Old Testament - Exodus 10 - March 30, 2022

 3/30/2022 – Exodus 10

Moses and Aaron are in front of Pharaoh yet again. They don’t complain to the Lord that Pharoah is never going to let them go, instead they go again and this time they tell Pharaoh that if he refuses once again, the next plague will be on of locusts “that will cover the face of 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 growth for you out of the field. And they shall fill thy houses…. (v’s 5-6) And after leaving him that warning, Moses and Aaron left his presence.  

In v 7 Pharaoh’s servants pleaded with him to let the Israelites go, “that they may serve the Lord their God; knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? “(v 7)

In v 8 when Moses and Aaron are brought before Pharaoh again, and he tells them to go, but he finishes his statement in v 10 with “for evil is before you”. The footnotes tell us that this is a Hebrew idiom meaning ‘you are bent on mischief”. They were then “driven out from Pharaoh’s presence, and the Lord told Moses to stretch forth his hand for the locusts to come. (v 12)

The locusts devoured everything that was left from the other plagues…there was no longer any food in the fields or trees or on the ground.  Pharaoh called them back, telling them ”I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.” (v 16) He pleaded with them to “have the Lord your God, that he may take away from me this death only.”

The Lord caused a strong west wind to disperse the locusts. And once again, as soon as the plague was stopped, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. The Lord then told Moses: “Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” (v 21) The darkness stayed for three days and nights, and it was so thick that they could not see anything, and they remained in the place where they were when the darkness had begun. But during this time, the Israelites “had light in their dwellings” (v 24)

After the 3 days of heavy darkness, Pharaoh called for Moses & Aaron, and told them to go serve their Lord, and they were to take their children and their flocks—for the Israelite’s flocks had not been hurt--they were to LEAVE!  But once again Pharaoh changed his mind, ordering them to stay, and assured Moses that if he came before Pharaoh again, then Moses would die.  

Moses and Aaron had great faith in God. They showed courage. They trusted that the Lord had them in His hands, even when they kept ‘failing’ in persuading Pharoah to let them go. They were steady in their ways, and they stayed close to their God. That is how I want to live my life: to stay on course while drawing closer to Him. That is what brings calm, even in difficult times.


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