43. And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

44. But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.

45. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.

46. In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.

47. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

48. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

49. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

50. Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

51. And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

The great and terrible judgment of the Lord. having been inflicted, there was nothing more to detain Israel in the land of their bondage. That night, therefore, that very night, the moment that the execution of the Lord's judgment was perpetrated, and evidently sooner than

the children of Israel themselves expected, they were ordered to depart. The obvious reason for this extreme haste, was, that they might escape before the Egyptians should repent them of their fear-extorted permission. There was also an other motive, which, if not equally obvious, was equally important; viz. that the promise and prediction of the Almighty to Abraham might be accomplished to the very letter; for it was four hundred and thirty years from the day that the patriarch entered Canaan, to the day that his descendants departed from Egypt. And of this period the Almighty had said, "They shall afflict them four hundred years," the latter period having been computed from a date thirty years later, viz. from the time of Ishmael's mocking Isaac (the first overt act, if we may so say, of the children of darkness oppressing or afflicting the children of light) down to the hour that their bondage was at an end.

Nothing astonishes us so much as the miraculous increase of the children of Israel during their residence in Egypt, from seventy persons to six hundred thousand men, besides children. What evident pleasure, if we may so speak, has the Almighty in fulfilling, and more than fulfilling, his word! God is always even better than his promises; would that the assurance of this

blessed fact, might lead us to trust him with a more child-like confidence, and a more endeared and affectionate dependence, always feeling certain, that, as the word of God expresses it, "There faileth not ought of any good thing which the Lord hath spoken, all cometh to pass.

But we must remark, that enormous as was this population of Israel, it did not go forth alone from the land of Egypt; for we are distinctly told, in the thirtieth verse, that "a mixed multitude went up also with them;" we know not the number, but, from the expression, we should conceive it to have been very considerable, and made up, probably, of nominal proselytes, and camp-followers, from among the Egyptians, who hoped to obtain some temporal benefits from their association with the people of God. It is worthy of notice, because they are referred to again in the book of Numbers,† and appear to have been the cause of Israel's sin, in lusting for "the flesh-pots of Egypt;" for we are told that "the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?" So extremely difficult is it, for the people of God to travel in company with those who know him not, without + Num. xi. 4.

* Joshua xxi. 45.

receiving injury in their own souls. They hear them speak with interest or with regret, of the enjoyments that are past, or with delightful anticipations of those that are to come, and it is not in nature to resist the temptations which are thus carelessly encountered, or voluntarily sought.

How wise, then, and how merciful, as well as wise, is that injunction of our God, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord." In separation alone, there is safety. The most advanced Christian can scarcely ever join "the mixed multitude," without receiving transient injury. Disguise it how you may, of one thing be certain, that if the society of the ungodly is your delight, their pleasures will soon be your pleasures, and their lusts your lusts. To dwell in safety, I will not say, you must dwell alone, for man was not meant to live alone; but you must be far more careful than men usually are in the choice of your society,—you must act in the same spirit that made the pious David exclaim, "I will not know a wicked person;" it is easy to say that this is impossible, but observe what it implies, simply this-I will not intentionally form a friendship with any single individual, who does not honour and obey my God, love and worship my Saviour, believe in and recognize my divine Comforter. I will not

cultivate an intimacy with those, with whom I cannot, at fitting opportunities, enjoy sweet converse, upon these delightful topics here, and with whom I may not reasonably and scripturally hope, to continue such holy and happy intercourse throughout a blessed eternity.

Does this, we say, appear to be impossible? Alas! for the Christianity of the world in which we live, if it be so; alas! for our own Christianity, if we do not endeavour to make such principles the rule of our life and conversation.

EXPOSITION XXXII.

CHAP. xiii. 1-22.

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

[NOTE.-Here may be read from verse 3 to 16 inclusive.]

We find the children of Israel now fairly entered upon their long and perilous journey;