Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 8:25
And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
25. in the land ] i.e. in Egypt.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
25 29. The Pharaoh, as before ( v. 8), entreats for a removal of the plague. At first he will only give permission for the Israelites to hold their festival in Egypt; but afterwards, in consequence of Moses’ representations, he grants leave for a journey of three days in the wilderness.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To your God – Pharaoh now admits the existence and power of the God whom he had professed not to know; but, as Moses is careful to record, he recognizes Him only as the national Deity of the Israelites.
In the land – i. e. in Egypt, not beyond the frontier.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 8:25-32
It is not meet so to do.
The impossibility of compromise in a religious life
I. That there can be no compromise in Christian morality. And Moses said, It is not meet to do so.
1. Because they do not like to give up their sins.
2. Because they will not summon resolution enough to break the force of old and continued habit.
II. That there can be no compromise in Christian worship. We will go three days journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us. It is not enough to worship God; we must worship Him in the manner He has made known. Men should not place themselves in temptation by going to unhallowed sanctuaries.
1. Christian worship must not he compromised by idolatry.
2. Christian worship must not be compromised by levity. Prayer must be the dominant impulse of the soul.
III. That the servants of God must reject all attempts at religious compromise.
1. Because religious compromise brings contempt upon the Christian life.
2. Because religious compromise brings contempt upon Christian worship. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
It is not meet so to do
I. The impossibility of maintaining a secret or hidden Christian life. The life of Christ in the soul will come out in real manifestation and in public recognition of God. In the first place, the very initial demand of Christ upon His disciples is to confess Him before men, and to take up the cross and come after Him daily. There is no such thing as a private and concealed faith allowed or alluded to in the Scriptures. Christianity is no secret organization, but a life that openly and boldly declares itself. Besides, the very fact that Christianity is a life in the soul makes it impossible to keep it a secret. A tree might just as well say, Can I not be a real living tree without giving forth buds and leaves in the springtime? or a rose, Can I not be a rose without bursting into leaf, and in due time sending forth my flowers in their sweetness to rejoice the eye and delight the smell of man? A prominent fruit merchant in one of our New England cities was converted at one of our meetings, and he determined to keep the fact secret. He was ashamed to confess Christ before his companions, among whom he had been a very profane and godless man. His special and besetting sin was an awful habit of the wildest profanity, which used to burst out of his mouth at the least provocation to his quick and passionate temper. Some of his employes told me that when he came to the warehouse, where his fruit was sorted and stored after being received from the ships, he would swear and curse at such a rate that they all dreaded his coming. And especially was this so if a cargo of oranges or bananas turned out badly. The next morning after he had decided to give himself to Christ he went down to his receiving store. A large cargo of oranges had been received the day before, and the men were engaged in opening and sorting them. They were dreading his appearance, well knowing that the condition the fruit was in would excite his wrath to the uttermost. Well, he came in, and without a word he looked over the oranges. To the astonishment of his men, he said to them pleasantly, Well, boys, this is rather a bad lot, to be sure. Just sort them over, and make the best of them. I suppose it cant be helped. Now, that man did not exactly confess Christ in so many words, but the absence of certain expressions from his conversation, and the presence of a new spirit, revealed the fact that he had seen Jesus. At once the men came to the conclusion as to what had happened. They were not wrong. One of them told me the occurrence the next day. That night I related this incident. I did not know the man by sight, and was not sure that he was present; but at the close of the meeting the merchant sprang to his feet and confessed that he was the man; and he there and then publicly confessed Jesus Christ as his Saviour. You see he could not hide the fact from those round about him, nor could he keep from confessing it.
II. A man cannot be a Christian and worship God in the land without offending the world. A gentleman in Boston was converted at one of Mr. Moodys meetings. He purposed keeping it a secret. He belonged to a wealthy and aristocratic family and circle, among whom it was fashionable to sneer at evangelical religion, and at that time especially at Mr. Moody and the great work going on in that city. Shortly afterwards this gentleman was guest at a large dinner-party. In course of the dinner, the tabernacle meetings and Mr. Moody came up for discussion and ridicule. From bad they went to worse, and began to sneer at Jesus and His cross. By and by, when he could bear it no longer, he arose in his place, trembling with embarrassment, yet courageous in purpose, and said, addressing his host: I do not wish to seem rude; but I cannot be true to myself or to my God, and let this conversation go on any longer. I beg to say that Mr. Moody, though I am personally unknown to him, is my friend; and in that same old tabernacle which is the object of your ridicule, and in one of those meetings which you hold in such contempt, he was the means of awakening me to a true knowledge of my condition before God, and of leading me to Christ, whom I believe to be the very Son of God–and through the merits of His blood I am trusting for forgiveness and eternal life. I cannot let the conversation go on without at least confessing so much. And not wishing to disturb the freedom of your party, or restrain you by my presence, I beg leave of my kind host to retire from this table.
