Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

A.C. 1491.

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

12 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and 6 Chap. iv. 21. he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

p Rom. ix. 17. *Heb. made thee stand.

+ Heb. sct not

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE-HAIL 12.

EXODUS IX. VER. 13, TO THE END.

13 And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

14 For 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.

15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.

16 And in very deed for this cause have I * raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

17 As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?

18 Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

19 Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.

20 He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses:

21 And he that + regarded not the word of the LORD left his heart unto. his servants and his cattle in the field.

22

And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.

12 The seventh plague demonstrated that neither Isis, who presided over water, nor Osiris, the lord of fire, was able to protect the fields, and the climate of Egypt from the thunder, the rain, and the fire of Jehovah. These phenomena of nature seldom disturbed at any period of the year the climate of Egypt. On this occasion, they happened at a time when the air was generally most calm and

serene.

23 And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: A. C. 1491.

and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

24 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation,

25 And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the

field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, I have sinned this time: the LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

* Heb. voices.

28 Intreat the LORD (for it is enough) that there be no more * mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, Heb and ye shall stay no longer.

29 And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the q Ps. xxiv. 1. LORD'S.

30 But as for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.

31 And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

32 But the wheat and the rie were not smitten: for they were + not grown up.

33 And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.

34 And 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.

35 And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.

+ Heb. kidden, or dark.

THE EIGHTH PLAGUE-LOCUSTS 13.

EXODUS X. VER. 1-21.

1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh :

13 In the eighth plague of locusts, the Egyptians undoubtedly offered up their prayers to Isis and Serapis, who were the conservators of all plenty. They would

† Heb. by the hand of Mo

ses.

A.C. 1491. for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:

r Ch. iv. 21.

2 And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

3 And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.

4 Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to mor

* Wisd. xvi. 9. row will I bring the locusts into thy coast:

* Heb. eye.

5 And they shall cover the * face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:

6 And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers' fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

7 And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

8 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God:

+ Heb. who, but + who are they that shall go?

and who, &c.

9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

likewise naturally invoke those deities, who were supposed to have power over these destructive creatures. But their very deities could not stand before Moses. The winds they venerated were made the instruments of their destruction; and the sea, which they regarded as their defence against the locusts, could not protect them. An east wind (ver. 13) prevailed all that day, and all that night; this wind must have brought the locusts from Arabia, and borne them, contrary to their nature, over the Red Sea; which proved no barrier to their progress.

12

And the Lord said unto Mosės, Stretch out thine A.C. 1491.

hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the laud all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

ened to call.

16 Then Pharaoh * called for Moses and Aaron in * Heb. hasthaste; and he said, I have sinned against the LORD your God, and against you.

17 Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD your God, that he may take away from me this death only.

18 And he went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the LORD.

+ Heb.fasten

ed.

19 And the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and + cast them into the Red+ sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt.

20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.

CHAPTER V.

Institution of the Passover 14.

EXODUS XII. VER. 1-21.

1 The beginning of the year is changed. 3 The passover is instituted. 11 The rite of the passover. 15 Unleavened bread.

1 AND the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,

14 The account of the passover is put together (in Exod. chap. xii.) to connect the history of its institution with that of its observance. It is however evident from Exod. xii. 3, that the command for its observance was given on the tenth day of the month Nisan; and, in commemoration of this fact, the Jews were accustomed to select their victim for sacrifice four days before it was slain. By

A.C. 1491.

2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every

observing the arrangement of the events related in this fifth chapter, we shall more clearly discern the very wonderful manner in which the wisdom of Providence impressed the Israelites with a contempt and hatred of idolatry, and directed their attention, at the same time, to their future Messiah.

The eight plagues, which had now been inflicted upon the Egyptians must have convinced the Israelites of the vanity and folly of the Egyptian idolatry, and the certainty that their God was the only true God. While the effect of these eight judgments was still powerful, the people were ordered to prepare the passover. On the very day in which the command was issued, the plague of darkness began; while the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Amid the silence, and the terror, of this fearful pause, they selected their victim, and made ready their passover. Time was afforded them for reflection on the meaning of those ceremonies with which their victim was to be offered. The lamb was a propitiatory sacrifice; and its blood was to be sprinkled upon the door, that the sword of the avenging angel might be turned aside from their families. Upon this sacrifice too they feasted; and the lamb was so to be slain, and so to be eaten, that they must have been conscious that their legislator was either acting from an arbitrary and useless caprice, or that each piacular rite and ceremony must have been ordained with some specific object. They could not have suspected their great prophet, at this terrible moment, of acting with caprice; neither is it probable that they would have enquired in vain concerning the object of each ceremony. They must then have seen, through the clouds and shadows of the typical institutions, the brightness of that truth, "Christ our passover is (to be) slain for us, therefore let us keep the feast." They must have known, that, by partaking of this feast, they entered into covenant with God, and that the sacrifice itself was exclusively mystical, referring to the future great sacrifice, the more perfect atonement, by means of faith in which they were to be delivered from a worse bondage than even this of Egypt. Such, (and many more of the same nature) were the reflections of the Israelites during the continuance of the plague of darkness. On the morning of the fourteenth, they prepare their victim for the knife: between the two evenings, that is, between the ninth and eleventh hours of the day, the very hour on which Christ died, the sacrifice is slain-the blood is sprinkled on the door post-the passover is eaten, and the Israelites, with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand, ready for their journey, only await the signal to leave the land of Egypt. That signal is given : at midnight the firstborn are slain; and, amidst the universal distress, and agony of the Egyptians, the promise to the Patriarchs is accomplished, and the Israelites leave the land of bondage, with all the calmness and solemnity of a religious procession.-Vide Cudworth's True Notion of the Lord's Supper; Abp. Magee on the Atonement, vol. i. p. 309, &c.; Witsius Econ. fed. lib. 4. c. 9. s. 35, 58; Hales' Anal. vol. ii. p. 198; Lightfoot in loc. and vol. i. p. 707; on the two Evenings, vide (Pfeiffer Diffic. loc. SS. Cent. Prim. p. 225); for the last sentence of the note, vide Horsley's Bib. Crit. vol. i. p. 92; and Pfeiffer in loc. Cent. Prim. p. 229.

« ForrigeFortsæt »