The Ninth Plague: Darkness

[0:00] We're going to conclude chapter 10 and get into chapter 11, probably finish it this evening because it's a short chapter.

[0:20] ! Exodus chapter 10. And last week we had looked at the plague of locusts that God sent on Egypt and recall the severity of that locust was so great that Pharaoh once again called for Moses and Aaron and to entreat the Lord to take that away.

[0:48] Verses 16 and 17 is where we see that. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste and he said, remember this, I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you.

[1:02] Now, notice this time he didn't say just once. You know, remember the last time he said, I've sinned against, you know, I've sinned this one time. But now he's just simply said, I have sinned against your Jehovah, your God and against you.

[1:19] So therefore forgive, I pray you, my sin only this once. Okay. And entreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this death only.

[1:30] So he considered the plague of locusts his death because it was so severe. Realize it consumed every bit of foliage there was in Egypt.

[1:44] Whatever wasn't destroyed by the hail earlier, now the locusts totally consumed. Every foliage there is, every crop, nothing left.

[1:57] And you can imagine the thoughts there. You're not going to survive very well with that being the occasion here. And so again, Moses went out from Pharaoh and treated the Lord and God sent a mighty strong west wind to drive the locusts into the Red Sea.

[2:20] So that brings us to verses 21 through 26. And we find the ninth plague that God's going to bring against Egypt. And those verses say, 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.

[2:42] Now, can you imagine that? The idea of darkness that can be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven. And there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.

[2:56] 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. And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your herds be stayed.

[3:13] Let your little ones also go with you. And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifice and burn offerings, that we may sacrifice unto Jehovah our God. Our cattle also shall go with us.

[3:26] There shall not an hoof be left behind. For therefore must we take to serve the Lord our God. And we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come hither.

[3:37] So, again, Pharaoh has demonstrated the defiance of his spirit. That contentious spirit is not yet broken.

[3:48] And so, God brings darkness over the entire land of Egypt, except for the land of Goshen.

[3:59] Now, notice, this particular plague just comes. No pre-announcement of it going to happen. God just does that.

[4:10] He sends it. And it was with such force, it said, that darkness could be felt. And one shall feel or grasp darkness is the idea.

[4:22] It's darkness of obscurity is the literal rendering here. So, that's the deepest type of darkness. Notice. How many of you have ever really been in the dark?

[4:35] I mean, the dark, dark. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe, you know, I don't know about you guys, but, you know, our house, our house has a street light in the back.

[4:46] In the back, you can see through the sliding doors in our bedroom. We've got two, actually, in front of the house that you can see. We've got some yard lamps in the front.

[4:59] So, our house is pretty well lit up at night. And I've got a big couple of those spotlights on the corner back over there. But, if you're in the middle of the night and all the electricity goes off, it gets dark.

[5:19] Amen. It gets dark. And you can imagine what that would be like with Egypt here. What's the first thing, what's the first thing, especially if you're awake, what's the first thing you try to do whenever the electricity goes off and it's all dark?

[5:38] Get out of bed and flip on the light. Yeah. Yeah. What else? Yeah. You go find something to illuminate you.

[5:48] Whether it's a flashlight or one of those emergency lamps or a candle or whatever. You try to go find that and light that so you can have some kind of a light.

[5:59] But think about this in Egypt here. Three days. Total darkness. Three nights. Total darkness. What happens?

[6:12] What happens? I'm sure, no doubt, that as that darkness came, without any announcement, that they would try to illuminate something.

[6:24] Grab candles. Grab candles. Grab lanterns. But what happened? The batteries went dead. The batteries went dead.

[6:36] Yeah. The Energizer Bunny fled. Yes. I worked at a grocery store for a lot of my working career. And when the power goes up, the generator will go on.

[6:47] But there's a couple of times where the generator wasn't working. And you'll have people shopping. They're doing their thing. Next thing you know, it goes out. There's a pause. And then everyone expects that generator to hit. Well, it doesn't.

