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in our bibles to exodus chapter eight exodus chapter eight we find ourselves in the ten plagues that begins in chapter seven at verse 14 to chapter 12 and verse 30. so tonight we're gonna look at the second the third and the fourth it's pretty repetitious so i'm not sure how long we're going to be here tonight same sort of pattern same sort of theme a few divergences along the way but the same best basic message what we have essentially is that the plagues are a demonstration of god's power he would harden pharaoh's heart in order that he would be able to demonstrate his power he mentions that in the text in the book of exodus paul of course theologizes that point in romans chapter 9 at verses 14 to 18. as well it's a manifestation of god's judgment against pharaoh and against the egyptians and then additionally it's a demonstration that yahweh alone is the true and living god exodus 12 12 essentially underscores that it says for i will pass through the land of egypt on that night and will strike all the firstborn in the land of egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of egypt i will execute judgment i am the lord so it's not only a manifestation of god's judgment against pharaoh and the egyptians but against their gods as well so each of these plagues corresponds to the various gods that were worshiped there in egypt and we see sort of a a big one in terms of the water turning into blood and then we have these three in chapter eight that are certainly probably to some degree uh painful but not quite as devastating as the nile into blood and certainly not as devastating as some of the others will be the culminating one the tenth plague obviously is the one that certainly got everybody's attention and thus the people of israel were free to go in fact they were basically given all kinds of money so that they would leave from egypt so i'll begin reading in chapter 8 at verse 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 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 frog shall come up on you on your people and on all your servants then the lord spoke to moses say to aaron stretch out 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 so aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of egypt and the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs on the land of egypt then pharaoh called for moses and aaron and said and treat 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 and moses said to pharaoh accept the honor of saying when i shall intercede 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 so 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 and the frog shall depart from you from your houses from your servants and from your people they shall remain in the river only then moses and aaron went out from pharaoh and moses cried out to the lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against pharaoh so the lord did according to the word of moses and the frogs died out of the houses out of the courtyards and out of the fields they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank but when pharaoh saw that there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the lord had said 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 now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice but they could not so there were lice on man and beast then the magician said to pharaoh this is the finger of god but pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them just as the lord had said 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 or else if you will not let my people go behold i will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants on your people and into your houses the houses of the egyptian shall be full of swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand and in that day i will set apart the land of goshen in which my people dwell that no swarms of fly shall be there in order that you may know that i am the lord in the midst of the land i will make a difference between my people and your people tomorrow this sign shall be 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 then pharaoh called for moses and aaron and said go sacrifice to your god in the land 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 we will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the lord our god as he will command us 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 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 any anymore and not letting the people go to sacrifice to the lord so moses went out from pharaoh and entreated the lord 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 but pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let the people go amen as we see again a recurring pattern or theme as we move through these particular plagues god tells pharaoh through moses to let the people go he threatens him with a particular plague obviously pharaoh doesn't let the people go the plague comes pharaoh gives a sign or an indication or at least an outward display of compliance simply so he can have the plague removed and then he doubles down and not let uh not letting the people go so we see this second plague has to do with fl frogs almost said flags in verses 1 to 15 the third plague is lice versus 16-19 and then the fourth plague is flies or swarms of flying insects you'll notice each time at least in the new king james it has swarms of and then flies are uh added there the italicized words are not in the original hebrew they're supplied by the interpreters or translators rather to make sense of this of the statement so there is some question concerning what particularly is in view with reference to this uh third pla the fourth plague in terms of the numbers the third plague in