One Last Warning (Exodus 11)

Thus far in Exodus there have been a series of three plagues each.  Moses warned Pharaoh for the first two plagues of each series and the third plague in each came without warning.  The warning of the first plague in each series was given in the morning, but the warning of the second plague in each series does not say what time it was given.  And there are certain phrases used in the instructions given to Moses — in the first plague in each series Moses is told to present himself or stand (the same in Hebrew) before Pharaoh, in the second plague of each series Moses is told to ”Go to Pharaoh,” but then there are no such instructions for the third plague in each series.  Thus the first nine plagues are purposely presented in groups of three following a particular pattern.  Therefore, the ten plagues follow the pattern 3+3+3+1.  The +1 brings us to the tenth plague, the number for fullness, so we come to the fullness of the plagues — the death of the firstborn.  Like the first plague of each series there was a warning, like the second one in each series it does not tell us the time of day, and like the third one in each series there are none of the earlier instructions.  And so we come to the climax of the plagues from Exodus 11 into Exodus 13.  Exodus 11 then is one last warning for Pharaoh.

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