Exodus 5:1-2
“Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'” Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go!”
Many of the characters in the Old Testament are “set forth to us as examples;” and their history is recorded “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world have come, 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11.”
Among these, Pharaoh holds a very conspicuous place. When he persisted in his rebellion against God, Moses was inspired to declare to him what a monument of God’s indignation he would be made to all future generations, and that God had raised him up to his exalted station for that express purpose. Not that God had infused any evil disposition into his mind; but by investing him with regal authority, and continuing him in the exercise of that authority notwithstanding his impious abuse of it—he enabled Pharaoh to display more conspicuously the wickedness of his heart, and to involve himself and his whole kingdom in more awful judgments than he could have done if he had moved in the situation of a private man.
Paul quotes this declaration, in order to show that God disposes of men according to his sovereign will and pleasure, either converting them unto himself, or permitting them to proceed in their wickedness, in such a way as shall ultimately conduce most to the honor of his own name, and to the accomplishment of his own eternal purposes. Compare Exodus 9:16 with Romans 9:15-18.
In this view, the passage before us is commended to us, as of singular importance. It shows us not only what Pharaoh was, but what human nature itself is—if left to manifest its dispositions without restraint. I shall take occasion from it, therefore, to show,
I. The impiety of Pharaoh.
I will bring it before you in a brief but comprehensive way. Mark,
1. The source of Pharaoh’s impiety.
It arose from pride and ignorance. Because there was no man of greater eminence than himself on earth, this unhappy monarch imagined that there was none above him even in Heaven. Poor foolish worm! Swelling with his own importance, while the plagues inflicted on him showed how impotent he was to repel the assaults of the most base insects. What insufferable arrogance was there in that question, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” And what horrible impiety in that declaration, “I know not the Lord; neither will I let Israel go!”
True, you son of Belial, you have unwittingly assigned the real cause of your obstinacy, “I know not the Lord! 1 Samuel 2:12.” As Paul says of the Jews, “Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory! 1 Corinthians 2:8.” So I say unto you: Had you known what a great and holy Being you were resisting, you would not have dared to withstand him thus. No; you would have bowed before him, and submitted instantly to his commands. Your profaneness was proof enough of your ignorance.
2. The operation of Pharaoh’s impiety.
His obstinacy was irreclaimable, whether by judgments or by mercies. Nine successive plagues, and the removal of them all at your request, were insufficient to subdue the pride and haughtiness of your spirit. Not even the tenth, the greatest and heaviest of them all, prevailed on you to desist from fighting against God. Your relentings were only momentary; your hardness returned the very instant you were out of the furnace; your own consent, you did recall; and follow with murderous rage those you had permitted to go forth from your land. How blinded were you by the wickedness of your own heart! You were alike insensible to the evil and the danger of your ways. And in this you have shown what is, in every place and in every age, the sad effect of sin.
3. The outcome of Pharaoh’s impiety.
Where did it lead this devoted monarch, but to shame and ruin? You said, “Neither will I let Israel go!” But when that Jehovah whom you defied put forth his hand against you, you did thrust them forth from your land; and so anxious were your whole people to get rid of them, that they loaded them with all their most valuable jewels, and with everything that could be desired to speed their way.
But when they seemed to be entangled in the land, and an opportunity was afforded to you, as you thought, for their destruction, you could not forbear; you would seize the occasion, and summon all your hosts, and execute upon them your vengeance to the uttermost. You saw the sea opening for them a way; but you had yet to learn that God would put a difference between the Israelites and Egyptians!
Presumptuous wretch! You would follow them even through the sea itself, and lead on in passion your infatuated hosts. I see you enter within the watery walls which Omnipotence had raised; but there you hastened to your destruction! Now escape from the snare into which your impiety has led you. You cannot; your chariot wheels are broken; and too late do you find that Jehovah fights for Israel. Of all that followed this infuriated monarch, not one escaped! The sea came upon them, and overwhelmed them all; not so much as one was left, to report to Egypt the calamity they had sustained.
Not to dwell any longer on the impiety of Pharaoh, I shall proceed to that which is of more immediate interest to ourselves; namely, to show,
II. To what an extent this proud, impious spirit prevails among religious professors today.
To you the messages of Heaven are sent.
We are ambassadors of God to you, and in his sacred name do we bring you the counsels which we offer; and every word that is so delivered, in accordance with his mind and will, must be received, “not as the word of man, but as the Word of God himself.” To every different class of hearers we have a message suited to their state.
We call upon the licentious to forsake their evil ways.
We call upon the worldling to seek for better things than this world can give.
We call upon the formal and self-righteous to renounce their self-dependence, and to make the Lord Jesus Christ the ground of all their hopes.
But who among you can be prevailed upon to obey the Word?
The same spirit by which Pharaoh was actuated, pervades the great mass of mankind; every one displaying it in a way suited to his own particular state.
Some will openly say, with Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?”
Others, who would not altogether express themselves in such impious terms, will yet in effect maintain the same language, and practically follow the same ungodly course. The inspired writers give this precise view of the ungodly world.
