Locusts and Horrifying Darkness
Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 10
Locust
Exodus 10:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. For I, I weighted his heart and the heart of his slaves so that I put these my signs in his midst 2and so that thou wilt scroll what I have acted myself in Double-Adversity [Egypt] in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son, and my signs that I placed in them. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah!”
3And Draw [Moshe] came, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto Pharaoh. And they said unto him, “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces? Send my people, and he has served me! 4For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. 5And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field! 6And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!’” And he turned. And he exited from with Pharaoh.
7And the slaves of Pharaoh said unto him, “Until when will this be to us for a snare? Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods! Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?”
8And he returned Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods! Who and who are the walking?” 9And Draw [Moshe] said, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd. For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!” 10And he said unto them, “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one! See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! 11Not established! Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” And he forced them from with the faces of Pharaoh.
12And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] via the locust. And he has ascended upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he has eaten every herb of the land, all that remained the hail.” 13And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And Yehovah guided the spirit of east in the land all that day and all the night. The morning was. And the spirit of the east carried the locust. 14And the locust ascended upon all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he rested in every border of Double-Adversity [Egypt], very heavy. To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established. 15And he covered the eye of all the land. And the land was darkened. And he ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained the hail. And every green did not remain in a tree and in the herb of the field in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt].
16And Pharaoh hurried to call to Draw [Moshe] and to Oy!-Conception! [Aharon]. And he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you! 17And now, carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke, and entreat ye to Yehovah your Gods! And He has turned-away from upon me only this death!” 18And he exited from with Pharaoh.
And he entreated unto Yehovah. 19And Yehovah flipped-over the spirit of the sea, very gripping. And he carried the locust. And he blasted Ending Seaward. One locust did not remain in all the border of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. 20And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not send the children of Israel.
Felt Darkness
21And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.” 22And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the heavens. And darkness of gloom was in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] three days. 23They did not see—a man his brother, and they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days! And light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements.
24And Pharaoh called unto Draw [Moshe]. And he said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah! Only your flock and your herd he will position. Also your little-one will walk with you!” 25And Draw [Moshe] said, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions? And we will do to Yehovah our Gods? 26And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods! And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”
27And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not consent to send them. 28And Pharaoh said to him, “Walk from upon me! Guard to thee! Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!” 29And Draw [Moshe] said, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!”
I. The Purpose of Weighting a Heart (verses 1-2)
Yehovah told Moshe to again come unto Pharaoh. Yehovah took credit for ‘weighting’ Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his slaves, giving the reasons:
- In order to put Yehovah’s signs in his midst
- So that this ‘thou’ will scroll what Yehovah Himself did in Egypt in the ears of his son and the son of his son
- So that this same ‘thou’ will scroll Yehovah’s signs that He placed in them
- So that this ‘ye’ will know that He is Yehovah.
Questions
1. What did Yehovah do when He weighted the heart of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves?
2. Why did Yehovah do this?
3. How did Yehovah put these signs in Pharaoh’s middle (midst)?
4. What does scroll mean in verse 2?
5. Who is thy in, “in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son”?
6. Have the Israelis realized that He is Yehovah?
II. The Locust Threat (verses 3-6)
Moshe and Aharon came. They told Pharaoh that Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews said, “Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?”
They then told Pharaoh what Yehovah further said: “Send my people, and he has served me!” This was the same message that Yehovah kept sending to Pharaoh.
Yehovah then gave the threat: “For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field!” This destruction will destroy the rest of the field crops.
Yehovah also sent the locusts to invade another area: “And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!”
Moshe then turned and exited from being with Pharaoh.
Questions
1. Consider what Moshe and Aharon said to a great king and pharaoh: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?’” Weren’t Moshe and Aharon afraid to say such words to a man who could order their deaths for being so rude to a king and pharaoh?
2. Why is Yehovah angry when He is the one who keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh won’t send the Israelis?
