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Exodus Chapter
Five
Exodus 5
Chapter Contents
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the
Israelites. (1-9) The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.
(10-23)
Commentary on Exodus 5:1-9
(Read Exodus 5:1-9)
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and
will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with
contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him, and
therefore refused to obey him. Thus Pharaoh's pride, ambition, covetousness,
and political knowledge, hardened him to his own destruction. What Moses and
Aaron ask is very reasonable, only to go three days' journey into the desert,
and that on a good errand. We will sacrifice unto the Lord our God. Pharaoh was
very unreasonable, in saying that the people were idle, and therefore talked of
going to sacrifice. He thus misrepresents them, that he might have a pretence
to add to their burdens. To this day we find many who are more disposed to find
fault with their neighbours, for spending in the service of God a few hours
spared from their wordly business, than to blame others, who give twice the
time to sinful pleasures. Pharaoh's command was barbarous. Moses and Aaron
themselves must get to the burdens. Persecutors take pleasure in putting
contempt and hardship upon ministers. The usual tale of bricks must be made,
without the usual allowance of straw to mix with the clay. Thus more work was
to be laid upon the men, which, if they performed, they would be broken with
labour; and if not, they would be punished.
Commentary on Exodus 5:10-23
(Read Exodus 5:10-23)
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need
we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen
justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has
often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for
those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas,
it is the duty of those who are most busy in the world. Those who are diligent
in doing sacrifice to the Lord, will, before God, escape the doom of the
slothful servant, though with men they do not. The Israelites should have
humbled themselves before God, and have taken to themselves the shame of their
sin; but instead of that, they quarrel with those who were to be their
deliverers. Moses returned to the Lord. He knew that what he had said and done,
was by God's direction; and therefore appeals to him. When we find ourselves at
any time perplexed in the way of our duty, we ought to go to God, and lay open
our case before him by fervent prayer. Disappointments in our work must not
drive us from our God, but still we must ponder why they are sent.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 5
Verse 1
[1] And
afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of
Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my
people go — Moses, in treating with the elders of
Israel, is directed to call God the God of their fathers; but, in treating with
Pharaoh, they call him the God of Israel, and it is the first time we find him
called so in scripture. He is called the God of Israel, the person, Genesis 33:20, but here it is Israel the people.
They are just beginning to be formed into a people when God is called their
God.
Let my people go —
They were God's people, and therefore Pharaoh ought not to detain them in
bondage. And he expected services and sacrifices from them, and therefore they
must have leave to go where they could freely exercise their religion, without
giving offence to, or receiving offence from, the Egyptians.
Verse 2
[2] And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let
Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? — Being summoned to surrender, he thus hangs out the flag of defiance. Who
is Jehovah? I neither know him nor care for him; neither value nor fear him. It
is a hard name that he never heard of before, but he resolves it shall be no
bugbear to him. Israel was now a despised, oppressed people, and by the
character they bore he makes his estimate of their God, and concludes that he
made no better figure among the gods, than his people did among the nations.
Verse 3
[3] And
they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee,
three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest
he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
We pray thee, let us go three days journey
into the desert — And that on a good errand, and
unexceptionable: we will sacrifice to the Lord our God - As other people do to
theirs; lest if we quite cast off his worship, he fall upon us - With one
judgment or other, and then Pharaoh will lose his vassals.
Verse 5
[5] And
Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them
rest from their burdens.
The people are many —
Therefore your injury to me is the greater, in attempting to make them rest
from their labours.
Verse 6
[6] And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and
their officers, saying,
The task-masters, were Egyptians, the
officers were Israelites employed under them.
Verse 7
[7] Ye
shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go
and gather straw for themselves.
Straw — To
mix with the clay, or to burn the brick with.
Verse 8
[8] And
the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them;
ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry,
saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
They are idle —
The cities they built for Pharaoh, were witnesses for them that they were not
idle; yet he thus basely misrepresents them, that he might have a pretence to
increase their burdens.
Verse 9
[9] Let
there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let
them not regard vain words.
Vain words —
Those of Moses and Aaron.
Verse 14
[14] And
the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set
over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task
in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
In thy own people —
For if they had given us straw, we should have fulfilled our task.
Verse 21
[21] And
they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our
savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants,
to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
The Lord look upon you, and judge — They should have humbled themselves before God, but instead of that they
fly in the face of their best friends. Those that are called to public service
for God and their generation, must expect to be tried not only by the threats
of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends.
To put a sword in their hand to slay us — To give them the occasion they have long sought for.
Verse 22
[22] And
Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil
entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
He expostulated with him. He knew not how to
reconcile the providence with the promise, and the commission he had received.
Is this God's coming down to deliver Israel? Must I who hoped to be a blessing
to them become a scourge to them? By this attempt to get them out of the pit,
they are but sunk the farther into it.
Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this
people — Even when God is coming towards his people
in ways of mercy, yet sometimes he takes such methods that they may think
themselves but ill-treated: when they think so, they should go to God by prayer,
and that is the way to have better treatment in God's good time.
Why is it that thou hast sent me — Pharaoh has done evil to this people, and not one step seems to be taken
towards their deliverance. It cannot but sit very heavy upon the spirits of
those whom God employs for him, to see that their labour doth no good, and much
more to see that it doth hurt, eventually, though not designedly.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
05 Chapter 5
Verse 1
Let My people go.
The deliverance of God’s people
The history of the deliverance of God’s people from the bondage of
Egypt, their pilgrimage through the wilderness, and their ultimate settlement
in the Land of Promise, bears striking analogy to the history of the human
soul.
I. The words “Let
My people go,” regarded as spoken concerning human souls, may be said to
contain in themselves the whole gospel history of our redemption. Even the
small word “My” is emphatic.
1. We are God’s people; not Satan’s people. When God claims us we
should remember that He claims His own, and that we are bound to support His
claim.
2. The summons to let the people of God go implies a bondage from
which they are to be delivered. That which forms the basis of Holy Scripture is
the fact that man committed sin. He rebelled against his Maker, and became the
slave of one to whom he owed no obedience.
3. If the words “Let My people go” imply the existence of slavery,
they still more emphatically imply the way and the promise of redemption. The
Gospel of Christ, as preached throughout the whole world, is just this--“Let My
people go.”
II. The whole
system of ordinances and sacraments, in which we find ourselves by God’s providence,
like the system of ordinances and sacrifices which was given to Israel when
they came out of Egypt, are intended to insure and perfect and turn to the best
account the liberty which the Lord has given us, for the soul of man may not be
content with emancipation once and for all.
III. The
consideration of what Jesus Christ has done for us is the chief means of moving
our hearts to seek that liberty which God designs us all to possess. (Bp.
Harvey Goodwin.)
Freedom to serve God
I. Perfect freedom
is not the thing demanded of Pharaoh, nor is this the prize of their high
calling held out before the eyes of the Israelites. To serve God is the perfect
freedom held out: to change masters, to be rid of him who had no claim to their
allegiance, and to be permitted without hindrance to serve Him who was indeed
their Lord and their God. This was the boon offered to the children of Israel,
and demanded on their account by Moses as the ambassador of God.
II. This feature in
the deliverance of the Israelites is worthy of special notice, when we regard
it as typical of the deliverance from sin and the bondage of the devil, which
our heavenly Father is willing to effect for each of us. “Let My people
go,”--not that they may be free from a master, but that they may serve; let
them go, because they have been redeemed by Christ, and are not their own, but
His. The deliverance from sin which God works for His people is, in fact, a
change from one service to another: a change from service to sin, which is
perfect bondage, to service to God, which is perfect freedom.
III. The blessedness
of the service of God is not estimated as it ought to be; men in these days are
too like the children of Israel, who seemed to think that they had conferred a
favour on Moses by following his guidance, and that the least reverse would be
a sufficient excuse to justify them in going back again to Egypt. There is
nothing in their conduct more strange or more blamable than in the conduct of
men calling themselves Christians, who do not perceive that in the earnest
discharge of God’s service is their highest happiness as well as their
principal duty and most blessed privilege. (Bp. Harvey Goodwin.)
Lessons
1. God’s ambassadors must proceed orderly in delivering their
message--first to Israel, secondly to Pharaoh.
2. Order of persons as well as time is observable by God’s servants.
3. The poorest persons under God’s authority may press into the
presence of the proudest kings.
4. God’s ambassadors must speak and declare His will to the greatest
potentates.
5. God’s messengers must go in His authority and vouch His name,
6. The true way of making out God unto man is concretely not
abstractly. Every nation acknowledgeth God, but not Israel’s God.
7. The true God hath a peculiar people whom He owneth in the world.
8. The will of God is to have His people set free from all that
hinders them from Him.
