Excerpts from "Bible History Old Testament", Alfred Edersheim
Luke 24:27,44 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
BOOK 1 - The World Before the Flood, and The History of the Patriarchs
PREFACE
One of the most marked and hopeful signs of our time is the increasing attention given on all sides to
the study of Holy Scripture. Those who believe and love the Bible, who have experienced its truth and
power, can only rejoice at such an issue. They know that "the Word of God liveth and abideth for
ever," that "not one tittle" of it "shall fail;" and that it is "able to make wise unto salvation, through
faith which is in Christ Jesus."
Accordingly they have no reason to dread the results either of scientific investigation, or of searching
inquiry into "those things which are most surely believed among us." For, the more the Bible is
studied, the deeper will be our conviction that "the foundation of God standeth sure."
INTRODUCTION
THAT the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" is also the "God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ," and that "they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham," - these are among the
most precious truths of revelation. They show us not only the faithfulness of our God, and the greatness
of our privileges, but also the marvelous wisdom of the plan of salvation, and its consistency throughout.
For the Bible should be viewed, not only in its single books, but in their connection, and in the unity of
the whole. The Old Testament could not be broken off from the New, and each considered as
independent of the other. Nor yet could any part of the Old Testament be disjoined from the rest. The
full meaning and beauty of each appears only in the harmony and unity of the whole. Thus they all form
links of one unbroken chain, reaching from the beginning to the time when the Lord Jesus Christ came,
for whom all previous history had prepared, to whom all the types pointed, and in whom all the promises
are "Yea and Amen."
The law, the types, the
history, the prophecies, and the promises of the Old Testament all progressively unfold and develop the
same truth, until it appears at last in its New Testament fullness. [...] And so when at last we come to the close of Scripture, we see
how the account of the creation and of the first calling of the children of God, which had been recorded
in the book of Genesis, has found its full counterpart - its fulfillment - in the book of Revelation, which
tells the glories of the second creation, and the perfecting of the Church of God. As one of the old
Church teachers (St. Augustine) writes:
"Novum Testamentum in vetere latet, Vetus in novo patet."
("Only in the New Covenant does the Old unfold, And hidden lies the New Testament in the Old.")
Yet the ultimate object of our reading is not knowledge, but experience of grace. For, properly
understood, the Scripture is all full of Christ, and all intended to point to Christ as our only Savior. It is
not only the law, which is a schoolmaster unto Christ, nor the types, which are shadows of Christ, nor
yet the prophecies, which are predictions of Christ; but the whole Old Testament history is full of Christ.
Chapter 1 - Creation - Man in the Garden of Eden - The Fall Genesis 1-2,
3
"HE that cometh unto God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him." Hence Holy Scripture, which contains the revealed record of God's dealings and purposes
with man, commences with an account of the creation. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and
Godhead."
The first verse in the book of Genesis simply states the
general fact, that "In the beginning" - whenever that may have been - "God created the heaven and the earth." Then, in the second verse, we find earth described as it was at the close of the last great
revolution, preceding the present state of things: "And the earth was without form and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep." An almost indefinite space of time, and many changes, may
therefore have intervened between the creation of heaven and earth, as mentioned in ver. 1, and the
chaotic state of our earth, as described in ver. 2. As for the exact date of the first creation, it may be
safely affirmed that we have not yet the knowledge sufficient to arrive at any really trustworthy
conclusion.
It is of far greater importance for us, however, to know that God "created all things by Jesus
Christ;" (Ephesians 3:9) and further, that "all things were created by Him, and for Him," (Colossians
1:16) and that "of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things." (Romans 11:36. See also 1
Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3) This gives not only unity to all creation, but places it in living
connection with our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time we should also always bear in mind, that it is
"through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are
seen were not made of things which do appear." (Hebrews 11:3)
And now their eyes
were indeed opened, as the tempter had promised, "to know good and evil;" but only in their own guilty
knowledge of sin, which immediately prompted the wish to hide themselves from the presence of God.
Thus, their alienation and departure from God, the condemning voice of their conscience, and their
sorrow and shame gave evidence that the Divine threatening had already been accomplished: "In the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
God, in His infinite mercy, did not leave man to perish in his sin. He was indeed driven forth from
Paradise, for which he was no longer fit. But, before that, God had pronounced the curse upon his
tempter, Satan, and had given man the precious promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the
head of the serpent; that is, that our blessed Savior, "born of a woman," should redeem us from the
power of sin and of death, through His own obedience, death, and resurrection. And even the labor of his
hands, to which man was now doomed, was in the circumstances a boon.
Therefore, when our first parents left the garden of Eden, it was not without hope, nor into outer
darkness. They carried with them the promise of a Redeemer, the assurance of the final defeat of the
great enemy, as well as the Divine institution of a Sabbath on which to worship, and of the marriage
bond by which to be joined together into families. Thus the foundations of the Christian life in all its
bearings were laid in Paradise.
Chapter 2 - Cain and Abel - The Two Ways and the Two Races Genesis 4
Apparently she connected the birth of her son with the immediate fulfillment of the promise concerning
the Seed, who was to bruise the head of the serpent. This expectation was, if we may be allowed the
comparison, as natural on her part as that of the immediate return of our Lord by some of the early
Christians.
Thus we mark the difference in the
sacrifice of the two brothers - the one "of the fruit of the ground," the other an animal sacrifice.
But the fullest information is derived from the Epistle to the Hebrews, where we read, on the one hand,
that "without faith it is impossible to please God," and, on the other, that "by faith Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God
testifying of his gifts: and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh." (Hebrews 11:4)
After the fall the position of man towards God was entirely changed. In the garden of Eden man's hope
of being confirmed in his estate and of advancing upwards depended on his perfect obedience. But man
disobeyed and fell. Henceforth his hope for the future could no longer be derived from perfect
obedience, which, indeed, in his fallen state was impossible. So to speak, the way of "doing" had been
set before him, and it had ended, through sin, in death. God in His infinite grace now opened to man
another path. He set before him the hope of faith. The promise which God freely gave to man was that of
a Deliverer, who would bruise the head of the serpent, and destroy his works.
we mark at the very threshold of Scripture history the introduction of sacrifices. From the time
of Abel onwards, they are uniformly, and with increasing clearness, set before us as the appointed way
of approaching and holding fellowship with God, till, at the close of Scripture history, we have the
sacrifice of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to which all sacrifices had pointed. [...] Blessed be God for
the light of His Gospel, which has taught us "the way, the truth, and the life," even Him who is "the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."
Chapter 3 - Seth and his Descendants - The Race of Cain Genesis 4
We must remember that probably centuries had elapsed since the creation, and that men had already
multiplied on the earth. Beyond this settlement of Cain, nothing seems to have occurred which Scripture
has deemed necessary to record, except that the names of the "Cainites" are still singularly like those of
the "Sethites." [...] The first direct breach of God's arrangement of which we here read, is the introduction of
polygamy. "Lamech took unto him two wives."
But especially does this vital difference between the two races
appear in the words which follow upon the notice of Enos' birth: "Then began men to call upon the name
of Jehovah."
and how in Antioch they were
first called Christians. As that marked the commencement of the history of the New Testament Church,
so this introduction of an open profession of Jehovah on the part of the Sethites, the beginning of the
history of the kingdom of God under the Old Testament.
Chapter 4 - Genealogy of the Believing Race, through Seth Genesis 5
But the emphatic and seemingly needless
repetition in each case of the words, "And he died," with which every genealogy closes, tells us that
"death reigned from Adam unto Moses," (Romans 5:14) with all the lessons which it conveyed of its
origin in sin, and of its conquest by the second Adam. Only one exception occurs to this general rule - in
the case of Enoch; when, instead of the usual brief notice how many years he "lived" after the birth of
his son, we read that "he walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years;" and instead
of the simple closing statement that "he died," we are not only a second time told that "Enoch walked
with God," but also that "he was not; for God took him." Thus both his life and his translation are
connected with his "walk with God." This expression is unique in Scripture, and except in reference to Noah (Genesis 6:9) only occurs again in connection with the priest's intercourse with God in the holy
place. (Malachi 2:6) Thus it indicates a peculiarly intimate, close, and personal converse with Jehovah.
