CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exodus 4:1. Kept] Not merely once upon a time; but statedly, as his usual occupation: lit., “he had come to be shepherding,” the participle denoting continuance. Backside] That is, “to the west:” the east being the quarter towards wh. one is supposed to look (Gesenius, Fürst, Davies).
Exodus 4:2. A bush] Lit., “the thorn-bush.” According to Brugsch, the thorny acacia. The definiteness may be accounted for on the ground of either (a) local notoriety—“the well-known thorn-bush of the neighbourhood;” or (b) historical familiarity—“the particular thorn-bush of wh. M. had so often spoken.” Prob. the humble thorn-bush represented Israel in the fire of affliction. Burned] Render, more vividly: “was burning” Note also the repetition of the noun; who both for this reason, and because of its position in the Hob., is emphatic, as if asking to be reiterated with the tone of surprise: “Behold the THORN-BUSH was burning with fire, and yet the THORN-BUSH was not consumed!”
Exodus 4:3. Is not burnt] Better: “does not burn up:” the imperfect tense.
Exodus 4:5. Shoes] That is, “sandals.” This command “may be accounted from the custom, in the East, of wearing shoes or sandals merely as protection from dirt. No Brahmin enters a pagoda, no Moslem a mosque, without first taking off at least his overshoes; and even in Grecian temples, the priests and priestesses performed the service barefooted. When entering other holy places also, the Arabs and Samaritans, and even the Yezidis of Mesopotamia take off their shoes, that the place may not be defiled by the dirt or dust upon them.” (Keil).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 4:1-5
THE DEGRADATION OF USEFUL THINGS
Moses held a rod in his hand—useful for support—for help—for advancement—for protection—as a token of office—which, being cast upon the ground, lost all capability for usefulness, became offensive, injurious, poisonous; but the Divine command restored it to its original condition of utility and worth. This incident is typical of much that is going on around us in every-day life, where useful things, intended for the political, social, and moral good of men, are so cast upon the ground and degraded, that they become positively inimicable to the welfare of the race. Also, there is in the world a Divine power whereby all this degradation is divested of moral injury, and restored to its original condition of utility. We wish to regard this incident in a parabolic light:—
I. That man has, to an alarming extent, the ability to degrade useful things. “And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent.”
1. He has the ability to degrade Divine Truth. Heavenly truth and doctrine, as made known by God—as enunciated in the Bible—when held as a rod in the hand of man for his moral direction, guidance, and advancement—is most useful and absolutely needful to his salvation; but when, by profanity, by unholy doubt, by wilful rejection, by cold scepticism, it is cast on the ground, it becomes a serpent, the enemy of man, to predict his ruin. Who can look out upon the world without seeing to what an alarming extent the sublime truths, books, people of God, are degraded by the worldly and the sceptical? We wonder that the men who occasion such degradation do not flee from before their own profanity.
2. He has the ability to degrade the pulpit. All must admit the great utility of the pulpit, especially when they consider how it instructs the mind of the nation, how it appeals to the consciences of men, and how it quickens and cultures the spiritual life of the Church. Yet, how frequently is it cast upon the ground, by giving forth uncertain doctrine, by pandering to the sensational requirements of the age, and by ministerial inconsistency. At such times it becomes as a serpent to inflict moral injury upon the weak and scoffing. How many have been brought to reject religion by the unhallowed conduct of its professed teachers. May the Christian Church be delivered from the venom of this serpent!
3. He has the ability to degrade the press. None will deny the utility of the press. It is the great instrument of civilization—has done more than any other agency of human invention to instruct the world in the truth of the Bible, in the mystery of science, in the philosophy of history. If you were to remove the printing press out of the world, men would soon return to the darkness of the middle ages. Yet, how has this valuable instrumentality been degraded. Think of the pernicious literature that it annually circulates, with inaccurate views of life—exciting, false, unhealthy—altogether enervating to the manhood of those who read it. This degradation of the press is one of the most solemn and lamentable facts of the age. It has indeed become a serpent of the most formidable character, and is doing more to injure the mental life of the young than perhaps anything else.
