October 12, 2025 - The Eighth Plague: Locusts, Part 2 (Exodus 10:12-20)

The Eighth Plague: Locusts, Part 2 (Exodus 10:12-20)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land—all that the hail has left.” 13 So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. 15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. 16 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” 18 So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord. 19 And the Lord turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.

Introduction

I received a lot of grace from a testimony and it was a testimony of an NFL player. This NFL player broke his neck bone when he collided with another NFL player. Since he broke his neck bone, he became paralyzed and received a prognosis that he will be paralyzed for the rest of his life. When he received that prognosis, he was very devastated. When he was in the ICU, this one person pleaded to be able to meet this NFL player. The nurses kept telling this person that this NFL player was not in a state where he could meet anyone but this person said that this person’s son really wanted to pray for this NFL player. During that time, this NFL player heard about this so he approved to meet this person and allow this person to pray for him. When this person’s son came in, he was a 10 year old child who was in a wheelchair. This child also had no hair and was bald. This child was suffering from leukemia and this child placed his hand on the NFL’s hand. Then, this 10 year old child told this NFL player that it was his dream to be an NFL player and provided encouragement to this NFL player. And, this child told this NFL player that God will protect this NFL player and told this NFL player that he had only a few more months left to live. And, this child said that he is still praying to God and that God will save them both. This NFL player looked at this child that only had 3 months left to live, he was in tears. After he met this child, he started repenting before God. This small child came to him and encouraged him, and told him to pray. This NFL player after this interaction with this child, he started reflecting on his walk of faith and started repenting before God. Then, this NFL player made a promise with this child that he will return back to the field as a football player but told this child that he had one condition. He told the child that he had one condition that this child had to come visit him in the field. This NFL player was supposed to be paralyzed for life but after a surgery, he was able to regain his body movements. Not only that but this leukemia child recovered as well and he was able to cheer for him on the football field. This was the testimony of this NFL player and testified that God was truly alive. This is because Jesus Christ has resurrected and is alive. When we pray before God, then the resurrected Christ will work in our lives. Today’s sermon is very important. 

1. God's Command to Moses

(1) Stretch Out Your Hand

Verse 12 - God was commanding Moses to stretch his hand out. What we must hold onto is why God didn’t do it Himself directly and commanded Moses to do it instead? When we look in the Bible, whenever God worked, He would work through His servants. Through His servants, God fulfilled His plans. In the field, we can confirm the work of God. When we look at today’s Bible passage, God commanded Moses that He will send out the locusts to eat all of the herbs that were left after the hail damaged the land of Egypt. God told Moses that this will happen. In other words, God’s plan was being relayed to Moses. Aaron was able to confirm this in the field. When he went out the field, he was able to confirm the word of God really took place. This is how God works. God’s word is being fulfilled when we receive God’s word in the pulpit. God tells us what will happen in the field through the pulpit message and we can confirm it when we go out into the field. We must hold onto this. Why is that? It is because God is the one who is giving us the word. This God is alive and in order to fulfill this, He gives us His word. Through our walk of faith, we can confirm this. When we receive God’s word, we must confirm this and realize this. When the word of God was relayed, the word of God was fulfilled exactly in the field as it was commanded by God to Moses. 

(2) An East Wind

Verses 13-15 - From the East wind, all of these locusts started invading the land of Egypt. This is important here. Usually locusts would come from the South side but the locusts started coming from the East side this time. If we look at this geographically, from the East, there was only the Sahara desert. It didn’t make sense that locusts were coming from dry land, the Sahara desert. This means that Creator God was the one who sent out these locusts. Many people say that these locusts traveled from the South first and then came to the East but it says in the Bible that they came from the East. Which means that God allowed this to happen. The locusts came upon the land of Egypt and Egypt is about the size of Texas which means that the amount of locusts was massive. This means that there were so many locusts, it is impossible for all of these locusts to come together in this one piece of land. There were so many locusts that the entire land was covered that the land looked black. And they covered the entire sky as well. This all happened by the power of God. How did this happen through the command of Moses? 

Verse 13 - This work of the locusts came from the land of Egypt when Moses stretched out his hand with the rod as commanded by God. The rod of Moses represented the name of Jesus Christ. In other words, when we proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, the power of creation is proclaimed. 

John 14:14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” - There is no other religion or other person’s name that can do this. Only God and Jesus Christ can do this, and in their name. Only Jesus Christ can show the power of creation. Hold onto the power of the name of Jesus Christ. Not only did God heal the NFL player and the child with leukemia but all of this took place in the name of Jesus Christ. Why was that? It is because Jesus resurrected and is alive. Do you believe in this? Experience the power of creation in the name of Jesus Christ. 

