Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.
Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?”
Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.”
He said to them, “Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
Yahweh 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 herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 10, 13, 14 Or, locusts.
Or, locusts.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv4–15 Exo 10:4 Else, if thou refuse to let my…
Exo 10:4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Ver. 4. Else, if thou refuse.] Men should look up with David, and see the punishing angel over their heads with a drawn sword, and submit. And if not, Balaam’s ass shall condemn them for their desperate lewdness: for he fell down before the angel.
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I will bring the locusts.] God hath treasuries of plagues for the obstinate; neither can he be, as the poet feared of his Jupiter, {a} possibly exhausted.
{a} Si quoties peccent homines, &c.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 The residue; the wheat and the rye, the staff…
The residue; the wheat and the rye, the staff of their lives. Every tree; the fruits and leaves of every tree.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v12 Here is, I. The invasion of the land by…
Here is, I. The invasion of the land by the locusts - God's great army, Joe 2:11. God bids Moses stretch out his hand (Exo 10:12), to beckon them, as it wee (for they came at a call), and he stretched forth his rod, Exo 10:13. Compare Exo 9:22 23. Moses ascribes it to the stretching out, not of his own hand, but the rod of God, the instituted sign of God's presence with him. The locusts obey the summons, and fly upon the wings of the wind, the east wind, and caterpillars without number, as we are told, Psa 105:34, Psa 105:35. A formidable army of horse and foot might more easily have been resisted than this host of insects. Who then is able to stand before the great God?
II. The desolations they made in it (Exo 10:15): They covered the face of the earth, and ate up the fruit of it. The earth God has given to the children of men; yet, when God pleases, he can disturb their possession and send locusts and caterpillars to force them out. Herbs grow for the service of man; yet, when God pleases, those contemptible insects shall not only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall plunder him, and eat the bread out of his mouth. Let our labour be, not for the habitation and meat which thus lie exposed, but for those which endure to eternal life, which cannot be thus invaded, nor thus corrupted.
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III. Pharaoh's admission, hereupon, Exo 10:16, Exo 10:17. He had driven Moses and Aaron from him (Exo 10:11), telling them (it is likely) he would have no more to do with them. But now he calls for them again in all haste, and makes court to them with as much respect as before he had dismissed them with disdain. Note, The day will come when those who set at nought their counsellors, and despise all their reproofs, will be glad to make an interest in them and engage them to intercede on their behalf. The foolish virgins court the wise to give them of their oil; and see Psa 141:6. 1. Pharaoh confesses his fault: I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. He now sees his own folly in the slights and affronts he had put on God and his ambassadors, and seems at least, to repent of it. When God convinces men of sin, and humbles them for it, their contempt of God's ministers, and the word of the Lord in their mouths, will certainly come into the account, and lie heavily upon their consciences. Some think that when Pharaoh said, "The Lord your God," he did in effect say, "The Lord shall not be my God." Many treat with God as a potent enemy, whom they are willing not to be at war with, but care not for treating with him as their rightful prince, to whom they are willing to submit with loyal affection. True penitents lament sin as committed against God, even their own God, to whom they stand obliged. 2. He begs pardon, not of God, as penitents ought, but of Moses, which was more excusable in him, because, by a special commission, Moses was made a god to Pharaoh, and whosesoever sins he remitted they were forgiven; when he prays, Forgive this once, he, in effect, promises not to offend in like manner any more, yet seems loth to express that promise, nor does he say any thing particularly of letting the people go. Note, Counterfeit repentance commonly cheats men with general promises and is loth to covenant against particular sins. 3. He entreats Moses and Aaron to pray for him. There are those who, in distress, implore the help of other persons' prayers, but have no mind to pray for themselves, showing thereby that they have no true love to God, nor any delight in communion with him. Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart, which yet was much the more dangerous.