9. The end of all redemption is that God’s people should serve Him.
10. The true service of God is a festival living to Him.
11. Such feasting with God is better in the wilderness than in Egypt.
12. All such feasting, sacrificing, and worship must terminate in
Jehovah. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Moses before Pharaoh
1. The sense of his high commission enabled him to discharge the duty
it laid upon him with dignity and boldness. The sinking of heart that had
seized him upon its first announcement had passed away; and in its place had
come “the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
2. Aaron was with him; but the relation he sustained to the work is
marked, as it is throughout the narrative, by the order of the names, Moses and
Aaron--never Aaron and Moses--a companion, aa associate, but only as a helper,
a support, a spokesman, though Aaron was the eider. There are chords in our
nature that vibrate mysteriously to another’s touch, a magnetism that works by
laws imperfectly understood, by which the presence and sympathy of a companion,
silent though it be, and without visible action, braces and enlivens the heart;
and that, though the disparity be so great that the inferior who cares for us
can only think as we think, and feel as we feel, without any contribution of
useful counsel or active succour. “At my first answer,” says St. Paul, “no man
stood with me, but all men forsook me.” Let us not say that we cannot help our
friend because we are inferior and of small resources. It is too often but the
cover of cowardice or coldness of heart. He that knows the magic there is in a
look, a touch, or a word, to alleviate and quicken a pained or fainting soul,
feels the falsehood. Nor let us, in our height of pride and self-sufficiency,
despise the “fellowship of kindred minds” because they are below us, and, it
may be, without manifest strength to aid. A little child’s sympathy is not to
be despised. Moses’ commission was sole, but Aaron’s presence facilitated its
execution. There is a wonderful power in company.
3. What Moses first asked of Pharaoh for his people, then, was a
religious privilege--liberty to go out into the wild country beyond the bounds
of Goshen, and worship God; sacrifice to that great Being in whom their fathers
had trusted, but whose image, we may well believe, had grown dim among them
during their long period of depression and enslavement. Moses was a religious
reformer. The revival of truth, faith, and loyalty to Jehovah, lay at the
bottom of all the other great things he was to do for them. The feast in the
wilderness was preliminary to all that was to follow, to stand as the
frontispiece of that series of wonderful events in which their deliverance was
to be accomplished, the prologue of the great drama of their entrance upon
national life.
4. To Pharaoh, in this call, there was a test of faith, and of that
obedience in which all real faith finds its true expression. God came forth
from His obscurity and spoke to him. Would he hear that voice, recognize it as
the voice of Him who is “King of kings”? In humanity there is a chord that ever
vibrates to God’s touch, and an ear that hears His voice. It was the call of
God’s mercy to Pharaoh, Jehovah’s coming near to him to do him good. Alas! he
“knew not the time of his visitation.” But if the heart of Pharaoh towards God was tested by this
call, so was his heart towards man. It was an appeal to his humanity.
5. See the wisdom of acting in great matters with judgment,
moderation, and patience. Many a good design has been ruined by abruptness,
haste, and grasping greed. Moses did not succeed in his embassy, but he adopted
fit and judicious methods to obtain success; and if they failed to secure their
object, it was simply because they encountered an opposition that no power or
skill could overcome. The eagerness that will have all at once, loses all. The
impatience that will reach the goal at a single bound, never reaches it. To
have asked the immediate emancipation of the Israelites would have been
manifestly useless.
6. Finally, beware of striving against God. It can end in nothing but
destruction. Its gains are losses, its successes its most ruinous failures. (R.
A. Hallam, D. D.)
Reasons for sending Moses and Aaron
Why did God send Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, when He could have
destroyed Him with a stroke, and have wrought the freedom of Israel?
1. That God’s power might appear in showing His wonders.
2. That the Israelites might see the great care God had over them.
3. To exercise their patience, not being delivered at once.
4. To leave Pharaoh without excuse. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A proclamation of God
1. His name.
2. His authority.
3. His regard for His people.
4. His desire for the freedom of man. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The freedom of men
1. Earnestly desired.
2. Effectively undertaken.
3. Divinely approved.
4. Successfully achieved. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A Divine challenge
The slavery of Israel in Egypt was hopeless slavery; they could
not get free unless God interfered and worked miracles on their behalf. And the
slavery of the sinner to his sin is equally hopeless; he could never be free,
unless a mind that is infinitely greater than he can ever command shall come to
his assistance and help. What a blessed circumstance it is, then, for those
poor chosen children of God, who are still in bondage, that the Lord has power
to say, and then power to carry out what He has said--“Thus saith the Lord, let
My people go, that they may serve Me.”
I. The fulness of
the sentence. “Thus saith the Lord, let My people go, that they may serve Me.”
I don’t doubt but what there are some of God’s people who have not any idea
they are His people. The demand was not made to Pharaoh, “Make their tasks less
heavy; make the whip less cruel; put kinder taskmasters over them.” No, but,
“Let them go free.” Christ did not come into the world merely to make our sin
more tolerable, but to deliver us right away from it. He did not come to make
our lusts less mighty; but to put all these things far away from His people,
and work out a full and complete deliverance. Again, you will mark, it says,
“Let My people go.” It says nothing about their coming back again. Once gone,
they are gone for ever.
II. The rightness
of it. The voice of justice, and pity, and mercy, cries to death, and hell, and
sin, “Let My people go free--Satan, keep thine own if thou wilt, but let My
people go free, for they are Mine. This people have I created for Myself; they
shall show forth My praise. Let My people go free, for I have bought them with
My precious blood. Thou hast not bought them, nor hast thou made them: thou
hast no right to them; let My people go free.” All this is our comfort about
poor sinners, and we hope that some of them, though they don’t know it, are
God’s people.
III. The repetition
of this sentence. Observe now, as Pharaoh would not give up the people, the
sentence had to be repeated again, and again, until at last God would bear it
no longer, but brought down on him one tremendous blow. He smote the firstborn
of Egypt, the chief of all their strength, and then He led forth His people
like sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron. In like manner this sentence of God
has to be repeated many times in your experience and mine, “Thus, saith the
Lord, let My people go free,” and if you are not quite free yet, don’t despair;
God will repeat that sentence till at last you shall be brought forth with
silver and gold, and there shall not be a feeble thought in all your soul; you
shall go forth with gladness and with joy; you shall enter into Canaan at last,
up yonder where His throne is glittering now in glorious light, that angel eyes
cannot bear. It is no wonder then, if it is to be repeated in our experience, that the
Church of Christ must keep on repeating it in the world as God’s message. Go,
missionary, to India, and say to Juggernaut, and Kalee, and Brahma, and Vishnu,
“Thus saith the Lord, let My people go free.” Go, ye servants of the Lord, to
China, speak to the followers of Confucius, and say, “Thus saith the Lord, let
My people go free.” Go ye to the gates of the harlot city, even Rome, and say,
“Thus saith the Lord, let My people go, that they may serve Me.” Think not
though you die that your message will die with you. ‘Tis for Moses to say,
“Thus saith the Lord,” and if he be driven from Pharaoh’s sight, the “Thus
saith the Lord” still stands, though His servant fall. Yes, brothers and
sisters, the whole Church must keep on throughout every age, crying, “Thus
saith the Lord, let My people go.”
IV. The omnipotence
of the command. Sin is a Pharaoh, but God is Jehovah. Your sins are hard; you
cannot overcome them of yourself, but God can. There is hope yet; let that hope
arouse you to action. Say to your soul tonight, “I am not in hell, though I
might have been. I am still on praying ground and pleading terms, and now, God helping me, I
will begin to think.” And when you begin to think you will begin to be blessed.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
God’s people
I. Who are these
whom god calls “my people”?
1. They are a distinct and separate race. The people of God are not
those who agree with each other as to certain theories--in these things they
may be sundered far as the poles. It is not that they come together on certain
particular occasions and observe the same ceremonies. No ceremonies however
ancient, however solemn, however significant, however faithfully observed can
make us His people. The distinction is one of birth. It is a difference of
nature. Born of God, begotten of God, they arc the children of God. Within them
is the very Spirit of God whereby they cry “Abba Father.”
2. They are Created of God by a distinct and wholly supernatural act.
The children of a new life--of the resurrection. And out of that relationship
to God come a thousand new relationships. There is a new authority which is
ever supreme--there is a new nature, with new hopes, and new desires; and new
needs; and new aspirations; and new delights; a nature which can find its only
satisfaction in Him in whom it found its source; there is a new relationship to
all things. Born of God, they look further; they soar higher; they find more.
II. But if these
are His people, why does he suffer them to be here? Forsaken, wronged--has God
forgotten to be gracious? Who shall deliver them out of the hand of Pharaoh?
