Over the past five weeks we have slowly progressed through the plagues God brought against Egypt. I pray its encouraged you, sobered you, and comforted you. God shows Himself to be who He is here, and it results in two reactions. For the Egyptians it wouldve been all fear. Watching the God of Israel do these mighty works wouldve dismayed them as all Egypt is destroyed. Seeing all they hold dear ruined wouldve undone them and put a heavy dread within them. They knew they had come to their end. But for the Israelites, I think it wouldve been a double edge. On one hand, watching God do these mighty works wouldve sobered them as well. Seeing His might, wrath, justice, and power revealed wouldve overwhelmed them certainly. But on the other hand, that God would come after Egypt so fiercely for their sake, wouldve brought them great comfort and peace. Yes Hes almighty God, but He has come out to show His might for them, to save them, and rescue them!

Church, it reminds me like a moment in C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia. In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe there is a moment when the two girls, Susan and Lucy, are playing with Aslan rolling around and wrestling in the grass after a great victory. In that moment the girls say they didnt quite know how to describe it. One moment it felt like they were playing with a soft kitten, but the next it felt like they were playing with a great thunderstorm! Such is the glory of the sobered satisfaction Israel felt watching God come rescue them.

Nine plagues have come and gone, and these nine occurred in a carefully constructed pattern, in three sets of three, serving to highlight the singular devastation of the tenth and final plague. That is where weve now arrived, at least in part. Exodus 11 is before us today. Ive divided it into three portions, that show us three wonders. See first

The Wonder of Favor (v1-3)

TheLordsaid to Moses, Yetone plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here.When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.Speak now in the hearing of the people, thatthey ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.And theLordgave 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.

What God tells Moses in v1 are words weve been expecting.[1] Back in chapter 3 and again in chapter 6 God told Moses He would strike Pharaoh and Egypt so powerfully that Pharaoh would be compelled to let Israel go. But after nine plagues Pharaoh is still refusing. So as we hear God say in v1, one plague more I will bring we know this moment long expected has now arrived. The first nine plagues increased in their severity, one by one, and in them God caused so much destruction in Egypt that even the servants of Pharaoh cried out in despair, saying Egypt was ruined, and telling Pharaoh to give in and let the people go. But he wouldnt.

These opening verses remind us of this explicitly. In v1 we see Gods about to make one final devastating move against Egypt. In v2-3 we see two more things will happen to Israel. In v2 they will plunder the Egyptians on their way out, and in v3 they will be held in great favor by the people of Egypt. What a turn of events here! The people once enslaved and oppressed now become objects of awe as well as the new owners of many treasures. And of course it ought to be like this! God has come and shown Himself to be the God of wonders, and Moses to be His powerful servant.[2] They ought to be held in favor. But dont hear this wrongly. Yes, it says God will give them favor in the sight of the Egyptians, but the favor is more like a fearful awe than a celebrity crush. The Egyptians viewed Moses and the Israelites with awestruck wonder, because they knew when this man raises his staff, stuff happens! Stuff they had never seen before.

So they will be more than willing when Israel comes asking for their treasures. Why? Because its as if the whole nation is feeling, Enough is enough. What do they want? Gold, silver, jewelry? Give it to them and get them out of here. This isnt the Israelites stealing from the Egyptians. No, God has so shown his might that they will freely give to His people. And long ago God promised it would be like this. In Gen. 15 God told Abraham that after He punishes the nation who enslaved His people, they shall come out in freedom with great possessions (Gen. 15:13-14).

But, notice it Church, who is not mentioned in v2-3? Pharaoh. Why is he not mentioned? Because it seems that a great distance has developed between Pharaoh and the rest of the Egyptians by this point.[3] Everyone seems to realize that resistance to the God of Israel and Moses was useless, that continuing to refuse the command would only bring about Egypts sure end. Everyone knew this, everyone that is, except Pharaoh. Pharaoh was still digging in his heels. Yet here in this tenth and final plague, things will be different. What God does will be so severe that Pharaoh will not only let Israel go out of Egypt, Pharaoh will drive Israel out.

The Wonder of Judgment (v4-8)

So Moses said, Thus says theLord:About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt,and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who isbehind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle.There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again.But not a dog shall growlagainst any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that theLordmakes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.Andall these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you. And after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

At this point in the chapter, there is a matter of difficulty to address. In v4-8 we see Moses speaking to Pharaoh. But, didnt their last meeting already occur? I thought we saw Pharaoh say at the end of chapter 10 that hed never see Moses face again? Well he did say that. So, what do we make of this here occurring in chapter 11? Did Moses go back into Pharaohs presence to give one more word from God? Some do think thats whats happening here, but I dont. I think whats going on is that chapter 11 is not chronological, but topical, focusing on the final plague.[4] So this dialogue between Moses and Pharaoh that occurs here, I think took place at the end of chapter 10, but Moses includes it here in chapter 11 to highlight the severity of the final plague, and to prepare the stage for the Passover, which will be introduced in chapter 12.

In v4 God is ironic. Pharaoh has said repeatedly that he will not let the people go out of Egypt, so what does God say? I will go out into Egypt Its as if the nine plagues weve seen so far have just been a prelude to this one, where God decides to step onto the scene Himself.[5] And when He goes out, nothing will ever be the same. Here the final and most terrible plague is announced, every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who isbehind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. What God intends to do here in the death of the firstborn will bring about massive carnage.[6] Thousands will die in this one act. You could, wrongly, invent naturalistic explanations for all the other plagues. But not here. There is simply no other explanation than the God of Israel coming to strike Egypt with a final blow.

