Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God in this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you,

is

and seen that which is done to you in Egypt, and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites," &c. And thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto Pharaoh, and shall say unto him, "The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God:" and "the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand; and I will stretch out my hand, and will smite Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in the midst thereof; and after that he will let you go."

CHAP. XXVII.-The wondrous appearance of the manifested Deity, together with the revelation to Moses of His infinite power and attributes, as recited in the preceding chapter, demands our most reverent attention; and we may profitably contemplate the circumstances indicated in this portion of the sacred history.

At the marvellous object before him—a

bush flaming with fire, yet not consumed— Moses was greatly astonished; and when, out of the midst of the bush, Jehovah called unto him, announcing Himself to be the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, Moses might well hide his face, and be" afraid to look upon God."

When, in after ages, the same Almighty Being manifested Himself, as man, in the person of Jesus Christ, he reproved the gainsaying Sadducees, who taught that there was no resurrection, by referring them to that which they professed implicitly to believe, viz., this declaration of the Most High to Moses, that He was the God of those patriarchs who had, for ages past, been the blessed partakers of the everlasting resurrection life in the heavenly world. And Jesus said, "Now, that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob: for He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

From the inquiry made by Moses, "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers

hath sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, what is His name? What shall I say unto them ?"-We may infer that the knowledge and worship of the one true God had become gradually lost among the Hebrews. They were habituated to behold, and most probably to unite in, the gross and sensual idolatry of the Egyptians, who adored, as sacred, not only the nobler animals of the brute creation, but even noxious vermin and creeping reptiles, as well as the onions, the garlic, &c., which their own hands had planted. Thus had they "changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things."

The immediate descendants of Jacob were instructed in the homage due to the Omnipotent Creator of all things; but the early history of this people affords a remarkable evidence that the human mind, subjected to unholy influences, and deprived of the light of an external revelation, becomes easily enveloped in the mists of superstition, and bows before an imaginary deity, like the Israelites, who "made a calf in Horeb,"

and "offered sacrifice unto the idol." Notwithstanding that they had so abundantly witnessed the marvellous works of God, the debased and idolatrous habits contracted in Egypt rendered them insensible of His supreme power and agency, and they ascribed the glory of all those wonders to a molten image! saying, "These be thy gods, Oh Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

CHAP. XXVIII.-If we meditate on the spiritual condition into which the children of Israel had, during their sojourning in the land of Egypt, become degenerated, we cannot fail to be impressed with the remarkable nature of the commission intrusted to Moses, in answer to his inquiry respecting the name of the God whose messenger he should declare himself to be" And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM-Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

How perfectly was this sublime appellation calculated to meet the mental darkness which it was designed to enlighten!-expressing, as