Exodus
7
GOD COUNSELS MOSES
AND AARON ON HOW TO APPROACH PHARAOH
Vs. 1-9. — Once more
God made allowance for the weakness and self-distrust
of Moses,
severely tried as he had been by his former failure to persuade Pharaoh
(ch. 5:1-5) and his recent rejection by the people of
allowance,
and raised his courage and his spirits by fresh promises, and by a call
upon him
for immediate action. The
process of deliverance, God assured him,
was just about to begin. Miracles
would be wrought until Pharaoh’s stubbornness
was
overcome. He was
himself to begin the series at once by casting his rod upon
the ground, that it might become a serpent (v. 9). From this
point Moses’
diffidence wholly disappears. Once launched upon his
Heaven-directed
course,
assured of his miraculous powers, committed to a struggle with the
powerful
Egyptian king, he persevered without
blenching or wavering until
success crowned his efforts.
1 “And
the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a God to
Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy
prophet.”
“And the LORD said
unto Moses, See, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh:
Moses was
diffident of appearing a second time before Pharaoh, who was so much his
worldly
superior. God reminds him that he is in truth very much Pharaoh’s superior.
If Pharaoh
has earthly, he has unearthly power. He is to
Pharaoh “as a
god,” with a
right to
command his obedience, and with strength to enforce his commands. “and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”. “thy spokesman”— the
interpreter of thy
will to
others. Compare ch. 4:16.
2 “Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother
shall speak
unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of
speak. The
Septuagint and the Vulgate have, “Thou shalt speak to
him,” which
undoubtedly
gives the true sense. Moses was to speak to Aaron, Aaron to Pharaoh.
(See ch. 4:15-16.)
God Assigns
to Each Man His intellectual Grade (vs. 1-2)
Three
different intellectual grades are here set before us:
Ø that of the
thinker,
Ø that of the
expounder, and
Ø that of the
mere recipient.
Pharaoh,
notwithstanding his exalted earthly rank, occupies the lowest position. He
is to hang
on the words of Aaron, who is to be to him as a prophet of the Most High.
Aaron
himself is to hang on the words of Moses, and to be simply his mouthpiece.
Moses is to
stand to both (compare ch. 4:16) as God. And here note, that the
positions are
not self-assumed (like Korah – Numbers 16;
Jude 1:11; Aesop’s
Fable of
The Ox and the Frog – CY – 2017) — GOD ASSIGNS THEM!
So there
are leaders of thought in all ages, to whom God has given their
intellectual
gifts, whom He has marked out for intellectual pre-eminency, and
whom He
makes to stand to the rest of men as gods. Sometimes they are their
own
prophets — they combine, that is, the power of utterance with the power of
thought.
But very often they need an interpreter. Their lips are uncircumcised.
They lack
eloquence; or they even lack the power of putting their thoughts into
words, and
require a “prophet,” to publish their views to the world. The
“prophet-interpreter”
occupies a position very much below theirs, but still one
requiring
important and peculiar gifts, such as God alone can give. He must
have
the
intelligence to catch the true bearing, connection, and force of the ideas
presented
to him, often in rude and uncouth language, like statues roughhewn.
He must be
able to work up the rough material into presentable
form. He
must have a gift of language, if not a gift of speech. The great
mass of men
occupy a lower rank than either of these; they can neither
originate,
nor skillfully interpret; it remains that they be content to receive.
God has
given to them their humble position, as He has given to the others
their
loftier ones. They should cultivate their receptivity. They should be
satisfied
to listen and learn. (As Jesus said, “He that hath
ears to hear, let him
hear.” Matthew
11:15; “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit
saith unto the
churches.” Revelation
2:7,17,29. Unfortunately many are
in the
condition spoken of by Paul from Isaiah “Well spake the Holy Ghost by
Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Saying, Go unto this people,
and say,
Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing
ye shall see,
and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed
gross, and their
ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed;
lest they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Acts 28:25-27 –
CY –
2017)
3 “And I
will harden Pharaoh’s heart (See the comment on Exodus 4:21),
and multiply my signs and my wonders in the
long series
of miracles is here, for the first time, distinctly introduced. Three signs
had been
given (ch. 4:3-9); one further miracle had been
mentioned (ibid. 23).
Now a multiplication
of signs and wonders is promised. Compare chps. 3:20,
and 6:6,
which, however, are not so explicit as the present passage.
Heart-Hardening (v. 3)
On this
subject, see above, and on ch. 4:21. The present
seems an appropriate
place for a
somewhat fuller treatment.
heart.” This,
assuredly, is more than simple permission. God hardens the
heart:
Ø
Through the operation of the laws of our moral constitution, These
laws, of which God is the author, and through which He operates in the
soul, ordain
hardening as the penalty:
o
of evil
conduct,
o
of resistance
to truth, and
o
of all misimprovement and abuse of privilege.
Ø
Through His providence — as when God, in the execution of His
judgments, places a wicked man in situations
which He knows can only
have a hardening effect upon him. He does this
in righteousness. “God,
having permitted evil to exist, must thereafter
of necessity permit it also
to
run its whole
course in the way of showing itself to be WHAT IT REALLY
IS, as that which aims at the defeat of the Divine purpose, and the
consequent dissolution of the universe.” This
involves hardening. (Acts 5:29)
Ø
Through a direct judgment in the soul of the individual, God smiting
him with a spirit of blindness and infatuation
in punishment of obstinate
resistance to the truth. This is the most
difficult of all aspects of hardening,
but it only cuts the knot, does not untie it, to
put superficial meanings upon
the scriptures which allege the reality of the
judgment (e.g. Deuteronomy
28:28;
II Thessalonians 2:11). It is to be viewed as connected with what may be called
the internal providence of God in the workings of the human mind; His
government of the mind in the wide and obscure regions of its involuntary
activities. The direction taken by these activities, seeing that they do not
spring from man’s own will, must be as truly under the regulation of
outward circumstances
of our lot, or those so-called fortuities concerning
which we are assured: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one
of them
shall not fall on the ground without your
Father.” (Matthew 10:29).
It is a significant fact that, as sin advances,
the sinner becomes less and less a
free agent, falls increasingly under the dominion of necessity. The involuntary
activities of the soul gain ground upon the voluntary. The hardening may be
conceived of, partly as the result of a withdrawal of light and restraining grace;
partly as a giving of the souL up to the delusions of the adversary, “the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), whose will
gradually occupies the region in the moral life
vacated by the human will,
and asserts there a correspondingly greater
power of control; and partly as
the result of a direct Divine ordering of the
course of thought, feeling, and
imagination. (
of what happens to an individual, can and does
happen on a large scale,
and that seems to be what is happening today! Compare Genesis 6:3;
II Thessalonians 2:7-12 – CY – 2017) Hengstenberg
acutely remarks:
“It appears to proceed from design, that the
hardening at the beginning
of the plagues is attributed, in a
preponderating degree, to Pharaoh, and
towards the end to God. The higher the plagues
rise, so much the more does
Pharaoh’s hardening assume a supernatural
character, so much the more
obvious is it to refer it to its supernatural
causality.”
personality, the source of moral life, the seat of the will,
the conscience,
and the affections (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 15:18). The
hardening
of the heart may be viewed under two aspects:
Ø
More generally as the result of growth in sin,
with consequent loss of
moral and religious susceptibility; and
Ø
As
hardening against God, the
author of its moral life. We
have but to
put these two
things together: the heart, the seat of
moral life, hardening
itself against the
Author of its moral life — to see that such hardening is of
necessity FATAL, an act of moral suicide. It may elucidate the subject to
remark that in
every process of hardening there is something which the
heart parts with, something which it resists, and something which it
becomes. There is, in
other words:
o
That which the heart hardens itself in, viz. some evil quality, say
injustice, cruelty, lust, hate, secret enmity to
God, which quality
gradually becomes a fixed element in character;
o
that which the heart hardens itself against, viz. the influences of truth,
love, and
righteousness, in whatever ways these are brought to bear
upon it, whether in:
§
the
promptings of conscience,
§
the
movements of natural sensibility,
§
the remonstrances of parents and friends,
§
the Word of
God, and/or
§
the
internal strivings of the Spirit!
o
that which the heart parts with in hardening, viz.:
§
with its original susceptibility
to truth,
§
with its sensitiveness to moral influences,
§
with its religious
feeling,
§
with its natural
generosity, etc.
\
The result is:
§
blindness,
§
callousness,
§
lostness to:
ü
the feeling of right,
ü
the sense of shame,
ü
the
authority of God,
ü
the voice
of truth, and
ü
even to TRUE
SELF-INTEREST.
(THIS IS SHOWN
EMPHATICALLY NOWHERE
MORE CLEARLY
IN
SINS WHICH ARE
FLAUNTED IN YOUR-FACE
AND WHICH
CERTAINLY DOES NOT PROMOTE
THE GENERAL
WELFARE OF THE NATION!
viz.:
ü
drugs
ü
abortion
ü
homosexuality
ü
division of
the sexes
ü
(ad nauseam – CY – 2017)
Ø
All hardening is thus double-sided;
o
hardening in
hate, e.g., being at the same time hardening against love,
with a
loss of the capacity of love;
o
hardening in
injustice being a hardening
against justice, with a loss
of the
capacity for moral
discernment;
o
hardening in
cruelty being a hardening
against kindliness the quality
of
being kind, warmhearted, or gentle; benevolent, tender, sympathetic,
compassionate,
and underestanding, with a corresponding destruction
of the benevolent sensibilities;
o
hardening
against God being at the
same time hardening in self-hood,
in egoism,
with a loss of the capacity of faith.
We hence conclude:
Ø
All evil hardens, and all hardening in moral evil is in principle
hardening against God. The hardening may begin at the circumference of
the moral nature, and involve the center, or it
may begin at the center, and
work out to the circumference. Men:
o
may be enemies to God in their mind by wicked works (Colossians 1:21),
o
they may have “the
understanding darkened,” and be “alienated from
the life of
God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness (margin: hardness) of
their hearts,” and being “past
feeling”
may give “themselves
over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness
with
greediness” (Ephesians 4:17-19), and be STRANGERS to God’s
revealed
truth. All sin, all resistance to light, all disobedience to
conscience, has this hardening effect (compare
Romans 1:19-32).
