The seventh plague described in Exodus 9 was the fireballs of hailstorm that rained on Egypt. As soon as God removed the last hailstone, Pharaoh remained stubborn and unrelenting. So, God sent Moses and Aaron to prepare him for the upcoming eighth plague. It would come in the form of an invasion by swarms of locusts. So, In Exodus 10:3-6, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and reasoned with Him. Their conversation with Pharaoh went like this, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your fathers nor your forefathers have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’”
God’s instruction to Pharaoh was straightforward. He just wanted His people to be released so that they could worship and serve Him. And if the king refused to accede to God’s will, He would send a swarm of locusts to destroy the land and whatever little that remained from the plight of the earlier plagues. God pledged that the land would be covered with locusts making the surface of Egypt non-visible and every plant standing would be devoured. Pharaoh’s stubbornness was puzzling. Even God Himself marvelled at how he resisted and was still resisting. The choice he had was between humility and humiliation. Any thinking person would know which is a better choice to make but not for Pharaoh. What was he thinking? This is what pride can do to a person. We must always remember that God will oppose the proud but will give grace to the humble. He is looking for humility. This is the reason for God’s question in verse 3, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?”
God made known another reason why He sent the plagues on Pharaoh. He wanted these experiences of the Egyptians to be told to the subsequent generations of Israelites. Verse 2 reads, “…that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.” God wants His name to be known from generation to generation. It behooves us to ensure that our faith in God is passed down to our children and our children’s children. Let’s make it our aim to leave a rich spiritual legacy to our posterity.
What God did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians was beginning to irritate them. The plagues had somewhat dented Pharaoh’s credibility. Some of his subjects were beginning to ask telling questions. They said to him in verse 7, “How long will this man (Moses) be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is destroyed?” They even urged him to let the people go as Moses had insisted. They were practically asking the king to let the people of Israel go. Wisdom should have dictated that Pharaoh reviewed his policy when there appeared to be passive resistance from his subordinates. Pressurized, the king brought Moses back to the discussion. He suggested that only the men could go but leave behind their wives, children and their livestock. He was bending on holding them as ransom. What’s wrong with Pharaoh’s offer was a false assumption. He assumed that only man could worship God. But the truth is God wants everyone in the family, from husbands to wives to children, to worship Him. We must seek to serve God as a family. In negotiating with Moses, the king had assumed himself to be on par and equal footing with God. He failed to realize that he was on unequal footing as far as God is concerned. Here is the Sovereign Lord. He does not need to negotiate with anyone. His is the power, the glory, and the majesty, both now and forever! Worshiping and serving God is not an option. Don’t ever forget that!
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