III. We will go three days journey into the wilderness. Israel could not worship God in the land, because God had commanded them to go out of the land. Three days journey into the wilderness. Where is that? Surely it must teach us that the Christians place is in resurrection with the Lord. From the cross to the resurrection was three days. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above (Col 3:1). (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Not very far away-
Alas, how many who have named the name of Christ have never gone very far away from the former things. In the world they are not known as Christians, and are only known as Christians in the church by the fact that their names are on the church roll or parish register as having been baptized and confirmed. It must be apparent to any thoughtful person that any half-and-half position with reference to Christ and His salvation is not only an inconsistent, but a very unhappy, one.
I. Not very far away is inconsistent with the first law of Christian life, which demands that we shall break with this world. For our citizenship is in heaven (Php 3:20). The whole world lieth in the evil one (1Jn 5:19); and to abide in the world is to take up quarters on Satans ground. Besides, the very object that Moses had in going down to Egypt was to bring the people up out of that land into a good land and large. How could they ever reach Canaan if they consented not to go very far away? And how shall we be separated from this present evil world if we, as confessors of Christ, insist on lingering about the borders of the old life?
II. Not very far away is entirely incompatible with a happy Christian life. In the times of the old border wars between the Scots and the English, the people living in the border counties had a most wretched time of it. First the Scots would come pouring down into the northern counties of England, and devastate and destroy there; and then the English would invade the southern counties of Scotland, and desolation and death would be their portion. So it is with the border-Christians. The Word of God catches them in the world, and pricks and cuts without healing; and if they are only a little way in the kingdom they are thoroughly exposed to the temptations and buffetings of Satan. With the back to the world and face to Christ, ever marching forward, is the only way of peace and happiness.
III. Not very far away is a dangerous place to be in. I once heard of a little girl who fell out of bed during the night. The mother heard the childs fall and cry, and ran to her little one. After she had picked her up and somewhat pacified her, she asked the little girl, How did you come to fall out, my dear? The child replied, Oh, I suppose I went to sleep too near to the edge of the bed where I fell out, and then, quickly correcting her statement, said, No, I mean I went to sleep too near to the place where I got in. That was the real truth of it. There are a great many persons who profess conversion; but they do not get very far into the kingdom; and then they go to sleep, and when they fall out the real reason is that they did not get far enough in. Not far away is a most dangerous compromise to consent to.
IV. Not very far away is a position from which God can choose no workers. I am very free to say that God can make little or no use of a worldly half-and-half Christian. In the first place, the world has no confidence in a Christian who is hand-and-glove with it, while at the same time professing to have found something infinitely better, and to have been saved from the world. In the second place, a half-and-half Christian cannot do with all his might what God would give him to do. Consecration and service go necessarily together; and no consecrated life can be maintained on the edge of the world or on the edge of the Church. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Exhortation to the newly awakened
The old life–so far as that old life is associated with old companions and with practices which are evil–must be abandoned. It does not mean that you arc to turn hermit or nun; but in spirit and practice you belong to another commonwealth. But the Christian in the world is to be as distinct from it as the Gulf Stream is from the ocean through which it flows. Christian and Great-Heart passed through Vanity Fair, but they were not citizens of that place. You are not to turn your back in pharisaical self-righteousness upon your did friends; but henceforth you can only have to do with them on the basis of your out-and-out loyalty to Christ. If you can go with them and take Christ with you to their feasts and pleasures, then go; but if the condition of your going is that you leave your Master behind you, then of course you are not to go: you cannot. Be true to the Master, and your worldly associates will spare you any pains on the point. They will adjust themselves to you, or, rather, from you, until the moment comes when they want a true friend, a guide and helper in some spiritual crisis, and they will come to you, passing by those Christians (?) who are serving God in the land. (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 25. Sacrifice to your God in the land.] That is, Ye shall not leave Egypt, but I shall cause your worship to be tolerated here.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
