NOTES
_on the book of_
EXODUS
_by_
C. H. MACKINTOSH
"_He led them forth by the right way_"
LOIZEAUX BROTHERS
_Neptune, New Jersey_
FIRST EDITION 1880
TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING 1965
LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, Inc., PUBLISHERS
_A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work
and to the Spread of His Truth_
NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
The writer cannot suffer a new edition of this volume to issue from
the press without a line or two of deep thankfulness to the Lord for
His grace in making use of such a feeble instrumentality in the
furtherance of His truth and the edification of His people. Blessed be
His name, when He takes up a book or a tract, He can make it effectual
in the accomplishment of His gracious ends. He can clothe with
spiritual power pages and paragraphs which to us might seem pointless
and powerless. May He continue to own and bless this service, and His
name shall have all the praise.
_C. H. M.
Dublin, April, 1862_
PREFATORY NOTE
TO THE AMERICAN EDITION
As several persons in America have, without any authority whatever
from me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumes of "Notes," I deem
it my duty to inform the reader that I have given full permission to
Messrs. LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books in such
form as they shall consider most suitable.
C. H. MACKINTOSH.
_6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough,
May 1st, 1879._
[1] Now six.
In manuscript and proof-sheets, we have been traveling over a deeply
instructive and most interesting portion of the Word of God-THE BOOK
OF EXODUS.
Redemption by blood occupies a prominent place therein,--it
characterizes the book. God's many mercies to His redeemed, in the
display of His power, the patience of His love, and the riches of His
grace, flow from it. The great question of Israel's relationship to
God is settled by the blood of the lamb. It changes their condition
entirely. Israel within the blood-sprinkled door-posts was God's
redeemed, blood-bought people.
God being holy, and Israel guilty, no happy relationship could exist
between them till judgment had been accomplished. Sin must be judged.
A happy friendship once existed between God and man, on the ground of
innocence; but sin having entered and snapped the link asunder, there
can be no reconciliation but through the full expression of the moral
judgment of God against sin. We can only have "life through death."
God is the God of holiness, and He must judge sin. In saving the
sinner, He condemns his sin. The cross is the full and perfect
expression of this.
Typically, this was the great question, on "the evening of the
fourteenth day of the first month"; namely, _How can God exempt from
judgment, and receive into His favor, those whom His holiness
condemns?_ To this most solemn question, there was but one answer that
would satisfy the demands of the God of holiness, and that was the
_blood of the Lamb of His own providing_. "When I see the blood, I
will pass over you." This settled the all-important question. It was
one of life or death, of deliverance or judgment. The blood-sprinkled
door-post was a perfect answer to all the claims of holiness, and to
all the need of the congregation. All was settled now. God was
glorified, sin judged and put away, and Israel saved through the blood
of the lamb.
Blessed truth! Israel was now at peace with God, a sheltered, saved,
and happy people, though still in Egypt--the land of death and
judgment. God was now _pledged_ to deliver Israel,--precious type of
the perfect security of all who are trusting to the blood of Christ!
They were securely and peacefully feeding on the roasted lamb, when,
"at midnight, the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt,
from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the
first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the
first-born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his
servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt;
for there was not a house where there was not one dead" (xii. 29,
30.). "But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move
his tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that the Lord
doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel." (xi. 7.)
But why, some may ask, put this difference? The Israelites were
sinners as well as the Egyptians. True, on this ground there was "no
difference;" but, in type, the judgment of God against sin had been
expressed in the death of the unblemished lamb. The blood "on the
lintel and the two side-posts" was the proof of this. It proclaimed,
with a loud voice, that the lamb was slain, the ransom paid, the
captive freed, justice satisfied, and the hour of Israel's deliverance
fully come. _It was the blood that made the difference, and nothing
else_; "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom.
iii. 23.)
But oh, what a difference! The one, divinely shielded from the sword
of judgment; the other, defenceless and slain by it: the one,
feasting on the rich provisions of grace; the other, compelled to
taste the bitterness of the cup of wrath. The destroying angel entered
every house, throughout all the land of Egypt, that was not sprinkled
with the blood. The first-born of Pharaoh on the throne, and the
first-born of the captive in the dungeon, fell together.
No rank, age, or character escaped. The day of God's long-suffering
was ended, and the hour of His judgment was come. One thing alone
guided the angel of death on that dark and dreadful night, and that
was, WHERE THERE IS NO BLOOD, THERE IS NO SALVATION.
Dear reader, this is as true now as it was then! Where there is no
blood, there is no salvation,--"without shedding of blood is no
remission." Can any question be of such importance to you as this one:
Am I shielded by the blood of Jesus? Oh! have you fled for refuge to
the blood that was shed on Calvary? There, "Christ, our passover, was
sacrificed for us." His blood is represented as being sprinkled on
"the mercy-seat above." There, God's eye ever sees the blood of our
true paschal Lamb. Have you faith in that precious blood? Though
deeply sensible of your guilt, can you say in truth, This is my only
hiding-place: I do depend upon the blood? Then rest assured that you
are perfectly safe--that you are eternally saved. You have God's own
word for it--"When I see the blood, I will pass over you."--"We have
redemption _through His blood_, the forgiveness of sins, according to
the riches of His grace."--"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off, are made nigh _by the blood of Christ_."--"Whom God hath
set forth to be a propitiation _through faith in His blood_." (Eph. i.
7; ii. 13; Rom. iii. 25.)
"Happy they who trust in Jesus,
Sweet their portion is and sure."
But, on the other hand, if the blood of Jesus is neglected or
despised, there can be no security, no peace, and no salvation. "How
shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb. ii. 3.)
