The plague of frogs; and the plague of lice.

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

2 And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up. and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

5 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6 And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat 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.

9 And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

10 And he said, To morrow.

And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God.

11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people: they shall remain in the river only.

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 14 And they gathered them together upon heaps and the land stank.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17 And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

LECTURE 117.

That we need the help of God without delay.

Pharaoh has due notice of the plague of frogs; "if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs." It does not appear that any such notice was given of the plague of lice. But in both cases the result is the same; Pharaoh "hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said." Some judgments befal us suddenly; of others we have notice long beforehand. It makes no difference to those whose hearts are hardened; in neither case will they hearken to the Lord. The magicians by their enchantments "brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.' But though they tried they could not do so with the lice. And thereupon they said unto Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." And yet he would not let the people go. As the magicians bare witness to God, so in after times the very devils testified to Christ. And yet there were some found to say, " He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils." John 11. 15. Where the will is obstinate, the weight of evidence is lost upon the mind. Lord, turn Thou the hearts of unbelievers! Lord, help Thou our unbelief!

The plague of frogs was the last of those in which the miracle wrought by Moses was imitated by the magicians of Egypt. It was also the first which was expressly removed at the intercession of the prophet of the Lord. Thus though it was but one plague, it forms two miracles; of which the latter, namely the deliverance from the plague, was not so much as attempted by the magicians. And to make the workmanship of God more plain in the matter, Moses bids Pharaoh name the time when the plague should cease. "Glory over me:" put me to the severest test, take every means in your power to try my pretensions. "When shall I intreat for thee!" What confidence in the arm of God is here shewn by his servant! What a pattern for us, to have faith in his ability and willingness to help! We cannot indeed name the time. This must in our case be left to God. But we can do more; for we can attain to being persuaded, that the time at which He chooses to grant our prayers, is better than any time which we could choose for ourselves. "And he said, Tomorrow." What pride in Pharoah, that he should be above saying today, lest he should seem to be smarting under the lash! What unbelief, that he should put off intercession till tomorrow, in the hope that today the plague might cease without it! Lord, we know that only by thy grace we stand; put not off, we pray Thee, thy succour till tomorrow! Lord, we own that under thy chastisements we faint; spare us, we beseech Thee, and deliver us, this day! Take not away thy face even for a moment, or we suffer! Shew us the light of thy countenance, and in a moment we are whole!

LECTURE 118.

Warning against dealing deceitfully with God.

Here is a fresh token to prove the hard heart of Pharaoh, namely, the distinction made in this plague between the land of Egypt, and the land of Goshen. Here is a fresh sign most convincing to Pharaoh, and most affecting to the Israelites, to shew that these miracles were the work of the God of Israel. At least it is not mentioned that any such distinction was made in their favour, in

the case of the plagues previous to this. And as it is probable that the Israelites were infected with a taint of the Egyptian idolatry, and also not heartily determined to follow Moses at all costs in the way of God's commandments, it might be well for them to taste the bitterness of God's wrath, before they experienced the sweetness of his mercy. And is it not thus that He still deals with his best loved servants? Do they not for a season share the many and grievous plagues, which are inflicted by the disordered course of nature on a wicked world? But let us be of good cheer. It is only for a season. God will soon make a signal difference between them that dwell in Goshen, and the citizens of Egypt. What is time, when weighed against eternity? What matter the few plagues we suffer here, if they prevent us from continuing in sins, which would expose us to misery for ever?

There is some doubt as to what this plague consisted in; by what kind of swarms "the land was corrupted." For there is no word in the original that answers to "flies" in our translation; as may be known by observing, that in our bibles this word is in a different print. That they were flies has been supposed from a comparison of this passage with the Psalm in which the plagues of Egypt are spoken of, where "all manner of flies" are mentioned amongst the rest. Ps. 105. 31. In the margin it is suggested that the word may mean: "a mixture of noisome beasts." And as it is said, that after the Lord had removed this plague of swarms, "there remained not one," that is to say, no one of these creatures, whatsoever they were; it is possible that they were something strange, something never before and never after seen in Egypt, and perhaps never in all the world.

First

But be this as it may, it is evident in any case that this plague had very great weight with Pharaoh for a time. he proposed that the Israelites should sacrifice in Goshen. And when Moses objected, that they had to sacrifice the very animals which the Egyptians worshipped, and therefore durst not do it before their eyes, Pharaoh then gave leave for their departure; adding "ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me." Well might Moses warn him not to deal deceitfully. Well may we take this warning to ourselves, if we are apt to comply with the commandments of God, only just whilst we are smarting under the chastisements of his hand, and then again, as soon as we are relieved of our affliction, apt to follow our own will and pleasure. Oh what can more plainly argue hardness in the heart, what can more surely tend to harden it, than thus to promise to God, without performing, to purpose without doing; to prove by our purposes that we know our duty, and by our practice that in reality we are determined not to do it? God forbid that we should ever so sin against light and knowledge! God grant that we may never deal thus deceitfully, both towards ourselves, and towards Him!

The plague of murrain;

1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2 For if thou refuse to let them go, and wilt hold them still,

3 Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. 4 And the LORD shall sever

between the cattle of Israel and

the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children's of Israel.

5 And the LORD appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the LORD shall do this thing in the land.

6 And the LORD did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not

one.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cat

and the plague of boils.
tle of the Israelites dead. And the
heart of Pharaoh was hardened,
and he did not let the people go.
8 And the LORD said unto Mo-
ses and unto Aaron, Take to you
handfuls of ashes of the furnace,
and let Moses sprinkle it toward
the heaven in the sight of Pha-
raoh.

9 And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.

12 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.

LECTURE 119.

The danger of idolizing any earthly object.

Both these plagues appear to have had a reference to the idolatry which prevailed amongst the Egyptians. For it is well known, that in after times they used to worship for gods the very animals who suffered by this murrain. And it is probable that this practice was already common amongst them; or the Israelites in the wilderness would not so readily have bethought themselves of bowing down to a golden calf. So that we may suppose, that it is to this very plague that Moses in part refers, when he says of Jehovah, in the book of Numbers, 33. 4, "Upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments." And then in the other plague, the "ashes of the furnace," cannot mean, as some have supposed, the ashes of the brick kilns, at which the Israelites were oppressed; because their bricks were not burnt by fire, but only hardened in the sun. And they therefore probably mean ashes from the