The Story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, Continued (Exodus 8)

Plague number 4 – Flies. God told Moses to go early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh once again and tell him, “let my people go that they may serve me.” Pharaoh was also warned that if he did not let the people go swarms of flies would fill the land of Egypt. They would come into his house and into the houses of all the Egyptians. The ground would also be covered with swarms of flies, but there would be no flies in the land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived. Now, boys and girls, we learn from the Hebrew word for flies that these were not just regular house flies. They were quite different from the flies that we know about. They were biting flies and caused a lot of pain. The bites could also lead to infection, illness, disease, and even death. Some believe that the flies were blood suckers, and their bites left the people swollen and disfigured. The Bible says, “the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.” It must have been really bad because Pharaoh soon called Moses and Aaron and said, “Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” Moses told him they could not sacrifice in the land, but they would go a three days journey into the wilderness and make sacrifice as God commanded. Pharaoh gave them permission to go but told them not to go very far away. Moses then told Pharaoh that he would pray for God to remove the flies on the next day, but he warned Pharaoh to not deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. Do you think Pharaoh will really let the people go? You are right. When the flies went away, he hardened his heart and would not let the people go.