Prepare
Opening Prayer
Thank God for a day to worship and remember his praises, asking for understanding, deeper love, and growth in his ways.
Read
Scripture Passage
Death for Egypt’s Firstborn
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will strike Pharaoh and the land of Egypt with one more blow. After that, Pharaoh will let you leave this country. In fact, he will be so eager to get rid of you that he will force you all to leave. 2 Tell all the Israelite men and women to ask their Egyptian neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3 (Now the Lord had caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the people of Israel. And Moses was considered a very great man in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptian people alike.)
4 Moses had announced to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. 5 All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die. 6 Then a loud wail will rise throughout the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or will ever hear again. 7 But among the Israelites it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites. 8 All the officials of Egypt will run to me and fall to the ground before me. ‘Please leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your followers with you.’ Only then will I go!” Then, burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.
9 Now the Lord had told Moses earlier, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, but then I will do even more mighty miracles in the land of Egypt.” 10 Moses and Aaron performed these miracles in Pharaoh’s presence, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let the Israelites leave the country.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ex 11:1-10
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
God warns of the final plague, the death of Egypt's firstborn, after which Pharaoh will drive Israel out and the Egyptians will give them silver and gold. The coming Passover provides refuge through the lamb's blood, and God distinguishes his people as those he knows, loves, protects, and redeems.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Exodus 11:7
Bryan says verse 7 is double-underlined and later explicitly identifies it as his best summary, while acknowledging listeners may choose a verse describing the plague itself.
C — Called or Christ
C — Christ Connection
Take notice, remember, and find comfort that God knows those who believe, marks them as his own, and protects, cares for, and loves his people. Rest under the shelter of his wings and the watchful care of the risen Great Shepherd.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. We get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis to Leviticus. Why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray. We'll jump into God's word. Let's pray.
Father we thank you so much for this day that you've given us. A day to worship you. A day to remember your praises. Father we pray that you would please help us to understand. Help us to love you. Help us to grow in your ways. In Jesus's name, Amen. All right, so we're at Exodus chapter 11. Exodus chapter 11. It's actually a really short chapter. It's only 10 verses, so that's what we're going to be reading this morning. Exodus chapter 11.
And the Lord said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians.
Moreover, 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. Then Moses said, Thus says the Lord about midnight, I will go into the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn of Egypt shall die. from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, as such was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast, that you may know that Jehovah does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
And all these were servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out. And all the people who follow you. After that, I will go out. Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. But the Lord said to Moses. Pharaoh will not heed you. So that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. And he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? In all reality a chapter 11 chapter. Let me see here. Chapter 11. My pages are sticking together. Sorry. Oh, don't you hate when pages stick together? I can't get chapter 11 from chapter 12. Yeah. So chapter 11 through chapter 12. Uh, chapter 13 are kind of part of chapter 13 are really kind of all put together. Right. So 11, 12 and 13. So that's fine that we're we're really just looking at 11 unless you want me to read next time, 11, 12 and 13. But I don't think that's really what we want to do. This is about as a warning.
God's telling them this, what's going to happen, but in the subsequent chapters, it's actually going to happen. And so he tells them, I'm going to make a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites. I'm going to make sure you understand that I really am with my people. I'm going to kill all the firstborn. Everybody in Egypt's firstborn.
Right? Because there's people with obstinate hearts. We find that there's actually a way for them to not have their firstborn killed. It's by coming to Jehovah, coming to Yahweh by taking part in the Passover, sacrificing the Paschal lamb and putting the the blood on the doorpost and lentil of the house. But. Most of Egypt will not do that. They're not going to cast in their lots are still going to. Hold back. Farrah's heart is going to become hard. She's not going to believe this.
But that day of judgment is coming. when God is going to display just how powerful he is by even taking the firstborn. And notice it's not just the firstborn son, it's from the highest level in society, Pharaoh himself, the lowest level in society, a slave woman who her only job is manual labor to even the firstborn of every flock of the field. Right, so you have a cow. The first born of that cow is going to die. You have a sheep, you have a dog, all of them. Firstborn's gonna die. It's gonna be a massive outcry of grief and sorrow.
And God says, I'm gonna give you favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. He says, before you leave, Pharaoh's gonna drive you guys all the way out. But he says, before you leave, I want you to go ask him for gold and silver. They're just going to give it to you. Are you going to plunder the Egyptians? They're just going to hand it over to you. And then the Pharaoh is going to send you out.
They've been holding back wages from them. They've been stealing money from them by forced labor all this time. And now God's going to supersede over this. And God himself is going to make their hearts inclined to give them gold and silver. They're gonna take it with them in the exodus. Oh So what's this about? It's got warning about the very last plague the death of the firstborn And he's telling them that Pharaoh is going to drive them out as the Egyptians.
And he is going to make a distinction. I actually have that double underlined in my Bible, verse seven. But against the one against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast. But you shall know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Right. Why is God doing this plague so that they know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel? The Lord knows who his people are. The Lord cares for them, redeems them, protects them. And loves them. So I already told you what I think is the best verse to get at this for seven, but you maybe you would disagree because that's not actually saying what's going to happen. That's fine. Let me know down in the comments. What does it mean for us? What are we called to do? God still marks you who believe. God still knows who his people are.
And he protects his people, he cares for his people, he loves his people. And so we ought to take notice of that, remember that, take comfort in that. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you are the redeemer of your people. That you know who are yours and that you love us. That you have called your people to yourself. Those who are called by your name.
As a father, we pray that you would please let us take comfort in that. Please let us take comfort in the shelter of your wings. Lord, we pray that you would please give us strength. In Jesus's name, Amen. May God bless you. May you take comfort knowing that you are always under the watchful eye of the great shepherd of the sheep who has been raised from the dead. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.