adopted and owned, he was by all esteemed, honored, and called "the son of Pharaoh's daughter."

§4. It may be inquired by what means (supposing Moses to be carried to Pharaoh's daughter presently after he was weaned, and thenceforth brought up in the court) by what means could he come to know his stock, race, and kindred, so as, upon all disadvantages, to cleave to them, to the relinquishment of his new regal relation? I answer,

1. He found himself circumcised, and so to belong to the circumcised people. Hereon God instructed him to inquire into the reason and nature of that distinguishing character; and so he learned that it was the token of God's covenant with the people, the posterity of Abraham, of whom he was; it was a blessed inlet into the knowledge and fear of the true God. And whatever is pretended by some to the contrary, it is a most eminent divine privilege to have the seal of the covenant in baptism communicated to the children of believers in their infancy; and a means it hath been to preserve many from fatal apostasies.

2. His nurse, who was his mother, was frequently with him, and probably his father, on the same account. Whether they were ever known to the Egyptians to be his parents, I very much question. But there is no doubt that they, truly fearing God, and solicitous about his eternal condition, took care to communicate to him the principles of true religion, with a detestation of the Egyptian idolatries and superstition.

3. The notoriety of the fact was continually before him. It was known to all Egypt that he was of an Hebrew extraction, and nonincorporated into the royal family of the Egyptians. Hereon he considered what these two people were, what was the difference between them; and quickly found which of them was

the people of God, and how they came to be so. By these means his mind was inlaid with the principles of faith and the true religion, before he was given up to

learn the wisdom of the Egyptians, and before the temptation from wealth, power, and glory had any powerful influence on his affections.

$5. Our next inquiry is, When did Moses refuse to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter? Whereas it is the internal frame and act of his mind that is here intended, it is not to be confined to any particular outward action, much less to that which fell not out until he was full forty years old, Acts viii, 23; and be fore which it is said, that he owned the Israelites for his brethren; "He went out to his brethren and looked on their burdens," Exod. ii, 11; which he could not do without a resolution to relinquish his relation to Pharaoh's daughter.

Wherefore his refusal consisted in the sedate resolution of his mind, not to abide in that state, whereinto he was brought by his adoption, by faith, prayer, and trust in God; for this refusal was undoubtedly an act and fruit of faith, the power of which is here: given as an instance; no doubt, but as he had occasion he conversed with his brethren, not only owning himself to be of their stock and race, but also of their faith and religion, and to belong to the same cove nant; where there was no longer a consistency-between his faith and profession to be continued with his station in the court, he openly and fully fell off from "; all respect to his adoption, and joined himself to the other people, as we shall see in the following verse.

§6. "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the # people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for 1 a season." There are two things to be considered in these words; first, that there were at this time two

things proposed to Moses;-the people of God in their afflicted state, and the enjoyments of the pleasure of sin for a season, secondly, the determination he made, as to his own interest and concernment.

"He chose rather," &c. (Tw λaw To Oε8) with the people of God; that is, the Hebrews, who were called so in contradistinction to all other people and nations whatever, by virtue of that special covenant which God made with Abraham and his seed throughout all generations; the token whereof they bare in their flesh.

This people of God is proposed to Moses as under affliction, so that if he will join himself to them, it must be with a participation of the outward evils they were subject to; the word (cuyuangxia) is used only in this place; and signifies to be vexed and pressed with things evil and grievous. What were the afflictions and sufferings of the people of God at that time is well known, but it does not appear that it was required of him to work in the kilns and furnaces with his brethren; only considering their woful condition, he cast his lot among them to take that portion which fell to his share, according to the guidance of divine Providence.

$7. That which is proposed in opposition hereto was, (προσκαιρον έχειν αμαρτίας απολαυσιν) to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; to have the temporary (arokavos) fruition or enjoyment of sin; and the word is usually applied to signify such a fruition as hath gust and relish; this enjoyment of sin is said to be (xpornaipos) temporary, for a season; subject to a thousand interruptions in this life, and unavoidably ending with it; thus were things truly represented to the thoughts of Moses; he did not hide his eyes from the worst on the one hand; nor did he suffer himself to be imposed upon by flattering appearances on the

other; he omitted no circumstances that might influence a right judgment in his choice; he considered the worst of the people of God, which is their affliction, and the best of the world, which is but the evanid pleasure of sin; and prefers the worst of the one above the best of the other.

§8. (Maλλov ελoμLEVOS) choosing rather; they were proposed to his elective faculty; he could not enjoy the good things of them both, but adhering to the one, he must renounce the other; if he cleave to the treasures of Egypt, he must renounce the people of God, and if he joined himself to the people of God, he must renounce all his interest in Egypt; this he saw necessary from that profession which God re quired of him, and from the nature of the promise which that profession respected.

$9. "Esteeming (Tov overdioμov Te Xpiole) the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt;" this must be the same with what he calls "being afflicted with the people of God," in the verse foregoing, only with an addition of a consideration under which it is peculiarly eligible.

('O Xpolos) Christ, is never used for any type of Christ. The immediate reason of the persecution of the Israelites was, because they would not coalesce into one people with the Egyptians, but still would retain and abide by their distinct interest and hopes; now their perseverance herein was grounded on their faith in the promise to Abraham concerning Christ; from the first promise concerning the exhibition of the Son of God in the flesh, Christ was the life and the soul of the church in all ages; for from him all was deriv ed, and in him all centred; Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and for ever; a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All the persecutions of the church arose from the enmity between the two seeds

which entered upon the first promise of Christ; and the adherence of believers to that promise is the grand cause of that separation from the world, which is the immediate cause of all their perseverance; wherefore, the reproach of Christ in the first place, signifies the reproach which, upon the account of Christ, or their faith in him, they underwent; for all outward observances in the church in all ages are but the profession of that faith; Christ and the church were considered from the beginning as one mystical body; so that what the one underwent, the other is esteemed to undergo the same. Hence it is said, that in all their afflictions, he was afflicted, Isa. lxiii, 9, and our apostle calls his own sufferings, that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, Col. i, 24; viz. what belonged to the full allotment of sufferings to that mystical body whereof Christ is the head; and in this sense also the afflictions of the church are those of Christ, Gal. vi, 17. All the sufferings of the people of God for the sake of Christ are called his reproach; the foundation of them all is laid in reproach; the world can neither justify nor countenance itself in its persecutions of the church, unless they first cover it all over with reproaches; so they dealt with our Lord himself.

§10. (Των εν Αιγυπίε θησαυρων) “the treasures of Egypt;" treasures properly are riches in gold, silver, precious stones, and other valuables that are laid up; but when the treasures of a nation are mentioned, they include all the profits and advantages of it whence those treasures are gathered; in both respects Egypt, when in its flourishing state, was behind no kingdom in the world; he considered what they were, what they would amount to, what might be done with them, or attained by them, and prefers the "reproach of Christ" above them all; "he esteemed the