MORE PLAGUES ARE SENT UPON PHARAOH AND THE PEOPLE OF EGYPT: AFTERWARD THEY LET THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GO. THE ISRAELITES ARE COMMANDED TO KEEP THE FEAST OF THE PASSOVER.
AND the Lord commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh, that if he would not let the people go, frogs should come over all the land. And Pharaoh would not let them go. Then God said that Aaron should hold out his rod over the waters of Egypt. And when Aaron held it out, the frogs came up out of the waters, so many of them that they covered the land. They went into the houses of the Egyptians, into their ovens, and into their kneading-troughs where they made their bread; they went into Pharaoh's house, and up into his bed-chamber and on his bed. And Pharaoh's servants, the magicians, also brought up frogs, for God allowed them once more to do as Aaron had done. But Pharaoh and the people of Egypt, were in great trouble because of the frogs; and he called for Moses and Aaron, and asked them to pray to God that he would take the frogs away; then, Pharaoh said, he would let the people go to sacrifice in the wilderness. Moses said, When shall I pray for thee? Pharaoh answered, To-morrow. And Moses and Aaron went out from the place where Pharaoh was. Afterward Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did as he asked; the frogs that were in the houses, the villages, and the fields, died, and the people gathered them in heaps, and the smell of their decaying bodies was all over the land. But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were dead, he would not let the children of Israel go.
Then the Lord commanded Aaron to strike the dust on the ground with his rod. And when Aaron had done so, the dust was changed into very small insects, or creeping things, called lice, that crept on the people and on the cattle. And Pharaoh's servants, the magicians, tried to bring up lice, but they could not, because God would not let them do as Aaron had done, any more. Then they told Pharaoh that it was God who did these things for Moses and Aaron; but Pharaoh's heart was wicked, and he would not listen to them, neither would he let the people go.
And the Lord told Moses to rise up early in the morning, and stand where he would see Pharaoh when he came out to the water. There, the Lord said, Moses should command him again to let the people go, and if he disobeyed, should tell him, that the Lord would send swarms of flies over all Egypt. And Moses did as the Lord commanded, yet Pharaoh would not let the people go. Then the Lord sent swarms of flies, and they came over all the land. They crept on Pharaoh, and on his servants, and on the people; they went into their houses, so that the houses of the Egyptians were full of swarms of flies, and the ground was covered with them. But in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, there was none, for the Lord did not send them there.
Then Pharaoh was troubled because of the flies as he had been because of the frogs. And he called Moses and Aaron to him, and told them they might offer sacrifices to their God, but that they must not go into the wilderness to do it; they must do it in Egypt. But Moses asked him whether the Egyptians would not be offended if the children of Israel should offer sacrifices in Egypt; for the Egyptians used to worship idols that were formed like oxen and calves, and if they had seen the children of Israel killing those animals and burning them on the altar, they might have been angry and tried to kill the people. Moses told Pharaoh they would go three days' journey into the wilderness, where no one could harm them, and there they would offer sacrifices to the Lord, as he should command them.
Then Pharaoh said he would let them go, only they must not go very far. And he asked Moses to pray for him, that the flies might be taken from the land. Moses said he would pray that they might be taken away on the morrow, but he told Pharaoh not to deceive them any more by refusing to let the people go. Then Moses went and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord took away the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people, so that there was not one left. When Pharaoh saw that the flies were taken away, he made his heart wicked this time also, and would not let the people go.
And the Lord commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh that if he would not let the children of Israel go, the Lord would send, on the morrow, a great sickness to destroy the cattle of Egypt, but that he would not send it among the cattle of the children of Israel, for none of them should die. And Moses told Pharaoh this, yet he would not let the people go. Then the Lord sent that sickness; and the cows, the horses, the asses, the camels, and the sheep, died all over the land. But not one of the cattle of the children of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent to see if any of their cattle were dead; when he found they were not, his heart grew more wicked, and he would not let the people go.
And the Lord told Moses and Aaron to take handfuls of ashes from a furnace, where fire had been burning, and to sprinkle them up in the air so that Pharaoh could see them doing it. And those ashes, the Lord said, should go like dust over all the land, and cause sore boils to come on the men and on the animals that were still left in Egypt. So Moses took ashes and stood before Pharaoh, and sprinkled them up in the air; afterward boils broke out on men and on beasts over all the land. And the magicians could not come to try and do as Moses had done, for the boils were on them also. But Pharaoh's heart was still wicked, and he would not let the people go.
And the Lord commanded Moses to rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say, that on the morrow he would send a great storm of hail, such as had never been in Egypt And Moses was to tell Pharaoh to bring into his barns all his cattle from the fields, for every man and beast that should be out in the storm would be killed. And Moses did so. Then those Egyptians who feared the Lord, made their servants and their cattle come quickly into the houses and barns, where the hail could not hurt them; but the others let them stay out in the field.
And the Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven, that the hail might come. And he stretched it out, holding up his rod; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and there was fire running along on the ground. So there was hail, and fire mixed with the hail, very dreadful, such as had never before been in the land. The hail came down on the fields, killing the men and the animals that were there, and it broke the bushes, and every tree that was growing in the field. And all the grain that was grown up, was broken and spoiled by the hail. But some of it was not yet grown up above the ground; this was not spoiled..Yet in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel lived, no hail came.
Then Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned; the Lord is good, and I and my people are wicked. Pray to the Lord that he may take away the mighty thunder and hail, and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer. Moses answered that as soon as he should go out of the city he would pray to the Lord, and the thunder should cease and there should be no more hail. Yet, he said, he knew that Pharaoh and his servants would not obey the Lord. And Moses went out from Pharaoh into the terrible storm; but God kept the hail and fire from harming him. And when he had gone out of the city, he lifted up his hands and prayed to God, and the thunders ceased, and the hail came down no more. Then, when Pharaoh saw that they had ceased, he made his heart still more hard and obstinate, both he and his servants, and they would not let the people go.
And Moses and Aaron came to him again, saying, that if he would not obey the Lord, on the morrow the locusts should come into his land. Now Pharaoh's servants were afraid to be punished any more. They remembered when the river was turned into blood, so that they had no water to drink. They remembered, also, the frogs, and the lice, and the flies; the sickness of the cattle, the boils, and the hail, which had been sent into Egypt already. Therefore they begged Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, that no more punishments might be sent upon them. Then Moses and Aaron were brought before Pharaoh, and he said to them, Go, serve the Lord your God; but who are they that shall go? Moses answered, that all the children of Israel would go—the young and the old, with their sons and their daughters, their flocks and their herds; for they must hold a feast to the Lord. But Pharaoh said that only the men might go—the women and children must stay in Egypt, And Moses and Aaron were driven away from the place where they talked with Pharaoh.
And the Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand for the locusts to come. Then Moses took the rod and held it out; and the Lord made an east wind to blow on the land all that day and all that night, and in the morning the wind brought the locusts. They went up over all the land of Egypt, and covered the ground so that it could not be seen for them. They filled Pharaoh's house, and the houses of his servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians. They ate up the fruits which the hail had left, and every green thing, until there was not a leaf to be seen, on the bushes or on the trees, through all the land.
Then Pharaoh made haste to call for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have sinned against the Lord and against you. And he asked Moses to forgive him, only this once, and to pray that God would take away the locusts. And Moses went out and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord sent a very strong west wind, which blew away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea, where they were drowned, so that there was not one locust left in all Egypt. But when Pharaoh saw that the locusts were taken away, he would not let the people go.
And the Lord commanded Moses to hold up his hand toward heaven, that it might be dark in the land. And Moses held up his hand, and there came a great darkness over all Egypt, so that the Egyptians could not see one another, nor move from the places they were in, for three days. But in the houses of the children of Israel there was light. Then Pharaoh called for Moses, and said, Go, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds stay. Let your little children go with you. But Moses told him their flocks and their herds must go also, that they might have sacrifices and burnt offerings, for they did not know how many they would need till they should come into the wilderness. The Lord would tell them there what animals they must kill and offer up to him. But when Moses said this, Pharaoh would not let the people go; and he told Moses to leave him and come before him no more, for if he should see his face again, Moses should surely be put to death.
