MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 4:21-23
THE ANTICIPATION OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE
I. That very frequently God causes good men to anticipate Christian service.
1. It is often anticipated as the hour of severe trial. “See that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh.” It is almost instinctive in man to anticipate the future, especially if any important duty is awaiting him. And the mental experiences awakened by the thought of future service are often more painful than those which come upon the soul in the hour of its performance. It is right and wise of good men to anticipate religious work, that by prayer and thought they may get prepared for it, that it may not take them by surprise. This kind of anticipation will make them strong in their appearance before Pharaoh. But at such a time it is distrustful of the Divine promise and aid to harbour feelings of timidity and painful anxiety, as they will cover a Christian worker with defeat before he comes to the battle. Good men should not doubtfully anticipate the hour of service, they have everything on their side indicative of victory and success. The joyful experiences in the service, of vision and communion with heaven, will compensate for the difficulty of the work.
2. It is often anticipated as the moral crisis of life. Sometimes a man views a certain service demanded of him as most difficult and important—as more so than any before undertaken. All his fears are awakened, and surround the future toil with a gloom into which there scarcely gleams one ray of hope. The Pharaoh of difficulty is far more prominent in the picture than the God who has promised to help him. Moses no doubt felt that this conflict with Pharaoh would decide his entire future; if successful, he will proceed on the mission of Israel’s emancipation; if not, he will return, a runaway from duty. Christian workers know what this means. They have frequently undertaken work with the feeling that its issue would have a very happy or injurious effect upon their lives. The destiny of a man has more than once depended upon the performance of one act of important service.
3. It is often anticipated with a desire to make the best use of all the means placed at the disposal of the worker. Moses feels that he must employ in the act of service all the instrumentalities that he can command. God has abundantly prepared him for the task. The Divine Being never sends any man to a great mission without placing at his disposal all the necessary aids to it, and he who neglects to make use of them is guilty of supreme folly and sin. When God sends Christian workers to appear before Pharaoh, He always provides them with a rod to take with them. If we spend much time in thinking over the agencies that are calculated to give success in the approaching mission, we shall be more likely to use them well, than if our only thought be of the difficulty of the work.
4. It is often anticipated as shewing the intention of Providence in reference to the future. After Moses had appeared before Pharaoh, and had passed through his hour of trial, his work would not be ended as the servant of God in the emancipation of Israel. But the result of this interview with Egypt’s monarch would indicate new work. One service is always suggestive of, and leads into, another. Men, if they are willing, will find employment in the service of God to occupy the whole of their lives.
II. That when God causes good men to anticipate Christian service, He often informs them of their probable difficulties, and of the best method of work.
1. Moses was informed of the moral obstinacy of Pharaoh. The Divine Being is here said to harden the heart of Pharaoh. In subsequent Chapter s it is said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. We must therefore view both sides of the case, and find a principle of underlying harmony. God works directly and indirectly: the former when He exerts His own power in any undertaking, the latter when He employs a secondary agency, or when He permits anything to be done. God presented his wish to Pharaoh in reference to the freedom of Israel, accompanied by evidences which ought to have wrought a conviction of duty within his heart, but, being rejected by him, they tended to moral obstinacy. The sun melts some substances while it hardens others, and so it is with the revelation of the Divine will in its effect upon human hearts. Pharaoh had the power to let Israel go free, but he had not the disposition. Moses was informed that he would have to contend with the unwillingness of this monarch. He was thus prepared to meet it.
2. He was told to make use of all his resources of work. “See that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand.” The Christian has more resources of work than any other workman. They are God given. They were at one time miraculous. Now they are of a purely moral character, and are far more influential, and adapted to the present requirement of human experience and thought. If Christian workers would but make use of all the resources at their command, they would not so frequently have to lament failure, but they would achieve great victories of service.
3. He was told of the method of argument which he was to employ. “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my first-born: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.” This language was authoritative in its demand, pathetic in its mention of Israel, and terrible in its threat to Pharaoh if he refused to grant the request of Moses. LESSONS.
1. It is not wrong to anticipate Christian service.
2. That the voice of God should ever be heard by Christian workers.
3. That a remembrance of God should give hope to all our anticipations of great toil.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 4:21. God is at hand to instruct servants who are willing to undertake His work.
