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  SERMONS OF A SHEPHERD
  by A. Shepherd
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Shepherd's meditations on Ephesian prayers exploring the spiritual riches found
in Paul's epistles, using poetic imagery to describe the spiritual landscape and
reflecting on the beauty of Christ and the glory of His kingship.

  Chapters: 12

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 00.00. Shepherd A. - Articles
    2. S.   A Meditation on the Ephesian Prayers
    3. S.   Exodus: The Book of Redemption and Relationship
    4. S.   Friends of God.
    5. S.   Heb_6:19
    6. S.   King and Priest upon His Throne.
    7. S.   Overcoming the World.
    8. S.   Practical Reflections from the Life of Abraham
    9. S.   Simple Reflections on Paul's Letter to the Galatians.
   10. S.   The Everlasting Priesthood.
   11. S.   The Heavenly Calling.
   12. S.   Thoughts on the Offerings.

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  CHAPTER 1: 00.00. SHEPHERD A. - ARTICLES
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Shepherd A. - Articles

S. A Meditation on the Ephesian Prayers

S. Exodus: The Book of Redemption and Relationship

S. Friends of God

S. Hebrews 6:19

S. King and Priest upon His Throne

S. Overcoming the World

S. Practical Reflections from the Life of Abraham

S. Simple Reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians

S. The Everlasting Priesthood

S. The Heavenly Calling

S. Thoughts on the Offerings


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  CHAPTER 2: S.   A MEDITATION ON THE EPHESIAN PRAYERS
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A Meditation on the Ephesian Prayers.

Ephesians 1:3-23, Ephesians 3:14-21.

No. 1.

While it is my primary intention as enabled by the grace of God, to engage your
heart more particularly with the two prayers of the beloved apostle Paul in this
epistle, I should like to make a brief survey of this land, where there is much
gold. In a spiritual sense it is a goodly land, a land of water brooks, of
fountains and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills; a land of barley
and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey. I
well remember when reading the 33rd chapter of Isaiah, some years ago, being
greatly impressed with the poetic beauty of the 17th verse, "Thine eyes shall
see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off."
The first part of the Scripture presented no difficulty, the matchless beauty of
God’s king, in the glory of His Person, entrancing the soul, saturating it with
the dew of heaven, yea watered as with the sweet distilling of the Spirit, as
Scripture after Scripture concerning God’s king passed in review: "Yet have I
set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (Psalms 2:1-12): and "A king shall reign
in righteousness," as declared by Isaiah, the prophet of God’s salvation. And I
smelled the sweet fragrance of the garments of the king spoken of in the 45th
Psalm,

All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces;
"the garments of Him, who is "King of kings and Lord of lords." The latter
clause of the 17th verse of Isaiah 33:1-24 however, was somewhat difficult to
understand, until my attention was drawn to the marginal rendering, "the land of
far distances." Moses on Pisgah’s lofty height beheld Immanuel’s land, the
earthly inheritance assigned to the children of Israel, in the dispensational
ways of God with men. In Ephesians, we stand upon superlatively greater
elevations, and view the glorious landscapes of the new creation, where "all
things are of God." This epistle has been aptly described as "The epistle of the
heavenlies;" and we stand upon these heavenly altitudes breathing the pure and
stainless atmosphere of heaven itself, and see the glorious vistas of this "land
of far distances," stretching out far and away beyond our ken, to the limitless
bounds of the universe of God. As contemplating this scene, the heart finds
relief as the lips utter that beautiful doxology of the apostle, "O the depth of
the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out!

It is unquestionably true that the apostle Paul was specially gifted of God, to
communicate to men His eternal counsels and His ways in Christ, and also the
glory of Christ, in which our eternal blessing and security are so vitally bound
up. A careful and prayerful study of these two sublime prayers, so exquisitely
phrased, would amply repay the diligent, exercised student of the word of God.
In the narrow compass of a few brief verses we have a masterly setting forth of
the great truths which are developed throughout the epistle. Please note the
attitude of the speaker, remarkably significant, he makes mention of the saints
in his prayers, desiring that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory might give them the spirit of wisdom, etc. Paul desired that the truths he
was communicating should lay hold of the heart and conscience of those to whom
he was writing. Can we not emulate the apostle in this act of intercession? In
spite of the tremendous volume of energy and zeal expended by us in the Gospel,
how many are sincerely affected by our preaching? And in spite of all the
faithful ministry to the saints of God, both written and oral, why is it that
our practical, everyday lives are so low in moral tone, sometimes not exceeding
the common standards of the world? Is it not because we have not spent
sufficient time before God regarding the matter, desiring that His Word may be
productive of good in the lives of saint and sinner? In this remarkable prayer,
three great subjects are mentioned; "The hope of His calling;" "The riches of
the glory of His inheritance in the saints;" "The exceeding greatness of His
power towards us," that has wrought to put us into the calling and make us His
heirs. Please observe that it is "HIS calling," "HIS inheritance," and "HIS
power." Everything in this epistle is operative from God; man after the flesh is
regarded as dead in trespasses and in sins, without one moral movement Godward,
the object of divine mercy and compassion, the subject of divine workmanship,
"For we are His workmanship." We are looked upon, in this epistle, as no longer
in Adam, but in Christ, for "If any man be in Christ, there is new creation."

Verses 4-6 bring out the calling of God, taking us back into an eternity that is
past, long before the dawn of this world’s tragic history. But as yet it is no
question of the activity of the divine counsel; it is simply the blessed fact
that God chose us in Christ. The time was to come for the effectuation of all
the counsels of God, when divine strength would clothe itself in human weakness
for the accomplishment of these counsels, which were all divine. As yet, in
these verses, it is but the revelation of the benevolent intentions of God, to
have us holy and without blame before Him in love. Beloved saint, has your heart
laid hold of this amazing conception, that God is to have us before Him as the
objects of His love continually, partaking of the blessed features of our
glorious Lord, "holy and without blame," so that the holy eye of God can rest
upon us with the same delight as it rests on that blessed One, of whom God said,
"In Whom I have found my delight." And what position are we to occupy before
God? the position of sons, for He has predestinated us to this, not merely to
make us happy, or to give us relief from the tremendous load of our sin and
guilt, but to gratify His own blessed heart. The prophet Zephaniah says, "He
shall rest in His love, and joy over us with singing." God has laid the basis of
His eternal joy in the salvation of guilty sinners like ourselves. To have been
brought into the position of angels would have been a great mercy, but angelic
relationship would never have satisfied the counsels of eternal love. His desire
was to have us before Him, as partakers of the divine nature, capable of
enjoying His counsels and Himself; so that we are brought into favour in the
Beloved. You have no doubt noted the change of expression here; it is not "in
Christ," but "in the Beloved;" as though God would emphasise and intensify the
thought of the wondrous place of near and intimate affection into which His
grace has brought us.

Now we come to the second object of His desire for us, that we might know "the
riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." In His calling we look
above: the inheritance, as it were, stretches out beneath our feet. This is
found in verses 10 and 11, and brings us to the magnificent result of all God’s
ways in government in the dispensations of time. It is not merely the kingdom,
though it includes the kingdom; but the thought is much fuller; it is everything
in heaven and on earth headed up in Christ. We are not the inheritance, we are
the heirs, "Heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ." Just as God took possession
of Canaan as His inheritance, by putting Israel into possession, so when Christ
takes possession of all things as Head of the universe, He does so by putting
the heavenly saints in possession, and it, becomes the riches of the glory of
His inheritance in the saints.

Finally, we come to the power, demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection, that was
to put us into the calling and bring us as heirs into the inheritance. That
mighty irresistible power that was operative in giving Christ that glorious
triumph, in raising Him from the dead and setting Him down at His own right
hand, far above every principality and authority, and power and dominion, and
every name named, etc.; a power greater far than that displayed in calling
mighty worlds into being, is operative towards us who believe, in bringing us
into the unclouded, unspeakable joy and blessedness of those heavenly and
eternal things. A wealthy place beloved!

No. 2. The first prayer upon which we have meditated is a prayer of glory,
contemplating our standing and God’s power for us; the second is a prayer of
love, contemplating our state and God’s power in us.

It might be profitable for a little to explore the avenues of divine truth,
which have been opened up for the unrestricted exploration, and prayerful
investigation, of the one whose heart is diligently set upon acquiring a deeper
knowledge of God the Father and His ways of grace and glory. In Ephesians 1:1-23
we have a wonderful setting forth of the eternal counsels of God, God working
all after the counsel of His own will; everything operative from God. It is
God’s calling, God’s inheritance, God’s power, the surpassing greatness of which
is displayed in raising His blessed Son from the dead, and setting Him at His
own right hand, far above every principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that
which is to come. This same chapter shows us God doing all the wonderful things
spoken of according to the good pleasure of His will, according to the riches of
His grace, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will. These are the activities of One, who, after man’s disastrous fall,
fell back upon the resources of His grace and power, and who wrought for the
express purpose of giving effect to all these eternal counsels of glory and
blessing. In Ephesians 2:1-22 we have the merciful intervention of God on behalf
of those who were dead in trespasses and in sins, those who were chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world, those who were sinners of the
Gentiles, outside the pale of national blessing, apart from Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. But these were the subjects of
divine mercy, and as the workmanship of God grow unto an holy temple in the
Lord, and are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
Beloved saint of God, has this amazing conception thrilled your soul? Has the
immensity, of this thought left its deep impression upon you that every redeemed
sinner is a member of the body of Christ, and is a living stone, forming part of
that divine structure which is the dwelling place of God upon earth?

Ephesians 3:1-21 gives us Paul’s administration of the mystery, so preciously
disclosed in the previous chapters. Paul was a prisoner for the Gentiles,
because he had preached to them the Gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and because he had made known to them this glorious mystery, which had been hid
in God from eternity. The mystery discloses that the Gentiles are joint heirs, a
joint body, and joint partakers of God’s promise in Christ; and God has created
all things to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly
places might be known by the church the all-variegated wisdom of God. These
spiritual intelligences had seen creation arise and expand before their eyes,
they had seen the mighty acts of God in judgment and in providence, but now
these exalted beings saw something altogether new in this divine conception, the
assembly of God. With these weighty truths engaging His thoughts and filling His
heart, the beloved apostle bows his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom every family in heaven and earth is named. God had been known as
Jehovah, the God of heaven, the Lord of the whole earth, and by other names, all
more or less restrictive in application; but at the mention of the name of the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, every family in heaven and on earth,
angels, Jews, Gentiles, and the assembly, range themselves under it. Then lie
goes on to say, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with might by His Spirit, in the inner man. Here we have the
work of the Spirit of God, a work of spiritual formation within the heart,
providing for Christ there a suitable dwelling place; so that he can say "That
the Christ may dwell, through faith in your hearts." In the first chapter, we
are in Christ; here, Christ is in us, so that being rooted and grounded in love
we may be able to apprehend with all saints what is the breadth. . . . As Christ
dwells in our hearts by faith we become rooted and grounded in love, and in this
fertile soil the new nature grows, expands, and becomes exceeding fruitful, and
seeks to apprehend with all saints — for love will never leave one saint of God
out — the wonderful system of divine glory of which Christ is the centre. The
Spirit of God alone can make these things real and precious to us. What mortal
tongue, yea, what angelic tongue, can describe those heavenly wonders, that
stretch far and away beyond mortal ken to the limitless bounds of the universe
of God. As we view these wondrous things, truly we are lost, not in perplexity,
but in "Wonder, love and praise."

A. Shepherd.


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  CHAPTER 3: S.   EXODUS: THE BOOK OF REDEMPTION AND RELATIONSHIP
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Exodus: The Book of Redemption and Relationship

A. Shepherd. No greater proof of the spiritual value and significance of the Old
Testament Scriptures could be furnished than that of Luke 24:1-53, where the
Lord Jesus is seen in the wonderful character of interpreting all the
Scriptures. And how wonderful to realise that that Blessed One was the supreme
focus of all those convergent rays of prophetic testimony to which He was
drawing the attention of the two disconsolate disciples He had met on the way to
Emmaus. In Luke 24:27 we have the remarkable statement: "And having begun from
Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself." Then in Luke 24:44 : "These are the words which
I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all that is written concerning Me
in the law of Moses and prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."

It had pleased God by the mouths of those Old Testament prophets to disclose in
a wealth of variety and detail the things substantiated in Christ risen from the
dead. The knowledge of these things, learned in the company of the Lord Jesus,
will provide us with an effective safeguard against all the wretched infidel
notions of our day, and enable us to rise to those sublime heights of divine
truth far above the frivolous and foolish philosophies of men, which constitute
the wisdom of the world. In the Book of Exodus therefore is found in part: "The
things concerning Himself," and in its typical teaching — and this is our
principal concern — brings before us themes of undying interest and of eternal
importance to man. As we pass from the contemplation of the rich variety of
subjects contained in the Book of Genesis, which has been aptly named "the seed
plot of the Bible," and enter this second Book of divine inspiration, we breathe
an atmosphere sensibly different.

Exodus has as its main subject Redemption; and as a consequence, Relationship.
To the children of Israel it was relationship to Jehovah as their Redeemer: to
the believer in this day of grace it is relationship to the Father as revealed
in the Son, consequent upon the work of redemption. But what does redemption
really mean? It is a very different thought from "Purchase," though this is
involved. We read of the assembly as purchased by the blood of God’s Son (Acts
20:28); of false teachers denying the Master that bought them (2 Peter 2:1); and
of the Lord, in the parable, buying the field, the world (Matthew 13:44).
Purchase intimates a change of ownership, but does not necessarily mean a change
of state. It is one thing for a slave to be purchased, another for him to be
redeemed.

Redemption for us involves a change of position, from Adam to Christ; and a
change of state, from the flesh to the Spirit; truths presented to us in God’s
Word to make our own, and to work out in divine energy in the practical details
of life. Redemption in its fullest extent, for Israel, for creation, and for the
church, is yet future. The right to redeem rests on the blood of the Lamb, and
the power in the glorious Person of the Redeemer. The creation is already
purchased, but its redemption is yet future (Ephesians 1:14), and will be
effected when it passes from "the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the
glory of the children of God"; from groans to praises, and from pain to rest
(Romans 8:19-22). In no other Book of the Word of God is the great truth of
redemption, and its results in bringing the redeemed nigh to God, more fully
unfolded than in these divinely instructive types. In keeping with the general
design of the Book, its numerous and varied types are redemptive in character.
It treats in the main of two great subjects: Redemption from judgment, from the
world and from the power of the adversary and Relationship to God with all the
blessed consequences accruing therefrom. In chapters 12 and 14 we have
deliverance by redemption, first by the blood of the Lamb, which finds its
answer in "Justified by His blood," as in Romans 5:9; the second, by divine
power, as in Romans 4:25 : "Raised again for our justification."

After redemption had been typically accomplished by blood and by power, Jehovah
could dwell among His people. How great was the blessing for man when God walked
in Paradise, and visited the patriarchs; but the first intimation of God
dwelling with men is consequent on redemption, and heard in the song of triumph,
sung by the children of Israel on the other side of the Red Sea: "Thou shalt
bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, the place
that Thou Jehovah hast made Thy dwelling." The first relationship of the people
with Jehovah was on the ground of pure grace, a very brief period of nearly
three months, from the time of their departure from Egypt till they reached
Sinai. The second principle of relationship was law, and under this they placed
themselves voluntarily as the means of maintaining their connection with God.
The third ground of their standing with God was of mixed law and grace (Exodus
34:1-35); not of grace only, for that they had forfeited; nor was it pure law,
else it would have meant for them God’s consuming judgment. In Exodus 1:1-22;
Exodus 2:1-25; Exodus 3:1-22; Exodus 4:1-31; Exodus 5:1-23 the people are seen
in their misery, because of their grinding servitude; in Exodus 6:1-30; Exodus
7:1-25; Exodus 8:1-32; Exodus 9:1-35; Exodus 10:1-29; Exodus 11:1-10; Exodus
12:1-51; Exodus 13:1-22; Exodus 14:1-31, they are the subjects of God’s glorious
redemption; and in Exodus 15:1-27 they are viewed as brought near to God in a
relationship answering to the revelation of His Name and the perfection of His
ways and thoughts.

Exodus 1:1-22 The condition in which the children of Israel are found in Exodus
1:1-22 had been foretold many years before, when God had declared to Abraham:
"Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs,
and they shall be in bondage to them; and they shall afflict them four hundred
years. But also that nation which they shall serve I will judge; and afterward
they shall come out with great property" (Genesis 15:13-14). This is the history
of the first twelve chapters of Exodus, and so at the first chapter we are
brought to the very threshold of the accomplishment of God’s ways with His
people, as foretold to Abraham. Even the wrath of man is yoked to the chariot
wheels of God’s decrees, just as when Christ was "given up by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God," to men to crucify and slay (Acts 2:23). The
brief summary of particulars relating to Jacob and his sons who went with him
down to Egypt, is dealt with in greater detail in Genesis 46:1-34. No mention is
made in these introductory verses of the famine in Canaan, which was the
immediate cause of their going down to Egypt, but in the light of further
revelation this was no fortuitous circumstance in their history, but part of
God’s providential ways to effect His purpose concerning them.

It was an intolerable thought that the children of Israel, owned of God as His
people in covenant relationship with Him, should be found in servile bondage
under the heel of this cruel, tyrannical despot. Since Egypt speaks of the world
in its deep-seated enmity towards the people of God, Pharaoh as its prince,
would speak of him who is the adversary and oppressor of those who belong to
Christ, and of whom Christ said: The ruler of this world comes, and in Me he has
nothing" (John 14:30). This is the one who seeks to keep us in a state of
continual bondage, and so prevent us from enjoying what God has given to us. A
radical change marks the circumstances of the children of Israel when "There
arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." No longer were they the
favoured recipients of Joseph’s bounty as preserved and nourished under his
beneficent administration; they were made to feel the power of one who was the
avowed adversary of Jehovah and His people. In its spiritual application,
however, we, as the people of God, while still in the scene where the claims of
Christ are still refused, and the usurper wields his baneful influence and
destructive power, are preserved and nourished by the heavenly ministrations of
our true Joseph from His exalted place on God’s throne.

We are reminded that the children of Israel, every man and his household came
with Jacob. The natural name of their father appears here in perfect suitability
to the Spirit’s purpose; just as we came into the house of bondage with our
father, Adam. God, in the sovereign actings of His grace, as we shall see, alone
can deliver us from the thraldom of a greater rebel than Pharaoh. The bondage
itself, however, does not begin at once, for conscious bondage is not the
expression of our mere natural state. The man in Romans 7:1-25 is not a mere
child of nature, for such does not cry out: "Oh, wretched man that I am! who
shall deliver me?" That is an expression of felt bondage. There was the time
when this world pleased us well enough, just as there was a time when Egypt
pleased the children of Israel; but God, in faithfulness remembering His
covenant with Abraham, commences to forge the various links in the remarkable
chain of circumstances, which would free them from Egypt with its lusts and
bondage.

God saw what was necessary to bring home to His people their need of
deliverance, and raised up Pharaoh to procure the smoking furnace of Abraham’s
vision (Genesis 15:1-21). Egypt became to them a house of bondage; the clear
reflection of our own moral condition as sinners; a condition in which we should
have remained had it not been for the sovereign intervention of God in mercy. In
His wisdom God allows us to feel the mighty burden of our sin and guilt, and
taste the bitterness of our bondage to the ruler of this world, and thus by
reason of our felt condition, cry unto Him.

Listen to the words of Exodus 2:23-25 : "And the children of Israel sighed
because of the bondage, and cried . . . and God heard . . . and God remembered .
. . and God looked upon the children of Israel, and God took knowledge (of their
state)." Further, in Exodus 3:7-8 : "Jehovah said, I have seen . . . their cry I
have heard . . . I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them." What
a wonderful moment it was in the world’s history when God came down in the
Person of Jesus to effect our deliverance! This Book opens with the significant
words: "And these are the names of the sons of Israel," a title suggestive of
their dignity as standing in relation to the "prince with God." Would this not
suggest to us the place of dignity and liberty to which God has called His
saints? How this thought is illuminated with divine light as the beloved Apostle
declares in Galatians 4:4-7 : "God sent forth His Son . . . that He might redeem
those under law, that we might receive sonship. But because ye are sons, God has
sent out the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So thou
art no longer bondman, but son, heir also through God." Bondage is inconsistent
with the place of sons, and the enemy in his malice and fury would fain hold us
under his power. The enemy knows that the presence of the children of God in
this world constitutes an ever present danger to his kingdom; and he has sought
by means of persecution, and by the introduction of legal principles, to bring
us into a false position. In Acts 15:1-41 and Galatians, we see the enemy at
work, endeavouring to entice the saints into unprofitable labour, unworthy of
those who have been delivered out of this present evil age. In building the
store cities of Pharaoh, which were used to provision his army, the children of
Israel were but riveting the chains of slavery more firmly on themselves. The
enemy in seeking to hinder the increase and prosperity of the children of
Israel, gave his commands to the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, but these faithful
women disobeyed the king, because they "feared God." Because they "feared God,"
they were prospered by Him.

Like these faithful women, the apostle Paul sought the increase and spiritual
prosperity of God’s people. He travailed over the Galatian saints (4:19) who
were in danger of being brought into legal bondage; his combat was great for the
saints at Colosse and elsewhere, lest they should be ensnared by the principles
of the world.

How richly compensating is the sense of God’s favour to those who are seeking to
move in the current of His thoughts with respect to His people’s spiritual
increase and enlargement in the knowledge of those momentous truths which are
secured in all the stability of His eternal counsels. These great truths have
been revealed, and remain for the people of God to form and give character to
their path, so that while conscious of the immeasurable resources that abide in
Christ, they might in sweet communion enter into the enjoyment of all God’s
thoughts regarding Christ and the assembly.

Exodus 2:1-25 In order to be rightly understood, Exodus 2:1-25 must be
considered in conjunction with Hebrews 11:1-40, which forms a divine commentary
of at least the main incidents in this chapter, and moreover furnishes us with
the divine estimate of those human actions which are given here in a historical
mould. It is only in the combination of these two aspects that we can be truly
instructed in the true knowledge of God and His ways. With reference to the
wonderful declaration of God’s Name in Exodus 34:1-35 : "The Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth . . ."
another has written: "The reader must study for himself this unfolding of what
God was to Israel — each word employed being in this aspect the declaration of
His immutable character. There was indeed a heart of love for His people, but .
. . pent up until atonement should have been accomplished, when God could
righteously justify the ungodly." God desires to be known to His people, and His
ways have ever been consistent with this desire, whether in the soft and partial
light of types and symbols, or in the noon-day splendour of the coming of the
Son, who could say: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." May the eye of
faith therefore be so keen and sensitive as to discern the rays of divine glory
radiating from God’s precious Word.

We saw in the previous chapter how Pharaoh in his unbridled fury against the
people of God decreed that "Every son that is born, ye shall cast into the
river." In this chapter God shows us how He uses the very wrath of the king to
protect him who would become the deliverer of His people. It is an absorbing
story which manifests the perfection and sovereignty of God’s ways, providing us
with a wonderful and convincing illustration of the remarkable declaration of
the King of Babylon, after his abasement at the hands of the Most High: "And all
the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and He doeth according to
His will in the army of the heavens and among the inhabitants of the earth, and
none can stay His hand, or say unto Him: ’What doest Thou?’" (Daniel 4:35). In
perfect correspondence with this inspired declaration, and as expressive of
those ways of Him who has brought forth meat out of the eater and sweetness out
of the strong, we find the deliverer himself appearing in circumstances which
the cruel edict of Pharaoh had produced. In Acts 7:1-60, where we have Stephen’s
solemn arraignment of the Jewish nation, he says of the king who knew not
Joseph: "He dealt subtly with our race, and evil entreated the fathers, casting
out their infants that they might not live. In which time Moses was born, and
was fair to God." In Exodus 2:1-25, where the Spirit of God gives the historical
record of these momentous events, it states very briefly of Moses’ mother: "And
she saw him that he was fair, and hid him three months." In Hebrews 11:1-40 the
Holy Spirit links these actions with a divinely inspired faith that laid hold
upon a "God who is a rewarder of them who seek Him out," even as we read: "By
faith Moses, being born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw
the child beautiful; and they did not fear the injunction of the king." Such is
the divine valuation of the actions of the father and mother whose natural
affection for this son which had been given to them revolted against the decree
of the king. While recognising their allegiance to an earthly sovereign, by
faith they acknowledged a higher allegiance to their God, to whom this proud
despot was also accountable. Trusting in God they were able to rise in
superiority above the fear of man that bringeth a snare, and as acting according
to the wisdom which the fear of the Lord inculcates, they hide their child from
the despot and a hostile world.

It must not be supposed that the parents of Moses entered into the full
significance of all that was bound up in the preservation of their child. In
this we have a touching example of how the ways of God are powerfully interwoven
in the actions of men, for faith does not ignore the affections of the parents,
but intervenes to sustain them in quiet, unfailing persistence and undeviating
conviction of the mind and purpose of God. This is the way in which God lays the
foundation for the accomplishment of His purposes, preparing His instruments and
working towards the moment before determined by Him. In how pre-eminently
greater measure do we see this exemplified in the coming into the world of One
incomparably greater than Moses, and of whom Moses has said: "Jehovah thy God
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like
unto me, unto Him shall ye hearken" (Deuteronomy 18:15). That this refers
exclusively to Christ is placed beyond all dispute, by Peter in Acts 3:18-22,
and Stephen in Acts 7:1-60, who are both moved by the Spirit to quote this
Scripture. Moses stands out very distinctly as a type of the Lord Jesus,
particularly in his mediatorial character and as one who occupied a place of
remark-able and unprecedented nearness to God, for "The Lord spake unto Moses
face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend." Jehovah alludes to this when
vindicating Moses against the aspersions of Miriam and Aaron, saying: "My
servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. Mouth to mouth do I speak to him
openly, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah doth he behold" (Numbers
12:7-8). This remarkable pronouncement from God concerning Moses serves to throw
into stronger and brighter relief the superlative excellence of the One of whom
Moses was but a figure, even as it is recorded in Hebrews 3:5-6 : "And Moses
indeed was faithful in all His house as a ministering servant for a testimony of
the things to be spoken after; but Christ, as Son over His house, whose house
are we." The house is God’s house, and the contrast is between Moses as a
servant in and Christ as Son over it.

It is against this sublime background that we seek to interpret these impressive
types in which God is working for a design according to His own heart, and also
for the securing of His glory in the manner in which the design is accomplished.
Moses, as we have seen, was by birth exposed to the death sentence under which
the sons of Israel lay in Egypt, nor was he exempt because faith discerned him
"fair to God." And what do we learn of Him of whom Moses was a type? That
blessed One, from whose wondrous Person every moral beauty radiated to the full
gratification of the Father’s heart; neither His own people nor the world at
large saw any beauty in Him; there was no room for Him in the homes or the
hearts of men; no room for the Lord of glory in a world which lay in bondage to
its god and prince. But in the providential ways of God, and in the pursuance of
His purpose respecting the deliverance of His people, the very scene of
forfeited life was the place where the deliverer of His people was sheltered and
succoured, and this not simply with regard to Moses, but also with regard to Him
who was incomparably greater, the One who was in supreme measure "beautiful to
God," of whom it is written: "Arise, take to thee the little child and His
mother, and flee into Egypt. . . . And He was there until the death of Herod"
(Matthew 2:13-15). How powerless the adversary is, despite all his vaunted power
and authority, to frustrate God in His benevolent intentions concerning His
people. Never is the enemy so completely defeated as in the moment of apparent
victory. The cross is the eternal witness of this, where "the powers of hell
there felt the might of God"; when He who was crucified in weakness was raised
by the power of God. With the passing of time, Moses could no longer be hid; but
faith is never lacking in resources, for it ever lays hold upon a God who "is a
rewarder of those who seek Him out." The mother of Moses therefore "took for him
an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child
therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink." Her actings were
maintained on the high level of God’s wonderful movements, and with His
marvellous design for the emancipation of His people from the house of bondage.

Another personage now comes under the sovereign power and direction of God; none
other than Pharaoh’s daughter. No doubt she was moved by her own inclinations,
and sought only her own pleasure, as she went down to the river to bathe; yet
unknown to herself she was to be the divine instrument to defeat the hostility
of her father and foil his plans, and also to ensure under her royal patronage
the retaining of Moses under the tender and affectionate care of his parents. It
was in this environment, and not in Pharaoh’s court or in the colleges of Egypt,
that the future deliverer of God’s people was trained and prepared for the great
destiny that lay before him; and can we not say that this training proved
superior to all the powerful influences of Egypt? No doubt Moses became a
finished product of the highest education that Egypt could afford, and his
accomplishments are noticed by the Spirit of God through Stephen, who tells us
that he "was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in
his words and deeds" (Acts 7:22); but all this learning was not of the slightest
use to him as the deliverer chosen of God, nor as the king in Jeshurun to order
the course of the people of God in the wilderness. The "wisdom of Egypt" would
have been baffled to make a way through the Red Sea, and entirely barren of
every resource to meet all the exigencies of the wilderness. Egypt’s learning
could not have furnished the ability to bring water out of the rock or provide
the manna to meet the needs of that vast host in the wilderness. But in the
training received under the tutelage of his parents, and in the disciplinary
ways of God as he kept Jethro’s flock in the wilderness, Moses was being
divinely educated in the ways of the covenant-keeping God in whom there was
every resource for the liberation of His people, and for their sustainment "in a
dry and weary land without water." How essential that the saint of God should
distinguish between what we may learn of this world’s wisdom in the course of
God’s providence, and that spiritual education and divine teaching which give
the knowledge of God, and which give qualification to act for God and the
blessings of His people. This alone can give true spiritual growth and
enlargement, even as the beloved apostle states: "To the end that ye may be
filled with the full knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding, so as to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing,
bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God"
(Colossians 1:9-10). In our next view of Moses, at the age of forty, we can
discern in his actions the fruit of all he had learned, not in the court of
Egypt, but when under the care of his parents, and particularly his mother, who
is specially mentioned. All that he had learned of the "wisdom of Egypt" had to
give place to a very much higher education of an entirely different order, in
which the impress of faith was clearly discernible as evidenced in actions which
ran counter to the expedients and reasonings of men. Again referring to Acts
7:1-60, we are told that "It came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the
sons of Israel." Our chapter says that, when he was grown, he went not merely to
look upon his brethren, but also on their burdens. He is identified personally
with his brethren with special reference to their burdens. The faith which had
preserved him for the service of God nurtured him in a way eminently suited to
one who was to be the deliverer of his brethren from the hand of the oppressor.
No doubt his mother had given him impressions of the moral greatness of his
brethren .as "the people of God" and "the sons of Israel," which none of the
ensnaring influences of the wisdom of the Egyptians could ever erase. When we
turn to Hebrews 11:1-40 we learn that these outward movements were inspired and
sustained by inward, personal exercises of faith, and not merely by the impulses
of a generous heart, even as it is written, "By faith Moses, when he had become
great, refused to be called the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather
to suffer affliction along with the people of God than to have the temporary
pleasure of sin; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense" (verses 24-26).
Another has very touchingly remarked, "This shows the true value of a position
in the world that its possessor has the privilege of surrendering it for Christ,
and choosing rather that suffering and reproach which are the portion of Christ
and of His people in this world." But nothing of this is mentioned in Exodus
2:1-25, because Moses is viewed there as the Deliverer of God’s people, and as a
type of Christ in this way. The affections and interests of Moses were bound up
with his brethren, and how perfectly this was expressed in Him who, as the lowly
and dependent Man, could say, "My goodness extended not to Thee; . . . to the
saints that are on earth, and to the excellent (Thou hast said) in them is all
my delight" (Psalms 16:2-3). How precious is Christ’s love for His own! Viewing
them as the object of the Father’s love, He says, "I have manifested Thy Name to
the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world. They were Thine and Thou gavest
them me . . . I do not demand concerning the world, but concerning those whom
Thou hast given me, for they are Thine (and all that is Mine is Thine, and all
that is Thine is Mine), and I am glorified in them" (John 17:6; John 17:9-10).
The Lord Jesus loved to own, as belonging to Him, those who heard the word of
God and did His will. Do we not see the spirit of all this in Moses, the Spirit
of Christ, the true Deliverer of His people, as he looked on the burdens of his
brethren as one conscious that he was there for their deliverance from
oppression and bondage, even as it is written, "He thought his brethren would
understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance" (Acts 7:25).

It was God’s intention to free His people from the associations and servitude of
Egypt, that they might serve Him according to all He had purposed for the
pleasure of His love, as is written in Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child,
then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." In full accord with the
thoughts of God respecting His people, Moses thought that his brethren would
understand that God would use him as the instrument for their deliverance, "but
they understood not"; and in this rejection he had to experience in measure what
the greater than Moses experienced, when "He came to His own things, and His own
people received Him not." In the smiting of the Egyptian by Moses we have an
example of the forwardness of nature, just as we have the display of the
backwardness of nature on a future occasion. We have here an instance of the
fearlessness of Scripture in recounting every detail of the incident. It was
impossible for the Spirit, on the one hand, to condemn the love that prompted
the hand of Moses to defend one of his brethren who was being ill-treated by an
Egyptian task-master; it was equally impossible, on the other hand, for God to
condone the act. There is no attempt to gloss over this reprehensible act on the
part of Moses, nor is there any argument or discourse to vindicate God from
participation in what was far removed from that which was according to His will.
How beautiful it is to see how God has left what was of Himself to tell its own
tale, while bringing before His people that which they could judge was not of
Himself in His servant. Faith and spiritual judgment in the people of God will
always discern that anything good comes from Him, and that anything contrary to
this is not of Him.

Yet in spite of his intemperate act, Moses appears here in the two-fold
character of deliverer and shepherd. The hand that smote the Egyptian was the
hand of a deliverer; and the heart of the shepherd is revealed in his concern to
conciliate his brethren who were quarrelling. But refused by his brethren, and
hated by Pharaoh, he flees to the land of Midian, there to reveal to other needy
ones the hand of the deliverer and the heart of the shepherd as he intervened on
behalf of Reuel’s daughters.

It would be instructive to recapitulate briefly, and note that in all the
salient features of Moses’ intensely interesting movements thus far considered,
he is a remarkable type of the Lord Jesus. Before Moses becomes a deliverer he
is exposed to death, and is taken out of it; he did not actually die; like
Isaac, he was spared; but the Son of God could not be spared, "He who, yea, has
not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all . . ." (Romans 8:32).

Moses must needs also take his place in rejection at the hands of his own people
in order to fill up the type of Him who is a mightier Deliverer than Moses, and
who delivers God’s people from a mightier foe than Pharaoh. Rejected by his
brethren, Moses flees into the land of Midian with these words ringing in his
ears, "Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?" It is in this character we
have to do with the Lord Jesus now, for, as typified in Moses, He secures a
bride from among the Gentiles, while rejected by His own people Israel.

Moses in Midian is a figure of Christ in rejection, and the sense of this is
borne constantly on his heart as indicated in the name he gives his son,
Gershon, "a stranger there," And Zipporah represents the assembly as the
companion of his rejection, sharing the experience and the sense of it with Him;
keeping the word of His patience until that day when, as the result of the work
of God, His earthly people will exultingly exclaim, "Hosanna, blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord." But the assembly, as the loved companion of her
earth-rejected Lord, can never settle down in a scene where there is no place
for Christ. In Rebecca, we have a type of the assembly as being a comfort to the
True Isaac when Israel yields Him no comfort; in Asenath, the bride of Joseph,
we have a figure of the assembly as affording satisfaction and fruitfulness to
Christ, so that the sense of toil and exile is forgotten; but Zipporah portrays
the assembly as sharing with Christ, with intelligence and affection, the place
of rejection and strangership. Each type shines with its own peculiar lustre and
distinctive beauty! The closing verses of the chapter bring before us the deep,
unfailing compassion of God as He heard the groaning of His people, and also His
unswerving faithfulness as He "remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac
and with Jacob." In His love and pity He redeemed them, for His love had
covenanted blessing for them long before, and in His pity He heard their
groaning, and came down to redeem them out of all their misery and distress. At
the close we have the sure pledge of divine deliverance and blessing, for "God
looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them," or took
knowledge of their state. God is indeed rich unto all them that call upon Him,
that call upon Him in truth: "But to this man will I look: to the afflicted and
contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at My word" (Isaiah 66:2). The Call of the
Deliverer

Exodus 3:1-22 The two previous chapters are in the main introductory in
character and are of the greatest importance as serving to bring into full
relief the reason for the mighty and effective intervention of God on behalf of
his earthly people, no less in grace than in power! The closing verses of the
previous chapter provide us with a fitting introduction to this present chapter
in which we view the call of the deliverer.

Here we stand upon the threshold of events of the deepest interest and
importance; for while these events in their historical sequence relate to God’s
earthly people, when translated into the language of grace they are shown to be
in their spiritual import, details of our own history as His heavenly people; a
history transcending in depth and character this wonderful story of God’s
earthly people as the antitype must needs transcend the type. From the Passover
to the Land, the wonderful and majestic dealings of God with a people whose
weakness and inveterate waywardness gave Him the greatest and most ample
opportunities of demonstrating to the full the reality of all that is implicit
in that remarkable declaration, "For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy
God; the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto Himself,
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His
love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than all the
peoples; for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you
and would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers hath the Lord
brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of
bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh King of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). They were
the objects of His tender unceasing care, and the subjects of the display of His
power and grace, and as such are our types, "written for our admonition upon
whom the ends of the ages are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). As another has
expressed it so acceptably, "What must we be to Him who has written our history
in the records of these bygone ages! Oh, may we adoringly accept the love and
bow our hearts to receive the admonition!"

Previously we have looked at Israel’s deliverer from Egyptian bondage. We have
seen him given over to death and delivered out of it. We have seen him
presenting himself — prematurely no doubt and in the energy of nature — as the
saviour of his people, only to be summarily rejected by them. Then as rejected
by his own people he obtains a wife in the place of his strangership, who bears
him a son to whom he gives the name of Gershom — "a stranger there," thereby
indicating the deep feelings of his heart as one who had "been a stranger in a
strange land." May we see with ever expanding vision the precious lineaments of
One — Peerless, Incomparable, Sovereign among all the great personages whom God
has raised up as types of Him of whom Moses has borne witness, "A Prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up to you out of your brethren like unto me; Him shall
ye hear in everything whatsoever He shall say to you" (Acts 3:22).

Now we are called to witness in Exodus 3:1-22, the call of the deliverer,
precious and convincing proof the unforgetting heart of God in His remembrance
of His earthly people. At the close of the second chapter these poignant words
are recorded — "And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and
cried; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage; and God heard their
groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with
Jacob; and God looked upon the children of Israel and took knowledge (of their
state)" (Exodus 2:23-25). As already remarked, these verses furnish us with an
appropriate introduction to chapter 3, since in the 7th verse of this chapter we
have the wonderful declaration on the part of God, in which we would reverently
remark, He lays bare the deep feelings of His heart toward His earthly people in
their state of cruel bondage, and so He exclaims, "I have seen assuredly the
affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and their cry have I heard on account
of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land,
unto a good and spacious land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey." God in
His deep compassion heard their cry: it does not appear to have been directly or
expressly addressed to God: rather it was the cry of hopelessness and despair;
no ray of hope to assuage the sense of utter wretchedness, no expectation of
some measure of alleviation or eventual deliverance from their state of abject
misery and crushing bondage, no looking out to God or counting on His mercy. But
God is faithful! How blessed for us that He is so. God heard their cry, He saw
their state and He had come down to deliver them, and so again He says in Exodus
3:9, "And now behold the cry of the children of Israel is come unto Me, and I
have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them; and now
come and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people,
the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

Let us put these statements together and see how in such a remarkable
combination they present us with a thought of tremendous import. In verse 8 God
says, "I am come down to deliver them . . ." Then in Exodus 3:10 He says, "And
now come, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My
people . . ." O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! Truly His thoughts are not
our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. God in sovereign wisdom had chosen one
whose subsequent actions marked him as being weak and incompetent, yet God would
be with His servant, investing him with power and authority in such manner and
in such measure that the excellency of the power would be seen to be of God and
not of the instrument He had chosen to be the deliverer of His people; and also
to demonstrate that God’s impressive announcements to Pharaoh was no vain
assertion. "And for this very cause have I raised thee up to show thee My power,
and that My Name may be declared in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).

Let us now look at Moses in the circumstances in which he is found when God
appears to him as he tended the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, and as he
led the flock behind the wilderness and came to the mountain of God — to Horeb.
The singular designation, "the mountain of God" is no doubt intended by the
Spirit to arrest our attention that we too might "turn aside" and contemplate
with reverential gaze and becoming attitude, the amazing scene opened out before
us in relation to the call of Moses to the high destiny that lay before him.

