Episode 359 - "It is the finger of God" - Exodus 8:16-19
Ex. 8:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’” 17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. 18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
A few interesting things stand out about this third plague. First, did you notice there is no warning to Pharaoh? In fact, scholars have observed a pattern in the unfolding of these ten plagues. In the first nine plagues, the pattern repeats for each group of three plagues. The first two plagues of each group of three provide a forewarning to Pharaoh. But only the first plague of each of the groups is given the time of “in the morning.” Finally, the instructions to Moses and Aaron also follow a repeating pattern: the first plague in each group of three is “Go to this location and tell Pharaoh . . .” For the second plague in each group, Moses and Aaron are to “Tell Pharaoh . . .” The third plague in each group only provides the instruction on how to initiate the plague, with no warning to Pharaoh. It’s difficult to say whether this was an intentional pattern by the LORD to make a point to Pharaoh, or whether Moses recorded the details using this pattern as a didactic method for the Israelites who received this written account. Regardless, the LORD made it clear that all Egypt would understand that the God of the Hebrews was the LORD God, and that he was more powerful than all their gods.
The plague itself is simple enough. The dust became gnats so thick that they covered man and beast alike. So many gnats must have even darkened the light in the day and made it both miserable and impossible to do anything.
Pharaoh’s magicians attempted to replicate the sign, but could not. We are not told that the LORD prevented them from doing it. They certainly tried. But their inability to perform the same sign emphasizes the power of the LORD over the powers and skills of Pharaoh’s magicians. The narrative could have stopped there, describing the magicians' failure. But it doesn’t. Moses records the magicians’ response to their failure. They attribute the sign Aaron performed to “the finger of God.” According to my search, this phrase appears only four times in all of Scripture. The first is here. The next two in Exodus 31 and Deuteronomy 9 speak of the Ten Commandments being written by the finger of God. The final occurrence is in Luke 11 when Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzubel, the prince of demons. Jesus responds that he casts out demons by “the finger of God”, signifying that the Kingdom of God has come upon them (and they’ve missed it). What does this mean? I believe we get a clue through the parallel account of Jesus responding to his accusers in Matthew 12:28, which reads, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” This suggests that “the finger of God” is a figure of speech representing the Holy Spirit.
My question is, is it possible that the magicians recognized that this sign could only be produced by the Holy Spirit of the LORD? It would seem that the LORD’s purpose to reveal himself to Egypt is having its effect. But sadly, their confession does nothing to draw Pharaoh to obey the LORD. In fact, there’s no indication the magicians gained faith in the LORD; only acknowledgment of his unique and awesome power.
A consistent theme is that the LORD makes himself known and that he is always faithful to his word. I believe this is an important fact of reading and studying the Scriptures. Sometimes people treat the Scriptures as though they provide an answer for every single question that might pop into their heads. I don’t believe this is the intent at all. Rather, the Scriptures reveal God's character. If God demonstrates that he is faithful to his promises, we can trust him.