The fourth plague falls upon Egypt as Pharaoh continues to resist the will of God.
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. If you do not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.'" (Exodus 8:20-21) What a disgusting development this will be! But it's not that surprising that the land is about to be infested with flies. There's so much death and decay due to the plague of blood that killed the fish and the plague that produced frogs which are now dead and lying in heaps about the country. The flies will come as flies do when there is decay, but the narrative indicates that the number of flies is unusual. It's natural that they'd show up but they'll show up in numbers that have never before been seen.
The Israelites, however, will not be affected by them. The Lord says, "But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between My people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow." (Exodus 8:22-23) The Israelites have been living in the district of Goshen ever since Joseph the son of Jacob invited them there during the famine over four hundred years earlier. Flies are going to be everywhere except in Goshen, displaying the Lord's favor upon His people and demonstrating His disfavor of the pagan, racist Egyptians. The Lord is blessing those who honor His name, as He has a right to do. He's also making a statement to Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt. It won't go unnoticed by anyone that the Israelites are unaffected by the plague. This is not how the situation would play out if there were not a supernatural element to it. The Lord is saying to these people, "I am God and am able to protect those who are Mine. You are getting on My bad side by mistreating those who are Mine. I am merciful to those who honor Me but My judgment will fall upon those who oppress the people who call upon My name."
"And the Lord did this. Swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, 'Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.'" (Exodus 8:24-25) Pharaoh wants to try to compromise with God. He thinks he can earn a blessing from God by being partially obedient to Him. He's not willing to let the people go but is willing to make some concessions regarding allowing them to perform the more public rituals of their religion. He says, "You don't need to go into the desert to worship God. Whatever it is you want to do, do it here in Egypt. I won't let the people go but I won't stop them from sacrificing to their God."
Moses isn't going to budge an inch. He will not compromise. He will not partially obey God in this matter. Even if Moses wanted to give up on rescuing his people, in this moment Pharaoh isn't taking into consideration that what he's asking the Israelites to do would be offensive to the Egyptians. The sacrificial animals of the Israelite religion are animals considered sacred by the Egyptian religion. "But Moses said, 'That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as He commands us.'" (Exodus 8:26-27)
"Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.'" (Exodus 8:28) Pharaoh is severely tormented by the presence of the flies. As they swarm around him and all over him, he makes a promise in his distress. He says, "Okay, you can go outside the borders of Egypt to sacrifice to your God. But you mustn't travel very far away. You'll all be watched to make sure you don't run off. The Israelites are my slaves and I own them; I'm not willing to set them free. But I'll allow you to go far enough away to perform your rituals if you'll ask your God to remove these flies."
Does Pharaoh mean what he says? In the moment perhaps he does. When in deep distress it's a human tendency to make promises to God. Sometimes people will try to bargain with God when they find themselves in a tight spot. How often, though, are those promises kept once the trouble is lifted? It would be better not to make promises at all than to make them and break them, which is what Pharaoh is going to do. When we pray to the Lord, we are supplicants asking for His mercy. We're not there to make promises or bargains. What do we have that the Lord needs? What can we give Him that He doesn't already possess? The entire creation is His. We come to Him with empty hands. The only offering we can make to Him is our faith and our obedience. So let's not behave as if we're meeting the Lord at some sort of bargaining table. Let's not come to Him in pride as if He needs something from us and has just been waiting for the day when we'd promise to do some great thing on His behalf. He does the great things; our job is to trust and obey Him.
"Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go." (Exodus 8:30-32) The flies disappear as suddenly as they appeared. The Lord displays His power once again in the sight of Pharaoh and all of Egypt. He's proven once again to the king that He the one in charge of things in Egypt and on all the earth, but as soon as Pharaoh gets relief from the flies he changes his mind. We would expect Pharaoh to have realized by now that this is not a God to be trifled with, yet we still find him resisting the truth. We still find him rejecting the Lord. The more Pharaoh rejects the Lord, the easier it is to keep on rejecting Him. That's how repeated sin and the repeated hardening of the heart works. The longer we persist in rebellion the easier it is to remain there. The more we harden our hearts against the calling of the Lord the more difficult it is for us to hear His pleading, merciful voice. Pharaoh continues to stubbornly refuse to obey the Lord and let the people go. The fifth plague falls in tomorrow's study.
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