SIGNS: DARKNESS (EXODUS 10:1-29)
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THE BATTLE BETWEEN YHWH AND PHARAOH IS APPROACHING IT’S CLIMAX.
IT’S NOT REALLY MUCH OF A BATTLE THOUGH.
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
THE EIGHTH SIGN: DARKNESS (LOCUSTS)
THE EIGHTH SIGN: DARKNESS (LOCUSTS)
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
DEALT HARSHLY = HUMILIATE/MAKING A FOOL OR SPECTACLE OF SO…
“YOU MAY TELL HOW I HUMILIATED THE EGYPTIANS…”
TELL: WHEN MOSES RECOUNTS THESE EVENTS TO JETHRO WE GET:
11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
HUMBLE = POETIC JUSTICE AS PHAROAH HAD HUMBLED THE HEBREWS
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’ ” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
TURNED & WENT OUT = TURNED HIS BACK AND LEFT OR TURNED ON HIS HEELS AND LEFT
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 the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?”
THIS ONE = SCORN
MEN = MASC. PLURAL IE. ONLY LET THE MEN GO
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind. 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
BROUGHT BACK = ACTED UPON/BEING FORCED
WHICH ONES = WHO AND WHO
THE LORD BE WITH YOU = rā‘āh HEBRAIZED FORM OF THE SUN-GOD RA. PHAROAH IS THE INCARNATION OF RA.
THEY WERE DRIVEN = HE (PHAROAH) DROVE THEM OUT...
1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. 15 They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
The longest locust plague on record took place from 1950–1962 in East Africa. Approximately fifty swarms invaded Kenya in early 1954: “They covered a total area of approximately 1,000 square kilometers and rose to 1,000 to 1,500 meters above the ground, with the largest swarm covering 200 square kilometers, approximately 10 billion locusts.”
EAST WIND = BIBLICAL SIGN OF JUDGMENT
DENSE = HEAVY DARKNESS = SIGN OF JUDGMENT
LAND = LIT. EYE OF THE LAND = SUN = RA THE SUN GOD
DE-CREATION!!!
PROPHETIC OVERTONES = WIND/SEA OF REEDS & ALL KILLED
16 Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. 17 Now therefore, forgive my sin, please, only this once, and plead with the Lord your God only to remove this death from me.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
The ancient Egyptians believed him to be divine and sinless during his lifetime, and at death he was not thought to face any judgement. He was simply transformed into the god Osiris, who presided over judgement and death.
NOW = STRONG WORD. HE’S STILL TRYING TO CONTROL
WEST WIND = LIT. TURNED THE VERY STRONG WIND OF THE SEA
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch 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 people of Israel had light where they lived.
AMON-RA CHIEF GOD = PERSONIFICATION OF THE SUN
EACH NIGHT HE BATTLED APOPHIS THE GREAT DRAGON SERPENT TO BRING LIGHT TO EGYPT
DEEP = DARKNESS SO A DARKNESS DARKNESS. SAME WORD AS GEN 1:2
I LOVE HOW CARPENTER SAYS IT: “The Egyptians become immobilized, so to speak, in the tomb of Egypt. Visibility was impossible. Egypt, the land of light, has become the land of darkness.”
24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.”
REMAIN BEHIND = DETAINED
YOU MUST: MOSES IS NOW COMMANDING PHAROAH
LIT. INDEED, YOU, YOU WILL GIVE SACRIFICES…”
Pharaoh’s final statement sets up a scene of self-ridicule. Egypt is under the effects of the ninth plague—that is, total darkness upon the land. And now Pharaoh speaks of ‘the day that you see my face’!
SO WHAT?
LIGHT/DARK PRIMAL METAPHORS
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
WHOSE LIGHT WILL WE WALK IN?
DEEP WARNING IN ISA. 50
10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God. 11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.