But it is a will which has broken from God which
is thus in various
ways hardening itself, and enmity to God is
latent in the process. The
moment the truth of God is brought to bear on
such a nature, this
latent enmity is made manifest, and, as in the
case of Pharaoh, further
hardening is the result. Conversely:
Ø
Hardening against God is hardening in moral evil. The hardening may
begin at the center, in resistance to God’s
known will, and to the strivings
of His Spirit, and
thence spread through the whole moral nature. This is
the deepest and fundamental hardening, and of
itself gives a character to the
being. A heart hardened in its interior against
its Maker would be entitled
to be called hard, no matter what superficial
qualities of a pleasant kind
remained to it, and no matter how correct the
moral conduct.
Hardening results in a very special degree from RESISTANCE TO THE
WORD OF GOD, TO DIVINE REVELATION!
This is the type of
hardening which is chiefly spoken of in
Scripture, and which gives rise to
what it specially calls “the hard and impenitent heart” (Romans 2:5).
All revelation of God, especially His
revelation in Christ, has a testing power,
and if resisted
produces a hardness which speedily becomes obduracy
(stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing, resistant to persuasion
or softening
influences), God may be resisted in:
o
His Word,
o
His Spirit,
o
His servants,
o
His chastisements, and
o
in the testimony to His existence and authority written
on the soul itself.
But THE
HIGHEST FORM OF RESISTANCE — THE
WORST AND
DEADLIEST — IS
RESISTANCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT’S WITNESS
OF AND
DRAWING TO CHRIST!
HARDENING
UNDER THE GOSPEL. Pharaoh stands out in Scripture
as the typical instance of hardening of the heart.
Ø He and
Jehovah stood in direct opposition to each other.
Ø God’s will
was made known to him in a way he could not mistake.
He pretended at first to doubt, but doubt soon
became impossible.
Ø He resisted to the last. And the longer he resisted, his heart grew harder.
Ø His resistance was his ruin.
In considering the case of this monarch, however, and
comparing it with
our own, we have to remember:
Ø That
Pharaoh was a heathen king. He was
naturally prejudiced in favor
of the gods of
have had from infancy the advantage of a knowledge of the true God,
of His existence, His
attributes, and His demands.
Ø Pharaoh had
a heathen upbringing. His moral training was vastly
inferior to that which most have enjoyed who hear the
Gospel.
Ø The influences
he resisted were outward influences — strokes of
judgment. The hardening produced by resistance to the inward
influences of Christianity, strivings of the Spirit, etc.,
is necessarily
of a deeper kind.
Ø
What was demanded of Pharaoh was the
liberation of a nation of slaves
— in our
case it is required that we part with sins, and yield up heart
and will
to the Creator and Redeemer. Outward compliance would
have sufficed in
his case; in ours, the compliance must be inward and
spiritual. Here, again, inasmuch as the
demand goes deeper, the
hardening produced by
resistance is of necessity deeper also. There is
now possible to man the unpardonable
sin of blasphemy against
THE HOLY GHOST!(Matthew 12:32; Hebrews 6:4 6).
Ø The
motives in the two cases are not comparable. In the one case, God
revealed in judgments; in the
other, in transcendent love and mercy.
(Hebrews 3:7-8, 13, 15, 4:7). Beware, in Connection with
this hardening, of
“the deceitfulness of sin,” The heart has
many ways of disguising from itself
the fact that it is resisting God, and hardening itself in
opposition to Him.
(“The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah
17:9)
Ø One form is
procrastination. Not yet —
a more convenient season.
(Acts 24:25)
Ø A second is
compromise. We shall find attempts at this with
Pharaoh.
By Conceding part of what is asked-giving up
some sin to which the
heart is less attached — we hide from ourselves
the fact that we
are resisting the chief demand. Herod observed
John the Baptist, and
“when he heard him, he did
many things, and heard him gladly’
(Mark 6:20).
Ø The forms of godliness, as in the Pharisees, may conceal from the
heart its denial of the power thereof. Conscience is quieted
by
church membership, by a religious profession.
Ø There is
disguised resistance in all insincere
repentance. This is seen
in Pharaoh’s relenting. Even when the resistance
becomes more avowed,
there are ways of partially disguising the fact that it is indeed God
we are resisting.
Ø Possibly
the heart tries to wriggle out of the duty of submission by
caviling
at the evidence of revelation.
Ø Or,
objection is perhaps taken to something in the manner or
form
in which the truth has been presented; some
alleged defect
of taste, or infelicity of illustration, or rashness of
statement, or
blunder in science, or possibly a slip in grammar. Any straw
will
serve which admits of being clutched at. So:
o conviction is pushed off,
o decision is delayed,
o resistance is kept up,
and all the while:
o the heart is getting harder;
o less sensible of the truth,
o more ensnared in error.
It is well
also to remember that even failure to
profit by THE
WORD, without
active
resistance
to it (if such a thing is possible) —
simple want of care in the cherishing
of good
impressions, and too rash an exposure
to the influences which tend to
dissipate
and destroy them — will result in THEIR DISAPPEARANCE and in
A CONSTANT HARDENING OF THE HEART!
The impressions will
not
readily
return with the same vividness.
TODAY
AND NOW, HEAR
AND OBEY THE VOICE OF GOD!
4 “But
Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand
upon
children of
“But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my
hand upon
Pharaoh’s
obstinacy was foreseen and foreknown. He was allowed to set his will
against
God’s, in order that there might be a great display of Almighty power,
such as
would attract the attention both of the Egyptians generally and of all the
surrounding
nations. God’s glory would be thereby
promoted, and there would
be a
general dread of interfering with His people. (See
ch.15:14-16; Deuteronomy
2:25;
11:25) “and bring forth mine
armies, and my people the children of
out of the
5 “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth
mine hand upon
(Sixty-two
(62) times this phrase is used in Ezekiel alone about God working in
the end times –
Reader – we need to “look up for our
redemption draws nigh” –
[Luke
21:28] – CY – 2010) They shall know that I am the only God who is
truly
existent,
other so-called gods being nonentities. They will know
this and feel this
when I stretch forth mine hand upon
The Fierceness of Man Turns to God’s Praise (vs. 3-5)
The most signal
triumphs of Divine power are those in which the resistance
to it is
the most determined. The greatest of all victories was probably that
which was
gained when — after “war in heaven”
– (Revelation 12:7) - Satan
was seen,
like lightning, falling from heaven to earth. Since then, great triumphs,
tending to
God’s praise, occur whenever the right and the truth succeed against
seemingly
insuperable opposition. When the boy shepherd with his sling and
stone
smites to the earth the gigantic Philistine — when the proud Sennacherib
after all
his boasts has to leave
might is
seen and recognized, as it would not have been, unless overwhelming
strength
had seemed to be arrayed against comparative weakness. When the
“heathen rage,” and the “kings of the earth and rulers” are on
their side,
and the cry
of defiance goes forth: “Let us break
God’s bands asunder, and
cast away His cords from us” – (Psalm
2:1-4) then God is most apt to show
His might —
to “refrain the
spirit of princes,” and make
it manifest that He
“is “wonderful among the kings of
the earth.” The longer and fiercer the
opposition,
the more conspicuously is God’s praise shown forth. Blow follows
blow until
the opposing power is shattered, smitten to the ground, laid prostrate.
Then is the
time for the song of triumph: “Be wise
now therefore, O ye kings:
be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the
Lord with fear, and rejoice
with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the right
way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him!” (Psalm 2:10-12).
6 “And
Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they”. This
statement is
general, and anticipative of the entire series of interviews beginning here
(v.10), and
terminating at ch.10:29, with the words, “I will see thy
face no more.”
The
obedience of Moses and Aaron was perfect and continuous from this time
forward
until
2010)
7 “And Moses was fourscore years old, and
Aaron fourscore and three
years old, when they spake
unto Pharaoh. 8 And the LORD spake unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying,” Fourscore years old. This age is confirmed by the
statement
(in Deuteronomy 31:2; 34:7) that Moses was a hundred and twenty at his
death. It
is also accepted as exact by St. Stephen (Acts 7:23, 30). Moderns are
surprised
that at such an age a man could undertake and carry through a difficult
and
dangerous enterprise; but in
considered
a very exceptionally long life, and men frequently retained their
full vigor
till seventy or eighty.
God
Still Glorified Amid Human Weakness and Sin. (ch. 6:28-7:7)
“Speak thou unto Pharaoh.” Moses in
his despondency is overpowered by
the sense of his infirmity. He fears the ridicule of the
Egyptian court. There
are times when the sense of our unfitness for speaking God’s
words
crushes us. Let us take heed lest lowly self-judgment pass into unbelief and
disobedience. The loss of
faith in ourselves is no reason why we should
cease to trust God.
veiled by unthought-of glory. He
that feared the derision of Pharaoh is
surrounded with dreadful majesty and made as God to him. To
obedient
faith, felt incompetency for the
task God calls us to, will only be the
occasion of His bestowing
upon us more abundant honor. Our very
defects can be transformed into power. A man’s very
awkwardness often
disarms criticism and appeals to the heart as the most
faultless elegance can
never do.
Ø
They are forewarned of Pharaoh’s stubborn
refusal. We are not sent on
God’s errand
with false expectations.
Ø
God’s purpose will be accomplished, not
defeated, by that opposition.
His defiance will only call forth the revelation
of God’s terribleness. Where
sin has sought to dwell and to reign, the terrors of God’s judgment will
alone be
remembered.
Ø
name will be
written in their punishment
as well as in
(v. 7). The childhood of Samuel, the youth of Daniel, the
old age of
Moses and Aaron are arguments of unconquerable strength for
the feeble
and despised to trust and toil.
Ø
There is a place for all.
Ø
No man’s day is over if he will only yield to
God. The dying thief who
believed in his dying agonies has been among the mightiest preachers of
God’s
infinite grace.
A God to Pharaoh (vs. 1-8)
Moses was in
the trying position of being sent out anew upon a mission in
which
hitherto he had not had the slightest particle of success. His
discouragement
was natural. Pharaoh, on a previous
occasion, had
repulsed him. He had lost the ear even of his own people. The
situation,
since his former interview with the monarch, had altered for the
worse. To
proceed
further was like rowing against wind and tide, with little prospect
of ever
reaching shore. Discouragement wrought in the usual way. It led
him to magnify difficulties. He brought
up again his old objection of his
deficiencies
of speech. Even with Aaron as an intermediary, he felt how
awkward it
would be to appear in the presence of Pharaoh, and not be able
to deliver his
own message. His inability of speech would certainly, he
thought,
expose him to contempt. Yet observe, God forebore with him.
His
reluctance was not without sin, but God, who knows our frame,
does
not expect to find in us all at once the perfection of angels,
and is
compassionate of our weakness. We have here, therefore:
told Moses:
Ø
That he would clothe him with an authority which even Pharaoh would
be compelled to respect. “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh”
(v. 1). It was not with words only that Moses was sent to Pharaoh. Powers
would be given him to enforce his words with deeds. The judgments he
would bring upon the land would clothe him
with a supernatural terror —
make him a superhuman and almost a divine
person — in the eyes of
Pharaoh and his servants. (compare ch. 12:33.) So God gives
attestation
to His
servants still, making it evident by the power of the Holy Ghost upon
them, that
they come in His name, and speak with His authority. He
accompanies
their word with Divine power, giving it efficacy to arrest,
convict,
and convert, and compelling the
haughtiest of the earth to
acknowledge the source of their message. So Felix trembled
before Paul
(Acts 24:25). Paul’s Gospel came to the
Thessalonians, “not in word
only, but
also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance”
(I Thessalonians 1:5).
Ø
That the work of deliverance would be no longer delayed. This also was
implied in what God said to Moses: the time had
come for speech to be
exchanged for action. Everything indicated that
the “charge” with which
Moses was now entrusted was to be the final one.
It should encourage
desponding servants to reflect that God has His “set time” for the fulfillment
of every promise; and that, when this period
arrives, all their mourning will
be turned into joy.
Ø
Foretold because foreseen. It is God’s prerogative that He knows the
end from the beginning (Isaiah 42:9). Nothing
can take Him by surprise.
He knows all the way His purposes are to travel.
The whole future lies
mapped out, as in a clear-drawn chart, before
Him.
Ø
Foreseen because pre-ordained. God, like Christ
in the miracle of the
loaves, knew in Himself what He would do (John
6:6). Nothing was left
to chance in His arrangements. The steps in His
plan were fixed beforehand.
What would be done would be according to God’s “determinate counsel
and
foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23) — would be “whatsoever (His) hand
and (His) counsel
determined before to be done” (Acts 4:28). The
deliverance
was arranged in such a way as most to glorify the power and
greatness
of the Deliverer, and
demonstrate His superiority to heathen
idols. This in no wise implies that violence was
in the very least done to
human freedom, though it suggests that God can
so interweave the
volitions of men, in the situations in which He
places them, into His
purposes, as to leave not one of them outside His
settled plan. The chief
difficulty is in the hardening of Pharaoh’s
heart, here (v. 3) represented
as an ordained link in the chain of God’s
designs. But if this hardening
simply means that God will place Pharaoh,
already a bad man, in
circumstances which He knows infallibly will harden his heart, and if this is
done justly, and in punishment of former sins,
the hardening taking effect
through unalterable laws of the moral nature,
which also are of God’s
ordainment, it is difficult to see what
righteous objection can be taken to it.
Ø
Foretold for wise ends. Similar predictions of the course of the
deliverance had been made at earlier stages
(compare ch. 3:19-22; 4:21-23;
6:1-9). They are here repeated:
o
For the instruction of Moses, that he might be
prepared for all that was
to happen — that he might understand and
cooperate with God in the
execution of His designs.
o
For the re-invigoration of Moses’ faith.
o
That it might be evidenced by the working-out of
this fore-announced
plan, that the God of Israel was indeed Jehovah,
a free, personal Being,
working in history for the accomplishment of
gracious purposes. “The
secret of
the Lord is with them that fear him” (Psalm 25:14).
God takes
Moses into His counsel, and discovers to him
something of His plan of
operation. So he does in the Scriptures with His
Church (Revelation 1:1).
GOVERNMENT (vs. 3-4).
The end is twofold:
Ø The manifestation of the utterly free and unconstrained character
of
His grace and mercy in THE SALVATION OF MAN; and
Ø What is the
necessary counterpart of this, the manifestation of His
power
and justice in the
infliction of judgments upon His enemies. Even evil is
thus made to contribute indirectly to the ultimate and eternal
establishment of RIGHTEOUSNESS
OF GOD!
9 “When
Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for
you: then thou shalt
say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it
before Pharaoh, and it shall become a
serpent.” It is
obvious that there
would have
been an impropriety in Moses and Aaron offering a sign to Pharaoh
until he
asked for one. They claimed to be ambassadors of Jehovah, and to speak
in His name
(ch. 5:1). Unless they were doubted, it was not for
them to produce
their
credentials. Hence they worked no miracle at their former interview. Now,
however,
the time was come when their credentials would be
demanded,
and an
express command was given them to exhibit the first “sign.”
Miracles
the Credentials of an Ambassador from God (v. 9)
It is not easy
to see any way in which God could authenticate a message
as coming from
Him, except by giving the messenger supernatural powers.
Conceivably,
He might proclaim His will from heaven directly, in terms of
human
speech. But even then doubts would be raised as to the words uttered;
men’s
recollections of them would differ; some would question whether words
were used
at all, and would hold that it had “thundered”
- (John 12:29). If, to
avoid such
results, He speaks to man through man, how is he to make it clear
that His
prophet has indeed been sent by Him? He cannot make His messenger
impeccable,
if he is still to be man. He cannot give him irresistible eloquence,
for
eloquence is at once suspected; the reason rises up against it and resists it.
What other
course is there, but to impart to His messenger a portion of His own
command
over nature — in other words, to give him the power of working
miracles?
The light of nature seems to have taught Pharaoh to ask for this proof.
The same
light taught Nicodemus to accept it — “No
man can do these
miracles that thou doest, except God be with
him” (John 3:2). So it will
ever be
with simple men in simple times. It
is only when men have become
sophisticated,
when they have darkened the light that is in them by “foolish
questionings” (II Timothy
2:23) - and “oppositions
of science falsely so
called,” (I Timothy 6:20) that they
begin to see specious objections to
miracles,
and regard them as “difficulties in the way of receiving a
revelation” rather than as convincing
evidences of it. We may properly call
upon an
opponent to tell us what evidence of a Divine mission he would accept,
if he
rejects miracles as an evidence, and wait for his answer. We shall probably
find that
“he
who destroys this basis of belief will not discover a surer one”.
Aristotle.
THE
FIRST SIGN AND ITS FAILURE TO CONVINCE PHARAOH
Obeying the
command given them (vs. 2 and 9), Moses and Aaron went to the court a
second
time, and entering into the royal presence, probably repeated their demand —
as from God
— that the king would let the Children of Israel go (ch.
6:11), when
Pharaoh
objected that they had no authority to speak to him in God’s name, and
required an
evidence of their authority, either in the actual words of v. 9 (“Shew
a miracle for you”), or in some
equivalent ones. Aaron hereupon cast down on
the ground
the rod which Moses had brought from Midian, and it
became a serpent
(v.10). Possibly Pharaoh may have been prepared for
this. He may have been told
that this
was one among the signs which had been done in the sight of the elders
and people
of
If he knew
of it, no doubt the “magicians” knew of
it, and had prepared themselves.
Pharaoh
summoned them, as was natural, to his presence, and consulted them with
respect to
the portent, whereupon they too cast down the rods which they were
carrying in
their hands, and they “became serpents; but Aaron’s
rod swallowed
up their rods” (v. 12). Pharaoh was
to some extent impressed by the miracle,
but not so
as to yield. His heart remained hard, and he refused to let the people go.
10 “And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD
had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod
before Pharaoh, and before
his servants, and it became a
serpent." Aaron cast down his rod. The rod is
called
indifferently
“Aaron’s rod” and “Moses’ rod,” because,
though properly the rod of
Moses (ch. 4:2), yet ordinarily it was placed in the hands of
Aaron (vs. 19-20;
ch. 8:5, 17, etc.) It became a serpent. The word for “serpent” is not the
same as
was used
before (ch. 4:3); but it is not clear that a different species is meant. More
probably it
is regarded by the writer as a synonym.
11 "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the
magicians
of
called the wise men and the
sorcerers. That magic
was an object of much attention
and study
in
the Past,’
vol. 4. pp. 133-148), “The Magic Papyrus” (ibid. vol. 10. pp. 137-158),
and many
other writings. It consisted, to a large extent, in charms, which were
thought to
have power over men and beasts, especially over reptiles. What amount
of skill
and power the Egyptian magicians possessed may perhaps be doubted.
Many commentators believe
them to have been in actual communication
with the unseen world, and
to have worked their wonders by the assistance
of evil spirits. Others,
who reject this explanation, believe that they
themselves
were in possession of certain supernatural gifts. But the
commonest
view at the present day regards them as simply persons who
had a
knowledge of many secrets of nature which were generally unknown,
and who
used this knowledge to impress men with a belief in their
supernatural
power. The words used to express “magicians” and
“enchantments” support this view. The magicians are called khakamim,
“wise men,”
“men educated in human and divine wisdom” (Keil and
Delitzsch); mekashshephim,
“charmers,” “mutterers of magic words”
(Gesenius); and khartummim, which is
thought to mean either “sacred
scribes” or
“bearers of sacred words” (Cook). The word translated
“enchantments”
is lehatim, which
means “secret” or “hidden arts”
(Gesenius). On the whole, we regard it as most probable that
the Egyptian
“magicians”
of this time were jugglers of a high class, well skilled in
serpent-charming
and other kindred arts, but not possessed of any
supernatural
powers. The
magicians of
their enchantments. The
magicians, aware of the wonder which would
probably be
wrought, had prepared themselves; they had brought serpents,
charmed and
stiffened so as to look like rods (a common trick in
‘Description
de l’Egypte,’ vol. 1. p. 159) in their hands; and
when Aaron’s
rod became
a serpent, they threw their stiffened snakes upon the ground,
and
disenchanted them, so that they were seen to be what they were —
snakes, and
not really rods.
12 "For they cast down every man his rod, and they became
serpents: but
Aaron’s rod swallowed up their
rods." But Aaron’s rod swallowed up
their rods.
Aaron’s
serpent turned upon its rivals and devoured them, thus exhibiting a marked
superiority.
False Imitations of Things Divine not Difficult of Detection (vs. 10-12)
It is Satan’s
wont, in all ages and on all possible occasions, to set up counterfeits of
things
Divine, in order to confuse men’s minds, and make them mistake the false
for the true. Aaron no
sooner works a true miracle, a real proof that he is a
prophet of
God (v. 1), than Satan’s instruments, the magicians of
are ready
with an imitation of the miracle, on which they base a claim that
Pharaoh is
not to listen to Aaron, but to them. “Curious arts” (Acts 19:19) and
“lying wonders” (II
Thessalonians 2:9) were employed to discredit the genuine
miracles of
the Apostles. False Christs rose up in various places, soon after the
lifetime of
our Lord, claiming to be the Messiah
spoken of by the prophets, who
“showed great signs and wonders,” capable of
deceiving, if it had been possible,
even “the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). Apocryphal
gospels were put out by the
side of the
true ones. A new and mystic philosophy was set up as the real
“knowledge” which the Son of God had come
to reveal, and new religions,
like
Gnosticism and Manichaeism, disputed with real
Christianity the right
to be
viewed as the actual religion of Jesus. Fanatics, at the time of the
Reformation,
parodied the Reformed religion, and established “Churches of
the True
Saints,” which while affecting extreme purity fell practically into
fearful
excesses. Even at the present day rivals are set up to the revelation
of God
given us in the Bible — and the religious books of the Egyptians,
or the Hindoos, or the Persians, or the Buddhists, or the Mahometans,
(Muslims)
are declared to be just as good, just as much from God, just as
deserving
of our attention, as the Old and New Testaments. But, if men are
honest and
do not wish to be deceived, it is easy, with a little patience, to detect
each
spurious imitation. Aaron’s rod swallowed up the rods of
the magicians. It
remained —
they ceased to exist altogether. The “curious
arts” and “lying
wonders” of those who opposed the
Apostles, if examined into, would
have been
found either mere tricks,
or weak devices of Satan, with none of
the power, the dignity, the
awfulness, of a true miracle. And time brought
them to nought — they built up nothing — effected nothing. So with
the
“false Christs,” and the
apocryphal gospels, and the religions of Gnosticism
and Manichaeism, and the fanatical sects of the Reformation
period: they
took no
hold on the world — the truth “swallowed
them up” — they
vanished
away. With the spurious “revelations,” if the case is not the same,
it is
nearly the same — if they have not, all of them, vanished, they are all
of them,
vanishing. Brought into contact with the truth — placed side by
side with it
— they cannot maintain themselves — they are “swallowed up”
after a
while. The ancient pantheism of
century;
the religion of Zoroaster is almost non-existent;
that of the Vedas
is now
crumbling to decay in the schools of
Mahometanism shows signs of breaking up (except for the
militant wing).
When Thibet and
of Buddhism
will not be far off. The Divine
sweeps away the human —
Aaron’s rod swallows up its rivals.
13 "And He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them;
as the LORD had said”. And He hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Rather, “But
Pharaoh’s heart was hard.” The verb employed is not active, but neuter;
and
“his heart” is not the accusative, but the nominative. Pharaoh’s heart was too
hard for the sign to make much impression on it. He did not
see that Moses
had done
much more than his own magicians could do. As the Lord had
said. See v. 4.
The Credentials of God’s Ambassadors to the Froward (vs. 8-13)
BANISHED. The rod
which Pharaoh refuses to be shepherded by, cast
down before him, springs into life. To those who refuse
obedience to
God’s Word, that Word will cling and become a living thing.
to have done with God and to be like the heathen: it was a
vain dream.
Pharaoh would shake off care, and become like one of whom
God had
asked nothing: the dream was equally vain. We may deny
God, but His
words will live and pursue
us.
THE FROWARD
(a person hard to deal with, contray person). The rod
cast from the hand becomes a serpent. The vain demand for righteousness
will at last become the sentence of condemnation, and the
sin that is clung
to, the sting of death.
THE EFFORT
TO DEADEN ITS EFFECT. The rods of the magicians
were swallowed up and the rod of God left more terrible than
it was
before. The Divine retribution will swallow up every comfort
and stay
which the sinful may summon to sustain them.
The First Sign to Pharaoh: The Rod
Becomes a Serpent (vs. 8-13)
INDICATES
THAT PHARAOH MAY MAKE. Perhaps we might even
say, will make. “When Pharaoh shall speak
unto you, saying, Shew a
miracle for you.” This is a
great change from his former attitude, that he
should be capable of stooping to such a request. But men who
have
despotic power sometimes do strange and contradictory
things. The freaks
of tyrants in the way of a seeming liberality and kindliness
are among the
curiosities of history. Pharaoh may have said to himself,
“It will be rare
sport to give this monomaniac full scope; let him with his
own failure
expose the delusion under which he is suffering; it may be
the shortest way
out of the difficulty.” On the other hand, it is not at all
improbable that
some news of the signs wrought before
the barriers which stand between a palace and the life of
the common
people; and Pharaoh may have wished to discover how far the
rumor was
founded in reality. Though when we have said all by way of
suggesting
secondary causes for the request, we must come in the end to
this feeling,
that the only sufficient way of accounting for it is to
treat it as an impulse
from Jehovah Himself. Certainly His providence must have
much to do with
gaining access to Pharaoh and keeping up the communications
of Moses
with him. God can lead Pharaoh, even when he knows not that he is led.
Men are walking in the way of God’s providence and serving
His purposes,
even when quite satisfied
in the ignorance of their hearts that they are
walking in their own way.
the same which had been a serpent twice already; so that by
this time
Moses must have looked upon it with great serenity of
confidence. It is
now impossible for us to say why the Lord began His
manifestations of
power to Pharaoh with this rather than with some other sign.
Reasons
discernible at the time are not discernible now; the light
which would have
revealed them has long since died away. We can but see that
there was
much in the miracle which would have taught valuable lessons
to Pharaoh,
if only he had received it in the simplicity of one who is
really looking for
truth and guidance. He would have learned not to despise the
absence of
promise in the external appearance of things. He would have
learned that a
thing is not ridiculous because it is laughed at. He would
have felt, too,
that as the innocent and unimposing rod became suddenly a
dangerous
serpent, so this Moses — humble, unsustained
and impotent as he seemed
— might also become all at once a destroying force utterly
beyond
resistance by any Egyptian defense. Nor must we forget that
the choice of
this particular sign may have been influenced by the fact
that the
magicians had a favorite and imposing trick of
their art which, to the
uninstructed eye, resembled
it. They seemed to do, by their magic, what
Moses really did by Divine power, and so their skill, while
it had for one
result a renewed defiance of Jehovah on the part of Pharaoh,
had another
result in this, that it led up to a strengthening of the
faith of Moses. He
might not be able to explain how the magicians did their
wonders; but he
knew very well that he was no magician himself, and that his
rod had been
Divinely
changed, whatever
cause had been at work to change the others.
And then, at last, whatever perplexity remained in his mind
was swept
away when he saw the power of God rising supreme over mere
trickery,
and the serpent from his rod swallowing up the serpents from
the other rods.
MAGICIANS. They know
that their wonders are lying wonders. Powers
great by nature, trained and increased with the utmost
ingenuity, and which
were intended to be and might have been for the good of
their fellow-men,
they turn without any compunction into instruments for the
promotion of
their selfish glory. They know that, whatever their
pretences may be, they
are not acting in a straightforward and humble service of
supernatural
power. They know that when Pharaoh puts confidence in
them, he is
putting confidence in a
lie. Furthermore, they must have known that there
was something in the transformation of Moses’ rod which
wanted
accounting for. Magicians understand each other’s tricks
quite well, and it
must have been evident to them that Moses was no magician.
They know
in their consciences that he is greater than themselves; but
what can they
say? Committed to lies, they must go on with them. They must pretend to
have as much power as Moses, even if they have it not; and
thus the
induced necessities of their dark and secret arts compel
them to hide the
truth from Pharaoh. Nor was it
any real excuse that Pharaoh was willing to
be deceived. His
destruction ultimately came from his own perversity; but
he also presents the
melancholy spectacle of being surrounded by those
who, if only they had been
truthful, might have interposed some obstacles
in his downward way.
AFTER THE
COMPLETION OF THE MIRACLE. When Aaron’s rod
had swallowed up the others, he still remained unimpressed.
