25. He turned their heart to hate his people. It was his goodness to Israel which called forth the ill-will of the
Egyptian court, and so far the Lord caused it, and moreover he made use of this
feeling to lead on to the discomfort of his people, and so to their readiness
to leave the land to which they had evidently become greatly attached. Thus far
but no further did the Lord turn the hearts of the Egyptians. God cannot in any
sense be the author of sin so far as to be morally responsible for its
existence, but it often happens through the evil which is inherent in human
nature that the acts of the Lord arouse the ill-feelings of ungodly people. Is
the sun to be blamed because while it softens wax it hardens clay? Hatred is
often allied with cunning, and so in the case of the Egyptians, they began to deal subtilely with his servants. They treated them in a fraudulent manner,
they reduced them to bondage by their exactions, they secretly concerted the
destruction of their male children, and at length openly ordained that cruel
measure, and all with the view of checking their increase, lest in time of war
they should side with invaders in order to obtain their liberty. Surely the
depths of Satanic policy were here reached, but vain was the cunning of man
against the chosen seed.
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