Moses Warns Pharaoh Again (Ex. 11:4-10)

4/16/2008 8:36 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time           Focus:  Moses warns Pharaoh again

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Exodus 11:4-10

            Message of the verses:  “4 ¶  Moses said, "Thus says the LORD, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5  and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well.  6  ‘Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again.  7  ‘But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’  8  "All these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go 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, so that My wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt."

10  Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; yet the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.”

            There are some confusing things to me in this section of Scripture that I want to address first, and one of them is the NAS95 version just uses “firstborn” as to who was killed on the night of the Passover, while the NLT translates “firstborn sons,” and this is the way that Dr. Wiersbe writes about it in his book.  Whenever Pharaoh was killing the babies of Israel he only killed the male babies, so it makes more sense that only the firstborn males would die in this judgment.  Matthew 7:1-2 have this to say:  “1 ¶  "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  2  "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”  Galatians 6:7-9 says this:  “7  Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  8  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  9  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

            In using these verses to help understand whether or not it was only the firstborn sons of Egypt who died in this plague it also helps to answer the question of why God would only slay the firstborn son in this judgment, and also was God just in doing this when Pharaoh was the true culprit?  The answer to the second question is of course that God was just in doing this for it is impossible for God to do any wrong; the only thing left to do is to try and understand why it is that it was just of God in doing this.  I can look back on different events in the OT that happened and see similar things that happened, times when God would slay 180,000 Assyrians in a single night, and times when God caused armies to kill each other instead of killing the soldiers of Israel.  I think one of the key answers to this question lies in verse seven of this chapter, and that verse says this:  “7  ‘But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’” God can never do anything out of His character and although it is hard to understand things He does from time to time the fact remains that God can do nothing out of His character.  The nation of Egypt was a corrupt nation and the wrath of God has come upon them for this corruption but it must be remembered that through these first nine plagues God brought upon Egypt that they were in fact given to remind them that He alone was God, and that they should fear Him, which they did not do.  God would eventually drown all of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea to complete His judgment upon this nation. 

            I will never understand all the things that God does, but by faith I must trust Him, for God will take care of His children of which I am one.  Deu. 29:29 has always meant a lot to me when I come to situations which I do not completely understand when reading God’s Word and it says:  “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to think about verse seven and the distinction that God had between Egypt and Israel for my spiritual meaning.  Israel was set apart by God as His chosen people, and it was in the sovereign will of God that He chose Israel.  Israel did not always do the things that were pleasing to the Lord, and because of this she was disciplined by the Lord.  As a believer in Jesus Christ God also chose me, even before the foundations of the world as it say in Ephesians, and so there is a distinction between others who are not believers and myself, not because of my myself, but because of God’s grace and salvation He has given to me.  With all of this said being said I want to conclude with saying that I am so very grateful to the Lord for my salvation and that there is a distinction between my self and the world.  Praise the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to yoke up with my Lord Jesus Christ as spoken of in Matthew 11:28-30:  “28  "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  29  "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  30  "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

            As we continue to go through some trials in our life and are weary and heavy-laden it is good to know for sure that I can be given rest from my Lord and that I can yoke up with Him, who is humble in heart and by doing this I can find rest for my soul.  Christ’s yoke was easy and His burden was light, speaking of comparing the Law of Moses which was heavy and burdensome. 

Memory verses for the week:                      Philippians 3:7-8

7. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for who I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.