Unless the destroying angel sees the blood, he enters as the judge of
sin. Every sin must be punished, either in the person of the sinner,
or the sinner's substitute. This is a deeply solemn truth; but how
blessed to know that "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that He might bring us to God." "For He hath made Him to
be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God In Him." (1 Peter iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.) To
neglect this divine Substitute, and the shelter which He has provided,
is to expose the soul to the unrelenting judgment of God. No sin,
however small, can escape judgment, either on the cross of Christ, or
in the lake of fire. Oh, the priceless value of that blood which
"cleanseth us from ALL sin"!--which makes us clean enough for heaven!
Redemption being now accomplished, and Israel divinely prepared, they
commence their journey. But observe, in passing, _how_ they start.
Before taking one step, every question between the conscience and God
is divinely settled. They are forgiven, justified, and accepted, in
His sight. Hence it is written, "When Israel was a child, then I loved
him, and called my son out of Egypt." (Hosea xi. 1.) Blessed type of
the real condition in which every true believer begins his Christian
course! He may not see this blessed truth, or he may have a very
feeble apprehension of it, as Israel had, but that does not alter the
fact. God acts according to His own knowledge of the relationship, and
the affections which belong to it. We see this in the glorious
deliverance of His beloved people at the Red Sea, in the manna from
heaven, the water from the flinty rock, and in the pillar of His
presence, which accompanied them in all their wanderings. He ever acts
according to the purposes of His love, and the value of the blood of
Jesus.
Once more, dear reader, allow me to ask. Are you sure that you are
under the safe shelter, the secure refuge, the blessed hiding-place,
of the Redeemer's blood?
But I must now leave my reader, earnestly recommending him to pursue
the journey across the wilderness in company with God and His
redeemed. He will find the "Notes" most useful. They convey truth,
agreeably and intelligently to the heart, the conscience, and the
understanding. May many find them to be a real oasis in the desert.
The journey will prove a most profitable one if we thereby learn more
of the natural unbelief of our own heart and the abiding faithfulness
of God's. He never changes, blessed be His name; and the blood of the
slain Lamb never loses its efficacy.
"Blest Lamb of God! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till every ransomed saint of God
Be saved to sin no more."
May the Lord graciously own and use the following "Notes" for His own
glory and the blessing of many souls.
_A. M._
_London_
CONTENTS
_Page._
CHAPTER I, 1
" II. 1-10, 9
" II. 11-25, 17
" III, 33
" IV, 58
" V. & VI, 78
" VII.-XI, 95
" XII, 126
" XIII, 163
" XIV, 172
" XV, 191
" XVI, 206
" XVII, 224
" XVIII, 238
" XIX, 247
" XX, 254
" XXI.-XXIII, 272
" XXIV, 280
" XXV, 284
" XXVI, 298
" XXVII, 313
" XXVIII. & XXIX, 319
" XXX, 335
" XXXI, 349
" XXXII, 355
" XXXIII. & XXXIV, 364
" XXXV.-XL, 369
NOTES
ON
THE BOOK OF EXODUS
CHAPTER I.
We now approach, by the mercy of God, the study of the Book of Exodus,
of which the great prominent theme is redemption. The first five
verses recall to the mind the closing scenes of the preceding book.
The favored objects of God's electing love are brought before us; and
we find ourselves very speedily conducted, by the inspired penman,
into the action of the book.
In our meditations on the Book of Genesis, we were led to see that the
conduct of Joseph's brethren toward him was that which led to their
being brought down into Egypt. This fact is to be looked at in two
ways. In the first place, we can read therein a deeply solemn lesson,
as taught in Israel's actings toward God; and, secondly, we have
therein unfolded an encouraging lesson, as taught in God's actings
toward Israel.
And, first, as to Israel's actings toward God, what can be more deeply
solemn than to follow out the results of their treatment of him who
stands before the spiritual mind as the marked type of the Lord Jesus
Christ? They, utterly regardless of the anguish of his soul, consigned
Joseph into the hands of the uncircumcised. And what was the issue, as
regards them? They were carried down into Egypt, there to experience
the deep and painful exercises of heart which are so graphically and
touchingly presented in the closing chapters of Genesis. Nor was this
all. A long and dreary season awaited their offspring in that very
land in which Joseph had found a dungeon.
But then God was in all this, as well as man; and it is His
prerogative to bring good out of evil. Joseph's brethren might sell
him to the Ishmaelites, and the Ishmaelites might sell him to
Potiphar, and Potiphar might cast him into prison; but Jehovah was
above all, and He was accomplishing His own mighty ends. "The wrath of
man shall praise Him." The time had not arrived in which the heirs
were ready for the inheritance and the inheritance for the heirs. The
brick-kilns of Egypt were to furnish a rigid school for the seed of
Abraham, while as yet "the iniquity of the Amorites" was rising to a
head amid the "hills and valleys" of the promised land.
All this is deeply interesting and instructive. There are "wheels
within wheels" in the government of God. He makes use of an endless
variety of agencies in the accomplishment of His unsearchable designs.
Potiphar's wife, Pharaoh's butler, Pharaoh's dreams, Pharaoh himself,
the dungeon, the throne, the fetter, the royal signet, the
famine--all are at His sovereign disposal, and all are made
instrumental in the development of His stupendous counsels. The
spiritual mind delights to dwell upon this,--it delights to range
through the wide domain of creation and providence, and to recognize,
in all, the machinery which an All-wise and an Almighty God is using
for the purpose of unfolding His counsels of redeeming love. True, we
may see many traces of the serpent,--many deep and well-defined
footprints of the enemy of God and man,--many things which we cannot
explain nor even comprehend; suffering innocence and successful
wickedness may furnish an apparent basis for the infidel reasoning of
the sceptic mind; but the true believer can piously repose in the
assurance that "the Judge of all the earth shall do right." He knows
right well that--
"Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His ways in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain."
