18. THE RELEASE OF ISRAEL DEMANDED. THE PLAGUES. Exodus iv. 27--v. 23 ; vii. 8-xi.

Aaron met Moses in the mount of God, and kissed him. They went and gathered together the elders of the children of Israel; and Aaron told them all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses, and did signs in their sight. The people believed, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. After this Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh, and demanded the release of the Israelites. The king

would not let the people go, but he made their bondage the harder; and the people of Israel were angry with Moses and Aaron. They went again, at God's command, and demanded liberty to depart, but Pharaoh would hearken to them. God then sent the following plagues on Egypt to punish Pharaoh and the Epyptians :

not

1. He turned the waters of Egypt and the streams, rivers and ponds into blood for seven days; the fish died, the river stank; and the Egyptians could not drink of thewater.

2. He caused frogs to come up from the streams, rivers and ponds, which covered the land of Egypt, and when they died the land stank.

3. He smote the dust of the land, and it became lice upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

kissed-a mode of salutation common
in the East. The Easterns kiss some-
times the mouth, sometimes the hand,
and sometimes the beard.
elders-Moses and Aaron went to them
first, because they were the represent-
atives and guides of the people; it was
therefore natural for them to suppose
the people would be guided by the
advice of the elders.

signs-they admitted the miracles of
Moses as proofs of his mission, and
believed that the time of God's pro-
mised visitation was at hand.
demanded-as the servants of God;
angry because their hopes of imme-
diate deliverance from bondage were
disappointed. God's messengers often
experience undeserved reproach.
1st plague-the Nile was one of the
principal objects of Egyptian worship:
the change of its water into blood
manifested that their idol was power-
less. Considering it merely as a

physical punishment, it was severe. as water is in constant demand in hot climates for quenching thirst, as well as for other purposes. Ancient and modern writers unite in praising the peculiarly agreeable qualities of the water of the Nile.

2nd plague-the frog which was common in the Nile; was one of the sacred animals of Egypt; in this case the object of their superstition became the instrument of their punishment.

Although the magicians imitated the first and second plagues by their enchantments, it is noticeable that they could not remove them.

3rd plaque-great care was taken by the Egyptians not to harbour any kind of vermin. The priests werd shaved every third day that no detestable creature might harbour upon them. The plague would couse quently be very noisome to them

4. He sent swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of all his people, and the land was corrupted.

5. He sent a grievous murrain upon the cattle of the Egyptians, and all their cattle died, but none of the cattle of the Israelites died.

6. He sent boils and blains upon man and upon beast throughout all the land of Egypt.

7. He sent hail, rain, and fire on the land of Egypt, and it smote all that was in the field, both man and beast, and it smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree. 8. He sent locusts, which ate up every herb of the land that the hail had left.

9. He sent a thick darkness over the land for three days, during which time the Egyptians saw not one another, neither arose any from his place; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

man.

4th plague-it is thought that these
'swarms' were different species of
insects, especially the cockroach-the
sacred beetle of the Egyptians; which
devours every thing that comes in its
way-clothes, books, plants; and it
also inflicts severe bites on
Thus the Egyptians were again chas-
tized by one of their own idols.
5th plague-it was especially pro-
vided that the cattle of the Israelites
should sustain no harm when those of
the Egyptians were slain by the deadly
murrain. Pharaoh sent to ascertain if
this was the case; he found it so, but
he still refused to allow the Israelites
to depart.

in

6th plague--this infliction was one of
such severe pain on the bodies of the
Egyptians-boils and blains, ulcers
and inflammations, that even the
priestly magicians could not stand in
the presence of their sovereign.
7th plague-rain is seldom seen
Egypt, hail is almost unknown; such a
visitation would be awful. Thunder
and lightning are unfrequent and never
injurious. How then must the king
and his people have been alarmed by
the terrible thunder and lightning
that "ran along the ground!" This
plague alarmed the king. He sent
hastily for Moses and Aaron and
acknowledged his sin; he afterwards
again hardened his heart.

8th plague-all the vegetation left by the hail and rain was devoured by the locusts-the next infliction of divine anger on Egypt; these insects are of the form and appearance of crickets and grasshoppers, but much larger; there are many distinct species, and they are all destructive; some species migrate in immense numbers, and wherever they settle they destroy, not only the hopes of the husbandman, but every vegetable production within their reach, even the bark of trees. They destroy more than they devour.

LOCUST.

9th plague-a darkness so thick and intense that it seemed a material substance. Some imagine that a dark dense fog was spread over the land which would be appalling to the inhabitants, as fogs, are never naturally produced in Egypt. Whatever was its nature it obscured the glory of their great deity, the sun for three days.

