A dense cloud of flies: 4th sign. Exodus 8:20-30 The first three signs indicate God's existence as a Living, Almighty Being. He is fully aware of what is happening in people's lives on earth. The second set of three signs highlights God's power and how it can influence water, land, and the sky.
Pharaoh had agreed that the Israelites could go and make sacrifices to God, but he reneged on his promise when the lice (perhaps gnats) were gone. He was a proud, confident dictator who stood to lose his labor force and his claim to be a god if he followed through with his word. His credibility as a god and that of all the other Egyptian gods would then be questioned.
Those who maintain control over others through fear and power are rarely willing to give up that control to anyone else. They are used to getting their way and avoid showing any signs of weakness or loss of authority. Integrity, honesty, and justice are unimportant to those who believe they have no moral obligation to keep their promises. Usually, they don't answer to anyone when they lie and deceive to achieve their goals. Some leaders believe they are justified in manipulating circumstances to serve their own opinions and aims.
This was the second time Moses met Pharaoh early in the morning as he went to the Nile River to possibly worship at a shrine or bathe. This second set of three signs gradually increases the pressure exerted by God's grace and power on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The Israelites in Goshen were protected from these signs because God distinguished them based on His covenant with their ancestors. Although the Israelites worshipped the gods of the Egyptians, they were beginning to recognize the Lord God of Israel. They were hopefully becoming aware of the covenantal guidelines they were meant to follow.
Christians who know and love the Lord have a covenant relationship with God and are expected to obey and follow our Lord Jesus Christ. The unchanging holiness of God and His standards lived out in His people will make the distinction between people of faith and unbelievers increasingly clear as the moral darkness of this age grows deeper. Moral and spiritual light exposes the darkness that people love “because their deeds are evil.”
The plague of flies covered all the people, animals, and even the ground they walked on. Flies would be on the faces, heads, and ears of the Egyptians and would be drawn in when they breathed. Pharaoh finally had to admit the fact that "God is." But he only acknowledged Him as the God of the Israelites - "Your God." That same attitude exists in many today who trust in the knowledge of science, but they have to admit there is more evidence of God than science can explain away. They admit that "God is," but He is nothing to them.
The flies did not enter the land of Goshen, where the Jews lived. In that way, Pharaoh recognized the distinctness of the Israelites and was willing to let them "sacrifice in the wilderness." Compromises are often sought among those who identify as Christians and those who claim to be Christians. "Do not go too far" is a common attitude today. "You have your truth, and I have my truth" is a phrase often heard from those who profess to be Christians when they speak to God's people. It is an attempt by Satan to keep God's people comfortable in an ungodly world system. It is wrong to try to negotiate some compromise between truth and expediency. We either obey God or we don't obey Him. There is no such thing as half-obedience. Partial obedience is not obedience at all.
During times like these, God preserves His people who are willing to submit to His will and walk in His ways. The Lord knows who belongs to Him and, in His divine purposes, sets us apart and calls us to be holy as He is holy. We have the choice and responsibility to “come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” Such distinctions between genuine believers in Christ and counterfeit Christians make people uncomfortable who want to have a “form of godliness but deny the power thereof.” The difference between darkness and light becomes greater as the darkness increases.
The sign of swarms of flies that covered the land of Egypt was so intense and invasive that the country was ruined. The dark cloud of flying insects would have made doing anything practically impossible. Psalm 78:45 indicates the flies were biting insects which “devoured them,” as the psalmist described God's dealing with His people, Israel.
In grace, God once again granted respite by demonstrating His power through the removal of the flies, so that not a single fly could be found. When this sign was over, Pharaoh’s concession was again revoked, and he hardened his heart. When a person's heart remains unchanged, hardness persists and can even become more calloused against God.
Some young people who grew up in families that honored God and were taught the truth by true Christian parents may become antagonistic toward their parents' care and authority, and their hearts may start to harden. As they get older, they resist the Bible's truth more and more, until the light in them turns into darkness. “If that light that is in thee becomes darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Willful rejection results in eternal damnation. God did not impose His will on Pharaoh, nor does He do so today. He puts pressure on people so that He might “withdraw man from his purpose.” Dreams, visions, and pain upon the bed are ways in which God seeks to reach people's hard hearts, but people are free to choose their actions. God does not force anyone to do what they are unwilling to do. Instead, in grace, He creates circumstances and events in life that apply pressure to bring about change. Human enmity against God is deeply ingrained in the minds of those who say, “No God for me!”