1. God’s ambassadors must not forsake His message, upon man’s denial.
2. Further arguments must press God’s message, when the proposal is not enough.
3. The God of the Hebrews must be owned by them, though despised by Pharaoh.
4. Relation unto God, and call from Him necessitates souls to follow His commands.
5. Although God command powers, yet it beseemeth His people to entreat them.
6. To go at God’s call, and serve Him only after His will must be insisted on by His.
7. Small desires of the Church for God, leave powers on earth inexusable in denying.
8. To sacrifice to God and to feast with Him are synonymous.
9. Entreaties from powers to serve God for averting His judgments is reasonable.
10. Pestilence and sword are God’s judgments exacting the neglect of His service.
11. These plagues areincident on all that neglect God, but much more on them that forbid others to serve Him.
12. The fear of these judgments should awe souls from slighting His message to them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
It is right to recognize the danger of disobedience to God
“Let us go . . . lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.” It is right to have in mind the fact that God will punish us if we refuse to do as He tells us to. It may answer for other people to talk about needing no other motive to well doing than love; but you and I are not always influenced by love alone. If we knew to-day that we could do wrong with entire impunity--do a little wrong, I mean, a pet wrong, a wrong that no one would know anything about, and that wouldn’t seem to harm anybody very much any way--could do it without any suffering or any punishment; do you think we should be just as strong for the right as now, while we know that the disclosure and the punishment of sin is sure? Well, even if you and I think so, God doesn’t take that view of it. God threatens as well as entreats. He holds up the danger of punishment for sin, as welt as the rewards of loving and serving Him trustfully; and God doesn’t make any mistake in so doing. (S. S. Times.)
