2.272
But God persuaded him to be courageous on all occasions, and promised
to be with him, and to assist him in his words, when he was to persuade
men; and in his deeds, when he was to perform wonders. He bid him also
to take a signal of the truth of what he said, by throwing his rod upon
the ground, which, when he had done, it crept along, and was become a serpent,
and rolled itself round in its folds, and erected its head, as ready to
revenge itself on such as should assault it; after which it become a rod
again as it was before. After this God bid Moses to put his right hand
into his bosom: he obeyed, and when he took it out it was white, and in
color like to chalk, but afterward it returned to its wonted color again.
He also, upon God's command, took some of the water that was near him,
and poured it upon the ground, and saw the color was that of blood. Upon
the wonder that Moses showed at these signs, God exhorted him to be of
good courage, and to be assured that he would be the greatest support to
him; and bid him make use of those signs, in order to obtain belief among
all men, that "thou art sent by me, and dost all things according
to my commands. Accordingly I enjoin thee to make no more delays, but to
make haste to Egypt, and to travel night and day, and not to draw out the
time, and so make the slavery of the Hebrews and their sufferings to last
the longer."
2.275
Moses having now seen and heard these wonders that assured him of
the truth of these promises of God, had no room left him to disbelieve
them: he entreated him to grant him that power when he should be in Egypt;
and besought him to vouchsafe him the knowledge of his own name; and since
he had heard and seen him, that he would also tell him his name, that when
he offered sacrifice he might invoke him by such his name in his oblations.
Whereupon God declared to him his holy name, which had never been discovered
to men before; concerning which it is not lawful for me to say any more
note Now
these signs accompanied Moses, not then only, but always when he prayed
for them: of all which signs he attributed the firmest assent to the fire
in the bush; and believing that God would be a gracious supporter to him,
he hoped he should be able to deliver his own nation, and bring calamities
on the Egyptians.
note
2.277
SO Moses, when he understood that the Pharaoh, in whose reign he
fled away, was dead, asked leave of Raguel to go to Egypt, for the benefit
of his own people. And he took with him Zipporah, the daughter of Raguel,
whom he had married, and the children he had by her, Gersom and Eleazer,
and made haste into Egypt. Now the former of those names, Gersom, in the
Hebrew tongue, signifies that he was in a strange land; and Eleazer,
that, by the assistance of the God of his fathers, he had escaped from
the Egyptians. Now when they were near the borders, Aaron his brother,
by the command of God, met him, to whom he declared what had befallen him
at the mountain, and the commands that God had given him. But as they were
going forward, the chief men among the Hebrews, having learned that they
were coming, met them: to whom Moses declared the signs he had seen; and
while they could not believe them, he made them see them, So they took
courage at these surprising and unexpected sights, and hoped well of their
entire deliverance, as believing now that God took care of their preservation.
2.281
Since then Moses found that the Hebrews would be obedient to whatsoever
he should direct, as they promised to be, and were in love with liberty,
he came to the king, who had indeed but lately received the government,
and told him how much he had done for the good of the Egyptians, when they
were despised by the Ethiopians, and their country laid waste by them;
and how he had been the commander of their forces, and had labored for
them, as if they had been his own people and he informed him in what danger
he had been during that expedition, without having any proper returns made
him as he had deserved. He also informed him distinctly what things happened
to him at Mount Sinai; and what God said to him; and the signs that were
done by God, in order to assure him of the authority of those commands
which he had given him. He also exhorted him not to disbelieve what he
told him, nor to oppose the will of God.
2.284
But when the king derided Moses; he made him in earnest see the signs
that were done at Mount Sinai. Yet was the king very angry with him and
called him an ill man, who had formerly run away from his Egyptian slavery,
and came now back with deceitful tricks, and wonders, and magical arts,
to astonish him. And when he had said this, he commanded the priests to
let him see the same wonderful sights; as knowing that the Egyptians were
skillful in this kind of learning, and that he was not the only person
who knew them, and pretended them to be divine; as also he told him, that
when he brought such wonderful sights before him, he would only be believed
by the unlearned. Now when the priests threw down their rods, they became
serpents. But Moses was not daunted at it; and said, "O king, I do
not myself despise the wisdom of the Egyptians, but I say that what I do
is so much superior to what these do by magic arts and tricks, as Divine
power exceeds the power of man: but I will demonstrate that what I do is
not done by craft, or counterfeiting what is not really true, but that
they appear by the providence and power of God." And when he had said
this, he cast his rod down upon the ground, and commanded it to turn itself
into a serpent. It obeyed him, and went all round, and devoured the rods
of the Egyptians, which seemed to be dragons, until it had consumed them
all. It then returned to its own form, and Moses took it into his hand
again.
