B. C. 1635. GENESIS. thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God | father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake ten years. unto him. 18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. 19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought "evil against me; but God meant "it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them. 22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his Deut. 32. 35. 2 Kings 5. 7. Job 34. 29. Rom. 12. 19. Heb. 10.30. n c. 45.5, 7. a Matt. 5. 44. to their hearts. m Ps. 56, 5. Joseph's favour; (v. 15,) Joseph will peradventure hate us; same master. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's "children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph's knees. 24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. 26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. p Job 42. 16. 9 Num. 32. 39. t borne. r Ex. 3. 16. 8 Ex. 13. 19. Josh. 24. them; Fear not, I will nourish you, v. 21. See what an excel- 1. The prolonging of Joseph's life in Egypt; he lived to be an hundred and ten years old, v. 22. Having honoured his father, his days were long in the land, which, for the present, God had given him; and it was a very great mercy to his relations, that God continued him so long, a support and comfort to them 2. The building up of Joseph's family; he lived to see his great-grandchildren by both his sons, (v. 23,) and, probably, he saw his two sons solemnly owned as heads of distinct tribes, equal to any of his brethren. It contributes much to the comfort of aged parents, if they see their posterity in a flourishing 128. 6. condition, especially if with it they see peace upon Israel, Ps. 3. The last will and testament of Joseph published in the presence of his brethren, when he saw his death approaching: those that were properly his brethren, perhaps were some of them dead before him, as several of them were elder than he; but to those of them who yet survived, and to the sons of those who were gone, who stood up in their fathers' stead, he said this. (1.) He comforted them with the assurance of their return to Canaan in due time; (v. 24,) I die, but God will surely visit you: to this purport Jacob had spoken to him, ch. 48. 21. Thus must we comfort others with the same comforts with which we ourselves have been comforted of God, and encourage them to rest on those promises which have been our support. Joseph was, under God, both the protector and the benefactor of his brethren; and what would become of them, now that he was dying? Why, let this be their comfort, God will surely visit you. Note, friends. They die; but we may live, and live comfortably, if God's gracious visits will serve to make up the loss of our best we have the favour and presence of God with us. He bids them be confident; God will bring you out of this land, and therefore, [1.] They must not hope to settle there, nor look upon it as their rest for ever; they must set their hearts upon the land of promise, and call that their home. [2] They must not fear sinking, and being ruined there; probably he foresaw the ill usage they would meet with there after his death, and therefore gives them this word of encouragement; "God will "Am I an eye to the promise, ch. 15. 13, 14, and, in God's name, bring you in triumph out of this land at last." Herein he has assures them of the performance of it. II. Joseph, with a great deal of compassion, confirms his reconciliation and affection to them: his compassion appears, v. 17, He wept when they spake to him. These were tears of sorrow for their suspicion of him, and tears of tenderness upon their submission. In his reply, 1. He directs them to look up to God in their repentance; (v. 19,) Am I in the place of God? He, in his great humility, thought they showed him too much respect, as if all their happiness were bound up in his favour; and said to them, in effect, as Peter to Cornelius, "Stand up, I myself also am a man. Make your peace with God, and then you will find it an easy Note, When we ask matter to make your peace with me.' forgiveness of those whom we have offended, we must take heed of putting them in the place of God, by dreading their wrath and soliciting their favour more than God's. in the place of God, to whom alone vengeance belongs? No, "Those that avenge themselves, I will leave you to his mercy. step into the place of God, Rom. 12. 19. 2. He extenuates their fault, from the consideration of the great good which God wonderfully brought out of it, which, though it should not make them the less sorry for their sin, yet it might make him the more willing to forgive it; (v. 20,) Ye thought evil, to disappoint the dreams, but God meant it unto good, in order to the fulfilling of the dreams, and the making of Joseph a greater blessing to his family than otherwise he could have been. Note, (1.) When God makes use of men's agency for the performance of his counsels, it is common for him to mean one thing, and them another, even the quite contrary; but God's counsels shall stand. See Is. 10. 7. (2.) God often brings good out of evil, and serves the designs of his providence, even by the sins of men; not that he is the Author of sin, far be it from us to think so; but his infinite wisdom so overrules events, and directs the chain of them, that, in the issue, that ends in his praise, which in its own nature had a direct tendency to his dishonour; as the putting of Christ to death, Acts 2. 23. This does not make sin the less sinful, nor sinners the less punishable, but it redounds greatly to the glory of God's wisdom. 3. He assures them of the continuance of his kindness to (2.) For a confession of his own faith, and a confirmation of theirs, he charges them to keep him unburied till that day, that glorious day should come, when they should be settled in the land of promise, v, 25. He makes them promise him with an oath, that they would bury him in Canaan. In Egypt they buried their great men very honourably, and with abundance of pomp; but Joseph prefers a significant burial in Canaan, and that deferred too almost two hundred years, before a magnificent one in Egypt. Thus Joseph, by faith in the doctrine of the resurrection, and the promise of Canaan, gave commandment concerning his bones, Heb. 11. 22. He dies in Egypt; but lays his bones at stake, that God will surely visit Israel, and bring them to Canaan. 4. The death of Joseph, and the reservation of his body for a burial in Canaan, v. 26. He was put in a coffin in Egypt, but not buried till his children had received their inheritance in Canaan, Josh. 24. 32. Note, (1.) If the separate soul, at death, do but return to its rest with God, the matter is not great, though the deserted body find not at all, or not quickly, its rest in the grave. (2.) Yet care ought to be taken of the dead bodies of the saints, in the belief of their resurrection; for there is a covenant with the dust, which shall be remembered, and a commandment is given concerning the bones. AN EXPOSITION, WITH PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS, UPON THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED EXODU S. MOSES, (the Servant of the Lord in writing for him, as well as in acting for him-with the pen of God, as well as with the rod of God, in his hand,) having, in the first book of his history, preserved and transmitted the records of the church, while it existed in private families, comes, in this second book, to give us an account of its growth into a great nation; and as the former furnishes us with the best Economics, so this with the best Politics. The beginning of the former book shows us how God formed the world for himself; the beginning of this shows us how he formed Israel for himself, and both to show forth his praise, Is. 43. 21. There we have the creation of the world in history, here the redemption of the world in type. The Greek translators called this book Exodus, (which signifies a departure, or going out,) because it begins with the story of the going out of the children of Israel from Egypt. Some allude to the names of this and the foregoing book, and observe, that immediately after Genesis, which signifies the beginning, or original, follows Exodus, which signifies a departure; for a time to be born is immediately succeeded by a time to die. No sooner have we made our entrance into the world, than we must think of making our exit, and going out of the world. When we begin to live, we begin to die. The forming of Israel into a people, was a new creation. As the earth was in the beginning first fetched from under the water, and then beautified and replenished; so Israel was first, by an Almighty power, made to emerge out of Egyptian slavery, and then enriched with God's law and tabernacle. This book gives us, I. The accomplishment of the promises made before to Abraham; ch. 1. to 19. And then, II. The establishment of the ordinances which were afterward observed by Israel; ch. 20. to 40. Moses, in this book, begins, like Cæsar, to write his own Commentaries; nay a greater, a far greater than Cæsar is here. But henceforward the penman is himself the hero, and gives us the history of those things of which he was himself an eye and ear witness, et quorum pars magna fuit—and in which he bore a conspicuous part. There are more types of Christ in this book, than perhaps in any other book of the Old Testament; for Moses wrote of him, John 5. 46. The way of man's reconciliation to God, and coming into covenant and communion with him by a Mediator, is here variously represented; and it is of great use to us for the illustration of the New Testament, now that we have that to assist us in the explication of the Old. The Death of Joseph and his Brethren. CHAPTER I. We have here, 1. God's kindness to Israel, in multiplying them exceedingly, Y.7.9-14. 2, Mordering their children, v. 15-22. Thus whom the court of 7. 11. The Egyptians' wickedness to them, 1. Oppressing and enslaving them, heaven blessed, the country of Egypt cursed, and for that reason. B. C. 1635. 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 And all the souls that came out of the loins* of Jacob were seventy 'souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all NOW these are the names of the children of that generation. a Gen. 45.8. thigh. b Deut. 10. 22. NOTES TO CHAPTER I. V. 1-7. In these verses we have, 1. A recital of the names of the twelve patriarchs, as they are called, Acts 7. 8. Their names are often repeated in scripture; that they many not sound uncouth to us, as other hard names, but that, by their occurring so frequently, they may become familiar to us; and to show how precious God's spiritual Israel are to him, and how much he delights in them. 2. The account which was kept of the number of Jacob's family, when they went down into Egypt; they were in all seventy souls, (v. 5,) according to the computation we had, ch. 46. 