Divine Reparations and the Great Reversal Text: Exodus 11:1-3
Introduction: When God Balances the Books
We live in an age that is obsessed with justice, or at least with the vocabulary of justice. We hear a great deal about reparations, social justice, and settling old scores. But these conversations are almost always conducted in a state of high dudgeon and low information, driven by envy and managed by bureaucrats. The result is a cacophony of competing grievances, with no final court of appeal. Everyone feels wronged, and everyone has a plan to fix it that involves taking things from someone else. But this is what happens when you try to do God's work without God's wisdom or God's authority. You get a bad imitation of justice that satisfies no one and further fractures the world.
But the desire for true justice, for the scales to be balanced, is a good desire. It is a desire planted in us by God Himself. And in our text today, as we stand on the precipice of the final plague, we see God Himself step in to balance the books. This is not a human committee meeting. This is not a negotiated settlement. This is a divine audit, and God is about to declare Egypt spiritually, morally, and economically bankrupt. And He will do so with a finality that is breathtaking.
For centuries, the nation of Egypt had built its wealth on the backs of Hebrew slaves. They had stolen their labor, their dignity, and the lives of their sons. The debt they had accrued was astronomical. And now, the time for repayment has come. What we are about to witness is not looting. It is not a desperate grab for goods on the way out the door. It is a sovereignly orchestrated transfer of wealth. It is the justice of God in action, and it is a picture of a far greater reversal that God accomplishes for His people in the gospel of His Son.
The Text
Then Yahweh said to Moses, "One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people so that each man may ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold." (And Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses himself was very great in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.)
(Exodus 11:1-3 LSB)
The Final Blow (v. 1)
We begin with God's declaration of finality.
"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely.'" (Exodus 11:1)
Notice the calm, settled authority in God's voice. "One more plague." This has not been a series of improvisations. God has not been trying different strategies to see what might work on this stubborn monarch. Each plague has been a deliberate, targeted strike against a specific Egyptian deity, systematically dismantling their entire pagan worldview. And each plague has been a turn of the screw on Pharaoh's hard heart, a heart that God Himself was hardening for His own purposes. God was not just trying to get His people out; He was making a name for Himself throughout the whole earth (Exodus 9:16).
And now the end has come. And with the end comes a great reversal. Up to this point, the demand has been, "Let my people go." Pharaoh has resisted, negotiated, and lied. But after this final plague, the dynamic will be completely inverted. Pharaoh will not simply "let" them go. The text says he will "surely drive you out from here completely." The Hebrew here is emphatic. He will thrust you out, expel you, eject you with force. The man who said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should obey His voice?" will be so shattered, so terrified, that he will personally oversee the eviction. He will be desperate to see the last of them. This is what happens when a finite, creaturely will sets itself against the infinite, sovereign will of the Creator. It doesn't just bend; it shatters.
This is a profound comfort. God's timetable is perfect. His power is absolute. The enemies of God and His people may appear strong, their grip may seem unbreakable, but when God decides the time is up, their strength will evaporate like mist in the morning sun. The oppressor will become the expeller. The captor will become the agent of liberation. God turns the tables completely.
Back Wages for God's People (v. 2)
Next, God gives a very practical, and very startling, command.
"Speak now in the hearing of the people so that each man may ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold." (Exodus 11:2)
This is the famous "plundering of the Egyptians." But we must be precise here. The word for "ask" is not the word for begging. It is the word sha'al, which can mean to ask, but also to demand or require. Given the context, this is a demand for payment. After four centuries of forced, unpaid labor, this is God's divinely mandated severance package. This is not theft. This is the collection of back wages on a national scale.
Think about it. Every temple, every pyramid, every public work in Egypt was built with the sweat and blood of Hebrew slaves. The wealth of the nation was predicated on gross injustice. And God, who is a God of justice, will not let His people leave destitute. He will not allow their oppressors to keep the profits of their wickedness. Proverbs tells us that "the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous" (Proverbs 13:22), and here we see that principle enacted in history. God is simply transferring assets from the account of the wicked to the account of the just.
