{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_40596/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_40596","id":"gutenberg_40596","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/40596","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Exodus -- Commentaries","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"NOTES\n\n  _on the book of_\n\n  EXODUS\n\n  _by_\n\n  C. H. MACKINTOSH\n\n  \"_He led them forth by the right way_\"\n\n  LOIZEAUX BROTHERS\n\n  _Neptune, New Jersey_\n\n  FIRST EDITION 1880\n\n  TWENTY-SEVENTH PRINTING 1965\n\n  LOIZEAUX BROTHERS, Inc., PUBLISHERS\n\n  _A Nonprofit Organization, Devoted to the Lord's Work\n  and to the Spread of His Truth_\n\n  NEPTUNE, NEW JERSEY\n\n  PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION\n\n\nThe writer cannot suffer a new edition of this volume to issue from\nthe press without a line or two of deep thankfulness to the Lord for\nHis grace in making use of such a feeble instrumentality in the\nfurtherance of His truth and the edification of His people. Blessed be\nHis name, when He takes up a book or a tract, He can make it effectual\nin the accomplishment of His gracious ends. He can clothe with\nspiritual power pages and paragraphs which to us might seem pointless\nand powerless. May He continue to own and bless this service, and His\nname shall have all the praise.\n\n                                                            _C. H. M.\n  Dublin, April, 1862_\n\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE\n\nTO THE AMERICAN EDITION\n\n\nAs several persons in America have, without any authority whatever\nfrom me, undertaken to publish my four[1] volumes of \"Notes,\" I deem\nit my duty to inform the reader that I have given full permission to\nMessrs. LOIZEAUX BROTHERS to publish an edition of those books in such\nform as they shall consider most suitable.\n\n                                                     C. H. MACKINTOSH.\n\n  _6 West Park Terrace, Scarborough,\n          May 1st, 1879._\n\n  [1] Now six.\n\n\n\n\nIn manuscript and proof-sheets, we have been traveling over a deeply\ninstructive and most interesting portion of the Word of God-THE BOOK\nOF EXODUS.\n\nRedemption by blood occupies a prominent place therein,--it\ncharacterizes the book. God's many mercies to His redeemed, in the\ndisplay of His power, the patience of His love, and the riches of His\ngrace, flow from it. The great question of Israel's relationship to\nGod is settled by the blood of the lamb. It changes their condition\nentirely. Israel within the blood-sprinkled door-posts was God's\nredeemed, blood-bought people.\n\nGod being holy, and Israel guilty, no happy relationship could exist\nbetween them till judgment had been accomplished. Sin must be judged.\nA happy friendship once existed between God and man, on the ground of\ninnocence; but sin having entered and snapped the link asunder, there\ncan be no reconciliation but through the full expression of the moral\njudgment of God against sin. We can only have \"life through death.\"\nGod is the God of holiness, and He must judge sin. In saving the\nsinner, He condemns his sin. The cross is the full and perfect\nexpression of this.\n\nTypically, this was the great question, on \"the evening of the\nfourteenth day of the first month\"; namely, _How can God exempt from\njudgment, and receive into His favor, those whom His holiness\ncondemns?_ To this most solemn question, there was but one answer that\nwould satisfy the demands of the God of holiness, and that was the\n_blood of the Lamb of His own providing_. \"When I see the blood, I\nwill pass over you.\" This settled the all-important question. It was\none of life or death, of deliverance or judgment. The blood-sprinkled\ndoor-post was a perfect answer to all the claims of holiness, and to\nall the need of the congregation. All was settled now. God was\nglorified, sin judged and put away, and Israel saved through the blood\nof the lamb.\n\nBlessed truth! Israel was now at peace with God, a sheltered, saved,\nand happy people, though still in Egypt--the land of death and\njudgment. God was now _pledged_ to deliver Israel,--precious type of\nthe perfect security of all who are trusting to the blood of Christ!\nThey were securely and peacefully feeding on the roasted lamb, when,\n\"at midnight, the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt,\nfrom the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the\nfirst-born of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the\nfirst-born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his\nservants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt;\nfor there was not a house where there was not one dead\" (xii. 29,\n30.). \"But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move\nhis tongue, against man or beast; that ye may know how that the Lord\ndoth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.\" (xi. 7.)\n\nBut why, some may ask, put this difference? The Israelites were\nsinners as well as the Egyptians. True, on this ground there was \"no\ndifference;\" but, in type, the judgment of God against sin had been\nexpressed in the death of the unblemished lamb. The blood \"on the\nlintel and the two side-posts\" was the proof of this. It proclaimed,\nwith a loud voice, that the lamb was slain, the ransom paid, the\ncaptive freed, justice satisfied, and the hour of Israel's deliverance\nfully come. _It was the blood that made the difference, and nothing\nelse_; \"for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.\" (Rom.\niii. 23.)\n\nBut oh, what a difference! The one, divinely shielded from the sword\nof judgment; the other, defenceless and slain by it: the one,\nfeasting on the rich provisions of grace; the other, compelled to\ntaste the bitterness of the cup of wrath. The destroying angel entered\nevery house, throughout all the land of Egypt, that was not sprinkled\nwith the blood. The first-born of Pharaoh on the throne, and the\nfirst-born of the captive in the dungeon, fell together.\n\nNo rank, age, or character escaped. The day of God's long-suffering\nwas ended, and the hour of His judgment was come. One thing alone\nguided the angel of death on that dark and dreadful night, and that\nwas, WHERE THERE IS NO BLOOD, THERE IS NO SALVATION.\n\nDear reader, this is as true now as it was then! Where there is no\nblood, there is no salvation,--\"without shedding of blood is no\nremission.\" Can any question be of such importance to you as this one:\nAm I shielded by the blood of Jesus? Oh! have you fled for refuge to\nthe blood that was shed on Calvary? There, \"Christ, our passover, was\nsacrificed for us.\" His blood is represented as being sprinkled on\n\"the mercy-seat above.\" There, God's eye ever sees the blood of our\ntrue paschal Lamb. Have you faith in that precious blood? Though\ndeeply sensible of your guilt, can you say in truth, This is my only\nhiding-place: I do depend upon the blood? Then rest assured that you\nare perfectly safe--that you are eternally saved. You have God's own\nword for it--\"When I see the blood, I will pass over you.\"--\"We have\nredemption _through His blood_, the forgiveness of sins, according to\nthe riches of His grace.\"--\"But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes\nwere far off, are made nigh _by the blood of Christ_.\"--\"Whom God hath\nset forth to be a propitiation _through faith in His blood_.\" (Eph. i.\n7; ii. 13; Rom. iii. 25.)\n\n    \"Happy they who trust in Jesus,\n      Sweet their portion is and sure.\"\n\nBut, on the other hand, if the blood of Jesus is neglected or\ndespised, there can be no security, no peace, and no salvation. \"How\nshall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?\" (Heb. ii. 3.)\nUnless the destroying angel sees the blood, he enters as the judge of\nsin. Every sin must be punished, either in the person of the sinner,\nor the sinner's substitute. This is a deeply solemn truth; but how\nblessed to know that \"Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for\nthe unjust, that He might bring us to God.\" \"For He hath made Him to\nbe sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the\nrighteousness of God In Him.\" (1 Peter iii. 18; 2 Cor. v. 21.) To\nneglect this divine Substitute, and the shelter which He has provided,\nis to expose the soul to the unrelenting judgment of God. No sin,\nhowever small, can escape judgment, either on the cross of Christ, or\nin the lake of fire. Oh, the priceless value of that blood which\n\"cleanseth us from ALL sin\"!--which makes us clean enough for heaven!\n\nRedemption being now accomplished, and Israel divinely prepared, they\ncommence their journey. But observe, in passing, _how_ they start.\nBefore taking one step, every question between the conscience and God\nis divinely settled. They are forgiven, justified, and accepted, in\nHis sight. Hence it is written, \"When Israel was a child, then I loved\nhim, and called my son out of Egypt.\" (Hosea xi. 1.) Blessed type of\nthe real condition in which every true believer begins his Christian\ncourse! He may not see this blessed truth, or he may have a very\nfeeble apprehension of it, as Israel had, but that does not alter the\nfact. God acts according to His own knowledge of the relationship, and\nthe affections which belong to it. We see this in the glorious\ndeliverance of His beloved people at the Red Sea, in the manna from\nheaven, the water from the flinty rock, and in the pillar of His\npresence, which accompanied them in all their wanderings. He ever acts\naccording to the purposes of His love, and the value of the blood of\nJesus.\n\nOnce more, dear reader, allow me to ask. Are you sure that you are\nunder the safe shelter, the secure refuge, the blessed hiding-place,\nof the Redeemer's blood?\n\nBut I must now leave my reader, earnestly recommending him to pursue\nthe journey across the wilderness in company with God and His\nredeemed. He will find the \"Notes\" most useful. They convey truth,\nagreeably and intelligently to the heart, the conscience, and the\nunderstanding. May many find them to be a real oasis in the desert.\nThe journey will prove a most profitable one if we thereby learn more\nof the natural unbelief of our own heart and the abiding faithfulness\nof God's. He never changes, blessed be His name; and the blood of the\nslain Lamb never loses its efficacy.\n\n    \"Blest Lamb of God! Thy precious blood\n      Shall never lose its power,\n    Till every ransomed saint of God\n      Be saved to sin no more.\"\n\nMay the Lord graciously own and use the following \"Notes\" for His own\nglory and the blessing of many souls.\n\n                                                           _A. M._\n\n  _London_\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                           _Page._\n\n  CHAPTER I,                                     1\n\n          \"        II. 1-10,                     9\n\n          \"        II. 11-25,                   17\n\n          \"        III,                         33\n\n          \"        IV,                          58\n\n          \"        V. & VI,                     78\n\n          \"        VII.-XI,                     95\n\n          \"        XII,                        126\n\n          \"        XIII,                       163\n\n          \"        XIV,                        172\n\n          \"        XV,                         191\n\n          \"        XVI,                        206\n\n          \"        XVII,                       224\n\n          \"        XVIII,                      238\n\n          \"        XIX,                        247\n\n          \"        XX,                         254\n\n          \"        XXI.-XXIII,                 272\n\n          \"        XXIV,                       280\n\n          \"        XXV,                        284\n\n          \"        XXVI,                       298\n\n          \"        XXVII,                      313\n\n          \"        XXVIII. & XXIX,             319\n\n          \"        XXX,                        335\n\n          \"        XXXI,                       349\n\n          \"        XXXII,                      355\n\n          \"        XXXIII. & XXXIV,            364\n\n          \"        XXXV.-XL,                   369\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\nON\n\nTHE BOOK OF EXODUS\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nWe now approach, by the mercy of God, the study of the Book of Exodus,\nof which the great prominent theme is redemption. The first five\nverses recall to the mind the closing scenes of the preceding book.\nThe favored objects of God's electing love are brought before us; and\nwe find ourselves very speedily conducted, by the inspired penman,\ninto the action of the book.\n\nIn our meditations on the Book of Genesis, we were led to see that the\nconduct of Joseph's brethren toward him was that which led to their\nbeing brought down into Egypt. This fact is to be looked at in two\nways. In the first place, we can read therein a deeply solemn lesson,\nas taught in Israel's actings toward God; and, secondly, we have\ntherein unfolded an encouraging lesson, as taught in God's actings\ntoward Israel.\n\nAnd, first, as to Israel's actings toward God, what can be more deeply\nsolemn than to follow out the results of their treatment of him who\nstands before the spiritual mind as the marked type of the Lord Jesus\nChrist? They, utterly regardless of the anguish of his soul, consigned\nJoseph into the hands of the uncircumcised. And what was the issue, as\nregards them? They were carried down into Egypt, there to experience\nthe deep and painful exercises of heart which are so graphically and\ntouchingly presented in the closing chapters of Genesis. Nor was this\nall. A long and dreary season awaited their offspring in that very\nland in which Joseph had found a dungeon.\n\nBut then God was in all this, as well as man; and it is His\nprerogative to bring good out of evil. Joseph's brethren might sell\nhim to the Ishmaelites, and the Ishmaelites might sell him to\nPotiphar, and Potiphar might cast him into prison; but Jehovah was\nabove all, and He was accomplishing His own mighty ends. \"The wrath of\nman shall praise Him.\" The time had not arrived in which the heirs\nwere ready for the inheritance and the inheritance for the heirs. The\nbrick-kilns of Egypt were to furnish a rigid school for the seed of\nAbraham, while as yet \"the iniquity of the Amorites\" was rising to a\nhead amid the \"hills and valleys\" of the promised land.\n\nAll this is deeply interesting and instructive. There are \"wheels\nwithin wheels\" in the government of God. He makes use of an endless\nvariety of agencies in the accomplishment of His unsearchable designs.\nPotiphar's wife, Pharaoh's butler, Pharaoh's dreams, Pharaoh himself,\nthe dungeon, the throne, the fetter, the royal signet, the\nfamine--all are at His sovereign disposal, and all are made\ninstrumental in the development of His stupendous counsels. The\nspiritual mind delights to dwell upon this,--it delights to range\nthrough the wide domain of creation and providence, and to recognize,\nin all, the machinery which an All-wise and an Almighty God is using\nfor the purpose of unfolding His counsels of redeeming love. True, we\nmay see many traces of the serpent,--many deep and well-defined\nfootprints of the enemy of God and man,--many things which we cannot\nexplain nor even comprehend; suffering innocence and successful\nwickedness may furnish an apparent basis for the infidel reasoning of\nthe sceptic mind; but the true believer can piously repose in the\nassurance that \"the Judge of all the earth shall do right.\" He knows\nright well that--\n\n    \"Blind unbelief is sure to err,\n      And scan His ways in vain;\n    God is His own interpreter,\n      And He will make it plain.\"\n\nBlessed be God for the consolation and encouragement flowing out of\nsuch reflections as these. We need them every hour while passing\nthrough an evil world, in which the enemy has wrought such appalling\nmischief, in which the lusts and passions of men produce such bitter\nfruits, and in which the path of the true disciple presents\nroughnesses which mere nature could never endure. Faith knows, of a\nsurety, that there is One behind the scenes whom the world sees not\nnor regards; and, in the consciousness of this, it can calmly say, \"It\nis well,\" and, \"It shall be well.\"\n\nThe above train of thought is distinctly suggested by the opening\nlines of our book. \"God's counsel shall stand, and He will do all His\npleasure.\" The enemy may oppose, but God will ever prove Himself to be\nabove him; and all we need is a spirit of simple, childlike confidence\nand repose in the divine purpose. Unbelief will rather look at the\nenemy's efforts to countervail than at God's power to accomplish. It\nis on the latter that faith fixes its eye. Thus it obtains victory and\nenjoys abiding peace. It has to do with God and His infallible\nfaithfulness. It rests not upon the ever-shifting sands of human\naffairs and earthly influences, but upon the immovable rock of God's\neternal Word. That is faith's holy and solid resting-place. Come what\nmay, it abides in that sanctuary of strength. \"Joseph died, and all\nhis brethren, and all that generation.\" What then? Could death affect\nthe counsels of the living God? Surely not. He only waited for the\nappointed moment--the due time, and then the most hostile influences\nwere made instrumental in the development of His purposes.\n\n\"Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And\nhe said unto his people, 'Behold the people of the children of Israel\nare more and mightier than we: come on, let us deal _wisely_ with\nthem, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that when there falleth\nout any war they join also unto our enemies and fight against us, and\nso get them up out of the land.\" (Ver. 8-10.) All this is the\nreasoning of a heart that had never learnt to take God into its\ncalculations. The unrenewed heart never can do so; and hence, the\nmoment you introduce God, all its reasonings fall to the ground. Apart\nfrom, or independent of, Him, they may seem very wise; but only bring\nHim in, and they are proved to be perfect folly.\n\nBut why should we allow our minds to be, in any wise, influenced by\nreasonings and calculations which depend, for their _apparent_ truth,\nupon the total exclusion of God? To do so is, in principle, and\naccording to its measure, practical atheism. In Pharaoh's case, we see\nthat he could accurately recount the various contingencies of human\naffairs,--the multiplying of the people, the falling out of war, their\njoining with the enemy, their escape out of the land. All these\ncircumstances he could, with uncommon sagacity, put into the scale;\nbut it never once occurred to him that God could have anything\nwhatever to do in the matter. Had he only thought of this, it would\nhave upset his entire reasoning, and have written folly upon all his\nschemes.\n\nNow, it is well to see that it is ever thus with the reasonings of\nman's sceptic mind. God is entirely shut out; yea, the truth and\nconsistency thereof depend upon His being kept out. The death-blow to\nall scepticism and infidelity is the introduction of God into the\nscene. Till He is seen, they may strut up and down upon the stage with\nan amazing show of wisdom and cleverness; but the moment the eye\ncatches even the faintest glimpse of that blessed One, they are\nstripped of their cloak, and disclosed in all their nakedness and\ndeformity.\n\nIn reference to the king of Egypt, it may assuredly be said, he did\n\"greatly err,\" not knowing God or His changeless counsels. He knew not\nthat, hundreds of years back, before ever he had breathed the breath\nof mortal life, God's word and oath--\"two immutable things\"--had\ninfallibly secured the full and glorious deliverance of that very\npeople whom he was going, in his wisdom, to crush. All this was\nunknown to him, and therefore all his thoughts and plans were founded\nupon ignorance of that grand foundation-truth of all truths, namely,\nthat GOD IS. He vainly imagined that he, by his management, could\nprevent the increase of those concerning whom God had said, \"They\nshall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the\nsea-shore.\" His wise dealing, therefore, was simply madness and folly.\n\nThe wildest mistake which a man can possibly fall into is to act\nwithout taking God into his account. Sooner or later, the thought of\nGod will force itself upon him, and then comes the awful crash of all\nhis schemes and calculations. At best, everything that is undertaken\nindependently of God, can last but for the present time. It cannot, by\nany possibility, stretch itself into eternity. All that is merely\nhuman, however solid, however brilliant, or however attractive, must\nfall into the cold grasp of death, and moulder in the dark, silent\ntomb. The clod of the valley must cover man's highest excellencies and\nbrightest glories; mortality is engraved upon his brow, and all his\nschemes are evanescent. On the contrary, that which is connected with,\nand based upon, God, shall endure forever. \"His name shall endure\nforever, and His memorial to all generations.\"\n\nWhat a sad mistake, therefore, for a feeble mortal to set himself up\nagainst the eternal God,--to \"rush upon the thick bosses of the shield\nof the Almighty\"! As well might the monarch of Egypt have sought to\nstem, with his puny hand, the ocean's tide, as to prevent the increase\nof those who were the subjects of Jehovah's everlasting purpose.\nHence, although \"they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them\nwith their burdens,\" yet, \"the more they afflicted them, the more they\nmultiplied and grew.\" Thus it must ever be. \"He that sitteth in the\nheavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.\" (Ps. ii.\n4.) Eternal confusion shall be inscribed upon all the opposition of\nmen and devils. This gives sweet rest to the heart in the midst of a\nscene where all is apparently so contrary to God and so contrary to\nfaith. Were it not for the settled assurance that \"the wrath of man\nshall praise\" the Lord, the spirit would often be cast down while\ncontemplating the circumstances and influences which surround one in\nthe world. Thank God, \"we look not at the things which are seen, but\nat the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are\ntemporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.\" (2 Cor. iv.\n18.) In the power of this, we may well say, \"_Rest_ in the Lord, and\n_wait patiently for Him_: fret not thyself because of him who\nprospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices\nto pass.\" (Ps. xxxvii. 7.) How fully might the truth of this be seen\nin the case of both the oppressed and the oppressor, as set before us\nin our chapter! Had Israel \"looked at the things that are seen,\" what\nwere they? Pharaoh's wrath, stern taskmasters, afflictive burdens,\nrigorous service, hard bondage, mortar and brick. But, then, \"the\nthings which are not seen,\" what were they? God's eternal purpose, His\nunfailing promise, the approaching dawn of a day of salvation, the\n\"burning lamp\" of Jehovah's deliverance. Wondrous contrast! Faith\nalone could enter into it. Naught save that precious principle could\nenable any poor, oppressed Israelite to look from out the smoking\nfurnace of Egypt, to the green fields and vine-clad mountains of the\nland of Canaan. Faith alone could recognize in those oppressed slaves,\ntoiling in the brick-kilns of Egypt, the heirs of salvation, and the\nobjects of Heaven's peculiar interest and favor.\n\nThus it was then, and thus it is now. \"We walk by faith, not by\nsight.\" (2 Cor. v. 7.) \"It doth not yet appear what we shall be.\" (1\nJohn iii. 2.) We are \"here in the body pent,\" \"absent from the Lord.\"\nAs to fact, we are in Egypt, yet, in spirit, we are in the heavenly\nCanaan. Faith brings the heart into the power of divine and unseen\nthings, and thus enables it to mount above everything down here, in\nthis place \"where death and darkness reign.\" O, for that simple\nchildlike faith that sits beside the pure and eternal fountain of\ntruth, there to drink those deep and refreshing draughts which lift up\nthe fainting spirit and impart energy to the new man, in its upward\nand onward course!\n\nThe closing verses of this section of our book present an edifying\nlesson in the conduct of those God-fearing women, Shiprah and Puah.\nThey would not carry out the king's cruel scheme, but braved his\nwrath, and hence God made them houses. \"Them that honor Me I will\nhonor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.\" (1 Sam.\nii. 30.) May we ever remember this, and act for God, under all\ncircumstances!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. 1-10.\n\n\nThis section of our book abounds in the weightiest principles of\ndivine truth--principles which range themselves under the three\nfollowing heads, namely, the power of Satan, the power of God, and the\npower of faith.\n\nIn the last verse of the previous chapter, we read, \"And Pharaoh\ncharged all his people, saying, 'Every son that is born ye shall cast\ninto the river.'\" This was Satan's power. The river was the place of\ndeath; and, by death, the enemy sought to frustrate the purpose of\nGod. It has ever been thus. The serpent has at all times watched with\nmalignant eye those instruments which God was about to use for His own\ngracious ends. Look at the case of Abel, in Genesis iv. What was that\nbut the serpent watching God's vessel and seeking to put it out of the\nway by death? Look at the case of Joseph, in Genesis xxxvii. There you\nhave the enemy seeking to put the man of God's purpose in the place of\ndeath. Look at the case of \"the seed royal,\" in 2 Chronicles xxii; the\nact of Herod, in Matthew ii; the death of Christ, in Matthew xxvii. In\nall these cases, you find the enemy seeking, by death, to interrupt\nthe current of divine action.\n\nBut, blessed be God, there is something beyond death. The entire\nsphere of divine action, as connected with redemption, lies beyond the\nlimits of death's domain. When Satan has exhausted his power, then God\nbegins to show Himself. The grave is the limit of Satan's activity;\nbut there it is that divine activity begins. This is a glorious truth.\nSatan has the power of death; but God is the God of the living, and He\ngives life beyond the reach and power of death--a life which Satan\ncannot touch. The heart finds sweet relief in such a truth as this, in\nthe midst of a scene where death reigns. Faith can stand and look on\nat Satan putting forth the plenitude of his power. It can stay itself\nupon God's mighty instrumentality of resurrection. It can take its\nstand at the grave which has closed over a beloved object, and drink\nin, from the lips of Him who is \"the resurrection and the life,\" the\nelevating assurance of a glorious immortality. It knows that God is\nstronger than Satan, and it can therefore quietly wait for the full\nmanifestation of that superior strength, and, in thus waiting, find\nits victory and its settled peace. We have a noble example of this\npower of faith in the opening verses of our chapter.\n\n\"And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a\ndaughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son; and when she\nsaw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. And when\nshe could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes and\ndaubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and\nshe laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood\nafar off, to wit what would be done to him.\" (Chap. ii. 1-4.) Here we\nhave a scene of touching interest, in whatever way we contemplate it.\nIn point of fact, it was simply faith triumphing over the influences\nof nature and death, and leaving room for the God of resurrection to\nact in His own proper sphere and character. True, the enemy's power is\napparent, in the circumstance that the child had to be placed in such\nposition--a position of death, in principle. And, moreover, a sword\nwas piercing through the mother's heart in thus beholding her precious\noffspring laid, as it were, in death. Satan might act, and nature\nmight weep; but the Quickener of the dead was behind the dark cloud,\nand faith beheld Him there, gilding heaven's side of that cloud with\nHis bright and life-giving beams. \"By faith Moses, when he was born,\nwas hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper\nchild; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.\" (Heb. xi.\n23.)\n\nThus this honored daughter of Levi teaches us a holy lesson. Her\n\"_ark_ of bulrushes, daubed with slime and _pitch_,\" declares her\nconfidence in the truth that there was a something which could keep\nout the waters of death, in the case of this \"proper child,\" as well\nas in the case of Noah, \"the preacher of righteousness.\" Are we to\nsuppose, for a moment, that this \"ark\" was the invention of mere\nnature? Was it nature's forethought that devised it? or nature's\ningenuity that constructed it? Was the babe placed in the ark at the\nsuggestion of a mother's heart, cherishing the fond but visionary hope\nof thereby saving her treasure from the ruthless hand of death? Were\nwe to reply to the above inquiries in the affirmative, we should, I\nbelieve, lose the beauteous teaching of this entire scene. How could\nwe ever suppose that the \"_ark_\" was devised by one who saw no other\nportion or destiny for her child but death by _drowning_? Impossible.\nWe can only look upon that significant structure as faith's draft\nhanded in at the treasury of the God of resurrection. It was devised\nby the hand of faith, as a vessel of mercy, to carry \"a proper child\"\nsafely over death's dark waters, into the place assigned him by the\nimmutable purpose of the living God. When we behold this daughter of\nLevi bending over that \"ark of bulrushes,\" which her faith had\nconstructed, and depositing therein her babe, we see her \"walking in\nthe steps of that faith of her father Abraham, which he had,\" when \"he\nrose up from before his dead,\" and purchased the cave of Machpelah\nfrom the sons of Heth. (Gen. xxiii.) We do not recognize in her the\nenergy of mere nature, hanging over the object of its affections,\nabout to fall into the iron grasp of the king of terrors. No; but we\ntrace in her the energy of a faith which enabled her to stand, as a\nconqueror, at the margin of death's cold flood, and behold the chosen\nservant of Jehovah in safety at the other side.\n\nYes, my reader, faith can take those bold and lofty flights into\nregions far removed from this land of death and wide-spread\ndesolation. Its eagle gaze can pierce the gloomy clouds which gather\naround the tomb, and behold the God of resurrection displaying the\nresults of His everlasting counsels, in the midst of a sphere which no\narrow of death can reach. It can take its stand upon the top of the\nRock of Ages, and listen, in holy triumph, while the surges of death\nare lashing its base.\n\nAnd what, let me ask, was \"the king's commandment\" to one who was in\npossession of this heaven-born principle? What weight had that\ncommandment with one who could calmly stand beside her \"ark of\nbulrushes\" and look death straight in the face? The Holy Ghost\nreplies, \"They were not afraid of the king's commandment.\" The spirit\nthat knows aught of communion with Him who quickens the dead, is not\nafraid of anything. Such an one can take up the triumphant language of\n1 Cor. xv., and say, \"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is\nthy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the\nlaw. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our\nLord Jesus Christ.\" He can give forth these words of triumph over a\nmartyred Abel; over Joseph in the pit; over Moses in the ark of\nbulrushes; in the midst of \"the seed royal,\" slain by the hand of\nAthaliah; amid the babes of Bethlehem, murdered by the hand of the\ncruel Herod; and far above all, he can utter them at the tomb of the\nCaptain of our salvation.\n\nNow, it may be there are some who cannot trace the activities of\nfaith, in the matter of the ark of bulrushes. Many may not be able to\ntravel beyond the measure of Moses' sister, when \"she stood afar off,\nto wit what would be done to him.\" It is very evident that \"his\nsister\" was not up to \"the measure of faith\" possessed by \"his\nmother.\" No doubt she possessed deep interest and true affection, such\nas we may trace in \"Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over\nagainst the sepulchre\" (Matt. xxvii. 61.); but there was something far\nbeyond either interest or affection in the maker of the \"ark.\" True,\nshe did not \"stand afar off, to wit what would be done to\" her child,\nand hence, what frequently happens, the dignity of faith might seem\nlike indifference, on her part. It was not, however, indifference, but\ntrue elevation--the elevation of faith. If natural affection did not\ncause her to linger near the scene of death, it was only because the\npower of faith was furnishing her with nobler work in the presence of\nthe God of resurrection. Her faith had cleared the stage for Him, and\nmost gloriously did He show Himself thereon.\n\n\"And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river;\nand her maidens walked along by the river's side: and when she saw the\nark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had\nopened it, she saw the child; and, behold, the babe wept. And she had\ncompassion on him, and said, 'This is one of the Hebrews' children.'\"\nHere, then, the divine response begins to break, in sweetest accents,\non the ear of faith. God was in all this. Rationalism, or scepticism,\nor infidelity, or atheism, may laugh at such an idea. And faith can\nlaugh also; but the two kinds of laughter are very different. The\nformer laughs, in cold contempt, at the thought of divine interference\nin the trifling affair of a royal maiden's walk by the river's side:\nthe latter laughs, with real heartfelt gladness, at the thought that\nGod is in everything. And, assuredly, if ever God was in anything, He\nwas in this walk of Pharaoh's daughter, though she knew it not.\n\nThe renewed mind enjoys one of its sweetest exercises while tracing\nthe divine footsteps in circumstances and events in which a\nthoughtless spirit sees only blind chance or rigid fate. The most\ntrifling matter may, at times, turn out to be a most important link in\na chain of events by which the Almighty God is helping forward the\ndevelopment of His grand designs. Look, for instance, at Esther vi. 1,\nand what do you see? A heathen monarch spending a restless night. No\nuncommon circumstance, we may suppose; and yet, this very circumstance\nwas a link in a great chain of providences at the end of which you\nfind the marvelous deliverance of the oppressed seed of Israel.\n\nThus was it with the daughter of Pharaoh, in her walk by the river's\nside. Little did she think that she was helping forward the purpose of\n\"the Lord God of the Hebrews.\" How little idea had she that the\nweeping babe in that ark of bulrushes was yet to be Jehovah's\ninstrument in shaking the land of Egypt to its very centre! Yet so it\nwas. The Lord can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrain\nthe remainder. How plainly the truth of this appears in the following\npassage!--\n\n\"Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and call to\nthee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for\nthee?' And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, 'Go.' And the maid went\nand called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her,\n'Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy\nwages.' And the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child\ngrew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her\nson. And she called his name Moses; and she said, 'Because I drew him\nout of the water.'\" (Chap. ii. 7-10.) The beautiful faith of Moses'\nmother here meets its full reward; Satan is confounded; and the\nmarvelous wisdom of God is displayed. Who would have thought that the\none who had said, \"If it be a son, then ye shall kill him,\" and,\nagain, \"Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river,\" should\nhave in his court one of those very sons, and _such_ \"a son.\" The\ndevil was foiled by his own weapon, inasmuch as Pharaoh, whom he was\nusing to frustrate the purpose of God, is used of God to nourish and\nbring up Moses, who was to be His instrument in confounding the power\nof Satan. Remarkable providence! Admirable wisdom! Truly, Jehovah is\n\"wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.\" May we learn to trust\nHim with more artless simplicity, and thus our path shall be more\nbrilliant, and our testimony more effective.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. 11-25.\n\n\nIn considering the history of Moses, we must look at him in two ways,\nnamely, personally and typically.\n\nFirst, in his personal character, there is much, very much, for us to\nlearn. God had not only to raise him up, but also to train him, in one\nway or another, for the lengthened period of eighty years, first in\nthe house of Pharaoh's daughter, and then at \"the backside of the\ndesert.\" This, to our shallow thoughts, would seem an immense space of\ntime to devote to the education of a minister of God. But then God's\nthoughts are not as our thoughts. He knew the need of those forty\nyears twice told, in the preparation of His chosen vessel. When God\neducates, He educates in a manner worthy of Himself and His most holy\nservice. He will not have a novice to do His work. The servant of\nChrist has to learn many a lesson, to undergo many an exercise, to\npass through many a conflict, in secret, ere he is really qualified to\nact in public. Nature does not like this. It would rather figure in\npublic than learn in private,--it would rather be gazed upon and\nadmired by the eye of man than be disciplined by the hand of God. But\nit will not do. We must take God's way. Nature may rush into the scene\nof operation; but God does not want it there. It must be withered,\ncrushed, set aside. The place of death is the place for nature. If it\n_will_ be active, God will so order matters, in His infallible\nfaithfulness and perfect wisdom, that the results of its activity will\nprove its utter defeat and confusion. He knows what to do with nature,\nwhere to put it, and where to keep it. O, that we may all be in deeper\ncommunion with the mind of God, in reference to self and all that\npertains thereto! Then shall we make fewer mistakes; then shall our\npath be steady and elevated, our spirit tranquil, and our service\neffective.\n\n\"And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he\nwent out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he spied\nan Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this\nway and that way, and when he saw there was no man, he slew the\nEgyptian, and hid him in the sand.\" This was zeal for his brethren;\nbut it was \"not according to knowledge.\" God's time was not yet come\nfor judging Egypt and delivering Israel; and the intelligent servant\nwill ever wait for God's time. \"Moses was grown,\" and \"he was learned\nin all the wisdom of the Egyptians;\" and, moreover, \"he supposed his\nbrethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver\nthem.\" All this was true; yet he evidently ran before the time, and\nwhen one does this, failure must be the issue.[2]\n\n  [2] In Stephen's address to the council at Jerusalem, there is an\n  allusion to Moses' acting, to which it may be well to advert. \"And\n  when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his\n  brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong,\n  he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the\n  Egyptian; for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that\n  God by his hand would deliver them; but they understood not.\" (Acts\n  vii. 23-35.) It is evident that Stephen's object, in his entire\n  address, was to bring the history of the nation to bear upon the\n  consciences of those whom he had before him; and it would have been\n  quite foreign to this object, and at variance with the Spirit's rule\n  in the New Testament, to raise a question as to whether Moses had not\n  acted before the divinely appointed time.\n\n  Moreover, he merely says, \"it came into his heart to visit his\n  brethren.\" He does not say that God sent him, _at that time_. Nor does\n  this, in the least, touch the question of the moral condition of those\n  who rejected him. \"They understood not.\" This was the fact as to them,\n  whatever Moses might have personally to learn in the matter. The\n  spiritual mind can have no difficulty in apprehending this.\n\n  Looking at Moses typically, we can see the mission of Christ to\n  Israel, and their rejection of Him, and refusal to have Him to reign\n  over them. On the other hand, looking at Moses personally, we find\n  that he, like others, made mistakes and displayed\n  infirmities,--sometimes went too fast and sometimes too slow. All this\n  is easily understood, and only tends to magnify the infinite grace and\n  exhaustless patience of God.\n\nAnd not only is there failure in the end, but also manifest\nuncertainty, and lack of calm elevation and holy independence in the\nprogress of a work begun before God's time. Moses \"_looked this way\nand that way_.\" There is no need of this when a man is acting with and\nfor God, and in the full intelligence of His mind, as to the detail of\nhis work. If God's time had really come, and if Moses was conscious of\nbeing divinely commissioned to execute judgment upon the Egyptian, and\nif he felt assured of the divine presence with him, he would not have\n\"looked this way and that way.\"\n\nThis action teaches a deep practical lesson to all the servants of\nGod. There are two things by which it is superinduced, namely, the\nfear of man's wrath, and the hope of man's favor. The servant of the\nliving God should neither regard the one nor the other. What avails\nthe wrath or favor of a poor mortal to one who holds the divine\ncommission and enjoys the divine presence? It is, in the judgment of\nsuch an one, less than the small dust of the balance. \"_Have not I\ncommanded thee?_ Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid,\nneither be thou dismayed: for _the Lord thy God is with thee_\nwhithersoever thou goest.\" (Joshua i. 9.) \"Thou, therefore, gird up\nthy loins, and arise, and speak unto them _all that I command thee_:\nbe not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. For,\nbehold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar,\nand brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah,\nagainst the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against\nthe people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, but they\nshall not prevail against thee; for _I am with thee_, saith the Lord,\nto deliver thee.\" (Jer. i. 17-19.)\n\nWhen the servant of Christ stands upon the elevated ground set forth\nin the above quotations, he will not \"look this way and that way;\" he\nwill act on wisdom's heavenly counsel--\"Let thine eyes look straight\non, and thine eyelids look straight before thee.\" Divine intelligence\nwill ever lead us to look upward and onward. Whenever we look around\nto shun a mortal's frown or catch his smile, we may rest assured there\nis something wrong; we are off the proper ground of divine service. We\nlack the assurance of holding the divine commission and of enjoying\nthe divine presence, both of which are absolutely essential.\n\nTrue, there are many who, through profound ignorance, or excessive\nself-confidence, stand forward in a sphere of service for which God\nnever intended them, and for which He therefore never qualified them.\nAnd not only do they thus stand forward, but they exhibit an amount of\ncoolness and self-possession perfectly amazing to those who are\ncapable of forming an impartial judgment about their gifts and\nmerits. But all this will very speedily find its level; nor does it in\nthe least interfere with the integrity of the principle that nothing\ncan effectually deliver a man from the tendency to \"look this way and\nthat way\" save the consciousness of the divine commission and the\ndivine presence. When these are possessed, there is entire deliverance\nfrom human influence, and consequent independence. No man is in a\nposition to serve others who is not wholly independent of them; but a\nman who knows his proper place can stoop and wash his brethren's feet.\n\nWhen we turn away our eyes from man, and fix them upon the only true\nand perfect Servant, we do not find Him looking this way and that way,\nfor this simple reason, that He never had His eye upon men, but always\nupon God. He feared not the wrath of man, nor sought his favor. He\nnever opened His lips to elicit human applause, nor kept them closed\nto avoid human censure. This gave holy stability and elevation to all\nHe said and did. Of Him alone could it be truly said, \"His leaf shall\nnot wither, and _whatsoever_ he doeth shall prosper.\" Everything He\ndid turned to profitable account, because everything was done to God.\nEvery action, every word, every movement, every look, every thought,\nwas like a beauteous cluster of fruit, sent up to refresh the heart of\nGod. He was never afraid of the results of His work, because He always\nacted with and for God, and in the full intelligence of His mind. His\nown will, though divinely perfect, never once mingled itself in aught\nthat He did, as a man, on the earth. He could say, \"I came down from\nheaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me.\"\nHence, He brought forth fruit \"_in its season_.\" He did \"_always_\nthose things which pleased the Father,\" and therefore never had any\noccasion to \"fear,\" to \"repent,\" or to \"look this way and that way.\"\n\nNow in this, as in everything else, the blessed Master stands in\nmarked contrast with His most honored and eminent servants. Even a\nMoses \"feared,\" and a Paul \"repented;\" but the Lord Jesus never did\neither. He never had to retrace a step, to recall a word, or correct a\nthought. All was absolutely perfect: all was \"fruit in season.\" The\ncurrent of His holy and heavenly life flowed onward without a ripple\nand without a curve. His will was divinely subject. The best and most\ndevoted men make mistakes; but it is perfectly certain that the more\nwe are enabled, through grace, to mortify our own will, the fewer our\nmistakes will be. Truly happy it is when, in the main, our path is\nreally a path of faith and single-eyed devotedness to Christ.\n\nThus it was with Moses. He was a man of faith--a man who drank deeply\ninto the spirit of his Master, and walked with marvelous steadiness in\nHis footprints. True, he anticipated, as has been remarked, by forty\nyears, the Lord's time of judgment on Egypt and deliverance for\nIsrael; yet, when we turn to the inspired commentary, in Hebrews xi,\nwe find nothing about this; we there find only the divine principle\nupon which, in the main, his course was founded. \"By faith Moses,\n_when he was come to years_, refused to be called the son of\nPharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the\npeople of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;\nesteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in\nEgypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith\nhe forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as\nseeing Him who is invisible.\" (Ver. 24-27.)\n\nThis quotation furnishes a most gracious view of the actings of Moses.\nIt is ever thus the Holy Ghost deals with the history of Old Testament\nsaints. When He _writes_ a man's history, He presents him to us as he\nis, and faithfully sets forth all his failures and imperfections. But\nwhen, in the New Testament, He _comments_ upon such history, He merely\ngives the real principle and main result of a man's life. Hence,\nthough we read, in Exodus, that \"Moses looked this way and that\nway\"--that \"he feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known,'\" and,\nfinally, \"Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh;\" yet we are taught, in\nHebrews, that what he did, he did \"by faith\"--that he did not fear\n\"the wrath of the king\"--that \"he endured as seeing Him who is\ninvisible.\"\n\nThus will it be, by and by, \"when the Lord comes, who both will bring\nto light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest _the\ncounsels of the hearts_: and then shall every man have praise of God.\"\n(1 Cor. iv. 5.) This is a precious and consolatory truth for every\nupright mind and every loyal heart. Many a \"counsel\" the \"_heart_\"\nmay form, which, from various causes, the _hand_ may not be able to\nexecute. All such \"counsels\" will be made \"manifest\" when \"the Lord\ncomes.\" Blessed be the grace that has told us so! The affectionate\ncounsels of the heart are far more precious to Christ than the most\nelaborate works of the hand. The latter may shine before the eye of\nman; the former are designed _only_ for the heart of Jesus. The latter\nmay be spoken of amongst men; the former will be made manifest before\nGod and His holy angels. May all the servants of Christ have their\nhearts undividedly occupied with His person, and their eyes steadily\nfixed upon His advent.\n\nIn contemplating the path of Moses, we observe how that faith led him\nentirely athwart the ordinary course of nature. It led him to despise\nall the pleasures, the attractions, and the honors of Pharaoh's court.\nAnd not only that, but also to relinquish an apparently wide sphere of\nusefulness. Human expediency would have conducted him along quite an\nopposite path. It would have led him to use his influence on behalf of\nthe people of God--to act _for_ them instead of suffering _with_ them.\nAccording to man's judgment, providence would seem to have opened for\nMoses a wide and most important sphere of labor; and surely, if ever\nthe hand of God was manifest in placing a man in a distinct position,\nit was in his case. By a most marvelous interposition--by a most\nunaccountable chain of circumstances, every link of which displayed\nthe finger of the Almighty--by an order of events which no human\nforesight could have arranged, had the daughter of Pharaoh been made\nthe instrument of drawing Moses out of the water, and of nourishing\nand educating him until he was \"full forty years old.\" With all these\ncircumstances in his view, to abandon his high, honorable, and\ninfluential position, could only be regarded as the result of a\nmisguided zeal which no sound judgment could approve.\n\nThus might poor blind nature reason. But faith thought differently;\nfor nature and faith are always at issue. They cannot agree upon a\nsingle point. Nor is there anything, perhaps, in reference to which\nthey differ so widely as what are commonly called \"openings of\nprovidence.\" Nature will constantly regard such openings as warrants\nfor self-indulgence; whereas faith will find in them opportunities for\nself-denial. Jonah might have deemed it a very remarkable opening of\nprovidence to find a ship going to Tarshish; but, in truth, it was an\nopening through which he slipped off the path of obedience.\n\nNo doubt it is the Christian's privilege to see his Father's hand, and\nhear His voice, in everything; but he is not to be guided by\ncircumstances. A Christian so guided is like a vessel at sea without\nrudder or compass; she is at the mercy of the waves and the winds.\nGod's promise to His child is, \"I will guide thee with Mine eye.\" (Ps.\nxxxii. 8.) His warning is, \"Be not as the horse or as the mule, which\nhave no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and\nbridle, lest they come near unto thee.\" It is much better to be\nguided by our Father's eye than by the bit and bridle of\ncircumstances; and we know that, in the ordinary acceptation of the\nterm, \"providence\" is only another word for the impulse of\ncircumstances.\n\nNow, the power of faith may constantly be seen in refusing and\nforsaking the apparent openings of providence. It was so in the case\nof Moses. \"By faith he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's\ndaughter,\" and \"by faith he forsook Egypt.\" Had he judged according to\nthe sight of his eyes, he would have grasped at the proffered dignity,\nas the manifest gift of a kind providence, and he would have remained\nin the court of Pharaoh as in a sphere of usefulness plainly thrown\nopen to him by the hand of God. But, then, he walked by faith, and not\nby the sight of his eyes; and hence he forsook all. Noble example! May\nwe have grace to follow it!\n\nAnd observe what it was that Moses \"esteemed greater riches than the\ntreasures in Egypt;\" it was the \"reproach of Christ.\" It was not\nmerely reproach _for_ Christ. \"The reproaches of them that reproached\nThee have fallen upon Me.\" The Lord Jesus, in perfect grace,\nidentified Himself with His people. He came down from heaven, leaving\nHis Father's bosom, and laying aside all His glory, He took His\npeople's place, confessed their sins, and bore their judgment on the\ncursed tree. Such was His voluntary devotedness; He not merely acted\n_for_ us, but made Himself one _with_ us, thus perfectly delivering us\nfrom all that was or could be against us.\n\nHence we see how much in sympathy Moses was with the spirit and mind\nof Christ in reference to the people of God. He was in the midst of\nall the ease, the pomp, and dignity of Pharaoh's house, where \"the\npleasures of sin,\" and \"the treasures of Egypt,\" lay scattered around\nhim in richest profusion. All these things he might have enjoyed if he\nwould. He could have lived and died in the midst of wealth and\nsplendor; his entire path, from first to last, might, if he had\nchosen, have been enlightened by the sunshine of royal favor: but that\nwould not have been \"faith;\" it would not have been Christlike. From\nhis elevated position, he saw his brethren bowed down beneath their\nheavy burden, and faith led him to see that his place was to be _with_\nthem. Yes; with them, in all their reproach, their bondage, their\ndegradation, and their sorrow. Had he been actuated by mere\nbenevolence, philanthropy, or patriotism, he might have used his\npersonal influence on behalf of his brethren. He might have succeeded\nin inducing Pharaoh to lighten their burden, and render their path\nsomewhat smoother, by royal grants in their favor; but this would\nnever do, never satisfy a heart that had a single pulsation in common\nwith the heart of Christ. Such a heart Moses, by the grace of God,\ncarried in his bosom; and, therefore, with all the energies and all\nthe affections of that heart, he threw himself, body, soul, and\nspirit, into the very midst of his oppressed brethren. He \"chose\nrather to suffer affliction _with_ the people of God.\" And, moreover,\nhe did this by \"faith.\"\n\nLet my reader ponder this deeply. We must not be satisfied with\nwishing well to, doing service for, or speaking kindly on behalf of,\nthe people of God. We ought to be fully identified _with_ them, no\nmatter how despised or reproached they may be. It is, in a measure, an\nagreeable thing to be a benevolent and generous spirit, to patronize\nChristianity; but it is a wholly different thing to be identified with\nChristians, or to suffer with Christ. A _patron_ is one thing, a\n_martyr_ is quite another. This distinction is apparent throughout the\nentire book of God. Obadiah took care of God's witnesses, but Elijah\nwas a witness for God. Darius was so attached to Daniel that he lost a\nnight's rest on his account, but Daniel spent that self-same night in\nthe lion's den, as a witness for the truth of God. Nicodemus ventured\nto speak a word _for_ Christ, but a more matured discipleship would\nhave led him to identify himself _with_ Christ.\n\nThese considerations are eminently practical. The Lord Jesus does not\nwant patronage; He wants fellowship. The truth concerning Him is\ndeclared to us, not that we might patronize His cause on earth, but\nhave fellowship with His Person in heaven. He identified Himself with\nus, at the heavy cost of all that love could give. He might have\navoided this. He might have continued to enjoy His eternal place \"in\nthe bosom of the Father.\" But how, then, could that mighty tide of\nlove, which was pent up in His heart, flow down to us guilty and\nhell-deserving sinners? Between Him and us there could be no oneness,\nsave on conditions which involved the surrender of everything on His\npart. But, blessed, throughout the everlasting ages, be His adorable\nname, that surrender was voluntarily made. \"He gave Himself for us,\nthat He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify _unto Himself_ a\npeculiar people, zealous of good works.\" (Titus ii. 14.) He would not\nenjoy His glory alone. His loving heart would gratify itself by\nassociating \"many sons\" with Him in that glory. \"Father,\" He says, \"I\nwill that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be _with Me_ where I am;\nthat they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou\nlovedst Me before the foundation of the world.\" (John xvii. 24.) Such\nwere the thoughts of Christ in reference to His people; and we can\neasily see how much in sympathy with these precious thoughts was the\nheart of Moses. He unquestionably partook largely of his Master's\nspirit; and he manifested that excellent spirit in freely sacrificing\nevery personal consideration, and associating himself, unreservedly,\nwith the people of God.\n\nThe personal character and actings of this honored servant of God will\ncome before us again in the next section of our book. We shall here\nbriefly consider him as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. That he was a\ntype of Him is evident from the following passage,--\"The Lord thy God\nwill raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy\nbrethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken.\" (Deut. xviii. 15.)\nWe are not, therefore, trafficking in human imagination in viewing\nMoses as a type; it is the plain teaching of Scripture, and in the\nclosing verses of Exodus ii. we see this type in a double way: first,\nin the matter of his rejection by Israel; and secondly, in his union\nwith a stranger in the land of Midian.\n\nThese points have already been, in some measure, developed in the\nhistory of Joseph, who, being cast out by his brethren according to\nthe flesh, forms an alliance with an Egyptian bride. Here, as in the\ncase of Moses, we see shadowed forth Christ's rejection by Israel, and\nHis union with the Church, but in a different phase. In Joseph's case,\nwe have the exhibition of positive enmity against his _person_: in\nMoses, it is the rejection of his _mission_. In Joseph's case, we\nread, \"They hated _him_, and could not speak peaceably unto _him_.\"\n(Gen. xxxvii. 4.) In the case of Moses, the word is,--\"_Who made thee\na prince and a judge over us?_\" In short, the former was personally\nhated; the latter, officially refused.\n\nSo also in the mode in which the great mystery of the Church is\nexemplified in the history of those two Old Testament saints.\n\"Asenath\" presents quite a different phase of the Church from that\nwhich we have in the person of \"Zipporah.\" The former was united to\nJoseph in the time of his exaltation; the latter was the companion of\nMoses in the obscurity of his desert life. (Comp. Gen. xli. 41-45 with\nExod. ii. 15; iii. 1.) True, both Joseph and Moses were, at the time\nof their union with a stranger, rejected by their brethren; yet the\nformer was \"governor over all the land of Egypt;\" whereas the latter\ntended a few sheep at \"the backside of the desert.\"\n\nWhether, therefore, we contemplate Christ as manifested in glory, or\nas hidden from the world's gaze, the Church is intimately associated\nwith Him. And now, inasmuch as the world seeth Him not, neither can it\ntake knowledge of that body which is wholly one with Him. \"The world\nknoweth us not, because it knew Him not.\" (1 John iii. 1.) By and by,\nChrist will appear in His glory, and the Church _with_ Him. \"When\nChrist our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear _with_ Him in\nglory.\" (Col. iii. 4.) And again, \"The glory which Thou gavest Me I\nhave given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them,\nand Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the\nworld may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou\nhast loved Me.\" (John xvii. 22, 23.)[3]\n\n  [3] There are two distinct unities spoken of in John xvii. 21, 23. The\n  first is that unity which the Church is responsible to have\n  maintained, but in which she has utterly failed. The second is that\n  unity which God will infallibly accomplish, and which He will manifest\n  in glory. If the reader will turn to the passage, he will at once see\n  the difference, both as to character and result, of the two.\n\nSuch, then, is the Church's high and holy position. She is one with\nHim who is cast out by this world, but who occupies the throne of the\nMajesty in the heavens. The Lord Jesus made Himself responsible for\nher on the cross, in order that she might share with Him His present\nrejection and His future glory. Would that all who form a part of such\na highly privileged body were more impressed with a sense of what\nbecomes them as to course and character down here! Assuredly, there\nshould be a fuller and clearer response, on the part of all the\nchildren of God, to that love wherewith He has loved them, to that\nsalvation wherewith He has saved them, and to that dignity wherewith\nHe has invested them. The walk of the Christian should ever be the\nnatural result of realized privilege, and not the constrained result\nof legal vows and resolutions,--the proper fruit of a position known\nand enjoyed by faith, and not the fruit of one's own efforts to reach\na position \"by works of law.\" All true believers _are_ a part of the\nbride of Christ; hence, they owe Him those affections which become\nthat relation. The relationship is not obtained because of the\naffections, but the affections flow out of the relationship.\n\nSo let it be, O Lord, with all Thy beloved and blood-bought people!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nWe shall now resume the personal history of Moses, and contemplate him\nduring that deeply interesting period of his career which he spent in\nretirement--a period including, as we should say, forty of his very\nbest years--the prime of life. This is full of meaning. The Lord had\ngraciously, wisely, and faithfully led His dear servant apart from the\neyes and thoughts of men, in order that He might train him under His\nown immediate hand. Moses needed this. True, he had spent forty years\nin the house of Pharaoh; and, while his sojourn there was not without\nits influence and value, yet was it as nothing when compared with his\nsojourn in the desert. The former might be valuable; but the latter\nwas indispensable.\n\nNothing can possibly make up for the lack of secret communion with\nGod, or the training and discipline of His school. \"All the wisdom of\nthe Egyptians\" would not have qualified Moses for his future path. He\nmight have pursued a most brilliant course through the schools and\ncolleges of Egypt. He might have come forth laden with literary\nhonors--his intellect stored with learning, and his heart full of\npride and self-sufficiency. He might have taken out his degree in the\nschool of man, and yet have to learn his alphabet in the school of\nGod. Mere human wisdom and learning, how valuable soever in\nthemselves, can never constitute any one a servant of God, nor equip\nhim for any department of divine service. Such things may qualify\nunrenewed nature to figure before the world; but the man whom God will\nuse must be endowed with widely-different qualifications--such\nqualifications as can alone be found in the deep and hallowed\nretirement of the Lord's presence.\n\nAll God's servants have been made to know and experience the truth of\nthese statements. Moses at Horeb, Elijah at Cherith, Ezekiel at\nChebar, Paul in Arabia, and John at Patmos, are all striking examples\nof the immense practical importance of being alone with God. And when\nwe look at the Divine Servant, we find that the time He spent in\nprivate was nearly ten times as long as that which He spent in public.\nHe, though perfect in understanding and in will, spent nearly thirty\nyears in the obscurity of a carpenter's house at Nazareth ere He made\nHis appearance in public. And even when He had entered upon His public\ncareer, how oft did He retreat from the gaze of men, to enjoy the\nsweet and sacred retirement of the divine presence!\n\nNow we may feel disposed to ask, How could the urgent demand for\nworkmen ever be met if all need such protracted training, in secret,\nere they come forth to their work? This is the Master's care--not\nours. He can provide the workmen, and He can train them also. This is\nnot man's work. God alone can provide and prepare a true minister. Nor\nis it a question with Him as to the length of time needful for the\neducation of such an one. We know He could educate him in a moment, if\nit were His will to do so. One thing is evident, namely, that God has\nhad all His servants very much alone with Himself, both before and\nafter their entrance upon their public work; nor will any one ever get\non without this. The absence of secret training and discipline will\nnecessarily leave us barren, superficial, and theoretic. A man who\nventures forth upon a public career ere he has duly weighed himself in\nthe balances of the sanctuary, or measured himself in the presence of\nGod, is like a ship putting out to sea without proper ballast: he\nwill doubtless overset with the first stiff breeze. On the contrary,\nthere is a depth, a solidity, and a steadiness flowing from our having\npassed from form to form in the school of God, which are essential\nelements in the formation of the character of a true and effective\nservant of God.\n\nHence, therefore, when we find Moses, at the age of forty years, taken\napart from all the dignity and splendor of a court, for the purpose of\nspending forty years in the obscurity of a desert, we are led to\nexpect a remarkable course of service; nor are we disappointed. The\nman whom God educates is educated, and none other. It lies not within\nthe range of man to prepare an instrument for the service of God. The\nhand of man could never mould \"a vessel meet for the Master's use.\"\nThe One who is to use the vessel can alone prepare it; and we have\nbefore us a singularly beautiful sample of His mode of preparation.\n\n\"Now, Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of\nMidian; and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came\nto the mountain of God, even to Horeb.\" (Exod. iii. 1.) Here, then, we\nhave a marvelous change of circumstances. In Genesis, chapter xlvi.\n31, we read, \"Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians;\" and\nyet Moses, who was \"learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,\" is\ntransferred from the Egyptian court to the back of a mountain to tend\na flock of sheep, and to be educated for the service of God.\nAssuredly, this is not \"the manner of man.\" This is not nature's line\nof things. Flesh and blood could not understand this. We should have\nthought that Moses' education was finished when he had become master\nof all Egypt's wisdom, and that, moreover, in immediate connection\nwith the rare advantages which a court life affords. We should have\nexpected to find in one so highly favored, not only a solid and varied\neducation, but also such an exquisite polish as would fit him for any\nsphere of action to which he might be called. But then, to find such a\nman with such attainments, called away from such a position to mind\nsheep at the back of a mountain, is something entirely beyond the\nutmost stretch of human thought and feeling. It lays prostrate in the\ndust all man's pride and glory. It declares plainly that this world's\nappliances are of little value in the divine estimation; yea, they are\nas \"dung and dross,\" not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the\neyes of all those who have been taught in His school.\n\nThere is a very wide difference between human and divine education.\nThe former has for its end the refinement and exaltation of nature;\nthe latter begins with withering it up and setting it aside. \"The\nnatural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they\nare foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are\nspiritually discerned.\" (1 Cor. ii. 14.) Educate the \"natural man\" as\nmuch as you please, and you cannot make him a \"spiritual man.\" \"That\nwhich is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the\nSpirit is spirit.\" (John iii. 6.) If ever an educated \"natural man\"\nmight look for success in the service of God, Moses might have counted\nupon it; he was \"grown,\" he was \"learned,\" he was \"mighty in word and\ndeed,\" and yet he had to learn something at \"the backside of the\ndesert\" which Egypt's schools could never have taught him. Paul learnt\nmore in Arabia than ever he had learnt at the feet of Gamaliel.[4]\nNone can teach like God; and all who will learn _of_ Him must be alone\n_with_ Him.\n\n  [4] Let not my reader suppose for a moment that the design of the\n  above remarks is to detract from the value of really useful\n  information, or the proper culture of the mental powers. By no means.\n  If, for example, he is a parent, let him store his child's mind with\n  useful knowledge; let him teach him everything which may, hereafter,\n  turn to account in the Master's service: let him not burden him with\n  aught which he would have to \"lay aside\" in running his Christian\n  course, nor conduct him, for educational purposes, through a region\n  from which it is well-nigh impossible to come forth with an unsoiled\n  mind. You might just as well shut him up for ten years in a coal mine\n  in order to qualify him for discussing the properties of light and\n  shade, as cause him to wade through the mire of a heathen mythology in\n  order to fit him for the interpretation of the oracles of God, or\n  prepare him for feeding the flock of Christ.\n\n    \"In the desert God will teach thee.\"\n\nThere it was that Moses learnt his sweetest, deepest, most influential\nand enduring lessons. Thither, too, must all repair who mean to be\neducated for the ministry.\n\nBeloved reader, may you prove, in your own deep experience, the real\nmeaning of \"the backside of the desert\"--that sacred spot where nature\nis laid in the dust, and God alone exalted. There it is that men and\nthings, the world and self, present circumstances and their\ninfluences, are all valued at what they are really worth. There it is,\nand there alone, that you will find a divinely-adjusted balance in\nwhich to weigh all within and all around. There are no false colors,\nno borrowed plumes, no empty pretentions there. The enemy of your soul\ncannot gild the sand of that place. All is reality there. The heart\nthat has found itself in the presence of God, at \"the backside of the\ndesert,\" has right thoughts about everything. It is raised far above\nthe exciting influence of this world's schemes. The din and noise, the\nbustle and confusion of Egypt do not fall upon the ear in that distant\nplace. The crash in the monetary and commercial world is not heard\nthere; the sigh of ambition is not heaved there; this world's fading\nlaurels do not tempt there; the thirst for gold is not felt there; the\neye is never dimmed with lust, nor the heart swollen with pride there;\nhuman applause does not elate, nor human censure depress there. In a\nword, everything is set aside save the stillness and light of the\ndivine presence. God's voice alone is heard, His light enjoyed, His\nthoughts received. This is the place to which all must go to be\neducated for the ministry; and there all must remain if they would\nsucceed in the ministry.\n\nWould that all who come forward to serve in public knew more of what\nit is to breathe the atmosphere of this place. We should then have far\nless vapid attempts at ministry, but far more effective\nChrist-honoring service.\n\nLet us now inquire what Moses saw and what he heard at \"the backside\nof the desert.\" We shall find him learning lessons which lay far\nbeyond the reach of Egypt's most gifted masters. It might appear, in\nthe eyes of human reason, a strange loss of time for a man like Moses\nto spend forty years doing nothing save to keep a few sheep in the\nwilderness. But he was there with God, and the time that is thus spent\nis never lost. It is salutary for us to remember that there is\nsomething more than mere _doing_ necessary on the part of a true\nservant. A man who is always doing will be apt to do too much. Such an\none would need to ponder over the deeply-practical words of the\nperfect Servant, \"He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear\nto _hear_ as the learned.\" (Is. l. 4.) This is an indispensable part\nof the servant's business. The servant must frequently stand in his\nmaster's presence, in order that he may know what he has to do. The\n\"ear\" and the \"tongue\" are intimately connected, in more ways than\none; but, in a spiritual or moral point of view, if my ear be closed\nand my tongue loose, I shall be sure to talk a great deal of folly.