red in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us."*

Such events could not fail to excite the highest degree of public attention. The eyes of all, both Israelites and Egyptians, were fixed upon Moses; and from that time, no transaction of his could be considered as "done in a corner." Under such circumstances, all his measures were exposed to the severest examination, not of indifferent persons, but of those who were interested to detect and expose a fallacy, had any such been attempted; but the plagues that followed were so public, so extensive, so completely beyond the power or counsel of any mortal, that even those who at the commencement of the visitation contrived, by some means which are not recorded, to imitate, and so increase those calamities which they could not, even in the least degree mitigate, were at length compelled to acknowledge "the finger of God." These judgments were administered with such a marked separation between the Israelites and their oppressors, as proved, beyond all contradiction, that the regulation, as well as the infliction of the punishment, was entirely the work of the Almighty. The last of these plagues, as it completed the measure

* Exod. v. 21.

of wrath, so it was in every respect most irreconcileable to any cause but that of divine interference. It was not more dreadful, and, as related to the Egyptians, more universal, than the preservation of the Israelites was wonderful, and the means by which that preservation was effected, singular; yet all these particulars were foretold, appointed, and fulfilled with marvellous accuracy.

The people of Israel then were fully justified, by the preceding events, in obeying the command of Moses to celebrate the first paschal festival. The consequences which immediately succeeded, prepared them to submit to his subsequent directions; and the signs and wonders that rapidly followed, encouraged them to that implicit obedience which was necessary for

their deliverance.

The particulars of these are too important to be passed over without a slight notice. They marched out from the land of bondage in triumph, after a victory gained, not by a contest with their oppressors, but by obedience to a divine command, and the power of God displayed in sending his destroying angel to slay the firstborn, the strength of their persecutors. The latter, in haste to get rid of them, added reward to supplication, and lent them jewels of gold, and jewels of silver, which they knew

could never be returned, that they might expedite their departure; but a revulsion of feeling soon took place, and those who had been so eager to expel them from the land of Egypt, lamented the losses they had sustained by their removal; and collecting all the military array of the kingdom, pursued after them to compel them to return to slavery. The Israelites were overtaken under such circumstances as seemed to ensure their captivity or destruction: their leader alone was not dismayed: he directed no effort of resistance; but by a movement, to attempt which without a divine command would have been the extreme of folly or madness, he secured the deliverance of his people, and the entire extirpation of their adversaries.

Connected with this, was another visible symbol of the divine presence, by the movements of which the motions of the Israelites were indicated.-The Lord sent a pillar of fire by night, to lead them in the way in which they were to go. When this moved forward, Moses directed the people to follow; when it became stationary, they halted and however long might be the period of its rest, they never moved until by its elevation it announced that God ordered them to advance; but on this memorable occasion, their lawgiver reversed

the general regulation-when the pillar moved and went behind them, he directed the host to advance, and became their rear-guard, and following them, preserved them from the assaults of their enemies.

These were signal proofs that God had communicated an extraordinary knowledge of his intentions to his servant; but they were not the only ones; others, and those not less marvellous, were added. Their guide had brought them into a wilderness, where their whole nation was threatened with the most imminent danger of total destruction from the want of the most indispensable necessaries of life. Moses promised, in the name of the Almighty, a supply of bread from heaven,* and winged fowls, in number sufficient to supply the whole camp with bread and flesh, and the fulfilment of the engagement attested the prophetical inspiration of him who had proclaimed it. The want of water produced strong expressions of murmuring and discontent; the same guide led them to a rock, and at his command, the flinty rock gave forth a stream of water, which followed them during their journey through the wilderness.† The people requested a more complete communication of the law of God. The Almighty gave it, accompanied with such + 1 Cor. x. 4.

* Exod. xvi.

a display of his glorious majesty, as filled them with astonishment and terror.

Subsequently, Moses was directed to prepare an ark and its tabernacle, as a permanent symbol of the divine presence residing among them; and when these were finished, God manifested himself by extraordinary signs as present to take possession of them. He filled the whole tabernacle with his glory,* so that all the congregation were individually convinced, that what had been done was in obedience to a divine injunction, and that God was among them of a truth.

No other prophet, in the whole extent of sacred history, received such extraordinary testimonies of his divine mission: no other was commissioned to effect equally important purposes. He was appointed to establish those rites and ceremonies which were to be living emblems of the truths of the gospel; ordinances by which a nation was to be instructed, for many successive generations in the mysteries of salvation, and which, when completed, were to serve to confirm the faith of far greater multitudes unto the end of time.

After such evidences, no reasonable person could hesitate to admit, as of divine authority, those institutions which he ordained in the

* Exod. xl. 34, 35.