Exodus 10:1–20

"And I will harden Pharaoh's heart." God had already said this in chapter 4:21. Eighteen times we read of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. But the Hebrew uses different words here, and they mark an important distinction. One means to "make firm" or "strong." The other means "to make stubborn." These two words mark Pharaoh's hardening of his own heart, and God's hardening after Pharaoh kept on in his wicked way. Scripture says five times that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Only then did God begin His hardening and make Pharaoh's heart stubborn. Pharaoh hardened himself, then God hardened him. Pharaoh had his opportunities. As he refused and stayed in unbelief, God made him stubborn. God never hardens first, and He never forces anyone to be an unbeliever. There is a solemn warning here. Thousands harden their hearts now.

It is true that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. But He did so only after Pharaoh had shown extreme and unbelievable arrogance by saying, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice…?" (Ex. 5:2). And only after Pharaoh had hardened his own heart again and again. In fact, the Spirit uses two different words in the original language, and states no less than seven times that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Ex. 7:13, 14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) before saying that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh (Ex. 9:12).

God never made any man bad. But He may, and in some cases does, give people up to the results of their own folly and evil. That is, He hardens in judgment those who make light of His grace and reject it… Pharaoh was wicked, and he grew more wicked the more patience God showed him. In the end the One he had despised blinded him in judgment and made him an example. All are responsible. Sin destroys the ability to obey God, not the responsibility to obey Him.

Pharaoh could not brush God's command aside by refusing to obey for ever. A creature resisting its Creator! Human will overcoming the Divine will! That could not be… Egypt's stubbornness would only display the glory of God more fully.

Again the Lord reminds Moses that He Himself had hardened Pharaoh's heart and the hearts of his servants. He did this so that He might show His signs before them in public. He did it too so that His great works of power might have a very real effect on Israel's own generation and on the generations to come. Then they would realize that it was indeed the living Lord of glory who was dealing with them.

The Philistines give us another striking witness against Pharaoh. The ark of God was with them, and they wanted rid of it… So they send for the priests and diviners. These men tell the people to "give glory to the God of Israel… Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had worked wonders among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?" Here is a witness three hundred and fifty years later to the fact of the Exodus. It is also an admission from the priests of a foreign nation that Pharaoh had acted wrongly. Israel's natural enemies drew the conclusion… that the king met a just judgment, since he had hardened his heart against the God of Israel.

Again the Lord reminds Moses that He Himself had hardened Pharaoh's heart and the hearts of his servants. He did this so that He might show His signs openly before them. He did it also so that God's great works of power might have a very real effect on Israel's present generation and on the generations to come. Then they would realize that it was indeed the living Lord of glory who was dealing with them (vv. 1-2).

God had dealt graciously with Pharaoh. He gave him chance after chance to agree to what He asked. Pharaoh still hardened his heart, and showed his deep-rooted hatred and hostility to God and His people. Now this proud enemy comes under the hardening God sends in judgment… Unbelief never begins as the result of that hardening. But let there be no doubt that there is such a thing as hardening.

God never made Pharaoh, or anyone else, wicked. They were wicked already, and they had plenty of urgent testimony. By God's judgment that testimony served only to blind the king. From the first he asked with scorn, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go."

Generations not yet born should hear of the works of the Lord, and of how He stepped in for Israel. They should know that He is the Lord. Egyptian stubbornness would only serve to display the glory of God further.

The plagues were signs as well as judgments. God sent them to prove who Jehovah was. Egypt once knew enough of God to keep it from idolatry. But it "did not see fit to acknowledge God," and so it had sunk into the worst idolatry. Above all, God sent the plagues to teach Israel that Jehovah alone is God.

God had "established a testimony" for the fathers to pass on to the children, and for the children to pass on to their children. He did it so that they might set their hope in God, walk in obedience, and not forget His works. In this way they would escape the stubbornness of earlier generations. Those generations did not set their affections on God, and their spirits were not steadfast with God.

And Christians may well tell their children what God has done. We should ground our little ones in the great truths of God's word. We should plant the facts of redemption, resurrection, and ascension in their minds and memories.

One thing is sure: what deeply affects the parents will make an impression on the children… The story must pass from generation to generation. And how it warms the hearts of parents to see the eager way the children listen to it.

Again Moses and Aaron entered the king's palace. Again they addressed him, carrying a fresh message from the God of the Hebrews. The language was plain. It was not the language of a courtier addressing his master. It was the true God speaking to His creature.

Pharaoh was learning, but was he submitting? He had now learned that the Lord was the God of the Hebrews. "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?" he had asked, in anything but a meek spirit. Now he learns that the Lord really exists, and something of His power… God was becoming known to the Egyptians by acts of judgment — a fearful way of revealing Himself.

Yet such is the patience of God that Moses was sent once more to Pharaoh with a protest and a demand that he let the people go. God warned him that, if he still refused, He would strike Egypt with swarms of locusts. This was to happen "tomorrow." In the previous chapter God twice announced a plague for tomorrow. That gave at least twenty-four hours' delay, in case Pharaoh should relent. In contrast, salvation, as we know, is always presented today.

The message named the only way of escape: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord, and let Israel go.

The word to him was, "Let My people go…" So the Lord at once claimed the people as His. For a century or two the Pharaohs of Egypt had regarded the people as theirs, and enslaved to them. From the very start the two claims stood against each other. The Lord claimed the people that Pharaoh regarded as his own. Which claimant would prevail? The issue could not be in doubt for one moment.

When God took up the people of Israel, He set His love on them, and wanted them to serve Him in response. The beginning of Exodus shows them under a slavery that was nothing like what God wanted for them. They were Pharaoh's slaves. Seven times, as far as I can trace, God said, "Let My son (or, let My people) go that they may serve Me." For the moment they were Pharaoh's servants. But God regarded them as "the sons of Israel," and He sets them free so that they might serve Him.

The Exodus is the separation of the people of God from the world… Israel was to go out of Egypt to serve the Lord, or hold a feast to Him. They could not serve Him or offer sacrifice to Him in the land of their slavery, in front of that people. Their religious service was of such a character that Egypt would not tolerate it.

He gives us the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to take a humble attitude, if that helps him avoid reaping the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). Under punishment Pharaoh did not mind doing a little confessing. But he had no idea of giving up his self-willed way.

Pharaoh could not treat God's summons as nothing by refusing forever to obey. A creature resisting its Creator! Human will overcoming the divine will! That could not be. So God spoke to Moses again, told him what He would do, and gave His servant a fresh message for the stubborn ruler of the land of Egypt.

Yet God is so patient that He sent Moses once more to Pharaoh with a protest and a demand that he let the people go. God warned Pharaoh that if he still refused, He would strike Egypt with swarms of locusts. This was to happen "tomorrow." In the previous chapter God twice announced a plague for tomorrow. That gave at least twenty-four hours' delay in case Pharaoh should relent. By contrast, salvation, as we know, is always offered today.

The hail had killed the cattle. It also struck every plant of the field and broke every tree. The desolation was widespread. Now the locusts would complete it. Every green thing would be eaten. "Tomorrow," Moses had said, and the swarms of flies came the next day. "Tomorrow" was the warning for the disease on the livestock; the next day came, and it appeared. "Tomorrow" was the word for the hail, and the next day the Lord rained hail on the land. Every time, God sent the plague He had foretold. It did not wait a single day. Just one night came between the warning and the plague each time.

They are remarkable for the huge numbers that suddenly swarm over a district, and for the vast destruction of plant life they cause in a very short time. As the prophet says, before them the land may be like the garden of Eden, and behind them a desolate wilderness; nothing escapes them.

Locusts covered the face of the whole earth and every green thing was destroyed. There is a vivid description of the damage locusts do in the book of Joel. Locusts are typical of God's punishing judgments. The locust plague was meant to show the helplessness of the Egyptian god Serapis, whom the Egyptians trusted to protect them from locusts.

Man may have departed from God and become hostile to Him. Yet nature in its whole framework obeys Him and still serves Him. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces — the armies of the Lord. The army of locusts vividly pictures them for us. "The locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank," says Agur. One observer says nothing in their habits is more striking than the stubbornness with which they all keep to the same line of march. They move like a disciplined army. This instinctive discipline, under an invisible king, shows whose armies they are and who marshals them: "His army," the Lord calls them.

Could Pharaoh still say, "Who is the Lord? I do not know the Lord"? What an answer he had already been given. The Lord he did not know had power over the waters and over the ground. He had power over the bodies of men and animals, and power over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues.

Yet God is so patient that He sent Moses once more to Pharaoh with a protest and a demand that he let the people go. God warns him that if he still refused, He would strike Egypt with swarms of locusts. This was to happen "tomorrow." In the previous chapter God twice announced a plague for tomorrow. Each time He gave at least twenty-four hours of respite, in case Pharaoh might relent. In contrast to this, salvation, as we know, is always presented today.

Moses had said "tomorrow" for the swarms of flies (8:23). The next day they came. "Tomorrow" was the warning for the disease among the cattle. The next day came, and the disease appeared (9:5). "Tomorrow" was the word for the hail (9:18). The next day the Lord rained hail on the land. Each time God sent the plague He had foretold. It did not delay for a single day.

Even in those days everyone knew locusts as a serious plague. The warning made plain that this one would be worse: it would destroy all that was left in the land. The wheat and rye escaped before, but they would not escape this. The hail had broken the trees of the field, yet they were still in leaf. Now the locusts would strip them bare. Only one way of escape was open: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord and let Israel go.

Today, in the east and in some parts of Africa, no disaster is feared more, and none leaves man more helpless. Locusts often devour every green thing. They fly in masses so dense that they blot out sun and sky.

Locusts covered the face of the whole earth and destroyed every green thing. The book of Joel vividly describes the damage locusts do. Locusts are a picture of God's judgments that punish. This plague aimed to show the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis, whom the Egyptians trusted as their protector against locusts.

The Lord whom he did not know had power over the waters, power over the ground, power over the bodies of men and animals, and power over the air. In what part of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues.

Chapter 10 opens with the Lord telling Moses that He had hardened their hearts, and so shut them up to their doom. That also gave the Lord the occasion to display Himself as the God of judgment in such a way that it would be remembered in generations to come. This witness still stands even in our day, and it will be remembered until the day of grace is followed by the time of judgment. Then God will deal in His righteous judgment and wrath not with Egypt only but with the whole earth, as pictured in Revelation 6-11, 15, 16. Of that coming day of judgment the plagues of Egypt were a small sample.

