character, or aspC'ct. of character, <lcnotcd by the tiUe, Jehovl\h would seem to have been a title of Go<l before the time ;if Moses; but to him, au<l to the Israelites through him, was first revealed that aspect of the Divine character which explained and justified the title. Notice- I. O:r,.: MAY KNOW Goo "'lTHOUT KNOWING ALL AllOUT HIM. Abraham, Isanc, and Jacob certainly !me"' God. They believed in him as an Almighty ltuler--ono who was ruling them, and who would fulfil his promise to them. llis power and his trustworthi- ness were the characteristics they most relied on. Their faith centred in his name El- Shaddai, and as a living practical faith it tended to secure the righteousness for which --as seed for fruit-it ·was reckoned. [lllu.~tration :--Certain medicines, in earlior years, were trusted and used successfully to produce certain effects; yet other uses remained unkno,m until Jong afterwards.] God was trusted by the patriarchs to the extent of their then knowledge., though they knew nothing of other characteristics which were to be afterwards revealed. II. "WE MAY KNOW Goo 1:n.'DER DIFFERENT ASPECTS, AND YET KNOW THE SAME Goo. No doubt the revelation of a new name, the fixing of the attention upon a new aspect of the Di,-ine character, must have been, at first, romewhat startling to those who held by the old ~raditions. Those taught to believe in El-Shaddai may have held the new believers in Jehovah unorthodox. Yet both, in so far as their belief was genuine, knew and trusted the same God. Jehovah was El-Shaddai only viewed from a new standpoint. 'l'here was no contradiction between the two names--0ne God owned both, III. \IVE MAY EXPECT AS THE OLD ORDER CHANGES TO VIEW Goo UNDER OTHER THAN THE OLD CONDITIONS. The new revelation resulted from new conditions. The old order having changed, a new standpoint was necessitated, whence God must be viewed under a new aspect. [ fllustration :-The properties of a medicine are-discovered little by little, as new diseases cause it to be applied in different ways.] New conditions must result in new disco~eries as to the " properties " of God. .Applicaticm :-God is one,' Truth is one; yet God and Truth are many-sided-we see them differently according to the position which we occupy. Some people are in a great hurry to denounce all novelty as heresy; but novelty may mean nothing more than a new point of view, whereas heresy results from distorted vision; it sees wrongly, through personal idiosyncrasy, that which, from the same standpoint, is seen clearly by the clear- cyed. IV e do well to suspect ourselves when our conclusions differ from those of others. We may test such conclusions in two ways :-1. What are the conditions under which they have been arrived at? If the conditions have changed, we may expect the conclu- sions to be different. 2. Do they contradict old beliefs? If so, they should be suspected ---or, Do they merely embrace them within a wider faith? If so, they may_ sufficiently justify themselves. We may expect new revelations, but we must not hurnedly accept novelties. New names will be made known, but they are never really inconsistent with the old.-G.
EXPOSITION. Ver. 9.-Hope deferred mak.eth the heart Ver. 9. -Anguish of spirit. Literally, sick. The Israelites, who had expected a "shortness." Compare Job xxi. 4. Their speedy deliverance, and found themselves only spirit was shortened-they had lost all heart, as we 6/l.Y, so cruel had been their disappoint- the more down-trodden for Moses' interfer- ment. The contrast between their feelings enc.e, were too much dispirited to be cheered now, and when Moses first addressed them even by the gracious promises and assurances (eh. iv. 31), is strong, but "fully accounted which Moses ww; commi.ssioned t.o give. They for by the change of circumst.a.nces ",(Cook). had no longer any trust in one who they Cruel bondage. Bondage, i.e., far more op- pressive and continuous than it had been thought had deceived them. He was a (eh. v. 9-14). The Samaritan version adds: dreamer, a visionary, if no worse. They did " And they se.id to him, Let us alone, and let not intend hearkening t.o him any more. "An- u. serve the Egyptians ; for it is better for us guish of spirit " possessed their souls, and to serve the Egyptians than die in a wilder- "cruel bondage" cl.e.imed their bodies, day ness," an addition which receives sonic sup- port from eh. xiv. 12 after day. They had not even the time, had they had the will, to hee.rkei: CD, VI, 9,) THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 14-7
HOMILETICS. Ver. 9.-Spiritual deadness.prorluced by extreme physical need. It is the worst result of long-continued oppression that it brings Hs victims into a state of apathy. Servile insurrections are rare-servile wars all but unknown. Slavery so crushes men, so brutalises, so deadens them, that they lose all heart, all spirit, all hope, almost all feeling. Defenders of slavery call the proper objects of the "institution" live machines; anc\ "live machines" is exactly what it tends to make them. What is to stir a mass sc sluggish and inert that it vegetates rather than lives? Not the name of God (ver. 3). It falls on closed ears-it has no meaning to them, conveys no idea, arouses no thought. Not the mention of a covenant (vers. 4, 5). They cannot realise so complex a notion- cannot understand what the word means. Not promises (vers. 6--8). A promise has no power unless embraced by faith; and the down-trodden have no faith, either in them- selves or in others. So the most stirring appeals are made in vain-the brightest hopes and prospects presented to no purpose. And as with oppression, so with all extreme depression and destitution. Hopeless poverty, constant battle with the wolf at the door continual striving to keep off starvation from themselves, .their wives, and children, reduces a population to a condition in which it becomes dead to spiritual things, and not only appears to be, but is, UDimpressible. It is so occupied with the cares of this life that it has no thought for another. It has bid farewell to hope, and with hope to fear. It is reckless. The preacher can do nothing with it until he has changed the physical conditions of its existence. He must first address himself to the people's physical wants. Let these be provided for, let the struggle for existence slacken, let hope dawn on the despairing souls, and all will at once be different. As the UDbound earth opens to receive seed at the genial breath of spring, so these torpid souls may be brought to take in the ~ed of life, by having their bodies warmed and clothed and cared for.