Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P4

Exiting Egypt

The Third Plague – The Finger of God

Exodus 8:16-19

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P4

Read Ex. 8: 16-19

I once read about a young woman who took a college science course. They were discussing evolution and considering how each part of the human anatomy must have evolved. When they got to the eye, after much discussion, it was seen that such a simplistic argument would suffice. Well, this girl, who was not a Christian, suggested that evolution might not be the best way of explaining the phenomenon of human sight. The professor became irritated and responded “Young lady, we’re not here to talk about God.”

Although the existence of God had not entered into the conversation, or entered into this young lady’s mind, what she ended up realizing is that God is required.

The Bible tells us the result of removing God from our lives. Look at what the Apostle Paul says,

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them (Rom. 1:18-19 NIT)

And as a result, the Apostle Paul said,

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised (Rom. 1:25 NIT)

And then he talks about their end, how God gave them over to their lusts, and to a depraved mind, seeing that they were filled with every kind of wickedness imaginable.

Time Magazine in 1994 had an article talking about this rejection of God and how it leads to an overall increase in unrighteousness.

“An excuse for adultery is available now at the hands of a supposedly scientific discipline known as ‘evolutionary biology’ which goes from the premise that we are ‘human animals’ and can look to the realm of other animals for reasonable models for the underlying rational for how we behave.”

This is what now forms the basis for understanding infidelity and promiscuity in the human race. Gee, isn’t it special that the human race has so evolved to this higher form?

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P3

Exiting Egypt

The Third Plague – The Finger of God

Exodus 8:16-19

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P3

Read Ex. 8: 16-19

And so now we see the magicians becoming troubled, but Pharaoh became hardened, Why? You might say that the magicians were the scientists of that day. They analyzed what was going on and then reported their findings as fact. Well their findings were that this was beyond the natural and into the supernatural, that nothing but the finger or power of God was able to perform this miracle.

And so, Pharaoh’s heart became hard because if he were to acknowledge what these magicians were saying, what the scientists of that day were saying, then he would have to admit that he had been wrong, and that their whole religious system was a sham.

What is sad is that Pharaoh just heard and saw a strong testimony concerning God and His power. But Pharaoh refused to repent. He shut his ears and his heart and wouldn’t listen.

And again I must point out that we must not be too quick to judge Pharaoh, because in doing so we are then judging ourselves. How many of us have heard God’s message over and over again and refused to listen because it didn’t fit into our schedule or in to our designs. Like Pharaoh, we’ve shut our ears to God’s counsel and refused to listen. Listen to what the Lord says,

But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me (Psm. 81:11-13a NKJV)

And God promises that if we should just listen and walk in His ways, then He would subdue our enemies, and given us all that we would ever need to satisfy.

But Pharaoh hardened his heart because he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong and that his whole belief system was a sham. But that is no different than with people today, especially with the scientific community.

This attitude is seen in much of what is called science today. For many scientists, there is a basic underlying philosophy that rejects God as a possible force in the world. This is seen way back in 1987 when a member of the National Academy of Science was speaking as a Friend of the Court in Louisiana’s Creation case. The representative rejected Creationism because,

“It fails to display the most basic characteristic of science: reliance upon naturalistic explanations.”

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P2

Exiting Egypt

The Third Plague – The Finger of God

Exodus 8:16-19

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P2

Read Ex. 8: 16-19

What I find interesting in this plague is that no warning, no chance to repent and turn is given. But what we can deduce is that Pharaoh would have rejected it anyway because He had just reneged on his promise to let God’s people go.

Such suddenness would have been another punch to the gut of the Egyptians, and the reason God did so, I believe, is that He will not be mocked, and no one will ever escape His judgment until they have repented, that is turned away from their sins and turn to God.

And so, Aaron stretched out the rod and smote the earth, or the dust, and the entire land of Egypt was swarmed with billions upon billions of insects. The entire land of Egypt became infested.

Now, the King James Version has the word in the Hebrew that means lice, but most commentators prefer fleas or gnats. I like lice, because the last thing that you want to start building a nest in your scalp or have crawling on your skin is lice. One person talked about seeing somebody whose scalp was so infested with lice, they said they saw the person’s hair come alive.

But whether it was lice or gnats, the Lord sent the plague, and it wasn’t pretty. They swarmed over all the people and animals, and they were so thick that no one could escape being attacked, bitten and infected by them.

