Reflections on Exodus 10

Exodus 10 (Contemporary English Version)


1. The LORD said to Moses: Go back to the king. I have made him and his officials stubborn, so that I could work these miracles.
2. I did this because I want you to tell your children and your grandchildren about my miracles and about my harsh treatment of the Egyptians. Then all of you will know that I am the LORD.
3. Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him that the LORD God of the Hebrews had said: How long will you stubbornly refuse to obey? Release my people so they can worship me.
4. Do this by tomorrow, or I will cover your country with so many locusts
5. that you won't be able to see the ground. Most of your crops were ruined by the hailstones, but these locusts will destroy what little is left, including the trees.
6. Your palace, the homes of your officials, and all other houses in Egypt will overflow with more locusts than have ever been seen in this country. After Moses left the palace,
7. the king's officials asked, "Your Majesty, how much longer is this man going to be a troublemaker? Why don't you let the people leave, so they can worship the LORD their God? Don't you know that Egypt is a disaster?"
8. The king had Moses and Aaron brought back, and he said, "All right, you may go and worship the LORD your God. But first tell me who will be going."
9. "Everyone, young and old," Moses answered. "We will even take our sheep, goats, and cattle, because we want to hold a celebration in honor of the LORD."
10. The king replied, "The LORD had better watch over you on the day I let you leave with your families! You're up to no good.
11. Do you want to worship the LORD? All right, take only the men and go." Then Moses and Aaron were chased out of the palace.
12. The LORD told Moses, "Stretch your arm toward Egypt. Swarms of locusts will come and eat everything left by the hail."
13. Moses held out his walking stick, and the LORD sent an east wind that blew across Egypt the rest of the day and all that night. By morning, locusts
14. were swarming everywhere. Never before had there been so many locusts in Egypt, and never again will there be so many.
15. The ground was black with locusts, and they ate everything left on the trees and in the fields. Nothing green remained in Egypt--not a tree or a plant.
16. At once the king sent for Moses and Aaron. He told them, "I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you.
17. Forgive me one more time and ask the LORD to stop these insects from killing every living plant."
18. Moses left the palace and prayed.
19. Then the LORD sent a strong west wind that swept the locusts into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt,
20. but the LORD made the king so stubborn that he still refused to let the Israelites go.
21. The LORD said to Moses, "Stretch your arm toward the sky, and everything will be covered with darkness thick enough to touch."
22. Moses stretched his arm toward the sky, and Egypt was covered with darkness for three days.
23. During that time, the Egyptians could not see each other or leave their homes, but there was light where the Israelites lived.
24. The king sent for Moses and told him, "Go worship the LORD! And take your families with you. Just leave your sheep, goats, and cattle."
25. "No!" Moses replied. "You must let us offer sacrifices to the LORD our God,
26. and we won't know which animals we will need until we get there. That's why we can't leave even one of them here."
27. This time the LORD made the king so stubborn
28. that he said to Moses, "Get out and stay out! If you ever come back, you're dead!"
29. "Have it your way," Moses answered. "You won't see me again."
    
    

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    Pharaoh persisted in his obstinancy, refusing to let the Israelite people go, and God persisted in demonstrating His "miraculous signs" among the Egyptians and Israelites. For whom was God most interested in demonstrating His signs? Certainly He wanted Egypt and the other nations to sit up and take notice, but I believe these demonstrations were primarily for the Israelites as is pointed out in verse 2 that He was doing these signs "so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the LORD." He wanted the Israelites for generations into the future to remember what He did for them in escaping the Egyptian oppression and building a new life dedicated to God.
    
    To this point the Egyptians have suffered through seven plagues: Water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, death of livestock, boils, and hail. Pharaoh refused through all of these to let the Israelites go, though he did make one concession offering to let them worship their God within the land of Egypt. He seemed not to recognize that he was not in a position to negotiate. He was not in control as he thought he was. Following the plague of hail and yet another refusal by Pharaoh to let the people go, God sent Moses to Pharaoh yet again to warn him of a plague of locusts. This plague would totally devastate the land. Whatever remained after the hail was devoured by the locusts.
    
    After Moses delivered his warning about the locusts and left, Pharaoh's officials appealed to him to reconsider his position. "How long must this man be a snare to us?" they asked. "Don't you realize yet that Egypt is devasted?" (10:7) But even in this appeal, the officials revealed that they failed to recognize that they were not in control. They, too, were trying to negotiate by suggesting that only the men be allowed to go. This, they thought, should appease the Israelites while guaranteeing that those who left would return. Pharaoh listened to his officials and had Moses return, making the concession that only the men could leave. When Moses refused this offer he was "driven from Pharaoh's presence." (10:11)
    
    The devastation of the locusts God sent was unimaginable and Pharoah "urgently sent for Moses and Aaron" and confessed to them his sin "against the Lord your God and against you." (10:16) With this confession he appealed for them to "take this death away from me," referring to the locusts. But once the locusts were gone, amazingly, Pharaoh relented yet again. It might be noted that Pharaoh's magicians have not been mentioned since the plague of boils. The second plague, which was frogs, was the last plague they were able to duplicate. With the plague of gnats they told Pharaoh that it must be the "finger of God" doing this. They were last mentioned with the plague of boils noting that they too had boils. God had demonstrated that He was out of their league in addition to showing He was greater than the gods they worshipped.
    
    This account of God freeing the Israelites from Egypt to deliver them to a land of their own is moving toward its climax and the scene is set for the ninth plague - total darkness over the land of Egypt. Again, the region of Goshen where the Israelites lived was not effected. This dark was so total that it could "be felt." (10:21) "One person could not see another," it was so dark. "For three days they did not move from where they were." (10:23) This plague was sent without warning after Pharaoh relented in letting the Israelites go once the plague of locusts had been removed. The Egyptian's primary source of water had been removed along with their source of food. Now they were unable to move about and do anything about their situation. Survival was a very real issue that Pharaoh could not ignore. So he summoned Moses once again and told him, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and your herds must stay behind." (10:24) He was still trying to control a situation over which he had no control.
    
    Moses did not give an inch in his demands to Pharaoh. This was not about trying to get the best deal. It was about worshipping the God of creation. At Moses' refusal of his offer, Pharaoh commanded Moses to "Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die." Though this was undoubtedly intended to instill fear in Moses, he was undisturbed, simply saying, "As you've said. I will never see your face again." (10:28) The threat had greater impact on Pharaoh than on Moses, though he failed to recognize it.