IV. The removal of the judgment, upon the prayer of Moses, Exo 10:18, Exo 10:19. This was, 1. As great an instance of the power of God as the judgment itself. An east wind brought the locusts, and now a west wind carried them off. Note, Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it is fulfilling God's word, and turns about by his counsel. The wind bloweth where it listeth, as it respects any control of ours; not so as it respects the control of God: he directeth it under the whole heaven. 2. It was as great a proof of the authority of Moses, and as firm a ratification of his commission and his interest in that God who both makes peace and creates evil, Isa 45:7. Nay, hereby he not only commanded the respect, but recommended himself to the good affections of the Egyptians, inasmuch as, while the judgment came in obedience to his summons, the removal of it was in answer to his prayers. He never desired the woeful day, though he threatened it. His commission indeed ran against Egypt, but his intercession was for it, which was a good reason why they should love him, though they feared him. 3. It was also as strong an argument for their repentance as the judgment itself; for by this it appeared that God is ready to forgive, and swift to show mercy. If he turn away a particular judgment, as he did often from Pharaoh, or defer it, as in Ahab's case, upon the profession of repentance and the outward tokens of humiliation, what will he do if we be sincere, and how welcome will true penitents be to him! O that this goodness of God might lead us to repentance!
V. Pharaoh's return to his impious resolution again not to let the people go (Exo 10:20), through the righteous hand of God upon him, hardening his heart, and confirming him in his obstinacy. Note, Those that have often baffled their convictions, and stood it out against them, forfeit the benefit of them, and are justly given up to those lusts of their own hearts which (how strong soever their convictions) prove too strong for them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv4–15 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go,....…
Else, if thou refuse to let my people go,.... He threatens him with the following plague, the plague of the locusts, which Pliny (x) calls "denrum irae pestis":
behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast; according to Bishop Usher (y) this was about the seventh day of the month Abib, that this plague was threatened, and on the morrow, which was the eighth day, it was brought; but Aben Ezra relates it as an opinion of Japhet an Hebrew writer, that there were many days between the plague of the hail, and the plague of the locusts, that there might be time for the grass and plants to spring out of the field; but this seems not necessary, for these locusts only ate of what were left of the hail, as in the following verse.
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(x) Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29. (y) Annales Vet. Test. p. 21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv10, 13, 15 Let the Lord be so with you, as I…
Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones - He now curses and threatens them, in case they offered to remove their little ones, telling them it was at their peril. Satan doth all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15 The EIGHTH plague - the LOCUSTS
The EIGHTH plague - the LOCUSTS
Verse 4. To-morrow will I bring the locusts] The word ארבה arbeh, a locust, is probably from the root רבה rabah, he multiplied, became great, mighty, c. because of the immense swarms of these animals by which different countries, especially the east, are infested. The locust, in entomology, belongs to a genus of insects known among naturalists by the term GRYLLI; and includes three species, crickets, grasshoppers, and those commonly called locusts; and as they multiply faster than any other animal in creation, they are properly entitled to the name ארבה arbeh, which might be translated the numerous or multiplied insect. See this circumstance referred to, Jdg 6:5; Jdg 7:12; Ps 105:34; Jer 46:23; Jer 51:14; Joe 1:6; Na 3:15; Judith 2:19, 20; where the most numerous armies are compared to the arbeh or locust. The locust has a large open mouth; and in its two jaws it has four incisive teeth, which traverse each other like scissors, being calculated, from their mechanism, to grip or cut. Mr. Volney, in his Travels in Syria, gives a striking account of this most awful scourge of God: -
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"Syria partakes together with Egypt and Persia, and almost all the whole middle part of Asia, in the terrible scourge, I mean those clouds of locusts of which travellers have spoken; the quantity of which is incredible to any person who has not himself seen them, the earth being covered by them for several leagues round. The noise they make in browsing the plants and trees may be heard at a distance, like an army plundering in secret. Fire seems to follow their tracks. Wherever their legions march the verdure disappears from the country, like a curtain drawn aside; the trees and plants, despoiled of their leaves, make the hideous appearance of winter instantly succeed to the bright scenes of spring. When these clouds of locusts take their flight, in order to surmount some obstacle, or the more rapidly to cross some desert, one may literally say that the sun is darkened by them."
