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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:23
Death comes at last, even to the proudest monarch.Rameses II. left behind him the reputation of being the greatest of the Egyptian kings. He was confounded with the mythical Sesostris, and regarded as the conqueror of a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:23-25
As in streams the water is attracted to and swirls round various centres, so here the interest of the narrative circles about three facts. We have — I. THE KING'S DEATH. Who the king was may be uncertain. [Some say Aahm…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:23-25
DEATH OF THE PHARAOH FROM WHOM MOSES FLED — CONTINUANCE OF THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL-ISRAEL'S PRAYERS — GOD'S ACCEPTANCE OF THEM. — After a space of forty years from the time of Moses' flight from Egypt, according to the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:23
In process of time. Literally, "in those many days." The reign of Rameses II. was exceptionally long, as previously explained. He had already reigned twenty-seven years when Moses fled from him (Exodus 2:15). He had now…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:24-25
God heard their groaning. God is said to "hear" the prayers which he accepts and grants; to "be deaf" to those which he does not grant, but rejects. He now "heard" (i.e. accepted) the supplications of oppressed Israel;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-5
The burning bush. I. OBSERVE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH GOD FINDS MOSES. He is still with Jethro, although forty years have passed since their first acquaintance. Though a fugitive, he had not become a mere wanderer. 1.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-5
The bush and its suggestions. Glean here a few of the general suggestions of the passage:— I. REVELATION. The appearance at the bush suggestive— 1. Of the supernatural in Nature. Bushes are aglow all around us, if only…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-22
THE CALL AND MISSION OF MOSES. EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-22
THE MISSION OF MOSES. After forty years of monotonous pastoral life, affording abundant opportunity for meditation, and for spiritual communion with God, and when he had attained to the great age of eighty years, and th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1
Moses kept the flock. The Hebrew expresses that this was his regular occupation. Understand by "flock" either sheep or goats, or the two intermixed. Both anciently and at the present day the Sinaitic pastures support th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-6
Forty years since, Moses (Exodus 2:11) had "turned aside" from court life in Egypt to see how his brethren the children of Israel fared amid the furnace of trial. The old life seems like a dream, so long ago; the old la…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-5
Moses at the bush. We do not now see burning bushes, or hear voices calling to us from their midst. The reason is, that we do not need them, The series of historical revelations is complete. Revelation in the sense of t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:1-10
The Burning Bush. "Behold the bush," etc. Exodus 3:2. A very astonishing event; yet amply evidenced to us by those voluminous arguments which now more than ever establish the authenticity of Exodus; but in addition to t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:2
The angel of the Lord. Literally, "an angel of Jehovah." Taking the whole narrative altogether, we are justified in concluding that the appearance was that of "the Angel of the Covenant" or" the Second Person of the Tri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:2
The bush in history. The bush had primary reference to Israel, and the fire in the bush represented Jehovah's fiery presence in the midst of his people— 1. For their protection. A fire flaming forth to consume the adver…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:3-10
I. How MOSES MET WITH GOD. 1. The marvel was marked and considered. He might simply have glanced at it and passed on; but he observed it till the wonder of it possessed his soul. There are marvels that proclaim God's pr…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:3
I will turn aside. Suspecting nothing but a natural phenomenon, which he was anxious to investigate. The action bespeaks him a man of sense and intelligence, not easily scared or imposed upon.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:3
The impulse to draw nigh. Moses saw a strange sight; one that he had never seen before; one that struck him with astonishment. His natural impulse was to inquire into its cause. God has implanted in us all this instinct…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:4-6
The prohibition, and the ground of it. Suddenly the steps of the inquirer are arrested. Wonder upon wonder! a voice calls to him out of the bush, and calls him by his own name, "Moses, Moses!" Now must have dawned on hi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:4
When the Lord saw … God called. This collocation of words is fatal in the entire Elohistic and Jehovistic theory, for no one can suppose that two different writers wrote the two clauses of the sentence. Nor, if the same…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:5
Draw not nigh. The awful greatness of the Creator is such that his creatures, until invited to draw near, are bound to stand aloof. Moses, not yet aware that God himself spoke to him, was approaching the bush too close,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:6
The God of the fathers. "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham," etc. In these words— I. GOD CONNECTS HIMSELF WITH THE DEAD PATRIARCHS. They imply— 1. Continued existence; for God, who says here, not "I was," b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:6
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Having wakened the mind of Moses into full activity, given him a revelation of supernatural power, and brought him altogether into a state of the greatest reverence and awe, God pro…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 3:6
The God of thy father. "Father" here is used collectively, meaning forefathers generally, a usage well known to Hebraists. (Compare Exodus 15:2, and Exodus 18:4.) The God of Abraham, etc; i.e. the God who revealed himse…