“Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’ But Pharaoh was made hardhearted, so that he didn’t listen to them, just as Adonai had said would happen.”
Exodus 8:15
With the frogs now being removed on the date decided my Pharaoh, Pharaoh changed his mind. He had told Moshe that if the frogs were stopped he would let the Hebrews go worship their God, but in seeing the relief his heart hardened once again. To this, Adonai had another response. To show that He was more powerful than the Egyptian god of the dust, Adonai instructed Moshe to speak to Aharon to reach out his staff and strike the dust. With this command, Aharon did and suddenly there were lice throughout the land of Egypt, from people to animals. The magicians worked to produce the same but could not. Adonai once again showed His power over the god Geb, and even the magicians knew this was the finger of Adonai. Still Pharaoh’s heart stayed hardened.
We aren’t sure if it is the next day or days later, but one day following, early in the morning, Adonai again speak to Moshe and orders him to stand before Pharaoh. Again he is to pronounce that Pharaoh let His people go. The punishment for Pharaoh not obeying this time is the sending of swarms of insects. True to His word, Adonai sent the swarms which invaded the houses and ground. And true to His character, Adonai proves His power over the Egyptian god Khepri, the god of insects with the face of a dung beetle. And still, the hardened heart of Pharaoh is not budged in the slightest.
Exodus 8:7-18
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