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 unto the firstborn of the captive that was in
the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all
his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for
there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night,
and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the
children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye
have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33
And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them
out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34 And the people took their dough before it was
leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their
shoulders. 35 And the children of Israel
did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels
of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36
And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so
that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the
Egyptians.
So, now God kills the firstborn from the
highest to the lowest to the cattle. There was no one higher than Pharaoh or
lower than a prisoner in his dungeons. Even the cattle were affected that the
state and the populace depended on so for food. Cattle includes several different animals that mankind was
dependent on.
Genesis
47:17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave
them bread in exchange for horses, and
for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he
fed them with bread for all their cattle
for that year.
Exodus
9:3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon
thy cattle which is in the field, upon
the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep:
there shall be a very grievous murrain.
Exodus
34:19 All that openeth the matrix is
mine; and every firstling among thy cattle,
whether ox or sheep, that is male.
Why this seemingly symbolic death among
the firstborn of the cattle? What was the significance of this? First remember
God’s possession.
Psalm
50:10 For every beast of the forest is
mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Exodus
13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn,
whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of
beast: it is mine.
No one owns property and no one owns an
animal. All property and all life belongs to God, who created it. Under
Capitalism everything belongs to an individual; presumably the hardest working,
most ambitious, the most clever, or the strongest and well-born. Under
Socialism everything belongs to the people through the government which then
consists of ambitious, clever, strong,
and ruthless individuals. Both are blasphemous lies. All things belong to God
and He will give all things to His people in time.
1Corinthians
3:21 ¶ Therefore let no man glory in
men. For all things are yours; 22
Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Man is a steward of God’s possession and
the Christian must remember that. We have dominion under authority of God.
Dominion is power over something as defined in Ephesians 1:21 and Jude, verse
25.
Exodus
19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my
voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto
me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Psalm
50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell
thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
The firstborn of man and beast was to be
set apart or sanctified for God’s purpose. This plague foretold what God would
require of the Hebrews.
In typology man is born like a wild ass’s
colt and can only be redeemed with a lamb, who is Christ.
Job
11:12 For vain man would be wise, though
man be born like a wild ass’s colt.
Exodus
13:13 And every firstling of an ass thou
shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break
his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.
1Peter
1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you, 21
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave
him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Every household in Egypt suffered under
this judgment. If you believe in the world of spirit, that is, if you believe
in the Bible, there is a seamless flow from this physical world of flesh and
blood into the world of spirit where an entirely different type of life, which
we hardly can begin to understand, exists. As the physical universe represents
less than 5% of what must be, as even atheistic scientists believe, the world
of spirit is far greater than anything we can imagine. So, little babies and
innocent beasts did not simply cease to exist or began suffering in some kind
of manufactured place like Limbo but take their place in that world.
The Pharaoh is now ready to drive the
Hebrews from the land. This is a terrible tragedy. The firstborn among men was
to inherit and all of the heritage of a man passed through his all-important
firstborn. The firstborn among beast was to be set apart for God and we will
see this in Exodus 13:2. Keep in mind that all beasts belong to God but the
firstborn among the Egyptian and later the Hebrew beasts were His for a special
purpose.
The
Hebrews are ready to leave Egypt and the Egyptians weigh them down with abundant
necessities for the trip and much treasure. Good riddance, I can imagine they
thought. Just go away lest we all die.
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