Blessed be God for the consolation and encouragement flowing out of
such reflections as these. We need them every hour while passing
through an evil world, in which the enemy has wrought such appalling
mischief, in which the lusts and passions of men produce such bitter
fruits, and in which the path of the true disciple presents
roughnesses which mere nature could never endure. Faith knows, of a
surety, that there is One behind the scenes whom the world sees not
nor regards; and, in the consciousness of this, it can calmly say, "It
is well," and, "It shall be well."
The above train of thought is distinctly suggested by the opening
lines of our book. "God's counsel shall stand, and He will do all His
pleasure." The enemy may oppose, but God will ever prove Himself to be
above him; and all we need is a spirit of simple, childlike confidence
and repose in the divine purpose. Unbelief will rather look at the
enemy's efforts to countervail than at God's power to accomplish. It
is on the latter that faith fixes its eye. Thus it obtains victory and
enjoys abiding peace. It has to do with God and His infallible
faithfulness. It rests not upon the ever-shifting sands of human
affairs and earthly influences, but upon the immovable rock of God's
eternal Word. That is faith's holy and solid resting-place. Come what
may, it abides in that sanctuary of strength. "Joseph died, and all
his brethren, and all that generation." What then? Could death affect
the counsels of the living God? Surely not. He only waited for the
appointed moment--the due time, and then the most hostile influences
were made instrumental in the development of His purposes.
"Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And
he said unto his people, 'Behold the people of the children of Israel
are more and mightier than we: 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." (Ver. 8-10.) All this is the
reasoning of a heart that had never learnt to take God into its
calculations. The unrenewed heart never can do so; and hence, the
moment you introduce God, all its reasonings fall to the ground. Apart
from, or independent of, Him, they may seem very wise; but only bring
Him in, and they are proved to be perfect folly.
But why should we allow our minds to be, in any wise, influenced by
reasonings and calculations which depend, for their _apparent_ truth,
upon the total exclusion of God? To do so is, in principle, and
according to its measure, practical atheism. In Pharaoh's case, we see
that he could accurately recount the various contingencies of human
affairs,--the multiplying of the people, the falling out of war, their
joining with the enemy, their escape out of the land. All these
circumstances he could, with uncommon sagacity, put into the scale;
but it never once occurred to him that God could have anything
whatever to do in the matter. Had he only thought of this, it would
have upset his entire reasoning, and have written folly upon all his
schemes.
Now, it is well to see that it is ever thus with the reasonings of
man's sceptic mind. God is entirely shut out; yea, the truth and
consistency thereof depend upon His being kept out. The death-blow to
all scepticism and infidelity is the introduction of God into the
scene. Till He is seen, they may strut up and down upon the stage with
an amazing show of wisdom and cleverness; but the moment the eye
catches even the faintest glimpse of that blessed One, they are
stripped of their cloak, and disclosed in all their nakedness and
deformity.
In reference to the king of Egypt, it may assuredly be said, he did
"greatly err," not knowing God or His changeless counsels. He knew not
that, hundreds of years back, before ever he had breathed the breath
of mortal life, God's word and oath--"two immutable things"--had
infallibly secured the full and glorious deliverance of that very
people whom he was going, in his wisdom, to crush. All this was
unknown to him, and therefore all his thoughts and plans were founded
upon ignorance of that grand foundation-truth of all truths, namely,
that GOD IS. He vainly imagined that he, by his management, could
prevent the increase of those concerning whom God had said, "They
shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea-shore." His wise dealing, therefore, was simply madness and folly.
The wildest mistake which a man can possibly fall into is to act
without taking God into his account. Sooner or later, the thought of
God will force itself upon him, and then comes the awful crash of all
his schemes and calculations. At best, everything that is undertaken
independently of God, can last but for the present time. It cannot, by
any possibility, stretch itself into eternity. All that is merely
human, however solid, however brilliant, or however attractive, must
fall into the cold grasp of death, and moulder in the dark, silent
tomb. The clod of the valley must cover man's highest excellencies and
brightest glories; mortality is engraved upon his brow, and all his
schemes are evanescent. On the contrary, that which is connected with,
and based upon, God, shall endure forever. "His name shall endure
forever, and His memorial to all generations."
What a sad mistake, therefore, for a feeble mortal to set himself up
against the eternal God,--to "rush upon the thick bosses of the shield
of the Almighty"! As well might the monarch of Egypt have sought to
stem, with his puny hand, the ocean's tide, as to prevent the increase
of those who were the subjects of Jehovah's everlasting purpose.
Hence, although "they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them
with their burdens," yet, "the more they afflicted them, the more they
multiplied and grew." Thus it must ever be. "He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." (Ps. ii.
4.) Eternal confusion shall be inscribed upon all the opposition of
men and devils. This gives sweet rest to the heart in the midst of a
scene where all is apparently so contrary to God and so contrary to
faith. Were it not for the settled assurance that "the wrath of man
shall praise" the Lord, the spirit would often be cast down while
contemplating the circumstances and influences which surround one in
the world. Thank God, "we look not at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. iv.
18.) In the power of this, we may well say, "_Rest_ in the Lord, and
_wait patiently for Him_: fret not thyself because of him who
prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices
to pass." (Ps. xxxvii. 7.) How fully might the truth of this be seen
in the case of both the oppressed and the oppressor, as set before us
in our chapter! Had Israel "looked at the things that are seen," what
were they? Pharaoh's wrath, stern taskmasters, afflictive burdens,
rigorous service, hard bondage, mortar and brick. But, then, "the
things which are not seen," what were they? God's eternal purpose, His
unfailing promise, the approaching dawn of a day of salvation, the
"burning lamp" of Jehovah's deliverance. Wondrous contrast! Faith
alone could enter into it. Naught save that precious principle could
enable any poor, oppressed Israelite to look from out the smoking
furnace of Egypt, to the green fields and vine-clad mountains of the
land of Canaan. Faith alone could recognize in those oppressed slaves,
toiling in the brick-kilns of Egypt, the heirs of salvation, and the
objects of Heaven's peculiar interest and favor.
