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Spiritual Gifts, Volume 3
sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And
they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast
thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt
thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that
we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the
Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than
that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people,
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he
will shew to you today; for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today,
ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace.”
How soon the Israelites distrusted God! They had witnessed all his
judgments upon Egypt to compel the king to let Israel go, and when
their confidence in God was tested they murmured, notwithstanding
they had seen such evidences of his power in their wonderful deliv-
erance. Instead of trusting in God in their necessity, they murmured
at faithful Moses, reminding him of their words of unbelief which
they uttered in Egypt. They accused him of being the cause of all
their distress. He encouraged them to trust in God, and withhold their
expressions of unbelief, and they should see what the Lord would
do for them. Moses earnestly cried to the Lord to deliver his chosen
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people.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me?
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. But lift thou
up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it, and
the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the
sea.” God would have Moses understand that he would work for his
people—that their necessity would be his opportunity. When they
should go as far as they could, he must bid them to still go forward;
that he should use the rod God had given him to divide the waters.
“And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they
shall follow them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all
his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians
shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honor upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the angel of
God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind
them, and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood
behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the