It seems as if
he had allowed his attention to be fixed on one part of the
miracle, while
another he regarded but carelessly. When his magicians
seemed to produce
serpents from rods, this was just according to his
inclinations, and he made
much of it. Moses could do nothing more than the magicians
could do. But
when their serpents were swallowed up — well, it was not a
very
encouraging sight — but still it might be accounted for. And
so we are in
danger of depreciating the
significance of God’s works by not looking at
them in every part. Every part
is to be regarded, if we are to get the full
impression of the whole. If the magicians did what Moses
did, it was
equally evident that Moses did what the magicians did. A
child could see
that his power was at least equal to theirs. If Pharaoh had
not been blinded
by vanity and by traditional reliance on his magicians, he would
have
demanded that these magicians should do something more than
Moses had
done. What an illustration we have here, of how, when a man gets away
from right thoughts of God, he
soon comes to call evil good and good evil
(Isaiah 5:20). Pharaoh believes his lying
magicians, though he will not
believe the truthful
servant of a true God. He has no discriminating power
to find the difference
between things, which, however they may resemble
each other outwardly, are
yet inwardly quite opposed. He thinks that he
has power enough with his
gods to meet whatever power has yet been
brought against him. It has
been already made evident that there is no sense
of pity or justice in him; and it is now made plain that he
is not to be
reached by the exhibition before him of a significant symbol
of pain and
destruction. Pharaoh must be touched more closely still — must be made
to suffer,
and suffer most dreadfully, before he will consent to let
The Rod Turned into a Serpent (vs. 8-14)
On this
sign, notice:
Ø
Its distinctness from the similar sign wrought for the conviction of
the
Israelites. On the meaning of the latter, see ch. 4:1-6. There the
serpent into which the rod was turned seemed to
denote the power of the
monarch — the royal and divine power of
was an Egyptian emblem. However threatening the
aspect of this power to
Moses and the Israelites, the sign taught them not to fear it, and promised
victory over
it. Here, on the contrary, the serpent is a menace to Pharaoh.
It speaks to him in his own language, and tells him of a royal and Divine
power opposed to his which he will do well not to provoke. The sign was
harmless in itself, but menacing in its import.
Ø
Its relation to Egyptian magic. On this, see the exposition. The
magicians produced an imitation of the miracle,
but this very circumstance
was turned into an occasion of greater
humiliation to them. “Aaron’s
rod
swallowed up
their rods.” The truth taught was the impotence of magic
arts as opposed to the
power of Jehovah. Royalty, divinity, magic, all are
represented as overthrown in this
significant marvel. Note — God
seldom
destroys a
sinner WITHOUT FIRST WARNING HIM! The warnings are
such that, if taken in time, worse consequences
may be escaped.
o
Conscience warns,
o
the Spirit warns,
o
providence warns.
Red danger-signals stand at the opening of every path of crime, if the
deluded transgressor would but take heed to
them.
to Pharaoh’s demand for a miracle (v. 9). Presumably,
Pharaoh made the
request, then the wonder was performed. Note here:
Ø
The human mind naturally craves for miracle as an evidence of
revelation. The evidence of
outward miracle is not the highest, but neither’
should it be disparaged. It is the kind of
evidence which minds at an
inferior stage of development are most capable
of appreciating, while, in
connection with other circumstances, it is a
powerful confirmation to the
faith even of those who might possibly dispense
with it. Christ’s repeated
refusal of a sign was not based upon the
principle that signs were
unnecessary, but upon the fact that a superabundance
of signs had already
been given. A faith resting merely on miracles (John 2:23-24) may be
destitute of moral worth, but miracles had their
value in certifying the
source of the message, as well as in arousing
attention, and they were
themselves vehicles of moral teaching.
Ø
God satisfies this craving of the mind by granting the evidence
required. It does not
lessen, but greatly enhances, the value of this
evidence that most of the miracles of Scripture
are not merely credentials
of the revelation, but constitutive parts of it.
Ø
Pharaoh’s request for the miracle. It is a significant circumstance that
whereas on the previous occasion (ch. 5:1-5) Pharaoh made no
request for a sign, he asks for one at this
second interview. The unexpected
reappearance of these two men, renewing their
former demand, and doing
so with even more emphasis and decision than at
first, must have produced
a startling effect upon him. Truth, to a certain
extent, carries its own
credentials
with it. There must have been that in the manner and
speech of
these grave and aged men (v. 7) which repelled
the hypothesis that they
were impostors. Probably Pharaoh had never been
quite sure that their
mission was mere pretence. A secret fear of the
God whose worshippers he
knew he was maltreating may have mingled with
his thoughts, and kept
him in vague uneasiness. He may thus have been
more disturbed by the
former demand than he cared to allow, and now
thought it prudent to
satisfy himself further. Professed disbelief in the Bible
is in the same way
often
accompanied by a lurking suspicion that there
is more in its teaching
than is
admitted.
Ø
He permitted himself to be imposed on by the counterfeit of the
magicians. Their imitation of
the miracle furnished him with a plausible
excuse for ascribing the work to magic. It gave him a pretext for
unbelief.
He wished one, and he got it. He ignored the strong points in the evidence,
and fixed on the partial resemblance to the miracle
in the feats of his
tricksters. There were at least three circumstances which should have made
him pause, and, if not convinced, ask for
further proof.
o
The miracle of Moses and Aaron was not done by enchantments.
o
The men who did the wonder themselves asserted
that it was wrought
by Divine power.
o
The superiority of their power to that of the
magicians was evinced by
Aaron’s rod swallowing up the rods of the
others. And seeing that the
miracle of God’s messengers was real, while that of the magicians
was (so far as we can judge) but a juggler’s
trick, there were probably
numerous other circumstances of difference
between them, on which,
had Pharaoh been anxious to ascertain the
truth, his mind would
naturally
have sensed. But Pharaoh’s mind was not honest.
He wished to
disbelieve, and HE DIDN'T BELIEVE!
Ø
He refused the request. He hardened himself, i.e. the
unwillingness of
his heart to look at the truth, now that it had
got something to stay itself
upon, solidified into a fixed, hard determination
to resist the demand made
upon him. Note:
o
God tries men’s dispositions by furnishing them
with evidence which,
while abundantly sufficient to convince minds
that are honest, leaves
numerous
loopholes of escape to those indisposed to receive it.
o
It is the easiest thing in the world, if one
wants to do it, to find pretexts
for unbelief. We are far from asserting that all doubt is dishonest, but it
is unquestionable that under the cloak of honest
intellectual inquiry A
GREAT DEAL
THAT IS NOT HONEST IS FREQUENTLY
CONCEALED! To a mind unwilling to be convinced, there is nothing
easier than to evade evidence. (It is called in
scripture "willful
ignorance" - "For
this they are willingly ignorant" - II
Peter 3:5 -
CY -
2017) Specious counter-arguments
are never far to seek.
Any specious reply to Christian books, any
naturalistic hypothesis,
any flimsy parallel, will serve the purpose. The text
directs attention
to the method of
false parallels — a favorite one with modem skeptics.
Parallels are hunted up between Christianity and
the ethnic religions.
Superficial resemblances in ethics, doctrine and
ritual, are laid hold
upon and magnified. Christ is compared with Buddha and
Confucius,
or His miracles are put in comparison with the ecclesiastical
miracles
of the middle ages. And
thus his religion is supposed to be reduced
to the
naturalistic level. The defeat of
all such attempts is
shadowed forth
in the miracle before us.
NOW FOR A NOTE ON SIGNS.
The Greek word for sign is σημεῖον - say-mi’-on; neuter of
a presumed derivative of
the base of σημαίνω - say-mah’-ee-no – an indication, especially
ceremonial or
supernatural: thus a miracle, sign, token, or wonder. It corresponds with the Hebrew
אות, and is generally, in the Acts as well as in the Septuagint,
associated with τέρατα,
or
"portents;" when it occurs in the synoptists
it is translated "signs." The Book of
John in the New Testament presents Jesus Christ
as doing signs as evidence that He
was the Son of God.
shown by turning water into wine,
Christ showed His Omnipotence as El Shaddai
by mastery over creation - done in
love & power, with authority over matter,
also disease and death. The effects of these signs “manifested His
glory” - “His
disciples believed on Him”.
The word σημεῖον is associated with τέρας— ter’-as;
of
uncertain affinity; a prodigy or omen: a
wonder. The word ὕλη — hoo-lay’;
perhaps
akin to (ξύλον - xoo’-lon - a forest, i.e. (by implication) fuel: or matter –
tells us
that He who can create the grape can
create wine - He who can create
matter can easily change it from one kind to another! (El Shaddai) In John 2
Jesus Christ demonstrates control of matter – in John 6 He
controls the forces
of nature by walking on the sea, by calming the storm. In John 21 He controls
the animate creation, and in other places, John 4, 5, and 6, the mastery over
the human body, diseases, our necessities and even death! In the synoptic
gospels Christ’s wonderful actions are called - δύναμις— doo’-nam-is; from
(δύναμαί - doo’-nam-ahee; ); force (literal or figurative);
specially miraculous
power
(usually
by implication a miracle itself): — ability, abundance, meaning,
might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power,strength, violence, might
(wonderful)
work. This is where the English word
“dynamite” comes from.
John calls them (the works of Christ) “erga”
– works from - ἔργον;— er’-gon;
from a
primary (but obsolete) ἔργον (to work); toil
(as
an effort or occupation); by
implication
an act: —deed, doing, labor, work.
Some might call these deeds
of Jesus Christ, portents, miracles, or marvels. John simply calls them
“works”. I would also like to point out in
the gospel of John, the connection
between the name which God told
Moses “I AM” or “I AM THAT I AM” with
Jesus’ coming and revealing
Himself as:
I AM the water of
life – ch. 4:10-14
“I AM the bread of life” – ch. 6:48
“I AM the
light of the world” – ch. 8:12
“I AM the
door” – ch. 10:7
“I AM the
good shepherd” – ch. 10:11
“I AM the
resurrection and the life” – ch. 11:25
“I AM the
way, the truth and the life” – ch. 14:6
“I AM the true
vine” – ch.15:1
(Reader,
remember – “God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath
in these last
days
spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath
appointed heir of all
things, by whom also
He made the worlds; Who
being the brightness of
His glory, and
the express image of His person, and upholding all things
by the word of
His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat
down on the
right hand of the Majesty on high” – [Hebrews 1:1-3] – CY –
2010)
THE
FIRST PLAGUE – THE TURNING OF WATER TO BLOOD
(vs.
14-21)
The first
miracle had been exhibited, and had failed. It had been a mere “sign,’’ and
in no
respect a “judgment.” Now the “judgments ‘ were to begin. God manifests
Himself
again to Moses, and gives him exact directions what he is to do. He is to
meet
Pharaoh on the banks of the
coming upon
all
Nile will be turned to blood, so that the ash will die, and the
river stink, and
the Egyptians loathe to drink of the water of the river (vs.
15-18).
Pharaoh not
yielding, making no sign, the threat is to be immediately
followed by
the act. In the sight of Pharaoh and his court, or at any rate of
his train
of attendants (v. 20), Aaron is to stretch his rod over the
and the
water is at once to become blood, the fish to die, and the river in a
short time
to become offensive, or, in the simple and direct language of the
Bible, to stink. The commands given by God are executed, and the
result is
as declared
beforehand by Moses (vs. 20-21).
14 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he
refuseth to let the people go.” Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. Rather,
“is hard,
is dull.” The adjective
used is entirely unconnected with the verb
of the
preceding verse.
15 “Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth
out unto the water;
and thou shalt
stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which
was turned to a serpent shalt
thou take in thine hand.” In the morning. The
expression
used both here and again in ch. 20 seems rather to imply a daily custom
of the
Pharaoh. It is conjectured;
not without reason, that among the recognized
duties of
the monarch at this time was the offering of a
morning sacrifice to the
however,
this may not have been the case, and God may have chosen for
certain
miracles particular days, on which the king was about to proceed to
the river
in view of some special ceremony connected with the annual
inundation.
Against he
come. Literally,
“to meet him.” In
their hand.
When the
time came for smiting the waters, the rod was transferred to
Aaron’s
hand (v. 19).
16 “And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of
the Hebrews hath sent me
unto thee,
saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:
and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.” The Lord God… hath sent me
unto thee. Rather,
“sent me unto thee.” The reference is to the original sending
(ch. 5:1). Thou wouldest
not hear. Literally, “Thou hast not heard,” i.e. up to
this
time thou
hast not obeyed the command given to thee.
17 “Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt
know that I am the LORD:
behold, I will smite with the rod that is in
mine hand upon the
waters which are in the river, and they shall be
turned to blood.”
In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord. (Once again, I recommend
Ezekiel: Study of God’s Use of the Word Know – this
website - # 233 –
CY –
2017) Pharaoh had declared on the
occasion specially referred to, “I know
not Jehovah, neither will I let
“know Jehovah” in the coming visitation; he
shall know, i.e., that there is a great
and truly
existent God who controls nature, does as He will even with the
fit, the
greatest blessings into curses. Behold, I will smite. God here
speaks of
the acts of Moses and Aaron as His own acts, and of their hands
as His
hand, because they were mere instruments through which He worked.
The Roman
law said: “Qui facit per alium,
tacit per se.” "He who acts through
another does the act himself." The waters…shall be turned to blood. Not
simply,
“shall be of the color of blood,” but shall become and be, to all
intents and
purposes, blood. It is idle to ask whether the water would have
answered to
all the modern tests, microscopic and other, by which blood is known.
The
question cannot be answered. An that we are entitled to conclude from
the words
of the text is, that the water had all the physical appearance the
look,
taste, smell, texture of blood: and hence, that it was certainly not
merely
discolored by the red soil of
or surface crust) covered with or
consisting of a fragile black layer of cyanobacteria,
mosses, and
lichens, which is often important in
preventing erosion) plants and infusoria (a collective term
for minute aquatic creatures such as ciliates,
euglenoids, protozoa,
unicellular algae
and small
invertebrates
that exist in freshwater ponds – Wikipedia). Water thus changed would
neither
kill fish, nor “stink,” nor be
utterly undrinkable.
18 “And
the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink;
and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the
water of the river.”
The fish… shall die. This would
increase the greatness of the
calamity,
for the Egyptians lived to a very large extent upon fish (Birch,
‘
canals, and
the
and Delitzsch observe, “this seems to indicate putrefaction.” The Egyptians
shall loathe to drink. The expression is stronger in v. 24, where we
find
that “they could not drink.” We may
presume that at first, not supposing
that the
fluid could really be blood, they tried to drink it, took it into their
mouths, and
possibly swallowed some, but that very soon they found they
could not continue to do so.
19 “And
the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy
rod,
and stretch out thine
hand upon the waters of
streams, upon their rivers, and upon their
ponds, and upon all their
pools of water, that they may become blood; and
that there may be
blood throughout all the
and in vessels of stone.” Say unto Aaron. There is an omission here (and
generally throughout the account of the plagues)
of the performance by
Moses of God’s behest. The Samaritan Pentateuch
in each case supplies the
omission.
It has been argued (Kennicott) that the Hebrew
narrative has
been contracted;
but most critics agree that the incomplete form is the early
one, and
that, in the Samaritan version, the original narrative has been
expanded. The waters of
water. The waters of
consisted
of:
seven when Herodotus wrote (Herod. 2:17), whence the
“septemfluus,” or “septemgeminus;”
of its percolation through its banks on either side; and
inundation was over.
The four
terms of the text seem applicable to this four-fold division, and
“show an
accurate knowledge of
“streams” are the
“ponds” are the natural accumulations of waters in
permanent lakes or in
temporary
pools and marshes; while the “pools,” or
“gatherings of waters”
(margin), are
the reservoirs made by art. Aaron was to stretch out his rod over
the
would at
once be smitten, the streams and the canals and the natural lakes and the
reservoirs.
The miracle would even extend to private dwellings, and the change
would take
place throughout
all the
open waters
spread over the country, but even in respect of that stored, as
was usual, in
houses, and contained either in vessels of wood or in vessels
of stone. With respect to these, it is to be observed that the
much
improved by keeping, since the sediment subsided; and that tanks,
sometimes
of wood, sometimes of stone, were usual adjuncts of all the
better
class of houses.
20 “And
Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he
lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that
were in the river, in the
sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his
servants; and all the waters
that were in the river were turned to
blood.” (This
is for the agnostic –
I
guess you think that man can make a pitcher of Kool-Aid – well, the God of
the
universe could stir up the
impossible
or improbable – I recommend typing in “Fantastic Trip”
in
your browser and see where it leads – CY – 2010) He lifted up the rod. “He”
must be
understood to mean “Aaron” (see v. 19); but the writer is too much
engrossed
with the general run of his narrative to be careful about minutia.
All that he
wants to impress upon us is, that the rod was used as an instrument
for the working of the
miracle. He is not thinking of who it was that used it. In
the sight of Pharaoh. See the
comment on v. 15. And of his servants.
Either “his
courtiers generally,” or, at any rate, a large troop of attendants.
21 “And
the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the
Egyptians could not drink of the water of the
river; and there was
blood throughout all the
It is most
natural to understand “all the
fish.” There was blood, etc.
Literally,
“and the blood was throughout all the
the phrase
is doubtful, since undoubtedly “in
numberless instances, the Hebrew
terms which imply universality must be
understood in a limited sense (Cook).
“All the land”
may mean no more than “all the Delta.”
God’s
Punishments Appropriate and Terrible (vs. 17-20)
There was
something peculiarly appropriate in the first judgment
falling upon
the
by the first
tyrannical Pharaoh (probably Seti I.). It had been
defiled with the
blood of
thousands of innocent victims. Crocodiles
had in its waters crushed
the tender limbs
of those helpless infants, (NO WORSE THAN THE
ABORTION INDUSTRY
OF MODERN TIMES - may I
recommend –
Abortion
Rationale – 2009 – this web site – CY – 2010) and had stained them
with a gore that
in God’s sight could never be forgotten. The king, and the
persons who were
his instruments, had in so doing polluted their own holy
river,
transgressed their own law, offered insults to one of the holiest of their
own deities. And
all for the destruction of God’s people. So, now that
destruction was coming upon themselves, now that
the firstborn were doomed
(ch. 4:23), and the catastrophe
of the
sign, which threatened
carnage, was given — the
blood. The Egyptians had among their traditions one
which said that the
had once for
eleven days flowed with honey (Manetho ap. Syncell.
‘Chronograph.’ p. 55 A). As this
supposed miracle indicated a time of peace
and prosperity, so the present
actual one boded war and destruction.
Again,
Pharaoh’s especial crime at this
time was, that he despised God. God
therefore caused his own chief deity
to be despised. There are indications
that, about this period, a special
Nile-worship had set in. Hapi, the
Nile-god,
was identified with Phthah and Ammon — he was
declared to stand “alone and
self-created” — to be “the Father of
all the gods,” “the Chief on the waters,”
“the Creator of all good things,”
“the Lord of terrors and of choicest joys.”
“Mortals” were said to “extol him, and
the cycle of Gods” — he stood above
them all as the One Unseen and
Inscrutable Being. “He is not graven in marble,”
it was said; “he is not beheld; he
hath neither ministrants nor offerings; he is not
adored in sanctuaries; his abode is not
known; no shrine of his is found with
painted figures; there is no building
that can contain him;” and again, “unknown
is his name in heaven; he
doth not manifest his forms; vain are all
representations.” (‘Records of the
Past,’ vol. 4. pp. 107-113; vol. 10. pp. 41-2.)
Menephthah
was a special devotee of Hapi (ib. vol. 10. p. 38). Nothing could
have seemed to him
more terrible and shocking, than the conversion of his pure,
clean, refreshing,
life-giving, god-like stream, into a mass of revolting putridity.
And on the people the judgment was
still more terrible. Under ordinary
circumstances, the whole nation
depended on the
There were no streams in the country
other than the
brooks, no rills, no springs or
fountains. The sudden conversion of all the
readily accessible water — even such
as was stored in houses — into
blood, was sickening, horrible,
tremendous. Scarcely could any severer
punishment of the people have been
devised. If a partial remedy had not
been found (v. 24), it would have
been impossible for them to endure
through the “seven days” (v. 25). So fearful are the judgments of God
upon
those who offend Him!
Pharaoh
Still Hardens His Heart (vs. 22-23)
On the
occurrence of the second sign and first plague, the magicians
were again consulted;
and, by
means which it is impossible to do more than conjecture, they produced a
seeming
transformation into blood of a certain quantity of water. The
inquiry,
whence they procured the water, is answered by v. 24. That
they actually
turned
water into blood is scarcely asserted in the vague “did so” of v. 22.
