Exodus 8:1-32

8:1-7 | An Egyptian frog goddess, Heqet, was associated with childbirth and connected with the Nile. But now frogs became symbols of death. Although Pharoah’s magicians were able to duplicate the first three signs, it is significant that in no case were they able to stop or prevent the plagues.

8:8-15 | Here, a common pattern begins: the pestilence comes; the pain is felt; Pharoah seeks relief and promises to let the people go; the plague is dismissed; and Pharaoh resists God’s grace once again.

8:16-19 | For dust to be turned to lice or gnats (the Hebrew word describes either one) was particularly awful for the scrupulously clean Egyptians. With this plague, Pharoah’s magicians could no longer duplicate the Lord’s signs, and finally they acknowledged what Pharoah would not: This is the finger of God.

8:21-24 | Flies were common pests in arid Egypt, but now they were an affliction of unprecedented magnitude (Ps. 78:45) – except where God’s people lived (Goshen). This is the first plague in which God singled out the Egyptians and protected the Hebrew people.

8:25-28 | Moses rejected the ploy to let the Hebrew people make sacrifices in the land (Egypt), citing the abomination that Israel’s sacrificial sheep would be to the Egyptians. Because th Egyptians considered these animals unclean, such sacrifices came with the risk of the Hebrews being stoned (Gen. 43:32; 46:34). Pharaoh’s offer of a short trek into the wilderness was similarly refused. God will not accept compromise when He has issued a command.