And it came to pass that at midnight Jehovah smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
It is midnight in Egypt, and the last of the ten plagues falls. It strikes the eldest son of every home, from the palace down to the prison. The verse raises three questions: why the firstborn, why every household, and why God frees His people by an act of judgment.
The first nine plagues came through Moses and his rod. This one did not.
To bring about this deliverance in righteousness, He sheltered them by the blood of the Passover lamb from the judgment that fell on the firstborn. They were sinners just as much as the Egyptians. The tenth plague differed from the others. The Lord no longer struck the Egyptians by the rod of Moses; it was, as it were, God as Judge Himself. Having sheltered them as sinners by blood from His own righteous judgment, He can now be their Deliverer.
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The verse names the two ends of Egyptian society. Neither the top nor the bottom escaped, though each had reason to think it might.
All ranks of Egyptians would feel it. Pharaoh's power and his wealth could not prevent the death of his firstborn. The miseries already suffered by the captive in the dungeon could not save his child either. For when God executes judgment on man, no human power can resist the blow. No worldly wealth can buy escape from it, and no earlier suffering can soften the stroke. It is worth remembering this. People forget it, and hope that suffering on earth will be accepted instead of enduring God's just judgment.
The blow lands on what Egypt valued most. The firstborn son was a household's pride and the proof of its future.
The firstborn was the chief of their strength, everything a man would boast in, the fulfilment of his hopes and desires. By human standards the firstborn stood for the best of a family's dignity and strength. God "struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength" (Ps. 78:51). See Egypt as a picture of the world in its opposition to God, and Pharaoh as its god and prince, whose spirit drives those he rules — not by right, but by usurpation. Then it becomes vital for the children of God to grasp that everything man boasts in lies under the judgment of God. Death is on everything here; all is shut up under death.
The livestock are struck too. Egypt worshipped its animals, and God had said He would judge its gods.
The hand of Jehovah was heavy also on "all the gods of Egypt" (Ex. 12:12), which added to the dismay. He executed judgment on their deities — probably the living creatures that represented their gods. That must have caused terror in every temple. God's vengeance falling on the gods of the land proved Jehovah's supremacy over all the powers people worshipped. His hand struck the firstborn only, of man and of livestock alike, and that showed His power so clearly that all Egypt dreaded death and begged Israel to leave.
Israel was not exempt because Israel was better. A death took place in their homes as well — a different one.
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, had the sword not fallen on the neck of the spotless victim. 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 first it was the death of Egypt's firstborn; in the second, the death of God's LAMB."
Nothing else about the household made any difference.
Neither good conduct nor religious orthodoxy saved them that night, but the blood of the lamb alone. Sheltered by it, they could eat and drink in peace, with their belts fastened and their staff in hand, ready to march out of a place that was in no sense their home.
The blow that ruined Egypt was the same blow that set Israel free.
At midnight, the time of deepest darkness, Jehovah is coming into the land Himself, and "all their firstborn, the chief of all their strength," shall die. The thunderbolt of Israel's deliverance is at last to fall. The collapse of the world is the deliverance of those for whom God has undertaken.
- Judge — the tenth plague came not through Moses' rod but from God acting as Judge Himself.
- Level — from Pharaoh's throne to the captive's dungeon, no rank, wealth or past suffering bought a way out.
- Target — the firstborn was the chief of Egypt's strength, so the blow fell on everything the world boasts in.
- Substitute — there was a death in every house that night: in Egypt the firstborn, in Israel the lamb.
- Release — the same stroke that shattered Egypt was the thunderbolt of Israel's deliverance.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his bondmen, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house in which there was not one dead.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he called Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Rise up, go away from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve Jehovah, as ye have said.
It is midnight in Egypt, and the king who once said he did not know the LORD is now sending for Moses and Aaron. Two questions sit inside his order: what finally broke him, and why he now wants Israel gone with everything they own.
This time Pharaoh does not bargain. His message is an order, and it covers everything Moses had asked for.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. No doubt he did not see them in person, but he sent them the urgent message that Israel was to get out of Egypt. This was not only permission given, but a command that would allow no delay. Their flocks and herds were to be included, as Moses had demanded. This tenth plague was enough to shock Pharaoh into action, with the fear that something worse could happen.
