Is Your God Too Small? The God of Heaven Reveals Himself

Is Your God Too Small? The God of Heaven Reveals Himself | Bryan | Efficient Church

Introduction

What is your vision of God? How do you see him, day to day? A.W. Tozer, in The Knowledge of the Holy, opens his book with this line: what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. In other words, the way you picture God shapes your entire life: what you think of yourself, of others, of the meaning of your existence.

We're in the middle of the series Set Free, Encountering the Living God in the book of Exodus. After six previous judgments on Egypt, Bryan walks us through Exodus 9:13 to 10:29, where three more plagues strike Pharaoh: hail, locusts, darkness. With each blow, God tears away a little more of our small ideas about him and reveals himself as the God of heaven, the one whom nothing can contain. The question he asks you throughout the text is simple: will you receive him as he is, or will you keep trying to squeeze him into the mold of your expectations?

Sermon outline

1. The God of heaven reveals himself so the nations will fear him (Exodus 9:13-35)

God finally explains himself to Pharaoh: "For this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth" (Exodus 9:15-16).
The hail is described as the storm of the millennium: rain, wind, thunder, fire, deadly hailstones. This is no longer a local judgment; it is a judgment that comes from the sky and touches everything alive on the earth.
Just as at the beginning, when God brought order out of chaos, here he progressively undoes creation: the habitable earth becomes unlivable. It is an un-creation.
Some of Pharaoh's servants begin to fear the word of Yahweh and bring their livestock to shelter (Exodus 9:20). Israel, meanwhile, is protected in the land of Goshen: God is already drawing a distinction between his people and the world.
Pharaoh confesses for the first time: "I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous" (Exodus 9:27). But as soon as the pressure lets up, his heart hardens again (Exodus 9:34-35). This is not true repentance.

2. The God of heaven reveals himself so his people will tell the story (Exodus 10:1-20)

God tells Moses why he is doing this: "that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son's son... how I have mocked the Egyptians" (Exodus 10:2). These signs are given to be passed down.
The text presents a striking paradox: God hardens Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 10:1), and yet Pharaoh hardens his own heart (Exodus 9:34). Scripture holds both together: God is sovereign, and man is responsible for his choices.
Paul picks up this episode in Romans 9:14-18: God has mercy on whomever he wants. No one deserves his compassion, and Pharaoh here pays, in his own time, the price of a hardened heart that every one of us carries.
The plague of locusts is a national food crisis: whatever survived the hail is devoured. Pharaoh tries to negotiate ("let only the men go"), but you don't negotiate the terms of obedience to God.
Pharaoh confesses a second time (Exodus 10:16-17), louder, more desperate. And yet, as soon as God lifts the plague, he falls right back. His sorrow is worldly sorrow, not the godly sorrow that leads to salvation.

3. The God of heaven reveals himself so everyone will see that he is the light (Exodus 10:21-29)

The final plague falls without warning: three days of darkness that can be felt. In a civilization without electricity, the absence of light means the shutdown of all activity, cold, fear, death lurking near.
It is a direct affront to Ra, the sun god, considered the greatest god in the Egyptian pantheon and "father" of Pharaoh. God mocks both the sun god and the king who thought himself divine.
"All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings" (Exodus 10:23). Already, in the world's darkest night, they are children of the light.
This scene foreshadows the cross. Mark 15:33 tells of three hours of darkness while Jesus dies, and a Roman centurion who declares: "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39). On the cross, Jesus takes on himself the judgment Pharaoh refused to accept.
Jesus himself says: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). That is the way out Pharaoh refused to see.

Key takeaways

Your vision of God shapes your entire life. A small god produces big problems; a big God puts problems in their place.
The God of heaven does not fit into our cultural or theological boxes. He is untamable, and we must let him define himself through his Word.
God is sovereign, even over the hearts of kings and leaders (Proverbs 21:1), and yet every person remains fully responsible for their choices.
False repentance regrets the consequences; true repentance changes the heart and leads to salvation. You are not promised an unlimited number of chances.
The God who plunged Egypt into darkness is the same God who, at the cross, let darkness fall on his own Son so that none of us would have to remain in the night.

Personal application

What is your vision of God today? Do your life, your decisions, your fears reveal a big God, or a God who is too small?
Is there an area where, like Pharaoh, you are trying to negotiate the terms of your obedience to God instead of surrendering?
Do you sometimes confuse "regretting the consequences" with "repenting before God"? Where is God calling you to deep repentance, not just regret?
Who in your family or among your loved ones are you called to tell about the works of God? What does the fear of what others think keep you from saying?
In light of current events and the powers stirring around us, do you know that the heart of leaders is "like the watercourses in the hand of Yahweh" (Proverbs 21:1)? How can this truth shape your prayer this week?

Scriptures cited

Frequently asked questions

Why does God harden Pharaoh's heart in Exodus 9 and 10?

The text says both that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 9:34) and that God hardened his heart (Exodus 10:1). This is a paradox that Scripture holds without fully resolving: God is sovereign, and Pharaoh remains fully responsible for his choices. Paul returns to this episode in Romans 9 to remind us that God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, so that his name would be proclaimed throughout the earth. No one deserves his compassion: Pharaoh here pays, in his own time, the price of a hardened heart that every one of us carries.

What is the difference between Pharaoh's repentance and true repentance?

Pharaoh confesses twice that he has sinned (Exodus 9:27 and 10:16), but as soon as the pressure lifts, he goes right back to his hardened state. This is worldly sorrow, the kind that regrets consequences without changing the heart. True repentance, the kind that comes from God, produces lasting change and leads to salvation. It is dangerous to keep putting off the moment of surrendering to God: you are not promised an unlimited number of chances.

Why does the plague of darkness specifically target the Egyptian gods?

Ra, the sun god, was considered the greatest god in the Egyptian pantheon, and Pharaoh was seen as his son. By plunging Egypt into three days of darkness while the Israelites kept their light in the land of Goshen, God mocks Ra and Pharaoh at the same time. He declares that he alone is the creator and the source of life and light, a truth Jesus will pick up directly in John 8:12: "I am the light of the world."

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