Exodus Sermons (written)

Exodus 9:1-12
The Plagues of Livestock and Boils

Today we will zip right through two more plagues upon Pharaoh and the land of Egypt… well maybe not zip. But be it a zip or something a bit less than that, one of the plagues we’ll look at is a plague upon the livestock of Egypt… all of the livestock. And for me, it’s a good time to consider the position of animals in relation to man.

The Lord created the animals and, just like man, He is sovereign over them. But there are times when we don’t act as if we believe it anymore than we act as if we believe God has a right to our own souls. When someone close to us dies, we may find ourselves questioning God’s goodness, struggling with our faith, and unable to continue to praise Him.

But there is a fact that we need to consider – we are all going to die and we have no control over that. It is inevitable. And the same is true with animals, including our precious pets. It hurts to lose a pet and unfortunately, we may allow ourselves to get caught up in the same confused thinking about a pet as we do with a human.

However, if we simply consider the world around us, we can hopefully evaluate these things differently. How many of us like to have a burger or a steak? How about a nice chicken parmesan? Can we honestly say that the Lord loves our favorite pet more or less than one of these animals?

But suppose you don’t eat meat? Tigers do. Do we kill the tigers to spare the deer? The world around us is filled with life and all of that life belongs to the Lord. Some animals eat others, some bugs need to be swatted, and sometimes entire herds of animals will die in a plague.

We don’t question God’s goodness in these instances. We accept that the world around us works in a certain way. As we read today’s account, think of the innumerable cute little goats that died. Think of the donkeys and horses that were struck by the plague.

God created and God is sovereign over His creation. Remember this when your favorite pet dies. Instead of being angry at God for taking the pet that was inevitably going to die, remember to thank God for the pet that He allowed into your life for a special season and for the joy of your heart.

Keep all things in perspective and know that God is good and He is good all the time.

Text Verse: “How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are restless,
Because they have no pasture;
Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment.” Joel 1:18

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a season for everything under heaven, including a time to die. Until all things are made new, this is what we can expect to continue with regularity and often with great sorrow for any one of us. In our sorrow, let us remember that God remains good, despite the painful tear in our hearts.

For those who belong to the Lord, let’s just keep our eyes on the Prize; let us fix them on Jesus. Yes, weeping may come for a night, but joy comes in the morning. As we see the destruction upon innumerable animals, and then the terrible plague of boils upon man and beast, let us remember that such things are according to a much greater plan than we could ever conceive or imagine.

This great plan centers on the work of the Lord for His people, the flock of His pasture. This is a truth which is found in His superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Let My People Go (verses 1-5)

¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh

Towards the end of the previous chapter, the plague of flies ended because of a promise by Pharaoh to let the people go sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness. The last words of the chapter revealed a broken promise though. Here are those concluding words of chapter 8 –

“So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. ³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.” Exodus 8:30-32

It is with this thought in mind, that we begin chapter 9 with the Lord once again instructing Moses to go in and speak to Pharaoh…

^1 (con’t) and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews:

koh amar Yehovah – “Thus says Yehovah.” He once again declares His name. “I am the Existent One, full of all power. I control my creation and I see the future before it comes to pass. And I also see the heart of man.”

However, unlike the beginning of chapter 8, an additional distinction is made. Not only is He Yehovah, but He is elohe ha’ivrim – “God of the Hebrews.” This is the first time that this term has been spoken directly to Pharaoh. The term “Hebrews” was known to the Egyptians, but it was a name, like that of a clan. The meaning was disconnected from its use.

Now though, the name “Hebrew” is being reconnected to the use of the name. We may call someone “Tom Carpenter” and think of that as his name – “Oh, there goes Tom Carpenter.” However, a “carpenter” is something. If we reattach the use of the word to the name of the person, we can deduce that at some point in his history, one of his forefathers was probably a carpenter.

If we pay attention to names, we can do this with many people we know. There is Alex Goldsmith; his father worked in gold. There is Andy Miller; his father worked with grains. There goes Mark Holiday; his family never did a thing. In the case of the title “Lord, God of the Hebrews,” the use is being reconnected to the name.

In essence, “I, Yehovah, am ‘elohe ha’ivrim.'” The term “Hebrew” means “to cross over.” In His words, we can see what that means. “I am the Defender and Protector of those who have crossed over to Me. They are my people and I have made a distinction between them and you by placing My name upon them and by separating them for Myself.”

This is now the 17th time that the term “Hebrew” is mentioned in Scripture and the 11th in Exodus. In all, it will be used about 50 times in the Bible, and many of those will be speaking of the language and not necessarily the people. Each time the word is used, it has significance.

Its introduction here is to further distinguish the Lord’s people from all others. As those who have crossed over to be His servants have not yet been set free, the demand of Exodus which has become so common is made once again…

^1 (con’t) “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

The Hebrew people are the Lord’s people, not Pharaoh’s people. And to the Lord, their service is demanded. They have been in bondage to Pharaoh and He is expecting this to change. It isn’t coincidence that the book of Hebrews follows directly after Paul’s epistles.

This pictures the transition from the church age back to a focus on the Hebrew people. Those who have long been in bondage to the power of sin and the devil are being asked to return to the Lord and understand that He had always been there for them.

The demand upon the world of the antichrist will be parallel to the demand upon Pharaoh in Exodus. If he continues to afflict them, consequences will be suffered, just as they are upon Egypt now. We see this as we continue…

² For if you refuse to let them go, and still hold them,

These words are only a portion of a thought, and yet they are offset as a single verse. It is as if they are being highlighted with a pause off of the lips of the Lord for Pharaoh’s strained and expectant ears.

They are spoken as a “more definite assumption, in view of past experience, that Pharaoh may defiantly harden himself.” (Lange) In other words, they are showing that Pharaoh was heaping up guilt by his continued obstinate attitude against the word of the Lord.

The words “if” and “still” show, with all of the exactitude that the Bible can give, that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart has, and continues to be, the fault of Pharaoh alone. Yehovah has, and will continue to emphatically declare his will, and yet Pharaoh has willfully chosen to reject that will by exercising his own.

Matthew Henry gives a clear and concise evaluation of this attitude of Pharaoh and expands it to all people who strive against the word of the Lord –

“Sinners have none to blame but themselves, for that pride and ungodliness which abuse the bounty and patience of God. For, however the Lord hardens the hearts of men, it is always as a punishment of former sins.” Matthew Henry

Pharaoh has been sinful and his sins continue. And with his sin comes the judgment of the Lord…

³ behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—a very severe pestilence.

The fifth plague is announced. It will be against the beasts of the field, some of which were deified by the Egyptians. If they were gods, they can now demonstrate their god-ness by resisting Yehovah. But if Yehovah is the One, true God, then they will suffer by His hand.

This then is an attack on the false gods of Hathor, the goddess with a cow head, and Apis, the bull god – symbol of fertility. These false gods will be proven exactly that, false. The “hand of the Lord” was promised in Exodus 6:1. There it said –

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” Exodus 6:1 (NIV)

The hand represents strength, power, and ability to perform. He formed these animals on the sixth day of creation and gave man dominion over them. However, He is sovereign over all things, even the life of all animals. This is reflected in the 50th Psalm –

“For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” Psalm 50:10, 11

Now, working out His sovereign will, he calls down the sentence upon Pharaoh and his kingdom. The pestilence, or deber in Hebrew, will come upon a notable list of valuable property. This word, deber, is usually used when speaking of pestilence among people, but it also covers animals as we see here in Exodus.

And it isn’t just a normal pestilence that occurred from time to time as the waters of the Nile rose and fell, or as the seasons changed bringing in pests carrying disease. Instead, the Lord says that it will be kaved, or literally “heavy” upon the land.

The imagery is that of the hand of the Lord coming down in a crushing blow against the animals which comprised much wealth in Egypt. It will be upon the “cattle in the field,”  a term used to describe any of the animals of the flock or the herd, some of which will be named specifically after this.

It will also come upon “the horses.” Horses would have been used for the chariots of Egypt and possibly as beasts of burden in the field as well. Their main use at this time would have been for warfare. Having a chariot implies having horses for the chariot.

And chariots were used both for royal transport and for military use. They were first mentioned in Scripture all the way back at the time of Joseph, over 200 years earlier, and so they would probably have been very abundant in the land.

The plague would also be on the donkeys. Again, donkeys would have been very common in Egypt. They were first mentioned in Genesis 12 at the time when Abraham was in Egypt, noting that Abraham had many as a part of his great wealth.

The plague would also be on the camels. In the same verse that donkeys were first mentioned, Genesis 12:16, camels were first noted in Scripture as well. According to the liberal scholars at Cambridge –

“Camels were not used, or bred, in ancient Egypt, nor do they appear ‘in any inscription or painting before the Greek period.'” (Erman, p. 493; cf. W. Max Müller, EB. i. 634; Sayce, EHH. 169). Cambridge

Because of this, they see the inclusion of camels as an anachronism, unless it is a reference to camels owned by traders. However, the Bible itself is a witness to history, and therefore this statement is no anachronism.

If Abraham had camels and other wealth when he was in Egypt, then it implies that there were camels in Egypt at that time. A little thought clarifies what liberal scholars can’t seem to grasp. Egypt was an integral part of the trade route from the Middle East to Africa.

Just because they didn’t deify camels doesn’t mean that there weren’t jillions of them hanging around the pyramids waiting for tourists to hop on and take a ride. In addition to these animals, oxen and sheep are also noted. The standard and common animals of the herd and flock were to be affected by this heavy pestilence.

⁴ And the Lord will make a difference between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt.

In the previous chapter during the fourth plague, the Lord said –

“And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.” Exodus 8:22

The Land of Goshen was set apart from the rest of Pharaoh’s domain, but it was only noted that it was where Israel dwelt. Nothing was said, one way or the other, concerning any Egyptians who also dwelt there, which later we will see that they did.

However, this plague adds in an entirely new dimension. Not only will the Lord make a distinction between the land where Israel dwelt and the rest of Egypt, but He will now make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and of Egypt, much of which would have been collocated.

The very livestock of one group would die next to the livestock of another group. It would be a marvelous display of the Lord’s grace upon Israel while at the same time judging Egypt. It is somewhat of a precursor to the final plague on the firstborn in this respect. The word for “and make a difference” in Hebrew is v’hiphlah.

It is the second of seven uses of the word palah, in the Bible. It means to “set apart,” but the word also means “wonderfully” or “wondrously.” Surely we can see the wondrous work of the Lord in his ability to judge even between the livestock of one group and another.

^4 (con’t) So nothing shall die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’”

The Hebrew is emphatic and could be more literally rendered, “There shall not die of all that is the children’s of Israel a thing.” (Pulpit) The Lord gives life and the Lord controls death. It is a note of His absolute sovereignty over all things.

⁵ Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

Like the previous plague, it is announced by the Lord and it will come about. There will be no stretching forth of Aaron’s rod, or any other visible display to initiate the action. Rather, the word alone has spoken and it will come about by that same word.

There are a few reasons why this plague may have been announced in advance as it was. One is to show the Lord’s sovereignty over the plague and the timing of it. Plagues of this type surely came from time to time, but this one is warned of in advance. The second is to show His control, in advance, over which animals would be affected by it.

And the third would be as a point of grace. In verse three, it said that all the cattle in the field would die. If they were brought in from the field, it is possible some could be saved, although this wasn’t stated either way.

Every beast of the forest is Mine
And the cattle on a thousand hills also belong to Me
I know all the birds of the mountains
And the wild beasts of the field I watch over tenderly

The life of all the creatures is in My hand
I created them and direct their life’s span
But somehow man has failed to understand
They are not gods, but a portion of My earthly plan

And as I wish I give life, and I take it away
Directing all things so that man will hopefully see
That as God to Me alone they should exalt and obey
And with their hearts they should worship only Me

II. The Heart of Pharaoh (verses 6, 7)

⁶ So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died.

It is certain here, as it is throughout Scripture, that context needs to be considered when making absolute claims concerning words such as “all” and “every.” In this verse, it says that “all the livestock of Egypt died.” However, in the coming plagues, it is noted that they will come upon the animals of the Egyptians.

Therefore, this verse now does not mean all in the absolute sense, but in the general use of the word which is found throughout Scripture. The great number is being considered in opposition to the exclusive description given for the animals of the Israelites, which was “not one.” A literal translation from the Hebrew is lo met ekhad – “not.died.one.”

This contradistinction between the two is all the more poignant when considering its ramifications concerning the superstitions of the Egyptians. Whether they actually deified the animals, or whether they deified what the animals represented, the fact that their animals died and the Israelite’s didn’t shows that Yehovah was sovereign over all.

What would seem the cruelest part of this wasn’t the loss of money and accumulated wealth, but the knowledge that He was capable of this act at will. Thus, He was capable of it in the past, but took no action against their misguided beliefs.

Further, He was also capable of accomplishing the same feat at any time in the future if He so chose. Their livelihood and the animal’s lives were subject to His sovereign will. Thus as Job says –

“Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
¹⁰ In whose hand is the life of every living thing.” Job 12:9, 10

⁷ Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead.

It is obvious from this verse that Pharaoh saw the immense destruction of life around him and thought that it was impossible that none of Israel’s animals would have shared in the same fate.

In comparable terms for us, it would be like a nuclear bomb going off in a city full of Christians and muslims while all of the muslims died, but none of the Christians did. How could it be possible? But in fact, not even one of their animals died. However, the perverse nature of Pharaoh is revealed once again in this remarkable plague as we see in the finishing of verse seven…

^{7  (con’t)} But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go.

Whatever he was thinking, it didn’t include releasing captive Israel. Perhaps he figured they were better at tending to their flocks than the Egyptians. Maybe he figured he would simply take the animals of Israel for himself.

Whatever he thought, he showed that he cared nothing for the animals he had lost, and neither did he care for his subjects who fared very poorly under the heavy hand of the Lord. Instead, it says that “the heart of Pharaoh became hard.” But the Hebrew reads differently. It says his heart became kavad – heavy.

It is a verb comparable to the adjective used to describe the hand of the Lord in verse 3 – kaved. Despite the heavy hand of the Lord, the heart of Pharaoh only increased in heaviness. The contrast is given to show us, once again, the utterly obstinate nature of the man and how these judgments came upon him because of his own willful disregard of the Lord.

A hard heart is terrible thing to keep inside
It can only lead down a path of woe and sorrow
With every moment and with each step and stride
It will lead to a more painful tomorrow

If a plague on the livestock won’t change the heart of Pharaoh
I will bring yet another plague upon the land
One that will lead him to more calamity and woe
This will continue until he learns to understand

Now I will afflict him in a most painful way
Boils will well up on him and all of Egypt the land
The magicians will have had their final say
Another plague is ahead, coming from My heavy hand

III. The Plague of Boils (verses 8-12)

⁸ So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes

Because no positive change in heart arose from the previous plague, a sixth plague is now directed by the Lord. It is to be an object lesson for Pharaoh to consider. Like the third plague, it comes without notice and it is inflicted directly on people.

To initiate this plague, they are told to take melo ha’penekhem – “that which fills the hollow of the hand.” In this action they are directed to use piakh. This is not “ashes,” but rather “soot.” To figure out exactly what is occurring here, I did a study on this word, which is only used two times in the Bible and both are in this plague – in verses 8 & 10.

