There now comes a significant development. The remaining plagues did not affect the land of Goshen, which was inhabited mainly by Israelites. The natural aspect of these visitations was becoming more and more overshadowed by signs of direct Divine intervention. This, declared Moses, was an evidence of the power of God, making a distinction between Egypt and Israel. From now on Egypt was to be driven more and more into a corner from which there could be no escape. From now on, following the defection of the magicians, Pharaoh was probably losing the support of his councillors, his nobles and his people to an increasing degree. But he was not ready to give in yet.

One hundred and twenty days after the 12th of June - four months - it was the custom to hold what was called the second festival of the Nile, to celebrate the successful culmination of the inundation. From now on the waters would cease to rise and presently, as they receded, the peasants would rejoicingly commence sowing crops in the rich sediment left on their land by the departing waters. It is almost certain that it is this second festival to which reference is made in 8. 20, in which, after the third plague, the Lord says to Moses "Rise up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh. Lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him ..." In the ordinary way this day was a great national holiday with Pharaoh as the chief figure giving public thanks to the Nile - god for his beneficent work for the year. It must have been with considerable chagrin on this November morning that Amen - Hotep, surrounded by his court, came down to the river and found Moses waiting for him again.

Once more the demand: "Let my people go ... else, if thou wilt not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies upon thee ..." So the fourth plague came, and all the houses of the Egyptians were filled with what has been variously considered either a particularly virulent species of dog - fly, or else the flying beetle, the scarab beetle which to the Egyptians was the symbol of life. Pharaoh showed the first sign of cracking; he offered to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord in the wilderness provided they did not go very far away.

The plague was lifted, and Pharaoh broke his promise. Inevitably there came the fifth plague. In December or perhaps early January a widespread epidemic of disease decimated the Egyptians' cattle. "Bui of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one". The effect of previous plagues probably contributed to the inability of the cattle to withstand disease. The expression in 9.6 "all the cattle of Egypt died" need not be interpreted too strictly; in vs. 19 they still had some left. The intention clearly is to indicate that by far the larger proportion succumbed; Egypt was left virtually without cattle.

The pestilence raged for perhaps a month, and was then superseded by a greater horror, an epidemic of eruptive boils breaking forth upon man as well as beast. Perhaps the very magnitude of the calamity made effective medical treatment for any but a very few of the population impossible; men and women suffered without hope.

And now the pace of events is noticeably quickening. The boils on men followed hard on the pestilence among the cattle. Before the people could begin to find measure of relief there fell upon them the seventh plague, a fearful succession of violent storms of thunder and lightning, with torrential hailstones which flattened the young growing crops and broke down the trees. Egypt normally has very little rain; storms such as this must have been quite unknown. In fact the chronicler declares (9. 24) there had been nothing like it since Egypt became a nation. The time of year is clearly indicated, for the barley was in the ear, the flax was in blossom, and the wheat and rye were not yet grown, (31 - 32), which points to mid - February or early March. It is likely therefore that these three plagues, pestilence, boils and storms finished up with all three afflicting Egypt more or less simultaneously, for there is no indication of any of the three being lifted as with earlier ones.

Pharaoh's nerve really began to give way under this crushing burden. He "sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time" - a masterly understatement - "the Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked. Entreat the Lord, (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer." (9. 27, 28). And Moses besought the Lord, and the Lord removed the plagues, and when Pharaoh had received of the goodness of the Lord, his heart hardened itself yet more, and he would not let Israel go.

Within a fortnight, by the middle of March at latest, the locusts came. Locusts have always been a plague to Eastern lands. Even to - day they are a grave menace and the most modern extermination methods are often powerless against them. In all Old Testament imagery nothing is more descriptive of universal utter destruction than the coming of locusts. The Egyptians had no illusions as to what such a visitation meant, and when Moses stood before Pharaoh and declared that if he still refused to let Israel go the Lord would send locusts so numerous that men would no longer be able to see the ground under their feet, and everything that the previous plagues had left they would eat up and strip the land bare, Pharaoh's servants were stricken with terror. "How long shall this man be a snare to us?" they cried to the obstinate monarch. "Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?" (10.7). It is obvious that popular support for Pharaoh's policy was by now non - existent; the people of Egypt wanted nothing else but to see the last of the Israelites and the wrath of their powerful God. Pharaoh himself was apprehensive; he sent for Moses and Aaron and tried to negotiate terms. Moses was not prepared to negotiate. Unconditional surrender to his demands was the only thing he would accept and his opponent, furious, had them driven from his presence.

By the time the locusts had finished, Egypt was destroyed. "There remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt" (10. 15). Such of the growing crops as had escaped the hail had now been consumed by the locusts and there was no food either for man or beast. Without doubt the year of the Exodus was a famine year for Egypt and in fact it must have been many years before the losses suffered in the Plagues were made good. Pharaoh, horrified, besought Moses in haste; "entreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me this death only" but it is to be feared he was only concerned with the immediate calamity, for directly the west wind blew and carried all the locusts away into the sea he reverted to his old intransigence, "he would not let the children of Israel go". Though his empire crash in ruins around his feet and his subjects perish, the proud Amen - hotep refused to bow the knee to this despised Hebrew.

Reaction was swift. The day of deliverance was very near in the Divine calendar, perhaps not more than a week or so away. Nothing can stay the execution of God's decree once his clock strikes the hour. The locusts had hardly been swept clear of Egypt when the stupefying darkness which was the ninth plague spread over the land, a darkness so profound that "they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings" (10.23).

It was probably the same west wind that expelled the locusts which brought the darkness. Round about March each year there is frequently a strong south - west wind from the deserts bringing clouds of fine sand, blowing in spells of two to three days at a time. The sandstorms are so dense that on occasion they blot out the sun and it is quite conceivable that a particularly thick and sufficiently widespread sandstorm could produce the total darkness upon the earth which is stated of this plague. The fact that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were, was unaffected, strengthens the case for thinking this was the cause of the darkness. Goshen lay farthest away from the western deserts and would be least likely in the natural order to suffer from such visitations.

Once more Moses and Aaron trod the familiar road to the palace, both of them more confident than ever, Pharaoh more edgy and apprehensive than ever. He was ready to concede all their demands but one; they must leave their flocks and herds behind. To do that would have been a virtual death sentence on the host; their flocks and herds were essential to their sustenance whilst in the wilderness and Moses rejected the proposal with scorn. "There shall not an hoof be left behind" he asserted flatly and at that Pharaoh lost his temper and ordered Moses to see his face no more "for in that day thou seest my face thou shall die".

"Thou hast spoken well" said Moses curtly. "I will see thy face again no more."

(To be concluded)