SUBJECTS FOR TEXTS

ON THE CHARACTER OF JOSEPH AS A TYPE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

79

MOSES.

THE next personal type of the Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture, I believe, is Moses. Both in his character and calling, as well as in the circumstances of his life, there is a great deal to remind us of our blessed Lord. As an infant, Pharaoh sought to take his life, which was preserved, we may almost say, by a miracle. You are all, of course, well acquainted with the beautiful account of this in the second

chapter of Exodus. This is typical of what happened to our Lord Jesus Christ. When He was an infant, a wicked King sought to take His life, and He, too, like Moses, escaped by flying from His home, while hundreds of other children were put to death. We may just notice here how safe every child of God is. How impossible it is for any one really to injure one that has God on his side. Herod wished so much to destroy the infant Jesus, and Pharaoh tried to destroy the whole Jewish nation; but they could not. And it is just the same now. Satan always wishes to hurt, and, if he can, destroy true Christians; and wicked

people often wish to do so too. But they cannot. They have no power except what God, for the good of His children, allows them to exercise. I remember reading in the life of a very holy man of God (the Rev. Mr. M'Cheyne), that a wicked man was so enraged at his preaching, that he came out of church determined to kill him, if he could. He took up a very large stone, and waited until Mr. M. came out. He was going to dash this stone at him, but when he looked into his face, he was so struck with its holy expression, that he could not do what he had planned. He dropped the stone behind him, and went away. Now you see the Lord restrained him from committing this sin. He had not the power to do it. He could pick up the stone, but he could not throw it! So safe, so well cared for, is every child of God. Moses was brought up in Pharaoh's court, and became a very learned man. Stephen tells the Jews, Acts vii. 22,— "that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians." Pharaoh's daughter was very fond of Moses, and called him her son. It is very likely that if Moses had continued to live with her, he would have succeeded to the crown of Egypt, and been the king of that rich and powerful country. It must, one would think, have been a great temptation. I suppose

you would think it a great piece of good fortune if some great and powerful queen were to offer to bring you up in her palace; call you her child, and make you, if not her heir, at any rate the greatest person in the kingdom; next to her own family.

Pharaoh's daughter made a very tempting offer, and I have no doubt Moses felt it was, but he refused all the riches and honours that were offered him.

Why he refused we are told in Hebrews xi. 24, 25, 26,—“ By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward." Moses could not be happy to live with people who did not know or serve God. He would much rather be the poorest among God's people, than the richest among His enemies. He actually thought it a better and a happier thing to be reproached for the sake of Christ, than to have all the money in Egypt. What an example he sets us! We, too, have two masters that are seeking us. We have Satan

offering us the pleasures, as he calls it, of sin,

G

though I believe no one finds sin to be such a pleasant thing: and we have Christ offering us a kingdom, asking us to be His children, and giving all who accept His offers, everlasting life. Those who are like Moses, refuse the offers of Satan, and the false promises of the world to make them happy, and cling to Christ, and follow Him. Like Moses, "they have respect unto the recompence of the reward.” Moses gave up everything this world could offer, even to the crown of Egypt, that he might be the deliverer of the Jewish people. He passed a life full of painful trials in leading them out of Egypt, through the wilderness, to the promised land. And so our Lord left his home in heaven, and spent a painful life, and died a painful death, that He might be the deliverer of His people. As Moses looked forward, and had "respect unto the recompence of the reward," so our blessed Lord, "for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb. xii. 2.) Moses, we here learn, left all to be the deliverer of his nation, and it was after much trial and many difficulties, that at last he succeeded in getting the Jewish people out of Egypt. The way in which he did this is very typical of what our Lord has done for His