our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither. 27. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go. 28. 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. 29. And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more.
Here is,
1. The plague of darkness brought upon Egypt, and a most dreadful plague it was, and therefore is put first of the ten, (Ps. 105. 28.) though it was one of the last; in the destruction of the spiritual Egypt it is produced by the fifth vial, which is poured out upon the seat of the beast, Rev. 16. 10, His kingdom was full of darkness. Observe particularly concerning this plague,
1. That it was a total darkness; we have reason to think, not only that the lights of heaven were clouded, but that all their fires and candles were put out by the damps or clammy vapours which were the cause of this darkness; for it is said, (v. 23. ) They saw not one another. It is threatened to the wicked, (Job 18. 5, 6.) that the spark of his fire shall not shine, (even the sparks of his own kindling, as they are called, Isa. 50. 11.) and that the light shall be dark in his tabernacle. Hell is utter darkness; the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee, Rev. 18. 23.
2. That it was darkness which might be felt, (v. 21. ) felt in its causes by their fingers' ends, (so thick were the fogs,) felt in its effects, some think, by their eyes, which were pricked with pain, and made the more sore by their rubbing of them. Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness, (Rev. 16. 10.) which alludes to this.
3. No doubt it astonished and terrified them. The cloud of locusts, which had darkened the land, (v. 15.) was nothing to this. The tradition of the Jews is, that in this darkness they were terrified by the apparitions of evil spirits, or rather by dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made, or (which is no less fruitful) by the horrors of their own consciences; and this is the plague which some think is intended, (for, otherwise, it is not mentioned at all there,) Ps. 78. 49, He poured upon them the fierceness of his anger, by sending evil angels among them, for to those to whom the Devil has been a deceiver, he will, at length, be a terror.
4. It continued three days; six nights (says Bishop Hall) in one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of darkness, and the most lightsome palaces were perfect dungeons. No man rose from his palace, v. 23. They were all confined to their houses; and such a terror seized them, that few of them had the courage to go from the chair to the bed, or from the bed to the chair. Thus were they silent in darkness, 1 Sam. 2. 9. Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it. Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan blinds men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and feet, that they work not for God, nor move toward heaven. They sit in darkness.
5. It was a righteous thing with God thus to punish them: Pharaoh and his people had rebelled against the light of God's word, which Moses spake to them; justly therefore are they punished with darkness, for they loved it, and chose it rather. The blindness of their minds brings upon them this darkness ot the air; never was mind so blinded as Pharaoh's, never was air so darkened as Egypt's. The Egyptians by their cruelty would have extinguished the lamp of Israel, and quenched their coal; justly therefore does God put out their lights; compare it with the punishment of the Sodomites, Gen. 19. 11. Let us dread the consequences of sin; if three days' darkness was so dreadful, what will everlasting darkness be?
6. The children of Israel, at the same time, had light in their dwellings, (v. 23.) not only in the land of Goshen, where most of them dwelt, but in the habitations of those who were dispersed among the Egyptians. That some of them were thus dispersed, appears from the distinction afterward appointed to be put on their door-posts, ch. 12. 7. This is an instance, (1.) Of the power of God above the ordinary power of nature; we must not think that we share in common mercies, as a matter of course, and, therefore that we owe no thanks to God for them; he could distinguish, and withhold that from us, which he grants to others. He does indeed ordinarily make his sun to shine on the just and the unjust, but he could make a difference, and we must own ourselves indebted to his mercy that he does not. (2.) Of the particular favour he bears to his people; they walk in the light, when others wander endlessly in thick darkness; wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this dark world, there is light, there is a child of light, one for whom light is sown, and whom the day-spring from on high visits. When God made this difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians, who would not have preferred the poorest cottage of an Israelite to the finest palace of an Egyptian? There is still a real difference, though not so discernible a one, between the house of the wicked, which is under a curse, and the habitation of the just, which is blessed, Prov. 3. 33. We should believe in that difference, and govern ourselves accordingly. Upon Ps. 105. 28, He sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against his word, some ground a conjecture, that during these three days of darkness the Israelites were circumcised, in order to their celebrating of the passover which was now approaching; and that that was the word against which they rebelled not; for their circumcision, when they entered Canaan, is spoken of as a second general circumcision, Josh. 5. 2. However, during these three days of darkness to the Egyptians, if God had so pleased, the Israelites, by the light which they had, might have made their escape, and without asking leave of Pharaoh; but God would bring them out with a high hand, and not by stealth, or in haste, Isa. 52. 12.
II. Here is the impression made upon Pharaoh by this plague, much like that of the foregoing plagues.
1. It awakened him so far, that he renewed the treaty with Moses and Aaron, and now, at length, consented that they should take their little ones with them, only he would have their cattle left in pawn, v. 24. It is common for sinners thus to bargain with God Almighty; some sins they will leave, but not all, they will leave their sins for a time, but they will not bid them a final farewell. They will allow him some share in their hearts, but the world and the flesh must share with him: thus they mock God, but they deceive themselves. Moses resolves not to abate in his terms; Our cattle shall go with us, v. 26. Note, the terms of reconciliation are so fixed, that, though men dispute them ever so long, they cannot possibly alter them, nor bring them lower. We must come up to the demands of God's will, for we cannot expect he should condescend to the provisos of our lusts. God's messengers must always be bound up by that rule, (Jer. 15. 19.) Let them return unto thee, but return not thou unto them. Moses gives a very good reason why they must take their cattle with them, they must go to do sacrifice, and therefore they must take where-