Lice were extremely repulsive to the Egyptians, as they are to us as well. And while the Egyptians valued cleanliness, they couldn’t prevent the lice from residing on their person. But the lice also attacked the beast, and probably drove them crazy, not to mention preventing the priest not only from performing their priestly duties, seeing that they were unclean, but they also couldn’t offer up animals in sacrifice, seeing that they were unclean as well.

Beyond stopping their worship of these false gods, it also challenged on god in particular, Seb, the god of the earth. This god was worshipped in the hope that he would bless the earth by making it productive and by protecting the earth and the land of Egypt from natural catastrophes.

But it would seem that he couldn’t protect it from the finger of God, from God’s judgment against such idol worship.

The magicians attempted to imitate the miracle, but to no avail: they failed. Their only hope was to acknowledge the existence and the power of the Lord.

What made these magicians believe that? Well, after they duplicated all the previous miracles, that is, turning their staffs into snakes, the water into blood, and bringing the frogs out of the water, now they were confronted with something they couldn’t duplicate with their magic enchantments, or with their deceptions.

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P1

Exiting Egypt

The Third Plague – The Finger of God

Exodus 8:16-19

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P1

Dust is the minutest thing visible to the naked eye. The point is this: the finger of God controls all things within the universe, even the most minute things, the very building blocks of matter and energy.

Whatever the minutest particle or energy is that forms the very first building block of existence or being, it is controlled by the finger of God. God created it, and it is under the control of God’s finger. God’s finger controls the very dust of the ground, and if it controls the minutest particle, then His finger controls all things.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him (Psm. 8:3-4 NKJV)

This was the lesson that Pharaoh and the Egyptians needed to learn. There are not many gods. There is only one God, and He saves, redeems, and delivers us. And His finger doesn’t even come close to the fullness of His power, and His finger alone that controls all things, even the very dust of the earth. And so His finger, cannot just create lice from the dust, but can save, redeem and deliver sinful humanity.

This was the lesson that God was now going to teach the Egyptians, and this is the lesson that we also need to learn. And so this third plagues proves that

The Finger of the Lord Controls All Things

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P5

Exiting Egypt

“The Second Plague – Frogs Everywhere”

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P5

No one is like the Lord, who is both just and merciful. Who executes judgment upon the sinner, but also will have mercy upon the sinner who cries out to Him for salvation. Solomon said,

Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts (1 Kings 8:23 NKJV)

The deliverance is stunning. Moses interceded with God for Pharaoh and the people, and God heard his prayer and stopped the judgment.

But notice something, neither Pharaoh nor Moses asks for how the frogs would depart, only that they would, and so the next day all the frogs died, leaving quite the stench. Imagine a million plus frogs dead, plied up and rotting.

What this speaks to me is that sometimes we need to add a caveat to the request. I remember how our church in Vegas went on a 40 day fast for God to move and so that we could get out of our lease on a building that was literally falling around our ears. But we never asked God specifically that when He got us out of our lease that we would have new facility to move into.

So, after we found out that the building was uninhabitable, the next thing you know we were out in tents, and it took us around 8 months before we were able to move into something more permanent.

Maybe they should have said for the frogs to go back to their water source, and die of natural causes. Instead they all died at once. They died in the homes, in the food bowls, in people’s underwear. And so they heaped up the bodies of these frogs throughout the country and the country stank. If it wasn’t bad enough when the dead fish stank up the country, now a whole lot dead frogs are adding to that stench.

But, God answered Moses prayer on behalf of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people.

Thinking about this, we often will find ourselves in situations that we feel absolutely powerless. But, whatever your experience may be, it cannot match the power of God’s mercy to deliver. So, what’s the key? We need to be in the will and purposes of God, as Paul said,

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28 NKJV)

Let me just say that we are never truly powerless in this world we are living in when we are living in the will of God and serving the Lord. And so, whatever the situation may be, health, job, family, relationship, whatever, instead of trying everything else, which seems to be our M.O., try prayer, because God hears the cries of His people.

Now, Pharaoh forgot his promise, or he never really intended to keep it, but what we have here is the sin of turning back, as Pharaoh hardened his heart, that is, he made his heart heavier with sin and unrighteousness. What Pharaoh did was shamelessly abused God’s mercy.

But before we condemn Pharaoh, how many of us do much the same thing. We cry out to God for deliverance only to renege on our promise to follow more closely, and to obey Him.

