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When the destroying angel flew
through Egypt, and came to the palace, and killed Pharaoh's eldest son,
the king was very much frightened. He called for Moses and Aaron in
the night, and said, "Rise up, you, and the Israelites, and their
children, and the flocks, and herds, and be gone." And the
Egyptians gave to the Israelites all they asked for; gold, and silver, and
clothes; and the Israelites made haste, and took up their things, and put
them upon their shoulders, and hurried away to Succoth. How
many were there? 600,000 men, and many women and children, and very
much cattle. When Jacob and his family came into Egypt many years
before, they were only seventy people. God had blessed and
multiplied them very much; their cruel masters in Egypt could not destroy
them, because God had promised to take care of them, and to bring them
home to Canaan again. Many hundred years before, God had said to
Abraham, "Thy children shall go to a strange country, and be
afflicted 400 years, and then I will bring them back to
Canaan." And so it was. Jacob and his children went to
Egypt; they died; and their children, and their children's children, for
many generations, stayed there in sorrow, with cruel kings to reign over
them. But God did not forget them. He knew the right time; and
when the 400 years were over, then He sent Moses and Aaron, and gave them
power to do wonders, and brought away His people in safety. How
wonderful and how wise is God! He knows all things, sees all things,
does all things. He knows the present, and the past, and the future;
and He does all things rightly. Then let us love, and fear, and
trust in this good, and wise, and holy, and powerful God; for He will do
for His people every thing that is good for them.
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