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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Exodus, Chapter X].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC02009.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E X O D U S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. X.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The eighth and ninth of the plagues of Egypt, that of locusts and that
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of darkness, are recorded in this chapter.
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I. Concerning the plague of locusts,
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1. God instructs Moses in the meaning of these amazing dispensations of
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his providence,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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2. He threatens the locusts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:3-6">ver. 3-6</A>.
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3. Pharaoh, at the persuasion of his servants, is willing to treat
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again with Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>),
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but they cannot agree,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:10,11">ver. 10, 11</A>.
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4. The locusts come,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:12-15">ver. 12-15</A>.
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5. Pharaoh cries Peccavi--I have offended
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:16,17">ver. 16, 17</A>),
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whereupon Moses prays for the removal of the plague, and it is done;
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but Pharaoh's heart is still hardened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.
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II. Concerning the plague of darkness,
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1. It is inflicted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:21-23">ver. 21-23</A>.
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2. Pharaoh again treats with Moses about a surrender, but the treaty
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breaks off in a heat,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:26-29">ver. 26</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ex10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Plagues of Egypt.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1491.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have
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hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might
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show these my signs before him:
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2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy
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son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs
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which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I <I>am</I>
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him,
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Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse
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to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may
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serve me.
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4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow
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will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
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5 And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot
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be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that
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which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and
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shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
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6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy
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servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy
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fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that
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they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself,
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and went out from Pharaoh.
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7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man
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be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
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8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he
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said unto them, Go, serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God: <I>but</I> who <I>are</I> they
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that shall go?
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9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old,
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with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with
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our herds will we go; for we <I>must hold</I> a feast unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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10 And he said unto them, Let the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> be so with you, as I
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will let you go, and your little ones: look <I>to it;</I> for evil
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<I>is</I> before you.
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11 Not so: go now ye <I>that are</I> men, and serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; for
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that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's
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presence.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. Moses is instructed. We may well suppose that he, for his part, was
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much astonished both at Pharaoh's obstinacy and at God's severity, and
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could not but be compassionately concerned for the desolations of
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Egypt, and at a loss to conceive what this contest would come to at
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last. Now here God tells him what he designed, not only Israel's
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release, but the magnifying of his own name: <I>That thou mayest
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tell</I> in thy writings, which shall continue to the world's end,
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<I>what I have wrought in Egypt,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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The ten plagues of Egypt must be inflicted, that they may be recorded
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for the generations to come as undeniable proofs,
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1. Of God's overruling power in the kingdom of nature, his dominion
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over all the creatures, and his authority to use them either as
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servants to his justice or sufferers by it, according to the counsel of
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his will.
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2. Of God's victorious power over the kingdom of Satan, to restrain the
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malice and chastise the insolence of his and his church's enemies.
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These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the
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happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin, and standing
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monitors to the children of men in all ages not to <I>provoke the Lord
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to jealousy</I> nor to <I>strive with their Maker.</I> The benefit of
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these instructions to the world sufficiently balances the expense.</P>
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<P>
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II. Pharaoh is reproved
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Thus saith the Lord God of the</I> poor, despised, persecuted,
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Hebrews, <I>How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?</I>
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Note, It is justly expected from the greatest of men that they humble
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themselves before the great God, and it is at their peril if they
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refuse to do it. This has more than once been God's quarrel with
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princes. Belshazzar did not humble his heart,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:22">Dan. v. 22</A>.
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Zedekiah humbled not himself before Jeremiah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:12">2 Chron. xxxvi. 12</A>.
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Those that will not humble themselves God will humble. Pharaoh had
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sometimes pretended to humble himself, but no account was made of it,
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because he was neither sincere nor constant in it.</P>
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<P>
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III. The plague of locusts is threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:4-6"><I>v.</I> 4-6</A>.
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The hail had broken down the fruits of the earth, but these locusts
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should come and devour them: and not only so, but they should fill
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their houses, whereas the former inroads of these insects had been
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confined to their lands. This should be much worse than all the
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calamities of that king which had ever been known. Moses, when he had
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delivered his message, not expecting any better answer than he had
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formerly, <I>turned himself and went out from</I> Pharaoh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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Thus Christ appointed his disciples to depart from those who would not
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receive them, and to <I>shake off the dust of their feet for a
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testimony against them;</I> and ruin is not far off from those who are
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thus justly abandoned by the Lord's messengers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+15:27">1 Sam. xv. 27</A>,
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&c.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Pharaoh's attendants, his ministers of state, or privy-counsellors,
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interpose, to persuade him to come to some terms with Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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They, as in duty bound, represent to him the deplorable condition of
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the kingdom (<I>Egypt is destroyed</I>), and advise him by all means to
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release his prisoners (<I>Let the men go</I>); for Moses, they found,
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would be a snare to them till it was done, and it were better to
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consent at first than to be compelled at last. The Israelites had
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become a burdensome stone to the Egyptians, and now, at length, the
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princes of Egypt were willing to be rid of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+12:3">Zech. xii. 3</A>.
