September 22, 2024
Reading: Exodus 8:16-32
Focus: Exodus 8:22-23 – “‘But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinctionbetween my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’”
Father God, Thank You for Your Word. Open our eyes to see what You would have us to see. Help us to learn. In Jesus Name. Amen.
We will be looking at two of the plagues this week. The third plague – gnats. And the fourth plague – flies. Little tiny bugs. Both give me the shivers. I don’t know about you, but bugs bug me (pun intended). We live in South Louisiana and both gnats and flies are in great supply here. Both are irritating and pesky. I don’t know about you but if you are familiar with either one, just multiply those tiny little bugs by the hundreds of millions and you might have an idea of how much the Egyptian suffered.
This time, God did not allow Moses to give Pharaoh any warning at all. God told Aaron to strike the dust of the ground with his staff and the dust will become gnats. I know. You would think that God was unfair here. Just remember, if God was totally fair, there would be no mercy. If you looked at it through spiritual eyes, you would see that God was being merciful. He kept giving Pharaoh chance after chance to obey and let the Israelites go. God used each chance to demonstrate His power over Pharaoh and his gods. God was showing Pharaoh that even the smallest of creatures obey Him and no one else and that their gods had no power to protect them or to relieve them of the misery.
The bugs attacked all the people and all the animals. The Bible tells us that all the dust throughout Egypt became gnats. Some translations of the Bible use the word lice rather than gnats. Either way, the bugs made the people and animals miserable. Have you ever seen a horse that is being irritated by a persistent bug? They buck, run and sometimes roll on the ground to get rid of it. But these bugs were not going away.
This plague showed the power of God over the Egyptian god, Geb. He was the Egyptian god of the earth. This plague of gnats or lice challenged the very belief that this Geb was lord of the earth itself. God’s power changed the very dust into bugs. This time, not even Pharaoh’s magicians could replicate the feat. This plague demonstrated God’s dominion over the very dirt under the feet of the Egyptians. Thus, His dominion over the so-called gods of Egypt.
When my father-in-law was living, we went saltwater fishing. A lot. One particular Saturday, we had put the boat out into the salt marsh canals close to the Gulf Coast. There were clouds of tiny white insects. Gnats. They looked harmless but they weren’t. They bite! Of the four of us on the boat, I was the only one who had any reaction to the gnat bites. My arms, neck and face were covered in little red dots where I had been bitten. Knowing just how miserable those bites made me, gives me an inkling of how miserable the Egyptians had to have been during the third plague. I know that I itched for days.
Remember, the Egyptians were fastidious people. Cleanliness was important to them. The priests were especially careful about cleanliness. Lice made them ritually unable to worship their gods. Not only that, their gods would not receive lice infested animals as sacrifice. They had to be perfectly clean.
Pharaoh’s magicians admitted defeat. They had tried to create these insects with their dark arts. But Satan’s power is limited, and they failed. They told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” (Exodus 8:19). This was a serious admission to make. They were testifying to the failure of their gods before the God of the Universe. They realized that there was a power greater than that of their own gods. But Pharaoh was having none of it. He hardened his heart just as God had told Moses.
The fourth plague is the plague of flies. I hate flies. I don’t know how they do it, but it seems like we have one in the house every single day. You kill it and here comes another one! This time God has Moses and Aaron warn Pharaoh that flies will swarm the Egyptians if he refuses to let the Israelites go. But, this time, God makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. He tells Pharaoh that there will be no flies where the Israelites were living. God gives Pharaoh 24 hours to make a decision.
Let me make this clear. The Bible does not tell us which god that our God was challenging with each plague. The examples I am giving are suggested by each particular plague. It really doesn’t matter which god failed the Egyptians. What matters is that God challenged their belief in their gods and each, and every, god failed them. The Egyptian god that failed in his duty to protect the Egyptians are Uatchiti. Now Uatchiti was the fly god. Remember the gods and goddesses of Egypt were numerous and represented just about everything. This fly god was supposed to symbolize protection, vigilance and the resilience of the Egyptian people. The Egyptians prayed to him to keep the pests (flies) off their livestock and crops.
