Exodus: Final Plague

Finally we've reached the final plague, and this, to me, was the most devastating of them all. Exodus 11 describes the plague of the firstborn, where every firstborn in Egypt would die. Even after the final plague, before the Passover, the Pharaoh's heart was hard and would not let the Israelites go.

When i first read through it, a few thoughts crossed my mind. From "why did God have to take innocent lives just to prove a point? thats not fair." to "how is it possible for the Pharaoh to have such a hardened heart to all this?"

Thinking it through, the fact that the plagues continued to get more and more severe spoke to me in two different ways. Firstly, God's power. God is almighty and has the power to destroy and to heal. He can send hail in Egypt, he can command for darkness over the nation, and he could kill you or me with a snap of his fingers. This God that we believe is truly that powerful and great. Many times we just simply don't realize this. Secondly, sacrifice. God sacrificed all the first borns in Egypt for the Israelites to be freed. Although this seems really devastating, but in today's time it can apply in a slightly different way. For God to achieve something, in this case, the Israelites' freedom, something more severe had to happen. Similarly in today's world, we often need to sacrifice something for something greater. For instance, if God was calling us to long term missions, would you be willing to sacrifice home, comfort, and familiarity to serve God?

Secondly, it was the Pharaoh's heart. So many things have happened in Egypt, from water to blood, frogs and locusts, yet somehow the Pharaoh's heart was hardened. I don't understand how someone could be so selfish, does he have no feelings for the others who are being affected by his actions and decisions? Although we may not be as extreme, but if you reflect about it, is there a part of your heart that is so hardened to hear God speak? Is there something you dont want to hear, so you're trying to block it out of your life?

verse of the day: Ephesians 4:18

¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.