Lesson date: 9/9/5855AA

Verses 1-3 – Once again we see YHVH instructs Mosheh and Aharon to take a message Pharaoh.

Rom 9:17  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this same purpose I have raised you up, to show My power in you, and that My Name be declared in all the earth.”

Rom 9:18  So, then, He favours whom He wishes, and He hardens whom He wishes.

Rom 9:19  Then you shall say to me, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His counsel?”

Rom 9:20  But who are you, O man, to talk back to Elohim? Shall that which is formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Rom 9:21  Does not the potter have authority over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for value and another not for value?

Verse 2 – lays out our responsibility to Yah’s Word. We are to tell our children and our childrens’ children. Who better to pass on what Yah has done for us than we ourselves? Hearing = H241 – אֹזֶן – ‘ôzen – o’-zen – From H238; broadness, that is, (concretely) the ear (from its form in man): – + advertise, audience, + displease, ear, hearing, + show. The following definition is taken for the BDB: 3) (subjective) to uncover the ear to reveal; the receiver of divine revelation:

As a receiver of divine revelation we are supposed to pass on that revelation to our children, grandchildren and beyond.

Jos 1:8  “Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you guard to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and act wisely.

In verse 3 we see that YHVH is identifying Himself as “the Elohim of the Hebrews”. H5680 – עברי – ‛ibrı̂y – BDB Definition: Hebrew = “one from beyond” 1) a designation of the patriarchs and the Israelites (noun proper) 2) a designation of the patriarchs and the Israelites (adjective). ((One who crosses over.))

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a set-apart nation, a people for a possession, that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light,

Also in verse 3, we see YHVH address to Pharaoh a question, Till when shall you refuse to humble yourself before Me? H3985 – מאן – mâ’ên – BDB Definition: 1) (Piel) to refuse

Pro 1:24  “Because I called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one inclined,

Pro 1:25  “And you spurned all my counsel, And would not yield to my reproof,

 

Heb 12:25  Take heed not to refuse the One speaking. For if those did not escape who refused the warning on earth, much less we who turn away from Him from heaven,

Heb 12:26  whose voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

H6031 – ענה – ‛ânâh – BDB Definition: 1) (Qal) to be occupied, be busied with 2) to afflict, oppress, humble, be afflicted, be bowed down

Once again the call to Pharaoh becomes personal to me. I look back in my own life and I see rebellious Yisra’el or Pharaoh refusing to humble themselves like I refused to humble myself, even after I had the miracle of seeing, feeling, hearing and experiencing the 3 tornadoes jump over my head within a matter of just a few minutes. I had determined to use the tornado, sent to show me His Majesty, to take my own life. Instead He used them to show me His Chesed and Chen.

H2617 – חסד – chêsêd – BDB Definition: 1) goodness, kindness, faithfulness

H2580 – חן- chên – BDB Definition: 1) favour, grace, charm; 1a) favour, grace, elegance; 1b) favour, acceptance

Verses 4-6 – Plague Number 8 – Locusts: Why locusts? What was the purpose of the locusts?

Joe_1:4  What the gnawing locust left the swarming locust has eaten, and what the swarming locust left the crawling locust has eaten, and what the crawling locust left the consuming locust has eaten.

Joe_2:25  “Then I shall repay you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, and the consuming locust, and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.

Amo_4:9  “I have smitten you with blight and with mildew. The creeping locust devoured your many gardens, and your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive trees. But you did not turn back to Me,” declares יהוה.

YHVH used a clean animal to bring judgment on the wicked remnant of Mitsrayim. Lev_11:22  ‘These of them you do eat: the locust after its kind, and the destroying locust after its kind, and the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.

((Author’s note: when you eat a locust/grasshopper/cricket, grab it by the head, pull off any wings before you eat and then bite them up to the head. The wings are silica and can cut or irritate the throat. And, they have the same flavor as chewing on a blade of grass. Cautionary note: do not preheat them in the microwave, it will cause them to explode which leaves a huge mess. Yes, I saw it done and no, I did not do it.))

Verse 6 is really the inverse of verse 2. To the best of my knowledge I can find no link in the construction of the two sentences but as Hebrews we are to tell our testimonies of Yah’s greatest to our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters. But now look at verse 6 it is referring to the memories of “our” ancestors; “which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen”.

Jer 16:19  O יהוה, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”

Verse 7 – Pharaoh’s counselors ask pharaoh a question, “Till when would this one be a snare to us?

