FIRSTBORN by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction:  As you know, we were in Egypt over the past few days. Among the many wonderful sites that we were able to visit, one of my favorites was the tomb of King Tut or Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings. I’ve been there before. This tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, and it was the most spectacular find the world had ever seen, with treasures beyond our imagination. Nonetheless, there were many things that seemed odd, most importantly, how the mummy was in poor condition and how the tomb was hastily filled. I’ve seen it before, and no where does the Old Testament come more alive to me than in Egypt, standing face to face with the mummy of the Firstborn son who died on the night of the Passover. In fact, only those homes that had the blood of the Passover Lamb applied to the doorpost of their houses were able to stand against the Death Angel as he passed through the land. As we prepare our heart for the Communion this morning, I want to ask you – “Has the blood of Christ been applied to the doorpost of your heart?”

Exodus 4       22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

Context: As you know, God’s people were suffering under the bondage of slavery, and they cried out to the Lord. God heard their cry, and he sent Moses from the back side of the desert to set them free. Keep in mind that Moses had been adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter and had been groomed to be the next Pharaoh. Forty years earlier, he had tried to free them, and it did not work as he had hoped. Unfortunately, he was not ready to lead them, and they were not ready to be led. Forty years later, Moses returned, but it was no easy matter. Pharaoh kept hardening his heart, and God sent 9 plagues against Egypt (Nile into blood, frogs, lice, flies, death of the livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness over the land, the death of the first born, both humans and animals). By the way, one of the questions that is often asked – “Is there any evidence for these plagues in Egyptian history?” The answer is “Yes!” There is a body of literature known as the Ipuwer Papyrus, a body of literature that goes back to ancient Egypt. See if you can notice the parallels (Taken from Emmet Sweeney):

1. Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere (The Papyrus 2:6). … and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt (Exodus 2:6).
2. Why, really, all animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan because of the state of the land (The Papyrus 5:5)…behold the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the donkeys, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain/infectious diseases (Exodus 9:3).
3. Why really, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire (The Papyrus 2:10)…and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran along the upon the ground; and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous … (Exodus 9:23-24).
4. Why really, trees are destroyed (The Papyrus 4:14). Why really, that has perished which yesterday was seen, and the land is left over to its weakness like the cutting of flax (The Papyrus 5:12-13)… and the hail smote every herb in the field, and brake every tree in the field (Exodus 9:25).
5. No fruit nor herbs are found for the birds (The Papyrus 6:1). Why really, grain has perished on every side… Everybody says: There is nothing! The storehouse is stripped bare (The Papyrus 6:3). And the locusts went up over the land of Egypt… very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt (Exodus 10:14-15).
6. … fear … Poor men … the land is not light because of it (The Papyrus, fragments 9:11). And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days (Exodus 10:22).
7. Why really, the children of princes are dashed against the walls. The [once] prayed for children are [now] laid out on the high ground (The Papyrus 4:3). And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon (Exodus 12:29).
8. It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations (The Papyrus 3:14)…and there was a very great cry in Egypt. (Exodus 12:30).
9. He who places his brother in the land is everywhere (The Papyrus 2:13). For there was not a house where there was not one dead (Exodus 12:30).

Why were all these plagues necessary? Exodus 12:12“For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.” Also, this was not only a judgment against the gods of Egypt but the children of Israel had also participated in idolatry while in Egypt. Ezekiel 20      7 Then I said to them, “Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’ 8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me…Then I said, “I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’” In other words, the Hebrews were also under the sentence of death. They were not automatically spared.

Principle: God takes sin seriously, especially with his own people.

For the next few moments, before we take part in the Communion, I want to focus on the death of the firstborn. Who was the Firstborn of Pharaoh who died in the plague? This was none other than who we know today as King Tut. His father was Amenhotep III. Tutankhamen as the firstborn son was being groomed as a co-regent to one day become the Pharaoh after his father. He was supposed to be Amenhotep IV. This is not what you will find in mainline Egyptian history.

Let’s go now to that fateful night. Exodus 12 tells us that God commanded them that on the night of their escape the head of each Israelite home had to slaughter a lamb and smear its blood around the doorpost and the lintel of the house. This was to keep the destroyer from taking the life of the firstborn. Also, each family was to eat the roasted lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Something more – Exodus 12:11 “And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste…” In other words, this was no leisurely meal. They had to stand and eat as if they were late for a journey. For e.g. Ever been late for somewhere important and you had to eat before you left? No time for salt and ketchup. By the way, God also told them that this was not a one-time meal. They had to keep these joint feasts of Passover (Pesach) along with the Unleavened Bread (Masot) for generations to come to commemorate the freedom of the Hebrews from their slavery in Egypt. 

Let’s go back to the young prince – No one had expected him to die so suddenly. They had no grave prepared for him. For that matter, they didn’t have that much of a grave prepared for his father either. Unfortunately, Tutankhamen’s father hardened his heart and changed his mind about the Hebrews and decided to chase them to make them slaves again. He didn’t die in the last plague of the death of the firstborn because he wasn’t a firstborn. He died in the Red Sea along with his generals and troops.

When it came time to bury him, they had to take some other person’s tomb. Some places the name has been chiseled out. Some even claim that the many of the statues that are labeled as King Tut are more probably his father because they did not have a chance to make him any. The most interesting part is that when Howard Carter entered the tomb, everything was in disarray. The chariots had not been reassembled; things were just in disarray; and the mummification, as I mentioned earlier, was very poorly done. Typically, it was a 70-day process, but if your country is upside down and your army is destroyed, there’s no time for any proper burial for crown prince.

Again, people say that there is no evidence for any of this in Egyptian history or in world history. That is just not true. One is the Pessimistic Literature (Prophecy of Neferty) – “Behold, the great one pharaoh is fallen in the land whence thou art sprung… Behold, princes [nomarchs] hold sway in the land, things are made as though they had never been made.” Also, there’s a letter from the wife of Amenhotep III to the king of the Hittites, which is referred to by the Hittite king’s son: “Because, to make matters worse, their lord Bibhururiyas had just died, the Egyptian queen who had become a widow, sent an envoy to my father and wrote him as follows: ‘My husband died and I have no son. People say that you have many sons. If you were to send me one of your sons, he might become my husband. I am loath to take a servant of mine and make him my husband.’”

Ultimately, Jesus was God’s only son who gave his life for us. He became the Lamb of God from the foundation of the world. The story of his sacrifice is found everywhere, even though the world desperately tries to cover it up. Do you have the eyes to see it?

Hebrews 11       24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Hebrews 11        27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Question: Has his blood been applied to the doorpost of your heart? Are you saved?

Also, communion is a family tradition. We do it together to remind ourselves of the utter necessity and urgency of the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. Are you prepared to take the communion together?