E
X O D U S
CHAP. II.
This
chapter begins the story of Moses, that man of renown, famed for his intimate
acquaintance with Heaven and his eminent usefulness on earth, and the most
remarkable type of Christ, as a prophet, saviour, lawgiver, and mediator, in
all the Old Testament. The Jews have a book among them of the life of Moses,
which tells a great many stories concerning him, which we have reason to think
are mere fictions; what he has recorded concerning himself is what we may rely
upon, for we know that his record is true; and it is what we may be satisfied
with, for it is what Infinite Wisdom thought fit to preserve and transmit to
us. In this chapter we have, I. The perils of his birth and infancy, ver. 1-4.
II. His preservation through those perils, and the preferment of his childhood
and youth, ver. 5-10. III. The pious choice of his riper years, which was to
own the people of God. 1. He offered them his service at present, if they
would accept it, ver. 11-14. 2. He retired, that he might reserve himself for
further service hereafter, ver. 15-22. IV. The dawning of the day of
Israel
's deliverance, ver. 23, &c.
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The
Birth of Moses.
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B.
C. 1571.
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1 And there went a man of
the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2
And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a
goodly child, she hid him three months. 3 And when she
could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it
with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it
in the flags by the river's brink. 4 And his sister stood afar
off, to wit what would be done to him.
Moses was a Levite, both by father and mother. Jacob left Levi under marks of
disgrace (Gen. xlix. 5); and yet, soon after, Moses appears a descendant from
him, that he might typify Christ, who came in the likeness of sinful flesh and
was made a curse for us. This tribe began to be distinguished from the rest by
the birth of Moses, as afterwards it became remarkable in many other
instances. Observe, concerning this newborn infant,
I. How he was hidden. It seems to have been just at the time of his birth that
the cruel law was made for the murder of all the male children of the Hebrews;
and many, no doubt, perished by the execution of it. The parents of Moses had
Miriam and Aaron, both older than he, born to them before this edict came out,
and had nursed them without that peril: but those that begin the world in
peace know not what troubles they may meet with before they have got through
it. Probably the mother of Moses was full of anxiety in the expectation of his
birth, now that this edict was in force, and was ready to say, Blessed are
the barren that never bore, Luke xxiii. 29. Better so than bring forth
children to the murderer, Hos. ix. 13. Yet this child proves the glory of his
father's house. Thus that which is most our fear often proves, in the issue,
most our joy. Observe the beauty of providence: just at the time when
Pharaoh's cruelty rose to this height the deliverer was born, though he did
not appear for many years after. Note, When men are projecting the church's
ruin God is preparing for its salvation. Moses, who was afterwards to bring
Israel out of this house of bondage, was himself in danger of falling a
sacrifice to the fury of the oppressor, God so ordering it that, being
afterwards told of this, he might be the more animated with a holy zeal for
the deliverance of his brethren out of the hands of such bloody men. 1. His
parents observed him to be a goodly child, more than ordinarily
beautiful; he was fair to God, Acts vii. 20. They fancied he had a
lustre in his countenance that was something more than human, and was a
specimen of the shining of his face afterwards, Exod. xxxiv. 29. Note, God
sometimes gives early earnests of his gifts, and manifests himself betimes in
those for whom and by whom he designs to do great things. Thus he put an early
strength into Samson (Judge xiii. 24, 25), an early forwardness into Samuel (1
Sam. ii. 18), wrought an early deliverance for David (1 Sam. xvii. 37), and
began betimes with Timothy, 1 Tim. iii. 15. 2. Therefore they were the more
solicitous for his preservation, because they looked upon this as an
indication of some kind purpose of God concerning him, and a happy omen of
something great. Note, A lively active faith can take encouragement from the
least intimation of the divine favour; a merciful hint of Providence will
encourage those whose spirits make diligent search, Three months they
hid him in some private apartment of their own house, though probably with the
hazard of their own lives, had he been discovered. Herein Moses was a type of
Christ, who, in his infancy, was forced to abscond, and in
Egypt
too (Matt. ii. 13), and was
wonderfully preserved, when many innocents were butchered. It is said (Heb. xi.
