The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 126

was to refrain from oppressing his son, and if he did not he would be smitten in his own firstborn. (1) As men treat God's children so will Goel treat them. He notes, nnd he will rewarcl, kinclnesses clone to his sons, and be will avenge their wrongs. (2) God's children may safely leave the avenging of their wrongs to Goel. It is not their work, but his, to avenge them; the rule for them is to avenge not themselves, but rather to give place to wrath ; heaping coals of fire on the head of the enemy by returning him good for his evil (Rom. xii. 19-21).-J. 0. Vers. 18-23.-Truefaith and its joy. I. THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH. 1. Note Moses' swift compliance with God's command. He tarried no longer : " He went and re- turned ... and said ... let rr.e go." He does not seek advice. He does not even wait for a convenient opportunity of urging his request. We must wait neither upon time nor men. If God has spoken, we must obey. 2. His wise reticence. Ile said nothing of what he had seen and heard. These experiences are a holy place where the soul meets alone with God. Where this holy place is profaned the soul suffers loss. II. CoNSOLATIONS ABOUND ALONG THE PATHWAY OF OBEDIENT FAIT!l. 1. Moses receives Jethro's permission and blessing. 2. Fears are removed (ver. 19). 3. He passes on with the consciousness of power: he " took the rod of God in his hand." 4. He has the assurance of victory. Pharaoh's heart will be hardened, yet there is one judgment in reserve which will bow that heart to compliance with the will of God (vers. 22, 23). The cause of God cannot be defeated. As we go on in obedience to God's commandment our advance is a continuous discovery of God's goodness. The lions which we saw in the distance are chained, and do not harm us.-U. Vers. 24---31.-The three meetings. I. THE LoRD's MEETING WITII MosEs (vers. 24---26). 1. Moses' sin. (1) Circumcision was the solemnly expressed will of God (Gen. xvii. 9-14). (2) It was enforced by exclusion from the blessings of God's covenant. (3) Preparations 1ad been made for the journey, but the circumcision of Eliezer was not among them. 2. The reason of the omission, weak yielding to the prejudices of his Midianitish wife. 3. His guilt. God looked beyond the sign to that which it signified and partially accomplished-the claiming of the life for himself and righteousness. Moses' disobedience was therefore murder by neglect, and life shall answer for life. The guilt of the unfaithful watchmen in Zion (Ezek. xxx.iii. 7-9); of parents who never seek by instruction and example and prayer to have their children. circumcised with the circumcision of Christ. 4. God will withstand the inconsistent worker. He will permit his work to be done only by the righteous and the faithful. This is seen both in churches and in individuals. II. THE MEETmG OF MosEB AND AARON (vers. 27, 28). 1. Moses had to proceed alone (Ex. :xviii. 2), the type of many who pass to service through loss. 2. God prepares consolation in the desert (Matt. xix. 27-29). 3. The marvels of God's providence. He makes their meeting with each other a meeting with himself. "They met at the mount of'God." 4. Human love hallowed by the Divine love-" And Moses told Aaron," etc. III. THEm MEETWG WITH THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL (vers. 29-31). Where Moses dreaded failure• he meets success. There is more faith waiting to receive God's word than we imagine: souls wait round us like the parched land for the showers.-U. Ver. 19.-The unsolicited removal of a source of great anxiety. God assures Moses th!l.t he has no longer any cause to fear on account of the Egyptian slain forty years before. This last piece of information casts a flood of light on all the hesitation, reluctance, and perplexity which Moses has hitherto shown in his intercourse with Jehovah. It might have made a great deal of difference, if he had only known at the beginning that the men were dead who sought his-life. Not but that Moses was honest enough in all the pleas he had started in order to escape from this mission and responsibility; but, deep under all other considerations, and very potent, even though he had been ashamed to confess it, lay his fear because of the slain Egyptian. He might even have got as far as the expressing of the fear, if God had not brought him sharply up by the kindlina0 of his anger, and made him feel that of two perils it was wise to choose.the lesser. Better run the risk from some Egyptian breathing vengeance than from the visitations of I\Il angry God; and yet, though checked from speaking, he  108 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [011. IV. 18-81