Bible
Commentary
Exodus 10
The
eighth and ninth of the plagues of Egypt, that of locusts and that of darkness,
are recorded in this chapter. I. Concerning the plague of locusts, 1. God
instructs Moses in the meaning of these amazing dispensations of his
providence, ver. 1, 2. 2. He threatens the locusts, ver. 3-6. 3. Pharaoh, at
the persuasion of his servants, is willing to treat again with Moses (ver.
7-9), but they cannot agree, ver. 10, 11. 4. The locusts come, ver. 12-15. 5.
Pharaoh cries Peccavi--I have offended (ver. 16, 17), whereupon Moses prays for
the removal of the plague, and it is done; but Pharaoh's heart is still
hardened, ver. 18-20. II. Concerning the plague of darkness, 1. It is
inflicted, ver. 21-23. 2. Pharaoh again treats with Moses about a surrender,
but the treaty breaks off in a heat, ver. 26, &c.
The
Plagues of Egypt. B. C. 1491.
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have
hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might show these my
signs before him: 2 And that thou
mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have
wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know
how that I am the LORD. 3 And Moses and
Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the
Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people
go, that they may serve me. 4 Else, if
thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts
into thy coast: 5 And they shall cover
the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see 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 groweth for you out of the field: 6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the
houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither
thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were
upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from
Pharaoh. 7 And Pharaoh's servants said
unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they
may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is
destroyed? 8 And Moses and Aaron were
brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God:
but who are they that shall go? 9 And
Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with
our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold
a feast unto the LORD. 10 And he said
unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little
ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did
desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
Here, I. Moses is instructed. We may well
suppose that he, for his part, was much astonished both at Pharaoh's obstinacy
and at God's severity, and could not but be compassionately concerned for the
desolations of Egypt, and at a loss to conceive what this contest would come to
at last. Now here God tells him what he designed, not only Israel's release,
but the magnifying of his own name: That thou mayest tell in thy writings,
which shall continue to the world's end, what I have wrought in Egypt, v. 1, 2.
The ten plagues of Egypt must be inflicted, that they may be recorded for the
generations to come as undeniable proofs, 1. Of God's overruling power in the
kingdom of nature, his dominion over all the creatures, and his authority to
use them either as servants to his justice or sufferers by it, according to the
counsel of his will. 2. Of God's victorious power over the kingdom of Satan, to
restrain the malice and chastise the insolence of his and his church's enemies.
These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the happiness of
the church, and the sinfulness of sin, and standing monitors to the children of
men in all ages not to provoke the Lord to jealousy nor to strive with their
Maker. The benefit of these instructions to the world sufficiently balances the
expense.
II. Pharaoh is reproved (v. 3): Thus
saith the Lord God of the poor, despised, persecuted, Hebrews, How long wilt
thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Note, It is justly expected from the
greatest of men that they humble themselves before the great God, and it is at
their peril if they refuse to do it. This has more than once been God's quarrel
with princes. Belshazzar did not humble his heart, Dan. v. 22. Zedekiah humbled
not himself before Jeremiah, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 12. Those that will not humble
themselves God will humble. Pharaoh had sometimes pretended to humble himself,
but no account was made of it, because he was neither sincere nor constant in it.
III. The plague of locusts is threatened,
v. 4-6. The hail had broken down the fruits of the earth, but these locusts
should come and devour them: and not only so, but they should fill their
houses, whereas the former inroads of these insects had been confined to their
lands. This should be much worse than all the calamities of that king which had
ever been known. Moses, when he had delivered his message, not expecting any
better answer than he had formerly, turned himself and went out from Pharaoh,
v. 6. Thus Christ appointed his disciples to depart from those who would not
receive them, and to shake off the dust of their feet for a testimony against
them; and ruin is not far off from those who are thus justly abandoned by the
Lord's messengers, 1 Sam. xv. 27, &c.
IV. Pharaoh's attendants, his ministers
of state, or privy-counsellors, interpose, to persuade him to come to some
terms with Moses, v. 7. They, as in duty bound, represent to him the deplorable
condition of the kingdom (Egypt is destroyed), and advise him by all means to
release his prisoners (Let the men go); for Moses, they found, would be a snare
to them till it was done, and it were better to consent at first than to be
compelled at last. The Israelites had become a burdensome stone to the
Egyptians, and now, at length, the princes of Egypt were willing to be rid of
them, Zech. xii. 3. Note, It is a thing to be regretted (and prevented, if
possible) that a whole nation should be ruined for the pride and obstinacy of
its princes, Salus populi suprema lex--To consult the welfare of the people is
the first of laws.
