Notes on the Book of Leviticus Part 15

NOTE.--At the close of our chapter we read, "And Moses declared unto the children of Israel _the feasts of the Lord_." This was their true character, their original t.i.tle; but in the gospel of John they are called "_feasts of the Jews_." They had long ceased to be Jehovah's feasts. He was shut out. They did not want Him; and hence, in John vii, when Jesus was asked to go up to "_the Jews' feast of tabernacles_," He answered, "My time is not yet come;" and when He did go up, it was "privately," to take His place outside of the whole thing, and to call upon every thirsty soul to come unto Him and drink.

There is a solemn lesson in this. Divine inst.i.tutions are speedily marred in the hands of man; but, oh! how deeply blessed to know that the thirsty soul that feels the barrenness and drought connected with a scene of empty religious formality, has only to flee to Jesus and drink freely of His exhaustless springs, and so become a channel of blessing to others.

CHAPTER XXIV.

There is very much to interest the spiritual mind in this brief section. We have seen in chapter xxiii. the history of the dealings of G.o.d with Israel, from the offering up of the true paschal Lamb, until the rest and glory of the millennial kingdom. In the chapter now before us, we have two grand ideas, namely, first, the unfailing record and memorial of the twelve tribes, maintained before G.o.d by the power of the Spirit and the efficacy of Christ's priesthood; and secondly, the apostacy of Israel after the flesh, and divine judgment executed thereon. It is the clear apprehension of the former that will enable us to contemplate the latter.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee _pure_ oil olive, _beaten_ for the light, to cause the lamps to burn _continually_. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it _from the evening unto the morning_, before the Lord _continually;_ it shall be a statute forever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the _pure_ candlestick before the Lord _continually_.'" (Ver. 1-4.) The "pure oil" represents the grace of the Holy Spirit, founded upon the work of Christ, as exhibited by the candlestick of "beaten gold." The "olive" was _pressed_ to yield the "oil," and the gold was "_beaten_" to form the candlestick. In other words, the grace and light of the Spirit are founded upon the death of Christ, and maintained in clearness and power by the priesthood of Christ. The golden lamp diffused its light throughout the precincts of the sanctuary during the dreary hours of night, when darkness brooded over the nation and all were wrapped in slumber. In all this we have a vivid presentation of G.o.d's faithfulness to His people whatever might be their outward condition. Darkness and slumber might settle down upon them, but the lamp was to burn "continually." The high-priest was responsible to keep the steady light of testimony burning during the tedious hours of the night. "Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning, before the Lord continually." The maintenance of this light was not left dependent upon Israel: G.o.d had provided one whose office it was to look after it and order it continually.

But further, we read, "And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the _pure_ table before the Lord. And thou shalt put _pure_ frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord _continually_, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute." (Ver.

5-9.) There is no mention of leaven in these loaves. They represent, I doubt not, Christ in immediate connection with "the twelve tribes of Israel." They were laid up in the sanctuary before the Lord, on the pure table, for seven days, after which they became the food of Aaron and his sons, furnishing another striking figure of Israel's condition in the view of Jehovah, whatever might be their outward aspect. The twelve tribes are ever before Him. Their memorial can never perish.

They are ranged in divine order in the sanctuary, covered with the fragrant incense of Christ, and reflected from the pure table whereon they rest beneath the bright beams of that golden lamp which shines with undimmed l.u.s.tre through the darkest hour of the nation's moral night.

Now, it is well to see that we are not sacrificing sound judgment or divine truth on the altar of fancy, when we venture to interpret, after such a fashion, the mystic furniture of the sanctuary. We are taught in Hebrews ix. that all these things were "the patterns of things in the heavens;" and again, in Hebrews x. 1, that they were "a shadow of good things to come." We are therefore warranted in believing that there are "things in the heavens" answering to the "patterns"--that there is a substance answering to the "shadow." In a word, we are warranted in believing that there is that "in the heavens" which answers to "the seven lamps," "the pure table," and the "twelve loaves." This is not human imagination, but divine truth, on which faith has fed in all ages. What was the meaning of Elijah's altar of "twelve stones" on the top of Carmel? It was nothing else than the expression of his faith in that truth of which the "twelve loaves" were "the pattern" or "the shadow." He believed in the unbroken unity of the nation, maintained before G.o.d in the eternal stability of the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whatever might be the external condition of the nation. Man might look in vain for the manifested unity of the twelve tribes; but faith could always look within the hallowed inclosure of the sanctuary, and there see the twelve loaves, covered with pure frankincense, ranged in divine order on the pure table; and even though all without were wrapped in midnight's gloomy shades, yet could faith discern, by the light of the _seven_ golden lamps, the same grand truth foreshadowed, namely, the indissoluble unity of Israel's twelve tribes.

Thus it was then, and thus it is now. The night is dark and gloomy.

There is not, in all this lower world, so much as a single ray by which the human eye can trace the unity of Israel's tribes. They are scattered among the nations, and lost to man's vision; but their memorial is before the Lord. Faith owns this, because it knows that "all the promises of G.o.d are yea and amen in Christ Jesus." It sees in the upper sanctuary, by the Spirit's perfect light, the twelve tribes faithfully memorialized. Hearken to the following n.o.ble accents of faith: "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of G.o.d unto our fathers: unto which promise our _twelve tribes_, instantly serving G.o.d night and day [???ta ?a? ?e?a?], hope to come." (Acts xxvi. 6, 7.) Now, if King Agrippa had asked Paul, Where are the twelve tribes? could he have shown them to him? No. But why not? Was it because they were not to be seen? No; but because Agrippa had not eyes to see them. The twelve tribes lay far beyond the range of Agrippa's vision. It needed the eye of faith and the gracious light of the Spirit of G.o.d to be able to discern the twelve loaves, ordered upon the pure table in the sanctuary of G.o.d. There they were, and Paul saw them there, though the moment in which he gave utterance to his sublime conviction was as dark as it well could be. Faith is not governed by appearances. It takes its stand upon the lofty rock of G.o.d's eternal Word, and, in all the calmness and certainty of that holy elevation, feeds upon the immutable word of Him who cannot lie.

Unbelief may stupidly stare about and ask, Where are the twelve tribes? or how can they be found and restored? It is impossible to give an answer. Not because there is no answer to be given, but because unbelief is utterly incapable of rising to the elevated point from which the answer can be seen. Faith is as sure that the memorial of the twelve tribes of Israel is before the eye of Israel's G.o.d, as it is that the twelve loaves were laid on the golden table every Sabbath day. But who can convince the skeptic or the infidel of this?

who can secure credence for such a truth from those who are governed, in all things, by reason or sense, and know nothing of what it is to hope against hope? Faith finds divine certainties and eternal realities in the midst of a scene where reason and sense can find nothing. Oh for a more profound faith! May we grasp, with more intense earnestness, every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and feed upon it in all the artless simplicity of a little child.

We shall now turn to the second point in our chapter, namely, the apostacy of Israel after the flesh, and the divine judgment thereon.

"And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of an Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp: and the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed.

And they brought him unto Moses; ... and they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 'Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.'... And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses." (Ver. 10-23.)

The peculiar place a.s.signed by the inspired penman to this narrative is striking and interesting. I have no doubt whatever but that it is designed to give us the opposite side of the picture presented in the opening verses of the chapter. Israel after the flesh has grievously failed, and sinned against Jehovah; the name of the Lord has been blasphemed amongst the Gentiles; wrath has come upon the nation; the judgments of an offended G.o.d have fallen upon them; but the day is coming when the dark and heavy cloud of judgment shall roll away, and then shall the twelve tribes, in their unbroken unity, stand forth before all the nations as the amazing monument of Jehovah's faithfulness and loving-kindness. "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, G.o.d is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion; for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." (Isa. xii.) "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away unG.o.dliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.' As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of G.o.d are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed G.o.d, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief; even so have these also now not believed in your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy. For G.o.d hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of G.o.d! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counselor? or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen." (Rom. xi. 25-36.)

Pa.s.sages might be multiplied to prove that though Israel is suffering the divine judgment because of sin, yet "the gifts and calling of G.o.d are without repentance"--that though the blasphemer is being stoned without the camp, the twelve loaves are undisturbed within the sanctuary. "The voices of the prophets" declare, and the voices of apostles re-echo the glorious truth that "all Israel shall be saved;"

not because they have not sinned, but because "the gifts and calling of G.o.d are without repentance." Let Christians beware how they tamper with "the promises made unto the fathers." If these promises be explained away or misapplied, it must necessarily weaken our moral sense of the divine integrity and accuracy of Scripture as a whole. If one part may be explained away, so may another; if one pa.s.sage may be vaguely interpreted, so may another; and thus it would come to pa.s.s that we should be deprived of all that blessed certainty which const.i.tutes the foundation of our repose in reference to all that the Lord hath spoken. But more of this as we dwell upon the remaining chapters of our book.

