“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.”
Then the Lord said to Moses: tell Aaron, stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats. The third plague has no warning given to Pharaoh in advance — no prior demand, no opportunity to respond. The escalation in the plague narrative is not only in severity but in structure: the first plague was warned in advance at the Nile; the second was warned in advance at the palace; the third comes without warning. The pattern of warning, warning, no-warning repeats across the ten plagues. Mercy is progressively withdrawn from a ruler whose repeated refusals have moved him further from the possibility of genuine response. Amos 4:6–11 lists a series of judgments God sent without repentance, before the final announcement: prepare to meet your God.
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