The Israelites were free from all the plagues. During each plague Pharaoh promised to let the Israelites go;— but after each plague was removed by the entreaty of Moses, he refused to let them go. God then threatened to destroy all the firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast.

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.

"I WILL.. MULTIPLY MY SIGNS AND MY WONDERS IN THE
"9
LAND OF EGYPT.

When Pharaoh dar'd to vex the saints,
And thus provok'd their God,
Moses was sent at their complaints,
Arm'd with his dreadful rod.

He call'd for darkness, darkness came
Like an o'erwhelming flood;
He turn'd each lake and every stream,
To lakes and streams of blood.

He gave the sign, and noisome flies
Through the whole country spread;
And frogs, in croaking armies, rise
About the monarch's bed.

Through fields, and towns, and palaces,
The tenfold vengeance flew;
Locusts in swarms devour'd their trees,
And hail their cattle slew.

Now let the world forbear its rage,
Nor put the church in fear:
Israel shall live through every age,
And be the Almighty's care.

WATTS.

"We learn from the monuments, and from history, that the fattening of cattle was extensively practised in the marshes, and that in other places stall-feeding was very common. This circumstance enables us to explain an apparent inconsistency in the history of the the ten plagues. We are told, that "all the cattle of Egypt died" in the plague of murrain: but we read in the same chapter (Exod. ix.), that some cattle were destroyed by the plague of hail. The contradiction vanishes, when we look to the limitation with which the plague of murrain was announced: "Behold the hand of the Lord is upon the cattle, which is in the field;" the plague, therefore, did not extend to the beasts which were in stalls and enclosures, and these consequently survived to become the victims of the plague of hail. W. C. Taylor.

19. THE PASSOVER, THE TENTH PLAGUE, THE DEPARTURE Exodus xii. 1-42

For I

Before the tenth plague was sent on Egypt, God instituted the passover; he bade the Israelites prepare for * their departure; to kill a lamb, and sprinkle the blood on the sides and on the lintel of their doors; the lamb was to be roasted, and they were to be ready to depart when they ate of it. "And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the LORD's passover. will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement; I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." They were also to eat unleavened bread seven days. God commanded the Israelites to keep the Lord's passover as a memorial, for ever; and when they were come into the

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

shoes on &c-ready for their march. The
Easterns recline at meals and do not
usually wear their shoes in the house
but put them off on entering.
first-born-the eldest male-child of a
family; the first-born is sometimes an
expression of great dignity. Ps. lxxxix.
29. The first-born of the sacred ani-
mals died also, and we are informed,
that when a sacred animal died the
lamentation was louder than on the
death of a child. This was the last
of the ten plagues, and the first that
was threatened. Ex iv. 23.
unleavened-unfermented; there was
not sufficient time for the fermentation
of the dough from the moment when
Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to
leave Egypt to the time of their actual
departure.

memorial--so that this event should not
be forgotten by the Hebrew nation.
The feast of the passover not only
referred to the great events in Egypt,
but it also prefigured the coming and
sacrifice of Him who is our paschal
lamb-the lamb of God, without sin,
which taketh away the sin of the
world. 1 Cor. v. 8; John i. 29.

land which he would give them, if their children should ask the meaning of this service, they were to say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses." At midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn 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. Pharaoh then called for Moses and Aaron, and told them to depart with the children of Israel; and to take with them their flocks and herds. The Israelites borrowed jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and raiment from the Egyptians. They departed from Rameses. They numbered about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children; and a mixed multitude went up also with them. God had foretold to Abraham this bondage of his descendants saying, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them fourhundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance." Genesis xv. 13, 14.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

smote & delivered-smote the Egyptians with plagues, and not the Israelitessmote the first-born of Egypt, and delivered Israel from their long and bitter bondage.

a great cry-lamentation and bitter weeping in every Egyptian family. As the people went about the streets lamenting loudly when a death took place, the outcry, when every family had lost a member, must have been awful.

borrowed-Heb 'demanded;' the Egyptians had long profited by the slavish toil of the oppressed Hebrews; who were now leaving behind them much valuable property. The Egyptians gave readily in their panic, and the justice of the proceeding cannot be

questioned, for it was by God's
command. Ex. xi. 2.

Rameses or Raamses-a treasure-city
in Egypt which the Israelites built
during their bondage; it is supposed
to be in the land of Goshen.
600,000-it is computed that the entire
population of the Hebrews, men,
women and children at the time of
their departure was not less than
2,400,000.

foretold-Lesson 7, 'vision;' bondage.'
400 years-the actual stay of the Israel-

ites in Egypt, from the time that Jacob went thither with his sons and their families to the Exodus, was 215 years; but the sojourning of the Israelites and their fathers in the land of Canaan, & in the land of Egypt was 430) years.