Exodus 10 Locusts & Darkness
Timeline: 1450 BC
|
|
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. Exodus 10:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardeneda his heart and the hearts of his officials, that I may perform these miraculous signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how severely I dealt with the Egyptians when I performed miraculous signs among them, so that all of 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. Exodus 10:3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. But if you refuse to let My people go, I will bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. They will cover the face of the land so that no one can see it. They will devour whatever is left after the hail and eat every tree that grows in your fields. They will fill your houses and the houses of all your officials and every Egyptian—something neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since the day they came into this land.'" Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh's presence. 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. Exodus 10:7 Pharaoh's officials asked him, "How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?" 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. Exodus 10:8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the LORD your God," he said. "But who exactly will be going?" "We will go with our young and old," Moses replied. "We will go with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD." Then Pharaoh told them, "May the LORD be with you if I ever let you go with your little ones. Clearly you are bent on evil. No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting." And Moses and Aaron were driven 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. Exodus 10:12 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, so that the locusts may swarm over it and devour every plant in the land—everything that the hail has left behind." Exodus 10:13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and throughout that day and night the LORD sent an east wind across the land. By morning the east wind had brought the locusts. The locusts swarmed across the land and settled over the entire territory of Egypt. Never before had there been so many locusts, and never again will there be. They covered the face of all the land until it was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left behind. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in 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:
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. Exodus 10:16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you. Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me." 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. Exodus 10:18 So Moses left Pharaoh's presence and appealed to the LORD. And the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind that carried off the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea.b Not a single locust remained anywhere in Egypt. But the LORD hardenedc Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites 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. Exodus 10:21 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness." So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and total darkness covered all the land of Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else, and for three days no one left his place. Yet all the Israelites 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.
Exodus 10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind." But Moses replied, "You must also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD our God. Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive." 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? Exodus 10:27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. "Depart from me!" Pharaoh said to Moses. "Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will 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? Exodus 10:29 "As you say," Moses replied, "I will never see your face again." |
| Cassie, Matt, Mary | |