23) that the parents of Moses hid him by faith; some think they had a
special revelation to them that the deliverer should spring from their loins;
however they had the general promise of Israel's preservation, which they
acted faith upon, and in that faith hid their child, not being afraid of the
penalty annexed to the king's commandment. Note, Faith in God's promise is so
far from superseding that it rather excites and quickens to the use of lawful
means for the obtaining of mercy. Duty is ours, events are God's. Again, Faith
in God will set us above the ensnaring fear of man.
II. How he was exposed. At three months' end, probably when the searchers came
about to look for concealed children, so that they could not hide him any
longer (their faith perhaps beginning now to fail), they put him in an ark of
bulrushes by the river's brink (v. 3), and set his little sister
at some distance to watch what would become of him, and into whose hands he
would fall, v. 4. God put it into their hearts to do this, to bring
about his own purposes, that Moses might by this means be brought into the
hands of Pharaoh's daughter, and that by his deliverance from this imminent
danger a specimen might be given of the deliverance of God's church, which now
lay thus exposed. Note, 1. God takes special care of the outcasts of
Israel
(Ps. cxlvii. 2); they are his
outcasts, Isa. xvi. 4. Moses seemed quite abandoned by his friends; his own
mother durst not own him: but now the Lord took him up and protected him, Ps.
xxvii. 10. 2. In times of extreme difficulty it is good to venture upon the
providence of God. Thus to have exposed their child while they might have
preserved it, would have been to tempt
Providence
; but, when they could not, it
was to trust to
Providence
. "Nothing venture, nothing
win." If I perish, I perish.
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The
Deliverance of Moses.
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B.
C. 1571.
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5 And the daughter of
Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked
along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent
her maid to fetch it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw
the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and
said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. 7 Then said his
sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the
Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 8 And
Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's
mother. 9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child
away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the
woman took the child, and nursed it. 10 And the child grew, and
she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called
his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
Here is, I. Moses saved from perishing. Come see the place where that great
man lay when he was a little child; he lay in a bulrush-basket by the river's
side. Had he been left to lie there, he must have perished in a little time
with hunger, if he had not been sooner washed into the river or devoured by a
crocodile. Had he fallen into any other hands than those he did fall into,
either they would not, or durst not, have done otherwise than have thrown him
straightway into the river; but Providence brings no less a person thither
than Pharaoh's daughter, just at that juncture, guides her to the place where
this poor forlorn infant lay, and inclines her heart to pity it, which she
dares do when none else durst. Never did poor child cry so seasonably, so
happily, as this did: The babe wept, which moved the compassion of the
princess, as no doubt his beauty did, v. 5, 6. Note, 1. Those are
hard-hearted indeed that have not a tender compassion for helpless infancy.
How pathetically does God represent his compassion for the Israelites in
general considered in this pitiable state! Ezek. xvi. 5, 6. 2. It is very
commendable in persons of quality to take cognizance of the distresses of the
meanest, and to be helpful and charitable to them. 3. God's care of us in our
infancy ought to be often made mention of by us to his praise. Though we were
not thus exposed (that we were not was God's mercy) yet many were the perils
we were surrounded with in our infancy, out of which the Lord delivered us,
Ps. xxii. 9, 10. 4. God often raises up friends for his people even among
their enemies. Pharaoh cruelly seeks Israel's destruction, but his own
daughter charitably compassionates a Hebrew child, and not only so, but,
beyond her intention, preserves Israel's deliverer. O Lord, how wonderful
are thy counsels!
II. Moses well provided with a good nurse, no worse than his own dear mother, v.
7-9. Pharaoh's daughter thinks it convenient that he should have a Hebrew
nurse (pity that so fair a child should be suckled by a sable Moor), and the
sister of Moses, with art and good management, introduces the mother into the
place of a nurse, to the great advantage of the child; for mothers are the
best nurses, and those who receive the blessings of the breasts with those of
the womb are not just if they give them not to those for whose sake they
received them: it was also an unspeakable satisfaction to the mother, who
received her son as life from the dead, and now could enjoy him without fear.
