Commentary - Exodus 10:1-20

Bird's-eye view

In this account of the eighth plague, the Lord moves past simply demonstrating His power and reveals His ultimate purpose behind these judgments. It is not merely about liberating Israel; it is about creating a story, a testimony to be passed down through all generations. God is forging a people whose identity is rooted in His mighty acts of salvation. He declares that He has hardened Pharaoh's heart precisely so that this story of deliverance will be unforgettable. The plague of locusts itself is a picture of systematic, total de-creation. What the hail left, the locusts would devour, leaving nothing. This relentless stripping away of Egypt's resources and pride serves to highlight the folly of Pharaoh's continued resistance. His attempts to negotiate a partial surrender are flatly rejected, his false, pain-induced repentance is exposed as hollow, and the stage is set for the final, devastating blows. This chapter is a master class in divine sovereignty, the nature of true and false repentance, and the memorial purpose of God's mighty acts in history.

The central conflict remains between Yahweh and Pharaoh, a contest between the true God and a man who considers himself a god. But Pharaoh's own court begins to see the futility of his pride, recognizing that Egypt is already destroyed. Yet, Pharaoh persists. The locusts come and go at the word of Yahweh, driven by winds He directs, demonstrating His absolute command over creation. The temporary relief granted only serves to reveal the unyielding hardness of Pharaoh's heart, a hardness that God Himself ordains and strengthens for His own glorious purposes.

Outline

Context In Exodus

The eighth plague follows the seventh, the plague of hail, and intensifies the devastation. The hail was destructive, but selective, striking down certain crops while leaving others. This created a situation where there was still something left to lose. The plague of locusts is designed to remove that remainder. The judgments are not random; they are systematic and escalating. They are dismantling the entire Egyptian agricultural economy, which was the basis of their wealth and power. This plague also continues the theme of God demonstrating His authority over the Egyptian pantheon, particularly gods associated with crops and protection from locusts, like Seth. We are deep into the conflict now. Pharaoh has repeatedly witnessed Yahweh's power and has offered false repentance before. This cycle of judgment, false repentance, temporary relief, and re-hardening is a central pattern in the narrative, and it reaches a fever pitch here as the stakes get higher and the destruction more complete.

Key Issues

For the Generations to Come

One of the most striking things about this passage is that God states His purpose right at the beginning. Why is all this happening? Why the plagues? Why the hardened heart? The answer is given in verse 2: "that you may recount in the hearing of your son and of your grandson..." God is writing a story into the pages of history. This is not just about power; it is about revelation. This is not just about deliverance; it is about discipleship. The entire Exodus is a grand, divine object lesson, a catechism written in fire and hail, darkness and death. God intends for this story to be told at the dinner tables of Israel for thousands of years. He is creating a gospel memory for His people. He hardens Pharaoh's heart not as a frustrated reaction, but as a deliberate, pedagogical tool. The greater the resistance, the greater the display of power, and the more glorious the story that will be told to the grandchildren. Our God is a God who saves in such a way that it makes for a good story, a true story that reveals who He is.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants with firmness, that I may set these signs of Mine among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your son and of your grandson, how I dealt severely with the Egyptians, and how I put My signs among them, that you may know that I am Yahweh.”

God begins by explaining His strategy to Moses. The reason for the confrontation is not in doubt, and the outcome is not in question. God Himself has secured Pharaoh's resistance. The word "hardened" here is a declaration of sovereign action. God has made Pharaoh's heart heavy, stubborn, and unresponsive. Why? For two stated reasons. First, so that God can display His signs, His power, His reality, right in the midst of His enemies. Second, and flowing from the first, so that Israel will have a story to tell. This is covenant succession 101. The faith is passed down from father to son by telling the stories of God's mighty acts. The ultimate goal is theological: "that you may know that I am Yahweh." The plagues are a revelation of God's character and His covenant name.

3-6 Then Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped, what remains for you from the hail, and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field. Then your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all the Egyptians shall be filled, something which neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day that they came upon the earth until this day.’ ” And he turned and went out from Pharaoh.

The central demand is for humility. Pharaoh's problem is pride. He refuses to bow before Yahweh. The threatened judgment is one of total consumption. The locusts will eat "the rest of what has escaped." God is a thorough God. His judgment, like His grace, leaves nothing untouched. The description is overwhelming: they will cover the land, block the sight of the ground, eat every tree, and fill the houses. This is an invasion. The final note, that this will be an unprecedented event, is crucial. This is not a normal locust swarm. This is a direct, historical, unique act of God, designed to be unmistakable. Moses delivers the ultimatum and then, without waiting for a reply, he turns and leaves. This is the posture of a confident ambassador who knows the power of the king he represents.

7-8 And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will 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?” So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God! Who are the ones that are going?”

For the first time, we see a crack in the Egyptian resolve. Pharaoh's own officials have had enough. They are pragmatists. They can see the ruin around them and they ask the sensible question: "Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?" Pride has a high cost, and they are tired of paying it. Under this pressure, Pharaoh recalls Moses and Aaron and appears to capitulate. But his question, "Who are the ones that are going?" reveals his intent to negotiate. He is no longer saying "no," but he is not yet saying "yes." He is trying to manage his surrender, to control the terms of his defeat.

9-11 And Moses said, “We shall go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we shall go, for it is a feast of Yahweh for us.” Then he said to them, “Thus may Yahweh be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! See, for evil is on your faces. Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve Yahweh, for that is what you are seeking.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

Moses's answer is absolute and non-negotiable. Worship is a corporate activity that involves the entire covenant community, from the oldest to the youngest. It also involves their economic life, their flocks and herds. All of it belongs to God. You cannot serve God with just the "men," the strong and able. You must bring the children, the future. Pharaoh's response is dripping with sarcasm and accusation. "Thus may Yahweh be with you" is a curse, not a blessing. He accuses them of having evil intentions, which is a classic case of projection. He sees his own manipulative heart in them. He then makes his counter-offer: only the men may go. This is a fundamental rejection of God's terms. When dealing with the absolute God, a partial "yes" is a total "no." The negotiation is over, and they are thrown out.

12-15 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat every plant of the land, all that the hail has left remaining.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh 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. And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt; they were very heavy. There had never been so many locusts, nor would there be so many again. For they 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.

The judgment is executed precisely as threatened. God uses His ordinary providence, an east wind, to achieve an extraordinary result. The scale of the swarm is what marks it as divine. They were "very heavy," a plague of immense proportions, unique in history. The effect was an undoing of the created order. The land was "darkened," a foreshadowing of the next plague. Light and life (greenery) were extinguished. The text emphasizes the totality of the destruction: "nothing green was left." Pharaoh trusted in the agricultural abundance of Egypt. God systematically removes that trust, leaving him with nothing.

16-17 Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God and against you. So now, please forgive my sin only this once and entreat Yahweh your God, that He would only cause this death to depart from me.”

Pharaoh's reaction is driven by panic. He summons Moses and Aaron "hurriedly." He speaks the language of repentance: "I have sinned." He asks for forgiveness. But the final clause reveals his true motivation. He wants Moses to "cause this death to depart from me." He is not grieved by his sin against Yahweh; he is terrified of the consequences. This is what the Bible calls worldly sorrow, which produces death. It is a sorrow over being caught, not a sorrow over the offense. He wants the plague to go away, but he does not want God. He is trying to manipulate the prophet to get the unpleasantness to stop.

18-20 And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahweh. So Yahweh changed the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he did not let the sons of Israel go.

God graciously relents. Just as He brought the locusts on an east wind, He removes them with a west wind. The removal is as total as the infestation: "not one locust remained." God demonstrates that He is the Lord of relief as well as the Lord of judgment. But this act of mercy does not produce true repentance in Pharaoh. Once the painful consequence is removed, the sinful resolve returns. The final sentence is the key: "But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart." God confirms him in his rebellion. The reprieve was not a license to sin, but rather another opportunity to repent, an opportunity which Pharaoh, in his God-hardened state, refused to take.

Application

This passage forces us to examine the stories we tell. God orchestrated these massive events so His people would have a story to pass on to their children. What are the stories of God's faithfulness that we are recounting to the next generation? Our faith is not a set of abstract principles; it is a history of God's mighty acts, culminating in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We must be storytellers.

Second, we must beware of Pharaoh's bargaining. He wanted to serve God on his own terms, to let the "men" go but keep the children and the flocks. We are often tempted to do the same, offering God our Sunday mornings but keeping our careers, our families, or our finances back for ourselves. The lordship of Christ is total. He does not negotiate. He demands all of us, our children, and all our possessions, for it is all a "feast of Yahweh for us."

Finally, we must understand the nature of true repentance. It is not a hurried, panicked reaction to painful consequences. It is not simply saying "I have sinned" in order to get out of trouble. True repentance is a deep grief over our sin itself, a hatred for how it has offended a holy and merciful God. It is a turning away from the sin, not just a desire to escape the "death" that the sin brings. We should pray that God would grant us not the repentance of Pharaoh, which leads to death, but the repentance of David, which leads to life and restoration.