Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:28-32

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: entreat for me.

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, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord.

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.

32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Pharaoh agreed to the demands being made, even for Israel to depart into the wilderness to perform their sacrifices. Now that Pharaoh had given his word, Moses assured him that he would entreat the Lord, but Moses already anticipated Pharaoh’s deceit and warned him against it. Pharaoh, however, went right ahead and betrayed his word for a second time.

I’m really not sure what Pharaoh expected to happen when he broke his word this time. He had already seen that God would return with greater affliction, so it should have been clear that he was only making his situation worse. And not just marginally worse, either. The curses were about to enter an entirely new tier of suffering. The turning of the staff to a snake and the river to blood can be considered as the first phase of God’s curses, transfigurations that were merely meant to frighten Pharaoh without causing lasting harm. The second phase was the irritation and annoyance of frogs, lice, and flies. Now, though, would begin the third phase, in which the curses would deal in actual death! I believe Moses’s warning that Pharaoh must not deal deceitfully was insinuating that if he tried to test God further, the Egyptians would enter into this new order of suffering, but Pharaoh chose to walk that path anyway.

And, according to verse 32, Pharaoh really did choose it. I’ve mentioned this verse before, but let’s take note of it one more time. In other passages it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but here it says that “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.” The “also” suggests that Pharaoh was the one who hardened his heart in the previous instances as well, not God. As I’ve mentioned previously, I think it is this reading and interpretation that makes the most sense.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:24-27

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.

25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

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?

27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

Pharaoh held out during the plague of lice, but not against the flies. After the frogs he had told Moses “take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.” This time he again approved of the Israelites making sacrifice, but he added the restriction that they remain “in the land,” rather than travelling away from Egypt.

The fact that Pharaoh was being more specific and asking the Israelites to compromise might mean that he was more sincere this time than the one before, but his restriction was not acceptable to the Lord. There seem to be three reasons why it was necessary that the Israelites journey three-days distance before making their sacrifices.

  1. As Moses explained, the Israelites would be performing sacrifices that the Egyptians found abominable, likely because the animals were considered sacred to Pharaoh’s people. The Israelites would incur the wrath of the people, thus a separation was necessary to preserve their lives.
  2. There is reason to believe that sacrifice and three-days’ distances had something to do with the law of the Hebrews. In the Dead Seas Scrolls there is a passage that states “You shall not slaughter clean cattle or sheep or goat in any of your towns, within a distance of three days’ journey from my sanctuary” (Dead Seas Scrolls translation, Page 254, bottom-left). This is saying that if an Israelite was within three days’ journey of the temple they needed to make their offerings there. But if they were more than three days’ journey away, they would be permitted to build an altar and sacrifice to the Lord elsewhere. It may well be that Jacob was three days’ journey from Isaac’s home when he made such an altar to the Lord in Genesis 28. Jacob also made a point of setting up his homestead three days’ journey from his father-in-law Laban, perhaps to have sufficient distance from Laban’s pagan gods for his offerings to the Lord to be pure. It therefore makes sense that the Lord would require Israel to be the same distance from the false gods of Egypt before making sacrifice.
  3. We’re not actually told whether the Israelites did, in fact, perform rituals and sacrifice after leaving Egypt. My assumption is that they did not, as we are told that they marched forward day-and-night in great haste. But possibly they did, and thus this was a valid reason for them traveling at least three-days-distance into the wilderness. However, even if that was the case, it obviously was not the only reason for their departure. They were also going into the wilderness to run away from the Egyptians, and obviously this was better served by getting a head start.

Pharaoh would soon renege on his promise, and perhaps his reason was this three days’ distance requirement, but God was not here to compromise. He was not one to be dictated to. What He required must be met, and He would continue to afflict the Egyptians until Pharaoh agreed to all of His requirements.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:22-23

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.

23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

I previously wondered whether the Israelites had been affected by the turning of the river to blood in the same way that the Egyptians had. And did the frogs come upon both sets of people? And the lice? Perhaps so, but now we are told that there would be a sharp divide between the people of Israel and the people of Egypt.