[6:58] And then silence goes over. Nobody moves. And at that point, you're vulnerable. And you'll have to kind of reach out to see where you're going. But it's amazing the way the contrast is. How when all pure black happens, everybody freezes.

[7:12] And really, nobody knows what to do. And like I said, the vulnerability then kicks in at that point. And it's very interesting to comment on that. It is. It is. And if you're laying, I don't know about you guys, but if you're laying there in bed at night, especially, and maybe you've got something that's been on your mind.

[7:32] Maybe you've got a problem you're trying to solve, Ted, with your shop or whatever, your cabinets and leaks and all of that. Yeah. Yeah. You lay in bed in the dark.

[7:43] What happens to your mind when it's dark like that? Yeah. It runs like a racehorse.

[7:53] Yes. Everything seems more difficult or more serious than it actually is when you're laying there at night.

[8:05] These people don't know if they're awake. Probably they are awake from the way it reads. Got to believe whatever went through their mind. They've been through all of these different plagues already.

[8:18] And most, probably most everyone's recognizing this is from the hand of the God of the Israelites. Now it's just, and Moses hadn't even said a word about this one.

[8:32] It's completely dark for three days. What must have gone through their mind? What images maybe they felt for? It's like maybe something's going to get us.

[8:44] Maybe the cobra is going to sneak through. Yeah. Little Johnny's pet cobra, you know, got out of its cage. It's all, it's all no doubt magnified.

[8:56] So their fear, I think, probably comes more toward a fear of Jehovah. From what we see here. Because they know this is the hand of God here.

[9:07] What's he going to do? It's totally dark. Don't know how long it's going to be this way. They didn't have the scriptures to foretell them that. All right.

[9:18] And so. There it is. Whether they try to light a flame in a lantern or whatever. Either the flame would not ignite.

[9:32] Or if it ignited, it illuminated nothing. That would be a strange phenomenon, wouldn't it? Have a flame burning right here and it doesn't do a thing.

[9:44] Yeah. But whatever the case. That happens for three whole days. So try to imagine the fear that's now in the heart and mind of the people.

[9:56] So it's darkness of obscurity. And that's supposed to be those two words give the intensity of the thought here. So great. As our brother was saying, you couldn't see each other.

[10:07] No matter how close you were. So the scripture says, no one rose up from his place. But. In Goshen. The light shined brightly.

[10:19] Amen. Goshen. The Israelites had light in their dwelling places. Now, the cause of the darkness, is it given? There's been some speculation about how great the dust storms are in those areas from time to time.

[10:34] But I just, I just believe it's God that created darkness. Amen. Don't have to try to put some kind of natural thing in here that God used. I think he just created darkness because he had the ability to do that.

[10:48] And, and so forth. So. It covered Egypt. Completely. Started with the, right from the center of the throne of, of Pharaoh.

[11:00] Spread throughout the land as well. Now. Again. Darkness.

[11:11] Complete, absolute, obscure darkness. In the land of Egypt. But bright light. In Goshen. What's that a picture of?

[11:22] What's that a type of? How about judgment? How about judgment and light?

[11:35] The idea of mercy and grace. All right. That's the picture that we have here. The type of, or the wrath of God, judgment of God, and the grace of God pictured here.

[11:45] If you will. Now. God sent that. Having given Pharaoh opportunity time after time.

[11:57] To. Obey. To let the children of Israel. Leave Egypt. But. He wouldn't do that. Now.

[12:09] This time. What happens? All right. Again. After three days. No doubt. And. To me. It's got to be the idea. After three days.

[12:21] Because. The. The. You know. He sends for Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron aren't in Goshen. Unless God gave them.

[12:32] Torches. To walk through the dark by. He calls. Pharaoh calls for Aaron and Moses. All right. And. And notice what he says here.

[12:45] He said. He said. I want you to go. And serve. Your God. As you want to. All right. Serve ye. Go ye. Serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed.

[12:58] But let your little ones go with you. In other words. Let your cattle stay here. Let them be deposited in a certain place. Is the idea. Is literally. Let your cattle be placed.