His servants protested. Moved by this, he recalled Moses and Aaron and proposed another cunning device, raising a question about who should go. In reply, Moses made it quite plain that there is no compromise permitted when God makes His demands. The Lord claimed the people as His: men, women, children and possessions.

The tone was severe. It is impossible to imagine them wringing their hands and bowing low before the king. "Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me,'" and then the alternative — locusts! — and without waiting for a reply, Moses "turned and went out from Pharaoh."

Tomorrow he had said; what "tomorrows" there had been. "Tomorrow" Moses had said the swarms of flies would come (8:23). On the next day they came. "Tomorrow" the plague on the livestock had been threatened. The next day came, and the animals died (9:5). "Tomorrow" the hail had been predicted (9:18). On the next day the LORD rained hail on the land. Each time the plague foretold was sent. It did not delay for a single day. Just one night came between the warning and the plague each time. And Pharaoh, waking on the new day, had to hear of the sorrow and destruction spreading over the country.

Horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep had died in the plague on the livestock. Cattle had also been killed by the hail, which struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree as well. The flax and the barley had been struck too. The ruin was truly widespread. Now the locusts would complete it. Every green thing would be eaten. Plant life would seem to stop.

The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. The plague of locusts was meant to show that the Egyptian god Serapis had no power. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are also mentioned in a symbolic way in Revelation 9:1-12.

In modern times enormous flights of locusts have covered an area of over a thousand miles. When they were driven into the sea, their bodies formed a bank on the shore about four feet high and fifty miles long! In India a piled-up mass of these insects stopped a railway train, as if it had run into a snowdrift. But the locusts threatened here were such as had never been before, and such as would never be again.

"Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD" (Ex. 10:1-2). Generations not yet born would hear of the works of the LORD. They would hear how He stepped in for Israel. They would know that He is the LORD. Egyptian stubbornness would only serve to display the glory of God further.

The thought of it was terrible to the court. For the first time the flatterers around Pharaoh spoke out. The custom of the palace was set aside. A fear greater than their fear of the king drove them to speak.

The threat of the locusts eating what remained after the hail brought Pharaoh's servants to their senses. But Moses demanded that all should go — old and young, children and cattle — to keep their feast to the LORD (no word now of three days). So they were driven out from before the king, and the eighth blow fell all over the land. The powers of the air were at the LORD's command and against Egypt.

The prospect was terrifying to the court. For the first time the flatterers around Pharaoh spoke out. They set aside the usual custom of the palace. A fear greater than the fear of the king drove them. "Let the men go," they said; "do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?"

They spoke in a tone that neither they nor the king were used to. They dropped flattery. Long speeches were out of the question. They spoke plainly, in words that were few, earnest and unmistakable... They were willing to get rid of Israel, and to do it at once and with no conditions. The God of the Hebrews, they were waking up to see, was not One to be trifled with.

The Lord always acts for His own glory or name. "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth'" (Rom. 9:17). Yet the king of Egypt was responsible. His own people and the nations around him were witnesses of it. First we have Exodus 8:19: "Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.'" Second (Ex. 9:20), "Whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses." Third (Ex. 10:7), "Pharaoh's servants said to him, 'How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God.'" Fourth (Ex. 11:3), "the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people."

In his blind hatred, Pharaoh did not know what his servants saw: the land of Egypt was ruined. His heart was hardened to his own destruction. The same warning goes to the Philistines: do not harden your hearts in the same way. So it is. Human nature can take a warning and steer its course to escape the worst of judgment, and never soften in the least into true repentance. This is simply another form of selfishness. It will save itself. It takes just enough interest in God's past dealings to learn how it can go on ignoring and despising Him with the least danger to itself.

Pharaoh's court stepped in when the locusts were threatened. Yet they would not yield to the LORD. They preferred Pharaoh's favour. The hardening of their hearts on that occasion is very striking.

At their urging, "Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, 'Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?'" This shows once again the wretched heart of this most wretched king. If he is forced to, he will loosen his grip, but even then he will hold on to all he can. He clings so tightly to what he has that he will bargain, if he can, with Moses about who should leave.

There is to be no compromise. The believer is to be for the Lord, his household is also for the Lord, and all that he possesses. Let every child of God have the same purpose of heart in this as Moses did.

The threat of the locusts woke them up. They believed it would come unless the king relented. They knew of only one thing that could stop it: the king's surrender to the command given to him. So they had to speak. And speak they did, in a way that surely neither they nor the king was used to. Flattery was discarded. Wordiness was out of the question. They spoke in plain, blunt language, in words that were few, earnest, and impossible to mistake.

This reveals once again the wretched heart of this most wretched king. If compelled, he will relax his grasp, but even then he will retain all that he can. He holds on tightly to what he had — so tightly that he will bargain with Moses, if he can, about who is allowed to leave.

Pharaoh pictures the energy of Satan, the ruler of this world, then as now. He fought every inch of the road. When hard pressed, he offered a series of compromises. Moses said to him, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" Pharaoh said, "Go, sacrifice to your God within the land" — that is, set up worldly worship... Then Pharaoh said, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away" — that is, don't be very separate. His next question was, "Go, serve the LORD your God. But which ones are to go?" Moses replies, "We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the LORD." Pharaoh answers, "No! Go, the men among you, and serve the LORD." This means the parents may be for the Lord, but the children must be kept in the world.

Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt! Terrible anomaly! That would have been only a half deliverance — useless to Israel and dishonouring to Israel's God. This could not be. If the children stayed in Egypt, you could not say the parents had left it, since their children were part of themselves. At most you could say they were serving Jehovah in part and Pharaoh in part. But Jehovah could have no part with Pharaoh. He should either have all or nothing.

With an arrangement like that, the shrewd negotiator knew very well he would have them all back in his power sooner or later. If the Hebrews had gone without their children, their hearts would have stayed in Egypt while their bodies were in the wilderness. That is a miserable condition and an insult to God. Their bodies are no use to Him without their hearts.

In God's plan, however, the little one's place was with the parents. Pharaoh's plan was to keep hold of the fathers through the children. God's plan is to save the children along with the fathers, and through them... "The promise is for you and for your children," says the apostle on the day of Pentecost.

This reveals once again the wretched heart of this most wretched king. If forced, he will loosen his grip, but even then he will hold on to all he can. He clings to what he had, and clings so tightly that he will bargain, if he can, with Moses about who should leave.

Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt! What a terrible contradiction! This would only have been a half deliverance, useless to Israel and dishonouring to Israel's God. It could not be. If the children stayed in Egypt, no one could say that the parents had left it, since their children were part of themselves.

We should always remember — strange that we should ever forget! — that our children are part of ourselves. God's creative hand has made them so; and surely what the Creator has joined together, the Redeemer would not separate. So we always find that God links a man and his house together. "You and your house" is a phrase of deep practical meaning. It carries the highest consequences. It brings the richest comfort to every Christian parent. And we may truly add this: neglecting it has led to the most disastrous results in thousands of family circles.

So here is another attempt to narrow the limits of salvation. The men may go; the little ones must stay. In God's plan, though, the little one's place was with the parents. Pharaoh's aim was to keep hold of the fathers through the children; God's thought is to save the children along with, and through, the fathers. Noah's house, in the ark with him, is the first example... The new is fuller still of this: "Today salvation has come to this house," says the Lord about Zacchaeus. "The promise is for you and for your children," says the apostle on the day of Pentecost. And once more, to the Philippian jailer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

The reason they were to take the little ones and everything else with them was that they were going to hold a feast to the Lord. Nature might say, "What can these little creatures know about a feast to the Lord? Are you not afraid of making them formalists?" The reply of Moses is simple and decisive: "We will go with our young... for we must hold a feast to the Lord." They had no thought of seeking one thing for themselves and another for their children. They never dreamed of Canaan for themselves and Egypt for their children.

Moses is very clear about who shall go... Everyone they loved and everything they owned was to go. All for God — that was Moses' motto. Christian mothers, converted fathers, do you see this? We are not going to be a divided family, says Moses; and more than that, we shall take every sheep and every bullock we own, for it all belongs to God. Why? Because redemption puts you on the ground of belonging to God completely.

The Exodus is the separation of the people of God from the world. And I was recently struck by this feature of the scene: Israel was to go out of Egypt to serve the Lord, or hold a feast to Him. They could not serve Him or sacrifice to Him in the land of their slavery, in front of the Egyptians. Their worship was of such a character that Egypt would not tolerate it. It went so far against everything the Egyptians thought that they would persecute and destroy them if they saw it. So they had to go out.

He tried to intimidate Moses. He warned him that if they all left they would run into serious trouble. And he implied, with a sneer, that they could not depend on any real help from the Lord being with them (v. 10).

Next (Ex. 10:10), Pharaoh would profess to let the people go, while retaining their little ones. A more cunning and preposterous suggestion could not be made. What more effective way of bringing the people back to Egypt than by holding fast their families in bondage? Sadly, letting the world rule in the home has spoiled many a testimony and many a complete separation!

Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt! Terrible contradiction! This would only have been a half deliverance, at once useless to Israel and dishonouring to Israel's God. This could not be. If the children remained in Egypt, no one could say the parents had left it, since their children were part of themselves. At best they would be serving Jehovah in part and Pharaoh in part. But Jehovah could have no part with Pharaoh. He should either have all or nothing.

By such an arrangement that shrewd negotiator knew perfectly well that he would have them all back in his power sooner or later. If the Hebrews had gone without their children, their hearts would have stayed in Egypt while their bodies were in the wilderness. That is a miserable condition and an insult to God, for their bodies are no use to Him without their hearts. God's purpose is to bring them entirely out of Egypt. He would fix all the objects of their interest and affections outside its borders — "to deliver us from the present evil age," and to set our "minds on things that are above." Pharaoh's purpose is to fix the objects of their love and interest in the old kingdom of sin and condemnation. In that way he keeps them tied to it as tightly as if bound by chains.

The men may go; the little ones must remain. In God's plan, however, the little one's place was with the parents. Pharaoh's thought was to keep hold of the fathers by means of the children; God's thought is to save the children with, and by means of, the fathers. Noah's house, in the ark with him, is the first example... The new is still more full of this: "Today salvation has come to this house," says the Lord about Zacchaeus. "The promise is for you and for your children," says the apostle on the day of Pentecost... And once again to the Philippian jailer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."... It does not follow automatically that if a man is saved himself, his house will be saved too.

With what persistence Satan disputed every inch of Israel's way out of the land of Egypt! He first tried to keep them in the land. Then he tried to keep them near the land. Next he tried to keep part of themselves in the land. When none of these three worked, he tried to send them out without any ability to serve the Lord. If he could not keep the servants, he would seek to keep their ability to serve, which would answer much the same purpose.

This reveals once again the wretched heart of this most wretched king. If compelled, he will relax his grasp, but even then he will retain all that he can. He clings so tightly to what he had that he will bargain, if he can, with Moses about who should leave.

By their little ones he had them safe, of course — a perfectly good security that they would not go far away. And so it is still. How many are brought back into the world by the children they did not bring with them out of the world.

The men may go; the little ones must remain. In God's plan, however, the little one's place was with the parents. Pharaoh's thought was to keep hold of the fathers by means of the children; God's thought is to save the children with, and by means of, the fathers. Noah's household, in the ark with him, is the first example... The New Testament is still more full of this: "Today salvation has come to this house," says the Lord about Zacchaeus. "The promise is for you and for your children," says the apostle on the day of Pentecost. And once again to the Philippian jailer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."

Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt! Terrible contradiction! This would only have been a half deliverance, useless to Israel and dishonouring to Israel's God. This could not be. If the children remained in Egypt, the parents could not possibly be said to have left it, since their children were part of themselves. The most that could be said in such a case was that in part they were serving the Lord, and in part Pharaoh. But the Lord could have no part with Pharaoh. He should either have all or nothing.

He tried to intimidate Moses by warning him that if they all left they would run into serious trouble, sarcastically implying that they could not count on any real help from the Lord being with them (v. 10). He would give permission only for the men to go, knowing that they would soon return when they did not have their families with them. So Moses and Aaron were driven out from Pharaoh's presence (v. 11). Such is the stubborn pride of an ungodly man of the world, influenced by Satan!

With what persistence Satan disputed every inch of Israel's way out of the land of Egypt! He first tried to keep them in the land, then to keep them near the land, next to keep part of themselves in the land, and finally, when he could not succeed in any of these three, he tried to send them out without any ability to serve the Lord. If he could not keep the servants, he would try to keep their ability to serve, which would achieve much the same end.

And how many Christians are caught in this snare! They claim to be the Lord's and to have left Egypt, yet they allow their families to stay behind... Nowhere does our testimony break down so plainly as in our families. Godly parents, whose own walk is blameless, are talked into allowing their children things they would never allow themselves, and so they flood their houses with the sights and sounds of Egypt.

Pharaoh tried to bargain. He would let the men go and sacrifice, but all the rest would stay in his power. He knew enough of human nature to be sure that this would bring the men back under his authority... The offer was: let each man go, but let him leave his household behind. But if God was to have any, He would have all.

The threat that locusts would eat what the hail had left brought Pharaoh's servants to their senses. But Moses demanded that all should go — old and young, children and cattle — to keep their feast to Jehovah. There was not a word about three days now. So Moses and Aaron are driven out from the king's presence, and the eighth blow falls all over the land. The powers of the air were at the command of Jehovah and against Egypt.

In the East the rod is a symbol of authority and power... Hundreds of Egypt's old monuments show gods and men holding rods like sceptres... Satan had the power and the authority, and Jehovah would hand these over to Moses as His servant. Again and again, as the story goes on, Moses is said to hold the rod of God.

It first swallowed up the rods of Egypt, to show that no strength could stand before God's strength... Then the rod brings the plagues of blood, of frogs, and of lice, until the magicians admit that they cannot match their strength against the Lord's (Ex. 8:19). It is then used in the plagues of hail (Ex. 9:23), locusts (Ex. 10:13), and darkness (Ex. 10:22). At the end it is used to destroy the firstborn, to deliver Israel, and to overthrow Egypt in the Red Sea (Ex. 12 - 14).

The court may have been too full of anger to hear the threatening sound of the rising east wind. Moses had already lifted the rod at God's command. The wind had risen, and it blew for the rest of the day and all through the night. Jehovah's army of the skies had been waiting twenty-four hours away, and it was already in flight.

The wind, as all else, is used by God to work out His purposes with man. Ex. 10:13; Ps. 135:7; Ezek. 13:13.

Horses, donkeys, camels, oxen and sheep had died in the disease that struck the livestock. The hail had killed cattle too. It also struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree. The flax and the barley had been struck as well. The ruin really was general. Now the locusts would complete it. They would eat every green thing. Plant life would seem to come to an end.

Hail and lightning together break the fruit trees of the land. The locusts then strip it of every green leaf that can be found. The ruin is complete, yet their rebellious pride is still not humbled. One last decisive blow is needed to make them give in.

The locusts covered the face of the whole earth and destroyed every green thing... Locusts are a picture of God's judgments that punish. This plague of locusts was meant to show the helplessness of the Egyptian god Serapis, whom the Egyptians trusted as their protector against locusts.

The threat of the locusts to eat what remained from the hail brought Pharaoh's servants to their senses. But Moses demanded that all should go — old and young, children and cattle — to keep their feast to the Lord. There was not a word about three days now. So Moses and Aaron are driven out from before the king, and the eighth blow falls all over the land. The powers of the air were at the command of the Lord and against Egypt.

God uses the wind, as He uses everything else, to work out His purposes with man. Ex. 10:13; Ps. 135:7; Ezek. 13:13. As the unseen wind comes and goes, and we do not know where, "so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. You feel its power, and the result lasts.

