Exodus 11

And Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
(Exo 11:4-8)

I have often heard people use this event in history to claim that the “God of the Old Testament” was not loving, gracious or compassionate because He killed babies. I believe that the “God of the Old Testament” is the same as the “God of the New Testament”, and that if we look closer at today’s chapter, we see His love displayed.

Check it out; God is giving Pharaoh one last chance to repent. He warns him of just how awful this last judgment will be… He warns him that every household in Egypt will be affected, but the Israelites will not. He warns Pharaoh that THE EGYPTIANS would then INSIST that the Israelites leave the country, the very thing they wanted to do that started this whole mess.

All of God’s Judgments come in increments, and Pharaoh was about to experience the greatest judgment of all, the 7th judgment (7 is symbolic of completeness). If we look in the book of Revelation at the final judgments of this world, they come in sets of 7. Seven seals on the scroll, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of God’s wrath. The judgment of this world will be complete and total in every way!

But like Pharaoh all of the earth has been given a chance to repent before God’s judgment falls. This chance at redemption, this opportunity to escape the wrath to come is only available because someone else took the judgment for us…

Think about this final judgment in Egypt… The firstborn son of Pharaoh would be slain. God sacrificed His own son, in our place, so that we would not have to face eternal judgment.

People have it all wrong, for if they knew the rest of the story, they would know that this wasn’t about a vindictive God, killing babies and terrorizing nations… This is about a God of love who would give His own son just to save sinners like you and I.