Now, we are not told what Pharaoh’s reply was, but it is safe to say that he said no. Because the next morning God sent swarms of flies all over Egypt. We are told that the flies ruined the land.
Not too long ago, our house was infested by flies. I have no idea where they came from but there were, it seemed, hundreds of them. We spent our days swatting flies at the windows in the dining room and the laundry room. We would kill about 30 or so and sweep them up, just to turn around to find even more flies on the window. This went on for three or four days. We had to have killed hundreds of flies. It seemed like thousands. I can’t imagine the distress caused by the huge swarms of flies that God sent on the Egyptians. To make matters worse, the Egyptians knew that the Israelites were protected from the swarms of flies. Because God had said, “. . . so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people.” (Exodus 8:22-23)
Up to now, the Israelites suffered from the first three plagues. They had been in Egypt for over four hundred years. Until they were enslaved, they were comfortable in Egypt. They may have forgotten that Egypt was not their home, that Canaan was their Promised Land. Some may have even forgotten God Himself. It wasn’t until they were forced into back breaking labor that they began to remember God. When Pharaoh ordered that the male babies were to be killed, they remembered God and began to call out for deliverance. God could have just wiped Egypt off the face of the earth, but His people also needed to be reminded that He was the One True God. So, the plagues were for their benefit as well. Not only was God convincing Pharaoh He was God, He was also reminding the Israelites that they were distinct from the Egyptians. Reminding them that He was protecting them and at the same time, reminding them that they must leave Egypt. Not only were the plagues to convince Pharaoh that God was greater than their god, but they were also to bring the Israelites to a renewal of the nation’s commitment to the Covenant of Abraham.
This plague caused Pharaoh to relent. Sort of. He said the Israelites could sacrifice to God there in Egypt. Moses said, “Not good enough.” He reminded Pharaoh that the sacrifices would be detestable to the Egyptians. He said that the Israelites must travel three days into the wilderness to worship as God commanded. The Pharaoh gave a little more. “Ok, but don’t go very far.” Then he asked Moses to pray for him. Moses agreed but warned Pharaoh that he had better not be deceitful with his permission. Moses said that he would ask God to remove the flies the next day. But when the flies disappeared, so did Pharaoh’s softened heart and he refused to let the people go.
When faced with the reality of the plagues, Pharaoh softened a little, but like many, when the crisis was over, the heart hardened again. It’s like being caught doing something wrong and promising never to do it again if you got a second chance. But when you’re free, you do it again. I’m sure you know people like that. Another problem with Pharaoh’s ‘permission’ was that he implied that he had control over Israel. They were not Pharaoh’s possession. They belonged to God. They were not captives from a war, nor were they the inhabitants of a conquered land. He did not own them. Now Pharaoh did begin to acknowledge that God sent the plagues and that his gods had no control over them. He asked Moses to pray for him, hoping that the plagues would stop because of this show of humility. But God knows the heart of man and He certainly knew Pharaoh’s heart.
We are seeing a callous growing on Pharaoh’s heart. It’s like the fingers of a guitar player or violinist. When they first begin to play, their fingers are tender and hurt after a practice session. But gradually, as they keep practicing, a callous grows. The more they practice, the tougher the callouses. Eventually they completely protect the fingers from the constant friction of the instrument’s strings. And the musician no longer feels the discomfort of the strings. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and then hardened again. Here, after the fourth plague, it softens just a little bit. But then he hardens it again. That callous of rebellion thickens.
We need to keep our hearts tender to the teachings and admonitions from the Lord, so that we obey when called.
Are you calloused?
Father God, we are thankful for Your mercy. Thankful that You call us to obedience and are patient with us. Thank You for your persistence in calling us to you. Help us to not let our hearts harden against Your call. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Food for Thought
- Do you think that there are things that people worship rather than God? What? Why or why not?
- Why do you think God used bugs to plague the Egyptians?
- Why was it important for God to make a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites?
- Why do you think that Pharaoh was so reluctant to let the Israelites go?
- Why do you think it was important that God prove that He was more powerful than the gods of Egypt?
