# Exodus 10 📖: Locusts and Darkness [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Exodus Overview]] | [[Exodus 09]] | [[Exodus 11]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ## Plague Eight: Locusts **The Destruction of the false god Seth- god of storms and disorder** [[#Verse 01.]] The Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display these signs of mine before him,  [[#Verse 02.]] and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell how I made fools of the Egyptians and about my signs that I displayed among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord.” [[#Verse 03.]] So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has said: ‘How long do you refuse to humble yourself before me? Release my people so that they may serve me!  [[#Verse 04.]] But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. [[#Verse 05.]] They will cover the surface of the earth, so that you will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped—what is left over for you—from the hail, and they will eat every tree that grows for you from the field.  [[#Verse 06.]] They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been in the land until this day!’” Then Moses turned and went out from Pharaoh. [[#Verse 07.]] Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a menace to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?” [[#Verse 08.]] So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. Exactly who is going with you?” [[#Verse 09.]] Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold a pilgrim feast for the Lord.” [[#Verse 10.]] He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you if I release you and your dependents! Watch out! Trouble is right in front of you. [[#Verse 11.]] No! Go, you men only, and serve the Lord, for that is what you want.” Then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence. [[#Verse 12.]] The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat everything that grows in the ground, everything that the hail has left.”  [[#Verse 13.]] So Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind had brought up the locusts! [[#Verse 14.]] The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. It was very severe; there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such ever again.  [[#Verse 15.]] They covered the surface of all the ground so that the ground became dark with them, and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt. [[#Verse 16.]] Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you! [[#Verse 17.]] So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Lord your God that he would only take this death away from me.”  [[#Verse 18.]] Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, [[#Verse 19.]] and the Lord turned a very strong west wind, and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. [[#Verse 20.]] But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites. ## Plague Nine: Darkness **The destruction of the false god Ra- god of the sun. (This would have been the second most powerful god in Egypt. Second only to Pharaoh)** [[#Verse 21.]]  The Lord said to Moses, “Extend your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.” [[#Verse 22.]] So Moses extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days.  [[#Verse 23.]] No one could see another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. [[#Verse 24.]] Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord—only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families may go with you.” [[#Verse 25.]] But Moses said, “Will you also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them to the Lord our God?  [[#Verse 26.]] Our livestock must also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take these animals to serve the Lord our God. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Lord.” [[#Verse 27.]] But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them.  [[#Verse 28.]] Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, for when you see my face you will die!” [[#Verse 29.]] Moses said, “As you wish! I will not see your face again.” ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary God systematically destroys the “gods” of Egypt: - Locusts- The destruction of the false god Seth- god of storms and disorder - Darkness- The destruction of the false god Ra- god of the sun. (This would have been the second most powerful god in Egypt. Second only to Pharaoh) ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. God says one purpose of the plagues was for Israel to tell their children and grandchildren what He had done (10:2). 2. A single swarm of desert locusts can cover many square miles and strip the vegetation of a whole region. 3. The locusts came on an east wind (10:13) and were carried away by a west wind into the Red Sea (10:19). 4. Pharaoh's own officials begged him to let Israel go: "Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?" (10:7). 5. Pharaoh first offered to let only the men go (10:11), then everyone except the flocks and herds (10:24). 6. The darkness was so thick it could be felt (10:21). 7. The darkness lasted three days, yet the Israelites had light where they lived (10:22-23). 8. The sun god Ra (or Re) was one of the most important gods in Egypt, so darkness struck at the heart of Egyptian worship. 9. The prophet Joel uses a locust plague as a picture of the coming day of the Lord (Joel 1-2). 10. Pharaoh threatened Moses with death if he ever saw his face again (10:28). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12). While thick darkness covered Egypt, the Israelites had light where they lived (10:23), and those who follow Jesus will never walk in darkness. ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God wanted these events told to children and grandchildren (10:2). How are you passing on stories of God's faithfulness to the next generation? 2. Pharaoh kept offering partial obedience (10:8-11, 24). Where are we tempted to give God part but not all? 3. Moses refused to leave even one animal behind (10:26). Why does God want all of us, not just some? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 2: Tell your children and grandchildren what the Lord has done, so you will know He is the Lord. - 📖 verse 23: The Israelites had light where they lived. - 📖 verse 26: Not a hoof will be left behind. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[John 08#Verse 12.|John 8:12]] - Jesus is the light of the world. - 🔗 [[Matthew 27#Verse 45.|Matthew 27:45]] - Darkness covered the land at the crucifixion. - 🔗 [[Joel 02#Verse 01.|Joel 2:1-2]] - A day of darkness and gloom. - 🔗 [[Psalm 78#Verse 04.|Psalm 78:4]] - Telling the next generation the Lord's works. - 🔗 [[Colossians 01#Verse 13.|Colossians 1:13]] - Rescued from the domain of darkness. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Exodus 10- SOAP|Trying to Compromise With God]] ## 📂 Internal Notes