Exodus 10: 21-29: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.”
While Pharaoh himself was the greatest of the Egyptians gods, Amon-Ra, the sun god was the next god after that. The Egyptians understood that the sun was the source of life on a day to day basis. While the Bible teaches us that the Lord first brought life into existence it also teaches us that ongoing life comes from the sun for God created light then He made the land and then he made the plants on the first three days. Animals eat plants and plants collect energy from the sun and store that energy as food. Light is also essential for life in another way because people need to see what they are doing and where they are going and that is impossible in complete darkness. This darkness was so great that they couldn’t even get light from a candle or a lamp. However, the Israelis had light in their houses. The darkness was so deep that the Egyptians just had to stay in bed. The Lord showed that He is greater than even the greatest Egyptians gods. Pharaoh was in darkness and couldn’t come to Moses so Moses went to Pharaoh and told him that he could take the people out into the desert but they couldn’t take their animals. Pharaoh sought to punish Moses by refusing to see him anymore but the Lord was going to punish Pharaoh by denying him further access to Moses, his only source of contact with the Lord. He was now ready to receive the final consequence of his choice to reject the Lord.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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