# Exodus Chapter 10
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## Summarrium
Moses is instructed to warn Pharaoh about a pending plague of Locusts and points out this will decimate the country in a way never before seen. Pharaoh is encouraged to heed Moses warning given the current state of Egypt and conceding initially to the advice of his servant. However when Moses intent becomes clear (to remove all of the people of Israel and their belongings) he decides against this and refuses claiming only the men can go given this is what is really wanted.

Moses is then driven from Pharaoh's presence and the Lords judgment descends upon Egypt. Pharaoh asks Moses to pray again to remove this plague and he does on the basis that the people will be allowed to leave. Once again Pharaoh reneges on his promise. The next plague consists of a tangible darkness which does not affect the people of God who have 'light'. Pharaoh directs that Moses should leave and never return on pain of death. Moses confirms he will never see Pharaohs face again.

## Meditatio
Pharaohs erratic behaviour here is indicative of an individual not used to not getting their own way pushed into a tight corner. Firstly there is the 'flip-flopping'; In leadership this describes the individual changing their mind dependent upon the situation rather than have a clear goal or intent.

Next we have Pharaoh stipulating the terms by which he will allow the will of the Lord to be enacted. Again failing to recognise his authority comes from the Lord and his establishment at the top of the social hierarchy is entirely due to the grace of God. Here we begin to capture something of the patience of the Lord in dealing with the Egyptians.

You would think that if the Egyptians were of no importance to the Lord (not being God's chosen people) that he would simply have them removed. The Lord is no stranger to humbling kings[^1]. But he doesn't and so this raises the question about why? If the Egyptians are an obstacle there are any number of ways in which the Lord directly and indirectly might have intervened for the benefit of all.

The Lord clearly has intent in his actions in brining Egypt (and perhaps also the Israelites) to the realisation of who he is. Once again there is this need to *know* and be *known*. It is not sufficient for Pharaoh to simply be removed as an obstacle. The Lord does not simply desire compliance or obedience he desires the heart[^2]

We should also acknowledge the significance of the plagues for showing dominion over the gods of Egypt. The Gods targets with the locusts includes Senehem the god responsible for protecting crops and Osiris the god of Agriculture. Once again the Egyptian gods are seen to be powerless in the face of the Lords power.

The darkness however targets Ra the sun god one of the most important deities in the Egyptian religion; he symbolises light and order and so the darkness over the land represented the power of YHWH's sovereignty over the sun. Pharaoh was himself considered to be the earthly manifestation of Ra and as such the darkness demonstrated to his people that Pharaoh himself was unable to compete with the power of YHWH.


[^1]: Nebuchadnezzar being a prime example in the book of [Daniel 4:28-37](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Daniel%204%3A28-37&version=ESV).
[^2]: See [Proverbs 3:5-6](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%203%3A5-6&version=ESV)