25-32. Pharaoh called for Moses, . .. Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land, c.Betweenimpatient anxiety to be freed from this scourge and a reluctance onthe part of the Hebrew bondsmen, the king followed the course ofexpediency he proposed to let them free to engage in their religiousrites within any part of the kingdom. But true to his instructions,Moses would accede to no such arrangement; he stated a most validreason to show the danger of it, and the king having yielded so faras to allow them a brief holiday across the border, annexed tothis concession a request that Moses would entreat with Jehovah forthe removal of the plague. He promised to do so, and it was removedthe following day. But no sooner was the pressure over than thespirit of Pharaoh, like a bent bow, sprang back to its wontedobduracy, and, regardless of his promise, he refused to let thepeople depart.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron,…. He and his people not being able to endure this plague of flies any longer; and we read in profane history of such creatures being so troublesome, that people have been obliged to quit their habitations, and seek for new ones; so Pausanias t relates of the inhabitants of Myus, that such a number of flies rose out of the lake, that the men were obliged to leave the city, and go to Miletus; so Aelian u reports, that the inhabitants of Megara were driven from thence by a multitude of flies, as were the inhabitants of Phaselis by wasps, which creatures also might be in this mixture of insects:
and said, go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land; that is, in the land of Goshen, in the place where they were; he was willing to allow them the liberty of sacrificing to their God, which it seems they had before; but then he would not consent they should go out of the land to do it.
t Achaica, sive l. 7. p. 400. u De Animal. l. 11. c. 28.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 25-32:
The plague of “flies” wrung from Pharaoh grudging permission for Israel to go from the land and worship their God. At first, Pharaoh argued that Israel could worship in Egypt. Moses refused this offer. The sacrifices Israel was required to offer were “abomination of the Egyptians,” that is, the Egyptians would abominate the killing. Cattle were sacred to the Egyptians, emblematic of Apis, one of their deities. Sheep were unclean, thus unfit for use in worship. To slaughter these animals would be regarded as sacrilegious, and might provoke a bloody riot, or even a civil war.
Pharaoh then offered to let Israel go, “not. . .very far away,” to worship Jehovah. He admits his reason for refusing to let Israel go: he was afraid he would lose them and the revenue they produced. Moses offered no objection to this compromise. He warned against any deceit by Pharaoh.
The plague was to be lifted the next day. The sudden disappearance of the “flies” was as miraculous as their appearance. This was undeniable evidence of Jehovah’s power.
When the plague was lifted, Pharaoh refused to let Israel go. This is an example of insincere repentance.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
25. And Pharaoh called for Moses. Pharaoh imagines that he is granting a great thing, if the Israelites are permitted to offer sacrifice to God in Egypt. He and all his people should have humbly embraced the worship of God, and casting away their superstitions should have sought to Moses as their instructor in sincere piety. He departs from none of their common vices; he does not renounce his idols nor forsake his former errors; but only permits God to be worshipped in one part of his kingdom. But this is customary with the reprobate, to think that they have sufficiently done their duty, when they yield ever so little to God. Hence it arises, that when they are conquered and compelled, still they would not hesitate to detract somewhat from the rights of God; nay, if they might do so with impunity, they would willingly rob Him of all. And in fact as long as fortune (99) is propitious, and they enjoy a state of prosperity and safety, they deprive God, as much as may be, of all His glory; but when the power of resisting fails them, they so descend to submission as to defraud Him of half His due honor. God had commanded a free departure to be conceded to His people; Pharaoh does not obey this command, but endeavors to satisfy God in another way, viz., by not forbidding them to offer sacrifice in Egypt. This sin, which was common in all ages, is now-a-days too clearly manifest. Our Pharaohs would altogether extinguish God’s glory, and this they madly set themselves to compass; but when reduced to extremities, if there be no further use in professedly contending with Him, they maim and mutilate His worship by a fictitious course, which they call a reformation. Hence arose that mixture of light and darkness, which was named “the Interim” (100) Nor do the enemies of the truth cease to obtrude thus ridiculously upon God their empty and unreal expiation’s.
(99) Ils ont vent en pouppe, — Fr.
