At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Pharaoh had been warned times without number. Even so, who’s heart would not be moved by this portrait of heartbreak, pain and loss? You can almost feel it radiating off the page.

God’s judgment is without exception. It is a great leveller. You can’t find a way out of it because you are rich or powerful or famous. You can’t find a loophole; you can’t give a bribe.

If we take account of the Bible story as a whole, we have to see that unimaginable loss awaits those who repeatedly resist God’s Word and who finally reject God’s Son. As one commentator put it, in Scripture the ultimate tragedy is to die with one’s sins un-atoned for and unforgiven.

But we can take heart that God’s salvation is also without exception. It is freely given to all who trust Jesus – “our Passover lamb” (1 Cor.5:7) – to save them.

PRAYER: Lord, just as you made a way for your people to be saved in Egypt, thank you that you have ultimately made the way for us all In Jesus.