2011-03-20 (am) Exodus 8.

16-32 Plagues of Gnats and Flies

In our anticipation of Easter, were reflecting on Gods other great demonstration of salvation, the one that looked forward to Easter. We continue our God Hears sermon series. Trapped, beaten, persecuted, humiliated, Gods people were in agony, without freedom, without ability, forced to do horrible things. They cried out to God and he rescued them. He sent a leader, the unlikeliest leader ever. A former prince, a former shepherd, an 80-year-old man who was guilty of murderhis resume wouldnt have impressed anyone. From Gods perspective, he was ideal. He knew the ways of the Egyptian king. He knew the ways of living in the wilderness. He would obey Gods commands. His opponent was the opposite. Pharaoh, a king, born into a kingship and divinity. He was a god. He was ruler of millions. No one opposed him. If he wanted something done, everyone scrambled to do it! His privilege and power was his by right. There was no greater authority in his mind, whether on earth or in heaven. In this, he was woefully ignorant. He was, after all, just a man. He was but a creature, a part of the creation. He was engaged in a battle of wills. He thought he was up against a man much like himself, Moses, the newly appointed leader of Israel. But Moses represented the creator. Pharaoh was dealing with someone much, much greater. Theres a saying, A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still. This is precisely what we see in Pharaoh. After four interactions with Moses, he still refused to obey Gods command. He is stubborn.
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After the frogs died and were stacked in heaps, he went back to his own will. He deliberately hardened his heart. I cant help but draw comparison to another African leader. Col. Gaddafi promised a ceasefire when it became clear that the UN would declare Libya a no-fly zone. But, the reality is that he kept on pounding his people to smithereens. Now, the UN is going in there to stop him from further destroying his country and his people. We could and should ask what would make him so stubborn to reality. We could wonder at Pharaoh too. But we know, dont we? Unless God transforms a persons heart, they will remain deluded. Unless a person is born again, he will remain a sinner, trapped in sin, unable to decide anything freely. Every decision is made under the bondage of sin. Thats how it was for Israel. Trapped. Unable to worship their God because their worship involved the sacrifice of animals held as sacred by the Egyptians. If they tried to worship God with Egyptian sacrifices, it would have been an abomination. They were unable to leave because the Egyptians feared they would never come back. They were out of touch with their God, who gave them life. Today, millions of Christians are unable to assemble for worship because of persecution. But they are not prevented from

worshipping! They are able to worship through Christ, whose life was a perfect living sacrifice, a perfect death sacrifice, a perfect atonement once and for all, an act that put a permanent end to animal sacrifice and temple worship.

Pharaohs heart remained like stone against God. He resisted. He fought. He promised empty promises. Still, God gave him opportunity after opportunity to repent. After the frogs, God told Moses to command Aaron to stretch out his staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt. He did it, no warning, to Pharaoh, just gnats, gnats everywhere. Pharaoh immediately knew what was going on. No insect infestation like that had ever happened before. They were everywhere. He quickly called his magicians. They came. They tried to replicate the miracle. They could not. They tried to get rid of it. They could not. It was clear. They had been at Gods mercy all along. Even when they were able to make their staffs into snakes, make the water into blood, call up frogs from the Nile, their ability was from God. God has allowed them to do so. Whether or not they called upon demons worshipped as gods, it is clear that God is totally in control. This is a good lesson for us. Satan is completely bound by God. He is on a short chain. God permits him small room to manoeuvre to deceive and destroy. Satans minions, his agents in the world, are limited to the power given to them by God. The magicians rightly declare, this is the finger of God! Their reaction rightly recognised Gods power as something far beyond anything theyd ever experienced before. We might ask, How is this different from the other plagues? Whats unique about gnats, lice, or mosquitoes? This is it, God caused them to be created out of the dust of the ground. The magicians were unable to do that. They were unable to create life
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from non-life. Only God is able to do that. Eventually, God demands recognition, even from his enemies. Life from non-life, thats the hinge, one key point evolutionists cannot explain, at all. Scientists believe it happened, but they cant demonstrate how. They cant replicate it. Even with all the necessary stuff there, a dead cell cannot become alive again. Life from non-life is impossible apart from an act by God. Not only is this vital for understanding Genesis, it is vital for understanding the resurrection. If there is no scientific explanation or understanding concerning the

