Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever stood at a waterfall simply mesmerized by the never-ending cascade of water? In some ways that must be how it was for the Egyptians during those weeks when the horrible plagues just kept coming, one after another, each more damaging than the one before, leaving Egypt devastated!
Have you ever put yourself in Moses’ sandals, trying to imagine what it was like for him returning, time after time, into that palace, each time with a warning of something more disastrous if Pharaoh kept refusing to release the Hebrew slaves? And each time he entered that palace, I’m sure there was a flood of wonderful childhood memories of this place where he grew up… but that was a time very different from now, for Moses was in a war with the dark kingdom; and the primary battlefield was Egypt’s palace throne room!!
Exodus 10 opens with a very powerful statement from God explaining what was happening here: “The LORD said to Moses: ‘Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials SO THAT I may perform these signs of mine among them and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians…and that you may know that I am the LORD!” (Ex. 10:1,2)
Oh my! Do you see it my friends? Do you see God’s strategic plan here? God was hardening Pharaoh’s resistant heart in order to build the platform upon which God could demonstrate His power in ways never before seen by any people in the world!
Pharaoh’s opposition was actually God’s intentional work! Because each stronger resistance would require a stronger miracle to overcome it! Oh, we are so quick to beg God to break down the barriers we encounter; or overcome the resistance we face, and yet… what would change if we were willing to see that maybe, just maybe, God is working a similar strategy in our world in our day?
And did you notice God was writing a story here that Moses and every Israelite slave would tell their descendants for the rest of their lives? In fact, nearly 3500 years later, Jews around the world retell this story every year to their children as they celebrate the Passover Festival!!
In response to Pharaoh’s hard heart, two more plagues followed. Exodus 10:1-20 describes the plague of locusts which devoured everything growing in the fields not destroyed by the previous plague, the great hailstorm. The Egyptian god “Seth” was worshiped to protect the land from destructive storms or other tragedies. But the hailstorm and swarms of locusts were far too much for this false idol god, “Seth”.
Finally, “Ra” was perhaps the most powerful of all Egyptian gods for ‘Ra’ was the great sun god, highly revered for providing light, warmth, and sunshine needed for life! God’s plague of three days of darkness over the entire land, except in the region of Goshen, humiliated the Pharaoh and all worshipers of ‘Ra’!! (Exodus 10:21-29)
By the end of Exodus 10, the once bountiful, beautiful land of Egypt lay devastated, ravaged almost beyond recognition! The people felt hopeless; the sorcerers and other false religious leaders were humiliated; and the Pharaoh, looking out from his throne room balcony, saw that he was now ruler over nothing but ruin and devastation.
It’s a picture my friends, of what happens in a life, a marriage, a family, a city or even a nation which consistently and passionately rejects God, God’s truth, and God’s grace at all costs. Look around… do you see evidence of such devastation today?
Finally, both Pharaoh and Moses hit the wall. Neither, it seems, had any more patience for this ‘cat and mouse game’ which was destroying one of the most powerful nations on earth! Remember, the region of Goshen, where the Hebrew slaves lived, had been protected by God from almost all these terrible plagues! (Ex. 9:26)
In that 3-day darkness, Pharaoh lashed out at Moses: “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me ever again! The day you see my face again you will die!’ And I suspect it might have been with just as much energy that Moses responded: “Just as you say, I will never appear before you again!” (Exodus 10:28,29)
Moses paused. His next words would cause an emotional crisis in the hearts and minds of every person who would ever hear it. God had told Moses there would be one more last plague in Egypt. The angel of death would pass over the land of Egypt killing the firstborn in every family anywhere in Egypt! “But, among the Israelites, not even a dog will bark…” (Exodus 11:1-7) And with that Moses turned and walked out of Pharaoh’s throne room for a last time. While the previous 9 plagues had been terrible, nothing would ever compare with the night of death soon coming upon Egypt!
Upon leaving the palace, with the city still consumed with darkness of that 9th plague, Moses and Aaron walked back toward the light visible in the distance. What light? It was the light of God’s faithful provision for the Hebrews in Goshen. But as they walked, I’m confident Moses was in deep consternation, his heart in turmoil. How was Moses to explain to the Hebrews what God was about to do? And what they would need to do so the angel of death might pass over their home and not strike the firstborn in their family!
You see, my friends, up until that moment the Hebrew slaves had been an audience, watching the unbelievable plagues destroy Egypt, protected by God and He did not allow those plagues in Goshen! Like spectators at a football game, probably some were cheering with each more devastating plague as they watched their slave masters suffer.
But now, the Israelite spectators would be challenged by Moses to take action, to get into the battle, and their action would not only prove their trust in God, it would save the life of their firstborn!!!
Exodus 12 is one of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible! Why? Let me give you three reasons…
1. For the first time, God instructed the Israelites to start keeping track of TIME, do you see that in Ex. 12:2!?
Right there, friends, the Hebrew calendar began… day one, month one, year one! By the way, did you know that today, September 10, 2025 is the 17th day of Elul in the year 5785, on the Hebrew calendar, which began in Exodus 12?
2. Second, Moses explained the remarkable process of every Israelite family preparing for their Passover evening with a special lamb selected on a specific day, kept until another specific day, and slaughtered on a specific day.
Then the blood of that sacrificed lamb caught and painted on the outside of the doorframe of their home as tangible evidence of their full trust in God’s promise of His protection when the angel of death would come.
3. Third, Moses explained God would bring judgment on all the false gods of Egypt as the angel of death struck the firstborn in every Egyptian home.
But that same angel of death would pass over every Israelite home with the blood of great faith in God painted on the doorframe. Then, finally, that night Pharaoh would release them and these perhaps 1 million Israelite slaves would walk out of Egypt as God’s freed people, following Moses, as He followed God leading them.
Finally, Moses explained to the Israelites that this event would forever mark them as a unique people among all human beings through all time.
God freeing these trusting Israelites would be celebrated every year for the rest of time, as God’s emancipation of His people from inescapable slavery.
What neither Moses, nor the Israelites; nor Pharaoh nor the Egyptians knew, was that this Passover would be a powerful picture of the ultimate deliverance God provides for any and every person through all time. Deliverance from our inescapable sin bondage; achieved by God the Son, Jesus Christ, becoming our sacrificial Passover lamb! He gave His life on the cross, taking upon Himself our sin, so God the Father could redeem us from our sin condemnation and declare us His son or daughter, adopted into His family, delivered from our sin bondage, and assured of eternity with Him in His heaven!!
Now as you read Exodus 12 today, I urge you to rejoice in what God did in that remarkable experience for Moses and the Israelite people but also rejoice in what Jesus has accomplished so we can experience deliverance from our sin condemnation!
Think about that as you listen to this glorious new worship song. Is this song your story? And please consider the further study questions and “Lessons Learned” notes that we have prepared for you in the Grand Narrative link just below. And I’ll meet you here again tomorrow…
Today’s Scripture: Exodus 10-12.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Exodus 11
Exodus 12
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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