land, and came into the palace of the king, and filled all the rooms, the beds, the ovens, and the cisterns. Pharao now promised to let the people go, if the plague were but removed-but no sooner did he see

that rest was given to the land, than he refused. Moses now brought a plague of sciniphs, or lice, upon the Egyptians, of which the magicians were obliged to confess to Pharao, saying, "This is the finger of God." Pharao however still refused, and Moses now brought

THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT.

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a plague of flies upon the land; a very grievous swarm, that filled all the houses of Pharao and his servants. Pharao upon this gave way, saying, "I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but go no further; pray for me." Moses went out, and prayed for Pharao that the flies might be removed; but no sooner were they gone, than Pharao again refused, for his heart was hardened. Moses now

brought upon the land in succession, a plague of murrain upon the cattle, so that many of them died, followed by a plague of boils and swelling blains upon man and beast. After this he brought upon the land a hail-storm, that destroyed all the crops that were above ground, and also the servants and the cattle of such of Pharao's people as paid no heed to the warning that Moses gave of its coming. After this came a swarm of locusts, that ate up every blade of grass and green herb on the land; and then there came a horrible darkness for three days over the land, so thick that it might be felt, during which no man could see his brother, or could move from the place where he was; but with the children of Israel there was light. Pharao on the occasion of each plague promised to let the people go, but broke his word the moment the plague was removed. On the occasion of the ninth plague he called Moses and offered to let them go if they would leave their sheep and cattle behind. Moses refused to go on these conditions, and Pharao said to Moses, "Get thee from me, and beware thou see not my face any more, for in what day soever thou shalt come into my sight thou shalt die." Moses

answered, "So shall it be as thou hast spoken: I will not see thy face any more."

§ 8.

The institution of the Supper of the Paschal Lamb.

Moses went out from Pharao exceeding angry, and the Lord said to him, "Pharao will not hearken to you; yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharao and Egypt, and after that he shall let you go, and thrust you out. At midnight I will enter into Egypt, and every first-born in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from the first-born of Pharao upon his throne, to the first-born of the handmaid that is at the mill; and there shall be a cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there hath not been before, neither shall be hereafter; but with the children of Israel shall not a dog make the least noise, that you may know what a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and Israel."

Pharao had shown his contempt for Moses and Aaron, and now he and his people were to fall under a plague sent directly from God. Lest the angel who would be sent to execute the coming judgment in the night, might not distinguish between the houses of Israel and those of the Egyptians, Moses was commanded to institute the following rite of the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb. It was also ordered to be kept up by the people as a memorial, on the tenth day of the same month, until such time as the blood of the sacrifice of the true Paschal Lamb of God upon the cross on Mount Calvary, should effect a greater deliverance, and give to the Church a better sacrifice.

THE PASCHAL LAMB.

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Moses called the ancients of the children of Israel, and said to them: "Go, take a lamb by your families and sacrifice the Pasch: you shall not eat thereof anything

raw, nor boiled with water, but you shall eat the flesh thereof roast with fire, with unleavened bread and wild lettuce; in one house it shall be eaten, neither shall you

EXPLANATION OF THE TYPE OF THE PASCHAL SUPPER.-The Paschal Lamb is among the most complete of all the Old Testament types of the sacrifice of Jesus

carry forth of the flesh thereof out of the house, neither shall you break a bone thereof; and if there remain anything of it until morning, you shall burn it with fire. Thus shall you eat it: you shall gird your loins, you shall have shoes on your feet and hold staves in your hands, and you shall eat it in haste, for it is the Phase or Passage of the Lord. And you shall dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and sprinkle the beam of the door therewith, and both the door-posts; and let none of you go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through striking the Egyptians, and when He shall see the blood on the beam, and on both the posts, He will pass over the door of the house, and not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to hurt you.

"You shall keep this thing as a law for you and your children for ever, and when you have entered into the land which the Lord your God will give you as He hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies. And when your children shall say to you, the meaning of this service?' you shall say, 'It is the

What is

Christ. He is called the "Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world." The death of the Paschal Lamb preserved the people from the judgment that was about to fall upon the Egyptians, and was the sign or mark of the wonderful difference that God placed between Israel and the Egyptians. The blood of the Paschal Lamb sprinkled on the beam and posts of the door prevented the approach of the destroying Angel, as the blood of the Lamb of God sprinkled over the head of the Christian in Baptism and upon his lips in the holy Eucharist, prevents the Devil having any power to come near to do him harm. The Paschal Lamb, after having been first sacrificed, afterwards became a feast to each household, betokening their deliverance from the hand of their powerful enemies. The sacrifice of the Lamb of God is the price of our redemption from the power and tyranny of the Devil, and our Paschal Lamb is now become our feast in the holy Eucharist, where He gives Himself to be eaten in token of our perfect deliverance, through Him, from the power of Satan.