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There might have been some plea for such a man as Pharaoh to refuse at once and
wholly to letthose go who had so long been his bondsmen; there could be absolutely
none for resisting a demandso moderate and supported by such authority. Assuredly
such a man was ripe for the judgment ofhardening; just as, on the other hand, if he had
at the first yielded obedience to the Divine will, hewould surely have been prepared to
receive a further revelation of His will, and grace to submit to it.And so God in His
mercy always deals with man. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithfulalso
in much and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much." The demands of God
areintended to try what is in us. It was so in the case of Adam's obedience, of
Abraham's sacrifice, andnow of Pharaoh; only that in the latter case. as in the promise
to spare Sodom if even ten righteousmen were found among its wicked inhabitants,
the Divine forbearance went to the utmost verge ofcondescension. The same principle
of government also appears in the New Testament, and explainshow the Lord often
first told of "earthly things," that unbelief in regard to them might convince men
oftheir unfitness to hear of "heavenly things." Thus the young ruler (Matthew 19:16)
who believedhimself desirous of inheriting eternal life, and the scribe who professed
readiness to follow Christ,(Matthew 8:19) had each only a test of "earthly things"
proposed, and yet each failed in it. Thelesson is one which may find its application in
our own ease - for only "then shall we know if wefollow on to know the Lord."
The second difficulty about the supposed direction to Israel to "borrow jewels of
silver, and jewelsof gold, and raiment," and so to "spoil the Egyptians," (Exodus 3:22)
rests upon a simplemisunderstanding of the text. Common sense even would indicate
that, under the circumstances inwhich the children of Israel, at the last, left the land,
no Egyptian could have contemplated atemporary loan of jewels, soon to be repaid.
But, in truth, the word rendered in our AuthorizedVersion by "borrowing," does not
mean a loan and is not used in that sense in a single passage inwhich it occurs
throughout the Old Testament. It always and only means "to ask" or to request."
This"request," or "demand" - as, considering the justice of the case, we should call it -
was readilygranted by the Egyptians. The terror of Israel had fallen on them, and
instead of leaving Egypt asfugitives, they marched out like a triumphant host, carrying
with them "the spoil" of their Divinelyconquered enemies.
It is of more importance to notice another point. Moses was the first to bear a Divine
commission toothers. He was also the first to work miracles. Miracles present to us the
union of the Divine and thehuman. All miracles pointed forward to the greatest of all
miracles, "the mystery of godliness, intowhich angels desire to look; "the union of the
Divine with the human" in its fullest appearance in thePerson of the God-Man. Thus
in these two aspects of his office, as well as in his mission to redeemIsrael from
bondage and to sanctify them unto the Lord, Moses was an eminent type of Christ.
(^)