Israel, my firstborn (Exod 4:21-23)

Despite the difficulty in understanding the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (see my post here), we should not allow it to take over our understanding of the passage. God is speaking to Moses on the eve of his return to Egypt and admonishes him to perform all the miracles that God will put in his power (Exod 4:21). We are not told here why it matters but, elsewhere, the repeated reason for God’s miracles is so that the Egyptians and Israel might know the Lord and know He is God (e.g. Exod 6:7, 7:5). They will also give Pharaoh a fuller knowledge of the God he is facing. When he rejects the Lord, it will not be out of ignorance. Into this scenario is dropped the clause – almost in passing – that God will harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 4:21, i.e. strengthen his {already existing} resolve). Scripture is telling us that God is sovereign, He is in control of events, in fact, He is the orchestrator and this hurdle will not take Him unawares.

At the heart of our passage is the statement that Israel belongs to God and they are His firstborn son (Exod 4:22). Throughout the ancient world, the firstborn son, more than anyone else, represented his father and the continuation of the family line. In Israel, he was given a double portion of the inheritance and a special blessing. Pharaoh has enslaved Israel and forced them to serve him with hard labour, God gives them dignity as His firstborn sons, redeems them from slavery and will teach them His life-giving service. Here is the gospel in a nutshell: God reclaims us, His sons, from Satan’s dominion, removes our heavy burdens and gives us rest. The yoke or service He calls us into is light and easy (Matt 11:28-30).

God gave His own firstborn to redeem us from Satan’s power; in Pharaoh’s case, He will strike his firstborn son (v.23). The release of God’s people matters to Him so much that He will not rest until that is achieved. There is a certain poetic justice about this: a firstborn is given for a firstborn. It is also deeply symbolic: if Pharaoh resists God, He will extinguish his line. Those who repeatedly reject God will eventually be destroyed by Him. This sounds unduly harsh, and I have to admit that I almost softened the above sentence, but it is Scripture’s verdict, not mine. The NT does not paint a different picture either. The parable of the vineyard (Matt 21:33-41), the stone the builders rejected which will pulverise those it falls on (Matt 21:42-44), the parable of the man without wedding clothes thrown into outer darkness (Matt 22:11-13), and Jesus’s illustration of the final judgement (Matt 25:41-46), to name but a few examples, all make the same point.

In another sense, Scripture is clear about our choices and it is worth noting that Pharaoh is given every opportunity to change long before any divine hardening occurs. He is notified in advance of seven out of ten plagues. He knows what is coming and accumulates experience that Moses’s words come true, yet at no point does he repent before a plague so as to avoid it. Despite occasional signs of remorse, when relief comes, he reverts back to his original attitude (e.g. Exod 8:15; Exod 9:27-30; Exod 10:16-20). True repentance and letting Israel go could have saved his firstborn, yet he refused. In a way then, we become the cause of our own destruction. Even when we belong to God and have been redeemed by Him, we can set ourselves on a destructive path by going against God’s will in our daily lives. Yet, God does not delight in the death of the wicked but that he should repent and live (Ezek 18:20). If God convicts us, may we repent and continue on the path of LIFE.