August 5, 2010 – Exodus 8

Geb was the Egyptian god of the Earth, so from the Earth, God brought forth the gnats or lice, depending of what you read.

Khepri is the god of creation and responsible for the movement of the sun.  I am not quite sure why this one is associated with the flies, but maybe it has something to do with this being the first divided plague, the first to not strike the Israelites.  Dividing day and night connection maybe.  The god is also related to the dung beetle, maybe that is close enough to the fly. 

So, two more plagues and two drastic changes.  First, the pharaohs priest can no longer perform their magic to do the same things as the Lord.  Secondly, the plagues start to strike only the Egyptians.  What can we take from this.  I think the thing that comes to my mind is how God does not do anything quickly.  He takes His time and is methodical in how He goes about His dealings.  We talked last time that He needed to show the Israelites the weakness of the Egyptian gods, but He is also making Egypt in such a state that they will not only expel them from the land, but pay them to leave.  What do we think happens if God had done the last plague first.  If Pharaoh had not killed them all out of rage, he would definitely not let them all go and no other plague would seem near as bad.  God’s way may seem long and drawn out, but He always has a reason for the way things are happening.  I think we can learn from that in our lives and be patient with the Lord.