The Eighth Plague: Locusts

The Eighth Plague: Locusts

Exo 10:3  And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:

Exo 10:5  And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

Exo 10:6  And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and thehouses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers haveseen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

As was with the frogs, lice, and flies, here comes the hordes of locusts. What was not beaten to a pulp and burned from the hail mingled with fire, the locusts would consume.  We have all seen the wild life films of locusts eating leaves and the swarms they make when they fly.  This would be on an unimaginable scale.  With what was left of the trees now about to be consumed, the Egyptians would have no shade.  Egypt is a desert; trees are necessary for shade for people and animals. Without the shade and cooling breezes from the wind and leaves acting as fans the heat will kill you.  Nor were any fruit yielding trees still standing.  The only crops that G-d did spare up to this point for the Egyptians was the wheat and rye, for they had not grown yet.

Exo 9:32  But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were not grown up.

This, among the trees that were left, was what the locusts ate.  What you are about to read next, takes a little to consider.  Up to this point, if you notice, the court of Pharaoh really had nothing to say. Speaking up to "Great Egypt" or to question him meant death.  It would literally be your head.  But when you felt you have nothing to lose or anything is left you throw caution to the wind.

Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
All of this would not have happened if Pharaoh had listened to what G-d had said by Moses and Aaron.  But Pharaoh would not.  Then he compounded the sin by asking Moses to entreat G-d for his sin and then recanted.

 

 

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