Wednesday-July 23, 2025
Flies, Livestock, and Boils - Three Serious Plagues (Exodus 8:20-9:12)
Exodus 8:20-9:12.
“And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies” (Exodus 8:24)
“he hand of the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys and camels and on your cattle, sheep and goats” (Exodus 9:3)
“So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals” (Exodus 9:10)
Historical Context and Typological Meaning
In these three escalating plagues—flies, pestilence on livestock, and boils—we witness a divine escalation of judgments to awaken Pharaoh’s conscience and reveal God’s sovereignty over creation. God is demonstrating that His authority is above Egypt’s so-called deities, and His protection is extended to His people in Goshen, unaffected by the plagues (Ex. 8:22, 9:6).
This selective judgment foreshadows the final judgments upon the modern world and apostate churches, just as God made a distinction between Egypt (type of the world and apostate religion) and Goshen (type of the faithful remnant).
✨ 2. Spirit of Prophecy (SOP) Insight
The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power… but by terrible things in righteousness He makes known the power of His authority.
God speaks to men through His servants, giving cautions and warnings, and rebuking sin. He gives to each an opportunity to correct his errors before they become fixed in the character; but if one refuses to be corrected, divine power does not interpose to counteract the tendency of his own action. He finds it more easy to repeat the same course. He is hardening the heart against the influence of the Holy Spirit. A further rejection of light places him where a far stronger influence will be ineffectual to make an abiding impression.
— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 268.2
The plagues were designed to show the Egyptians the folly of their idolatry and to exalt the true God as above all gods.
“That the plagues were designed to destroy the confidence of the Egyptians in the power and protection of their idols, and even made their gods to appear as cruel tormentors of their worshipers … the disease which slew the animals dedicated to their deities revealed to the Egyptians the impotence of their gods in the presence of the God of the despised Hebrews.” youtube.com+7ellenwhite.info+7m.egwwritings.org+7
— Signs of the Times, March 11, 1880
Here is a book given us to guide our feet through the perils of this dark world to Heaven. It tells us how we can escape the wrath of God, and also tells of the sufferings of Christ for us, the great sacrifice that has been made for us that we might be saved and enjoy the presence of God for ever. And if any come short at last that have heard the truth, as they have in this land of light, it will be their own fault. They will be without excuse. The word of God tells us how we may be perfect Christians, and escape the seven last plagues; but they took no interest to find this out. Other things diverted the mind, idols were cherished by them, and God's holy word has been neglected and slighted. God has been trifled with by professed Christians, and when that holy word shall judge them in the last day, they will be found wanting. That word that they have neglected for foolish story books, tries their lives. It is the standard, and their motives, words, works, and the manner they use their time, are all compared with the written word of God, and if they come short, then their cases are decided for ever. {4bSG 12.2}
These plagues are disciplinary judgments, designed to expose the weakness of false gods and to prepare a people for deliverance. They also reveal how repeated rejection of God’s mercy hardens the heart beyond recovery.
📘 3. Present Truth Prophetic Applications
🔹 A. Type and Antitype of the Plagues
"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword." Jeremiah 25:31. For six thousand years the great controversy has been in progress; the Son of God and His heavenly messengers have been in conflict with the power of the evil one, to warn, enlighten, and save the children of men. Now all have made their decisions; the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against God. The time has come for God to vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. Now the controversy is not alone with Satan, but with men. "The Lord hath a controversy with the nations;" "He will give them that are wicked to the sword." {GC 656.1}
The mark of deliverance has been set upon those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done." Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel's vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: "Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." Says the prophet: "They began at the ancient men which were before the house." Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together. {GC 656.2}
The Inspiration explains that Egypt represents the world and unfaithful church systems. The sequence of plagues is not merely historical but prophetic, showing the progressive hardening of those who resist Present Truth and the unfolding judgments upon apostasy in the church.
