to perform. The number three is the mark of perfection and completeness, an indication that the process of development is at an end, and the idea embodied is fully manifested. Hence the three miraculous signs were proofs, that the miraculous power of God would be put forth in all its fulness through the instrumentality of Moses. A fourth sign Israel could not and durst not demand, without convicting itself of obdurate unbelief. But in this case it was necessary, that with the triple sign there should also be progress and a culminating point in the manifestation of the idea. And our interpretation of the signs exhibits this. There were three objects upon which the power of God was to be exerted: Moses, who was appointed to be the leader and shepherd of Israel; the people of Israel, who were to be cleansed from their leprosy and made a holy priestly nation; and Egypt, which was now to discover the impotence of its gods. There was a special sign, containing a distinct intimation, for each of these; and thus the idea was actually exhibited in the whole course of its development. Even the order in which the signs occurred, is thus shown to have been both significant and necessary. No other order would have harmonized with the natural development and the idea. There is one more point, and a very essential one, to which we have still to refer. It has already been frequently observed, that Moses was the first prophet sent by God, and more especially the first worker of miracles in the history of the world. We refer the reader to our remarks in § 6. 1, on the absence of the gifts of prophecy and miracles during the pre-Mosaic age. In accordance with those remarks, we discover here an essential advance in the course of the kingdom of God upon earth, and the arrival of a turning-point in its history. Hitherto the covenant works of God and man, though constantly related to each other, had been kept more distinct the one from the other. The union of the divine and human, which is the true characteristic of the history, and the perfect realization of which in the person of the God-man was foreshadowed from the first, had never before been displayed in such a way through the instrumentality of a man, expressly called and fitted for the purpose of manifesting the word and power of God. In this respect, therefore, Moses was the first type of Christ, the God-man. (8). When Moses complained of his heavy tongue and his want of eloquence,-faults the removal of which he could see no reason to anticipate, notwithstanding the call that he had received,the words do not, in our opinion, denote that he stammered, as some commentators suppose. Moses said that he was not a man of words, his mouth was not fitted for addressing others. And Jehovah replied, "Did not I make man's mouth?" This answer implied a promise, that a gift of grace should make up for the lacking gift of nature; and the subsequent history of Moses' career contains the proof that the promise was fulfilled (compare ver. 15, "I will be with thy mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do"). But notwithstanding this promise, Moses replied: "send, Lord, whom thou wilt send." The difficulty arising from the fact that he was not a man of words, was removed by the promise of God; but Moses could not fully enter into the meaning of the promise, or place implicit confidence in it. Jehovah, therefore, referred him to the eloquence of his brother Aaron, who was to be always at his side when engaged in the duties of his office. I cannot persuade myself that M. Baumgarten (i. 1 p. 418) and O. v. Gerlach (i. p. 213 seq.) are right in the inference which they draw from the passage before us: viz. that it was the original intention of God that Moses should stand alone in delivering, conducting, and organizing the people, and should even hold the office of High Priest as well; but that he forfeited the honour by his refusal, and had now to share with Aaron both the office and the glory. There is no reference at all to the high priesthood here. Aaron was to be Moses' interpreter; this is stated in ver. 16, "he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, and he shall be thy mouth, and thou shalt be his God," and in chap. vii. 1, 2, "Aaron shall be thy prophet, and shall speak unto Pharaoh all that I command thee." There is nothing else referred to here. And this office of Aaron does not seem to have lasted long. It served for a time to remove the doubts and difficulties of Moses, and to sustain and help him in his first appearance before the people and Pharaoh. But when once Moses had discovered that the grace and gifts of God rendered him mighty in word and deed (Acts vii. 22), he stood no longer in need of another's mouth; henceforth he was his own. It was at a later period that Aaron received the call to the priesthood, and even then the arrangement was not of such a nature as that Moses relin quished anything in consequence of his brother's call, or in any way shared his office and his honours with Aaron. Even in the capacity of high priest Aaron was under Moses, and did not stand in an independent position by his side. Moses still continued to be Aaron's God, and Aaron the interpreter of Moses. It was this which constituted the peculiarity of Moses' position, a position which has no parallel in the Old Testament (Vol. iii., § 33. 