This word piakh, comes from the word puakh which means to breathe or blow. Thus soot far better fits the imagery. This word, puakh is used “in the negative sense of ‘to utter’ lies” (HAW). If one thinks of Pharaoh when reading the following proverbs, you can see the similarity –

“A true witness delivers souls,
But a deceitful witness speaks lies.” Proverbs 14:25

Pharaoh has previously promised to let Israel go, but he has rather spoken lies. Likewise, the consequences of this are noted –

“A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies shall perish.” Proverbs 19:9

The soot which will blow throughout the land is set in contrast to the lies which have issued from Pharaoh’s scoffing mouth as he has sneered at the word of the Lord. And the object lesson continues…

^{8  (con’t)} from a furnace,

The word here is kibshan. It is only used four times in the Bible and refers to something used for firing materials. The word comes from another word, kabash, which means to subdue or bring into bondage and “to make serve, by force if necessary” (HAW).

Therefore, there is a contrast being made between what Pharaoh has done to Israel and what will happen to him with the soot of the furnace. Goshen, and much of Egypt had been converted into fields of brick-making, and it was the Israelites who had been subjected to the forced labor of making them.

As Ellicott notes, “When ashes from one of these kilns were made the germs of a disease that was a sore infliction, their own wrongdoing became to the Egyptians a whip wherewith God scourged them.”

It is then a just retribution for the ill-treatment of Israel that they should receive this plague from the Hebrew hands of Moses and Aaron, and from the kilns which brought so much suffering. Later in Deuteronomy 4, the Lord will describe to the Israelites their ill treatment and His deliverance –

“But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.” (4:20)

^{8  (con’t)} and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.

Finally, the object lesson is revealed in what they do with the handfuls of soot from the furnaces. They are to “scatter it toward the heavens.” As fine dust permeates everything and everywhere, so this plague would permeate the land.

And as the dust would settle upon the people from the heavens, it was indicative of God’s judgment alighting upon the people from the heavens. As this was done “in the sight of Pharaoh,” it was a clear indication that the object lesson was intended for him to see the contrast between the ruthless, forced service of Israel and the soot; between the bondage of Israel and the furnace; and between the God of Israel and the kingdom of Pharaoh.

⁹ And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt,

The word for “dust” is abaq. It indicates very small particles, which carry on the wind. It is the noun form of the verb abaq, which means “to wrestle.” The idea is that when men wrestle, dust is thrown up from the ground.

There is a divine wrestling match which is occurring as the dust is being thrown up into the skies of Egypt. The question for Pharaoh is, “What will be the outcome of the match?” It won’t be pleasant –

^{9  (con’t)} and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”

This horrible plague is an attack on the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, the goddess with power over diseases. It is also an attack against Sunu, the pestilence god, and Isis, the goddess of healing. Again, the Lord is demonstrating the futility of polytheism as He works his plagues against the Egyptians.

In Deuteronomy 28, this affliction will be called “the boils of Egypt.” The Lord warned Israel that if they would not heed His commandments, this same affliction would come upon them that had come upon Egypt. Here is that verse –

“The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed.” Deuteronomy 28:27

Because it is identified with Egypt, it is something that was considered unique to Egypt at that time. However, it would become a tool of the Lord for correction of Israel as well as for the punishment of Egypt.

But the New Testament also gives a similar description of this plague in the bowl judgments coming upon the earth during the tribulation period. In the first of the bowl judgments, we see this –

“So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.” Revelation 16:2

The Lord is consistent in His measures for judgment and correction, and He is sovereign over time, place, and type concerning His choice of those measures. In this action against Pharaoh and Egypt, Adam Clarke notes that there is –

“…a congruity between the crime and the punishment. The furnaces, in the labor of which they oppressed the Hebrews, now yielded the instruments of their punishment; for every particle of those ashes, formed by unjust and oppressive labor, seemed to be a boil or a blain on the tyrannical king and his cruel and hard-hearted people.” Clarke

¹⁰ Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast.

Just as the Lord has spoken, they performed as commanded in the presence of Pharaoh. And just as the Lord had said, the boils that break out in sores came upon both man and beast. And so bad were these boils that they were completely debilitating to those afflicted by them…

¹¹ And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

The magicians, or khartummim, are singled out in this verse and it is the last time that these khartummim will be mentioned in Exodus. Up to this point, they had accompanied Pharaoh and were there at his side for the expressed intent of standing against the signs and wonders of the Lord which were accomplished through Moses.

However, since the first plague, they could do nothing about matching the scope of any plague, nor could they do anything about ending any of them. By the third plague, they could not even replicate what had been done.

Now, not only are they afflicted by the plague, but they can no longer even stand before Moses because of it. In this last mention of them, they have formally conceded the match and have acknowledged their defeat before the Lord. There will be no more support from them, or resistance offered by them.

This is what Paul refers to in his second letter to Timothy –

“Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; ⁹ but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” 2 Timothy 3:8, 9

The folly of the magicians became manifest to all and they have become a sign to the people of the world who attempt to perform magical signs in opposition to the Lord. How unfortunate that so many have continued down this path, even to this day. And even more are those who supposedly do so in the name of the Lord.

In the end, their folly will be manifest to all.

¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them,

In Exodus 4:21, the Lord said he would harden Pharaoh’s heart, using the word khazaq. Since then, four times it has been said that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened using this same word. But this is the first time it is ascribed directly to the Lord – “But the Lord hardened.”

Up until this point, the hardening has been a volitional act of Pharaoh’s will, even if it was passively accomplished by the Lord. The Lord gave signs and wonders which could have been responded to favorably or negatively based on the predispositions of the individual.

In the case of Pharaoh, he was predisposed to arrogance and an obdurate behavior. Now, with there being no remedy to his arrogance, we see what Paul describes in Romans 1 –

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” Romans 1:28

This verse then signals a judicial hardening of the heart because of his previous volitional acts of obstinacy. With no remedy, there is no point in wooing; only punishing. Pharaoh has gone from forsaking the right way to hating correction. There can only be one end for such a person and it is explained in the book of Proverbs –

“Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way,
And he who hates correction will die.” Proverbs 15:10

*^12 (fin) just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

ka’asher dibber Yehovah el Mosheh – “as spoke the Lord to Moses.” The heart of Pharaoh was passively hardened by the Lord in the past; now it is an active punishment for rejecting the right path. And the purpose behind this progressive action is exactly as stated at the beginning –

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:3-5

The Lord was not honored among the Egyptians, but they would learn to know Him. The children of Israel were bound by the Egyptians, but the Lord would bring them out from that bondage. And in His acts, Israel would learn that He was their God, the only God, and that He was faithful to His covenant promises.

As we have seen time and again already, there is a lot we can learn about obstinate Pharaoh. He has willfully turned from the Lord, even after abundant evidences that His word is true and reliable. Of course, we all know many who have followed this same avenue.

They have seen changed lives, they have been made aware of the nature of God, and have then realized that the God of creation matches the God of the Bible. And yet, they harden themselves to the truth that they know is there in front of them.

For those of us who are saved, we shake our head in disbelief, we pray for those like this that we love, and we even secretly feel smug over those we think deserve God’s judgment… “How stupid can they be? They’ll get it in the end.”

But in reality, many of us who are saved already by the blood of Christ are actually in an even more deplorable state. We are saved, we have acknowledged Him, received Him, and been granted the assurance of eternal life because of what He did.

And yet, we haven’t placed Him as Lord of our lives. We ignore the commands and exhortations of Paul when they don’t suit our personal mores, and we lie to ourselves that the Lord doesn’t care. Is our disobedience worth the loss of eternal rewards? Is that the case? Are we merely satisfied with being on the heavenly highway and letting it go with that?

Today, I would ask each person here who has called out to Christ to soberly consider their walk. Are you reading His word, going to Bible Studies, walking in obedience, and continuously redirecting yourselves to the right path when you stray?

If not, today I challenge you to do these things. Make the Savior of your soul the Lord of your life. You will fall… we all do, but better to attempt obedience, than to ignore it. Today, ask Christ to strengthen you in who you are as a valued child of God through His gracious adoption. May it be so! Amen.

Closing Verse “To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Indeed their ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.” Jeremiah 6:10

Next Week: Exodus 9:13-35 (The Plague of Hail) (26th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Plagues Upon Beast and Man

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh
And tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord
God of the Hebrews: “Let My people go
That they may serve Me; listen to my word

For if you refuse to let them go
And still hold them, and will not yield
Behold, the hand of the Lord even so
Will be on your cattle in the field

On the horses and on the donkeys that you keep
And there’s more, as I continue the sentence
On the camels, on the oxen, and on the sheep—
A very severe pestilence

And the Lord will make a difference
Between the livestock of Israel
And the livestock of Egypt
You will see it’s true as I do now tell

So nothing shall die of all, as I am relaying
That belongs to the children of Israel, please understand
Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying
“Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land

So the Lord did this thing on the next day
And all the livestock of Egypt died
But of the livestock of the children of Israel… hooray!
Not one died, and so the Lord was glorified

Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed
Not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead
But the heart of Pharaoh became hard
And he did not let the people go, just as the Lord had said

So the Lord said to Moses and Aaron
“Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace
And let Moses scatter it toward the heavens
In the sight of Pharaoh, so he knows the source of the menace

And it will become fine dust no doubt
In all of Egypt the land
And it will cause boils that break out
In sores on man and beast, from head to toe and hand to hand

Throughout all of Egypt the land
Let it be so as I command

Then they took ashes from the furnace
And stood before Pharaoh
And Moses scattered them toward heaven
And everywhere it did go

And they caused boils that break out
In sores on man and beast
A painful, disgusting plague now doubt

And the magicians could not stand before Moses
Because of the boils, a plague so grand
For the boils were on the magicians
And on all the Egyptians throughout the land

But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh
And them he did not heed
Just as the Lord had spoken to Moses
An obstinate fellow indeed

In due time, the Lord will hand us over
To our own wills; a hardening of the heart
Unless we yield ourselves to Him
And make a fresh start

His offer is made and heaven we may choose
We can accept this marvelous gift of grace
Or we can turn away and so refuse
But that will lead to a different place

In the end our destiny remains our choice
If we have heard of the Gift of His Son Jesus
And so let us open our mouth and use our voice
Receiving what He has offered to us

Let our hearts not be hard, but soft and open today
And in receiving Jesus, let us eternally say…

Great glorious and awesome God, hear our eternal praise
You are worthy of it; glorious and perfect in all Your ways

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Exodus 8:20-32
The Plague of the Swarm

My brother once told me, “Freedom is not congenital.” It has to be taught to each subsequent generation. And if we fail to do so, it will be lost. The American experiment is all but over because we have failed to wisely handle and transmit, untainted by corruption, the lessons of our own freedoms.

The same is true not only with freedom though, but with religion also. Nobody is born a Christian. The title does not transfer from parent to child automatically. Instead, we must tell the next generation of the works of the Lord again and again. The stories of the plagues upon Egypt and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart are actually a part of this lesson.

In this self-willed, hardened individual, and the events which occur in relation to him, we can clearly see that the Lord calls, but the man must respond. The word is given, its rewards or consequences are provided, and a response is expected.

Unfortunately, this is not properly taught in many churches and people are left feeling secure in their eternal destiny when in fact, they haven’t followed through with the response part. This is seen, once again, in the life of Pharaoh to teach us this valuable lesson.

We are to tell the great works of the Lord to our children along with all that His work for us entails. Let us hide nothing in the process, but speak to them of both the rewards and consequences for failure to respond to the call.

Text Verse: “We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.” Psalm 78:4

Even more specific than this text verse, Deuteronomy tells us to keeps the Lord’s commands in our heart, to teach them diligently to our children, to talk of them when we sit in the house and when we walk by the way. We are to do so when we lie down, and when we again rise up.

They are to be so near to us that it is as if they are bound on our hands and placed between our eyes – metaphors meaning at all times and always to be remembered. He asks us to write the words of the Lord even on the doorposts of our house and on our gates – again, signifying even as we come in and go out from our homes we should have the word with us.

Are you this prepared with the word of the Lord? Is it set firmly in your heart and retained in your memory? If not, make it so from this day and forevermore. Cherish the wondrous words that give joy, hope, and which even lead to eternal life. Cherish this wondrous superior word. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. I Will Set Apart the Land of Goshen (verses 20-24)

²⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water.

This is an early morning announcement, just as was seen in Exodus 7:15. Moses is instructed to “rise early.” It is an indication that Pharaoh is going to the water at sunrise, probably to worship the god Ra, the sun-god. It could then be that he did this regularly, or at set times of the year, like a solstice.

Either way Moses was to be there ahead of Pharaoh and he is instructed v’hityatsev liphne pharaoh – “and stand in the face of Pharaoh.”  The imagery is him standing between the water and Pharaoh, probably with the sun at his back, as if challenging the sun-god.

There, illumined by the splendor of the sun around him, Moses would make the same demand he has already made three times – “Let my people go.” And he again explains the reason for the demand…

^{20 (con’t)} Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

With just a minor change in the Hebrew, dropping an accusative, it is an exact repeat of Exodus 8:1. The Lord’s name, Yehovah, is declared; the people are identified as His people; and He desires their service of Him. It is the words of the God who has already proven Himself a competent adversary.

 

However, to this point, Pharaoh has had his heart increasingly hardened as the plagues have become ever more troublesome. With the passing of each plague, it appears Pharaoh believes the Lord’s arsenal is depleted and he continues his belligerent stance.

²¹ Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies

Another plague is announced, in advance, if Israel is not released for the service of Yehovah. The actual identity of this plague cannot be determined with certainty. In Hebrew it is he’arov – “the swarm.” The words “of flies” are inserted by the translators.

Jewish commentators tie the word arov in with erev which means “mingled” or “mixed,” and they thus identify it as a variety of beasts, reptiles, insects, and the like.

However, the term he’arov is used in the singular throughout the plague and so it is one species, not many. The Greek translation of the Old Testament identifies it with the dog-fly. However, scholars have noted that the dog-fly isn’t a pest in houses and it doesn’t damage the land, both of which are noted in this plague.

However, there is a certain type of beetle which does fit the description by harming man, beast, and the land itself. If this is what is described here, it would certainly be another terrible plague, not only because of the great nuisance they made, but because the beetle was considered sacred in Egypt.

The beetle was tied to their god Kephri, the god of rebirth, the sunrise, and the scarab. Kephri was Ra’s aspect in the morning, and thus it is a fitting possibility as Moses has come to encounter Pharaoh in the morning. Therefore, like the frog, the people would refrain from killing one of their little deities and thus they would be overrun all the more.

They apparently have been known to suddenly appear upon the Nile in immense numbers and according to Kalisch they “inflict very painful bites with their jaws; gnaw and destroy clothes, household furniture, leather, and articles of every kind, and either consume or render unavailable all eatables” (Kalisch).

Another commentator notes that “They sometimes drive persons out of their houses; and they also devastate the fields” (Pulpit). It is a seemingly likely choice for the description of the swarm which was to come upon the land. Therefore, this is a challenge against the Egyptian gods Ra and Kephri.

