BIBLES NET. COM
Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
on the Whole Bible
Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
E X O D U S
CHAP. X.
The eighth and ninth of the plagues of Egypt, that of locusts and that
of darkness, are recorded in this chapter.
I. Concerning the plague of locusts,
1. God instructs Moses in the meaning of these amazing dispensations of
his providence,
2. He threatens the locusts,
3. Pharaoh, at the persuasion of his servants, is willing to treat
again with Moses
(ver. 7-9),
but they cannot agree,
4. The locusts come,
5. Pharaoh cries Peccavi–I have offended
(ver. 16, 17),
whereupon Moses prays for the removal of the plague, and it is done;
but Pharaoh’s heart is still hardened,
II. Concerning the plague of darkness,
1. It is inflicted,
2. Pharaoh again treats with Moses about a surrender, but the treaty
breaks off in a heat,
&c.
| The Plagues of Egypt. | B. C. 1491. |
|
|
|
1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have
hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might
show these my signs before him:
2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy
son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs
which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am
the LORD.
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.
4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow
will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
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:
6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy
servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy
fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that
they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself,
and went out from Pharaoh.
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?
8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he
said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they
that shall go?
9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old,
with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with
our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.
10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I
will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil
is before you.
11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for
that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s
presence.
Here,
I. Moses is instructed. We may well suppose that he, for his part, was
much astonished both at Pharaoh’s obstinacy and at God’s severity, and
could not but be compassionately concerned for the desolations of
Egypt, and at a loss to conceive what this contest would come to at
last. Now here God tells him what he designed, not only Israel’s
release, but the magnifying of his own name: That thou mayest
tell in thy writings, which shall continue to the world’s end,
what I have wrought in Egypt,
v. 1, 2.
The ten plagues of Egypt must be inflicted, that they may be recorded
for the generations to come as undeniable proofs,
1. Of God’s overruling power in the kingdom of nature, his dominion
over all the creatures, and his authority to use them either as
servants to his justice or sufferers by it, according to the counsel of
his will.
2. Of God’s victorious power over the kingdom of Satan, to restrain the
malice and chastise the insolence of his and his church’s enemies.
These plagues are standing monuments of the greatness of God, the
happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin, and standing
monitors to the children of men in all ages not to provoke the Lord
to jealousy nor to strive with their Maker. The benefit of
these instructions to the world sufficiently balances the expense.
II. Pharaoh is reproved
(v. 3):
Thus saith the Lord God of the poor, despised, persecuted,
Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?
Note, It is justly expected from the greatest of men that they humble
themselves before the great God, and it is at their peril if they
refuse to do it. This has more than once been God’s quarrel with
princes. Belshazzar did not humble his heart,
Zedekiah humbled not himself before Jeremiah,
Those that will not humble themselves God will humble. Pharaoh had
sometimes pretended to humble himself, but no account was made of it,
because he was neither sincere nor constant in it.
III. The plague of locusts is threatened,
The hail had broken down the fruits of the earth, but these locusts
should come and devour them: and not only so, but they should fill
their houses, whereas the former inroads of these insects had been
confined to their lands. This should be much worse than all the
calamities of that king which had ever been known. Moses, when he had
delivered his message, not expecting any better answer than he had
formerly, turned himself and went out from Pharaoh,
v. 6.
Thus Christ appointed his disciples to depart from those who would not
receive them, and to shake off the dust of their feet for a
testimony against them; and ruin is not far off from those who are
thus justly abandoned by the Lord’s messengers,
&c.
IV. Pharaoh’s attendants, his ministers of state, or privy-counsellors,
interpose, to persuade him to come to some terms with Moses,
v. 7.
They, as in duty bound, represent to him the deplorable condition of
the kingdom (Egypt is destroyed), and advise him by all means to
release his prisoners (Let the men go); for Moses, they found,
would be a snare to them till it was done, and it were better to
consent at first than to be compelled at last. The Israelites had
become a burdensome stone to the Egyptians, and now, at length, the
princes of Egypt were willing to be rid of them,
Note, It is a thing to be regretted (and prevented, if possible) that a
whole nation should be ruined for the pride and obstinacy of its
princes, Salus populi suprema lex–To consult the welfare of the
people is the first of laws.
V. A new treaty is, hereupon, set on foot between Pharaoh and Moses, in
which Pharaoh consents for the Israelites to go into the wilderness to
do sacrifice; but the matter in dispute was who should go,
v. 8.
1. Moses insists that they should take their whole families, and all
their effects, along with them,
v. 9.
Note, Those that serve God must serve him with all they have. Moses
pleads, “We must hold a feast, therefore we must have our families to
feast with, and our flocks and herds to feast upon, to the honour of
God.”
2. Pharaoh will by no means grant this: he will allow the men to go,
pretending that this was all they desired, though this matter was never
yet mentioned in any of the former treaties; but, for the little
ones, he resolves to keep them as hostages, to oblige them to
return,
In a great passion he curses them, and threatens that, if they offer to
remove their little ones, they will do it at their peril. Note, Satan
does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves from bringing
their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety,
knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom; whatever
would hinder us from engaging our children to the utmost in God’s
service, we have reason to suspect the hand of Satan in it.