1. That they may know that I am the Lord--this is the key to it all.
They are led into the wilderness where there is neither bread nor water, that
they may learn to look up to God for their help: so they are hemmed in by all
possible evils in Egypt, that they may see the greatness and might of their God
in their deliverance. The mightier the nation that oppressed them, the greater
the glory of their deliverance. The more hopeless their condition, and the more
hopeless the people, so much more room was there for God to show forth His
mighty arm. The greatness of life--its breadth and depth, its expanse like
heaven above us, its solidity like the earth beneath us--is exactly according
to our knowledge of our God. And the deep peace and rest--the blessedness and
satisfaction--these too come only from knowing Him. We are most indebted--not
to those things for which it is easiest to give thanks, but to those from which
we have shrunk, and which set us wondering, fearing, perhaps even doubting. The
reaper is a happy man, and poets sing and artists paint the scene of harvest
home. But the keen frosts that break the clods, and the patient ploughman
plodding wearily behind the share with which he cleaves the soil in chill
winter winds and under cheerless skies--these are apt to be forgotten and
unthanked. And yet what should the reaper bring if the ploughman went not
forth? “My people.” God sends them to school that they may learn to know Him.
2. Learn further that wherever His people are led, they can never get
where God cannot help them. Be sure of that. Whatever clouds gather they cannot
hide His child in the darkness. No circumstances can ever shut us out from His
help.
3. The Lord knoweth them that are His. He leadeth them in a way that
they know not, but He knoweth the way. Fear not: we too may sing--“He leadeth
us in a right way to bring us to a city of habitation.”
4. Notice yet another characteristic of His people. See Israel come
forth from Egypt. Every man, every woman, every child bows his head beneath a
doorpost on which is sprinkled
the blood--each one passes between the side posts whereon is the crimson stain.
They arc the redeemed of the Lord--My people--ransomed by a great price. The
people of God find their deliverance in the power of the Cross. (M. G.
Pearse.)
Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh
We never heard of an insurrection against a tyrannical government,
deliberately planned, for which there was not aggregated some sort of
preparation in armies and munitions of war. So we inquire in this instance,
What was the number of Israel’s troops now on their belligerent way to beseige
the capital of Egypt? Only one organized battalion, consisting of these two old
men! What were the arms they carried? These were altogether seven weapons in
detail. Any one can count them at his pleasure: one shepherd’s crook, called a
“rod,” one tremendous name in the Hebrew language, four promises, and a
miracle. These were expected to revolutionize Egypt.
I. Inadequacy of
conspicuous resources is no argument against success, when God in Person has
sent His servants forth to do His errand.
II. The Almighty
God has never let go His hold upon any individual of the human race, for all
the spiteful rebellion some men have shown.
III. It is of the
utmost importance that intelligent people should have a safe creed. Undoubtedly
Pharaoh is very much in earnest. He does not “know” Jehovah; he knows the
deities he has been educated to worship. But if we only wait a little longer,
and read the story of the exodus clear through to the crossing of the Red Sea,
we shall find out whether it made any difference to Pharaoh what he believed in
that moment when he defied Jehovah!
IV. See how clearly
the all-wise God works up to simple issues with every wilful transgressor
before He casts him utterly out. There is only one question which confronts any
man, no matter how many are the forms in which it may be put: Will you, or will
you not, obey God?
V. Those who seek
to help their fellow-men in this world must expect misjudgment.
VI. So we reach our
final lesson: the natural and first result of stirring up sin is to aggravate
its violence. Satan hates to lose his slaves. The heart is desperately wicked,
and seems to grow more malignant than before. “It is always darkest just before
day.” This does not happen so; it is the Divine rule. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Divine condescension to Pharaoh
At the outset, we observe the more than dutiful manner in which
Israel was directed to act towards Pharaoh. Absolutely speaking, Pharaoh had no
right to detain the people in Egypt. Their fathers had avowedly come not to
settle, but temporarily to sojourn, and on that understanding they had been
received. And now they were not only wrongfully oppressed, but unrighteously
detained. It was infinite condescension to Pharaoh’s weakness, on the part of
God, not to insist from the first upon the immediate and entire dismissal of
Israel. Less could not have been asked than was demanded of Pharaoh, nor could
obedience have been made more easy. Assuredly such a man was ripe for the
judgment of hardening; just as, on the other hand, if he had at the first
yielded obedience to the Divine will, he would surely have been prepared to
receive a further revelation of His will, and grace to submit to it. And so God
in His mercy always deals with man. “He that is faithful in that which is
least, is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust
also in much.” The demands of God are intended to try what is in us. It was so
in the case of Adam’s obedience, of Abraham’s sacrifice, and now of Pharaoh;
only that in the latter case, as in the promise to spare Sodom if even ten
righteous men were found among its wicked inhabitants, the Divine forbearance
went to the utmost verge of condescension. (A. Edersheim, D. D.)
Divine authority for the message
On one occasion when Whitefield was preaching, an old man fell
asleep, and some of the audience became listless. Suddenly changing his manner,
Whitefield broke forth in an altered tone, declaring that He had not come to
speak in his own name, otherwise they might lean on their elbows and go to
sleep. “No; I have come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, and I must and
will be heard.” The sleeper started wide awake; the hearers were stripped of
their apathy at once; and every word of the sermon was attended to. It was thus
that Moses addressed Pharaoh; and it is thus all witness for God should address
the listeners--with authority.
Hold a feast unto Me.
The first attempt at a religious service
I. That this first
attempt at a religious service was made responsive to the call, and in harmony
with the will of God.
1. Thus there was a great necessity that the work now attempted by
Moses and Aaron should be accomplished.
2. Moses and Aaron were the right men to undertake this work. In the
first place, Moses had been directly called by God to do it; also Aaron had
been providentially conducted to this sphere of work. In this we see the
different methods by which God enjoins work upon good men. Then, again, Moses
and Aaron had been Divinely prepared for their work. Men are prepared in
different ways. Solitude prepares one man; publicity will prepare another the
preparation must be in harmony with the temperament of the man, and the work
that he has to perform. The Church requires to think less of results, and more
of the methods by which they are to be attained.
3. Moses and Aaron undertook this work in the proper spirit.
II. That our first
attest at religious service is often met by open profanity and ignorance.
1. Moses and Aaron were met by a manifestation of ignorance.
2. They were met by deep profanity.
3. They were met by unwarrantable pride.
III. That our first
attempt at service is often misunderstood, and its motive maligned.
1. Pharaoh was not sensitive
to the claims of duty.
2. Pharaoh was not a disinterested interpreter of the claims urged
upon him.
IV. That sometimes
our first attempt at religious service appears to be more productive of harm
than good, and to have the very opposite effect to that designed. Lessons:
1. Begin at once some enterprise for the moral freedom of humanity,
2. If in the first attempt at service you meet with difficulty and
rejection, do not be dismayed.
3. That you must be finally successful in your efforts.
Verse 2
Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?
Pharaoh’s question answered
If we would know God as He is, we should neither take our own idea
nor adopt the world’s estimates, but see Him as He has revealed Himself in His
Word, especially in the Gospel which began to be spoken by His Son, the only
Teacher competent to instruct us here.
1. God is One, indeed, who will punish sin, etc. As a Holy God, He
hates it; and, as a Just God, He will “by no means clear the guilty,” etc.
2. But, at the same time, He is One who would rather not, and who
will not unless He must. Judgment is His strange work, and He “would have all
men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
3. One, too, so averse to punish that He “spared not His own Son,”
etc. Abraham could give no higher proof of his love to God than by his
willingness to offer up his son, his only son, Isaac. “God so loved,” etc.
4. One, too, who, in addition to giving His Son, strives with men by
His Word, ordinances, Spirit, Providence, to dispose them to accept that Son
and find peace and joy in believing.
5. One, again, who has filled His Word with warnings to arouse,
invitations to attract, directions to instruct, promises to encourage, etc.
6. One, too, who has thrown the door of hope wide open to all, and
imposed no impossible, or even difficult, condition in the case of any.
7. One, in fine, who can say, “What more could I have done for My
vineyard that I have not done in it?” One whose plan, provision and proffer of
salvation is such that if any fail of its privileges, they can but blame
themselves. This is the Lord! Not only our Creator (that itself should summon
our service; see Psalms 100:1-5.), nor only our Preserver
(living by His bounty, should we not live by His bidding, too?); but also our
Redeemer: the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely, then, if there
be any voice, we should obey, it is His. That voice, further, is the voice of
One who knows us; knows our frame, knows what suits us, knows what will
contribute to our well-being. His commands are so far from being arbitrary that
in the very keeping of them there is great reward; and, following the course
they indicate, we shall ever have growing reason to say, “The lines are fallen
unto me in pleasant places”; while, on the other hand, all experience, as well
as revelation, declares, “the way of transgressors is hard.” The sinner flies
from God’s voice, thinking it a voice of anger; whereas, did he but stop and
listen, he would “wonder at the gracious words that proceed out of His mouth.”
Only let us “acquaint ourselves with Him, and we shall be at peace, and good
shall thereby come to us.” But if we follow after lying vanities, we forsake
our own mercies. (David Jamison, B. A.)
Lessons
1. Proud imperious spirits are hasty to reply roughly upon God’s
messengers.
2. Idolaters are apt to despise God in the true revelation of Him.
3. Hardened souls vent their contempt upon God Himself more than on
His Church.
4. Contempt of Jehovah suffers not men to hear His voice.
5. Disobedience to God ushers in oppression to His people.
6. Scorners of God can never come to the right knowledge of God or
acknowledgment of Him.
