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 181
Chap. vi. ver. 28--<:hap. vii. ver. 7.-God still glorified amid human weakness and sin. l. MosEs' WEAKNESS (chap. vi. vers. 28-30). The co=and was-" Speak thou unto Pharaoh." Moses in his despondency is overpowered by the sense of bis infirmity. He fears the ridicule of the Egyptian court. There are times when the sens…
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HOMILETICS. Vers.10-12.-False imitatwm of things Divine not difficul,t of detectwn.-It is Satan's wont, in all ages and on e.ll possible occasions, to set up counterfeits of things Divine, in order to confuse men's minds, and make them mistake the false for the true. Aaron no sooner works a true miracle, a real proof …
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enhRnces, the value of this evidence that most of the miracles of Scripturo are not merely credentials of the revelation, but constitutive parts of it. See this truth wrought out in the chapter on "The Function of Miracle in Revelation" in Dr. Alex. Bruce's boolt, • The Chief End of Revelation.' This able writer, ho…
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Vera, 8-13.-The credentials of God's ambassadors to the fr(YIJ}ard. 1. Tm: DEMANDS OF GoD, THOUGH REJECTED, CANNOT DE BANISHED. The rod which Pharnoh refuses to be Bhepherded by, cast down before him, springs into life. To those who refuse obedience to God's Word, that Word will cling and become a living thing. Israel …
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III. NoTIOE THE THOROUGH WICKEDNESS OF THESE MAGICIANS. They know thnt their wonders are lying wonders. Powers great by nature, trained and increased with the utmost ingenuity, and which were intended to be ann might have been for the good of their fellow-men, they turn without any compunction into instruments for t…
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commllllds given by God are executed, and Ver. 18.-The fish .. . sha.11 die. This tho result is ea declo.rcd beforehand by Moses would increese the greutness of the co.lamity, (vors. 20, 21) for the Egyptians lived to a very largo extent u,Pnon fish (Birch, ' Egypt from tho Ver. 14. -- Pharaoh'• heart is hardened. Ea…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 17-20.-Goil's punishments appropri,a,te and teri·ible (vers. 17....:._20). There was something peculiarly appropriate in the :first judgmen.t falling upon the Nile. The Nile had been made the instrument of destruction to the Israelites by the first tyrannical Pharaoh (probably Seti I.). It had bee…
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HOMILIES IlY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vors. 14---25.-Tlie Nile turned into blood. The first of the series of plazues which foll on Egypt was of a truly terrific character. At the stretching out of tbc rod r,f Aaron, the broad, swift-flowing current of-the rising Nile suddenly assumed the hue and qualities of blood. The stroke…
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,,ith ~:hich God cnn s!llite a_naUon, and_bring it t? the point of ruin. The smiting of the Nile meant. the immediate paralysis of all mdustry, commerce, and agriculture throughout the land of Egypt, while, had the plague lasted a few days longer the result would have been the death of the whole population. We call …
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for the Egyptians held the Nile in pious regard. But as the narrative says nothin"' on this point, we had better not assume it. H is sufficient to observe that Pharaoh"was led down to the stream, to see it, the great benefactor of his land. turned into a curso (that is, if it was down to the Nile that he went. M. de Le…
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bcon with tbo terrible spectacle presented t.o them. It wa.s not for Pharaoh only t.o take hoed to this river of blood; the intimation was for them also. But they clun", as privileged men almost always do cling, to their position and influence. Not only "was Pharaoh's kingdom in danger, but their standing as the profes…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 24-25.-Necessity is the mother of Ver. 24.-All the Egyptians digged. Not invention. Finding the Nile water continue the Hebrews. The water stored in the houses utterly undrinkable, the Egyptians bethought of the Hebrews in reservoirs, cisterns. o.nd the like, wo.s (it would seem) not vitiated; a.nd …
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off, and only very gradually draws near and close to their deepest lifo anrl acutest feeling. So here he touches first the river-then comfort (frogs, lice, flics)-then cattls-then the skin of the peopls-then food (hail and locusts)-then threatens lifo by the suffocating effects of the fifty days' sand-storm darknei;s-a…
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EXPOSITION. one's doorstep but in possession of one's house, CHAPTEBVill. in one's bed-chamber, and upon one's bed, to Vers. l-7.-T!m SECOND PLAGUE. After a.n hear their dismal croak perpetually, to see interval which there axe no mea.ns of estimating, nothing but their loathsome forms whither- the second ple.gne …
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HOMILIES BY VA.RIOUS .AUTHORS. Vers. 1-39.-Three plagues-frogs, lice, flies. On the precise character of these three plagues, see the exposition. They are to be viewed in their relation to the Egyptians-I. As an intensification of the natural pla,,,<TUes of the lmid. 2. As a proof of tbe almightiness of Jehovah (see o…