^{21 (con’t)} on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses.

In verse 21, four distinctions are made. It might seem curious that it is worded this way instead of saying that they would simply cover everyone and everything, but each distinction is calculated to give specific effect. He first notes “you” meaning Pharaoh.

It is Pharaoh who has denied Yehovah in the past, setting himself directly against Him. Therefore, he is specifically mentioned. He next notes “and your servants.” It is the noun form, ebed, of the verb abad, or “serve” which was used in the previous verse. If Israel may not serve the Lord, the servants of Pharaoh will suffer.

Next, he says “on your people.” It is the same word used in the previous verse concerning Israel – “My people.” If My people may not serve Me as their God, your people will suffer by one of your false-gods.”

And finally it notes “into your houses.” “If I, the great and awesome God, may not have the joy of open and personal fellowship with My people, you will suffer a private and most personal fellowship with your little biting gods.”

^{21 (con’t)} The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.

“The infestation will permeate the dwelling places of the Egyptians, biting and nauseating the people, turning their hearts away from the little devils that you so worship.” The swarm will be everywhere they go, and will cover the ground on which they stand. In this may be a subtle play on the creation account.

The word for “ground” here is adamah, which is essentially the same as adam, or “man.” Adam was shaped and formed from the adamah and he is intricately tied to it. Rising from it, he walks upon it, he eats what comes from it, and he returns to it. The very ground from which man came will be so covered with the swarm that he will loathe it.

But something new is specifically stated concerning this plague which has not been stated before…

²² And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there,

When the plague comes, in that day, the Lord promises to “set apart” the land. The term in Hebrew is v’hiphleti. It is the first of seven uses of the word palah in the Bible. It means to “set apart,” but the word also means “wonderfully” or “wondrously.”

Because of this, the Latin Vulgate says, “I will do a marvelous thing.” The Greek translation says, “I will render illustrious the land of Goshen.” It is the same word used by David when he said these most memorable of words –

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14

The part of land which is so distinguished is Goshen, the residence of the Hebrews. This area called Goshen is mentioned only ten times in the Bible, eight in Genesis and two in Exodus. It means, “drawing near” or approaching.”

In the Genesis sermons, it was apparent that the name was given to show the coming tribulation period on earth pictured by the plagues on Egypt. Now that time has come and the distinction between the Hebrews and the Egyptians is seen explicitly for the first time.

Thus, it pictures the Jews of the tribulation period who will take Jesus’ advice in Matthew 24 to flee into the wilderness as the time of the Great Tribulation is to draw near. The patterns are beautifully represented in the use of individual words and names which appear at perfectly timed intervals.

It is more than likely that Israel was spared from one or more of the other plagues, but the introduction of the name “Goshen,” and its being separated from the plagues to come, highlights the future events of the end-time tribulation period perfectly.

It should be remembered now that at the end of the previous plague, the magicians said “This is the finger of God.” They used a general term for God which could mean “gods” or any “god.” They didn’t give specific credit to Yehovah, or to the “God of the Hebrews.”

Because of this, the special distinction is now being made to show that this is not just a god, but Israel’s God. And more poignantly, He will next make an even more specific claim…

^{22 (con’t)} in order that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land.

Yehovah isn’t just a god “over there” somewhere, looking for the service of an individual group of people. Nor does He sit upon one parcel of land. Rather, He is Yehovah b’qerev ha’erets – “Yehovah in the midst of the earth.” He is the Lord of the whole earth.

Just as a king is said to rule and reside from the midst of his kingdom in order to conveniently rule and guide his people, Yehovah rules in the midst of the earth and in the midst of the people of the earth. Thus He is the true and only sovereign.

²³ I will make a difference between My people and your people.

Here comes another special note to Pharaoh, v’shamti pedut. The word translated here as “difference” is used only four times in the Bible and it means, more properly to “redeem.” The Lord is making a distinction by redeeming. His people will be redeemed from the plague which will fall on all others.

The same word is used in Isaiah 50 to show that He is fully capable of speaking His word and then fulfilling it –

“Why, when I came, was there no man?
Why, when I called, was there none to answer?
Is My hand shortened at all that it cannot redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Indeed with My rebuke I dry up the sea,
I make the rivers a wilderness;
Their fish stink because there is no water,
And die of thirst.
³ I clothe the heavens with blackness,
And I make sackcloth their covering.” Isaiah 50:2, 3

^{23 (con’t)} Tomorrow this sign shall be.”’”

In order to fully demonstrate that this is the work of the Lord, not only has it been shown in advance that Israel would be exempted from the plague to come, but that it would come at a specific time. There will be little time to prepare as it will be on the morrow. The timing is given and it is called a “sign.”

The word for sign is owth. It is generally used to indicate a sign of something else – one thing pointing to another. Thus, this “sign” is given to show both the omniscience and the omnipotence of the Lord. He sits in the midst of the earth and controls what occurs there, but He also sits in the midst of time and controls when things will occur. Thus, the sign is given to demonstrate this.

²⁴ And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.

No record of the staff being stretched out like the commencement of the other plagues is mentioned. Rather, the word was spoken and the plague began because of it. Therefore, the magicians couldn’t claim that this was merely a magician’s trick.

Rather, by the mere word of an unseen power, the land would come alive with the swarm. And the swarm performed exactly as the word spoke. It covered everything, from the houses of Pharaoh and his servants, even to all of Egypt.

And it says that the land was “corrupted” because of the swarm. This word for “corrupted” more exactly means “destroyed.” The swarm, be it beetle, fly, or some other pest, devoured up everything in its path and brought calamity wherever it went.

The increasing severity of the plagues is seen most notably here. The first three plagues were certainly annoying, but they didn’t actually cause damage or injury to the people or to the land. But this one has caused harm to both. Step by step, the Lord is bringing His judgment upon Egypt and its gods while at the same time progressively hardening the already obstinate heart of Pharaoh.

Another plague is coming unless you pay heed
Our request is made and an answer is expected
The plague will come soon and it will come with speed
Is there a note of defiance in your voice that I have detected?

Pharaoh, you are continuing to bring this evil upon yourself
By not heeding the Lord who makes this request of you
Take your pride, fold it up, and put it on the shelf
Pharaoh, this is what I recommend you do

Now the plague which you assumed wouldn’t come is here
And it is frightful for you, *tee hee*. What? No, I did chuckle!
This is going to get worse for you I fear
Because of your raised fist; I can see the hair on every knuckle

II. Intercede for Me (verses 25-28)

²⁵ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

This is the second time that Pharaoh has now conceded to the judgments he has faced. The first was during the plague of frogs when he 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 sacrifice to the Lord.” (8:8)

After that, when he saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and changed his mind. Now he again tells them that they may go, but he only gives in to what they requested this time, not what they had originally asked for. The original request was that they could go into the wilderness of a three-day journey.

Overlooking that, Pharaoh grants them to “sacrifice to your God in the land.” As an indication of the already hard heart of Pharaoh, we can read those words once again – “sacrifice to your God.” He has granted that Yehovah is “a” god, but not “the” God. To him, He is only “Israel’s” God. Further, rather than identifying Him by name, he only identifies him by his “otherness.”

²⁶ And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.

This explains what was previously left unexplained. In Chapter 5, a three-day journey into the wilderness was requested, but the explanation for this wasn’t given. Now it is being relayed to Pharaoh. The request wasn’t unfounded, but he simply didn’t care about the reason at the time and so he didn’t bother asking why.

Now though, the explanation is rendered, “for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians.” It is improbable that the Israelites had not sacrificed to the Lord in small groups, like at weddings or funerals. Further, as shepherds, they would have been meat eaters.

However, this wouldn’t have been done in an open way, just as it isn’t done by them today. Rather, they would have prepared the animals in markets or shops. But what is being requested is on a wholly different level. An entire group of people would be offering public, open sacrifices to their God.

This would be right “in the face” of the Egyptians and a true affront to them. Today, with open media, the sacrifices of the Jews and other groups are coming under greater scrutiny once again. The world, especially the radical left, vegans, and animal-rights activists, and other nutjobs are working to get animal sacrifices stopped altogether.

These Hebrews were looking to offer animals considered sacred to the Egyptians in a public display of worship. It would in essence be equivalent to killing Egypt’s god for the pleasure of Israel’s God. It would be an all-out affront on the Egyptian society.

^{26 (con’t)} If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?

If they were to openly and publicly sacrifice a cow, which represented their god Isis, it would be beyond the pale. These and other animals were deified by the Egyptians and only catastrophe could result. Ellicott notes that later in Egyptian history, “On one occasion a Roman ambassador, who had accidentally killed a cat, was torn to pieces by the populace.”

The request by the Lord was intended to honor Him while maintaining peace within the greater Egyptian society. The risk of conflict was not without reasonable basis. And Moses indicates what the result would be in the words “will they not stone us?”

It is the very first mention of stoning in the Bible or in any recorded history. Whether it was an accepted form of punishment in Egypt or elsewhere at this time isn’t known, but it is an easy and obvious way to vent one’s anger.

And it is still a common outrage levied against the people of Israel 3500 years later. The muslims living in the land of Israel frequently stone the Jews, their vehicles, their trains, and their homes and offices. And the first mention of this practice is right here in Exodus 8:26.

²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God

Now with the explanation fully revealed for the original request, it is repeated as a statement of certainty for Pharaoh. What he ignored in the past is now made clear to him and it is spoken with implicit intent behind the words. “Now you know; now we will.”

^{27 (con’t)} as He will command us.”

This indicates to Pharaoh that they had not been informed exactly what was entailed in the sacrifice and feast to be held. Rather, they had been instructed and they were simply attempting to be obedient to the calling.

It more poignantly shows the trouble they could be in with the Egyptians, because whatever mode and means of worship was requested wasn’t known, and so it could be more than just sacrificing animals that could upset them. This also is another anticipatory statement which will be later explained in Exodus –

“Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” Exodus 10:26

Like before, if Pharaoh asked now what they meant, he would understand the whole picture, but he doesn’t. It shows a continued arrogance and simplicity of mind that will persist in leading him to more hardening of the heart and more trouble to come.

²⁸ So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away.

Pharaoh, again grants release, even with the condition of going into the wilderness, but it is to be inferred that he means still within the realm of Egyptian rule. Instead of agreeing to a three-day journey, he agrees with the unspecified “not…very far away.”

He has now, for the first time, shown what his true opposition to the request is. If they go, they may never come back. They could easily continue on towards Canaan and refuse to return. Rather than refuse the vague words of Pharaoh, Moses remains quiet. This is probably because he already knows the outcome of the matter.

Pharaoh will get relief and he will again harden his heart. Moses has already been made aware that the firstborn son is to be threatened in exchange for the release of Israel, and that has not yet occurred. Instead, Pharaoh has niggled over minutiae and Moses has remained silent. As the Geneva Bible evaluates this verse –

“So the wicked instruct God’s messengers how far they may go.” Geneva

It is like the increasing attacks of the government upon Christian pastors – “You can say this, but no more.” First, they silence them on politics in exchange for their obedience to the dollar. Next they silence them on moral issues in exchange for their freedom.

Soon, they will demand silence on the principle tenets of their faith in exchange for their lives. Each step brings the people of God closer to a final confrontation.

^{28 (con’t)} Intercede for me.”

In verse 8, during the height of the plague of frogs, Pharaoh 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 sacrifice to the Lord.”

Now, an abbreviated form of that long plea is given – hatiru baadi, “pray for me.” All of the rest of the words can be inserted by us. “Oh man, this swam is horrifying. I can’t stand it anymore and I will let you go sacrifice to the Lord. Let’s just get this plague ended. Intercede with the Lord for me.”

This plague is horrifying, yes it is true
Please make it end and I will do as you say
I will let Israel go sacrifice in the land, this I will do
Just get rid of this swarm, as to you I now pray

It shall be done if a three day’s journey is granted
The plague will end and all will again be good
What was destroyed can again be planted
Now that the agreement is made and things are understood

But Pharaoh, don’t make the same mistake you made before
Don’t harden your heart and from the Lord turn away
Surely worse things will come as He plagues you some more
If you are unwilling to fulfill the words that you did say

III. But Pharaoh Hardened His Heart (verses 29-32)

²⁹ Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people.

In agreement to the conditions, while leaving the vague words of Pharaoh for the Israelites to “not go very far away” left alone, He promises that he will, in fact, entreat the Lord for the plague to end. This time, rather than asking Pharaoh when the plague should end, he simply follows with the same time-frame as the ending of the plague of frogs, which is “tomorrow.”

The relief would come, it would be soon, and it would be complete. The swarm would depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. However, the granting is conditioned upon allowing the worshipping of Yehovah through sacrifice by His servants and by His people.

The contrast is evident, though unstated at this time. The distinction is made between the people of God and the people who are not of God. So it will be at the rapture of the church, and so it will be in the end times, during the tribulation. There are spiritual separations which exist and the boundaries between them are known to, and closely watched by the Lord.

^{29 (con’t)} But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

In the closing words of the conversation, Moses rebukes Pharaoh for his conduct which was noted in verses 8-15. Pharaoh agreed to let Israel go, but in his agreement, he dealt deceitfully. The word used here is hathal and it means properly, “to mock.”

His change of heart is equated with mockingly deceiving the Lord, and it is an evident trait in anyone who fears the true God only as long as His effects are felt in a negative way. There is no true love or caring for Him or His people.

Rather, there is a purposeful mocking attitude deep in the heart which comes forth like blooming flowers in the spring. They are evident, they are showy, and they fade just as quickly at the next time of deprivation or hardship arises.

In order to keep him from such an attitude, Moses makes the effort to remind him of his past transgression in hopes of it not turning into another one. As Ellicott notes –

“God’s servants must rebuke even kings when they openly break the moral law.” Ellicott

How few are willing to do this, but how important it is, especially in this world where the spirit of Pharaoh is growing almost exponentially as the days pass!

³⁰ So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord.

In accord with the request of Pharaoh, and even before the people have assembled to depart for their sacrifice in the wilderness Moses upholds his part of the bargain. This takes us right back to verses 12 & 13 where the same basic thing happened.

Although we could throw the old adage at Moses, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” he is willing to follow the preset plan of the Lord so that His signs and wonders might be multiplied. The Lord’s representative thus petitions Him on behalf of Pharaoh.

³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained.

Again as before, the Lord heard Moses and defended both the integrity of His own name, and that of Moses before Pharaoh. For a second time, the petition comes less for mercy on Pharaoh than it is made for the glory of the Lord to be revealed and the honor of the Lord to be maintained.

The removal of the plague is as remarkable as the initiation of it. The plague was everywhere, it was unstoppable by any known means, and yet it was ended in all places, completely, and at a specified time. Another victory over more false gods of Egypt!

Again as before, the surpassing greatness of the Lord is seen in the ending of the terrible plague upon Pharaoh and in the land of Pharaoh. The swarms departed exactly as promised. When the word is spoken, the word never fails. But the same is not true with the word of man.

It is a rare trait that a man can be known for the truth of the words he utters. Normally, something more certain than the breath out of one’s mouth is required to ensure that the words will be followed up with deeds. And the reason is that all the way through human history, men have made promises and those promises have been broken.