7. Wicked wretches glory in the contempt of knowing God.
8. Denial of knowing God denieth all good commanded for His people. (G.
Hughes, B. D.)
God entitled to an obedience
I. We ought to
obey God, because He is the benevolent Creator of the universe.
II. We are bound to
obey God, because He is the constant preserver of the creatures of His power.
III. We are under
yet greater obligations to obey God, because He is the perfect Governor of the universe.
IV. We are
obligated in the highest degree to obey God, because He is the Merciful
Redeemer of sinners. (C. Coffin, D. D.)
God’s claim on our obedience
I. Some
particulars relative to God’s voice.
1. The persons to whom He speaks--Mankind.
2. The means by which He speaks.
(a) Of creation.
(b) Of providence.
3. What He says to us. He speaks to us variously, according to our
various states, as sinful, submissive, and reclaimed creatures. As sinful
creatures, who transgress His laws, He speaks to us in the language of reproof;
charging us with rebellion (Isaiah 1:1-2); and ingratitude (Deuteronomy 32:6); and in the language of
warning; showing us that we are rejected by Him (Proverbs 15:8; Proverbs 15:26); under His curse (Galatians 3:10); and under the sentence
of eternal death (Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 6:21). As submissive creatures,
who desire to obey Him, He speaks to us in the language of kind authority (Isaiah 55:6-7; Matthew 11:28-29); of encouragement (Isaiah 1:16-18); and of caution against
delay. (Psalms 95:7-8). As reclaimed creatures,
restored to His favour and service, He speaks in the language of instruction (Micah 6:8; Titus 2:12); and in the language of
consolation, (Isaiah 40:1; Psalms 84:11).
4. With what design He speaks. This is to engage our obedience. His
works teach us to glorify Him as God (Romans 1:21). His Word requires practical
piety as man’s indispensable duty (1 Samuel 15:22; Matthew 7:21; James 1:22; James 1:25). The obedience thus required
must be prompt, without delay (Job 22:21). Universal, without defect (Psalms 119:6). Persevering, without
intermission (Romans 2:7); and humble, without arrogance. It must be humbly
ascribed to Divine grace (Isaiah 26:12); humbly presented through
Christ for acceptance (1 Peter 2:5); and humbly as unprofitable at best (Luke 17:10). Such being the obedience
which God requires, let us consider--
II. His claims on
our obedience to His voice. These will appear by answering the inquiry here
instituted--“Who is the Lord?” etc.
1. He is our indisputable Proprietor.
2. He is our acknowledged Sovereign.
3. He is our best Friend, and kindest Benefactor.
4. He is the Disposer of our eternal destiny.
Pharaoh’s impious interrogation
I. God has spoken
to mankind.
II. Why and how you
should hear.
1. Why.
2. How. With awe, sacred attentions, holy anxiety.
III. The impiety and
folly of refusing to hear the voice of God.
1. It is a flagrant contempt of God.
2. It is open rebellion against authority.
3. It must be eventually ruinous to the sinner. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Scorners of God
1. They hear not His voice.
2. They perceive not His revelations.
3. They recognize not His claims.
4. They insult His servants.
5. They enslave His people.
6. They are obstinate in their denials. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaoh fighting against God
A certain king used to wander about in disguise. Once he fell into
a quarrel, and was getting rather roughly handled. But as soon as his assailant
knew that he was pummeling the king, he dropped on his knees, asking for mercy.
It is a good thing to know against whom we are fighting. Pharaoh did not
realize that. When Job came to see that he was fighting against God, he said,
“Behold, I am vile . . . I will lay mine hand upon mine mouth.”
“I know not the Lord”-agnosticism of the heart and will
A kind of agnosticism more prevalent than agnosticism of a
scientific kind. There is an agnosticism of the heart; there is an agnosticism
of the will. Men reason foolishly about this not knowing. Men imagine that
because they know not the Lord, the Lord knows not them. There is a vital
distinction. We do not extinguish the sun by closing our eyes. If men will not
inquire for God in a spirit worthy of such an inquiry, they can never know God.
Pharaoh’s no-knowledge was avowed in a tone of defiance. It was not an
intellectual ignorance, but a spirit of moral denial. Pharaoh practically made
himself god by denying the true God. This is the natural result of all atheism.
Atheism cannot be a mere negative; if it pretend to intelligence it must, in
some degree, involve the Godhead of the being who presumes to deny God; the
greatest difficulty is with people who know the Lord, and do not obey Him. If
they who professedly know the Lord, would carry out His will in daily obedience
and sacrifice of the heart, their lives would constitute the most powerful of
all arguments. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Dangerous ignorance
He says he does not know Jehovah; he does not recognize His
authority or admit His claims. His soul is full of practical unbelief in God--a
fact which commonly lies at the bottom of all the hardening of sinners’ hearts
in every age. Pharaoh did not at first contemplate crossing swords and
measuring strong arms with the Almighty God. If he had taken this view of the
case he might have paused a while to consider. So it usually is with sinners.
Unbelief in God conduces to launch them upon this terrible conflict. Once
committed, they become more hardened; one sin leads on to more sinning till sin
becomes incurable--shall we say it?--an uncontrollable madness. (H. Cowles,
D. D.)
“Who is the Lord?”
This is--
1. The language of independence. “Who is the Lord?” I am the lord of
Egypt, etc.
2. Of decided opposition; a setting up of his will against that of
Jehovah; “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?”
3. Of contemptuous rejection of Divine authority. He says, “Let My
people go”; but I say, I will not.
4. Of insolent defiance, braving all terrors. Are we not struck with
horror at the impiety of Pharaoh’s answer to the message of Jehovah?
But what, if in this congregation, there be a man or woman in
whose heart the same principle of rebellion reigns!
1. I address myself first to the young--“My son, give Me thine
heart.” Now what is the answer of many? is your heart either divided, or
altogether devoted to worldly,pursuits and gratifications? if so then the
principle, if not the words of Pharaoh is yours.
2. I would address those who are more advanced in life. Ye men of
business, I have a message to you. Let me ask you if, on account of worldly gain,
you do not sometimes violate your conscience? Then is not your language, “Who
is the Lord”? I must mind my business first, I know not the Lord, neither will
I let my gains go. (George Breay, B. A.)
Pharaoh’s ignorance self-imposed
We may think that this would be of course the language of a
heathen king, of one who was not in the covenant. The Scripture does not teach
us so. We are told that the Lord spoke to Laban and to Abimelech, and that they
understood His voice. When Joseph told Pharaoh who was reigning in his day,
that the Lord had sent him his dream, and had interpreted it, he believed the
message and acted accordingly. It is never assumed in any part of Scripture
that God is not declaring Himself to heathens, or that heathens may not own
Him. We shall find precisely the opposite doctrine in the Old Testament as in
the New. When then this Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His
voice?” we are to understand that he had brought himself into a condition of
ignorance and darkness, which did not belong to him in consequence of his
position, or of any natural disadvantages. He had come to regard himself as the
Lord, his will as the will which all things were to obey; therefore he said
inevitably, “Who is the Lord? ‘ He had lost the sense of a righteous government
and order in the world; he had come to believe in tricks and lies; he had come
to think men were the mere creatures and slaves of natural agencies. Had God no voice
for such a man, or for the priests and the people whom he represented, and
whose feelings were the counterparts of his? We shall find that He had. (F.
D. Maurice, M. A.)
Verse 3
Let us go, we pray thee, three days’ Journey.
Lessons
1. God’s ambassadors must not forsake His message, upon man’s denial.
2. Further arguments must press God’s message, when the proposal is
not enough.
3. The God of the Hebrews must be owned by them, though despised by
Pharaoh.
4. Relation unto God, and call from Him necessitates souls to follow
His commands.
5. Although God command powers, yet it beseemeth His people to
entreat them.
6. To go at God’s call, and serve Him only after His will must be
insisted on by His.
7. Small desires of the Church for God, leave powers on earth
inexusable in denying.
8. To sacrifice to God and to feast with Him are synonymous.
9. Entreaties from powers to serve God for averting His judgments is
reasonable.
10. Pestilence and sword are God’s judgments exacting the neglect of
His service.
11. These plagues are incident
on all that neglect God, but much more on them that forbid others to serve Him.
12. The fear of these judgments should awe souls from slighting His
message to them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
It is right to recognize the danger of disobedience to God
“Let us go . . . lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the
sword.” It is right to have in mind the fact that God will punish us if we
refuse to do as He tells us to. It may answer for other people to talk about
needing no other motive to well doing than love; but you and I are not always
influenced by love alone. If we knew to-day that we could do wrong with entire
impunity--do a little wrong, I mean, a pet wrong, a wrong that no one would
know anything about, and that wouldn’t seem to harm anybody very much any
way--could do it without any suffering or any punishment; do you think we
should be just as strong for the right as now, while we know that the
disclosure and the punishment of sin is sure? Well, even if you and I think so,
God doesn’t take that view of it. God threatens as well as entreats. He holds
up the danger of punishment for sin, as welt as the rewards of loving and
serving Him trustfully; and God doesn’t make any mistake in so doing. (S. S.