\n\"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift _to hear_,\nslow _to speak_.\" (James i. 19.) This seasonable admonition is based\nupon two facts, namely, that everything good comes from above, and\nthat the heart is brimful of naughtiness, ready to flow over. Hence\nthe need of keeping the ear open and the tongue quiet,--rare and\nadmirable attainments!--attainments in which Moses made great\nproficiency at \"the backside of the desert,\" and which all can acquire\nif only they are disposed to learn in that school.\n\n\"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, out\nof the midst of a bush: and he looked, and behold the bush burned with\nfire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, 'I will now turn\naside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.'\" (Chap.\niii. 2, 3.) This was truly \"a great sight\"--a bush burning, yet not\nburnt. The palace of Pharaoh could never have afforded such a sight.\nBut it was a gracious sight as well as a great sight, for therein was\nstrikingly exhibited the condition of God's elect. They were in the\nfurnace of Egypt; and Jehovah reveals Himself in a burning bush. But\nas the bush was not consumed, so neither were they, for God was there.\n\"The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge.\" (Psalm\nxlvi.) Here is strength and security--victory and peace. God _with_\nus, God _in_ us, and God _for_ us. This is ample provision for every\nexigence.\n\nNothing can be more interesting or instructive than the mode in which\nJehovah was pleased to reveal Himself to Moses, as presented in the\nabove quotation. He was about to furnish him with his commission to\nlead forth His people out of Egypt, that they might be His\nassembly--His dwelling-place, in the wilderness and in the land of\nCanaan; and the place from which He speaks is a burning bush. Apt,\nsolemn, and beautiful symbol of Jehovah dwelling in the midst of His\nelect and redeemed congregation! \"Our God is a consuming fire,\" not to\nconsume _us_, but to consume all in us and about us which is contrary\nto His holiness, and, as such, subversive of our true and permanent\nhappiness. \"Thy testimonies are very sure; holiness becometh Thy\nhouse, O Lord, forever.\"\n\nThere are various instances, both in the Old and New Testaments, in\nwhich we find God displaying Himself as \"a consuming fire.\" Look, for\nexample, at the case of Nadab and Abihu, in Leviticus x. This was a\ndeeply solemn occasion. God was dwelling in the midst of His people,\nand He would keep them in a condition worthy of Himself. He could not\ndo otherwise. It would neither be for His glory nor for their profit\nwere He to tolerate aught in them inconsistent with the purity of His\npresence. God's dwelling-place must be holy.\n\nSo, also, in Joshua vii. we have another striking proof, in the case\nof Achan, that Jehovah could not possibly sanction, by His presence,\nevil, in any shape or form, how covert soever that evil might be. He\nwas \"a consuming fire,\" and as such He should act, in reference to any\nattempt to defile that assembly in the midst of which He dwelt. To\nseek to connect God's presence with evil unjudged is the very highest\ncharacter of wickedness.\n\nAgain, in Acts v, Ananias and Sapphira teach us the same solemn\nlesson. God the Holy Ghost was dwelling in the midst of the Church,\nnot merely as an influence, but as a divine Person, in such a way as\nthat one could lie to Him. The Church was, and is still, His\ndwelling-place; and He must rule and judge in the midst thereof. Men\nmay walk in company with deceit, covetousness, and hypocrisy; but God\ncannot. If God is going to walk with us, we must judge our ways, or He\nwill judge them for us. (See also 1 Cor. xi. 29-32.)\n\nIn all these cases, and many more which might be adduced, we see the\nforce of that solemn word, \"Holiness becometh Thy house, O Lord,\nforever.\" The moral effect of this will ever be similar to that\nproduced in the case of Moses, as recorded in our chapter. \"Draw not\nnigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for _the place\nwhereon thou standest is holy ground_.\" (Verse 5.) The place of God's\npresence is holy, and can only be trodden with unshod feet. God,\ndwelling in the midst of His people, imparts a character of holiness\nto their assembly, which is the basis of every holy affection and\nevery holy activity. The character of the dwelling-place takes its\nstamp from the character of the Occupant.\n\nThe application of this to the Church, which is now the habitation of\nGod, through the Spirit, is of the very utmost practical importance.\nWhile it is blessedly true that God, by His Spirit, inhabits each\nindividual member of the Church, thereby imparting a character of\nholiness to the individual; it is equally true that He dwells in the\nassembly, and hence the assembly must be holy. The centre round which\nthe members are gathered is nothing less than the Person of a living,\nvictorious, and glorified Christ. The energy by which they are\ngathered is nothing less than God the Holy Ghost; and the Lord God\nAlmighty dwells in them and walks in them. (See Matt. xviii. 20; 1\nCor. vi. 19; iii. 16, 17; Eph. ii. 21, 22.) Such being the holy\nelevation belonging to God's dwelling-place, it is evident that\nnothing which is unholy, either in principle or practice, must be\ntolerated. Each one connected therewith should feel the weight and\nsolemnity of that word, \"The place whereon thou standest is holy\nground.\" \"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.\"\n(1 Cor. iii. 17.) Most weighty words these, for every member of God's\nassembly--for every stone in His holy temple! May we all learn to\ntread Jehovah's courts with unshod feet!\n\nHowever, the visions of Horeb bear witness to the grace of the God of\nIsrael as well as to His holiness. If God's holiness is infinite, His\ngrace is infinite also; and while the manner in which He revealed\nHimself to Moses declared the former, the very fact of His revealing\nHimself at all evidenced the latter. He came down because He was\ngracious; but when come down, He should reveal Himself as holy.\n\"Moreover he said, 'I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham,\nthe God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face; for\nhe was afraid to look upon God.\" (Verse 6.) The effect of the divine\npresence must ever be to make nature hide itself; and when we stand\nbefore God with unshod feet and covered head--_i.e._, in the attitude\nof soul which those acts so aptly and beautifully express, we are\nprepared to hearken to the sweet accents of grace. When man takes his\nsuited place, God can speak in the language of unmingled mercy.\n\n\"And the Lord said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of My people\nwhich are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their\ntaskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver\nthem out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of\nthat land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk\nand honey.... Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of\nIsrael is come unto Me; and I have also seen the oppression wherewith\nthe Egyptians oppress them.'\" (Ver. 7-9.) Here the absolute, free,\nunconditional grace of the God of Abraham, and the God of Abraham's\nseed, shines forth in all its native brightness, unhindered by the\n\"ifs\" and \"buts,\" the vows, resolutions, and conditions of man's legal\nspirit. God had come down to display Himself, in sovereign grace, to\ndo the whole work of salvation, to accomplish His promise made to\nAbraham, and repeated to Isaac and Jacob. He had not come down to see\nif, indeed, the subjects of His promise were in such a condition as to\n_merit_ His salvation: it was sufficient for Him that they _needed_\nit. Their oppressed state, their sorrows, their tears, their sighs,\ntheir heavy bondage, had all come in review before Him; for, blessed\nbe His name, He counts His people's sighs, and puts their tears into\nHis bottle. He was not attracted by their excellencies or their\nvirtues. It was not on the ground of aught that was good in them,\neither seen or foreseen, that He was about to visit them, for He knew\nwhat was in them. In one word, we have the true ground of His gracious\nacting set before us in the words, \"I am the God of Abraham,\" and \"I\nhave seen the affliction of My people.\"\n\nThese words reveal a great fundamental principle in the ways of God.\nIt is on the ground of what He is that He ever acts. \"I AM,\" secures\nall for \"MY PEOPLE.\" Assuredly, He was not going to leave _His_ people\namid the brick-kilns of Egypt, and under the lash of Pharaoh's\ntaskmasters. They were His people, and He would act toward them in a\nmanner worthy of Himself. To be His people,--to be the favored objects\nof Jehovah's electing love--the subjects of His unconditional promise,\nsettled everything. Nothing should hinder the public display of His\nrelationship with those for whom His eternal purpose had secured the\nland of Canaan. He had come down to deliver them; and the combined\npower of earth and hell could not hold them in captivity one hour\nbeyond His appointed time. He might and did use Egypt as a school, and\nPharaoh as a schoolmaster; but when the needed work was accomplished,\nboth the school and the schoolmaster were set aside, and His people\nwere brought forth with a high hand and an outstretched arm.\n\nSuch, then, was the double character of the revelation made to Moses\nat Mount Horeb. What he saw and what he heard combined the two\nelements of holiness and grace,--elements which, as we know, enter\ninto and distinctly characterize all the ways and all the\nrelationships of the blessed God, and which should also mark the ways\nof all those who in any wise act for, or have fellowship with, Him.\nEvery true servant is sent forth from the immediate presence of God,\nwith all its holiness and all its grace; and he is called to be holy\nand gracious--he is called to be the reflection of the grace and\nholiness of the divine character; and, in order that he may be so, he\nshould not only start from the immediate presence of God at the first,\nbut abide there, in spirit, habitually. This is the true secret of\neffectual service.\n\n    \"Childlike, attend what Thou wilt say,\n    Go forth and do it, while 'tis day,\n      Yet never leave my sweet retreat.\"\n\nThe spiritual man alone can understand the meaning of the two things,\n\"go forth and do,\" and, \"yet never leave.\" In order to act _for_ God\noutside, I should be _with_ Him inside. I must be in the secret\nsanctuary of His presence, else I shall utterly fail.\n\nVery many break down on this point. There is the greatest possible\ndanger of getting out of the solemnity and calmness of the divine\npresence, amid the bustle of intercourse with men, and the excitement\nof active service. This is to be carefully guarded against. If we lose\nthat hallowed tone of spirit which is expressed in \"the unshod foot,\"\nour service will very speedily become vapid and unprofitable. If I\nallow my work to get between my heart and the Master, it will be\nlittle worth. We can only effectually serve Christ as we are enjoying\nHim. It is while the heart dwells upon His powerful attractions that\nthe hands perform the most acceptable service to His name; nor is\nthere any one who can minister Christ with unction, freshness, and\npower to others, if he be not feeding upon Christ, in the secret of\nhis own soul. True, he may preach a sermon, deliver a lecture, utter\nprayers, write a book, and go through the entire routine of outward\nservice, and yet not minister Christ. The man who will present Christ\nto others must be occupied with Christ for himself.\n\nHappy is the man who ministers thus, whatever be the success or\nreception of his ministry. For should his ministry fail to attract\nattention, to command influence, or to produce apparent results, he\nhas his sweet retreat and his unfailing portion in Christ, of which\nnothing can deprive him. Whereas, the man who is merely feeding upon\nthe fruits of his ministry, who delights in the gratification which it\naffords, or the attention and interest which it commands, is like a\nmere pipe, conveying water to others, and retaining only rust itself.\nThis is a most deplorable condition to be in; and yet is it the actual\ncondition of every servant who is more occupied with his work and its\nresults, than with the Master and His glory.\n\nThis is a matter which calls for the most rigid self-judgment. The\nheart is deceitful, and the enemy is crafty; and hence there is great\nneed to hearken to the word of exhortation, \"Be sober, be vigilant.\"\nIt is when the soul is awakened to a sense of the varied and manifold\ndangers which beset the servant's path, that it is, in any measure,\nable to understand the need there is for being much alone with God: it\nis there one is secure and happy. It is when we begin, continue, and\nend our work at the Master's feet, that our service will be of the\nright kind.\n\nFrom all that has been said, it must be evident to my reader that\nevery servant of Christ will find the air of \"the backside of the\ndesert\" most salutary. Horeb is really the starting-post for all whom\nGod sends forth to act for Him. It was at Horeb that Moses learnt to\nput off his shoes and hide his face. Forty years before, he had gone\nto work; but his movement was premature. It was amid the\nflesh-subduing solitudes of the mount of God, and forth from the\nburning bush, that the divine commission fell on the servant's ear,\n\"Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou\nmayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.\"\n(Ver. 10.) Here was real authority. There is a vast difference between\nGod sending a man, and a man running unsent. But it is very manifest\nthat Moses was not ripe for service when first he set about acting. If\nforty years of secret training were needful for him, how could he have\ngot on without it? Impossible! He had to be divinely educated and\ndivinely commissioned; and so must all who go forth upon a path of\nservice or testimony for Christ. O, that these holy lessons may be\ndeeply graven on all our hearts, that so our every work may wear upon\nit the stamp of the Master's authority and the Master's approval.\n\nHowever, we have something further to learn at the foot of Mount\nHoreb. The soul finds it seasonable to linger in this place. \"It is\ngood to be here.\" The presence of God is ever a deeply practical\nplace; the heart is sure to be laid open there. The light that shines\nin that holy place makes everything manifest; and this is what is so\nmuch needed in the midst of the hollow pretension around us, and the\npride and self-complacency within.\n\nWe might be disposed to think that the very moment the divine\ncommission was given to Moses, his reply would be, Here am I, or,\nLord, what wilt Thou have me to do? But no; he had yet to be brought\nto this. Doubtless, he was affected by the remembrance of his former\nfailure. If a man acts in anything without God, he is sure to be\ndiscouraged, even when God is sending him. \"And Moses said unto God,\n'Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth\nthe children of Israel out of Egypt?'\" (Ver. 11.) This is very unlike\nthe man who, forty years before, \"supposed that his brethren would\nhave understood how that God by his hand would deliver them.\" Such is\nman!--at one time too hasty; at another time too slow. Moses had\nlearnt a great deal since the day in which he smote the Egyptian. He\nhad grown in the knowledge of himself, and this produced diffidence\nand timidity. But then he manifestly lacked confidence in God. If I am\nmerely looking at myself, I shall do \"nothing;\" but if I am looking at\nChrist, \"I can do all things.\" Thus, when diffidence and timidity led\nMoses to say, \"Who am I?\" God's answer was, \"Certainly _I_ will be\nwith thee.\" (Ver. 12.) This ought to have been sufficient. If God be\nwith me, it makes very little matter who I am, or what I am. When God\nsays, \"I will send thee,\" and \"I will be with thee,\" the servant is\namply furnished with divine authority and divine power; and he ought,\ntherefore, to be perfectly satisfied to go forth.\n\nBut Moses puts another question; for the human heart is full of\nquestions. \"And Moses said unto God, 'Behold, when I come unto the\nchildren of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers\nhath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name?\nwhat shall I say unto them?'\" It is marvelous to see how the human\nheart reasons and questions, when unhesitating obedience is that which\nis due to God; and still more marvelous is the grace that bears with\nall the reasonings and answers all the questions. Each question seems\nbut to elicit some new feature of divine grace.\n\n\"And God said unto Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM;' and He said, 'Thus shalt\nthou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.'\"\n(Ver. 14.) The title which God here gives Himself is one of wondrous\nsignificancy. In tracing through Scripture the various names which God\ntakes, we find them intimately connected with the varied need of\nthose with whom He was in relation. \"Jehovah-jireh\" (the Lord will\nprovide), \"Jehovah-nissi\" (the Lord my banner), \"Jehovah-shalom\" (the\nLord send peace), \"Jehovah-tsidkenu\" (the Lord our righteousness),--all\nthese His gracious titles are unfolded to meet the necessities of His\npeople; and when He calls Himself \"I AM,\" it comprehends them all.\nJehovah, in taking this title, was furnishing His people with a blank\ncheck, to be filled up to any amount. He calls Himself \"I AM,\" and\nfaith has but to write over against that ineffably precious name\nwhatever we want. God is the only significant figure, and human need\nmay add the ciphers. If we want life, Christ says, \"I AM the life;\" if\nwe want righteousness, He is \"THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS;\" if we want\npeace, \"He is our peace;\" if we want \"wisdom, sanctification, and\nredemption,\" He \"is made\" all these \"unto us.\" In a word, we may\ntravel through the wide range of human necessity, in order to have a\njust conception of the amazing depth and fullness of this profound and\nadorable name, \"I AM.\"\n\nWhat a mercy to be called to walk in companionship with One who bears\nsuch a name as this! We are in the wilderness, and there we have to\nmeet with trial, sorrow, and difficulty; but, so long as we have the\nhappy privilege of betaking ourselves, at all times and under all\ncircumstances, to One who reveals Himself in His manifold grace, in\nconnection with our every necessity and weakness, we need not fear\nthe wilderness. God was about to bring His people across the sandy\ndesert, when He disclosed this precious and comprehensive name; and\nalthough the believer now, as being endowed with the Spirit of\nadoption, can cry, \"Abba, Father,\" yet is he not deprived of the\nprivilege of enjoying communion with God in each and every one of\nthose manifestations which He has been pleased to make of Himself. For\nexample, the title \"God\" reveals Him as acting in the solitariness of\nHis own being, displaying His eternal power and Godhead in the works\nof creation. \"The Lord God\" is the title which He takes in connection\nwith man. Then, as \"the Almighty God,\" He rises before the view of His\nservant Abraham, in order to assure his heart in reference to the\naccomplishment of His promise touching the seed. As \"Jehovah,\" He made\nHimself known to Israel, in delivering them out of the land of Egypt,\nand bringing them into the land of Canaan.\n\nSuch were the various measures and various modes in which \"God spake\nin times past unto the fathers, by the prophets\" (Heb. i. 1.); and the\nbeliever, under this dispensation or economy, as possessing the Spirit\nof sonship, can say, It was my Father who thus revealed Himself, thus\nspoke, thus acted.\n\nNothing can be more interesting or practically important in its way\nthan to follow out those great dispensational titles of God. These\ntitles are always used in strict moral consistency with the\ncircumstances under which they are disclosed; but there is, in the\nname \"I AM,\" a height, a depth, a length, a breadth, which truly pass\nbeyond the utmost stretch of human conception.\n\n    \"When God would teach mankind His name,\n    He calls Himself the great 'I AM,'\n    And leaves a blank--believers may\n    Supply those things for which they pray.\"\n\nAnd, be it observed, it is only in connection with His own people that\nHe takes this name. He did not address Pharaoh in this name. When\nspeaking to him, He calls Himself by that commanding and majestic\ntitle, \"The Lord God of the Hebrews;\" _i.e._, God, in connection with\nthe very people whom he was seeking to crush. This ought to have been\nsufficient to show Pharaoh his awful position with respect to God. \"I\nAM\" would have conveyed no intelligible sound to an uncircumcised\near--no divine reality to an unbelieving heart. When God manifest in\nthe flesh declared to the unbelieving Jews of His day those words,\n\"Before Abraham was, I _am_,\" they took up stones to cast at Him. It\nis only the true believer who can feel, in any measure, the power, or\nenjoy the sweetness, of that ineffable name, \"I AM.\" Such an one can\nrejoice to hear from the lips of the blessed Lord Jesus such\ndeclarations as these:--\"_I am_ that bread of life,\" \"_I am_ the light\nof the world,\" \"_I am_ the good Shepherd,\" \"_I am_ the resurrection\nand the life,\" \"_I am_ the way, the truth, and the life,\" \"_I am_ the\ntrue vine,\" \"_I am_ Alpha and Omega,\" \"_I am_ the bright and morning\nstar.\" In a word, he can take every name of divine excellence and\nbeauty, and, having placed it after \"I AM,\" find JESUS therein, and\nadmire, adore, and worship.\n\nThus, there is a sweetness, as well as a comprehensiveness, in the\nname \"I AM,\" which is beyond all power of expression. Each believer\ncan find therein that which exactly suits his own spiritual need,\nwhatever it be. There is not a single winding in all the Christian's\nwilderness journey, not a single phase of his soul's experience, not a\nsingle point in his condition, which is not divinely met by this\ntitle, for the simplest of all reasons, that whatever he wants, he has\nbut to place it, by faith, over against \"I AM\" and find it all in\nJesus. To the believer, therefore, however feeble and faltering, there\nis unmingled blessedness in this name.\n\nBut although it was to the elect of God that Moses was commanded to\nsay, \"I AM hath sent me unto you,\" yet is there deep solemnity and\nreality in that name when looked at with reference to the unbeliever.\nIf one who is yet in his sins contemplates, for a moment, this amazing\ntitle, he cannot, surely, avoid asking himself the question, How do I\nstand as to this Being who calls Himself, \"I AM THAT I AM\"? If,\nindeed, it be true that HE IS, then what _is_ He to _me_? What am _I_\nto write over against this solemn name, \"I AM\"? I shall not rob this\nquestion of its characteristic weight and power by any words of my\nown; but I pray that God the Holy Ghost may make it searching to the\nconscience of any reader who really needs to be searched thereby.\n\nI cannot close this section without calling the attention of the\nChristian reader to the deeply interesting declaration contained in\nthe fifteenth verse,--\"And God said, moreover, unto Moses, 'Thus shalt\nthou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers,\nthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent\nme unto you: _this is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all\ngenerations_.'\" This statement contains a very important truth--a\ntruth which many professing Christians seem to forget, namely, that\nGod's relationship with Israel is an eternal one. He is just as much\nIsrael's God now as when He visited them in the land of Egypt. Only,\nbecause of rejecting their Messiah, they are, in His governmental\ndealings, set aside for a time. But His word is clear and emphatic:\n\"This is My name forever.\" He does not say, This is My name for a\ntime, so long as they continue what they ought to be. No; \"This is My\nname _forever_, and this is My memorial unto _all generations_.\" Let\nmy reader ponder this. \"God hath not cast away His people which He\nforeknew.\" (Rom. xi. 2.) They are His people still, whether obedient\nor disobedient, united together or scattered abroad, manifested to the\nnations or hidden from their view. They are His people, and He is\ntheir God. Exodus iii. 15 is unanswerable. The professing church has\nno warrant whatever for ignoring a relationship which God says is to\nendure \"forever.\" Let us beware how we tamper with this weighty word,\n\"forever.\" If we say it does not mean forever when applied to Israel,\nwhat proof have we that it means forever when applied to us? God\nmeans what He says; and He will, ere long, make manifest to all the\nnations of the earth that His connection with Israel is one which\nshall outlive all the revolutions of time. \"The gifts and calling of\nGod are without repentance.\" When He said, \"This is My name forever,\"\nHe spoke absolutely. \"I AM\" declared Himself to be Israel's God\nforever; and all the Gentiles shall be made to bow to this; and to\nknow, moreover, that all God's providential dealings with them, and\nall their destinies, are connected, in some way or other, with that\nfavored and honored, though now judged and scattered, people. \"When\nthe Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He\nseparated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according\nto the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His\npeople; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance.\" (Deut. xxxii. 8, 9.)\n\nHas this ceased to be true? Has Jehovah given up His \"portion,\" and\nsurrendered \"the lot of His inheritance\"? Does His eye of tender love\nno longer rest on Israel's scattered tribes, long lost to man's\nvision? Are the walls of Jerusalem no longer before Him? or has her\ndust ceased to be precious in His sight? To reply to these inquiries\nwould be to quote a large portion of the Old Testament, and not a\nlittle of the New; but this would not be the place to enter\nelaborately upon such a subject. I would only say, in closing this\nsection, let not christendom \"be ignorant of this mystery, that\nblindness _in part_ is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the\nGentiles be come in. And so _all Israel shall be saved_.\" (Rom. xi.\n25, 26.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nWe are still called to linger at the foot of Mount Horeb, at \"the\nbackside of the desert;\" and truly, the air of this place is most\nhealthful for the spiritual constitution. Man's unbelief and God's\nboundless grace are here made manifest in a striking way.\n\n\"And Moses answered and said, 'But, behold, they will not believe me,\nnor hearken unto my voice; for they will say, The Lord hath not\nappeared unto thee.'\" How hard it is to overcome the unbelief of the\nhuman heart! How difficult man ever finds it to trust God! How slow he\nis to venture upon the naked promise of Jehovah! Anything, for nature,\nbut that. The most slender reed that the human eye can _see_ is\ncounted more substantial, by far, as a basis for nature's confidence,\nthan the unseen \"Rock of ages.\" Nature will rush with avidity to any\ncreature stream or broken cistern, rather than abide by the unseen\n\"Fountain of living waters.\"\n\nWe might suppose that Moses had seen and heard enough to set his fears\nentirely aside. The consuming fire in the unconsumed bush, the\ncondescending grace, the precious, endearing, and comprehensive\ntitles, the divine commission, the assurance of the divine\npresence,--all these might have quelled every anxious thought, and\nhave imparted a settled assurance to the heart. Still, however, Moses\nraises questions, and still God answers them; and, as we have\nremarked, each successive question brings out fresh grace. \"And the\nLord said unto him, 'What is that in thine hand?' And he said, 'A\nrod.'\" The Lord would just take him as he was, and use what he had in\nhis hand. The rod with which he had tended Jethro's sheep was about to\nbe used to deliver the Israel of God, to chastise the land of Egypt,\nto make a way through the deep, for the ransomed of the Lord to pass\nover, and to bring forth water from the flinty rock to refresh\nIsrael's thirsty hosts in the desert. God takes up the weakest\ninstruments to accomplish His mightiest ends. \"A rod,\" \"a ram's horn,\"\n\"a cake of barley meal,\" \"an earthen pitcher,\" \"a shepherd's\nsling,\"--anything, in short, when used of God, will do the appointed\nwork. Men imagine that splendid ends can only be reached by splendid\nmeans; but such is not God's way. He can use a crawling worm as well\nas a scorching sun, a gourd as well as a vehement east wind. (See\nJonah.)\n\nBut Moses had to learn a deep lesson, both as to the rod and the hand\nthat was to use it. He had to learn, and the people had to be\nconvinced. \"And He said, 'Cast it on the ground.' And he cast it on\nthe ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.\nAnd the Lord said unto Moses, 'Put forth thine hand and take it by the\ntail.' And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod\nin his hand; 'that they may believe that the Lord God of their\nfathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,\nhath appeared unto thee.'\" This is a deeply significant sign. The rod\nbecame a serpent, so that Moses fled from it; but, being commissioned\nby Jehovah, he took the serpent by the tail, and it became a rod.\nNothing could more aptly express the idea of Satan's power being\nturned against himself. This is largely exemplified in the ways of\nGod. Moses himself was a striking example. The serpent is entirely\nunder the hand of Christ; and when he has reached the highest point in\nhis mad career, he shall be hurled into the lake of fire, there to\nreap the fruits of his work throughout eternity's countless ages.\n\"That old serpent, the accuser, and the adversary,\" shall be eternally\ncrushed beneath the rod of God's Anointed.\n\n    \"Then the end--beneath His rod,\n      Man's last enemy shall fall;\n    Hallelujah! Christ in God,\n      God in Christ, is all in all.\"\n\n\"And the Lord said furthermore unto him, 'Put now thine hand into thy\nbosom.' And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out,\nbehold his hand was leprous as snow. And He said, 'Put thine hand into\nthy bosom again.' And he put his hand into his bosom again, and\nplucked it out of his bosom; and, behold, it was turned again as his\nother flesh.\" The leprous hand and the cleansing thereof present to\nus the moral effect of sin, as also the way in which sin has been met\nin the perfect work of Christ. The clean hand, placed in the bosom,\nbecomes leprous; and the leprous hand, placed there, becomes clean.\nLeprosy is the well-known type of sin; and sin came in by the first\nman and was put away by the second. \"By man came death, by man came\nalso the resurrection of the dead.\" (1 Cor. xv. 21.) Man brought in\nruin, man brought in redemption; man brought in guilt, man brought in\npardon; man brought in sin, man brought in righteousness; man filled\nthe scene with death, man abolished death and filled the scene with\nlife, righteousness, and glory. Thus, not only shall the serpent\nhimself be eternally defeated and confounded, but every trace of his\nabominable work shall be eradicated and wiped away by the atoning\nsacrifice of Him \"who was manifested that He might destroy the works\nof the devil.\"\n\n\"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two\nsigns, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the\nwater of the river, and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which\nthou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.\"\nThis was a solemn and most expressive figure of the consequence of\nrefusing to bow to the divine testimony. This sign was only to be\nwrought in the event of their refusing the other two. It was first to\nbe a sign to Israel, and afterwards a plague upon Egypt. (Comp.\nchapter vii. 17.)\n\nAll this, however, fails to satisfy the heart of Moses. \"And Moses\nsaid unto the Lord, 'O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore\nnor since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech,\nand of a slow tongue.'\" Terrible backwardness! Naught save Jehovah's\ninfinite patience could have endured it. Surely, when God Himself had\nsaid, \"I will be with thee,\" it was an infallible security, in\nreference to everything which could possibly be needed. If an eloquent\ntongue were necessary, what had Moses to do but to set it over against\n\"I AM\"? Eloquence, wisdom, might, energy,--everything was contained in\nthat exhaustless treasury. \"And the Lord said unto him, 'Who hath made\nman's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the\nblind? have not _I the Lord_? Now, therefore, go, and I will be with\nthy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.'\" Profound, adorable,\nmatchless grace! worthy of God! There is none like unto the Lord our\nGod, whose patient grace surmounts all our difficulties, and proves\nitself amply sufficient for our manifold need and weakness. \"I THE\nLORD\" ought to silence forever the reasonings of our carnal hearts.\nBut, alas! these reasonings are hard to be put down. Again and again\nthey rise to the surface, to the disturbance of our peace, and the\ndishonor of that blessed One, who sets Himself before our souls, in\nall His own essential fullness, to be used according to our need.\n\nIt is well to bear in mind that when we have the Lord with us, our\nvery deficiences and infirmities become an occasion for the display\nof His all-sufficient grace and perfect patience. Had Moses remembered\nthis, his want of eloquence need not have troubled him. The apostle\nPaul learnt to say, \"Most gladly, therefore, _will I rather glory_ in\nmy infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore\n_I take pleasure_ in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in\npersecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak,\nthen am I strong.\" (2 Cor. xii. 9, 10.) This is, assuredly, the\nutterance of one who had reached an advanced form in the school of\nChrist. It is the experience of one who would not have been much\ntroubled because of not possessing an eloquent tongue, inasmuch as he\nhad found an answer to every description of need in the precious grace\nof the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nThe knowledge of this truth ought to have delivered Moses from his\ndiffidence and inordinate timidity. When the Lord had so graciously\nassured him that He would be with his mouth, it should have set his\nmind at rest as to the question of eloquence. The Maker of man's mouth\ncould fill that mouth with the most commanding eloquence, if such were\nneeded. This, in the judgment of faith, is most simple; but, alas! the\npoor doubting heart would place far more confidence in an eloquent\ntongue than in the One who created it. This would seem most\nunaccountable, did we not know the materials of which the natural\nheart is composed. That heart cannot trust God; and hence it is that\neven the people of God, when they suffer themselves to be in any\nmeasure governed by nature, exhibit such a humiliating lack of\nconfidence in the living God.\n\nThus, in the scene before us, we find Moses still demurring. \"And he\nsaid, 'O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt\nsend.'\" This was, in reality, casting from him the high honor of being\nJehovah's sole messenger to Egypt and to Israel.\n\nIt were needless to say that divinely-wrought humility is an\ninestimable grace. To \"be clothed with humility\" is a divine precept;\nand humility is unquestionably the most becoming dress in which a\nworthless sinner can appear. But it cannot be called humility to\nrefuse to take the place which God assigns, or to tread the path which\nHis hand marks out for us. That it was not true humility in Moses is\nobvious from the fact that \"the anger of the Lord was kindled against\nhim.\" So far from its being humility, it had actually passed the limit\nof mere weakness. So long as it wore the aspect of an excessive\ntimidity, however reprehensible, God's boundless grace bore with it,\nand met it with renewed assurances; but when it assumed the character\nof unbelief and slowness of heart, it drew down Jehovah's just\ndispleasure; and Moses, instead of being the sole, is made a joint,\ninstrument in the work of testimony and deliverance.\n\nNothing is more dishonoring to God, or more dangerous for us, than a\nmock humility. When we refuse to occupy a position which the grace of\nGod assigns us, because of our not possessing certain virtues and\nqualifications, this is not humility, inasmuch as if we could but\nsatisfy our own consciences in reference to such virtues and\nqualifications, we should then deem ourselves entitled to assume the\nposition. If, for instance, Moses had possessed such a measure of\neloquence as he deemed needful, we may suppose he would have been\nready to go. Now the question is, How much eloquence would he have\nneeded to furnish him for his mission? The answer is, Without God, no\namount of human eloquence would have availed; but with God, the merest\nstammerer would have proved an efficient minister.\n\nThis is a great practical truth. Unbelief is not humility, but\nthorough pride. It refuses to believe God because it does not find in\n_self_ a reason for believing. This is the very height of presumption.\nIf, when God speaks, I refuse to believe, on the ground of something\nin myself, I make Him a liar. (1 John v. 10.) When God declares His\nlove, and I refuse to believe because I do not deem myself a\nsufficiently worthy object, I make Him a liar, and exhibit the\ninherent pride of my heart. The bare supposition that I could ever be\nworthy of aught save the lowest pit of hell, can only be regarded as\nthe most profound ignorance of my own condition and of God's\nrequirements. And the refusal to take the place which the redeeming\nlove of God assigns me, on the ground of the finished atonement of\nChrist, is to make God a liar, and cast gross dishonor upon the\nsacrifice of the cross. God's love flows forth spontaneously. It is\nnot drawn forth by my deserts, but by my misery. Nor is it a question\nas to the place which I deserve, but which Christ deserves. Christ\ntook the sinner's place on the cross, that the sinner might take His\nplace in the glory. Christ got what the sinner deserved, that the\nsinner might get what Christ deserves. Thus _self_ is totally set\naside, and this is true humility. No one can be truly humble until he\nhas reached heaven's side of the cross; but there he finds divine\nlife, divine righteousness, and divine favor. He is done with himself\nforever, as regards any expectation of goodness or righteousness, and\nhe feeds upon the princely wealth of another. He is morally prepared\nto join in that cry which shall echo through the spacious vault of\nheaven, throughout the everlasting ages, \"Not unto us, O Lord, not\nunto us, but unto Thy name give glory.\" (Psalm cxv. 1.)\n\nIt would ill become us to dwell upon the mistakes or infirmities of so\nhonored a servant as Moses, of whom we read that he \"was verily\nfaithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those\nthings which were to be spoken after.\" (Heb. iii. 5.) But, though we\nshould not dwell upon them in a spirit of self-complacency, as if we\nwould have acted differently in his circumstances, we should\nnevertheless learn from such things those holy and seasonable lessons\nwhich they are manifestly designed to teach. We should learn to judge\nourselves and to place more implicit confidence in God,--to set self\naside, that He might act in us, through us, and for us. This is the\ntrue secret of power.\n\nWe have remarked that Moses forfeited the dignity of being Jehovah's\nsole instrument in that glorious work which He was about to\naccomplish. But this was not all. \"The anger of the Lord was kindled\nagainst Moses; and He said, 'Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I\nknow that he can speak well: and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet\nthee; and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And _thou\nshalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth_: and I will be with\nthy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.\nAnd he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even\nhe shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him\ninstead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith\nthou shalt do signs.'\" (Chap. iv. 14-17.) This passage contains a mine\nof most precious practical instruction. We have noted the timidity and\nhesitation of Moses, notwithstanding the varied promises and\nassurances with which divine grace had furnished him. And now,\nalthough there was nothing gained in the way of real power, although\nthere was no more virtue or efficacy in one mouth than in another,\nalthough it was Moses after all who was to speak unto Aaron; yet was\nMoses quite ready to go when assured of the presence and co-operation\nof a poor feeble mortal like himself; whereas he could not go when\nassured, again and again, that Jehovah would be with him.\n\nOh! my reader, does not all this hold up before us a faithful mirror\nin which you and I can see our hearts reflected? Truly it does. We are\nmore ready to trust anything than the living God. We move along with\nbold decision when we possess the countenance and support of a poor\nfrail mortal like ourselves; but we falter, hesitate, and demur when\nwe have the light of the Master's countenance to cheer us, and the\nstrength of His omnipotent arm to support us. This should humble us\ndeeply before the Lord, and lead us to seek a fuller acquaintance with\nHim, so that we might trust Him with a more unmixed confidence, and\nwalk on with a firmer step, as having Him _alone_ for our resource and\nportion.\n\nNo doubt the fellowship of a brother is most valuable,--\"Two are\nbetter than one,\"--whether in labor, rest, or conflict. The Lord\nJesus, in sending forth His disciples, \"sent them two by two,\"--for\nunity is ever better than isolation;--still, if our personal\nacquaintance with God, and our experience of His presence, be not such\nas to enable us, if needful, to walk alone, we shall find the presence\nof a brother of very little use. It is not a little remarkable that\nAaron, whose companionship seemed to satisfy Moses, was the man who\nafterwards made the golden calf. (Exod. xxxii. 21.) Thus it frequently\nhappens, that the very person whose presence we deem essential to our\nprogress and success, afterwards proves a source of deepest sorrow to\nour hearts. May we ever remember this!\n\nHowever, Moses at length consents to go; but ere he is fully equipped\nfor his work, he must pass through another deep exercise,--yea, he\nmust have the sentence of death inscribed by the hand of God upon his\nvery nature. He had learnt deep lessons at \"the backside of the\ndesert;\" he is called to learn something deeper still, \"by the way in\nthe inn.\" It is no light matter to be the Lord's servant. No ordinary\neducation will qualify a man for such a position. Nature must be put\nin the place of death, and kept there. \"We had the sentence of death\nin ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which\nraiseth the dead.\" (2 Cor. i. 9.) Every successful servant will need\nto know something of this. Moses was called to enter into it, in his\nown experience, ere he was morally qualified. He was about to sound in\nthe ears of Pharaoh the following deeply solemn message: \"Thus saith\nthe Lord, 'Israel is My son, even My first-born: and I say unto thee,\nLet My son go, that he may serve Me: and if thou refuse to let him go,\nbehold I will slay thy son, even thy first-born.'\" Such was to be his\nmessage to Pharaoh,--a message of death, a message of judgment; and,\nat the same time, his message to Israel was a message of life and\nsalvation. But, be it remembered, that the man who will speak, on\nGod's behalf, of death and judgment, life and salvation, must, ere he\ndoes so, enter into the practical power of these things in his own\nsoul. Thus it was with Moses. We have seen him, at the very outset, in\nthe place of death, typically; but this was a different thing from\nentering into the experience of death in his own person. Hence we\nread, \"And it came to pass, by the way in the inn, that the Lord met\nhim, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut\noff the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said,\n'Surely, a bloody husband art thou to me.' So He let him go: then she\nsaid, 'A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.'\" This\npassage lets us into a deep secret in the personal and domestic\nhistory of Moses. It is very evident that Zipporah's heart had, up to\nthis point, shrunk from the application of _the knife_ to that around\nwhich the affections of nature were entwined. She had avoided that\nmark which had to be set in the flesh of every member of the Israel of\nGod. She was not aware that her relationship with Moses was one\ninvolving death to nature. She recoiled from the cross. This was\nnatural. But Moses had yielded to her in the matter; and this explains\nto us the mysterious scene \"in the inn.\" If Zipporah refuses to\ncircumcise her _son_, Jehovah will lay His hand upon her _husband_;\nand if Moses spares the feelings of his wife, Jehovah will \"seek to\nkill him.\" The sentence of death must be written on nature; and if we\nseek to avoid it in one way, we shall have to encounter it in another.\n\nIt has been already remarked that Zipporah furnishes an instructive\nand interesting type of the Church. She was united to Moses during the\nperiod of his rejection; and from the passage just quoted, we learn\nthat the Church is called to know Christ as the One related to her \"by\nblood.\" It is her privilege to drink of His cup, and be baptized with\nHis baptism. Being crucified with Him, she is to be conformed to His\ndeath--to mortify her members which are on the earth--to take up the\ncross daily, and follow Him. Her relationship with Christ is founded\nupon blood, and the manifestation of the power of that relationship\nwill necessarily involve death to nature. \"And ye are complete in Him,\nwhich is the head of all principality and power; in whom also ye are\ncircumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off\nthe body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:\nburied with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through\nthe faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.\"\n(Col. ii. 10-12.)\n\nSuch is the doctrine as to the Church's place with Christ,--a doctrine\nreplete with the richest privileges for the Church, and each member\nthereof. Everything, in short, is involved:--the perfect remission of\nsin, divine righteousness, complete acceptance, everlasting security,\nfull fellowship with Christ in all His glory. \"Ye are _complete_ in\nHim.\" This, surely, comprehends everything. What could be added to one\nwho is \"complete\"? Could \"philosophy,\" \"the tradition of men,\" \"the\nrudiments of the world,\" \"meats, drinks, holy days, new moons, or\nSabbaths\"? \"Touch not\" this, \"taste not\" that, \"handle not\" the other,\n\"the commandments and doctrines of men,\" \"days, and months, and times,\nand years,\"--could any of these things, or all of them put together,\nadd a single jot or tittle to one whom God has pronounced \"complete\"?\nWe might just as well inquire if man could have gone forth upon the\nfair creation of God, at the close of the six days' work, to give the\nfinishing touch to that which God had pronounced \"very good.\"\n\nNor is this completeness to be, by any means, viewed as a matter of\nattainment,--some point which we have not yet reached, but after which\nwe must diligently strive, and of the possession of which we cannot be\nsure until we lie upon a bed of death, or stand before a throne of\njudgment. It is the portion of the feeblest, the most inexperienced,\nthe most unlettered child of God. The very weakest saint is included\nin the apostolic \"_ye_.\" All the people of God \"_are_ complete in\nChrist.\" The apostle does not say, Ye _will_ be, Ye _may_ be, _Hope_\nthat ye may be, _Pray_ that ye may be: no; he, by the Holy Ghost,\nstates, in the most absolute and unqualified manner, that \"ye _are_\ncomplete.\" This is the true Christian starting-post; and for man to\nmake a goal of what God makes a starting-post, is to upset everything.\n\nBut, then, some will ask, Have we no sin, no failure, no imperfection?\nAssuredly we have. \"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive\nourselves, and the truth is not in us.\" (1 John i. 8.) We have sin\n_in_ us, but no sin _on_ us. Moreover, our standing is not in _self_,\nbut in Christ. It is \"_in Him_\" we \"are complete.\" God sees the\nbeliever in Christ, with Christ, and as Christ. This is his\nchangeless condition--his everlasting standing. \"The body of the sins\nof the flesh\" is \"put off by the circumcision of Christ.\" The believer\nis not in the flesh, though the flesh is in him. He is united to\nChrist in the power of a new and an endless life, and that life is\ninseparably connected with divine righteousness in which the believer\nstands before God. The Lord Jesus has put away everything that was\nagainst the believer, and He has brought him nigh to God, in the\nself-same favor as that which He Himself enjoys. In a word, Christ is\nhis righteousness. This settles every question, answers every\nobjection, silences every doubt. \"Both He that sanctifieth and they\nwho are sanctified are all of one.\" (Heb. ii. 11.)\n\nThe foregoing line of truth has flowed out of the deeply interesting\ntype presented to us in the relationship between Moses and Zipporah.\nWe must now hasten to close this section, and take our leave, for the\npresent, of \"the backside of the desert,\" though not of its deep\nlessons and holy impressions, so essential to every servant of Christ,\nand every messenger of the living God. All who would serve\neffectually, either in the important work of evangelization, or in the\nvaried ministries of the house of God--which is the Church--will need\nto imbibe the precious instructions which Moses received at the foot\nof Mount Horeb, and \"by the way in the inn.\"\n\nWere these things properly attended to, we should not have so many\nrunning unsent--so many rushing into spheres of ministry for which\nthey were never designed. Let each one who stands up to preach, or\nteach, or exhort, or serve in any way, seriously inquire if, indeed,\nhe be fitted and taught and sent of God. If not, his work will neither\nbe owned of God nor blessed to men, and the sooner he ceases, the\nbetter for himself and for those upon whom he has been imposing the\nheavy burden of hearkening to him. Neither a humanly-appointed nor a\nself-appointed ministry will ever suit within the hallowed precincts\nof the Church of God. All must be divinely gifted, divinely taught,\nand divinely sent.\n\n\"And the Lord said to Aaron, 'Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.'\nAnd he went and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him. And Moses\ntold Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the\nsigns which He had commanded him.\" This was a fair and beauteous\nscene--a scene of sweet brotherly love and union--a scene which stands\nin marked contrast with many of those scenes which were afterwards\nenacted in the wilderness-career of these two men. Forty years of\nwilderness life are sure to make great changes in men and things. Yet\nit is sweet to dwell upon those early days of one's Christian course,\nbefore the stern realities of desert life had, in any measure, checked\nthe gush of warm and generous affections,--before deceit and\ncorruption and hypocrisy had well-nigh dried up the springs of the\nheart's confidence, and placed the whole moral being beneath the\nchilling influences of a suspicious disposition.\n\nThat such results have been produced, in many cases, by years of\nexperience, is, alas! too true. Happy is he who, though his eyes have\nbeen opened to see nature in a clearer light than that which this\nworld supplies, can nevertheless serve his generation by the energy of\nthat grace which flows forth from the bosom of God. Who ever knew the\ndepths and windings of the human heart as Jesus knew them? \"He knew\n_all_, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what\nwas in man.\" (John ii. 24, 25.) So well did He know man, that He could\nnot commit Himself unto him. He could not accredit man's professions,\nor endorse his pretensions. And yet, who so gracious as He? Who so\nloving, so tender, so compassionate, so sympathizing? With a heart\nthat understood all, He could feel for all. He did not suffer His\nperfect knowledge of human worthlessness to keep Him aloof from human\nneed. \"He went about doing good.\" Why? Was it because He imagined that\nall those who flocked around Him were real? No; but \"because God was\nwith Him.\" (Acts x. 38.) This is our example. Let us follow it,\nthough, in doing so, we shall have to trample on _self_ and all its\ninterests, at every step of the way.\n\nWho would desire that wisdom, that knowledge of nature, that\nexperience, which only lead men to ensconce themselves within the\ninclosures of a hard-hearted selfishness, from which they look forth\nwith an eye of dark suspicion upon everybody? Surely, such a result\ncould never follow from aught of a heavenly or excellent nature. God\ngives wisdom; but it is not a wisdom which locks the heart against\nall the appeals of human need and misery. He gives a knowledge of\nnature; but it is not a knowledge which causes us to grasp with\nselfish eagerness that which we, falsely, call \"our own.\" He gives\nexperience; but it is not an experience which results in suspecting\neverybody except myself. If I am walking in the footprints of Jesus,\nif I am imbibing, and therefore manifesting, His excellent spirit, if,\nin short, I can say, \"To me to live is Christ;\" then, while I walk\nthrough the world, with a knowledge of what the world is; while I come\nin contact with man, with a knowledge of what I am to expect from him;\nI am able, through grace, to manifest Christ in the midst of it all.\nThe springs which move me, and the objects which animate me, are all\n_above_, where He is, who is \"the same yesterday, and to-day, and\nforever.\" (Heb. xiii. 8.) It was this which sustained the heart of\nthat beloved and honored servant, whose history, even so far, has\nfurnished us with such deep and solid instruction. It was this which\ncarried him through the trying and varied scenes of his wilderness\ncourse. And we may safely assert that, at the close of all,\nnotwithstanding the trial and exercise of forty years, Moses could\nembrace his brother when he stood on Mount Hor, with the same warmth\nas he had when first he met him \"in the mount of God.\" True, the two\noccasions were very different. At \"the mount of God\" they met and\nembraced, and started together on their divinely-appointed mission.\nUpon \"Mount Hor\" they met by the commandment of Jehovah, in order\nthat Moses might strip his brother of his priestly robes, and see him\ngathered to his fathers, because of an error in which he himself had\nparticipated. (How solemn! How touching!) Circumstances vary: men turn\naway from one; but with God \"is no variableness, neither shadow of\nturning.\" (James i. 17.)\n\n\"And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the\nchildren of Israel; and Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had\nspoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. And\nthe people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the\nchildren of Israel, and that He had looked upon their affliction, then\nthey bowed their heads and worshiped.\" (Ver. 29-31.) When God works,\nevery barrier must give way. Moses had said, \"The people will not\nbelieve me.\" But the question was not as to whether they would believe\nhim, but whether they would believe God. When a man is enabled to view\nhimself simply as the messenger of God, he may feel quite at ease as\nto the reception of his message. It does not detract, in the smallest\ndegree, from his tender and affectionate solicitude in reference to\nthose whom he addresses. Quite the contrary; but it preserves him from\nthat inordinate anxiety of spirit which can only tend to unfit him for\ncalm, elevated, steady testimony. The messenger of God should ever\nremember whose message he bears. When Zacharias said to the angel,\n\"Whereby shall I know this?\" was the latter perturbed by the question?\nNot in the least. His calm, dignified reply was, \"I am Gabriel, that\nstand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and to\nshow thee these glad tidings.\" (Luke i. 18, 19.) The angel rises\nbefore the doubting mortal, with a keen and exquisite sense of the\ndignity of his message. It is as if he would say, How can you doubt,\nwhen a messenger has actually been dispatched from the very\npresence-chamber of the Majesty of heaven? Thus should every messenger\nof God, in his measure, go forth, and, in this spirit, deliver his\nmessage.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS V. & VI.\n\n\nThe effect of the first appeal to Pharaoh seemed aught but\nencouraging. The thought of losing Israel made him clutch them with\ngreater eagerness and watch them with greater vigilance. Whenever\nSatan's power becomes narrowed to a point, his rage increases. Thus it\nis here. The furnace is about to be quenched by the hand of redeeming\nlove; but ere it is, it blazes forth with greater fierceness and\nintensity. The devil does not like to let go any one whom he has had\nin his terrible grasp. He is \"a strong man armed,\" and while he\n\"keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace.\" But, blessed be God,\nthere is \"a stronger than he,\" who has taken from him \"his armor\nwherein he trusted,\" and divided the spoils among the favored objects\nof His everlasting love.\n\n\"And afterward, Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh,--'Thus\nsaith the Lord God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a\nfeast unto Me in the wilderness.'\" (Chap. v. 1.) Such was Jehovah's\nmessage to Pharaoh. He claimed full deliverance for the people on the\nground of their being His, and in order that they might hold a feast\nunto Him in the wilderness. Nothing can ever satisfy God in reference\nto His elect, but their entire emancipation from the yoke of bondage.\n\"Loose him and let him go\" is really the grand motto in God's gracious\ndealings with those who, though held in bondage by Satan, are\nnevertheless the objects of His eternal love.\n\nWhen we contemplate Israel amid the brick-kilns of Egypt, we behold a\ngraphic figure of the condition of every child of Adam by nature.\nThere they were, crushed beneath the enemy's galling yoke, and having\nno power to deliver themselves. The mere mention of the word _liberty_\nonly caused the oppressor to bind his captives with a stronger fetter,\nand to lade them with a still more grievous burden. It was absolutely\nnecessary that deliverance should come from without. But from whence\nwas it to come! Where were the resources to pay their ransom? or where\nwas the power to break their chains? And even were there both the one\nand the other, where was the _will_? Who would take the trouble of\ndelivering them? Alas! there was no hope, either within or around.\nThey had only to look up. Their refuge was in God. He had both the\npower and the will. He could accomplish a redemption both by price and\nby power. In Jehovah, and in Him alone, was there salvation for\nruined and oppressed Israel.\n\nThus it is in every case. \"Neither is there salvation in any other;\nfor there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we\nmust be saved.\" (Acts iv. 12.) The sinner is in the hands of one who\nrules him with despotic power. He is \"sold under sin\"--\"led captive by\nSatan at his will\" fast bound in the fetters of lust, passion, and\ntemper,--\"without strength,\" \"without hope,\" \"without God.\" Such is\nthe sinner's condition. How, then, can he help himself? What can he\ndo? He is the slave of another, and everything he does is done in the\ncapacity of a slave. His thoughts, his words, his acts, are the\nthoughts, words, and acts of a slave. Yea, though he should weep and\nsigh for emancipation, his very tears and sighs are the melancholy\nproofs of his slavery. He may struggle for freedom; but his very\nstruggle, though it evinces a desire for liberty, is the positive\ndeclaration of his bondage.\n\nNor is it merely a question of the sinner's _condition_; his very\n_nature_ is radically corrupt--wholly under the power of Satan. Hence\nhe not only needs to be introduced into a new condition, but also to\nbe endowed with a new nature. The nature and the condition go\ntogether. If it were possible for the sinner to better his condition,\nwhat would it avail so long as his nature was irrecoverable bad? A\nnobleman might take a beggar off the streets and adopt him; he might\nendow him with a noble's wealth, and set him in a noble's position;\nbut he could not impart to him nobility of nature; and thus the nature\nof a beggarman would never be at home in the condition of a nobleman.\nThere must be a nature to suit the condition; and there must be a\ncondition to suit the capacity, the desires, the affections, and the\ntendencies of the nature.\n\nNow, in the gospel of the grace of God, we are taught that the\nbeliever is introduced into an entirely new condition; that he is no\nlonger viewed as in his former state of guilt and condemnation, but as\nin a state of perfect and everlasting justification; that the\ncondition in which God now sees him is not only one of full pardon,\nbut it is such that infinite holiness cannot find so much as a single\nstain. He has been taken out of his former condition of guilt, and\nplaced absolutely and eternally in a new condition of unspotted\nrighteousness. It is not, by any means, that his old condition is\nimproved. This is utterly impossible. \"That which is crooked cannot be\nmade straight.\" \"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his\nspots?\" Nothing can be more opposed to the fundamental truth of the\ngospel than the theory of a gradual improvement in the sinner's\ncondition. He is born in a certain condition, and until he is \"born\nagain\" he cannot be in any other. He may try to improve, he may\nresolve to be better for the future--to \"turn over a new leaf\"--to\nlive a different sort of life; but, all the while, he has not moved a\nsingle hair's breadth out of his real condition as a sinner. He may\nbecome \"religious,\" as it is called,--he may try to pray, he may\ndiligently attend to ordinances, and exhibit an appearance of moral\nreform; but none of these things can, in the smallest degree, affect\nhis positive condition before God.\n\nThe case is precisely similar as to the question of _nature_. How can\na man alter his nature? He may make it undergo a process, he may try\nto subdue it--to place it under discipline; but it is nature still.\n\"That which is born of the flesh is flesh.\" There must be a new nature\nas well as a new condition. And how is this to be had? By believing\nGod's testimony concerning His Son. \"As many as received Him, to them\ngave He power to become the sons of God, even _to them that believe on\nHis name_: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the\nflesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.\" (John i. 12, 13.) Here we\nlearn that those who believe on the name of the only begotten Son of\nGod, have the right or privilege of being sons of God. They are made\npartakers of a new nature: they have gotten eternal life.--\"He that\nbelieveth on the Son _hath_ everlasting life\" (John iii.\n36.).--\"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that _heareth_ My word, and\n_believeth_ on Him that sent Me, _hath_ everlasting life, and shall\nnot come into condemnation; but _is_ passed from death unto life\"\n(John v. 24.).--\"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee,\nthe only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent\" (John xvii.\n3.).--\"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,\nand this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son _hath_ life.\" (1\nJohn v. 11, 12.)\n\nSuch is the plain doctrine of the Word in reference to the momentous\nquestions of condition and nature. But on what is all this founded?\nHow is the believer introduced into a condition of divine\nrighteousness and made partaker of the divine nature? It all rests on\nthe great truth that \"JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN.\" That blessed One\nleft the bosom of eternal love, the throne of glory, the mansions of\nunfading light; came down into this world of guilt and woe; took upon\nHim the likeness of sinful flesh; and, having perfectly exhibited and\nperfectly glorified God in all the movements of His blessed life here\nbelow, He died upon the cross, under the full weight of His people's\ntransgressions. By so doing, He divinely met all that was or could be\nagainst us. He magnified the law and made it honorable; and, having\ndone so, He became a curse by hanging on the tree. Every claim was\nmet, every enemy silenced, every obstacle removed. \"Mercy and truth\nare met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.\"\nInfinite justice was satisfied, and infinite love can flow, in all its\nsoothing and refreshing virtues, into the broken heart of the sinner;\nwhile, at the same time, the cleansing and atoning stream that flowed\nfrom the pierced side of a crucified Christ, perfectly meets all the\ncravings of a guilty and convicted conscience. The Lord Jesus, on the\ncross, stood in our place. He was our representative. He died, \"the\njust for the unjust.\" \"He was made sin for us.\" (2 Cor. v. 21; 1\nPeter iii. 18.) He died the sinner's death, was buried, and rose\nagain, having accomplished all. Hence, there is absolutely nothing\nagainst the believer. He is linked with Christ, and stands in the same\ncondition of righteousness. \"As He is, so are we in this world.\" (1\nJohn iv. 17.)\n\nThis gives settled peace to the conscience. If I am no longer in a\ncondition of guilt, but in a condition of justification,--if God only\nsees me _in_ Christ and as Christ, then, clearly, my portion is\nperfect peace. \"Being justified by faith, we _have_ peace with God\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.\" (Rom. v. 1.) The blood of the Lamb has\ncanceled all the believer's guilt,--blotted out his heavy debt, and\ngiven him a perfectly blank page, in the presence of that holiness\nwhich \"cannot look upon sin.\"\n\nBut the believer has not merely found peace with God; he is made a\nchild of God, so that he can taste the sweetness of communion with the\nFather and the Son, through the power of the Holy Ghost. The cross is\nto be viewed in two ways: first, as satisfying God's claims; secondly,\nas expressing God's affections. If I look at my sins in connection\nwith the claims of God as a Judge, I find, in the cross, a perfect\nsettlement of those claims. God, as a Judge, has been divinely\nsatisfied--yea, glorified, in the cross. But there is more than this.\nGod had affections as well as claims; and, in the cross of the Lord\nJesus Christ, all those affections are sweetly and touchingly told out\ninto the sinner's ear; while, at the same time, he is made partaker\nof a new nature which is capable of enjoying those affections and\nhaving fellowship with the heart from which they flow. \"For Christ\nalso hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He\nmight bring us to God.\" (1 Peter iii. 18.) Thus, we are not only\nbrought into _a condition_, but unto _a Person_, even God Himself, and\nwe are endowed with _a nature_ which can delight in Him.--\"_We also\njoy in God_, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now\nreceived the reconciliation (margin).\" (Rom. v. 11.)\n\nWhat force and beauty, therefore, can we see in those emancipating\nwords, \"Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the\nwilderness.\" \"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath\nanointed Me to preach the gospel; He hath sent Me to heal the\nbroken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering\nof sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.\" (Luke\niv. 18.) The glad tidings of the gospel announce full deliverance from\nevery yoke of bondage. Peace and liberty are the boons which that\ngospel bestows on all who believe it, as God has declared it.\n\nAnd mark, it is \"that they may hold a feast to _Me_.\" If they were to\nget done with Pharaoh, it was that they might begin with God. This was\na great change. Instead of toiling under Pharaoh's taskmasters, they\nwere to feast in company with Jehovah; and, although they were to pass\nfrom Egypt into the wilderness, still the divine presence was to\naccompany them; and if the wilderness was rough and dreary, it was the\nway to the land of Canaan. The divine purpose was, that they should\nhold a feast unto the Lord in the wilderness, and in order to do this,\nthey should be \"_let go_\" out of Egypt.\n\nHowever, Pharaoh was in no wise disposed to yield obedience to the\ndivine mandate. \"Who is the Lord,\" said he, \"that I should obey His\nvoice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel\ngo.\" (Chap. v. 2.) Pharaoh most truly expressed, in these words, his\nreal condition. His condition was one of ignorance and consequent\ndisobedience. Both go together. If God be not known, He cannot be\nobeyed; for obedience is ever founded upon knowledge. When the soul is\nblessed with the knowledge of God, it finds this knowledge to be life\n(John xvii. 3.), and life is power; and when I get power, I can act.\nIt is obvious that one cannot act without life; and therefore it is\nmost unintelligent to set people upon doing certain things in order to\nget that by which alone they can do anything.\n\nBut Pharaoh was as ignorant of himself as he was of the Lord. He did\nnot know that he was a poor, vile worm of the earth, and that he had\nbeen raised up for the express purpose of making known the glory of\nthe very One whom he said he knew not. (Exod. ix. 16; Rom. ix. 17.)\n\"And they said, 'The God of the Hebrews has met with us: let us go, we\npray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the\nLord our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.'\nAnd the king of Egypt said unto them, 'Wherefore do ye, Moses and\nAaron, let the people from their work? Get you unto your burdens ...\nlet there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein;\nand let them not regard _vain words_.'\" (Ver. 3-9.)\n\nWhat a development of the secret springs of the human heart we have\nhere! What complete incompetency to enter into the things of God! All\nthe divine titles and the divine revelations were, in Pharaoh's\nestimation, \"vain words.\" What did he know or care about \"three days'\njourney into the wilderness,\" or \"a feast to Jehovah\"? How could he\nunderstand the need of such a journey, or the nature or object of such\na feast? Impossible. He could understand burden-bearing and\nbrick-making; these things had an air of reality about them, in his\njudgment; but as to aught of God, His service, or His worship, he\ncould only regard it in the light of an idle chimera, devised by those\nwho only wanted an excuse to make their escape from the stern\nrealities of actual life.\n\nThus has it too often been with the wise and great of this world. They\nhave ever been the most forward to write folly and vanity upon the\ndivine testimonies. Hearken, for example, to the estimate which the\n\"most noble Festus\" formed of the grand question at issue between Paul\nand the Jews:--\"They had certain questions against him of their own\nsuperstition, and _of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to\nbe alive_.\" (Acts xxv. 19.) Alas! how little he knew what he was\nsaying! How little he knew what was involved in the question, as to\nwhether \"Jesus\" was \"dead\" or \"alive\"! He thought not of the solemn\nbearing of that momentous question upon himself and his friends,\nAgrippa and Bernice; but that did not alter the matter; he and they\nknow somewhat more about it now, though in their passing moment of\nearthly glory they regarded it as a superstitious question, wholly\nbeneath the notice of men of common sense, and only fit to occupy the\ndisordered brain of visionary enthusiasts. Yes; the stupendous\nquestion which fixes the destiny of every child of Adam--on which is\nfounded the present and everlasting condition of the Church and the\nworld--which stands connected with all the divine counsels,--this\nquestion was, in the judgment of Festus, a vain superstition.\n\nThus was it in Pharaoh's case. He knew nothing of \"the Lord God of the\nHebrews\"--the great \"I AM,\" and hence he regarded all that Moses and\nAaron had said to him, in reference to doing sacrifice to God, as\n\"vain words.