Exodus 8:16

The Bible says in Exodus 8:16-19, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.” It is interesting to see the natural order of things with these plagues. The frogs died, which provided the perfect nesting ground for the lice to form. The lice eventually transformed into flies as is normal, and so the next plague was born. God uses the natural world in order to bring about events that God wants to happen. God controls the natural world. Remember that one of the proofs that Jesus is God was when He demonstrated His control over the natural world. The Bible says in Luke 8:24-25, “And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.”

When there is a great natural disaster in the world, God has allowed that disaster in order to bring about the changes that God wanted to happen. When something happens in your life that involves nature and the changes going on in nature, one of the questions to ask is this: what is God doing in my life and in the world? And is God trying to show me or the world something? The magicians of Pharaoh were starting to get the message when they could not duplicate the plague of lice, they said to Pharaoh in Exodus 8:19, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh was not getting the message. It says about him in verse 19, “Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them.”

Concerning the plague of the flies, the Bible says in Exodus 8:20-24, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.”

Pharaoh’s reaction to the plague of flies is interesting. Pharaoh appears to be surrendering to God’s will, but he really is not. If we look closely, we see that Pharaoh is compromising, and no one can compromise the revealed will of God and truly follow God’s direction. The Bible says in Exodus 8:25-32, “And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.”

Pharaoh’s first attempt to compromise God’s word is found in Exodus 8:25 when Pharaoh said, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” In other words Pharaoh was asking them to agree to sacrifice “in the land” of Egypt. Pharaoh wanted to perform only part of God’s will so that Pharaoh could retain control over the children of Israel. But to purposely set aside part of God’s Word because it is not convenient for you, in some ways is the same as putting aside all of God’s Word. Pharaoh’s second attempt to compromise to avoid obeying all of God’s Word is found in Exodus 8:28 where Pharaoh says, “I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away.” In other words, “you can put the tip of your toe into the wilderness, but you must take it right back out again.” If you are going to serve God, you must go all the way in serving Him with nothing held back. Firmly step in with both feet. Give your all.

Pharaoh’s attempts to compromise showed that his heart was not right with God. Once Pharaoh got what he wanted by having the swarms of flies taken away, he went right back to his true character. It says in Exodus 8:32, “And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.”

The next plague that the Lord brought upon Egypt is found in Exodus chapter 9. It says in Exodus 9:1-7, “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.”

It is interesting that the word “Hebrews” is used in Exodus 9:1. It literally means: “those who are from beyond,” and it refers to being from the other side of the Euphrates River, which is where Abraham originally came from. The word is first used in the Bible in reference to Abraham in Genesis 14:13 that says, “And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew.” In using the word “Hebrews” in Exodus chapter 9, an emphasis is being made to Pharaoh to remind him that the children of Israel were not from Israel originally, and it was logical to expect that a time would come when they would leave Egypt, and that time to leave was now. There is a spiritual application to this principle: believers are not of this world. We belong to another kingdom: the kingdom of Christ. Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Believers are not of this world. We are not of the same spirit as this world system. We have a different understanding and different priorities. There is a great spiritual divide and a great separation between true believers and the people who are not true believers. One spiritual application to the children of Israel coming out of Egypt is this truth: the Lord says to every group of believers in every age, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” Reading the entire passage on the subject, it says in Second Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Another spiritual principle that is taught in Exodus 9:1-7 has to do with how much God blesses the efforts of believers. The Lord said in Exodus 9:4, “And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.” How do you become the best that you can be? How do you get the most out of your efforts? How do you become successful in this life? Believe in Jesus, and serve God by walking in fellowship with Him. If you do that, you will gain the greatest success that is possible for you. That is because God will bless your efforts. The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

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