The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-07-30

resfer.--Photo by Oscar V. Hunt, WI
upon them that the plaques necessary
for the deliverance of the Hebrews were
doubtless a full compensation of justice
upon the Egyptians, equivalent to the
injustices which they had practiced.
Truthful is the proverb which says,
He who sins SUFFERS just recon-
pense, somehow. sometime.
From one point of view, the pla agues
were miraculous; not so from another.
| We are apt to style everything beyond
our own experiences as miraculous, and
! everything within our range as natur-
al On the other hand, from Gods stand
| point nothing is miraculous. AS we be-
come familiar with the laws of nature,
and discern how the Almighty has ac-
eomplished things which once we called
miraculous, it should not lessen our re-
| spect for the wonder itself, or for the
| One who by His own wisdom pro-
| duced it.
Applying this principle to our study
| we find that the plaques upon Egypt
can be accounted for reasona bly, They
| are supposed to have covered a period
| of 10 months. Evidently they were part
| of contest between the gods of Egypt
|
The Pharaohs claimed to be the rep
resentatives of the sun god; while the
Hebrews worshiped the great, unmani-
Tested Jehovah. When Moses by divine
direction appeared before Pharaoh, and
told him that the God of the Hebrews
sent him word that the Israeltes were
to go out of Egypt to worship Him.
Pharaoh derisively inquired who is
this God of the Hebrews?"
Moses was instructed to give certain
signs by which his authority as Gods
representative would be recognized. One
of these was to cast his staff upon the
ground, and it would become a serpent
Pharaoh's magicians. did likewise. Some
have surmised that they performed a
trick said to be common in India
hypnotizing a serpent and making it
rigid in catalepsy so that it would ap-
pear like staff; but when released
| from the hypnosis, 1t would manifest
! itself as serpent
We are not sure, however, that the
magicians did not do more than this;
for the other Implications of Moses
work cannot be accounted for on the
! basis of deception. According to scrip
| ture, there are but two sources of oc-
cult power-Divine and satanic. I'm
questionably God has for centuries per-
mitted Satan and the fallen angels,
called demons, to exercise great power.
In no other way can psychic phenomena
be accounted for. We are not charging
| spirit mediums with knowingly being
| the servants of the evil spirits who
| personate the dead. Rather, we are ex-
! cusng them as thoroughly deceived
| blind leaders of the blind, bringing
mankind under the power of these evil
spirits, and rapidly increasing the num-
Der of the insane, who already number
one out of every hundred adults
Waters Turned Into Blood
1t is supposed that the plaques be-
| gan in June and ended the following
March. The first the turning of the wa
| ters into blood, was almost as miracu-
| lous as our Lords turning water into
wine. Undoubtedly the process by which
God exercised His power is simple, If
only we knew how. More and more our
chemists are learning some of the se-
crets of nature.
| Travellers tell us that in early spring
the Nile is as red as blood. This color is
produced by micro organisms in the wa
| ter. If this were Gods method of turn
ing the waters into blood, the miracle
, would consist in Moses ability to ef-
feet the change suddenly, and to
| abate it,
| The second declaration of Jehovah's s
authority in commanding the release of
|
frogs. Pharaoh's magicians were able
to duplicate the first two plaques, but
| merely added to the difficulty; for they
could not take the frogs away. Pha-
raoh was obliged to appeal to Moses
| for relief; but when respite came, he
still held to the injustice of slavery
| The third plague was lice. Dr. Mer-
! rims says: The word lice probably
means dust ticks. so common in Egypt.
At certain seasons, it seems as if the
very dust were turned into lice. The
/ decaying heaps of frogs would inevi-
tably be the breeding place of innumer-
able insects.
| The plague of flies was of various
kinds-gnate. mosquitoes, house and
| cattle flies. The poor Egyptians suf-
| fered a just retribution, in offset to
their own injustice. Pharaoh relented,
declaring, Il will let Israel go. but not
| far away" But when Gods mercy took
away the plague, ne again doubted that
| their experiences were from the Lord.
and refused 10 let Israel go.
| The cattle plague followed--a disease
much resembling the Russian epizootic.
which some yaars ago spread disease
and death among cattle. Then came the
plague of ulcers Imagine the nation,
from Pharaoh to his humblest servant.
afflicted with distressing carbuncles!
| The seventh plague was a cyclone,
| hail and flaming fire. Their crops were
destroyed The eighth plague was one of
locusts probably resembling the plague
of grasshoppers which some years ago
devastated Kansas and Nebraska Pha-
raoh confessed his sin and asked for
| giveness. Yet, when the danger was
passed, he again resisted the Lords
! way.
| The ninth plague was one of dark
ness, probably resembling the London
fogs, in which lights are ~of little avail
and which bring business to a stand
still. This darkness may have been pro-
duced by dust in the air, as some be-
lieve, or in thousand other ways that
| the Almighty might choose Yet Goshen,
where the Israelites dwelt, was exempt;
another proof that Pharaoh was dealing
with the God of Israel.
| Deeply impressed, Pharaoh yielded a
little, and offered to let the people go
with their children, provided that
! they left their focks and herds in
Egypt When this proposal was re-
| fused, he commanded Moses to leave his
presence and to see his face no more.
upon penalty of death. Moses calmly re-
piled: Il will see thy face no more'
The next plague, as Moses knew, would
be the final one.
|