And Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt.
Moses stands before Pharaoh for the last time. The message is not his own; it opens with "Thus says the LORD." Nine plagues have come through wind, water, insects and disease. Now God says He Himself will come out at midnight, and Egypt's firstborn will die.
Pharaoh had already hardened himself against every sign. Even so, God sent a warning before He struck.
Yet God would not strike, without a warning word, even those who had hardened their necks against Him. Moses brings this last and final testimony to Pharaoh in these words — "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt... and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die." That voice spoke to Pharaoh for the last time, and it was never heard again.
The words "I will go out" mark a change. Until now God had struck through created things.
What he announced was an act of God. In its character and its severity, it was lifted far above everything that had gone before. In the nine plagues before this, God had used things of His own creation as the means of punishment. But now He, the Creator, was going to step in personally: "About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt."
If a holy God comes down among sinners, death must follow. Yet He struck only the firstborn, and that limit shows mercy.
Now if the holy and righteous God comes down like this among His fallen and sinful creatures, there can be only one result. The death penalty must fall, for "the wages of sin is death." Yet even here God shows His mercy. Death was not to fall on all the Egyptians, but only on the firstborn of both man and beast... In a family tree, the outermost twigs show the firstborn sons of the various branches of the family. Using that picture, we may say that God was about to cut off all the young twigs. That was a sign that His sentence of death rested on the trees, though He would not cut down every tree at that moment.
God named the hour ahead of time. Midnight is when people sleep and feel safest.
"So Moses said, 'Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt.'" When everyone was asleep and felt safe, the judgment would fall... Signs and wonders had produced no repentance of heart. Pharaoh had hardened himself still more. Threats of judgment did no good... Supper-time was the time to hear and to act. When midnight came, the blow had fallen, and then it was too late.
The choice of the firstborn was not random. One answer rests on God's own claim; the other on what Egypt was proud of.
Why the firstborn? Because they are those who ought to be devoted to the Lord, since He is the Creator and the best is rightly His (Ex. 13:1-2). But Egypt had kept on rejecting God's claims about Israel, whom He called His "firstborn" (Ex. 4:22-23). Now Pharaoh would lose his own firstborn.
The firstborn was the chief of their strength, all that man would glory in, the fulfilment of his hopes and desires... Egypt stands for the world in its opposition to God, and Pharaoh for its god and its prince. So it is of the greatest importance for the children of God to realise that all that man glories in lies under the judgment of God. Death is on everything here. All is shut up under death.
Nothing here exempts Israel. Their firstborn lived because another death took their place.
The Lord passed through the land of Egypt with the sword of justice drawn, to strike all the firstborn. Israel's firstborn would not have escaped either, if the sword had not fallen on the neck of the spotless victim instead. As someone has well said, "There was death in every house, not only in the houses of the Egyptians, but also in those of the Israelites. In the Egyptian houses it was the death of Egypt's firstborn; in the Israelite houses, the death of God's LAMB."
- Warned. God announced the blow before He struck. Pharaoh heard that voice for the last time.
- Personal. The earlier plagues came through created things. Here the Creator says He will step in Himself.
- Measured. Only the firstborn fell. God cut the young twigs and left the trees standing for the moment, but His sentence of death rested on the whole tree.
- Timed. Midnight was the hour of sleep and false safety. Supper-time was the time to act; after that it was too late.
- Answered. Israel's firstborn deserved the same sword. There was death in every house that night: in Egypt's, the firstborn; in Israel's, the lamb.
And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sitteth on his throne, even unto the firstborn of the bondwoman that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle.
God's final warning to Pharaoh sets the exact reach of the coming blow. It spares no rank, from the palace to the mill. Two questions follow: why the firstborn, and why no house in Egypt escapes.
The blow answers a claim Egypt had already refused. God called Israel His firstborn son, and Egypt would not give him up.
From verse 4 to 8 Moses gives Pharaoh his final warning, as directly from the Lord's lips. God had spoken. At about midnight He would step into the middle of Egypt's family life. Every firstborn in the land of Egypt would die: the firstborn of Pharaoh, the firstborn of the lowest of the people, and the firstborn of the animals too. Why the firstborn? Because they are those who ought to be devoted to the Lord, since He is the Creator and the best is rightly His (Ex. 13:1-2). But Egypt had kept on rejecting God's claim to Israel, whom He called His "firstborn" (Ex. 4:22-23). Now Pharaoh would lose his own firstborn.
The firstborn was not just the eldest child. He stood for the strength and hope of the household, so the blow fell where Egypt's confidence lived.
God made Egypt realise what it meant to be under His unsparing judgment. He "struck down the firstborn of Egypt" (Ps. 136:10). The firstborn was the chief of their strength, all that man would glory in; the gratification of his hopes and desires. By human standards the firstborn stood for dignity and strength at their best. God struck them all — "every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength" (Ps. 78:51). Egypt stands for the world in its opposition to God. Pharaoh is its god and its prince, and his spirit drives those he rules — not by right, but because he seized the place. So the children of God need above all to realise this: everything man glories in lies under the judgment of God. Death is on everything here; all is shut up under death.
The sentence runs from the king's heir to the slave woman's child. One writer reads that span as the measure of man's ruin — including the ruin of people known for their kindness.
Our Saviour God deals with man by bringing in the light. That light shows up his ruin even in the best circumstances, from the throne down to the firstborn of the female slave behind the mill. God's love for mankind sees the people who spend their lives helping others as perhaps the ones who most of all need His saving love. Their own good nature and kindness blind them to their sins.
The blow was measured, not random — and that is what spread the grief to every house.
The mortality would be great, yet special. Only one in each house should die, yet not one house should be without a dead body on that eventful night. The destroying angel would strike with his death-bearing dart the firstborn of each Egyptian family, from the palace to the mill and the dungeon. Who could comfort mourners when all alike were grief stricken? Sorrow would fill every house across the land, and one desire would take hold of everyone: Israel must go.
The earlier judgments came through instruments and agents. This last one comes from God Himself.
Every judgment so far had made it more solemn to have to do with God as Judge. This last one deepens that solemnity beyond measure, because God deals with the ruler and the people of Egypt Himself. He sets every instrument and agent aside. Verse 4 says: "Thus says the LORD: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die."
If the sentence covers throne and mill alike, nothing in Israel's own character set them apart. The next verses say the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. One writer says that difference lay outside the people themselves.
In the eleventh chapter you find God saying, "every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die" (Ex. 11:5), and then "that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel" (Ex. 11:7). What was the difference? Were they not all sinners alike? Yes. The difference was this: the blood of the lamb sheltered Israel but not the Egyptians — the world.
- Claim. God called Israel His firstborn son. Egypt refused to give him up, so the price fell on Egypt's own firstborn.
- Strength. The firstborn stood for the best a household could produce — so the blow landed on everything man glories in.
- Reach. Throne, mill and dungeon are one list: no rank and no reputation for goodness places anyone outside the sentence.
- Nearness. Every instrument is set aside — God Himself goes out through Egypt, and that makes this judgment more solemn than any before it.
- Shelter. The line drawn that night was not between good people and bad, but between houses under the blood of the lamb and houses without it.
And there shall be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
Moses stands before Pharaoh for the last time. He announces a sound Egypt has never heard: a cry of grief across the whole land. Why would God let a nation wail at midnight? And what makes this sorrow one of a kind?
The cry belongs to the last of the plagues. The chapter opens by announcing it.
"One plague more!" A solemn word! It signed the death warrant of Egypt's firstborn.
The whole nation weeps, but the resistance behind it belonged to the king alone. He knew what his refusal would cost, and chose it anyway.
Pharaoh, by his stubborn resistance to the will of the Lord, had brought this grief and misery on his subjects. With pride, and again and again, the great ruler had defied the Almighty of the heavens, saying, "Not Your will, but mine be done." He refused to free Israel, the firstborn of God, from slavery. He knew full well the dreadful alternative for the firstborn of Egypt, and he dared it anyway. So through man's stubborn self-will, the hope and promise of a mighty nation died in that night of weeping.
What makes this cry unlike any other is not the number of deaths but their spread. One death per house, and no house left out — which meant no neighbour left able to console.
The death toll would be great, yet specific. Only one in each house would die, yet not one house would be without a dead body on that momentous night... Who could comfort the mourners when all alike were struck with grief? They had known a darkness that could be felt. Now all joy in every house across the land would go dark; a shared sorrow would fill Egypt. Then one desire would grip them all: Israel must leave. They would urgently beg the Israelites to go.
Why did the judgment sound like a cry? Mourning in Egypt was loud and public.
The customs of the country intensified the misery. Even today a "great cry" goes up in parts of Egypt when death enters a house. Friends of the family take up the wail, and the still air carries the loud laments far off. In those old days, when death entered a house, the family would rush into the streets, throw dust on their heads and beat their breasts as they cried out. Friends and relatives joined the sad crowd, and professional mourners added their shrill screams. No one needed such services on the midnight of the Passover, even if someone had offered them. Grief and terror, all too real, were in every house and filled every street... In the night of the great cry in Egypt the wail that filled the land was for the firstborn: "Alas, my firstborn! Alas, my firstborn!"
The timing matters. Egypt does not cry out while there is still time to act. The crying starts once the blow has landed.
A cry when the blow had fallen. Signs and wonders had produced no repentance of heart: Pharaoh had hardened himself still more. Threats of judgment did no good... The evening was the time to hear and to act; when midnight came the blow had fallen, and then it was too late. The person who put it off might plead how well he understood the plan of rescue; but he had folded his arms and judgment had overtaken him.
Israel would be exempt from this cry. But the exemption was granted, not earned.
But again there would be exemption for the Israelites, for the Lord was going to put a difference between them and the Egyptians. There was no basic difference between them; had there been, it would not have been necessary for the Lord to put a difference... The Israelites were sinners as the Egyptians were, and equally under the death sentence, and God shows no partiality. So if God puts a difference, it must be done in a righteous way.
How was that difference made righteous? Death came to every home in Egypt that night. The only question was who bore it.
The firstborn was dead in every unsheltered house: the Lamb in every house sheltered by its blood! Judgment had been passed on all; the Lamb had borne it for the people of God. Egypt had borne it for themselves. Each was final, and the outcome never changed.
- Warned — God announced the plague in advance. Pharaoh knew the cost and chose it for his own people.
- Unequalled — one death per house, no house exempt, and therefore no one left to comfort anyone.
- Late — Egypt's cry rose after the blow, not before; the time to act was the evening, not midnight.
- Difference — Israel escaped because God put a difference, not because one nation was better than the other.
- Shelter — every house had a death that night: the firstborn without the blood, the lamb within it.
But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know that Jehovah distinguisheth between the Egyptians and Israel.
The last plague is coming, and with it God draws a line: death will reach every Egyptian home, while in Israel not even a dog will growl. The verse gives the reason — so that everyone would know that the Lord Himself makes the distinction — which raises the question of how God can spare one house and strike the next.
This line is God's to draw, not ours. And the difference He draws has nothing to do with looks or character.
It is the Lord alone who can "put a difference" between those who are His and those who are not. It is not our place to say to anyone, "Stand by yourself, I am holier than you" — that is the language of a Pharisee. But when God puts a difference, we must ask what that difference is. Here we see that it is a simple question of life or death. This is God's grand "difference." He draws a line. On one side of the line is "life," on the other "death." Many of Egypt's firstborn might have been as fair and attractive as those of Israel, and far more so. But Israel had life and light, founded on God's purposes of redeeming love and established by the blood of the lamb.
If God has to put a difference, then no difference was there to begin with.
But again there would be exemption for the Israelites, for the Lord was going to put a difference between them and the Egyptians. There was no basic difference between them. If there had been, the Lord would not have needed to put a difference. Here, then, we have a picture in advance of the "no difference" teaching of Romans 3:22-23. The Israelites were sinners just as the Egyptians were. They were under the same death sentence, and God shows no partiality. So if God puts a difference, He must do it in a righteous way.
So how can God spare one guilty people while He destroys another?
True, it was His purpose to redeem Israel out of Egypt. It is also quite true that by His own sovereign rights He can make a difference between the one and the other. But God can never cease to be God, and all His actions must express what He is in some aspect or character. Israel were just as guilty as the Egyptians. Both alike were sinners. So if He spares Israel while He destroys Egypt, He can only do it in a way that agrees with His own nature. In other words, His righteousness must show as fully in saving the one as in destroying the other.
So on what ground could God make that distinction?
God had declared in Exodus 11:7, "that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel." God could show His righteousness in making this distinction. It rested on no moral superiority of Israel over the Egyptians, but only on redemption by blood.
Inside those houses that night there was a calm of a particular kind.
The calm peace in the houses of the Israelites was like a calm before a storm, for they were waiting for the judgment to break out. It was also like the calm that comes from knowing the storm would not break on their heads. But it was more. It was the peaceful calm that only confidence in God's word can give. It assures the one who receives it that he is safe from the coming judgment.
Later enemies had to learn the same lesson.
Pharaoh could not harm the people of God when he had them as slaves in his own land. So how could Balak or Balaam expect to touch them when they were free and under God's care and protection? No one was able to curse or defy those whom God had not cursed or denounced.
The line God drew in Egypt did not stay in Egypt.
If there is "no difference" among men in the matter of guilt, and "no difference" in the way God gives out His saving grace, then there is still a difference between God's saved ones and all others. It is deep and eternal. Light stands apart from darkness, day from night, life from death. In the same way the saved stand apart from all who are unsaved... Christ is the dividing line today between those who are hurrying to eternal doom and those on whom no judgment can ever fall.
