Here, read about the eighth plague, locusts. Again, this was a judgment against the Egyptian gods, ‘Nut’, ‘Osiris’, and ‘Set’. God here tells us two reasons why He hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
1. He chose Pharaoh so that He might show the signs of the plagues to him, Exodus 10:1.
2. God wanted Israel and all mankind to have a record of this great work of God, Exodus 10:2 / Psalm 78 / Psalm 105.
Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and tell him what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says and ask how long he will refuse to humble himself before Him and let His people go so they can worship Him, Exodus 10:3.
Dummelow, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This question shows that Pharaoh was responsible for hardening his heart.’
God also adds another warning, if he doesn’t let His people go, then He will bring locusts into his country tomorrow, Exodus 10:4. There will be so many locusts that they won’t be able to see the ground, they will also eat what little they have left after the hail, Exodus 9:13-35, including every tree that is growing in his fields, Exodus 10:5.
They will fill Pharaoh’s’ houses, his officials houses and all the houses in Egypt, Exodus 10:6. This will be something which has never been seen before in their history, Exodus 10:6.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Just as this mighty locust plague was the harbinger of the ultimate judgment and destruction of Pharaoh, ‘it is also a type of the plagues which will precede the last judgment.’ The prophet Joel, Joel 1-2, thus interpreted a severe locust plague that struck Judah.’
Keil, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The locust plague forms the groundwork for the description in Revelation 9:3-10, just as Joel discerned it as the day of the Lord, i.e., of the Great Day of Judgment, which is advancing step by step in all the great judgments of history, or rather of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the powers of this world and will be finally accomplished in the last general judgment.’
After Moses left Pharaoh, Exodus 10:6, Pharaoh’s officials ask him how long will Moses be a snare to us? They then encourage Pharaoh to let the people go, so they can worship the LORD their God, Exodus 10:7.
It’s interesting to note that it was Pharaoh’s servants who informed him about what was happening, Exodus 10:7. This suggests that Pharaoh didn’t go out much except for his early morning walks to worship, Exodus 7:14. Because they knew exactly what was going on in Egypt and the devastation the plagues had caused, they were the ones pleading with Pharaoh.
Pharaoh now summons Moses and Aaron back and tells them to go and worship the LORD their God, and asks who will be going? Exodus 10:8. Moses more or less tells him that everyone will be going to celebrate a festival to the LORD, including their flocks and herds, Exodus 10:9.
Notice Pharaoh says, The LORD be with you, if he lets them go, along with the women and children! Clearly, they are bent on evil, Exodus 10:10. The footnote says, ‘or Be careful, trouble is in store for you!’ Pharaoh is having none of it. He wants only the men to go, since that’s what Moses and Aaron have been asking for, Exodus 10:11.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Pharaoh’s permission for the male Israelites to leave Egypt to worship God, brought on by the urging of his counsellors, was arbitrary. Egyptian females worshipped with their husbands, and Pharaoh could have permitted both men and women to worship Yahweh.’
Pharaoh puts terms and conditions before them; he wants Moses to leave families and flocks in Egypt, whilst they go to worship. This was obviously some kind of insurance policy to ensure the Israelites would return.
Moses and Aaron were not willing to compromise with Pharaoh, and so they were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence, Exodus 10:11. The LORD tells Moses to stretch out his hand over Egypt so that locusts swarm over the land and devour everything growing in the fields, everything left by the hail, Exodus 10:12 / Exodus 9:31-32.
Moses did what God asked him to do, and notice the LORD made an east wind blow, Jonah 1:4 / Jonah 4:8 across the land all that day and all that night, and by the morning the wind had brought the locusts, Exodus 10:13.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Locusts do not normally appear in Egypt, the climatic conditions being unfavourable for them, and thus it was necessary for God to bring them into Egypt from a great distance. If the east wind was at 25 m.p.h., a distance of some 600 miles would have been traversed in the 24-hour period.’
They invaded all of Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again, Exodus 10:14.
Don’t miss the fact that the locusts didn’t go into Goshen either, but they covered the whole of Egypt, Exodus 10:14. The impact on Egypt would have been devastating as the locusts would have eaten all the food in Egypt which forced the Egyptians to buy food from God’s people.
There’s nothing new about locusts entering a place and destroying everything in their path, but here the real miracle is seen in what happened at the very time God said to Moses it would happen.
The later crops, wheat and rye, which had survived the hail, Exodus 9:31-32, were now devoured by the swarms of locusts, Exodus 10:15, which would ultimately result in there being no harvest in Egypt that year.
Pharaoh panics once again and summons Moses and Aaron, and once again he confesses that he has sinned against the LORD their God and against them, Exodus 10:16. He asks for forgiveness of his sin and asks Moses and Arron to pray to the LORD their God to take this deadly plague away from him, Exodus 10:17.
Moses prays to the LORD, and the LORD changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea, and as a result, not a single locust was left anywhere in Egypt, Exodus 10:18-19.
Something which is often overlooked is that God made the ‘east wind’ blow to bring the locusts into Egypt, Exodus 10:13, and He also made the wind blow to remove the locusts, Exodus 10:19. Once again, the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let the Israelites go, Exodus 10:20.
The LORD now tells Moses, to stretch out his hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt, Exodus 10:21. Here we read about the ninth plague, darkness. This was aimed at the sun god, ‘Re’, who was symbolised by Pharaoh himself. Notice the darkness will be felt, Exodus 10:21.
Ellicott, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Authorised Version seems to give the true meaning, which is found also in the LXX. and the Vulg. The idea is an exaggeration of that instinctive feeling which makes us speak of ‘thick darkness.’
For three days, Exodus 10:22, the land of Egypt was smothered with unearthly darkness, but the homes of the Israelites had light, Exodus 10:23. Notice that it was so dark no one could see anyone else, Exodus 10:23. It’s no wonder no one moved around for three days.
The Israelites must be utterly shell-shocked by what’s happening. They must have been in awe as they enjoyed the light, but the rest of Egypt is in total darkness. They must have been thinking to themselves, ‘Is there anything that this God cannot control or do?’
I can imagine them saying to themselves, ‘No wonder our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob worshipped this God.’ It was God who created light in the beginning, Genesis 1:3, and it’s God who removes the light, Luke 23:44. This would have included the sun, moon, and stars, which He also created, Genesis 1:14-19.
Pharaoh once again softens his heart and tells Moses that they can go and worship God, only if they leave their flocks and herds behind, Exodus 10:24. Moses once again isn’t willing to compromise with Pharaoh and insists that he must allow them to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the LORD their God, Exodus 10:25.
He says all the animals need to go because they need to use them in their worship, but until they get there, they won’t know what to use, Exodus 10:26. Moses isn’t willing to compromise with Pharaoh because he knows everything belongs to God, Psalm 5 / Psalm 10.
The LORD once again hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and he wasn’t willing to let God’s people go, Exodus 10:27. Notice that Pharaoh basically says, if Moses turns up in front of him again, he’s as good as dead, Exodus 10:28.
Also notice that Moses replied that he wouldn’t appear in front of Pharaoh again, Exodus 10:29. On the surface, this reads as though the two would never meet face to face again, but they will, as we shall see in Exodus 11:4-10.
Fields, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Moses accepted Pharaoh’s words without fear, calmly waited until the final plague was announced, and told Pharaoh Plainly. ‘After just one more plague, Pharaoh’s servants would come to him, bow down, and plead with the Israelites to leave.’ As it turned out, even Pharaoh himself did this, Exodus 12:30-31.’