CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 14:25. Took off their chariot wheels.] “And made glide out their chariot wheels”—Kalisch. “And turneth aside the wheels of their chariots”—Young. The original word means to “make depart,” “turn away,” “put aside,” “remove,” &c. Hence, and from the incongruity of supposing any further progress made in wheelless chariots, it may well be doubted whether the rendering of the English version conveys the true meaning of the narrative. More in keeping with the context would be the more general notion of removing the wheels from their track, causing them to slip away so as to make progress extremely difficult. Only, this effect should clearly be connected with the Divine troubling of the Egyptian host. Precisely how the cause produced this effect we are not told: it is a matter of little or no Importance.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 14:23-29
THE DIVINE TROUBLING OF THE WICKED
I. That the Divine troubling of the wicked takes place in the midst of their presumption and sin. “And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea. “Thus we see that the Egyptians were at this time in full pursuit of the Israelites, and were presumptuously following them into the miraculously divided waters. Hence they were in direct opposition to the command of God,—they were seeking the bondage and ruin of a vast people. They were animated by their besetting sin,—an intense spirit of selfish despotism Sin has immense power of will. It is careless of the greatest peril, it will pursue its design into the waters of the Red Sea, and will venture on paths which are only safe for the people of God, and in which it can easily be destroyed. It does not always act with sufficient calculation and caution; it rushes blindly to its awful destiny. It was when the Egyptians were in the midst of the waters that they were troubled by God. It is easy for God to trouble the sinner in the midst of his sin. When the sinner is hottest in pursuit and surest of success in his unholy aim, then the Divine Being can trouble him through the cloud. Belshazzar was thus troubled in the hour of his impious feast (Daniel 5:9). Thus the wicked are troubled when they are engaged in their most desperate attempts at evil; when they are least expecting disaster, they are troubled by the smitings of an alarmed conscience,—they are troubled by the hand of God. The Divine eye looks through the cloud upon the exploits of the wicked.
II. That the Divine troubling of the wicked causes the mad schemes in which they are engaged to drag heavily. “And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily.” The Egyptians had got their best armaments with them,—their strongest chariots, their finest horses, their most skilful men, and all was in splendid battle array. And yet their chariots drave heavily! Why? Were they not well made? Were they not well managed? Yes; but they were troubled by God. Thus God can bring to naught the best preparations of the sinner for his cruel designs; He can render useless the finest chariots. The sinner finds it hard work to drive his car. The Divine troubling is an impediment to the enterprise of the evil-doer; in this way the success of evil to an alarming extent is prevented, and the safety of the Church is attained. Sin cannot prosper, because it is against God. It is a mercy that the chariots of sin drag heavily, or men would ride to hell more quickly than they do.
III. That the Divine troubling of the wicked sometimes causes them to wish to retreat from their evil designs when it is too late. “So that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians.” Why did the Egyptians wish to flee? Were they not well armed? Was not their King with them? Were they not brave? Were they not near to the slaves they wished to recapture? There are times when sinners are obliged to see that their wicked enterprises are vain, and that they cannot succeed. They are obliged to acknowledge the failure of their best energies. They soon know when they are troubled by the Lord. Then they wish to make the best escape they can, but it is too late. Let us beware of the folly and danger of pursuing a life of sin so long that there can be no escape therefrom. It is dangerous to delay conversion. Some men will never retreat from sin till they are troubled by God, and then perhaps they cannot.
IV. That the Divine troubling of the wicked will in all probability culminate in their utter ruin and destruction. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.… There remained not so much as one of them.” Here, then, we have a picture of what will be the end of those who sin against God, and who provoke His troubling ministries. God can employ many agencies to work their ruin. The waters will obey His behest. There are many rods by which they may be smitten. Then the display of sin, the best strength of sin, and all the allies of sin will yield to the retributive hand of God. The end of sin is to be buried in the great waters. The sinner is walking to an awful destiny. LESSONS:—
