We will begin this lesson in Exodus 10:1 “And the LORD said unto
Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the
heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:”
Everything that God does has a purpose, and this was certainly no
exception. God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that through these
great signs, God could reveal to Pharaoh the futility of worshipping his
false gods. They have no power strong enough to come against God. God
wanted Pharaoh to realize that Jehovah is the true God. Jehovah, Lord,
God Almighty, the Everlasting One, whatever you call Him, He is the
God that does exist.
Exodus 10:2 “And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and
of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs
which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I [am] the
LORD.”
Not only was this message for Pharaoh, but for all of humanity.
God wants us to recognize who He is, and also, to recognize that He is
the only power that truly exists. He has total control of the
universe. Not one star twinkles without permission from God. Not
only would this struggle between the one true God and the false gods of
Egypt be remembered by Pharaoh, but would be forever remembered by the
Israelites, and also, by the true believers in Jesus Christ. This great
struggle that took place here (with the world trying to hang on to
its slaves and the Deliverer overcoming the world and taking those,
who were willing to be freed, to the promised land) is the story of the
Christian’s lives, too. Jesus came to the world in the form of a man
and after great struggle and the persecution of the cross, delivered
whosoever will. He is going to come, and take us to that eternal
promised land (heaven).
Exodus 10:3 “And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said
unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou
refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may
serve me.” Exodus 10:4 “Else, if thou refuse to let my people go,
behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:” Exodus 10:5
“And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able
to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is
escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every
tree which groweth for you out of the field:” Exodus 10:6 “And they
shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the
houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy
fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the
earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from
Pharaoh.”
The problem with Pharaoh, as with many other people, was that he was
proud, self-centered, arrogant, and refused to humble himself before
God. In Revelation, there is a punishment of locust very similar to
this here. God was very kind during the punishment of the hail, not
to destroy the food these Egyptians had to have to live on. As we
said earlier, every time Pharaoh refused to listen to God, the next
punishment was more severe than the last. These locusts were about the
worst thing that could happen to a farmer. There were so many of these
locusts, that they made a locust blanket which completely covered the
fields. In a matter of minutes, they destroyed all the crops. If this
were not enough, we read that they even went into the houses, and ate
all the food there. The Egyptians were going to be in terrible
trouble without food.
Exodus 10:7 “And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall
this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the
LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?”
We see, here, the servants of Pharaoh, who had been in total
agreement with Pharaoh up until this time and even hardened their own
hearts at one point. Now they were in fear of losing everything they
had; their crops. These servants of Pharaoh had suddenly realized
that Moses was activating God’s power and they were afraid of him, and
what God might do, because of his prayers. They were almost pleading
with Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, before God totally
destroyed the Egyptians. They had to be really frightened, to come
against Pharaoh.
Exodus 10:8 “And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh:
and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: [but] who [are]
they that shall go?”
Here, we see that Pharaoh had never even bothered to find out who
wanted to go and worship, until now. He never had any intention of
allowing them to go, so it wasn’t important to know who this exodus
involved. Pharaoh could not fight all of his cabinet, his magicians (who
had quit a long time ago), Moses, and Aaron, and more; so he told
them they could go. Remember, you could not trust him. He had no morals.
Exodus 10:9 “And Moses said, We will go with our young and with
our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and
with our herds will we go; for we [must hold] a feast unto the LORD.”
Moses left no doubt who would go. All of the Hebrews would go,
from the babies to the very old. They would, also, take their flocks
with them. Some of the animals would be required for sacrifice. The
national celebrations were attended by everyone. Even the Egyptians
took children to celebrations.
Exodus 10:10 “And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you,
as I will let you go, and your little ones: look [to it]; for evil
[is] before you.”
Pharaoh was telling them, if they took the little ones, he believed
they were up to something. He said they were trying to steal his slave
labor.
Exodus 10:11 “Not so: go now ye [that are] men, and serve the
LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s
presence.”
Pharaoh said take it, or leave it, just the men could go to worship.
Then, Pharaoh got mad, and drove them out of his presence. Part of
Pharaoh’s anger was because he was suddenly aware that he was going to be
forced to let them go.
Exodus 10:12 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine
hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up
upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, [even] all
that the hail hath left.” Exodus 10:13 “And Moses stretched forth his
rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the
land all that day, and all [that] night; [and] when it was morning,
the east wind brought the locusts.”
We see sudden judgement falling on this rebellious king and his
people.
Exodus 10:14 “And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt,
and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous [were they];
before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them
shall be such.” Exodus 10:15 “For they covered the face of the whole
earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of
the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and
there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of
the field, through all the land of Egypt.”
Egypt is about 500 miles long and about 20 miles wide. It is a
long, narrow land. These locusts had to be ordered by the Almighty
God to exactly cover this land, and not involve other joining
countries. Plagues of locusts do destroy everything in sight. In many
places in the Bible locusts were used for demon spirits, but I do not
believe that was the case here. I believe these were real locusts.
Exodus 10:16 “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste;
and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against
you.”
Here, Pharaoh never dreamed the total devastation this would bring.
He was in a hurry to get Moses to pray to God for him. He had said
once before, that he had sinned. This time he added “the Lord your
God”, and even admitted, that he had done Moses wrong by lying to him.
Exodus 10:17 “Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this
once, and entreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me
this death only.”
Pharaoh in saying “take away this death” was saying that many would
die from the famine caused by the loss of their crops. His request
for Moses to forgive him this once, was just to get Moses to pray and
ask God to take away the locusts. This reminds me so much of people
now. God forgives us, and then, some go right back into their sins,
again. God is unbelievably patient.
Exodus 10:18 “And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the
LORD.” Exodus 10:19 “And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind,
which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there
remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.”
“Intreated” just means that Moses prayed for Pharaoh. The Lord
answered the prayer, and reversed the wind that brought the locusts,
and the wind carried them back. Just as the legion of demons were
cast into the sea, when Jesus ordered them out of the man into the
swine in Matthew 8, the locusts wound up in the sea. We see these locusts
being removed by the Lord and sent to the Red sea to drown. As I said
before, locusts are sometimes symbolic of demon spirits, but in this
particular instance, I believe these were real locusts. It just tells
us, in the similarity, that demons and locusts must obey the voice of God,
and go wherever He sends them.
Exodus 10:20 “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he
would not let the children of Israel go.”