HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 23----31.-.The O'IJerthrow of the EgyptianB. "The Egyptians pursued, and wenl in aaer them to the midst of the sea," etc. On this observe:- L THE INFATUATION OF THE PURSUERS (ver. 23). We do not speak of the lesson~ they had alread,y received as to the folly of contending with Jehovah. Tht> plagues were past. The memory of them had been cast behind their backs. What we ~o wonder at is, that when the Egyptians reached the shore, and saw there what they did see, they were not deterred from proceeding further. What did they see? 1. They saw the sea divided. They could h.1.rdly mistake this for a merely natural phenomenon. The place where the Israelites crossed may have been, under special conditions, and to a limited extent, fordable. But it is safe to say that the division now effected was one .;he like of which had never been heard of before, and such as, occurring at this particular juncture, ought to have convinced the Egyptians that it was a result of God's ~p~cial Providence, and intended for the protection of the Israelites. Special int.erpos1t1onR, on behalf of the Church, ought to arrest the attention of her enemies, 2, They aaw Ille OD, XIV, 23-25.) 'rHE llOOK OF EXODUS. an
,loud that went with Israel move to the rear, obviously with the desi"ll of interceptina thoir pursuit (vers. 19, 20), This, with tho ominous darkness which" enveloped t,hei: was a second circumstance which ought to have warned them that Jehovah was fi"ht: Ing for his people. 3. 'l'here was the danger, which could 11at but present itBelj to them, of bei11g overwhelmed by the returning sea, In whatever way the division of the waters was conceived of, whether as a natural phenomenon, or as a fact of supernatural ori2;in, it was plainly a perilous experiment to attempt the pursuit. Viewing it as the resul, of an ebb-tide, aided by a strong east wind, there was the risk of being caught by th~ returning tide; or if the wind abated, or changed its direction, of being immediately submerged. In tho other case there was the clanger, almost the certainty, of the super- natuml power which restrained the waters permitting them to flow back on the pur- suers. What infatuation, then, possessed the Egyptians, prompting them to enter the sea? (1) A false sense of honour. Having engaged in the pursuit, it would be deemed a point of honour not to desist from it, so long as the faintest chance of succes1 remained. They had gone too far to retreat now at the water's edge. (2) Rage. Fury and disappointment would possess them, as, in the very hour of their fancied triumph, th~y saw their prey thus elude them. Was Pharaoh and his mighty ho~t to be thus mocked and set at nought-thus suddenly reined up and ha.filed? What would ~:gypt think of her warriors, if, setting out on such an expedition, they returned humiliated and empty- handed? At all hazards Israel must be pursued. (3) There was the charcce ,,f getting through. The distance was short; the way lay open; if Israel had got a.cross, so might the Egyptians. On this chance, in the spirit of the gambler, they would stake every- thing. What havoc have these same motives-a false sense of honour (cf. Matt. xiv. 9), a spirit of unca.lculating rage, the headstrong gambling disposition,-played in the his- tory of the world! 'l'ogeth1:r, or apart, they account for much of its infatuation. See specially in this conduct of Pharaoh, a picture of the infatuatir,n to which the enemies of Christ's Church have so frequently been given over, and which will linger among them till the end. Compare e.g. the Apocalyptic gathering of the antichristian powers, to do battle with the Lamb (Rev. xvi. 14-17; xix. 11-21). II. THE RECEPTION WHICH 'l'HEY RECEIVED FROM Goo. 1. In " the morning watch," and when the Egyptians were in "the midst of the sea," God looked forth upon them from the pillar of cloud (ver. 23). The expression is a. pregnant one. The look was a "fire-look "-some fire-appearance of a startling kind which issued from the cloud, and shed terror over the pursuers. It was accompanied with thunilerings and light- nings (Ps. lxxvii. 18, 19). God's looks are potent. 'iVhen God "looked" on Israel (eh. ii. 25), it meant that he was about to bring salvation to them. When he "looked" on the Egyptians, it was the prelude to their destruction, Through that pillar glares forth an eye which sends a separate dismay into each Egyptian beast and all is felt to be lost. We find two imitations of this in modern poetry-one by Coleridge, in his 'Ode on the Departir.g Year,' where he prays God to--
" Open his eye of fire from some uncerta.io. cloud,"
and another (by Southey) in the 'Curse of Keba.ma,' where, nfter the' Man Almighty,' holding his Amreeta. Cup, had exclaimed- " Now, Seeva, look to thine abode!"
it 1s adcled, when the cup is drunk- " Then Seeva open'd on the accurse,\ one His eye of anger-upon him a.lone The wrath beam fell. He shudders, but too late." (Gilfillan.) 2. God troubled their hosts (vers. 24, 25). There is me11nt by this some supernatural exertion of power. It was not due to natural causes alone that the chariot wheels were "taken off," and that they drave heavily. It was God who, by his heavy hand upon them, was thus obstructing their progress. The invisible powers were fighting a.gains, the Egyptians, as "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera" (Jud. v. 20). S18 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [on. xv. 1---21.