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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 8:16 - 8:19
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The Plague of the Lice
v. 16. And the Lord said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. The insects referred to are very small gnats, which crawl on the skin, and even into the noses and ears, and inflict painful stings. These tiny animals were, by a special creative act of God, to come up out of the dust in countless millions, like the dust.
v. 17. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. The Nile had twice become the source of a plague, and here the very land which yielded such rich harvests brought forth an insect pest which was unbearable.
v. 18. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, they also smote the dust while they murmured verses of incantation, to bring forth lice, but they could not; so there were lice upon man and upon beast. In this case the Lord did not consent to their imitating His miracle, and so they were unable to perform the apparently simple feat.
v. 19. Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. They were forced to declare their impotence in the face of God's almighty power, to acknowledge that the God of the Hebrews was mightier than they. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said. In spite of all the evidence, in spite of the confession of his wisest sorcerers, he persisted in his obstinacy. Even the blind children of this world are obliged to acknowledge occasionally that God's punishments strike the world, and yet they refuse to repent.