It is worthy of note that there are two other mountains specially referred to as
mountains of God — Moriah and Zion, and it is not without significance that the
truth connected with each stands indubitably connected with God’s remarkable
ways in grace and power with His earthly people. MORIAH (Jah provides) was the
place where the burnt offering would be divinely provided. And is this not the
basis of all God’s ways in grace and blessing? HOREB was the place where God
made Himself known in grace and faithfulness as the One who would deliver His
people from the house of bond-men, and bring them into the inheritance He had
assigned to them. ZION, "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth "
will be the seat of government in the Kingdom in a future day when all that God
had pledged at Horeb will be fully accomplished, and all will rest upon and be
secured by the value and sweet savour of Christ as the burnt offering. In Mount
Moriah we get the righteous basis of God’s ways in grace. In Horeb we get the
character of those ways and their glorious fruition in Zion. With reference to
God’s ways of mercy and faithfulness to His earthly people it might be well to
state that while the heart of God was deeply moved by the groans and sighs of
the people in their seemingly hopeless condition, the time and manner of His
acting for their deliverance was in faithfulness to the promise He had made to
Abraham many years before. In Genesis 15:1-21, we have the remarkable vision
given to Abraham in answer to his question, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that
I shall inherit it?" when God had declared to him, "I am the Lord that brought
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it." God then
instructs Abraham to, "Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of
three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove and a young
pigeon. And he took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid the half
of each opposite its follow, but the birds he did not divide. And the birds of
prey came down on the carcases, and Abram scared them away. And as the sun was
just going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold a horror, a great
darkness fell upon him. And He said to Abram, Know assuredly that thy seed will
be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them four hundred years. But also that nation which they serve
will I judge, and afterwards they shall come out with great property . . . And
it came to pass when the sun had gone down and it was dark that behold there was
a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces"
(Genesis 15:9-18). In verses 9 and 10 we have what is figurative of the death of
Christ; everything for the blessing of the earthly and heavenly seed rests upon
this inviolable foundation. God will assuredly establish His covenant, fulfil
all His promises and bring in faith’s inheritance through that precious and
ever-efficacious death. It is not through any goodness or works on the part of
Abram or the seed, neither is it brought to pass without deep exercise on their
part. How necessary that God should discipline His people and pass them through
the furnace in order to bring them into the realisation of how necessary for
them is the death of Christ. God is seen here as the smoking furnace — the
Refiner of His people — and He refines according to the manner in which He dealt
with sin in the cross of Christ. What He judged in the cross He must refine from
His people in the crucible of affliction so that nothing may be left that is
unsuited to the inheritance. Scripture abounds with references to the refining
processes God uses in the purifying of His people. He says in Isaiah 48:10, "I
have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." They needed the purifying fire
in which God was; for what were the Egyptians? — they had their part in what the
fire symbolised. Nevertheless it was the covenant-keeping God who was dealing
with His people in love, a holy love, and in the pursuance of His purposes
concerning them. God was using "the fury of man to praise Him" in carrying into
effect His purposes concerning those they held in bondage. We see a similar
instance to this in Isaiah 10:1-34 where God says of the Assyrian, "Ah! the
Assyrian! the rod of mine anger! and the staff in their hand is mine
indignation." In Isaiah 8:1-22, God speaks to His People as having refused, "the
waters of Shiloah which flow softly." He declares that in judgment He "will
bring up upon the waters of the river, strong and many, the King of Assyria and
all his glory," and again in Isaiah 28:1-29 this same power is referred to as
"the over-flowing scourge."

Reverting to the vision God gave to Abram we see that the smoking furnace and
the burning lamp are what the deep sleep and the darkness demand; and these the
sacrifice secures and the faithfulness of God supplies to His people. If the
activity and vigilance of faith fail, the furnace of trial will not fail as the
appointed means of purification; while for the darkness which is the result of
unbelief, the lamp or flame of fire is equally provided. How blessed to see in
all this that the fiery trial through which they were passing in Egypt was but
the precious indication of God’s remembrance of His covenant. To unbelief it
might seem otherwise, but to faith the stormy winds are but the fulfilling of
His will. Only as we realise how great has been our bondage to sin, the world
and Satan, can we rejoice in the wonderful deliverance that has been effected
for us. How sure the inheritance to those whom God is thus pledged in Christ to
bring them through to enjoy it, securing in His death those conditions which His
holiness of necessity imposes, so that He can rest in all the joy of that which
is the fruit of His own grace.

It is not without significance that Moses is found here in the character of a
shepherd. For forty years those features were being formed which would make him
eminently suited to shepherd "the people of His pasture and sheep of His hand"
for forty years in the wilderness. A shepherd was the type of the Divine
deliverer and King. David, the man after God’s own heart is the great example
among men. In Psalms 78:1-72 it says, "And He choose David His servant, and took
him from the sheepfolds. From following the suckling ewes, He brought him to
feed Jacob His people and Israel His inheritance. And he fed them according to
the integrity of his heart and led them by the skilfulness of his hands." And
what of Him who is the true Shepherd of the sheep — David’s Son yet David’s
Lord? We have that beautiful quotation from Micah 5:2 enshrined in Matthew 2:6.
"And thou Bethlehem, land of Juda, art in no wise least among the governors of
Juda, for out of thee shall go forth a leader who shall shepherd My people
Israel;" and in Micah it is added, "whose goings forth are from of old, from the
days of eternity." That is God’s thought of a true ruler. Moses was trained for
forty years as a simple shepherd until he is fit to be the instrument in the
hand of God to lead His people out of the house of bondmen, and also to tend and
nourish them in the wilderness. And He of whom Moses is but a shadowy picture,
true Shepherd of the sheep, will never, however different the circumstances,
give up the service to which love consecrated Him. With love, rule is service,
and how blest the time when love alone shall rule!

We find Moses then in the course of his service leading his flock to the back
side of the desert and coming to Horeb which was from henceforth to be called
the mountain of God, in virtue of what was now to take place. "And the Angel of
the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he
looked and behold the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."
This might well be a source of great wonder to natural eyes, but God does not
appear to men in any spectacular way in order to satisfy their idle curiosity.
Though sovereign in all His movements, yet He does not use this sovereignty in
an arbitrary manner, but is sovereignly wise as is so convincingly shown in all
His gracious appearings to men, for He displays Himself in perfect suitability
to the purposes before Him, and this wonderful sight which Moses saw was no
exception. God had before, in reference to this very captivity in Egypt,
revealed Himself in symbol as the "smoking furnace" when, in confirming His
covenant with Abraham, He had passed between the pieces of the sacrifice. Now if
we consider this thorn-bush — for such it is — it is a striking picture of the
children of Israel. In Isaiah, chapter 10, the prophet in speaking of the
Assyrian scourge says, "And the light of Israel shall be for a fire and his Holy
One for a flame! and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one
day." Thorns too were the sign of the curse at the beginning. They are in fact,
as botanists tell us (with special reference to the kind we have here) abortive
leaves, parts of a plant incapable of fulfilling their original purpose. Such
were the children of Israel, and such were we in our place of death and distance
from God, connected in this symbol with the curse upon sin. But how great is the
mercy of a Saviour-God, the thorn-bush is not consumed It was when "we . . .
were living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another, that the
kindness and love to man of our Saviour God appeared, not on the principles of
works which have been done in righteousness which we had done, but according to
His own mercy He saved us . . ." (Titus 3:3-7). So with this burning bush it was
meant to be an image of that which would indicate to Moses that God was about to
work in the midst of Israel. He would prove Himself a consuming fire, Moses and
they must know it; for on the one hand, as surely as He is a consuming fire, so
on the other, the bush so weak and ready to vanish away, nevertheless remains to
prove that whatever the sifting and judicial dealing of God, and the trials and
searchings of man, when He displays Himself in mercy as well as in power, He
sustains the object, turning all to his account for good, no doubt for His own
glory, but consequently for the best interests of those who are the objects of
His mercy. But now we see one whom God had chosen as the instrument of His power
in the deliverance of His people manifesting the backwardness of nature, just as
he had displayed the forwardness of nature on an earlier occasion. The voice of
God, now urging him forward to the execution of the great and glorious mission
with which he had been entrusted; a mission authenticated by the authoritative
word of God in whom were those sovereign resources of almighty power which faith
ever draws upon for the achievement of what is impossible to nature. How
beautifully this is exemplified in Hebrews 11:1-40 where in that illustrious
"crowd of witnesses" faith is displayed in all its diversity of expression.
Caleb too lends his reassuring testimony. "And Caleb stilled the people before
Moses, and said, Let us go up boldly and possess it (the land) for we are well
able to do it . . . If the Lord delight in us, He will bring us into this land,
and give it us" (Numbers 13:30, Numbers 14:8). And what of David’s powerful
challenge as he advanced with his sling and stones to meet Goliath encased in
all the panoply of war? "I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the
God of the armies of Israel whom thou hast defied" (1 Samuel 17:45). But Moses
had his eye on self, and in the event this was a weakness to which Moses was
prone, usually attended with serious consequences for himself, yet providing an
ever-faithful God with fresh occasions of displaying Himself in the plenitude of
His grace, rising above the failure of His servant in new and ever-unfolding
aspects of His glory. And so to all the objections and difficulties pleaded by
Moses as proof of his unfitness for the signally great and distinctive honour
which God was conferring upon him as the deliverer of His people, God makes this
remarkable declaration of His Name, as expressive of who He was and also as
indicating the relationship in which His people stood to the One who had
espoused their cause. To Moses’ question therefore "Behold when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent
me unto you; and they shall say What is His Name? what shall I say unto them?"
God makes this remarkable pronouncement "I AM THAT I AM; thus shalt thou say
unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." The fact that God does
not declare at this point what He is going to do gives added force to these
words, for the declaration of Himself as the ever-present, ever-existing One
gives reality and meaning to His unchangeable purposes concerning His people so
that it could be said of Him, "For the gifts and calling of God are not subject
to repentance (Romans 11:29). And again in Malachi 3:1-18, "For I am the Lord, I
change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Implicit in this
wonderful declaration "I AM THAT I AM" was the assurance that all the resources
of divine power were there to bring to fruition all that He had counselled for
them. But He goes further and says: "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My
memorial unto all generations." He has taken a name in relationship to men which
is to be His continual memorial. How beautifully the Spirit brings this before
us in Hebrews 11:1-40. Speaking of Abraham "as a stranger in the land of promise
as in a foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with him of the same promise . . . but now they seek a better, that is a
heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed of them to be called their God." In all
this we can discern a wonderful expression of grace on the part of God to His
people He speaks of His essential being as the I AM, He also declares the Name
in which He has taken His people into relationship with Himself; so that Paul
could say of them "as regards election beloved on account of the fathers"
(Romans 11:28), thereby showing plainly that Israel shall be for ever the centre
of God’s ways, and of His purposes concerning the earth. As another has said,
"He loves and cherishes the Name in which He has bound up the objects of His
choice with Himself." The "Almighty" is the Name God took with Abraham, the One
in whom were the resources of power to sustain the weak pilgrims of faith in
their earthly pilgrimage. "I AM," or "Jehovah," which He took with Israel; as
indicating to His failing people the unfailing character of His purpose
concerning them. None of these in themselves declare His nature or the character
of His ways with us. How inconceivably great therefore is the revelation of the
Father by the Son who has said, "I have made known to them Thy Name and will
make it known." How this leads into an intimacy of individual relationship with
the Father, a place of nearness and intimacy which alone can be measured by the
wondrous fact, that we have been brought into a place of grace and favour in the
Beloved. And this was realised when as Man He took His place in the Father’s
presence after declaring, "I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God
and your God."

Moses is then warned that "the King of Egypt will not let you go, no, unless it
be by a powerful hand." God then assures Moses that this will be distinctly
manifested, as Paul again says, "For this very thing I have raised thee
(Pharaoh) up from amongst men, that I might thus show in thee my power, and that
My Name should be declared in all the earth. So then to whom He will He shows
mercy, and whom He will He hardens " (Romans 9:17-18). Well might Moses and the
children of Israel celebrate in their song of triumph on the other side of the
Red Sea the glorious achievements of their God and say: "Thy right hand O Lord
is become glorious in power, Thy right hand O Lord hath dashed in pieces the
enemy" (Exodus 15:6).

Then every woman is told to ask of her neighbours various articles, "and ye
shall spoil the Egyptians." Inappropriately the word "borrow" appears in the
Authorised Version where the simple meaning "to ask" is intended, and according
to his manner the rationalist has been quick to seize upon this word to charge
God with enjoining His people to commit an immoral and dishonest act. There is
not, however, the slightest infringement of what is right and proper as the
children of Israel had received no recompense for the harsh and bitter servitude
which had been imposed upon them, and in the event, at the actual moment when
the request was made, the Egyptians showed a conspicuous willingness to accede
to their request, "And the Egyptians urged the people to send them out of the
land in haste; for they said, We are all dead men! . . . And the Lord had given
the people favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they gave to them, and they
spoiled the Egyptians " (Exodus 12:33; Exodus 12:36). It was an unconditional
gift, savouring somewhat of an act of propitiation in the sure knowledge that
they would see the children of Israel no more. The God of the Hebrews had taken
up the gage of battle thrown down by the haughty and insolent Pharaoh when he
defiantly exclaimed "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel
go? I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2). But the God
of their salvation had answered the proud Pharaoh "by terrible things in
righteousness," and, as he stood in the midst of the devastation which the
desolating judgments of God had brought upon Egypt, he was made to realise as
was also Nebuchadnezzar at a later time that "the Most High ruleth over the
kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will . . . and those that walk in
pride He is able to abase" (Daniel 4:32; Daniel 4:37). When He makes bare His
arm, Who shall His work withstand? When He His people’s cause defends, Who then
shall stay His hand?

Signs of the Deliverer

Exodus 4:1-31.

We are now brought to the threshold of those great and solemn events in which we
view the irresistible power of God actively expressed in His sovereign ways in
goodness toward His oppressed people, and in His sovereign ways in judgment
toward their oppressors. As Paul could say in Romans 9:17, "For the scripture
says to Pharaoh, For this very thing I have raised thee up from amongst men,
that I might thus show in thee My power, and so that My name should be declared
in all the earth. So then, to whom He wills He shows mercy, and whom He wills He
hardens." But before these events claim our careful consideration, our attention
is called to the tender and compassionate dealings of God with His wavering
servant in preparing him for the accomplishment of the task with which He had
entrusted him. To witness those elements of unbelief, irresolution, and
indecision on the part of Moses, persisting even in the presence of these
unmistakable evidences of divine power, is very humbling in the extreme. May we
see in all this that the Spirit intends no disparagement of Moses, of whom God
Himself has marked out as conspicuously enjoying His favour, but rather as a
salutary admonition to us, lest we also should be guilty of similar conduct with
less excuse; for God has set forth the wavering of a servant so faithful for the
express purpose of guarding us from the like or other failures.

God had already declared to Moses that they would hearken to his voice (Exodus
3:18); but Moses in this first verse of Exodus 4:1-31 uses similar words in
positive contradiction of the divine assurance. But God does not reject His
failing servant, this spirit of unbelief is met by the spirit of grace and the
display of divine power, "And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine
hand? And he said a rod. And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on
the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from it. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Put forth thine hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth his
hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand." This is the first of these
signs of a miraculous nature in which is revealed the fulness of grace in which
God condescended to dispel the unworthy and unbelieving fears of one who in all
these objects demonstrates conclusively that self is the beam in his eye
completely obstructing the vision of faith. How forcibly this is seen in Exodus
3:11 where Moses says, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?" but had not
God, the "I AM THAT I AM" said, "And now come and I will send thee unto
Pharaoh." It is ever right to have low thoughts of self, but to virtually call
in question the ability of God to carry into effect what He has purposed is far
removed from that faith that comes to God believing that "He is, and is a
rewarder of them that seek Him out," for without faith it is impossible to
please God. How beautifully and instructively this is seen in the beloved
apostle in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10, "But we ourselves had the sentence of death in
ourselves, that we should not have our trust in ourselves, but in the God who
raises the dead; who has delivered us from so great a death and does deliver; in
whom we confide that He will also yet deliver." And again in 2 Corinthians 3:5,
"Not that we are competent of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but
our competency is of God." But how graciously God comes down to Moses in meeting
all the fears and falterings of His chosen servant, in the display of his grace
and power, and moreover, investing him with that power by which he in turn would
convince the children of Israel that he was their accredited deliverer approved
and sent of God for their liberation from the "house of bondmen." May we have
ears opened to hear as the instructed ones, the voice that speaks to us in all
these things, and profit from its timely admonition.

It is a thought of the greatest signification that the faith of the children of
Israel in Moses as one sent of God for their deliverance was the vital point
upon which everything depended. Not yet the deliverance, but the deliverer to
whom was committed the power to ensure their deliverance; and in the
consideration of this wondrous theme Moses, favoured servant as he undoubtedly
was, pales into insignificance as the vision of faith is filled with the
undimmed and perennial glory of One, superlatively greater than Moses, One who
must in all things have the first place. How the contemplation of the Person of
the Saviour Himself gives a fulness to our thoughts and brings us into a greater
measure of correspondence with the thoughts of God the Father as expressed with
such an eloquence of feeling in those words, "Behold My servant whom I have
chosen, My beloved in whom My soul has found its delight" (Matthew 12:18).

All through John’s Gospel we find the possession of eternal life is connected
with faith in the Person of the Saviour. "He that believes on the Son has life
eternal, and he that is not subject to the Son shall not see life" (John 3:36).
The word "subject" in the verse just quoted, involves "obedience of submission
to His person." Then again in John 20:31, "But these are written that ye may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might
have life in His Name." This is the due order, the Saviour first then from and
in Him the salvation. Noah and those with him realized that the Ark alone could
shelter them from the judgment of God and ensure their emergence on to the
renewed earth. No doubt our place "in Christ" has’ been secured in all the value
of that redemptive work in virtue of which He has taken His place at the right
hand of God, the blessed and eternal proof of the perfection of that work and of
God’s unqualified acceptance of it; but let us not forget that the Altar
sanctifies the gift.

How forcibly this is brought before us in the beautiful language of the types.
In Exodus 27:1-21 of this same book the Spirit of God furnishes Moses with
minute and precise instructions regarding the dimensions of the Brazen Altar and
the materials from which it was to be constructed. And this Altar has been
referred to as a symbol of display in contra-distinction to the Laver and the
altar of incense, which are symbols of approach. The words of the Lord Jesus in
Matthew 23:19, "For which is greater the gift or the altar which sanctifies the
gift," is no doubt an allusion to this altar and justifies us in concluding that
there is a peculiar distinction attaching to it. It is a vessel of display and
sets forth in type the manifestation of God in Christ displayed in the fulness
of grace as providing the divinely appointed meeting-place between Him and the
sinner. It is specifically the "altar of burnt-offering," and speaks of Christ
in His perfect suitability and adequacy to sustain the judgment of God, and to
glorify Him in the very place where sin had been, so that instead of pronouncing
a curse He can show "forth His righteousness at the present time, so that He
should be just and justify Him that is of the faith of Jesus." As we contemplate
the incomparable greatness and glory of our great Deliverer, having the first
place in all things, how we long for the moment when, freed from every
restricting influence, our hearts and lips and every faculty we possess shall be
fully developed to join in the glad refrain, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour, and glory, and
blessing."

We have considered briefly, and no doubt imperfectly, how faith in the deliverer
is to precede and produce faith in the deliverance. Now in these signs committed
to Moses with the necessary authority and power to display them before the
people, in order to dispel their unbelief on the one hand, and on the other to
mark with divine approval the person of the deliverer, we can see that these are
not unrelated to the condition of abject misery in which the people are found at
this time; indeed as we consider them thoughtfully we can discern a striking
relevancy between them and the circumstances to which they are addressed. It
could not he otherwise since these divinely given signs were indicative of God’s
intervention in power for the liberation of His people from the state of bitter
servitude under which they groaned. The bondage in which we were held
necessitated the exercise of power in grace for our deliverance; and another
question of the gravest and most solemn import had to be met, the question of
our moral state as having to do with "God who is of holier eyes than to behold
iniquity." These two things are suggested by the rod and the hand in the bosom.
The rod in Moses’ hand is a shepherd’s rod, and exercised in divine power, as we
shall see as we go through the book of Exodus. "All power belongeth unto God,"
and this shepherd’s rod shows us how He uses it. Power with Him always waits
upon love. As another has expressed it so beautifully, "The hand that wields the
sceptre of the universe is guided by the heart of Him who has revealed Himself
not, as power, nor even as righteousness, but as Love." The rod in Moses’ hand
then, is the type of divine power, exercised in the fulness of His grace in the
liberation of His people from a power too strong for them.

Moses is told to cast it on the ground, and out of his hand the rod changes its
character; it becomes a serpent. As we look around us today with thoughts of
power being in the hands of Him who "sitteth sovereign on the throne and ruleth
all things well," must we not own to a measure of bewilderment as we see the
sure and certain marks and evidences of the "mystery of God" not yet completed,
the time in which God appears to be taking no account of what is taking place in
the kingdoms of the world — the time of His silence! And in this connection
another has said, "The silence of God is the greatest mystery of our existence."
Scripture itself puts the perplexing question, "Shall the throne of iniquity
have fellowship with Thee which frameth mischief by a law?" Surely the rod is to
all appearance out of the Shepherd’s hand, and the prince of this world is not
Christ but Satan. The claim he makes to worldwide dominion when he displays
before the self-humbled Son of Man, all the kingdoms of the world and the glory
of them, with the boast "All that is given unto me, and to whomsoever I will I
give it" seems no empty boast. The rod seems not in His hand to whom it rightly
belongs, but upon the ground, and Satanic. But observe the beautiful accuracy of
the type and the comfort which the Spirit has prepared for us in it. At the
command of God the rod was cast out of Moses’ hand, it did not slip out. God has
not lost control of the world, after all; of His own will, and for His own wise
purposes He has subjected man to the sway of him whom man has chosen to be his
god and prince. Then, when all has been fulfilled according to the mind of God,
the great voices in the heaven will be heard saying, "The Kingdom of the world
of our Lord and of His Christ is come, and He shall reign to the ages of ages."
Then with joyful hearts and lips, we, the saints in heaven, will swell the glad
refrain and say "We give Thee thanks Lord God Almighty, He who is, and who was,
that Thou hast taken Thy great power and hast reigned" (Revelation 11:17). Our
principal concern, as enlightened by the Spirit, is the moral application of
these deeply instructive and interesting types as illustrative of God’s
sovereign ways in grace towards us in the glorious work of redemption whereby we
have been delivered from the whole sphere and power of the adversary, and
brought into such a wealth of relationship with Himself according to the good
pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has
taken us into favour — put us into a position of grace and favour — in the
Beloved! in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
offences, according to the riches of His grace. What are we to learn then from
the rod of power in Moses’ hand cast on the ground becoming a serpent, and on
his seizing it becoming a rod again? At the beginning man was set up in
authority, the rod of power being placed in his hands; "And God said, Let us
make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion . . . over
the whole earth . . ." (Genesis 1:26). But in Genesis 3:1-24 do we not see the
rod of power cast from his hand and the power becoming satanic, assuming the
character of evil? But in Moses taking the serpent by the tail we see Christ
taking up all the consequences of man’s sin, and Satan’s power, wielded by him
as the might of death. This Blessed Man of a new order, a heavenly order, One
who is from above, and above all, has been made sin, and has gone into the very
strong-hold of the adversary’s power, the domain of darkness and of death,
annulling the usurper’s power and delivering his captives from a power out of
which they were unable to extricate themselves. "Shall the prey be taken from
the mighty, and shall he that is rightfully captive be delivered? For thus saith
the Lord, Even the captive of the mighty shall be taken away; and the prey of
the terrible shall be delivered" (Isaiah 49:24-25). Power, exercised in grace
has now been regained by Man in the Person of Jesus, and is being displayed for
man’s deliverance from every expression of the enemy’s power.

He Satan’s power laid low;

Made sin, sin’s reign o’er threw;

Bowed to the grave, destroyed it so, And death by dying slew.

Christ is alive for evermore — the Beginning of the creation of God and has the
keys of death and hades. He is at the right hand of power — the true Benjamin,
Son of the right hand — exalted by God’s right hand to be a Leader and Saviour
(Acts 5:1-42). Power is in the hands of the Man Christ Jesus for man’s
deliverance, it is available for all, none need remain in bondage to one who is
a greater rebel than man himself. The God who committed Himself in promise and
covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has secured all power in the hand of
Christ for the fulfilment of every promise, and the complete deliverance of man
from the power of the oppressor.

Moses fleeing from the serpent would indicate man’s inability to face the power
of evil. The Lord Jesus alone could do this. It is remarkable to see in Mark’s
Gospel God’s perfect Servant presented as the One able to meet and overcome
every element of Satan’s power, and able also to invest His disciples with this
power so that they can "take up serpents." And so we, as indwelt by the Spirit,
are invested with all the power of Christ risen at God’s right hand, so that we
can meet and overcome all the power of the enemy in a power not our own. But
there is another question to be considered. Moses was instructed of God, "Put
now thy hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and took it
out, and behold his hand was leprous, as snow. And He said, Put thy hand into
thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again, and took it out of
his bosom, and behold it was turned again as his flesh." Leprosy in the
scriptures is a type of sin in its loathsomeness, its virulence and its power to
spread. In its incipient stages its existence may not be proved by any external
evidence, but the spot on the skin while not truly representing the extent of
the disease might yet indicate that which lay much deeper reaching to the blood,
the very life-stream, no localised infection, but corrupting the whole man. Its
invariable tendency unless checked by the intervention of God is to spread
continually, blanching the hair and exposing the raw flesh and finally reducing
the wretched victim to the state described so vividly by Isaiah, "From the crown
of the head to the sole of the foot, no soundness in him, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores." In its capacity to spread, passing from one to another,
it infected first those most in contact with the leper, his nearest and dearest,
the inmates of his home and heart.

God’s treatment of it was to prescribe the complete isolation of him who was the
victim of this loathsome disease. Shut out from his home, from the society of
his fellowmen, he had to cover his upper lip and proclaim himself to be a source
of pollution in the despairing wail, "Unclean, unclean." All these descriptive
details relating to one afflicted with leprosy can be seen in Leviticus 13:1-59,
and all the surrounding circumstances described in typical language stresses
very forcibly the thought that sin is thus with God neither fortuitous nor
limited in its incidence, but a growing, virulent, contagious, evil, deeper than
its superficial appearance would suggest, not to be measured by any outward
appearance, and absolutely fatal in result apart from God’s sovereign
intervention in mercy. Let no man delude himself with the fallacious theory that
sin is the effect of his circumstances, and that he is the victim of his
environment. "The tree is known by its fruit." "Out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies." Depend upon it, if the hand be leprous, the heart is no better,
but worse as being the very seat, the source of the disease, and cleansing must
begin, not with the hand but with the heart.

How powerfully does the type speak of how effectively God has dealt with sin,
both in its source and its expression. Moses’ hand thrust into his bosom became
leprous, thrust into his bosom again it is restored. Defilement and cleansing
both begin at the source — the heart. Leprosy in the heart is sin hidden; in the
hand is sin exposed. God has used the water and blood which flowed from the side
of the Lord Jesus, as the efficacious means of cleansing us from the guilt and
defilement of sin.

These then are the signs of the Deliverer. The third sign is a prediction of
judgment for obstinate unbelief, but there is no suggestion that the third sign
was performed as necessary to overcome their unbelief. "And it shall come to
pass if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy
voice, that thou shalt take the water of the river and pour it upon the dry
land, and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon
the dry land." Water represents that which refreshes — the means of life and
refreshment as coming from God; but poured out on the ground becomes the symbol
of judgment and of the consequences of judgment executed. Must not the stream of
life and blessing from God ministered to needy man in "an accepted time and a
day of salvation" become wrath and judgment if His goodness leads not to
repentance? Every blessing is so much judgment if a Saviour’s voice be
disregarded.

Despite these signs, however, in which was evidenced the invincible power of
God, and which witnessed to the sovereign control of God over every circumstance
through the instrumentality of His servant and in favour of His people, Moses
still shows the hesitancy of unbelief; self still obtrudes between this mighty
God who had espoused the cause of His oppressed people and the magnitude of the
task with which he was being entrusted and invested with that authoritative
power which would ensure the successful accomplishment of all that God had
committed to him. "I am not eloquent neither heretofore, nor since Thou hast
spoken unto Thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue." Moses
was truly presuming upon the long-suffering and forbearance which God had shown
to him while he was manifesting in a very pronounced degree his facility for
objecting. But now the anger of the Lord is kindled against His servant and He
says, "Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well — And
also behold he goeth out to meet thee." And so the wavering of Moses is
overcome, but he has lost much. Aaron was now to share with him what God had
intended for him alone. Moreover Aaron as the mouth-piece of his brother would
have the prominent place before men; yet in spite of Moses’ persistent obstinacy
and slowness of heart to respond to these divine promptings, God does not act in
any arbitrary or capricious manner towards His servant, God is not a man that He
should repent. He will not be thwarted in the least degree in the carrying out
of his purposes, and so in tender grace He still reserves to His servant Moses
the chief place before Him, "And thou shalt speak unto him, and put the words
into his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and his mouth, and I will teach
you what ye shall do. And he shall speak for thee unto the people; and it shall
be that he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be unto him
instead of God." It is as Moses’ "prophet" that Aaron is here announced — his
associate and complement in the great work which God had committed to them. In
all this we have a two-fold type of the Lord Jesus as King and Priest —
redemption by power and by blood: without the latter there could not be the
former. Priesthood sets forth the Deliverer, and sacrifice procures the
salvation. This in its true import Israel has not yet learned: there Moses is
delayed by his need of Aaron; in a coming day when they look upon Him, they
shall not only see One whom they have pierced, but know why He had to stoop to
that unexampled humiliation, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities." And now Moses returns to Jethro, to find him
willing to accede to his desire to see if his brethren in Egypt are yet alive.
Then we have another wonderful expression of grace on the part of God in the
opportune assurance that all the men are dead that sought his life. Thus we see
the removal of every difficulty as he advances now with firm tread to the
momentous climax that lay before him wherein the wrath of man would praise God,
and what would not would be restrained. Once more he is warned of Pharaoh’s
stubbornness of heart, which, in the sovereign ways of God, would but subserve
His purposes by providing Him with the occasion of manifesting Himself in all
the glory and majesty of that Name in which He had declared Himself to be for
His people, "I AM THAT I AM."

God then speaks of Israel as His son, His first-born. They owe their place among
the nations to His adoption of them, in accordance with His faithfulness to the
covenant He had made with their fathers. They had not worked for this, it was
according to God’s sovereign choice, but as it was said to their father, Jacob,
so is it with them, "The children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of
works, but of Him that calleth" (Romans 9:11). Yet this grace to Israel in no
wise implies the rejection of other nations, but rather the reverse, as the
promise to Abraham long before declared, "In thee shall all the families of the
earth be blessed." It is indeed blessed to know that "Israel’s God is ours." In
connection with the covenant with Abraham the scene in the inn is pregnant with
divine instruction. Circumcision was the sign of this very covenant (Genesis
17:1-27). It was the expression of that renunciation of all confidence in the
flesh in order to the display of God in almighty power. To borrow the words of
another, "God was going to put honour on Moses but there was dishonour to Him in
the house of Moses already. How came it that there lacked that which typifies
the mortifying of the flesh in those who were nearest Moses? How came it that
God’s glory was forgotten in that which ought to have been prominent in the
father’s heart? . . . it endangered Moses . . . Moses was the responsible
person, and God held to His order." But Moses received grace to bow before His
chastening hand. Nevertheless his neglect in this matter was so serious in the
sight of God, He sought to slay him. In our practical ways in service and
testimony in order to "be a vessel to honour sanctified and serviceable to the
Master, prepared for every good work," there must be the practical cutting off
of the flesh; guilty weakness in any form or degree is connected with the flesh,
but in circumcision there is the setting aside of all that savours of fallen
nature, giving place to the power of the Spirit. "But ye are not in flesh but in
Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit dwell in you. But if, by the Spirit ye put to
death the deeds of the body, ye shall live: for as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, these are sons of God" (Romans 8:9; Romans 8:13-14).

"Let My People go"

Exodus 5:1-23; Exodus 6:1-30 The question in controversy was whether the
world-system was to have the service of God’s people, or that service was to be
exclusively for Him. This service — priestly in character — could not be
rendered in the land of Egypt. The expression "three days’ journey" is pregnant
with divine meaning and instruction for our souls. God’s first announcement
through Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh was "Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
Let My People go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness" and
again in verse three, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we
pray thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah our
God." First of all it is a "feast to Jehovah" they are to celebrate in the
wilderness; then we learn as necessary and complementary to this of "a sacrifice
to Jehovah our God." In this we see the heart of God revealed displaying the
glory of His grace, while in the sacrifice we see how God has unfolded to us the
riches of His grace through the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus whereby as
set free from all that held us in bondage, we might enter into that unspeakable
joy, which is characteristic of His presence. "Thy countenance is fulness of
joy." But as already remarked this feast cannot be held in Egypt, there must be
the "three days" remove — the distance between death and resurrection alone can
effect our complete severance from this world in which we were enslaved under
the despotic power of him, who is its god and prince, and bring us in all the
liberty of that grace which has set us free into our place of heavenly blessing
and intimacy with God, now made known to us as Father in the Person of the Son.
The practical import of this to each one of us cannot be stressed too strongly,
as we see the dark turbid waters of infidelity rising in all their menacing
power around us and the repellent features of apostacy developing with amazing
rapidity, its corrupting ramifications spreading themselves throughout the
systems of the world.

How graciously the Spirit has warned us of this, as depicted in the address to
the church at Laodicea. No doubt should remain in the minds of those taught of
God, that we have reached this solemn phase of the Church’s history as the
vessel of testimony for God in this world. It is remarkable that the development
of this phase should be accompanied with a resurgence of religious activity
hitherto unknown in the history of the religious systems of the world. That
which is producing this condition is the effort to Christianize the natural man.
Man is supposed to be already in relationship with God, all men without
distinction are said to be His children, therefore the new birth, a life derived
from the Last Adam, is explained away and made simply to mean an outward change
in character, a reformation of the old man. As another has said, "There is no
zeal for Christ, no hatred of sin, but a mild, self-complacent toleration of
all, and of all things, and connected therewith the substitution of humanity for
Christ." The world system as represented by the land of Egypt demands everything
for itself, everything must be contributory to its enrichment and advancement.
And herein lies the crucial issue for every true child of God. It is a question
of the greatest moment for each one to consider — are we so completely liberated
from every element and principle of the world, that we can engage in priestly
service Godward, according to God, in "the beauty of holiness"? All that is of
this world — whether it be the flesh-pots, the idolatry, or the servile labour,
all conspire to render us incapable of rendering this worthy and obligatory
service. How sad to come short morally of the desires and intentions of "Him who
loves us, and has washed us from our sins in His blood and made us a kingdom,
priests to His God and Father." With uncompromising finality, Egypt must be left
behind. Worship in Egypt is worship in the flesh; Cain’s worship which owns not
our total ruin, nor the death of Christ as righteously meeting it. The Cross
stands as an insuperable barrier between the world and the child of God. As Paul
could say, "Far be it from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ through which the world is crucified unto me, and I to the world."

Thy Cross has severed ties which bound us here, Thyself our treasure in a
brighter sphere. Were we living in the full power of the truth of the fellowship
of His death, this world would be stripped of every vestige of its bloom and
attractiveness.

These wonderful types shine with added lustre in the light of our heavenly
calling. It has been very acceptably expressed: "The Law, the Psalms and the
Prophets are made to speak, as it were, with new tongues . . . once earthly in
the letter now heavenly in spirit." It is not without significance that God is
spoken of in the third verse of our chapter as "the God of the Hebrews." The
root of this word means "to pass over," as when one passes over a river or from
one region to another. Abraham is spoken of in Genesis 14:13 as "Abram the
Hebrew." Abraham was bidden to leave his country and his kindred and to go into
the land of Canaan, and the word Hebrew is not employed until Abraham had left
his country and was in the land of Canaan, and when he was there he was a
"sojourner" in a strange country dwelling in tents (Hebrews 11:9). The context
in which the term Abram the Hebrew appears is very striking — In Genesis 14:13
it says, "And one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew." This was
after Lot had been taken captive by the kings after they had overthrown the
kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is stated very significantly of Lot in Genesis
14:12, "For he dwelt in Sodom." Lot had settled down in this world. At the
beginning he "pitches his tents as far as Sodom" but in the end he is found
"sitting in the gate of Sodom"; a city of which God has said, "But the men of
Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." The path of
strangership with the man of faith had lost its attractiveness for Lot,
resulting in shame and dishonour, and in-calculable loss. But "Abram the Hebrew"
a true son of Eber, one "passing through," maintains with undeviating purpose of
heart, the path of faith with his tent and altar. With what depth of feeling the
Spirit mentions those footsteps of faith of Abraham, the friend of God "who
sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a foreign country, having
dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for
he waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and
constructor . . . All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them from afar off and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and sojourners on the earth. For they who say such things show clearly
that they seek their country — that is a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed
of them, to be called their God; for He has prepared for them a city," (Hebrews
11:8-16). Abraham, by his path of strangership in this world was clearly
distinguished as "the friend of God," as James says in Chap. 4 where he draws
our attention to a spirit entirely contrary to that of Abraham, "Adulteresses,
know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Whoever therefore
is minded to be the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God." But the
path that Abraham trod, and he is the father of all them that believe, is the
only path for every true believer in Christ. It is essentially so, since we are
heavenly in calling, character and destiny. In continuing the tenor of these
thoughts, we are reminded of John 17:1-26 where we are privileged to hear those
profoundly moving expressions as the Son speaks to the Father concerning the men
whom He had given Him out of the world. Doubtless these expressions had
immediate reference to the little company then around Him, who had companied
with Him in His earthly pathway, but there can be no doubt they are inclusive
also of those who would believe on Him through their word. In the 6th verse, the
Lord Jesus says, "I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out
of the world. They were Thine and Thou gavest them Me, and they have kept Thy
word." Then in John 17:9, "I demand concerning them, I do not demand concerning
the world, but concerning those whom Thou has given Me, for they are Thine, (and
all that is Mine is Thine, and all that is Thine Mine) and I am glorified in
them." Again in John 17:13-19, "And now I come to Thee. And these things I speak
in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in them. I have given them Thy
word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am
not of the world. I do not demand that Thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but that Thou shouldest keep them out of evil. They are not of the world
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth, Thy word is truth. As thou
has sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world; and I sanctify
myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth." The main
consideration in quoting these sublime and impressive utterances of the Son in
full is to draw attention to those definitive assertions where He declares
repeatedly that "they are not of the world as I am not of the world," for the
Father had given them to Him "out of the world." Again in John 8:23, the Lord
Jesus says to His opposers "Ye are from beneath I am from above. Ye are of this
world, I am not of this world."

We will now return to our chapter in Exodus and glean more of this heavenly
teaching and instruction from these earthly types. We must always remember that
the great thought before us is the redemption of the children of Israel from the
house of bondmen, and their being brought into relationship with the God who had
redeemed them according to the glory and power of that name in which He had
declared Himself to be for them. In all this, as taught of the Spirit, we can
discern a shadowy outline of the greater redemption that has been wrought for us
and the infinitely greater place of intimacy and relationship we have been
brought into as knowing the Father whom the Son has fully revealed. The manner
in which Moses and Aaron, as sent of God, comport themselves in the presence of
Pharaoh, and the form in which the request for the release of God’s people from
bondage is presented to him, is yet another instance of the perfection of God’s
ways which are ever sovereign in expression and ever superior to all the
circumstances in which they operate. Here we find, as in all things, God acting
in perfect consistency with all that He is in Himself, every divine attribute in
their individual identities displayed in harmonious completeness as expressive
of the nature and character of God. How truly remarkable therefore, the spirit
of grace and long-suffering with which He requests the liberation of His people.
At once, the heart of the proud Pharaoh is exposed in its inveterate hatred and
opposition to God and His people, in those defiant and insolent words, "Who is
Jehovah to whose voice I am to hearken to let Israel go? I do not know Jehovah,
neither will I let Israel go." We have now come to the solemn moment where we
see the inexorable enforcement of the divine assertion in Romans 9:17, "For this
very thing I have raised thee up from amongst men, that I might thus show in
thee My power, and so that My name should be declared in all the earth." And so
God displays His all-mighty power in those successive judgments which fall with
increasing severity upon the land and people of Egypt. His grace and forbearance
having been spurned, those inflexible judgments will assuredly bring the
knowledge of who He is to Pharaoh, according as He says in Exodus 9:13-14, "Thus
saith Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me.
For I will at this time send all my plagues to thy heart, and on thy bondmen and
on thy people, that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the
earth." The first movements of God towards the deliverance of His people served
only to intensify the bitter toil of their servitude. Pharaoh had no intention
of allowing his bondslaves to slip so easily from his grasp. Their burdens
therefore were increased. They had now to gather straw for the making of bricks,
yet the number of bricks was not to be diminished; "Thus says Pharaoh: I will
not give you straw; go ye get yourselves straw where ye may find it; but none of
your work shall be diminished." How suited a type is Pharaoh in every respect of
Satan, the god of this world. Satan’s object is to connect the service of the
people of God with this world, and so prevent them from carrying out their true
and proper service to God in relation to an entirely different order of things,
even a heavenly and spiritual order, of which the tabernacle with its services
and sacrifices was a type. How many of the people of God with a zeal which is
"not according to knowledge," are toiling under the delusive power of the
adversary to improve the world, to reform man, to elevate the masses. But the
more earnest people are on this line, the more heart-breaking is the fruitless
toil. It is fruitless labour from a spiritual point of view as the fruit of all
this labour can only result in the building up and enrichment of a system which
lies under the solemn judgment of God. The children of Israel making bricks in
Egypt is a figure of all the toil that goes to build up and enrich the world
system. There is no spiritual joy or liberty in this service; it is bondage. The
people were set to make bricks without straw. There is a great deal of labour
expended in this way. Self-improvement and world-improvement entails labour
which has no suitable material to work with and can end only in bitter
disappointment.

