Overview of Chapter: Exodus 10 shows Yahweh sending the plague of locusts and the plague of deep darkness on Egypt. On the surface, Pharaoh keeps resisting, trying to bargain, and then hardening his heart again. Under the surface, this chapter shows that God uses judgment to reveal who he is. He wants his mighty acts to be remembered and taught to the next generation. He shows that deliverance is not just about escaping suffering, but about coming out to worship him. The locusts and darkness also show creation itself being shaken under judgment, while Israel being set apart from Egypt points to God’s full and careful salvation of his people.

Verses 1-2: God Gives Signs to Remember

¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs among them; ² and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh.”

• A hard heart is a proud heart:

  Pharaoh’s heart is heavy because he refuses to bow before God. Pride makes the heart slow to listen, while humility opens the heart to God’s word.

• God’s signs carry a message:

  These signs are not only displays of power. They show that Yahweh is the true Lord over kings, nations, and the whole earth.

• God wants his works retold:

  Yahweh says these things must be told to sons and grandsons. His people are meant to remember what he has done and pass it on from one generation to the next.

• To know Yahweh is more than knowing facts:

  God is not only giving information. He is calling people to know him by seeing his power, honoring his name, and living under his rule.

• God rules, and people are still responsible:

  Yahweh says he has hardened Pharaoh’s heart, yet Pharaoh is still told to humble himself. God is fully in control, and human pride is still truly guilty before him.

Verses 3-11: God Will Not Accept Halfway Obedience

³ Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴ Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ⁵ and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ⁶ Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’ ” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh. ⁷ Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” ⁸ Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?” ⁹ Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old. We will go with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.” ¹⁰ He said to them, “Yahweh be with you if I let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ¹¹ Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” Then they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

• The real issue is humility:

  God asks Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” The deepest battle here is not first about politics. It is about whether a proud ruler will bow before the living God.

• God frees his people to serve him:

  “Let my people go, that they may serve me” shows the goal of deliverance. God does not free his people so they can belong to no one. He frees them so they can belong to him.

• God claims the whole family:

  Moses says the young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds must all go. This shows that God’s salvation reaches the whole household and all of life.

• Partial obedience is still rebellion:

  Pharaoh keeps trying to make a deal. He wants to allow only part of what God commanded. But God does not call for a half-exodus. He calls for full obedience.

• The exodus is moving toward worship:

  Moses says they must hold a feast to Yahweh. Israel is not just leaving slavery. They are being brought out to worship, sacrifice, and meet with God.

• Even Pharaoh’s servants see the truth:

  The servants can see that Egypt is being ruined, even while Pharaoh keeps resisting. Pride can blind a person so deeply that others see the truth more clearly than the one in power.

Verses 12-20: The Locusts Cover the Land

¹² Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” ¹³ Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴ The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, nor will there ever be again. ¹⁵ For they covered the surface 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. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. ¹⁷ Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death.” ¹⁸ Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹ Yahweh sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ²⁰ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.

• The plague is like creation being undone:

  The locusts strip away what was left after the hail. Green life disappears. Egypt’s rich land is turned bare, showing what judgment looks like when God shakes the order of creation.

• Judgment reaches both field and home:

  The locusts do not stay out in the fields. They also fill the houses. God shows that judgment can touch work, food, comfort, and daily life all at once.

• The wind obeys God:

  Yahweh sends the east wind, and the east wind brings the locusts. Nature is not in charge. The wind itself serves the Lord.

• This plague points forward to later warnings:

  In the Bible, locusts and darkened skies become pictures of the day of Yahweh. What happens here is a real event, but it also teaches us how to understand later warnings of God’s judgment.

• Fear can sound like repentance:

  Pharaoh says, “I have sinned,” but he only wants the plague removed. A person can hate the pain of judgment without truly surrendering to God.

• “This death” points to what is coming:

  Pharaoh calls the plague “this death.” That language prepares us for the next stage of Exodus, where judgment will move even closer and more deeply into Egypt.

