("Their iniquities shall be upon their bones")
Indelible sin.
The idea seems to be that the guilty Egyptians shall not have honorable burial like that of the kings and princes who have been laid in the tombs with their weapons of war by their side—a token that they may yet roam as great fighting heroes through the dim regions of the nether world. The Egyptians are forbidden this prospect. They who of all people cared for the preservation of the bodies of the dead, by embalming and burying in huge pyramids, are to have their bones flung in a heap like a confused mass of corpses hurriedly gathered together from a battle-field. This is a punishment of sin.
I. SIN ONCE COMMITTED REMAINS WITH THE SINNER. Our own deeds are our lasting possession. We may lose all else and still not lose them. In the exciting moment of temptation the foolish fancy is entertained that the sin may be quickly committed and then left behind. The sinner will flee from his guilt and leave it in the dark depths of some distant forest. Alas! this is impossible. The awful thing pursues its maker into the wilderness, into the city, into the sacred sanctuary of the home.
II. SIN ENTERS DEEPLY INTO THE NATURE OF THE SINNER. It is not merely a deed of the hand. If it were that only it would have no moral character. But it springs from the inner being, and it comes home to roost. Though the flesh be scraped from the bones, still the sin remains, as though cleaving to the very skeleton—it is so close a companion, its seat is so terribly centered within.
III. SIN PURSUES THE SINNER AFTER DEATH. The sinner does not carry his wealth with him, but he carries his wickedness. His estate must be left behind, his iniquity will accompany him. His body he must cast off, but he cannot cast off his sin. The man and his sin will enter into the dread world of the dead together, there to be judged by God, there to reap the consequences of their fearful partnership.
IV. NO HUMAN EXPERIENCE CAN REMOVE SIN. Iniquities lying on the very bones of the dead! Who shall tear them off and fling them away? Tears will not wash them out, for tears cannot undo the past. Amendment will not destroy them, for even if that be possible, it is wholly a thing of the future, it does not touch the record of the past.
V. CHRIST BLOTS OUT SIN THAT IS OTHERWISE INDELIBLE. He cannot deny history, turn back the wheels of time and unknit the web of the past. But he can and he does offer pardon. When sin is forgiven God will remember it no more against the sinner (Jeremiah 31:34). With pardon Christ also brings a new heart and life. The new inner life has had nothing to do with the old sin. It makes a fresh start unhampered with the ugly burden of the past. This great result is brought about on Christ's side by his death and resurrection (Romans 4:25), and on our side through penitence and faith (Acts 3:19).