From the desperate gambler looking to pay off his debts and never gamble again, to the great Pharaoh in Egypt who begged for the removal of the plagues, promising relief to his enslaved Hebrews, the words prove false and the actions of the heart are recorded in God’s scroll of memory for future judgment…

*³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is so important that it has been mentioned continuously and meticulously by the Lord. It isn’t an arbitrary side issue, but it is at the very core of biblical doctrine. We are being taught about the nature of God in relation to man, and the nature of man in the presence of God.

And yet, we as Christians will follow misguided presuppositions about what is occurring rather than pay heed to what the Lord is trying to tell us. The Lord is directing us with His actions towards us, but He is also leaving the final decision of how we relate to Him, and how we perceive Him, completely up to us.

Because of this, when we stand before Him, we will only have ourselves to blame in how we responded to Him and how we instructed others about His nature. The goodness of God cannot be on trial here because Pharaoh was given advanced warning of what would come about.

He was given time to reflect on that bad decision, and then he was granted the grace of being relieved of what he had brought upon himself. The Lord could have allowed the plague to go on forever, made the plague worse, or even added in another plague on top of this one. Instead, He ended it.

And yet, once again, the Bible tells us that “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also.” It was a volitional act of his free will. And it is recorded for us to read and to assimilate into our own minds. He has given us His word, He has told us what He expects, and He has shown the consequences of our disobedient hearts.

We can’t blame God when we get syphilis or AIDS. He has told us how to conduct our lives from a moral standpoint. We can’t blame God when a loved one dies, when He has already shown us that all are destined to die and that He alone is the Decider of when that will occur.

We cannot say five minutes after the rapture, “It’s not fair! I wasn’t ready!” And we cannot stand before him at the judgment and say, the preacher told me that I was predestined to salvation and so I assumed that was true. Instead, we have to call to Him for healing, and we have to actively participate in His plan of salvation.

The span of our lives is unknown except to the One who gave us that life. When the final moment comes for you, will He say, “This one hardened his heart and would not yield to my call.” Or will He be pleased with how you responded to His goodness in creation, in family, in blessings, and in the Gift of His Son, Jesus?

It is up to you. Choose wisely, and be sure to choose today. The Bible promises us no tomorrows. Let me tell you what you need to know so that you will stand approved when He comes for you…

Closing Verse: “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

Next Week: Exodus 9:1-12 (The Plagues of Livestock and Boils)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Swarming Plague

And the Lord said to Moses
“Rise early in the morning
And stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water
There you shall give him my warning

Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord plainly
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me

Or else, if you will not let My people go, behold
I will send swarms of flies on you
And your servants, on your people as you are told
And into your houses the swam will go too

The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies
And also the ground on which they stand; Pay heed! Be wise!

And in that day I will set apart
The land of Goshen, in which My people dwell
That no swarms of flies shall be there
Pay attention to the words which I do now tell

In order that you may know and understand
That I am the Lord in the midst of the land

I will make a difference between
My people and your people
Tomorrow this sign shall be seen

And the Lord did so
Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh
Into his servants’ houses, they did go
And into all the land of Egypt, what an amazing show!

The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies
The immensity of what was coming Pharaoh didn’t realize

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, we understand
And said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”

And Moses said, “It is not right to do so
For we would be sacrificing the abomination
Of the Egyptians to the Lord our God, as you know
We cannot sacrifice inside Egypt the nation

If we sacrifice the abomination
Of the Egyptians before their eyes
Then will they not stone us?
Even until every Hebrew dies

We will go three days’ journey, thus
Into the wilderness and sacrifice
To the Lord our God as He will command us
The removal of the plague demands this price

So Pharaoh said, “I will let you go
That you may sacrifice to the Lord your God
In the wilderness, even so
Only you shall not go very far away as you trod

Intercede for me
This plague is horrifying as you can see

Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, here I go!
And I will entreat the Lord
That the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh
From his servants, and from his people, according to the word

But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore, making it twice
In not letting the people go, and to the Lord make sacrifice

So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord
And the Lord did according to Moses’ spoken word
He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh
From his servants, and from his people, not one remained
But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also
Neither would he let the people go, but instead them he detained

A hard heart inside a man is a fearful thing
It will lead him down a path towards great loss
In the end only immense sorrow it will bring
Especially when that heart is hard towards Jesus’ cross

God gives us every warning in advance to beware
He provides guidance for the path, as a lamp so bright
If we heed His word, reading it daily, we will find there
Life and healing and the most radiant light

It is given as a guide and a rule for our life
To lead us across the Jordan to the heavenly shore
Read it now, accept its words and end all your strife
Come to Jesus and be reconciled to God forevermore

He is reaching out nail-scarred hands, offering peace
Receive the gift, bow the knee, and let the enmity cease

Together with the saints of God we shall our mighty Lord praise
There in His majestic presence for innumerable, eternal days

Hallelujah and Amen…

Exodus 8:16-19
The Plague of Lice

The day before typing this sermon, a friend on Facebook named Taylor posted to me something that I’d missed during my sermon on Exodus 3. I’m not going back that way again, but I hate not sharing everything about a passage that I can. So I’m including his words in today’s sermon because they fit with this sermon.

At the time that Moses stood before the burning bush, I gave several reasons for why the Lord asked Moses to take off his sandals. I then noted that the only other time this was seen in the Bible was in Joshua 5. I gave reasons for this and how the two accounts contrast and yet they confirm a message at the same time.

When Taylor watched that sermon, he thought about it and the Lord led Him to another picture, a prophetic picture, which I had completely missed. He noted that the first and second advents of Christ are pictured in these two accounts.

On His first advent, He came as the Giver of instruction (Torah) to redeem and separate his people from the world. The next time He comes it will be as the Lord of Hosts, to take His people into the Promised Land. And this is absolutely correct.

Moses was the human giver of instruction and redeemer of His people. Likewise, Joshua was the human commander of the armies of Israel who led them into the Promised Land. And so these two accounts provide a prophetic picture of Christ’s two advents.

I thought this was a great insight and it also fits well with the ongoing theme of the plagues of Exodus. Each of the plagues is designed to build upon the next and to lead to the ultimate redemption of Israel. When they are redeemed, they’ll go to Sinai to receive their instruction. And eventually they will head for the land of promise.

We as Christians have been redeemed. We have also received our instruction in the pages of the Bible. Eventually, we’ll be brought into the land of promise. Until we get there though, we should be learning all we can about the precious book He has given us.

Text Verse: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

What a true statement this is! Pharaoh had been given the word of God verbally several times. He has also seen the proofs of it realized in plagues upon His land. Today, no word will be given to him in advance of the plague, but the plague will speak for itself, proving its divine source.

But it will also be a source of hardening, not softening, of Pharaoh’s heart. I have to tell you, someone who can hear the word of the Lord, see it analyzed and reanalyzed and see something new come out of it every day, and still not have it change their heart is just asking for grief.

I missed those prophetic pictures of Christ in Exodus and Joshua, even though they were as evident as the nose on my face. Instead of hardening my heart, they make me want to believe the Lord even more. Pharaoh on the other hand, like so many people in the world today, takes just the opposite view. It is a view which can only lead to destruction.

Before that time comes, I would hope that many would open their eyes and see the glory of the Lord revealed in this precious superior word. Maybe somebody will today! And so let’s head to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Stretch Out Your Rod (Verse 16)

¹⁶ So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod,

This is now the third time that Aaron is instructed by the Lord through Moses to stretch out his rod. The first was over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. When he did, the waters became blood.

The next time was over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds. This caused frogs to come up on the land. Now something new will come about. As we saw concerning the frogs, they were a logical and natural outcropping of the waters having turned to blood. And yet, there was the miraculous involved as well.

This is especially so because the record shows that the frogs came when Aaron stretched out his rod and they departed at the time that Pharaoh had designated when requested by Moses. And so even if the plagues were natural, there is still the supernatural involved. Only the Lord could so minutely direct events such as these.

The next plague very well could be a natural result of the multiplication and then death of the frogs as well.

^{16 (con’t)} and strike the dust of the land,

Instead of merely stretching the rod out over the waters, a forceful action is instructed – “strike the dust of the land.” It is a demonstration of purpose and intent and it signifies that this third plague will come not from the waters, but from the land.

This then is to be an attack on the Egyptian god Set, the god of the desert, and another god of Egypt I’ll mention in a while. It is then to be a lesson that Yehovah is not merely God over the waters, but He is also God over the land. Among the ancients, there was often a misperception concerning the nature of God. He isn’t just a mere god over one thing and not another.

He isn’t just a god over one group of people, but over all people. And he isn’t only a god over one location, but over all places. He is absolutely sovereign over all things. It was a common misperception which is highlighted throughout the Old Testament.

In 1 Kings 20, Ben Hadad, king of Syria, came against Israel in battle. He was sorely defeated by them and returned home to Syria. Upon his return, and in preparation for another battle, his servants told him why they thought they were defeated the first time –

“Then the servants of the king of Syria said to him, ‘Their gods are gods of the hills. Therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them in the plain, surely we will be stronger than they. ²⁴ So do this thing: Dismiss the kings, each from his position, and put captains in their places; ²⁵ and you shall muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse and chariot for chariot. Then we will fight against them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they.'” 1 Kings 20:23-25

If you read the account, you’ll see that the Syrians found out that they were once again, incorrect. Rather, they suffered a second great defeat. Likewise, later in 2 Kings 20, after the exile of Israel from the land because of disobedience, the king of Assyria brought people into the land of Israel from other countries to settle there. However, when they were brought in, we read what occurred –

“And it was so, at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they did not fear the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. ²⁶ So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, ‘The nations whom you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land; therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not know the rituals of the God of the land.’ ²⁷ Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, ‘Send there one of the priests whom you brought from there; let him go and dwell there, and let him teach them the rituals of the God of the land.’ ²⁸ Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.” 2 Kings 17:25-28

In the first account, there was the misperception that Yehovah was the god of the hills and not of the plains. In the second, there was the misperception that the Lord was only the Lord of the Land of Israel.

Misunderstanding God’s nature can lead to all sorts of problems. However, no matter whether He is misunderstood or understood, He uses the matter to effect His purposes. One more exceptional case such as these comes from the books of Isaiah, Chronicles, and Ezra.

Isaiah, writing long before the exile of Israel to Babylon, made a prophecy concerning their return. In one of the most profound prophecies of the Old Testament, he twice mentioned King Cyrus of Persia by name, even saying that it would be Cyrus who would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. That is recorded in Isaiah 44 –

“Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
²⁷ Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
²⁸ Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ Isaiah 44:26-28

In the next chapter, he continues with his words concerning Cyrus and ends with this thought –

I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his ways;
He shall build My city
And let My exiles go free,
Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 45:13

It is believed that Cyrus was informed of this prophecy which bore his own name and it so moved him that he agreed to its terms, thus fulfilling the prophecy about him because it was a prophecy about him. The words of fulfillment are so important that they close out the book of 2 Chronicles and they are repeated at the beginning of the book of Ezra –

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,
²³ Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!” 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23

Cyrus realized that the Yehovah is the God of heaven. He rules not only over portions of the earth such as the water, the hills, the land of Israel, or the Middle East, but He also rules over all of the earth and the heavens too. And not only does He rule over them in time, but beyond time. He rules over the future as well as the present.

The prophecy which named him showed him these things. Unlike Cyrus, a different approach is taken towards Pharaoh. God could have named Pharaoh in advance by the mouth of Abraham and explained what he should do. But a different course is taken in Egypt because a different outcome is needed.

Every detail of history is being carefully guided for a specific outcome. In the case of Pharaoh, it is to harden his heart so that the mighty deeds of the Lord might be magnified. And these deeds aren’t just given to show us how the Lord worked in the past, but how He will work again in the future.

^{16 (con’t)} so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’”

As simple as these words seem, the one word which defines the plague, kinnim, translated here as “lice,” cannot be definitively identified. It is used only six times in the Bible. Five of them are in these three verses, and the sixth is in Psalm 105, which is speaking of these verses.

Because of the word’s difficult nature, it is viewed by scholars in a variety of ways – lice, gnats, mosquitoes, or ticks. Each view has its interesting possibilities. But to determine which, it would be good to look again at the natural order of how plagues occur.

The river turned to blood and frogs become prolific. If the frogs died out in an immense quantity, then there would be a logical outcropping from that. Again, this doesn’t deny the miraculous nature of the event. Rather, it follows the natural progression of what God has instilled in nature.

At the same time, the fact that God designed nature means that He would know when the plagues would come about. His instructions to Moses and Aaron are given at the time when these would occur. Thus, just as will be seen with the parting of the Red Sea, there is still a miraculous element to the plague.

With the river having been turned to blood, which in turn would lead to all sorts of unsanitary conditions, and that being followed with a plague of frogs which would lead to even worse conditions, it is not unthinkable that such a plague would arise.

The question is, “Which is most likely.” Although there is strong evidence for it being mosquitoes, it is known that they breed in the water, not on the land. Therefore, although some very great scholars have chosen this, I would shy away from it. Aaron was told to strike the dust of the earth, not the waters.

Adam Clarke gives a good argument for it being ticks, but he is a lone voice on that and it doesn’t seem like a natural outcropping of unsanitary conditions. Gnats do result from that though and so they seem like a good possibility. Unlike mosquitoes, their larvae are found on the land, particularly moist soils.

After they mature and begin to fly, they have been noted to appear as clouds of dust as they fly as well. Therefore, gnats are an acceptable possibility, but I do feel there is one which is better. What seems most likely is that it is, in fact, lice – just as the NKJV renders it.

Lice are small, as if they themselves were dust. In fact, when you look at them on someone’s head, they appear almost like sand or dandruff on the scalp, at least until you see them moving around. They are also extremely prolific. Adam Clarke notes that –

“In the space of twelve days a full-grown female lays one hundred eggs, from which, in the space of six days, about fifty males and as many females are produced. In eighteen days these young females are at their full growth, each of which may lay one hundred eggs, which will be all hatched in six days more. Thus, in the course of six weeks, the parent female may see 5,000 of its own descendants! So mightily does this scourge of indolence and filthiness increase!

Therefore, not only does their size appear as the dust, but their numbers can as well. A large plague of lice would appear as though the very dust itself had come alive. The 17th century Bible scholar Samuel Bochart gives several convincing reasons for the plague to have been just this, lice

“1. Because those in question sprang from the dust of the earth, and not from the waters. 2. Because they were both on men and cattle, which cannot be spoken of gnats. 3. Because their name comes from the radix כון kun, which signifies to make firm, fix, establish, which can never agree to gnats, flies, etc., which are ever changing their place, and are almost constantly on the wing. 4. Because כנה kinnah is the term by which the Talmudists express the louse, etc.” Samuel Bochart via Adam Clarke

His logic is certainly worthy of note and it will seem to be born out by the wording of the coming two verses.

Does God love me? This I want to know
Yes, He does, it is certain and true
But love is not all of who God is
There are things that He expects from me and you

There must be faith in Him and what He has done
In order for Him to reward us with His love
He asks us to trust in the work of Jesus, His only begotten Son
In order for us to walk with Him in the heavens above

If we refuse to receive this, and instead harden our heart
Should we expect Him to overlook such a thing?
His word teaches us such lessons, wisdom it does impart
And in following its words, happiness it will bring

II. Lice on Man and Beast (verse 17)

¹⁷ And they did so.

