Bible Heaven/Bible Heaven.iso/online/mhcc09/v09750

Text File | 1994-03-02 | 12KB | 194 lines

09756
 #21-29 The plague of darkness brought upon Egypt was a dreadful
 plague. It was darkness which might be felt, so thick were the
 fogs. It astonished and terrified. It continued three days; six
 nights in one; so long the most lightsome palaces were dungeons.
 Now Pharaoh had time to consider, if he would have improved it.
 Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan blinds
 men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and feet,
 that they work not for God, nor move toward heaven. They sit in
 darkness. It was righteous with God thus to punish. The
 blindness of their minds brought upon them this darkness of the
 air; never was mind so blinded as Pharaoh's, never was air so
 darkened as Egypt. Let us dread the consequences of sin; if
 three days of darkness were so dreadful, what will everlasting
 darkness be? The children of Israel, at the same time, had light
 in their dwellings. We must not think we share in common mercies
 as a matter of course, and therefore that we owe no thanks to
 God for them. It shows the particular favour he bears to his
 people. Wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this
 dark world, there is light, there is a child of light. When God
 made this difference between the Israelites and the Egyptians,
 who would not have preferred the poor cottage of an Israelite to
 the fine palace of an Egyptian? There is a real difference
 between the house of the wicked, which is under a curse, and the
 habitation of the just, which is blessed. Pharaoh renewed the
 treaty with Moses and Aaron, and consented they should take
 their little ones, but would have their cattle left. It is
 common for sinners to bargain with God Almighty; thus they try
 to mock him, but they deceive themselves. The terms of
 reconciliation with God are so fixed, that though men dispute
 them ever so long, they cannot possibly alter them, or bring
 them lower. We must come to the demand of God's will; we cannot
 expect he should condescend to the terms our lusts would make.
 With ourselves and our children, we must devote all our worldly
 possessions to the service of God; we know not what use he will
 make of any part of what we have. Pharaoh broke off the
 conference abruptly, and resolved to treat no more. Had he
 forgotten how often he had sent for Moses to ease him of his
 plagues? and must he now be bid to come no more? Vain malice! to
 threaten him with death, who was armed with such power! What
 will not hardness of heart, and contempt of God's word and
 commandments, bring men to! After this, Moses came no more till
 he was sent for. When men drive God's word from them, he justly
 gives them up to their own delusions.
09765
 * God's last instructions to Moses respecting Pharaoh and the
 Egyptians. (1-3) The death of the first-born threatened. (4-10)

 #1-3 A secret revelation was made to Moses while in the presence
 of Pharaoh, that he might give warning of the last dreadful
 judgment, before he went out. This was the last day of the
 servitude of Israel; they were about to go away. Their masters,
 who had abused them in their work, would have sent them away
 empty; but God provided that the labourers should not lose their
 hire, and ordered them to demand it now, at their departure, and
 it was given to them. God will right the injured, who in humble
 silence commit their cause to him; and none are losers at last
 by patient suffering. The Lord gave them favour in the sight of
 the Egyptians, by making it appear how much he favoured them. He
 also changed the spirit of the Egyptians toward them, and made
 them to be pitied of their oppressors. Those that honour God, he
 will honour.

09768
 #4-10 The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this
 plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See
 how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is
 fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not
 silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The
 prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at
 the mill too low to be noticed. While angels slew the Egyptians,
 not so much as a dog should bark at any of the children of
 Israel. It is an earnest of the difference there shall be in the
 great day, between God's people and his enemies. Did men know
 what a difference God puts, and will put to eternity, between
 those that serve him and those that serve him not, religion
 would not seem to them an indifferent thing; nor would they act
 in it with so much carelessness as they do. When Moses had thus
 delivered his message, he went out from Pharaoh in great anger
 at his obstinacy; though he was the meekest of the men of the
 earth. The Scripture has foretold the unbelief of many who hear
 the gospel, that it might not be a surprise or stumbling-block
 to us, #Ro 10:16|. Let us never think the worse of the gospel of
 Christ for the slights men put upon it. Pharaoh was hardened,
 yet he was compelled to abate his stern and haughty demands,
 till the Israelites got full freedom. In like manner the people
 of God will find that every struggle against their spiritual
 adversary, made in the might of Jesus Christ, every attempt to
 overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and every desire to
 attain increasing likeness and love to that Lamb, will be
 rewarded by increasing freedom from the enemy of souls.
09775
 * The beginning of the year changed, The passover instituted.
 (1-20) The people instructed how to observe the passover.
 (21-28) The death of the first-born of the Egyptians, The
 Israelites urged to leave the land of Egypt. (29-36) The
 Israelites' first journey to Succoth. (37-42) Ordinance
 respecting the passover. (43-51)

