. Well done. That’s excellent.”
Opening Prayer
Lord, we do thank You and rejoice in You for Your grace towards us in the past week. Thank You that You helped us overcome all our wee obstacles and big obstacles. Thank You for the grace. We wonder sometimes how we’re going to make it through the day, but we marvel at Your provision for us again and again and again in a thousand and one ways. We know that if we call upon You, You will certainly hear us, Father, and respond in due course.
We thank You for Your fatherly love for Your people, for Your love for Your peculiar people. Thank You, Lord, that Your love is not profligate, and You do not show the same love for those who hate You as for those who love You. But we thank You, at the same time, for Your overwhelming mercy to all, Father.
Lord, I pray that in this time of judgement, in this time of decline of the West, Father, that we might have understanding hearts to interpret rightly the times that we are in. Give us humble hearts, Father, as we meditate upon Your wonderful word, and give us eyes to see and ears to hear and feet that are unstuck, that we might walk in the right way, because we have a lamp for our feet, Father. Lord, help us today, in this day of rest, to be equipped for the rest of the week and heartened for the rest of the week in You and in Your word. We pray this in Jesus’ name and for His sake. Amen.
Teaching
1. Setting the Scene — The Seventh Plague
Okay. Pharaoh, Pharaoh. Just a few points here, folks, as always. This is a very rich passage and we certainly won’t cover everything, but let’s get into it.
First of all, it is worth noting that it was about mid-January when the flax and barley were up but the wheat and rye were still germinating. I’m guessing that as anybody who has ever farmed — particularly arable farming — when they hear that the flax was hit by hail, they wince. I’m sure it’s just an awful thing to lose a crop like that. I don’t know whether that struck a nerve with the farmers amongst us, but I’m sure you can sympathise with these people.
So, just a few things. Which number of plague was this?
[GROUP RESPONSE] Seven. Number seven.
Number seven. So we know, of course, there are ten plagues. Again, we make reference to the fact that there was a cycle of three each time, apart from the last one, which stands on its own as the final plague — the plague that was prophesied from the beginning, when Moses was still being called and had not fully entered into his calling. He said that the firstborn would be stricken. But there is a cycle of three threes, and we say this because there is a pattern there.
The pattern was: in the first plague of each cycle of three, Moses — or Moses and Aaron — appeared before Pharaoh, typically by the river. The second, they appear elsewhere. And the third time, the plague is unannounced. It was a rather strange plague, the sixth, because Moses entered into Pharaoh’s presence but did not say a word. How eerie that must have been. But this time, it is the first of the cycle, so Moses is before Pharaoh.
What does that mean? Again, I am not sure, but it bears underlining that there is a pattern and that God is a God of order, pattern, and symmetry. Three threes.
It is also interesting that, due to the pattern of the Nile — its rising and falling — these events can be dated. The plagues are often about a month or more apart. So it is not one day to the next. These people would have been writhing around in pain for a long time. They would have been drained as a people. We know that when we go through serious illness, it takes a long time to recover even after the illness has passed. So the whole country — not the children of Israel in Goshen, but the whole land of Egypt, man, woman and child — would have been severely affected.
2. God’s Targeting — Hearts, Not Just Bodies
Now, this plague is different again from the others, not just because it is the first plague of hail, but also because God directs this plague at a particular target. Where does He strike, according to the text?
[GROUP RESPONSE] Their hearts — Pharaoh’s heart and the hearts of his servants.
Interesting. We see God’s ways, and we try to imitate God’s ways. It is here for us to learn wisdom from. And it is interesting that He did not target the hearts from the beginning. Only in the seventh plague, only after their bodies were severely distressed. That is really worth considering.
As we think about the passage of God’s judgement in our own time, we might ask ourselves: why don’t people have a change of heart? Of course, some have had changes of heart very often because they themselves have been smitten in their bodies, or touched by the loss of a loved one, or the severe disability of a loved one. Why not the nation? Well, we look at God’s ways, how He punished and chastised this nation — really destroyed it — by blow after blow.
We remind ourselves that the word plague means blow. What instrument are the blows being delivered by? This goes back to the very first plague. What does God have in His hand, as it were?
[BANTER] Joseph answers: “Rod.” Teacher: “Good job, Joseph, you did say rod. Yes, he did. Excellent work. Well done. Joseph, you are a smart cookie.” [Laughter and remark about gluten-free cookies with honey.]
So God is smiting through His rod. And elsewhere in scripture, > “he shall rule them with a rod of iron” — we know God is still in the smiting business. He smites the nations, and He knows the medicine to hand out, in which order to hand it out, and how many blows are needed.