27. This was just the number of the nations by which the earth was peopled, according to the account given, ch. 10. For when the Most High separated the sons of Adam, he set the hounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, as Moses observes, Deut. 32. 8. Notice is taken of this, here, that their increase in Egypt might appear the more wonderful. Note, It is good for those whose latter end greatly increases, often to remember how small their beginning was, Job 8.7. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. c Gen. 50. 26. d Gen. 46. 3. Deut. 26. 5. Ps. 105.24. 3. The death of Joseph, v. 6. All that generation by degrees wore off; perhaps all Jacob's sons died much about the same time; for there was not more than seven years' difference in age between the eldest and the youngest of them, except Benjamin; and when death comes into a family, sometimes it makes a full end in a little time; when Joseph, the stay of the family, died, the rest went off apace. Note, We must look upon ourselves and our brethren, and all we converse with, as dying, and hastening out of the world. This generation passeth away, as that did which went before. 4. The strange increase of Israel in Egypt, v. 7. Here are four words used to express it; they were fruitful, and increased abundantly, like fishes or insects, so that they multiplied; and, being generally healthful and strong, they wared exceeding mighty, so that they began almost to outnumber the natives, for the land was in all places filled with them, at least, Goshen, their own allotment. Observe, (1.) Though, no doubt, they increased considerably before, yet, it should seem, it was not till after the death of Joseph that it began to be taken notice of as extraordinary. Thus, when they lost the benefit of his protection, 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour : k 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.' 15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew e Ec. 2. 19. Acts 7. 18. f Ps. 83. 3, 4 Prov. 1. 11. 21. 30. Acta 23. 12. 1 Cor. 3. 19. Jam. 3. 15. gc 3.7. Gen. 15. 13. Deut. 26. 6. Ps 81. 6. A Gen. 47. 11. and as they afflicted them, so they multiplied. i c. 2. 23. 6. 9. Num. 20. 15. Ruth 1. 20. Acts 7. 19,34. 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive. 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive? 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive. k Nah. 3. 14. P. 81. 6. 1 Lev. 25. 43. Is. 58. 6. Jer. 50. 33. m Neb. 5. 15. Prov. 16. 6. Dan. 3. 18. 6. 13. Acts 5. 29. n Joshi. 2.4 2 Sam. 17. 19. ο Ρτον. 11. 18. Ec. 8. 12. Is. 3. 10. Heb. 6. 10. p1 Sam. 2. 35. 2 Sam. 7. 11. 1 Kings 2. 24. Ps. 127. 1. mise made to their fathers, that they should settle in Canaan. Note, The policies of the church's enemies aim to defeat the promises of the church's God, but in vain; God's counsels shall stand. 3. It is therefore proposed that a course be taken to prevent their increase; Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. Note, (1.) The growth of Israel is the grief of Egypt, and that against which the powers and policies of hell are levelled. (2.) When men deal wickedly, it is common for them to imagine that they deal wisely; but the folly of sin will, at last, be manifested before all men. God made their numbers their defence, and they became better able than they had been, to shift for themselves. If God continue our friends and relations to us while we most need them, and remove them when they can be better spared, let us own that he is wise, and not complain that he is hard upon us. After the death of Christ, our Joseph, his Gospel Israel began most remarkably to increase; his death had an influence upon it, it was like the sowing of a corn of wheat, which, if it die, bringeth forth much fruit, John 12. 24. (2.) This wonderful increase was the fulfilment of the promise long before made unto the fathers: from the call of Abraham, when God first told him he would make of him a great nation, to the deliverance of his seed out of Egypt, it was 430 years, during the first 215 of which, they were increased but to 70, but, in the latter half, those 70 multiplied to 600,000 fighting-men. Note, [1.] Some-means; and therefore, 1. They took care to keep them poor, by times God's providences may seem for a great while to thwart his promises, and to go counter to them, that his people's faith may be tried, and his own power the more magnified. [2.] Though the performance of God's promises is sometimes slow, yet it is always sure; at the end it shall speak, and shall not lie, Hab. 2. 3. V. 8-14. The land of Egypt here, at length, becomes to Israel a house of bondage, though, hitherto, it had been a happy shelter and settlement for them. Note, The place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our affliction, and that may prove the greatest cross to us, of which we said, This same shall comfort us. Those may prove our sworn enemies, whose parents were our faithful friends; nay, the same persons that loved us, may possibly turn to hate us: therefore, Cease from man, and say not concerning any place on this side heaven, This is my rest for ever. Observe here, I. The obligations they lay under to Israel, upon Joseph's account, were forgotten; (v. 8,) There arose a new king, after several successions in Joseph's time, which knew not Joseph. All that knew him loved him, and were kind to his relations for his sake; but, when he was dead, he was soon forgotten, and the remembrance of the good offices he had done was either not retained, or not regarded, nor had it any influence upon their councils. Note, The best, and the most useful and acceptable services done to men, are seldom remembered, so as to be recompensed to those that did them, in the notice taken either of their memory, or of their posterity, after their death, Ec. 9. 