Alike the life, the work, and the removal of Enoch are thus explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "By
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated
him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." (Hebrews 11:5)
His translation was like that of Elijah (2 Kings 2:10), and like what that of the saints shall be at the
second coming of our blessed Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52)In this connection it is very remarkable
that Enoch "prophesied" of the very thing which was manifested in his own case, "saying, Behold, the
Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their
hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."*
*Jude 14, 15. This quite accords with what was generally known about Enoch. One of the Old Testament
apocryphal works, written before the time of Christ (Ecclesiasticus 44:16), has it that "Enoch was
translated, being an example of repentance to all generations;" while another book (B. of En. i. 9)
expressly states, that he prophesied the coming of the Lord for judgment upon the ungodly.
Chapter 5 - The Universal Corruption of Man - Preparation for the Flood Genesis 6
and the
apparently indefinite delay of either judgment or deliverance would strengthen the bold unbelief of
scoffers. That such was the case appears from the substance of Lamech's prophecy; from the description
of the state of the earth in the time of Noah, and the unbelief of his contemporaries; and from the
comparison by our Lord (Matthew 24:37- 39; Luke 17:26) between "the days of Noe" and those of "the
coming of the Son of man," when, according to St. Peter (2 Peter 3:3, 4), there shall be "scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
The corruption of mankind reached its highest point when even the difference between the Sethites and
the Cainites became obliterated by intermarriages between the two parties, and that from sensual motives. We read that "the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."* At that time the earth must have been in a great measure peopled,** and its state is thus described, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
*Other theories concerning the "sons of God" have been broached, but cannot be maintained on careful
and accurate investigation. Any reader curious on the subject may see it discussed in my edition of
Kurtz's History of the Old Covenant, vol. 1., p. 96, etc.
**The most exaggerated estimates of the number of the human race at that time have been made,
showing the fallacy of such calculations.
"yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years;" that is, a further space of a hundred and twenty
years would in mercy be granted them, before the final judgments should burst. It was during these
hundred and twenty years that "the long-suffering of God waited," "while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water."
Three times the sacred text repeats it, that the earth
was corrupt, adding that it was full of violence, just as if the watchful eye of the Lord, who "looked upon
the earth," had been searching and trying the children of men, and was lingering in pity over it, before
judgment was allowed to descend.
Thus the great faith of Noah appeared not only in building an ark in the midst
of a scoffing and unbelieving generation, and that against all human probability of its ever being needed,
and one hundred and twenty years before it was actually required, but in providing room for "his sons"
and his "sons' wives," while as yet he himself was childless! [...] Noah and his family were alone to be preserved, and that by means of an "ark," - an
expression which only occurs once more in reference to the ark of bulrushes in which Moses was saved.
(Exodus 2:3-5)
But with Noah God would "establish" His "covenant,"
that is, carry out through him His purpose in the covenant of grace, which was to issue in the birth of the
Redeemer.
But the one great fact would stand out during that period: Noah preaching
righteousness, warning of the judgment to come, and still exhibiting his faith in his practice by
continuing to provide an ark of refuge. To sum up Noah's life of faith, Noah's preaching of faith, and
Noah's work of faith in the words of Scripture: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen
as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the
world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7).
THERE is a grandeur and majestic simplicity about the scriptural account of "The Flood" which equally
challenges and defies comparison. Twice only throughout the Old Testament is the event again referred
to - each time in the grave, brief language befitting its solemnity. In Psalm 29:10 we read: "Jehovah
sitteth upon the flood; yea, Jehovah sitteth King for ever," - a sort of Old Testament version of "Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." Then, if we may carry out the figure, there is an
evangelical application of this Old Testament history in Isaiah 54:9, 10: "For this is as the waters of
Noah unto Me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills
be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be
removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee."
Only the impression is left on our minds that
the words "Jehovah shut him in," may be intended to show that Noah, even if he would, could not have
given help to his perishing contemporaries.
Chapter 7 - After the Flood - Noah's Sacrifice - Noah's Sin - Noah's Descendants Genesis 8:15-9:28
In bringing an animal sacrifice Noah followed the example of Abel; in calling upon the name
of Jehovah he once again and solemnly adopted the profession of the Sethites. But there was this
difference between his and any preceding sacrifice, that now for the first time we read of building an
altar. While Paradise was still on earth, men probably turned towards it as the place whence Jehovah
held intercourse with man. But when its site was swept away in the flood, God, as it were, took up His
throne in heaven, and from thence revealed Himself unto men and held intercourse with them. (See also
Genesis 11:5, 7) And the truth, that our hearts and prayers must rise upwards to Him who is in heaven,
was symbolized by the altar on which the sacrifice was laid. Scripture significantly adds, that "Jehovah
smelled a sweet savor," or rather "a savor of rest," "of satisfaction;" in other words, He accepted the
sacrifice. "And Jehovah said in His heart," that is, He resolved, "I will not again curse the ground for
man's sake, for (or because) the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Both Luther and
Calvin have remarked on the circumstance that men's universal sinfulness, which formerly had been the
cause of the judgment of the flood, should now be put forward as the reason for not again cursing the
ground. But in fact this only marks another difference between the state of man before and after the
flood. If we may so say, God now admitted the fact of universal sinfulness as existing, and made it an
element of His future government. He looked upon man as a miserable and wretched sinner, with whom
in His compassion and long-suffering He would bear, delaying His second and final judgment till after He should have accomplished all that He had promised to do for the salvation of men. Putting aside
Israel, as God's special people, the period between Noah and Christ may be described, in the words of
St. Paul, as "the times of this ignorance" which "God winked at," (Acts 17:30) or as those when "through
the forbearance of God" sins were passed over. (Romans 3:25, see marginal rendering)
Chapter 8 - Genealogy of Nations - Babel - Confusion of Tongues Genesis 10-11:10
But before recording the judgment by
which the Divine purpose was enforced, Scripture gives us the genealogy of the different nations, and
this with a threefold object - to show how the earth was all peopled from the descendants of Noah; to
define the relation of Israel towards each nationality; and, best of all, to register, as it were, their birth in
the book of God, thereby indicating, that, however "in time past He suffered all nations to walk in their
own ways," (Acts 14:6) they also were included in the purposes of mercy, and intended finally to "dwell
in the tents of Shem."
Passing next to Shem (ver. 21), we notice that he is called "the father of all the children of Eber,"
because in Eber the main line divided into that of Peleg, from whom the race of Abraham sprang, and
the descendants of Joktan (ver. 25).
A German critic has seen in the words "let
us make us a name" - in Hebrew, sheen - a kind of counterfeit of the Shem in whom the promises of God
centered, or, if one might so express it, the setting up of an anti-Christ of worldly power. Something of
this kind seems certainly indicated in what God says of the attempt (ver. 6): "And this they begin to do:
and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do." These words seem to
imply that the building of Babel was only intended as the commencement of a further course of
rebellion. The gathering of all material forces into one common center would have led to universal
despotism and to universal idolatry, - in short, to the full development of what as anti-Christ is reserved
for the judgment of the last days.
But there, at the very outset,
when the first attempt was made to found, in man's strength, a vast kingdom of this world, which God
brought to naught by confounding the language of its builders, and by scattering them over the face of
the earth, we see a typical judgment, of which the counterpart in blessing was granted on the day of
Pentecost; when, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, another universal kingdom was to be founded, the
first token of which was that gift of tongues, which pointed forward to a reunion of the nations, when the
promise would be fulfilled that they should all be gathered into the tents of Shem!
Chapter 9 - The Nations and their Religion - Job
Idolatry is the religion of sight in opposition to that of faith.
Instead of the unseen Creator, man regarded that which was visible - the sun, the moon, the stars - as the
cause and the ruler of all; or he assigned to everything its deity, and thus had gods many and lords many;
or else he converted his heroes, real or imaginary, into gods. The worship of the heavens, the worship of
nature, or the worship of man - such is heathenism and idolatry.
so God also had at all times His own, even among the Gentile nations. Job, Melchizedek, Rahab, Ruth,
Naaman, may be mentioned as instances of this.
It is a story of Gentile life
in the time of the earliest patriarchs. And yet anything more noble, grand, devout, or spiritual than what
the book of Job contains is not found, "no, not in Israel." [...] he looks for the resurrection of the body; and he expects the coming of Messiah.
Chapter 10 - The Chronology of the Early History of the Bible - Commencement of the History of God's Dealings
with Abraham and his Seed
To use a New
Testament illustration, it was the grain of mustard-seed which was destined to grow into the tree in
whose branches all the birds of the air were to find lodgment. In Abram the stem was cut down to a
single root. This root first sprang up into the patriarchal family, then expanded into the tribes of Israel,
and finally blossomed and bore fruit in the chosen people. But even this was only a means to an end.
