Exodus 11:4–5: “Then Moses said, ‘Thus says the LORD: “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.”‘”

November 15th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This was the second time God had warned of this coming plague through Moses. At the burning bush, Moses was ordered by God to warn Pharaoh with these words: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn’” (Ex. 4:22–23). And then, at their very last meeting, Moses warned him again.

Egypt had bloody hands. By order of King Pharaoh, Egyptians had killed the baby boys born to the Hebrews. Now, by order of the King of Kings, the same thing was going to happen to the Egyptians firstborn sons. To the casual reader, who hasn’t read the first 10 chapters of Exodus, it appears God was arbitrarily, without reasonable cause, destroying people and animals. But when all the facts are in view, we see that this was actually a dynamic preview of God’s overall plan for redeeming the fallen world back to Himself.

Here in Exodus, God was progressively revealing His plan for salvation, as He had done from the earliest chapters of Genesis. To help humanity grasp the significance of the coming greatest event of all times, God gave many illustrations or types beforehand. God’s plan would not be complete for another 14 centuries, when on another Passover, in a different land, on a hill called Golgotha, the Son of God was offered as the substitute sacrifice for you and me.

“LORD, how will we ever be able to thank you enough for exchanging Your Son’s life for ours?”