Then Moses told Pharaoh of one more punishment; he said, that the Lord himself was coming into Egypt; he would come, Moses said, about the middle of the night, and would cause the oldest son in every house to die. Pharaoh's oldest son and the oldest sons of all his servants, should die on that dreadful night, and there would be a great cry of trouble and grief over all the land, such as had never been before and would never be again. But not even a dog should harm one of the children of Israel. None of their sons should die, so that Pharaoh might know that he and his people were the ones whom the Lord intended to punish, and not the children of Israel. After this punishment, Moses said, the Egyptians would come and bow down to him, and beg him to take the people and go out of the land. And when Moses, when he had told Pharaoh this, he went out from him in great anger.
And the Lord commanded the Israelites, both the men and the women, to ask the Egyptians for their jewels of silver and their jewels of gold; their necklaces and earrings, and whatever ornaments they wore; and when the children of Israel did so, the Lord made the Egyptians willing to give them a great many of these things.
And the Lord told Moses and Aaron, that every man among the children of Israel should take a lamb from the flock, and keep it four days. Afterward he was to kill it in the evening. And he was to take a bunch of a plant called hyssop, and to dip it in the blood of the lamb. Then he was to go to the door of his house, and strike the hyssop upon each side of the door, and over it, so that there would be three marks of blood outside of every house where the children of Israel lived. When the man had done this, he was to go into the house again, and no one was to come out of it until morning.
And the lamb which had been killed was to be roasted with fire, and all the persons in the house were to eat of it that night. This is the way they were to eat of it—with their clothes girded around them, their shoes on their feet and their staves in their hands, all ready to go out of Egypt. They were to make haste while they ate of it; because the Lord would go through the land that night, and would cause the oldest sons of all the Egyptians to die, so that Pharaoh and his people should let the children of Israel go. But he promised that, when he should see the marks of the blood on the houses where the children of Israel lived, he would pass over those houses, and not harm any one in them. Therefore the supper of the lamb, which the children of Israel ate that night, was called the Lord's passover. And the Lord commanded them, at this supper, and for seven days afterward, to eat only one kind of bread. It was called unleavened bread, because there was no leaven, or yeast, in it.
And Moses called the elders of the children of Israel to him, and told them what the Lord had said, and the elders told the people. Then every man took his lamb, and kept it four days. Afterward he killed it in the evening, and dipped the bunch of hyssop in its blood, and struck the wood outside of his door, so that there were three marks of blood on every house where the children of Israel lived. And those who were in the house, ate of the lamb that night; they ate of it with their clothes girded around them, with their shoes on their feet, and with their staves in their hands, all ready to go out of Egypt.
And that same night, in the middle of the night, the Lord passed through the land. And wherever he saw the marks of the blood on a house, he passed over that house and did no harm to any ono in it. But on the houses of the Egyptians there were no marks of blood, and the Lord sent his destroying angel into every Egyptian's house, and caused the oldest son there to die. Pharaoh's son and the sons of his servants died. And the king rose up in the night, and all his people, and there was a great cry of distress through all the land, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and told them to go out of Egypt and to take all the children of Israel with them. He said, Take your flocks and your herds, and be gone. And the Egyptians begged them to go, and to go quickly, for they were afraid that the Lord would cause them all to die. And the children of Israel went, carrying their clothes bound up with their kneading troughs on their shoulders. And the Egyptians gave them jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment also, so they went out with great riches. And many other persons who were not Israelites went with them.
We have read in the book of Genesis, where God told Abraham that his descendants should live in a strange land for many years, and that the people there would treat them cruelly. Yet God said he would punish the people who treated them so, and afterward would bring the children of Israel out of that land with great riches. It had been more than four hundred years since God spoke those words to Abraham, but now he made them come true.
The lamb which the children of Israel killed at the supper of the passover, was like the lamb which Abel offered up on the altar. We have read how Abel's lamb meant, or represented, the Saviour. So this passover lamb represented him. The passover lamb died for the people, and the Saviour was coming, after many years, to die for them. When the Lord came into Egypt in the night, he did not punish those who had the marks of the lamb's blood on their houses. And when he shall come to the earth on the Judgment day, he will not punish those who have the marks of the Saviour's blood on their hearts, that is, whose hearts have been cleansed from sin by his blood. Ill