Yes, we can have confidence that God is targeting. As we see — World War I, World War II, abortion, mass immigration, the debauchment of the economy with the move away from manufacturing to the service sector, the sexual revolution — blow after blow after blow. When will people see? When will there be change? But again, I think we can deduce from scripture that God knows the number of blows and He knows how to order them and direct them. It is very interesting that He will strike at the heart of Pharaoh and the hearts of his servants. Interesting.
3. The Structure of Egyptian Society
So, again, we think of the structure of Egyptian society and the structure of the religion that undergirds it. Each society has a religion that undergirds it. In this case, what did we say the structure was shaped like? What geographical feature?
[BANTER] A member answers “potato.” Teacher corrects: “A volcano, that’s right. Sorry — volcano. You’re right, yes, good.”
At the very top of the volcano was Pharaoh — a snow-capped little peak at the top — and that corresponded to his servants, his experts, his sorcerers. The servants are mentioned in three groups, and the mass of the triangle of the volcano was, of course, his people.
[ASIDE] (Teacher mentions seeing two volcanoes — Popocatépetl and another — from a city in Puebla, Mexico, as a personal illustration.)
In every society there is this expert class. I was reading a book as part of my work — Nomenklatura — about the ruling class in the Soviet Union. Rushdoony read the book and commented on it. Interestingly, the Nomenklatura — the top-level bureaucrats — apparently lived lives of such gilded comfort that visiting foreign dignitaries would be horrified at the poverty in which heads of state lived. These people seemed untouchable: no need to worry about money, gilded pensions, cars and expenses paid. But here we see that God knows how to strike not just the top man, but his servants and the rest of the people too. He identifies them.
That is heartening, is it not? This is not a fog of judgement with no order or target to it. It is a precision strike. After all, if anybody can smite with precision, it is the Lord.
4. God Opens Hearts — No One is Beyond Reach
Now, this means, of course, that the Lord has the ability to open hearts at will. You might say to yourself, therefore He is able to predict when this will happen. He knows when He will touch the heart.
So this is for myself first. I have a tendency to say to myself that this person — this clergyman, maybe — they will never see. They will never hear. That is a lie. That is not true at all. To say of a neighbour, a friend, or whoever it may be, that they will never come to the knowledge of God — that is to severely limit the power of God, His word, and His Holy Spirit. And that is simply wrong.
That has been almost a cloud hanging above me of my own making. The Lord did not invent that. The Lord did not put that in my head. I did not read that in His word. Maybe that is holding you back as well. You say to yourself: they will never hear. Never. No point. Whether it is about the Gospel, whether it is about some particular point in the Bible — how on earth do you know? You do not know.
If anybody was ever the poster child for obstinacy and hard-heartedness — we say thran in this part of the world, powerfully thran — there was Pharaoh. And yet the Lord was able to move his heart.
And of course, this is what we see with Daniel, with these ultra-powerful men. Think of Nebuchadnezzar — he built the statue and said, “I am the head of gold. This is me. God told me this was me.” He was a tremendously special person in his own eyes. But God had the recipe to work in his heart. It took two or three goes, but He got there. So we must not tell ourselves lies. A lie is something that holds itself up against the knowledge of Christ — it says, “I defy You, Christ.” That is awful.
Because the truth is not a principle. The truth is a Person — the Lord Jesus Christ. I speak to myself first of all. We must be extremely careful when we predict and say that person has no chance, they are too far gone. Because who opens the heart? Who touches the heart? It is the Lord. It is His Holy Spirit.
So if we have that thinking in us — that so-and-so will never hear, will never understand, can never come to the knowledge of God — let us bring that before the Lord. Let us say, “Lord, I have defied the person of Christ. I have been saying such and such a person will never come to You.” We need to bring that before Him, ask forgiveness. And He will forgive and He will heal. And there will be joy in that repentance, and there will be hope that comes. Of course.
5. God Uses Means — Blows That Get Closer to the Heart
Now the second thing is to realise that the Lord emphatically uses means. He does not have to — He can literally touch somebody’s heart without means. Of course He can. But He uses means.
This was the seventh plague, in a particular order. And again, He afflicted the body. It is as if each plague gets closer and closer to the heart of the person — until their very heart, their future, their sons are stricken. Their future. Wow.
So God uses means, and as we see things develop in our society — with neighbours, whatever it might be — we can say in faith, “Lord, would You use that to open their heart? We worship You, You are a God who is able to touch any heart, and we ask that You would use this means.”
