MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exodus 12:29-32
THE DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN OF EGYPT
I. We see here that God’s vengeance is as certainly executed upon the rebellious as it is threatened. The death of the first-born was threatened to Pharaoh some time ago, and he had had ample opportunity of obeying the Divine command, and of averting the dread penalty. But no, he still remains obstinate in heart, and will not yield to the will of God; hence the time of destruction has come. The first-born of Egypt are slain, in every house they are dead. There is great mourning in the nation. Nor has the household of the king escaped the common woe. This is not occasioned by pestilence or plague, but by the sudden stroke of Heaven. And thus are the threats of God against the sinner abundantly executed. They may be delayed, but they will not be forgotten. They are awfully certain. The greatness of the calamity will not prevent its final execution; even though it require the death of a vast multitude, the threat of Heaven will come to pass. Let not the sinner imagine that he can escape the retributions of God, either through the inability or unwillingness of God to inflict them, or through his own ability to resist them. Men cannot elude the stroke of Heaven.
II. We see here that God’s vengeance is upon all sinners, no matter what their social position, whether king or beggar. There was death in the palace as well as in the dungeon, in the family of the king as well as in the midst of the slaves. The judgments of God are characterised by equity; they are without partiality. They are no respector of persons. They are not turned aside by social accidents, nor are they bribed by cunning and winning arrangements. Moral considerations determine the retributions of human life. There is no impediment in the way of Divine justice and the execution of its sentence upon all men. God can send His messengers into the palace as well as into the dungeon; bolts and bars, guards and sentinels, cannot keep out the subtle angel of death. Death has many doors into the homes of men. He takes the rich from their wealth, the poor from their misery; and perhaps in the next life the relations of men may be inverted—the poor man may be the prince and the prince, the slave in the dungeon.
III. We see here that God’s vengeance comes upon sinners when they least expect it, and in their moments of fancied security. It was night. All Egypt was in slumber. Men were not even dreaming of approaching ill. There was nothing to disturb their usual repose; when suddenly a cry arose, which every moment gathered volume until it became a piercing wail. Mothers were attending to their loved ones, and watching them pass into the silence of death. And this was the scene throughout the homes of Egypt. And so, the judgments of Heaven often come upon sinners when least anticipated, in the midst of carnal repose and fancied security. Then they awake, but for a moment, and too late, to find that the stern messenger of eternal justice has seized upon them. It often happens that when men are the most insensible to the retributions of Heaven, they are the nearest to it. God sometimes comes to the wicked soul in the midnight hour. The darkness cannot hide from Him. We know not what will be in the approaching night.
IV. We see here that God’s vengeance may make the most obstinate sinners yield to the demands of Heaven.
1. We see that Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. The terrible stroke of death had indeed done its sad work; and the Monarch of Egypt, alarmed, was glad to get rid of those who. had occasioned him and his nation so much calamity. And thus the purpose of Heaven is at last accomplished. Israel is free; and the two servants of God are rejoiced to see the glad result of their long and anxious toil. It was a moment of deep humility for the king; it was a moment of triumph for Moses and Aaron. How strangely are the scenes of life blended in this world, even at one and the same time! This midnight hour was to Egypt the hour of death, but to Israel it was the hour of freedom. The same hour brings different and varied events and emotions even to the same people.
2. We see that Pharaoh yielded to the demand of Heaven. He gave the Israelites their freedom, and so regarded the claim of God as enforced by severe retribution. True there was not much virtue in the obedience of Pharaoh as it was occasioned by awful plague. But do we not in this incident see the supreme folly of sin and rebellion against God? The sinner will have to yield to the demands of Heaven, and hence the wisdom of an immediate compliance thereto. Why suffer so many dreadful plagues to no purpose? Surely it is better to fall in with the Divine arrangement at first, than to have such painful visitations of vengeance only to yield at last. It is well to avoid the penalties of sin, though this is the very lowest motive for obedience to the will of Heaven. The submission of Pharaoh:—
(1) It was immediate upon the plague.
(2) It was complete in its obedience.
(3) It was comprehensive in its injunction.
(4) It was welcomed by the Egyptians. And thus culminated the judgments of Heaven upon the land of Pharaoh; the sufferings of Israel in a cruel bondage; and the toils of His devoted ministers in reference to a proud king.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 12:29-30. It is God’s miraculous distinguishing judgment to kill the first-born only.
Choice of beasts, as well as men, God strikes for man’s sin.
