The International Sunday School Lessons By J. H. S. LESSON VII.—August 17. — C rossing the R ed S ea .— Exod. 12:27— 14:31. G olden T ext : Before they call, I will answer. —Isa. 6 5 :24. I. T ué S tart .
rael’s lived. A doomed soul and a doomed ass are equal, and their ransom is rated the same. Either the ass or the lamb: either the sinner or God’s Lamb (John 1 : 29); either Barabbas or Jesus (Matt. 27: 26). Here is the doctrine of substitution. How about this proud man! Yet the Lord put it that the firstling might be, but the first-born must be redeemed. III. T he W ay . 1. Not of the Philistines. —13:17. On the coast-line to Palestine lay the Philis tine, strong, warlike, holding the key to the land on the southwest. These freed- men were not yet fit to cope with them. Forty years after, drilled and skilled, it was otherwise (see latter chapters of Num bers) . God tempers temptations to strength (1 Cor. 10:13). Our want of "confidence in the flesh” prompts to pray, “Lead us not into temptation” (testing). 2. The Guidance. —13:22. “The pillar of cloud—of fire.” As caravans and armies were grouped and led by uplifted cressets with fire and smoke a supernatural beacon guided Israel. It was manifest, as was the Spirit, when “they were all, with one ac cord, in one place” (13:20-22; Acts 2:1) ; when they were to begin their pilgrim- warfare; and it came to stay (13:22; John 14:16, 17). “Let the fiery, cloudy pillar Guide me all my journey through,“ 3. “Jugged Up.” “Between Migdol and the sea,” etc.—14:2. Mountains to right of them, mountains to left of them, the waters in front of them, and Pharaoh be hind them. They were, as Grant said of a general» “Jugged up.” 4. Pharaoh’s Blunder. —14:3. “They are entangled (have missed their way)” said Pharaoh. It looked so to him. As the un worldly way looks to the worldling. Why should it ever look so to the Christian?
1. The Yoke Broken. “Israel journeyed from Rdmeses to Succoth” (12:37); from the house 6f bondage, the scéne of fruit less toil, to the booths (succoth) of pil grims in the way and to the land of lib erty; from “the works Of the law,’’ to the “walk in the Spirit’’ (Gal. 5:16). 2. The Company. (1) Its number.—Six hundred thousand that were men" (12:37) ; two to three millions iri all (the context favors this older estimate). God numbers His people, their very hairs (Matt. 10:30). Male and feinale (Gal. 3:28), young or old all are called to be “good soldiers” and “quit” themselves “like men” (2 Tim. 2:3; 1 Cor. 16:3). (2) Its quality.—“A mixed multitude” (12:38), a source of trouble then and now (Num. 11:4; John 6:64-66). 3. The Time, “The selfsame day.” The Father has “the times and seasons” in His power. Deliverance .will come and the kingdom be restored on some future “self same day” (Acts 1:6, 7). ' II. I nstructions . Memorials. —12:43; 13:10. 1. The Passover. This memorialized Is rael’s justification and consequent deliver ance from judgment, and was like the Lord’s Süppèr a memory and a hope (1 Cor. 11:26). For the antitype see Reve lation 14:1-3. 2. The Unleavened Bread. This cele brated Israel’s sanctification. As separated to the Lórd they separated from sin. Ran somed from Pharaoh they belonged to Je hovah. So it is said, “Sanctify the first born, IT IS MINE.” The first-born stood for the whole. This is sanctification—the Lord’s claim, and the believer’s recogni tion of it. 3. The Substitutionary Lamb.—13 :11-16. “Firstlings” and “first-born” are through . sin doomed to die. Egypt’s perished, Is
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