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God’s Power Revealed
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existence and power from creation down. The Egyptians had an
opportunity of becoming acquainted with the faith of the Hebrews
and their God. They had tried to subvert the faithful worshipers of
the true God, and were annoyed because they had not succeeded,
either by threats, the promise of rewards, or by cruel treatment.
The last two kings who had occupied the throne of Egypt had
been tyrannical and had cruelly entreated the Hebrews. The elders of
Israel had endeavored to encourage the sinking faith of the Israelites,
by referring to the promise made to Abraham, and the prophetic
words of Joseph just before he died, foretelling their deliverance
from Egypt. Some would listen and believe. Others looked at their
own sad condition, and would not hope.
Israel Influenced by their Environment
The Egyptians had learned the expectations of the children of
Israel and derided their hopes of deliverance and spoke scornfully of
the power of their God. They pointed them to their own situation as
a people, as merely a nation of slaves, and tauntingly said to them,
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If your God is so just and merciful, and possesses power above the
Egyptian gods, why does He not make you a free people? Why not
manifest His greatness and power, and exalt you?
The Egyptians then called the attention of the Israelites to their
own people, who worshiped gods of their own choosing, which the
Israelites termed false gods. They exultingly said that their gods
had prospered them, and had given them food and raiment and great
riches, and that their gods had also given the Israelites into their
hands to serve them, and that they had power to oppress them and
destroy their lives, so that they should be no people. They derided
the idea that the Hebrews would ever be delivered from slavery.
Pharaoh boasted that he would like to see their God deliver them
from his hands. These words destroyed the hopes of many of the
children of Israel. It appeared to them very much as the king and his
counselors had said. They knew that they were treated as slaves, and
that they must endure just that degree of oppression their taskmasters
and rulers might put upon them. Their male children had been hunted
and slain. Their own lives were a burden, and they were believing
in, and worshiping, the God of heaven.