This is a fundamental principle of God's economy. He funds His kingdom's work. And He is perfectly capable of funding it with the confiscated assets of those who oppose Him. The silver and gold they take here will be used, in part, to construct the Tabernacle, the dwelling place of God. The wealth of Egypt, dedicated to idols, will be repurposed for the worship of the one true God. This is a pattern we see again and again. God takes the weapons of the enemy and uses them to build His own kingdom.
The Secret Engine of History (v. 3)
Now, this command to ask for gold and silver seems absurd on its face. Why would a nation, in the midst of its greatest crisis, simply hand over its wealth to the very slaves who are the cause of all their trouble? Verse 3 gives us the answer. It pulls back the curtain and shows us the hidden hand of God moving all the pieces on the board.
"(And Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses himself was very great in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.)" (Exodus 11:3)
This little parenthetical is the secret engine that drives the whole transaction. The Israelites did not win this favor through a charm offensive. They did not earn it. The text is plain: "Yahweh gave the people favor." God, who holds the hearts of all men in His hand, simply turned the hearts of the Egyptians. He can make a man's enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:7). He can fill them with a mixture of fear, respect, and a desperate desire to appease the God of these Hebrews. This is raw, unadulterated sovereignty.
And notice the second part. Moses himself was "very great" in the land. This is not Moses boasting. This is the Holy Spirit recording a crucial fact. The stuttering shepherd who was terrified to speak to Pharaoh has, through faithfulness and the manifest power of God, become the most imposing figure in the nation. Pharaoh's own servants and the common people hold him in awe. Why? Because they have seen that the God of Moses is the one true God. Moses's greatness is a derived greatness. He is great because his God is great. God elevated His servant in the eyes of the enemy in order to accomplish His purposes.
This is how God works. He prepares the ground. He moves hearts. He raises up His leaders. What seems impossible in the sight of men is simply another Tuesday for the God who commands all things. The favor of the Egyptians and the stature of Moses were the means God ordained to ensure that His people would leave Egypt not as impoverished refugees, but as a victorious army, laden with the spoils of war.
The Greater Exodus
This entire event is a magnificent portrait of our own salvation. The Exodus from Egypt is the great type, the shadow, of which Christ's work is the substance. We, like Israel, were slaves. We were not in bondage to a human pharaoh, but to a far more cruel master: sin and the devil. We were held fast, with no hope of escape. We were spiritually destitute, with nothing to offer God.
But God, in His mercy, sent a greater Moses, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came not with a staff and words, but with His own life. The plagues against Egypt foreshadow the judgment that Christ took upon Himself at the cross. And His death and resurrection were the "one more plague," the final, decisive blow against the kingdom of darkness. At the cross, the head of the serpent was crushed. The power of our Pharaoh was broken forever.
And just as Israel did not leave empty-handed, neither do we. In His victory, Christ "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him" (Colossians 2:15). He plundered the strong man's house. And what are the spoils He gives to us? Not silver and gold, but riches far greater. He gives us the gold of forgiveness, the silver of His own perfect righteousness. He gives us the jewels of the Holy Spirit, adoption into the family of God, and an eternal inheritance that will never fade.
And how do we receive these things? By the same mechanism Israel received their wealth. "Yahweh gave the people favor." We are given favor in the sight of God, not because we earned it, but because of the greatness of our Mediator, Jesus Christ. He is "very great" at the right hand of the Father, and for His sake, God pours out His grace upon us. We come to God as spiritual slaves, and we leave as sons and daughters, laden with the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Therefore, do not live like a slave who has just escaped. You were not merely rescued; you were redeemed, and you were enriched. Your chains are broken, your debts are paid, and your future is funded by the infinite wealth of heaven. God has balanced the books in your favor, through the blood of His Son. Live like it.