Judgment Upon the Firstborn (Ex 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.

1.????????? Pharaoh repeatedly refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt despite plagues of blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness. (Ex 7-10) The hardness of Pharaoh’s heart would not allow him to change his mind. This hardness of the heart comes from our sinful human nature. What are some of the sinful characteristics of human nature that drive people to continue with destructive habits?

2.????????? Through the various plagues, God showed that he was punishing the Egyptians but not the Israelites. The final plague was the death of the firstborn son of each Egyptian family. In ancient cultures, the firstborn son was a source of pride and inherited the position and wealth of the father. This plague destroyed the plans of the Egyptian families. Guilt and shame would be upon them for the rest of their lives.

3. The Egyptians must have feared for their lives because the plagues were becoming more severe and personal. They reached the point where they gave their most treasured possessions to rid themselves of the Israelites. The prospect of imminent death many times changes people’s perspective on the value of things and status. Why does it take the imminent threat of death to change people’s behavior?