The Warning about the Tenth Plague (Exodus 11:1-10)

The Warning about  the Tenth Plague (Exodus 11:1-10)

Rev. Myung-Sin Choi

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” 3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. 4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. 6 Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. 7 But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ 8 And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. 9 But the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10 So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Introduction

There is a story in London about an old man who was playing his violin but no one was paying attention to him. But a person passed by and saw him as very unfortunate but this person asked if he could look at his violin. The old man passed his violin to this person and this person started performing with this violin. As he was playing the violin, many people started looking and listening to this person playing this violin. People started putting money in the hat of the old man as this person was playing the violin. Many people listened to this person playing violin but someone in the crowd pointed out the person who was playing the violin was Niccolò Paganini. The important story behind this story is that it was the same violin but who was playing the violin caused a different result. This is an important message. You are the same you that is living your life but whose hand you are in will make a difference in your life. Is your life in the hands of God or the world? I pray that you may hear God’s voice as you listen to today’s sermon. With the 10th plague, the last plague, God spoke to Moses again. 

1. Preparation For the Exodus

(1) Israel's preparation

Verses 1-2 - God said that this was the final plague so all of the previous plagues were all part of God’s plans. If that is so, then the previous plagues were within God’s hands and sovereignty. But God said that the pharaoh will finally drive out the Israelites out of Egypt. But why did it take the 10th plague for pharaoh to do that? With every plague, God was destroying the idols of Egypt one by one. God was trying to show that the idols of Egypt were wrong and worthless, and the only true God is God alone. When God said that pharaoh will drive out the Israelites altogether. This means that the pharaoh drove the Israelites out in fear. 

The reason is seen in verse 2 - As they prepared for the Exodus, God had the Israelites to prepare all articles of silver and gold. Why was that? 

The reason is seen in Genesis 15:14 “And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.” - There was a covenant between God and Abraham. This is important. This is speaking about Egypt. God will judge and conquer Egypt, and Israelites will come out with great possessions. They will not depart Egypt empty-handed but they will come out with great possessions. Who was the general who conquered Egypt? It was Jehovah God. God will judge and allow the Israelites to come out of Egypt. The Israelites were not coming out in secret and escaping but the almighty God will lead the Israelites out of Egypt. God will conquer Egypt and allow the Israelites to come out of Egypt as an army of God. This was the promise of God that God gave to Abraham. This is an important message. When we go out into the world but we go out with God’s great grace and blessings. When we became a child of God, we became a child of God with God’s great grace and blessings. We have conquered death and came out from the destiny of hell. We now came out with great authority and identity. 

(2) Change in Israel's status

Verse 3 - Until then, the Israelites were living as slaves of Egypt. But now they possessed great status with victory and victors. The Egyptians saw the Israelites and Moses with great flavor. Moses was a fugitive of Egypt and a mere shepherd. But now, Moses was seen as a great individual in the eyes of Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped the pharaoh as a god. But the Egyptians and pharaoh were pleading with Moses to stop the plagues and forgive his sins. Whenever Moses would raise his rod, great and disastrous plagues would come upon Egypt. And, when he would raise his rod, the plagues would stop too. So the Egyptians were saying that Moses possessed great power and saw him as a god. 

Exodus 7:1 “So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.” - How did Moses and the Israelites receive this great blessing? They were inside of God’s hands and God’s covenant. They were inside of God’s covenant that blessings had no choice but to come upon them. May this great blessing come upon you. All Moses did was obey God’s covenant and word, and relay it. Look around you, the more you are obedient to God, more blessings will come upon you. People who earnestly obey and worship God, they are living a life of great blessings. If we earnestly look up to God, then God will pour upon His great blessings to you. 

2. The Difference Between the World and God's Chosen People

(1) The plagues as a warning to Pharaoh

Verses 4-6 - For the Exodus, God said that He will work personally. Until the 9th plague, God worked through Moses through the rod. But in this 10th plague, God said that He will directly work. What was the main message of the 10th plague? It was the Passover. 

