dage, and great Mifery, and confequently, that they must obey him, A. 1 readily affent tó áll you fay, but muft we not alfo add, that this great Power was given to Mofes, to convince the King of Egypt and his Subjects, that he was fent from God, and that therefore he muft let the People go, and facrifice in the Wildernefs? B. Yes certainly; for fo God fays himself, Exod. vii. 9. When Pharoah fhall Speak unto you, faying, fhew á Miracle for you, then thou shalt say unto Aaron, take thy Rod, and caft it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a Serpent. A. Then A. Then I must take it for granted, that the Power of working Miracles was given to Mofes, to give him credit both with the Jews and with the Egyptians, and both of them were oblig'd, by virtue of these Credentials, to acknowledge he came from God, and confequently to believe what he faid to them. But to this, methinks, there lies a plain Objection, that will hardly be well anfwered: Namely, that Jannes and Jambres, Egyptian Sorcerers and Enchanters, when they were call'd before the King and Court, to fee what they could do, threw down their Rods, which were also turn'd to Serpents: You know, 'tis faid, they also turned Waters into Blood, and also brought Frogs upon the Land, in the fame manner that Mofes and Aaron did before them. Now their Intent and Purpose in thus doing, being, I fuppofe, to convince Pharaoh and the Standers by, that there was no need of believing Mofes, or of letting the People of Ifrael go, because of the Miracles they saw him work, fince they themselves did alfo work Miracles, and yet declared, that neither was Mofes to be believed, nor the People fuffered to depart : Things, I fay, being thus, how Could Mofes's Miracles prove his his Miffion from God, when the Magicians wrought the like, and faid, in effect, that he came not from God? Why is Mofes more to be believ'd than the Magicians, fince they each of them wrought Miracles? B. I will give you what Answers are generally thought beft, but to deal freely, I think they are not fully fatis factory. First then, it is faid, that the Rods of the Ægyptian Sorcerers were notturn'd into real, but appearing Serpents; and that the Devil who is a powerful and a subtile Spirit, helped his Servants in this Cafe, and fo impos'd upon the Senses of the Standers C 4 ders-by, that to them the Rods appeared to be Serpents, tho' indeed no real Change was effected. ་ 4. Lett me fay, as I think an Ægyptian might, to fuch an Anfwer, that this is really what we call begging the Question. What if one of Pharaoh's Courtiers fhould reply after this manner; "You say, that Mofes his Rod being turn'd into a Serpent, gives an "affured Teftimony to his "Miffion, and fhews convin"cingly, he came from God, "and ought to be believed: "But here you fee, that our Jannes and Jambres deny "his Miffion, and have turned their Rods into Ser 24 |