- Level ground. God had to put a difference because none existed — Israel and Egypt were alike under the death sentence.
- God's line. Only the Lord draws it; claiming to be holier than someone else is the Pharisee's language, not faith's.
- Righteous grace. God's righteousness had to show as clearly in sparing Israel as in striking Egypt.
- The blood. The distinction rested on redemption by blood, not on any moral superiority in Israel.
- Perfect quiet. Where God's word was trusted, judgment passed by without so much as a dog's growl. No later enemy could undo what God had settled.
And all these thy bondmen shall come down unto me, and bow down to me, saying, Go out, thou, and all the people that follow thee; and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a glowing anger.
Moses' last words to Pharaoh are not a plea but a prediction. The men who ruled over Israel will bow to Israel's leader and beg the nation to go. Then Moses walks out of the palace burning with anger — and that anger raises the harder question in this verse.
This message closes a long series of warnings to Pharaoh.
When Pharaoh heard Moses speak the words, beginning with "Thus says the Lord," as recorded in Exodus 11, he was listening to the voice of God for the last time, though he probably did not know it. The preliminary judgments had run their course. The time for talking was over. Decisive action was now to start.
Chapter 10 already ends this meeting, so where does Exodus 11:8 belong?
It must be observed that Exodus 11:8 refers to the same time as Exodus 10:28-29, so that Exodus 11:1 to the middle of Exodus 11:8 took place before Exodus 10:28-29.
Nothing is left here of the timid man who once shrank from this errand.
Everything was now prepared. Moses delivers his final message. It was a message full of seriousness and dignity, fitting the majesty of Him whose messenger he was… His mission finished, Moses "went out from Pharaoh in a great anger" (11:8). He was now in full communion with the mind of God, filled as he was with a holy indignation against Pharaoh's sin. (Compare Mark 3:5.) All his timidity has gone. He stands before the king calm and fearless, knowing he carries the authority of the Lord.
The verse ends with Moses in "hot anger." Where does such anger come from?
He delivered this final message with the full weight of God's authority behind it. Then he went out from Pharaoh "in a great anger," or "in a glowing anger." It is no sin to be angry with sin. In Moses there was simply a reflection of what was in the heart of God.
Scripture shows Moses angry on other occasions too, and one of them brought punishment on him. So what makes the difference?
Righteous anger never has self in any shape or form for its cause. Moses was angry in Exodus 11:8. But it was over the insults Pharaoh offered to the Lord and His people. That was unlike his anger in Numbers 20, which brought punishment on him. We also find Moses angry in a similar way in Exodus 32:19 and Leviticus 10:16. In Nehemiah 5:6 we find Nehemiah very angry at gross injustice. Others did it, and they did it to others, not to him. So he did "well" to be angry. In Ephesians 4:26 we get the exhortation to "be angry and do not sin"; that is, not to store up anger and malice in our hearts.
Written out as a rule for daily life, it comes to this:
May the Lord help us to ignore personal attacks of any kind and reserve our anger and resentment for attacks on the Person and interests of Christ.
Moses now looks ahead to the night the firstborn die.
Moses further tells Pharaoh what would happen when the plague of the death of the firstborn took place. All Pharaoh's servants would come to Moses. They would humble themselves and urge him and all Israel to leave the land (v. 8)… Pharaoh was very angry, but Moses "went out from Pharaoh in great anger" (v. 8). This is the occasion Hebrews 11:27 speaks of: "By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king." Moses had sought the willing cooperation of Egypt. It was now completely refused. He will no longer labour with them, but will give them up to their chosen destruction.
On the night it happened, the humbling reached the throne itself.
The proud Pharaoh of the exodus stooped to ask the blessing of Moses and Aaron. They represented the people he had kept so long in slavery. He did this when his firstborn lay dead in his house.
- Last word. Pharaoh hears God's voice for the last time. After this the talking stops and judgment falls.
- Last fear gone. The timid man is gone. Moses stands before the throne calm and fearless, carrying God's authority.
- Last patience spent. His anger is "glowing anger" — not sin, but a reflection of what was in God's own heart against Pharaoh's sin.
- Last test applied. Righteous anger never has self as its cause; Moses burns over insults to the Lord, not over the king's anger against him.
- Last appeal refused. Egypt's cooperation was sought and refused, so Moses leaves it to the destruction it chose. On the night the firstborn died, even Pharaoh stooped to ask a blessing from Moses and Aaron.