4. That men are often terrified by the degradation they have occasioned. “And Moses fled from before it.” No doubt many an infidel has fled from before the phantoms of his own unbelief, and from before the dark abyss toward which his conscience has pointed him. Many a fallen minister has fled from before the enormity of his own sin and ruin. And who will say that many a novel writer and newspaper contributor has not, in quiet moments of reflection, trembled at the result of his own profanity. All men will one day experience a desire to flee from before their sins, to escape their terrible retribution.
II. That there is in religion a restoring influence, whereby useful things that have been degraded may be uplifted to their proper condition. “And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.”
1. This restoration is exclusive and extensive. It is exclusive in that it can only be accomplished by religion. Nothing can re-change the serpents of daily life into rods but the Word of God, and Divine influence working in the line of human effort. God told Moses to put forth his hand and take it by the tail. Men must do their part, then Heaven will help them in this great work of restoration. Legislation cannot make a sceptic into a believer of Divine truth. It may do much to suppress a pernicious literature, but with great difficulty, as men immediately cry out for the freedom of the press; it will never remove the desire for a mental stimulant in the shape of unreal fiction. Education may do something towards taming the serpents of human life, but it will leave them serpents—it cannot change them into rods. This Christianity alone can do; and happily her influence is co-extensive with the degradation. Not one serpent in the universe is beyond the charm of her voice. She can uplift the press. She has done much already to purify it. Her Bible has already done much to reclaim the literature of our land. It has, in fact, created a heavenly literature of its own, which is exerting a most salutary influence upon thousands of human souls. Thus the restoring influence of Christianity is not only exclusive, but all-extensive in its capability. 2 This restoration is sympathetic and happy. God has great sympathy with the world, afflicted by these degradations, and sends the mitigating influence of a peaceful religion to relieve its woe. And this token of pity and help—this prophecy of hope—is welcome to, and happy in its effect upon, humanity. A mind permeated with Divine truth, a pulpit refulgent with true piety, a press sending forth to the world the messages of Heaven, are happy results, and are the chief outcome of Divine grace as purifying the heart of society. LEARN—
1. That the creation of evil is within the power of man.
2. That our highest gifts may be prostrated to the lowest ends.
3. That it should be the aim of men to elevate everything with which they are brought into contact.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
THE LAMENT OF THE PULPIT
Verse
I. The Preacher has frequently to lament the scepticism of his congregation. “But behold they will not believe me.” Moses feared the Israelites would not credit the probability of the freedom he had to declare unto them. Insuperable difficulties would appear in the way. They would not sufficiently take God into the matter. Ministers have now to complain of this kind of thing. Sinners are told that the intention of Heaven in reference to them is their moral emancipation. They reflect upon their natural wickedness—upon their wilful departure from the law of God—and regard the proclamation as visionary. They despair of freedom from sin, self, and Satan. Ministers frequently carry glorious tidings to their congregations—the willingness of God to save them there and then—the ultimate conquest of goodness; and yet are treated with practical unbelief.
II. The Preacher has frequently to lament the inattention of his congregation. “Nor hearken unto my voice.” Nothing is worse on the part of a congregation than inattention, and disobedience to the messages of God. The Divine claims are of the first importance, and demand immediate attention. They respect our future—they are for our spiritual good—they design our eternal freedom. To such a message all men ought to give the most earnest heed.
III. The Preacher has frequently to lament the querulous spirit of his congregation. “For they will say the Lord hath not appeared unto thee.” How many congregations practically question the announcements of the pulpit. They challenge the inspiration, the Divine preparation, the Divine qualification, the heavenly visions of their teacher. And often they do this in an unkind, factious spirit. They should rather welcome him as from God, sent and wishful to achieve their moral freedom. This would be more to their credit.
IV. That this conduct on the part of congregations has a most depressing influence on the minds of ministers. How can a man preach to people whom he knows are in the habit of practically denying, or refusing his statements of the Divine willingness to save them. He needs the attention, sympathy, prayers, help of those whom he seeks to free from the tyranny of sin. He has enough to contend with external hindrances, with the opposition of Pharaoh, without having added to it that of the slave whose fetter he seeks to break.
Human distrust is a difficulty which every preacher, teacher, and holy labourer has to encounter. All great movements are carried by consent of parties. God himself cannot re-establish moral order without the concurrence of the powers that have rebelled against His rule.… After all, the spiritual labourer has less to do with the unbelief of his hearers than with the instruction and authority of God. We have to ascertain what God the Lord would have us say, and then to speak it simply and lovingly, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. The preacher must prepare himself for having doubts thrown upon his authority; and he must take care that his answer to such doubts be as complete as the authority itself. God alone can give the true answer to human doubt. We are not to encounter scepticism with merely ingenious replies and clever arguments, but in the power and grace of the living God [City Temple].
