...no more, Lord...no more...

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

“29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead” Exodus 12:29-30.

These two verses are the actual description of the tenth and most destructive plague. They are brief verses, but so is the pattern established in the earlier plague accounts, where the description of what was about to happen often is given more space than the description of what actually happened. But here, in two simple verses, the horrible consequences of Egyptian resistance to God and abuse of His people over many years came to pass during a single night.

The firstborn died at midnight, apparently suddenly and all at once, stuck down directly by the Lord himself. The verse confirms what would conclude the ten plagues was revealed to Moses in Exodus 4:22–23 and consistent with the warning Moses had given to Pharaoh in Exodus 11:5. The oppressive pharaoh (1:8) had caused the death of all Israelite baby boys in every family, not because the boys had done anything to deserve death but because it was his brutal way of trying to suppress the power of the nation into which they had been born. 

Now the pharaoh of the plagues caused a similar disaster, the death of the firstborn in every family. This was not a case, however, of returning evil for evil. It was a case of God’s retribution, justice given to those who deserved it, a judgment against an entire society and their absurd religious beliefs that led them to practice the horrible treatment they had given the Israelites in the past, believing that it was appropriate. But God, not Israelites, did this killing of the Egyptian firstborn, and did so within the boundaries of his righteous judgment against evildoers.

In verse 30 notice that the deaths of the firstborn was very quiet, with many or all who died did so in their sleep. But my guess is that many probably checked on their children periodically during the night. No clocks existed at this point in antiquity, so people could only have guessed the time, but soon enough after midnight people would have begun to find children dead and would have begun to wail. The wailing in one house would have alerted the inhabitants in another to check on the firstborn immediately; they would have found them dead too, and so the wailing would spread from house to house and intensify. “Wailing” is the same term God used of the outcry of the Israelites under their bondage (Exodus 3:7 and 9). But now it was the Egyptians' turn, in a full and dramatic reversal of fortunes.

but my guess is that in any society, the death of so many livestock would be mourned, as it was a huge economic loss. We are not told whether the firstborn of Pharaoh was a daughter or a son. but what is so clear in this final plague is that the event was more than sufficient to eliminate all resistance to the exodus on the part of the Egyptians, most notably, Pharaoh (Exodus 12:31–33). The expression “there was not a house without someone dead” are such ominous words. In one way or another, virtually all Egyptian families/households would have indeed experienced the tenth plague.

Death such as these is so atrocious. This makes me shudder when I think of the escalation of nuclear weapons throughout the world today. Not one — and I repeat, NOT ONE — world leader today is pleading with the other world leaders to do away with nuclear weapons. Friends, it is just a matter of time before they are used again, and then there will be “a loud cry” again.

Dear friends, a nuclear event will be atrocious, just as the Holocaust was atrocious, and other similar annihilations of humanity! 

If there is any lesson for us to learn from the story of the tenth plague it is that we need to get on our knees and pray for God’s mercy. So, today pray for God to help us, “For All Have Sinned And Fall Short Of The Glory Of God” Romans 3:23. 

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.