Rio Grande Valley Church of Christ

09/07/2026

"WHOLE COUNSEL"
Volume 4, Issue 36
September 6th, 2026

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SINCE EGYPT BECAME A NATION
Bryan Matthew Dockens

As Moses warned Pharaoh of the devastation his people would suffer in the seventh plague, the man of God foretold, “Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now” (Exodus 9:18). What befell them is subsequently described: “So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (24).

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew name Mizraim occurs 614 times, usually translated “Egypt” or “Egyptians”. It also appears in English as the personal name “Mizraim” (Genesis 10:6, 13; 1st Chronicles 1:8, 11) because the Egyptians are the descendants of a man by that name whose father was Ham, the son of Noah. The nation of Egypt could not have been founded earlier than the flood because that catastrophe destroyed the world that then existed (2nd Peter 3:5-6) except for eight souls saved (2nd Peter 2:5).

Two years following the flood, one of its few survivors, Noah’s son Shem, fathered a son named Arphaxad (Genesis 11:10). When he was 35 years old, he had a son named Salah (12). Salah became father to Eber at the age of 30 (14), Eber fathered Peleg at 34 (16), Peleg fathered Reu at 30 (18), Reu fathered Serug at 32 (20), Serug fathered Nahor at 30 (22), and Nahor fathered Terah at 29 (24).

Terah became a father at the age of 70 (Genesis 11:26) and died when he was 205 (32). One of his sons, Abram, was 75 when he departed Haran (Genesis 12:4) the year of his father’s death (Acts 7:4), meaning Terah was 130 when Abram was born.

Abram, also known as Abraham (Genesis 17:5), was 75 when he received God’s promises (12:1-4), and 430 years later his descendants emerged from Egypt (Exodus 12:40-41) and received the law of Moses (Galatians 3:17).
The calculation is straightforward. From the flood until the exodus was 2+35+30+34+30+32+30+29+130+75+430=857 years. That is the maximum amount of time that could be considered for Egypt’s age when Israel departed her borders.

However, it can be narrowed down further. Egypt is called “the land of Ham” (Psalm 105:23, 27; 106:22; cf. 78:51) because Ham was the father of Mizraim (Genesis 10:6, 13; 1st Chronicles 1:8, 11). Although ages are not included in the Hamitic branch of the family tree, it is known that Ham was contemporary with Shem, so some overlap can be expected between Ham’s son Mizraim and Shem’s son Arphaxad. One generation removed from the flood amounts to very little impact on the timeline, though, so further figuring is helpful.

When Noah and his family emerged from the ark, God renewed the command He issued when Adam and Eve were created: “Be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it” (Genesis 9:7). As originally issued, the command included: “Fill the earth” (1:28). Not long after the flood, just four generations later, mankind was, once again, resisting the will of the Lord. They decided, “Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (11:4). Responding to this defiance, “Jehovah confused the language of all the earth; and from there Jehovah scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (11:9).

Babel is an event with a relatively narrow timeframe. One of Abraham’s forebears in the Semitic line was Peleg whose name literally means “division”. “To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided” (Genesis 10:25). As can be calculated simply enough, Peleg was born 101 years after the flood (11:10, 12, 14, 16). Either Babel occurred the year he was born and his parents named him thusly, in which case the timing is precise, or it occurred later and he was renamed to mark the event, in which case the timing may be less specific. If it happened the year of his birth, that was 101 years fewer than the 857 years from the flood until the exodus, a difference of 756 years, which is the oldest Egypt may have been in the year of Israel’s departure.

Peleg lived 239 years (Genesis 11:18-19), and the earth was divided “in his days” (10:25), so it is possible he was an adult when Babel occurred. Born 101 years after the flood and dying 239 years later, it is, arguably, possible that Babel happened 340 years removed from the flood. Even at such a late date, Peleg’s father Eber (11:16-17), his grandfather Salah (11:14-15), great-grandfather Arphaxad (11:12-13), great-great-grandfather Shem (11:10-11), and great-great-great-grandfather Noah (9:28) were all still living. Thus, it is reasonably possible that Peleg’s great-great-great-uncle Ham and first cousin three times removed Mizraim were also still living. Therefore, Egypt could not have been much younger than 517 years old at the exodus.