3. Again, why didn’t Yehovah just take His people out of Egypt instead of insisting that Pharaoh send them?
4. What does bringing a locust into the land have to do with their sending the Israelis out of the land?
5. Is Yehovah bringing just one locust? Why does He refer to the locust as if it is one?
6. Would a locust attack like this be scary? What would it be like?
7. What does “he will cover the eye of the land” mean?
8. Who won’t be able to see the land, and what does this mean?
9. What is “the escapee” that remains from the hail?
10. How can the locust eat all the tree? Do locusts eat wood?
11. What else, besides the above, will the locusts do?
12. Did Pharaoh believe Moshe?
III. Slaves and Sense (verse 7)
Pharaoh’s slaves asked Pharaoh, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” They wanted this destruction to stop. They then counseled Pharaoh: “Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods!”
The slaves then asked Pharaoh a question: “Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?” They desired to know if Pharaoh would send the Israelis before or after Egypt finally is totally ruined.
Questions
1. What is this in, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?”
2. What did Pharaoh’s slaves advise Pharaoh to do?
3. When they said, “send the men,” did they mean the males?
4. What did the slaves of Pharaoh mean by, “Is it before thou wilt know that Egypt perished?”
IV. Pharaoh’s Strange Answer (verses 8-11)
Pharaoh now called Moshe and Aharon to return to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods!” This very much sounded like permission! Yet, Pharaoh continued: “Who and who are the walking?” Pharaoh desired to know who all will be going!
Moshe answered, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd.” Thus, everyone, including all the animals, will be walking. Moshe told why: “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”
Pharaoh didn’t like this answer. He spoke sarcastically: “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” He had no intention of sending them and their little-one—their children!
Pharaoh then threateningly spoke: “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! Not established!” They are headed for trouble! His saying, “Not established,” is like saying, “No way!”
Pharaoh then told them who could go: “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” Thus, the valiant ones in Israel could go, but the rest could not.
In anger, Pharaoh forced Moshe and Aharon out of his faces—out of his sight.
Questions
1. Who returned Moshe and Aharon unto Pharaoh?
2. When Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods,” was he giving them permission?
3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “Who and who are the walking”?
4. Who would be going, according to Moshe?
5. What is a solemnity?
6. What does “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us” mean?
7. Pharaoh’s next reply was, “He will be so!” What did he mean by this?
8. Pharaoh continued, “Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” What did he mean?
9. What did Pharaoh mean by, “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces”?
10. When Pharaoh said, “Not established,” what was he saying?
11. To whom was he speaking when he said, “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones”?
12. He continued with, “And serve ye Yehovah!” Was he giving permission?
13. Pharaoh ended with this statement: “For ye are seeking her!” Who is the object of the pronoun, her?
14. Who forced them from Pharaoh?
V. The Spirit and the Locust (verses 12-15)
Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt by means of the locust. Once Moshe does this, the locust will have ascended upon the land of Egypt and will have eaten every herb of the land—everything that remains after the destruction of the hail. Moshe did this with his rod. Yehovah then guided the spirit of the east (which includes the east wind) in the land of Egypt all that day and through all the night.
When the morning came, the spirit of the east carried the locust! The locust ascended upon all the land of Egypt! The locust ‘rested’ (landed) in every border of Egypt in very heavy amounts! There was no locust that had ever been established like this, and there will never be like it again.
The locust covered ‘the eye of all the land’—the entire exposed portion of Egypt! The whole land became dark from the locust; its huge cloud covered the entire land!
The locust ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained and that survived the hail! There wasn’t any green anywhere in any tree and among the herbs of the field in all the land of Egypt!
Questions
1. How could Moshe stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt via the locust? What does this mean?
2. Did Pharaoh see Moshe do this?
3. What is “the spirit of east”?
4. The text states that the locust rested in every border of Egypt. Did that include the Israeli area?
5. Was this locust like other locust plagues?
6. What does “to his faces” mean, and whose faces are in mind?
7. What is the eye of a land?
8. Why was the land darkened?
9. How much did the locusts eat?
10. What were the Egyptians going to eat now that all their crops were gone?
VI. Pharaoh Hurries (verses 16-18)
Pharaoh was in a hurry to call Moshe and Aharon. He was also quick to confess that he sinned—not only against Yehovah, but also against Moshe and Aharon! His confession came with a request for them to carry his sin at this time and to entreat Yehovah so that Yehovah will turn away this particular death from him. Moshe exited from being with Pharaoh.
Questions
1. Why did Pharaoh hurry to call them?
2. Was Pharaoh serious when he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you”?
3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “carry thou my sin”?