God alone can put it into the power of creatures to work miracles.
It is God’s will that His servants should see and consider that power delegated.
God’s will is that His miracles should be wrought before His proudest enemies.
Miracles sometimes will not prevail with persecutors to dismiss God’s people.
Hardness of heart is that which makes men resist God’s wonders.
When men harden themselves by sin, God often hardens them by judgment.
Moral obstinacy:—
1. A great sin of man.
2. A common sin of man.
3. A sad judgment on man.
MOSES BEFORE PHARAOH
There are, of course, many difficulties, by us insoluble, in connexion with the sovereignty of God. This must be distinctly recognised, and no man must expect to have all mysteries dwarfed to the measure of his own understanding. The greatest of all mysteries is God himself, yet we are not therefore to doubt His existence, or to deny His loving Providence. The mere fact of any question being mysterious does not alter its truthfulness. Look at the text in this spirit; generally in relation to Divine sovereignty three things are clear.
I. That all nations are not equally honoured. This difference amongst the nations is not made by the Bible, or by any system of theology; it is simply a matter of fact. One nation is highly civilized, another is in the lowest condition of barbarism; yet all nations are under the government of the same gracious God. Every day the sun sees some nations worshipping the true Spirit, and others bowing to idols. This is matter of fact, however we may account for it.
II. That all individuals are not equally endowed. We are all men, and yet no two men are alike. In every history you find the great man and the little man, yet all are men, and acknowledge the same God.
III. That Divine judgment is regulated by Divine allotment. We open the Bible and find that to whom much is given, from him shall much be required, and that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than fur nations which enjoy a fuller revelation of Divine purpose and requirements. First of all, and last of all, it must be our unalterable conviction that God must do right, or He is no longer God. Israel was under the sovereign control of the King of Egypt. He had property in them. Moses in the name of the Lord suddenly asked Pharaoh to give Israel their freedom. He was startled. He did not acknowledge the Lord. A political petition was presented to him, and he dealt with it on political grounds. It was not a spiritual question which was proposed to Pharaoh. It was exclusively a political question. It was therefore within this sphere that the Divine action was taken, and that action is fitly described in the text as a hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. The question will then arise, what the meaning of that hardening was, and what useful results accrued from a process which appears to us to be so mysterious. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, as involving the development of a merely political scheme, may amount in effect to no more than this, “I will delay the process, this request shall not be granted at once; and I will prolong the process in order that I may bring out lessons for Pharaoh himself, for the children of Israel, and for mankind at large; were Pharaoh to let the children of Israel escape from him at once, the result would be mischievous to themselves; therefore in mercy, not in anger I will harden Pharaoh’s heart. So far, the question is not a moral one, except in the degree in which all questions have more or less of a moral bearing. It has been supposed by some that in the case of this exercise of Divine sovereignty, the sum total of Pharaoh’s wickedness was increased. Not so. There is the greatest difference between wickedness being localized and wickedness being increased. As the history proceeds, we see that the political situation enlarges itself into a spiritual problem. Pharaoh made a promise to Moses, which he did not keep. Thus he hardened his own heart. Apply these lessons to ourselves as sinners, I have now to teach that Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, and that whosoever will may avail himself of the blessings secured by the mediation of the Saviour. If any man who now hears me is excusing himself on the ground that God has hardened his heart, I charge that man with trusting to an excuse in the most solemn affairs of his being, which he would not for a moment tolerate in the region of family or commercial life. Were your servant to tell you that she is fated to be uncleanly in her habits, you would justly treat her with angry contempt. Were your travelling companion to tell you to make no attempt to be in time for the train, because if you were fated to catch it there would be no fear of your losing it, you would treat his suggestion as it deserved to be treated. Yet men who act in a common-sense manner in all such little affairs as these, sometimes profess that they will not make any attempt in a religious direction, because they believe in the doctrine of predestination. Wicked and slothful servants, they shall be condemned out of their own mouth, “Whosoever will let him come.”
—City Temple.
THE PRIMOGENITURE OF THE GOOD
Exodus 4:22. “Israel is my son, even my first-born.”
