The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 229

by a most effective contrast it shows us bow to dieeem the elements or an adequate and acceptable confession of sin. 1. Such a confessi<>n mmt have referenc8 to a permanent state of the chara.cter. Sin is not a mere outward act, so that a man may sometimes be ~inning, and sometimes not sinning. "l have sinned this time." This time! '!'hero you ha,·e the m11.rk of a mere lip acknowledgment; of one who confounds the mere selfish dangers and discomforts that grow out of sin with sin itself. The right confession therefore, is the word of one who has come to a knowledge of the deep and nccureed fount.ain within, of those reservoirs in the thoughts and intents of the heart whence all particular :ictions flow. He who rightly confesses knows that it is a life that needs to be cleansed, and not a mere limb that needs to be amputated. 2. It must be absorbingly pers011a.l. It must occupy in the most imperative fashion all the individual consciousness. If there is any time when, as one may say, it is a man's duty to look on his own things, and not the things of others, it is when he is labouring to get the proper conviction of sin. He is not to lose himself in the crowd ; he is to stand out before his own mind's eye-self so unspa.ringly revealed to self-that nothing less will d.o to say than," I am the chief of sinners." For not till a man knows what it is to be the chief of sinners is he in the way of discovering what it is to be the chief of saints. " 1 and my people are wicked." says Pharaoh. It was a false unity ; a claim of unity dictat.ed even by pride, for he had become incapable of thinking of bis people apart from himself. He calls them one in wickedness, when they were not one; for tome had this possibility of goodness at least, that they feared Jehovah enough to follow his counsels (ver. 20). And later, when the mixed multitude went out with Israel ( eh. xii. 38), what then became of the boast, "I and my people" ? 3. It must desire the removal of sin itse/,f; of the guilty conscience, the depraved imagination, the unbrotherly and unneighbourly feelings, the intellect darkened with ignorance and error. Above all, it will desire to have the life reconciled, filial, and serviceable towards God. What is the avoidance of physical suffering and loss, compared with the sweeping away of far more intimate elements of misery? Only when there are such desires in the heart will the word •• I have sinned" operate to secure an immediate reversal of the life. Israel said "we have sinned." when they had rebelled against Jehovah because of the distasteful report of the spies. What their confession was worth is seen in the immediate sequel (Num. xiv. 40---45). Balaam said to the angel in the way," I have sinned," but for all that he did not turn back ; he was only too glad to go forward and work for the wages of unrighteousness (Num. x:x.ii. 34). 4. It must be a confession to Goa him.self, and not a mere talk to others about God being righteous. All that Pharaoh wanted was to have Moses entreat for the withdrawal of present suffering. The acknowle~ament, such as it was, was to Moses and not to Jehovah. Now confessions of this sort are useless. The thing wanted ii;, not a supplication to possible intercel!Bors, but to the Holy One on high, seen through and above the mediating agent. It is not enough to be brought to a knowledge of Jesus as saving from sin; indeed we may only be deluding ourselves with mere words, except as we gain that glorious part of the salvation which consists in the knowledge of him whom Jesus himself knew so well, o.nd desired. with such earnest desire, to reveal to his disciples also.-Y. Vers. 1~21. Mercy in Jwlgment.-1. Goo's PURPOSE IN DEALING WITH THE WICKED BY ClliBTIBEMENT .um NOT JIY JUDGMENT (1~16). God might have desolated the land. and let Israel pass unquestioned through the midst of it. But in Pharaoh and his people the Lord would, by foretold, continued. deepening chastisements, reveal t~e terror and resistlessness of bis power. He would make the heart of the oppressor qu~ in every age and nation, and stir up the oppressed to hope and prayer. But for this prolonged contest with Pharaoh we should have lacked much that has gone to deepen holy fear of God and trust in him. II. How Goo LEADS UF THE WEAKEST FAlTH INTO STRENGTH (20, 21). 1. "'.'aming was given, and those who had merely faith e!1ough to believe that God's word might be kept had time to save their eervants and theu cattle. 2. In the after contrast between the~lves and those who had despised the warning, faith would spring up into full assurance. The trw;t we give to God, like the seed we cast into the soil, is given back to us an hundredfold. How God answers the ,-rayer, "Lord increase our faith."-U. en. IX. 27-35.] THE BOOK OF EXCDUS. :n:.,