Aaron, being instructed by angels, went forth to meet his brother amid the desert solitudes near Horeb. Here Moses told Aaron “all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him.” Exodus 4:28. Together they journeyed to Egypt to assemble the elders of Israel. “The people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” Exodus 4:31.
(EP 176.1)
With a message for the king, the two brothers entered the palace of the Pharaohs as ambassadors from the King of kings: “Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.”
(EP 176.2)
“Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” demanded the monarch; “I know no Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go.”
(EP 176.3)
Their answer was, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
(EP 176.4)
The king’s anger was kindled. “Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let [hinder] the people from their works?” he said. “Get you unto your burdens.” Already the kingdom had suffered loss by the interference of these strangers. At thought of this he added, “Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.”
(EP 176.5)
In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God’s law, and the Sabbath had been generally disregarded. The exactions of their taskmasters made its observance apparently impossible. But Moses had shown his people that obedience to God was the condition of deliverance; and the efforts made to restore the observance of the Sabbath had come to the notice of their oppressors. (See Appendix, Note 1.)
(EP 177.1)
The king, thoroughly roused, suspected the Israelites of a design to revolt from his service. He would see that no time was left them for dangerous scheming. And he at once adopted measures to tighten their bonds and crush their independent spirit. The most common building material was sun-dried brick; and the manufacture of brick employed great numbers of the bondmen. Cut straw being intermixed with the clay to hold it together, large quantities were required. The king now directed that no more straw be furnished; the laborers must find it for themselves, while the same amount of brick should be exacted.
(EP 177.2)
The Egyptian taskmasters appointed Hebrew officers to oversee the work. When the requirement of the king was put in force, the people scattered to gather stubble instead of straw; but they found it impossible to accomplish the usual amount of labor. For this failure the Hebrew officers were cruelly beaten.
(EP 177.3)
These officers went to the king with their grievances. Their remonstrance was met by Pharaoh with a taunt: “Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.” They were ordered back to their work; their burdens were in no case to be lightened. Returning, they met Moses and Aaron, and cried out to them, “The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”
(EP 177.4)
Moses was distressed. The sufferings of the people had been increased. All over the land a cry of despair went up from old and young. All united in charging upon him the disastrous change in their condition. In bitterness of soul he went before God. “Lord, wherefore hast Thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that Thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.”
(EP 178.1)
The answer was, “Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.”
(EP 178.2)
The elders of Israel endeavored to sustain the sinking faith of their brethren by repeating the promises made to their fathers and the prophetic words of Joseph foretelling their deliverance from Egypt. Some would listen and believe. Others refused to hope. The Egyptians, informed of what was reported among their bondmen, derided their expectations and scornfully denied the power of their God. They tauntingly said, “If your God is just and merciful and possesses power above that of the Egyptian gods, why does He not make you a free people?” They worshiped deities termed by the Israelites false gods, yet they were a rich and powerful nation. Their gods had blessed them with prosperity and had given them the Israelites as servants. Pharaoh himself boasted that the God of the Hebrews could not deliver them from his hand.
(EP 178.3)
Words like these destroyed the hopes of many of the Israelites. True, they were slaves. Their children had been slain, and their own lives were a burden. Yet they were worshiping the God of heaven. Surely He would not thus leave them in bondage to idolaters. But those who were true to God understood that it was because of Israel’s departure from Him, because of their disposition to marry with heathen nations, thus being led into idolatry, that the Lord had permitted them to become bondmen. They confidently assured their brethren that He would soon break the yoke of the oppressor.
(EP 178.4)
But the Hebrews were not yet prepared for deliverance. They had little faith in God. Many were content to remain in bondage rather than meet the difficulties attending removal to a strange land; and the habits of some had become so much like those of the Egyptians that they preferred to dwell in Egypt. Therefore the Lord overruled events more fully to develop the tyrannical spirit of the Egyptian king and also to reveal Himself to His people. The task of Moses would have been much less difficult had not many of the Israelites become so corrupted that they were unwilling to leave Egypt. Says the Scripture, “They hearkened not ... for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.”
