Plagues of Egypt
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above that of the Egyptian gods, why does He not make you a free
people?” They called attention to their own condition. They worshiped
deities termed by the Israelites false gods, yet they were a rich and
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powerful nation. They declared that their gods had blessed them with
prosperity, and had given them the Israelites as servants, and they glo-
ried in their power to oppress and destroy the worshipers of Jehovah.
Pharaoh himself boasted that the God of the Hebrews could not deliver
them from his hand.
Words like these destroyed the hopes of many of the Israelites. The
case appeared to them very much as the Egyptians had represented. It
was true that they were slaves, and must endure whatever their cruel
taskmasters might choose to inflict. Their children had been hunted
and slain, and their own lives were a burden. Yet they were worshiping
the God of heaven. If Jehovah were indeed above all gods, surely He
would not thus leave them in bondage to idolaters. But those who were
true to God understood that it was because of Israel’s departure from
Him—because of their disposition to marry with heathen nations, thus
being led into idolatry—that the Lord had permitted them to become
bondmen; and they confidently assured their brethren that He would
soon break the yoke of the oppressor.
The Hebrews had expected to obtain their freedom without any
special trial of their faith or any real suffering or hardship. But they
were not yet prepared for deliverance. They had little faith in God, and
were unwilling patiently to endure their afflictions until He should see
fit to work for them. Many were content to remain in bondage rather
than meet the difficulties attending removal to a strange land; and
the habits of some had become so much like those of the Egyptians
that they preferred to dwell in Egypt. Therefore the Lord did not
deliver them by the first manifestation of His power before Pharaoh.
He overruled events more fully to develop the tyrannical spirit of the
Egyptian king and also to reveal Himself to His people. Beholding His
justice, His power, and His love, they would choose to leave Egypt and
give themselves to His service. The task of Moses would have been
much less difficult had not many of the Israelites become so corrupted
that they were unwilling to leave Egypt.
The Lord directed Moses to go again to the people and repeat the
promise of deliverance, with a fresh assurance of divine favor. He went
as he was commanded; but they would not listen. Says the Scripture,