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Exodus Chapter
Thirteen
Exodus 13
Chapter Contents
The first-born sanctified to God The remembrance of the
passover commanded. (1-10) The firstlings of beasts set apart. (11-16) Joseph's
bones carried with the Israelites, They come to Etham. (17-20) God guideth the
Israelites by a pillar of cloud fire. (21,22)
Commentary on Exodus 13:1-10
(Read Exodus 13:1-10)
In remembrance of the destruction of the first-born of
Egypt, both of man and of beast, and the deliverance of the Israelites out of
bondage, the first-born males of the Israelites were set apart to the Lord. By
this was set before them, that their lives were preserved through the ransom of
the atonement, which in due time was to be made for sin. They were also to
consider their lives, thus ransomed from death, as now to be consecrated to the
service of God. The parents were not to look upon themselves as having any
right in their first-born, till they solemnly presented them to God, and
allowed his title to them. That which is, by special mercy, spared to us,
should be applied to God's honour; at least, some grateful acknowledgment, in
works of piety and charity, should be made. The remembrance of their coming out
of Egypt must be kept up every year. The day of Christ's resurrection is to be
remembered, for in it we were raised up with Christ out of death's house of
bondage. The Scripture tells us not expressly what day of the year Christ rose,
but it states particularly what day of the week it was; as the more valuable
deliverance, it should be remembered weekly. The Israelites must keep the feast
of unleavened bread. Under the gospel, we must not only remember Christ, but
observe his holy supper. Do this in remembrance of him. Also care must be taken
to teach children the knowledge of God. Here is an old law for catechising. It
is of great use to acquaint children betimes with the histories of the Bible.
And those who have God's law in their heart should have it in their mouth, and
often speak of it, to affect themselves, and to teach others.
Commentary on Exodus 13:11-16
(Read Exodus 13:11-16)
The firstlings of beast not used in sacrifice, were to be
changed for others so used, or they were to be destroyed. Our souls are
forfeited to God's justice, and unless ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ,
will certainly perish. These institutions would continually remind them of
their duty, to love and serve the Lord. In like manner, baptism and the Lord's
supper, if explained and attended to, would remind us, and give us occasion to
remind one another of our profession and duty.
Commentary on Exodus 13:17-20
(Read Exodus 13:17-20)
There were two ways from Egypt to Canaan. One was only a
few days' journey; the other was much further about, through the wilderness,
and that was the way in which God chose to lead his people Israel. The
Egyptians were to be drowned in the Red sea; the Israelites were to be humbled
and proved in the wilderness. God's way is the right way, though it seems about.
If we think he leads not his people the nearest way, yet we may be sure he
leads them the best way, and so it will appear when we come to our journey's
end. The Philistines were powerful enemies; it was needful that the Israelites
should be prepared for the wars of Canaan, by passing through the difficulties
of the wilderness. Thus God proportions his people's trials to their strength, 1 Corinthians 10:13. They went up in good order.
They went up in five in a rank, some; in five bands, so others, which it seems
rather to their faith and hope, that God would bring them to Canaan, in
expectation of which they carried these bones with them while in the desert.
Commentary on Exodus 13:21,22
(Read Exodus 13:21,22)
The Lord went before them in a pillar, or appearance of
the Divine Majesty. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:9. Those whom God brings into a
wilderness, he will not leave nor lose there, but will take care to lead them
through it. It was great satisfaction to Moses and the pious Israelites, to be
sure that they were under Divine guidance. Those who make the glory of God
their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their
affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be sure
that the Lord goes before them, though they cannot see it with their eyes: we
must now live by faith. When Israel marched, this pillar went before, and
pointed out the place of encampment, as Divine Wisdom saw fit. It sheltered by
day from the heat, and gave light by night. The Bible is a light to our feet, a
lantern to our paths, with which the Saviour's love has provided us. It
testifies of Christ. It is to us like the pillar to the Israelites. Listen to
that voice which cries, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth me shall
not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life, John 8:12. Jesus Christ alone, as shown in the
Bible, and as the Holy Spirit, in answer to prayer, recommends him to the soul,
is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, John 14:6.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Exodus》
Exodus 13
Verse 2
[2]
Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children
of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.
Sanctify to me all the first-born — The parents were not to look upon themselves as interested in their
first-born, till they had first solemnly presented them to God, and received
them back from him again.
It is mine — By
a special right, being by my singular favour preserved from the common
destruction.
Verse 5
[5] And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the
Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with
milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.
When the lord shall bring you into the land,
thou shalt keep this service — 'Till then they were not obliged to keep
the passover, without a particular command from God.
Verse 7
[7]
Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread
be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy
quarters.
There shall no leavened bread be seen in all
thy quarters — Accordingly the Jews usage was, before the
feast of the passover, to cast all the leavened bread out of their houses;
either they burnt it, or buried it, or broke it small, and threw it into the
wind; they searched diligently with lighted candles in all the corners of their
houses, lest any leaven should remain. The strictness enjoined in this matter
was designed, 1. To make the feast the more solemn, and consequently the more
taken notice of by the children, who would ask, why is so much ado made? 2. To
teach us how solicitous we should be to put away from us all sin.
Verse 9
[9] And
it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between
thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand
hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Upon thy hand, between thine eyes — Proverbial expressions; denoting things which are never out of our
thoughts.
Verse 13
[13] And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou
wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of
man among thy children shalt thou redeem.
Thou shalt redeem —
The price of the redemption was fixed by the law.
Verse 16
[16] And
it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes:
for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.
For frontlets between thine eyes — As conspicuous as any thing fixt to thy forehead, or between thine eyes.
Verse 18
[18] But
God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and
the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
There were many reasons why God led them
through the way of the wilderness of the red sea. The Egyptians were to be
drowned in the Red-sea, the Israelites were to be humbled, and proved in the
wilderness. Deuteronomy 8; 2. God had given it to Moses for a sign, Exodus 3:12, ye shall serve God in this
mountain. They had again and again told Pharaoh that they must go three days
journey into the wilderness to do sacrifice, and therefore it was requisite
they should march that way, else they had justly been exclaimed against as
dissemblers. Before they entered the lifts with their enemies, matters must be
settled between them and their God; laws must be given, ordinances instituted,
covenants sealed; and for the doing of this it was necessary they should retire
into the solitudes of a wilderness, the only closet for such a crowd; the high
road would be no proper place for these transactions. The reason why God did
not lead them the nearest way, which would have brought them in a few days to
the land of the Philistines, was because they were not yet fit for war, much
less for war with the Philistines. Their spirits were broke with slavery; the
Philistines were formidable enemies; it was convenient they should begin with
the Amalekites, and be prepared for the wars of Canaan, by experiencing the
difficulties of the wilderness. God is said to bring Israel out of Egypt as the
eagle brings up her young ones, Deuteronomy 32:11, teaching them by degrees to
fly.
They went up harnessed — They went up by five in a rank, so some; in five squadrons, so others.
They marched like an army with banners, which added much to strength and honour.
Verse 21
[21] And
the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way;
and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
And the Lord went before them in a pillar — In the two first stages, it was enough that God directed Moses whither
to march; he knew the country, and the road; but now they are come to the edge
of the wilderness, they would have occasion for a guide, and a very good guide
they had, infinitely wise, kind, and faithful, the Lord went up before them;
The Shechinah or appearance of the divine Majesty, which was a precious
manifestation of the eternal Word, who in the fulness of time was to be made
flesh, and dwell among us. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:9. What a satisfaction to Moses
and the pious Israelites, to be sure that they were under a divine conduct?
They need not fear missing their way who were thus led, nor being lost who were
thus directed; they need not fear being benighted, who were thus illuminated,
nor being robbed, who were thus protected. And they who make the glory of God
their end, and the word of God their rule, the spirit of God the guide of their
affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be
confident that the Lord goes before them, as truly is he went before Israel in
the wilderness, though not so sensibly. They had sensible effects of God's
going before them in this pillar. For, It led them the way in that vast howling
wilderness, in which there was no road, no track, no way-marks through which
they had no guides. When they marched, this pillar went before them, at the
rate that they could follow, and appointed the place of their encampment, as
infinite Wisdom saw fit; which eased them from care, and secured them from
danger, both in moving, and in resting. It sheltered them from the heat by day,
which at sometimes of the year was extreme: And it gave them light by night
when they had occasion for it.
Verse 22
[22] He
took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night,
from before the people.
He took not away the pillar of the cloud, -
No not when they seemed to have less occasion for it: it never left them 'till
it brought them to the borders of Canaan. It was a cloud which the wind could
not scatter. There was something spiritual in this pillar of cloud and fire. 1.
The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses in this cloud, 1 Corinthians 10:2. By coming under this cloud
they signified their putting themselves under the conduct and command of Moses.
Protection draws allegiance; this cloud was the badge of God's protection, and
so became the bond of their allegiance. Thus they were initiated, and admitted
under that government, now when they were entering upon the wilderness. 2. And
it signifies the special conduct and protection which the church of Christ is
under in this world.
──
John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Exodus》
13 Chapter 13
Verse 1-2
Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn.
The sanctification of the firstborn to the Lord
I. That the good
are required to sanctify their firstborn unto the Lord. “All the
firstborn”--that is to say, the most excellent of their possessions, the most
valuable, and that which is viewed with the greatest regard.
1. This sanctification of the firstborn was required by the Divine
commandment.
2. This sanctification of the firstborn was a grateful acknowledgment
of the Divine mercy in sparing the firstborn from the midnight destruction.
Heaven never asks more than it gives, or more than is consistent with the
gratitude of a devout heart to bestow.
3. This sanctification of the firstborn was to be associated with the
deliverance of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.
II. That the good,
is sanctifying their firstborn unto the Lord, are not called upon to give up
the sole use of their property, but to redeem and to put it to a lawful use.
Who would not desire his firstborn to be the Lord’s?
III. That the good
are required to connect
the sanctification of their firstborn with sacrifice. “And all the firstborn of
man among thy children shalt thou redeem” (Exodus 13:14). This redemption was to be
by sacrifice. Parents need reminding of this duty.
1. Because they are liable to forget the service which past mercy
requires of them.
2. Because they are apt to be selfish in the use of their property.
3. Because they are not sufficiently spiritually minded to see God in
their property, and therefore forget His claims.
4. Because they do not like to pay the redemption price.
IV. That the good
are to teach the right
of God to the firstborn, to their posterity (Exodus 13:14-15). Children are very inquisitive.
They will ask questions, even about religious matters. At such times they
should be carefully and solemnly instructed in Divine truth. The family is the
best school for the young. They should early be taught the meaning of
self-sacrifice, and the moral grandeur of giving to the Lord. Even the young
have their firstborn, which they can be taught to give to the Lord; and if they
grow up in the spirit of this obligation they will in after days, impart to it
a truer meaning, and give to it a more solemn influence than before they were
capable of. Lessons:
1. That the good must sanctify their best things to the Lord.
2. That this can only be done by the redemption of the Cross.
3. That the young must be early taught their obligation to the Lord.
(J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn
1. A command.
2. A duty.
3. A privilege.
4. A benediction.
5. A prophecy. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The man-tithe
I. Observe the
first rule: “Sanctify
unto Me all the firstborn of man.” As the redemption of the firstborn of the
more valuable animals was graciously commuted by the sacrifice of less valuable
ones, so there was a commutation for the firstborn of man; not indeed by
inferior substitutes as in the former case, but by his fellowman--by the
institution of a priesthood, “sanctifying,” or setting apart, the whole tribe
of Levi in place of the firstborn of all Israel. But as this arrangement had
not yet transpired at the period of the text, the explanation was deferred till
then, that in the meanwhile the whole nation might fully realize the amount and
weight of their liability to God; and further, that when Levi was sanctified,
the whole Levitical priesthood--a priesthood of their brethren, “bone of their
bone, and flesh of their flesh”--might symbolize the High Priesthood of the
Mediator who “was in all things made like unto His brethren,” that He too
“might also make intercession for the sins of the people.” This lies at the
root of the Levitical principle, the layagency in the church of God. Admirable
is the advice of Jethro to his son-in-law, and incidentally it bears upon this
subject. “This thing,” that is, the whole burthen of the work, “is too heavy
for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone . . . Thou shalt
provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating
covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers
of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” Thus the work of religion,
benevolence, and rule was divided, subdivided, and redivided still, from
considerable districts down to classes of tens, as we should desire to see the
work of God among ourselves distributed among our lay deacons and elders,
district visitors, collectors and Sabbath-school teachers, who in their
respective ministries should act on the suggestion of Jethro, “The hard causes
they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.”
II. Secondly, the
text presents the rule of consecrated wealth--“Sanctify unto Me all the
firstborn of beasts.” On this point there is some difficulty. “All the
firstborn of cattle” were given to the Lord by sacrifice; and yet in the
forty-fifth verse of the third chapter of Numbers the whole of the cattle of
the Levites were considered as a substitute for the firstlings of the general
cattle, just as all the men of the Levites were accepted as the substitute for
all the firstborn of men from the rest of the tribes. Possibly the cattle
firstlings were redeemed, as the excess of human firstborn over the number of
the firstborn of the Levites were, by the half-shekel atonement for each, which
was payable at the census or periodical numbering of the people. It is probable
that David’s omission of this payment was the sin which incurred God’s heavy
displeasure in that unseasonable numbering of the people, which, in omitting
the soul-tax for atonement, seemed numbered for David himself, and not for God.
Be this as it may, the Lord claimed all the firstborn of their beasts, which
were the staple property in the ruder forms of society.
III. The text
presents its demand for consecrated time. We need not dwell upon the Sabbath,
or the Divine claim upon the sevenths of our time. Assuming we are all agreed
that this, the minimum of God’s requirement, is due from every man, we may deplore
the manner in which, for the most part, even this holy debt is discharged. The
abuse of the Sabbath and insubordination to its constantly recurring, bounden,
and emphatic law, lies at the root of the national irreligion. There is a
significancy in the proportion of the Divine demand of only a tenth of all
other things, but a seventh of our time. (J. B. Owen, M. A.)
The Divine right to the best things of man
“It is Mine.” This is the language of God in reference to each one
of us. It is Mine.
I. Because I
created it.
II. Because I
preserved it.
III. Because I
endowed it with everything that makes it valuable. (J. S. Exell, M.
A.)
The first born, types of Christ
I. As they were
God’s peculiar.
1. By common nature,
2. By common grace.
3. By a special right.
(a) For the kind, in that He was Mediator, God and Man in unity of
person, and the only Redeemer of His Church.
(b) For undertaking of His office.
(c) For the accomplishing His office, in His resurrection. He is
called the First-begotten, or Firstborn of the dead, two ways:
(i)
In respect of His Father, who first begot Him from the dead;
(ii)
In
regard of Himself, whose privilege it was to raise up Himself from the dead by
His own power.
II. The firstborn
of Israel was the second, and next to the father of the family, yea, after the
father instead of the father. So is Christ to His family, the Church; He
performs all offices of a careful and tender father, and” takes on Him, not the
affection only of a father, but even--
1. The name of a father (Isaiah 9:6).
2. The office of a father.
III. The firstborn
had the pre-eminence among the brethren, and were chief in office and
authority, rulers in the house after their fathers, and priests in the family,
before the Levitical order was established. Herein they were special types of
Jesus Christ; who in all things must have the pre-eminence, as first in time,
in order, in precedency, and in the excellency and dignity of His person.
IV. The firstborn
had a double portion in goods (Deuteronomy 21:17). Signifying--
1. The plenitude of the spirit and grace in Christ, who was anointed
with oil of gladness above His fellows.
2. The pre-eminency of Christ in His glorious inheritance, advanced
in glory and majesty incomprehensible by all creatures. Use--
(a) In that Christ being the truth of the firstborn, from Him the
birthright is derived unto us believers, as it was from Reuben unto Judah, and
we partake of the same birthright with our head. For here is a difference
between the type and truth of the firstborn. They had all their privileges for
themselves: but Christ not for Himself but for us.
(b) Being God’s firstborn throughout, we are dear unto God.
(c) God takes notice, and avenges all wrongs done to the saints,
because they are His firstborn.
Consecrated to the Lord
When Bishop Selwyn spoke to Sir John Patteson, then a widower, of
the desire of his splendidly gifted son, Coleridge, to join him in the New
Zealand Mission, the father’s first exclamation was: “I cannot let him go!” but
he immediately added, “God forbid I should stop him!” And he closed the
conversation by saying: “Mind, I give him wholly, not with any thought of seeing
him again. I will not have him thinking he must come home to see me.”
A consecrated child
A young man was about to enter the foreign missionary work. A
gentleman said to the young man’s father, “It’s hard to give up the boy.”
“Yes,” replied the father, “but it’s just what we’ve been expecting.” “How so?”
inquired the friend. “When he was a little baby,” answered the father, “his
mother and I went to a missionary meeting. An appeal, most earnest and
touching, was made for men to become missionaries. We ourselves could not go.
When we returned home the baby lay asleep in his crib. We went to the crib. His
mother stood on one side, I on the other. We together laid our hands on his
forehead, and prayed that it might be God’s will for him to become a foreign
missionary. We never spoke to him of what we did. But all through these
twenty-five years we have believed that our prayer about him would be answered, and
answered it now is. Yes, it is hard to give up the boy, but it’s what we’ve
been expecting.”
Verse 3-4
Remember this day.
A day to be remembered
1. God’s commands and His servants’ obedience are sweetly united
together.
2. Deliverance of the
Church from Egyptian bondage is justly chargeable on their
memory.
3. Jehovah the Author of deliverance is to be minded with His work,
and power of doing it.
4. Remembrance of Jehovah carrieth with it mindfulness of duty and
service to Him (Exodus 13:3).
5. Days and months of mercy are ordered by God to be remembered (Exodus 13:4). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Days to be remembered
I. There are days
in the history of individuals which ought to be celebrated.
II. There are days
in the history of churches which ought to be celebrated.
III. There are days
in the history of nations which ought to be celebrated. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Verses 5-7
Keep this service.
The ordinances of the Lord
I. That the
ordinances of the Lord must be observed in the times of prosperity (Exodus 13:5).
II. That the
ordinances of the Lord must be observed with true intelligence (Exodus 13:8-9).
III. That the
ordinances of the Lord must be observed with parental solicitude. God has
appointed the family the moral nursery of the young. Lessons:
1. To attend to all the ordinances of the Lord.
2. To attend to them at the most appropriate time.
3. To attend to them in right spirit and temper. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Verses 8-10
Show thy son in that day.
Lessons
1. The instruction of children is a duty upon parents.
2. God commands continuance of ordinances for instruction of
posterity.
3. The reason of God’s ordinances must be understood by parents and
children (Exodus 13:8).
4. Sacramental signs, and memorials of God, He is pleased to give His
Church.
5. God would have these signal memorials at hand and before the eyes
of His.
6. The Passover was a true sacramental sign and seal of God’s
covenant.
7. By sacraments rightly used God’s covenant is confirmed on hearts
and in profession.
8. God’s mighty gracious redemption is a just cause of such memorials
(Exodus 13:9).
9. God’s sacraments are His statutes and positive laws.
10. It is God s prerogative, to make anniversary memorials of His
mercies (Exodus 13:10). (G. Hughes, B.
D.)
Truth embodied
As the soul is clothed in flesh, and only thus is able to perform
its functions in this earth, where it is sent to live; as the thought must find
a word before it can pass from mind to mind; so every great truth seeks some
body, some outward form, in which to exhibit its powers. It appears in the
world, and men lay hold of it, and represent it to themselves, in histories, in
forms of words, in sacramental symbols; and these things, which in their proper
nature are but illustrations, stiffen into essential fact, and become part of
the reality. (J. A. Froude.)
Importance of commemorative days and ordinances
The following sentence is attributed to Voltaire:--“I despair of
destroying Christianity in any country, so long as millions of human beings
meet on Sunday to worship God.” Many things have been fathered on Voltaire of
which he never heard, but if he really said or wrote this he uttered an
unusually sensible thing. It is curious that sceptical writers have regarded so
little the testimony of Christian rites to the facts with which they are
indissolubly connected. How did the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Day come to be
established institutions? Rites and observances do not establish and perpetuate
themselves. The origin of these two Christian institutions can only be
explained by their connection with the events they commemorate. If the written
records of the apostolic age could be blotted from the memory of man, the
Lord’s Supper would still bear testimony to Christ’s death for man’s salvation,
as the Lord’s Day would eloquently witness to His resurrection from the dead.
Verses 11-13
All the firstborn.
Firstborn to be dedicated to God
1. Jehovah is the beginning and end of His own ordinances. He sets
them for Himself.
2. The Church must act these duties from God unto God Himself.
3. All that God requires must His people make to pass from them to
Him.
4. Firstborn males of beasts God required in the law for special use
to Himself (Exodus 13:12).
5. Clean and unclean among creatures is a distinction made by God for
men, not for Himself.
6. God hath a proprietary in all creatures be they never so unclean.
7. God hath ordered redemption for unclean by putting the clean in
their stead.
8. Unclean unredeemed must be destroyed.
9. A price hath God set for man’s redemption to gain a Church of the
firstborn.
10. The law of the firstborn hath its truth and accomplishment in
Christ Jesus, “the Firstborn of every creature” (Colossians 1:15; verse 13). (G.
Hughes, B. D.)
Verses 14-16
When thy son asketh thee.
The Book of Exodus introduces that new epoch in the scriptural
history of sacrifices when they began to be regulated by fixed laws, to be part
of a national economy.
I. The offering of
the firstborn was the deification and consecration of the whole Jewish nation.
The firstborn represented its strength, its vitality, its endurance. This act
signified that its strength lay only in its dependence on God’s strength, that
its vitality came from the life which is in Him, that it would endure from
generation to generation, because He is the same and His years fail not. The
calling of the Israelites was the calling to confess a Redeemer of Israel, a
righteous Being who had brought out their fathers from the house of bondage.
II. Moses taught
the people that by looking upon themselves as beings surrendered and sacrificed
to the God of truth, the Deliverer of men, by feeling that they held all the
powers of their minds and bodies as instruments for the great work in which He
is engaged, thus they might be a nation indeed, one which would be a pattern to
the nations, one which, in due time, would break the chains which bound them to
visible and invisible oppressors.
III. When once we
understand that we are witnesses for God, and do His work, self-sacrifice can
never be an ambitious thing--a fine way to get the reputation of saints or the
rewards of another world. It will be regarded as the true ground of all action;
that on which all the blessed relations of life stand; that which is at the
same time the only impulse to and security for the hard and rough work of the
world. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)
Meaning of ordinances to be explained
1. Ancient ordinances may be justly questioned in succeeding ages to
know the meaning of them.
2. Reason is to be given of our religion to such as reasonably demand
it.
3. Children may ask of parents and they must inform them of the
ordinances of God.
4. Redemption-mercies are to be recorded and reported as just ground
of God’s ordinance (verse 14).
5. Opposition against redemptions are justly declared to make the
work glorious, and God’s people obedient.
6. Vengeance upon the enemies of the Church’s redemption is fit to be
known to quicken them to duty.
7. The Church’s reason for its religion to God is rightly taken from
its redemption (verse 15).
8. God’s redeeming mercies ought to work in the Church eternal
memorials of Him (verse 16). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. After redemption of His Church God provideth for guiding them in
the way to rest.
2. Nearest ways to rest with men are not always approved by God for
His people.
3. God’s foreknowledge of dangerous ways to His Church doth prevent
them.
4. God will not put His people upon war or hard trials until He have
fitted them for it.
5. God’s special care of His Church is to keep them from a retreat to
bondage after redemption (verse 17). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Imparting knowledge
Knowledge cannot be stolen by or from you. It cannot be sold or
bought. You may be poor, and be troubled by the sheriff on the journey of life.
He may break into your house and sell your furniture at auction; drive away
your cow; take away your ewe lamb, and leave you homeless and penniless; but he
cannot lay the law’s hand upon the jewellery of your mind. This cannot be taken
for debt; neither can you give it away, though you give enough of it to fill a
million minds. In getting rich in the things which perish with the using, men
have often obeyed to the letter that first commandment of selfishness: “Keep
what you can get, and get what you can.” In filling your minds with the wealth
of knowledge, you must reverse this rule, and obey this law: “Keep what you
give, and give what you can.” The fountain of knowledge is filled by its
outlets, not by its inlets. You can learn nothing which you do not teach; you
can acquire nothing of intellectual wealth except by giving. (Elihu Burritt.)
Verse 17-18
Through the way of the wilderness.
The way of the wilderness
I. The way by
which God often leads His people may be described as the “way of the wilderness.”
There are several points of analogy or similarity between the journey of Israel
from Egypt to Canaan, and the path of God’s people through this world. For one
thing, the journey of the sons of Jacob was circuitous. There can be little
doubt that, after their release from bondage, they looked forward to a speedy
occupation of the Promised Land; but in this they were disappointed. They were
not permitted to go direct and at once to their inheritance. Then, again, it
was not a way of their own choosing. There were two routes, either of which
they might have followed; one, the ordinary caravan route through the country
of the Philistines, entering Canaan from the south; the other, by the Red Sea
and the wilderness of Sinai, entering Canaan from the west. There was no
geographical necessity for taking the more circuitous route through Sinai.
Indeed, without an explicit command from God, it would have been the height of
folly for any leader, even Moses, to have attempted to conduct such a vast host
all unprovided for into the desert. Now, the discerning reader cannot fail to
be struck with the similarity of all this to the Providential ordering of human
life. The current of our earthly being seldom runs straight. There are often
many windings before it reaches its goal; and it may be that few of those
windings would have been in accordance with our wishes. How true is this of
Moses, who, in his impatience for the release of his countrymen, struck the
blow for freedom too soon. And instead of being permitted to go direct to the
work, he had to undergo forty years of preparatory service among the solitudes
of Midian. Take Joseph, and you see the working of the same principle. How
strikingly is the hand of Providence seen in his life! His experiences in Egypt
before his promotion may seem a strange preparation for his after eminence, and
certainly not of his own choosing. God was “leading him about.” The pit in
Dothan, servitude under Potiphar, confinement in prison, were so many steps or
turnings in a life that rose to such distinction. Then again take the apostle
Paul. The great ambition of his life was to preach the gospel at Rome. The
noble apostle got his wish. He was permitted to go to Rome, but he went as a
prisoner. The chains might seem to confine his influence, but, for aught we
know, they may have added to the impressiveness of his message and testimony
for his Master. God was leading him about, an ambassador in bonds. So in our
life. The course of Providence sometimes takes strange turns. Our life-path is
seldom what at one time we expected it to be, any more than the journey from
Egypt to Canaan was what the Israelites expected. We come to our Etham on the
edge of the wilderness, and at that point the current of our life is altered
and its winding course begins. The altered current may lead us into the desert
of adversity, or into the wilderness of affliction, where for years we may have
to endure. Many a Christian has been led home through the winding path of pain.
It is God “leading us about.”
II. We now proceed
to inquire into the purpose of this roundabout journey through the wilderness.
When the sons of Jacob left Egypt, they were little better than a band of
undisciplined slaves, and they had to be trained. The growth of every noble
quality had been cramped and hampered by degrading bondage, and the wilderness
was to be their training-school. There was, therefore, a moral purpose in the
forty years’ wandering. It was intended to train them to be and to do, to
develop in them noble qualities, and train them for noble deeds. They could
have marched to Canaan in eight or ten days; but eight or ten days would have
been too short a period for the growth of character. No one can read their
history without observing the change which forty years had produced on them.
They gained new experiences, and developed those manly qualities needed to
fight their way to the possession of Canaan. Now, is it not in this way still
that God prepares His people for their mission? As a general rule the men who
have made the deepest impression for good on the world’s history have been led
up to their throne of influence by a long path of preparation. Few leap into
their position at a bound. The shortest way is not always the best. There is,
perhaps, no station in life in which difficulties have not to be encountered
and overcome before any decided measure of success can be achieved. Those
difficulties are, however, our best instructors, as our mistakes often form our
best experience. Horne Tooke used to say of his studies in intellectual
philosophy, that he had become all the better acquainted with the country
through having had the good luck sometimes to lose his way. And a distinguished
investigator of physical science has left it on record that whenever, in the
course of his researches, he encountered an apparently insuperable obstacle, he
generally found himself on the brink of some novel discovery. The severe
preparatory discipline which God’s men have to undergo is for most part unknown
to the world. We cannot tell how the Israelites spent thirty-eight years of
their desert life, we only know the effect it had on them. We might further
extend this thought to the discipline which God applies for the soul’s
sanctification. The ultimate end of all the Divine dealings with man in this
life must be sought in the life to come. The soul has often to pass through the
path of affliction or adversity ere it is fit for the fellowship of the pure in
heart in the Promised Land. The reward will be more prized and the rest the
sweeter on account of the experience gained when God led you about through the
way of the wilderness.
III. In order to
derive full benefit from the experiences of life, several things have to be
attended to. Discipline, however suitable it may seem, wilt not of itself
further the work of grace in the heart, unless it is accepted as from God.
Confining ourselves to this narrative, we find two or three conditions without
which Divine discipline will yield no moral profit.
1. In the first place, we must not harbour a spirit of discontent
with our lot. To this spirit are traceable many of the calamities of the
wilderness, and it barred the gates of Canaan against the generation that left
Egypt. That generation did not benefit by God’s dealings. Now all this is true
in our life. We often miss the good that is meant for us by dissatisfaction
with the channel through which it comes. The apprentice lad must not chafe if
he is put to distasteful work and at a low wage: let him learn that this is the price to be paid
for future advancement, and let him cheerfully accept his post. Murmuring at
cross-bearing will do us no good, but rather harm, as it will prevent us from
attaining to acquiescence in the Divine will.
2. Secondly, in order to secure the greatest good from our lot, we must
banish from our company whatever tends to lead us astray. When the Israelites
left Egypt they were joined by a group called the “mixed multitude.” The
Church’s greatest danger lies not so much in attacks from without, as in
temporizing with worldly-minded men, and harbouring in her midst those who are
not of her in spirit. But this “mixed multitude,” while it is typical-of
nominal Christians in the Church, may be regarded as a type of those unholy
desires and passions that are more or less to be found in the heart of every one of
us. We all carry about with us a “mixed multitude” of unsubdued appetites which
crave for gratification; and not more surely did the Israelites suffer from the
presence of this base throng, than we shall have the peace of our life marred,
and its usefulness impaired, by giving reins to those unholy forces. They need
to be constantly kept in check, else they are sure to lead us astray. Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us; and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher
of our faith.
3. There is one more condition that we must comply with, if we would
finish our course with joy, and that is, we must loyally follow the guidance of
our Heavenly Leader. (D. Merson, M. A.)
Why the Israelites were guided by the way of the wilderness
I. They had been
sated with the magnificence of man’s works; God led them forth into the
wilderness to show them his works in their native grandeur, and to refresh their
exhausted hearts and spirits by the vision of the splendour of His world.
II. God led them
forth by the way of the wilderness, that He might reveal not nature only, but
Himself. He led them into the wilderness, as He leads us, that He might meet
with them, speak with them, reveal Himself to them, and teach them to know
themselves in knowing Him.
III. God.led them
into the wilderness, that He might there cultivate their manly qualities, and
fit them to hold the possessions they might win. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
God’s path
1. God does not order salvation to His as it pleaseth man, but as it
pleaseth Himself.
2. God in wisdom sometimes translates His Church from the house of
bondage to a wilderness.
3. Wilderness and Red Sea paths, are the way of God’s people here
below.
4. God makes the way to rest not always straight, but to be about.
5. Israel, or God’s people, go the round that God doth lead them.
6. Orderly and well instructed are the Church’s motions under God in
wilderness-ways. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
God’s people in the wilderness
I. That by Israel
in Egypt we may understand the spiritual bondage of God’s chosen people at
large.
1. Israel was in an enemy’s country. So are the elect by nature.
2. Their bondage was rigorous. So was the Christian’s.
3. Their departure, like the believer’s, was opposed.
4. And when liberated, their enemies pursued them.
II. Some reasons
why God did not admit the children of Israel into the promised land,
immediately on their going out of Egypt, and why He does not admit His elect
into glory immediately on their conversion.
1. The Egyptians must be drowned--enemies subdued.
2. The Israelites must be humbled (Psalms 66:10-12).
3. He led them
some hundreds of miles about; yet it was the right way (Psalms 107:7).
4. God’s way is right, although it may appear round about (Psalms 18:30).
III. Some reasons
for God’s conduct in keeping them in the wilderness.
1. They were not fit as yet for severe warfare.
2. Their enemies were great, and themselves weak.
3. He had much to teach them.
IV. The manner in
which they went up. “Harnessed”--or by fives, or five in a rank, or rather by
five bodies or squadrons, and so marched out, not in a disorderly or confused
way, but in great order and regularity.
1. Their loins were girt (Ephesians 6:14).
2. Their heart was secured (Ephesians 6:14).
3. Their feet were shod (Ephesians 6:15).
4. Having a shield, helmet, and sword (Ephesians 6:16-17). (T. B. Baker.)
The way of God in conducting the life of the good
I. That it is the
way of God to bring the good to a place of rest. This is the object of all
life’s discipline.
II. That it is the
way of God to bring the good away from the things that would be unfriendly to
their welfare. He selects the life path of the good--
1. Wisely.
2. Kindly.
III. That it is
often the way of God to bring the good a circuitous route to their destination.
The nearest way is not always the best.
IV. That it is the
way of God to bring the good along unwelcome paths. Impossible to get to Canaan
without perplexities. God is always with the good in their wilderness
wanderings.
V. That it is the
way of God to bring the good into a better and more thorough knowledge of
themselves. Men get to know more in the desert. Some Christians are taken to
heaven through a long route of pain. They long for home, but the journey is
prolonged. It is hard to see the reason of their protracted existence. The
Divine purpose is not yet accomplished in them.
VI. That it is the
way of God to bring the good into a wise exercise of their own strength. “And
the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” They walked
in battle array. And so, while it is the way of God to conduct human life to
its destination, it is also the duty of man to exercise his own wisdom and
strength, so that he may do all to aid the plans of God concerning him.
Lessons:
1. That God leads men from Egypt to Canaan.
2. That men must give themselves up to the guidance of God.
3. That life is often through a long wilderness.
4. However long the journey, men must trust in God. (J. S. Exell,
M. A.)
The roundabout way
I. God led them.
“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” When He calls you up the slopes of the
mount of sacrifice, it is to bring you within the sound of Divine voices at the
summit; when He calls you to the “edge of the wilderness,” or to a “desert
place apart,” it is to “speak comfortably” unto you “out of the cloud.”
II. God led them
not through the land of the philistines, although that was near . . . but He
led them about by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. He had not taken
them into His confidence, they could not understand Him, they had no sympathy
with His vast and gracious designs, therefore He did not “give an account of
any of His matters.” “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter.” Let no one hesitate to “go up and possess the land,” for fear he be
overpowered with temptations that beset the path of Peter or Paul or Luther, or
of some venerable man of God who but too faithfully has given an account of his
conflict with the world and the flesh and the devil. God will take you to
heaven, but He has not promised to take you by the near way. It may be by a
very long way. One thing I know, it will not be through the way of the land of
the Philistines, or of any foes who would effect your ruin and drive you back
in despair to the country from whence you came out. Only one enemy will
encounter you at a time, and you will be prepared for each as he comes, and the
“last enemy” will be kept to the last, and you will be made “more than
conquerors.” “God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that
ye are able.”
III. “and the
children of Israel went up in battle array out of the land of Egypt.” The great
work given the Church to do is the conquest of the world. These are the
marching orders of the Captain of Salvation.
IV. If the children
of Israel had entered Palestine by the near way, how much would they have
missed! The sojourn in the wilderness was not a scene of unrelieved gloom. They
bought and sold, they increased in cattle and in riches. “Their garments waxed
not old, nor their shoes upon their feet.” They were left generally unmolested
by any of the tribes, and when attacked, they were as a rule able to hold their
own. Had they not come by the roundabout way, the song of Moses had been
unsung, Miriam’s harp had been untuned, Elim, with its wells and palms had been
undiscovered, Sinai, with its words of love and law had been unknown, the cloud
had never been seen, the manna had not been tasted, the water from the rock had
not followed them. They would have had no opportunity of partaking in a
sacramental feast with the princely Jethro, and of exerting such a favourable
impression upon his tribe that many who were “without” were induced to come
within and to respond to the invitation, “Come with us and we will do you good,
for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.” Theirs would not have been
the joy which they did experience when, Jordan crossed, they did eat at last
the old corn in the land in a city of habitation; they would not have left
behind them “footprints on the sands of time,” which will cheer the hearts of
countless generations of pilgrims until the world shall have an end; they could never
have conceived how good and how patient God was, they could never have believed
how corrupt their own hearts were, had not Moses at the end of all the
wanderings recalled one scene after another, ore act of rebellion after another
committed in the light of the unwearied love which “blackened every blot.” This
last point deserves more than passing notice. “Thou shalt remember all the way
which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee, to prove
thee, to know what was in thine heart, to know whether thou wouldst keep His
commandments or no.” God knew what was in their hearts. The people did not know
their own hearts. Some one will say, “I would that I had died in the days of
childhood, I should have been saved many a weary march.” But you would have
missed many a providence, the memory of which will cast a shadow of seraphic
loveliness on the background of your eternal home, and which will enable you to
strike a higher note than otherwise you could ever have reached. Had you not
passed through that night of bitter anguish, you could not have fathomed the
depths of the words as you did, “Thy way is in the sea, Thy path is in the
great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known.” Had you not been forced to take
thought for the morrow, you could never have said as sincerely as you did say, “My
heavenly Father knoweth that I have need of all these things.” Had it not been
for that sore sickness, there would not have been lying upon your life,
consecrating it, a “light that never was on land or sea.” The scars of your
suffering are “marks of the Lord Jesus.” Your little bits of experience are so
many types which to-day you can set up, and from which you can spell out the
might, and majesty, and mercy of the blessed God. (J. Macmillan, M. A.)
The nearest way home
You and I often mark a path out for ourselves; and to us it seems
so easy, so likely, so promising of success. Then all at once something happens
that disappoints us, and directs us another road that we find further round,
and apparently much harder; and we call it a “mysterious providence.” Of
course, all is mysterious that is the result of wider knowledge than our own.
Do you remember old Quarles’ lines:--
“I
say this way; God says that.
His
way is best, for He knows what
Of
lions may beset my road.
I’ll
follow Thee! Lead on, my God!”
He knew what was best and safest, and, in the long run, surest;
and by the good hand of God they were kept out of mischief and away from
danger. The old proverb is still very true: “The longest way about is often the
nearest way home.” “He that goes straight across, may have to carry a cross. He
that goes round about, may have the chance to go without.” His thoughts are not
our thoughts, and it is a grand thing to be under His guidance; for “the way of
man,” as the good Book says, “is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps.” We know not what is good for us, and, like children, if
we were to run alone, we should soon run into mischief. You and I have often
been imposed on, both by what we hope and what we fear. Many a time we have tried
to run away from what afterwards turned out to be a blessing, and many a time
we have been disappointed to save us from being destroyed. I remember on one
occasion, when I was young, I got it into my head that I was able to drive.
Having narrowly escaped an upset, and frightened myself almost out of my wits,
I resigned the reins into more skilful hands than mine, and travelled safely.
Let us be as wise as the psalmist, and say, “The Lord shall choose mine
inheritance for me!” Let us learn a lesson of patience, too. We may be very
anxious to pluck the fruit; but we had better wait till it’s mellow, for fear
the pain kills all the pleasure. God’s time is a good time, and God’s way is a
safe way, both to-day and to-morrow, too! (J. J. Wray.)
The tender consideration manifested by God towards the Israelites
The Christian life is a growth, and if assailed by some
temptations in its infancy, the consequences might be fatal. He, therefore, who
commences and maintains the process of our salvation, gradually accustoms His
soldiers and servants to the difficulties of their warfare. Their faith, love,
zeal, and self-denial are thus exercised rather than oppressed. The text
confirms this consolatory view of the Divine procedure.
I. The
circumstances of the Israelites. The deliverance of the chosen tribes was at
this moment like the first rays of the morning spread upon the mountains. They
had been redeemed from bondage. They were commencing their journey to the
promised land, every spirit filled with pleasure. They were confident of their
power to endure the trials of the way. The heart-searching God knew their
deficiencies; and a variety of circumstances connected with their feeble faith
determined Him in wisdom to divert their feet towards Canaan by a devious path.
1. The Philistines, who lay between them and the promised
inheritance, were a brave and warlike people, against whom the sons of Jacob,
numerous as they were, could not hope to succeed in battle. Wisely, therefore,
did the Lord judge that they would shrink from such enemies. Such are the
Christian’s foes. They are well practised. Satan has triumphed over man in
every age, over the philosophy of Greece, the wisdom of Rome, and the
refinement of Britain. And thinkest thou, Christian, that the enemies of thy soul
are enfeebled? No! What, then, would be the consequences if God led thee past
them to Canaan? Wisely and graciously are you led by the wilderness.
2. The Israelites were disarmed, and therefore utterly unable to cope
with the Philistines, who were prepared with every means of defence which a
people whose delight was in war could invent. The young believer just escaped
from the house of bondage is defenceless. His enemies are armed. He cannot
expect to wield the sword of the Spirit with the full energy of one who has
been accustomed to fight with it.
3. In thus estimating the goodness of God towards the children in
their need, we must add that their spirits were bowed down by long captivity.
The hard bondage in mortar and brick was not the school in which to learn
courage. Hence Israel was not fitted to match against the free soldiers of
Philistia. The slavery of Satan unfits for conflict with the foes of the soul.
II. The dealing of
God towards them. God might have made Israel at peace with the Philistines; or
have given them courage to defeat their foes. But this procedure would have
comprehended less of moral discipline.
1. He avoided the nearest way to the promised land, and led them by
the way of the wilderness. The Israelites would be astonished at the line of
march; they would be disposed to murmur. Has not God often contradicted your
desires? You ought not to impugn His wisdom. The passenger ignorant of
navigation cannot direct the course of the ship. The shipmaster knows the rocks: God
knows our path best.
2. The Most High saw fit, not only that His chosen tribes should
avoid the shortest way, but that they should pass through the dangers of the
Red Sea, and sojourn in the wilderness of Zin. Could this be the result of
wisdom? Clouds and darkness are round about Him. It is the exclusive province
of unerring wisdom to draw a line between the discipline necessary for our
moral good, and that severity of affliction, which might overwhelm us with
despondency. We must confide in our heavenly Father.
3. Never, then, should it be forgotten, that although the journey of
the Israelites was contrary to their expectations, their wishes, and their
clouded judgment, it was the safest and the best path to Canaan. (R. P.
Buddicom.)
Walking through the wilderness
Let us try to apply this, so far as the circumstances of the case
permit, to the Christian’s experience in his religious life. That life must
have had somewhere a conscious beginning. I say a conscious one, because its
actual beginning precedes our knowledge of the fact. Our Christian life really
began, through God’s grace, in our baptism, wherein we were made, though
unconscious of the blessed truth, the children of God. But to know what then
was done for us; to know that we have been made and are alive unto God, to
perceive what we are and whose we are--this is like a second beginning. This
new beginning is made, ordinarily, at the time of confirmation and first
communion; then the Christian’s conscious life begins. If at that time you were
really in earnest, and knew what you were about, and did what you did in love
and sincerity, then first you felt yourself to be a Christian, and for the
first time saw yourself to be on the march towards the Celestial City. Now how,
by what route, or what line, was your journey to be made? I say at once and
emphatically that its best typical picture must still be found in the forty
years of wandering, with what they brought by way of trial, and proof, and
weaning from the love of this present world; and that without such steady,
quiet discipline, the work runs the risk of being brought to naught. For
persons recently awakened to sober reflection on their state, and newly brought
to Christ, should not be thought of as able, competent, and strong. They are
not yet veterans; they are not yet fairly drilled reserves; they are but raw
and awkward recruits. It must be so, unless in rare instances, as when in some
sweet, holy child one sees the certain making of a saint. If they make their
profession of Christ at a very early age, and ere yet they have left the secure
protection of a holy family and a religious household, then their weakness is
that of a fallen nature which has not been tried by severe temptations from
outside. If, on the other hand, they make their open profession of the faith at
a later date of life, then, in addition to that congenital weakness, they have what comes
of loss of time, delay without sufficient cause, and commerce with the world,
and some past relish for the paths of sin. Either way, this new recruit is weak,
and liable to fall. Now suppose such an one brought face to face with the
Philistines, with a race that know not God, with Goliath and the other giants,
with the vast and splendid array of the notable enemies of the Church, with the
temptations and trials of this world. Such an encounter can hardly, by any
possibility, be avoided. The world is become one great Philistine camp. Strong
races, hardened against religion, hold its chief places. What is likely to
result when our young Christian falls on such terrible appearances and is
called on to surrender? Here surely is work for veterans and champions; but he
is no champion, and as yet has hardly proved his arms. There is danger of
discouragement, of terror, of flight. And Egypt calls to him to come back, fair
to the eye, sweet to the taste, with many allurements, and a bondage which many
find agreeable, as if one were bound in fetters of silk or chains of gold. Yes,
the danger, if one were to go right on by the way that is near, would be that
of losing heart under the first fire, and wishing one’s self out of the battle;
and taking back, or at least forgetting, the promise he had made, and sinking
down, a backslider from Christ. What he wants is hardening, proving, tempering.
But that comes in the roundabout way. It is affected by means of the discipline
of long and slow-moving years; it is the result of innumerable trials and
temptations, the fruit of many painful incidents. St. James bids us count it
all joy when we fall into divers temptations. Why? Because they constitute the
precious discipline of life. If we fail not, we shall be purified thereby, and
made ready for the great and final conflict in our own valley of decision. (Morgan
Dix, D. D.)
The way of the wilderness
To spare a child the toils and pains of education, is the most
grievous wrong that a father can inflict On him. Thus did not God spare His
sons! From the day when they sang their triumphal hymn upon the desert shore,
to the day when they “passed over Jordan,” their life was one continued discipline:
each station, each experience, had a distinct office in relation to the
formation of their character; was sent to add to them a virtue which would be
an instrument of conquest or government, and a spring of strength, not in time
only, but eternity. Not simply to keep them out of the way of the Philistines,
but to drill them till they could master their enemies; to nurse them till they
could bring forth a Samson, a David, who could compel the Philistines to own
their supremacy, He led them by Sinai, and trained them, by self-conquest, to
conquer the strongest foes. They came at last on Canaan, not as a scattered
band of marauders, but with the shock of a thunderbolt; you feel that the
battle is won the first moment that they set their feet on the land. And those
men in the desert, hard as was their way and fare, were making history. Bunsen
says, “History was born that night, when Moses led forth his people from
Goshen.” The narrative of their toils and struggles is the oldest and most
precious of historic records, and their waybook has become the heirloom of the
pilgrim world. “Behold, we count them happy which endure.” And you who are out
in the wilderness, faithless and heartless, like a sailor on a dark sea unlit
by stars, learn from Israel the grand reason of your pilgrim vocation, and the
end to which it will be guided if you follow the highway of God. God finds you
a slave; He would make you a son. You are not the lawful slave of wanton Egypt;
you have the King’s mark upon you--the King of kings is waiting to redeem His
own. Come forth, then, come forth to freedom! breathe the free air, scan the
broad horizon--it is your land of wandering; see the soft blue hills swelling
in the distance, the gleaming of rivers, the shadow of wood-lands--it is your
land of rest. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
God’s guidance
When the English soldiers were marching up the heights of Alma,
meeting the Russians who were marching down towards the English lines, there
came a command for the English company to divide, part turning to the left and
marching along the side of the hill. It seemed a foolish order when first
received by the soldiers. There were Russians marching right in their teeth,
and yet half of them were to turn away when the foe was close upon them! But
the order was not long considered foolish. Those that turned to the left soon
found that a company of Russians had been secretly coming up the side of the
hill to fall upon the English unawares. The commander-in-chief from the hill on
which he stood could see all the movements of the foe, while those that were
perplexed at his orders could see only a small portion of the field. So He who
orders our life and lot sees all the movements of the powers of darkness, and
to deliver us from their plots and designs, He often leads us by a way we know
not. (H. Starmer.)
God’s wondrous providence
What do you do when, in reading the massive folios of ancient
English authors, you meet passages written in an unknown tongue? Paragraph
after paragraph but you read with all possible fluency, instantly apprehending
the author’s purpose; suddenly the writer throws before you a handful of Latin,
or a handful of Greek; what then? If you are absorbed by the interest of the
book, you eagerly look out for the next paragraph in English, and continue your
pursuit of the leading thought. Do likewise with God’s wondrous
Providence-book. Much of it is written in your own tongue--in large-lettered
English, so to speak; read that, master its deep significance, and leave the
passages of unknown language until you are further advanced in the rugged
literature of life; until you are older, and better scholars in God’s
probationary school. The day of interpretation will assuredly come. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
Verse 19
Moses took the bones of Joseph.
An interesting incident in Israel’s departure from Egypt
I. The discharge
of a sacred trust (Genesis 50:24-25). Pay attention to the
requests of the dead.
II. THE fulfilment
of an ancient prophecy (Genesis 1:25). God can kindle the fire of
prophecy in the soul of a dying saint, that the sorrowful may be encouraged.
III. The giving of a
timely encouragement.
IV. The bestowal of
an appropriate honour on an illustrious ancestor. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
A memento and a pledge
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. This rendered the
march a kind of funeral procession, and such as no other history relates. Never
was body so long in its conveyance to the grave, for forty years were taken up
in bearing Joseph to his burial. We read at the death of Joseph that “they
embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” The precious deposit,
likely to be cared for by some of the descendants of his own family, was dear
to all. It was a memento of the vanity of human greatness. It was also a moral
as well as a mortal memento. Joseph was a very pious character; he had been
highly exemplary in every relation and condition of life, and much of God, of
providence, and of grace was to be read in his history. What an advantage to be
always reminded of such a man in having his remains always in the midst of
them! But the body would be above all valuable as a pledge of their future
destination. It was a present palpable sign of God’s covenant with their
fathers in their behalf. (A. Nevin, D. D.)
Rest in native land
Sir Bartle Frere was often asked at the Cape, “What do you expect
when you reach England?” His reply, which was found written on a slip in his
Bible after his death, was thus expressed:
“Where
in the summer sun the early grasses grow,
Six
feet of English ground, a Briton’s grave,
Rest
in my native land is all I crave.”
Burial places
It is the almost universal custom in America, and seems to be
growing in favour here, for great men to be buried in the place where they have
mostly lived, and among their own kith and kin. Washington lies at Mount Vernon;
Lincoln at Springfield; Emerson and Hawthorne under the pines of New England;
Irving on the banks of the Hudson; Clay in Kentucky. They are laid to rest not
in some central city or great structure, but where they have lived, and where
their families and neighbours may accompany them in their long sleep. (H. O.
Mackey.)
Verse 21
By day in a pillar of a cloud.
The prophetic element in life
“The Lord went before them in a cloud.” So God ever goes before
His people, and standing as we do now on the threshold of a new year, we may
recall this truth to our great comfort. The future, unknown to us, is not
unknown to Him; He has gone before us, and is evermore delicately adjusting
things to our discipline, our perfecting, our utmost salvation and bliss.
I. We find an
illustration of the text in the preparation of the world as a dwelling-place
for man. Ages before man appeared on this planet, God was preparing it as a
habitation for us to dwell in. You talk of “getting the house ready” for some
newly married pair; but consider the getting ready of this globe as the scene
for humanity to dwell in, and in which to work out its fortunes. What vast
ages! What complex and far-seeing adjustments! And so we find to-day that the
world has been provisioned for ages, the storehouses of nature are full, we do
not lack any good thing. And God also anticipated the moral exigencies of the
race.
II. We find another
illustration of the text in God’s government of the race. We are not moving at
random, the world is full of design, the law is progress, we are always
entering into our inheritance. The races of man form a vast motley multitude,
and the Lord goes before us preparing for us paths, resting places, wells,
palm-trees. “He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a
servant” (Psalms 105:17). “He sent a man before
them.” And this was not some exceptional thing; God is always sending out
pioneers, outriders, heralds to prepare the way for the general host in its
march through the ages. They come in science, they come in politics, they come in
philosophy, they come in religion: men full of the prophetic instinct, men who
anticipate a new world, and who prepare us for it. So these Josephs, these
dreamers, go before us, making possible to us new creations, new redemptions,
We ought all of us, as God’s people, to have a bit of this prophetic instinct
in us, helping to usher in a new and better state of things--God’s messengers
preparing the way. God has gone before us; He is preparing happier things for
our race; and although He works mysteriously, He works certainly to His
glorious purpose. And all this is true in relation to our universal life. In
our worldly life God is ever providing for us new blessings, glad surprises.
Some do not see God because of the cloud, but He is in it nevertheless, working
out His gracious purpose. And as to our spiritual life and need, God goes
before us. We believe in “prevenient” grace--the grace that goes before. Grace
that comes before our trials, preparing us for them, so that they do not
overwhelm us. Grace that comes before our temptations, warning us of them,
strengthening us against them. Grace that comes before our duties, so that we
no sooner hear the call than we feel the strength to obey. We may enter a new
year with tranquil confidence. Sydney Smith recommended people to take “short
views,” and we can afford to do that, because God on our behalf takes long
views.
III. We find our
last illustration of the text in the fact that Christ has gone before us into
the heavenly places. “A cloud received Him out of their sight.” In that cloud
He has gone before us to make ready for us once more. (W. L. Watkinson.)
The pillar of cloud; a symbol of the Bible
I. The mystic
pillar resembled the Bible in the ends it answered.
1. The mystic pillar promoted their emancipation. So the Bible opens
the soul’s prison doors, snaps its chains, delivers it from the despotism of
sin, and makes its way clear into the kingdom of God.
2. The mystic pillar guided them through the wilderness. So does the
Bible show us the path of life. It is ever in advance of humanity, etc.
3. The mystic pillar protected them from all that would injure. The
Bible is the sword of the Spirit; the armour of the soul.
II. The mystic
pillar resembled the Bible in the attributes it displayed.
1. Supernaturalness.
2. Adaptation.
3. Many-sidedness.
III. The mystic
pillar resembled the Bible in the conditions it required.
1. It required a constant observance of its movements. Bible of no
service unless studied.
2. It required a constant following of its movements. You must go as
the Bible goes in relation to sin. Satan, holiness, and God; life and death,
time and eternity. (Homilist.)
The Divine leadership of the good
I. That the good
are Divinely led in the wanderings of life. “The Lord went before them.”
1. A visible Guide.
2. A competent Guide.
3. A faithful Guide.
II. That the good
are often Divinely led during the wanderings of life into varied and
unsuspected paths. “The edge of the wilderness.”
1. God sometimes leads His people contrary to their expectations.
2. God sometimes leads His people contrary to the dictates of their
reason.
3. God always leads His people into those paths which shall yield the
most sacred and safe discipline to them.
III. That the method
of the Divine leadership is adapted to the changing circumstances of the good.
“By day in a pillar of cloud,” etc.
IV. That the Divine
leadership should not be mistaken in association with the ordinary agencies of
life.
V. That the Divine
leadership is solicitous to lead the good to their promised and peaceful
destiny. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The cloudy and fiery pillar a symbol of the Bible
.
I. As the pillar
of cloud was given to guide and comfort, so the Bible is designed to lead the thought
and console the sorrow of man. Without the Bible man would be lost in the wide
waste of error. It is also intended to console the human heart in all the
troubled moods of life, when its joys grow dim, when it is rendered lonely by
bereavement, and when it comes to death. At such times the Bible is our chief
consolation, it enables us to sorrow in hope, it shows us One who is the Resurrection
and the Life.
II. As the pillar
combined both cloud and fire, so the Bible unites illumination and mystery.
There is mystery in it which the finest genius cannot attain, which angelic
intelligence cannot interpret, and which eternity may not simplify. Deity
dwells in the volume, and we expect that clouds and darkness will be round
about Him. But there is fire in the Book which illumines the doctrines and
morality of the Christian life.
III. As the pillar
of cloud aided the outgoing of Israel from bondage to rest, so the Bible is the
best help man can have in walking through this life to the next. They walk the
best in the wilderness of life who pay the most heed to the Word of God (Psalms 119:105). Lessons:
1. Be thankful for the
Bible.
2. Follow the directions of the Bible.
3. Seek the consolation of the Bible. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Divine guidance
I. Explain the
text.
1. We may observe that God’s people in every age stand in need of a
guide, and without it they would miss the path of duty and of happiness.
2. The Lord Himself graciously condescends to become the guide of His
people, and He alone is fit to be so. He only has a perfect knowledge of the
way, and of all the difficulties that may befall them in it; and He only is
able to support and defend them against the designs of all their enemies.
3. The Lord guides His people in different ages of the world, by
various means adapted to their circumstances, and to the peculiar dispensations
under which they live.
II. Symbolic
meaning.
1. It was altogether miraculous, and a symbol of the Divine presence.
It was called the cloud of the Lord; there it was He dwelt in the midst of His
people, and spake with them face to face (Numbers 19:14).
2. This mysterious cloud was intended to direct the Israelites in
their journey, and by it the Lord communicated to them His will.
3. The cloudy pillar in the wilderness afforded refreshment by its
shade, as well as guidance by its light. And is not Jesus both our sun and
shield, our light and shade, as our different necessities require? In a season
of darkness, He sends forth His cheering beams; and when our soul is ready to faint
within us, He ministers to our refreshment and relief.
4. The cloudy pillar was designed for safety and defence, as well as
for a guide through the wilderness. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Need of guidance
General Hill says: “In many of the battles the great want with the
Confederates, strange as it may seem, was accurate knowledge of the country in
their front. The map furnished me (and I suppose the six other major-generals
had no better) was very full in regard to everything within our own lines, but
a red line without any points marked on it was our only guide to the route on
which our march was to be made.” (H. O. Mackey.)
God’s guidance
The other day I was walking across the Northumbrian fells to call
at a shepherd’s house that lay distinctly enough before me on the Fell side.
The directions I received from a Fellsider whom I had just left, after the
manner of those who live every day in the midst of ample space, were vague
indeed. The rutty, half-formed road on which I was walking was distinct enough
immediately before me, but when I strove to trace the course of the road a
greater distance ahead it became blended with the frowsy bracken and bronzed
heather, and was utterly lost to view. To have struck boldly out across country
to reach my destination by what seemed the shortest route would have entangled
me among the spongy bogs and numerous streams with which the hillside was
intersected. However, by carefully following the road that was visible before
me I managed to pick my way and reached my calling-place in safety. So is it in
our daily search after the knowledge of the Divine will. When in our impatient
eagerness we wish to look too far into the future, all is indistinct and hazy;
but, if we carefully note what is near and sufficiently revealed, we shall be
led up infallibly to safety and to rest. (Christian Journal.)
God’s guidance of the Israelites
There was an old fisherman who got converted in his old age. He
was not able to read, and therefore had to do his own thinking, not being able
to catch up all ideas aired in our newspapers. A friend of mine visited him,
and knowing how he loved the Word of God, said to him, “Now, John, shall I read
you a chapter?” “Yes, if you please, I should so much like to hear a chapter. I
do dearly love to hear the Word read.” “And what part shall I read to you?”
“About the Lizard Lights, please. Do read about them, for when I see them I
always think I am near my heavenly home. I have often been out on the Atlantic
on dark stormy nights, and when I caught sight of the Lizard Lights I knew I
was near Falmouth harbour, and would soon be safely moored.” “I am afraid,”
ventured my friend, “that I do not know about the Lizard Lights!” “Not know
about them! Well, I thought you a gentleman, and had Scripture knowledge, but
if you don’t know about the Lizard Lights, you must just wait until Mary comes
in.” In a short; time Mary, who was his daughter, came in, and the old man
said, “Mary, where is that in the Book about the Lizard Lights? You know you
were reading about them last Sunday night.” “Oh, father,” she said, “that was
not the Lizard Lights. It was the Israelites.” That old man had made a mistake
in the apprehension but not in the application. The story of the Israelites
told of the guidance of God, in their wanderings, and the Lizard Lights had
frequently been the beacon that had guided the fisherman to his desired haven.
(Mark G. Pearse.)
The pillar of cloud; historical parallels
Xenophon mentions, in his Spartan republic, in describing the
military expedition of a Spartan king, that a servant, or officer, who was
called “firebearer,” preceded the king with the fire, which had been taken from
the altar, on which he had just before sacrificed at the frontier of the
Spartan territory. After they had sacrificed once more, and the march had
commenced, s fire which was lighted at the second sacrifice preceded the lines,
without ever extinguishing. In Curtius we read, “He (Alexander the Great)
ordered a lofty pole, visible from all sides, to be raised over the general’s
tent, and from the top of this pole streamed a signal conspicuous everywhere to
every one, smoke by day and fire by night.”
Alexander had in this, as in many other points, imitated the custom of the
Persians, who, in common with most of the eastern nations, on their mashes
through deserted regions, bear before the army high poles, on which iron pots
are affixed, filled with lighted combustibles; so that, the smoke by day, and
the flame by night, signalized the way to the troops. Thus we cannot but
acknowledge a certain curious similarity between the Biblical miracle and a
general military custom prevailing in the East. Under these circumstances we
entirely approve of Faber’s remarks: “Both the miracle and the custom, collated
and compared, give light to each other. The custom effects, that we find the
miracle dignified and worthy of God; and the miracle shows, that that very
custom cannot have been quite unknown to the Israelites.” (M. M. Kalisch,
Ph. D.)
The pillar of the cloud and of fire
The pillar of cloud and of fire was certainly
He whom the cloudy and fiery pillar typified was the same Almighty
Being who hath said to the faithful members of his militant Church, in every
age of its warfare, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
The cloud was manifestly intended--
I. To guide the
Israelites through the wilderness.
1. The pillar of cloud guided the children of Israel with infallible
certainty. God Himself was in it; and unless He could err, their way could not
be mistaken. Mark here, the glorious character of the Bible,--that light to our
feet with which the unsearchable compassion of our Saviour’s love has provided
us. It testifies of Christ. It embodies His teaching and salvation, as the
pillar contained them in the.wilderness.
2. This wondrous appearance in the heavens was a constant director to
Israel. In every emergency the page of divine truth may be consulted.
II. The cloudy and
fiery pillar afforded not merely guidance, but protection to the Israelites in
their eventful march. Sin invades, temptation threatens, and every spiritual
enemy seems permitted to assail with a fierceness which might well gather gloom
and despondency around the heart; but the fainting Christian is encouraged by
that voice which speaks as from the cloud between him and his enemies. “Fear
thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God.” His life is
hid with Christ in God; and amidst every trial and seduction by which his
salvation is endangered, he may lay bold upon One who walks with him, and has
promised to uphold him with the sufficiency of an Almighty arm.
III. The pillar of
cloud and of fire had yet another office to perform for the children of Israel.
It gave them refreshment and comfort in the wilderness. Now say, O Christian,
is it not thus with thee in the hour of thy most oppressive trial? (R. P.
Buddicom.)
The pillar of cloud and fire
I. The way along
which God led his people.
II. The manner in
which God guided and protected them.
1. Pillar of cloud and fire only means: Jehovah Himself their true guide. God is
with His people. What decision, blended with humility, will the realization of
this great truth give us! What calmness in the midst of excitement; submission
under trial; perseverance under difficulties.
2. Mark the adaptation of God’s method of guidance to the condition
and necessities of the Israelites. Gradual progress. (G. Wagner.)
The fiery cloudy pillar
The fiery cloudy pillar performed many friendly offices to the
Israelites, It was--
1. A guide. To lead was its main mission. It was a striking
illustration of the longsuffering kindness of God. Neither murmurings, nor
rebellion, nor idolatry, ever drove away the angel of His presence. The
guidance vouchsafed, too, was of the most gracious kind--that of a shepherd (Psalms 78:52), and that of a loving and
affectionate parent (Deuteronomy 1:31).
2. A light (see Nehemiah 9:19).
3. A shade (see Psalms 105:39).
4. A shield (see Deuteronomy 1:30; Exodus 14:19).
5. An oracle (see Psalms 119:7). He who opened His mouth in
the burning bush at Horeb, opened His mouth in the cloudy pillar, and
frequently spake to Israel’s leader for Israel’s benefit.
6. An avenger. When God wished to mark His displeasure, the cloud
assumed a very wrathful appearance. The Lord looked unto the host of the
Egyptians through the pillar of fire, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.
What a dreadful visage it must have worn when flashes went forth from it and
devoured Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2), and also when fire came
out from it and consumed two hundred and fifty men! (Numbers 21:35). If the aspect of the
cloud was thus at times such as to trouble those with whom God was angry, it
would, no doubt, have a very pleasing one when He desired to manifest His
favour to the congregation. As they looked up, they would behold the smiling
face of their Divine leader cheering and encouraging them to go on in the path
of duty. (W. Brown.)
The presence of God adapted to human need
The consciousness of the Divine presence is in proportion to the
circumstances in which we are placed. In other words, our circumstances
determine our consciousness of the Divine nearness. Sometimes life is all day--almost
a summer day with great spans of blue sky overhead, and where the clouds gather
they gather in beautiful whiteness, as of purity akin to the holiness of the
inner and upper cities of the universe. Then what do we want with fiery
displays of God?--they would be out of keeping, out of reason and out of
proportion. There are days that are themselves so bright, so hospitable, so
long ending, and so poetic in all their breezes, and suggestions, and
ministries, that we seem not to want any dogmatic teaching about the
personality and nearness of God. All beauty represents Him. Any more emphatic
demonstration would be out of harmony with the splendid serenity of the
occasion. Then there are periods in life all night, all darkness, all storm or
weariness. We cannot say where the door of liberty is, nor dare we step out
lest we fall over a precipice; all is dark, all is trouble; friends are as
absent as if they were dead, and all the sanctuaries to which we have hitherto
resorted are concealed by the infinite darkness. What do we want then? A bird
to sing to us? That would be helpful. A little tiny voice to break the troubled
silence? That would net be amiss. But what do we really want? A column of fire,
a pillar of glory, an emphatic incarnation and vision of Providence; and the
soul gets both these manifestations of God according to the circumstances under
which the soul is living. Take it, therefore, simply as an analogy, and then it
is a rational analogy; it is true to every man’s experience. And if the pillar
of cloud and fire should drop off, there will remain the eternal truth, that
according to the soul’s circumstances is the Divine revelation of itself. Where
the visible is enough, why add more? A man should not want much theology of a
formal sort on a bright summer day. Some little tuft of cloud will represent
the Infinite. Some almost invisible wing in the air--more a thought than a
thing--hardly to be identified by the bodily eye, will symbolize the
all-embracing power and the all-brooding love. Then at night we want what is
called dogmatic teaching, broad emphasis, piercing declaration, vividness that
cannot be mistaken, God almost within the clasping of the poor arms, God almost
in sight of the eyes of the body. Thus God deals with us. This is true to our
history. The mere cloud may go, the pillar of fire may be accepted as
figurative; but the eternal truth that God comes to us in different ways under
different circumstances--now as a cloud, now as a fire, now as a judgment, now
as without mercy, now a roaring tempest, now a still small voice,--is a truth
that remains, whatever havoc may be wrought amid the mere figurativeness by
which that truth is symbolized. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Divine guidance
How does this remarkable narrative exhibit to us in every variety
the picture of God’s daily guidance of His people!
1. The guidance is as indispensable, and at the same time as obvious
now as it was then. God still leads His people, through the voice of the
purified conscience, through the evident suggestions of His exalted Providence,
through the utterances especially of His infallible Word; and all these
indications differ sufficiently from what flesh and blood make known to us in
order to preserve us from wandering.
2. The guidance now is indeed as mysterious, but yet as well adapted
to its purpose, as that of which the history of Israel tells us. Our countless
whys and wherefores are still as little answered as the questions concerning
the peculiar nature and essence of the pillar of fire and of cloud which probably
disturbed the minds of the ancient Israelites. But as regards the question
whither, the answer, God be praised, has not remained unknown to us; all God’s
guidance of His people, we know, has one good--to bring us out of disquietude
into rest, out of bondage to liberty, along the path of faith to the land of
sight.
3. Also in our case God’s guidance is as varied, but still as
faithful, as was the promise to the ancient people. In the day of prosperity He
goes before us as in the cloudy pillar, in order to temper the glow of our joy
through the remembrance of His close neighbourhood; in the night of adversity
the word of His promise beams on us in as friendly and consoling a manner as
did the fiery pillar on Israel in midst of the darkness. But as Moses beheld in
the fortieth year of his pilgrimage the same sign in the heavens which had
guided and encouraged him in the first, so God’s presence is never lost to His
redeemed ones in Christ, whatever else around may faint or fail. Neither by day
nor by night does He take from us the tokens of His nearness; and even when He
seems to hide His face from us, new thoughts of mercy and of peace are in His
heart.
4. Who does not perceive how such a guidance promises as much, but
also claims as much return as that of Israel? It guarantees us the entrance
into Canaan, but only along the path of believing perseverance and obedience.
When the way indicated through the wilderness was despised, the pillar of cloud
and fire rose above many a grave, and yet there is no single promise of God to
him who chooses his own path. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)
The mystic pillar
I have called it a mystic pillar--that cloud in the desert; and so
to them who saw it, and to us who read of it, it was. Of what it was composed;
by what means it was kept pillar-like and intact while all other clouds were
carried and scattered by the winds of heaven; by what strange secret force the
cloud-pillar was nightly transformed to a column of bright flame?--these are
questions that no doubt often exercised the minds of the spectators, only to be
dismissed again as a baffling mystery that could not be explored. And not only
its nature and changes, but its direction, its movements as to time and
place--they had no knowledge, could make no sure prediction. Whether it would
bend to the right, turn to the left, or move straight onward; whether it would
remain stationary, or begin to move night or morning, or at noon--all this, and
all concerning it, was above and beyond their knowledge; the laws that governed
it and the will that led it was as entirely outside their information as it was
beyond their control. What they did know was that Jehovah was the God of the
cloud; what they could do was to trust it implicitly, follow it constantly,
seeing in it all the while the good hand of their God over them for good. In
all this, for my learning and for yours, I see a picture--a true and
instructive picture--of the providence of God. From the beginning until now,
the ways of God to man have been shrouded in mystery, have exercised inquiring
but baffled minds, have furnished material for the sneer of the infidel, the
sophistry of the sceptic, and the logic of the merely scientific mind; ay, and
have strained and tested the faith of the pious, and placed stumblingblocks
before his faith, on which his foot hath well-nigh slipped. All this arises
from the fact that men will strive to be equal with God; that their mind
will cope with that of Deity, and by their finite feebleness gauge the plans
and purposes of the Infinite and Eternal Lord of all. (J. J. Wray.)
Providential mercies
A clergyman who, with some others, had escaped in a boat from a
burning ship, was discoursing in a large company of the marvellous favour of
Divine Providence, that had so specially watched over and preserved him. A
wonderful providence! A special intervention of God’s goodness! “That was a
very great mercy, sir,” said Archbishop Whately, seriously, “but I can record a
greater in my own experience. I once sailed across the sea in just such a ship,
and bound for just the same port, and--would you believe it?--the vessel never
caught fire at all!” My friends, that is the way I would have you think of, and
trust in Providence, as being ever present, ever wise and watchful, and, like
the cloud-pillar of Israel, ever for your real good--pursuing its Divine and
gracious path. Good and bad, light and shade, joy and sorrow, prosperity and
adversity, things present and things to come, all are proceeding on precisely
the same plan,--namely, the working of the soul and mind of God for His glory
in the true well-being of His creatures, and for the ultimate advancement and
elevation of mankind. Wherever the pillar went, with whatever seemingly
reasonless vagaries the pillar moved, and however widely experiences and
opinions differed about its moving, we know now that it led them safe enough
and sure enough to the Canaan which was the longing desire of every heart. The
mind of a pious and thoughtful artisan named Albert Thierney was much occupied
with the ways of God which seemed to him to be full of inscrutable mysteries.
The two questions, “How?” and “Why?” were constantly in his thoughts, both as
to the events of his own life and the government of the world. One day, in
visiting a large ribbon manufactory, his attention was attracted by a large and
extraordinary piece of machinery. His eye was that of a cultivated artisan, and
he was immensely interested. Countless wheels were revolving in intricate
motions, and thousands of threads were twirling and twisting in all directions.
He could not understand its movements, and closer study only deepened his
interest and increased the mystery. He was informed that all this work and
motion was connected with a common centre where there was a large chest which
was kept shut. Anxious to understand the principle of the machine, he asked
permission to look inside the chest. “The master holds the key,” was the reply.
The words came to him
like a flash of light. Here was the answer to all his perplexing thoughts--his
anxious questionings about Providence. “Yes,” thought he, “the Master holds the
key; He knows, He governs, He directs all--God! That is enough! what need I
more?” (J. J. Wray.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》