Notes on the book of ExodusMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
Notes on the book of Exodus
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Bible. Exodus -- Commentaries
"_Make us gods!_" What a thought! Man called upon to make gods, and
people willing to put their trust in such! My reader, let us look
within, and look around, and see if we cannot detect something of all
this. We read, in 1 Cor. x., in reference to Israel's history, that
"all these things happened unto them for ensamples [or types]; and
they are written _for our admonition_, upon whom the ends of the world
are come" (ver. 11.). Let us, then, seek to profit by the
"admonition." Let us remember that although we may not just form and
bow down before "a molten calf," yet that Israel's sin is a "type" of
something into which we are in danger of falling. Whenever we turn
away in heart from leaning exclusively upon God Himself, whether in
the matter of salvation or the necessities of the path, we are, in
principle, saying, "Up, make us gods." It is needless to say we are
not, in ourselves, a whit better than Aaron or the children of Israel;
and if they acknowledge a calf instead of Jehovah, we are in danger of
acting on the same principle, and manifesting the same spirit. Our
only safeguard is to be much in the presence of God. Moses knew that
the "molten calf" was not Jehovah, and therefore he did not
acknowledge it. But when we get out of the divine presence, there is
no accounting for the gross errors and evils into which we may be
betrayed.
We are called to live by faith; we can see nothing with the eye of
sense. Jesus is gone up on high, and we are told to wait patiently for
His appearing. God's word, carried home to the heart in the energy of
the Holy Ghost, is the ground of confidence in all things--temporal
and spiritual, present and future. He tells us of Christ's completed
sacrifice; we, by grace, believe, and commit our souls to the efficacy
thereof, and know we shall never be confounded. He tells us of a great
High-Priest, passed into the heavens--Jesus, the Son of God, whose
intercession is all-prevailing; we, by grace, believe, and confidingly
lean upon His ability, and know we shall be saved to the uttermost. He
tells us of the living Head to whom we are linked, in the power of
resurrection life, and from whom we can never be severed by any
influence, angelic, human, or diabolical; we, by grace, believe, and
cling to that blessed Head in simple faith, and know we shall never
perish. He tells us of the glorious appearing of the Son from heaven;
we, through grace, believe, and seek to prove the purifying and
elevating power of "that blessed hope," and know we shall not be
disappointed. He tells us of "an inheritance, incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who
are kept by the power of God," for entrance thereinto in due time; we,
through grace, believe, and know we shall never be confounded. He
tells us the hairs of our head are all numbered, and that we shall
never want any good thing; we, through grace, believe, and enjoy a
sweetly tranquilized heart.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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