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ho converted into most terrific scourges. He has at command a literall.v exhaustless 11rray of woapons with which to assail us, if we provoke his chastisements; armies counUess in numbers, invisible iu form, unseen in their modes of attack, and against which no weapons can bo forged likely to secure safety. As knowledg…
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"·as done, not merely on the first, but on the second occasion of his entree.ty, and after his fin;t promise had bren broken (ver. 29). So willing is God to do the sinner every justice, and to grant him every opportunity, which may result in hie ealvation. He does not wait for complete conversion, but welcomes in ma…
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poaitio~s of the great ones of the world _and clespis~ servants of QQd have frequently been witnessed. Compare Paul and Felix (Acts xx1v. 25); Paul and the centuriQn, in the shipwreck nt Malta (Acts xxviii.). IV. 'fHE SECOND PLAGUE RAISED MoaEB TO NF,W HONOURS BY MAKING HIS l"llTF.R- CEBBION THE MEDIUM OF DELIVERANCE …
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EXPOSl'l'ION. Vers. S---15.-Ilow long the plague of froge of doors, nnintentionally killed by men, But endured, we are not told. Probably every the vacancies ma.de were constantly filled; dfort was made, short of intentioD.Jl.lly killing aud there seemed no prospect of the infliction !hem, to get rid of them. Snakes, …
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Ver. 15.-Double-minded men, unstable in all their ways. An Egyptian ldng was not likel:, unless exceptionally gifted by nature, to be firm, fixed, and stable in his con- duct. Flattered and indulged from infancy, no sooner did he obtain the crown, than he found himself recognised as a divinity by the great mass of his …
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 19.-Moral avalanches- not easily arrested when once set in motion. The magicians had begun by exciting Pharaoh to obstinate unbelief and resistance to the Divine Will. They had, by artifice or otherwise, persuaded him that there was nothing ~o very marvellous in the wonders wrought by Moses and Aaron,…
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dust, gne.ts e.nd flies burst from their 1mp10, and spring into perfect existence. They "Yivify instantaneously on the dust absorbing moisture enough to discolour it. As the flocd advances slowly onwards, a ble.ck line of moving insects on the extreme verge moves with it" (Osburn). There is a terrible "tick" describ…
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Vere. 16-19,-The third plaguer------the gnats: the finger of God. I. CONSIDER THE PLAGUE ITSELF, From tho water God comes to tho land. He who has power over every drop of water has power over every grain of dust. Everywhere at his touch the inorganic becomes the organic. And ho still keeps in tho same line of action wh…
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EXPOSITION. THE FouRTB PLAGUE. Vors. 20-24.-It has They sometimes drive persons out of their been notic&:! that--sctt.ing apart the last and houses ; and they also devastate the fields. most terrible of the plagues, which stands as it Ver. 20.-Lo, he cometh forth to the water. were b, itself-the remainder divide th…
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HOMILETICS. Vors. 22, 23.-God puts division between the good and barl, both here and hereojter.- In some respects tho good and the bad appear to be trc?.tcd alike in this life, aurl no di!Terence to be made between them. " God maketb his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendcth rain on the just and on the …
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obey orders, and go through wonderful evolutions. Man's power of control over the11e minute creatures is but a feeble image of the 110wer exercised over them by God. lie enrols them among bis battalions, and uses them to execute his co=issions. III. A 1'"EW SIGN IS THIS TIME GIVEN-THE SEVERANCE OF THE LAND OF GosnEN…
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WBB not already, irrecovomblc. God had trusted him a second time, and this was tho rosuH. Obstinacy was passing into obduracy.-J. U. Vera. 20-32.-The fourth plague,-the flies: the irMnunities of Goshen. The more change from one chastising agent to another is not e. matter to be dwelt on in consider• ing this plague. W…
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~ielding (ver. 10), ·proposed to let tho people go" to-morrow." Now ho V1Lrie11 the terms of compromise. 'l'hc people shall offer their AACrifices in the land. This offer he seems t-0 have made in complete ignorance of the difficulties which lay in the way from tho foolings of bis own people. A fine man this, to be t…
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EXPOSITION Vers. 25-32.-The fourth plague moves the in Egypt (Herod. ii. 65). On one occasion Pharo.oh moro than any preceding one. He even e. Roman e.m be.ssador we.s put to death still cannot bring himself to grant the demand for accidentally killing e. cat (Diod. Sic. i. 83). Stoning does not appear to have been e…
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HOMILETICS. ~~rs. 25, 26,-:--C~promise ,i~t ?-llowa~le in religiom ~atters. The struggles of political and soma! hfe, the confhctmg claims of races, nations, states, classes, parties, are usually terminated, nod perhaps, under the existing condition of things, are best terminated, by compromise. Let neither side get …
