PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 360,812 words · 378 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 61
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-7.-The water from the rock. The Israelites pursued their journey to the mount of God. It was- 1. By stages-" after their journeys." It is well to discipline the mind to look at life as a succession of stages. "Most people can bear one day's eTil; the thing that breaks one down is t…
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viction of sin, it is specially the thirst for pardon and holiness (Ps. Ii.; cxix. 41, 81, 123, 166,174). By bestowing on the Israelites supernatural water to quench their thirst, God declared at the same time his ability and willingness to supply these higher wants of the soul; nay, held out in type the promise of …
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God c:m, and will, break through the greatest outward hindrances and impediments (cf. Is. xuv. 6). IV. TEMPTING Goo. "They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord amoncr us o:- not?" (ver. 7). The peculiarity of this sin of Rephidim deserves to be carefully noted. Rephidim, it is true, is not the only instance of it;…
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Give man all of the world he asks for, and still his soul is deeply athirst. Ii1s increasing cry is, who will show us any good? (Ps. iv. 6). Learning does not satisfy this thirst ( ~~cclesiastes, Goethe's "Faust"). Pleasu1·es do not satisfy it (Byron's "Childe Harold"). Colonel Gardiner told Dr. Doddridge how, on one …
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influences for refreshment. Show from Christian experience how many and powerful are the causes of depression, weariness, a.nd fainting. II. OUT OF THE ROCK-CHRIST-REFRESHMENT SPRINGS. Refreshment does come from time to time to the faint. (See Dr. Raleigh on refreshin,r influences of "The Dew," in "Quiet Resting Place…
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feeling for the wa.ter supply; and, missing it, they ask for it. Then they wait awhile, ,rnd, of cour~e, the longer they wait the more thirst begins to assert itself. Their childre~ cry; and all the cattle signify, in an equally impressive way, their want of water. (Remember what a terrible calamity the want of wate…
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comeB. From a rock. The smiting, of course, was simply a symbolic action, just~ the smiting of the water was. It was not as if some blow had been struck, suddenly open in er up a hidden reservoir. What God did here by smiting he commanded, at a later date t~ be done by speaking. (Num. xx. 8.) The water came, and was to…
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Memory fM hope. So far it was well. Memory, however, was but half instructed The remembered gift was more thought of than the giver. Hope was not faith; it c-ould not prompt the prayer of faith. God was not regarded as he should have been, and consequently men could n0t state their needs with confidence, "nothing doubt…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 8-16.-THE WAB WITH AMA.LEK. the_ ~ekites would h~ve been passing the The Ame.lekites seem to have been descendants spnng 1n the lower plams, where herbage is of Ame.lek, the grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxTi. abundant after the early rains, while later in the year it dries up. They would hear of the 12).…
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trust in an "arm of flesh," while, ne,·ertheless, Ver. ~3.-Amalek and his people-i.e. " the he sent his soldiers to the combat. Amalekites proper, and the tribes subject to Yer. 10.-Xur. Hur hRS not been men- them, who fought on their side." tioned hitherto. According to one Jewish Ver. 14.-Write this in a book. The…
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believe in his existence. The uselessness of contending against him would be generally "l,llcognised, if men would bear in mind, as most sure-- I. THAT THERE 1B A Goo, DESERVING OF THE NAME, THE MAKER AND RULER 0!1' p:u; UNIVERSE. The disbelief in a Personal God underlies much of the resistance p;,hich men offer to …
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ne would at any period of his life have been a good general. But his age, his tempera- ment, and his training made him emphatically a man of prayer, Joshua, on the other hand, in the full vigour of middle life, active, energetic, bold, intrepid, indefatigable was a born soldier, and a man well suited for military comm…
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must have succumbed. The complete discomfiture of the powerful Ama.lek struck: terror into the hearts of the neighbouring peoples, a.nd induced them to leave Israel for nearly forty yea.re unmolested. 3. WONDERFUL. Amalek wa.s warlike, accustomed to contend with the great nation of the Egyptians; Israel ha.d ha.d a.11 …
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Christ and God, wiLhc•ut antagonism. 2. Israel will fight------0.utifully-and inspired thereto. II. PILGRIM WARRIORS MAY BE TAKEN AT A DISADVANTAGE, See Dent. XXV. 18. 'l'he attack of Amalck was-I. Sudden. 2. On an undefended rear. 3. On the faint. 4. Un the demorali,sed by sin. Trace the analogies in moral conflic…
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the friends and the enemies of God, between the Church of living believers and the world that hates am! seeh to destroy it, waging against it an incessant warfare. Consider- I. THE BATTLE. 1. How fouyht. Obderve (1) Fighting was in this case called for. It was not a case, like that at the Red Sea, where the Israelit…
