Exodus 10:21-29
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the LORD 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.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 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.
24 Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.”
25 But Moses said, “You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26 Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve the LORD our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.”
27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 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!”
29 So Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.”
The ninth plague of judgment on the persecutors of God’s people was to demonstrate that they were in darkness and walked in darkness because they could not and would not see the light of God in His word. If only the Pharaoh and his people had seen that great light (Isaiah 9:2) and obeyed the word of God as we have by believing the gospel of His work to deliver us from darkness (Luke 1:78-79, Acts 26:18, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Peter 1:19) and and into that light of hope to release us from the darkness of sin and judgment! Since the ruler of darkness governed the heart of Pharaoh, the LORD ordered Moses to stretch his hand toward the source of light in heaven to bring darkness over Egypt for refusing to believe and obey. This was no ordinary darkness, worse than even being in a cavern deep in the earth and having the light go out; it is described as a darkness that was even felt in the body and soul! This thick overpowering darkness covered the land for three whole days, just as hopeless to the people of Egypt as it must have been when our Lord was crucified, died, and buried with the hope of the disciples seemingly lost for that short time that dragged on until He arose into the light to give us lasting hope (2 Corinthians 4:6) in Him. It was so dark for the Egyptians that they stopped trying to get up and walk about because they were completely unable to see one another and all seemed pointless and hopeless. Finally, the Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to him and said he would allow the people of God and their children to go to worship, but refused to let them take their flocks with them (likely knowing they would need them to offer sacrifices) as a conciliatory gesture of ill intent to relieve the land of darkness that overwhelmed them. Moses told him no hoof would be left behind since they would not know which to sacrifice until they reached the place and were instructed by God which to offer. This triggered the true motives of Pharaoh’s hard heart and they were refused from going again. The king then banished them from his presence for good so he would not have to hear the judgments against him and his land again. Or so he imagined. Moses agreed that he would not see his face again, having an inkling of the final judgment without knowing precisely what God would do to release His people from bondage. We likewise had no idea how the Lord would release us from the bondage to sin until He cleared the darkness from the eyes of our understanding and showed us the truth of His Son and His work for us to set us free (Like 24:31, John 8:32, Acts 26:18, Romans 5:17-18) at last! Such is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ who sets us free. Yet there are some who still refuse to believe and obey the word of the gospel, men and women who (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) remain blinded and perish forever due to their hardened hearts of unbelief, who continue to stumble in the darkness unless and until the Lord shines light into them. We who have seen this great light continue to pray and bear witness to the light (John 1:4-5, 1 John 1:1-2) that they may be delivered from this present evil age (Galatians 1:4) and go from stumbling in the darkness to walking in the light with we who have been delivered and redeemed.
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