Continuing from the last post with a chronological Bible study:
(Exodus 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.”’”
In the last chapter, Moses and Aaron had been refused by Pharaoh, and they brought the first plague by striking the waters and they turned to blood, making them unfit to drink, and killing all the fish. Pharaoh was unmoved, and now God was instructing Moses to go back to Pharaoh. Once again Moses (or Aaron as his spokesman) was to begin with "Thus says the Lord", and he was to tell Pharaoh to let God's people go.
(2) "'"And if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. (3) And 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 troughs. (4) And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.”’”
It was a merciful God who gave a warning of what He would do if Pharaoh refused to let His people go. Having had this warning, the plague might have been prevented by a true humiliation and return to God. However, if Pharaoh continued in his refusal to let God's people go, then God would strike all his land with a plague of frogs. The river would be overcome by frogs that would go into the houses, all over the people, and in their beds, their ovens, and kneading bowls. It was from reading Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible that I learned, just as the Nile (which was turned to blood) was worshiped by the Egyptians, so did this plague perhaps have a direct bearing on Egyptian idolatry. "There was a female deity with a frog’s head, and the frog was connected with the most ancient forms of nature-worship in Egypt." Once again God was more powerful and ruled over the Egyptian gods.
(5) And the LORD spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch forth 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.’” (6) And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
It can be assumed that Pharaoh once again refused to let God's people go, as the Lord now told Moses to instruct Aaron to stretch out his hand with the rod over the waters of Egypt and cause the plague of frogs. Aaron did as he was instructed and indeed frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
(7) And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.
Supposedly, Pharaoh's magicians also brought frogs with their enchantments. I find this a little amusing. There was already an abundance of frogs; why would anyone be swayed by the apparent producing of more? Would it not have been a more effective show of their power to remove the frogs rather than to add to them? But of course, they had no real power over God's plague.
(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.”
Here appears the first sign of Pharaoh's yielding to the power of God. He acknowledged that the plagues have come from God Himself. He asked Moses and Aaron to ask the Lord to take away the frogs and he would let God's people go to sacrifice to Him.
(9) And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Have this honor over me; when shall I entreat for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only?”
By allowing Pharaoh to pick the time when Moses would ask God to remove the plague of frogs would be further proof that this was not some preplanned parlor trick, but was by the power of Jehovah God.
(10) And he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. (11) And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people; they shall remain in the river only.”
Pharaoh answered that he wanted Moses to intercede for him the next day. If the frogs were such an extreme nuisance so as to drive Pharaoh to ask Moses to have the Lord take them away, then why would he wait until the next day, and not have the plague removed immediately? Who knows exactly, but it might have been nighttime and time for bed and perhaps a time when the frogs could be somewhat ignored during sleep. Also I can imagine that Pharaoh wanted to control the situation, and perhaps give the impression that he was not as moved by the situation as he might have seemed by asking that it may be removed. Perhaps he thought it might be removed during the night when it could be attributed to more natural means. One can only guess at the thoughts of an arrogant king. At any rate, Moses agreed that the time would be according to Pharaoh's wishes, that he would know that there was no one like the Lord God who could send plagues and remove them at His pleasure, something Pharaoh's gods and magicians could not do.
(12) And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses cried to the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. (13) And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out
of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. (14) And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
Moses cried out to the Lord in prayer for Pharaoh that He remove the plague of frogs. The Lord did as Moses asked, and we can assume that the frogs died at the appointed time the next day. God could have removed them back to the waters from whence they came, but He chose to kill them all at once. I imagine this would have made a greater impression on the people as they raked heaps of stinking dead frog carcasses into piles, an experience and image they should not soon forget.
(15) But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not hearken to them, as the LORD had said.
Well, it may have worked for people other than an arrogant and foolish king. When Pharaoh saw there was relief from the plague of frogs, he himself, in his obstinate pride, hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron when they again asked that God's people be allowed to go and sacrifice to the Lord. This was just as the Lord had said it would be.
(16) And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of
the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of
Egypt.’” (17) And they did so, for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and 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 that there appeared to be no warning before this next plague. I had never noticed this before, but Albert Barnes and others wrote that it was observed by Hebrew commentators that the first nine plagues were divided into three groups of three. Distinct warnings were given for the first two plagues in each group; the third in each was inflicted without any warning. The plague of lice was the third in the first group of three plagues--the blood, the frogs, and the lice. Also noted by Mr. Barnes was that while the first two plagues fell on the Nile, worshiped by the Egyptians, this plague fell on the earth, also worshiped in Egypt, as the father of the gods. God could use every part of His creation to bring plagues, and He was more powerful than any of Egypt's gods that were created by Him. God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his rod over the dust of the land and strike it, and that he did, and the dust became lice throughout the land of Egypt, upon man and beast alike.
