Parsha Pizzazz - Bo
The Eighth Plague: Locusts!
Even after being put through seven nasty plagues, Paraoh was still acting stubborn. Every time, Moshe and Aharon said, "Let my people go," and every time, Paraoh said, "NO!"
Now HaShem told Moshe and Aharon to go to Paraoh again, warning of an eighth plague: locusts... way too many of them!
So Moshe and Aharon said to Paraoh: "HaShem wants you to know that if you refuse to let the Jewish people go, He will send locusts that will cover the whole land of Egypt. There will be so many, you won't be able to see the ground! And they'll be hungry, too... they'll eat all of your grass and crops!"
Paraoh's servants were getting pretty sick and tired of all of these plagues, so they said to Paraoh, "Oh, Your Majesty, come on already! We can't take it anymore! For goodness sake, Egypt is being destroyed! Just let the Jewish men go and do their silly worshipping in the desert, and keep their wives and children here in Egypt as hostages, to make sure the men come back."
Paraoh had to admit that what they said made sense. He sent a messenger to bring Moshe and Aharon to come to his palace.
"I've decided to let you go! Now, who did you say would be going, exactly?"
"Oh, everyone!" said Moshe and Aharon. "Our men, women, and children, and even our animals."
"That's not acceptable! Children don't make sacrifices anyway, right? Just take your men and go!"
And with that, Moshe and Aharon were sent out of the palace.
Now the next plague began: HaShem told Moshe to stretch out his arm... and HaShem made a strong wind blow from the east. The wind blew in millions and millions of locusts!
There were so many locusts everywhere that the Egyptians couldn't see the sky when they looked up, or the ground when they looked down. They filled Egypt right up to its borders, and ate up every inch of crops that had survived the plague of hail. They even invaded the Egyptians' homes and ate all their food.
Paraoh realized that at the rate things were going, the Egyptians would starve! He urgently called for Moshe and Aharon.
"Forgive me! I have sinned! Go and beg HaShem to stop this plague!" he cried.
Moshe prayed to HaShem and HaShem sent a strong wind from the west that blew every single locust out of Egypt. They were gone -- as fast as they had come.
But again, HaShem hardened Paraoh's heart and he said, "I will NOT let the Jews go out of Egypt!!"
The Ninth Plague: Total Darkness!
Next HaShem told Moshe to bring the next plague without warning Paraoh. Moshe stretched his hand out to the sky, and a pitch-black darkness enveloped all of Egypt. For three days, they Egyptians couldn't see anything at all. Even lighting candles didn't do any good -- the light was swallowed up in the blackness.
After that, there were three more days of even darker darkness that was blacker than black, and so thick and heavy the Egyptians couldn't even move. But wherever the Jews walked, they could see. It was light in their homes, and it was light for them even where it was dark for the Egyptians.
Since the Egyptians were frozen in their places, the Jews were able to go anywhere they wanted -- even into the Egyptians' homes! And that's exactly what they did, because HaShem had told them to look through the Egyptians' houses to find out where they kept their jewelry, money, and fancy clothes.
The Jews didn't touch anything or take anything that belonged to the Egyptians. But later, when they would finally leave Egypt, they would be able to ask the Egyptians to give them their valuables -- and when the Egyptians would claim that they didn't own anything valuable, the Jews would know exactly where their possessions were, so they could say, "Oh, YES you do...!"
There were some Jews who didn't believe that HaShem would ever really take them out of Egypt, or who thought that if they did ever leave, they would die of hunger in the desert. These Jews did not survive the plague of darkness.
After the dark fog lifted, Paraoh said to Moshe and Aharon, "Go! Take all of your men, women, and children, and get out of here! Go worship in the desert! Just leave your animals here..."
"We can't do that," said Moshe and Aharon. "We need to bring our animals, since we'll be sacrificing some of them, and we don't yet know which ones we'll be using."
HaShem then hardened Paraoh's heart, and he said, "Forget it! I won't let any of you go out of Egypt!"
Then Paraoh ordered Moshe and Paraoh to leave the palace: "I never want to see your faces again... OR ELSE!"
Moshe said, "Yes, you are right. This will be the last time we will ever see your face!"
