Moses. The so-called ff traditions "are worth- Ver. 23.-Thon 1h11lt see my baok part8 fo!III; and we can only eay t.hat the Beane WllB Literally, " my back." The nnthroporw,r- probably some portion of the upper part of the phisms of the passage ure numerous and stron" Ras Sufeafeh. -they must, of courso, he rngarde,I ,L~ ,u,eo111~ Ver. 22.-1 will put thee In a. olift of the modations to human idell8. After the Divin~ rook. Tho "clift" hos been identified with Presence had pll88ed by, Moses wus to he per- the ff cave of Elijah" (1 Kings xix. 9); but mitted to look out, and woul<I see so much ,,f the words need are different; and even were the Divine glory llB he would be able to bear ; they the same, no identity could be established. but still something far short of that which he H is rather in the broader lines of their mis- had desired to see. The explanation that sions and characters that resemblance is to be "the be.ck of God" menus "his works--the sought between Moses and Elijah than in the consequences of hie e.ctivity" (Kalisch) is fan- minuter details of their careers. Cover thee ciful, and not borne out by the con text. lly with my ha.nd---i.e., "at once conceo.l thee faoe oa.nnot be seen. See above, ver. 20 ; and and protect thee." Without these precautions, compare John i. 18; vi. 46; 1 Tim. i. 17; it is implied, the nearness of the Divine Pre- I John iv. 12. sence might have had injurious effects.
HOMILETICS. Ver. 18.-The craving/or close communion with God, may be considered- I. .As BASED ON A NATURAL INSTINCT. Man without God-without the conscious- ness of being sustained and upheld by an eternal omnipotent being-can have no strength or confidence in the present, no hope in the future. He is a feeble part of the vast mechanism of a great incomprehensible universe-a form which matter has assumed for a time-powerless to shape his future-the sport of circumstance. From this his better nature revolts, and, like some marine organism, throws out tentacles to seek a hold on some firm solid object without him. God is the only such object truly firm and stable ; and hence man may be said to have'\ natural desire for God. .As soon as the idea of God is in any way brought before him, he feels that it exactly answers an instinc- tive craving of his nature. His soul goes out to it-seizes it-appropriates it-rests on it as a sure prop and stay. Intellectually, the idea clears up the riddle of the universe; morally, gives a firm foundation to right and wrong, explains the authority of con- 5cience, and supplies a motive for virtue; even physically it has a value, reducing the infinitude of nature within limits, and furnishing a reasonable OI¾ain to nature's laws. II. As A TEST OF sPmITUALITY. Man needs the idea of God. and cannot be satisfied without it; but whether, having got it, he shall thrust it into the background., or ever more and more cling to it, and seek to realise it, depends on his spiritual condition_ Adam and Eve, after they had sinned, " hid themselves from the presence of God amongst the trees of the garden" (Gen. iii. 8). The Gergesenes "besought Christ that he would depart out of their coasts" (Matt. viii. 34). The guilty conscience cannot bear the near presence of the Most High, shrinks from the keen inspection of the all-seeing Eye, would fain sk:ul.k and hide amcng the bushes. The worldly heart is indifferent to the thought of God-turns away from it in the present-reserves it for a more con- venient season. Only the spiritually minded delight in dwelling on the thought of God -seek him constantly-crave for communion with him. Only they can say with sin- cerity-" As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God" (Ps. -tlii.1, 2). They, however, can, and do say this continually. And the more communion they obtain, the more they desire. It is after Moses had entered into the cloud, and "spoken with God face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (ver. 11), that he beseeches him to "show him his glory." We cannot while on earth obtain the/ull communion for which our spiritual nature craves. We cannot therefore while on earth be satisfied, but must ever be craving for something more, ever crying-" Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!" Only in heaven, if we be found worthy, shall we "see face to face, and know as we are known" (1 Cor. xiii. 12). Ver. 22.-0lijts in the rock. God has ma.ny places of safety-" clifts in the rock"- where h-1 puts us when trials approach. " As our day is, so is our strength." Bereave-- ruent comes upon us, and he elevates us on a pinnacle of faith to which we had never ~ _\ ~ THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [oR. xnm. 18-23.
hll~ore mounted. Poverty e.nd diegre.ce fe.11 on ue, e.nd be gives ue insensibility to them. Pam comes, e.nd he enables ue to !lee that pain is exe.ctly the che.stening we we.nt, 1md ~o thank him for it. We do not cry out, with the Stoic, "How sweet I" for" no chl\Sten- 1~ _for the present eeemeth to be joyous, but grievous" (Reb. xii. 11); yet we have tho ~pintual strength to cry out to him-" How kind I How gracious I" The bost " clift in !he rook," is the.t cleft in the" Rock of Agee," which the BOldier'e spear made, wherein, 1f we pleue, we may lie hidden from every danger that ca.n assa.il us. " Rook of Agee, cleft for me, Let me bide myself in thee I "