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~ork at home and abroad, and endeavouring to order their prayers with constant reference to the fluctuations in the battle! Moses praying on the hill may remind us of Christ in heaven, interceding for his Church militant on earth. (2) Moses inter- ceded, while holding up in his hands the rod of God (vers. 9, 11). Th…
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have war with Am:i.lek from generation to generation" (ver. 16). In this first defeat we have the type of all. III. JEHOVAH-J\,1ssr. Moses reared an altar in commemoration of the victory, and inscribed upon it the name-" Jehovah-Nissi "-" Jehovah, my banner" (ver. 15). This name inscribed upon the altar is at the same…
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mination. 2. An altar. "Jehovah our Banner," sign of a continuous war to be ended ~>nly with the fulfilment of God's purpose. In the fi&ht with Satan our Lord's victory lil the wilderness and on the cross, a pledge of final victory for all. 1. It is written in a book. Who has not read of it? 2. lt is co=emorated by a m…
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111. THE WAY IN WRICH Goo SIGNIFIES HIMSELF TO BE THE CONTROLl,ER OF VICTORY. Moses knows right well that after all preparations, the victory must come from Jehovah. He sets the discriminating Joshua to lead a chosen and competent army aaainst A.malek a.s if everything depended upon them, and yet at the same time he re…
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Ver. 1.-J'ethro, the priest of llrlidian, and found him. There is no trace of any lll[oees' father - in - law. Rather, "Jethro, previous " engagement" to meet at a par- priest of Midian, Moses' brother-in-law." See ticular spot. the comment on eh. iii. 1 : and note that the Ver. 6.-A.nd he said. It is suspected that…
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gree.ter the.n e.11 gods. It would seem that Or "brought a burnt offering ;" as the same Jethro, like the generality of the heathen, verb is rendered in eh. xxv. 2. H iB not believed in a plurality of gods, and had di,1;inctly related that he offered the victim; hitherto regarded the God of the Israelites as but as n…
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in the bud ; no wilucky accident had removed either from the land of the living. Moses was able to greet, at one and the &ame moment, his wife, his two sons, and his brother-in-law. Doubtless, he felt that God had been specially good and gracious to him in restoring to him all his treasures. II. THAT IT' WAS CHARACT…
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these things?" But a. far different spirit possessed him. In this, Jethro showed his freedom from a. ver)'. comm?n litt~eness of na~ure. .2. As an act of personal friendship. A large part of the JOY of hfe spnngs from fnendsh1p. We see fnendship at its best in the case of those who are thrown much into each other's soc…
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there is an utter absence of pride and hauteur, and a painstaking dcsiro to put Jethro--a plain wilderness priest-as fully a.s possible at his ease. Everything is real. The greetings of the friends are unaffectedly cordial-their behaviour towards each other studiously polite. Lesson-the duty of courtesy. Courtesy is…
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the society of such, and take the opportunity of hearing them when they are to be heard that we may be instructed and profited. What a thrilling history, e.g., is that of Christian missions, but what an additional interest it gives to its narrations when we hear the story from the lips of the men who have actually foug…
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Vers. 6-12.-Jilriendship in if.s loft,iest form. "They asked each other of their welfare." Ex. xviii 7. The visit of Jethro comes between the agony of Rephidim and the solemnities of "Sinai," like the insertion of a sweet pastoral poem between two tragedies. Something may be learnt from it as to what should characteris…
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of the people; but here we get a peep at his private and domestic life, and nothin" is revealed but what adds dignity and beauty to his character. A servant of God ~ust have the same character, in all circumstances. It is not every public man that could afford to have his private life laid open; and only too often an e…
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wh_o was res]:JOnsible_ for her; and, besides, Moses and Zipporah had a. joint responsi- bility for their offspring. Jethro is commonly set before us, in contrast to Ama.lek as the illustration of heathenism, looking favourably and amicably upon Israel. But e~en more let us look upon him as the great illustration of…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 13---26.-JETHRO'S ADVICE TO MOSES, reflection, Moses accepted this course !IS the AND ITS ADOPTION. The office of ruler in best open to him under the circumstances, nod ancient times, whether exercised by a king, a established a multiplicity of judges, under a prince, or a mere chieftain, was always …
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Palestine. Keil supposes that the word from Deut. i. 13, that instead of selecting the "peace" is to be taken literally, and concludes men himself, which would have beeu an from it that breaches of the peace had pre- invidious task, Moses directed their nomination viously been frequent, the people having by the people,…