terms of this chapter flies is a good translation it is a good rendering of what's happening so let's look first at the second plague with reference to the frogs again the command in verse 1. nothing new here god tells moses to go before pharaoh and say to him thus says the lord let my people go that they may serve me so god wants the people of israel free from the house of bondage this is a great sort of typical picture of redemption through our lord jesus christ we know that the exodus itself is a wonderful display of god's power it comes up throughout the bible it becomes for the prophets it becomes for the salt uh the psalmist a great example of god's power displayed in the vindication or deliverance of his people and then in the new testament as well you see that same sort of motif you see references especially in john's gospel to an exodus coming that is specifically with reference to our lord jesus christ in fact on the mount of transfiguration in luke's narrative it says that they spoke moses and elijah spoke with jesus concerning jesus exodus his departure his death and so there is this emphasis in the new testament on the exodus being typical of what christ does in terms of the salvation of his people so he commands pharaoh to let the people go and then he gives the threat in verse two if you refuse to let them go behold i will smite all your territory with frogs now this isn't just a frog here or a frog there this is an extensive amount of frogs this is a lot of frogs and that's what's detailed in verses three and four so the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly which shall go up and come into your house into your bedroom on your bed into your houses of into the houses of your servants on your people into your ovens and into your kneading bowls and the frog shall come up on you on your people and on all your servants now again it's a lot of frogs wherever you would step there would be frogs wherever you would look in your house there would be frogs there would be frogs on your bed when it says bad we're not to think of a of a california king elevated up off the floor typically a bed in those days was a mat on the floor so the frogs would have easy access and so no doubt as you were sleeping there would be frogs covering you that might give you some impetus to want to see your commander your king to let these people of israel go remember it's only been about seven days since they've gone through the first plague wherein the river nile had been changed into uh uh blood the water had been turned into blood and now they are faced with this frog problem notice the end of verse four verse four specifically and the frog shall come upon you on your people and on all your servants now there is a distinction made or a division made between israel and egypt that is more pre uh uh prominent in the fourth plague at chapter 8 verse 22 in the fifth plague at chapter nine verse four in the seventh plague in chapter nine verse 26 and then obviously in the tenth plague in chapter 12 verses 29 and 30. we have this division between egypt and israel such that israel was not affected by the entirety of the plagues that had been poured out by god this one's not as prominent but it certainly seems suggestive when moses says and the frog shall come upon you on your people and on all your servants it does seem to indicate that there is a division in terms of the people of egypt versus the children of israel and then notice the execution by aaron in verses five to seven again you'll see common themes recur as we move through these plagues but there are some differences in the first two plagues in this chapter moses raises the the rod and stretches out his arm in the third plague in this chapter there is no mention of that and i think the idea is is that these people in egypt especially would think that it was magic they would think that it had to do with the rod of aaron so god makes sure that they cannot think that by sort of changing it up along the way it's not dependent upon aaron's rod it's not dependent upon his outstretched arm this is simply a signal a symbol rather or an emblem in some of the plagues but not all the plagues function in that same way so there is this command to aaron to stretch out his hand with the rod in verse 5 and then the presence of the frogs throughout the land now notice the the magicians according to verse 7 the magicians did so with their enchantments or their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of egypt now last time we considered this statement we saw it in the river nile being changed into blood you'll see it again in the next particular plague where they are unsuccessful but there is the sense where they could have been just tricksters or hucksters or engaged in sleight of hand it is intriguing that here they are using frogs one commentator suggests it would be easier to engage in sleight of hand with frogs you could have them in jars you could have them hidden you could have them stored away versus the lights no magician whatever thing they'd be called upon to duplicate lice so that would have been a lot more difficult so it could just be a case of sleight of hand however as we trace through the bible we know that at times the devil is responsible for certain signs and wonders we saw that in the book of deuteronomy deuteronomy chapter 13. if a false prophet speaks speaks a prophecy and it's accompanied by signs and wonders and the prophecy or the prophet denies the living and true god then you're to kill that prophet but it doesn't suggest that the signs and wonders did not actually take place in first uh samuel or i'm sorry deuteronomy chapter 18 we have a prohibition against the children of israel when they go into the land of canaan to stay away from witchcraft to stay away from soothsayers