mflrkod it !\8 the first of a new order of plagues-was, 4. Its combina/Jion of terror with snblimity, its power to appal as well as to punish. A last attempt was to be made to brc~k down the opposition of the monarch by displays of God's majest7 and omnipotence which should shake his very heart (ver. 14). Instead of frogs, lice, flies, pestilence and boils on man and heBBt, Pharaoh was now to be made to hear "voices of God" in'. the thunder (var. 28, Heh.); was to see dreadful lightnings, masses of fire, descending from the sky, and rolling in balls of fire along the ground (ver. 23); was to witness his land smitten with terrific hail "very grievous," the like of which had never been seen in Egypt" since it became o. nation" (ver. 24). A thunderstorm is at all times terrible, and when very severe, inspires an awe which few natures can resist. Accompanied by preternatural terrors, its effect would be simply overwhelming. This was the intention here. The strokes of God were to go to the king's heart. They were to convince him that there was" none like Jehovah in all the earth" (ver. 14). They were to be plagues, as Calvin says, "that would not only strike the head and arms, but penetrate the very heart, and inflict a mortal wound." The thunder is introduced as being " the mightiest manifestation of the omnipotence of God, which speaks therein to men (Rev. x. 3, 4), and warns them of the terrors of jud,,"lllent" (Keil). On the peculiar effect of the thunderstorm in awakening the religious nature, see a paper on "God in Nature and History," Expositor, March, 1881. To the superstitious minds of the heathen these unexampled terrors would seem of awful significance. III. 'l'WOFOLD EFFECTS OF WARNINGS (vers. 20, 21). 1. God's judgments, iike his overtures of grace, are seldom wholly ineffectual. If the king was hardened, there were at least some in Egypt who had become alive to the gravity of the situation, "who feared the word of the Lord." Such were to be found even among the servants of Pharaoh, in the palace itself. The preaching of the Gospel, even under the most unpropitious circumstances, will seldom fail of some fruit. There were" certain men " which" clave" to Paul, "and believed" at Athens ; "among the which was Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them" (Acts xvii. 34). There were "saints "---'lniral>ile dictu--even in Nero's palace (Phil. iv. 22). 2. The division of men, in their relation to the Word of God, is a very simple one. There are those who fear and regard it, and there are those who disregard and disobey it. Paul speaks of those to whom Gospel-preaching is a savour of death unto death, and of those to whom it is a savour of life unto life (2 Cor. ii. 16). Between the two classes there is no third. The effects of his own preaching are thus summed. up, "And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not" (Acts xxviii. 24). 3. Faith reveals itself in obedience. He that feared God's word brought in his cattle; he that disregarded it left them in the fields. 4. The wisdom of regarding God, and the folly of disregarding him, were made manifest by the result. IV. PIIARAOH's CAPITULATION (vers. 27, 28). The supernatural concomitants of this appalling visitation so unnerved the king that he was induced again to send for Moses. He did not yield ti-ll the plague was actually on the land, and only then, because he could not help it. The terms in which he makes. his submission show, 1. His undisguised terror. 2. His thorough conviction that he was in the hands of the God of the whole earth. Pharaoh had by this time had a course of instruction in the "evidences," which left no room for further doubt. The most striking feature in his submission, however, is, 3. His confession of sin. "I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked" (ver. 27). It was good that Pharaoh should be brought to see that it was a righteous demand he was resisting, and that he was inexcusable in resisting it. This much at least the plagues had forced him to acknowledge, and it gave his hardening a yet graver character when subsequently he retracted his word given. But the superficiality of the repentance is very obvious. "I have sinned this time;" there is here no adequate sense of the sin he had been guilty of. False repentances have their. root in superficial views of sin. They may be produced by terror, under cc,mpulsion ; but they are accompanied by no real change of heart ; and renewed hardening is the only possible outcome of them. ".A.s for thee and thy servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God" (ver. 30). V. JuDGMENT TEMPERED WITH MERCY. God's mercy in connection with this pl~CY\le is conspicuous-I. In giving the warning, so that those who regarded his word had the opportunity of removing their servants and cattle (vers, 20, 21). 2. In spari11g tho l' 2 212 'l'llE BOOK OF EXODUS. [cu. rx. 13-35,
wheat. and rye (verR. 31, 32). 3. In removing the plague at the request of Pharaoh, presented through Moses (vers. 28, 29). VI. H1'.RDENING NOTWITHSTA1''DING. ~- I'har°:°h harde~ed himself (vers. 34, 36). We ask, m surprise, how was such a thmg possible? Pnde, hate, anger obstinacy furnish the explanation, though it is truly difficult to conceive how they could so madden a mind as to make it capable of persevering in a course of resistance. There is the fact, however, and it is full of terrible warning to us. The hardening was obviously now of the most serious possible kind. Pharaoh's nature had been thoroughly awakened. He was no longer sinning in ignorance, but against clear light and conviction. He had confessed his sin, and promised to obey. Hardening, under these circumstances, was as nearly "sin against the Holy Ghost" as was then possible (John ix. 41). 2. His servants hardened themselves (vers. 34). This is a fact which should be well pondered. It might have been thought that only a Pharaoh was capable of such fatuousness. We learn here that there were natures among his servants as susceptible of hardening as his own. We do not need to be Pharaohs to be capable of hardening our hearts against God. Persons in obscure positions can do it as readily as those on the pinnacles of greatness. The king's influence, however, had doubtless much to do with his servants' conduct. They took their cue from their lord. Had he submitted himself, they would have done so also. Because he hardened himself, they must follow suit. ·what folly ! to destroy themselves for the sake of being like a king-of being in the fashion. Learn also the potency of example. Those in high positions have a powerful influence over those dependent upon them. Well for them if they use that influence for God's glory, and not to ruin souls !---J. 0.