Exodus Chapter 8 Verses 24-29 

:24 “And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. 25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me. 29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.” 

“And the LORD did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.”  As always, we see that the LORD always keeps his promises.  He did exactly as he said that he would do when Pharaoh refused to let the people go.  Pharaoh had been given a choice and could have prevented this judgment, but he hardened his heart as before and refused to let the people go. 

“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.  And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?”  Pharaoh tried to negotiate a compromise with Moses.  Instead of going into the wilderness to sacrifice, he said he would let them sacrifice to God in the land of Egypt.  God will not compromise with man and he will not negotiate with man.  Here we see some spiritual growth in Moses as he saw the fallacy of Pharaoh’s offer.  Pharaoh wanted to keep his slaves under slavery and let them have a little time to do sacrifice but not to go far away from them and he not be able to get them back.  He wanted to keep the children of Israel as slaves because of their cheap labor and the financial rewards of having them.  

“We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us.  And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me.”  Notice that Moses did not say “let us go,” but he said “we will go…”  Moses now has learned that the ultimate deliverance will come because of what God does and not based on any skill of his in negotiating or begging.  Likewise, our eternal salvation from sin comes about because of what Jesus has done and not our skill as preachers or teachers.  God is not dependent on us. 

Pharaoh wickedly agrees to let the people go, knowing full well that he is only lying in order to get some relief.  It should be pointed out that Pharaoh was a politician and politicians always have political pressures.  No doubt, the Egyptian people were screaming for relief. 

“And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.”  It is easy to see Moses skepticism in his answer to Pharaoh as he has already seen how that Pharaoh will lie in order to get his way.  Moreover, he rightly accused Pharaoh of being deceitful.  He warned Pharaoh to stop dealing deceitfully.   

Verses 30-32 

:30 “And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. 32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.” 

“And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. 31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses.”  Does the LORD always do according to what his servants say?  The answer is a resounding no.  However, Moses is entreating based on the known and manifest will of God, therefore, the LORD did according to the word of Moses. 

“And he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.”  This is an amazing display of God’s power, wisdom, and ability.  Not a single fly remained after God removed them.  This is important to understand as we consider the judgment of our sins.  When Jesus died on the cross to deliver us from our sins, not one sin remained of any of the elect family of God that required judgment.  Jesus completely removed by his atoning sacrifice all charges of sin against us.  Praise be to God! 

 “And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.”  Once again we see the principle that the unregenerate will always harden his heart against God regardless of what miracles or wonders he may witness.  John 12:37 “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:”