Illustration of the subject of the last Chapter, exhibiting the
Antagonism as carried on by visible agencies, instrumentalities,
and events, in the plagues of Egypt and at the Red Sea.
There is a striking instance of this antagonism carried on by visible
agencies, instrumentalities, and events, in the narrative of the plagues
of Egypt, under the immediate direction of the Messenger Jehovah, after
his appearance to Moses in the burning bush; of which plagues it was
repeatedly declared to be the object on the one hand to convince the
children of Israel, and by rehearsal to their descendants to convince
them that he was indeed Jehovah; and on the other, to cause Pharaoh and
the Egyptians to know that he was the Self-existent, and to cause his
name to be declared throughout all the earth. Pharaoh, and the priests
of Baal, and the wise men, the sorcerers and magicians, like Ahab and
the prophets and votaries of Baal in his time; and Nebuchadnezzar and
the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans of his, were to
witness miraculous and resistless proofs that Jehovah, the Elohe of
Abraham and Israel, was the only living and true God, the Creator,
proprietor, and ruler of the world, and that their idolatry was an
imposture and a cheat. In this, as in the other and all similar
instances of a public formal conflict of the great antagonists and their
agents, to determine which should be acknowledged as supreme, and be
obeyed and worshipped, the demonstrations on the part of Jehovah were
resisted, step by step, by the Adversary and his party, till they were
overpowered, shown to be false pretenders, terrified, exposed, and
confounded.
Jehovah directed Moses and Aaron, when they appeared before Pharaoh, and
were required by him "to show a miracle" in support of their
pretensions, to cast down the rod they were to carry, and it should
become a serpent--the animal with which the name and personal history of
Satan were intimately associated, and whose visible form was familiar
among the material images, representative of him under the name of Baal,
from the earliest times; the animal which he entered and actuated in
Eden, and which, doubtless, he could enter and actuate again, and by
jugglery employ rods in his exhibition. "And Aaron cast down his rod
before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent;" as
much as to say, Here is a miracle, producing before your eyes the god,
the visible image and representative of the god whom you worship. But we
may suppose Pharaoh to have said, This we can do: this only shows the
power of our god, and is to no purpose as evidence on your side. "Then
Pharaoh called the wise men and the sorcerers, and the magicians of
Egypt did in like manner with their _enchantments_; for they cast down
every man his rod, and they became serpents." This satisfied him.
Similar feats had probably often satisfied him before. Visible effects
of power in the production, apparently, of living animals, were manifest
to his senses. The sequel, in the fact that "Aaron's rod swallowed up
their rods," belonged to another category. If he regarded it as the
moderns regard written language, he would be satisfied by calling it
"figurative," or saying it was equivocal, and had no fixed or
determinate meaning.
The nature of the conflict, and the visibility of the instruments and
results, are thus sufficiently apparent. To the view of the beholders,
the coincidence of the power of the unseen agent on the one side, with
the act of Aaron and his rod as an instrument, and on the other, with
the acts of the magicians and their rods, appeared alike. From aught
that was apparent, if Moses and Aaron wrought their miracle by the power
and will of Jehovah, the magicians wrought theirs by the power and will
of their god. It was a miracle transcending the efforts of mortal power,
and superior to that by which the magicians acted, that Pharaoh
required. Nothing else would meet the case. But as he viewed it, this
experiment was not conclusive.
At the next trial, Aaron, in the presence of Pharaoh and his servants,
"lifted up the rod and smote the waters that were in the river, and they
were turned into blood." The fish died, "and there was blood throughout
all the land of Egypt." "And the magicians did so with their
enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened." The experiment of the
magicians, in this case, must have been on a very limited scale, for it
appears from the narrative that there was no water to be had for seven
days, but such as was obtained by digging near the river. Still, if they
apparently produced the effect on ever so small a quantity, those who
trusted in them would be satisfied. The Nile was a leading object of
Egyptian idolatry, as an instrument and emblem of the munificence of the
god of that idolatry, whose superiority and power were argued from the
vast benefits occasioned by the river, without the aid or inconvenience
of clouds and rain. The miracle was therefore a public and signal rebuke
of their idolatry, affecting directly every inhabitant of the land, and
a stupendous demonstration of the supremacy of Jehovah. But the arts and
instrumentality of the magicians counteracted its effect.