Thus it was then, and thus it is now. "We walk by faith, not by
sight." (2 Cor. v. 7.) "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." (1
John iii. 2.) We are "here in the body pent," "absent from the Lord."
As to fact, we are in Egypt, yet, in spirit, we are in the heavenly
Canaan. Faith brings the heart into the power of divine and unseen
things, and thus enables it to mount above everything down here, in
this place "where death and darkness reign." O, for that simple
childlike faith that sits beside the pure and eternal fountain of
truth, there to drink those deep and refreshing draughts which lift up
the fainting spirit and impart energy to the new man, in its upward
and onward course!
The closing verses of this section of our book present an edifying
lesson in the conduct of those God-fearing women, Shiprah and Puah.
They would not carry out the king's cruel scheme, but braved his
wrath, and hence God made them houses. "Them that honor Me I will
honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Sam.
ii. 30.) May we ever remember this, and act for God, under all
circumstances!
CHAPTER II. 1-10.
This section of our book abounds in the weightiest principles of
divine truth--principles which range themselves under the three
following heads, namely, the power of Satan, the power of God, and the
power of faith.
In the last verse of the previous chapter, we read, "And Pharaoh
charged all his people, saying, 'Every son that is born ye shall cast
into the river.'" This was Satan's power. The river was the place of
death; and, by death, the enemy sought to frustrate the purpose of
God. It has ever been thus. The serpent has at all times watched with
malignant eye those instruments which God was about to use for His own
gracious ends. Look at the case of Abel, in Genesis iv. What was that
but the serpent watching God's vessel and seeking to put it out of the
way by death? Look at the case of Joseph, in Genesis xxxvii. There you
have the enemy seeking to put the man of God's purpose in the place of
death. Look at the case of "the seed royal," in 2 Chronicles xxii; the
act of Herod, in Matthew ii; the death of Christ, in Matthew xxvii. In
all these cases, you find the enemy seeking, by death, to interrupt
the current of divine action.
But, blessed be God, there is something beyond death. The entire
sphere of divine action, as connected with redemption, lies beyond the
limits of death's domain. When Satan has exhausted his power, then God
begins to show Himself. The grave is the limit of Satan's activity;
but there it is that divine activity begins. This is a glorious truth.
Satan has the power of death; but God is the God of the living, and He
gives life beyond the reach and power of death--a life which Satan
cannot touch. The heart finds sweet relief in such a truth as this, in
the midst of a scene where death reigns. Faith can stand and look on
at Satan putting forth the plenitude of his power. It can stay itself
upon God's mighty instrumentality of resurrection. It can take its
stand at the grave which has closed over a beloved object, and drink
in, from the lips of Him who is "the resurrection and the life," the
elevating assurance of a glorious immortality. It knows that God is
stronger than Satan, and it can therefore quietly wait for the full
manifestation of that superior strength, and, in thus waiting, find
its victory and its settled peace. We have a noble example of this
power of faith in the opening verses of our chapter.
"And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a
daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son; and when she
saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when
she could no 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. And his sister stood
afar off, to wit what would be done to him." (Chap. ii. 1-4.) Here we
have a scene of touching interest, in whatever way we contemplate it.
In point of fact, it was simply faith triumphing over the influences
of nature and death, and leaving room for the God of resurrection to
act in His own proper sphere and character. True, the enemy's power is
apparent, in the circumstance that the child had to be placed in such
position--a position of death, in principle. And, moreover, a sword
was piercing through the mother's heart in thus beholding her precious
offspring laid, as it were, in death. Satan might act, and nature
might weep; but the Quickener of the dead was behind the dark cloud,
and faith beheld Him there, gilding heaven's side of that cloud with
His bright and life-giving beams. "By faith Moses, when he was born,
was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper
child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment." (Heb. xi.
23.)
Thus this honored daughter of Levi teaches us a holy lesson. Her
"_ark_ of bulrushes, daubed with slime and _pitch_," declares her
confidence in the truth that there was a something which could keep
out the waters of death, in the case of this "proper child," as well
as in the case of Noah, "the preacher of righteousness." Are we to
suppose, for a moment, that this "ark" was the invention of mere
nature? Was it nature's forethought that devised it? or nature's
ingenuity that constructed it? Was the babe placed in the ark at the
suggestion of a mother's heart, cherishing the fond but visionary hope
of thereby saving her treasure from the ruthless hand of death? Were
we to reply to the above inquiries in the affirmative, we should, I
believe, lose the beauteous teaching of this entire scene. How could
we ever suppose that the "_ark_" was devised by one who saw no other
portion or destiny for her child but death by _drowning_? Impossible.
We can only look upon that significant structure as faith's draft
handed in at the treasury of the God of resurrection. It was devised
by the hand of faith, as a vessel of mercy, to carry "a proper child"
safely over death's dark waters, into the place assigned him by the
immutable purpose of the living God. When we behold this daughter of
Levi bending over that "ark of bulrushes," which her faith had
constructed, and depositing therein her babe, we see her "walking in
the steps of that faith of her father Abraham, which he had," when "he
rose up from before his dead," and purchased the cave of Machpelah
from the sons of Heth. (Gen. xxiii.) We do not recognize in her the
energy of mere nature, hanging over the object of its affections,
about to fall into the iron grasp of the king of terrors. No; but we
trace in her the energy of a faith which enabled her to stand, as a
conqueror, at the margin of death's cold flood, and behold the chosen
servant of Jehovah in safety at the other side.
Yes, my reader, faith can take those bold and lofty flights into
regions far removed from this land of death and wide-spread
desolation. Its eagle gaze can pierce the gloomy clouds which gather
around the tomb, and behold the God of resurrection displaying the
results of His everlasting counsels, in the midst of a sphere which no
arrow of death can reach. It can take its stand upon the top of the
Rock of Ages, and listen, in holy triumph, while the surges of death
are lashing its base.