The man giving orders is the same man who once said he did not know the LORD. God's judgment, falling on his own house, changed his mind.
"Who is the LORD," said Pharaoh, in the pride and deep ignorance of his heart, "that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I know not the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." These were the words of a mere man. But the LORD is known by the judgment He carries out. Pharaoh learned that at great cost, and people will learn it later too... The proud Pharaoh of the exodus stooped to ask a blessing from Moses and Aaron. They spoke for the people he had held so long in slavery. He asked while his own firstborn lay dead in his house.
Pharaoh's last offer had been to keep the livestock: take the children, leave the business. Moses refused, and now that condition falls too.
When Pharaoh is pressed further, he says, "Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind." That is to say: you may have the children, but leave me the business... What does Moses say? "Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind." We are to be for God all round, family and business included. Notice that when they finally go, Pharaoh gives up this part too. He says, "Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said." The point is this: the devil is determined to fight for every inch of ground. He will use any means at all to hinder the work of God in the soul.
Pharaoh's own words echo the demand God made from the start: let them go to serve Me. Leaving Egypt was not the goal.
And notice, it is "that they may hold a feast to me." If they were to be done with Pharaoh, it was so that they might begin with God. This was a great change. Instead of hard labour under Pharaoh's slave drivers, they were to feast in the company of the LORD. They would pass from Egypt into the wilderness, but God's own presence would go with them.
Israel walked out because the night that emptied Egyptian homes left theirs untouched. That night and the later crossing of the Red Sea are not the same event.
This was not the deliverance of Israel, like the passage of the Red Sea, but it was the ground of it... But on the Passover night the question was how God could pass over the guilty, even though they were His people. The blood of the lamb sprinkled on Israel's doorposts declared this: even as He carried out judgment, God could not touch those sheltered behind it. In the presence of that blood, His truth and justice were held back and satisfied. The destroyer was kept from entering. Not one Israelite perished within the blood-sprinkled doorframes.
The order to rise and go left them no time to pack food for the journey.
They left in haste. They were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, and they had not prepared any food for themselves. No — they had to depend on God completely. He had separated them from the Egyptians and sheltered them by the blood of the Lamb. Now it was His care to lead them out and to provide their food along the way.
- Blood first. Israel could only be called out because the lamb's blood already stood between them and the judgment on Egypt.
- Command, not favour. What Pharaoh refused for months, he now orders at once. The release is God's doing, not a king's kindness.
- Nothing left behind. The last bargain falls. Children, flocks and herds all go, because God claims His people and all they own.
- Freed to serve. Finishing with Pharaoh was not the goal. They were let go to feast with God.
- Out in haste. They leave with no food packed, depending on God alone to lead them and feed them on the way.
Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and go; and bless me also.
Pharaoh has fought Moses through nine plagues and four attempted bargains. Now, with his own firstborn dead, he gives way on everything at once — the people, the children, the livestock. Then come three strange words: the king who once asked who the LORD was now asks the men he enslaved to bless him.
Every earlier offer had kept something of Israel inside Egypt. The fourth and last one aimed at their property. Here Pharaoh drops it.
Under more pressure, Pharaoh says, "Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back; let your little ones also go with you." That is to say: You may have the children, but leave me the business. To us it would suggest this — you and your family may go to heaven, but meanwhile run your business on worldly lines. This is compromise number four. What does Moses say? "Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind." We are to be for God all round, family and business included. It is worth noticing that when they go at last, Pharaoh gives up this point too. He says, "Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said." The point is this: the devil is determined to contest every inch of ground, and to use any and every means to hinder the work of God in the soul.
The phrase "as you have said" points back to what Moses had insisted on. Moses had refused to leave one animal behind. One writer draws out the principle inside that refusal.
The words of Moses hold a principle of the first importance — that God claims all that we have as well as ourselves. For this reason we must hold everything at His disposal. He gives, and He demands from us... We must not, as the people of God, take from the world, as Abraham refused to let the king of Sodom make him rich (Gen. 14:22-23); nor must we allow the world's claims on what the Lord has given us. Not a hoof must be left behind, or it might be that very hoof the Lord would demand for sacrifice.
