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Exodus Chapter
Ten
Exodus 10
Chapter Contents
The plague of locusts threatened, Pharaoh, moved by his
servants, inclines to let the Israelites go. (1-11) The plague of locusts.
(12-20) The plague of thick darkness. (21-29)
Commentary on Exodus 10:1-11
(Read Exodus 10:1-11)
The plagues of Egypt show the sinfulness of sin. They warn
the children of men not to strive with their Maker. Pharaoh had pretended to
humble himself; but no account was made of it, for he was not sincere therein.
The plague of locusts is threatened. This should be much worse than any of that
kind which had ever been known. Pharaoh's attendants persuade him to come to
terms with Moses. Hereupon Pharaoh will allow the men to go, falsely pretending
that this was all they desired. He swears that they shall not remove their
little ones. Satan does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves,
from bringing their children to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety.
Whatever would put us from engaging our children in God's service, we have
reason to suspect Satan in it. Nor should the young forget that the Lord's
counsel is, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth; but Satan's counsel
is, to keep children in a state of slavery to sin and to the world. Mark that
the great foe of man wishes to retain him by the ties of affection, as Pharaoh
would have taken hostages from the Israelites for their return, by holding
their wives and children in captivity. Satan is willing to share our duty and
our service with the Saviour, because the Saviour will not accept those terms.
Commentary on Exodus 10:12-20
(Read Exodus 10:12-20)
God bids Moses stretch out his hand; locusts came at the
call. An army might more easily have been resisted than this host of insects.
Who then is able to stand before the great God? They covered the face of the
earth, and ate up the fruit of it. Herbs grow for the service of man; yet when
God pleases, insects shall plunder him, and eat the bread out of his mouth. Let
our labour be, not for the habitation and meat thus exposed, but for those
which endure to eternal life. Pharaoh employs Moses and Aaron to pray for him.
There are those, who, in distress, seek the help of other people's prayers, but
have no mind to pray for themselves. They show thereby that they have no true
love to God, nor any delight in communion with him. Pharaoh desires only that
this death might be taken away, not this sin. He wishes to get rid of the
plague of locusts, not the plague of a hard heart, which was more dangerous. An
east wind brought the locusts, a west wind carries them off. Whatever point the
wind is in, it is fulfilling God's word, and turns by his counsel. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, as to us; but not so as it respects God. It was also
an argument for their repentance; for by this it appeared that God is ready to
forgive, and swift to show mercy. If he does this upon the outward tokens of
humiliation, what will he do if we are sincere! Oh that this goodness of God
might lead us to repentance! Pharaoh returned to his resolution again, not to
let the people go. Those who have often baffled their convictions, are justly
given up to the lusts of their hearts.
Commentary on Exodus 10:21-29
(Read Exodus 10:21-29)
The plague of darkness brought upon Egypt was a dreadful
plague. It was darkness which might be felt, so thick were the fogs. It
astonished and terrified. It continued three days; six nights in one; so long
the most lightsome palaces were dungeons. Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if
he would have improved it. Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan
blinds men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and feet, that they
work not for God, nor move toward heaven. They sit in darkness. It was
righteous with God thus to punish. The blindness of their minds brought upon
them this darkness of the air; never was mind so blinded as Pharaoh's, never
was air so darkened as Egypt. Let us dread the consequences of sin; if three
days of darkness were so dreadful, what will everlasting darkness be? The
children of Israel, at the same time, had light in their dwellings. We must not
think we share in common mercies as a matter of course, and therefore that we
owe no thanks to God for them. It shows the particular favour he bears to his
people. Wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this dark world, there
is light, there is a child of light. When God made this difference between the
Israelites and the Egyptians, who would not have preferred the poor cottage of
an Israelite to the fine palace of an Egyptian? There is a real difference
between the house of the wicked, which is under a curse, and the habitation of
the just, which is blessed. Pharaoh renewed the treaty with Moses and Aaron, and
consented they should take their little ones, but would have their cattle left.
It is common for sinners to bargain with God Almighty; thus they try to mock
him, but they deceive themselves. The terms of reconciliation with God are so
fixed, that though men dispute them ever so long, they cannot possibly alter
them, or bring them lower. We must come to the demand of God's will; we cannot
expect he should condescend to the terms our lusts would make. With ourselves
and our children, we must devote all our worldly possessions to the service of
God; we know not what use he will make of any part of what we have. Pharaoh
broke off the conference abruptly, and resolved to treat no more. Had he
forgotten how often he had sent for Moses to ease him of his plagues? and must
he now be bid to come no more? Vain malice! to threaten him with death, who was
armed with such power! What will not hardness of heart, and contempt of God's
word and commandments, bring men to! After this, Moses came no more till he was
sent for. When men drive God's word from them, he justly gives them up to their
own delusions.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 10
Verse 1
[1] And
the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart,
and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
These plagues are standing monuments of the
greatness of God, the happiness of the church, and the sinfulness of sin; and
standing monitors to the children of men in all ages, not to provoke the Lord
to jealousy, nor to strive with their Maker. The benefit of these instructions
to the world doth sufficiently balance the expence.
Verse 3
[3] And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith
the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before
me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How
long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? — It
is justly expected from the greatest of men, that they humble themselves before
the great God, and it is at their peril if they refuse to do it. Those that
will not humble themselves, God will humble.
Verse 10
[10] And
he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your
little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.
Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let
you go, and your little ones — He now curses and threatens them, in case
they offered to remove their little ones, telling them it was at their peril.
Satan doth all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves, from bringing
their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how
destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom.
Verse 13
[13] And
Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an
east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was
morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
The east-wind brought the locusts — From Arabia, where they are in great numbers: And God miraculously
increased them.
Verse 15
[15] For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was
darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the
trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the
trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
They covered the face of the earth, and eat
up the fruit of it — The earth God has given to the children of
men; yet when God pleaseth he can disturb his possession even by locusts or
caterpillars. Herb grows for the service of man; yet, when God pleaseth, those
contemptible insect's shall not only be fellow-commoners with him, but shall
eat the bread out of his mouth.
Verse 17
[17] Now
therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the LORD
your God, that he may take away from me this death only.
Pharaoh desires their prayers that this death
only might be taken away, not this sin: he deprecates the plague of locusts,
not the plague of a hard heart.
Verse 19
[19] And
the LORD turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and
cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of
Egypt.
An east-wind brought the locusts and now a
west-wind carried them off. Whatever point of the compass the wind is in, it is
fulfilling God's word, and turns about by his counsel; the wind blows where it
listeth for us, but not where it listeth for him; he directeth it under the
whole heaven.
Verse 21
[21] And
the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may
be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
We may observe concerning this plague. 1.
That it was a total darkness. We have reason to think, not only that the lights
of heaven were clouded, but that all their fires and candles were put out by
the damps or clammy vapours which were the cause of this darkness, for it is
said, they saw not one another. 2. That it was darkness which might be felt,
felt in its causes by their finger-ends, so thick were the fogs, felt in its effects,
(some think) by their eyes which were pricked with pain, and made the more sore
by their rubbing them. Great pain is spoken of as the effect of that darkness, Revelation 16:10, which alludes to this. 3. No
doubt it was very frightful and amazing. The tradition of the Jews is, that in
this darkness they were terrified by the apparition of evil spirits, or rather
by dreadful sounds and murmurs which they made; and this is the plague which
some think is intended (for otherwise it is not mentioned at all there) Psalms 78:49. He poured upon them the fierceness
of his anger, by sending evil angels among them; for those to whom the devil
has been a deceiver, he will at length be a terror to. 4. It continued three
days; six nights in one; so long they were imprisoned by those chains of
darkness. No man rose from his place - They were all confined to their houses;
and such a terror seized them, that few of them had the courage to go from the
chair to the bed, or from the bed to the chair. Thus were they silent in
darkness, 1 Samuel 2:9. Now Pharaoh had time to consider,
if he would have improved it.