I. That the good have a Divine Father.
1. He is merciful to the children. God was merciful to Israel. Though they had rebelled against Him, and given themselves up to idolatry and degradation, yet in the time of their sorrow, He came to deliver them from slavery. Is there a good man in the universe who can say that God has not been merciful to him? His mercy has been seen in the forgiveness of sin, and in our adoption into His spiritual and heavenly family.
2. He vindicates the children from their foes.
II. That the good have heavenly privileges.
As the sons of God.
1. They have the privilege of high birth. Men may boast of their descent from a renowned ancestry; what ancestry so ancient and renowned as that of the heavenly Father. When a man is born of God, he is allied to the grandest spirits of the unseen universe. Only they who are the subjects of this new birth know the privileges it confers upon them. Nor can the meanest ancestry of earth be excluded therefrom.
2. They have the privilege of good moral culture. In God’s family all the children are well disciplined. They are not exempt from sorrow and pain. Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. We are made perfect through suffering. This culture of our moral nature is designed to fit us more thoroughly for the high relationship into which we are called, that we may be responsive to all its duties, and in harmony with its sacred destinies.
III. That the good have inspiring hopes.
1. The hope of a happy death. The children of God can die happily. When passing through the valley and shadow of death they are conscious of a companion who can chase away all their fears. He comforts them. In this trying hour the good man joyfully breathes his spirit into the hand of God who gave it. Instance Stephen. The end of that man is peace.
2. The hope of a vast inheritance. There is reserved in heaven for the good a vast inheritance, that is undefiled, and that can never pass away.25 This inheritance of our moral life is the animating hope of our soul.
3. The hope of a sublime future. A future to be spent in eternal communion with God, in perpetual study of His character, in a happy solution of the dark mysteries which so perplexed the soul on earth, and in a service ever welcome. They serve him day and night. In this future we shall be in companionship with the good of all ages, and with them shall hold inspiring converse. Christians are the sons of God.26
1. Live worthy of your Great Parent.
2. Act worthy of your noble ancestry.
3. Embrace your glorious privileges.
4. Let nothing dim your bright hopes.
Exodus 4:23. The Divine intention in the moral freedom of man. “Let my son go, that he may serve me.”
I. That God has a definite purpose in the moral freedom of men.
He does not relieve men from one kind of slavery that they may go into another—not that they may spend life in inactivity. Indolence is not freedom. His great aim is to bring men from the tyranny of passion, pride, covetousness, and self, into the freedom of a tranquil, humble, and self-denying service. Hence the Divine preparation that is given to the varied agencies that are to achieve this freedom.
II. That the purpose of God in the moral freedom of men is that they should serve Him.
1. That we should serve Him in our business.
2. That we should serve Him in our social life.
3. That we should serve Him with all our energies.
Why should we serve Him?
(1) Because we are His sons.
2. Because of the freedom He has wrought for us.
The service of God is perfect freedom. Would that men were as earnest about their moral freedom as they are in reference to their civil. In the service of God we gain the highest remuneration.
God’s ambassadors, though never so mean, must speak to kings what God enjoineth them.
God’s name must be attached to His message, that kings may stoop to hear it.
God’s Church is His first-born.
Jehovah requireth His first-born from the hand of all oppressors.
The wicked powers of Hell will deny the dismission of God’s Son as long as they can hold him.
The sons of the world God will slay for the redemption of His own.
God’s first-born sons are dearer to Him than all the first-born of the world.
A Divine threat:—
1. Claims attention.
2. Certain of Execution.
3. Stern in requirement.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
(20)—Hope!—Dr. Judson was once asked whether the prospect of the speedy conversion of the heathen was bright; whereupon he immediately responded: “as bright as the promises of God.” On these promises Moses was to rely. On these divine assurances Moses was to hope; for God assured him that. He would certainly be with him. This hope—as Smiles has it—is like the sun which, as we journey towards it. casts the shadow of our burden behind us. So Moses found when he laid hold of the Divine Assurance. The islanders of St. Kilda gain their subsistence by searching for nests along dangerous heights and down precipitous cliffs. Their waists are girdled with a cord let down from above. Moses girdled his heart with the golden cord of God’s promises, ere be lowered himself from Horeb’s frowning heights to Egypt’s dark abyss.