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Note, It is a thing to be regretted (and prevented, if possible) that a
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whole nation should be ruined for the pride and obstinacy of its
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princes, <I>Salus populi suprema lex--To consult the welfare of the
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people is the first of laws.</I></P>
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<P>
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V. A new treaty is, hereupon, set on foot between Pharaoh and Moses, in
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which Pharaoh consents for the Israelites to go into the wilderness to
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do sacrifice; but the matter in dispute was who should go,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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1. Moses insists that they should take their whole families, and all
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their effects, along with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Note, Those that serve God must serve him with all they have. Moses
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pleads, "We must hold a feast, therefore we must have our families to
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feast with, and our flocks and herds to feast upon, to the honour of
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God."
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2. Pharaoh will by no means grant this: he will allow the men to go,
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pretending that this was all they desired, though this matter was never
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yet mentioned in any of the former treaties; but, for the <I>little
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ones,</I> he resolves to keep them as hostages, to oblige them to
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return,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
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In a great passion he curses them, and threatens that, if they offer to
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remove their little ones, they will do it at their peril. Note, Satan
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does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves from bringing
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their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety,
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knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom; whatever
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would hinder us from engaging our children to the utmost in God's
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service, we have reason to suspect the hand of Satan in it.
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3. The treaty, hereupon, breaks off abruptly; those that before went
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out from Pharaoh's presence
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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were now driven out. Those will quickly hear their doom that cannot
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bear to hear their duty. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:16">2 Chron. xxv. 16</A>.
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<I>Quos Deus destruet eos dementat--Whom God intends to destroy he
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delivers up to infatuation.</I> Never was man so infatuated to his own
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ruin as Pharaoh was.</P>
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<A NAME="Ex10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ex10_20"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over
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the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the
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land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, <I>even</I> all that
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the hail hath left.
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13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt,
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and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and
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all <I>that</I> night; <I>and</I> when it was morning, the east wind
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brought the locusts.
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14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and
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rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous <I>were they;</I>
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before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after
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them shall be such.
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15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the
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land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and
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all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there
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remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the
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field, through all the land of Egypt.
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16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he
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said, I have sinned against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, and against you.
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17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once,
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and intreat the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> your God, that he may take away from me this
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death only.
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18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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19 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> turned a mighty strong west wind, which took
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away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained
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not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
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20 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not
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let the children of Israel go.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The invasion of the land by the locusts--<I>God's great army,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:11">Joel ii. 11</A>.
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God bids <I>Moses stretch out his hand</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
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to beckon them, as it wee (for they came at a call), and he
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<I>stretched forth his rod,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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Compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+9:22,23"><I>ch.</I> ix. 22, 23</A>.
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Moses ascribes it to the stretching out, not of his own hand, but the
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<I>rod of God,</I> the instituted sign of God's presence with him. The
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locusts obey the summons, and fly upon the wings of the wind, the east
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wind, and <I>caterpillars without number,</I> as we are told,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:34,35">Ps. cv. 34, 35</A>.
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A formidable army of horse and foot might more easily have been
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resisted than this host of insects. Who then is able to stand before
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the great God?</P>
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<P>
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II. The desolations they made in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
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They <I>covered the face of the earth,</I> and <I>ate up the fruit</I>
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of it. The earth God has <I>given to the children of men;</I> yet, when
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God pleases, he can disturb their possession and send locusts and
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caterpillars to force them out. Herbs grow <I>for the service of
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man;</I> yet, when God pleases, those contemptible insects shall not
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only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall plunder him, and eat the
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bread out of his mouth. Let our labour be, not for the habitation and
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meat which thus lie exposed, but for those which <I>endure to eternal
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life,</I> which cannot be thus invaded, nor thus corrupted.</P>
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<P>
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III. Pharaoh's admission, hereupon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>.
