When he ahall let you go, he ahall aurely were to " v.ut them on their sons 11ud on their thrust you out altogether. The Hebrew "·ill daughters, ' it is clce.r that personal oruBJllcnte not bear this rendering. It runs distinctly are especially meant. thru,-" V'i"hen he she.ll let yon go altogether, Ver. 3.-And the Lord gan the people he will assuredly thrust yon out hence " As favonr-i.e. When the timo CeJne. See below Canon Cook notes, "the mee.ning is-'l\·hen at eh. xii. 86. Moreover the man Moses, etc'. lest he lets you depart, with children, flocks, It has been supposed that this is e.n intcrpol11- herds. and all your poss,~ions, be will compel t10n, e.nd argued that Moses, being so " meek·• you to depart in haste (Spealrer's Oommen- as he was (Num. xii. 3), would not h11ve t.ary, vol. i. p. 290). It has been well noticed spoken of himself in the terms here used. But b, the same 'I\Titer the.t both this e.nnounce- very great here only means " very influen- nient, and the prenous relentings of Pharaoh, tial ; " and the fact is stated, not to glorify would have caused Moses to h1we prepa.rn.tions Moses, but to account for the ornaments being made. and to bold the Israelites in readiness ~o genero.lly given. Moreov_er, it is highly for a' start upon their journey almost at any rmprobable that any other writer than himself moment. No doubt a most careful and elabo- would have so baldly e.nd bluntly designated rate organization of the people must have been Moses llS the man Moses, (Compare Dent. necessary ; but there had been abundant time xxxiii. l; xxxiv. 5; Josh. i. 1, 13, 15; xiv, for such arre.ngemenm during the twelvemonth 6, 7 ; xxii. 2, 4 ; etc.) The " greatness " that had elapsed since the return of Moses which Moses had now atte.ined was due to the from Midian. powers which he had shown. First of all, he Ver. 2.-Every man ... every woman. In had confounded the magicians ( eh. viii. 18, eh. iii. 22 only women had been mentioned. 19) ; then he had so far impressed the cour- Now the terms of the direction were enlarged. tiers that a number of them took advantage of It is worthy of notice that gold and silver one of his warnings and thereby saved their omamenm-ear-rings, collars, armlem, brace- cattle a.nd slaves ( eh. ix. 20). Finally, he had lem, and anklets, were worn almost as much forced the entire Court to acknowledge that it by the Egyptian men of the Rameside period lay in his power to destroy or save Egypt as by the women. Borrow. On this faulty ( eh. x. 7). He had after that pe.rleyed with 1 translation, see the comment on eh. iii· 22. the king very much as an equal (ib. 8-11; lewela. Literally, "articles." The word is 16-18). It is no wonder that the Egyptians, one of a very wide meaning, and might in- who regarded their king as a "great god," clude drinking-cups and other vessels ; but were deeply impressed. from the statement in eh. iii. 22, that they
HOMILETICS Vers. 1-3.-Crises l,ring oot men's characters, and cause them to be prope1'ly apprecuzted. It is evident that, as the crisis approached, Pharaoh sank in the estimation of his subjects, while Moses rose. Pharaoh showed himself changeable, faithless, careless of his subjects' good, rude, violent. He was about to show himself ready to rush from one extreme into the other (ver. 1), and to "thrust out" the people whom he had so long detained. 'l'he conduct of Moses had been consistent, dignified, patriotic, bold, and coura(Teous. He had come to be regarded by the Egyptians as "very great," and the c-0nd;ct of the Israelite people had also obtained approval. Their patience, fortitude, submission to their leaders, and quiet endurance of suffering, had won upon the F.gypti:ms, and caused them to be regarded with favour. So it is generally in crises. l, CnISES BRING OUT THE CllARACTEBS OF THE BAD, INTENBIFYCiG TREIB DEFECTS, Under the pressure of circumstances obstinacy becomes infatuation, indifference to human suffering develops into active cruelty, self-conceit into overbearing presumption, ill-temper into violence. At the near approach of danger the rash grow reckless, the timid cowardly, the hesitating wholly unstable, the selfish utterly egoist. In quiet times defects escape notice, which become palpable when a man is in difficulties. Many a king has reiroed with credit till a crisis ea.me, and then lost all his reputation, because his chll.racte; could not bear the strain put upon it. Such times are like bursts of hot weather, under which" ill weeds grow apace." Il. THE CHARACTERS OF THE BETTER SORT 01' MEN ARE ELEVATED AND IMPROVED UNDER CRISES. All the higher powers of the mind, all the nobler elements of the moral character, are brought into play by crises, and through_ their exercise s~rengthened and developed. Promptitude, resolution, boldness, trust in God, come with the call for them; and the discioline of a year under such circumstances does the work of twenty, en. xr. 1-4.] THE BOuK OF EXODUS. 2-17
'l'ho Moses of cha. x. xi. is a very diITerent man from the Moses of eh. iii. He is firm resoluto, self-reliant, may we not add, eloquent? No wonder that he was" very great" i~ tho eyes both of tho great officers of Pharaoh's court and of the people. Ho had with- stood and baffied the magicians; he had withstood Pharaoh; he had never blenched nor . wavered; he bad never lost his temper. With a calm, equable, unfailing pors1stence, ho had gone on preferring the same demand, threatening punishments if it wore not grantedJ_inflicting them, removing them on the slightest show of repentance nnd relenting. J:ie had thus won the respect both of the Court and of the common people, as much ns Pharaoh had lost it, and was now generally looked up to and regarded with feelings of admiration and approval. So the true character of the Christian minister is often brought out, tested, and recognised in times of severe trial and calamity, in a siege, a famine, a pestilence, a strike; and a respect is won, which twenty years of ordinary quiet work would not have elicited. Let ministers see to it, that they make the most of such occasions, not for their own honour, but for God's.