The Eighth Plague: Locusts 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” 3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. 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 understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go. The Ninth Plague: Darkness 21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.” We see again that the Lord has hardened Pharaoh's heart, but Pharaoh is also hardening his own heart. Which is it? I think it's both--Pharaoh has already made his choice and God is just helping Pharaoh continue to make that choice--that is until we will see God pushes Pharaoh over the edge--but even then, Pharaoh will desire to go back on his promise.
God says that His desire is to show signs among His people so that they may know Him by the telling of the works that He has done. Moses and Aaron get a bit more bold each time they approach Pharaoh now, and they ask him now how long it will be before he decides to humble himself before the Lord, the God of the Hebrews. They already know the answer, so they announce the next plague--that the next day a plague of locusts would come and devour all that was not destroyed by the hail--no vegetation would be spared, and they would even come into the houses and eat everything that had been safe from the hail inside of the homes of the Egyptians that had believed. Pharaoh once again tried to renegotiate God's terms as Pharaoh believes this is an attempt for them to escape bondage since all of them including the children and animals needed to go to the feast that the LORD says that His people must hold to make sacrifices and worship Him. Pharaoh says that he will let the men go but that the women and children must stay behind to make sure that the men will return, but Pharaoh will learn there is no negotiating with God. At that moment God ordered Moses to stretch out the staff over the land of Egypt so that an east wind blew all that day and night and the next day the land was filled with locusts, just as the LORD had said. The swarm was like nothing that had been seen before or would be seen again--that is until the end times when we will see God use a plague of locusts to judge the entire world. The people had to cover their faces to keep from breathing the locusts in their noses and mouths and the sky was darkened because of the thick cloud of locusts. All vegetation whether tree, or plant, or crop of their fields was devoured by the locusts. Pharaoh once again goes for his, "I have sinned against the LORD" routine because it has worked so well for him in the past. He believes that if he can feign repentance once again that God will once again be tricked into removing this plague from his land and he can once again go back on his word without consequences--and that's exactly what he did. Once again, he hardens his heart after the plague has been removed, but this was done because the LORD caused Pharaoh's heart to be hardened. God had not yet shown His full power and majesty to the Egyptians or to His people. The last plague is another one that we read about that will be repeated on a global scale in the end times--darkness so thick that you can feel it. No one was able to move from their place for three whole days because the darkness came on them so suddenly and was so severe, only the people of Israel had light where they lived (in the land of Goshen). This time Pharaoh calls for an audience with Moses and Aaron because God had not sent them to him ahead of time, but he knows that this is of God and that he must talk to Moses and Aaron if he wants the darkness to go away. He once again tries to negotiate terms to say that all the people can go, but that the animals have to stay behind. Again, partial obedience is disobedience and rebellion. God would not relent until Pharaoh did exactly what God asked, and that wasn't going to happen until the 10th plague--the one that is celebrated during Passover, so we're going to get several chapters dedicated to it coming up. As we move forward and start to see the emancipation of God's people and the freedom and liberation that he brought to them, ask yourself how your story is similar. What parts are meant for us as New Testament saints to take and learn from? This is one of the primary illustrations used by the apostles to show both Jews and Gentiles who Jesus was--in fact, Jesus Himself used this very event to tell his disciples at the last supper why He had come and about the New Covenant that He was making with them. We continue to celebrate this to this day in the Church with what is called "The Lord's Supper," "Communion" or "The Eucharist." This is one of the primary reasons I wanted to study the book of Exodus with you as this is the story of all of God's people--not just the Israelites of that time. What God did for His people physically then and there, He has done for all of His people spiritually in all times and all places.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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