"Be not men’s servant, Think what costly price was paid That thou mayest His own
bondmen be, Whose service, perfect freedom is."

How often has our well-intentioned service proved to be merely a distraction and
far from conformity to the will of God? Like Martha "cumbered with much serving"
while ignorant of, or indifferent to, the place that Mary occupied, sitting at
the feet of Jesus, that blessed One who, in selfless devotion to the Father’s
will, came into the world declaring, "I came not to do mine own will, but the
will of Him that sent me." The will of God ought to be of prime consideration to
every child of God. As born of God we have a nature capable of delighting in all
that savours of the will of God. What does John say in 1 John 2:17? "And the
world is passing and its lust, but He that does the will of God abides for
eternity." There is a remarkable statement concerning David in Acts 13:36
relative to the will of God, "For David indeed, having in his own generation
ministered to the will of God . . ." We can only be here for the pleasure of God
in relation to His surpassingly great and vital interests as we grow in the full
knowledge of His will. As the beloved apostle could say to the saints in
Colosse, "We also . . . do not cease praying and asking for you to the end that
ye may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding, so as" — the following is a blessed consequence of what he
desired for them — "to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing
fruit in every good work, and growing by the true (or full) knowledge of God"
(Colossians 1:9-10). This of necessity involves our complete deliverance out of
the whole sphere and condition in which the will of man operates.

Paul in writing to the saints at Ephesus regarding the surpassing greatness of
the power of God towards us who believe, according to the working of the might
of His strength, in which He wrought in the Christ in raising Him from among the
dead, continues this thought at the beginning of Ephesians 2:1-22, and assures
the saints at Ephesus, that as "once nations in the flesh," being dead in their
offences and sins, this same sovereign invincible power was exercised toward
them in life-giving power in order to raise them up together and make "them sit
down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus." But the apostle is careful to
remind them of the place of death and of distance in which they were before
God’s mighty intervention on their behalf. Verses 2 and 3 state, "In which ye
once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the
authority of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience;
among whom we also all had our conversations in the lusts of our flesh, doing
what the flesh and the thought willed to do, and were children, by nature, of
wrath, even as the rest." How trenchantly does the beloved apostle address the
assemblies of Galatia in these words, "Grace to you and peace from God the
Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, so that He
should deliver us out of the present evil age — or course of this world —
according to the will of our God and Father." Paul could say, "I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ." Mark
that beautiful expression, "the grace of Christ." The adversary had introduced
the leaven of evil doctrine which was insidiously working to the subverting of
the truth of the glad tidings that Paul had preached to the assemblies of
Galatia. The character of this evil was a mixture of law and grace, of legalism
and Christ, whereas the characteristic of their call had been simply and solely,
"the grace of Christ." By taking up the law as the rule of life, they had
descended morally to the world, the sphere where the law operated in relation to
man in the flesh. There cannot be such a thing as separation from the world if
we place ourselves under law. By reminding them that "our Lord Jesus Christ gave
Himself for our sins, so that He should deliver us out of the course of this
world, according to the will of our God and Father," the beloved apostle was
applying the divine remedy to extricate the people of God from those worldly and
fleshly entanglements. This imperative call to complete and uncompromising
separation from every aspect of the world system is sustained by the word and
Spirit of God and will continue without cessation until the moment of love’s
full satisfaction when that blessed One who gave Him-self for the assembly shall
"present it to Himself glorious having no spot or wrinkle or any such things;
but that it might be holy and blameless." How powerful the inducement presented
to the people of God in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 to walk in separation from all
that is unsuitable to the holiness of God. In clear and forceful language the
apostle demonstrates the incongruity of agreement of God’s temple with idols,
etc. The language is all the more remarkable as the apostle quotes from the Old
Testament, Leviticus 26:11-12; Isaiah 52:11; showing that God’s great thought of
separation for His people is unaffected by dispensational change, "According as
God has said, I will dwell among them, and I will be their God, and they shall
be to Me a people; wherefore come out from the midst of them and be separated,
saith the Lord, and touch not what is unclean, and I will receive you and I will
be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to Me for sons and daughters saith the
Lord Almighty." How appropriate are the Names employed by the Spirit in this
remarkable connection, Almighty or Shaddai, Jehovah and Father. Each of these
Names indicates the measure of revelation which God has vouchsafed to men in
those relationships which He has established with them. As another has so
helpfully remarked, "His Name too is significant, as the name of a divine Person
contains in it the character of the blessing to be known according to it." To
the weak pilgrims of faith the "Almighty" gave them their resources of power: to
failing Israel Jehovah the "I AM THAT I AM" secured to them the unfailing
unchangeability of His purpose and counsel regarding their blessing. While to us
in this dispensation of grace the revelation of the Father in and by the Son has
brought us into this intimate individual relationship set forth as to place and
relationship in Christ as Man before His Father and His God, and won for us in
righteousness by His work of redemption. Well may our hearts respond with ever
increasing delight to that announcement of singular beauty, spoken to Mary by
the Lord Jesus on the morning of His resurrection, "Go to my brethren and say to
them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and to my God and your God" (John
20:17).

Having been brought by infinite grace into this wealth of relationship with the
Father and the Son, how imperative is this separation from a world characterised
by hatred of the Father and the Son, "They have both seen and hated both Me and
My Father," a world that knows not the Father: "Righteous Father, and the world
has not known Thee" (John 17:25), and again in 1 John 2:15 "Love not the world
nor the things in the world. If anyone love the world, the love of the Father is
not in him." But in order to be brought into responsive communion with the mind
of the Father concerning His own we may have to pass through deep searching
exercise in order to learn the character of the god of this world, our great
adversary, and the nature of his servitude by which he would rivet our chains
more firmly to the world over which he rules, and so neutralise our service to
the One who has brought us to Himself. Furthermore in these exercises we learn
in measure the competency of God who will not allow any power, however
formidable, to thwart Him in bringing to complete fruition all that He has
purposed for His own glory and the blessing of those whom He has purposed for so
great a blessing.

How beautifully this is brought before us in the manner in which God meets the
bitter disappointment and reproaches of His people with a renewed declaration of
His Name. In Exodus 6:2-3 we read, "And God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am
Jehovah. And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, unto Jacob as the Almighty God
(Genesis 17:1, and Genesis 28:3), but by my Name Jehovah I was not made known to
them," or as the alternative rendering reads, and suggests the truer thought,
"But by my Name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them." Let us not draw
wrong inferences from these words which speak with remarkable precision and
clearness, by concluding that the Name of Jehovah was not known before this.
Abraham provides us with very convincing evidence that this was not so, when
after he had offered up the ram which had been caught in the thicket by its
horns in place of Isaac, "he called the name of that place, Jehovah-jireh,"
Jehovah will provide. This and other instances therefore furnish us with proof
beyond all question that the name of Jehovah was well known previously. But this
was the name he had taken in covenant relationship with the children of Israel
in faithfulness to all the promises made to the fathers.

Notwithstanding the arrogant refusal of Pharaoh to accede to His request for the
liberation of his people; in spite of the faithfulness of His people, whose
bitterness of spirit resulted from viewing their increased burdens as mountains
through the distorting mists of unbelief, and despite the inability of Moses and
Aaron to rise to the full level of God’s intentions for His people, God Himself,
on whom all depends, moves forward as the following words declare, to the
accomplishment of all He had purposed for their blessing. "I have heard also the
groaning of the children of Israel . . . I have remembered my covenant . . . I
am Jehovah, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians . .
. I will bring you into the land concerning which I swore to give it unto
Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob." By the reiteration of the name Jehovah, God
displays how He loves and cherishes that name by which He has bound up the
people of His choice with Himself. But how truly has He magnified His word above
all His name, as we consider how the fulfilment of all His purposes has
surpassed any and every expectation founded upon the names in which He has taken
men into relationship with Himself and which are descriptive of the character of
their blessing. In the genealogy given in the latter part of the chapter we see
how the spiritual takes precedence over the natural. This is invariably the
divine order. "But that which is spiritual was not first but that which is
natural, then that which is spiritual." In verse 26 it states, "This is that
Aaron and Moses, etc.," but in verse 27 the expression is reversed, "This is
that Moses and Aaron." God ever recognises those natural relationships which He
Himself has established, and so ought we as intelligent in His mind; but in
doing so we must maintain the superiority of grace in every particular. It is
worthy of note that the Epistles which present our supreme place of blessing in
Christ give full recognition to these relationships as furnishing us with the
heavenly springs and motives for a walk in them in consonance with the mind of
God. But as to spiritual action, Moses retains the place of superiority. Moses
and Aaron combine to present a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus as Mediator and
Priest. As Mediator He brings all that God is in the fulness of grace and
blessing to men. As Priest, He is Head of the priestly family, sustaining them
in affection and activity which find their expression in worship, as desired by
the Father, on the part of the true worshippers whom He seeks to "worship Him in
spirit and in truth."

Exodus 7:1-25; Exodus 8:1-32; Exodus 9:1-35; Exodus 10:1-29.

"None can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?"

These chapters must be taken as a whole since they present to us a continuous
record of those great and momentous events which are unique in the history of
the nations of the world.

God in His infinite wisdom has anticipated the attempts of infidelity and
unbelief to reduce those solemnly impressive events to the level of ordinary
occurrences, occasioned by the laws of nature. This latter term is distinctly
misleading and erroneous, since there are no "laws of nature" but "laws in
nature" established by God, the Creator, for the orderly and systematic control
and regulation of those forces which are the agents of His sovereign power, the
laws of which can be suspended as He wills in His providential dealings with
men. In Exodus 9:14, the manner in which this solemn announcement is made
suggests that there is a special and singular character attaching to these grave
events, unparalleled in the history of nations, then or since. "For I will at
this time send all My plagues to thy heart and on thy bondmen, and on thy
people; that thou mayest know that there is none like Me in all the earth."

God was about "to do His work, His strange work, and perform His act, His
unwonted act." Judgment is His "strange work"; He delights in mercy, but He must
act consistently with all that He is, and having borne with much long-suffering
the many provocations of this proud and insolent monarch, who had by his refusal
to let God’s people go constituted himself the avowed enemy of God and brought
upon himself the necessity of learning, that "Every proud heart is an
abomination to Jehovah, and certainly he shall not be held innocent." He will be
brought to know that his tenure as Pharaoh over the Egyptians is at the disposal
of the great and terrible God of the Hebrews, and to learn with the equally
proud King of Babylon that this God is the "God of gods and the Lord of kings,"
who "deposeth kings and setteth up kings," and that "It is He that revealeth the
deep and secret things; He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light
dwelleth with Him" (Daniel 2:21-22).

How solemn therefore the testimony of the Word of God that these plagues which
swept through the land of Egypt in all their devastating power were
demonstrative of the judicial action of God, revealing Himself as the God who
"doeth according to His will in the army of the heavens, and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What
doest Thou?" And to the proud Pharaoh who in the haughtiness of his spirit had
said, "Who is Jehovah, to whose voice I am to hearken to let Israel go? I know
not Jehovah neither will I let Israel go" (Exodus 5:2). God revealed to him his
own nothingness as one of the inhabitants of the earth who are reputed as
nothing before Him. The Psalmist in recounting the history of God’s dealing with
His earthly people mentions that "In the sight of their fathers had He done
wonders in the land of Egypt, the field of Zoan" (Psalms 78:12); and again in
Psalms 105:26-27, "He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen; They
set His signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham." God said to Pharaoh,
"I will at this time send all My plagues to thy heart," but to Moses He says, "I
will . . . multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt." In relation
to Egypt, God’s dealings were plagues and each was the manifestation of the
wrath and power of God by which His Name was made known throughout all the earth
and by which Pharaoh, despite his persistent and stubborn though futile
resistance, was overthrown. His spirit, however, still remaining unchanged. But
to the people of God these "great judgments" were signs and wonders, for it was
by these that God would bring His people from out of the adversary’s power; out
of the house of bondmen. And in that wonderful song of victory, when the
children of Israel saw their enemies dead upon the sea shore, "And saw the great
work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians," Moses and the children of Israel
celebrated the glorious achievements of their God with joy and great exultation
saying, "Sing unto Jehovah for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his
rider hath He thrown into the Sea; My strength and song is Jah, and He is become
my salvation, This is my God, and I will glorify Him . . .: Thy right hand
Jehovah is become glorious in power; Thy right hand Jehovah hath dashed in
pieces the enemy." In the opening verses of Exodus 7:1-25 God gives His final
instructions to Moses and Aaron by which He brings them into communion with His
own thoughts and intentions. It is truly remarkable the confidential manner in
which the God of Israel makes known to His servants the manner and result, which
could be left in no element of doubt, of His intervention on behalf of His
downtrodden people. In like manner God says in Genesis 18:17, "Shall I hide from
Abraham what I am doing?" It is a very touching thought that this "God who is
greater than man . . . and giveth not account of any of His matters" is pleased
to take those who are His friends, as Abraham was (Isaiah 41:8), into His
confidence, making them conversant with His intentions in His dealings with men.
It is worthy of note that as a result of the disclosures God made to Abraham
concerning His judgment of Sodom, Abraham became an intercessor. The path of
this beloved man of faith while displaying uncompromising separation from the
spirit and course of the world around him, even to the refusing of the rewards
of the king of Sodom, was not a path of selfish isolation nor of unconcerned
detachment with regard to the blessing of men. And what of those to whom the
beloved apostle Paul can say, "And be to one another kind, compassionate,
forgiving (or showing grace to one another), so as God also in Christ has
forgiven" (or shown grace to you), (Ephesians 4:32). All God’s dealings with us
in sovereign grace have taught us something of the heart and compassions of a
"Saviour-God who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth." On the ground of this Paul makes this powerful appeal in 1
Timothy 2:1-15 "I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men; for kings and all that are in
dignity, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity;
for this is good and acceptable before our Saviour-God." This exhortation to
every variety of prayer is founded on the broad basis of God’s relationship to
all mankind, and we too as born of God, of His family, and as conversant with
His mind and thoughts as revealed in His Word, are in a corresponding relation.
As the beloved apostle again, speaking to the saints at Ephesus concerning their
demeanour toward each other, exhorts them to be "imitators of God, as dear
children," so is it equally applicable in the attitude of the saints to the
world. It is of the greatest moment that the children maintain the family
character, acting in love at all times, as reflecting the love of God, that has
surmounted and surpassed the wickedness of man, overcoming evil with good, and
displaying also the beneficent attitude of the Father who causes His sun to rise
on evil and good and sends rain on just and unjust.

Then when we come to the inner circle of divine affections, the circle of the
Father’s love, we find the same principle of divine communication, but of an
infinitely greater depth and character of truth. In John 15:13-16, we find these
remarkable declarations, "No one has greater love than this, that one should lay
down his life for His friends, Ye are My friends if ye practise whatever I
command you. I call you no longer bond-men, for the bondman does not know what
his master is doing, but I have called you friends, for all things which I have
heard of My Father I have made known to you. Ye have not chosen Me, but I have
chosen you." Here we have an entirely different thought from what we have in
Timothy. It is not the love of a Saviour-God for poor sinners, a love purely
divine and sovereign, but the love of Jesus for His friends. In that wonderful
pathway in which the disciples had companied with Him, His love was ever in
constant expression toward them, yea, their weaknesses and short-comings but
furnished Him with fresh occasions to display His unwearied and changeless love
toward them. But in His death was displayed in a fuller way the sublime and
ineffable glories of that love, for "No one has greater love than this that one
should lay down his life for his friends." Jesus then goes on to speak of the
new position in which they were placed as chosen of Him, no longer bondmen but
friends with the communion of love this implied. As Jesus on earth had been the
Object of His Father’s love, so now were His own the objects of His love. As to
Him it was a love of complacent delight as one walking in the way of His
Father’s commandments, ever doing the things that pleased Him. So would He have
His own walking in the path of His commandments, and in this way answering to
His own heart and so tasting of the deep joy that was ever His, even in the
sorrows of His path.

They were His friends, those to whom He could unfold as being His confidants,
all that lay upon His heart — the things He had heard from His Father, opening
out to them the truth of all those precious counsels of the Father’s love with
which He had been entrusted, as the Son of His love; leading them too, in the
power of those communications which the Father had made known to Him, into an
ever-increasing knowledge and enjoyment of the depths of the Father’s heart. In
pursuing these exceedingly precious thoughts of how God has been graciously
pleased to make known His mind and purposes in those profound communications to
those He has brought into relationship with Himself, it is singularly
instructive to observe that the mode and measure in which those disclosures have
been made known have not followed any formal or haphazard method, but are in
perfect suitability to the character of the things made known. The Spirit has
given us a striking instance of this in the beginning of The Revelation. There
John announces "Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to
His bondmen what must shortly take place, and he signified it, sending by His
angel to His bondman John, who testified the word of God and the testimony of
Jesus Christ, all things, that he said" (Revelation 1:1-2). How unlike in
character and mode the unfolding of the Lord’s mind when on earth as suggested
in the following words, "Now there was at table one of His disciples in the
bosom of Jesus, whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23). There in love’s own sweet
retreat John received those precious communications of the love of Jesus which
make his writings throb with divine love and light. But in Revelation all is
distant and in a way mysterious, but in exact keeping with the character of
these communications. The medium of communication between Christ and John is an
angel and the object of these awe-inspiring communications is to show to
Christ’s servants, or bondmen, things which "must shortly take place." Servant
is a more distant place of relation than son-position; or child-relationship; or
friend-intimacy; but how suited to the general character of the book which
addresses itself to every believer in Christ. May these remarks beget in the
heart of every true child of God a deep abiding love for the word of God,
finding the words of Job truly descriptive of the deep satisfaction of our
hearts in the reading of this precious word in which are enshrined those
wonderful thoughts of heavenly grace and blessing. "I have esteemed the words of
His mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). Walking closely in the
footsteps of the Lord Jesus, who is our great Exemplar in this as in all other
things, who through the prophet Isaiah has said, "The Lord God hath given Me the
tongue of the instructed, that I might know how to speak a word in season to him
that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning, He wakeneth Mine ear to hear as
the instructed." (Isaiah 50:4). That blessed One displaying the perfection of
His entire dependence upon God met all the temptations of His implacable
adversary with the words, "It is written," and declared "Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God’s mouth" (Matthew
4:4). The words which God spake to Moses and Aaron at the beginning of Exodus
7:1-25 were no doubt intended to strengthen and fortify their hearts and brace
their spirits for the impending struggle with this proud adversary who had
repulsed every overture with contempt and stubborn refusal. God warns His
servants of Pharaoh’s unrelenting obduracy while at the same time assuring them
with divine certitude, as the One who "calleth those things which be not as
though they were," of the triumphant conclusion of all that He had purposed
regarding the liberation of His people.

Despite the gracious manner in which God had dealt with Pharaoh, giving him
repeated opportunities to accede to His request, Pharaoh hardened his heart,
thus displaying his inveterate hatred and antagonism to God and His people. Now
this proud adversary is to come under the judicial hardening of God, as these
solemn words declare, "And I will render Pharaoh’s heart obdurate and multiply
My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt . . . and I will lay My hand upon
Egypt and I will bring forth My hosts, My people the children of Israel, out of
the land of Egypt by great judgments" (vv. 3, 4). Unbelief in the first instance
is never the consequence of judicial hardening on God’s part. But let there be
no doubt that there is such a thing as hardening. It would be equally wrong to
suggest that this hardening process precedes the giving of God’s initial
testimony to men, as to deny the righteous exercise of the divine prerogative of
sovereignty in hardening after His testimony has been refused. Both are true, as
anyone can see whose thoughts are guided and formed by the Word of God.

There are live outstanding instances of this intensely solemn action of
hardening on God’s part. The Gentile or heathen world, Romans 1:28; Pharaoh or
Egypt, Exodus 9:12; The Kings of Canaan, Joshua 11:20; Israel, Isaiah 6:1-13;
Christendom, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17. This hardening precedes destruction, but it
comes after much long-suffering on God’s part, and after man’s incurable
unbelief and obstinate refusal to accept God’s testimony has proved the
necessity of this judicial visitation and the display of yet another aspect of
God’s glory, this time in judgment. God endures with all long-suffering the
vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, as He fashions by His Spirit His own
elect vessels of mercy before He glorifies them. "Whom He will He hardens," is
surely true: but He wills to show His wrath in this way of hardening only in the
case of those whom He has endured in much long-suffering (Romans 9:11-22). In
our own day is there not irrefutable evidence that the "strong delusion"
mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17 has gone forth? The fruit of this is
unmistakably seen in the speech and actions emanating from men in high places
reputably great and eminent in this world.

It will not be necessary for our purpose to deal exhaustively with the "ten
plagues" as they are commonly referred to. Being "signs," they are doubtless
intended to arrest the attention of every believer in Christ as to what is of
moral significance, the whole suggesting a course of moral instruction in the
sovereign ways of God in judgment as a fitting prelude to the liberation of His
people from the hand of their oppressor. But before these plagues are unleashed
in all their devastating power upon the land and people of Egypt, a miracle is
performed which displays the presence and activity of divine power. Aaron’s rod
cast down before Pharaoh and his bondmen became a serpent. In this we see the
wisdom of the Spirit in introducing the thought of the serpent, thereby
suggesting the display of divine power in relation to what is evil. This thought
is confirmed by John’s remarkable statement, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14). The
brazen serpent was the type of the

Lord Jesus coming sacrificially into the place of sin. And Aaron’s rod becoming
a serpent seems to suggest divine power manifesting itself in the presence of
the power of evil which sought to thwart God in the carrying out of what He had
purposed for the blessing of His people. In 2 Timothy 3:8, Paul mentions Jannes
and Jambres as those who withstood Moses; to whom he compares those who by
imitation were resisting the truth in the Assembly. "Now in the same manner in
which Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, thus these also withstand the truth;
men corrupted in mind, found worthless as regards the faith." These two men were
doubtless the leaders of the magicians in Egypt who were able to imitate the
initial plagues, but when it came to the creation of life they had to confess
that the finger of God was there, and they too came under the blighting effect
of the power of God, for they were smitten with boils and blains. Just as their
folly was manifested in contending with the God of Israel, so with those who
withstand the truth. "But they shall not advance further, for their folly shall
be completely manifest to all, as that of those (Jannes and Jambres) also
became" (2 Timothy 3:9). But in marked contrast to the mere imitators Paul can
say, "But thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct,
purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, endurance, persecutions, suffering . . ."
(2 Timothy 3:10-12). The presence of the saints on earth is characterised by
their having life in Christ Jesus — 2 Timothy 1:1, faith and love which are in
Christ Jesus — 2 Timothy 1:13, the grace which is in Christ Jesus — 2 Timothy
2:1, the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory — 2 Timothy 2:10,
and by living piously in Christ Jesus — 2 Timothy 3:12. All that is ours in
Christ Jesus is a constant and indisputable witness of how God has wrought to
deliver us from the power of the enemy; and as we walk in the practical power of
what God has wrought for us there is the positive and convincing evidence of
what the Spirit is working in us in a scene of contrariety to all that is of
God. In the plagues which ensue, God would instruct us in the true moral
character of the world that we might be desirous of answering intelligently to
the thoughts of His own heart as those born of Him, resulting in complete moral
separation from a "world that lies in the wicked one" for "He that has been
begotten of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him" (1 John
5:18-19). The character of the plagues displays the wisdom of God, as specially
suited to bring about the humiliation of Egypt and its king. It was not merely
an infliction on the land, with its consequent pain and anguish to the people,
but it was a solemn contest between Jehovah, the true God, and the false gods of
Egypt. It was upon these false gods which the Egyptians worshipped that the
judgment of God was directed, staining their vaunted glory, and making them an
object of loathing and detestation. The first of a series of compromises
suggested by Pharaoh was with the evident intention of retaining the children of
Israel in the land of Egypt, still under his oppressive domination (Exodus
8:25). But worship in Egypt is worship in the flesh, Cain’s worship, where there
is no confession of man’s sinful condition, nor of God’s remedy in the work of
Christ as meeting that condition in righteousness. The death and resurrection of
Christ have no place there. Moreover there is no thought of redemption and
consequently no necessity for a Redeemer. But the answer of Moses shows clearly
how wholly unacceptable was this suggestion of the adversary. "It is not proper
to do so; for we should sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Jehovah
our God . . . We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice
to Jehovah our God as He shall command us" (Exodus 8:26-27). The word
"abomination" stands here as elsewhere for idolatry, as Chemosh was the
abomination of the Moabites and as Milcom was of the Ammonites. The worship of
Egypt was that of Apis — the sacred bull. Throughout Scripture the ox is used as
the type of the labourer. How pre-eminently is the ox suited to be the type of
God’s Labourer, the patient, tireless Worker for God’s glory and man’s blessing.
But of this Worker and His work, the Egyptian world knows nothing. By His death
Christ has passed out of this World, and in resurrection has taken a new place
for us before God. It is for us therefore to find by faith, our true place, in
the wilderness, as separated morally from this world by Christ’s death and
resurrection, for there only can we keep the feast unto the Lord. That cross by
which the world is crucified to us, and we unto the world, can never be but an
offence in it. The full remove of death and resurrection — these three days’
journey in the wilderness is the only place of keeping the sacrificial feast.
"Our Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, that He might deliver us from the
course of this world, according to the will of our God and Father" (Galatians
1:3-4). Thus our feast is connected with His sacrifice. Salvation in God’s
thought takes us out of the world. We are no more of it than Christ is, and we
henceforth know Him no longer after the flesh. But how many have succumbed to
this device of the god of this world. They are worshipping in Egypt, without the
knowledge of redemption and are still in bondage. They have assimilated their
forms of worship to the patterns of the world, making it so accommodating that
men of the world can join with them. The second compromise, Exodus 10:8-11, is
as unacceptable as the first since it imposes limits on the redemption wholly
incompatible with God’s thought for His people. The men may go but the little
ones must remain behind. In God’s thought, however, the little ones’ place was
with their parents. Pharaoh’s intention was to retain his hold of the fathers by
means of the children.

Scripture speaks with exceptional clarity regarding God’s thought for the
children of His people. This is seen very early in His dealings with men. In
Genesis 7:1-24, God says to Noah, "Go into the ark, thou and all thy house"; and
in Hebrews 11:7, we are told, "By faith Noah being warned of God of things not
seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." Then
we have the blessing of Abraham’s seed, and the rite of circumcision is given
for the Israelite’s house as the divine rule for His earthly people. The New
Testament too continues this principle. The Lord says to Zacchaeus, "This day is
salvation come to this house" (Luke 19:9). Peter on the day of Pentecost
declares, "The promise is unto you and to your children" (Acts 2:39). To
Cornelius the angel says, "Who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy
house shall be saved" (Acts 11:14). And to the Philippian jailor Paul says,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts
16:31). These distinct testimonies from the word of God reveal the universal
character of this principle, and moreover display the all-embracing love of God
reaching out to those bound to us in the bonds of natural affection and
relationship, and bringing them by the work of the Spirit into that heavenly
sphere of affection and relationship with Himself as born of Him. The children
of believers are of course like others; as having the old nature. In this they
differ nothing from others. The work of the Spirit of God is necessary as John
says, "Except anyone be born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God" (John 3:3).
It must be a new source and beginning of life. How necessary for those who are
parents to demonstrate before their children the practical effects of having
taken up faith’s true position in the wilderness, where the death and
resurrection of Christ has placed us morally — the three days remove from the
Egypt world. It must be the combined influence of our words and ways, mere
teaching is not enough.

Now we come to the third and last compromise, in which Pharaoh agrees to the
little ones going with them "only let your flocks and your herds be stayed"
(Exodus 10:24-26). Again Moses unhesitatingly rejects this proposal, emphasising
the complete severance of the people of God from every element of Egyptian
bondage by declaring that "not a hoof shall be left behind." The children of
Israel were a shepherd people and their flocks and herds represented their
wealth or possessions in this world. This has ever proved a crucial test for the
people of God, for these possessions constitute our closest associations with
the world and by reason of their legitimacy are attended by an ever-present
danger to the child of God. Only as we regard these possessions as "belonging to
another" even our Lord Jesus Christ, as presented in the parable of the
unrighteous steward, Luke 16:1-31, can we faithfully administer these things as
coming within the sphere of a stewardship with which we have been entrusted.

Possessions tend to wind themselves around our hearts, giving us a false place
of importance before men — "the pride of life" John speaks of — and shutting out
God. Then we discover the futility of seeking to attain to that which is
impossible, as the scriptures so plainly declare, to serve God and mammon — to
make the best of both worlds. It can only be the one or the other, not both. But
we can make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, we can turn these things
to profitable account as we use them as belonging to Him, spending them lavishly
on His interests in view of entering into the possession and enjoyment of our
own things. Our own things lie with Him where He now is, where we shall enjoy
them with Himself in His own blessed presence forever. "If ye have not been
faithful in that which is another’s who shall give to you your own?" May the
riband of blue be displayed more vividly where our garments touch the earth.

Exodus 11:1-10. The tenth and last plague — the slaying of the firstborn — is
one of peculiar solemnity. In Exodus 4:1-31 God had instructed Moses to say to
Pharaoh. "Thus saith Jehovah: Israel is My son, My firstborn, And I say to thee,
Let My son go, that he may serve Me, and if thou refuse to let him go, behold I
will kill thy son, thy first-born" (Exodus 4:22-23).

How great is the moral instruction to be derived in observing the conduct of
Pharaoh at this time, as illustrating the awful consequences of the judicial
hardening of God. As His chastening hand lay heavy upon the land, and as each
successive infliction witnessed to the irresistible might and majesty of God,
Pharaoh, whose puny hand could not stay or mitigate in any degree the force of
those acts of divine power, professes to accede to God’s oft-repeated requests
to let His people go, only to retract whenever respite was granted, thus
revealing the heart to be as obdurate and as intractable as at the beginning.
Nor was it otherwise with the death of the firstborn, which filled the land of
Egypt with mourning and the voice of lamentation. In spite of this further
calamity, however, we read in Exodus 14:3-4; Exodus 14:8, "And Pharaoh will say
of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has
hemmed them in." And again we read this solemn pronouncement, "And I will harden
Pharaoh’s heart, that he may pursue after them, and I will glorify Myself in
Pharaoh and in all his host . . . and Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel." These words tell of
the inexorable and irrevocable progression of events leading up to the wide and
indiscriminate judgment of God in the complete overthrow of Pharaoh and his host
in the devouring waters of the Red Sea. "And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch out
thy hand over the sea . . . And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and
the sea returned to its strength . . . and Jehovah overturned the Egyptians into
the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the
horsemen of all the host of Pharaoh that had come into the sea after them; there
remained not one of them," Exodus 14:26-28. This, however, is the complemental
aspect of redemption by power and must await our attention while we consider the
essentially fundamental aspect of redemption by blood, as forming the righteous
basis of all God’s dealings with us. May the eyes of our hearts, enlightened by
the Spirit, discern in all those wonderful types, "the things concerning
Himself." Our warrant for the unreserved acceptance of these types as
illustrative of Christ and His work lies in the authoritative declaration of the
Spirit in Luke 24:1-53 "And having begun from Moses and from all the prophets,
He (Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself." It is this precious truth which invests those types with such
absorbing interest to those whose ears have been opened "to hear as the
instructed." And now Moses, consciously invested with that divine authority by
which he had been sustained in all those momentous interviews with the proud
oppressor of God’s people, submits as instructed by God, his last message to
Pharaoh. The scene is a very arresting one. Pharaoh as one, who in the arbitrary
and despotic exercise of his regal authority had doubtless condemned others to
death, now warns Moses, "...see my face no more; for in the day thou seest my
face thou shalt die." But Moses is unafraid; his earlier irresolution and
timidity are gone; in intelligent communion with the mind of God, whose servant
he is, his calm and dignified deportment in keeping with the solemnity of the
occasion replies, "Thou hast spoken rightly; I will see thy face again no more!"
In Hebrews 11:1-40 Moses is mentioned as one of that illustrious cloud of
witnesses who testified so convincingly to the power of faith in their lives.
"By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the King; for he persevered as
seeing Him who is invisible."

Then in Exodus 11:1-10 we have the solemn announcement of the death of the
firstborn, "from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sitteth on his throne even unto
the first-born of the bondwoman that is behind the mill." Each infliction of
divine judgment had deepened the solemnity of having to do with God in judgment,
but in this last infliction the sense of solemnity is immeasurably deepened as
God deals directly with the Ruler and the people of Egypt. Every instrument and
agency is set aside as we read in verse 4, "Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight I
will go out into the midst of Egypt. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt
shall die." Again in Exodus 12:12, "I will go through the land of Egypt in that
night, and smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, I am Jehovah."

Egypt was made to realise what it was to be under the unsparing judgment of God;
He "smote Egypt in their firstborn" (Psalms 136:10). The firstborn was the chief
of their strength, all that man would glory in; the gratification of his hopes
and desires. That which was representative of the "excellence of dignity," the
"excellency of strength" according to human standards, He smote "all the
firstborn in Egypt, the first fruits of their vigour" (Psalms 78:51). Regarding
Egypt as typical of the world in its opposition to God and Pharaoh as its god
and its prince, whose spirit animates those over whom he rules, not by right but
by usurpation, it is of the greatest importance for the children of God to
realise that all that man glories in lies under the judgment of God; death is on
everything here, all is shut up under death.

It is remarkable that the death of Christ is the pre-eminent proof that all have
died, "For the love of Christ constrains us, having judged this: that One died
for all, then all have died" (2 Corinthians 5:14). His death proved that all men
were in that state of death by nature. But the apostle continues to unfold what
was involved in the purpose of God. "And He died for all, that they who live
should no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and has been
raised" (2 Corinthians 5:15). Those who live, who have life in Christ risen,
have been delivered entirely from the world which lies under the judgment of God
and are now connected with a scene where all things are of God. "If any one be
in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away, behold all
things have become new, and all things are of God" (2 Corinthians 5:17). So far
as this world is concerned Christ is dead. He might have been Messiah living in
this world with all the glories and dignities attaching to Him as such, and it
was on this ground that Mary of Magdala would have claimed Him, only to hear the
wonderful declaration from the lips of the victorious and risen Lord, "Touch Me
not, for I have not yet ascended to My Father but go to My brethren and say to
them I ascend . . ." Rejected as the Messiah He was about to enter into those
new and heavenly conditions, greater, fuller and richer than all that pertained
to His Messiah-ship, and not only as the One whom the Father had glorified but
in the profound consciousness of the intrinsic greatness of His own Person, as
co-equal with the Father, He says, "I ascend." And now He brings "His own" into
His own place and relationship with the Father in full accord with that
wonderful announcement in which He intimates the establishment of that
relationship in which we are set, while at the same time He is careful to
distinguish His own unique place with His Father and His God; "I ascend to My
Father and your Father and to My God and your God" (John 20:17).

How great are the practical consequences for the believer in Christ flowing from
this new and heavenly place that the Lord Jesus occupies. Referring again to
Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians, the beloved apostle says, "So that we
henceforth know no one according to flesh: but if even we have known Christ
according to flesh, yet we know Him thus no longer" (2 Corinthians 5:16). Christ
is in a new sphere altogether, an entirely new creation where all things are of
God. Such is our place as associated with Him there, and our corresponding place
in this world is in moral separation from it, where we know no one according to
flesh. In a world where men are lovers of themselves and wholly ignorant of the
solemn fact that they are "estranged from the life of God by reason of the
ignorance which is in them," the believer in Christ as instructed in the mind of
God sees men either "in Christ" or in a state of death as under the judgment of
God. For those in Christ "the old things are passed away" in the wonderful
position we have through God’s sovereign grace according to a new creation: but
those not in Christ are dead: dead in their sins though still within the reach
of Christ being presented to them as a Saviour in order to have life in and
through Him. This and much more will come before us as we consider the death of
Christ, in this precious aspect as the Passover. The beloved apostle has given
us inspired interpretation as to it, "Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us;
therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1
Corinthians 5:7-8). The passover prefigures Christ Himself, while the blood that
sheltered them prefigures the precious, atoning blood of that Lamb, the Lamb of
God’s providing "foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter
1:20). In this last plague, however, Israel was made to realise its own solemn
position before God. Every word is used designedly by the Spirit to impress them
with the solemn reality that naturally they were subject to the judgment of God
as much as the Egyptians. They had to meet not a more modified infliction than
the Egyptians, but death itself, as God’s sentence upon all men, "for all have
sinned." Death they must meet, pass through it, and leave behind them before
they could be freed from bondage of Pharaoh, or their feet leave the house of
bondmen forever.

God appears as a Judge, as One who is of holier eyes than to behold iniquity and
to whose holy nature sin in all its aspects is completely abhorrent. This
momentous question therefore affected the children of Israel not less than the
Egyptians. But how was this question to be resolved? It must be met in such a
way as to glorify God, to vindicate the holiness of His nature, while displaying
His righteousness in showing mercy to the children of Israel, while his hand was
stretched forth in judgment upon the firstborn of the Egyptians. The sprinkled
blood of the Paschal Lamb is the blessed answer to every question which sin has
raised. For while the slaying of the firstborn is spoken of as a plague, it is
of an infinitely more solemn character than the preceding plagues since it
brought into prominence other requirements on God’s part which were not affected
by those preceding plagues.

Exodus 12:1-51.

It is worthy of note and of no little significance that it was in Egypt that
Israel had to keep the Passover. The first verse of Chap. 12 points to this,
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt." God has been
moving steadily onwards towards the accomplishment of His purposes with regard
to their deliverance; but to the children of Israel as to us, "sinners of the
Gentiles," the mercy of God reaches us where we are, in our state of darkness
and of death. "The people which sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them
which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up" (Matthew
4:15-16). There may be much exercise and earnest groping after light in order to
escape from the oppressive darkness by which our hearts and minds are enveloped,
a darkness which can only be defined as ignorance of God. But all our efforts
only confirm that no advance can be made in our relationships with God until the
shelter of the Cross is reached and known. The truth of this is borne out in a
very remarkable way in verse 2: "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the
land of Egypt, saying: This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, it
shall be the first month of the year to you." Grace gives us this new beginning:
our past history — that dark tragic history when we were without God in this
world — is blotted out forever. Oh, the kindness of God to blot out the past,
yet how solemn to contemplate that we may have lived many years which God
regards as of no account. Time counts for nothing before God as long as the
sinner is in his sins; we have not begun to live in God’s estimation until we
are sheltered under the blood of Christ. Until then every day adds to our guilt
and how pregnant with results for eternity should we continue in that condition.
How blessed to hear the pardoning voice of a Saviour-God, as in sovereign grace
He brings us under all the value of the shed blood of the Mediator of a new
covenant, saying, "I will remember no more." He does not remember our sins and
iniquities when He treats us as though these had never happened, in virtue of
the atoning work of Christ. How blessed to see nothing whatever in His conduct
toward us which would indicate His remembrance of them. As another has said,
"When not only they are no more a shadow in our heavens, but not a mote even in
the sunshine of His perfect love." His "not remembering" has its solemn as well
as its gracious side. Love would gladly remember. What must our past have been
when love graciously draws the veil over it? The blood of the Lamb of God’s
providing is that which alone could righteously blot out our sinful past and
introduce us to the glorious vistas of that new creation, that system of divine
glory of which the Father is the Source as "the Father of glory." With regard to
the selection of the Iamb for sacrifice, the numbers mentioned are of more than
passing interest, since there is little doubt that numbers are employed in
Scripture as symbols — symbols of infinitely great realities, particularly in
regard to what is now before us. In Exodus 12:3; Exodus 12:6, the Spirit has
used these numbers with consummate care and excellence — if one may so speak
reverently of the Spirit’s work — and has thus given them a character of
profound signification since they refer typically to a period of the life of the
Lord Jesus which was of exquisite pleasure to the heart of God the Father. But
let us ponder for a moment the description of the lamb which had to be selected.
Human sentiment and imagination have combined to give us a completely erroneous
idea of this lamb, and since this involves the solemn question of what was
necessary to meet the divine requirements, it is not only desirable but also
essential to have our thoughts corrected and brought into complete
correspondence to the mind of God. In the fifth verse the children of Israel are
told, "Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; ye shall take it
from the sheep or from the goats." It was to be a mature animal. It was a type
of that blessed One of whom we read in Luke 3:23, "And Jesus Himself was
beginning to be about thirty years old " — the Levite age. Coming from the
obscurity of despised Nazareth, He identified Himself with the repentant remnant
by being baptized in the river Jordan, "fulfilling," as He had said, "all
righteousness," while by their baptism they confessed how far they had departed
from it. As He stands on the banks of the Jordan praying as the dependent One,
heaven is opened, the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form as a dove upon Him,
and a voice out of heaven declares, "Thou are My beloved Son in Thee I have
found My delight." How blessed to discern in the "voice out of heaven" the voice
of the Father in His acknowledgement of the Son. So the Lord Jesus stands on the
threshold of His public ministry in perfect maturity, in the full vigour of
manhood, and yet does not the description "without blemish" fall far short of
what He was in all the flawless, spotless purity of His own unique Person? A
real Man in very truth! yet the sinless One who knew no sin, and did no sin. No
flaw of mortality lurked in His blessed Person. Holy in His conception by the
Holy Spirit, and sinless in His birth by a virgin-mother as she brought forth
her first-born Son. Untainted by defilement as He passed through this scene in
the power of the Spirit of holiness. This was the Lamb chosen of God, as
answering in every detail to the divine requirements. Can we not say with
adoring hearts that He was more than "without blemish"? This "yearling male"
could be taken from the sheep or from the goats. The selection was left open,
but whichever was chosen, each presented some aspect of the moral glory of the
Lord Jesus. Taken from the sheep would speak of Him as the meek and unresisting
One, as the prophet Isaiah speaks of Him, "He was led as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and He opened not His
mouth." Taken from the goats speaks of that holy uncompromising separation from
evil on the part of Him of Whom the beloved apostle can say to the Hebrew
Christians, that He was "holy, harmless" — or preferably "guileless" without an
evil thought — "undefiled and separate from sinners." These precious traits and
many more were consummated in the Person of the Lord Jesus and constituted that
moral excellence which was displayed in all its fulness and perfection in that
wonderful pathway which called forth the deep appreciation of the Father’s
heart.

