EXODUS –LESSON 18
LEARN: 1 Peter 1:18-21
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
READ: Exodus 10:1-20
1. What are three purposes of God in hardening Pharaoh and his servants’ hearts? vv 1, 2
2. We see that in time to come the nation of Israel did recount to the next generations what the LORD had done in Egypt. Find at least two such recordings.
3. Though God knew the answer, what question was Moses to ask Pharaoh? v 3
4. We saw in Exodus 9:27, that Pharaoh had humbled himself verbally. Was the LORD satisfied with verbal assurances of submission to God? Explain. v 3
5. Find Scripture that speaks of men’s speech that honors God, but not their hearts.
6. Find Scriptures that speak to God’s children concerning the “words” that we speak of our love for him verses our “actions.”
7. What was the consequence for Egypt if they refused obedience to God at this time?v 4
8. What word from verse 4 shows us again God’s longsuffering and merciful character? Explain your answer.
9. From verse 5, how is the invasion of locust described?
NOTE: A traveler in Syria says—“It is difficult to express the effect produced on us by the sight of the whole atmosphere filled on all sides and to a great height by a innumerable quantity of theses insects, whose flight is slow and uniform, and whose noise resembles rain; the sky was darkened, and the light of the sun considerably weakened. In a moment the terraces of the houses, the streets, and all the fields were covered by these insects.
Locust eat every atom of verdure in the district attacked by them. They destroy crops, vegetables, shrubs, trees—even bark of fruit trees suffers—the stems are injured, the smaller branches completely peeled and “made white.”
See Joel 1:7 for a description of God’s judgment of locusts on the land of Israel. PULPIT COMMENTARY Genesis Exodus p 222, 223
10. According to verse 6, what further problems would the locust invasion bring?
NOTE: Modern travelers witnessed such an invasion of locusts, saying, ‘They entered the inmost recesses of the houses, were found in every corner, stuck to our clothes, and infested our food. They devour whatever they can find, even the leather of water vessels.”
Another traveler of 1646 writes, “the ground was so covered, and the air so full of them that I could not eat in my chamber without a candle, all the houses being full of them. When a man went abroad he would be hit in the face, so that there was no opening of the mouth but some would get in. when we went to cut a piece of meat, we cut a locust with it, and when a man opened his mouth to put in a morsel, he was sure to chew one of them. PULPIT COMMENTARY, Genesis Exodus p 223
11. Up to this point the servants of officers of Pharaoh had been passive, not voicing their opinions on what response would be made to Moses and Aaron and ultimately to God, but what changed when Pharaoh’s servants or officers heard of the coming plague of locusts? v 7
NOTE: Having lost most of their cattle, and a large part of the year’s crops, the great men became alarmed—they were large landed proprietors, and the destruction of the wheat and doora (an inferior kind of wheat) crops would seriously impoverish them.
12. What would the interference of these men when the plague was only threatened and had not actually began indicate about their thinking at this point?
13. After Pharaoh’s servants intervened with Pharaoh because the threatened plague of locusts, what was done? v 8
14. It seems odd that Pharaoh did not seem to know who would go to worship the LORD, but what was Moses’ reply to him? v 9
15. The Egyptians were used to worshipping their gods as families, so Pharaoh should not have been surprised that the whole nation of Israel was to participate in worship of the LORD. As you read verse 10 realize that Pharaoh mocks their request for all the nation to go and worship. What is his answer to Moses and Aaron in verses 10, 11a.
16. How did Moses and Aaron leave Pharaoh’s presence? v 11b
NOTE: This was an insult not previously offered the brothers, and shows Pharaoh’s rage increased as he saw more and more clearly that he would have to yield and allow the departure of the whole nation. PULPIT COMMENTARY Genesis Exodus p 224
17. How did the LORD deal with Pharaoh’s wickedness? vv 12-14
NOTE: That LORD brought an east wind that brought the locusts, and indeed they cannot fly far without a wind to bring them. That they covered the whole land of Egypt is amazing for Egypt extends 520 miles from north to south, but except in the Delta is not more than 20 miles wide. Such a length and such a breadth are not elsewhere recorded in combination. Thus the visitation was, in its extent as well as its circumstances, plainly abnormal.PULPIT COMMENTARY, Genesis-Exodus p. 224
18. What three differences do we see in Pharaoh’s response after the damage of this plague had occurred? v 16
19. What promise did Pharaoh make in verse 17 that he kept?
20. Why would Pharaoh call this plague “death” when no one died immediately?
21. As soon as Pharaoh made his request what did Moses do? v 18
22. What can we learn about the character of Moses from his response to all that Pharaoh said in this encounter?
23. The strong wind that the LORD brought came from the west (it was a sea wind that blew from the Mediterranean Sea). What did the wind bring about? v 19
24. The land of Egypt was destroyed, Pharaoh’s servants wanted to comply with the command of the LORD, but Pharaoh would still not let the children of Israel go. Why? v 20