ssumption to pretend that this refers to another account of the giving
of the Jewish law, inconsistent with that in the twentieth chapter, and
placed at Marah instead of Sinai.[30] It is a transaction which
resembles much rather the promises given (and at various times, although
confusion and repetition cannot be inferred) to Abraham and Jacob (Gen.
xii. 1-3, xv. 1, 18-21, xvii. 1-14, xxii. 15-18, xxviii. 13-15, xxxv.
10-12). He said, "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the
Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His eyes, and wilt give
ear to His commandments, and wilt keep all His statutes, I will put none
of the diseases upon thee which I have put upon the Egyptians, for I am
the Lord which healeth thee." It is a compact of obedient trust on one
side, and protection on the other. If they felt their own sinfulness, it
asserted that He who had just healed the waters could also heal their
hearts. From the connection between these is perhaps derived the
comparison between human hearts and a fountain of sweet water or bitter
(Jas. iii. 11).

But certainly the promised protection takes an unexpected shape. What in
their circumstances leads to this specific offer of exemption from
certain foul diseases--"the boil of Egypt, and the emerods, and the
scurvy, and the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed" (Deut. xxviii.
27)? How does this meet the case? Doubtless by reminding them that there
are better exemptions than from hardship, and worse evils than
privations. If they do not realise this at the spiritual level, at least
they can appreciate the threat that "He will bring upon thee again all
the diseases of Egypt which thou wast afraid of" (Deut. xxviii. 60). To
be even a luxurious and imperial race, but infected by repulsive and
hopeless ailments, is not a desirable alternative. Now, such evils,
though certainly not in each individual, yet in a race, are the
punishments of non-natural conditions of life, such as make the blood
run slowly and unhealthily, and charge it with impure deposits. It was
God who put them upon the Egyptians.

If Israel would follow His guidance, and accept a somewhat austere
destiny, then the desert air and exercise, and even its privations,
would become the efficacious means for their exemption from the scourges
of indulgence. A time arrived when they looked back with remorse upon
crimes which forfeited their immunity, when the Lord said, "I have sent
among you the pestilenc