NOT FAR ENOUGH
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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. 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. And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord. 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. And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
NOT FAR ENOUGH
Introduction: Hand Grenade, Nuclear Bomb
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. 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.
Why did God bring flies upon the Egyptians?
First every pledge brought upon Eygpt was in direct opposition to the gods they worship to destroy and expose their myths, and to prove to the world their is but one God.
Sobek - oldest deities, the lord of the crocodiles the god of water a symbol of power and strength. He protected them from the crocodiles in the Nile river.
The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, was a judgment against Apis, the god of the Nile, Isis, goddess of the Nile, and Khnum, guardian of the Nile.
The Nile was also believed to be the bloodstream of Osiris, who was reborn each year when the river flooded.
The river, which formed the basis of daily life and the national economy, was devastated, as millions of fish died in the river and the water was unusable.
Pharaoh was told, “By this you will know that I am the LORD” (Exodus 7:17).
The second plague, bringing frogs from the Nile, was a judgment against Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of birth.
Frogs were thought to be sacred and not to be killed.
God had the frogs invade every part of the homes of the Egyptians, and when the frogs died, their stinking bodies were heaped up in offensive piles all through the land (Exodus 8:13–14).
The third plague, gnats, was a judgment on Set, the god of the desert.
Unlike the previous plagues, the magicians were unable to duplicate this one and declared to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19).
The fourth plague, flies, was a judgment on Uatchit, the fly god.
In this plague, God clearly distinguished between the Israelites and the Egyptians, as no swarms of flies bothered the areas where the Israelites lived (Exodus 8:21–24).
The fifth plague, the death of livestock, was a judgment on the goddess Hathor and the god Apis, who were both depicted as cattle.
As with the previous plague, God protected His people from the plague, while the cattle of the Egyptians died. God was steadily destroying the economy of Egypt, while showing His ability to protect and provide for those who obeyed Him.
Pharaoh even sent investigators (Exodus 9:7) to find out if the Israelites were suffering along with the Egyptians, but the result was a hardening of his heart against the Israelites.
The sixth plague, boils, was a judgment against several gods over health and disease (Sekhmet, Sunu, and Isis).
This time, the Bible says that the magicians “could not stand before Moses because of the boils.” Clearly, these religious leaders were powerless against the God of Israel.
Before God sent the last three plagues, Pharaoh was given a special message from God. These plagues would be more severe than the others, and they were designed to convince Pharaoh and all the people “that there is none like me in all the earth” (Exodus 9:14).
Pharaoh was even told that he was placed in his position by God, so that God could show His power and declare His name through all the earth (Exodus 9:16).
As an example of His grace, God warned Pharaoh to gather whatever cattle and crops remained from the previous plagues and shelter them from the coming storm. Some of Pharaoh’s servants heeded the warning (Exodus 9:20), while others did not.
The seventh plague, hail, attacked Nut, the sky goddess; Osiris, the crop fertility god; and Set, the storm god.
This hail was unlike any that had been seen before. It was accompanied by a fire which ran along the ground, and everything left out in the open was devastated by the hail and fire. Again, the children of Israel were miraculously protected, and no hail damaged anything in their lands.
Before God brought the next plague, He told Moses that the Israelites would be able to tell their children of the things they had seen God do in Egypt and how it showed them God’s power.
The eighth plague, locusts, again focused on Nut, Osiris, and Set.
The later crops, wheat and rye, which had survived the hail, were now devoured by the swarms of locusts. There would be no harvest in Egypt that year.
The ninth plague, darkness, was aimed at the sun god, Re, who was symbolized by Pharaoh himself.
For three days, the land of Egypt was smothered with an unearthly darkness, but the homes of the Israelites had light.
Beelzebub means “lord of the flies.”
In Hebrew and Jewish literature, the name is translated to mean “lord of dung” or “lord of filth.”
Images of Beelzebub portray him as a fly or flying insect.
Scholars have learned that the image of the fly as Beelzebub derives from either two thought:
1. That he is a sun god that brings the flies.
2. He is the god invoked to drive flies away from the sacrifice.
God clearly distinguished between the Israelites and the Egyptians, as no swarms of flies bothered the areas where the Israelites lived (Exodus 8:21–24).
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. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be.
Even from the time of Isreal being in bondage to Egypt, God intended his people to separate themselves from the filth of this world, from all works of satan.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
The tenth and last plague, the death of the firstborn males, was a judgment on Isis, the protector of children.
In this plague, God was teaching the Israelites a deep spiritual lesson that pointed to Christ.
Unlike the other plagues, which the Israelites survived by virtue of their identity as God’s people, this plague required an act of faith by them.
God commanded each family to take an unblemished male lamb and kill it.
The blood of the lamb was to be smeared on the top and sides of their doorways, and the lamb was to be roasted and eaten that night.
Any family that did not follow God’s instructions would suffer in the last plague.
God described how He would send the destroyer through the land of Egypt, with orders to slay the firstborn male in every household, whether human or animal.
The only protection was the blood of the lamb on the door.
When the destroyer saw the blood, he would pass over that house and leave it untouched (Exodus 12:23).
For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
This is where the term Passover comes from.
Passover is a memorial of that night in ancient Egypt when God delivered His people from bondage.
Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
First Corinthians 5:7 teaches that Jesus became our Passover when He died to deliver us from the bondage of sin.
While the Israelites found God’s protection in their homes, every other home in the land of Egypt experienced God’s wrath as their loved ones died.
This grievous event caused Pharaoh to finally release the Israelites.
Don’t stop to soon, theirs a danger of not going far enough.