Plagues on Egypt
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for Moses and Aaron in haste. And he said, I have sinned against the
Lord your God, and against you. Now, therefore, forgive, I pray thee,
my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that he may take
away from me this death only.” The Egyptians were afraid that after
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the locusts had eaten everything in the field, they would even attack
the people of Egypt and devour them.
“And he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. And the
Lord turned a mighty strong west wind which took away the locusts,
and cast them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all
the coasts of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he
would not let the children of Israel go.” Notwithstanding his humility,
while death threatened him, and his promise to let Israel go, after he
was relieved from the plague, he hardened his heart and refused to let
them go.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand toward heaven,
that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which
may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and
there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They
saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days.
But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. And Pharaoh
called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks
and herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you. And Moses
said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt-offerings, that we
may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Our cattle also shall go with us.
There shall not a hoof be left behind; for thereof we must take to serve
the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord
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until we come thither. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he
would not let them go. And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me,
take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest
my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well; I will
see thy face again no more.”
Pharaoh hardened his heart against the Lord, and he ventured,
notwithstanding all the signs and mighty wonders he had witnessed,
to threaten that if Moses and Aaron appeared before him again they
should die. If the king had not become hardened in his rebellion against
God, he would have been humbled under a sense of the power of the
living God who could save or destroy. He would have known that
he who could do such miracles, and multiply his signs and wonders,