July 2025

Read Exodus 12:29, 30 on how God struck down the firstborn in Egypt. Why did God focus on the firstborn? (See also Heb. 11:28.)

The last Egyptian plague fell on the firstborn. It was a divine judgment on all the gods of Egypt and upon all the families who worshiped these false gods, which were worthless idols that reflected the people’s own passions, desires, and fears.

The psalmist states how our children can know God and His loving care: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Ps. 145:4, ESV). One family should speak to another family about God, about His marvelous deeds, and about His teachings, all in order to pass biblical knowledge on to another generation.

Read Exodus 12:24–28. What important point was being made here?

Read Exodus 12:17–23. What role does blood play in the celebration of this new festival?

The blood of the sacrificed animal is a key element in this celebration. Those who participated in this feast had put the blood of the slain lamb on the doorframes of their houses. In this way, they demonstrated their faith in God, believing that He would deliver them from what those not covered by the blood would face.

What a powerful expression of the gospel!

Read Exodus 12:1–20. What specific instructions does God give to Moses and Aaron before Israel leaves Egypt?

One would expect God to instruct Moses and Aaron about how to organize the departure from Egypt: that is, how to make provisions for the escape, especially for the elderly, mothers with small children, animals, and so forth. Instead, God’s instruction is surprising: He tells them how to celebrate the Passover. In other words, the focus is on worshiping the Lord, who was going to redeem them. Everything else would follow in due time.

The prophet Amos declares that “ ‘the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets’ ” (Amos 3:7, ESV), and through the prophet Moses, He revealed to Pharaoh what was coming next. The most solemn warning was given to Pharaoh. This will be a just judgment upon pride, exploitation, violence, and idolatry, all of which have triggered these calamities upon Egypt.

Read Exodus 11:1–10. What warning did God give before executing judgment upon Egypt?

Read for This Week’s Study

Exod. 11:1–10, Mic. 6:8, Exod. 12:1–30, 1 Cor. 5:7, Exod. 13:14–16, Heb. 11:28.

Memory Text:

Read Ellen G. White, “The Plagues of Egypt,” pp. 265–272, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Read Exodus 9:13–10:29. How successful are these plagues in getting Pharaoh to change his mind?

Read Exodus 8:20–9:12. What does this account teach about however great may be the manifestations of God’s power and glory, humanity still has freedom to reject Him?

The Egyptian god Uatchit was the fly god and of swamps and marshes. The god Khepri (of the rising sun, creation, and rebirth) was depicted with the head of a scarab beetle. These “gods” were defeated by the Lord. In this account (Exod. 8:20–24), while the Egyptians were suffering, the Hebrews were protected. In fact, no further plagues affected them.

The ten plagues in Egypt were aimed not at the Egyptian people but at their gods. Each plague hit at least one of them.

Read Exodus 7:14–8:19. What happened in these plagues?

God instructed Moses that the dialogue with Pharaoh would be difficult and almost impossible (Exod. 7:14). However, God wanted to reveal Himself to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians. Thus, He decided to communicate with them in a way that they could understand. Also, the Hebrews would benefit from this confrontation because they would learn more about their God.