The Red Cloud chief., 1913-07-31

Il. V. Matt. 23:l2.
While this Psalm is succinct state.
ment Of all that is contained in Exc.
dus. chapters to IL, still no teacher
can Judge himself as having made
proper preparation who has not stud.
led carefully the earlier record. Be.
ginning with those Of discomfort the
plaques become more and more Sc.
we're until the last and the crowning
one, the death of the first born, caused
the Egyptians to thrust out the Israel.
ties with haste and gladness. laden
with an abundance Of spoil" Pharaoh
trusted in the superior greatness of
the Egyptian gods. he also had great
pride in his absolute power and hated
to lose the profitable service of his
Hebrew slaves. Over against this was
Gods right to demand the wor.
ship Of his chosen people, Gods pro.
fuse warnings to the proud Egyptian.
and the inevitable outcome Of the
man, tribe, or nation who sets up hu-
man will in opposition to the plans Of
an Omnipotent God. True thanksgiv.
ing and praise are based upon His
marvellous works. ". r. w
Israel Made Strong.
I. The Induction Of Israel Into
Egypt, w. 1925. BY Israel" in verse
23 the Psalmist does not refer to the
nation but rather to the supplanter
who became Israel. prince" His
induction into Egypt was in accord.
or u,;th MI
yes, his specific command, Gen. 46:2-7,
Acts 1915. God increased the de.
scendants Of Israel greatly in the land
of Egypt, see v. "a. At the same time
God made those same descendants
stronger than their anniversaries" on
account of the fact that Jehovah
fought on their side, see Rom. 1881.
u. The Exodus Of Israel From
Egypt, w. 1886. Now the Psalmist Is
referring to the nation. In Exodus
there are recorded ten plaques, here
there are mentioned but eight. The
plague Of the murrain of beasts and
the plague of boils, the fifth and the
sixth. are here left out for some rea-
son best known to the Psalmist.
God saw the Affections of Israel but
sends relief through human agents.
Moses was Gods servant" ". 26)
and Aaron "His chosen" Il Sam. 12:6)
so also is every true believer. Their
work has to "shew" ". 27) Gods won.
ders in the land of Egypt (Ham).
They were to shew His" wonders.
signs, the words Of His signs" (R.
V. marg.). and none Of their own. In
| other words they were to be the Wis.
ible embodiment Of Gods character
and power.
Worshiped the Nile.
The Psalmist then turns to the first
of the historic plaques. The Egyp
tians were so dependent upon the Nile
that they personified it and worshiped
it. They had shed the blood of the
Israelites and were given blood to
drink, see Rev. 1875, 6 and Gal. 6:7.
The third plague was directed against
the goddess "Hekt." queen of two
worlds. and who was represented by
a frog.like figure. see Elk. S:8. It was
after this calamity that Pharaoh tenn.
porized. The third and fourth plaques
are grouped together In verse 81. God
often uses very little things to humble
the great ones Of earth. Life is made
up Of tribes, but life is no trife. Pha-
raoh had proudly boasted Of his agnos-
ticism (Ex. 5:2) but when he sought
to try conclusions with God and said.
Neither will l let Israel 60" God let
him wrestle with frogs, lice and flies.
We thus see q man setting himself
against God who is not able to over.
come these smallest Of pests. As we
have mentioned, the fifth and sixth
plaques are omitted from this record.
hence the plague mentioned In v. 80
is in reality the seventh (Ex. 81. It
was a rebuke to the God of the air.
and from Rev. S:7 and 1924 we learn
that 1t is to be repeated In the end Of
time.
Though Israel was free from the
eighth. the plague Of locusts ". 34)
they did suffer from q like experience
In later days. Joel 1:1.7. These small
pests can turn q fruitful land into
barren waste.
But the eliminating plague ". 86)
was the shifting of the first born. Even
Israel could not escape this calamity
except by the previous shedding Of
blood. Elk. 1888. God gave Pharaoh
ample warning. Elk. 4:23. Refusing to
yield under the lesser judgments, God
brought this supreme penalty, shifting
all the first born. "the beginning of
all their strength" (R. v. marg. v. 36).
III. Tho Teaching. Before the
plaques Pharaoh was warned; before
the second one he was given an op.
portunity to repent and because Of the
suffering thereby he relented and ask.
ed for respite. Refusing to declare
Gods greatness (Ex. 8:10) "he
(Pharaoh) made heavy his heart" (Ex.
S:15). an act OF his own. not an act of
God. No warning is given of the third
plague for Pharaoh had broken
faith, The acknowledgment upon the
part of his magicians of a power great.
er than their own did not serve a. .