Today's plague comes without the Bible telling us Moses spoke to Pharaoh first. Some scholars interpret this to mean he didn't go out this time to the Nile River to meet the king on his morning walk to warn him of another plague if he did not let the people go. I tend to think Moses did speak to him first, for when we concluded yesterday's passage we were told Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go. I think this may mean Moses and Pharaoh had a meeting after the plague of locusts was lifted and that Pharaoh went back on his word once again. It's possible, though, that the king's heart is so hard at this time that there was no use for Moses to speak to him before the ninth plague falls. I think it's possible that Pharaoh's heart has reached a point of no return and that the ninth plague---darkness---represents the utter spiritual darkness of his heart. When Pharaoh summons Moses to rid him of the plague of darkness, it tells us a lot that this time he doesn't even pretend to be sorry for his sins. At various times in the past he may have felt momentary twinges of conscience but now I suspect he is no longer able to hear his conscience.
"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt---darkness that can be felt.'" (Exodus 10:21) The Egypt of the book of Exodus is already spiritually dark due to idolatry. (Modern missionaries who have taken the gospel into regions where it has never before been preached, or where the people are living in pagan idolatry, have said that there is a sense of darkness in those lands that can be felt, like a heavy and depressing cloud.) The Egypt of Moses' day was a wealthy and cultured place. No doubt the people considered themselves educated and enlightened. If someone had told them they were living in darkness they'd have probably laughed in scorn, but during the ninth plague their true condition is revealed.
"So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived." (Exodus 10:22-23) It appears as if oil lamps and candles and cooking fires would not even burn during this time. It's a darkness so complete that the Egyptians can't see their hands before their faces. They can't even see to get around inside their houses. If they managed to eat or take care of bathroom functions, they must have done it by feeling their way along the walls. Yet in Goshen, where the Israelites lived, there was light. We aren't told whether this means the Lord filled Goshen with a supernatural light or whether the lamps and candles and cooking fires were able to burn normally in that region. The Bible says they had light "in the places where they lived" so this may indicate they were able to light the inside of their homes but that the land outside was dark all over the nation of Egypt. Either way, there's no way to explain why only the Israelites didn't suffer during the plague of darkness except that the favor of the Lord was upon them because of their belief in Him. They had spiritual light in their hearts due to their faith in the one true God. They weren't living in the dark, spiritually speaking. They were living in the light, and the ninth plague seems to present a visible metaphor for the spiritual difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
In order to have the darkness lifted, Pharaoh is about to propose another compromise to Moses. Prior to the plague of locusts, he tried to work out a deal with Moses in which he'd allow the male Israelites to go into the wilderness to worship the Lord and make sacrifices to Him for three days. But Moses rejected his offer. Everyone must go along with all their livestock. So today Pharaoh offers to let the women and children accompany the men into the wilderness for three days while he holds onto their livestock. He intends to use the livestock as insurance that the Israelites will return to Egypt and return to their work. "Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, 'Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.'" (Exodus 10:24) It's ironic, isn't it, that the plague of darkness lasts for the same amount of time that the Israelites requested to have for a time of worship? I think this is intentional. I believe the Lord chose three days to illustrate the point that if only Pharaoh had allowed them to have their three days off to worship Him, everything would have gone much differently.
If Pharaoh had honored the Israelites' original request, which was to go into the wilderness for three days to worship the Lord and then return to Egypt, his fear and distrust of the Israelites would have lessened. His heart would have begun to soften toward them. He would have begun to see them as peaceful people and would have stopped being suspicious that they'd run off and join with his enemies at the first opportunity. If he'd only allowed those first cracks to appear in the hard shell around his heart, I think over time his heart would have grown softer and softer until someday he'd have willingly set the Israelites free with his blessing. He might even have come to worship the same God. If that had happened, perhaps the majority of the people of Egypt would have followed his example and cast their idols away in favor of serving the one and only living God. But Pharaoh preferred darkness to light. Now, for three days, he must endure a darkness so thick that he could almost cut it with a knife. Does this make any difference to him? Does he repent and confess his sins and make his heart right with the Lord? No, I think he'd rather live the rest of his life in darkness than ever submit to his Maker.
"But Moses said, 'You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.'" (Exodus 10:25-26) Moses wants to know how Pharaoh thinks they can sacrifice to the Lord if they leave all their livestock behind. Of course, they wouldn't need all their livestock because they don't intend to offer all their livestock to the Lord. But they'll need their livestock when they make their exodus from Egypt to the promised land, so Moses behaves as if they have no idea what type of sacrifices the Lord will require until they get into the wilderness and begin to worship Him.
I don't believe Moses or anyone else was lying when, in the beginning of Exodus, they asked Pharaoh for three days to worship the Lord in the wilderness before returning to Egypt. As a show of good faith I think they intended to come back so that Pharaoh's prejudice toward them would begin to fade. But since Pharaoh has repeatedly rejected their request I think Moses knows once they all leave Egypt they aren't coming back. The Lord doesn't intend to let them go back, for the king has reached a level of spiritual wickedness that would make him ten times worse than he ever was before. If only he'd been willing to have even a little compassion for the Israelites, I think things would have played out as discussed in the paragraph above this one. But instead Pharaoh hates the Israelites more than he ever has before. He would make their lives in Egypt more miserable than ever. If the people did go into the wilderness for three days and return, I think the king would have taken out his anger on them. I think he would have resented the fact that the plagues made him feel backed into a corner enough to let them go for three days. He would have been filled with wounded pride, so much so that he'd have persecuted the Israelites like never before. He hates them and he hates their God and I don't think there's any way they could have returned to Egypt without the king's wrath falling upon them. They must take everything they own with them when they go because they aren't coming back.
Pharaoh flies into a rage when Moses rejects his latest offer. It's often the case that a person is never more angry than he is in the wrong; have you noticed that? And their anger is usually directed toward the person who points out that they are in the wrong. Pharaoh is in the wrong but refuses to believe or acknowledge it. Because Moses is the person who keeps trying to show him he's in the wrong, his anger is directed toward Moses. The king's rage takes a murderous turn and he warns Moses that he will kill him if he ever lays eyes on him again. "But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, 'Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die!'" (Exodus 10:27-28)
"'Just as you say,' Moses replied. 'I will never appear before you again.'" (Exodus 10:29) Pharaoh's heart is impenetrable. He has said "no" one too many times to the merciful voice of Almighty God. Now there remains only judgment. The final, and worst, plague is coming.
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