Pharaoh comforted.
After his death Pharaoh is comforted by what he beholds of his companions in the realm of departed spirits. He sees that the great ones who preceded him are as badly off as he is. Those kings and princes were not his enemies; they were his allies. Therefore Pharaoh could scarcely gain comfort from a malignant satisfaction in seeing them degraded. Accordingly, Hengstenberg understands the passage to say that Pharaoh sighs. But might he not find some consolation in the perception that he was not alone in his calamity.
I. THERE MAY BE SOME MITIGATION OF THE FUTURE SUFFERINGS OF SINNERS. This is a dark and mysterious subject—one about which it is very unwise to dogmatize. Still, we cannot but remember that the same merciful God who rules on earth also reigns over all the realms of the dead. Certainly we have the assurance of Christ that all will not suffer equally; some will be beaten with many stripes, and others with few stripes (Luke 12:47, Luke 12:48).
II. THE JUSTICE OF GOD SHOULD BE A CONSOLATION IN VIEW OF FUTURE PUNISHMENT. God will never exceed what is right. All his dealings will be fair and equable. His aim will be to maintain goodness, not to wreak personal vengeance on his victims. We should feel that righteousness is the supreme end of all things. The vision of sin is dark and dreadful. If there be any lightening of its gloom this must be seen in the fact that the Almighty God has set his hand to destroy it.
III. THE UNIVERSALITY OF DEATH SUGGESTS THE BELIEF THAT IT FALLS IN WITH THE DIVINE ORDER OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. It may be said that, just as sin is universal through man's own fault, so death is universal as the consequence of sin. Death in its horror is associated with sin: "The sting of death is sin" (1 Corinthians 15:56). But physiologically, death belongs to the order of nature. Everything that lives dies. We regard this fact with distress when it touches our friends, and perhaps with dread when it approaches ourselves. But we should learn to trust God, who orders all things well.
"Like as the damask rose you see,
Or like the blossom on the tree,
Or like the dainty flower in May,
Or like the morning of the day,
Or like the sun, or like the shade,
Or like the gourd which Jonah had,
E'en such is man; whose thread is spun,
Drawn out, and cut, and so is done.
The rose withers, the blossom blasteth;
The flower fades, the morning hasteth;
The sun sets, the shadow flies;
The gourd consumes—and man he dies!"
(Simon Wastell.)
IV. THE DEEPEST COMFORT IN VIEW OF DEATH IS ONLY TO BE DRAWN FROM FAITH IN CHRIST. All else leaves but a desolate prospect at best. But Christ sheds a glorious light on the realm beyond. For those who trust and follow him death has lost its terrors. The grim under-world is transferred into a peaceful sleep, from which to awake in Christ. "I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON