Tanak Foundations-Concepts in Exodus-Chapter 10

Exo 10.1-29 tells us about the eighth plague of locusts and Pharaoh seems to give in but has qualifiers; the locusts come and another false repentance by Pharaoh; the ninth plague of darkness and Pharaoh tries to negotiate with Moses.

v 1…The the Lord said to Moses, “Go (but it means “come”) to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart (kaved ha lev-to be stubborn) and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of mine among them;

v 2…and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and your grandson, how I made a mockery out of the Egyptians, and how I performed my signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord (there is no going back now for Pharaoh; he has rejected Yehovah, and now the focus of the plagues is for Israel to know the Lord in a redemptive way).”

v 3…And Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the the Lord (Yehovah), the God (creator God and Power) of the Hebrews. ‘How Long will you refuse to humble yourself before me (Pharaoh thought he was a god in their polytheistic society and to humble himself before Yehovah was to admit he had no power to stop anything this God does; to accomplish this Pharaoh is no longer a player from now on, he will be a tool in God’s hands)? Let my people go, that they may serve me (for three days).

v 4…For if you refuse to let my people go, behold (see), tomorrow (giving Pharaoh time to consider and submit) I will bring locusts into your territory (against Siris the god of crops and Serapia the protector of crops).

v 5…And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one shall be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped-what is left to you from the hail-and they shall eat every tree which sprouts for you out in the field (Exo 9.32, 10.12).

v 6…Then your houses will be filled and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’ “

v 7…And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us (like a bird that is caught)? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord (Yehovah) their God. Do you not realize that egypt is destroyed (they believed Moses because of the judgment on their economy and their love of money)?”

v 8…So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to to them, “Go (“come”), serve the Lord your God! Who are the ones who are going (qualified obedience; Pharaoh wants to decide who is going to have some control, not God)?”

v 9…And Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and daughters, with our flocks and herds we will go, for we must hold a festival (hag) to the Lord (Yehovah).”

v 10…Then he said to them, “Thus may the Lord be with you, if I ever I let you and your little ones go. Take heed, for evil is in your mind.

v 11…Not so (as you have said about taking your little ones)! Go now, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s face (Pgaraoh may have had in mind the story from years before when they left their little ones and theirr flocks when Jacob was buried in Canaan-Gen 50.8; and this is only for three days).

v 12…Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every plant of the land, even all that the hail has left.”

v 13…So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord directed an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

v 14…And the locusts came up over the land of Egypt and settled in the territory of Egypt; they were very numerous. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again.

v 15…For they covered the surface of the whole land, so that the and was darkened (they covered the sun, and all the green was covered and gave off a brown color), and they ate every plant of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus nothing green was left on the trees or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.

v 16…Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you (this came out of fear not out of true sense of sin).

v 17…Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once (pretending he would never do it again), and make supplication to the Lord your God that he would remove this death from me (the pestilence and plague).”

v 18…And he went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord.

v 19…So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea (Gulf of Suez), not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt.

v 20…But the Lord hardened (“chazek”meaning gave him strength to continue in the fight and not let him quit) Pharaoh’s heart (lev), and did not let the sons of Israel go.

v 21…Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt (this ninth plague is against Ra, the sun god), even a darkness which may be felt (like a fog that covered even the light of the stars; the darkness seemingly “pressed in” on them).”

v 22…So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

v 23…They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days (too terrified to move about), but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings (in Goshen)

v 24…Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord (Yehovah); only let your flocks and your herds be detained. Even your little ones may go with you.”

v 25…But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the Lord our God.

v 26…Therefore our livestock, too, will go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve (as an offering) the Lord our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall worship the Lord (the korbanot/sacrifices are seen in the Scriptures as worship).”

v 27…But the Lord hardened (“chazek” or giving Pharaoh strength to continue in this fight and not quit or give in) Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.”

v 28…Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Beware (watch out), do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face again you shall die!”

v 29…And Moses said, “You are right, I shall never see your face again (Moses taunts him because he was not afraid of Pharaoh and was fearless; how do we reconcile this with 12.31? Pharaoh possibly sent a message to Moses that they could go, it was not face to face; Moses went out from Pharaoh very angry here according to Exo 11.8).”

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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