Firstborn

Firstborn
Words of Faith 10-18-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 11
[4] So Moses said, "This is what the LORD says: 'About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. [5] Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. [6] There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt--worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. [7] But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. [8] All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, 'Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave." Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.
[9] The LORD had said to Moses, "Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you--so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt." [10] Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

Some things come without warning. It is just better that way. Plagues three, six, nine, and this one all came without warning to Pharaoh. There was no opportunity for him to repent beforehand.
The judgment is agonizing even to think about. It was very specific: In every Egyptian family, the firstborn son would die in the middle of the night-- from the poorest of the poor (the firstborn son of the slave girl) to the royal household (the firstborn son of Pharaoh).
We must remember that a firstborn son received special honor in the ancient world. A Pharaoh's son was heir to the throne and considered a god. The wailing over the loss of these sons, all at once, would be unprecedented.
Why would God bring such a calamity upon the Egyptians? We must remember that God is sovereign over all human affairs. People's prosperity or judgment is not because of God's favoritism or lack of it, but because He desires to accomplish His will on earth. Since He alone is holy, He alone defines what is good in the large picture of His purposes. Anything God does is right because He is God.
We also should remember that the Egyptians were polytheists, worshiping many idols and false gods. Refusing to worship the true God, especially when they were privileged to witness the incredible power of God over every aspect of Creation, they became objects of His judgment (Romans 1:18-23).
We see this again very powerfully. The goddess Isis, the wife and sister of Osiris, supposedly protected children. But this plague showed her to be totally inadequate to do what the Egyptians trusted her for!
In this great plague, the Israelites would lose no one. In fact, at midnight not a dog would bark. That is, no dog would growl or bite because no harm would come to God's people. Through this special treatment of the Hebrews, Egypt would know that God had favored Israel with His grace. Therefore, Pharaoh's officials, who urged their king to release the Israelites after eight plagues, would directly urge Moses to take his people away.
In several of the other confrontations, Moses gave Pharaoh the opportunity to release the people as a means of warding off the announced plague. Not so this time. The plague would come. Then Pharaoh would let the people go.
Moses' pronouncement was final. Never again would he confront Pharaoh with the option to repent. In the previous plagues, Moses and Aaron had a part, but not in the final judgment; this was to be the work of God alone.
So is God somehow uncaring or unfeeling in all of this? By no means. Don't forget the biggest lesson of all in Scripture. God was willing to take this same pain upon Himself to save you and me. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).
What do we learn? God is to be treasured and worshiped above all. The little idols of life must be cast aside as we focus on the one true, living God. We must listen for His voice and obey Him.

Father God, I want to be among the people of the promise. I want to be among those willing to set everything aside in order to journey with You. I want to be found faithful in loving You will all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength. In Jesus' Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.