Israel had possessed, so to speak, the three crowns separately. It had the priesthood in Aaron, the royal
dignity in David and his line, and the prophetic office. But in the "last days" the triple crown of priest,
king, and prophet has been united upon Him Whose it really is, even JESUS, a "Prophet like unto
Moses," the eternal priest "after the order of Melchizedek," and the real and ever reigning "Son of
David." And in Him all the promises of God, which had been given with increasing clearness from
Adam onwards to Shem, then to Abraham, to Jacob, in the law, in the types of the Old Testament, and,
finally, in its prophecies have become "Yea and amen," till at the last all nations shall dwell in the tents
of Shem.
The one grand characteristic of the patriarchs was their faith. [...] "they which are of
faith, the same are the children of Abraham;" "and if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise."
Chapter 11 - The Calling of Abram - His Arrival in Canaan, and Temporary Removal to Egypt Genesis 11:27-12, 13:4
It should be distinctly marked, that on this, as on every other occasion in Abram's life, his
faith determined his obedience. Accordingly, we read, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out
into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing
whither he went." (Hebrews 11:8)
The promise upon which he trusted assured to him these four things: "I will make of thee a great nation;"
"I will bless thee," with this addition (in ver. 3), "and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee;" "I will make thy name great ;" and, lastly, "In thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed."
When we examine these promises more closely, we at once perceive how they must have formed yet
another trial of Abram's faith; since he was not only going, a stranger into a strange land, but was at the
time wholly childless. The promise that he was to "be a blessing," implied that blessing would, so to
speak, be identified with him; so that happiness or evil would flow from the relationship in which men
would place themselves towards Abram. On the other hand, from the peculiar terms "them that bless
thee," in the plural, and "him that curseth thee," in the singular, we gather that the Divine purpose of
mercy embraced many, "of all nations, kindreds, and tongues." Lastly, the great promise, "In thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed," went far beyond the personal assurance, "I will make thy name
great." It resumed and made more definite the previous promises of final deliverance, by fixing upon
Abram as the spring whence the blessing was to flow. Viewed in this light, all mankind appear as only
so many families, but of one and the same father; and which were to be again united in a common
blessing in and through Abram. Repeated again and again in the history of Abram, this promise
contained already at the outset the whole fullness of the Divine purpose of mercy in the salvation of
men. Thus was the prediction to be fulfilled: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents
of Shem," as is shown by St. Peter in Acts 3:25, and by St. Paul in Galatians 3:8, 14.
Chapter 12 - The Separation of Abram and Lot - Abram at Hebron - Sodom plundered - Lot rescued - The Meeting
with Melchizedek Genesis 13, 14
But now a far different scene ensued, and one
so significant in its typical meaning as to have left its impress alike on the prophecies of the Old and in
the fulfillment of the New Testament. Melchizedek appears like a meteor in the sky - suddenly,
unexpectedly, mysteriously, - and then as suddenly disappears. Amid the abundance of genealogical
details of that period we know absolutely nothing of his descent; in the roll of kings and their
achievements, his name and reign, his birth and death remain unmentioned. Considering the position
which he occupies towards Abram, that silence must have been intentional, and its intention typical; that
is, designed to point forward to corresponding realities in Christ. Still more clearly than its silence does
the information which Scripture furnishes about Melchizedek show the deep significance of his
personality. His name is "King of Righteousness," his government that of the "Prince of Peace;" he is a
priest," neither in the sense in which Abram was, nor yet "after the order of Aaron," his priesthood being
distinct and unique;
Twice again we meet Melchizedek in Scripture: once in the prophecy
of Psalm 110:4: "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek;" the other time in the
application of it all to our blessed Savior, in Hebrews 7:3. That Melchizedek was not Christ Himself is
evident from the statement that he was "made like unto the Son of God" (or "likened unto" Him,
Hebrews 7:3); while it equally appears from these words, and from the whole tenor of Scripture, that he
was a type of Christ. In fact, we stand here at the threshold of two dispensations. The covenant with
Noah had, so to speak, run its course, or rather was merging into that with Abram. As at the
commencement of the New Testament, John gave testimony to Jesus, and yet Jesus was baptized by
John; so here Melchizedek gave testimony to Abram, and yet received tithes from Abram. [...] What lay in germ in Melchizedek was to be gradually unfolded - the priesthood in Aaron, the
royalty in David - till both were most gloriously united in Christ.
Melchizedek was, however, only a shadow and a type; Christ is the reality and the antitype. It is for this
reason that Scripture has shut to us the sources of historical investigation about his descent and duration
of life, that by its silence it might point to the heavenly descent of Jesus. [...] Nor will the attentive
reader fail to remark the language in which Melchizedek spake of God as "the most high," and the
"possessor of heaven and earth" - terms which Abram adopted, but to which he added the new name of
"Jehovah," as that of "the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth" - a name which indicated
that covenant of grace of which Abram was to be the representative and the medium.
Chapter 13 - The Twofold Promise of "a Seed" to Abraham - Ishmael - Jehovah visits Abraham - The Destruction of
Sodom - Abraham's Sojourn at Gerar - His Covenant with Abimelech Genesis 15-16,
17,
18,
19,
20,
21:22-34
But Jehovah assured him that it was to be otherwise than it seemed; nay, that his seed should be
numberless as the stars in the sky. "And he believed in Jehovah: and He counted it to him for
righteousness." The remark stands solitary in the narrative, as if to call attention to a great fact; and its
terms indicate, on the part of Abram, not merely faith in the word, but trustfulness in the person of
Jehovah as his Covenant-God. Most touching and sublime is the childlikeness of that simple believing
without seeing, and its absolute confidence. Ever since, through thousands of years, it has stood out as
the great example of faith to the church of God. And from this faith in the living God sprang all the
obedience of Abram. Like the rod of Aaron, his life budded and blossomed and bore fruit "within the
secret place of the Most High."
For
every human hope and prospect must be swept away, and the heir be, in the fullest sense, the child of the
promise, that so faith might receive directly from God that for which it had waited.
But, better far, it pointed forward to the fulfillment of the
covenant-promise in Christ Jesus, in whom there is now no other circumcision needed than that of the
heart.
Chapter 14 - Birth of Isaac - Ishmael sent away - Trial of Abraham's faith in the Command to sacrifice Isaac -
Death of Sarah - Death of Abraham Genesis 21-22,
23,
24,
25:18
Bitter as the trial had been to "cast out" Ishmael, his son, it was only a preparation for a far more severe
test of Abraham's faith and obedience. For this - the last, the highest, but also the steepest ascent in
Abraham's life of faith - all God's previous leadings and dealings had been gradually preparing and
qualifying him. But even so, it seems to stand out in Scripture alone and unapproached, like some grand
mountain-peak, which only one climber has ever been called to attain. No, not one; for yet another and
far higher mountain peak, so lofty that its summit reacheth into heaven itself, has been trodden by the
"Seed of Abraham," Who has done all, and far more than Abraham did, and Who has made that a
blessed reality to us which in the sacrifice of the patriarch was only a symbol. And, no doubt, it was
when on Mount Moriah - the mount of God's true "provision" - Abraham was about to offer up his son,
that, in the language of our blessed Lord (John 8:56), he saw the day of Christ, "and was glad."
Abraham's faith has now been fully
proved, and it has been perfected. "A ram caught in the thicket" will serve for "a burnt-offering in the
stead of his son;" but to Abraham all the previous promises are not only repeated and enlarged, but
"confirmed by an oath," "that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie," he
"might have a strong consolation."
"For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He sware by
Himself." (Hebrews 6:13)
This "oath" stands out alone and solitary in the history of the patriarchs; it is afterwards constantly
referred to (Genesis 24:7; 26:3; 50:24; Exodus 13:5, 11; 33:1, etc.), and, as Luther observes, it became
really the spring whence all flowed that was promised "by oath" unto David, in Psalm 89:35; 110:4;
132:11. No wonder Abraham called the place "Jehovah Jireh," "Jehovah seeth," or "Jehovah provideth,"
which means that He seeth for us, for, as even the term implieth, His providence, or providing, is just
His seeing for us, what, where, and when we do not see for ourselves. As we remember that on this
mountain-top the temple of the Lord afterwards stood, and that from it rose the smoke of accepted
sacrifices, we can understand all the better what the inspired writer adds by way of explanation: "As it is
said to this day, In the mount where Jehovah is seen," - where He seeth and is seen, - whence also the
name of Moriah is derived.