V. A new treaty is, hereupon, set on foot
between Pharaoh and Moses, in which Pharaoh consents for the Israelites to go
into the wilderness to do sacrifice; but the matter in dispute was who should
go, v. 8. 1. Moses insists that they should take their whole families, and all
their effects, along with them, v. 9. Note, Those that serve God must serve him
with all they have. Moses pleads, "We must hold a feast, therefore we must
have our families to feast with, and our flocks and herds to feast upon, to the
honour of God." 2. Pharaoh will by no means grant this: he will allow the
men to go, pretending that this was all they desired, though this matter was
never yet mentioned in any of the former treaties; but, for the little ones, he
resolves to keep them as hostages, to oblige them to return, v. 10, 11. In a
great passion he curses them, and threatens that, if they offer to remove their
little ones, they will do it at their peril. Note, Satan does all he can to
hinder those that serve God themselves from bringing their children in to serve
him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how destructive it is to the
interests of his kingdom; whatever would hinder us from engaging our children
to the utmost in God's service, we have reason to suspect the hand of Satan in
it. 3. The treaty, hereupon, breaks off abruptly; those that before went out
from Pharaoh's presence (v. 6) were now driven out. Those will quickly hear
their doom that cannot bear to hear their duty. See 2 Chron. xxv. 16. Quos Deus
destruet eos dementat--Whom God intends to destroy he delivers up to
infatuation. Never was man so infatuated to his own ruin as Pharaoh was.
12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the
land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt,
and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left. 13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over
the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that
day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the
locusts. 14 And the locusts went up
over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very
grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither
after them shall be such. 15 For they
covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they
did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail
had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs
of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have
sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my
sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from
me this death only. 18 And he went out
from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.
19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts,
and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts
of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened
Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
Here is, I. The invasion of the land by
the locusts--God's great army, Joel ii. 11. God bids Moses stretch out his hand
(v. 12), to beckon them, as it were (for they came at a call), and he stretched
forth his rod, v. 13. Compare ch. ix. 22, 23. Moses ascribes it to the
stretching out, not of his own hand, but the rod of God, the instituted sign of
God's presence with him. The locusts obey the summons, and fly upon the wings
of the wind, the east wind, and caterpillars without number, as we are told,
Ps. cv. 34, 35. A formidable army of horse and foot might more easily have been
resisted than this host of insects. Who then is able to stand before the great
God?
II. The desolations they made in it (v.
15): They covered the face of the earth, and ate up the fruit of it. The earth
God has given to the children of men; yet, when God pleases, he can disturb
their possession and send locusts and caterpillars to force them out. Herbs
grow for the service of man; yet, when God pleases, those contemptible insects
shall not only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall plunder him, and eat the
bread out of his mouth. Let our labour be, not for the habitation and meat
which thus lie exposed, but for those which endure to eternal life, which
cannot be thus invaded, nor thus corrupted.
III. Pharaoh's admission, hereupon, v.
16, 17. He had driven Moses and Aaron from him (v. 11), telling them (it is
likely) he would have no more to do with them. But now he calls for them again
in all haste, and makes court to them with as much respect as before he had
dismissed them with disdain. Note, The day will come when those who set at
nought their counsellors, and despise all their reproofs, will be glad to make
an interest in them and engage them to intercede on their behalf. The foolish
virgins court the wise to give them of their oil; and see Ps. cxli. 6. 1.
Pharaoh confesses his fault: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and
against you. He now sees his own folly in the slights and affronts he had put
on God and his ambassadors, and seems at least, to repent of it. When God
convinces men of sin, and humbles them for it, their contempt of God's
ministers, and the word of the Lord in their mouths, will certainly come into
the account, and lie heavily upon their consciences. Some think that when
Pharaoh said, "The LORD your God," he did in effect say, "The
LORD shall not be my God." Many treat with God as a potent enemy, whom
they are willing not to be at war with, but care not for treating with him as
their rightful prince, to whom they are willing to submit with loyal affection.
True penitents lament sin as committed against God, even their own God, to whom
they stand obliged. 2. He begs pardon, not of God, as penitents ought, but of
Moses, which was more excusable in him, because, by a special commission, Moses
was made a god to Pharaoh, and whosesoever sins he remitted they were forgiven;
when he prays, Forgive this once, he, in effect, promises not to offend in like
manner any more, yet seems loth to express that promise, nor does he say any
thing particularly of letting the people go. Note, Counterfeit repentance
commonly cheats men with general promises and is loth to covenant against
particular sins. 3. He entreats Moses and Aaron to pray for him. There are
those who, in distress, implore the help of other persons' prayers, but have no
mind to pray for themselves, showing thereby that they have no true love to
God, nor any delight in communion with him. Pharaoh desires their prayers that
this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of
locusts, not the plague of a hard heart, which yet was much the more dangerous.
