Each and every plague which God inflicted upon Pharaoh and his land in Egypt through Moses and Aaron were designed to send to all generations a specific message and purpose. We will continue to learn at the feet of Jesus Christ for God’s purposes and lessons for us.
3rd Plague: Swarm of lice – Exodus 8: 16-18
Lice are blood sucking irritants and they symbolize an association with dirt. God meant to show that Pharaoh and his people were spiritually dirty. Oppressing the Jews violated their dignity therefore it was a sin against God. God treats us equally with dignity and so must we all do. Sin is spiritual dirt on us so God availed the blood of Jesus Christ to wash it away and to cleanse us for it is only by Christ that we can be washed and cleansed before God from the filth of sin. Our righteousness is like filthy rags before God and only Jesus can wash it as white as snow, Psalms 51:7; Isaiah 1:18.
Lice also symbolized sensuous or luxury life of evil. At the painful expense of Jewish oppressive labour, Pharaoh and his henchmen lived luxurious lives. God’s message to Pharaoh was that he was opposed to any life of luxury predicated on evil or the sweat of the weak. Today, we are also guilty of making our wealth and enjoying our luxury from the labour of the weak and innocent in modern day slavery under the guise of other terminologies but they do not change the divine fact. For how long will we continue to pursue or preserve our zones of comfort using God’s disapproved ways of life? Jeremiah 7: 7; 22: 3 say do not oppress the innocent or the alien.
Lice also stood for infestation. Pharaoh meant to adulterate Jewish tradition, culture and belief systems. His approach was foul and loathsome to God who decided to restore and preserve Jewish sanctity. Pharaoh was wise in his own mind but not against God. Pharaoh and his people were thus spiritually ill, disruptive of God’s plan for the Jews so they needed healing from their broken spiritual immunity. Just like Pharaoh, we are irritants to Jesus. We enjoy luxury at the expense of others through sin. We are disruptive of God’s plan for others and God will so soon break our spiritual immunity.
4th Plague: Swarm of flies – Exodus 8: 22-24
To Egypt, flies were blood sucking on wounds and contaminated food with viruses or gems. Pharaoh was notorious for feeding on the injuries of the Jews without care. He was infamous for spreading slavery across the region like a contagion disease. God’s notice was to heal the wounds of the Jews from further contamination or infection from Egypt’s violations through extortions and random abuse. He was to spiritually disassociate from the attraction of his poignant smell or rotten era like flies.
Flies were allowed to be killed even on a Sabbath due to their nuisance and pigheadedness hence it was a reminder to Pharaoh that he stood the risk of death anytime unless he submitted to God in humility. We are equally being cautioned by Christ Jesus to disassociate with our poignant characters and dead carcass which attracts us because worldly attractions are smelly to God for they are associated with death. We smell so much in spirit and need the blood of Jesus to cleanse us. Are we ready?
Proverbs 24: 17-18 say do not rejoice when your enemy falls; and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him. Do we enjoy the suffering of others? Numbers 14: 18 says the Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. We must also be abounding in his steadfast love towards one another through Christ Jesus.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, just as Pharaoh was, we are filthy living luxurious lives from the labour of the weak and less privileged in society through greed, unconscionable insensitivity and oppression. Curtail what attracts us to eternal death and save our souls today. In your precious blood, Amen!!