\" The things of God must ever seem vain, profitless, and\nunmeaning to the unsanctified mind of man. His name may be made use of\nas part of the flippant phraseology of a cold and formal\nreligiousness; but He Himself is not known. His precious name, which,\nto a believer's heart, has wrapped up in it all that he can possibly\nneed or desire, has no significancy, no power, no virtue for an\nunbeliever. All, therefore, connected with God--His words, His\ncounsels, His thoughts, His ways,--everything, in short, that treats\nof or refers to Him, is regarded as \"vain words.\"\n\nHowever, the time is rapidly approaching when it will not be thus. The\njudgment-seat of Christ, the terrors of the world to come, the surges\nof the lake of fire, will not be \"vain words.\" Assuredly not; and it\nshould be the great aim of all who, through grace, believe them now to\nbe realities, to press them upon the consciences of those who, like\nPharaoh, regard the making of bricks as the only thing worth thinking\nabout--the only thing that can be called real and solid.\n\nAlas! that even Christians should so frequently be found living in the\nregion of sight--the region of earth--the region of nature--as to lose\nthe deep, abiding, influential sense of the reality of divine and\nheavenly things. We want to live more in the region of faith--the\nregion of heaven--the region of the \"new creation.\" Then we should see\nthings as God sees them, think about them as He thinks; and our whole\ncourse and character would be more elevated, more disinterested, more\nthoroughly separated from earth and earthly things.\n\nBut Moses' sorest trial did not arise from Pharaoh's judgment about\nhis mission. The true and whole-hearted servant of Christ must ever\nexpect to be looked on, by the men of this world, as a mere visionary\nenthusiast. The point of view from which they contemplate him is such\nas to lead us to look for this judgment and none other. The more\nfaithful he is to his heavenly Master, the more he walks in His\nfootsteps, the more conformed he is to His image, the more likely he\nis to be considered, by the sons of earth, as one \"beside himself.\"\nThis, therefore, should neither disappoint nor discourage him. But\nthen it is a far more painful thing when his service and testimony are\nmisunderstood, unheeded, or rejected by those who are themselves the\nspecific objects thereof. When such is the case, he needs to be much\nwith God, much in the secret of His mind, much in the power of\ncommunion, to have his spirit sustained in the abiding reality of his\npath and service. Under such trying circumstances, if one be not fully\npersuaded of the divine commission, and conscious of the divine\npresence, he will be almost sure to break down.\n\nHad not Moses been thus upheld, his heart must have utterly failed him\nwhen the augmented pressure of Pharaoh's power elicited from the\nofficers of the children of Israel such desponding and depressing\nwords as these,--\"The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have\nmade our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes\nof his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.\" This was\ngloomy enough; and Moses felt it so, for \"he returned unto the Lord,\nand said, 'Lord, wherefore hast Thou so evil entreated this people?\nWhy is it that Thou hast sent me? For since I came unto Pharaoh to\nspeak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast Thou\ndelivered Thy people at all.'\" The aspect of things had become most\ndiscouraging, at the very moment when deliverance seemed at hand;\njust as, in nature, the darkest hour of the night is often that which\nimmediately precedes the dawn of the morning. Thus will it assuredly\nbe in Israel's history in the latter day. The moment of most profound\ndarkness and depressing gloom will precede the bursting of \"the Sun of\nRighteousness\" from behind the cloud, with healing in His wings to\nheal eternally \"the hurt of the daughter of His people.\"\n\nWe may well question how far genuine faith, or a mortified will,\ndictated the \"_wherefore?_\" and the \"_why?_\" of Moses, in the above\nquotation. Still, the Lord does not rebuke a remonstrance drawn forth\nby the intense pressure of the moment. He most graciously replies,\n\"Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand\nshall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out\nof his land.\" (Chap. vi. 1.) This reply breathes peculiar grace.\nInstead of reproving the petulance which could presume to call in\nquestion the unsearchable ways of the great I AM, that ever-gracious\nOne seeks to relieve the harassed spirit of His servant by unfolding\nto him what He was about to do. This was worthy of the blessed\nGod--the unupbraiding Giver of every good and every perfect gift. \"He\nknoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.\" (Ps. ciii. 14.)\n\nNor is it merely in His actings that He would cause the heart to find\nits solace, but in Himself--in His very name and character. This is\nfull, divine, and everlasting blessedness. When the heart can find\nits sweet relief in God Himself--when it can retreat into the strong\ntower which His name affords--when it can find, in His character, a\nperfect answer to all its need, then, truly, it is raised far above\nthe region of the creature, it can turn away from earth's fair\npromises, it can place the proper value on man's lofty pretensions.\nThe heart which is endowed with an experimental knowledge of God can\nnot only look forth upon earth, and say, \"All is vanity;\" but it can\nalso look straight up to Him, and say, \"All my springs are in Thee.\"\n\n\"And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, 'I am the Lord: and I\nappeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God\nAlmighty; but by My name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have\nalso established My covenant with them to give them the land of\nCanaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And\nI have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the\nEgyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant.'\"\n\"JEHOVAH\" is the title which He takes as the Deliverer of His people,\non the ground of His covenant of pure and sovereign grace. He reveals\nHimself as the great self-existing Source of redeeming love,\nestablishing His counsels, fulfilling His promises, delivering His\nelect people from every enemy and every evil. It was Israel's\nprivilege ever to abide under the safe covert of that significant\ntitle--a title which displays God acting for His own glory, and\ntaking up His oppressed people in order to show forth in them that\nglory.\n\n\"Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, 'I am the Lord, and I will\nbring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid\nyou out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched-out\narm, and with great judgments; and I will take you to Me for a people,\nand I will be to you a God; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your\nGod, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.\nAnd I will bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear\nto give it unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to\nyou for a heritage: I am the Lord.'\" (Ver. 6-8.) All this speaks the\npurest, freest, richest grace. Jehovah presents Himself to the hearts\nof His people as the One who was to act _in_ them, _for_ them, and\n_with_ them, for the display of His own glory. Ruined and helpless as\nthey were, He had come down to show forth His glory, to exhibit His\ngrace, and to furnish a sample of His power, in their full\ndeliverance. His glory and their salvation were inseparably connected.\nThey were afterwards reminded of all this, as we read in the book of\nDeuteronomy,--\"The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you,\nbecause ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest\nof all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would\nkeep the oath which He had sworn onto your fathers, hath the Lord\nbrought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house\nof bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.\" (Chap. vii. 7,\n8.)\n\nNothing is more calculated to assure and establish the doubting,\ntrembling heart than the knowledge that God has taken us up _just as\nwe are_, and in the full intelligence of what we are; and, moreover,\nthat He can never make any fresh discovery to cause an alteration in\nthe character and measure of His love. \"Having loved His own which\nwere in the world, He loved them unto the end.\" (John xiii.) _Whom_ He\nloves and _as_ He loves, He loves unto the end. This is an unspeakable\ncomfort. God knew all about us--He knew the very worst of us, when He\nmanifested His love to us in the gift of His Son. He knew what was\nneeded, and He provided it; He knew what was due, and He paid it; He\nknew what was to be wrought, and He wrought it; His own requirements\nhad to be met, and He met them. It is all His own work. Hence, we find\nHim saying to Israel, as in the above passage, \"I will bring you out,\"\n\"I will bring you in,\" \"I will take you to Me,\" \"I will give you the\nland,\" \"I am Jehovah.\" It was all what _He would do_, as founded upon\nwhat _He was_. Until this great truth is fully laid hold of, until it\nenters into the soul, in the power of the Holy Ghost, there cannot be\nsettled peace. The heart can never be happy, or the conscience at\nrest, until one knows and believes that all divine requirements have\nbeen divinely answered.\n\nThe remainder of our section is taken up with a record of \"the heads\nof their fathers' houses,\" and is very interesting, as showing us\nJehovah coming in and numbering those that belonged to Himself, though\nthey were still in the possession of the enemy. Israel was God's\npeople, and He here counts up those on whom He had a sovereign claim.\nAmazing grace! To find an object in those who were in the midst of all\nthe degradation of Egyptian bondage! This was worthy of God. The One\nwho had made the worlds, who was surrounded by hosts of unfallen\nangels, ever ready to \"do His pleasure,\" should come down for the\npurpose of taking up a number of bond-slaves with whom He condescended\nto connect His name. He came down and stood amid the brick-kilns of\nEgypt, and there beheld a people groaning beneath the lash of the\ntaskmasters, and He uttered those memorable accents, \"Let _My_ people\ngo;\" and, having so said, He proceeded to count them up, as much as to\nsay, These are Mine; let Me see how many I have, that not one may be\nleft behind. \"He taketh up the beggar from the dunghill, to set him\namongst the princes of His people, and to make him inherit the throne\nof glory.\"(1 Sam. ii.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS VII.-XI.\n\n\nThese five chapters form one distinct section, the contents of which\nmay be distributed into the three following divisions, namely, the ten\njudgments from the hand of Jehovah, the resistance of \"Jannes and\nJambres,\" and the four objections of Pharaoh.\n\nThe whole land of Egypt was made to tremble beneath the successive\nstrokes of the rod of God. All, from the monarch on His throne to the\nmenial at the mill, were made to feel the terrible weight of that rod.\n\"He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They showed\nHis signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness\nand made it dark; and they rebelled not against His word. He turned\ntheir waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth\nfrogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and\nthere came divers sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts. He gave\nthem hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their\nvines also, and their fig-trees; and brake the trees of their coasts.\nHe spake, and their locusts came, and the caterpillars, and that\nwithout number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and\ndevoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the first-born\nin their land, the chief of all their strength.\" (Ps. cv. 26-36.)\n\nHere the inspired Psalmist has given a condensed view of those\nappalling inflictions which the hardness of Pharaoh's heart brought\nupon his land and upon his people. This haughty monarch had set\nhimself to resist the sovereign will and course of the Most High God;\nand, as a just consequence, he was given over to judicial blindness\nand hardness of heart. \"And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh,\nand he hearkened not unto them, as the Lord had spoken unto Moses. And\nthe Lord said unto Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning, and stand\nbefore Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the\nHebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me, For I will at this\ntime send all My plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and\nupon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in\nall the earth. For now I will stretch out My hand that I may smite\nthee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from\nthe earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for\nto show in thee My power, and that My name maybe declared throughout\nall the earth.'\" (Exod. ix. 12-16.)\n\nIn contemplating Pharaoh and his actings, the mind is carried forward\nto the stirring scenes of the book of Revelation, in which we find the\nlast proud oppressor of the people of God bringing down upon his\nkingdom and upon himself the seven vials of the wrath of the Almighty.\nIt is God's purpose that Israel shall be pre-eminent in the earth;\nand, therefore, every one who presumes to stand in the way of that\npre-eminence must be set aside. Divine grace must find its object; and\nevery one who would act as a barrier in the way of that grace, must be\ntaken out of the way,--whether it be Egypt, Babylon, or \"the beast\nthat was, is not, and yet is,\" it matters not. Divine power will clear\nthe channel for divine grace to flow, and eternal woe be to all who\nstand in the way. They shall taste, throughout the everlasting course\nof ages, the bitter fruit of having exalted themselves against \"the\nLord God of the Hebrews.\" He has said to His people, \"No weapon that\nis formed against thee shall prosper,\" and His infallible faithfulness\nwill assuredly make good what His infinite grace hath promised.\n\nThus, in Pharaoh case, when he persisted in holding, with an iron\ngrasp, the Israel of God, the vials of divine wrath were poured forth\nupon him; and the land of Egypt was covered, throughout its entire\nlength and breadth, with darkness, disease, and desolation. So will it\nbe by and by, when the last great oppressor shall emerge from the\nbottomless pit, armed with satanic power, to crush beneath his \"foot\nof pride\" the favored objects of Jehovah's choice. His throne shall be\noverturned, his kingdom devastated by the seven last plagues, and,\nfinally, he himself plunged, not in the Red Sea, but \"in the lake that\nburneth with fire and brimstone.\" (Comp. Rev. xvii. 8; xx. 10.)\n\nNot one jot or one tittle of what God has promised to Abraham, Isaac,\nand Jacob shall fail. He will accomplish all. Notwithstanding all that\nhas been said and done to the contrary, God remembers His promises,\nand He will fulfill them. They are all \"yea and amen in Christ.\"\nDynasties have risen and acted on the stage of this world; thrones\nhave been erected on the apparent ruins of Jerusalem's ancient glory;\nempires have flourished for a time, and then fallen to decay;\nambitious potentates have contended for the possession of \"the land of\npromise\"--all these things have taken place; but Jehovah has said\nconcerning Palestine, \"The land shall not be sold forever: for the\nland is Mine.\" (Lev. xxv. 23.) No one, therefore, shall ever finally\npossess that land but Jehovah Himself, and He will inherit it through\nthe seed of Abraham. One plain passage of Scripture is quite\nsufficient to establish the mind in reference to this or any other\nsubject. The land of Canaan is for the seed of Abraham, and the seed\nof Abraham for the land of Canaan; nor can any power of earth or hell\never reverse this divine order. The eternal God has pledged His word,\nand the blood of the everlasting covenant has flowed to ratify that\nword. Who, then, shall make it void? \"Heaven and earth shall pass\naway, but that word shall never pass away.\" Truly, \"there is none like\nunto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and\nin His excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and\nunderneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy\nfrom before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell\nin safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn\nand wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O\nIsrael, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield\nof thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thy enemies\nshall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high\nplaces.\" (Deut. xxxiii. 26-29.)\n\nWe shall now consider, in the second place, the opposition of \"Jannes\nand Jambres,\" the magicians of Egypt. We should not have known the\nnames of these ancient opposers of the truth of God, had they not\nbeen recorded by the Holy Ghost, in connection with \"the perilous\ntimes\" of which the apostle Paul warns his son Timothy. It is\nimportant that the Christian reader should clearly understand the real\nnature of the opposition given to Moses by those magicians, and in\norder that he may have the subject fully before him, I shall quote the\nentire passage from St. Paul's epistle to Timothy. It is one of deep\nand awful solemnity.\n\n\"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For\nmen shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,\nblasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without\nnatural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent,\nfierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady,\nhigh-minded, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God; having a\nform of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.\nFor of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive\nsilly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever\nlearning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as\nJannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth:\nmen of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall\nproceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all, as\ntheirs also was.\" (2 Tim. iii. 1-9.)\n\nNow, it is peculiarly solemn to mark the nature of this resistance to\nthe truth. The mode in which \"Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses\" was\nsimply by imitating, as far as they were able, whatever he did. We do\nnot find that they attributed his actings to a false or evil energy,\nbut rather that they sought to neutralize their power upon the\nconscience, by doing the same things. What Moses did they could do, so\nthat after all there was no great difference. One was as good as the\nother. A miracle is a miracle. If Moses wrought miracles to get the\npeople out of Egypt, they could work miracles to keep them in; so\nwhere was the difference?\n\nFrom all this we learn the solemn truth that the most satanic\nresistance to God's testimony in the world is offered by those who,\nthough they imitate the effects of the truth, have but \"the form of\ngodliness,\" and \"deny the power thereof.\" Persons of this class can do\nthe same things, adopt the same habits and forms, use the same\nphraseology, profess the same opinions as others. If the true\nChristian, constrained by the love of Christ, feeds the hungry,\nclothes the naked, visits the sick, circulates the Scriptures,\ndistributes tracts, supports the gospel, engages in prayer, sings\npraise, preaches the gospel, the formalist can do every one of these\nthings; and this, be it observed, is the special character of the\nresistance offered to the truth \"in the last days\"--this is the spirit\nof \"Jannes and Jambres.\" How needful to understand this! How important\nto remember that, \"_as_ Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, _so_ do\"\nthose self-loving, world-seeking, pleasure-hunting professors \"resist\nthe truth.\" They would not be without \"a form of godliness;\" but,\nwhile adopting \"the form,\" because it is customary, they hate \"the\npower,\" because it involves self-denial. \"The power\" of godliness\ninvolves the recognition of God's claims, the implanting of His\nkingdom in the heart, and the consequent exhibition thereof in the\nwhole life and character; but the formalist knows nothing of this.\n\"The power\" of godliness could never comport with any one of those\nhideous features set forth in the foregoing quotation; but \"the form,\"\nwhile it covers them over, leaves them wholly unsubdued; and this the\nformalist likes. He does not want his lusts subdued, his pleasures\ninterfered with, his passions curbed, his affections governed, his\nheart purified. He wants just as much religion as will enable him \"to\nmake the best of both worlds.\" He knows nothing of giving up the world\nthat is, because of having found \"the world to come.\"\n\nIn marking the forms of Satan's opposition to the truth of God, we\nfind that his method has ever been, first, to oppose it by violence;\nand then, if that did not succeed, to corrupt it by producing a\ncounterfeit. Hence, he first sought to slay Moses (Chap. ii. 15.), and\nhaving failed to accomplish his purpose, he sought to imitate his\nworks.\n\nThus, too, has it been in reference to the truth committed to the\nChurch of God. Satan's early efforts showed themselves in connection\nwith the wrath of the chief priests and elders, the judgment-seat, the\nprison, and the sword. But in the passage just quoted from 2 Timothy,\nwe find no reference to any such agency. Open violence has made way\nfor the far more wily and dangerous instrumentality of a powerless\nform, an empty profession, a human counterfeit. The enemy, instead of\nappearing with the sword of persecution in his hand, walks about with\nthe cloak of profession on his shoulders. He professes and imitates\nthat which he once opposed and persecuted; and, by so doing, gains\nmost appalling advantages for the time being. The fearful forms of\nmoral evil which, from age to age, have stained the page of human\nhistory, instead of being found only where we might naturally look for\nthem, amid the dens and caves of human darkness, are to be found\ncarefully arranged beneath the drapery of a cold, powerless,\nuninfluential profession; and this is one of Satan's grand\nmasterpieces.\n\nThat man, as a fallen, corrupt creature, should love himself, be\ncovetous, boastful, proud, and the like, is natural; but that he\nshould be all these beneath the fair covering of \"a form of\ngodliness,\" marks the special energy of Satan in his resistance to the\ntruth in \"the last days.\" That man should stand forth in the bold\nexhibition of those hideous vices, lusts, and passions which are the\nnecessary results of departure from the source of infinite holiness\nand purity, is only what might be expected, for man will be what he is\nto the end of the chapter. But on the other hand, when we find the\nholy name of the Lord Jesus Christ connected with man's wickedness and\ndeadly evil,--when we find holy principles connected with unholy\npractices,--when we find all the characteristics of Gentile\ncorruption, referred to in the first chapter of Romans, associated\nwith \"a form of godliness,\" then, truly, we may say, these are the\nterrible features of \"the last days\"--this is the resistance of\n\"Jannes and Jambres.\"\n\nHowever, there were only three things in which the magicians of Egypt\nwere able to imitate the servants of the true and living God, namely,\nin turning their rods into serpents (Chap. vii. 12.), turning the\nwater into blood (Chap. vii. 22.), and bringing up the frogs (Chap.\nviii. 7.); but in the fourth, which involved the exhibition of life,\nin connection with the display of nature's humiliation, they were\ntotally confounded, and obliged to own, \"This is the finger of God.\"\n(Chap. viii. 16-19.) Thus it is also with the latter-day resisters of\nthe truth. All that they do is by the direct energy of Satan, and lies\nwithin the range of his power. Moreover, its specific object is to\n\"resist the truth.\"\n\nThe three things which \"Jannes and Jambres\" were able to accomplish\nwere characterized by satanic energy, death, and uncleanness; that is\nto say, the serpents, the blood, and the frogs. Thus it was they\n\"withstood Moses;\" and \"so do these also resist the truth,\" and hinder\nits moral weight and action upon the conscience. There is nothing\nwhich so tends to deaden the power of the truth as the fact that\npersons who are not under its influences at all, do the self-same\nthings as those who are. This is Satan's agency just now. He seeks to\nhave all regarded as Christians. He would fain make us believe\nourselves surrounded by \"a Christian world;\" but it is counterfeit\nChristianity, which, so far from being a testimony to the truth, is\ndesigned by the enemy of the truth, to withstand its purifying and\nelevating influence.\n\nIn short, the servant of Christ and the witness for the truth is\nsurrounded, on all sides, by the spirit of \"Jannes and Jambres;\" and\nit is well for him to remember this--to know thoroughly the evil with\nwhich he has to grapple--to bear in mind that it is Satan's imitation\nof God's reality, produced, not by the wand of an openly-wicked\nmagician, but by the actings of false professors, who have \"a form of\ngodliness, but deny the power thereof,\" who do things apparently right\nand good, but who have neither the life of Christ in their souls, the\nlove of God in their hearts, nor the power of the Word in their\nconsciences.\n\n\"But,\" adds the inspired apostle, \"they shall proceed no further, for\ntheir folly shall be manifested unto all, as theirs also was.\" Truly\nthe \"folly\" of \"Jannes and Jambres\" was manifest unto all, when they\nnot only failed to imitate the further actings of Moses and Aaron, but\nactually became involved in the judgments of God. This is a solemn\npoint. The folly of all who are merely possessed of the form will, in\nlike manner, be made manifest. They will not only be quite unable to\nimitate the full and proper effects of divine life and power, but they\nthemselves become the subjects of those judgments which will result\nfrom the rejection of that truth which they have resisted.\n\nWill any one say that all this has no voice for a day of powerless\nprofession? Assuredly it has. It should speak to each conscience in\nliving power; it should tell on each heart, in accents of impressive\nsolemnity. It should lead each one to inquire seriously whether he is\ntestifying for the truth, by walking in the power of godliness, or\nhindering it, and neutralizing its action, by having only the form.\nThe effect of the power of godliness will be seen by our \"continuing\nin the things which we have learned.\" None will continue, save those\nwho are taught of God; those, by the power of the Spirit of God, have\ndrunk in divine principle, at the pure fountain of inspiration.\n\nBlessed be God, there are many such throughout the various sections of\nthe professing Church. There are many, here and there, whose\nconsciences have been bathed in the atoning blood of \"the Lamb of\nGod,\" whose hearts beat high with genuine attachment to His Person,\nand whose spirits are cheered by \"that blessed hope\" of seeing Him as\nHe is, and of being eternally conformed to His image. It is\nencouraging to think of such. It is an unspeakable mercy to have\nfellowship with those who can give a reason of the hope that is in\nthem, and for the position which they occupy. May the Lord add to\ntheir number daily. May the power of godliness spread far and wide in\nthese last days, so that a bright and well-sustained testimony may be\nraised to the name of Him who is worthy.\n\nThe third point in our section yet remains to be considered, namely,\nPharaoh's four subtle objections to the full deliverance and complete\nseparation of God's people from the land of Egypt. The first of these\nwe have in chapter viii. 25.--\"And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron,\nand said, 'Go ye, _sacrifice to your God in the land_.'\" It is\nneedless to remark here, that whether the magicians withstood, or\nPharaoh objected, it was, in reality, Satan that stood behind the\nscenes; and his manifest object, in this proposal of Pharaoh, was to\nhinder the testimony to the Lord's name--a testimony connected with\nthe thorough separation of His people from Egypt. There could\nevidently be no such testimony had they remained in Egypt, even though\nthey were to sacrifice to Him. They would have taken common ground\nwith the uncircumcised Egyptians, and put Jehovah on a level with the\ngods of Egypt. In this case, an Egyptian could have said to an\nIsraelite, I see no difference between us; you have your worship and\nwe have ours; it is all alike.\n\nAs a matter of course, men think it quite right for every one to have\na religion, let it be what it may. Provided we are sincere, and do not\ninterfere with our neighbor's creed, it does not matter what shape our\nreligion may happen to wear. Such are the thoughts of men in reference\nto what they call religion; but it is very obvious that the glory of\nthe name of Jesus finds no place in all this. The demand for\nseparation is that which the enemy will ever oppose, and which the\nheart of man cannot understand. The heart may crave religiousness,\nbecause conscience testifies that all is not right; but it craves the\nworld as well. It would like to \"sacrifice to God in the land;\" and\nSatan's object is gained when people accept of a worldly religion, and\nrefuse to \"come out and be separate.\" (2 Cor. vi.) His unvarying\npurpose from the beginning has been to hinder the testimony to God's\nname on the earth. Such was the dark tendency of the proposal, \"Go ye,\nsacrifice to your God in the land.\" What a complete damper to the\ntestimony, had this proposal been acceded to! God's people in Egypt\nand God Himself linked with the idols of Egypt! Terrible blasphemy!\n\nReader, we should deeply ponder this. The effort to induce Israel to\nworship God in Egypt reveals a far deeper principle than we might, at\nfirst sight, imagine. The enemy would rejoice, at any time, by any\nmeans, or under any circumstances, to get even the semblance of divine\nsanction for the world's religion. He has no objections to such\nreligion. He gains his end as effectually by what is termed \"the\nreligious world\" as by any other agency; and hence, when he can\nsucceed in getting a true Christian to accredit the religion of the\nday, he gains a grand point. As a matter of actual fact, one knows\nthat nothing elicits such intense indignation as the divine principle\nof separation from this present evil world. You may hold the same\nopinions, preach the same doctrines, do the same work; but if you only\nattempt, in ever so feeble a manner, to act upon the divine commands,\n\"From such turn away\" (2 Tim. iii. 5.), and \"Come out from among\nthem\" (2 Cor. vi. 17.), you may reckon assuredly upon the most\nvigorous opposition. Now how is this to be accounted for? Mainly by\nthe fact that Christians, in separation from this world's hollow\nreligiousness, bear a testimony for Christ which they never can bear\nwhile connected with it.\n\nThere is a very wide difference between human religion and Christ. A\npoor, benighted Hindoo might talk to you of his religion, but he knows\nnothing of Christ. The apostle does not say, If there be any\nconsolation in religion; though, doubtless, the votaries of each kind\nof religion find what they deem consolation therein. Paul, on the\nother hand, found his consolation in Christ, having fully proved the\nworthlessness of religion, and that, too, in its fairest and most\nimposing form. (Comp. Gal. i. 13, 14; Phil. iii. 4-11.)\n\nTrue, the Spirit of God speaks to us of \"pure religion and undefiled;\"\nbut the unregenerate man cannot, by any means, participate therein;\nfor how could he possibly take part in aught that is \"pure and\nundefiled\"? This religion is from heaven, the source of all that is\npure and lovely; it is exclusively before the eye of \"God and the\nFather;\" it is for the exercise of the functions of that new nature\nwith which all are endowed who believe on the name of the Son of God.\n(John i. 12, 13; James i. 18; 1 Peter i. 23; 1 John v. 1.) Finally, it\nranges itself under the two comprehensive heads of active benevolence\nand personal holiness,--\"To visit the fatherless and widows in their\naffliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.\" (James i.\n27.)\n\nNow, if you go through the entire catalogue of the genuine fruits of\nChristianity, you will find them all classed under these two heads;\nand it is deeply interesting to observe that, whether we turn to the\neighth of Exodus or to the first of James, we find separation from the\nworld put forward as an indispensable quality in the true service of\nGod. Nothing could be acceptable before God--nothing could receive\nfrom His hand the stamp of \"pure and undefiled,\" which was polluted by\ncontact with an \"evil world.\" \"'Come out from among them, and be ye\nseparate,' saith the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean thing; and I\nwill receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My\nsons and daughters,' saith the Lord Almighty.\" (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.)\n\nThere was no meeting-place for Jehovah and His redeemed in Egypt; yea,\nwith them, redemption and separation from Egypt were one and the same\nthing. God had said, \"I am come down to deliver them,\" and nothing\nshort of this could either satisfy or glorify Him. A salvation which\nwould have left them still in Egypt could not possibly be God's\nsalvation. Moreover, we must bear in mind that Jehovah's purpose in\nthe salvation of Israel, as well as in the destruction of Pharaoh,\nwas, that \"His name might be declared throughout all the earth;\" and\nwhat declaration could there be of that name or character were His\npeople to attempt to worship Him in Egypt? Either none whatever or an\nutterly false one. Wherefore it was essentially necessary, in order to\nthe full and faithful declaration of God's character, that His people\nshould be wholly delivered and completely separated from Egypt; and it\nis as essentially necessary now, in order to a clear and unequivocal\ntestimony for the Son of God, that all who are really His should be\nseparated from this present world. Such is the will of God; and for\nthis end Christ gave Himself. \"Grace unto you and peace from God the\nFather, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that\nHe might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the\nwill of God and our Father; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.\"\n(Gal. i. 3-5.)\n\nThe Galatians were beginning to accredit a carnal and worldly\nreligion--a religion of ordinances--a religion of \"days, and months,\nand times, and years;\" and the apostle commences his epistle by\ntelling them that the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for the purpose\nof delivering His people from that very thing. God's people must be\nseparate, not, by any means, on the ground of their superior personal\nsanctity, but because they are His people, and in order that they may\nrightly and intelligently answer His gracious end in taking them into\nconnection with Himself, and attaching His name to them. A people\nstill amid the defilements and abominations of Egypt could not have\nbeen a witness for the Holy One; nor can any one now, while mixed up\nwith the defilements of a corrupt worldly religion, possibly be a\nbright and steady witness for a crucified and risen Christ.\n\nThe answer given by Moses to Pharaoh's first objection was a truly\nmemorable one. \"And Moses said, 'It is not meet so to do; for we shall\nsacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God; lo,\nshall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes,\nand will they not stone us? We will go three days' journey into the\nwilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He shall command\nus.'\" (Chap. viii. 26, 27.) Here is true separation from Egypt--\"three\ndays' journey.\" Nothing less than this could satisfy faith. The Israel\nof God must be separated from the land of death and darkness, in the\npower of resurrection. The waters of the Red Sea must roll between\nGod's redeemed and Egypt ere they can properly sacrifice to Jehovah.\nHad they remained in Egypt, they would have to sacrifice to the Lord\nthe very objects of Egypt's abominable worship.[5] This would never\ndo. There could be no tabernacle, no temple, no altar, in Egypt. It\nhad no site, throughout its entire limits, for aught of that kind. In\npoint of fact, as we shall see further on, Israel never presented so\nmuch as a single note of praise until the whole congregation stood, in\nthe full power of an accomplished redemption, on Canaan's side of the\nRed Sea. Exactly so is it now. The believer must know where the death\nand resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ have forever set him, ere\nhe can be an intelligent worshiper, an acceptable servant, or an\neffectual witness.\n\n  [5] The word \"abomination\" has reference to that which the Egyptians\n  worshiped.\n\nIt is not a question of being a child of God, and, as such, a saved\nperson. Many of the children of God are very far from knowing the full\nresults, as regards themselves, of the death and resurrection of\nChrist. They do not apprehend the precious truth, that the death of\nChrist has made an end of their sins forever, and that they are the\nhappy partakers of His resurrection life, with which sin can have\nnothing whatever to do. Christ became a curse for us, not, as some\nwould teach us, by being born under the curse of a broken law, but by\nhanging on a tree. (Compare, attentively, Deut. xxi. 23; Gal. iii.\n13.) We were under the curse because we had not kept the law; but\nChrist, the perfect Man, having magnified the law and made it\nhonorable, by the very fact of His obeying it perfectly, became a\ncurse for us by hanging on the tree. Thus, in His life He magnified\nGod's law, and in His death He bore our curse. There is therefore now\nno guilt, no curse, no wrath, no condemnation for the believer; and,\nalbeit, he must be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ; but\neven there the question of _sin_ is not raised. The cross of Christ\nhas settled that forever; so that it is written of those that believe,\n\"_And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more_.\" (Heb. x.\n17.) The Christian's whole course must indeed be manifested before the\njudgment-seat of Christ; but the Judge Himself has put away all his\nsins, and is his righteousness, so that the judgment-seat cannot but\nbe friendly to him. He surely will not condemn His own work. The\nrighteousness that was required, God Himself has provided it. He\nsurely will not find any flaw therein. The light of the judgment-seat\nwill be bright enough to disperse every mist and cloud which might\ntend to obscure the matchless glories and eternal virtues which belong\nto the cross, and to show that the believer is \"clean every whit.\"\n(John xiii. 10; xv. 3; Eph. v. 27.)\n\nIt is because these foundation-truths are not laid hold of in the\nsimplicity of faith that many of the children of God complain of their\nlack of settled peace--the constant variation in their spiritual\ncondition--the continual ups and downs in their experience. Every\ndoubt in the heart of a Christian is a dishonor done to the Word of\nGod and the sacrifice of Christ. It is because he does not, even now,\nbask in the light which shines from the cross of Christ, that he is\never afflicted with a doubt or a fear. And yet those things which so\nmany have to deplore--those fluctuations and waverings--are but\ntrifling consequences, comparatively, inasmuch as they merely affect\ntheir experience. The effect produced upon their worship, their\nservice, and their testimony, is far more serious, inasmuch as the\nLord's honor is concerned. But, alas! this latter is but little\nthought of, generally speaking, simply because personal salvation is\nthe grand object--the aim and end--with the majority of professing\nChristians. We are prone to look upon everything that affects\nourselves as _essential_; whereas, all that merely affects the glory\nof Christ in and by us is counted _non-essential_.\n\nHowever, it is well to see with distinctness, that the same truth\nwhich gives the soul settled peace, puts it also into the position of\nintelligent worship, acceptable service, and effectual testimony. In\nthe fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle sets forth the\ndeath and resurrection of Christ as the grand foundation of\neverything.--\"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which\nI preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye\nstand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I\npreached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered\nunto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died\nfor our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and\nthat He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.\" (Ver.\n1-4.) Here is the gospel in one brief and comprehensive statement. A\ndead and risen Christ is the ground-work of salvation. \"He was\ndelivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.\"\n(Rom. iv. 25.) To see Jesus, by the eye of faith, nailed to the cross,\nand seated on the throne, must give solid peace to the conscience and\nperfect liberty to the heart. We can look into the tomb, and see it\nempty; we can look up to the throne, and see it occupied, and go on\nour way rejoicing. The Lord Jesus settled everything on the cross on\nbehalf of His people; and the proof of this settlement is that He is\nnow at the right hand of God. A risen Christ is the eternal proof of\nan accomplished redemption; and if redemption is an accomplished fact,\nthe believer's peace is a settled reality. We did not make peace, and\nnever could make it; indeed, any effort on our part to make peace\ncould only tend more fully to manifest us as _peace-breakers_. But\nChrist, having made peace by the blood of His cross, has taken His\nseat on high, triumphant over every enemy. By Him, God preaches peace.\nThe word of the gospel conveys this peace; and the soul that believes\nthe gospel, has peace--settled peace before God, for Christ is his\npeace. (See Acts x. 36; Rom. v. 1; Eph. ii. 14; Col. i. 20.) In this\nway, God has not only satisfied His own claims, but, in doing so, He\nhas found out a divinely righteous vent through which His boundless\naffections may flow down to the guiltiest of Adam's guilty progeny.\n\nThen, as to the practical result of all this. The cross of Christ has\nnot only put away the believer's sins, but also dissolved forever his\nconnection with the world; and, on the ground of this, he is\nprivileged to regard the world as a crucified _thing_, and to be\nregarded by it as a crucified one. Thus it stands with the believer\nand the world,--it is crucified to him and he to it. This is the real,\ndignified position of every true Christian. The world's judgment about\nChrist was expressed in the position in which it deliberately placed\nHim. It got its choice as to whether it would have a murderer or\nChrist. It allowed the murderer to go free, but nailed Christ to the\ncross, between two thieves. Now, if the believer walks in the\nfootprints of Christ--if he drinks into and manifests His spirit, he\nwill occupy the very same place in the world's estimation; and, in\nthis way, he will not merely know that, as to standing before God, he\nis crucified with Christ, but be led to realize it in his walk and\nexperience every day.\n\nBut while the cross has thus effectually cut the connection between\nthe believer and the world, the resurrection has brought him into the\npower of new ties and associations. If in the cross we see the world's\njudgment about Christ, in resurrection we see God's judgment. The\nworld crucified Him, but \"God hath highly exalted Him.\" Man gave Him\nthe very lowest, God the very highest, place; and, inasmuch as the\nbeliever is called into full fellowship with God in His thoughts about\nChrist, he is enabled to turn the tables upon the world, and look upon\nit as a crucified thing. If, therefore, the believer is on one cross\nand the world on another, the moral distance between the two is vast\nindeed. And if it is vast in principle, so should it be in practice.\nThe world and the Christian should have absolutely nothing in common;\nnor will they, except so far as he denies his Lord and Master. The\nbeliever proves himself false to Christ to the very same degree that\nhe has fellowship with the world.\n\nAll this is plain enough; but, my beloved Christian reader, where does\nit put us as regards this world? Truly, it puts us outside, and that\ncompletely. We are dead to the world and alive with Christ. We are at\nonce partakers of His rejection by earth and His acceptance in heaven;\nand the joy of the latter makes us count as nothing the trial\nconnected with the former. To be cast out of earth, without knowing\nthat I have a place and a portion on high, would be intolerable; but\nwhen the glories of heaven fill the soul's vision, a little of earth\ngoes a great way.\n\nBut some may feel led to ask, What is the world? It would be difficult\nto find a term more inaccurately defined than \"world,\" or\n\"worldliness;\" for we are generally disposed to make worldliness begin\na point or two above where we are ourselves. The Word of God, however,\nhas, with perfect precision, defined what \"the world\" is, when it\nmarks it as that which is \"not of the Father.\" Hence, the deeper my\nfellowship with the Father, the keener will be my sense of what is\nworldly. This is the divine way of teaching. The more you delight in\nthe Father's love, the more you reject the world. But who reveals the\nFather? The Son. How? By the power of the Holy Ghost. Wherefore, the\nmore I am enabled, in the power of an ungrieved Spirit, to drink in\nthe Son's revelation of the Father, the more accurate does my judgment\nbecome as to what is of the world. It is as the limits of God's\nkingdom expand in the heart, that the judgment as to worldliness\nbecomes refined. You can hardly attempt to define worldliness. It is,\nas some one has said, \"shaded off gradually from white to jet black.\"\nThis is most true. You cannot place a bound and say, Here is where\nworldliness begins; but the keen and exquisite sensibilities of the\ndivine nature recoil from it; and all we need is, to walk in the power\nof that nature, in order to keep aloof from every form of worldliness.\n\"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.\"\nWalk with God, and ye shall not walk with the world. Cold distinctions\nand rigid rules will avail nothing. The power of the divine life is\nwhat we want. We want to understand the meaning and spiritual\napplication of the \"three days' journey into the wilderness,\" whereby\nwe are separated forever, not only from Egypt's brick-kilns and\ntaskmasters, but also from its temples and altars.\n\nPharaoh's second objection partook very much of the character and\ntendency of the first. \"And Pharaoh said, 'I will let you go, that ye\nmay sacrifice unto the Lord your God in the wilderness; _only ye shall\nnot go very far away_.'\" (Chap. viii. 28.) If he could not keep them\nin Egypt, he would at least seek to keep them _near_ it, so that he\nmight act upon them by its varied influences. In this way, they might\nbe brought back again, and the testimony more effectually quashed than\nif they had never left Egypt at all. There is always much more serious\ndamage done to the cause of Christ by persons seeming to give up the\nworld and returning to it again, than if they had remained entirely of\nit; for they virtually confess that, having tried heavenly things,\nthey have discovered that earthly things are better and more\nsatisfying.\n\nNor is this all. The moral effect of truth upon the conscience of\nunconverted people is sadly interfered with, by the example of\nprofessors going back again into those things which they seemed to\nhave left. Not that such cases afford the slightest warrant to any one\nfor the rejection of God's truth, inasmuch as each one is personally\nresponsible and will have to give account of himself to God. Still,\nhowever, the effect in this, as well as in everything else, is bad.\n\"For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through\nthe knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again\nentangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than\nthe beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have\nknown the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn\nfrom the holy commandment delivered unto them.\" (2 Peter ii. 20, 21.)\n\nWherefore, if people do not \"go very far away,\" they had better not go\nat all. The enemy knew this well; and hence his second objection. The\nmaintenance of a border position suits his purpose amazingly. Those\nwho occupy this ground are neither one thing nor the other; and, in\npoint of fact, whatever influence they possess, tells entirely in the\nwrong direction.\n\nIt is deeply important to see that Satan's design, in all these\nobjections, was to hinder that testimony to the name of the God of\nIsrael, which could only be rendered by a \"three days' journey into\nthe wilderness.\" This was, in good truth, going \"very far away.\" It\nwas much farther than Pharaoh could form any idea of, or than he could\nfollow them. And oh! how happy it would be if all who profess to set\nout from Egypt would really, in the spirit of their minds and in the\ntone of their character, go thus far away from it; if they would\nintelligently recognize the cross and grave of Christ as forming the\nboundary between them and the world! No man, in the mere energy of\nnature, can take this ground. The Psalmist could say, \"Enter not into\njudgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be\njustified.\" (Ps. cxliii. 2.) So also is it with regard to true and\neffectual separation from the world. \"_No man living_\" can enter into\nit. It is only as \"_dead_ with Christ,\" and \"risen again with Him,\nthrough faith of the operation of God,\" that any one can either be\n\"justified\" before God, or separated from the world. This is what we\nmay call going \"very far away.\" May all who profess and call\nthemselves Christians go thus far. Then will their lamp yield a steady\nlight. Then would their trumpet give a certain sound. Their path would\nbe elevated; their experience deep and rich; their peace would flow as\na river; their affections would be heavenly and their garments\nunspotted. And, far above all, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ would\nbe magnified in them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, according to the\nwill of God their Father.\n\nThe third objection demands our most special attention. \"And Moses and\nAaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, 'Go,\nserve the Lord your God; but who are they that shall go?' And Moses\nsaid, 'We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and\nwith our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for\nwe must hold a feast unto the Lord.' And he said unto them, 'Let the\nLord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look\nto it; for evil is before you. Not so; go now ye that are men, and\nserve the Lord; for that ye did desire.' And they were driven out from\nPharaoh's presence.\" (Chap. x. 8-11.) Here, again, we have the enemy\naiming a deadly blow at the testimony to the name of the God of\nIsrael. Parents in the wilderness and their children in Egypt!\nTerrible anomaly! This would only have been a half deliverance, at\nonce useless to Israel and dishonoring to Israel's God. This could not\nbe. If the children remained in Egypt, the parents could not possibly\nbe said to have left it, inasmuch as their children were part of\nthemselves. The most that could be said in such a case was, that in\npart they were serving Jehovah, and in part Pharaoh. But Jehovah could\nhave no part with Pharaoh. He should either have all or nothing. This\nis a weighty principle for Christian parents. May we lay it deeply to\nheart! It is our happy privilege to count on God for our children, and\nto \"bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.\" (Eph.\nvi.) We should not be satisfied with any other portion for \"our little\nones\" than that which we ourselves enjoy.\n\nPharaoh's fourth and last objection had reference to the flocks and\nherds. \"And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, 'Go ye, serve the\nLord; only let your flocks and herds be stayed: let your little ones\nalso go with you.'\" (Chap. x. 24.) With what perseverance did Satan\ndispute every inch of Israel's way out of the land of Egypt! He first\nsought to keep them _in_ the land, then to keep them _near_ the land,\nnext to keep part of themselves in the land, and finally, when he\ncould not succeed in any of these three, he sought to send them forth\nwithout any ability to serve the Lord. If he could not keep the\nservants, he would seek to keep their ability to serve, which would\nanswer much the same end. If he could not induce them to sacrifice in\nthe land, he would send them out of the land without sacrifices.\n\nIn Moses' reply to this last objection, we are furnished with a fine\nstatement of the Lord's paramount claim upon His people and all\npertaining to them. \"And Moses said, 'Thou must give us also\nsacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord\nour God. Our cattle also shall go with us; _there shall not a hoof be\nleft behind_: for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and\nwe know not with what we must serve the Lord until we come thither.'\"\n(Ver. 25, 26.) It is only when the people of God take their stand, in\nsimple childlike faith, upon that elevated ground on which death and\nresurrection set them, that they can have anything like an adequate\nsense of His claims upon them. \"We know not with what we must serve\nthe Lord until we come thither.\" That is, they had no knowledge of\nthe divine claim, or their responsibility, until they had gone \"three\ndays' journey.\" These things could not be known amid the dense and\npolluted atmosphere of Egypt. Redemption must be known as an\naccomplished fact, ere there can be any just or full perception of\nresponsibility. All this is perfect and beautiful. \"If any man will do\nHis will, he shall know of the doctrine.\" I must be up out of Egypt,\nin the power of death and resurrection, and then, but not until then,\nshall I know what the Lord's service really is. It is when we take our\nstand, by faith, in that \"large room,\" that wealthy place into which\nthe precious blood of Christ introduces us,--when we look around us\nand survey the rich, rare, and manifold results of redeeming\nlove,--when we gaze upon the Person of Him who has brought us into\nthis place, and endowed us with these riches, then we are constrained\nto say, in the language of one of our own poets,--\n\n    \"Were the whole realm of nature mine,\n      That were an offering far too small;\n    Love so amazing, so divine,\n      Demands my heart, my life, my all.\"\n\n\"There shall not a hoof be left behind.\" Noble words! Egypt is not the\nplace for aught that pertains to God's redeemed. He is worthy of\nall--\"body, soul, and spirit;\" all we are and all we have belongs to\nHim. \"We are not our own, we are bought with a price;\" and it is our\nhappy privilege to consecrate ourselves and all that we possess to Him\nwhose we are, and Him whom we are called to serve. There is naught of\na legal spirit in this. The words, \"until we come thither,\" furnish a\ndivine guard against this horrible evil. We have traveled the \"three\ndays' journey,\" ere a word concerning sacrifice can be heard or\nunderstood. We are put in full and undisputed possession of\nresurrection life and eternal righteousness. We have left that land of\ndeath and darkness; we have been brought to God Himself, so that we\nmay enjoy Him, in the energy of that life with which we are endowed,\nand in the sphere of righteousness in which we are placed: thus it is\nour joy to serve. There is not an affection in the heart of which He\nis not worthy; there is not a sacrifice in all the flock too costly\nfor His altar. The more closely we walk with Him, the more we shall\nesteem it to be our meat and drink to do His blessed will. The\nbeliever counts it his highest privilege to serve the Lord. He\ndelights in every exercise and every manifestation of the divine\nnature. He does not move up and down with a grievous yoke upon his\nneck, or an intolerable weight upon his shoulder. The yoke is broken\n\"because of the anointing,\" the burden has been forever removed by the\nblood of the cross, while he himself walks abroad, \"redeemed,\nregenerated, and disenthralled,\" in pursuance of those soul-stirring\nwords, \"LET MY PEOPLE GO.\"\n\n    _Note._--We shall consider the contents of chapter xi. in\n    connection with the security of Israel, under the shelter of\n    the blood of the paschal lamb.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Yet will I bring one plague more upon\nPharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he\nshall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.'\"\n(Chap. xi. 1.) One more heavy blow must fall upon this hard-hearted\nmonarch and his land ere he will be compelled to let go the favored\nobjects of Jehovah's sovereign grace.\n\nHow utterly vain it is for man to harden and exalt himself against\nGod; for, truly, He can grind to powder the hardest heart, and bring\ndown to the dust the haughtiest spirit. \"Those that walk in pride He\nis able to abase.\" (Dan. iv. 37.) Man may fancy himself to be\nsomething; he may lift up his head, in pomp and vainglory, as though\nhe were his own master. Vain man! how little he knows of his real\ncondition and character! He is but the tool of Satan, taken up and\nused by him, in his malignant efforts to counteract the purposes of\nGod. The most splendid intellect, the most commanding genius, the most\nindomitable energy, if not under the direct control of the Spirit of\nGod, are but so many instruments in Satan's hand to carry forward his\ndark designs. No man is his own master; he is either governed by\nChrist or governed by Satan. The king of Egypt might fancy himself to\nbe a free agent, yet he was but a tool in the hands of another. Satan\nwas behind the throne; and, as the result of Pharaoh's having set\nhimself to resist the purposes of God, he was judicially handed over\nto the blinding and hardening influence of his self-chosen master.\n\nThis will explain to us an expression occurring very frequently\nthroughout the earlier chapters of this book,--\"The Lord hardened\nPharaoh's heart.\" There is no need whatever for any one to seek to\navoid the full, plain sense of this most solemn statement. If man\nresists the light of divine testimony, he is shut up to judicial\nblindness and hardness of heart. God leaves him to himself, and then\nSatan comes in and carries him headlong to perdition. There was\nabundant light for Pharaoh, to show him the extravagant folly of his\ncourse in seeking to detain those whom God had commanded him to let\ngo. But the real disposition of his heart was to act against God, and\ntherefore God left him to himself, and made him a monument for the\ndisplay of His glory \"through all the earth.\" There is no difficulty\nin this to any, save those whose desire is to argue against God--\"to\nrush upon the thick bosses of the shield of the Almighty\"--to ruin\ntheir own immortal souls.\n\nGod gives people, at times, according to the real bent of their\nhearts' desire. \"... because of this, God shall send them strong\ndelusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be\ndamned who believed not the truth, but _had pleasure in\nunrighteousness_.\" (2 Thess. ii. 11, 12.) If men will not have the\ntruth when it is put before them, they shall assuredly have a lie. If\nthey will not have Christ, they shall have Satan; if they will not\nhave heaven, they shall have hell.[6] Will the infidel mind find fault\nwith this? Ere it does so, let it prove that all who are thus\njudicially dealt with have fully answered their responsibilities. Let\nit, for instance, prove, in Pharaoh's case, that he acted, in any\nmeasure, up to the light he possessed. The same is to be proved in\nevery case. Unquestionably, the task of proving rests on those who are\ndisposed to quarrel with God's mode of dealing with the rejecters of\nHis truth. The simple-hearted child of God will justify Him, in view\nof the most inscrutable dispensations; and even if he cannot meet and\nsatisfactorily solve the difficult questions of a sceptical mind, he\ncan rest perfectly satisfied with this word, \"Shall not the Judge of\nall the earth do right?\" There is far more wisdom in this method of\nsettling an apparent difficulty, than in the most elaborate argument;\nfor it is perfectly certain that the heart which is in a condition to\n\"reply against God,\" will not be convinced by the arguments of man.\n\n  [6] There is a vast difference between the divine method of dealing\n  with the heathen (Rom. i.) and with the rejecters of the gospel. (2\n  Thess. i. ii.) In reference to the former, we read, \"And even as they\n  did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a\n  reprobate mind:\" but with respect to the latter, the word is, \"Because\n  they received not the love of _the truth_ that they might _be saved_,\n  ... God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe _a\n  lie_; that they all might _be damned_.\" The heathen refuse the\n  testimony of creation, and are therefore left to themselves. The\n  rejecters of the gospel refuse the full blaze of light which shines\n  from the cross, and therefore \"a strong delusion\" will, ere long, be\n  sent from God upon them. This is deeply solemn for an age like this,\n  in the which there is so much light and so much profession.\n\nHowever, it is God's prerogative to answer all the proud reasonings,\nand bring down the lofty imaginations of the human mind. He can write\nthe sentence of death upon nature, in its fairest forms. \"It is\nappointed unto men once to die.\" This cannot be avoided. Man may seek\nto hide his humiliation in various ways,--to cover his retreat through\nthe valley of death in the most heroic manner possible,--to call the\nlast humiliating stage of his career by the most honorable titles he\ncan devise,--to gild the bed of death with a false light,--to adorn\nthe funeral procession and the grave with the appearance of pomp,\npageantry, and glory,--to raise above the mouldering ashes a splendid\nmonument, on which are engraven the records of human shame,--all these\nthings he may do; but death is death after all, and he cannot keep it\noff for a moment, or make it aught else than what it is, namely, \"the\nwages of sin.\"\n\nThe foregoing thoughts are suggested by the opening verse of chapter\nxi--\"One plague more!\" Solemn word! It signed the death-warrant of\nEgypt's first-born--\"the chief of all their strength.\" \"And Moses\nsaid, 'Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the\nmidst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die,\nfrom the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto\nthe first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all\nthe first-born of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout\nall the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be\nlike it any more.'\" (Chap. xi. 4-6.) This was to be the final\nplague--death in every house. \"But against any of the children of\nIsrael shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast; that ye\nmay know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians\nand Israel.\" It is the Lord alone who can \"put a difference\" between\nthose who are His and those who are not. It is not our province to say\nto any one, \"Stand by thyself; I am holier than thou:\" this is the\nlanguage of a Pharisee. \"But when God puts a difference,\" we are bound\nto inquire what that difference is; and, in the case before us, we see\nit to be a simple question of _life or death_. This is God's grand\n\"difference.\" He draws a line of demarkation, and on one side of this\nline is \"life,\" on the other \"death.\" Many of Egypt's first-born might\nhave been as fair and attractive as those of Israel, and much more so;\nbut Israel had life and light, founded upon God's counsels of\nredeeming love, established, as we shall see presently, by the blood\nof the lamb. This was Israel's happy position; while, on the other\nhand, throughout the length and breadth of the land of Egypt, from the\nmonarch on the throne to the menial behind the mill, nothing was to be\nseen but death; nothing to be heard but the cry of bitter anguish,\nelicited by the heavy stroke of Jehovah's rod. God can bring down the\nhaughty spirit of man. He can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and\nrestrain the remainder. \"And all these thy servants shall come down\nunto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and\nall the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.\" God\nwill accomplish His own ends. His schemes of mercy must be carried out\nat all cost, and confusion of face must be the portion of all who\nstand in the way. \"O, give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for\nHis mercy endureth forever.... To Him that smote Egypt in their\nfirst-born; for His mercy endureth forever: and brought out Israel\nfrom among them; for His mercy endureth forever: with a strong hand\nand with a stretched-out arm; for His mercy endureth forever.\" (Ps.\ncxxxvi.)\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,\n'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the\nfirst month of the year to you.'\" (Chap. xii. 1, 2.) There is here a\nvery interesting change in the order of time. The common or civil year\nwas rolling on in its ordinary course, when Jehovah interrupted it in\nreference to His people, and thus, in principle, taught them that they\nwere to begin a new era in company with Him; their previous history\nwas henceforth to be regarded as a blank. Redemption was to constitute\nthe first step in _real life_.\n\nThis teaches a plain truth. A man's life is really of no account until\nhe begins to walk with God, in the knowledge of full salvation and\nsettled peace, through the precious blood of the Lamb. Previous to\nthis, he is, in the judgment of God, and in the language of Scripture,\n\"dead in trespasses and sins;\" \"alienated from the life of God.\" His\nwhole history is a complete blank, even though, in man's account, it\nmay have been one uninterrupted scene of bustling activity. All that\nwhich engages the attention of the man of this world--the honors, the\nriches, the pleasures, the attractions of life, so called--all, when\nexamined in the light of the judgment of God, when weighed in the\nbalances of the sanctuary, must be accounted as a dismal blank, a\nworthless void, utterly unworthy of a place in the records of the Holy\nGhost. \"He that believeth not the Son shall not see life.\" (John iii.\n36.) Men speak of \"seeing life\" when they launch forth into society,\ntravel hither and thither, and see all that is to be seen; but they\nforget that the only true, the only real, the only divine way to \"see\nlife,\" is to \"believe on the Son of God.\"\n\nHow little do men think of this! They imagine that \"real life\" is at\nan end when a man becomes a Christian, in truth and reality, not\nmerely in name and outward profession; whereas God's Word teaches us\nthat it is only then we can see life and taste true happiness.--\"He\nthat hath the Son, hath life.\" (1 John v. 12.) And, again, \"Happy is\nhe whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.\" (Ps. xxxii.\n1.) We can get life and happiness _only_ in Christ. Apart from Him,\nall is death and misery, in Heaven's judgment, whatever the outward\nappearance may be. It is when the thick vail of unbelief is removed\nfrom the heart, and we are enabled to behold, with the eye of faith,\nthe bleeding Lamb, bearing our heavy burden of guilt upon the cursed\ntree, that we enter upon the path of life, and partake of the cup of\ndivine happiness,--a life which begins at the cross, and flows onward\ninto an eternity of glory,--a happiness which, each day, becomes\ndeeper and purer, more connected with God and founded on Christ, until\nwe reach its proper sphere, in the presence of God and the Lamb. To\nseek life and happiness in any other way is vainer work by far than\nseeking to make bricks without straw.\n\nTrue, the enemy of souls spreads a gilding over this passing scene, in\norder that men may imagine it to be all gold. He sets up many a\npuppet-show to elicit the hollow laugh from a thoughtless multitude,\nwho will not remember that it is Satan who is in the box, and that his\nobject is to keep them from Christ, and drag them down into eternal\nperdition. There is nothing real, nothing solid, nothing satisfying,\nbut in Christ. Outside of Him, \"all is vanity and vexation of spirit.\"\nIn Him alone true and eternal joys are to be found; and we only begin\nto live when we begin to live _in_, live _on_, live _with_, and live\n_for_ Him. \"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it\nshall be the first month of the year to you.\" The time spent in the\nbrick-kilns and by the flesh-pots must be ignored. It is henceforth to\nbe of no account, save that the remembrance thereof should ever and\nanon serve to quicken and deepen their sense of what divine grace had\naccomplished on their behalf.\n\n\"Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth\nday of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb according\nto the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house.... Your lamb shall\nbe without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it out\nfrom the sheep or from the goats: and ye shall keep it up until the\nfourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the\ncongregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.\" Here we have the\nredemption of the people founded upon the blood of the lamb, in\npursuance of God's eternal purpose. This imparts to it all its divine\nstability. Redemption was no afterthought with God. Before the world\nwas, or Satan, or sin--before ever the voice of God was heard breaking\nthe silence of eternity, and calling worlds into existence, He had His\ndeep counsels of love; and these counsels could never find a\nsufficiently solid basis in creation. All the blessings, the\nprivileges, and the dignities of creation were founded upon a\ncreature's obedience, and the moment that failed, all was gone. But\nthen, Satan's attempt to mar creation only opened the way for the\nmanifestation of God's deeper purposes of redemption.\n\nThis beautiful truth is typically presented to us in the circumstance\nof the lamb's being \"kept up\" from the \"tenth\" to \"the fourteenth\nday.\" That this lamb pointed to Christ is unquestionable. 1 Cor. v. 7\nsettles the application of this interesting type beyond all\nquestion,--\"For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.\" We\nhave, in the first epistle of Peter, an allusion to the keeping up of\nthe lamb,--\"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with\ncorruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation,\nreceived by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood\nof Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily\nwas _foreordained before the foundation of the world_, but was\n_manifest in these last times for you_.\" (Chap. i. 18-20.)\n\nAll God's purposes from everlasting had reference to Christ, and no\neffort of the enemy could possibly interfere with those counsels; yea,\nhis efforts only tended to the display of the unfathomable wisdom and\nimmovable stability thereof. If the \"Lamb without blemish and without\nspot\" was \"foreordained before the foundation of the world,\" then,\nassuredly, redemption must have been in the mind of God before the\nfoundation of the world. The blessed One had not to pause in order to\ndevise some plan to remedy the terrible evil which the enemy had\nintroduced into His fair creation. No; He had only to bring forth,\nfrom the unexplored treasury of His precious counsels, the truth\nconcerning the spotless Lamb, who was foreordained from everlasting,\nand to be \"manifest in these last times for us.\"\n\nThere was no need for the blood of the Lamb in creation as it came\nfresh from the hand of the Creator, exhibiting, in every stage and\nevery department of it, the beauteous impress of His hand--\"the\ninfallible proofs\" of \"His eternal power and Godhead\" (Rom. i.); but\nwhen, \"by one man,\" sin was introduced into the world, then came out\nthe higher, richer, fuller, deeper thought of redemption by the blood\nof the Lamb. This glorious truth first broke through the thick clouds\nwhich surrounded our first parents, as they retreated from the garden\nof Eden; its glimmerings appear in the types and shadows of the Mosaic\neconomy; it burst upon the World in full brightness when \"the\ndayspring from on high\" appeared in the Person of \"God manifest in the\nflesh;\" and its rich and rare results will be realized when the\nwhite-robed, palm-bearing multitude shall cluster round the throne of\nGod and the Lamb, and the whole creation shall rest beneath the\npeaceful sceptre of the Son of David.