The Locust and Darkness Plagues

So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh. (Exodus 10: 3 to 6)

Locust swarms were no strangers to human history. When they came, they ate all of the green leaves from plants, trees, etc. So, when Moses told Pharaoh that God would bring down the locust plague, the Egyptians knew exactly what would happen. So, they begged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Yet Pharaoh was not ready to give in. So, God blew so many locusts to Egypt as described below.

The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10: 14 15)

So, Pharaoh hastily called in Moses and Aaron, admitted that he had sinned and pleaded with them to remove the locusts. Then God hardened Pharaoh's heart. So, after God turned the wind to lift and drive all of the locusts to the Red Sea, Pharaoh still won't let the people of Israel go. So, God told Moses to darken the land as below.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch 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 people of Israel had light where they lived. (Exodus 10: 21 to 23)

Again, Pharaoh called Moses back. But God hardened Pharaoh's heart again. So, he would only let Israelites go but not their herds. To Egyptians, the locust and darkness plagues seemed to be too much to bear. In Revelation, the locust and darkness plagues were even more devastating as described below.

Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. (Revelation 9: 3 to 6)

So, in comparison, Moses' locust plague for the Egyptians was just a warning, so that they could know the Lord. The angel's locust plague was for people who refused to repent, hence it's devastating. The same thing for the darkness plague. In Revelation, the darkness plague was described as below.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. (Revelation 16: 10 to 11)

Why was the darkness so devastating other than not being able to see? The darkness by itself might not be harmful. But if people couldn't rise or under the pain and sores for days as the plagues from Moses and the angel, then the darkness would be unbearable. This kind of darkness happens to our life mentally and physically like a plague too. To overcome the darkness, we need the light. The Bible describes Jesus Christ as the light below.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1: 4 5)

Not only the light but also life. It not only overcomes the darkness but also cures life. To receive it, we need to repent as described below.

the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4: 16 17)

If we repent, then the light would give us life to enter the kingdom of heaven. Emmanuel.

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