H4170 – מקשׁ / מוקשׁ – môqêsh /- BDB Definition: 1) bait, lure, snare((snare in the form of a noose))

They could have said it another way; how long are you going to keep taking the bait? Or, he(Mosheh) is giving us enough rope to hang ourselves with.

Do you not yet know that Mitsrayim is destroyed?” Why are you still resisting YHVH, you have nothing left? ((I’ve been here at this point in my life.))

Verses 8-11 – Pharaoh is trying to bargain his way out of YHVH’s command, “Let My People Go!” There really is no room to bargain with YHVH about his commands. Exo_31:17  ‘Between Me and the children of Yisra’ĕl it is a sign forever. For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”

Num_15:15  ‘One law is for you of the assembly and for the stranger who sojourns with you – a law forever throughout your generations. As you are, so is the stranger before יהוה.

Deu_12:28  “Guard, and obey all these words which I command you, that it might be well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of יהוה your Elohim.

Deu_29:29  “The secret matters belong to יהוה our Elohim, but what is revealed belongs to us and to our children forever, to do all the Words of this Torah.

There is no “wiggle” room in Yah’s Commands.

Verses 15-20 – We have looked at the other plagues to see which of Mitsrayim’s gods it was attacking and once again it is more than one and it is their mightiest gods. Look in verses 5 and 15 for the clue as to whom it is addressing: And they covered the surface of all the land, so that the land was darkened.

The entire land being covered attacked Anubis, god of the fields, Geb, god of the land, Isis, protector against locusts, Seth, protector of crops, Ra, the sun god was blackened out from giving life to the soil.

Look closely at the phrase “no greenness left.” A number of years ago I planted an avocado seed and a tree sprouted. I cared for the tree after it sprouted and kept it in a container. One day, late in summer or early fall, large black and yellow “grasshoppers” moved in like a cloud and devoured everything that was green, including the bark off of the avocado tree because it was green, too. Nothing green was left alive, and in less than an hour they were gone, as though it had never happened, except there was nothing green left.

When are Yah’s people like the locusts? Isa 1:19  “If you submit and obey, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isa 1:20  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword,” for the mouth of יהוה has spoken. If we obey Him we will eat the good of the land, like the locusts.

Verses 21-23 – The Ninth Plague: Darkness. Notice that YHVH did not warn Pharoah that this plague was coming. The entire land of Mitsrayim was in darkness, a darkness so complete, so heavy it could be felt.

H2822 – חשׁך – chôshek – BDB Definition: 1) darkness, obscurity 1a) darkness 1b) secret place Part of Speech: noun masculine

H4959 – משׁשׁ – mâshash – BDB Definition: 1) to feel, grope 1a) (Qal) to feel, grope 1b) (Piel) to feel over or through, grope

Now, I know what you are thinking, that the word grope refers to having to grope their way around in the darkness. Nope. Look at verse 23, it was so dark, no one left their place for 3 days. Once again this is personal for me. Imagine yourself in a far away land, filled with scorpions, cobras and an enemy. The canopy of trees above you is so dense that no light from the stars can penetrate through it. It is 2 am and you can’t see your hand in front of your face and if you turn on a flashlight or even just the small flame of a cigarette lighter the enemy could see you and kill you. About this time you hear a tiger roar, not too far in the distance and then something bumps you in the darkness. It is darkness so complete you can hear your own heart beating in your ears because of FEAR. You dare not move out of fear for your life. This is what befell Mitsrayim.

1Pe_5:8  Be sober, watch, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Mat_8:12  but the sons of the reign shall be cast out into outer darkness – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Mat_22:13  “Then the sovereign said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him out into the outer darkness – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Mat_25:30  ‘And throw the worthless servant out into the outer darkness – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

TERROR! Darkness so complete that there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is what Mitsrayim experienced. What is the light we need to fight off the terror of the darkness?

Psa 119:105  Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Pro 6:23  For the command is a lamp, And the Torah a light, And reproofs of discipline a way of life,

Ecc 2:13  Then I saw that wisdom is better than folly, as light is better than darkness.

Verse 24 – Pharaoh once again tempts fate and tries to bargain with YHVH. He desperately needs the livestock possessed by the Children of Yisra’el. There is no crop of any kind to eat. There is very little livestock left, only enough for breeding and he commands Mosheh to leave the livestock behind. This is not what YHVH has commanded and He hardens his heart one more time.

Verses 25-29 – There are several lessons here but one is very important, be very careful what you vow! The fulfillment of Pharaoh’s vow is going to be the subject of the next two chapters.

Ahavah,