Attention has already been drawn to the importance of the numerical structure of
the word of God, and as we consider the numbers mentioned in verses 3 and 6
will, as they are intended to do, yield much valuable instruction concerning the
pathway of that One who came into this world as the divinely-appointed Sacrifice
for sin. The lamb was to be taken not on the first of the month, but on the
tenth and kept for four days until the fourteenth day at even when it was
killed. Ten days elapse before the lamb is taken. Ten speaks of the measure of
human responsibility and refers to that period in the life of the Lord Jesus
which is passed over in silence in the four Gospels. What account have we of
those thirty years in which our Lord grew up in the retirement and obscurity of
Nazareth and carried out the common tasks of toiling men? We have a brief yet
absorbing account of those scenes of heavenly joy when the angelic hosts
celebrated His lowly birth at Bethlehem. How great the joy of those heavenly
hosts, greater far than that by which they celebrated the laying of the
foundations of the earth, when "the morning stars sang together and the sons of
God shouted for joy."

More just those acclamations, Than when the glorious band Chanted earth’s deep
foundations, Just laid by God’s right hand.

We have a still briefer account of his visit to the temple as a boy of twelve
years, when in reply to His parents’ remonstrance He utters these imperishable
words, "Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in My Father’s business?"
And of this Mr Darby says, "If He was the Son of God and had the full
consciousness of it, He was also the obedient man, essentially and ever perfect
and sinless — an obedient child; consciousness of the one did not injure His
perfection in the other. But there is another important thing to remark here; it
is, that this position had nothing to do with His being anointed with the Holy
Spirit. He fulfilled, no doubt, the public ministry which He afterwards entered
on according to the power and the perfection of that anointing, but His
relationship to His Father belonged to His Person itself. The bond existed
between Him and His Father. He was fully conscious of it, whatever might be the
means or the form of its public manifestation, and of the power of His ministry.
He was all that a child ought to be, but it was the Son of God who was so. His
relationship to His Father was as well known to Him as His obedience to Joseph
and to His mother was beautiful, becoming and perfect" (Syn. Vol. 3, page 283).
From this point the inspired record is silent as to any further account
concerning that unique and beauteous life upon which the eye and heart of the
Father rested with abiding satisfaction and complacent delight. As a tender
sucker rising From a dry and rocky land, Object of proud man’s despising, Grew
the Plant of God’s right hand.

Then, as divinely instructed, the lamb was taken on the tenth day and kept until
the fourteenth day. In John 1:1-51, we come to the moment set forth typically in
the tenth day when John the Baptist makes that wonderful announcement, "Behold
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Truly He was the Lamb
"foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world," but in the ways of God in
grace this announcement on the part of John marked the entrance of the Lord
Jesus on the path of devoted service, so short yet exceedingly fruitful for the
glory and pleasure of God and the blessing of men. This short period of three
and a half years of the Lord’s public service is foreshadowed in the four days
the Iamb was kept in the house. How near this blessed One has come to us. A Man
amongst men. This is Jesus of the Gospels; One we could have seen in the streets
of Jerusalem every day pressed by the throng as His loving, ministering hands
with their life-giving touch brought relief to the oppressed and afflicted, One,
the hem of whose garment could be touched by the trembling hand of faith and
secure that healing virtue for her great affliction. The number four speaks of
testing and this follows immediately the announcement of the Father’s delight
and satisfaction in His Son. During the thirty years of obscurity in Nazareth He
had lived under God’s eye alone; now man and the adversary are to test Him as
they please. The fourfold presentation of that wondrous life in the Gospels,
which covers those three and a half years, displays Him as the Second Man in
circumstances designedly permitted to be as adverse, as to the first Adam they
were favourable, surrounded as he was in Eden with all that witnessed to the
munificence and favour of a beneficent Creator. But in all the circumstances
through which the Lord Jesus passed, and through all the testing to which He was
subjected at the hands of His enemies, He approved Himself in all His words and
works as the One who always did the things that were well-pleasing to the
Father, so that every circumstance and testing served only to magnify this
blessed One of Whom we can say, "Thine ointments savour sweetly: Thy Name is an
ointment poured forth: Therefore do the virgins love Thee" (Song of Solomon
1:3). There was the fragrance of the love of God displayed in grace as with
lavish hand He dispensed the rich favour of God to needy sinners. How sweet was
the savour of His ointments to the Syrophenican of Mark 7:1-37, to the woman of
Luke 7:1-50, and to the woman of John 4:1-54 His Name conveys all that He is in
Himself, and if we do not know who He is, how can we rightly estimate all these
precious features and excellencies and perfections that may be seen in Him? This
then is the One who is none other than the Lamb of God’s providing. At the end
of these four days, the lamb was slain. On the fourteenth day; how full of
meaning is this fourteenth day for the passover, a number compounded of the
number of testimony — two and that which speaks of divine and perfect
workmanship — seven. How suggestive of that perfect work which is the great
subject of God’s testimony. The blood of the unblemished and unresisting victim
was to be "put on the door-posts and on the lintel of the houses in which they
eat it," in accordance with the divine prescription. The blood was for the eye
of God alone. "And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night . . . And
the blood shall be for you as a sign on the houses in which ye are, and when I
see the blood I will pass over you." It is God whom sin has offended, it is to
Him that the blood of atonement speaks. There is no reference to the state of
the people, their sole concern was to sprinkle the blood according to the
prescribed manner which through the obedience of faith brought them under the
sheltering power of the blood according to God’s estimate of it. How blessed to
dwell on the words of the beloved apostle in Romans 3:24-26, "Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." The One
whom "God has set forth as a mercy-seat through faith in His blood, . . . for
the showing forth of His righteousness at the present time, so that He should be
just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus." No doubt this has
reference to the two-fold work on the great day of atonement, here and in Romans
4:25, but it demonstrates in a very profound way the infinite value to God of
the blood in all its abiding efficacy in virtue of which "the righteousness of
God is manifested . . . by faith of Jesus Christ towards all and upon all those
who believe" (Romans 3:21-22).

While the blood was their sure and effective shield from the hand of the
destroyer, inside they were to feed upon the lamb. All was the provision of His
love — the blood to shield them, the flesh to sustain them in that path with God
upon which they were now entering. The lamb is to be eaten — all of it. If the
household were too little for the lamb — we read nothing of the lamb being too
little for the house — then, says the Lord, "Let him and his neighbour next unto
his house take it according to the number of souls; every one according to his
eating shall make your count for the lamb." This blessed One is all-sufficient
either as Saviour or as the Sustainer of His people. "Our whole Resource along
the road, Nothing but Christ, the Christ of God."

Thus God would have our souls sustained. Christ’s death has become the food of
life — of a life eternal. It is as sheltered and saved from death that we can
feed upon Him who is our life. Here is the fulfilment of Samson’s riddle, "Out
of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness." Eating is
appropriation for our need, and God would have our souls sustained by feeding
upon Christ and thus appropriate to ourselves what Christ is, for what we
appropriate becomes part of ourselves. In the measure in which we spiritually
feed upon Him, we shall be assimilated to His likeness. As the Bread of God
which came down out of heaven the Lord Jesus has said, "As the living Father has
sent Me, and I live on account of the Father, he also who eats Me shall live on
account of Me" (John 6:57). In the measure in which we spiritually feed upon
Christ, our lives will bear the impress of those supremely beautiful lineaments
of the life of Jesus.

We will now consider the mode of eating the lamb. "And they shall eat the flesh
in that night, roast with fire, and with bitter herbs (or bitterness) shall they
eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire;
its head with its legs, and with the purtenance thereof." How entirely out of
communion are the thoughts of men with the mind of God, in speaking of the death
of Christ as merely that of a martyr, apart from any reference to its atoning
worth. But "roast with fire" ought to destroy the dangerous dreams and delusions
engendered by the false theorizings of men with regard to the sacrificial work
of the Lord Jesus. This solemn expression tells of the manner in which God has
dealt with the question of sin. Fire speaks of the holiness of God expressed in
judgment. So in the lamb roast with fire, we see in type, the Lord Jesus,
personally exempt from sin and its penalty yet as our sinless, unblemished
Substitute exposed to the full, intense and searching action of the fire — the
judgment of God expressed in wrath against sin. The Holy One "who knew no sin
was made sin for us that we might become God’s righteousness in Him" (2
Corinthians 5:21). They were not to eat of it "raw nor boiled at all with
water." Nothing was allowed to hinder the action of the fire. The Word of God,
as typified in the water, which was His constant delight and whose life in its
entirety as the wholly devoted and obedient Man was regulated by it, was not
allowed to soften nor enfeeble the sense of divine wrath which pressed in upon
His holy soul. Who can measure the depths of His suffering as He speaks of being
laid in the dust of death and cries in the deep anguish of His spirit, "My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? . . . Be not far from Me, for trouble is
near; for there is none to help" (Psalms 22:1; Psalms 22:11).

How the Spirit loves to linger over these typical details which serve to bring
out the imperishable glories of the One who suffered unto death, even the death
of the Cross. "Its head, with its legs and with its inward parts" were all
exposed to the searching action of the fire. The head would suggest those
thoughts and counsels which He shared with the Father as a dependent Man in this
world, in full and uninterrupted communion with the Father, as He walked (the
legs) in that path in which was demonstrated by words and works the precious
character of those thoughts and counsels, and moreover testify to that love (the
inward parts) which impelled Him to the accomplishment of that work the Father
had given Him to do. All the testing of these various parts brought forth
nothing but sweet savour to God, and all this the Spirit would make available
for us, for our intelligent appropriation as the food of that life which is ours
in Christ Jesus. All is graciously set before us to enjoy and make our own as
our feet stand in the way that leads through those "desert lands where drought
abides." But how much do we desire to possess these things; to know more and
still more of that lowly mind which was in Christ Jesus; to walk devotedly in
those ways which are fragrant with a love that many waters could not quench nor
floods drown; to know more of that love that passeth knowledge? All is found in
Him, and possessing Him we possess all things.

How precious to the heart of God the Father is the passover aspect of the death
of Christ. In the rich mercy of a Saviour-God we rejoice in all its precious and
eternal fruits; our deliverance from death; our identification with Christ in
resurrection life and our place in heavenly glory; but let us not forget for a
moment that what stands alone in depth of suffering and efficacious value in the
thoughts of God is the death of Christ. The Spirit’s further references as to
its observance in the wilderness (Numbers 9:1-23) and in the land (Joshua
5:1-15) stamps it with a fundamental and permanent character beyond all other
feasts.

Exodus 12:10-51.

Suited Preparations for the Wilderness

How blessed for the saint of God to have the "eyes of the heart enlightened" so
as to discover with ever-increasing and absorbing interest, in all these types
which the Spirit uses to instruct us, the deeper glories of Him who is the
Substance of all these shadows and the Fulness of all these figures. In the lamb
whose shed blood shielded the children of Israel from the sword of judgment
which claimed the firstborn of the Egyptians we have presented to us one of the
most affecting themes in the word of God — Christ, the true passover Lamb, the
Lamb of God’s providing, "foreordained before the foundation of the world."

It is therefore of more than ordinary interest that the solemn warning and
admonition of the 10th verse of Exodus 12:1-51 is included, "And ye shall let
none of it remain until the morning; and what remaineth of it until the morning
ye shall burn with fire." A similar direction is given with regard to the eating
of the sacrifices (see Leviticus 7:15). It could be eaten only in association
with the judgment through which it had passed. As they ate the lamb "roast with
fire" they were to remember that in its substitutionary character, its blood had
sheltered them from the judgment of God. Having regard therefore to all the
solemn implications of its sacrifice, how necessary these specific instructions
as to the disposal of what was left; it must not be laid aside to be consumed
afterwards as common food.

How this speaks with solemn admonition to our souls. As we feed upon Christ as
that which alone can nourish and sustain that life that we have derived from Him
we can only do so as livingly connected with Christ and His sacrifice, in the
sweet and precious realization that we can reckon His death as ours and rejoice
in our identification with Him in life and in nature as the last Adam, the
life-giving Spirit in resurrection; enjoying abundant life as the fruit of His
death. "Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit"
(John 12:24). No doubt at Corinth they spoke of the Lord’s death, but their
spiritual condition had so deteriorated that they had lost all sense of being
morally near to the sacrifice of Christ with the resulting ascendancy of the
flesh in various forms. We see this in a very pronounced way in 1 Corinthians
11:1-34, where the apostle charges them, when professedly coming together to
partake of the Lord’s Supper, "every man was eating his own supper before
others." Then with unwonted severity the apostle asks, "What shall I say unto
you? Shall I praise you? In this point I do not praise." Furthermore, as guided
by the Spirit, he relates to them in language calculated to touch their
affections, the circumstances in which the Lord Jesus instituted the memorial of
His deep sufferings and His changeless love. It is not a question of the
efficacy of His death but of that which speaks of the body and blood of the Lord
Jesus as expressive of a "love that many waters could not quench nor floods
drown" and by which He claims the undivided affection of devoted hearts and the
homage of responsive and willing lips. As the children of Israel fed upon the
lamb they were reminded that it was the blood of that lamb which had procured
their deliverance. We, too, in partaking of the Lord’s Supper announce the
Lord’s death as that by which our deliverance has been effected with all its
profound and far-reaching consequences for us. The saints at Corinth, however,
in their low carnal state, had lost all sense of the deep significance and moral
import of the death of Christ, so that what ought to have been an occasion of
communion became for them a subject of judgment as the beloved apostle utters
these words of solemn warning, "Whosoever shall eat of the bread, or drink the
cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty in respect of the body and of the
blood of the Lord." In the language of the type the thought suggested is that
the eating of the lamb was not to be separated from the reality of its being
sacrificed. To eat it next day would be to dissociate it from the import of its
death as bearing the judgment of God in a substitutionary way, being "roast with
fire." There was to be no weakening in the soul of the sense of what the death
of the Lord Jesus as bearing the wrath and judgment of God really was. In the
accompaniments of the passover the Spirit brings before us the attitude or the
character which becomes those who now stood in relationship to God on the ground
of accomplished redemption. The children of Israel did not at this time know the
joy of salvation in its fullest measure, this alone would be realized when on
the other side of the Red Sea they celebrated in lofty strains of unrestrained
joy, the triumph of God over their enemies in their complete overthrow and the
destruction of their power and thus ensuring the complete redemption of His
people. But the blood which had sheltered them from the judgment of God formed
the righteous foundation upon which the subsequent movements of God on their
behalf were established. The pilgrim garb in which the passover was to be eaten
is full of meaning to the true child of God since it constitutes the character
in which he appears before men in all his practical ways and manner of life. It
also emphasises the moral state so essential to our preservation from the
defiling influences of a world out of which we have been delivered by the death
of Christ. It is of the first importance to note how closely the instructions
concerning the manner of their dress stand in relation to eating the passover.
If we desire to be here for the pleasure of God our walk must be in moral
consistency with the death of Christ — His cross through which, as the beloved
apostle declares, "the world is crucified to me and I to the world." The mind of
man has no place in all this, the instructions come from God, clear and precise:
"And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and
your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s
passover." First "your loins girded." This is an expression used in various
contexts, conveying in each its own distinctive teaching with regard to the
truth stated. In our present connection it refers spiritually to our "habits,"
referring to the character in which we appear before men. Those ways which man
can take account of and by which we are identified. Our habits though not
actually "ourselves," yet our characters are determined by those features which
are descriptive of us. It might be lowliness or pride, meekness or
self-assertiveness or other discernible traits. The long robes of the East
required a girdle, that they might not hinder in a journey such as Israel had
now before them. Flowing loose they might get entangled with the feet of the
wearer and gather the dust of the road. No doubt the truth is to be our girdle,
instructing us in the mind of God as to our walk and associations in a world
characterized by "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life." Only as having our loins — the seat of our strength — securely girded by
the truth of God can we be kept from loose and negligent contact with the
ever-ready defilement of a defiling world and the spiritually enervating
entanglements to our feet into which moral laxity would lead us. It is "as
pilgrims and strangers" we are exhorted to "abstain from fleshly lusts which war
against the soul." The girded loins are part of the suited dress for the
wilderness and this ought to be the moral character of the world to the children
of God. The children of Israel could not be in the land of Egypt and the
wilderness at the same time, but the world as typified by the land of Egypt and
the wilderness are coalescent in their moral significance to us. The Lord Jesus
uses the same figure in Luke 12:35-36, with special reference to His coming for
"His own." "Let your loins be girded about and lamps burning; and ye like men
who wait their own lord." This is the normal attitude of every true believer in
Christ; the heart cherishing the hope of His coming throughout the long dark
night of His absence untramelled, unencumbered by earthly things, so that when
He knocks, according to the figure, we may open to Him immediately. The heart,
sustained by the power and reality of this hope, undistracted by the objects of
this world requires no preparation but responds without hesitation to the
summons of the object of its love.

Peter also lends his testimony to the thought of girding up the loins while
adding "of the mind"; "Wherefore, having girded up the loins of your mind" (1
Peter 1:13). In this clause there is an evident allusion to that memorable night
when the children of Israel celebrated their first passover and the manner in
which they were to eat it. As still pilgrims here we are exhorted by the apostle
Paul to "seek the things which are above . . . have your mind on the things that
are above, not on the things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:1-2). As in
that attitude of constant readiness to do His will with faithfulness and
diligence, the heart must be relieved of every impediment such as wandering
affections and distraction of mind would impose upon it. Only as the loins of
the mind are girded up can we escape the fatal fascination of the objects of
this world, and have our hearts and thoughts absorbingly engaged with those
heavenly objects in all their transforming power. The effect of this will then
be seen in our practical ways in accordance with the apostle’s exhortation: "As
children of obedience, not conformed to your former lusts in your ignorance; but
as He who has called you is holy, be ye also holy in all your conversation (or
behaviour)" (1 Peter 1:14-15).

Then again in Ephesians 6:14, Paul exhorts us to "Stand therefore, having girt
about your loins with truth." As has already been said, the loins are the seat
of strength, but in active expression they are representative of those tender,
intimate affections and movements of the heart. How solemn the warning implicit
in this timely exhortation, since this piece of armour suggests the application
of the truth in all its governing power to the first and most intimate movements
of the heart; for if we allow our hearts to wander where they will, instead of
abiding in strengthening communion with God, we shall fall an easy prey to the
adversary and render ourselves incapable of waging war against those determined
and implacable enemies, who, without respite, seek to prevent us from possessing
the inheritance which God has so graciously assigned to us in the sovereign
counsels of His love. You will observe that this exhortation is given before the
other parts of the armour are described. Does this not indicate how highly
important this is; since it is a work with God carried on in His presence so
that the heart is formed by all that God has revealed to us of His truth and in
this way suitably conditioned and equipped for the conflict. How suited
therefore are those girded loins with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs. We
must arise and depart, for this is not our rest, and all around is defiled and
defiling.

Then we have "Your shoes on your feet." Travellers tell us that shoes are cut to
pieces in a very short time in the wilderness the children of Israel passed
through. How wonderfully and miraculously they were shod in the faithfulness of
God, borne witness to in these inspiring words of Moses. "Thou shalt remember
all the way which Jehovah thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness.
. . Thy clothing grew not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell those forty
years." But what are we to learn from this spiritually? Scripture gives us a
twofold aspect of it. Israel’s shoes or sandals were of badgers’ skin. In
Ezekiel 16:10, God says, in recounting His mercies to Israel, "I shod thee with
badgers’ skin." The mention of this reminds us that the outermost covering of
the Tabernacle was of badgers’ skins. Underneath were the curtains of fine
twined linen, the curtains of goats’ hair, and the covering of rams’ skins dyed
red. The badgers’ skin was fitted by its nature to repel outside influences and
protect the more destructible materials beneath. In external appearance it was
rough and unattractive but perfectly impervious to all the injurious and
disruptive influences that were around. How beautifully this speaks of the
blessed Person and ways of the Lord Jesus, as each curtain gives its own
distinctive presentation of the beauties and perfections of Christ. Isaiah
53:1-12 gives us the aspect of the badgers’ skin, "For He shall grow up before
Him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor
lordliness, and when we see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him."
Yet was He ever "marked out Son of God in power according to the Spirit of
holiness, by resurrection of the dead" (Romans 1:4). It was in the power of the
Spirit of holiness by which He guarded Himself from being touched by sin and its
defilement. It was in the same power by which He was holy in all that wondrous
pathway so pleasing to the eye and heart of the Father, that He was raised from
among the dead. Another has expressed it very acceptably in the following words,
"Resurrection is a public manifestation of that power by which He walked in
absolute holiness during His life — a manifestation that He is the Son of God in
power." The eye of faith never fails to discern the fine gold beneath the
badgers’ skin. This character therefore, so repellant to external influences,
makes it a suited type of the holiness that abides unchanged by all that
surrounds it, preserving the more susceptible things from deterioration as salt
does from corruption. This shoe, then, represents that faithfulness to God in
our walk which remains undeviating in its constancy, resisting all that would
seek to undermine and weaken its morally elevating purpose in an apostate world.
Another instructive reference to this shoe is found in Ephesians 6:15, "Have
your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." How the thought of
peace pervades all God’s dealings with us. "Being justified on the principle of
faith we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). And
was not this the first word that fell on the ears of His disciples from the lips
of their risen Lord, "Peace be unto you"? There as the living One He showed to
them the marks in His hands and His side as the One who had "made peace through
the blood of His cross." Having brought us into this unalterable peace with
Himself, God would have us to walk in the sense of this peace towards all men.
"The fruit of righteousness in peace, is sown for them that make peace" (James
3:18). If the fruits of righteousness are sown in peace, the path of peace is
found in righteousness. How wonderful the provision our faithful God has made
for us as we traverse this wilderness waste entirely devoid of every resource to
refresh and sustain His pilgrim people —

"Garments fresh and foot unweary, Tell how God hath brought thee through."

Then there is that precious exhortation in Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace
of Christ preside in your hearts to which also ye have been called in one body
and be thankful." No doubt this is the divine peace that was seen in Christ in
all the perfection of its expression as He walked here, enjoying in undisturbed
and uninterrupted repose the Father’s love in which He ever dwelt. We have been
called to this peace of Christ in one Body, for it is in the peaceful affections
of Christ with which saints walk towards each other that the unity to which we
have been called for the manifestation of Christ in us is displayed. The feet
being shod suggests what ought to characterise the saints of God in all their
practical ways in every sphere of relationship in this world.

Finally the children of Israel were instructed to eat the passover with "your
staff in your hand." This is the word of God, our unfailing prop and stay.
"Scripture cannot be broken," for "Every scripture is divinely inspired and
profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good
work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Solomon in the great day of the dedication of the
house of Jehovah said, "Blessed be Jehovah who has given rest to His people
Israel, according to all that He promised: there has not failed one word of all
His good promises which He spoke through Moses His servant" (1 Kings 8:56). The
word of God is referred to under various figures, but as the staff it speaks of
that which alone can support us throughout our wilderness journey, "Eagle
strength He’ll still renew" through the medium of His precious word. The more we
lean upon it, the more we shall prove its unfailing and enduring strength, until
at last we reach "Canaan’s long-loved dwelling." In verses 14-20 the feast of
unleavened bread is mentioned in connection with the passover. The feast was not
kept in the land of Egypt, for the same night on which God smote the firstborn
the children of Israel commenced their journey. It is mentioned here however, as
maintaining its true typical significance and as suggesting in the most solemn
way, that it is only as we enter into the truth of what has been effected for us
by the death of Christ, our true Passover, not merely as those delivered from
the power of the adversary, but as those brought to God, can we keep the feast
of unleavened bread in all its practical implications as still in a world
alienated from Him. This will be dealt with more fully however when we come to
consider the setting apart of the firstborn mentioned in the opening verses of
Exodus 13:1-22 as answering to the claims of God who says, "It is Mine." But in
Exodus 12:43 God gives Moses and Aaron still further instructions relating to
the keeping of the passover under the designation, "This is the ordinance of the
passover." Since this remarkable passage holds such invaluable instruction for
every saint of God, and as we are in the midst of a religious system which
completely ignores the prescribed restrictions which God has imposed in
regulating the keeping of the passover in accordance with the requirements of
His holiness, it is incumbent upon us to consider these things as those desirous
of answering to His thoughts. What we see around us today in the religious
systems of men is the result of the substitution of man’s mind in place of the
declared mind of God.

We do well to give heed to these restrictions which are here mentioned for the
first time, since they have to do not with redemption itself but with our
enjoyment of it. It was as sinners God dealt with us because of our state of
estrangement from Him. In meeting our need as such, "being justified freely by
His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus," God has not only
been glorified, but "His righteousness shown forth at the present time so that
He should be just and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus."

There are three classes mentioned therefore in verses 43-45, 47 and 48 who might
keep the passover: the children of Israel, their servants bought with money, and
the strangers sojourning with them, but the distinguishing feature among all
three was circumcision. This rite, in its typical significance speaks of death
to the flesh and finds its great anti-type in the death of Christ. So we find
Paul applying this emancipating truth to the beloved saints at Colosse. "In whom
also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting
off of the body of the flesh in the circumcision of the Christ" (Colossians
2:11). Only by circumcision could the children of Israel be brought within the
terms of the covenant which God had made with Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14), and on
the ground of which God in faithfulness to His promise was bringing the seed of
Abraham from out the house of bondmen.

How clear and unmistakable is the thought conveyed in these words that the seed
of Abraham, the family of faith alone can commemorate a deliverance which they
only have known, for this feast derived all its meaning from the blood-shedding
of Him, who was the true Paschal Lamb. It is very blessed to see the household
character of this feast. In the beginning of this chapter God speaks of "all the
assembly of Israel" and "the whole congregation of the assembly of Israel," but
here we have the thought of the household brought into prominence as though God
would indicate how pleasing it is to Him that there should be households where
Christ is known as the true Passover, and where He is fed upon as the One whose
shed blood has sheltered us from divine judgment, and established the righteous
foundation for our complete deliverance from the power of the adversary and the
world over which he rules. "All the children of Israel had light in their
dwellings." How blessed to have our households illuminated by the light of
divine and heavenly things, and in so far as it is effective in us so in
corresponding measure will we be delivered from the defiling influences which
prevail in this world.

"No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof:" a simple yet clear emphatic
statement which permits of no doubt or uncertainty as to its meaning. But to
reach its true and spiritual significance we must read this in the light of the
apostle’s declaration, "We are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of
God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh (Php 3:3). The cross
of Christ, the circumcision, or cutting off, of Christ in death is God’s
sentence upon the flesh; remedial measures could be of no avail, for "that which
is born of the flesh is flesh" and cannot be remedied. "The mind of the flesh is
enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither indeed
can it be; and they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8). God
could find no pleasure in it and has removed it judicially in the death of
Christ, removed it out of His way and out of ours, so that in resurrection we
find our-selves as true believers in Christ, in all the acceptability of the
Beloved One, the Son of the Father’s constant and abiding delight. There is a
new creation where all that is of the old is completely displaced; a new man
morally conformed to the image of God’s Son with new faculties formed and
developed by the Spirit, and a new sphere of origin as those who "are
enregistered in heaven."

Very precious it is to see that God kept the door open for the stranger who
would submit to Israel’s law, no more stringent conditions were asked of him,
than from the "home-born." How blessed to see all the barriers removed in the
presence of a faith which asks, "Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also
of the Gentiles?" And faith receives the answer of superabundant grace, "Yea, of
the Gentiles also!" "So then ye are no longer strangers and foreigners but ye
are fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of God" (Ephesians 2:19).

There are some further distinctions to be considered. "A foreigner and a hired
servant shall not eat thereof." Not only a foreigner but a hired servant also is
excluded. A bondservant born in the house or bought with money may eat. Paul
delights to call himself the bondman of the Lord Jesus. It is worthy of note
that in the opening of his Epistle to the Romans he says, "Paul, bondman of
Jesus Christ, a called apostle"; the thought of bondman is given precedence to
that of his apostleship, even though this great and honoured position can be
said to be by the "calling of God." Peter too in the opening of his second
Epistle speaks of himself in like manner. Paul in writing to the saints at
Corinth and speaking to them of abiding "in that calling in which they had been
called" puts before them the most exalted motives of this service. "For the
bondman that is called in the Lord is the Lord’s freeman; in like manner also
the freeman being called is Christ’s bondman" (1 Corinthians 7:20-22). As has
been expressed by another: "The believing freeman is Christ’s slave. The Lord’s
authority breaks the fetters of the one to his faith, the grace of Christ
reduces the other to slavery for his heart." In the previous chapter Paul
reminds the saints at Corinth as those whose bodies were the temple of the Holy
Spirit that they belonged to Another, "Ye are not your own, for ye have been
bought with a price; glorify now then God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20). So
he adds in 1 Corinthians 7:23-24, "Ye have been bought with a price, do not be
the bondmen of men. Let each wherein he is called, brethren, therein abide with
God." The force of the calling here appears to be the circumstances in which we
are found in the providential ways of God, as has already been pointed out in
the apostle’s reference to the circumcised and the uncircumcised, and also to
the bondman and the freeman. It does not allude to earthly occupations since
these, though not in their entirety, may yet contain elements which clash with
the word of God, and would render them completely disturbing and offensive to
sensitive consciences, and thereby make it impossible to "therein abide with
God."

"Be not men’s servant, Think what costly price was paid That thou mayest His own
bondman be, Whose service perfect freedom is;

Let this hold fast thy heart. His claim is great to thee, None should thy soul
enthrall to whom ’tis given, To serve on earth with liberty of heaven."

How different from the spirit that animates the religious world around us where
all is on the principle of hire and where eternal life itself is regarded as
something attainable through service. Doubtless it is the natural thought in
man’s heart, as it was in that of the prodigal, "Make me as one of thy hired
servants." No, "A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof."

Then we have, "In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught
of the flesh abroad out of the house, neither shall ye break a bone thereof."
Only in the house whose doorposts and lintel were sprinkled with the blood of
the lamb could its flesh be eaten according to the mind of God. Our
appropriation of Christ as the food of our souls cannot be dissociated from the
profound significance of His death. The Lamb can only be eaten where the atoning
virtue of the blood is owned. With richly embellished words of human sentiment
men have expressed admiration of Christ, while ignoring or denying the reality
and atoning virtue of His death; but apart from this He cannot be known or
appreciated, for it is the Lamb of God’s providing which has borne away the sin
of the world, and so the denial of His work leads to the denial of His Person.

How beautiful therefore the command which follows: "Neither shall ye break a
bone thereof." God would have us preserve from disfigurement in any way the deep
perfections of Christ. Ungodly men with daring audacity and presumption have
foundered to their eternal undoing in attempting to reduce to human concepts the
inscrutable glory of the Son of God. It is wholly inconceivable that one
dwelling in "the house," feasting upon the Lamb of sacrifice whose blood has
sheltered us from judgment, could be guilty of such profanity and irreverence.
In ever deepening affection may we be found preserving the beautiful symmetry of
the truth concerning the perfections of the Lord Jesus, until that "day of
wondrous promise" when "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

How remarkable too to see according to the witness of John that when the
soldiers came to Jesus on the cross, when they saw He was already dead, "they
break not his legs"; not because of any humanitarian considerations but as John
significantly adds, "For these things took place that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, Not a bone of Him shall be broken" (John 19:36). Other scriptures
show us how precious was the body of Jesus to the Father, prepared in accordance
with eternal counsels, and in which He glorified the Father in that life of
devoted love on earth, and which reached its supreme expression when He suffered
even unto death "and that the death of the Cross."

Exodus 13:1-22.

We have seen in Exodus 12:1-51 how each household was identified with the
firstborn, and with the lamb that bore, typically, the judgment of the
firstborn. Now in Exodus 13:1-22 God claims the firstborn for Himself. The One
that said, "When I see the blood I will pass over you," now says, "Hallow unto
Me every firstborn." All that is sheltered by blood is hallowed to God. He has a
distinct and irrefutable claim in virtue of their deliverance which He alone had
effected with His "right hand" which had "become glorious in power." The measure
of importance which God places upon the assertion of His righteous claims upon
us can be gathered from the fact that the Spirit at this point suspends the
history of events in order to expressly introduce the truth of God’s claims upon
us; a truth largely neglected by the people of God, resulting in a low spiritual
tone and reflected in an equally low practical walk. The explicit purpose of God
as the fruit of redemption was to bring us to Himself. As He declares in Exodus
19:4, "Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I have borne you
on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself." Surely those redeemed become the
property of the One who has redeemed them. And does it not touch our hearts
beloved saint of God to consider the mighty ransom price that was paid to secure
our redemption. Man could not pay it, he is a bankrupt sinner, whether as a
fifty or five hundred pence debtor. Listen to what the psalmist says, "None can
by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. For the
redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up forever" (Psalms
49:7-8). There are those who, in their altruistic and benevolent activities
toward their fellowmen have conferred many benefactions upon them, but in this
solemn matter, in which they would have bestowed the greatest of all benefits,
their resources were wholly insufficient, and any attempt to ransom his brother
must be given up for ever, it is "too costly." But the great Creditor has in
righteousness met the whole condition of man’s moral and spiritual bankruptcy —
we were unable to meet the debt — "through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus": "Not by corruptible things as silver or gold . . . but by precious
blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ,
foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:18-20). The
precious blood of Christ alone could meet the debt we owed, and on the ground of
this precious blood that was shed, God can righteously cancel the guilt of every
believing sinner. This however serves only to strengthen His claims upon us, as
the beloved apostle reminds the saints at Corinth in these decisive words, "Do
ye not know that . . . ye are not your own? for ye have been bought with a
price: glorify now then God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). But another
thing is introduced in this connection, and which is of great practical
importance to us, the feast of unleavened bread. This feast was enjoined in the
last chapter, immediately after the sprinkling of blood (Exodus 12:14-20). This
was to show that the two things — shelter by blood, and the obligation to walk
in moral conformity with that death — can never be separated. We will therefore
consider the truth connected with the feast of unleavened bread in greater
detail, and as related to the setting apart of the firstborn to God, who says,
"It is Mine." It is as belonging to Him that our walk should in every way be
consistent with this relationship. As the beloved apostle John says, "He that
says he abides in Him ought, even as He walked, himself also so to walk" (1 John
2:6).

Throughout the word of God, leaven, without exception, is a type of evil. It has
been explained that unleavened bread literally means "compressed bread" the
particles of which have not been separated by the action of leaven. Leaven
causes an active, virulent fermentation never ceasing in its action until it
assimilates the mass through which it works to its own character. Moreover
leaven is depicted in Scripture as having varied characteristics. There is "the
leaven of malice and wickedness" in 1 Corinthians 5:8. In the Gospels we have
"the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees," which we are expressly told is
their "doctrine"; then there is the leaven of Herod, which in its connection
with these we must interpret similarly. The presence of the Lord Jesus in this
world provoked the relentless antipathy of these men toward Him and in their
attempts to nullify His doctrine, the true character of theirs has been
revealed, and can be identified as Ritualism, Rationalism and Worldliness, each
distinguishable from the other yet acting together in their opposition to all
that was of God. In these various doctrines we can see they are but different
forms of "the leaven of malice and wickedness" in contrast to "the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth." There are two words used for leaven; one means a
"leaving or remainder" because it was a lump of dough left from a former time;
the other is simply leaven or ferment. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, we have reference
by the apostle Paul to this "old leaven" in a very striking connection, and it
gives the inspired explanation of the significant action of the "old leaven" as
the lump of old dough which was used to ferment the new lump. This exhortation
to the saints at Corinth provides us with remarkable instruction as to the
uncompromising and peremptory manner in which leaven is to be dealt with, as
those desirous of answering intelligently to the mind of God with regard to what
is evil. "Purge out the old leaven that ye may be a new lump, according as ye
are unleavened. For also our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed, so that let
us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." The introduction
of the "old" into that which God has made "new" is what the adversary is
ceaselessly engaged in, never relaxing his activities in his endeavours to
corrupt what is of God. It may be the spirit of the "old" legal covenant into
God’s "new" covenant of grace, according to the epistle to the Galatians; or
that which is of the "old" natural man, into the "new" man in Christ, as
presented in the first epistle to the Corinthians. It may assume a very subtle
form by way of formalism and superstition, or it may take the more positive and
daring forms of unbelief degenerating to open and avowed infidelity, or to
accommodating conformity to the religious system of the world. But whatever form
it may assume it is leaven with all its inherent ability to corrupt. In every
case it betrays real departure from God. And let us not be deluded by the
persuasive words of man’s wisdom; this evil is neither negative nor passive, but
intensely active, for the nature of all evil is a ferment, a revolt, an
antagonism to all that is of God. In his exhortation the beloved Apostle in 1
Corinthians charges them to "purge out the old leaven," that they "might be
fresh dough according as ye are unleavened." This is of the greatest importance.
The true believer in Christ is unleavened. It is not merely we ought to be, but
that we are, since this is the result of the sovereign work of God in grace, and
constitutes our standing before Him. Then as to our practical ways, this is
grounded on our standing. So being unleavened, it is incumbent upon us to purge
out the old leaven. The purpose of God was to form the Church in all the purity
of a chaste virgin for Christ, and the responsibility of the saints is to walk,
individually and corporately according to this truth so positively stated. In
this connection how beautifully the Apostle introduces the thought of the true
Paschal Lamb and the consequent putting away of sin by His atoning sacrifice.
The feast of unleavened bread is inseparably bound up with the passover, and
this deepens the ground on which the Apostle demands the removal of that which
necessitated the death of the passover Lamb to deliver us from its dread power.
This is turned to practical account here. There might be new forms of evil
besides those of old habits and associations, but as all leaven had to be
excluded by the Children of Israel, so the believer is called to judge evil
unsparingly in every shape. The unleavened bread is that of sincerity and truth.
It is that spirit of integrity with God, and results in that whole-hearted
surrender to His blessed will. It is the spirit of transparency which the
psalmist exemplified in Psalms 139:1-24. At the beginning he says "O Lord Thou
hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising;
Thou understandest my thought afar off." Then in verses 24 and 25 he says,
"Search me O God and know my heart; prove me and know my thoughts; and see if
there be any grievous (or idolatrous) way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting."

Since the uncompromising refusal of leaven, as typical of the active power of
evil, is of such vital importance in the practical life of those who partake of
"the feast of unleavened bread," as being in practical conformity with the death
of Christ, a brief reference to another aspect of the baleful working of leaven
might yield valuable instruction to us. I refer to Matthew 13:33, "Another
parable spake Jesus unto them, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
Since Scripture is its own interpreter the language used in this parable reminds
us at once of the meal or meat-offering. Of this offering Scripture speaks very
clearly, "No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with
leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven . . . in any offering of the Lord made by
fire" (Leviticus 2:11). The woman is here shown to be doing what the word of God
expressly prohibits, and further-more the surreptitious manner in which she acts
marks her movements as being in entire opposition to the mind of God, for she
took and hid the leaven in the three measures of meal.