This is a recurring theme in the Bible, that of a divide being made between the faithful and the profane, of God’s chosen people being saved and the wicked being destroyed. We have seen it where a protection was put around Noah’s family in the form of an ark when all the world was flooded. We have seen it where heavenly messengers drew Lot’s family out to safety when Sodom and Gomorrah was bombarded. Now we see it where a clear line is made between two halves. In one land the curse runs rampant, but it is not allowed to pass over into the neighboring land.

Thus we see multiple different ways that God is able to protect His people. He can shield them in the eye of the storm, or lead them out to safety, or put up a wall that keeps the danger at bay. He can end the danger, preserve you through the danger, or get you out of the danger. One never know just how God will save him, only that God will if he prepares himself for it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:20-21

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.

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.

In the midst of all the larger wonders occurring it is all too easy to miss the little ones that are happening as well. At several points now, God has told Moses the exact time and place he needed to be to meet Pharaoh. I wonder if it ever occurred to Pharaoh what the implications were of Moses and Aaron intercepting him along his way. It meant that God knew Pharaoh and his movements intimately, He might have even revealed some of them to Moses before Pharaoh, himself, knew when and where he would go. If Pharaoh felt anything at Moses’s prescience, he should have felt vulnerable.

In regards to the plague of flies, this curse mixes some of the intimacy of the lice with some of the space-invasion of the frogs. Flies could be on the body like lice, and in the dishes like frogs. They could carrying diseases and dirtying vessels. Perhaps the most unique quality of the flies, though, would be the incessant buzzing. Their constant murmuring in the ears is another representation for when a society embraces false doctrines instead of following God. Moral perversion causes so much distraction and noise, from the literal buzz of gossip to the constant murmur of a dissatisfied conscience.

Itching, noisy, constant irritation. Whether in the form of flies or anxious guilt, this is one agitation that none of us need in our lives!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:18-19

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.

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.

With every sign and curse performed by Moses and Aaron the magicians of Egypt repeated its effect. By this they had shown the ability to increase the affliction, but they never showed any capacity to remove it. Only God could do that.

Here, though, God completely left the magicians behind. They did try to bring forth lice of their own, but they just couldn’t. Presumably they had done all of their enchantments to try and dispute the power of the Lord, to show that their own gods were just as powerful as He. But with this one failure they changed from critics of God to ones that would testify of His sovereignty! They told Pharaoh that “truly this is the finger of God.” They were telling Pharaoh that the power that stood behind Moses was the genuine article, and they were powerless to answer it. And so it would be for all other curses that followed. We will not hear of the magicians repeating any more of the afflictions that God set upon Egypt.

But even with the testimony of his magicians, Pharaoh still hardened himself. Sometimes after a curse he would seek mercy, but at other times God would just escalate to the next afflictions until he relented. Pharaoh could hold out for a while, and so can we, but God is perfectly able to outlast and outpower any of us. He may move gradually and accumulatively, but He can go as far and as high as He needs until He breaks our pride and we humble ourselves before Him. As it has been written, sooner or later, “every knee shall bow” and “every tongue confess.”

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:15-17

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.

16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

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.

No sooner did Pharaoh get what he wanted than he abandoned his promises and went back to being the same as before. This is an excellent example of a false conversion. Many come to God for what they want, but they do not actually love Him or want to be His obedient child. Their journey to God is entirely self-serving, and as soon as they get what they want—or don’t get what they want—they drop all pretenses of devotion.

God can be patient through such acts of betrayal, though. He does not lose any bargaining power by removing the pressure, for He is able to bring it right back in a multitude of ways! And, since the faithless did not respond to the first pressure, the second most often comes back even worse!

And that was certainly the case with Pharaoh. God did not return the same plague of frogs, he escalated it to something worse. The lice would have been a more intimate, invasive, and infuriating affliction. The frogs had been inside the Egyptian’s rooms and kitchenware, but now lice were living directly on their bodies! Wherever they went, the unpleasant, itching, disease-carrying lice would remain right on their person!

