The Question Between the Plagues
(No. 2503)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1897.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, MAY
24, 1885.
"How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" Exodus 10:3.
PHARAOH is the type and image of proud men. God permitted him to be
left to the natural hardness of his heart and he stood up against
Jehovah in a very remarkable way. Those who are students of the ancient
history of Egypt, those especially who have seen the remains of the
colossal statues of the kings and those tremendous pyramids which
probably were the places of their sepulture, will know that man worship
was carried on to the very highest degree in connection with the
ancient kingdom of Egypt. Our modern civilization has deprived kings of
much of the dignity which once hedged them round. We have grown
wonderfully familiar with our fellow men in the very highest places of
the earth, but in those old monarchies, when the king was absolute and
supreme, when his wish, even though he was little better than a
maniac–was the law that governed the people–when not a dog dared move
his tongue against the despot, then kings seemed to be like little gods
and they lorded it over their subjects with a vengeance!
No doubt they grew intoxicated with the fumes of the incense which
their subjects willingly offered to them and so came to think
themselves almost, if not quite, Divine–and assumed the position and
honors of God, Himself. It is not so very amazing, therefore, that
Pharaoh should have thought that, in the God of the Hebrews, he had
merely met with just another one of the same stamp as himself, against
whom he could carry on war and whom he might even subdue. He said
within himself, "Who are these Hebrews? Their fathers were a company of
shepherds who came and settled in Egypt! And as for these people, they
are my slaves. I have built cities with their unpaid labor and I mean
to hold them in captivity. They talk about their God, their 'Jehovah.'
Who is Jehovah that I should obey His voice? Let it be a battle of
Pharaoh against Jehovah and let it be fought out to the bitter end! I
will show these people that I care not for them, or their Prophets, or
their God."
That same pride which grew so strong in Pharaoh–growing upon that
whereon it fed until it came to a colossal form–that same kind of
pride is in the hearts of men even to this day! They do not take upon
themselves the same high and mighty airs, but, as far as their
circumstances will allow, it is still a duel between man and his Maker,
between the sinner and his Judge. In the case of some here present,
there is now going on a battle between yourselves and your God. Oh,
that you would consider this matter in the right light! That you would
look at it with calm, steady and reasonable consideration, for then, I
think, you would at once throw down your weapons and beg for peace on
Gospel terms–and this would be the happiest hour that you have ever
lived! God grant that it may be so! I am going to make a running
application of my text all through my discourse, and I pray that the
Holy Spirit, Himself, may make a direct application of it to anyone
whom it may concern.
I. To aid your memory, let me say, first of all, that THIS QUESTION HAS
ABOUT IT AN AIR OF ASTONISHMENT–"How long will you refuse to humble
yourself before Me?" I have no doubt that as Moses and Aaron uttered
this question, they put it in tones indicative of surprise–"How long
is it to be that you, proud Pharaoh, will refuse to humble yourself
before the only living and true God?"
And, surely, that astonishment must have arisen partly from the
judgments which God had inflicted upon Pharaoh You know what Jehovah
had already done. He had turned the water into blood and destroyed the
fish. He had made frogs to come even into the king's bedchamber. He had
brought innumerable lice and flies throughout all the land. He had sent
disease upon the cattle, boils and sores upon man and beast, storms of
hail and rain and mighty thunder! With stroke after stroke, almost
without a pause, Jehovah had smitten the proud king! Yet still, after
seven plagues, Pharaoh stood out as proud and obstinate as ever and,
therefore, the Lord sent to him the question of our text, "How long
will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?"
I think I know some cases that are almost parallel with that of
Pharaoh. Here is a man who has been very lofty and proud, but already
he has been brought from wealth to poverty. At this moment he scarcely
knows where to lay his head, yet in his poverty he has not turned to
God. He has been smitten with sickness and that not merely once or
twice, but many times. Turning over the pages of his diary he can note
on such a day, fever–on such a day some other deadly dis-ease–and
these strokes have followed one after another. Yet, on being able to
creep out again and to come into the place of public worship, he is
still found as hardened in heart as ever he was. How long will it be,
my Friend, before you humble yourself before God? The Prophet Isaiah
might well ask concerning you the question he put in his day, "Why
should you be stricken any more?" The rod seems to be wasted upon
you–you have been struck till "the whole head is sick and the whole
heart faint," and you are covered with "wounds, bruises and putrefying
sores." Yet you turn not unto the God who smites you, but you grow
prouder and yet prouder still notwithstanding all His chastisements and
judgments!
What shall God do next with you? Where shall the next arrow be aimed?
An eye, a hand, a foot–shall these be struck? Or shall the Lord lay
the cold hand of death upon your heart? Shall "the silver cord be
loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the
fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern"? I cannot tell how or
when the summons may come for you, but I would very earnestly say to
any of you who have been the subjects of many Providential trials and
Divine judgments, "How long will it be before you humble yourselves
before God?"
The question of our text may have been put in astonishment from another
point of view, namely, because of the many false pretences of humility
which Pharaoh had made. When he was struck, he sent for Moses and Aaron
again and again, and he cried out to them, "I have sinned, pray for me.
Forgive me just this once." Then, when his prayer had been heard and
the plague had been removed, Pharaoh went back to his old natural
hardness and said, "I will not let the people go." Therefore the Lord
sent to him the question, "How long will you refuse to humble yourself
before Me?" Is it not much the same with some of you, my Hearers? I
want to speak right home to your hearts and consciences! Have you ever,
in the time of your sickness, promised God that if you should get
better, your life should be altogether different? Yet, though the Lord
spared you, there has not been any true change in you! Did you not say,
"Please God, if I am delivered this time, I will be a better man in all
respects"? Yet you are not any better than you used to be! Remember
that those resolves of yours are all preserved upon God's file in
Heaven–you have the counterfoils of those resolutions in your memory,
but the resolutions, themselves, are registered in the Court of King's
Bench above! And one of these days you shall see those broken
resolutions again and, as you hear them read, you shall have to answer
for having acted falsely towards the Omniscient God and for having lied
to Him! God deliver you from the great sin of thus mocking Him!
Meanwhile, I press this question upon the heart and conscience of any
to whom it applies, "How long will it be before you humble yourselves
before the Lord? Will you go on all your lifetime with the mimicry of
repentance, with the mere pretense of faith? Will you always be trying
to play fast and loose with God? Will you never shake yourselves clear
of this shameful play-acting and come to downright earnest repentance
before your God? Will you play yourselves into Hell? Will you go on
sporting with eternal realities as if they were only a child's game?"
Oh, let it not be so! Let this question of the Lord, Himself, come
rolling, like a peal of thunder, into your heart and conscience, "How
long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?"
Do you not think, too, that this question came from Moses with surprise
as remembered the many mercies of God to Pharaoh? God had heard the
prayers of Moses on behalf of Pharaoh. The proud king might think it a
little matter, but he who had prayed for him and obtained the answer to
his petitions did not think it a small thing. When the frogs were in
all the land–only by the prayer of Moses were they all slain! When the
swarms of flies came and defiled the whole country, it was the prayer
of Moses that removed the plague so that there remained not one! It
might be a little matter to Pharaoh–for men who receive favors often
think but little of them–but they who win favors from God by prayer
always highly esteem them! So Moses seems to be astonished as he says
to Pharaoh, "Has God done all this for you? Has He removed His rod from
you? Has He said to the executioner, 'Put back the axe'? Has He fetched
you out of the prison of His judgments, taken the chains off your
wrists and set you free–and do you still stand out against Him? How
long will you refuse to humble yourself before Him?"
Let me put this question to some who are here. God has been very
gracious to you, my Friend, in delivering you from many accidents and
diseases–and you are spared till your hair is turning gray. It would
have been easy enough for your life to have come to an end long ago,
yet here you are, still spared by God's mercy! You are not a pauper, as
you once thought you would be. You are still living in comfortable
circumstances and that great trial which, at one time, darkened your
life like a heavy cloud, has passed away. And you can now look up with
a cheerful countenance and remember times of great despondency and
threatened distress. Will you not, then–won by this mercy, subdued by
this great love–humble yourself before your God? What more can He do
for you than He has already done? See how He has made you the special
objective of singular Providential care! I refer you to your diary and
ask you to remember how kindly and tenderly and graciously God has
dealt with you these many years. O Sirs, if terrors will not move you,
let love subdue you! Oh, that the Grace of God might find out the
secret spring of your heart and bring you now, at once, to humble
yourselves before the Lord!