3. The treaty, hereupon, breaks off abruptly; those that before went
out from Pharaoh’s presence
(v. 6)
were now driven out. Those will quickly hear their doom that cannot
bear to hear their duty. See
Quos Deus destruet eos dementat–Whom God intends to destroy he
delivers up to infatuation. Never was man so infatuated to his own
ruin as Pharaoh was.
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, and eat every herb of the land, even all that
the hail hath left.
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt,
and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and
all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind
brought the locusts.
14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and
rested 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.
15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the
land was darkened; 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.
16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he
said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.
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.
18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.
19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took
away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained
not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.
20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not
let the children of Israel go.
Here is,
I. The invasion of the land by the locusts–God’s great army,
Joel ii. 11.
God bids Moses stretch out his hand
(v. 12),
to beckon them, as it wee (for they came at a call), and he
stretched forth his rod,
v. 13.
Compare
Moses ascribes it to the stretching out, not of his own hand, but the
rod of God, the instituted sign of God’s presence with him. The
locusts obey the summons, and fly upon the wings of the wind, the east
wind, and caterpillars without number, as we are told,
A formidable army of horse and foot might more easily have been
resisted than this host of insects. Who then is able to stand before
the great God?
II. The desolations they made in it
(v. 15):
They covered the face of the earth, and ate up the fruit
of it. The earth God has given to the children of men; yet, when
God pleases, he can disturb their possession and send locusts and
caterpillars to force them out. Herbs grow for the service of
man; yet, when God pleases, those contemptible insects shall not
only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall plunder him, and eat the
bread out of his mouth. Let our labour be, not for the habitation and
meat which thus lie exposed, but for those which endure to eternal
life, which cannot be thus invaded, nor thus corrupted.
III. Pharaoh’s admission, hereupon,
He had driven Moses and Aaron from him
(v. 11),
telling them (it is likely) he would have no more to do with them. But
now he calls for them again in all haste, and makes court to them with
as much respect as before he had dismissed them with disdain. Note, The
day will come when those who set at nought their counsellors, and
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 give them of their oil; and see
1. Pharaoh confesses his fault: I have sinned against the Lord your
God, and against you. He now sees his own folly in the slights and
affronts he had put on God and his ambassadors, and seems 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 LORD your God,” he did in effect say, “The
LORD shall not be my 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 god to Pharaoh, and whosesoever sins he remitted
they were forgiven; when he prays, Forgive this once, 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 that this death only might be taken away, not this
sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard
heart, which yet was much the more dangerous.
IV. The removal of the judgment, upon the prayer of Moses,
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 wind bloweth where
it listeth, as it respects any control of ours; not so as it
respects the control of God: he directeth it under the whole
heaven.
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
makes peace and creates evil,
Isa. xlv. 7.
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!
V. Pharaoh’s return to his impious resolution again not to let the
people go
(v. 20),
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.
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward
heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even
darkness which 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
LORD; 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 LORD 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 LORD our God;
and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come
thither.
27 But the LORD 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 that day thou seest my
face thou shalt die.
29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face
again no more.
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
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
seat of the beast,
Rev. xvi. 10.
His kingdom was full of darkness. 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
(v. 23),
They saw not one another. It is threatened to the wicked
that the spark of his fire shall not shine (even the sparks
of his own kindling, as they are called,
and that the light shall be dark in his tabernacle. Hell is
utter darkness. The light of a candle shall shine no more at
all in thee,
Rev. xviii. 23.
2. That it was darkness which might be felt
(v. 21),
felt in its causes by their fingers’ ends (so thick were the
fogs), felt in its effects, 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,
which alludes to this.
3. No doubt it astonished and terrified them. The cloud of locusts,
which had darkened the land
(v. 15),
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)
He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil
angels among them; for to those to whom the devil has been a
deceiver he will, at length, be a terror.
4. It continued three days, six nights (says bishop Hall) in
one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness, and
the most lightsome palaces were perfect dungeons. No man rose from
his place,
v. 23.
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 silent in darkness,
1 Sam. ii. 9.
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 sit in darkness.
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,
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 light in their
dwellings
(v. 23),
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,
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 walk in
the light when others wander endlessly in thick
darkness; wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this
dark world, there is light, there is a child of light, one for
whom light is sown, and whom the day-spring from on high
visits. 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,
We should believe in that difference, and govern ourselves accordingly.
Upon
He sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against his
word, 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,
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 with a high hand, and not by stealth, nor in haste,
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,
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: Our cattle shall go with us,
v. 26.
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
(Jer. xv. 19),
Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. 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,
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: In that day thou seest my face, thou shalt
die. 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
(v. 29):
I will see thy face no more, that is, “after this time;” for
this conference did not break off till
when Moses went out in a great anger, and told Pharaoh how soon
he would change his mind, and his proud spirit would come down, which
was fulfilled
(ch. xii. 31),
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.
|
[Previous] [Next] |
Matthew Henry |
|
Back to Bibles Net . Com – Online Christian Library Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary – Free Download |
Copyright 2008. Bibles Net. Com. All Rights Reserved.