And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, whom I have hardened the heart of, and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of mine among them, and that thou mayest shew in the ears of thy children, and of thy children's children, what I have wrought in Egypt, and how I have shewed my signs among them; that ye may know that I am the LORD.
We have heard at the end of the ninth chapter how this saying is to be understood: "I will harden the heart of Pharaoh," 2c., namely, if we want to speak of God, that we should first of all begin at the bottom, and learn to recognize the way that is presented to us by God, not seek our own way, or make our own way by our own reason; otherwise the hindmost will come first, and the foremost at the back, and gain an unfortunate course [Ex. 33:23]. It did not happen in vain, nor is it a fool's game or a trick, that God let Christ, His Son, come into the flesh to appear to us men and enlighten us [Is. 43, 11. Joh. 12, 47.]. If it had not been highly necessary, he would have remained up in heaven 2c. We are so foolish and foolish that we leave the light, which he lit for us in his flesh.
If we are looking for something else, we become fools about it.
So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the LORD God the Hebrew: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me, to let my people serve me? If thou refuse to leave my people, behold, tomorrow I will send locusts in every place, and they shall cover the land, and the land shall not be seen; and they shall eat up all that is left you, and be delivered from the hail; and they shall eat up all your green trees of the field; and they shall fill thy house, and all thy servants' houses, and all the houses of Egypt, which thy fathers saw not, nor thy fathers' fathers, when they were in the earth, unto this day. And he turned, and went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall we be afflicted with this? Let the people go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you want to know first that Egypt has perished? Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, who said to them: Go to him, and serve the LORD your God. But what are they that
shall we go? And Moses said, We will go with young and old, with sons and daughters, with flocks and herds: for we have a feast of the LORD. And he said unto them: Awe yea, the LORD be with you. Shall I let you go, and your children with you? See if ye mean no evil? Not so, but go ye men, and serve the LORD: for this also have ye sought. And they were thrust out of Pharaoh 2c.
In this tenth chapter we see how damish 1) the devil is and how reluctant he is to leave. Pharaoh the king has hitherto rejected all signs, and the more they come, the less he respects them. Although he humbles himself, asks for mercy, and desires that his sin be forgiven him, and is so pious that Moses must ask for him, and confesses that he is a sinner: still, when it comes to the work and the meeting, and it is to be as Moses said, that he lets the children of Israel go out of Egypt, then he says to Moses: Troll you 2c. For God let the devil rule over his heart, and made him do as only the devil pleased.
What God does not govern, the devil governs. When God reigns, He does it so that man becomes joyful and willing to do what pleases God, that is, He gives him the Holy Spirit in the heart. But if he does not pour out or give the Holy Spirit into the heart, the devil reigns, and gives man according to all his will. As St. Paul also says to Timothy [2 Ep. 2, 26] that the wicked are captives of the devil to do according to all his will. He has captured them in such a way that whatever these people do, they do for the service of their god, the devil. For he has captured them and ensnared them to do his will. They go about with desire, love and great earnestness to do what he tells them to do. Therefore God has hardened them and removed his hand and given them to the devil.
4 This is how it is with this king, he pretends to improve himself, but it is hypocrisy and a sham; if the Holy One does it, he will not be able to do it.
1) daemic - stupid, foolish, sleepy, slow, clumsy. - Erlanger: "Danish".
If the Holy Spirit does not do and drive, this hypocrisy will not last long. First he allowed the Jews to go out of Egypt, but he did not keep it for them. Now when the locusts came, he would let only the men go. But Moses saith, They shall go forth all, both men and women, young and old, great and small. Then Pharaoh says: Awe yes, God honor you. What a proud answer the donkey's head gives, says: The Lord be with you. As if he wanted to say: God honor you, God honor you, dear companions, do you want to go out there? Now I see what you have in mind; you could well do it and leave your wife and children here; I would like you to deprive me of it; yes, I would order it for you and give it to you.
5. that is put in the text for the eighth plague, one must call meanwhile thus. Our people call them caterpillars, and they may be somewhat like our locusts, having long feet and hopping, but they may be somewhat larger. They are also called grasshoppers, a little animal that one used to eat, clean and healthy; just as John the Baptist ate grasshoppers [Matth. 3, 4]. It used to eat away everything that grows on the trees and in the field that was green, as our caterpillars still do in our country. But we do not have such locusts now.
(6) Now, just as some countries have their own advantages, so they also have their own plagues. Here they have beer and no wine, for wine is found elsewhere. So they also had this plague with the arphephagi 2) in Egypt, that the locusts ate up everything, and came in heaps, and swung themselves out of the air, as if a cloud were falling. Not one, two, or three flew along, but fell in with a great swarm, and immediately covered the sun, and made the air dark; fell along like a snow that covers everything. So this bird is not unknown to Egyptians, just as caterpillars are not unknown to us;
2) This word: "Arphephagel" is perhaps a composite of "Arbe" and "Hargol" [3 Mos. 11, 22].
We know them well, only that often one year more caterpillars come than the other. So this bird was also well known to the Egyptians. But the fact that they come here with such a large number of caterpillars was strange to them and a particular nuisance; nor did they ignore it.
007 These locusts they call death: for Pharaoh saith, Ask the LORD your God, that he take away this death from me. For these locusts did such damage in the land to the fruits, devouring all herbs and plants, that there followed a great famine and hunger; they spoiled and devoured all the fruits of the land, so that the people died of hunger.