Perhaps
they had
recourse to sleight of hand, and made a substitution, like modem conjurors;
perhaps they
merely turned the water of a red color. All that was necessary was to
convince
Pharaoh that they were able to do what Moses and Aaron had done — there
was no one
to watch, and test, and examine their pretended miracle, which
consequently
passed muster, though it may have been no more than a trick. Pharaoh,
however,
suffered himself to be convinced, and “turned and
went into his house”
without
paying any attention to the marvel wrought (v. 23).
22 “And the magicians of
Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did
he hearken unto them; as the
LORD had said.” The magicians of
Moses and
Aaron had done — stretch out, that is, a rod over the
turn it and
all its branches, and ponds, and pools, into blood, for this
was
already
done.
They could only show their skill upon some small quantity of
water in a
cup or other vessel. No doubt they produced some apparent
change,
which was accepted by Pharaoh as an equivalent to what had been
effected by
the Israelite chiefs, but which must have fallen far short of it.
Pharaoh
would not be a severe critic.
23 “And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his
heart to this also.” Pharaoh turned — i.e.
“returned” — quitted the river-hank,
satisfied
with what the magicians had done, and went back to the palace.
Neither did he set his heart to this also. A better
translation is “Nor did he lay
even this to
heart.” In the expression “even this” there is an allusion to the
previous
neglect of
the first sign (ver. 13).
The Power of Satan is with All Deceivableness (vs. 22-23)
Satan
himself, and wicked men, his instruments, are especially strong in the
power of deception.
Satan deceived Eve (I Timothy 2:14). The lying spirit
deceived
Ahab (I Kings 22:22). Rebekah and Jacob together
deceived Isaac.
Gehazi deceived Naaman. Bad men
are clever and plausible, and keen-sighted,
and
painstaking, and careful — they lay their plans skillfully, and carry them
out
boldly, and are usually successful. The magicians had not only their own
credit at
stake, but also that of the priests, who were in league with them. They
would not
be very scrupulous what means they used, so that they could
persuade
the Pharaoh that whatever Moses and Aaron could do, they could
do:
and they
succeeded. The “father of
lies” – (John 8:44) - no doubt suggested to
them some
clever method of seeming to perform the same sort of miracle as the
Israelitish leaders had performed —
they adopted it, and cheated the eyes of the
beholders.
When men wished to nip the religion of Christ in the bud, they
called
its Founder “that deceiver” (Matthew
27:63). Deceit is a device of Satan. In
nothing are
the powers of light and darkness more contrasted than in the
simpleness, the straightforward sincerity that
characterizes the former, and
the
crookedness, the tortuousness, the insincerity that goes with the latter.
He who is “the Way” and “the Life,” is also “the Truth.” (John 14:6) - All
who would
have fellowship with him must “walk in
truth.”
THE
EGYPTIAN PEOPLE SUFFER FOR SEVEN DAYS
Necessity
is the mother of invention. Finding the
undrinkable,
the Egyptians bethought themselves of a means of obtaining water to
which they
never had recourse in ordinary times. This was to dig pits or wells at some
distance
from the river, and so obtain the moisture that lay in the ground, no doubt
derived
from the river originally, but already there before the change of the water
into blood
took place. This, it appears, remained water, and was drinkable, though
probably
not very agreeable, since, owing to the nitrous quality of the soil in
well-water has
always a bitter and brackish taste. It sufficed, however, for drinking
and
culinary purposes during the “seven
days” that the plague continued (v. 25).
24 “And all the
Egyptians digged round about the river for water to
drink; for
they could not drink of the water of the
river.” And all
the Egyptians digged
(Not the
Hebrews). The water stored in the houses of the Hebrews in reservoirs,
cisterns,
and the like, was (it would seem) not affected; and this would suffice for
the consumption of seven days – the duration of the
first plague). Water to drink.
Blood would
not become water by percolation through earth, but there might have
been
sufficient water in the ground before the plague began, to fill the wells dug,
for seven
days.
God
Allows Men to Seek and Obtain Alleviations of His Judgments (v. 24)
We are
not intended to sit down under the judgments of God, and fold our hands, and
do
nothing. Whether it be war, or pestilence, or famine, or any other Heaven-sent
calamity
that comes upon us for our sins and those of our nation, we must
beware of
sinking
into apathy under the infliction, and allowing it simply to run its course. God
does
not desire that we should show our submission in this way. He gives us thought,
and ingenuity,
and inventiveness, that, in every difficulty we may devise
remedies,
and so lessen our own and our neighbors’ sufferings. Oriental
nations
view each calamity that comes upon them as Kismet, “fate,” and
make
no exertions to meet it, stem it, minimize it. Christians should act
otherwise.
They should so far imitate the Egyptians as to set to work actively,
to do
what can be done in the way of relief and alleviation. God freely allows
this.
He did not punish the Egyptians for digging, or frustrate their efforts by
preventing
the water that was in the ground from filling the wells, or by
rendering
it undrinkable. And so He allows cholera or plague, or even
ordinary
sickness, which is His judgment on an individual, to be met by care,
attention,
cleanliness, remedial measures, and is so far from interfering
against
such exertions, that He blesses them, and for the most part renders
them
effectual.
25 “And
seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the
river.” And seven days were fulfilled. This note
of time has been regarded as
merely
fixing the interval between the first plague and the second. But it is more
natural to
regard it as marking the duration of the first plague. The intervals between
one plague and
another are nowhere estimated.
The
The first
of the series of plagues which fell on
character.
At the stretching out of the red of Aaron, the broad, swift-flowing
current of
the rising
of blood.
The stroke fell also on the reservoirs, canals, and ponds.
Whatever
connection may be traced between this plague and natural
phenomena it is
plain that it stood on an entirely different footing from
changes
produced under purely natural conditions.
1. The water was rendered wholly
unfit
for use.
2. It became deadly in its properties (v. 18).
3. The stroke was instantaneous.
4. It was pre-announced.
5. It descended on the river at the summons of
Moses and Aaron.
6. It lasted exactly seven days (v. 25).
An event of
this kind was palpably of supernatural origin. Contrast
Moses
with
Christ, the one beginning the series of wonders by turning the river
into blood;
the other, in his first miracle, turning the water into wine
(John
2:1-12). The contrast of judgment and mercy, of law and Gospel.
Consider:
THREAT (vs. 16-19).
Ø
The demand was that which Pharaoh had hitherto resisted. It was a
demand righteous and reasonable in itself — “Let my people go,” etc. It
had come to him, moreover, as the command of
Jehovah, and proof had
been given him that such was its character.
Still he had resisted it. This,
however, did not dispose of the demand, which now
confronts him again.
Ø
The demand which Pharaoh would not freely grant, he is now to be
compelled to grant. If he will not bow to reason, to persuasion, to
evidence, he
must bow to power. An unprecedented calamity would
overtake his land: “In
this shalt thou know that I am the Lord; behold, I
will smite
with the rod,....the waters which are in the river.” etc. (v. 17).
Note:
o
Reasonable means are exhausted with the sinner
before compulsion is
resorted to. God is unwilling to proceed to
extremities.
o
Nevertheless, if
gentler methods fail, means
will be used which will
compel
submission. “As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow
to me, and
every tongue shall confess to God” (Romans 14:11;
Philippians
2:10-11).
o
Excuses are not admitted for willful unbelief. Pharaoh would probably
have pleaded as a ground for his refusal, that
he did not believe that the
command in question proceeded from Jehovah. No
such plea will be
admitted in the court of heaven. Every allowance
will be made for
involuntary ignorance, but none for willful
unbelief. What the sinner is
asked to do is righteous and reasonable in
itself; is made known to him
as God’s will; and is evidenced to be such by
many infallible proofs.
Refusal to acknowledge the sufficiency of this evidence
does not
exculpate from the guilt of disobedience. The
question is not —
Does he, or will he, admit its sufficiency, but is it sufficient? Not,
Does it convince
him? but, Ought it to
convince him? Our
errors,
follies,
and mistakes will not
hinder the Almighty from EXECUTING
HIS
PURPOSES! If we stand in the way of them, and will not
bend,
we must be crushed. (“...whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall
be
broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall,
IT WILL GRIND HIM
TO
POWDER.” - Matthew 21:44)
smiting of the
Ø
A proof of the power of Jehovah (v. 17). It showed:
o
Him to be
an actually existing Being,
o
demonstrated
His supremacy in nature, and
o
made
manifest His determination to punish
resistance to His will.
Ø
A blow at Egyptian idolatry. It turned the
river
worshipped as a divinity, into an object of
loathsomeness and source of
death to its worshippers. They were the chief gods of
were supposed to be embodied in the river. How
clear the proof of the
vanity of the idols, and of the unchallengeable
superiority of Jehovah! Yet
we do net learn that one idol the less was
worshipped in
of it.
Ø
A warning of worse evil to come. The
blood was in fact a prophecy or threat of utter
ruin to the state. The
succeeding plagues are merely the unfolding of
the threat contained in this
one.
Ø
The removal of the plague
at the end of seven days betokened the
unwillingness of God to proceed to extremities. It is very noticeable that
the plague was removed unasked, and while
Pharaoh was still hardening his
heart. So long-suffering is God that He will try all means with sinners
before FINALLY GIVING THEM UP! The lessons for
ourselves from this
plague are these:
Ø
The certainty of
GOD’S THREATENINGS BEING EXECUTED!
Ø
The terrible
punishments in reserve for DISOBEDIENCE!
