Lice from the dust: 3rd sign. Exodus 8:16-19 There was no warning. The lice just appeared! This sign could not be duplicated because it involved the creation of life. The lice on every person and animal was an irritation that could not be avoided, and it was undeniable. The plague of lice, when God turned dust into lice, convinced the Egyptian magicians that they were facing a Supreme Power. To give life in any form is an “act of God.” For Him to create lice from the same material He formed man is a reminder of our insignificance, especially considering that “God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”
God has His witness in every part of creation, in every part of the world, and to every person, that He exists and has the authority and power to give or take away life. He has the right to do what He chooses over everything He made. He is the Potter; we are the clay. There is no excuse for anyone anywhere to ignore God. The problem of sin in every person has led cultures and nations to substitute the creature for the Creator, even to the extent of worshipping the creature.
Consequently, the idolatry of one form or another has infiltrated every society of mankind. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” People have made false attempts to honor God through altars of sacrifice, such as the one in Athens “to the unknown God.” Magnificent buildings have been constructed all over the world, with high pointed steeples “pointing to God,” but in vain efforts to honor Him. Skilled artists have created various forms of art to try to depict God or things related to Him. Still, God clearly states that He is not worshiped with human hands as if He needed anything. “He giveth life, and breath, and all things.”
We are clearly instructed on how to glorify God. “Whoso offers praise, glorifies God.” “You are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body and spirit, which are God’s.” Not only is He our Creator, but He has also redeemed us with the blood of Christ. We belong to Him by creation, and those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are redeemed through the sacrifice He made to buy us. We were lost to Him, but through His mercy, He has saved us. We belong to Him twice over: by nature and by redemption.
The term “the finger of God” acknowledged by sorcerers and magicians that their previous actions were based on manipulation and deceit, not divine power. They were outmatched by the God Moses served and represented, and they had to accept it. Using the word “finger” might have been an attempt to conceal their true nature since Pharaoh, regarded as a god, ruled with his hand.
They could manipulate existing things, but they could not create any form of life. Shaved heads or smooth-skinned animals could not resist the itching creatures God made from dust. The animal gods of the Egyptians could not defend themselves from the terrible discomfort that was upon them any more than the fallen men who worshipped them. They truly said, "This is the finger of God."
We understand that the “finger of God' symbolizes power and danger. With His finger, God inscribed the commandments on two stone tablets. Those engraved words would have struck Moses as fragments of hard rock either rising into the air or melting away at the touch of God's finger. Through His finger, the Lord cast out demons, and with it, He wrote words on the ground that the guilty men who saw them could easily read before fleeing from the oldest to the youngest in the presence of the Lord.
People who ask for signs as proof of God's existence are often those who don't want to believe in Him. To protect themselves, they try to convince themselves that He doesn't exist. Miracles and signs can happen and be real, but not all are from God. Because of this, they don't always clearly show what is true and what isn't. Faith in God Himself is the most important step in coming to Him.
Without faith, nothing a person does to try to please God has any value or acceptance from Him. “Without faith, it is impossible to please Him; for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of them who diligently seek Him.” Self-promotion is detestable to God, and He is just as committed to humbling a proud person as He is to lifting a humble one up.
The stubbornness of Pharaoh and his deceitfulness remind us that arrogance and defiance against divine authority deepen the callousness and hardness of the human heart. Stubbornness is one of the clearest signs of human pride that exists. It is “as iniquity and idolatry,” which is self-worship. Someone who remains stubborn against God shows evidence that they are personally rejecting the Lord and his offer of mercy and grace.