Exodus 10 - 11 Locusts & Darkness / Death of the Firstborn
Timeline: 1450 BC
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II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. The first nine plagues are divided into groups of three. Each group gave warning, warning, then no warning. In the first three plagues, God used Aaron's rod as the instrument to bring forth the plagues. They dealt with comfort of the Egyptians and the Jewish people. Then the middle three plagues, attacked their possessions. The last three plagues are from Moses result in death and destruction. After all the previous disasters, Pharaoh continually pretended to humble himself, but as soon as the crisis was over, he refused to let God's people go to worship Him. As God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He strengthened Moses' faith. The Exodus judgments were intended to complete the display of God's power, not to change Pharaoh's mind. 1 Now the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord." God hardening Pharaoh's heart by allowing him to have what he sinfully desired – a hard heart against the LORD and His people. Pharaoh was more than a man; he considered himself a god, and the Egyptians agreed. His power and authority were supreme and there was no constitution or law or legislature higher or even remotely equal to him. His servants lived to serve him and therefore they hardened their hearts as well. After a long period of slavery the Jewish people needed time to grow in their faith. The first three plagues must have affected the Israelites in order to prove God's existence, authority and power. The difference was that Israel had a prophet in Moses, to explain to them that their God is the true Jehovah. God's work was not only for the sake of the generation of Moses and Pharaoh, but for every generation, including ours. Throughout history God has done certain things so that people from every era can learn from the mistakes or successes of the saints and from how God worked Himself. 3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.' "And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. Because of Pharaoh's pride and obstinacy, he simply didn't want to give in. God warned Pharaoh over and over again to humble himself but he believed he had survived the plagues because of his god's protection or his own strength in spite of the destruction of Egypt. So Moses and Aaron cautioned Pharaoh what was coming next if he refused to relinquish God's people. This display of power is unprecedented in all history. It will only be equaled and exceeded during the Tribulation. 7 Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, "How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?" The populace of Egypt was losing patience with the Pharaoh's stubbornness. To challenge Pharaoh was risking punishment or even death. However, their fear of God was mightier than their fear of their leader. They could see that God had more power than Pharaoh or their gods. They feared the annihilation of Pharaoh and Egypt along with him. 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go, serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going?" And Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord." Then he said to them, "The Lord had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desired." And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. Then Pharaoh made his third attempt to negotiate a face-saving compromise. He implied that not all would leave. Pharaoh would have taken hostages from the Israelites for their return, by holding their wives and children in captivity. Pharaoh's sarcastic tone implied a threat to inflict the evil of punishment upon them, if they would not comply with his terms, at the same time again mocking God. The word "driven" showed just how angry Pharaoh was. Once again, he wanted to exert his authority by driving them out. 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left." So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. As a rule, locusts enter Egypt either from the south or from the east. They come with a wind, since they cannot possibly fly any considerable distance without one. Ordinary swarms are confined to particular districts but this swarm covered the face of the earth, meaning all of Egypt except Goshen where God's people resided. The volcanic eruption on nearby Santorini may have created favorable conditions for the locusts. The ash fallout caused weather anomalies, which translates into higher precipitations and higher humidity fosters the presence of the locusts, or so says scientists. Egypt was famous for its fruits, which consisted of figs, grapes, olives, mulberries, pomegranates, dates, pears, plums, apples, peaches, and more. In Ex 9:4 "the wheat and the spelt were not ruined, for they ripen late," but they would be a feast for the locusts. The trees and fields appeared as if they had been burnt by fire. The locusts would not only affect plant life, they would also make the daily life of the Egyptians miserable. The Egyptians kept the Jewish people away from their families in order to prevent crush this nation and prevent its growth by forcing them to plant wheat, barley, beans and lentils and to pick the fruit off the trees. Ironically, God used the locusts to devour all the crops from the fields in which the Jews had toiled. This plague parallels the first and fifth trumpet judgments: Revelation 9:3-5 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. Revelation 8:7b And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Throughout ancient history, there have been numerous gods and goddesses related to agriculture. Shu - the god of peace, lions, air, and wind. Nut - an Egyptian goddess of sky Seth - is the evil Egyptian god of war, chaos, storm, disorder, waste, drought, famine, destruction, hunger, and foreign invasion/influence. Isis - her worship was closely tied to the agricultural cycle God mocked Pharaoh, the Egyptian gods, the Egyptian might, and in the end the Egyptian army. 16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only." Although the confession was probably sincere at the time; it was short-lived. It's easy to confess sin when consequences are upon us. However, he did keep his promise of "only this once". As promised, He did not ask any more for the removal of a plague. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to forgive his sin and to pray on his behalf but refused to pray to the Lord himself. 