Job speaks of them, as saying to God in his day, “Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of your ways! Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him Job 21:14-15.”
David gives a similar representation of them in his day, “They have said: With our tongues shall we prevail; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us Psalm 12:4.”
The Prophet Jeremiah gives exactly the same character of those in his age; all classes of the community said to his very face, in answer to the messages he delivered to them from the Lord, “As for the word that you have spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto you; but we will certainly do whatever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, or comes into our own hearts! Jeremiah 44:16-17 with 23:17.”
Now from these testimonies it is evident that I am not putting an undue construction on the words of Pharaoh, or pressing them too far, when I represent them as characterizing the spirit of the present day. It is clear that men do at this day, “reject the word of the Lord,” and “cast it behind them,” and, in effect, say as he did, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” It is obvious, too, that they do this in the midst of all the judgments and mercies with which God is pleased to visit them.
There may be in many an occasional relenting, or purpose to amend; but all endeavor to lower the commands of God to the standard that is agreeable to their own minds. Nor do any, except those who have been savingly converted to God, through Christ, ever surrender up themselves to God, or yield an unreserved obedience to his commands.
And what must the outcome of your disobedience be?
Ask of people in their career of sin, and they will tell you that they have nothing to fear. The confidence of Pharaoh and all his host exactly represents their state. Behold that whole army; onward they go, in prosecution of their bloody purpose; but little do they think how soon they will rue their folly, and how irretrievable will their ruin be in a short time. See them pressing forward; how little do they apprehend the dreadful fate that awaits them!
Behold the various classes of ungodly men; how little do they dream of the destruction to which they are hastening! Wait but a short time, and they will all sink into everlasting perdition! But will not their confidence deliver them? No! the greater their confidence, the more certain is their ruin.
But surely we may hope that their numbers will be some protection. No; of the whole Egyptian army, not one soul escaped; nor, if the unconverted world were a million times more numerous than they are, would one single soul escape the wrath of God. They are willingly and determinately treasuring up wrath to themselves against the day of wrath; and at the appointed season it shall come upon them to the uttermost. Then they will know who that Lord is, whom now they so despise! They shall find, to their cost, that “those who walk in pride he is able to abase, Daniel 4:37.”
See then, from hence,
1. How great is the folly of ungodly men!
Were a small child to contend in battle with a warrior, who would not upbraid him for his folly and presumption in entering into so unequal a contest? But what shall we say of those who set themselves in array against the Majesty of Heaven? Truly, a contest of briers and thorns against a devouring fire would not be more absurd! This is the very comparison which is made by God himself, “Who would set briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, and burn them up together! Isaiah 27:4.” I beg you, brethren, remember against whom it is that you fight. It is against Him, who by a word spoke the universe into existence, and by a word could reduce it in an instant to absolute nonentity.
Look at the fallen angels, and see the consequence of rebelling against God!
Look at the antediluvian world, and say, whether it be not an evil and bitter thing to sin against him, and to provoke his displeasure.
Were it possible for you to withstand his power or to elude his search—then you might have some excuse for casting off his light and easy yoke; but indeed you must, before long, be summoned to his tribunal, and receive at his hands a doom which can never be reversed. And “will you be strong in the day that he shall deal with you, or will you thunder with a voice like his!” I beg you, lay down the weapons of your rebellion without delay, and implore mercy at the Savior’s hands, while yet “the day of salvation lasts, and the accepted time is continued to you.”
2. How greatly are the ungodly to be pitied!
See how secure they are in their own apprehensions, and how confidently they expect a successful termination of their conflicts! Unhappy men! Methinks I see you in the agonies of death, and behold you at the instant of your entrance into the presence of your God. Oh! could we but conceive your terrors, and hear your cries, and witness your unavailing lamentations—then how would we pity you! Could we further behold the triumphant exultations of that cruel fiend, who was once your tempter, and will then be your tormentor to all eternity—how would we weep over you! And lastly, if we could behold you suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, under the wrath of Almighty God, methinks it would be too much for us to endure; the very sight would overwhelm us, even though we had no fears for ourselves.
Truly, it was with good reason that the Savior wept over the devoted city of Jerusalem; and we would wish that “our eyes also were a fountain of tears, to run down day and night” on account of your present obduracy, and on account of the dreadful miseries that await you in the eternal world!
3. How desirable is the knowledge of God, as revealed in the Gospel!
Never was there one who sought the face of God in vain. However long you may have rebelled against God, there is mercy for you, if you turn to him with your whole hearts. Think how many of those who crucified the Lord of glory obtained mercy at his hands—and so shall you also, if you will humble yourselves before him, and seek for mercy through his sin-atoning blood. “Not so much as one of you should perish, if you would but go to him.” Truly, “there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.” “All who believe in him shall be justified from all things.” “Acquaint, then, Yourselves with God, and be at peace.” Seek “that knowledge of him which is life eternal.” And know, that, while “those who know him not, and obey not his Gospel, shall be banished from the presence of his glory,” his believing and obedient servants shall both serve him, and be served by him, in his kingdom and glory, forever and ever.
Charles Simeon (1759-1836)