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He had driven Moses and Aaron from him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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telling them (it is likely) he would have no more to do with them. But
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now he calls for them again in all haste, and makes court to them with
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as much respect as before he had dismissed them with disdain. Note, The
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day will come when those who set at nought their counsellors, and
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despise all their reproofs, will be glad to make an interest in them
|
|
and engage them to intercede on their behalf. The foolish virgins court
|
|
the wise to <I>give them of their oil;</I> and see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:6">Ps. cxli. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. Pharaoh confesses his fault: <I>I have sinned against the Lord your
|
|
God, and against you.</I> He now sees his own folly in the slights and
|
|
affronts he had put on God and his ambassadors, and <I>seems</I> at
|
|
least, to repent of it. When God convinces men of sin, and humbles them
|
|
for it, their contempt of God's ministers, and the word of the Lord in
|
|
their mouths, will certainly come into the account, and lie heavily
|
|
upon their consciences. Some think that when Pharaoh said, "The L<FONT
|
|
SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>your</I> God," he did in effect say, "The
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall not be <I>my</I> God." Many
|
|
treat with God as a potent enemy, whom they are willing not to be at
|
|
war with, but care not for treating with him as their rightful prince,
|
|
to whom they are willing to submit with loyal affection. True penitents
|
|
lament sin as committed against God, even their own God, to whom they
|
|
stand obliged.
|
|
|
|
2. He begs pardon, not of God, as penitents ought, but of Moses, which
|
|
was more excusable in him, because, by a special commission, Moses was
|
|
made a <I>god to Pharaoh,</I> and <I>whosesoever sins he remitted</I>
|
|
they were forgiven; when he prays, <I>Forgive this once,</I> he, in
|
|
effect, promises not to offend in like manner any more, yet seems loth
|
|
to express that promise, nor does he say any thing particularly of
|
|
letting the people go. Note, Counterfeit repentance commonly cheats men
|
|
with general promises and is loth to covenant against particular sins.
|
|
|
|
3. He entreats Moses and Aaron to pray for him. There are those who, in
|
|
distress, implore the help of other persons' prayers, but have no mind
|
|
to pray for themselves, showing thereby that they have no true love to
|
|
God, nor any delight in communion with him. Pharaoh desires their
|
|
prayers <I>that this death</I> only might be taken away, not <I>this
|
|
sin:</I> he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard
|
|
heart, which yet was much the more dangerous.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The removal of the judgment, upon the prayer of Moses,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was,
|
|
|
|
1. As great an instance of the power of God as the judgment itself. An
|
|
east wind brought the locusts, and now a west wind carried them off.
|
|
Note, Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it is fulfilling
|
|
God's word, and turns about by his counsel. The <I>wind bloweth where
|
|
it listeth,</I> as it respects any control of ours; not so as it
|
|
respects the control of God: he <I>directeth it under the whole
|
|
heaven.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. It was as great a proof of the authority of Moses, and as firm a
|
|
ratification of his commission and his interest in that God who both
|
|
<I>makes peace</I> and <I>creates evil,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:7">Isa. xlv. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nay, hereby he not only commanded the respect, but recommended himself
|
|
to the good affections of the Egyptians, inasmuch as, while the
|
|
judgment came in obedience to his summons, the removal of it was in
|
|
answer to his prayers. He never desired the woeful day, though he
|
|
threatened it. His commission indeed ran against Egypt, but his
|
|
intercession was for it, which was a good reason why they should love
|
|
him, though they feared him.
|
|
|
|
3. It was also as strong an argument for their repentance as the
|
|
judgment itself; for by this it appeared that God is ready to forgive,
|
|
and swift to show mercy. If he turn away a particular judgment, as he
|
|
did often from Pharaoh, or defer it, as in Ahab's case, upon the
|
|
profession of repentance and the outward tokens of humiliation, what
|
|
will he do if we be sincere, and how welcome will true penitents be to
|
|
him! O that this goodness of God might lead us to repentance!</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. Pharaoh's return to his impious resolution again not to let the
|
|
people go
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
through the righteous hand of God upon him, hardening his heart, and
|
|
confirming him in his obstinacy. Note, Those that have often baffled
|
|
their convictions, and stood it out against them, forfeit the benefit
|
|
of them, and are justly given up to those lusts of their own hearts
|
|
which (how strong soever their convictions) prove too strong for
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ex10_29"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward
|
|
heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even
|
|
darkness <I>which</I> may be felt.
|
|
22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there
|
|
was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
|
|
23 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.
|
|
24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your
|
|
little ones also go with you.
|
|
25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt
|
|
offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God.
|
|
26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be
|
|
left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God;
|
|
and we know not with what we must serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, until we come
|
|
thither.
|
|
27 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let
|
|
them go.
