TUESDAY, JULY 21
Scripture: Exodus 10:1-11

Exodus 10:1-7 says, “Now the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.’ So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians—which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.”’ And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’” The eighth plague was an army of locusts covering the entire land, eating what the hail did not destroy. An interesting statement about Pharaoh came from the pleading of the servants in verse 7. Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” How can you be a ruler and not realize there is nothing left of your nation? How can a nation be destroyed and a ruler not see it? The livestock, the people’s chief industry, were gone and there was very little left. They pleaded with Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, that they might not all die. But Pharaoh fully resisted letting all of them go, so Moses stretched out his hand and God brought forth the locusts. This was the most severe plague that Egypt had ever seen for the locusts ate everything. Imagine there being nothing green left in the entire land. It was all gone and there was nothing left. What a stunning plague and yet, Pharaoh still hardened his heart.