to stay away from necromancers and the various types of things that would go on in the among the pagans around them not because they were useless or non-effective but rather because it was an abomination before the lord god we see something of that in first samuel chapter 28. samuel saul rather does not have a word from the lord he's going into battle against the philistines so he seeks out the witch at endor in order to get guidance before he goes to battle well that witch at endor brings someone up she claims that it's samuel and saul believes it is samuel i don't think that it is samuel but it was something and so we see that the devil is involved in lying signs and wonders you see jesus reference in matthew 24 concerning false prophets and false christs doing signs and wonders and then in second thessalonians chapter two as well there are these fo uh these signs and wonders associated with the man of sin in second thessalonians two so it could have been sleight of hand on the part of these magicians or it could have been owing to the devil operating through janice and jambress we know that's the names of these particular magicians because paul names them in second timothy chapter three i think it around verse nine but what is intriguing is the uh they had the ability to engage in either sleight of hand or something that the devil orchestrated in terms of producing frogs verse seven the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs on the land of egypt the better trick on their part would have been to get rid of the frogs if they were really men that had the magic ability if they were really men that had control over nature and they had control over supernatural forces then it seems to be a no-brainer that they should have got rid of the frogs not made more frogs so it seems a very futile exercise just simply to demonstrate or show that they have the the power to do what moses and aaron did under the work of god almighty and then we see the response the request of pharaoh in verse 8. notice that he requests from moses and aaron he doesn't make the request from his magicians because at least as far as the text reads he's not real impressed with his magicians he is rather impressed with moses and aaron because in verse 8 it says 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 so he makes that promise he makes that statement to let the people go now notice moses response verse 9 in the new king james isn't as clear as i think it is in the niv in the esv the niv says i leave you to the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs except for those that remain in the bi in the nile the esv has it be pleased to command me when i am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people i think this is what's happening here moses says it's up to you pharaoh when you want to see the end of the frauds and so when pharaoh says tomorrow it occurs tomorrow now we might wonder what kind of a king would not want to do it right away again not the fellow i would vote for in the next election if such things took place in egypt but the bottom line is the idea is is that moses is indicating this wasn't just a natural phenomena it wasn't just a strange thing that happened it wasn't just the case that all these frogs emerge from the nile and end up in pharaoh's bed rather moses under the power of yahweh of israel is able to stop the frogs at the very time that pharaoh demands which indicates and underscores again that god the lord is in control of this it isn't the power of forces beyond the lord it isn't the magicians associated with egypt uh with the the royal court in egypt and it's simply not natural phenomenon but rather it is god most high now notice what moses does in verse 10. he underscores or he brings that point to bear so pharaoh said tomorrow and then he said this is moses in response let it be according to your word that it's tomorrow that you may know that there is no one like the lord our god you see that's one of the messages that is replete through the ten plagues the reality is is that moses under god is showing egypt who the true and living god is i think we show looked at this last week but turn to chapter 12 for just a moment chapter 12 after the death of the firstborn and the children of israel do leave the nation of egypt notice in chapter 12 at verse 37 then the children of israel journeyed from ramesses to sukhoth about 600 000 men on foot besides children now notice verse 38 a mixed multitude went up with them also and flocks and herds a great deal of livestock so it wasn't just the children of israel there were other people living in the land of egypt other people that learned that god the lord yahweh of israel was in fact the true and living god if you go back to chapter 9 chapter 9 specifically the seventh plague with reference to hail notice in verse 20 he who feared the word of the lord among the servants of pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses but he who did not regard the word of the lord left his servants and his livestock in the field to me that's a parallel to jesus words in the sermon on the mount whoever hears these words of mine and does them is like the wise builder who built his house upon the rock those who hear the word and do not do them is the foolish builder who builds his house upon the sand so there were those in the nation of egypt that responded favorably to the command of god as it went through moses there were those who paid attention and as a result didn't lose livestock in the seventh plague of hail there were those who listened to moses and learned something of the true and living god that didn't perish with the rest of the egyptians and were able as part of that mixed multitude in exodus chapter 12 to depart from egypt alongside the children of israel so that is one