VII.

The Great Leader Commissioned.

(EXODUS iii. 13—22.)

OT was four hundred and twenty-nine years since the Lord had appeared to the patriarch Abraham, and above two hundred years had passed away since any man had received such marvellous grace. Now he not only appeared to Moses, but made him his messenger; he gave him extraordinary powers; he put him at the head of his people, as a leader and a prophet; he made him his ambassador; he sent him to be a preacher of the "righteousness which is obtained by faith." A similar mission had, hitherto, been given to Noah only.

You saw in the last chapter how, after God had spoken to Moses, he permitted him to reply. It was very fear which gave Moses courage to speak, "Who am I?" Who am I, O Lord, that thou sendest me to Pharaoh? Who am I, a shepherd, an old man, who has neither strength, nor eloquence, nor fame? You remember that God replied to him, "Certainly I will be with thee," and in proof thereof I declare to thee that thou shalt soon bring all the people of Israel to this remote and solitary mountain, where thou art now kneeling under the vault of heaven, beside thy sheep and thy cattle. I will be so surely with thee that thou shalt come and worship me here with all my people.

But Moses still ventured to ask further, "Behold,

when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" It was considered a difficulty greater than the first. If Moses had been rejected forty years before, what resistance and what objections might he not expect then? And when he should speak to them of the God of their fathers, and should say to them, "I have seen him; he has spoken to me, he has made promises to me, he has sent me to you,” would they believe him? would they listen to him? would they understand him?

It was thus that the apostles of Jesus Christ, when they went to gather together the people of God amid idolaters, had to encounter two classes of enemies; on the one hand, the emperors of Rome, the rich and powerful priests of the old religions, who had their gods, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and many more; on the other hand, the nations whom they were sent to convert: there was the greatest difficulty. Read the Acts of the Apostles, and you will readily perceive that the apostles' impediments and persecutions came from the people more than from the emperors and the great men of the world. But do you fully understand the objection that Moses expected from the unbelief of the people? The Israelites had probably become idolaters by living among the Egyptians, who worshipped a great number of gods, each of which had its name, as Ammon, Isis, Osiris, Apis. They shall say to me, What is his name? Is he truly the God of our fathers? Has he said so to thee? We do not see him; he has forsaken

us.

God then deigned to reply again to Moses; he de

clared his great name to him, or rather his two names that were to make him known to his people, and which we ought to study carefully in the Bible. The expression to "know the name of God' means to know God. "They will know my name," means to say they will know me; and to know God is the whole duty of man. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

Of the two words by which God calls himself here; the first is his general name, which tells us that he himself is the Creator and Sovereign; the second is the name which tells us that he is the Saviour and Redeemer of his people and of his elect. Jehovah, that is to say, I AM THAT I AM, is his sublime, mysterious, sovereign name as Creator, Lord, and Master of all things. This name astonishes at first, but the more it is reflected upon, the more admirable and adorable we see it to be. It expresses in the most simple, comprehensive, and sublime manner the grandeur and perfection of God.

But God has another name, which is more within the comprehension of his creatures; he is the revealed God, the God of the promises, the God of Abraham. He is still more to us: he is God in Christ, God the Saviour, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who has mercy upon us, who has said that it is his will "that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life;" and "him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."

"Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you this is my name for ever." It was by this name -this name which recalled all his tender mercies-that

God revealed himself to Moses; and it was in this name that Moses was to present himself to the Israelites. By this God designed, first, to lead them back to the religion of their fathers; and then to prepare them for the promised deliverance, in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had believed, and in the hope of which " Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones."

God then gave Moses the directions necessary for his mission. The principal point was decided; Moses was thus to begin it. He was to leave the mountain, and go to Egypt, and there gather together the elders of Israel, and give them the message of God. Thou shalt say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers

appeared unto me," and has promised to deliver you.— Dear children, it is the same message that every true minister of God comes to tell us. The Lord, the God and Father of Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, he who has so loved the world that he gave his only Son, has sent us to you. “We are ambassadors for Christ," wrote St. Paul to the Corinthians; and so say I to all of you when I come among you with the Bible in my hand.

Dear children, remark this word, "I have said, I will bring you up out of Egypt." To say things and to do them are, with us, two different things; with God they are but one. "He speaks, and it is done." He said, "Let there be light and there was light." Thus he promised the Israelites the lands of seven warlike and powerful nations, whose cities were walled, and whose fortresses towered upwards towards the clouds. This was a great and very improbable thing; but nothing is

impossible with, and for, God. I repeat, it is one and the same thing to do and to say. We should remember this when we read his word. In so doing we shall find great strength. When God has promised us anything, it is as certain to be ours as though we already possessed it; this rejoices, comforts, and strengthens the heart more than you can believe until you have tried it. Four causes of fear restrained Moses: 1. The people will not believe me.

2. Pharaoh will not hearken to me.

3. The Egyptians will crush the Israelites.

4. The Israelites were in a state of complete destitu. tion.

God replied to these four causes of fear by four promises. When he has taken one of his servants under his mighty protection, and has said of a thing, "I will do it," nothing can hinder it, the thing is as it were done; and he will accomplish it by inclining the hearts of some, and by smiting others; for he holds in his hands all creatures, whether living or dead; he controls the wills and the hearts of all.

The great thing is to have God on our side, for then we can say with the psalmist, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." "All things work together for good to them that love God," says St. Paul; and often those who believe they are doing harm to God's people, even their very persecutors, really do them good, for they purify the church, they exalt it, and unite it together.

We have said that Moses had four causes of fear; God replied by four promises. The first was: "They

1 Ps. iii. 6.

2 Rom. viii. 28.