God's message to Pharaoh.

23 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.
24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn,
that the "LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and
cut off the foreskin of her son, and 7 cast it at
his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art
thou to me.

t

6

26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody
husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
27 ¶ And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the
wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and
met him in "the mount of God, and kissed him.
28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the
LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which
he had commanded him.

29 ¶ And Moses and Aaron went and gathered
together all the elders of the children of Israel:
30 And Aaron spake all the words which the
LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs
in the sight of the people.

x

31 And the people "believed: and when they
heard that the LORD had visited the children
of Israel, and that he had looked upon their
affliction, then they bowed their heads and
worshipped.

2

s And the uncircum-
cised man-child whose

flesh of his foreskin is
from his people; he
nant. Genesis, 17, 14

not circumcised, that
soul shall be cut off
hath broken my cove-

At that time the

LORD said unto Joshua,
Make thee sharp knives,

and circumcise again

the children of Israel
the second time. And

Joshua made him sharp
the children of Israel at
Joshua, 5, 2, 3.

knives, and circumcised
the hill of the foreskins,

6 Or, knife.

7 made it touch..
u Now Moses kept the
flock of Jethro his fa-
ther-in-law, the priest

to the back

of Midian: and he led
side of the desert, and
Exodus, 3, 1
Go, and gather the
elders of Israel toge

came to the mountain
of God, even to Horeb,

ther, and say unto
them, The LORD God
of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, of
Isaac, and of Jacob,
appeared unto me, say
ing, I have surely vi
sited you, and seen that
which is done to you in
Egypt. Exodus, 3, 16.

w And they shall
hearken to thy voice:
and thou shalt come,
Israel, unto the king

thou and the elders of
of Egypt. Exodus, 3,
And also that nation,

18.

whom they shall serve,
will I judge: and after-
ward shall they come

out with great sub

stance. Genesis, 15, 14.

CHAP. 4-B. C. 1491.

And Joseph said unto

his brethren, I die:

and God will surely vi-
sit you, and bring you
out of this land unto

Pharaoh chideth Moses and Aaron.

I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know
not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3 And they said, d The God of the Hebrews
hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three
days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto
And God looked upon the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with
and God had respect pestilence, or with the sword.

the land which he
Isaac, and to Jacob.

sware to Abraham, to

Genesis, 50,

the children of Israel,

unto Exod.

z And the man bowed
down his head, and

worshipped the LORD.
David said to all the

Genesis, 24, 26. And
David said to all the
congregation, Now
bless the LORD your
God. And all the con-
gregation blessed the

LORD God of their fa-

thers, and bowed down
their heads, and wor
shipped the LORD, and
the king. 1 Chron.29,20.

4 And the king of Egypt said unto them,
Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the peo-
ple from their works? get you unto your burdens.
5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of
the land now are many, and ye make them rest
from their burdens.

9

6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the
CHAP. 5.-B. C. 1491. taskmasters of the people, and their officers,
saying,

a And Moses said, We
will go with our young
and with our old, with
our sons and with our
daughters, with our
flocks and with our
herds will we go; for

we must hold a feast

unto the LORD. Exod.
10, 9.

all the gods of the coun
ed their country out

tries, that have deliver-

of

mine hand, that the
LORD should deliver Je-
rusalem out of mine

hand? 2 Kings, 18, 35.

e See chapter 3, 19.
d See chapter 3, 18.

As a roaring lion,

and a ranging bear; so
is a wicked ruler over

7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to
make brick, as heretofore: let them go and
gather straw for themselves.

8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did
make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye
shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be
idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and
sacrifice to our God.

91 Let there more work be laid upon the men,
that they may labour therein; and let them not

the poor people. Pro regard vain words.

11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it:
yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
12 So the people were scattered abroad through-
out all the land of Egypt to gather stubble in-
stead of straw.

13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying,

speak to purpose, unless God was with his mouth; without the constant aids of
divine grace, the best gifts will fail.-H.

HARDENING.-God never communicates "hardness," or wickedness, to the
heart of man by a positive act; "for he cannot be tempted of evil; neither tempt-
eth he any man.' But, when provoked by atrocious crimes, he gives a person
up to his own heart's lusts; he permits Satan to entice, deceive, and blind him:
and he takes off his providential restraints, by which many are kept from wick-
edness, because they have not opportunity or power to commit it, or dare not
through fear or shame. When a man is thus left, commands, warnings, judg-
ments, and deliverances, every truth in Scripture, and every dispensation of
Providence, prove the occasion of increasing obduracy and insensibility, pride,
and presumption.-By this general declaration, Moses was taught to expect and
prepare for difficulty and opposition: and the subsequent history will give an
abundant opportunity of stating the several stages by which Pharaoh's obduracy
was induced, and the import of the several words made use of, in this re-
markable instance and illustration of the Lord's dealing with obstinate sinners.

