Lesson 10 THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT

 Lesson 10

THE DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT

    AS WE STUDY the great drama of the deliverance of God's Covenant People from Egypt from the story given to us in the Scripture, we notice many facts that show the authenticity of the Scriptural account.

    The picture of Egyptian life given to us here depicts a true picture of ancient Egyptian life at that time. The authority that Pharaoh held in his hand over authority that Pharaoh held in this period of history.

    The part that is played by the magicians of Egypt in performing miracles is a faithful representation of the power that the ancient priesthood possessed.

    The Egyptian priesthood was in reality a corporation endued with magical powers which were exercised on the behalf of the living and the dead.

    The Scripture account in every name, incident, and custom portrayed, reveals the very Egypt of this period. The truth and sharpness of the reflection show that it was written by someone who knew the facts. Exodus, giving to us this drama of the miracle-working Covenant God on behalf of His people, was written by someone who knew about the facts. It was not written by a Babylonian Jew about 400 B.C., as some skeptics would claim. It bears the mark of the ancient Egypt which God judged.

    Archaeologists have uncovered buildings made of brick in which stubble was used instead of straw as recorded in Exodus 5:12.

The First Miracle

    Moses, in obedience to Jehovah, now approaches Pharaoh on behalf of God's Covenant people (Exodus 7:1-7).

    Exodus 7:8-13 gives to us Moses' first encounter with Pharaoh and his magicians.

    The first sign which was given was the casting down of the rod which was instantly changed into a serpent. "Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the  sorcerers; now the magicians of Egypt, they did also in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods" (Exodus 7:10-12).

    Some may wonder at the power by which the rods of the Egyptian priests turned into snakes also. The spirits which were identified with gods of the Egyptians to whom they made their appeal, did not leave them without an answer. The revival in our day of spiritualism and all the phenomena which cannot be explained away by trickery, shows the working of Satan in miracles when it will bring to him the worship of man.

    The conflict between the Maker of Heaven and earth and the gods of Egypt began at the outset. In this light, the miracle in Pharaoh's presence had a startling significance.

    As the rod of Aaron swallowed up the rods of the magicians, so would the religion which God was about to establish, swallow up the delusive trusts by which the wise men of the world sought a knowledge and a greatness that still left them and their fellows slaves of Satan.

The Plagues

    Let us now study the story of the plagues which smote Egypt's strength, and broke its stubborn heart. A sign had been given when the rod had been changed into a serpent. The sign was challenged by the magicians with the result that the power of  Jehovah was only more fully manifested. But that was only a sign, and it could be easily forgotten. God must, therefore, have recourse to judgment. The first plague was that by which the waters of Egypt were changed into blood.

    The Divine Command came to Moses. "Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning: lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink to meet him" (Exodus 7:15).

    The reader will observe the command to meet Pharaoh at the brink of the river. We at once see a glorious fitness in the time and place that was chosen. The God of the Nile was an impersonation of NU, one of the chief fathergods of Egypt, and an object of profound veneration in this section of Egypt. Over him, therefore, Jehovah, by this plague, asserted His supremacy. It is probable that Pharaoh went in the morning to offer his devotion to this god.

    To the king, then, while standing before the very altar of his god, the message of Jehovah was delivered. It was a startling one. The god and his worshipers were alike to be judged. "And the Lord spake unto Moses: Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod and stretch out thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water that they may become blood, that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone" (Exodus 7:19).

    The male children of the Israelites had been thrown into the waters, and now God would bring the sin of the Egyptians to their remembrance. The river of blood shall tell the story of their deed to the earth and heaven, and the horror of it shall rise and cling to them.

    The second plague was an affliction well-known and dreaded. Its intensity was described in words every one of which must have gone home and filled the breast of every Egyptian who heard the words of God by Aaron with loathing and dread.

    "Behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs, the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bed chamber and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants and upon thy people, and into thy  ovens, and into thy kneading troughs, and the frogs shall come up both on thee andupon thy people, and upon all thy servants" (Exodus 8:24).

    Place behind these words the affliction which we know these animals to be in Egypt, and the plague immediately acquires a significance which is terrible. We lose sight of the insignificance of the instrument in the magnitude of the chastisement.

    The plague of frogs was not only a terrible chastisement on the people, but also another judgment upon their gods. Frogs were always a great nuisance in Egypt, and from the beginning, the driving of them away was entrusted to a goddess called HEKI.

    She many times appears with the head of a frog. So important was the office which she was to fulfill that she was supposed to be one of the supreme goddesses in all Egypt.

    Now the Covenant God of the Israelites, the slaves of the Egyptians, again shows Himself greater than the gods of the mighty Egyptians.

As Pharaoh's heart becomes more hardened, the plagues continue to come upon

them. Exodus 8:16-19 and Exodus 8:20-24, give an account of the plagues of lice and

then flies.

Another judgment was manifested against the gods of the Egyptians, for the flies also

were worshiped in Egypt. First of all, a mere sign had been given when the rod had been

changed into a serpent. Then personal discomfort revealed God's power and

displeasure. But now, along with the peril brought by the flies, their garments,

furniture, and trappings were destroyed: "The land was corrupted by reason of the flies."

In the fifth plague, God still goes further. He lays His hand upon one of their most

valued possessions, their cattle.

The matter was not to end when Pharaoh said, "No," to God's demands, or when he

promised obedience and then neglected to fulfill his promise.

Again, Moses was sent with the message, "Let my people go that they may serve me";

and Pharaoh is warned, "If thou refuse to let them go and wilt hold them still, behold the

hand of the Lord is laid upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the

asses, upon the camel, and upon the sheep: There shall be a grievous murrain."

Exodus 9:1-5. We notice that the separation between the Egyptians and God's

Covenant people continues. Nothing was to die of the cattle of the Israelites. Now the

possessions of the Egyptians have been touched, the most part of Egypt's wealth. Now

in the sixth plague, their bodies are touched. They are smitten with a painful and

loathsome disease, which the magicians, their champions in this conflict, confess to be

from the hand of God and at once retire from the contest. We notice the mercy of

Jehovah in His dealings.

 His mercy sent milder chastisernents at first to turn them away from disobedience

and to save them from the final and awful calamity. When lighter chastisements fail to

save, love lets heavier strokes fall, to see whether these may turn the disobedient from

his way.

In the seventh plague a distinct advance is made in the severity of the chastisement.

 There is now to be a loss of life as well as of crops.

Exodus 9:18, "Behold, tomorrow," so ran the Divine Command, "about this time I will

cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation

thereof until now."

Exodus 10:4-6. As the eighth plague is announced, the word "locusts" had a terrible

sound in the ears of the Egyptians.

Exodus 10:7. For the first time we hear a remonstrance in court. The princes and

great men who surround the king, and who revere him as a god, are driven to forget the

awful distance that stands between them and the throne. They throw aside, in very

evident terror, their habitual reverence, and expostulate with the lord of Egypt.