Exodus 8:20-3220And 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. 21Else, 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. 22And 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. 23And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. 24And 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. 25And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26And 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? 27We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us. 28And 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. 29And 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. 30And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the Lord. 31And 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. 32And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go. (Exodus 8:20‑32)
The fourth plague to fall on Egypt is of special interest for in it God first shows to Pharaoh the division He put between His people and the Egyptians. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh... and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, let My people go, that they may serve Me. Else... I will send swarms of flies... 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.” What comfort to the hearts of God’s people in every age to know that He makes a distinction between His “children of light” and those of the world, who are in darkness. The judgments that fell on Egypt speak of a coming judgment that is to fall on this evil world, but the cheering words of promise to those whose faith is in Christ are: “Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (or judgment), which shall come upon all the world.” Revelation 3:1010Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10).
Because Pharaoh continued to resist, on the following day he and his people were overwhelmed with swarms of flies, their houses being filled and the ground covered with them, so that they destroyed their fields and orchards. Yet there were none in the land of Goshen where the children of Israel dwelt. Pharaoh then relented, and decided to try a new plan. He told Moses to have the people sacrifice to the Lord in Egypt, saying, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” How the enemy would like to bring the people of God down to the level of the world in their worship as in everything else. As soon as God had put a division between His people and the Egyptians, Pharaoh would seek to break it down. The world hates the separated Christian!
But Moses knew it was not God’s purpose to have His people worship and offer sacrifices in the presence of the profane Egyptians, and told Pharaoh: “It is not meet to do so ... . we will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as He shall command us.” vv. 26,27. How refreshing to see that Moses was obedient to God alone, and only what the Lord commanded would he do.
In the face of this faithfulness, Pharaoh was compelled to agree, and was willing to yield a little more. He would let God’s people go if they would not go very far — just a short distance. How subtle is the enemy of our souls. Pharaoh well knew that if the children of Israel only went a little way they would soon be back in Egypt again. He 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.” verse 28. The treachery in his heart was evident, even as he made his offer. How like the enemy of our souls this is! He may allow a show of religious activity, some concession to soothe the conscience, yet he does not want release his grasp on his prisoners.
May we beware of the subtle temptation to remain “not very far away” from Egypt. All roads lead back to it, when we are near, but when the children of Israel got into the wilderness, the Red Sea rolled between them and Egypt, just as the cross of Christ has severed our ties with this world. May we lay hold of this more for the Lord’s glory! He wants a people separated unto Himself.
ML 11/10/1968