"Three measures of meal" is no meaningless or arbitrary phrase. As employed by
the Spirit the number three is expressive of divine completeness or fulness, and
hence of the perfection of testimony. "Three measures" is the full divine
measure, God in manifestation, as seen in the wondrous pathway of Jesus, the Son
of God, the true Meat-offering. In this world where all was opposed to it, there
was manifested before men a life of transcendent grace and holiness, essentially
heavenly in all its aspects, displaying all that God was for man and all that
man ought to have been for God.

He was "the true, the heavenly living bread" which came down out of heaven. The
truth of Christ as the bread of life is what the professing church has been
entrusted with, for her own sustenance and the blessing of others. The doctrine
of Christ is her most precious deposit, and the maintenance of this in purity
her great responsibility, and by the introduction of leaven in all its
corrupting tendencies, as variously described in the word of God and as already
referred to, resulting in the gross perversion of all that God committed to her
as the responsible vessel of light and testimony in a dark world. This is very
strikingly brought out in the addresses to the churches in The Revelation
2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22. In Revelation 2:20, the Lord Jesus, presenting
Himself in His personal dignity as the Son of God, lays the church at Thyatira
under the solemn charge, "I have against thee that thou permittest the woman
Jezebel, she who calls herself prophetess, and she teaches and leads astray my
servants to commit fornication and eat of idol sacrifices." This woman is
mentioned in Scripture not merely as one whose spirit was corroded with a
malignant hatred and opposition to all that was of God, but as personating a
principle, the dominant quality of which is one of hostility to the truth of God
— a persevering, persistent and persecuting spirit, actively and energetically
carrying out, against all opposition, the work of leavening the truth of God. So
the Lord speaks to the church of Thyatira, and warns it of the woman Jezebel,
"she who calls herself prophetess, and she teaches and leads astray my servants
to commit fornication and eat of idol sacrifices." Balaam, as mentioned in the
address to the angel of the Church in Pergamos, was a seducer outside, and
represents the snare which the world became to the Church. Jezebel was a
corrupter inside and represents the shameless alliance of the Church with
idolatry and with the world.

What a dreadful state of things is here made manifest, not only has first love
to Christ declined, but adulterous love of the world and idolatry, or spiritual
fornication, have taken its place. In all this we can discern the corrupting
influence of evil doctrine like leaven assimilating the mass to its own
proportions and character to such an extent as to produce a monstrous system of
religion which is but a vile caricature of Christianity, and to which other
systems of worldly religion are converging, under the plea of a spurious unity,
which in its ultimate formation will constitute a religious entity designated by
the Spirit of God in Revelation 17:5, as "Mystery, great Babylon, the mother of
the harlots, and of the abominations of the earth." Refusing to repent, though
given time to do so in the long-suffering mercy of God, her doom is irrevocably
sealed, and upon this corrupt and blasphemous system will be poured the
exterminating judgment of God — "for strong is the Lord God who has judged her."

There is another reference to leaven in chapter 12 "And the people took the
dough . . . And they baked the dough . . . into unleavened cakes for it was not
leavened; for they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait" (Exodus 12:34;
Exodus 12:39). It would seem that the divine command was carried out, not
because God commanded it, but because of necessity, because the Egyptians urged
them to depart. When we think of the spiritual significance of all this, the
admonition is doubly solemn. Is it not a solemn reminder of how little the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth has ever characterized any considerable
proportion of the people of God? When the world has forced them out of it, in
times of tribulation and affliction, how bright the testimony shone of their
being a heavenly people, in uncompromising separation from a world through which
they were passing as "pilgrims and sojourners." But when the storm relaxed how
quickly the leaven was again introduced. What a challenge to the people of God
in days of ease and material prosperity. Are we keeping the passover feast
according to the mind of God, or merely retaining that which we regard as
necessary for external appearances, and which will enable us to accommodate our
mode of life with the spirit and systems of an alien world? May the Lord in His
faithfulness preserve us from such a beggarly estimate of heavenly things and
from such unworthy standards of conduct on the part of those who are called with
a heavenly calling. And let us not forget the duration of this feast, "Seven
days shall ye eat unleavened bread" (Exodus 12:15-20). This marks a complete
period of time and typifies the whole period of our life here as saints. The
feast of unleavened bread immediately followed the partaking of the Passover —
indeed the two are identified in Luke 22:1 — "the feast of unleavened bread
which is called the passover." The type, in its interpretation, suggests a truth
of profound practical importance, that holiness in thought and in walk is
incumbent upon all who are sheltered by the blood of the Passover Lamb. The true
character of saints is to be unleavened; the complete exclusion of every element
of corruption and inflation belonging to our old estate as pertaining to all
that was judged in the cross of Christ. In Exodus 13:1-22 we have the
sanctification of the first-born. In the preceding chapter we saw how each
household was identified with the firstborn, and how the lamb in its
substitutionary character bore the judgment of the firstborn. The purpose of God
in delivering the children of Israel from the land of Egypt was to bring them to
Himself. "Thou by Thy mercy hast led forth the people that Thou hast redeemed;
Thou hast guided them by Thy strength unto the abode of Thy holiness" (Exodus
15:13). He redeems and delivers that He might have a people in relationship with
Himself. The same Voice that said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you,"
says, "Hallow unto Me every firstborn." All that is sheltered by the blood, is
hallowed to God. He has a distinct claim upon all who are sheltered by the blood
of Christ.

It is remarkable how the feast of unleavened bread is introduced in chapter 13.
In the preceding chapter the keeping of the feast was enjoined immediately after
the sprinkling of the blood of the passover lamb. This was to show that a holy
life alone is consistent on the part of those who had been redeemed by blood.
Mention again is made of this feast in chapter 13, but with added instructions
relating to its observance when God should bring them into their inheritance,
and also with special reference to the sanctification of the firstborn. The
beloved apostle could say to the saints at Corinth, "For who makes thee to
differ? and what hast thou which thou hast not received?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).
So in verse 3 of our chapter the children of Israel are exhorted by Moses.
"Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of
bondage." Does this not speak with deeper meaning to us who have been delivered
from a bondage greater far than that out of which the children of Israel were
delivered? The Lord would ever have us remember the day of our great
deliverance. As a result of that wonderful deliverance we can "give thanks to
the Father who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light,
who has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the
kingdom of the Son of His love" (Colossians 1:12-13).

Secondly, they were not to forget the mighty power which wrought their
deliverance, "For with a powerful hand the Lord hath brought you out from this
place" (Exodus 13:3). This hand of invincible power alone could break the
fetters of their cruel servitude; could destroy the power of their pitiless
adversary and lead them in triumph from the scene of their long enslavement. It
is blessed to see that this same power is not forgotten in the day of their
deliverance. "Thy right hand, Jehovah, is become glorious in power, Thy right
hand, Jehovah, hath dashed in pieces the enemy" (Exodus 15:6). We too rejoice in
the glorious achievements of our great Deliverer who was crucified in weakness
but raised by the mighty power of God, and, "Having spoiled principalities and
authorities, He made a show of them publicly, leading them in triumph by it"
(Colossians 2:15).

These two things are particularly stressed by reason of the simple yet important
prohibition which immediately follows, "There shall no leavened bread be eaten."
In effecting our deliverance God has acted with a specific purpose before Him
and the beloved apostle brings this before us very forcibly in Titus 2:13-14,
"Awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and
Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all
lawlessness and purify to Himself a peculiar people zealous for good works."
Being holy, those in relationship with Him must be in moral resemblance to
Himself, "But as He who has called you is holy, be ye also holy in all your
conversation (or behaviour); because it is written, "Be ye holy for I am holy"
(1 Peter 1:15-16).

Passing on to the consideration of the sanctification, or setting apart, of the
firstborn of man or of cattle — for God, who in clear and unmistakable language
claims it for Himself saying, "It is Mine," we see how closely associated this
is with the feast of unleavened bread as being yet another one of the memorials
of the passover. How beautifully, and with consummate skill, the Spirit of God
has woven these remarkable types together, each with its own distinctive
message, and presenting a pattern of divine instruction relating to those who,
as holy brethren, are partakers of a heavenly calling, and whose ways ought to
be accordant with that calling.

These two things therefore are put together as flowing from the sense of a
divinely wrought deliverance; the feast of unleavened bread and the
sanctification of the firstborn, and both are founded on the Passover. The
instructions regarding the setting apart of the firstborn for God as belonging
to Him includes the firstborn of animals, for if the firstborn of an animal
could not be sacrificed, it must, like man’s firstborn, be redeemed, "...the
firstling that cometh from a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the
Lord’s. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou
wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck" (Exodus 13:12-13). But why
from the whole range of the animal world should the ass be selected for special
mention? As the specific reference to the firstling of an ass stands in such
close relation to man, as the last clause of Exodus 13:13 clearly states, "and
all the firstborn of man among thy children thou shalt redeem," any thought of
mere chance or irrelevancy must be refused, while accepting without reservation
the purely intentional character of the statement. There is much valuable
instruction to be gathered from what might seem at first a rather unusual
comparison. The interpretation of this must be sought for in the history of
Abraham. We have only to listen to what God says of Ishmael as He characterizes
him not merely as "a wild man" as in our version, but as it is literally, "a
wild-ass man"; "And he will be a wild-ass of a man, his hand against every man
and every man’s hand against him" (Genesis 16:12). The wild-ass man is Hagar’s
son, a child of nature. As we find in the epistle to the Galatians, Hagar is a
type of "the law which gendereth to bondage." Hagar’s seed is therefore the
child of law, the law by which God sought to teach Israel in the holiness of His
ways, and of the holiness of His house, but which after many centuries of
patient training showed them to be but a race of wild-ass men, unable to meet
the righteous requirement of that law which formed the basis of their
relationship with God, yet refusing the "easy yoke" of Him who says, "Take My
yoke upon you, and learn from Me . . . for My yoke is easy and My burden is
light" (Matthew 11:29-30). But Ishmael is not merely Israel’s picture, he is
also ours in our natural state, whether educated and refined or ignorant and
degraded, we are of that race possessing a neck that refuses to bear a yoke, and
thus the wild-ass nature declares itself as that which God cannot own, but who
in sovereign grace has provided the Lamb that has yielded up its life for our
redemption as those who were stiff-necked and obdurate in our rebellion against
God. How precious the thoughts of grace which radiate from such a seemingly
commonplace consideration as the redemption of "the firstling of an ass,"
bringing home to our souls the emancipating truth that our exemption from death,
which, as rebellious sinners we richly deserved, and our possession of a life
that death cannot touch, is solely on the ground that the ransom price has been
paid in the shed blood of Him the spotless Lamb of God’s providing. This great
truth the father was to impress upon the son (Exodus 13:14-16). It is very
searching to observe that this is a household matter. How gratifying to the
heart of the Lord if, as parents, our ways are so distinct from the world, that
it raises the question with our children as to why this should be so. We ought
to carry ourselves as those who are "the ransomed of the Lord," holding
ourselves as hallowed for God and belonging to a heavenly inheritance. How great
is the gain of holding ourselves and our families as belonging to Him, even
though as individuals they may not be owning His claims; only thus can we bring
up our families in "the nurture and admonition of the Lord." In Exodus 13:17, we
have a touching proof of the tender compassions of God for His people. He had
other purposes for them, but in consideration of them as entering into their
feebleness and fears, it is sweet beyond expression to see how He leads them by
another way, lest they should see war and desire to return to Egypt. And we also
know that He led His people another way that they might learn His
all-sufficiency to meet every exigency of the wilderness, and also learn of the
unfailing grace with which He bore with them in all their perversity. How rich
and seasonable the instruction for us in all this.

They also took the bones of Joseph with them (Exodus 13:19). As another has
said, "There was surely enough to occupy the mind of Moses on this passover
night . . . What leisure could he have had to care for the bones of Joseph?" But
Joseph had given "commandment concerning his bones." At that time, when Joseph
was dying, the probability of the children of Israel ever leaving Egypt was
remote indeed. Almost four hundred years were to elapse, but God honoured the
faith of His servant. We have the Spirit’s seal of approbation placed on this
act of faith on the part of Joseph: "By faith Joseph when dying called to mind
the going forth of the sons of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his
bones" (Hebrews 11:22). And so, in accordance with Joseph’s wishes they embalmed
his body, not for burial in the sumptuously adorned tombs of the Pharaohs of
Egypt, but in readiness for the day when the hosts of Israel should march out on
their way to the inheritance which God had promised to Abraham.

It is blessed to see at the close of the chapter how God went before them as the
Guardian, the Guide and the Light of His people. How reassuring the words of the
last verse, "He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire
by night from before His people." The apostle’s word to the Hebrew believers is
but an echo of this, "Satisfied with your present circumstances; for He has
said, I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5-6).

"Light divine surrounds thy going, God Himself shall mark thy way, Secret
blessings, richly flowing, Lead to everlasting day."

Exodus 14:1-31. The closing verses of the previous chapter furnish us with an
admirably suited introduction to the passage now before us. The verses referred
to, Exodus 13:21-22, have been used of the Spirit as an unfailing source of rich
and effectual consolation, cheer and encouragement for the tried and tested
saints of every dispensation. These symbols of the presence of God, "the pillar
of cloud" and "the pillar of fire" have sustained and succoured the hearts of
His own when assailed by the adversary, who is ever evilly disposed toward what
is of God and brings the pressure of all that lies under his authority to bear
upon those who were once under his power in order to deprive them of the present
possession and enjoyment of their God-given inheritance. These precious words
inscribed by the Spirit of God upon this wonderful page of inspiration still
shine in all their imperishable glory, a glory undimmed by the passing of the
years, their power to strengthen and sustain unimpaired by the constant demands
of needy saints who have availed themselves of the varied resources implicit in
these words, pregnant with divine comfort and encouragement, "And Jehovah went
before their face by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by
night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could go by day and
night." The pillar of cloud did not remove from before the people by day nor the
pillar of fire by night. God becomes the Guide and Light of His people; He would
not have His people take one step in uncertainty as they pass through this
"trackless desert" where there is no clearly defined path marked out by natural
means, and He would be the Light of His people in a world where the darkness is
of a specific character, that of ignorance of God. Man, as being "dead in
trespasses and sins" is completely insensible to God come in grace in the Person
of His Son as is so convincingly demonstrated in John’s Gospel. "And the light
appears in darkness and the darkness apprehended it not . . . The true light was
that which coming into the world lightens (or is light to) every man" (John
1:4-5; John 1:9).

"Our God is light and though we go Across a trackless wild, Jesus Thy footsteps
ever show The path for every child." In this chapter we see God opening up the
way for the complete deliverance of His people from the whole sphere of their
bondage, which involved and necessitated the destruction of that power by which
they had been enslaved. It is no longer a question of what was necessary to meet
the righteous requirements of a holy God who was acting in grace for the
deliverance of a people whose state as sinners required that God should act in
the character of Judge. This question had been exhaustively settled to the glory
of God, where the blood of the slain lamb sheltered the children of Israel,
enabling God to pass over them in virtue of the death of their substitute, as He
passed over the land of Egypt on that night, when death as the judgment of God
claimed the firstborn of the Egyptians. God had declared in Exodus 11:7, "that
ye may know that Jehovah distinguisheth between the Egyptians and Israel." God
was able to demonstrate His righteousness in making this distinction, not by any
moral superiority of Israel over the Egyptians but solely on the ground of
redemption by blood. Their complete redemption, their full deliverance from the
power of their adversary, was not known and enjoyed until the Red Sea was
crossed, but the work of atonement, typically set forth in the blood-shedding of
the passover lamb, formed the righteous basis by which God had been glorified
concerning the question of His people’s sin, and on which He displayed all His
attributes in all their harmonious completeness in the eventual deliverance of
His people.

How rich the divine instruction of those various aspects of God’s dealings with
the children of Israel, for the Spirit tells us that "these things happened as
types to us." We see here a people whose history is but a reflection of our own
in all God’s dealings with us in view of our deliverance from the enemy’s power.
We are, as His heavenly people, sheltered by the blood of the true passover
Lamb, and the new life which is ours in Him is nourished and sustained as we
feed on Him who, in love, bore the judgment of our sin and sins. In seeking to
be in conformity with His death there is to be the removal of all that savours
of leaven, a true severance from the world out of which we have been called by
Him who claims us for Himself as having "bought us with His blood." But the
children of Israel are not yet clear; the enemy can still regard them as
"entangled in the land," and make a last effort to retain them in the house of
bondmen. How wonderfully the Spirit uses these historic events and circumstances
to teach us profound lessons of the truth of God, for we come now to learn
typically of another aspect of the death of Christ — the Red Sea aspect as
opening up the way for us out of this world. In all these various aspects of the
death of Christ, the great and emancipating lesson of man’s total inability to
contribute in any way or degree to his deliverance is brought home to us in all
the authoritative power of the Spirit. We have to find out how helpless we are.
The position in which the children of Israel found themselves is intended to
teach us this lesson. It was a position resulting from the instructions God had
given to Moses in Exodus 14:1-4; far removed from the stratagems of men which
human expediency and resources would have inspired. The people themselves were
conscious of their extremely vulnerable position as evidenced in their cry of
unbelief and despair, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt thou hast
taken us away to die in the wilderness?" (Exodus 14:11-12). Shut in between the
desert and the sea with their implacable enemy and the flower of his army in
full pursuit, and no doubt exulting in an easy victory, their position did seem
hopeless in the extreme. But the God who had brought them thus far would not
fail them in the moment of their extremity, for here the question was no longer
between the people and God, but between God and their enemies. The question with
God was fully and entirely settled on the night of the passover. From that time
God had unreservedly shown Himself to be for them and with them, but how little
they realised the greatness of the God who had espoused their cause.

Let us remind ourselves of the words God spoke to Moses when Moses asked Him,
"Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The
God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they shall say What is His Name?
what shall I say unto them? and God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM. And He said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you
(Exodus 3:13-14). How blessed to see how spontaneously God makes known His great
Name to Moses and indicates thereby the relationship which existed between
Himself and His people according to the revelation of His Name. How this invests
the last clause with a grace and tenderness which the renewed mind cannot fail
to discern.

Despite the unbelief of His people and their lack of confidence in Him, as the
psalmist declares, "Our fathers in Egypt considered not Thy wondrous works; they
remembered not the multitude of Thy loving kindnesses, but they rebelled at the
sea, at the Red Sea (Psalms 106:7). Yet God had respect to the greatness and
glory of His Name and His faithfulness in carrying out the terms of the covenant
He had made with Abraham of old, and so we read, "And Moses said to the people,
Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for
you today . . . the Lord will fight for you and ye shall be still (Exodus
14:13-14). Then He commands Moses, "Speak unto the children of Israel that they
go forward." There is nothing inconsistent between the command to "Stand still"
and "Go forward." The one action is passive and the other is active; one is
inward, the other outward, but both require the exercise of faith in laying hold
of the never-failing divine resources to enable one to "Stand still" as well as
to "Go forward." As Jeremiah the prophet has written, "The Lord is good unto
them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that one should
both wait, and that in silence, for the salvation of the Lord" (Lamentations
3:26). Then again, in Psalms 46:1-11, as the winds and waves of adverse
circumstances are sweeping and surging in all their menacing power around the
beloved remnant of a coming day, who can say, "God is our refuge and strength, a
help in distresses, very readily found," and as "the waters thereof roar and
foam and the mountains shake with the swelling thereof," the One whom they will
prove to be "a Sanctuary to which they can ever resort," comes those precious
words in all their tranquillizing power, "Be still and know that I am God."

How comforting for the tried and storm-tossed saint today as having the Spirit
of truth to guide us into all the truth, that such an one can experience the
assuaging of those "fears within" while the "fightings without" may continue.
God, in His formative ways with us may allow the pressure of external things to
continue, but will enable us by the Spirit’s power not only to be superior to
the disquieting influences of these things, but also to enjoy positively the
deep and unruffled serenity of His own blest presence, in sweet anticipation of
"that rest secure from ill." How reassuring to the most timid and fearful are
the words. "The Lord will fight for you and ye shall be still." Faith, that
inward energy of grace, while never underestimating the power of the adversary,
roots itself confidingly in the word of God, assured that what God had promised
He was able also to fulfil.

Let us now consider those momentous events preparatory to the children of Israel
passing through the Red Sea beyond the power of their adversary forever. In the
first event we are given visual evidence that God is for His people, and as the
apostle Paul wrote to the saints at Rome, "What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who against us?" (Romans 8:31). The same apostle
writing to the saints at Philippi speaks of their "labouring together in the
same conflict with the faith of the glad tidings, and not frightened in anything
by the opposers, which is to them a demonstration of destruction, but of your
salvation, and that from God" (Php 1:27-28). When He His people’s cause defends,
Who then can stay His hand?

Therefore we read in Exodus 14:19-20, "And the Angel of God who went before the
camp of Israel, removed and went behind them, and the pillar of the cloud went
from before them and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the
Egyptians and the camp of Israel, and was a cloud and darkness and lit up the
night, and the one did not come near the other all the night." What gave light
to the children of Israel was a cloud and darkness to their enemies. How secure
they were, did they but know it, behind this impenetrable shield of invincible
power. Before they could be reached God Himself must be met and overcome. Those
sheltered by the blood of the passover Lamb were now shielded by divine power,
and would soon be rejoicing in the completeness of their salvation. The second
event to be noted is that God commands Moses to "lift thy staff, and stretch out
thy hand over the sea and divide it, and the children of Israel shall go on dry
ground through the midst of the sea. . . . And Moses stretched out his hand over
the sea, and the Lord made the sea go back by a strong east wind all the night
and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided" (Exodus 14:16-21).
Though the "strong east wind" was the instrument used of God to cleave the Red
Sea so that the waters stood as "crystal walls" on either side and made a path
through which His people should pass to the other side, it was the rod stretched
out by Moses in which the power and authority of God was invested. "He clave the
sea, and caused them to pass through and made the waters to stand as a heap"
(Psalms 78:13); "And He rebuked the Red Sea and dried it up" (Psalms 106:5;
Psalms 106:9).

Thus this seemingly impassable sea which they so much dreaded, and which seemed
to aid their adversary in his last desperate effort to bring them again into
bondage, becomes the means of their deliverance. The One of whom it is said,
"The sea is His and He made it," in the exercise of His sovereign power causes
this formidable barrier to become the means of His people’s defence, for we read
"And the children of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry ground,
and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left."

Here we have the solemn account of the destruction of the enemies of Israel. In
their daring presumption, despite many unmistakable indications of the power of
God acting on behalf of His people, the Egyptians "pursued and went in after
them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots and his
horsemen." The pillar of fire, the symbol of Jehovah’s presence, did not deter
them; blinded by their boastful and arrogant confidence in their own vaunted
resources they pressed on to their sure and certain doom from which there was no
return. As the Spirit so beautifully comments, "By faith they passed through the
Red Sea as through dry land, of which the Egyptians having made trial were
swallowed up" (Hebrews 11:29). In seeking to extricate themselves from their
hopeless position, the truth, too late for their recovery, is confessed by that
which represented the might and chivalry of Egypt, "Let us flee before Israel
for Jehovah is fighting for them against the Egyptians!" At the command of God,
"Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its
strength toward the morning." The waters which were a defence to the people of
God and the means of their deliverance was the instrument used of God for the
complete destruction of the enemy and his power, "for there remained not so much
as one of them." "Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore." How solemn these
historical events appear in the light of Exodus 14:17-18, lifting them entirely
above the superficial thoughts and ideas of men and showing them to be the
expression of the sovereignty of God in His judicial dealings with those who,
with unsubdued wills, contend with Him in seeking to thwart Him in carrying out
what He has purposed for the blessing of His people. "And I, behold, I will
harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall pursue after them; and I will
glorify Myself in Pharaoh and in all his host, in his chariots and in his
horsemen. And the

Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah when I have glorified myself in Pharaoh,
in his chariots and in his horsemen." How vain indeed is the help of man, how
weak and powerless the arm of flesh. As the psalmist declares, "Some make
mention of chariots and some of horses but we of the Name of Jehovah our God . .
. We will triumph in Thy salvation and in the Name of our God will we set up our
banners (Psalms 20:5; Psalms 20:7).

While all that we have been considering is intended by the Spirit to minister
divine comfort and encouragement to the children of God as they pass through the
turbulent waters of trying circumstances, feeling the power and pressure of the
adversary in many ways, yet in all these momentous events there is further
instruction to be gathered as we consider them in their doctrinal aspect. In our
consideration of this the beloved apostle’s epistle to the saints at Rome will
furnish us with those doctrinal interpretations which are implicit in all that
has been recorded in the history of His earthly people, and are so recorded for
our instruction. The truth of this is confirmed in the remarkable statement of
the apostle Paul, "Now these things happened to them typically, and were written
for our admonition unto whom the ends of the ages have reached" (1 Corinthians
10:11). It is not the "ends of the world" but the ends of the dispensations
which are past — those probationary ages in which man was under trial; in
innocence, without law, under law, under law tempered by mercy, under kings,
priests and prophets, each and all, because of man’s incurably and irremediably
sinful condition, conclusively certifying the necessity of God’s intervention in
grace reigning through righteousness if man was to be blessed. The consideration
of these things assumes a very solemn character when we realise that these
dispensations were closed for us by the death of Christ, in which the utter
condemnation of man is reached, but where "the river of God’s grace through
righteousness supplied, is flowing o’er the barren place where Jesus died."

We can now look back over those ages and find them all ministering their special
lessons to us. How wonderful the place in which we have been set, as receiving
divine instruction from all that happened to past generations in God’s dealings
with them. It seems clear from a consideration of those past events, mentioned
in 1 Corinthians 10:1-33, that they are intended to be a warning to us, "that we
should not lust after evil things as they also lusted," and then the timely
admonition is added, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest
he fall." How gracious of the Spirit to cast those scriptural histories of His
own recording, in moulds of divine truth, applicable to the whole sphere and
character of divine teaching as the beloved apostle declares in 2 Timothy
3:16-17, "Every scripture is divinely inspired and profitable for teaching, for
conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God
may be complete, fully fitted to every good work." Let us therefore apply these
things to this exceedingly instructive portion of the word under consideration.
As has already been expressed the Red Sea is another aspect of the death of
Christ. For every true believer in Christ it means the way of deliverance out of
this world. While the children of Israel were still on this side of the Sea they
were not beyond the reach of their enemies who regarded them as "entangled in
the land," and so made a last determined effort to retain them in the house of
bondmen. But God’s salvation is a complete salvation involving as it does the
defeat of the enemy and the crushing of his power, with the deliverance of God’s
people from the world over which the adversary exercises usurped authority and
from all the influences which obtain there. As the god and prince of this world,
Satan’s power and influence pervades the whole scene which is called in
Colossians 1:13 "the authority of darkness," and the principle on which his
kingdom is ordered is that all shall be according to the supremacy of man’s
will. This, according to God’s judgment is sin, "and sin is lawlessness" (1 John
3:4), for it is the insubordinate will of a creature who has rebelled against
God, and this is the root principle of the world.

Every aspect of the world’s system demonstrates the truth of this assertion —
the sphere of politics, the sphere of pleasure, the sphere of religion, and also
the sphere of culture, where the most refined forms of the human mind are
supposed to be expressed. Such is the world in which the adversary seeks to
retain the people of God, but we can praise God that He has provided an
effectual way of escape from it, a way of deliverance through the death and
resurrection of Christ. It is this which is typically depicted in the children
of Israel’s passage through the Red Sea.

It was between "Migdol and the Sea" that the enemy came upon the host of Israel.
We have seen what the Red Sea typifies, but what does Migdol speak of? It’s
meaning is "watch-tower." Since the Sea marked the border of Egypt, representing
the world away from God, so this watch-tower, as part of the defence-works of a
border region, did not regard the children of Israel with friendly eye, for they
were still in hostile territory. The truth of Romans 7:1-25 may help us here as
suggesting how the law looms threateningly in the path of one seeking to escape
from sin’s law. It may seem strange that the word of God states so decisively
"The strength of sin is the law," which is further strengthened by the
remarkable declaration, "For we know that the law is spiritual," followed by the
words, "But I am fleshly sold under sin." There is the mistaken idea with men
that because the law is spiritual it must be power for spirituality, power
against sin. But again, Scripture says, "But I was alive without law once, but
the commandment having come, sin revived, but I died. And the commandment which
was for life, was found, as to me, itself to be unto death; for sin, getting a
point of attack by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." As sure as
Migdol was in the enemy’s country and that Israel must be out of it to escape
attack, so must we be out of reach from the law to escape its condemning power.
But in the 7th of Romans all the questions, objections and reasoning show the
difficulty with which we apprehend the truth concerning the law of God.

It is not a question of guilt but of conflict on the part of one who can say,
"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another
law in my members, warring in opposition to the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which exists in my members." It is the vital
question of being "delivered from the law . . . that we should serve . . . God
in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter," so that "we should
bring forth fruit unto God." We may be perfectly clear as to the truth that the
law cannot justify, but as hindering the yielding of fruit for God it presents a
great difficulty to many. The struggle is often a painful one, but at last,
having realised "that in me that is in my flesh good does not dwell," one is
constrained to cry out, "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me out of
this body of death." I cannot improve this flesh in which sin dwells; I cannot
bring about the spiritual state I long for. I desire the consciousness of
holiness but His law gives me the consciousness of sin. From whence and from
whom can we expect deliverance?

Looking at the type again we find that God did not arm His people and lead them
out against Pharaoh and his host to wage war against them. Instead they are
commanded to "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." So with us in this
memorable struggle God does not call us to fight against the flesh to subdue it.
Only one course is open to us, and divine power alone can provide it. So now, as
Moses’ rod is lifted up over the Sea, the east wind rises, and as the night
falls the Sea is divided from shore to shore. Truly God’s ways are not our ways,
neither His thoughts our thoughts. How strange is this path according to the
thoughts of men, yet it is the divinely appointed way of deliverance for His
people from the whole scene of the enemy’s power. Christ’s death alone has
effected it. The dark night of His unequalled sorrow and suffering, as the "east
wind" of divine judgment swept over Him, has opened up the path of deliverance.
This precious death in all its abiding efficacy is ours. We are dead by it, dead
with Him, passed out of the condition of men in the flesh, and this is true of
every child of God. It is not only that our sins are forgiven, how blessed to
know it, but that is not all — myself has gone in that death, my wretched,
worthless self has gone. I have died with Christ, and His death has ended my
history before God as being in the flesh. It is what has taken place from the
first moment of faith in Christ as a Saviour — not a matter of progress or
attainment, though there is the thought of attainment as reaching in the faith
of our souls what is already ours in God’s purpose for us. To enjoy the
blessedness of this place we must reach it experimentally. The passage of the
Red Sea did not take place on the passover-night, but several stages of the
journey beyond — by Migdol through the Sea. How invaluable the teaching of all
this is in setting us free from every desire and effort to cultivate that which
"is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be." As possessing the
new nature we can say, "For I delight in the law of God according to the inward
man," but we also find "another law in my members warring in opposition to the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which exists in
my members." It has been said that the command to "Stand still and see the
salvation of the Lord" answers to the close of Romans 4:1-25 and the beginning
of Romans 5:1-21, "But speak to the people that they go forward" corresponds
with Romans 6:1-23, for here we take new ground as those having died to sin.
Christ has died, and we are entitled to go out in a very real and spiritual
sense, by way of His death. We are entitled to pass out of this world as the
sphere of sin, and this aspect of the death of Christ was clearly set forth in
our baptism as Romans 6:3-4 declares, "As many as have been baptised unto Christ
Jesus have been baptised unto His death. We have been buried therefore with Him
by baptism unto death in order that even as Christ has been raised up from among
the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life."
We must learn death with Christ, and leave ourselves as it were in the Sea, and
take our true place as "in Christ."

How complete the work which has effected our deliverance from the enemy’s power
and the sphere over which he rules. "And it came to pass in the morning watch
that Jehovah looked upon the camp of the Egyptians . . . and embarrassed the
camp of the Egyptians . . . and the Sea returned to its strength toward the
morning . . . and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore. And Israel saw
the great power with which Jehovah had wrought against the Egyptians" (Exodus
14:24-31). Well might we celebrate the glorious achievements of our Saviour-God
and say, "Thou hast prevailed Thy people Lord are free." How bright is this
morning for us, surely "a morning without clouds," as with overflowing hearts we
apprehend our acceptance "in Christ" in all the unchanging value of His wondrous
death. Our standing is now in Him who "was raised from among the dead by the
glory of the Father." And God has made His blessed Son everything to us. "But of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God and
righteousness and holiness and redemption; that according as it is written, he
that boasts let him boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Exodus 15:1-27. In this chapter we are introduced to the first song in
Scripture. It is a song of redemption, expressive of those deep feelings of joy
and gratitude which filled and flooded the hearts of the people of God, who,
conscious of their new position and tasting the fruits of their complete
deliverance as seeing their enemies dead upon the seashore, celebrate with
rapture and unrestrained joy the triumphs of their God, who had risen up in the
full majesty of His power on their behalf and had brought them, by the overthrow
of the enemy’s power, into the joy of full salvation. The expressions used in
their song are truly remarkable as being prophetic in character and not the
incoherent outburst of a people overwhelmed with the thought of a new-found
liberty after such a lengthy history of enslavement. There can be little doubt
that all is inspired by the Spirit of God, in giving expression to the purposes
of God concerning them until they reach the rest God has prepared for them —
when "Jehovah shall reign for ever and ever!" (Exodus 15:18). "And Jehovah shall
be King over all the earth; in that day shall there be one Jehovah and His Name
one" (Zechariah 14:9).

How blessed to see in their song how completely they are set free from
themselves and all concern respecting their deliverance. When they do refer to
themselves it is as "the people that Thou hast redeemed," "Thy people," "the
people that Thou hast purchased." He is the One with whom they are absorbed,
expressing too the sense of relationship into which they have been brought.
There is no need to declare His Name to them as at the beginning, for they
declare in their song of triumph, "My strength and song is Jehovah and He is
become my salvation," "This is my God," "My father’s God." How precious are
these expressions as indicating the lifting of their hearts to their great
Deliverer in the full and willing acknowledgement of Him as the Source of the
mercy that has been displayed in the effectuation of their complete deliverance.
But this has a twofold character, and while this does not set aside its primary
application to Israel, yet, inasmuch as the crossing of the Red Sea was
pre-eminently typical in character, so this song, with the position in which it
was sung and the occasion which called forth the singing of it, will furnish the
children of God in this day of measureless grace with much needed instruction as
to a more worthy response on our part to "Him who has raised from among the dead
Jesus our Lord who has been delivered for our offences, and has been raised for
our justification" (Romans 4:24-25). In loftier strains of joy we celebrate the
greater achievement of our God — the same God to whom the children of Israel
sang at the Red Sea — but we rejoice in Him as "the God of peace, who brought
again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, in
the power of the blood of the eternal covenant (Hebrews 13:20). The death and
resurrection of Christ is the righteous foundation on which all our
relationships with God have been established in accordance with the eternal
covenant of peace. How precious to note the connection between "the God of
peace" and "the eternal covenant" of peace. This was the reassuring word spoken
by the Lord Jesus to "His own" on the resurrection day, "Peace be unto you." His
triumphant resurrection was the incontestable proof that the enemy’s power had
been destroyed, not an enemy left to hinder God from carrying into effect all He
had purposed for the blessing of His redeemed people. Not only "Pharaoh’s
chariots and his army hath He cast into the sea," but "all the inhabitants of
Canaan melted away." In the unclouded joy of present deliverance they also
anticipate in their song of praise their entrance into the inheritance God had
given to them. He had delivered them and would deliver and "bring them in and
plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance." Thus we see, as led of the
Spirit, how they apprehended the greatness of their deliverance in the fulness
of its meaning: not merely what they had been saved from but also what they had
been saved for. This is a distinction of no small importance in its application
to those who, as the children of God, have learned that a way has been opened up
for us through the death of Christ to go out of this world morally as those
entirely set apart for God and as having to do with a system of things which is
essentially heavenly in character. We, too, have been purchased, redeemed, led
forth out of all association with this world to find ourselves blessed according
to the purpose of God "who is rich in mercy, because of His great love
where-with He loved us, has quickened us with the Christ, and has raised us up
together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus"
(Ephesians 2:4-10). Surely it is in loftier strains of joy that we sing of the
God of our salvation "who has saved us, and has called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time, but has been made manifest
now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has annulled death, and
brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings" (2 Timothy
1:9-10). In the morning "Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." Not an
enemy was left to hinder God from carrying into effect all He had purposed for
the blessing of His redeemed people. Nevertheless, because of their persistent
rebellion against God, their obdurate refusal to hearken to His word, and above
all, their culminating act of impiety in refusing and crucifying Jesus the Son
of God, their Messiah, "wrath has come upon them to the uttermost." All God’s
dealings with the children of Israel as the nation of His choice are meanwhile
suspended; but when reinstated into divine favour, all they have given
expression to in their song on the other side of the Red Sea will be fulfilled
according to the glowing prophecies of the Old Testament prophets.

While the blessing of the saints of this dispensation of grace is of an
infinitely deeper, fuller and richer character, and the hope we cherish of being
with Christ in the Father’s house sweeter far than words can express, yet to be
insensible or unresponsive to what is equally the interests of Christ in
relation to the blessings of this world, would be to display a spirit unworthy
of those whom sovereign grace has given such a favoured and distinctive place in
that day of manifestation, when the Assembly, the bride, the Lamb’s wife, is
seen by John as the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from
God, having the glory of God" (Revelation 21:10), coming to reign with Him over
the earth as those who in Christ "have also obtained an inheritance" (Ephesians
1:9-11). For we are to reign with Christ over the earth and, as the Assembly, he
the intermediary vessel for the display of Christ’s glory "when He shall have
come to be glorified in His saints and wondered at in all that have believed."
This is the glorious moment for which the groaning and travailing creation
around us looks, anxiously and expectantly, the day of "the manifestation of the
sons of God" which will mark its complete emancipation from "the bondage of
corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (Romans
8:19-21).

Oh, what mighty movements of God are contingent on the restoration of His
earthly people to divine favour in the faithfulness of God to His promises of
old, and in accordance with this song of deliverance which we are considering,
and also according to their predicted blessing celebrated anticipatively in the
glowing and fervent language of the prophets of old (See Isaiah 18:1-7 and Hosea
2:14-15). This too will ensure the blessing of this poor world now groaning in
all its sinful wretchedness, when "the knowledge of the glory of the Lord shall
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." Speaking of the children of
Israel, Paul says, "But if their fall be the world’s wealth and their loss the
wealth of the nations, how much rather their fulness. . . . For if their casting
away be the world’s reconciliation, what their reception but life from among the
dead?" (Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15). In perfect harmony with this the prophet
Isaiah is moved by the Spirit to write, "Arise, shine! for thy light is come,
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee . . . Jehovah will arise upon thee,
and His glory shall be seen on thee. And the nations shall walk by thy light,
and kings by the brightness of thy rising" (Isaiah 60:1-3).

Reference has already been made that in the morning "Israel saw the Egyptians
dead on the seashore." All that sought to thwart God in the carrying out of his
purpose of blessing for his redeemed people had been effectively dealt with. How
blessed for us the morning of Christ’s triumphant resurrection in the full
accomplishment of the work the Father had given Him to do. But there is more of
an infinitely precious character to be noted, for as the fruit of that wonderful
work of redemption, there is the intimation of a new creation where "the old
things have passed away and all things have become new and all things are of
God," in those greatly cherished words of the Lord Jesus to Mary. "Go to My
brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God
and your God" (John 20:17). All our relationships with God are established in
resurrection, and we can sing of Him as our strength, our song, and our
salvation. How sweet the assurance that He is our strength for the wilderness
pathway, in a scene "where foes and snares abound."

Like the children of Israel we too can say "This is my God," not a God afar off,
but a Saviour-God, who "has given to us the ministry of reconciliation: how that
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning to them their
offences, and putting in us the word of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).
So that those once alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works have now been
reconciled through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus who "has made peace
through the blood of His cross." This was the One in whom the fulness of the
Godhead was pleased to dwell, and in the power of whose Person the Godhead will
reconcile all things to Itself, while every true believer in Christ is now
"reconciled in the body of His flesh through death," in order to our
presentation, "holy, unblameable and irreproachable," before those divine
Persons forever (Colossians 1:19-22). To the clause of verse 2. "I will glorify
Him," there is an equally acceptable alternative rendering, "I will make Him a
dwelling." It is not that one displaces the other, but that they are
complementary to each other; for is it not the case that the way in which God
chose to be glorified was in dwelling amongst them in a habitation answering in
every respect "to the pattern shown to Moses on the mount"? We are now
considering the fruits of redemption, and the thought of God dwelling with men
is by far the choicest of them all.