The ensuing trial, which constituted the second plague, covered the
land, the houses, furniture, utensils, and the people themselves, with
myriads of loathsome frogs, one of the sacred animals of their idol
system, and of the progeny of their sacred river, consecrated to the
sun, and, by reason of its inflations, deemed an emblem of inspiration.
They were thus confounded by the insupportable multitude and
offensiveness of one of the objects of their idol worship, sent forth by
another, as if purposely to punish them. After the usual announcements
and directions, "Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt;
and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt: and the magicians
did so with their _enchantments_, and brought up frogs upon the land of
Egypt." Their enchantments in this case seem to have had no favorable
effect. The frogs brought up by them must have aggravated the already
intolerable evil. Pharaoh begged Moses to entreat Jehovah to remove the
plague, and promised in that case to let the people go. Moses consented,
so that Pharaoh, by the counter miracle, "might know that there is none
like unto Jehovah, the Elohe of the Hebrews."
The third plague, more tormenting to the persons of the Egyptians than
the preceding, baffled and silenced the magicians. "Aaron stretched out
his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became
lice in man and in beast; and the dust of the land became lice
throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their
_enchantments_ to bring forth lice, but they could not. Then the
magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of Elohim." But his
heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them.
In the preceding instances, Pharaoh and the magicians had been
forewarned as to what kind of evil was to be inflicted, and had time to
prepare their enchantments. When (the sun excepted) the chief of all the
natural objects of their idolatry was to be changed into blood, so as to
destroy the fish, and put a stop to all the benefits for which they
deified it, the miracle was in itself calculated to be perfectly
conclusive, and Moses was directed to say to Pharaoh, "In this thou
shalt know that I am Jehovah." And when the progeny of their sacred
river were to be brought up in such masses as to cover the whole land
and all the objects in it, so that they could not move without
destroying those deified creatures, they were specially forewarned, and
had time to arrange and work their enchantments with as much success as
in our own day attends the workers of Popish miracles.
But in this last instance they had no previous notice. It was an
experiment, doubtless, that they had never tried, they could do nothing
without enchantments; they had no jugglery prepared for such a case;
they were baffled, disgraced, and thrust aside: and in what follows, the
utter and desperate malignity of sin is shown in such obstinacy,
hardihood, and perseverance on the part of Pharaoh and his people, as
has a parallel only in Satan and his angels. Occasionally, indeed, under
the most appalling terrors of mind and sufferings of body, conscious
that Jehovah had absolute power over all creatures and all elements, and
that new and unknown horrors awaited them, some momentary concessions
were extorted from their physical fears and agonies.
On the infliction of the plague of flies, (another of the deified or
idolized representatives of Baal,) Pharaoh, to convince him that Jehovah
was the same as the Elohe of the Hebrews, and that his supremacy and
power were universal over all the earth, was told that while this plague
should fall upon him, and upon his servants and people, and into their
houses, and upon the ground, it should not touch the Hebrews. "I will
sever the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of
flies shall be there; _to the end thou mayest know that I am Jehovah in
the midst of the earth_." In this, as in the case of the frogs, and
equally, it is presumed, in the case of the lice, they were necessitated
to destroy multitudes of idolized creatures, representative of Baal, and
thus by their own acts, as well as by their sufferings, to show that he
was not able to protect his representatives, or those who worshipped him
through them. Pharaoh hypocritically relented till, on the entreaty of
Moses, Jehovah removed this plague.