of the emphasis throughout the plague narratives is that you may know that there is no one like the lord our god and then moses promises in verse 11 and chapter 8 the frog shall depart from you from your houses from your servants and from your people they shall remain in the river only and then notice the intercession of moses on behalf of egypt moses cries out to god then moses and aaron went out excuse me from pharaoh and moses cried out to the lord concerning the frogs which he had brought against pharaoh as far as moses is concerned he doesn't know there's going to be 10 plagues he knows there's going to be an outstretched arm he knows that god is going to demonstrate his power he knows that god is going to do this in order to bring pharaoh to the place of letting the children of israel go but moses doesn't know at this particular juncture that there's going to be these successive plagues and so at this point he entreats the lord on behalf of pharaoh because pharaoh had set and treat the lord get rid of the frogs and i will let the children of israel go so he does that now notice verse 13 so the lord did according to the word of moses god answers prayer we see that throughout when moses calls upon the lord god god answers his prayer it's a beautiful and a blessed thing and a great encouragement for the people of god to pray pray as those who have tried and proven their god spurgeon said pray as those who've studied scripture and have seen persons try and prove their god and then verse 14 says they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank just like it did when the fish and the nile died when the water had been turned into blood so there was a lot of stink going on in the nation of egypt at this particular time but then notice the default position of pharaoh when pharaoh saw that there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the lord had said go back to chapter 4 for just a moment chapter 4 is the first announcement of pharaoh's heart and heart and it is god that hardens his heart initially notice in 4 21 and the lord said to moses when you go back to egypt see that you do all those wonders before pharaoh which i have put in your hand but i will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go then you shall say to pharaoh thus says the lord israel is my son my firstborn. so i say to you let my son go that he may serve me but if you refuse to let him go indeed i will kill your son you're firstborn foreshadowing that tenth plague the bottom line is that god in his sovereignty hardens pharaoh's heart so that pharaoh will in fact delay in letting the children of israel go so that god can manifest his power and his glory through the agency of this man pharaoh now for those who say well that doesn't seem fair that god would harden pharaoh's heart we need to understand that in chapter 4 pharaoh was a sinner pharaoh already had a heart and heart pharaoh was a slave driver pharaoh was profiting from the children of israel giving up slave labor to him he wasn't a blank slate philosophers call this a tabula rasa a clean slate he wasn't that he was a sinner undone in adam he was an idolater he was a worshiper of various gods within egypt the pantheon that they had so he was a rach so for god to harden his heart it isn't unfair it is rather an act of judgment it is an act of justice an act of righteousness similar to when jesus says in matthew chapter 11 i thank you lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent you can hear armenians and sometimes others that should have better theology say well that doesn't seem very fair he hides these things from the wise and prudent it's an act of justice it is an act of righteousness it is god dealing according to justice with sinners who deserve that sort of justice so back to our text the pharaoh saw that there was relief so he reneged on his promise of verse 8 and he further hardened his heart and then notice at the end of verse 15 again another recurring theme that this is for moses for aaron and for the children of israel when pharaoh saw that there was there was relief he hardened his heart and did not heed them as the lord had said so for the children of israel probably very sorely oppressed or having been sorely oppressed under egypt they're probably ready to roll they're probably ready to get this you know get this game going and get out of egypt but god had spoken god had told them how things were going to be and each time there is this refrain as the lord had said so that they will learn dependence upon the word of the living god that brings us to the third plague the plague of lice in verses 16 to 19. does anybody have gnats does the niv have gnats or does it have lice and the third niv uh verse 16. yeah that's okay that's esv have gnats no esv ears here okay you have yes okay yeah again some of these hebrew terms can you know there's a bit of semantic range lice gnats good good good translations here and again something very irritating i mean if the frogs didn't make you want to say forget it i'm going to move perhaps these lice might bring that sort of emphasis to you at this particular juncture so we have a similar pattern we have the command to moses and then an absence of a command to pharaoh some suggests that it was there it's presupposed it's assumed or it may just be the case that god went right to this god doesn't have to play by any particular rules with reference to a literary framework god the lord is free to operate as he chooses with reference to his own sovereignty so we have this action of of of aaron stretch out your rod strike the dust of the land so that it may become lice throughout all the land of egypt again we see the extensiveness of the plague of lice all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of egypt now notice the attempt by the magicians in verse 18. now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice but they could not so there were lice on man and beast so the magicians engaged in futility here they were not able to duplicate this neither were they able to stop it to reverse it such that the lice weren't covering man and beast so basically the magicians are useless i think that's what we can conclude at this point with reference to these egyptian magicians they don't have the power to change the water uh the blood back into water they don't have the power to get the frogs out of the land and they don't have the power to duplicate this plague of lice so essentially they are useless and i think arrow a pharaoh rather is learning this along the way but then notice how they understand this the response or report of the magicians verse 19. then the magician said to pharaoh this is the finger of god they don't say this is a good trick that moses and darren pulled off it's one we haven't quite learned yet they knew this wasn't a trick the magicians i guess aren't so useless they're at least able to realize that the hand of the living and true god is operative among them and that's what they ascribe it to then the magician said to pharaoh this is the finger of god now notice pharaoh's response pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them just as the lord had said so there is testimony from his own people that this wasn't a trick this wasn't sleight of hand this wasn't just a parlor trick that moses and aaron put together this wasn't shadows and mirrors so i think we ought to make the observation here relative to pharaoh and one that i think the new testament certainly parallels in one text in particular is that miracles don't make christians miracles don't make believers god's grace makes believers there's a debate by greg bonset and gordon stein it took place in the 1980s greg bonson as a christian theist was a a bible-believing christian and gordon stein was an atheist and at the end of the debate there was a time for the audience to ask questions and one person came up and he asked the question of dr stein he says dr stein what would it take for you to confess faith in in god what would it take for you to believe that god exists and stein said well if this podium were to rise up well first he said if god put in an appearance we have an atheist meeting on thursday night if god came to that then i would believe in in the existence of god you know some of the people sort of chuckled out in the audience and then he said but but as well as if this podium i guess they were standing behind a lectern of some sort if it were to raise in the air and there were no ropes or there were no motors or there was no sort of thing like that then i would believe in the existence of god well dr bonson was was just spot on he says no you wouldn't you would just search or search your mind and try to figure out another way to explain that phenomena it's not miracles that make believers it's the new birth you must be born again your worldview must be transformed by the power of god so turn for just a moment to matthew 11 where i think this is paralleled very very obviously in the life and ministry of our lord jesus christ miracles don't make believers god's grace makes believers in matthew 11 at verse 20 jesus uh then he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent woe to you corazon woe to you bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in tyre and sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes but i say to you it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than for you and you capernaum who are exalted to heaven will be brought down to hades for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in sodom it would have remained until this day but i say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of sodom in the day of judgment then for you notice verse 20 he began to rebuke the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent it's not simply the display of god's power that makes men believers it is the display of god's grace in the heart changing the heart of man granting the graces of faith and repentance such that sinners then close with the lord jesus christ and you see that with pharaoh i mean he's witnessing his own magicians have essentially confessed this isn't trickery this isn't sleight of hand this is the real deal from the god that they serve but instead of pharaoh softening his heart instead of pharaoh saying what a good and glorious god this is we should worship and adore him no verse 15 be or i'm sorry 19 be but pharaoh's heart grew hard and he did not heed them just as the lord had said so miracles are wonderful miracles bring great relief to those suffering to those hurting miracles are a great help to the faith of god's people but miracles in and of themselves do not make christians we see that in the cities that jesus ministered to and they did not repent now let's look finally at this fourth plague the plague of flies in verses 20 to 32. back to the command in verse 20 the lord said to moses rise early in the morning and stand before pharaoh as he comes out to the water similar to that first plague that's where moses met pharaoh with reference to the turning of the water into blood so they meet at the water and then he says let my people go that they may serve me 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 again some have suggested it was swarms of of of predatory animals which doesn't seem to make sense in the context it would have been a lot more devastating to the egyptians if it had been predatory animals one commentator stewart says this is a probably a good way to gloss or translate various kinds of annoying biting and non-biting insects in huge swarms so in other words it was a mess it