In obedience to the word of the Lord, and without any seeming hesitation or worry that the plague may not actually occur, they are noted as having followed through with the command. And, unlike the previous two plagues, this one has occurred without any given warning.

It can therefore be considered a direct judgment on Pharaoh for having hardened his heart after the plague of frogs. As absolutely sure evidence that it was the Lord that directed the frogs, Pharaoh himself was given the honor of choosing the selected time of their demise.

When it occurred, exactly as spoken, he should have humbled himself, but instead, when there was relief, he took the other path and further hardened his heart. Thus, this plague is given without warning as a penalty for his arrogant, hard heart, and for his failure to submit to the will of the Lord.

As was seen in an earlier sermon, the first nine plagues are divided into three distinct groups. Advance warnings are given in the first two of the plagues of the specific group, but when the third plague comes, it is without previous notice.

That is the case with this plague, which is the third. It will also be the case with the sixth plague of boils and the ninth plague of darkness.

^{17 (con’t)} For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth

Again it is noted that it is “the dust of the earth” which is struck. The specific details of this verse and the previous verse really seem to preclude the notion of mosquitoes. Further, we were told that after the plague of frogs, the frogs of the river still remained

As this is so, there were plenty of natural predators to consume the mosquito larvae. Although mosquitoes are considered at times horrendous along the Nile, they are water born insects, not land-born. Aaron is said to have struck the dust and the result follows..

^{17 (con’t)} and it became lice on man and beast

As the Lord spoke, the plague occurs. Lice became so numerous that they literally covered both man and beast. Having read numerous articles on lice, it is evident that this is more than possible. There are various types of lice, and they are known to cover humans, clinging especially to any spot of hair on the body.

They also will cover household pets and outdoor animals such as horses, goats, and whatever other livestock they can cling to. They carry diseases and they can be a painful nuisance for any who are infected with them. What probably happened is that the millions of frogs ate whatever predators lice have and upset the life cycle, allowing them to bloom in great numbers

This plague would have been most unwelcome to the Egyptian people because they prided themselves on cleanliness. The writer Herodotus even notes that the “priests were wont to shave or scrape their whole bodies every third day, lest any lice should breed upon them.” (Benson)

Maybe they started this practice after the plagues we are seeing! To have these crawling all over them would be miserable. But it is not unlikely because of the immense lack of hygiene which would have resulted from the death of the frogs. Also, it is the wording of this verse which seems to indicate lice rather than gnats.

It says ba’adam u-ba’behemah – “in man and in beast.” The description is more readily identified with lice than it is with gnats. Lice cling and chewy chew. Gnats come and go and only stop to nibble. Regardless of which it truly is, they came in numbers beyond imagination, and they covered both people and animals.

^{17 (con’t)} All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

The term kal aphar ha’aretz, or “all the dust (of) the land” has to be taken as a form of hyperbole. This type of speech is more than common in the Bible. Both testaments, and in many varying contexts, use the term “all” to indicate a vast number, but not specifically meaning literally “all.”

When John the Baptist came, he baptized the people for repentance. In the Gospel of Mark, we are told this and it is noted in the hyperbolic form “all” –

“John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. ⁵ Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.” Mark 1:4, 5

Twice, in one account, it says “all.” First, “all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem” and then “all” were baptized by him. If taken literally, then all of the people from those areas, meaning every one of them, were baptized. But in Luke 7, we read this –

“And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” Luke 7:29, 30

The Pharisees and the lawyers, though being inhabitants of Judea and Jerusalem, were not baptized. Therefore, we always need to be careful to consider what words like “all” and “every” mean in their intended context. In the case of the ten plagues, it is not to be taken that literally all of the dust became lice. Rather, it is a superlative way of noting the immensity of the plague.

And there is a reason for this. The plague fell upon the earth which itself was considered a deity, even the father of the gods. They held sacred “the black fertile soil of the basin of the Nile, called Chemi, from which the ancient name of Egypt is supposed to be derived.” (Barnes)

Therefore, the Lord is exalting His name and power above this false god, Chemi, of the created order as well as Set, god of the desert, who I mentioned earlier. The Egyptians had come to worship the ground under their feet instead of raising their eyes to the Lord. Now that ground would appear to come alive with rage upon them for their spiritual harlotry.

Again, as I’ve said, I personally believe this plague is a natural outcropping of a logical sequence of events. It involves one plague leading to the next as nature unfolds in its normal way. And yet, there is still the note of the miraculous as well. Adam Clarke, based on the writing of an earlier scholar named Calmet, also discerned this process when he said –

“…it may be observed, that God never works a miracle when the end can be accomplished by merely natural means; and in the operations of Divine providence we always find that the greatest number of effects possible are accomplished by the fewest causes.” Adam Clarke

This is an important consideration because Pharaoh could perceive the natural and thus reject the supernatural. The same will be true in the plagues of the end times. Though they have been predicted in advance, they will probably come about by natural or man-made occurrences, radiation, chemicals, meteorites, and the like.

The miraculous is that God foresees the event and gives us advanced notice of it, just as He did with Cyrus, king of Persia. Cyrus could have said, “That is just four letters which could be speaking of anybody with a similar name!” Instead, he heard the word and he believed.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Many, like Pharaoh also hear, and yet they refuse to accept the truth presented to them. In the end, such will suffer both regret and torment.

Once the dead frogs were gone and the stink faded away
We thought that things would again be pretty nice
But we sure thought wrong what we thought on that day
This is just disgusting! We’re all covered in lice

We itch all over and our animals are all covered too
Our beds are inundated with them as well
I guess shaving man and beast is what we have to do
We’ll all look a bit silly for a spell

But that sure is better than being covered with lice
It will be great when every one of them dies
We won’t be itchy and life will be so nice
Ikh! The only thing worse than lice would be a plague of flies

III. The Finger of God (verses 18 & 19)

¹⁸ Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not.

The same expression is used here as was used in 7:22 – “and did so the magicians.” It doesn’t mean they actually were able to do so, but that they tried to do so. Saying something in a definite manner can mean “attempt to do this thing” as well as actually do it.

In Matthew 7:13, it says, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” But in Luke 13:24, the same words are rendered as, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”

Jesus uses the definite term in Matthew to indicate that an attempt should be made. In the case of the Egyptians, they did so, “but they could not.” What it means is that they did what Aaron did, but they didn’t achieve the same results as he did.

This also more clearly explains the “all” of the previous verse, which said, “All the dust of the land became lice.” If all of it had, then they would have no dust to try the same miracle. It is beyond credibility to think that they couldn’t perform the sign because there was no dust for them to try. If that were the case, the Bible wouldn’t have noted them trying.

One scholar went so far as to say that they made dust first by taking moist earth, drying it out, and pounding it until it was dust. That is an immense amount of thought to insert into a verse which is plain on its surface. The superlative “all” is used even though it doesn’t literally mean “all.”

^{18  (con’t)} So there were lice on man and beast.

There is more than not being able to reproduce the miracle. There is also the reality of the lice which came forth. They covered both man and beast and the magicians had no control over them. They could no more get rid of them than they could produce them. The plague had begun and it would run its course without their ability to bring it to an end.

¹⁹ Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

With their inability to reproduce the miracle, they realized that they have been outmatched. In the past, they could reproduce the event that the Lord had originated, even if it was on a smaller level and even if they couldn’t end what He had begun. But now, they cannot even repeat the thing.

The tricks up their sleeves had come to an end. They may have assumed to this point that Moses and Aaron were just exceptionally good magicians, but now they see there is a difference in both magnitude and accomplishment. And so they proclaim to Pharaoh etsbah elohim hi.

Translations universally say “the finger of God,” but because these priests are polytheists, it doesn’t mean that they have yet accepted the premise of one God. Rather, they could be claiming Yehovah is merely “a” god, rather than “the” God. The word elohim allows either.

This God, Yehovah, who they have come to know is not one of their gods, but to them He may still be just another of many gods. All they know at this point is that what they have seen has come from a force greater than what they can conjure up on their own.

No matter what they were thinking though, the use of the word “finger” is notable for a few reasons. So far, 2500 years of human history have been recorded and yet this is the first time a finger is mentioned in the Bible. And even more, it is used in a metaphorical rather than a literal sense.

To us, the idea of a finger is that it accomplishes things, it points out things, and it indicates the source of power. The finger leads to the hand which is used for swearing. Swearing implies an oath and thus authority. It implies power, to both fend off and to hold.

The hand leads to the arm which is used to indicate strength – strength to destroy and strength to save. All of this, and much more is seen in the Bible concerning these body parts. The priests here acknowledge that the source of what has occurred is from another realm, represented by the finger.

This concept will be seen again in both testaments of the Bible, ascribing the sovereign and omnipotent power of God to the work of His fingers. In Psalm 8, we read this –

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained.” Psalm 8:3

And in Luke 11:19, 20, we find these words of Jesus –

“And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

When the Ten Commandments were written, it was with the finger of God. And when the leaders of Israel were about to stone a woman for adultery, it was the finger of the Lord writing in the sand which withheld their intent for her demise.

The power of the finger is not to be underestimated, especially the finger of God. But for some, there is a lack of understanding the full implication of the work which is wrought by that awesome appendage of Yehovah.

The finger of the Lord is attached to a strong hand, and that in turn is attached to an outstretched arm, ready to work even greater miracles in the midst of Egypt. Pharaoh just doesn’t realize it yet. We see this as verse 19 continues…

^{19 (con’t)} But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them,

The words of his magicians do not reflect the certainty of one God. There is no definite article in front of the word God and there is no other descriptor attached to Him other than that the deed was by elohim’s finger.

Pharaoh has already seen two supposed demonstrations of the ability to replicate God’s miracles. Just because one attempt has failed is not enough to convince him that He is superior in all ways. Rather, for all Pharaoh knows, He may be inferior in other ways.

For him, it has probably been an uncomfortable plague, but not one of sufficient magnitude to cause him the loss of an entire group of people under his authority. The Lord has successfully worked in the life of Pharaoh in a way which has caused him to harden his heart to the things of God. And we know this is so because of our final words of today…

*^{19 (con’t)} just as the Lord had said.

ka’asher dibber Yehovah – “as spoke the Lord.” These words along with the ones just before them are an exact repeat of Exodus 7:13 –

“But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said.”

The heart of Pharaoh has been passively hardened by the Lord, not actively. That is what is implied here. He has shown His glory in small steps rather than in one great act. Because of this, Pharaoh has become more, not less, obstinate in his attitude toward Him.

It is true that the Lord may have prompted Pharaoh to hardening, but the fault and the sentence for the action remains solely with him. The magicians have acknowledged the finger of God in the matter, whatever that meant to them. And so, by rejecting what the plague has made plainly known, Pharaoh has now placed himself on the level of that same elohim.

This is what the antichrist will do in the future as he leads the world to inevitable destruction. And this is what many individuals willingly do every day of their lives. God has made himself known to His creatures through His creation. But we suppress that truth in our unrighteous minds.

Pharaoh only added to his guilt in this matter because he not only rejected natural evidence, but he has rejected three instances of supernatural evidence. And maybe there is someone like Pharaoh here today. We have been given not only the natural truths of God in the timing of the stars and in the intricacy of DNA, but we have been given the supernatural truths of God as well.

We have the evident truths of revealed prophecy. We have the Jew who, beyond all possibility, has survived and flourished, just as the Bible said they would. We have the evidence of God revealed in changed lives and restored families. And even more we have His sure word.

In every reasonable evidence for there being a God, there is only an unreasonable response by the unbeliever that there is no God. Let us not be like Pharaoh in this regard. Instead, let us soften our hearts and simply acknowledge His greatness.

Let us welcomingly receive the knowledge that He imparts to us. And let us bow our knee and receive His greatest Gift of all, the salvation of our souls through the work of His Son, our Lord Jesus. If you have never understood the need for Jesus in your life, please give me just another moment to explain it to you now…

Closing Verse: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” Romans 1:18, 19

Next Week: Exodus 8:20-32 (The Plague of Flies) (24th Exodus Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Not so Nice, It’s a Plague of Lice

So the Lord said to Moses, as he had before spoken twice
“Say to Aaron ‘Stretch out your rod
And strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice
Throughout all the land of Egypt, wherever people trod

And they did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand
With his rod and struck the dust of the earth
And it became lice on man and beast throughout the land
Surely anguished cries replaced any sounds of mirth

All the dust of the land became lice
Throughout all the land of Egypt
Things had turned not so nice

Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments
To bring forth lice, but they could not
So there were lice on man and beast
In all of Egypt, yes, in every spot

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh
“This is the finger of God, not just a trick instead
But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard as we know
And he did not heed them, just as the Lord had said

The plagues of Egypt were severe upon the land
But worse things are coming upon the earth
From the Bible, someday, we understand
That the world will be plunged into horrible dearth

There will be great plagues and famines too
War and death will be found everywhere
But to escape this terrifying time, I’ll tell you what to do
Call on Jesus to save you, and He will, right then and there

His coming judgment is because of a world gone astray
We ignore Him, like a radio – tuning Him out
And things cannot forever go on this way
Instead of faith and trust, there is only uncaring and doubt

People, let us turn our hearts back to the Lord
Let us give Him the rightful glory that He is due
He has shown us what is proper in His word
And He even sent Jesus to save me and you

Let us hold fast to Him, cherishing Him all of our days
And let us never fail to give Him all of our praise

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

Exodus 8:8-15
The Plague of Frogs
Part II

Throughout the Bible, promises are made. We call them prophecies. The Lord says He will do something, or that some unusual thing will come about, and sure enough, the Bible records those things when they actually happen. We call that “fulfilled prophecy.”

The Bible is so full of fulfilled prophecy that it simply can’t be ignored. When God speaks of the future in certain terms, or when He speaks of the future as already accomplished, it means that He must be in control of what will happen.

It’s not that He can merely see the logical outcome of a set of parameters, like a computer calculating what will occur based on known information. Rather, He knows the outcome because He is already there at the outcome. He is outside of time and in control of time.

Because of this, He knows the end from the beginning to the minutest detail. But of course, people will argue that much of the Bible was written after the prophecies were fulfilled, not before. Thus man has simply inserted God into his own manipulated writings.

But for every such argument, God is always there to vindicate His word once again. The Dead Sea scrolls took care of much of that speculation, at least concerning the coming of the Messiah. And sure enough, time has taken care of more.

The writings of many of the Old Testament prophets have come true in our lifetime with the return of Israel to the land of Israel, and with the return of Jerusalem to Israel’s control. More prophecies are lining up before our eyes daily as well. It is an exciting age in which to live.

Text Verse: “‘Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,‘ says the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:14

The Lord gives us prophecy so that when His words come true, we have a sure foundation for our faith in Him. Who can not look at the hundreds of prophecies of Christ which were fulfilled in Him and not be amazed. The odds against them all being fulfilled in Jesus are so immense that there isn’t enough space in the universe to hold them all if each were a copper penny.

