NOTES for Exo 11:1-10
Of all the plagues of Egypt, the last—the death of the firstborn—seems the cruelest and the most unjust. Of course, a situation in which everyone suffers because of one person’s choice, even if that person possesses power such as Pharaoh possessed in Egypt, is just neither from a human point of view nor from God’s. The problem, however, is that the fallen world is not just at all. Nature knows no justice; nor does a society that lives by laws closely resembling those of nature, the laws of a herd or a pack. Yet this is precisely how a society made up of fallen people lives. In the natural world, a leader’s mistake often destroys the herd; the same happens among people when the error of a ruler who possesses power but does not know God destroys an entire nation. It might seem that God has the power to prevent such a course of events and that God, who desires what is good for humanity, would surely have to do so. That is true, but with one qualification: it could have been prevented only if Pharaoh had acknowledged God’s authority over him. In this respect, the last plague is no different from all the others. This is not about God taking revenge on those who reject Him, but about the fact that without such acknowledgment a person simply cannot receive the salvation God can give him. It is impossible to grasp the hand extended to you while pushing it away at the same time. In the end Pharaoh chose precisely to push it away, and to do so roughly and harshly, threatening Moses with death if he ever appeared before him again (Ex 10:28). Every relationship with Moses, both as a man and as a prophet of God, had been severed, and Moses himself confirmed this (Ex 10:29). Pharaoh was now to encounter God’s power in all its fullness, while God’s love and mercy were completely hidden from him. For God, Pharaoh’s choice meant enormous opportunities for Egypt lost forever (v. 9). We can only guess what they might have been and what miracles God might have revealed in that country. For Pharaoh, however, the encounter with God’s power was to be truly dreadful, not least because its blow would fall not only on him personally but on all his subjects. Yet, given the position Pharaoh had taken toward Moses and the God of Israel, this was the only way God’s plan could be fulfilled. The situation would now develop so that virtually nothing would depend on Pharaoh’s choice any longer, and the Egyptians’ only thought would be the desire to rid themselves of Moses, his people, and his God, whose mercy Pharaoh had rejected, making Him a truly terrifying God for himself.