Exodus 11 & 12 -- The Tragic Results Of A Hardened Heart

All of the events I’ve read about in Exodus were coinciding with promises God had made to Abraham hundreds of years before.  God had told Abraham about the Egyptian captivity and how He would bring His people out of Egypt after 430 years of slavery.  Passover would become their new independence day.

 

God had hardened Pharaoh’s heart to get them all to this point.  Moses had been told to warn Pharaoh that whatever Pharaoh did to the Israelite firstborn would determine how God treated Egypt’s firstborn.  Pharaoh had ordered Israelite firstborn sons killed or drowned (remember Moses in the basket?).  And now Pharaoh faced payback.  Every firstborn male in Egypt died that night.  Every house lost someone.  And all of the firstborn livestock died as well.  God keeps records of birth order, even among the animals!

 

Amazingly, with the Egyptians grieving over their losses, God caused them to think well of the Israelites, and they freely handed them their gold as gifts.  It was actually payback for the years of wages Egypt hadn’t paid while keeping the Israelites enslaved, and it also was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would leave Egypt with great prosperity.

 

Father, You always keep Your promises, and You are always right on time.  Help me to be firm in my faith about this, knowing that You never leave or forsake, that You are in total control, and that nothing is ever beyond Your ability to make happen.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford