Did God act like a burglar in executing all the first born of Egyptians?


Those sentences which are colored in orange are from Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati book Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth) and those which are colored in black are Jerry Thomas’s response.


"And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." (12:29, 30.)

C. ~ Bravo! What a fine thing did this God of the Christians do! How like a burglar, at midnight He mercilessly killed children Infants and the aged and even cattle that were all innocent! He had not had the least pity on them. 'There was a great cry in Egypt' and yet the heart of this Christian God would not melt. Let alone God, even an ordinary man would not do such a thing and yet there is nothing strange in it as it has been said "A flesh-eater knows no pity." When the God of the Christian is a flesh-eater, what can He have to do with pity and compassion?


Answer: By now it is very clear that Maharishi either reads the Bible in bits and pieces or he has a serious comprehension problem.

First let us read what the LORD God said and then examine whether His words are righteous.

LORD God very clearly told that this is a JUDGEMENT on the Egyptians.

Exodus 12:12 'for I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I [am] the LORD.

What did the Egyptians do to have this judgment upon them?

(a) Egyptians afflicted and burdened Israelites without any fault from Israelites:

Exodus 1: 9-11 And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel [are] more and mightier than we come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and [so] go up out of the land."  Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 

(b) Not satisfied with initial affliction, they increased their cruelty on Israelites which continued for many years:

Exodus 1:13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage–in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve [was] with rigor.  

(c) At one point, Egyptians attempted to kill ALL the male children of Israelites (and not just the first born- remember this point).

Exodus 1:15-16 “Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one [was] Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see [them] on the birthstools, if it [is] a son, then you shall kill him; but if it [is] a daughter, then she shall live.”

(d) Then Pharaoh passed a law that EVERY MALE child of Israel should be thrown into river (not just the first born).

Exodus 1:22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."  

NOTE: If God had to punish Egyptians according to their own deeds, then EVERY male child of Egyptians, and not just their first born male child, should be killed. First born male child is more of symbolism than a punishment in equal measure. What if the first born is a female and what if the first born is already dead considering the high mortality rate at that time.

(e) God had given them enough chances to repent. Almost nine plagues happened right in front of their eyes for them to repent. Instead Pharaoh continued to break his word.

By now, looking at the above sequence of events, one can conclude that God of the Bible is very merciful even when He executes judgment.

However, Vedic Maharishi is blind to the mercy of God in not punishing the Egyptians as they did to Israelites, but he sees only cruelty in executing judgment.

Behold! How the Vedas can corrupt a human heart!!!