God created this world. He is entirely in control of it. We are entirely creatures of this world — we are made from the earth. And the women are made from us who are made from the earth. So we have this bond, especially the men, to the earth. It is no surprise that when the crops are hit and the animals are hit, this strikes to the heart of who man is. After their very bodies have been touched, the smiting of crops and cattle and servants somehow smote them to the heart after all this preparatory work.
6. What Happens Below the Surface
Another thing that occurred to me was this: we cannot see what is happening under the surface as God prepares people’s hearts. Because this appears to be totally out of the blue. Pharaoh is determined and resolute. Even when stricken head to foot like everybody else, he does not squirm, he does not cry out. He is incredibly brave in that respect — brave in a way that defies God, but he is nevertheless a man of considerable breeding, character, and determination.
And you might say, “Oh, this is never going to work. There is no movement. New world order. Whatever.” But under the surface the Lord was just undermining — like those trench-diggers in World War I who dug and dug and dug under the German positions and then blew them all up. They never saw it coming. So we can pray in faith that the Lord would be working underneath, and be expectant that God is undermining people’s hardness, as He wills in His wisdom and power.
The facade may very well be different from what is going on inside. A given person may be much closer to breaking than we think.
[DISCUSSION] A class member raised the example of a tweet from the British Army wishing Muslims a happy Eid, to which the comments were furious, and after 86 comments the Army disabled replies. The point was made that if they cannot win a discussion on Twitter, the military’s credibility and effectiveness is in question. A further point was made about who traditionally joins the Army — working-class men — and whether the current direction is wise. The teacher noted that: “You have got to realise who the enemy is. The enemy is, of course, ourselves — the native population. Any other incompetence is simply incidental to their fear of the people. But we are in pretty dire times, there is no doubt about it. But again, we have had the Danelaw, where a tremendous amount of territory was conquered by literal pagans, so we are definitely in a pickle.”
7. Epistemological Self-Consciousness
Rushdoony, not unsurprisingly, talks here about epistemological self-consciousness. Any chance to talk about epistemological self-consciousness is always a good one. Let us explore it and its relevance to this scripture.
Epistemology is the science of knowing. Epistemological self-consciousness means coming to grips with who you really are. What we have here is Pharaoh coming to grips with who he and his people are before God. So it is not an academic exercise.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18, KJV)
Man holds down the knowledge of God. It is like a beach ball under the water — he tries with all his might to keep it submerged, whatever he can do to prevent it springing forth to the surface. This takes energy. If you are trying to suppress the knowledge of God, you have got to work at it twenty-four hours a day.
So what is happening in the process of coming to epistemological self-consciousness? When we are afflicted in our bodies and our estates or possessions are destroyed — whatever means God may use — it is almost as if your arms are weakened to the point that it becomes impossible to do what you have been doing all your life: deny the knowledge of God. It is almost as if Pharaoh, having been severely weakened by plague after plague, has to spend all his remaining energy holding the beach ball of the knowledge of God down. And the knowledge of who we are comes with the knowledge of God — as we see the Lord as righteous, we are forced to see ourselves as unrighteous.
Now, how did Pharaoh get this knowledge of God that he is supposedly holding down? Very simply: Pharaoh was made in the image of God. That is all that is necessary. Everybody who is made in the image of God — from a tribesman in Papua New Guinea to a computer programmer in Basel, Switzerland — they all have the knowledge of God. This should be very comforting, that despite the pretensions of people of our age to be too sophisticated to believe in God, all of them, to the last man and woman, bear this image of God and therefore know God. But in order to avoid coming to terms with Him, they hold the knowledge of Him down.
So even this pagan Pharaoh. Again, we said that these plagues were like a systematic theology, telling Pharaoh and his people who God is. And we discover at this point that it has its effect. But once whatever pressure from within and without lapses that little bit, the atrophy in the arms turns to strength — he recovers, and as quickly as possible he jumps back on top of that beach ball and pushes it down again.
It is good to consider how God will end this age of unbelief. It would seem that He is not going to do it without a great deal of trouble being brought upon people — external pressure and internal pressure. And of course this is what we find in Deuteronomy 28: there is not just an external affliction but an internal affliction going to the very psychology of man. Sooner or later, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess — and that is an aspect of that.