was a lot it was you know the case that if you made it through the river turning into blood you made it through the frogs you made it through the lice this was no walk in the park this was a horrible time in egypt's history i mean most of us like our screens we don't typically leave our windows open without any screen protection screens are relatively you know modern invention i don't know how far they go back but i certainly know they didn't go back this far and so this is a lot of flies swarming insects various kinds of annoying biting and non-biting insects and huge swarms the psalmist says it this way he sent swarms of flies among them which devoured them and frogs which destroyed them now the devouring and the destroying probably doesn't mean unto death but it certainly probably means they might likely have wished for death with the kinds of nuisance and the kinds of irritation and the kinds of discomfort that they were facing i mean imagine if you had a couple of frogs in your house and a couple of you know swarms of flies you wouldn't be i know i wouldn't be happy brethren i would want to rid my house of every frog and of every last fly these people are inundated with it under this tyrant pharaoh and instead of engaging in a softening of the heart in compliance with yahweh of israel he continues to double down but notice what else we find in this particular plague i mentioned this distinction or division between israel and egypt and that's indicated in verse 22 and in that day i will set apart the land of goshen that's where the children of israel dwelt during their time in egypt it was this small region called goshen and so in various of the plagues the children of israel in goshen were free and immune from the effects of the plagues that were poured out on the chil on the the people of egypt so verse 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 notice this again in order that you may know that i am the lord in the midst of the land see when we read narrative that is repetitious in nature it is imperative that we look for what is being emphasized over and over again and this is certainly a message concerning theology god is engaged in this practice certainly to teach the children of israel something of his faithfulness of his kindness of his majesty and power and sovereignty but he's teaching this to the egyptians as well and this is in fact a demonstration of the living and true god notice 22 be that you may know that i am the lord in the midst of the land in the midst of the land of egypt now remember for polytheists or persons that had a a plethora or an abundance of gods those gods all had jobs they had gods for the mountains they had gods for the valleys they had gods for the the sea they had gods for the storm they had gods for the sky they had they had old plethora of gods but those gods typically stayed in their own lanes and they did their own things we have yahweh of israel declaring to the people of egypt that you need to understand that i am the living god in your land again this is an attack not only upon pharaoh and egypt but upon the gods of egypt to show that they are feudal now the execution of this particular plague we see the extensiveness in verse 24 a and then we see the seriousness in verse 24 be so the lord did so thick swarms of flies came into the house of pharaoh into the servants houses and into all the land of egypt the land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies so again this is a massive inundation of nasty little beasts that are biting and non-biting and that are very annoying you couldn't do anything without having this upon you and then verse 25 pharaoh called for moses and aaron and said go sacrifice to your god notice what he says in the land that's not the demand pharaoh you don't have the prerogative to change the parameters the demand is three days journey out into the wilderness pharaoh doesn't want to give up his slave labor pharaoh and egypt are benefiting off the backs of these israelites that are engaging in the service and labor that is building the empire of egypt and so he says go sacrifice to your god in the land now moses responds by saying it is not right to do so for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the egyptians to the lord our god i think what he means is that when we sacrifice certain animals to the lord our god the egyptians hold those animals sacred the egyptians see those animals as divine and if they see us sacrificing those animals to our god then the egyptians are going to want to stone us so moses said it ain't going to work we can't do this in the land if we're in the land then you're going to visit us with punishment and suffering as a result of us offering up to our god animals that you think are sacred that's what he says in the middle of verse 26 if we sacrifice the abomination of the egyptians before their eyes then will they not stone us now here's the parameters we will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the lord our god as he will command us notice something about moses he's gotten a lot more bold hasn't he remember he was afraid to ever embrace this particular calling or to embrace this particular activity he says i don't have any eloquence god i don't know how to speak god says i'm going to be with you i'll make you to speak properly and then moses says i don't really want to go and so god says we'll take aaron he can be the prophet you'll be as god too pharaoh and initially at this first meeting or back in chapter five that first meeting with pharaoh moses and aaron were not the bold men they were not eight foot tall and bulletproof well here we find moses standing up we see that faith that he has in god strengthened each and every step of the way engendering courage so that he's now able to stand before pharaoh