A judgment, and a mercy
The Lice
The third plague rises not from the river but from the dust of the ground. Small and swarming, the lice come without warning, and here even Pharaoh's magicians confess the finger of God.
“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.”Exodus 8:17
What happened
What happened. This plague came with no prior warning to Pharaoh. The LORD said to 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" (Exodus 8:16). Aaron did so, "and all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt" (Exodus 8:17). The lice came upon man and upon beast. The magicians tried, as before, to produce the same by their enchantments, "but they could not" (Exodus 8:18). This was the point at which their power failed. The very ground of Egypt had turned against its people, and the wise men of Pharaoh's court reached the end of their tricks. They came to Pharaoh and said, "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19). Yet even this open confession from his own counselors did not move the king. "Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said" (Exodus 8:19). The evidence had become undeniable, but a hardened heart can look at the finger of God and turn away.
What it meant
What it meant. The turning point of this plague is not its size but its effect on the magicians. Until now they had imitated the signs; here they were shut out entirely and forced to admit a power above their arts, "the finger of God." Some teachers connect the lice from the dust to the Egyptian earth god Geb or to the priests' obsession with ritual purity, since crawling vermin would defile them and bar them from serving in the temples. These are interesting and plausible suggestions, but they are inferences, not statements of the text. Exodus does not name any god in this plague and gives only the general judgment declared later, "against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment" (Exodus 12:12). What we can say plainly is that God can strike from the humblest source, mere dust, and that human power and wisdom have a limit He sets. The magicians confessed the truth with their lips even while their king refused it with his heart.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The phrase "the finger of God" reappears on the lips of Jesus. When accused of casting out demons by evil power, He answered, "If I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you" (Luke 11:20). The same finger that judged Egypt works in Christ to break the deeper bondage, the tyranny of sin and death. The lice showed that no human cleverness can save; salvation is God's doing alone. This is the heart of Passover, that the people were spared not by their own strength but by the blood of the lamb, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). Where the magicians could only confess their helplessness, the gospel offers a Deliverer, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
Questions people ask
What exactly were the lice?
The KJV calls them lice, small swarming insects that came upon man and beast (Exodus 8:17). The Hebrew term is uncertain and some render it gnats, but the point is a swarming pest that arose from the dust at God's command.
Why is this plague a turning point?
For the first time the magicians could not copy the sign and admitted, "This is the finger of God" (Exodus 8:19). Their failure marked the collapse of Egypt's imitation and confession that a higher power was at work.