Times.)
Verse 4
Get you unto your burdens.
Wrong judgment
Good men are often wrongly judged:--
1. In respect to their motives.
2. Actions.
3. Writings. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The claims of religion
You will observe that God gave a command, and Pharaoh
refused either to obey the command, or to pay anything like respect unto it,
I. Let us consider
what it is that God requires. In the case of Israel we see that He requires
what I may sum up in three particulars.
1. He requires that they should acknowledge Him publicly as their
God; that is the first principle. “Let My people go, that they may hold,” etc.
2. He requires of Israel that there should be a marked acceptance of
His way of reconciliation. “Let us go and sacrifice unto the Lord our God.”
From the very first when man sinned, there was God’s revealed way by which the
sinner must come near to Him; and, therefore, the feast that was to be held
unto Jehovah, was a feast that was to be founded upon sacrifice.
3. God requires that everything else should give way and yield to the
discharge of these required duties. They were to go at once to Pharaoh, and ask his permission to go
and obey God’s commands, and to sacrifice unto Him as their Lord. They were not
to be withheld from doing this by their knowledge of Pharaoh’s tyrannical
disposition. They were not to be withheld by the remembrance of their worldly
duties, or of the hardships and the toils connected with these duties. Now is
there anything peculiar to Israel and to God’s requirements of Israel in all
this? Do we not see, underlying this narrative, a principle which is
universally applicable to all those to whom God’s message comes? What doth the
Lord require of us, to whom the word of this salvation is sent? Does He not
demand of us acknowledgment, acceptance of His salvation, and immediate
decision?
II. But now what
does man think of the requirements of God? Let us answer this question by
referring to the case of Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Ye be idle; therefore ye say,
let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore now go and work.” And then
again, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know
not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” And again, “Let more work be laid
upon the men, that they may labour therein, and let them not regard vain
words.” What is the meaning of this language? May I not render it truly, but
simply, when I say that in Pharaoh’s mind there was an opinion that there was
no need of so much religion? “Let them go and work”; there was no need of going
to sacrifice to the Lord their God. And then when he heard God’s threatenings
to those who neglected His commands, how did Pharaoh feel then? He maintains
that there is no danger in neglecting the supposed commands of God in this
matter. He thinks them vain words, all about God’s threatenings to those who do
not acknowledge Him, and who do not accept His terms of reconciliation. “All
these are vain words, pay no attention to them, go and work.” That was Pharaoh’s
way of thinking. And then, further, he thought that there was no sincerity in
those who professed to want to worship God. “Ye are idle; therefore ye cry, Let
us go and sacrifice. You do not mean to go and sacrifice; you do not want to go
and sacrifice; it is your idleness, your hypocrisy.” So that you will observe
Pharaoh thought thus of God’s requirements; first, that there was no need of
them; secondly, that there was no danger in neglecting them; and thirdly, that
those who professed did not intend to worship, they did not mean what they
said. Now is Pharaoh at all singular in the ideas which are thus attributed to
him? Is it not still the case that an unconverted man acts in the same way as
Pharaoh acted? And then when Pharaoh is reminded of the awful language in which
God speaks to those who neglect His requirements, and His judgments against
those who know not the Lord, and who obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, what does Pharaoh, and what do unconverted men now say, but that in their
opinion all these are vain words? Pharaoh thought they were vain words; and so
do men now. (W. Cadman, M. A.)
Egyptian bondage in the metropolis
I. Now, dark as
this picture is, I do not hesitate to say that it is faithfully reproduced at
the present time. You may see the same thing any day in this metropolis. The
bondsmen, whose lives are now made bitter with hard bondage, are the artizans
who make the garments you now have on; the men, the women, the children, who
minister to your fashions and your luxuries; the shopmen and shopwomen who wait
on your convenience, the industrial classes in general, by whose toil this
country is rich and luxurious, who are forced to spend the marrow of their
strength, and make their lives short and bitter, in providing superfluities for
others. The Pharaoh at whose bidding all this is done is the spirit of
commerce, that lust of filthy lucre, that morbid and unbridled zeal of
competition, which reigns supreme over so large a portion of the world of
business.
II. Let us therefore
inquire whether any remedy can be applied to these great and sore evils? Can we
individually or collectively do anything towards delivering our brethren from
these oppressions and wrongs? Now, it appears to me that there is but one
perfect and thorough remedy, and that is the dethronement of the Pharaoh who
tyrannizes so cruelly over his subjects; I mean the overthrow of that vicious
commercial spirit which has enslaved the great mass of the public. If this were
done, if every one traded
in a fair and legitimate manner, if every one dealt by others as he would wish
to be dealt by himself, if no one entered into the arena of dishonest and
ruinous competition, if every employer were as determined to give fair wages to
his workpeople, as to secure a fair profit to himself; if these principles were
universal, then oppressions would cease in our midst, and our courts and alleys
would be the abodes of happiness. But this is not to be yet. The evil and the
good will be mingled together until the harvest, which is the end of the world.
We can only hope at present for improvements and palliatives. Now--
1. With respect to shopkeepers, much evil might be remedied if all
the members of each several trade would meet together and bind themselves by a
mutual covenant not to keep their shops open beyond a certain reasonable hour.
2. To shop-assistants and operatives, I would suggest that the
members of each trade or establishment might with great ]propriety express
their opinions on the subject in a manly and temperate spirit to their
employers.
3. And now to the large class of persons who are ordinary
purchasers--the public in general--I would say, it is in supplying your wants
or conveniences, that all this competition, and oppression, and cruelty is
engendered. Much good might be effected by a determination on the part of
purchasers never to buy after a certain reasonable hour.
III. The restricting
of the hours of labour. Within just and reasonable limits would be the cause of
immense benefit not only to the labouring man, but to all classes. I believe
that the employers would be gainers even in a money point of view by the
improvements now advocated. The men would work with more spirit and energy,
because they would feel that they were men, because they would be in a much
higher physical condition than when they were overtasked; they would labour
with more cheerfulness and good will; the work would be done more skilfully,
because with more sustained attention. There would be less drunkenness amongst
the men, because in the intervals of labour they would feel less exhausted and
have less craving for stimulus. Then, again, the public would be gainers. They
would be better served; articles of commerce would not be cheaper possibly, but
they would be better in quality, and therefore really cheaper in the end.
Moreover, the country would be a gainer, by having a strong, energetic, and
numerous race of labouring men, in the stead of thy present pale, jaded, and
dyspeptic race. Lastly, the Church of Christ would gain many members. There is
scarcely any greater hindrance to the progress of religion amongst our
industrial classes than this Egyptian system of overtasking the strength. How
can that man give due attention to his religious duties on Sunday who is
exhausted and prostrate by a week of excessive toil? (J. Tagg, M. A.)
Folly of unwise exaction
The llama, or guanaco (Auchenia llama), is found
among the recesses of the Andes. In the silver mines his utility is very great,
as he frequently carries the metal from the mines in places where the
declivities are so steep that neither asses nor mules can keep their footing.
The burden carried by this useful animal, the camel of the New World, should
not exceed from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five pounds. If the load
be too heavy he lies down, and no force or persuasion will induce him to resume
his journey until the excess be removed. Thus he teaches us the uuwisdom of
endeavouring to exact too much from those who are willing to serve us well. (Scientific
Illustrations.)
Pharaoh’s complaint
That complaint has been made by a good many interested employers
since the days of Pharaoh. “How these evangelists do hinder trade”! “What a
clog on business this revival is!” “How much money these missionary causes do
divert from the shopkeepers!” “This Sunday-go-to-meeting notion takes the
profits off of the menagerie; or of the agricultural fair!” “These
thanksgivings and fast-days interfere wretchedly with steady work!” “Why can’t
things go on regular, week in and week out, without any bother about religion?”
This is the way the Pharaoh class looks at attention to God’s service. But is
it the right way? (S. S. Times.)
Verses 7-12
Ye shall no more give the people straw.
Requiring the impossible
I. That there are
some people in society who strive to make those under them do the impossible.
Pharaoh tried to make the Israelites do the impossible, when he commanded them
to make bricks without providing them with straw. This demand of tyranny is
heard to-day, in our large factories, and amongst our agricultural population.
1. All require men to do the impossible who wish them to work beyond
their capabilities.
2. All require men to do the impossible who wish them to work beyond
their opportunity. Every man must have time, and a proper time to do his work.
He must not be expected to do two things at once.
3. Contemplate the method employed to get men to do the impossible.
These methods are various. Some will condescend to flattery and cant to get men
to do that for which they are wholly unadapted. Others will use force and
persecution.
II. That the people
who strive to make those under them do the impossible are throwing society into
an attitude of pain and complaint. “Then the officers of the Children of Israel
came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, wherefore dealest thou thus with thy
servants.”
