God brings His third plague upon the land of Egypt through Moses, the plague of gnats (or lice, or mosquitos, or ?) which is distinctly different than the first two plagues. What made this one different? Pharaoh's magicians even testified that this plague was the "finger of God," although Pharaoh would not believe them. In this episode, we look at the plagues from both the Egyptian perspective and also from the Israelite perspective.

God brings the plague of frogs upon the land of Egypt, covering the land with them. How many were there? Where did they go once they were upon the land? In the first two plagues, God has shown His power by turning Egyptian gods of life and resurrection into judgement and death. We also learn of the "proximity paradigm" of the plagues: They come closer and get more personal one by one.

The time had come for plague no. 1 in Egypt, when God turned the water of the "mighty" Nile River, and all the water in Egypt (even the jars of water in homes) into blood for seven days. Before it was over, all the fish that had died were rotting and stinking and the river that represented the source of life to the Egyptians was turned into a place of death. God had showed His power over Egypt, and over Pharoah, but they refused to believe.

Moses failed the first time he confronted Pharoah on behalf of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt. As a matter of fact, things went from bad to worse because of it. Now Moses does not want to go back and engage with Pharoah again, but God gives him seven "I will" promises, including, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharoah." Before it is all said and done, the people will see that God is not just a promise maker, but a promise keeper.

When Moses first confronted Pharaoh upon his return to Egypt, the interaction between them did not go well. Even though God spoke through Moses with authority, proclaiming, "Let My people go," not a request, but a demand, Pharaoh refused. Pharaoh even retaliated against the Israelites, taking away the straw they needed to make the bricks which he required each day. Upon learning of this punishment, the Jewish overseers did not blame Pharaoh for their new predicament, they blamed Moses. And did Moses blame Pharaoh? No. Whom did he blame instead? I wonder.

As he received his marching orders from God, Moses was reminded that Israel was important to the Lord, and he was given a message of warning for Pharaoh: obey and let His people go, or Pharaoh would suffer the death of his first-born son. On the way back to Egypt, though, Moses was also called to obey the Lord within his own family or possibly be killed himself. To do so would anger Moses' wife, Zipporah. Could Moses do the difficult thing that God required?

As Moses headed back to Egypt, uncertain as he was, hesitant, fearful, unsure, he held tightly to the "staff of God." In the years ahead, whenever he felt anxious again, Moses would hold tightly to that same staff because God had promised him that it would be instrumental in bringing forth miraculous things. We don't have a staff like that today as Christians, but we have something even better to hold on to when we are anxious or unsure: we have God's promises as found in His Word!

Moses was worried that he would not be eloquent enough for God to use him, especially in the Egyptian royal court. And even though God assured him, "I will be with your mouth," Moses still hesitated. This angered the Lord, but He accommodated Moses by giving him, among other things, the "staff of God" to carry back to Egypt. What was that all about anyway?