Joel M Bradshaw

29At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”–Exodus 12

Pharaoh was worshiped by the Egyptians as the greatest of the gods. He was seen by his people as the son of the god Ra made manifest in the flesh. The fact that only certain people in every family died made the 10th plague very specific and powerful. There would be no terror like what the Egyptians experienced that night. I speak from experience that there is no grief like a parent witnessing the death of their child.

To maintain yourself as the dedicated enemy of God comes with consequences. The fact that God shows grace to save the repentant is truly amazing, for our natural paths are to selfishly remain His enemies. See what I underlined below.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11)

God’s enemies either receive punishment or salvation. It all hinges on how you respond to Jesus. Pharaoh never took God at His word and paid the consequences. He treated Yahweh as one annoying option among many. He learned that the God of Israel could not be rationalized away or otherwise ignored. Salvation that night came to Israel and judgment to everyone else. How do you view God? How do you respond to His Bible? Literally everything one day will hinge upon that.–JMB

Yahweh-10 Egyptian Pantheon-0