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Moses and Aaron went together to
the king, another Pharaoh, who was now reigning in Egypt, and said,
"The Lord commands thee to let the Israelites go." But
Pharaoh answered, "I do not know the Lord; and I will not let them
go." Then the king told the Israelites' masters to give them
more work, and the poor people were not able to finish their hard tasks in
making brick; and their cruel masters beat them, and said, "You are
idle; fulfil your work, your daily tasks." The Israelites cried
to Moses, and Moses went to God, and told Him all his sorrow. God
knew all; His eye was upon them, and very soon He would deliver them, and
He said, "I have heard their groaning, I remember my covenant with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and I will bring my people to Canaan as I
have promised." Moses
was now eighty years old; but he was not weak and feeble, as many old men
are; he was strong and powerful. God made him so, because there was
much for Moses to do before he died. It is God who gives us all our
health and strength; and if we are well and strong, we must not be
idle. There is much for us all to do; and we must use our health and
strength for God. "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with
thy might." Ecclesiastes 9:10. God
now gave Moses and Aaron power to do wonders, and to work miracles before
Pharaoh. They went to the king; and Aaron threw down his rod before
him, and it became a serpent. But Pharaoh called his wise men, and
told them to try to do the same; and they did so with their
enchantments. Had they power to work miracles? No; perhaps
they might have learned to tame serpents, so as to make them look like
rods in their hands; and then they might have thrown them down, as Aaron
did, and thus pretended to work a miracle. But God made Aaron's rod
swallow up their rods. Pharaoh did not care for this, nor did he
obey the command to let Israel go; and then God said, He would punish
Pharaoh, by turning his river into blood. The
river Nile is very useful in Egypt; no rain falls there to water the
ground; but in the summer, the river rises, and overflows the country, and
makes the land soft, and then the people sow their seed, and the grass and
corn soon spring up. Did Pharaoh and the Egyptians thank God, who
gave them the Nile to water their land? No, the Egyptians forgot
God; they made their river a god, and worshiped it, and sacrificed to
it. But the Nile had no power to make the country fruitful; it was
God who made it, and who swelled up its waters, and watered the land; and
now He determined to punish and humble the Egyptians, and to turn their
river god into blood. God
did as He said. He told Moses to go and stretch his rod over the
waters; and directly he did so, all became blood. The ponds, and the
water in the vessels, and the beautiful river, all were blood. The
fish died; the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river; and their
river god could not help them now. Did they repent, and ask God to
forgive them? No; and therefore God sent a new punishment upon
them. He told Moses again to stretch out his hand over the river;
and a very, very great number of frogs came up, and covered all the
land. The frogs came into the houses, and beds, and ovens; and
wherever the Egyptians went, they found them. Pharaoh sent for Moses
and Aaron, and said, "Intreat God to take way the frogs, and I will
obey Him, and let Israel go." So Moses prayed, and God heard
his prayer, and made all the frogs die. And did Pharaoh send the
Israelites away? No; when the plague was gone, Pharaoh was
disobedient again, and he would not attend to what Moses and Aaron
said. God was merciful to take away the plague, and He would have
forgiven Pharaoh, if he had prayed humbly; but he did not, so God punished
the wicked king again. He told Moses to stretch his rod over the
dust, and it became lice upon the people, and upon the animals. The
wicked magicians tried to do the same; but they could not, though they had
imitated the other miracles; they had no power, and they confessed this,
and said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God;" but the king
did not attend to them. The
next morning, the Lord sent Moses to say to Pharaoh, "Let the people
go; for if thou wilt not, I will send flies upon thee, and upon all thy
people; but I will send no flies upon my people, the
Israelites." The flies came; and wasps, and biting and stinging
insects, very many; but none came to hurt the Israelites. The
Egyptians had a god, called the god of flies; but he could not help them
now. Then Pharaoh begged again that God would take away the flies,
and promised to let Israel go; and God took them away; but still Pharaoh
would not obey.
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