CHAPTER XXV.

The intelligent reader will discern a strong moral link between this and the preceding chapter. In chapter xxiv, we learn that the house of Israel is preserved for the land of Canaan; in chapter xxv, we learn that the land of Canaan is preserved for the house of Israel. Taking both together, we have the record of a truth which no power of earth or h.e.l.l can obliterate--"All Israel shall be saved," and "the land shall not be sold forever." The former of these statements enunciates a principle which has stood like a rock amid the ocean of conflicting interpretations, while the latter declares a fact which many nations of the uncirc.u.mcised have sought in vain to ignore.

The reader will, I doubt not, observe the peculiar way in which our chapter opens.--"And the Lord spake unto Moses _in Mount Sinai_." The princ.i.p.al part of the communications contained in the book of Leviticus is characterized by the fact of its emanating "from the tabernacle of the congregation." This is easily accounted for. Those communications have special reference to the service, communion, and worship of the priests, or to the moral condition of the people, and hence they are issued, as might be expected, from "the tabernacle of the congregation," that grand centre of all that appertained in any way to priestly service. Here, however, the communication is made from quite a different point. "The Lord spake unto Moses _in Mount Sinai_." Now, we know that every expression in Scripture has its own special meaning, and we are justified in expecting a different line of communication from "Mount Sinai" from that which reaches us from "the tabernacle of the congregation." And so it is. The chapter at which we have now arrived treats of Jehovah's claims as Lord of all the earth.

It is not the worship and communion of a priestly house, or the internal ordering of the nation; but the claims of G.o.d in government, His right to give a certain portion of the earth to a certain people to hold as tenants under Him. In a word, it is not to Jehovah in "the tabernacle"--the place of _worship_; but Jehovah in "Mount Sinai"--the place of _government_.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a Sabbath unto the Lord.

Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed; for it is a year of rest unto the land. And the Sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, and for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.'" (Ver. 1-7.)

Here, then, we have the special feature of the Lord's land. He would have it to enjoy a sabbatic year, and in that year there was to be the evidence of the rich profusion with which He would bless those who held as tenants under Him. Happy, highly privileged tenantry! What an honor to hold immediately under Jehovah! No rent! no taxes! no burdens! Well might it be said, "Happy is the people that is in such a case; yea, happy is the nation whose G.o.d is Jehovah." We know, alas!

that Israel failed to take full possession of that wealthy land of which Jehovah made them a present. He had given it _all_; He had given it _forever_. They took but _a part_, and that _for a time_. Still, there it is. The property is there, though the tenants are ejected for the present. "The land shall not be sold _forever_: for _the land is Mine_; for ye are strangers and sojourners _with Me_." What does this mean, but that Canaan belongs specially to Jehovah, and that He will hold it through the tribes of Israel? True, "the earth is the Lord's,"

but that is quite another thing. It is plain that He has been pleased, for His own unsearchable purposes, to take special possession of the land of Canaan, and to submit that land to a peculiar line of treatment, to mark it off from all other lands, by calling it His own, and to distinguish it by judgments and ordinances and periodical solemnities, the mere contemplation of which enlightens the understanding and affects the heart. Where, throughout all the earth, do we read of a land enjoying a year of unbroken repose--a year of richest abundance? The rationalist may ask, How can these things be?

the skeptic may doubt if they could be; but faith finds a satisfying answer from the lips of Jehovah--"And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store." (Ver. 20-22.) Nature might say, What shall we do for _our sowing_? G.o.d's answer is, "I will command _My blessing_." G.o.d's "blessing" is better far than man's "sowing." He was not going to let them starve in His sabbatic year.

They were to feed upon the fruits of His blessing, while they celebrated His year of rest--a year which pointed forward to that eternal Sabbath that remains for the people of G.o.d.

