Ten horrendous, deadly plagues descended upon Egypt as God demonstrated His power and displeasure at a Pharaoh who repeatedly ignored Moses’ requests to let God’s people return to their land in Canaan. The plagues brought judgment on false gods worshipped by Pharaoh and his people, but the last plague, the death of the firstborn of all humans and beasts, was the most devastating.
As scripture records, Moses was warned by God of this impending horror, so he informed Pharaoh of God’s intentions: Moses had announced to Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl, who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die. Then a loud wail will rise throughout the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or will ever hear again. But among the Israelites, it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites (Exodus 11:4-8 NLT).
Can you imagine delivering that news update to an arrogant, stiff-necked despot? Moses could have been instantly vaporized in Pharaoh’s court, but he was not. Each plague served to unquestionably instill the fear of God in His people as they watched terror and destruction come upon those who did not honor the One True God.
The people of God were untouchable in suffering the loss of life during the tenth plague, and here’s how they remained so...Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, "Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning. For the Lord will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when he sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the Lord will pass over your home. He will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down, (Exodus 12:21-23 NLT).
It was a messy display of dripping blood on what may have been freshly scrubbed doors, for all we know. But during this first Passover, the death angel, sent by God Himself, passed over every household that had covered itself with the blood of a young lamb. Not Pharaoh’s, though, for his heart remained hardened, and he lost his firstborn son. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7 NKJV).
The cries over the land that dreadful night were unimaginable, as every parent whose doorpost was not smeared with the blood of a lamb picked up their dead child. Likewise, every servant vowing allegiance to Pharaoh suffered the same heartache; every firstborn cow, goat, camel…dead, needlessly. How chilling that the Lord warned, “then a loud wail will rise throughout the land of Egypt, a wail like no one has heard before or will ever hear again,” however, as Exodus 11:8 records, among the Israelites, it will be so peaceful that not even a dog will bark. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites.
God makes a distinction today, too. Jesus Christ is the Firstborn Son of God. 1 Peter 1:18-20 (NLT) declares, for you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. When we are covered under the blood of Jesus, eternal death and damnation in hell pass over us forever.
We are The Untouchables of Christ. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, (1 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV). In the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Thanks be to God for our Passover Lamb and His incredible sacrifice!
© 2022, Chris Werre
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