[13:10] Or. Deposited in a certain place. Under the guard of Egyptian. Of the Egyptians. As a pledge of your return. But that's not going to work.

[13:21] All right. Moses insisted. Hey. We've got to take the cattle with us. Because we're going to have to offer sacrifices. And to our God.

[13:34] And we don't know. How many cattle. Or what type of cattle. Are going to be necessary. To offer sacrifice. To him.

[13:45] Okay. Keep in mind. This is before. Mount Sinai. And the giving of the law. Don't know what we're going to need. We got to take it all.

[13:55] With us. All right. Now. Look at verses 27. Through 29. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And would not let.

[14:06] And he would not let them go. Pharaoh said unto him. Get thee from me. Take heed to thyself. See my face.

[14:16] No more. For in that day. Thou seest my face. Thou shalt die. You can imagine.

[14:27] The attitude of Pharaoh in this. He's angry. He's mad. All right. Moses has. Moses said.

[14:38] Thou has spoken well. I will see your face. No more. All right. Now. Hardness of Pharaoh's heart.

[14:53] Was so hard. That he fell into great anger. And that anger. With that anger. He sent Moses away. With a threat. Threatened him with death.

[15:04] If you see my face again. You'll die. I'll see to it. Now. Moses answered. You've spoken rightly.

[15:15] Okay. You've spoken rightly. Now. God had already said. To Moses. That the last blow.

[15:25] Would be followed by. The deliverance of Israel. Out of Egypt. All right. Now. That takes us to chapter 11. Go ahead and turn there.

[15:38] Verse 1. The Lord said. Unto Moses. Some of your Bibles. Translations. May read. The Lord had said. Unto Moses.

[15:49] That's correct rendering. Yet. Will I bring one more plague. Upon Pharaoh. And upon Egypt. Afterwards. He will let you go. Hence. When he shall let you go. He shall surely thrust you out.

[16:02] This particular announcement. In verse 1. That God gave to Moses. Occurred before. Moses's last meeting. Between. With Pharaoh.

[16:12] That we just read about. All right. Where Pharaoh got mad. And chased him away. The announcement. In verse 1. Is. Is. Given.

[16:24] Before. That meeting. Between Moses and Pharaoh. All right. It's introduced here. To give us an idea. Of why. Or the. Give us a picture. Of the confidence.

[16:35] And the reason for. The confidence. That Moses has. In the way he responds. To what Pharaoh says. In Pharaoh's anger. We see that.

[16:45] If you will. In verses 4 through 8. In just a moment. Now. Verses 1 through 3. Now. Point back. To Exodus 3.

[16:55] 19 through 22. All right. Exodus 3. 19 through 22. Say. And I am sure. That the king of Egypt. Will not let you go. No. Not by a mighty hand.

[17:07] And I will stretch out. My hand. And smite Egypt. With all my wonders. Which I will do. In the midst thereof. And after that. He will let you go. And I will give.

[17:18] You. Give this people. Favor. In the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass. That when you go. You shall not go empty. Every woman. Shall borrow. Of her neighbor.

[17:28] And of her. That sojourneth. In her house. Jewels of silver. Jewels of gold. And raiment. And you shall put them. Upon your sons. Upon your daughters. And you shall spoil.

[17:38] The Egyptians. All right. Now. That's what verses. 19 through 22. And chapter 3. Say. Verses 1 and 2. Of chapter 7.

[17:49] Say this. Speak now. In the ears of the people. Let every man. Borrow of his neighbor. And every woman. Of her neighbor. Jewels of silver. Jewels of gold. And the.

[17:59] The Lord. Gave the people. Favor. In the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover. The man Moses. Was very great. In the land of Egypt. In the sight of Pharaoh's servants. And in all.

[18:09] In the sight of all the people. All right. Now. God's going to overcome. The resistance of Pharaoh here. But he's going to do more than that.

[18:21] He tells the people. Go and borrow. The gold. And the silver. And the jewels. From your neighbors. God. No doubt.

