Exodus 11: 4-10: “And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.”
When Moses first came to Pharaoh to ask him to set Israel free from their slavery, he told Pharaoh that Israel was the Lord’s firstborn. (Ex 4: 22, 23, “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.”) If Pharaoh refused to respect the Lord’s firstborn then the Lord would refuse to respect Egypt’s firstborn. Pharaoh was seen as the supreme god of the Egyptians and his son was the next supreme god. The Lord demonstrated that, at last, He was superior to all the gods of the Egyptians and even the future gods of the Egyptians. This also showed that, in the Lord’s sight, Pharaoh had the same status as his most humble servants and even the animals. No one can impress the Lord by any earthly measure, after all, He created the earth and everything in it. Pharaoh had absolute authority in Egypt and that authority was based on the fact that he was a god. The greatest superpower of that time was still subject to the Lord and her ruler was unable to rebel against Him without endangering his own future. None of the great pyramids could give Pharaoh the everlasting life that he longed for.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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