The east wind was harsh and destructive to plants (Gen. 41:6, 23, 27). It was dangerous to ships at sea (Ps. 48:7; Ezek. 27:26). It is a symbol of the withering power of God's judgements. Hosea 13:15.

The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. This plague was meant to show that the Egyptian god Serapis had no power. The Egyptians had trusted him as their protector against locusts. Revelation 9:1-12 also mentions locusts in a symbolic way.

The court was probably too full of anger to hear the ominous sound of the rising east wind. Moses had already lifted the rod at God's bidding. The wind rose, and it blew for all the remaining hours of the day and on through the night. Already the Lord's army of the skies, which had been lying at twenty-four hours' distance, was on the wing. Obeying the call of the wind, the huge host arose, and, carried on its gusts, the myriads sped on towards the land of Egypt.

Moses delivered his message, and left the king and his courtiers to think it over. He had said tomorrow; what "tomorrows" there had been. "Tomorrow," Moses had said, the swarms of flies would come (8:23). On the next day they came. "Tomorrow" the cattle disease had been threatened. The next day came, and the disease appeared (9:5). "Tomorrow" the hail had been predicted (9:18). On the next day the Lord rained hail on the land. Each time God sent the plague He had foretold. It did not delay for a single day. Just one night came between the warning and the plague each time.

But notice now, as every commentary points out, that these judgments of God which begin here have to some degree their natural counterparts... Such a link between these divine judgments and ordinary events surely has meaning for us. It is not only the sparing use of the miraculous, which many have remarked on. Much more, it shows how the whole order of nature marshals itself under the divine hand against the one who breaks His law.

At the command of the Lord, Moses stretched out the rod in his hand over the land of Egypt. The east wind blew that day and night. It brought a tremendous swarm of locusts, such as had never been before, and we are told there would never again be such a scourge (v. 14).

At the command of the Lord, Moses stretched out the rod in his hand over the land of Egypt. The east wind blew that day and night. It brought a tremendous swarm of locusts such as had never been before, and we are told there would never again be such a scourge (v. 14).

In the last two plagues God used the air and the wind to work His will. The locust obeys the wind. These plagues set aside Egypt's deities of air and wind, as earlier plagues had set aside their deities of earth and water.

The records of the east hold plenty of accounts of the damage a bad swarm of locusts does. This blow was so severe that there had never been such locusts before, and there never would be again. So we can imagine the terrible plight of the land of Egypt.

Then came the rush of the wings of the moving millions. A moment later the devouring hosts covered the land, and the noise of their unstoppable jaws filled it. Every green thing fell before them. They took away all that the hail had left. So far as the eye could reach, the land of Egypt was a wilderness, as barren as the yellow deserts on its borders. Goshen — the garden of Egypt — also fell under the plague, for its fruits and its crops were no longer necessary for Israel.

Eight plagues had now been sent, and this last a dreadful one. Locusts on the ground, covering the face of it, so that the land was darkened. Locusts, too, in their houses, and filling them. And when they were gone, not a green thing in herb or tree could be seen. Could Meneptah still say, "Who is the Lord? I do not know the Lord." What an answer he had already received. The Lord he did not know had power over the waters, over the ground, over the bodies of men and animals, and over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues.

The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are a picture of God's judgments in punishment. The locust plague was aimed to show the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are also mentioned in a symbolic way in Revelation 9:1-12.

Man may have departed from God and become hostile to Him. But nature in its whole framework is obedient, and serves Him still. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces, the hosts of the Lord. The army of locusts gives us a vivid picture of them. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank." (Proverbs 30:27.) This instinctive discipline, under an invisible king, shows whose hosts they are and who marshals them: the Lord calls them "His army." (Joel 2:11.)

In the early morning, right on time, a yellow fringe appeared all along the eastern horizon. It spread fast across the sky. Like a dense brown cloud, it covered the blue and shut out the light. Then came the rush of wings from the moving swarms. A moment later the devouring hosts covered the land and filled it with the noise of their unstoppable jaws. Every juicy plant fell before them. They took away all that the hail had left. As far as the eye could see, the land of Egypt was a wilderness, as barren as the yellow deserts on its borders. Goshen — the garden of Egypt — also came under the plague, for its fruits and crops were no longer needed for Israel.

Even in those days locusts were well known as a serious plague. The warning made the extra severity of this one clear: it would destroy all that was left in the land. The wheat and rye had escaped before, but they would not escape this. Also, the hail had broken the trees of the field, but they were still in leaf. Now the locusts would strip them bare. There was one way of escape: Pharaoh must humble himself before the Lord and let Israel go.

Man may have departed from God and become hostile to Him, but nature in its whole framework is obedient, and serves Him still. So the sinner finds himself in a stream of hostile forces — the hosts of the Lord. The army of locusts pictures them for us. "The locusts have no king," says Agur, "yet all of them march in rank" (Prov. 30:27)... This instinctive discipline, under a king no one can see, shows whose hosts they are and who commands them. The Lord calls them "His army" (Joel 2:11)... To fight them is hopeless. The destruction they cause is total: "The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them" (Joel 2:3).

