And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren.
The patriotism of Moses
I. Long nursed--“forty years.”
1. Inspired by his mother. The precious time during which he was entrusted by the princess to the care of his nurse, Jochebed, would, we may be sure, be well employed, and subsequent opportunities would be utilised for reminding him of who he was, and of his possible destiny as the leader of his race. No throne in the universe is so potent as the mother’s knee for good or evil.
2. Cherished among smothering influences.
(1) Gratitude to his deliverer.
(2) Egyptian learning and court training.
(3) Prospects of advancement, even to the throne of Egypt. It must have required a very deep-seated patriotic instinct to have resisted all this.
II. Prematurely exhibited.
1. Without a Divine call. Moses acted on thespasmodic impulse of the moment. Here was a palpable opportunity--the first which presented itself--of showing his long-nursed patriotism, and the ill-usage of his brethren acted like a spark on a train of gunpowder. Many men call themselves to rectify certain evils, and mistake a seeming opportunity for the voice of God. Passion, however noble, is not inspiration. This is seen in its effects. That which leads to murder, however great the provocation, as in the case of Moses and theFrench Revolution, is manifestly not from heaven. When the hour comes the man will be inspired; let the man, then, wait for the hour.
2. Without the least chance of success. What was one man, even suppose that he was sure of the loyalty of the unorganised slaves, against the disciplined might of Egypt? This has been the mistake of well-meaning but impulsive patriots all through history, and the results have ever been fatal to the interests of those whom they would have served.
III. Eventually rectified. Moses soon saw that force was no remedy, and that his people were hardly fit for immediate emancipation. What chance of liberation for a people divided amongst themselves? Union is strength; and Moses began to educate the people in the two great unifying principles--
1. Fraternity. “Sirs, ye are brethren.” Moses saw that the only hope for Israel was thecultivation of brotherly feeling. Other ties without this are ropes of sand.
2. Justice. “Why do ye wrong?” The fetters of internal wrong-doing are far stronger than those imposed from without. Tyrants are safe when their subjects are depraved. If a community would successfully resist the iniquities of the powers that be, they must be law-abiding themselves. Agitators are at length recognising this principle, and passionately appeal to their followers not to break the law.
IV. Ungratefully repudiated. When Moses smote the Egyptian no protest was raised; but on attempting to sow the seeds of self-deliverance he met with the fate of many reformers. Most people are willing to be helped; but when urged to help themselves, the whole situation is often changed. They had no objection to Moses being a ruler and a judge when he assailed the oppressor; but when he advised the oppressed to follow a more successful but prosaic and unromantic course, the worst feelings of jealousy were aroused. The public sentiment towards Cromwell was very different when he was driving out the Stuarts from that which was expressed when reducing the chaotic national elements to order.
V. Suddenly abandoned. “Then fled Moses.”
1. Not, we may well believe, through sheer cowardice. Fear of Pharaoh had something to do with it, no doubt; but this was the fear of a man who felt that he would have to encounter the monarch alone. The cause was hopeless; he would have no following; it was useless to throw his life away.
2. Disgust, we may believe, had something to do with it. Why should he sacrifice himself for a people who would not even treat him with common gratitude. “Those who would be free must themselves strike the blow.” Moses adopted the right course. He accepted the inevitable. The time was not ripe, nor was he--a lesson for all would-be patriots and reformers.
VI. Divinely revived. That his patriotism died out in Midian is obvious from his reluctance to embark on the mission when the time had come. By minding other people’s business he had lost everything; henceforth he would mind his own, And he did so for forty years. But all this time he was being Divinely qualified. His character matured, his old impulsiveness was gone. Cool reason took the place of spasmodic passion. He became familiar with habits and scenes which stood him in good stead for the next forty years. The time came, and when it came the fire of the bush laid hold of his soul, and the Divinely-inspired leader went to beard Pharaoh and to lead his brethren out of the house of bondage. (J. W. Burn.)
A true leader of the people
These words were spoken by the Christian martyr, Stephen, when he was standing before the Jewish council. He was accused of seeking to overthrow the institutions of Moses, and his mind not unnaturally reverted to the time when Moses himself was an innovator, and repelled by the ancestors of the very men who now taxed Stephen with seeking to change the customs which he had delivered to them. The passage in the life of Moses which Stephen relates gives us an example of--
I. The true leader’s instinct. He went to see his brethren, and to look on their burdens. This is the instinct of a true leader. He does it from policy; for how can the general regulate the marches unless he knows how much the soldier has to carry? Or how can he prescribe methods of lightening burdens unless he knows of what they consist? But not only from policy; from piety and humanity. The true leader’s nature comprises the true shepherd’s nature--not the robber’s or the mere hireling’s.
II. The true leader’s mistake. He supposed the people would understand. A superiorly-gifted mind often finds a peculiar difficulty in judging of average human nature, and its calculations may prove to be ill-founded.
III. The true leader’s aim. It is to cause unity to be recognised; for what but unity can give the power which it is his nature and his function to wield? Here there was no absence of natural grounds of union. They had two of the strongest--oneness of race and a common oppressor.
IV. The true leader’s disappointment. That his efforts to promote union were in vain. But in the case of the Israelites, blindness was combined with jealousy. They saw in Moses only a man of their own order. “His own received him not.” Stephen might well recall these circumstances when he was standing before that tribunal of his countrymen, which was perpetrating a still greater refusal. The repulse was a personal one; but the disappointment was far from being merely personal. (Homilist.)
