The plagues, the Passover and the Crossing of the Red Sea

Judgment on Egypt, Salvation for Israel

In just three verses in the letter to the Hebrews, the writer gives those Jewish Christians so much to consider concerning Moses and Israel:

Heb 11:27-29 “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.”

Hab 1:5-6 ““Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own.”

This astonishing revelation from God to the prophet Habakkuk tells us something about God that we and the world must always understand: that God is sovereign and that God will judge.

In Habakkuk’s time God was preparing to use the Babylonians as a means to judge Israel.

The prophet Nahum tells us about this God:

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.”

Time and again in scripture we find examples of God executing his judgment and he uses the nations as instruments of his judgment. Often the judgment was against his own people, the Israelites, and always with the purpose of bringing them back to himself, to lead them to repentance and forgiveness. The book of Judges is a record which shows God as one who loves his people and rescues them from the tribes and nations surrounding them. It also reminds us that God does not let sin go unpunished and uses those very same nations as his instruments as he deals with the sin and Idolatry of Israel. The Israelites are then God’s instruments, when he punishes those nations.

In this eleventh chapter of Hebrews the writer reminds us of the event which probably most people in the world know about: the crossing of the Red Sea; the rescue of the Israelites and the destruction of the Egyptians. Salvation and Judgment. The prophet Micah refers to it when he wrote.

Micah 7:15-16 ““As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show them my wonders.” Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf.”

This judgment on Egypt and the salvation of the Israelites takes us to the faith of Moses, a faith that was weak and faltering and full of doubt to begin with, but a faith which grew and grew the more he focussed on God until he could stand before all the people of Israel and say to them:

Exod 14:13 “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.”

The story is familiar to us. Moses had spent forty years away from Egypt and at God’s call he was to return to Egypt to the new pharaoh with this message: “Israel is my firstborn son. Let my son go so he may worship me.” The message also included the warning to Pharaoh: “You refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.”

Pharaoh was not the first to take a stand against God, when he said:

Exod 5:2 “Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.””

Moses also had a message for the Israelites:

Exod 6:6 ““Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”

Their response was not what Moses expected:

Exod 6:9 “Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.”

This was a test of Moses’ faith. He is faced with a pharaoh who is obstinate and refusing to allow the Israelites to go into the desert to worship their God and a people who accuse Moses of making their life even harder. How did his faith stand up to this challenge? Heb 11:27 “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” He persevered. The message bible puts it this way: “He had his eye on the One no one can see, and kept right on going,” This is what faith does. It focusses on God.

What was going to change the mind of Pharaoh and bring him top the point where he would want to be rid of these Israelites?

What was going to bring the Israelites to the point where they would not only want to leave Egypt, but would actually obey Moses and do so?

The plagues, which came upon Egypt, were not only acts of judgment on the Egyptians and the gods that they worshipped, but they were acts of encouragement and preparation of the Israelites for their departure.

The Egyptians worshipped many gods and even Pharaoh himself was regarded as a god. The plagues were a demonstration to all that God is sovereign and that all other so-called gods are as nothing. It was as if one by one the Egyptians saw their god as powerless against the God of the Israelites.

Hapi, the Egyptian god if the Nile, could not prevent it turning to blood.

Heket, the Egyptian goddess of fertility, had the head of a frog.

Geb, the Egyptian god of the earth, could not prevent the lice from the dust of the earth

Khepri, the Egyptian god of creation, had the head of a fly

Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love and protection, usually had the head of a cow

Isis, the Egyptian goddess of medicine and peace, was powerless against the plague which caused boils and sores

Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky, could do nothing to prevent the hail from falling.

Seth, the Egyptian god of storms and disorder, was impotent as the swarms of locusts arrived

Ra, the Egyptian sun god, could not prevent the three days of complete darkness.

And finally Pharaoh, worshipped as the greatest Egyptian god, was to see the death of the firstborn, before he relented.

At any time Pharaoh could have chosen a different course and God gave him every chance to do so. In Exodus 9:15 “For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.”

Exod 9:16 “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

A word about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. We read that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and some say that God was somehow unjust in his dealings with Pharaoh. That would be entirely against the character of God. Here’s what Paul says in Romans:

Romans 9:14–18 NIV

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

Neither Moses nor Pharaoh deserved God’s mercy. Neitherr you nor I deserve God’s mercy. Moses and Pharaoh both witnessed God at work, but Moses listened to God and responded in faith. Pharaoh refused to hear God and stood against him.