"And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the s.p.a.ce of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land." (Ver. 8, 9.) It is peculiarly interesting to note the various methods in which the millennial rest was held up to view in the Jewish economy. Every seventh day was a sabbatic day; every seventh year was a sabbatic year; and every seven times seven years there was a jubilee. Each and all of these typical solemnities held up to the vision of faith the blessed prospect of a time when labor and sorrow should cease; when "the sweat of the brow" would no longer be needed to satisfy the cravings of hunger; but when a millennial earth enriched by the copious showers of divine grace, and fertilized by the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness, should pour its abundance into the storehouse and wine-press of the people of G.o.d. Happy time!

happy people! How blessed to be a.s.sured that these things are not the pencilings of imagination or the flights of fancy, but the substantial verities of divine revelation, to be enjoyed by faith, which is "the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Of all the Jewish solemnities the jubilee would seem to have been the most soul-stirring and enrapturing. It stood immediately connected with the great day of atonement. It was when the blood of the victim was shed that the emanc.i.p.ating sound of the jubilee trump was heard through the hills and valleys of the land of Canaan. That longed-for note was designed to wake up the nation from the very centre of its moral being--to stir the deepest depths of the soul, and to send a shining river of divine and ineffable joy through the length and breadth of the land. "In the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout _all_ your land." Not a corner was to remain unvisited by "the joyful sound." The aspect of the jubilee was as wide as the aspect of the atonement on which the jubilee was based.

"And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession." (Ver. 8-13.) All estates and conditions of the people were permitted to feel the hallowed and refreshing influence of this most n.o.ble inst.i.tution. The exile returned; the captive was emanc.i.p.ated; the debtor set free; each family opened its bosom to receive once more its long-lost members; each inheritance received back its exiled owner. The sound of the trumpet was the welcome and soul-stirring signal for the captive to escape, for the slave to cast aside the chains of his bondage, for the man-slayer to return to his home, for the ruined and poverty-stricken to rise to the possession of their forfeited inheritance. No sooner had the trumpet's thrice-welcome sound fallen upon the ear than the mighty tide of blessing rose majestically and sent its refreshing undulations into the most remote corners of Jehovah's highly favored land.

"And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: according to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee. According to the mult.i.tude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it; for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy G.o.d: for I am the Lord your G.o.d."

(Ver. 14-17.) The year of jubilee reminded both buyer and seller that the land belonged to Jehovah and was not to be sold. "The fruits"

might be sold, but that was all: Jehovah could never give up the land to any one. It is important to get this point well fixed in the mind; it may open up a very extensive line of truth. If the land of Canaan is not to be sold--if Jehovah declares it to be His forever, then for whom does He want it? who is to hold under Him? Those to whom He gave it by an everlasting covenant, that they might have it in possession as long as the moon endureth--even to all generations.

There is no spot in all the earth like unto the land of Canaan in the divine estimation. There Jehovah set up His throne and His sanctuary; there His priests stood to minister continually before Him; there the voices of His prophets were heard testifying of present ruin and future restoration and glory; there the Baptist began, continued, and ended his career as the forerunner of the Messiah; there the blessed One was born of a woman; there He was baptized; there He preached and taught; there He labored and died; from thence He ascended in triumph to the right hand of G.o.d; thither G.o.d the Holy Ghost descended, in Pentecostal power; from thence the overflowing tide of gospel testimony emanated to the ends of the earth; thither the Lord of glory will descend ere long, and plant His foot "on the Mount of Olives;"

there His throne will be re-established and His worship restored. In a word, His eyes and His heart are there continually; its dust is precious in His sight; it is the centre of all His thoughts and operations as touching this earth; and it is His purpose to make it an eternal excellency, the joy of many generations.

It is, then, I repeat, immensely important to get a firm hold of this interesting line of truth with respect to the land of Canaan. Of that land Jehovah hath said, "IT IS MINE." Who shall take it from Him?

Where is the king or the emperor--where the power, human or diabolical, that can wrest "the pleasant land" out of Jehovah's omnipotent grasp? True, it has been a bone of contention, an apple of discord, to the nations. It has been, and it will yet be, the scene and centre of cruel war and bloodshed. But far above all the din of battle and the strife of nations, these words fall with divine clearness, fullness, and power upon the ear of faith: "_The land is Mine!_" Jehovah can never give up that land, nor those "twelve tribes" through whom He is to inherit it forever. Let my reader think of this; let him ponder it deeply; let him guard against all looseness of thought and vagueness of interpretation as to this subject. G.o.d hath not cast away His people, or the land which He sware to give unto them for an everlasting possession. "The twelve loaves" of Leviticus xxiv. bear witness to the former, and "the jubilee" of Leviticus xxv.

bears witness to the latter. The memorial of the "twelve tribes of Israel" is ever before the Lord, and the moment is rapidly approaching when the trump of jubilee shall be heard upon the mountains of Palestine. Then, in reality, the captive shall cast off the ignominious chain which for ages has bound him; then shall the exile return to that happy home from which he has so long been banished; then shall every debt be canceled, every burden removed, and every tear wiped away. "For thus saith the Lord, 'Behold, I will extend peace to her [Jerusalem] like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward His servants, and His indignation toward His enemies.

