Let My People Go

MEMORY SELECTION: “Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today.” —Exodus 14:13

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Exodus 11:1-6; 13:17-22

IF IT had been God’s purpose only to deliver the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, he could have done it at once. But he also had other objectives in mind that could be accomplished at the same time. In Exodus 6:6,7 we read, “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

In this text the Lord not only promises to deliver the children of Israel, but he states that he will take them as his people, and because of the great things done on their behalf they will know that Jehovah is their God and their Deliverer.

In Exodus 11:9,10 we also read, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt. … And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

The Lord, in his foreknowledge, arranged that this Pharaoh would occupy the throne at this particular time so that he could demonstrate to the Israelites his own superior power over Pharaoh and all of the Egyptian gods and at the same time give the Israelites a firm basis for confidence and faith in him.

Another objective for the ten plagues that were brought upon the Egyptians is expressed in Exodus 12:12: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite 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 the Lord.”

A study of the many gods worshiped by the Egyptians will show that each of the plagues was designed to discredit completely a particular Egyptian deity. For example, the plague of blood defiled the river Nile, which was worshiped. The blood destroyed everything that lived in the water, including crocodiles and some species of fish which were also worshiped, and so on down through the list, until the Lord’s proclamation “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment” was literally fulfilled.

The final plague, the death of the firstborn in Egypt, was the one that brought Pharaoh to his knees. The account tells us that by God’s design the firstborn of the Israelites were passed over by the death angel but that all of the firstborn in Egypt, both of man and beast, were destroyed. This was more than Pharaoh could bear; “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.”—Exod. 12:31

We, as Bible students, have learned that the final deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt was a symbolic representation of the deliverance of the world of mankind from the oppression of Satan (the god of this world) and his dominion of sin and death.

The key representation in this symbolic event was the passover lamb. It was to be without spot or blemish. It was slain and its blood sprinkled on the doorposts and lintels of the house. The inhabitants of the house, and particularly the firstborn, were symbolically covered by the blood and were passed over by the death angel.

As Bible students we have also learned that the Paschal Lamb pictured Jesus, who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. (Heb. 7:26; Rev. 13:8; John 1:29,36; I Pet. 1:18-20) The typical passover night pictured the Gospel Age, and, as in the type, the blood of Jesus is first applied to the antitypical firstborn. (I Cor. 5:7,8; Rom. 8:23; James 1:18) As in the type, also, the church of the firstborn, together with their Head, will be instrumental in the deliverance of the world from the bondage of sin and death.

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