Then the plague of death was administered upon the land of Egypt and the judgement against the gods of Egypt was complete. Exodus 12-29And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. The Hebrews were now just slaves in the nation of Egypt. And Pharaoh told Moses to talk to his God and tell him that he would now release the Hebrew people. God throughout the bible bestows the moral code that people live by back upon them to show the rights and wrongs of the moral code that they live by. Exodus 9-8 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 10And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians, Then God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he refused to let them leave. This was the choice that God had chosen, the request that Moses passed on to Pharaoh. In this writing I shall tackle the issue head on and see if I can answer Why God killed the firstborns of Egypt. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. Moses throwing down the staff and it turning to a serpent would have been a sign that God was with him. So what was the purpose of this plague why did God choose this particular wonder. Which unlike the Egyptian enslavement and baby murders forced onto the Hebrew people was completely avoidable and as we have seen although we have no way of telling how many, we can be certain that at least some Egyptians did in fact avoid this judgement. This was a rule that the vast majority of ancient cultures lived by. Pharoah is once again warned before the execution of this Plague. let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? He let the baby girls live. The killing is subtle at first, and then much more blatant. But their fear of God is stronger than their fear of Pharaoh. Similarities also exist between the Massacre of the Innocents and Pharaoh’s order to kill all Hebrew male infants at the time of Moses’ birth (Exodus 1:15–16). Finally it is just left to see if it is at all possible to work out just how many children were actually killed during this last plague. When faced with the statement all the firstborns it’s easy to conjure up images of the millions and millions of children throughout the world today, but that would be an inaccurate image. The golden rule of reciprocity, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Exodus 1- 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 6And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. Copyright © Joshua Washington and thescripturesays, 2014-2017. 19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.At this point we are told there were Egyptians that were in fear of God. We also have to account for the very high mortality rate in the ancient world especially amongst first borns estimations have this raging from 30 per cent through to 75 per cent. 5And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. 25And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river. ; A brief account of the story of Moses is provided in Exodus 2. We are then told of the death of the Pharaoh who had inflicted the slavery and the infanticide.Â. 38And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 28And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.29And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. Like I said these babies and young childrenare not lost. Leviticus 3:1-17 - The Fellowship Offering. Often used to discredit the God of the Bible and show him to be a murderer of children and the innocent. Exodus 8-30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD. It can be asked why such a harsh judgement against Egypt. Pharaoh as a reward made him 2nd in charge of the whole of Egypt. 8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. So Moses spoke to the people warning of the last plague that would befall Egypt. They had been oppressing the Hebrews killing them through extreme forced labour and a pogrom of infanticide for some 120 years. 7:7 - Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go. Perhaps some were killed, but many Hebrew sons were spared because of their compassion. Pharaoh’s heart was again hardened so that he would not let the people go. Pharaoh commands more and more people to kill the sons of Israel. He gives them families. Ralbag (verse 22) - they assumed they could just marry the women and assimilate them (See Netziv) They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. King Jesus, the one who saves us from sin and death. Exodus 8- 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. But even more importantly, it signified that the Lord passed over Israel, and foreshadowed the mystery of Jesus himself. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. before changing his mind after the plague had subsided. This would also be 9 opportunities for the people of Egypt to see the power of God and follow him. This was not just an order to kill the firstborn children but all male newborns. Horrific, but straightforward, right? 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