In addition, Rushdoony says — and I haven’t quite internalised this yet — that with epistemological self-consciousness, with people stopping saying “oh, they are really good people, I am open to believing in God,” once they become epistemologically self-conscious and admit who they really are, judgement is just around the corner. I haven’t quite got that straight in my mind yet. But it is interesting that we have lived in an age where people have cast off any pretension of being good Christians. This is what we had in the Victorian age — a lot of people went to church but were very immoral. That facade is gone now. So it is no surprise that we should be in an era of judgement, and of course with judgement comes deliverance.
[DISCUSSION] Class members discussed anecdotal evidence of people showing greater spiritual interest or awareness: a viral Twitter/X comment by a public figure named Kelly Jay Keen (also known as Posie Parker) noting that if people are unhappy about churches being torn down and replaced with mosques, they should go to church. The teacher commented: “That is essentially saying, well, you are partly responsible for this yourself. To me, that was a positive.” Further discussion followed about people claiming to want a Christian country whilst not themselves being Christians.
8. Tyrants, Callings, and Dominion
One last point, and then I will finish. We can agree that this Pharaoh was a tyrant. No one would call him a libertarian — he was definitely a tyrant. And what is a tyrant? A tyrant is anyone who does not rule — in whatever sphere, be it church, home, state, or school — according to the law of God. A tyrant is someone who says, “I am not subject to God; I am the final authority.” Pharaoh was definitely a tyrant.
Now this is difficult. How did that person get into that position? Very simply, and very clearly in this passage: God has raised him up. We must, if we believe in the doctrine of predestination, say that yes — the tyrant we are thinking of right now — whether a tyrant in home, in church, wherever it may be — God has raised him up. That is the first thing.
If there were ever a man who was so obstinate and determined that he actually saw himself as God — not in a theoretical way, but in the apex of the Egyptian religious system — it was Pharaoh. He was the textbook tyrant. But even so, anybody from Pharaoh on down who does not subject themselves to Christ, to the law of Christ, the true King of the earth — how did they get there? God put them there.
Ouch. That is difficult. But it is also a consolation, is it not? If God put them there, they have a purpose. And here we see God revealing to us what that purpose was in this case — that God’s name should be exalted. So we see that all the tyrants of the world, great and small, are but creatures. They elevate themselves and say — self-consciously or not — that they are gods. They act as if they were God. But there is a purpose, whatever that purpose might be, in every single one. What a consolation — it is not meaningless. It has a meaning. It has a God-given purpose. What a consolation.
But let us go a little further. Is this not a very good reason why Christians should find out what their callings are, embrace their callings, and have dominion in those callings?
“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” (1 Corinthians 6:2, KJV)
Judge — and the book of Judges tells us that means civil rulership, amongst other things. Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church and saying: get ready. Prepare yourselves to be able to judge in small things, because eventually you are going to have to have a larger responsibility. And of course this is what happened under Constantine — those Christians who were magistrates, hearing cases not just from the church but from the world, were given the garb of Roman magistrates, and they effectively became the rulers and judges of the Roman Empire. This is a historical process that actually happened.
But we do not all rule in civil authority. You will have your particular calling. Is it the Lord’s will that His people should rule in your particular domain? We complain about the media, but if your calling is the media, you better be making sure you are doing a good job of it. If your calling is agriculture, you should seek to be as good as you can, with a view to taking the leadership there. And what is Foundations for Farming doing in Zambia but providing a tremendous example of exactly that?
So those who say, “Politics is a dirty business — I withdraw,” or “Being a policeman, that is a dirty business — I withdraw,” remember this: one way of getting rid of the tyrants of the earth is by stepping up to your own responsibility — as individuals, in the family, and as the church. We train people up for those acts of service. If we follow Christ’s way, and if we are servant to all within our domain, what will happen?
“He that would be first among you shall be your servant.” (cf. Matthew 20:27, KJV)
If you want to be first, that is fine — you have got to serve everybody within your particular field. So that should be a spur to us. If you do not like the media, be good media people. If you do not like the music, produce music, if you are called to be a musician. That competes. Ultimately, the tyrannies can only really be replaced by Christians ruling justly in those domains.
By the same token, the relinquishing of rule — whether through formal kenosis (the doctrine that says Christ relinquished everything, therefore we should relinquish everything), or through other-worldliness (a vague idea that the Christian faith is only about getting to heaven when we die), or simply through incompetence — those are all ways we can relinquish leadership. I feel for people who are incompetent, because that is me. That has been me. It is a terrible thing to not be good at something.
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” (Proverbs 22:29, KJV)
That is a kind of leadership — rising to the top in your profession. But beyond incompetence, there is sin — habitual, undealt-with sin. You cannot rule if you are ruled by sin. There is sloth —
“He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.” (Proverbs 18:9, KJV)
You cannot rule if you are slothful. There is fear — “I cannot do that.” Okay, you have fear. Overcome it. Seek God’s grace.