Verse 23
[23] They
saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all
the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
But the children of Israel had light in their
dwellings — Not only in the land of Goshen, where most
of them inhabited, but in the particular dwellings which in other places the
Israelites had dispersed among the Egyptians, as it appears they had by the
distinction afterwards appointed to be put on their door-posts. And during
these three days of darkness to the Egyptians, if God had so pleased, the
Israelites by the light which they had, might have made their escape, and have
asked Pharaoh no leave; but God would bring them out with a high hand, and not
by stealth or in haste.
Verse 29
[29] And
Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.
I will see thy face no more — Namely, after this time, for this conference did not break off till Exodus 11:8, when Moses went out in great anger
and told Pharaoh how soon his proud stomach would come down; which was
fulfilled Exodus 12:31, when Pharaoh became an humble supplicant
to Moses to depart. So that after this interview Moses came no more till he was
sent for.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
10 Chapter 10
Verse 1-2
Show these My signs.
How God hardened Pharaoh’s heart
I. By a manifestation
of rich mercy, which ought to have melted the heart of the king.
II. By a
manifestation of great power, which ought to have subdued the heart of the
king.
III. By a
manifestation of severe justice, which might have rebuked the heart of the
king.
IV. By sending His
servants to influence the heart of the king to the right. God did not harden
Pharaoh’s heart by a sovereign decree, so that he could not obey His command;
but by ministries appropriate to salvation, calculated to induce obedience--the
constant neglect of which was the efficient cause of this sad moral result.
Lessons:
1. That man has the ability to resist the saving ministries of
heaven.
2. That when man resists the saving ministries of heaven he becomes
hard in heart.
3. That hardness of heart is itself a natural judgment from God.
4. That hardness of heart will finally work its own ruin. (J. S.
Exell, M. A.)
God sends His minister to hardened souls
1. Often.
2. Mercifully.
3. Uselessly.
4. Significantly.
5. Disastrously. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Hardened sinners
1. In companies.
2. Patterns of judgments.
3. Tokens of indignation.
4. The cause of plagues.
5. The curse of the world.
6. Still followed by the minister of God. (J. S. Exell, M.
A.)
The signs of God to the generations of the future
I. That God is
supreme over the kingdom of nature. Science places the natural universe under
the command of man. This is the Divine ordination. But man’s power over nature
is derived; God’s is underived and independent. Hence--
1. He can inflict pain on the wicked.
2. He can protect the good from harm.
3. He can send famine or plenty.
II. That God is
supreme over the cunning and power of the devil. The magicians of Egypt were
agents of the devil. They were inspired by him in their opposition to Moses and
Aaron. They were aided by his cunning. Their defeat was his defeat also.
1. God can deliver men from the power of the devil.
2. God can destroy the works of the devil.
3. God can frustrate the designs of the devil.
Teach this blessed truth and glorious fact to the youthful: that
the good agencies of the universe are more potent than the bad. This will lead
youthhood to confide in God.
III. That goodness
is happiness, and that conflict with God is the misery of man. Lessons:
1. That in the lives of individuals we have signs of God.
2. That all the signs of God in human life are to be carefully noted
and taught to the young.
3. That all the signs of life are evidence of the Divine supremacy. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
The ministry of sin
God makes Pharaoh “to stand” for the benefit of Israel, and in
them for the benefit of humanity. It was for Pharaoh in the first instance to
resist Divine light and grace, and oppress Israel; it was then for God to
economise the tyrant and his wrath. The conduct of the Egyptian king served--
I. To reveal God.
“That ye may know how that I am the Lord.” Pharaoh’s perverseness revealed all
the more fully--
1. The Divine love.
2. The Divine righteousness.
3. The Divine power.
II. To further the
interests of Israel. God overrules sin to high and happy issues. (W. L.
Watkinson.)
Transmitting the knowledge of the true God
I. Jehovah made
himself known to the Israelites in Egypt as the only true God by signs. His wondrous acts
revealed His supremacy. Christ is the fullest revelation of the true God.
II. That this
knowledge is to be transmitted from generation to generation. Parental
influence the most potent in telling of God’s acts. No lips teach like the lips
of loving authority. Some parents neglect this solemn duty. Ever ready to speak
about worldly enterprises, the acts of great men, their own; but they are
silent about God’s. Such neglect is ruinous to their children and dishonouring
to God.
III. In the
transmission of the knowledge, of the true God is the hope of the world.
Wherever the knowledge of the true God prevails, righteousness and peace are
found. Idolatry has ever been the bane of mankind. A false conception of God
debases. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
By signs
1. Showing the woe of sin.
2. The folly of human malice.
3. The justice of God.
4. The safety of the Church. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The signs
1. Their nature.
2. Their locality.
3. Their design. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The Divine supremacy
1. Rejected by the proud.
2. Received by the good.
3. Revealed by the works of God.
4. To be acknowledged by all. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The plagues
So, allowing all that may be called romantic, supernatural, to
fall off from this story of the plagues, there remains all that God wanted to
remain--three things:--First, the assertion of the Divine right in life. God
cannot be turned out of His own creation; He must assert His claim, and urge
it, and redeem it. The second thing that remains is the incontestable fact of
human opposition to Divine voices. Divine voices call to right, to purity, to
nobleness, to love, to brotherhood; and every day we resist these voices, and
assert rebellious claims. The third thing that remains is the inevitable issue.
We cannot fight God and win. “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
Why smite with feeble fist the infinite granite of the infinite strength? Who
will lose? The certain result will be the overthrow of the sinner: the drowning
of every Pharaoh who hardens himself against the Divine will and voice. Now
that I come to think of it, have not all these plagues followed my own
obstinacy and hardness of heart in relation to things Divine? We speak of the
plagues of Egypt as though they began and ended in that distant land, and we
regard them now as part of an exciting historical romance. I will think
otherwise of them. The local incident and the local colour maybe dispensed
with, but the supreme fact in my own consciousness is that God always follows
my obstinacy with plagues. Dangers are rightly used when they move us to bolder
prayer; losses are turned into gains when they lift our lives in an upward
direction; disease is the beginning of health when it leads the sufferer to the
Father’s house. Pharaoh had his plagues, many and awful; and every life has its
penal or chastening visitations, which for the present are full of agony and
bitterness, but which may be so used as to become the beginning of new
liberties and brighter joys. (J. Parker, D. D.)
God’s judgements
Lay a book open before a child, or one that cannot read; he may
stare and gaze upon it, but he can make no use of it at all, because he
understandeth nothing in it; yet bring it to one that can read, and
understandeth the language that is written in it, he will read you many stories
and instructions out of it; it is dumb and silent to the one, but speaketh to,
and talketh with, the other. In like manner it is with God’s judgments, as St.
Augustine well applies it; all sorts of men see them, but few are able aright
to read them or to understand them what they say; every judgment of God is a
real sermon of reformation and repentance. (J. Spencer.)
To-morrow will I bring the locusts.
Humiliation before God
“How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before Me?”
I. I shall show
our need of humiliation before God.
1. Let us inquire how we have acted toward God. As our Creator, our
Governor, our Benefactor.
2. Let us inquire how we have acted toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Was
made flesh. Died for us.
3. Let us inquire how we have acted toward the Holy Spirit. Rebelled,
vexed, grieved, quenched.
II. I shall show
wherein true humiliation consists.