Although a range exists, the earlier date is preferred. Mizraim probably lived contemporaneously with his first cousin Arphaxad, who was 99 when Peleg was born, and who died aged 438. The earlier date simply allows Mizraim more time to have departed Babel and to have established the nation bearing his name.

Abram, who was born 352 years after the flood, visited Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20) when he was a little over 75 (12:4) and well under 85 (16:3), so his sojourn there probably began approximately 428 years after the flood. If Babel transpired at the 101-year mark, then Egypt could have been as much as 327 years old during this visit. However, if Babel is marked at the very end of Peleg’s life, then Egypt would have been closer to 88 years old when Abram arrived. This is less likely since Egypt was already ruled by a Pharaoh then (12:15-20), and pharaonic rule is an institution that may well have required some time to develop.

At the earliest, Babel happened 101 years after the flood. Mizraim would have established Egypt soon thereafter. The exodus certainly happened 857 years after the flood. Thus, at most, Egypt may have been 756 years old at the exodus and nearly that during the seventh plague. At the lower end of the spectrum of possibility, the nation was 517 years old, and, even allowing 50 years between a late Babel and Mizraim establishing his nation – 467 years old. In all those centuries, the Egyptians had never witnessed a hailstorm so fiery and destructive as the one Jehovah brought down on them to subdue their idolatry and to secure the release of Israel. And that plague was just 1 of 10.

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“If you have not chosen the kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.”
-- William Law

09/06/2026

Preaching: PHARAOH'S HARD HEART

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

“AGAINST ALL THE GODS OF EGYPT”
PLAGUES 6-10

INTRODUCTION
A. Last week, we considered the first five plagues the Almighty wrought against Egypt:
1. Water turned to blood
2. Frogs
3. Lice
4. Swarms
5. Livestock Pestilence
B. Now, we turn our attention to the last five plagues.

VI. “BOILS WERE ON… ALL THE EGYPTIANS”
A. Exodus 9:8-12 “So Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.’ Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. But Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as Jehovah had spoken to Moses.”
1. This plague was an affront to Sekhmet, the lioness-headed goddess of medicine, who was called upon to ward off disease and to heal the sick.
2. The Egyptians revered Thoth as their god of all sciences, which included healing arts. Yet, he was powerless to stop the boils.
3. Isis, a primary deity in Egyptian idolatry, credited with bringing her dead husband Osiris back to life and whose maternal aid was invoked in healing spells, could do nothing for these boils.

VII. “JEHOVAH RAINED HAIL ON THE LAND OF EGYPT”
A. Exodus 9:13-25 “Then Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, “Thus says Jehovah God of the Hebrews: ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me, for at this time I will send all My plagues to your very heart, and on your servants and on your people, that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go. Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.’”’ He who feared the word of Jehovah among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses. But he who did not regard the word of Jehovah left his servants and his livestock in the field. Then Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt — on man, on beast, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.’ And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and Jehovah sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And Jehovah rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.”
1. To the ancient Egyptians, Nut was the personification of the sky. Yet, she was powerless against the God of Israel when He sent hail, thunder, and lightning from heaven and desecrated Egypt.
2. As the mother of several other Egyptian deities – Osiris, Hathor, Set, Isis, and Nephthys – the overthrow of Nut also represented God’s judgment against these other gods.
3. Set/Seth was the god of storms. Why didn’t he prevent this storm which was unlike any other ever seen?
4. Shu was their god of light, wind, and peace. He was no help, either.
B. Psalm 78:47 “He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He also gave up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to fiery lightning.”
Psalm 105:32-33 “He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, and splintered the trees of their territory.”
Notice the destruction of trees in Egypt, which were already a limited commodity in that desert land. Several among the Egyptian pantheon were associated with trees.
1. Horus was associated with the acacia.
2. Osiris was connected with the willow.
3. Ra was tied with the sycamore.
4. Wepwawet, an underworld deity portrayed as a jackal headed man, was associated with the tamarisk.
5. Thoth and Seshat, patron gods to scribes, were associated with the leaves of the ished tree.
C. Exodus 9:31-32 “Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.”
1. Isis was known as “the lady of green crops” as well as “the green goddess”, but fields burned nonetheless so that the flax and barley crops were destroyed.
2. Flax was used to make linen, which was used for the priest’s clothing. They were permitted to wear nothing else. Yet again the Egyptian priesthood would falter.
3. Also, mummification required hundreds of yards of linen. Without it, bodies could not be properly buried. Their hope in the afterlife would be affected by this. Later, when the firstborn in every house was killed, the shortage of linen would have devastated the funerary protocol of their society.
D. Exodus 9:26 “Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.”
Israel remained unscathed.
E. Exodus 9:27-30 “And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘I have sinned this time. Jehovah is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Entreat Jehovah, that there may be no more mighty thundering and hail, for it is enough. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.’ So Moses said to him, ‘As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, that you may know that the earth is Jehovah’s. But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear Jehovah God.”
What is rendered in English as “mighty thundering” is literally in Hebrew “voice of God”. That is what Pharaoh called it. He attributed what he saw to God’s doing.
33-35 “So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and spread out his hands to Jehovah; then the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as Jehovah had spoken by Moses.”
Still, he refused to truly yield.

