Pharoah continues to harden his heart toward the God of the children of Israel as we read today from chapters 10 to 12. More plagues come upon the Egyptians because of Pharoah.
Chapter 10 –
God could have easily led His children out of Egypt without all the plagues being palce d up the Egyptians but He wanted true repentance from them. All he wanted was obedience but over and over we see rejection
Locusts cover the land and even eat and destroy the grain left from the plague of hail. All vegetation is once again destroyed. There was nothing green left. God shifted the wind and the locusts were gone as quickly as they came in when Pharoah repented. Even Pharoah’s servants were asking him how long will this man be a snare to us?
Pharoah refuses to allow them to leave and darkness comes over Egypt as promised by Moses and Aaron. Note verse 23 but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. Again Pharoah says he will allow them to go and worship but refuses (again) and now threatens Moses that if he ever saw him again he would kill him.
Chapter 11 –
This is a rather short chapter but leads us into the last plague and by far the most severe. Moses was thought of very highly in the land of Egypt both to people and the servants of Pharaoh. This plague would kill the first born of all the children and the cattle as well.
Chapter 12 –
Chapter 12 describes the greatest of Israel’s annual festival: Passover. By faithfully putting into practice this ritual the Israelites would be protected by God from the plague of the first born. Then every year after this one they were to celebrate the Passover to remember how God saved them. The month in which Passover was to be celebrated would be the first month of the Jewish calendar (12;2). It includes portions of the moths of March and April.
Each family was to select a twelve-year-old male lamb, unblemished on the fourteenth. The Israelites wee to take some blood and place it on the both doorposts as well as the lintel of the door. They were also dressed for travel and to hurriedly eat the meat roasted along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
This Passover foreshadowed the coming of Jesus. Once Moses received the instructions of the Lord, he passed them along to the elders of Israel. When the Israelites heard what was about to happen, they bowed and worshipped God.
At midnight the firstborn of the those without the blood on their doorposts and lintels were struck dead and loud wailing was heard throughout Egypt. When this occurred the Israelites were free and the Egyptians gave them silver…gold…and clothing.
Six hundred thousand able bodied men left Egyptian soil that night in the exodus. With women and children the number of people were two million God had certainly blessed the people from the seventy descendants of Jacob who had come to Egypt, they were in Egypt a total of four hundred and thirty years. This is just as the Lord had promised Abraham.
Verses 43 – 51 describe how and who may partake in the Passover. Note one thing here they were not to break any bones regarding the sacrifice. When Jesus was crucified the soldiers did not break His legs – which was hastened to bring death quicker, He was already dead when they broke the legs of those beside Him.
Asbury United Methodist Church 