Locusts covered the face of the whole land and destroyed every green thing. The book of Joel gives a vivid description of the damage locusts do. Locusts are typical of God's punitive judgments. The plague of locusts aimed to show the powerlessness of the Egyptian god Serapis. The Egyptians trusted him as their protector against locusts. Locusts are also mentioned symbolically in Revelation 9:1-12.

Pharaoh did not know this Lord. Yet He had power over the waters, power over the ground, power over the persons of men and animals, and power over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues. He did what the idols could not. He proved to be the absolute Master of the powers of nature. He alone decides the destiny of His creatures, and He would prove that too.

Pharaoh took a humble attitude. He confessed that he had sinned and asked for a forgiveness that would also remove the punishment. The Lord knew his heart, yet He listened to his plea. By a strong west wind He removed the locusts so completely that not one was left. The locusts were drowned in the Red Sea. Not many days later Pharaoh and his armies were drowned there too.

Under the pressure of this severe blow, Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron into his presence again. He confessed his sin against the Lord their God and against them. He begged forgiveness, and asked them to plead with the Lord their God "only to remove this death from me." The Lord heard the plea of Moses. He removed the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea.

God is never impatient, even in the face of open rebellion. He waits for His own time, bearing with the wickedness and ungodliness of men in long-suffering and grace.

Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned" (9:27). He said it now again. But confession under fear — what is it worth? … In this there was no work of conscience, no real repentance. He wanted God's hand removed from his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart stayed as hard as ever.

He gives us the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to look humble, if that helps him avoid reaping the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastening, Pharaoh did not mind a little confessing. But he had no idea of forsaking his self-willed way. The fair words he spoke in verses 16 and 17 of our chapter were merely an effort to avoid further punishment.

Many men in Scripture take the place of saying, "I have sinned." It is very remarkable that not all of them get cleansing. David (2 Samuel 12:13), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 9:33), Job (Job 40:4; 42:6), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5; 64:6), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 14:7, 20), Daniel (Daniel 9:5), Micah (Micah 7:9), the prodigal son (Luke 15:21), and the thief on the cross (Luke 23:41) all took the place of sinners. They all received cleansing or blessing. But look at Pharaoh (Exodus 9:27; 10:16), Balaam (Numbers 22:34), Achan (Joshua 7:20), Saul (1 Samuel 15:24; 26:21), Shimei (2 Samuel 19:20), and Judas (Matthew 27:4). These all confess they have sinned, yet they perish. … There was no hatred of the sin. There was no desire to turn from it and give it up. There was no true repentance.

In David's case how different. He was not thinking of his reputation before men, and how that could be saved. He saw and confessed what his guilt was before God. He cast himself on Him without reserve.

Human nature can take warnings and steer its course to escape the worst of judgment, and never soften in the least into true repentance. It is only another form of selfishness. Such a heart will save itself. It takes just enough interest in God's past ways to learn one thing. It wants to know how to go on ignoring and despising Him with the least danger to itself.

Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned" (9:27). He said it now again. But confession under fear, what is it worth? "I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you" (10:16-17). In this there was no conscience work, no real repentance. He desired the removal of God's hand from his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart remained as hard as ever.

He is the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to look humble, if that lets him escape the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastisement Pharaoh did not mind doing a little bit of confessing, but he had no idea of forsaking his self-willed way. His fine words in verses 16 and 17 were only an effort to avoid further punishment.

The second is the sorrow that goes with the fear of the consequences, and not because of the hatefulness of the sin itself. This experience is selfish through and through. It is not godly grief, which produces a repentance leading to salvation without regret. It is worldly grief, and that produces death (2 Cor. 7:10). In this sorrow the devil seems very near. He mocks the soul in its distress and adds to its fears, while the soul vows again and again to avoid that trap in future, if only it can escape the consequences. He can mock with confidence. He knows that while the soul stays self-centred, it will go back to that same weakness, as the dog returns to its vomit.

God had now sent eight plagues, and this last one was dreadful... Could Pharaoh still say, "Who is the Lord? I do not know the Lord"? What an answer he had already received. The Lord he did not know had power over the waters, power over the ground, power over people and animals, and power over the air. In what area of the natural world was He not supreme? He could foretell the plagues. He could bring the plagues. He alone could remove the plagues. He did what the idols could not.

But others have said, "I have sinned," and it came to nothing; for God reads the heart, and He knows the motive of the creature. Pharaoh could say, "This time I have sinned" (Ex. 9:27), when the thunder and hail alarmed him and he wanted them gone. Yet he had not repented. Once the mighty thunder stopped, he sinned still more and hardened his heart. He confessed the same a second time, after the locusts destroyed all the plants the hail had spared. But his only aim was to get rid of that plague (Ex. 10:16-17). Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned." Yet he gave away the state of his heart when he added, "Yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel" (1 Sam. 15:30).

"I have sinned against the Lord." It was a short, real, solemn confession. David admitted that he was in God's hands and deserved only death for his offences. "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die," was the prophet Nathan's immediate and reassuring reply... There was nothing for him but the sovereign mercy of God. Could that mercy reach him? God did not leave him in doubt for a moment.

Under the pressure of this heavy blow, Pharaoh once again summoned Moses and Aaron into his presence. He confessed his sin against the Lord their God and against them, begged forgiveness, and asked them to plead with the Lord their God "only to remove this death from me." The Lord heard the intercession of Moses, and He removed the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea.