(EP 179.1)
Again the divine message came to Moses, “Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.” In discouragement he replied, “Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me?” He was told to take Aaron with him, and go before Pharaoh, and again demand “that he send the children of Israel out of his land.”
(EP 179.2)
He was informed that the monarch would not yield until God should visit judgments upon Egypt and bring out Israel by the signal manifestation of His power. Before the infliction of each plague, Moses was to describe its nature and effects, that the king might save himself from it if he chose. Every punishment rejected would be followed by one more severe, until his proud heart would be humbled, and he would acknowledge the Maker of heaven and earth as the true and living God. The Lord would punish the people of Egypt for their idolatry and silence their boasting, that other nations might tremble at His mighty acts, and that His people might be led to turn from idolatry and render Him pure worship.
(EP 179.3)
Again Moses and Aaron entered the lordly halls of the king of Egypt. There, surrounded by lofty columns and glittering adornments, by the rich paintings and sculptured images of heathen gods, stood the two representatives of the enslaved race. The king demanded a miracle in evidence of their divine commission. Aaron now took the rod and cast it down before Pharaoh. It became a serpent. The monarch sent for his “wise men and the sorcerers,” who “cast down every man his rod and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” The king, more determined than before, declared his magicians equal in power with Moses and Aaron. He denounced the servants of the Lord as impostors, yet was restrained by divine power from doing them harm.
(EP 179.4)
The magicians did not really cause their rods to become serpents; but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, they were able to produce this appearance. The prince of evil, though possessing all the wisdom and might of an angel fallen, has not power to create or to give life; this is the prerogative of God alone. But he produced a counterfeit.
(EP 180.1)
To human sight the rods were changed to serpents. Such they were believed to be by Pharaoh and his court. Though the Lord caused the real serpent to swallow up the spurious ones, this was regarded by Pharaoh not as a work of God’s power, but as the result of a kind of superior magic.
(EP 180.2)
Pharaoh was seeking some pretext for disregarding the miracles that God had wrought through Moses. Satan gave him just what he wanted. He made it appear that Moses and Aaron were only magicians and sorcerers and that the message they brought could not claim respect as coming from a superior being. Thus Satan’s counterfeit caused Pharaoh to harden his heart against conviction. Satan hoped also to shake the faith of Moses and Aaron.
(EP 180.3)
The prince of evil well knew that Moses prefigured Christ, who was to break the reign of sin over the human family. He knew that when Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be an evidence to the world that God had sent Him. By counterfeiting the work of God through Moses, Satan hoped not only to prevent the deliverance of Israel, but through future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ by making them appear to be the result of human power.
(EP 180.4)
Moses and Aaron were directed to visit the riverside next morning. The overflowing of the Nile being the source of food and wealth for all Egypt, the river was worshiped as a god, and the monarch came thither daily to pay his devotions. The two brothers again repeated the message to him and then stretched out the rod and smote upon the water. The sacred stream ran blood, the fish died, and the river became offensive to the smell. The water in the houses, the supply in the cisterns was likewise changed to blood. But “the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments,” and “Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.” For seven days the plague continued, but without effect.
(EP 181.1)
Again the rod was stretched out, and frogs came up from the river. They overran the houses, took possession of the bedchambers, and even the ovens and kneading troughs. The frog was regarded as sacred by the Egyptians, and they would not destroy it; but the slimy pests now swarmed even in the palace of the Pharaohs, and the king was impatient to have them removed. The magicians had appeared to produce frogs, but they could not remove them.
(EP 181.2)
Upon seeing this, Pharaoh was somewhat humbled. He sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord.” They requested him to appoint a time when they should pray for the removal of the plague. He set the next day, secretly hoping the frogs might disappear of themselves and thus save him from the bitter humiliation of submitting to the God of Israel. The plague, however, continued till the time specified, when throughout all Egypt the frogs died. But their putrid bodies, which remained, polluted the atmosphere.
