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From Eternity Past
Pharaoh was seeking some pretext for disregarding the miracles
that God had wrought through Moses. Satan gave him just what he
wanted. He made it appear that Moses and Aaron were only magicians
and sorcerers and that the message they brought could not claim respect
as coming from a superior being. Thus Satan’s counterfeit caused
Pharaoh to harden his heart against conviction. Satan hoped also to
shake the faith of Moses and Aaron.
The prince of evil well knew that Moses prefigured Christ, who
was to break the reign of sin over the human family. He knew that
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when Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be an evidence to
the world that God had sent Him. By counterfeiting the work of God
through Moses, Satan hoped not only to prevent the deliverance of
Israel, but through future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ
by making them appear to be the result of human power.
The Plagues Strike Egypt
Moses and Aaron were directed to visit the riverside next morning.
The overflowing of the Nile being the source of food and wealth for
all Egypt, the river was worshiped as a god, and the monarch came
thither daily to pay his devotions. The two brothers again repeated
the message to him and then stretched out the rod and smote upon
the water. The sacred stream ran blood, the fish died, and the river
became offensive to the smell. The water in the houses, the supply
in the cisterns was likewise changed to blood. But “the magicians of
Egypt did so with their enchantments,” and “Pharaoh turned and went
into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.” For seven days
the plague continued, but without effect.
Again the rod was stretched out, and frogs came up from the river.
They overran the houses, took possession of the bedchambers, and
even the ovens and kneading troughs. The frog was regarded as sacred
by the Egyptians, and they would not destroy it; but the slimy pests
now swarmed even in the palace of the Pharaohs, and the king was
impatient to have them removed. The magicians had appeared to
produce frogs, but they could not remove them.
Upon seeing this, Pharaoh was somewhat humbled. He sent for
Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat the Lord, that He may take away
the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people