As we have been seeing, plague after plague had been visited upon Pharaoh because he would not let God’s people go.
Waters had been turned to blood; frogs had covered the land of Egypt; dust had been turned to lice; swarms of flies had filled their land, and their houses; horses, cattle and sheep, had died from a grievous disease; sore boils had broken out upon man and beast; hail, and fire mingled with it, had smitten the green things of the earth, and had broken every tree of the field; locusts had covered the face of the earth until the land was darkened, and they ate up every green thing that the hail had left, then came darkness—a darkness so deep and so dense that it could be “felt.” How terrible this must have been! It brings to mind, the “outer darkness” that awaits the unprofitable servant, and the “blackness of darkness” that is reserved for the lost.
The thick darkness of Egypt, which lasted three days, was such that it kept any one from rising from his place during that time. How fearful will be the awful darkness that will go on forever! Dear young readers, are any of you, in darkness of soul, resisting the true light which is shining for you? God forbid that that eternity of darkness should be yours!
All the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. This was in happy contrast with the darkness which must have been almost as a death knell to the poor Egyptians. And some of my young readers have received Christ, who is the Light and the Life, and light and true joy have come into their lives; and the blessed light and joy that will be theirs for all eternity forms again a happy contrast with the portion of those who shall weep and wail in that place where a ray of light or hope can never come.
But I have now to tell you of one dreadful plague that was left for Egypt. God told Moses that He would bring this one plague more upon Pharaoh and he would then be willing to let the people go. This last plague was to be the death of the first born—both of man and of beast. The Lord would go through the land of Egypt at midnight, and the first born from the highest to the lowest would be taken. Pharaoh, who sat upon the throne, would lose his first born, and so it would be in every house and every family, down to the poor prisoner in the dungeon. What sorrow then would fill every heart! In all that land of learning and greatness, a great cry would go forth such as never had been heard from it before, and never would be heard from it again.
But, wonderful to relate, Israel should go unharmed. When the dark hour of midnight was bringing death with all its terror and sadness into every home of the Egyptians, the children of Israel would be having a feast of joy and expectancy; for while they partook of the lamb roast with fire, with shoes on feet, staff in hand, and loins girt about, they would await the signal to march out of the land in which they had been so long in bondage.
God put a wonderful difference between the Egyptians and the children of Israel. But we will tell you more of this again, if the Lord will.
ML 11/09/1902