JEHOVAH our God; his judgments are in all the earth; "* and still more conclusively in the very book upon which we are commenting, when the Almighty himself says, " And the Egyptians shall know that I am JEHOVAH (the LORD) when I stretch forth my hand upon Egypt." † Clearly manifesting, therefore, that the manner in which JEHOVAH should be made known to the Israelites, different from that in which he was hitherto known by the patriarchs, was by a larger, and more astonishing, and appalling series of judgments and punishments, than he had ever yet seen fit to manifest.

Happy is it for those who are so sweetly drawn by the mild and softening influences of God's grace, that he is never compelled to present himself to them, in the more fearful attributes of his power. Happy for those, whose stubborn wills are made to yield, and their hard hearts to break, before "the still small voice," and who need not the wind, the earthquake, and the tempest; to whom, in this sense, by his name JEHOVAH, he is not known; but, on the contrary is well known and gratefully beloved, and entirely rejoiced in, by that endeared and gracious name, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and through him of all the chil† Exodus vii. 5.

* Ps. cv. 7.

dren of his redeemed and ransomed family. Let your constant desire and prayer be, to know him thus; for short of this, you cannot enjoy the privileges of the real Christian here, or the portion of the children of God hereafter.

[Here may be read from verse 14, to the conclusion of the chapter.]

EXPOSITION XVI.

CHAP. vii. 1–7.

1. And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

2. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh that he send the children of Israel out of his land.

3. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

4. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.

5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.

6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded

them, so did they.

7. And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

Ar the commencement of the portion of Scripture which we have just read, we find the Almighty encouraging the doubting and timid Moses, by the remarkable declaration, "See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet; " i. e., thou shalt have such wonderful powers committed to thee, that Pharaoh shall look upon thee with as much respect as upon one of his divinities, and Aaron shall receive his communications from thy mouth, to make them unto Pharaoh, in the same manner as a prophet receives the revelations of God for his people. But still, lest Moses should rely too much upon these important gifts, as calculated to produce immediate success, the Almighty most considerately adds, "But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you." It was very merciful in God, thus to prepare his servant, and preserve him from disappointment; and we find, in after ages, our Lord, precisely in a similar spirit, forewarning his disciples of the improbable and distressing circumstance of his own betrayal and death, that so fearful a contradiction to their

hopes and expectations might not destroy their faith; "Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am He."* We are at all times, and even after all cautions, so prone to judge by present appearances, so inclined to expect an immediate triumph, that it is most merciful in our heavenly Father, thus to guard against the weakness of our fallen nature; and by these and innumerable other instances in divine writ, to convince us that the absence of present success, or even the certainty of present disappointment, forms not the slightest ground for doubt or despondency. How affecting and beautiful a lesson upon this deeply-important subject, is conveyed to us by the Prophet Isaiah, when, speaking in the person of his divine Master, he exclaims, "Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God."+

It is most essential to the comfort and usefulness of the Christian minister, and, indeed, of every private Christian, to bear in mind, that our one great end, and aim, and object in life, must be the glory of God, and that this, as in the case of Pharaoh, may sometimes be infinitely more promoted by the delay of our success, the † Isaiah xlix. 4.

* John xiii. 19.

postponement of what may appear even God's triumph, than it could have been by its immediate achievement. This feeling, when fully wrought into the heart, will enable us to labour far more patiently and perseveringly; not eagerly looking for present results, not cast down or mortified at the failure of an immediate harvest, but fully content to go on quietly and meekly in the different posts which God has assigned to us, sowing the seed, watering the infant plant, watching and nurturing its early progress, but well content, if it be the Lord's will, that another should step in and reap, where he has never sown, when our eyes are closed in death, and our bodies laid in their silent resting-places.

EXPOSITION XVII.

CHAP. vii. 8—13.

8. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

9. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.

10. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and