Vengeance makes a terrible rousing to the wicked from their midnight rest.
God’s wrath makes the wicked howl in their midnight wakings.
It is God’s eminent stroke when no house escapes without the slaughter of some.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Religions Tuition! Exodus 12:27. Moses might well have been daunted in his mission to instruct Israel in Religion. To teach a set of wild, ignorant boys is no easy matter. The teacher may have received many hints and practical suggestions from his pastor; but the task will still be arduous. Just so with Moses: God had counselled him in many points, and furnished him with useful data of instruction; still it would prove up-hill work. We find, however, that he grappled to the difficulty With spirit. Arthur Madden did the same, when divinely sent to instruct a class of roughs in the hamlet where he lived. The most discouraging feeling to him was that he was only breaking up fallow ground for another to sow in; that he was only commencing a work which another would be privileged to complete. And if Moses thus felt, he was able to grasp the fact that his was a great mission of instructing Israel, one great work to be carried on from age to age, employing many generations of workers; and that therefore his duty was to work with might and main, uprearing in the midst of Israel’s vast host an edifice or temple of religions principle, which would last longer than the pyramids, those gray piles of hieroglyphic grandeur beneath whose shadows they were then in slavery, and which have survived the language which the Pharaohs spoke—
“Preserving its dead emblems to the eye,
Yet hiding from the mind what these reveal.”
—Montgomery.
Divine Dealings! Exodus 12:29. It is no use to coax or flatter the tiger, which has seized your babe, and whose teeth have met in its little thigh. You must thrust the flaming brand or the glittering spear into its face; then it will howl and drop its victim in the shock of sudden pain. How fondly will you staunch the bleeding wounds, and undo the cruel injury inflicted on your child! God found that mild measures would not influence Pharaoh to release his prey, that he only snarled, and bit all the more cruelly. No wonder that He hurled His flaming brand or glittering sword in the Egyptian lion’s face, and forced him to let go his bruised and palpitating victim. How tenderly God bound up Israel’s wounds when He had allured their host into the wilderness! So does He deal with our oppressors and ourselves. On them He pours His righteous judgments; while on His own He showers deliverances: Why? That we may become holy as He is holy—
“Complete thy purpose, that we may become
Thy perfect image, O our God and Lord.”
Divine Distinctions! Exodus 12:30. Israel’s first-born were unharmed. Side by side stood two houses. The one was that of a publican of worthless character, who took pleasure in giving every annoyance to God’s people, and inflicting injuries upon those who were earnest Christians. The other was that of a family which honoured God—hallowed their roof-tree and daily life with prayer, and hoped for an inheritance in heaven. One night, the publican’s house caught fire, and being chiefly of wood, it burnt like tinder. The family at the castle and the people of the village gathered in groups to arrest, if possible, the progress of the flames. It was soon apparent that their efforts were fruitless, and that the fire would speedily spread its ravages to the neighbour’s cottage. When all were anxiously watching the fiery element, which had now almost wholly consumed the publican’s haunt, suddenly a tremendous torrent of pelting rain fell, hissing and steaming on the burning wreck and the fire-cracked ground, and soon driving many of the crowd to seek shelter within their hornet. That Providence saved the next house from sharing the fate of its neighbour; and thus, as God preserved Israel while He punished Pharaoh, so was the home of Abner Stone protected, whilst that of the godless Dan Ford was wholly destroyed—
“Angels of life and death alike are His;
Without His leave they pass no threshold o’er.”
—Lowell.
Moral Freedom! Exodus 12:31. A traveller, who was both a scholar and a high-born gentleman, fell into the hands of pirates, and was carried off to some robber nest on the Barbary shore. There for the rest of his life was he left to languish, rowing the galley, grooming the charger, and tending the cattle of his Moslem master. Could ought be more bitter and heartbreaking! He had tastes which could no longer be cultivated, longings which could no longer be gratified, relations who could no longer be visited, and spiritual emotions which could be confessed only to incur taunts and mockery. Something like this was the experience of free-born Israel, and how welcome freedom! Certainly similar to this was the condition of Adam when he fell into the bondage of sin, until he became familiarised with his serfdom. Even then, there comes across the human mind a longing to taste the sweets of the glorious liberty of the children of God. The Paschal Lamb pledges our deliverance from sin-tyranny. The Blood of Sprinkling gives a happy exodus from the Egypt of Satan’s domination. We have redemption through His blood—
“Dearly are we bought, for God
Bought us with His own heart’s blood.”
—Hart.