To What Are You a Slave?

O.T. #152  "To What Are You a Slave?"
Oct. 22, 2013
Exodus 8-Part 3
Thus sayeth the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve Me.  Exodus 8:20b

LET IT GLOW

I kicked the habit of drinking Dr. Pepper for over a year. Gradually, I have yielded, and went back to drinking it. Well, my body can't handle the acid in the drink, so I have been having some physical problems. It is my own doing, my sinning, my fault, I have to confess. I have become a slave to it, instead of resisting and being a slave to God, using my body for His glory. To what are you a slave ?
Job, money, liquor, drugs, self, material things, power? Maybe you are not.


Plague #4 Flies

Wasn't it bad enough to have water turned to blood for a week, have frogs everywhere for a day, and gnats for however long they lasted? No, Pharaoh did not let the Hebrew slave go three days into the wilderness to make sacrifices unto their God. I am no better than Pharaoh-being a slave to my little god of a soda drink. How about you, friend? Are you a slave to something? It is time for us to kick the habit and let God be our Master of our body. Don't you agree?

We aren't told how much time elapse between the plagues. We aren't told if the Hebrews/ Israelites were effected by the first three plagues. There are pros and cons concerning that. Well, we are told that the Hebrews, who lived in the land of Goshen, would be unaffected by the swarms of flies.
What a blessing! If they did endure the blood, frogs, and gnats, it would have been a relief to not have the flies. Personally, I believe that the Hebrews in the land of Goshen were not effected by any of the plagues except for the tenth. Why would God punish them with the same plagues as the Egyptians?

We may not know how many times the Lord has protected us, this side of heaven-automobile accidents, diseases, sicknesses, discouragements, etc.
Do we thank Him for all His protection?

God says, ...thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. (verse 22b)

Do we recognize God as the Creator of the earth and everything in and on it?

We do know that God forewarned Pharaoh about plague #4. (verse 21) The Bible forewarns us of what is to happen in the last days, and still some will not believe in Jesus as Savior.

LET IT GROW

Remember, these plagues are God's way of shooting down the gods that the Egyptians and Pharaoh worship and believe in. So you know me, the word geek, had to look up the word flies/fly.

Fausset Bible Dictionary says the old Egyptian word fly retained in Coptic abeb, a bettle seems related. The sun god in Egypt was represented in the form of a bettle; thus their sin would be made their instrument of punishment. but the  flies, whether gnats, mosquitoes, or dog flies, literally "devour", conveying the well-known ophthalmia from one to another, and by the larvae entering beneath the skin and intestines, and generating deadly disease. Found in swarms about arms and canals of the Nile.

The MacArthur Bible Commentary says the swarms was translated as dog-fly, a bloodsucking insect.
The Egyptian deity was called Shu, Isis, or Uatchit. 

Liberty Bible Commentary says swarms of flies (arob in Hebrew); dog flies (kunomuia in Hebrew)could cause blindness. 

Whichever is right, it was a horrible plague for the Egyptians to endure. I don't understand this king. He is fighting against the King of kings and LORD of lords. He will not win. Just give up now before it gets worse, I say. But then, his hardened heart was his/Satan's doing.

This time, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, saying he would let them go sacrifice to their God in the land (not the wilderness).

This was not acceptable. God is interested in complete obedience, not compromise. (Falwell)

In the NIV, Moses asks that if they offered sacrifices detestable in the Egyptians' eyes, wouldn't they stone the Hebrews. Moses still demands a 3-day journey into the desert for them.
Get this: Pharaoh offered to let them go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord God, but they must not to far. Then his heart was hardened and he would not let them go.

Here we are again-Pharaoh will not let go of his slaves.
What will we not let go of so we can completely obey our God? What keeps us a slave to it so we are not a slave to God?

LET IT GO

So far, today I have not drank a Dr. Pepper, that is a step in the right direction.

More than 3 times a day I will have to yield my body to God-every time I want a drink of something.
I will offer it as a drink offering.

Be a slave to Jesus only.