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| 1 Then said Yahweh unto Moses–See! I have appointed thee to be God unto Pharaoh,–and, Aaron thy brother, shall be thy prophet! |
Made thee a god – Elohim, mighty one, a name applied to Jehovah as well as to men. E68; R338:2, R421:3, R1410:3
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| 2 Thou, shalt speak all that which I may command thee, and, Aaron thy brother, shall speak unto Pharaoh, and he shall let the sons of Israel go out of his land. |
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| 3 But, I, will suffer Pharaoh to harden his heart,–so will I multiply my signs and my wonders, in the land of Egypt. |
Harden Pharaoh's heart – See comment on Exodus 4:21.
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| 4 And Pharaoh will not hearken unto you, so will I lay my hand on Egypt,–and bring forth my hosts–my people, the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt, with great judgments. |
By great judgments – The plagues were doubtless a full compensation of justice upon the Egyptians. R5271:3
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| 5 And the Egyptians shall know that, I, am Yahweh, when I have stretched forth my hand over Egypt,–and brought forth the sons of Israel out of their midst. |
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| 6 And Moses and Aaron did [so],–as Yahweh commanded them, so, did they. |
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| 7 Now, Moses, was eighty years old, and, Aaron, eighty-three years old,–when they spake unto Pharaoh. |
Fourscore – The fourscore, or twice forty, would bring us to 1878 in the antitype when Christ spake to Pharaoh (the world) by an act, in restoring Israel to favor. R181:6*
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| 8 And Yahweh spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: |
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| 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you saying, Shew for yourselves a wonder, then shalt thou say unto Aaron, Take thy staff, and cast it down before Pharaoh, let it become a sea-serpent. |
Shew a miracle – These three signs signified certain truths which, in the present time, will be convincing to the Lord's true people. R2910:5
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| 10 So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and did so, as Yahweh had commanded,–and Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a sea-serpent. |
Became a serpent – Symbolizing that all the evil there is in the world is the result of God's having let go of his rod or authority temporarily. R4058:4
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| 11 Then called Pharaoh also for the wise men and for the magicians,–and, they too, the sacred scribes of Egypt with their secret arts, did in like manner; |
Then Pharaoh – Type of Satan. R5273:2, R5419:5, R2910:2; F458
And the sorcerers – Sorcery, witchcraft and enchantments are manifestations of Satan and of demons for the delusion of mankind. R2110:2, R2189:3
Magicians – Satan's mediums. R341:1*
The names of these magicians are given to us in 2 Tim. 3:8, where it is stated that, aresist the message of God. R3994:5, R4060:2, R2189:3
Of Egypt – Satan's dominion of sin and death. R5643:1, R5273:1; F458
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| 12 yea they cast down each man his staff, and they became sea-serpents,–but Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves. |
They became serpents – Symbolizing the various views of the permission of evil which have been put forth by theologians of the past. R4060:4
Perhaps in some way the power of God will appear to be evil. Somehow God will permit the world, under the power of Satan, to have an hour of triumph during a great time of trouble. R5419:5
There are but two sources of occult power-divine and satanic. R5271:5
The Egyptian plagues were miraculous from one standpoint; not so from another. R5271:2
Duplicated under Satan's knowledge of natural laws. R1685:3
Some have surmised that they performed a trick common in India by hypnotizing a serpent. We are not sure, however, that the magicians did not do more than this. R5271:5
Satan's first agent was the serpent. R265:3
The powers of darkness have liberty and ability to perform wonders of certain kinds under certain circumstances. R2206:6
But Aaron's rod – The correct view on the permission of evil is such that it quite swallows up all the suggestions and theories of the past. R4060:4
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| 13 Then waxed bold the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them,–as spake Yahweh. |
And he hardened – See comment on Exodus 4:21.
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| 14 Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Dull, is the heart of Pharaoh,–he hath refused to let the people go. |
The people – In the antitype it will be the "groaning creation" that will be delivered. R2910:2
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| 15 Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning–lo! he is coming out to the waters, therefore shalt thou station thyself to meet him, on the bank of the river,–and, the staff which was turned into a serpent, shalt thou take in thy hand. |
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| 16 Then shalt thou say unto him–Yahweh, God of the Hebrews, hath sent me unto thee, saying,–Let my people go, that they may serve me in the desert,–And lo! thou hast not hearkened, hitherto. |
Let my people go – Representing the call of the Christian Church to come out from the world and to engage in his worship. T25
In the wilderness – Condition of separation from the world. T70
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| 17 Thus, saith Yahweh, Hereby, shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh,–Lo! I, am smiting with the staff that is in my hand upon the waters that are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood; |
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| 18 and, the fish that is in the river, shall die, and the river, shall be loathsome,–and the Egyptians, shall disdain, to drink water out of the river. |
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| 19 And Yahweh said unto Moses,–Say unto Aaron–Take thy staff, and stretch forth thy hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, and over their pools, and over all their collections of water–that they may become blood,–so shall there be blood, in all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. |
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| 20 And Moses and Aaron, did so, as Yahweh commanded, and he lifted high the staff, and smote the waters which were in the river, before the eyes of Pharaoh, and before the eyes of his servants,–and all the waters which were in the river, were turned to blood; |
All the waters – The first three plagues were common to all in Egypt. The next six plagues affected only the Egyptians. R5640:3, R5272:2
The truth, as contained in millions of pages of tracts, poured upon the symbolic earth, society, liberally in many lands and in many languages. R4059:6
Were turned to blood – Perhaps it resulted from the inconceivably rapid growth of microscopic animals (infusoria) and minute cryptogamous plants of a red color. R3994:5, R5271:6
To society the truth seems repulsive, undesirable, bloody. They resent even the thought that the sacrifice for sins was the blood of Christ. R4060:1
Almost as miraculous as the turning of water into wine by our Lord at Cana. R5271:6
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| 21 and, the fish that was in the river, died, and the river, became loathsome, so that the Egyptians could not drink water out of the river,–thus came it to pass that blood was in all the land of Egypt. |
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| 22 And the sacred scribes of Egypt did in like manner, with their secret arts,–so the heart of Pharaoh waxed bold, and he hearkened not unto them, as spake Yahweh. |
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| 23 Then Pharaoh, turned away, and entered into his house–neither applied he his heart, even to this. |
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| 24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river, for water to drink,–for they could not drink of the water of the river. |
The Egyptians digged around – The world (Christendom, Churchianity) seek for truth in various ways of their own. R4060:4
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| 25 And seven days, were fulfilled,–after Yahweh had smitten the river. |
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