Exodus 8: 20-32: “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. 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.”
‘In this plague there was, at last, a distinction between the land of Goshen, where Israel lived and the rest of the land of Egypt. The Lord showed Pharaoh that He alone controlled life and death but, in this case, He showed that life and death could be selective for whoever the Lord chose. The fly was greatly admired in Egypt for its perseverance and great warriors would be awarded a golden fly for valour in battle. However, the Lord demonstrated that perseverance was useless against the Lord. Even the brave flies were under His control but the flies were taken away at the Lord’s command as well. Pharaoh wanted to let the Israelis sacrifice in the land of Egypt but they wanted to leave the land of Egypt to worship the true God of heaven. It wasn’t appropriate for them to worship the Lord when it seemed as though they were under the control of other gods. Pharaoh hardened his heart again but the Lord showed grace again by giving them another chance to repent.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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