\n\nNow, the lamb taken on the tenth day, and kept up until the fourteenth\nday, shows us Christ foreordained of God from eternity, but manifest\nfor us in time. God's eternal purpose in Christ becomes the foundation\nof the believer's peace. Nothing short of this would do. We are\ncarried back far beyond creation, beyond the bounds of time, beyond\nthe entrance in of sin and everything that could possibly affect the\nground-work of our peace. The expression, \"foreordained before the\nfoundation of the world,\" conducts us back into the unfathomed depths\nof eternity, and shows us God forming His own counsels of redeeming\nlove, and basing them all upon the atoning blood of His own precious,\nspotless Lamb. Christ was ever the primary thought in the divine mind;\nand hence, the moment He began to speak or act, He took occasion to\nshadow forth that One who occupied the highest place in His counsels\nand affections; and, as we pass along the current of inspiration, we\nfind that every ceremony, every rite, every ordinance, and every\nsacrifice pointed forward to \"the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin\nof the world,\" and not one more strikingly than the passover. The\npaschal lamb, with all the attendant circumstances, forms one of the\nmost profoundly interesting and deeply instructive types of Scripture.\n\nIn the interpretation of Exodus xii, we have to do with _one_ assembly\nand _one_ sacrifice.--\"The whole assembly of the congregation of\nIsrael shall kill _it_ in the evening.\" (Ver. 6.) It is not so much a\nnumber of families with several lambs--a thing quite true in\nitself--as one assembly and one lamb. Each house was but the local\nexpression of the whole assembly gathered round the lamb. The antitype\nof this we have in the whole Church of God, gathered by the Holy\nGhost, in the name of Jesus, of which each separate assembly, wherever\nconvened, should be the local expression.\n\n\"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts\nand on the upper door-post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.\nAnd they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and\nunleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of\nit raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head\nwith his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.\" (Ver. 7-9.) We have\nto contemplate the paschal lamb in two aspects, namely, as the ground\nof peace, and the centre of unity. The blood on the lintel secured\nIsrael's peace.--\"When I see the blood, I will pass over you.\" (Ver.\n13.) There was nothing more required in order to enjoy settled peace,\nin reference to the destroying angel, than the application of the\nblood of sprinkling. Death had to do its work in every house\nthroughout the land of Egypt. \"It is appointed unto men once to die.\"\nBut God, in His great mercy, found an unblemished substitute for\nIsrael, on which the sentence of death was executed. Thus God's claims\nand Israel's need were met by one and the same thing, namely, the\nblood of the lamb. That blood outside proved that _all_ was perfectly,\nbecause divinely, settled; and therefore perfect peace reigned within.\nA shade of doubt in the bosom of an Israelite would have been a\ndishonor offered to the divinely appointed ground of peace--the blood\nof atonement.\n\nTrue it is that each one within the blood-sprinkled door would\nnecessarily feel that were he to receive his due reward, the sword of\nthe destroyer should most assuredly find its object in him; but then\nthe lamb was treated in his stead. This was the solid foundation of\nhis peace. The judgment that was due to him fell upon a divinely\nappointed victim; and believing this, he could feed in peace within. A\nsingle doubt would have made Jehovah a liar; for He had said, \"When\n_I_ see the _blood_, I will pass over you.\" This was enough. It was no\nquestion of personal worthiness. Self had nothing whatever to do in\nthe matter. All under the cover of the blood were safe. They were not\nmerely in a salvable state, they were _saved_. They were not hoping or\npraying to be saved; they knew it as an assured fact, on the authority\nof that Word which shall endure throughout all generations. Moreover,\nthey were not partly saved and partly exposed to judgment; they were\nwholly saved. The blood of the lamb and the word of the Lord formed\nthe foundation of Israel's peace on that terrible night in which\nEgypt's first-born were laid low. If a hair of an Israelite's head\ncould be touched, it would have proved Jehovah's word void, and the\nblood of the lamb valueless.\n\nIt is most needful to be simple and clear as to what constitutes the\nground of a sinner's peace in the presence of God. So many things are\nmixed up with the finished work of Christ, that souls are plunged into\ndarkness and uncertainty as to their acceptance. They do not see the\nabsolutely settled character of redemption through the blood of\nChrist, in its application to themselves. They seem not to be aware\nthat full forgiveness of sin rests upon the simple fact that a full\natonement has been offered,--a fact attested, in the view of all\ncreated intelligence, by the resurrection of the sinner's Surety from\nthe dead. They know that there is no other way of being saved but by\nthe blood of the cross (but the devils know this, yet it avails them\nnaught). What is so much needed is to know that _we are saved_. The\nIsraelite not merely knew that there was safety in the blood; he knew\nthat _he_ was _safe_. And why safe? Was it because of anything that he\nhad done, or felt, or thought? By no means; but because God had said,\n\"When I see the blood, I will pass over you.\" He rested upon God's\ntestimony: he believed what God said, because God said it: \"he set to\nhis seal that God was true.\"\n\nAnd, observe, my reader, it was not by his own thoughts, feelings, or\nexperiences, respecting the blood, that the Israelite rested. This\nwould have been a poor, sandy foundation to rest upon. His thoughts\nand feelings might be deep or they might be shallow; but, deep or\nshallow, they had nothing to do with the ground of his peace. It was\nnot said, When _you_ see the blood, and value it as you ought, I will\npass over you. This would have been sufficient to plunge him in dark\ndespair about himself, inasmuch as it was quite impossible that the\nhuman mind could ever sufficiently appreciate the precious blood of\nthe lamb. What gave peace was the fact that Jehovah's eye rested upon\nthe blood, and that He knew its worth. This tranquilized the heart.\nThe blood was outside, and the Israelite inside, so that he could not\npossibly see it; but God saw it, and that was quite enough.\n\nThe application of this to the question of a sinner's peace is very\nplain. The Lord Jesus Christ having shed His precious blood, as a\nperfect atonement for sin, has taken it into the presence of God, and\nsprinkled it there; and God's testimony assures the believing sinner\nthat everything is settled on his behalf--settled not by his estimate\nof the blood, but by the blood itself, which God estimates so highly,\nthat because of it, without a single jot or tittle added thereto, He\ncan righteously forgive all sin, and accept the sinner as perfectly\nrighteous in Christ. How can any one ever enjoy settled peace if his\npeace depends upon his estimate of the blood? Impossible! The loftiest\nestimate which the human mind can form of the blood must fall\ninfinitely short of its divine preciousness; and therefore, if our\npeace were to depend upon our valuing it as we ought, we could no more\nenjoy settled peace than if we were seeking it by \"works of law.\"\nThere must either be a sufficient ground of peace in the blood\n_alone_, or we can never have peace. To mix up our estimate with it,\nis to upset the entire fabric of Christianity, just as effectually as\nif we were to conduct the sinner to the foot of mount Sinai, and put\nhim under a covenant of works. Either Christ's atoning sacrifice is\nsufficient or it is not. If it is sufficient, why those doubts and\nfears? The words of our _lips_ profess that the work is finished; but\nthe doubts and fears of the _heart_ declare that it is not. Every one\nwho doubts his full and everlasting forgiveness, denies, so far as he\nis concerned, the completeness of the sacrifice of Christ.\n\nBut there are very many who would shrink from the idea of deliberately\nand avowedly calling in question the efficacy of the blood of Christ,\nwho, nevertheless, have not settled peace. Such persons profess to be\nquite assured of the sufficiency of the blood, _if_ only _they_ were\nsure of an interest therein--_if only_ they had the right kind of\nfaith. There are many precious souls in this unhappy condition. They\nare occupied with their interest and their faith, instead of with\nChrist's blood and God's word. In other words, they are looking in at\nself, instead of out at Christ. This is not faith; and, as a\nconsequence, they have not peace. An Israelite within the\nblood-stained lintel could teach such souls a most seasonable lesson.\nHe was not saved by his interest in, or his thoughts about, the blood,\nbut simply by the blood. No doubt he had a blessed interest in it, and\nhe would have his thoughts likewise; but then God did not say, When I\nsee your interest in the blood, I will pass over you. Oh, no! THE\nBLOOD, in all its solitary dignity and divine efficacy, was set before\nIsrael; and had they attempted to place even a morsel of unleavened\nbread beside the blood, as a ground of security, they would have made\nJehovah a liar, and denied the sufficiency of His remedy.\n\nWe are ever prone to look at something in or connected with ourselves\nas necessary, in order to make up, with the blood of Christ, the\nground-work of our peace. There is a sad lack of clearness and\nsoundness on this vital point, as is evident from the doubts and fears\nwith which so many of the people of God are afflicted. We are apt to\nregard the fruits of the Spirit _in_ us, rather than the work of\nChrist _for_ us, as the foundation of peace. We shall see, presently,\nthe place which the work of the Holy Spirit occupies in Christianity;\nbut it is never set forth in Scripture as being that on which our\npeace reposes. The Holy Ghost did not make peace, but Christ did. The\nHoly Ghost is not said to be our peace, but Christ is. God did not\nsend preaching peace by the Holy Ghost, but by Jesus Christ. (Comp.\nActs x. 36; Eph. ii. 14, 17; Col. i. 20.) My reader cannot be too\nsimple in his apprehension of this important distinction. It is the\nblood of Christ which gives peace, imparts perfect justification--divine\nrighteousness, purges the conscience, brings us into the holiest of\nall, justifies God in receiving the believing sinner, and constitutes\nour title to all the joys, the dignities, and the glories of heaven.\n(See Rom. iii. 24-26; v. 9; Eph. ii. 13-18; Col. i. 20-22; Heb. ix.\n14; x. 19; 1 Peter i. 19; ii. 24; 1 John i. 7; Rev. vii. 14-17.)\n\nIt will not, I fondly hope, be supposed that, in seeking to put \"the\nprecious blood of Christ\" in its divinely appointed place, I would\nwrite a single line which might seem to detract from the value of the\nSpirit's operations. God forbid. The Holy Ghost reveals Christ; makes\nus to know, enjoy, and feed upon Christ; He bears witness to Christ;\nHe takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto us. He is the\npower of communion, the seal, the witness, the earnest, the unction.\nIn short, His blessed operations are absolutely essential. Without\nHim, we can neither see, hear, know, feel, experience, enjoy, nor\nexhibit aught of Christ. This is plain. The doctrine of the Spirit's\noperations is clearly laid down in the Word, and is understood and\nadmitted by every true and rightly-instructed Christian.\n\nYet, notwithstanding all this, the work of the Spirit is not the\nground of peace; for, if it were, we could not have settled peace\nuntil Christ's coming, inasmuch as the work of the Spirit, in the\nChurch, will not, properly speaking, be complete till then. He still\ncarries on His work in the believer. \"He maketh intercession with\ngroanings which cannot be uttered.\" (Rom. viii.) He labors to bring us\nup to the predestinated standard, namely, perfect conformity, in all\nthings, to the image of \"the Son.\" He is the sole Author of every\nright desire, every holy aspiration, every pure affection, every\ndivine experience, every sound conviction; but, clearly, His work _in_\nus will not be complete until we have left this present scene and\ntaken our place with Christ in the glory. Just as, in the case of\nAbraham's servant, his work was not complete, in the matter of\nRebecca, until he had presented her to Isaac.\n\nNot so the work of Christ _for_ us. That is absolutely and eternally\ncomplete. He could say, \"I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me\nto do.\" (John xvii. 4.) And, again, \"It is finished.\" (John xix. 30.)\nThe Holy Ghost cannot yet say He has finished His work. As the true\nVicar of Christ upon earth, He still labors amid the varied hostile\ninfluences which surround the sphere of His operations. He works in\nthe hearts of the people of God to bring them up, practically and\nexperimentally, to the divinely appointed standard; but He never\nteaches a soul to lean on His work for peace in the presence of God.\nHis office is to speak of Jesus. He does not speak of Himself. \"He,\"\nsays Christ, \"shall receive of Mine and shall show it unto you.\" (John\nxvi. 13, 14.) If, then, it is only by the Spirit's teaching that any\none can understand the true ground of peace, and if the Spirit never\nspeaks of Himself, it is obvious that He can only present Christ's\nwork as the foundation on which the soul must rest forever; yea, it is\nin virtue of that work that He takes up His abode and carries on His\nmarvelous operations in the believer. He is not our title, though He\nreveals that title and enables us to understand and enjoy it.\n\nHence, therefore, the paschal lamb, as the ground of Israel's peace,\nis a marked and beautiful type of Christ as the ground of the\nbeliever's peace. There was nothing to be added to the blood on the\nlintel; neither is there anything to be added to the blood on the\nmercy-seat. The \"unleavened bread\" and \"bitter herbs\" were necessary,\nbut not as forming, either in whole or in part, the ground of peace.\nThey were for the inside of the house, and formed the characteristics\nof the communion there; but THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB WAS THE FOUNDATION\nOF EVERYTHING. It saved them from death, and introduced them into a\nscene of life, light, and peace. It formed the link between God and\nHis redeemed people. As a people linked with God, on the ground of\naccomplished redemption, it was their high privilege to meet certain\nresponsibilities; but these responsibilities did not form the link,\nbut merely flowed out of it.\n\nAnd I would further remind my reader that the obedient _life_ of\nChrist is not set forth in Scripture as the procuring cause of our\nforgiveness. It was His death upon the cross that opened those\neverlasting floodgates of love which else should have remained pent up\nforever. If He had remained to this very hour, going through the\ncities of Israel, \"doing good,\" the vail of the temple would continue\nunrent, to bar the worshiper's approach to God. It was His death that\nrent that mysterious curtain \"from top to bottom.\" It is \"by _His\nstripes_,\" not by His obedient life, that \"we are healed;\" and those\n\"stripes\" He endured _on the cross_, and no where else. His own words,\nduring the progress of His blessed life, are quite sufficient to\nsettle this point.--\"I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am\nI straitened till it be accomplished.\" (Luke xii. 50.) To what does\nthis refer but to His death upon the cross, which was the\naccomplishment of His baptism and the opening up of a righteous vent\nthrough which His love might freely flow out to the guilty sons of\nAdam? Again, He says, \"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and\ndie, it abideth alone.\" (John xii. 24.) He was that precious \"corn of\nwheat;\" and He should have remained forever \"alone,\" even though\nincarnate, had He not, by His death upon the accursed tree, removed\nout of the way everything that could have hindered the union of His\npeople with Him in resurrection. \"If it die, it bringeth forth much\nfruit.\"\n\nMy reader cannot too carefully ponder this subject. It is one of\nimmense weight and importance. He has to remember two points in\nreference to this entire question, namely, that there could be no\nunion with Christ, save in resurrection; and that Christ _only_\nsuffered for sins on the cross. We are not to suppose that incarnation\nwas, by any means, Christ taking us into union with Himself. This\ncould not be. How could sinful flesh be thus united? The body of sin\nhad to be destroyed by death. Sin had to be put away according to the\ndivine requirement; all the power of the enemy had to be abolished.\nHow was all this to be done? Only by the precious, spotless Lamb of\nGod submitting to the death of the cross. \"It became Him, for whom are\nall things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto\nglory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect _through\nsufferings_.\" (Heb. ii. 10.) \"Behold, I cast out devils, and I do\ncures to-day and to-morrow, and _the third day I shall be perfected_.\"\n(Luke xiii. 32.) The expressions \"perfect\" and \"perfected\" in the\nabove passages, do not refer to Christ in His own Person abstractedly,\nfor He was perfect from all eternity, as Son of God; and as to His\nhumanity, He was absolutely perfect likewise. But then, as \"the\nCaptain of salvation\"--as \"bringing many sons unto glory\"--as\n\"bringing forth much fruit\"--as associating a redeemed people _with_\nHimself,--He had to reach \"the third day\" in order to be \"perfected.\"\nHe went down _alone_ into the \"horrible pit, and miry clay;\" but\ndirectly He plants His \"foot on the rock\" of resurrection. He\nassociates with Himself the \"many sons.\" (Psalm xl. 1-3.) He fought\nthe fight alone; but, as the mighty Conqueror, He scatters around Him,\nin rich profusion, the spoils of victory, that we might gather them up\nand enjoy them forever.\n\nMoreover, we are not to regard the cross of Christ as a mere\ncircumstance in a life of sin-bearing. It was _the_ grand and only\nscene of sin-bearing. \"His own self bare our sins in His own body on\nthe tree.\" (1 Peter ii. 24.) He did not bear them any where else. He\ndid not bear them in the manger, nor in the wilderness, nor in the\ngarden; but ONLY \"ON THE TREE.\" He never had aught to say to sin, save\non the cross; and there He bowed His head, and yielded up His precious\nlife, under the accumulated weight of His people's sins. Neither did\nHe ever suffer at the hand of God, save on the cross; and there\nJehovah hid His face from Him because He was \"made sin.\" (2 Cor. v.)\n\nThe above train of thought, and the various passages of Scripture\nreferred to, may perhaps enable my reader to enter more fully into the\ndivine power of the words, \"_When I see the blood_, I will pass over\nyou.\" The lamb needed to be without blemish, no doubt, for what else\ncould meet the holy eye of Jehovah? But had the blood not been shed,\nthere could have been no passing over, for \"without shedding of blood\nis no remission.\" (Heb. ix. 22.) This subject will, the Lord\npermitting, come more fully and appropriately before us in the types\nof Leviticus. It demands the prayerful attention of every one who\nloves our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.\n\nWe shall now consider the second aspect of the passover, as the centre\nround which the assembly was gathered, in peaceful, holy, happy\nfellowship. Israel saved by the blood was one thing, and Israel\nfeeding on the lamb was quite another. They were saved _only_ by the\nblood; but the object round which they were gathered was, manifestly,\nthe roasted lamb. This is not, by any means, a distinction without a\ndifference. The blood of the lamb forms the foundation both of our\nconnection with God, and our connection with one another. It is as\nthose who are washed in that blood, that we are introduced to God and\nto one another. Apart from the perfect atonement of Christ, there\ncould obviously be no fellowship either with God or His assembly.\nStill we must remember that it is to a living Christ in heaven that\nbelievers are gathered by the Holy Ghost. It is with a living Head we\nare connected--to \"a living stone\" we have come. He is our centre.\nHaving found peace through His blood, we own Him as our grand\ngathering-point and connecting link.--\"Where two or three are gathered\ntogether in My name, there am I in the midst of them.\" (Matt. xviii.\n20.) The Holy Ghost is the only Gatherer; Christ Himself is the only\nobject to which we are gathered; and our assembly, when thus convened,\nis to be characterized by holiness, so that the Lord our God may dwell\namong us. The Holy Ghost can only gather to Christ. He cannot gather\nto a system, a name, a doctrine, or an ordinance. He gathers to a\nPerson, and that Person is a glorified Christ in heaven. This must\nstamp a peculiar character on God's assembly. Men may associate on any\nground, round any centre, or for any object they please; but when the\nHoly Ghost associates, it is on the ground of accomplished redemption,\naround the Person of Christ, in order to form a holy dwelling-place\nfor God. (1 Cor. iii. 16, 17; vi. 19; Eph. ii. 21, 22; 1 Pet. ii. 4,\n5.)\n\nWe shall now look in detail at the principles brought before us in the\npaschal feast. The assembly of Israel, as under the cover of the\nblood, was to be ordered by Jehovah in a manner worthy of Himself. In\nthe matter of safety from judgment, as we have already seen, nothing\nwas needed but the blood; but in the fellowship which flowed out of\nthis safety, other things were needed which could not be neglected\nwith impunity.\n\nAnd first, then, we read, \"They shall eat the flesh in that night,\nroast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they\nshall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but\nroast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance\nthereof.\" (Ver. 8, 9.) The lamb round which the congregation was\nassembled, and on which it feasted, was a roasted lamb--a lamb which\nhad undergone the action of fire. In this we see \"Christ our passover\"\npresenting Himself to the action of the fire of divine holiness and\njudgment which found in Him a perfect material. He could say, \"Thou\nhast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast\ntried me and shalt find nothing: I am purposed that my mouth shall not\ntransgress.\" (Psalm xvii. 3.) All in Him was perfect. The fire tried\nHim, and there was no dross. \"His head with his legs and with the\npurtenance thereof.\" That is to say, the seat of His understanding,\nHis outward walk, with all that pertained thereto--all was submitted\nto the action of the fire, and all was entirely perfect. The process\nof roasting was therefore deeply significant, as is every circumstance\nin the ordinances of God. Nothing should be passed over, because all\nis pregnant with meaning.\n\n\"Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water.\" Had it been eaten\nthus, there would have been no expression of the great truth which it\nwas the divine purpose to shadow forth; namely, that our paschal Lamb\nwas to endure, on the cross, the fire of Jehovah's righteous wrath,--a\ntruth of infinite preciousness to the soul. We are not merely under\nthe shelter of the blood of the Lamb, but we feed, by faith, upon the\nPerson of the Lamb. Many of us come short here. We are apt to rest\nsatisfied with being saved by what Christ has done for us, without\ncultivating holy communion with Himself. His loving heart could never\nbe satisfied with this. He has brought us nigh to Himself, that we\nmight enjoy Him, that we might feed on Him, and delight in Him. He\npresents Himself to us as the One who has endured, to the uttermost,\nthe intense fire of the wrath of God, that He may, in this wondrous\ncharacter, be the food of our ransomed souls.\n\nBut how was this lamb to be eaten? \"With unleavened bread and bitter\nherbs.\" Leaven is invariably used, throughout Scripture, as\nemblematical of evil. Neither in the Old nor in the New Testament is\nit ever used to set forth anything pure, holy, or good. Thus, in this\nchapter, \"the feast of unleavened bread\" is the type of that practical\nseparation from evil which is the proper result of being washed from\nour sins in the blood of the Lamb, and the proper accompaniment of\ncommunion with His sufferings. Naught but unleavened bread could at\nall comport with a roasted lamb. A single particle of that which was\nthe marked type of evil, would have destroyed the moral character of\nthe entire ordinance. How could we connect any species of evil with\nour fellowship with a suffering Christ? Impossible. All who enter, by\nthe power of the Holy Ghost, into the meaning of the cross will\nassuredly, by the same power, put away leaven from all their borders.\n\"For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: _therefore_ let us\nkeep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice\nand wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.\"\n(1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) The feast spoken of in this passage is that which,\nin the life and conduct of the Church, corresponds with the feast of\nunleavened bread. This latter lasted \"seven days;\" and the Church\ncollectively, and the believer individually, are called to walk in\npractical holiness, during the seven days, or entire period, of their\ncourse here below; and this, moreover, as the direct result of being\nwashed in the blood, and having communion with the sufferings of\nChrist.\n\nThe Israelite did not put away leaven in order to be saved, but\nbecause he was saved; and if he failed to put away leaven, it did not\nraise the question of security through the blood, but simply of\nfellowship with the assembly. \"Seven days shall there be no leaven\nfound in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened,\neven that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel,\nwhether he be a stranger, or born in the land.\" (Ver. 19.) The cutting\noff of an Israelite from the congregation answers precisely to the\nsuspension of a Christian's fellowship, if he be indulging in that\nwhich is contrary to the holiness of the divine presence. God cannot\ntolerate evil. A single unholy thought will interrupt the soul's\ncommunion; and until the soil contracted by any such thought is got\nrid of by confession, founded on the advocacy of Christ, the communion\ncannot possibly be restored. (See 1 John i. 5-10.) The true-hearted\nChristian rejoices in this. He can ever \"give thanks at the\nremembrance of God's holiness.\" He would not, if he could, lower the\nstandard a single hair's breadth. It is his exceeding joy to walk in\ncompany with One who will not go on, for a moment, with a single jot\nor tittle of \"leaven.\"\n\nBlessed be God, we know that nothing can ever snap asunder the link\nwhich binds the true believer to Him. We are \"saved in the Lord,\" not\nwith a temporary or conditional, but \"with an everlasting salvation.\"\nBut then salvation and communion are not the same thing. Many are\nsaved who do not know it; and many, also, who do not enjoy it. It is\nquite impossible that I can enjoy a blood-stained lintel if I have\nleavened borders. This is an axiom in the divine life. May it be\nwritten on our hearts! Practical holiness, though not the basis of our\n_salvation_, is intimately connected with our _enjoyment_ thereof. An\nIsraelite was not saved by unleavened bread, but by the blood; and yet\nleaven would have cut him off from communion. And as to the Christian,\nhe is not saved by his practical holiness, but by the blood; but if he\nindulges in evil, in thought, word, or deed, he will have no true\nenjoyment of salvation, and no true communion with the Person of the\nLamb.\n\nThis, I cannot doubt, is the secret of much of the spiritual\nbarrenness and lack of settled peace which one finds amongst the\nchildren of God. They are not cultivating holiness; they are not\nkeeping \"the feast of unleavened bread.\" The blood is on the lintel,\nbut the leaven within their borders keeps them from enjoying the\nsecurity which the blood provides. The allowance of evil destroys our\nfellowship, though it does not break the link which binds our souls\neternally to God. Those who belong to God's assembly must be holy.\nThey have not only been delivered from the guilt and consequences of\nsin, but also from the practice of it, the power of it, and the love\nof it. The very fact of being delivered by the blood of the paschal\nlamb, rendered Israel responsible to put away leaven from all their\nquarters. They could not say, in the frightful language of the\nantinomian, Now that we are delivered, we may conduct ourselves as we\nplease. By no means. If they were saved _by grace_, they were saved\n_to holiness_. The soul that can take occasion, from the freedom of\ndivine grace and the completeness of the redemption which is in Christ\nJesus, to \"continue in sin,\" proves very distinctly that he\nunderstands neither the one nor the other.\n\nGrace not only saves the soul with an everlasting salvation, but also\nimparts a nature which delights in everything that belongs to God,\nbecause it is divine. We are made partakers of the divine nature,\nwhich cannot sin, because it is born of God. To walk in the energy of\nthis nature is, in reality, to \"keep\" the feast of unleavened bread.\nThere is no \"old leaven\" nor \"leaven of malice and wickedness\" in the\nnew nature, because it is of God, and God is holy, and \"God is love.\"\nHence it is evident that we do not put away evil from us in order to\nbetter our old nature, which is irremediable; nor yet to obtain the\nnew nature, but because we have it. We have life, and, in the power of\nthat life, we put away evil. It is only when we are delivered from the\nguilt of sin that we can understand or exhibit the true power of\nholiness. To attempt it in any other way is hopeless labor. The feast\nof unleavened bread can only be kept beneath the perfect shelter of\nthe blood.\n\nWe may perceive equal significancy and moral propriety in that which\nwas to accompany the unleavened bread, namely, the \"bitter herbs.\" We\ncannot enjoy communion with the sufferings of Christ without\nremembering what it was which rendered those sufferings needful, and\nthis remembrance must necessarily produce a chastened and subdued tone\nof spirit, which is aptly expressed by the bitter herbs in the paschal\nfeast. If the roasted lamb expressed Christ's endurance of the wrath\nof God in His own Person, on the cross, the bitter herbs express the\nbeliever's recognition of the truth that He \"suffered _for us_.\" \"The\nchastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are\nhealed.\" (Isaiah liii. 5.) It is well, owing to the excessive levity\nof our hearts, to understand the deep meaning of the bitter herbs. Who\ncan read such psalms as the sixth, twenty-second, thirty-eighth,\nsixty-ninth, eighty-eighth, and one hundred and ninth, and not enter,\nin some measure, into the meaning of the unleavened bread with bitter\nherbs? Practical holiness of life, with deep subduedness of soul, must\nflow from real communion with Christ's sufferings; for it is quite\nimpossible that moral evil and levity of spirit can exist in view of\nthose sufferings.\n\nBut, it may be asked, is there not a deep joy for the soul in the\nconsciousness that Christ has borne our sins; that He has fully\ndrained, on our behalf, the cup of God's righteous wrath?\nUnquestionably. This is the solid foundation of all our joy. But can\nwe ever forget that it was for \"_our sins_\" He suffered? Can we ever\nlose sight of the soul-subduing truth that the blessed Lamb of God\nbowed His head beneath the weight of our transgressions? Surely not.\nWe must eat our lamb with bitter herbs, which, be it remembered, do\nnot set forth the tears of a worthless and shallow sentimentality, but\nthe deep and real experiences of a soul that enters, with spiritual\nintelligence and power, into the meaning and into the practical effect\nof the cross.\n\nIn contemplating the cross, we find in it that which cancels all our\nguilt. This imparts sweet peace and joy. But we find in it also the\ncomplete setting aside of nature--the crucifixion of \"the flesh\"--the\ndeath of \"the old man.\" (See Rom. vi. 6; Gal. ii. 20; vi. 14; Col. ii.\n11.) This, in its practical results, will involve much that is\n\"bitter\" to nature. It will call for self-denial--the mortification of\nour members which are on the earth (Col. iii. 5.)--the reckoning of\nself to be dead indeed unto sin (Rom. vi.). All these things may seem\nterrible to look at; but when one gets inside the blood-stained\ndoor-post, he thinks quite differently. The very herbs which to an\nEgyptian's taste would no doubt have seemed so bitter, formed an\nintegral part of Israel's redemption _feast_. Those who are redeemed\nby the blood of the Lamb, who know the joy of fellowship with Him,\nesteem it a \"feast\" to put away evil and to keep nature in the place\nof death.\n\n\"And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that\nwhich remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.\"\n(Ver. 10.) In this command, we are taught that the communion of the\ncongregation was in no wise to be separated from the sacrifice on\nwhich that communion was founded. The heart must ever cherish the\nvivid remembrance that all true fellowship is inseparably connected\nwith accomplished redemption. To think of having communion _with God_\non any other ground is to imagine that He could have fellowship with\nour evil, and to think of fellowship _with man_ on any other ground is\nbut to form an unholy club, from which nothing could issue but\nconfusion and iniquity. In a word, all must be founded upon, and\ninseparably linked with, the blood. This is the simple meaning of\neating the paschal lamb the same night on which the blood was shed.\nThe fellowship must not be separated from its foundation.\n\nWhat a beauteous picture, then, we have in the blood-sheltered\nassembly of Israel, feeding peacefully on the roasted lamb, with\nunleavened bread and bitter herbs! No fear of judgment, no fear of the\nwrath of Jehovah, no fear of the terrible hurricane of righteous\nvengeance which was sweeping vehemently over the land of Egypt, at the\nmidnight hour. All was profound peace within the blood-stained lintel.\nThey had no need to fear anything from without; and nothing within\ncould trouble them, save leaven, which would have proved a death-blow\nto all their peace and blessedness. What a picture for the Church!\nWhat a picture for the Christian! May we gaze upon it with an\nenlightened eye and a teachable spirit!\n\nHowever, we are not yet done with this most instructive ordinance. We\nhave been looking at Israel's _position_, and Israel's _food_, let us\nnow look at Israel's _habit_.\n\n\"And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your\nfeet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is\nthe Lord's passover.\" (Ver. 11.) They were to eat it as a people\nprepared to leave behind them the land of death and darkness, wrath\nand judgment, to move onward toward the land of promise--their\ndestined inheritance. The blood which had preserved them from the fate\nof Egypt's first-born was also the foundation of their deliverance\nfrom Egypt's bondage; and they were now to set out and walk with God\ntoward the land that flowed with milk and honey. True, they had not\nyet crossed the Red Sea,--they had not yet gone the \"three days'\njourney;\" still they were, in principle, a redeemed people, a\nseparated people, a pilgrim people, an expectant people, a dependent\npeople; and their entire habit was to be in keeping with their present\nposition and future destiny. The girded loins bespoke intense\nseparation from all around them, together with a readiness to serve.\nThe shod feet declared their preparedness to leave that scene; while\nthe staff was the expressive emblem of a pilgrim people, in the\nattitude of leaning on something outside themselves. Precious\ncharacteristics! Would that they were more exhibited by every member\nof God's redeemed family.\n\nBeloved Christian reader, let us \"meditate on these things.\" We have\ntasted, through grace, the cleansing efficacy of the blood of Jesus;\nas such, it is our privilege to feed upon His adorable Person and\ndelight ourselves in His \"unsearchable riches;\" to have fellowship in\nHis sufferings, and be made conformable to His death. Oh! let us,\ntherefore, be seen with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the\ngirded loins, the shoes and staff. In a word, let us be marked as a\nholy people, a crucified people, a watchful and diligent people,--a\npeople manifestly \"on our way to God\"--on our way to glory--\"bound for\nthe kingdom.\" May God grant us to enter into the depth and power of\nall these things, so that they may not be mere theories in our\nintellects--mere principles of scriptural knowledge and\ninterpretation, but living, divine realities, known by experience, and\nexhibited in the life, to the glory of God.\n\nWe shall close this section by glancing, for a moment, at verses\n43-49. Here we are taught that while it was the place and privilege of\nevery true Israelite to eat the passover, yet no uncircumcised\nstranger should participate therein.--\"There shall no stranger eat\nthereof ... all the congregation of Israel shall keep it.\"\nCircumcision was necessary ere the passover could be eaten. In other\nwords, the sentence of death must be written upon nature ere we can\nintelligently feed upon Christ, either as the ground of peace or the\ncentre of unity. Circumcision has its antitype in the cross. The male\nalone was circumcised; the female was represented in the male. So, in\nthe cross, Christ represented His Church, and hence the Church is\ncrucified with Christ; nevertheless she lives by the life of Christ,\nknown and exhibited on earth, through the power of the Holy Ghost.\n\"And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the\npassover unto the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let\nhim come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the\nland: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.\" \"They that are\nin the flesh cannot please God.\" (Rom. viii. 8.)\n\nThe ordinance of circumcision formed the grand boundary line between\nthe Israel of God and all the nations that were upon the face of the\nearth; and the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ forms the boundary\nbetween the Church and the world. It matters not, in the smallest\ndegree, what advantages of person or position a man possessed, he\ncould have no part with Israel until he submitted to that\nflesh-cutting operation. A circumcised beggar was nearer to God than\nan uncircumcised king. So, also, now, there can be no participation in\nthe joys of God's redeemed, save by the cross of our Lord Jesus\nChrist; and that cross sweeps away all pretensions, levels all\ndistinctions, and unites all in one holy congregation of blood-washed\nworshipers. The cross forms a boundary so lofty, and a defense so\nimpenetrable, that not a single atom of earth or of nature can cross\nover or pass through to mingle itself with \"the new creation.\" \"_All_\nthings are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself.\" (2 Cor. v. 18.)\n\nBut not only was Israel's _separation_ from all strangers strictly\nmaintained, in the institution of the passover; Israel's _unity_ was\nalso as clearly enforced. \"_In one house_ shall it be eaten: thou\nshalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house:\nneither shall ye break a bone thereof.\" (Ver. 46.) Here is as fair and\nbeauteous a type as we could have of the \"one body and one Spirit.\"\nThe Church of God is _one_. God sees it as such, maintains it as such,\nand will manifest it as such, in the view of angels, men, and devils,\nnotwithstanding all that has been done to interfere with that hallowed\nunity. Blessed be God, the unity of His Church is as much in His\nkeeping as is her justification, acceptance, and eternal security. \"He\nkeepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken.\" (Ps. xxxiv. 20.)\nAnd again, \"A bone of Him shall not be broken.\" (John xix. 36.)\nDespite the rudeness and hard-heartedness of Rome's soldiery, and\ndespite all the hostile influences which have been set to work, from\nage to age, the body of Christ is _one_ and its divine unity can never\nbe broken. \"THERE IS ONE BODY AND ONE SPIRIT;\" and that, moreover,\ndown here on this very earth. Happy are they who have got faith to\nrecognize this precious truth, and faithfulness to carry it out, in\nthese last days, notwithstanding the almost insuperable difficulties\nwhich attend upon their profession and their practice. I believe God\nwill own and honor such.\n\nThe Lord deliver us from that spirit of unbelief which would lead us\nto judge by the sight of our eyes, instead of by the light of His\nchangeless Word.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\nIn the opening verses of this chapter we are taught, clearly and\ndistinctly, that personal devotedness and personal holiness are fruits\nwhich redeeming love produces in those who are the happy subjects\nthereof. The dedication of the first-born and the feast of unleavened\nbread are here set forth in their immediate connection with the\ndeliverance of the people out of the land of Egypt.--\"'Sanctify unto\nMe all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children\nof Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine.' And Moses said unto\nthe people, 'Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out\nof the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you\nout from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.'\" And\nagain, \"Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh\nday shall be a feast unto the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten\nseven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee;\nneither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.\"\n\nThen we have the reason of both these significant observances laid\ndown.--\"And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done\n_because of that_ which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of\nEgypt.\" And again, \"It shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to\ncome, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength\nof hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.\nAnd it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the\nLord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born\nof man and the first-born of beast; _therefore_ I sacrifice to the\nLord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the first-born\nof my children I redeem.\"\n\nThe more fully we enter, by the power of the Spirit of God, into the\nredemption which is in Christ Jesus, the more decided will be our\nseparation, and the more whole-hearted will be our devotedness. The\neffort to produce either the one or the other, until redemption is\nknown, will prove the most hopeless labor possible. All our doings\nmust be \"because of that which the Lord hath done,\" and not in order\nto get anything from Him. Efforts after life and peace prove that we\nare, as yet, strangers to the power of the blood; whereas the pure\nfruits of an experienced redemption are to the praise of Him who has\nredeemed us. \"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of\nyourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should\nboast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good\nworks, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them.\"\n(Eph. ii. 8-10.) God has already prepared a path of good works for us\nto walk in; and He, by grace, prepares us to walk therein. It is only\nas saved that we can walk in such a path. Were it otherwise, we might\nboast; but seeing that we ourselves are as much God's workmanship as\nthe path in which we walk, there is no room whatever for boasting.\n\nTrue Christianity is but the manifestation of the life of Christ,\nimplanted in us by the operation of the Holy Ghost, in pursuance of\nGod's eternal counsels of sovereign grace; and all our doings previous\nto the implantation of this life are but \"dead works,\" from which we\nneed to have our consciences purged just as much as from \"wicked\nworks.\" (Heb. ix. 14.) The term \"dead works\" comprehends all works\nwhich men do with the direct object of getting life. If a man is\nseeking for life, it is very evident that he has not yet gotten it. He\nmay be very sincere in seeking it, but his very sincerity only makes\nit the more obvious that, as yet, he has not consciously reached it.\nHence, therefore, everything done in order to get life is a dead work,\ninasmuch as it is done without life--the life of Christ, the only true\nlife, the only source from whence good works can flow. And, observe,\nit is not a question of \"wicked works;\" no one would think of getting\nlife by such. No; you will find, on the contrary, that persons\ncontinually have recourse to \"dead works,\" in order to ease their\nconsciences, under the sense of \"wicked works,\" whereas divine\nrevelation teaches us that the conscience needs to be purged from the\none as well as the other.\n\nAgain, as to righteousness, we read that \"all our righteousnesses are\nas filthy rags.\" It is not said that all our wickednesses, merely, are\nas filthy rags. This would at once be admitted. But the fact is, that\nthe very best fruit which we can produce, in the shape of\nreligiousness and righteousness, is represented, on the page of\neternal truth, as \"dead works,\" and \"filthy rags.\" Our very efforts\nafter life do but prove us to be dead, and our very efforts after\nrighteousness do but prove us to be enwrapped in filthy rags. It is\nonly as the actual possessors of eternal life and divine righteousness\nthat we can walk in the divinely prepared path of good works. Dead\nworks and filthy rags could never be suffered to appear in such a\npath. None but \"the redeemed of the Lord\" can walk therein. It was as\na redeemed people that Israel kept the feast of unleavened bread, and\ndedicated their first-born to Jehovah. The former of these observances\nwe have already considered; as to the latter, it contains a rich mine\nof instruction.\n\nThe destroying angel passed through the land of Egypt to destroy all\nthe first-born; but Israel's first-born escaped through the death of a\ndivinely provided substitute. Accordingly, these latter appear before\nus, in this chapter, as a living people, dedicated to God. Saved by\nthe blood of the lamb, they are privileged to consecrate their\nransomed life to Him who had ransomed it. Thus it was only as redeemed\nthat they possessed life. The grace of God alone had made them to\ndiffer, and had given them the place of living men in His presence. In\ntheir case, assuredly, there was no room for boasting; for, as to any\npersonal merit or worthiness, we learn from this chapter that they\nwere put on a level with an unclean and worthless thing.--\"Every\nfirstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt\nnot redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck; and all the first-born\nof man among thy children shalt thou redeem.\" (Ver. 13.) There were\ntwo classes--the clean and the unclean, and man was classed with the\nlatter. The lamb was to answer for the unclean; and if the ass were\nnot redeemed, his neck was to be broken; so that an unredeemed man was\nput upon a level with an unclean animal, and that, moreover, in a\ncondition than which nothing could be more worthless and unsightly.\nWhat a humiliating picture of man in his natural condition! O, that\nour poor proud hearts could enter more into it! Then should we rejoice\nmore unfeignedly in the happy privilege of being washed from our guilt\nin the blood of the Lamb, and having all our personal vileness left\nbehind forever, in the tomb where our Surety lay buried.\n\nChrist was the Lamb--the clean, the spotless Lamb: we were unclean;\nbut (forever adored be His matchless name!) He took our position, and,\n_on the cross_, was made sin, and treated as such. That which we\nshould have endured throughout the countless ages of eternity, He\nendured for us on the tree. He bore _all_ that was due to us, there\nand then, in order that we might enjoy what is due to Him, forever. He\ngot our desserts that we might get His. The clean took, for a time,\nthe place of the unclean, in order that the unclean might take forever\nthe place of the clean. Thus, whereas by nature we are represented by\nthe loathsome figure of an ass with his neck broken, by grace we are\nrepresented by a risen and glorified Christ in heaven. Amazing\ncontrast! It lays man's glory in the dust, and magnifies the riches of\nredeeming love. It silences man's empty boastings, and puts into his\nmouth a hymn of praise to God and the Lamb, which shall swell\nthroughout the courts of heaven during the everlasting ages.[7]\n\n  [7] It is interesting to see that by nature we are ranked with an\n  unclean animal; by grace we are associated with Christ the spotless\n  Lamb. There can be nothing lower than the place which belongs to us by\n  nature: nothing higher than that which belongs to us by grace. Look,\n  for example, at an ass with his neck broken; there is what an\n  unredeemed man is worth. Look at \"the precious blood of Christ;\" there\n  is what a redeemed man is worth. \"Unto you that believe is the\n  preciousness.\" That is, all who are washed in the blood partake of\n  Christ's preciousness. As He is \"a living stone,\" they are \"living\n  stones;\" as He is \"a precious stone,\" they are \"precious stones.\" They\n  get life and preciousness all from Him and in Him. They are as He is.\n  Every stone in the edifice is precious, because purchased at no less a\n  price than \"the blood of the Lamb.\" May the people of God know more\n  fully their place and privileges in Christ!\n\nHow forcibly is one here reminded of the apostle's memorable and\nweighty words to the Romans, \"Now if we be dead with Christ, we\nbelieve that we shall also live with Him: knowing that Christ being\nraised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over\nHim. For in that He died, He died unto sin once; but in that He\nliveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be\ndead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our\nLord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should\nobey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as\ninstruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto\nGod, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as\ninstruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion\nover you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.\" (Rom. vi.\n8-14.) We are not only ransomed from the power of death and the grave,\nbut also united to Him who has ransomed us at the heavy cost of His\nown precious life, that we might, in the energy of the Holy Ghost,\ndedicate our new life, with all its powers, to His service, so that\nHis worthy name may be glorified in us according to the will of God\nand our Father.\n\nWe are furnished, in the last few verses of Exodus xiii, with a\ntouching and beautiful example of the Lord's tender consideration of\nHis people's need. \"He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are\ndust.\" (Psalm ciii. 14.) When He redeemed Israel and took them into\nrelationship with Himself, He, in His unfathomed and infinite grace,\ncharged Himself with all their need and weakness. It mattered not what\nthey were or what they needed when I AM was with them, in all the\nexhaustless treasures of that name. He had to conduct them from Egypt\nto Canaan, and we here find Him occupying Himself in selecting a\nsuitable path for them.--\"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let\nthe people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of\nthe Philistines, although that was near; for God said, 'Lest\nperadventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to\nEgypt;' but God led the people about through the way of the wilderness\nof the Red Sea.\" (Ver. 17, 18.)\n\nThe Lord, in His condescending grace, so orders for His people that\nthey do not, at their first setting out, encounter heavy trials, which\nmight have the effect of discouraging their hearts and driving them\nback. \"The way of the wilderness\" was a much more protracted route;\nbut God had deep and varied lessons to teach His people, which could\nonly be learnt in the desert. They were afterwards reminded of this\nfact, in the following passage: \"And thou shalt remember all the way\nwhich the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness,\nto humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart,\nwhether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no. And He humbled\nthee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou\nknewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee\nknow that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that\nproceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment\nwaxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty\nyears.\" (Deut. viii. 2-4.) Such precious lessons as these could never\nhave been learnt in \"the way of the land of the Philistines.\" In that\nway, they might have learnt what _war_ was, at an early stage of their\ncareer; but \"in the way of the wilderness,\" they learnt what _flesh_\nwas, in all its crookedness, unbelief, and rebellion. But I AM was\nthere, in all His patient grace, unerring wisdom, and infinite power.\nNone but Himself could have met the demand; none but He could endure\nthe opening up of the depths of a human heart. To have my heart\nunlocked any where, save in the presence of infinite grace, would\nplunge me in hopeless despair. The heart of man is but a little hell.\nWhat boundless mercy, then, to be delivered from its terrible depths!\n\n    \"Oh, to grace how great a debtor\n      Daily I'm constrained to be!\n    Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,\n      Bind my wandering heart to Thee!\"\n\n\"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in\nthe edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a\npillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of\nfire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the\npillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from\nbefore the people.\" Jehovah not only selected a path for His people,\nbut He also came down to walk with them therein, and make Himself\nknown to them according to their need. He not only conducted them\nsafely outside the bounds of Egypt, but He also came down, as it were,\nin His traveling chariot, to be their Companion through all the\nvicissitudes of their wilderness journey. This was divine grace. They\nwere not merely delivered out of the furnace of Egypt and then allowed\nto make the best of their way to Canaan--such was not God's manner\ntoward them. He knew that they had a toilsome and perilous journey\nbefore them, through serpents and scorpions, snares and difficulties,\ndrought and barrenness; and He, blessed be His name forever, would not\nsuffer them to go alone. He would be the Companion of all their toils\nand dangers; yea, \"He went before them.\" He was \"a guide, a glory, a\ndefense, to save from every fear.\" Alas! that they should ever have\ngrieved that blessed One by their hardness of heart. Had they only\nwalked humbly, contentedly, and confidingly with Him, their march\nwould have been a triumphant one from first to last. With Jehovah in\ntheir forefront, no power could have interrupted their onward progress\nfrom Egypt to Canaan. He would have carried them through and planted\nthem in the mountain of His inheritance, according to His promise, and\nby the power of His right hand; nor should as much as a single\nCanaanite have been allowed to remain therein to be a thorn in their\nside. Thus will it be by and by, when Jehovah shall set His hand a\nsecond time to deliver His people from under the power of all their\noppressors. May the Lord hasten the time!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\n\"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great\nwaters; these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.\"\n(Psalm cvii. 23, 24.) How true is this! and yet our coward hearts do\nso shrink from those \"great waters.\" We prefer carrying on our\ntraffic in the shallows, and, as a result, we fail to see \"the works\"\nand \"wonders\" of our God; for these can only be seen and known \"in the\ndeep.\"\n\nIt is in the day of trial and difficulty that the soul experiences\nsomething of the deep and untold blessedness of being able to count on\nGod. Were all to go on smoothly, this would not be so. It is not in\ngliding along the surface of a tranquil lake that the reality of the\nMaster's presence is felt; but actually when the tempest roars, and\nthe waves roll over the ship. The Lord does not hold out to us the\nprospect of exemption from trial and tribulation; quite the opposite:\nHe tells us we shall have to meet both the one and the other; but He\npromises to be with us in them, and this is infinitely better. God's\npresence _in_ the trial is much better than exemption _from_ the\ntrial. The sympathy of His heart _with us_ is sweeter far than the\npower of His hand _for us_. The Master's presence with His faithful\nservants while passing through the furnace was better far than the\ndisplay of His power to keep them out of it. (Dan. iii.) We would\nfrequently desire to be allowed to pass on our way without trial, but\nthis would involve serious loss. The Lord's presence is never so sweet\nas in moments of appalling difficulty.\n\nThus it was in Israel's case, as recorded in this chapter. They are\nbrought into an overwhelming difficulty: they are called to \"do\nbusiness in great waters:\" \"they are at their wit's end.\" Pharaoh,\nrepenting himself of having let them go out of his land, determines\nto make one desperate effort to recover them. \"And he made ready his\nchariot, and took his people with him; and he took six hundred chosen\nchariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one\nof them.... And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted\nup their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they\nwere sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.\"\nHere was a deeply trying scene--one in which human effort could avail\nnothing. As well might they have attempted to put back with a straw\nthe ocean's mighty tide, as seek to extricate themselves by aught that\nthey could do. The sea was before them, Pharaoh's hosts behind them,\nand the mountains around them. And all this, be it observed, permitted\nand ordered of God. He had marked out their position before\n\"Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon.\"\nMoreover, He permitted Pharaoh to come upon them. And why? Just to\ndisplay Himself in the salvation of His people, and the total\noverthrow of their enemies. \"To Him that divided the Red Sea into\nparts: for His mercy endureth forever: and made Israel to pass through\nthe midst of it: for His mercy endureth forever: but overthrew Pharaoh\nand his host in the Red Sea: for His mercy endureth forever.\" (Ps.\ncxxxvi.)\n\nThere is not so much as a single position in all the desert-wanderings\nof God's redeemed, the boundaries of which are not marked off, with\nstudious accuracy, by the hand of unerring wisdom and infinite love.\nThe special bearings and peculiar influences of each position are\ncarefully arranged. The Pi-hahiroths and the Migdols are all ordered\nwith immediate reference to the moral condition of those whom God is\nconducting through the windings and labyrinths of the wilderness, and\nalso to the display of His own character. Unbelief may ofttimes\nsuggest the inquiry, Why is it thus? God knows why; and He will,\nwithout doubt, reveal the why whenever the revelation would promote\nHis glory and His people's good. How often do we feel disposed to\nquestion as to the why and the wherefore of our being placed in such\nand such circumstances! How often do we perplex ourselves as to the\nreason of our being exposed to such and such trials! How much better\nto bow our heads in meek subjection, and say, \"It is well,\" and \"it\nshall be well\"! When God fixes our position for us, we may rest\nassured it is a wise and salutary one; and even when we foolishly and\nwillfully choose a position for ourselves, He most graciously\noverrules our folly, and causes the influences of our self-chosen\ncircumstances to work for our spiritual benefit.\n\nIt is when the people of God are brought into the greatest straits and\ndifficulties, that they are favored with the finest displays of God's\ncharacter and actings; and for this reason He ofttimes leads them into\na trying position, in order that He may the more markedly show\nHimself. He could have conducted Israel through the Red Sea, and far\nbeyond the reach of Pharaoh's hosts, before ever the latter had\nstarted from Egypt; but that would not have so fully glorified His own\nname, or so entirely confounded the enemy, upon whom He designed to\n\"get Him honor.\" We too frequently lose sight of this great truth, and\nthe consequence is that our hearts give way in the time of trial. If\nwe could only look upon a difficult crisis as an occasion of bringing\nout, on our behalf, the sufficiency of divine grace, it would enable\nus to preserve the balance of our souls, and to glorify God, even in\nthe deepest waters.\n\nWe feel disposed, it may be, to marvel at Israel's language on the\noccasion now before us. We may feel at a loss to account for it; but\nthe more we know of our own evil hearts of unbelief, the more we shall\nsee how marvelously like them we are. They would seem to have\nforgotten the recent display of divine power on their behalf. They had\nseen the gods of Egypt judged, and the power of Egypt laid prostrate\nbeneath the stroke of Jehovah's omnipotent hand; they had seen the\niron chain of Egyptian bondage riven, and the furnace quenched by the\nsame hand;--all these things they had seen, and yet the moment a dark\ncloud appeared upon their horizon, their confidence gave way, their\nhearts failed, and they gave utterance to their unbelieving murmurings\nin the following language: \"Because there were no graves in Egypt,\nhast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou\ndealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?... It had been\nbetter for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the\nwilderness.\" (Ver. 11, 12.) Thus is \"blind unbelief\" ever \"sure to\nerr, and scan God's ways in vain.\" This unbelief is the same in all\nages. It led David, in an evil hour, to say, \"I shall one day perish\nby the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should\nspeedily escape into the land of the Philistines.\" (1 Sam. xxvii. 1.)\nAnd how did it turn out? Saul fell on Mount Gilboa, and David's throne\nwas established forever. Again, it led Elijah the Tishbite, in a\nmoment of deep depression, to flee for his life from the wrathful\nthreatenings of Jezebel. How did it turn out? Jezebel was dashed to\npieces on the pavement, and Elijah was taken in a chariot of fire to\nheaven.\n\nSo it was with Israel in their very first moment of trial. They really\nthought that the Lord had taken such pains to deliver them out of\nEgypt merely to let them die in the wilderness. They imagined that\nthey had been preserved by the blood of the paschal lamb in order that\nthey might be buried in the wilderness. Thus it is that unbelief ever\nreasons. It leads us to interpret God in the presence of the\ndifficulty, instead of interpreting the difficulty in the presence of\nGod. Faith gets behind the difficulty and there finds God, in all His\nfaithfulness, love, and power. It is the believer's privilege ever to\nbe in the presence of God. He has been introduced thither by the blood\nof the Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing should be suffered to take him\nthence. The place itself he never can lose, inasmuch as his Head and\nRepresentative, Christ, occupies it on his behalf. But although he\ncannot lose the thing itself, he can very easily lose the enjoyment of\nit--the experience and power of it. Whenever his difficulties come\nbetween his heart and the Lord, he is evidently not enjoying the\nLord's presence, but suffering in the presence of his difficulties.\nJust as when a cloud comes between us and the sun, it robs us, for the\ntime, of the enjoyment of his beams. It does not prevent him from\nshining, it merely hinders our enjoyment of him. Exactly so is it when\nwe allow trials and sorrows, difficulties and perplexities, to hide\nfrom our souls the bright beams of our Father's countenance, which\never shine, with changeless lustre, in the face of Jesus Christ. There\nis no difficulty too great for our God; yea, the greater the\ndifficulty, the more room there is for Him to act in His proper\ncharacter, as the God of all power and grace. No doubt Israel's\nposition, in the opening of our chapter, was a deeply trying one,--to\nflesh and blood, perfectly overwhelming; but then the Maker of heaven\nand earth was there, and they had but to use Him.\n\nYet, alas! my reader, how speedily we fail when trial arises! These\nsentiments sound very nicely on the ear, and look very well upon paper\n(and, blessed be God, they are divinely true); but then the thing is\nto practice them when opportunity offers. It is in the practice of\nthem that their power and blessedness are really proved. \"If any man\nwill _do_ His will, he shall _know_ of the doctrine, whether it be of\nGod.\" (John vii. 17.)\n\n\"And Moses said unto the people, 'Fear ye not, stand still, and see\nthe salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you to-day; for the\nEgyptians whom ye have seen to-day ye shall see them again no more\nforever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.'\"\n(Ver. 13, 14.) Here is the first attitude which faith takes in the\npresence of a trial. \"_Stand still._\" This is impossible to flesh and\nblood. All who know, in any measure, the restlessness of the human\nheart under anticipated trial and difficulty, will be able to form\nsome conception of what is involved in standing still. Nature must be\n_doing_ something. It will rush hither and thither. It would fain have\nsome hand in the matter. And although it may attempt to justify and\nsanctify its worthless doings, by bestowing upon them the imposing and\npopular title of \"a legitimate use of means,\" yet are they the plain\nand positive fruits of unbelief, which always shuts out God, and sees\nnaught save the dark cloud of its own creation. Unbelief creates or\nmagnifies difficulties, and then sets us about removing them by our\nown bustling and fruitless activities, which, in reality, do but raise\na dust around us which prevents our seeing God's salvation.\n\nFaith, on the contrary, raises the soul above the difficulty, straight\nto God Himself, and enables one to \"stand still.\" We gain nothing by\nour restless and anxious efforts. \"We cannot make one hair white or\nblack,\" nor \"add one cubit to our stature.\" What could Israel do at\nthe Red Sea? Could they dry it up? Could they level the mountains?\nCould they annihilate the hosts of Egypt? Impossible! There they were,\ninclosed within an impenetrable wall of difficulties, in view of which\nnature could but tremble and feel its own perfect impotency. But this\nwas just the time for God to act. When unbelief is driven from the\nscene, then God can enter; and, in order to get a proper view of His\nactings, we must \"stand still.\" Every movement of nature is, so far as\nit goes, a positive hindrance to our perception and enjoyment of\ndivine interference on our behalf.\n\nThis is true of us in every single stage of our history. It is true of\nus as sinners when, under the uneasy sense of sin upon the conscience,\nwe are tempted to resort to our own doings in order to obtain relief.\nThen, truly, we must \"stand still\" in order to \"see the salvation of\nGod.\" For what could we do in the matter of making an atonement for\nsin? Could we have stood with the Son of God upon the cross? Could we\nhave accompanied Him down into the \"horrible pit and the miry clay\"?\nCould we have forced our passage upward to that eternal rock on which,\nin resurrection, He has taken His stand? Every right mind will at once\npronounce the thought to be a daring blasphemy. God is alone in\nredemption; and as for us, we have but to \"stand still, and see the\nsalvation of God.\" The very fact of its being God's salvation proves\nthat man has naught to do in it.\n\nThe same is true of us, from the moment we have entered upon our\nChristian career. In every fresh difficulty, be it great or small, our\nwisdom is to stand still--to cease from our own works, and find our\nsweet repose in God's salvation. Nor can we make any distinction as to\ndifficulties. We cannot say that there are some trifling difficulties\nwhich we ourselves can compass, while there are others in which naught\nsave the hand of God can avail. No; all are alike beyond us. We are as\nlittle able to change the color of a hair as to remove a mountain,--to\nform a blade of grass as to create a world. All are alike to us, and\nall are alike to God. We have only, therefore, in confiding faith, to\ncast ourselves on Him who \"humbleth Himself [alike] to behold the\nthings that are in heaven and on earth.\" We sometimes find ourselves\ncarried triumphantly through the heaviest trials, while at other times\nwe quail, falter, and break down under the most ordinary\ndispensations. Why is this? Because, in the former, we are constrained\nto roll our burden over on the Lord; whereas, in the latter, we\nfoolishly attempt to carry it ourselves. The Christian is, in himself,\nif he only realized it, like an exhausted receiver, in which a guinea\nand a feather have equal momenta.\n\n\"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.\" Precious\nassurance! How eminently calculated to tranquilize the spirit in view\nof the most appalling difficulties and dangers! The Lord not only\nplaces Himself between us and our sins, but also between us and our\ncircumstances. By doing the former, He gives us peace of conscience;\nby doing the latter, He gives us peace of heart. That the two things\nare perfectly distinct, every experienced Christian knows. Very many\nhave peace of conscience, who have not peace of heart. They have,\nthrough grace and by faith, found Christ, in the divine efficacy of\nHis blood, between them and all their sins; but they are not able, in\nthe same simple way, to realize Him as standing, in His divine wisdom,\nlove, and power, between them and their circumstances. This makes a\nmaterial difference in the practical condition of the soul, as well as\nin the character of one's testimony. Nothing tends more to glorify the\nname of Jesus than that quiet repose of spirit which results from\nhaving Him between us and everything that could be a matter of anxiety\nto our hearts. \"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is\nstayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.\"\n\nBut some feel disposed to ask the question, \"Are we not to do\nanything?\" This maybe answered by asking another, namely, What can we\ndo? All who really know themselves must answer, Nothing. If,\ntherefore, we can do nothing, had we not better \"stand still\"? If the\nLord is acting for us, had we not better stand back? Shall we run\nbefore Him? Shall we busily intrude ourselves upon His sphere of\naction? Shall we come in His way? There can be no possible use in two\nacting, when one is so perfectly competent to do all. No one would\nthink of bringing a lighted candle to add brightness to the sun at\nmidday: and yet the man who would do so might well be accounted wise,\nin comparison with him who attempts to assist God by his bustling\nofficiousness.\n\nHowever, when God, in His great mercy, opens the way, faith can walk\ntherein. It only ceases from man's way in order to walk in God's. \"And\nthe Lord said unto Moses, 'Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto\nthe children of Israel that they go forward.'\" It is only when we have\nlearnt to \"stand still\" that we are able effectually to go forward. To\nattempt the latter until we have learnt the former is sure to issue in\nthe exposure of our folly and weakness. It is therefore true wisdom,\nin all times of difficulty and perplexity, to \"stand still\"--to wait\nonly upon God, and He will assuredly open a way for us; and then we\ncan peacefully and happily \"go forward.\" There is no uncertainty when\nGod makes a way for us; but every self-devised path must prove a path\nof doubt and hesitation. The unregenerate man may move along with\ngreat apparent firmness and decision in his own ways; but one of the\nmost distinct elements in the new creation is self-distrust, and the\nelement which answers thereto is confidence in God. It is when our\neyes have seen God's salvation that we can walk therein; but this can\nnever be distinctly seen until we have been brought to the end of our\nown poor doings.\n\nThere is peculiar force and beauty in the expression, \"_See_ the\nsalvation of God.\" The very fact of our being called to \"see\" God's\nsalvation, proves that the salvation is a complete one. It teaches\nthat salvation is a thing wrought out and revealed by God, to be seen\nand enjoyed by us. It is not a thing made up partly of God's doing and\npartly of man's. Were it so, it could not be called _God's_ salvation.\nIn order to be His, it must be wholly divested of everything\npertaining to man. The only possible effect of human efforts is to\nraise a dust which obscures the view of God's salvation.\n\n\"Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.\" Moses himself\nseems to have been brought to a stand, as it appears from the Lord's\nquestion--\"Wherefore criest thou to Me?\" Moses could tell the people\nto \"stand still, and see the salvation of God,\" while his own spirit\nwas giving forth its exercises in an earnest cry to God. However,\nthere is no use in crying when we ought to be acting; just as there is\nno use in acting when we ought to be waiting. Yet such is ever our\nway. We attempt to move forward when we ought to stand still, and we\nstand still when we ought to move forward. In Israel's case, the\nquestion might spring up in the heart, Whither are we to go? To all\nappearance, there lay an insurmountable barrier in the way of any\nmovement forward. How were they to go through the sea? This was the\npoint. Nature could never solve this question. But we may rest assured\nthat God never gives a command without, at the same time,\ncommunicating the power to obey. The real condition of the heart may\nbe tested by the command; but the soul that is, by grace, disposed to\nobey, receives power from above to do so. When Christ commanded the\nman with the withered hand to stretch it forth, the man might\nnaturally have said, How can I stretch forth an arm which hangs dead\nby my side? But he did not raise any question whatever, for with the\ncommand, and from the same source, came the power to obey.\n\nThus, too, in Israel's case, we see that with the command to go\nforward came the provision of grace. \"But lift thou up thy rod, and\nstretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of\nIsrael shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.\" Here was\nthe path of faith. The hand of God opens the way for us to take the\nfirst step, and this is all that faith ever asks. God never gives\nguidance for two steps at a time. I must take one step, and then I get\nlight for the next. This keeps the heart in abiding dependence upon\nGod. \"By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land.\" It is\nevident that the sea was not divided throughout at once. Had it been\nso, it would have been \"sight\" and not \"faith.\" It does not require\nfaith to begin a journey when I can see all the way through; but to\nbegin when I can merely see the first step, this is faith. The sea\nopened as Israel moved forward, so that for every fresh step they\nneeded to be cast upon God. Such was the path along which the redeemed\nof the Lord moved, under His own conducting hand. They passed through\nthe dark waters of death, and found these very waters to be \"a wall\nunto them, on their right hand and on their left.\"\n\nThe Egyptians could not move in such a path as this. They moved on\nbecause they saw the way open before them: with them it was sight, and\nnot faith,--\"Which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.\" When\npeople _assay_ to do what faith alone can accomplish, they only\nencounter defeat and confusion. The path along which God calls His\npeople to walk is one which nature can never tread. \"Flesh and blood\ncannot inherit the kingdom of God\" (1 Cor. xv. 50.), neither can it\nwalk in the ways of God. Faith is the great characteristic principle\nof God's kingdom, and faith alone can enable us to walk in God's ways.\n\"Without faith it is impossible to please God.\" (Heb. xi.) It\nglorifies God exceedingly when we move on with Him, as it were,\nblindfold. It proves that we have more confidence in His eyesight than\nin our own. If I know that God is looking out for me, I may well close\nmy eyes, and move on in holy calmness and stability. In human affairs,\nwe know that when there is a sentinel or watchman at his post, others\ncan sleep quietly. How much more may we rest in perfect security when\nwe know that He who neither slumbers nor sleeps has His eye upon us,\nand His everlasting arms around us!\n\n\"And the angel of God which went before the camp of Israel, removed\nand went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before\ntheir face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the\nEgyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to\nthem, but it gave light by night to these; so that the one came not\nnear the other all the night.\" (Ver. 19, 20.) Jehovah placed Himself\nright between Israel and the enemy: this was protection indeed. Before\never Pharaoh could touch a hair of Israel's head, he should make his\nway through the very pavilion of the Almighty--yea, through the\nAlmighty Himself. Thus it is that God ever places Himself between His\npeople and every enemy, so that \"no weapon formed against them can\nprosper.\" He has placed Himself between us and our sins; and it is our\nhappy privilege to find Him between us and every one and every thing\nthat could be against us. This is the true way in which to find both\npeace of heart and peace of conscience. The believer may institute a\ndiligent and anxious search for his sins, but he cannot find them.\nWhy? Because God is between him and them. He has cast all our sins\nbehind His back, while, at the same time, He sheds forth upon us the\nlight of His reconciled countenance.\n\nIn the same manner, the believer may look for his difficulties, and\nnot find them, because God is between him and them. If, therefore, the\neye, instead of resting on our sins and sorrows, could rest only upon\nChrist, it would sweeten many a bitter cup, and enlighten many a\ngloomy hour. But one finds constantly that nine-tenths of our trials\nand sorrows are made up of anticipated or imaginary evils, which only\nexist in our own disordered, because unbelieving, minds. May my reader\nknow the solid peace, both of heart and conscience, which results\nfrom having Christ, in all His fullness, between him and _all_ his\nsins and _all_ his sorrows.\n\nIt is at once most solemn and interesting to note the double aspect of\nthe \"pillar\" in this chapter. \"It was a cloud and darkness\" to the\nEgyptians, but \"it gave light by night\" to Israel. How like the cross\nof our Lord Jesus Christ! Truly, that cross has a double aspect\nlikewise. It forms the foundation of the believer's peace, and, at the\nsame time, seals the condemnation of a guilty world. The self-same\nblood which purges the believer's conscience and gives him perfect\npeace, stains this earth and consummates its guilt. The very mission\nof the Son of God which strips the world of its cloak, and leaves it\nwholly without excuse, clothes the Church with a fair mantle of\nrighteousness, and fills her mouth with ceaseless praise. The very\nsame Lamb who will terrify, by His unmitigated wrath, all tribes and\nclasses of earth, will lead, by His gentle hand, His blood-bought\nflock through the green pastures and beside the still waters forever.\n(Compare Rev. vi. 15-17 with vii. 13-17.)\n\nThe close of our chapter shows us Israel triumphant on the shore of\nthe Red Sea, and Pharaoh's hosts submerged beneath its waves. The\nfears of the former and the boastings of the latter had both alike\nbeen proved utterly groundless: Jehovah's glorious work had\nannihilated both the one and the other. The same waters which formed a\nwall for God's redeemed, formed a grave for Pharaoh. Thus it is ever:\nthose who walk by faith find a path to walk in, while all who assay\nto do so find a grave. This is a solemn truth, which is not in any\nwise weakened by the fact that Pharaoh was acting in avowed and\npositive hostility to God when he \"assayed\" to pass through the Red\nSea. It will ever be found true that all who attempt to imitate\nfaith's actings will be confounded. Happy are they who are enabled,\nhowever feebly, to walk by faith. They are moving along a path of\nunspeakable blessedness,--a path which, though it may be marked by\nfailure and infirmity, is nevertheless \"begun, continued, and ended in\nGod.\" O, that we may all enter more fully into the divine reality, the\ncalm elevation, and the holy independence of this path!\n\nWe ought not to turn from this fruitful section of our book without a\nreference to 1 Cor. x, in which we have an allusion to \"the cloud and\nthe sea.\"--\"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be\nignorant, how that all our fathers were _under the cloud_, and all\npassed _through the sea_; and were all baptized unto Moses in the\ncloud and in the sea.\" (Ver. 1, 2.) There is much deep and precious\ninstruction for the Christian in this passage. The apostle goes on to\nsay, \"Now these things were our types,\" thus furnishing us with a\ndivine warrant for interpreting Israel's baptism \"in the cloud and in\nthe sea\" in a typical way; and, assuredly, nothing could be more\ndeeply significant or practical. It was as a people thus baptized that\nthey entered upon their wilderness journey, for which provision was\nmade in \"the spiritual meat\" and \"spiritual drink\" provided by the\nhand of love. In other words, they were typically a people dead to\nEgypt and all pertaining thereto. The cloud and the sea were to them\nwhat the cross and grave of Christ are to us. The cloud secured them\nfrom their enemies; the sea separated them from Egypt: the cross, in\nlike manner, shields us from all that could be against us, and we\nstand at heaven's side of the empty tomb of Jesus. Here we commence\nour wilderness journey,--here we begin to taste the heavenly Manna,\nand to drink of the streams which emanate from \"that spiritual Rock,\"\nwhile, as a pilgrim people, we make our way onward to that land of\nrest of the which God has spoken to us.\n\nI would further add here, that my reader should seek to understand the\ndifference between the Red Sea and Jordan. They both have their\nantitype in the death of Christ; but in the former we see separation\nfrom Egypt; in the latter, introduction into the land of Canaan. The\nbeliever is not merely separated from this present evil world by the\ncross of Christ, but he is quickened out of the grave of Christ,\nraised up together, and made to sit together in Christ, in the\nheavenlies. (Eph. ii. 5, 6.) Hence, though surrounded by the things of\nEgypt, he is, as to his actual experience, in the wilderness; while,\nat the same time, he is borne upward, by the energy of faith, to that\nplace where Jesus sits, at the right hand of God. Thus, the believer\nis not merely \"forgiven all trespasses,\" but actually associated\n_with_ a risen Christ in heaven;--he is not merely saved _by_ Christ,\nbut linked _with_ Him forever. Nothing short of this could either\nsatisfy God's affections or actualize His purposes in reference to the\nChurch.\n\nReader, do we understand these things? do we believe them? are we\nrealizing them? do we manifest the power of them? Blessed be the grace\nthat has made them unalterably true with respect to every member of\nthe body of Christ, whether it be an eye or an eye-lash, a hand or a\nfoot. Their truth, therefore, does not depend upon our manifestation,\nour realization, or our understanding, but upon \"THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF\nCHRIST,\" which has canceled all our guilt and laid the foundation of\nall God's counsels respecting us. Here is true rest for every broken\nheart and every burdened conscience.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nThis chapter opens with Israel's magnificent song of triumph on the\nshore of the Red Sea, when they had seen \"that great work which the\nLord did upon the Egyptians.\" They had seen God's salvation, and they\ntherefore sing His praise and recount His mighty acts. \"_Then_ sang\nMoses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord.\" Up to this\nmoment, we have not heard so much as a single note of praise. We have\nheard their cry of deep sorrow as they toiled amid the brick-kilns of\nEgypt, we have hearkened to their cry of unbelief when surrounded by\nwhat they deemed insuperable difficulties, but, until now, we have\nheard no song of praise. It was not until, as a saved people, they\nfound themselves surrounded by the fruits of God's salvation, that the\ntriumphal hymn burst forth from the whole redeemed assembly. It was\nwhen they emerged from their significant baptism \"in the cloud and in\nthe sea,\" and were able to gaze upon the rich spoils of victory which\nlay scattered around them, that six hundred thousand voices were heard\nchanting the song of victory. The waters of the Red Sea rolled between\nthem and Egypt, and they stood on the shore as a fully delivered\npeople, and therefore they were able to praise Jehovah.\n\nIn this, as in everything else, they were our types. We, too, must\nknow ourselves as saved, in the power of death and resurrection,\nbefore ever we can present clear and intelligent worship. There will\nalways be reserve and hesitancy in the soul, proceeding, no doubt,\nfrom positive inability to enter into the accomplished redemption\nwhich is in Christ Jesus. There may be the acknowledgment of the fact\nthat there is salvation in Christ, and in none other; but this is a\nvery different thing from apprehending, by faith, the true character\nand ground of that salvation, and realizing it as _ours_. The Spirit\nof God reveals, with unmistakable clearness, in the Word, that the\nChurch is united to Christ in death and resurrection; and, moreover,\nthat a risen Christ, at God's right hand, is the measure and pledge of\nthe Church's acceptance. When this is believed, it conducts the soul\nentirely beyond the region of doubt and uncertainty. How can the\nChristian doubt when he knows that he is continually represented\nbefore the throne of God by an Advocate, even \"Jesus Christ the\nrighteous\"? It is the privilege of the very feeblest member of the\nChurch of God to know that he was represented by Christ on the\ncross,--that _all_ his sins were confessed, borne, judged, and atoned\nfor there. This is a divine reality, and, when laid hold of by faith,\nmust give peace; but nothing short of it ever can give peace. There\nmay be earnest, anxious, and most sincere desires after God,--there\nmay be the most pious and devout attendance upon all the ordinances,\noffices, and forms of religion; but there is no other possible way in\nwhich to get the sense of sin entirely removed from the conscience,\nbut seeing it judged in the Person of Christ, as a sin-offering, on\nthe cursed tree. If it was judged there once for all, it is now by the\nbeliever to be regarded as a divinely, and therefore eternally,\nsettled question; and that it was so judged is proved by the\nresurrection of the Surety. \"I know that whatsoever God doeth it shall\nbe forever: nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it: and\nGod doeth it that men should fear before Him.\" (Ecc. iii. 14.)\n\nHowever, while it is generally admitted that all this is true in\nreference to the Church collectively, many find considerable\ndifficulty in making a personal application thereof. They are ready to\nsay, with the Psalmist, \"Truly, God is good to Israel, even to such as\nare of a clean heart. _But as for me_,\" etc. (Ps. lxxiii. 1, 2.) They\nare looking at themselves instead of at Christ in death and Christ in\nresurrection; they are occupied rather with their appropriation of\nChrist than with Christ Himself; they are thinking of their capacity\nrather than their title. Thus they are kept in a state of the most\ndistressing uncertainty, and, as a consequence, they are never able to\ntake the place of happy, intelligent worshipers. They are praying for\nsalvation instead of rejoicing in the conscious possession of it; they\nare looking at their imperfect fruits instead of Christ's perfect\natonement.\n\nNow in looking through the various notes of this song in Exodus xv, we\ndo not find a single note about _self_, its doings, its sayings, its\nfeelings, or its fruits; it is all about Jehovah, from beginning to\nend. It begins with, \"I will sing unto the Lord, for _He_ hath\ntriumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath _He_ thrown into\nthe Sea.\" This is a specimen of the entire song. It is a simple record\nof the attributes and actings of Jehovah. In chapter xiv, the hearts\nof the people had, as it were, been pent up by the excessive pressure\nof their circumstances; but in chapter xv, the pressure is removed,\nand their hearts find full vent in a sweet song of praise. Self is\nforgotten; circumstances are lost sight of; one object, and but one,\nfills their vision, and that object is the Lord Himself, in His\ncharacter and ways. They were able to say, \"Thou, Lord, hast made me\nglad through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.\" (Ps.\nxcii. 4.) This is true worship. It is when poor, worthless self, with\nall its belongings, is lost sight of, and Christ alone fills the\nheart, that we present proper worship. There is no need for the\nefforts of a fleshly pietism to awaken in the soul feelings of\ndevotion; nor is there any demand whatever for the adventitious\nappliances of religion, so called, to kindle in the soul the flame of\nacceptable worship. Oh, no! Let but the heart be occupied with the\nPerson of Christ, and \"songs of praise\" will be the natural result. It\nis impossible for the eye to rest on Him and the spirit not be bowed\nin holy worship. If we contemplate the worship of the hosts which\nsurround the throne of God and the Lamb, we shall find that it is ever\nevoked by the presentation of some special feature of divine\nexcellence or divine acting. Thus should it be with the Church on\nearth; and when it is not so, it is because we allow things to intrude\nupon us which have no place in the regions of unclouded light and\nunalloyed blessedness. In all true worship, God Himself is at once the\nobject of worship, the subject of worship, and the power of worship.\n\nHence Exodus xv. is a fine specimen of a song of praise. It is the\nlanguage of a redeemed people celebrating the worthy praise of Him who\nhad redeemed them. \"The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become\nmy salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare Him a habitation; my\nfather's God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war: the Lord\nis His name.... Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power:\nThy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.... Who is\nlike unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like Thee, glorious in\nholiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?... Thou in Thy mercy hast\nled forth the people which Thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them\nin Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.... The Lord shall reign\nforever and ever.\" How comprehensive is the range of this song! It\nbegins with redemption and ends with the glory. It begins with the\ncross and ends with the kingdom. It is like a beauteous rainbow, of\nwhich one end dips in \"the sufferings,\" and the other in \"the glory\nthat should follow.\" It is all about Jehovah. It is an outpouring of\nsoul produced by a view of God and His gracious and glorious actings.\n\nMoreover, it does not stop short of the actual accomplishment of the\ndivine purpose, as we read, \"Thou _hast guided_ them in Thy strength\nunto Thy holy habitation.\" The people were able to say this, though\nthey had but just planted their foot on the margin of the desert. It\nwas not the expression of a vague hope,--it was not feeding upon poor,\nblind chance. Oh, no! When the soul is wholly occupied with God, it is\nenabled to launch out into all the fullness of His grace, to bask in\nthe sunshine of His countenance, and delight itself in the rich\nabundance of His mercy and loving-kindness. There is not a cloud upon\nthe prospect when the believing soul, taking its stand upon the\neternal rock on which redeeming love has set it in association with a\nrisen Christ, looks up into the spacious vault of God's infinite\nplans and purposes, and dwells upon the effulgence of that glory which\nGod has prepared for all those who have washed their robes and made\nthem white in the blood of the Lamb.\n\nThis will account for the peculiarly brilliant, elevated, and\nunqualified character of all those bursts of praise which we find\nthroughout sacred Scripture. The creature is set aside: God is the\nobject. He fills the entire sphere of the soul's vision. There is\nnothing of man, his feelings, or his experiences, and therefore the\nstream of praise flows copiously and uninterruptedly forth. How\ndifferent is this from some of the hymns we so often hear sung in\nChristian assemblies, so full of our failings, our feebleness, our\nshortcomings. The fact is, we can never sing with real, spiritual\nintelligence and power when we are looking at ourselves. We shall ever\nbe discovering something within which will act as a drawback to our\nworship. Indeed, with many, it seems to be accounted a Christian grace\nto be in a continual state of doubt and hesitation; and, as a\nconsequence, their hymns are quite in character with their condition.\nSuch persons, however sincere and pious, have never yet, in the actual\nexperience of their souls, entered upon the proper ground of worship.\nThey have not yet got done with themselves,--they have not passed\nthrough the sea, and, as a spiritually baptized people, taken their\nstand on the shore, in the power of resurrection. They are still, in\nsome way or another, occupied with self: they do not regard self as a\ncrucified thing, with which God is forever done.\n\nMay the Holy Ghost lead all God's people into fuller, clearer, and\nworthier apprehensions of their place and privilege as those who,\nbeing washed from their sins in the blood of Christ, are presented\nbefore God in all that infinite and unclouded acceptance in which He\nstands, as the risen and glorified Head of His Church. Doubts and\nfears do not become them, for their divine Surety has not left a\nshadow of a foundation on which to build a doubt or a fear. Their\nplace is within the vail. They \"have boldness to enter into the\nholiest by the blood of Jesus.\" (Heb. x. 19.) Are there any doubts or\nfears in the holiest? Is it not evident that a doubting spirit\nvirtually calls in question the perfectness of Christ's work--a work\nwhich has been attested, in the view of all created intelligence, by\nthe resurrection of Christ from the dead? That blessed One could not\nhave left the tomb unless all ground of doubting and fearing had been\nperfectly removed on behalf of His people. Wherefore it is the\nChristian's sweet privilege ever to triumph in a full salvation. The\nLord Himself has become his salvation; and he has only to enjoy the\nfruits of that which God has wrought for him, and to walk to His\npraise while waiting for that time when \"Jehovah shall reign forever\nand ever.\"\n\nBut there is one note in this song to which I shall just invite my\nreader's attention.--\"He is my God, and I will prepare Him a\nhabitation.\" It is worthy of note that when the heart was full to\noverflowing with the joy of redemption, it gives expression to its\ndevoted purpose in reference to \"a habitation for God.\" Let the\nChristian reader ponder this. God dwelling with man is a grand thought\npervading Scripture from Exodus xv. to Revelation. Hearken to the\nfollowing utterance of a devoted heart: \"Surely I will not come into\nthe tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give\nsleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a\nplace for the Lord, _a habitation_ for the mighty God of Jacob.\" (Ps.\ncxxxii. 3-5.) Again, \"For the zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up.\"\n(Ps. lxix. 9; John ii. 17.) I do not attempt to pursue this subject\nhere; but I would fain awaken such an interest concerning it in the\nbreast of my reader as shall lead him to pursue it, prayerfully, for\nhimself, from the very earliest notice of it in the Word until he\narrives at that soul-stirring announcement, \"Behold, the tabernacle of\nGod is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His\npeople, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God\nshall wipe away all tears from their eyes.\" (Rev. xxi. 3, 4.)\n\n\"So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; and they went out into the\nwilderness of Shur: and they went three days into the wilderness and\nfound no water.\" (Ver. 22.) It is when we get into wilderness\nexperience that we are put to the test as to the real measure of our\nacquaintance with God and with our own hearts. There is a freshness\nand an exuberance of joy connected with the opening of our Christian\ncareer, which very soon receives a check from the keen blast of the\ndesert; and then, unless there is a deep sense of what God is to us,\nabove and beyond everything else, we are apt to break down, and, \"in\nour hearts, turn back again into Egypt.\" The discipline of the\nwilderness is needful, not to furnish us with a title to Canaan, but\nto make us acquainted with God and with our own hearts; to enable us\nto enter into the power of our relationship, and to enlarge our\ncapacity for the enjoyment of Canaan when we actually get there. (See\nDeut. viii. 2-5.)\n\nThe greenness, freshness, and luxuriance of spring have peculiar\ncharms, which all pass away before the scorching heat of summer; but\nthen, with proper care, that very heat which removes the fair traces\nof spring, produces the mellowed and matured fruits of autumn. Thus it\nis also in the Christian life; for there is, as we know, a striking\nand deeply instructive analogy between the principles which obtain in\nthe kingdom of nature and those which characterize the kingdom of\ngrace, seeing it is the same God whose handiwork meets our view in\nboth.\n\nThere are three distinct positions in which we may contemplate Israel,\nnamely, in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan. In all\nthese, they are \"our types;\" but we are in all three together. This\nmay seem paradoxical, but it is true. As a matter of actual fact, we\nare in Egypt, surrounded by natural things, which are entirely adapted\nto the natural heart. But, inasmuch as we have been called by God's\ngrace into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ, we, according to the\naffections and desires of the new nature, necessarily find our place\noutside of all that which belongs to Egypt[8] (_i.e._, the world in\nits natural state), and this causes us to taste of wilderness\nexperience, or, in other words, it places us, as a matter of\nexperience, in the wilderness. The divine nature earnestly breathes\nafter a different order of things--after a purer atmosphere than that\nwith which we find ourselves surrounded, and thus it causes us to feel\nEgypt to be a moral desert.\n\n  [8] There is a wide moral difference between Egypt and Babylon, which\n  it is important to understand. Egypt was that out of which Israel\n  came; Babylon was that into which they were afterwards carried. (Comp.\n  Amos v. 25-27 with Acts vii. 42, 43.) Egypt expresses what man has\n  made of the world; Babylon expresses what Satan has made, is making,\n  or will make, of the professing church. Hence, we are not only\n  surrounded with the _circumstances_ of Egypt, but also by the moral\n  _principles_ of Babylon.\n\n  This renders our \"days\" what the Holy Ghost has termed \"perilous\"\n  (\u03c7\u03b1\u03bb\u03b5\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9--\"difficult\"). It demands a special energy of the Spirit of\n  God, and complete subjection to the authority of the Word, to enable\n  one to meet the combined influence of the realities of Egypt and the\n  spirit and principles of Babylon. The former meet the natural desires\n  of the heart; while the latter connect themselves with, and address\n  themselves to, the _religiousness_ of nature, which gives them a\n  peculiar hold upon the heart. Man is a religious being, and peculiarly\n  susceptible of the influences which arise from music, sculpture,\n  painting, and pompous rites and ceremonies. When these things stand\n  connected with the full supply of all his natural wants--yea, with all\n  the ease and luxury of life, nothing but the mighty power of God's\n  Word and Spirit can keep one true to Christ.\n\n  We should also remark that there is a vast difference between the\n  destinies of Egypt and those of Babylon. The nineteenth of Isaiah sets\n  before us the blessings that are in store for Egypt. It concludes\n  thus: \"And the Lord shall smite Egypt; He shall smite and heal it; and\n  they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated of them,\n  and shall heal them.... In that day shall Israel be the third with\n  Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land; whom\n  the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and\n  Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance.\" (Ver.\n  22-25.)\n\n  Very different is the close of Babylon's history, whether viewed as a\n  literal city or a spiritual system.--\"I will also make it a possession\n  for the bittern, and pools of water; and I will sweep it with the\n  besom of destruction, saith the Lord of Hosts.\" (Isaiah xiv. 23.) \"It\n  shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation\n  to generation.\" (Isaiah xiii. 20.) So much for Babylon literally; and\n  looking at it from a mystic or spiritual point of view, we read its\n  destiny in Rev. xviii. The entire chapter is a description of Babylon,\n  and it concludes thus: \"A strong angel took up a stone, like a great\n  millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, 'Thus, with violence\n  shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no\n  more at all.'\" (Ver. 21.)\n\n  With what immense solemnity should those words fall upon the ears of\n  all who are in any wise connected with Babylon--that is to say, with\n  the false, professing church,--\"Come out of her, My people, that ye be\n  not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues\"!\n  (Rev. xviii. 5.) The \"power\" of the Holy Ghost will necessarily\n  produce, or express itself in, a certain \"form,\" and the enemy's aim\n  has ever been to rob the professing church of the power, while he\n  leads her to cling to and perpetuate the form--to stereotype the form\n  when all the spirit and life has passed away. Thus he builds the\n  spiritual Babylon. The stones of which this city is built are lifeless\n  professors; and the slime or mortar which binds these stones together\n  is \"a form of godliness without the power.\"\n\n  Oh! my beloved reader, let us see to it that we fully, clearly, and\n  influentially understand these things.\n\nBut then, inasmuch as we are, in God's view, eternally associated with\nHim who has passed right through into the heavenlies, and taken His\nseat there in triumph and majesty, it is our happy privilege to know\nourselves, by faith, as \"sitting together in Him\" there. (Eph. ii.) So\nthat although we are, as to our bodies, in Egypt, we are, as to our\nexperience, in the wilderness, while, at the same time, faith\nconducts us, in spirit, into Canaan, and enables us to feed upon \"the\nold corn of the land,\" _i.e._, upon Christ, not as One come down to\nearth merely, but as One gone back to heaven and seated there in\nglory.\n\nThe concluding verses of this fifteenth chapter show us Israel in the\nwilderness. Up to this point, it seemed to them to be all fair\nsailing. Heavy judgments poured upon Egypt, but Israel perfectly\nexempt,--the army of Egypt dead upon the sea shore, but Israel in\ntriumph. All this was well enough; but, alas! the aspect of things\nspeedily changed. The notes of praise were soon exchanged for the\naccents of discontent. \"When they came to Marah, they could not drink\nof the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore the name of it\nwas called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, 'What\nshall we drink?'\" Again, \"The whole congregation of the children of\nIsrael murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness; and the\nchildren of Israel said unto them, 'Would to God we had died by the\nhand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots,\nand when we did eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth\ninto this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.'\"\n\nHere were the trials of the wilderness.--\"What shall we eat?\" and\n\"What shall we drink?\" The waters of Marah tested the heart of Israel\nand developed their murmuring spirit; but the Lord showed them that\nthere was no bitterness which He could not sweeten with the provision\nof His own grace. \"And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had\ncast into the waters, the waters were made sweet; there he made for\nthem a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them.\" Beauteous\nfigure this of Him who was, in infinite grace, cast into the bitter\nwaters of death, in order that those waters might yield naught but\nsweetness to us forever! We can truly say, \"The bitterness of death is\npast,\" and nothing remains for us but the eternal sweets of\nresurrection.\n\nVerse 26 sets before us the momentous character of this first stage of\nGod's redeemed in the wilderness. We are in great danger, at this\npoint, of falling into a fretful, impatient, murmuring spirit. The\nonly remedy for this is to keep the eye steadily fixed on\nJesus--\"looking unto Jesus.\" He, blessed be His name, ever unfolds\nHimself according to the need of His people; and they, instead of\ncomplaining of their circumstances, should only make their\ncircumstances an occasion of drawing afresh upon Him. Thus it is that\nthe wilderness ministers to our experience of what God is. It is a\nschool, in which we learn His patient grace and ample resources.\n\"Forty years suffered He their manners in the wilderness.\" (Acts xiii.\n18.) The spiritual mind will ever own that it is worth having bitter\nwaters for God to sweeten. \"We glory in tribulations also: knowing\nthat tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and\nexperience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of\nGod is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto\nus.\" (Rom. v. 3-5.)\n\nHowever, the wilderness has its Elims as well as its Marahs,--its\nwells and palm trees, as well as its bitter waters. \"And they came to\nElim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm\ntrees; and they encamped there by the waters.\" (Ver. 27.) The Lord\ngraciously and tenderly provides green spots in the desert for His\njourneying people; and though they are, at best, but oases, yet are\nthey refreshing to the spirit and encouraging to the heart. The\nsojourn at Elim was eminently calculated to soothe the hearts of the\npeople, and hush their murmurings. The grateful shade of its palm\ntrees, and the refreshing of its wells, came in sweetly and seasonably\nafter the trial of Marah, and significantly set forth, in our view,\nthe precious virtues of that spiritual ministry which God provides for\nHis people down here. \"The twelve\" and \"the seventy\" are numbers\nintimately associated with ministry.\n\nBut Elim was not Canaan. Its wells and palm trees were but foretastes\nof that happy land which lay beyond the bounds of the sterile desert\non which the redeemed had just entered. It furnished refreshment, no\ndoubt, but it was wilderness refreshment. It was but for a passing\nmoment, designed, in grace, to encourage their depressed spirits, and\nnerve them for their onward march to Canaan. Thus it is, as we know,\nwith ministry in the Church. It is a gracious provision for our need,\ndesigned to refresh, strengthen, and encourage our hearts, \"until we\nall come to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ.\"\n(Eph. iv.)\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\n\"And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of\nthe children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is\nbetween Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after\ntheir departure out of the land of Egypt.\" (Chap. xvi. 1.) Here we\nfind Israel in a very marked and interesting position. It is still the\nwilderness, no doubt, but it is a most important and significant stage\nthereof, namely, \"between Elim and Sinai.\" The former was the place\nwhere they had so recently experienced the refreshing springs of\ndivine ministry; the latter was the place where they entirely got off\nthe ground of free and sovereign grace, and placed themselves under a\ncovenant of works. These facts render \"the wilderness of Sin\" a\nsingularly interesting portion of Israel's journey. Its features and\ninfluences are as strongly marked as those of any point in their whole\ncareer. They are here seen as the subjects of the same grace which had\nbrought them up out of the land of Egypt, and therefore all their\nmurmurings are instantly met by divine supplies. When God acts in the\ndisplay of His grace, there is no hindrance. The streams of blessing\nwhich emanate from Him, flow onward without interruption. It is only\nwhen man puts himself under law that he forfeits everything; for then\nGod must allow him to prove how much he can claim on the ground of his\nown works.\n\nWhen God visited and redeemed His people, and brought them forth out\nof the land of Egypt, it assuredly was not for the purpose of\nsuffering them to die of hunger and thirst in the wilderness. They\nshould have known this. They ought to have trusted Him, and walked in\nthe confidence of that love which had so gloriously delivered them\nfrom the horrors of Egyptian bondage. They should have remembered that\nit was infinitely better to be in the desert with God than in the\nbrick-kilns with Pharaoh. But no; the human heart finds it immensely\ndifficult to give God credit for pure and perfect love. It has far\nmore confidence in Satan than God. Look, for a moment, at all the\nsorrow and suffering, the misery and degradation, which man has\nendured by reason of his having hearkened to the voice of Satan; and\nyet he never gives utterance to a word of complaint of his service, or\nof desire to escape from under his hand. He is not discontented with\nSatan, or weary of serving him. Again and again he reaps bitter fruits\nin those fields which Satan has thrown open to him, and yet again and\nagain he may be seen sowing the self-same seed, and undergoing the\nself-same labors.\n\nHow different it is in reference to God! When we have set out to walk\nin His ways, we are ready, at the earliest appearance of pressure or\ntrial, to murmur and rebel. Indeed, there is nothing in which we so\nsignally fail as in the cultivation of a confiding and thankful\nspirit. Ten thousand mercies are forgotten in the presence of a single\ntrifling privation. We have been frankly forgiven all our sins,\n\"accepted in the Beloved,\" made heirs of God and joint-heirs with\nChrist, the expectants of eternal glory, and, in addition to all, our\npath through the desert is strewed with countless mercies; and yet let\nbut a cloud the size of a man's hand appear on the horizon, and we at\nonce forget the rich mercies of the past in view of this single cloud,\nwhich, after all, may only \"break in blessings on our head.\" The\nthought of this should humble us deeply in the presence of God. How\nunlike we are in this, as in every other respect, to our blessed\nExemplar! Look at Him--the true Israel in the wilderness--surrounded\nby wild beasts, and fasting forty days. How did He carry Himself? Did\nHe murmur? did He complain of His lot? did He wish Himself in other\ncircumstances? Ah, no. God was the portion of His cup and the lot of\nHis inheritance (Ps. xvi.); and, therefore, when the tempter\napproached and offered Him the necessaries, the glories, the\ndistinctions, and the honors of this life, He refused them all, and\ntenaciously held fast the position of absolute dependence upon God and\nimplicit obedience to His word. He would only take bread from God, and\nglory from Him likewise.\n\nVery different was it with Israel after the flesh! No sooner did they\nfeel the pressure of hunger than \"they murmured against Moses and\nAaron in the wilderness.\" They seemed to have actually lost the sense\nof having been delivered by the hand of Jehovah, for they said, \"_Ye_\nhave brought us forth into this wilderness.\" And again, in chapter\nxvii, \"the people murmured against Moses, and said, 'Wherefore is this\nthat _thou_ hast brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our\nchildren and our cattle with thirst?'\" Thus did they, on every\noccasion, evince a fretful, murmuring spirit, and prove how little\nthey realized the presence and the hand of their almighty and\ninfinitely gracious Deliverer.\n\nNow, nothing is more dishonoring to God than the manifestation of a\ncomplaining spirit on the part of those that belong to Him. The\napostle gives it as a special mark of Gentile corruption that, \"when\nthey knew God, they glorified Him not as God, _neither were\nthankful_.\" Then follows the practical result of this unthankful\nspirit,--\"They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish\nheart was darkened.\" (Rom. i. 21.) The heart that ceases to retain a\nthankful sense of God's goodness will speedily become \"dark.\" Thus\nIsrael lost the sense of being in God's hands; and this led, as might\nbe expected, to still thicker darkness, for we find them, further on\nin their history, saying, \"Wherefore hath the Lord brought us into\nthis land, _to fall by the sword_, that our wives and our children\nshall be a prey?\" (Numb. xiv. 3.) Such is the line along which a soul\nout of communion will travel. It first loses the sense of being in\nGod's hands for good, and finally begins to deem itself in His hands\nfor evil. Melancholy progress this!\n\nHowever, the people, being so far the subjects of grace, are provided\nfor; and our chapter furnishes the marvelous account of this\nprovision,--\"Then said the Lord unto Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread\nfrom heaven for you.'\" They, when enveloped in the chilling cloud of\ntheir unbelief, had said, \"Would to God we had died by the hand of the\nLord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we\ndid eat bread to the full.\" But now the word is, \"Bread from heaven.\"\nBlessed contrast! How amazing the difference between the flesh pots,\nthe leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt, and this heavenly\nmanna--\"angels' food\"! The former belonged to earth, the latter to\nheaven.\n\nBut then this heavenly food was, of necessity, a test of Israel's\ncondition, as we read, \"That I may prove them, whether they will walk\nin My law or no.\" It needed a heart weaned from Egypt's influences, to\nbe satisfied with or enjoy \"bread from heaven.\" In point of fact, we\nknow that the people were not satisfied with it, but despised it,\npronounced it \"light food,\" and lusted for flesh. Thus they proved how\nlittle their hearts were delivered from Egypt, or disposed to walk in\nGod's law. \"In their hearts they turned back again into Egypt.\" (Acts\nvii. 39.) But instead of getting back thither, they were ultimately\ncarried away beyond Babylon. (Acts vii. 43.) This is a solemn and\nsalutary lesson for Christians. If those who are redeemed from this\npresent evil world do not walk with God in thankfulness of heart,\nsatisfied with His provision for the redeemed in the wilderness, they\nare in danger of falling into the snare of Babylonish influences. This\nis a serious consideration. It demands a heavenly taste to feed on\nbread from heaven. Nature cannot relish such food; it will ever yearn\nafter Egypt, and therefore it must be kept down. It is our privilege,\nas those who have been baptized unto Christ's death, and \"risen again\nthrough the faith of the operation of God,\" to feed upon Christ as\n\"the bread of life which came down from heaven.\" This is our\nwilderness food--Christ as ministered by the Holy Ghost, through the\nwritten Word; while, for our spiritual refreshment, the Holy Ghost has\ncome down as the precious fruit of the smitten Rock--Christ, as\nsmitten for us. Such is our rare portion in this desert world.\n\nNow, it is obvious that, in order to enjoy such a portion as this, our\nhearts must be weaned from everything in this present evil world--from\nall that would address itself to us as natural men--as men alive in\nthe flesh. A worldly heart--a carnal mind, would neither find Christ\nin the Word, nor enjoy Him if found. The manna was so pure and\ndelicate that it could not bear contact with earth. It fell upon the\ndew (see Numb. xi. 9.), and had to be gathered ere the sun was up.\nEach one, therefore, had to rise early and seek his daily portion. So\nit is with the people of God now. The heavenly Manna must be gathered\nfresh every morning. Yesterday's Manna will not do for to-day, nor\nto-day's for to-morrow. We must feed upon Christ every day, with fresh\nenergy of the Spirit, else we shall cease to grow. Moreover, we must\nmake Christ our primary object. We must seek Him \"_early_,\" before\n\"other things\" have had time to take possession of our poor\nsusceptible hearts. Many of us, alas! fail in this, We give Christ a\nsecondary place, and the consequence is, we are left feeble and\nbarren. The enemy, ever watchful, takes advantage of our excessive\nspiritual indolence to rob us of the blessedness and strength which\nflow from feeding upon Christ. The new life in the believer can _only_\nbe nourished and sustained by Christ. \"As the living Father hath sent\nMe, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live\nby Me.\" (John vi. 57.)\n\nThe grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the One who came down from\nheaven to be His people's food, is ineffably precious to the renewed\nsoul; but, in order to enjoy Him thus, we need to realize ourselves as\nin the wilderness, separated to God in the power of accomplished\nredemption. If I am walking with God through the desert, I shall be\nsatisfied with the food which He provides, and that is, Christ as come\ndown from heaven. \"The old corn of the land of Canaan\" has its\nantitype in _Christ ascended up_ on high, and seated in the glory. As\nsuch, He is the proper food of those who, by faith, know themselves as\nraised up together, and seated together in Him in the heavenlies. But\nthe Manna, that is, _Christ as come down_ from heaven, is for the\npeople of God in their wilderness life and experience. As a people\njourneying down here, we need a Christ who also journeyed down here;\nas a people seated in spirit up there, we have a Christ who is seated\nup there. This may help to explain the difference between the manna\nand the old corn of the land. It is not a question of redemption; that\nwe have in the blood of the cross, and there alone. It is simply the\nprovision which God has made for His people, according to their varied\nattitudes, whether as actually toiling in the desert, or in spirit\ntaking possession of the heavenly inheritance.\n\nWhat a striking picture is presented by Israel in the wilderness!\nEgypt was behind them, Canaan before them, and the sand of the desert\naround them; while they themselves were called to look up to heaven\nfor their daily supply. The wilderness afforded not one blade of grass\nnor one drop of water for the Israel of God. In Jehovah alone was\ntheir portion. Most touching illustration of God's pilgrim people in\nthis wilderness world! They have nothing here. Their life, being\nheavenly, can only be sustained by heavenly things. Though _in_ the\nworld, they are not _of_ it, for Christ has chosen them out of it. As\na heaven-born people, they are on their way to their birth-place, and\nsustained by food sent from thence. Theirs is an upward and onward\ncourse. The glory leads _only_ thus. It is utterly vain to cast the\neye backward in the direction of Egypt; not a ray of the glory can\nthere be discerned. \"They looked _toward the wilderness_, and behold\nthe glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.\" Jehovah's chariot was in\nthe wilderness, and all who desired companionship with Him should be\nthere likewise; and if there, the heavenly manna should be their food,\nand that alone.\n\nTrue, this manna was strange sustenance, such as an Egyptian could\nnever understand, appreciate, or live upon; but those who had been\n\"baptized in the cloud and in the sea\" could, if walking in\nconsistency with that significant baptism, enjoy and be nourished by\nit. Thus is it now in the case of the true believer. The worldling\ncannot understand how he lives. Both his life and that which sustains\nit lie entirely beyond the range of nature's keenest vision. Christ is\nhis life, and on Christ he lives. He feeds, by faith, upon the\npowerful attractions of One who, though being \"God over all, blessed\nforever,\" \"took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of men.\" (Phil. ii. 7.) He traces Him from the bosom of the\nFather to the cross, and from the cross to the throne, and finds Him,\nin every stage of His journey, and in every attitude of His life, to\nbe most precious food for his new man. All around, though, in fact,\nEgypt, is morally a waste howling wilderness, affording nothing for\nthe renewed mind; and just in proportion as the Christian finds any\nmaterial to feed upon must his spiritual man be hindered in his\nprogress. The only provision which God has made is the heavenly Manna,\nand on this the true believer should ever feed.\n\nIt is truly deplorable to find Christians seeking after the things of\nthis world. It proves, very distinctly, that they are \"loathing\" the\nheavenly Manna, and esteeming it \"light food;\" they are ministering to\nthat which they ought to mortify. The activities of the new life will\never show themselves in connection with the subjugation of \"the old\nman with his deeds;\" and the more that is accomplished, the more will\nwe desire to feed upon the \"Bread which strengthens man's heart.\" As\nin nature, the more we exercise, the better the appetite, so in grace,\nthe more our renewed faculties are called into play, the more we feel\nthe need of feeding, each day, upon Christ. It is one thing to know\nthat we have life in Christ, together with full forgiveness and\nacceptance before God, and it is quite another to be in habitual\ncommunion with Him--feeding upon Him by faith--making Him the\nexclusive food of our souls. Very many profess to have found pardon\nand peace in Jesus, who, in reality, are feeding upon a variety of\nthings which have no connection with Him. They feed their minds with\nthe newspapers and the varied frivolous and vapid literature of the\nday. Will they find Christ there? Is it by such instrumentality that\nthe Holy Ghost ministers Christ to the soul? Are these the pure\ndew-drops on which the heavenly Manna descends for the sustenance of\nGod's redeemed in the desert? Alas! no; they are the gross materials\nin which the carnal mind delights. How, then, can a true Christian\nlive upon such? We know, by the teaching of God's Word, that he\ncarries about with him two natures; and it may be asked, Which of the\ntwo is it that feeds upon the world's news and the world's\nliterature?--Is it the old, or the new? There can be but one reply.\nWell, then, which of the two am I desirous of cherishing? Assuredly my\nconduct will afford the truest answer to this inquiry. If I sincerely\ndesire to grow in the divine life--if my one grand object is to be\nassimilated and devoted to Christ--if I am earnestly breathing after\nan extension of God's kingdom _within_, I shall, without doubt, seek\ncontinually that character of nourishment which is designed of God to\npromote my spiritual growth. This is plain. A man's acts are always\nthe truest index of his desires and purposes. Hence, if I find a\nprofessing Christian neglecting his Bible, yet finding abundance of\ntime--yea, some of his choicest hours--for the newspaper, I can be at\nno loss to decide as to the true condition of his soul. I am sure he\ncannot be spiritual--cannot be feeding upon, living for, or witnessing\nto, Christ.\n\nIf an Israelite neglected to gather, in the freshness of the morning\nhour, his daily portion of the divinely appointed food, he would\nspeedily have become lacking in strength for his journey. Thus is it\nwith us. We must make Christ the paramount object of our soul's\npursuit, else our spiritual life will inevitably decline. We cannot\neven feed upon feelings and experiences connected with Christ, for\nthey, inasmuch as they are fluctuating, cannot form our spiritual\nnourishment. It was Christ yesterday, and it must be Christ to-day,\nand Christ forever. Moreover, it will not do to feed partly on Christ\nand partly on other things. As in the matter of _life_ it is Christ\n_alone_, so in the matter of _living_ it must be Christ _alone_. As we\ncannot mingle any thing with that which _imparts_ life, so neither can\nwe mingle any thing with that which _sustains_ it.\n\nIt is quite true that, in spirit, and by faith, we can even now feed\nupon a risen and glorified Christ, ascended up to heaven in virtue of\naccomplished redemption, as prefigured by \"the old corn of the land.\"\n(See Joshua v.) And not only so, but we know that when God's redeemed\nshall have entered upon those fields of glory, rest, and immortality\nwhich lie beyond the Jordan, they shall, in actual fact, be done with\nwilderness food; but they will not be done with Christ, nor with the\nremembrance of that which constitutes the specific nourishment of\ntheir desert life.\n\nIsrael were never to forget, amid the milk and honey of the land of\nCanaan, that which had sustained them during their forty years'\nsojourn in the wilderness. \"This is the thing which the Lord\ncommandeth: 'Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that\nthey may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness,\nwhen I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.'... As the Lord\ncommanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony, to be\nkept.\" (Ver. 32-34.) Most precious memorial of the faithfulness of\nGod! He did not suffer them to die of hunger, as their foolish hearts\nhad unbelievingly anticipated. He rained bread from heaven for them,\nfed them with angels' food, watched over them with all the tenderness\nof a nurse, bore with them, carried them on eagles' wings, and, had\nthey only continued on the proper ground of grace, He would have put\nthem in eternal possession of all the promises made to their fathers.\nThe pot of manna, therefore, containing, as it did, a man's daily\nportion, and laid up before the Lord, furnishes a volume of truth.\nThere was no worm therein, nor aught of taint. It was the record of\nJehovah's faithfulness in providing for those whom He had redeemed out\nof the hand of the enemy.\n\nNot so, however, when man hoarded it up for himself. Then the symptoms\nof corruptibility soon made their appearance. We cannot, if entering\ninto the truth and reality of our position, hoard up. It is our\nprivilege, day by day, to enter into the preciousness of Christ, as\nthe One who came down from heaven to give life unto the world. But if\nany, in forgetfulness of this, should be found hoarding up for\nto-morrow, that is, laying up truth beyond his present need, instead\nof turning it to profit in the way of renewing strength, it will\nsurely become corrupt. This is a salutary lesson for us. It is a\ndeeply solemn thing to learn truth; for there is not a principle which\nwe profess to have learnt which we shall not have to prove\npractically. God will not have us theorists. One often trembles to\nhear persons make high professions and use expressions of intense\ndevotedness, whether in prayer or otherwise, lest, when the hour of\ntrial comes, there may not be the needed spiritual power to carry out\nwhat the lips have uttered.\n\nThere is a great danger of the intellect's outstripping the conscience\nand the affections. Hence it is that so many seem, at first, to make\nsuch rapid progress up to a certain point; but there they stop short\nand appear to retrograde. Like an Israelite gathering up more manna\nthan he required for one day's food. He might appear to be\naccumulating the heavenly food far more diligently than others; yet\nevery particle beyond the day's supply was not only useless, but far\nworse than useless, inasmuch as it \"bred worms.\" Thus is it with the\nChristian. He must _use_ what he gets,--he must feed upon Christ as a\nmatter of actual need, and the need is brought out in actual service.\nThe character and ways of God, the preciousness and beauty of Christ,\nand the living depths of the Word, are only unfolded to faith and\nneed. It is as we use what we receive that more will be given. The\npath of the believer is to be a practical one; and here it is that so\nmany of us come short. It will often be found that those who get on\nmost rapidly in theory are the slowest in the practical and\nexperimental elements, because it is more a work of intellect than of\nheart and conscience. We should ever remember that Christianity is not\na set of opinions, a system of dogmas, or a number of views; it is\npre-eminently a living reality,--a personal, practical, powerful\nthing, telling itself out in all the scenes and circumstances of daily\nlife, shedding its hallowed influence over the entire character and\ncourse, and imparting its heavenly tone to every relationship which\none may be called of God to fill. In a word, it is that which flows\nfrom being associated and occupied with Christ. This is Christianity.\nThere may be clear views, correct notions, sound principles, without\nany fellowship with Jesus; but an orthodox creed without Christ will\nprove a cold, barren, dead thing.\n\nChristian reader, see carefully to it that you are not only saved by\nChrist, but also living on Him. Make Him the daily portion of your\nsoul. Seek Him \"_early_,\" seek him \"_only_.\" When any thing solicits\nyour attention, ask the question, Will this bring Christ to my heart?\nWill it unfold Him to my affections, or draw me near to His Person? If\nnot, reject it at once: yes, reject it, though it present itself under\nthe most specious appearance and with the most commanding authority.\nIf your honest purpose be to get on in the divine life, to progress in\nspirituality, to cultivate personal acquaintance with Christ, then\nchallenge your heart solemnly and faithfully as to this. Make Christ\nyour habitual food. Go, gather the Manna that falls on the dew-drops,\nand feed upon it with an appetite sharpened by a diligent walk with\nGod through the desert. May the rich grace of God the Holy Ghost\nabundantly strengthen you in all this![9]\n\n  [9] My reader will find it profitable to turn to the sixth of John,\n  and prayerfully meditate upon it, in connection with the subject of\n  the manna. The passover being near, Jesus feeds the multitude, and\n  then takes His departure to a mountain, there to be alone. From thence\n  He comes to the relief of His distressed people tossed upon the\n  troubled waters. After this, He unfolds the doctrine of His Person and\n  work, and declares how He was to give His flesh for the life of the\n  world, and that none could have life save by eating His flesh and\n  drinking His blood. Finally, He speaks of Himself as ascending up\n  where He was before and of the quickening power of the Holy Ghost. It\n  is, indeed, a rich and copious chapter, in which the spiritual reader\n  will find a vast fund of truth for the comfort and edification of his\n  soul.\n\nThere is one point more in our chapter which we shall notice, namely,\nthe institution of the Sabbath, in its connection with the manna and\nIsrael's position as here set forth. From the second chapter of\nGenesis down to the chapter now before us, we find no mention made of\nthis institution. This is remarkable. Abel's sacrifice, Enoch's walk\nwith God, Noah's preaching, Abraham's call, together with the detailed\nhistory of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, are all presented; but there is\nno allusion to the Sabbath until we find Israel recognized as a people\nin relationship and consequent responsibility to Jehovah. The Sabbath\nwas interrupted in Eden; and here we find it again instituted for\nIsrael in the wilderness. But, alas! man has no heart for God's rest.\nAnd it came to pass that \"there went out some of the people on the\nseventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto\nMoses, 'How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws? See,\nfor that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore He giveth you\non the sixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his\nplace; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.'\" (Ver.\n27-29.) God would have His people enjoying sweet repose with Himself.\nHe would give them rest, food, and refreshment, even in the\nwilderness. But man's heart is not disposed to rest with God. The\npeople could remember and speak of the time when they \"_sat_ by the\nflesh pots\" in Egypt, but they could not appreciate the blessedness of\nsitting in their tents, enjoying with God \"the rest of the holy\nSabbath,\" feeding upon the heavenly manna.\n\nAnd, be it remarked, that the Sabbath is here presented as a matter of\ngift.--\"The Lord hath _given_ you the Sabbath.\" Further on in this\nbook we shall find it put in the form of a law, with a curse and a\njudgment attached to it in the case of disobedience. But whether\nfallen man gets a privilege or a law, a blessing or a curse, it is all\nalike. His _nature_ is bad. He can neither rest with nor work for God.\nIf God works and makes a rest for him, he will not keep it; and if God\ntells him to work, he will not do it. Such is man. He has no heart for\nGod. He can make use of the name of the Sabbath as a something to\nexalt himself, or as the badge of his own religiousness; but when we\nturn to Exodus xvi, we find that he cannot prize _God's_ Sabbath as a\n_gift_, and when we turn to Numbers xv. 32-36, we find he cannot keep\nit as a _law_.\n\nNow, we know that the Sabbath, as well as the manna, was a type. In\nitself, it was a real blessing--a sweet mercy from the hand of a\nloving and gracious God, who would relieve the toil and travail of a\nsin-stricken earth by the refreshment of one day of rest out of the\nseven. Whatever way we look at the institution of the Sabbath, we must\nsee it to be pregnant with richest mercy,--whether we view it in\nreference to man or to the animal creation. And, albeit, that\nChristians observe the first day of the week--the Lord's day--and\nattach to it its proper principles, yet is the gracious providence\nequally observable, nor would any mind at all governed by right\nfeelings, seek, for a moment, to interfere with such a signal mercy.\n\"The Sabbath was made for man;\" and although man never has kept it,\naccording to the divine thought about it, that does not detract from\nthe grace which shines in the appointment of it, nor divest it of its\ndeep significancy as a type of that eternal rest which remains for the\npeople of God, or as a shadow of that substance which faith now enjoys\nin the Person and work of a risen Christ.\n\nLet not the reader therefore suppose that in any thing which has been\nor may be stated in these pages the object is to touch, in the\nslightest degree, the merciful provision of one day's rest for man and\nthe animal creation, much less to interfere with the distinct place\nwhich the Lord's day occupies in the New Testament. Nothing is further\nfrom the writer's thoughts. As a man he values the former, and as a\nChristian he rejoices in the latter, far too deeply to admit of his\npenning or uttering a single syllable which would interfere with\neither the one or the other. He would only ask the reader to weigh,\nwith a dispassionate mind, in the balance of Holy Scripture, every\nline and every statement, and not form any harsh judgment beforehand.\n\nThis subject will come before us again, in our further meditations, if\nthe Lord will. May we learn to value more the rest which our God has\nprovided for us in Christ, and while enjoying Him as our rest, may we\nfeed upon Him as the \"hidden Manna,\" laid up, in the power of\nresurrection, in the inner sanctuary,--the record of what God has\naccomplished, on our behalf, by coming down into this world, in His\ninfinite grace, in order that we might be before Him according to the\nperfectness of Christ, and feed on His unsearchable riches forever.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\n\"And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the\nwilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment\nof the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the\npeople to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said,\n'Give us water that we may drink.' And Moses said unto them, 'Why\nchide ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?'\" (Chap. xvii. 1,\n2.) Did we not know something of the humiliating evil of our own\nhearts, we should be quite at a loss to account for Israel's marvelous\ninsensibility to all the Lord's goodness, faithfulness, and mighty\nacts. They had just seen bread descending from heaven to feed six\nhundred thousand people in the wilderness; and now they are \"ready to\nstone\" Moses for bringing them out into the wilderness to kill them\nwith thirst. Nothing can exceed the desperate unbelief and wickedness\nof the human heart save the superabounding grace of God. In that grace\nalone can any one find relief under the growing sense of his evil\nnature which circumstances tend to make manifest. Had Israel been\ntransported directly from Egypt to Canaan, they would not have made\nsuch sad exhibitions of what the human heart is, and, as a\nconsequence, they would not have proved such admirable ensamples or\ntypes for us; but their forty years' wandering in the desert furnishes\nus with a volume of warning, admonition, and instruction, fruitful\nbeyond conception. From it we learn, amongst many other things, the\nunvarying tendency of the heart to distrust God. Any thing, in short,\nfor it but God. It would rather lean upon a cobweb of human resources\nthan upon the arm of an omnipotent, all-wise, and infinitely gracious\nGod; and the smallest cloud is more than sufficient to hide from its\nview the light of His blessed countenance. Well, therefore, may it be\ntermed \"an evil heart of unbelief,\" which will ever show itself ready\nto \"depart from the living God.\"\n\nIt is interesting to note the two great questions raised by unbelief\nin this and the preceding chapter. They are precisely similar to those\nwhich spring up within and around us every day, namely, \"What shall we\neat? and What shall we drink? We do not find the people raising the\nthird question in the category--\"Wherewithal shall we be clothed?\" But\nhere are the questions of the wilderness--\"_What?_\" \"_Where?_\"\n\"_How?_\" Faith has a brief but comprehensive answer to all the three,\nnamely, GOD! Precious, perfect answer! O that the writer and the\nreader were more thoroughly acquainted with its force and fullness! We\nassuredly need to remember, when placed in a position of trial, that\n\"there hath no temptation taken us but such as is common to man: but\nGod is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye\nare able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, [or,\nan \"issue\"--\u03b5\u03ba\u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd,] that ye may be able to bear it.\" (1 Cor. x. 13.)\nWhenever we get into trial, we may feel confident that with the trial\nthere is an issue, and all we need is a broken will and a single eye\nto see it.\n\n\"And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, 'What shall I do unto this\npeople? they be almost ready to stone me.' And the Lord said unto\nMoses, 'Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of\nIsrael; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine\nhand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in\nHoreb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out\nof it, that the people may drink.' And Moses did so in the sight of\nthe elders of Israel.\" (Ver. 4-6.) Thus all is met by the most perfect\ngrace. Every murmur brings out a fresh display. Here we have the\nrefreshing stream gushing from the smitten rock--beauteous type of\nthe Spirit given as the fruit of Christ's accomplished sacrifice. In\nchapter xvi, we have a type of Christ coming down from heaven to give\nlife to the world. In chapter xvii, we have a type of the Holy Ghost,\n\"shed forth\" in virtue of Christ's finished work. \"They drank of that\nspiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.\" (1 Cor.\nx. 4.) But who could drink till the Rock was smitten? Israel might\nhave gazed on that rock and died of thirst while gazing; but until\nsmitten by the rod of God, it could yield no refreshment. This is\nplain enough. The Lord Jesus Christ was the centre and foundation of\nall God's counsels of love and mercy. Through Him all blessing was to\nflow to man. The streams of grace were designed to gush forth from\n\"the Lamb of God;\" but then it was needful that the Lamb should be\nslain--that the work of the cross should be an accomplished fact--ere\nany of these things could be actualized. It was when the Rock of Ages\nwas cleft by the hand of Jehovah that the flood-gates of eternal love\nwere thrown wide open, and perishing sinners invited, by the testimony\nof the Holy Ghost, to \"drink abundantly,\" drink deeply, drink freely.\n\"The gift of the Holy Ghost\" is the result of the Son's accomplished\nwork upon the cross. \"The promise of the Father\" could not be\nfulfilled until Christ had taken His seat at the right hand of the\nMajesty in the heavens, having wrought out perfect righteousness,\nanswered all the claims of holiness, magnified the law and made it\nhonorable, borne the unmitigated wrath of God against sin, exhausted\nthe power of death, and deprived the grave of its victory. He, having\ndone all this, \"ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave\ngifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also\ndescended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended\nis the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might\nfill all things.\" (Eph. iv. 8-10.)\n\nThis is the true foundation of the Church's peace, blessedness, and\nglory forever. Until the rock was smitten, the stream was pent up, and\nman could do nothing. What human hand could bring forth water from a\nflinty rock? And so we may ask, What human righteousness could afford\na warrant for opening the flood-gates of divine love? This is the true\nway in which to test man's competency. He could not, by his doings,\nhis sayings, or his feelings, furnish a ground for the mission of the\nHoly Ghost. Let him be or do what he may, he could not do this. But\nthank God, it is done; Christ has finished the work; the true Rock has\nbeen smitten, and the refreshing stream has issued forth, so that\nthirsty souls may drink. \"The water that I shall give him,\" says\nChrist, \"shall be in him a well of water, springing up into\neverlasting life.\" (John iv. 14.) Again: \"In the last day, that great\nday of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst,\nlet him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the\nScripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living\nwater.' (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on\nHim should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that\nJesus was not yet glorified.)\" (John vii. 37-39; compare, also, Acts\nxix. 2.)\n\nThus, as in the manna we have a type of Christ, so in the stream\ngushing from the rock we have a type of the Holy Ghost. \"If thou\nknewest the gift of God [_i.e._, Christ], ... thou wouldest have asked\nof Him, and He would have given thee living water [_i.e._, the\nSpirit].\"\n\nSuch, then, is the teaching conveyed to the spiritual mind by the\nsmitten rock; but the name of the place in which this significant type\nwas presented is a standing memorial of man's unbelief.--\"He called\nthe name of the place Massah [_i.e._, Temptation], and Meribah\n[_i.e._, Chiding], because of the chiding of the children of Israel,\nand because they tempted the Lord, saying, 'Is the Lord among us, or\nnot?'\" (Ver. 7.) After such repeated assurances and evidences of\nJehovah's presence, to raise such an inquiry proves the deep-seated\nunbelief of the human heart. It was, in point of fact, tempting Him.