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The plague of death.
Some of the Egyptians, fearing Moses’s prophecy, slept that night in the houses of the Israelites. But the death-stroke found them, and the Israelite awakening, found an Egyptian’s corpse beside him.
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Moses asks Pharaoh for the release of the people, but Pharaoh refuses, claiming not to know their God. Consequently God sends the first plague, and Pharaoh recants, begging Moses for assistance, and immediately allowing the people to go, under certain conditions. The Jahwist continues to describe Moses as insisting on the conditions, but nevertheless begging God to end the plague, but Pharaoh goes back on his word, and so God sends another plague. This pattern repeats, the Pharaoh gradually acceding to more and more conditions, until, after the death of the firstborn,
The Slaying of the First-Born.”Thou shalt not see my face any more.”
Such were the words of Pharaoh, when Moses appeared before him, to warn him for the last time of the doom awaiting him should he still oppose the exodus of Israel. Moses answered:
“Thou hast spoken well. Nevermore will I come to thee, but thou wilt come to me, and thy servants and thyself will entreat me, bending, to depart from thy country, and then will I go.”
So great was this distress in Egypt. Pharaoh called to Moses and Aaron, and said, “Arise!” They replied, “What would Pharaoh with us? Has he come to us?” “Arise!” he cried, “arise and go.”
Before inflicting the last plague, God warned Pharaoh, as it is written, “I will smite all the first-born of Egypt. Had God wished to make this the first, instead of the last of the plagues, He could have done so; but He desired to increase the severity with the number of the plagues, and accordingly the lightest he sent first.
“The Lord will pass through the land of Egypt and smite all the first-born.
Joseph went down to Egypt and was made governor. Great respect was also paid to Jacob, for whose death “the Egyptians mourned seventy days.”
For this God named Egypt after the garden of Eden, as it is written, “As the garden of the Lord is the land of Egypt.” When, however, the Israelites were oppressed and reduced to slavery, God made war upon Egypt, through the medium of the ten plagues, and through the last delivered his “son,” Israel, from bondage.
During the night, while the Hebrews sang praises to God, Pharaoh came to the place where Moses and Aaron dwelt, and he cried, “Arise, get thee out,” Then the people scattered themselves among the Egyptians, borrowing vessels of gold and silver. But Moses sought the sepulcher of Joseph, and carried forth his bones, according to the charge given many to him years ago to him.
When they left Egypt they took as gifts from Egyptians Ex 11-2. (BORROWED) The KJV the 1611, century language uses the word borrowed. The NIV “are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” When we look at the Hebrew word we get a better understanding of this taking of gold and silver.
OT:7592 ?????? to take, demand, sha’al (shaw-al’); or sha’el (shaw-ale’); a primitive root; to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand:
(Ex. 12:36, R.V.), or literally “made them to ask,” urged them to take whatever they desired and depart.
The Egyptians were so anxious that they leave that they gave what they wanted just to be relieved from this plague.
Death of the Firstborn:
We find no cause of the death inflicted on the firstborn.
( ???? , bekho?r, “firstborn,” “chief” or “best”
The tenth and last plague, the death of the firstborn males, was a judgment on Isis, the protector of children.
This last plague only affected the firstborn. Some try to explain it was due to food polluted during the time of darkness, either by locusts or by the black mold. When people emerged after the darkness, the firstborn be more likely to be affected by any toxin or disease carried by the food. Meanwhile, the Israelites ate food prepared and eaten very quickly which would have made it less likely to be infected.
The death of the first born. It has been stated that the first born in ancient Egypt had the privilege to sleep close to the floor while other children slept on higher ground or even on roofs. This view, however, is not supported by any archaeological or historical evidence.
God wanted this actions to be talked about by future generations for all time. So He foretold Moses, that all the firstborn in the land of Egypt were to die that very midnight, from the first born of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the maidservants; and even all the firstborn of the beasts. He ordered Moses to ask all Israelites to sacrifice a lamb, eat the roasted sacrifice together with Matzot (“Poor Man’s Bread”) in a celebratory feast and mark their doorposts with the lamb’s blood. This was to save them from the tenth and final plague.
As according to God’s declaration the tenth great plague passed over Egypt that night. It was to be the last plague. By Lord’s power, every firstborn male child from each Egyptian family died at midnight. The silence of the night turned into wails and moans. Every house of Egypt bewailed its dead. The Pharaoh woke up from his sleep to find all his family and servants mourning the death of his beloved eldest son. None of the firstborns of the beasts were spared either.
The significance of the death of every firstborn in Egypt, from the house of Pharaoh to the slaves and the livestock, was great. Egypt’s destruction was complete. Without any delay, the Pharaoh summoned Moses and his brother Aaron; he implored them to get out of the land of Egypt taking all the Israelites with them, whom he had kept as slaves. He allowed them to take their cattle and even all that they needed in their safe passage to another land.
When we look at the command of Moses. It required faith to take Moses’ assurance that the blood of the lamb would be a substitute for their own and their firstborn’s blood. It required faith to accept Moses’ assurance that he had been in touch with God and was presenting His divine will. Furthermore, it required true faith putting blood of the Lamb on their doorpost, as this was certain to bring a swift Egyptian retribution in the morning had Moses been wrong. For some Egyptians worshiped the lamb and would have been angered by the sacrificial killing of their god. The show of faith was rewarded that night, as death passed over the homes of the faithful. Hence the name of this holiday, Passover.
This plague demonstrated the total impotence of the gods of Egypt, None capable of protecting their subjects; All the gods worshiped by the Egyptians, failed to protect them , including “Meskhenet,” the goddess who presided childbirth, “Hathor,” who was one of the seven deities that attended births, “Min,” the god of procreation, “Isis,” the goddess of fertility, “Selket,” the guardian of life, and most importantly, “Renenutet,” the cobra-goddess who was the guardian of Pharaoh.
This brings us to the end of our study on the 10 plagues. If you wish a certificate for completing the lessons, just send me your,
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