not a voluble tongue, or ready utterance, and therefore he thought himself unfit
to speak before great men about great affairs, and in danger of being run down ||
by the Egyptians. Observe, 1. We must not judge of men by the readiness and
fluency of their discourse; Moses was mighty in word, Acts, 7, 22, and yet not
eloquent: what he said, was strong and nervous, and to the purpose, and distilled
as the dew, Deut. 32, 2, though he did not deliver himself with that readiness,
ease, and elegance, that some do, who have not the tenth part of his sense; St.
Paul's speech was contemptible, 2 Cor. 10, 10. A great deal of wisdom and true
worth is concealed by a slow tongue. 2. God is pleased sometimes to make
choice of those as his messengers, who have least of the advantages of art or
nature, that his grace in them may appear the more glorious; Christ's disciples
were no orators, till the Spirit made them such.-H.
SELF-DIFFIDENCE.-Even self-diffidence, when it grows into an extreme, when
it either hinders us from duty or clogs us in duty, or discourages our dependence
upon the grace of God, is very displeasing to him. God justly resents our back-
wardness to serve him, and has reason to take it ill; for he is such a Benefactor
as is beforehand with us, and such a Rewarder as will not be behindhand with||-S.
God is justly displeased with those whom yet he does not reject: he vouch-
safes to reason the case even with his froward children, and overcomes them, as
he did Moses here, with grace and kindness.-H.
THE AUTHOR OF SPEECH.-God, as the Author of nature, has given us the
power and faculty of speaking; and from him, as the Fountain of gifts and graces,
comes the faculty of speaking well, the mouth and wisdom, Luke 21, 15, the
tongue of the learned; Isa. 50, 4; he pours grace into the lips, Ps. 45, 2. His power
in general over the other faculties, Who but God makes the dumb and the deaf,
the seeing and the blind? First, The perfections of our faculties are his work, he
makes the seeing; he formed the eye, Ps. 94, 9, he opens the understanding, the
eye of the mind, Luke 24, 45. Secondly, Their imperfections are from him too;
he makes the dumb, and deaf, and blind. Is there any evil of this kind, and the
Lord has not done it? No doubt, he has, and always in wisdom and righteous-municate for the benefit of others; and those that are fellow-servants to God in
ness, and for his own glory, John, 9, 3. Pharaoh and the Egyptians were made
deaf and blind spiritually, as Isa. 6, 9, 10. But God knew how to manage them,
and get himself honour upon them.-H.

us.

A HAPPY MEETING.-1. God sent Aaron to meet Moses, and directed him
where to find him, in the wilderness that lay toward Midian. Note, The provi-
dence of God is to be acknowledged in the comfortable meeting of relations and
friends. 2. Aaron made so much haste, in obedience to his God, and in love to
his brother, that he met him in the mount of God, the place where God had
met with him. 3. They embraced one another with mutual endearments; the
more they saw of God's immediate direction in bringing them together, the
more pleasant their interview was: they kissed, not only in token of brotherly
affection, and in remembrance of ancient acquaintance, but as a pledge of their
hearty concurrence in the work they were jointly called to. 4. Moses informed
his brother of the commission he had received, with all the instructions and
credentials affixed to it, v. 28. Note, What we know of God, we should com-
the same work, should use a mutual freedom, and endeavour rightly and fully
to understand one another.-H.

CHAP. V. THE BOLD DEMAND. -Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my
AARON.-God joins Aaron in commission with him; he promises that Aaron people go. Moses, in treating with the elders of Israel, is directed to call God
should meet him opportunely, and that he would be glad to see him, they having the God of their fathers; but, in treating with Pharaoh, they call him the God of
not seen one another (it is likely) for many years, v. 14. He directs him to make Israel, and it is the first time we find him called so in scripture; he is called the
use of Aaron as his spokesman, v. 16. God might have laid Moses wholly aside, God of Israel, the person, (Gen. 33, 20,) but here it is Israel, the people. They are
for his backwardness to be employed; but he considered his frame, and ordered just beginning to be formed into a people, when God is called their God. Moses,
him an assistant. Observe, 1. That two are better than one, Eccl. 4, 9. God it is likely, was directed to call him so, at least, it might be inferred from ch. 4,
will have his two witnesses, Rev. 11, 3, that out of their mouths every word may 22.
be established. 2. Aaron was the brother of Moses, divine wisdom so ordering
it, that their natural affection one to another might strengthen their union in the
joint execution of their commission. Christ sent his disciples two and two, and
some of the couples were brothers. 3. Aaron was the elder brother, and yet he
was willing to be employed under Moses in this affair, because God would have it
SO. 4. Aaron could speak well, and yet was far inferior to Moses in wisdom.
God dispenses his gifts variously to the children of men, that we may see our
need one of another, and each may contribute something to the good of the body,
1 Cor. 12, 21. The tongue of Aaron, with the head and heart of Moses, would
make one completely fit for this embassy. 5. God promises, I will be with thy
mouth, and with his mouth. Even Aaron that could speak well, yet could not

Israel is my son. In this great name they deliver their message, Let my
people go. 1. They were God's people, and therefore Pharaoh ought not to detain
them in bondage. Note, God will own his own people, though ever so poor and
despicable, and will find a time to plead their cause. "The Israelites are slaves
in Egypt, but they are my people," says God, "and I will not suffer them to be
always trampled upon." See Isa. 52, 4, 5. 2. He expected services and sacri-
fices from them, and therefore they must have leave to go where they could
freely exercise their religion, without giving offence to, or receiving offence from,
the Egyptians. Note, God delivers his people out of the hand of their enemies,
that they may serve him, and serve him cheerfully; that they may hold a feast
to him; which they may do, while they have his favour and presence, even in a
wilderness, a dry and barren land.-H.

cob said to Simeon and Euphrates. Gen. 15, 18 the great river, the river

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