The Tenth Plague Explained

Click here to read Exodus 12.

Chapter 12 records the tenth and last plague that God brought upon the nation of Egypt. It also records the beginning of a new Jewish calendar. The 14th. of March, around 1500 B.C., became the first day of the New Year. In this chapter we read of the instructions given to Moses to pass along to the people so that they might escape the 10th. and last plague.

  1. First they were to select a male lamb, one year old, without blemish and set it aside till the evening of Mar. 14th. That evening it would be killed and eaten. The blood of that lamb would be smeared on the two jambs and the lintel of the door of the house. Provision was made for those households that did not have a lamb, they could share in a neighbors lamb. They were to roast the head, legs and inner parts of this lamb and eat it and whatever they could not eat had to be burned as nothing could be left over until the next morning.
  2. Secondly, they were to be fully dressed with sandals on their feet, prepared to travel with staff in hand and eating in haste.

Verse 11 establishes for eternity, the name of this event. "It is the Lord's Passover, I will execute Judgment upon all Egypt but when I see the blood upon the door frame, I will pass over that house and no plague shall fall upon you."

Then the Lord established a feast to celebrate the "Passover". He called it the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. No leaven shall be found in your house. On the first and last day you shall have a Holy Assembly. No work shall be done on those days.

So Moses called the Elders of Israel together and gave them the instructions, and the people of Israel went and did as the Lord commanded. At midnight, the Lord killed all the first born of Egypt, man and beast, and there was a great cry in the land.

Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them to go Take your people, your flocks and your herds and be gone. The Egyptian people also hastened them to leave giving them all that they owned, gold, silver and clothing. So the people of Israel, 603,550 men plus women, children and elders, left in haste. They had lived in Egypt 430 years.


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