Exodus 8:20 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.
21 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.
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; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
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.
25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
26 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?
27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.
28 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.
29 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.
30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated 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.
32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Yesterday we mentioned the concern that officials in our country were demonstrating over a wicked man who was going to be holding concerts in Canada. This man is a false teacher who has been quite successful convincing people that he is a true messenger of God. He is a corrupt man who is under the wrath of God. Yesterday, the police entered a religious place in Quebec that was hosting this antichrist. While I do not like these false teachers going about to deceive people, it is not the place of the police to interfere with free speech. That false teacher is living under the wrath of God and he will spend eternity in the lake of fire if he does not repent and get saved.
What is needed is for true men of God to stand up and preach the Word of God, rather than pandering to every wind of doctrine that the devil wants to spread.
In our text, we see that Moses was not a people pleaser. He had a very important and serious message for Pharaoh. The children of Israel needed to be reminded of Who the true LORD was. The Egyptians also needed to know Him.
In verse 20 the LORD once again commanded Moses to get up in the morning and confront Pharaoh, and tell him to let the children of Israel go. Pharaoh needed a constant reminder of Who is in charge. So far, he was not convinced. His magicians already understood they were beat, but Pharaoh still assumed he had the upper hand.
This time the LORD threatened Pharaoh and his nation with swarms of flies. Flies are pesky little things. I do not like flies buzzing around my head when I am eating. They can sneak through quite tiny cracks to get into houses.
Not only did the LORD threaten Pharaoh with these swarms of flies, but He also promised that He would separate the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt. There would be no flies in Goshen. This too was an unusual thing. God demonstrated that He was well able to control these pesky little insects. He could direct them where they should go and where they should not go.
The LORD promised to put a division between His people and Pharaoh’s people. You see, Israel did not have a human king. God had chosen Moses to be their human leader, but he was not their king. God was to be their King. Pharaoh had appointed himself king of Egypt and he wrongly assumed that he was the king of Israel as well. Just because the Hebrews were living in Egypt, did not give the Pharaoh the right to assume ownership over them. He would learn this was a fatal mistake on his part.
In verse 24 we read that the swarms of flies entered every house in Egypt. Pharaoh had no way of protecting himself from these swarms. His luxury palace was no better off than any other Egyptian’s house.
In verse 25 we read that Pharaoh once again called upon Moses. Once again he made an offer to Moses. Moses responded by demanding that Pharaoh allow the children of Israel to travel three days journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD. The children of Israel were not like the Egyptians. The LORD had special instructions for them. They needed to honour Him and follow His commands.
In spite of Pharaoh’s discomfort, he still assumed he could demand things of Moses. He would let the people go and sacrifice, but he did not want them to go far away. God was teaching the children of Israel the importance of Biblical separation. He separated the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt even though Israel’s time in Goshen would soon come to an end. He also was teaching them that their worship of the LORD needed to be distinguishable from the pagan worship of the Egyptians.
This is an important lesson that most professing Christians have not learned. We mentioned the false teacher who is in Canada to deceive gullible religious people. No true born again Christian would waste their time attending one of this man’s meetings. True born again Christians would be warning their people and others to stay away from this wicked man.
In our text, Moses listened to the demands of Pharaoh and he promised to intreat the LORD on his behalf. The LORD listened to Moses and He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh and his household and the nation of Egypt. The land was freed from these pests as quickly as they had overtaken the land.
In verse 32 we read that Pharaoh again hardened his heart. He refused to let the people go. He assumed he had tricked the LORD into removing the flies and he assumed that he could live in comfort once again.
Pharaoh’s comfort would be short lived. As we have already mentioned, he was a very stubborn man. He had a death wish and God would honour that death wish in His time. In the meantime, He would play with Pharaoh and show the Egyptians that it was the height of folly to follow a wicked king and serve false gods.
Today as well, we would do well to humble ourselves and follow the true God. Don’t accept the lies of false teachers. We have the Word of the LORD. We can know what is truth. We do not need to be gullible. The wise person submits to the will and word of the LORD. His way is the only right way. He wants to lead us in the way of blessing. It is up to us to choose wisely and submit to His will. There are thousands of people all around us who are dying and going to hell. Those who are saved are privileged to know the truth. Let us be sure we do not try to corrupt the truth with the lies of the wicked. Know the truth and stand upon the truth. Help others to see that the truth shall make you free.
In our text, God blessed Moses and Aaron for speaking the truth to a vile man. God also blessed the children of Israel even though they were reluctant to trust in Him. God is still blessing the nation of Israel and Jews across the world today, even though the majority of them still do not believe in Him.
Since Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 16, God has turned His attention to a new entity, called the true local church. At Jesus crucifixion, the old system was finished. The veil in the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Jesus Christ is the Great High Priest. He provides forgiveness of sins through His shed blood. He is alive and seated on the right hand of His Father in glory.
The true local church has the Lord Jesus Christ as Its Head. It is also built upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The true local church is designed to be a light in this dark world. We are commanded to:
Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
The world needs to see the truth. Be sure you know the truth and are walking in It. If you have questions, we would be happy to show you the Truth. God’s Word is Truth.
Pastor Bartel