IV. The removal of the judgment, upon the
prayer of Moses, v. 18, 19. This was, 1. As great an instance of the power of
God as the judgment itself. An east wind brought the locusts, and now a west
wind carried them off. Note, Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it
is fulfilling God's word, and turns about by his counsel. The wind bloweth
where it listeth, as it respects any control of ours; not so as it respects the
control of God: he directeth it under the whole heaven. 2. It was as great a
proof of the authority of Moses, and as firm a ratification of his commission
and his interest in that God who both makes peace and creates evil, Isa. xlv.
7. Nay, hereby he not only commanded the respect, but recommended himself to
the good affections of the Egyptians, inasmuch as, while the judgment came in
obedience to his summons, the removal of it was in answer to his prayers. He
never desired the woeful day, though he threatened it. His commission indeed
ran against Egypt, but his intercession was for it, which was a good reason why
they should love him, though they feared him. 3. It was also as strong an
argument for their repentance as the judgment itself; for by this it appeared
that God is ready to forgive, and swift to show mercy. If he turn away a
particular judgment, as he did often from Pharaoh, or defer it, as in Ahab's
case, upon the profession of repentance and the outward tokens of humiliation,
what will he do if we be sincere, and how welcome will true penitents be to
him! O that this goodness of God might lead us to repentance!
V. Pharaoh's return to his impious
resolution again not to let the people go (v. 20), through the righteous hand
of God upon him, hardening his heart, and confirming him in his obstinacy.
Note, Those that have often baffled their convictions, and stood it out against
them, forfeit the benefit of them, and are justly given up to those lusts of
their own hearts which (how strong soever their convictions) prove too strong
for them.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward
heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which
may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched
forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of
Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one
another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children
of Israel had light in their dwellings.
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only
let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with
you. 25 And Moses said, Thou must give
us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our
God. 26 Our cattle also shall go with
us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve
the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we
come thither. 27 But the LORD hardened
Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself,
see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I
will see thy face again no more.
Here is, I. The plague of darkness
brought upon Egypt, and a most dreadful plague it was, and therefore is put
first of the ten in Ps. cv. 28, though it was one of the last; and in the
destruction of the spiritual Egypt it is produced by the fifth vial, which is
poured out upon the seat of the beast, Rev. xvi. 10. His kingdom was full of
darkness. Observe particularly concerning this plague, 1. That it was a total
darkness. We have reason to think, not only that the lights of heaven were
clouded, but that all their fires and candles were put out by the damps or
clammy vapours which were the cause of this darkness; for it is said (v. 23),
They saw not one another. It is threatened to the wicked (Job xviii. 5, 6) that
the spark of his fire shall not shine (even the sparks of his own kindling, as
they are called, Isa. l. 11), and that the light shall be dark in his
tabernacle. Hell is utter darkness. The light of a candle shall shine no more
at all in thee, Rev. xviii. 23. 2. That it was darkness which might be felt (v.
21), felt in its causes by their fingers' ends (so thick were the fogs), felt
in its effects, some think, by their eyes, which were pricked with pain, and
made the more sore by their rubbing them. Great pain is spoken of as the effect
of that darkness, Rev. xvi. 10, which alludes to this. 3. No doubt it
astonished and terrified them. The cloud of locusts, which had darkened the
land (v. 15), was nothing to this. The tradition of the Jews is that in this
darkness they were terrified by the apparitions of evil spirits, or rather by
dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made, or (which is no less frightful) by
the horrors of their own consciences; and this is the plague which some think
is intended (for, otherwise, it is not mentioned at all there) Ps. lxxviii. 49,
He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil angels among
them; for to those to whom the devil has been a deceiver he will, at length, be
a terror. 4. It continued three days, six nights (says bishop Hall) in one; so
long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness, and the most lightsome
palaces were perfect dungeons. No man rose from his place, v. 23. They were all
confined to their houses; and such a terror seized them that few of them had
the courage to go from the chair to the bed, or from the bed to the chair. Thus
were they silent in darkness, 1 Sam. ii. 9. Now Pharaoh had time to consider,
if he would have improved it. Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while
Satan blinds men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and feet that
they work not for God, nor move towards heaven. They sit in darkness. 5. It was
a righteous thing with God thus to punish them. Pharaoh and his people had
rebelled against the light of God's word, which Moses spoke to them; justly
therefore are they punished with darkness, for they loved it and chose it
rather. The blindness of their minds brings upon them this darkness of the air.
Never was mind so blinded as Pharaoh's, never was air so darkened as Egypt's.
