n11.me of the Lord in the manner more fully and 6. Forgiving iniquity and transgreBsion statf'd in 1h~ cnauing venee. and sin-n accumulation for the purpose of Vers. G. 7.-TbeLordpun41.bybllforehim. emphRBis-t.o ll.!l81U'e MOBes, and through him f'T<>d dirl a. h~ h&d promised in eh. nxiii. 22, mankind at large, of the reality of this 2:-1. Ifr made his glor:i· pll!II! by Moses, 88 he attribute, on which the possibility of our stood in a "clift. of the rO<',k," and "covered a&lvation depends, and which had never him with bis hand 88 he pRBsed by," and, when hitherto been eet forth with anything like he had p888ed, "took away bis hand," and such fulnes&. That will by no me11.111 olear allowed Mosei; t.o look aft.er him, and see a the guilty. Some critics take this clause glorious Blld transcendent vision- vision so in an entirely different eense, tre.nalating bright Blld radiant, and 110 real, that the light "wbo in destroying will not wholly de- whir,h streamed from it settled on MOl!e&' face, etroy" (Maimonides, Pool, De Dien, Patrick), and remained there (ver. 30). &114 prool&imecl. or, " who acquits even him who is not inno- In his p886Rge God proclaimed bis name ; not cent" (Gedde&); but the rendering of onr however, as in the burning bush, an actual trRDSlaton (which agrees with the LXX.), is name contained in a single word-bnt a de- approved by Rosenmiiller, Gesenius, Kalisch, scription in many words of his e&BeDtial natnre Keil, and others. It seems t.o have been also the --ii description setting forth especially bis meaning 88Signed to the passage by the pro- t.hree quotlitie6 of mercy, truth, and jllStice, phet Nahum, who quotes it (i. S) when he is but dwelling most upon the first of the three threatening Nineveh. Visiting the iniquity. -perhaps, as most essential, for" God is love" See above, eh. xx. 5. While setting forth his (I John i,·. 6)--00rtainly, as most needing: t.o attribute of mercy in all its fnlness, God will be prominently set forth at the time, when not have his attribute of justice forgotten his favour had been justly forfeited, and but (ver. 8). for his mercv could not have been restored. Ver. 8.-•o-nwle hute and bowed hia Note the accumulation of terms that are nearly head. Worshipping the glory that had paseed ~.vnonymous-1. Merciful (or pitiful); 2. Gra- by, and accepting the gracious words addressed cious ; 8. Long-suffering ; 4. Abund&nt in to him goodness ; 5. Keeping mercy for thoWIRDds :
HOMILETICS. Vers. 6, 7.-TJie second yroclamatwn of Gotis name.-God had proclaimed his name to Moses, when he spoke with him out of the burning bush. He had declared it to be JEHOVAH," the Self-Existent One." Under this name the people of Israel had known him from the time of Moses' return to Egypt from Midian, until that of which he is here speaking. Hitherto it had sufficed for them. It had marked him as, 1. eternal; 2. uncaused.; 3. unconditioned; 4. self-sufficient; 5. all-powerful But it had not revealed his moral nature. Something of that had always been known to man. Something more had become known to Israel through the law already given from Sinai. But in their present state of sorrow and depression (eh. xxxii.i. 4-6) something further was needed. God &eeordingly •• proclaimed his name" afresh. Of this seconii proclamation we may not.e- 1 TB.AT IT CANCEUI NOTHING, BUT .ADDS. The :first words of the name are "Jihauah, Jehovah El," or "the Self-Existent, the Self-Existent God." What had been revealed before is con.firmed; nay, is still put in the fore-front, II.'! the proper foundation of all the rest. For a true knowledge of God, we must, first and furemost, have the con- viction that there is a self-existent being, eternal, uncaused, the cause of all things, and therefore of our own existence, on whom we are absolutely dependent. It follows, after this, to inquire and learn the moral character of this Eternal One. II. TH.AT IT SETS FORTH GoD AS, A.BOVE ALL THINGS, MEBCIFUL. The Jewish commentators make out thirteen epithets of God in these two verses, and say that all but one ere epithets of mercy. This seems to be an overstatement of the actual fact, that the epithets of mercy form a large n";Inerica.l majority. They are 1. Rakhum, " tbe tender or pitiful one," who is full of kindness and compassion; 2. Khannun, "the graciow; one," -who bestows ~ benefi~ out _of mere f~vour, without obligation. 3. Erek appayim, u the long-suffermg one,' "'.ho lS no,~ ea.s~y provoked, but "su!fer5 Jong and is kind"; 4. Brib-kl,esed, "the great m mercy which needs no explanat10n; ;,, .Notser-lchesed, "the keeper of mercy," he who doe~ not desert those he loves, but is merciful io them and their children, from generation to generation; 6. Nose 'avon va1,uha vcklt0.ttadh, "the fqrgi,·er of iniquity and transgression and sin "-the being who UII. XXXIV, 6-8.] TUR: BOOK OF EXODUS. 3G5
l\lone_ cl\n fo~gi~e sin 1t~d give pe1tce to t_he gnilty soul. Moses did well to make ap[lf'al to tins descnpt10n of himself by God himself, when Israel he.d. a second time provoker! God to destroy them (Num. xiv. 17, 18). We shall do well to make our appeal to the same, whenever we have offended our Lord and Master by our faults and shortcoming~, onr "sins, negligences, e.nd ignorances." Conjured by this " name," God cnn scarcely refuse to reply, as he replied to Moses, "I have pardoned accordina0 to thy wont·" (Num. xiv. 20). III. THAT IT FURTHER BETB HIM FORTH AB JUBT AND TRUE. God gives it as pa.rt of hie name, that he "will by no means clear the guilty," or rather perhaps that he will not "always" do BO (Kalisch). There is some guilt that he will not, cannot pardon. "There is a sin 11I1to death-I do not say that a. ma.n sha.ll pra.y for it" (1 John v. 16). Unrepented sin ce.nnot be forgiven. "Blasphemy age.inst the Holy Ghost" cannot be forgiven. God's justice is an essential pa.rt of his nature, no less than his mercy; and is perhaps, as has been argued, a necessary consequence of his love.• Again, God is true-" a.b11I1dant in truth" (ver. 6). There ca.n be no trust in any being who is not true. Truth lies at the root of all mora.l goodness; and the truth of God is pre-supposed in a.ny revea.led religion, since without it revelation could ha.ve no force or value. Further, both in the Old a.nd the New Testament, God reveals himself as "true," or sometimes as "the truth." "Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds" (Ps. cviii. 4). "The truth of the Lord endureth for ever" (ib. cxvii. 2). "God is true." "I am the truth." lt is essentia.1 to a. right conception of him tha.t we should believe in his absolute veracity. If we " ma.ke him a. liar,'' we ruin our whole idea. of him. We might as well make him non-existent.