1. In confession of our sin before God. Fully and unreservedly. With
deep and ingenuous sorrow.
2. In believing application to God through Christ for pardon of our
sin.
3. In renouncing our sins and commencing a course of obedience to
God.
III. I shall show
the evils of delaying true humiliation before God.
1. The guilt (Romans 2:4-5).
2. The folly. Stronger than He?
3. The danger. Pharaoh. Manasseh.
The delay of soul humility
I. In what does
soul-humility consist?
1. It does not consist in mournful verbal utterances, k humble word
may conceal a proud spirit.
2. Nor in outward manifestations of repentance.
3. It is rather evinced in calm resignation to the will of God as
revealed in His Word, and as made known in the conscience by the Holy Spirit.
II. How is
soul-humility to be obtained?
1. By having a clear conception of the will of God and of the beauty
of truth.
2. By allowing the varied discipline of life its due effect upon the
soul. Pain ought to humble a man, reminding him of his mortality.
3. By submitting to the gentle influences of the Holy Spirit.
III. Why is
soul-humility so long delayed?
1. Because men will not give up their sins. Humility is the outcome
of purity.
2. Because men will not yield to the claims of God.
3. Because men are rendered proud by exalted social position.
4. Men can give no reason for the delay of soul-humility.
Humility is the richest and best ornament of the soul, and no good
excuse can be assigned for neglecting to wear it. This ornament is but seldom
seen in this vaunting age. It is welcome to the eye of heaven.
Lessons:
1. Soul-humility should be manifested by man.
2. God’s ministers should enforce it.
3. God’s people should cultivate it.
4. Its absence cannot be excused. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The plague of locusts threatened
I. It was
threatened in case that Pharaoh would not give the Israelites the freedom
demanded by God (verse 4). The good have in God a stern Defender.
II. That some men
are much more sensitive to the threatenings of God than others (verse 7).
III. That Divine
threatenings must make ministers faithful in the discharge of their duty (verse
9). Denounce all attempts at moral compromise. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
To-morrow
1. A judgment.
2. A mystery.
3. A crisis.
4. An anxiety.
5. A hope. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
If thou refuse
1. Then man can refuse to obey God.
2. Then man can dare the judgments of God.
3. Then man takes a great responsibility upon himself. (J. S.
Exell, M. A.)
The locusts
1. Very grievous.
2. Darkening the light.
3. Devouring the fruit.
4. Entering the houses. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Good men should leave sinners u, hen they have declared the
message of God
1. As a reproof.
2. As a contempt.
3. As a prophecy.
4. As a relief. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Locust-scaring gods
The Egyptians, in common with other nations whose ideas of
religion were derived originally from Egypt, had particular deities to whom
they appealed for help in times of particular necessity. There is reason to
believe that they had gods to whom they looked for protection against locusts
as well as against flies and vermin. Strabo, speaking of certain gods whose
titles were derived from insignificant objects, says: “The inhabitants of Mount
Å’ta worshipped Hercules under the title of Hercules Cornopion, because he had
delivered them from locusts. So the Erythraeans, who live near Melius, worship
Hercules Ipoctonus, because he destroyed the ipes, or worms, which are
destructive to vines: for this pest is found everywhere except in the country
of the Erythraeans. The Rhodians have in their island a temple of Apollo
Erythibius, so called from erysibe (mildew), which they call erythibe.
Among the AEolians in Asia one of their months is called Pornopion, for this
name the Boeotians give to parnopes (locusts), and sacrifices are
performed to Apollo Pornopion. “The locust was esteemed sacred in Greece, and
the Athenians wore golden cicadae, or grasshoppers, in their hair, to denote
the antiquity of their race, as αὐτόχθονες, “of the land
itself,” or aborigines. Early historians tell us that the Greeks came
originally from Egypt; Cecrops, the first king of Attica, was from Sais;
Cadmus, from Thebes; and Danaus and Lynceus, with their colonies, from Chemnis.
The locust-scarers of Greece and Asia were, therefore, in all probability, gods
of the Egyptians in time of Pharaoh, and were put to shame, with the rest of
their deities, by this unprecedented and miraculous visitation. Thus the winds
from the four corners of heaven obey the command of Jehovah. As far as man is
concerned, nothing is more uncertain, nothing more absolutely beyond control:
“the wind bloweth were it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth” (John 3:8). But God directeth it under the
whole heaven; He calleth it, “Awake, O north wind, and come thou south (Song of Solomon 4:16); He gathereth the
wind in His fists (Proverbs 30:4); “He bringeth it out of
His treasuries” (Psalms 135:7). At God’s command the east
wind brought the locusts, in twenty-four hours, from the uttermost parts of the
east, collecting them, it may be, from the far-off deserts of Arabia and
Persia; and at God’s command the west wind carried them away again, as far as
the Red Sea. There they all fell down and perished. “I am tossed up and down as
the locust” (Psalms 109:23), says David. These
creatures were tossed up and down by the wind wherever God would send them. He
had used them as His scourge, an instrument of punishment, in which He could
have no pleasure; and when their ungrateful task was done, He drowned them in
the sea. To those same depths the infatuated king who refused to be warned by
the chastisement was presently to follow them, and with his miserable people,
in their turn, to perish. (T. S. Millington.)
Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Lessons
1. Threatening from God may touch hearts of servants and not of
rulers.
2. God useth king’s own servants to move them, when His ministers can
avail nothing.
3. Fear of plagues may move wicked ones to yield, where the fear of
God is not.
4. It is usual for wicked men to charge God’s servants to be snares,
when their sins make them.
5. When God makes His servants ministers of wrath, the wicked are
willing to be rid of them.
6. Idolatrous persecutors may tolerate God’s Church to serve Him,
when vengeance forces them.
7. Experience of destruction past, and fear of more to come, may
cause enemies to move for the Church’s liberty.
8. Persecuting powers are apt to be stupid and willingly ignorant of
such destructions. (G. Hughes, D. D.)
A remonstrance against sin
I. Addressed by
inferiors to their superiors.
1. Bold.
2. Wise.
3. Needed.
II. Inspired by a
deep feeling of terror. It is well for men under any circumstances to cry out
against moral evil.
III. Influential for
temporary good. Some men are apparently more accessible to the advice of their
comrades than they are to the commands of heaven. The wicked servant may preach
the gospel to his despotic master.
IV. Ultimately
disregarded. Lessons:--
1. Remonstrate with the sinner.
2. Show him the folly and woe of sin.
3. You are not responsible for the result of such a remonstrance. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaoh’s mad ignorance
“Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?” was the plea of
Pharaoh’s servants before the locusts came. No; he knew it not; he would not
know it. Even now, with the scene of utter desolation everywhere around him,
with the fields scorched and barren, and the naked trees stretching out their
white and shattered boughs like ghastly skeletons, with even the walls of his
houses and the furniture of his chambers marked by the gnawings of those “very
grievous locusts,” with all these terrible witnesses before his eyes, Pharaoh
knew it not. (T. S. Millington.)
Verse 8-9
We will go with our young and with our old.
Lessons
1. Upon importunity of men wicked powers may be moved to recall and
treat further with God’s ministers when His own word is slighted by them.
2. Upon carnal considerations powers may license the Church to serve
its God.
3. Such wicked powers bound their grants of liberty with provisos
destructive to God’s will (Exodus 10:8). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Captious questions from the wicked are answered with plain answers
by God’s servants.
2. Faithfulness to God will not suffer His servants to hide His mind
to the wicked.
3. God’s instruments have encouragement from Him to deliver His demands
to greatest powers.
4. Little ones as well as great must be carried along with the Church
of God to their rest.
