1170. God Makes a Difference

God Makes a Difference

"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" (Exo_11:6-7).

1. The death of the firstborn in Egypt. God said, "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."

God had wrought plague after plague upon the children of Egypt but each time Pharaoh hardened his heart. God is now ready to send the supreme and final plague. The death of the firstborn.

This death anticipates that other eternal death which awaits the wicked, for, "The wages of sin is death"–"The soul that sinneth it shall die"–"Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death."

2. The great cry. "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." The anguish and the bitterness which befell the Egyptians anticipates the anguish of the damned. When the dead small and great stand before God and they receive their sentence, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

3. There was not a home where there was not one dead. This statement is a type of the universality of sin and of sin's reward. There are no exemptions. Wherever there is sin there is death. There is sin everywhere, and so also is there death everywhere.

4. "Against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that we may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel."

There are those who believe that God herein is a partial God. He makes a difference and His difference is not justified.

It is true there was a difference. The children of Israel were exempt from death and the Egyptians died. However, the difference was not a matter of favoritism.

If we want to know why the Lord "put a difference," the 12th chapter of Exodus, will tell us.

Suffice it to say now that the difference was not in the character of the two classes; neither was it in the wealth or power of the two classes.

From the viewpoint of greatness, of wealth, of influence, of recognition, the Egyptians were in the lead. The children of Israel were a vassal race. They were counted as no more than dogs by the Egyptians. They were under taskmasters, despised and denounced.

"The difference" involves the doctrine of substitution. There was death in every Egyptian home, there was also death in every Israelitish home. However, in the one case, the eldest son died; in the other case there was the death of the lamb. This is the basis on which God made the difference.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR