33 8 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



ened by the command given to the Israelites to remain 

 in their houses all night, and on no account to go out 

 until the morning. 



Such a conclusion does not eliminate in the least 

 degree the supernatural from the event and reduce it to 

 the level of an ordinary occurrence. The miraculous ele- 

 ment still remains even though we are thus able to show 

 that the destructive agent was a pestilence or a plague, 

 and that the protecting blood served a prophylactic 

 purpose, owing to the natural power which this fluid 

 possesses to attract and absorb the deadly germs of an 

 epidemic. There are circumstances in the event which 

 can only be accounted for by the direct interposition of 

 the Divine hand. We cannot attribute the safety which 

 the Israelites enjoyed solely to the natural power of the 

 blood any more than we can attribute the selection 

 exclusively of the first born in every Egyptian home 

 for destruction to the natural power of the pestilence. 

 These were undoubtedly miraculous elements, and can- 

 not be explained away. All that is meant to be inferred 

 is simply that, in conformity with the principle of 

 economy in miracles, the supernatural element took its 

 departure from the natural destructive power of the 

 pestilence and the natural conservative power of the 

 blood. These were the fulcrums upon which the mighty 

 lever of the miracle operated. And the more in this, as 

 well as in every other miraculous occurrence, we find 

 that God's procedure is based upon natural and neces- 

 sary reasons, the more does it commend itself to us as 

 the acting of a God of order, a God whose word and 



