Plagues of Egypt
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bitter humiliation of submitting to the God of Israel. The plague,
however, continued till the time specified, when throughout all Egypt
the frogs died, but their putrid bodies, which remained, polluted the
atmosphere.
The Lord could have caused them to return to dust in a moment;
but He did not do this lest after their removal the king and his people
should pronounce it the result of sorcery or enchantment, like the work
of the magicians. The frogs died, and were then gathered together
in heaps. Here the king and all Egypt had evidence which their vain
philosophy could not gainsay, that this work was not accomplished by
magic, but was a judgment from the God of heaven.
“When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart.”
At the command of God, Aaron stretched out his hand, and the dust of
the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh called
upon the magicians to do the same, but they could not. The work of
God was thus shown to be superior to that of Satan. The magicians
themselves acknowledged, “This is the finger of God.” But the king
was still unmoved.
Appeal and warning were ineffectual, and another judgment was
inflicted. The time of its occurrence was foretold, that it might not
be said to have come by chance. Flies filled the houses and swarmed
upon the ground, so that “the land was corrupted by reason of the
swarms of flies.” These flies were large and venomous, and their bite
was extremely painful to man and beast. As had been foretold, this
visitation did not extend to the land of Goshen.
Pharaoh now offered the Israelites permission to sacrifice in Egypt,
but they refused to accept such conditions. “It is not meet,” said Moses;
“lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their
eyes, and will they not stone us?” The animals which the Hebrews
would be required to sacrifice were among those regarded as sacred
by the Egyptians; and such was the reverence in which these creatures
were held, that to slay one, even accidentally, was a crime punishable
with death. It would be impossible for the Hebrews to worship in
Egypt without giving offense to their masters. Moses again proposed
to go three days’ journey into the wilderness. The monarch consented,
and begged the servants of God to entreat that the plague might be
removed. They promised to do this, but warned him against dealing
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