30. What might be said about the succeeding plagues back there and now?

³⁰ The plagues upon Egypt back there might be said to have increased in intensity of painfulness as far as the individual Egyptians were concerned. The first two were mostly nuisances; with the third came bodily pain, and most devastating of all was the tenth, the death of the firstborn. And so also we find it in modern times; the exposing of the religious priests and preachers as part of Satan’s organization hurt them more than the previous messages regarding commercialism and moral corruption.

31. What distinction did Jehovah say he would make with regard to the fourth plague?

³¹ The first three plagues had come upon both the Egyptians and the Israelites, but regarding the fourth and subsequent plagues Jehovah said to Pharaoh: “I shall certainly make the land of Goshen upon which my people are standing distinct, . . . in order that you may know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth. And I shall indeed set a demarcation between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will take place.” And “Jehovah proceeded to do so.”—Ex. 8:22-24.

32. Instead of benefiting from experience with consequences, what effect does it have on the proud, stubborn and wicked?

³² This demarcation was to bring home still more forcibly to Pharaoh the issue of universal sovereignty. He had learned nothing from the first three plagues. Stubborn and wicked people do not learn or benefit from experience with consequences of their wrongdoing. It just makes them worse. And so we will find it with Pharaoh. In view of the interesting parallels found thus far in this prophetic drama, we look forward with keen anticipation to the meaning of the remaining seven plagues, and in particular the tenth plague. What was pictured by the death of the firstborn? For a consideration of these things, we refer the reader to a subsequent issue of this journal.

Infants Not Too Young to Learn

◆ At 2 Timothy 3:15 the Bible says, “From infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through the faith in connection with Christ Jesus.” To help infants, very young children, to learn the “holy writings,” many Christian parents have used the book From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained. In this regard one mother in Pennsylvania writes: “Though just two years old, my little daughter dearly loves her copy and almost daily ‘studies.’ She can ‘explain’ all the pictures up to page 85—in her fashion. She doesn’t talk too much yet, but by gestures and demonstrations and answering my questions with the words she does know, she proves she knows what each is about. For instance, ‘What did Jehovah tell Adam and Eve about the fruit?’ ‘No, no’—then demonstrates how they and their children had to cry because they were bad. She knows where each of the animals is in the picture of Noah and the ark and shakes her head violently as to whether the bad people got in the ark. She even has a game about the Israelites walking around Jericho. She builds some blocks up. Then she walks around and around them, finally pretending she is blowing a horn and exclaiming ‘Down, down!’ as she knocks the blocks over. It is so much fun to teach her, and we appreciate so much the illustrations that help her to learn the Holy Scriptures.”