The Finger of God, message handout

I. The Limits of Satan and The Power of God






A. “This far and no further.”






Exodus 8:18 When the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.






Phil Ryken: Pharaoh’s magicians were able to duplicate the first two plagues. They performed their magic in opposition to God, and thus in service to Satan. Satan has other powers as well. He has the power to rebel (Isa. 14:12-14), to tempt (Matt. 4:1), to deceive (Rev. 20:10), and to accuse (Zech. 3:1). He has the power to hold sinners captive in their iniquity (2 Tim. 2:26). On certain occasions he has the power to torment the elect with various afflictions (2 Cor. 12:7), including disease (Job 2:1-7) and imprisonment (Rev. 2:10). The Bible describes Satan as the one “who holds the power of death” (Heb. 2:14). God even gave Satan the power to betray his one and only Son (Luke 22:3-5), a betrayal that resulted in our Lord’s sufferings and death on the cross.






B. God can use anything


Charles Spurgeon: When IT PLEASES GOD by his judgments to humble men he is never at a loss for means: he can use lions or lice, famines or flies. In the armory of God there are weapons of every kind, from the stars in their courses down to caterpillars in their hosts.


Luke 11:20 If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.






Phil Ryken: Jesus was making the same point that God made when He plagued Egypt with insects. He was showing that Satan has limits. He was also showing that in order to defeat Satan, all He had to do was to lift His little finger.






The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him
his rage we can endure
For lo, his doom is sure
One little word shall fell him --Luther






2. The Choice of God (Exodus 8:22-24)


A. There it is. Is what it is.


Matthew Henry: As the plague of lice was made more convincing than any before it, by its running the magicians aground, so was this, by the distinction made between the Egyptians and the Hebrews. Pharaoh must be made to know that God is the Lord in the midst of the earth; and by this it will be known beyond dispute.






B. All of Grace


Safety was found in Goshen. Not because the people of Goshen were better than those of Egypt. They were recipients of mercy from God, plain and simple.






‘Tis mercy all! Immense and free!
That thou my God, shouldst die for me. –Wesley






“The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love”


-Deut. 7:7-9a; cf. 10:14, 15