"And the Lord said to Aaron, ' Go to meet Moses*"
"Oh that some one would make thee as my brother,"
is one of the beautiful expressions of Solomon's
song.
What kind of a brother? Not as was Cain to Abel, for
"Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him."
Not as Ishmael to Isaac, for Ishmael hated Isaac; neither
as Esau, for "Esau hated Jacob." Not as the brothers of
Joseph, for "they could not speak peaceably to him;" but
even such a brother as Aaron to Moses, as it is written,
"And he (Aaron) went and met him (Moses) by the mount
of God, and kissed him" (Ex. 4 : 27).
"And after that Moses and Aaron went in."
Where were the elders? We find it written, "Thou and
the elders of Israel shall come."
The elders started out, but dropped off gradually,
through fear; therefore, after this, it is always written
simply, "Moses and Aaron went in."
"Thus hath said the Everlasting One," &*c.
According to Rabbi Chiyah, it happened at this time
that all the neighbouring kings were calling upon Pharaoh
to pay their homage to him and bring him presents; and
each of the princes brought with him his god. Moses and
Aaron stood at the palace gates, and the guard thinking
they too were tributaries, bade them enter. Pharaoh looked
at them, and seeing them to be strangers he imagined that
they also brought him presents, and he wondered why they
did not salute him as the others did. He spoke and asked
them, "What is your desire?" And they answered, "Thus
saith the Lord, let my people go," &c.
And Pharaoh said in angry pride:
====================================
"Who is this Lord that I am to obey,—at whose voice I
am to let Israel go? He has never made me an offering
or appeared before me; I know him not, nor will I let
Israel go."
Then he continued:
"Lo, I will consult my records and see if I find there the
name of your God. Here I find the names of all the gods;
the gods of Amon, the gods of Moab, the gods of Zedin,
but the name of your God I cannot find."
And Moses answered:
"Our God is a living God."
And Pharaoh said to him:
"Is he young or old? What is his age; how many
cities has he captured; how many countries has he con-
quered; how long has been his reign?"
Then said Moses:
"His power fills the universe, He was before the
world saw light, He will be, when the world exists no more.
He formed thee; with His spirit thou breathest."
And Pharaoh further asked, "What are his deeds?" To
which the messengers of God replied:
"The voice of the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars;
He stretched out the heavens, He laid the foundation of
the earth, rending the mountains and breaking into stones
the rocks. His bow is of fire, His arrows are of flame. He
formed the mountains and the hills, covered the fields with
green, bringing forth fruits and herbs. He removeth kings,
and kings He exalteth."
"Ye come to me with falsehoods," returned Pharaoh
"ye tell me that your God is the Lord of the world; know
then that Egypt is mine, and I have created the great
river Nile which floweth in its boundaries."
===========================================
(" Mrs. is my stream, and I have made it for myself."
Ezekiel 19: 3).
Then Pharaoh asked of his magicians, "Have ye ever
heard of their God?" And the magicians answered, "We
have heard of him. He is the son of wise men, the son of
a king of olden time."
"Thou askest now, 'Who is the Lord ¥ said Moses.
"The time will come when thou wilt say, 'The Lord is
righteous.' Thou sayest now, ' I know not your Lord.' The
time cometh when thou wilt say, 'I have sinned against
your Lord.'"
"And they met Moses and Aaron . . . 'to put a sword in
their hands to slay us.'"
"Yea," said the overburdened children of Israel to Moses
and Aaron, "we are like a lamb which the wolf has carried
from its flock, the shepherd strives to take it from him, but
between the two the lamb is pulled to pieces; between ye
and Pharaoh will we all be killed."
"ThenMoses said to the Lord, 'O Lord, wherefore hast
Thou let so much evil come upon this people f"
The Lord had already informed Moses that He would
harden Pharaoh's heart, and that he would refuse to let
Israel go; therefore God now replied to him, "Thou wilt
see now what I am going to do to Pharaoh, but thou wilt
not see what I shall do to the three kingdoms of Canaan.''
"And Iappeared to Abraham" &c
The Lord said to Moses:
"Woe, woe, that the righteous are no more; I mourn for the patriarchs. I revealed myself to Abraham, to Isaac,
*nd to Jacob as God Almighty, but not by the name
* Eternal,' as I have done to thee, yet they never murmured
==============================
either at my commands or at my works. I said to Abraham,
1 Arise, walk through the land, its length and breadth, for I
will give it to theeand when his wife died and he wanted
but a grave for her, he was obliged to buy it with money,
yet he did not murmur and reproach me, saying, 'Thou
didst promise to give me all this land, and now I am
obliged to sue for and purchase but a very small portion.'
I said to Isaac, ' Sojourn in this land, for unto thee and thy
seed will I give all these countriesand when he wanted a
little water he could get none, for the herdsmen of Gerar
did strive with his herdsmen to prevent their digging a well;
still Isaac raised not his voice against me. I said to Jacob,
'The ground whereon thou liest, to thee will I give itand
when he wished to pitch there his tent he was obliged to
pay a hundred kessiiah, yet he did not murmur against the
Lord, or even ask of me my name, as thou hast done."
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, and gave
them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh,
the king of Egypt."
A king had a fine and elegant orchard in which he planted
trees, both fruitful and unfruitful. His servants said to him,
"What benefit is there in the planting of barren trees?"
And he replied to them, " Fruitful trees and those which
bear not, are equally useful; where could we procure wood
for our houses, our ships, and our utensils, if we did not
have these sturdy trees which bear no fruit Y'lflA**** Qtrtrh
Even as the righteous glorify the Lord in their happiness
to does the punishment of the wicked glorify the Lord
when they proclaim, "Justly have we been punished."
When Aaron performed the miracles with his staff,
Pharaoh laughed, and made light of them, saying:
"It is customary for merchants to carry their wares to
==============================
places wanting them,—why shouldst thou come with such
tricks to a country full of magicians as Egypt is?"
He sent for some small children, and even they changed
their rods into serpents.
"But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staves
The swallowing of their staves was not the only miracle,
but that Aaron's staff did not grow larger in size thereafter,
added to the wonder
No comments:
Post a Comment