iis has in its fttvor the fact thai
cians of Egypt, and ol the Easl generally, have
alwaj b, down t r own day, possessed an unparalleled
and almost incredible dexterity in artificial magic (see Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 862 sq.). It is to be borne in mind, also, thai in tie cases before us these magi- cians were allow, d time to prepan themselves, and to
gO through those introductory processes by means of
which jugglers mainly succ, i in cheating the behold- ers; and, moreover, il is important to keep in \ iew that they performed before witnesses who were in:
believing in their suecess. Above all. in the three feats in which they succeeded, there was really nothing hut what tin' jugglers of the present day could easily do. I In- jugglers of India will, for a few pence, do tricks with serpents far more wonderful than making them rigid so as t,, resemble staves; and any juggler could
make water in a basin or a tank resemble Ii I. or,
when the country was already swarming with frogs, could cover some place thai had been chared lor the purpose with these reptiles, as ii he had suddenly pro- duced them. The performances of these magicians are really below par as compared with those which may he witnessed in the room of any travelling conjurer among ourselves. Let it be noted, also, that they failed as they were required to perform the miracle on the instant, as in the case of the plague of lice, for their at- tempts io imitate which no time was allowed: and as a consequence of this it is emphatically said, "they could not." When to all this it is added that tiny were impotent not only to remove the infliction, but even to exempt themselves from it. there seems abundant rea- son tor concluding thai these magicians attained to nothing beyond the performance of a few successful i rieks (Scot, Congregational Lecture, p. 210 226; Ward- law, (hi Miracles, p. 231 sq.). See Janses ami Jam-
BRES.
l. Th Design of tkest Inflictions. This is a most important inquiry. That their ultimate object was the effecting of the liberation of the Israelites from their
cruel bondage lies on the surface o|' the narrative: but with this there may have been, and probably were, other ends contemplated. We may suppose- 1. Thai God designed to produce an effect on the mind of .Moses himself, tending to educate and discipline him for the gnat work on which he was about to enter — the con- duct and rule of the people during their passage through the wilderness. For such a task great fortitude and implicit confidence in the power and majesty of Jeho- vah were required; and as Moses, timid at first, .and ready to retire on the first rebuff, gradually acquired courage and determination as the manifestations of God's power in the chastisements inflicted on the Pha- raoh and his land proceeded, it is very probable that the series of inflictions of which he was the instrument were designed to confirm him in faith, obedience, and confidence, and so lit him for his great work. 'J. We ma\ sii|,p,,se thai a salutary effect was intended to be produced on the minds of the Israelites, the mass of whom had. under their long protracted debasement, sunk low in religious and intellectual life. The marvellous manner in which God interposed lor their deliverance, ami the mighty power by which he brought them forth, could not but amuse them to thought, and ele- vate and quicken their religious emotions. 3. It ap- pears that a salutary religious effect was produced on many of the Egyptians themselves, as is evidenced by the multitudes who united themselves to the Israelites
when they made their escape: ami also on the sur- rounding nation-, as is attested by .lethro. the father- in-law of Moses (Exod. xviii, 10, Ll). We may pre- sume, therefore, that this also was pall of the design
of these inflictions, especially as we find God expressly
declaring to Moses that these judgments W( re intended
io make the Egyptians know that he was God i\ii. 5). 1. Bui these cuds were included in the great end of demonstrating the vanity of those idols in which the Egyptians trusted. -Against all the gods of Egypt," said the Lord to Moses, •■ I will execute judgment: I am Jehovah" (xii, 12). < >n these idols God would pour contempt: and in < iction with this it is no- ticeable thai nearly every miracle performed bj Mosea
had relation to some object of idolatrous worship
among the Egyptians. The devouring of the serpents by the serpent into which the rod of Moses had been turned was directed againsi the serpent -worship of
Egypt; the turning of the water into blood was an as- sault on their sacred river the Nile; tin- plague of the
PLAIFERE
265
PLAIN
frogs, the gnats, the flies or scarabei, all tended to bring objects of idolatrous worship among the Egyptians into contempt; the murrain on the cattle was directed against their Apis-worship ; the plague of boils, brought on by the casting of ashes from the altar into the air, a rite which they followed to arrest evil, showed how God could reverse their omens, and make what they used for good to turn to evil ; the hail and storm plague was directed against their worship of the elements, or of deities supposed to preside over them; the plague of locusts showed that this great scourge which they were accustomed to trace to the wrath of their deities was entirely in the power of Jehovah ; the plague of dark- ness poured contempt on their worship of the sun-god; and the death of the first-born wound up this terrible series by showing that in the hand of Jehovah alone was the life of all his creatures. A mighty and mem- orable lesson was thus read out before both Egyptians and Israelites, which could not but have its effect in weakening among the former the attachment of many to their idols, and confirming the latter in their rever- ence for Jehovah as the only true God. 5. The grad- ual increase in severity and frequent remission of the plagues are perhaps the best key to their meaning as to the king of Egypt himself. They seem to have been sent as warnings to the oppressor, to afford him a means of seeing God's will and an opportunity of repenting before Egypt was ruined. It is true that the harden- ing of Pharaoh's heart is a mystery which St. Paul leaves unexplained, answering the objector, " Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God ?" (Rom. ix, 20). Yet the apostle is arguing that we have no right to question God's righteousness for not having mercy on all, and speaks of his long-suffering towards the wicked. The lesson that Pharaoh's career teaches us seems to be that there <1re men whom the most sig- nal judgments do not affect so as to cause any lasting repentance. In this respect the after-history of the Jewish people is a commentary upon that of their op- pressor. The '•hardening" of Pharaoh's heart was evi- dently nothing more than that permissive act of prov- idence by which a long-delayed punishment encourages to the persistence in sin (Eecles. viii, 1 1 ; Horn, ii, 5). God's design in so often releasing him (itijytipa, Rom. ix, 17) from the earlier stages of the inflictions was that the final blow might fall with full effect, both as to Pharaoh and the world at large. See Judicial Blindness.