The transport of her joy, upon this happy turn, we may suppose sufficient to
betray her to be the true mother (had there been any suspicion of it) to a
less discerning eye than that of Solomon, 1 Kings iii. 27.
III. Moses preferred to be the son of Pharaoh's daughter (v. 10), his
parents herein perhaps not only yielding to necessity, having nursed him for
her, but too much pleased with the honour thereby done to their son; for
the smiles of the world are stronger temptations than its frowns, and more
difficult to resist. The tradition of the Jews is that Pharaoh's daughter had
no child of her own, and that she was the only child of her father, so that
when he was adopted for her son he stood fair for the crown: however it is
certain he stood fair for the best preferments of the court in due time, and
in the mean time had the advantage of the best education and improvements of
the court, with the help of which, having a great genius, he became master of
all the lawful learning of the Egyptians, Acts vii. 22. Note, 1. Providence
pleases itself sometimes in raising the poor out of the dust, to set them
among princes, Ps. cxiii. 7, 8. Many who, by their birth, seem marked for
obscurity and poverty, by surprising events of Providence are brought to sit
at the upper end of the world, to make men know that the heavens do rule.
2. Those whom God designs for great services he finds out ways to qualify and
prepare beforehand. Moses, by having his education in a court, is the fitter
to be a prince and king in Jeshurun; by having his education in a
learned court (for such the Egyptian then was) is the fitter to be an
historian; and by having his education in the court of Egypt is the fitter to
be employed, in the name of God, as an ambassador to that court.
IV. Moses named. The Jews tell us that his father, at his circumcision, called
him Joachim, but Pharaoh's daughter called him Moses, Drawn out of
the water, so it signifies in the Egyptian language. The calling of the
Jewish lawgiver by an Egyptian name is a happy omen to the Gentile world, and
gives hopes of that day when it shall be said, Blessed be Egypt my people,
Isa. xix. 25. And his tuition at court was an earnest of the performance of
that promise, Isa. xlix. 23, Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens
thy nursing mothers.
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Moses
Slays an Egyptian; Rebukes a Contentious Hebrew.
B. C.
1533.
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11 And it came to pass in
those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and
looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of
his brethren. 12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he
saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the
sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of
the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore
smitest thou thy fellow? 14 And he said, Who made thee a prince
and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian?
And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. 15 Now
when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from
the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a
well.
Moses had now passed the first forty years of his life in the court of
Pharaoh, preparing himself for business; and now it was time for him to enter
upon action, and,
I. He boldly owns and espouses the cause of God's people: When Moses was
grown he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens, v.
11. The best exposition of these words we have from an inspired pen, Heb. xi.
24-26, where we are told that by this he expressed, 1. His holy contempt of
the honours and pleasures of the Egyptian court; he refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter, for he went out. The temptation was
indeed very strong. He had a fair opportunity (as we say) to make his fortune,
and to have been serviceable to Israel too, with his interest at court. He was
obliged, in gratitude as well as interest, to Pharaoh's daughter, and yet he
obtained a glorious victory by faith over his temptation. He reckoned it much
more his honour and advantage to be a son of Abraham than to be the son of
Pharaoh's daughter. 2. His tender concern for his poor brethren in bondage,
with whom (though he might easily have avoided it) he chose to suffer
affliction; he looked on their burdens as one that not only pitied them,
but was resolved to venture with them, and, if occasion were, to venture for
them.