(100) The document called the Interim, drawn up at the suggestion of Charles V., and published at the Diet of Augsburg in 1548, was professedly a measure of mutual concession, prescribing what was to be believed in the interim, “until all could be established by a general council.” In reality, however, it was opposed to the Reformation on all the main points of dispute; and conceded nothing but that married priests should retain their cures, and that, where the cup had been again given to the laity, it might be continued. It is printed at length in Osiander, Ecc. Hist., cent. 16, lib. 2 c. 72; and a copious summary of its contents is given by F1eury, 54:145. See Robertson’s Charles V., and Stokes’s continuation of Milner. See also Calvin’s Tracts, Calv. Soc., vol. 3, on the Adultero-German Interim.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Exo. 8:26. Not meet the abomination of the Egyptians] Those who can consult the original should mark the vigour thrown into it by the incisive way in which the words here quoted are placed first in their respective clauses: THE ABOMINATION OF THE EGYPTIANS we shall sacrifice, &c. He takes for granted it will be so; and vigorously asserting this, paves the way for the question that follows:Lo, shall we sacrifice] This is scarcely an easy rendering. The imperfect tense (happily now seldom called the futurebetter still could it be called, unambiguously, the incomplete tense!) readily lends itself to the expression of the subjunctive and potential moods (Ges. Gram., 127, 3, a, d; Ewald, 136, ii. 2; A. B. Davidson, 46, 4): hence we may more tersely bind together the crowning question thus:Lo! can we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and they not stone us?
Exo. 8:27. Shall command us] May say unto us. See previous note, on the imperfect tense.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 8:25-32
THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF COMPROMISE IN A RELIGIOUS LIFE
It would appear that the plagues with which Pharaoh was smitten were progressive in severity, and that he could endure them no longer, hence he suggests a partial obedience to the commands of God. The king says that he will allow Israel to sacrifice providing that they will do so in Egypt. Moses shows the impossibility of this, by stating that if they sacrificed in Egypt they would have to do it after the manner of the Israelites or the Egyptians, if after the manner of the latter it would be an abomination to God; if after the manner of the former, it would be an abomination to Egypt. Here was a dilemma which the suggestion of Pharaoh would involve. Moses told him that he could not thus compromise the claims and worship of God.
I. That there can be no compromise in Christian morality. And Moses said it is not meet to do so. Moses had been sent by God to make known to the king of Egypt the Divine will in reference to the freedom of Israel. Pharaoh was told his duty. He ought to have understood it. Moses as the servant of God can admit of no compromise. The claims of God upon moral conduct are supreme and unalterable. They yield to none other. They yield not to policy. They yield not to self interest. They yield not to social position. They are divinely royal. They are immutable. How many people suggest to the servants of God a compromise in the mortality of the Christian life. They are convinced of their duty to God, and wish to combine it with the service of Satan. And why?
1. Because they do not like to give up their sins. Pharaoh did not like the idea of giving up his bondmen. They had formed part of his nation for many years. They were profitable to him. Hence he did not wish to give them freedom. And how many people are kept from entering into the complete morality and duty of the christian life by an unwillingness to give up the pleasures and fancied emoluments of sin.
2. Because they will not summon resolution enough to break the force of old and continued habit. Pharaoh had long resisted the claims of God upon him, and every successive judgment had had a hardening effect upon his heart. It would require some energy on his part to subdue the sinful habit of his life. And there are multitudes who have the convictions of duty, who do not work them out in character because they do not in prayer seek strength to overcome the enervating habits of the past. An uncompromising attention to Christian duty requires great power of soul, and great courage.
3. Because they do not enter into the complete and lofty idea of the Christian life. Pharaoh had no idea of the dignity and enjoyment of a complete surrender of himself, in all his relations, to God He simply regarded it as a deprivation. And if men would only have enlarged views of Christian morality, if they would only see that in giving up all, they truly gain all, that by obedience to the law of God and the claims of duty, they realised the perfection of character and enjoyment, then there would be but little attempt at compromise in the Christian life.
II. That there can be no compromise in Christian worship. We will go three days journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command us. Pharaoh wanted Moses to worship in Egypt rather than go into the wilderness for that purpose. It is not enough to worship God; we must worship Him in the manner He has made known. We must not worship God in Egypt, or we shall be likely to offer a sacrifice that shall be an abomination to Him. Men should not place themselves in temptation by going to unhallowed sanctuaries. The temples of Egypt are unworthy the presence of the good.
