Ex. 7:25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

Ex. 8:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Ex. 8:2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

Ex. 8:3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:

Ex. 8:4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

Ex. 8:5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt.

Ex. 8:6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

Ex. 8:7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Seven days later the Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh again and tell him that the Lord says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” He basically says, If you don’t, I’m going to cover the land with frogs. They will be everywhere—your palace, your bed, the people’s houses, your ovens, etc. (In other words, they won’t be able to eat, sleep, bathe, or relax in their homes without the presence of frogs.) Then Aaron was to stretch out his hand with Moses’ rod over the streams, canals and ponds and make frogs invade Egypt. Aaron did – the frogs came – and again the magicians did the same.

Ex. 8:8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat 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 do sacrifice unto the LORD.

Ex. 8:9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

Ex. 8:10 And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

Ex. 8:11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.

Finally Pharaoh showed a reaction. He summoned Moses and Aaron and asked them to pray to the Lord to take away the frogs, and he would let the people go and offer sacrifices to the Lord.

It’s interesting to me that he didn’t call his own magicians to get rid of the frogs. Evidently, they could not. Satan’s power is limited. He is a good counterfeiter, but he is powerless to clean up his own messes. He is a good troublemaker, but not a good peacemaker. His best attempt at being a peacemaker will be in the tribulation when he makes a covenant with Israel through the antichrist; but even that won’t last very long. He is incapable of anything good. (11/05) A quote from Jon Courson applies here, “The miracles of Satan always make things worse—never better.”

Moses basically tells Pharaoh that he has the power to choose when he wants the frogs to disappear from everywhere except the river. Then Pharaoh shows a bit of stupidity—he says tomorrow! Why not today? Pharaoh may have been given great power, but he certainly wasn’t blessed with great intelligence. Moses tells him it will be as he asks—so that he will “know that there is none like unto the Lord our God.”

Courson made an appropriate application to this section: “We are often so much like Pharaoh—‘Give me just one more night with the frogs.’ (with my sin)”

Ex. 8:12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

Ex. 8:13 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.

Ex. 8:14 And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

Ex. 8:15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Moses went to the Lord in prayer, and the Lord did as he asked. The land reeked of dead frogs. As soon as Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dying, he hardened his heart again and refused to let the people go—just “as the Lord had said.”

Ex. 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Ex. 8:17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Ex. 8:18 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.

Ex. 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

Now the Lord decides to act without sending Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh. He tells Moses to have Aaron stretch out his rod and strike the dust of the land, and the dust would become lice (the Hebrew indicates gnats). They obeyed, and the lice were everywhere. This time the magicians couldn’t duplicate the miracle. They told Pharaoh that it was “the finger of God.” (Satan is not all-powerful like God; he has limits.) Pharaoh wasn’t phased; his heart was hard and his ears closed—just as the Lord had said!

Ex. 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.

Ex. 8:21 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.

Ex. 8:22 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.

Ex. 8:23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.

Ex. 8:24 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.

Now the Lord sends Moses back to meet Pharaoh at the Nile in the morning. Again, he is to tell him that the Lord says to let his people go or He will send swarms of flies to bother all the Egyptians. But it will be different in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived. They will not be bothered with swarms of flies. (I hadn’t really thought about it before, but evidently the Israelites had not been spared the effects of the previous plagues. He wants Pharaoh to understand His power to deliver His people. He doesn’t really need Pharaoh’s permission; He is allowing the people of Egypt to know who He is.) This wonder is to happen on the next day—and it did. No human hand or rod used here—just God doing what He said He would do. (Let’s see—what could the main point of this whole episode be—GOD IS FAITHFUL TO HIS WORD. When God says something will happen, it happens!)

Ex. 8:25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

Ex. 8:26 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?

Ex. 8:27 We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.

Ex. 8:28 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.

Ex. 8:29 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

Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron and tells them to have the people sacrifice to God in the land of Egypt. Moses then informed Pharaoh why they couldn’t do that. The sacrifices they offered would be detestable to the Egyptians and would make them want to stone the Israelites. They needed to go a three-day journey into the desert to offer the sacrifices commanded by “the Lord our God.” Pharaoh agreed they could go, but not very far—then he immediately commands them to pray for him (to get rid of the flies). Moses said he would pray as soon as he left him, and tomorrow the flies would be gone. (Moses sticks with the precedent that Pharaoh had set—they would be gone “tomorrow.”) Then he warned Pharaoh not to be deceitful and refuse to let the people go after the flies were gone.

Ex. 8:30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

Ex. 8:31 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.

Ex. 8:32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Moses prayed - the flies left - and again Pharaoh hardened his heart. (It seems like Pharaoh would have realized by now that he was no match for the God of Israel. It is interesting to note how often through history men of great power are usually conquered through their pride and/or blindness to their own weaknesses. On another level, it is not just men of power. It is amazing how much pain and injury one can inflict on himself by refusing to learn from past experiences.)