In the inflictions which followed, each was more appalling and terrific
than those which preceded. They were introduced by special announcements
of their object, their intensity, and their effects; a set time was
specified for their occurrence, and in each case the land of Goshen was
exempted. They were such as most unequivocally to demonstrate the
almighty power of Jehovah, the reason of their being visited upon the
Egyptians, the nature and bearings of the controversy, and the
antagonist position and character of the parties. Jehovah, displaying
his prerogatives and his righteousness in the visible effects of his
power, "executed judgment against all the gods of Egypt." By the fifth
plague, the idolized animals, models of the molten calves, with all the
cattle of Egypt, were destroyed. By the sixth, the sacred persons, the
priests, magicians, sorcerers, with all the people, high and low, were
tormented with boils and blains, so that "the magicians could not stand
before Moses, because of the boils." This being ineffectual, the grounds
of the controversy were again particularized, and more terrible
inflictions threatened. "I will at this time send all my plagues upon
thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou
mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth." Then Jehovah
"sent thunder, and hail, and fire; and the fire [or lightning] ran upon
the ground; and the hail smote man and beast, and herbs and trees; only
in the land of Goshen there was no hail."
The air, which was the medium of the pestilential boils, and was an
element of this terrific storm, unprecedented in Egypt or elsewhere,
was, equally with the other elements, water and fire, idolized as an
instrument, medium, or vehicle of Baal; fire being arrogated as his
attribute or element, and the sun as his shekina: and being so regarded
by the Egyptians, it was shown in the most awful and appalling manner
that Jehovah exercised the most absolute control over them. Pharaoh,
under the impulse of amazement and terror, sent for Moses and Aaron, and
said: "I have sinned this time: Jehovah is righteous, and I and my
people are wicked. Entreat Jehovah (for it is enough) that there be no
more mighty thunderings and hail, and I will let you go." Moses replied,
promising to do this, and that the storm should cease, that Pharaoh
"might know how that the earth is Jehovah's;" that is, that he might be
convinced and know that the earth, the elements, and all creatures were
Jehovah's, and not Baal's, and that he might renounce Baal, and
acknowledge Jehovah. But "when Pharaoh saw that the rain, and the hail,
and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his
heart, he and his servants." No demonstration was or would be sufficient
to end the controversy, so long as the relentless Adversary behind the
scenes could, through their base propensities and depraved wills, delude
and instigate his Egyptian vassals. The lesson to be taught to the
Israelites and others, concerned not those hardened mortals only, but
their subtle deceiver, and they, as subjects and instruments of his.
When the plague of locusts was threatened, Pharaoh's servants
remonstrated with him, and urged him to let the people go; and he sent
for Moses and Aaron, and proposed that the men should go, and leave
their families and flocks behind. This being totally refused, they were
fearfully scourged by another of their idolized insects, in the
destruction of every herb and plant, and all that the hail had left.
This extorted from Pharaoh another confession: "I have sinned against
Jehovah your Elohe, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray thee,
my sin only this once, and entreat Jehovah your Elohe that he may take
away from me this death only."
Next the plague of dense total darkness for three days was sent upon all
the Egyptians, so that "they saw not one another, neither rose any from
his place." Thus the chief visible object of their idolatrous homage,
the imputed residence and shekina of Baal, was excluded from their view,
and all acts of idolatry and access to images precluded. Pharaoh now
showed a degree of angry desperation; and after offering to let the
people go without their flocks, and those terms being rejected, he drove
Moses from his presence, and threatened his life if he saw him again.
There remained yet one more plague, the instant destruction of all the
first-born of Egypt at the dead of night, which so terrified the whole
population with dread of immediate and utter extermination, that with
one voice they urged the departure without delay of all the Israelites,
with all their flocks and goods, and with whatever gifts and supplies
they wished. "And they took their journey; and Jehovah went before them
by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a
pillar of fire, to give them light, to go by day and night."
Thus the Messenger Jehovah, who introduced this train of visible wonders
by appearing to Moses in the burning bush, signalized the triumphant
rescue and march of his people out of Egypt by reäppearing, and going
before them in the cloud-like appendage, visibly luminous as fire by
night, and as an irradiant form by day, which continued as the constant
signal of his presence during the whole period of their wanderings in
the wilderness.