1. That the wicked are sure to be Divinely troubled.
2. That it is vain to seek to bring the Church into bondage.
3. That the end of sin is death.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 14:22-23. The Church is pursued:—
1. By cruel tyrants.
2. By combined enemies.
3. Into hazardous places.
4. By intense hatred.
The folly of sin:—
1. It will rush into dangerous places.
2. It will risk all its best agencies.
3. It will go beyond the possibility of retreat.
The enterprise of the wicked:—
1. Divinely observed.
2. Easily troubled.
3. Terribly defeated.
Sinners are troubled:—
1. By the voice of conscience.
2. By the painful discipline of life.
3. By the failure of their best concerted schemes.
Exodus 14:25-28. Morning and evening may not be the same to the wicked for their hopes.
God will stop the movements of persecuting powers in His due and proper time.
Persecutors always find that Jehovah fights for His Church.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Convictions! Exodus 14:23-29. Away on the Pampa dell Sacramento roam wild tribes of Indians. Of all, the Cashiboos are the most savage and warlike. Equally cunning as fierce, when they see the traveller they do not attack him at once in the broad day. They watch and track him to his sleeping-place, and when he is locked in slumber deep, they spring upon him for the cannibal feast. Sometimes the sleeper is aroused in time to defend himself. When these wild, subtle savages find that they have no chance of success, they retire. But it is only to watch and wait, until some other night arrives when they may renew the attack with more success. Pharaoh’s lusts sought his destruction. Again and again, did they spring upon him in his sleep of self-indulgence; but he awoke to timely—though alas! transient—repentance. With cruel craft and confidence did they persist, until at last they accomplished their remorseless purpose—
“Until, at last, the crushing torrent fell,
And swept from earth the pampered child of hell.”
Wheels Dragging! Exodus 14:25. It is sometimes of God’s mercy, remarks Beecher, that men in the eager pursuit of worldly aggrandisement are baffled. They are like a train going down an inclined plane—putting on the break is not pleasant, but it keeps the car on the track. A man was driving furiously down a hill in the direction of the seaport, where he was to embark for California. The carriage wheel struck against a stone, and was shattered to pieces. Bruised and angry, he curse his adverse fate, which forced him to trudge for miles along the road, only to find on arrival that the vessel had sailed. But this “drag upon the wheel” proved a mercy in disguise; for the same night, the stormy wind arose, and swept the departed ship beneath its mountain waves. How often, God makes a man’s chariot wheels drag heavily in mercy to his soul, when he will not see it. Persisting in his course, he finds himself at last sinking beneath the Waves of Woe, like Pharaoh—
“Whose heart of adamant,
Had led him to assay the ocean depths,
And satisfy his lust on Israel there.”
—Bickersteth.
Death! Exodus 14:28-30. Pharaoh and his charioteer had the same watery grave. What a pill for pride! Napoleon the Great must die as well as the meanest of his camp-followers. When Xerxes wept over his three million warriors as the sure prey of relentless death, he probably forgot for the moment that his own ambitious heart would be pierced by the same sharp dart. The waters of death lie before us all—whether proud or poor, prince or pauper. Monarch and slave alike are swallowed up there, as the waves of the Red Sea make no distinction between mighty Pharaoh and the meanest of his host. What then will be the gain!
“Can storied urn, or monumental bust,
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can glory’s voice awake the silent dust?
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death?
Contrast! Exodus 14:23. In some respects Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar resembled each other. Both held the Israelites in captivity—both were of mighty and lofty spirit—and both oppressed the children of the captives—both were warned by a holy prophet—and on both dread judgments descended. But here the resemblance stops. In Pharaoh, we behold a man whom no chastisement could reclaim—whom no grief could effectually humble. He had trembled at the awful thunder from heaven—and started as the fierce fire ran along the ground. He had seen the clouds of locusts darken in the sky—had beheld the river running blood—and had swelled the wail of a nation when his first-born was smitten with death. Yet Pharaoh never truly repented. His heart, like the hardened rock, returned sparks of fire for the blows that struck it. He died, as he had lived, in open rebellion against God.
“Meroy’s boon refused
Shall fall in judgment on the soul perverse
That slights the gift.”
—Mant.