James M. Gray · 9 of 93

Exodus · Part 2

How much further is Pharaoh willing to assent to Moses' demand (24)? But on what does the latter still insist (25, 26)? What "reckless madness" takes possession of the king? What is there ominous in the reply of Moses to him (29)? Is it not strange in this connection that Pharaoh never attempted to destroy the lives of Moses and Aaron? What better evidence could we have of the divine protection that accompanied them than this? And how it proves also the limitations of Satan's power (compare Job 1 and 2).

There is an awful significance in the plague of darkness, since the sun was a leading object of adoration with the Egyptians (under the name of Osiris), of which the king himself was the representative, entitling him in some sense to divine honors. Thus all the forms of Egyptian will-worship have been covered with shame and confusion in these nine plagues (Murphy).

Questions.

1. What should the sorcerers have done to demonstrate superiority to Moses?

2. Prove the supernatural character of what Moses did.

3. What spiritual lessons are suggested in this lesson?

4. What light is here thrown on God's administration of the universe?

5. In what particular was there divine restraint on Pharaoh?

THE PASSOVER

Chapters 11-12:36

At the close of the 10th chapter Moses declares Pharaoh shall see his face no more, while in the nth he is present with him again. Therefore with the exception of the first three verses of c. 11 the remainder must be a continuation of c. 10.

Let us consider it thus, taking up the questions in vv. 1-3 in connection with c. 12.

1. The Last Plague Announced, 11:4-10.

Hitherto God plagued Egypt mediately, but how was this plague to be distinguished (4)? Why was this plague harder to be borne than if the whole nation had been consumed? By what proverbial expression is the security of the Hebrews assured (7)?

How does v. 8 indicate that Moses has ceased to speak in God's name and is now speaking in his own name? Is he not, nevertheless, speaking representatively? How do the last two verses show that Pharaoh's disobedience is not a divine defeat?

2. The Passover Instituted, 12:1-13.

What new appointment of time distinguishes this event (2)? The year formerly began in the month of Tisri, corresponding to our September 15 to October 15, but what had formerly been the seventh month new becomes the first. This month was known as Nisan. The original order of the months continued so far as ordinary affairs were concerned, but the solemnities observed in honor of God began henceforth with Nisan.

What were the Hebrews to do (3)? When? According to what measurement or proportion? Israel was divided into twelve tribes, these again into families and the families into "houses," the last named being composed of particular individuals. According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, a paschal company consisted of not less than ten members, although sometimes there were as many as twenty. In this company they were free to include everyone capable of eating as much as the size of an olive.

In what two ways was the lamb to be distinguished (5)? What liberty was there in its selection? A male was accounted more excellent than a female (Malachi 1:14), and during its first year not only would its flesh be more tender and grateful but in that period it would best represent the idea of harmlessness and simplicity (1 Peter 1:19).

How long should the Iamb be kept before slaying (6)? At what time should all the lambs be killed simultaneously? The "evening" here means sometime between the time of the sun's beginning to decline and that of its setting, say about 3:00 p. m. For the typical application to Christ, compare John 19:19 and Matthew 26:46.

What should be done with the blood (7)? How was the flesh to be cooked and eaten (8)? "As the sacrificing of the lamb is a symbol of the redemption by which the death penalty due by one is paid by another, so the eating of it is a figure of the participation in pardon, acceptance and full blessedness consequent on the atonement being made and the law being satisfied."

Both the roasting and eating of it with unleavened bread was for greater expedition in leaving the land that night. They would have time neither to boil the one nor wait for the yeast to rise in the other. And yet doubtless there is a moral or typical side to this matter as well, for since the paschal lamb and all pertaining to it foreshadow the person and work of our Redeemer, the roasting of the flesh may suggest the extremity of His sufferings under the fire of God's wrath, while the absence of leaven from the bread finds a spiritual application in such a passage as 1 Cor. 5:7-8. Leaven is a mass of sour dough in which decomposition has set in, and is therefore a symbol of corruption. Hence, unleavened bread is the emblem of purity and life becoming those who have exercised faith in God, the blessed fruit of a new nature (Murphy).

What other regulations accompanied this institution (9, 10)? It would appear from this that the lamb was to be roasted whole and entire, excepting doubtless the intestinal canal. There was to be no breaking of its bones (John 19:33). This "was strikingly expressive of the unity of the sacrifice, of the salvation it pre-figured, and the people who partook of it (Ps. 34:20; 1 Cor. 10:17). Nothing should remain of the lamb lest it should be put to a superstitious use, and also to prevent putrefaction, for it was not meet that anything offered to God should see corruption (Ps. 16:10)."