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Ver. 21.-The necessary qualifications of such as are to exercise the office of judges.- Few positions in life are more important than that of the judge. Not only are the lives and liberties of individual citizens at his disposal, but the very existence of the State depends on him, since unless justice is in the main ad…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 13-27.-The appointment of fudges. During the few days that Jethro was with Moses, he did the latter an essential service, and initiated nothing short of a revolution in the manner of conducting judicial business. Besides its i=ediate lessons (noted below), this incident of the appoin…
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apparently oblivious, 1md furnished him, moreover, with the suggestion of a remedy. The greatest minds are in this way often dependent on the humblest, and are, by the ~ependence, taught humility and respect for the gifts of others. 'l'here is no one who 1s not his neighbour's superior in some matter-none from whom …
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better purpose. (2) The a,foption of division of labour in Christian work secureH obvious advantages. It relieves the responsihle heads, expedites business an<l promotes order, secures that the work is better done, and utilises a great variety of talent which would otherwise remain unemployed. These are important consi…
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t~kes are possible. ·we inquire then what are the Divine conditions of e. life of trnc ministry? l. CHARACTER. The elements were laid down by Jethro as qualifications of the new judges. Certain that Moses p.lSSessed them. So must a.II who aim at usefulness (rnr. 21). 1. Ability. Strange that ability comes first; but s…
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where in tbe earlier part of the book of N um here, and from it we looked back on all the mass of legislation in Exodus and Leviticus, it would read with far greater force? J. WE HAVE GOD'!! PF.OPLE PRESENTED TO US AB ABOUNDIN(l IN OCCASIONS OF DISPUTE AMONG THEMSELVES. This appears as a certain consequence of that …
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an 0utsider. And yet it might have been thought that this was exactly one of the things which Jehovah would provide for by express enactments. When it is a matter of making the tabernacle, be is very particular as to measurements and materials but when it is a matter of judging causes, he leaves it to be determined …
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God had been with him already, how he was with him all through his life. Especially we may notice-I. /-Jis relation to Pharaoh. The shepherd facing the king. Whence his boldness? He bad shrunk beforehand at the mere prospect; when the hour came Pharaoh quailed before him. It was not Moses, it was the power which manife…
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HOMILETICS. Ver. 27.-Jethro thr model of a friendly adviser. A man's friends often hesitate to offer advice, from the fear of its being ill received. Jethro showed himself superior to this weakness, and risked being rebuffed for officiousness, confident in his singleness of purpose and honest intentions. He had all …
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EXPOSITION. all in front of such e. cliff is,'' e.s Dean Ste.nley CHAPTER XIX well remarks, " so reme.rke.ble e. coincidence Vers. f----2. - THE JOUBNEY TO MOUNT with the sacred ne.rre.tive, e.s to furnish a SINAI, From Rephidim in the Wady Feira.n, strong internal argument, not merely of its where they had discomf…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1, 2. Arrival and encampment at Sinai.-We come now to the comideration of what, next to the exodus, is the greatest event in Israel's history-the ratification at Sinai of the nation's covenant with God, preceded by thi, giving of the law. we cannot attach too great importance to thes…
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this period the nation enjoyed a season of rest, received the law, ratified its covenant with God. constructed a sanctuary, and was otherwise equipped and organised, It was a time of repose, of retired communion with God, of receptivity. Such times are very needful in the spiritue.I life. 1. Needful for all. The Chr…
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rmd its loving tenderness, e.re especially fore thrir f"cd'-o. 1-Iebmism, meaning simply gltmccd at in the comparison. Brought you "before them." unto myeelf. "Brought you," i.e., "to Sinai, Ver. 8.-And all the people e.nswered to- the mount of God, whern it pleases me es- gether. It would seem thut the chlers sub- pec…
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HOMILETICS. Vers. 5, 6.-Go~s promueI; to such a.s keep hu covenant. Three things are here specially worthy of consideration :-1. The n1tture of the promises; 2. 'l'he grounds on which tbey may be belie,·ed and trusted; a.nd 3. The conditions attached to them, 1. . Tim 1' A TURE OF 1'HE PROMISES. God's proJ:?ises to…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 3---10.-The covenant proposed. A characteristic difference is to be observed between the covenant made at Sinai and that formerly established with Abraham. Jn both, there is a wonderful act of Divine condescension. In both, God as well as man comes under engagements, ratitied by outw…
