Exodus 10
Why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Go to Pharaoh. I’ve stiffened his heart and his servants’ hearts for a few reasons:
• So that I could perform these signals of mine in front of them
• So that you could tell your descendants about how I humiliated the Egyptians and performed my signals in front of them
• So that you would know I’m the Existing One.”
God plagues Egypt with grasshoppers
Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him that the Existing One, the Hebrews’ God says,
“How long will you refuse to humble yourself beneath me? Release my people so they can serve me. If you refuse to release them I’ll bring a swarm of grasshoppers across your borders tomorrow. They’ll cover the ground so that no one will be able to see the soil. They’ll eat whatever you have left after the hail including all the trees you have growing in the fields. They’ll fill your house, your servants’ houses, and all the Egyptians’ houses. Your ancestors haven’t seen anything like this since the day they came into existence.”
Then they turned around and left Pharaoh, and Pharaoh’s servants asked him,
“How long will this guy continue to be a hazard to us? Release the people so they can serve the Existing One, their God. Don’t you know that Egypt has been destroyed?”
So Moses and Aaron were summoned back to Pharaoh, and he told them,
“Go ahead! Serve the Existing One, your God. Which ones are you taking with you?”
Moses answered,
“We’ll take our young and our old, our sons and our daughters. We’ll take our sheep, goats, and cows, because we need to hold a feast for the Existing One.”
Then Pharaoh said,
“In that case, may the Existing One be with you if I ever release you and your children! Check yourselves, because I see evil in your faces. I won’t allow that! Just take your men and go serve the Existing One like you wanted!”
Then they were thrown out of Pharaoh’s presence.
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Reach out your hand over the country of Egypt so that the grasshoppers can infiltrate the country of Egypt and eat all the foliage that remains after the hail.”
So Moses stretched his staff over the country of Egypt and the Existing One blew an east wind through the country all day and all night. Then at the break of dawn the wind brought the swarm. The grasshoppers swarmed all throughout Egypt’s borders and settled throughout all its regions. They were incredibly numerous—more than there had ever been before and more than there ever would be again. They covered the land so thickly that the ground couldn’t be seen, and they ate all the plants and produce that had survived the hail. There wasn’t anything green left on the plants or trees throughout the entire country of Egypt.
So Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said,
“I’ve wronged the Existing One, your God, and I’ve wronged you. Please forgive my offenses this time and plead to the Existing One, your God, for him to redirect this death penalty away from me.”
So they left Pharaoh and pleaded with the Existing One. Then the Existing One redirected the wind toward the sea which carried the swarm into the Red Sea. Not a single grasshopper remained in the territory of Egypt. But the Existing One stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t release Israel’s descendants.
God sends a plague of darkness
Then the Existing One told Moses,
“Raise your hand toward the sky so that a darkness will cover Egypt—a darkness so thick that everyone will be able to feel it.”
So Moses raised his hand toward the sky and a thick darkness covered all of Egypt for three days. No one could see each other, and no one left their homes for three days. Yet Israel’s descendants had light in their homes.
So Pharaoh summoned Moses and said,
“Go ahead and serve the Existing One. You can even take your little children with you, but you just have to leave your livestock here.”
But Moses said,
“You’ll need to let us take our sacrifices and burnt offerings so we can offer them to the Existing One our God. Our livestock will need to go with us. We can’t even leave one behind, because we’ll use some of them to serve the Existing One our God. And we won’t know which ones we’ll use to serve the Existing One until we get there.”
But the Existing one stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wasn’t willing to release them. So Pharaoh told him,
“Get out of my sight! Mark my words: if you ever lay eyes on my face again, that will be the day you die!”
Moses said,
“You’re right about that. I’ll never lay eyes on your face again.”