The Elbert County tribune., 1913-08-01
LESSON FOR AUGUST 8
THE PLAQUES OF EGYPT.


LESSON TExT-Ps. 1o5:2s-ss tcf. Ex
| GOLDEN TExT-"whosover shall exait
himself shall be humbled; and whatsoever
shall humble himself shall be exaitcd."-
r. v. Matt 2S: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 se-
we're until the last and the browning
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 hui
man will In opposition to the plans of
an Omnipotent God. True thanksgiv-
ing and praise are based upon Ills
marvellous works ". s r. W
Israel Made Strong.
!. The Induction Of Israel Into
Egypt, w. 1925. BY Israel" in verse
90 the Psalmist does not refer to the
nation but rather to the supplanter
who became Israel. prince" His
induction into Egypt was in accord
ance with Gods purposes and plan,
yes. his specific command, Gen. 1921,
Acts 1915. God increased the de-
sceEdants of Israel greatly in the land
of Egypt, see v. "a. At the same time
God made those same descendants
stronger than their "adversaries" on
account of the fact that Jehovah
fought on their side, see Rom. 8:31.
II. 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 q Samy12;6)
SO also is every true believer. Their
work has to "shew" (v. 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 the:r 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. 1876, 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 Ex. S:S. 1t 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 trifies, but life is no trifle. 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 let Israel go" God let
him wrestle with frogs, lice and flies.
We thus see 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. 32
is In reality the seventh (Ex. 81. 1t
was rebuke to the God of the air.
and from Rev. 8:7 and 1921 we learn
that it is to be repeated in the end of
time
Though Israel was free from the
eighth. the plague of locusts w. 34)
they did suffer from a like experience
In later days. Joel 1:1-7. These small
pests can turn fruitful land into a
barren waste.
But the eliminating plague ". 36)
was the shifting Of the first born. Even
Israel could not escape this calamity
except by the previous shedding of
blood. Elk. 1898. God gave Pharaoh
ample warning. Ex. 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. S6).
III. The Teaching. Before the
, plaques Pharaoh was warned; before
the second one he was given an op-
portunity to repent and because of the
suffering therahY he relentad md ask