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obligations which redemption impo~es on ns. 3. The condition of the fulfilment of 7>romise is that the people obey God's voice, and keep his covenant (ver. 5). On no other terms could God conRent to be thefr God, and on no other terms would he consent t<J ha,e them for his people. Grace precedes law, grace accompanieB …
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true "heart" in th~!'l to do what God commanded _(De~1t. v. 29). Hence their speedy apostasy (eh. xxxu.) The test of true conversion is perseverance (Heb. iii. 11. I John ii. 19). Moses, having received the reply of the people, returned it to Gnd, who' on hearing it, declared his purpose of coming in a thick cloud, and…
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dition-broken and humbled by the action of the law upon his conscience-it meet& him with the tidings of redemption, and of life and blessing (including spiritual renewal) coming to him on the ground of" the righteousness of faith" (cf. Acts xiii. 38, 39); 3. The privileges of the older covenant foreshadowed those qf…
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Ver. 3-6.-God's first message to the people at Sinai. The cloud goin" on hr!fom the people from Rephidim, brings them at laAt to what by pre-eminence is "called th" mount. Tlte mount, not because it was higher, but because there the turning b•1sl, appeared, 1Lnd there the people were to serve God. Moses goes up to th…
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unfamiliar Bcenes through which it 1s passing. But these struggles count for litth•, they ar<' nat.nrnl enough, hut they do n"t hinder the eagle in its progress. Patiently calmly, strongly, it rises towards its secure destination. 'l'hese unfamiliar scenes are by-and-by ~o be the frequent pa.th of the now struggling, b…
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Vers. 1-15.-l'ovenant before law. "Now, therefore, if ye will obey," etc.-Ex. xix. 6, 6. 'lhis subject might well be introduced by :-1. Showing how exactly the topography of Sinai (i.e., the plain of Er Rahah, Ras Sufsafeh, and Jebel Musa) agrees with the sacred history. [For material of description see "'l'he Desert o…
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EXPOSITION. Vers. 10-15.-TRE PBll:PAB..lTION OF THE Ver. 10.-ao unto the people. Moses had PEOPLE AND OF THE MOUNTAIN FOB THE MANI· withdrawn himself from the people to report F'BSTATION OF Gon UPON IT. The people having their words to God (vers. 8, 9). He was now commanded to return to them. Sanctify them, accepted…
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nlly, have grazed along its hnse. To imprcs.~ then that they may do so, so soon ns the trum- the Israelites with a due sense of the awful pet sounds long (ver. 1:1). But they do not majesty of God, and the sacrednese of every- ascend at that time (vcr. l!J), nor are they thing material that it brought into close rel…
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rot.t~nm,ss ent~red int-0 my bones, and I trembled in myself" (eh, iii. 16), In part, no cln11 ht, weakness trembles before strength, littleness before greatness finiteness before ,nlinity; bui, nrninly, it is sinfulness that quakes and shrinks befon: perfect holiness corruption that shivers before incorruption, rott…
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or rip;hteousness &nd truth. It is an Intensity of nature, a fi:re of zeal or jealousy, directed to the maintenance of these interests. Hence the re1p1irement that in pre- parnt ion for their meeting witt-. him at tho mount, the people shoul,\ "sanctify" thcm- 6elvos for two whole days (ver.. 10). The s11nctification e…
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him•· (2 Sam. xiv. 14.). The choice of tkis time for me.king the revell\tion wA.S con- ucdcd with God's whole design in the calling of Israel. (2) That men might hl\vo the knowledge of sin. The law must be made known that men may understand tho number e.nd extent of their transgrnssions. The lawgiving at Sinai, ther…
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corresponding with the character and circumstances of those to whom it i~ presented. 'l'hore is e. time when it will do to change the rod into a serpent; and so tbere is a time when the so.me people before whom this was done muMt be confronted with all the terrors of 8iue.i. H we.s e. groat defect on the po.rt of th…
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'l'aherah amoug the C'ompl:i.ining people (Num. xi. 1)-the openina e:uth nnd the d,•,·n111in~ fire nt. the time (>f the con8piracy of Korah (Num. xvi.)-what are all these hut pr<.>n!s of the ~N) of ~in11.i tr1wolling in all l_iis terror an_d glory along with Israel and ma_km~ ."h:trP Y1~1tat.Tons 111 the hour of w?rl<l…
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an<l recogniAed by them 08 snpcrhurnan-ns of the thunder" (K1Llisr,h), fnr thnn<lcr ,1,,,,, " the voice of God " ( Deut. iv. 33). It is in not shuke tho enrth, thongh it shnk,., t.he ,,r r vnin to seek to minimise, and to rationalise -but rnther hy an ndu11l earth'lunke. Com- pare Ps. xviii. 7; Matt. xxvii. 51-5·1; Ar…
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HOMILIES BY V.ARIOUS .AUTHORS. Vers. 16-19.-Sinai and Sion. In studying these verses we cannot but be reminded of the picture drawn by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews of the contrast in respect of Church state and privilege between believers of the Old and believers of the New 'l'estament dispensations. "Ye a…
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