5. The Church’s portion in this life as to outward estate God is
pleased to have free as well as themselves, that they may comfortably serve Him
therewith.
6. The Church’s work after redemption is to serve Jehovah, or keep a
feast to Him (Exodus 10:9). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Renewed opportunities of moral good
“And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh.”
I. Consequent upon
the faithful rebuke of friends.
II. Through contact
with a holy man.
III. May be left
unused through the perverseness of the soul. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The children must be rescued
But particularly observe the subject of dispute. Concerning whom
did it arise? Concerning boys and girls--little children. Pharaoh did not wish
them to accompany their parents to hold a feast unto the Lord; he required that
they should remain at home as hostages. Moses refused. Well, there are often
similar disputes in our time between the devil and the servants of God
concerning you. The devil causes worldly men to say, like Pharaoh, “Why should
you trouble children with religion, they are too young yet? How can they understand
the Bible, since I, who am a grown-up man, and perhaps a learned man, do not
understand it? They can take no pleasure in it; it is too serious for them,
since for my part I find it a weariness. At their age it becomes them to play,
and not to study deeply. Let them enjoy their diversions; let them amuse
themselves on the Sunday.” Thus the prince of this world, the great Pharaoh of
the darkness of this world, would wish to keep you as hostages in error, and
ensnare your parents also. If your house were on fire, what would you
think of a person who should say to your father, “Go out as quickly as you can,
but leave your children in bed”? Or if you were at school, or an apprentice to
a trade, what would you think of a man who should say to your father, “Your son
has a holiday, but do not let him come home to be with you, for he is at an age
to amuse himself. Do not teach him to love you, and to obey you, for that would
weary him.” Ah! dear children, you have as much need as we have to escape the
wrath to come, and to love God. Ask from Him grace to love Him. The prayer of a
child who seeks a new heart for the sake of Jesus Christ always ascends to
heaven. (Prof. Gaussen.)
Verse 10-11
Driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
Driving away the servants of God
1. It is to drive away a good friend.
2. It is to drive away a faithful monitor.
3. It is to drive away a real benefactor.
4. It is to drive away an angel of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The threats of the wicked
I. Evil men often
seek to retard God’s servants in their works by threats. But in vain. God
sustains all whom He sends. No opposition, however virulent, can retard them
from doing His work. They may be weak and few, but He is their strength.
II. That the
threats of evil men need not be feared. Nothing can really harm God’s servants. They may have to
suffer, but suffering will be turned into triumphant joy. Like the saintly
Rutherford, they will find that their enemies have only set them to reside for
a while in one of God’s palaces. Real evil cannot befall them.
III. That the evil
threatened menaces the threatener. As Luther said concerning the potentates of
his day, who did not remember the overruling might of God in their projects:
“Our Lord God says unto them: For whom do ye hold Me? for a cypher? Do I set
here above in vain, and to no purpose? You shall know that I will twist your
accounts about finely, and make them all false reckonings.” So it was with Pharaoh
when he threatened Moses and Aaron. (W. O. Lilly.)
The imperiousness of unbelief
I. In its
reluctance to grant concessions.
II. In its
irritable impatience in listening to the voice of reason.
III. In its
ignominious treatment of religious teachers. (G. Barlow.)
Verses 12-15
The locusts went up.
The plague of locusts; or, the residue of human comfort and
enjoyment destroyed by the retribution of God
It has been observed that the plagues of Egypt, as they succeeded
each other, were characterized with increasing severity. This one appears an
exception to the rule. But only on first sight. The very name of locust was a
terror to the Egyptians. They were an awful infliction (Joel 1:6-12).
I. That sometimes
the retributions of God leave a residue of comfort to the lives of men. It is
so in bereavement; if the wife is taken, the child is left. It is so in
business; if the capital is lost, it may be the reputation is saved. It is so
in personal attributes; if one sense grows dim, another remains yet more
active. If the flax and barley are destroyed, the wheat and the rye are left.
This is mere than is deserved. It is merciful. But it is the kind way of
heaven.
II. That upon
continued sin the residue of human comfort may be entirely removed by the
retributive anger of God.
III. That upon
continued sin the remaining comforts of man may be destroyed by the cooperation
of primary and secondary causes. “And the Lord brought an east wind upon the
land all that day and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind
brought the locusts.” The sceptic may say that the east wind alone brought the
locusts upon his green things; but this is unreasonable and atheistical. Men in
these days have too much Scripture knowledge to regard nature as the origin of
their trouble. God commissions the wind that works desolation upon the hope of
the wicked. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Verses 16-19
Intreat the Lord your God.
Lessons
1. God’s hasty judgments may work hasty passions in sinners, though
no repentance.
2. Vengeance may make
persecutors call in God’s servants for help as hastily as they drove them out.
3. Double confession of sin may hypocrites make under plagues, yet
not in truth.
4. Proud persecutors may be forced to confess their guilt against men
as well as against God (Exodus 5:16).
5. Hypocritical oppressors may desire forgiveness of God’s people
under plagues, as if they would sin no more.
6. Wicked persecutors under judgment are earnest with God’s servants
to intercede earnestly for them.
7. It is only death which wicked sinners deprecate.
8. Hypocrites pretend upon deliverance from death, as if they would
sin no more, or desire no more mercy (Exodus 10:17). (G. Hughes, B.
D.)
A false repentance
I. It proceeds
from the impulse of the moment, and not from conscientious conviction.
II. It is marked by
selfish terror, and not by a godly sorrow for sin.
III. It craves
forgiveness of an immediate offence, rather than a thorough cleansing of the
heart.
IV. It confides in
the intercession of a fellow-mortal, rather than in the personal humbling of
the soul before God. Christ is the only Mediator.
V. It regards God
more as a terrible Deity whose wrath is to be appeased, than as the Infinite
Father whose love is better than life.
VI. it expresses a
promise of amendment which is falsified by previous dissemblings.
Lessons:
1. To be sure that our repentance is genuine.
2. To bring forth fruit meet for repentance in daily conduct.
3. Not to pass a hasty judgment on the repentance of men. Half the
Revivalists of the day would have called Pharaoh a true convert; time tests
conversion. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Pharaoh’s imperfect repentances
Dear children, when any one confesses with sincerity, “I have
sinned”; when he says this to God, and not merely to man, be sure that he is
never rejected. But let us observe what was wanting in the repentance of
Pharaoh.
1. Belief in God, He called Him the Lord your God. He spoke of
Him as of a stranger. Now, it is impossible that any person or child can love
the Lord until he feels himself reconciled to Him by faith, until he can call
Him the Lord my God.
2. Pharaoh had humbled himself before men, rather than before God.
3. He besought the prayers of others, instead of praying for himself.
4. He asked the forgiveness of the servants of God, instead of
seeking pardon from God Himself. If he had said, like David, “I acknowledge my
sin unto the Lord,” he might have added like him, “And Thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin.”
5. Pharaoh did not concern himself about the salvation of his soul.
He intreated, not that he might be delivered from sin, but only that “this
death” should be taken away from him; he did not think of eternity, but only of
the plague under which he was suffering.
6. Lastly, remark that the king still cherished secret designs in his
heart; his submission was not unreserved. We have begun as it were to repent;
but as long as we are not willing to renounce all, to follow Jesus, our
repentance is of no avail. Pharaoh said, “Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your
flocks and herds be stayed.” His heart was not yet submissive, thus his
repentance was vain. (Prof. Gaussen.)