The man who had said he did not know the LORD now begs a favour from his own slaves. One writer sets that reversal against Pharaoh's opening words.
"Who is the LORD," said Pharaoh, in the pride and deep ignorance of his heart, "that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go." Such were the words of a mortal creature. But the LORD is known by the judgment which He executes... The proud Pharaoh of the exodus stooped to ask a blessing from Moses and Aaron. They stood for the people he had kept so long in slavery. And all the while his firstborn lay dead in his house.
Another writer marks how short this bowing was.
Pharaoh's stubborn heart was reached, and for the moment bowed before the clear judgment of God... He made no conditions now, but granted everything they had claimed, and even sought a blessing at their hands.
The order to leave and the plea for blessing come in one breath.
Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron... This was not only permission given, but a command that would allow no delay. They were to take their flocks and herds with them, as Moses had demanded. This tenth plague was enough to shock Pharaoh into action, with the fear that something worse could happen. But he curiously adds, "and bless me also." Yet he does not include the people of Egypt in this request.
One night broke him. Death reached every house in the land, Israel's included.
This blow was huge and unheard of. Pharaoh's resistance collapsed, and he gave in to all that Moses had demanded. The Egyptian people were also urgent that the children of Israel should leave. They realised that they were all under the death sentence. There was not one house in which there was not one dead. Death indeed had been universal. In the houses of the Egyptians it was the death of the firstborn. In the houses of the Israelites it was the death of the lamb.
- Judgment breaks him — death in every Egyptian house did what nine plagues could not. His resistance collapsed, and he gave Moses everything he had demanded.
- Surrender is total — he sets no conditions now, and drops the last bargain that would have kept Israel's business in Egypt.
- Possessions belong to God — God may demand any animal for sacrifice, so not a hoof could stay. He claims all that we have as well as ourselves.
- He begs a blessing — the king who once said he did not know the LORD now asks a blessing from the people he had kept in slavery.
- Yet only for himself — all Egypt lies under the same judgment, yet he asks a blessing for himself alone.
And the Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead [men]!
Exodus 12 tells of the night Egypt's firstborn died and the blood on the doorposts kept Israel safe. Verse 33 shows what came next: the nation that had refused to free its slaves now begged them to go.
Pharaoh had always attached conditions before. When the final blow fell, he dropped them all — and his people went further than he did.
Pharaoh's stubborn heart was reached, and for the moment bowed before the clear judgment of God. He "rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians," and sending for Moses and Aaron, told them to leave. He made no conditions now, but granted everything they had asked, and even sought a blessing from them. His people went further, and were urgent to send the children of Israel away; for they said, "We are all dead men."
God had already said this would happen:
The Egyptians, at first so eager to keep them, were at last, after their punishment, just as anxious to be rid of them. "When he lets you go, he will drive you out from here altogether." "They were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait."
The Egyptians' cry is not grief only. It is a verdict they pronounce on themselves — they expect to be next. Yet death had visited every home that night, Israelite homes included, and the difference lay in who died.
This blow was tremendous, beyond anything known before. Pharaoh's resistance collapsed under it, and he conceded everything Moses had demanded. The Egyptian people also were urgent that the children of Israel should leave. They realized that they were all under the death sentence. There was not one house in which there was not one dead. Death indeed had been universal. In the houses of the Egyptians it was the death of the firstborn. In the houses of the Israelites it was the death of the lamb.
Another writer sharpens the point: judgment fell on everyone; the only question was who bore it.
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 its outcome never changed.
The rush had a side effect. God had told Israel to eat bread without leaven, and Egypt pushed them out too fast for them to get it wrong.
When we come to the actual fact of Israel going out of Egypt that night, we see that they were hurried out with their bread unleavened. There is a wonderful little sidelight here. The bread was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt. I think what God gives us here is this: if they had not been in such a hurry the leaven might have got in. I will help them to start right, says God. And so they were hurried out so fast that they had no time to fail in obedience.
Israel left loaded with silver and gold. Older translations say the Israelite women "borrowed" from their neighbours, and that one word has drawn a charge of theft against God.