Ø
The ease with
which God can smite a nation, and bring it to the point of
ruin. (As I work on this:
o
there are wildfires raging in the western
o
last week Hurricane Harvey hit south
and is considered the most devastating storm in American
history,
o
Hurricane
Irma is predicted to hit
o
there is so much hate among various sections of
the American
Citizenry, and jealousy of the President of the
United States that
we are becoming more unproductive than usual,
do you think there is a great possibility that
God is not working against
this nation that has turned its back on
Him? Looks easy to me! CY – 2017)
The smiting of the
commerce, and agriculture throughout the
plague lasted a few days longer, the result would have been the death of
the whole population. We call this “miracle,” but miracle is only the
coming forth into visibility of the hand which
is at all times working in the
phenomena of nature, and in the affairs of
history. By famine, by pestilence,
by blight of crops, by clap of war, turning the
river of a nation’s life into
very literal blood (so
so it pleased him-could Jehovah speedily reduce
our national pride, and
smite at the fountain-heads the sources of our
national prosperity. A very
sensible proof was given of this — of the readiness
with which the trade of
a whole country could be paralyzed, and great
cities reduced in no long
period to absolute starvation, by a slight
change in natural conditions — in
the great snowstorm of January 1881. (See the Spectator of 29th January,
1881 – if interested, check your browser – I
did, and it was very interesting –
CY – 2017) (I was amazed at how quickly that
of secularism as
Hurricane
history, though relegated to the third costliest
by Harvey - CY – 2017)
Had the storm lasted but a week or two longer,
the effects would
have been as serious to cities like
as this smiting. of the Nile in
Ø
God’s
judgments are anticipative. Judgments in this life forewarn of
judgments beyond.
(“Because
He hath appointed a day, in the which He
will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained;
whereof
He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him
from
the dead!” - Acts 17:31)
Ø
The magicians could not remove the plague; they
could only with the
few drops of water at their command produce a
feeble imitation of it. How
futile is this as a disproof of God’s agency! So
it is a pitiable way of
disposing of God’s judgments to show that something
like them can be
produced by
undivine means. The savant
(a learned person in science or
literature) , e.g., may produce in his laboratory an imitation of rain or thunder,
and may think that he has thereby disproved
God’s agency in any infliction
he may send upon a land through these
instrumentalities; but this is small
comfort to the country that is being smitten by
them. (Once again, apply
this to current events in the
Ø
The attempts of the magicians to refute the pretensions
of Moses only
resulted in making the supernatural character
of the plague more manifest.
In the same way, the
efforts of skeptics to disprove, e.g., the
Divine origin
of the
religion of the Bible, or of the book itself, only
end in making its
ITS
DIVINITY MORE APPARENT! “The more
conclusively you
demonstrate to the human reason that that which
exists ought not to exist,
so much the more do you enhance the miracle of
its existence. That must
be the most astounding of all facts that still
exists notwithstanding the
gravest objections to its existence.”
Pharaoh here enters on a new phase. It was:
Ø
Hardening against conviction. Pharaoh must have
felt in this case that he
was in presence of a true work of God. The puny
efforts of his magicians
could not possibly impose upon him. But he would
not yield. He would not
obey conviction.
Hardening under punishment. Pharaoh was in the position of one who,
being often
reproved, hardeneth his neck (Proverbs 29:1). He had
risked, even
after this last warning, the chances of the threatening turning
out to be untrue. Now, to his utter
discomfiture, the stroke descends, and
his empire is on the point of ruin. Yet he hardened himself in resistance.
Ø
Hardening which was deliberate. “Pharaoh
turned and went into his
house,
neither did he set his heart to this also” (v. 23).
He had reached a
point at which he could only stiffen himself in
his determination to resist
God, by refusing to think, by deliberately turning away from the light
and
resolving not to face the question of his duty. The monarch knows his duty,
and knows
that he knows it, yet, he
will not obey.
Ø
Hardening obstinately persevered in. He held out through all the seven
days of the duration of the plague. Hardening of
this kind speedily robs the
soul of its few remaining sparks of
susceptibility to truth.
The Water Turned into Blood (vs. 14-25)
Ø
The deprivation: water, one of the most essential of all God’s gifts, was
suddenly
made useless.
Ø
The horror. Had all the water of
punishment had been infinitely less. Instead of
water, there was blood and
corruption.
Ø
It was a judgment on
will be made an abomination and a horror to us.
Ø
It was the revelation of
God will be removed, but the horror of their
abuse will abide.
CALAMITY. The
magicians could increase the plague, and therefore it
was not from the hand of God! The same argument is used still
to prevent
misfortune being considered as a chastisement and warning
from God. Men
can see in it chance only, or man’s hand, not the Lord’s.
went into his house” (v. 23).
This would prolong his punishment, but
could not conquer God. Instead of bowing to God’s word, we
may shut
ourselves in with our sin, but we only bind judgment upon
us, and tempt
God to inflict a heavier blow.
The First
Plague: The Water Turned to Blood (vs. 14-25)
was not always to be put to it to find his entrance into the
palace. God can
arrange things so that Pharaoh shall come to meet him. The
instructions
given to Moses at once call to our minds how Pharaoh’s
daughter, eighty
years before, had come down to the river to find and protect
a helpless
babe, and how that same babe — having passed through many
checkered
years, and many strange experiences at the hands both of God
and men —
has to meet with another Pharaoh. We are not told why
Pharaoh went
down to the water; it may have been to worship, for the
Egyptians held the
better not assume it. It is sufficient to observe that
Pharaoh was led down
to the stream, to see it, the great benefactor of his land,
turned into a curse
(that is, if it was down to the
that the city of the Pharaohs was not on the
See Hunter’s ‘Life of Lord Mayo,’ vol. 1. p. 132).
ABOUT TO
HAPPEN. This warning is not peculiar to the first plague.
Warning is mentioned as having been given along with most of
the others,
and possibly it was given where it is not mentioned. But it
is of course a
thing to be specially noted that God did not
begin this succession of
disasters without due and
solemn warning. Not that there was any formal
appeal to Pharaoh. It rather seems to be taken for granted that an
appeal
will be of no use. But even though Pharaoh disregarded, it was a
good
thing to say beforehand what was about to happen. Moses
himself, and
Aaron, and all devout Israelites who had eyes to perceive,
could thus see
God’s plan opening out more and more. All information is
good that makes
us feel how God is working upon an
ascertained and settled plan.
elements that belong to life are thus put in sharp contrast.
Water is an
element scarcely less distributed than the air itself. It is
one of those
common blessings which are so common that we take them with
no
manner of doubt that we are perfectly sure of them, come
what may. The
importance of water is seen
by nothing more than by the frequent
references to it in
Scripture as illustrative of spiritual blessings. There is
water to drink; water to cleanse; water to fertilize
vegetation. This element
God takes, and all at once, over a wide stretch of
territory, turns it to
blood. Thus we see how He can make mere
natural things a blessing or a
curse according to his will. Water is a blessing, and blood
a blessing,
according to circumstances of time and place. There is suffering when
blood is where water ought to be; and equally there is suffering if water is
where blood ought to be. Here there was great suffering because blood
was where water was meant to be. When the people came for
water to
drink, to cook, to wash, to water plants, they found only
blood; and yet
that very blood was the same in its composition with the
liquid which
flowed incessantly through their own bodies. Their health
depended on its
richness, its purity, and the regularity of its flow. On the
other hand,
consider the poor man who came to Christ to be cured of the
dropsy
(Luke 14:2). He had to complain, not that blood was where water
ought to be, but that water was where blood ought to be. And
here we
claim that this miracle is not sufficiently explained by
saying that the water
was turned into something like blood. We must
take it that there was a
conversion of the water literally into blood. We are here just at the
beginning of a critical and
sublime exhibition of signs and wonders. Why,
then, needlessly make admissions which will diminish the
force of these?
Granting the supernatural at all, let us be ready to grant
it to the full where
the statements of the text require it. The Being who changed a rod to a
serpent could change, if
need were, THE WATERS OF THE WHOLE
GLOBE INTO BLOOD! (Reader,
if there is a problem with this, I
recommend Genesis 17 – El Shaddai
– Names of God by Nathan Stone –
this website – CY – 2017)
We should be careful not to admit, without
sufficient reason, anything to diminish the horrors of this
plague. What
a poor picture it presents to the imagination to think of
streams stained with
red earth or microscopic infusoria!
How much more impressive in every
way — how much more consistent with high conceptions of the
anger of
Jehovah, and of the punitive aspect of His power — to think
of blood, real
blood everywhere, “vast rolling streams, florid and
high-colored,” and
becoming after a while, a
stagnating, clotting, putrescent mass. Very fitly
does Matthew Henry remark on this plague: — “One of the
first miracles
Moses wrought was turning water into blood, but one of the
first miracles
our Lord Jesus wrought was turning water into wine; for the
law was given
by Moses, and it was a dispensation of death and terror; but
grace and truth,
which, like wine, make glad the heart, came by Jesus Christ.”
MAGICIANS. They also
were able, or seemed to be able, to turn water
into blood. There are, indeed, some difficulties in
understanding the nature
of their action here — whether it was mere trickery and
deception, or
whether God did allow water, as it passed through their
hands, to be
changed to blood. An understanding of these points is,
however, of
secondary importance. The thing of moment is to mark how unimpressed
the magicians themselves seem to have been with the terrible
spectacle
presented to them. It was not for Pharaoh only to take heed
to this river of
blood; the intimation was for them also. But they clung, as
privileged men
almost always do cling, to their position and influence. Not
only was
Pharaoh’s kingdom in danger, but their standing as the
professed agents of
supernatural powers. They went on, vainly contending against this new
manifestation of power, though surely in their hearts they
must have felt it
was destined to prevail And their conduct was made worse by
the fact that
they were pursuing it in the
midst of general suffering.
for? Surely to give Pharaoh time — time to consider the
miracle in all its
bearings, and get over the rashness and
pride which prompted his first
thoughts of continued
resistance. We know not if, during these seven days,
the river slowly returned to its natural state. Perhaps
there was no sharp
dividing line between the plagues; one may have come on as
another faded
away. Seven days, then, were given to
Pharaoh to change his mind; but it is
very hard for a man, even in seven days, to say he has been
utterly wrong.
And then there is the success of these magicians to keep him
astray. Yet
what was there in them to give satisfaction? It seemed they
could do the
same thing which Moses was doing, viz. change water into
blood. If
only
they could have changed blood into water again, then they might have
been of
some use and comfort to Pharaoh.
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