Exodus 11 – The Worst Is Yet To Come!

The Lord told Moses that He was going to bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After this plague, Pharaoh will let them go, driving them out of Egypt altogether. Moses was to tell the children of Israel to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and gold. God gave the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moses was very great in Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and the people. Moses’ fame in Egypt probably ticked off Pharaoh too. Look at how God elevated Moses in Egypt, whereas, in the beginning Moses was using every excuse possible to not be the “chosen one” for this call to lead the people out of Egypt. Has God ever elevated you in a particular situation even though you initially were hesitant to accept the assignment?

In Verses 4 – 8, Moses is still in Pharaoh’s presence. If you remember at the end of Chapter 10, Moses and Pharaoh had words in which Pharaoh told Moses that he wouldn’t see his face anymore and threatened that on the day that Moses saw his face, Moses would die. Moses agreed that he would never see Pharaoh’s face again. So, how is it that in Verses 4 – 8 that Moses is in Pharaoh’s presence? One of my Study Bibles suggested that Verses 1 -3 should be in parenthesis because these scriptures are informing the readers about a revelation that God gave Moses earlier (Exodus 3:21-22) and Verses 4 – 8 are the “continuance” of the meeting at the end of Chapter 10.

Verses 4 – 8 Summary – Moses told Pharaoh that the Lord said that about midnight, He will go out into the midst of Egypt. All of the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from Pharaoh’s house to the house of the female servant behind the handmill. All of the firstborn of the animals would die also. After these deaths, there will be a great cry throughout Egypt, such as never been before and will never be like it again. This death plague would not affect the children of Israel, not even a dog would bark at them or their beasts. A Google source referenced that the Egyptians used guard dogs to keep the slaves in line and to stop any attempts to escape. God did this to differentiate between the Egyptians and Israel. Moses told Pharaoh that his servants will come and bow down to him, saying, “Get out, and all the people who follow you!” It is after that, Moses and the Israelites would leave. The end of Verse 8 says that Moses left Pharaoh’s presence with great anger. Moses was “hot” and that “being slow of speech” concern had not been a factor for quite a while.

Did the death of the firstborn include daughters if the firstborn was a female? If not, what if the father was a “Girls’ Dad” only? So, I would think this would affect those households as well. The next question is, “Why Pharaoh didn’t die in this plague?” A couple of Google source suggestions – 1) Pharaoh was not the firstborn of his father. It was not necessary that the reigning Pharaoh be the firstborn, but just to be a son. 2) God spared Pharaoh’s life so that he would let the people go. Regardless, we will see as we continue our journey, Pharaoh lives to suffer the awful plague of losing his firstborn.

After Moses left Pharaoh, God told Moses that Pharaoh still will not listen, so that His wonders will be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he didn’t let the children of Israel leave Egypt.

We head off to Exodus 12 for our next stop.

To God Be The Glory!