[18:31] Does a work in the heart and mind. Of the Egyptian women. To be willing to do that. Plus. The renown. Of Moses. Plays into that as well.

[18:43] Why. Why did God. Want them. To take. The gold. And the silver jewels. What was the purpose in that?

[18:56] I mean. He said. You know. You're. You'll spoil the Egyptians. As if you're going to rob them. You know. You're going to steal blind from them. I hear. All right. Why.

[19:08] Did God. Tell them. To do that? What was the purpose of the gold. And silver jewels? What do you suppose. It's going to be used for. Down the road. Well.

[19:18] Of course. Some of you used to build. A gold. A cap. But also. A lot of gold. And stuff. They used that building. They had a tabernacle. Yes. Exactly. Give Jerry.

[19:28] Give Jerry. Candy. You realize. That. That. In the instructions. Later on. As they move toward Canaan. And go to.

[19:40] To Sinai. God gives. Moses. Instructions. Concerning. Building. The place. Where God will meet. With his people. The tabernacle. Gold.

[19:51] Gold. And silver. Gold. The place is filled with gold and silver. And the implements. And all of the things. That were used in the tabernacle. In the structure.

[20:04] The gold and silver. Bracelets. Rings. Necklaces. Necklaces. Everything. That they were going to borrow. Was going to be used. For the tabernacle.

[20:16] That tabernacle. Of course. Not just the meeting place. Of God. With his people. In the holy of holies. But every aspect. Of that structure.

[20:27] In some form. Or fashion. In some way. Represented. Some aspect. Of the Lord Jesus. Jesus. Okay. Now.

[20:39] That's why. It was going to be for. And like somebody said. Earlier. A lot of that was used. While Moses was on Sinai.

[20:49] Was used. To fashion that golden calf. Of course. Remember. All right. But that was the purpose of this. Plus. To render. The Egyptian ladies.

[21:01] Destitute. Of their jewelry. All right. So. One more stroke. One more plague. God was going to bring. Upon Jehovah. And the people of Israel.

[21:12] Now. Verses 4 through 8. Of chapter 11. Say this. And Moses said. Thus saith the Lord. Of course. He's announcing this now.

[21:23] About midnight. Well I go out in the midst. Of Egypt. And all the firstborn. In the land of Egypt. Shall die. From the firstborn.

[21:34] Of Pharaoh. That sitteth upon his throne. Even unto the firstborn. Of the maidservants. That is behind the mill. And all the firstborn. Of beasts. There shall be a great cry.

[21:46] Throughout all the land of Egypt. Such as there was none like it. Nor shall be like it. Any more. But against any of the children of Israel. Shall not a dog move his tongue.

[21:57] Against man or beast. That you may know. How that the Lord. Doth put a difference. Between the Egyptians. And Israel. And all of thy. All of these.

[22:08] Thy servants. Shall come down unto me. And bow down. Themselves unto me. Saying. Get thee out. And all the people. That follow thee. And after that. I will go out. And he went out.

[22:19] From Pharaoh. In a great. Anger. This last. Decisive. Blow. Is not going to take place.

[22:29] In that night. Immediately following. This ninth plague. It's going to happen. After the institution. Of Passover. After God gives directions.

[22:41] From Moses. Respecting. That. Passover feast. And. The instruction. To borrow. From the Egyptians.

[22:52] And then. The preparation. For the exodus. As well. All right. All those preparations. Take place. Before that. Last. Final.

[23:03] Blow. Takes place. All right. Now. Again. This particular. Plague. The last blow. Upon Pharaoh. Is going to be carried out.

[23:14] By Jehovah. Himself. Throughout. The midst. Of. Egypt. Both. Upon man. And upon beast. The. And of course.

[23:24] It will be the firstborn. Why just the firstborn? It's the most. Honored child.

[23:35] All right. It was the firstborn. Especially if it's a son. All right. What else? He didn't want to totally wipe out.

[23:47] The Egyptians. Nor their cattle. So then. Why did he do that? Why did he bring death. To the firstborn. Of Egypt.

