101 And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh: for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants hard, so that I may let my signs be seen among them: 2 And so that you may be able to give to your son and to your son's son the story of my wonders in Egypt, and the signs which I have done among them; so that you may see that I am the Lord. 3 Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you be lifted up in your pride before me? let my people go so that they may give me worship. 4 For if you will not let my people go, tomorrow I will send locusts into your land: 5 And the face of the earth will be covered with them, so that you will not be able to see the earth: and they will be the destruction of everything which up to now has not been damaged, everything which was not crushed by the ice-storm, and every tree still living in your fields. 6 And your houses will be full of them, and the houses of your servants and of all the Egyptians; it will be worse than anything your fathers have seen or their fathers, from the day when they were living on the earth till this day. And so he went out from Pharaoh. 7 And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long is this man to be the cause of evil to us? let the men go so that they may give worship to the Lord their God: are you not awake to Egypt's danger? 8 Then Moses and Aaron came in again before Pharaoh: and he said to them, Go and give worship to the Lord your God: but which of you are going? 9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds; for we are to keep a feast to the Lord. 10 And he said to them, May the Lord be with you, if I will let you and your little ones go! take care, for your purpose clearly is evil. 11 Not so; but let your males go and give worship to the Lord, as your desire is. This he said, driving them out from before him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Exodus 10:1-11
Commentary on Exodus 10:1-11
(Read Exodus 10:1-11)
The plagues of Egypt show the sinfulness of sin. They warn the children of men not to strive with their Maker. Pharaoh had pretended to humble himself; but no account was made of it, for he was not sincere therein. The plague of locusts is threatened. This should be much worse than any of that kind which had ever been known. Pharaoh's attendants persuade him to come to terms with Moses. Hereupon Pharaoh will allow the men to go, falsely pretending that this was all they desired. He swears that they shall not remove their little ones. Satan does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing their children to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety. Whatever would put us from engaging our children in God's service, we have reason to suspect Satan in it. Nor should the young forget that the Lord's counsel is, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth; but Satan's counsel is, to keep children in a state of slavery to sin and to the world. Mark that the great foe of man wishes to retain him by the ties of affection, as Pharaoh would have taken hostages from the Israelites for their return, by holding their wives and children in captivity. Satan is willing to share our duty and our service with the Saviour, because the Saviour will not accept those terms.