Evening Remix: The Eighth Plague: Locusts (Part A)
Exodus 10:1 Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am Yahweh.”
"And the Lord said unto Moses, go in unto Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart,.... Or, as some render it, 'though I have hardened his heart’...” (Gill) go into him anyway. (1)“That I may show these signs of Mine before him.” (2) "And that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt…" “The Hebrew prophets in their sermons, and the psalmists in their songs, have recorded those wonderful works of the Lord; and the doctrines and inferences fairly deduced are firm and strong. For how different soever the circumstances of the church may be, the perfections of God are still the same... But while God was proceeding in the awful administration of justice, he acquainted Moses that these things were to be told in the ears of our children. In this view the sacred volume is valuable above all books. It exhibits to us in large characters, a righteous God governing the world. It traces his longsuffering and mercy, his justice and judgment diversified in a thousand forms; and it does this with the avowed design that future ages may learn to revere his name, and to confide in his protecting arm. Other histories and books, not being written by inspired men, do this only in an accidental way, or more frequently they ascribe all events to accident or chance.” (Sutcliffe)
3 So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 4 Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. 5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. 6 They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
if Pharaoh would not humble himself— if he refused yet again to let the children of Israel serve Yahweh, there would be a new strike unlike any other— an invasion of locusts- agents of destruction, like unto an attack of devils in the end time. "Locusts— God's 'great army,' as they are elsewhere called (Joel 2:25), were the instrument chosen, so that once more the judgment should seem to come from heaven, and that it should be exactly fitted to complete the destruction which the hail had left unaccomplished (ver. 5). Locusts, when they come in full force, are among the most terrible of all the judgments that can befall a country. 'A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness' (Joel 2:3). They destroy every atom of foliage - crops, vegetables, shrubs, trees - even the bark of the fruit-trees suffers - the stems are injured, the smaller branches completely peeled and 'made white' (Joel 1:7).” (Pulpit Commentary)
In the analogy of barley and wheat in the end-time scenario, the agents of destruction will destroy everything that Yahweh allows them to destroy, as it is written: "Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.” (Revelation 9:1-6)
"'Stars, in the language of prophecy,' says Lowman, 'signify angels.... The expression then, a star fallen from heaven, or an angel come down from heaven, with a key to open the bottomless pit, seems naturally to mean the permission of the Divine Providence for those evil and calamitous events, which are described to follow from opening the bottomless pit... The abyss, or bottomless pit, is explained in the prophecy itself to be the place where the devil and Satan are shut up, that they should not deceive the nations, Revelation 20:1-3. The abyss seems also to be used in the same sense when the devils besought Christ that he would not command them to go out into the deep, Greek, εις την αβυσσον, into the abyss, or bottomless pit...
'Now ... we may then say with the bishop of Meaux, ‘Behold something more terrible than what we have hitherto seen.” (Benson Commentary)
The earth and the animals thereof are safe, along with those with the seal of God in their foreheads— representing a knowledge of Him in their minds, as it is written: "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of Yahweh your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame. Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am Yahweh your God. And there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame." (Joel 2:23-27)
So, in my understanding of the end, there will be a temporal destruction of the living wicked that will take place at the Second Coming of Jesus. At the same time, the dead saints will be resurrected, as the living ones are raptured... and the whole creation will then be restored to it’s pre-fall state with the redeemed of the earth. Creation will be restored for the years lost to the locust.
The bottomless pit of Revelation is the destroyed earth on which Satan will be bound for 1000 year with no one to deceive— because all of the wicked are in the grave. At the end of the millennium, the wicked from every generation will also be resurrected, as Satan and his devils are released to torment them for five months. This must be announced by the fifth angel sounding His trumpet. The devouring agents cannot touch the saints of God, but will finish leading the wicked to destruction in a great battle in a place called Armageddon.
The Eighth Plague: Locusts (Part B)
Exodus 10:7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God. Who are the ones that are going?”
"For the first time the officers of Pharaoh intervene before the scourge is inflicted, showing at once their belief in the threat, and their special terror of the infliction. Also, for the first time, Pharaoh takes measures to prevent the evil [harm to the land of Egypt, by making a counteroffer]...
Let the men go - i. e. the men only, not all the people. See Exodus 10:8.” (Barnes' Notes on the Bible) Perhaps the purpose was to keep the woman and children as a ransom to ensue their return.
9 And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.” 10 Then he said to them, “Yahweh had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. 11 Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve Yahweh, for that is what you desired.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
"Satan does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety. Whatever would put us from engaging our children in God's service, we have reason to suspect Satan in it. Nor should the young forget that the Lord's counsel is, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth; but Satan's counsel is, to keep children in a state of slavery to sin and to the world.” (Matthew Henry)
12 ThenYahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.”
13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. 15 For they covered the face 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. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat Yahweh your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. 19 And Yahweh turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.