Baron de Tott gives a similar account: "Clouds of locusts frequently alight on the plains of the Noguais, (the Tartars,) and giving preference to their fields of millet, ravage them in an instant. Their approach darkens the horizon, and so enormous is their multitude, it hides the light of the sun. They alight on the fields, and there form a bed of six or seven inches thick. To the noise of their flight succeeds that of their devouring actively, which resembles the rattling of hail-stones; but its consequences are infinitely more destructive. Fire itself eats not so fast; nor is there any appearance of vegetation to be found when they again take their flight, and go elsewhere to produce new disasters."
Dr. Shaw, who witnessed most formidable swarms of these in Barbary in the years 1724 and 1725, gives the following account of them: "They were much larger than our grasshoppers, and had brown-spotted wings, with legs and bodies of a bright yellow. Their first appearance was towards the latter end of March. In the middle of April their numerous swarms, like a succession of clouds, darkened the sun. In the month of May they retired to the adjacent plains to deposit their eggs: these were no sooner hatched in June than the young brood first produced, while in their caterpillar or worm-like state, formed themselves into a compact body of more than a furlong square, and, marching directly forward, climbed over trees, walls, and houses, devouring every plant in their way. Within a day or two another brood was hatched, and advancing in the same manner, gnawed off the young branches and bark of the trees left by the former, making a complete desolation. The inhabitants, to stop their progress, made a variety of pits and trenches all over their fields and gardens, which they filled with water, or else heaped up therein heath, stubble, c., which they set on fire but to no purpose: for the trenches were quickly filled up and the fires extinguished, by infinite swarms succeeding one another; while the front seemed regardless of danger, and the rear pressed on so close that retreat was altogether impossible. In a month's time they threw off their worm-like state; and in a new form, with wings and legs, and additional powers, returned to their former voracity." - Shaw's Travels, 187. 188, 4to edition.
The descriptions given by these travellers show that God's army, described by the Prophet Joel, Joe 2:1-11, was innumerable swarms of locusts, to which the accounts given by Dr. Shaw and others exactly agree.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15 Exo 10:5. They shall cover the face — Hebrew,…
Exo 10:5. They shall cover the face — Hebrew, the eye; of the earth — That is, of its inhabitants; that one cannot be able to see the earth — It is observable that no living creature multiplies so fast as the locust. It is almost incredible in what swarms they are sometimes seen in some parts. Thevenot gives an account of armies of locusts laying waste the country of the Cossacks. “They live,” he says, “about six months, and lay their eggs in autumn, to the number of three hundred each, which are hatched in the spring following. Such as have been eye-witnesses report, that they have seen the whole air in Arabia darkened by them, in their flight, for eighteen or twenty miles.” “They eclipse the light of the sun,” says Pliny, “in their flight, the people looking up to them in anxious suspense lest they should cover their whole country. They are so destructive that large territories have bean laid bare by them in a few hours, and the inhabitants reduced to famine. They do not spare even the bark of trees, but eat every thing that comes in their way, even to the very doors of the houses.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14 The locusts - The locust is less common in…
The locusts - The locust is less common in Egypt than in many eastern countries, yet it is well known, and dreaded as the most terrible of scourges. They come generally from the western deserts, but sometimes from the east and the southeast. No less than nine names are given to the locust in the Bible, of which the word used here is the most common (ארבה 'arbeh); it signifies “multitudinous,” and whenever it occurs reference is made to its terrible devastations.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 Scandal, or source of repeated misery; whether they meant…
Scandal, or source of repeated misery; whether they meant their own resistance to God’s orders, or Moses, with the Hebrew nation. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 11, 13 to-morrow will I bring the locusts--Moses was commissioned to…
