Deal or No Deal

Deal or No Deal
Words of Faith 10-7-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 8
[20] Then the Lord said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. [21] If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and even the ground where they are.
[22] " '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. [23] I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This miraculous sign will occur tomorrow.' "
[24] And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh's palace and into the houses of his officials, and throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.
[25] Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land."
[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? [27] We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us."
[28] Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me."
[29] Moses answered, "As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord."
[30] Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, [31] and the Lord did what Moses asked: The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. [32] But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

This fourth plague begins the second cycle of three judgments. Like the first three judgments, these are restricted to the Egyptians. God was already marking a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. He was preparing to deliver his people out.
Moses confronted Pharaoh and called once again for the release of the Hebrews. This was the one way that Pharaoh could stop this misery from continuing. The next plague would be dense swarms of flies. The flies may have been attracted by the decaying frogs that were everywhere.
Whatever the flies were, we can be sure that these plagues were intensifying. Each one is worse than the previous one. These could have been insects known as dog flies which deliver a painful bite. They probably represented a prominent Egyptian deity named Re. I think of what we call "horse flies" in the south. You don't know that they gotcha until they gotcha, and then, boy do you know!
Pharaoh knew he had to do something. He did not want to lose his Hebrew labor force. But, he was willing to suggest a compromise. He said the Israelites could go to sacrifice to their God, but in Egypt, not in the desert. This was a compromise that was unacceptable to Moses. Performing their animal sacrifices in Egypt would be detestable. This may have been because Egyptians considered the bull to be sacred as it represented the god Apis or Re. The Cow represented their goddess Hathor.
So Pharaoh made a second compromise. He allowed them to go a short distance into the desert. Accepting this compromise, Moses sternly warned Pharaoh not to practice deceit as he had earlier. Moses left Pharaoh thinking that he may have made some progress and that he might keep his word. Moses prayed for relief from the plague. But once again, Pharaoh changed his mind and refused to keep his word.
We might learn a few things here about negotiating with God. Don't do it. Offering compromises to God is not a fruitful tactic. Trying to appease God to later go back on your word is not a good endgame. We need to listen to God. Take him at his word. And do what he says.
I recall a man who came to me several years ago. He wanted to ask me about a plan that he had devised. He had figured out a way on paper use his tithe (10% returned to God) to pay off his home mortgage more rapidly. He had carefully calculated the amount of money he would save in interest and planned to pay his cumulative tithe plus that money in a few years.
The plan made sense on paper. But I had to reply that this is not the way that God instructs us. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it" (Malachi 3:10). We sometimes fail to see that God is much bigger than our calculations and even our best intentions.

Lord, help me to trust You. Help me to always know that You are bigger than my ideas. Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and Your ways are higher than my ways. Teach me the path of obedience that leads to righteousness. In Jesus's name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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