CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 8:16. Lice] “Gnats”—Ges. Fü. Dav.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 8:16-19
THE PLAGUE OF LICE, OR, AN ENFORCED RECOGNITION OF A SUPREME POWER IN THE DIRE RETRIBUTIONS OF HUMAN LIFE
The third plague was now sent upon the land without any warning. The two previous plagues arose from the river, this arises from the dust of the earth which was quickened into life, by a miraculous power. Here was another blow aimed at the false deities of Egypt. The priests were very particular not to harbour vermin, and considered it a profanation of their temples if any animalcule were carried into them. This plague was general (Psalms 105:31). The Egyptians were accustomed to humble themselves in many of their religious ceremonies, and especially in their acts of mourning, by throwing dust upon their heads. This plague was a rebuke to their superstition. The magicians were baffled by this retribution. The finger of God was sufficient to curb the power of Satan.
I. That men are slow to recognize the Supreme Power in the retributions of human life. As we read the history of those plagues we cannot but wonder that Pharaoh and his people should have been so long in recognizing the finger of God. The first plague was enough to subdue their haughty spirit, and to give them to see that they were in conflict with the power of the Most High. They ought to have recognized the hand of God in these retributions:—
1. Because of the warnings given by the servants of God. Moses and Aaron had warned the king that if he did not give Israel their freedom, he and his nation would be smitten with sore plagues. But these indications of woe were neglected and despised, and in no way rendered Pharaoh sensitive to the claims of duty. And there are multitudes in our own day warned by the ministers of the Gospel of dire retribution to come upon them if they give no heed to the commands of God, to repent and believe in Christ, and even when the sorrows of life come upon them they see not the finger of God. There are many warnings of retribution in this life to those who persists in doing evil. But men see them not.
2. Because of the miraculous element in the-retribution they were called to experience. The great River of Egypt was turned into blood. Their homes were tilled with croaking frogs. The dust of their land was smitten into lice. True these occurrences were apparently brought about by the effort of Moses and Aaron, but the Egyptians must have seen that these two men were but the agents of a higher Power. But even when the events of life are striking and evidently the outcome of Divine intervention, men will not behold in them the finger of God.
3. Because of the suffering through which they were called to pass. We should have thought that the suffering through which the Egyptians were called to pass would have made them readily acknowledge the finger of God. In the hour of pain men generally turn their souls to heaven. But in affliction men will not always see the retribution of God. Why are men so slow to recognize the hand of God in the retributions of human life?
1. Because they have not right views of the character of God. They may have theoretical notions of the Divine character, correct and true, but not such as to influence moral conduct. Men want not merely to know that God is just in His method of government, but to feel that He is. If they were deeply impressed with a sense of the Divine justice they would see retribution written in large letters upon many of the circumstances of life, which now they regard with complacency.
2. Because they have not a due consciousness of sin and its demerit. Men know that they have sinned against God and against the moral good of the community, but they contemplate not the great injury they have done, the offence of which they are guilty. They have no deep consciousness of personal sin. Hence they do not regard the events of life as a rebuke to them. They link not the pain of society to their own demerit. Hence when the retributions of heaven come upon them, they are more ready to acknowledge their own improvidence or indiscretion, the unfavourable working of natural law, the fortuitous combination of circumstances, rather than the finger of God. In this we see the moral blindness of the unregenerate soul.
II. That wicked men are made by continuous retributions ultimately to recognize the Supreme Power against them. “Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, this is the finger of God.” These sorcerers endeavoured to imitate the retribution of heaven. In so doing they were prompted and aided by Satan. But the power of Satan is limited by the Divine will. Heaven can show men the delusions of hell. Hence the deluded are without excuse. Sometimes the servants of the devil are made unconsciously to minister to the truth. The sorcerer may announce to his dupe that the hand of God is against him. It may be asked, how came these magicians to make this confession to Pharaoh? It is not unlikely that they made it upon a sudden impulse, prompted by the Holy Spirit. And so there will come a time when all the artifices which bind men, and prevent them from seeing the retributive hand of God, will be made known, defeated, and brought to an open shame. God sometimes plagues men until they acknowledge Him. The events of life are charged with retributions which cannot be hidden by the art of the sorcerer.
III. That when wicked men are made to acknowledge the Supreme Power in the retributions of life they may nevertheless continue in open opposition to it. “And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.” The magicians by their recognition of the finger of God did not wish to undo the moral injury they had done to Pharaoh. They had established him in obstinate rebellion against God, and they had no wish that his obstinacy should cease. The agents of Satan do not wish to nullify the evil influence of their hellish art. Unbelief remains when the lies that wrought it are made known. The magicians here refer this calamity to a Providence of God altogether beyond their control. They regard it as the outcome of Divine power. They did not intend by this confession to give glory to the God of Moses, but simply to protect their own honour. LESSONS:
1. That the retributions of life are designed to lead men to the performance of moral duty.
2. That there are many deceptions calculated to blind men to the hand of God in the events of life.
3. That wicked men are not able to contend with God. and are at times brought to acknowledge His supremacy. Many commentators think that the magicians referred to the gods of Egypt when they made mention of the “finger of God.” But we cannot accept this interpretation, as the gods of Egypt were defeated by this retribution; and, moreover, Pharaoh had previously identified Moses with the God of Israel in asking him to seek the removal of the plagues.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 8:16-19. At God’s word dust shall become lice to torment proud sinners.
God’s servants are obedient in executing His commands for vengeance.
All creatures are at God’s command to plague His enemies.
The poorest creatures armed by God hath power enough against greatest kings.
The devil will try his utmost to counterwork God.
The devil is impotent upon the least check from God.
There is not the least doubt that the creatures here named is the mosquito gnat. In the Greek Septuagint the word is σκνιφες, which denotes gnats. And in a warm climate we can imagine what a terrible infliction this would be.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Lice! Exodus 8:16. Travellers speak of the dust of Egypt as in itself almost a plague. Yet the soil of Egypt was worshipped. The black mud of the Nile was especially an object of superstitious veneration; and to throw this dust over them was to give a special sanctity to their fasting and mourning. When it became dry under the rays of the sun, it generated this vermin, concerning which Mr. Lane says in very thrilling terms that they are a sort of tick, not larger than a grain of sand which, when filled with blood, expands to the size of a hazel nut. Sir Samuel Baker says that at certain seasons these prevail to such an extent that it is as though the very dust were turned into lice. Oftentimes God sends innumerable minute sufferings before He sends greater ones; but great and small are alike designed to lead us to repentence.
“Oh! let me suffer, till I find
What plants of sorrow can impart,
Some gift, some triumph of the mind,
Some flower, some fruitage of the heart.”
—Uphan.
Finger of God! Exodus 8:19. At the time of the battle of Waterloo, the Iron Duke was still without an experimental knowledge of true religion. Yet God prompted him—upon a sudden impulse, perhaps by the Holy Spirit, to pen a few brief words, which have come down to posterity. When the dreadful fight was over, the Duke’s feelings, kept so long at the highest tension, gave way. As he rode among the dying and wounded on the field of battle—saw the reeking carnage—and heard the shout of conquerors and vanquished fainter and fainter through the gloom of night, he wept. Soon after he wrote these words: “I have escaped unhurt; the Finger of God was on me.” Alike are the preserving mercies and judicial visitations the Finger of Jehovah. It is in such seasons that even the most godless feel their frail mortality, and acknowledge that a Supreme Being guides and governs all things:—and
“That man, who madly deems himself the lord
Of all, is naught but weakness and dependence.”
—Thomson.