“With him went Hope in rank, a handsome maid,
Of cheerful look, and lovely to behold;
In silken samite she was light array’d,
And her fair locks were woven up in gold.”
Spenser.
(21)—Wonders!—The scientific man asserts as the latest generalization of his science that there is in nature the uniformity of natural sequence—in other words, that nature always moves along the same path, and that law is a necessity of things. He thus indirectly asserts the probability of miracles—indeed admits them; for where there is no law there is no transgression, and the very belief in miracles depends upon this uniformity. In nature there are deviations from this law of uniformity; and so it is in grace. God has a certain course of dealing generally with man, and He is pleased to diverge from that course at times—that the exception may prove the rule:—For
“Order is heaven’s first law—a glorious law,
Seen in those pure and beauteous isles of light
That come and go, as circling months fulfil
Their high behest.”
—Milton.
(22)—Fear!—Fear secretes acids, but love and trust are sweet juices. Who has not learned this as truly as Moses did? The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso trusteth in the Lord, mercy encompasseth him on every side. It is like a hedge which keeps off the wild beasts; like the coral reef, which baffles the angry waves in their recurring daily attempts to leap over and disturb the calm still lagoon of tropical islands.
“The saints should never be dismayed,
Nor sink in hopeless fear;
For when they least expect his aid,
The Saviour will appear.”
(23)—Divine Sovereignty!—Bishop Hall says, “I leave God’s secrets to Himself: it is happy for me that God makes me of His court, and not of His counsel.” As another expresses himself, it is not given to man to discover all the works and ways of God, either in nature or in grace. Perhaps those of nature—notwithstanding all our beasted discoveries and pride of science—lie as unknown to us as the wide forest to the microscopic insect, whose life is a day, and whose world is a leaf. Laplace wrote that it was the little that we knew, the great that remained unknown. And Newton’s matchless imagery of the pebbles on the seahorse displays the profound conviction of the Christian philosopher that we areign rant of far more than we know. Nor is the warning of puritan Adams out of date when he monishes that he who will be sifting every cloud may be smitten with a thunderbolt:—
“Those puzzled souls of ours grow weak,
With beating their bruised wings against the rim
That bounds their utmost flying, when they seek
The distant and the dim.”
—Ingelow.
(24)—Mysteries!—It is for man to accept them. Grosart remarks that he could drink of the clear, cool spring, though he might not hope to pierce the awful foundation of granite from whence it came gushing up. I can rejoice in the shining sun, and fan my check with the breathing wind, though I am ignorant as an infant of the great palace of light, and know not whence the wind cometh. Believing, where we cannot prove—
“As sinks the moaning river in the sea,
In silver peace, so sinks my soul in Thee,”
Stowe.
(25)—Future Hopes!—Moses had respect unto the recompense of the reward. God’s reward is exceeding great. When Zelilaus lost his hand in the service of his master, the king of Poland, he received from him a golden hand in its place. Agrippa had suffered much for Caligula at Rome, who therefore upon his elevation to imperial power presented him with chains of gold equivalent in weight to the iron fetters he had worn in the dungeon. God’s reward reserved in heaven is a vast inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled, a crown of righteousness, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. And as the workman is paid after his work is done; so the Christian is rewarded when life is ended—
“For loss, nor shame, nor grief, nor sin, His promise may gainsay;
The name Divine bath spoke within, and God did ne’er betray.
—Adams.
(26)—Eternal Prospect!—Melvill likens it to a glorious morning, with the sun rising higher and higher—one blessed springtime, and yet richer summer, every plant in full flower, but every flower the bud of a lovelier. It would, however, be a poor prospect which such beings as ourselves could comprehend or anticipate. Give me, says one, the majestic cloud—the oracular veil—the mighty shadows which recede as we advance, filling the mind with amazement. I wish, when I have climbed the highest pinnacle that sanctified conception can soar to, to be compelled to own that I have not reached the base of the everlasting hills, whence to survey the eternal prospects:—
“Go, wing thy flight from star to star,
From world to luminous world as far
As universe spreads its flaring wall:
Take all the pleasures of all the spheres,
And multiply each through endless years,
One minute of heaven is worth them all”—Moore.