The Third Plague: Gnats

 

Exodus 8:16-19

 

August 25, 2025

 

The Third Plague: Gnats

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.’”  And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.  The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So, there were gnats on man and beast.  Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

 

I can only imagine the problem this caused, gnats all over you morning and evening, in your food, everywhere.   My wife enjoys plants inside and outside of our home, and at times we have gnats.  I read that Perlite over the dirt will keep them out. It helps, and then you also have sink gnats, for which there are ways to control them.  But those are just small problems.

I was thinking, has God allowed the evil one, the devil,​ to ​bring plague of fear and hate and evil so that we as a Church would awaken to our need of seeking the Face of God and doing the “IF”?  Many of God’s promises begin with if, The most common one quoted is 2 Chronicles 7:14, ^“ if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

So that brings up the question, who is He addressing then?  The chosen people, the Jewish race.  Who does that apply to in 2025?  First, let us address who it does not apply to, not those who go by the title of Christian, or those who are members of a so-called Church.  Not to any denomination, and not to a person because they were baptized as a child or adult.  Water has never died for anyone, nor has it saved you.

So, what is required to be a people of God?  I believe Scripture tells us it requires faith, that God will give to all who seek truth.  It also states it requires an understanding that you are a sinner and need God’s forgiveness.  An understanding that your good deeds are as filthy rags to a Holy God.  One must come with not one thing to offer God, and receive all that God has promised to be a child of His.

Let us look at the Scriptures;  John 1:12-13,  ^“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”  1 Peter 2:9-10,  ^“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

My testimony was a process of being asked to attend a Bible study at a Holiday Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas.  I went in, and I wonder why the man who invited me was going.  For six months, this Baptist attended, and I began to grasp that the men in that Bible study knew the God I was only informed about.  For most of those months, I tried to make deals with God about becoming one of His.  God does not make deals; there is only one way, and that is by Jesus. He tells us He is the door to the Father.

Six months later, I’m in Victory, Texas, staying in a hotel, and about 10 p.m. I put the key in the door and heard a voice, it said Tonight, the last night my Spirit will deal with you.  What did I do? I ran to that hotel Bible, and it opened to Romans chapter 10, and my eyes went to verses 9-10.  This is what it states: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  That night in a hotel, I exchanged my identity from Baptist to the start of dying to all that I put before my relationship with God. I confess, I had nothing of worth to offer Him, but I desire to become a son and receive the grace and forgiveness only He could give.  I exchange nothing of value and receive everything, a people of God.  I often go to 2 Corinthians 13:5; you might need to do that.

 

From our Back Porch,

Bob Rice