PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 322,442 words · 351 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 61
m1mifest his spirit and his sympathies; shows to nR in a very impressive way much that wns good, and much also that was evil. I. CONSIDER THE OONDUOT OF MosEB HERE Al! OABTING LIGHT UPON CERTAIN Q"CiALIFI- OJ\'l'IONB FOR THE WORK TO WIDOH HE WAS AFTERWARDS CALLED. 1. Though he harl been brought up <IITTl,id Jlgyptian …
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the blow, Israel was in servitude altogether; not only in body, but in all tho nobler faculties of life as well. Hence, if lsr<Ul was to be saved, it must be by tlie condescending act of a superior and stronger hand. And thus Moses slaying the Egyptian shadows forth a prime requirement in the greater matter of the w…
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with them. Interest may be easily produced while the exhibition of an injury is fresh, or the emotions o.re excited by some skilful epeo.ker. But we do not want the heart to be like o.n instrument, only producing music so long as the performer touches it. We want it to have such a continued o.ctivity within, such a con…
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low consideration of self-indulgence, he might come to forsake if only brought faco to face with high considerati1ns of duty and love, and of conformity to the will of God 11.nd example of Christ. Everything we do ought to have a sufficient reason for it. Not that we are t-0 be in a pel')_Jetual fidget over minute s…
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II. THE OVERRULING" PROVIDENCE OF Uon. "There's a divinity that shapes our l!nds, rougli-hew them as we will." The apparently wasted years not really wasted- no needless dela.y, only preparation and Divine discipline. Moses had learnt much, but he needed to learn more. God takes him from the school of Egypt, and places…
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EXPOSITION. Ven:. 16--22.-LIFE OF MOSES IN MrnIAN. conclude from his boldness that he hnd attend- Fugitives from Egypt generally took the ants within call. northern route from Pelnsium or Migdol to Ver. 18.-Reuel their father. Rcucl is Ga:za, a.nd oo to Syria., or the regions beyond. called " Raguel" in Num. x. 29,…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 15-23.-The long exile. Moses took with him into Midian all the best elements of his character; he left some of the faulty ones behind. He may be assumed to have left much of his self-confidence, and to have been cured in part of his natural l'ashness. His after growth in meekness wou…
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Ver, 22,-Gershom, 1. The good man in this world is 0/ten lonely at heart. (1) When violence reigas uncheckecl. (2) When God's cause is in a depressed condi- tion. (3) When repulsed in efforts to do good. (4) When severed from scenes of former labour. (6) When his outwarcl lot is uncongenial. (6) When cleprived of suita…
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him to do. He had fled from a land where the strong oppressed the wen.k nnd come into another land where he found the same thing prevailing, and in one df its most offensive forms; for the tyranny was that of man over woman. '!'he people of Midian had a priest who seems to have been himself a hospitable man and a ju…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 23-25.-DEATH OJI' THE PHAlll.OH Ver. 23.-In process of time. Literally, Wll0M MosEB FLED-CONTINUANCE 011' 11'1101111 "in those many days." The reign of Rame- THE OPPRESSION OF lBRAEir-lBRAEL'B PRAYERS ses II. was exceptionally long, as previously -Goo's ACCEl'TANCE 011' THEJll'..-After a space expla…
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 23.-Death com{)S at last, even t-0 the proudest monarch. Il~moses II. left behind him the reputation of being the greatest of the Egyptian kings. He was confounded with the mythical Sesostris, and regarded as the conqueror of all W estcrn Asia, of Ethiopia, and of a large tract in Europe. His build…
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could keep, ancl therefore no possibility of real expectation from him. These Israelit.eB clicl not wait as they that watch for the morning, sure that it will come at last. (Ps. cxxx. 6), but rather as those who say in the morning, "Would God it were even I " and at even, "Would God it were morning I" (Deut. xxviii. 67…
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sight be bad inaugurated a policy which was sufficiently clever but decidedly unwise; be had hatched the very enmity he dreaded, by ma.king those whom he feared miserable. Nevertheless, be, personally, does not seem to have been the loser in this life. He left a legacy of trouble for his successor, but probably to t…
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through the wilderness to that " land flowing the true God, whom Reuel e.nd Jethro wor• with milk and honey," which ha.cl been pro- shipped ( eh. xviii. 12). mised to the seed of Abraham more the.n six Ver. 2.-The angel of thil Lord. Literally, "e.n angel of Jehovah." Taking the whole centuries previously (Gen. xv. 18…
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llllO!ies e.t this time was repeated to Joshua than Holland or Hanover, and not much larger (Jo;;h. v. 15). Holy ground, Litere.lly, than Wales. It contains about 11,000 square " ground of holiness "-ground rendered holy miles. To an Israelite of the e.ge of Moses by the presence of God upon it-not "an old sue~ a la…
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of e. rough shepherd, expect to he.ve with so.me t_ime to explain its true meaning u tho mighty mono.rch of o.ll Egypt-the son of somethmg more than "The Existent "-as Rameses the Greo.t, the inheritor of his power really " The Alone Existent "-the source of a.nd his glories? And o.go.in, Who am I, that all existence. …
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mrn-orthy of credit. But it was not BO. The fraud "-" glaring villainy," and the like. The hee.rts of men e.re in God's he.nds, e.nd he dis· unfortunate transle.tion of a verb meaning posed those of the elders to receive the mes- " ask " by " borrow " in ver. 22, hllll gree.tly se.ge of his serre.nt, Moses, fnvoure.…
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fire:'gods; and BMl, Chemosh, Moloch, Tahiti, Orotal, etc., represented more or less the same idea. Fire is in itself pure and purifying; in its effects mighty ;md terrible, or life-giving and comforting. Viewed as light-its ordinary though not universr1l concomitant-it is bright, glorious, dr1zzling, illuminative, sou…
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Isrnel. Hence his submissive, child-like answer, "Here I am." (Compare 1 Sam. iii. 4-, 6.) Then came the solemn prohibition, "Draw not nigh hither." Man, until sanctified, until brought into covenant, must not approach near to the dread presence of the Supreme Being. At Sinai Moses was commanded to "set bounds" to k…
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tho extreme affiiction of the Israelites, and because of their prolorrgt'.tl and Parne 8t cry to God under it. 2. MoRes is told WHAT HE IS TO Do. He is to •• onng forth the children of Israel out of Egypt" (ver. 10); and, as a preliminary step, he is to ""'O to Pharaoh" (ibid.). Thus he is directed to return to Egypt f…
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<lcsert, this would not unfit him; since, in the first place, Egyptian manners and custom& were unch:i.nging; and secondly, life in the desert is at no time e. bad school-of manners. Arabian ,shepherds are not like European ones. As much politeness is often seen in the tent of a Bedouin as in the drawingroom of an e…
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now naked by Moses under what name he should speak of him to the Israelites, and was bidden to speak of him as JHVH. What, then, was the full meaning of JHVH, and why wns it preferred to the other names? Probably as a security against poly- theism. When words expressive of such attributes as exaltation, strength, knowl…
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Direct promise of success at the mouth of God was, to one so faithful as Moses, as powerful t-0 cheer, encourage, and sustain, as success itself. Vere. 19, 20.-Pha.rao11's obduracy, aml God's mode of ove1·coming it. '!'hero aro stubborn hearts which no warnings can impress, no leseons teach, no pleading, even of G-…
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derived, under the guidance of God'~ SpirH, from revelations already given-is not to be expected, 'fhe Bible is the sum of God's authoritative revelations to the ra,::e, 'l'his bush, e.g., still burns for us in Scripture, where at any time we can visit it, and bear God's voice speaking out of it. But in another sense, …
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(Parker); but it is also true that to a merely curious disposition God usually reveals little, and to an irre-verent one nothing. The habit of inquiry is Ill! va.lua.ble, if one's ultimate aim is in all things to become acquainted with God and his will, as in science and philosophy, or any other form of the pursuit …
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main thing; but o. reverent spirit will seek for itself suitable forms of expression, and respect for tho forms is itself a duty, and an aid in the education of the senti~ent. 'l'hose 11ro greatly to be censured who, presuming on a supposed special intimacy with God not granted to others, venture to take liberties, and…
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further. N ote---1. The true glory of the Church is God in her midst. 2. The outward weakness of the Church enhances the wonder of her preservation. 3. 'l'he Church has most reRson to glory in those periods of her history when she has been most despised unc. persecuted (M!t.tt. v. 11; 2 Cor. xii. 9; 1 Pet. iv. 14).-…
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Vers. 15-16.-The Name. The request of Moses to know the name of the Being who had filled him with such unutterable awe (ver. 6), rested on ideas deeply rooted in ancient modes of thought. The" name" with us tends to become an arbitrary symbol-a mere vocable. But this is not the true idea of a name. A real name expresse…
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a memorial of the revelation; (2) As an exponent of its significance; (3) As a clue to God's purpose in it.; and (4) As a name by ,vhich God might suitably be invoked in tbe ne_w crisi~ of the!r. n~tion's history. ~ud 3. It w_as certain that tll.e people would ask tb1s quest10n, fam1liansed as they were m Egypt with …
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pillars" (Gal. ii. 2-:-9), And it was not till Jerus had been decisively rejected by tbe authorities in Jerusafem that he co=enced a popular ministry in Galilee. Learn lossons-(1) Of the respect due to constituted authorities. (2) Of the value of representaUve institutions, (3) Of the need of prudence and caution in th…
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Vers. 1-5.-The burning bush. I. OBSERVE THE cmouMBTANCES tN wiuon Goo FJ1''IIS MosEs. He is still with Jethro, e.lthough forty years have passed since their first acquaintance. Though a fugitive, he had not become a mere wanderer. 1. He omtinues, however, in a comparatively hwmhle position, His marriage to Jethro's …
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thon God's way to our hearts and our salvation is blocked at once. We must be loyal to fa.et wherever we '6nd it. 'l'he very evidence of our own senses, and the accumulated testimony of honest and competent-.witnesses, are not to be sacrificed to so-called first principles of rational inquiry. The right spirit is that …
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tion, and disappointment; but God could point back to all hie de11.linge with men as comistent, glorious, and worthy of all remembrance, 2. It provided a certain kind q/ medi.atorship in the knowledge of God. It gave the be~t way for Moses and Israel to think of God. at that particular time. It was as if God had sai…
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etands the chief of those that walk by faith, the facile princepB of them-he who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. His faith.'was such a full, exalted element of his character, that it needs much effort on our part to grasp the fact that, while here below, Jesus, as much as al…
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•'losely God would keep to them in the future. Ily the word of God to him here, the thoughts of Moses were brought as at one bound from the darkness of midniaht to the blaze of noonday. God does not confine himself to telling Moses that he will deliver Israel. Deliverance for its own sake was as nothing; it we.s for…
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distinguished earthly rank. But the absence of theso things only makes more manifest the presence and dignity of the inviifible God. The less of earth was seen, the more of heaven; the less of man, the more of God. If God be for us, who can be against us? If God bo with us, what need we care who forsake us? Because Mos…
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I. How IT WAS THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH A QUESTION WAS SUGOESTED TO ms IIIIND. All the deities of the other nations had names, and doubtless the gods of Egypt were well known by name to the Israelites. Part of the glory of each nation came from the fact that it was under the protection and favour of so renowned a…
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THE NAME ALREADY GIVEN. 'Ihere is nothing to indicate that the nama for which Moses asked was to be mentioned to the Israelites unless they applied for it. The real necessity and value of it belonged to the future rather than the present. The name already given was the name of urgent importance for the present need. It…
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the first place, the character of the boon desired indicated to Israel, e.nd especially to these responsible men the elders, what God was expecting from them. He who had told Moses, in direct terms, concerning the service in" this mountain" (ver. 12), was nQw intimating to them; indirectly, but not less forcibly, so…
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"turned aside to see" forty years before, he had supposed tha.t his brethren would have recognised in him their deliverer; had not sufficiently recognised himself that it we.s God's angel in their midst who was really preserving them. Trouble, sorrow persecution may consume and practically annihilate; whole peoples hav…
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Jcbel Muse,, 'Desert of the Exodus,' p. 118. 4. At Sinai. Probably in Er Rahah, the wide wady north of Sinai, with the mighty pile of Ras SufsA.foh towerincr on the south. 5. Genernlly~mid mountains: where oft, as on the sea at night, G~d seems so near. His face towards the sun, Sinai in grand altitude of shade befo…
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polytheist, God places his "I am." 2. Mere phenomena. Who can separate always surely in nature between reality and appearance; or within the realm of mind, between cortainty and illusion or delusion? But behind all phenomena is the Existence-God. II. ETERNITY. The Existence is absolute, without any limit of time; so m…
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viction is to consider them. 2. " He turned aside to see." It was a matter to be inquired into e.nd probed to the bottom. 3. God meets the earnest, sincero spirit: ""Then the Lord saw," etc., "God called unto him." The eunuch reading in his chariot, and Philip, etc. "re cannot turn aside to consider these things wit…
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EXPOSITION. way (vers. 24---26), is met by Aaron and tak8!1 CHAPTER IV him into his counsels, summons the elders and Vere. 1-17.-The reluctance of Moses to un- exhibif8 before them his miraculous powers, dertake the part of leader, indicated by his first persuades them, and is finally accepted as reply at his first …
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(oobra), which the Egyptia.n king& bore in teach us anything-day, night, the heavens, their hcaddres,, B!i a mark of sovereignty (Co.non the firmament, the beB!its, the fowls of the llir, Cook) the fishes, nay, the very stones-have a voice. Ver 4-.-lly the tail. A sno.ke-cho.rmer They teach. us, speak to us, declare…
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which Moses had carried on the converRntion Aaron the Levite thy brother1 I know, etc In Hebrew up to this point. The former is a This translation is wrong. The two danses poesible meaning, thongh not a necessnry ono. form one sentence, and should be rendered, According to a Jewish tradition, Moses had a " Do I not kno…
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llecome II millions." The great serpent, Apap, moreover, held a high position in their mythology, B.11 powerful to destroy and punish, whence they might the more fear one who seemed able to create serpents at his pleasure, The Israelite& would perhaps view the staff as a rod to smite with, and connect its change int…
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decicledly. Demosthenes bas to yielcl the palm to Alexander, Cicero to Cresar, Pym to Cromwell, the Abbe Sieyb to Napoleon. On the whole it must be said that those who are great in deed are rarely great in speech. And without eloquence a man may do Go<l good service in every walk of life, even as a minister. The writte…
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Vers. 14--16.-Diversities Qf gifts a benefit both to individual& and to the Church.- After all. the self-distrust of Moses was turned by God to good, Without it Moses would h1we been sole leader of the entire enterprise, must have appeared alone before the elders and before the monarch, must have undertaken the enti…
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MAKE IT DIFFIOULT FOB HIM TO SECURE CREDENCE. Mosee anticipated bein" met not simply with hesitation and suspense of judgment, which would be all that" the ~ere absence of credentials would warrant, but by positive disbelief. "The Lord hath not appeared to thee." How account for this ? 1. The message he had to IYring w…
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or enthusi~sm. (3) His plans were not to be laid before the multitude at all but before the "elders "-the cool, cautious heads of the nation, who would be sure t~ osk him for very distinct credentials before committing themsel'l"ee to a contest with Pharaoh. The inference is that there must have been a true supernat…
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-the adjudging of the soul, under Divine wrath, to the unchecked spread of its own corruptione-to the reign of sin within itself. Sign 3rd.-The rum that would descena on Egypt if God's will continued to be disobeyed. The sign of the turning of e. portion of the water of the Nile-the source of Egypt's beauty, fertility,…
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(2 Cor. xii. 7-10). Paul was a man "rude in speech" (2 Cor. xi. 6), and came not with eloquence of words (1 Cor. ii. 1); but his defects of speech only made the Divine power which resided in bis utterances the more conspicuous (2 Cor. ii. 4, 6). II. A GnAcrous rnoMrSE. God would be with his mouth, a.nd teach him wha…
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his dependence on A£1ron, H limits a man, when he cannot act without continually calling in another to his assistance. (4) H divided Moses' authority, and gave Aaron ~n undue influence with tho people (cf. Ex. xxxii.). (5) It was a temptation to Aaron himsolf to assume, or at least aspire to, greater authority than of …
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be was still lacking in calm faith ; nevertheless we must bear in mind th11t the difficulty was a real one. There was only too much reason to apprehend th11t Israel would receive him in the way he indicated. Consider- I. THE POOR EX.PECTATION8 MOSES HAD OF A FAVOURABLE BE0EPTION FROM IBRAEL, Why should he ha'l'e th…
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unmove~ •. Who c&n tell what terrible things Israel escape~l by their timely acceptanco of the rmss1on of Moses? and yet that acceptance, as we discover by the rebellions in the wilderness, did not amount to very much. The belief that is produced by miracle, if there be not some more penetrating force behind the mere e…
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1rnd gloried in the fact, that his very lack of fluent speech, so far from being against him, "-as rather in his favour (2 Cor. iv. 7). II. Gon's TREATMENT OF THIS PERSEVERING RELUCTANCE. Observe God's continued patience. So far there has not been a word of rebuke to Moses; no action such as corresponds with the sm…
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anger must be decicledly manifested, even for our good. Moses could not but admit that so far ho ho.cl been dealt with very gently indeed. God, quickly and. tenderly responsive, ho.cl met every hint of difficulty with a strong encouragement. But all the oncoumgoments ho.cl made no real difference in Moses' mood of mind…
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:kal more consequence. As Martha, when Jesus came to her house, was cumbered with much sening, and in the middle of it all was unwittingly neglecting the one thing needful, so Moses, amid the distracting questions that filled his mind, had no induce- ment to regard the rod with such attention as corresponded to Its …
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Vera. 10-17.-God's wrath will fall where his service is declined. I. MosE~' OBJEOTION AND Goo's ANSWER (10---12). 1. He deems himself unfit to occupy the place even of spokesman to the Lord. The objection was based upon a. real in6rmity, whkh so far God had not removed. The same objection urged as a. reason to-day for …
850 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.