And as more prophecies come true concerning Israel, the ending of the church age and what that entails, and the anticipated return of Christ for His church, we have all the more reason to be thankful for the age in which we live. Our hope in His word is rewarded with strengthened faith and even greater hope.

But there are those who see the word of the Lord performed and dismiss it for whatever crazy reason. Their hearts are hard and they harden a little bit more with each rejection of the obvious. Once again, we will see this happen today in the life of Pharaoh.

Let’s not be like that guy! Instead, let’s put our hope and trust in God’s superior word. It is alive and active and sure; a source of hope. Pursuing it will certainly lead to great reward. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I.There is None Like the Lord Our God (verses 8-11)

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said,

Here in verse 8 will be the very first sign of Pharaoh’s conceding to the fact that the plague of Egypt is both beyond his power and the power of one of the very gods worshipped in Egypt. They certainly petitioned their frog-god, Heqet, to relieve the burden of the plague, but their prayers, offerings, and sacrifices went unheeded.

The very thing that had been denied to Yehovah, which was the request for the people to go and sacrifice to Him in the wilderness, had certainly been offered to Heqet, but Yehovah proved stronger than this false god. The lack of offerings to Him provoked His anger while their offerings to her went unanswered.

Because of this, Pharaoh calls for Moses and Aaron to appear before him. Yehovah has now triumphed over the second false god of Egypt – first the Nile and now Heqet.

^8 (con’t) “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people;

Not only had their petitions to Heqet been unanswered, the crafts of the magicians had failed as well. They were able to make frogs appear, but they were impotent in making them disappear. And so now he is asking Moses and Aaron for relief.

In the plague of blood, there was no such appeal because it probably didn’t affect him a great deal. He would have had abundant supplies of water in storage at his palace, he could have stayed upwind of the stink of the dead fish, and the plague quickly subsided, it being only seven days in duration.

But, regardless of the length of this plague, he suffered equally with his own people. He would have been inundated with the frogs in his palace, the kneading troughs of his own bread would have been defiled, and he would have heard the constant croaking. Such an incessant noise would have driven him close to insanity.

In what he says to Moses and Aaron are words which showed that he had now learned something he once didn’t know. In Exodus 5, we saw this exchange –

“Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’
² And Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.'” Exodus 5:1, 2

At that time, and in one combined statement, he made three distinct and arrogant proclamations – 1) Who is the Lord? 2) Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice? And, 3) Who is the Lord that I should let Israel go?

That has all changed as we see here, and as we will see in the rest of this verse. The change in his first proclamation is evident right now. At that meeting in chapter 5, He asked “Who is Yehovah?” After this, he then said, “I do not know Yehovah.”

He now knows of Him as is evidenced by the words, “Entreat Yehovah.” He has been introduced to Him and he has conceded that only He can help with the dire situation he faces. And so his entreaty is specific. It is that – “He may take away the frogs from me and from my people.”

His attitude is similar to what Job said after he had been introduced to the magnificence of the Lord. In Job 42, we read this –

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
But now my eye sees You.” Job 42:5

The surpassing greatness of this second plague has brought Pharaoh to the point of desperation. But unlike Job who saw the majesty and had reverence in His heart for the Source of that majesty, Pharaoh has merely humbled himself out of a state of incompetence and of fear.

He is incompetent to undo what has been done and he is fearful that if it continued, he would face utter ruin. As the Geneva Bible says about this –

“Not love but fear causes the infidels to seek God.” Geneva Bible

This is true. But a fear of God, unless it leads to love of God, will once again be replaced with hardness of the heart toward God. We will see this as the record of this second plague continues.

In this, we can discern that preaching about the torments of hell can actually have the opposite effect of that for which it is intended unless it is followed up with an understanding of the sovereignty of God as well as the grace and mercy of God. These, when combined with a soft and yielding heart, will bring about change in the man.

^8 (con’t) and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”

The second two of the arrogant proclamations are dealt with here. They were, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” and “Who is the Lord that I should let Israel go?” He has now conceded to both of them as well.

Unfortunately, the vacillating condition of Pharaoh’s heart will only lead him to a further hardening and greater obstinacy in the time ahead. But this was not unknown to the Lord and He will use it to multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

Relief! This is what I beg of you
These frogs have me at my wits’ end
I will do as you ask of me to do
Please remove them from me, my Hebrew friend

I have had no sleep; the croaking is driving me nuts
I cannot take a bath, because the frogs jump in too
Not to be too graphic, but they now sicken my guts
What once was a god to me, I now know only belongs in a zoo

The Lord is greater than these horrifying frogs
He created them and this I now avow
And he created elephants and cats and dogs
I just missed this fact in the past somehow

⁹ And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor

His words to Pharaoh are hitpaer alai – “glory over me.” It’s a confusing phrase to scholars and the exact meaning is debated. It isn’t repeated in Scripture, but a near form of the same phrase is found in Judges 7:2 which says –

“And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.”” Judges 7:2

What it seems to mean first and foremost is, “I submit to you the honor of the decision.” First, I have gloried over you through the Lord’s display of power. Now I am offering you a chance to glory over me. I am returning the favor.”

“If I disappoint, I will be subject to you, just as you have to this point been subject to the Lord.” It could be viewed as someone speaking to another who supposedly feels superior, in the sense that the he is granted the decision to be made.

But at the same time, there is the implication that by accepting the honor which will be bestowed, it very well may be that the Lord will be further vindicated in His actions. It is then both a grant of favor, and yet a renewed challenge by the granter of the favor.

When Satan wanted to test Job, it was with the intent of proving that Job would yield to his attacks. The Lord granted him the opportunity and Satan failed. In a greater picture, Satan came to test Jesus with the intent of keeping for all eternity the earth that he possessed. The challenge was granted and Satan failed.

And Satan continues to attack mankind, sifting them as wheat, but those who are in Christ cannot be removed from His grasp. In the end, the Lord is always vindicated in His actions. Even when Satan is granted opportunity to determine an outcome in which he may prevail, he always ends as the loser.

^9 (con’t) of saying when I shall intercede

The word for “when” is l’matay – “for when.” It is a direct offer to Pharaoh concerning his preference of timing. This may seem like a matter of linguistic hair splitting, but Pharaoh’s answer in verse 10 will repeat the same preposition, for.

Moses’ offer throws all of the honor of the decision on Pharaoh and all of the burden of the action on the Lord. The intent is to make a marked impression upon Pharaoh that nothing is impossible with God. It is a grant to attempt to undermine the Lord’s capabilities, or a challenge to allow them to be exalted.

This is very similar to the offer made to Hezekiah, king of Israel. In 2 Kings 20, Hezekiah was sick and facing death, but the Lord promised to heal him and grant him 15 more years of life. After that promise, we see the following exchange –

“And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?’
⁹ Then Isaiah said, ‘This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?’
¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, ‘It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.’
¹¹ So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.” 2 Kings 20:8-11

We are seeing the same type of grant and challenge now between Moses and Pharaoh. Thus, the intent of this offer is that it is to be a sign to Pharaoh. If it is a sign, then he is to pay heed to the sign. Signs, when given by the Lord, are meant for this purpose.

^9 (con’t) for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses,

The offer is all-inclusive. There will be complete relief from the plague, not only for Pharaoh, but for his servants and his people. It is to be noted again that these categories are placed in contradistinction to the Lord and the people of Israel.

Pharaoh was considered a god to his people. He had servants, and he had his people. Moses is showing that they were all equally affected because the request of the Lord, along with the plight of His servants and people, had been previously ignored. Because of the promise by Pharaoh to the Lord, and on behalf of his servants and his people, the action would be taken.

^9 (con’t) that they may remain in the river only.”

As an added grace, the frogs of the river would continue to live and not be affected by the hand of the Lord. The horrendous croaking sounds of the plague would be replaced with the sweet croaking sounds of natural order. The cycle would return to normalcy and river life would continue on with, hopefully, a new understanding of Who controlled it.

¹⁰ So he said, “Tomorrow.”

The word is l’makhar – It is not to-morrow, but “for to-morrow.” The wording is precise. Imagine the teacher saying, “Tomorrow there will be a test.” Although similar, it doesn’t carry the same weight as, “Prepare yourselves for tomorrow, when there will be a test.”

In Numbers 11, the same expression is used to pinpoint a specific time for an action to come about. There it says –

“Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat…” Numbers 11:18

Moses wasn’t asking the people to consecrate themselves the next day, but to consecrate themselves for the next day. The specificity matters because any misunderstanding could then be misinterpreted by Pharaoh or be used as an excuse to say that the Lord didn’t act as stated.

So the question is, “With such a horrifying plague, why didn’t he ask that it be ended on that same day rather than the next.” The specificity of the wording answers the question. If Pharaoh still thought that purely natural means were involved, he may have suspected that they had already started to die.

If this was true and Moses knew it, then they might all die naturally before tomorrow. If so, then he would have an argument against Yehovah by claiming that the end of the plague was actually natural and not divine.

However, if it was divine, he didn’t want it carried on to the third day because it would be one more day of grief than he could bear. But we can still suppose that the frogs dying off is natural anyway, which is likely. There wasn’t sufficient food for them and they were out of their natural habitat.

The inevitable truth is that they would eventually die. But the inescapable truth is that Moses granted Pharaoh the final decision for any day on which they were to die. Therefore, even if natural, the miraculous is still tied up in the story. The foreknowledge of the Lord, and His power over the entire situation, is perfectly displayed.

^{10 (con’t)} And he said, “Let it be according to your word,

kidbarekha l’maan – “according to your word; to that intent.” He has been granted the right to choose and the choice of his words will be realized as he has spoken. And there is a reason for this…

^{10 (con’t)} that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

Moses speaks for the Hebrew people, the people of Israel. And this God, who is the God of this people, has a name – Yehovah. The purpose of fulfilling Pharaoh’s words exactly as they have been spoken is to exalt that name above all others.

This is exactingly repeated in Isaiah 45. There he challenges the people to consider His words. When He speaks to them in advance of something happening, and then it happens, it is to prove that He alone is God and that there is none other. Here are His words which were spoken to a people who had forgotten this lesson –

“Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.” Isaiah 45:21

The Lord is a jealous God and what He does is to secure His place of honor among His creatures.

¹¹ And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people.

The words here almost repeat the order of the words of verse 9, but with an unusual difference. Unlike verse 9, the houses are mentioned before the servants and the people. Verse 9 concerned the relief of the people and then how that relief would come about.

This verse shows the order of that relief, giving priority to Pharaoh first, and then the logical order of having them departing from the houses, and then from the servants, and then the people. It makes sense when one looks at how the frogs would be disposed of after they died.

Pharaoh would be the first completely freed from the plague as his servants cleaned his area. Later, the people would finish the work as the entire Nile region would slowly be cleansed of the carcasses. This is a minute detail, but it is an exacting one.

^{11 (con’t)} They shall remain in the river only.”

Again, the grace of the frogs remaining in the river is mentioned. But there are a few things that this repetition could be hinting at. First, It was to show them that the Lord could again multiply the frogs if he so desired.

Secondly, the friendly sound of their croaks from the Nile would be a call to remembrance of the plague that had transpired. And third, that same croaking was a reminder that the Lord, not the frogs, was the true Deity to be worshipped.

Tomorrow it will come about
Just you wait and you will see
The frogs will be gone, no doubt
As you have spoken, it shall surely be

They will be gone from your house
They will no longer afflict your servants too
They will be as scarce as the field mouse
Only in the river will they come into your view

The plague will end on the morrow
As surely as the word has been spoken
Soon from these frogs you will have no more sorrow
What has been said shall be to you a divine token

II. And the Frogs Died (verses 12-14)

¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh.

It is to be noted that before the action taken in the rest of the verse is given, we are told that Moses and Aaron first went out from Pharaoh. Pharaoh has been told that his spoken word will come about, but it seems to be that this was granted without any prior approval or command by the Lord.

If so, Moses acted in strong faith by speaking as he did in such a bold promise. And to back up his faith, he will now act out that faith in petition…

^{12  (con’t)} And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.

The word here for “and cried out” is v’yitssaq. It is an especially strong phrase which shows a truly heartfelt intent. When Cain killed his brother, the Lord, using the same word, said “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.”

The same expression was used when Esau realized Jacob had deceived his father and stolen his blessing. And when there was the great famine of Egypt during the life of Joseph, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. These and other such examples show more than just a casual petition, but a truly heartfelt cry of anguish.

This cry was “concerning the frogs.” These words in Hebrew are al davar ha’tsephardeim – “over (the) word of the frogs.” The word of the Lord through Moses had brought the frogs upon the land, and Pharaoh had spoken the word as to when the frogs would be gone. Now the word needed to be fulfilled.

Moses’ cry then is in earnest expectation that the word would be fulfilled lest dishonor, rather than honor, come about. Should the word fail, it would be a triumph for Pharaoh and a disgrace to the name of Yehovah and to His messenger Moses.

Finally, this verse notes that the plague was “the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.” Verse 6 showed us that the frogs covered all the land of Egypt and yet it was only said to be against Pharaoh. This is another of the multitude of reminders that the Bible gives us concerning leadership of a nation or a people.

When a king is disobedient in the Bible, all of the people under his authority receive the judgment of the king’s actions. This is an inescapable truth which should leave those of us in this nation horrified at the judgment we deserve and which must surely be coming.

We have voluntarily elected a moral miniscule to lead our land. And he will lead it into uncharted waters of judgment and destruction through his vile actions. And how much worse will it be in the tribulation when the antichrist himself rises to power.

The people of the world will be led by the devil’s representative and they will receive the devil’s punishment for their choice of leader. I pray that you will escape this before it happens by calling on Jesus to keep you from that terrible time which is probably not too far off from now.

¹³ So the Lord did according to the word of Moses.

The Geneva Bible has an interesting take on these words. They say, “In things of this life God often hears the prayers of the just for the ungodly.” This is true, and God does hear the prayer of a righteous man on behalf of the unrighteous.

But more appropriate to this verse is that the Lord heard Moses and defended both the integrity of His own name, and that of Moses, before Pharaoh. This was less of a petition for mercy on Pharaoh than it was for the glory of the Lord to be revealed and the honor of the Lord to be maintained.

In both, the Lord met those tenets at the spoken word of Moses. Thus His surpassing greatness is seen in the ending of this horrifying plague upon Pharaoh, and the land of Pharaoh.

^{13 (con’t)} And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.

The death of the frogs furnished a clear and sure proof that these were real frogs, not just demons or apparitions appearing as frogs to afflict the people. It thus implicitly showed the Egyptians, with all certainty, that the Lord controlled nature.

It secondly proved that the supposed divine nature of the Frog, was not divine at all. Rather, it was subject to the word and direction of the Lord. The Frog may or may not have continued to be revered in Egypt or elsewhere, but its effectiveness as a deity was once and forever proven to be a false hope.

Thus, other than two references to this plague of frogs in the psalms, they will never be mentioned again. The Lord has proven the Frog a false god, and His judgment upon it is recorded for all succeeding generations to heed and to believe.

¹⁴ They gathered them together in heaps,

The Hebrew here is in the superlative form, vayitsberu otam khomarim khomarim – “and piled them heaps (upon) heaps.” This was no run of the mill infestation of frogs, but a truly immense quantity that is strikingly revealed in these words.