to-morrow will I bring the locusts--Moses was commissioned to renew the request, so often made and denied, with an assurance that an unfavorable answer would be followed on the morrow by an invasion of locusts. This species of insect resembles a large, spotted, red and black, double-winged grasshopper, about three inches or less in length, with the two hind legs working like hinged springs of immense strength and elasticity. Perhaps no more terrible scourge was ever brought on a land than those voracious insects, which fly in such countless numbers as to darken the land which they infest; and on whatever place they alight, they convert it into a waste and barren desert, stripping the ground of its verdure, the trees of their leaves and bark, and producing in a few hours a degree of desolation which it requires the lapse of years to repair.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15 4. I bring the locusts into thy coast —…
4. I bring the locusts into thy coast — The destruction of all herbage by locusts is as complete as by fire over all the area which they cover, and they have been known to spread over from one to two thousand square miles. Their numbers and voracity are almost incredible. Indeed, it is said that they consume not merely from appetite, but from love of destruction, and not only vegetable and insect life, but cloth, leather, and even woodwork and furniture of houses. They rise from the horizon in immense columns, darkening the sun by their flight, filling the air with a whirring sound which is compared to the noise of fire or of distant wheels, and when driven in dense masses by winds into the sea, their decay emits a stench which spreads for many miles. In less than half a day they will crop grass and young grains even with the ground, leaving only the bare stalks of older plants, and in a very few hours will strip all trees clean of fruit, leaves, and bark. The noise of their browsing may be heard at quite a distance as they approach, and after they have passed, the trees are reduced to naked trunks and stems. No language more appropriately describes this fearful visitation than that of the prophet Joel: “A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them it is a desolate wilderness… Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains.… Like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble… They shall run like mighty men, they shall climb the wall like men of war… The sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joe_2:1-11. See the whole passage.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 4. to-morrow] cf. Exo_8:23, Exo_9:5-6; Exo_9:18.
4. to-morrow] cf. Exo_8:23, Exo_9:5-6; Exo_9:18.
locusts] A well-known plague in Palestine and neighbouring countries: see for descriptions both of their immense numbers, and of their ravages, the writer’s notes on Joel (in the Camb. Bible), pp. 37–39, 48–53, 87–91. They do not however seem to visit Egypt very frequently. Niebuhr (as cited by Kn.) witnessed at Cairo in January a great swarm of locusts blown up by a SW. wind from the Libyan desert: Lepsius (Letters, p. 104) describes one in March, coming up also from the SW., which covered the whole country far and near. Denon (Voyages dans la basse et la haute Égypte, 1807, i. 287) describes one brought up by the wind from the East, which eventually, when the wind changed, was driven back into the desert.
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4–8 (J). The sequel,—and once, probably, the immediate sequel,—to Exo_10:28-29 (J): see the note there.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 (4) To morrow will I bring the locusts into…
(4) To morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast.—Locusts, as already observed, are not indigenous to Egypt, but only occasional visitants. Consequently they always enter the country from some other, as Nubia, Abyssinia, Syria, or Arabia. On the quarter from which the present plague came, see the comment on Exo_10:13.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4–15 To-morrow. Again a warning is given, and a space…
To-morrow. Again a warning is given, and a space of time interposed, during which the king may repent and submit himself, if he chooses. The locusts. The species intended is probably either the Aeridium peregrinum or the Oedipoda migratoria. Both are common in Arabia and Syria, and both are known in Egypt. They are said to be equally destructive. The Hebrew name, arbeh, points to the "multitudinous" character of the visitation. A traveller in Syria says is difficult to express the effect produced on us by the sight of the whole atmosphere filled on all sides and to a great height by an innumerable quantity of these insects, whose flight was slow and uniform, and whose noise resembled that of rain; the sky was darkened, and the light of the sun considerably weakened. In a moment the terraces of the houses, the streets, and all the fields were covered by these insects." (Ollivier, Voyage clans l"Empire Ottoman, vol. 2. p. 424.) Into thy coasti.e. "across thy border, into thy territories." The locust is only an occasional visitant in Egypt, and seems always to arrive from some foreign country.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 12 Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Exo_10:7
Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
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Lessons
1. Threatening from God may touch hearts of servants and not of rulers.
2. God useth kings own servants to move them, when His ministers can avail nothing.
3. Fear of plagues may move wicked ones to yield, where the fear of God is not.
4. It is usual for wicked men to charge Gods servants to be snares, when their sins make them.
5. When God makes His servants ministers of wrath, the wicked are willing to be rid of them.
6. Idolatrous persecutors may tolerate Gods Church to serve Him, when vengeance forces them.
7. Experience of destruction past, and fear of more to come, may cause enemies to move for the Churchs liberty.
8. Persecuting powers are apt to be stupid and willingly ignorant of such destructions. (G. Hughes, D. D.)
A remonstrance against sin
I. Addressed by inferiors to their superiors.
1. Bold.
2. Wise.
3. Needed.
II. Inspired by a deep feeling of terror. It is well for men under any circumstances to cry out against moral evil.
III. Influential for temporary good. Some men are apparently more accessible to the advice of their comrades than they are to the commands of heaven. The wicked servant may preach the gospel to his despotic master.
IV. Ultimately disregarded. Lessons:--
1. Remonstrate with the sinner.
2. Show him the folly and woe of sin.
3. You are not responsible for the result of such a remonstrance. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaohs mad ignorance
Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? was the plea of Pharaohs servants before the locusts came. No; he knew it not; he would not know it. Even now, with the scene of utter desolation everywhere around him, with the fields scorched and barren, and the naked trees stretching out their white and shattered boughs like ghastly skeletons, with even the walls of his houses and the furniture of his chambers marked by the gnawings of those very grievous locusts, with all these terrible witnesses before his eyes, Pharaoh knew it not. (T. S. Millington.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv4, 12 Exo_10:4. Locusts] ’Arbch (ארכה): prob., the gryllus gregarius—Ges., Dav.,…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exo_10:4. Locusts] ’Arbch (ארכה): prob., the gryllus gregarius—Ges., Dav., Fü.; G. & D. understanding the word to mean “swarmers,”—F., “browsers.”
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Exo_10:8. But who are they that shall go?] One is ready to smile at the simplicity of this speech. It will be seen that there is no conjunction in the Heb. answering to our “but,” thus showing an almost amusing precipitancy in the interrogatory, as if the speaker would retract his permission before it is well uttered: mi’ wa-mi’ ha-ho-lekhim’!, “who and who are the going ones?”
Exo_10:9. We will go, etc.] Again would we call attention to the style of the Hebrew: here to the arrangement of the words—to the vigourous inversion by which the full demand of Moses is made to smite the ear of Pharaoh with the utmost force. “WITH OUR YOUNG AND WITH OUR OLD will we go: WITH OUR SONS AND WITH OUR DAUGHTERS, WITH OUR FLOCKS AND WITH OUR HERDS, will we go; for A FESTIVAL TO JEHOVAH [is] ours!”
Exo_10:10. As I let you go] “As certainly as I let you go;” or, “whenever I let you go.” It is clearly the language of defiance.
Exo_10:11. For that ye did desire] It is necessary to lay stress on “that” and “ye” successively, to bring out the true meaning: “For—THAT—YE—did desire” = for THAT is what YE were desiring.”
MAIN HOMILETICS ON THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_10:4-11
THE PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS THREATENED
I. It was threatened in case that Pharaoh would not give the Israelites the freedom demanded by God. (Exo_10:4.) God has now been in controversy with Pharaoh for a long time, and we should have thought that the latter would have experienced quite enough of retribution to make him yield. But now another plague is threatened. God will continue to plague men till they give up sin. He will not yield the welfare of His own despised people to the obstinacy of a wicked ruler. The good have in God a stern Defender.
II. That some men are much more sensitive to the threatenings of God than others. (Exo_10:7.) The servants of Pharaoh give tokens of submission; but they are more fearful than penitent. They endeavour to persuade the king to come to terms with Moses. Pharaoh consents to their wish. Calls the two servants of God. He endeavours to bargain with them. But in vain. He wants to retain the young children of Israel in bondage. He knew that they would grow up to be of value to his nation. Satan does not like to let children go out of his service. Parents should not leave their young ones behind when they set out in the service of heaven. If men were sensitive to the threatenings of God, what judgments would they avert!