[23:58] Not Israel. Of Egypt. To show the Egyptians. You know. Time after time. The more progressive. And severe. The plagues get. The more people become.

[24:09] Begin to understand. This is from Jehovah God. It's got to be. So now. He brings death. To every firstborn.

[24:21] Child. In Egypt. And the firstborn. Of the cattle. Of Egypt. He does it. To show.

[24:31] The Egyptians. He could do it. That that's who. He was. As Jehovah. I have the power. Of death. And of life. But also.

[24:44] Notice the statement. But against any of the children of Israel. Shall not a dog move his tongue. Against man or beast. That ye may know. How that the Lord. Doth put a difference. Between the Egyptians. And Israel.

[24:55] I think that's more. Toward. A message to Israel. God wants the Israelis. To notice. And to know. More. Of who. He. Is.

[25:07] In particular. Who he is. To them. All right. He's the almighty. He's Jehovah. The name that they wouldn't even.

[25:18] Mention. That's who he is. And they've seen that. Time and time again. Or heard about it. Some of it. They didn't experience themselves.

[25:30] But think about this. God says. There's going to be a great cry. Throughout Egypt. Unlike has ever been heard.

[25:41] In the history of the kingdom. Can you imagine. Can you imagine. Because. Of course. God gives. Later on. God gives instructions.

[25:52] Israel. How to keep from that. Taking place in their household. God. But can you imagine. As they're making preparations. For that Passover.

[26:04] And they apply the blood. To the doorpost. And the lintel. Of the doorpost. Of the doorway. All of a sudden. They begin. Begin to hear. A great wailing.

[26:17] From the people of Egypt. In particular. From the women. Screams. And cries. Because they see. That their firstborn.

[26:27] Is dead. With no explanation. Other than what. Moses has said. And here's the people of Israel.

[26:39] Being freed from that. What. Sense. Would that give them. Of who.

[26:51] Jehovah is. And what he is. I think what they. Most of all. Would consider.

[27:03] I would almost. Guess. That. First thing. They would do. Is look around. At their firstborn. See if he's still alive.

[27:19] Or her. Still alive. Okay. The child's still alive. Why?

[27:30] Because God. Told us. To apply. The blood. Yeah. On a doorway. We did that.

[27:41] He's still alive. In the midst of all. The wailing. And crying. In Egypt. Our kids. Are still alive. Oh.

[27:53] What that speaks of. Amen. About God. About redemption. All those things. And we'll begin to look at that. As we begin to look at the Passover.

[28:05] Because that comes. Next for us. The preparations. And the instructions for. The Passover. All right. Not a dog. But against the people of Israel.

[28:17] Not a dog. Shall point. Its tongue. That's an old phrase. That gives us the expression. That Israel would not suffer. The slightest injury. Of either man.

[28:28] Or a beast. Now. Israel. We'll see. That Jehovah. Is the one. That has put. A complete.

[28:40] Separation. Between the Egyptians. And the people of Israel. All right. Prelude. To what they're going to recognize. And see. In the Exodus.

[28:53] After making the announcement. Notice what happens. At the end of that. Pharaoh said unto him. This is verse 28. Chapter 10. Pharaoh said unto him. Get thee from me. Take heed to thyself.

[29:03] You'll see my face no more. For in that day. That thou seest my face. You will die. Notice again. In verses 8. Of chapter 11.

[29:16] Talking about Moses. He went out from Pharaoh. In a great. Anger. Now. We have no clue.

[29:26] What Moses demeanor. Has been. All along. In his dealings. With Pharaoh. I just kind of get an idea. Pharaoh said what he said.

[29:37] Moses said okay. And walks on. God. You know. When you don't do this. God's going to do this. All right. Enough said. But this time.

[29:48] He leaves. Pharaoh. In great anger. Now.

[30:02] Why. This time. Did he get so mad. Think about this. Think about. And we. You know. We. Got to be careful with this. Just be careful with this.

[30:12] All right. I hesitate to say it. But just be careful about this. If the preacher. Is a true man of God. Truly called to preach.

