The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 228

p~oducod. Go? sent thunder, and hail, and lightning. Even a slight thunder-storm drnturbs the mmd, and what a profound commotion of the soul this unequalled storm must hnve produced. The sound of that thunder, one would think, remained in the ears ?f those who heard it down to their latest hour. As to the lightning, we know more of its causes than did the Egyptians; but all our science will never rob it of its wonder and terror. Franklin has taken away the mystery of it to our intellects, but God has taken care that its power over our hearts should remain. When flash after flash fills the heavens, the most vulgar and sensual of men is awed out of his sordid compofure, at least, for the time, II. CONSIDER THE REMARKABLE DISCRIMINATION OF GoD DI TIDS PLAGUE. 1. The exemption of Goshen from the storm. " Where the children of farael were, there was no hail." This exemption now comes almost a.s a matter of course. (For though Goshen is not mentioned as exempted from the ravages of the locusts, we may fairly conclude that it was exempted.) How clear it thus becomes to those who receive this miracle of the hail in spirit and in truth, that God has complete power over all the order of the sky, sending rain, snow, hail, as it pleases him, gathering the most dreadful of tempests over one district, and leaving another district that skirted it-perhaps even lay inside of it as an inner circle-perfectly secure. In Goshen they heard the thunder, saw the lightning, marked the fall of the bruising hail-stones, but these things touched them not. Here is the oft quoted suave mari magno of Lucretius to perfection. God havinb thus shown here, as elsewhere, his control of the heavens, it is a rational thing enough to supplicate changes of the weather. We are then supplicating for what is quite possible of attainment, even though it might possibly be better in such things to take humbly and trustfully what God may send. 2. But much more notable here than the exemption of Goshen, is the discriminating way in which God treats the Egyptian people. More and more have they been getting the opportunity to discover whence and wherefore these visitations have come on their land. A certain preparation was necessary to give them the power fairly and fully to appreciate the appeal of Jehovah in ver. 19. The very exemptions of Goshen already would have done much to lead them to some perception of the real state of affairs, and all along indeed each wonder had said," He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." There are some who are deaf, even to thunder, and others to whom the still, small voice speaks in the clearest of tones and the plainest of words concerning all truth and duty. Notice with what wisdom God acted in taking a plague of this sort to discriminate among the Egyptians. They had the chance of sheltering themselves from its worst consequences by a timely attention to his warning. The test was effectual as to who feared the word of Jehovah. All that he wanted was that the fear should lead to belief in the prediction, and action corresponding with the belief. When it becomes needful to exempt Goshen, then assuredly it is also just to give right-minded, open-minded, and prudent Egyptians the chance, if not of exemption, at all events, of relief. They are not all Egypt who are of Egypt, as they are not all ~srael who are of Israel. Among the nominal believers there A.re the worst of infidels ; and among the nominal infidels there may be, not, of course, :he best of believers, but those whose germinant faith may grow up into the most abundant and glorious fruit-bearing. Notice how this was the experience of the Apostles; they constantly found faith and unbelief side by side (Acts xiii. 42-45; xiv. 1-4; xvii. 4, 12, 34; xix. 8, 9). Nowhere is this stated more impressively aml antithetically than at the very close of the apostolic story; "Some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not" (Acts xxviii. 24). Men themselves ara continually making preliminary and unconscious separation between the sheep and the goats. JIJ. CONSIDER THE FRESH CONFESSION AND PROMISE WHICH THIS PLAGUE AT LAST EXTORTS FROM PHARAOH. '!'his confession has a very hopeful appearance upon the surface; but then we suddenly remember how hopeless God himself is of any permanent yielding from Pharaoh, any _surr_ender of his entire na!ure._ N ?thing is easier than to say," 1 have sinned;" nothmg 1s harder than to say 1t with nght knowledge of_ what sin is, and deep contrition and humiliation, because of its all-dominating presence_ m the life. Pharaoh uses strong words here, and there is a great appearance of spontaneity and sincerity but God is not deceived; and we only need to look into the words to be very quickly ~udeceivcd our,elves. Indeed, as we examine Pharaoh's utterance, we find that 218 THE BOOh.. OF EXODUS. [en. IX, 13--21.