And what, let me ask, was "the king's commandment" to one who was in
possession of this heaven-born principle? What weight had that
commandment with one who could calmly stand beside her "ark of
bulrushes" and look death straight in the face? The Holy Ghost
replies, "They were not afraid of the king's commandment." The spirit
that knows aught of communion with Him who quickens the dead, is not
afraid of anything. Such an one can take up the triumphant language of
1 Cor. xv., and say, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ." He can give forth these words of triumph over a
martyred Abel; over Joseph in the pit; over Moses in the ark of
bulrushes; in the midst of "the seed royal," slain by the hand of
Athaliah; amid the babes of Bethlehem, murdered by the hand of the
cruel Herod; and far above all, he can utter them at the tomb of the
Captain of our salvation.
Now, it may be there are some who cannot trace the activities of
faith, in the matter of the ark of bulrushes. Many may not be able to
travel beyond the measure of Moses' sister, when "she stood afar off,
to wit what would be done to him." It is very evident that "his
sister" was not up to "the measure of faith" possessed by "his
mother." No doubt she possessed deep interest and true affection, such
as we may trace in "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over
against the sepulchre" (Matt. xxvii. 61.); but there was something far
beyond either interest or affection in the maker of the "ark." True,
she did not "stand afar off, to wit what would be done to" her child,
and hence, what frequently happens, the dignity of faith might seem
like indifference, on her part. It was not, however, indifference, but
true elevation--the elevation of faith. If natural affection did not
cause her to linger near the scene of death, it was only because the
power of faith was furnishing her with nobler work in the presence of
the God of resurrection. Her faith had cleared the stage for Him, and
most gloriously did He show Himself thereon.
"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. 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.'"
Here, then, the divine response begins to break, in sweetest accents,
on the ear of faith. God was in all this. Rationalism, or scepticism,
or infidelity, or atheism, may laugh at such an idea. And faith can
laugh also; but the two kinds of laughter are very different. The
former laughs, in cold contempt, at the thought of divine interference
in the trifling affair of a royal maiden's walk by the river's side:
the latter laughs, with real heartfelt gladness, at the thought that
God is in everything. And, assuredly, if ever God was in anything, He
was in this walk of Pharaoh's daughter, though she knew it not.
The renewed mind enjoys one of its sweetest exercises while tracing
the divine footsteps in circumstances and events in which a
thoughtless spirit sees only blind chance or rigid fate. The most
trifling matter may, at times, turn out to be a most important link in
a chain of events by which the Almighty God is helping forward the
development of His grand designs. Look, for instance, at Esther vi. 1,
and what do you see? A heathen monarch spending a restless night. No
uncommon circumstance, we may suppose; and yet, this very circumstance
was a link in a great chain of providences at the end of which you
find the marvelous deliverance of the oppressed seed of Israel.
Thus was it with the daughter of Pharaoh, in her walk by the river's
side. Little did she think that she was helping forward the purpose of
"the Lord God of the Hebrews." How little idea had she that the
weeping babe in that ark of bulrushes was yet to be Jehovah's
instrument in shaking the land of Egypt to its very centre! Yet so it
was. The Lord can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrain
the remainder. How plainly the truth of this appears in the following
passage!--
"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?' And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, 'Go.' And the maid went
and called the child's mother. 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. 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.'" (Chap. ii. 7-10.) The beautiful faith of Moses'
mother here meets its full reward; Satan is confounded; and the
marvelous wisdom of God is displayed. Who would have thought that the
one who had said, "If it be a son, then ye shall kill him," and,
again, "Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river," should
have in his court one of those very sons, and _such_ "a son." The
devil was foiled by his own weapon, inasmuch as Pharaoh, whom he was
using to frustrate the purpose of God, is used of God to nourish and
bring up Moses, who was to be His instrument in confounding the power
of Satan. Remarkable providence! Admirable wisdom! Truly, Jehovah is
"wonderful in counsel and excellent in working." May we learn to trust
Him with more artless simplicity, and thus our path shall be more
brilliant, and our testimony more effective.
CHAPTER II. 11-25.
In considering the history of Moses, we must look at him in two ways,
namely, personally and typically.
First, in his personal character, there is much, very much, for us to
learn. God had not only to raise him up, but also to train him, in one
way or another, for the lengthened period of eighty years, first in
the house of Pharaoh's daughter, and then at "the backside of the
desert." This, to our shallow thoughts, would seem an immense space of
time to devote to the education of a minister of God. But then God's
thoughts are not as our thoughts. He knew the need of those forty
years twice told, in the preparation of His chosen vessel. When God
educates, He educates in a manner worthy of Himself and His most holy
service. He will not have a novice to do His work. The servant of
Christ has to learn many a lesson, to undergo many an exercise, to
pass through many a conflict, in secret, ere he is really qualified to
act in public. Nature does not like this. It would rather figure in
public than learn in private,--it would rather be gazed upon and
admired by the eye of man than be disciplined by the hand of God. But
it will not do. We must take God's way. Nature may rush into the scene
of operation; but God does not want it there. It must be withered,
crushed, set aside. The place of death is the place for nature. If it
_will_ be active, God will so order matters, in His infallible
faithfulness and perfect wisdom, that the results of its activity will
prove its utter defeat and confusion. He knows what to do with nature,
where to put it, and where to keep it. O, that we may all be in deeper
communion with the mind of God, in reference to self and all that
pertains thereto! Then shall we make fewer mistakes; then shall our
path be steady and elevated, our spirit tranquil, and our service
effective.
