Exodus 10:7 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.
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.
We see here that Pharaoh’s servants are still loyal to him, but they are also frustrated with him. They have a better sense of what is going on than Pharaoh has. We need to remember that Pharaoh hardened his heart and the LORD accepted that decision but still had the right and authority to work through this wicked man for His glory.
Pharaoh’s servants encouraged him to offer a compromise solution. They knew Egypt was destroyed, but apparently Pharaoh did not perceive that. He was too proud to see the damage he was doing to his own nation. This is quite typical of other dictatorial governments like ours. The entire plot of the virus and the programming surrounding this has been a major hit to this country. The debt is unsustainable. The health care system is in shambles. The police forces have been corrupted and are now acting as goons for the government. The justice system has also been greatly corrupted. Of course the economy has been greatly affected by all of this. However, our politicians and the medical “experts” are still using the same lies that they used at the beginning of this. There have been doctors and others who have warned of the disastrous course we are on, but they have been ignored and often silenced. Our PM is far too proud to seek wise counsel. He has been brainwashed by Klaus Schwab and he knows where his assumed power is coming from. He does not understand that God is limiting his wicked plans. Judgment is upon us now already and his eternal judgment is coming.
In verse 8 we see that Pharaoh listened to his servants and called Moses and Aaron back into his presence. He acted as if he was ignorant of the LORD’s demand upon him. In verse 9 Moses answered him with a clear and firm answer. There was no room for compromise. The LORD had made His will known and it needed to be obeyed. None of the nation of Israel could be left behind. None of the livestock could be left behind. Moses acknowledged that the LORD was in charge, and He would give them instructions as needed with regard to His plans.
In verse 10 Pharaoh again acted in defiance against the LORD. He had no need for the Hebrews in his land any longer. His servants understood that their presence in Egypt was causing all this trouble. However, Pharaoh was too foolish to see this. He continued to assume that he was in charge and that he would determine who could go and who must stay. He did not grasp the reality that he was in charge of nothing. He could not even protect himself from the plagues. In verse 11 he continued to give his response to God’s demands. He would let the men go and he even went so far as to claim that was Moses’ and Aaron’s original demand. He was not listening.
In verse 12 the LORD gave His response to Pharaoh’s defiance. We see again, that Pharaoh’s rantings had no effect on God’s plans. He would bring this plague of locusts upon the land of Egypt and the herbs and all that the hail did not destroy would now be destroyed.
In verse 13 we read how the LORD brought the locusts in. God is in charge of the winds and He caused an east wind to blow all that day and night and in the morning the locusts were there enmasse. We read in verse 14 that the locusts went over all the land of Egypt. They rested in all the coasts of Egypt. This was a plague that the nation of Egypt had never seen before.
Verse 15 tells us that the locusts were so plentiful that they blotted out the sun. They were like a cloud over the land. They ate every green thing on the fruit trees and in the fields. The trees were stripped of all their greenery. This would be devastating not just for that year, but for years to come. Trees need their leaves to provide the energy they need to grow and survive.
We see in verses 16-17 that when Pharaoh received the reports of what was happening that he hastened to call Moses and Aaron back. Again, Pharaoh acknowledge that he had sinned against the LORD and against them as well. He was still not willing to acknowledge that he was a wicked, lost sinner. Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to forgive him but this once. He did not see the need to be forgiven and his heart changed. He understood the need to call upon the LORD to take away “this death only”.
Moses and Aaron knew that Pharaoh was a liar, but they took his plea and went out and called upon the LORD to remove the locusts. We read that the LORD sent a mighty strong west wind which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red sea. Just as quickly as the LORD had brought the locusts in, He sent them away. There were none left in the land. Again we see the mighty hand of the LORD at work here.
In spite of this mighty work, Pharaoh was not going to let the people go. We read once again that the LORD hardened his heart. Pharaoh had no intention of changing. He was not interested in being changed. He was not embarrassed by his wickedness. He would not let the children of Israel go. The darkness spoken of earlier was not just due to the locusts. Pharaoh’s heart was dark and he refused to let the light of God’s truth penetrate. Man can do that. God allows man to put up all the resistance he wants. Man will also suffer the consequences of his wrong choices, but God does not force man to be saved. He will force all people to bow to Him, but for many it will be too late.
Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
The lost will bow in fear and trembling. They will not acknowledge Him as their God and Saviour. They will hear their sentence of an eternity in the lake of fire. This will be the result of their choice of rejecting the true God. Few are willing to accept this righteous judgment. Most want to believe that there is always wiggle room. We must understand that God does not compromise. He offers and provides forgiveness to the truly repentant heart.
We can see again the importance of that humble heart that is willing to be cleansed and molded by the true God. Those who bow before Him now in true humility will find mercy and grace in the true God. He offers that to all. Be sure you do not miss out on His offer of salvation and hope today.
Pastor Bartel
