Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 10:12 - 10:20

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 10:12 - 10:20


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:



The Plague of Locusts

v. 12. And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts that they may come up upon the land of Egypt,
like a hostile military force, or like clouds carried by the wind, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

v. 13. And Moses stretched forth his rod, his hand with the shepherd's staff, over the land of Egypt; and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night.
So it was really the Lord, the Performer of all miracles, who drove the wind from the eastern desert over Egypt. And when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

v. 14. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested,
settled down to devour and devastate, in all the coasts of Egypt. Very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such, for it was a miraculous plague from the Lord. This is shown not only by the fact that the locusts came from very far, the wind blowing for twenty-four hours, but also that they covered the entire land, whereas ordinarily they will attack only certain regions and then move on.

v. 15. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened;
daylight was shut out by the density of the swarms as they came on; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing in the trees or in the herbs of the field through all the land of Egypt. It was a complete devastation of the land, a punishment whose severity had been increased over the preceding plagues.

v. 16. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord, your God, and against you.
This is a distinct confession of sin, for Pharaoh was not lacking in knowledge of his transgression, but in willingness to repent.

v. 17. Now, therefore, forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord, your God, that He may take away from me this death only.
Here was more hypocrisy; for Pharaoh did not desire forgiveness of his sins in order to turn to the Lord for mercy, but only to be delivered from this terrible plague, which gave him a feeling of utter helplessness. Only this time he wanted to be delivered from the deadly ruin staring him in the face, an expression which afterward condemned him.

v. 18. And he
(Moses) went out from Pharaoh and intreated the Lord.

v. 19. And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea,
on the eastern boundary of Egypt, where they were destroyed in the water; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt. This sudden deliverance was again indisputable evidence of the almighty power of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews.

v. 20. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart,
as He had said, v. 1. so that he would not let the children of Israel go. Jehovah was not yet done with His mighty miracles upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. The condemnation of obduracy was upon the king, and he was being reserved for the final punishment.