Exodus 11:1-10
The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring
upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he
lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they
ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and
gold jewelry.” 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 So
Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of
Egypt, 5 and every
firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who
sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the
handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the
land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall
growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may
know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 And all these your
servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and
all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out
from Pharaoh in hot anger. 9 Then
the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be
multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
10 Moses
and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
Through the Lenten Season the OT lessons have been the 10
Plagues against Egypt. Here we finally get to the 10th Plague. It is
tiem for the firstborn to die. It is time for the Lam’s to be slaughtered. The
blood of the lambs are spread on the lintel and door posts. Death will pass
over the houses of the Egyptians.
But this text is really about the plague itself. Everyone of
the Egyptian’s firstborn will be killed. God will even put to death the
firstborn of all the cattle. There is no distinction made between the
Egyptians. The only distinction made is between those who are the Lord’s servants
and the Egyptians. “You may know that the LORD makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel.”
But what does this have to do with us? Well may be we should
make a distinction between Egypt and Israel today. Are you Egyptian or Israeli?
In the movie the Ten Commandments, there was an Egyptian who was sent away with
the Hebrews because he had blood on his door posts. He did not want to leave
Egypt but was forced to leave. Are you Egyptian or Israeli?
At least we should recognize we can’t be both. You either
will have the blood spread over you or you will live separate from the blood.
The blood of Christ is offered to all, in Baptism. God desires to spread blood
upon you so that death can not have any hold over you.
Finally, the 10th Plague will finally call
Pharaoh to repentance. How many plagues does it take for you to repent of all
your sins? When you repent of your sins there is forgiveness freely offered to
you. There is blood that can protect you from death and have it pass over.
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