Before the third plague falls there is no conversation mentioned between Moses and Pharaoh. Some scholars think Moses didn't appeal to Pharaoh before the Lord brought the plague we'll be studying today, but I think he did, for right after the second plague was lifted we were told, "But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said." (Exodus 8:15) Naturally after Moses prayed to the Lord to the remove the frogs, and after the frogs fell dead everywhere except in the Nile River where they normally resided, Moses went back to Pharaoh to see if he would keep his promise to let the people go. Although Moses doesn't take the time to provide the details of this meeting, I feel that verse 15 alludes to such a meeting taking place in which the king "would not listen" and broke his word to Moses and Aaron.
Hence the third plague falling in today's study. In some versions of the Bible the word for this insect infestation is translated as "lice". The NIV, which I use for this study, translates it as "gnats". Some scholars feel that "fleas" would be the appropriate translation. Still others suggest "ticks" is the word indicated here. I think gnats make the most sense in the context of what's going on here. They feed on decaying organic matter and there's plenty of decaying organic matter in Egypt. The first plague caused all the fish in the waters to die, so now they're floating on the surface and decaying. The second plague caused the frogs and now that the frogs are dead they are lying in heaps and decaying.
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.' They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals." (Exodus 8:16-17) Imagine the aggravation. You know how annoying it is when you're taking a walk and gnats start flying around your head and getting in your face. Picture this happening twenty-four hours a day during the third plague. There's no escape from the persistent clouds of gnats. And because the purpose of swarming is so the gnats can mate, they are making more gnats all the time. The number of gnats is increasing by the day.
Pharaoh's magicians attempt to duplicate this plague just as they duplicated (on a smaller scale) the plague of blood and the plague of frogs. For the first time they're unable to bring forth anything. Even with all the powers of darkness behind them, they can't produce a single gnat. "But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not." (Exodus 8:18a) Moses doesn't specify what their secret arts are and I'm sure he knows a lot about the subject, considering he was brought up as an Egyptian prince and provided with the best education money could buy. Luke, the author of the book of Acts, says that Moses "was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) and when Luke says "all" I think he literally means "all". Moses knows what type of occult rituals and spells these magicians use. He knows the spiritual forces the magicians call upon to perform their dark deeds. But he doesn't describe the process and I think it's because he doesn't want anyone indulging in these occult practices. In fact, such things are so abhorrent to the Lord that He will prohibit the Israelites from indulging in them by making it a capital offense to practice witchcraft.
Their failure to bring forth even one gnat brings the magicians to a conclusion Pharaoh still stubbornly resists. "Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.' But Pharaoh's heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said." (Exodus 8:18b-19) I picture these men standing in Pharaoh's court, miserably and helplessly waving fans and slapping at gnats in an attempt to at least speak without gnats getting into their mouths, and proclaiming, "This is the work of the God of the Hebrews! Just as Moses and Aaron have said, their God is real. Their God is powerful. He has done this and we cannot reproduce it. We cannot undo it either. We and the gods we serve are no match for the God of Israel!"
As we discussed earlier in our study of Exodus, evil forces do exist. Satan is a real entity and so are the angels who followed him when he rebelled against the Lord. But the power of these entities is limited. In no way is Satan the Lord's counterpart. Satan and God are not equals who are duking it out daily in the spiritual realm. This is not an even match and the magicians of Egypt are wise enough to realize it. Pharaoh, as he sits on his throne while his servants fan him madly to keep gnats out of his mouth and eyes, is not wise enough. Or perhaps he does realize it on some level but is too proud and arrogant to ever admit that anyone or anything is more powerful than he is. Remember, the pharaohs professed themselves to be a god incarnate. Admitting the God of Israel is real, and that He is more powerful than the king and the gods of Egypt, is to admit Pharaoh is not worthy of being worshiped by his people. Such an outcome is unacceptable to Pharaoh. He sees himself as a god. He wants his people to see him as a god. If he bows his knees to the God of the Hebrews, he loses his status among the people. He loses his image of himself. He is not willing. He'd rather go down to death and through the gates of hell than submit to God.
When we give our hearts to the Lord, we are admitting we are not the lords of our own lives. We submit ourselves and our lives to Him. This is why the Lord Jesus said, "Whoever loses their life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39) Jesus isn't speaking of martyrdom. If we study Matthew 10:39 in context He's talking about putting our relationship with Him above everything and everyone else. He's talking about taking up our cross (denying ourselves) and following Him---putting Him before ourselves, putting His will before our will. It's in losing ourselves to Christ that we find ourselves and become who we were created to be. Pharaoh has no interest in putting the Lord first in his life; Pharaoh is first in his own life and he intends to keep it that way. Pharaoh is the type of person about whom Jesus says, "Whoever finds their life will lose it." (Also found in Matthew 10:39) The person who finds Christ finds life. The person who finds Christ finds salvation of the soul. But the person who insists on being lord of his own life, and who refuses to acknowledge his Creator, and who lives in the idolatry of this world, loses out on the fullness that life was intended to be and loses out on the salvation of his eternal soul.
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