II. He gives a specimen of the great things he was afterwards to do for God
and his Israel in two little instances, related particularly by Stephen (Acts
vii. 23, &c.) with design to show how their fathers had always resisted
the Holy Ghost (v. 51), even in Moses himself, when he first
appeared as their deliverer, wilfully shutting their eyes against this
day-break of their enlargement. He found himself, no doubt, under a divine
direction and impulse in what he did, and that he was in an extraordinary
manner called of God to do it. Now observe,
1. Moses was afterwards to be employed in plaguing the Egyptians for the
wrongs they had done to God's Israel; and, as a specimen of that, he killed
the Egyptian who smote the Hebrew (v. 11, 12); probably it was one of
the Egyptian taskmasters, whom he found abusing his Hebrew slave, a relation
(as some think) of Moses, a man of the same tribe. It was by special warrant
from Heaven (which makes not a precedent in ordinary cases) that Moses slew
the Egyptian, and rescued his oppressed brother. The Jew's tradition is that
he did not slay him with any weapon, but, as Peter slew Ananias and Sapphira,
with the word of his mouth. His hiding him in the sand signified that
hereafter Pharaoh and all his Egyptians should, under the control of the rod
of Moses, be buried in the sand of the Red Sea. His taking care to execute
this justice privately, when no man saw, was a piece of needful prudence and
caution, it being but an assay; and perhaps his faith was as yet weak, and
what he did was with some hesitation. Those who come to be of great faith, yet
began with a little, and at first spoke tremblingly.
2. Moses was afterwards to be employed in governing Israel, and as a specimen
of this, we have him here trying to end a controversy between two Hebrews, in
which he is forced (as he did afterwards for forty years) to suffer their
manners. Observe here,
(1.) The unhappy quarrel which Moses observed between two Hebrews, v.
13. It does not appear what was the occasion; but, whatever it was, it was
certainly very unseasonable for Hebrews to strive with one another when they
were all oppressed and ruled with rigour by the Egyptians. Had they not
beating enough from the Egyptians, but they must beat one another? Note, [1.]
Even sufferings in common do not always unite God's professing people to one
another, so much as one might reasonably expect. [2.] When God raises up
instruments of salvation for the church they will find enough to do, not only
with oppressing Egyptians, to restrain them, but with quarrelsome Israelites,
to reconcile them.
(2.) The way he took of dealing with them; he marked him that caused the
division, that did the wrong, and mildly reasoned with him: Wherefore
smitest thou thy fellow? The injurious Egyptian was killed, the injurious
Hebrew was only reprimanded; for what the former did was from a rooted malice,
what the latter did we may suppose was only upon a sudden provocation. The
wise God makes, and, according to his example, all wise governors make, a
difference between one offender and another, according to the several
qualities of the same offence. Moses endeavoured to make them friends, a good
office; thus we find Christ often reproving his disciples' strifes (Luke ix.
46, &c.; xxii. 24, &c.), for he was a prophet like unto Moses, a
healing prophet, a peacemaker, who visited his brethren with a design to slay
all enmities. The reproof Moses gave on this occasion may still be of use, Wherefore
smitest thou thy fellow? Note, Smiting our fellows is bad in any,
especially in Hebrews, smiting with tongue or hand, either in a way of
persecution or in a way of strife and contention. Consider the person thou
smitest; it is thy fellow, thy fellow-creature, thy fellow-christian, it is
thy fellow-servant, thy fellow-sufferer. Consider the cause, Wherefore
smitest? Perhaps it is for no cause at all, or no just cause, or none
worth speaking of.
(3.) The ill success of his attempt (v. 14): He said, Who made thee
a prince? He that did the wrong thus quarrelled with Moses; the injured
party, it should seem, was inclinable enough to peace, but the wrong-doer was
thus touchy. Note, It is a sign of guilt to be impatient of reproof; and it is
often easier to persuade the injured to bear the trouble of taking wrong than
the injurious to bear the conviction of having done wrong. 1 Cor. vi.
7, 8. It was a very wise and mild reproof which Moses gave to this quarrelsome
Hebrew, but he could not bear it, he kicked against the pricks (Acts ix. 5),
and crossed questions with his reprover. [1.] He challenges his authority: Who
made thee a prince? A man needs no great authority for the giving of a
friendly reproof, it is an act of kindness; yet this man needs will interpret
it an act of dominion, and represents his reprover as imperious and assuming.