Pharaoh had tried to cheat during his wrestling match with the Lord, but God simply put him in a deeper hold.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:11-14

11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. 

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the Lord because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 

13 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 

14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

As extensive as the curse had reached in Egypt, so too did the cure. From every place and from every people the frogs ceased to spread and multiply. But it does not seem that the frogs left those places, rather that they died within them. The people still had to do the work of gathering them from every nook and cranny. They placed them in large piles which spread the stench of dead amphibians across the land.

I mentioned earlier that the effects of the curse seem symbolic of how a people will adopt false and harmful philosophies. The lies and deceit spread into every place and affect every person, whether they personally believe the falsehoods or not. They corrupt every home and every public square. And so, too, even after the madness has been dispelled, when society returns back to basic truth and reason, there is still a period of labor where the vestige of the old lie must be eradicated wherever it is found. And, for a time, there is still the lingering stench of old prejudices and wrongs that hang in the air. The curse is gone, but not the memory of it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:8-10

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.

9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.

The priests of Pharaoh had also been able to summon frogs, just as they had turned water to blood and staffs into snakes. Somehow, they were able to do all of these things, but there was one thing that they apparently couldn’t do. They couldn’t undo what Moses and Aaron had already done. They could be just as destructive as the Lord—so far—but that really wasn’t what Pharaoh needed!

If the priests really had power over God they would have shown it by reverting His plagues. This was the difference between God and the priests. When God commanded a plague upon Egypt, only He could recall it. It seems that Pharaoh came to that same conclusion, and finally had to go to Moses for relief.

We often talk about the signs and wonders that took place in Egypt, but typically only mention the destructive side of them. Creation, restoration, and healing are far more difficult than destruction, though. More significant than God sending the frogs, the lice, the flies, the boils, and the locusts was when he miraculously cleansed Egypt of the frogs, the lice, the flies, the boils, and the locusts. This is the power that we truly ought to remember, the greater power that separated Him from any other, the power that proved to Pharaoh “that there is none like unto the Lord our God!”

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:5-7

5 And the Lord spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

God instructs Moses what miracle to perform, Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh what it will be, and then it happens. The works of God typically follow this three-step process. He tells His servant, His servant tells the world at large, and then the fulfillment of the prophecy occurs. This establishes two principles that are largely consistent in God’s interactions with man.

1) God will speak to us indirectly, through His chosen prophet.
2) God will alert us to what He will do before He does it.

Thus we do not have to guess at what God will do next. It is knowable, though we do have to recognize who it is that speaks with his authority.

Presumably, the Egyptian magicians doing their enchantments to also bring up frogs was another attempt dispute who truly had that authority. Repeating the wonders of the staffs-to-snakes, water-to-blood, and summoning of frogs were likely meant as an argument that the Hebrew God was no more powerful than the Egyptian ones. It was to reassure Pharaoh so that he wouldn’t feel that he needed to give any regard to the words of Aaron and Moses.

This might have worked in the previous two instances, but as we will see in tomorrow’s verses, this wouldn’t be good enough for Pharaoh any longer. Whether by forces of darkness or subterfuge, the magicians were able to do some things, but they weren’t able to do the one thing Pharaoh actually needed. Only God could.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 8:2-4

2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:

4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

For the second curse, a plague of frogs was sent throughout Egypt. I think the thing that stands out most from Moses and Aaron’s pronouncement is the complete invasiveness of this curse. In the house, in the bed, in the ovens, and in the dough. Among the royal, among the citizens, and among the servants. In short, there was nowhere that the frogs would not be found. And as we will see, this same invasive quality would also apply to every other curse as well.

So, too, when we disregard God and give in to our vices and sins. Disobedience invites all manner of plagues today: violent altercations, sexually transmitted diseases, depression, heartbreak, guilt, long-lasting consequences, broken relationships, cynicism, criminal records, and more. And, like the frogs, each of these can invade every aspect of our lives, perhaps manifesting in one place first, but then splintering to every part of our lives. No part of life is content until the whole vessel is pure.