and say we will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the lord our god as he will command us that's the demand of yahweh that's the position you need to embrace and we're not going to stop this until you agree wholeheartedly now notice in verse 28 pharaoh said i will let you go that you may sacrifice to the lord your god in the wilderness now notice only you shall not go very far away you see he doesn't want to relinquish control of the children of israel he knows that if they go too far away they'll keep going certainly they in egypt would have heard the promises of the israelites with reference to the land gift given by yahweh with reference to caden they would have known at least some of them pharaoh certainly would know the the situation concerning his slave force if they got a taste of freedom a little bit further away than was manageable for pharaoh they would keep going right into the land of canaan and take what god had promised them so he doesn't want to engage the way and in the manner that god has stipulated as communicated by moses but then notice the earnestness at the end of verse 28 intercede for me now he's asked moses previously intercede or entreat the lord that he may take away the frogs from me and that particular plague he doesn't make any entreaty in this third plague of lice but with reference to the flies he says intercede for me in other words it's affected him too he does not like this this is not good he is not winning favor with the people that he is over so here's the classic case of a sinner that wants relief from suffering but doesn't want the god over whom the suffering has come he just wants the benefit and the blessing of not having flies and not having lice and not having frogs and having clean water to drink but he doesn't want to align himself with the living and true god so let's see how moses responds to this verse 29 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 any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the lord so moses went out from pharaoh and entreated the lord 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 but pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also neither would he let the people go calvin says when he adds that the heart of the king was hardened at this time also he aggravates the crime of his abstinence since there was no bound to his rebellion under such a series of punishments by which even an iron heart should have been corrected in other words the sorts of things that pharaoh had seen should have softened his heart should have caused him to be compliant should have caused him to repent but that's not the case if god's grace is not present with the sinner then the sinner continues to grow hardened and more obstinate and more rebellious in terms of his running from god rather than running to god so in summary we certainly see the sovereignty of god it's not the forces of nature operating on their own it is god the lord in heaven doing whatever it is he pleases he uses frogs he uses lice he uses flies he doesn't use a great army of men with all of the modern weaponry but rather he uses these pests to do his bidding you'll see that in the prophet joel you have a judgment from god described as the day of the lord and it's a locust plague god doesn't need armies of men with the greatest weapons he can use locusts he can use frogs he can use lice and he can use flies to do his bidding we see continually the rebellion of pharaoh the tyrant partially partially agreed to moses demands because he wanted relief from suffering as soon as he got that relief he goes back to hardening his heart a classic example with reference to how often times sinners conduct themselves they try religion because they think it's going to bring them some degree of peace some degree of comfort some degree of benefit and blessing well they learn like so many of us that when we come to christ it's not necessarily the case hope that was a firework and not a gunshot they learned that there are difficulties associated with christianity well true grace enables the recipient of those difficulties to deal with them in the manner god calls them to but if there is no grace in the heart when those difficulties or trials come they bail they say things like i tried to pray but nothing happened well those are the sorts of people that are looking for what god can give but they're not looking for god himself and then of course we see the grace of god in this particular passage the division between egypt and israel egypt is under god's judgment under god's curse and wrath and israel conversely is under god's covenant and as a result of that they are blessed they are benefited they are protected from various plagues and they are ultimately brought out by god from the land of bondage well let us close in a word of prayer father thank you for your word and thank you for the clarity and the book of exodus and the reality that you demonstrated not only to israel but to the people of egypt as well that you were the true and living god and we know that to be the case in our own day i pray that you would help us father to worship and to glorify and honor you i pray as well father for those who come in amongst us that perhaps have hardened hearts we know that ultimately you are the one that softens the heart you are the one that changes the heart and you put in that fleshly heart you give the graces of faith and repentance and we pray that you would do that for your glory and for the salvation of sinners associated with this local church we thank you again for the word of god we thank you for all scripture and how it points us to our lord jesus and that great redemptive event in his life death and resurrection on behalf of his people go with us now we pray in the name of the lord jesus christ amen