A Gnat Lesson

Read: Exodus 8:16-19

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. — Hebrews 3:8

Bible in a year: Psalms 74-76; Romans 9:16-33

During one of my daily walks, I inadvertently walked through a small tornado of little insects. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but later on I found all kinds of bites on my ankles and arms. It seems I had walked through a swarm of gnats, whose bites led to uncomfortable itching and sores.

This experience gave me a new perspective on the plague of gnats that God visited upon Egypt when Pharaoh would not free the Israelites. The Hebrew word translated “lice” in Exodus 8:16-18 can also mean “gnats” or “mosquitoes.” Because the insects are compared to the sand of the desert, a swarm of gnats seems the most likely. The pagan priests of Pharaoh who prided themselves in their frequent washings and shavings were now covered with numerous insect bites. God had designed this plague to get Pharaoh to repent and let Israel go, but instead he hardened his heart.

Is God trying to get your attention through some circumstances in your life? Is He trying to persuade you to get back in step with Him? (Gal. 5:25). We should resist the urge to harden our hearts. But let’s instead submit to God (James 4:6-8) and ask Him what spiritual lessons He wants us to learn. — Dennis Fisher

The sun that hardens clay to brick
Can soften wax to shape and mould;
So too life’s trials will harden some,
While others purify as gold. — Sper

God makes us miserable through conviction to make us joyful through confession.

PRAISE GOD
BLESSED BE THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD