[And He Walks With Me] Exodus 11
1-10 At the end of chapter 10, Pharaoh ordered Moses out of his presence, never to return, and Moses agreed. In the instant before he left, however, the Lord revealed his plan for one final, terrible plague: the death of every firstborn male in the land of Egypt. Moses faithfully announced this plan, with great specificity, before it happened, again signaling the supernatural nature of this event.
The language here changes. Previously, God described the plagues as signs or wonders, but now, he refers to this final act as a plague. The significance of this change is debatable, though the biggest difference may be only whether one is suffering the brunt of these catastrophes or merely watching them unfold. In the former case, they are a plague, but in the latter, they are a wonder.[60] This distinction is critical to remember when God is working. God’s people would do well to remember that what one person sees as a wonder of God may be, to another, a disastrous plague.
The Hebrew phrase rendered in vs 1 When he lets you go (CSB) or when he does (NIV) carries the idea of a slavegirl being released from slavery to marry the master’s son and become a daughter-in-law. In such cases, the master would send her with gifts.[61] In a similar way, the Israelites were to ask their neighbors for silver and gold items, and the Egyptian neighbors eagerly did so (see 12:35-36).
No doubt, the fact that the Israelites were given favor and Moses himself was very highly regarded was the direct result of the plagues the God of Israel unleashed on Egypt. God’s people may receive the favor of their neighbors through the positive things they do in the community (e.g., Acts 2:47), or they may receive favor as a result of God acting powerfully on their behalf. In either case, this favor is merely the first step toward them ultimately glorifying God. That is, it is not the same as them glorifying God; they have not yet arrived at that goal. Yet, it is progress toward the goal.
8 The word translated angry (CSB) literally means “nostril, nose, [or] face.” Its use to represent ire or anger seems to stem from the tendency of a person’s nostril’s to flare and breathing to quicken during moments of great passion.[62]
10 For a discussion on the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, see notes on 7:3; 8:15, 20-32; 9:8-12.
[60] Wells 2016, Exodus 11:1
[61] Barker and Kohlenberger 2004, Exodus 11:1-3
[62] “H639 – ‘ap̄ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV)”, n.d.