seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 11:1 Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3 (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)
God told the Israelites to go gather their pay for all the years they had been slaves. God told the people, through Moses, that Pharaoh was going to run them out of Egypt so they should gather all the gold and silver they could get.
By now, anyone who didn't consider himself a god equal to God, was well aware that Moses and the Israelites were the reason there had no food after weeks of horrible storms and those awful boils. They were more than happy to see the Israelites leave. They would be more than happy to give them silver and gold for the trip. They never understood the habits of the Israelites. They didn't even like their manners at the table or the food they liked. They just wanted all the hardship to stop. The regular Egyptians were more than happy to give them the silver and gold for their trip. The Israelites had earned it!
Remember how the story started, Moses in the basket, in the reeds? Babies were murdered. The Midwives were instructed to butcher them at birth or they were to be thrown in the river to drown. Not all babies were to be slaughtered. Only male Israelite babies.
The Egyptians wanted the free slave labor but they didn't want the Israelites. If they murdered all the male Israelite babies then they would no longer be able to procreate Israelite children.
No one has answered for that so far in this story.
God has been attacking the little gods of Egypt. He destroyed them all from Ra to Nut. Now He was going to take on the last couple of gods and one of them would be Pharaoh himself. This last plague would take the first born [including animals] of every pagan household. Now God was going to take on that little god Pharaoh. He would take his son as the little gods pharaoh had taken the Israelite sons.
This is from the GodVine commentary.
This was the last day of their servitude, when they were to go away, and their masters, who had abused them in their work, would now have defrauded them of their wages, and have sent them away empty, and the poor Israelites were so fond of liberty that they themselves would be satisfied with that, without pay: but he that executeth righteousness and judgment for the oppressed, provided that the labourers should not lose their hire. God ordered them to demand it now at their departure, in jewels of silver, and jewels of gold; to prepare for which, God had now made the Egyptians as willing to part with them upon any terms, as before the Egyptians had made them willing to go upon any terms.
So....the Israelites were now paid for their labor and God is getting ready to take out his revenge for all those male babies slaughtered.