How indisposed is man to believe the testimony of God! Whether He denounce vengeance upon obstinate offenders, or promise acceptance, assistance, and salvation to the returning sinner, we are ever prone to question His truth. Thus some are hardened in presumption, others sink into despondency, and others are discouraged, and through unbelief continue heartless in all they attempt. But the Lord deals not with us according to our sins; else the strongest believer upon earth, instead of being saved by his faith, might righteously be condemned for his unbelief [Henry and Scott].
Moses objects that in all probability the people would not hearken to his voice; that is, they would not take his bare word, unless he shewed them some sign, which he had not yet been instructed to do. God empowers him to work miracles. Miracles are the most convincing proof of a Divine mission. But those who are employed now to enforce the authenticated revelation need not such testimonials; both their character and their doctrine are to be tried by the Word of God, to which they appeal [Henry and Scott].
We might suppose that Moses had seen and heard enough to set his fears entirely aside. The consuming fire in the unconsumed bush, the condescending grace, the precious, endearing, and comprehensive titles, the Divine commission, the assurance of the Divine presence—all these things might have quelled any anxious thought, and imparted a settled assurance to the heart. Still, however, Moses raises questions, and still God answers them; and each successive question brings out fresh grace [C. H. M.].
1. Present discouragements often arise from former disappointments.
2. Wise and good men have sometimes a worse opinion of people than they deserve. Moses said “they will not believe me,” and yet we find (Exodus 4:31) “the people believed.”
Dissatisfaction is incident to good souls in difficulty, even after God has answered all their questions.
Infirmity of faith may make men suggest things contrary to the promise of God.
Men may tax others with unbelief, and yet be unbelievers themselves.
The obstinacy of the human heart often makes God’s ministers despair of success.
It is incident to sinners to deny the appearance of God to His ministers; and God’s ministers are apt to regard such denials as discouragements to their work.
Why did Moses imagine that the Israelites would not believe him?
1. Because he knew that they were a stiff-necked people.
2. Because he considered himself of insufficient authority to command their respect.
3. Because the power and tyranny of Pharaoh would deter them from believing him.
4. Because they would think it unlikely that God, who had never been seen by man, should appear to him.
Exodus 4:2. “What is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod.” A staff—a shepherd’s crook—the staff which indicated his return to the pastoral habits of his fathers—the staff on which he leaned amidst his desert wanderings—the staff with which he guided his kinsman’s flocks—the staff like that still borne by Arab chiefs—this was to be the humble instrument of Divine power. “In this”—as afterwards in the yet humbler symbol of the cross—in this, the symbol of his simplicity, of his exile, of his lowliness, the world was to be conquered [The Jewish Church, by Dean Stanley].
“A rod”—probably the shepherd’s crook—among the Arabs; a long staff, with a curved head, varying from three to six feet in length.… God followeth expostulations with resolutions to satisfy the troubled souls of His servants.
God sometimes exercises His power in connection with small things—a rod.
A rod:—
1. The subject of Divine inquiry.
2. The token of a shepherd’s office.
3. The symbol of a leader’s power.
4. The prophecy of a nation’s freedom.
A TRIVIAL POSSESSION
I. God frequently makes inquiry about the most trivial possessions of men.
1. Have they been honourably gained?
2. Are they being put to their proper use?
3. Are they in a line with Divine power?
II. God frequently makes the most trivial possessions of men teach great truths.
1. This shews the Divine adaptability to the circumstances of men.
2. This shews the Divine wisdom in making insignificant things teach Divine truth.
3. This shews the Divine simplicity of the plans and purposes of Heaven.
III. That the most trivial possessions are useful to others as well as those to whom they belong. This rod taught the Israelites that God was with Moses. So the smallest treasure possessed by a man may at times be instructive to other lives around him.
IV. That the most trivial possessions of men prove after all the most useful, and ought therefore to awaken human gratitude. We are taught here not to calculate the worth of things by their market price, but according to their adaptation to the circumstances of life in which we may then be placed. At this moment, and throughout the conflict with Egypt, this rod was the most valuable thing that Moses could have possessed. There are times when the smallest things become of the greatest value. This is true when they are used by God for the moral conviction and freedom of others. Moses would, throughout his life journey in the wilderness, be thankful for the rod. So we ought to be grateful to God that, whether we have great possessions or not, yet we have our little treasure which renders happy and effective our entire life mission.
God takes up the weakest instruments to accomplish his mightiest ends. “A rod,” “a ram’s horn,” “a cake of barley meal,” “an earthen pitcher,” “a shepherd’s sling,” anything, in short, when used by God, will do the appointed work. Men imagine that splendid ends can only be reached by splendid means; but such is not God’s way. He can use a crawling worm as well as a scorching sun—a gourd as well as a vehement east wind [C. H. M.].
THE MEANING OF THIS MIRACLE
Exodus 4:3. Varied suppositions as to the meaning of this miracle:—
1. That hereby Pharaoh is set forth, who, at the first entering of the Hebrews into Egypt, was as a rod, easy to be handled, but afterwards as a serpent; and again, at the time of their going out, he was as a rod, gentle and harmless
2. That hereby the state of the children of Israel was set forth, who at the first, under Joseph, had dominion, signified by a rod, but afterwards were cast down, and hated, as a serpent; but finally, at their going out of Egypt, returned to their power and authority again.
3. That hereby was signified the honour of God’s judgments; till they be brought none fear them; but, being brought; the very best are made to tremble; but, being renewed again, all fear is taken away.
4. That Moses was set forth by this staff: for he in himself, being but a shepherd, obscure and living in exile, was no more to Pharaoh to move him than a staff in a shepherd’s hand; but, going to him at the command of the Lord, he became as the staff at his command cast upon the ground—a terrible serpent to him—he should not need any other armies to terrify Pharaoh; but, going with this staff, by a Divine virtue, he should be made to flee before him. But in that being laid hold upon by Moses again, it is turned into a staff, it was signified that the same which should be terrible to Pharaoh should be a comfort to Moses and to Israel [Calvin].
5. That hereby Christ crucified is set forth, and by his death, subduing the devil that he cannot hold the people of the Lord any more in bondage, as Pharaoh could not hold the Israelites [Augustine].
The serpent is entirely under the hand of Christ; and when he has reached the highest point in his mad career he shall be hurled into the lake of fire, there to reap the fruits of his work for ever [C. H. M.].
From the story of Moses’ rod the poets invented fables of the thyrsus of Bacchus, and the caduceaus of Mercury. Homer represents Mercury as taking his rod to work miracles, precisely in the same way as God commanded Moses to take his.
There are many serpents in the world from which a good man should flee.
When God commandeth small things be worketh miracles to confirm them.
The true transubstantiation of creatures is the alone work of God.
God’s miracles may be terrible to his servants, when intended to be comfortable.
Sense is terrified at the miraculous tokens of God.
Exodus 4:4. Faith in God’s word dare meddle with the most terrible signs from God.
God can make staves into serpents, and serpents into staves, terrors to enemies, and supports to His own.
“Take it by the tail.” Which was dreadful to be done, because of the antipathy and likely danger; but faith fortifies the heart against the fear of the creature, and carries a man through the difficulty of duty [Trapp].
I. That men have often to come into contact with the morally sinful and dangerous. Moses is brought into contact with a serpent. Dangerous to him. So good men are frequently obliged to encounter the morally sinful—for commercial—ministerial purposes—they are thus rendered liable to the sting—contagion of sin—and will, unless careful, receive spiritual injury.
II. That good men should not enter into contact with the morally sinful and dangerous, except by the direct permission of God. “And the Lord said unto Moses,” etc. The good are permitted to have intercourse with worldly men, for ministerial and commercial purposes—but they must remember that the Divine sanction does not extend to anything but the furthest point of contact. Moses was only told to take the serpent by the tail. There are many things in the world that the good man is only to touch. They are poisonous.
III. That when good men are brought into contact with the morally sinful and dangerous, they should endeavour to aid its reformation.
“And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand.” The good may not take hold of serpents for play, or for imagined gratification, but only that they may co-operate with the Divine power and mercy in the holy work of restoration.
IV. That when good men achieve the reformation of the morally sinful and dangerous, they find ample reward in the result. “And it became a rod in his hand.” How many a good man has found that the sinner converted by his instrumentality has become a help—a stay—a moral power—in the spiritual life and journeyings of his own soul! Especially do ministers find that their converts become instruments in their hands for great good to others.
THINGS THAT FRIGHTEN
“And the Lord said unto Moses, put forth thy hand, and take it by the tail.”— Exodus 4:4.
We may learn from the text, and the words immediately preceding, that—
I. In passing through life we must expect to meet with many things that will frighten us.
II. We shall gain nothing by running away.
III. The best thing we can do is to grapple with them.
IV. Acting thus we may always rely upon Divine aid [Christian World Pulpit].
Exodus 4:5. Miracles are given by God to turn from unbelief to faith in the Divine word.
True miracles are the only work of the true God, the God of Abraham.
That God does much to render easy and successful the mission of the true preacher.
That the great thing for a preacher to demonstrate to his people is that God has appeared to him.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Exodus 4:1-5.—Bible Degraded!—Some men imagine that they could do well enough without the Bible, the Church, the ministry. Conceive a patient with a shattered limb coming to the sage conclusion that the best way to become whole is to thrust the skilled surgeons and their surgical splints out of doors. They did not fracture the limb; they only propose to set it. The Bible did not dislocate the human intellect, it only proposes to restore it to soundness. Far better to have the leg set than to leave the shattered bone to heal unsplintered.
“The Lamp of Revelation not only shows
What human wisdom cannot but oppose,
That man—in nature’s richest mantle clad
And graced with all philosophy can add,
Though fair without, and luminous within,”
cannot heal his own malady—cannot restore his fractured soul, but it offers to effect the cure. Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Infidel Terrors!—Paine boastfully vaunted that he had gone up and down through the Christian garden of Eden, and with his simple axe had cut down one after another of its trees, until scarce a sapling remained to weep over the chaos of ruin. He lived to flee from his own guilt, and amid agonies of remorse to exclaim that he would give worlds never to have published his “Age of Reason,” never to have moulded his “simple axe,” never to have lifted its edge upon the Tree of Life. So it was with Bion the atheist philosopher, who on his deathbed offered up prayers to God for mercy and recovery—
“And as he writhed and quivered, scorched within,
The fury round his torrid temples flapped
Her fiery wings, and breathed upon his lips
And parched tongue, the withered blasts of hell.”
—Pollock.
Christianity!—Quaint Thomas Fuller says that Charnock met with a very sad disaster in his efforts to discover the philosopher’s stone; for just as he was on the point of completing the grand operation, his work fell into the fire. As this is a calamity which has happened to all alchymists; so is it always the misfortune of legislators. They are always on the point of discovering the grand panacea for all evils, yet they never succeed. Christianity steps in, and succeeds.
“Religion! Providence! an after state!
Here is firm footing; here is solid rock!
This can support us; all is sea besides:
Sinks under us; bestorms, and then devours.”
—Young.
Christianity Beneficent!—Ancient tradition records a contest said to have taken place at Rome—in the presence of the Emperor Constantine and his mother, the Empress Helena—between the Jewish and Roman philosophers on the one hand, and Sylvester, the Christian patriarch, on the other. The leader of the philosophers showed the superiority of their system over Christianity by miraculously KILLING a fierce bull with uttering in his ear a single word. Sylvester, with a word, not only restored the wild animal to LIFE, but raised it tame and gentle as if it had been in the yoke from birth. Christianity is happy in its effects upon untameable human nature—raising it to life—and making it to sit clothed and in its right mind at the feet of the Founder.—
“As when a wretch, from thick polluted air,
Darkness and stench, and suffocating damps,
And dungeon horrors, by kind fate discharged,
Climbs some fair eminence, where ether pure
Surrounds him, and Elysian prospects rise,
His heart exults, his spirits cast their load,
As if new born, he triumphs in the change.”
Christianity versus Philosophy!—Tillotson says that philosophy has given us several plausible rules for attaining peace and tranquility of mind; but these fall very much short of bringing men to it. They have expanded our ideas of creation; but they neither inspired a love to the moral character of the Creator, nor a well-grounded hope of eternal life.—
“Philosophy did much, refining and exalting man;
But could not nurse a single plant that bore
True happiness. From age to age she toiled;
Shed from her eyes the mist that dimmed them still,
Looked forth on man: and then retired far back
To meditation’s silent, shady rest.