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band of God Wll.9 first lo.id upon the cattle, or 421.) The BBS wo.s employed in great numbers rather upon the domesticated anima.Is in at all times in Egypt. Women and children genera.I (ver. 3). These were me.de to suffer rode on them, men sometimes in a aort of litter from o. 11 murrain" or epidemic pestilence, b…
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delicacies of the table, turkeys e.nd other animals are made to undergo untold agonies. Slow death is inflicted on calves, to make the veal white. Finally, animals aro often involved in the Divine judgments by which nations are visited for their sins. "Much Cl\ttle" would have perished miserably, if Nineveh had not …
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Bre not wholly unfamiliar. It may seem" advanced" to scoff at the agency of God in caUle-plague visitations, but the truer philosophy will reverently recognise the fact of such agency, and will not regard it as in the least incompatible with any secondary causes which mo.y be shown to be involved in the production and …
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EXPOSITION. Vers. S-12.-TBE SIXTH PLAGUE. The forward for the directions here given. But sixth plague was sent, like the third, without perhaps the object was simply to show that as notice given. It was also, like the third, a water, and earth (eh. viii. 13) and air (eh. x. 13) could be turned into plagues, so fire…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 8-12.-Sin punished by physical suffering, but such suffe:ring not always a punishment for sin. God has many weapons in his quiver wherewith to chastise sin. One of them is physical pain. He can ci 1Se the limbs to ache, the temples to throb, the blood to be inflamed, the breathing to labour, the head…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 8-13.-The p7,a,gue of boils and bl,ains. 'l'his plague, like the third, was unannounced. God varies his methods. There was need for some token being given of God's severe displeasure a.t Pharaoh's gross abuse of his goodness and forbearance. 'l'his plague is distinguished from the re…
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~onfi~rd to th~ surface of the 'body; none th~ easier to bca.r, certainly; and yet easier m ~his, that 1t did not belong to an affi1ct1on of the great vital organs. Severity age.in, on the other hand, just because it affected the sensitive surface of the body. It is through our sensations that God has caused so much…
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pcnr beforo him once more, nnd warn him of pect something fe.r more terrible God will further and yet more terrible visitations which send all his ple.gues-evcry worst form of evil were impencling. The long message (vers. -in rapid succession; e.nd will send them against his heart. Each will strike e. blow 13---19) is…
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"to raise e. mound, or ba.nk," thence "to ob- did not seek the shelter of houses or sheds lltnict." '· oppose." would be smitten by the huge jagged he.il- Ver. 18.-To-morrow e.bout this time. As s~ncs wit~ such force. the.t they would be it might have been thought that Moses had killed outright, or else die of tliei…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 13-19.-The method of the Divine Rule over bad men illU8ftrated by God', message to Pharaoh. The message illustrates, I. 'l'HE LONG-BUFFERING OF GoD TOWARDS SINNERS. "For now might I have stretched out my hand and smitten thee and thy people with pestilence" (ver. 15). Pharaoh had opposed himself …
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HOMILIES BY YARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 13-35.-The plague of hail. This plague was introduced with ampler remonstrance. Moses was commanded to proceed to Pharaoh, and to warn him in stronger and more decisive language than he had yet employed of the folly of this insane resistance. Ver. 15 should probably be translated,…
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mflrkod it !\8 the first of a new order of plagues-was, 4. Its combina/Jion of terror with snblimity, its power to appal as well as to punish. A last attempt was to be made to brc~k down the opposition of the monarch by displays of God's majest7 and omnipotence which should shake his very heart (ver. 14). Instead of fr…
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Ver. 16.-The road to ruin. "And in very deed for this ea.use," &c. (Ex. ix.16). The character and conduct of Pharaoh as a probationer under the moral government of the Ever Living God is worthy of special and separate consideration. That he was such a probationer should not be simply assumed., but made clearly manif…
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real e.nd honest feeling. Sees the sin of the people as well as his own. Confesses. But the confession was not followed up. V. PROMISE-VIOLATION. After second (viii. 8---15), fourth (viii. 28---32), and seventh (ix. 28-36) plagues. A very common thing with sinners under Divine discipline-- promises of amendment-but th…
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which he cannot avoid (eh. xii. 31-33). And that he may be brought to such a knowledge iB t-he rel\Son of the severe pll\,,,'7lles that remain. We might, indeed, count it enough to be t-0ld that Jehovah had sent all ~is plagues. We might rest upon Jehovabls character, and say that whatever he does 1s nght, even thou…