(EP 181.3)
The Lord could have caused them to return to dust in a moment; but He did not do this, lest the king and his people should pronounce it the result of enchantment like the work of the magicians. The frogs died and were then gathered together in heaps, evidence that this work was not accomplished by magic but was a judgment from the God of heaven.
(EP 182.1)
“When Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart.” At the command of God, Aaron stretched out his hand, and the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh called upon the magicians to do the same, but they could not. The magicians acknowledged, “This is the finger of God.” But the king was still unmoved.
(EP 182.2)
Another judgment was inflicted. Flies filled the houses, so that “the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.” These flies were large and venomous, and their bite was extremely painful. As foretold, this visitation did not extend to the land of Goshen.
(EP 182.3)
Pharaoh now offered the Israelites permission to sacrifice in Egypt, but they refused. “It is not meet,” said Moses. “Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?” The animals which the Hebrews would be required to sacrifice were among those regarded as sacred by the Egyptians. To slay one even accidentally was a crime punishable with death.
(EP 182.4)
Moses again proposed to go three days’ journey into the wilderness. The monarch consented and begged the servants of God to entreat that the plague might be removed. They promised to do this but warned him against dealing deceitfully with them. The plague was stayed, but the king’s heart had become hardened by persistent rebellion, and he still refused to yield.
(EP 182.5)
A more terrible stroke followed—murrain upon all the Egyptian cattle. Both the sacred animals and the beasts of burden—kine and oxen and sheep, horses and camels and asses—were destroyed. It had been distinctly stated that the Hebrews were to be exempt; and Pharaoh, on sending messengers to the home of the Israelites, proved the truth of this. “Of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.” Still the king was obstinate.
(EP 183.1)
Moses was next directed to take ashes of the furnace and “sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh.” The fine particles spread over the land of Egypt, and wherever they settled, produced boils “breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.” The priests and magicians had encouraged Pharaoh in his stubbornness, but now a judgment had reached even them. Smitten with a loathsome and painful disease, they were no longer able to contend against the God of Israel. The magicians were not able to protect even their own persons.
(EP 183.2)
Still the heart of Pharaoh grew harder. And now the Lord sent a message to him, “I will at this time send all My plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth... . And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power.” God’s providence had overruled events to place him upon the throne at the very time appointed for Israel’s deliverance.
(EP 183.3)
Though this haughty tyrant had forfeited the mercy of God, his life had been preserved that through his stubbornness the Lord might manifest His wonders in Egypt. God’s people were permitted to experience the grinding cruelty of the Egyptians, that they might not be deceived concerning the debasing influence of idolatry. In His dealing with Pharaoh, the Lord manifested His hatred of idolatry and His determination to punish cruelty and oppression.
(EP 183.4)
God had declared concerning Pharaoh, “I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.” Exodus 4:21. There was no exercise of supernatural power to harden the heart of the king, but the seeds of rebellion that he sowed when he rejected the first miracle produced their harvest. As he continued to venture from one degree of stubbornness to another, his heart became more and more hardened, until he was called to look upon the cold, dead faces of the firstborn.
(EP 184.1)
God speaks to men through His servants, rebuking sin. If one refuses to be corrected, divine power does not interpose to counteract the tendency of his own action. He is hardening the heart against the influence of the Holy Spirit.
(EP 184.2)
He who has once yielded to temptation will yield more readily the second time. Every repetition lessens his power of resistance, blinds his eyes, and stifles conviction. God works no miracle to prevent the harvest. “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7. It is thus that multitudes come to listen with stoical indifference to the truths that once stirred their souls. They sowed neglect and resistance to the truth, and such is the harvest they reap.
(EP 184.3)
Those who quiet a guilty conscience with the thought that they can change a course of evil when they choose, think that after casting their influence on the side of the great rebel, when danger compasses them about they will change leaders. But this is not easily done. A life of sinful indulgence has so molded the character that they cannot then receive the image of Jesus. Had no light shone upon their pathway, mercy might interpose; but after light has been long despised, it will be finally withdrawn.
