Commentary - Exodus 8:16-19

Bird's-eye view

We come now to the third plague, and we should note a significant shift in the pattern. With the first plague of blood and the second plague of frogs, there was a formal warning given to Pharaoh. But here, the judgment comes without any such announcement. God is escalating His war against the gods of Egypt, and He is demonstrating that He does not need to telegraph every punch. The first two plagues were dramatic, large-scale assaults on the Nile, a central deity of Egypt. This third plague is an assault on the land itself, and it is a judgment of pervasive, inescapable irritation. It is one thing to have your river stink and your palace full of frogs; it is another to have the very dust under your feet rise up to bite you. This is a humiliation, a demonstration that the God of the Hebrews holds the entire created order, from the cosmic to the microscopic, in the palm of His hand.

The central conflict here is not simply between Moses and Pharaoh, but between Yahweh and the entire Egyptian pantheon, along with their earthly representatives, the court magicians. And this is the plague where the counterfeit power of the magicians finally breaks. They could mimic turning water to blood, and they could summon more frogs into a land already teeming with them. But they cannot create life out of dust, not even the smallest and most annoying of lives. Their failure forces a confession, "This is the finger of God," which is a profound understatement and yet a crucial admission. Pharaoh, however, hears this testimony from his own experts and dismisses it, revealing a heart that is not just stubborn, but judicially hardened by God Himself.

Outline

Context In Exodus

The plagues are not random acts of divine petulance. They are a systematic deconstruction of the Egyptian worldview. Each plague targets a specific domain over which a particular Egyptian god or goddess was thought to preside. The first plague defiled the Nile, the domain of Hapi and Osiris. The second, with frogs, mocked Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of fertility. This third plague, gnats from the dust of the earth, was a direct challenge to Geb, the earth god. The priests of Egypt were known for their ritual purity, which involved shaving their bodies to remain clean. A plague of lice or gnats would have made them ritually unclean and unable to perform their duties, effectively shutting down the Egyptian religious system.

This plague marks a turning point. Up to this point, the magicians have been able to produce a cheap knock-off of God's power. Their success, however limited, has given Pharaoh a pretext for his unbelief. But now, the charade is over. The curtain is pulled back, and the magicians are revealed as frauds standing before the living God. Their failure is as important as Moses' success, because it eliminates any middle ground. You are either with Yahweh or you are with the impotent gods of Egypt. There is no third way.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 16 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become gnats through all the land of Egypt.’ ”

The action begins, as it always must, with the Word of God. Yahweh speaks to Moses. This is the engine of all reality. God speaks, and things happen. Notice the chain of command: Yahweh to Moses, Moses to Aaron. Aaron is the one who holds the staff, but the authority flows from God through His chosen prophet. The staff here is the same instrument used to turn the Nile to blood. It is a simple stick of wood, but in the hand of God's servant, it becomes an instrument of cosmic power. The command is to strike the dust of the earth. The very ground upon which Egypt stands, the domain of their god Geb, is about to be turned into an instrument of their torment. This is not just a miracle; it is polemical theology. God is showing that the supposed sources of Egypt's stability and life are entirely subject to His will. He can turn their blessings into curses with a word.

v. 17 And they did so; and 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 through all the land of Egypt.

Simple obedience is followed by spectacular results. Aaron does exactly as he is told. He strikes the dust, and the result is immediate and overwhelming. The text says there were gnats on man and beast. The Hebrew word here can mean gnats, lice, or mosquitoes. Whatever they were, they were small, swarming, and maddening. They came from the dust, and they covered everything. This is a form of creation in reverse. In Genesis, God formed man from the dust of the earth. Here, God causes the dust to bring forth a plague. The totality of the judgment is emphasized: "All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt." There was no escape. Every speck of dust became a tormentor. This is a picture of what happens when God's common grace is withdrawn. The very things we take for granted, like the solid ground beneath our feet, can become a source of misery when God turns them against us.

v. 18 Then the magicians did the same with their secret arts in order to bring forth gnats, but they could not; so there were gnats on man and beast.

Here we see the end of the line for Pharaoh's wise men. They try to replicate the miracle with their "secret arts." This likely refers to demonic power, a counterfeit spirituality that apes the power of God but has no true creative ability. They could manipulate existing things, turn water to blood, summon frogs that were already there, but they could not create life, not even the lowest form of it, ex nihilo, out of the dust. Their failure is stark and absolute: "but they could not." The power of God is qualitatively different from the power of the devil. Satan is a creature; he can only twist and corrupt what God has already made. He cannot create. This failure exposes the ultimate impotence of all pagan religion and all humanistic attempts to control reality apart from God. The plague continues unabated, a testimony to their powerlessness.

v. 19 And the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

The magicians, defeated and likely itching, are forced to make a confession. "This is the finger of God." This is a significant admission. They recognize a power at work that is beyond their craft and beyond the realm of ordinary human experience. The "finger of God" suggests a work of great power done with casual ease. God doesn't need to roll up His sleeves for this; a flick of the finger is sufficient. We see this phrase later when Jesus says He casts out demons by the "finger of God" (Luke 11:20), indicating the arrival of the Kingdom. Here, the magicians see the finger of God in judgment, and they are telling their king that this is a fight he cannot win. But what is Pharaoh's response? He does not listen. His heart was "hardened with strength." The Hebrew here is emphatic. It was strong, firm, severe. He hears the testimony of his own experts, sees their failure, and doubles down on his rebellion. His hardness is his own doing, but it is also precisely what Yahweh had spoken. God is sovereign even over the sinful defiance of pagan kings. Pharaoh is not breaking God's plan; he is fulfilling it.

Application

First, we must recognize the absolute sovereignty of God over all creation. Our God is the one who commands the dust. There is no corner of reality, no particle of matter, that is outside His control. This should be a profound comfort to the believer and a terrifying reality for the unbeliever. When we are in Christ, this meticulous sovereignty is for us. When we are in rebellion, it is against us.

Second, this passage exposes the futility of all rival spiritualities. The magicians of Egypt had real power, of a sort. But it was a derivative, parasitic power that reached its limit very quickly. So it is with all false religion and secular ideologies. They can mimic and manipulate, but they cannot create life. They offer no real solutions, only distractions that fail in the face of God's reality. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not one option among many; it is the only power of God unto salvation.

Finally, we must take the warning of Pharaoh's hardened heart seriously. Pharaoh had evidence. He had the testimony of his own advisors. But he refused to bow. Hardness of heart is not primarily an intellectual problem; it is a moral one. It is the refusal to submit to God's authority, regardless of the evidence. And the terrifying thing is that God will often give rebels over to their rebellion. He will harden the heart that insists on being hard. The application for us is to cultivate a soft heart before God, to be quick to repent, and to listen when He speaks, lest we also be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.