Once again Pha'raoh was smitten with terror, and once again he pretended deep repentance. This time he called for Mo'ses and said to him: "I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you. Forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once; and entreat the LORD that He will take away from me this death." Again it was a desire to have the punishment removed, rather than sincere regret for his sins, which caused Pha'raoh to ask for mercy. He asked for pardon, but not for purity, and the one cannot be had from God without the other.
Mo'ses went out from the presence of Pha'raoh, and prayed unto the LORD. At once a mighty wind swept the locusts from the land, but Pha'raoh hardened his heart once again, and refused to let the Is'ra-el-ites go. Then, without any further warning, the LORD sent upon E'gypt a season of intense darkness covering the whole land. It was so dark that the E'gyp-tians could not see one another, nor could they even leave their homes.
This plague struck at the very heart of E'gyp-tian idolatry, for they worshiped the sun under the name of Osiris. To have the chief of their gods fail them was a curse which filled the hearts of the E'gyp-tians with terror. We are not told what natural forces were used in performing this miracle, but we do know that there was light in the houses of the Is'ra-el-ites in the land of Go'shen. They did not have to sit in darkness, as did the E'gyp-tians, but were free to come and go and as they chose.
How alarming and unbearable must have been those three days of dense and perpetual darkness! The tradition of the Jews that the devil and his angels were given a wider range and greater liberty for working mischief than usual during those three dreadful days is probably true. "God cast upon them the fierceness of His anger: Wrath, and indignation, and trouble; A band of angels of evil."
In spite of the stern judgments brought upon him, Pha'raoh would not give in to the LORD'S will. He continued to defy the servants of God, and sought again to make a compromise that would enable him to keep the wealth brought to him by the enslaved He'brews. Calling for Mo'ses, he told him that all the Is'ra-el-ites might go into the wilderness to worship, provided that they did not go very far, and that they should leave all their herds and flocks in E'gypt. By keeping the property of the He'brews, who had not suffered any loss during the plagues, there would be a supply of food for the hungry E'gyp-tians, and the Is'ra-el-ites would finally have to return to their bondage.
But this selfish offer was rejected as promptly as all others made by Pha'raoh. The king became angry, and drove Mo'ses from his presence with the threat that if he ever saw his face again he would have him slain. Mo'ses then went among the people of God to prepare for their departure from E'gypt following the plague that was soon to come.