(EP 184.4)
A plague of hail was next threatened upon Pharaoh. “Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, ... for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, ... and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die.” Such a storm as was foretold had never been witnessed. The report spread rapidly, and all who believed the word of the Lord gathered in their cattle, while those who despised the warning left them in the field. Thus in the midst of judgment the mercy of God was displayed, and it was shown how many had been led to fear God.
(EP 184.5)
The storm came, thunder and hail and fire mingled with it, “very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Ruin and desolation marked the path of the destroying angel. The land of Goshen alone was spared.
(EP 185.1)
All Egypt trembled before the divine judgment. Pharaoh hastily sent for the two brothers: “I have sinned this time: the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go, and ye shall stay no longer.”
(EP 185.2)
Moses knew that the contest was not ended. Pharaoh’s confessions and promises were not the effect of any radical change in his mind but were wrung from him by terror and anguish. Moses promised, however, to grant his request, for he would give him no occasion for further stubbornness. The prophet went forth, unheeding the fury of the tempest, and Pharaoh and all his host were witnesses to the power of Jehovah to preserve His messenger. Moses “spread abroad his hands unto the Lord: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth.” But no sooner had the king recovered from his fears than his heart returned to its perversity.
(EP 185.3)
Then the Lord would give unmistakable evidence of the difference He placed between Israel and the Egyptians and would cause all nations to know that the Hebrews were under the protection of the God of heaven. Moses warned the monarch that a plague of locusts would be sent, which would cover the earth and eat up every green thing that remained; they would fill the houses, even the palace itself; such a scourge, he said, as “neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day.”
(EP 186.1)
The counselors of Pharaoh stood aghast. The nation had sustained great loss in the death of the cattle. Many of the people had been killed by the hail. The forests were broken down and the crops destroyed. They were fast losing all that had been gained by the labor of the Hebrews. The whole land was threatened with starvation. Princes and courtiers pressed about the king and demanded, “How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?”
(EP 186.2)
Moses and Aaron were again summoned, and the monarch said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go?”
(EP 186.3)
The answer was, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.”
(EP 186.4)
The king was filled with rage. He cried, “Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.” Pharaoh pretended to have deep interest in their welfare and a tender care for their little ones, but his real object was to keep the women and children as surety for the return of the men.
(EP 186.5)
Moses now stretched forth his rod over the land, and an east wind brought locusts “Very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.” They filled the sky till the land was darkened, and devoured every green thing remaining.
(EP 186.6)
Pharaoh sent for the prophet in haste, and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you... . Entreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.” They did so, and a strong west wind carried away the locusts toward the Red Sea. Still the king persisted in his stubborn resolution.
(EP 187.1)
The people of Egypt were ready to despair, and they were filled with fear for the future. The nation had worshiped Pharaoh as a representative of their god; but many were now convinced that he was opposing himself to One who made all the powers of nature the ministers of His will. The Hebrew slaves were becoming confident of deliverance. Throughout Egypt there was a secret fear that the enslaved race would rise and avenge their wrongs. Everywhere men were asking, What will come next?
(EP 187.2)
Suddenly a darkness settled upon the land, so thick and black that it seemed a “darkness which may be felt.” Breathing was difficult. “They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” The sun and moon were objects of worship to the Egyptians. In this mysterious darkness the people and their gods alike were smitten. (See Appendix, Note 2.) Yet fearful as it was, this judgment is an evidence of God’s compassion and unwillingness to destroy. He would give the people time for reflection and repentance before bringing upon them the last and most terrible of the plagues.
(EP 187.3)
At the end of the third day of darkness Pharaoh summoned Moses and consented to the departure of the people, provided the flocks and herds were permitted to remain. “There shall not a hoof be left behind,” replied the resolute Hebrew. The king’s anger burst forth beyond control. “Get thee from me,” he cried, “take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die.”
(EP 187.4)
The answer was, “Thou hast spoken well; I will see thy face again no more.”
(EP 188.1)
The man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. The king dared not harm him, for the people looked upon him as alone possessing power to remove the plagues. They desired that the Israelites might be permitted to leave Egypt. It was the king and the priests that opposed to the last the demands of Moses.
(EP 188.2)