It was because the Israelites were so disposed to connect themselves with the heathen and imitate their idolatry that God had permitted them to go down into Egypt, where the influence of Joseph was widely felt, and where circumstances were favorable for them to remain a distinct people. Here also the gross idolatry of the Egyptians and their cruelty and oppression during the latter part of the Hebrew sojourn should have inspired in them an abhorrence of idolatry, and should have led them to flee for refuge to the God of their fathers. This very providence Satan made a means to serve his purpose, darkening the minds of the Israelites and leading them to imitate the practices of their heathen masters. On account of the superstitious veneration in which animals were held by the Egyptians, the Hebrews were not 334 permitted, during their bondage, to present the sacrificial offerings. Thus their minds were not directed by this service to the great Sacrifice, and their faith was weakened. When the time came for Israel's deliverance, Satan set himself to resist the purposes of God. It was his determination that that great people, numbering more than two million souls, should be held in ignorance and superstition. The people whom God had promised to bless and multiply, to make a power in the earth, and through whom he was to reveal the knowledge of His will--the people whom He was to make the keepers of His law--this very people Satan was seeking to keep in obscurity and bondage, that he might obliterate from their minds the remembrance of God.

Det var på grund af israelitternes tilbøjelighed til at slutte forbund med hedningerne og efterligne deres afguderi, at Gud tillod, at de kom til Ægypten, hvor Josefs indflydelse tydeligt mærkedes, og hvor der var gode muligheder for, at de kunne vedblive at være et særegent folk. Her skulle ægypternes grove afgudsdyrkelse og den grusomhed og undertrykkelse, de udsatte hebræerne for i den sidste del af disses ophold, også have givet hebræerne afsky for afgudsdyrkelse og fået dem til at søge tilflugt hos deres fædres Gud. Men Satan benyttede selve denne omstændighed til at fremme sin hensigt, idet han formørkede israelitternes sind og fik dem til at efterligne deres hedenske herrers skikke. På grund af Ægypternes overtroiske ærbødighed over for dyr fik hebræerne ikke lov til at ofre under deres trældom. Derfor blev deres tanker ikke ledet hen til det store offer, og deres tro svækkedes. Da tiden for Israels befrielse kom, besluttede Satan at trodse Guds planer. Han var fast besluttet på, at det store folk, der talte mere end to millioner mennesker, skulle holdes nede i uvidenhed og overtro. Det folk, som Gud havde lovet at velsigne og gøre stort og stærkt på jorden, og gennem hvilket han ville åbenbare kendskabet til sin vilje - det folk, han ville gøre til sin lovs bevarer - prøvede Satan at holde nede i ubemærkethed og trældom for at få dem til at glemme Gud fuldstændig.