5, 15. And therefore our great care should be to serve God, and please him, who is not unrighteous, whatever men are, to forget our work and labour of love, Heb. 6. 10. If we work for men only, our works, at furthest, will die with us; if for God, they will follow us, Rev. 14. 13. This king of Egypt knew not Joseph; and after him arose one that had the impudence to say, I know not the Lord, ch. 5. 2. Note, Those that are unmindful of their other benefactors, it is to be feared, will forget the Supreme Benefactor, 1 John 4. 20. II. Reasons of state were suggested for their dealing hardly with Israel, v. 9, 10. 1. They are represented as more and mightier than the Egyptians; certainly, they were not so; but the king of Egypt, when he resolved to oppress them, would have them thought so, and looked on as a formidable body. 2. Hence it is inferred, that, if care were not taken to keep them under, they would become dangerous to the government, and in time of war would side with their enemies, and revolt from their allegiance to the crown of Egypt. Note, It has been the policy of persecutors to represent God's Israel as a dangerous people, hurtful unto kings and provinces, not fit to be trusted, nay, not fit to be tolerated, that they may have some pretence for the barbarous treatment they design them, Ezra 4. 12, &c. Esth. 3.8. Observe, The thing they feared, was, lest they should get them up out of the land; probably, having heard them speak of the pro III. The method they took to suppress them, and check their growth, v. 11, 13, 14. The Israelites behaved themselves so peaceably and inoffensively, that they could not find any occasion of making war upon them, and weakening them by that charging them with heavy taxes, which, some think, is included in the burdens with which they afflicted them. 2. By this means they took an effectual course to make them slaves; the Israelites, it should seem, were much more industrious, laborious people than the Egyptians, and therefore Pharaoh took care to find them work, both in his building, (they made him treasurecities,) and in his husbandry, even all manner of service in the field: and this was exacted from them with the utmost rigour and severity. Here are many expressions used, to affect us with the condition of God's people. They had task-masters set over them, who were directed not only to burden them, but, as much as might be, to afflict them with their burdens, and contrive how to make them grievous. They not only made them serve, which was sufficient for Pharaoh's profit, but they made them serve with rigour, so that their lives became bitter to them; intending thereby, (1.) To break their spirits, and rob them of every thing in them, that was ingenuous and generous. (2.) To ruin their health, and shorten their days, and so diminish their numbers. (3.) To discourage them from marrying, since their children would be born to slavery. (4.) To oblige them to desert the Hebrews, and incorporate themselves with the Egyptians. Thus he hoped to cut off the name of Israel, that it might be no more in remembrance. And it is to be feared that the oppression they were under had this bad effect upon them, that it brought over many of them to join with the Egyptians in their idolatrous worship; for we read, (Josh. 24. 14,) that they served other gods in Egypt; and though it is not mentioned here in this history, yet we find, (Ez. 20. 8,) that God had threatened to destroy them for it, even while they were in the land of Egypt: however, they were kept a distinct body, unmingled with the Egyptians, and by their other customs separated from them, which was the Lord's doing, and marvellous. IV. The wonderful increase of the Israelites, notwithstanding the oppressions they groaned under; (v. 12,) The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied, sorely to the grief and vexation of the Egyptians. Note, 1. Times of affliction have often been the church's growing times, Sub pondere crescit -Being pressed, it grows. Christianity spread most when it was persecuted: the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. 2. They that take counsel against the Lord and his Israel, do but imagine a vain thing, (Ps. 2. 1,) and create so much the greater vexation to themselves: hell and earth cannot diminish those whom heaven will increase. V. 15-22. The Egyptians' indignation at Israel's increase, notwithstanding the many hardships they put upon them, drove them, at length, to the most barbarous and inhuman methods of suppressing them, by the murder of their children. It was strange that they did not rather pick quarrels with the grown men, against whom they might find some occasion perhaps; to be thus bloody toward the infants, whom all must own to be CHAPTER 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 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 coucerung him, which we have reason to think are there fictions; what be has recordes 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 transinit to us. In this chapter we have, I. The perils of his birth and infancy, v. 1-4. 