The word "borrow" appears in the older Authorised Version where the simple meaning "to ask" is intended, and, true to form, the sceptic has been quick to seize on this word to charge God with telling His people to do something immoral and dishonest. There is not, however, the slightest breach of what is right and proper. The children of Israel had received no payment for the harsh and bitter slavery imposed on them. And at the actual moment when they asked, the Egyptians showed a striking willingness to give… It was an unconditional gift, with something in it of an attempt to appease, in the certain knowledge that they would never see the children of Israel again.
The gifts of that night had a later use:
These facts show how the people came to have such an abundance of materials, and of gold and silver. When the time came in the wilderness, they could build the tabernacle according to the word of the Lord.
Egypt drove Israel out; they did not leave by negotiation. One writer sees the same pattern for believers today.
…the redeemed of today are called to appear as the channels of God's dealings with the conscience of the world. If they are faithful in this, the world of our day will tolerate them as little as the Egyptians of that day tolerated Israel. They carry the testimony of the judgment of death, the sentence under which a guilty world lies, and for that reason they are "thrust out" from its company. Where this faithfulness in following the footsteps of the Master is found, the world's rejection surely follows. He did not hesitate to say, "Now is the judgment of this world."
- Sentence. Death entered every house that night, and Egypt owned that it lay under a sentence it could not escape.
- Shelter. The difference was not merit but the lamb: Egypt bore the judgment itself; for Israel the lamb bore it.
- Speed. The rush left no time for leaven, so God's haste guarded His people's obedience.
- Spoil. Egypt paid at last for years of unpaid work, and that silver and gold later built the tabernacle.
- Separation. A people who carry the testimony of coming judgment should expect the world to want them gone.
And the people took their dough before it was leavened; their kneading-troughs bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
Israel walks out of Egypt with bread that has not risen, and troughs tied up in their clothes on their shoulders. It looks like a small accident of a rushed night. Yet commentators find a searching question in it. Why did God's people first keep the feast of unleavened bread only because Egypt threw them out?
God had told Israel to put leaven away. But the dough left Egypt unleavened because there was no time — not because the people honoured the command. One writer draws an uncomfortable conclusion:
Their obedience to God's command was not, sadly, the fruit of a spirit of obedience. It came from necessity — the fruit of Egypt forcing them out.
Another commentator sees in the same phrase what the people had planned to do — and something to thank God for:
Israel had no trouble now in getting ready to leave. The Egyptians themselves were urging them to go at once. They "took their dough before it was leavened" (v. 34). Clearly they meant to leaven it, despite God's command to put leaven away. Sometimes God in His grace steps in and stops us from carrying out our disobedient purposes.
The speed of the departure was a kindness. It took away the chance to disobey before they could take it:
It was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt… I think God shows us this. If they had not been in such a hurry, the leaven might have got in. I will help them to start right, says God. So He hurried them out so fast that they had no time to fail in obedience. I will help them, at least, to keep My word for once in their history, says God.
They took raw dough and the troughs to work it in — no baked bread, no supplies. And the timing was not set by Egypt's panic:
Israel left Egypt in such haste that they took no supplies for immediate use. All they had was the dough and the kneading troughs, tied on their shoulders with their clothes. So in a special way they depended entirely on the Lord's care. Their haste was not needed only to satisfy the urgency of the Egyptians, who were God's agents in the matter. It also made sure they left at the exact time the Lord had appointed.
Bundles on the shoulder are a traveller's luggage. Egypt had been home for generations. In one night the people became strangers there:
The link with Egypt, two hundred years long, was snapped at once. That very night they marched from Rameses to Succoth. They took their wives, their children, their cattle and all they owned, with the dough still unleavened and the kneading troughs bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. But once they admitted they were strangers in Egypt, they learned what it was to be the Lord's people. They went out, but He went before them. They marched on, because the Lord had brought them out. They were His, and He took on Himself the supply of everything they needed on the way.
The unleavened bread carried out that night is later called the bread of affliction. One writer connects that name directly to the scramble of the escape:
"You came out of the land of Egypt in haste." Pharaoh, that is the devil, was behind them, and they were only just escaping from the judgment. You get out of Egypt in haste. You have to put the dough on your shoulder as fast as you can, so that the judgment does not catch you. That is why you have the seven days of unleavened bread. It is deliverance, but it keeps you taken up with the state you were in when He delivered you. So it is "the bread of affliction."
