The Final Plague Threatened

INTRO

We’re covering the tenth and final plague today. Let’s review the nine plagues described in Exodus 7—10: (1) water turned to blood, (2) frogs, (3) gnats, (4) flies, (5) death of livestock, (6) boils, (7) hail, (8) locusts, and (9) darkness. Childs, a biblical commentator, said the events in chapter 11 were the culmination of the plagues and the beginning of Passover tradition.¹

TEACHING

Exodus 11:1: God had never told Moses how many plagues it would take. Now, God did reveal this plague would be the last and then Pharaoh would let them go. Moses saw the end was coming. Notice God said Pharaoh would “drive you out.” This phrase is translated from “nega”, which is a generic term for plagues, diseases, injuries. It is a noun referring to when something touches. Remember when God “touched” Jacob’s thigh (Genesis 32:25)? Now God was going to “touch” the Egyptians in a way that would be drastic. The Egyptians had already experienced this touch from God to some degree. In Genesis 12:17, “The Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.” God brought this judgment because of what the Egyptians had done to His people. Hamilton said this was the same concept described in Proverbs 6:32-33, which allowed a husband to inflict a “touch” on an adulterer.²

Exodus 11:2: God told Moses to tell all the men and women of Israel to ask their Egyptian neighbors for silver and gold jewelry. This was not a small request. In 991 BC, they found a buried necklace that weighed more than 42 pounds. This was a lot of plunder! God had promised this to Moses earlier (Exodus 3:22). And in Exodus 12:36, it actually happened.

Exodus 11:3: “The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And the man Moses was highly regarded in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and the people.” The Israelites had been through a lot of grief, and now the Lord poured out His favor on them. Remember when Pharaoh’s officials realized the hail was coming and they brought in their livestock because they feared God and believed what Moses said? Here again, the people feared God because of what they saw happening. Pharaoh was the only one who didn’t see it.

Moses was “highly regarded” in Egypt. This was the same language used in Esther 9:4 that described Mordecai as “highly regarded” by the people of Persia.³You can see when God’s favor is on a business or ministry or household. This happened to Moses because he was obedient, and he stayed the course.

Exodus 11:4: Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.’” We typically think of bad things happening at midnight. However, a couple of positive events occurred at midnight in Scripture: Psalm 119:62 encourages us to “rise at midnight to thank You for your righteous judgments.” Acts 16:25 described Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns to God at midnight while all the prisoners listened to them. Notice the statement “I will go”, meaning the Lord would go through Egypt. This was preparation for or foreshadowing the Incarnation.⁴God would go throughout Egypt and bring deliverance to the Israelites.

Exodus 11:5: No ifs, ands, or buts—when God executed His judgment, every firstborn male in the land of Egypt would die. Pharaoh would not escape this judgment. No more hierarchy. It would affect everyone, including the livestock. Throughout Genesis, we talked about the value and importance of the firstborn. Think of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and the 12 tribes of Israel. Constable said the firstborn sons were the sign of a nation’s strength and vigor. The family lines came through the firstborn son.⁵Remember that the Levites were considered the firstborn sons. Dozeman summarized these events:⁶

(1) Time: about midnight, (2) Content: firstborn males in Egypt, (3) Scope: across the board, and (4) Outcome: great cry of anguish; innocent children will die (v. 6).

Exodus 11:6: “Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before, or ever will be again.” This makes me think of Noah and the rainbow. Many have questioned how a just God could randomly kill firstborn children. Constable provided five possible arguments:⁷(1) Whatever God does is right because He’s God; (2) God is the sustainer and giver of life, so He’s righteous in withdrawing life from any creature; (3) God can take life as well as give it; (4) Humans are sinners and sin results in death, so God is just in punishing people; and (5) God didn’t kill all of the kids.

Exodus 11:7: “But against all the Israelites, whether man or beast, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.” Israel was going to be saved. But for Egypt, every firstborn would be gone. God was going to deliver the Seed in this process. God was going to pass over the Israelite firstborn males.

Exodus 11:8: Moses left Pharaoh’s presence in fierce anger. When I think of anger, I think of Jesus’ anger at the temple. Scripture says it was a righteous anger. I feel this anger was righteous as well. Moses was sick of the evil that was taking place. In addition to this instance, Moses showed anger several other times but always with a clear head.⁸In Exodus 16:20, he became angry when the Israelites gathered more than a day’s worth of manna. In Leviticus 10:16, he became angry with Aaron’s sons when sacrifices weren’t done properly. In Numbers 16:15, he became angry when the sons of Korah rebelled against his leadership. Only once did Moses show hot-headed anger. In Numbers 20:10–12, he struck the rock in Meribah in anger to draw forth water for the Israelites who were complaining. In this case, Moses’ anger prevented God from showing His holiness, so Moses was not allowed to lead Israel into the Promised Land.

When sin is present, sometimes it’s OK to be angry. At what point is there going to be a righteous anger that builds up in you? When is the church going to get it? When are we going to admit that what we’re doing is not radically impacting our culture? We’re not giving up our lives for the Lord! I just want to say sometimes, “Church, soften your hearts”! I’m angry at the Pharaohs in America. I’m ready for a move of God. When you’re honest, can you say you’ve given it all up for Him?

Exodus 11:9–10: Though Pharaoh witnessed God’s power in the wonders Moses and Aaron performed, he refused to let the Israelites go. You know what gives me hope when people don’t listen? God gets to show His power, and He gets the glory. I want to see God demonstrate His power. Moses and Aaron were obedient.

CLOSING

Sailhamer said, “By means of the last plague, then, the writer is able to bring the Exodus narratives into the larger framework of the whole Pentateuch and particularly that of the early chapters of Genesis. In the midst of the judgment of death, God provided a way of salvation for the promised Seed (Genesis 3:15). Like Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24), Noah (Genesis 6:9), and Lot (Genesis 19:16–19), those who walk in God’s way will be saved from death and destruction.”⁹

God honored His promise to deliver the Seed, and it was going to come in a unique way—Passover. God was going to pass over the Israelites, save His people, and strike down the Egyptians.