And yet God Himself gave up His beloved, His
own only begotten Son for us, - and of this the sacrifice of Isaac was intended to be a glorious type; and
as Abraham received this typical sacrifice again from the dead "in a figure," so we in reality, when God
raised up His own Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and has made us sit together with Him in heavenly
places.
Chapter 15 - The Marriage of Isaac - Birth of Esau and Jacob - Esau sells his Birthright - Isaac at Gerar - Esau's
Marriage Genesis 24,
25:19-26:35
But that for the momentary gratification of the lowest sensual appetites he
should have been ready to barter away such unspeakably precious and holy privileges, proved him, in
the language of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 12:16), to have been "a profane person," and
therefore quite unfitted to become the heir of the promises. For profanity consists in this: for the sensual
gratification or amusement of the moment to give up that which is spiritual and unseen; to be careless of
that which is holy, so as to snatch the present enjoyment, - in short, practically not to deem anything
holy at all, if it stands in the way of present pleasure. Scripture puts it down as the bitter self
condemnation which Esau, by his conduct, pronounced upon himself: "and he did eat and drink, and
rose up, and went his way; thus Esau despised his birthright."
Chapter 16 - Isaac's Blessing obtained by Jacob deceitfully - Esau's Sorrow - Evil Consequences of their error to all
the members of their family - Jacob is sent to Laban - Isaac renews and fully gives him the Blessing of
Abraham Genesis 27-28:9
Thus, while all parties in the transaction had been in error
and sin, God brought about His own purpose, and Isaac recognized this fact. Now, for the first time also,
Esau obtained a glimpse of what he had really lost. We read, that "afterwards, when he would have
inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it
diligently with tears." (Hebrews 12:17)
But the darkness around Esau seems to
only have grown deeper and deeper. Upon learning what charge Isaac had given his son, and apparently
for the first time awakening to the fact that "the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac* his father," he
took "Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael" as a third wife - as if he had mended matters by forming an
alliance with him whom Abraham had, by God's command, "cast out!" Thus the spiritual incapacity and
unfitness of Esau appeared at every step, even where he tried to act kindly and dutifully.
*There is no mention here that Esau dreaded God's displeasure, or even thought of it. We may remember
our earthly, and yet, alas, forget our heavenly Father.
Chapter 17 - Jacob's Vision at Bethel - His Arrival at the House of Laban - Jacob's double Marriage and Servitude -
His Flight from Haran - Pursuit of Laban, and Reconciliation with Jacob Genesis 28:10-29,
30,
31:55
And what Jacob heard, that he also saw in symbolic vision. The promise was
the real God-built stair, which reached from the lonely place on which the poor wanderer lay quite up to
heaven, right into the very presence of Jehovah; and on which, all silent and unknown by the world, lay
the shining track of angel-ministry. And so still to each one who is truly of Israel is the promise of that
mysterious "ladder" which connects earth with heaven. Below lies poor, helpless, forsaken man; above,
stands Jehovah Himself, and upon the ladder of promise which joins earth to heaven, the angels of God,
in their silent, never-ceasing ministry, descend, bringing help, and ascend, as to fetch new deliverance.
Nay, this "ladder" is Christ,* for by this "ladder" God Himself has come down to us in the Person of His
dear Son, Who is, so to speak, the Promise become Reality, as it is written:
"Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man." (John 1:51)*So both Luther and Calvin understood it.
And early next morning Jacob converted his stony pillow into a memorial pillar,
and consecrated it unto God. Henceforth this rocky valley would be to him no more the Canaanitish Luz,
but Beth-el, "the house of God;" just as John the Baptist declared that God could of such stones raise up
children to Abraham.
Laban was unwilling to part
with one by whom he had so largely profited. With a characteristic confusion of heathen ideas with a
dim knowledge of the being of Jehovah, Laban said to Jacob (we here translate literally): "If I have
found grace in thy sight (i.e. tarry), for I have divined* (ascertained by magic), and Jehovah hath blessed
me for thy sake." The same attempt to place Jehovah as the God of Abraham by the side of the god of
Nahor - not denying, indeed, the existence of Jehovah, but that He was the only true and living God -
occurs again later when Laban made a covenant with Jacob. (Genesis 31:53) It also frequently recurs in
the later history of Israel. Both strange nations and Israel itself, when in a state of apostasy, did not deny
that Jehovah was God, but they tried to place Him on a level with other and false deities. Now, Scripture
teaches us that to place any other pretended God along with the living and true One argues as great
ignorance, and is as great a sin, as to deny Him entirely.
*It is a very remarkable circumstance that the Hebrew word for divining is the same as that for serpent.
In heathen rites also the worship of the serpent was connected with magic; and in all this we recognize
how all false religion and sorcery is truly to be traced up to the "old serpent," which is Satan.
Chapter 18 - Jacob at Mahanaim - The Night of Wrestling - Reconciliation between Jacob and Esau - Jacob settles at
Shechem - Jacob proceeds to Bethel to pay his Vow - Death of Rachel - Jacob settles at Hebron Genesis 32-33,
34,
35,
36
There on the oleander banks of Jabbok
occurred what has ever since been of the deepest significance to the church of God. "There wrestled with
him a man till the breaking of day." That "Man" was the Angel of Jehovah in Whom was His Presence.
"And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him." The contest by wrestling must now
have become impossible. But a far other contest ensued. "And He said, Let Me go, for the day breaketh.
And he (Jacob) said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." Jacob had now recognized the
character of his opponent and of the contest, and he sought quite another victory, and by quite other
means than before. He no longer expected to prevail in his own strength.
He asked to be blessed by Him with whom he had hitherto only wrestled, that so he might prevail. That
blessing was given. But first the Lord brought before him what had been his old name as expressive of
his old history - Jacob, "the cunning, self-helpful supplanter;" then He bestowed on him a new name,
characteristic of his new experience and better contest by prayer: Israel, "a prince with God." In that new
character would he have "power with God and men," and "prevail" against all enemies. But the
mysterious name of the Angel he must not yet know; for "the mystery of godliness" was not to be fully
revealed till all the purposes for which Jacob was to become Israel had been fulfilled. And now "He
blessed him there." "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (the face of God): for I have seen
God face to face, and my soul has recovered.* And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and
he halted upon his thigh. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is
upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day." And "to this day," literally, is this custom observed among
"the children of Israel."
*So the words are rendered by one of the ablest German critics.
Now what was the meaning of this solemn transaction? Assuredly, it was symbolical - but of what? It
was a real transaction, but symbolical of Jacob's past, present, and future. The "man" who wrestled with
Jacob "until the breaking of day" was Jehovah. Jacob had, indeed, been the believing heir to the
promises, but all his life long he had wrestled with God - sought to attain success in his own strength and
by his own devices. Seeming to contend with man, he had really contended with God. And God had also
contended with him. At last farther contest was impossible. Jacob had become disabled, for God had
touched the hollow of his thigh. In the presence of Esau Jacob was helpless. But before he could
encounter his most dreaded earthly enemy, he must encounter God, with Whom he had all along, though
unwittingly, contended by his struggles and devices. The contest with Esau was nothing; the contest with
Jehovah everything. The Lord could not be on Jacob's side, till he had been disabled, and learned to use
other weapons than those of his own wrestling. Then it was that Jacob recognized with whom he had
hitherto wrestled. Now he resorted to other weapons, even to prayer; and he sought and found another
victory, even in the blessing of Jehovah and by His strength. Then also, truly at "the breaking of day," he
obtained a new name, and with it new power, in which he prevailed with God and man. Jacob, indeed,
"halted upon his thigh;" but he was now Israel, a prince with God. And still to all ages this contest and
this victory, in despair of our own efforts, and in the persevering prayer, "I will not let Thee go except
Thou bless me," have been and are a most precious symbol to the children of God. May we not also add,
that as the prophet Hosea pointed to it as symbolical of Israel's history (Hosea 12:4), so it shall be fully
realized when
"they shall look upon Me Whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn?" (Zechariah
12:10)
Far more interesting than this, we know that by the well which Jacob there dug, sat, many
centuries afterwards, "David's greater Son," to tell the poor sinning woman of Samaria concerning the
"well of water springing up unto everlasting life" - the first non-Jewess blessed to taste the water of
which "whosoever drinketh" "shall never thirst." (John 4:14) Here Jacob erected an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel, "God, the God of Israel."
