Yet think not thou, amidst thy warlike bands,
They lie beyond redemption in thine hands.
The God in whom they trust may help them still,
They know He _can_ deliver, and He _will_:
Whether by life or death afflicts them not;
On His decree, not thine, they rest their lot.
--_Montgomery._
God gave to Moses and Aaron power to do wonderful things, miraculous
things, that through them Pharaoh might know that the power of God was
with them.
Aaron went before Pharaoh, and, throwing down his rod before him, it
turned to a serpent.
But Pharaoh only laughed. "My wise men can do as much," he said. So he
called them. They also did in like manner, but the rod of Aaron
swallowed up the rods of Pharaoh's wise men.
Now, it is the river Nile that makes Egypt the fertile, fruitful country
that it is. Without it Egypt would be a burning desert. The Egyptians
well knew this. One day Moses went down to the waters, and, stretching
his rod out over them, turned them to blood. The people were frightened.
The fish died; and no man could drink of the water.
Then Moses stretched out his rod again across the water; and behold
thousands upon thousands of frogs came up out of the water. They
infested the land. The houses were full of them. They sprang upon the
banquet table of the king; and when he went to bed they were there also.
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and said, "Take away these horrible frogs,
and I will set thy people free."
Moses raised his rod again, and the frogs disappeared. There was rest in
the land again.
But when they were gone, Pharaoh hardened his heart again. He would not
let the Israelites go.
"Stretch forth thy rod again," came the word of God to Moses. He
stretched forth his rod, and another plague fell upon the country. The
ground was covered with lice, and the lice swarmed upon the animals and
upon the people.
Then Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Let my people go; but if thou wilt
not, I will send flies upon thee and upon thy people; but I will send no
flies upon the Israelites."
But Pharaoh would not listen. And the flies came--wasps and biting
insects. But none of these came near the Israelites, though about the
homes of the Egyptians they swarmed until Pharaoh, beside himself with
torment, called upon Moses to deliver him from the plague, promising
again to free the people of Israel.
Again this plague was lifted; and again Pharaoh perjured his soul. For
no sooner was he free, than again he refused to let the people go.
Then the Lord sent Moses again into the presence of the king. "If thou
wilt not let the people go," said Moses to Pharaoh, "then a plague shall
fall upon the cattle; and not one shall be left alive to all the
Egyptians; but those of the Israelites shall be free from harm."
Pharaoh made no answer; and on the morrow the plague fell, and not only
the cattle but the magicians were covered with boils. Besides this, a
terrible storm came. The trees were broken down, and the crops in the
fields were destroyed.
Pharaoh was terrified. Famine he knew now would follow; for they had
neither meat nor corn for food. And again he promised freedom to the
Israelites.
But when the storm had ceased, and the crops were again growing, he
forgot his terror, and freed not the people.
Then the locusts came, millions upon millions of them. They swarmed upon
every bit of green in all the land and devoured it,--the leaves, the
grass, and the newly-growing crops. Not a leaf nor a blade was left. And
again famine sent terror into the soul of Pharaoh. And again he promised
freedom to the Israelites; and again he refused, when the plague was
lifted, to keep his promise.
[Illustration: THE PLAGUE OF DARKNESS.]
Then came a terrible darkness upon the country,--a darkness that no
light could penetrate.
"Go, Moses," said Pharaoh again. "Go out from the land to the land thou
lovest. Go; but leave behind thee thy cattle and thy possessions. Those
belong to Egypt."
Now, to have set out with the great company of the Israelites without
cattle and corn for food would have been worse than useless for
starvation would have come upon them.
Therefore Moses answered, "No, Pharaoh, the Israelites go not forth from
Egypt without their cattle and corn and all that belongs to them."
Then Pharaoh was angry, and he drove Moses forth from him, saying,
"Never more let me look upon thy face!"
[Illustration: THE FIRST BORN SLAIN.]
Moses went out from the palace and told all that had happened to the
Lord.
The darkness ended in three days. Then God said, "Now will I send
another and a greater plague upon Pharaoh; and after this, he will let
the people go."
So God sent an angel to smite the first-born of all the Egyptians. This
Moses told to his people, and bade them put a mark upon their own
doorsteps, that the angel might pass by the homes of the Israelites, and
leave their children unharmed.
This the Israelites did; and in the night-time the angel came. Not one
house of the Israelites did he enter; but in every house of the
Egyptians, when the sun rose, there lay the dead body of the oldest
child.
Then a groan went up from the people. There was wailing in the streets.
Pharaoh himself could bear no more. He sent for Moses and Aaron in the
night time and said to them, "Rise up, you and the Israelites and all
their children. Take all that you have and be gone."
Then Moses and Aaron told the people, and bade them make haste lest
again Pharaoh repent. But Pharaoh's heart was too heavy. At last his
proud spirit was subdued, and Moses and Aaron, with 600,000 Israelites,
set out for the land of Canaan.