appearance of life at some time in evolutionary history, then there is no explanation, scientifically for the resurrection. All other considerations aside, such as if humans evolved from other species, which also hasnt been demonstrated as remotely possible, if humans evolved then death is not a result of sin, and we are not in need of a saviour. If scientists cant explain life from non-life, then they cant explain the resurrection. If you want to put your foot even a tiny bit in the side of evolution, you must also let go of the resurrection of Christ. Scientifically, Christs rising from the dead is impossible. And if it is impossible, then were to be pitied above all people. But it isnt impossible with God. Our text this morning, far from being a scientific textbook, proves that God is God and he is able to manipulate his creation any which way he wants, bringing life from non-life. He turned the dust of the earth into Adam, and he

turned the dust of the earth into gnats that pestered Pharaoh and confounded his magicians. Like the warning before the frogs, Pharaoh Moses warns him about the flies. Again, as Pharaoh made his way to the river to worship. Clearly, the gnats were gone by then. For you see, the gnats prevented the Egyptians from worshipping. You see how God was destroying the Egyptian false gods? The gnats, as long as they were everywhere, rendered the Egyptians unclean. Because they were unclean, they couldnt call on their Gods for relief. They couldnt worship, their gods couldnt relieve them. The only God they could have turned to was the one true God. Moses fearlessly approaches Pharaoh. By this point, Moses confidence in God has grown. Hes also come to terms with the limited power of the one who stylised himself as a god. We too must put our confidence in God, trusting him to give us the words to say when we stand up before people. Moses calls Pharaoh to humble himself before God. We do the same. We call people to stop putting their trust in everything but God. People trust science, people trust famous people, people trust experts, people trust themselves that theyve been good enough; theyll make it because theyre lovely. But what is human loveliness compared to Gods? It is nothing! What is a sculpture compared to the sculptor? What is a painting compared to a painter? Who holds an appreciation for a piece of music apart from the author or the musician? God

constantly causes us to look up, beyond the goodness of this beautiful creation to gaze upon the unfathomable love and goodness and power and greatness of God. Moses upped the ante. He told Pharaoh, the next plague would be flies, flesheating pests that will be everywhere, everywhere but the land of Goshen where the Israelites resided. Consider that! Have you ever seen a fly, fly? They weave and wander and go all over. These would be different. They would go only where God wanted them to go! God is present in his creation. God was with his people. God was present with them. God was Immanuel to them. He was on their borders, in their camp, protecting them, holding the flies at bay. Here, God makes a division between those who are his, and those who are not. Malachi talks about this too. Jesus talked about the distinction, the division of the sheep and the goats. The flies came from all over and swarmed over everything. The prince of the power of the air was defenceless against them. The god of flies, Beelzebub, was shown to be nothing, a wannabe, a copycat, with no real power. Pharaoh tries to bargain. Go, but stay here, worship God here. Go, but stay close by. Each time, Moses refuses to compromise. No, we must not mix our worship with yours. No we must be called out, set apart from you, from the rest. An acceptable sacrifice to God must be made separate from the wicked and the profane. It is interesting to note that the word church comes from the Greek word ecclesia, meaning, the called out ones. God calls us out of the profane, into the sacred.
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We separate ourselves from the rest of the world, because light has no fellowship with darkness, there is no fellowship between Christ and Belial. Israel would not be able to worship and focus on God among the idols, the forms, the fleshpots of Egypt. Even in slavery, they have to obey God, not Pharaoh. Pharaoh was willing to let them go, but not too far. Here we see Pharaohs struggle. He sees that hes going to lose. He knows that for the sake of his people, he must relent, but hes under such pressure that he will not follow his convictions. His corruptions, the economic necessity of the slave labour, prevents him from obedience. But notice Gods grace. Even though his heart wasnt in it, his act of humility, his request for relief brings immediate promise from Moses. I will pray to the Lord for you. Again, we see that Gods plan was not destruction but to bring Pharaoh to repentance. We see also the need to be sincere before God. Moses warned Pharaoh, youre promising now. May it be true! Dont be deceitful anymore. God will prove you out. Live up to your word. Alas, Pharaoh did not. When Gods grace removed the plague, Pharaoh hardened his heart again. So, we can look at all kinds of reasons why we gather here. The main reason is this. God called us out. Were the church, the called out ones. Were called out of slavery and bondage to sin. It no longer has mastery over us! We can be bold in our actions for God. We can call on one another for strength and support, as Moses did with Aaron. We can lean on each other. We encourage one another. And so we see this place, as a safe place. This building, this group of people are
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loved by God, cared for by God, and as the people of Goshen were spared from the plague of flies, were spared from the worst afflictions of sin! We have much to celebrate! We have much to be thankful for! WE know the one true God! We worship him in this space, in our lives, lives lived as sacrifices, set apart, doing Gods will, following his commands, out of love for him! Amen.