#20 – Exodus 10:1-20
Never So Many Again
The pattern is now well-established: G-d speaks to Moses; Moses tells Pharaoh what will happen; Pharaoh doesn’t listen; G-d sends a plague. And then another.
Plague #8: Locusts
Once again Moses and Aaron approach Pharaoh with a word from the G-d of Israel:
“How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.
They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land.
They will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field.
Then your houses shall be filled and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’” (Exodus 10:3-6.)
Pharaoh’s servants have seen the pattern played out seven times already. They have observed G-d’s power displayed over and over, with grave consequences to their land and possessions. “Enough already! Just let them go worship the L-RD their G-d, will you? Can’t you see that Egypt is devastated?” they plead with their sovereign.
Moses and Aaron are called back to the throne. Pharaoh is prepared to negotiate. “Okay, you may leave. But only the men. Women and children must remain. Now, get out of here.”
At the L-RD’s command, Moses stretches out his trusty staff. The east wind begins to blow all day and throughout the night, and with it came the hordes.
The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they were very numerous. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again.
For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left.
Thus nothing green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10:14-15.)
Pharaoh repents again – almost
Unlike the early plagues in which Pharaoh seems almost leisurely in responding to G-d’s judgment, he now summons Moses and Aaron in a hurry.
“I have sinned against the L-RD your G-d and against you.
Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once,
and make supplication to the L-RD your G-d, that He would only remove this death from me.” (Exodus 10:16-17.)
Moses prays. G-d sends a west wind to blow away every last locust from Egypt.
And He hardens Pharaoh’s heart. The Israelites remain in Goshen, untouched by the locusts.
Fear factor/Misery Index
If you’ve seen video of the massive swarms of locusts in eastern Africa, perhaps you shuddered to see the devastation they cause. The sky and ground are black with them. They multiply quickly, move swiftly, and leave nothing green behind.
Now imagine the Egyptians who have already endured seven plagues which have left them reeling, destitute, and hurting.
Where is G-d?
Let’s return to the beginning of Chapter 10. G-d tells Moses He has hardened the hearts of Pharaoh and his servants “that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the
L-RD.” (Exodus 10:1-2.)
We have the direct statement of the L-RD that one of the purposes of this protracted display of divine power is that the generations that follow may hear of G-d’s exploits. The generation of Moses’ grandparents and great-grandparents endured great suffering without seeing deliverance by the G-d of their fathers.
The generations which followed the Exodus would not experience the concentrated array of judgments on the enemies of the Jewish people. Though G-d remains in “the miracle working business,” few have seen divine power on display[1] over and over on such a grand scale.
One of the greatest challenges in the family of faith is passing the torch to the next generation. Moses would later pass on these instructions to the children of the Exodus:
“Hear, O Israel! The L-RD is our G-d, the L-RD is one!
You shall love the L-RD your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9.)
We have seen repeatedly how Pharaoh was remorseful but not truly repentant. As soon as his circumstances improved, he didn’t need to deal with G-d any longer (or so he thought).
What about us? We cry out for deliverance in tough times, for sure. But when G-d brings us through, what then? It’s instructive to see how Moses continues his exhortation in Deuteronomy 6:
“Then it shall come about when the L-RD your G-d brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,
and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,
then watch yourself, that you do not forget the L-RD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Deuteronomy 6:10-12)
Perhaps this is a good day to tell your kids and grandkids the stories of your experiences of G-d’s guarding, guiding, and providing in your life.
[1] We have the record of Creation (was there ever such a display of omnipotence as when the L-RD spoke the universe into existence, set the Earth on its orbit around the sun, and spun the DNA of every living creature? But no human eye beheld any of this; Adam and Eve were the culmination of creation. Apart from the miracles recorded in the life of Moses, we have only two other times in Scripture when G-d’s power was repeatedly demonstrated in individual’s lives: Elijah/Elisha and Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth). The Book of Revelation tells us of the coming “last days” when the greatest concentration of G-d’s judgments will be poured out on Earth’s wicked inhabitants.
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