1. Christian worship must not be compromised by idolatry. Pharaoh asked Moses to sacrifice in Egypt. No doubt the king would have placed magnificent temples at the disposal of Israel if they would have consented to worship God in the land of bondage. But Moses refused. He preferred the wilderness as his sanctuary. It is better to worship God in the wilderness than in the heathen temple. Prayer is independent of locality. Men cannot worship God and Baal at the same time.
2. Christian worship must not be compromised by Ritualism. We must not compromise the externalism of worship, and especially not the spirituality of devotion. It is possible that the rising incense may hide God from the eye of the contrite soul. The worship of God should be simple as life in the wilderness can make it.
3. Christian worship must not be compromised by levity. The worship of God must be reverent. The frivolities of life must be hushed in the presence of the Eternal. Secular thought must be banished. Prayer must be the dominant impulse of the soul.
III. That the servants of God must reject all attempts at religious compromise.
1. Because religious compromise brings contempt upon the Christian life. The world watches the Christian with vigilant eye, and soon detects any inconsistency of conduct. And when it sees the good faltering in their obedience to the laws of God, it is tempted to ridicule the Christian life.
2. Because religious compromise brings contempt upon Christian worship. The world knows that Israel has no right to worship God in the temples of Egypt; and eagerly watches the devotion of those who sacrifice to the true Deity, and will only admire it when simple and devout. The servant of God must defend the worship of the sanctuary from the evils of compromise, even though he oppose a king.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 8:25. Plagues upon the wicked from God make them hastily call to Gods servants for help.
Men yielding to God under His plagues are unwilling to give Him all His desire.
Persecutions in giving liberty to the Church try to impose restrictions.
It is iniquity to act Gods worship in place or manner inconsistent with Gods will.
Exo. 8:26. Gods worship must not savour of the abomination of idolaters.
Idolaters abominate the true worship of God, and persecute those who engage in it.
Justly do Gods servants refuse to expose His worship to the scorn of men.
Exo. 8:27. It becomes Gods ministers to be resolute for His worship after His mind.
Gods word and command is the only rule of worship, not the will of powers on earth.
Ministers must be bold to state and faithful to maintain the claims of God.
Exo. 8:28. In Gods over-powering plagues, yet the wicked would limit His demands.
Persecutors do not like the Church to go far out of their power.
Plagues make the wicked ask the prayers of Gods servants whom they oppress.
Removal of plagues and not of sins is the desire of the wicked.
THE CAUTION AND RESTRICTION OF SIN
Only ye shall not go very far away.
I. There are times when men wish to get away from the tyranny of sin Even wicked men have moments of reflection, when they long to get away from Satan, and to cast off the pain of sin. They are awakened by the truth to a consciousness of their depraved condition, and they wish to go and sacrifice to God. Satan is loth to lose them. They grow impatient. He yields, but with cautious reservation.
II. That Satan is anxious to retain men in his power. Satan knows the better moods of the soul, and endeavours to prevent the freedom sought. He will not allow the sinner to go far away.
1. Lest he should feel the joy of freedom and never return. How glad the moment when the slave is free. How welcome the time when the souls bondage is at an end. And Satan fears that if men once experience the impulse of moral freedom they will not return to him.
2. Lest he should see the beauty of religion and never return. Sin is a deformity. Piety is beautiful. Its truths are flowers. Its character is pure. Its visions are heavenly. And if the awakened sinner sees the worth of religion he will not return to the devil. Hence Satan does not like him to go far away.
3. Lest he should seek protection from Satan in the cross of Christ. Christ can bring the sinner out of bondage, and give a freedom Satan cannot touch.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 8:29. Gods servants are ready to help persecutors in misery.
Prayers do the righteous make for the removal of plagues from the wicked.
Gods faithful ministers do not only pray for the wicked, but warn them against sin.
Where prayers are heard warnings against sin must be observed.
Exo. 8:30-32. Gods servants not only promise, but perform to the worst of men.
God fails not to do what His servants speak from Him.
God removes swarms of judgment when His servants pray to Him.
Princes and people are healed as well as plagued together.
THE REMOVAL OF PENALTIES
There remained not one.
