In entering upon this redemption of his people the Lord understood well the difficulties to be overcome and fully comprehended the situation. If Moses saw them at a glance, so did the Lord also. It was not possible that Moses could have a deeper sense or a juster view than God had of Pharaoh’s great pride, of his consciousness of power and stubbornness of purpose. The Lord expected a conflict; was ready for it; and by no means disposed to shun it. “I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go; no, not by a mighty hand”—not even under fearful visitations of God’s supernatural power. The precise sense of this seems to be that Pharaoh would resist God’s will for a long time despite the inflictions of his mighty hand and would yield only in the last extremity. In fact he never honestly yielded his will to God’s will, but only bent for the momentbefore the blast, to rally again with more desperate madness after it had swept by. When at length he saw that the people were really gone, his unsubdued will rose again in towering hardihood, to rush more madly than ever before against the uplifted arm of the Almighty and meet his doom in the bottom of the Red Sea!
This chapter closes (vs. 21, 22) with directions to the children of Israel to ask the Egyptians for gold, silver, and raiment. The Lord promised to give them such favor with the people that they would readily grant them what they asked. Our English version puts it “borrow”—as if the Israelites at least tacitly promised to bring these borrowed things back, or if nothing more, left the Egyptians to expect this. But this English word “borrow” misrepresents the Hebrew and consequently the sense of the passage. The Hebrew verb used here never has the sense of borrow, but means simply to ask. Indeed borrowing was out of the question because the Israelites were not coming back again. It was never God’s thought that they should come back. He had come down to deliver them from their bondage and to bring them into Canaan. There is no reason to suppose that the Egyptians expected them back again. They gave what Israel asked, therefore, not as a loan, but because the Lord brought them into such relations to Israel that they were glad to get them out of the country any way, and perhaps hoped to avert more fearful plagues by these gifts to God’s people. The historian in this case says (Ex. 12: 33)—“The Egyptians were urgent upon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said—We be all dead men”; which the Psalmist confirms (Ps. 105: 38)—“Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them.” Manifestly the Lord counted it simple justice that Egypt should pay her slaves for long years of unrequited toil, and not send them away empty. Therefore he took measures to make the old masters but too glad to do this tardy justice.
A new instrumentality of most vital importance now came to view, designed to bring about the redemption of God’s people from Egypt, viz. supernatural agencies—miracles in the legitimate sense of the word. Noticeably these miracles were two-fold in character and purpose;one class designed to identify God to the people and be a witness to his present hand, to confirm their faith in him as their Deliverer: the other designed by terrible inflictions of calamity, to force upon Pharaoh’s hardened heart the conviction of Jehovah’s power and compel him to let God’s people go. These two objects were to be accomplished; the Hebrew people were to be assured that their own God had indeed come; Pharaoh must be made to know who Jehovah is; how fearful the judgments of his uplifted hand are; and how vain it is for mortals, though on thrones of human power, to lift up themselves against the Almighty.
In the list of miraculous signs sent to convince the Hebrew people, we have (Ex. 4: 1–8) the rod of Moses turned to a serpent and then turned back again to a rod; then his hand withdrawn from his bosom leprous, white as snow; then again withdrawn, perfectly restored.
The narrative gives the reader a strong sense of the reluctance of Moses to enter upon this new mission. Over and over again, in varying forms, he pleads his want of adaptation; that he is slow of speech, not eloquent; that he sees no improvement in this regard since the Lord first spake to him; and finally he begs the Lord to send by any body else he pleases, only (he implies) excuse me. Plainly he pushed this plea for excuse not merely to the verge of modest propriety but beyond it, for we read—“The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” Yet he did so far regard the plea of Moses as to give him Aaron his elder brother to speak in his behalf. “Thou shalt speak to him and put words into his mouth; he shall be thy spokesman to the people,” and to Pharaoh.
The way is now prepared for Moses and his family to return from Midian to Egypt. He took his wife and his two sons and proceeded on his journey. The scenes of the first night at the inn are recorded in these words: “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.” This account is very brief, leaving various points unexplained.Probably the facts were substantially these. Of their two sons, one had been circumcised; the other had not—the prescribed rite having been disobeyed or at least neglected out of the deference of Moses to the opposition or reluctance of his wife. But as Moses is now about to assume the highest responsibilities between God and the Hebrew people, it is vital that his example in this respect should be spotless. The Lord therefore called him suddenly to account in this manner, threatening his very life. The cause is instantly understood; the wife of Moses yields and herself performs the rite, though perhaps not in the most submissive and amiable spirit. After this transaction and the developments attending it, we must suppose that Moses (prudently) sent back his wife and the two children to remain with her father until the redeemed Israelites should reach the home of Jethro. We hear no more of her and her children till the narrative in Ex. 18 brings them to view thus: “When Jethro had heard all that the Lord had done for Moses and Israel, he took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, and her two sons and brought them to Moses” etc.——Shortly after this scene at the inn, Aaron, sent of God for this purpose, meets Moses yet in the wilderness and is introduced to his responsibilities in the issues then pending before Pharaoh and the people. Their first introduction to Pharaoh and the reception he gave to their message (Ex. 5) revealed his character and gave pre-intimations of the conflict. They put their case before him:—“Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” “And Pharaoh said—Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Am not I king over all Egypt? Do you tell me there is some higher king than I and bid me obey his command? I know nothing of your Jehovah: I will never submit to his authority! And as if to show how fearlessly he could resist their summons he at once puts heavier tasks upon the people, in proud defiance, daring the vengeance of their Great Defender! Verily the issues hasten to their crisis!
The suffering people are entirely disheartened and evince a painful lack of faith in the God of their fathers. When Moses rehearsed to them the inspiring words recorded Ex. 6: 1–8, “They hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.” Ah, how frail is poor human nature! How weak is the faith of this long-oppressed people! But God’s compassions are a great deep and he does not frown severely upon them, broken down though they were in their manhood and in their religious trust.——Moses too seems to falter before this stern reception from Pharaoh and this disheartening attitude of Israel (6: 12); but the loving kindness of the Lord endures, despite of these sad imperfections in his servants. For the glory of his own name and not for the worthiness or virtue of his people, he has entered upon this redeeming work and he will carry it through.
The narrative pauses a moment more (Ex. 6: 16–27) to give us the genealogy of Levi, for the obvious purpose of showing the place of Moses and of Aaron in this record; and then proceeds (Ex. 7 and onward) with the impressive scenes of the ten plagues on Pharaoh and on Egypt.