Exodus 12:29-50

²⁹ At 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. ³⁰ And 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. ³¹ Then 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. ³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. ³⁷ And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. ⁴⁰ The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. ⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵ No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” ⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

 

Samuel Rogers, the 18^th/19^th century poet, wrote these words in his poem, “The Death of the Firstborn.”

‘Tis midnight – ‘tis midnight o’er Egypt’s dark sky,

And in whirlwind and storm the sirocco sweeps by;

All arid and hot is its death-breathing blast, –

Each sleeper breathes thick, and each bosom beats fast.

And the young mother wakes, and arouses from rest,

And presses more closely her babe to her breast;

But the heart that she presses is deathlike and still,

And the lips that she kisses are breathless and chill.

And the young brother clings to the elder in fear,

As the gust falls so dirge-like and sad on his ear;

But that brother returns not the trembling embrace:

He speaks not – he breathes not – death lies in his place.

And the first-born of Egypt are dying around;

‘Tis a sigh – ‘tis a moan – and then slumber more sound:

They but wake from their sleep, and their spirits have fled –

They but wake into life, to repose with the dead.

And there lay the infant still smiling in death,

And scarce heaved its breast as it yielded its breath;

And there lay the boy, yet in youth’s budding bloom,

With the calmness of sleep – but the hue of the tomb!

And there fell the youth in the pride of his prime,

In the morning of life – in the springtide of crime;

And unnerved is that arm, and fast closed is that eye,

And cold is that bosom which once beat so high.

And the fond mother’s hope, and the fond father’s trust,

And the widow’s sole stay, are returning to dust;

Egypt has not a place where there is not one dead,

From the proud monarch’s palace to penury’s shed.

And the hearths of that country are desolate now.

And the crown of her glory is struck from her brow:

But while proud Egypt trembles, all Israel is free –

Unfettered – unbound, as the wave of the sea.[1]

That captures well the sense of terror and dread that gripped the Egyptians in the tenth plague.  The firstborn of all of Egypt are slain in every house whose door has not been marked by the blood of the Passover lamb.  Agonizing fear and grief grip Egypt and Israel begins the Exodus.

I.  The Tenth Plague:  Devastating Judgment and Initial Flight (v.29-33)

The actual execution of the plague is mentioned with startling bluntness.

²⁹ At 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. ³⁰ And 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.

The death of Egypt’s firstborn is, of course, a catastrophic event.  It is the judgment of God.  Of course, Egypt has assaulted God’s son, Israel, threatening it very survival.  Once again we remember that the eradication of Israel would mean the eradication of the people through whom the Savior of the world would come.  God’s deliverance of His people is therefore linked to God’s provision of a Deliverer.

It is interesting to see how many people have struggled with the ethics of the tenth plague.  It is, of course, understandable.  This is an extreme and terrifying act.  However, we must not judge the actions of God by our own perceptions of right and wrong, as if we are in any position to judge God at all!  Roy Honeycutt offers, in my opinion, an unfortunate example of this.  Listen closely to what he says about the tenth plague.

One should face realistically the moral problem raised by the assertion that the Lord smote all the firstborn.  The total witness of the biblical revelation concerning the nature and character of God suggests that while God may utilize fatal epidemics, or other catastrophes in nature, he hardly goes about slaying children.  Thus, either the nature and character of God has changed, or man’s comprehension of that nature has enlarged with the fuller appropriation of God’s self-revelation.[2]

Well, those are interesting options:  either God has changed or our comprehension of God’s nature has evolved.  What Honeycutt does not allow is that the text may mean exactly what it says and that we should accept that the actions of God are right because God did them.  The assumption that a plain reading of this text indicts God of evil (if, indeed, that is what Honeycutt is suggesting) is an assumption grounded in hubris.

The Lord strikes the firstborn of Egypt.  It is terrifying, but it is just.  As a result, Pharaoh and the people of Egypt plead with the Hebrews to leave.

³¹ Then 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. ³² Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”

It is fascinating to see that Pharaoh, after telling Moses to take the people and leave, actually asks for a blessing:  “be gone, and bless me also!”  Philip Ryken says that little scene reminds him of the scene in Fiddler on the Roof in which a young Russian Jew asks the rabbi if he can bless the czar.  The rabbi thinks about it and says, “May the Lord bless the tsar and keep him…far away from us!”  That is likely what Moses felt:  “I hope the Lord blesses you…over here…while we go over there!”

The reaction of the Egyptians to the tenth plague reminds one of the story recorded in Matthew 8 of Jesus delivering two demon possessed men from demonic possession and casting the demons into the pigs of the country of the Gadarenes.  Do you remember the people’s reaction to this deliverance and the destruction of these pigs?  “And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region” (v.34).  It is interesting to observe that the Gedarenes reacted to an act of deliverance the same way that the Egyptians reacted to an act of judgment.  Both instances exhibited the power of Almighty God.  People cannot long stand to be in the presence of God’s power!