11. His preservation through those perils, and the preferment of his childhood and youth, .5-10. 111. 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 have accepted 21, v. 11-14. 2. He retired, that he might reserve himself for further service bereafter, v. 15-22. IV. The dawning of the day of Israel's deliverance, v. 23-25. a c. 6. 20. innocent, was a sin which they had no cloak for. Note, 1. There is more cruelty in the corrupt heart of man than one would imagine, Rom. 3. 15, 16. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman, divests men of humanity itself, and makes them forget all pity. One would not think it possible that ever men should be so barbarous and bloodthirsty as the persecutors of God's people have been, Rev. 17. 6. 2. Even confessed innocence is no defence against the old enmity; what blood so guiltless as that of a child new-born? Yet that is prodigally shed-like water, and sucked with delight like milk or honey. Pharaoh and Herod sufficiently proved❘ themselves agents for that great red dragon, who stood to devour the man-child as soon as it was born, Rev. 12. 3, 4. Pilate delivered Christ to be crucified, after he had confessed that he found no fault in him. It is well for us, that though man can kill the body, that is all he can do. Two bloody edicts are here signed for the destruction of all the male children that were born to the Hebrews. I. The midwives were commanded to inurder them. Observe, 1. The orders given them, v. 15, 16. It added much to the barbarity of the intended executions, that the midwives were appointed to be the executioners; for it was to make them, not only bloody, but perfidious, and to oblige them to betray a trust, and to destroy those whom they undertook to save and help. Could he think that their sex would admit such cruelty, and their employment such base treachery? Note, Those who are themselves barbarous, think to find, or make, others as barbarous. Pharaoh's project was, secretly to engage the midwives to stifle the men-children as soon as they were born, and then to lay it upon the difficulty of the birth, or some mischance common in that case, Job 3. 11. The two midwives he tampered with in order hereunto, are here named; and perhaps, at this time, which was above eighty years before their going out of Egypt, those two might suffice for all the Hebrew women, at least so many of them as lay near the court, as it is plain, by ch. 2. 5, 6, many of them did, and of them he was most jealous. They are called Hebrew midwives, probably, not because they were themselves Hebrews, (for surely Pharaoh could never expect they should be so barbarous to those of their own nation,) but because they were generally made use of by the Hebrews; and being Egyptians, he hoped to prevail with them. 2. Their pious disobedience to this impious command, v. 17, They feared God, regarded his law, and dreaded his wrath more than Pharaoh's, and therefore saved the men-children alive. Note, (1.) If men's commands be any way contrary to the commands of God, we must obey God and not man, Acts 4. 19.5. 29. No power on earth can warrant us, much less oblige us, to sin against God, our chief Lord. (2.) Where the fear of God rules in the heart, it will preserve it from that snare which the inordinate fear of man brings. 3. Their justifying of themselves in this disobedience, when they were charged with it as a crime, v. 18. They gave a reason for it, which, it seems, God's gracious providence had furnished them with-that they came too late to do it, for, generally, the children were born before they came, v. 19. I see no reason we have to doubt of the truth of this; it is plain that the Hebrews were now under an extraordinary blessing of increase, which may well be supposed to have this effect, that the women had very quick and easy labour, and the mothers and children being both lively, they seldom needed the help of midwives: this these midwives took notice of, and concluding it to be the finger of God, were thereby emboldened to disobey the king, in favour of those whom Heaven thus favoured, and with this justified themselves before Pharaoh, when he called them to an account for it. Some of the ancient Jews expound it thus, Ere the midwife comes to them, they pray to their Father in heaven, and he answereth them, and they do bring forth. Note, God is a readier helper to his people in distress than any other helpers are, and often prevents them with the blessings of his goodness; such deliverances lay them under peculiarly strong obligations. 4. The recompense God gave them for their tenderness toward his people; he dealt well with them, v. 20. Note, God will be behindhand with none for any kindness done to his people, taking it as done to himself. In particular, he made them houses, (v. 21,) built them up into families, blessed their children, and prospered them in all they did. Note, The services done for God's Israel are often repaid in kind. The midwives kept up the Israelite's houses, and, in recompense for it, God made them houses. Observe, The recompense has relation to the principle upon which they went; because they feared God, he made them houses. Note, Religion and piety are good friends to outward prosperity: the fear of God in a house will help to build it up and establish it. Dr. Lightfoot's notion of it, is, ND there went a man "of the house of Levi, A 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. ¿ Acts 7. 