Soon the Egyptians noticed that they were affected
by the plagues, but the people of Israel were not; and they gained a deeper respect for
the Israelites because of how their God protected them. These pagan people were seeing that
SOME God had favor on the Israelites. They began
to treat the Israelites nicer. Moses was
greatly respected by Pharaoh’s men, and secretly they honored him even though
they were still Pharaoh’s officials. They were afraid not to; the fear of the God of Moses had come to Egypt.
God had
another plan for one more plague. Before
He sent that plague He told the people to ask their neighbors for articles of
silver and gold. Since the Egyptians
were favorably disposed toward the people by now, they quickly gave them what they asked
for; being afraid that their God would return vengeance upon them if they did
not. When the Israelites had received
the gold and silver from the Egyptians; God once again spoke to Moses:
“I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on
Egypt. After that, he will let you go
from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.”
So Moses told the people: “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight
I will go throughout Egypt. Every
firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on
the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill,
and all of the firstborn of the cattle as well.
There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever
been or ever will be again. But among
the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal. Then you will know that the LORD makes a
distinction between Egypt and Israel.
All of these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me
and saying, “Go, you and all the people who follow you! After that I will leave.”
Remember Moses had been told never to return
before Pharaoh? Moses must have returned
ONLY because God had given him this word; but Pharaoh refused to see him. Moses hot with anger, left without seeing
Pharaoh, just as God had predicted would happen. Moses must have proclaimed the word of God to
Pharaoh’s officials instead of the stuborn Pharaoh. The message was
delivered even if it was delivered indirectly, and the time was set for every firstborn
son in the land, from the lowest to the highest to sleep the sleep of death at midnight. Everyone would be affected except the
Israelites. God had warned that no harm
would come to them.
Note that God is very slow to wrath. He could have easily killed every single
Egyptian right from the start of this story; but instead He sent warnings in
the form of plagues. He gave the
Egyptians time to repent, acknowledge that He was the One and Only God and he
allowed plenty of time for them to treat the Israelites differently. All the Egyptians had to do to escape these plagues was to
obey God.
Even when God did show his
wrath, it was limited to only what was needed for the occasion. He sent the death angel only to the firstborn
sons; not the whole community. God is
always merciful. He is always waiting on
us to truly turn and follow Him and mend our broken ways.
Today Christians must act as bravely and boldly as Moses did.
Moses’ faith is remembered in
the New Testament writings in Hebrews 11:27
and it says; by faith Moses left Egypt,
not fearing the kings anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible. Are we persevering in leaving the things of
the world behind and following the ways of God?
We have known Him who is invisible and we have believed. We must gather ourselves together and have the
faith of Moses and come out of the Egypt of the world.
Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, just as God had
told Moses would happen. God had warned
him; and all Pharaoh’s people could do was prepare for the worst.
At the same time that God warned the Egyptians, He also was lovingly
preparing his people Israel.
God spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave the
instructions for the very first Passover:
“This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your
year. Tell the whole community of Israel
that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family,
one for each household. If any household
is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor,
having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb
needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year old males
without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of
the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them
at twilight. Then they are to take some
of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses
where they eat the lambs. That same
night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs,
and bread made without yeast. Do not eat
the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire – with the head, legs
and internal organs. Do not leave any of
it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your
sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s
Passover. On that same night I will
pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals,
and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the
houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I
strike Egypt. This is a day you are to
commemorate, for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival
to the LORD – a lasting ordinance. For
seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your
houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through
the seventh must be cut off from Israel.
On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh
day. Do not work at all on these days,
except to prepare food for everyone to eat that is all you may do. Celebrate the festival of Unleavened Bread,
because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of
Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance
for the generations to come. In the
first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the
fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in
your houses. And anyone, whether
foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off
from the community of Israel. Eat
nothing made with yeast. Where ever you
live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
Did you grasp those words from God speaking to His
people? Are we not His people today? Our Savior Jesus Christ has made us acceptable unto God and adopted sons of The Family of God. Yes
these instructions given so long ago have been fulfilled in Christ as our
Passover Lamb, but did we forget what God originally instructed? Did he
not say this would be a lasting ordinance?
Did God not say to keep the seven day festival of unleavened bread and
to remove the yeast from our homes before it started? Yes it is all symbolic to us now of how the
story has been fulfilled in Christ; but did God not give that command that it
would be kept throughout ALL generations?
Do you not think He wanted us to do this so that we would NEVER forget
how He showed us He was the One and ONLY GOD? Do you celebrate Passover and keep the 7 day festival of Unleavened Bread?
Can we not have the faith of
Moses and keep the feast in remembrance of how God by giving his firstborn son
has given us freedom from bondage, first from physical bondage to false gods,
and second from spiritual bondage from our own sins, and from Satan and his demons? Surely we can keep a festival before God and
remember as He commanded us to do so long ago! Are we hard-hearted like Pharaoh?
Each man must be accountable to God.
If someone is telling you none of this is important and it has all
passed away; that person will not be standing before God in your place. YOU are accountable to God for what you do in
your own life; just as Pharaoh was accountable to God for making his country
believe in false idols.
One thing has changed in this observance and
it's fulfillment. Our hearts have been
circumcised with the blood of Jesus. The
blood that the Israelites used to cover their door posts symbolizes the blood
of Jesus that covers our hearts and blots our sins out so that God will not see
them or remember them anymore. They are no
longer written down in the book of remembrance for those who have come to trust
in Christ as their Passover lamb. Praise
God we are free at last! Let us keep the
festivals of freedom that God has decreed for us to honor Him with just as the
Israelites kept them when they first gained their physical freedom.
We now have spiritual freedom! It is much greater and we have so much more
to honor God with at our annual festivals now.
Let us honor Him with our whole heart by keeping his word and following his instructions;
totally opposite to the Egyptians who did not listen to God’s instructions to
Moses. Let us not turn a deaf ear; but
let us be hearing and doing!
Let us remove the leaven for seven days; just as
God instructed in Exodus 12: 17-20! Let
us observe the Passover annually and remember that it is our God through Christ His Son who gives us
freedom! Whether we physically act this out or not; we will be just as saved because Christ died for our sins and if we are trusting and believing on Him we are forgiven. However, it is the difference in cherishing and obeying what God has done and taking it for granted.
So it was that Moses summoned the elders of Israel
and said to them; “Go at once and select the animals for your families and
slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a
bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood
on the top and on both sides of the door frame.
None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike
down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the door frame
and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter
your houses and strike you down. Obey
these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the LORD will
give you as he promised, observe this ceremony.
And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to
you? Then tell them, ‘It is the Passover
sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and
spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians."
After Moses spoke this, the people bowed down
before God and worshiped. The Israelites
did just as God had commanded Moses and Aaron.
Midnight arrived.
God struck down the firstborn of all of Egypt, from the house of Pharaoh
to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as the firstborn of
all of the Egyptian livestock that survived the plagues. Pharaoh and his officials woke up during the
night to the sound of loud wailing throughout Egypt. There was not one house without someone dead,
including Pharaoh's beloved firstborn son.