Chapter 19 - Joseph's Early Life - He is Sold by his Brethren into Slavery - Joseph in the House of Potiphar - Joseph
in Prison Genesis 37-38,
39
Nor can we fail to recognize, that, although Joseph is not personally mentioned in the New Testament as
a type of Christ, his history was eminently typical of that of our blessed Savior, alike in his betrayal, his
elevation to highest dignity, and his preserving the life of his people, and in their ultimate recognition of
him and repentance of their sin. Yet, though "known to God" were all these "His works from the
beginning," all parties were allowed, in the free exercise of their own choice, to follow their course,
ignorant that all the while they were only contributing their share towards the fulfillment of God's
purposes. And in this lies the mystery of Divine Providence, that it always worketh wonders, yet without
seeming to work at all - whence also it so often escapes the observation of men. Silently, and
unobserved by those who live and act, it pursues its course, till in the end all things are seen "to work
together" for the glory of God, and "for good to them that love God, that are the called according to His purpose."
The bargain was quickly struck. Joseph was sold to "the Ishmaelites" for twenty shekels - the price, in later
times, of a male slave from five to twenty years old (Leviticus 27:5), the medium price of a slave being
thirty shekels of silver, or about four pounds, reckoning the shekel of the sanctuary, which was twice the
common shekel (Exodus 21:32), at two shillings and eight-pence.
Joseph stood quite alone in a heathen land and
house. He was surrounded only by what would blunt his moral sense, and render the temptation all the
more powerful. He had also, as compared with us, a very imperfect knowledge of the law of God in its
height and depth. Moreover, what he had seen of his older brothers would not have elevated his views.
Still, he firmly resisted evil, alike from a sense of integrity towards his master, and, above all, from
dread "of this great wickedness and sin against God." [...] How bitterly it fared there with him at the first, we learn from these words of Psalm 105:17,18 -
"He sent before them a man: Sold for a slave was Joseph, They afflicted with fetters his
feet, The iron entered into his soul."**
**This is the literal translation.
Chapter 20 - Joseph in Prison - The Dream of Pharaoh's Two Officers - The Dream of Pharaoh - Joseph's Exaltation -
His Government of Egypt Genesis 40,
41,
47:13-26
For, it is in the supernatural direction of things natural that we ought most to
recognize the direct interposition of the Lord.
It was before this assemblage, then, of the wisest and most learned, the most experienced in
"magic," and the most venerable in the priesthood, that Pharaoh vainly related his dreams. Most wise
truly in this world, yet most foolish; most learned, yet most ignorant! What a contrast between the hoary
lore of Egypt and the poor Hebrew slave fetched from prison: they professedly claiming, besides their
real knowledge, supernatural powers; he avowedly, and at the outset, disclaiming all power on his part,
and appealing to God! A grander scene than this Scripture itself does not sketch; and what an illustration
of what was true then, true in the days of our Lord, true in those of St. Paul, and to the end of this
dispensation: "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world?"
With this interpretation Joseph had coupled most sagacious advice, for the source of which, in
so trying a moment, we must look far higher than the ingenuity of man. (See Matthew 10:18, 19) He
counseled the king to exact in the years of plenty a tax of one-fifth of the produce of the land, and to
have it stored under royal supervision against the seven years of famine. [...] Lastly, regarded in the light of a higher arrangement, it is very
remarkable that this proportion of giving, on the part of Pharaoh's subjects, afterwards became the basis
of that demanded from Israel by Jehovah, their heavenly King. [...] What is remarkable is the marvelous Divine appointment in all this, and the equally
marvelous Divine choice of means to bring it about.
Joseph was exactly thirty years old on his elevation, the same age, we note, on which our blessed Lord
entered on His ministry as "the Savior of the world," "the Supporter of life," and "the Revealer of
secrets."
Chapter 21 - The Sons of Jacob arrive in Egypt to Buy Corn - Joseph Recognizes his Brothers - Imprisonment of
Simeon - The Sons of Jacob come a second time, bringing Benjamin with them - Joseph tries his Brethren - He makes himself known to them - Jacob and his family prepare to descend into Egypt Genesis 42-43,
44,
45
Truly has Luther said: "What would I not give to be able to pray before the Lord as Judah here
interceded for Benjamin, for it is a perfect model of prayer, nay, of the strong feeling which must
underlie all prayer." And, blessed be God, One has so interceded for us, Who has given Himself as our
surety, and become a bondsman for us. (Psalm 40:6, 7; Philippians 2:6-8) His advocacy has been heard;
His substitution accepted; and His intercession for us is ever continued, and ever prevails. The Lord
Jesus Christ is "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," and "hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof."
Chapter 22 - Departure of Jacob and his family into Egypt - Jacob's Interview with Pharaoh - His last Illness and
command to be buried in Canaan - Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh among the Sons of Israel Genesis 46-47,
48
In acknowledgment of Pharaoh's kindness, "Jacob blessed" him; and in
answer to the question about his age, compared "the days of the years" of his own "pilgrimage" with
those of his fathers. Abraham had lived one hundred and seventy-five, Isaac one hundred and eighty
years; while Jacob was at the age of only one hundred and thirty, apprehending the approach of death.
Compared to theirs, his days had not only been "few" but "evil," full of trial, sorrow, and care, ever since
his flight from his father's house. Yet, however differing in outward events, the essential character of
their lives was the same. His and theirs were equally a "pilgrimage." For,
"these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a
country, .... a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:13, 14, 16)
And in such wise also must each of our lives, whatever its outward history, be to us only a "pilgrimage."
What, however, chiefly impresses us is, to see how intensely all the feelings, remembrances, and views
of the dying man are intertwined with his religion. No longer does he cherish any hard thoughts about
his "evil" days in the past. His memory of former days is now only of the gentleness and the goodness of
God, Who had led him all through his pilgrimage. His feelings come out most fully in the words of
blessing which he spake: "The God,* before Whose face walked my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; the
God Who pastured** me from my existence on unto this day; THE ANGEL Who redeemed me from all
evil, bless the lads; and let my name, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be named upon
them, and let them increase to a multitude in the midst of the land." In this threefold reference to God as
the covenant-God, the Shepherd and the Angel-Redeemer, we have a distinct anticipation of the truth concerning the blessed Trinity.
*The Hebrew puts it with the article - not merely God, but the God.
**Or "shepherded," like Psalms 23:1; 28:9. See also its fullness in John 10:11.
Chapter 23 - The Last Blessing of Jacob - Death of Jacob - Death of Joseph Genesis 49,
50
As the lion is king of the forest, so was Judah to have royal sway, through David onwards to the Son of
David, the Shiloh, unto Whom, as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," all nations should render homage and
obedience. Similarly, fullness of earthly riches was to distinguish the lot of Judah, these earthly
blessings being themselves emblems of the spiritual riches dispensed in the portion of Judah. The whole
description here is full of Messianic allusions, which were afterwards taken up in the prophecy of
Balaam (Numbers 23:24; 24:9, 17); then applied to David (Psalm 89:20-37); and from him carried
forward in prophecy, through Psalm 72, Isaiah 9, 11, to Ezekiel 21:27, and Zechariah 9:9, till they were
finally realized in Jesus Christ, "sprung out of Juda," (Hebrews 7:14) "our peace, who hath made both
one," (Ephesians 2:14) and who "must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet," (1 Corinthians
15:25) "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," Who "hath prevailed." (Revelation 5:5)
The allusion in the case of Dan, or "judgment," is again to the name. Although Dan was only the son of a
bondmaid, he should not be behind his brethren, but "give judgment" to his people, that is, to Israel - the
reference being possibly to such men as Samson, though also generally to the character of the tribe.
There is another mysterious and most important allusion here, to which we shall immediately advert:
Dan shall give judgment to his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
An adder in the path,
Which biteth the heels of the horse
So that backwards falleth his rider.
We shall not presume to offer an authoritative explanation of this comparison of Dan to a serpent, and to
that kind of adder which, being of the color of the sand, remains unobserved till it has given its deadly
bite. We only put it as a suggestion, whether this may not contain an allusion to apostasy or to the
Antichrist*, at the same time noting that the name of Dan is omitted from the list of the tribes in
Revelation 7:5-8.
*Many of the Fathers have regarded this "serpent" as referring to Antichrist.
It is also significant that, immediately after the mention of these contests in connection with Dan, Jacob
bursts forth in a prayer, intended, as says Calvin, not only to express his own personal faith and hope,
but his confidence for his descendants. Quite the oldest Jewish commentary, or rather paraphrase,* puts
it this way: "My soul waiteth not for the deliverance of Gideon, the son of Joash, for it was only
temporal; nor for that of Samson, for it was but transient; but for the redemption by the Messiah, the Son
of David, which in Thy word Thou hast promised to send to Thy people, the children of Israel; for this,
Thy salvation, my soul waiteth."