Like Moses who must DIE on Pisgah, philosophy enables us to ascend to the heights of human discovery—there to PERISH. Christianity is the medium, and the only medium, by which “death” can be turned into “life.”
Exodus 4:1—Depression!—Dr. Stevens narrates how an eminent minister was very much depressed by the unbelief of his congregation, and how his spirit of depression was shaken off. He dreamed that he was working with a pickaxe on the top of a basaltic rock, which remained non-riven in spite of repeated strokes of his arm of muscle. When about to give up in despair, a stranger of solemn and dignified demeanour appeared on the scene, who reminded him that as a servant he was bound to go on whether the rock yielded or not. “Work is your duty; leave the results to God,” were the last words of his strange visitor. The result was that the discouraged pastor resumed his work, and was abundantly rewarded by “the shattering of the rock of unbelief and indifference” among his flock. For
“Perseverance is a virtue
That wins each Godlike act, and plucks success,
E’en from the spear-proof crest of rugged danger.
—Havard.
Exodus 4:1—Prayers!—An anecdote is told concerning a popular preacher who gradually lost his influence and congregation. The church officials were authorized to wait on him with the frank avowal that the whole blame was at his door. With still more frankness the condemned pastor acknowledged his failure, adding that in former times his flock had been a praying people, that many had joined in prayer that his preaching might be blessed to the conversion of souls, but that now prayer had been abandoned. The result, he added, of such restraint in prayer was the failure of his church, and he begged them to renew their pleadings in his behalf. For
“More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day,
For so the whole round earth is every way
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.”
—Tennyson.
Exodus 4:2—Miracles!—Fuller calls them, in his quaint method of expression, the swaddling clothes of the infant churches. They are not, says Trench, the garments of the full-grown. They are the bright clouds which gather round and announce the sun at his first appearing; but the midday splendour knows not those bright heralds and harbingers of his rising. Such were miracles at the dawns of the Mosaic. Prophetical, and Christian dispensations; they were like the framework on which the arch is rounded, and which is taken down as soon as it is completed. Beecher thinks that they are mid-wives of young moral truths-like candles lit up till the sun rises, and then blown out, While Macmillan declares that they are not only emblems of power in the spiritual world, but also exponents of the miracles of nature—experiments, as it were, made by the Great Teacher, on a small scale, to illustrate to mankind the phenomena that are taking place over longer periods throughout the universe.
Exodus 4:2—Ministerial Difficulties!—Simeon says that he had been used to read the Scriptures, to get from them rich discoveries of the power and grace of Christ, so that he might learn how to minister to a loving and obedient people; but that now he was studying the Word of God in order that he might know how to minister to a conceited, contentious, and rebellious people “Two qualities,” he adds, “I am sure are requisite—meekness and patience; I have been used to sail in the Pacific, but I am now learning to navigate the Red Sea which is full of shoals and rocks, with a very intricate passage.”
“Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray;
Be wise, the erring soul to win;
Go forth into the world’s highway,
Compel the wanderer to come in.
The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,
Blessed are those who to the end endure.”
—Bonar.
Exodus 4:2—Faith!—Faith is the mainspring of a minister.—Cecil.
“Beware of doubt—faith is the subtle chain
Which binds us to the Infinite; the voice
Of a deep life within, that will remain
Until we crowd it thence.”
—Smith.
Exodus 4:2—Gifts!—The discussion about gifts, says a glowing divine, amounts very much to a discussion whether the rifle, the carbine, the pistol, or the cannon is the best weapon. Each is best in its place The great point is that every one shall use the weapon best suited to him—that he charge it well—and that he see it is in a condition to strike fire.
“The solemn trifler, with his boasted skill,
Toils much, and is a solemn trifler still;
Blind was he born, and his misguided eyes
Grown dim in trifling studies, blind he dies.”
—Cowper.
Exodus 4:3—Serpent-tail!—Bishop Patrick notes that Moses found his rod was a serpent until he took it by the tail, and then it became what it was before; and if we lay hold of things only by their END, we should find many things that seem terrible and noxious to be benign and salutiferous. But the band was that of faith; for
“Never was a marvel done upon the earth,
but it had sprung of faith.”
—Tupper.