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wo nlso must one do.y be cut off. Cut off from the earth, aa the tree, at the roots of w~ich the axe hns long lain. When the tree has fallen it is still near the earth, but it gets nothing from it. 'fhe question for us to ask is, whether, while the tree of our natural earthly life still stand.~, we are having the roots…
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it by punishment, well knowing, all the while, that punishment will increaso the obstinacy of the individual recipient. Finally, may have to ea:pel; yet, in justice to the rest, only finally, seeing that premature expulsion would but weaken his authority.] So God (1) spoke to Pharaoh by Moses (v. 1), then (2) punish…
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p~oducod. Go? sent thunder, and hail, and lightning. Even a slight thunder-storm drnturbs the mmd, and what a profound commotion of the soul this unequalled storm must hnve produced. The sound of that thunder, one would think, remained in the ears ?f those who heard it down to their latest hour. As to the lightning, we…
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by a most effective contrast it shows us bow to dieeem the elements or an adequate and acceptable confession of sin. 1. Such a confessi<>n mmt have referenc8 to a permanent state of the chara.cter. Sin is not a mere outward act, so that a man may sometimes be ~inning, and sometimes not sinning. "l have sinned this t…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 27-35.-Tho plague of ho.ii impressed country with the other Israelites. When it the Pho.ro.oh more than o.ny previous one. It was necessary for them to have an interview w1111 the first which had inflicted death on men. with the king, they sought the city: when their interview was over they quitted …
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 2i--30. The mock repentana of a half-awakened sinne'I' counterfeits the true, but has features by which it may be known. It is not always easy to distinguish between a true and a mock repentance. Here was the Pharaoh at this time very visibly- it might have seemed deeply-impressed. He was disquieted…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vera. 22-35.-I. THE TERRORS OF GoD's MIGHT. In that awful war of elements any moment might have been his last, and Pharaoh trembled. This plague evoked from him the first confession of sin. Hitherto he had reluctantly granted the request of Moses: now he casts himself as a sinner (27, 28) …
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moreover, hwnility of speech WIIB not whflt a.nother," they atte.cked even thoir young shoots God hod been for months requiring of Phamob, and their bark." "They are particularly in- but submission in net. Ho would not ree.lly jurious to the pa.Im-trees," writes a third; " humble himsolf " until he gove the oft- " thes…
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had been hitherto free from the ~conrge. Re household, not "little ones." See Ex. i. I.) turned himaelf and went out. Moses did not Look to it; for evil is before you. Or, "Look wait to learn what effect his announcement to it; for you have evil in view." Beware, would have. He " knew " the.t Pharaoh would i.e., of …
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obscure the light of the eun, o.nd turn noonday did not ask any more for the removal of & into twilight. And it is o.lso e. fa.et the.t with plague. This death only--i.e. "this fatal their dull brownish bodies e.nd wings they visitation "-this visitation, which, by produc- do.rken the ground after they he.ve settled. i…
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J. 111> ,110RGETS ESPECIALLY THOSE BENEFITS WHICH ARE CONSTANT AND CONTINUOUS, (a) Temporal benefits, Life, strength, health, intellect, the power to act, the capacity to eujny, the ability to think, speak, write, are God's gifts, bestowed lavishly on tho human race, and in civilised countries possessed in some meas…
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Ver. 1-11.-Man's interposition with good advice may come too late. It is im- possible to say what effect the opposition and remonstrances of his nobles and chief officers might not have had upon Pharaoh, if they ha.cl been persistently offered from the first. Dut his magicians had for some· time aided and abetted his r…
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Vers. 16--20.-The agency of nature wed by God both in inflicting and removing jud,gments. God's footsteps are not known. Since Eden was lost to us it has pleased him, for inscrutable reasons, to withdraw himself behind the screen of nature, and to work out his purposes-in the ma.in. through natural agencies. He puni…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vcrs. 1-7.-A new Message. Even yet God hacl not clone with the King of Egypt. He seDds Moses again to ply him with reproof and threatening. The fin:il 6troke is put off as long as possible. If" by all means" (1 Cor. ix. 22) Pharaoh can bo saved, he will Dot be lost for want of the opportun…
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Vers. 7-21.-The pl,a,gue of loeusts. Of the two principal terms used to denote "hardening," one means "to strengthen, or make firm," the other, " to make heavy, or obtuse." It is the latter of these (usod also in eh. viii. 15, 32; ix. 7) which is used in eh. ix. 34, and eh. x. 1. The growing obtuseness of Pharaoh's …
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.