This eighth sign or plague with the locusts also goes away, and nothing comes of it, since they should have recognized God's wrath, disgrace and punishment against the disobedient man and refrained from sins. Just as God punishes man's sins with locusts, Deut. 28:38: "You will carry out much seed into the field and gather little, for the locusts will eat it up.
The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that the land of Egypt may become dark enough to be grasped. And Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven. And there was darkness throughout all the land of Egypt three days, so that no man saw another, nor arose from the place where he was within three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
Now the ninth plague follows. There come such thick darknesses that one would like to grasp them, as we Germans use to speak. God has ordained such a plague of darkness for the punishment of all the wicked who disobey God's word, Deut. 28, 29. And all wicked tyrants and heretics are also spiritually blind. Then Pharaoh no longer asks that the plagues cease, but he says straightway, "Let them go away. But when the light comes again into the land, Pharaoh thinks, Alas, ye knaves, it shall be jesting, and saith unto Moses, Troll thee from mine eyes. Moses saith, Yea, I will do as thou hast said, I will no more appear before thine eyes.
Eyes come. I have prayed for you and performed signs before you, but it is of no avail. So we have heard of nine signs or plagues.
010 Now this is a marvelous miracle and wonder of God, that there is light in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel dwell. As otherwise the other plagues that came upon the Egyptians did not come upon the Israelites. For God is present with His people, so they also have God's word, which is the true light. In whichever place it is preached, there is true light; but if the word of God is lost or despised, there is palpable darkness. That is why the 119th Psalm, v. 105, says: "Let your word be a lamp to my feet. And St. Peter in his [second] epistle [Cap. 1, 19] also calls the divine word a light that shines in the darkness.
Now the last plague is still behind. But we have heard so far how God has set up a mirror fencing, and has ordered Pharaoh through Moses that his people should travel for three days, 1) and serve their God. He does not say that they are to leave the land altogether and that he will lead them to another land, as Pharaoh smells this roast. But why does God not say explicitly: "We will leave for a short time and go to another land"? Moses alone says: "We want to go into the desert, God has called us to a feast; and yet the matter is final, that they want to go to another land, and so Moses may soon lie with them. Is it now going to make a monkey play in front of the noses? Or did he not trust in our Lord God? How if he had said that they would go to another country, and had kept silent about the service? How then all these things vexed Pharaoh greatly.
(12) Know that it is not necessary to tell the devil what God has in mind and what He intends to do. It is true that God wanted the people to go into the wilderness for three days, but he did not say why. Nor is it necessary for him to say, "Go into the wilderness for three days, and then go on," or what God wants to do next. Therefore
1) Eisleben's: to be pure.
Moses did not lie here, and even if he had lied, Pharaoh would have been justified. Just as David [1 Sam. 21:2] lied before Abimelech the priest when he demanded the shewblood from him, pretending that he was traveling on the business of King Saul. For Pharaoh rather deceives and lies to Mosiah; and if Moses had lied, it would have been without danger, for he does Pharaoh no harm.
(13) It is not a lie if one pretends otherwise than it is in himself; but if one pretends otherwise than it is, and deceit is there, that is lying. God has often imagined differently, and yet does not lie. Just as parents often act differently towards their children; or if I am angry with my brothers in the monastery because of their sin, and yet I have love in my heart 2c. Thus, the saints of God have often acted differently from what they had in mind, but they have done no harm, but only wanted to promote their own. So Mosi is not concerned with the service of God, but that he should come out of the country, and Pharaoh is not harmed by this.
V.27-29. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he would not let them. And Pharaoh said unto him, Depart from me, and take heed that thou come no more before mine eyes. For in the day that thou comest before mine eyes thou shalt surely die. And Moses said, As thou hast said, I will come no more before thine eyes.
(14) This is the end, and Moses has preached and fulfilled his word; the command given to him by God to preach to Pharaoh the king is over. Now it is necessary for God to work there and help when men can no longer help. The power of Pharaoh is too great and strong, Moses must now say that he can no longer, but: Dear GOtt, you do it. This has been an ugly, annoying, unfunny sermon, with which de^^ should not be done; but it should be done because of
that God would have cause to overthrow Pharaoh and reveal His divine glory in the world.
(15) So let all preachers also do their part, and command the eventum to our Lord GOD. Moses gives it and also commands our Lord GOD into his hand, that Pharaoh bequeaths to him, that he should no longer come before him, pushes him away, yes, he pushes GOD himself and his word away. Now God and Pharaoh run into each other. Moses, he is weak, but GOtt will now become strong.
(16) When the world has been preached to long enough with all diligence and faithfulness, and the word of God ceases, then it is not far to the point that the world will be visited with punishment by God and that the devil will have the upper hand and everything will be destroyed. For when Noah stopped preaching and went into the ark, the flood came [Gen. 7, 10]. Item, when Lot no longer preached to Sodom and Gomorrah, but was carried out by the angels to Zoar, then came fire, brimstone and pitch, and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah [Gen. 19, 24]. And so it is here in this kingdom of Egypt; when Moses' preaching is ended, and Pharaoh is visited, God will have mercy on him whom he shall have mercy on. For soon after all the first births in Egypt are slain, and Pharaoh must be drowned in the Red Sea with all the crew of the Egyptians.
(17) The same thing happened to the Jewish people. When the prophets, and after them John the Baptist, Christ the Son of God, and the dear apostles no longer preached and visited, the Assyrians, Babylonians, and later the Romans came and threw everything into a heap. For thus saith the Lord Christ [Matt. 10:14, 15], Whosoever receiveth you not, and heareth not your word, depart out of your house, and out of the same city, and beat the dust from off your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the 1) land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that same city."
1) Eislebensche: dem.