\nThus did the Jews, in the day of Christ's presence amongst them, seek\nof Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him. Faith never acts thus; it\nbelieves in and enjoys the divine presence, not by a sign, but by the\nknowledge of Himself. It knows He is there to be enjoyed, and it\nenjoys Him. Lord, grant us a more artless spirit of confidence!\n\nThe next point suggested by our chapter is one of special interest to\nus. \"Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses\nsaid unto Joshua, 'Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek:\nto-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in\nmine hand.'\" (Ver. 8, 9.) The gift of the Holy Ghost leads to\nconflict. The light rebukes and conflicts with the darkness. Where all\nis dark there is no struggle; but the very feeblest struggle bespeaks\nthe presence of light. \"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the\nSpirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other,\nso that ye should not do the things that ye would.\" (Gal. v. 17.) Thus\nit is in the chapter before us; we have the rock smitten and the water\nflowing forth, and immediately we read, \"Then came Amalek and fought\nwith Israel.\"\n\nThis is the first time that Israel are seen in conflict with an\nexternal foe. Up to this point, the Lord had fought for them, as we\nread in chapter xiv, \"The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold\nyour peace.\" But now the word is, \"Choose us out _men_.\" True, God\nmust now fight _in_ Israel, as, before, He had fought _for_ them. This\nmarks the difference, as to the type; and as to the antitype, we know\nthat there is an immense difference between Christ's battles _for_ us,\nand the Holy Ghost's battles _in_ us. The former, blessed be God, are\nall over, the victory gained, and a glorious and an everlasting peace\nsecured: the latter, on the contrary, are still going on.\n\nPharaoh and Amalek represent two different powers or influences.\nPharaoh represents the hindrance to Israel's deliverance from Egypt:\nAmalek represents the hindrance to their walk with God through the\nwilderness. Pharaoh used the things of Egypt to keep Israel from\nserving the Lord; he therefore prefigures Satan, who uses \"this\npresent evil world\" against the people of God: Amalek, on the other\nhand, stands before us as the type of the flesh. He was the grandson\nof Esau, who preferred a mess of pottage to the birthright. (See Gen.\nxxxvi. 12.) He was the first who opposed Israel after their baptism\n\"in the cloud and in the sea.\" These facts serve to fix his character\nwith great distinctness; and, in addition to these, we know that Saul\nwas set aside from the kingdom of Israel in consequence of his failing\nto destroy Amalek. (1 Sam. xv.) And further, we find that Haman is the\nlast of the Amalekites of whom we find any notice in Scripture. He was\nhanged on a gallows in consequence of his wicked attempt against the\nseed of Israel. (See Esther.) No Amalekite could obtain entrance into\nthe congregation of the Lord. And finally, in the chapter now before\nus, the Lord declares perpetual war with Amalek.\n\nAll these circumstances may be regarded as furnishing conclusive\nevidence of the fact that Amalek is a type of the flesh. The\nconnection between his conflict with Israel and the water flowing out\nof the rock is most marked and instructive, and in full keeping with\nthe believer's conflict with his evil nature, which conflict is, as we\nknow, consequent upon his having the new nature, and the Holy Ghost\ndwelling therein. Israel's conflict began when they stood in the full\npower of redemption, and had tasted \"that spiritual meat, and drunk of\nthat spiritual Rock.\" Until they met Amalek, they had nothing to do.\nThey did not cope with Pharaoh; they did not break the power of Egypt,\nnor snap asunder the chains of its thraldom; they did not divide the\nsea, nor submerge Pharaoh's hosts beneath its waves; they did not\nbring down bread from heaven, nor draw forth water out of the flinty\nrock;--they neither had done, nor could they do, any of these things;\nbut now they are called to fight with Amalek. All the previous\nconflict had been between Jehovah and the enemy. They had but to\n\"stand still\" and gaze upon the mighty triumphs of Jehovah's\noutstretched arm, and enjoy the fruits of victory. The Lord had fought\n_for_ them; but now He fights _in_ or _by_ them.\n\nThus is it also with the Church of God. The victories on which her\neternal peace and blessedness are founded were gained, single-handed,\nby Christ _for_ her. He was alone on the cross, alone in the tomb. The\nChurch had to stand aside, for how could she be there?--how could she\nvanquish Satan, endure the wrath of God, or rob death of its sting?\nImpossible. These things lay far beyond the reach of sinners, but not\nbeyond the reach of Him who came to save them, and who alone was able\nto bear upon His shoulder the ponderous weight of all their sins, and\nroll the burden away forever, by His infinite sacrifice, so that God\nthe Holy Ghost, proceeding from God the Father, in virtue of the\nperfect atonement of God the Son, can take up His abode in the Church\ncollectively, and in each member thereof individually.\n\nNow it is when the Holy Ghost thus takes up His abode in us,\nconsequent upon Christ's death and resurrection, that our conflict\nbegins. Christ has fought _for_ us; the Holy Ghost fights _in_ us. The\nvery fact of our enjoying this first rich spoil of victory, puts us\ninto direct conflict with the foe; but the comfort is that we are\nvictors ere we enter upon the field of conflict at all. The believer\napproaches to the battle singing, \"Thanks be to God which giveth us\nthe victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.\" (1 Cor. xv. 57.) We do\nnot, therefore, fight uncertainly, or as those that beat the air,\nwhile we seek to keep under the body and bring it into subjection. (1\nCor. ix. 26, 27.) \"We are more than conquerors through Him that loved\nus.\" (Rom. viii. 37.) The grace in which we stand renders the flesh\nutterly void of power to lord it over us. (See Rom. vi, passim.) If\nthe law is \"the strength of sin,\" grace is the weakness thereof. The\nformer gives sin power over us; the latter gives us power over sin.\n\n\"And Moses said unto Joshua, 'Choose us out men, and go out, fight\nwith Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the\nrod of God in mine hand.' So Joshua did as Moses had said unto him,\nand fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top\nof the hill. And it came to pass; when Moses held up his hand, that\nIsrael prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But\nMoses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone and put it under him,\nand he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on\nthe one side and the other on the other side; and his hands were\nsteady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek\nand his people with the edge of the sword.\" (Verses 9-13.)\n\nWe have here two distinct things, namely, conflict and intercession.\nChrist is on high _for_ us, while the Holy Ghost carries on the mighty\nstruggle _in_ us. The two things go together. It is as we enter by\nfaith into the prevalency of Christ's intercession on our behalf that\nwe make head against our evil nature.\n\nSome there are who seek to overlook the fact of the Christian's\nconflict with the flesh. They look upon regeneration as a total change\nor renewal of the old nature. Upon this principle it would necessarily\nfollow that the believer has nothing to struggle with. If my nature is\nrenewed, what have I to contend with? Nothing. There is nothing\nwithin, inasmuch as my old nature is made new; and nothing without can\naffect me, inasmuch as there is no response from within. The world has\nno charms for one whose flesh is entirely changed, and Satan has\nnothing by or on which to act. To all who maintain such a theory, it\nmay be said that they seem to forget the place which Amalek occupies\nin the history of the people of God. Had Israel conceived the idea\nthat when Pharaoh's hosts were gone their conflict was at an end, they\nwould have been sadly put about when Amalek came upon them. The fact\nis, _theirs_ only then began. Thus it is with the believer, for \"all\nthese things happened unto Israel for ensamples, and they are written\nfor our admonition.\" (1 Cor. x. 11.) But there could be no \"type,\" no\n\"ensample,\" no \"admonition,\" in \"these things\" for one whose old\nnature is made new. Indeed, such an one can have but little need of\nany of those gracious provisions which God has made in His kingdom for\nthose who are the subjects thereof.\n\nWe are distinctly taught in the Word that the believer carries about\nwith him that which answers to Amalek, that is, \"the flesh\"--\"the old\nman\"--\"the carnal mind.\" (Rom. vi. 6; viii. 7; Gal. v. 17.) Now, if\nthe Christian, upon perceiving the stirrings of his evil nature,\nbegins to doubt his being a Christian, he will not only render himself\nexceedingly unhappy, but also deprive himself of his vantage-ground\nagainst the enemy. The flesh exists in the believer and will be there\nto the end of the chapter. The Holy Ghost fully recognizes it as\nexisting, as we may easily see, from various parts of the New\nTestament. In Romans vi. we read, \"Let not sin therefore _reign_ in\nyour mortal bodies.\" Such a precept would be entirely uncalled for if\nthe flesh were not existing in the believer. It would be out of\ncharacter to tell us not to let sin reign, if it were not actually\ndwelling in us. There is a great difference between dwelling and\nreigning. It dwells in a believer, but it reigns in an unbeliever.\n\nHowever, though it dwells in us, we have, thank God, a principle of\npower over it. \"Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not\nunder the law, but under grace.\" The grace which, by the blood of the\ncross, has put away sin, insures us the victory, and gives us present\npower over its indwelling principle.\n\nWe have died to sin, and hence it has no claim over us. \"He that has\ndied is justified from sin.\" \"Knowing this, that our old man has been\ncrucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that\nhenceforth we should not serve sin.\" (Rom. vi. 6.) \"And Joshua\ndiscomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.\" All was\nvictory; and Jehovah's banner floated over the triumphant host,\nbearing the sweet and heart-sustaining inscription, \"Jehovah-nissi\"\n(the Lord my banner). The assurance of victory should be as complete\nas the sense of forgiveness, seeing both alike are founded upon the\ngreat fact that Jesus died and rose again. It is in the power of this\nthat the believer enjoys a purged conscience and subdues indwelling\nsin. The death of Christ having answered all the claims of God in\nreference to our sins, His resurrection becomes the spring of power in\nall the details of conflict afterwards. He died _for_ us, and now He\nlives _in_ us. The former gives us peace, the latter gives us power.\n\nIt is edifying to remark the contrast between Moses on the hill and\nChrist on the throne. The hands of our great Intercessor can never\nhang down. His intercession never fluctuates. \"He _ever_ liveth to\nmake intercession for us.\" (Heb. vii.) His intercession is\nnever-ceasing and all-prevailing. Having taken His place on high, in\nthe power of divine righteousness, He acts for us according to what He\nis, and according to the infinite perfectness of what He has done. His\nhands can never hang down, nor can He need any one to hold them up.\nHis perfect advocacy is founded upon His perfect sacrifice. He\npresents us before God, clothed in His own perfections, so that though\nwe may ever have to keep our faces in the dust, in the sense of what\nwe are, yet the Spirit can only testify to us of what He is before God\nfor us, and of what we are in Him. \"We are not in the flesh, but in\nthe Spirit.\" (Rom. viii.) We are in _the body_, as to the fact of our\ncondition; but we are not in _the flesh_, as to the principle of our\nstanding. Moreover, the flesh is in us, though we are dead to it; but\nwe are not in the flesh, because we are alive with Christ.\n\nWe may further remark, on this chapter, that Moses had the rod of God\nwith him on the hill--the rod with which he had smitten the rock. This\nrod was the expression or symbol of the power of God, which is seen\nalike in atonement and intercession. When the work of atonement was\naccomplished, Christ took His seat in heaven, and sent down the Holy\nGhost to take up His abode in the Church; so that there is an\ninseparable connection between the work of Christ and the work of the\nSpirit. There is the application of the power of God in each.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n\nWe here arrive at the close of a very marked division of the book of\nExodus. We have seen God, in the exercise of His perfect grace,\nvisiting and redeeming His people, bringing them forth out of the land\nof Egypt, delivering them first from the hand of Pharaoh and then from\nthe hand of Amalek. Furthermore, we have seen, in the manna, a type of\nChrist come down from heaven; in the rock, a type of Christ smitten\nfor His people; and in the gushing stream, a type of the Spirit given.\nThen follows, in striking and beautiful order, a picture of the future\nglory, divided into its three grand departments, namely, \"the Jew, the\nGentile, and the Church of God.\"\n\nDuring the period of Moses' rejection by his brethren, he was taken\napart and presented with a bride--the companion of his rejection. We\nwere led to see, at the opening of this book, the character of Moses'\nrelationship with this bride. He was \"a husband by blood\" to her. This\nis precisely What Christ is to the Church. Her connection with Him is\nfounded upon death and resurrection; and she is called to fellowship\nwith His sufferings. It is, as we know, during the period of Israel's\nunbelief and of Christ's rejection that the Church is called out; and\nwhen the Church is complete, according to the divine counsels--when\nthe \"fullness of the Gentiles is come in\"--Israel shall again be\nbrought into notice.\n\nThus it was with Zipporah and Israel of old. Moses had sent her back\nduring the period of his mission to Israel; and when the latter were\nbrought forth as a fully delivered people, we read that \"Jethro,\nMoses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent\nher back, and her two sons, of which the name of the one was Gershom;\n'For,' he said, 'I have been an alien in a strange land;' and the name\nof the other was Eliezer; 'For the God of my fathers,' said he, 'was\nmine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.' And Jethro,\nMoses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into\nthe wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God. And he said\nunto Moses, 'I, thy father-in-law, Jethro, am come unto thee, and thy\nwife and her two sons with her.' And Moses went out to meet his\nfather-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each\nother of their welfare; and they came into the tent. And Moses told\nhis father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh and to the\nEgyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon\nthem by the way, and how the Lord delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced\nfor all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel, whom He had\ndelivered from the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, 'Blessed be\nthe Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians,\nand out of the hand of Pharaoh; who hath delivered the people from\nunder the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater\nthan all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly He was\nabove them.' And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt-offering\nand sacrifices for God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel,\nto eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.\" (Chap. xviii.\n2-12.)\n\nThis is a deeply interesting scene. The whole congregation assembled\nin triumph before the Lord, the Gentile presenting sacrifice, and in\naddition, to complete the picture, the bride of the deliverer,\ntogether with the children whom God had given him, are all introduced.\nIt is, in short, a singularly striking foreshadowing of the coming\nkingdom. \"The Lord will give grace and glory.\" We have already seen,\nin what we have traveled over of this book, very much of the actings\nof \"grace;\" and here we have, from the pencil of the Holy Ghost, a\nbeauteous picture of \"glory,\"--a picture which must be regarded as\npeculiarly important, as exhibiting the varied fields in which that\nglory shall be manifested.\n\n\"The Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God\" are scriptural\ndistinctions which can never be overlooked without marring that\nperfect range of truth which God has revealed in His holy Word. They\nhave existed ever since the mystery of the Church was fully developed\nby the ministry of the apostle Paul, and they shall exist throughout\nthe millennial age. Hence, every spiritual student of Scripture will\ngive them their due place in his mind.\n\nThe apostle expressly teaches us, in his epistle to the Ephesians,\nthat the mystery of the Church had not been made known, in other ages,\nto the sons of men, as it was revealed to him. But though not directly\nrevealed, it had been shadowed forth in one way or another; as, for\nexample, in Joseph's marriage with an Egyptian, and in Moses' marriage\nwith an Ethiopian. The type or shadow of a truth is a very different\nthing from a direct and positive revelation of it. The great mystery\nof the Church was not revealed until Christ, in heavenly glory,\nrevealed it to Saul of Tarsus. Hence, all who look for the full\nunfolding of this mystery in the law, the prophets, or the psalms,\nwill find themselves engaged in unintelligent labor. When, however,\nthey find it distinctly revealed in the epistle to the Ephesians, they\nwill be able, with interest and profit, to trace its foreshadowing in\nOld Testament Scripture.\n\nThus we have, in the opening of our chapter, a millennial scene. All\nthe fields of glory lie open in vision before us. \"_The Jew_\" stands\nforth as the great earthly witness of Jehovah's faithfulness, His\nmercy, and His power. This is what the Jew has been in bygone ages, it\nis what he is now, and what he will be, world without end. \"The\nGentile\" reads, in the book of God's dealings with the Jew, his\ndeepest lessons. He traces the marvelous history of that peculiar and\nelect people--\"a people terrible from their beginning hitherto;\" he\nsees thrones and empires overturned, nations shaken to their centre,\nevery one and every thing compelled to give way, in order to establish\nthe supremacy of that people on whom Jehovah has set His love. \"Now I\nknow,\" he says, \"that the Lord is greater than all gods; for in the\nthing wherein they dealt proudly He was above them.\" (Ver. 11.) Such\nis the confession of \"the Gentile\" when the wondrous page of Jewish\nhistory lies open before him.\n\nLastly, \"_the Church of God_\" collectively, as prefigured by Zipporah,\nand the members thereof individually, as seen in Zipporah's sons, are\npresented as occupying the most intimate relationship with the\ndeliverer. All this is perfect in its way. We may be asked for our\nproofs. The answer is, \"I speak as unto wise men: judge ye what I\nsay.\" We can never build a doctrine upon a type; but when a doctrine\nis revealed, a type thereof may be discerned with accuracy and studied\nwith profit. In every case, a spiritual mind is essentially necessary,\neither to understand the doctrine or discern the type. \"The natural\nman receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are\nfoolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are\nspiritually discerned.\" (1 Cor. ii. 14.)\n\nFrom verse 13 to the end of our chapter, we have the appointment of\nrulers, who were to assist Moses in the management of the affairs of\nthe congregation. This was the suggestion of Jethro, who feared that\nMoses would \"wear away\" in consequence of his labors. In connection\nwith this, it may be profitable to look at the appointment of the\nseventy elders in Numbers xi. Here we find the spirit of Moses crushed\nbeneath the ponderous responsibility which devolved upon him, and he\ngives utterance to the anguish of his heart in the following accents:\n\"And Moses said unto the Lord, 'Wherefore hast Thou afflicted Thy\nservant? And wherefore have I not found favor in Thy sight, that Thou\nlayest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all\nthis people? have I begotten them, that Thou shouldest say unto me,\nCarry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the suckling\nchild, unto the land which Thou swarest unto their fathers?... I am\nnot able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for\nme. And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand,\nif I have found favor in Thy sight; and let me not see my\nwretchedness.\" (Numb. xi. 11-15.)\n\nIn all this we see Moses evidently retiring from a post of honor. If\nGod were pleased to make him the sole instrument in managing the\nassembly, it was only so much the more dignity and privilege conferred\nupon him. True, the responsibility was immense; but faith would own\nthat God was amply sufficient for that. Here, however, the heart of\nMoses failed him (blessed servant as he was), and he says, \"I am not\nable to bear this people _alone_, because it is to heavy for _me_.\"\nBut he was not asked to bear them alone, for God was with him. They\nwere not too heavy for God. It was He that was bearing them; Moses was\nbut the instrument. He might just as well have spoken of his rod as\nbearing the people; for what was he but a mere instrument in God's\nhand, as the rod was in his? It is here the servants of Christ\nconstantly fail; and the failure is all the more dangerous because it\nwears the appearance of humility. It seems like distrust of one's\nself, and deep lowliness of spirit, to shrink from heavy\nresponsibility; but all we need to inquire is, Has God imposed that\nresponsibility? If so, He will assuredly be with me in sustaining it;\nand having Him with me, I can sustain any thing. With Him, the weight\nof a mountain is nothing; without Him, the weight of a feather is\noverwhelming. It is a totally different thing if a man, in the vanity\nof his mind, thrust himself forward and take a burden upon his\nshoulder which God never intended him to bear, and therefore never\nfitted him to bear it; we may then surely expect to see him crushed\nbeneath the weight: but if God lays it upon him, He will qualify and\nstrengthen him to carry it.\n\nIt is never the fruit of humility to depart from a divinely-appointed\npost. On the contrary, the deepest humility will express itself by\nremaining there in simple dependence upon God. It is a sure evidence\nof being occupied about _self_ when we shrink from service on the\nground of inability. God does not call us unto service on the ground\nof our ability, but of His own; hence, unless I am filled with\nthoughts about myself, or with positive distrust of Him, I need not\nrelinquish any position of service or testimony because of the heavy\nresponsibilities attaching thereto. All power belongs to God, and it\nis quite the same whether that power acts through one agent or through\nseventy--the power is still the same; but if one agent refuse the\ndignity, it is only so much the worse for him. God will not force\npeople to abide in a place of honor if they cannot trust Him to\nsustain them there. The way lies always open to them to step down from\ntheir dignity, and sink into the place where base unbelief is sure to\nput us.\n\nThus it was with Moses. He complained of the burden, and the burden\nwas speedily removed; but with it the high honor of being allowed to\ncarry it. \"And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Gather unto Me seventy men\nof the elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be the elders of the\npeople, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of\nthe congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come\ndown and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is\nupon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden\nof the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.\" (Numb.\nxi. 16, 17.) There was no fresh power introduced. It was the same\nspirit, whether in one or in seventy. There was no more value or\nvirtue in the flesh of seventy men than in the flesh of one man. \"It\nis the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.\" (John vi.\n63.) There was nothing in the way of power gained, but a great deal\nin the way of dignity lost, by this movement on the part of Moses.\n\nIn the after-part of Numbers xi, we find Moses giving utterance to\naccents of unbelief, which called forth from the Lord a sharp\nrebuke.--\"Is the Lord's hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether\nMy word shall come to pass unto thee, or not.\" If my reader will\ncompare verses 11-15 with verses 21, 22, he will see a marked and\nsolemn connection. The man who shrinks from responsibility, on the\nground of his own feebleness, is in great danger of calling in\nquestion the fullness and sufficiency of God's resources. This entire\nscene teaches a most valuable lesson to every servant of Christ who\nmay be tempted to feel himself alone or overburdened in his work. Let\nsuch an one bear in mind that, where the Holy Ghost is working, one\ninstrument is as good and as efficient as seventy; and where He is not\nworking, seventy are of no more value than one. It all depends upon\nthe energy of the Holy Ghost. With Him, one man can do all, endure\nall, sustain all; without Him, seventy men can do nothing. Let the\nlonely servant remember, for the comfort and encouragement of his\nsinking heart, that, provided he has the presence and power of the\nHoly Ghost with him, he need not complain of his burden nor sigh for a\ndivision of labor. If God honor a man by giving him a great deal of\nwork to do, let him rejoice therein and not murmur; for if he murmur,\nhe can very speedily lose his honor. God is at no loss for\ninstruments. He could from the stones raise up children unto Abraham,\nand He can raise up from the same the needed agents to carry on His\nglorious work.\n\nO for a heart to serve Him!--a patient, humble, self-emptied, devoted\nheart,--a heart ready to serve in company, ready to serve alone,--a\nheart so filled with love to Christ that it will find its joy, its\nchief joy, in serving Him, let the sphere or character of service be\nwhat it may! This assuredly is the special need of the day in which\nour lot is cast. May the Holy Ghost stir up our hearts to a deeper\nsense of the exceeding preciousness of the name of Jesus, and enable\nus to yield a fuller, clearer, more unequivocal response to the\nchangeless love of His heart!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n\nWe have now arrived at a most momentous point in Israel's history. We\nare called to behold them standing at the foot of \"the mount that\nmight be touched, and that burned with fire.\" The fair millennial\nscene which opened before us in the preceding chapter has passed away.\nIt was but a brief moment of sunshine in which a very vivid picture of\nthe kingdom was afforded; but the sunshine was speedily followed by\nthe heavy clouds which gathered around that \"palpable mount,\" where\nIsrael, in a spirit of dark and senseless legality, abandoned\nJehovah's covenant of pure grace for man's covenant of works.\nDisastrous movement! A movement fraught with the most dismal results.\nHitherto, as we have seen, no enemy could stand before Israel,--no\nobstacle was suffered to interrupt their onward and victorious march.\nPharaoh's hosts were overthrown, Amalek and his people were\ndiscomfited with the edge of the sword: all was victory, because God\nwas acting on behalf of His people, in pursuance of His promise to\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob.\n\nIn the opening verses of the chapter now before us, the Lord\nrecapitulates His actings toward Israel in the following touching and\nbeautiful language: \"Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and\ntell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the\nEgyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto\nMyself. Now, therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My\ncovenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all\npeople; for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom\nof priests and a holy nation.\" (Ver. 3-6.) Observe, it is \"_My voice_\"\nand \"_My covenant_.\" What was the utterance of that \"voice\"? and what\ndid that \"covenant\" involve? Had Jehovah's voice made itself heard for\nthe purpose of laying down the rules and regulations of a severe and\nunbending lawgiver? By no means. It had spoken to demand freedom for\nthe captive, to provide a refuge from the sword of the destroyer, to\nmake a way for the ransomed to pass over, to bring down bread from\nheaven, to draw forth water out of the flinty rock;--such had been\nthe gracious and intelligible utterances of Jehovah's \"voice\" up to\nthe moment at which \"Israel camped before the mount.\"\n\nAnd as to His \"covenant,\" it was one of unmingled grace. It proposed\nno condition, it made no demands, it put no yoke on the neck, no\nburden on the shoulder. When \"the God of glory appeared unto Abraham,\"\nin Ur of the Chaldees, He certainly did not address him in such words\nas, Thou shalt do this, and Thou shalt not do that. Ah, no; such\nlanguage was not according to the heart of God. It suits Him far\nbetter to place \"a fair mitre\" upon a sinner's head than to \"put a\nyoke upon his neck.\" His word to Abraham was, \"I WILL GIVE.\" The land\nof Canaan was not to be purchased by man's doings, but to be given by\nGod's grace. Thus it stood; and in the opening of the book of Exodus,\nwe see God coming down in grace to make good His promise to Abraham's\nseed. The condition in which He found that seed made no difference,\ninasmuch as the blood of the lamb furnished Him with a perfectly\nrighteous ground on which to make good His promise. He evidently had\nnot promised the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed on the ground of\naught that He foresaw in them, for this would have totally destroyed\nthe real nature of a promise,--it would have made it a compact and not\na promise; \"but God gave it to Abraham by promise,\" and not by\ncompact. (Read Gal. iii.)\n\nHence, in the opening of this nineteenth chapter, the people are\nreminded of the grace in which Jehovah had hitherto dealt with them;\nand they are also assured of what they should yet be, provided they\ncontinued to hearken to Mercy's heavenly \"voice,\" and to abide in the\n\"covenant\" of free and absolute grace. \"Ye shall be a peculiar\ntreasure unto Me above all people.\" How could they be this? Was it by\nstumbling up the ladder of self-righteousness and legalism? Would they\nbe \"a peculiar treasure\" when blasted by the curses of a broken law--a\nlaw which they had broken before ever they received it? Surely not.\nHow, then, were they to be this \"peculiar treasure\"? By standing in\nthat position in which Jehovah surveyed them when he compelled the\ncovetous prophet to exclaim, \"How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and\nthy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as\ngardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord\nhath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the\nwater out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and\nhis king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted.\nGod brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath, as it were, the strength\nof an unicorn.\" (Numb. xxiv. 5-8.)\n\nHowever, Israel was not disposed to occupy this blessed position.\nInstead of rejoicing in God's \"holy promise,\" they undertook to make\nthe most presumptuous vow that moral lips could utter. \"All the people\nanswered together, and said, '_All that the Lord hath spoken, we will\ndo_.'\" (Chap. xix. 8.) This was bold language. They did not even say,\nWe hope to do, or We will endeavor to do. This would have expressed a\nmeasure of self-distrust. But no; they took the most absolute\nground.--\"We will do.\" Nor was this the language of a few vain\nself-confident spirits who presumed to single themselves out from the\nwhole congregation. No; \"_all_ the people answered _together_.\" They\nwere unanimous in the abandonment of the \"holy promise\"--the \"holy\ncovenant.\"\n\nAnd now, observe the result. The moment Israel uttered their \"singular\nvow,\" the moment they undertook to \"do,\" there was a total alteration\nin the aspect of things. \"And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Lo, I come\nunto thee _in a thick cloud_.... And thou shalt set bounds unto the\npeople, round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not\nup into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the\nmount shall be surely put to death.'\" This was a very marked change.\nThe One who had just said, \"I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought\nyou unto Myself,\" now envelopes Himself \"in a thick cloud,\" and says,\n\"Set bounds unto the people, round about.\" The sweet accents of grace\nand mercy are exchanged for the \"thunderings and lightnings\" of the\nfiery mount. Man had presumed to talk of his miserable doings in the\npresence of God's magnificent grace. Israel had said, \"We will do,\"\nand they must be put at a distance in order that it may be fully seen\nwhat they are able to do. God takes the place of moral distance; and\nthe people are but too well disposed to have it so, for they are\nfilled with fear and trembling; and no marvel, for the sight was\n\"terrible,\"--\"so terrible, that Moses said, 'I exceedingly fear and\nquake.'\" Who could endure the sight of that \"devouring fire,\" which\nwas the apt expression of divine holiness? \"The Lord came from Sinai,\nand rose up from Seir unto them; He shined forth from Paran, and He\ncame with ten thousand of His saints; from His right hand went a fiery\nlaw for them.\" (Deut. xxxiii. 2.) The term \"fiery,\" as applied to the\nlaw, is expressive of its holiness,--\"Our God is a consuming\nfire\"--perfectly intolerant of evil, in thought, word, and deed.\n\nThus, then, Israel made a fatal mistake in saying, \"We will do.\" It\nwas taking upon themselves a vow which they were not able, even were\nthey willing, to pay; and we know who has said, \"Better that thou\nshouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.\" It is of\nthe very essence of a vow that it assumes the competency to fulfill;\nand where is man's competency? As well might a bankrupt draw a check\non the bank, as a helpless sinner make a vow. A man who makes a vow\ndenies the truth as to his nature and condition. He is ruined, what\ncan he do? He is utterly without strength, and can neither will nor do\nany thing good. Did Israel keep their vow? Did they do \"all that the\nLord commanded?\" Witness the golden calf, the broken tables, the\ndesecrated Sabbath, the despised and neglected ordinances, the stoned\nmessengers, the rejected and crucified Christ, the resisted Spirit.\nSuch are the overwhelming evidences of man's dishonored vows. Thus\nmust it ever be when fallen humanity undertakes to vow.\n\nChristian reader, do you not rejoice in the fact that your eternal\nsalvation rests not on your poor shadowy vows and resolutions, but on\n\"the one offering of Jesus Christ once\"? Oh, yes, \"this is our joy,\nwhich ne'er can fail.\" Christ has taken all our vows upon Himself, and\ngloriously discharged them forever. His resurrection-life flows\nthrough His members and produces in them results which legal vows and\nlegal claims never could effect. He is our life, and He is our\nrighteousness. May His name be precious to our hearts. May His cause\never command our energies. May it be our meat and our drink to spend\nand be spent in His dear service.\n\nI cannot close this chapter without noticing, in connection, a passage\nin the book of Deuteronomy which may present a difficulty to some\nminds. It has direct reference to the subject on which we have been\ndwelling. \"And the Lord heard the voice of your words, when ye spake\nunto me; and the Lord said unto me, 'I have heard the voice of the\nwords of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: _they have\nwell said all that they have spoken_.'\" (Deut. v. 28.) From this\npassage it might seem as though the Lord approved of their making a\nvow; but if my reader will take the trouble of reading the entire\ncontext, from verse twenty-four to twenty-seven, he will see at once\nthat it has nothing whatever to say to the vow, but that it contains\nthe expression of their terror at the consequences of their vow. They\nwere not able to endure that which was commanded. \"If\" said they, \"we\nhear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For\nwho is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the living God\nspeaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou\nnear, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; and speak thou\nunto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will\nhear it and do it.\" It was the confession of their own inability to\nencounter Jehovah in that awful aspect which their proud legality had\nled Him to assume. It is impossible that the Lord could ever commend\nan abandonment of free and changeless grace for a sandy foundation of\n\"works of law.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n\nIt is of the utmost importance to understand the true character and\nobject of the moral law, as set forth in this chapter. There is a\ntendency in the mind to confound the principles of law and grace, so\nthat neither the one nor the other can be rightly understood. Law is\nshorn of its stern and unbending majesty, and grace is robbed of all\nits divine attractions. God's holy claims remain unanswered, and the\nsinner's deep and manifold necessities remain unreached, by the\nanomalous system framed by those who attempt to mingle law and grace.\nIn point of fact, they can never be made to coalesce, for they are as\ndistinct as any two things can be. Law sets forth what man ought to\nbe, grace exhibits what God is. How can these ever be wrought up into\none system? How can the sinner ever be saved by a system made up of\nhalf law, half grace? Impossible. It must be either the one or the\nother.\n\nThe law has sometimes been termed \"the transcript of the mind of God.\"\nThis definition is entirely defective. Were we to term it a transcript\nof the mind of God as to what man ought to be, we should be nearer the\ntruth. If I am to regard the ten commandments as the transcript of the\nmind of God, then, I ask, is there nothing in the mind of God save\n\"Thou shalt\" and \"Thou shalt not\"? Is there no grace? no mercy? no\nloving-kindness? Is God not to manifest what He is? Is He not to tell\nout the deep secrets of that love which dwells in His bosom? Is there\nnaught in the divine character but stern requirement and prohibition?\nWere this so, we should have to say, God is law, instead of \"God is\nlove.\" But, blessed be His name, there is more in His heart than could\never be wrapped up in the \"ten words\" uttered on the fiery mount. If I\nwant to see what God is, I must look at Christ; \"for in Him dwelleth\nall the fullness of the Godhead bodily.\" (Col. ii. 9.) \"The law was\ngiven by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.\" (John i.\n17.) Assuredly there was a measure of truth in the law; it contained\nthe truth as to what man ought to be. Like everything else emanating\nfrom God, it was perfect so far as it went--perfect for the object for\nwhich it was administered; but that object was not, by any means, to\nunfold, in the view of guilty sinners, the nature and character of\nGod. There was no grace, no mercy. \"He that despised Moses' law died\nwithout mercy.\" (Heb. x. 28.) \"The man that doeth these things shall\nlive by them.\" (Lev. xviii. 5; Rom. x. 5.) \"Cursed is every one that\ncontinueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law\nto do them.\" (Deut. xxvii. 26; Gal. iii. 10.) This was not grace.\nIndeed, Mount Sinai was not the place to look for any such thing.\nThere Jehovah revealed Himself in awful majesty, amid blackness,\ndarkness, tempest, thunderings, and lightnings. These were not the\nattendant circumstances of an economy of grace and mercy; but they\nwere well suited to one of truth and righteousness, and the law was\nthat and nothing else.\n\nIn the law, God sets forth what a man ought to be, and pronounces a\ncurse upon him if he _is_ not that. But then a man finds, when he\nlooks at himself in the light of the law, that he actually is the very\nthing which the law condemns. How then is he to get life by it? It\nproposes life and righteousness as the ends to be attained by keeping\nit; but it proves, at the very outset, that we are in a state of death\nand unrighteousness. We want the very things at the beginning which\nthe law proposed to be gained at the end. How, therefore, are we to\ngain them? In order to _do_ what the law requires, I must have life;\nand in order to _be_ what the law requires, I must have righteousness;\nand if I have not both the one and the other, I am \"cursed.\" But the\nfact is, I have neither. What am I to do? This is the question. Let\nthose who \"desire to be teachers of the law\" furnish an answer. Let\nthem furnish a satisfactory reply to an upright conscience, bowed down\nunder the double sense of the spirituality and inflexibility of the\nlaw and its own hopeless carnality.\n\nThe truth is, as the apostle teaches us, \"the law entered that the\noffense might abound.\" (Rom. v. 20.) This shows us very distinctly the\nreal object of the law. It came in by the way in order to set forth\nthe exceeding sinfulness of sin. (Rom. vii. 13.) It was, in a certain\nsense, like a perfect mirror let down from heaven to reveal to man his\nmoral derangement. If I present myself with deranged habit before a\nmirror, it shows me the derangement, but does not set it right. If I\nmeasure a crooked wall with a perfect plumb-line, it reveals the\ncrookedness, but does not remove it. If I take out a lamp on a dark\nnight, it reveals to me all the hindrances and disagreeables in the\nway, but it does not remove them. Moreover, the mirror, the\nplumb-line, and the lamp do not _create_ the evils which they\nseverally point out; they neither _create_ nor _remove_, but simply\n_reveal_. Thus it is with the law; it does not create the evil in\nman's heart, neither does it remove it; but, with unerring accuracy,\nit reveals it.\n\n\"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not\nknown sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law\nhad said, 'Thou shalt not covet.'\" (Rom. vii. 7.) He does not say that\nhe would not have had \"lust.\" No; but merely that he \"had not known\"\nit. The \"lust\" was there; but he was in the dark about it until the\nlaw, as \"the candle of the Almighty,\" shone in upon the dark chambers\nof his heart and revealed the evil that was there. Like a man in a\ndark room, who may be surrounded with dust and confusion, but he\ncannot see aught thereof by reason of the darkness. Let the beams of\nthe sun dart in upon him, and he quickly perceives all. Do the\nsunbeams create the dust? Surely not. The dust is there, and they only\ndetect and reveal it. This is a simple illustration of the effect of\nthe law. It judges man's character and condition; it proves him to be\na sinner, and shuts him up under the curse; it comes to judge what he\nis, and curses him if he is not what it tells him he ought to be.\n\nIt is therefore a manifest impossibility that any one can get life and\nrighteousness by that which can only curse him; and unless the\ncondition of the sinner, and the character of the law are totally\nchanged, it can do naught else but curse him. It makes no allowance\nfor infirmities, and knows nothing of sincere, though imperfect,\nobedience. Were it to do so, it would not be what it is--\"holy, just,\nand good.\" It is just because the law is what it is that the sinner\ncannot get life by it. If he could get life by it, it would not be\nperfect, or else he would not be a sinner. It is impossible that a\nsinner can get life by a perfect law, for inasmuch as it is perfect,\nit must needs condemn him. Its absolute perfectness makes manifest and\nseals man's absolute ruin and condemnation. \"Therefore, by deeds of\nlaw shall no flesh living be justified in His sight; for by the law is\nthe knowledge of sin.\" (Rom. iii. 20.) He does not say, By the law is\nsin, but only \"the knowledge of sin.\" \"For until the law, sin was in\nthe world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law.\" (Rom. v. 13.)\nSin was there, and it only needed law to develop it in the form of\n\"transgression.\" It is as if I say to my child, You must not touch\nthat knife. My very prohibition reveals the tendency in his heart to\ndo his own will. It does not create the tendency, but only reveals it.\n\nThe apostle John says that \"sin is lawlessness.\" (1 John iii. 4.) The\nword \"transgression\" does not develop the true idea of the Spirit in\nthis passage. In order to have \"transgression,\" I must have a definite\nrule or line laid down. Transgression means a passing across a\nprohibited line; such a line I have in the law. I take any one of its\nprohibitions, such as, \"Thou shalt not kill,\" \"Thou shalt not commit\nadultery,\" \"Thou shalt not steal.\" Here I have a rule or line set\nbefore me; but I find I have within me the very principles against\nwhich these prohibitions are expressly directed. Yea, the very fact of\nmy being told not to commit murder shows that I have murder in my\nnature. There would be no necessity to tell me not to do a thing\nwhich I had no tendency to do; but the exhibition of God's will as to\nwhat I ought to be makes manifest the tendency of my will to be what I\nought not. This is plain enough, and is in full keeping with the whole\nof the apostolic reasoning on the point.\n\nMany, however, will admit that we cannot get life by the law; but they\nmaintain, at the same time, that the law is our rule of life. Now, the\napostle declares that \"as many as are of works of law are under the\ncurse.\" (Gal. iii. 10.) It matters not who they are, if they occupy\nthe ground of law, they are, of necessity, under the curse. A man may\nsay, I am regenerate, and therefore not exposed to the curse. This\nwill not do. If regeneration does not take one off the ground of law,\nit cannot take him beyond the range of the curse of the law. If the\nChristian be under the former, he is, of necessity, exposed to the\nlatter. But what has the law to do with regeneration? where do we find\nany thing about it in Exodus xx? The law has but one question to put\nto a man,--a brief, solemn, pointed question, namely, Are you what you\nought to be? If he answer in the negative, it can but hurl its\nterrible anathema at him and slay him. And who will so readily and\nemphatically admit that, in himself, he is any thing but what he ought\nto be, as the really regenerate man? Wherefore, if he is under the\nlaw, he must inevitably be under the curse. The law cannot possibly\nlower its standard, nor yet amalgamate with grace. Men do constantly\nseek to lower its standard; they feel that they cannot get up to it,\nand they therefore seek to bring it down to them; but the effort is in\nvain: it stands forth in all its purity, majesty, and stern\ninflexibility, and will not accept a single hair's breadth short of\nperfect obedience; and where is the man, regenerate or unregenerate,\nthat can undertake to produce that? It will be said, We have\nperfection in Christ. True; but that is not by the law, but by grace;\nand we cannot possibly confound the two economies. Scripture largely\nand distinctly teaches that we are not justified by the law; nor is\nthe law our rule of life. That which can only curse can never justify,\nand that which can only kill can never be a rule of life. As well\nmight a man attempt to make a fortune by a deed of bankruptcy filed\nagainst him.\n\nIf my reader will turn to the fifteenth of Acts, he will see how the\nattempt to put Gentile believers under the law as a rule of life was\nmet by the Holy Ghost. \"There rose up certain of the sect of the\nPharisees which believed, saying, that it was needful to circumcise\nthem, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.\" This was nothing\nelse than the hiss of the old serpent, making itself heard in the dark\nand depressing suggestion of those early legalists. But let us see how\nit was met by the mighty energy of the Holy Ghost, and the unanimous\nvoice of the twelve apostles and the whole Church. \"And when there had\nbeen much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, 'Men and\nbrethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us,\nthat the Gentiles by my mouth should hear'\"--what? Was it the\nrequirements and the curses of _the law_ of Moses? No. Blessed be God,\nthese are not what He would have falling on the ears of helpless\nsinners. Hear what, then? \"SHOULD HEAR THE WORD OF THE GOSPEL, AND\nBELIEVE.\" This was what suited the nature and character of God. He\nnever would have troubled men with the dismal accents of requirement\nand prohibition. These Pharisees were not His messengers; far from it.\nThey were not the bearers of glad tidings, nor the publishers of\npeace, and therefore their \"feet\" were aught but \"beautiful\" in the\neyes of One who only delights in mercy.\n\n\"Now, therefore,\" continues the apostle, \"why tempt ye God, to put a\nyoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we\nwere able to bear?\" This was strong, earnest language. God did not\nwant \"to put a yoke upon the neck\" of those whose hearts had been set\nfree by the gospel of peace. He would rather exhort them to stand fast\nin the liberty of Christ, and not be \"entangled again with the yoke of\nbondage.\" He would not send those whom He had received to His bosom of\nlove to be terrified by the \"blackness and darkness and tempest\" of\n\"the mount that might be touched.\" How could we ever admit the thought\nthat those whom God had received in grace He would rule by law?\nImpossible. \"We believe,\" says Peter, \"that through the GRACE OF THE\nLORD JESUS CHRIST we shall be saved, even as they.\" Both the Jews, who\nhad received the law, and the Gentiles, who never had, were now to be\n\"_saved_ through _grace_.\" And not only were they to be \"saved\" by\ngrace, but they were to \"stand\" in grace (Rom. v. 2.) and to \"grow in\ngrace\" (2 Pet. iii. 18.). To teach any thing else was to \"tempt God.\"\nThose Pharisees were subverting the very foundations of the Christian\nfaith; and so are all those who seek to put believers under the law.\nThere is no evil or error more abominable in the sight of the Lord\nthan legalism. Hearken to the strong language--the accents of\nrighteous indignation--which fell from the Holy Ghost in reference to\nthose teachers of the law,--\"I would they were even cut off which\ntrouble you.\" (Gal. v. 12.)\n\nAnd, let me ask, are the thoughts of the Holy Ghost changed in\nreference to this question? Has it ceased to be a tempting of God to\nplace the yoke of legality upon a sinner's neck? Is it now in\naccordance with His gracious will that the law should be read out in\nthe ears of sinners? Let my reader reply to these inquiries in the\nlight of the fifteenth of Acts and the epistle to the Galatians. These\nscriptures, were there no other, are amply sufficient to prove that\nGod never intended that the \"Gentiles should hear the word\" of the\nlaw. Had He so intended, He would assuredly have \"made choice\" of some\none to proclaim it in their ears. But no; when He sent forth His\n\"fiery law,\" He spoke only in _one_ tongue; but when He proclaimed the\nglad tidings of salvation through the blood of the Lamb, He spoke in\nthe language \"_of every nation under heaven_.\" He spoke in such a way\nas that \"_every man in his own tongue, wherein he was born_,\" might\nhear the sweet story of grace. (Acts ii. 1-11.)\n\nFurther, when He was giving forth, from Mount Sinai, the stern\nrequirements of the covenant of works, He addressed Himself\nexclusively to _one_ people. His voice was only heard within the\nnarrow inclosures of the Jewish nation; but when, on the plains of\nBethlehem, \"the angel of the Lord\" declared \"good tidings of great\njoy,\" He added those characteristic words, \"which shall be to _all\npeople_.\" And again, when the risen Christ was sending forth His\nheralds of salvation, His commission ran thus: \"Go ye into _all the\nworld_ and preach the gospel to _every creature_.\" (Mark xvi. 15; Luke\nii. 10.) The mighty tide of grace, which had its source in the bosom\nof God, and its channel in the blood of the Lamb, was designed to\nrise, in the resistless energy of the Holy Ghost, far above the narrow\ninclosures of Israel, and roll through the length and breadth of a\nsin-stained world. \"Every creature\" must hear, \"in his own tongue,\"\nthe message of peace--the word of the gospel--the record of salvation\nthrough the blood of the cross.\n\nFinally, that nothing might be lacking to prove to our poor legal\nhearts that Mount Sinai was not, by any means, the spot where the deep\nsecrets of the bosom of God were told out, the Holy Ghost has said,\nboth by the mouth of a prophet and an apostle, \"How beautiful are the\nfeet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings\nof good things!\" (Isa. iii. 7; Rom. x. 15.) But of those who sought\nto be teachers of the law, the same Holy Ghost has said, \"I would they\nwere even cut off which trouble you.\"\n\nThus, then, it is obvious that the law is neither the ground of life\nto the sinner nor the rule of life to the Christian: Christ is both\nthe one and the other,--He is our life and He is our rule of life. The\nlaw can only curse and slay. Christ is our life and righteousness. He\nbecame a curse for us by hanging on a tree. He went down into the\nplace where the sinner lay--into the place of death and judgment; and\nhaving, by His death, entirely discharged all that was or could be\nagainst us, He became, in resurrection, the source of life and the\nground of righteousness to all who believe in His name. Having thus\nlife and righteousness in Him, we are called to walk not merely as the\nlaw directs, but to \"walk even as He walked.\" It will hardly be deemed\nneedful to assert that it is directly contrary to Christian ethics to\nkill, commit adultery, or steal. But were a Christian to shape his way\naccording to these commands, or according to the entire decalogue,\nwould he yield the rare and delicate fruits which the epistle to the\nEphesians sets forth? Would the ten commandments ever cause a thief to\ngive up stealing, and go to work that he might have to give?--would\nthey ever transform a thief into a laborious and liberal man?\nAssuredly not. The law says, \"Thou shalt not steal;\" but does it say,\nGo and give to him that needeth,--Go, feed, clothe, and bless your\nenemy,--Go, gladden by your benevolent feelings and your beneficent\nacts the heart of him who only and always seeks your hurt? By no\nmeans; and yet, were I under the law, as a rule, it could only curse\nme and slay me. How is this, when the standard in the New Testament is\nso much higher? Because I am weak, and the law gives me no strength\nand shows me no mercy. The law _demands_ strength from one that has\nnone, and _curses_ him if he cannot display it. The gospel _gives_\nstrength to one that has none, and _blesses_ him in the exhibition of\nit. The law proposes life as the end of obedience, the gospel gives\nlife as the only proper _ground_ of obedience.\n\nBut that I may not weary the reader with arguments, let me ask, If the\nlaw be indeed the rule of a believer's life, where are we to find it\nso presented in the New Testament? The inspired apostle evidently had\nno thought of its being the rule when he penned the following words:\n\"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor\nuncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to\n_this rule_, peace be on them, and mercy, and on the Israel of God.\"\n(Gal. vi. 15, 16.) What \"rule\"? The law? No; but the \"new creation.\"\nWhere shall we find this in Exodus xx? It speaks not a word about \"new\ncreation.\" On the contrary, it addresses itself to man as he is--in\nhis natural or old-creation state--and puts him to the test as to what\nhe is really able to do. Now if the law were the rule by which\nbelievers are to walk, why does the apostle pronounce his benediction\non those who walk by another rule altogether? Why does he not say, As\nmany as walk according to the rule of the ten commandments? Is it not\nevident, from this one passage, that the Church of God has a higher\nrule by which to walk? Unquestionably. The ten commandments, though\nforming, as all true Christians admit, a part of the canon of\ninspiration, could never be the rule of life to one who has, through\ninfinite grace, been introduced into the new creation--one who has\nreceived new life in Christ.\n\nBut some may ask, Is not the law perfect? and if perfect, what more\nwould you have? The law is divinely perfect. Yea, it is the very\nperfection of the law which causes it to curse and slay those who are\nnot perfect if they attempt to stand before it. \"The law is spiritual,\nbut I am carnal.\" It is utterly impossible to form an adequate idea of\nthe infinite perfectness and spirituality of the law. But then this\nperfect law coming in contact with fallen humanity--this spiritual law\ncoming in contact with \"the carnal mind,\" could only \"work wrath\" and\n\"enmity.\" (Rom. iv. 15; viii. 7.) Why? Is it because the law is not\nperfect? No, but because it is, and man is a sinner. If man were\nperfect, he would carry out the law in all its spiritual perfectness;\nand even in the case of true believers, though they still carry about\nwith them an evil nature, the apostle teaches us \"that the\nrighteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the\nflesh, but after the Spirit.\" (Rom. viii. 4.) \"He that loveth another\nhath fulfilled the law.... Love worketh no ill to his neighbor;\ntherefore love is the fulfilling of the law.\" (Rom. xiii. 8-10.) If I\nlove a man, I shall not steal his property--nay, I shall seek to do\nhim all the good I can. All this is plain, and easily understood by\nthe spiritual mind; but it leaves entirely untouched the question of\nthe law, whether as the ground of life to a sinner or the rule of life\nto the believer.\n\nIf we look at the law, in its two grand divisions, it tells a man to\nlove God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his\nmind; and to love his neighbor as himself. This is the sum of the law:\nthis, and not a tittle less, is what the law demands. But where has\nthis demand ever been responded to by any member of Adam's fallen\nposterity? Where is the man who could say he loves God after such a\nfashion? \"The carnal mind [_i.e._, the mind which we have by nature]\nis enmity against God.\" Man hates God and His ways. God came, in the\nPerson of Christ, and showed Himself to man--showed Himself, not in\nthe overwhelming brightness of His majesty, but in all the charm and\nsweetness of perfect grace and condescension. What was the result? Man\nhated God.--\"Now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.\"\n(John xv. 24.) But, it may be said, man ought to love God. No doubt,\nand he deserves death and eternal perdition if he does not; but can\nthe law produce this love in man's heart? was that its design? By no\nmeans, \"for the law worketh wrath.\" The law finds man in a state of\nenmity against God; and without ever altering that state (for that was\nnot its province), it commands him to love God with all his heart, and\ncurses him if he does not. It was not the province of the law to alter\nor improve man's nature; nor yet could it impart any power to carry\nout its righteous demands. It said, \"This do, and thou shalt live.\" It\ncommanded man to love God. It did not reveal what God was to man, even\nin his guilt and ruin; but it told man what he ought to be toward God.\nThis was dismal work. It was not the unfolding of the powerful\nattractions of the divine character, producing in man true repentance\ntoward God, melting his icy heart, and elevating his soul in genuine\naffection and worship. No: it was an inflexible command to love God;\nand, instead of producing love, it \"worked wrath;\" not because God\nought not to be loved, but because man was a sinner.\n\nAgain, \"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\" Can \"the natural\nman\" do this? Does he love his neighbor as himself? Is this the\nprinciple which obtains in the chambers of commerce, the exchanges,\nthe banks, the marts, the fairs, and the markets of this world? Alas!\nno. Man does not love his neighbor as he loves himself. No doubt he\nought; and if he were right, he would; but then he is all\nwrong--totally wrong--and unless he is \"born again\" of the Word and\nthe Spirit of God, he cannot \"see nor enter the kingdom of God.\" The\nlaw cannot produce this new birth. It kills \"the old man,\" but does\nnot, and cannot, create \"the new.\" As an actual fact, we know that the\nLord Jesus Christ embodied, in His glorious Person, both God and our\nneighbor, inasmuch as He was, according to the foundation-truth of the\nChristian religion, \"God manifest in the flesh.\" How did man treat\nHim? Did he love Him with all his heart, or as himself? The very\nreverse. He crucified Him between two thieves, having previously\npreferred a murderer and a robber to that blessed One who had gone\nabout doing good--who had come forth from the eternal dwelling-place\nof light and love--Himself the very living personification of that\nlight and love--whose bosom had ever heaved with purest sympathy with\nhuman need--whose hand had ever been ready to dry the sinner's tears\nand alleviate his sorrows. Thus we stand and gaze upon the cross of\nChrist, and behold in it an unanswerable demonstration of the fact\nthat it is not within the range of man's nature or capacity to keep\nthe law.[10]\n\n  [10] For further exposition of the law, and also of the doctrine of\n  the Sabbath, the reader is referred to a tract entitled \"A Scriptural\n  Inquiry into the True Nature of the Sabbath, the Law, and the\n  Christian Ministry.\"\n\nIt is peculiarly interesting to the spiritual mind, after all that has\npassed before us, to observe the relative position of God and the\nsinner at the close of this memorable chapter. \"And the Lord said unto\nMoses, 'Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel.... An altar\nof earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy\nburnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in\nall places where I record My name I WILL COME UNTO THEE, AND I WILL\nBLESS THEE. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not\nbuild it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou\nhast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto Mine altar,\nthat thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.'\" (Ver. 22-26.)\n\nHere we find man not in the position of _a doer_, but of _a\nworshiper_; and this, too, at the close of Exodus xx. How plainly this\nteaches us that the atmosphere of Mount Sinai is not that which God\nwould have the sinner breathing,--that it is not the proper\nmeeting-place between God and man! \"In all places where I record _My\nname I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee_.\" How unlike the\nterrors of the fiery mount is that spot where Jehovah records _His\nname_, whither He \"comes\" to \"bless\" His worshiping people!\n\nBut further, God will meet the sinner at an altar without a hewn stone\nor a step--a place of worship which requires no human workmanship to\nerect, or human effort to approach. The former could only pollute, and\nthe latter could only display human \"nakedness.\" Admirable type of the\nmeeting-place where God meets the sinner now, even the Person and work\nof His Son, Jesus Christ, where all the claims of law, of justice, and\nof conscience are perfectly answered! Man has, in every age and in\nevery clime, been prone, in one way or another, to \"lift up his tool\"\nin the erection of his altar, or to approach thereto by steps of his\nown making; but the issue of all such attempts has been \"pollution\"\nand \"nakedness.\" \"We all do fade as a leaf, and all our\nrighteousnesses are as filthy rags.\" Who will presume to approach God\nclad in a garment of \"filthy rags\"? or who will stand to worship with\na revealed \"nakedness\"? What can be more preposterous than to think of\napproaching God in a way which necessarily involves either pollution\nor nakedness? And yet thus it is in every case in which human effort\nis put forth to open the sinner's way to God. Not only is there no\nneed of such effort, but defilement and nakedness are stamped upon it.\nGod has come down so very near to the sinner, even in the very depths\nof his ruin, that there is no need for his lifting up the tool of\nlegality, or ascending the steps of self-righteousness,--yea, to do\nso, is but to expose his uncleanness and his nakedness.\n\nSuch are the principles with which the Holy Ghost closes this most\nremarkable section of inspiration. May they be indelibly written upon\nour hearts, that so we may more clearly and fully understand the\nessential difference between LAW and GRACE.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XXI.-XXIII.\n\n\nThe study of this section of our book is eminently calculated to\nimpress the heart with a sense of God's unsearchable wisdom and\ninfinite goodness. It enables one to form some idea of the character\nof a kingdom governed by laws of divine appointment. Here, too, we may\nsee the amazing condescension of Him who, though He is the great God\nof heaven and earth, can, nevertheless, stoop to adjudicate between\nman and man in reference to the death of an ox, the loan of a garment,\nor the loss of a servant's tooth. \"Who is like unto the Lord our God,\nwho humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and on\nearth?\" He governs the universe, and yet He can occupy Himself with\nthe provision of a covering for one of His creatures. He guides the\nangel's flight and takes notice of a crawling worm. He humbles Himself\nto regulate the movements of those countless orbs that roll through\ninfinite space, and to record the fall of a sparrow.\n\nAs to the character of the judgment set forth in the chapter before\nus, we may learn a double lesson. These judgments and ordinances bear\na twofold witness: they convey to the ear a twofold message, and\npresent to the eye two sides of a picture. They tell of God and they\ntell of man.\n\nIn the first place, on God's part, we find Him enacting laws which\nexhibit strict, even-handed, perfect justice. \"Eye for eye, tooth for\ntooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for\nwound, stripe for stripe.\" Such was the character of the laws, the\nstatutes, and the judgments by which God governed His earthly kingdom\nof Israel. Everything was provided for, every interest was maintained,\nand every claim was met. There was no partiality--no distinction made\nbetween the rich and the poor. The balance in which each man's claim\nwas weighed was adjusted with divine accuracy, so that no one could\njustly complain of a decision. The pure robe of justice was not to be\ntarnished with the foul stains of bribery, corruption, and partiality.\nThe eye and the hand of a divine Legislator provided for everything,\nand a divine Executive inflexibly dealt with every defaulter. The\nstroke of justice fell only on the head of the guilty, while every\nobedient soul was protected in the enjoyment of all his rights and\nprivileges.\n\nThen, as regards man, it is impossible to read over these laws and not\nbe struck with the disclosure which they indirectly, but really, make\nof his desperate depravity. The fact of Jehovah's having to enact laws\nagainst certain crimes, proves the capability on man's part of\ncommitting those crimes. Were the capability and the tendency not\nthere, there would be no need of the enactments. Now there are many\nwho, if the gross abominations forbidden in these chapters were named\nto them, might feel disposed to adopt the language of Hazael, and say,\n\"Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing?\" Such persons have\nnot yet traveled down into the deep abyss of their own hearts. For\nalbeit there are crimes here forbidden which would seem to place man,\nas regards his habits and tendencies, below the level of a \"dog,\" yet\ndo those very statutes prove, beyond all question, that the most\nrefined and cultivated member of the human family carries about in\nhis bosom the seeds of the very darkest and most horrifying\nabominations. For whom were those statutes enacted? For man. Were they\nneedful? Unquestionably. But they would have been quite superfluous if\nman were incapable of committing the sins referred to. But man _is_\ncapable; and hence we see that man is sunk to the very lowest possible\nlevel--that his nature is wholly corrupt--that from the crown of his\nhead to the sole of his foot there is not so much as a speck of moral\nsoundness.\n\nHow can such a being ever stand, without an emotion of fear, in the\nfull blaze of the throne of God? how can he stand within the holiest?\nhow can he stand on the sea of glass? how can he enter in by the\npearly gates and tread the golden streets? The reply to these\ninquiries unfolds the amazing depths of redeeming love and the eternal\nefficacy of the blood of the Lamb. Deep as is man's ruin, the love of\nGod is deeper still: black as is his guilt, the blood of Jesus can\nwash it all away: wide as is the chasm separating man from God, the\ncross has bridged it. God has come down to the very lowest point of\nthe sinner's condition, in order that He might lift him up into a\nposition of infinite favor, in eternal association with His own Son.\nWell may we exclaim, \"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath\nbestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.\" (1 John\niii. 1.) Nothing could fathom man's ruin but God's love, and nothing\ncould equal man's guilt but the blood of Christ. But now the very\ndepth of the ruin only magnifies the love that has fathomed it, and\nthe intensity of the guilt only celebrates the efficacy of the blood\nthat can cleanse it. The very vilest sinner who believes in Jesus can\nrejoice in the assurance that God sees him and pronounces him \"_clean\nevery whit_.\"\n\nSuch, then, is the double character of instruction to be gleaned from\nthe laws and ordinances in this section, looked at as a whole; and the\nmore minutely we look at them in detail, the more impressed we shall\nbe with a sense of their fullness and beauty. Take, for instance, the\nvery first ordinance that presents itself, namely, that of the Hebrew\nservant.\n\n\"Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them: If thou\nbuy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve, and in the seventh he\nshall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go\nout by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with\nhim. If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons\nor daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he\nshall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love\nmy master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free; then his\nmaster shall bring him unto the judges: he shall also bring him to the\ndoor, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through\nwith an awl; and he shall serve him forever.\" (Chap. xxi. 1-6.) The\nservant was perfectly free to go out, so far as he was personally\nconcerned. He had discharged every claim, and could therefore walk\nabroad in unquestioned freedom; but because of his love to his master,\nhis wife, and his children, he voluntarily bound himself to perpetual\nservitude; and not only so, but he was also willing to bear, in his\nown person, the marks of that servitude.\n\nThe application of this to the Lord Jesus Christ will be obvious to\nthe intelligent reader. In Him we behold the One who dwelt in the\nbosom of the Father before all worlds--the object of His eternal\ndelight--who might have occupied, throughout eternity, this His\npersonal and entirely peculiar place, inasmuch as there lay upon Him\nno obligation (save that which ineffable love created and ineffable\nlove incurred) to abandon that place. Such, however, was His love to\nthe Father, whose counsels were involved, and for the Church\ncollectively and each individual member thereof, whose salvation was\ninvolved, that He voluntarily came down to earth, emptied Himself, and\nmade Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a servant and\nthe marks of perpetual service. To these marks we probably have a\nstriking allusion in the Psalms.--\"Mine ears hast Thou digged.\" (Ps.\nxl. 6, marg.) This psalm is the expression of Christ's devotedness to\nGod. \"Then said I, 'Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is\nwritten of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is\nwithin My heart.'