Pharaoh hurried to call back Moses and Aaron, whom he had driven from his presence a few days before. He took a humble attitude. He confessed he had sinned, and he asked for a forgiveness that would include lifting the punishment. The Lord knew his heart, yet He listened to his plea. By a strong west wind He removed the locusts, so that not one was left. The locusts drowned in the Red Sea. Not many days later Pharaoh and his armies drowned there too.

Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned." He said it now again. But confession under fear — what is it worth? … In this there was no work of conscience, no real repentance. He wanted God's hand removed from his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart remained as hard as ever.

He is the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to adopt a humble attitude, if by it he may avoid reaping the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). Under chastening Pharaoh did not mind doing a little confessing. But he had no intention of giving up his self-willed way.

The stopping of each blow shows God's willingness to withdraw His hand from judgment. It shows judgment to be His strange work. Pharaoh hardens his heart not only by refusing to bow under the plagues. He hardens it by keeping on in his course after God answered his cry and lifted the plague. So neither God's severity in sending the plague nor His goodness in removing it touches such a man. His heart is fully set in him to do evil.

It is beautiful to notice God's tender ways of grace, even with a hardened sinner. If there is even the slightest turning of heart to Him, He is ready to hear — though He knows it is not real. This is a striking testimony that He does not want the sinner to die. Indeed, He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

In the last two plagues God used the air and the wind to work His will. The locust obeys the wind. Egypt's deities of air and wind were set aside, as had been their deities of earth and water. The plague of the locusts, together with that of the hail, destroyed the sacred trees of the land. People prayed to these trees for help at harvest time. Everyone, from the highest to the lowest, bowed to the sycamore and gave it a tribute of the fruits of the earth.

It is beautiful to notice God's tender ways of grace, even with a hardened sinner. If there is the slightest turning of heart to Him, He is ready to hear, even though He knows it is not real. This is a striking testimony that He does not will the sinner's death. Indeed, He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9.)

Pharaoh took a humble tone. He confessed that he had sinned, and he asked for a forgiveness that would also take away the punishment. The Lord knew his heart, yet He listened to his plea. By a strong west wind He removed the locusts so completely that not one was left. The locusts were drowned in the Red Sea. Not many days after Pharaoh and his hosts were drowned there too.

Pharaoh had once said, "I have sinned" (9:27). He said it now again. But confession under fear, what is it worth? In this there was no work of conscience, no real repentance. He wanted God's hand off his land; that was all. It was removed. But his heart remained as hard as ever.

He gives us the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to look humble if that way he can avoid reaping the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastening Pharaoh did not mind doing a little bit of confessing, but he had no idea of forsaking his self-willed way. The fair words he spoke in verses 16 and 17 of our chapter were merely an effort to avoid further punishment.

Moses prayed for Egypt, and God again gave relief. He sent a very strong west wind that carried all the locusts away and drowned them in the Red Sea (v. 19). However, in His sovereign government God hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he still refused to allow Israel to leave.

Many a sinner has been brought by sudden sickness down to the door of death, and he has cried aloud for mercy. God heard his prayer and restored him to health. But instead of giving himself to the service of God, as he thought and intended, he returns to his old course of forgetfulness and sin.

Satan would raise a doubt here: where was the sin of Pharaoh, if his heart was hardened like this? Or how could God justly destroy a man He had hardened to resist Him? If people had noticed where these words come in the story, the difficulty would have disappeared... Note then that God does not say this of Pharaoh until after Pharaoh had scornfully rejected the claims of the LORD. He had said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." He rejected the word of the LORD. He set himself in open opposition to Him and to His people. Now God hardens his heart as an act of judgment. And God still acts on the same principle... God has fixed a limit to His day of grace, as He did for Pharaoh; and once that limit is passed, nothing remains but judgment.

Man gives himself up to unbelief. Then God may seal that person up in a judicial hardness — at that time or later, as His own wisdom decides. This is a distinct, positive act on God's part. So I hold very firmly that the hardening is not only on man's side. In the judicial sense it is not man's act at all, though it is certainly the result of man's sin. God hardens because man refuses His word... That is how it was with Pharaoh. His case is the model one: the lasting warning in the New Testament, and the first named instance in the Old. At the same time, it is never God who makes a man an unbeliever.

There are nineteen passages in Exodus before us. All the authorities agree that nine of them trace the hardening of Pharaoh to the will of the LORD... So, to sum up: nine times the hardening of Pharaoh is traced to the Lord. One more speaks of the Egyptians in general. Four times it is traced to Pharaoh himself, and five times the text does not say who did it.

Pharaoh's heart now seemed softened, but it really was not. As soon as the plague left, he went back to his stubborn resistance. As predicted, the LORD had hardened his heart. He gives us the classic example of the sinner who defies God. Yet he is quite ready to act humble, if that will help him escape the punishment he deserves. We have to remember this word: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Prov. 28:13). Under chastening, Pharaoh did not mind a little confessing. But he had no thought of forsaking his self-willed way.

A creature resisting its Creator! The human will overcoming the divine will! That could not be... Generations not yet born were to hear of the works of the LORD, and of how He stepped in for Israel. They were to know that He is the LORD. Egypt's stubbornness would only help to display the glory of God.

In the end we may hold this as certain. Those who are saved are saved by grace, through the electing love of God. And those who are lost, in the very place where that grace is at work, are lost by their own fault.