So I think I am right in saying, in the first place, that there is an
air of surprise about this question to Pharaoh, because of wasted
judgments, forgotten promises and neglected mercies–"How long will you
refuse to humble yourself before Me?"
II. Now, in the second place, to change the strain a little, and but a
little, let me add that THE QUESTION BREATHES A SPIRIT OF KINDNESS.
You know that when a person does not intend another's good, he strikes
the fatal blow at once without a word of warning. But he who is a
father, though he must use the rod, speaks many times and pleads, and
admonishes, and persuades before he gives a stroke. This is just what
God did with Pharaoh by His servants Moses and Aaron. He said, "How
long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?"
In Pharaoh's case, that which God required of him was right. It was
humbling to his pride, but it was right. What right had Pharaoh to hold
the Israelites as his slaves? They were not his people–they had been
admitted into the kingdom as honored guests. One of that race had saved
the nation in the time of famine. Joseph had preserved Egypt and made
the king strong in the midst of his people. Gratitude to Joseph ought
to have caused the Israelites to be treated in a very different way. At
any rate, if Pharaoh did not wish to have them in Egypt, he ought, at
least, to have permitted them to go in peace and not to have held them
in bondage. This was all that God asked of him–"Let My people go. They
are none of yours, they are Mine. Let them go that they may serve Me."
And, Brothers and Sisters, that which God requires of a sinner is a
right thing. He bids you leave your sin. Is not that right? He bids you
break off your sins by righteousness. Is not that right? He has
provided a way of salvation through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus
Christ, and He bids you accept it. Is not that right? All that He asks
you to do is to confess and forsake your sin. Is not that right? If you
cannot undo your sin, the least you can do is to acknowledge it like a
man–and that is what God asks of you. He bids you trust His dear Son.
Is that a hard thing, an unreasonable thing? If He has appointed a
Savior and equipped Him for the service of salvation, and has bid you,
who needsalvation, to trust Him to save you and never think of
self-salvation, but to take Jesus Christ to be the beginning and the
end of salvation to you–is not that a right thing? Well, then, how
long will it be that you will still refuse to humble yourself before
Him? A right-minded man never desires to postpone a right action! If it
is just and right, He wishes to let it be done at once. And, oh, dear
Friends, it is the most just and right thing that can be conceived of,
that a sinner, guilty against the God of Love, should confess his
guilt, seek mercy and accept pardon in the way in which God provides it
for men!
This question is put in a spirit of kindness and I desire to put it
very kindly to any one of you who has not yet yielded to the Lord–"How
long will you refuse to humble yourself before God?" Dear Friend, you
say that you intend, one day, to humble yourself beneath the mighty
hand of God. Do you think it will grow any easier while you delay? Is
it difficult, now, to yield yourself to the Lord? It will be more
difficult in a year's time, even if you are spared till then, for a
man's habits harden every day that he lives! They spin new webs about
him. They hold him fast, poor fly that he is, every hour that he lives.
If it ever is an easy matter to bow before the Lord, it is easier at
this moment than it will be tomorrow. Say not, therefore, "I am waiting
for a more convenient season," for the most convenient season that ever
can come is now! There will be greater inconveniences tomorrow than
there are tonight–and so will it be ad infinitum!If you would be free
from your bondage, break loose at once! You have waited too long,
already, and you do not find it easier from day to day, neither will
you if you still delay to submit to the Lord. Therefore, yield to Him
at once. God help you to do so!
Do you not know that if God means to save you, He will send heavier
plagues upon you than any you have felt as yet If you will not come to
Him with one blow, you shall have two! And if two will not suffice, you
shall have twenty, for He will have you. It would be better to yield at
once! There is no greater wisdom than the moment the Lord says, "Seek
you My face," to answer, "Your face, Lord, will I seek." "Be you not as
the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding," which must be
driven to their work and goaded on in their labor. There are some who
come to Christ like vessels towed into port, all but wrecked, with torn
sails and broken timbers. It is better by far that you be gently wafted
into the haven by the soft south wind of Love, or that you spread your
canvas to a favoring gale and fly before the breeze into the Fair
Havens of salvation by Christ! I would put it to you, dear Friend–Why
do you want to be beaten, bruised, cut and wounded? Why not, as you
are, say tonight–
"Jusst as I am–without one plea But that Your blood was shed for me,
And that You bid me come to You, OLamb of God, I come"?
