After the ninth plague, we are told that five significant interactions took place:

• God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (10:27).

• Pharaoh exiled Moses from his presence (10:28).

• Pharaoh declared death to Moses if he were to see his face again (10:28).

• Moses agreed that one of them was destined to die (10:29).

• Outside of Pharaoh’s presence, Yahweh had Moses announce the final plague. The plague would be one Egypt would not recover from, and the one that finally broke Pharaoh (1-3). 

The Revelation of the Plague (1-3)

Back at the beginning, when Yahweh was calling Moses, He gave him the grim and heartbreaking news that the firstborn of all Egyptians would need to die to free the Israelites (4:23). Here in these three verses, God unloaded the full revelation of the plague. When God was finished, the Israelites would be driven out by Pharaoh and made to leave immediately (1). The Israelites would go with a great plunder of Egyptian goods (2) (Genesis 15:14), and Moses would be leaving as a man hated and scorned by Pharaoh but esteemed by leaders and the people (3).

So much would the Egyptians honor the Israelites and want their presence out of the land that they would unload their wealth on them.  

The Revelation Delivered to Pharaoh (4-8)

Moses had the news delivered to Pharaoh along with the details of the final plague:

• The Time: Midnight (4)

• Those Afflicted: Every firstborn human and animal (5)

• Effect: Unparalleled sorrow (6)

• Those Unaffected: Israel—not even a dog would be aroused or concerned to bark (7).

• Result: All of Pharaoh’s servants would bow to Yahweh’s wishes and demand that Israel leave (8).

• Motivation to Leave: Pharaoh’s servants would come to Moses and beg the entire nation to leave. 

After Moses delivered the news, not in his immediate presence but through a courier—likely Aaron—Moses was angry. Moses’ anger was stirred by Pharaoh’s indifference to the anguish he was about to bring to Egypt. 

For the Fifteenth Time, Pharaoh’s Heart Is Declared Hardened (9-10)

As before, Pharaoh would not listen; his heart remained stiffened and strengthened by Yahweh to refuse Him. Yahweh strengthened Pharaoh’s heart so as not to coerce Pharaoh to do something against his will (9-10).  

Six Purposes for the Plagues

The plagues were designed to expose:

• The fictitious nature of the gods of Egypt and to execute judgment on them (12:12) (Numbers 33:4); they discredited the gods of Egypt. 

  • The Nile was a sacred river, Pitha was a frog-headed god, and Heka was a frog goddess; the bull was sacred to the Egyptians, Ra was the sun god, and Pharaoh considered himself a god. 

• The fictitious nature of the religious leaders, magicians, and sorcerers; after the third plague, the magicians no longer competed with Moses and were later humiliated by the boils.    

• The foolishness of resisting God, no matter how powerful one might be, especially as revealed in Pharaoh’s making his will strong against Yahweh (7:17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29).

• The impossibility of any power to resist God’s redemptive authority to keep His word and liberate His people; thus Israel would know Yahweh was the only God (6:7; 10:2).

• The Egyptian assumption that there was any god comparable to Yahweh (7:5; 9:14; 14:4, 18).

• The Egyptian god of self-indulgent luxury at the expense of enslaving another soul (Exodus 12).