Just look at the progression in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart:

Exod 7:13 “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”

Exod 7:14 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.”

Exod 7:22 “But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.”

Exod 8:15 “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.”

Exod 8:19 “the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.”

Exod 8:32 “But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.”

Exod 9:7 “Pharaoh investigated and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.”

Exod 9:12 “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”

Ex 9:34 “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.”

Ex 9:35 “So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said through Moses.”

Ex 10:1 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them”

Ex 10:20 “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.”

Ex 10:27 “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.”

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart began with Pharaoh himself, and so it is with everyone who refuses to hear the voice of God. Paul writes about this in the first chapter of Romans:

Rom 1:18-19 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”

Rom 1:21 “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

And here is the key verse:

Rom 1:24 “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.”

“God gave them over”. If you resist God and refuse to hear him, there will come a time when it may be impossible to repent. The call of God to you will mean nothing.

Jesus talks of such people when he says this:

Mat 13:14-15 “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’”

Thus it was with Pharaoh and all his officials. Their hearts were hardened, not by a vindictive God, but by their own choice not to hear him. The more they refused to hear him, the more they could not hear him.

What was the result of these plagues? The Egyptians learned that to stand against God was foolish and futile. The Israelites were brought by God to the point where they knew that God was on their side and they were ready to obey the instructions that God’s messenger, Moses, was about to give them.

That brings us to the Passover

Heb 11:28 “By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.”

The event, which came to be known as the Passover, is recorded in Exodus chapter 12, and was of such importance that the month in which it occurred marked a change in the calendar and was to be the first month of the year. It was to be celebrated for generations to come.

When you consider all the detailed instructions that Moses received and then passed on to the Israelites, and bear in mind that the Israelites numbered about six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, this was a remarkable act of faith. Nothing of this nature or scale had ever occurred before.

Heb 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

There is no doubting the faith of Moses, who spoke of an event that had not yet taken place, and the Israelites also seemed to show faith:

Exod 12:28 “The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.”

The writer to the Hebrews mentions the Passover and the sprinkling of blood. The killing of the unblemished lamb on that first Passover occasion was not in itself enough. The blood of the lamb had to be put on the lintel and the doorposts of the houses. Without that action there would be no escape from the judgment of God, even for any Israelite.

Nothing, other than the blood of the lamb could save them from the destroyer that night.

Exod 12:13 “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

This sprinkling of blood was a one time event, and clearly points forward to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God many centuries later, as John the Baptist pointed out:

John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Christ’s death on the cross was a one time event:

Heb 7:27 “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.”

It is only by the blood of Jesus that we can escape Judgment and come to God.

Heb 10:19-22 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Whoever is not “sprinkled” or covered by the blood of Christ is subject to the wrath and judgment of God.

The writer speaks of the Destroyer. Who is the destroyer?

Exod 12:23 “When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

There are some who would say that the destroyer was an Angel like the Angel Isaiah wrote about:

Isa 37:36 “Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!”

2 Kings 19:35 “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!”

2 Sam 24:15-16 “So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

However Exodus 12:12 ““On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.”

Ex 12:27 “then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.”

Ex 12:29 “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”

The killing of the firstborn of Egypt was not God’s final judgment on that generation of Egypt. That was to come not long afterwards when God used the Israelite nation, for that is what they now were - a nation - as his instruments in judgment.

How did that come about

Ex 13:17-18 “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.”

Had God wished it, the Philistines would have been no barrier to the Israelites as they journeyed to the promised land. But God’s plan was different. He led the Israelites to a place, where before them was the sea and behind them was the whole Egyptian army and there was no possible escape route. Why did God lead them there?

Ex 14:4 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.”

The reaction of the Israelites was understandable:

Exod 14:12 “Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!””

The writer to the Hebrews says this: “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.”

Whose faith? Was it the faith of the Israelites? That seems unlikely, although some of them would undoubtedly have had faith. But the faith of Moses.

Ex 14:13 “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.”

Do you remember the storm in Acts 27 when Paul was on his way to face trial in Rome. It was his faith that saved the lives of all aboard the ship:

Acts 27:22-25 “But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

It was by the faith of Moses that the Israelites were able to cross the Red Sea. Pharaoh’s obsession with the Israelites and his desire to bring them back into slavery brought about his downfall. The Israelites covered by the faith of Moses crossed the Sea as on dry land. The Egyptians, attempting to do the very same thing, were drowned.

Salvation for the Israelites. Judgment on those who opposed God.