How often to we renege on our promises to God? How many of us shamefully abuse God’s mercy and patience towards us, that while we deserve judgment, we ask for and receive mercy only to turn our backs on God once we get what we want.

So what happened; did the pain fade from our memories? Did the conviction wear off? Were the promises forgotten? And as a result, have our hearts hardened?

Look at this last verse with me, and contemplate

For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world (2 Tim. 4:10a NKJV)

Demas served with Paul, but the cares of this world choked out the good seed.

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P4

Exiting Egypt

“The Second Plague – Frogs Everywhere”

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P4

Now look at this second plague. It says that the river will bring forth frogs abundantly and that the frogs will cover the land.

The magicians imitated the miracle and brought up more frogs on the land. They used their secret arts and seemingly caused some frogs to flee to higher ground. But again I point out that this was a deception, because if they truly had the power, then they would have removed the frogs, instead they made the situation more miserable.

And so Pharaoh cried out for deliverance. He asked Moses for relief from the plague, and while it may have been more of an annoyance than something deadly, it caused a whole lot of grief. And so he promised to let God’s people go.

There are times throughout life when we cry out for God’s deliverance and mercy. We become keenly aware of our failures and sins. We realize that no one but God can help us. So we cry out for God’s mercy and help. What we need to make sure of at these times is that these are true professions of faith, and not a quick fix remorse like that of Pharaoh. Look at what the Bible says,

So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain (Ezek. 33:31 NKJV)

He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me (Mk. 7:6 NKJV; cf. Isa. 29:13)

Moses now challenges Pharaoh to test the power of God. He says,

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 (Ex. 8:9 NKJV)

By setting the time, Pharaoh would know that their removal was not by chance, but by the hand of the Lord Himself.

Now, whether it was because he wanted the frog plague over as soon as possible, or if he was indeed testing to see if God was the one who truly brought the plague, he asked for it to be over tomorrow.

The purpose of the test, to show that God has no equal, and that there is no one like the Lord, that God is Jehovah, Yahweh, that is, the Great Deliverer, who is also the God of Great Mercy, and will save all who cry out to Him.

Pharaoh needed to learn both lessons, that not only is God just, as He brings forth His judgments, but that God is also merciful. Jeremiah made this observation,

The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction (Lam. 3:22 NLT)

Exiting Egypt Chapter 8 P3

Exiting Egypt

“The Second Plague – Frogs Everywhere”

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 8 P3

And so the judgment came – frogs everywhere. They swarmed into the homes, bedrooms and even in the people’s beds. They swarmed on the people themselves and were in their kitchens, in their ovens and in their cereal bowls. They would stick out their heads when the people would take a bite of their favorite sandwich, Bacon Lettuce and Frog. They were in their underwear, in their clothes when they put them on in the morning and when they took them off at night.

Now the Bible doesn’t say where so many of them came from, only that there were an awful lot of them, which says that God may have multiplied them.

But why did I say that such a plague was comical? Well for one thing, can you imagine bringing down a whole government by frogs? Instead of a snow day, they had a frog day. And these guys really didn’t have a name in the Hebrew language. They were called swamp-jumpers.

Others have interpreted the word as literally calling them “croakers.” And so, God conquered Egypt with croakers.

But there is judgment here and this cannot be forgotten.

First this is seen in the wording found in verse two. God said that He would “smite” the land with frogs. This word is not used again until chapter 23 and is used three times as God smites the firstborn. It is a strong word, often meaning a fatal blow that has been struck, and is used

elsewhere in the bible in speaking of divine judgment (Isa. 19:22; Psm. 89:23).

The use of frogs could very well have been God’s statement against the false gods of the Egyptians. Frogs were associated with the Egyptian gods, Hapi and Heqt. Heqt was actually considered the goddess of fertility and was often pictured as a squatting frog. She was supposed to be a good luck charm to increase the fertility of the people.

We also see in this judgment a sort of payback for what Pharaoh did to Israel a little over 80 years earlier. God was paying back, through their goddess of fertility, or the frog, Pharaoh’s attack on the children of Israel’s male children, upon the Israelites ability to give birth to make children. It’s like God was saying, “You attempt to strike at the fertility of My people, well I’ll take it out on your god of fertility.”

Further, what I found interesting is the language of this plague. In the beginning, that which brought on the Israelites slavery was that they were very fruitful and multiplied.

But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them (Ex. 1:7 NKJV)