'Then the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh, for I have made him and his servants obstinate in order that I may perform these signs of mine among them and that you may recount to your son and grandson how I made a fool of the Egyptians and what signs I did among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.
So
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of
the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go to
serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts
into your territory. They will cover the surface of the earth, so that the
earth itself will not be visible. They will eat up the remnant you saved undamaged
from the hail, as well as all the trees that are growing in your fields. They
will fill your houses and the houses of your servants and of all the
Egyptians—something your parents and your grandparents have not seen from the
day they appeared on this soil until today.” With that he turned and left
Pharaoh.
But
Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will he be a snare for us? Let the
people go to serve the Lord, their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is
being destroyed?” So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, who said to
them, “Go, serve the Lord, your God. But who exactly will go?” Moses answered,
“With our young and old we must go; with our sons and daughters, with our
flocks and herds we must go. It is a pilgrimage feast of the Lord for us.” “The
Lord help you,” Pharaoh replied, “if I let your little ones go with you!
Clearly, you have some evil in mind. By no means! Just you men go and serve the
Lord. After all, that is what you have been asking for.” With that they were
driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
The
Lord then said to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the
locusts, that they may come upon it and eat up all the land’s vegetation,
whatever the hail has left. So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of
Egypt, and the Lord drove an east wind over the land all that day and all
night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. The locusts came
up over the whole land of Egypt and settled down over all its territory. Never
before had there been such a fierce swarm of locusts, nor will there ever be
again. They covered the surface of the whole land, so that it became black.
They ate up all the vegetation in the land and all the fruit of the trees the
hail had spared. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant in the fields
throughout the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh
hurriedly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord,
your God, and against you. But now, do forgive me my sin only this once, and
pray to the Lord, your God, only to take this death from me.” When Moses left
Pharaoh, he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord caused the wind to shift to a very
strong west wind, which took up the locusts and hurled them into the Red Sea.
Not a single locust remained within the whole territory of Egypt. Yet the Lord
hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go (Ex.
10:1-20).’
Swarms of locusts borne by the wind would frequently descend on North Africa and Egypt and devastate the farmland. But this plague of locusts, never before seen in the land, was a severe punishment sent by God so that Pharaoh would know that He is the Lord (v. 2). The Hebrews would tell their sons and grandsons what God did to the Egyptians. God warned Pharaoh and gave him a choice (v. 3-4). Moses told Pharaoh that the locusts would consume what was not destroyed by hail in the previous plague. Pharaoh’s servants pleaded with him to allow the Hebrews to go and serve their God so that Egypt would not be destroyed. Pharaoh wanted to partially comply stipulating that only the men could go. He wanted to ensure that they would return to Egypt. Pharaoh might still have hoped that Seth, the Egyptian god of storms and disorder, would protect Egypt. Once the vast number of locusts covered the whole land Pharaoh again tried to trick God by ‘confessing’ his sin and asking Moses to intercede with God on his behalf. Moses prayed and God removed the locusts knowing that Pharaoh would continue to stubbornly defy Him.
Almighty God, how often have we sinned against you and then pay you lip service in admitting the sin as if you would not know what is truly in our hearts? In your infinite mercy, grant us your divine wisdom to see our actions as you see them and to truly understand how you want us to love you and serve you. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References:
Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, & Roland E. Murphy, (Eds.). (1990, 1968). The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentis Hall, Inc.
Jose M. Casciaro, Luis A. Martin, Gonzalo Aranda, Claudio Basevi, Antonio Garcia-Moreno, James Gavigan, Brian McCarthy, & Thomas McGovern (Eds.). (1999). The Navarre Bible - The Pentateuch. Dublin 8, Ireland: Four Courts Press.
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