15 PERSISTENCE

We will seek in this teaching to learn what Christian leadership principle we can from the plagues of lice and flies. We begin with the short account of the plague of lice. It seems that this time neither God nor Moses gave any advance warning. Pharaoh had just abused the relief he was just given from the frogs. Since he was the one that was stubborn, we might think that he would expect another plague. The removal of a plague should soften us, but if we are hardened by it, or, rather, if we harden ourselves because of it, we lose the benefit it could have been to us. God’s kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. If we are not softened by it, we lose.

Let’s see how the plague of lice or gnats was inflicted on the Egyptians as is recorded in verses 16, 17. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,” and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.’ They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.” The frogs were produced out of the waters, but these out of “the dust of the ground.” Out of any part of the creation God can find a punishing rod with which to correct those that rebel against Him. He has many arrows in His quiver. Even the dust of the earth obeys Him. God can use weak things or people to punish someone if He wants to. Isaiah 41:14, 15 says He can use even weak, little Israel. “‘Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, do not fear,

for I myself will help you,’ declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. ‘See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.’” These gnats, no doubt, were every irritating. The Egyptians  had a break from the frogs, but if God’s purpose was not accomplished, then He brings out another tool. Their relief was temporary. God is persistent and He uses persistent tools. Moses’ persistence was needed because Pharaoh’s heart was so unreasonably hard.

This time, unlike with the frogs, the magicians were unable to duplicate the miracle as verse 18 says, “But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.” They evidently attempted to imitate it, but could not. When they failed in this, it should seem they attempted to remove it; because the last part of verse 18 and the first part of verse 19 say, “Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’” Their inability to duplicate the miracle forced them to confess themselves overpowered. The magicians knew there was a divine power involved. Pharaoh would have been well-advised to listen to them. It could have saved Egypt from a lot of grief. God has the devil in a chain, and limits him both as a deceiver and as a destroyer. He can come this far and no more. The devil’s agents, only when God permits them, can do great things; but when He laid a limitation on them, though He used just His finger, they could do nothing. The magicians’ inability with the gnats showed they had no power against Moses but what was given them from above. Sooner or later God will force, even from His enemies, an acknowledgment of His sovereignty and over-ruling power. God will not only be too hard for all opposition, but will force them to acknowledge it.

Even though Pharaoh’s magicians told him the plague was caused by the finger of God He was made more and more obstinate as verse 19 says, “. . . the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’ But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.” Even those that had deceived him now said enough to enlighten him, but he grew more and more obstinate. Even the miracles and the judgments were to him a kiss of death. If people are not made better by God’s Word, people may be made worse by it. So the plague of gnats accomplished nothing good; it was only another step in Pharaoh’s increasing stubbornness. In the plague of the gnats we see a judgment against Set, the Egyptian god of the dessert. God will have the glory of His triumph over all false gods.

Next is the story of the plague of flies. It was announced in advance so as to leave no question of its Source. Moses receives instructions in verse 20 to rise early in the morning to meet Pharaoh when he comes to the water and there to repeat his demands. Those who want to do great things for God and their generation must be willing to rise early, and make good use of their time in the morning. Pharaoh too was up early at his superstitious devotions to the river. Should Moses, you or I seek more sleep and rest when we could be doing something useful that will earn us a reward in the future? Those who want God’s approval as His faithful servants must not be afraid of the face of man. Moses must stand before Pharaoh, proud as he was, and tell him he was about to be humbled by another army of small creatures. Moses, must challenge him, if he refused to release his captives to engage with an army of flies which would obey God’s orders though Pharaoh would not. In Isaiah 7:18 we see a similar threat again when God threatens Israel with flies. “In that day the Lord will whistle for flies from the Nile delta in Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.” Flies are dirty and irritating. God knows how to make disobedient persons uncomfortable. However, even if God uses flies, He still needs a Moses to inform the people the meaning of the swarms. He needs a willing voice to interpret what God is doing to the ones He would prefer to bless rather than curse. Will you give Him yours; let Him use yours?

For the first time in this series of plagues, in the plague of the flies the Egyptians and the Hebrews were remarkably distinguished receiving different treatment. Verses 22, 23 say, “But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.” This distinction is made specifically, “so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land.” Because of the distinction between the two peoples and the specific purpose of the distinction, the plague of flies was made more convincing than any before it. Pharaoh must be made to know that God is in the land. By this it will be known beyond dispute. Swarms of flies, which seem to us to fly at random, will be clearly under the direction and control of an intelligent mind, while they are above the direction of any man. “They will go there,” says Moses, “and they will not go there.” The actual performance of this miracle will further demonstrate the infinite power and wisdom of God. Today, with modern drone-related technology, swarms of drones can be made to travel in clusters and form patterns, but God was far ahead of modern technology. He already had directed swarms of flies thousands of years ago.