This time it was Dr. John Gill in his Exposition of the Entire Bible who pointed out that while the first two plagues appeared to have a natural element about them, and many naysayers attempted to explain them away by calling them natural phenomena, lice do not spring from the dirt. These were created out of the dust of the earth by the same God who created man from the dust. Some have tried to suggest that the word translated as lice may have actually been better translated as gnats or mosquitoes; they point out that it was only used as "lice" when describing this plague. However, the original word "ken" is used elsewhere and stems from a root word that means "to make firm, fix, fasten". That sense of fastening to, cannot be said of gnats, especially, and even mosquitoes swarm a great deal and are ever changing places to light. Some have suggested that ticks might come from the dirt and attach to people and animals. However, a similar word to that original word used in verse 16, "kinnah", was indeed used by Talmudists to mean the louse.
(18) And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice,
but they could not; so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
Aha! Pharaoh's magicians could not accomplish this act of God by their enchantments. I believe this possibly insinuates that all they were ever able to do was to simulate by trickery. After all, if the first plagues could be explained by natural phenomena, then the magicians could have used natural phenomena to pretend to conjure up similar plagues. However, if this plague had no natural explanation, they could have been without "power" to duplicate it. If the magicians had performed their enchantments by Satan and his spiritual agents, this proves they had limits and were only allowed to perform what God allowed them to perform.
(19) Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God”; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the LORD had said.
The Egyptian magicians themselves acknowledged that this must have been by the finger of God. Albert Barnes was the one lone voice I read that suggested that the "finger of God" was a thoroughly Egyptian phrase, and not necessarily proof that the Egyptians recognized Yahweh, the God who performed the miracle. However, the original word used and translated as "God" was "Elohim". They did not call Him "Jehovah", who was the traditional God of Israel and a God I have read that the Egyptians found to be a trivial god. They themselves were calling Him "Elohim", if not the Supreme God, at least a superior Godhead. This may not have been by any admission or recognition on their part that this was indeed the one and only eternal Supreme God of the universe, but rather that it was due to a superior power. They may have admitted it was by a superior power to detract from the power of Moses and Aaron, because they would not admit that they were more skilful in magic and enchantments than they were. They may have been purposely not acknowledging "Jehovah", the God of Israel, so they suggested, in essence, that this could not have been done by any power of Moses and Aaron, nor by the God of Israel, but by a Superior God. With regard to the phrase "finger of God" being a thoroughly Egyptian phrase, Jesus used that phrase in Luke 11:20 when He said, "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you."
Regardless of what God the magicians told Pharaoh had done this miracle, Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not accept what they were saying. He dug in his heels and grew more and more obstinate. For a discussion on just by whom or what Pharaoh's heart was being hardened, see the post on Exodus 4, specifically verse 21, here at the post entitled, "Moses Begins His Mission After More Objections".
(20) And the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes forth to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. (21) 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; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand."'"
Next the Lord told Moses to rise up early in the morning in order to stand before Pharaoh when he came out to the water, which was either a daily morning ritual or a predetermined occasion this particular morning. He was to again declare the words of the Lord that he let God's people go. This next plague came with a warning; Moses was to warn Pharaoh that if he did not let God's people go, God would send swarms on Pharaoh and on his servants, and into their houses, and into the houses of all the Egyptians. In the original text, there is only the word "arob", translated as "swarms". The phrase "of flies" was added for clarification, but the original does not specify flies. As the word came from a word that meant "mixed" or "mingled", it is thought that these were swarms of various pesky flying insects. Indeed, when this incident appeared to have been written about in Psalms 78:45, it was written as "diverse sorts of flies". Following the pattern set forth with the earlier plagues, if God was sending plagues by way of the false gods that the Egyptians served (the Nile, the land) showing His superiority over them, some of the early commentaries suggest these "flies" were likewise sending a similar message to them. Many suggest it was a swarm of dog-flies, which would have been particularly loathsome to the Egyptians because they held dogs in the highest veneration, and worshiped Anubis under the form of a dog. A few had the opinion that the swarming insects were of a kind of beetle, which was worshiped by the Egyptians as a symbol of life, of reproductive or creative power. The sun-god Chepera was represented with the head of a beetle. Baalzebub, or Beelzebub, was said to be the fly-god, or lord of the flies. Probably, as already discussed, there were various species of swarming pests, and once again God would prove supreme over the false gods of Egypt.