Commentators apply this to God's people ever since. The Church has kept this feast best when the world made comfort impossible:
When has the Church kept the feast of unleavened bread most truly? Has it not usually been when the world pressed hardest upon her? When the world has forced believers out of it, their brightness and devotion have shone more clearly. Sadly, once the storm eased, how quickly the leaven came back in!
That leaves a question for comfortable, prosperous days:
Is it not a solemn reminder of how little the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth has ever marked any large part of God's people? Are we keeping the passover feast according to the mind of God? Or are we only keeping up what we think is needed for appearances, so that we can fit our way of life in with the spirit and systems of a world that is not ours?
- Haste — The dough left Egypt unleavened for lack of time, not because the people were set on obeying.
- Grace — God's timing removed the chance to fail. He helped them keep His word for once, and He still steps in to block our disobedient plans.
- Empty-handed — They left with no supplies, carrying raw dough and troughs on their shoulders. That left them wholly dependent on the Lord's care.
- Strangers — In one night Egypt stopped being home. They became the Lord's people on the road, and He took charge of supplying the journey.
- Pressure — Believers have kept this feast best when the world pushed them out of it. Ease lets the leaven back in, so comfortable days call for the sharpest self-examination.
And the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked of the Egyptians utensils of silver, and utensils of gold, and clothing.
Israel leaves Egypt the morning after the Passover. Before they go, they turn to their former masters and ask for silver, gold, and clothing. Older translations say they "borrowed." That one word has made this verse a favourite target for critics. Was God telling His people to cheat? And why would He want them loaded with Egypt's wealth at all?
The objection rests on a translation. Once the right word is in place, the picture is not of a loan never repaid but of a total reversal of position:
Unbelievers have seized on the word "borrow" in verse 22, and objected that it presents God as telling the people to practise deceit by pretending to borrow what they never intended to repay. The word occurs again in Exodus 11:2 and Exodus 12:35. But the word really is "ask," and Darby's version translates it that way. The people had been only slaves, working for barely enough to live on. Now the position was to be completely reversed. Their former masters would fear them and give them what they asked. All they could carry out of Egypt would be a mere fraction of what was really due to them.
Israel asked because Moses told them to, and Moses had his orders from God. What they asked for was payment on a debt centuries old:
The word rendered "borrowed" is really to "ask," and the word rendered "lent" means "gave." The concordance will show that it really means "demanded." The children of Israel had served the Egyptians for 400 years, building the treasure cities for Pharaoh (Ex. 1:11). So God had already said to Moses that they were to demand these things as payment for their labours, Ex. 3:21-22. It was not more than they had a right to. The Egyptians seem to have known this, and that is why they met the demand so eagerly. It was "spoil," but spoil they richly deserved.
Israel neither robbed Egypt nor tricked it. The Egyptians had their own reasons for handing the valuables over:
The context shows that because of God's obvious intervention the children of Israel would be in "favour in the sight of the Egyptians." The Egyptians had been made to feel that Israel had suffered wrong at their hands. So they gladly gave them whatever they wanted, perhaps as a kind of appeasement, knowing full well that they would see the Israelites no more. What they gave was therefore an unconditional gift.
God did not mean His people to leave with nothing. One writer then turns the picture round to the world they left behind:
But God does not intend His people to go out of Egypt empty. They are to leave it rather with the spoil of Egypt in their hands; and yet, in taking this, they take only what is their own. Take out of the world today everything that comes from God's saving work. Take out of it everything Scripture has enriched it with. How poor the world would be left!
The same silver and gold turn up twice more in Exodus. What God marked out for one purpose, Israel could put to another:
God had set apart the wealth that Israel took from Egypt for His own service in the Tabernacle. There was a proper use for it. God's claim rested on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The abuse of it comes out clearly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
The same principle reaches into a person's own past:
Before God called us, we handled much in this world. We have long thought that under God's providence this shaped us as vessels for serving Him in this world. Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh's daughter. Paul was raised in the teaching of Judaism. Both are examples of this. … So it was with the children of Israel. It was their wages, willingly given to God to form the Tabernacle.