All of those things — incompetence, sin, sloth, fear — need to be dealt with. They need to be brought before the cross and repented of. The only route — and it is a slow, steady route — is the sanctification of the Lord’s Holy Spirit. He is able to give you the victory over any false teaching, any sin, the spirit of sloth, fear, whatever it may be. Why? So that His people would inherit. So that His people would have dominion. And through Him, His kingdom would be established.
So if we want to take a step against tyranny, we can do that in our own lives — and in the lives of our children, as we encourage them to embrace their own callings and do them to the glory of God as much as possible. After all, we do not just need the top of any given profession — we need the whole strata, top to bottom, as long as people are engaged and doing it with diligence. That is the main thing.
So those are just some thoughts. There is plenty more in the passage — it is a very, very rich passage. The Lord is very gracious in giving us this passage for the encouragement of our hearts in the big things concerning the life of a nation, but also in our own individual lives as well.
[CLARIFICATION] A member asked whether other-worldliness and incompetence were being compared as equivalent. The teacher clarified that a comma was implied, not an equals sign — though a focus on the next world to the exclusion of this one will inevitably tend to produce incompetence.
[BANTER] Comments about the fresh air visitors having too much colour in their cheeks, and a playful exchange with a young person named Knox.
9. Additional Point — Warning, Division, and Strategy
One more thing that is really important: the Lord was very merciful in this passage in giving a warning. With the first plague, a warning is given. With the second, a warning is given. And with this one, the servants were warned: you may conceive a substantial amount of your wealth and your livestock if you take heed. But this is directed specifically against the servants.
Two things here. Number one: they are put in a position where their belief must be public and subject to social pressure from others. It asks them to pay a price. And as we stand up — if we think, “This is a terrible price I am paying” — well, we paid a little bit of a price of social pressure during lockdown, did we not? (“You are killing granny!” and all of that.) But there is a covenant promise: if you obey, you will gain, you will retain, as opposed to those who disobey.
And number two: what is God doing here? This is God the strategist. He is dividing. He is putting a wedge between Pharaoh and his servants — the people Pharaoh depends upon for rule. God is not merely crafty — He is all-wise. So should we look for cracks in the elite structure? Should we look for WEF versus Wall Street, or competing interests within the ruling class? God requires us to take a stand, but He honours that stand and blesses it.
[GENERAL BANTER AND PERSONAL CONVERSATION] Discussion followed about a walk taken earlier that day, a trip to the local shop, personal news about signing farm sale agreements, plans to visit Zambia, a new YouTube and website direction (discussed under provisional names including “The Word to the World” or “Word to World”), the work of Myron Golden as a practitioner of biblical principles in business, and Christine’s tutoring work and Udemy courses on grammar and writing, including research into notable Scottish Christians such as James Clerk Maxwell. Brief grammatical discussion followed about regional English constructions (“does be,” “am I not,” “aren’t we”) in Armagh and other dialects.
Closing Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your word. We ask that You bless Mr Conkey as he tries to understand it better and use scripture to interpret scripture, and help us to understand it better and gain more from it. Would You bless him in his efforts, please? We thank You for our time together. Would You part us with Your blessing this evening? In Jesus’ name. Amen.
[BANTER/SIGN-OFF] The teacher thanked everyone, wished them a good week, and signed off. Brief remarks were made about being glad the video ended up working.
Scriptures Referenced
| Reference | Content |
|---|---|
| Exodus 9:24–35 | The seventh plague — hail; Pharaoh’s partial repentance and re-hardening (read in full at the opening) |
| Exodus 9:14 | God’s intention to strike the heart of Pharaoh and his servants |
| Deuteronomy 28 | Blessings and curses; external and internal (psychological) judgements on a nation |
| Romans 1:18 | Man suppresses the knowledge of God in unrighteousness |
| 1 Corinthians 6:2 | The saints shall judge the world |
| Proverbs 22:29 | A diligent man will stand before kings, not before obscure men |
| Proverbs 18:9 | He who is slothful in his work is brother to a great waster |
| Matthew 20:27 (cf. Mark 10:44) | Whoever would be first must be servant of all |
| Psalm 2 / Revelation 2:27 (allusion) | God ruling the nations with a rod of iron |
| Psalm 21:1 / Proverbs 21:1 (allusion) | The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord |
| Daniel 2–4 (allusion) | Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold; God’s dealings with a great pagan king |