(22) “'"And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. (23) And I will put a division between my people and your people; tomorrow shall this sign be.”’”
If Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go, then in the day that He sent the swarms of flying insects, God would separate the land of Goshen where His people dwelt, and there would be no flies there. As this was the first time that God spoke of separating His people from a plague, one would have to assume that the first three plagues of waters turned to blood, frogs, and lice, must have been indiscriminate in the land. As these plagues progressed, it was becoming more and more evident that only the one true God of the children of Israel could be bringing them about. Initially, Pharaoh's magicians were allowed to conjure up something similar, then they reached a plague they could not replicate, and now God could exempt His people from the plague of flies. Swarming flies, it would seem, could never be contained in one area, yet the Lord God of the Israelites could contain them to the area He wished. Additionally, if this plague of swarms was a particular affront to an Egyptian god, there was no way Pharaoh could attribute the exemption of Goshen to an Egyptian deity! God reiterated that there would be a division between His people and the Egyptian people. Actually, the word "peduth", that was translated as "division" means "redemption". God's people would be redeemed or delivered from the plague, a perfect picture of Christ who redeems or delivers His people from eternal death that has been brought upon all men, but they may be redeemed by His blood.
(24) And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt; the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
The verse said "The Lord did so..." We can assume it was the next day, as verse 23 said the sign would be "tomorrow". But in this instance, there appears to be no rod of Aaron used to bring about the plague, but the Lord Himself did so as He had told Moses to tell Pharaoh He would. The Lord sent a very heavy and severe swarm of flies that went into all the houses and all through the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted, or perhaps better said, ruined or destroyed, because of the swarms of flies.
(25) And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.”
Because of the swarms of flies, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to him and told them to go sacrifice to their God, obviously recognizing it was their God who had sent the flies. However, note he told them to go sacrifice to Him "in the land", that is, there in the land of Egypt.
(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; lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? (27) We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the LORD our God as He will command us.”
Moses rejected that idea, telling Pharaoh it would not be right to do so because they would be sacrificing something the Egyptians found abhorrent, either because they would be sacrificing some animal that the Egyptians held in high regard, or perhaps just by the bloody act of sacrificing itself. Moses told Pharaoh that surely if they did something that they knew was an abomination to the Egyptians, wasn't it reasonable to believe they would stone them? Moses told Pharaoh they would go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to their Lord there. The Lord had already told them to go sacrifice there, but by the phrase "as He will command us", he referred to the manner in which they would worship and sacrifice to Him, perhaps with what animals to be sacrificed, etc. Note that Moses used common sense reason to reject Pharaoh's plan. He could have refused just because God told him not to do it this way, but he used a reasonable argument as to why this would not work.
(28) And 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; entreat for me.”
Pharaoh appeared to have relented when he said he would let them go sacrifice to their God in the wilderness, as long as they did not go too far. Pharaoh obviously wanted them within his reach to snatch them back, for fear that if they went too far, they would not return. Moses had already said it would be three days' journey. Whether or not this was too far by Pharaoh's standards at this point is not clear. He may have been relenting part of the way with Moses, and suggesting they could go a little way, but not as far as the three days they had wanted, or maybe he was suggesting they may go the three days, but no longer. Whatever he meant, he surely realized this was the only way to be rid of the flies, so he relented at that moment. He also asked that Moses intercede for him to the Lord.
(29) And Moses said, “Behold, I am going out from you, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”
Moses agreed to entreat to the Lord for Pharaoh that the flies depart from him and his people on the next day, but he warned Pharaoh not to deal deceitfully with the children of Israel by not keeping up his end of the bargain in letting them go sacrifice to their Lord.
(30) And Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the LORD. (31) And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
Moses left Pharaoh and it appears that he immediately did as he promised, and entreated the Lord on Pharaoh's behalf. The Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his land so that not even one single fly remained.
(32) And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
It appears Pharaoh did indeed act deceitfully, and when the plague was removed, he hardened his heart as he had done before when the plague of frogs was removed, and he refused to let the people go.