\" He came to do the will of God, whatever that will\nmight be. He never once did His own will, not even in the reception\nand salvation of sinners, though surely His loving heart, with all its\naffections, was most fully in that glorious work. Still He receives\nand saves only as the servant of the Father's counsels. \"All that the\nFather giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in\nno wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own\nwill, but the will of Him that sent Me. And this is the Father's will\nwhich hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose\nnothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.\" (John vi.\n37-39.)\n\nHere we have a most interesting view of the servant-character of the\nLord Jesus Christ. He, in perfect grace, holds Himself responsible to\nreceive all who come within the range of the divine counsels; and not\nonly to receive them, but to preserve them through all the\ndifficulties and trials of their devious path down here,--yea, in the\narticle of death itself, should it come, and to raise them all up in\nthe last day. Oh, how secure is the very feeblest member of the Church\nof God! He is the subject of God's eternal counsels, which counsels\nthe Lord Jesus Christ is pledged to carry out. Jesus loves the Father,\nand in proportion to the intensity of that love is the security of\neach member of the redeemed family. The salvation of the sinner who\nbelieves on the name of the Son of God is, in one aspect of it, but\nthe expression of Christ's love to the Father. If one such could\nperish, through any cause whatsoever, it would argue that the Lord\nJesus Christ was unable to carry out the will of God, which were\nnothing short of positive blasphemy against His sacred name, to whom\nbe all honor and majesty throughout the everlasting ages.\n\nThus we have, in the Hebrew servant, a type of Christ in His pure\ndevotedness to the Father. But there is more than this. \"I love my\nwife and my children.\" \"Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for\nit; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by\nthe Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not\nhaving spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy\nand without blemish.\" (Eph. v. 25-27.) There are various other\npassages of Scripture presenting Christ as the antitype of the Hebrew\nservant, both in His love for the Church as a body, and for all\nbelievers personally. In Matthew xiii, John x and xiii, and Hebrews\nii, my reader will find special teaching on the point.\n\nThe apprehension of this love of the heart of Jesus cannot fail to\nproduce a spirit of fervent devotedness to the One who could exhibit\nsuch pure, such perfect, such disinterested love. How could the wife\nand children of the Hebrew servant fail to love one who had\nvoluntarily surrendered his liberty in order that he and they might be\ntogether? And what is the love presented in the type, when compared\nwith that which shines in the antitype? It is as nothing. \"The love of\nChrist passeth knowledge.\" It led Him to think of us before all\nworlds--to visit us in the fullness of time--to walk deliberately to\nthe door-post--to suffer for us on the cross, in order that He might\nraise us to companionship with Himself in His everlasting kingdom and\nglory.\n\nWere I to enter into a full exposition of the remaining statutes and\njudgments of this portion of the book of Exodus, it would carry me\nmuch further than I feel, at present, led to go.[11] I will merely\nobserve, in conclusion, that it is impossible to read the section and\nnot have the heart drawn out in adoration of the profound wisdom,\nwell-balanced justice, and yet tender considerateness which breathe\nthroughout the whole. We rise up from the study of it with this\nconviction deeply wrought into the soul, that the One who speaks here\nis \"the only true,\" \"the only wise,\" and the infinitely gracious God.\n\n  [11] I would here observe, once for all, that the feasts referred to\n  in chapter xxiii. 14-19, and the offerings in chapter xxix, being\n  brought out, in all their fullness and detail, in the book of\n  Leviticus, I shall reserve them until we come to dwell upon the\n  contents of that singularly rich and interesting book.\n\nMay all our meditations on His eternal Word have the effect of\nprostrating our souls in worship before Him whose perfect ways and\nglorious attributes shine there, in all their blessedness and\nbrightness, for the refreshment, the delight, and the edification of\nHis blood-bought people.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n\nThis chapter opens with an expression remarkably characteristic of the\nentire Mosaic economy. \"And He said unto Moses, 'Come up unto the\nLord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of\nIsrael; and worship ye _afar off ... they shall not come nigh_,\nneither shall the people _go up_ with him.\" We may search from end to\nend of the legal ritual, and not find those two precious words, \"_draw\nnigh_.\" Ah, no; such words could never be heard from the top of Sinai,\nnor from amid the shadows of the law. They could only be uttered at\nheaven's side of the empty tomb of Jesus, where the blood of the cross\nhas opened a perfectly cloudless prospect to the vision of faith. The\nwords, \"afar off,\" are as characteristic of the law as \"draw nigh\" are\nof the gospel. Under the law, the work was never done which could\nentitle a sinner to draw nigh. Man had not fulfilled his promised\nobedience; and the \"blood of calves and goats\" could not atone for the\nfailure, or give his guilty conscience peace. Hence, therefore, he had\nto stand \"afar off.\" Man's vows were broken and his sin unpurged; how,\nthen, could he draw nigh? The blood of ten thousand bullocks could not\nwipe away one stain from the conscience, or give the peaceful sense of\nnearness as being reconciled to God.\n\nHowever, the \"first covenant\" is here dedicated with blood. An altar\nis erected at the foot of the hill, with \"twelve pillars, according to\nthe twelve tribes of Israel.\" \"And he sent young men of the children\nof Israel, which offered burnt-offerings, and sacrificed\npeace-offerings of oxen unto the Lord. And Moses took half of the\nblood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on\nthe altar.... And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the\npeople, and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord\nhath made with you concerning all these words.'\" Although, as the\napostle teaches us, it was \"impossible that the blood of bulls and\ngoats could take away sin,\" yet did it \"sanctify to the purifying of\nthe flesh,\" and, as \"a shadow of good things to come,\" it availed to\nmaintain the people in relationship with Jehovah.\n\n\"Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the\nelders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under\nHis feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were\nthe body of heaven in clearness. And upon the nobles of the children\nof Israel He laid not His hand: also they saw God and did eat and\ndrink.\" This was the manifestation of \"the God of Israel,\" in light\nand purity, majesty and holiness. It was not the unfolding of the\naffections of a Father's bosom, or the sweet accents of a Father's\nvoice, breathing peace and inspiring confidence into the heart. No;\nthe \"paved work of a sapphire stone\" told out that unapproachable\npurity and light which could only tell a sinner to keep off. Still,\n\"they saw God and did eat and drink.\" Touching proof of divine\nforbearance and mercy, as also of the power of the blood!\n\nLooking at this entire scene as a mere illustration, there is much to\ninterest the heart. There is the defiled camp _below_ and the\nsapphire pavement _above_; but the altar, at the foot of the hill,\ntells us of that way by which the sinner can make his escape from the\ndefilement of his own condition, and mount up to the presence of God,\nthere to feast and worship in perfect peace. The blood which flowed\naround the altar furnished man's only title to stand in the presence\nof that glory which \"was like a devouring fire on the top of the mount\nin the eyes of the children of Israel.\"\n\n\"And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the\nmount; and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.\" This\nwas truly a high and holy position for Moses. He was called away from\nearth and earthly things. Abstracted from natural influences, he is\nshut in with God, to hear from His mouth the deep mysteries of the\nPerson and work of Christ; for such, in point of fact, we have\nunfolded in the tabernacle and all its significant furniture--\"the\npatterns of things in the heavens.\" The blessed One knew full well\nwhat was about to be the end of man's covenant of works; but He\nunfolds to Moses, in types and shadows, His own precious thoughts of\nlove and counsels of grace, manifested in, and secured by, Christ.\n\nBlessed for evermore be the grace which has not left us under a\ncovenant of works. Blessed be He who has \"hushed the law's loud\nthunders and quenched mount Sinai's flame\" by \"the blood of the\neverlasting covenant,\" and given us a peace which no power of earth\nor hell can shake. \"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our\nsins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and\nHis Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXV.\n\n\nThis chapter forms the commencement of one of the richest veins in\nInspiration's exhaustless mine--a vein in which every stroke of the\nmattock brings to light untold wealth. We know the mattock with which\nalone we can work in such a mine, namely, the distinct ministry of the\nHoly Ghost. Nature can do nothing here. Reason is blind, imagination\nutterly vain; the most gigantic intellect, instead of being able to\ninterpret the sacred symbols, appears like a bat in the sunshine,\nblindly dashing itself against the objects which it is utterly unable\nto discern. We must compel reason and imagination to stand without,\nwhile, with a chastened heart, a single eye, and a spiritual mind, we\nenter the hallowed precincts and gaze upon the deeply significant\nfurniture. God the Holy Ghost is the only One who can conduct us\nthrough the courts of the Lord's house, and expound to our souls the\ntrue meaning of all that there meets our view. To attempt the\nexposition by the aid of intellect's unsanctified powers, would be\ninfinitely more absurd than to set about the repairs of a watch with\na blacksmith's tongs and hammer. \"The pattern of things in the\nheavens\" cannot be interpreted by the natural mind, in its most\ncultivated form. They must all be read in the light of heaven: earth\nhas no light which could at all develop their beauties. The One who\nfurnished the patterns can alone explain what the patterns mean,--the\nOne who furnished the beauteous symbols can alone interpret them.\n\nTo the human eye there would seem to be a desultoriness in the mode in\nwhich the Holy Ghost has presented the furniture of the tabernacle;\nbut in reality, as might be expected, there is the most perfect order,\nthe most remarkable precision, the most studious accuracy. From\nchapter xxv. to chapter xxx. inclusive, we have a distinct section of\nthe book of Exodus. This section is divided into two parts, the first\nterminating at chapter xxvii. 19, and the second at the close of\nchapter xxx. The former begins with the ark of the covenant, inside\nthe vail, and ends with the brazen altar and the court in which that\naltar stood. That is, it gives us, in the first place, Jehovah's\nthrone of judgment, whereon He sat as Lord of all the earth; and it\nconducts us to that place where He met the sinner, in the credit and\nvirtue of accomplished atonement. Then, in the latter, we have the\nmode of man's approach to God--the privileges, dignities, and\nresponsibilities of those who, as priests, were permitted to draw nigh\nto the Divine Presence and enjoy worship and communion there. Thus the\narrangement is perfect and beautiful. How could it be otherwise,\nseeing that it is divine? The ark and the brazen altar present, as it\nwere, two extremes. The former was the throne of God established in\n\"justice and judgment\" (Ps. lxxxix. 14.); the latter was the place of\napproach for the sinner where \"mercy and truth\" went before Jehovah's\nface. Man, in himself, dared not to approach the ark to meet God, for\n\"the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest\" (Heb. ix.\n8.); but God could approach the altar of brass, to meet man as a\nsinner. \"Justice and judgment\" could not admit the sinner in, but\n\"mercy and truth\" could bring God out; not, indeed, in that\noverwhelming brightness and majesty in which He was wont to shine\nforth from between those mystic supporters of His throne--\"the\ncherubim of glory,\" but in that gracious ministry which is\nsymbolically presented to us in the furniture and ordinances of the\ntabernacle.\n\nAll this may well remind us of the path trodden by that blessed One\nwho is the antitype of all these types--the substance of all these\nshadows. He traveled from the eternal throne of God in heaven, down to\nthe depth's of Calvary's cross. He came from all the glory of the\nformer, down into all the shame of the latter, in order that He might\nconduct His redeemed, forgiven, and accepted people back with Himself,\nand present them faultless before that very throne which He had left\non their account. The Lord Jesus fills up, in His own Person and work,\nevery point between the throne of God and the dust of death, and\nevery point between the dust of death and the throne of God. In Him,\nGod has come down, in perfect grace, to the sinner; in Him, the sinner\nis brought up, in perfect righteousness, to God. All the way from the\nark to the brazen altar was marked with the footprints of love, and\nall the way from the brazen altar to the ark of God was sprinkled with\nthe blood of atonement; and as the ransomed worshiper passes along\nthat wondrous path, he beholds the name of Jesus stamped on all that\nmeets his view. May that name be dearer to our hearts! Let us now\nproceed to examine the chapters consecutively.\n\nIt is most interesting to note here that the first thing which the\nLord communicates to Moses is His gracious purpose to have a\nsanctuary, or holy dwelling-place, in the midst of His people--a\nsanctuary composed of materials which directly point to Christ, His\nPerson, His work, and the precious fruit of that work, as seen in the\nlight, the power, and the varied graces of the Holy Ghost. Moreover,\nthese materials were the fragrant fruit of the grace of God--the\nvoluntary offerings of devoted hearts. Jehovah, whose majesty \"the\nheaven of heavens could not contain,\" was graciously pleased to dwell\nin a boarded and curtained tent erected for Him by those who cherished\nthe fond desire to hail His presence amongst them. This tabernacle may\nbe viewed in two ways: first, as furnishing \"a pattern of things in\nthe heavens,\" and secondly, as presenting a deeply significant type of\nthe body of Christ. The various materials of which the tabernacle was\ncomposed will come before us as we pass along; we shall therefore\nconsider the three comprehensive subjects put before us in this\nchapter, namely, the ark, the table, and the candlestick.\n\nThe ark of the covenant occupies the leading place in the divine\ncommunications to Moses. Its position, too, in the tabernacle was most\nmarked. Shut in within the vail, in the holiest of all, it formed the\nbase of Jehovah's throne. Its very name conveys to the mind its\nimport. An ark, so far as the Word instructs us, is designed to\npreserve _intact_ whatever is put therein. An ark carried Noah and his\nfamily, together with all the orders of creation, in safety over the\nbillows of judgment which covered the earth: an ark, at the opening of\nthis book, was faith's vessel for preserving \"a proper child\" from the\nwaters of death. When, therefore, we read of \"the ark of the\ncovenant,\" we are led to believe that it was designed of God to\npreserve His covenant unbroken in the midst of an erring people. In\nit, as we know, the second set of tables were deposited. As to the\nfirst set, they were broken in pieces beneath the mount, showing that\nman's covenant was wholly abolished--that his work could never, by any\npossibility, form the basis of Jehovah's throne of government.\n\"Justice and judgment are the habitation of that throne,\" whether in\nits earthly or heavenly aspect. The ark could not contain within its\nhallowed inclosure broken tables. Man might fail to fulfill his\nself-chosen vow, but God's law must be preserved in its divine\nintegrity and perfectness. If God was to set up His throne in the\nmidst of His people, He could only do so in a way worthy of Himself.\nHis standard of judgment and government must be perfect.\n\n\"And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with\ngold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the\nark, that the ark may be borne with them.\" The ark of the covenant was\nto accompany the people in all their wanderings. It never rested while\nthey were a traveling or a conflicting host; it moved from place to\nplace in the wilderness; it went before them into the midst of Jordan;\nit was their grand rallying-point in all the wars of Canaan; it was\nthe sure and certain earnest of power wherever it went. No power of\nthe enemy could stand before that which was the well-known expression\nof the divine presence and power. The ark was to be Israel's\ncompanion-in-travel in the desert, and \"the staves\" and \"the rings\"\nwere the apt expression of its traveling character.\n\nHowever, it was not always to be a traveler. \"The afflictions of\nDavid,\" as well as the wars of Israel, were to have an end. The prayer\nwas yet to be breathed and answered, \"Arise, O Lord, into _Thy rest_:\nThou and _the ark of Thy strength_.\" (Ps. cxxxii. 8.) This most\nsublime petition had its partial accomplishment in the palmy days of\nSolomon, when \"the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the\nLord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy\nplace, even under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread\nforth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim\ncovered the ark and the staves thereof above. And _they drew out the\nstaves_, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place\nbefore the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are\nunto this day.\" (1 Kings viii. 6-8.) The sand of the desert was to be\nexchanged for the golden floor of the temple. (1 Kings vi. 30.) The\nwanderings of the ark were to have an end: there was \"neither enemy\nnor evil occurrent,\" and therefore \"the staves were drawn out.\"\n\nNor was this the only difference between the ark in the tabernacle and\nin the temple. The apostle, speaking of the ark in its wilderness\nhabitation, describes it as \"the ark of the covenant, overlaid round\nabout with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and\nAaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.\" (Heb. ix.\n4.) Such were the contents of the ark in its wilderness\njourneyings--the pot of manna, the record of Jehovah's faithfulness in\nproviding for His redeemed in the desert, and Aaron's rod, \"a token\nagainst the rebels,\" to \"take away their murmurings.\" (Compare Exod.\nxvi. 32-34, and Numb. xvii. 10.) But when the moment arrived in which\n\"the staves\" were to be \"drawn out,\" when the wanderings and wars of\nIsrael were over, when the \"exceeding magnificial\" house was\ncompleted, when the sun of Israel's glory had reached, in type, its\nmeridian, as marked by the wealth and splendor of Solomon's reign,\nthen the records of wilderness need and wilderness failure were\nunnoticed, and nothing remained save that which constituted the\neternal foundation of the throne of the God of Israel, and of all the\nearth. \"_There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone_,\nwhich Moses put there at Horeb.\" (1 Kings viii. 9.)\n\nBut all this brightness was soon to be overcast by the heavy clouds of\nhuman failure and divine displeasure. The rude foot of the\nuncircumcised was yet to walk across the ruins of that beautiful\nhouse, and its faded light and departed glory was yet to elicit the\ncontemptuous \"hiss\" of the stranger. This would not be the place to\nfollow out these things in detail; I shall only refer my reader to the\nlast notice which the Word of God affords us of \"the ark of the\ncovenant,\"--a notice which carries us forward to a time when human\nfolly and sin shall no more disturb the resting-place of that ark, and\nwhen neither a curtained tent nor yet a temple made with hands shall\ncontain it. \"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great\nvoices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the\nkingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever\nand ever.' And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on\ntheir seats, fell upon their faces, and worshiped God, saying, 'We\ngive Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to\ncome; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast\nreigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the\ntime of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest\ngive reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and\nthem that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them\nwhich destroy the earth.' And the temple of God was open in heaven,\nand there was seen in His temple _the ark of His covenant_: and there\nwere lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and\ngreat hail.\" (Rev. xi. 15-19.)\n\nThe mercy-seat comes next in order.--\"And thou shalt make a mercy-seat\nof pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a\ncubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubim\nof gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the\nmercy-seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub\non the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on\nthe two ends thereof. And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings\non high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, and their faces\nshall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of\nthe cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark;\nand in the ark shalt thou put the testimony that I shall give thee.\nAnd there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from\nabove the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the\nark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in\ncommandment unto the children of Israel.\"\n\nHere Jehovah gives utterance to His gracious intention of coming down\nfrom the fiery mount to take His place upon the mercy-seat. This He\ncould do, inasmuch as the tables of testimony were preserved unbroken\nbeneath, and the symbols of His power, whether in creation or\nprovidence, rose on the right hand and on the left--the inseparable\nadjuncts of that throne on which Jehovah had seated Himself--a throne\nof grace founded upon divine righteousness and supported by justice\nand judgment. Here the glory of the God of Israel shone forth. From\nhence He issued His commands, softened and sweetened by the gracious\nsource from whence they emanated, and the medium through which they\ncame--like the beams of the mid-day sun, passing through a cloud, we\ncan enjoy their genial and enlivening influence without being dazzled\nby their brightness. \"His commandments are not grievous,\" when\nreceived from off the mercy-seat, because they come in connection with\ngrace, which gives the ears to hear and the power to obey.\n\nLooking at the ark and mercy-seat together, we may see in them a\nstriking figure of Christ in His Person and work. He having, in His\nlife, magnified the law and made it honorable, became, through death,\na propitiation (or mercy-seat) for every one that believeth. God's\nmercy could only repose on a pedestal of perfect righteousness. \"Grace\nreigns through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our\nLord.\" (Rom. v. 21.) The only proper meeting-place between God and man\nis the point where grace and righteousness meet and perfectly\nharmonize. Nothing but perfect righteousness could suit God, and\nnothing but perfect grace could suit the sinner. But where could these\nattributes meet in one point? Only in the cross. There it is that\n\"mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed\neach other.\" (Ps. lxxxv. 10.) Thus it is that the soul of the\nbelieving sinner finds peace. He sees that God's righteousness and his\njustification rest upon precisely the same basis, namely, Christ's\naccomplished work. When man, under the powerful action of _the truth_\nof God, takes his place as a sinner, God can, in the exercise of\n_grace_, take His place as a Saviour, and then every question is\nsettled, for the cross having answered all the claims of divine\njustice, mercy's copious streams can flow unhindered. When a righteous\nGod and a ruined sinner meet on a blood-sprinkled platform, all is\nsettled forever--settled in such a way as perfectly glorifies God, and\neternally saves the sinner. God must be true, though every man be\nproved a liar; and when man is so thoroughly brought down to the\nlowest point of his own moral condition before God as to be willing to\ntake the place which God's truth assigns him, he then learns that God\nhas revealed Himself as the righteous Justifier of such an one. This\nmust give settled peace to the conscience; and not only so, but impart\na capacity to commune with God, and hearken to His holy precepts, in\nthe intelligence of that relationship into which divine grace has\nintroduced us.\n\nHence, therefore, \"the holiest of all\" unfolds a truly wondrous\nscene.--The ark, the mercy-seat, the cherubim, the glory! What a sight\nfor the high-priest of Israel to behold as, once a year, he went in\nwithin the vail! May the Spirit of God open the eyes of our\nunderstanding, that we may understand more fully the deep meaning of\nthose precious types.\n\nMoses is next instructed about \"the table of show-bread,\" or bread of\npresentation. On this table stood the food of the priests of God. For\nseven days those twelve loaves of \"fine flour with frankincense\" were\npresented before the Lord, after which, being replaced by others, they\nbecame the food of the priests, who fed upon them in the holy place.\n(See Lev. xxiv. 5-9.) It is needless to say that those twelve loaves\ntypify \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" The \"fine flour,\" of which they were\ncomposed, marks His perfect manhood, while the \"frankincense\" points\nout the entire devotion of that manhood to God. If God has His priests\nministering in the holy place, He will assuredly have a table for\nthem, and a well-furnished table too. Christ is the table, and Christ\nis the bread thereon. The pure table and the twelve loaves shadow\nforth Christ as presented before God unceasingly in all the excellency\nof His spotless humanity, and administered as food to the priestly\nfamily. The \"seven days\" set forth the perfection of the divine\nenjoyment of Christ, and the \"twelve loaves\" the administration of\nthat enjoyment in and by man. There is also, I should venture to\nsuggest, the idea of Christ's connection with the twelve tribes of\nIsrael, and the twelve apostles of the Lamb.\n\nThe candlestick of pure gold comes next in order, for God's priests\nneed _light_ as well as _food_; and they have both the one and the\nother in Christ. In this candlestick there is no mention of any thing\nbut pure gold.--\"All of it shall be one _beaten_ work of pure gold.\"\n\"The seven lamps\" which \"gave light over against the candlestick\"\nexpress the perfection of the light and energy of the Spirit, founded\nupon and connected with the perfect efficacy of the work of Christ.\nThe work of the Holy Ghost can never be separated from the work of\nChrist. This is set forth in a double way in this beautiful figure of\nthe golden candlestick. \"The seven lamps\" being connected with \"the\nshaft\" of \"beaten gold,\" points us to Christ's finished work as the\nsole basis of the manifestation of the Spirit in the Church. The Holy\nGhost was not given until Jesus was glorified. (Comp. John vii. 39\nwith Acts xix. 2-6.) In the third chapter of Revelation, Christ is\npresented to the Church in Sardis as \"having the seven Spirits.\" It\nwas as \"exalted to the right hand of God\" that the Lord Jesus \"shed\nforth\" the Holy Ghost upon His Church, in order that she might shine,\naccording to the power and perfection of her position, in the holy\nplace, her proper sphere of being, of action, and of worship.\n\nThen, again, we find it was one of Aaron's specific functions to light\nand trim those seven lamps.--\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,\n'Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil\nolive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.\nWithout the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the\ncongregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning\nbefore the Lord continually: it shall be a statute forever in your\ngenerations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before\nthe Lord continually.\" (Lev. xxiv. 1-4.) Thus we may see how the work\nof the Holy Ghost in the Church is linked with Christ's work on earth\nand His work in heaven. \"The seven lamps\" were there, no doubt; but\npriestly energy and diligence were needed in order to keep them\ntrimmed and lighted. The priest would continually need \"the tongs and\nsnuff-dishes\" for the purpose of removing aught that would not be a\nfit vehicle for the \"pure beaten oil.\" Those tongs and snuff-dishes\nwere of \"beaten gold\" likewise, for the whole matter was the direct\nresult of divine operation. If the Church shine, it is only by the\nenergy of the Spirit, and that energy is founded upon Christ, who, in\npursuance of God's eternal counsel, became, in His sacrifice and\npriesthood, the spring and power of every thing to His Church. All is\nof God. Whether we look within that mysterious vail, and behold the\nark with its cover, and the two significant figures attached thereto;\nor if we gaze on that which lay without the vail--the pure table and\nthe pure candlestick, with their distinctive vessels and\ninstruments--all speak to us of God, whether as revealed to us in\nconnection with the Son or the Holy Ghost.\n\nChristian reader, your high calling places you in the very midst of\nall these precious realities. Your place is not merely amid \"the\npatterns of things in the heavens,\" but amid \"the heavenly things\nthemselves.\" You have \"boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood\nof Jesus;\" you are a priest unto God; \"the showbread\" is yours; your\nplace is at \"the pure table,\" to feed on the priestly food, in the\nlight of the Holy Ghost. Nothing can ever deprive you of those divine\nprivileges,--they are yours forever. Let it be your care to watch\nagainst every thing that might rob you of the _enjoyment_ of them.\nBeware of all unhallowed tempers, lusts, feelings, and imaginations.\nKeep nature down; keep the world out; keep Satan off. May the Holy\nGhost fill your whole soul with Christ. Then you will be practically\nholy and abidingly happy,--you will bear fruit, and the Father will be\nglorified, and your joy shall be full.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVI.\n\n\nThe section of our book which now opens before us contains the\ninstructive description of the curtains and coverings of the\ntabernacle, wherein the spiritual eye discerns the shadows of the\nvarious features and phases of Christ's manifested character.\n\"Moreover, thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine\ntwined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of\ncunning work shalt thou make them.\" Here we have the different aspects\nof \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" The \"fine twined linen\" prefigures the\nspotless purity of His walk and character; while the \"blue, the\npurple, and the scarlet\" present Him to us as \"the Lord from\n_heaven_,\" who is to _reign_ according to the divine counsels, but\nwhose royalty is to be the result of His _sufferings_. Thus we have a\nspotless Man, a heavenly Man, a royal Man, a suffering Man. These\nmaterials were not confined to the \"curtains\" of the tabernacle, but\nwere also used in making \"the vail\" (ver. 31), \"the hanging for the\ndoor of the tent\" (ver. 36), \"the hanging for the gate of the court\"\n(chap. xxvii. 16), \"the cloths of service and the holy garments of\nAaron\" (chap. xxxix. 1). In a word, it was Christ everywhere, Christ\nin all, Christ alone.[12]\n\n  [12] The expression, \"_white_ and _clean_,\" gives peculiar force and\n  beauty to the type which the Holy Ghost has presented in the \"fine\n  twined linen.\" Indeed, there could not be a more appropriate emblem of\n  spotless manhood.\n\nThe \"fine twined linen,\" as expressive of Christ's spotless manhood,\nopens a most precious and copious spring of thought to the spiritual\nmind; it furnishes a theme on which we cannot meditate too profoundly.\nThe truth respecting Christ's humanity must be received with\nscriptural accuracy, held with spiritual energy, guarded with holy\njealousy, and confessed with heavenly power. If we are wrong as to\nthis, we cannot be right as to any thing. It is a grand, vital,\nfundamental truth; and if it be not received, held, guarded, and\nconfessed as God has revealed it in His holy Word, the entire\nsuperstructure must be unsound. Nothing can be more deplorable than\nthe looseness of thought and expression which seems to prevail in\nreference to this all-important doctrine. Were there more reverence\nfor the Word of God, there would be more accurate acquaintance with\nit; and, in this way, we should happily avoid all those erroneous and\nunguarded statements which surely must grieve the Holy Spirit of God,\nwhose province it is to testify of Jesus.\n\nWhen the angel had announced to Mary the glad tidings of the Saviour's\nbirth, she said to him, \"How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?\"\nHer feeble mind was utterly incompetent to enter into, much less to\nfathom, the stupendous mystery of \"God manifest in the flesh.\" But\nmark carefully the angelic reply--a reply, not to a sceptic mind, but\nto a pious, though ignorant, heart.--\"The Holy Ghost shall come upon\nthee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; wherefore,\nalso, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the\nSon of God.\" (Luke i. 34, 35.) Mary, doubtless, imagined that this\nbirth was to be according to the principles of ordinary generation;\nbut the angel corrects her mistake, and, in correcting it, enunciates\none of the grandest truths of revelation. He declares to her that\ndivine power was about to form A REAL MAN--\"the second Man--the Lord\nfrom heaven\"--One whose nature was divinely pure, utterly incapable\nof receiving or communicating any taint. This holy One was made \"_in\nthe likeness_ of sinful flesh,\" without sin in the flesh. He partook\nof real _bona fide_ flesh and blood without a particle or shadow of\nthe evil thereto attaching.\n\nThis is a cardinal truth which cannot be too accurately laid hold of\nor too tenaciously held. The incarnation of the Son, the second Person\nin the eternal Trinity--His mysterious entrance into pure and spotless\nflesh, formed, by the power of the Highest, in the virgin's womb, is\nthe foundation of the \"great mystery of godliness,\" of which the\ntopstone is a glorified God-man in heaven, the Head, Representative,\nand Model of the redeemed Church of God. The essential purity of His\nmanhood perfectly met the claims of God; the reality thereof met the\nnecessities of man. He was a Man, for none else would do to meet man's\nruin. But He was such a Man as could satisfy all the claims of the\nthrone of God. He was a spotless, real Man, in whom God could\nperfectly delight, and on whom man could unreservedly lean.\n\nI need not remind the enlightened reader that all this, if taken apart\nfrom death and resurrection, is perfectly unavailable to us. We need\nnot only an incarnate, but a crucified and risen, Christ. True, He\nshould be incarnate to be crucified; but it is death and resurrection\nwhich render incarnation available to us. It is nothing short of a\ndeadly error to suppose that in incarnation Christ was taking man into\nunion with Himself. This could not be. He Himself expressly teaches\nthe contrary. \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat\nfall into the ground and _die_, it abideth _alone_; but if it die, it\nbringeth forth much fruit.\" (John xii. 24.) There could be no union\nbetween sinful and holy flesh, pure and impure, corruptible and\nincorruptible, mortal and immortal. Accomplished death is the only\nbase of a unity between Christ and His elect members. It is in\nbeautiful connection with the words, \"Rise, let us go hence,\" that He\nsays, \"I am the vine, ye are the branches.\" \"We have been planted\ntogether in the likeness of His death.\" \"Our old man is crucified with\nHim, that the body of sin might be destroyed.\" \"In whom also ye are\ncircumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off\nthe body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:\nburied with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through\nthe faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead.\"\nI would refer my reader to Romans vi. and Colossians ii. as a full and\ncomprehensive statement of the truth on this important subject. It was\nonly as dead and risen that Christ and His people could become one.\nThe true corn of wheat had to fall into the ground and die ere a full\near could spring up and be gathered into the heavenly garner.\n\nBut while this is a plainly revealed truth of Scripture, it is equally\nplain that incarnation formed, as it were, the first layer of the\nglorious superstructure; and the curtains of \"fine twined linen\"\nprefigure the moral purity of \"the Man Christ Jesus.\" We have already\nseen the manner of His conception; and, as we pass along the current\nof His life here below, we meet with instance after instance of the\nsame spotless purity. He was forty days in the wilderness, tempted of\nthe devil, but there was no response in His pure nature to the\ntempters foul suggestions. He could touch the leper and receive no\ntaint; He could touch the bier and not contract the smell of death; He\ncould pass unscathed through the most polluted atmosphere. He was, as\nto His manhood, like a sunbeam emanating from the fountain of light,\nwhich can pass without a soil through the most defiling medium. He was\nperfectly unique in nature, constitution, and character. None but He\ncould say, \"Thou wilt not suffer Thine holy One to see corruption.\"\nThis was in reference to His humanity, which, as being perfectly holy\nand perfectly pure, was capable of being a sin-bearer. \"His own self\nbare our sins in His own body on the tree.\" Not _to_ the tree, as some\nwould teach us; but \"_on_ the tree.\" It was on the cross that Christ\nwas our sin-bearer, and only there. \"He hath made Him to be sin for us\nwho knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in\nHim.\" (2 Cor. v. 21.)\n\n\"_Blue_\" is the ethereal color, and marks the heavenly character of\nChrist, who, though He had come down into all the circumstances of\nactual and true humanity (sin excepted), yet was He \"the Lord from\nheaven.\" Though He was \"very man,\" yet He ever walked in the\nuninterrupted consciousness of His proper dignity, as a heavenly\nstranger. He never once forgot whence He had come, where He was, or\nwhither He was going. The spring of all His joys was on high. Earth\ncould neither make Him richer nor poorer. He found this world to be \"a\ndry and thirsty land, where no water is,\" and hence His spirit could\nonly find its refreshment above. It was entirely heavenly.--\"No man\nhath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even\nthe Son of Man _who is in heaven_.\" (John iii. 13.)\n\n\"_Purple_\" denotes royalty, and points us to Him who \"was born King of\nthe Jews;\" who offered Himself as such to the Jewish nation, and was\nrejected; who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession,\navowing Himself a king, when, to mortal vision, there was not so much\nas a single trace of royalty.--\"Thou sayest that I am a king.\" And\n\"hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of\npower, and coming in the clouds of heaven.\" And, finally, the\ninscription upon His cross, \"in letters of Hebrew, and Greek, and\nLatin\"--the language of religion, of science, and of government--declared\nHim, to the whole known world, to be \"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of\nthe Jews.\" Earth disowned His claims (so much the worse for it), but\nnot so heaven; there His claim was fully recognized. He was received\nas a conqueror into the eternal mansions of light, crowned with glory\nand honor, and seated, amid the acclamations of angelic hosts, on the\nthrone of the Majesty in the heavens, there to wait until His enemies\nbe made His footstool. \"Why do the heathen rage, and the people\nimagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the\nrulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His\nanointed, saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away\ntheir cords from us.' He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the\nLord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His\nwrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set _My King_\nupon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath\nsaid unto Me, 'Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of\nMe, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the\nuttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them\nwith a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's\nvessel.' Be wise now therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges\nof the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.\nKiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His\nwrath is kindled but a little. BLESSED ARE ALL THEY THAT PUT THEIR\nTRUST IN HIM.\" (Ps. ii.)\n\n\"_Scarlet_,\" when genuine, is produced by death; and this makes its\napplication to a suffering Christ safe and appropriate. \"Christ hath\nsuffered for us in the flesh.\" Without death, all would have been\nunavailing. We can admire \"the blue\" and \"the purple,\" but without\n\"the scarlet\" the tabernacle would have lacked an all-important\nfeature. It was by death that Christ destroyed him that had the power\nof death. The Holy Ghost, in setting before us a striking figure of\nChrist--the true tabernacle--could not possibly omit that phase of His\ncharacter which constitutes the ground-work of His connection with His\nbody the Church, of His claim to the throne of David, and the headship\nof all creation. In a word, He not only unfolds the Lord Jesus to our\nview, in these significant curtains, as a spotless Man, a royal Man,\nbut also a suffering Man,--One who, _by death_, should make good His\nclaims to all that to which, as man, He was entitled, in the divine\ncounsels.\n\nBut we have much more in the curtains of the tabernacle than the\nvaried and perfect phases of the character of Christ,--we have also\nthe unity and consistency of that character. Each phase is displayed\nin its own proper perfectness; and one never interferes with, or mars\nthe exquisite beauty of, another. All was in perfect harmony beneath\nthe eye of God, and was so displayed in \"the pattern which was showed\nto Moses on the mount,\" and in the copy which was exhibited below.\n\"Every one of the curtains shall have one measure. The five curtains\nshall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains\nshall be coupled one to another.\" Such was the fair proportion and\nconsistency in all the ways of Christ, as a perfect Man, walking on\nthe earth, in whatever aspect or relationship we view Him. When acting\nin one character, we never find aught that is, in the very least\ndegree, inconsistent with the divine integrity of another. He was, at\nall times, in all places, under all circumstances, the perfect Man.\nThere was nothing out of that fair and lovely proportion which\nbelonged to Him, in all His ways. \"Every one of the curtains shall\nhave one measure.\"\n\nThe two sets of five curtains each may symbolize the two grand aspects\nof Christ's character, as acting toward God and toward man. We have\nthe same two aspects in the law, namely, what was due to God, and what\nwas due to man; so that as to Christ, if we look in, we find \"Thy law\nis within My heart;\" and if we look at His outward character and walk,\nwe see those two elements adjusted with perfect accuracy, and not only\nadjusted, but inseparably linked together by the heavenly grace and\ndivine energy which dwelt in His most glorious Person.\n\n\"And thou shalt make _loops of blue_ upon the edge of the one curtain,\nfrom the selvedge in the coupling; and likewise shalt thou make in the\nuttermost edge of another curtain, in the coupling of the second....\nAnd thou shalt make fifty _taches of gold_, and couple the curtains\ntogether with the taches; and _it shall be one tabernacle_.\" We have\nhere displayed to us, in the \"loops of blue,\" and \"taches of _gold_,\"\nthat _heavenly_ grace and _divine_ energy in Christ which enabled Him\nto combine and perfectly adjust the claims of God and man; so that in\nresponding to both the one and the other, He never, for a moment,\nmarred the unity of His character. When crafty and hypocritical men\ntempted Him with the inquiry, \"Is it lawful to give tribute to C\u00e6sar,\nor not?\" His wise reply was, \"Render to C\u00e6sar the things that are\nC\u00e6sar's, and to God the things that are God's.\"\n\nNor was it merely C\u00e6sar, but man in every relation that had all his\nclaims perfectly met in Christ. As He united in His perfect Person the\nnature of God and man, so He met in His perfect ways the claims of God\nand man. Most interesting would it be to trace, through the gospel\nnarrative, the exemplification of the principle suggested by the\n\"loops of blue,\" and \"taches of gold;\" but I must leave my reader to\npursue this study under the immediate guidance of the Holy Ghost, who\ndelights to expatiate upon every feature and every phase of that\nperfect One whom it is His unvarying purpose and undivided object to\nexalt.\n\nThe curtains on which we have been dwelling were covered with other\n\"curtains of goats' hair.\" (Ver. 7-14.) Their beauty was hidden from\nthose without by that which bespoke roughness and severity. This\nlatter did not meet the view of those within. To all who were\nprivileged to enter the hallowed inclosure, nothing was visible save\n\"the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and fine twined linen,\" the varied\nyet combined exhibition of the virtues and excellencies of that divine\nTabernacle in which God dwelt within the vail--that is, of Christ,\nthrough whose flesh, the antitype of all these, the beams of the\ndivine nature shone so delicately that the sinner could behold without\nbeing overwhelmed by their dazzling brightness.\n\nAs the Lord Jesus passed along this earth, how few really knew Him!\nHow few had eyes anointed with heavenly eye-salve to penetrate and\nappreciate the deep mystery of His character! How few saw \"the blue,\nthe purple, the scarlet, and fine twined linen\"! It was only when\nfaith brought man into His presence that He ever allowed the\nbrightness of what He was to shine forth--ever allowed the glory to\nbreak through the cloud. To nature's eye there would seem to have been\na reserve and a severity about Him which were aptly prefigured by the\n\"covering of goats' hair.\" All this was the result of His profound\nseparation and estrangement, not from sinners personally, but from the\nthoughts and maxims of men. He had nothing in common with man as such,\nnor was it within the compass of mere nature to comprehend or enjoy\nHim. \"No man,\" said He, \"can come to Me, except the Father which hath\nsent Me draw him;\" and when one of those \"drawn\" ones confessed His\nname, He declared that \"flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto\nthee, but My Father which is in heaven.\" (Comp. John vi. 44; Matt.\nxvi. 17.) He was \"a root out of a dry ground,\" having neither \"form\nnor comeliness\" to attract the eye or gratify the heart of man. The\npopular current could never flow in the direction of of One who, as He\npassed rapidly across the stage of this vain world, wrapped Himself up\nin a \"covering of goats' hair.\" Jesus was not popular. The multitude\nmight follow Him for a moment, because His ministry stood connected,\nin their judgment, with \"the loaves and fishes\" which met their need;\nbut they were just as ready to cry, \"Away with Him!\" as \"Hosanna to\nthe Son of David!\" Oh, let Christians remember this! Let the servants\nof Christ remember it! Let all preachers of the gospel remember it!\nLet one and all of us ever seek to bear in mind the \"_covering of\ngoats' hair_\"!\n\nBut if the goats' skins expressed the severity of Christ's separation\nfrom earth, \"the rams' skins _dyed red_\" exhibit His intense\nconsecration and devotedness to God, which was carried out even unto\n_death_. He was the only perfect Servant that ever stood in God's\nvineyard. He had one object, which He pursued with an undeviating\ncourse from the manger to the cross, and that was, to glorify the\nFather, and finish His work. \"Wist ye not that I must be about My\nFather's business?\" was the language of His youth, and the\naccomplishment of that \"business\" was the design of His life. \"His\nmeat was to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work.\"\n\"The rams' skins dyed red\" formed as distinct a part of His ordinary\nhabit as the \"goats' hair.\" His perfect devotion to God separated Him\nfrom the habits of men.\n\n\"The badgers' skins\" may exhibit to us the holy vigilance with which\nthe Lord Jesus guarded against the approach of every thing hostile to\nthe purpose which engrossed His whole soul. He took up His position\nfor God, and held it with a tenacity which no influence of men or\ndevils, earth or hell, could overcome. The covering of badger's skins\nwas \"above\" (ver. 14), teaching us that the most prominent feature in\nthe character of \"the Man Christ Jesus\" was an invincible\ndetermination to stand as a witness for God on the earth. He was the\ntrue Naboth, who gave up His life rather than surrender the truth of\nGod, or give up that for which He had taken His place in this world.\n\nThe goat, the ram, and the badger must be regarded as exhibiting\ncertain natural features, and also as symbolizing certain moral\nqualities; and we must take both into account in our application of\nthese figures to the character of Christ. The human eye could only\ndiscern the former. It could see none of the moral grace, beauty, and\ndignity which lay beneath the outward form of the despised and humble\nJesus of Nazareth. When the treasures of heavenly wisdom flowed from\nHis lips, the inquiry was, \"Is not this the carpenter?\" or, \"How\nknoweth this Man letters, having never learned?\" When He asserted His\neternal Sonship and Godhead, the word was, \"Thou art not yet fifty\nyears old,\" or, \"They took up stones to cast at Him.\" In short, the\nacknowledgment of the Pharisees in John ix. was true in reference to\nmen in general.--\"As for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.\"\n\nIt would be utterly impossible, in the compass of a volume like this,\nto trace the unfoldings of those precious features of Christ's\ncharacter through the gospel narratives. Sufficient has been said to\nopen up springs of spiritual thought to my reader, and to furnish some\nfaint idea of the rich treasures which are wrapped up in the curtains\nand coverings of the tabernacle. Christ's hidden being, secret\nsprings, and inherent excellencies--His outward and unattractive\nform--what He was in Himself, what He was Godward, and what He was\nmanward--what He was in the judgment of faith, and what in the\njudgment of nature--all is sweetly and impressively told out, to the\ncircumcised ear, in the \"curtains of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine\ntwined linen,\" and the \"coverings of skins.\"\n\n\"The boards for the tabernacle\" were made of the same wood as was used\nin constructing \"the ark of the covenant.\" Moreover, they were upheld\nby the sockets of silver formed out of the atonement; their hooks and\nchapiters being of the same. (Compare attentively chap. xxx. 11-16,\nwith chap. xxxviii. 25-28.) The whole frame-work of the tent of the\ntabernacle was based on that which spoke of atonement or ransom, while\nthe \"hooks and chapiters\" at the top set forth the same. The sockets\nwere buried in the sand, and the hooks and chapiters were above. It\nmatters not how deep you penetrate, or how high you rise, that\nglorious and eternal truth is emblazoned before you, \"I HAVE FOUND A\nRANSOM.\" Blessed be God, \"we are not redeemed with corruptible things,\nas silver and gold, ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a\nlamb without blemish and without spot.\"\n\nThe tabernacle was divided into three distinct parts, namely, \"the\nholy of holies,\" \"the holy place,\" and \"the court of the tabernacle.\"\nThe entrance into each of these was of the same materials--\"blue,\npurple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.\" (Compare chapter xxvi. 31,\n36; xxvii. 16.) The interpretation of which is simply this: Christ\nforms the only doorway into the varied fields of glory which are yet\nto be displayed, whether on earth, in heaven, or in the heaven of\nheavens. \"Every family, in heaven and earth,\" will be ranged under His\nheadship, as all will be brought into everlasting felicity and glory\non the ground of His accomplished atonement. This is plain enough, and\nneeds no stretch of the imagination to grasp it. We know it to be\ntrue; and when we know the truth which is shadowed forth, the shadow\nis easily understood. If only our hearts be filled with Christ, we\nshall not go far astray in our interpretations of the tabernacle and\nits furniture. It is not a head full of learned criticism that will\navail us much here, but a heart full of affection for Jesus, and a\nconscience at rest in the blood of His cross.\n\nMay the Spirit of God enable us to study these things with more\ninterest and intelligence. May He \"open our eyes that we may behold\nwondrous things out of His law.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXVII.\n\n\nWe have now arrived at the brazen altar, which stood at the door of\nthe tabernacle; and I would call my reader's most particular attention\nto the order of the Holy Ghost in this portion of our book. We have\nalready remarked that from chapter xxv. to the nineteenth verse of\nchapter xxvii. forms a distinct division, in which we are furnished\nwith a description of the ark and mercy-seat, the table and\ncandlestick, the curtains and the vail; and, lastly, the brazen altar\nand the court in which that altar stood. If my reader will turn to\nchapter xxxv. 15, chapter xxxvii. 25, and chapter xl. 26, he will\nremark that the golden altar of incense is noticed, in each of the\nthree instances, between the candlestick and the brazen altar;\nwhereas, when Jehovah is giving directions to Moses, the brazen altar\nis introduced immediately after the candlestick and the curtains of\nthe tabernacle. Now, inasmuch as there must be a divine reason for\nthis difference, it is the privilege of every diligent and intelligent\nstudent of the Word to inquire what that reason is.\n\nWhy, then, does the Lord, when giving directions about the furniture\nof the \"holy place,\" omit the altar of incense, and pass out to the\nbrazen altar which stood at the door of the tabernacle? The reason, I\nbelieve, is simply this: He first describes the mode in which He would\nmanifest Himself to man, and then He describes the mode of man's\napproach to Him. He took His seat upon the throne, as \"the Lord of all\nthe earth.\" The beams of His glory were hidden behind the vail--type\nof Christ's flesh (Heb. x. 20.); but there was the manifestation of\nHimself in connection with man, as in \"the pure table,\" and by the\nlight and power of the Holy Ghost, as in the candlestick. Then we\nhave the manifested character of Christ as a man down here on this\nearth, as seen in the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle. And,\nfinally, we have the brazen altar as the grand exhibition of the\nmeeting-place between a holy God and a sinner. This conducts us, as it\nwere, to the extreme point, from which we return, in company with\nAaron and his sons, back to the holy place, the ordinary priestly\nposition, where stood the golden altar of incense. Thus the order is\nstrikingly beautiful. The golden altar is not spoken of until there is\na priest to burn incense thereon, for Jehovah showed Moses the\npatterns of things in the heavens according to the order in which\nthese things are to be apprehended by faith. On the other hand, when\nMoses gives directions to the congregation (chap. xxxv.), when he\nrecords the labors of \"Bezaleel and Aholiab\" (chap. xxxvii. and\nxxxviii.), and when he sets up the tabernacle (chap. xl.), he follows\nthe simple order in which the furniture was placed.\n\nThe prayerful investigation of this interesting subject, and a\ncomparison of the passages above referred to, will amply repay my\nreader. We shall now examine the brazen altar.\n\nThis altar was the place where the sinner approached God, in the power\nand efficacy of the blood of atonement. It stood \"at the door of the\ntabernacle of the tent of the congregation,\" and on it all the blood\nwas shed. It was composed of \"shittim wood and brass.\" The wood was\nthe same as that of the golden altar of incense: but the metal was\ndifferent, and the reason of this difference is obvious. The altar of\nbrass was the place where sin was dealt with according to the divine\njudgment concerning it. The altar of gold was the place from whence\nthe precious fragrance of Christ's acceptableness ascended to the\nthrone of God. The \"shittim wood,\" as the figure of Christ's humanity,\nmust be the same in each case; but in the brazen altar we see Christ\nmeeting the fire of divine justice; in the golden altar we behold Him\nfeeding the divine affections. At the former, the fire of divine wrath\nwas quenched; at the latter, the fire of priestly worship is kindled.\nThe soul delights to find Christ in both; but the altar of brass is\nwhat meets the need of a guilty conscience,--it is the very first\nthing for a poor, helpless, needy, convicted sinner. There cannot be\nsettled peace, in reference to the question of sin, until the eye of\nfaith rests on Christ as the antitype of the brazen altar. I must see\nmy sin reduced to ashes in the pan of that altar ere I can enjoy rest\nof conscience in the presence of God. It is when I know, by faith in\nthe record of God, that He Himself has dealt with my sin in the Person\nof Christ, at the brazen altar--that He has satisfied all His own\nrighteous claims--that He has put away my sin out of His holy\npresence, so that it can never come back again--it is then, but not\nuntil then, that I can enjoy divine and everlasting peace.\n\nI would here offer a remark as to the real meaning of the \"gold\" and\n\"brass\" in the furniture of the tabernacle. \"Gold\" is the symbol of\ndivine righteousness, or the divine nature in \"the Man Christ Jesus.\"\n\"Brass\" is the symbol of righteousness, demanding judgment of sin, as\nin the brazen altar; or the judgment of uncleanness, as in the brazen\nlaver. This will account for the fact that _inside_ the tent of the\ntabernacle all was gold,--the ark, the mercy-seat, the table, the\ncandlestick, the altar of incense. All these were the symbols of the\ndivine nature--the inherent personal excellence of the Lord Jesus\nChrist. On the other hand, _outside_ the tent of the tabernacle all\nwas brass,--the brazen altar and its vessels, the laver and its foot.\n\nThe claims of righteousness, as to sin and uncleanness, must be\ndivinely met ere there can be any enjoyment of the precious mysteries\nof Christ's Person, as unfolded in the inner sanctuary of God. It is\nwhen I see all sin and all uncleanness perfectly judged and washed\naway that I can, as a priest, draw nigh and worship in the holy place,\nand enjoy the full display of all the beauty and excellency of the\nGod-man, Christ Jesus.\n\nThe reader can, with much profit, follow out the application of this\nthought in detail, not merely in the study of the tabernacle and the\ntemple, but also in various passages of the Word; for example, in the\nfirst chapter of Revelation, Christ is seen \"girt about the paps with\na _golden_ girdle,\" and having \"His feet like unto fine _brass_, as if\nthey burned in a furnace.\" The \"golden girdle\" is the symbol of His\nintrinsic righteousness. The \"feet like unto fine brass\" express the\nunmitigated judgment of evil (He cannot tolerate evil, but must crush\nit beneath His feet).\n\nSuch is the Christ with whom we have to do. He judges sin, but He\nsaves the sinner. Faith sees sin reduced to ashes at the brazen altar;\nit sees all uncleanness washed away at the brazen laver; and, finally,\nit enjoys Christ as He is unfolded, in the secret of the divine\npresence, by the light and power of the Holy Ghost. It finds Him at\nthe golden altar, in all the value of His intercession; it feeds on\nHim at the pure table; it recognizes Him in the ark and mercy-seat, as\nthe One who answers all the claims of justice, and, at the same time,\nmeets all human need; it beholds Him in the vail, with all its mystic\nfigures; it reads His precious name on every thing. O, for a heart to\nprize and praise this matchless, glorious Christ!\n\nNothing can be of more vital importance than a clear understanding of\nthe doctrine of the brazen altar; that is to say, of the doctrine\ntaught there. It is from the want of clearness as to this that so many\nsouls go mourning all their days. They have never had a clean,\nthorough settlement of the whole matter of their guilt at the brazen\naltar; they have never really beheld, by faith, God Himself settling,\non the cross, the entire question of their sins; they are seeking\npeace for their uneasy consciences in regeneration and its\nevidences,--the fruits of the Spirit, frames, feelings,\nexperiences,--things quite right and most valuable in themselves, but\nthey are not the ground of peace. What fills the soul with perfect\npeace is the knowledge of what God hath wrought at the brazen altar.\nThe ashes in yonder pan tell me the peace-giving story that ALL IS\nDONE. The believer's sins were all put away by God's own hand of\nredeeming love. \"He hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no\nsin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.\" (2 Cor.\nv.) All sin must be judged: but the believer's sins have been already\njudged in the cross; hence, he is perfectly justified. To suppose that\nthere could be any thing against the very feeblest believer, is to\ndeny the entire work of the cross. His sins and iniquities have been\n_all_ put away by God Himself, and therefore they must needs be\nperfectly put away. They all went with the outpoured life of the Lamb\nof God.\n\nDear Christian reader, see that your heart is thoroughly established\nin the peace which Jesus has made \"by the blood of His cross.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XXVIII. & XXIX.\n\n\nThese chapters unfold to us the priesthood, in all its value and\nefficacy. They are full of deep interest. The very word \"priesthood\"\nawakens in the heart feelings of the most profound thankfulness for\nthe grace which has not only provided a way for us to get into the\ndivine presence, but also the means of keeping us there, according to\nthe character and claims of that high and holy position.\n\nThe Aaronic priesthood was God's provision for a people who were, in\nthemselves, at a distance, and needed one to appear for them in His\npresence continually. We are taught in Hebrews vii. that this order of\npriesthood belonged to the law--that it was made \"after the law of a\ncarnal commandment\"--that it \"could not continue by reason of\ndeath\"--that the priests belonging to it had infirmity. It could not,\ntherefore, impart perfection, and hence we have to bless God that it\nwas instituted \"without an oath.\" The oath of God could only stand\nconnected with that which was to endure forever, even the perfect,\nimmortal, untransferable priesthood of our great and glorious\nMelchisedek, who imparts both to His sacrifice and His priesthood all\nthe value, the dignity, and the glory of His own peerless Person. The\nthought of having such a Sacrifice and such a Priest as He causes the\nbosom to heave with emotions of the liveliest gratitude.\n\nBut we must proceed to the examination of the chapters which lie\nbefore us.\n\nIn chapter xxviii. we have the robes, and in chapter xxix. we have the\nsacrifices. The former have more especial reference to the need of the\npeople; the latter, on the other hand, to the claims of God. The robes\nexpress the varied functions and qualities of the priestly office.\n\"The ephod\" was the great priestly robe. It was inseparably connected\nwith the shoulder-pieces and the breastplate, teaching us, very\ndistinctly, that the _strength_ of the priest's shoulder, and the\n_affection_ of the priest's heart, were wholly devoted to the\ninterests of those whom he represented, and on whose behalf he wore\nthe ephod--that special priestly robe. This, which was typified in\nAaron, is actualized in Christ. His omnipotent strength and infinite\nlove are ours--ours eternally--ours unquestionably. The shoulder which\nsustains the universe upholds the feeblest and most obscure member of\nthe blood-bought congregation. The heart of Jesus beats with an\nundying affection--with an everlasting and an all-enduring love for\nthe most neglected member of the redeemed assembly.\n\nThe names of the twelve tribes, engraven on precious stones, were\nborne both on the shoulders and on the breast of the high-priest. (See\nverses 9-12, 15-29.) The peculiar excellence of a precious stone is\nseen in this, that the more intense the light which is brought to bear\nupon it, the more brightly it shines. Light can never make a precious\nstone look dim; it only increases and develops its lustre. The twelve\ntribes--one as well as another, the smallest as well as the\ngreatest--were borne continually upon the breast and shoulders of\nAaron before the Lord. They were each and every one maintained in the\ndivine presence in all that undimmed lustre and unalterable beauty\nwhich belonged to the position in which the perfect grace of the God\nof Israel had set them. The people were represented before God by the\nhigh-priest. Whatever might be their infirmities, their errors, or\ntheir failures, yet their names glittered on the breastplate with\nunfading brilliancy. Jehovah had set them there, and who could pluck\nthem thence? Jehovah had put them thus, and who could put them\notherwise? Who could penetrate into the holy place to snatch from\nAaron's breast the name of one of Israel's tribes? Who could sully the\nlustre which gathered round those names, in the position which Jehovah\nhad placed them? Not one. They lay beyond the reach of every\nenemy--beyond the influence of every evil.\n\nHow encouraging and consolatory it is for the tried, tempted,\nbuffeted, and self-abased children of God to remember that God only\nsees them on the heart of Jesus! In His view, they ever shine in all\nthe effulgence of Christ--they are arrayed in divine comeliness. The\nworld cannot see them thus; but God does, and this makes all the\ndifference. Men, in looking at the people of God, see only their blots\nand blemishes. They have no ability whatever to see further, and as a\nconsequence, their judgment is always wrong--always one-sided. They\ncannot see the sparkling jewels, bearing the names of God's redeemed,\nengraven by the hand of changeless love. True it is that Christians\nshould be most careful not to furnish the men of the world with any\njust occasion to speak reproachfully. They should seek, \"by patient\ncontinuance in well-doing, to put to silence the ignorance of foolish\nmen.\" If only they entered, by the power of the Holy Ghost, into the\ncomeliness in which they ever shine, in God's vision, it would\nassuredly lead to a walk of practical holiness, moral purity, and\nelevation before the eyes of men. The more clearly we enter, by faith,\ninto objective truth, or what is true of us in Christ, the deeper,\nmore experimental and practical will be the subjective work in us, and\nthe more complete will be the exhibition of the moral effect in our\nlife and character.\n\nBut, thank God, our judgment is not with men, but with Himself; and He\ngraciously shows us our great High-Priest, \"bearing our judgment on\nHis heart before the Lord continually.\" This imparts deep and settled\npeace--a peace which nothing can shake. We may have to confess and\nmourn over our constant failures and short-comings,--the eye may, at\ntimes, be so dimmed with the tears of a genuine contrition as to be\nbut little able to catch the lustre of the precious stones on which\nour names are engraven, yet there they are all the while. God sees\nthem, and that is enough. He is glorified by their brightness--a\nbrightness not of our attaining, but of His imparting. We had naught\nsave darkness, dullness, and deformity. He has imparted brightness,\nlustre, and beauty. To Him be all the praise throughout the\neverlasting ages!\n\n\"The girdle\" is the well-known symbol of service; and Christ is the\nperfect Servant--the Servant of the divine counsels and affections,\nand of the deep and manifold need of His people. With an earnest\nspirit of devotedness, which nothing could damp, He girded Himself\nfor His work; and when faith sees the Son of God thus girded, it\njudges, assuredly, that no occasion can be too great for Him. We find,\nfrom the type before us, that all the virtues, the dignities, and the\nglories of Christ, in His divine and human nature, enter fully into\nHis servant-character.--\"The curious girdle of the ephod, which is\nupon it, shall be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of\ngold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.\" (Verse\n8.) The faith of this must meet every necessity of the soul, and\nsatisfy the most ardent longings of the heart. We not only see Christ\nas the slain Victim at the brazen altar, but also as the girded\nHigh-Priest over the house of God. Well, therefore, may the inspired\napostle say, \"_Let us draw near_,\"--\"_Let us hold fast_,\"--\"_Let us\nconsider one another_.\" (Heb. x. 19-24.)\n\n\"And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the\nThummim [\"lights and perfections\"]; and they shall be upon Aaron's\nheart, when he goeth in before the Lord: and Aaron shall bear the\njudgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord\ncontinually.\" We learn, from various passages of the Word, that the\n\"Urim\" stood connected with the communication of the mind of God in\nreference to the various questions which arose in the details of\nIsrael's history. Thus, for example, in the appointment of Joshua, we\nread, \"And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask\ncounsel for him, _after the judgment of Urim before the Lord_.\"\n(Numb. xxvii. 21.) \"And of Levi he said, 'Let thy Thummim and thy Urim\n[thy perfections and thy lights] be with thy holy one.... They shall\nteach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law.'\" (Deut. xxxiii. 8-10.)\n\"And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not,\nneither by dreams, _nor by Urim_, nor by prophets.\" (1 Sam. xxviii.\n6.) \"And Tirshatha said unto them that they should not eat of the most\nholy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.\"\n(Ezra ii. 63.) Thus we learn that the high-priest not only bore the\njudgment of the congregation before the Lord, but also communicated\nthe judgment of the Lord to the congregation. Solemn, weighty, and\nmost precious functions! All this we have, in divine perfectness, in\nour \"great High-Priest, who has passed into the heavens.\" He bears the\njudgment of His people on His heart continually; and He, by the Holy\nGhost, communicates to us the counsel of God, in reference to the most\nminute circumstances of our daily course. We do not want dreams or\nvisions; if only we walk in the Spirit, we shall enjoy all the\ncertainty which the perfect \"Urim,\" on the breast of our High-Priest,\ncan afford.\n\n\"And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue.... And\nbeneath, upon the hem of it, thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and\nof purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of\ngold between them round about: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a\ngolden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about.\nAnd it shall be upon Aaron to minister; and his sound shall be heard\nwhen he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he\ncometh out, that he die not.