Swarm of locusts – Plague #8
Exodus 10:1-20
June 26, 2022
Most of us have memories of our ancestors. Some memories are about those we knew, and
some are about those of whom we heard stories. Memories about people live on in the stories
their descendants pass on. Like your family, my family has memories that remain alive in the
hearts of those who heard the stories. When I think of my ancestors, all sorts of impressions
come to mind. One of my ancestors, sadly, had a life-long struggle with prescription
medicines and emotional issues. She loved me, and I loved her, but that is what I remember
most about her. I am sad about a life that was largely wasted and had such a negative impact.
Another relative was always kind to me and treated me like I mattered. That is what I
remember most about her. I am happy for her example. While I never met Deby’s
grandfather, I have certainly heard his stories. He was an ordinary man with an ordinary
life. On the surface, there was nothing special about him. But all the stories about him end
up being stories about his faith. No matter what was happening around him, he lived out
his faith. His decisions were based on his faith. When two of his sons and his two sons-in-law
were in WWII, he lived out his faith. When he was robbed at gun point, he lived out his faith
while his life was being threatened. Thinking about him causes me to think about my own
stories. I hope there will be some stories told by my descendants, and those with whom I
shared life, that are more than stories about my organized tools boxes and my obsession with
things that have little lasting value.
I am not the only one concerned with what legacy is passed on. God was very interested
in the stories Israel’s descendants would hear about Him. The best chance that children have of
getting the right message about God is for the parents and grandparents to live by faith in God.
When you ride a motorcycle, the bike is guided more by your head than by the handlebars.
The bike goes where you look.
Your stories will move those who come behind you in the direction of your own life focus. You
will go where you look, and that is the direction you are leading others.
10:1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands
again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous
signs among them.
2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made
a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them — and so
you will know that I am the LORD.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of
the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so
they can worship me.
4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your
country.
5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will
devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees
growing in the fields.
6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your officials and all the houses in
Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen a plague like this one!”
And with that, Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you
let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the LORD their God! Don’t
you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go
and worship the LORD your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”
9 Moses replied. “We will all go — young and old, our sons and daughters, and our
flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the LORD.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take
your little ones! I can see through your evil plan.
11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you
requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
12 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring
on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the
hailstorm.”
13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the LORD caused an east wind to blow
over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east
wind had brought the locusts.
14 And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms
from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian
history, and there has never been another one like it.
15 For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured
every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm.
Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD
your God and against you,” he confessed.
17 “Forgive my sin, just this once, and plead with the LORD your God to take away
this death from me.”
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and pleaded with the LORD.
19 The LORD responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the
locusts into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt.
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go.
- For what purpose did God intend to use Pharaoh’s and his officials’ stubbornness?
(10:1-2)
10:1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands
again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous
signs among them.
2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made
a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them — and so
you will know that I am the LORD.”
God was using the stubbornness of the Egyptian leaders to show His power to all
who saw what happened and to those who would hear the story about these plagues
and how God clearly displayed His sovereignty over the Egyptians and their gods.
What do we learn about God from the stories of the Egyptian plagues?
- What does it mean, “…so you will know that I am the LORD?” (10:2b) What question was
posed to Pharaoh? (10:3)
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of
the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go, so
they can worship me.
God wants people to acknowledge that He is sovereign and to respond appropriately to
Him.
It has been said that God will humble those who will not humble themselves.
Moses and Aaron delivered the question from God to Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse the
submit to me?”
Why do you think God wants people to submit to Him? He wants us to submit to Him
because He knows that will produce the absolute best results in our life for us, for our family, and
for our community. - What were the promised results if Pharaoh refused to submit to God? (10:4-6)
4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your
country. 5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They
will devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees
growing in the fields. 6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your
officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors
seen a plague like this one!” And with that, Moses turned and left Pharaoh.
God promised to send a plague of locusts like they had never seen before. There
would be so many locusts that they would cover the ground, eat what is left of the
crops and trees, and overrun their homes. - This time, Pharaoh’s officials made their concerns known to Pharaoh and proposed
a solution. What was their request?
7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you
let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the LORD their God! Don’t
you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
It is not clear to me exactly what action they wanted Pharaoh to take, but they
thought he was being held hostage by Moses. They realized that Egypt was in
ruins and Pharaoh needed to at least try to appease Moses by letting the men go
worship the Lord. I suppose they saw this as a temporary departure of the
Israelites. I am not sure whether they wanted Pharaoh to surrender or to offer a
temporary insincere compromise.
- Moses and Aaron were brought back and offered a compromise. How did this
compromise differ from the first two, and how did they respond? (10:8-11, 8:25,
8:28)
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right,” he told them, “go
and worship the LORD your God. But who exactly will be going with you?”
9 Moses replied. “We will all go — young and old, our sons and daughters, and our
flocks and herds. We must all join together in celebrating a festival to the LORD.”
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take
your little ones! I can see through your evil plan.
11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you
requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
Ex 8:25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer
sacrifices to your God,” he said. “But do it here in this land.”
Ex 8:28 “All right, go ahead,” Pharaoh replied. “I will let you go into the
wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God. But don’t go too far
away. Now hurry and pray for me.”
The first compromise was, “do it here.” The second was, “don’t go too far.” The
third was, “only the men may go.”
Moses and Aaron refused Pharaoh’s compromise and stated clearly that they would
all go – young and old, and their flocks and herds. - How did Pharaoh respond to their plan to include all the family members and
animals? How did God respond to Pharaoh’s refusal? (10:10-15)
10 Pharaoh retorted, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little
ones! I can see through your evil plan. 11 Never! Only the men may go and worship the LORD,
since that is what you requested.” And Pharaoh threw them out of the palace.
12 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring
on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the
hailstorm.”
13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the LORD caused an east wind to blow
over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east
wind had brought the locusts.
14 And the locusts swarmed over the whole land of Egypt, settling in dense swarms
from one end of the country to the other. It was the worst locust plague in Egyptian
history, and there has never been another one like it.
15 For the locusts covered the whole country and darkened the land. They devoured
every plant in the fields and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm.
Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh accused them of having an evil plan and threw them out of the
palace. The Lord had Moses to raise his hand over the land, and the wind blew all
day and all night. When morning came, the locusts covered the land. They ate
the crops and trees.
- How did Pharaoh react to devastation of the plague of locusts?
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD
your God and against you,” he confessed. 17 “Forgive my sin, just this once, and
plead with the LORD your God to take away this death from me.”
Pharaoh admitted his sin, asked for forgiveness. He wanted Moses and Aaron to plead with
God to take away this plague which he described as death. For a brief time, it looked like
Pharaoh was at the end of his stubbornness toward God. - Moses prayed, God removed the locusts, and Pharaoh hardened his heart again.
How easy is it for a person to remain stubborn toward God for their entire life?
(10:18-20) How should we interact with people who seem to be on that track?
18 So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and pleaded with the LORD.
19 The LORD responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the
locusts into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt.
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go.
It must be fairly easy for a person to remain stubborn toward God. It seems to me
that many people do just that and die without a relationship with Jesus.
We interact with the people who are stubborn toward God by setting the example
of living by faith in the Lord. We share His message. We show what it is like
when our lifestyle-focus is on His teachings, and our decisions are based on His
word.
God wants our surrender. He wants our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength.
When God has our heart, mind, soul, and strength, our lives will be filled with
pictures of God at work.