The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 241

mnn (on eh. vii. 3). Phamoh is e.n illustration of.this. He wa.s unboundedly proud; and "pride," so.ys Millier, " is the basest and most glaring form that ·selfishness can assume." It is an egoistic sin; e. sin of the· will more than ,of the aaffections; a sin rooted In the centre of the personality. But Pharaoh wa.~ more ·than proud; he was God-defying. He had consciously and wilfully hardened himself against the Almighty, under most terrible displays of his omnipotence.. •. Driven to bay in such a contest, it was not to be expected that he would be much influenced by the thought of the suffering ho was bringing upon others. Egypt might be destroyed, but Pharaoh reeked. little of that, or, possibly, still tried to persuade himself that the worst might be averted. 'l'he remonstrance of his courtiers produced a momentary wavering, but defiance breaks out again in ver. 10 in stronger terms than ever. II. A RENEWED ATTEMPT AT COMPROMISE (vers. 8--12). Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and asks who they are that are to go to sacrifice (ver. 8): the reply was decisive; "we will go with our young and with our old," etc. (ver. 9). At this Pharaoh is transported with ungovernable rage. He accuses the Hebrew brothers of desiring t0 take an evil advantage of his permission, and practically challenges Jehovah to do his worst against him (ver. 10). He will consent to the men going to serve the Lord, but to nothing more (ver.11). Moses and Aaron were then" driven" from his.presence. We are reminded here of the transports of Saul, and his malicious rage at David (1 Sam. xix.). Notice on this, 1. Wicked men distrust God. Pharaoh had no reason to question J ehovah's sincerity. God had proved his sincerity by his previous dealings with him. And had God actually demanded-what ultimately would have been required-the entire departure of the people from the land, what right had he, their oppressor, to object? 2. Wicked men would fain compound with God. They will give up something, if God will let them retain the rest. '!'here is a sweetness to a proud nature in being able to get even part of its own way. 3. The thing wicked men will not do is to concede the whole demand which God makes on them. What God requires supremely is the surrender of the will, and this the recalcitrant heart will not stoop to yield. Part it will surrender, but not the whole. Outward vices, pleasures, worldly possessions, friendships, these, at a pinch, may be given up; but not the heart's love and obedience, which is the thing chiefly asked for; not the " little ones" of the heart's secret sins, or the " flocks and herds" for the pure inward sacrifice (see Pusey on Micah vi. 6-9). III. THE LOCUST JUDGMEN'l' (ver. 12-16). The predicted plague was accordingly brought upon the land. It was the second of what we may call the greater plagues- the plagues that were to be laid upon the king's "heart" (eh. ix. 14). They were plagues of a character to appal and ove1·whelm; to lay hold of the nature on the side on which it is susceptible of impressions from the awful and terrific; to awaken into intense activity its slumbering sense of the infinite; to rouse in the soul the apprehension of present Deity.. The first was the plague of hail, thunderings, and lightnings; the second was this plague of locusts. 'l'he points on which stress is laid in this second pla,,aue are- 1. 'l'he supernatural character of the visitation. 2. 'l'he appalling numbers of the enemy. 3. 'l'he havoc wrought by them. We may- compare the language here with the description of the locusts in Joel ii., and it may be concluded that·. the effects described as following from the latter visitation were more than paralleled by the terror and anguish created by the descent of this scourge on Egypt. "Before their face the people would be much pained ; all faces would gather blackness" (Joel ii. 6). It would seem as if the earth quaked before them; as if the heavens trembled; ·as if sun and moon had become dark, and the stars had withdrawn their shining (ver. 10) ! The devastation was rapid and complete. "The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness" (ver. 3). Had the plague not speedily been removed Egypt verily would have been,,_destroyed. How mighty is Jehovah I How universal his empire I These locusts were brought from afar (ver. 13). All agents in nature serve him; winds (east and west), locusts (cf. Joel ii. 11), as well as hail and thunder, He has but to speak the word, and all we have will ·be taken from us (ver. 15). IV. PHARAOH'B PITIABLE PLiaHT AND FURTHER HARDENING (vers. 16-21). 'What we have here is e. specimen of one of those violent contrasts in Pharaoh's later moods to which reference has been made above. Nothing could bo more humiliating, more abject, more truly painful, in its self-effaccruent than this new appeal of the king to Mose~. 232 THE DOOK OF EXODUS. [co, x.1-20