Exodus 8

The Lord is working out His mysterious sovereign will. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. See Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11. But the Lord will vindicate His own great glory, and He will manifest His great judgments before the eyes of His people and their enemies.

God had not changed His mind about what He was doing. Israel is His firstborn son. Pharaoh needed to let Israel go. If he would not let God's son go, then God would kill Pharaoh's firstborn. On the way to that devastating judgment, God displayed His power over heaven and earth, and even over the hearts of the righteous and the wicked. And God made a distinction between His chosen people and everyone else. That was His divine prerogative.

The plagues against Egypt continued now by the command of God, through the voice of Moses, and through the hands of Aaron. Who could doubt that all of these signs came from the Almighty? Frogs everywhere. Frogs in places where no one wants to find frogs. Not only frogs in large numbers in the Nile, but frogs out of the Nile, and frogs in Egyptian houses, and in Pharaoh's bedroom, and in his bed, and in the beds of other Egyptians. Frogs in your ovens, and in the bowls where your bread dough is rising. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and frogs covered the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh's magicians could do that too. Once again the enemies of God did not feel what they needed to feel, but they took encouragement that their own spiritual people could also bring signs of judgment upon their own land. Why was that good news? Yet they liked pretending that the God of Israel was not so special after all.

Of course, the Egyptian magicians could not take away the frogs. To get rid of the frogs, Pharaoh needed to call on Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh was so willing to get rid of the frogs that he claimed that he would let the people go. Pharaoh picked the time for frog departure, and the Lord God got the glory. There is no one like God. But once the frogs were gone, Pharaoh hardened his heart. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

God was not surprised by Pharaoh's stubbornness. Nor had He changed His plan to rescue Israel, to judge the Egyptians, and to glorify His own Name. Next plague: He would fill Egypt with gnats, and He would do it through Moses, who would work wonders through Aaron. Aaron struck the dust of the earth with his staff, and “all the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.” This sign the magicians could not do. They say, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh would not listen.

After the gnats, God sent a plague of flies to Egypt. Moses met Pharaoh again at the water's edge according to God's instruction, to present the king with the Lord's continued demand. Whether frogs, gnats, or now flies, these pests were not only all over the land of Egypt; they made their way into Pharaoh's palace and into the homes of all the Egyptians. But the land of Goshen and the homes of the Israelites faced no such troubles. God made a distinction between Israel and Egypt.

Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron, suggesting that he was now ready to comply with the Lord's command. Yet he wanted Israel to perform their ritual sacrifices within the land of Egypt. He would negotiate. Moses responded with fear of the Egyptians, reasoning with Pharaoh as if with a man who would have some sympathy with the predicament of the Israelites.

Pharaoh needed Moses to get rid of the flies, so he made it seem like he would let them go, only not very far away. He would not give up his authority position over his slaves. He would not accept the full force of God's claim. It was not at all clear that God's ambassadors had even made the true claim yet: “Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, I will kill your firstborn son.”

There was no room for negotiation, but God's messengers were looking for some opening. And Pharaoh was still operating under the fiction that he was in charge, and not any supposed God of the Israelites.

But first things first. Get rid of these flies. Do your magic, “Plead for me.” Moses wanted to use this moment to his advantage: “Only let not Pharaoh cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Being the true representative of the Lord was not about power politics. God did not want Moses to negotiate for the release of His son Israel. But the Lord still heard the plea of His ambassador, Moses. He removed the swarms of flies. But Pharaoh hardened his heart again. He would not let the people go.

When the Mediator of the New Covenant came, He did not negotiate with the devil for our release. He spoke as One who has authority. His Word healed the blind, and stopped the roar of the waves. No questions asked.

His death settled the entire claim of the justice of God. Our salvation was not the result of peace talks with the Lord's adversaries. Heaven did not come to us as a negotiated settlement. The resurrection of Jesus was an in-your-face statement to anyone who dared to challenge the authority of the God of Israel. Jesus, the God-Man, is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles. Behold, He makes all things new!