Verse 5 - Why did the firstborn die? The firstborn had great significance and they were seen as the successor of the family. They were also seen as the representative and head of the family. Back then, the firstborn were seen as the lifeline for the family. All of the family’s heirs and possessions were passed to the firstborn. But God said that He will not only kill the firstborn of the pharaoh but the firstborn of all the Egyptian families and livestock. The handmills were seen as people with the lowest status in Egypt but God said that He will kill every firstborn of all families of Egypt. Not only that but all of the firstborn of the livestock were going to die as well by the hands of God. Why would God kill all of the families and livestock that possessed no sin and did nothing wrong? It was because of the pharaoh. It was because they were under the hands of Egypt. Egypt was seen as being within the hand of pharaoh. 

Verse 6 - All of the firstborn were going to die so there will be a mass funeral taking place. Egypt will roar out in cries and wailing because of this. 

When we look at this word, we have to hold onto Exodus 4:22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’ ” - God calling Israel as His firstborn means that God considered Israel as His body and His child. 

Exodus 1:22 “So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, ‘Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.’ ” - All of the Israelite sons were killed in Egypt and all of the Israelites were in sorrow because of this. At that time, God heard the cries of Israelites. We need to see the love of God here. When God’s children are sad, God is also sad as well. When God sees His children in suffering and sorrow, God’s heart is also in suffering and pain. This is because we are one body with God. When we live in this world, we will face many difficulties and even when you try to live a proper walk of faith. God sees all of that and remembers that. God will make sure to renew and restore you. God is alive even now. 

(2) Protection of God's people

Verses 7-9 - Dogs have a very sensitive sense of smell and hearing but even when the entire land of Egypt was in sorrow, even the dogs were silent. This was the protection of God. Whatever happens to you, the protection of God is on you. You have to understand there was a huge difference in the land of Egypt and Goshen. It was considered the same land but it was different, it was the Egyptians and the Israelites. People could see the vast difference between these two pieces of land. This was because the land of Goshen was within the hand of God. Because you are in the hand of God, you come to church. The world and church are different. People of this world, you don’t know how much suffering and things are happening. But you are within God’s great protection and guidance. You need to give thanksgiving. No matter what happens, God will protect you. You need to believe in this. What happened to Moses? 

Verse 8 - In that situation, Moses went before pharaoh. Moses said that he will leave Egypt when pharaoh starts pleading for the Israelites to leave. Moses left pharaoh in great anger. Last week, pharaoh warned Moses that if he sees Moses again, pharaoh will kill him. But the opposite happened, it said that Moses left pharaoh in great anger. This is interesting. No matter what difficulties come to us, if we are in God’s hands, then God will protect you. We are within this blessing. We must enjoy this blessing. Moses was in great anger but why? Moses came before the pharaoh and was pleading with the pharaoh to just let the Israelites go and instead of causing more suffering in Egypt. Moses was warning pharaoh and saying that more suffering and pain will come upon Egypt and the Egyptians. But Moses saw how much pharaoh was not changing and was so stubborn so he was in anger. Moses kept giving pharaoh a chance to change but pharaoh kept being stubborn that Moses was in anger. 

When God saw Moses, God spoke in verse 9 - God told Moses that pharaoh will not listen to you so God said that He will directly bring the 10th plague to Egypt. God and Moses were giving pharaoh the chance for the pharaoh's firstborn to not die but pharaoh did not listen. What does this mean? Those who are within God’s grace are those who are humble before God. Those who are humble before God, you are within God’s grace. If you are humble, then doors will open for you. Because pharaoh was stubborn and not humble before God, pharaoh’s firstborn had to pay the price. 

3. God's True Plan

(1) Where the covenant is restored

All of the blessings started here in Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - As we know very well, the covenant that God gave to Abraham, it was fulfilled. This means that if you hold onto God’s covenant, it will be fulfilled. You will experience this if you hold onto God’s covenant. 

(2) What Christ gave

Acts 1:3 “To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” - Those who hold onto God’s covenant and Christ, then great and infallible proofs will come upon you. The true and alive God will show you that He is truly alive. You must experience this within your life. 

(3) A plan to save the age

Acts 10:43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” - Those who believe in God's word, God will give you answers. If you just believe, then you will live. No matter what problem comes to you, have faith. It is not with your method but with God’s method. God’s method is the most sovereign. All blessings and guidance is within God. Experience this and relay this. 

Conclusion

Hold onto Acts 10:44 “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” - The power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Holy Spirit is already within you. When you hold onto God’s word and experience it, then the great power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you. May great answers come upon you and your field this week.