October 23, 2007

• Discovering God’s Character
  
  
  
  Exodus 11-12: The Last Plague and The Departure

  Pharaoh still hasn’t had enough. He’s fighting God to the very end.
  He’s weathered all the plagues and has come out defiant. Yet Pharaoh is
  about to meet his match and learn that its much better to go with God’s plan instead of against it.  To
  be fair, God is not letting Pharaoh back out of the position in which
  he has put himself.

  Exodus 11 opens with the Lord speaking to Moses about bringing one last
  plague. It is interesting to note that the Lord knows exactly what He
  can do to get the results He wants. God tells Moses that Pharaoh will
  now let them go and when he does, he will drive His people out of Egypt
  completely.

  It is now that Moses is commanded to tell each man and woman of Israel
  to ask for articles of silver and articles of gold since He was going
  to give His people favor in the Egyptians’ sight so that they would do
  so.

  It would be at midnight that all the firstborn would die; from
  Pharaoh’s house to the lowest in the kingdom and the firstborn of the
  cattle. Egypt will feel the judgment of God like never before and never
  again yet all those who belong to the sons of Israel they will be
  spared this.  We read what Moses said to Pharaoh…

  
  Moses said, "Thus says the LORD, 'About midnight I am going out into
  the midst of Egypt, 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. 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. 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.’ 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.  Exodus
  11:4-8 (NASB)

  Pharaoh would make his next to last mistake and God will help him do it
  by hardening his heart one last time so that His wonders will be
  multiplied in the land of Egypt.

  In Exodus 12, we see what God had told Moses and Aaron about the
  Passover lamb, its blood to be applied to the doorposts and lintels of
  the houses which eat it, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. There is
  much to say here about these but we will leave that for another time.
  The text tells us what happened at midnight…

  
  Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in
  the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne
  to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the
  firstborn of cattle. Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his
  servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for
  there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for
  Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Rise up, get out from among my
  people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as
  you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said,
  and go, and bless me also."  The Egyptians urged the people, to send
  them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We will all be dead." 
  Exodus 12:29-33 (NASB)

  Its obvious that Pharaoh has overplayed his hand and now God is showing
  him that he has nothing to stand on. Being a king and having a kingdom
  means nothing to God. When folks mess with His people, there is a time
  He lets them do it and then at the precise moment, the persuasive and
  powerful hand of God intervenes in the exact way that is necessary to
  accomplish His end and there is nothing and no one to rescue them.

  The sad part is that often those that surround these people who
  mishandle leadership are profoundly affected as well just like the
  people who had come to see that the God of Israel was truly God during
  the plagues. We see this from their response of urging the people to go
  in haste because they feared that God would kill them all.  If we take
  the time to think about it, the Egyptians were the ones who brought the
  oppression and hard labor to His people (and ultimately Israel feared
  for their lives) and subsequently the Lord taught the oppressors a
  little about feeling terror themselves. It is here that those who abuse
  and terrorize others should take careful note.

  There is one other thing I’d like to bring out before we finish. It has
  to do with a nation’s leadership. I have no interest in being political
  here but the fact is we’ve got elections coming up and even the
  presidential one next year. The dichotomy between God’s way of doing
  things and man’s is becoming increasingly apparent in the blatant
  rejection of old fashioned biblical godliness. What we often fail to
  understand is that leaders who have rejected what God has called for …
  justice, kindness, mercy, faithfulness, and humility in the interest of
  being free to do whatever they want will ultimately deny these good
  things to the rest of us.  A good example of this was the recent open
  slander of a well-known media figure, a private citizen, by people in
  the highest levels in our government who have aligned themselves with
  those who have no interest in preserving free speech let alone serving
  the Lord. What we have seen could very well be a prototype for the
  future.

  This is an excellent parallel to the story here in Exodus of a Pharaoh
  who thought he was above God and could dictate the affairs of God’s
  people at his whim. Unless we think that all this is myth or history
  long past, we should remember that God has written His word to let us
  know about Himself and how He operates and indeed He does make a
  distinction between His people and the rest. The Exodus was a pattern
  for things to come. When God’s people are oppressed, He hears it and He
  responds… and the Pharaohs of today will again learn to listen to His
  voice or become an example as was the king of Egypt when Israel left
  for the Promised Land.  We have learned again about His character and
  it doesn’t change. Mr.Vee

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