Exodus 8 – Study
For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: Exodus 8:1-15
25 Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.”’
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.”’
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. 7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘I leave to you the honour 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 Nile.’
10 ‘Tomorrow,’ Pharaoh said.
Moses replied, ‘It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.’
12 After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
A. Find Out:
- How long was it before the Lord moved again? 7:25
- How extensive was the next plague to be? v.2-4
- What was the reaction of the magicians? v.7
- What did Pharaoh ask? v.8
- How did Moses respond to this? v.9-12
- What was Pharaoh’s response? v.15
B. Think:
- How, naturally, might this plague be linked to the first one?
- How might that affect Pharaoh’s thinking?
- How was Pharaoh’s response similar to that of unbelievers in general?
C. Comment:
A week passes and the Lord moves again. The nation may be getting used to the first calamity, it’s time for the next one. The first one was a passive calamity, that you could look at and it wouldn’t affect you beyond a feeling of revulsion. This second one was an active one that came to you wherever you were and drove you to action. Naturally speaking one might say that the condition of the water (now blood) drove the frogs onto the land. That’s how a materialist might think, but the number of frogs was obviously far greater than normal. To help increase this possible materialistic way of thinking the magicians join in and by some evil manage to do the same thing but note they can only make life worse for the people, not better!
Pharaoh’s response is typical of so many people in a time of crisis, to call upon God for help but then to completely forget Him as soon as the situation eases. In this second plague we see the obvious presence of God as Moses prays and the frogs die, but even then Pharaoh’s worldly thinking might have thought, “Well the frogs would probably have died anyway out of water!”. Why is it that materialistic man has to explain away the works of God? Sin, of course.
D. Application?
- Today face your own unbelief & confess it to God.
- “Faith comes from hearing” – and responding.
Passage: Exodus 8:16-32
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,” and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.’ 17 They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. 18 But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.
Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, 19 the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’ But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.
20 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: let my people go, so that they may worship me. 21 If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.
22 ‘“But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.”’
24 And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.
25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.’
26 But Moses said, ‘That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? 27 We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.’
28 Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.’
29 Moses answered, ‘As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’
30 Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. 32 But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
A. Find Out:
- What happened when the magicians tried to produce gnats? v.18
- What did they report to Pharaoh? v.19
- How was the plague of flies to be different? v.22,23
- What was Pharaoh’s response to the flies? v.25
- Why did Moses reject his offer? v.26,27
- How did Pharaoh respond to this? v.28
- What was Pharaoh’s final response? v.30-32
B. Think:
- How was the plague of gnats different from what had gone before?
- How was the plague of flies different?
- How was Pharaoh’s response different?
C. Comment:
Frogs hop around the floor, now gnats and flies hop around everywhere. The Lord is gradually raising the temperature of discomfort for Pharaoh and his people. Three times previously the magicians had been able to duplicate the things Moses had done, but now with the arrival of the gnats all that has been stopped.
This is no game and God will allow no competitors. This time the magicians recognise that this is God’s activity, but Pharaoh won’t listen. The next stage of confrontation is very open and very clear: if you won’t let my people go then flies will come over you, but not over my people! There is starting to be a distinction now, and as it gets worse it will be unbelievers who suffer.
Again, Pharaoh surrenders, but quickly goes back on his word as soon as the plague has gone, just like so many unbelievers before and since. “It’s all right”, they think, “We’ll survive another day, now it’s all right”. How foolish! We are all tainted by sin and sin makes us foolish, foolish enough to think we can get away with playing around with God. Throughout history and in this present day the equation is still the same: sin = stupidity! (Doing wrong is stupid and breeds it!)
D. Application?
- God patiently perseveres. He can afford to!
- Sin is stubborn. That is stupidity!