1. The requirement of the impossible tends to throw society into an
attitude of pain. National happiness is to a very large extent the outcome of a
free and sympathetic employment of the working classes.
2. The requirement of the impossible tends to throw society into an
attitude of complaint.
III. That the people
who strive to make those under them do the impossible, and who throw society
into an attitude of pain are but little affected by the woe they occasion, and
generally resent any mention of it to them. “Go therefore now, and work; for
there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.”
1. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant demands
renewed work. “Go therefore now, and work.”
2. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant adheres to
his cruel measures. “There shall no straw be given you.”
3. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant mocks
their woe, and treats them with contempt.
Lessons:
1. Never require the impossible.
2. Never attempt the impossible.
3. Adapt methods to ends.
4. Cultivate kindly dispositions toward your employers. (J. S.
Exell, M. A.)
Lacking the essential
Writing on the treatment of his brother, General A. S.
Johnston, Mr. W. P. Johnston says: “His command was imperial in extent, and his
powers and discretion as large as the theory of the Confederate Government
permitted. He lacked nothing except men, munitions of war, and the means of
obtaining them! He had the right to ask for anything, and the State executives
had the power to withhold everything.” (H. O. Mackey.)
Strawless bricks
I. An illustration
of the painful aggravations of the lot of the toilers of every age.
II. An illustration
of the unsatisfactory efforts of men seeking for happiness apart from religion.
III. An illustration
of the powerlessness of all religious systems not possessed of a living Christ.
IV. An illustration
of futile endeavours to attain Christian peace without exercising living faith.
(F. Hastings.)
The world and Satan opposed to the Christian’s spiritual progress
“If thou come to serve the Lord,” saith the wisdom of the Son of
Sirach, “prepare thy soul for temptation.” Have you listened to the gracious
pleading of the Spirit of God, in sincere anxiety for a complete and eternal
deliverance? You will meet with hindrances, one of the first will arise from
those who make a mock at sin, who deride the privileges and duties of pure and
undefiled religion.
I. The prejudices
of the careless and worldly against sincere and vital godliness.
1. It is regarded as the dream and vision of a heated and
enthusiastic imagination.
2. It is regarded as inconsistent with a proper attention to the
duties of active life.
II. Another
temptation which satan employs to oppose an entire devotion of the heart to
God, is by exaggerating the importance of worldly pursuits. “Let there be more
work laid upon the men.” What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole
world, if he shall lose his own soul? A double caution may be deduced:
1. To those who would hinder the spiritual freedom of others whom
they may control or influence; as Pharaoh would have impeded the political deliverance
of Israel. You may settle from Scripture and prayer whether the resolutions and
desires you oppose arise from the inspiration of God, or the imagination of
men. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker.
2. You who are thus hindered, remember that Scripture addresses you
with a cautionary voice Be not slothful in business. (J. R. Buddicom.)
The burdens increased
Note that--
I. Benefactors may
expect misrepresentation. Moses was censured; Christ rejected by His own. The
enemy will slander. Our hope is in working only for God.
II. Sin asks to be
let alone. Pharaoh blamed Moses; Ahab blamed Elijah; the Jews blamed the
disciples.
III. Sin becomes
more terrible with age. Pharaoh grew more exacting, and the people weaker; he
answers prayers with falsehoods and insults. Sin toys with youth, but scourges
manhood.
IV. All appeal must
be made to God. Moses turned to God; he did not censure the elders.
V. It is darkest
just before day. Sin grows worse till it breaks down. It threatens in order to
drown conscience. (Dr. Fowler.)
Sin more tyrannical when men would escape from it
When Moses demanded from Pharaoh the liberation of the Hebrews,
the tyrant increased their burdens; and in like manner, when the soul rises to
expel evil from its domain, it then for the first time discovers the full
bitterness of its bondage. Its earliest impulse thereon is to blame the truth
which awakened it to a sense of its degradation, for causing the misery which
it only revealed. The preacher is accounted cruel when he has been only faithful;
and his hearer accuses him of personal malice when he has been only holding up
a mirror wherein the angry one caught a glimpse of himself. But all these are
hopeful signs. They are, indeed, when rightly regarded and fostered, the
prophecies of a coming conversion. The docile slave, who is contented with his
condition, is petted and made much of by his master; but if he tries to run
away, he is immediately put into fetters. So, when we are roused to battle with
sin, it is then that, most of all, we feel its power. Satan does his worst on
the soul just as he is about to be expelled from its possession. (W. M.
Taylor, D. D.)
Means necessary to work
I. That man
cannot accomplish work without means. A man cannot write a book without
intellect, or build a church without money, or save souls without intimate
communion with God. Folly to make the attempt.
II. That one man
has often the power to intercept the means by which another man works.
III. that when men
are robbed of their means of work, they are thrown into great straits.
IV. Any man who
intercepts the wore. Of another takes a fearful responsibility upon himself. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
The Church cast upon her own resources
I. That the church
is often cast upon her own resources. Times of dark depression.
II. That when human
aid is thus withdrawn, men expect from the church the same amount of work that
she accomplished before.
III. That when the
church does not accomplish her work is fully and speedily under these difficult
circumstances, she is persecuted and slandered by the world. (J. S. Exell,
M. A.)
The discipline of failure
The intervention of Moses in behalf of his people was not, at
first, attended with happy results. The people themselves were abject and
spiritless, and Pharaoh was stubborn and unyielding. The condition of the
Hebrews grew worse instead of better. And yet, it was but passing through a
stage as helpful to its ultimate success as any other. Great enterprises are
wont to encounter such cheeks in their initial stages. The worm that is to be a
butterfly must go into the condition of a chrysalis, and lie motionless, and
seemingly dead. The seed that is to be a plant must “fall into the ground and
die.” Men want the rapid, the grand, and noticeable; and the “kingdom of heaven
cometh not with observation.” Men desire deliverance, but they do not like the
process of deliverance. Yet such checks are tests of character, trials of men’s
faith and earnestness. Moses did not despair of a cause because it had met with
a reverse. He believed that the cause was God’s. He believed in himself as
God’s instrument to make it victorious. Now I have said that this sort of
discipline is common; and doubtless it is needful and salutary. A defeat at the
outset, duly used, is the security of an augmented success. Yet, at no age is
the trial that is ever repeating itself, though it be with diminished force, an
unprofitable subject of contemplation--the trial of an over-sanguine
expectation followed by painful and disheartening failure. Such an one,
starting with a full, strong confidence in his own sincerity and earnestness,
looks for large and speedy results. “The strong man armed keepeth his house,
and his goods are in safety.” He looks at him over the ramparts with placid
contempt. And now comes the hour of despondency. His ministry is a failure. He
is nothing; he can do nothing. Men will not heed his message. “The trial of
your faith is more precious than of gold that perisheth.” Try it again. “Thou
shalt see greater things than these.” “God will help thee, and that right
early.” “And thou shalt come again with joy, and bring thy sheaves with thee.”
(R. A. Hallam, D. D.)
Verse 15-16
Wherefore dealest thou thus.
Lessons
1. Oppressed souls cannot but complain of cruel and unjust smitings;
blows make cries.
2. Addresses for relief are fittest from the afflicted to the highest
power oppressing.
3. Access and cries and sad speeches are forced from oppressed to
oppressors.
4. The execution by instruments is justly charged upon their lords.
5. True servants may justly expostulate about hard dealings from
their rulers.
6. Unreasonable exactions will force afflicted ones to expostulate
with powers oppressing them (Exodus 5:15).
7. To give no straw and to command bricks is a most unreasonable
exaction.
8. To punish innocent servants when others sin is a most unjust
oppression.
9. Such sad dealings make God’s servants sometimes to complain to
earthly powers (Exodus 5:16). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Reasons required for moral conduct
I. There are times
when men are required to give reasons for their method of moral conduct. Public
opinion often calls a man to its tribunal. Sometimes men are the questioners.
Sometimes God is the Questioner.
II. It is highly
important that every man should be able to allege heavenly principles and
motives as the basis of his conduct. Love to God and man is the only true and
loyal principle and motive of human action, and only will sustain the scrutiny
of infinite rectitude.
III. That a man who
can allege heavenly principles as the basis of his conduct will be safe at any
tribunal to which he may be called.
1. He will be safe at the tribunal of his own conscience.
2. He will be safe at the tribunal of God’s Book.
3. He will be safe at the tribunal of public opinion.
4. He will be safe at the final tribunal of the universe. (J. S.
Exell, M. A.)
The expostulations of the slave
I. They
expostulate that the means necessary to the accomplishment of their daily work
were withheld. “There is no straw given to thy servants.”
II. They
expostulate that they were brutally treated. “Thy servants are beaten.”