*The Jerusalem Targum in its most correct recension.
For Thy salvation wait I, oh Jehovah!
When at the close of this first period of the Covenant-history we look around, we feel as if now indeed
"the horror of great darkness" were fast falling upon Israel, which Abraham had experienced as he was
shown the future of his descendants. (Genesis 15:12) Already personal intercourse between heaven and
earth had ceased. From the time that Jacob had paid his vow in Bethel (Genesis 35:15), no personal
manifestation of God, such as had often gladdened his fathers and him, was any more vouchsafed,
except on his entrance into Egypt (Genesis 46:2-4), and then for a special purpose. Nor do we read of any such during the whole eventful and trying life of Joseph. And now long centuries of utter silence
were to follow. During all that weary period, with the misery of their bondage and the temptation of
idolatry around constantly increasing, there was neither voice from heaven nor visible manifestation to
warn or to cheer the children of Israel in Egypt. One mode of guidance was for a time withdrawn. Israel
had now only the past to sustain and direct them. But that past, in its history and with its promises, was
sufficient. Besides, the torch of prophecy, which the hands of dying Jacob had held, cast its light into the
otherwise dark future. Nay, the fact that Joseph's life, which formed the great turning-point in Israel
history, had been allowed to pass without visible Divine manifestations to him and to them was in itself
significant. For even as his unburied body seemed to preach and to prophesy, so his whole life would
appear like a yet unopened or only partially opened book, - a grand unread prophecy, which the future
would unfold. And not merely the immediate future, as it concerned Israel; but the more distant future as
it concerns the whole Church of God. For, although not the person of Joseph*, yet the leading events of
his life are typical of the great facts connected with the life and the work of Him who was betrayed and
sold by His brethren, but whom "God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior."
*It deserves notice that the person of Joseph is not mentioned in the Old or the New Testament as a type
of Christ. This, of course, does not apply to the facts of his life in their bearing on the future, as these
were unquestionably typical.
BOOK 2 - The Exodus and The Wanderings in the Wilderness
PREFACE
In all this we see not only the history of the ancient people of God, but also a grand type of the
redemption and the sanctification of the Church. There is yet another aspect of it, since this narrative
exhibits the foundation of the Church in the Covenant of God, and also the principles of Jehovah's
government for all time. For, however great the difference in the development, the essence and character
of the covenant of grace are ever the same. The Old and New Testaments are essentially one - not two
covenants but one, gradually unfolding into full perfectness, "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner
stone" of the foundation which is alike that of the apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 2:20)
Chapter 1 - Egypt And Its History During The Stay Of The Children Of Israel, As Illustrated By The Bible & Ancient Monuments Exodus 1:1-7
THE devout student of history cannot fail to recognize it as a wonderful arrangement of Providence, that
the beginning and the close of Divine revelation to mankind were both connected with the highest
intellectual culture of the world. When the apostles went forth into the Roman world, they could avail
themselves of the Greek language, then universally spoken, of Grecian culture and modes of thinking.
And what Greece was to the world at the time of Christ, that and much more had Egypt been when the
children of Israel became a God-chosen nation. Not that in either case the truth of God needed help from
the wisdom of this world. On the contrary, in one sense, it stood opposed to it. And yet while history
pursued seemingly its independent course, and philosophy, science, and the arts advanced apparently
without any reference to revelation, all were in the end made subservient to the furtherance of the
kingdom of God. And so it always is. God marvelously uses natural means for supernatural ends, and
maketh all things work together to His glory as well as for the good of His people.
Undoubtedly, all mankind had at first some knowledge of the one true God, and a pure religion inherited
from Paradise. This primeval religion seems to have been longest preserved in Egypt. Every age indeed
witnessed fresh corruptions, until at last that of Egypt became the most abject superstition. But the
earliest Egyptian religious records, as preserved in that remarkable work, The Ritual for the Dead,
disclose a different state of things. There can be no doubt that, divested of all later glosses, they
embodied belief in "the unity, eternity, and self-existence of the unknown Deity," in the immortality of
the soul, and in future rewards and punishments, and that they inculcated the highest duties of morality.
The more closely we study these ancient records of Egypt, the more deeply are we impressed with the
high and pure character of its primeval religion and legislation. And when the children of Israel went
into the wilderness, they took, in this respect also, with them from Egypt many lessons which had not to
be learned anew, though this one grand fundamental truth had to be acquired, that the Deity unknown to
the Egyptians was, Jehovah, the living and the true God. We can therefore understand how such close
connection between Joseph and the Egyptian priesthood was both possible and likely.
Chapter 2 - The Children Of Israel In Egypt - Their Residences, Occupations, Social Arrangements, Constitution,
And Religion - "A New King Who Knew Not Joseph." Exodus 1 to end
THREE centuries and a half intervened between the close of the Book of Genesis and the events with
which that of Exodus opens. But during that long period the history of the children of Israel is almost an
entire blank.
At any rate, the command was not executed. Scripture has preserved the names of these
courageous women, and told us that their motive was "fear of God" (in the Hebrew with the article, "the
God," as denoting the living and true God). And as they were the means of "making" or upbuilding the
houses of Israel, so God "made them houses."
Thus the two prophecies had been fulfilled. Even under the most adverse circumstances Israel had so
increased as to fill the Egyptians with alarm; and the "affliction" of Israel had reached its highest point.
And now the promised deliverance was also to appear. As in so many instances, it came in what men
would call the most unlikely manner.
Chapter 3 - The Birth, And The Training Of Moses, Both In Egypt And In Midian, As Preparatory To His Calling Exodus 2
TO the attentive reader of Scripture it will not seem strange - only remarkable - that the very measure
which Pharaoh had taken for the destruction of Israel eventually led to their deliverance. Had it not been
for the command to cast the Hebrew children into the river, Moses would not have been rescued by
Pharaoh's daughter, nor trained in all the wisdom of Egypt to fit him for his calling. Yet all throughout,
this marvelous story pursues a natural course; that is, natural in its progress, but supernatural in its
purposes and results.
The one meant "the pleasures of sin" and "the treasures of Egypt" - enjoyment and
honors, the other implied "affliction" and "the reproach of Christ" - or suffering and that obloquy which
has always attached to Christ and to His people, and at that time especially, to those who clung to the
covenant of which Christ was the substance.
But "faith," which is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," enabled Moses
not only to "refuse" what Egypt held out, but to "choose rather the affliction," and, more than that, to
"esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt," because "he had respect unto
the recompense of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26) In this spirit "he went out unto his brethren, and
looked on their burdens." (Exodus 2:11)
Chapter 4 - The Call Of Moses - The Vision Of The Burning Bush -The Commission To Pharaoh And To Israel
And The Three "Signs," And Their Meaning Exodus 2:23,
4:17
For though only "a cry," so to
speak, spiritually inarticulate, no intervening period of time divided their prayer from its answer. "And
God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them" - literally, He
"knew them," that is, recognized them as the chosen seed of Abraham, and, recognizing, manifested His
love towards them.
This manifestation of God under the symbol of fire, which on comparison will be
seen to recur through all Scripture, shall find its fullest accomplishment when the Lord Jesus shall come
to judge -"His eyes as a flame of fire, and on His head many crowns." (Revelation 19:12)
The "I am" had sent Moses, and, as if to remove all doubt, he was to add' "the God of your fathers, of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." "This," the Lord declares, "is my Name for ever, and this is my memorial to
all generations;" in other words, as such He would always prove Himself, and as such He willeth to be
known and remembered, not only by Israel, but "to all generations." Here, then, at the very outset, when
the covenant with Abraham was transferred to his seed, the promise also, which included all nations in
its blessing, was repeated.
We note that here, for the first time in Old Testament history, this power was bestowed upon
man, and that the occasion was the first great conflict between the world and the Church. [..] But while this was the general purpose of the three signs now displayed - first to Moses
himself - each had also its special reference. The first to Pharaoh, the second to Israel, and the third to
the might of Egypt.
In the first sign Moses was bidden to look at the rod in his hand. It was but an ordinary shepherd's staff,
At God's command he was to cast it on the ground, when presently it was changed into a serpent, from
which Moses fled in terror. Again God commands, and as Moses seized the serpent by the tail, it once
more "became a rod in his hand." The meaning of this was plain. Hitherto Moses had wielded the
shepherd's crook. At God's command he was to cast it away; his calling was to be changed, and he
would have to meet "the serpent" - not only the old enemy, but the might of Pharaoh, of which the
serpent was the public and well-known Egyptian emblem.* "The serpent was the symbol of royal and
divine power on the diadem of every Pharaoh"** - the emblem of the land, of its religion, and
government.
