Locusts and Darkness

I apologize for the brief hiatus, my weekends have been crazier than normal lately.

Shemot (Exodus) 10:1-2 "Now Yahuah said to Moses, 'Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am Yahuah."

Unfortunately, though the Egyptians are stubborn, the Israelites come to be known in the future as a "stiff-necked people" who have a very hard time remembering things, even if they're insane and unbelievable wonders the likes of which are physically impossible for anyone to repeat.

Shemot 10:3-6 "So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, 'Thus says Yahuah Elohim of the Hebrews: "How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians - which neither your fathers nor your fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day."' And he turned and went out from Pharaoh."

Telling the most powerful man on the planet at the time he needs to humble himself... That won't do much of anything except make him more stubborn, don't you think?

Shemot 10:7 "Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, 'How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahuah their Elohim. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?'"

Somebody has a head on their shoulders! I wonder if they got through to Pharaoh...

Shemot 10:8-11 "So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, 'Go, serve Yahuah your Elohim. Who are the ones that are going?' And Moses said, 'We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to Yahuah.' Then he [Pharaoh] said to them, 'Yahuah had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve Yahuah, for that is what you desired.' And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence."

Sorry Pharaoh, Yahuah needs Moses to get everyone out of Egypt. Methinks that was pretty obvious from the get-go...

Shemot 10:12-15 "Then Yahuah said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land - all the hail has left.' So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahuah brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt."

Joseph's not here anymore to save you, Egypt. Even if he was, I doubt he would be on your side.

Shemot 10:16-20 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, 'I have sinned against Yahuah your Elohim and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat Yahuah your Elohim, that He may take away from me this death only.' So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Yahuah. And Yahuah turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. But Yahuah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go."

In Egyptian mythology, when a person dies and is on their way to the afterlife, their heart is put on a mythical scale and weighed against a feather. If the person's heart did not change the weight of the scale, then he could go on to the afterlife and live (or rather, be dead) happily ever after with all their after-lifey-gods and dead relatives and friends and whatnot. If the person's heart weighed more than the feather, he would be fed to this weird alligator/lion thing. I wonder whether this Pharaoh considered his own mythology and his own beliefs that his soul might be eaten by a alligator/lion?

Shemot 10:21-23 "Then Yahuah said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.' So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."

The head Egyptian god was the god of the sun. Yahuah just declared His dominance over the one the Egyptians thought was most powerful, most dependable. Hence, the general depression/lethargy of the nation. Plus, there's also the fact that no one wants to bump into things and/or get lost in the dark.

Shemot 10:24-29 "Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, 'Go, serve Yahuah, only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.' But Moses said, 'You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahuah our Elohim. Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve Yahuah our Elohim, and even we do not know with what we must serve Yahuah until we arrive there.' But Yahuah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, 'Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!' So Moses said, 'You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.'"

There is only one plague left to go, and it is the straw that broke the camel's back. The Israelites will be out of Egypt very soon, but