"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 a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this
way and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the
Egyptian, and hid him in the sand." This was zeal for his brethren;
but it was "not according to knowledge." God's time was not yet come
for judging Egypt and delivering Israel; and the intelligent servant
will ever wait for God's time. "Moses was grown," and "he was learned
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians;" and, moreover, "he supposed his
brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver
them." All this was true; yet he evidently ran before the time, and
when one does this, failure must be the issue.[2]
[2] In Stephen's address to the council at Jerusalem, there is an
allusion to Moses' acting, to which it may be well to advert. "And
when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his
brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong,
he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the
Egyptian; for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that
God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not." (Acts
vii. 23-35.) It is evident that Stephen's object, in his entire
address, was to bring the history of the nation to bear upon the
consciences of those whom he had before him; and it would have been
quite foreign to this object, and at variance with the Spirit's rule
in the New Testament, to raise a question as to whether Moses had not
acted before the divinely appointed time.
Moreover, he merely says, "it came into his heart to visit his
brethren." He does not say that God sent him, _at that time_. Nor does
this, in the least, touch the question of the moral condition of those
who rejected him. "They understood not." This was the fact as to them,
whatever Moses might have personally to learn in the matter. The
spiritual mind can have no difficulty in apprehending this.
Looking at Moses typically, we can see the mission of Christ to
Israel, and their rejection of Him, and refusal to have Him to reign
over them. On the other hand, looking at Moses personally, we find
that he, like others, made mistakes and displayed
infirmities,--sometimes went too fast and sometimes too slow. All this
is easily understood, and only tends to magnify the infinite grace and
exhaustless patience of God.
And not only is there failure in the end, but also manifest
uncertainty, and lack of calm elevation and holy independence in the
progress of a work begun before God's time. Moses "_looked this way
and that way_." There is no need of this when a man is acting with and
for God, and in the full intelligence of His mind, as to the detail of
his work. If God's time had really come, and if Moses was conscious of
being divinely commissioned to execute judgment upon the Egyptian, and
if he felt assured of the divine presence with him, he would not have
"looked this way and that way."
This action teaches a deep practical lesson to all the servants of
God. There are two things by which it is superinduced, namely, the
fear of man's wrath, and the hope of man's favor. The servant of the
living God should neither regard the one nor the other. What avails
the wrath or favor of a poor mortal to one who holds the divine
commission and enjoys the divine presence? It is, in the judgment of
such an one, less than the small dust of the balance. "_Have not I
commanded thee?_ Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid,
neither be thou dismayed: for _the Lord thy God is with thee_
whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua i. 9.) "Thou, therefore, gird up
thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them _all that I command thee_:
be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For,
behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar,
and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah,
against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against
the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, but they
shall not prevail against thee; for _I am with thee_, saith the Lord,
to deliver thee." (Jer. i. 17-19.)
When the servant of Christ stands upon the elevated ground set forth
in the above quotations, he will not "look this way and that way;" he
will act on wisdom's heavenly counsel--"Let thine eyes look straight
on, and thine eyelids look straight before thee." Divine intelligence
will ever lead us to look upward and onward. Whenever we look around
to shun a mortal's frown or catch his smile, we may rest assured there
is something wrong; we are off the proper ground of divine service. We
lack the assurance of holding the divine commission and of enjoying
the divine presence, both of which are absolutely essential.
True, there are many who, through profound ignorance, or excessive
self-confidence, stand forward in a sphere of service for which God
never intended them, and for which He therefore never qualified them.
And not only do they thus stand forward, but they exhibit an amount of
coolness and self-possession perfectly amazing to those who are
capable of forming an impartial judgment about their gifts and
merits. But all this will very speedily find its level; nor does it in
the least interfere with the integrity of the principle that nothing
can effectually deliver a man from the tendency to "look this way and
that way" save the consciousness of the divine commission and the
divine presence. When these are possessed, there is entire deliverance
from human influence, and consequent independence. No man is in a
position to serve others who is not wholly independent of them; but a
man who knows his proper place can stoop and wash his brethren's feet.
When we turn away our eyes from man, and fix them upon the only true
and perfect Servant, we do not find Him looking this way and that way,
for this simple reason, that He never had His eye upon men, but always
upon God. He feared not the wrath of man, nor sought his favor. He
never opened His lips to elicit human applause, nor kept them closed
to avoid human censure. This gave holy stability and elevation to all
He said and did. Of Him alone could it be truly said, "His leaf shall
not wither, and _whatsoever_ he doeth shall prosper." Everything He
did turned to profitable account, because everything was done to God.
Every action, every word, every movement, every look, every thought,
was like a beauteous cluster of fruit, sent up to refresh the heart of
God. He was never afraid of the results of His work, because He always
acted with and for God, and in the full intelligence of His mind. His
own will, though divinely perfect, never once mingled itself in aught
that He did, as a man, on the earth. He could say, "I came down from
heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."
Hence, He brought forth fruit "_in its season_." He did "_always_
those things which pleased the Father," and therefore never had any
occasion to "fear," to "repent," or to "look this way and that way."
Now in this, as in everything else, the blessed Master stands in
marked contrast with His most honored and eminent servants. Even a
Moses "feared," and a Paul "repented;" but the Lord Jesus never did
either. He never had to retrace a step, to recall a word, or correct a
thought. All was absolutely perfect: all was "fruit in season." The
current of His holy and heavenly life flowed onward without a ripple
and without a curve. His will was divinely subject. The best and most
devoted men make mistakes; but it is perfectly certain that the more
we are enabled, through grace, to mortify our own will, the fewer our
mistakes will be. Truly happy it is when, in the main, our path is
really a path of faith and single-eyed devotedness to Christ.
Thus it was with Moses. He was a man of faith--a man who drank deeply
into the spirit of his Master, and walked with marvelous steadiness in
His footprints. True, he anticipated, as has been remarked, by forty
years, the Lord's time of judgment on Egypt and deliverance for
Israel; yet, when we turn to the inspired commentary, in Hebrews xi,
we find nothing about this; we there find only the divine principle
upon which, in the main, his course was founded. "By faith Moses,
_when he was come to years_, refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the
people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith
he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as
seeing Him who is invisible." (Ver. 24-27.)