*Scripture frequently uses the serpent as a symbol of the power hostile to the kingdom of God, and
applies the figure not only to Egypt (as in Psalms 74:13; Isaiah 51:9), but also to Babylon (Isaiah 27:1).
**Speaker's Commentary, vol. 1.
The second sign shown to Moses bore direct reference to Israel. The hand which Moses was directed to
put in his bosom became covered with leprosy; but the same hand, when a second time he thrust it in,
was restored whole. This miraculous power of inflicting and removing a plague, universally admitted to
come from God, showed that Moses could inflict and remove the severest judgments of God. But it
spoke yet other "words" to the people. Israel, of whom the Lord had said unto Moses, "Carry them in thy
bosom," (Numbers 11:12) was the leprous hand. But as surely and as readily as it was restored when
thrust again into Moses' bosom, so would God bring them forth from the misery and desolateness of
their state in Egypt, and restore them to their own land.
The third sign given to Moses, in which the water from the Nile when poured upon the ground was to
become blood, would not only carry conviction to Israel, but bore special reference to the land of Egypt.
The Nile, on which its whole fruitfulness depended, and which the Egyptians worshipped as divine, was
to be changed into blood. Egypt and its gods were to be brought low before the absolute power which
God would manifest.
It is of more importance to notice another point. Moses was the first to bear a Divine commission to
others. He was also the first to work miracles. Miracles present to us the union of the Divine and the
human. All miracles pointed forward to the greatest of all miracles, "the mystery of godliness, into
which angels desire to look; "the union of the Divine with the human" in its fullest appearance in the
Person of the God-Man. Thus in these two aspects of his office, as well as in his mission to redeem
Israel from bondage and to sanctify them unto the Lord, Moses was an eminent type of Christ.
"Wherefore" let us "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was
faithful to Him that appointed Him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house - as a servant, for a
testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a Son over His own house; whose
house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Hebrews
3:1, 2, 5, 6)
Chapter 5 - Moses Returns Into Egypt - The Dismissal Of Zipporah - Moses Meets Aaron - Their Reception By The
Children Of Israel - Remarks On The Hardening Of Pharaoh's Heart Exodus 4:17-31
SCRIPTURE-HISTORY is full of seemingly strange contrasts. Unintelligible to the superficial observer,
the believing heart rejoices to trace in them, side by side, the difference between what appears to the eye
of man and what really is before God; and then between the power of God, and the humbleness of the
means and circumstances through which He chooses to manifest it. The object of the one is to draw out
our faith, and to encourage it in circumstances which least promise success; that of the other, to give all
the glory to God, and ever to direct our eye from earth to heaven. So it was, when, in the days of His
flesh, neither Israel nor the Gentiles recognized the royal dignity of Christ in Him who entered
Jerusalem, "meek, and riding upon an ass and the colt of an ass." And so it also appeared, when, in the
simple language of Scripture, "Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an, ass, and he
returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand." (Exodus 4:20)
What a contrast! He who bears in his hand the rod of God is dismissed in this mean manner - his wife
and sons, and all their goods laden on one ass, and himself humbly walking by their side! Who would
have recognized in this humble guise him who carried that by which he would smite down the pride of
Pharaoh and the might of Egypt?
For this conveys that Israel was not to be alone in the
family of God, but that, in accordance with the promise to Abraham, other sons should be born into the
Father's house. Thus even the highest promise spoken to Israel included in it the assurance of future
blessing to the Gentiles.
Lastly, after that seventh plague, Pharaoh himself acknowledged his
sin and wrong (9:27), and promised to let Israel go (ver. 28). Yet after all, on its removal, he once more
hardened his heart (ver. 35)!
Can we wonder that such high-handed and inexcusable rebellion should have been ripe for the judgment
which appeared in the Divine hardening of his heart? Assuredly in such a contest between the pride and
daring of the creature and the might of the Lord God, the truth of this Divine declaration had to be
publicly manifested:
"Even for this purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show My power in thee, and that
My name might be declared throughout all the earth." (Romans 9:17)
For the long-suffering and patience of God will not always wait. It is indeed most true, that "God hath
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he be converted and live;" (Ezekiel 33:11) and that
He "will have all men come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved." (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9)
But "he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and
than without remedy." (Proverbs 29:1)
Hitherto we have only traced this as it appears in the course of Pharaoh's history. There are, however,
deeper bearings of the question, connected with the Divine dealings, the sovereignty, and the power of
God. For such inquiries this is obviously not the place. Suffice it to draw some practical lessons. First
and foremost, we learn the insufficiency of even the most astounding miracles to subdue the rebellious
will, to change the heart, or to subject a man unto God. Our blessed Lord Himself has said of a
somewhat analogous case, that men would not believe even though one rose from the dead. (Luke
16:31) And His statement has been only too amply verified in the history of the world since His own
resurrection. Religion is matter of the heart, and no intellectual conviction, without the agency Of the
Holy Spirit, affects the inmost springs of our lives. Secondly, a more terrible exhibition of the daring of
human pride, the confidence of worldly power, and the deceitfulness of sin than that presented by the
history of this Pharaoh can scarcely be conceived. And yet the lesson seems to have been overlooked by
too many! Not only sacred history but possibly our own experience may furnish instances of similar
tendencies; and in the depths of his own soul each believer must have felt his danger in this respect, for
"the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Lastly, resistance to God must
assuredly end in fearful judgment. Each conviction suppressed, each admonition stifled, each loving
offer rejected, tends towards increasing spiritual insensibility, and that in which it ends. It is wisdom and
safety to watch for the blessed influences of God's Spirit, and to throw open our hearts to the sunlight of
His grace.
Chapter 6* - Moses And Aaron Deliver Their Message To Pharaoh - Increased Oppression Of Israel - Discouragement Of Moses - Aaron Shows A Sign - General View And Analysis Of Each Of The Ten
"Strokes," Or Plagues Exodus 5-6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12:30
*The understanding of this chapter especially will be greatly enhanced by comparing it throughout with
the Bible-text. The object has been not only to tell the history, but, so far as might be within our limits, to
explain the statements of Scripture.
THE predicted trial was soon to come. Provoked through the daring of man, who would measure his
strength against that of the living God, it was to establish two facts for all ages and to all mankind. In
sight of Egypt (Exodus 7:5) and of Israel (10:2) it was to evidence that God was Jehovah, the only true
and the living God, far above all power of men and of gods. (Exodus 9:14) This was one aspect of the
judgments which were to burst upon Egypt. (Romans 9:17) The other was, that He was the faithful
Covenant-God, who remembered His promises, and would bring out His people "with a stretched-out
arm and with great judgments," to take them to Himself for a people, and to be to them a God (4:1-8).
These are the eternal truths which underlie the history of Israel's deliverance from Egypt. How Israel had
understood and taught them to their children, appears from many passages of Scripture, especially from
Psalm 78 and 105. Nor is their application less suited to our wants. It exhibits alike the Law and the
Gospel - the severity and the goodness of God - and may be summed up in that grand proclamation unto
all the world: "Jehovah reigneth." (Psalm 99:1)
The reason why
God did not at once destroy Pharaoh and his people is thus stated by the Lord Himself:
(Exodus 9:15, 16)* "For now if I had stretched forth My hand and smitten thee and thy people with the
pestilence, then hadst thou been cut off from the earth. But now, in very deed for this cause have I let
thee stand (made thee stand, raised thee up), (Romans 9:17) for to show in thee My power (perhaps, to
let thee see or experience it - this is the first reason; the second) and that My Name may be declared
throughout all the earth."
*We give the correct rendering of the passage.
That this actually was the result we gather from Exodus 15:14. Nay, the tidings spread not only among
the Arabs, but long afterwards among the Greeks and Romans, and finally, through the Gospel, among
all nations of the earth.
