Plague #8 – Locusts 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

Plague #9 – Hello Darkness My Old Friend 👀

Plague 8 is the beginning of the end. From here we will see a progression. This time Pharaoh says that the men can go, but not the women & children and flocks. After the 9th plague he says all the people can go but not the flocks and herds. And only finally after the 10th plague will he demand they leave, no exceptions and no caveats.

The locusts and darkness both have counterpart plagues in Revelation. Only, the “locusts” that come out of the Bottomless Pit at the 5th Trumpet in Rev. 9 don’t eat plants. They torment people. The 5th bowl judgment brings darkness on the kingdom of the Beast. Just as there was light in Goshen, the implication in Revelation 16:10-11 is that the darkness is limited to a specific location.

This is as good a time as any to address the elephant in the room:

🐘 Did God make Pharaoh’s heart hard and what does that mean?

This is HUGE topic. It reaches all the way into the NT. But this is a blog not a dissertation. I am not going to cover all the potential views. They’re out there if you’re curious. I’m going to attempt to explain my understanding of the text. Susinctly. As best I can. I hope it’s beneficial to you. If not, try coming back tomorrow. 😏

Yes. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The text says so many times. That’s not even up for debate. (It also says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.) The issue is: what does that mean and what does it imply?

First we should consider the words translated “hardened” here.

There are three separate Hebrew words used in this narrative that are all translated “harden.”

1. Chazaq (which spellcheck keeps trying to make into Shazam 🙄) – to render firm, rigid, stubborn. It’s also used elsewhere in a positive way: to strengthen, take courage or render strong-hearted. Like “stouthearted.”
2. Kabad – weighty, dull, heavy; this word is often used to communicate honor and glory- like a person whose presence has “weight” (significance). This is the word used in the commandment: Honor thy father and mother. We use this concept today in the word “gravitas” (like gravity/weight) or if we speak of “weighty matters.” It communicates seriousness, significance and respect.
3. Qashah – to be dense, tough, stiff. It basically describes jerky or old boot leather. This word is sometimes combined with the word for “neck” and we get “stiff-necked.”

Before the plagues even begin, Yahweh tells Moses twice that He will “harden” Pharaoh’s heart.

“And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden (chazaq) his heart so that he will not let the people go.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭21‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

“But I will harden (qashah) Pharaoh’s heart, so that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My armies, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I extend My hand over Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” Exodus‬ ‭7‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

But when we get the 9 plagues, Pharaoh hardens his own heart or the text just says that his heart was hard 6 times. The 3 times that Yahweh says He has hardened Pharaoh’s heart are after the boils (6), the locusts (8), and the darkness (9).

So what does it mean?

In the early plagues Pharaoh’s heart is sometimes Chazaq (made firm/strong) and sometimes Kabad (weighty).

We could say that Pharaoh was “firm in his resolve,” and that he “gave more weight” to his opinions than anyone else’s.

Pharaoh’s heart was already inclined toward evil. God did not have to make him that way. But- and this is KEY- God positioned Pharaoh so that his willful stubbornness would work to God’s advantage to bring about God’s desired results, namely:

1. The Egyptians will know Yahweh. They will recognize that their gods are inferior and that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the True Supreme One.
2. The Israelites will know Yahweh. They will know for themselves, not just from old stories, that Yahweh is their God and is faithful to them.
3. Israel will not just be freed but gloriously so with zero possibility of being re-enslaved.

If the Israelites had been released after the first plague the Egyptians would’ve gone on worshiping their idols in utter darkness.

God could’ve wiped the Egyptians off the face of the earth in a moment, but He is compassionate. He says to Pharaoh:

“For had I now put out My hand and struck you and your people with plague, you would then have been eliminated from the earth. But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name throughout the earth. Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go.” Exodus‬ ‭9‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Pharaoh’s stout heart has kept him from relenting. This has given Yahweh an opportunity to demonstrate to Egypt and all the nations that Yahweh- the Most High Whom the nations rejected at Babel- He is the Almighty God. God is not on a maniacal ego trip. This revelation is critical for the salvation of the world.

Pharaoh persisted in his stubborn refusal to let the people go and by the 6th plague, Yahweh simply “locks in his final answer” and he gets solidified in that state like Han Solo frozen in carbonite.

In Romans 1 Paul says of the wicked that eventually God “gave them over” to their sinful desires. They passed the point of no return. Or as he told Timothy,

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,”
‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

The Lord is trying to pull people in with the rope of salvation. But too often the wicked think it’s a game of tug-of-war with the Almighty. Instead of agreeing with Him that they need rescuing, instead of stopping the struggle and yielding themselves to Him, they dig in their heels and lean all the way into their sinful desires. At some point God lets go of the rope. He gives them what they want.

But if that unfortunate thing is going to happen, God is at least going to take what the enemy meant for evil and get something good out of it.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened (kabad) his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,” Exodus‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

Kabad is the word that is used to “honor thy father and mother.” Let’s read this text with that meaning.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have honored (kabad) his heart and the heart of his servants, so that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,”

Have you ever honored someone else’s wishes? What did that look like? I’m guessing that it looked like giving them what they wanted, perhaps even if it wasn’t what you would’ve chosen.

As we near the end of the plagues, Pharaoh has been tugging on that rope and God honors his heart. He gives Pharaoh what he wants and lets go of the rope. God’s righteous judgment follows. And Yahweh has set this whole thing up in such a way as to use it to bring about the revelation of Himself and the salvation of His people.

This is EXACTLY what He did with the cross.

“but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

God used the evil of the world to bring about His own purpose of salvation. Jesus’ mission was classified. If the principalities and powers had known that Christ’s death on the cross would bring about the defeat of sin, the redemption of humanity and the end of death itself, Satan would never have moved Judas to betray him and the crowd to shout “Crucify Him!” But the LORD knew what He was doing all along. He used sin to defeat itself. That’s how masterfully genius He is.

🤩

A chess master does not need to script the moves of an inferior opponent in order to achieve the desired outcome. No matter what set of moves the opponent freely chooses, the master can maneuver him exactly where he wants him. Checkmate.

Jesus knew the hearts of the Pharisees. They were descended from these very children of Israel. Only at that point, THEY were the ones with the hard hearts and blind eyes. And Jesus uses their blindness to bring revelation and salvation to the whole world. His secret mission was the 2nd Passover.

God did not have to control Pharaoh’s choices in order to bring about His desired outcome. God set up the situation and Pharaoh did exactly what Yahweh knew he would do. God used this to His own advantage to make Himself known to the Egyptians. And it worked!!

By the time of the plague of hail, some of the Egyptians are beginning to recognize Yahweh and believe His word. By the Passover, thousands of them are going to abandon their gods, leave their past behind, and follow Yahweh to a new land.

God gave weight to Pharaoh’s heart. He honored it by giving him what he wanted.

God rendered firm or stiffened Pharaoh’s heart. He gave him over to his sinful state and set him in place as if with Quickcrete.

One final thought that I have found helpful in considering Pharaoh and the hearts of man:

“The same sun

that softens the butter,

hardens the clay.”

☀️🧈🧱