20. Heb. 11. 23. That, for their piety, they were married to Israelites, and Hebrew families were built up by them. II. When this project did not take effect, Pharaoh gave public orders to all his people to drown all the male children of the Hebrews, v. 22. We may suppose it was made highly penal for any to know of the birth of a son to an Israelite, and not to give information to those who were appointed to throw him into the river. Note, The enemies of the church have been restless in their endeavours to wear out the saints of the Most High, Dan. 7. 25. But he that sits in heaven shall laugh at them. See Ps. 2. 4. NOTES TO CHAPTER II. V. 1-4. Moses was a Levite, both by father and mother. Jacob left Levi under marks of disgrace, (Gen. 49. 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 afterward it became remarkable in many other instances. Observe, concerning this new-born 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 elder than he, born to them before that 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 bare, Luke 23. 29. Better so, than bring forth children to the murderer, Hos. 9. 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. And Moses, who was afterward to bring Israel out of this house of bondage, had himself like to have fallen a sacrifice to the fury of the oppressor; God so ordering it, that, being afterward 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 7. 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 afterward, ch. 34. 29. Note, God sometimes gives early earnests of his gifs, 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, (Judg. 13. 24, 25,) an early forwardness into Samuel, (1 Sam. 2. 18,) wrought an early deliverance for David, (1 Sam. 17. 37,) and began betimes with Timothy, 2 Tim. 3. 15. 2. Therefore they were the more solicitious 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. 2. 13,) and was wonderfully preserved, when many innocents were butchered. It is said, (Heb. 11. 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, (1.) Faith in God's promise is so far from superseding, that it rather excites and quickens to, the use of lawful means for obtaining mercy. Duty is ours, events are God's. (2.) Faith in God will set us above the insnaring 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 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion con 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 unto 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 c Ps. 106. 46. d Ps. 27. 10. that is, drawn out. 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. 147. 2,) they are his outcasts, Is. 16. 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. 27. 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, had been to tempt Providence; but when they could not, it was bravely to trust to Providence. "Nothing venture, nothing win;" If I perish, I perish. V. 5-10. Here is, 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. 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 unto 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. e c. 1. 11. Acts 7. 23, 24. Heb. 11. 24-26. a man, a prince. Note, (1.) Providence pleases itself sometimes in raising the poor out of the dust, to set them among princes, Ps. 113. 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. 4. 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 a 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, Is. 19. 25. And his tuition at court was an earnest of the performance of that promise, (Is. 49. 23,) Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers. V. 11-15. 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. 11. 24-26, where we are told that this bespeaks, 1. His holy contempt of the honours and 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. 1. 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 in-pleasures of the Egyptian court; he refused to be called the son deed, that have not tender compassion for helpless infancy. How pathetically does God represent his compassion for the Israelites in general, considered in this pitiable state! Ez. 16. 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. 22. 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. 2. 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 3: 27. 3. 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 hardly resisted. 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 7. 22. II. He gives a specimen of the great things he was afterward to do for God and his Israel, in two little instances, related particularly by Stephen, (Acts 7. 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 daybreak 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 it. Now, observe, 1. Moses was afterward 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 task-masters, 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 Jews' 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 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 spake trembling. 2. Moses was afterward to be employed in governing Israel, and, as a specimen of that, we have him here trying to |