How are we to view this? Is this unfair? Is this overly cruel? Or is this not enough? We can only go so far in arriving at an answer in this, but Id think we do well to see this as justice being done for all the sins of Egypt. Early on in Exodus we saw the Pharaohs enjoyed a long pastime of enslaving and oppressing the Israelites, 400 years of it. Then a new Pharaoh arises, who raises the bar by murdering as many Hebrew baby boys as he can. Into this murderous scene God sends His deliverer, Moses, keeping him safe throughout the whole bloody affair. And then God says to Pharaoh in chapter 4, Israel is My firstborn son. Let My son go that he may worship Me. But if you refuse, I will kill your firstborn son (Ex. 4:22-23). Now this Word is coming to pass.

There is mercy mixed in with justice here to see. It was a mercy to have these firstborn children to die in the middle of the night during their sleep as opposed to another more violent manner.[7] Yes there will be wailing, but this wailing will occur in the morning when families rise and discover such devastating death. Once it was Israel crying out greatly in their suffering, now its Egypt crying out greatly in a suffering the likes of which theyve not known nor heard before, nor will ever know or hear again. All the firstborn children in this plague will die, from high up in Pharaohs palace down to the lowliest places among the servants who labored in the mills. God will be no respecter of persons here, all of Egypt is in view. Even the firstborn among the cattle are in view, because of how intimately connected the lives of cattle were to the Egyptian way of life.

Moses says more to Pharaoh here. He says not even a dog shall growlagainst any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that theLordmakes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. This is to emphasize once again that nothing in Egypt can come against Israel any longer, not even the stray dogs, because the God of Israel has worked so powerfully. Lastly Moses tells it like it is to Pharaoh. That in the end, all his servants will come to Moses, and bowing downwill ask him and Israel to leave. At this final word, Moses walks out in hot anger.

The Wonder of Sovereignty (v9-10)

Then theLord said to Moses,Pharaoh will not listen to you, thatmy wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and theLord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Once again but not for the last time we read here of Pharaohs hard heart. Overall in Exodus we hear of his hardened heart 19 times.[8] Three times we hear it phrased as Pharaoh hardening his own heart; six times we hear it phrased as a general reference that his heart became hardened, and ten times we hear it phrased explicitly said that the Lord has, is, or will harden his heart. Many falter at this kind of language, believing God to be doing something out of bounds or unjust to Pharaoh. I can understand why many feel like this. But that misses much of whats happening here. Pharaoh is not a passive robot merely subject to a sovereign God, no. Pharaoh is an active and agreeable participant in the sins against God and His people. God was indeed sovereign over the heart of Pharaoh, but to quote our confessions of old, God is sovereign over all hearts in such a way that upholds personal responsibility and culpability. In other words, God is not making Pharaoh do something he doesnt want to do here. In his hardened sinful state, Pharaoh is happy to keep on doing what he desired to do.

Why did God do this? It tells here in v9-10. God hardened Pharaohs heart so that the plagues could happen, so the Exodus could happen, and so the Israelites could tell these stories to their kids, and grandkids, and on and on as each new generation repeats the great stories of old. Or to put differently, the God of Wonders did all these wonders for the glory of His name and the good of His people. Thats what chapter 11 is all about.

Conclusion:

So Church, I want to end with this thought: God is not just sovereign over all people, but sovereign for His people.[9]

Do you know see the difference in those two statements. We affirm the sovereignty of God, yes. There is no rogue molecule in the universe, there are no surprises to God, He never says oops, He is never caught off guard, He ordains and rules over all, amen! But the plagues push us to go further. We saw it in v4 didnt we? God Himself will go out, to bring one more plague against Egypt, why? To rescue His people! He is sovereign, yes. Church, He is sovereign for us.

The same reality applies to the very first Christmas. God made all things, made us, and all was very good until it went very wrong. We sinned and brought death into the world and into ourselves. And the ebbing and flowing of the whole OT is the prelude to the moment when God Himself walked on stage in the Person of His Son. Why did He come? To lead a new Exodus, out from the power of Satan the greater Pharaoh, and out from the cruelty of sin the greater slavery. In Christ we have redemption. This is why we call Christ Lord, because He has saved us, body and soul, from all our sins, not with silver or gold but with His precious blood, and has freed us from all the power of the devil to make us His own possession.[10]

Church, this Christmas I pray you feel the same double edge Israel felt in Exodus 11. They saw the Lords might come out against Egypt in great wonders and they all knew that God was God, that no one else was god, and that nothing is too strong or hard for this God. But they also knew God came out in great power against Egypt, for their sake.

So too in Christ. God the Son came to the world in order to come out against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, displaying His great might in signs and wonders. He overwhelmed many that were proud and arrogant, but He drew near sinners. Are any of you here today sinners, overwhelmed by sin and its wreckage in you and around you? Look to Christ! If you look to and trust in Christ, know this, the great sovereign God of wonders is for you, not against you. Though all hell break loose, you need fear no evil, because the Lord has saved you and will keep you. He has said that He is making all things new, including us.

[1] John I. Durham, Exodus - WBC (Waco TX: Word Books, 1987) 147.

[2] John D. Currid, Exodus 1-18 - EP Study Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: EP Books, 2014) 225.

[3] Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus NAC (Brentwood, TN: BH Publishing, 2006) 263.

[4] Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) 161.

[5] Durham, 150.

[6] Victor P. Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023) 168.

[7] Stuart, 265.

[8] Kevin DeYoung, God of Wonders, sermon on 3.20.2016, accessed via christcovenant.org, 12.5.2025.

[9] DeYoung, God of Wonders.

[10] Heidelberg Catechism, question 34.