Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/264

232 first, by an Almighty power, made to emerge out of Egyptian slavery, and then enriched with God's law and tabernacle. This book gives us,

I. The accomplishment of the promises made before to Abraham; ch. 1. to 19. And then,

II. The establishment of the ordinances which were afterward observed by Israel; ch. 20. to 40. Moses, in this book, begins, like Cæsar, to write his own Commentaries; nay a greater, a far greater, than Cæsar is here. But henceforward the penman is himself the hero, and gives us the history of those things of which he was himself an eye and an ear witness, et quorum pars magna fuit—and in which he bore a conspicuous part. There are more types of Christ in this book, than perhaps in any other book of the Old Testament; for Moses wrote of him, John 5. 46. The way of man's reconciliation to God, and coming into covenant and communion with him by a Mediator, is here variously represented; and it is of great use to us for the illustration of the New Testament, now that we have that to assist us in the explication of the Old.

We have here, I. God's kindness to Israel, in multiplying them exceedingly, v. 1..7. II. The Egyptians' wickedness to them, 1. Oppressing and enslaving them, v. 8..14. 2. Murdering their children, v. 15..22. Thus whom the court of heaven blessed, the country of Egypt cursed, and for that reason.

OW these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4. Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob, were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

In these verses we have,

1. A recital of the names of the twelve patriarchs, as they are called, Acts 7. 8. Their names are often repeated in scripture; that they may not sound uncouth to us, as other hard names, but that, by their occurring so frequently, they may become familiar to us; and to show how precious God's spiritual Israel are to him, and how much he delights in them.

2. The account which was kept of the number of Jacob's family, when they went down into Egypt; they were in all seventy souls, (v. 5.) according to the computation we had, ch. 46. 27. This was just the number of the nations by which the earth was peopled, according to the account given, ch. 10. For when the Most High separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, as Moses observes, Deut. 32. 8. Notice is taken of this, here, that their increase in Egypt might appear the more wonderful. Note, It is good for those whose latter end greatly increases, often to remember how small their beginning was, Job 8. 7.

3. The death of Joseph, v. 6. All that generation by degrees wore off; perhaps all Jacob's sons died much about the same time; for there was not more than seven years difference in age between the eldest and the youngest of them, except Benjamin; and when death comes into a family, sometimes it makes a full end in a little time; when Joseph, the stay of the family, died, the rest went off apace. Note, We must look upon ourselves and our brethren, and all we converse with, as dying, and hastening out of the world. This generation passeth away, as that did which went before.

4. The strange increase of Israel in Egypt, v. 7. Here are four words used to express it; they were fruitful, and increased abundantly, like fishes or insects, so that they multiplied; and, being generally healthful and strong, they waxed exceeding mighty, so that they began almost to outnumber the natives, for the land was in all places filled with them, at least, Goshen, their own allotment. Observe, (1.) Though, no doubt, they increased considerably before, yet, it should seem, it was not till after the death of Joseph, that it began to be taken notice of as extraordinary. Thus, when they lost the benefit of his protection, God made their numbers their defence, and they became better able than they had been, to shift for themselves. If God continue our friends and relations to us while we most need them, and remove them when they can be better spared, let us own that he is wise, and not complain that he is hard upon us. After the death of Christ, our Joseph, his Gospel-Israel began most remarkably to increase; his death had an influence upon it, it was like the sowing of a corn of wheat, which, if it die, bringeth forth much fruit, John 12. 24. (2.) This wonderful increase was the fulfilment of the promise long before made unto the fathers from the call of Abraham, when God first told him he would make of him a great nation, to the deliverance of his seed out of Egypt, it was 430 years, during the first 215 of which, they were increased but to 70, but, in the latter half, those 70 multiplied to 600,000 fighting-men. Note, [1.] Sometimes God's providences may seem for a great while to thwart his promises, and to go counter to them, that his people's faith may be tried, and his own power the more magnified. [2.] Though the performance of God's promises is sometimes slow, yet it is always sure; at the end it shall speak, and shall not lie, Hab. 2. 3.

8. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10. Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11. Therefore they did set over them task-masters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12. But the more they afflicted them, the more they