- Asked — the word behind the old "borrowed" means to ask, or to demand; the matching "lent" means gave. The charge of deceit rests on a translation, not on the text.
- Owed — 400 years of unpaid labour stood behind the asking. What Israel carried out was wages, and only a fraction of what was due.
- Given — God gave His people favour in Egypt's eyes. Egypt handed the treasure over gladly, and asked for nothing back.
- Full — God did not mean them to go out empty, and they took only what was already their own.
- Used — God destined the spoil for the tabernacle, Israel's tent of worship; the same gold became a calf in chapter 32. What comes out of the old life either goes back to God or turns into an idol.
And Jehovah had given the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave to them; and they spoiled the Egyptians.
On the night of the Passover, a slave people walked out of Egypt carrying the wealth of the nation that had held them. Two questions follow: was the taking honest, and what was all that silver and gold for?
Older translations say Israel "borrowed" and the Egyptians "lent." That makes the scene look like theft. The original words say something else, and the history behind them shows why the demand was fair.
It may help first to point out that the word translated "borrowed" really means to "ask," and the word translated "lent" means "gave." The concordance will show that it really means "demanded." The children of Israel had served the Egyptians for 400 years, building the treasure cities for Pharaoh (Ex. 1:11). So God had already told Moses that they were to demand these things as payment for their work (Ex. 3:21-22). It was not more than they had a right to, and it seems the Egyptians knew this, so they appeared eager to answer the demand. It was "spoil," but spoil they richly deserved.
Another writer weighs the two possible senses of the word and calls the taking fair payment.
God directs His people not to go out empty after their long unpaid labour. Every woman should (not "borrow," but) ask for jewels of silver and of gold, and so spoil them, since it was righteous repayment. The word "borrow" is only a secondary sense, and here out of place. "Ask" is the direct and primary sense, and therefore should be kept.
The Egyptians did not part with their treasures grudgingly. Something stood behind that generosity.
Israel did not leave Egypt poor. His people had toiled so long without wages. God told them to demand jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing from the Egyptians. And the terror of the Lord made the Egyptians generous. The captive people became loaded with the spoils of their captors. The "night of the Lord" was never to be forgotten.
Israel walks out loaded, and Egypt keeps nothing. One writer turns that picture on the world we live in now.
God does not intend His people to go out of Egypt empty. They are to leave it rather with the spoil of Egypt in their hands; and yet, in taking this, they take only what is their own. Take out of the world today everything that is the fruit of God's work of salvation, or that goes with it. Take out of it all that Scripture has enriched it with. How poor it would be left! This only shows what the world is: God could not take His people out of it without leaving it empty of all true blessing and light.
Why would God let them carry off wealth that later became a golden calf? He had a use for it, and Israel found a different one.
God had set apart the wealth that Israel took from Egypt for His service in the Tabernacle. It had a proper use. God's claim rested on the wealth that came out of the land with them. The abuse of it comes out clearly in chapter 32, where the golden calf came before the dancing.
The gold came out of Egypt. Can a believer offer God anything he gained before God called him? One answer looks at a whole life, not just at metal.
How does this apply to serving the Lord? We have long thought that much of what we handled in this world, before God called us, shaped us. Under God's providence it made us vessels for serving Him in this world. Moses grew up in the house of Pharaoh's daughter. Paul grew up in the teachings of Judaism. Both are examples of this. … So it was with the children of Israel. It was their wages, willingly given to God to make the Tabernacle.
- Wages, not theft. The word is "ask," not "borrow." Four hundred years of unpaid building work stood behind the demand, and the Egyptians seemed to know it.
- Favour, not skill. The Lord gave the people favour. Fear of Him made the Egyptians generous, and the captives walked out carrying their captors' spoils.
- Full, not empty. God did not mean them to leave empty. What they carried was their own, and Egypt lost what had truly enriched it.
- Sanctuary, not calf. God set the silver and gold apart for the Tabernacle, Israel's tent of worship. Chapter 32 shows the same wealth turned into an idol.
- Given, not kept. Wages earned in Egypt became a free gift to God. As with Moses and Paul, a believer can lay a whole past life at God's feet for His service.