Yesterday we read about the first seven plagues God sent upon Egypt and in today’s reading there were three more. Plagues number eight and nine brought horrifying hordes of locusts and darkness so deep it could be felt. Then came the tenth plague, a disaster so devastating that it ended Pharaoh’s defiance against God.

Pharaoh was already under pressure after the first seven plagues. His people were digging out from under millions of dead frogs, gnat and flies, while also dealing with widespread illness, pain, and death from disease. They had just survived a massive hailstorm that shredded their crops and stripped their trees. Pharaoh’s own officials had had enough by the time Moses and Aaron came to the palace to announce the eighth plague.

The Plague of Locusts

The first seven plagues God sent to Egypt had been devastating, but they left Egypt with some resources and the ability to recover. The eighth plague God prepared to send was a swarm of locusts so massive it would completely cover the ground and leave absolutely nothing behind.

Locust swarms typically contain billions of locusts and cover many square miles. In 1958 one of the largest swarms ever recorded covered 400 square miles in Somalia and Ethiopia. It had an estimated 40 billion locusts that destroyed 167,000 tons of crops in Ethiopia and left thousands of people starving to death.

No wonder Pharaoh’s officials were ready to throw in the towel when they heard God was sending locusts. They wanted Pharaoh to comply with Moses’s request and let Israel go.

“Pharaoh’s officials said to him, ‘How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” Exodus 10:7

Pharaoh Drives Moses Away

Pharaoh considered their request and tried to negotiate terms with Moses. But when he heard Moses planned to take all of the Israelites and their flocks and herds out of Egypt, he drove Moses and Aaron from his presence.

“So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; they invaded all Egypt and settled down in every area of the country in great numbers. Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground . . .They devoured all that was left after the hail . . . Nothing green remained on tree or plant in all the land of Egypt.” Exodus 10:13-15

God Drives the Locusts Away

Pharaoh was alarmed and appeared to repent of his sins so Moses and Aaron prayed for deliverance from the locusts and God sent a west wind that carried the locusts into the Red Sea.

But God knew Pharaoh’s heart was unchanged toward him, so he let Pharaoh harden his heart even more. God was going use the resistance of this rebellious ruler to could bring about the great deliverance of his people.

The Plague of Darkness

The ninth disaster God brought upon Egypt was a plague of darkness that came without warning. Moses raised his staff to the sky and darkness fell everywhere except in the homes of the Israelites.

The Egyptians were suddenly in darkness so deep they could actually feel it. It was oppressive, immobilizing darkness that brought everything in Egypt to a halt. It was so dark people couldn’t see each other and they were afraid to move. God took away the light of the sun, and even lamps and candles refused to burn in Egyptian homes. It must have felt like the end of the world — or like plunging into eternity without God — it was a darkness that made people stop and think about their destiny.

Pharaoh Resists God One Last Time

Pharaoh angrily sent for Moses and told him he could take all of the Israelites and go, but they had to leave their livestock behind. Moses replied that the animals belonged to God and must be brought when Israel went to worship him.

“. . . the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.’

“Just as you say,’ Moses replied. ‘I will never appear before you again.’” Exodus 10:27-29

The Final Plague

Pharaoh and Moses did meet other again, but it was after God brought one more devastating plague on Egypt, the plague that finally convinced Pharaoh to let Israel go. In fact, this time Pharaoh was actually going to drive them out by royal decree.

God had told Pharaoh that the Israelites were his children, but Pharaoh refused to release them, so God got ready to wrench Pharaoh’s own son from him. Death was about to pass through the land of Egypt and take the life of every firstborn, even the firstborn offspring of the cattle.

The Angel of Death Passes Over

Israel was always going to remember this night, and how God spared their families from death. Under God’s direction Moses prepared the Israelites for the angel of death’s passover.

Each household was to take a healthy, unblemished one-year-old male lamb or goat and slaughter it. They were to drain the blood from the animal and using a branch of hyssop as a brush paint the top and sides of their door frames with it. Then Moses told them to roast the lamb whole and eat it, being careful to prepare only as much meat as could be eaten in one meal and eating with their traveling clothes on.

The Israelites followed Moses’s instructions to the letter and waited to see what would happen.

“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.” Exodus 12:29-30

Israel Leaves Egypt

A brokenhearted Pharaoh drove Israel out of Egypt that night and the Egyptians urged the Israelites to hurry because they were afraid more people would die if they didn’t leave. The Israelites left so quickly they had to pack up their unbaked bread dough and carry it away wrapped in cloth. They asked their Egyptian neighbors to give them gold, silver and clothing for the journey and the Egyptians loaded them up with goods. As God had promised, Israel plundered Egypt on their way out of the country and went away wealthy.

About six hundred thousand Israelite men left that night. With women and children there must have been over two million people. They drove large herds and flocks and the Bible says that many other people went up with them, too. These “others” must have included Egyptians who had converted to the God of Israel.

Exactly 430 years after Jacob brought his family to Egypt, they left, and God protected them as they went. And ever since then the people of Israel have observed Passover once a year, to honor God who delivered them from slavery.

God Makes Room For All People

The Passover experience separated God’s people from Egypt, but God always intended his salvation to be for people of all nations, including the Egyptians if they chose to worship God as the Israelites did. Later, when God gave Moses the Law, he instructed the Israelites to receive foreigners who wanted to join them as if they had been born in Israel. God intended the nation of Israel to be his instrument for reaching the world with his love and salvation.

There are many elements of the Passover story that point to Jesus Christ. To learn more about how the Passover foreshadows him, check out this website:

https://jewsforjesus.org/for-congregations/christ-in-the-passover/