In what attitude were the people to be (11)? And why?

What did God say He would do (12)? Note the reference to "the gods of Egypt" in this verse. There is a Jewish tradition that the idols were actually demolished on that night, but from a figurative point of view, "what could be a more signal infliction upon these gods than the complete exposure of their importance to aid their worshippers in a time of need?"

By what means should the Hebrews experience immunity from this destruction (13)? Note the words: When I see the blood I will pass over you. It was not their character that saved them, neither the mercy of God in the abstract, nor their faith and obedience considered as a meritorious act, but the actual sprinkling of the blood upon the door posts. Without this they would not have been in the will of God, and His mercy could not have been operative towards them. No matter the degree or intelligence of their faith which led to the sprinkling of the blood, it was the latter divinely-ordained token which was the means of their deliverance.

The bearing of this on our redemption through the atonement of Christ should be prayerfully considered. The Hebrews were sinners in the general sense as well as the Egyptians, and God might justly have punished them by taking away the life of the first-born, but He was pleased to show them mercy for reasons considered in earlier lessons and to accept the life of a lamb as a substitute for their life. This blood was a signal of this, and all who acted on the command of God and relied on His protection were secure from the stroke of the avenger.

Nothing could more strikingly set before us the truth about the application of Christ's blood to our guilty conscience as a means of deliverance from the wrath to come (Rom. 3:24-25; Eph. 1:7). It is not our character, neither the mercy of God towards us in the abstract nor the strength or intelligence of our faith, but the application of the blood to our souls that saves. Do not pass this lesson without satisfying yourself that this has become true of you, and that you have by faith displayed the token (Acts 4:27).

As the paschal lamb is the type of our Redeemer, so the Passover itself is a type of our redemption through Him: for an outline of which see the author's Synthetic Bible Studies.

3. The Passover Commemorated, 12:14-20.

(1) The feast of unleavened bread (15) was a distinct ordinance from the Passover, commencing on the day after the killing and eating of the lamb, the 15th of Nisan. Of course in the first instance it could not have been observed until they left Egypt.

(2) The "cutting off" from Israel meant not necessarily physical death but excommunication from the society and privileges of the chosen people.

(3) Note the "holy convocation" for the public worship of God in connection with this feast (16). Doubtless the people of a neighborhood thus came together for praise and prayer, and some think that even from an early period portions of the written Word may have been read and expounded. This convocation, it is thought, was the origin of the synagogue, a term which originally denoted the assembly, and was doubtless at first held in the open air.

(4) The word "stranger" here doubtless means the Gentile proselyte in contrast with a native Israelite.

4. The Stroke Falls, 12:29-36.

We need not dwell on the awful horror of this night, but should not fail to recognize God's righteous retribution in it. The Egyptians who had slain the Hebrew children now see their own die. Four score years had passed since the persecution began, but God visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation (Bush).

A further word on vv. 35 and 36. When the Orientals attend their sacred festivals they put on their best jewels, thinking it a disgrace to appear otherwise before their gods. It is said nothing is more common than to see poor people adorned on such occasions with borrowed ornaments.

It is notable that the Egyptians lent their jewels to the Hebrews because the Lord gave them favor in their sight. The rank and file of the Egyptians may in the end have sympathized with the afflicted Hebrews, or else for their own safety they were so anxious to have them go as to offer them an inducement. In this connection read again 11:3, and see the reverence and awe inspired among the Egyptians by Moses' miracles.

Nor should we conclude this lesson without consulting Ezekiel 39:10, where we see that the Jews will spoil the Gentiles a second time, in that day when God with a high hand shall restore them to their own land at the end of the present age.

Questions.

1. Name the first month of the Jewish religious year.

2. State what the slaying and eating of the paschal lamb prefigure.

3. What does leaven symbolize?

4. Show the parallel between the cause of the Hebrews' deliverance and that of our eternal redemption.

5. What reasons may have influenced the Egyptians to give their jewels to the Hebrews?

THE PILLAR OF CLOUD

Chapters 12:37-13:17

1. The First Stage of the Journey, 12:37-51.

How did the Hebrews get from Goshen to Rameses? Perhaps Rameses was in the land of Goshen or it was a name used here in the sense of the general locality rather than the specific city which the Hebrews helped to build (1:11). Compare Genesis 47:11. "Succoth" is not capable of identification, but since the word means "tents" or "places for tents" some think it specifies a camping spot en route.

Note the number of the men, which, multiplied by four to allow for families, gives an aggregate of 2,400,000 souls in all, without counting "the mixed multitude" of the next verse. Some of these latter may have been the poorer Egyptians and some foreign slaves of both Egyptians and Hebrews.