At any rate, there is one other thing I will say to you–a time for
decision should be set. I would like to press the question of the text,
"How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?" I remember a
man of God who was talking with a young lady to whom he had spoken many
times about her soul. At last he said to her, "Well, Hannah, you do
intend to come to Christ one day?" "Yes, Sir," she replied, "I do
intend." "Well, now," he said, "will you give me a date when you will
come to Christ? You are 20 now, will you come to the Lord Jesus Christ
when you are thirty? Will you put that down as a definite promise?" The
young lady answered, "Well, Sir, I should not like to promise that
because I might be dead before I was thirty. Ten years is a long time
and I might be dead and gone before that time. I hope I shall know the
Lord before that." "Well, Hannah," the good man said, "we will say nine
years, then. That is to be the time that you fix when you will yield to
the mercy of God." "Well, Sir," she said, "I hope it will be before
then." "No," he said, "the bargain is made–you will have to run risks
for nine years, you know. You make the bargain that you will come to
Christ in nine years' time. Let it stand so and you must run the risk."
"Oh, Sir!" she exclaimed, "it would be an awful thing, a dreadful
thing, for me to say that I would wait nine years, because I might be
lost in that time." The friend then said, "Well, suppose we say that
you will serve the Lord in 12 months' time? Will you just take this
year and spend it in the service of Satan, and then, when you have
enjoyed yourself that way, give your heart to Christ?" Somehow, the
young woman felt that it was a long time and a very dangerous time, so
she answered, "I should not like to be hung over an awful chasm and for
somebody to say, 'I will pull you up at the end of a year and set your
feet on a rock.'" No, she could not bear that thought! And as her
minister pressed her to set a time and brought it down by little and
little, at last she said, "Oh, Sir, it had better be tonight! It had
better be tonight! Pray to God that I may now give my heart to the Lord
Jesus Christ, for it is such a dreadful thing to be without a Savior! I
would have Christ as my Lord this very night." So I put it to
you–yield to Christ at once and do not keep on saying, "I hope it will
not be long before I become a child of God."
You know how people often talk when they owe you money–they promise to
pay you "next Monday." Then, when the next Monday comes, they say that,
unfortunately, there was a remittance which they fully expected on the
Saturday, but it did not come. They feel quite certain it will come on
Wednesday morning, so they will be round at your house with it, or,
would you mind calling upon them at noon on Wednesday? When you call on
Wednesday, they are so sorry–such a thing never happened to them
before, but they lost a purse when they were out in the street, so
could you allow them another month's credit? That is how they go on,
until at last you say, "Well now, look here, will you tell me once and
for all when you will pay me? Do fix a day." And you think you have
done something when you get a day for payment fixed at last. So shall I
think that there is something gained–though, mark you, I have not much
confidence in such an ar-rangement–if there is a deliberate attempt
made to fix some kind of time when you will yield yourself to Christ!
And, of all the times that I can think of–if I may, for once, be your
solicitor and sit down quietly and give you my best advice– my
experience suggests to me that I had better quote to you this passage
of Scripture, "Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your
hearts." Today is in your power, it is here at present! It has almost
gone, flying with the setting sun, but you have today at
present–therefore use it, for tomorrow is not yours, and tomorrow may
never come for you!
The question of our text is asked, then, not only with an air of
surprise, but also with a great measure of kindness. And in that kindly
spirit I wish you to suppose that I am walking round the front of this
lower gallery and shaking hands with every unconverted person and
asking, "How long will it be before you trust in Jesus?" And then,
mounting the stairs to get to you who are in the upper gallery, that I
may put to you the same question. And, after making the round of the
whole building, threading my way as best I can through these crowded
aisles and taking each one by the hand, giving a hearty grip, and
saying, "How long is it to be? How long is it to be?" And, "Had it not
better be now?" God grant that it may be now that you will humble
yourself before the Lord, for Jesus' sake!
