भाष्य सध्या फक्त इंग्रजीत उपलब्ध आहे. मराठी भाषांतर प्रगतीपथावर आहे.
Exodus 11 — About Midnight Will I Go Out Into the Midst of Egypt
God warns of one final plague. The firstborn of every Egyptian — from Pharaoh to the lowest slave — will die. Israel must ask for jewels and gold from their neighbors. The Lord puts a separation between Egypt and Israel that even Pharaoh's servants now acknowledge. Moses leaves in hot anger.
“That ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”
— Exodus 11:7
- v.1-3 Final plague announced; favor given to Israel
- v.4-7 The death of the firstborn foretold
- v.8-10 Moses departs in anger; Pharaoh hardened to the last
A staggering announcement. The Lord Himself will go out. This is not a delegated angel; the divine Person is named as the executor of judgment.
About midnight. The most fearful hour of the night. The same hour that would have been most peaceful for Egypt becomes its catastrophe. God's timing is precise; it is rarely the timing the world expects.
No class is exempted. The same judgment falls on the throne and the mill. Egyptian theology was deeply hierarchical; the plague flattens the hierarchy in one stroke.
Death is the great equalizer. Pharaoh on his throne and the slave behind the mill share the same fate. The gospel addresses both with the same message — every firstborn under heaven needs a substitute.
A vivid image. Even the dogs in Israel will not bark. The night of the firstborn's death will be a silent night for Israel — the kind of silence in which the children sleep.
For the believer, the wrath of God passes over while the world reels. The same midnight. Two utterly different experiences. So it will be at the great day (1 Thessalonians 5:9 — God hath not appointed us to wrath).
The man Pharaoh's court had despised will be sought out by them, bowing low, pleading him to leave. The reversal is total — and Moses sees it before it happens.
Moses went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. The meekest man in all the earth (Numbers 12:3) gets angry at sustained, deliberate rebellion against God. There is a place for righteous anger in the godly soul. Jesus showed it too (Mark 3:5).
A midnight is coming for every age, every nation, every individual. The midnight of Egypt was specific to that night. But the principle continues — there is an hour, set on God's calendar, when the patience that endured rebellion gives way to judgment. The Passover lamb is offered now. Apply the blood. Do not wait for midnight to learn what was meant to be settled at sunset.
The death of every firstborn in Egypt anticipates the death of the Firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15) at Calvary. Where the Egyptian firstborn died for the sins of their fathers' refusal, Christ died for the sins of others. He was struck so that the firstborn of the believing household need never be. The pattern of Exodus 11 finds its substitutionary fulfillment in John 19.
Israel asks for wealth before they leave. The word translated borrow is the regular Hebrew word for ask — there is no implication of deception. The Egyptians, terrified by the plagues, gave freely.
God gives Israel four hundred years of back-wages in a single night. The slaves who built Egyptian cities leave with Egyptian wealth. The same God who sees the laborer's unpaid wage (James 5:4) also settles the account.