Verse 20
The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
Pharaoh’s will and God’s
I. The simplest
and most patient study of that portion of the Book of Exodus which refers to
the Egyptian plagues will lead us to this conclusion, that Moses is the witness
for a Divine eternal law, and the witness against every kind of king-craft or
priest-craft which breaks this law, or substitutes any devices of man’s power
or wit in place of it. Moses protested against the deceits and impostures of
the magicians, precisely because he protested for the living and eternal Lord.
It is a special token of honesty and veracity that Moses records the success of
the magicians in several of their experiments. We might fairly have discredited
the story as partial and unlikely, if there had been no such admission. Even
the most flagrant chicanery is not always disappointed, and in nine cases out
of ten, fact and fraud are curiously dovetailed into one another. If you will
not do homage to the one, you will not detect the other.
II. Do not the
words, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart,” distinctly describe God as the Author of
something in man which is pronounced to be utterly wrong? Is He not said to
have foreseen Pharaoh’s sin, and not only to have foreseen, but to have
produced it? The will of God was an altogether good will, and therefore
Pharaoh’s will--which was a bad will, a proud self-will--strove against it, and
was lashed into fury by meeting with that which was contrary to itself. These
words of Scripture are most necessary to us, for the purpose of making us
understand the awful contradiction which there may be between the will of a man
and the will of his Creator; how that contradiction may be aggravated by what
seemed to be means for its cure, and how it may be cured. However hard our
hearts may be, the Divine Spirit of grace and discipline can subdue even all
things to Himself. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart
I. The reality of
the human will, and consequently of responsibility, is attached on different
sides: here on
physiological, and there on historical grounds. We are told that facts
connected with the human will admit of exact calculation and prediction,
according to what is termed the law of averages, and that consequently the
doctrine of free-will, which was never capable of proof, must be displaced by a
doctrine recognizing the certainty of human action. To this we answer:
1. The belief that man has the power to choose is so far from wanting
proof, that it has all the force which universal consent can give it.
2. This average, which is supposed to rule the will like a rod of
iron, is itself most variable. It yields under the hand like tempered clay.
That which our will is now acting upon, which varies in different countries
because the will of man has made different laws there, cannot be conclusive
against the doctrine of free-will.
II. The words of
the text are not without their warning. They mean that God, who punishes sin
with death, sometimes punishes sin with sin. When man has repelled the voice of
conscience, and the warning of his Bible, and the entreaties of friends, then
grace is withdrawn from him, and sin puts on a judicial character, and is at
once sin and punishment. (Abp. Thomson.)
The hardening of the heart
“The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” is a very remarkable and
startling expression, and it is repeated in this history no fewer than ten
times. It is startling, for it seems at first sight as if it ascribed the sin
of that wicked man to Almighty God. But a little thought will show that it is
very far from meaning this.
1. In other places the hardening is attributed to Pharaoh himself.
God gives bad men a mysterious power to change their hearts and minds
continually for the worse, by their own wicked ways; so that in the end they
cannot believe or repent. It is their own doing, because they bring it on
themselves by their sin, and it is God’s doing because it is the just
punishment which His law has made the effect of their sin.
2. God knew beforehand that the heart of Pharaoh was such that not
even miracles would overcome his obstinacy, and knowing this, He determined to
deal with him in a manner which ought to have softened and amended him, but
which, according to his perverse way of taking it, only hardened him more and
more.
3. The taking off of God’s hand, after each successive plague, had
the effect of hardening Pharaoh’s heart more completely. He repents of his own
repentance, and wishes he had not given way so far to God’s messengers.
4. Pharaoh, like other wicked kings, had no want of evil subjects to
encourage him. He had magicians who counterfeited God’s miracles, and servants
who, on every occasion, were ready to harden their hearts with him. Such is
Pharaoh’s case; beginning in heathenish ignorance, but forced by warning after
warning to become aware of the truth. Every warning was a chance given him to
soften his heart, but he went on hardening it, and so perished. (Plain
Sermons by Contributors to the “Tracts for the Times. ”)
Hardening influence of sin
Look but upon a youth when he comes first to be an apprentice to
some artificer, or handicraft trade, his hand is tender, and no sooner is he
set to work but it blisters, so that he is much pained thereby; but when he
hath continued some time at work, then his hand hardens, and he goes on without
any grievance at all. It is just thus with a sinner: before he be accustomed to
an evil way, conscience is tender and full of remorse, like a queasy stomach,
ready to kick at the least thing that is offensive. Oh, but a continued custom,
and making a trade of sin, that’s it that makes the conscience to be hard and
brawny, able to feel nothing I As it is in a smith’s forge, a dog that comes
newly in, cannot endure the fiery sparks to fly about his ears; but being once
used to it, he sleeps securely; so let wicked men be long used to the devil’s
workhouse, to be slaves and vassals to sin, the sparks of hell-fire may fly
about them, and the fire of hell flash upon their souls, yet never trouble
them, never disturb them at all; and all this ariseth from a continued custom
in a course of evil. (J. Spencer.)
Verses 21-23
Darkness over the land of Egypt.
Lessons
1. God falls upon sinners without warning where they deal falsely
with Him.
2. The same signal God may command for several uses.
3. God’s word determines the end unto which all signals are
appointed.
4. Men’s hands lifted up to heaven God may make use of to bring evils
on the earth.
5. It is God’s word to make a kingdom the land of darkness.
6. Palpable darkness is a judgment of God’s own making (Exodus 10:21). (G. Hughes, B.
D.)
Lessons
1. Obedience to God’s signal commands must be given by His servants.
2. Signal obedience by God’s ministers is not in vain. God giveth the
effect.
3. Horrid darkness can God send upon souls darkened through sin.
4. Egyptian darkness is God’s exemplary vengeance to the world.
5. The place and duration of darkness are at God’s appointment (Exodus 10:22).
6. Dismal darkness is that which takes from men the use of sense and
motion.
7. Chains of darkness can God make to hold fast sinners in prison.
8. God executes His judgments on the world with discrimination to His people.
9. Egypt’s darkness is Israel’s light (Exodus 10:23). (G. Hughes, B.
D.)
The plague of darkness; or, a type of the sad moral condition of
unregenerate humanity
I. That
unregenerate humanity is in a condition of moral darkness.
1. Ignorant--of God as Father, Christ as Saviour, Holy Ghost as
Comforter, and glories of moral universe.
2. Miserable. Groping in darkness to an awful destiny of woe.
3. In danger. Under condemnation of Heaven.
II. That
unregenerate humanity is in moral darkness through sin. No light but from the
Cross.
III. That unrenewed
humanity is in great straits through, and has no artificial alleviation of, its
moral darkness.
1. The moral vision of humanity is impeded.
2. The moral activity of humanity is suspended. Soul-darkness can
only be removed by Christ.
Lessons:
1. To seek to relieve the woe of those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death.
2. To see the effect of sin.
3. To seek light from the Cross of Christ. (J. S. Exell, M.
A.)
Light in the dwellings of the good
I. In the
dwellings of the good there is the light of revealed truth.
II. In the
dwellings of the good there is the light of providential guidance.
III. In the
dwellings of the good there is the light of moral character. (J. S. Exell,
M. A.)
Home light
The true Israel shall have light in their dwellings. Light in the
heart brings light in the home.
I. There is
supernatural light in the dwellings of God’s people. There is a light brighter
than the light of the sun. God’s people dwell in it. The light of the glory of
God has shone in upon them. No creations of worldly wisdom, wealth, or
philosophy can give this heavenly light.
II. That this light
is the source of manifold blessings. Comfort under trial; strength in weakness;
peace in disquietude; lessons of resignation, patience, and fortitude:
sanctification of affliction; sympathy with the suffering members of the
household; preservation in calamitous times; sustaining trust in God under
perplexing circumstances; hope of eternal felicity.
