We will begin here in chapter eight of Exodus, and we will recall
again that God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the sand and
turn the dust into lice. We will pick up here in verse 17.
Exodus 8:17 “And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand
with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in
man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all
the land of Egypt.” Exodus 8:18 “And the magicians did so with their
enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were
lice upon man, and upon beast.”
Here, we see clearly that the devil’s power is limited. The
devil’s agents cannot do all of the wonders that God’s agents can do.
These magicians, suddenly, saw the limit of what they could do.
Exodus 8:19 “Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This [is] the
finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not
unto them; as the LORD had said.”
We see here, that these magicians were wiser than the Pharaoh. They
finally recognized this as the finger of God. These magicians actually
started the process of unbelief of the Pharaoh, when they turned their
rods into serpents, and when they did something to compete, with the
water turning to blood. Pharaoh did not take the magicians warning.
Pharaoh further hardened his heart. He would not listen. The Lord had
predicted that Pharaoh would not listen.
Exodus 8:20 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the
morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water;
and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may
serve me.”
Here, again, we see Moses being instructed to catch the Pharaoh at
the edge of the water early in the morning, when Pharaoh took his
daily trip to the water. Over and over, they told Pharaoh to let the
people go.
Exodus 8:21 “Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I
will send swarms [of flies] upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon
thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall
be full of swarms [of flies], and also the ground whereon they [are].”
These plagues just got worse and worse. This, like the frogs, was
a plague inside the house, even more than outside. This particular
species of flies had a terrible bite. Flies by the millions were more
than a nuisance, they were a health hazard, as well.
Exodus 8:22 “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in
which my people dwell, that no swarms [of flies] shall be there; to
the end thou mayest know that I [am] the LORD in the midst of the
earth.”
The first plagues all came on Hebrew and Egyptian alike, but
suddenly, here, the Hebrews were separated from the Egyptians. This
is another point to be made about the first 3 1/2 years of the
tribulation being endured by the world and Christendom, and the last
3 1/2 years (wrath of God) being just on the worldly. The Hebrews
were in Egypt, but not of Egypt; just as we, Christians, are in the
world, but not of the world. God was telling Pharaoh: I am making a
separation between the saved and the unsaved. God was showing Pharaoh
that He was the God of the Hebrews.
Exodus 8:23 “And I will put a division between my people and thy
people: tomorrow shall this sign be.”
God, for that matter, has always had a division between His people
and the world. God will build a hedge around His people, and protect
them from the enemy. The hedge is the shed blood of Jesus. When the
plagues came on all the people with no separation, the legalist tried
to analyze it away by saying, it was just a natural phenomena. When
the separation was distinct there was no way they could justify this
logically. This was spiritual all the way.
Exodus 8:24 “And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm
[of flies] into the house of Pharaoh, and [into] his servants’ houses,
and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of
the swarm [of flies].”
There is nothing nastier, or more aggravating, than flies in the
house. One fly can nearly drive you crazy, but to have literally
millions in one house would be revolting. The noise would be
deafening, and there would be no way you could eat. This would be a
terrible predicament to be in.
Exodus 8:25 “And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and
said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
Here Pharaoh is suggesting that these Hebrews go ahead and
sacrifice to their God, but do it in Egypt. Even though he would do
almost anything to get rid of these flies, he still wants to run
everything. He wants God to do it his way.
Exodus 8:26 “And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall
sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: Lo,
shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes,
and will they not stone us?”
The very animals that the Egyptians worshipped were some of the
animals that the Hebrews sacrificed to God. We see here an offer of
Pharaoh wanting to give these Hebrews a time off from their labors,
but he wants them not to leave Egypt. As I said, this will never
work. If these Hebrews (Israelites) were to sacrifice to God, the
Egyptians would be greatly offended in their religious practices. The
Israelite people and the Egyptian people would probably wind up
fighting a religious war. You can easily see why this wouldn’t work.
Moses’ statement (will they not stone us) has to do with the
sacrificing of cows by the Hebrews, which the Egyptians forbid,
because they worshipped the cow. You can see what a mess this would
be. Pharaoh should be able to see this, too.
Exodus 8:27 “We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness,
and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.”
Here we see the original request repeated, again. God will direct
the sacrifice. This will be a safe distance from Egypt.
Exodus 8:28 “And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may
sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go
very far away: intreat for me.”
Now, we see the real reason Pharaoh did not want the Israelites to
go into the wilderness. They were almost free labor, and he did not
want them to escape to freedom. These flies were so bad, he would agree
to almost anything to get them stopped. He asked Moses to speak to God
for him, and get the flies stopped (intreat for me).
Exodus 8:29 “And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I
will entreat the LORD that the swarms [of flies] may depart from
Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow: but let not
Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to
sacrifice to the LORD.”
We see, here, that Moses set the next day for the removal of the
flies, but he warned Pharaoh that he had better carry through with his
promises and not renege on them, as he did before. God would punish
Pharaoh severely, if he didn’t do what he said he would do. He told
Pharaoh: If you promise, I will go and talk to God for you.
Exodus 8:30 “And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the
LORD.” Exodus 8:31 “And the LORD did according to the word of Moses;
and he removed the swarms [of flies] from Pharaoh, from his servants,
and from his people; there remained not one.”
Moses spoke to God for Pharaoh, believing that Pharaoh would follow
through with his promise. God did exactly what Moses had promised.
God did not leave even one fly in Pharaoh’s houses. God is always
true to His Word. God always tells the truth. Pharaoh (a type of
Satan) seldom ever told the truth, because he had no moral character.
You could not trust him. He had no conscience.
Exodus 8:32 “And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also,
neither would he let the people go.”
We see, here, the same as the time before. The minute the plague
stopped, Pharaoh would not keep his promises. He hardened his heart, and
would not let the people go.