Thus when people dislike good discourse, or a seasonable admonition, they will
call it preaching, as if a man could not speak a work for God and
against sin but he took too much upon him. Yet Moses was indeed a prince and a
judge, and knew it, and thought the Hebrews would have understood it, and
struck in with him; but they stood in their own light, and thrust him away,
Acts vii. 25, 27. [2.] He upbraids him with what he had done in killing the
Egyptian: Intendest thou to kill me? See what base constructions malice
puts upon the best words and actions. Moses, for reproving him is immediately
charged with a design to kill him. An attempt upon his sin was interpreted an
attempt upon his life; and his having killed the Egyptian was thought
sufficient to justify the suspicion; as if Moses made no difference between an
Egyptian and a Hebrew. If Moses, to right an injured Hebrew, had put his life
in his hand, and slain an Egyptian, he ought therefore to have submitted to
him, not only as a friend to the Hebrews, but as a friend that had more than
ordinary power and zeal. But he throws that in his teeth as a crime which was
bravely done, and was intended as a specimen of the promised deliverance; if
the Hebrews had taken the hint, and come in to Moses as their head and
captain, it is probable that they would have been delivered now; but,
despising their deliverer, their deliverance was justly deferred, and their
bondage prolonged forty years, as afterwards their despising Canaan kept them
out of it forty years more. I would, and you would not. Note, Men know
not what they do, nor what enemies they are to their own interest, when they
resist and despise faithful reproofs and reprovers. When the Hebrews strove
with Moses, God sent him away into Midian, and they never heard of him for
forty years; thus the things that belonged to their peace were hidden from
their eyes, because they knew not the day of their visitation. As to Moses, we
may look on it as a great damp and discouragement to him. He was now choosing
to suffer affliction with the people of God, and embracing the reproach
of Christ; and now, at his first setting out, to meet with this affliction
and reproach from them was a very sore trial of his resolution. He might have
said, "If this be the spirit of the Hebrews, I will go to court again,
and be the son of Pharaoh's daughter." Note, First, We must take
heed of being prejudiced against the ways and people of God by the follies and
peevishness of some particular persons that profess religion. Secondly,
It is no new thing for the church's best friends to meet with a great deal of
opposition and discouragement in their healing, saving attempts, even from
their own mother's children; Christ himself was set at nought by the builders,
and is still rejected by those he would save.
(4.) The flight of Moses to Midian, in consequence. The affront given him thus
far proved a kindness to him; it gave him to understand that his killing the
Egyptian was discovered, and so he had time to make his escape, otherwise the
wrath of Pharaoh might have surprised him and taken him off. Note, God can
overrule even the strife of tongues, so as, one way or other, to bring good to
his people out of it. Information was brought to Pharaoh (and it is well if it
was not brought by the Hebrew himself whom Moses reproved) of his killing the
Egyptian; warrants are presently out for the apprehending of Moses, which
obliged him to shift for his own safety, by flying into the land of Midian, v.
15. [1.] Moses did this out of a prudent care of his own life. If this be his
forsaking of Egypt which the apostle refers to as done by faith (Heb. xi. 27),
it teaches us that when we are at any time in trouble and danger for doing our
duty the grace of faith will be of good use to us in taking proper methods for
our own preservation. Yet there it is said, He feared not the wrath of the
king; here it is said he feared, v. 14. He did not fear with
a fear of diffidence and amazement, which weakens and has torment, but with a
fear of diligence, which quickened him to take that way which Providence
opened to him for his own preservation. [2.] God ordered it for wise and holy
ends. Things were not yet ripe for Israel's deliverance: the measure of
Egypt's iniquity was not yet full; the Hebrews were not sufficiently humbled,
nor were they yet increased to such a multitude as God designed; Moses is to
be further fitted for the service, and therefore is directed to withdraw for
the present, till the time to favour Israel, even the set time, should come.