This quotation furnishes a most gracious view of the actings of Moses.
It is ever thus the Holy Ghost deals with the history of Old Testament
saints. When He _writes_ a man's history, He presents him to us as he
is, and faithfully sets forth all his failures and imperfections. But
when, in the New Testament, He _comments_ upon such history, He merely
gives the real principle and main result of a man's life. Hence,
though we read, in Exodus, that "Moses looked this way and that
way"--that "he feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known,'" and,
finally, "Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh;" yet we are taught, in
Hebrews, that what he did, he did "by faith"--that he did not fear
"the wrath of the king"--that "he endured as seeing Him who is
invisible."
Thus will it be, by and by, "when the Lord comes, who both will bring
to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest _the
counsels of the hearts_: and then shall every man have praise of God."
(1 Cor. iv. 5.) This is a precious and consolatory truth for every
upright mind and every loyal heart. Many a "counsel" the "_heart_"
may form, which, from various causes, the _hand_ may not be able to
execute. All such "counsels" will be made "manifest" when "the Lord
comes." Blessed be the grace that has told us so! The affectionate
counsels of the heart are far more precious to Christ than the most
elaborate works of the hand. The latter may shine before the eye of
man; the former are designed _only_ for the heart of Jesus. The latter
may be spoken of amongst men; the former will be made manifest before
God and His holy angels. May all the servants of Christ have their
hearts undividedly occupied with His person, and their eyes steadily
fixed upon His advent.
In contemplating the path of Moses, we observe how that faith led him
entirely athwart the ordinary course of nature. It led him to despise
all the pleasures, the attractions, and the honors of Pharaoh's court.
And not only that, but also to relinquish an apparently wide sphere of
usefulness. Human expediency would have conducted him along quite an
opposite path. It would have led him to use his influence on behalf of
the people of God--to act _for_ them instead of suffering _with_ them.
According to man's judgment, providence would seem to have opened for
Moses a wide and most important sphere of labor; and surely, if ever
the hand of God was manifest in placing a man in a distinct position,
it was in his case. By a most marvelous interposition--by a most
unaccountable chain of circumstances, every link of which displayed
the finger of the Almighty--by an order of events which no human
foresight could have arranged, had the daughter of Pharaoh been made
the instrument of drawing Moses out of the water, and of nourishing
and educating him until he was "full forty years old." With all these
circumstances in his view, to abandon his high, honorable, and
influential position, could only be regarded as the result of a
misguided zeal which no sound judgment could approve.
Thus might poor blind nature reason. But faith thought differently;
for nature and faith are always at issue. They cannot agree upon a
single point. Nor is there anything, perhaps, in reference to which
they differ so widely as what are commonly called "openings of
providence." Nature will constantly regard such openings as warrants
for self-indulgence; whereas faith will find in them opportunities for
self-denial. Jonah might have deemed it a very remarkable opening of
providence to find a ship going to Tarshish; but, in truth, it was an
opening through which he slipped off the path of obedience.
No doubt it is the Christian's privilege to see his Father's hand, and
hear His voice, in everything; but he is not to be guided by
circumstances. A Christian so guided is like a vessel at sea without
rudder or compass; she is at the mercy of the waves and the winds.
God's promise to His child is, "I will guide thee with Mine eye." (Ps.
xxxii. 8.) His warning is, "Be not as the horse or as the mule, which
have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle, lest they come near unto thee." It is much better to be
guided by our Father's eye than by the bit and bridle of
circumstances; and we know that, in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, "providence" is only another word for the impulse of
circumstances.
Now, the power of faith may constantly be seen in refusing and
forsaking the apparent openings of providence. It was so in the case
of Moses. "By faith he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter," and "by faith he forsook Egypt." Had he judged according to
the sight of his eyes, he would have grasped at the proffered dignity,
as the manifest gift of a kind providence, and he would have remained
in the court of Pharaoh as in a sphere of usefulness plainly thrown
open to him by the hand of God. But, then, he walked by faith, and not
by the sight of his eyes; and hence he forsook all. Noble example! May
we have grace to follow it!
And observe what it was that Moses "esteemed greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt;" it was the "reproach of Christ." It was not
merely reproach _for_ Christ. "The reproaches of them that reproached
Thee have fallen upon Me." The Lord Jesus, in perfect grace,
identified Himself with His people. He came down from heaven, leaving
His Father's bosom, and laying aside all His glory, He took His
people's place, confessed their sins, and bore their judgment on the
cursed tree. Such was His voluntary devotedness; He not merely acted
_for_ us, but made Himself one _with_ us, thus perfectly delivering us
from all that was or could be against us.
Hence we see how much in sympathy Moses was with the spirit and mind
of Christ in reference to the people of God. He was in the midst of
all the ease, the pomp, and dignity of Pharaoh's house, where "the
pleasures of sin," and "the treasures of Egypt," lay scattered around
him in richest profusion. All these things he might have enjoyed if he
would. He could have lived and died in the midst of wealth and
splendor; his entire path, from first to last, might, if he had
chosen, have been enlightened by the sunshine of royal favor: but that
would not have been "faith;" it would not have been Christlike. From
his elevated position, he saw his brethren bowed down beneath their
heavy burden, and faith led him to see that his place was to be _with_
them. Yes; with them, in all their reproach, their bondage, their
degradation, and their sorrow. Had he been actuated by mere
benevolence, philanthropy, or patriotism, he might have used his
personal influence on behalf of his brethren. He might have succeeded
in inducing Pharaoh to lighten their burden, and render their path
somewhat smoother, by royal grants in their favor; but this would
never do, never satisfy a heart that had a single pulsation in common
with the heart of Christ. Such a heart Moses, by the grace of God,
carried in his bosom; and, therefore, with all the energies and all
the affections of that heart, he threw himself, body, soul, and
spirit, into the very midst of his oppressed brethren. He "chose
rather to suffer affliction _with_ the people of God." And, moreover,
he did this by "faith."