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. Moses complied to show the hardened king the greatness of the divine long-suffering even though he made no distinct promise of releasing the people. Moses knew from experience that he would not release his people. Locust infestation happens in that region from time to time. Egypt was swarmed by locusts in November, 2004, and again three weeks before Passover in 2013. None however was as devastating as the one that took place here. The notable miracle here is that God orchestrated their arrival and departure with his supernatural control of the wind. The miracles of the plagues were not only about convincing Pharaoh; they were also for the Hebrews' benefit, to demonstrate the power of their God. The Israelites had been living in Egypt for a long time at this point and many of them had been born and raised there. Some of them had stopped believing in God and had started following the Egyptian religion and praying to their idols. God wanted to free them, and the Egyptians, from the lies of a false religion. 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. As expected, there was no warning for this ninth plague. God abandoned Egypt and when that happened, darkness was left in the wake of His withdrawal. Darkness is a biblical sign of God's judgment and three days is a symbolic representation for the fullness of time, the completion of a particular activity. In this case, the three days of darkness related to the "three day journey" that Israel requested to go into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord their God. Many things take place in three days in the Bible. Some scholars say the plague of darkness may have been a solar eclipse, which according to NASA, occurred on March 5, 1223 B.C. Others assume it was volcanic ash from the Santorini eruption mentioned earlier. However, the darkness they felt was more than an eclipse. It was "cave darkness" where there was no light whatsoever; no sun, moon or even stars. Cave darkness is a special kind of darkness. You cannot even see your own hand in front of your face. If you think you can, it's your brain trying to compensate for the utter lack of light. There is dark, and then there is cave dark. The Egyptians were unable to supply any sort of artificial remedy for this darkness and although it was just as dark in Goshen, the Israelites had light in their homes. Once again, God made a distinction between Egypt and Goshen. God, in His sovereignty, showed His might even over the greatest of Egypt's gods, Ra, the god of the sun. They believed that the sunrise in the east symbolized Ra's victory over the demonic powers of the netherworld, and that sunset indicated that these forces of darkness were waging war against Ra. In the pantheon of Egyptian gods, more gods represented the sun, moon and stars than any other part of creation. Revelation 16:10-11 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. Isaiah 60:2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. 24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, "Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you." But Moses said, "You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the Lord our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there." Pharaoh tried to negotiate with Moses for the fourth time. This time, he wants to hold the livestock hostage as a pledge of their return. They would be placed in certain places under the guard of Egyptians. Pharaoh considered this as sufficient security for their return, since without cattle they would be unable to support life for many days in the wilderness. Moses refused the offer and boldly demanded that he take the livestock with them. After all, how can you make sacrifices without livestock? 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!" Oh Pharaoh, be careful what you wish for! He cursed himself with this threat. Had he forgotten how often he had sent for Moses to ease him of his plagues? Pause now for Chapter 11 which is followed by Exodus 10:29, the conclusion of the interview in progress. While Pharaoh was threatening Moses, God revealed a secret revelation to Moses as he was standing in the presence of Pharaoh. The message that Moses received was a response to Pharaoh's declaration. 1 And the Lord said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. The tenth and last plague is intended to stand apart from the rest. This time the result will be freedom from Pharaoh and departure from Egypt. Prior to all the other plagues, God spoke to Moses before he appeared before Pharaoh to deliver His commands. This time, God spoke to Moses while he was in the presence of Pharaoh. Moses didn't threaten Pharaoh, he simply informed him what was about to happen next. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold Go to the people of Israel and give them these instructions. The King James Version uses the word "borrow" rather than the word "ask". The New King James Version translates the word properly. God promised Abraham and Moses riches from the Egyptians: Gen 15:14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Exodus 3:21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. Because of the devastation caused by the plagues, the Egyptian people were afraid that God would keep on ravaging the land until there was nothing left to destroy. But they took pity on the slaves. Psalm 106:45-46 And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies. He also made them to be pitied by all those who carried them away captive. This was how the slaves of Israel received their past wages from their time of slavery, and how they did not leave Egypt empty-handed. Spoiler alert: some of the articles of silver and gold were used in the construction of the tabernacle in the desert while other was melted to make the golden calf. 3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. God was at work, changing the hearts of the Egyptians toward His people. The very people who had been hated and despised by the Egyptians were now respected and honored by them. Moses, who was once a disgraced, exiled former-Egyptian, is now considered a person with great power and integrity. He was a man of his word. What he predicted happened. However, Pharaoh still looked upon Moses with disdain. 29 So Moses said, "You have spoken well. I will never see your face again." |
| Cassie, Matt, Mary | |
