MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 10:16-20
A FALSE REPENTANCE
Pharaoh had driven Moses and Aaron from his presence, but now he recalls them in great haste, and with much respect. The day will come when all rebellious souls will be glad to engage the intercessions of the good; even though they may despise them now. Hence the plague of locusts made a great impression upon the king, and he became very anxious for its removal. A False Repentance:—
I. It proceeds from the impulse of the moment, and not from conscientious conviction. This token of repentance was the outcome of impulse. The king was awe-stricken by the plague of locusts, and for the moment was bowed in repentant mood. His confessions of sin were prompted by the feeling of the hour, and would be silenced by the removal of the plague. His repentance was not a matter of deep conviction. His soul felt no agony for sin. It had no vision of an offended God, of a broken law, or of a woful destiny to come. It saw only a temporary retribution. A truly penitent spirit will look through all the pain that occasions its grief to that Being who alone can pardon its sin. Conviction rather than impulse must mark the commencement of a new life, and can alone give it permanent reality. The repentance of impulse is but of short duration.
II. It is marked by selfish terror, and not by a godly sorrow for sin. Pharaoh evinces a slavish dread, and a fear of death. He had no thought about the sin he had committed. He was not filled with genuine sorrow on account of his wilful rejection of the Divine claims. His cries were those of a despairing soul; they were not the utterances of a contrite heart. He felt the force of the retribution that rested upon him. He had no means whereby to escape it. Death was before him. He saw little hope of mercy; in fact, mercy in the true sense of the word he did not seek. And a false repentance has always a large element of terror in it, and that sorrow for sin, which is so true and refreshing, is unknown to it.
III. It craves forgiveness of an immediate offence rather than a thorough cleansing of the heart. Pharaoh sought the forgiveness of his sin this once; he did not ask for the purification of his moral nature. He had spent a long life in sin, he had been guilty of continued opposition to God, and his repentance ought to have had reference to his entire life. But he cared not for the cleansing of his soul, he only wanted the removal of the plague. A false repentance only contemplates the sin that is nearest the trouble that has come upon the sinner, and which seems to have brought it. It does not imagine that the cleansing of the heart is the first condition of freedom from retribution. One plague may be removed, but if the soul is unchanged in its mood, another will succeed it. The heart must be pure before the plague will cease, before heaven will smile upon the soul.
IV. It confides in the intercession of a fellow-mortal rather than in the personal humbling of the soul before God. Pharaoh asked Moses to pray for him, but was not much inclined to pray for himself. False repentance always substitutes the petitions of others for its own pleadings with the Almighty. It has more faith in the supplications of the good than in its own selfish prayers. In the work of repentance the soul must be intensely personal. It must think for itself. It must feel for itself. It must pray for itself. The ministers of God may direct and aid a soul in the hour of sorrow for sin, but beyond this they are useless. The soul must come direct to God if it seeks mercy. Christ is the only mediator. A human priest usurps the Divine prerogative.
V. It regards God more as a terrible Deity whose wrath is to be appeased, than as the Infinite Father whose love is better than life. Pharaoh regarded the great God as a Despot whose wrath he had awakened, and whose retribution he had invited. He saw the Divine character through the medium of retribution. He beheld not the mercy of the Infinite. A false repentance always has wrong notions of the character and government of God. It sees the tyrant where it ought to see the Father. It sees the despot where it ought to see the Judge.
VI. It expresses a promise of amendment which is falsified by previous dissemblings. A false repentance is always loud in its promises of reformation, which are generally falsified by the subsequent conduct of the sinner. Some men have appeared penitent so often that it is difficult to know when their sorrow is real and whether it is likely to be abiding. Repentance is such a beautiful thing that Satan is sure to try to imitate it, and satisfy men with its counterfeit if he can so delude them. LESSONS:
1. To be sure that our repentance is genuine.
2. To bring forth fruit meet for repentance in daily conduct.
3. Not to pass a hasty judgment on the repentance of men. Half the Revivalists of the day would have called Pharaoh a true convert; time tests conversion.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 10:15-17. Vengeance may make persecutors call in God’s servants for help as hastily as they drove them out.
Double confession of sin many hypocrites make under plagues, yet not in truth.
Proud persecutors may be forced to acknowledge their guilt against man and God.
It is only death which troubled sinners deprecate.
Exodus 10:18-20. The winds are in the hand of God. God spares the wicked in answer to the prayer of the good.
God can make winds take away plagues as well as bring them.
Miraculous is God’s healing, as well as plaguing, at the desires of His servants.
Judgments of removing and heart hardening from God may be coupled together in the wicked.