Once more they were natural means which the Lord used. For the plague of locusts was
common in Egypt; yet even the heathen used to regard this as a special visitation of God. In Scripture it
serves as the emblem of the last judgments coming upon our earth. (Revelation 9:3-10)
Chapter 7 - The Passover And Its Ordinances - The Children Of Israel Leave Egypt - Their First Resting-Place The Pillar Of Cloud And Of Fire - Pursuit Of Pharaoh Passage Through The Red Sea - Destruction Of
Pharaoh And His Host - The Song "On The Other Side." Exodus 12-13,
14,
15:21
For everything here was full of deepest meaning. The sacrificial lamb, whose sprinkled blood
protected Israel, pointed to Him whose precious blood is the only safety of God's people; the hyssop (as
in the cleansing of the leper, and of those polluted by death, and in Psalm 51:7) was the symbol of
purification; and the unleavened bread that "of sincerity and truth," in the removal of the "old leaven"
which, as the symbol of corruption, pointed to "the leaven of malice and wickedness." (1 Corinthians
5:7, 8) More than that, the spiritual teaching extended even to details. The lamb was to be "roast,"
neither eaten "raw," or rather not properly cooked (as in the haste of leaving), nor yet "sodden with
water" - the latter because nothing of it was to pass into the water, nor the water to mingle with it, the
lamb and the lamb alone being the food of the sacrificial company. For a similar reason it was to be
roasted and served up whole - complete, without break or division, not a bone of it being broken,
(Exodus 12:46) just as not even a bone was broken of Him who died for us on the cross. (John 19:33,
36) And this undividedness of the Lamb pointed not only to the entire surrender of the Lord Jesus, but
also to our undivided union and communion in and with Him. (1 Corinthians 10:17)
Then blew the "strong east wind all that night," as
never it had swept across those water before.* They divided, and formed on each side a wall, between
which Israel passed dry-shod.
Thus that great event is really not solitary,
nor yet its hymn without an echo. For all times it has been a prophecy, a comfort, and a song of
anticipated sure victory to the Church. And so at the last, they who stand on the "sea of glass mingled
with fire," who have "gotten the victory," and have "the harps of God," "sing the song of Moses, the
servant of God, and the song of the Lamb."
Chapter 8 - The Wilderness Of Shur - The Sinaitic Peninsula - Its Scenery And Vegetation - Its Capabilities Of Supporting A Population - The Wells Of Moses -Three Days March To Marah - Elim Road To The Wilderness Of Sin - Israel's Murmuring - The Miraculous Provision Of The Quails - The Manna Exodus 15:22-16
This "statute" is, for all times, the principle of God's guidance, and
this "ordinance" the right or privilege of our heavenly citizenship. But He also ever "proves" us by this,
that the enjoyment of our right and privilege is made to depend upon a constant exercise of faith.
Chapter 9 - Rephidim - The Defeat Of Amalek And Its Meaning - The Visit Of Jethro And Its Symbolical Import Exodus 17, 18
And from the riven side of the parched rock living waters flowed - an
emblem this of the "spiritual rock which followed them;" an emblem also to us - for "that Rock was
Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)
Chapter 10 - Israel At The Foot Of Mount Sinai - The Preparations For The Covenant - The "Ten Words," And Their Meaning Exodus 19-20:17
But the promise itself reached far beyond the Old Covenant, and will
only be fulfilled in its completeness when "the Israel of God" - whom already the Lord Jesus, "the First
begotten of the dead and the Prince of the kings of the earth," "hath made kings and priests unto God and
His Father" (Revelation 1:5, 6; 5:10) - shall share with Him His glory and sit with Him on His throne.
Thus the final object of the royal priesthood of Israel were those nations, from among whom God had
chosen His people for a precious possession. Towards them Israel was to act as priests. For, just as the
priest is the intermediary between God and man, so Israel was to be the intermediary of the knowledge
and salvation of God to all nations. And this their priesthood was to be the foundation of their royalty, A
still more solemn description of Israel, and of us who are called "the Israel of God," is that of "holy
nation."
And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven
upon the tables."**
**Exodus 32:15, 16. When we read that the law was "received by the ministration of angels" (Acts 7:53;
Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2), we are not to understand by it that God Himself did not speak all these
words, but either to refer it to those "ten thousands" of angels who were His attendants when He spoke on
Sinai (Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17); or, more probably, to the difference between the Old and the
New Testament dispensations. In the former, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity appeared only in
the Angel of the Covenant; in the latter, he became incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man.
Next, we see that the fifth commandment (to honor our parents) forms a transition from
the first to the second table - the first table detailing our duties towards God; the second those towards
man. But our duty to our parents is higher than that towards men generally; indeed, in a certain sense is
Divine, just as the relationship to an earthly father symbolizes that to our Father in heaven. Hence the
command is to honor, whereas our duty to men only requires us to love them. Again, almost all the
commands are put in a negative form ("thou shalt not"), implying that transgression, not obedience, is
natural to us. But "the commandment is exceeding broad," and requires a corresponding right state of
mind. Accordingly we find that the law of the ten commandments is summed up in this. "Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; and thy neighbor as
thyself."
Lastly,
the tenth word sounds the inmost depths of our hearts, and forbids all wrong and inordinate desires in
reference to anything that is our neighbor's.*
*In Deuteronomy 5:21 two different expressions are used - the "desire" being awakened from without by
that which is seen to be beautiful; while the "coveting" springs from within - from the evil inclinations or
supposed requirements of him who covets.
Such law was never given by man; never dreamed of in his highest conceptions. Had man only been able
to observe it, assuredly not only life hereafter but happiness and joy here would have come with it. As it
was, it brought only knowledge of sin. Yet, for ever blessed be God: "The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
Chapter 11 - Civil & Social Ordinances Of Israel As The People Of God - Their Religious Ordinances In Their
National Aspect - The "Covenant Made By Sacrifice" And The Sacrificial Meal Of Acceptance Exodus 20:18-24:12
And so it ever is. "We love Him, because He first loved us," and the gift of His dear Son
to us sinners is free and unconditional on the part of the Father, and makes our return unto Him possible.
First and foremost, assurance is given them of the personal
presence of Jehovah in that ANGEL, in Whom is the Name of the Lord (ver. 20). This was no common
angel, however exalted, but a manifestation of Jehovah Himself, prefigurative of, and preparatory to His
manifestation in the flesh in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For all that is here said of
Him is attributed to the Lord Himself in Exodus 13:21; while in Exodus 33:14, 15, He is expressly
designated as "the Face" of Jehovah ("My Face" - in the Authorized Version "My presence")
Thus this one sacrifice prefigured the one sacrifice of
our Lord Jesus Christ for His Church, which is the ground of our access to God and the foundation of all
our worship and service.
Thus "to see God, and to eat and drink," was a foretaste and a pledge of the perfect blessedness in
beholding Him hereafter. It was also a symbol and a type of what shall be realized when, as the Alleluia
of the "great multitude" proclaims the reign of the "Lord God omnipotent," the gladsome, joyous bride
of the Lamb now made ready for the marriage, and adorned with bridal garments, hears the welcome
sound summoning her to "the marriage supper of the Lamb." (Revelation 19:6-9)
Chapter 12 - The Pattern Seen On The Mountain - The Tabernacle, The Priesthood, And The Services In Their
Arrangement And Typical Meaning - The Sin Of The Golden Calf - The Divine Judgment - The Plea Of
Moses - God's Gracious Forgiveness - The Vision Of The Glory Of The Lord Vouchsafed To Moses Exodus 24:12-25,
26,
27,
28,
29,
30,
31,
32,
33
as type,
it pointed forward (a prophecy by deed) to future spiritual realities, while, at the same time, it already
conveyed to the worshipper the firstfruits, and the earnest of their final accomplishment in "the fullness
of time." We repeat, everything here had a spiritual meaning - the material of which the ark, the dresses
of the priesthood, and all else was made; colors, measurements, numbers, vessels, dresses, services, and
the priesthood itself - and all proclaimed the same spiritual truth, and pointed forward to the same
spiritual reality, viz., God in Christ in the midst of His Church. [...] But alike the priesthood, the sacrifices,
and the altar pointed to the Person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet no man could see the face, the full
outshining of Jehovah. Neither flesh nor spirit, so long as it dwelt in the flesh, could bear such glory.
While that glory passed by, God would hold Moses in a clift of the rock, perhaps in the same in which a
similar vision was afterwards granted to Elijah, (1 Kings 19:9) and there He would support, or "cover"
him with His hand. Only "the back parts" - the after-glory, the luminous reflection of what Jehovah
really was - could Moses bear to see. But what Moses witnessed, hid in the clift of the rock, and Elijah,
the representative of the prophets, saw more clearly, hiding his face in his mantle, while he worshipped,
appears fully revealed to us in the Face of Jesus Christ, in Whom "the whole fullness of the Godhead
dwelleth bodily."