This last, great plague, the death of every firstborn male animal and person, came without warning or opportunity for Pharaoh to repent. All the other plagues could have been warded off if Pharaoh had let the people go. But this time, nothing could prevent God from carrying out his judgment on the sin of worshipping other gods. And this time, there would be no doubt left about who was the real, true God.
The passage in 11:4-8 is Moses' announcement to Pharaoh about what would happen. Chapter 12:1-20 present God's instructions to Moses and Aaron, and 12:21-27 tell of Moses' instructions to the people. The description of the plague itself, along with Pharaoh's response, is relatively short, found in 12:29-36.
Read the instructions about the sacrificial animal in 12:5-7.
- What were the people to do with the blood? Why?
Read God's instructions to Moses about what the people were to eat that night in 12:8-9.
- What do you know about yeast, or leavening in the Bible?
- Why would the people have been instructed not to eat any on this night, or for the next seven days?
When the plague happened, what was lost? (Hint: I'm thinking about Egyptian religious practices.)
