"God tells Moses that he will strike Egypt with one more plague. After this plague Pharaoh will let the people of Israel go. The plague will be the death of all firstborn children, both male and female, and the death of all firstborn livestock. God will make a distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians. None of the Israelite firstborn children or livestock will die. God will show the Egyptians and Israelites his almighty power and that He is the one true God. Moses warns Pharaoh and the Pharaoh's officials about the impending doom. Unfortunately, the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites leave Egypt."
Exodus 11 - The Last Plague, Death for Egypt’s Firstborn
- ONE LAST. At this point, I think it's really hard to see or imagine how the Israelites will be able to go and be freed from Egypt, without GOD'S ASSURANCE. What a relief when God said, "after that he (Pharaoh) will let you go." And that Pharaoh will certainly drive out the people completely. It's a done deal with God. It's always been. God has the final authority. That's why eventhough it seems hard to hold on in our faith sometimes, and continue to believe God's promises because of various tests and trials, we must persist to believe by faith. Not yet seeing, but believing because God said it-- that's true faith.
"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7
- SILVER AND GOLD. Moses' faith and strength in leadership has been greatly developed by God in the past 9 plagues. God commanded him to speak to all the people, so that everyone will ask from their neighbor, articles of silver and gold. That seems impossible, without God's favor and interventions. It was the Lord who gave the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Even Moses was "greatly esteemed", because of what God was doing through him in Egypt. It was only Pharaoh who was hardened and blinded.
- "I AM". I think it means, under God's authority and command, the angel of death will come to Egypt and all the firstborn shall die. This was a really terrible final warning, and plague. 430 years of enslavement and oppression, and it now comes to this. The Lord knew every man's heart, including the Pharaoh's, and He knew that he will never let the Israelites go without God's powers and intervention. The Pharaoh already said and set it in his heart in Exodus 5:2, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” Just because Pharaoh won't let go of their 'slaves', God's chosen people (from Abraham-Isaac-Jacob), everyone will pay by the death of every firstborn, men and cattle alike.
- THE FIRSTBORN. Sin's consequence is death, and the only way ALL OF OUR SINS will be blotted out is through the blood of the firstborn of all, Jesus the Messiah, God's only son. So in a way, what happened to Egypt was a payment (or sacrificial/burnt offering) to the Lord. God was merciful from the first to the ninth plague, but still, Pharaoh would not listen. Just like all of us, Pharaoh has been given 'free will' to choose, by God, so he was not controlled or forced by God in any way. Just like all of us, we can choose to listen and obey to God, but we can also choose not to. So let us choose the right, and better one, doing God's will by trusting and obeying Him. Through Jesus, we have been given the Word, the Holy Spirit to empower and guide us in all things.
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8
- DISTINCTION. God's wonders and miracles indeed continue to multiply in the land of Egypt. In this final plague, God will once again showcase His might and power to set apart the Israelites from the idol-worshiping Egyptians. Everything is happening for God's glory, and God's glory alone. Pharaoh was blind, as he cannot see that it is God who was in control-- has always been in control and will always be in control forever. God even said that all the Pharaoh's servants will acknowledge that He is God, and they will come and bow down, perhaps when the plague is fulfilled and there was great crying in all the land.
Footnotes:
Exodus 11:7 Lit move his tongue, that is, bark in a threatening way.
* Study Guide Commentary from David Guzik:
b. The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians: Pharaoh was still not quite convinced, but the people of Egypt were willing to see the people of Israel immediately leave. They were more than willing to give them gifts of silver and gold to persuade them to leave. This was how the slaves of Israel received their past wages from their time of slavery, and how they did not leave Egypt empty-handed.
i. “These jewels were employed afterwards in the adornment and enrichment of the Sanctuary. They flashed in the breastplate of the High Priest, and shone in the sacred vessels.” (Meyer)
c. 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: Though Pharaoh’s heart was not yet persuaded, all of Egypt (including Pharaoh’s servants) knew the Lord God was greater than the gods of Egypt and that Moses was a servant of this great God.
a. Then Moses said: As Moses still stood before Pharaoh, for the first time God lead him to specifically say what would happen to the firstborn of Egypt. They shall die, all of them, because the Egyptians would not let God’s firstborn (Israel) go. Therefore, there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt.
i. Even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill: “To sit ‘behind the two mill stones’ (so the Hebrew reads literally) is to do the work of the lowest woman slave in the household, grinding corn (Isaiah 47:2).” (Cole)
b. Against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue: Despite the great calamity to come, God would grant the Egyptians the ability to see the situation as it really was: the fault of their own Pharaoh, not the fault of Moses or the children of Israel.
i. This was even worse news to Pharaoh. Perhaps a politician doesn’t mind calamity if he can blame it on someone else. Here, God promised that Pharaoh himself would bear the blame.
ii. “An unprecedented outpouring of grief would follow, but among the Israelites there would be such tranquility on that evening that not a dog would have occasion to bark.” (Kaiser)
iii. “They had made Israel cry: and God usually retaliates spoil to spoil (Ezekiel 39:10), number to number (Isaiah 65:11, 12), choice to choice (Isaiah 66:3, 4), cry to cry (James 5:1, 4).” (Trapp)
i. So that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt: “The nine plagues can now be seen as a whole. They touched every phase of nature: mineral, animal, vegetable, human. They affected persons and property, and included all, from the highest to the lowest.” (Thomas)
b. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart: Here for the fourth time we are told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12, 10:20, 10:27, and 11:10). Yet God never hardened Pharaoh’s heart until he first hardened it against the Lord and His people (Exodus 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, and 9:7).
Reference and credits to https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/guzik_david/StudyGuide2017-Exd/Exd-11.cfm ©2013 David Guzik
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