MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 9:27-28
REPENTANCE INSPIRED BY FEAR
We now see Pharaoh as a penitent. The proud King is humbled. He confesses his sin. He resolves to amend his conduct. He sends for the ministers of the truth. We have seen him in this mood before, and we thought that it was a hopeful token. But the repentance then manifested passed away with the pain that awakened it. How frequently do moods of repentance come upon the soul, but how soon are they over, and leave no lasting benediction behind. God awakens men to repentance by varied agencies. Sometimes by the stroke of retribution, and sometimes by the look of love and compassion; men who repent under the influence of fear are very likely to relapse into sin when the fear has passed away. We have an instance of this in the incident before us.
I. That repentance inspired by fear is experienced by men of the proudest moral character. Pharaoh, the proud monarch of Egypt, was overtaken by the repentance of terror. He was the last man we should have expected to find in such a condition. He is haughty, he will not submit to God. He is bold, he will withstand the Divine message and plague. But no, he is suppliant before the servants of God. And so it is, the worst men, the most stubborn, the proudest and the most unlikely, are sometimes rendered penitent by the discipline of life, and by the corrective judgments of God. This shows the all-conquering power of the truth, in that it can subdue the tyrant-heart. It also shows the mercy of God, in that the most degenerate life is blessed with the refreshing mood of repentance. No heart is utterly destitute of better feelings. The worst men are often on the borders of a new life, but even then they are not beyond the reach of Satan. Bad men are capable of good emotions, and of open confessions, which seem well, but which are the outcome of unhallowed motive.
II. That repentance inspired by fear anxiously seeks the aid of the servants of God. Here we have the great King of Egypt sending for Moses and Aaron the despised servants of God. Moses and Aaron have no social accidents to commend them to Pharaoh, but they are known to be the servants of heaven, and that is their recommendation to him. When men are in moods of repentance they are glad to find the poorest child of God, and to obtain any help he can render. Deep repentance is oblivious of social distinctions, and looks only at moral qualifications. When wicked men are in trouble they generally send for good men to help them out of it, and thus render an unconscious homage to the worth of piety. But it not unfrequently happens that the servants of God are called to aid a repentance inspired by fear of pain rather than by a conviction of sin. At such times they need true wisdom and fidelity.
III. That repentance inspired by fear is just in its condemnation of self, and in its acknowledgment of sin. “I have sinned this time.” Thus we find that Pharaoh made an open acknowledgment of his sin. This was right. This was humiliating as it was made to men whom he had previously despised. Here is some token of a right spirit. And wicked men in the agony of repentance, under pain and calamity, often confess their wrong doing. They are prompted to do so by the sheer force of conscience, they hope by such a confession to appease the anger of God, and to avert the calamity under which they suffer. There are times when confession is a necessity of the soul. When sin is as a fire, which must burn through all subterfuges and manifest itself to the public eye. Hence open confession of sin is not an infallible token of repentance; it may be the outcome of necessity or of terror.
IV.—That repentance inspired by fear is just in its vindication of the Divine character. “The Lord is righteous.” This was the acknowledgment of Pharaoh; and certainly it appears strange language for him to utter, as he had but poor notions of righteousness, and but little inclination a short time ago to predicate it of Jehovah. But wicked men, in moments of repentance are loud in their talk about the rectitude of the Almighty. But the words spoken at such a time are deeper than the heart imagines. To a truly penitent soul the righteousness of God is the supreme thought. His law appears righteous. His government is righteous. The soul is unrighteous and is consequently opposed to God. It is possible for wicked men in moments of repentance, inspired by fear, to utter beautiful words about the great God, and about sublime truth without any adequate conception of their meaning. Repentance is not to be gauged by the utterance of the lips.
V. That repentance inspired by fear promises future obedience to the claims of God. “And I will let you go.” Thus Pharaoh promises to submit to the command of God in reference to the freedom of Israel. This was the outcome of self-conflict, wicked men do not like to give up their sins. It is not easy for them. But in moods of repentance inspired by fear they promise future attention to the word of God. Fair promises are not infallible tokens of repentance.
VI. That repentance inspired by fear is much more anxious for the removal of a calamity than for the removal of sin. “Intreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail.” And thus we see that Pharaoh was much more anxious that the temporal perils by which he was afflicted should be removed, than that his sin and guilt should be pardoned. And so it is ever with those whose repentance is inspired by fear. They seek not Jesus. They seek exemption from pain. True repentance is not generated by thunder and hail. It is produced by the gentle dew of the Spirit of God. LESSONS:
1. How difficult to tell true repentance from false.
2. How wicked men are humbled by the power of God.
3. How promises of amendment are broken by the sinner.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exodus 9:27-28. God’s discriminating vengeance considered makes the vilest sinners seek help.
The most cruel persecutors are sometimes obliged to call in the persecuted for their helpers.
Justification of God is wrested out of the mouths of His bitterest enemies.
Prayers from the righteous to God may be desired by the wicked in their difficulties.
The liberty of the Church will be granted when God oppresses the oppressor.
“I have sinned”:—
1. A good confession.
2. A simple confession.
3. A faithful confession.
4. A welcome confession.
5. Sometimes an unreal confession.
“The Lord is righteous”:—
1. Then admire His administration.
2. Then worship His glory.
3. Then fear His justice.
4. Then vindicate His operations.
5. Then make known His praise.
A wicked people and a wicked monarch:—
1. Sad.
2. Afflicted.
3. Repentant.
“Intreat the Lord”:—
1. For He hears prayer.
2. For He has respect to the good.
3. For wicked men need Divine help.
4. For He is merciful.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Retraction! Exodus 9:28. A great prince once had a sick son. He was the only child—a Benoni—the offspring of his father’s sorrow, for his beautiful queen had died in giving birth to his royal heir. When the physicians from all parts pronounced the child’s recovery hopeless, the stricken father found refuge in a solemn vow, that if God spared the babe’s life, he would present a magnificent golden chalice adorned and filled with dazzling diamonds to the neighbouring church. Gradually day by day, the son gained strength—in spite of the medical testimony of hopelessness, and by the time the presentation-cup arrived from the goldsmith, there was no longer danger. But the gift was too costly—with its rare engraving and its glittering gems; so that the father had another of an inferior character made and presented. No doubt his vow was so far sincere at the outset; and probably that of Pharaoh was equally so: “I will let you go.” But the pressure over, the man died. As Matthew Henry says, there was a mighty struggle between Pharaoh’s convictions and corruptions. His convictions said; Let them go. His corruptions said: Not very far away. But he sided with his corruptions, and decided not to let Israel go.
“Said I not so—that I would sin no more?
Witness my God I did;
Yet I am run again upon the score.”
—Herbert.