Concise Subjects from BTP: Volume 1
Unknown Author
Table of Contents
Adar
Civil Year: 6th Month; Sacred Year: 12th Month; Meaning: Large; Current Months: Part of February and March
Sources: la93508
Bul
Civil Year: 2nd Month; Sacred Year: 8th Month; Meaning: Rain; Current Months: Part of October and November
Sources: la93508
Chisleu
Civil Year: 3rd Month; Sacred Year: 9th Month; Meaning: Doubtful; Current Months: Part of November and December
Sources: la93508
Eighth Plague: Locusts
This dreadful incursion of locusts, the like of which for number and kind had never before been witnessed, and used by the LORD in the infliction of judgment upon the oppressors of His people, then in captivity, are also employed (symbolically of course) by Satan, in judgment upon Israel in apostacy from God and truth, in the last days (Rev. 9:1-11).
Sources: la93511
Elul
Civil Year: 12th Month; Sacred Year: 6th Month; Meaning: Glean or cut off; Current Months: Part of August and September
Sources: la93508
Fifth Plague: Death of Cattle
Horses, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep—source of the domestic and commercial business life of the country—being destroyed, must have seriously crippled their resources for trade and commerce; while the death of their sacred animals, the goat, cow, and especially the great god Apis, the "Bull"—who was so venerated, that on a certain occasion the whole nation went into mourning on his death—must have been a sad and terrible blow to the religious faith and feelings of the people.
Sources: la93511
First Plague: Water to Blood
Formerly Osiris, the Egyptian sun-god, was believed to have been the source from whence the Nile descended and was worshipped accordingly, but in course of time that homage was transferred to the river. The sentence of death was thus written on the nation's pride and boast.
Sources: la93511
Fourth Plague: Flies
Whatever kind of insect is referred to, little matter, as the point is the effect produced and the result. The ground, houses, people and king were covered with the destroying creatures. In the first plague "the river stank," in the second "the land stank." Under this terrible visitation "the land was corrupted" or "destroyed." In a country like Egypt, where idolatry of the most debasing character was universally practiced, where certain kinds of insects as the beetle were adored and worshipped, this judgment must have produced dismay and terror amongst the Egyptians.
Sources: la93511
Golden Bells
The "golden bells" set forth the testimony of the Holy Ghost to us as to the acceptance of Christ in all that He is, as now within the veil.
Sources: la93483
Golden Candlestick
The golden candlestick is rather a lamp that burned olive oil (Ex. 25:31-37; 37:17-24). Symbolizes the Holy Spirit's perfect display of Christ in the glories of His person as the light of a heavenly people.
Sources: la108232; la93483
Golden Pomegranates
The "golden pomegranates" sets forth the fruit Christ has gathered out of this scene, and which He now presents to God in all the glorious efficacy of His person.
Sources: la93483
Ninth Plague: Thick Darkness
It must be borne in mind that the worship of the sun was common there, as in eastern lands generally. One of the principal cities, called ON, signifying house of the sun, was the seat of this idolatrous form of worship. Thus blow after blow had been dealt at the wisdom and religion of Egypt.
Sources: la93511
Nisan or Abib
Civil Year: 7th Month; Sacred Year: 1st Month; Meaning: Green ears; Current Months: Part of March and April
Sources: la93508
Sebat
Civil Year: 5th Month; Sacred Year: 11th Month; Meaning: Shoot; Current Months: Part of January and February
Sources: la93508
Second Plague: Frogs
This judgment must have been a terrible blow to the religious faith and feelings of the country, for the "frog" was worshipped and held in high honor. To such an extent was this carried that "frogs" have been found carefully preserved and embalmed in the tombs at Thebes. The magicians by their arts only increased the general misery by adding to the number, and they did so after the land was swarming with them.
Sources: la93511
Seventh Plague: Hail
Such a storm of hail, thunder, and fire never before visited Egypt since her formation as a kingdom (Ex. 9:18) nor since. That peculiarly rich and fertile country is one exempted from storms, and one in which rain almost never falls; little wonder, then, that the haughty king was thoroughly terrified and forced to confess it too; for here were combined the elements of nature, which descended with such terrific force that all in the fields or outside, whether man or beast, were destroyed: the trees were broken, and the low-lying plants were smitten. Such a hurricane never was seen or felt by Egypt before or since. But our God delights in mercy, while judgment is His strange work; and so the total extinction of all agriculture in the country (Goshen as before excepted) must have been the result had not the wheat and the rye, then but in germ, been preserved (Ex. 9:32).
Sources: la93511
Sivan
Civil Year: 9th Month; Sacred Year: 3rd Month; Meaning: Bush or Thorn; Current Months: Part of May and June
Sources: la93508
Sixth Plague: Boils
Hitherto the various judgments had but touched the Egyptians in their circumstances and surroundings, but now the people themselves suffer. Moses sprinkled ashes of the furnace toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. This significant action was the invocation of Divine judgment, and is a very ancient custom, being still practiced in certain parts of the east.
Sources: la93511
Tebeth
Civil Year: 4th Month; Sacred Year: 10th Month; Meaning: Winter; Current Months: Part of December and January
Sources: la93508
Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
This midnight visitation of sharp and sudden judgment, death, upon the firstborn—the pride, the glory, the strength of Egypt—sent a bitter wail of anguish throughout the whole land. From it none could escape; it could not be foreseen nor averted in any wise. It embraced in its range the monarch on the throne to the maid-slave at the mill. The princes, people, cattle, and beasts all came in as sharers in this terrible judgment.
Sources: la93511
Third Plague: Lice
This must have been a grievous and terrible infliction in a warm and sunny country like Egypt, where the clouds of dust almost darken the air, and for want of rain, cannot by any possibility be laid. The sufferings of the people must have been intense and almost intolerable, besides which personal cleanliness formed an integral part of Egyptian religious life. In the previous judgment we have life multiplied, the "frogs" swarmed out of the waters, their natural element; in this one, however, we have life created out of the dust of the ground. In this the powerlessness of man is evident.
Sources: la93511
Tisri or Ethanim
Civil Year: 1st Month; Sacred Year: 7th Month; Meaning: Month of Streaming Rivers; Current Months: Part of September and October
Sources: la93508
Zif
Civil Year: 8th Month; Sacred Year: 2nd Month; Meaning: Blossom; Current Months: Part of April and May
Sources: la93508