"The rod of Moses was again raised, and the locusts came. They are natives of the desert and are only brought by an east wind into Egypt, where they sometimes come in sun-obscuring clouds, destroying in a few days every green blade in the track they traverse. Man, with all his contrivances, can do nothing to protect himself from the overwhelming invasion. Egypt has often suffered from locusts. But the plague that followed the wave of the miraculous rod was altogether unexampled. Pharaoh, fearing irretrievable ruin to his country, sent in haste for Moses, and confessing his sin, implored the intercession of Moses, who entreated the Lord, and a 'mighty strong west wind took away the locusts.’ But the Lord hardened.” (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown)
Satan is likewise foreign to the earth; fallen from heaven and Jesus alone can drive him out of His inheritance by the word of His mouth. "The demons began to entreat Him [Jesus], saying, 'If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.' And He said to them, 'Go!' And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters." (Matthew 8:31-32) After Jesus sent out his followers in groups: "The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.' And He said to them, 'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.'" (Luke 10:17-19)
But Pharaoh’s heart was again hardened and he would not.
Morning Repost: The Ninth Plague: Darkness
This darkness of the ninth plague of the exodus from Egypt lasted the same time that Jonah was in the belly of the whale- three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:17) Yet Jonah cried, "I went down to the moorings of the mountains;The earth with its bars closed behind me forever (lə-‘ō-w-lām)." (Jonah 2:6) Three days and three nights is the same time that Jesus was in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:40) And this scene might very well be that length of time of the traditional view of hell- the torments not being eternal, as we understand it, and perhaps not even from fire but rather from anguish of heart brought on by evil spirits. It is indeed a time of great pain and weeping and gnashing of teeth.
lə-‘ō-w-lām—“... 'for ever,' as used in the Bible, means simply a period of time, limited or unlimited. It is used 56 times in the Bible in connection with things that have already ended. It is like the word ‘tall,' which means something different in describing men, trees, or mountains. In Jonah 2:6, 'for ever' means 'three days and nights.' (See also Jonah 1:17.) In Deuteronomy 23:3, this means '10 generations.' In the case of man, this means 'as long as he lives' or 'until death.' (See 1 Samuel 1:22, 28; Exodus 21:6; Psalm 48:14.)." (Forever and Ever- See http://www.helltruth.com)
Exodus 10:21 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
"And the Lord said unto Moses,.... About the eleventh day of the month Abib: stretch out thine hand toward heaven; where the luminaries are, and from whence light comes…” (Gill's Exposition) "Darkness which may be felt. Literally, 'and one shall feel, or grasp, darkness.' The hyperbole is no doubt extreme; but the general sentiment of mankind has approved the phrase, which exactly expresses what men feel in absolute and complete darkness.” (Pulpit Commentary)
“They saw not one another... Literally, man did not see his brother. The darkness was absolute, equal to that of the darkest night.
Neither rose any from his place.—Comp. Exodus 16:29. No one quitted his house. Mr. Millington imagines that they all sat 'glued to their seats'(Plagues of Egypt, p. 159), but this savours of over-literalism. It is not necessary to suppose that they had no artificial light, or that they ceased to move from chamber to chamber. What the writer intends to note is that all business and all intercourse with neighbours was suspended. No one quitted the house in which he was when the darkness began. [YET] All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.—The visitation, whatever it was, did not extend to the land of Goshen. (Comp. Exodus 8:22-24; Exodus 9:4-7; Exodus 9:26.)” (Ellicott's Commentary)
If the locust of the last stroke were demons released by the authority of the Creator, then this scenario is a continuation of it. The children of Light have been taken out of the world and the children of wrath have now been resurrected from the dead. And God now pours out His wrath on the throne of the beast- the kingdoms of this world. To one man with great faith, Jesus said, "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ” (Matthew 8:12) That is this very day in prophecy.
"Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.” (Rev16:10-11)
"Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness, (Revelation 16:10,) which alludes to this… No doubt it was very frightful and amazing. The tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the apparition of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made; and this is the plague which some think is intended, (for otherwise it is not mentioned at all here,) Psalm 78:49, 'He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil angels among them;' for to those to whom the devil has been a deceiver, he will at length be a terror… It continued three days; six nights in one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness.” (Benson Commentary)
24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve Yahweh; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. 26 Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve Yahweh our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve Yahweh until we arrive there.”
"The law was not yet given; the ordinances concerning the different kinds of sacrifices and offerings not known. What kind and what number of animals God should require to be sacrificed, even Moses himself could not as yet tell. He therefore very properly insists on taking the whole of their herds with them, and not leaving even one hoof behind.” (Adam Clarke)
27 But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!”
29 So Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.”
"I will see thy face no more... It is generally agreed however that Moses did not quit the presence with these words; but continued to address Pharaoh for some little time, making his parting speech in the terms which are recorded in vers. 4-8 of the next chapter. Having announced the Tenth Plague, the coming destruction of the first-born, he turned and went out from Pharaoh in a great anger' (Exodus 11:8).” (Pulpit Commentary)… never to see his face again.
"The world had begun in total darkness (Genesis 1:2), and now Egypt had returned to that chaotic state.” (Constable) "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:5-6) Indeed, we will see the Pharaohs of the world no more. Pharaoh was destroyed in the first death in the sea and will be destroyed in the second death by fire.