Exodus 10
McGeeCHAPTER 10THEME: Pharaoh is threatened with a plague of locusts; the eighth plaguelocusts, the nignth plaguedarkness; the Lord’s claim on Israel
Exodus 10:1
PHARAOH IS THREATENED WITH A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTSA person begins to wonder what it is going to take to cause Pharaoh to let Israel go. God has many reasons for doing what He does. One reason for the plagues was to make Pharaoh reveal that he was a godless man. God could have taken the children of Israel out of the land immediately without making an contact with Pharaoh. If He had, the critic would say that God certainly was not fair to Pharaoh. He could have given him the opportunity to let Israel go, and He should have given him and opportunity for salvation. Well, friend, that is exactly what God has done. God also wanted to demonstrate to His people what He was able to do before He took them into the wilderness. He wanted them to know that He was well able to bring them into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That story ahs been told through the observance of the passover for nearly four thousand years.
Exodus 10:3
Pharaoh’s servants try to reason with him, “Don’t you realize that Egypt is destroyed? How much longer are you going to permit it? Let them go!” So, once again, Moses and Aaron are brought into the presence of Pharaoh.
Exodus 10:8
THE EIGHTH PLAGUELOCUSTSPharaoh is very angry that they would not accept his compromise.
Exodus 10:11
Pharaoh told Moses that the adults could go into the wilderness and sacrifice but they were to go without the children. Pharaoh suspected, undoubtedly, that if Israel would go three days’ journey into the wilderness they would keep going. He wants to stop them, and he knows that if he keeps the children, the adults will come back. Just as Pharaoh tempted and tested Moses with compromise, so the child of God today is tempted with compromise. Children all across the country are being brought up in an educational system that is absolutely contrary to the teachings of Christianity. The child of God is told that he must learn to get along in the world, make all the money he can, and get involved in the world. I have been a pastor for over thirty years, and again and again I have seen Christian parents want the best for their children. They want them to have the best education. They want them to succeed and be rich.
One after another has fallen and departed from the Lord. Many members of churches I have served have lost their children to the world. Wanting the “best” of the world for their children is the most subtle temptation that can come to Christian parents. What do you expect, my friends, when you send your children to these worldly institutions and they come home thoroughly brainwashed? Why do you say, “My, how could he do that when he was brought up in a Christian home?” The problem is that he was not actually raised in a Christian home. The parents of many young people may be lovely Christian people but they did not really train their children in Christian precepts and values. They were so anxious and ambitious for them to get on in the world that they lost them. Moses and Aaron would not accept Pharaoh’s compromise, and this made him angry. His anger did not accomplish a thing, however, because another plague was about to begin.
Exodus 10:12
There are several interesting things revealed in this judgment of locusts. Notice that they did not appear miraculously, as did some of the other plagues. An east wind brought them from another place, possibly from somewhere in Asia. Locusts were prominent in the Asian area and this wind had brought them over a broad expanse of desert, and they were pretty hungry when they arrived in the green Nile Valley. They absolutely stripped the land of vegetation. The locust is used in Scripture as a picture of judgment. A plague of locusts is probably one of the worst things man has to face. The prophet Joel described a plague of locusts in the past, which is a matter of history, then predicted a judgment that is yet in the future for mankind. The Book of Revelation also mentions a great plague of locusts that will come upon the earth. These insects probably had a greater effect upon the land of Egypt than any of the previous plagues that had come upon the land.
Exodus 10:16
This is another time Pharaoh has made an admission of sin.
Exodus 10:17
There is a method in the way God is dealing with the Egyptians and a systematic and orderly way in which He is sending the plagues. The first plagues were directed against the different gods, goddesses, and idols that infested the land. Now God is beginning to direct the plagues in a manner that works a tremendous hardship upon the people and their struggle to stay alive. The plague of locusts certainly has its effect, and the people try to convince Pharaoh that things are bad. This causes Pharaoh to temporarily repent. The minute the plague is removed, however, Pharaoh changes his mind and goes back to his original position. God is going to force him to let the children of Israel go.
Exodus 10:21
THE NINTH PLAGUEDARKNESSHave you ever been in a place where you could feel the darkness? The only time I have actually felt darkness was down in Carlsbad Caverns. Years ago on a tour of the cave they turned out the lights and the group sang “Rock of Ages.” It was very effective. I am told they no longer sing this song because of criticism from some unbelievers, but the blackness of the darkness in that cave could be felt. I have never been in darkness like that before or since, and it was this kind of darkness that was over the land of Egypt. The judgment was upon the sun-god Ra.
Darkness came over the land of Egypt in the daytime. God moved in with darkness against the chief god that they worshiped. The sun disc is the most familiar symbol the Egyptians used; it is in all of their art. The plague of darkness showed the utter helplessness of Ra. This darkness was a miracle of God, and it caused Pharaoh to propose a fourth compromise. This was the last compromise he made before he allowed the children of Israel to leave the land of Egypt.
Exodus 10:24
THE LORD’S CLAIM ON ISRAELYou would think that just leaving their flocks and herds behind would be a compromise that Moses might make for the Israelites. Pharaoh has come a long way in making concessions to Moses, and you would think this one would be agreeable. Once again there is a lesson here for the modern-day Christian. God called Israel to leave Egypt “lock, stock, and barrel.” The children were not to be left in Egypt to be raised in their educational system. If we expect to bring our children up in the wisdom of the world and expect them to pour all of their energies into becoming successful, we should also be prepared to lose them to the world. I listened to a mother tell about how she had sent her son to a godless school, and how he was being advanced.
She didn’t mention to me that he had lost his faith, although he had. He had graduated from this school, was given a high position. I see his name in print many times. Then she came with tears in her eyes to tell me how her son had turned his back upon everything she held sacred. Well, that’s the way she started him out. The world is subtle. There are also many Christians today who leave their “flocks and herds in the land of Egypt.” Egypt, by the way, is a picture of the world. Many Christians are faithful in the church, support their pastor, give to the Lord’s work and all the rest, but they do business in the land of Egypt. They put their flocks and herds in Egypt above everything else. If they had to make a choice to serve God or make a trip to Egypt for their flocks and herds, you know which direction they would go. It is interesting that many Christians say, “I serve the Lord on Sunday, but during the week I am out in the cold-hearted business world.” Many of these so-called Christians live so much like folk of the world that it is difficult to tell them apart. They live like everyone else in the land of Egypt. I am of the opinion that the rapture of the church will break the hearts of a great many Christians because it will separate them from their investments in the world. They will have to leave their safe-deposit boxes, savings accounts, their stocks and bonds, and real estate. This is what they have given their time and hearts to, and it will cause them great grief to leave them behind. Notice what Moses says to this compromise. Moses tells Pharaoh that there will be no compromise.
Exodus 10:25
There would be no compromise.