The servants and worshippers of the great Jehovah will be preserved from sharing in the common calamities of the place they live in, so that the plague, which annoys all their neighbors will not come near them. This will be incontestable proof that God is the Lord in the land. Put both these together, and it appears that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the earth, and through the air too, to direct something that might seem most ordinary or casual, to serve some great designed purpose. God may show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose hearts are upright with Him. When King Asa made a serious military and political mistake, God spoke to him in 2 Chronicles 16:9 saying, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war.”

The distinction between the Egyptians and the Hebrews is extremely important and is repeated “I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow” (9). The Lord knows those that are His, and will make it appear, perhaps in this world, certainly in the other, that He has set them apart for Himself. A day will come when that distinction will occur again. Malachi 3:18 says, “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” As a shepherd separates sheep from goats so a distinction will be made when Jesus returns. Matthew 25:32 says, “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Ezekiel 34 says the same thing in verse 17 “As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.” Though now intermixed separation will come some day. This is yet another lesson we can learn from the way God worked through Moses reminding us that we can warn people that the same distinction will be made again.

The day after the flies were threatened it happened. Verse 24 says, “And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.” Even with swarms of flies God fights against Satan’s kingdom and prevails.

Pharaoh wanted a treaty but he is himself very reluctant. He is content they would sacrifice to their God, provided they would do it in the land of Egypt. God can force a toleration of His worship, even from those that are really His enemies. Pharaoh, under the pain of the rod, is content they would do sacrifice, and will allow some limited liberty to God’s Israel, even in his own land. But Moses will not accept his concession; he cannot do it as he declares in verse 26 “But Moses said, ‘That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?’” It would be an abomination to God should they offer Egyptian sacrifices, and an abomination to the Egyptians should they offer to God the sacrifices He requires. They could not sacrifice in the land without arousing the displeasure either of their God or of their task-masters. Therefore Moses for good reasons insists we will go three days’ journey into the wilderness. Anyone that would offer an acceptable sacrifice to God must separate themselves from the wicked and profane; they cannot have fellowship both with the Father of lights and with the works of darkness. They must retire from the attraction of the world, and get as far as possible from the noise and distractions of it. Israel cannot keep the feast of the Lord either among the brick-kilns or among the flesh-pots of Egypt. They must observe the divine appointment as though to say, “We will sacrifice as God will command us, and not otherwise.” Though they were in slavery to Pharaoh, yet in the worship of God, they must observe His commands; not Pharaoh’s. The same is true today. God, not man, will tell us how to worship.

Eventually Pharaoh consents for them to go into the wilderness, provided they do not go very far away, not so far but that he might bring them back again, “Pharaoh said, ‘I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me’” (28). It is probable Pharaoh had heard of their planned future in Canaan, and suspected that if once they left Egypt they would never come back again. So when Pharaoh is forced by the constant irritating buzz of flies in his ears and crawling all over his face, to consent that they may go, still he is not willing that they should go out of his reach. In the same way some sinners, in a moment of conviction, will part with their sins, yet are hesitant they should go very far away. They hope to return to them. We observe here a struggle between Pharaoh’s convictions and his corruptions; his convictions said, “Let them go;” his corruptions said, “Yet not very far away.” But he sided with his corruptions against his convictions, and this was his ruin. This plague would not have been effective if Moses had compromised. He was right to be persistent.

Years later God was happy to see Ahab King of Israel humble himself, but that was certainly different than Pharaoh’s reluctant, temporary, insincere repentance. “Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day, but I will bring it on his house in the days of his son” (1 Kings 21:29). What need we have to be admonished that we are sincere in our submission. How foolish it is if anyone thinks he or she can fool God with counterfeit repentance or fake surrender of ourselves to Him. If we try, we will prove in the end to have cheated our own souls.

In the end of this lesson, however, Pharaoh is still lost. He thinks he is in control, but he is woefully mistaken. He is the looser as we will see. He pays for his mistake with his life and the lives of his entire army. “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go” (32). If our wrong desires rule over us, they may break through the strongest bounds, but it only makes men foolishly presumptuous as though puny men could win a contest against almighty God. If stubborn sin reigns, it will betray and hurry us to the grossest absurdities. This lesson is learned through Pharaoh’s stubborn resistance to Moses’ persistence. God needs His servants to be faithfully and consistently persistent, as He is, so we can win against the stubbornly resistant Pharaohs we will surely meet. For the good of the people we seek to release from their captivity, we need to be persistent.

In setting people free through our salvation message of the gospel, it is Satan, not the people he holds captive, with whom we wrestle and over whom we must show ourselves persistent.