Upping The Ante

Exodus 8:16-32

Pharaoh had treated the river turning to blood as no big deal simply waiting for it all to wash away. He had been compelled to request Moses’ help in getting rid of the frogs, promising to allow the people to go worship God, but once they were gone he reneged on his promise. The pressure was off so he didn’t have to act, and God didn’t give him another warning.

“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. 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.” (Exodus 8:16-17)

Right after they were married at the start of the Depression, my granddad and grandma moved into a little one room house. After sweeping it out and setting th furniture in, Granddad went to start his new job while Grandma made the beds and put everything away. After a while she started a fire and started preparing supper. When she turned around she thought there must have been a bunch of dust fall from the ceiling as her pretty quilt was almost hidden by brown stuff, but as she looked she realized it was moving around. Looking closer she discovered the bed was almost completely covered with lice. They didn’t spend the night there!

Later they learned that a prior owner had used the house for a chicken house until it got infested with lice, and various intervening owners had moved out because of them. When Grandma started the fire and got the house warm the lice hatched. Granddad and Grandma wound up having to stay with his parents for a while until the lice could be exterminated. There weren’t any other houses available.

Apparently the invasion of the lice in Egypt was very much the same, with lice crawling on everything, biting and sucking blood from man and beast. It got people’s attention right away. For a people who had very high standards of Hygiene it must have been particularly distressing.

“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. 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.” (Exodus 8:18-19)

Pharaoh wanted the magicians to imitate the miracle like they had the others, and discredit Moses and Aaron again, but they couldn’t do it, probably to their own relief. They tried to convince him that it was God’s doing, but Pharaoh refused to even to ask Moses to get rid of them, much less accede to God’s demands. He’d to show them.

“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.” (Exodus 8:20-21)

Even before the Lice had been destroyed, Moses and Aaron met Pharaoh on his way to the river. They warned him about swarms of flies. It probably didn’t seem like much of a threat at the time, but after living near a city dump for a little while I can tell you that even flies that don’t bite can be a real nuisance. Some flies like our local deer fly inflict bites at least as painful as a wasp sting, and even cows will flee from the area and avoid returning. Cows are not very sensitive to pain, and people quickly learn to avoid the places cows don’t go. It was not an idle threat.

“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.” (Exodus 8:22-23)

To make it clear the Lord’s displeasure was directed against Egypt, God would ensure that the flies did not migrate to Goshen where Israel lived. To further reinforce the fact that it was done by God, the flies would arrive the following day.

“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.” (Exodus 8:24)

It is pretty disgusting having flies crawl on everything laying eggs, but having maggots develop in wounds, animal’s eye sockets and body orifices or in food products within a matter of hours is even worse. Unchecked, we are told that the progeny of a single pair of flies would completely bury Texas several inches deep in a single summer. Even Pharaoh could not completely escape them.

“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” (Exodus 8:25)

Unwilling to give all they asked, Pharaoh offered a compromise, that they could offer their sacrifices in the local area, perhaps a local park, but that they couldn’t leave the area or take more than a few hours off.

“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.” (Exodus 8:26-27)

Moses replied that the worship of God would entail rituals that the Egyptians might find offensive and result in their being attacked. In any case they were sacred to the Jews and should not be subject to scrutiny and derision..

“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: entreat for me.” (Exodus 8:28)

Pharaoh agreed to allow them to go far enough they would not be closely observed if they would get rid of the flies, but he still would not allow them to act freely.

“And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat 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.” (Exodus 8:29)

Moses agreed to ask the Lord to take away the flies, but warned Pharaoh he better not break his promise again.

“And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated 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.” (Exodus 8:30-32)

Pharaoh had only promised to convince Moses to get rid of the flies, he had no intention of letting them go. As soon as the flies were gone, he broke the promise, believing he wouldn’t be held to it.