Note the time named in v. 40 and the exactitude of the fulfillment of prophecy mentioned in v. 41, a date which is to be reckoned from the time Abraham received the promise (Gen. 15:13), which makes just 430 years.

2. The First-born Set Apart, 13:1-16.

We can see a reason for the command in v. 1 when we recall the preservation of their first-born in Egypt. Doubtless it was to keep alive the memory of that event as well as to express their gratitude for it. "All things belong to God by right of creation: the Israelites by right of redemption; the first-born of Israel by right of passing over them in the judgment upon Egypt."

Moses immediately communicates this command to the people. Note that the month "Abib" (4) is the Hebrew for the Chaldaic "Nisan" previously mentioned.

By what figurative language does he impress the people with the duty of remembering all God's goodness to them (8, 9)? We thus see the duty of parental instruction enjoined, and are impressed by the fact that "the history of the ways of God with men is a trust to be conveyed faithfully from father to son."

By what two words in v. 12 is "sanctify" of v. 2 explained? Note that the "firstlings" of the clean beasts as subsequently explained, calves, lambs and kids, were dedicated to God and used in sacrifice, but those of the unclean were redeemed. How (13)? And if not redeemed, then what? What about the first-born of man? The law concerning this will be met with later (Numbers 18:16). Of course this regulation was to come into force when Israel should reach Canaan (11). As Murphy remarks, "the residence of Israel for forty years in the wilderness was in consequence of their unbelief and is not here contemplated. Here it is presumed they were to pass immediately through the wilderness into the Promised Land, with the exception of a year in the peninsula of Sinai for which special provision is made later on (Numbers 3)."

3. The Second Stage of the Journey, 13:17-22.

Do not neglect the map in this study, since it is at least approximately correct. Why were not the Hebrews permitted to go the near way (17)? Could not God have delivered them from the Philistines as well as from the Egyptians? How then does this illustrate the principle that God makes no unnecessary displays of miraculous power?

By what route were they led (18)? At its northern extremity the Red Sea separates into two minor gulfs which enclose the peninsula of Sinai. The western gulf is called Suez, which is the one they crossed. Its varied width is about thirty miles, narrowing very much at its northern extremity, and its varied depth about twelve fathoms, with a sandy bottom.

The word "harnessed" in this verse is unusual. According to its derivation it means "by five in a rank," but we can only explain it on the supposition that in some way the men went up marshalled in orderly array, the better to protect the women and children of the company as well as their cattle and other possessions.

What special command does Moses execute (19)? Compare Acts 7:16.

What is the name of their next camping place (20)? In what supernatural way were they guided (21)?

We have not now the pillar of fire and cloud, but we have the Word of God, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.

Excursus on the Pillar of Cloud.

Dr. Bush has an interesting excursus on the pillar of cloud, from which a few paragraphs are taken:

The Hebrew root "amad" signifies "to stand," and imports an upright, standing mass of cloud resembling a column in a building. It appears from Ps. 105:39 that it was spread at the base so as to cover as with a canopy the whole host of Israel, shading them from the heat. The height, if it bore any proportion to its base, must have been immense, as the encampment covered a space (say) of twelve square miles. It is evident from Deut. 31:15 that it was the habitation of the divine presence from which oracles were proclaimed to the people.

For further allusion to its use as a guiding signal see Ps. 78:14; Neh. 9:12; and observe also its re-appearance in the millennial age (Is. 4:5; Rev. 7:15, 16).

Some think the whole mass was opaque by day and luminous by night, while others believe there was a rending at night of the outer, dark body of the cloud and consequent disclosure of an interior splendor enveloped from view during the day.

This unwrapped splendor appearing at night was presumably "the glory of the Lord" which occasionally appeared by day when God would express displeasure towards His people or impress them with His majesty, as at Sinai (Ex. 16:10; Num. 16:40). In other words, taken as a whole, this pillar was intended to serve as the shekinah or visible representative of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of His people.

Compare now Ex. 14:19 and observe that the pillar of cloud is called in the same verse "the angel of God." The term "Angel" is used in Scripture to denote various kinds of agency, personal and impersonal, but "the Angel of God" (as we have learned) is a phrase descriptive of the second Person of the Trinity, Jehovah-Jesus. There is reason to believe, therefore, that this cloud was in some sense a manifestation of His presence to Israel. See further, Ex. 23:20-23; Is. 63:8, 9. As Bush says: "To all practical purposes it was the Angel of Jehovah, and they were to look up to that sublime and awful column as a visible embodiment of their covenant with God, as an ever-present witness, and feel as if a thousand eyes were looking out of the midst of it upon them, from which not even their slightest word or deed could be hidden. Through the whole tenor of the Mosaic narrative this is to be understood as associated with the title 'Lord' or 'the Angel of the Lord.'"