III. In the third place I will deal with the text in rather a different
style, yet still keeping to the same objective though I change the line
of argument. THIS QUESTION IS ASKED IN A TONE OF POWER.
If I could speak it as Jehovah would speak it by His servant Moses, I
think it would run like this–"Thus says Jehovah, God of the Hebrews,
How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go
that they may serve Me." God as God says to Pharaoh, "It is no use for
you to stand out against Me. As well might a moth contend with the
furnace. It is of no use for you to lift your puny hand against Me. You
know not how great My power is. I have given you a taste of it, but I
have yet more terrible plagues in the rear which I will bring
forward–and you will have to bow before Me." And you know, Brothers
and Sisters, how Pharaoh did at last have to bow before Jehovah! The
firstborn of his strength was cut off in the dead of night and there
was wailing in the palace and in all the land. And then, when Pharaoh
said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust
shall be satisfied upon them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall
destroy them"–he dashed forward to pursue the hosts of the Lord and
you know what followed. "For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his
chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again
the waters of the sea upon them." Then was heard the song of Miriam,
"Sing you to Jehovah, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and
his rider has He thrown into the sea." As the rushing waters bore him
away, proud Pharaoh learned when, too late, how great a fool he had
been to contend against the Infinite Majesty of Almighty God!
And I say to you, Brothers and Sisters, who are fighting against God,
you must either bend or break! As God lives, you must bow before Him in
repentance, or you shall be crushed beneath Him in the day of His
anger! Think not, when we talk to you of God's mercy, that we come to
you as your equal might come, and reason with you as though God were
afraid of you! Do you talk of your great strength? He is almighty! As
for you, your breath is in your nostrils and the Lord could cause you,
in a moment, to fall dead in a fit, as many have done before you! If
you will not yield to Him, He is infinitely glorious without you! And
if you rebel against Him, in what way can you affect the supremacy of
His empire? As well might a drop of spray hope to shake the cliffs of
Albion as for you to contend against the Majesty of God!
O Brothers and Sisters, fight not against your God! What profit can
there be to you in this rebellion? Already you have found no profit in
it. Therefore be not so mad as to continue warring against your God.
"Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins
are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red
like crimson, they shall be as wool." He is a God ready to forgive! "He
delights in mercy." He wills not the death of any, but that they turn
to Him and live. Still, if you will persist in contending against Him,
see what your end will be–"Everlasting destruction from the Presence
of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." Jesus Himself put the
final issue thus, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment; but
the righteous into life eternal."
IV. I conclude my sermon by trying to show that THE QUESTION OF OUR
TEXT IS OF WIDE APPLICATION.
Let me try to put the case to you who are here present. Forget Pharaoh
and only think of yourself. Let the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself, with
the thorn-crowned head and the pierced hands stand by your pew and,
looking right down into your soul, say in His matchless tone of
music–the music of the heart of love–"How long will you refuse to
humble yourself before Me?"
What is your difficulty, dear Friend? What is the cause of your quarrel
with your Lord? Do you even refuse to think about religion? I know that
many do. They get up late on Sunday morning and loiter about the house
all day, with no care to go to what they call these "preaching-shops."
They would rather go for a walk. The Bible is never read by them–they
say that it is such a dreary book–which shows how unacquainted they
are with its contents. Religion they regard as a mere make-up of
priests, though they have never fairly examined its claims. Well,
Friend, will you not at least give the Gospel a hearing before you
condemn it? Will you not listen to God's message of salvation that you
may form a sober judgment concerning it? Will you not, at any rate,
read that Book which you have hitherto despised, that you may find out
whether it really is the Book of God? Oh, no, you know too much to read
the Bible! You are far too cultured to listen to the common preaching
of such poor folk as we are. That is how you talk, but are you not
ashamed to speak so? Do you not, yourself, judge that when a man thinks
he knows everything, he really knows very little? And that when he
affects to be such a very superior person, he is not so high and mighty
as he thinks himself to be? Humble yourself enough, at least, to be
wise? Humble yourself enough to listen to this question of Nicodemus,
"Does our law judge any man before it hears him and know what he does?"
