» By my Inftigation and Direfion ; which, becauſe I ſee thou art ſhHll diffident, I give thee for a new Sign to ſtrengthen thy belief that I will carry thee through this hard work. |
' 15 Avrd'thou ſhalt (peak unto him, and put words in his mouth os, and IT will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and EF will teach you what ye ſhall
. do.
o (7.2. ) Inftrutt him what to ſpeak, and command him freely
and faithfully to expreſs it. See {ſa: 51: 16: and 59: 21. i6 And he ſhall be thy ſpokeſman unto the peo- ple: and be ſhall be, ever he ſhall be to thee in ſtead of a mouth, and thou ſhalt be to him in ſtead of God p. 2 To teach and to command him. Sce Exod: 7:T. 17 And thou ſhalt take this rod in thy hand, where- with thou ſhalr do ſigns 9. | 9 Both thoſe which TI have already made thee to do, and others as I ſhall dire& and enable thee 13 And Moſes went and returned to Jethro his fa- ther-in-law, and ſaid unto him, Lee me go, I pray thee, and return untomy brethren which are in Egypt, and ſee whether they be yet alive r. And Jethro ſaid to Moſes, Go in peace. | 7 He pretends only a Viſit, and ſo indeed it was,and that no ve- ry long one neither : He knew that he ſhould certainly return to this place, and there meet with his Father-in-law So that he did nor deceive him,nor intended to do fo, though he thought fir to conce-1 from him the Errand upon which God ſent him, left his Father o; Wife ſhould attempr to hinder or diſcourage him from ſo difficult and dangerous an Enterpriſe. Moſes ſhews here a rare Example, as well of Modeſty and Humility, that ſuch glorious and familiar Converſe with God,and the high Calling to whichGod had advanced him, did neither make him forget the Civility and Duty which he owed to his Father. nor make him break forth into publick and vain-glorious boaſting of ſuch a Priviledge ; as alſo of his Piery and : Prudence, that he avoided all Occaſions and Temptations to Diſo- bedience to God's Command.
i9 And the LORD ſaid unto Moſes in Midian s, Go, return into Egypt, for * all the men are dead which ſought thy life z.
sThis ſeems to have been a ſecond Viſion, whereby God calls
him forth to the preſent and ſpeedy Execution of that Command which before was more generally dehvered. #£ To wit, to take it
but acquainted them with the mind of God therein. Or hefaith ,
EXODUS.
FU
Chap. IV,
away. See the like exprefſion, 1 Sam. 22: 23, 1 Kings 19. 14. Matth. 2. 20. God knew very well that one great cautc of Meſes his unwillingneſs to this undertaking, was his carnal Fear, though he was aſhamed to profeſs it, and therefore - gives him this Cor- dial. .
20 And Moſes took his wife, and his ſons », and ſet them upon an aſs x, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moſes took the rod of God in his hand. :
u Gerſhom, Exod. 2. 22. and Eliezer, Exod. 18. 4 Whom he in- rended to carry with him, but afterwards obſerving that they were
be
like to be Impediments to him in his great buſineis,and being well
aſſured thar it would not be long ere he returned to them,he ſcnr them bick to Jethro, as may ſeem from Exod. 38. 5. x One Aſs might be ſufficient for her and her two Children, becauſe one of them was bur little, verſe 25. Or, 4/s may be pur for 4s, which changes of the numbers is very frequent in Scripture. y His Shep- herds rod ſo called, partly becauſe ic was appropriated to God's ſpe- cial Service, to be the Inſtrument in all his glorious Works ? and partly to ſhew that whatſoever was done by that Rod, was not done by any vertue in the Rod, or in Moſes his hand, but meerly by the Power of God, who was pleaſed for the greater Confufion of his Enemies to uſe fo mean an Inſtrument.
21 And the LORD faid unto Moſes, When thou goeſt to return into Egypt, ſee zhat thou do all thoſe wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine | hand'z : but * I will harden his heart s, that he ſhall * Chap.z: |
not let the people go. apes x z (7. e.) In thy Power or Commiſſion, to be done by thy Hand, | 4 and the Rod in it. a That he ſhall be unmerciful roa)l the Groans | 0 and Preſſures of the Iſraelites, inexorable to the requeſts of Meſes,un- D A moveable and incorrigible by all my Words and Works. Bur God | * 175 doth not properly and poſitively make mens hearts hard, but only ; — 2 privatively, cither by denying to them, or withdrawing from x1 them that Grace,which alone can make Men ſoft,and flexible,and
pliable to the Divine Will ; as the-Sun hardens the Clay by draw- a Rom ing out of it that moiſture which made it ſoft; or by expoſing ”* To them to thoſe Temptations of the World, or the Devil, which meeting with a corrupt heart are apt to harden it.
22 And thou ſhalt ſay unto Pharaoh, Thus faith the LORD, I1frael is my ſon, * eves my firſt-born 5. * Jer:3r:
b By my Choice and Adoption. They are moſt dear to me, and 9: Jam:r: reſerved by me out of all Nations to be my peculiar People ; and 18, therefore I will no longer ſuffer thee to invade my Right,nor them to live in the negle& of my Service.
23 And Ifay untothee c, Let my ſon go, that he may ſerve me: and if thou refuſe to let him go, be-
hold, * I will flay thy ſon, ever thy firſt-born 4. * Chap: | c I command thee : For ſaying is put for commanding,Luke 4. 3. 11:5:and and 9. 54. and in 1 Chron. 21. 19+ compared with 2 Sam. ,24. 19. 12:29.
4 By which plagne coming after the reſt, thou wilt be enforced to do what I adviſe thee now to do upon cheaper terms.
24 4 And it came to paſs by the way in the inn, that the LORD * met hime ; and ſought to kill him f. |