God Rides With the Angel of Death

 I was looking up the verses I needed to do my communion post the other day and was blown away by something I read.   I did a little side study that almost found its way into the communion post.  But I realized it took away from that point and needed to be visited all on its own.

I was reading about the first Passover in the 12th chapter of Exodus.  As God was instructing Moses about how to prepare, He said that He was going to pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and male animal in Egypt.

Before we go on the the Death Angel, lets talk about why God struck down the firstborn of Egypt.  This is another one of those passages that cause people call God genocidal or cruel.  They tend to forget the nine plagues that came before, each one giving the Egyptians an opportunity to repent and do the will of God.

Not only that, Pharaoh (who was considered and worshipped as a god) had had all the male babies of the Israelites thrown into the Nile when Moses was born.  We reap what we sow.  But even then, Moses warned Pharaoh what God was going to do.  Pharaoh was given a 'heads up' so to speak.  

History shows that the people worshipped Pharaoh as a god.  If he really had divine powers, he could have stopped the God of Israel from killing the first born.  Also, if he knew he was only a man because he wasn't able to stop the other nine plagues, he could have relented or even repented.  We all know what happened when Nineveh repented under the preaching of Jonah.  The judgment was stayed.

Pharaoh did not relent, but some in Egypt did.  The Bible says that when the plague of hail came, some of Pharaoh's officials feared the Lord and brought in their livestock and servants.  We also read that a mixed multitude left Egypt with the Israelites when it was all over.

The thing that struck me in reading this story this time is that as God is telling Moses the preparations, He says that He will strike the first born.  He said this several times.  But later we see that if God sees the blood on the doorframe, He will not allow the death angel/destroyer to enter.  As I said, this struck me.  A close reading of Exodus 11 and 12 reveal that God rode with the destroyer and it was God that prevented the death of the firstborn of those in the houses marked with blood. 

My brain screamed, "There's a verse!  Where is that verse?!"  I began looking and found what I was looking for.  It is Habakkuk 3:4-5, which says:

His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands, where his awesome power is hidden.  Pestilence marches before him; plague follows close behind. 

As I said before, I did a little word study.  The word used for pestilence here is indeed the same word that is used for the plagues of Egypt.  The word plague here means: fever, fiery darts.  Strong's says 

"by analogy lightning; figuratively, an arrow, (as flashing through the air): specifically, fever:"

What I find even more interesting is that the words used here in Habakkuk, Resheph and Deber, are the names of ancient Canaanite deities.  Two articles confirming this are here and here. 

That just blew my mind.  We know that fallen angels and demons are principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12), but did we ever stop to wonder where that idea came from?  Here you go.  Oh by the way, Deber is the disease mentioned in Psalm 91:3 :

For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.

This passage is reinforcing the fact that God stands between you and literal spiritual enemies. 

This also reinforces what we learn in Job.  No matter what comes our way, God is in control.  He rides with the Death Angel and the Destroyer.  He turns them away or allows them in because He alone has the final say.  

God is God and there is none other.  He is loving and merciful, but He is also just.  I pray we all find ourselves on the right side, God's mercy through Jesus, and not on the side of God's justice by our rejection of Him.