God guided Moses to Midian because the Midianites were of the seed of Abraham,
and retained the worship of the true God among them, so that he might have not
only a safe but a comfortable settlement among them. And through this country
he was afterwards to lead Israel, with which (that he might do it the better)
he now had opportunity of making himself acquainted. Hither he came, and sat
down by a well, tired and thoughtful, at a loss, and waiting to see which way
Providence would direct him. It was a great change with him, since he was but
the other day at ease in Pharaoh's court: thus God tried his faith, and it was
found to praise and honour.
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The
Marriage of Moses.
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16 Now the priest of
Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled
the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 And the shepherds
came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered
their flock. 18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said,
How is it that ye are come so soon to day? 19 And they
said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew
water enough for us, and watered the flock. 20 And he said
unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye
have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. 21 And Moses
was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his
daughter. 22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name
Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Moses here gains a settlement in Midian, just as his father Jacob had gained
one in Syria, Gen. xxix. 2, &c. And both these instances should encourage
us to trust Providence, and to follow it. Events that seem inconsiderable, and
purely accidental, after wards appear to have been designed by the wisdom of
God for very good purposes, and of great consequence to his people. A casual
transient occurrence has sometimes occasioned the greatest and happiest turns
of a man's life. Observe,
I. Concerning the seven daughters of Reuel the priest or prince of Midian. 1.
They were humble, and very industrious, according as the employment of the
country was: they drew water for their father's flock, v. 16. If
their father was a prince, it teaches us that even those who are honourably
born, and are of quality and distinction in their country, should yet apply
themselves to some useful business, and what their hand finds to do do it with
all their might. Idleness can be no one's honour. If their father was a
priest, it teaches us that ministers' children should, in a special manner, be
examples of humility and industry. 2. They were modest, and would not ask this
strange Egyptian to come home with them (though handsome and a great
courtier), till their father sent for him. Modesty is the ornament of woman.
II. Concerning Moses. He was taken for an Egyptian (v. 19); and
strangers must be content to be the subjects of mistake; but it is observable,
1. How ready he was to help Reuel's daughters to water their flocks. Though
bred in learning and at court, yet he knew how to turn his hand to such an
office as this when there was occasion; nor had he learned of the Egyptians to
despise shepherds. Note, Those that have had a liberal education yet should
not be strangers to servile work, because they know not what necessity
Providence may put them in of working for themselves, or what opportunity
Providence may give them of being serviceable to others. These young women, it
seems, met with some opposition in their employment, more than they and their
servants could conquer; the shepherds of some neighbouring prince, as some
think, or some idle fellows that called themselves shepherds, drove away
their flocks; but Moses, though melancholy and in distress, stood up
and helped them, not only to get clear of the shepherds, but, when that
was done, to water the flocks. This he did, not only in complaisance to the
daughters of Reuel (though that also did very well become him), but because,
wherever he was, as occasion offered itself, (1.) He loved to be doing
justice, and appearing in the defence of such as he saw injured, which every
man ought to do as far as it is in the power of his hand to do it. (2.) He
loved to be doing good. Wherever the Providence of God casts us we should
desire and endeavour to be useful; and, when we cannot do the good we would,
we must be ready to do the good we can. And he that is faithful in a little
shall be entrusted with more. 2. How well he was paid for his serviceableness.
When the young women acquainted their father with the kindnesses they had
received from this stranger, he sent to invite him to his house, and made much
of him, v. 20. Thus God will recompense the kindnesses which are at any
time shown to his children; they shall in no wise lose their reward. Moses
soon recommended himself to the esteem and good affection of this prince of
Midian, who took him into his house, and, in process of time, married one of
his daughters to him (v. 21), by whom he had a son, whom he called Gershom,
a stranger there (v. 22), that if ever God should give him a home
of his own he might keep in remembrance the land in which he had been a
stranger. Now this settlement of Moses in Midian was designed by Providence,
(1.) To shelter him for the present. God will find hiding-places for his
people in the day of their distress; nay, he will himself be to them a little
sanctuary, and will secure them, either under heaven or in heaven. But, (2.)
It was also designed to prepare him for the great services he was further
designed for. His manner of life in Midian, where he kept the flock of his
father-in-law (having none of his own to keep), would be of use to him, [1.]
To inure him to hardship and poverty, that he might learn how to want as well
as how to abound. Those whom God intends to exalt he first humbles. [2.] To
inure him to contemplation and devotion. Egypt accomplished him as a scholar,
a gentleman, a statesman, a soldier, all which accomplishments would be
afterwards of use to him; but yet he lacked one thing, in which the court of
Egypt could not befriend him. He that was to do all by divine revelation must
know, by a long experience, what it was to live a life of communion with God;
and in this he would be greatly furthered by the solitude and retirement of a
shepherd's life in Midian. By the former he was prepared to rule in Jeshurun,
but by the latter he was prepared to converse with God in Mount Horeb, near
which mount he had spent much of his time. Those that know what it is to be
alone with God in holy exercises are acquainted with better delights than ever
Moses tasted in the court of Pharaoh.
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Cry
of the Oppressed Israelites.
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B.
C. 1491.
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23 And it came to pass in
process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto
God by reason of the bondage. 24 And God heard their groaning, and
God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
Here is, 1. The continuance of the Israelites' bondage in Egypt, v. 23.
Probably the murdering of their infants did not continue; this part of their
affliction attended only the period immediately connected with the birth of
Moses, and served to signalize it. The Egyptians now were content with their
increase, finding that Egypt was enriched by their labour; so that they might
have them for slaves, they cared not how many they were. On this therefore
they were intent, to keep them all at work, and make the best hand they could
of their labour. When one Pharaoh died, another rose up in his place that was
governed by the same maxims, and was as cruel to Israel as his predecessors.
If there was sometimes a little relaxation, yet it presently revived again
with as much rigour as ever; and probably, as the more Israel were oppressed
the more they multiplied, so the more they multiplied the more they were
oppressed. Note, Sometimes God suffers the rod of the wicked to lie very long
and very heavily on the lot of the righteous. If Moses, in Midian, at any time
began to think how much better his condition might have been had he staid
among the courtiers, he must of himself think this also, how much worse it
would have been if he had had his lot with brethren: it was a great
degradation to him to be keeping sheep in Midian, but better so than making
brick in Egypt. The consideration of our brethren's afflictions would help to
reconcile us to our own. 2. The preface to their deliverance at last. (1.) They
cried, v. 23. Now, at last, they began to think of God under their
troubles, and to return to him from the idols they had served, Ezek. xx. 8.
Hitherto they had fretted at the instruments of their trouble, but God was not
in all their thoughts. Thus hypocrites in heart heap up wrath; they cry not
when he binds them, Job xxxvi. 13. But before God unbound them he put it
into their hearts to cry unto him, as it is explained, Num. xx. 16. Note, It
is a good sign that God is coming towards us with deliverance when he inclines
and enables us to cry to him for it. (2.) God heard, v. 24, 25.
The name of God is here emphatically prefixed to four different expressions of
a kind intention towards them. [1.] God heard their groaning; that is,
he made it to appear that he took notice of their complaints. The groans of
the oppressed cry aloud in the ears of the righteous God, to whom vengeance
belongs, especially the groans of God's spiritual Israel; he knows the burdens
they groan under and the blessings they groan after, and that the blessed
Spirit, by these groanings, makes intercession in them. [2.] God remembered
his covenant, which he seemed to have forgotten, but of which he is ever
mindful. This God had an eye to, and not to any merit of theirs, in what he
did for them. See Lev. xxvi. 42. (3.) God looked upon the children of
Israel. Moses looked upon them and pitied them (v. 11); but now God
looked upon them and helped them. (4.) God had a respect unto them, a
favourable respect to them as his own. The frequent repetition of the name of
God here intimates that now we are to expect something great, Opus Deo
dignum--A work worthy of God. His eyes, which run to and fro through the
earth, are now fixed upon Israel, to show himself strong, to show himself a
God in their behalf.
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