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Exodus 8:16-17

16         Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’”

17         They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there was lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Plague #3: The Gnat Irritation

The third plague comes out as gnats/lice (varies based on the translation). Something that covered all humans and animals, and that was so strong that no magician could take care of them. This infestation ruined all the animals, much like the frogs did to all the animals. What does this mean for the Egyptians? Let’s talk about that.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What do you think the lice represents in this context?

The Dust that Doesn’t Settle

The dust was a common element in Egypt. It’s transformed into something living, reinforcing God’s creation powers since He created humans out of the dirt. The transformation of dust into gnats challenges the Egyptian magicians and their inability to replicate this same transformation. Gnats represent the pervasive and inescapable nature of God’s judgment. These gnats would have disrupted daily life, religious customs, and more because the gnats would have been considered unclean. Pharaoh could have stopped this from happening, but he decided against it – hardening his heart further. This transformation impacted all of Egypt, showing that every is affected by this hardness of Pharaoh’s heart, harming innocent people due to his oppressive leadership choices.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: This reminds me of the pandemic we all endured. How do you respond when the world throws out new rules and guidelines that feel restrictive on face value?

Living Our Own Transformation

God is our ultimate authority of all of creation. The things of this world and how they operate, including humanity, are all under God’s instruction and authority. God is referred as the ultimate creator for that reason. Some Christians will even refer to the Bible as our “instruction manual” because it contains everything that we need to let us live the life that God created us to live. I tend to view it as the guiding wisdom for faithful living. When we try to adjust things that we believe would fit our lives better, sometimes – we mess stuff up. Either immediately, or sometime down the road, we can run into moments when we regret our decisions and feel regret of those patterns that distanced us from God. We make decisions that also cannot be reversed either. What do we do in those moments? We need to let the dust settle. We need to understand why we feel regret or remorse. We need to see what God’s word said about it. We need to repent if the decisions move away from everything that God had provided for us and just work to be better. I know I say it nonchalantly, but dwelling on it doesn’t solve anything. It doesn’t move us forward, but it keeps us locked in to where we were. When we can accept the situation and move forward, we start to see the next chapter of how God will move in our lives. God’s mercy creates new paths for us out of our self-induced chaos to show how good of a God He truly is.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: We’re about 2 weeks in 2026. What is one thing that you’re seeing in yourself that’s pulling you away from God? How can you go about and pull yourself close to him.

Part 4: Breaking the Chains || Plagues Galore || Part 4