God Reveals His Power To Men (MP 42)

Each was more ruinous than the one before,
A plague for ev’ry time Pharaoh said no;
After nine no’s, Egypt, reeling and sore,
Suffered the tenth, and Pharaoh begged them go!
Water turned to blood; frogs teemed ev’rywhere;
Gnats, flies, and locusts in turn swarmed the land;
All livestock died; hail beat crops and trees bare;
Darkness reigned three days; boils festered on Man!
And lastly, Egypt’s firstborn sons were all slain;
None was spared, not even Pharaoh’s own son;
Moses did not have to ask him again—
Israel was free, bondage in Egypt done!
God’s power had been revealed to all men;
Who would dare oppose God, and hope to win?

Scripture Quoted: Exodus 11:4-8 (NIV) [Brackets added]
“So Moses said [to Pharaoh on his last visit], ‘This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be a loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal [the Israelites were not harmed by any of the plagues]. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying: Go, you and all the people who follow you. After that I will leave!’ Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.”

Commentary on: God Reveals His Power To Men (Exodus 7-11)
God’s Master Plan could have omitted the smaller first 9 plagues on Egypt; He could have used the slaying of the firstborn sons first, and Pharaoh would have relented and let Israel leave at once. However, God had planned to employ the lesser plagues so that Pharaoh would harden his heart, allowing God to reveal to Hebrews, Egyptians, and the world His mighty power. As it turned out, Egypt was so disastrously ruined by the whole series of plagues that it has never regained its former power and glory. All camels, donkeys, sheep and goats were dead; all the trees had lost their fruit and leaves; all the corn and grain crops were destroyed; the firstborn sons of the nation were dead, weakening Egypt’s military strength; most of Egypt’s gold, silver, and other valuables were carried off by Israel; their entire labor force was gone in one day, along with half their population, foodstuff, and valuables. Even some Egyptians went along and converted to Judaism. God wanted the world to know how foolish any nation would be who harmed Israel or set themselves as opposed to God. He had pledged to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that any nation who harms Israel will in turn be harmed by God. This scripture passage is relevant to the Israel of today (2011); if the U. S. drops its protection of Israel or tries to force the nation to make a peace treaty with the Palestinians which leaves Israel vulnerable to obliteration, as the Arab nations have repeatedly called for, our own nation is at risk to receive similar treatment to that received by Egypt.

Through His prophet Moses, God told the Israelite women to ask Egyptian women for their jewelry before leaving Egypt. Many of the Egyptians were favorably disposed toward Israel (See Exodus 12:35-36), and the others had seen so much destruction from the God of Israel they were afraid they would all die; therefore, they gave the Israelites everything they wanted. God instructed Moses to set up a memorial called Passover for Israel to celebrate annually. The name signifies the “passing over” of God’s angel of death of houses marked on the lintels of the front doors with lamb’s blood.

Unwittingly Pharaoh, by hardening his heart and refusing so many times to let Israel go, became an instrument of God in His Master Plan for the world. God makes use of believers and non-believers in order to implement His plan of redemption for men from condemnation. Being used by God does not necessarily mean that an individual or a nation is in God’s will.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him will not die, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)