Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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(2.) God would teach us that he will not be a loser by the ruin of sinners. If Adam and Eve had been cut off and disinherited, he could have made another Adam and another Eve, and have glorified his mercy in them, as here he could have glorified his mercy in Moses, though Israel had been ruined.
12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will
make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
13 And Moses said unto the Lord, then the Egyptians shall hear it,
(for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them ;)
The humble intercession Moses made for them. Their sin had made a fatal breach in the wall of their defence, at which destruction would certainly have entered if Moses had not seasonably stepped in and made it good. Here he was a type of Christ, who interceded for his persecutors, and prayed for those that despitefully used him, leaving us an example to his own rule, Mt 5:44.
1 The prayer of his petition is, in one word, Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people (Nu 14:19), that is, "Do not bring upon them the ruin they deserve." This was Christ's prayer for those that crucified him, Father forgive them. The pardon of a national sin, as such, consists in the turning away of the national punishment; and that is it for which Moses is here so earnest.
2 The pleas are many, and strongly urged.
(1.) He insists most upon the plea that is taken from the glory of God, Nu 14:13-16. With this he begins, and somewhat abruptly, taking occasion from that dreadful word, I will disinherit them. Lord (says he), then the Egyptians shall hear it. God's honour lay nearer to his heart than any interests of his own. Observe how he orders this cause before God. He pleads,