\" (Ver. 31-35.) The blue robe of the ephod\nis expressive of the entirely heavenly character of our High-Priest.\nHe is gone into heaven,--He is beyond the range of mortal vision; but,\nby the power of the Holy Ghost, there is divine testimony to the truth\nof His being alive, in the presence of God; and not only testimony,\nbut fruit likewise. \"A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell\nand a pomegranate,\"--such is the beauteous order. True testimony to\nthe great truth that Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for us\nwill be inseparably connected with fruitfulness in His service. O, for\na deeper understanding of these precious and holy mysteries![13]\n\n  [13] It is needless to remark that there is divine appropriateness, as\n  well as significancy, in all the figures presented to us in the Word.\n  Thus, the \"pomegranate,\" when opened, is found to consist of a number\n  of seeds, contained in a _red_ fluid. Surely this has a voice. Let\n  spirituality, not imagination, judge.\n\n\"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the\nengravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shall put it on\na blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre, upon the forefront of the\nmitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron\nmay bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel\nshall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon\n_his_ forehead, that _they_ may be accepted before the Lord.\" (Ver.\n36-38.) Here is a weighty truth for the soul. The golden plate on\nAaron's forehead was the type of the essential holiness of the Lord\nJesus Christ. \"It shall be ALWAYS upon HIS forehead, that THEY may be\naccepted before the Lord.\" What rest for the heart amid all the\nfluctuations of one's experience! Our High-Priest is \"always\" in the\npresence of God for us. We are represented by, and accepted in, Him.\nHis holiness is ours. The more deeply we become acquainted with our\nown personal vileness and infirmity, the more we enter into the\nhumiliating truth that in us dwelleth no good thing, the more\nfervently shall we bless the God of all grace for the soul-sustaining\ntruth contained in these words, \"It shall be always upon _his_\nforehead, that _they_ may be accepted before the Lord.\"\n\nIf my reader should happen to be one who is frequently tempted and\nharassed with doubts and fears, ups and downs in his spiritual\ncondition, with a constant tendency to look inward upon his poor,\ncold, wandering, wayward heart,--if he be tried with an excessive\nvagueness and want of holy reality, oh, let him stay his whole soul\nupon the precious truth that this great High-Priest represents him\nbefore the throne of God. Let him fix his eye upon the golden plate,\nand read in the inscription thereon the measure of his eternal\nacceptance with God. May the Holy Ghost enable him to taste the\npeculiar sweetness and sustaining power of this divine and heavenly\ndoctrine.\n\n\"And for Aaron's sons thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for\nthem girdles, and bonnets shalt thou make for them, for glory and for\nbeauty.... And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their\nnakedness; ... and they shall be upon Aaron, and upon his sons, when\nthey come in unto the tabernacle of the congregation, or when they\ncome near unto the altar to minister in the holy place; that they bear\nnot iniquity and die.\" Here we have Aaron and his sons, typifying\nChrist and the Church, standing in the power of one divine and\neverlasting righteousness. Aaron's priestly robes express those\ninherent, essential, personal, and eternal qualities in Christ; while\nthe \"coats\" and \"bonnets\" of Aaron's sons represent those graces with\nwhich the Church is endowed, in virtue of its association with the\ngreat Head of the priestly family.\n\nThus, in all that has passed before us in this chapter, we may see\nwith what gracious care Jehovah made provision for the need of His\npeople, in that He allowed them to see the one who was about to act on\ntheir behalf, and to represent them in His presence, clothed with all\nthose robes which directly met their actual condition, as known to\nHim. Nothing was left out which the heart could possibly need or\ndesire. They might survey him from head to foot and see that all was\ncomplete. From the holy mitre that wreathed his brow, to the bells and\npomegranates on the hem of his garment, all was as it should be,\nbecause all was according to the pattern shown in the mount--all was\naccording to Jehovah's estimate of the people's need and of His own\nrequirements.\n\nBut there is yet one point connected with Aaron's robes which demands\nthe reader's special attention, and that is the mode in which the gold\nwas introduced in the making of them. This is presented to us in\nchapter xxxix, but the interpretation comes in suitably enough in this\nplace. \"And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into\nwires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet,\nand in the fine linen, with cunning work.\" (Ver. 3.) We have already\nremarked that \"the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and fine twined\nlinen\" exhibit the various phases of Christ's manhood, and the gold\nrepresents his divine nature. The wire of gold was curiously\ninsinuated into all the other materials, so as to be inseparably\nconnected with, and yet perfectly distinct from, them.\n\nThe application of this striking figure to the character of the Lord\nJesus is full of interest. In various scenes throughout the gospel\nnarrative, we can easily discern this rare and beauteous union of\nmanhood and Godhead, and, at the same time, their mysterious\ndistinctness.\n\nLook, for example, at Christ on the sea of Galilee. In the midst of\nthe storm \"He was asleep on a pillow\" (precious exhibition of His\nperfect manhood!); but in a moment He rises from the attitude of real\nhumanity into all the dignity and majesty of Godhead, and, as the\nsupreme Governor of the universe, He hushes the storm and calms the\nsea. There is no effort, no haste, no girding Himself up for an\noccasion. With perfect ease, He rises from the condition of positive\nhumanity into the sphere of essential deity. The repose of the former\nis not more natural than the activity of the latter. He is as\nperfectly at home in the one as in the other.\n\nAgain, see Him in the case of the collectors of tribute, at the close\nof Matthew xvii. As the \"Most High God, possessor of heaven and\nearth,\" He lays His hand upon the treasures of the ocean, and says,\n\"They are Mine;\" and, having declared that \"the sea is His, and He\nmade it,\" He turns round and, in the exhibition of perfect humanity,\nHe links Himself with His poor servant by those touching words, \"That\ntake, and give unto them _for Me and thee_.\" Gracious words!--peculiarly\ngracious, when taken in connection with the miracle so entirely\nexpressive of the Godhead of the One who was thus linking Himself, in\ninfinite condescension, with a poor, feeble worm.\n\nOnce more, see Him at the grave of Lazarus. (John xi.) He groans and\nweeps, and those groans and tears issue from the profound depths of a\nperfect manhood--from that perfect human heart which felt, as no other\nheart could feel, what it was to stand in the midst of a scene in\nwhich sin had produced such terrible fruits. But then, as the\nResurrection and the Life, as the One who held in His omnipotent grasp\n\"the keys of hell and of death,\" He cries, \"Lazarus, come forth!\" and\ndeath and the grave, responsive to His authoritative voice, throw\nopen their massy doors and let go their captive.\n\nMy reader's mind will easily recur to other scenes, in the gospels,\nillustrative of the beautiful combination of the wire of gold with\n\"the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine-twined linen;\" that\nis to say, the union of the Godhead with the manhood, in the\nmysterious Person of the Son of God. There is nothing new in the\nthought; it has often been noticed by those who have studied, with any\namount of care, the Scriptures of the Old Testament.\n\nIt is, however, always edifying to have the blessed Lord Jesus\nintroduced to our thoughts as \"very God and very man.\" The Holy Ghost\nhas, with \"cunning workmanship,\" wrought the two together and\npresented them to the renewed mind of the believer to be enjoyed and\nadmired. May we have hearts to appreciate such teaching!\n\nLet us now, ere we close this section, look for a moment at chapter\nxxix.\n\nIt has been already remarked that Aaron and his sons represent Christ\nand the Church, but in the opening verses of this chapter Aaron gets\nthe precedency.--\"And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the\ndoor of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with\nwater.\" The washing of water rendered Aaron typically what Christ is\nintrinsically--holy. The Church is holy in virtue of her being linked\nwith Christ in resurrection life. He is the perfect definition of what\nshe is before God. The ceremonial act of washing with water expresses\nthe action of the Word of God. (See Eph. v. 26.)\n\n\"Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon _his_ head,\nand anoint _him_.\" (Ver. 7.) Here we have the Spirit; but let it be\nnoted that Aaron was anointed _before the blood was shed_, because he\nstands before us as the type of Christ, who, in virtue of what He was\nin His own Person, was anointed with the Holy Ghost, long before the\nwork of the cross was accomplished. The sons of Aaron, on the other\nhand, were not anointed until after the blood was shed.--\"Then shalt\nthou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of\nthe right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons,\nand upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of\ntheir right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round\nabout.[14] And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar,\nand of _the anointing oil_, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his\ngarments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with\nhim.\" (Ver. 20, 21.) As regards the Church, the blood of the cross\nlies at the foundation of every thing. She could not be anointed with\nthe Holy Ghost until her risen Head had gone into heaven, and laid\nupon the throne of the divine Majesty the record of His accomplished\nsacrifice. \"This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are\nwitnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and\nhaving received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath\nshed forth this which ye now see and hear.\" (Acts ii. 32, 33. Comp.\nalso John vii. 39; Acts xix. 1-6.) From the days of Abel downward,\nsouls had been regenerated, influenced, acted upon, and qualified for\noffice by the Holy Ghost; but the Church could not be anointed with\nthe Holy Ghost until her victorious Lord had entered heaven and\nreceived, on her behalf, the promise of the Father. The truth of this\ndoctrine is taught, in the most direct and absolute manner, throughout\nthe New Testament; and its strict integrity is maintained, in the type\nbefore us, by the obvious fact that though Aaron was anointed before\nthe blood was shed (ver. 7.), yet his sons were not, and could not be,\nanointed till after (ver. 21.).\n\n  [14] The ear, the hand, and the foot, are all consecrated to God in\n  the power of accomplished atonement, and by the energy of the Holy\n  Ghost.\n\nBut we learn more from the order of anointing in our chapter than the\nimportant truth with respect to the work of the Spirit and the\nposition of the Church; we have also set before us the personal\npre-eminence of the Son.--\"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated\niniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil\nof gladness _above_ Thy fellows.\" (Ps. xlv. 7; Heb. i. 9.) This must\never be held fast in the convictions and experience of the people of\nGod. True, the infinite grace of God is set forth in the marvelous\nfact that guilty, hell-deserving sinners should ever be spoken of in\nsuch terms--should ever be styled the \"_fellows_\" of the Son of God;\nbut let us never for a moment forget the word \"_above_.\" No matter\nhow close the union (and it is as close as God's eternal counsels of\nredeeming love could make it), yet \"in all things\" Christ must \"have\nthe pre-eminence.\" It could not be otherwise. He is Head over\nall,--Head of the Church, Head of creation, Head of angels, Lord of\nthe universe. There is not a single orb that rolls along the heavens\nthat does not belong to Him, and move under His control; there is not\na single worm that crawls along the earth which is not under His\nsleepless eye. He is \"high over all,\" \"the first-begotten from the\ndead,\" and \"of all creation,\" \"the beginning of the creation of God.\"\n\"Every family in heaven and earth\" must range itself, in the divine\ncategory, under Christ. All this will ever be thankfully owned by\nevery spiritual mind; yea, the very enunciation of it sends a thrill\nthrough the Christian's heart. All who are led of the Spirit will\nrejoice in every unfolding of the personal glories of the Son; nor can\nthey tolerate, for a single instant, any thing derogatory thereto. Let\nthe Church be raised to the loftiest heights of glory, it will be her\njoy to bow at the feet of Him who stooped to raise her, by virtue of\nHis completed sacrifice, into union with Himself; who, having\nsatisfied, in the fullest way, all the claims of divine justice, can\ngratify all the divine affections by making her inseparably one with\nHimself, in all His infinite acceptableness with the Father, and in\nHis eternal glory. \"He is not _ashamed_ to call them brethren.\"\n\n     NOTE.--I purposely forbear entering upon the subject of the\n     offerings in chapter xxix, inasmuch as we shall have the\n     various classes of offerings, in all their minute detail,\n     fully before us in the book of Leviticus, if the Lord will.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXX.\n\n\nThe priesthood being instituted, as in the two preceding chapters, we\nare here introduced to the position of true priestly worship and\ncommunion. The order is marked and instructive, and, moreover,\nprecisely corresponds with the order of the believer's experience. At\nthe brazen altar, he sees the ashes of his sins; he then sees himself\nlinked with One who, though personally pure and spotless, so that He\ncould be anointed without blood, has, nevertheless, associated us with\nHimself in life, righteousness, and favor; and, finally, he beholds,\nin the golden altar, the preciousness of Christ, as the material on\nwhich the divine affections feed.\n\nThus it is ever; there must be a brazen altar and a priest before\nthere can be a golden altar and incense. Very many of the children of\nGod have never passed the brazen altar; they have never yet, in\nspirit, entered into the power and reality of true priestly worship.\nThey do not rejoice in a full, clear, divine sense of pardon and\nrighteousness,--they have never reached the golden altar. They hope to\nreach it when they die; but it is their privilege to be at it _now_.\nThe work of the cross has removed out of the way every thing which\nwould act as a barrier to their free and intelligent worship. The\npresent position of all true believers is at the golden altar of\nincense.\n\nThis altar typifies a position of wondrous blessedness. There we enjoy\nthe reality and efficacy of Christ's intercession. Forever done with\nself and all pertaining thereto, so far as any expectation of good is\nconcerned, we are to be occupied with what He is before God. We shall\nfind nothing in self but defilement. Every exhibition of it is\ndefiling; it has been condemned and set aside in the judgment of God,\nand not a shred or particle thereof is to be found in the pure incense\nand pure fire, on the altar of pure gold: it could not be. We have\nbeen introduced, \"by the blood of Jesus,\" into the sanctuary--a\nsanctuary of priestly service and worship, in which there is not so\nmuch as a trace of sin. We see the pure table, the pure candlestick,\nand the pure altar; but there is nothing to remind us of self and its\nwretchedness. Were it possible for aught of that to meet our view, it\ncould but prove the death-knell of our worship, mar our priestly food,\nand dim our light. Nature can have no place in the sanctuary of God.\nIt, together with all its belongings, has been consumed to ashes; and\nwe are now to have before our souls the fragrant odor of Christ,\nascending in grateful incense to God: this is what God delights in.\nEvery thing that presents Christ in His own proper excellence is sweet\nand acceptable to God. Even the feeblest expression or exhibition of\nHim, in the life or worship of a saint, is an odor of a sweet smell in\nwhich God is well pleased.\n\nToo often, alas! we have to be occupied with our failures and\ninfirmities. If ever the workings of indwelling sin be suffered to\nrise to the surface, we must deal with our God about them, for He\ncannot go on with sin. He can forgive it, and cleanse us from it; He\ncan restore our souls by the gracious ministry of our great\nHigh-Priest; but He cannot go on in company with a single sinful\nthought. A light or foolish thought, as well as an unclean or covetous\none, is amply sufficient to mar a Christian's communion, and interrupt\nhis worship. Should any such thought spring up, it must be judged and\nconfessed, ere the elevated joys of the sanctuary can be known afresh.\nA heart in which lust is working is not enjoying the proper\noccupations of the sanctuary. When we are in our proper priestly\ncondition, nature is as though it had no existence; then we can feed\nupon Christ: we can taste the divine luxury of being wholly at leisure\nfrom ourselves, and wholly engrossed with Christ.\n\nAll this can only be produced by the power of the Spirit. There is no\nneed of seeking to work up nature's devotional feelings, by the\nvarious appliances of systematic religion; there must be pure fire as\nwell as pure incense. (Comp. Lev. x. 1, with xvi. 12.) All efforts at\nworshiping God by the unhallowed powers of nature come under the head\nof \"strange fire.\" God is the object of worship; Christ the ground\nand the material of worship; and the Holy Ghost the power of worship.\n\nProperly speaking, then, as in the brazen altar we have Christ in the\nvalue of His sacrifice, so in the golden altar we have Christ in the\nvalue of His intercession. This will furnish my reader with a still\nclearer sense of the reason why the priestly office is introduced\nbetween the two altars. There is, as might be expected, an intimate\nconnection between the two, for Christ's intercession is founded upon\nHis sacrifice. \"And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it\nonce in a year with the blood of the sin-offering of atonements: once\nin the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your\ngenerations: it is most holy unto the Lord.\" All rests upon the\nimmovable foundation of SHED BLOOD. \"Almost all things are by the law\npurged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It\nwas therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens\nshould be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with\nbetter sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy\nplaces made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into\nheaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.\" (Heb. ix.\n22-24.)\n\nFrom verse 11-16 we have the atonement money for the congregation. All\nwere to pay alike.--\"The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall\nnot give less, than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the\nLord, to make an atonement for your souls.\" In the matter of\natonement, all must stand on one common platform. There may be a vast\ndifference in knowledge, in experience, in capacity, in attainment, in\nzeal, in devotedness, but the ground of atonement is alike to all. The\ngreat apostle of the Gentiles and the feeblest lamb in all the flock\nof Christ stand on the same level as regards atonement. This is a very\nsimple and a very blessed truth. All may not be alike devoted and\nfruitful; but \"the precious blood of Christ,\" and not devotedness or\nfruitfulness, is the solid and everlasting ground of the believer's\nrest. The more we enter into the truth and power of this, the more\nfruitful shall we be.\n\nIn the last chapter of Leviticus we find another kind of valuation.\nWhen any one made \"a singular vow,\" Moses valued him according to his\nage. In other words, when any one ventured to assume the ground of\ncapacity, Moses, as the representative of _the claims_ of God,\nestimated him \"after the shekel of the sanctuary.\" If he were \"poorer\"\nthan Moses' estimation, then he was to \"present himself before the\npriest,\" the representative of _the grace_ of God, who was to value\nhim \"according to his ability that vowed.\"\n\nBlessed be God, we know that all His claims have been answered, and\nall our vows discharged, by One who was at once the Representative of\nHis claims and the Exponent of His grace, who finished the work of\natonement upon the cross, and is now at the right hand of God. Here is\nsweet rest for the heart and conscience. Atonement is the first thing\nto get hold of, and we shall never lose sight of it. Let our range of\nintelligence be ever so wide, our fund of experience ever so rich, our\ntone of devotion ever so elevated, we shall always have to fall back\nupon the one simple, divine, unalterable, soul-sustaining doctrine of\nTHE BLOOD. Thus it has ever been in the history of God's people, thus\nit is, and thus it ever will be. The most deeply-taught and gifted\nservants of Christ have always rejoiced to come back to \"that one\nwell-spring of delight,\" at which their thirsty spirits drank when\nfirst they knew the Lord; and the eternal song of the Church in glory\nwill be, \"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His\nown blood.\" The courts of heaven will ever resound with the glorious\ndoctrine of the blood.\n\nFrom verse 17-21 we are presented with \"the brazen laver and its\nfoot\"--the vessel of washing and the basis thereof. These two are\nalways presented together. (See chap. xxx. 28; xxxviii. 8; xl. 11.) In\nthis laver the priests washed their hands and feet, and thus\nmaintained that purity which was essential to the proper discharge of\ntheir priestly functions. It was not, by any means, a question of a\nfresh presentation of blood; but simply that action by which they were\npreserved in fitness for priestly service and worship.--\"When they go\ninto the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water,\nthat they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister,\nto burn offering made by fire unto the Lord: so they shall wash their\nhands and their feet, that they die not.\"\n\nThere can be no true communion with God, save as personal holiness is\ndiligently maintained. \"If we say that we have fellowship with Him,\nand walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.\" (1 John i. 6.)\nThis personal holiness can only flow from the action of the Word of\nGod on our works and ways.--\"By the words of Thy lips I have kept me\nfrom the paths of the destroyer.\" Our constant failure in priestly\nministry may be accounted for by our neglecting the due use of the\nlaver. If our ways are not submitted to the purgative action of the\nWord--if we continue in the pursuit or practice of that which,\naccording to the testimony of our own consciences, the Word distinctly\ncondemns, the energy of our priestly character will assuredly be\nlacking. Deliberate continuance in evil and true priestly worship are\nwholly incompatible. \"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is\ntruth.\" If we have any uncleanness upon us, we cannot enjoy the\npresence of God. The effect of His presence would then be to convict\nus by its holy light. But when we are enabled, through grace, to\ncleanse our way, by taking heed thereto according to God's Word, we\nare then morally capacitated for the enjoyment of His presence.\n\nMy reader will at once perceive what a vast field of practical truth\nis here laid open to him, and also how largely the doctrine of the\nbrazen laver is brought out in the New Testament. Oh that all those\nwho are privileged to tread the courts of the sanctuary, in priestly\nrobes, and to approach the altar of God, in priestly worship, may keep\ntheir hands and feet clean by the use of the true laver.\n\nIt may be interesting to note that the laver, with its foot, was made\n\"of the looking-glasses of the women assembling, which assembled at\nthe door of the tabernacle of the congregation.\" (See chap. xxxviii.\n8.) This fact is full of meaning. We are ever prone to be \"like a man\nbeholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself and\ngoeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.\"\nNature's looking-glass can never furnish a clear and permanent view of\nour true condition. \"But whoso looketh into the perfect law of\nliberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but\na doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.\" (James i.\n23-25.) The man who has constant recourse to the Word of God, and who\nallows that Word to tell upon his heart and conscience, will be\nmaintained in the holy activities of the divine life.\n\nIntimately connected with the searching and cleansing action of the\nWord is the efficacy of the priestly ministry of Christ. \"For the Word\nof God is quick and powerful [_i.e._, _living_ and _energetic_], and\nsharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing\nasunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a\ndiscerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; neither is there\nany creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are\nnaked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.\" Then\nthe inspired apostle immediately adds, \"Seeing then that we have a\ngreat High-Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of\nGod, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high-priest\nwhich cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was\nin all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.[15] Let us\ntherefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain\nmercy, and find grace to help in time of need.\" (Heb. iv. 12-16.)\n\n  [15] Literally, \"sin excepted\" (\u03c7\u03c9\u03c1\u03b9\u03c2 \u03b1\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c2); _i.e._, He was\n  tempted--tested and tried--in every way from without, sin excepted,\n  for sin was not in Him.\n\nThe more keenly we feel the edge of the Word, the more we shall prize\nthe merciful and gracious ministry of our High-Priest. The two things\ngo together. They are the inseparable companions of the Christian's\npath. Hence, it is only as I am making use of the laver that I can\napproach the altar. Worship must ever be presented in the power of\nholiness. We must lose sight of nature, as reflected in a\nlooking-glass, and be wholly occupied with Christ, as presented in the\nWord. In this way only shall the \"hands and feet\"--the works and\nways--be cleansed, according to the purification of the sanctuary.\n\nFrom verse 22-33 we have the \"holy anointing oil,\" with which the\npriests, together with all the furniture of the tabernacle, were\nanointed. In this we discern a type of the varied graces of the Holy\nGhost, which were found, in all their divine fullness, in Christ. \"All\nthy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory\npalaces, whereby they have made thee glad.\" (Ps. xlv. 8.) \"God\nanointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power.\" (Acts\nx. 38.) All the graces of the Spirit, in their perfect fragrance,\ncentred in Christ; and it is from Him alone they can flow. He, as to\nHis humanity, was conceived of the Holy Ghost; and, ere He entered\nupon His public ministry, He was anointed with the Holy Ghost; and\nfinally, when He had taken His seat on high, in token of an\naccomplished redemption, He shed forth upon His body, the Church, the\nprecious gifts of the Holy Ghost. (See Matt. i. 20; iii. 16, 17; Luke\niv. 18, 19; Acts ii. 33; x. 45, 46; Eph. iv. 8-13.)\n\nIt is as those who are associated with this ever-blessed and\nhighly-exalted Christ that believers are partakers of the gifts and\ngraces of the Holy Ghost; and, moreover, it is as they walk in\nhabitual nearness to Him that they either enjoy or emit the fragrance\nthereof. The unrenewed man knows nothing of this. \"Upon man's flesh it\nshall not be poured.\" The graces of the Spirit can never be connected\nwith man's flesh, for the Holy Ghost cannot own nature. Not one of the\nfruits of the Spirit was ever yet produced \"in nature's barren soil.\"\nWe \"must be born again.\" It is only as connected with the new man, as\nbeing part of \"the new creation,\" that we can know any thing of the\nfruits of the Holy Ghost. It is of no possible value to seek to\nimitate those fruits and graces. The fairest fruits that ever grew in\nnature's fields, in their highest state of cultivation--the most\namiable traits which nature can exhibit--must be utterly disowned in\nthe sanctuary of God. \"Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured;\nneither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it:\nit is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any\nlike it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be\ncut off from his people.\" There must be no counterfeit of the Spirit's\nwork; all must be of the Spirit--wholly, really of the Spirit.\nMoreover, that which is of the Spirit must not be attributed to man.\n\"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for\nthey are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they\nare spiritually discerned.\" (1 Cor. ii. 14.)\n\nThere is a very beautiful allusion to this \"holy anointing oil\" in one\nof the \"songs of degrees.\"--\"Behold,\" says the Psalmist, \"how good and\nhow pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like\nthe precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard,\neven Aaron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments.\"\n(Psalms cxxxiii. 1, 2.) The head of the priestly house being anointed\nwith the holy oil, the very \"skirts of his garments\" must exhibit the\nprecious effects. May my reader experience the power of this\nanointing! May he know the value of having \"an unction from the Holy\nOne,\" and of being \"sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise\"! Nothing\nis of any value in the divine estimation save that which connects\nitself immediately with Christ, and whatever is so connected can\nreceive the holy anointing.\n\nIn the concluding paragraph of this most comprehensive chapter, we\nhave the \"sweet spices tempered together, pure and holy.\" This\nsurpassingly precious perfume presents to us the unmeasured and\nunmeasurable perfections of Christ. There was no special quantity of\neach ingredient prescribed, because the graces that dwell in Christ,\nthe beauties and excellencies that are concentrated in His adorable\nPerson, are without limit. Naught save the infinite mind of Deity\ncould scan the infinite perfections of Him in whom all the fullness of\nDeity dwelleth; and as eternity rolls along its course of everlasting\nages, those glorious perfections will ever be unfolding themselves in\nthe view of worshiping saints and angels. Ever and anon, as some fresh\nbeams of light shall burst forth from that central Sun of divine\nglory, the courts of heaven above, and the wide fields of creation\nbeneath, shall resound with thrilling Alleluiahs to Him who was, who\nis, and who ever shall be the object of praise to all the ranks of\ncreated intelligence.\n\nBut not only was there no prescribed quantity of the ingredients; we\nalso read, \"Of each there shall be a like weight.\" Every feature of\nmoral excellence found its due place and proper proportions in Christ.\nNo one quality ever displaced or interfered with another; all was\n\"tempered together, pure and holy,\" and emitted an odor so fragrant\nthat none but God could appreciate it.\n\n\"And thou shalt beat some of it _very small_, and put of it before the\ntestimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet\nwith thee: it shall be unto you most holy.\" There is uncommon depth\nand power in the expression \"very small.\" It teaches us that every\nlittle movement in the life of Christ, every minute circumstance,\nevery act, every word, every look, every feature, every trait, every\nlineament, emits an odor produced by an equal proportion--\"a like\nweight\" of all the divine graces that compose His character. The\nsmaller the perfume was beaten, the more its rare and exquisite temper\nwas manifested.\n\n\"And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to\nyourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee\nholy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell\nthereto, shall even be cut off from his people.\" This fragrant perfume\nwas designed exclusively for Jehovah. Its place was \"before the\ntestimony.\" There is that in Jesus which only God could appreciate.\nTrue, every believing heart can draw nigh to His matchless Person, and\nmore than satisfy its deepest and most intense longings; still, after\nall God's redeemed have drunk to the utmost of their capacity, after\nangels have gazed on the peerless glories of the Man Christ Jesus as\nearnestly as their vision is capable of,--after all, there will be\nthat in Him which God alone can fathom and enjoy. No human or angelic\neye could duly trace the exquisitely minute parts of that holy perfume\n\"beaten very small,\" nor could earth afford a proper sphere in which\nto emit its divine and heavenly odor.\n\nThus, then, we have, in our rapid sketch, reached the close of a\nclearly marked division of our book. We began at \"the ark of the\ncovenant,\" and traveled out to \"the altar of brass;\" we returned from\n\"the altar of brass,\" and have come to the \"holy perfume;\" and, oh,\nwhat a journey is this, if only it be traveled, not in company with\nthe false and flickering light of human imagination, but by the\ninfallible lamp of the Holy Ghost! What a journey, if only it be\ntraveled, not amid the shadows of a by-gone dispensation, but amid the\npersonal glories and powerful attractions of the Son which are there\nportrayed! If my reader has so traveled it, he will find his\naffections more drawn to Christ than ever; he will have a loftier\nconception of His glory, His beauty, His preciousness, His excellency,\nHis ability to heal a wounded conscience and satisfy a longing heart;\nhe will have his eyes more thoroughly closed to all earth's\nattractions, and his ears closed to all earth's pretensions and\npromises;--in one word, he will be prepared to utter a deeper and more\nfervent Amen to the words of the inspired apostle when he says, \"IF\nANY MAN LOVE NOT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA\nMARAN-ATHA.\"[16] (1 Cor. xvi. 22.)\n\n  [16] It is interesting to note the position of this most solemn and\n  startling denunciation. It occurs at the close of a long epistle in\n  the progress of which the apostle had to rebuke some of the grossest\n  practical evils and doctrinal errors. How solemn, therefore, how full\n  of meaning the fact, that when he comes to pronounce his anathema, it\n  is not hurled at those who had introduced those errors and evils, but\n  at the man who loves not the Lord Jesus Christ! Why is this? Is it\n  because the Spirit of God makes little of errors and evils? Surely\n  not: the entire epistle unfolds His thoughts as to these. But the\n  truth is, when the heart is filled with love to the Lord Jesus Christ,\n  there is an effectual safeguard against all manner of false doctrine\n  and evil practice. If a man does not love Christ, there is no\n  accounting for the notions he may adopt, or the course he may pursue.\n  Hence the form and the position of the apostolic anathema.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXI.\n\n\nThe opening of this brief chapter records the divine call and the\ndivine qualification of \"Bezaleel and Aholiab\" to do the work of the\ntabernacle of the congregation. \"And the Lord spake unto Moses,\nsaying, 'See, _I have called_ by name Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the\nson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and _I have filled_ him with the\nspirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and\nin all manner of workmanship.... And I, behold, _I have given_ with\nhim Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the\nhearts of all that are wise-hearted _I have put_ wisdom, that they may\nmake all that _I have commanded_.\" Whether for \"the work of the\ntabernacle\" of old, or \"the work of the ministry\" now, there should be\nthe divine selection, the divine call, the divine qualification, the\ndivine appointment, and all must be done according to the divine\ncommandment. Man could not select, call, qualify, or appoint to do the\nwork of the tabernacle; neither can he to do the work of the ministry.\nFurthermore, no man could presume to appoint himself to do the work of\nthe tabernacle; neither can he to do the work of the ministry. It was,\nit is, it must be, wholly and absolutely divine. Men may run as sent\nof their fellow, or men may run of themselves; but let it be\nremembered that all who run without being sent of God shall one day or\nother be covered with shame and confusion of face. Such is the plain\nand wholesome doctrine suggested by the words, \"I have called,\" \"I\nhave filled,\" \"I have given,\" \"I have put,\" \"I have commanded.\" The\nwords of the Baptist must ever hold good--\"A man can receive nothing\nexcept it be given him from heaven.\" (John iii. 27.) He can therefore\nhave but little room to boast of himself, and just as little to be\njealous of his fellow.\n\nThere is a profitable lesson to be learnt from a comparison of this\nchapter with Genesis iv. \"Tubal-cain was an instructor of every\nartificer in brass and iron.\" The descendants of Cain were endowed\nwith unhallowed skill to make a cursed and groaning earth a delectable\nspot, without the presence of God: \"Bezaleel and Aholiab,\" on the\ncontrary, were endowed with divine skill to beautify a sanctuary which\nwas to be hallowed and blessed by the presence and glory of the God of\nIsrael.\n\nReader, let me ask you just to pause and put this solemn question to\nyour conscience,--Whether am I devoting whatever of skill or energy I\npossess to the interests of the Church which is God's dwelling-place,\nor to beautify an ungodly, Christless world? Say not in thine heart, I\nam not divinely called or divinely qualified for the work of the\nministry. Remember that though all Israel were not Bezaleels or\nAholiabs, yet all could serve the interests of the sanctuary. There\nwas an open door for all to communicate. Thus it is now. Each one has\na place to occupy, a ministry to fulfill, a responsibility to\ndischarge; and you and I are at this moment either promoting the\ninterests of the house of God--the body of Christ--the Church, or\nhelping on the Godless schemes of a world yet stained with the blood\nof Christ and the blood of all His martyred saints. Oh, let us deeply\nponder this, as in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts, whom\nnone can deceive--to whom all are known.\n\nOur chapter closes with a special reference to the institution of the\nSabbath. It was referred to in chapter xvi, in connection with the\nmanna; it was distinctly enjoined in chapter xx, when the people were\nformally put under law; and here we have it again, in connection with\nthe setting up of the tabernacle. Whenever the nation of Israel is\npresented in some special position, or recognized as a people in\nspecial responsibility, then the Sabbath is introduced. And let my\nreader carefully note both the day and the mode in which it was to be\nobserved, and also the object for which it was instituted in Israel.\n\"Ye shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy unto you: _every\none that defileth it shall surely be put to death_; for whosoever\ndoeth _any work_ therein, that soul shall be _cut off_ from among his\npeople. Six days may work be done; but _in the seventh_ is the Sabbath\nof rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth _any work_ in the Sabbath\nday, _he shall surely be put to death_.\" This is as explicit and\nabsolute as any thing can be. It fixes \"the seventh day\" and none\nother; and it positively forbids, on pain of death, all manner of\nwork. There can be no avoiding the plain sense of this. And be it\nremembered that there is not so much as a single line of Scripture to\nprove that the Sabbath has been changed, or the strict principles of\nits observance in the smallest degree relaxed. If there be any\nScripture proof, let my reader look it out for his own satisfaction.\n\nNow, let us inquire if indeed professing Christians do keep God's\nSabbath on the day and after the manner which He commanded. It were\nidle to lose time in proving that they do not. Well, what are the\nconsequences of a single breach of the Sabbath? \"_Cut off_\"--\"_put to\ndeath_.\"\n\nBut, it will be said, we \"are not under law, but under grace.\" Blessed\nbe God for the sweet assurance! Were we under law, there is not one\nthroughout the wide range of Christendom who should not long since\nhave fallen beneath the stone of judgment, even upon the one solitary\npoint of the Sabbath. But, if we are under grace, what is the day\nwhich belongs to us? Assuredly, \"the first day of the week\"--\"the\nLord's day.\" This is the Church's day--the resurrection day of Jesus,\nwho, having spent the Sabbath in the tomb, rose triumphant over all\nthe powers of darkness; thus leading His people out of the old\ncreation, and all that pertains thereto, into the new creation, of\nwhich He is the Head, and of which the first day of the week is the\napt expression.\n\nThis distinction is worthy of the serious attention of the reader. Let\nhim examine it prayerfully in the light of Scripture. There may be\nnothing and there may be a great deal in a mere name. In the present\ninstance, there is a great deal more involved in the distinction\nbetween \"the Sabbath\" and \"the Lord's day\" than many Christians seem\nto be aware of. It is very evident that the first day of the week gets\na place in the Word of God which no other day gets. No other day is\never called by that majestic and elevated title, \"The Lord's day.\"\nSome, I am aware, deny that Rev. i. 10 refers to the first day of the\nweek; but I feel most fully assured that sound criticism and sound\nexegesis do both warrant--yea, demand the application of that passage,\nnot to the day of Christ's advent in glory, but to the day of His\nresurrection from the dead.\n\nBut most assuredly, the Lord's day is never once called the Sabbath.\nSo far from this, the two days are again and again spoken of in their\nproper distinctness. Hence, therefore, my reader will have to keep\nclear of two extremes. In the first place, he will have to avoid the\nlegalism which one finds so much linked with the term \"Sabbath;\" and,\nin the second place, he will need to bear a very decided testimony\nagainst every attempt to dishonor the Lord's day, or lower it to the\nlevel of an ordinary day. The believer is delivered, most completely,\nfrom the observance of \"days, and months, and times, and years.\"\nAssociation with a risen Christ has taken him clean out of all such\nsuperstitious observances. But, while this is most blessedly true, we\nsee that \"the first day of the week\" has a place assigned to it in the\nNew Testament which no other has. Let the Christian give it that\nplace. It is a sweet and happy privilege, not a grievous yoke.\n\nSpace forbids my further entrance upon this interesting subject. It\nhas been gone into elsewhere, as already intimated, in the earlier\npages of this volume. I shall close these remarks by pointing out, in\none or two particulars, the contrast between \"the Sabbath\" and \"the\nLord's day.\"\n\n1. The Sabbath was the _seventh_ day; the Lord's day is the _first_.\n\n2. The Sabbath was a _test_ of Israel's condition; the Lord's day is\nthe _proof_ of the Church's acceptance, on wholly unconditional\ngrounds.\n\nS. The Sabbath belonged to the old creation; the Lord's day belongs to\nthe new.\n\n4. The Sabbath was a day of _bodily_ rest for the Jew; the Lord's day\nis a day of _spiritual_ rest for the Christian.\n\n5. If the Jew worked on the Sabbath, he was to be put to _death_: if\nthe Christian does not work on the Lord's day, he gives little proof\nof _life_;--that is to say, if he does not work for the benefit of the\nsouls of men, the extension of Christ's glory, and the spread of His\ntruth. In point of fact, the devoted Christian who possesses any gift\nis generally more fatigued on the evening of the Lord's day than on\nany other in the week, for how can he rest while souls are perishing\naround him?\n\n6. The Jew was _commanded_ by the _law_ to abide in his tent; the\nChristian is _led_ by the spirit of the _gospel_ to go forth, whether\nit be to attend the public assembly or to minister to the souls of\nperishing sinners.\n\nThe Lord enable us, beloved reader, to rest more artlessly _in_, and\nlabor more vigorously _for_, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! We\nshould _rest_ in the spirit of a _child_, and _labor_ with the energy\nof a _man_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXXII.\n\n\nWe have now to contemplate something very different from that which\nhas hitherto engaged our attention. \"The patterns of things in the\nheavens\" has been before us--Christ in His glorious Person, gracious\noffices, and perfect work, as set forth in the tabernacle and all its\nmystic furniture. We have been, in spirit, on the mount, hearkening to\nGod's own words--the sweet utterances of Heaven's thoughts,\naffections, and counsels, of which Jesus is \"the Alpha and Omega--the\nbeginning and the ending--the first and the last.\"\n\nNow, however, we are called down to earth, to behold the melancholy\nwreck which man makes of every thing to which he puts his hand. \"And\nwhen the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,\nthe people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him,\n'Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses,\nthe man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what\nis become of him.'\" What degradation is here! _Make us gods!_ They\nwere abandoning Jehovah, and placing themselves under the conduct of\nmanufactured gods--gods of man's making. Dark clouds and heavy mists\nhad gathered round the mount. They grew weary of waiting for the\nabsent one, and of hanging on an unseen but real arm. They imagined\nthat a god formed by \"graving tool\" was better than Jehovah,--that a\ncalf which they could _see_ was better than the invisible, yet\nevery-where-present, God,--a visible counterfeit, than an invisible\nreality.\n\nAlas! alas! it has ever been thus in man's history. The human heart\nloves something that can be seen; it loves that which meets and\ngratifies the senses. It is only faith that can \"endure as seeing Him\nwho is invisible.\" Hence, in every age, men have been forward to set\nup and lean upon human imitations of divine realities. Thus it is we\nsee the counterfeits of corrupt religion multiplied before our eyes.\nThose things which we know, upon the authority of God's Word, to be\ndivine and heavenly realities, the professing Church has transformed\ninto human and earthly imitations. Having become weary of hanging upon\nan invisible arm, of trusting in an invisible sacrifice, of having\nrecourse to an invisible Priest, of committing herself to the guidance\nof an invisible Head, she has set about \"making\" these things; and\nthus, from age to age, she has been busily at work, with \"graving\ntool\" in hand, graving and fashioning one thing after another, until\nwe can at length recognize as little similarity between much that we\nsee around us and what we _read_ in the Word, as between \"a molten\ncalf\" and the God of Israel.\n\n\"_Make us gods!_\" What a thought! Man called upon to make gods, and\npeople willing to put their trust in such! My reader, let us look\nwithin, and look around, and see if we cannot detect something of all\nthis. We read, in 1 Cor. x., in reference to Israel's history, that\n\"all these things happened unto them for ensamples [or types]; and\nthey are written _for our admonition_, upon whom the ends of the world\nare come\" (ver. 11.). Let us, then, seek to profit by the\n\"admonition.\" Let us remember that although we may not just form and\nbow down before \"a molten calf,\" yet that Israel's sin is a \"type\" of\nsomething into which we are in danger of falling. Whenever we turn\naway in heart from leaning exclusively upon God Himself, whether in\nthe matter of salvation or the necessities of the path, we are, in\nprinciple, saying, \"Up, make us gods.\" It is needless to say we are\nnot, in ourselves, a whit better than Aaron or the children of Israel;\nand if they acknowledge a calf instead of Jehovah, we are in danger of\nacting on the same principle, and manifesting the same spirit. Our\nonly safeguard is to be much in the presence of God. Moses knew that\nthe \"molten calf\" was not Jehovah, and therefore he did not\nacknowledge it. But when we get out of the divine presence, there is\nno accounting for the gross errors and evils into which we may be\nbetrayed.\n\nWe are called to live by faith; we can see nothing with the eye of\nsense. Jesus is gone up on high, and we are told to wait patiently for\nHis appearing. God's word, carried home to the heart in the energy of\nthe Holy Ghost, is the ground of confidence in all things--temporal\nand spiritual, present and future. He tells us of Christ's completed\nsacrifice; we, by grace, believe, and commit our souls to the efficacy\nthereof, and know we shall never be confounded. He tells us of a great\nHigh-Priest, passed into the heavens--Jesus, the Son of God, whose\nintercession is all-prevailing; we, by grace, believe, and confidingly\nlean upon His ability, and know we shall be saved to the uttermost. He\ntells us of the living Head to whom we are linked, in the power of\nresurrection life, and from whom we can never be severed by any\ninfluence, angelic, human, or diabolical; we, by grace, believe, and\ncling to that blessed Head in simple faith, and know we shall never\nperish. He tells us of the glorious appearing of the Son from heaven;\nwe, through grace, believe, and seek to prove the purifying and\nelevating power of \"that blessed hope,\" and know we shall not be\ndisappointed. He tells us of \"an inheritance, incorruptible,\nundefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who\nare kept by the power of God,\" for entrance thereinto in due time; we,\nthrough grace, believe, and know we shall never be confounded. He\ntells us the hairs of our head are all numbered, and that we shall\nnever want any good thing; we, through grace, believe, and enjoy a\nsweetly tranquilized heart.\n\nThus it is, or, at least, thus our God would have it. But then the\nenemy is ever active in seeking to make us cast away these divine\nrealities, take up the \"graving tool\" of unbelief, and \"make gods\" for\nourselves. Let us watch against him, pray against him, believe against\nhim, testify against him, act against him: thus he shall be\nconfounded, God glorified, and we ourselves abundantly blessed.\n\nAs to Israel, in the chapter before us, their rejection of God was\nmost complete. \"And Aaron said unto them, 'Break off the golden\nearrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of\nyour daughters, and bring them unto me.'... And he received them at\ntheir hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it\na molten calf; and they said, '_These be thy gods_, O Israel, which\nbrought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' And when Aaron saw it, he\nbuilt an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said,\n'To-morrow is _a feast unto the Lord_.'\" This was entirely setting\naside God, and putting a calf in His stead. When they could say that a\ncalf had brought them up out of Egypt, they had evidently abandoned\nall idea of the presence and character of the true God. How\n\"_quickly_\" they must \"have turned aside out of the way,\" to have made\nsuch a gross and terrible mistake! And Aaron, the brother and\nyoke-fellow of Moses, led them on in this; and, with a calf before\nhim, he could say, \"To-morrow is a feast unto Jehovah\"! How sad! How\ndeeply humbling! God was displaced by an idol. A thing \"graven by art\nand man's device\" was set in the place of \"the Lord of all the earth.\"\n\nAll this involved, on Israel's part, a deliberate abandonment of their\nconnection with Jehovah. They had given Him up; and, accordingly, we\nfind Him, as it were, taking them on their own ground. \"And the Lord\nsaid unto Moses, 'Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou\nbroughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they\nhave turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.... I\nhave seen this people, it is a stiff-necked people: now therefore let\nMe alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may\nconsume them: and I will make of _thee_ a great nation.'\" Here was an\nopen door for Moses; and here he displays uncommon grace, and\nsimilarity of spirit to that Prophet whom the Lord was to raise up\nlike unto him. He refuses to be or to have any thing without the\npeople. He pleads with God on the ground of His own glory, and puts\nthe people back upon Him in these touching words, \"Lord, why doth Thy\nwrath wax hot against _Thy people_, which _Thou_ hast brought up out\nof the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Wherefore\nshould the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them\nout, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face\nof the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil\nagainst _Thy_ people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy\nservants, to whom Thou swarest by Thine own self, and saidst unto\nthem, 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this\nland that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall\ninherit it forever.'\" This was powerful pleading. The glory of God,\nthe vindication of His holy name, the accomplishment of His\noath,--these are the grounds on which Moses entreats the Lord to turn\nfrom His fierce wrath. He could not find in Israel's conduct or\ncharacter any plea or ground to go upon; he found it all in God\nHimself.\n\nThe Lord hath said unto Moses, \"_Thy_ people which _thou_ broughtest\nup;\" but Moses replies to the Lord, \"_Thy_ people which _Thou_ hast\nbrought up.\" They were the Lord's people notwithstanding all; and His\nname, His glory, His oath, were all involved in their destiny. The\nmoment the Lord links Himself with a people, His character is\ninvolved, and faith will ever look at Him upon this solid ground.\nMoses loses sight of himself entirely His whole soul is engrossed\nwith thoughts of the Lord's glory and the Lord's people. Blessed\nservant! How few like him! And yet when we contemplate him in all this\nscene, we perceive how infinitely he is below the blessed Master. He\ncame down from the mount, and when he saw the calf and the dancing,\nhis \"anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and\nbreak them beneath the mount.\" The covenant was broken, and the\nmemorials thereof shattered to pieces; and then, having executed\njudgment in righteous indignation, he \"said unto the people, 'Ye have\nsinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; _peradventure_\nI shall make an atonement for your sin.'\"\n\nHow different is this from what we see in Christ! He came down from\nthe bosom of the Father, not with the tables in His hands, but with\nthe law in His heart. He came down, not to be made acquainted with the\ncondition of the people, but with a perfect knowledge of what that\ncondition was. Moreover, instead of destroying the memorials of the\ncovenant and executing judgment, He magnified the law and made it\nhonorable, and bore the judgment of His people, in His own blessed\nPerson, on the cross; and, having done all, He went back to heaven,\nnot with a \"_peradventure_ I shall make an atonement for your sin,\"\nbut to lay upon the throne of the Majesty in the highest the\nimperishable memorials of an atonement already accomplished. This\nmakes a vast and truly glorious difference. Thank God, we need not\nanxiously gaze after our Mediator, to know if haply He shall\naccomplish redemption for us, and reconcile offended Justice. No; He\nhas done it all. His presence on high declares that the whole work is\nfinished. He could stand upon the confines of this world, ready to\ntake His departure, and, in all the calmness of a conscious Victor\n(though He had yet to encounter the darkest scene of all), say, \"I\nhave glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou\ngavest Me to do.\" (John xvii.) Blessed Saviour! we may well adore\nThee, and well exult in the place of dignity and glory in which\neternal justice has set Thee. The highest place in heaven belongs to\nThee; and Thy saints only wait for the time when \"every knee shall\nbow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory\nof God the Father.\" May that time speedily arrive!\n\nAt the close of this chapter, Jehovah asserts His rights, in moral\ngovernment, in the following words: \"Whosoever hath sinned against Me,\nhim will I blot out of My book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto\nthe place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, Mine Angel shall\ngo before thee: nevertheless, in the day when I visit I will visit\ntheir sin upon them.\" This is God _in government_, not God _in the\ngospel_. Here He speaks of blotting out _the sinner_; in the gospel He\nis seen blotting out _sin_. A wide difference!\n\nThe people are to be sent forward, under the mediatorship of Moses, by\nthe hand of an angel. This was very unlike the condition of things\nwhich obtained from Egypt to Sinai. They had forfeited all claim on\nthe ground of law, and hence it only remained for God to fall back\nupon His own sovereignty and say, \"I will be gracious to whom I will\nbe gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XXXIII. & XXXIV.\n\n\nJehovah refuses to accompany Israel to the land of promise.--\"I will\nnot go up in the midst of thee, (for thou art a stiff-necked people,)\nlest I consume thee in the way.\" At the opening of this book, when the\npeople were in the furnace of Egypt, the Lord could say, \"I have\nsurely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have\nheard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their\nsorrows.\" But now He has to say, \"I have seen this people, and,\nbehold, it is a stiff-necked people.\" An afflicted people is an object\nof grace; but a stiff-necked people must be humbled. The cry of\noppressed Israel had been answered by the exhibition of grace; but the\nsong of idolatrous Israel must be answered by the voice of stern\nrebuke.\n\n\"Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee\nin a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments\nfrom thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.\" It is only when we\nare really stripped of all nature's ornaments that God can deal with\nus. A naked sinner can be clothed; but a sinner decked with ornaments\nmust be stripped. This is always true. We must be stripped of all\nthat pertains to self ere we can be clothed with that which pertains\nto God.\n\n\"And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by\nthe mount Horeb.\" There they stood, beneath that memorable mount,\ntheir feasting and singing changed into bitter lamentations, their\nornaments gone, the tables of testimony in fragments. Such was their\ncondition, and Moses at once proceeds to act according to it. He could\nno longer own the people in their corporate character. The assembly\nhad become entirely defiled, having set up an idol of their own making\nin the place of God--a calf instead of Jehovah. \"And Moses took the\ntabernacle, and pitched it _without the camp_, afar off from the camp,\nand called it 'The tabernacle of the congregation.'\" Thus the camp was\ndisowned as the place of the divine presence. God was not, could not,\nbe there. He had been displaced by a human invention. A new\ngathering-point was therefore set up. \"And it came to pass, that every\none which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the\ncongregation, which was without the camp.\"\n\nThere is here a fine principle of truth, which the spiritual mind will\nreadily apprehend. The place which Christ now occupies is \"without the\ncamp,\" and we are called upon to \"go forth unto Him.\" It demands much\nsubjection to the Word to be able, with accuracy, to know what \"the\ncamp\" really is, and much spiritual power to be able to go forth from\nit: and still more to be able, while \"far off from it,\" to act\ntowards those in it in the combined power of holiness and\ngrace;--holiness, which separates from the defilement of the camp;\ngrace, which enables us to act toward those who are involved therein.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto\nhis friend. And he turned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua,\nthe son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.\"\nMoses exhibits a higher degree of spiritual energy than his servant\nJoshua. It is much easier to assume a position of separation from the\ncamp than to act aright towards those within.\n\n\"And Moses said unto the Lord, 'See, Thou sayest unto me. Bring up\nthis people; and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with\nme; yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found\ngrace in My sight.'\" Moses entreats the accompanying presence of\nJehovah, as a proof of their having found _grace_ in His sight. Were\nit a question of mere _justice_, He could only consume them by coming\nin their midst, because they were \"a stiff-necked people;\" but\ndirectly He speaks of grace, in connection with the mediator, the very\nstiff-neckedness of the people is made a plea for demanding His\npresence.--\"If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my\nLord, I pray Thee, go among us; _for it is a stiff-necked people_; and\npardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.\"\nThis is touchingly beautiful. A \"stiff-necked people\" demanded the\nboundless grace and exhaustless patience of God. None but He could\nbear with them.\n\n\"And He said, 'My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee\nrest.'\" Precious portion! Precious hope! The presence of God with us,\nall the desert through, and everlasting rest at the end! Grace to meet\nour present need, and glory as our future portion! Well may our\nsatisfied hearts exclaim, \"It is enough, my precious Lord.\"\n\nIn chapter xxxiv. the second set of tables is given, not to be broken,\nlike the first, but to be hidden in the ark, above which, as already\nnoticed, Jehovah was to take His place, as Lord of all the earth, in\nmoral government. \"And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the\nfirst; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount\nSinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two\ntables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with\nhim there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by\nbefore him, and proclaimed, 'The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and\ngracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping\nmercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and\nthat will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the\nfathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the\nthird and to the fourth generation.'\" This, be it remembered, is God\nas seen in His moral government of the world, and not as He is seen in\nthe cross--not as He shines in the face of Jesus Christ--not as He is\nproclaimed in the gospel of His grace. The following is an exhibition\nof God in the gospel: \"And all things are of God, _who hath reconciled\nus to Himself by Jesus Christ_, and hath given to us the ministry of\nreconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, _reconciling the world\nunto Himself_, NOT IMPUTING their trespasses unto them; and hath\ncommitted unto us _the word of reconciliation_.\" (2 Cor. v. 18, 19.)\n\"Not clearing\" and \"not imputing\" present two totally different ideas\nof God. \"Visiting iniquities\" and canceling them are not the same\nthing. The former is God in government, the latter is God in the\ngospel. In 2 Cor. iii. the apostle contrasts the \"ministration\"\nrecorded in Exodus xxxiv. with \"the ministration\" of the gospel. My\nreader would do well to study that chapter with care. From it he will\nlearn that any one who regards the view of God's character given to\nMoses on Mount Horeb as unfolding the gospel, must have a very\ndefective apprehension indeed of what the gospel is. Neither in\ncreation nor yet in moral government do I or can I read the deep\nsecrets of the Father's bosom. Could the prodigal have found his place\nin the arms of the One revealed on Mount Sinai? Could John have leaned\nhis head on the bosom of that One? Surely not. But God has revealed\nHimself in the face of Jesus Christ. He has told out, in divine\nharmony, all His attributes in the work of the cross. There \"Mercy and\nTruth have met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each\nother.\" Sin is perfectly put away, and the believing sinner perfectly\njustified, \"BY THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS.\" When we get a view of God as\nthus unfolded, we have only, like Moses, to \"bow our head toward the\nearth and worship;\"--suited attitude for a pardoned and accepted\nsinner in the presence of God!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTERS XXXV.-XL.\n\n\nThese chapters contain a recapitulation of the various parts of the\ntabernacle and its furniture; and inasmuch as I have already given\nwhat I believe to be the import of the more prominent parts, I will\nnot add more. There are, however, two things in this section from\nwhich we may deduce most profitable instruction, and these are,\n(first) _the voluntary devotedness_ and (secondly) _the implicit\nobedience_ of the people with respect to the work of the tabernacle of\nthe congregation.\n\nAnd first, as to their voluntary devotedness, we read, \"And all the\ncongregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of\nMoses. And they came, every one _whose heart stirred him up_, and\nevery one whom _his spirit made willing_, and they brought _the Lord's\noffering_ to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for\nall His service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men\nand women, _as many as were willing-hearted_, and brought bracelets,\nand earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every\nman that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every\nman with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,\nand goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought\nthem. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass,\nbrought the Lord's offering: and every man with whom was found shittim\nwood, for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that\nwere wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which\nthey had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of\nfine linen. And all the women _whose heart stirred them up_ in wisdom\nspun goats' hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be\nset, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and spice, and oil for\nthe light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The\nchildren of Israel brought _a willing offering_ unto _the Lord_, every\nman and woman, _whose heart made them willing_ to bring, for all\nmanner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of\nMoses.\" (Chap. xxxv. 20-29.) And, again, we read, \"And all the wise\nmen that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from\nhis work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, 'The\npeople bring _much more than enough_ for the service of the work,\nwhich the Lord commanded to make.'... For the stuff they had was\nsufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.\" (Ver. 4-7.)\n\nA lovely picture this of devotedness to the work of the sanctuary! It\nneeded no effort to move the hearts of the people to give, no earnest\nappeals, no impressive arguments. Oh, no! their \"_hearts_ stirred\nthem up.\" This was the true way. The streams of voluntary devotedness\nflowed from within. \"Rulers,\" \"men,\" \"women,\"--all felt it to be their\nsweet privilege to give to the Lord, not with a narrow heart or\nniggard hand, but after such a princely fashion that they had\n\"_enough, and too much_.\"\n\nThen, as to _their implicit obedience_, we read, \"_According to all\nthat the Lord commanded Moses_, so the children of Israel made all the\nwork. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, _they had\ndone it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it_: and\nMoses blessed them.\" (Chap. xxxix. 42, 43.) The Lord had given the\nmost minute instructions concerning the entire work of the tabernacle.\nEvery pin, every socket, every loop, every tach, was accurately set\nforth. There was no room left for man's expediency, his reason, or his\ncommon sense. Jehovah did not give a great outline and leave man to\nfill it up. He left no margin whatever in which man might enter his\nregulations. By no means. \"'See,' saith He, 'that thou make _all\nthings according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount_.'\" (Exod.\nxxv. 40; xxvi. 30; Heb. viii. 5.) This left no room for human device.\nIf man had been allowed to make a single pin, that pin would most\nassuredly have been out of place in the judgment of God. We can see\nwhat man's \"graving tool\" produces in chapter xxxii. Thank God, it had\nno place in the tabernacle. They did, in this matter, just what they\nwere told--nothing more, nothing less. Salutary lesson this for the\nprofessing church! There are many things in the history of Israel\nwhich we should earnestly seek to avoid,--their impatient murmurings,\ntheir legal vows, and their idolatry; but in those two things may we\nimitate them. May our devotedness be more whole-hearted, and our\nobedience more implicit! We may safely assert that if all had not been\ndone \"according to the pattern showed in the mount,\" we should not\nhave to read, \"then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and\nthe glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to\nenter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode\nthereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.\" (Chap. xl.\n34, 35.) The tabernacle was in all respects according to _the divine\npattern_, and therefore it could be filled with _the divine glory_.\n\nThere is a volume of instruction in this. We are too prone to regard\nthe Word of God as insufficient for the most minute details connected\nwith His worship and service. This is a great mistake--a mistake which\nhas proved the fruitful source of evils and errors in the professing\nchurch. The Word of God is amply sufficient for every thing, whether\nas regards personal salvation and walk, or the order and rule of the\nassembly. \"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is\nprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction\nin righteousness, that the man of God may be _perfect, thoroughly\nfurnished_ unto _all good works_.\" (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) This settles\nthe question. If the Word of God furnishes a man _thoroughly_ unto\n\"_all_ good works,\" it follows, as a necessary consequence, that\nwhatever I find not in its pages cannot possibly be a good work. And,\nfurther, be it remembered, that the divine glory cannot connect itself\nwith aught that is not according to the divine pattern.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBeloved reader, we have now traveled together through this most\nprecious book. We have, I fondly hope, reaped some profit from our\nstudy. I trust we have gathered up some refreshing thoughts of Jesus\nand His sacrifice as we passed along. Feeble, indeed, must be our most\nvigorous thoughts, and shallow our deepest apprehensions, as to the\nmind of God in all that this book contains. It is happy to remember\nthat, through grace, we are on our way to that glory where we shall\nknow even as we are known, and where we shall bask in the sunshine of\nHis countenance who is the beginning and ending of the ways of God,\nwhether in creation, in providence, or redemption. To Him I do most\naffectionately commend you, in body, soul, and spirit. May you know\nthe deep blessedness of having your portion in Christ, and be kept in\npatient waiting for His glorious advent. Amen.\n\n                                                       _C. H. M._\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained\nexcept in obvious cases of typographical error.","title":"Notes on the book of Exodus","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":104344}