Finally—finally—-there’s a plague that the magicians can’t duplicate.
After turning Aaron’s rod into a snake, turning the water of Egypt into blood, and sending frogs onto the land, the Egyptian sorcerers are completely befuddled as to how Moses and Aaron are able to bring gnats to Egypt.
And not just a few gnats; in Exodus 8:17, the Text says that “all the dust of the earth became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.”
You would think that a plague of this caliber would get Pharaoh’s attention, but instead, he almost acts like he doesn’t even care about it. In fact, this is one of the only plagues in the entire list that Moses doesn’t ask to be removed. He simply compounds it in Exodus 8:21 by sending swarms of flies to Egypt instead.
It’s very likely that Pharaoh was simply “above” this plague. The Exodus account never says that the gnats did anything destructive, so they could’ve been a minor annoyance to Pharaoh and his entourage, who never had to leave the palace if they didn’t want to.
Ironically, this was the exact plague that forced Pharaoh’s magicians to stand up and take notice. In Exodus 8:19, they tell Pharaoh that the plague of gnats had to be “the finger of God.”
Don’t mistake this for a statement of belief on the part of the magicians. For a polytheistic society like Egypt, saying something was the “finger of God” is akin to us claiming that something is “above our pay grade.” Whatever is happening is bigger than us, the magicians argue. We can’t explain it, but it’s not human.
The fact that Pharaoh hardens his heart despite the magician’s attitude is shocking. After all, weren’t they who Pharaoh turned to first whenever the plagues arrived? If they can’t duplicate it, then what is actually happening in Egypt?
Pharaoh will eventually have to face the answer, whether he likes it or not.