I. They are removed in answer to prayer.
II. They are effectually removed.
III. Their removal is often followed by renewed sin.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Compromise! Exo. 8:25. As Hitchcock remarks, objects may be seen through a semi-transparent mineral. But there is no distinctness of outline, as in gypsum, selemite, and quartz. This half-clear, half-cloudy character, is no uncommon one. Pharaoh admired it, and advised Moses to practise it. Everything about such persons is indistinct and cloudy. They have no clear and definite ideas about the Christian religion or its duties and principles. They conform very much to worldly maxims and practices, and yet they cordially unite in every good work. They see very great convenience in harmonizingas they imaginethe church and the world. Moses would have none of it Any such compromise would only evidence insincerity of heartwould only betoken a mere outward religious profession. Such compromises are often like irised minerals, which give a splendid exhibition of most of the colours of the spectrum. But this is produced by a mere superficial film, while all beneath is opaque, as in a specimen of anthracite coal. The religion of Moses was something deepersomething that would admit of no conceivable compromise between Christ and Belial.
Thou must be true thyself,
If thou the truth wouldst back.
Opportunity! Exo. 8:25. Trench says of the Spanish proverb: That which the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning. The wise man does with a good grace what the fool has to do with an ill. This was a hint which Pharaoh might have laid to heart. The familiar story of the Sibylline books offered to the Roman emperor illustrates to perfection the case of the Egyptian monarch. The same thing to be done in the endthe same price to be paid at the last; with only this difference, that much of the advantageas well as the graceof an earlier compliance has passed away. The nine precious volumes have shrunk to sixand these dwindle to three, while the same price is demanded for the few as the many. Pharaoh had successive opportunities of doing the will of God; but each day it was put offonly at last to be forced to do with an ill grace what he might have done with a good one.
After-wits are dearly bought,
Let thy fore-wit guide thy thought.
Southwell.
Inconsistency! Exo. 8:26. The world is lynx-eyed enough to detect any compromise of religious principle in the course or conduct of Christian professors. A Christian when he makes a good profession should be sure to make his profession good. No doubt Pharaoh and his subjects would have been the first afterwards to taunt Moses for his compromise. The worldling is inconsistent, yet loves to see, and insists on seeing consistency in Christians. Christs soldiers need to be consistent, to hold fast the profession of their faith without wavering. As Jay says, the whole complexion of a negro is less noticed than a single stain on the features of a white countenance. Pharaoh would very soon have reminded Moses of the blot of compromise on his religious profession of devotedness to Jehovah. This Moses did not forget, conscious that he who cleanses a blot with blurred fingers will make a greater blot. To him the maxim was not unknown:
Live truly and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.
Pharaohs Penitence! Exo. 8:28. In some rural districts, when the winter frost has been long and severe, the little pools are sheathed in ice until the spring. When the sun has gained power its beams dissolve the hard, thick coating of icebut only to expose the loathsome, stagnant, miry waters. Gods judgments melted the icy crust of self-will upon the heart of Pharaohonly to disclose the mass of floating corruption, which it had hitherto concealed:
What seest thou here? what markst? observe it well
Will, passion, reason, hopes, fears, joys, distress,
Peace, turbulence, simplicity, deceit,
Good, ill, corruption.
Polloh.
Delay! Exo. 8:32. It is always easy, writes Smith, to obey God at the very first moment of apprehension of duty. A moment afterwards it becomes less easy; and the longer that obedience is deferred, the more difficult it becomes. Pharaoh would have found it no very difficult matter to let Israel go at the outset; but each delay increased the difficulties of yielding obedience to the Divine command:
Works adjourned have many stays,
Long demurs breed new delays.
Southwell.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(25) Pharaoh called for Moses.Pharaoh suffered from the kakerlaque equally with his subjects, or rather, more than his subjects. It was upon him, inflicting its painful bites (Exo. 8:21); it was upon his palaces (Exo. 8:21), destroying his rich and magnificent furniture; it was upon his lands, ravaging and devastating them (Exo. 8:24). He therefore gave way before this plague almost at once, and without waiting for any remonstrance on the part of the magicians or others, called for Moses.
