Magicians understood, 'This is finger of God'

Exodus 8: [15] But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

[16] And the LORD said unto 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.
[17] 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.
[18] And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
[19] Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

They couldn't reproduce the lice out of the dust. What did God create man from in Genesis 2? They could reproduce magical phenomena, but they couldn't reproduce the original creation act--life out of dirt. The magicians understood, "We can't produce life; this is the finger of God," explains Richard Jordan.

The magicians are warning Pharaoh, 'This is the real God; this is the Creator.' And yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened to rebel against Him. He knows he's defying the Creator God and not the lesser gods.

Exodus 8: [30] And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

[31] And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.
[32] And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

Exodus 9: [33] And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

[34] And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
[35] And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

Notice it says,"'He sinned yet more, and hardened his heart." I learned this verse preaching at the Mobile Rescue Mission when I was young and this is a verse that helped me early on in regard to preaching the gospel.

Proverbs 29:1: [1] He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

The way that verse was quoted most of the time was, "He that being often reproved AND hardeneth his neck." But Brother Reynolds pointed out to me, "That's not what that verse says. It says that the being often reproved hardens his neck." Much reproof hardens your heart if you don't respond positively to it.

When you hear God's Word and you ignore it and resist it, and you do what Pharaoh did and you 'sinned yet more,' that negative response to God's Word hardens.

It's a reciprocal thing where God sends the message, and you don't want the message, and when you reject the message, it hardens your heart. So you blame it on God because He sent the message, but don't blame it on yourself for rejecting the message.

Romans 9: [17] For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

[18] Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

God says, "I raised you up, Pharaoh, put you on that throne, let you live on that throne. I didn't wipe you out and just take my people out. I sent all those plagues so I could show the superiority of my will against all of the gods of Egypt. and proclaim my name."

Jethro said it: "Now I know; you're the God of gods." Joshua 2, when the spies go in and there's Rahab, she says, "We've been waiting 40 years for you guys to show up. Where you been? We heard what you did to the Egyptians and we knew that your God was the God of gods. We've been convinced for 40 years." Why? Because they heard of the demonstration of Jehovah against the satanic powers that were there.

So, there's this great contest going on. It's not just a light little thing. There's this principle in Israel's program where God will say, "I'm going to do this," and then He says, "But not yet," and He'll delay doing it in order to do something else first. And that happens over and over and over.

Three times in the life of Christ He's going to do something and then He gets diverted and does something else. That delay principle is what Paul's talking about in Romans 9.

God doesn't overrule free will, but when you make bad choices you get the result of it.