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| 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to 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 I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. |
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| 3 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and 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 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by 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 the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. |
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| 6 And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they. |
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| 7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and 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 the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, |
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| 9 When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a 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 And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a 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 Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. |
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 For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. |
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 And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said. |
And he hardened – See comment on Exodus 4:21.
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| 14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth 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 goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. |
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| 16 And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. |
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 the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which 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 stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. |
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| 19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout 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 the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that 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 stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. |
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| 22 And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. |
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| 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. |
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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 that the LORD had smitten the river. |
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