It was this visible symbol, too, which was their oracle or means of communication with Jehovah, the word of the ancient economy, both in the course of their wilderness journey and when afterwards it was removed into the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple. See Ex. 33:9-11; Ps. 99:6, 7. Compare also John 1:1-14, where the glory of the word incarnate is referred to, "not that intrinsic moral glory that distinguished His character always, but rather that special and overwhelming display of glory of which Peter, James and John were eye-witnesses on the Mount of Transfiguration, when there was a temporary laying aside of the veil of His flesh and disclosure of the indwelling shekinah, the glory of His Godhead." A preintimation indeed of that glory in which He shall appear when He comes "a second time, without sin, unto salvation."

What a wonderful theme of study we have in this pillar of cloud!

Questions.

1. In what two ways may the location Rameses be understood?

2. How does this lesson illustrate God's conservation of the miraculous?

3. Of what was the pillar of cloud a symbol?

4. Show its fitness for this purpose.

5. What takes its place for God's people to-day?

THE HORSE AND ITS RIDER OVERTHROWN

Chapters 14-15:21

1. Through the Red Sea, 14.

What was the command now given to Moses (2)? From Etham, their present stopping place, the next step was of great importance. That town was near the head of the Red Sea at the border of the wilderness of Arabia and the limit of the three days' journey for which they had applied to Pharaoh. Would they remain there and offer their sacrifices as proposed, or continue their journey and endeavor to leave the country of the Egyptians altogether? The latter people were watching them with keen eyes, doubtless. What must have been the surprise of all when this command began to be obeyed. The natural way to leave the country was by the north and around the head of the Red Sea, but Pi-hahiroth was in a southeasterly direction and would "entangle" them in the land.

A study of the map will add to the interest of the lesson, even though all the localities are not absolutely identified. It is clear, that in their new station the Israelites had the mountains on the west and south and the sea on the east. As Pharaoh would follow them from the northwest it would seem at first as though they must become his easy prey, being in a snare from which it was impossible to escape.

What, however, is the divine purpose in this movement (3, 4)?

How did the Hebrews behave in face of the new peril that now seemed to confront them (10-12)? Point out their fear, unbelief, injustice, selfishness, cowardice and ingratitude. How does Moses' character shine in comparison (13, 14)? Point out his meekness, forbearance, composure, faith.

How does v. 15 indicate that there is a time for all things, even prayer? How does v. 16 attest the authority of Moses before the people as an instrument of God? In what way do the next two verses illustrate that the providences of God have a two-fold aspect as between sinners and saints? By what method were the waters of the sea divided (21)? Compare here Ps. 77:16-20. "A strong northeast wind has always had much influence on the ebb of the tide in the Red Sea, but such an annual occurrence only drives out the old body of water further from the shore. It does not divide the waters, or make them 'a wall' on each side of the dry ground, or leave space for the passage of a large multitude, or happen precisely at the moment when escape from a foe makes it convenient for the leader of a people to wave over the water a rod of power." In other words, this was a supernatural event, a miracle of divine power.

Do you suppose the Egyptians really knew they were walking into the bed of the sea {23)?. May not the supernatural darkness of the pillar of cloud have kept them in ignorance of this? If so, what a fearful discovery they made subsequently!

No wonder that in view of the present and the past the Egyptians declared that the Lord fought for Israel.

Notice the closing phrase of v. 30: "Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore," and compare Ezekiel 32:4 which speaks of the latter judgment on the same people, and Rev. 19:17, 18, referring to that which shall fall upon the ungodly nations at the close of this age.

What effect had this awful judgment upon Israel?

2. The Song of Victory, 15:1-21.

Compare the circumstances of this chapter with Rev. 15:2, 3 and see the likeness of the two events.

This is the most ancient of songs, whose poetical merits are of the first order, which we might suppose to be the case since it was given by divine inspiration.

A remarkable feature of the song is that almost all its verbs are in the future tense, carrying the implication "that what happened on this occasion to God's enemies would happen in like manner in all future time so far as utter discomfiture and signal perdition were concerned."

What is the prediction of vv. 14-18? Compare Joshua 2:9-11 for an illustration of its fulfillment.