Let my reader ponder this deeply. We must not be satisfied with
wishing well to, doing service for, or speaking kindly on behalf of,
the people of God. We ought to be fully identified _with_ them, no
matter how despised or reproached they may be. It is, in a measure, an
agreeable thing to be a benevolent and generous spirit, to patronize
Christianity; but it is a wholly different thing to be identified with
Christians, or to suffer with Christ. A _patron_ is one thing, a
_martyr_ is quite another. This distinction is apparent throughout the
entire book of God. Obadiah took care of God's witnesses, but Elijah
was a witness for God. Darius was so attached to Daniel that he lost a
night's rest on his account, but Daniel spent that self-same night in
the lion's den, as a witness for the truth of God. Nicodemus ventured
to speak a word _for_ Christ, but a more matured discipleship would
have led him to identify himself _with_ Christ.
These considerations are eminently practical. The Lord Jesus does not
want patronage; He wants fellowship. The truth concerning Him is
declared to us, not that we might patronize His cause on earth, but
have fellowship with His Person in heaven. He identified Himself with
us, at the heavy cost of all that love could give. He might have
avoided this. He might have continued to enjoy His eternal place "in
the bosom of the Father." But how, then, could that mighty tide of
love, which was pent up in His heart, flow down to us guilty and
hell-deserving sinners? Between Him and us there could be no oneness,
save on conditions which involved the surrender of everything on His
part. But, blessed, throughout the everlasting ages, be His adorable
name, that surrender was voluntarily made. "He gave Himself for us,
that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify _unto Himself_ a
peculiar people, zealous of good works." (Titus ii. 14.) He would not
enjoy His glory alone. His loving heart would gratify itself by
associating "many sons" with Him in that glory. "Father," He says, "I
will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be _with Me_ where I am;
that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou
lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." (John xvii. 24.) Such
were the thoughts of Christ in reference to His people; and we can
easily see how much in sympathy with these precious thoughts was the
heart of Moses. He unquestionably partook largely of his Master's
spirit; and he manifested that excellent spirit in freely sacrificing
every personal consideration, and associating himself, unreservedly,
with the people of God.
The personal character and actings of this honored servant of God will
come before us again in the next section of our book. We shall here
briefly consider him as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. That he was a
type of Him is evident from the following passage,--"The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken." (Deut. xviii. 15.)
We are not, therefore, trafficking in human imagination in viewing
Moses as a type; it is the plain teaching of Scripture, and in the
closing verses of Exodus ii. we see this type in a double way: first,
in the matter of his rejection by Israel; and secondly, in his union
with a stranger in the land of Midian.
These points have already been, in some measure, developed in the
history of Joseph, who, being cast out by his brethren according to
the flesh, forms an alliance with an Egyptian bride. Here, as in the
case of Moses, we see shadowed forth Christ's rejection by Israel, and
His union with the Church, but in a different phase. In Joseph's case,
we have the exhibition of positive enmity against his _person_: in
Moses, it is the rejection of his _mission_. In Joseph's case, we
read, "They hated _him_, and could not speak peaceably unto _him_."
(Gen. xxxvii. 4.) In the case of Moses, the word is,--"_Who made thee
a prince and a judge over us?_" In short, the former was personally
hated; the latter, officially refused.
So also in the mode in which the great mystery of the Church is
exemplified in the history of those two Old Testament saints.
"Asenath" presents quite a different phase of the Church from that
which we have in the person of "Zipporah." The former was united to
Joseph in the time of his exaltation; the latter was the companion of
Moses in the obscurity of his desert life. (Comp. Gen. xli. 41-45 with
Exod. ii. 15; iii. 1.) True, both Joseph and Moses were, at the time
of their union with a stranger, rejected by their brethren; yet the
former was "governor over all the land of Egypt;" whereas the latter
tended a few sheep at "the backside of the desert."
Whether, therefore, we contemplate Christ as manifested in glory, or
as hidden from the world's gaze, the Church is intimately associated
with Him. And now, inasmuch as the world seeth Him not, neither can it
take knowledge of that body which is wholly one with Him. "The world
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not." (1 John iii. 1.) By and by,
Christ will appear in His glory, and the Church _with_ Him. "When
Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear _with_ Him in
glory." (Col. iii. 4.) And again, "The glory which Thou gavest Me I
have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them,
and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou
hast loved Me." (John xvii. 22, 23.)[3]
[3] There are two distinct unities spoken of in John xvii. 21, 23. The
first is that unity which the Church is responsible to have
maintained, but in which she has utterly failed. The second is that
unity which God will infallibly accomplish, and which He will manifest
in glory. If the reader will turn to the passage, he will at once see
the difference, both as to character and result, of the two.
Such, then, is the Church's high and holy position. She is one with
Him who is cast out by this world, but who occupies the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens. The Lord Jesus made Himself responsible for
her on the cross, in order that she might share with Him His present
rejection and His future glory. Would that all who form a part of such
a highly privileged body were more impressed with a sense of what
becomes them as to course and character down here! Assuredly, there
should be a fuller and clearer response, on the part of all the
children of God, to that love wherewith He has loved them, to that
salvation wherewith He has saved them, and to that dignity wherewith
He has invested them. The walk of the Christian should ever be the
natural result of realized privilege, and not the constrained result
of legal vows and resolutions,--the proper fruit of a position known
and enjoyed by faith, and not the fruit of one's own efforts to reach
a position "by works of law." All true believers _are_ a part of the
bride of Christ; hence, they owe Him those affections which become
that relation. The relationship is not obtained because of the
affections, but the affections flow out of the relationship.
So let it be, O Lord, with all Thy beloved and blood-bought people!