The Egyptians by their cruelty would have extinguished the lamp of Israel, and
quenched their coal; justly therefore does God put out their lights. Compare it
with the punishment of the Sodomites, Gen. xix. 11. Let us dread the
consequences of sin; if three days' darkness was so dreadful, what will
everlasting darkness be? 6. The children of Israel, at the same time, had light
in their dwellings (v. 23), not only in the land of Goshen, where most of them
dwelt, but in the habitations of those who were dispersed among the Egyptians:
for that some of them were thus dispersed appears from the distinction
afterwards appointed to be put on their door-posts, ch. xii. 7. This is an
instance, (1.) Of the power of God above the ordinary power of nature. We must
not think that we share in common mercies as a matter of course, and therefore
that we owe no thanks to God for them; he could distinguish, and withhold that
from us which he grants to other. He does indeed ordinarily make his sun to
shine on the just and unjust; but he could make a difference, and we must own
ourselves indebted to his mercy that he does not. (2.) Of the particular favour
he bears to his people: they walk in the light when others wander endlessly in
thick darkness; wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this dark
world, there is light, there is a child of light, one for whom light is sown,
and whom the day-spring from on high visits. When God made this difference
between the Israelites and the Egyptians, who would not have preferred the
poorest cottage of an Israelite to the finest palace of an Egyptian? There is
still a real difference, though not so discernible a one, between the house of
the wicked, which is under a curse, and the habitation of the just, which is
blessed, Prov. iii. 33. We should believe in that difference, and govern
ourselves accordingly. Upon Ps. cv. 28, He sent darkness and made it dark, and
they rebelled not against his word, some ground a conjecture that, during these
three days of darkness, the Israelites were circumcised, in order to their
celebrating the passover which was now approaching, and that the command which
authorized this was the word against which they rebelled not; for their
circumcision, when they entered Canaan, is spoken of as a second general
circumcision, Josh. v. 2. During these three days of darkness to the Egyptians,
if God had so pleased, the Israelites, by the light which they had, might have
made their escape, and without asking leave of Pharaoh; but God would bring
them out with a high hand, and not by stealth, nor in haste, Isa. lii. 12.
II. Here is the impression made upon
Pharaoh by this plague, much like that of the foregoing plagues. 1. It awakened
him so far that he renewed the treaty with Moses and Aaron, and now, at length,
consented that they should take their little ones with them, only he would have
their cattle left in pawn, v. 24. It is common for sinners thus to bargain with
God Almighty. Some sins they will leave, but not all; they will leave their
sins for a time, but they will not bid them a final farewell; they will allow
him some share in their hearts, but the world and the flesh must share with
him: thus they mock God, but they deceive themselves. Moses resolves not to
abate in his terms: Our cattle shall go with us, v. 26. Note, The terms of
reconciliation are so fixed that though men dispute them ever so long they
cannot possibly alter them, nor bring them lower. We must come up to the
demands of God's will, for we cannot expect he should condescend to the
provisos of our lusts. God's messengers must always be bound up by that rule
(Jer. xv. 19), Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. Moses
gives a very good reason why they must take their cattle with them; they must
go to do sacrifice, and therefore they must take wherewithal. What numbers and
kinds of sacrifices would be required they did not yet know, and therefore they
must take all they had. Note, With ourselves, and our children, we must devote
all our worldly possessions to the service of God, because we know not what use
God will make of what we have, nor in what way we may be called upon to honour
God with it. 2. Yet it exasperated him so far that, when he might not make his
own terms, he broke off the conference abruptly, and took up a resolution to
treat no more. Wrath now came upon him to the utmost, and he became outrageous
beyond all bounds, v. 28. Moses is dismissed in anger, forbidden the court upon
pain of death, forbidden so much as to meet Pharaoh any more, as he had been
used to do, by the river's side: In that day thou seest my face, thou shalt
die. Prodigious madness! Had he not found that Moses could plague him without
seeing his face? Or had he forgotten how often he had sent for Moses as his
physician to heal him and ease him of his plagues? and must he now be bidden to
come near him no more? Impotent malice! To threaten him with death who was armed
with such a power, and at whose mercy he had so often laid himself. What will
not hardness of heart and contempt of God's word and commandments bring men to?
Moses takes him at his word (v. 29): I will see thy face no more, that is,
"after this time;" for this conference did not break off till ch. xi.
8, when Moses went out in a great anger, and told Pharaoh how soon he would
change his mind, and his proud spirit would come down, which was fulfilled (ch.
xii. 31), when Pharaoh became a humble supplicant to Moses to depart. So that,
after this interview, Moses came no more, till he was sent for. Note, When men
drive God's word from them he justly permits their delusions, and answers them
according to the multitude of their idols. When the Gadarenes desired Christ to
depart, he presently left them.