Considering the words here, and the fact that surely many frogs had already perished through being squished or scrunched, or having been eaten by predators or even adventurous Egyptians, those left behind on the last day were still more numerous than words could adequately describe without exceptional verbiage being employed.

The plague of frogs was a shockingly devastating plague upon both people and land.

^{14 (con’t)} and the land stank.

Ellicott notes that, “God, who knew the heart of Pharaoh, and its insincerity, or at any rate its changefulness, took the plague of frogs away in a manner that made its removal almost as bad as its continuance.”

In other words, it was a nice ending touch for Pharaoh to consider. His heart was hard and it was not directed to the things of God. The loathsome stench of death would remain in his nose and in his memory even after the frogs were wholly cleared away.

But in the mean time, there was no place in all the land that he could go without being nauseatingly reminded of his recklessness before the Lord.

As an interesting parallel to consider, the last time the word baash, or “stink” was used was in Exodus 5. When the less-than-faithful Hebrew scribes were scathingly rebuked by Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron and said this to them –

“Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Exodus 5:21

Those same faithless Hebrews could now look on the devastation of the Lord through this plague and know what it truly meant to stink in the sight of Pharaoh. It was a stench which would cause the face to scrunch, the eyes to water, and the stomach to wrench.

Such a stench has come into my nose
Piles and piles, heaps and heaps
What we thought were gods were not, so it goes
All these dead frogs just give us the creeps

We can’t wait till those Hebrews are gone
Won’t that day be wonderfully nice?
Pharaoh has promised to let them go
The only thing worse than this would be a plague of lice

No need to worry about that now
All they have to do is pack up and head on out
We will get along fine without them somehow
In fact, when they leave, we’ll give a happy shout

Surely Pharaoh’s mind is made up this time
Really no need to even make this verse rhyme

III. The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart (verse 15)

¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief,

In these words is a certain pun. The word for “relief” is ha’revakhah or literally “a taking of breath.” We would say, “A breathing space.” Once the frogs had been disposed of through burying, burning, or decay, the stink disappeared with them.

There would once again be deep breaths of the pleasantries of the land, and there would be a slow departing of the memory concerning the horrific stench which once permeated even the closed doors of Pharaoh’s inner chamber. And with such relief came something else; something not unexpected…

^{15 (con’t)} he hardened his heart and did not heed them,

The plague of the frogs was bad, but to this point nothing had occurred which would change the inner workings of the man called Pharaoh. He was predisposed towards arrogance and willingly turned away from the things of God.

His already-hardening heart was no less dull or insensitive now than it was before. Rather, it was becoming more so. With the removal of the frogs and the clearing of the air, he probably figured that the Lord had run his course in miracles and would afflict him no more. In order to test this theory, he refused to heed what he had experienced.

Isaiah speaks exactly of such a person. He is one who is wicked and stubborn and refuses to see when grace has been bestowed –

“Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” Isaiah 26:10

*^{15 (fin)} as the Lord had said.

ka’asher dibber Yehovah – as spoke the Lord. These words are an exact repeat of Exodus 7:13 after Pharaoh had rejected the miracle of the rod being changed into a serpent. There is a difference in the overall verses though. In 7:13, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was ascribed to an action of the heart itself.

In this verse, it is ascribed to an action of Pharaoh. He has willingly hardened his heart through stubborn disobedience. Once again, we see that the heart is hardened by the active will of the possessor of that heart.

The Lord may have prompted Pharaoh to hardening, but the fault and the sentence for the action remains solely with Pharaoh. Paul shows us this truth in Romans chapter 2 –

“But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. ³ And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who ‘will render to each one according to his deeds.” Romans 2:2-6

God, knowing Pharaoh’s already arrogant attitude, used it against him in order to demonstrate His surpassing greatness. There are yet 8 more plagues to be seen, each which will build upon the next as the Lord prepares Israel for their great exodus from Egypt and to His holy mountain.

Let each of us surrender ourselves to the offered grace of God which is poured out upon us. Pharaoh was given grace and he turned from it. Matthew Henry astutely notes the state of the heart which rejects such grace from His hand –

“Till the heart is renewed by the grace of God, the thoughts made by affliction do not abide; the convictions wear off, and the promises that were given are forgotten. Till the state of the air is changed, what thaws in the sun will freeze again in the shade.” Henry

Though today we’ve viewed the end of only the second plague, the book is already complete and all ten plagues of Egypt are behind us in time. And they only picture the greater judgment by God upon sin and upon this sin-filled world. In the midst of this well-deserved hand of plague and misery, there is a Fount of grace.

It was opened on the tree of Calvary as the blood gushed from the dying Man on that cross. Thee days later, He was resurrected by the power of God for all eternity. This proves that God was pleased with His sinless life. It proves that He was worthy of the resurrection, and it proves that the precious Fount is open for all people for all time.

All who call on the Lord will be saved. Please grant me a moment to explain how you can receive this wondrous gift of eternal life…

Closing Verse: “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted,
Who are far from righteousness.” Isaiah 46:12

Next Week: Exodus 8:16-19 (The Plague of Lice)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

When Frogs Die, They Stink

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 instead
I will let the people go, so to you I say

That they may sacrifice to the Lord
This is my spoken word

And Moses said to Pharaoh
“Accept the honor of saying
When I shall intercede for you, for your servants too
And for your people, for whom I shall then be praying

To destroy the frogs from you and your houses too
That they may remain in the river only, it’s what the Lord will do

So he said, “Tomorrow
And he said, “Let it be according to your word
That you may know
That there is no one like our God the Lord

And the frogs shall depart from you
From your houses, from your servants, so you will see
And from your people too
They shall remain in the river only

Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh
And Moses cried out to the Lord
Concerning the frogs which He had brought
Against Pharaoh by His spoken word

So the Lord did according to the word of Moses
And the frogs died out of the houses

Out of the courtyards and out of the fields too
They gathered them together in heaps
And the land stank, through and through

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief
He hardened his heart
And did not heed them, for unbelief
As the Lord had said right from the start

Surely we know that the judgment of God
Is according to the truth
Against those who practice such things in life as they trod
Whether men of advanced age, or those still in their youth

And so let us not despise the riches of His goodness
Forbearance, and longsuffering also
Which is meant to lead us to repentance
And direct us on the path that we should go

Let us pursue Christ with every breath we take
And be obedient to the heavenly call
For Christ, and for Christ alone – all else forsake
For each of us, let Him be our all in all

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

Exodus 8:1-7
The Plague of Frogs
Part I

Introduction: The second plague, that of frogs, is what we’ll be looking at this week and next week. It’s filled with interesting tidbits from the Hebrew and we’ll try to fit in every one of them that we can. But it’s filled with marked rebellion by the leader of Egypt as well.

He was given an advanced warning of what was ahead and he chose to refuse to listen. When the frogs come, they will infest everything, even down to the kneading troughs where bread is made. The same is true for later in Israel’s history.

God warned Pharaoh in advance that the very place where his bread was made would be defiled by this curse. Knowing this to be true because they had actually witnessed it, the Israelites were warned that their own kneading troughs would be cursed if they didn’t pay heed to the word of the Lord.

They didn’t and God’s judgment came upon them…

Text Verse: “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: … ¹⁷ “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Deuteronomy 28:15 & 17

The word for kneading trough is only used four times in the Bible. It is used twice in the exodus account and twice in Deuteronomy – once in the promise of blessing for obedience, and once in the promise of a curse for disobedience. In Egypt, the kneading troughs of the Egyptians were cursed, but the kneading troughs of the Israelites were spared.

It was to be a sign to them and a warning. The two times in Deuteronomy let them know this is true. Oh, how good it would be for God’s people to read the words of the Bible and to heed them! If only we would humble ourselves and be obedient to His superior word.

The way to do that is to read it, study it, cherish it, and apply it to our lives. And so let’s turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Let My People Go that They May Serve Me (verses 1-4)

¹And the Lord spoke to Moses,

The last verse of chapter 7 said, “And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.” This is generally agreed to be tied to the time the waters were as blood, not specifically the time between the first and second plagues.

However long the time was between these plagues isn’t said, but the Lord now again speaks to Moses his words of instruction. The second plague is coming, but before it does, He will give Pharaoh an opportunity to be released from it by heeding His word.

However, we will see that Pharaoh won’t do so. The Lord knew this in advance and so it’s a good time to contemplate the natural nature of these plagues, even if of divine origin. In other words, at least some of these plagues can be logically tied to one another as the result of the first plague, that of blood.

The river which turned to blood will naturally lead to the second plague of frogs. The second of frogs will naturally lead to the third plague of lice, etc. Though directed by God, He is using natural and normally occurring means to effect His desired outcome.

If this is so, and I believe it is, then it still shows us a few things. First, the miraculous nature of the plagues isn’t diminished at all. The miracle of them is that Moses is able to pinpoint the moment the plagues would start or cease.

As soon as Aaron stretched out his staff, thus initiating the cycle, the plague of blood began. This will be the same for the starting of each of the plagues and for the ending of some of them as well. Moses even allows Pharaoh to choose the set time when the plague of the frogs would cease.

Second, even if the plagues follow naturally one after another, and were certain to happen whether Pharaoh yielded or not, it means that the Lord knew, in advance, that Pharaoh would harden his heart. He also knew when that would happen, and He knew when to instruct Moses concerning the next plague to come.

Regardless as to whether any of the plagues stem logically from a previous plague or not, the miracle of those plagues remains because of God’s advanced knowledge of every detail that would come about in the unfolding of them. The time for the second plague has arrived, and so the Lord now speaks to Moses…

^{1 (con’t)} “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

This is the standard demand that is made time and time again throughout the unfolding drama. It was made in Chapter 5, it was made in Chapter 7, it is made twice in this chapter, it will be made twice in Chapter 9, and once again in Chapter 10 as well.

Each time the Lord states this, He includes a reason. Once it was to hold a feast to Him in the wilderness. Once it was to sacrifice to Him. And six times, as in this verse, it is said so that they may serve Him. Though it is a demand, it is still a merciful offer because in the next verse he will explain the consequences if His request isn’t granted.

The implication is that if he obeys, there will be no negative consequences. If he doesn’t, then there will be. But the choice is left up to Pharaoh. This is how the Lord works. He speaks His word and then allows those who hear it to receive it or to reject it.

In Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy 28, He offered prosperity and blessing to Israel if they obeyed His laws. And in the same chapters, He notes the curses that would come upon them if they disobeyed. He does the same for us in the New Testament. His word is an offering of peace to those who hear and obey it, but it is an assurance of destruction to those who refuse to listen.

And this is how he expected His people to act as well. Israel was told to act this way towards the surrounding nations whom they encountered. See how the pattern of speaking to Pharaoh fits with His directions to Israel in Deuteronomy 20 –

“When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. ¹¹ And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. ¹² Now if the city will not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. ¹³ And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in it with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴ But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall eat the enemies’ plunder which the Lord your God gives you.” Deuteronomy 20:10-14

Throughout the Bible in such an instance, just like the one here between Moses and Pharaoh, the people of a land suffer or are blessed because of the decisions of the leader. When the leader accepts such an offer, there is peace. When he refuses it, everyone alike suffers.

This is something we need to remember as well. There is no reason to assume that God works any differently today. For the nation who elects a godly leader, blessing can be expected. For those who elect people like we have in office now, we can only expect judgment to come with a strong and punishing hand.

Pharaoh will continue to learn this lesson; we will learn it soon…

² But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.

An offer of mercy has been made and the results of the refusal are now stated. Pharaoh’s choice will determine the result. As I said earlier, the plague of frogs is most probably a naturally occurring, logical result of the first plague of blood. The river died, including all the fish in it and the result is an explosion of frogs.

Because there was nothing to gobble up the tadpoles, the inevitable result is for frogs to multiply in an amazingly immense fashion. Despite the inevitable nature of the plague, the offer is still made to Pharaoh, thus showing the Lord’s pre-existing knowledge of his hardened heart.

Knowing that a refusal would come from Pharaoh doesn’t in any way demonstrate wrongdoing in the Lord. Nor does His knowing that we will refuse to obey His word demonstrate any wrongdoing towards us. We, like Pharaoh, are accountable for our actions towards His commands.

Pharaoh is now given his choice though. If he refuses to let Israel go, the land will be smitten with frogs. And in fact, the land will be smitten, just as the Lord already knows. He said as much already when He told Moses –

“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:3-5

Knowing in advance the heart of Pharaoh, all of the land of Egypt will suffer. In this verse, the term for “territory” is gebul. It properly means “borders.” In other words, the land within the borders is what will be infested. Wherever people are under his domain, they will be plagued with frogs.

The word for “frogs” is tsephardea. It is a word that is only used in connection with this plague. It is used 11 times in this chapter and twice in the psalms, referring to this chapter, and nowhere else. It comes from an unused word meaning a swamp or a marsh-leaper, and hence it indicates a frog.

It is believed that the species of frog which would have come in the plague is known as the Rana Mosaica. It is a large frog which apparently resembles a toad and it crawls more than it leaps. What is probably one of the most dreadful aspects of this particular frog is that it croaks perpetually.

This plague is actually an attack on the false gods of Egypt because they regarded the frog as a symbol of the power of procreation. Their goddess Heqet was represented as having a frog head. Because they were considered sacred, no one could voluntarily kill one.

But even the involuntary killing of a supposedly divine animal could lead to punishment, including death. Therefore, such a plague would be a burden almost beyond imagination. Every step would have to be taken with care as they trudged through a sea of croaking noise.

This is, however, the natural result of worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. Anytime we place the creation, or any part of it, above Him the inevitable result will be upheaval in the natural order of things. When a state forbids the hunting of deer because environmental wackos think it’s wrong, then the natural order is upset.

Suddenly deer take over and become an enormous problem on numerous levels. Not only do they become a physical nuisance, by impacting vegetation, soils, and other environmental features, they also become a health hazard because eventually the ticks and other parasites they carry can cause diseases to spread.

Both humans and livestock can be at risk because of increased numbers of them. Highways can have significant increases in accidents and death, and so on. One things leads to another and there are always consequences for our dismissal of the Creator as we interact with His creation.

This second verse of chapter 8 is one of warning against such things, but by the time we reach verse six, the warning will have become a reality. Pharaoh’s hard heart will see his false god of procreation become a life force which has procreated into a state of destruction.

³ So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly,

The river which the Egyptians adored in worship, giving it undue divine honors, will be the source of their coming agony. The same river which had died from the plague of blood will come alive with a most horrendous plague. The frog embryos survived through that first plague, but the predators of those embryos didn’t.

Frogs and other amphibians normally lay an immense number of eggs. This is done in order to counter the large range of predators that eat frog spawn and tadpoles. It is normally considered that at best not more than one in fifty of the eggs laid in a pond will actually make it to becoming a frog.

All of the rest will be eaten by predators such as fish and the like. However, it was seen in the first plague that all those natural predators died. Not only would one of many survive, almost all of them would. The availability of food and the lack of predators would render their birthrate at close to 100%.

The balance of nature had been upset and now there would be a reaction to it. Life which would otherwise have been measured through God’s use of natural forces was to be unleashed in an almost violent upheaval.

