Exodus · chapter 8 of 40
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Exodus 8 tells of three plagues on Egypt: the frogs, the gnats and the swarms of flies. The magicians imitate the first but fail at the third and acknowledge the finger of God. With the flies, the Lord sets Israel apart in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh promises to let the people go whenever he suffers, and goes back on it when the plague passes.
After turning the Nile to blood, God continues the plagues on Egypt. Exodus 8 shows a pattern: Moses warns, the plague comes, Pharaoh bargains and, when the punishment eases, hardens his heart. The chapter also marks the magicians' first limit and the first distinction between Egypt and God's people.
The Lord told Moses to say to Pharaoh that he must let his people go to serve him, and that if he refused, the land would be plagued with frogs. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs covered the land. The magicians did the same with their secret arts. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to plead with the Lord to take the frogs away, and promised to let the people go. Moses let him choose the time, and the next day the frogs died in the houses, courtyards and fields, and were piled in heaps until the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen.
The Lord told Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the earth, and the dust became gnats on people and animals throughout Egypt. The magicians tried to do the same and could not. They told Pharaoh this was the finger of God, but Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen.
In the morning, God told Moses to present himself to Pharaoh again by the river and announce swarms of flies on the Egyptians, their servants and their houses. But he would set apart the land of Goshen, where his people lived, so that it would be known that he is the Lord in the midst of the land. So it happened, and the land was ruined by the flies. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and told them to sacrifice to their God within the land. Moses replied that this would not be right, since Israel's sacrifices would be detestable to the Egyptians, and that they would go a three-day journey into the wilderness.
Pharaoh agreed, asking that they not go very far and that they pray for him. Moses warned him not to deal deceitfully again. He prayed to the Lord and the flies were gone, not one left. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time too and did not let the people go.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Pharaoh asks for the frogs to go tomorrow, and Moses agrees so that he may know there is no one like the Lord, the God of Israel. The time Pharaoh sets shows that God's power does not depend on circumstances.
The magicians tell Pharaoh this is the finger of God, but Pharaoh does not listen. The sorcerers admit their limits before divine power, while the king refuses to see.
The Lord sets apart the land of Goshen, where his people live, so that no flies are there, so that it may be known that he is the Lord in the midst of the land. For the first time a plague distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.
When the flies are gone, Pharaoh hardens his heart again and does not let the people go. The text suggests that hardening follows broken promises and lack of repentance.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The frogs, which covered the land of Egypt. — Exodus 8:2-6
Answer: To let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. — Exodus 8:8
Answer: They could not, and said it was the finger of God. — Exodus 8:18-19
Answer: The land of Goshen, so that it would be known the Lord is in the midst of the land. — Exodus 8:22
Answer: Because Israel's sacrifices would be detestable to the Egyptians, who might stone them. — Exodus 8:26
Answer: He hardened his heart and did not let the people go. — Exodus 8:32
Exodus 8 describes a familiar pattern: we promise to change when the pain squeezes and forget when it passes. Pharaoh asks for prayer in distress and takes it back in relief. This chapter invites us to examine whether our repentance is lasting or only a reaction to suffering.
It is also comforting. God distinguishes his people and cares for them in the midst of judgments on the land. In a small group you can talk about what it means to live as God's people in a world that ignores him, and remember that Moses' intercession, even for Pharaoh, shows the heart of God.
Exodus 8 ends with a Pharaoh who again refuses to let the people go. In Exodus 9 the plagues grow graver: the livestock, the boils and the hail, and God's purpose in sustaining this king will be better revealed.
The Hebrew word is translated in different ways: lice, gnats or mosquitoes. They were small, irritating insects that came out of the dust and covered people and animals. What matters in the text is that the magicians could not imitate this plague.
It is what the magicians say when they cannot reproduce the sign. They recognize that this power is not human or from their arts, but from God. The expression appears in the Bible to speak of God's direct action.
The text does not fully explain. Many understand that the animals Israel would sacrifice were sacred or important in Egyptian religion, and that offering them in their land would provoke violence. That is why Moses insists on a three-day journey into the wilderness.