|
|
28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to
|
|
thyself, see my face no more; for in <I>that</I> day thou seest my
|
|
face thou shalt die.
|
|
29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face
|
|
again no more.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The plague of darkness brought upon Egypt, and a most dreadful
|
|
plague it was, and therefore is put first of the ten in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:28">Ps. cv. 28</A>,
|
|
|
|
though it was one of the last; and in the destruction of the spiritual
|
|
Egypt it is produced by the fifth vial, which is poured out upon the
|
|
<I>seat of the beast,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+16:10">Rev. xvi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>His kingdom was full of darkness.</I> Observe particularly
|
|
concerning this plague,
|
|
|
|
1. That it was a total darkness. We have reason to think, not only that
|
|
the lights of heaven were clouded, but that all their fires and candles
|
|
were put out by the damps or clammy vapours which were the cause of
|
|
this darkness; for it is said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
They <I>saw not one another.</I> It is threatened to the wicked
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:5,6">Job xviii. 5, 6</A>)
|
|
|
|
that the <I>spark of his fire shall not shine</I> (even <I>the sparks
|
|
of his own kindling,</I> as they are called,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:11">Isa. l. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that the <I>light shall be dark in his tabernacle.</I> Hell is
|
|
<I>utter darkness.</I> The light of <I>a candle shall shine no more at
|
|
all in thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:23">Rev. xviii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. That it was darkness which <I>might be felt</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
felt in its <I>causes</I> by their fingers' ends (so thick were the
|
|
fogs), felt in its <I>effects,</I> some think, by their eyes, which
|
|
were pricked with pain, and made the more sore by their rubbing them.
|
|
Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+16:10">Rev. xvi. 10</A>,
|
|
|
|
which alludes to this.
|
|
|
|
3. No doubt it astonished and terrified them. The cloud of locusts,
|
|
which had <I>darkened the land</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
was nothing to this. The tradition of the Jews is that in this darkness
|
|
they were terrified by the apparitions of evil spirits, or rather by
|
|
dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made, or (which is no less
|
|
frightful) by the horrors of their own consciences; and this is the
|
|
plague which some think is intended (for, otherwise, it is not
|
|
mentioned at all there)
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:49">Ps. lxxviii. 49</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil
|
|
angels among them;</I> for to those to whom the devil has been a
|
|
deceiver he will, at length, be a terror.
|
|
|
|
4. It continued three days, <I>six nights</I> (says bishop Hall) <I>in
|
|
one;</I> so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness, and
|
|
the most lightsome palaces were perfect dungeons. No <I>man rose from
|
|
his place,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were all confined to their houses; and such a terror seized them
|
|
that few of them had the courage to go from the chair to the bed, or
|
|
from the bed to the chair. Thus were they <I>silent in darkness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9">1 Sam. ii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it.
|
|
Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan blinds men's eyes
|
|
that they see not, he binds them hands and feet that they work not for
|
|
God, nor move towards heaven. They <I>sit in darkness.</I>
|
|
|
|
5. It was a righteous thing with God thus to punish them. Pharaoh and
|
|
his people had rebelled against the light of God's word, which Moses
|
|
spoke to them; justly therefore are they punished with darkness, for
|
|
they loved it and chose it rather. The blindness of their minds brings
|
|
upon them this darkness of the air. Never was mind so blinded as
|
|
Pharaoh's, never was air so darkened as Egypt's. The Egyptians by their
|
|
cruelty would have extinguished the lamp of Israel, and quenched their
|
|
coal; justly therefore does God put out their lights. Compare it with
|
|
the punishment of the Sodomites,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+19:11">Gen. xix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us dread the consequences of sin; if three days' darkness was so
|
|
dreadful, what will everlasting darkness be?
|
|
|
|
6. The children of Israel, at the same time, had <I>light in their
|
|
dwellings</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
not only in the land of Goshen, where most of them dwelt, but in the
|
|
habitations of those who were dispersed among the Egyptians: for that
|
|
some of them were thus dispersed appears from the distinction
|
|
afterwards appointed to be put on their door-posts,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:7"><I>ch.</I> xii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is an instance,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Of the power of God above the ordinary power of nature. We must
|
|
not think that we share in common mercies as a matter of course, and
|
|
therefore that we owe no thanks to God for them; he could distinguish,
|
|
and withhold that from us which he grants to other. He does indeed
|
|
ordinarily make his sun to shine on the just and unjust; but he could
|
|
make a difference, and we must own ourselves indebted to his mercy that
|
|
he does not.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of the particular favour he bears to his people: they <I>walk in
|
|
the light</I> when others <I>wander</I> endlessly <I>in thick
|
|
darkness;</I> wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this
|
|
dark world, there is light, there is a <I>child of light,</I> one for
|
|
whom <I>light is sown,</I> and whom the <I>day-spring from on high
|
|
visits.</I> When God made this difference between the Israelites and
|
|
the Egyptians, who would not have preferred the poorest cottage of an
|
|
Israelite to the finest palace of an Egyptian? There is still a real
|
|
difference, though not so discernible a one, between the house of the
|
|
wicked, which is under a curse, and the habitation of the just, which
|
|
is blessed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:33">Prov. iii. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
We should believe in that difference, and govern ourselves accordingly.
