Exodus 12:29, commentary and pictures

At midnight the Lord struck every firstborn in Egypt, from Pharaoh on his throne to the captive in the dungeon and the lowliest servant, with all the firstborn of cattle, bringing a great cry with not a house without one dead. The stroke was the last and most dreadful plague, carried out by the destroyer passing from house to house, by a single angel acting under command, and by God himself with a high hand. That same night Israel was preserved behind the blood sprinkled on the doorposts, with families gathered inside eating the lamb in haste, so the destroyer did not enter and not one behind the blood was slain. It was the foretold final judgment that broke Pharaoh's pride and forced Egypt to release Israel from cruel servitude after persistent refusal to obey, reaping the harvest of his own obstinacy. The night is kept as the yearly Passover memorial of passing over Israel when Egypt was smitten, and its sheltering blood foreshadows how the blood of Christ shelters believers from the wrath to come, to be repeated at midnight in the final deliverance of the saints.

The Midnight Stroke

At midnight the LORD smote every firstborn throughout the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, from the heir of the king to the eldest-born of the lowliest servant, and all the firstborn of cattle were slain also by the mandate of the Lord. The avenging angel entered every Egyptian house and put to death the firstborn of every family, so that none escaped. At that same time Israel had followed the directions given for deliverance and stood ready for the journey, with the token of blood upon the doorposts, waiting for the rebellious king and his great men to bid them go.

The stroke was the work of the destroyer, the death-dealing angel of death passing from house to house among the Egyptians. It was carried out by a single angel acting under God's command, bidden on his mission of death to slay the firstborn of man and beast. It was God Himself working for His people with signs and wonders and with a high hand.

It was the last of the plagues, coming closer and more severe and more dreadful than any before it, falling in one dreadful night. There was a great cry throughout all Egypt, with wailing and mourning and grief throughout the land, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

Israel's Protection and Deliverance

That same night Israel had followed the directions given for deliverance and stood ready for the journey, with families gathered inside their dwellings, the paschal lamb slain and its flesh roasted with fire, unleavened bread and bitter herbs prepared, blood sprinkled by the father upon the doorpost, and the lamb eaten in haste and silence while the people prayed and watched in awe. Every house was marked with the blood of the slain lamb so that when the angel came he might pass over the homes of the Israelites and they might be spared. The token of blood was upon their doorposts as they waited for the rebellious king and his great men to bid them go.

The blood on the doorways marked them as God's people, and those homes were passed over so the destroyer did not enter there. Not one Hebrew behind the blood was slain, for the sign of blood on their doors was the sign of a Saviour's protection. On the last night of bondage, when no token of deliverance appeared for Egypt, the Hebrews were gathered in their dwellings under the blood while God struck down Egypt's firstborn from Pharaoh's household to the captive's household as well as the firstborn of the cattle.

Even in Israel the heart of every firstborn from the strong man down to the little child throbbed with dread that night, as fathers and mothers clasped their loved firstborn thinking of the fearful stroke to fall. Israel's firstborn had been exposed to the same doom as Egypt's, and their preservation through the Passover sacrifice was an act of mercy. No dwelling of Israel was visited by the death-dealing angel.

Escape required faith shown by works, in putting the blood where it could be seen, separating from the Egyptians, and gathering families and children into their own houses. No judgment fell on the children of parents who were faithful in gathering their little ones with them into the house and remaining there until the destroying angel had passed. Any Israelite found in an Egyptian house would fall by the destroying angel, and anyone who failed to obey could not be spared but suffered with the Egyptians.

The signs and wonders led many Egyptians to acknowledge the God of the Hebrews as the only true God and their own gods as without knowledge and without power to save or destroy. That fearful night they entreated shelter in Israelite houses, chose the God of Israel as their God, and were welcomed in. They left Egypt with Israel to worship Him.

The blow broke Pharaoh's pride and answered his boast that he did not know the Lord and would not let Israel go. That same night he in haste with his counselors and rulers went to Goshen, bowed before Moses and Aaron, and called them before him to order Israel out without delay to serve the Lord with flocks and herds and all they possessed as they had requested. He entreated Moses to bless him in hope that a blessing from God's servant would protect him from further effects of the plague. His officers and people implored Israel to be gone quickly, saying they were all dead men and fearing that unless God's curse was removed the land would become a vast burial-ground. The deaths brought a great cry throughout Egypt, and Israel then marched out in glad triumph as an independent nation.

After this death of the firstborn Pharaoh consented to let the Israelites start on their journey, for the final judgment compelled him to release Israel after repeated plagues and hardened resistance, bringing mourning from the king to the lowliest people. But hardness of heart came upon him and he soon pursued them with an army. The Egyptians still refused to acknowledge the judgment as God's work and pursued Israel after letting them go.

Judgment After Defiance

The midnight stroke was foretold as the final judgment that at last forced Egypt to release Israel from long and cruel servitude and accomplished the deliverance from captivity. It came after repeated plagues and Pharaoh's persistent refusal to obey the command to let Israel go, more dreadful than all the judgments before it, bringing wailing throughout Egypt and mourning from the king to the lowliest people. The avenging angel entered every Egyptian house and put to death the firstborn of every family, with none escaping from the heir of Pharaoh to the eldest-born of the captive in the dungeon, and the firstborn of cattle were also slain by the mandate of the Lord, while the angel of death passed over the homes of the children of Israel and did not enter there. Horror-stricken, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron in the night and ordered them to leave Egypt without delay with all they possessed, fearing with his people that unless God's curse was removed the land would become a vast burial-ground, and Israel then marched out in glad triumph, though the Egyptians still refused to acknowledge the judgment as God's work and pursued Israel with an army after letting them start the journey.

Pharaoh's questioning grew after he rejected the first miracle, his heart grew harder through unbelief and resistance to light, and he was brought at last to face the death of the firstborn in his own house. He looked upon his devastated land and the dead firstborn in his own house and in every family of his kingdom, upon his own son and kindred and the pride of every household throughout the vast realm of Egypt laid low at midnight. He had sowed infidelity when he refused the evidence of the first miracle and went on from one step to another of unbelief until he would not be convinced by any working of God's power. When strong and convincing light making known the great I AM came he was compelled to yield, but as soon as the pressure was removed his unbelief returned and counteracted the light.

He reaped the harvest of his own sowing, for God destroys no man and did not compel him to disbelieve. By rejecting God's first warning and stifling conscience and resisting light he sowed unbelief, obstinacy and infidelity, and God left the seed to germinate and bring forth fruit after its kind without new interference. There was no more need for God by some new power to interfere with its growth than to interfere with the growth of a grain of corn; all that was required was that the seed be left to germinate and bring forth fruit after its kind, obstinacy reaping obstinacy. His resistance continued through the devastation of the land and the death of the firstborn to his ruin when the sea closed over his army, proving that everyone who is destroyed has destroyed himself and that whatsoever a man sows he also reaps.

Israel had made great preparations that the Egyptians ridiculed, especially the token of blood upon their doorposts, but the stroke turned mocking into terror. The judgment fell in one dreadful night, closer and more severe than any plague before it, striking every Egyptian household from the king upon his throne down to the lowliest servant and filling all Egypt with wailing. God delayed this last and most dreadful scourge with three days of thick, oppressive darkness that stopped the busy activities of life to remove distractions and give the Egyptians time for reflection, repentance, and meditation. The delay gives new evidence of His compassion and unwillingness to destroy.

The escalating plagues following repeated rejection of the evidence of God's power made clear whom God favored and who were His people. In the death of the firstborn He gave Egypt for Israel.

Divine Power Revealed

The final plague made clear that Jehovah is the God who executes judgment on the earth. In it He displayed mighty power to deliver His people from Egypt despite Pharaoh's opposition, so that they might keep the law given in Eden. He brought them to Sinai to hear Him proclaim the ten commandments with His own voice, in awful grandeur revealing His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world and the sacredness and importance of obeying His law.

The stroke that brought mourning throughout the land was carried out by a single angel acting under God's command. It illustrates the destructive power that holy angels exercise when God commands. That same destructive power evil angels may exercise when He permits, so calamities that follow the withdrawal of divine protection occur under His permission, though Satan's power is at work in them.

The rescue when the destroying angel slew Egypt's firstborn was a powerful display of God's care for Israel's children. He Himself slew the firstborn of all the families of Egypt with a high hand to accomplish their deliverance from captivity. Joined with feeding them with angels' food and covenanting to bring them into the promised land, it was one of His repeated manifestations of Himself meant to give them reason to trust Him. That great act should have reminded them of His power and care when later brought into lack and testing at Rephidim and into hardship, instead of rebelling and complaining that they had been brought out only to die.

Memorial and Future Deliverance

That night of judgment when at midnight the death-dealing angel struck the firstborn of man and beast in Egypt became the feast of the Passover, kept as a lasting ordinance and yearly memorial of passing over the houses of Israel when the Egyptians were smitten. It was the final judgment warned to Pharaoh on the last night of bondage, when no token of deliverance appeared for Egypt while the Hebrews were gathered in their dwellings under the blood of the slain lamb, and the blow moved the king to send word for Israel to rise up, leave his people and serve the Lord, so they went out as an independent nation. Escape that night required faith shown by works in putting the blood where it could be seen and in separating to gather families and children into their own houses, for not one Hebrew behind the blood was slain but any Israelite found in an Egyptian house would fall. The memorial rehearses in solemn silence the night assembly, the men with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal, the lamb, the unleavened bread and the bitter herbs, the sprinkled blood and the grand march from the land of bondage, with parents telling children of their preservation. Its retelling is of a nature to stir the imagination and impress the heart, and bound up with kindly human association to fix God's past dealings forever in the memory of children and youth. By its observance minds are turned from world-loving interests and cares and anxieties about temporal concerns to review His works, miracles, mercies and loving-kindness, that love and reverence for Him might increase and lead ever to look to Him and trust in Him in trial and not turn to other gods.

The wrath that fell upon the Egyptians in the death of the firstborn foreshadows the wrath of God to come upon the impenitent and unbelieving world. From that coming wrath the blood of Christ shelters and cleanses the believing sinner from sin, as the blood marking the doorposts sheltered Israel. Yet none is benefited by God's provision for salvation unless by his own acts he manifests faith in it.

Midnight is the hour God chose for delivering His people. That same midnight deliverance will be repeated in the final deliverance of the saints while the wicked are mocking around them. Then suddenly the sun appears shining in his strength and the moon stands still, with signs and wonders following in quick succession and everything turned out of its natural course, tokens the saints behold with solemn joy.

Lesson for Families Today

At midnight the threatened judgment was fulfilled when every firstborn in the land of Egypt was struck, from the firstborn of Pharaoh on the throne to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon, together with all the firstborn of cattle. The homes of the Israelites were passed over, and no judgment fell on the children of parents who were faithful in gathering their little ones with them into the house and remaining there until the destroying angel had passed. Before the terrible blow fell, the command required gathering the children into their own homes in obedience to the Lord's instructions, where the blood-marked doorposts signified protection. God-fearing parents today are therefore to understand God's will for themselves and their children, keeping their children within the protective circle of the home and under sacred influences made possible through Christ's redeeming blood. Home teaching shapes them for life and protects them from influences that turn them from God, so their education is to be based on a scriptural foundation, because it is not safe now to send them to public schools.