And the Lord said unto Moses— These verses, being added as a kind of close to the foregoing Chapter s, we should certainly read (as the original will allow us) the Lord had said unto Moses, &c.
REFLECTIONS.—The blow was long suspended. Now it descends. God tries lesser chastisements first, to bring men to repentance; but when they are found incorrigible, then vengeance overtakes them to the uttermost.
1. The judgment is denounced; the time fixed, at dead of night; the extent of it, from the prince to the slave: Israel alone is exempted. In their dwellings there shall be life and joy, while death and mourning shall fill the houses of the Egyptians. Note; Death, as the wages of sin, can never hurt those who are passed from death unto life, and live by faith on the Son of God.
2. It is foretold how suppliant the proud prosecutors would grow; and hereupon Moses with indignation leaves the devoted palace. Note; (1.) The hardness of sinners' hearts is a bitter grief to the ministers of Christ (2.) When sin is the object of our indignation, we may be angry, and not sin.
3. The determined hardness of Pharaoh's heart, as foretold, continues. Note; We are not to wonder at the general rejection of God's truth: it was foretold long ago.