Day of the Locusts

Exodus 10:1-20

So God tells Moses to go back and deal with Pharaoh. For the first time I remeber, He gives some rationale to the whole escapade. He says:

...I have hardened his [Pharaoh's] heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.

So it seems that at least in part God hardens Pharaoh's heart so that His people will know that He's there for them. Remember when you were slaves? Remember what I did for you? Remember when I worked great miracles and punished your captives over and over? Did you see what I can do? I'm God- don't forget.

This time the dreaded promise is locusts- they will devour what little of the land the hail didn't already destroy. They will destroy trees and fill houses. Pharaoh's officials have had enough. How long are we going to endure this guy? they ask. Look around- Egypt is ruined!

So for once Pharaoh listens, or he starts to. Fine, you can go- he says, but just who will be going?

Moses answers, pretty much everyone. He says:

We will go with our young and old, with our sons and daughters, and with our flocks and herds, because we are to celebrate a festival to the LORD.

This is all it takes to bring Pharaoh back to hard-hearted state again. No -just let the men go and worship since this is what you've been asking for.

It's a little ambiguous, but I assume he's saying you've been asking to worship, not you've been asking for the men to go. Pharaoh should have taken a grammar class.

So Moses brings on the locusts- they came until the land was black. Nothing green on a tree or plant remained in Egypt. And just like that Pharaoh is sorry. I have sinned again- he moans. And Moses prays, and a wind carries the locusts into the Red Sea.

And this is the main thing I'm struck with in this section. Here Pharaoh goes again. The boy who cried sorry. Moses shows skepticism in the last section. His officials are getting sick of his actions- but even though he's been down this path so many times before, God still removes the plague.

No matter how many times he's messed up- God takes away the plague. It's a good thing He still works that way. All the times I've hardened my heart and followed my own self-destructive will- all the times I've defied what I knew was right- all the times I've chosen short term pleasure and inherited long term pain- God still takes away the plague.

And just like before- when the plague is gone- Pharaoh's heart hardens again.