The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 99

the first place, the character of the boon desired indicated to Israel, e.nd especially to these responsible men the elders, what God was expecting from them. He who had told Moses, in direct terms, concerning the service in" this mountain" (ver. 12), was nQw intimating to them; indirectly, but not less forcibly, something of the same kind. God has more ways than one of setting our duties before us. Secondly, the request Wll8 a VP-Q' searching test of Pharaoh himself. It was a test with regard to the spirit and reality of his own religion. If to him religion was a real necessity, a real source of strength, then there was an appeal to whatever might be noble and generous in his heart _no~ to shut out t~e Hebrews from such blessings as were to be procured in worshipping Jehovah their God, and the request searched Pharaoh's heart in many ways besides. God well knew beforehand what the result would be, and he chose such an introductory message as would most completely serve his own purposes. These threatened wonders were to start from plain reasons of necessity. We must constantly bear in mind the comprehensiveness of the Divine plans, the certainty with which God discerns beforehand the conduct of men. If we keep this truth before us we shall not be decefred by the shallow talk of would-be ethical purists concerning the deceptions found in Scripture. We must not argue from ourselves, wandering in a labyrinth of contingencies, to a God who is above them all. II. Goo NOW SEEKS TO MAKE CLEAR TO MOSES TH.AT WHAT PHARAOH EMPH.A.TI- OALLY REFUSES TO GRA1'"T AT FIRST, BE WILL BE COMPELLED TO GRANT AT LAST, Thus God makes iuminous another important point in the future. That future now stretches before Moses, like a road in the dark, with lamps fixed at certain intervals. Between the lamps there may be much darkness, but they are sufficient to indicate the direction of the path. God had lighted one lamp to assure Moses of a favourable reception by his own people; another to show the kind of treatment which would have to be adopted towards Pharaoh; a third to show the complete success of this treatment ; and a fourth shining all the way from Sinai, to make plain that in due course Moses and his liberated brethren would arrive there. God was quickly adding one thing after another, to increase a.nd assure the faith of his servant, and make him calm, courageous, and self-possessed in the prosecution of a momentous enterprise. Only let Moses be faithful in certain matters that are comparatively little, such as making a prompt return to Egypt, and then delivering his messages, first of all to Israel and afterwards to Pharaoh; and God will take care of all the rest. At the beginning Pharaoh will thunder forth a decided and apparently decisive "No !"-but in spite of all his present resolution, the end will see Israel hurried out of the land by a nation smitten with universal bereavement and terror. And, to make this point clearer still, God gives to Israel the marvellous assurance that Egypt will rush from the one extreme of pitiless extortion to the other of lavish generosity. God would secure to Israel much of its own again, even in the secondary matter of external possessions. The Egyptian wealth that had been gained by oppressing the people would be largely disgorged. They were not to go out as impoverished fugitives, but as bearing the rich spoils of God's own great battle. Thlll:1 does God invite his servant to bear in mind this mighty compelling force. Pharaoh is great a.nd rich a.nd strong, but God is about to do things in the midst of his land which will force him to confess that there is One far greater and far stronger than himself.-Y. Vers. 1-6.-Forty years since, Moses (ii. 11) had " turned aside " from court life in Egypt to see how his brethren the children of Israel fared amid the furnace of trial. The old life seems like a dream, so long ago ; the old language (iv. 10) grown unfamiliar. 'The annual routine ; flocks to be driven to distant pasturage at the approach of summer. God's hour at hand just when least expected. L THE PBOPBETic VISION. When God calls to the prophetic office, there is UBUally some vision or appearance, through which the call ii emphasised and its significance sug• gested. Cf. Is. vi. 1-7; Jer. i.11-13; Ezek. i. 4; Matt. ili.16 to iv. 11; Acts ix. 3-6. So here: 1. The vision. A dry acacia bUJ:1h on fire, not very singular. Wh~t is singular is that the bush seems to flourish amidst the flame I The mystery explained, vere. 2-4. The bW!h is in the midst of the fl.a.me, but the angel of Jehovah is in the mic!Bt of the bush. 2. Jt,a si,gnifa;atn,ce. Israel " a root out of a dry ground." In the furnace of affliction, yet flourishing amid the furnace (cf. i. 12). When Moses had Ofl, III, 1-10.] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 81