III. They
expostulate that they were not morally culpable in their neglect of work. “The
fault is in thine own people.” (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The tyrant
1. Unreasonable in his demands.
2. Cruel in his resentment.
3. Mistaken in his judgment of guilt. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The true object of blame
Gotthold had a little dog, which, when placed before a mirror,
became instantly enraged, and barked at its own linage. He remarked on the
occasion: In general, a mirror serves as an excitement to self-love, whereas it
stimulates this dog to anger against itself. The animal cannot conceive that
the figure it sees is only its own reflection, but fancies that it is a strange
dog, and therefore will not suffer it to approach its master. This may remind
us of an infirmity of our depraved hearts. We often complain of others, and
take offence at the things they do against us, without reflecting that, for the
most part, the blame lies with ourselves.
Verse 20-21
Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.
Lessons
1. Sense of evil from tyrants may make the oppressed fall foul with
their best friends.
2. Providence orders His servants sometimes to meet with friends
after sad usage by oppressors.
3. Ministers of salvation wait to meet God’s afflicted, when they
looked not after them.
4. Instruments of deliverance may desire a good egress of the
oppressed from tyrants, and not find it (Exodus 5:20).
5. Sense overcharged with oppression may make men reproach God and
curse His ministers.
6. Unbelieving souls are ready to set God against His own word, and
instruments sent by Him.
7. Hasty unbelievers under cross providences are ready to charge the
cause upon God’s ministers.
8. It is the lot of God’s instruments of life, to be charged to be
causes of death, by foolish souls.
9. Such unreasonable charges are recorded to the shame of such
brutish creatures (Exodus 5:21). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Ministers blamed
There was no other to lay the blame upon; and so they charge their
trouble upon Moses and Aaron. “If you had not come we should have plodded along
in our bondage, bearing it as best we could; but you came and raised our hopes,
not only to dash them down, but to make our already hard lot more bitter and
unbearable.” They were angry, apparently not with Pharaoh, but with God’s
ministers. I have heard it said, that most sinners who have been aroused out of
the sleep and death of sin “wake up mad.” Indeed, I am quite sure that this is
often the case. I remember the case of a man who came to me at one of our
meetings in America. He was in the greatest distress of mind, fairly frantic
with the conviction of sin, and with the terror of conscience working mightily
under the law. At the same time he was bitterly angry with Mr. Moody, who had
preceded me in those meetings, and also with me. With a terrible oath he said:
“I wish to God you and Moody had never come to this city, and begun
these--Gospel meetings. Before you came and began to preach I had no trouble. I
used to go to church regularly on Sunday morning; but I was not troubled about
my sins. What a fool I was ever to come into this rink! I have had no peace day
or night since I first heard Moody preach. And you have been making it worse.
You talk of peace and joy; but you have turned my soul into a perfect hell. I
cannot stay away from the meetings; and to come to them only makes me worse.
You promise salvation; and I only find torment. I wish to God you would clear
out and leave the city; and then perhaps I could get back my old peace. If this
is religion, I am sure I do not want any of it.” And thus he raved and tore
about like a madman. The devil was giving him a great tearing; and he could not
distinguish between what the devil and his sin were doing in him, and the grace
that was even then loosing him. Let us not be discouraged or surprised if the
first effect of our preaching, or labour with souls, seems to make matters
worse. “I am a lost soul,” cried George Whitefield’s brother, one day, while
sitting at table with Lady Huntingdon, his brother, and some other earnest
Christians who were talking of the things of the Kingdom. “Thank God for that,”
cried Lady Huntingdon; “for now I am sure the Lord has begun a good work in
you.” Conviction of sin, and the struggle of the old man to get out of the grip
of God’s law, are not pleasant experiences; but they precede conversion. (G.
F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Verse 22-23
Why is it that Thou hast sent me?
The sorrows of Christian service
There is a tone of unspeakable sadness in this complaint of Moses.
He had been crossed in his aims, his Divinely-inspired hopes had received an
unexpected reverse, and all his plans for liberating Israel lay in ruins. It
was a bitter moment, and every one who knows anything of the vicissitudes of
Christian work will be able to enter into his feelings on this occasion. There
come times to every earnest labourer in God’s service, when his efforts seem
fruitless, and he gets downcast. There are so many unforeseen contingencies to
interrupt our work, that it is beyond our power to provide against them. This
portion of the Great Law-giver’s history will picture to us the sorrows of
Christian service arising from--
I. opposition. It
may seem strange that any opposition at all should have to be encountered in
the prosecution of God’s work; yet it has been so in every age, especially when
its success affected any of the worldly interests that men hold dear. The
reformer, the patriot, the philanthropist, the man who strives to battle with
injustice, and to leave the world better than he found it, may always lay their
account for opposition. Such is human nature, that it may be taken for granted
that those whose vested interests arc to be touched will resist change. Pharaoh
may, in this respect, be taken as a type of the enemies of philanthropic and
Christian work. As Moses and Aaron had to contend with the selfishness of the
Egyptian king, so, when our popular leaders have sought the emancipation and
elevation of their fellow-men, their efforts have been thwarted by the cupidity
of some time-serving official, or the prejudice of some petty aristocrat.
Luther had arrayed against him all the forces of Charles V. as well as the
emissaries of the Pope. Calvin had to remonstrate with the king of France in
favour of religious liberty for his oppressed subjects. Savonarola manfully
resisted the tyranny of the Medicean
rule in Florence, and paid the penalty with his life. William of Orange
contended successfully for the liberation of the Netherlands from the Pharaoh
of Papal domination. Instances without number might be adduced from history
illustrative of the opposition encountered in the long struggle for human
rights. There was a high-handed Pharaoh ever ready to step in and say, This is
not for the good of the people, and I will not let it be done. Nor need we be
at all surprised at this, when we reflect that One greater than all the
philanthropists, reformers, and martyrs, had to endure the contradiction of men
in the discharge of the noblest mission the world has ever known. The Lord
Jesus came to proclaim principles which, if acted out, would put an end to
injustice and oppression. He was opposed on every hand, and so will it be with
all who follow in His steps. If you oppose the evil of the world, the world
will oppose you. If you resist oppression, the oppressor will resist you.
Moses, from the moment he struck at Pharaoh, had trouble to his dying day, but
he emancipated a nation and left an undying name. Let no opposition, then,
deter you from the right.
II. Misrepresentation.
This additional sorrow was experienced by Moses when the King of Egypt met his
demand for the release of Israel by insinuating that his action was prompted by
selfish ambition. “Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, let (or hinder) the people from
their work?” As if he had said, The people are content, if you would only let
them alone. You are stirring up this agitation for your own interest. Indolence
lies at the bottom of the movement. “Ye are idle, ye are idle.” From this
absurd charge it is obvious in what light Pharaoh regarded the whole question.
He looked at it from the side of self-interest. He was not accustomed to look
at the moral side
of things. He judged every one by his own low moral standard. Now, in all this,
have we not a picture of what is going on every day round about us? Some noble
soul, stung at the sight of oppression and injustice, raises his voice in
protest from no other motive than to see justice done. The oppressor, smarting
under the rebuke, cries out in impotent rage, What have you got to do with it?
Why do you hinder the people from their work? You are agitating for some
selfish purpose. “Ye are idle, ye are idle.” You are interfering. Attend to
your own affairs. Such is the style of argument which the philanthropist and
Christian worker have oftentimes to face. They have to appeal to men destitute
of religious feeling, who recognize no interest higher than their pocket. There
own motives are of the earth earthy, and they judge others accordingly. One
regrets that there is need for this style of remark, but the spirit here
condemned is still prevalent among us. I have known a devoted evangelist
well-nigh crushed in spirit on having the taunt flung in his face, that he was
engaging in Christian work for a living. Such insinuations are a sore annoyance
to the sensitive labourer, and well if he can bear them for conscience sake.
III. Ingratitude.
Another discouragement which the Christian worker has often to face, arises
from the ingratitude of those whom he seeks to serve. One would have thought
they would have enthusiastically hailed him as their deliverer; but, instead of
that, they flung back his efforts into his face, and ungratefully taunted him
with making their condition more bitter than it had been. They said, Ye have
put a sword into Pharaoh’s hands to slay us. But how true is all this of
Christian work still. The effort to break away from old surroundings originates
new pains, and the blame of the new pains is apt to be laid at the door of the
man who suggested the change. It is impossible to break off from a
long-established evil custom or practice without a painful wrench. It is
impossible to deliver a sinner from the consequences of his sins without making
disagreeable revelations to him of the wickedness of his heart, which often
increases his pains a thousand-fold. The attempt to make things better has
often the tendency to make them worse for the time being. And this is a great
source of discouragement to the worker. It may cost the drunkard many a pang to
throw aside his cups; but he must not reproach the man who led him to see the
evils of intemperance. A physician is not cruel because he probes a wound
deeply and pains the patient; and he would be an ungrateful patient who would
reproach the physician for an operation, however painful, which saved his life.
The man who aims at permanent good need not therefore be surprised if he incurs
temporary reproach. In the early days of Christianity, the apostles were called
men who turned the world upside down.