🔹 B. The Flies (Confusion and Corruption)
Swarming flies symbolize moral corruption, uncleanness, and confusion—a type of the spiritual pollution in the modern religious world. These plagues ruin the land (Ex. 8:24), signifying that sin defiles both people and the environment (Rev. 11:18).
As the flies filled Egypt, so confusion and defilement fill the churches when the truth is rejected.
"we find that Rev. 9:20 reveals that the symbolical fire, smoke, and brimstone result in “plagues.” Not firearms, but plagues, therefore, are the means with which the horsemen slay the “third part of men.” --{5TR 83.1}
🔹 C. The Livestock Plague (Judgment on Economic and Idolatrous Dependence)
Livestock symbolized wealth and sustenance. The plague strikes earthly security, prefiguring how God will remove economic idols in the last days. It is both literal and symbolic of how trust in worldly systems will collapse during the final crisis (Rev. 18:11-17).
God strikes the sources of sustenance in the apostate systems, showing that He is the true Source of life and blessing.
Though the plagues of Egypt fell upon a heathen nation they nevertheless typify the last plagues, for the very fact that they were literal, local, and partial, point to the antitype—the seven last plagues—being literal, universal, and complete.
— Tract No. 5, p. 88
This aligns with the understanding that the Egyptian plagues serve as types of God’s coming judgments on all who reject truth, both in the world and within His professed people.
“As in Egypt, God will strike the false hopes and supports of apostate systems—economic, religious, and moral—in order to reveal Himself as the true Source of life, protection, and blessing.” (Based on Tract No. 5, pp. 88–89; see also 2TG 41:17)
🔹 D. The Boils (Physical Judgment & Consequence of Rebellion)
The plague of boils was personal—affecting both man and beast. It represents the direct consequence of spiritual rebellion manifesting in physical suffering, a fulfillment of Deut. 28:27.
⏳ 4. Last-Day Application and Warning
The intensifying judgments in Egypt illustrate the close of probation pattern. When warnings are ignored, mild rebukes turn into severe judgments. Today, modern Egypt—apostate churches and worldly systems—are repeating Pharaoh’s defiance.
Each plague calls God’s people to come out of Babylon, and warns that resisting Present Truth brings spiritual blindness and divine withdrawal (see Rev. 16).
Those who continue in willful ignorance will suffer the consequences of Pharaoh’s choice—judgment without remedy.
When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old. {GC 614.1}
In the time when His wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God's honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled underfoot, while the servants of Satan triumph. God is dishonored, the truth made of none effect. {5T 210.3}
Note: Continue reading the page 211 for the church purification before to goes to the world.
The preservation of Goshen amidst Egypt’s destruction signifies that God will shield His faithful ones (Rev. 3:10; Ps. 91:5–10). His judgments are not only punitive but redemptive—to awaken, separate, and deliver His people.
Let us not harden our hearts like Pharaoh but respond to God’s voice while mercy still pleads.
“Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” — Hebrews 3:7–8
Consider the Following
❖ Three serious plagues (Exodus 8:20-9:12)
— Fourth plague : Flies. Affects: Uatchit, goddess of the marshes.
✓ For the first time, the Israelites were protected from the plague. This led Pharaoh to negotiate, but he
ultimately failed to keep his end of the bargain.
— Fifth plague : Death of livestock. Affects: Khnum, the creator god.
✓ Many gods had animal heads, so this plague humiliated most of them.
— Sixth plague : Ulcers. Affects: Sekhmet, goddess of healing.
✓ Not even the magicians could heal themselves (Exod. 9:11). Pharaoh had no doubt about the source of the plagues. But he had decided to refuse to bow down to God, and God allowed him to reap the fruit of his rebellion (Exod. 9:12).
Plague
Symbolism
Prophetic Meaning
Flies
Moral decay & uncleanness
Confusion in modern churches
Livestock Pestilence
Loss of material support
Collapse of economic security
Boils
Physical manifestation of sin
God’s displeasure on personal rebellion
