Why did God kill all of Egypt's firstborn children in Exodus?

Question

Why not just kill the people in charge, instead of going ONLY for the children?

Answer 1

They little bastards had it coming.

Answer 2

Okay, I'm going in a totally different direction than everyone else on this one, but I recently saw a show on the History Channel about the Ark of the Covenant and that time period. They said that it is known there was an earthquake they can date, that opened up gas pockets under the water, which has been documented in the 1990's also. It turned the water red, and released a gas that killed everyone sleeping near the ground. ( the gas moves low) On the show it said that the first-borns were the most important to the Egyptian society and were treated differently than the other children. The first-born males slept on little beds that were low to the ground inside the houses and everyone else slept up on the flat rooftop level, outside. So the first-born males were the only ones that died. They have found mass graves of adolescent boys to verify this. And apparently the Jewish people were having a feast that night so they were all sitting up, above the gas, and were spared. In the 1990's they have photos of the blood-red lake, and the entire village died except 1 person that was up in the mountains that night tending livestock.

Answer 3

What is the most precious thing to any parent in the whole world (or should be)? Their children, and in Egyptian society, the eldest son was the heir, the legacy, the future of the family. Two good theories have been advanced for plausible explanation of the mechanism of this plague, one is a mold in the grain, if drought caused them to use old supplies, which the eldest son would get the largest portion and thus most poison of. The other is that this whole episode occurred when Santorini blew apart, and that forboding geological factors, such as gas release that would have turned the waters blood red, would creep in along the ground killing the first born male who slept by the hearth on the first floor, but not servants and other family members who slept upstairs or on the roof. Under that theory all the other parts are explained by the pre-cursors or after effects of Santorini, which nicely fits into the time frame of Moses. For those that don't believe in miracles this works, for those who do, TIMING is everything! (The "pillar of smoke and fire" they followed into the desert was a fire beacon or smudge pot on a tall pole used to guide them. The "parting of the red" or reed sea, could have been a tsunami caused by the faultline/volcano).

Answer 4

Read the account with a serious mind. Probably the death of the firstborn occurred because of something Pharaoh said concerning the firstborn. You need to understand that everything that was performed during that time was because spiritually the Pharaoh had opened the door to evil spirits that would do those awful things. The curse causeless shall not come. Proverbs 26;2
Pro 26:2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
This is a short answer to a complex question.
I Cr 13;8
12-10-6

Answer 5

As 'dukefenton' above pointed to a Bible quote, God Himself just decided to be sadistic for the fun of it. The writer of the book of Exodus tells us that God said "...but I will harden his heart...", meaning He will make Pharaoh not heed Moses' request to let the Israelites be free. Why? Just so as to have excuse to punish Pharaoh and his people by, amongst six other plagues, killing the Egyptians' first born male children!
The point now is: Did God say what He was quoted in Exodus? Did the writer (God or inspired by God?) misquote God? If the quote was correct, Christianity teaches that God can mislead people deliberately? How much of the Bible so correct or so incorrect?

Answer 6

a) God was still seeking to reach the Egyptians - this was the only way to touch all households.
b) God wanted an impact enormous enough that the Israelites would be driven out of Egypt with the spoil of Egypt cf. gold etc.
c) God was birthing his "firstborn" in Israel. One would replace the other.
d) While the Maya/Inca sacrificed adults, Levant culture tended much mmore toward child sacrifice and would recognize such.

Answer 7

From my study of the events surrounding the Hebrews time in Egypt, this was the final plague that Moses brought to Pharoah in order to get the Hebrews out of Egypt.

The Egyptian culture highly valued their firstborn and this was the only way that Pharoah would finally let the Hebrews leave for their Promised Land.

Even after this happened, Pharoah came after them with his army and chariots. The Hebrews crossed the Red Sea on dry ground but when the Eqyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned as the waters filled back in after the miracle.

Answer 8

It was the tenth plague after they did not agree to 9 other plagues, that's no.1 reason. Second reason is God said it will be the plague from the mouth of the pharaoh. When moses was born the king ordered massacre of all the israel's first born.
Exodus 1:13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
1:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, [was] with rigour.
1:15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one [was] Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
1:16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see [them] upon the stools; if it [be] a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it [be] a daughter, then she shall live.
1:17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
1:18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
1:19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women [are] not as the Egyptian women; for they [are] lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
1:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
1:21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
1:22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

Similarly Satan attempted and did kill all the children before the age of 2 when Jesus was born.

But the answer is that it was the pharaoh who called for death of the first born of Israel again but it became the curse/plague to them.

Read the book of Exodus or watch the film ten commandments and you will know all this.

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Answer 9

This was the last of the 10 plagues. He caused the 10 plagues to happen because the people would not follow him and worshiped other gods and idols. How can a person be hurt the most? Kill their children.

Answer 10

How precious is our own life?
How precious is someone else's?
What value, what lesson can our short lives tell?
I cannot answer this, for I do not know what the motives of God are. He gave those children to the Egyptians, and He took them away. Kind of like that lesson in Job. It is a difficult lesson, and I do not know how to tell it to you, for I feel a silence, like that silence you hear at the cenotaph, when you mention this death.

However, when this thing occured, it was then that Pharoh let the people of God go. Why didn't he let them go when the fire rained down?

Answer 11

Sorry Dude! God did not kill anybody, that was the Pharaoh who sent out an order to kill all the firstborn male children to stop the prophecy of moses foretold by his oracles.