VIII. “LOCUSTS WENT UP OVER ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT”
A. Exodus 10:1-20 “Now Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am Jehovah.’ So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, ‘Thus says Jehovah God of the Hebrews: “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. And they shall cover the face of the earth, so that no one will be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of what is left, which remains to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree which grows up for you out of the field. They shall fill your houses, the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians — which neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.”’ And he turned and went out from Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Jehovah their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’ So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, ‘Go, serve Jehovah your God. Who are the ones that are going?’ And Moses said, ‘We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to Jehovah.’ Then he said to them, ‘Jehovah had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you. Not so! Go now, you who are men, and serve Jehovah, for that is what you desired.’ And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence. Then Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land — all that the hail has left.’ So Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, and Jehovah brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and rested on all the territory of Egypt. They were very severe; previously there had been no such locusts as they, nor shall there be such after them. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and said, ‘I have sinned against Jehovah your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and entreat Jehovah your God, that He may take away from me this death only.’ So he went out from Pharaoh and entreated Jehovah. And Jehovah turned a very strong west wind, which took the locusts away and blew them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the territory of Egypt. But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go.”
1. Thorough devastation
a. The face of the earth could not be seen for the number of them (5). The land was darkened as a result (15).
b. None of the Egyptians’ ancestors had ever seen such a thing (6), nor would any of their descendants (14).
c. Houses were filled with the pests (6).
d. The very residue of what was left after the destruction from the hail was consumed by these locusts (5). Even Pharaoh’s advisors begged him to capitulate for they knew Egypt was already destroyed by the hail (7).
2. Gods defeated
a. Where was Isis, the green goddess, when these crops were consumed by the locusts?
b. The gaze of the goddess Renenutet, who appeared as a cobra, was credited with granting great abundance to crops. Harvest festivals were held in her honor, during which the best yields were dedicated to her. Why didn’t she prevent this from happening?
c. Geb, the god of the earth, was portrayed as a green man with plants sprouting from his body. God sent the locusts to eat Geb.

IX. “THERE WAS THICK DARKNESS IN ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT”
A. Exodus 10:21-29 “Then Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Then Pharaoh called to Moses and said, ‘Go, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds be kept back. Let your little ones also go with you.’ But Moses said, ‘You must also give us sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Our livestock also shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind. For we must take some of them to serve Jehovah our God, and even we do not know with what we must serve Jehovah until we arrive there.’ But Jehovah hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, ‘Get away from me! Take heed to yourself and see my face no more! For in the day you see my face you shall die!’ So Moses said, ‘You have spoken well. I will never see your face again.’”
1. No natural occurrence can account for three days of darkness. No solar eclipse has ever lasted so long. Yet, there was light in the houses of the Israelites. How can that be explained except as a miracle?
2. Gods defeated
a. Their greatest god, Ra, the god of the sun, was thought to make a daily voyage across the sky in a grand, heavenly boat. Why was their great god hiding for three days?
b. Khepri was a manifestation of Ra, depicted as a man with the head of a scarab, the dung beetle. As the scarab would roll a ball of dung in front of it, so Khepri was pictured as rolling the sun through the sky. He was known specifically as the god of the rising sun. Where was Khepera those three dark days?
c. Horus, the king of the gods of the earth was also the god of light, but he was powerless. Incidentally, each Pharaoh was regarded as an incarnation of Horus. Thus, the king was here reduced to impotence.
d. Atum was another sun god.
e. Khonsu was the moon god.
f. Shu was the god of the air. Remember, this darkness could be felt (21).

X. “JEHOVAH STRUCK ALL THE FIRSTBORN IN THE LAND OF EGYPT”
A. Exodus 11:1-12:36 “Jehovah said to Moses, ‘I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.’ And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. Then Moses said, ‘Thus says Jehovah: “About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that Jehovah does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, “Get out, and all the people who follow you!” After that I will go out.’ Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. But Jehovah said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.’ So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and Jehovah hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. Now Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ‘This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: “On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire — its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is Jehovah’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to Jehovah throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat — that only may be prepared by you. So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.”’ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For Jehovah will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, Jehovah will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which Jehovah will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, “What do you mean by this service?” that you shall say, “It is the Passover sacrifice of Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.”’ So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as Jehovah had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass at midnight that Jehovah struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, 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. Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, ‘Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve Jehovah as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.’ And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, ‘We shall all be dead.’ So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And Jehovah had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.”
1. The aforementioned Renenutet was also the guardian of children, but she could not protect the firstborn throughout Egypt.
2. Nekhbet, who appeared as a vulture headed woman, was the patron of the sovereignty of Pharaoh. Her role especially included protecting the king while an infant, yet she could not stop God from killing Pharaoh’s firstborn, who would have been his successor on the throne.
3. This plague was highly selective in nature. Not only did it spare obedient Israel, but killed only the firstborn among Egyptian people and cattle. It cannot be explained away as some childhood epidemic as it included adults.
B. Exodus 4:21-23 “Jehovah said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Jehovah: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
It came to pass just as God had forewarned before any of the plagues befell Egypt.
C. Psalm 135:1-9 “Praise Jehovah! Praise the name of Jehovah; Praise Him, O you servants of Jehovah! You who stand in the house of Jehovah, In the courts of the house of our God, Praise Jehovah, for Jehovah is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant. For Jehovah has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His special treasure. For I know that Jehovah is great, and our Lord is above all gods. Whatever Jehovah pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries. He destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, Both of man and beast. He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and all his servants.”
This single plague is certainly the most memorable. It could be recounted generations later as a representation of all the wonders with which God struck Egypt.
D. Exodus 13:11-16 “It shall be, when Jehovah brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you, that you shall set apart to Jehovah all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be Jehovah’s. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bo***ge. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that Jehovah killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us out of Egypt.’”
The power of Almighty God would be remembered in this one plague. Shortly afterward, Jehovah ordered that all the firstborn of Israel be consecrated to Him.
E. Number 33:3-4 “They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians. For the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Jehovah had killed among them. Also on their gods Jehovah had executed judgments.”
1. The death of the firstborn finally left Pharaoh without recourse. He could not renege on his agreement to release Israel this time because he was too occupied burying his own son, along with the rest of Egypt.
2. Where was Sobek, represented as a crocodile headed man with a feathered crown, who functioned as the guardian of the gods and of Pharoah himself? The very fact that God overthrew all of Egypt’s gods means that God overthrew their bodyguard, too.

CONCLUSION
A. Exodus 18:10-11 “Jethro said, ‘Blessed be Jehovah, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.’”
Following the exodus, Moses’ father-in-law Jethro came to believe in the true God, that each of the plagues which struck Egypt proved the futility of their idolatry.
B. Psalm 78:42b-53 “The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, when He worked His signs in Egypt, and His wonders in the field of Zoan; turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink. He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them. He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, and their labor to the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He also gave up their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to fiery lightning. He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of destruction among them. He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, but gave their life over to the plague, and destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham. But He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; and He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.”
105:26-38 “He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they did not rebel against His word. He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fish. Their land abounded with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and lice in all their territory. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines also, and their fig trees, and splintered the trees of their territory. He spoke, and locusts came, young locusts without number, and ate up all the vegetation in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He also destroyed all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their strength. He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, For the fear of them had fallen upon them.”
God was powerful against Egypt and powerful in favor toward His chosen people Israel.
C. Deuteronomy 4:34-35 “Did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Jehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that Jehovah Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.”
What God did for Israel is utterly incomparable.