2. Pharaoh's Desperation

(1) The Meaning behind the Locust Plague

Verse 15 - These locusts consumed all of the herbs in the land that were left behind that were not destroyed by the hail. All of the herbs and things that were left behind from the hail and that regrew, they were all destroyed by the locusts. Why did God destroy everything? It was to show the spiritual problem of Egypt and of pharaoh. For pharaoh, he thought that he was still powerful and the gods of Egypt were powerful. He still held onto the hope of the Egyptian gods. When God saw that pharaoh still believed in the Egyptian gods, He allowed the East wind to blow. God was showing how powerless these Egyptian gods were before the pharaoh. Pharaoh and Egypt couldn’t do anything when all of the herbs and everything was destroyed by the locusts. God was destroying the “power” of the Egyptian gods who were being worshiped by pharaoh and the Egyptians. We could see the amazing power of God. No matter what the Egyptians did, they couldn’t get rid of the locusts. But God worked through these locusts. Since these locusts started eating everything, pharaoh got desperate and called forth Moses and Aaron. 

(2) Pharaoh's desperation

Verses 16-20 - Pharaoh felt so desperate that he confessed that he had sinned. Pharaoh called Moses forward and confessed his sins, and pleaded for God to save him and forgive him. Why did the pharaoh say to take him away from “death.” Because the locusts were destroying and killing everything. Pharaoh said something interesting, he said, “…Only this once.” Pharaoh was so desperate that he pleaded for God and Moses to forgive him just this one time. Imagine this, when we face problems, we plead God to forgive and save us just this once. God knows very well that when we pray this prayer that it will not be just this one time. And, God knew of this with pharaoh as well. But when God heard the prayer and repentance of pharaoh, I am sure God was very pleased. 

Verse 19 - Pharaoh pleaded to save him just this one time and God listened to his plea, and answered him. This prayer was very important. When we pray to God and plead to save us just this one time, that prayer and plead is very important. God is so happy when we go before Him and plead to Him. Because this is a prayer of faith because we are confessing that God is the only one who can save us and He will answer us. This is the faith and prayer that God desires. Even if we have faith as small as mustard seed, that is all God wants. We need to pray with faith even if it is a small amount. 

Verse 20 - God knew that the pharaoh would return back to his original state and hardened his heart. What about you? I pray that you can become a servant of God and stand correctly before Him when God answers us. 

3. The Power to Prevent Plague

(1) The East Wind and the West Wind

When we look at today’s sermon, it talks about the East wind. Cain was taken to the East land. The direction of the East usually represents God’s judgment. But Abraham was opposite. Abraham went to East to West which shows that Abraham was having a new beginning. The Bible verse today talks about the East wind which symbolizes the wind of judgment of God. 

Hosea 13:15 “Though he is fruitful among his brethren, An east wind shall come; The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness. Then his spring shall become dry, And his fountain shall be dried up. He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.” - The East wind is shown as the wind of the Lord which means that judgment of the Lord is there. The locusts came from the East wind and ate up everything in the land of Egypt. What does this mean? God was destroying all of the idols of Egypt and of pharaoh. God was revealing the root of sin in pharaoh. 

Verse 19 - The West wind reveals the work of God. This West wind will be revealed when we pray and repent before God. This shows the hope of God. 

Acts 2:2 “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” - God’s wind was showing here and this wind came from heaven above. This shows the wind of the Holy Spirit. God’s wind breaks down fate, disasters, and curses. God’s wind allows renewal. It is important how this wind blows. The moment Aaron raised up the rod, the wind of God blew. When did this wind blow in Mark’s upper room? When they prayed in the name of Jesus Christ. When we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit from heaven above comes upon us. When we experience this power of the wind, then we can have a new start. 

(2) The Power to Prevent Curses and Disasters

Philip's Blessing: Acts 6:5 “And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch.” - Philip was a person who was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. Philip was able to have a new start when he received the power of the Holy Spirit from Mark's upper room. 

One-Heartedness, Whole-Heartedness, and Continuation: Acts 8:5 “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.” - Philip had assurance of Jesus Christ and was enjoying Jesus Christ. He was enjoying Jesus Christ as the true Priest, Prophet, and King. That is why he lived as a witness of Jesus Christ. 

The Fruit of the Gospel: Acts 8:8 “And there was great joy in that city.” - Wherever we go and as we live our lives, we can live with great joy and we can see the power of creation. May we receive this answer. 

Conclusion

Exodus 10:5 “And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field.” - When I was praying, I was reminded of this word. We are praying with the three courtyards. If God works, then when we pray, God can even bring the locusts to come out and God can allow the answer of the three courtyards to come upon us. I pray to God to answer our prayers. May we receive answers in the name of Jesus Christ.