But their departure, which took place in the night, was no sooner made
known to the Egyptians than "the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants
was turned against them." They reproached themselves for having let them
go, and were infatuated to pursue and bring them back. "And all the
horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and his army pursued
and overtook them at the Red Sea." Still more stupendous exhibitions of
power, supremacy and triumph on the one side, and of incurable and
fatal delusion on the other, were required for the instruction and
conviction of that and succeeding ages. "And Melach (the) Elohim, which
went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the
pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them,
and it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel;
and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to
these, so that the one came not near the other all the night."
Thus the final trial was arranged and conducted under the visible
direction of the Messenger Jehovah. The sea was divided, and the hosts
of Israel went over as on dry land. Pharaoh's chariots and army
followed. "Jehovah looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the
pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled them;" threw them into
consternation by "taking off their chariot wheels," and by causing the
waters to return, overwhelmed and drowned them in the midst of the sea.
"Thus Jehovah saved Israel, and Israel saw that great work which Jehovah
did upon the Egyptians; and the people feared Jehovah, and believed
Jehovah and his servant Moses."
The greatness and wonderfulness of this deliverance, as referred to and
celebrated in other parts of Scripture, if regarded, not as a signal and
never-to-be-forgotten triumph of the Messenger Jehovah over Satan, and
the agents of his idolatry and imposture, but simply in its relation to
the numbers, power, or unassisted skill of the Egyptians, are out of all
proportion to the result. Instead of such an array of preparations, such
threats and remonstrances, such a succession and selection of miracles
and plagues, had the object been only to loosen their covetous hold on
the labor and service of Israel, a single blow might as easily have
destroyed them all in a moment as their first-born, or whelmed them in
the Nile, as in the Red Sea. But their idolatry denied the supremacy,
prerogatives, and rights of Jehovah, and ascribed them, not to
irrational animals and senseless elements, except as vehicles and
mediums of homage, but to an intelligent and powerful rival, competitor,
and pretender to the throne and government of the world, who claimed,
prescribed, and received their worship, arrogated the credit of
bestowing the blessings of providence, sanctioned the indulgence of
their passions, instigated their magical delusions, and had their
confidence as to his power to protect them. It was to vindicate himself,
and to confound that arrogant pretender, that Jehovah vouchsafed these
demonstrations in the view of the Hebrews, who needed the lesson which
they taught, and in a way to be rehearsed and known among the Canaanites
and other nations of the earth. It was a marked and memorable scene in
the progress of that great antagonism which hitherto has constituted the
basis, and, however obscured to the blinded view of the actors, or
concealed by their craft and policy, has furnished the elements of
history, and is yet in the view of the whole universe, with all the
accompaniments of publicity and conclusiveness, to have its issue.
It would require a chapter to refer to all the descriptions and
allusions commemorative of this scene, in the triumphant song of Moses,
recalled and sung, Rev. xv. 3, by the redeemed, in celebration of their
resembling deliverance, to the praise of the Lamb as their Redeemer,
whom they address as the Lord God Almighty--Jehovah, the Elohim; and in
the Psalms, cxxxv., cxxxvi., and other Scriptures, where to Jehovah are
referred the wonders done in Egypt and in the wilderness, which by Moses
are ascribed to him as Melach Jehovah.
But, waiving these references, it may be noticed as an additional
evidence that it was the Delegated One, the Personal Word, who, after
appearing visibly to Moses, and investing him with his ministerial
office, executed those wondrous demonstrations in Egypt, that, prior to
the signal exercise of his power and justice by which he destroyed all
the first-born of the opposing party, he instituted for the benefit and
as auxiliary to the faith of his people, the ordinance of the passover;
of which, the slaughter of the paschal lamb, the sprinkling of the blood
as the means of exemption from death, and other details, had a
counterpart in the circumstances, reference, import, and Scripture
narrative of his sacrifice of himself, Christ our Passover sacrificed
for us; the Lamb of God, slain virtually and in effect, as by covenant
and oath, from the foundation of the world.