Key Verses: Exodus 10:2, 10:23, 10:28
The LORD tells Moses He has hardened Pharaoh’s and his servants’ hearts so that He may show His signs, and so that Israel may tell their children and grandchildren how the LORD made a mockery of Egypt, that they may know He is the LORD. Moses warns Pharaoh that locusts will cover the land, devouring what the hail left. Pharaoh’s own servants now plead with him, saying, “Let the men go... Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” Pharaoh recalls Moses and offers to let only the men go, then drives them out in anger when Moses insists all must go with their flocks. The LORD brings an east wind that carries a devastating swarm of locusts covering the whole land, eating every remaining plant so that nothing green is left. Pharaoh hastily confesses his sin and begs for prayer; the LORD turns a strong west wind that drives the locusts into the sea, but hardens Pharaoh’s heart again. Then Moses stretches out his hand and a thick darkness covers Egypt for three days, so dense it can be felt, and no one can see or rise from their place, yet all the people of Israel have light where they dwell. Pharaoh offers to let the people go if they leave their flocks behind, but Moses refuses, insisting not a hoof will be left. Enraged, Pharaoh drives Moses away with the threat, “Get away from me... the day you see my face you shall die,” and Moses agrees he will not see his face again.
These plagues bring the contest to its penultimate stage, with the locusts stripping Egypt of its last provision and the darkness assaulting the sun-god Ra at the heart of Egyptian worship, demonstrating that the LORD reigns supreme over every false deity. The palpable, three-day darkness over Egypt while Israel enjoys light dramatizes the spiritual reality that judgment and salvation divide humanity, prefiguring Christ as the light of the world in whom His people walk while the rest remain in darkness (John 8:12). God’s stated purpose that Israel recount these wonders to their children establishes the pattern of covenant remembrance and testimony that shapes the whole life of faith, especially in the Passover to come. Pharaoh’s escalating offers of compromise, first only the men, then leaving the flocks, reveal the enemy’s persistent strategy to secure a partial, hollow obedience that keeps God’s people from full consecration. The darkness also anticipates the three hours of darkness over the land at the crucifixion, when the true Firstborn would bear judgment so that His people might pass from darkness into everlasting light. Pharaoh’s final defiant threat sets the stage for the last and greatest plague and the deliverance of the Passover.
Key Terms & Words:
- אַרְבֶּה (arbeh) - Exodus 10:4 - “Locust”; the eighth plague devouring the last of Egypt’s crops
- חֹשֶׁךְ (choshekh) - Exodus 10:21 - “Darkness”; the ninth plague, a felt darkness assaulting Egypt’s sun worship
- הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי (hit’allalti) - Exodus 10:2 - “I have made a mockery / dealt wonderfully”; God toying with and triumphing over Egypt
Cross-References:
- John 8:12 - “I am the light of the world,” contrasting the darkness over Egypt with light for God’s people
- Colossians 1:13 - God delivers us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His Son
- Matthew 27:45 - Darkness over the land at Christ’s crucifixion echoes the ninth plague
- Deuteronomy 6:20-23 - Recounting the Exodus to one’s children, the covenant testimony God commands
- Revelation 16:10 - A bowl of judgment plunging the beast’s kingdom into darkness
Discussion Questions:
- Why does God emphasize telling the story of the plagues to future generations, and how do we pass on the testimony of His works today?
- Pharaoh kept offering partial obedience; in what areas are you tempted to give God a compromised, incomplete surrender rather than everything?
- How does the contrast of darkness over Egypt and light in Goshen point to Jesus as the light of the world and to the darkness at the cross?