The frogs will come out in such a large fashion that it will appear that the river will literally vomit them out. And frogs, like all life, will look for a little space to exist and prosper. Because the banks of the river couldn’t hold them all, they would have to find other places to relax and croak away the hours…

^3 (con’t) which shall go up and come into your house,

Frogs generally stay in wet areas. They look for places that have reeds or grass. This is where the tasty frog treats would live. But the sheer volume of frogs would force them to separate according to the sound of the croak. With every near croak, they would look to move a hop or two further away.

As people stepped around them, trying not to squish their little gods, the frogs would continue to move along. Houses, which were previously devoid of frogs, would be filled with them as they looked for their own space to fill. The lack of the croak would tell them that there was free space for them to move in.

But the sheer numbers of them would mean that many would move in at the same time. Because all human life in Egypt is close to the Nile or the branches which the Nile flows into, there would be a mingling of the homes of the Egyptians with the millions of frogs looking for their own pad to croak the time away.

And so Pharaoh is told, in advance, that these noisy little gods would come even b’beitekha – into your house. Pharaoh’s house may actually have had it worse off than many others because he surely would have lived close to the Nile so that he could rest his eyes upon its supposedly divine waters.

But the sight his eyes would soon behold would turn horrifying to him. His own home would become a den of loathsome, noisy, and indescribably numerous little gods that he would learn to hate rather than revere.

^3 (con’t) into your bedroom,

u-bakhadar mishkavekha – into your room of bedding, namely your chamber. The very place where you found solace, intimacy with another, or rest will now become a place of constant commotion, a complete lack of intimacy, and a place where rest would be utterly impossible.

The sheer number of frogs would mean that stepping like a man would be exchanged for sliding the feet like a snake. Even in the spot of what was normally the greatest ease would be the mental turmoil of noise and personal stress. “Because you have denied My people rest, you will be denied your rest.”

^3 (con’t) on your bed,

v’al mi’tatekha – and yes, even on your bed, be it a mat strewn out on the floor, or a divan or couch which was raised off the floor, your little frog gods will find you there and torment you. Not only would the noise be continuous as they croaked away incessantly, but to merely roll over while sleeping could cause the wrath of the frog-god to descend on you.

There would be terror in sleeping, terror in working, terror in any activity because of the possibility of squishing one’s hope of eternal bliss and being consigned to eternal pain. Such is the life of one who worships the creation. Knocking on wood will quickly lose its appeal for the one who whose knuckles fill with splinters as they realize the consequences of their actions.

^3 (con’t) into the houses of your servants,

u-b’beit abadekha – I have asked that you allow Israel to come into the wilderness to serve me. If you deny this request, your servants will suffer the affliction of the plague. They will be so overcome with the frogs, that they will not be able to serve you.

Should you choose to deny Me what I request, I will ensure that you are also denied your service. When it becomes known that they have suffered because of you, their own hearts will harden towards you, just as your heart is hardened toward me.

It is an indication of divine reciprocity. And it will not be limited to Pharaoh’s servants…

^3 (con’t) on your people,

u-b’ammekha – Yes, the people in your kingdom will suffer the consequences of your denying to let My people go. I have asked for their release, but if they are to continue to suffer under you, then your people will suffer from My hand.

^3 (con’t) into your ovens,

u-b’tannurekha – These ovens, or tannur, are basically small firepots or even portable earthenware furnaces. After bread was kneaded, it would be flattened out into a circular shape and hand pressed against the inside of the oven. It would bake while adhering to the wall and then be removed to enjoy.

This type of oven is actually still used in parts of the world today. The same word for them is used to describe the smoking oven which represented the presence of God in the vision Abraham beheld in Genesis 15 when the covenant with him was made.

In Isaiah and Malachi, this oven represents divine judgment. In Lamentations, it represents destructive famine. The parallels to this account are obvious. God’s presence would be felt through the plague. The ovens, being filled with frogs, couldn’t be used to make bread, thus it is a metaphor for His divine judgment. And this judgment would then result in hunger because of the lack of bread.

Pharaoh would have to consider all of this before making his decision to accept or reject the demand of Yehovah.

^3 (con’t) and into your kneading bowls.

u-b’misharotekha – What is worse than not being able to eat bread from the ovens is that even the kneading bowls would be defiled. The mishereth was a small household vessel of wood and shaped like a trough where flour would be mixed with water. Normally, there would be a piece of already-fermented dough as well so that the yeast would spread to the entire new batch of dough.

These same bowls will be mentioned again in Exodus 12 as the people prepare to leave Egypt. They were small enough to be wrapped in a person’s clothing and carried right on the shoulder. In the case of the plague, the slimy frogs would even get into these most-personal of household appliances.

They would ooze their slime into them or maybe relieve themselves as they sat croaking in them. The Egyptian culture was known especially for its exceptional cleanliness. Such a plague would be as loathsome and revolting to them as just about anything we could envision today.

Just imagine the thought of being plagued with such slimy, noisy creatures that were just small enough to get into everything and to be a hindrance to any sort of normal mobility. But they were also creatures which couldn’t be killed because they were considered divine.

Imagine trying to open a door or do whatever normal work needed to be done! You would fear that you might crush one of your little gods in the process! The very religion that they espoused would become as loathsome to them as the creatures themselves were. As the Pulpit commentary wisely notes –

“Their animal-worship was thus proved absurd and ridiculous. They were obliged to respect the creatures which they hated – to preserve the animals they would fain have swept from the face of the earth.” Pulpit Commentary

⁴ And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.”’”

Although it isn’t explicitly stated here as it will be in later plagues, the words of verse 1 imply that the plague will only fall on the Egyptians. In verse 1, He said, “Let My people go that they may serve me.” Now it is repeated that the frogs would come upon “your people, and on all your servants.”

An implicit distinction is being made. And so not only would the homes and all of the home life associated with the homes of the Egyptians be infested, but even the people themselves. The frogs would be so numerous that as people slept, they would crawl right up on them, maybe stopping on an arm or a cheek for a little rest.

As they took their baths, the frogs would join in for a swim. As they ate their food, the frogs would be there ready to crawl onto the plate or into the cup. The Lord has taken this minute-sized creature and turned it into a giant-sized problem. Adam Clarke notes that –

“In the present instance he shows the greatness of his power by making an animal, devoid of every evil quality, the means of a terrible affliction to his enemies.” Adam Clarke

The frogs would have become offensive to the eyes, harsh on the ears, grating to the weary mind, and repulsive to the touch as they brushed against them, stepped on them, or had them hopping around on them in the dark of the night.

A little rest and a little ease as I lay me down
But it never comes: I fear rolling over on my bed
If I do, I may squash a god! Oh how heaven would frown!
All these terrible thoughts keep running through my head

What can I do? Nature has taken a stand against meThe very things I worship have become my enemy

If there were but one God, the Creator of all
Then I wouldn’t have to serve the creation, wouldn’t that be nice!
On such a marvelous God, surely I would callIt would be great because after these frogs will come the lice

Oh No!

II. Stretch Out Your Hand with Your Rod (verses 5 & 6)

⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses,

What is unstated, but implied in verse 5 is that Pharaoh declined the merciful offer of Yehovah. He may not have believed Him at all, or He may have actually believed Him, but misjudged the scope of the plague.

No matter what is true, Yehovah now speaks to Moses once again. The words will contain the divine direction to strike the mighty land of Egypt with a sorrowful plague for a second time…

^5 (con’t) “Say to Aaron,

In Exodus 4:16, the Lord said this to Moses about Aaron –

“So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God.” Exodus 4:16

As has already happened, and as will continue to occur, God speaks to Moses words which are to be relayed on to Aaron. He is the spokesman, but he is also the one who is often tasked with assuming the action to be taken as well. Such is the case with the second plague…

^5 (con’t) ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’”

The same bodies of water are mentioned here that are mentioned in Exodus 7:19 – the streams, rivers, and ponds. However, there is one difference. In 7:19, it also included miqveh or “pools” which we noted were probably manmade and used for storing water.

Thus we have an amazing confirmation of the surety of the truth of this passage. The one place that tadpoles wouldn’t flourish is not mentioned. These cisterns would have been kept clean for healthy drinking water and so frog spawn and tadpoles wouldn’t find them suitable habitats.

And so when the Lord directs the rod to be stretched out over the waters, the miqveh are left out of the description. Even the scholars and commentators that I read for this plague missed this, showing that it isn’t something readily noticeable, but once it is seen, it is a sure sign of the truth of the account.

How can it be that people so quickly dismiss the word of God! It is an inexhaustible source of wisdom and a reliable witness to what it puts forth. And yet so many just ignore it without giving it due consideration.

The miqveh aside though, all of the naturally flowing waters of Egypt will now bring forth frogs. But the miracle isn’t the frogs so much as the timing of their coming. The frogs are a natural result of the first plague and they were sure to come, but the timing of them coming is right as the word of the Lord directs Moses to have Aaron speak and act.

This is the marvel of what has come about. It is natural enough to further harden Pharaoh’s heart, but it is also unusual enough to warn him that the Divine hand is certainly behind the occurrence. He will see enough to understand, but not understand enough in order to act.

⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt,

As instructed, Aaron complied. The hand holds the rod, and the rod symbolizes the power of God with which to effect the miracle. At the stretching forth of the rod, the frogs heed the divine call and move to this inner urge instilled by their Creator. It beckons them to the great display of which they have been designed for and destined to participate in…

^6 (con’t) and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

It’s funny how people who don’t believe the Bible never argue that the plagues didn’t happen. Instead, they always try to find ways of explaining them from a natural rather than a divine perspective. By doing this, they show that they implicitly believe the story to be credible, at least from a historical perspective.

But even if there is someone who was to say this simply never occurred, all they need to do is look elsewhere in history to show that it very well could have. The Pulpit Commentary provides us with this record of the past –

“In Paeonia and Dardania,”says Phoenias, a disciple of Aristotle, “there appeared once suddenly such a number of frogs, that they filled the houses and the streets. Therefore – as killing them, or shutting the doors, was of no avail; as even the vessels were full of them, the water infected, and all food uneatable; as they could scarcely set their foot upon the ground without treading on heaps of them, and as they were vexed by the smell of the great numbers which died – they fled from that region altogether.”

And so we have an extra-biblical account which shows us the same type of occurrence has happened in the past. The difference is that the biblical account presupposes that it is an act of God and that it is directed by Him to meet His purposes at the exact moment that He proclaims it will occur.

I can’t wait for dinner and for a moment these frogs to forget
I wonder what the wife has prepared for me to eat
Before I sit down, I’d better wash my hands
And then check that there aren’t any frogs in my seat

What is that you cooked, my dear, it sure smells nice
How did you fare while cooking with all these frogs around
Mmmmm, that is yummy, just the right amount of spice
I just wish we could get some peace from that horrid croaking sound

These bones sure are little, but tasty is the meat
Wait, this can’t be… did you cook us frog stew?
Now we will never get to heaven and paradise so sweet
My dear, what is this thing that to me you did do?

You have cooked our god
No heavenly streets will we trod!

III. False Signs and Lying Wonders (verse 7)

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

This verse actually tickles me because the full force of the plague hadn’t yet arrived and Pharaoh didn’t see all that was coming in the hours ahead. But in order to demonstrate that this wasn’t beyond their capabilities, the magicians of Egypt brought up frogs as well, thus only exacerbating the scope of the dilemma they would face.

What they probably did was something similar to the rabbit in the hat trick of magicians today. They were able to make frogs appear supposedly at will and thus demonstrate that they were effective workers on behalf of Egypt’s gods. However, any decent magician can not only make rabbits appear, but they can also make them disappear.

But the magicians of Egypt couldn’t undo the great plague of the Lord. Thus, even though they could supposedly replicate His miracle on some smaller scale, they had no ability to undo the work which He had wrought.

For a second time though, their actions are enough to get Pharaoh to consider that Yehovah was like his own false gods. For him, it will be a stinky and cumbersome lesson that he will have to endure for a season. But it will be a lesson that he will also fail to take to heart.

This second plague and its results are not unlike what is noted in Revelation. In the 16th chapter, we read this –

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Revelation 16:13-14

The frogs of the magicians of Egypt became a false sign and a lying wonder to Pharaoh. In the same way, there will be false signs and lying wonders which will be accomplished by unclean spirits that appear like frogs in the end times.

It should be noted here that this is the last sign or wonder accomplished by the Lord through Moses and Aaron which can be copied by the magicians of Pharaoh. There was the rod which became a serpent; there was the water which turned to blood; and there are the frogs which are brought forth.

Just as there were three unholy replicas of the Lord’s work, there will also be three unclean spirits which come forth in the end times. Three were sufficient to harden Pharaoh just enough to keep him on his wayward course, and three will be sufficient to work their evil in bringing about the final great battle in the end times.

If you are like me, then you probably feel that those end times are just around the corner. All of the signs of the end are here. The world has turned from the true message of God, and even His church has gone far, far off course. The word is no longer held in high esteem and this world is a cesspool of that which is vile.

Jesus is probably coming soon. When He does, He will only be coming for those who have received Him as Savior. For those left behind, a terrible time of trial, pictured by these plagues of Egypt, will come on a global scale. It is my hope that you’ll be on that heavenly train out of here.

In order to do so, let me tell you what you need to know…

Closing Verse: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. ² And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: … ⁵ “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Deuteronomy 28:1, 2 & 5

Next Week: Exodus 8:8-15 (The Plague of Frogs, Part II)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. Even if a deep ocean lies ahead of You, He can part the waters and lead you through it on dry ground. So follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Plague of Frogs

And the Lord spoke to Moses this word
“Go to Pharaoh and say to him with My authority
“Thus says the Lord:
“Let My people go, that they may serve Me

But if you refuse to let them go, behold
I will smite all your territory with frogs
Unless you do as I have to you told

So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly
Which shall go up and come into your house, as you will see

Into your bedroom, on your bed
Yes, they will be there when you try to lay your head

Into the houses of your servants, as I have said
Even on your people, they won’t stop
Into your ovens, where you bake your bread
And into your kneading bowls, they will hop

And the frogs shall come up on you
On your people, and on all your servants too

Then the Lord spoke to Moses this word
“Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand
With your rod over the streams, as you have heard
Over the rivers, and over the ponds throughout the land

And cause frogs to come up on Egypt the land
Do this now just as I command

So Aaron stretched out his hand
Over the waters of Egypt
And the frogs came up and covered Egypt the land

And the magicians did so with their enchantments
And brought up frogs on the land of Egypt
And it was through these accomplishments
And by these lying wonders that his heart was tripped

Surely God looks upon each heart
Knowing whether it will be soft or not
He knows which will desire a new start
And for that one a he has reserved a heavenly spot

The choice is up to each one of us
And God will lead the heart as it is so disposed
He will lead it toward life in Jesus
Or away from it, if that heart is hard and closed

So let your heart be open and tender to His call
Allow Him in and let Him work salvation in you
And upon you His grace and mercy shall fall
What a God! What a friend! Ever faithful and true

We praise You, O Lord our God
Our hearts sing joyous hallelujahs to You!
And they shall forever more as we trod
In Your glorious light when, behold, You make all things new

Hallelujah and Amen…