So, God sent another wonder.
Exodus 8:20-23- 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. 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.
Again, God gave Pharaoh the chance to repent and obey. But, sadly, Pharaoh was like many stubborn people today who won't obey God.
God decided it was time to show Pharaoh that not only could He make wonders, but He could control them. The Hebrews would not suffer from the flies, only Pharaoh and the Egyptians and Assyrians would suffer.
Exodus 8:24- And 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.
All the buzzing! Flies getting into everything and making everything nasty! Pharaoh decided he would try to make a deal with Moses.
Exodus 8:25-31- And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And 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? We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 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.
Not only could God bring in the flies and tell them where they could and could not go, but He could make them all fly away- every single one of them.
Do you think this impressed Pharaoh? Not really!
Exodus 8:32- And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
Pharaoh lied to Moses, but more importantly he lied to God! You can't get away with lying to God.
Exodus 9:1-7- Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still, Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And the LORD shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel. And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land. And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one. And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
The first miracles were to show God's power and might. They were little annoyances to the Egyptians and Pharaoh. But when Pharaoh flat out lied to the Lord, God made the wonders personal.
The Egyptians needed their cattle for food and to work in the fields. The cattle was very important to their livelihood. And because Pharaoh lied to God, God took away something they needed.
It's never a good idea to lie to the Lord. If you promise God something, you should do it! The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5:5- Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. That means that you should either not promise God something, or do exactly what you promised!
If you lie to God, don't think you're going to get away with it!
