Pointing to Jesus (Exodus 10)

Summary:

In Exodus 10, God sends Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh again, warning of the eighth plague: locusts that will devour all remaining vegetation if Israel is not released. 

Pharaoh’s servants urge him to relent, and he briefly negotiates, allowing only the men to go, but hardens his heart when God strengthens it. 

The locusts come, devastating Egypt’s crops, prompting Pharaoh to confess sin and plead for relief; God removes the plague, but Pharaoh refuses full release. 

God then announces the ninth plague: three days of palpable darkness covering Egypt (except Goshen, where Israel dwells in light). 

Pharaoh offers to let women and children go but not the livestock; Moses insists on taking all, leading Pharaoh to expel him with a death threat. 

God declares His signs are to demonstrate His sovereignty.

Pointing to Jesus:

The plague of darkness vividly prefigures Christ’s redemptive work as the Light of the World (John 8:12). 

This underscores total depravity and unconditional election: Egypt’s darkness symbolizes humanity’s spiritual blindness under sin’s dominion (Eph. 5:8; Rom. 3:10–12), from which none can escape by merit or will. 

Yet God sovereignly spares Israel in Goshen with light, illustrating irresistible grace—His elective mercy shining upon the chosen amid judgment. 

Jesus, the true Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7), ultimately shatters this darkness through His atoning death and resurrection, effectually calling His elect out of sin’s night into marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9), fulfilling God’s eternal decree of redemption.

Reflection:

Exodus 10 challenges believers to recognize God’s sovereign hardening of hearts (like Pharaoh’s) as a warning against presumption and a call to persevering faith amid trials. 

In daily life, it reminds us that partial obedience—offering God some but withholding all (as Pharaoh does with the livestock)—breeds rebellion; true worship demands total surrender, including our “flocks and herds” (resources, ambitions). 

The contrast of light in Goshen encourages trust in God’s protective providence during cultural or personal “plagues,” urging prayerful dependence on Christ to illuminate our path and empower full devotion.