III. That Divine threatenings must make ministers faithful in the discharge of their duty. (Exo_10:9.) Moses gives the king to understand that there would be no compromise in the matter; that he must either let Israel go, or suffer the penalty of disobedience. Moses was fearless. He was faithful. He was true to his mission. And so in the times of threatened retribution it behoves the minister of God to be faithful, to denounce all attempts at moral compromise.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_10:4-6. To-morrow:—
1. A judgment.
2. A mystery.
3. A crisis.
4. An anxiety.
5. A hope.
If thou refuse:—
1. Then man can refuse to obey God.
2. Then man can dare the judgments of God.
3. Then man takes a great responsibility upon himself.
The locusts:—
1. Very grievous.
2. Darkening the light.
3. Devouring the fruit.
4. Entering the houses.
Good men should leave sinners when they have declared the message of God:—
1. As a reproof.
2. As a contempt.
3. As a prophecy.
4. As a relief.
Exo_10:7. A REMONSTRANCE AGAINST SIN
I. It was addressed by inferiors to their Superior. Pharaoh was remonstrated with by his servants, by the chief men of his realm. Hitherto they appear to have been silent. Now they become impatient of the suffering brought upon them. How much good would be accomplished if advisers would always remonstrate with kings in conflict with the Eternal! The conduct of these men was,
(1) bold;
(2) wise;
(3) needed; and if inferiors would endeavour to check those above them when they are about to do evil, they would prevent much crime, they would render themselves blameless, and would do a brave and a faithful thing.
II. It was inspired by a deep feeling of terror. The servants of Pharaoh were concerned for their own safety as well as for the welfare of the nation, which was endangered by the plagues. They regarded Moses as a snare unto them. And so men are animated by varied motives in their remonstrances against sin—sometimes pure and lofty, at other times mean and selfish. These servants did not feel sin to be sin, but a punishment, and hence their entreaty with the king. But it is well for men under any circumstances to cry out against moral evil.
III. It was influential for temporary good. Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh. The king saw that his chief advisers were against him, and regarded their utterance as representative of the national feeling. He had misgivings. The remonstrance made him halt in his rebellion. And many a remonstrance since has made the sinner hesitate in a course of evil, even though it has not reformed his life. Some men are apparently more accessible to the advice of their comrades than they are to the commands of heaven. The wicked servant may preach the gospel to his despotic master.
IV. It was ultimately disregarded. The servants had given Pharaoh good advice, they had influenced him aright, and they had uttered an unconscious prophecy of his future; yet they were finally disregarded. When a man disregards God, he is not likely to pay much heed to the remonstrance of his comrades. Many a wise man has had the pain of seeing his good advice rejected by the sinner. LESSONS,
1. Remonstrate with the sinner.
2. Show him the folly and woe of sin.
3. You are not responsible for the result of such a remonstrance.
Exo_10:8. RENEWED OPPORTUNITIES OF MORAL GOOD, “And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh.”
I. Consequent upon the faithful rebuke of friends. The king was led through the rebuke of his servants to seek another interview with Moses and Aaron, and hence to have another opportunity afforded him of yielding to the command of God. Men have repeated opportunities given them for moral improvement in their lives; often through the plain fidelity of a friend.
II. Through contact with a holy man. Pharaoh was again brought into the companionship of Moses and Aaron. He would feel the influence of their characters upon him. Every time we are brought into contact with a bright and beautiful moral character we should seek to catch something of its radiance. Such contact is an opportunity for soul improvement.
III. May be left unused through the perverseness of the soul. Pharaoh was none the better for this renewed interview with these two servants of God. He only manifested his obstinacy more fully. It is awfully possible to allow all the renewed opportunities of the soul for moral good to pass away unimproved.
Exo_10:9. Captious questions from wicked men are plainly answered by God’s servants.
