The Egyptians honored many gods relating to
agriculture. For example, they worshipped Renenūtet,
the goddess of nourishment and harvest. The people would make an offering to
her during harvest time. Then there was Senehem, the god of pest control and
the Egyptians believed that he was the one who would protect them against the
pest. Pharaoh and the Egyptians actually depended on these and many other
supposed gods as far as agriculture was concerned. But alas, these deities
simply did not have an answer to God’s judgment. Again, the gods and goddesses
of Egypt were humiliated. So, in this eighth plague, when God sent the
swarms of locusts such that the crops and plants that the previous plagues did
not destroy were devastated till there was nothing left. Verse 15 said
that the locusts “…covered the surface of
the whole land so that the land was darkened; and they ate every plant of
the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Thus, nothing
green was left on tree or plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.”
That was a great devastation for Egypt’s agriculture. And their gods did not
have an answer to the Mighty God.
It all started when Moses’ negotiation with Pharaoh
broke down. The king drove Moses out of his palace, warning him of dire
consequence should they meet again the next time. He mistakenly thought that he
still had the upper hand but was soon to realize that it was merely wishful
thinking. He thought he was on equal footing with God. But as soon as Moses
left the palace, he realized that he had no answer to Moses’ God. God’s prophet
for the moment was told to stretch out his staff. And when he did so,
immediately the LORD went into action. God “…directed an east wind on the land all that day and
all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought
the locusts.” The east wind very clearly showed us that this had to be
God’s doing. It debunks the notion as some argued that this was a natural
phenomenon that had brought the locusts. However, we know that without God’s
intervention, the wind wouldn’t be blowing so precisely at that moment and with
that intensity. What happened was nothing short of God’s intervention.
It is hard to imagine the horde of locusts that
invaded Egypt. There were countless of them that came from out of nowhere till
the land was covered with thick darkness. So great was the number of
locusts that we are told in verse 14 that “…the locusts came up over all the
land of Egypt and settled in all the territory of Egypt; they
were very numerous. There had never been so many locusts,
nor would there be so many again.” The number of locusts was so
countless that they literally blotted the land from the light of the sun. It was
the judgment hand of God against the gods and goddesses of agriculture which
the Egyptians venerated. This plague truly left a great story for the children
of Israel to tell every subsequent generation of the power and glory of their
God.
Pharaoh’s action was, of course, no surprise. He quickly
summoned Moses and Aaron and confessed that he had sinned against the LORD. We
have already identified earlier that all Pharaoh’s confession of sin had no
genuine repentance. He was merely seeking a respite from the mounting pressure
of the mighty God. Even at this point, he was still not ready to turn over a
new leaf. It was his same old trick of seeking a reprieve. What Pharaoh
did was merely minimizing his sin. And that’s something that we believers of
Christ must not do. We must genuinely confess our sin when God convicts us of
it. And when we have done so be sure that we stick to the right path and walk
with God honorably. To return to our sinful ways after we have confessed and
been forgiven is like a dog returning to its own vomit. This is something we
must seek not to do. We must know that God only works with those who actually
truly turn away from their sin. And such people we must be if we truly honor
Him.
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