In the land.Pretending to grant the request made of him, Pharaoh mars all by this little clause. A three days journey into the wilderness had been demanded from the first (Exo. 5:3), and no less could be accepted.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. Go ye, sacrifice in the land Pharaoh now allows them to sacrifice, but insists that it shall be in Egypt .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
EXPOSITION
The fourth plague moves the Pharaoh more than any preceding one. He still cannot bring himself to grant the demand of Moses; but he offers a compromise. The Israelites shall have a respite from their toils, and be permitted to hold their festival, and offer the needful sacrifices in Egypt (Exo 8:25). When this offer is for good reasons not accepted, he yields even furtherhe will let the people go and sacrifice in the wildernessonly they must not “go far away”(Exo 8:28). Having made this promise, he obtains for the second time the intercession of Moses and the discontinuance of the plague in consequence of it. But then, as before, when he saw that there was respite (Exo 8:15), he retracted his promise, hardened himself, and refused to allow the people to quit Egypt (Exo 8:32).
Exo 8:25
In the landi.e; in Egypt within the limits of my dominions, so that I may not lose sight of youfar less run the risk of losing you altogether.
Exo 8:26
It is not meet so to do. So many animals were held sacred by the Egyptians, some universally, some partially, that, if they held a great festival anywhere in Egypt, the Israelites could not avoid offending the religious feelings of their neighbours. Some animals would be sure to be sacrificedwhite cows, or heifers, for instanceby some of the people, which the Egyptians regarded it as sacrilegious to put to death. A bloody conflict, or even a civil war, might be the consequence. By the abomination of the Egyptians seems to be meant animals of which the Egyptians would abominate the killing. It has generally been supposed that either cows alone, or “cows, bulls and oxen” are meant; but recent researches seem to show that it was only white cows which it was absolutely unlawful to sacrifice. Will they not stone us? Death was the legal penalty for wilfully killing any sacred animal in Egypt (Herod. 2.65). On one occasion even a Roman ambassador was put to death for accidentally killing a eat (Diod. Sic. 1.88). Stoning does not appear to have been a legal punishment in Egypt, so that we must suppose Moses to have feared the people present taking the law into their own hands, seizing the sacrificers, and killing them by this ready method.
Exo 8:27
Three days’ journey into the wilderness. This was the demand made from the first (Exo 5:3) by Divine direction (Exo 3:18). Its object was to secure the absence of Egyptians as witnesses. As he shall command us. Compare Exo 10:26, where Moses observes”We know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither.” Divine directions were expected as to the number and the selection of the victims.
Exo 8:28
Only ye shall not go very far away. Here for the first time Pharaoh shows his real objection to letting the Israelites gohe is afraid that they will escape him. So he suggests the compromise, that they shall just enter the wilderness on his eastern border, remaining near the frontier, and therefore within his reach. Moses seems to have made no objection to this proviso. As Kalisch says, “he committal himself entirely to the guidance and direction of God.” The three days’ journey which he had requested by Divine command (Exo 3:18) would not take him far beyond the Egyptian frontier. Entreat for me. Compare Exo 8:8. An abbreviated form is now used, as sufficiently intelligible.
Exo 8:29
To-morrow. As Pharaoh had fixed the “morrow” for the departure of the second plague (Exo 8:10), so Moses now announces a similar date for the departure of the fourth. He adds a remonstrance against any further deceit or tergiversation, which Pharaoh must have felt to be well deserved.
Exo 8:31
There remained not one. The hand of God was shewn in the removal no less than in the infliction of the plagues. The complete disappearance was as abnormal as the sudden coming.
Exo 8:32
At this time also. Compare Exo 7:13, Exo 7:22; Exo 8:15.
HOMILETICS
Exo 8:25, Exo 8:26
Compromise not allowable in religious matters.
The struggles of political and social life, the conflicting claims of races, nations, states, classes, parties, are usually terminated, and perhaps, under the existing condition of things, are best terminated, by compromise. Let neither side get all it wantslet both yield something to the otherlet the prudent and the moderate on each side seek an intermediate course between the two extremes advocatedand the result is often peace and something approaching to contentment. Compromise is the soul of diplomacythe idol of clever Parliamentary leaders and party managersthe oil, as has been said, whereby the wheels Of the world are made to run smoothly. But in religion, compromise is out of place.
(1) There must be no compromise on any question of morality. If a thing is wrong, it must be got rid of, not tolerated under certain restrictions; e.g; slavery, prostitution, vivisection, intemperance. A compromise between vice and virtue is an insult to virtue.