4); he stood entirely alone as the founder and mediator of the ancient covenant just as Christ was alone as the founder and mediator of the new; though Moses and the ancient covenant were but feeble and imperfect types and copies of Christ and the new (cf. § 11). The expression in ver. 16, "he thy mouth, thou his God" scarcely requires an explanation. As the prophet stood in such a relation to God, that he only spake what God put into his mouth, so was it to be with Aaron and Moses. Moses was the inspiring God of Aaron's prophetic activity. Aaron was the organ and representative of Moses, as Moses was the organ and representative of God. Compare chap. vii. 1, 2, “behold, I have made thee a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron shall be thy prophet," &c. Simultaneously with the call of Moses, a violent agitation took place among the people, by which they were prepared for his mission. Here was an exhibition of the great and secret power of sympathy, a vague presentiment, in many perhaps a conscious anticipation, that a turning point was approaching, and that the time of deliverance was at hand. The divine promise to Abraham (Gen. xv. 13, 14): "They shall afflict them four hundred years, and afterward shall they come out with great substance," was probably associated with this presentiment, and served to explain it. The fact that there was such a movement among the people, we infer from the people's fervour in prayer, to which reference is made in chap. ii. 23 and iii. 7, but more especially from the impulse which constrained Aaron to go and seek out his brother in his exile (iv. 14); probably for the sake of consulting him, possibly to urge him to return to Egypt. It is not likely that the people in Egypt had entirely forgotten Moses, or that they had altogether relinquished the hopes, which the marvellous events of his life had apparently justified them in cherishing. It is even possible that Aaron may have been charged with a commission from a select body of men from among the people, who had already drawn up plans of escape, and were desirous of seeing Moses at the head of their enterprise. FIRST APPEARANCE OF MOSES IN EGYPT. § 21. (Ex. iv. 18-31).-Moses at once obtained leave of absence from his father-in-law. He said nothing to him about what had occurred at Horeb (§ 19. 8); but merely expressed a desire to visit his relations in Egypt. He then set off upon his journey with his wife and children.-The intercourse between God and Moses was uninterruptedly maintained, after the first appearance of God at Mount Horeb. Even on the road Moses was not without divine encouragement. He received further instructions as to his future interview with Pharaoh. "Israel is my first-born son," said Jehovah. Upon this Moses was to found his demand upon the king of Egypt, and also the threat, that Pharaoh's refusal should be punished with the death of his first-born son (1). He was further reminded once more, that he had to expect the most obstinate resistance on the part of the king (vid. chap. iii. 19, sqq.). It would be to no purpose, that he would perform before him all the miracles which Jehovah had commissioned him to work. Nevertheless there was no reason why Moses should be afraid of this opposition on the part of the king, for Jehovah had already taken it into account in his counsels. In fact Jehovah had willed this resistance, and was bringing it about as a judgment upon Pharaoh, for the greater glory of his own name, not only in the sight of the Israelites and Egyptians, but in that of all the nations round about. "But I," said He to Moses, "but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go" (2). Thus Jehovah prepared himself for judgment. It was right, however, that judgment should begin at the house of God (1 Pet. iv. 17). The demand of Jehovah upon Pharaoh was founded upon the fact, that Israel was his first-born son. Israel had become so by the election of Abraham, and by the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which was now to be renewed and extended, and to enter upon a higher stage in its development. Circumcision had been instituted as the sign of this covenant. And yet Moses, who was to contend for the covenant, had broken it himself, for his youngest son was still uncircumcised. In the weakness of his heart he had yielded to the haughty spirit of his wife, who from a false maternal tenderness, and a disregard to the religious institutions of Israel, had refused her consent to the bloody operation. As Moses was now returning from his exile to enter upon the duties of his vocation in Egypt, he found himself in similar circumstances to those in which Jacob was placed, when he returned from his exile in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan, to enter upon the work of his life (vol. i. § 80, 4). The relation in which Moses stood to God was, like Jacob's, not a pure one. In his case there was also a disturbing element, which had to be removed, before Jehovah could acknowledge him entirely and without reserve. this should be removed, before Moses in which he was called to labour. protector of Moses, still found in him reasons for anger and enmity. When Moses, therefore, was stopping at an inn on the road, Jehovah met him and was about to kill him. Moses at once discovered the cause, either because his own conscience accused him, or else from some intimation of his guilt, with which the hostile encounter of Jehovah was accompanied. Zipporah then took a stone-knife, and circumcised her son, and in the excitement of passion threw the foreskin at her husband's feet. (3) The way was now clear, and the first intimation that the favour of God had been restored, was the arrival of Aaron, who had been sent by Jehovah, and met his brother at Horeb, the mount of God. It was probably from this spot that Moses sent back his wife and children to his father-in-law (Ex. xviii. 2) (4). VOL. II. And it was necessary that entered the land of Egypt, Jehovah, the friend and P |