III. That this light
is a foregleaming of that glory which will re enjoyed by God’s people for ever.
God’s love in Christ is the light of every true Israelite’s dwelling on earth,
and that is the light of heaven. Christian homes ought to be “spangles of
celestial brightness on this darksome earth.” The light here is sometimes
dimmed. Heaven is its native sphere. It suffers there no eclipse. Our vision
too will be clearer. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Light and darkness; or, the Church and the world
I. Egypt in its
darkness was a type of the world. It was so also in other particulars. In its
tyrannical dominion by the despotical Pharaoh;--in its diversified idolatry;
but particularly in the darkness which enshrouded it.
1. Darkness is an emblem of ignorance and error, and the world is
involved in these.
2. Darkness is an emblem of guilt, and the world is involved in this.
3. Darkness is an emblem of peril, and in this the world is involved.
It is to be the scene of the Divine vengeance. It is to be renovated by fire (2 Peter 3:10).
4. Darkness is the emblem of misery, and in this the world is
involved. Now the misery of the men of the world arises from three things.
II. The Israelites
with light in their dwellings were a type of the church.
1. They have the light of saving knowledge.
2. They have the light of the Divine approbation.
3. They have the light of holiness. In applying this subject we
behold the contrast between those who are of the world and the people of God,
in several conditions of life.
The plague of darkness
Darkness may have been produced by a deprivation of sight. The sun
may have risen and set as usual upon the land, yet the eyes of all the
Egyptians being closed and blinded, no ray of light could reach them; this, if
it were attended with pain in the organs of vision, might be properly described
as “darkness to be felt.” The men of Sodom were stricken with blindness for
their sin. The great host which came to take Elisha were smitten with
blindness. Moses, in Deuteronomy, where he threatens the people with the botch
of Egypt, reminding them of the plague of boils and blains, says immediately
afterwards, alluding, probably, to this plague, “The Lord shall smite thee with
blindness and thou shalt grope at noonday as the blind gropeth in darkness” (Deuteronomy 28:27-29). Blindness was the
punishment inflicted upon Elymas the sorcerer; and these Egyptians were famous
for their sorceries. The darkness may therefore have been of this kind, a
painful but temporary loss of eyesight. Darkness, such as is here described,
may have been occasioned by a thick cloud resting upon the earth, and pervading
all the lower regions of the atmosphere: this would enfold the people so as “to
be felt,” and would intercept the sun’s rays effectually by its density. God is
often described as manifesting His displeasure in a cloud. Joel speaks of the
day of God’s vengeance as “a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds
and of thick darkness” (Joel 2:2); and Zephaniah employs nearly
the same language (Zephaniah 1:15). The pillar that went
before the Israelites, and gave them light, was to the Egyptians “a cloud and
darkness” (Exodus 14:20). Such a cloud would be even
more terrible in Egypt, sunny Egypt, than in other countries; for there, as we
have already seen, the sky is almost always clear, and heavy rains unknown. But
in any place, and under any conditions, it must have been full of horror and
misery. Nothing could represent this more forcibly than the short sentence,
“Neither rose any from his place for three days.” It was an horror of great
darkness; it rested on them like a pall; they knew not what dangers might be
around them, what judgment was next to happen. If there be any truth in the
traditions of the Jews on this subject, there were yet greater alarms under
this canopy of darkness, this palpable obscurity, than any which would
naturally arise out of the physical infliction. Darkness is a type of Satan’s
kingdom; and Satan had some liberty in Egypt to walk up and down upon the land,
and to go to and fro in it. The Jewish Rabbis tell us that the devil and his
angels were let loose during these three dreadful days; that they had a wider
range and greater liberty than usual for working mischief. They describe these
evil spirits going among the wretched
people, glued to their seats as they were with terror; frightening them with
fearful apparitions; piercing their ears with hideous shrieks and groans;
driving them almost to madness with the intensity of their fears; making their
flesh creep, and the hair of their head to stand on end. Such a climax seems to
be referred to by the Psalmist, “He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger,
wrath, and indignation and trouble, by sending evil angels among them” (Psalms 78:49). The sun was, during the
continuance of the plague of darkness, blotted out from the Egyptian sky:
either their chief God had forsaken them, and turned against his vicegerent
upon earth, or the God of Moses had prevailed against them both. In the
intensity of their darkness, unrelieved by any artificial light, the people
would bethink themselves of the brilliant illumination they had been in the
habit of making in honour of their god, as described by Herodotus, “At the
sacrifice solemnized at Sais the assembly is held by night: they suspend before
their houses in the open air lamps, which are filled with oil mixed with salt:
a wick floats on the top, which wilt burn all night: the feast is called the
feast of lamps. Such of the Egyptians as do not attend the ceremony burn lamps
in like manner before their houses, so that on this night, not Sais only, but
all Egypt illuminated. A religious motive is assigned for the festival itself,
and for the illumination by which it is distinguished” (Herod. 2:62). Night,
being supposed to divide the empire of the heavens with day, received also its
share of diving honors. Darkness existed before light; and therefore darkness
was revered as the most ancient of all deities. Among the verses usually
ascribed to Orpheus is a hymn addressed to Night, beginning--“Night, parent of
gods and men!” (Hymn. ad Noct. 5:1.) Plutarch says--“The Egyptians reverence
the blind mouse, because they consider darkness to be more ancient than light” (Sympos.
1. 4. qu. 5). Thus, again, the vanity of the religious practices of Egypt was
plainly shown. Where were now their gods? Let them pray to the sun; let them
intreat their lord and king Osiris; he would not look on them, nor give them
one ray of his comfort. Let them implore the darkness; it would not listen to
them, nor depart from them. The Israelites, on the contrary, who had never, as
a nation, bowed the knee to these creatures, nor had been attracted by their
glory to give them the homage due to God alone, were filled with light and
warmth. The Lord of heaven and earth sent down his blessing upon their houses,
singling them out wherever they might be, and made even the darkness to be
light about them. And now, perhaps, they would better understand the worth and
excellency of that daily gift of God which men enjoy too generally without much
thought of Him whose word created and whose mercy sends it. Looking upon the
walls of blackness which were drawn around the houses of the Egyptians, they
would learn to prize the glorious light and sunshine which still prevailed in
all their dwellings: they would compare their own condition, even as slaves and
bondsmen, with the misery of those who had their habitations in the fairest
palaces of Egypt--fair no longer now, but dark and desolate; and so they would
doubtless look upward with gratitude to their almighty God, and confess the
security and happiness of those who trust in Him. (T. S. Millington.)
Light in darkness
“The happiest child I ever saw,” said Bishop Ryle, “was a little
girl whom I once met travelling in a railway carriage. She was eight years old,
and she was quite blind. She had never been able to see at all. She had never
seen the sun, and the stars, and the sky, and the grass, and the flowers, and
the trees, and the birds, and all those pleasant things which we see every day
of our lives; but still she was quite happy. She was by herself, poor little
thing. She had no friends or relations to take care of her, but she was quite
happy and content. She said, when she got into the carriage: ‘Tell me how many
people there are in the carriage, for I am quite blind, and can see nothing.’ A
gentleman asked her if she was not afraid. ‘No,’ she said; ‘I have travelled
before, and I trust in God, and people are always very good to me.’ But I soon
found out the reason why.she was so happy. She loved Jesus Christ, and Jesus
Christ loved her; she had sought Jesus Christ, and she had found Him.”
