THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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God works; in no su p e rn a tu ral way, nor by th e use of any m iracle, does He provide for th e train in g of Moses. There was no royal road for Moses in religion or education, any more th an th e re is fo r us. 3. Moses, th e Man. Three things stand ou t in Moses’ life which we have only room to suggest. They are very plain i n . the n arrativ e, and atten tion ought to be focused on them . Note, then, his patriotism , his piety, and, a t th is period, his impatience. Heb. 11:24-26. W hat a call God is sending fo rth today for young men who will tu rn th e ir backs on all th e flatter ing offers of th e world, and choose th e lot of th e people of God! The Book of Exodus covers 2200 years of th e h isto ry of Israel. There are 400 years of silence, leaving about 1300 years to be covered by th e rem ain ing portions of revela- HEART OF tion. THE LESSON W hat a strang e book T. C. H o rton is th e Old Testament! It is dealing w ith the descendants of one man. Everything it records concerns Israel and th e nations as th ey are related to these people. Two g rea t themes stand ou t in th is book of Exodus—Redemption and R ela tionship. God’s purpose w ith Israel in Egypt may be clearly seen from th e con text. Hie is preparing a people for His name for a g reat purpose. Out of one fam ily He is to build a nation, and nations are not made in a day, nor a year. The process is to be along prac tical lines. Israel is to be God’s earth ly people,— the people th rough whom God is to work out His plans for th e etern al fu tu re fo r both heaven and earth . We could, of course, w ith o u r w onderful wisdom, have devised a plan by which the whole scheme could have been worked out, and by which Israel could have been saved out of her suffering and have come into possession of the
Prom ised Land w ithou t the long, tedi ous process th rough which they were projected. B u t Israel was in God’s school, and learning God’s lessons, as are we who are His heavenly people. Egypt was th e leading nation of the world, advanced in science and arts. Israel was to learn h abits of settled life. P alestine was occupied by nomadic tribes, and these lessons could no t be learned there. In E gypt they had the choicest of the land, and were separated from th e Egyptians by th e ir form of sacrifice, for th e anim als sacrificed by th e Israelites were th e objects of wor ship by th e Egyptians. Though separ ated, they were in stru cted in all th e fine a rts and ru les of government, and k ep t by God’s overruling Providence they became a g rea t nation. F rom sev enty souls they grew to num ber two or th ree millions. There are g rea t lessons to be learned from th is g rea t h isto ry of Israel. We discover God’s plan for H is people in all ages. The church is typified in th e experience of Israel,— a hand fu l of apostles tak en ou t of the world (John 1 7 :16 ), and th en sen t into th e world (John 1 7 :1 8 ),— in, bu t ho t of the world; isolated by God’s sp iritu a l law from th e world; w ith its sacrifice, which the world rejected ; preserved by the power of God th rough fiery perse cution; subject to th e world’s taskm as te rs; m isunderstood; counted as th e off- scouring of th e ea rth ; a little flock; multiplying in spite of persecution; weaned from the world un til they come not to love th e world, n eith er th e things of th e world; Satan, th e P h aro ah of th e world, determ ined upon th e ir oppres sion; passing th rough th e fires of cen tu ries,— a history of conflict, hardship, persecution and tria l! The Jews have always been a prob lem to th e world, and so has the church. The C hristian life, norm ally lived, has always been a rebuke to th e world. Above them , God ruled for th e ir sal-
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