For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.... For I know their works and their thoughts; it shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard My fame, neither have seen My glory; and they shall declare My glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord.'" (Isaiah lxvi. 12-23.)

And now let us look for a moment at the practical effect of the jubilee--its influence upon the transactions between man and man.--"And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another. According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbor, and according to the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee." The scale of prices was to be regulated by the jubilee. If that glorious event were at hand, the price was low; if far off, the price was high. All human compacts as to land were broken up the moment the trump of jubilee was heard, for the land was Jehovah's; and the jubilee brought all back to its normal condition.

This teaches us a fine lesson. If our hearts are cherishing the abiding hope of the Lord's return, we shall set light by all earthly things. It is morally impossible that we can be in the att.i.tude of waiting for the Son from heaven, and not be detached from this present world. "Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand." (Phil. iv.) A person may hold "the doctrine of the millennium,"

as it is called, or the doctrine of "the second advent," and be a thorough man of the world; but one who lives in the habitual expectation of Christ's appearing must be separated from that which will be judged and broken up when He comes. It is not a question of the shortness and uncertainty of human life, which is quite true; or of the transitory and unsatisfying character of the things of time, which is equally true. It is far more potent and influential than either or both of these,--it is this: "_The Lord is at hand._" May our hearts be affected and our conduct in all things influenced by this most precious and sanctifying truth.

CHAPTER XXVI.

This chapter requires little in the way of note or exposition. It contains a most solemn and affecting record of the blessings of obedience on the one hand, and the terrible consequences of disobedience on the other. Had Israel walked in obedience, they would have been invincible. "I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.

And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. And I will set My tabernacle among you; and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your G.o.d, and ye shall be My people. I am the Lord your G.o.d, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondsmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright." (Ver. 6-13.)

The presence of G.o.d should ever have been their shield and buckler. No weapon formed against them could prosper. But then the divine presence was only to be enjoyed by an obedient people. Jehovah could not sanction by His presence disobedience or wickedness. The uncirc.u.mcised nations around might depend upon their prowess and their military resources: Israel had only the arm of Jehovah to depend upon, and that arm could never be stretched forth to shield unholiness or disobedience. Their strength was, to walk with G.o.d in a spirit of dependence and obedience. So long as they walked thus, there was a wall of fire round about them, to protect them from every enemy and every evil.

But, alas! Israel failed altogether. Notwithstanding the solemn and appalling picture placed before their eyes, in verses 14-33 of this chapter, they forsook the Lord and served other G.o.ds, and thus brought upon themselves the sore judgments threatened in this section, the bare record of which is sufficient to make the ears tingle. Under the heavy weight of these judgments they are suffering at this very hour.

Scattered and peeled, wasted and outcast, they are the monuments of Jehovah's inflexible truth and justice. They read aloud, to all the nations of the earth, a most impressive lesson on the subject of the moral government of G.o.d--a lesson which it would be profitable for these nations to study deeply--yea, and a lesson which it would be salutary for our own hearts to ponder likewise.

We are very p.r.o.ne to confound two things which are clearly distinguished in the Word, namely, G.o.d's _government_ and G.o.d's _grace_. The evils which result from this confusion are various. It is sure to lead to an enfeebled sense of the dignity and solemnity of government, and of the purity, fullness, and elevation of grace. It is quite true that G.o.d in government reserves to Himself the sovereign right to act in patience, long-suffering, and mercy; but the exercise of these attributes, in connection with His throne of government, must never be confounded with the unconditional actings of pure and absolute grace.

The chapter before us is a record of divine government, and yet, in it we find such clauses as the following: "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespa.s.s which they trespa.s.sed against Me; and that also they have walked contrary unto Me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncirc.u.mcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them; and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes. And yet, for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their G.o.d. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their G.o.d: I am the Lord." (Ver. 40-45.)

Here we find G.o.d in government, meeting, in long-suffering mercy, the very earliest and faintest breathings of a broken and penitent spirit.

The history of the judges and of the kings presents many instances of the exercise of this blessed attribute of the divine government. Again and again the soul of Jehovah was grieved for Israel (Judges x. 16.), and He sent them one deliverer after another, until at length there remained no hope, and the righteous claims of His throne demanded their expulsion from that land which they were wholly incompetent to keep.