Exodus chapter 11 begins with God revealing the details of the final plague He will send upon Egypt. God tells Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt.” Notice how very personal this is; He does not say upon the land or just generally the nation, but ON PHARAOH. Our God is a very personal God; He desires intimacy with His children. It has been said that God loves each one of us as if there were only one of us to love. God then adds, “After that he will let you go from here.” God even repeats His promise from Exodus 4:23; “He will drive you out completely“. They will not sneak out of Egypt, they will be forced out. After 400 years in captivity there would naturally be some that would be reluctant to leave- that is the only life they knew. God arranges it so the entire nation must leave together. Isn’t that how we are with our acts of faith? Even though we might know God wants us to share our faith, sometimes we feel compelled to do things that are outside our comfort zone when we are open to His Holy Spirit. What is God compelling you to do today?
God continues His instruction; “Tell the people… to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold“. He adds, “The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials.” God is not limited; He works out His perfect will even in the hearts of non-believers. Don’t miss the fact that it required action on the part of the Hebrews to ask. Is there a question you have been hesitating to ask? We must also remember that they are asking for what they had earned; they were being paid their wages, not punitive damages. When our words line up with our actions we are also highly regarded in our situation. Moses then tells Pharaoh what God will do; “I will go throughout Egypt… Every first-born son in Egypt will die… from the first born son of Pharaoh… to the first born son of the slave girl… there will be loud wailing throughout Egypt.” But He adds, “But among the Israelites, not a dog will bark… then you will know the Lord makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt.” Moses adds, “all these officials of yours will come, bowing down to me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people’… And I will leave.” God will show His complete sovereignty over all of the Egyptian gods and Pharaoh, but God concludes, “Pharaoh will not listen“.
Just as God made a distinction between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, He will make a distinction when He returns for His church. In 1 Thessalonians 4-5, the apostle Paul reminds us, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night“. He instructs us to “comfort one another with these words“…”if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead… We will be caught up together” and “thus we shall always be with the Lord“. Paul reminds us to “encourage one another and build up one another“. But sadly, just as with Pharaoh, there will be those that will not believe. Moses is not responsible for Pharaoh’s decision; he is only responsible to follow God’s instruction. Paul explains, “he who rejects this is not rejecting man, but the God who gives the Holy Spirit to you.” So we are to “walk and please God, that you might excel still more“. Let your words and actions line up with the truth of salvation and the Holy Spirit will work through your life too.