YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

You've known people who never learn their lesson. They just repeat the same mistake over and over again. Pharaoh was the worst in doing this. In spite of inconvenient and uncomfortable plagues, he hardened his heart and refused to let God's people go. So God said to Moses, "Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his rod, and it will become lice, throughout all the land of Egypt." Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and lice infested the entire nation, covering the Egyptians and their animals. The magicians tried to do the same with their secret arts. but this time they failed. (Exodus 8:16-18 TLB).

Imagine what it must have been like to watch everyone scratching their heads, bodies, and all sorts of embarrassing places. There are at least three kinds of lice but the Bible doesn’t tell us what kinds God sent. Female lice lay nits in the hair when a person has head lice. You don't have to be a dirty person to get them. Lice can cause diseases but, generally, they are mostly embarrassing, and make you more uncomfortable than ill. Body lice are usually caused from not bathing or changing your clothes often enough. Either of these would be embarrassing and drive you nutty with the constant itching.

The magicians told Pharaoh: "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh's heart was hard and stubborn, and he wouldn't listen to them. I doubt seriously that God exempted him from lice. He was scratching along with everyone else.

But God had yet to get Pharaoh's attention. The next morning God told Moses to get up early to meet Pharaoh at the river where he bathed, and tell him, "Jehovah says, 'Let my people go and worship me.'" No, three times was not the charm, and this was the third plague. Moses laid out Pharaoh's options. If he didn't let the Israelites go, God would send swarms of flies throughout Egypt. Houses would be filled and the ground would be covered with flies. This time, God spared the Israelites of this plague. They lived in Goshen and no flies were there. This was to make Pharaoh know that God was the God of all the earth by making a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.

Pharaoh's palace was buzzing with flies, as was every other Egyptian home. How unappetizing it must have been to have flies all over their food! Pharaoh didn't tolerate this for long before summoning Moses and Aaron. "All right, go ahead and sacrifice to your God, but do it here in the land. Don’t go out into the wilderness." Pharaoh said. Being a controlling person, he wasn't about to let the Israelites leave the country - at least until things got considerably worse. Pharaoh may have had other motives as well. Moses refused to sacrifice to God in Egypt. The Egyptians hated the Israelites sacrificing to God so much, Moses feared they would be killed. He insisted they take a three-day trip into the wilderness to sacrifice to Jehovah. Pharaoh agreed and asked Moses to plead to God for all the pesky flies to go away.

Moses agreed with this warning, "Never again lie to us by promising to let the people go and then changing your mind." Moses left and asked the Lord to get rid of the flies. God caused the swarms to disappear. As soon as they were gone, Pharaoh was up to his old tricks. He hardened his heart again and didn't let the people go.

Pharaoh was a born gambler. He was willing to push, even with God, as far as he could and hoped he didn't get caught. He would say one thing and do another. It wasn't enough to see the Nile turn to blood and Egypt's water supply ruined. Frogs were certainly not pleasant, but he quickly forgot about them as soon as God removed them. He had now endured the discomfort from having lice. Filthy swarms of flies were a terrible irritation, but all of these things were quickly forgotten as soon as God removed them. Pharaoh was a man of no character. Not even his word was good.

Are you a gambler like Pharaoh? Do you push God, maybe as far as you dare, and even your parents, and the law? The Living Bible adds understanding to your memory verse. "Don't be misled; remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life which the Holy Spirit gives him. And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't get discouraged and give up." (Galatians 6:7-9 TLB).

It's too easy to promise God we'll do what He says and then renege on our word, as Pharaoh did. King David asked, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" His answer includes, "He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not" (Psalm 15: 4). If your word is not good, neither God nor man can depend on what you say. It's a requirement for dwelling in God's holy hill.

Why do people like Pharaoh push and renege on their word? God is so gracious and merciful that He gives us time to turn around and repent. We often misinterpret what God is doing by His wrath not immediately descending upon us. We find in Ecclesiastes 8:11, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Will you be like Pharaoh and take the chance that God won't follow through with a punishment, or will you obey God immediately?