Ministers must faithfully declare the purpose of God with regard to His Church.
Little ones as well as great must be carried along with the Church of God to their rest.
The work of the Church after redemption is to serve Jehovah, and to keep a feast to Him.
Exo_10:10-11. Proud persecutors terrified with judgments, though they yield a little to God, yet scorn to give Him His terms.
It is the policy and cruelty of persecutors to keep in thraldom the little ones of the Church.
Persecuting powers threaten the Church with evil, as God threatens them.
Whatever persecuting powers seem to yield to the Church, they resolve it shall not be so as God would have it.
Persecuting powers shall tell God who shall serve Him, and allow no more.
God’s servants are driven out with contempt from powers, when they serve not their turn.
Driving away the servants of God:—
1. It is to drive away a good friend.
2. It is to drive away a faithful monitor.
3. It is to drive away a real benefactor.
4. It is to drive away an angel of God.
THE THREATS OF THE WICKED, Exo_10:10, latter clause.
God’s servants need to be courageous men. They have often to stand before rulers for His sake, and oppose them. They are surrounded by the machinations of powerful adversaries. They are often threatened.
I. Evil men often seek to retard God’s servants in their works by threats. God’s purposes often come into collision with the actions of wicked men. They often regard His servants as their enemies. Divine work always opposes evil. God’s servants have to break in pieces the deceptions, wrongs, and tyrannies of their age. Evil is often entrenched in triumphant positions. Men find their interest in upholding it. Wicked men defend it, and attack those who assail it. They think that they can terrify God’s servants and hinder their work, but their threats are vain. God sustains all whom He sends. No opposition, however virulent, can retard them from doing His work. They may be weak and few, but He is their strength. The lives of reformers, martyrs, and philanthropists attest this. His presence has made them valiant and persevering.
“But saved by a Divine alliance
From terrors of defeat.
Unvauntingly, yet with defiance,
One man the world may meet.”
II. That the threats of evil men need not be feared. Moses and Aaron were safe though Pharaoh might threaten evil. They were, humanly speaking, but the champions of slaves, and he was a mighty potentate; yet they were stronger than he, and had less cause for fear. We may fear evil just in proportion as we separate ourselves from God and resist His purposes. Tyrants have often proved their powerlessness to injure God’s ambassadors. God has His eye upon them, and a “hook for their jaws.” Nothing can really harm God’s servants. They may have to suffer, but suffering will be turned into triumphant joy. They may be cast into prison, but their prison walls will gleam with celestial splendour; and like the saintly Rutherford, they will find that their enemies have only sent them to reside for a while in one of God’s palaces; they may be robbed of their earthly possessions, but their true riches will be increased; they may be put to a cruel death, but this will only hasten them home from their toils to receive an eternal reward. Real evil cannot befall them. Those who are doing God’s work are invincible. They are covered with the shield of the Almighty; and their work ever goes on. No fulmination of malice can stop it. They and their work are alike secure. They have no cause to fear evil.
III. That the evil threatened, menaces the threatener. Threats often fall upon those who utter them. What evil was before Pharaoh! Thus evil men, deceived by their pride, lose sight of their own dangers. They threaten when they ought to fear. Secure in their own fancied strength, they have hurled their malice upon the servants of the Most High; but their words have recoiled upon themselves. They have digged a pit and have fallen into it. The gallows that has been erected for Mordecai has borne the body of Haman. They proudly boast,
“But an hour comes to tame the might man
Unto the infant’s weakness.”
F. Hemans.
They forget God. As Luther said concerning the Potentates of his day, who did not remember the overruling might of God in their projects: “Our Lord God says unto them: For whom then do ye hold Me? for a cypher? Do I sit here above in vain, and to no purpose? You shall know that I will twist your accounts about finely, and make them all false reckonings.” So it was with Pharaoh when he threatened Moses and Aaron.—W. O. Lilley.