4. Pharaoh said, “carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke.” What does “the stroke” mean?
5. Why didn’t Pharaoh entreat to Yehovah himself?
6. What death did Pharaoh fear?
7. Why is Gods plural?
8. The text says, “And he exited from with Pharaoh.” Why didn’t Moshe say something before he exited?
9. What does “he exited from with Pharaoh” mean?
VII. The Opposite Wind (verses 18-20)
Moshe entreated unto Yehovah, and Yehovah flipped over the spirit of the sea that gripped the land of Egypt. The spirit/wind carried the locust and blasted the locust toward the Ending Sea. The force was so great and so complete that not a single locust remained in all the border of Egypt.
Yehovah gripped Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh refused to send the children of Israel.
Questions
1. What did Yehovah do when He flipped over the spirit of the sea?
2. What was very gripping?
3. Who carried the locust?
4. What does Ending Seaward mean?
5. What does blasted mean?
6. If one locust didn’t remain in all the border of Egypt, did even the dead locusts disappear?
7. What did Yehovah do—that is, what does “Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh” describe?
8. Doesn’t this make Yehovah responsible for Pharaoh doing wrong?
VIII. Darkness and Horror (verses 21-23)
Yehovah again spoke to Moshe: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.”
Moshe did as he was told, and stretched his hand upon the heavens. Darkness of gloom became in all the land of Egypt for three days. The Egyptians did not see each other; an Egyptian could not see his own brother. They also didn’t arise from their own tuchases three days!
Light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements!
Questions
1. Who felt darkness (in, “And he felt darkness”)?
2. How can one feel darkness?
3. What does gloom mean in this text?
4. Was darkness also an Egyptian deity?
5. Could the Egyptians just be brave, waiting for the three days of darkness to end?
6. If several Egyptians were in the same house, wouldn’t this have given them a little comfort to know that they were not alone?
7. What does “they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days” mean?
8. Why didn’t they get up and go?
9. Were the Israelis suffering with the same darkness?
10. What was the source of the light that all the Israelis had?
11. If Egyptians were in the Israeli settlements, did the Egypt have and see light?
12. If the light was to all the children of Israel, was it also to their parents?
IX. Pharaoh Again Says Go (verses 24-26)
Pharaoh called unto Moshe. He commanded, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah!” This sounded like he had finally relented. He then added, “Only your flock and your herd he will position.” Pharaoh was not permitting them to take their flocks and their herds; they had to keep them in Egypt. He did add, “Also your little-one will walk with you!” Thus, they could take their children.
Moshe responded, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” They had to take their sheep and cattle in order to do sacrifices. Even if the Egyptians gave the Israelis the animals for sacrifices, Moshe asked, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” This made no sense. Thus, Moshe continued, “And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods!”
Besides this, Moshe explained, “And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”
Questions
1. How did Pharaoh call unto Moshe?
2. What was Pharaoh demanding when he said, “Only your flock and your herd he will position”?
3. Why did Pharaoh insist that they leave their animals?
4. Why was Pharaoh so willing for them to now travel with their little one?
5. Why did Moshe ask, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?”
6. Moshe continued, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” What did he mean by this?
7. What was Moshe telling Pharaoh when he said, “And also our cattle will walk with us”?
8. What did he mean by, “A hoof will not remain”?
9. What will the Israelis take from themselves to serve Yehovah?
10. What would have been wrong with taking and using Egyptian-provided sacrifices to serve Yehovah?
11. Since they will not know what they will serve Yehovah until their coming to the three-days-journey location, do they have any idea of what they will serve Him? What does this mean?
X. Moshe Thrust Out (verses 27-29)
Yehovah once again gripped the heart of Pharaoh. He refused to send the Israelis by not consenting to send them. Pharaoh now was very angry. He threatened Moshe: “Walk from upon me! Guard to thee!” He then added, “Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!”
Moshe responded, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!” Moshe was also quite angry.
Questions
1. Yehovah again gripped Pharaoh’s heart. What does this describe that Yehovah did?
2. Why did Yehovah keep gripping Pharaoh’s mind?
3. What does “Walk from upon me” mean?
4. What does “Guard to thee” mean?
5. What does “Do not add to see my faces” mean?
6. What was Pharaoh doing when he said, “For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die”?
7. Did Moshe agree to not see Pharaoh again?
8. Did Moshe now leave Pharaoh?