|
|
Upon
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:28">Ps. cv. 28</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>He sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against his
|
|
word,</I> some ground a conjecture that, during these three days of
|
|
darkness, the Israelites were circumcised, in order to their
|
|
celebrating the passover which was now approaching, and that the
|
|
command which authorized this was the word against which they rebelled
|
|
not; for their circumcision, when they entered Canaan, is spoken of as
|
|
a second general circumcision,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Josh+5:2">Josh. v. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
During these three days of darkness to the Egyptians, if God had so
|
|
pleased, the Israelites, by the light which they had, might have made
|
|
their escape, and without asking leave of Pharaoh; but God would bring
|
|
them out <I>with a high hand,</I> and not by stealth, nor in haste,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+52:12">Isa. lii. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is the impression made upon Pharaoh by this plague, much like
|
|
that of the foregoing plagues.
|
|
|
|
1. It awakened him so far that he renewed the treaty with Moses and
|
|
Aaron, and now, at length, consented that they should take their little
|
|
ones with them, only he would have their cattle left in pawn,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is common for sinners thus to bargain with God Almighty. Some sins
|
|
they will leave, but not all; they will leave their sins for a time,
|
|
but they will not bid them a final farewell; they will allow him some
|
|
share in their hearts, but the world and the flesh must share with him:
|
|
thus they mock God, but they deceive themselves. Moses resolves not to
|
|
abate in his terms: <I>Our cattle shall go with us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The terms of reconciliation are so fixed that though men dispute
|
|
them ever so long they cannot possibly alter them, nor bring them
|
|
lower. We must come up to the demands of God's will, for we cannot
|
|
expect he should condescend to the provisos of our lusts. God's
|
|
messengers must always be bound up by that rule
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+15:19">Jer. xv. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them.</I> Moses
|
|
gives a very good reason why they must take their cattle with them;
|
|
they must go to do sacrifice, and therefore they must take wherewithal.
|
|
What numbers and kinds of sacrifices would be required they did not yet
|
|
know, and therefore they must take all they had. Note, With ourselves,
|
|
and our children, we must devote all our worldly possessions to the
|
|
service of God, because we know not what use God will make of what we
|
|
have, nor in what way we may be called upon to honour God with it.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet it exasperated him so far that, when he might not make his own
|
|
terms, he broke off the conference abruptly, and took up a resolution
|
|
to treat no more. Wrath now came upon him to the utmost, and he became
|
|
outrageous beyond all bounds,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Moses is dismissed in anger, forbidden the court upon pain of death,
|
|
forbidden so much as to meet Pharaoh any more, as he had been used to
|
|
do, by the river's side: <I>In that day thou seest my face, thou shalt
|
|
die.</I> Prodigious madness! Had he not found that Moses could plague
|
|
him without seeing his face? Or had he forgotten how often he had sent
|
|
for Moses as his physician to heal him and ease him of his plagues? and
|
|
must he now be bidden to come near him no more? Impotent malice! To
|
|
threaten him with death who was armed with such a power, and at whose
|
|
mercy he had so often laid himself. What will not hardness of heart and
|
|
contempt of God's word and commandments bring men to? Moses takes him
|
|
at his word
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+10:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will see thy face no more,</I> that is, "after this time;" for
|
|
this conference did not break off till
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+11:8"><I>ch.</I> xi. 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
when Moses went out <I>in a great anger,</I> and told Pharaoh how soon
|
|
he would change his mind, and his proud spirit would come down, which
|
|
was fulfilled
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:31"><I>ch.</I> xii. 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
when Pharaoh became a humble supplicant to Moses to depart. So that,
|
|
after this interview, Moses came no more, till he was sent for. Note,
|
|
When men drive God's word from them he justly permits their delusions,
|
|
and answers them according to the multitude of their idols. When the
|
|
Gadarenes desired Christ to depart, he presently left them.</P>
|
|
|
|
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