There had been men of God of old in whom the Spirit of God had wrought, such as
Abraham, the friend of God, and to whom God appeared under the oak at Mamre.
There was also Enoch who walked with God, and others. There are wonderful
references to God visiting those saints of old, appearing in various forms,
expressing thereby His profound pleasure in communing with His creatures; but
only after the work of redemption had been accomplished was mention made of a
dwelling-place for God in this world. The thought of building a Sanctuary in
which He could dwell in the midst of His people came from God, according to
Exodus 25:8, "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them."
There was One who gave utterance to those imperishable words in Proverbs
8:22-31. "Jehovah possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of
old . . . then I was by Him, the nursling of His love, and I was daily His
delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His
earth, and My delights were with the sons of men."

Redemption however was a divine necessity as providing the righteous basis on
which the dwelling place of God could be established to the full gratification
of His desires. But as soon as expiation for sin had become an accomplished fact
through the blood of the slain lamb, and Israel had been brought through that
which typified death and resurrection, brought into an entirely new place as
brought to Himself, completely delivered from the domination of the world and
its prince, then the Spirit inspires them to speak of preparing a dwelling-place
for God. Egypt, the enemy’s territory, was not a suited place in which to erect
this habitation for God. Only as brought to Himself can God identify Himself
with them and be their God and they can be His people. All this has specific
reference to the erection of the tabernacle which we hope to consider in its
appropriate place.

Meanwhile, God has now a dwelling-place here upon earth, not of an earthly order
but, distinctively heavenly in character. The Lord Jesus having accomplished the
work of redemption "ascended up far above all heavens that He might fill all
things," and from thence sent down the Spirit at Pentecost as the promise of the
Father for the express purpose of gathering "together in one the children of God
which were scattered abroad." How the apostle Paul, to whom was committed the
administration of the mystery which had been hidden throughout the ages in God,
rejoices in the favour bestowed upon him to administer the truth of the
Assembly. How he revels in this wondrous theme with its limitless dimensions,
unfolding the truth of it in rich variations of phrase and sublimity of thought.
The apostle on his way to Damascus learned from the risen Jesus that such a
company existed on earth, so intimately associated with Himself, as a body to
its head, that in persecuting those "disciples of the Lord," he was persecuting
Him. Saul, true son of Benjamin, "ravening as the wolf," recounts in graphic
language the manner of his arrestment as he stands before Agrippa in Acts
26:9-14, "I indeed myself thought that I ought to do much against the name of
Jesus the Nazarene . . . myself shut up in prison many of the saints . . . I
compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly furious against them, I
persecuted them even to cities out of our own land. . . . I saw, O king, a light
above the brightness of the sun shining from heaven . . . and I heard a voice
saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? . . .
And I said, Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest." How wonderful to hear such words from this one who but a short
while before had been a "blasphemer and persecutor and an insolent, overbearing
man." To Paul was committed a twofold ministry, that of the glad tidings and
also of the Assembly, and of which he says concerning the latter, "I became
minister according to the dispensation of God" (Colossians 1:24-27). In speaking
to the saints at Ephesus of the administration of the grace of God which had
been given him he declares, "Ye can understand my intelligence in the mystery of
the Christ, which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of
men as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the power
of the Spirit, that they who are of the nations (Gentiles) should be
joint-heirs, and a joint-body and joint-partakers of His promise in Christ Jesus
by the glad tidings" (Ephesians 3:1-7). How marvellous the grace that has
included the poor despised Gentiles in the purpose of God, not as an
afterthought but "according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will." This is the present dwelling-place of God where He
dwells in the midst of the praises of His people, while the courts in Zion are
silent and as the captives sitting by the rivers of Babylon can say, "We wept
when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst
thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song. . .
. How should we sing a song of Jehovah’s upon a foreign soil?" (Psalms 137:1-9).
But the courts of Zion will again resound with the praises of His earthly people
when they shall sing. "Great is Jehovah and greatly to be praised in the city of
our God, in the hill of His holiness" (Psalms 48:1). Then the whole earth,
"filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea,"
will take up the glad refrain and "Everything that hath breath (will) praise
Jah. Hallelujah!" (Psalms 150:6). As verse 18 of our chapter declares, "Jehovah
shall reign for ever and ever." In the singing of Miriam, the sister of Aaron,
and the women who went out "after her with tambours and with dances," we have
the thought of response so far as they entered into the reality of what God had
done for them in the overthrow of their enemies. It was a true and spontaneous
response according to their subjective apprehension of what God had done for
them. In this was revealed the state of the people. Their song is noticeably
limited in extent and does not go beyond celebrating the complete victory of
Jehovah; it did not go on to the fruits of victory as was celebrated in the
great song sung by Moses and the children of Israel.

How precious is the thought of intelligent response on the part of those who, so
richly endowed by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, have the moral
competency to respond to Him who without reserve has been pleased to make known
to us by the apostle "all the counsel of God." How responsive is the apostle as
viewing the vast and measureless extent of those eternal counsels of the Father
as presented in the Epistle to the Ephesians. The apostle, gazing by faith with
ever increasing wonder on that vast system of glory, of which the Father is the
Source, his heart, too full to contain itself, overflows in responsive praise,
as expressed in these words, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). In Exodus 15:22 we come to their actual entrance into
the wilderness, with all its humbling yet health-giving lessons for those who,
as the children of God, find this world to be morally a wilderness. Though not
part of His purpose, it forms an essential part of His ways, as revealing to us
our complete destitution of any and every resource, and making known the
unfailing resources of divine power, grace and wisdom for all the exigencies of
the wilderness pathway (See Deuteronomy 8:2-6). Had they been able to procure
bread in the wilderness, there would have been no necessity to send bread from
heaven. Had they found water it would not have been necessary to bring water out
of the rock. All was met by the plenitude of divine resource. But divine
provision is not proportioned by the needs of the wilderness, it is merely
occasioned by them, and God not only displays His power in meeting the need, but
also His grace in the super-abundance of His giving In the desert God will teach
thee, What the God that thou hast found, Patient, gracious, powerful, holy, All
His grace shall there abound.

What a change has come over this great host that sang so jubilantly at the Red
Sea. They begin to murmur for there is no water. It was a trying experience but
God was seeking to teach them an entirely new manner of life. To be in the
wilderness is not a condition of failure, but a consequence of redemption. Here
we find "three days" mentioned, suggesting, as so frequently in Scripture, the
distance of death. In figure they had passed through death and now they were to
learn it in all its practical significance. And so we, as brought into all the
joy and blessedness of these heavenly relationships as founded upon the death
and resurrection of Christ, are identified with Christ in death as to sin
(Romans 6:1-23), as to the law (Romans 7:1-25), and to the world (Galatians
6:1-18). Walking in conformity to His death we find this world, as the psalmist
says, to be "a dry and thirsty land, where no water is" (Psalms 63:1-11). We
ought to expect this as having gone three days journey into the wilderness.
Every spring from which at one time we sought refreshment is completely dried
up. There is nothing to refresh or to sustain that new and heavenly life which
is ours in Christ Jesus. How blessed then to realise that "all our springs are
in Thee."

Then they come to Marah. Here was water in abundance, but it was bitter. In this
we have a further application of the death of Christ. This is the application of
that death by which they had been delivered. All that is of the flesh shrinks
from it but how necessary it is. It involves suffering, instead of refreshment
it is bitterness, as bringing death upon all that is naturally pleasing to us.
Then as instructed by the Lord, Moses casts the tree into the waters, and the
waters, become sweet. We know this tree; it is the cross in which the apostle
could boast, "But be it far from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ through whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world" (Galatians
6:14). How it sweetens every bitter cup; all that is bitter for flesh and nature
to die to. "Christ then having suffered for us in the flesh, do ye also arm
yourself with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh has done
with sin" (1 Peter 4:1). There is too the precious thought of our suffering with
Christ in a scene of complete contrariety to Him, a world of which He can say,
"They have both seen and hated both me and my Father." Taking up the cross daily
we are to follow with increasing devotion in the footsteps of Him who is still
disowned and disinherited, according to the word of the apostle to the saints at
Philippi, "Because to you has been given, as regards Christ, not only the
believing on Him but the suffering for Him also" (Php 1:29). Though for us it
may be our suffering with Him.

Then there is the thought of obedience introduced in verse 26. How prone we are
to import an element of legality into the thought of obedience, instead of
seeing this as but the activity of the divine nature which delights in God and
all that is of God, and regards as an engrossing occupation the doing of His
will. "And the world is passing and its lust, but he that does the will of God
abides for eternity" (1 John 2:17). Then in John 14:21, the Lord Jesus says, "He
that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me, but he that
loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest
myself to him."

Then they come to Elim. How desirable was this resting-place to the weary
pilgrims as they encamped at Elim beside the twelve wells of water and
threescore and ten palm trees. As the Shepherd of Israel, God graciously
provides the "people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" with that
refreshment, rest and shade so much needed in the wilderness. The words of
another will furnish us with the typical meaning of the wells and palm trees:
"They are types of those living springs, and of that shelter which had been
provided, through instruments chosen of God, for the consolation of His people."
This is the place to which obedience leads us; it is not necessary to sweeten
these waters — they are already refreshingly sweet to be enjoyed in communion
with the Good Shepherd who leads us "by the green pastures and by the waters of
quietness."

Death’s bitter waters met our thirst, Thy cross has made them sweet;

Then on our gladdened vision burst God’s shady, cool retreat.

Exodus 16:1-36. At the close of the previous chapter we find the children of
Israel enjoying the rest and shade of Elim. In all this we can discern the
loving, tender care of their faithful God, in preparation for the next stage of
their journey. Elim was but a temporary resting-place, they were still pilgrims;
they had yet to traverse the "waste, howling wilderness" that lay between them
and the inheritance God had given to them. The wilderness is the sphere of
testing, according as Moses has written, "And thou shalt remember all the way
which Jehovah thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble
thee, and to prove thee to know what was in thy heart . . . and know in thy
heart that as a man chasteneth his son, so Jehovah thy God chasteneth thee"
(Deuteronomy 8:2-5). As has previously been remarked, divine provision is not
proportioned by the needs of the wilderness, but occasioned by them. It will be
seen therefore, in the remarkable history of the wilderness which follows, that
the moment of man’s extremity is the moment of God’s intervention on his behalf.
If the wilderness was the place of proving what was in the heart of the children
of Israel, it was also the place for the most wonderful display of divine power
and love called forth by the necessity of the people whom, in the sovereignty of
His choice, God has taken into relationship to Himself, according to Exodus
19:4, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’
wings, and brought you unto myself." This thought, expressive of the
faithfulness of God, in spite of their persistent unfaithfulness, is beautifully
sustained in the words of Moses as he re-counts the ways of God with His earthly
people, "For Jehovah’s portion is His people, Jacob the lot of his inheritance,
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste, howling wilderness; He led him
about, He watched over him, He preserved him as the apple of His eye. As the
eagle stirreth up its nest, Hovereth over its young, Spreadeth out its wings,
Taketh them, beareth them on its feathers, so Jehovah alone did lead him, And no
strange god was with him" (Deuteronomy 32:9-12). May these sublime utterances,
inspired by the Spirit of God, produce that singleness of heart and that
readiness of mind to understand the mind and will of God for us as conveyed in
those remarkable types of old. It is nothing new to say that we can only
understand the mind of God in accordance with our spiritual state. Anyone may
learn what the Bible says, but to know the mind of God is an entirely different
matter. To have this knowledge, a certain spiritual condition is necessary as
Colossians 1:9-10, and many other passages of Scripture insist upon. Human
ability has no place here, but two attitudes are necessary, namely, diligence in
acquiring (Proverbs 8:34; Proverbs 13:4), and readiness to express in a
practical way what has been acquired (John 7:17). As having the Spirit of God
indwelling us as the Spirit of truth, our capacity to acquire this knowledge is
ensured. "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are folly to him. But we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which have been freely
given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12-16). How desultory is our tillage of
this goodly soil where there is much treasure. Let us ever remember "there is
much increase in the tillage of the poor." When the children of Israel came into
the wilderness of Shur it was the test of "no water" which confronted them, then
at Marah it was not the lack of water but the character of it which tested them,
it was "bitter." Thirst speaks of that for which man craves in the way of inward
satisfaction, and so God, in satisfying the thirst of the children of Israel,
would teach us that the satisfying of our thirst stands in relation to the will
of God, involving the acceptance on our part of suffering in the flesh and thus
ceasing from sin. The quenching of thirst refers to what is inward, so that in
heart and mind and spirit we are brought into a state of complete satisfaction.
The truth of this is brought before us very forcibly in John 7:1-53. The chapter
opens with the announcement of another feast of the Jews, the feast of
Tabernacles. The keeping of this feast was in remembrance of the fact that the
people of God had once dwelt in booths, or tabernacles, in the wilderness, but
were now gathered into the pleasant land. It was celebrated after the harvest
and the vintage — the well-known figures in prophetic Scripture of the execution
of divine wrath in both its forms. The former is discriminative in character,
distinguishing between the good and evil. The latter — the vintage speaks of the
unsparing judgment of God falling upon all that was actively hostile to Him, and
inflexibly opposed to the realization of all He had purposed for the blessing of
His earthly people, and also that of the world at large.

These judicial actions just referred to were essential to the setting up of the
kingdom of the Son of man as spoken of by Daniel, "and there was given Him
dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should
serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away,
and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Exodus 7:13-14). Judgment
must do its necessary work in searching out and removing every offensive element
from that kingdom for "where the carcase is, there shall the eagles be gathered"
— before God’s people enter into the reality of all that is prefigured in the
feast of Tabernacles. But that time is not yet, as the Lord Jesus intimates to
His brethren who did not believe on Him, but were demanding that He should show
Himself to the world. "If Thou doest these things, manifest Thyself to the
world." to which Jesus replied. "My time is not yet come" (John 7:4-6).
According to Leviticus 23:1-44, where we have the feasts of Jehovah brought
before us, we learn that the feast of Tabernacles had one day more than the
other two great feasts, which gives an added significance to the words of John
7:37. The great day of the feast, the last day, was really the first day of
another week, since seven days, speaking of a complete testimony to what is
earthly, was wholly occupied in celebrating the feast, so that this last day is
actually an eighth day, which speaks of what is beyond earthly things, and
introduces us to what is new, heavenly and eternal. It was on this day Jesus
spake these memorable words," If anyone thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.
He that believeth on Me as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit which they that
believed on Him were about to receive, for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus
had not been glorified."

Jesus, rejected as the Messiah, after having accomplished the work of
redemption, ascends as Man into that heavenly glory according to God’s eternal
counsels. Having glorified God in regard to the momentous question of sin, God
has glorified Him in Himself and has glorified Him immediately (John 13:31-32).
And from that place of heavenly glory the Spirit has come, as the Spirit of
truth, according to the words of the Lord Jesus, "But when the Comforter is
come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes
forth from with the Father, he shall bear witness concerning me" (John 15:26).
This gracious Comforter is here to engage our hearts and affections with a
glorified Saviour. One who has been raised from among the dead by the glory of
the Father and has been given glory. His hour is not yet come for His
manifestation to this world in all His manifested glory as He will be glorified
in His saints and admired in all them that believe. Meanwhile He is "the object
bright and fair to fill and satisfy our hearts." and as having the Spirit we are
introduced into a divine and heavenly order of things, and enter into the
enjoyment of these things, which alone can be revealed by the Spirit, things
pertaining to that heavenly One: and as our hearts drink in that which is of
Jesus, the heart, fully satisfied, overflows and becomes the means of
refreshment to others. In John 4:1-54 we have that which speaks of worship,
where we have the Holy Spirit associating the believer with the Father and the
Son, resulting in worship on the part of those worshippers whom the Father
"seeketh to worship Him in spirit and in truth." In John 7:1-53 it is clearly
more the thought of testimony. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water," for the refreshment of others. How blessed to be so occupied with Jesus
that those living waters of which He is the Source, can flow out in living power
for the refreshment of others. It suggests too that such an one is superior to,
and independent of, the whole condition of things in a scene of barrenness,
where there is not a green spot to refresh the eye and heart, and not a
palm-tree under which to rest. When we come to the seventeenth chapter of Exodus
we shall have occasion to again consider the Spirit, when water is brought forth
from the rock, but since this is mentioned in such an immediate context with the
coming of Amalek to fight with Israel in Rephidim, it would seem to suggest the
Spirit as the power for conflict. The opening words of this chapter are simple
yet cannot fail to arrest the attention of the careful reader. "And they
journeyed from Elim, and the whole assembly of the children of Israel came into
the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai." Elim would remind them
of the place where they had rested and been refreshed according to the tender
compassions of their God whose "compassions fail not," while Sinai would cause
them to remember those awe-inspiring evidences of the holiness and majesty of
that law, obedience to which they had fatally pledged themselves as the basis of
their relationships with God. Up to that stage of their journey every
circumstance served only to display what God was for them in all His matchless,
long-suffering and unwearied love. From Sinai, by assuming this place of
responsibility, the whole character of their relations with God was completely
changed, and placed on an entirely different footing. It was no longer a
question of what God was for them, but of what they should be for God. This
brings out the great distinction between grace and law, and thus invests the
journey between Elim and Sinai with a peculiar interest for those who desire to
be instructed as to these two weighty and contrastive truths with which the
Spirit has dealt so exhaustively in the word of God.

However, in the constant murmurings of the children of Israel, we see how
incorrigible is the flesh in all its corrupt and incurable propensities whether
under grace or under law. How strange to hear again the voice of complaint on
the part of those whose previous murmurings had been answered — at Pi-hahiroth,
when they saw the army of Pharaoh approaching, and again at Marah where the
waters were bitter — not in the spirit of judgment, but in the spirit of
unqualified grace, and the display of divine power on their behalf. How
trenchantly has the Spirit recorded of them by the psalmist, "They soon forgat
His works, they waited not for His counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the
wilderness and tempted God in the desert" (Psalms 106:13-14). Nor were their
fears expressed in the spirit of intercession or supplication, but in words of
bitterest reproach, "Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the
land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the
full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole
assembly with hunger." Their present necessity is one of hunger and not of
thirst. Occupied with their present distress they thought only of the flesh-pots
of Egypt and the bread which they ate to the full; but what of the bitter
bondage and the cruelty of their task-masters during the time of their
enslavement in the land of Egypt?

How great and enriching are the lessons to be learned from all that happened to
the children of Israel as we realise that we too are dependent upon this
provision of divine grace, a provision which is the necessary result of
redemption. Since therefore this world is a moral wilderness to a heavenly
people, it can yield nothing to sustain this heavenly life, but the God who has
redeemed us and brought us to Himself will ensure that His inexhaustible and
limitless resources are available for us, "Bread shall be given them, their
water shall be sure." The kind of life that Egypt’s food ministered to was the
life of the old corrupt nature with "the lusts of the flesh . . . doing what the
flesh and the thoughts willed to do" (Ephesians 2:3). Everything was there to
sustain that kind of life; there was no lack, "We sat by the flesh-pots, when we
ate bread to the full." But God has taken His people out of this world by
redemption and has brought them into relationship with Himself in a scene where
that food which once sustained is no longer available. But will our faithful God
fail us in our extremity? Assuredly not, though He allows the need to be felt
before He supplies that which will meet the need, in super-abundant measure,
which characterises all His dealings with us, yet not indiscriminately, but in
accordance with divine wisdom and love, as bringing us in increasing measure
into correspondence with His own thoughts concerning us. As has already been
quoted from Deuteronomy 8:2-3, "And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to
hunger, and fed thee with manna . . . that He might make thee know that man doth
not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
the Lord doth man live." How salutary and enriching are the lessons which this
barren, sterile world yields to the one who is walking in the light of heavenly
and eternal realities. On to Canaan’s rest still wending, E’en thy wants and
woes shall bring Suited grace from high descending, Thou shalt taste of mercy’s
spring. In suffering us to hunger, the Lord’s intention is clear and
unmistakable, nothing short of weaning us from the flesh-pots of Egypt, and to
attract us to Christ as "the true, the heavenly living bread" which came down
out of heaven, and thereby teach us that true satisfaction and sustenance can
only be found in Him and His word. The contrast is between the flesh-pots of
Egypt and Christ, the bread of God’s providing; and very blessed it is when we
learn that that blessed One in whom the Father finds His full, constant and
abiding delight, is sufficient for all our needs. The flesh ever craves that
which meets its desires, but as truly delivered from Egypt, there will be not
only the refusal of its desires, but the uncompromising disallowance of the
flesh, as that which has been already judged in the death of Christ (the Red
Sea). Therefore the beloved apostle states in Romans 8:12-13, "So then,
brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to flesh, for if
ye live according to flesh, ye are about to die, but if, by the Spirit, ye put
to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live." The flesh, as opposed to the
Spirit, has its own objects, and ever craves that which meets its own desires,
but the words of the apostle in Galatians 6:7-8, speak with timely warning and
admonition to our souls, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man
shall sow, that also shall he reap. For he that sows to his own flesh shall reap
corruption from the flesh."

It would seem that we must draw a very clear distinction between the giving of
the quails and the giving of the manna; both were given to meet their hunger.
But the giving of the quails was more in the chastening ways of God with a
people who desired what they had eaten as they sat by the flesh-pots in Egypt,
so the psalmist speaks of them "lusting exceedingly in the wilderness, and
tempting God in the desert, and He gave them their request, but sent leanness
into their soul" (Psalms 106:14-15). In Numbers 11:1-35 the giving of the quails
is again brought before us, and in a very solemn manner. The people are now
under law, and God therefore deals with them in accordance with the measure of
their responsibility towards Him. At the beginning of the chapter the divine
record reads, "And the children of Israel also wept again and said Who will give
us flesh to eat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, . . .
now our soul is dried up, there is nothing at all but the manna before our
eyes." Again God answers their request, but now, let us ponder these solemn
words, "The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, when the
wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people
with a very great plague." The Spirit, again through the psalmist, refers with
pointed emphasis to this solemn occasion, and speaks of them thus, "They were
not alienated from their lust" (Psalms 78:26-31). The quails were given to
satisfy the desires of the people, but they brought no blessing, whereas the
manna, God’s provision for the wilderness, precious and eloquent type of that
blessed One "once humbled here," was that food which sustained the host of
Israel for forty years.

Let us, who have been called with a heavenly calling, have the loins of our mind
girded, "leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ," lest
our eyes and hearts should rest desiringly on any object of this world. In this
way many a true believer in Christ, forgetful of his true position in Christ,
has turned in heart again to the world out of which he has been called, and sat
again by the flesh-pots of Egypt, so to speak. God has allowed him to attain the
object he had set his heart upon, but accompanied by great barrenness of soul;
and how incalculable the loss for eternity. With what deep sorrow of heart Paul
says of Demas, "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present age" (2 Timothy
4:10). If we turn back in heart to Egypt and are permitted to gratify our
fleshly desires, in whatever form these may find expression, our leanness of
soul will be great.

How different are God’s dealings with His people in this chapter, all their
murmurings are met in the spirit of unqualified grace. Their very murmurings are
the occasion for the display of God’s glory. In Exodus 16:7-12 Moses makes the
solemn pronouncement, twice over, that their murmurings were not against him and
Aaron, but against Jehovah. "In the morning then shall ye see the glory of
Jehovah; for He has heard your murmurings against Jehovah; — and what are we
that ye murmur against us — . . . for Jehovah hears your murmurings which ye
murmur against Him . . . . Come near unto the presence of Jehovah; for He has
heard your murmurings. And it came to pass, when Aaron spoke to the whole
assembly of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and
behold the glory of Jehovah appeared in the cloud. And Jehovah spoke to Moses,
saying, I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak to them
saying, Between the two evenings ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall
be filled with bread, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, your God."

How faithful is God to all that He had declared Himself to be for His people. As
Paul could say to Timothy, "If we are unfaithful, He abides faithful, for He
cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). How accordant is this with what Moses has
declared, "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God." How precious is this
display of divine grace, and how brightly it shines against the dark background
of man’s sin which occasioned the display of it. The exposure of what is in the
heart of man brings out of the depths of the heart of God all that He is in
blessing to man. This has ever been the manner of God’s dealings with man, from
the moment man listened to the voice of the tempter and became the enemy of God.
All sin is against God (Psalms 51:4; Luke 15:18-21); but in the cross where we
see the utter degradation of man in his rejection of the Son of God, we see the
full revelation of the heart of God in grace. So far as man was concerned the
cross was the close of that wonderful pathway in which the Son of God, in deep
humiliation and abasement displayed, without intermission, the glory of the
power of God in goodness to men. In the light of these precious things, how
solemn and affecting are these words, "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness
and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads
thee to repentance? but according to thy hardness and impenitent heart,
treasurest up to thyself wrath, in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God, who shall render to each according to his works"
(Romans 2:4-6).

Let us now consider God’s provision for the wilderness in fulfilment of His
promise that "Bread shall be given them, their water shall be sure." The present
chapter deals with the first part of this unfailing promise — the bread from
heaven; the chapter following gives the second part — the water from the rock.
We do not get the history of the wilderness in Exodus, this we find very fully
in the book of Numbers. Exodus is the book of redemption with the place of
relationship for those redeemed, so that in the giving of the manna we have the
provision of divine grace for the need of the people — a provision which is the
necessary result of redemption.

It is important to note that the giving of the quails is very briefly referred
to, a mere incident to the main purpose of the Spirit as bringing the manna
before us in the fullest detail. We need not wonder at this since the manna is a
type of Christ — "of Christ once humbled here" — as the bread of God who came
down out of heaven. Here is opened up to us the vast treasury of divine wealth
and resource, the vast treasure-house of grace — "a mine of wealth laid open to
the poor." But only those who have life in Christ by feeding on His death, as
Jesus declares in John 6:53-54, can feed upon Him as the manna. "Jesus therefore
said to them, Verily, verily 1 say unto you, unless ye shall have eaten the
flesh of the Son of Man and drunk His blood, ye have no life in yourselves. He
that eats My flesh and drinks My blood has life eternal and I will raise him up
at the last day."

Having obtained life eternal through the appropriation of Christ in death, we
are further told, "As the living Father hath sent me and I live on account of
the Father, he also who eats me shall live also on account of me" (John 6:57).
Christ is the food of His people while in the wilderness, and, as feeding upon
Him, we are enabled to bring the heavenly grace of Christ into all the
commonplace circumstances of the desert pathway — His meekness, gentleness,
tenderness, sympathy, patience, in short, the life of Jesus manifested in our
bodies.

How blessed and sustaining to feed upon Christ as the One who has passed this
way before us, tempted in all things in like manner to ourselves, sin apart. As
Peter declares, "Leaving you a model that ye should follow in His steps: who did
no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, who, when reviled, reviled not
again; when suffering, threatened not, but gave Himself over into the hands of
Him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:21-23). In the midst of all the toil, the
weariness and the conflict of the pilgrim path, how sustaining to feed upon Him
as the apostle says in Hebrews 12:2-5, "Looking steadfastly on Jesus . . .
consider well Him who endured so great contradiction from sinners against
Himself, that ye be not weary, fainting in your minds."

According to John 6:27, it is the Son of man who gives us this food, and, as we
have seen, how appropriate that it should be so. This is all the more remarkable
since this is presented in that Gospel in which His divine glory as the Son is
its paramount theme. But the manna is the Son of man down here in this world, in
this scene that witnessed the display of the glory of His humiliation in all its
perfection in words and ways. It is thus He becomes the Bread of God’s providing
for us, the One whom the Father has sealed and sanctified and sent into the
world; the One who has received from the Father those expressions of fullest
approbation and delight as a Man in this world; One in whom we find what is near
and intelligible to us, yet withal the Man Christ Jesus in whom was pleased to
dwell the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The character of grace is stamped upon
this gift of the manna to meet the people’s need. Their murmurings, instead of
bringing down judgment, are met by the supply of this food from God, according
to verses 14 and 15, "And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold upon the
face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar-frost
on the ground. . . . And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord
hath given you to eat." In Numbers 11:9, we read that the manna fell upon the
dew, "And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it."
Dew is often referred to in Scripture as a source of refreshment, and the Spirit
is the Source of this divine refreshment and reviving. In this connection there
is a beautiful thought in Hosea 14:5, "I will be as the dew unto Israel: he
shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." The effect of
the Spirit’s work in the remnant of Israel in a coming day will be their
spiritual revival, and will produce exuberant fruitfulness and beauty. This
refreshing is the sovereign work of the Spirit, as the prophet says, "a dew that
tarrieth not for man, neither waiteth for the sons of men" (Micah 5:7).

How blessed to see that no human hands bestowed this bread. God caused it to
fall softly and silently around their tents while they slept. But the manna fell
upon the dew and "when the dew was gone up," the manna was left: beautiful
figure of the Spirit who ministers Christ and not Himself. As the Lord Jesus
says in John 16:13-14, concerning the Spirit, "He shall not speak from Himself .
. . He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to
you." How precious it is, if only we experienced it more, to awake in the
morning with thoughts of the Lord Jesus filling our hearts. Our hearts and
affections wrought upon in all the refreshing power of the Spirit and prepared
for the reception of the manna as the food of God’s providing, so that as
strengthened and invigorated thereby, we might bring into active expression the
grace of that heavenly One in all the everyday circumstances of our wilderness
life. This life is reproduced in us as we walk in the path of God’s will, for it
is the life of One who came into the world not to do His own will, but the will
of Him that sent Him. Do not the words of the psalmist bear out the truth of
this? "He . . . had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the
corn of the heavens: man did eat the bread of the mighty" (Psalms 78:24-25).
This is the bread which strengthens us to walk as Jesus walked in this world,
even as the apostle says to the Colossian saints, "strengthened with all power
according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with
joy" (Colossians 1:11). The gathering "every morning" speaks of spiritual
diligence, and an ever present desire for that spiritual development which alone
can be ensured by feeding upon the manna, but there must be the desire on our
part, for "He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent
empty away" (Luke 1:53). How sad to have our taste so vitiated by the things of
this world that in our hearts we regard this "bread of the mighty" as "light
food." How solemn the warning in Numbers 11:1-35, "We remember the fish that we
ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers . . . and now our soul is dried up:
there is nothing at all but the manna before our eyes.

Then the Spirit of God gives us a brief, yet beautiful description of the manna,
speaking of it as having "the taste of oil cakes" or "fresh oil" (verse 8). In
Exodus 16:31, it is described as "the taste of it was like cake with honey."
There the sweetness of it is emphasised, what it would normally be to those
whose tastes were formed by grace. But in Numbers, where there is a sorrowful
distaste for it, its spiritual character is brought out distinctively. What is
of the Spirit will never be appreciated by the flesh; therefore if we seek to
enjoy what is of the Spirit there must be the continuous judgment and refusal of
the tastes and tendencies of the flesh. Only by such exercises can we arrive at
a true appraisal of the precious character of the manna, and of the greatness
and adequacy of the provision, with a resultant diligence of acquiring what God
has provided for us, in accordance with John 6:27, "Labour not for the meat
which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which
the Son of man shall give you; for Him hath God the Father sealed."

Then there was an equality of supply; no lack and no surplus. "And the children
of Israel did so, and gathered, some much, some little . . . every man according
to his eating" (Exodus 16:16-18). As another has truly said, "We all have as
much of Christ as we desire — no more and no less." Think of what the psalmist
says, "Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside
Thee" (Psalms 73:25). How searching this is. We cannot desire too much, and our
greatest demands will never be disappointed. Where there are enlarging
capacities they can never over-reach the greatness of the supply, for God has
said, "I am Jehovah thy God that brought thee up out of the land of Egypt: open
thy mouth wide and I will fill it" (Psalms 81:10). The measure, therefore, in
which we feed upon Christ, our true wilderness food, depends entirely upon our
spiritual needs, just as the body craves the food that is essential to its
well-being and development.

How blessed to see how the manna is spoken of in connection with the Sabbath.
"This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath
unto Me" (Verse 23). "Sabbath" means rest, and surely the thought before us is
that rest for our hearts is found in connection with the appropriation and
enjoyment of Christ as the One who came down out of heaven to be the food of His
people. It is not peace of conscience, for we are a redeemed people, but that
peace, that rest which He gives in a world estranged from Himself. Circumstances
are not what give us this peace; "These things have I spoken to you that in Me
ye might have peace. In the world ye have tribulation, but be of good courage: I
have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Peace, His tranquil peace, is known in
the midst of tribulation, and thus God glorifies Himself. The long Sabbath of
eternity never to be disturbed, will be due surely, not only in the knowledge
that He has made peace, but also that He is our peace; and as feeding upon
Christ now we shall surely enjoy sweet anticipations of that "rest, divinely
sweet." Would the cooking and the baking mentioned here speak of those spiritual
exercises which are necessary in order that we might derive the fullest measure
of profit from our feeding upon Christ? The grinding it in mills, or beating it
in mortars, as in Numbers 11:1-35, speaks rather of the expedients to which men
are resorting in these days, in order to make Christ palatable or agreeable to
the men of the world? These were the actions of those who had lost their taste
or appetite for "the corn of the heavens" and were regarding it as "light food."

How precious are the thoughts which cluster around the closing verses of our
chapter where the Lord commands Moses to "Fill an omer of it to be kept for your
generations; that they may see the bread that I gave you to eat in the
wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt (Exodus 16:32-36). It is
truly remarkable that though the manna could not be kept for one day’s need in
the wilderness, it could be kept for the land of Canaan. And so we are assured
from this, that while we cannot feed upon our yesterday’s experience as meeting
and satisfying the need of today, it will be for rich and eternal blessing when
reviewed with our blessed Lord as we enjoy the rest of the Father’s house. In
Exodus 16:34 we read, "As the Lord had commanded Moses, so Aaron deposited it
before the Testimony to be kept." This too, is worthy of note, for here we have
the first mention of the Testimony in connection with the manna. As we trace all
God’s dealings with men, we can discern a specific truth attaching to the
various testimonies which He committed to men in the gradual revelation of
Himself, until we come to the full revelation of Himself in the Son as the
opening verses of Hebrews tell us. This is the testimony committed to us, a
testimony of heavenly things consequent upon the death, resurrection and
ascension of the Lord Jesus to the right hand of the greatness on high. It is as
feeding upon the manna, therefore, as that "divine and heavenly food," that we
are enabled to maintain "the testimony of the Lord" in a hostile world, not
being ashamed of it, but walking in moral accord with it.

Hebrews 9:1-28 speaks of "the golden pot that had manna." The golden pot would
tell us of how God is glorified in what the manna discloses. We shall learn with
ever increasing wonder, how much that spotless life of "Christ once humbled
here" ministered constant and sustained delight to the Father’s heart. Although
it speaks of Him as a Man in this world, we shall find Him the same above, and
God will be glorified in Him forever. We shall find in the One upon the throne
of glory the same blessed One who had nowhere to lay His head in this world. We
shall not only "see" the hidden manna but "eat" of it as promised to the
overcomer in Pergamos. Fresher than ever will be our realisation of His love and
that unfailing grace that has sustained us in the midst of a vast profession
that dwells in this world and has those who hold the doctrine of Balaam. When we
are at home with Him we shall have the full enjoyment of all we have found Him
to be in the wilderness. Our feeding upon the manna here will determine the
capacity of our enjoyment of Him throughout eternity. The manna is not merely to
meet our present need, it is not merely to furnish us with strength and courage
for the desert path, but it is for our eternal enjoyment, and in a fulness in
which we have not yet known it.

Exodus 17:1-16. The scripture which has been repeatedly quoted in relation to
previous chapters, "Bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure" (Isaiah
33:16) has, in its contextual setting, special reference to the godly remnant of
a future day, those fearing His Name and walking in righteousness. It is not
difficult to savour the sweetness of divine compassion and assurance conveyed in
these words, which will sustain and strengthen the hearts of the beloved people
of God, as they are intended to do in a moment of extreme peril. Jerusalem, the
beloved city, the city of the great King, will be under siege by the implacable
enemies of God’s people, intent on their extermination, even as recently avowed,
and in accordance with the prediction of Psalms 83:1-18, "They say, Come and let
us cut them off from being a nation and let the name of Israel be mentioned no
more." But all the evil machinations of their enemies will come to naught as
Isaiah 33:10-11 declare. "Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I be
exalted; now will I lift up myself." The insolent foe shall not go unpunished.
"And the peoples" — the nations gathered against Israel — "shall be as burning
of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire." We know from other
Scriptures that God will relieve the beleaguered city and deliver His people;
"Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is
far off," or "the land of far distances."

While acknowledging its primary application to the people of God on earth in a
coming day, there is an appropriateness in its application to the circumstances
through which the children of Israel were passing in our present consideration
of them. Moreover, all their need was met according to the unfailing compassions
of God and in the full display of His power towards them. Bread had been given
them, as seen in the manna rained upon them from heaven; now, in our present
chapter we shall see how their water was to be made sure. And when these things
are translated into the language of grace for the instruction of a heavenly
people, how incomparably great they become, as we see the manna as a type of
Christ, the Bread of God which came down out of heaven, and the water, as
typifying the Spirit of God.

All these incidents which occurred in the journeys of the children of Israel are
by no means undesigned occurrences, but are intended to subserve the great
purpose of God concerning the blessing of His earthly people; and also to
furnish us, upon whom "the ends of the ages have come" with those invaluable
types which are of the deepest significance in their application to us, for whom
their accumulated wealth of blessing is reserved. Hence we are told in the first
verse of our chapter that the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness
of Sin, "according to their journeys, at the command of the Lord." Nothing is
left to chance, nor the changeable, capricious workings of the human mind, but
according to the settled purpose of God as intimated in Deuteronomy 8:2, "And
thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty
years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in
thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no." From
innumerable scriptures we learn how the experiences of the wilderness brought to
light the hearts of the people of God; hearts swathed in the dark and
impenetrable mists of unbelief as the result of "not hearkening to the word."
The apostle Paul, reminding the Hebrew Christians of how their forefathers had
provoked, refers to Psalms 95:1-11 and asks the solemn question, "And with whom
was He wroth these forty years? Was it not with those who had sinned, whose
carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware He that they should not enter
into His rest, but to those who had not hearkened to the word’? And we see that
they could not enter in on account of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:17-19).

There was however a need to be met, for when they pitched at Rephidim, "there
was no water for the people to drink." Truly this new circumstance again exposed
the inveterate unbelief of hearts that had tasted so unfailingly of the goodness
of their faithful God, for "the people did chide with Moses . . . and the people
murmured against Moses." This is extremely solemn, for Moses, rebuking them for
their murmuring in the previous chapter, prefers this solemn charge against
them, "Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord." Nevertheless,
God answers them in unqualified grace; without reservation He demonstrates the
magnitude and the munificence of the resources of His grace in bringing water
out of the flinty rocks to satisfy their thirst.

While it is unquestionably true that these circumstances, through which the
children of Israel passed in their journey through the wilderness, were
instrumental in bringing to light the deep-seated unbelief of their hearts; yet
it would appear that the paramount object in the mind of God was to bring them
into circumstances of need so that they might learn how great and effectual was
the grace of their God, who had brought them to Himself, and by whose word they
were to live. As Moses declares in Deuteronomy 8:1-20, "That He might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by everything that goeth out of
the mouth of Jehovah doth man live." It has already been noted that their
journeys were not according to human devising but according to divine direction,
as intimated in Exodus 15:22, "And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and
they went into the wilderness of Shur," and again in the first verse of our
chapter "And all the assembly of the children of Israel journeyed from the
wilderness of Sin, according to their journeys, at the command (or mouth) of
Jehovah." In these divinely-intentioned journeys, despite, yea, because of their
murmurings and guilty unbelief, they were to see God’s grace unfolded in all its
wealth and sufficiency in meeting their need, every intervention of God on their
behalf bearing upon it the stamp of grace, grace that triumphs over judgment,
for grace is a mightier triumph over sin than is judgment: and how great are the
triumphs of grace displayed in all the varied circumstances through which the
children of Israel passed, all of which have been preserved to us by the Spirit
of God for our enrichment, who have been blessed with infinitely greater
blessings; nevertheless they are shadowed forth in all those remarkable types
for our instruction. In all these memorable happenings we can discern how God is
desirous of our being led by the Spirit into an ever increasing knowledge of the
perennial and surpassing glories of Christ, the One in whom He finds constant
and unfailing delight and upon whom His eye and heart rests with deep and
abiding complacency. God desires that we should enter, with an ever enlarging
apprehension, into His own thoughts concerning the preciousness of Christ; as
Peter declares in his first epistle, 1 Peter 2:4-7, "To whom coming a living
stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God, chosen, precious, . .
. To you therefore who believe is the preciousness." And as finding Him to be
precious to us, we realise how utterly indispensable He is for the growth and
development of the life that is ours in Him. This thought is strengthened and
sustained by the assertions in John 6:53-57, "He that eats My flesh and drinks
My blood has life eternal . . . for My flesh is truly food and My blood is truly
drink." Then the thought of communion is introduced, "He that eats My flesh and
drinks My blood dwells in Me and I in him."

