More Signs and Wonders

For your search, turn to Exodus 8.

God continued to work through Moses and Aaron to try and get the Pharaoh to let the people go to the wilderness to worship. At the beginning of this chapter, God sent His words to the Pharaoh through Moses, "Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me" (Exodus 8:1). Pharaoh was also warned that if he refused to follow God's command his land would be stricken with an abundance of frogs "...which shall go up and come into [Pharaoh's] house, go into [his] bedchamber, and upon [his] bed, and into the house of [his] servants, and upon [his] people, and into [his] ovens, and into [his] kneadingtroughs" (Exodus 8:2,3) [.] The frogs shall also "...come up both on [the Pharaoh] and upon [his] people, and upon all [his] servants" (Exodus 8:4).

Although he was warned, the Pharaoh did not obey. Aaron was given the words by Moses to "...[s]tretch forth [his] hand with [his] rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt" (Exodus 8:5). Aaron followed God's words sent through Moses "...and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt" (Exodus 8:6). The magicians were also at work and brought frogs upon the land (Exodus 8:7).

The Pharaoh had enough of the frogs. He went to Moses and said for him to ask the Lord to "...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" (Exodus 8:8). It was agreed that Moses would ask the Lord on the following day (Exodus 8:9,10). Moses said to Pharaoh king of Egypt "...that [he may] know that there is none like unto the Lord our God. And the frogs shall depart from [you], and from [your] houses, and from [your] people; [the frogs] shall remain in the river only" (Exodus 8:10,11). Finally, the miracles had worked for the king of Egypt to release the people, or, so it was thought: when the Pharaoh saw there was relief from the frogs, his heart hardened and he refused to free the children of Israel (Exodus 8:15).

God sent Moses to have Aaron stretch out his rod so that the dust of the land will turn to lice (Exodus 8:16). Again, Aaron followed God's command "...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 8:17). The magician's tried to work their magic this time "...to bring forth lice, but they could not..." (Exodus 8:18). "Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God..." (Exodus 8:19). The magicians recognized the real work of a real God.

The remaining verses of 20-32 are word for word from the King James Version of the Bible:

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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?

27) We will go three days; journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us.

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.

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.

30) And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord.

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.

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

God's Hand in the Matter: God is working through Moses and Aaron to free the children of Israel for worship in the wilderness. At the same time, God is working to bring the Pharaoh and the Egyptians to know who He is. He is the true God. You can see this at work in the miracles as well as in the words in Exodus 7:5; and Exodus 8:10,22.

Words of God: "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord..." (Exodus 7:5).

"...to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth" (Exodus 8:22).

Words of Moses: "...that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God" (Exodus 8:10).

One final point, the magicians became convinced of God's work (Exodus 8:19).