In the message to be delivered to Pha'raoh this time, the LORD set forth His purpose in visiting the land of E'gypt with such terrible proof of His Supreme Power. He wished to make clear to the king and to all future generations that the power of God rules all the elements of nature. The rivers, the dust of the ground, the atmosphere, the thunder and lightning and hail, the waters of the earth, and the fire had all served His Supreme Power in the previous plagues.
The LORD God of Heaven intended also to prove to Pha'raoh and all succeeding generations that He was able to overcome sa'tan and all his agencies in the world. The magicians were the cunning instruments of the devil in E'gypt, but they had been completely thwarted by the plagues inflicted upon Pha'raoh and his people. God is able to deliver man from the power of sa'tan, overcome his evil designs in the world, and destroy all his wicked works.
A further purpose of God in these continued plagues was to show His Power, over all false religions and heathen worship in this great nation. The E'gyp-tians believed that the Nile was the birthplace of gods, but from this river had come the plague of water turnt into blood, and the frogs which had infested the land. To the E'gyp-tians the frog was a sacred object of worship, but now the ugly creatures had plagued the entire country. Many domestic animals had been worshiped by the E'gyp-tians, but now they had been suddenly destroyed by a great plague.
Having explained the purposes of God in sending the plagues, Mo'ses then told Pha'raoh that unless he released the Is'ra-el-ites at once the LORD would send a mighty army of locusts to devour every herb and plant left from the previous plagues. Some of the servants of the king were now fully convinced of the Supreme Power of God, and the authority of His servants, Mo'ses and Aa'ron, so they advised the king to let the Is'ra-el-ites depart.
Pha'raoh then proposed to Mo'ses that the men of the He'brews go out into the wilderness to worship as requested, but that the women and children be left behind in E'gypt. Mo'ses fearlessly refused to accept this condition, and told Pha'raoh that unless he permitted the He'brews to leave the land with their wives and children and servants, and with all their flocks and herds, he must suffer again for disobedience to the known will of God.
Upon the refusal of Pha'raoh to grant this request, Mo'ses waved his hand over the land of E'gypt. The whole country was suddenly overrun with great hordes of locusts, which swept before them all the plants and trees which had escaped the plague of hail. The locusts had always been dreaded by the E'gyp-tians, and in this plague they came upon the land in countless numbers. The wheat and rye was just budding forth when the hail and rain swept over the land, and was, therefore, not destroyed. But in the plague of locusts these two important sources of food for the people were completely ruined, and the whole country became a barren, desolate plain.