Hear the story of Christ and examine and weigh the evidence of His
Messiahship. Consider the claims of Christ and confess that you have
not met them. And then give your whole heart and soul to seek to know
the way of salvation!
But, suppose you have thought of religion, what is your trouble? You
say, "Well, I understand that I cannot be saved except by confessing
myself a sinner." You would not need salvation, would you, if you were
not a sinner? Surely, there is no hardship in refusing to you what you
profess you do not need! If I opened a doctor's shop and posted in the
window a notice stating that I would give away no pills or draughts to
men who were perfectly well, nobody would accuse me of a lack of
humanity because I acted like that. Those who are well have no need of
a physician! So, to qualify yourself for being saved, you must first
confess that you need to be saved! Come, Friend, have you always been
perfect? I should like to see you stand in the middle of the
congregation and let us all look you up and down! If you did not blush,
I should know that you were not perfect–and if you did blush, it would
be a confession that you were imperfect! We have all transgressed the
Law of our God. Some in one way and some in another, but, "all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God," and we must confess that it
is even so. When we have done this, then will be fulfilled to us the
ancient promise, "Whoso confesses and forsakes his sins shall have
mercy."
If you have made a confession of sin, what is further the matter with
you? "Why," you say, "I am told that I must be saved by Divine Grace."
Yes, and how else would you like to be saved? Do you wish to be saved
by your own merits? You have not any! You would like to set up some
merit of your own, but why try to set up a lie? God is the God of Truth
and He cannot endure that which is false. If ever any of us gets to
Heaven, it will be by the free and undeserved mercy of God–why should
you quarrel with such terms as these? When a thing is to be given away
for nothing, I would be the last man to try to run it up in price! The
richest man can have it for nothing and that is a price which exactly
suits the poorest. Blessed be God that salvation is all of Grace from
first to last! Humble yourself to accept it "without money and without
price."
"But I understand," says one, "that I am to be saved simply by
believing in Christ, and I do not like that way of salvation." Why do
you not like it? Salvation by the atoning Sacrifice of Christ, through
the sinner simply trusting in Christ, will greatly glorify Him. This
makes the way of salvation possible to lame feet, blind eyes, deaf ears
and enables poor guilty souls to find perfect righteousness which they
could never find in any other way! Humble yourself, therefore, and
submit to God's plan of salvation! Really, it seems to me that if a man
gives anything away, he has a right to give it in his own way. And if
God gives salvation, surely He has the right to give it in His own
style! And if He will give it to all who confess their need of it, and
come and freely accept it because Christ has worked it out, who shall
quarrel with such terms as these?
In closing, I would very affectionately press home this passage upon
all whom it concerns. Listen to the Lord, Himself, as He puts to you
this solemn question, "How long will you refuse to humble yourself
before Me?" Here are many of us who, long ago, came to Jesus and
humbled ourselves before Him, and we did not think it any degradation.
I would sooner have some men to put their foot on my neck than I would
have the best words of certain other men. One might be willing to sit
still and be abused by some men and then say, "It is a pleasure, even,
to be noticed by such persons," while, if certain others were to praise
you, you might ask as the philosopher did of old, "What have I been
doing amiss that this wretch should speak well of me?"
Ah, poor Sinner! If you once get a view of the Lord Jesus Christ and
know who He is, and what He is–if you can, by faith, perceive His
beauties, you will say, "To fall at His feet is a high privilege! To
submit myself to such an One as Jesus Christ of Nazareth is a higher
honor than to receive a peerage from an earthly sovereign." Therefore,
let us go together–you who never went and some of us who have often
been–let us go together and let us cry to Christ, "Lord, receive us!
We are nothing but a mass of sin and misery! Receive us and save us,
for Your mercy's sake, and unto Your name shall be the glory forever
and ever!" Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: EXODUS 10:1-20; PSALM105:26-38.
Exodus 10:1, 2. And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for
Ihave hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might
show these My signs before him: and that you may tell in the ears of
your son, and of your son's son, what things I have worked in Egypt,
and My signs which Ihave done among them; that you may know how that I
am the Lord. God would stamp the early history of Israel with the deep
impression of His Godhead. His overthrow of the proud Egyptian king
should let Israel know in the very beginning how great a God had chosen
her to be His own peculiar portion.
