But as the wisdom of this conduct may be doubted, I shall proceed, II. To vindicate it —
It may be thought that this measure was unneces- sary, inexpedient, and absurd : but,
1. It was not unnecessary —
[Circumstanced as he was, it became him to act as he did. He was, I grant, greatly indebted to Phai'aoh's daughter: and he was bound to regard her with all the duteous affection which belonged to the relation into which he had been adopted by her. But his duty to the God of Abraham was paramount to every other : and he would have sinned, if he had merged his fidelity to God in his regards for any creature whatsoever. All the pleasures which he had enjoyed, however innocent in themselves, were " pleasures of sin," as long as he continued to acknowledge the God of the Hebrews as his God, and the faith of the Hebrews as his faith. The neglecting to confess his God was, constructively, to deny him : and, if he continued any longer to deny God, he covild expect nothing but to be denied of God in the day of judgment. The measure therefore which he adopted was not unnecessary, but absolutely neces- sary, both for his peace in this world, and his happiness in the world to come.]
<= See Acts ix. 4. Col. i. 24.
410 HEBREWS, XL 2t— 26. [2326.
2. It was not inexpedient —
[It might be supposed, that if he had continued, like Joseph, at the head of the Egyptian government, he might have mitigated their sorrows, even though he should never be able to effect their release. But he had a secret intimation from God, that the time of their deliverance drew nigh, and that he was to be the instrument by whom they should be de- livered. And so strong was this impression upon his mind, that he engaged in the work rashly and prematurely, without any direction from God ; and thereby reduced himself to the necessity of fleeing to a foreign land, to avoid the punishment to which his own unwarrantable temerity had exposed him*^. The question in his mind was, What duty to his God required? and he was not at liberty to calculate then on matters of expediency, or to weigh in the balance of carnal reason the possible or probable issues of different events. His duty was to obey God ; and to leave to God to save his people in his own time and way, according to his own infallible and eternal counsels.]
3. It was not absurd —
[Moses looked beyond the concerns of time, and acted with eternity in view. He knew that his pleasures, riches, and honours, how great soever they were, were only " for a season;" and that the afflictions to which he was about to subject himself, were also "for a season" only; whereas the recompence which his sacrifices would insure him, was eternal. What comparison then could there be between these things ? or what room was there for hesitating one moment which he should prefer ? If he gained the whole world, vi^hat would it profit him, if he lost his own soul ? or if, by sacrificing the whole world, his soul should be saved, what reason could he have to regret the sacrifice ? His choice then was that which sound wisdom dictated, and true piety inspired.
In truth, this is no other choice than what all the Prophets and Apostles in their respective ages have approved. David " would rather be a door-keeper in the house of his God than dwell in the tents of ungodliness^:" And why? Because, as he tells us in another psalm, " A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked *";" better in its possession, better in its operation, better in its end. Solomon was of precisely the same mind». St. Paul, like Moses, actually " suffered the loss of all things, and accounted them but dung, that he might win Christ '\" Having made a sacrifice of every thino-, so far was he from feeling himself impoverished by his