THE IMPERIOUSNESS OF UNBELIEF, seen (“And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence” Exo_10:11):—
I. In its reluctance to grant concessions. Impressed by the terrible evidences of Jehovah’s power, and urged by his terror-stricken advisers, the proud king seems willing at length to release the people. But half repenting the permission, he asks “But who are they that shall go?” (Exo_10:8.) So is it ever with unbelief. When compelled to make admissions, it does so with hesitation and with regret. They are wrung from a mind too proud to admit defeat.
II. In its irritable impatience in listening to the voice of reason. Moses claimed that the whole nation should depart, male and female of all ages, along with their flocks and herds. There was nothing unreasonable in this. Even the Egyptians held religious festivals at which it was customary for the women to accompany the men. But the capricious monarch, in the most indignant and scornful manner, swears the little ones shall not be allowed to go, nor any other than the men (Exo_10:10.) Thus he showed his contempt, not only for Jehovah’s ambassadors, but for Jehovah Himself. So is it ever with unbelief. It is impatient of control; inaccessible to reason, especially of the highest kind; and manifests an impotent rage against the arguments it cannot answer.
III. In its ignominious treatment of religious teachers. The wrath of the tyrant king rose beyond all control, and he imperiously waved Moses and Aaron out of his sight. “And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.” Foiled and confounded by the simple but unanswerable presentation of the truth, unbelief vents its passion in spiteful invective.
The utmost rage of unbelief is powerless to daunt the courage of God’s messengers. When Valens, the Arian Emperor, threatened Basil with bonds and banishment, the fearless bishop exclaimed—“Let him threaten boys with these. The Emperor may take away my life, but not my faith: my head, but not my crown.”—G. Barlow.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v11 ye that are
ye that are
The third compromise proposed by Pharaoh is, perhaps, as applied to believers, the sublest and most successful of them all. The most godly parents desire worldly prosperity and position for their children. Mat 20:20; Mat 20:21.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v12 The Plague of Locusts
The Plague of Locusts
v. 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, like a hostile military force, or like clouds carried by the wind, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
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v. 13. And Moses stretched forth his rod, his hand with the shepherd’s staff, over the land of Egypt; and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. So it was really the Lord, the Performer of all miracles, who drove the wind from the eastern desert over Egypt. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
v. 14. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested, settled down to devour and devastate, 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, for it was a miraculous plague from the Lord. This is shown not only by the fact that the locusts came from very far, the wind blowing for twenty-four hours, but also that they covered the entire land, whereas ordinarily they will attack only certain regions and then move on.
v. 15. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; daylight was shut out by the density of the swarms as they came on; 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. It was a complete devastation of the land, a punishment whose severity had been increased over the preceding plagues.
v. 16. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you. This is a distinct confession of sin, for Pharaoh was not lacking in knowledge of his transgression, but in willingness to repent.
v. 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. Here was more hypocrisy; for Pharaoh did not desire forgiveness of his sins in order to turn to the Lord for mercy, but only to be delivered from this terrible plague, which gave him a feeling of utter helplessness. Only this time he wanted to be delivered from the deadly ruin staring him in the face, an expression which afterward condemned him.
v. 18. And he (Moses) went out from Pharaoh and intreated the Lord.
v. 19. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea, on the eastern boundary of Egypt, where they were destroyed in the water; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. This sudden deliverance was again indisputable evidence of the almighty power of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews.
v. 20. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, as He had said, v. 1. so that he would not let the children of Israel go. Jehovah was not yet done with His mighty miracles upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. The condemnation of obduracy was upon the king, and he was being reserved for the final punishment.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv5, 7, 9, 12, 14 Hail is raindrops that freeze while falling from the…
hail
Hail is raindrops that freeze while falling from the clouds.
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nothing ever seen
This can be stated in active form. AT: "nothing anyone has ever seen" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
servant
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv4, 7, 13 10:4 These locusts were not the insects called locusts…
10:4 These locusts were not the insects called locusts in North America, but a form of migratory grasshopper. Swarming out of desert regions, they could devastate large areas of land, devouring all the plant life before them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.