Darkness a cause of terror
Arago mentions that in the eclipse of 1842, at Perpignan, a dog
which was kept from food for twenty-four hours was thrown some bread just
before the “totality” of the eclipse began. The dog seized the loaf, begun to
devour it ravenously, and then, as the darkness came on, dropped it. Not until
the sun burst forth again did the poor creature return to its food. A party of
courtiers of Louis XV., too, were once gathered around Cassini to witness an
eclipse from the terrace of the Paris observatory, and were laughing at the
populace, whose cries were heard as the light began to fade, when, as the
unnatural gloom came quickly on, silence fell on them too, the panic terror
striking through their laughter. (H. O. Mackey.)
Light in darkness
“God couldn’t arrange it more beautiful,” said a poor old blind
man, as he sat in the chimney-corner of his cottage. “Arrange what?” said the
visitor. “Why, I’m as blind as a mole, but I can hear well; and my old woman
there,” pointing to his wife in the other corner, “is as deaf as a post, but
she can see well, Could God Almighty a’ done it better?” This blind, bright
saint could certainly see beauty
in God’s arrangements where it never would have been suspected by onlookers. It
need hardly be said that sightless J. revels in the light where mere
sight-seers would grumble at the darkness. His natural blindness seems to have
given a quick, keen perception of his spiritual sight. “No walls around me
now,” he says; “I’m never hemmed in. It’s all brightness. Bless’e, I’d ten
times sooner be
as I be, than have my sight, and not see my Saviour!” He is--speaking after the
manner of men--at poverty’s door, yet he has luxurious faith; and, in truth,
his bare home is hard by the jewelled walls of the pearly-gated city. Listen to
his thankful, contented talk: “They allows the old woman and me two shillings
and ninepence, and two loaves, and we can manage on that; and what more do we
want?” (Sword and Trowel.)
Verses 24-26
Thou must give us also sacrifices.
Lessons
1. God’s instruments of redemption seek not only liberty of persons,
but of means, to serve Him.
2. Due worship and true sacrifice to God are the scope of all God’s
redeemed (Exodus 10:25).
3. God’s ministers must be resolute for all, and not bate a jot of
what God requires. Not a hoof.
4. All the exactions of God’s instruments must be aimed at God’s
service truly.
5. God’s servants know not themselves, but depend upon His discovery
for what they must offer to Him (Exodus 10:26). (G. Hughes, B.
D.)
The reluctance with which men yield a complete obedience to the
imperative claims of God
I. The fact of
this reluctance on the part of man to yield complete obedience to the claims of
God.
1. This reluctance is seen in the judgments that are sent to overcome
it.
2. This reluctance is seen in the mercy that is despised.
3. This reluctance is seen in the faithful ministries that are
rejected.
4. That men resist these judgments, etc., is complete evidence of
their great reluctance to surrender all for Him.
II. The reasons of
this reluctance on the part of man to yield complete obedience to the claims of
God. These reasons are obvious.
1. Depravity of nature.
2. Pride of heart.
3. Selfishness of motive.
4. Obstinacy of will.
III. The folly of
this reluctance on the part of man to yield complete obedience to the claims of
God.
1. Because it provokes painful judgments.
2. Because it is useless to contend with God.
3. Because final overthrow is its certain outcome.
Lessons:
1. That man will consent to any terms rather than yield a complete
submission to the will of God.
2. That God will only be satisfied by an entire surrender to His
will. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The way in which men endeavour to compromise the service of God
I. That men
endeavour to compromise the service of God by nominal allegiance.
II. That men
endeavour to compromise the service of God by an occasional performance of
duty.
III. That men
endeavour to compromise the service of God by a public profession of it
accompanied with private reservations.
IV. That men
endeavour to compromise the service of God by excluding it from their worldly
pursuits.
Lessons:
1. That men must not compromise the service of God.
2. That ministers must warn men against compromising “the service of
God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The picture of an unregenerate soul
I. It is opposed
to the service of God.
II. It is loath to
part with its evil possessions.
III. It is slow to
heed the voice of the servants of truth. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Compromise; or, wealth left behind in Egypt
“Only let your flocks and herds be stayed.” How many souls are
caught in this snare! They have left their business, their work, their worldly
interests, down in Egypt. They cannot be “very far away” in such case, for they
must needs go down to Egypt to attend to their possessions. “Lay not up for
yourselves treasures upon earth”; “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil
the lusts thereof” (Matthew 4:9; Romans 13:14). These are words that need
to be considered in connection with this last snare of Satan. I think when
Satan sees a Christian go out of Egypt with all his flocks and herds, he has no
hope of getting him back again. So he makes a last stand here: “Keep your
business and your religion separate. Give yourself to God; but do not
consecrate your property.” Now, will you just take a look at the state of the
Christian world to-day. Look at the wealth of Christians in London, and in New
York, and over the whole world. How they have piled it up--thousands upon thousands,
heaps upon heaps! And where is it? Surely in Egypt. It is not held in sacred
stewardship for the Lord. It is used for the most part to gratify “the lust of
the flesh,” “the lust of the eye,” and “the pride of life.” Look, I pray, at the
magnificence of the residences, the costliness of the furniture, and the
expensiveness and luxury of the equipage. Go into the houses of the wealthy
Egyptian Christians, and behold the splendour and costliness of their
entertainments! See the crowds of Egyptians gathered there to enjoy the feasts
and pleasures that are provided by God’s people with the proceeds of the flocks
and herds that should be used in His service. Again, look at the condition of the
Lord’s work the world over. Consider the fewness of the number of missionaries
who are abroad! Note how from every direction the cry comes up for help! There
are men and women who are waiting to give themselves to the work--to forsake
home and country, and go to the darkest spots of heathendom; but there are not
the men and the women who are ready to spare from their hoards the money to
send and support them. If the flocks and herds were out of Egypt, and really
given over to the Lord to be used in His service, the world could and would be
evangelized in less than five years. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Not an hoof be left behind.--
Full redemption
Now, it seems to me, that this grand quarrel of old is but a
picture of God’s continual contest with the powers of darkness. Evil is hard in
dying; it will not readily be overcome. But this is the demand of God, and to
the last will He have it. “All My people”; the whole of, every one of them, and
all that My people have possessed, all shall come out of the land of Egypt.
Christ will have the whole; He will not be contented with a part, and this He
vows to accomplish. “Not an hoof shall be left behind.”
I. First, then,
Christ will have the whole man. In His people whom He has purchased with His
blood He will reign without a rival. No sin is to be spared; no service
shunned; no power unconsecrated.
II. This is equally
true of the whole church as of the whole man--“Not an hoof shall be left
behind.” When I come to the matter of redemption it seems to me that whatever
Christ’s design was in dying, that design cannot be frustrated, nor by any
means disappointed. All that His heavenly Father gave Him shall come to Him.
Iii. Jesus Christ will not only have all of a man, and all the men He bought,
but He will have all that ever belonged to all these men. That is to say, all
that Adam lost Christ will win back, and that without the diminution of a
single jot or tittle, Not an inch of Paradise shall be given up, nor even a
handful of its dust resigned. Christ will have all, or else He will have none.
IV. Christ will
have the whole earth. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
All or none; or, compromise refused
This was the Divine policy of “No surrender,” and I plead for it
with you. Satan says, “Do not use your property for God. Do not use your
talents and your abilities; especially do not use your money for the Lord
Jesus. Keep that for yourself. You will want it one of these days, perhaps.
Keep it for your own enjoyment. Live to God in other things, but, as to that,
live to yourself.” Now, a genuine Christian says, “When I gave myself to the
Lord I gave Him everything I had. From the crown of my head to the soul of my
foot I am the Lord’s. He bids me provide things honest in the sight of all men,
and care for my household; and so I shall; but yet I am not my own, for I am
bought with a price; and therefore it becomes me to feel that everything I have, or ever
shall have, is a dedicated thing, and belongs unto the Lord, that I may use it
as His steward, not as if it were mine, but at His discretion and at His
bidding. I cannot leave my substance to be the devil’s. That must come with me,
and must be all my Lord’s, for His it is even as I am.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Every hoof to be brought out
God’s will is that we should be completely set free. This will be
accomplished. Repeated conflicts first.