(2) There must be no compromise with respect to doctrine. Doctrine is either false or true; and between truth and falsity there is no half-way house. Half a truth is a lie. To compromise the truth, is to give place to a lie.
(3) There must be no compromise with respect to any Christian duty. The laws of God are plain and must be obeyed. Not to obey them is to disobey them. Moses was ordered to lead his people out of Egypt. To have accepted Pharaoh’s offer would have been a flagrant breach of the command given to him. It was not necessary for him to see any ill consequences, in order that he should feel bound to reject it. Ill consequences even could none have been foreseenwould have been sure to follow. For he would have forfeited God’s blessinghe would have entered on the path of disobedienceto curry favour with an earthly monarch he would have offended against the King of Heaven.
Exo 8:29
The duty of God’s servants to rebuke the great of the earth.
“Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more.” Deceit is despicable in the meanest of men. How much more in a king! Subterfuge, tricks, lies, are said to be the refuge of the weak, the only resource whereby they can meet and defend themselves against the violence and oppressiveness of the strong. What need has a king of them? A king drags his honour in the dust when he forfeits his word, and does more to lower the dignity of kings in general than fifty rebels or revolutionists. Our own “King Charles the Martyr” has lost half the sympathy which he would otherwise have obtained, by his lamentable want of straightforwardness and steadfastness. And when kings err, in this or any other way, it is the duty of those who have the opportunity, to rebuke them. Elijah rebuked Ahab; Azariah, son of Oded, rebuked Asa; Eliezer, Jehoshaphat; Azarlah the high priest, Uzziah; John Baptist, Herod Antipas. Jesus himself spoke of Herod as “that fox,” The great are very apt to urge that whoever says a word in their dispraise is “speaking evil of dignities”(Jud 1:8), and so offending against the law of God. But the examples cited show that “dignities” have no claim to exemption from the rebukes and reproofs of God’s servants. Dignities ought to be above needing rebuke. They ought to set an example of virtue and highmindedness, and, above all, of regard for their word, when once they have pledged it. What might be forgiven in inferior men, cannot be Pardoned in them. “Be wise, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.” “A city set on a hill cannot be hid.”
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 8:25. Go ye, sacrificein the land In the 8th verse Pharaoh allows them to sacrifice, without specifying the place: here he confines them to the land of Goshen, to which Moses objects; as the animals they were to sacrifice to the Lord being those which were worshipped by the Egyptians, it would be such an affront and abomination to them as would endanger the lives of the Israelites. This is the meaning of the phrase, Exo 8:26 shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians? See Gen 43:32 and Gen 47:34. The Chaldee paraphrase renders the latter part of Exo 8:26, “for we shall take the animals, which the Egyptians worship, to sacrifice to the Lord our God.” The Syriac, “for, if we shall sacrifice the gods of the Egyptians before their eyes, they will stone us.” Herodotus, says Bishop Warburton, expressly tells us, that the Egyptians esteemed it a profanation to sacrifice any kind of cattle, except swine, bulls, clean calves, and geese; and that heifers, rams, and goats, were held sacred, either in one province or another:and, if he came any thing near the truth in his account of the early superstition of Egypt, the Israelites, we see, could not avoid sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians. And with what deadly hatred and revenge they pursued such imaginary impieties, the same Herodotus informs us in another place. See Herod, lib. ii. c. 42. 45. 65. and Div. Leg. vol. ii. part i. p. 36.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Sacrifice to the Lord requires a previous abstraction from men. 2Co 6:17-18 ; Hos 2:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 8:25 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.
Ver. 25. Sacrifice to your God in the land. ] Persecutors, when they cannot conquer, would compound.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
sacrifice. Hebrew. zabah. See App-43. in the land. Pharaoh’s objection to Jehovah’s second demand. Note Moses’ reply, and the spiritual lesson as to our worship to-day. See note on Exo 5:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in the land
The compromises proposed by Pharaoh are those urged upon Christians today. The first says in effect: “Be a Christian if you will, but not a ‘narrow’ one– stay in Egypt.” Invariably it ends in world-conformity, world-pleasing, and seeking the world’s money for God Psa 50:9-17 (Cf); 2Co 6:14-18; Gal 1:4.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Exo 8:8, Exo 9:27, Exo 10:16, Exo 12:31, Rev 3:9
Reciprocal: Exo 3:18 – that we may Exo 10:9 – a feast