Who is once more introduced into the history at v. 20? Observe that the dancing mentioned was that of women alone, the method being to follow the leader, imitating her steps and if she sings to make up the chorus. The song was probably sung alternately by the men and women ranged in two bands, Moses leading the one and Miriam the other; or possibly the men sung the song and the women joined in the chorus of v. 21 after every period of five verses and at the end of the whole:

"Sing ye to the Lord, For He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea."

Observe the new name of God found in this song (2), and note that it occurs for the first time after the signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, just as the other name occurred before these events. This leads to the supposition that Jehovah is the name of God on His prophetic side and Jah His name on His historic side. As the first denotes Him who is about to manifest His being, so the second denotes Him who has manifested His being.

Questions.

1. Have you sought to identify Etham and Pi-hahiroth on the map?

2. Prove the miraculous nature of the event at the Red Sea.

3. How does it and its attendant circumstances bear on the literalness of later earthly judgments?

4. Has the song of victory prophetic value, and how?

5. What is the meaning of the name "Jah"?

THE TYPICAL ASPECT OF ISRAEL'S VICTORY

Paul speaking of the early history of Israel says (1 Cor. 10:11): "Now these things happened unto them by way of example (or, as types), and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come."

We have already spoken of the value of Grant's Numerical Bible as bearing on the symbolic application to be made of these things, and from him we quote the substance of this lesson.

At the Red Sea the question is no longer one between the Israelites and God. That was the status represented in the Passover, but the question now is between Israel and her enemy. The question with God had been settled in the Passover, and forever settled. They had been redeemed from bondage and had come into a new relationship to God in which He was pledged to certain things on their behalf.

The question now raised was the old question of servitude to Pharaoh or of liberty. This question God Himself now takes up on their behalf, and they find Him with them in a more manifest way than they had ever found Him as yet. From the very moment of the Passover God was with them, but it is the experience at the Red Sea that makes them understand how truly He is with them.

Epistle to the Romans Compared.

The situation suggests the doctrinal part of Romans, in the first eight chapters of the epistle. If we consider the first half of this part, that is, down to the middle of the 5th chapter, it sets before us the teaching concerning our redemption through the blood of Christ and what it effects for us. We see that through the righteousness of God which this redemption declares, there has been provided for us in Christ a place of assured shelter. We are justified by His blood, and this justification reaches on in its effects to the final judgment of the world. Judgment for us is rolled away forever! Our standing before God is now of grace, our hope is now of glory, and we are enabled to glory, even in tribulations because all things are working together for our good.

All this may be called the Passover truth, for like the Israelites we are now sheltered from judgment, feeding upon the Lamb, and equipped for our journey.

But at this point the truth set before us in Romans 5:12 becomes operative. That is the question of the experience of the new life. It suggests itself in the words: "What then, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?" And finally, when the discovery of the hopeless evil and weakness of our old nature is made, we cry: "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death!"

Israel's Bondage and the Christian's Sin.

Who can but think of Israel's bond-age in Egypt here, and of the divine method of deliverance? Did Israel's bondage to Pharaoh cease on the night of the Passover? In one sense it did. There was a breaking of chains and a real start. God was now with them and could never allow His claim to them to be cancelled, for He had redeemed them to Himself. The enemy never could regain possession of His people. But when we pass from God's point of view to that of the people themselves we find them losing their confidence and trembling again before their old tyrant in such fear that even the actual presence of God with them in the pillar of cloud could not remove. Shut up between the desert and the sea with Pharaoh in full pursuit, their cry is that of unbelieving despair. The controversy between them and their old enemy had to be taken up afresh by God in their behalf, and now to be ended forever. God interferes and fights for them, and they do nothing but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

It is so with the soul who has found shelter under the blood of Christ and seen the judgment of God removed from him. The question of deliverance from "the law of sin" is settled for him, but he does not always come at once into the realization of it. In other words the first teaching of holiness is this, that in me as a believer in Christ, that is, in my old nature, there is no good thing. In order to have strength, in other words, we must learn the lesson of thorough and continual weakness.

What the Red Sea Means.

At first, when salvation is new and one has seen death turned into life through faith in a risen Saviour, it may seem as if sin could no more put shackles on the soul. But as yet there is little knowledge of the old self, and full deliverance from it is not known until this has been realized, that is, until the Red Sea is reached and Egypt is left behind forever. How many have begun to follow God in the way of holiness until He has led them where they had to cry and cry again that they cannot do the things that they would! Progress seems impossible, and hence they would stop here and imagine they must after all serve Pharaoh with the best grace they can. They are at peace with God through the blood of Christ, yet so far as the sin which is within them is concerned they expect no special deliverance. "With the mind they serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."