I. The truth
suggested that our deliverance will be complete.
1. Our natures will be entirely freed from the thraldom of sin. Every
power of body, mind, and soul will ultimately escape from the dominion of evil.
2. Our families shall be saved.
3. The whole Church shall be saved.
II. The
encouragement that may be derived from this truth. We need encouragement. The
bondage is often bitter, and hope fails. The enslavers powerful and the chains
strong. But a deliverance, complete, triumphant, and eternal, is sure. This
ought to lead us--
1. To live in the expectation of perfect freedom from all evil.
2. To continue to strive, believe, and pray for it.
3. To pray and labour zealously for the salvation of our families.
4. To sympathize with and aid the weak and lowly in the Church. (W.
O. Lilley.)
We know not with what we
must serve the Lord until we come thither.--
Going forth to serve God
I. Some things are
uncertain in the future.
1. The continuance of our life on earth.
2. The new circumstances in which we shall be placed.
3. The particular duties which will be required of us.
II. Some things are
certain in the future.
1. The obligation of service.
2. Special opportunities of service.
3. Adequate directions for services.
III. Some things are
necessary for the future.
1. Diligent preparation of heart.
2. Humble dependence on God.
3. Hopeful anticipation of better things to come. (B. Dale, M. A.)
The Lord’s stewards
I. The teaching is
that not a part, but the whole, of our possessions must go out of egypt with
us. “There shall not an hoof be left behind.” Is that so with you? Are you
conscious that all your possessions are solemnly consecrated to the Lord,
withdrawn from all Egyptian unrighteousness and sinful self-indulgence? Or are
you using your wealth as any other worldly man might use it?
II. Notice, that it
is more than taking wealth on to religious ground. It is distinctly taking it
out for the purpose of serving the Lord. Not that the Lord is to have a
portion; but that it is all held at His call, for, says Moses, “We know not with
what we must serve the Lord.” It may be that He will want few, it may be that
He will want many sacrifices. We must hold all subject to His call. This is a
high standard to hold up before us; but it is without question the true one. I
do not believe God grudges to His children any comfort which may be had out of
wealth honestly and righteously won from the world; but without doubt the Lord
does insist that the necessities of His service must first be met, before we
can indulge ourselves. How far we must allow ourselves to go in self-provision
is a question that can be easily settled by the man or woman who is honestly
out-and-out--spirit, soul, body, and property--for the Lord. (G. F.
Pentecost, D. D.)
Verse 28-29
I will see thy face no more.
Pharaoh and Moses; or, contrasted characters
I. In this world
often the worst of men come in contact with the best of men.
1. Pharaoh, an idolater, the greatest of tyrants, a signal monument
of God’s displeasure; Moses, a true worshipper of the true and living God, the
meekest of men, an object of God’s highest favour.
2. Such opposite characters as these come in contact in families, in
schools, in political and social circles.
II. It is possible
that the worst of men may come in contact with the best without being at all
benefited.
1. Think of the noble example which Moses set before Pharaoh.
2. Think of the important truths which Moses taught Pharaoh.
III. When the worst
of men come in contact with the best without being benefited the parting is
deeply affecting. (J. G. Roberts.)
The intercourse of life
I. That good men
are often brought into contact with bad men.
1. Irrespective of moral character.
2. Irrespective of mental temperament.
3. Irrespective of social position.
And why?
1. That men may be imbued with the ideas of a common manhood,
2. That class prejudices may be destroyed,
3. That charity may be developed.
4. That life may become a unity.
II. That when good
men are brought into contact with bad men the meeting should be educational to
both.
1. The companionship of the good should be influential to the moral
improvement of the bad.
2. The companionship of the bad should inspire the good with feelings
of gratitude and humility. Good men might have been far otherwise.
III. That when good
men are brought into contact with bad men the meeting is not always valued as
it ought to be, and its opportunity for good is often unimproved. Lessons:
1. That a good life is a heavenly ministry.
2. That good men should seek to influence the bad aright.
3. That good men may learn lessons from wicked lines. (J. S.
Exell, M. A.)
The way in which hardened sinners treat the messengers of God
1. With contempt.
2. With threatenings of evil.
3. With banishment. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The way in which messengers of God treat hardened sinners
1. They scorn their taunts.
2. They impart to the language of the wicked a deeper significance
than was intended.
3. They are courageous.
4. They bid them a sad farewell. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Persistent obstinacy
The obstinacy of Pharaoh appears odious to us; but, alas! the same
obstinacy is found in all sinners. It is seldom we meet with those who openly
say, “I will not be converted, I will do nothing for God, I mock Him, I brave
Him, I defy Him.” They do not use language such as this, but yet they cherish
some secret sin. Among the wicked boys who are unfortunately to be found in
most large towns, you will scarcely meet one, even let him perhaps be a thief,
who would not say, “I do not wish to die an enemy of God”; but, then, in the
meantime he cherishes his sin. What is still more sad, we sometimes hear even
serious persons say, “I wish to do the will of God, but cannot cure myself of
this fault; it is stronger than I. I do not wish to lose my soul, I wish to
obey the commands of God; but I cannot give up the society which is called bad,
I cannot give up such and such a habit which I am told is a sinful one, I
cannot make those sacrifices which I am told are necessary; I will not do it.”
And it is thus that people trifle with eternity! Let us take heed; we must give
ourselves to God--wholly and without reserve. He will have no divided service.
(Prof. Gaussen.)
Moses’ reply to Pharaoh
Remark the solemn and terrible reply of Moses, “Thou hast spoken
well, I will see thy face again no more.” To understand the meaning of this
answer we must remark that it does not finish with this verse, but that it has
a continuation in the succeeding chapter. It contains a terrible threat to
those who despise and reject the word of God. This was to be the last time that
Pharaoh should hear the voice of the man of God, who had so often warned him
and prayed for him. For him no more time was to be given. It was finished; the
measure of his iniquities was filled up; the wrath of God was to come upon him
to the uttermost. “Then Moses went out from Pharaoh in great anger.” There is
such a thing as holy anger, for the Bible says, “Be ye angry, and sin not; let
not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Our Lord Himself was indignant with the
buyers and sellers in the Temple. And He was “much displeased” with His
disciples when they rebuked those who brought young children to Him. He looked
round about with anger on those who wished to hinder Him from curing a man on
the Sabbath day. The anger of Moses was caused by the obstinacy and ingratitude
of Pharaoh, and by the insulting manner in which he braved his Creator and his
Judge. The meaning of his terrible reply was this, “Thou hast rejected the word
of God; the word of God rejects thee. Thou dost not choose any more to see the
face of the servant of the Lord, who has come ten times to warn thee in His
name. Well, thou shalt see his face no more. The word of God has been brought
to thee, but the word of God will leave thee. The grace of God has been offered
thee; thou hast despised it, therefore now will the grace of God leave thee.
Thou hast chosen to ruin thyself, therefore thou wilt ruin thyself.” How
terrible is this! We must all die. Death is very formidable: it is very sad and
solemn when we mourn for others; but there is a remedy for this sorrow in a
loving Saviour, and in the knowledge that there is a home where all the
children of God shall meet each other again. What is really much more terrible
than death is thin sentence, “Thou shalt see My face no more.” (Prof.
Gaussen.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》