We then have the precious thought of how this life is sustained, "As the living
Father has sent Me and I live on account of the Father, he also who eats Me
shall live also on account of Me." We belong to that "countless host," resulting
from "the grain of wheat" falling into the ground and dying, and as the Spirit
adds, "But if it die, it bears much fruit." This involves our complete
identification with Christ in death, and thus bringing to an end what we were as
after the flesh, so that in resurrection, as the quickening or life-giving
Spirit, He might bring us into association with Himself in the new place He has
taken as Man, after having accomplished the work of redemption. In virtue of
accomplished redemption, and in the "abundance" of this heavenly life, He brings
us into relationship with the Father and Himself, the Head of this new and
spiritual race. To such, being morally qualified, He imparts the Spirit, thus
giving ability to comport ourselves with spiritual intelligence and moral
decorum in these new and heavenly relationships into which we have been brought.
Moreover, He enables us to feed constantly on His death (John 6:54; John 6:56),
and thus to enjoy communion with the Father and Himself, which is "life
eternal": but this can only be realised and enjoyed as we abide in Him.

These words have been written with the desire of emphasising the all-sufficiency
of Christ. As John Newton, the converted slave-trader, has expressed it so
beautifully in the hymn, "How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds" — Our
never-failing treasury filled With boundless stores of grace. And beyond all
doubt, this is the desire and intention of the Spirit in bringing before us
these incidents in the life of the children of Israel. As another has said,
referring to 2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 3:17, "The apostle unites in the
selfsame thought, the mind of God in the word according to the Spirit, the glory
of Christ who had been hidden in it under the letter, and the Holy Spirit
Himself who gave its force, revealed that glory and by dwelling and working in
the believer enables him to enjoy it . . . Christ glorified is the true thought
of the Spirit which God had hidden under figures." The children of Israel ate
material bread from heaven, and drank material water from the flinty rock, but
what is the spiritual import of these things to us? As we have already seen,
Christ is the true Manna, the bread of God "which has come down out of heaven."
As to the interpretation of the water from the rock, we are not left to the
capricious and misleading surmisings of men, but the Spirit himself has, clearly
and distinctly, interpreted this for us, "they drank of a spiritual rock which
followed them: (now the rock was the Christ)." How the Spirit would instruct us
in the full knowledge of the wealth and sufficiency of this grace which found
its supreme expression in Christ, while every expression of it witnessed to the
inexhaustible fulness of the One who administers this grace to the glory of Him
who is the "God of all grace."

Before considering the precious truths connected with the smiting of the rock,
it might be profitable to note how the Spirit uses two words as though to
perpetuate the sin of the children of Israel. In verse 6, God says to Moses,
"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb," then in verse 7
it states, "And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of
the contention of the children of Israel, and because they had tempted Jehovah
saying, "Is Jehovah among us, or not?"

Massah means temptation, Meribah means contention, and these names, expressly
used by the Spirit, are descriptive of the moral state of the people, and
indisputably proved their hardened hearts of unbelief towards God. For in
chiding or contending with Moses, who was God’s representative, they were
veritably contending with God and putting Him to the proof by doubting or
virtually denying His presence among them. Solemn words! and there they stand
today with all their solemn and seasonable admonition for our own souls. May
they produce that watchfulness against every movement of the flesh, lest we too
should be guilty of manifesting those morally disfiguring features of contention
and unbelief. Rather let us profit thereby and, as walking in the consciousness
of companionship with the Lord Jesus, be able to say with the beloved Psalmist,
in deep assurance of faith, "For Thou art with me"; the One of whom he had said
at the beginning of the Psalm, "Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters."

How pregnant with divine refreshment are the words of the beloved apostle, "At
my first defence no man stood with me, but all deserted me . . . But the Lord
stood with me, and gave me power" (2 Timothy 4:16-17). May each one of us be
marked increasingly by that simple, unquestioning, child-like confidence in our
faithful God, as it is written, "Satisfied with your present circumstances, for
He has said, I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).

Let us now consider this remarkable scene as God stands before Moses on the rock
of Horeb. How affecting this is to our hearts when spiritually interpreted
according to the design of the Spirit. Moses is told "Thy rod, wherewith thou
smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.” In this incident we have another
instance of the grace of God rising above the sin of His people, for it was
their sin which occasioned the smiting of the rock; and here too we have another
aspect of the death of Christ by which we are further instructed in the
immensity of blessing accruing to us as the fruit of the death of Christ. The
rod in the hand of Moses was the symbol of God’s power and authority; this was
the rod that Moses stretched out over the Red Sea to divide it as God had
commanded him. As we have already seen, the stretching forth of the rod by
Moses, in which was invested the power and authority of God and which was
exercised in judicial power — as indicated in the language employed in our
chapter — "the rod with which thou didst smite the river" — was a type of the
death and resurrection of Christ, the righteous means by which we are delivered
completely from the enemy’s power and by which we may leave the world morally,
as the sphere in which he exercises his power. Christ "has been delivered for
our offences and has been raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25). This
aspect of the death of Christ is clearly set forth in baptism, according to the
teaching of Romans 6:3-4, "Are you ignorant that we, as many as have been
baptized unto Christ Jesus, have been baptized unto His death? We have been
buried therefore with Him by baptism unto death, in order that, even as Christ
was raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should
walk in newness of life." His precious death is ours, we have died with Him, and
as He has died to sin and lives to God, so we, in virtue of that death, are
entitled to regard ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The world is the sphere of sin, where man finds unlimited scope for the exercise
of a will entirely unsubjected to the will of God. The Lord Jesus had no moral
contact with such a world. There was nothing in common between Him, the
perfectly obedient One, and a world dominated by the will of man. In death, He
has gone out of this world, and we, as having died with Him, reckon ourselves
"dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." In the smiting of the rock we
have, in type, the death of Christ in vital connection with the giving of the
Holy Spirit as the power of life. In the giving of the manna we have the type of
the Lord Jesus in the place of humiliation and rejection in this world; the
giving of the living water depends upon His exaltation and glory. But that
wonderful pathway trodden by the Son of God, a life sustained by the Spirit of
holiness and exhibiting in superlative degree every feature of moral excellence
so precious to the Father’s heart and concerning which He expressed His deep and
lasting appreciation, was not the ground upon which the Spirit, as the promise
of the Father, was given. A work had to be done which involved the death of the
Son of God. How precious therefore are the thoughts which cluster around this
scene at Mount Horeb; how affecting to the hearts of those who can say, "He was
wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." The smitten
rock speaks to us of a crucified Saviour, and crucifixion is a penal action. It
was not merely a martyr’s death, as men speak of it; it was the death of One,
when, "He who knew no sin, was made sin for us," and as cur substitute —
absolutely sinless in Himself — was smitten with the rod of God in all its
judicial and unmitigated power. Nothing was allowed to enfeeble the sense of
divine wrath at the moment when He was "smitten of God and afflicted," and we
can discern the measure in which the sinless Sufferer realised this, as
expressed in the moment of His great extremity, "My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me." There was no hand put forth to stay the avenging rod; no voice to
say, as in the case of Abraham and Isaac, "Stretch not out thy hand against the
lad, neither do anything to him." Neither was there a substitute found for Him,
for He was the true Ram of sacrifice, displaying that energy of devotedness to
the will of God even unto death, "and that the death of the cross." When dealing
with the question of sin, "God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for
us all." The death of God’s own Son was a divine necessity because of sin which
had called in question every attribute of God’s character. But in virtue of His
atoning work, we see the conciliation of every attribute of God, for in the
cross we see that "Loving-kindness and truth are met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other" (Psalms 85:10). God has been fully glorified
according to the words of the Lord Jesus, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and
God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God also shall glorify Him
in Himself and shall glorify Him immediately (John 13:31-32).

How blessed to have our attention drawn by the Spirit of God to the smiting of
the rock as indicative of the unexampled sufferings of Christ, where the sin of
man reached its fullest expression, and the love of God, supreme in goodness,
surmounted and surpassed the hatred of men, for He "was given up by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." He was alone in that dark hour,
as the "sparrow alone upon the house-top." He had "looked for sympathy, but
there was none, and for comforters," but found none. His was a loneliness that
none could share, and with which none could sympathize, for they did not
understand. The work of atonement, as typified in the smitten rock, is now
accomplished, and on the ground of this the Spirit has been given. "He opened
the rock and the waters gushed forth; They ran on the dry places like a river"
(Psalms 105:41). It is worthy of note that Horeb means "the dry place." Only
when the rock was smitten could "the waters gush forth," and not before, in
order to meet and satisfy the need of the thirsty multitude. The smiting of our
living Rock, which is Christ, has provided us with a spring of refreshment and
power as eternally satisfying and inexhaustible as the source from which it
flows, the heart of a God whose name is love. The water which flowed from the
rock is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. It has been said that all streams carry
with them the witness of their source and the soil through which they flow. The
presence of the Spirit of God in this world, according to the words of the Lord
Jesus, is the mighty and irrefutable witness to His glorification at the right
hand of the Father, "And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another
Comforter, and he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world
cannot receive because it does not see him nor know him; but ye know him, for he
abides with you and shall be in you" (John 14:15-17). The Spirit being here is
the fruit of accomplished redemption and our acceptance before God in all the
abiding efficacy and value of that accepted work, and by which the flood-gates
of the heart of a Saviour-God are opened wide to pour streams of grace, of life,
and of unutterable blessing upon a barren and thirsty world.

Before this work of redemption, the heart of God was in measure restrained in
expression, though not in its disposition to bless. The momentous question of
sin had to be righteously resolved in order that His glory as a Saviour-God
might be secured and demonstrated in grace to men. In the light of this, how
precious to read these imperishable words written by the Spirit, "And Jesus,
having again cried with a loud voice, gave up His spirit, and lo, the veil of
the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom" (Matthew 27:50-51). God,
now no longer hidden in thick darkness as when His people were under law,
immediately comes forth in fulness of grace toward men. The result of the
smiting of the rock was that water came out of it. Such is the amazing result of
the death of Christ, that God can give us His Holy Spirit. No doubt, with a
burdened conscience and a deep sense of guilt as having to do with a sin-hating
God, our great concern is for the forgiveness of sins and relief from this
intolerable burden; but having experienced this relief, how soul-sustaining for
every true child of God to consider the death of Christ in relation to the
giving of the Spirit. The Spirit dwelling in us is "the Spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba Father," and "the Spirit itself bears witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:14-16). The Spirit of God has
come down as the fruit of accomplished redemption and of our acceptance in the
Beloved, and brings us consciously into the enjoyment of our new relationship in
accordance with the words of our Lord Jesus, "In that day ye shall know that I
am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). The Spirit engages
our hearts with Christ and with the Father, so that communion with the Father
and the Son is our present portion, known and enjoyed in the Spirit’s power, who
also enables us to respond to the love of the Father and the Son; and in this
our joy is full.

How great are the divine resources available to us as having the presence and
power of the Spirit. Yet the truth of this is a constant rebuke to our feeble
apprehension of it; for as having the Spirit dwelling in us as the power for
testimony, there should flow from us "rivers of living water" for the blessing
and refreshment of others. May we be encouraged in knowing that the vessel is
not the measure of the stream. God gives not the Spirit by measure. This was
said in connection with the Lord Jesus who had come from heaven (though ever the
Son of man who is in heaven) in order to bear witness of those heavenly things,
the things which He had seen and heard. John had borne witness of earthly
things, but the testimony of Jesus, who is above all, had reference to heavenly
things, and, as sent of God, His testimony was the testimony of God, "for He
whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives not the Spirit by
measure" (John 3:34). Every true believer in Christ is indwelt by this selfsame
Spirit, who is the power for the intelligent apprehension and enjoyment, in
responsive affection of those heavenly relationships with the Father and the
Son, and the power whereby we bear witness of these heavenly things, for the
blessing and refreshment of others. The remaining verses of the chapter bring
before us a new foe — and yet one too well known to those who are the people of
God, and conflict with whom is regrettably an all too constant experience, to
our spiritual detriment and loss. Amalek is referred to as being typical of the
flesh’s will or lust. It should be noted when Amalek came and fought with
Israel. The connection is very solemn and commands our prayerful consideration
since it bears vitally upon those who "walk according to Spirit" and not
"according to flesh."

Verses seven and eight give us not merely the literal connection but also the
moral connection. In the former verse, it reads, "And he called the name of the
place Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and
because they tempted the Lord saying, Is the Lord among us or not?" The language
of verse eight suggests a consequence, "Then came Amalek and fought with Israel
in Rephidim." From this we can observe that the moral connection is not between
the gift of water from the smitten rock and Amalek’s onslaught, but between the
unbelief of the people and Amalek’s attack. This conflict is not of God’s
proposing, but is the result of the lack of faith in active exercise toward God;
in the absence of this we fall an easy prey to this ever-watchful enemy who
gains the ascendancy over us with all that is a positive hindrance to the
formative work of the Spirit in us. God does not call to this conflict. He did
not say, "Seek out Amalek and destroy him," but Amalek — the power of the
adversary acting through the flesh — seeks out Israel, and it was Israel’s
unbelief which exposed them to attack. How appropriate therefore the exhortation
of the apostle; he does not say, "War against fleshly lusts," but "Beloved, I
exhort you, as strangers and sojourners, to abstain from fleshly lusts which war
against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11). If we would abstain, there would be no
warfare, but if not, fleshly lusts, under the powerful stimulus of the enemy,
war against us and we are entangled by those things which hinder us in our
onward march to the possession of our inheritance. The lusts of the flesh would
have no hold over us, did we but walk in the practical realization of death with
Christ to sin, by faith "reckoning ourselves dead indeed unto sin" as we are
bound and entitled to do. Thus this character of conflict would be unknown to
us. The apostle Paul stresses this thought in the words, "He that has died is
justified from sin." A dead man cannot be charged with sin or sins; this is
faith’s reckoning of course, but real and necessary. May we live more and more
in the power of faith’s reckoning, that we have died with Christ, and thus give
no place to the flesh and its lusts. This reckoning is faith’s prerogative as it
is our privilege and our duty.

God, in His surpassing grace, has not left us to our own devices in the
resisting and overcoming of this foe. A new leader is appointed, none other than
Joshua — Jah, the Saviour, who is here a type of the Lord Jesus, who, as leader,
is bringing those many sons to glory. With such a leader there can be no thought
of temporizing with the enemy, no thought of defeat, or of compromise, or of
surrender. Supreme and sustained courage is necessary in which to wage this
conflict, as Paul exhorts us, "Quit yourselves like men; be strong." Our leader
will not fail us, it is Christ in the energy of the Spirit which is
distinctively set forth in Joshua, leading us into the present, practical
apprehension of our portion in those heavenly places into which He has gone, as
those who have been made to "sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ
Jesus."

It is well, however, to remember the words written by Moses regarding the coming
of Amalek: "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come out
of Egypt; how he met thee on the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all the
feeble that lagged behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary, and he feared
not God" (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). Does this not suggest some evidence of decline,
for when they were brought out of Egypt in all the triumph of a divinely wrought
salvation, the Psalmist tells us that, "there was not one feeble among their
tribes" (Psalms 105:37). How all-sufficing is God’s provision for the wilderness
— "the manna and the springing well suffice for every need" — but it is only as
we appropriate this rich provision as food for our souls that we can be
maintained in spiritual energy and freshness; otherwise we become enfeebled
spiritually, and it is then we are assailed by Amalek — the adversary acting in
all his subtle power through the flesh — and so our progress is retarded.

How essential therefore is such a Leader in order to be victorious over every
movement of this enemy. A positive and sustained link with Christ in the scene
to which He has gone is necessary for successful warfare in this scene. The
appearance of Joshua fittingly follows the water from the rock, a type, as we
have seen, of the ministry of the Spirit. Here, as has also been pointed out, we
see how Canaan experience coalesces with wilderness experience for the believer
of this present dispensation. While, in a certain sense, wilderness experience
may precede Canaan, yet for our successful crossing of these "desert lands" on
to the actual possession of our inheritance, the two must go together. We want
the positive enjoyment of the portion that is ours in the heavenlies in Christ
in order to be really pilgrims and strangers in this world. Is it not of great
moment that these types teach us this in a very remarkable way? But more than
the inspired leadership of Joshua — representative of Christ acting in us in the
energy of the Spirit of God — is necessary for the overthrow of Amalek. Success
with Joshua on the plain is dependent on the activities of Moses on the hill-top
before God, for if Moses’ hand was raised, Israel prevailed; if it was let down,
Amalek prevailed. In order therefore to sup-port Moses in that attitude which
ensured victory to Israel, a stone was placed under him, while Aaron and Hur
supported his hands with the rod of power — the rod of God, as significantly
stated here, "and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And
Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."

Moses is here a type of Christ, as he is principally throughout the history of
the children of Israel; but here, as representative of Him who "is not entered
into the holy places made with hand, figures of the true, but into heaven
itself, now to appear before the face of God for us," One who carries on without
ceasing His present service of intercession on our behalf. "Whence also He is
able to save completely those who approach by Him to God, always living to
intercede for them" (Hebrews 7:25). In the supporters of Moses’ hands we have
typified what characterized the Lord Jesus as our great High Priest, as set
forth in Aaron; One of whom we can say, "For we have not a high priest not able
to sympathize with our infirmities, but tempted in all things in like manner,
sin apart" (Hebrews 4:15). In Hur, meaning "purity" or "light," we have the Lord
Jesus presented as the One who fully displays the character of God, as light.
Here we have, on the one hand, mercy towards man, and, on the other,
righteousness Godward, suggesting at once the scripture in 1 John 2:1, "My
little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." It is
well that it was "with the edge of the sword" Joshua discomfited his enemies.
The "sword of the Spirit is the word of God" which "is living and operative . .
. a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). This is
necessary for self-judgment, which is really the judgment of our foes. Our
Amalek is within, our hearts are the battle-ground.

Let us again remember that we are not called to this conflict, it is we, who, at
a distance from the Lord through unwatchfulness, expose ourselves to Amalek’s
attack. Yet, how gracious of our God to have furnished us with the means of
meeting the attack; "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall in no way fulfil flesh’s
lust. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh;
and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those
things which ye desire" (Galatians 5:16-17). The path for us, according to the
mind of God, is the happier path of those who have died unto sin once, and live
unto God. Amalek is not destroyed; the flesh is still in us, though in our
standing before God we are no longer in flesh but in Spirit. In Philippians, the
epistle of true Christian experience, the flesh is mentioned only once, in order
to say we have no confidence in it, "For we are the circumcision, who worship by
the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh" (Php
3:3). May we know something of this in our walk from day to day.

Exodus 18:1-27. In this chapter we have introduced, in type, an enlargement of
thought consistent with the promise of God to Abraham that he should be the
father of a multitude of nations, and that all the families of the earth should
be blessed in him, blessing on the principle of faith, he being "the father of
all them that believe." We have also the coming in of the Gentiles, which will
be fully realized in the world to come. This expression, "the world to come,"
was very familiar to the Jew, as comprehending all that would be brought in by
Christ, the Messiah. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews presents truth
calculated to detach the hearts of those to whom he wrote from all that savours
of this world, engaging their thoughts with the world to come with its heavenly
character of blessings. They had been partakers of the rights of Israel in
relation to an earthly calling, but were now addressed as "holy brethren,
partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1), as confessing the One rejected
by the guilty nation, and partaking of the unmeasured blessings of the heavenly
calling.

Though the greatest prominence is given to the heavenly character of the
believing Jews, there are nevertheless many references in the Old Testament
Scriptures to the future blessing of Israel as God’s people on earth, "For the
gifts and the calling of God are not subject to repentance." In our present
chapter we are brought, in type, to the day of Israel’s complete deliverance and
reinstatement in Immanuel’s land, in accordance with God’s promises to Abraham,
to which abundant and convincing testimony has been borne throughout the word of
God. Here too we have the bringing in of the Gentiles, for it has always been
God’s intention that the Gentiles should rejoice with His earthly people. as
Moses declares in Deuteronomy 32:43, "Shout for joy, ye nations, with His
people." (See also Isaiah 11:10 and Zechariah 8:23). In this connection it is of
the greatest moment to see in verse 12 of our chapter how Jethro, Moses’
father-in-law, "took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God." Here we see the
Gentile, one of the nations, taking his place before God in all the sweet savour
of the offering of Christ, surely indicating the apprehension by Gentiles of
Christ in all His acceptability to God, both as to His Person and His
sacrificial work that form the sure foundation of all blessing. Had Israel been
amenable to instruction in the ways of God, the abundant and convincing
testimony of their prophets ought to have prepared them for the outflowing of
God’s grace beyond the limits of their own blessing, even of an earthly
character. Yet how far removed they were from understanding these divine ways,
in any period of their history, as presented to us in Acts 7:1-60, where
Stephen, by the Spirit, gives such a remarkable summary of God’s dealings with
the nation of Israel, and closes with the most solemn indictment which has ever
been passed upon any nation, "O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers, ye also." Well might
Isaiah say of them, "I have stretched out my hands all the day unto a rebellious
people, who walk in a way not good, after their own thoughts" (Isaiah 65:1-2).

While holding clearly in our minds that what is prefigured in Exodus 18:1-27 is
the bringing in of the Gentiles for earthly blessing in "the world to come,"
yet, in this present dispensation of grace, we find the bringing in of the
Gentiles according to the eternal purpose of God, but for an infinitely deeper
and fuller measure of blessing, as suited to a people called with a heavenly
calling. This, however, was an entirely new revelation, the mystery made known
to the Apostle Paul, and which, as we learn from Ephesians 3:9, was not hidden
in the Old Testament Scriptures, but "hid in God" from the beginning of the
world. The appropriateness of this reference to God’s present activity in grace,
in the formation of the Assembly, will be seen in the introduction of Zipporah,
the wife of Moses, who is a very interesting type of the Church. The mention too
of her sons, whose names are specially mentioned, provides us with instruction
of no little significance. In Exodus 2:1-25 we see Zipporah given to Moses in
the time of his separation from Israel, and the name he gives his firstborn son
indicates his profound consciousness of this, for "Gershom" means "A stranger
there," even as Moses said, "’I have been a sojourner in a foreign land." To his
second son Moses gives the name of Eliezer, meaning "God is my help," for he
said, "the God of my father was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of
Pharaoh." The names of Moses’ sons are also prophetic, the first speaking of the
long, weary centuries of exile from Immanuel’s land, because they had forsaken
Jehovah for other gods, and had therefore come under His chastening hand, and
were scattered through-out the world (1 Peter 1:1). The name of the second son
foretells Israel’s final deliverance by God their helper. Then will the words of
the prophet be fulfilled, "Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a mighty One that
will save: He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will
exult over thee with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Zipporah, the Gentile bride given to Moses in the day of his alienation from
Israel, prefigures in a very beautiful way the giving of the Church to Christ
during His rejection by the nation at the present time, but in view of
millennial blessing in the world to come, as typified in this chapter. (In the
case of Joseph, another attractive type of the Lord Jesus, we have in Asenath,
his Gentile bride, another type of the Assembly. The names of her sons mean
"Forgetting," and "Fruitfulness"; the Lord finding His joy among the Gentiles
during the time of His rejection by Israel.) The bride of Moses typifies the
Assembly in its intimate association with Christ in the day of His power and
manifested glory, sharing all with Him, as brought out in Ephesians 1:22-23.
There we see Christ as "Head over all things to the assembly, which is His body,
the fulness of Him who fills all in all." Heaven and earth will be united in
that day, though in marked contrast to each other, the heavenly and the earthly
companies finding their true and vital centre in Christ alone. This is brought
before us in a very instructive manner in John 1:49-51, where Nathaniel,
representing the faith of the nation of Israel in a day to come, confesses
Christ as "The Son of God . . . the King of Israel," according to what was
written in Psalms 2:1-12. As Son of God, Jesus was rejected in the high priest’s
court, and as King of Israel, He was rejected before Pilate. In answer to the
confession of Nathaniel, Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man." The word "henceforth" suggests the immediacy of
this homage of the angels of God to the Son of Man, while the introduction of
the kingdom in power may be deferred, and then those who received the Lord while
He was here will see Him as the object of the service on the part of those
"ministering spirits." By His becoming Man, Jesus claimed His title as the Son
of Man in this world, and it is to Him as Man the angels of God render this
service to Him; and when Jesus receives everlasting dominion, and the kingdom
which shall not be destroyed, "all peoples, nations and languages shall serve
Him" (Daniel 7:1-28).

Truly these are "greater things," and they introduce to us the working out of
those heavenly counsels of God, counsels regarding an incomparably larger sphere
of blessing and glory than that which concerns the blessing of Israel as a
nation. The truth of this is borne out in Psalms 8:1-9, where, prophetically.
Jesus is spoken of as the Son of Man, and also in those Scriptures where this
Psalm is referred to (1 Corinthians 15:1-58; Ephesians 1:1-23; Hebrews 2:1-18).

How precious it is to trace the rich unfolding of divine truth concerning the
manifested glory of the "Man whom the King delights to honour," both in heaven
and on earth, and in both of which the Gentiles have a favoured place of
blessing. It is good for us to distinguish between the heavenly and earthly
aspects of that day of glory for which the groaning creation is ever looking
with earnest expectation, to "be set free from the bondage of corruption into
the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (Romans 8:18-22), the day when
the "heirs of God, and Christ’s joint-heirs" will be manifested with Him, even
as it is written in Colossians 3:4, "When the Christ is manifested who is our
life, then shall ye also he manifested with Him in glory." This chapter also
brings us to the end of the first part of Israel’s journey through the
wilderness. In the first part, up to Sinai, it is grace, unrestricted, which has
brought the children of Israel thus far on their journey, the same grace which
redeemed them from Egypt, and by which they experienced, in full measure, the
boundless resources of God in the midst of all their infirmities. The manna was
given as food for the wilderness — a type of Christ for us. From the smitten
rock the waters gushed forth to satisfy their thirst, precious type of the death
of Christ for us with the subsequent giving of the Spirit. Then, as in our
present chapter, following the dispensation of the Spirit, we find, in figure,
the blessing of Jew and Gentile, and the establishment of governmental order as
will exist during the millennium. Furthermore, we have the Assembly brought in
as pre-figured in Zipporah. In meeting with Jethro, his father-in-law, Moses
gives a touching account of all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the
Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and how He had delivered them out of all the
travail that had come upon them by the way; and Jethro rejoiced with Moses in
all the goodness of the Lord to His people. Typically, this scene looks forward
to the time when all the sorrows of Israel’s dispersion will be past, when they
will be delivered from the hands of all their enemies, and they will be in
possession of their long-expected and long-delayed blessing, and be brought to
"inherit the desolate heritages."

It is beautiful to observe how Jethro, the Gentile, acknowledges the absolute
and unrivalled supremacy of Israel’s God, where he says, "Now I know that the
Lord is greater than all gods, for in the thing they dealt proudly He was above
them." The psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, looks forward to the day when
this supremacy will be manifested, when the Lord Jesus, David’s Son and David’s
Lord, shall have taken His great power, reigning over all, and all His enemies
made the footstool of His feet: "And Thou girdest me with strength to battle:
Thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me . . . Thou hast
delivered me from the strivings of the people; Thou hast made me the Head of the
nations; a people I knew not doth serve me. At the hearing of the ear they obey
me; strangers come cringing unto me" (Psalms 18:39-44).

We have in Exodus 18:12 of our chapter what is figurative of the uniting of
Israel and the Gentiles in the worship of the true God in the fulness of earthly
blessing. The "burnt offering and sacrifices to God" remind us that all
blessing, whether earthly or heavenly, is the fruit of the sacrificial work of
Christ, which meets the claims of God and is so delightful to His heart. It is
necessary to emphasise the reality of the sacrificial work of Christ in
atonement, since one of the deadliest errors within the vast sphere of
Christendom’s systematized evil teachings, which are so rapidly developing, is
the lie of the adversary that man is brought into association with Christ by
incarnation, thereby completely ignoring the necessity for the atoning suffering
of our blessed Lord. The incarnation of the Son of God was only the first, and
necessary, step in that wonderful pathway over which the devoted heart loves to
ponder with "unchanging, fresh delight," but the "death of the cross" was the
end of that pathway, and the supreme expression of that unfaltering, undeviating
obedience to the will of God in that "path uncheered by earthly smiles," and
which "led only to the cross." This was the great purpose of the coming of the
Lord Jesus into the world in accordance with His own words, "Wherefore coming
into the world He says, Sacrifice and offering Thou willedst not, but Thou hast
prepared me a body . . . Lo, I come to do Thy will" (Hebrews 10:5-9). When found
in this world, in that body specially prepared for Him, He declares the purpose
of His being found among men, "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). In
this act of worship on the part of Jethro with Moses, Aaron, and the elders of
Israel, there is the typical setting forth of what is predicted in the prophets.
Moses, the "king in Jeshurun" (Deuteronomy 33:5), typifies the Lord as spoken of
in Zechariah 14:9, "Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall
there be one Jehovah, and His Name one." Then Micah, in perfect harmony with
this, declares, "And it shall come to pass in the end of days (when Messiah
reigns) that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the ton of
the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and the peoples shall
flow unto it. And many nations shall go and say, Come let us go up to the
mountain of Jehovah, and to the house of the God of Jacob . . ." (Micah 4:1-4).
Israel’s place of blessing in that day is also declared, "And the remnant of
Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as dew from Jehovah, as showers upon
the grass, that tarrieth not for man, neither waiteth for the sons of men"
(Micah 5:7). As has already been mentioned, this particular portion of the word
of God sets before us, in type, the world to come. Israel is blessed of God, and
the Gentiles rejoice with Israel in communion with them, and in the glad and
unjealous acknowledgement of its place of supremacy in the midst of the nations.
Zipporah is a type of the Assembly, the bride of Christ, associated with Him in
heavenly glory, and she is His companion in His administration of that vast
scene of blessing, when "The kingdom of the world of our Lord and of His Christ
is come, and He shall reign to the ages of ages" (Revelation 11:15). The closing
section of the chapter brings before us, typically, the order and administration
of Christ’s earthly kingdom. It will be a scene of divine order, for "a King
shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment" (Isaiah 32:1).
Here is what the Lord referred to in Matthew 19:28 when speaking to His
disciples, "Verily, I say unto you, That ye who have followed me, in the
regeneration (the millennium) when the Son of Man shall sit down upon His throne
of glory, ye also shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel." Do we not have the fulfilment of this in Revelation 21:1-27 where the
Assembly, as the holy city, forms the administrative centre, the seat of
Christ’s government over Israel and the nations during the millennium? In that
city which has come down out of heaven from God — not to be on the earth, but
over it — having the glory of God, we see how the number twelve and its
multiples predominate, since the number twelve signifies the perfection of
government on or over the earth. So in verse 13 we have "twelve gates"
mentioned, and on the gates were inscribed names, "which are those of the twelve
tribes of Israel." The glorified saints in general shall judge the world and
angels, according to 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, but the judgment of the tribes of
Israel has been given specially to the apostles. In Psalms 72:1-20, a beautiful
millennial psalm, which as its superscription denotes is "concerning Solomon,"
it declares in verses 2 and 3, "He will judge Thy people in righteousness, and
Thine afflicted with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
and the hills, by righteousness." How this wonderful prediction glows with a
divine and heavenly radiance when viewed, according to the Spirit’s intention,
in connection with Him who is "a greater than Solomon," and the true "Son of
peace." Then "judgment shall inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness dwell in
the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect
of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. And my people shall dwell in a
peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places"
(Isaiah 32:16-18).

While God in grace overruled all that passed between Moses and Jethro with
regard to the judging of the people for the good of the people, it cannot be
said that Moses was acting in strict conformity to the mind of God. God has seen
fit to leave on record this incident in His precious word, which is the product
of divine inspiration, for our profit and admonition. Jethro’s concern was for
Moses; his reasoning was subtle, and would be regarded by the world as prudent,
but it was not wise since he left God entirely out of his calculations. It is
ever dangerous, if not disastrous, to listen to the specious reasonings of the
human mind with regard to those divine and heavenly things which God has so
freely given us.

How great is the example of the beloved Apostle in this connection. As he stands
before king Agrippa, recounting with deep fervour the details of that wonderful
experience he had while journeying to Damascus, when a light shone from heaven
brighter than the sun at noon-day, and he heard the voice of Jesus telling him
to "rise up, and stand on thy feet; for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to
appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of
what I shall appear to thee in," then Paul declares, "Whereupon king Agrippa, I
was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:12-20).

Furthermore, in writing to the Galatians, in alluding to this experience, he
says, "For do I now seek to satisfy men or God? or do I seek to please men? If I
were yet pleasing men, I were not Christ’s bondman . . . But when God, who set
me apart even from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, was pleased to
reveal His Son in me, that I may announce Him as glad tidings among the nations,
immediately I took not counsel with flesh and blood" (Galatians 1:10-16). Then
in writing to the saints at Corinth he says, "And such confidence have we
through the Christ towards God; not that we are competent of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves, but our competency is of God, who has also made us
competent, as ministers of the new covenant" (2 Corinthians 3:4-6). In these
days of vaunted religious activity, with the adoption of the methods of the
world in order to make the Gospel palatable to the men of the world, and
consummately organised, the question is, Are we seeking to please God or men?
Moses complied with the counsel of Jethro. Man thinks he can improve upon the
order of God. Is this not the secret of the ruin of the Assembly as the public
witness for God in this world? To all external appearances the governmental
system advised by Jethro may have been very orderly and beautifully
proportioned, but did it answer to the mind of God?

Another has written, "How many have got apparently the Gospel in another way
than this. They call it ’the glorious gospel,’ but they do not know it as what
Scripture really entitles it, the ’Gospel of the glory of Christ.’ They have not
learned it in His own presence from Himself. They preach and believe in a
utilitarian gospel in which man’s blessing is everything and God’s claim very
little. They are orthodox and evangelical, with a ’great heart for the Gospel,
and a little one for Christ.’ His claims, His commandments, the truths of His
blessed word, are pared down to the smallest fraction that the Gospel may be
exalted into His place, and souls may not be hindered from accepting that which
brings with it little responsibility and introduces into no ’narrow’ path. Thus
the Christian life is marred, Christ dishonoured, and the Gospel itself pitiably
disfigured, while unconverted crowds are its adherents, and men scoff without
rebuke at cheap religion." These words were written many years ago, but how
applicable they are to the days in which we find ourselves.

Exodus 19:1-25. In this chapter we are brought to a very crucial stage in the
history of the children of Israel. The chapters which we have considered show in
a very touching manner what God is for man, revealing the manifold ways in which
His never-failing grace was manifested towards them. Even their murmurings, so
unworthy of a people that had been so richly blessed of God, became occasions
for fresh demonstrations of His grace which were so lightly esteemed by them.
How all those manifestations of His measureless grace bore witness to the
worthiness of their faithful covenant-keeping God; One, who "if we are
unfaithful, he abides faithful, for he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13).
Mark this latter clause, especially the word "cannot" as indicating that God
must and will act consistently with the full and harmonious display of all His
attributes.

How perfect was the grace in which God dealt with them, in accordance with the
relationship which He had established in fulfilment of all His promises, and the
tenderness of that relationship is borne witness to in a very powerful and
convincing manner in those Scriptures inspired by the Spirit of God. Not only
had God blessed them in His own super-abundant way, but He had brought them to
Himself. In that song of triumph sung by Moses and the children of Israel on the
other side of the Red Sea, we have this remarkable declaration, "Thou by thy
mercy hast led forth the people that thou hast redeemed, thou hast guided them
by thy strength unto the abode of thy holiness" (Exodus 15:13). In the fourth
verse of our present chapter we read these words, over which the heart ponders
with ever increasing delight in its suited application to the children of God of
this present dispensation, "Ye have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and
how I have borne you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself." Complemental
to this are these heart-moving expressions of the prophet Isaiah, "in his love
and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them and carried them all the days
of old" (Isaiah 63:9). In Jeremiah 31:32, Jehovah speaks of "the day of my
taking them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt." And what shall
we say of the tender, affectionate solicitude expressed in these touching words
so expressive of parental affection, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him
. . . and I it was that taught Ephraim to walk — He took them upon his arms"
(Hosea 11:1; Hosea 11:3). Just as a mother holds her child in her arms as the
object of her protecting love and care, and holds its arms when teaching it to
walk, so God dealt with His earthly people. He carried them as an infant is
carried, and sustained them by His everlasting arms when teaching them to walk
in His ways in complete dependence upon Him, and in unwavering confidence in
Him. But how unsteady and uncertain were their steps, stumbling all the way — at
Marah, in the wilderness of Sin, Rephidim — but still those mighty arms
sustained them with a patience that was inexhaustible, "for a time of about
forty years he nursed them in the desert" (Acts 13:18). In all these words the
Spirit would convey to our hearts the compassionate tenderness with which God
dealt with the people whom He had brought into relationship with Himself on the
ground of accomplished redemption. But henceforth all is changed in the people’s
relationships with the God whose perfect and long-suffering grace in all their
murmurings had declared, beyond all shadow of doubt, that He was for them, and
also in the manner and measure in which He had supplied all their desires. The
great change in their relationship with God can be seen in the fact that similar
desires, under the law, brought upon them very bitter chastisements. This was
the result of their being no longer under grace, as the ground of their
relationship with God, but under law. In Exodus 19:5-6 God makes a proposal by
way of testing them. The substance of this proposal was: Hitherto I have done
everything for you, but now I propose to make the continuance of my favour
dependent upon your obedience to my commandments. Are you willing to accept
these terms as the ground of my future relationships with you? We shall see how
their unreflecting acceptance of these conditions brought them under law and the
bitter consequences resulting from their inability to meet God’s righteous
demands. The opening verses of our chapter witness to the faithfulness of God to
the promise given to Moses in Exodus 3:12, "And he said, Certainly I will be
with thee: and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou
hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this
mountain." Mount Sinai is really a range of high hills, sometimes called Horeb
as in chapter 3, which may be a more general name for the whole of the range,
Sinai being one of the mountain peaks.

Before placing such a momentous proposal before them, as mentioned in verses 5
and 6, through Moses as the Mediator, God reminds them of what He had done for
them, in language calculated to touch their hearts and arouse feelings of
deepest gratitude for all that He had done for them; how those mighty resources
of divine grace and wisdom and power in all their sovereign expression on their
behalf, ensured their complete deliverance from the enemy’s power and their
preservation and sustainment thus far, in a scene where God alone could spread a
table for them in the wilderness. He appeals to their own knowledge of these
things in proof of it, "Ye have seen what I have done," in the working out of
His purposes of blessing concerning them which could only reach the consummation
of all His desires in bringing them to Himself.

We shall see that in the terms of God’s proposal to them, the enjoyment of
blessing and relationship was conditioned by their obedience to the word of God,
to their faithfulness, and not exclusively to the faithfulness of God as had
been the case during the period of grace which was brought to a close by the
people’s acceptance of the divine proposals. It was a solemn moment in the
history of the children of Israel, as in these fateful words, "All that Jehovah
has spoken will we do!", they committed themselves to an obedience upon which so
many solemn issues depended, and which subsequent events were to prove their
complete inability to fulfil. The readiness with which the people accepted these
proposals reveals how little they had profited from the teachings of grace; how
out of keeping with all the failure and unbelief, which hitherto had marked
them, was this spirit of irresponsible self-complacency and self-satisfaction.
Had they truly been brought to the end of themselves, they would have been
utterly distrustful of themselves, acknowledging their incompetency to meet the
righteous requirements of God, casting themselves unreservedly upon Him, thereby
indicating their confidence in the God who had met all their need from the
never-failing resources of His grace. But they did not avail themselves of these
resources which were still available for them and therefore lamentably failed.
When Moses took back their answer to the Lord, a profound change is discernible
in His attitude towards His people: an attitude which was necessary, having
regard to the new conditions which formed the basis of God’s relationships with
them as no longer under grace but under His government. However, as God draws
into the thick darkness and as the necessary distance is established which will
characterise all God’s dealings with them, how the whole sombre scene is
illuminated as with a ray of divine grace, by His appointment of Moses as
mediator, "And Jehovah said to Moses, Lo I will come to thee in the cloud’s
thick darkness, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe
thee also forever." In these words too, God emphasises the thought of the
distance which has ensued, and how He has provided, in a manner worthy of
Himself, for the maintenance of this relationship with His people.

