'Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Early tomorrow morning present yourself to Pharaoh when he sets out toward the water, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let my people go to serve me. For if you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon you and your servants and your people and your houses. The houses of the Egyptians and the very ground on which they stand will be filled with swarms of flies. But on that day I will make an exception of the land of Goshen, where my people are, and no swarms of flies will be there, so that you may know that I the Lord am in the midst of the land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow. This the Lord did. Thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants; throughout Egypt the land was devastated on account of the swarms of flies. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses replied, “It is not right to do so, for what we sacrifice to the Lord, our God, is abhorrent to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what is abhorrent to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us? We must go a three days’ journey in the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as he commands us.” Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God, in the wilderness, provided that you do not go too far away. Pray for me.” Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you I will pray to the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart tomorrow from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Pharaoh, however, must not act deceitfully again and refuse to let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.” When Moses left Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord; and the Lord did as Moses had asked, removing the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people. Not one remained. But once more Pharaoh became obstinate and would not let the people go (Ex. 8:16-28).’
The fourth plague, which consisted of flies, began the second triplet of plagues which follows the same pattern as the first triplet. God sends Moses in the morning to meet Pharaoh when he goes to the Nile to bathe or to worship the god of the Nile. The flies obeyed Moses and infested the whole of Egypt except in Goshen where the Hebrews were. God clearly showed Pharaoh that He was present with His people and was separating His people from the Egyptians by protecting them from the plague. The Egyptian god Khepri had the head of a fly and was ancient Egypt’s god of the creation, rebirth, and movement of the sun. Khepri and Pharaoh were powerless to stop the plague. The magicians no longer tried to duplicate the plagues. Pharaoh pretended to capitulate and told Moses that the Hebrews could worship their God in Egypt, but Moses must do as God instructed and go three days journey from Egypt to worship the God of the Hebrews. Moses gave Pharaoh a clever excuse for why they must go. Once Moses prayed to God on behalf of Pharaoh and the flies were removed Pharaoh became stubborn again and refused to let the Hebrews go. God gives us many chances to listen to him with the intent that His kindness, forbearance, patience and mercy will lead to our repentance (Rom. 2:4).
Lord God of all creation, grant us the grace to worship you with our hearts as you desire and not our lips. Help us to be constant in our prayers, and never let us to presume that your patience, kindness, forbearance and mercy will always be showered upon us no matter how often we reject your love. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Luis A. Martin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Antonio Garcia-Moreno, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy, & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (1999). The Navarre Bible - The Pentateuch. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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