We are in chapter twelve of Exodus with our word for today used for the first time in the Bible. מַשְׁחִית spoiler, destroyer, destruction, snare for birds, ruin. It is used 20 times in the Old Testament, 2 times in our chapter. It is used in the sense of the termination of something by causing so much damage to it that it cannot be repaired or no longer exists. Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who מַשְׁחִֽית destroys. Proverbs 28:24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “That is no transgression,” is a companion to a man who מַשְׁחִֽית destroys. Ezekiel 25:15 “Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to לְמַשְׁחִ֖ית destroy in never-ending enmity. Our word is also used in the sense of a person who destroys or ruins or lays waste to. Isaiah 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the מַשְׁחִ֖ית ravager to destroy. Jeremiah 22:7 I will prepare מַשְׁחִתִ֖ים destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire. Jeremiah 51:1 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a מַשְׁחִֽית destroyer against Babylon.” We find both senses of our word in our charter today that is destruction and the one who destroys or destroyer. Exodus 12:13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you לְמַשְׁחִ֔ית to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow הַמַּשְׁחִ֔ית the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. Our chapter doesn’t exactly say the destroyer was an angel or angels but we do see this event described in Psalms and Hebrews. Psalm 78:49-51 He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels. He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague. He struck down every firstborn in Egypt. We do see angels being sent by God to carryout his judgment. 2 Samuel 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem לְשַׁחֲתָהּ֒ to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who הַמַּשְׁחִ֤ית was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Isaiah 37:36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. The good news is that God provides a way of salvation for our sins so that we can escape the consequences of them while at the same time rescuing us from the evil of those who would harm us. I’ll close with this great verse that speaks to our event in our chapter today and helps us understand what faith looks like. Hebrews 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.
