Topical Bible: Children: Death of, As a Judgment Upon Parents: Firstborn of Egypt

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The death of the firstborn in Egypt stands as a significant and sobering event in biblical history, illustrating the severe judgment of God upon the Egyptians for their oppression of the Israelites. This event is recorded in the Book of Exodus and serves as the final and most devastating of the ten plagues that God inflicted upon Egypt to compel Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage.

Context and Background

The Israelites had been enslaved in Egypt for several centuries, and their cries for deliverance reached God. He appointed Moses and Aaron to lead His people out of Egypt. Despite numerous signs and wonders performed by God through Moses, Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he refused to let the Israelites go.

The Tenth Plague

The death of the firstborn is described in Exodus 11 and 12. God announced this final plague through Moses, declaring that He would pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn son in the land, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on the throne to the firstborn of the slave girl at her hand mill, and even the firstborn of the livestock (Exodus 11:5). This act of judgment was to demonstrate God's power and to compel Pharaoh to release the Israelites.

Divine Judgment and Protection

The Israelites were given specific instructions to protect themselves from this plague. They were to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and apply its blood to the doorposts and lintels of their homes. This act of obedience and faith would cause the Lord to "pass over" their homes, sparing their firstborn from death (Exodus 12:7, 13). This event became known as the Passover, a pivotal moment in Israelite history and a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrificial death.

Theological Significance

The death of the firstborn in Egypt serves as a profound example of God's righteous judgment against sin and rebellion. It underscores the seriousness with which God views the oppression of His people and the lengths to which He will go to deliver them. The event also highlights the concept of substitutionary atonement, as the blood of the lamb provided a means of salvation for the Israelites, prefiguring the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Impact on Egypt and Israel

The immediate impact of this plague was catastrophic for Egypt. "There was loud wailing throughout Egypt, for there was no house without someone dead" (Exodus 12:30). This judgment broke the will of Pharaoh, who finally relented and allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt. For the Israelites, the Passover became a lasting ordinance, a reminder of God's deliverance and faithfulness.

Moral and Spiritual Lessons

This event serves as a solemn reminder of the consequences of defying God's commands and the importance of obedience and faith. It also illustrates the protective power of God's covenant with His people and the hope of redemption through sacrifice. The death of the firstborn in Egypt is a testament to God's justice and mercy, providing a powerful narrative of deliverance and divine intervention in the history of salvation.

Nave's Topical Index

Exodus 12:29
And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
... of their manhood, he has made as children, that they ... much did the rejection, persecution
and cruel death of Jesus ... But at the judgment he shall shine forth as ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xii circumcision temple service and.htm

The Flight into Egypt and St. John the Baptist in the Desert
... was used later as a court of justice; it was not far from Pilate's judgment seat,
but ... At Christ's death I saw the grave of the massacred children fall in ...
/.../emmerich/the life of the blessed virgin mary/xvi the flight into egypt.htm

the Legendary History of Egypt
... that the guilty shall be brought to judgment and formally ... life, while the other was
evil and death incarnate ... could then bring forth her five children, one after ...
/.../chapter iii -the legendary history of.htm

A New Order of Priests and Levites
... rejected for their unbelief and dispersed in judgment among all ... of all the hallowed
things of the children of Israel. ... how they might put him to death, and who ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/a new order of priests.htm

A Call to Holy Living
... able to describe what God revealeth to his children by his ... by the wounds of Jesus,
by the death of Jesus ... Lord gives us the description of the judgment, he did ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 18 1872/a call to holy living.htm

Israel's Hope Encouraged;
... And what life, but death in its perfection? ... corruption, into the glorious liberty
of the children of God ... been guilty of, with reference to the judgment that it ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/israels hope encouraged.htm

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:
... God these were outweighed by that sound sense of death and of the day of judgment,
which abode ... but the unclean, types of such as were the children of the ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/grace abounding to the chief.htm

The Oration on Holy Baptism.
... of typical seal, and was conferred on children before they ... so far as to taste of
death; and that He ... Receive besides this the Resurrection, the Judgment and the ...
/.../cyril/lectures of s cyril of jerusalem/oration xl the oration on.htm

Ancestors of the Blessed virgin
... 18] and after his wife's death he moved ... which is very efficacious in children's
convulsions. ... Present-day opinion, however, suspends judgment, while emphasizing ...
/.../emmerich/the life of the blessed virgin mary/i ancestors of the blessed.htm

Homilies on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians.
... 325; makes forgiving harder, [1214]343; of Judgment is for ... 1245]394; not to starve
to death, [1246]394. ... 1394]372; would not lose their children, though burdened ...
/.../homilies on philippians colossians and.htm