 #1-20 The Lord makes all things new to those whom he delivers
 from the bondage of Satan, and takes to himself to be his
 people. The time when he does this is to them the beginning of a
 new life. God appointed that, on the night wherein they were to
 go out of Egypt, each family should kill a lamb, or that two or
 three families, if small, should kill one lamb. This lamb was to
 be eaten in the manner here directed, and the blood to be
 sprinkled on the door-posts, to mark the houses of the
 Israelites from those of the Egyptians. The angel of the Lord,
 when destroying the first-born of the Egyptians, would pass over
 the houses marked by the blood of the lamb: hence the name of
 this holy feast or ordinance. The passover was to be kept every
 year, both as a remembrance of Israel's preservation and
 deliverance out of Egypt, and as a remarkable type of Christ.
 Their safety and deliverance were not a reward of their own
 righteousness, but the gift of mercy. Of this they were
 reminded, and by this ordinance they were taught, that all
 blessings came to them through the shedding and sprinkling of
 blood. Observe, 1. The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is our
 passover, #1Co 5:7|. Christ is the Lamb of God, #Joh 1:29|;
 often in the Revelation he is called the Lamb. It was to be in
 its prime; Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days,
 not when a babe at Bethlehem. It was to be without blemish; the
 Lord Jesus was a Lamb without spot: the judge who condemned
 Christ declared him innocent. It was to be set apart four days
 before, denoting the marking out of the Lord Jesus to be a
 Saviour, both in the purpose and in the promise. It was to be
 slain, and roasted with fire, denoting the painful sufferings of
 the Lord Jesus, even unto death, the death of the cross. The
 wrath of God is as fire, and Christ was made a curse for us. Not
 a bone of it must be broken, which was fulfilled in Christ, #Joh
 19:33|, denoting the unbroken strength of the Lord Jesus. 2. The
 sprinkling of the blood was typical. The blood of the lamb must
 be sprinkled, denoting the applying of the merits of Christ's
 death to our souls; we must receive the atonement, #Ro 5:11|.
 Faith is the bunch of hyssop, by which we apply the promises,
 and the benefits of the blood of Christ laid up in them, to
 ourselves. It was to be sprinkled on the door-posts, denoting
 the open profession we are to make of faith in Christ. It was
 not to be sprinkled upon the threshold; which cautions us to
 take heed of trampling under foot the blood of the covenant. It
 is precious blood, and must be precious to us. The blood, thus
 sprinkled, was a means of preserving the Israelites from the
 destroying angel, who had nothing to do where the blood was. The
 blood of Christ is the believer's protection from the wrath of
 God, the curse of the law, and the damnation of hell, #Ro 8:1|.
 3. The solemn eating of the lamb was typical of our gospel duty
 to Christ. The paschal lamb was not to be looked upon only, but
 to be fed upon. So we must by faith make Christ our own; and we
 must receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as
 from our food, see #Joh 6:53,55|. It was all to be eaten; those
 who by faith feed upon Christ, must feed upon a whole Christ;
 they must take Christ and his yoke, Christ and his cross, as
 well as Christ and his crown. It was to be eaten at once, not
 put by till morning. To-day Christ is offered, and is to be
 accepted while it is called to-day, before we sleep the sleep of
 death. It was to be eaten with bitter herbs, in remembrance of
 the bitterness of their bondage in Egypt; we must feed upon
 Christ with sorrow and brokenness of heart, in remembrance of
 sin. Christ will be sweet to us, if sin be bitter. It was to be
 eaten standing, with their staves in their hands, as being ready
 to depart. When we feed upon Christ by faith, we must forsake
 the rule and the dominion of sin; sit loose to the world, and
 every thing in it; forsake all for Christ, and reckon it no bad
 bargain, #Heb 13:13,14|. 4. The feast of unleavened bread was
 typical of the Christian life, #1Co 5:7,8|. Having received
 Christ Jesus the Lord, we must continually delight ourselves in
 Christ Jesus. No manner of work must be done, that is, no care
 admitted and indulged, which does not agree with, or would
 lessen this holy joy. The Jews were very strict as to the
 passover, so that no leaven should be found in their houses. It
 must be a feast kept in charity, without the leaven of malice;
 and in sincerity, without the leaven of hypocrisy. It was by an
 ordinance for ever; so long as we live we must continue feeding
 upon Christ, rejoicing in him always, with thankful mention of
 the great things he has done for us.

09795
 #21-28 That night, when the first-born were to be destroyed, no
 Israelite must stir out of doors till called to march out of
 Egypt. Their safety was owing to the blood of sprinkling. If
 they put themselves from under the protection of that, it was at
 their peril. They must stay within, to wait for the salvation of
 the Lord; it is good to do so. In after-times they should
 carefully teach their children the meaning of this service. It
 is good for children to ask about the things of God; they that
 ask for the way will find it. The keeping of this solemnity
 every year was, 1. To look backward, that they might remember
 what great things God had done for them and their fathers. Old
 mercies, to ourselves, or to our fathers, must not be forgotten,
 that God may be praised, and our faith in him encouraged. 2. It
 was designed to look forward, as an earnest of the great
 sacrifice of the Lamb of God in the fulness of time. Christ our
 passover was sacrificed for us; his death was our life.