I welcome everyone to Exodus Chapter 8. We ended the previous chapter with the first plague from God to Egypt. The plague turned water to blood and lasted for seven days. In this chapter, we read about the second, third and fourth plagues. In this review, we will see how they point to the end time tribulation. We will also see that in spite of these plagues, Pharaoh further hardened his own heart.
On your mark… set… review…!
THE DEADLY DISASTERS CONTINUE…
Exo. 8:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
God consistently refers to Israel as “His possession” – My People, not Pharaoh’s (or Satan’s) people. This reminds me of how Apostle Paul consistently calls himself a “prisoner of Christ Jesus / for the Lord” (Eph. 3:1; Eph. 4:1; Phile. 1:1,9; 2 Tim. 1:8), and not a prisoner of Rome. As we learnt in our ongoing Bible Study of Ephesians in our GOG Sunday Services, it shows that we are God’s people wherever we find ourselves. Therefore, whoever we are, wherever we are, whatever we do, in this world, let us live as unto the Lord.
God’s command is non-negotiable. “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.” This command was repeated to Pharaoh nine times! God demanded the unconditional release of His people from the hands and power of Pharaoh. He wanted His people to serve Him only, not the powers of darkness. God’s chosen people are to be free for God’s great glory. But Pharaoh’s rebellion led to more plagues on Egypt.
- PLAGUE 2: FROGS FLOOD THE FIELDS
Exo. 8:2-4 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.”’”
Notice the:
- Fatal Restlessness:
The Egyptians worshipped the frog as a “goddess of fertility” (Heqet). They considered frogs sacred and could not kill them. This plague turned the frogs’ fertility wild and they produced abundantly at a rapid rate. Fertility became a worry, destroying their comfort and happiness. They became miserable. Have you heard the croaking of frogs at night? It can be very annoying. Now imagine the croaking of millions of frogs, day and night, non-stop! It must have driven them nuts and robbed them of any peace and rest. Everywhere they went, they had frogs to contend with. It’s better imagined than experienced. Fatal restlessness! - Filthy Restlessness:
Just as the Egyptians experienced terrible effects of the frogs, man also experiences the terrible effects of sin. It robs us of our peace and joy. It plagues us with guilt. There is no rest for the sinner. No man can escape the effects of sin except through Jesus Christ. Another form of restlessness is coming in the Great Tribulation, when unclean spirits will come out of the mouths of the “unholy trinity” (the dragon, the Antichrist, and the false prophet) in the form of frogs (Rev. 16:13-14). They would work to defile and fill the ears of the nations with their noisy demonstrations of power. Filthy restlessness! - False Repentance:
Exo. 8:8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.”
This is the first time that Pharaoh would acknowledge that God existed. The greatest ruler in the world was brought to his knees by frogs. He became desperate. His magicians caused more frogs, instead of reducing them. We don’t know for how long the frogs infested the land, but however long, it was enough to destabilise Pharaoh. He had seen enough of the croaking jumping frogs all around him. He pleaded with Moses and Aaron to pray for the removal of the frogs, but he laced his request with a false promise to release Israel. Once he got his desired relief, he hardened his heart. A hardened heart actually knows the word of God and work of God, but refuses to yield to it. False repentance!
- PLAGUE 3: LICE LATCH AND LINGER
Exo. 8:16-17 So the Lord said to Moses, “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.’” 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. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
Notice:
- The Lingering Lice:
Seeing that Pharaoh had reneged on his promise, God sent the third plague unannounced. No warning. The Hebrew word for “lice” refers to a tiny blood-sucking insect that is able to bite humans and animals, and cause burning painful itch, and also causing various diseases. God cursed the fertile soil of the land of Egypt. It affected all humans and all the animal kingdom together. This plague was so vast that no creature of the ground was left untouched. - The Ludicrous Limitation:
Pharaoh’s magicians tried to replicate this plague, but they failed. What God did here was a minor reversal of the creation of man. He actually turned dust into insects (rather than man). Satan cannot create life in any way. They certainly could not make insect out of dust. There was nothing they could do about it. It was utterly humiliating. - The Lord’s Lashing:
“This is the finger of God!” Pharaoh’s magicians acknowledged that God was at work. Their failure led to perplexity and they admitted to Pharaoh that there exists a power greater than their magic. Their powers have been exhausted, and they have been defeated. From this point onwards, they never tried to reproduce another plague. They left the battleground. One would think that Pharaoh would repent, but he did not change his attitude. His heart was hardened and he wouldn’t even listen to his own magicians. At this point, God had spoken to Pharaoh through His prophets, through three plagues, and through his own magicians, but Pharaoh adamantly refused to listen.
- PLAGUE 4: FLIES FLOOD THE FIELDS AND FAMILIES
Exo. 8:21 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 and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.
Notice the:
- Ferocious Flies:
God sent in flies that defied all brands of insecticide. No amount of bug spray could control them. They covered the people and covered the ground. It affected the fields and the families. Wow! It was maddening. - Favoured Faithfuls:
The flies are forbidden from entering Goshen, where the Israelites lived. God placed giant signposts around Goshen that read: “No Flies Here!” The separation between Israel and Egypt made it obvious that the God of Israel was the source of the plagues. It made the Egyptians recognize the power, authority and sovereignty of God, directing a plague to fall on one people and not on another. Although this separation was evidently written in the last seven plagues, we can infer that they most likely escaped the first three plagues too, especially when we consider the purpose of the plagues. Even if the Israelites saw these things with their eyes, they were not badly affected (Psa. 91:5-10). So, I’d say even if only the final seven plagues were cases of “no event” for the Israelites, the first three plagues were cases of “no effect” for them them. - Future Flight:
This separation foreshadows the end times. Someday, Jesus will rapture His believers to be with Him in the air (Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). They will be snatched away and saved from the coming wrath. To understand this better, listen to Pastor Dammy’s recent sermon titled: “Not Ignorant of the Redeemer’s Return (The Rapture)” - False Freedom:
Pharaoh proposed a compromise, limiting the Israelites to worship God in the land of Egypt. He wanted to regulate their worship. He restricted their worship to “in this land”, a subtle attempt to keep them subjugated and prevent their absolute allegiance to their God. Evil is always suggesting some compromise. Choosing to pay attention is to choose to remain enslaved. The only way into liberty is to leave the circumference of evil – to flee every appearance of evil. Pharaoh’s proposals are similar to the compromises we are tempted to make today as believers - a. Stay in Egypt = Be comfortable here. Conformity doesn’t hurt.
- b. Do not go very far = Do not be too interested in spirituality.
and in chapter 10, he made a dangerous proposal
- c. Go without your children = Only invest in worldly prosperity and education for your children.
Seeing that Moses wouldn’t budge or compromise, Pharaoh repeated his false repentance, despite Moses warning him not to try that with them again. The moment the plague stopped, Pharaoh still did not keep his word. Despite God’s kindness to him, Pharaoh continued to harden his heart. He is a perfect picture of this verse: “Like a dog that returns to its vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.” (Prov. 26:11; 2 Pet. 2:22). The more an unbeliever continues in sin and rejects God’s opportunities for repentance, the more the hardening of heart continues. That is why we must take the commission to preach the gospel with every sense of urgency.
Till tomorrow when we meet again, stay blessed.
Grace to you, Church!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.