• Moses stands in the gap:

  Moses prays for Pharaoh, and the plague is removed. This gives Moses the role of a mediator, standing between judgment and mercy, and it points us forward to a greater Mediator who brings full peace with God.

• God rules both judgment and mercy:

  The same Lord who sends the locusts also sends the west wind to remove them. The plague comes when he commands, and it leaves when he commands.

• The sea becomes a sign of Egypt’s fall:

  The locusts are driven into the Red Sea, and not one remains. Later, that same sea will receive Egypt’s army. Even here, God is already showing where proud power is headed.

Verses 21-23: A Darkness That Can Be Felt

²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” ²² Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. ²³ They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

• This is more than normal darkness:

  It is “darkness which may be felt.” The darkness is heavy, deep, and crushing. It shows judgment falling not only on the land, but on the people themselves.

• God strikes Egypt at its proudest place:

  Egypt was known for power, order, and glory tied to the light of the sun. By covering the land in darkness, Yahweh shows that he alone rules heaven, earth, day, and night.

• The three days carry a death-like stillness:

  For three days Egypt sits in darkness, almost like a nation buried alive. In the larger pattern of Scripture, three days often stand near a great turning point, and that pattern reaches its brightest meaning in the risen Christ after the darkness of death.

• Darkness brings blindness and stillness:

  The people cannot see one another, and they do not rise from their place. This is a strong picture of what sin does: it blinds, isolates, and leaves people powerless.

• God gives light to his people:

  While Egypt sits in darkness, Israel has light in their dwellings. God knows how to keep his people, and he can make their homes full of light even when darkness covers the world around them. This fits with the fuller revelation of the Lord as the light of his people.

• The judgment is getting closer and deeper:

  First Egypt’s land was stripped by locusts. Now Egypt’s people are stopped by darkness. God is showing that he can shake crops, homes, bodies, and daily life with ease.

Verses 24-29: Nothing Can Stay Behind

²⁴ Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.” ²⁵ Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. ²⁶ Our livestock also shall go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there.” ²⁷ But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. ²⁸ Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!” ²⁹ Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

• Compromise still stays compromise:

  Pharaoh changes his offer again, but he still wants control. A heart that will not fully submit to God often tries to sound reasonable while still holding something back.

• “Not a hoof” means full redemption:

  Moses says nothing will stay in Egypt. God is not saving only part of his people or part of their life. He brings out all that belongs to him.

• We worship God his way:

  Moses says they do not yet know exactly what they will need for worship until they come there. This teaches us that true worship is not built on convenience. God himself shows his people how to worship him.

• The exodus leads to sacrifice and fellowship:

  Moses speaks about sacrifices and burnt offerings. Israel is being rescued not only from a cruel ruler, but toward communion with God through worship.

• Rejecting the mediator brings judgment near:

  Pharaoh tells Moses never to return. This shows a final hardening against the one through whom God has been warning him. When mercy is pushed away, judgment stands close at the door.

• Refusing God again and again hardens the heart:

  Pharaoh has heard many warnings and seen many signs, yet he still will not yield. Sin grows harder when it is protected, and delay in repentance is dangerous.

• God’s judgment and salvation are both exact:

  Earlier, not one locust remained. Here, not one hoof will remain. God removes what he judges completely, and he brings out what he saves completely.

Conclusion: Exodus 10 teaches you to see the plagues as more than painful events. They are signs that reveal God’s power, holiness, and right to rule. The locusts show the land being stripped bare under judgment. The darkness shows a kingdom left blind, still, and helpless. Pharaoh’s bargains show how rebellion tries to give God only part of what he asks. Moses’ words, “Not a hoof shall be left behind,” show that God’s salvation is full and careful. This chapter calls you to remember God’s works, reject halfway obedience, walk in the light he gives, and offer your whole life to him in worship.