2. Its operation —
[His obstinacy was irreclaimable, whether by judgments or by mercies. Nine successive plagues, and the removal of them all at thy request, were insufficient to subdue the pride and haughtiness of thy spirit. Not even the tenth, the greatest and heaviest of them all, prevailed on thee to desist from fighting against God. Thy relentings were only momentary : thy hardness returned the very instant thou wast out of the furnace : thine own consent thou didst recall ; and follow with murderous rage those thou hadst permitted to go forth from thy land. How blinded wast thou by the wickedness of thine own heart! Thou wast alike insensible to the evil and the danger of thy ways. And in this thou hast shewn what is, in every place and in every age, the sad effect of sin.]
3. Its issue —
[Whither did it lead this devoted monarch, but to shame and ruin? Thou saidst, " Neither will I let Israel go." But when that Jehovah whom thou defiedst put forth his hand against thee, thou didst thrust them forth from thy land : and so anxious were thy whole people to get rid of them, that they loaded them with all their most valuable jewels, and with every thing that could be desired to speed their way.
But when they seemed to be entangled in the land, and an opportunity was afforded thee, as thou thoughtest, for their destruction, thou couldst not forbear : thou wouldst seize the occasion, and summon all thine hosts, and execute upon
c 1 Sam. ii. 12. ll 1 Cor. ii. 8.
:m exodus, v. 2. [67.
them thy vengeance to the uttermost. Thou sawest the sea opening for them a way: but hadst thou yet to learn that God would put a difference between the Israelites and Egyptians? Presumptuous wretch! thou wouldst follow them even through the sea itself, and lead on in passion thine infatuated hosts. I see thee enter within the watery walls which Omnipotence had raised: but there thou hastenest to thy destruction. Now escape from the snare into which thine impiety has led thee. Thou canst not: thy chariot wheels are broken; and too late dost thou find that Jehovah fights for Israel. Of all that followed this infuriated monarch, not one escaped; the sea came upon them, and overwhelmed them all ; not so much as one was left, to report to Egypt the calamity they had sustained.]
But, not to dwell any longer on the impiety of Pharaoh, I shall proceed to that which is of more immediate interest to ourselves; namely, to shew,
II. To what an extent a similar spirit prevails amongst us —
To you the messages of heaven are sent —
[We, Brethren, are ambassadors of God to you, and in his sacred name do we bring you the counsels which we offer ; and every word that is so delivered, in accordance with his mind and will, must be received, " not as the word of man, but as the word of God himself." To every different class of hearers have we a message suited to their state. We call upon the licentious to forsake their evil ways ; the worldling to seek for better things than this world can give ; the formal and self-righteous to renounce their self-dependence, and to make the Lord Jesus Christ the ground of all their hopes.]
But who amongst you can be prevailed upon to
obey the word ?
[The same spirit by which Pharaoh was actuated, per- vades the great mass of mankind ; every one displaying it in a way suited to his own particular state. Some will openly say, with Pharaoh, " Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice ?" Others, who would not altogether express themselves in such impious terms, will yet in effect maintain the same lan- guage, and practically follow the same ungodly course. The inspired writers give this precise view of the ungodly world. Job speaks of them, as saying to God in his day, " Depart from us ; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him ? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him e ?" David gives a similar representation of them in his day : " They have said, With