IV. Failure. This
is another experience for which the Christian worker has to lay his account;
and it would be the saddest of all if the failure was final. But it is not
final, it is temporary, and only apparent. What we call failure may arise from
our--
1. Impatience to see results. From the very nature of the work,
results do not readily manifest themselves. In manual labour we see the results
of our exertions, and can measure
our progress from time to time. Take the building of a house. The mason sees
the edifice gradually rising before his eyes, and can calculate more or less
exactly the time when it will be finished. But in Christian work it is
altogether different. You cannot measure results. You have different kind of
material to deal with, material that does not readily lend itself to a physical
test. You cannot apply the moral test as you can the physical. It is true you
may see fruits in changed lives and improved morals, the redress of grievances
and the establishment of purer laws; but all that takes time, and the man who
laid the foundation of the improvement seldom sees its completion. Now, it is
this which makes us so impatient, that we are apt to misunderstand the slowness
of the progress. We do not see the improvement we expected, and we draw a wrong
conclusion and call it failure.
2. Inability to interpret God’s method of working. In Christian work
we have not only to lament our lack of results, but in many cases present
appearances are positively against us. This, too, gives our services the impression
of failure. Had Moses been able to interpret the meaning of events, he would
have seen that the increased burdens were the first indication of success, for
if Pharaoh had not dreaded that his power was drawing to an end, he would not
have demanded more work. It is not easy to acquiesce when things are going
against us. Few indeed can look below the surface and read events aright, and
this lack of discernment accounts for many of the fancied difficulties of
Christian service. (D. Merson, M. A.)
Christian workers: their difficulties and discouragements
I. That Christian
workers have frequently to contend with the obstinacy and ridicule of men in
high positions. We imagine that ridicule is almost the severest trial the
Christian worker has to endure. Thus we see that it is not the Divine plan to
shield men from the ridicule and insult incurred by their effort of moral
service, but rather to give grace that they may endure as serving Him who is
invisible.
II. That Christian
workers have frequently to contend with the discouragement of a first defeat,
and apparent failure. Never be disheartened by apparent failure, it may be but
the shutting of a door, which will open wide upon your next approach.
III. That Christian
workers have frequently to contend with the misapprehension of those whom they
seek to benefit.
IV. That Christian
workers have frequently to contend with their own misconception of the Divine
method of working, and their inability to rightly interpret the meaning of
events in relation thereto. Lessons:
1. Not to be discouraged by apparent failures in Christian service.
2. Not to yield to the scorn of the mighty in our attempt to improve the moral condition
of men.
3. To interpret the reproach of the slave in the light of his
augmented slavery, and not to be dismayed by it.
4. To prayerfully study daily events so as to find God’s purposes of
freedom developing themselves therein. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The apparent failure of Christian service
I. Our surprise
that Christian service should be a failure. It is a matter of surprise--
1. Because the workers had been Divinely sent, and prepared for their
toil. They had been instructed by vision. They had been enriched by life’s
discipline. They had gathered impulse from holy communion with heaven. They
were invested with the power to work miracles. They were given the message
which they were to deliver unto Pharaoh. We cannot but wonder at this failure.
2. Because the workers had received all the accompaniments necessary
to their toil. They did not go a warfare in their own charges. All the
resources of heaven went with them.
3. Because the workers had arisen to a moral fortitude needful to the
work. Once they were cowardly, and shrank from the mission, but their cowardice
had broken unto heroism; their tremor was removed by the promise of God. Hence
we should have expected them to have succeeded at once, as a brave soul is
never far from victory.
II. Our sorrow that
Christian service should be a failure. It is a matter of sorrow, because--
1. The tyrant is unpunished.
2. The slave is unfreed.
3. The workers are disappointed.
III. Our hope that
the failure of Christian service will not be ultimate.
1. Because the Divine call will be vindicated.
2. Because service for the good of men cannot ultimately fail.
Lessons:
1. Do not be alarmed at the temporary failure of Christian work.
2. The apparent failure of Christian work answers some wise purposes.
3. Those who occasion the temporary failure of Christian work are
liable to the retribution of heaven.
4. Let Christian workers hold on to the word and promise of God. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
Lessons
1. Unjust incriminations from God’s people may make the ministers of
God quail and recede from their duty.
2. God’s faithful instruments though they do retreat of weakness, yet
it is unto the Lord.
3. God’s faithful ones under pressures may charge God foolishly for
doing evil to His people.
4. In such workings of flesh, the Spirit may humbly expostulate with
God by prayer.
5. Sad events in ministering may make God’s servants question their
mission.
6. In such questioning, souls may humbly deprecate the frustration of
their ministry (Exodus 5:22).
7. The evil doings of men may turn His servants sometimes to expostulate
with God.
8. Wicked men will do worse and worse notwithstanding God’s
instruments come and speak in His name.
9. Evil instruments may be permitted of God to oppress, and He not at
all deliver. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Perseverance rewarded
I once heard a gentle-man say that he remembered the making of the
railway between Manchester and Liverpool, and it was constructed over ground
which at first seemed to say that no line could ever be made. The soil was of a
soft, peaty character, and it almost appeared as if no line could be
constructed. However, they threw in oceans of stuff, of rubbish of all kinds,
and gradually their perseverance was rewarded, for the foundation grew firmer
and firmer, the line was built, and now you cannot go over a stronger bit of
road on any line in the kingdom. And may it not be so in the cause of missions?
Do not let us be in a hurry with regard to results. We may seem to be doing
little or nothing, and the morass is as deep as ever. Our work may appear to be
fruitless, but in reality we are laying the foundation, and driving deep the
piles which prepare the basis for urgent and enduring Christian work and a
highway for the Gospel.
The challenge of circumstances
All along the history of humanity there are great epochs, where some
upward step marks a new era of civilization, such as the invention of the
printing press. Yet the environing circumstances did not encourage such
inventions. Every adventurer into the realms of the unfamiliar met at once with
opposition. It was a square issue with such men whether their inward light or
their outward environment was to prevail; and the greater the opposition the
firmer their determination. Had Livingstone surrendered to circumstances, he
would have remained a factory hand all his life; it was because he defied his
surroundings and conquered them that he rose to eminence. It is a doctrine of
fatalism that we are what our forefathers, our climate, and other influences have
made us. One might say: “How can I be better? I am a child of godless parents,
surrounded by thoughtless people, driven by business, wordly minded--such is
the atmosphere in which I live.” But such was the atmosphere in which John
Lawrence, Governor-General of India, found himself when he first trod the
streets of Calcutta. He set his face like a flint against luxury, intrigue,
profligacy. He took up the challenge of circumstances. With indomitable will he
fought, crushing mutiny to-day and righting an injustice to.morrow, until his
patient heroism won him the title of the Saviour of India. (Great Thoughts.)
Human shortsightedness
With every fresh movement of God’s grace in the inner life, fresh
difficulties and questions are raised. If we will bring these before the Lord,
though it should be with the expression of trembling and grief, yet are they
not to be regarded as signs of unbelief, but rather of the struggles and
contests of faith; and the Lord is patient toward the doubtings of human
shortsightedness. (Otto Von Gerlach, D. D.)
Success and failure
Not unfrequently our first essays at service are
encouraging: otherwise we might turn back. But we must be prepared to meet with
discouragemeats further along; as we shall see that Moses did. It is hard to
tell, upon the whole, which is the most profitable to the Christian worker--success,
or failure. No doubt, both are useful; and in such proportion as God adjusts, they are
exactly suited to our need. All failure would so discourage us, that we should
turn back from the work; whereas if we never had anything but success, we should
become proud and self-sufficient. Discouragements are useful in keeping us
humbled and low before God, in a spirit of dependence and prayer; while
successes inspire and stimulate us in the work, and give us boldness to go
forward in new and more difficult enterprises. I recently met Miss Macpherson,
who is doing so much for the poor waifs in London; and she told me of her early
trials in getting her work started. At first she felt quite equal to it; and so
sure was she that others would see it in the same light that she did, that when
she went to solicit money from some of the wealthy merchants of London, with
which to build her Home, she had no doubt of an immediate response. She was
greatly staggered and discouraged when she found that her expected patrons
kindly and politely held themselves excused. This discouragement drove her to
her knees; and there she found strength in God. Presently the money came to her
from other directions, and in answer to her prayers; and was really of more use
to her than if she had obtained it in her own way. And now her success in
rescuing children, and finding good homes for them in Canada, is so great, that
she is all enthusiasm. She affords an admirable example of what a single-handed
woman can do who goes down into Egypt to bring up the little ones. (G. F.
Pentecost, D. D.)
God’s work not estimated according to apparent results
A missionary in China was greatly depressed by the
carelessness of his hearers. One day the words of Isaiah 53:1 came to his mind as sent from
above, and they were followed by a dream. He thought he was standing near a
rocky boulder, and trying with all his might to break it with a sledge-hammer;
but blow after blow had no effect--there was no impression made. At length he
heard a voice, which said, “Never mind, go on; I will pay you all the same,
whether yon break it or not.” So he went on doing the work that was given him,
and was content. (W. Baxendale.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》