After the maka of Dam (blood) had begun the chartumim of Mitzriam were able to duplicate it, so too with the maka of tzfardai'a. Yet, by the third maka, Kinim, the chartumim could not do it so they told Paro that it must be "yad Elokim" (God's hand) (see Rashi (8:15)).
There is a big problem, why was it not until the third maka that they said this? They should have said this the moment the moment that the blood turned back into water. The chartumim could not turn the blood back into water, otherwise they would have had water to drink. So why didn't they go to Paro and tell him that it must have been God who turned the blood back into water or Who got the frogs to leave?
To answer this question let me tell you a story. So as you all know, it snowed this past week in New York. Me being me, I managed to get my car stuck, not once but two times. After about a half hour each time my car was finally freed from the grasps of the horrid snow I was finally able to go home. My friend who was in the car with me, and my friend who helped me get the car out (the first time) both pointed out how clear the yad Hashem was that after thirty minutes of my car moving back and forth in the same place, it miraculously got out.
The second time I had spent several minutes on my hands and knees shoveling snow with my hand to try to get my car out. Two guys from yeshiva saw me and tried to help but it was not until two random strangers came that my car was able to get out of the spot.
So each time that my car gets out of the snow it is clear that it is a Hashem, but how about every other time I easily pull my car out of spot on a sunny nice not-snowy day? Why isn't that also clearly yad Hashem? The answer is that that too is in fact also yad Hashem but we just assume it is nature that each time it happens we do not even think about it.
This is exactly what happened in Mitzriam. When the maka started the chartumim had an idea to say that it might be Hashem so they needed to do magic to show that it could have not been Hashem, but once the maka ended and they could see nature running it's course again they did not need magic to get around the possibility of it all being Hashem.
If the chartumim would have recognized from the beginning that it was yad Hashem then they would never have let Paro keep the Jews through all of the plauges. (According to the Ramban, Hashem only hardened Paro's heart after the fifth maka. Before then it was all Paro's free will. Therefore, if the chartumim would have been convinced from the getgo that it was Hashem, Paro would never have gotten through five makot.) It was their free will that allowed them to constantly look for an excuse to say it was not Hashem. But if they would have open their eyes to the truth they would have seen how clear it was. It was only by the third maka when they had no other explanation that they finally could admit to the idea that it was Hashem.
If a person were to just recognize that every event is orchestrated by Hashem then not only will every amazing event that occurs be yad Hashem, but even every small thing in their day turn into a great kindess straight from Hashem.
Have a great Shabbat!
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