3. And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus
says the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble
yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Can you
imagine these humble individuals, Moses and Aaron, thus bearding the
great king whose word could make their heads roll upon the ground? They
were not afraid, for God was with them, and they who speak in God's
place are traitors if they are not brave. The ambassadors of so great a
King must not demean themselves by fear! Therefore right boldly said
they to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will
you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they
may serve Me."
4-6. Else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow will
Ibring the locusts into your coast: and they shall cover the face of
the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat
the residue of that which is escaped, which remains unto you from the
hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field:
and they shall fill your houses, and the houses of all your servants,
and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither your fathers, nor
your fathers' fathers have seen since the day that they were upon the
earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.
Moses had delivered his message. He had uttered his solemn warning, so
he waited no longer in the tyrant's presence.
7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a
snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God;
know you not yet that Egypt is destroyed? The seven former heavy
judgments had so effectually bruised Egypt that the people began to cry
against their king for his obstinacy in still farther resisting God.
8, 9. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said
unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go?
And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our
sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we
go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. Pharaoh was inclined to
make terms with Moses, but God will have no conditions with men who are
rebelling against Him! An unconditional surrender is all that God will
accept.
10, 11. Andhe said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I willlet
you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. Not
so: go now you that are men, and serve the LORD; for that you did
desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence. See how
proud, how stout-hearted towards evil is this wicked and foolish king!
When his people appeal to him to yield, he only does so for a moment,
and then he drives out the messengers of God in anger.
12-17. And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out your hand over the
land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land
ofEgypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail has
left. And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land ofEgypt, and the
LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that
night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And
the locusts went up over all the land ofEgypt, and rested in all the
coasts ofEgypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such
locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the
face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did
eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the
hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or
in the herbs of the field, through all the land ofEgypt. Then Pharaoh
called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against
the LORD your God, and against you. Now therefore forgive, I pray you,
my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take
away from me this death only. See how he is obliged to come to his
knees at last? He will be soon up again, for his heart is not humbled,
though he is eating his own words! An unhumbled heart is not subdued by
judgments–it is apparently so–but really it is still a heart of
stone.
18-20. And he went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD. And the
LORD turned a mighty strong west wind which took away the locusts, and
cast them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the
coasts ofEgypt. But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would
not let the children of Israel go. God kept His Divine Grace back from
him, so that he relapsed into his natural state of obduracy. Pharaoh is
the great mirror of pride and obstinacy! I wonder whether we have a
Pharaoh here? Now let us turn to the 105th Psalm and see further what
God did against this proud Pharaoh.
Psalm 105:26-28. He sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had
chosen. They showed His signs among them, and wonders in the land
ofHam. He sent darkness, andmade it dark; and they rebelled not against
His Word. So cowed were they by that awful darkness, that for a time
they seemed to repent of their rebellion against the Lord.
29, 30. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their
land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.
Though the fish could not live, the frogs could. When good was taken
away, evil came. What a strange succession of miracles was this–the
fish slain, but the frogs multiplied!
31-34. He spoke, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all
their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their
land. He smote their vines, also, and their fig trees; and broke the
trees of their coasts. He spoke, and the locusts came, and
caterpillars, and that without number There is great sublimity in this
expression. God had only to speak and whole battalions of devouring
locusts and caterpillars seemed to leap out of the earth, or to drop
from the clouds–"He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and
that without number."
35-37. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the
fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land,
the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver
and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. I t
was a notable miracle that, after all the oppression they had endured,
they should be in such a state of health that "there was not one feeble
person among their tribes." When God makes His people march, He puts
them into marching trim!
38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon
them. Yet this was the mighty nation whose proud king had defied the
Lord! At last they had had enough of the combat; they were glad that
the people of God should retire out of their land and they themselves
bowed low before Him. May we be taught humility of heart, so that we
can sing the hymn I have chosen!–
"Sovereign Ruler, Lord of all, Prostrate at Your feet I fall. Hear, oh,
hear my earnest cry! Frown not, lest I faint and die!"