Exodus 11:1-10
Death of the Firstborn Announced (Exodus 3:21, 22; 12:35, 36)
1 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” 3 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. 6 Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. 7 But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ 8 And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.
9 But the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
The final plague of judgment on Egypt as a picture of sin’s bondage on all Adam’s offspring was the death of their firstborn. The firstborn in these times was nearly always to be the heir of the family in authority and power and possessions; to take those away from every family in a nation was tantamount to ending the nation itself. When the LORD told Moses to communicate this ultimatum to Pharaoh, he knew this as well. God made it clear that this final judgment would move the hardest heart to hear and obey Him and let His people go to worship at last. The implications for God’s people set free would soon be demonstrated in the manner of release from their bondage as well in the Passover by the blood of the lamb provided as protection from judgment and death that would destroy the future of that nation in opposition to God’s people set free to lead them out into the promised land of God’s nation and kingdom at last! The LORD told Moses this final judgment would cause the worldly nation to give them freedom and drive them out of that land of their four hundred year enslavement in a godless place of suffering. In Christ, our Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7, Isaiah 53:7), we are likewise delivered from sin’s enslavement out of the world into His kingdom where we now enjoy worship of Him and not the idols of the land we are born in. The picture symbolism here is quite profound and causes us to stand in wonder at the word and work of God throughout our redemptive history. When the imminent freedom of Israel was so announced through Moses, they were also told to take all the plunder of Egypt with them (Exodus 3:20-21, 22) as already told to Moses and Abram (Genesis 15:13-14) beforehand. They would get a start for a new nation born and multiplied in faith in the land of Goshen in a foreign land that they would be equipped and numerous enough to begin to enter the promised land through their long suffering. Since God had made Moses esteemed as great in Egypt from both his initial birth and subsequent return to deliver these judgments, the people of Egypt gladly gave his people all the riches they could carry with them on their journey. They probably also felt guilty on how they had been treated and sought to make some amends as well. Either way, they would give generously when this final judgment fell on them all. Moses announced the sentence of death on all the firstborn of Egypt of all classes and positions from the lowest to the highest of Pharaoh himself. The LORD would then demonstrate the difference between His people and them by preserving His own through the imminent plague of death that would cause such cries of loss and sorrow throughout the land. The Pharaoh heard these words and Moses left in anger from the king at the hardness of his heart that brought such judgment on him and his nation. Even then God reminded Moses that the Pharaoh would continue to harden his heart and ignore the fair warning. God’s mighty hand would be seen to deliver His own as these wonders of the plagues of judgment came to a fatal end. We see the parallel of these plagues in the final judgment at the end of time preceded by the trumpets and bowls of judgment in Revelation as the wrath of God delivers us and all creation from the bondage to sin and takes us out of the presence of sin forever in a new heaven and earth where we are free to worship Him forevermore! That is our promised land, the kingdom of God come to us (Revelation 21:2-3, 22:3) as we have been set free at last to serve and worship Him forever. We have been passed over from judgment by grace through the lifeblood of the Lamb of God shed for us to protect us from destruction and remember this day of our deliverance every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper.
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