[30:24] Is walking with God. Is in touch with God. Gets his message from God. That this is what God wants him to preach today. And he gets up and preaches it.

[30:37] Did you ever stop to think that every. What else. How should I say it. Every element of emotion. That he expresses while he's preaching.

[30:52] Is also from God. Yeah. Whether it be laughter. Whether it be crying. Whether it be a stern. Voice.

[31:04] That that's God speaking. All right. When. When Moses. Goes before Pharaoh. He's been sent by.

[31:18] By God. To do a work. He's God's spokesperson. All right. And now. And really.

[31:29] As a result. Of Pharaoh's threat. You see my face again. You'll die. This time. Moses walks out. In anger.

[31:42] So that Pharaoh. Can recognize. That Moses. Anger. Is the anger of Jehovah. While in the previous times.

[31:55] The patience of Moses. Pictured the patience of God. And the extension. Of more. Time. Of grace. This time.

[32:07] It's anger. Pointing toward the anger of God. That now. Pharaoh. Is going. To experience. That he's not experienced yet.

[32:20] Yeah. What a picture that is. What a picture that is. And now. In that expression. Pharaoh. Is shown. That the idea.

[32:31] Of God's grace. Is gone. It's over. For him. All right. So.

[32:44] Everything. That God has said. God has promised. He will do. Verses 9 and 10. The Lord said. To Moses. Pharaoh. Shall not hearken unto you.

[32:55] That my wonders. May be multiplied. In the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron. Did all these wonders. Before Pharaoh. And the Lord. Hardened Pharaoh's heart. So that he would not. Let the children.

[33:06] Individual. Go. Out of his land. Now. That kind of. Pictures. The summation. Of everything. That God has done. And through. Moses and Aaron.

[33:18] Recognize. That the negotiations. Of Moses. With Pharaoh. Started back. In chapter 7. All right. Chapter 7. Verse 8. Is where all that began. And now.

[33:29] It's being brought. To a close. So God. Kind of. Summarizes. All of those. So. Really. In the summation. Of those two verses.

[33:40] Of verses. 9 and 10. All right. We'd simply. Read this way. As Jehovah. Had said. Past time. To Moses.

[33:51] Pharaoh. Will not hearken. Unto you. That my wonders. May be multiplied. In the land. Of Egypt. Moses and Aaron. Did all these wonders. Before Pharaoh. And Jehovah.

[34:01] Hardened Pharaoh's heart. So that he did not. Let the children. Of Israel. Go out. Of his. Land. Now. Chapter 12.

[34:13] We'll start. Next week. All right. So God's. Announced. Or God's. Bringing. Death. To the firstborn.

[34:25] And now. In preparation. Of that time. To come. God. Brings. Preparation. To the people. Of Israel. And that preparation. Is an interesting.

[34:37] Preparation. And it's very important. And we'll take a look. At that. Next week. You saw the terror. In Pharaoh.

[34:49] Over the darkness. Can you imagine. What. He would have thought. When Moses mentions.

[35:01] The idea. Of the firstborn. Dying. I mean. He's seen. He's seen. The mighty hand. Of God. At work. Nine times. Now. And now.

[35:13] Your firstborn. Is going to die. Because of your. Obstinate. Spirit. And your. Rejection. Of God. I think. That's the reason.

[35:24] For his anger. He didn't want to hear it. You talk about. Obstinate. Let's pray together. Father.

[35:34] Again. Thank you. For your loving kindness. And your goodness. And grace. Today. And. Again. Thank you. For the time. Together. You've given us. To look in your word. And. Again. Father. We thank you. For showing us.

[35:45] Your love. Your compassion. Your mercy. Your long suffering. Your grace. But also. In the midst of that. Is judgment. For those that reject it all. So. Father. Thank you.

[35:55] For loving us. Thank you. For saving us. Thank you. And I thank you. For giving us a love. For your word. And we. Ask your blessings. Upon it now. And just speak to our hearts. Accordingly. As you will.

[36:06] In our lives. In Jesus name. We pray. Amen. Thank you.