oses is born, and exposed on the river. (1-4) He is found,
and brought up by Pharaoh's daughter. (5-10) Moses slays an
Egyptian, and flees to Midian. (11-15) Moses marries the
daughter of Jethro. (16-22) God hears the Israelites. (23-25)
Verses 1-4: Observe the order of Providence: just at the time when
Pharaoh's cruelty rose to its height by ordering the Hebrew
children to be drowned, the deliverer was born. When men are
contriving the ruin of the church, God is preparing for its
salvation. The parents of Moses saw he was a goodly child. A
lively faith can take encouragement from the least hint of the
Divine favour. It is said, (Heb 11:23), that the parents of
Moses hid him by faith; they had the promise that Israel should
be preserved, which they relied upon. Faith in God's promise
quickens to the use of lawful means for obtaining mercy. Duty is
ours, events are God's. Faith in God will set us above the fear
of man. At three months' end, when they could not hide the
infant any longer, they put him in an ark of bulrushes by the
river's brink, and set his sister to watch. And if the weak
affection of a mother were thus careful, what shall we think of
Him, whose love, whose compassion is, as himself, boundless.
Moses never had a stronger protection about him, no, not when
all the Israelites were round his tent in the wilderness, than
now, when he lay alone, a helpless babe upon the waves. No
water, no Egyptian can hurt him. When we seem most neglected and
forlorn, God is most present with us.
Verses 5-10: Come, see the place where that great man, Moses, lay, when
he was a little child; it was in a bulrush basket by the river's
side. Had he been left there long, he must have perished. But
Providence brings Pharaoh's daughter to the place where this
poor forlorn infant lay, and inclines her heart to pity it,
which she dares do, when none else durst. God's care of us in
our infancy ought to be often mentioned by us to his praise.
Pharaoh cruelly sought to destroy Israel, but his own daughter
had pity on a Hebrew child, and not only so, but, without
knowing it, preserved Israel's deliverer, and provided Moses
with a good nurse, even his own mother. That he should have a
Hebrew nurse, the sister of Moses brought the mother into the
place of a nurse. Moses was treated as the son of Pharoah's
daughter. Many who, by their birth, are obscure and poor, by
surprising events of Providence, are raised high in the world,
to make men know that God rules.
Verses 11-15: Moses boldly owned the cause of God's people. It is plain
from (Heb 11). that this was done in faith, with the full
purpose of leaving the honours, wealth, and pleasures of his
rank among the Egyptians. By the grace of God he was a partaker
of faith in Christ, which overcomes the world. He was willing,
not only to risk all, but to suffer for his sake; being assured
that Israel were the people of God. By special warrant from
Heaven, which makes no rule for other cases, Moses slew an
Egyptian, and rescued an oppressed Israelites. Also, he tried to
end a dispute between two Hebrews. The reproof Moses gave, may
still be of use. May we not apply it to disputants, who, by
their fierce debates, divide and weaken the Christian church?
They forget that they are brethren. He that did wrong quarreled
with Moses. It is a sign of guilt to be angry at reproof. Men
know not what they do, nor what enemies they are to themselves,
when they resist and despise faithful reproofs and reprovers.
Moses might have said, if this be the spirit of the Hebrews, I
will go to court again, and be the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
But we must take heed of being set against the ways and people
of God, by the follies and peevishness of some persons that
profess religion. Moses was obliged to flee into the land of
Midian. God ordered this for wise and holy ends.
Verses 16-22: Moses found shelter in Midian. He was ready to help
Reuel's daughters to water their flocks, although bred in
learning and at court. Moses loved to be doing justice, and to
act in defence of such as he saw injured, which every man ought
to do, as far as it is in his power. He loved to be doing good;
wherever the providence of God casts us, we should desire and
try to be useful; and when we cannot do the good we would, we
must be ready to do the good we can. Moses commended himself to
the prince of Midian; who married one of his daughters to Moses,
by whom he had a son, called Gershom, "a stranger there," that
he might keep in remembrance the land in which he had been a
stranger.
Verses 23-25: The Israelites' bondage in Egypt continued, though the
murdering of their infants did not continue. Sometimes the Lord
suffers the rod of the wicked to lie very long and very heavy on
the lot of the righteous. At last they began to think of God
under their troubles. It is a sign that the Lord is coming
towards us with deliverance, when he inclines and enables us to
cry to him for it. God heard their groaning; he made it to
appear that he took notice of their complaints. He remembered
his covenant, of which he is ever mindful. He considered this,
and not any merit of theirs. He looked upon the children of
Israel. Moses looked upon them, and pitied them; but now God
looked upon them, and helped them. He had respect unto them. His
eyes are now fixed upon Israel, to show himself in their behalf.
God is ever thus, a very present help in trouble. Take courage
then, ye who, conscious of guilt and thraldom, are looking to
Him for deliverance. God in Christ Jesus is also looking upon
you. A call of love is joined with a promise of the Redeemer.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest, (Mt 11:28).
oses is born, and exposed on the river. (1-4) He is found,
and brought up by Pharaoh's daughter. (5-10) Moses slays an
Egyptian, and flees to Midian. (11-15) Moses marries the
daughter of Jethro. (16-22) God hears the Israelites. (23-25)