Exodus 8:20-32
20 And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes out to the water. Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 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. 22 And in that day I will set apart 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 land. 23 I will make a difference between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be.” ’ ” 24 And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh, into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.
25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.” 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. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then 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.” 28 So 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. Intercede for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 31 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
25 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land.” 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. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then 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.” 28 So 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. Intercede for me.” 29 Then Moses said, “Indeed I am going out from you, and I will entreat the Lord, that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. But let Pharaoh not deal deceitfully anymore in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”
30 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 31 And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; He removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained. 32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
The fourth judgement on Egypt for enslaving God’s people was swarms of flies to remind that God is omnipresent, you cannot escape His sight nor His hand. Again Moses spoke God’s words for release from captivity, and the consequence of defying Him was the swarms of flies which would touch every place the Egyptians went. The thick swarms of flies were from a word used only here, probably from 'mixture' and 'incessant or involved motion', meaning they were all kinds of flies buzzing incessantly about and even more annoying and present than the gnats or lice of the previous plague. They were so overwhelmingly annoying that the Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to let them know that he would agree to let the people of God go outside Egypt to sacrifice to Him, probably out of both fear of more plagues as well as not being able to live or function with flying things everywhere, in the houses and outside. He asked Moses to intercede for him, and Moses promised to ask God to remove the flies from the land the next day. But Moses also warned the Pharaoh not to deceive and go back on his word again. As soon as the prayer for relief from the adversity was answered and the flies left all of Egypt and her citizens, Pharaoh again chose to further harden his heart as God moved him to do so (Romans 9:17-18) because of his sin and rejection of the Creator and Judge of all. We see how the swarms of flies were not only meant to annoy and cast judgement on Pharaoh and his people, but also to remind them and us that God is everywhere; nobody can hide from Him and His Christ. Either people will hold to their hard hearts of stone carved into idols of self and be further hardened by God, or they will be broken by the cornerstone falling on them (Luke 20:18) and stop hardening their own hearts further. God is everywhere and knows everything. We cannot hide from Him, no matter how annoying our sin is, as it will find us out as the swarms of flies would not give a moment’s rest to Egypt and her king.
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