II. An Act of Unleavened Consecration and Purity (v.34-41)

We saw in the first half of chapter twelve that the Lord established the Passover feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as symbolic rituals and reminders of their deliverance from Israel.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be observed at the conclusion of the Passover.  However, the people were unable to partake, so they took their dough with them to observe it along the way.

³⁴ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. ³⁵ The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. ³⁶ And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. ³⁷ And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.

Honeycutt proposes that the mixed multitude “was composed of Egyptians who had married Hebrews (cf. Lev. 24:10; also, Moses’ marriage to a non-Hebrew, Num. 12:1 f.), fragments of various ethnic groups who had migrated to Egypt just as had the Hebrews, and prisoners of war employed at forced labor.”[3]  Regardless, it is interesting to note that Israel does not go out alone.  As if, prophetically, to speak of the universal scope of the Savior who will come through Israel’s line, Israel goes with at least some from other nations with them.

It is also interesting to observe the reactions of modern and ancient commentators to Moses’ report that “about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children” left Egypt.  That figure, including women and children, might be somewhere around two to three million.  Many modern commentators struggle before this number, pointing out the improbability of it and trying to figure out some way that that figure means something other than what it appears to mean.  Some ancient commentators, however, saw in that number evidence of the providence of God.  Thus, Gregory of Nazianzus, marveled at it.

Joseph came into Egypt alone, and soon thereafter six hundred thousand depart from Egypt.  What is more marvelous than this?  What greater proof of the generosity of God, when from persons without means he wills to supply the means for public affairs.[4]

It is indeed a marvel!  Israel has grown into a mighty nation, a numerous people.  They are emerging from the nightmare of bondage a powerful throng, a free people.  Their first act is to hold fast to the observance of unleavened bread.

³⁹ And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. ⁴⁰ The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.

As we have seen, the absence of leaven speaks of the absence of impurities from the lives of God’s people.  They are a free people, and a people committed to God.  Their commitment will not remain pure, but it begins thus.  The eating of unleavened bread is an act of consecration and purity.  They are now a people set apart, a holy people, called out, redeemed, and delivered.

III. An Act of Covenant Identity and Solidarity (v.42-51)

Furthermore, God prescribes an act of covenant identity and solidarity.  The physical mark of covenant belonging is reasserted over Israel.  God reminds them that the Passover is for the His people, and His people are known by bearing the mark of covenant belonging in their flesh.

⁴² It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. ⁴³ And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. ⁴⁵ No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. ⁴⁶ It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” ⁵⁰ All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

This may strike our modern ears as an odd prescription.  Is God xenophobic?  Does he have a fear of foreigners?  Why does He say that only those who have been circumcised can partake of the Passover?

There is, in fact, a deep and important truth here:  there are parameters to being the people of God.  There are boundaries.  As Thomas Oden once said, there can be no center without a circumference.

Almighty God knows that when His people become embroiled with people who do not share a common trust in Yahweh God, the convictions and identity of His people will become diluted.  This is why circumcision is necessary for those outside of Israel to partake in the Passover observance.

For the people of God today, the counterpart to Old Testament circumcision is repentance and faith, not baptism (as some allege).  We, too, have boundaries.  We, too, have parameters.  This is why Baptist Christians have historically practiced what is called “regenerate church membership.”  Membership in the body of Christ, the church, is open to all who have been circumcised of heart, who have repented and come to Christ in faith and trust.  This is the mark of covenant belonging and solidarity that is necessary today.

I have a friend who proposes that the body of Christ does not need boundaries, does not need a concept of membership as traditionally understood.  He says the church should be like a rancher who takes down his fences and digs a deep well.  The livestock, he says, do not need to be defined by a boundary, instead, they will be defined by the presence of life-giving water.  The well will keep them close.  They will not wander far from water.  They will, in other words, stay close to the source of life.

To be sure, the body of Christ must keep Christ at the center of its fellowship.  He is the source of life around which we gather and from which we dare not wander.  But it is a charming naivete that thinks the body of Christ does not need boundaries.  In point of fact, there are numbers of people who will draw near only to poison the well and kill the herd if there are not identity-defining boundaries.  Boundaries protect us, and the boundary for the church is repentance and faith.  The Church does not consist of perfect people, but it does consist of redeemed people who have bowed heart and knee to Christ.  We, too, have a defining boundary:  Christ Himself.  All who are in Christ are the Church.  Any who reject Christ are not.

Once again, we see in Israel the story of Christ and His church written in shadows and types.  There is more here than simply a story of historic deliverance.  There are principles here that, while clothed in strange and foreign elements, speak to the very heart of God that will be revealed definitively and most clearly in Christ Jesus.  In this sense, the Exodus is our story.  It is a preface to the gospel, a setting of the world stage for the eventual coming of Christ.

Let us thank God for the deliverance of His people.  Let us thank Him above all for the Deliverer who will come from this delivered people.