And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment I am Jehovah.
Egypt's last plague is not a natural disaster but a personal visit from God. That raises two questions: why does the judgment reach Egypt's gods as well as its homes, and how could Israel survive the same night?
God does not send an angel to do this work.
Now God announces that He (not an angel) would pass through the land that night (v. 12), striking dead all the firstborn in Egypt, both of people and animals, executing solemn judgment on all the idols of Egypt, for they would find their idols helpless to protect them.
The removal of every go-between is what gives the night its weight.
Each act of divine judgment had made it more solemn to have to do with God in judgment. This last one deepens that solemnity beyond measure, for God deals in Person with the Ruler and the people of Egypt. Every instrument and agency is set aside. As He says in Exodus 11:4, "About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die."
The strike on Egypt's deities was not a side note. It exposed what stood behind the temples.
The hand of the LORD was heavy also upon "all the gods of Egypt." He executed judgment on their deities — probably the living emblems of their gods — and that must have caused terror in every temple. Judgment falling on the gods of the land showed the LORD's supremacy over "all" the powers men worshipped. It also explains to the Christian the real meaning of the Egyptian religion. Every god in that land was opposed to the LORD. Every sacrifice and prayer offered in any temple, at any shrine, through any priest, went to a demon! King, priests, and people were all completely bewildered. Besides, the LORD's carefully aimed hand, striking only the firstborn, whether of people or of cattle, showed His power so plainly that all Egypt dreaded death. To save themselves, they begged Israel to go, in case everyone died as the firstborn had died.
The earlier plagues had already struck particular Egyptian gods.
Egyptologists tell us that a special goddess was supposed to watch over the frogs and keep the land safe from them. Her name was Heki, and the monuments sometimes picture her with the head of a frog. The Egyptians had to learn that Heki was nothing before the LORD. This illustrates the word, "on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments" (Exodus 12:12). Probably, too, when the first plague fell, Pharaoh was approaching the river to worship the god the Nile was supposed to stand for.
The blow falls on a chosen target, and the target carries meaning.
The firstborn stand for human excellence. They were the sons with a natural claim to the birthright, the place of honour and rule. "He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength," says the psalmist. "Reuben," says the dying father, "you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power." Yet he had to add, "Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence."
God moves through Egypt searching. The Passover night turns on what He is searching for.
But it is God as Judge that is the leading idea in the Passover. Every blessing flows from it. Still, on that night the word was "I will pass over" — not communion with God, but barring out judgment. God as Judge was going through the land, searching for sinners, not to save but to slay. Blood that He Himself appointed turns His eye away from the sinner. The Judge passes on as if there were no sinners in the house.
Being God's people was not enough that night. The blood made the difference.
On the Passover night the question was how God could pass over the guilty, even when they were His people. The blood of the lamb sprinkled on Israel's doorposts declared this: God was judging in the open, yet He could not touch those sheltered by it. That blood held His truth and justice back, and satisfied them. It kept the destroyer from entering. Not one Israelite died within the blood-sprinkled doorframes.
The verse ends with a name, not a reason. The name is the reason.
The LORD, then, is the living, unchangeable God, acting from Himself, finding in Himself the reason for what He does. How suitable a name for the God of redemption — the covenant name!
- He comes. No angel, no agent. God Himself passes through Egypt, and that alone makes this night heavier than the nine before it.
- He exposes. He strikes the gods of Egypt to show they are helpless, and to show what every temple truly served: demons.
- He targets. The firstborn stood for the best that nature could produce: rank, might, the birthright. That is exactly what falls.
- He passes over. As Judge He searches for sinners. Blood of His own appointing turns His eye away, and not one sheltered Israelite dies.
- He signs it. "I am the LORD" — the unchangeable God acts from Himself alone, so His judgment and His shelter both stand.
And the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses in which ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be among you for destruction, when I smite the land of Egypt.
On the night God struck Egypt, every household faced the same sentence. Israel had no natural claim to better treatment. One thing made the difference: blood on the outside of a house. Safety rested on what God saw there, not on what the people felt about it.
Egypt deserved judgment. The real question was whether Israel could stand if God came in. One writer puts it as God Himself raised it:
When God reveals the judgment, He also reveals the way to escape it. The soul that fears God stays close to His word, and this raises the question between God and Israel. Could Israel stand if God came in judgment? The Egyptians were sinners, and God would surely judge them. But if God came down to judge, what were the children of Israel? Where were their sins? ... The destroying angel of the Lord passed through the land. Israelites might have been ever so honest, but without the blood on their doorposts he would have had to enter and kill. For God was under this sign judging sin, and sin levels all distinctions.
The blood was a sign given to Israel, but the promise turns on God's eye, not theirs. That difference decides where a troubled person finds rest.
But must I not see the blood? asks many a distressed soul. It is good for me to value it rightly, and more and more; but no one could have solid peace on that ground. And that is not what God told His people. It was indeed a token to them. But their assurance rested on this: "when I [the Lord] see the blood, I will pass over you." The Israelite's business was not to look at it for his safety. He was to stay within the shelter of the sprinkled blood that God had pledged Himself to.
The place of the blood teaches the same thing. It went outside, on the door, where no one indoors could look at it.
It is also important for us to remember that the blood of the lamb was outside, for the eye of God. The word was, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." Once the blood was there, God would not fail to see it. They did not have to see the blood. Knowing it was there, they were to rest content with God's definite word that, since it was there, He would pass over them. The blood was for the eye of God; His word was for the ears and hearts of those within.
The promise adds no second condition. So safety never rests, even in part, on the person sheltered:
Is it a question of the believer's state, of his worthiness, of his feelings, of his experience, of his walk, of his love, of his devotedness, of his appreciation of Christ? Then there would be no force, no value, no truth in that glorious sentence, "When I see the blood, I will pass over." In that case the wording would have to change completely, and a dark, chilling shadow would fall over its heavenly brightness. It would then have to read, "When I see the blood, and … ."
The word behind "pass over" means more than God overlooking a house. Commentators explain it as active protection:
We are told that the Hebrew word translated this way means to pass over with protection, like a bird stretching its wings over its young. It is not just the negative idea of failing to notice when it is a question of judgment. On that fateful night the Lord was going to strike the firstborn and execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. But wherever the token of death appeared on a house, He would spread His wings of protection over it, and the plague would not enter to destroy.
The blood is also called a sign — older translations say "token" — and it was given to you, so that those inside would have something solid to hold on to.
First, that the blood (notice, not their feelings, nor opinions, nor even prayers, but the blood), and the blood only, was to be the sign to them of their perfect safety. Whatever came, they were to think of the blood and be at peace, because they were sheltered by it. ... He did not say, when I see your feelings or your doings. Oh no; but "when I see the blood, I will pass over you." So the blood answers every claim of God, as well as meeting every need of our souls.
Commentators read the whole chapter as pointing to Christ. They press the same question: what does God see?
Blind indeed are the eyes that cannot see that chapter 12 sets before us the redemption blood of Christ. As the apostle says, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians 5:7). ... And God kept His word. Not one person died that night who believed what He said about that blood. ... Think what God sees in the blood of Christ! It is not what you see. Our views of the value of the atoning death of Jesus are still very limited. But what does God see? The place of highest glory into which God has raised the once-bleeding Jesus is the answer.
- Seen — the whole promise turns on one eye: God's. "When I see the blood," not when you see it.
- Outside — the blood went on the door, where those inside could not see it. Indoors they had God's word, not their sight.
- Only — nothing follows "the blood." Not state, not feelings, not worthiness, not devotedness — or the promise would have to read differently.
- Over — passing over is not God overlooking a house but covering it, like a bird spreading its wings over its young.
- Christ — the lamb of that night points to Christ our Passover. God shows what He sees in that blood by the glory He gave the One who shed it.