Exodus 11:1 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Yet will I bring one
plague [more] upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you
go hence: when he shall let [you] go, he shall surely thrust you out
hence altogether.”
Moses was an entirely different person from the one who first went
to Pharaoh and asked him to let the children of Israel go. Moses, like
many ministers who are called to a certain job by God, was not very
sure of himself at the beginning. As he went about doing one job
after another that God sent him to do, he grew and his faith became
stronger. Moses was an humble man, who depended totally on God. He
conveyed just the message that God gave Him each time. He understood
that he had weaknesses, and that his strength was in God. The plague
would be brought by God. Moses’ part was just to carry the message
between God and Pharaoh. This last plague would be of such magnitude,
that not only would Pharaoh allow the people to go, but he would drive
them out. This word “altogether” means that they would not be allowed
to return to Egypt. This had really been the purpose in all these
plagues, to take this family of God to their permanent home in the
promised land.
Exodus 11:2 “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every
man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels
of silver, and jewels of gold.”
We read in the last lesson, how the Egyptian people had stood up
against Pharaoh, and told him to let these Israelites go. In fact,
these plagues that came on Egypt, spoken by Moses, had caused the
general population, and even the magicians, to have a high esteem for
Moses and the God he represented. They saw that God, or His messenger,
never wavered. Moses told the truth and dealt fairly with everyone. We
can easily see why these Egyptians would not be opposed to giving
valuable things to these Israelites. They had great respect for these
children of Israel, who had been so cruelly treated. This was just
reward for the 100’s of years of work they had given Egypt. The
Egyptians were afraid of the Israelites’ God, and were really glad to
see them go, so that no more plagues would come to Egypt, because of
them. God had already prepared the hearts of these Egyptians to give
to the Hebrews, as well. All these children of Israel had to do was
ask, and these valuable things were theirs. This gold and silver, that
was to be carried into the wilderness with them, would be required of
them for offerings for the tabernacle in the wilderness. The gold and
silver belong to God. Gold and silver are not bad, it is the worship
of gold and silver that is a sin.
Exodus 11:3 “And the LORD gave the people favour 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.”
We see, here, that Moses was very popular with these Egyptians.
They looked to him as being a minister of the true God, because of the
miracles he had brought with the rod God had given him.
Exodus 11:4 “And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight
will I go out into the midst of Egypt:” Exodus 11:5 “And all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that [is] behind the mill; and all the firstborn of
beasts.”
It appears, here, that Moses had never really left the face of
Pharaoh, because it was Moses whom God would have to tell of the
impending last plague. The fact that this was to happen at “midnight”
made this punishment even more frightening, because it was in the very
dark part of the night. We see, here, that this plague was not carried
out by another, but by Jehovah, Himself. The “I” in this verse is
Jehovah God. The ministers, who teach that all bad things come from
Satan, have undoubtedly never seen this Scripture. It leaves no doubt
at all that this was God punishing Pharaoh (type of Satan) and the
Egyptians (type of worldly people). This was a direct result of God
judging Pharaoh and these Egyptians for killing the boy babies. There
would be no discrimination at all. The wealthiest to the poorest would
lose their firstborn. This punishment was so severe, that it reached to
the first born of the animals, as well.
Exodus 11:6 “And there shall be a great cry throughout all the
land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it
any more.”
Every Egyptian family would be touched by this terrible plague.
Grief would be in every home. Remember, Egypt symbolizes the world, or
worldliness. Those who are caught up in the world, and its trappings,
would suffer at the hand of God.
Exodus 11:7 “But against any of the children of Israel shall not a
dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that
the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”
We actually see, here, that God was separating those who follow the
flesh (Egyptians) and those who follow the spirit (Israel). God takes
care of His own, even in the worst of circumstances. Life, or death, is
in the hands of Almighty God; life to those who are God’s chosen, and
death to those following false gods.
Exodus 11:8 “And all these thy servants shall come down unto me,
and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the
people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went
out from Pharaoh in a great anger.”
We see, that great fear had fallen upon these Egyptians. Pharaoh’s
people had now given up on Pharaoh, as a god. They saw that Moses’
truth was real truth. They came and bowed down to Moses, as if he were
the king. They realized the God that Moses represented was the true God.
Moses had finally gotten angry. Moses prophesied, here, that Pharaoh
and his people would ask the Israelites to get out of the land. They
were afraid of a God with this kind of power. They feared another
plague. These Egyptians were willing to give up all of their earthly
possessions, if necessary, to get these plagues stopped.
Exodus 11:9 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not
hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of
Egypt.”
We see that, Pharaoh was a very stubborn man, and having not
succumbed to the other nine plagues, would not succumb to this either,
until God, Himself, had carried this out. Some of the delay in
Pharaoh listening to the warnings, had helped the Hebrews in many ways.
Even though their work load had been added to, they had found favor
with the Egyptian people. The Egyptian people had begun to realize
that all these false gods, they had been worshipping, had no power, that
the God of the Hebrews was the true God. They, also, realized that
Moses, not Pharaoh, was who they should listen to. These wonders
performed had convinced these Egyptians that Jehovah was the true
eternal God. Pharaoh, again, did not listen.
Exodus 11:10 “And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before
Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not
let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
One of the reasons these ten plagues had to come, was so the
Israelites would be willing to follow Moses into the wilderness. With
each wonder, their confidence in Moses grew, until they were willing,
and ready to go at the end of the tenth plague. The reason that these
wonders had to be done in the presence of Pharaoh, was to show Pharaoh,
and his people, the one true God.
We need to take a special look back at these plagues. The first
miracle done in front of Pharaoh, when the rod became a serpent and
swallowed the magicians’ serpents was not one of the plagues. The
first plague lasted 7 days and was the river, the lakes, and the ponds
turning to blood. The second plague was the frogs. The third plague
was the lice, that were produced from the sand. The fourth plague was
the flies. Then the fifth plaque attacked the animals with murrain.
The sixth plague of boils attacked even Pharaoh’s magicians, and they
told Pharaoh this was the finger of God. The seventh plague was hail
mixed with fire. Then, the eighth plague was when the locusts swarmed
the fields. In the ninth plague, we saw darkness, so great that it
could be felt, and it lasted 3 days. The climax of this, the tenth
plague, was the death of the firstborn. In most of these plagues, we
saw the same thing as some of the punishments that will come on the
world at the end of the Gentile age. God never changes. We need to
learn from Bible history. We do not want to fall into the category of
the worldly.