Scripture Reference: Exodus 8:20-10:29
4. Appealing – Continued
Please read Exodus 10:1-20 for the background to this section.
In Pharoah’s angry response to Moses’ and Aaron’s rejection of the leaders third demand, Pharaoh blasphemed the name of God. Literally, he said, “May the Lord be with you if I ever let you and your children go!” The New Living Translation (NLT) renders it, “The LORD will certainly need to be with you if I let you take your little ones!” (Exodus 10:10). Pharaoh interpreted their request as an evil plot to secure their freedom from Egyptian bondage. If all the Jewish men left with their families and livestock, they’d never have to return!
That was the end of the interview, and Pharaoh commanded his officers to drive Moses and Aaron out of the palace. As far as he was concerned, he was finished with Moses and Aaron and would never again listen to their messages from the Lord. However, God had other plans, and before long, Pharaoh would again be appealing for deliverance and relief.
Invasion (verses 12-15). God had seen and heard the entire interview and was prepared to respond to Pharaoh’s blasphemy and disobedience. When Moses lifted his rod toward heaven, God sent an east wind that blew for the rest of that day and all through the night. It brought vast swarms of locusts into the land, and they began to devour all the vegetation that had survived the previous plague. Since the creatures attacked “all the Egyptians,” the inference is that Israel escaped this devastating plague.
If vocabulary is any indication of significance, then the locust was a significant creature in the Old Testament world, for there are at least eleven different Hebrew words in Scripture referring to it. The Jews were permitted to eat certain species of locusts (Leviticus 11:20-23; Deuteronomy 14:19-20; see also Matthew 3:1-4), but for the most part, they hated the creatures because of their ability to strip the vegetation from an area with incredible speed. The Israelites used the locust swarm to describe anything that quickly invaded and devastated their land (Judges 6:5; 7:12; Isaiah 33:4; Jeremiah 46:23; 51:14, 27), and the Prophet Joel compared the locusts to an invading army (Joel 1-2; see also Amos 7:1-3).
Intercession (verses 16-19). If Pharaoh’s officers thought that Egypt was already ruined through the previous plagues, then what was their opinion of the situation after the locusts arrived? Within a brief time, no vegetation was left anywhere in the land, and the creatures were invading the houses as well as the fields. It was the most devastating natural calamity to hit the land of Egypt in all Egyptian history. In destroying the vegetation, God not only left the land bankrupt, but He triumphed over Osiris, the Egyptian god of fertility and crops. He also proved that He had control over the wind.
Once again Pharaoh sought for relief without repentance, and God mercifully granted his request. God proved His greatness by reversing the winds and carrying all the locusts into the Red Sea. Within a short time, He would put Pharaoh’s army into the Red Sea, and then the Israelites would be free to march to their Promised Land.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 