We shall learn as we proceed the precious and far-reaching effects of this
mediatorship, and also in its typical application to our immeasurably nearer and
more intimate place of blessing as those of whom the beloved apostle can say,
"For ye have not come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire . .
. But ye have come to mount Zion . . . and to the assembly of the firstborn who
are registered in heaven . . . and to Jesus, mediator of a new covenant . . ."
(Hebrews 12:18-24). It must be remembered that the people undertook this
obedience in a state which necessitated God withdrawing into the thick darkness
because of His intrinsic holiness and that majesty to which obedience is due on
the part of man, whatever his relationship to God may be. The nature of God’s
proposal to His people is set forth in verses 5 and 6, "And now if ye will
hearken to my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then shall ye be my own
possession out of all the peoples — for all the earth is mine — and ye shall be
to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." This was truly a wonderful place
of blessing and relationship, but the enjoyment of this place of relationship
rested now on the ground of their unqualified obedience. The question may be
asked, "Why did God test them in this way?" Was it not to show to them and to us
the deep depravity of a fallen and corrupt nature, the moral tendency of which
is ever to act independently of God, revealing the innate lawlessness of the
heart of man? This is sin and "sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4), and this is
displayed in a very positive way by the substitution of man’s will, as so
prevalent in our day, for God’s will.

How solemnly the Psalmist speaks of this, "The Lord shall cut off all flattering
lips, And the tongue that speaketh proud things; Who have said, With our tongue
will we prevail, our lips are our own; who is lord over us?" (Psalms 12:3-4).
Man in this way ever sins against his mercies, and were it not for the
intervention of God in sovereign mercy, the God who "is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness," the whole race of mankind would be
swept along on the dark, swiftly-flowing waters of apostasy, flowing swifter as
they near the brink to fall to their eternal destruction in the boiling waters
beneath. How gracious of our God who "delights in mercy" to give men these
timely warnings, both in type and direct statement, as to the futility of man to
work out his own soul’s salvation.

Let us now consider the necessary preparation of the people according to this
place of responsibility to which their imprudent acceptance of God’s proposal
had committed them. Everything was to be from their side as having to learn what
it was to have to do with a God "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst
not look on iniquity" (Habakkuk 1:13). So the people are instructed to "wash
their clothes; and let them be ready for the third day." Moses was to sanctify
them, which implied their being set apart for God on the ground of their
promised obedience. But it meant an obedience at a distance from God, for
despite this prescriptive cleansing which was merely a ceremonial qualification,
the distance from God was still maintained; a solemn witness, as it was intended
to be, of the total inadequacy of this external cleansing to give them an
abiding place of nearness to God on the ground of their responsibility. A deeper
inward work was necessary, founded on the work of redemption, and this will be
fully realised in a coming day, in accordance with the word of the prophet,
"Behold days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made
with their fathers in the day of my taking them by the hand to lead them out of
Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith
Jehovah, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel,
after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put my law into their inward parts, and
will write it in their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be my
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother saying, Know Jehovah, for they shall all know me from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah, for I will pardon their iniquity and
their sin will I remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Six times does God declare in this short passage of His word what He will do,
and so ensure the ultimate blessing of His earthly people, in full conformity
with those unconditional promises made to Abraham. How precious to place these
words of God, "I will," with their divine certitude of fulfilment over against
the "we will do" of the people in which they so persistently and so lamentably
failed, and in which they displayed their utter incapability to enjoy
relationship with God on the ground of their responsibility. They did not avail
themselves of all that God was for them and all that God had for them as set
forth in those unconditional and absolute promises made to Abraham (Genesis
12:7; Genesis 13:14-17; Genesis 15:13-14; Genesis 15:18-21). As will be observed
from these Scriptures, the culmination of all God’s thoughts for His earthly
people was the possession of the land of Canaan, which to them became Immanuel’s
land, secured to them by indefeasible right according to the unfailing promises
of God to Abraham, to Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and also to Jacob (Genesis
28:13-14). They included a great deal besides the possession of the land of
Canaan, though this was assured to them in the most explicit terms, with the
boundaries most accurately defined.

All will be brought to pass according to those promises of an ever faithful God,
as Joshua could say in his day, "not one thing hath failed of all the good words
that Jehovah your God hath spoken concerning you; all are come to pass unto you
— not one thing hath failed thereof" (Joshua 23:14). Solomon, too, in his day,
witnesses to God’s faithfulness (1 Kings 8:56). Blessing for man of either a
heavenly or earthly order, can only be realised as God in His faithfulness
brings all His purposes to full and perfect fruition.

Before we proceed to the wholesome exercise of applying these solemn
circumstances in their typical meaning to ourselves, so instructive to those who
stand in an immeasurably nearer and more intimate relationship to God, let us
note the expression "the third day." This, with reference to other similar
scriptures, would seem to denote typically the distance which death has brought
in; each of course must be taken in its own particular context. Here it was on
the morning of the third day, when the Lord came down on Mount Sinai in the
sight of all the people. But how did He come? Listen to what the psalmist says;
"The earth shook, the earth also dropped at the presence of God; even Sinai
itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel" (Psalms 68:8). These
words are in perfect agreement with Exodus 19:17-18.

How awesome is the description of that which was intended to impress the people
of the holiness and majesty of the God to whom, in their consummate folly, they
had fatally pledged themselves to maintain their relationship with God on the
ground of what they were in themselves and their declared ability to meet His
righteous requirements, instead of casting themselves on Him, who in His love,
His mercy and His compassion, had dealt so graciously with them. In distance lay
their safety. Bounds were set round about them; they were not to go up unto the
mountain nor touch the border of it, "not a hand shall touch it." Paul, as used
by the Spirit in writing to the Hebrew believers centuries afterwards, employs
very impressive language in describing this solemn occasion, "For ye have not
come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire, and to obscurity
and darkness, and tempest, and trumpet’s sound, and voice of words, which they
that heard, excusing themselves, declined the word being addressed to them any
more; (for they were not able to bear what was enjoined: And if a beast should
touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and, so fearful was the sight, Moses
said, I am exceedingly afraid and full of trembling)" (Hebrews 12:18-21). In
Deborah and Barak’s song too, appear these remarkable words, "The mountains
quaked before the face of Jehovah, that Sinai; from before Jehovah the God of
Israel" (Judges 5:5). Other scriptures could be adduced with reference to this
solemn moment in the history of the children of Israel; and the remaining verses
of our chapter from the 16th continue this note of warning.

Since there is no vain repetition in the word of God, where every word has
divine significance as chosen by the Spirit of God, the divine Author, why those
frequent references to this vital matter? Is it not to bring home to men, all
men, the futility of seeking to approach God on the ground of their supposed
good works? Never was insistence of this truth more necessary than the day in
which we live, when men, who "have gone in the way of Cain," bring an offering,
the work of their hands, to which God has no respect, while slighting or
rejecting that "more excellent sacrifice," Christ, God’s unblemished Lamb, the
Bearer away of the sin of the world (John 1:29). The truth conveyed in the
typical import of this solemn event in the history of the children of Israel
has, without exception, its application to all men. While it is true that the
nation of Israel was sovereignly chosen of God, separated from the corruptions
of the idolatrous nations around, singularly favoured of God, as Paul tells us
in Romans 9:3-5, "who are the Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory,
and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the service, and the promises; whose
are the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh, is the Christ, who is over
all, God blessed forever," it would appear from the teaching of Romans 3:1-31
that they were in the nature of a sample nation in which God made His last trial
of the human race, before His wonderful and all-availing intervention in the
fulness of His grace in Christ. In Romans 3:19, the apostle declares, "Now we
know that whatever the things the law says, it speaks to those under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be under judgment to God." In
the verses previous to verse 19, the apostle gives an appalling description of
the moral condition of the nation of Israel, testifying to their irremediable
failure under the law, in accordance with the words of Isaiah, "The whole head
is sick and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head
there is no soundness in him, wounds and wheals and open sores, they have not
been dressed nor bound up, nor mollified with oil" (Isaiah 1:4-6).

If such is God’s judgment of the favoured nation of Israel, whom He refers to
under the figure of a vineyard, saying, "What was there yet to do to my vineyard
that I have not done in it?" what hope is there for poor "sinners of the
Gentiles" wallowing in all the corruptions of unspeakable idolatrous practices,
and as the apostle states so clearly in Ephesians 2:11-12, "Wherefore remember
that ye, once nations (Gentiles) in the flesh . . . that ye were at that time
without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." The
subsequent history of the children of Israel has shown beyond all disputation
that their relationship with God according to His nature could not be sustained
on the ground of their obedience. They could never substantiate their claim to
this obedience, for their failure was immediate, as we see from Exodus 32:1-35.
There we are brought face to face with the solemn fact that the law was broken
and the curse merited before the tables of stone, borne by ’Moses from the
presence of God, and on which the law was written, had reached them. How blessed
to see in the succeeding chapter how God dealt in mercy with them, for under the
law, not tempered by mercy, they must have instantly perished. The law has
singularly achieved its purposes, and this was to expose man to himself. As
Moses said at the time it was given, "God is come to prove you." It was the
proving of man, who had already been pronounced a sinner, as God had declared at
the time of the flood, "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of Man was great on
the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart only evil
continually" (Genesis 6:5). The law was the revelation of man’s state to
himself, and as Paul declares, "The law entered that the offence might abound"
(Romans 5:20), and also in Galatians 3:19, "Wherefore then serveth the law? It
was added because of transgressions." As an institution of God, the law has
fully achieved its purpose, and all men stand under its solemn rebuke, even the
most self-conceited religionist. And since the law is a divine institution, it
is of the greatest importance that our thoughts should be governed by the word
of God as to its intrinsic character. Though grace now reigns through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," we must not
suppose that the law has been either annulled or set aside as being worthless.
Its majesty was never more truly upheld than when our spotless Substitute died
under its solemn curse (Galatians 3:13). Speaking of the law, another has said,
"Multitudes will quail before its impeachment at the day of judgment" (see
Romans 2:12).

Because of man’s incurably sinful state, the law can only condemn him, grace
alone can save him. So John, by the Spirit, makes that wonderful declaration,
"for of His fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace. For the law was
given by Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17). The
question may be asked, "For what purpose then was the law given?" Let the word
of God itself answer this question since it alone is competent to deal with
these profound and eternal issues, dealing with them definitively according to
its own infallible authority. The apostle Paul in clear and precise language
states, as already quoted, "Now we know that whatever the things the law says,
it speaks to those under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the
world be under judgment to God" (Romans 3:19), and again, "Wherefore then
serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions" (Galatians 3:19).
Observe it is not "because of sins," and in this instance it is very necessary
to draw the distinction between sins and transgressions. Sin is in everyone as
belonging to the fallen and corrupt race of Adam. Paul’s words again confirm the
solemn fact, "For this cause, even as by one man sin entered into the world, and
by sin, death; and thus death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;
(for until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not put to account when
there is no law; but death reigned, from Adam until Moses, even upon those who
had not sinned in the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him
to come)" (Romans 5:12-14). This refers to Hosea 6:7, where we read, "They
(Israel) like Adam, have transgressed the covenant." To Adam was given a law, to
the children of Israel the law. Both were disobedient in doing that which was
expressly prohibited and so became transgressors as well as being sinners.

Man, being a sinner, has a nature "not subject to the law of God," and under
that law, every motion of this fallen nature, the moral tendency of which is
ever to do evil, is shown to be a positive transgression, bringing upon him
condemnation and death. This, therefore, is the state of man after all God’s
patient dealings with him during those probationary ages which were brought to
an end by the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world, "But now once in the
consummation of the ages He has been manifested for the putting away of sin by
His sacrifice" (Hebrews 9:26). Is God to be thwarted in carrying into effect
what he has set his heart upon with respect to the blessing of men, both in the
heavenly and earthly spheres of blessing? By no means! As another has said, "God
then retires into His sovereignty and falls back upon His promises. If it were
not so, no human being would get blessing at all." The fact that God made these
promises to Abraham invests them with inestimable importance to every exercised
soul. In Genesis 12:1-20, the last clause of verse 3, we have the first mention
of God’s promise to Abraham, "and in thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed." Then in Genesis 22:16-18 we have a wonderful confirmation of this
promise, solemnly affirmed in these words, "By myself, I swear, saith Jehovah."
Paul, in writing to the saints in Galatia, alludes very distinctly to these two
occasions. "But to Abraham were the promises addressed, and to his seed; he does
not say, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ" (Galatians 3:16). In Genesis 22:1-24 Isaac is a beautiful type of Christ
and of Christ risen. It was not till after Abraham received Isaac back as from
the dead that the promise is confirmed in Isaac. "By faith Abraham, when tried,
offered up Isaac, and he who had received to himself the promises offered up his
only begotten son, as to whom it had been said, In Isaac shall thy seed be
called; counting that God was able to raise him even from among the dead, whence
also he received him in a figure" (Hebrews 11:17-19). A substitute was found for
Abraham’s son, but there was no substitute provided for God’s Son. He died and
rose, and now in resurrection life and power every promise is confirmed and
established in Him. "For whatever promises of God there are, in Him is the yea
and in Him the amen, for the glory to God by us" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

It is of the greatest importance to see that the promises made to Abraham, in
the form of a covenant, were given many years before the law was given. "Now I
say this, A covenant confirmed beforehand by God, the law, which took place four
hundred and thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no
effect" (Galatians 3:17). So declares the beloved apostle in strong, energetic
language as he contends for the truth against those who were troubling the
saints in Galatia by bringing in the corrupting doctrines of Judaism, seeking to
undermine the faith of those who had been justified by the "hearing of faith"
and not "by works of law"; and had also received the Spirit according to "the
glad tidings of the Christ" which the Judaizers were seeking to pervert.

Blessed as it is to see that the law does not make the promises of God of no
effect, there is the further thought that the law has proved conclusively the
necessity of carrying into effect these self-same promises if man is to be
blessed and made to stand before Him in a righteousness which He has provided
for us. So the apostle poses the question and answers it in these words, "Is
then the law against the promises of God? Far be the thought. For if a law had
been given able to quicken" (such as was able to quicken) "then indeed
righteousness were on the principle of law; but the scripture has shut up all
things under sin, that the promises, on the principle of faith of Jesus Christ,
should be given to those that believe" (Galatians 3:21-22). It should be
observed that in verses 6-14 of this same chapter, no fewer than six quotations
from the Old Testament appear as showing that the righteousness of God, pledged
in these promises, was borne witness to in the law and the prophets. Two of
these quotations are from the promises to Abraham, three from the law, and one
from the prophets.

Moreover, in these precious promises God is acting in the supremacy of His
grace, rising above all the restrictions imposed and enforced by those
ordinances under the law, in order that His grace, expressive of the heart of a
Saviour-God, might flow forth without restraint, not only to Israel, but also to
the other nations or Gentiles. "For the grace of God which carries with it
salvation for all men has appeared" (Titus 2:11). In these promises therefore,
the "sinners of the Gentiles" are included: those who were "aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise" (Ephesians
2:11-13). Nor is this any after-thought on the part of God, for this is
distinctly introduced in figure in Genesis 22:1-24. As already mentioned, and it
is of supreme importance to bear this in mind, that it was after Abraham had
received Isaac back, as in a figure from the dead, that the promises were made
to him, in which was included the blessing of the Gentiles in this present day
of grace, as blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ,
and also the nation of Israel in a day to come, the Gentiles also included for
earthly blessing, and all brought to pass on the ground of the death and
resurrection of the true Isaac. Let us seek therefore to distinguish between
these two companies. Where the seed is spoken of without reference to number,
the blessing of the nations is intended, but where the numerous seed is
mentioned, "as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the seashore,"
this brings the nation of Israel, the Jew, into prominence: this is confirmed by
the expression, "...and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies,"
language entirely unsuited to believers in this day of grace, but perfectly
suited to God’s earthly people, whose blessing is conditioned by the putting
down of all their enemies, while they are brought into the place of supremacy.
Where Christ typified by Isaac is meant, it is "thy seed" simply, without a word
of seed as innumerable as the stars or the sand. "But to Abraham were the
promises addressed, and to his seed; he does not say, And to seeds, as of many;
but as of one, And to thy seed (Genesis 22:18) which is Christ" (Galatians
3:16). In Christ, the true Seed, as risen from the dead, the blessing of the
Gentiles has been secured, and realised only by faith and not by works of law.
"Know then that they that are on the principle of faith, these are Abraham’s
sons; and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations
(Gentiles) on the principle of faith, announced beforehand the glad tidings to
Abraham (Genesis 12:3). In thee all the nations shall be blessed" (Galatians
3:7-9). The promises referred to in Genesis 22:1-24 are those in which the
Gentiles have a part, and the one to the seed indicates the heavenly character
of the blessing as in Christ risen from the dead. All this will be fulfilled in
Christ, as also the blessing of the Jews, when they are brought into the
possession of their earthly inheritance. It is well to note the difference
between these promises which are, however, brought together in one grand whole
in Christ, while at the same time rejoicing in the wondrous grace that has
granted us a place infinitely higher in character as connected with heavenly
things, according to these unchangeable promises and the exercise of faith.

Another weighty consideration as to why the law, as a proposed means of blessing
on the ground of man’s obedience to its righteous requirements, could only prove
ineffective, was that the law was "ordained through angels in the hand of a
mediator, but a mediator is not of one, but God is one" (Galatians 3:19-20). As
is well known, a mediator comes in between two parties, and it is cited here to
show that under law there were two contracting parties, God and men, with Moses
standing between as mediator. The fulfilment of the law, as a covenant between
God and men, depended consequently, not upon God, but upon man, and since he was
unable to fulfil his part, the law, as the ground of blessing, was completely
nullified. God’s part was sure and unchangeable, but as has been expressed by
another, "The law is like a bridge that may be ever so strong, but, resting on
one end, on no foundation." Man cannot obtain blessing under law, he can only
merit its solemn curse because of his constant infraction of its righteous
demands. But how rich the import of the expression "...but God is one." Where it
is a question not of law but of promise, all depends upon God for "what He hath
promised (He) is also able to perform," and at last, infinite blessing is
secured. In promise there is only one, and that is God; and here there can be no
failure or breakdown; all must be accomplished. When God spoke to Abraham
concerning His promises, there was no distance. He spoke to him directly, no one
came between, God spoke to him face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend.
How great the contrast in the giving of the law, where distance is brought in at
once, bounds are set, and Moses is constituted mediator. In Psalms 68:17 we read
"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord is
among them; it is a Sinai in holiness," then in verse 18, "Thou hast ascended on
high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in Man (that is
as man, in connection with men), and even for the rebellious, that the Lord God
might dwell among them." Here the law in the hands of a mediator is in contrast
to Christ, the One who, after accomplishing the work of redemption, ascended as
Man "far above all things" and as Man received gifts for men, which He dispenses
with lavish hand "according to the riches of his grace."

Then another question is raised. "Is then the law against the promises of God?
Far be the thought. For if a law had been given able to quicken (or give life,
such as was able to quicken), then indeed righteousness were on the principle of
law" (Galatians 3:21). The law could do nothing else but condemn; under the law
there is no life, no righteousness, no blessing. The law proved conclusively the
necessity of the promises if man was to be blessed according to God’s great
thoughts of blessing. And so God has secured all in Christ for the blessing of
men, in virtue of His redemptive work; even as Paul declares to the saints at
Corinth, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from
God, and righteousness and holiness and redemption; that according as it is
written, He that boasts, let him boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:30-31). To
the saints at Rome, Paul can say, "But law came in that the offence might
abound, but where sin abounded grace has overabounded, in order that, even as
sin has reigned in the power of death, so also grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:20-21).
The apostle, writing to the assemblies of Galatia, asks with unmistakable
severity of tone, "This only I wish to learn of you. Have ye received the Spirit
on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith? Are ye so
senseless? Having begun in Spirit, are ye going to be made perfect in flesh?"
(Galatians 3:2-3). To such he speaks with the greatest solemnity in Galatians
5:2-6, "Behold I, Paul, say to you, that if ye are circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. And I witness again to every man who is circumcised that he
is debtor to do the whole law. Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ as
separated from him, as many as are justified by law; ye have fallen from grace.
For we, by the Spirit on the principle of faith, await the hope of
righteousness." The "hope of righteousness" is the glory itself, to be there
with Christ who has "made our heaven secure" even as we boast in hope of that
glory now. With reference to the separation mentioned above, as another has
said, this is "not separation from Christ personally, but from what is for us in
Him."

Exodus 20:1-26. The children of Israel, having accepted the law as the ground of
their relationship with God, have now presented to them in this chapter, through
the agency of Moses, in a detailed and specific form, those righteous
requirements of a God who is "of purer eyes than to behold evil." Undeviating
obedience to these commands, to which they had pledged themselves, could alone
ensure the continuance and enjoyment of their relationship with the only true
God who desired to dwell among them. Since these commandments, commonly referred
to as the Ten Commandments, were to form the basis of this new relationship,
nothing is left to the vague conjectures of men: no scope or latitude is given
to the human mind to arrive at its own conclusions. The Spirit of God, in
explicit and unequivocal language, extends and develops each of these
commandments, and reveals the solemn character of what was demanded of the
children of Israel; demands which could not be modified in the slightest degree.
But the children of Israel had to learn, as we have to learn, that man in his
natural state as a sinner, without the Spirit as the fruit of the work of
redemption, cannot meet those requirements of God as embodied in the law. There
can be no nearness to God, for man’s place under law is in the distance of
condemnation and death. Even a partial fulfilment of the law offers no relief
from its exacting demands, nor any measure of exoneration from its inflexible
conviction, for any infraction of its righteous demands invokes the penalty of
the law, as James so distinctly declares, "For whoever shall keep the whole law
and shall offend in one point, he has come under the guilt of breaking all"
(James 2:10). In the contemplation of these solemn realities it is most blessed
for every true believer in Christ to consider the benign movements of a Saviour
God, One who has brought meat out of the eater, and sweetness out of the strong;
coming forth in the plenitude of His grace as One who can deliver from going
down to the pit, as having found a ransom through the atoning sacrifice of
Christ. The law has done its needed work as God intended it should, having
stripped man of every vestige of his supposed righteousness in which he so
incontinently boasts. The law still stands, its authority unimpaired, and upheld
inviolate by the blessed Lord, who died under its solemn curse as our Surety and
unblemished Substitute, and made a curse for those who lay under the curse of a
broken law (Galatians 3:13), and who, moreover, were unable to render that
righteousness which God demanded under law, but who, in the riches of His grace,
has brought forth the best robe of heaven, reserved from before the ages of
time, and now conferred on those who had no righteousness of their own, even
Christ our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). In considering the commandments
in detail it will be observed that the first four relate to the responsibility
of the children of Israel towards God, while the remaining six define their
responsibility towards man. The Lord Jesus has given us a divine summary which
reveals the very essence of the law in quoting Leviticus 19:18 and Deuteronomy
6:5. To the question by one of the Pharisees, "Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the law?" the Lord Jesus replied, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy understanding.
This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law and the
prophets hang" (Matthew 22:34-40).

It will be noted that these precepts are presented in a strongly negative form.
It does not say "Thou shalt," with the underlying assumption that man was
capable of doing so, but "Thou shalt not," and in this is revealed the natural
and innate tendency in man to do that which is evil. Man is prone to do every
one of the things forbidden, otherwise the necessity to forbid them would never
have arisen. What a humbling proof of man’s natural tendency to delight in what
was abhorrent to God, hence the necessity for the imposition of those curbs on
the movements of a nature which is "not subject to the law of God," for "the
mind of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of
God; for neither indeed can it be; and they that are in the flesh cannot please
God" (Romans 8:7-8).

God was dealing with Israel as the people whom He had redeemed by His mighty
power from the thraldom of their oppressors, bringing them into relationship
with Himself, though in an outward way, without the new birth and not knowing
justification by faith. They were a people in the flesh, and had shown
themselves wholly insensible of the grace that had delivered, nourished and
sustained them until they came to Sinai. They forgot God’s great promises to the
fathers, in which were set forth His great desire to dwell among them, in
conditions compatible with the revelation He had made of Himself as the "I AM
THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14-15). Yet this is the people of whom Jeremiah has
written, "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the
day of my taking them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt; which
covenant they broke though I was a husband unto them saith Jehovah" (Jeremiah
31:32).

Again, as in the previous chapter, we see the effect produced on the people by
the formal giving of the law, for "They trembled and stood afar off" (Exodus
20:18; Exodus 20:21), and expressed the desire that Moses should speak to them
rather than God, "lest we die." Even the words of Moses as the mediator, given
of God, did not dispel their fear, "Fear not: for God is come to prove you (for
the purpose of proving you), and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye
sin not." These words, however, did nothing to assuage their fears as the
following words indicate, "And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near
unto the thick darkness where God was."

It has been convincingly demonstrated in the word of God that, irrespective of
dispensation, whether of law or of grace, distance from God can never be the
ground of obedience to God. The people were at a distance from God, not merely
as to their actual position as prescribed by God, but more vitally as to their
moral state, which necessitated God remaining in obscurity and unrevealed, so
long as the law was the basis of His relationship with His people.

While God insisted on this distance which the holiness of His nature justly
required, He had other and more precious thoughts cherished in His heart
concerning the blessing of His people, wholly consistent with His own desire to
have His people near to Himself, so that He could dwell in the midst of their
praises, the expression of their love and devotedness to Him. This demanded
conditions of righteousness and holiness unattainable by man on the ground of
his obedience to the righteous requirements of God as embodied in the law under
which the children of Israel had placed themselves. This thought of distance
will be brought more decisively before us when we come to consider the
tabernacle, with special reference to the priests. In their priestly activities
they enjoyed a nearness to God denied to the common people, yet this nearness
was not absolute except in the case of Aaron, the high priest, to whom was
granted once a year only, on the solemn day of atonement, entrance into the
holiest of all, the immediate presence of Him who dwelt between the cherubim of
glory. This access to God was not without the blood of the sin-offering and the
over-shadowing cloud of incense, in accordance with the divine instructions.
These types, wonderful in themselves, yet mere shadowy representations of
infinitely more precious things, will engage our hearts at a future time in
their appropriate context.

It is not necessary to our purpose to consider in detail the commandments
presented to us in this chapter. There are certain points, however, which claim
our attention as bearing on the practical ways and manner of life of the
children of God in this present dispensation of grace. Take, for example, the
law governing one’s conduct toward one’s neighbour (Exodus 20:16-17): to obey
the divine injunction "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Leviticus
19:18) would ensure the observance of these prohibitions to the very letter.

Though these and other commandments undoubtedly set a very high standard of
conduct before those who are under law, and in outward relationship with God,
how far short this falls of the conduct expected of those who "are not under law
but under grace." Christians are exhorted to "let nothing be in the spirit of
strife or vain glory, but, in lowliness of mind, each esteeming the other as
more excellent than themselves; regarding not each his own qualities, but each
those of others also. For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus" (Php 2:1-5). The law was the rule of life for the children of Israel, but
Christ and Christ alone is the precious and unvarying standard of those who are
born of God. To such Paul declares, "So that, my brethren, ye also have been
made dead to the law by the body of the Christ, to be to another, who has been
raised up from among the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God" (Romans
7:4). Under the law there was no fruit for God, but under grace the new nature,
growing by the true, or full, knowledge of God, becomes exceedingly fruitful as
engaged with those heavenly objects in which it delights.

Furthermore, in Romans 8:1-39, the Apostle under the Spirit’s guidance opens up
to us those emancipating truths by stating, "For the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the
law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God having sent His own
Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us,
who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit" (Romans 8:2-9).

Again, in Romans 13:8-10, Paul expands this truth by saying. "Owe no one
anything, unless to love one another; for he that loves another has fulfilled
the law. For, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt
not steal, Thou shalt not lust; and if there be any other commandment, it is
summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love
works no ill to its neighbour; love there-fore is the whole law." With reference
to the above another has remarked, "By the conduct which flows from love the law
is already fulfilled before its requirement is applied." In the Epistle to the
Galatians, where the Apostle is combating the pernicious doctrines of those
seeking to bring these Gentile believers under law, Paul exhorts, "but by love
serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself; but if ye bite and devour one another, see that
ye are not consumed one of another" (Galatians 5:13-15). In the foregoing
Scriptures the Apostle does not go beyond the fruits of righteousness as
manifested in our practical manner of life, because he is dealing with the
question of subjection to the law and of man’s fulfilling it. But in the
teaching of grace, as shown in the epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians and
others, we reach supremely greater and more sublime heights in the expression of
our love one to another. There it is seen to be the reproduction of the
character of God, who is love; not merely what man should be for God as under
law, but as walking according to the Spirit, dwelling and delighting in all that
is of God, and producing the fruit of the Spirit which is "love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, kindness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, self-control; against
such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23). As partakers of the divine
nature, we are to walk in the power of "the Spirit of God" with which we have
been sealed "for the day of redemption," a Spirit who is to be ungrieved by
anything that savours of the flesh. We are exhorted to "be kind to one another,
compassionate, forgiving one another, so as God also in Christ" has forgiven us.
As God’s beloved children we are to be imitators of God, "and walk in love, even
as the Christ loved us, and delivered Himself up for us, an offering and
sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Ephesians 4:32; Ephesians 5:1-2).

While humbled by the realisation of how far short we come of these divine
standards, let us not miss the sweetness and heavenly fragrance of these sublime
statements, "as God also in Christ has forgiven you"; "imitators of God as
beloved children"; and "walk in love, even as Christ loved us." Let it not be
thought that this is beyond the practical realisation of the Christian, for
these are the features of the new man as the workman-ship of God, "which
according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians
4:24). As indwelt by the Holy Spirit we have the power and the spiritual
capacity to be "imitators of God" who is love.

What we are now considering has already been displayed in all its perfection and
fulness and fragrance in the matchless life of Jesus as a Man in this world.
"The truth as it is in Jesus" brings before us that lowly One, yet withal, "the
image of the invisible God," "God manifest in flesh," here in the fulness of
grace, manifesting the life that was with the Father, a life essentially
heavenly and eternal. This eternal life has been communicated to us, but its
manifestation in us involves the putting off the old man, and the putting on the
new, answering to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

Christ then is the object that God has set before us, the object of His own
constant delight, and as occupied with Him we are changed into the same image
from glory to glory, and are thus made morally capable of being "imitators of
God as beloved children."

Let us now consider the closing verses of the chapter as bringing before us the
solemn yet precious thought of worship. From Exodus 20:24-26 we learn that there
are certain conditions necessary in order to worship God in accordance with His
holy and righteous requirements, and to the exclusion of all that savours of
man’s order. The first thing concerns the manner of approach as signified in the
altar and sacrifices. How precious is this thought of approach to God. We have
spoken much, and rightly, of the distance and curse which the law brought in,
but here God speaks of a means of approach, as He says "in all places where I
shall make my Name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee"
(verse 24).

Observe the character of the sacrifices, "An altar of earth shalt thou make unto
me, and shalt sacrifice on it thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings." One
would have thought that after bringing in the law God would have spoken of sin
and trespass offerings, but He does not. He speaks, in type, of all that Christ
is, "who by the eternal Spirit offered Himself spotless to God," and as such was
found in that path of devotedness to the will of God, in an obedience even unto
death, which went infinitely beyond the obedience which the law demanded. In
that path, and in that death, He glorified God where man had dishonoured Him,
and not only so, but He glorified Him about that very dishonour. Jesus delighted
to do the will of God, and the perfections of His Person and of His affections
were seen in the fat and the breast that were laid upon the altar, which
rendered His sacrifice of Himself a sweet-smelling savour to God (Leviticus
7:30).

Two altars are mentioned in verses 24 and 25, one of earth and one of stone.
Various altars are mentioned in the word of God, most with the predominant
thought of drawing near to God on the ground of sacrifice as worshippers.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob built altars, and these no doubt had been built of
earth or stone. What is remarkable about these altars is that we seldom read of
sacrifices being offered on them. At times it is simply stated that they built
an altar unto the Lord, and at other times they built an altar and called upon
the Name of the Lord. In their typical meaning the thought was sustained that
approach to God could only be through the death of Christ, who was in Himself
both the altar and the sacrifice. With regard to the altar of stone it is
specifically stated: "thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up
thy sharp tool upon it, thou hast profaned it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps
unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." What a gross
violation of God’s principles we see all around us today in the lifeless
profession that bears the Name of Christ. Not lacking in skill, and of exquisite
workman-ship, their richly embellished altars bear eloquent witness to man’s
complete ignoring of this divine prohibition, and to his unwarranted intrusion
in the holiest things of God. Man’s handiwork, no matter how gifted, is not
required in the worship of God; all must be according to the thought of God, who
must be worshipped in "the beauty of holiness." Nor were God’s people to "go up
by steps" to His altar. Man’s pretension to approach God as a worshipper in his
own way only reveals his nakedness before God. Without the righteousness which
God, in the fulness of His grace, has conferred upon those who believe, man is a
sinner before God, and as such cannot be a worshipper of God. The Apostle Paul
in Romans 3:21-26 shows how divine righteousness is obtained, "being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God
has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in His blood . . . for the showing
forth of His righteousness in the present time, so that He should be just, and
justify him that is of the faith of Jesus." Only thus is the shame of our
nakedness covered before God by God Himself. This precious thought of God
covering the shame of man’s nakedness is brought before us immediately after
Adam’s disastrous fall, when "the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that
they were naked." Their efforts to cover their nakedness proved unavailing, for
when they heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the
day, they hid themselves from His presence among the trees of the garden. But in
that dark and solemn hour, fraught with eternal issues for good and evil, the
light of God’s infinite and matchless grace shines in all its gloom-dispelling
power in the promise of the woman’s Seed, Christ, who would bruise the serpent’s
head; and also by God providing coats of skin with which to clothe Adam and Eve
(Genesis 3:7-21). The provision of coats of skin involved the forfeiture of the
life of some innocent victim, a simple yet beautiful type of Christ as the
innocent victim, "brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Thus only could we
be clothed with the best robe of heaven, Christ our Righteousness; and thus
arrayed we stand before God in all the acceptability of Christ to God, and in
all the abiding excellency and efficacy of His finished work. By Christ’s
finished work we are also constituted priests to God. Let none rob us of the
certainty of this blessed truth, founded as it is on the infallible and
unchanging word of God, that every true believer in Christ is a priest before
God, even as it is written, "To Him who loves us, and has washed us from our
sins in His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father: to Him
be the glory and the might to the ages of ages. Amen" (Revelation 1:5-6). But
the place of true worship, where every believer in Christ offers "the sacrifice
of praise continually to God" is not on earth, but in heaven, since the present
place and position of the Lord Jesus determines the place and character of our
worship. Of Christ’s present place it is written in Hebrews 8:1-2, "Now a
summary of the things of which we are speaking is. We have such a One high
priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the
heavens: minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord
has pitched, and not man." In the true tabernacle there is no human
instrumentality whatever; all is of God. What we see in the religious profession
all around today is but the imitation or what God owned in a former
dispensation, but which has been set aside by the coming of Christ, and by the
introduction of heavenly things, consequent upon His death and resurrection, See
also Hebrews 9:11-14. The tabernacle of old, with all its costly vessels and
rich furnishings, was but a figurative representation of what has been
established and maintained by the Spirit of God, as the Scripture says, "It was
necessary then that the figurative representations of the things in the heavens
should be purified with these:" (the blood of calves and goats): "but the
heavenly things themselves with sacrifices better than these. For the Christ is
not entered into holy places made with hand, figures of the true, but into
heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us" (Hebrews 9:23-24).
All that belonged to the legal dispensation was but the "shadow of good things
to come."

How blessed to know that the shadow has passed, that the good things have come,
and all are secured in Christ for us to God’s glory and praise, as is written in
Colossians 2:17, "the body (or substance) is of Christ." The furniture and
vessels connected with the tabernacle of old, so curiously wrought by skilful
workmen specially endowed by the Holy Spirit for this work, were but types of
those transcendent glories and graces which alone are found in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His various offices which He adorns with the glory of His own Person.
All these are now seen and exercised in heaven for us, and there, in the
immediate presence of God, He presents us in all the fulness of His own
excellency.

Another has said, "Moses the servant could not bear the glory conferred on the
tabernacle he had pitched; he was much inferior to that which his own hands had
reared; but Christ is Son over God’s House, and is Himself its furniture and
glory. And as associated with the Son, we belong to the priestly family and
there we worship according to John 4:23-24. May we, as those worshippers whom
the Father seeks to worship Him in spirit and in truth, be preserved from
allowing our thoughts to linger around the earthly shadows, or occupied in the
least degree with the things made with hands, instead of those which are made
without hands, and which are of God."

There is yet another precious thought to be considered in connection with the
altars and what was sacrificed thereon. Speaking of these sacrifices being
offered "in all places where I shall make my Name to be remembered," God assures
His people of His presence with them in this wonderful expression of grace, "I
will come unto thee, and bless thee." This He would do, notwithstanding all that
they were in themselves, on the ground of the sweet savour of the offerings. As
has already been remarked, these sacrifices partook of the character of the
burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. The burnt-offering speaks of the
preciousness of Christ’s sacrifice to the heart of God; all its excellence and
its abiding value before Him furnishing the unchangeable basis of our acceptance
before God. The thought of atonement, however, is not lacking, as the following
words convey, "at the entrance of the tent of meeting shall he present it, for
his acceptance before Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the
burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him"
(Leviticus 1:3-4).

Sin may have been the occasion for the presentation of this offering, but the
dominant thought is that, because of the superlative excellency of this
sacrifice, prefiguring Christ, "who by the eternal Spirit offered Himself
spotless to God," the sinner is accepted in all the acceptability of Christ to
God, being identified with Him thus, as having put his hand on the head of the
holy victim.

If the burnt-offering speaks of what Christ is to the heart of God, as
furnishing the ground of acceptance of His people, the thank-offering speaks of
what He became to their hearts, as furnishing them with an object of eternal
praise, as it is written in Psalms 84:4, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy
house; they will be constantly praising Thee."

Exodus 21:1-36. In this chapter we have various "judgments" or "fixed
ordinances" recorded, the observance of which is enjoined upon the people as
regulating their conduct in all their relationships with each other, and as
befitting those who are in covenant relationship with God. The penalties
attaching to any breach in the strict observance of these is demonstrably
consistent with the character and principle of that relationship, which was law.

It is not necessary to our purpose to consider each statute in detail, a few
only will be sufficient, though the consideration of each would yield valuable
instruction as witnessing to God’s gracious care and protection of those who
were weak and in a position of inferiority, and, as such, might be subject to
oppression, and of being unjustly dealt with by those who were stronger and in a
place of authority over them.

What we see around us today is a sad and sobering testimony of how far man has
departed from God, with his consequent refusal to be subject to these
ordinances. As the Preacher declares, "And I returned and saw all the
oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed,
and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and
they had no comforter" (Ecclesiastes 4:1). The first statute brings before us a
beautiful and expressive type of the Lord Jesus as God’s perfect Servant. Many
Scriptures speak of the greatness, the excellence and the perfection of this
Servant and His service. How profound the rich concentration of glories which
shine undiminished and unchanging in the remarkably brief testimony of the
Apostle Paul in Php 2:1-30. There our attention is drawn to this blessed One,
the disposition of whose mind was to go down, but how transcendently lovely and
endearing was that pathway even in its lowest depths of humiliation, every step
being marked by moral excellence, dignity and perfection.

He is spoken of as "subsisting in the form of God," and did not regard "equality
with God" as something to be grasped after, seeing He was God. The mention of
this is no doubt an allusion to the first Adam who succumbed to the temptation
presented in Satan’s lie, "God knows that in the day ye eat of it, your eyes
will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5).
Unlike the first man Adam, the Lord Jesus, the second ’Man, made Himself of no
reputation, emptied Himself of every external evidence of deity, and took "a
bondman’s form, taking His place in the likeness of men." By becoming Man the
Lord Jesus became what He was not before, and this is another of the many proofs
that He is God, for no creature can leave the estate in which God has placed him
with impunity (see Jude 1:6). Only the Creator had the right to come as Man into
His creation. In all these wonderful movements which evoke our wonder and our
worship we see the heart of the perfect Servant, who loved His Master, His wife
and His children, and would not go out free, thereby pledging Himself to
perpetual service. It was His own sovereign, gracious choice, revealing the deep
love of His heart to those who were the objects of that love, and, moreover, it
was not to be merely for a transient period during His stay upon earth, but for
ever. The boring of the ear by the master suggests not only the devotedness of
the bondservant to this master, but also the acceptance by the master of his
service. How appropriate this is in its application to the Person and ways of
the Lord Jesus. How truly He loved His "Master," for the main purpose of His
presence in this world was to glorify God the Father and finish the work He had
given Him to do. Consider His own remarkable words, "As the living Father has
sent me and I live on account of the Father" (John 6:57): and, again, "My food
is that I should do the will of Him that has sent me, and that I should finish
His work" (John 4:34). Then, anticipatively, He can say, "I have glorified Thee
on the earth, I have completed the work which Thou gavest me that I should do
it" (John 17:4). The bondservant also loved his wife, and "Christ also loved the
assembly, and has delivered Himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25). He was "like a
Merchant seeking beautiful pearls; and having found one pearl of great value, He
went and sold all whatever He had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46). In the
third verse of this chapter, the literal rendering of the expression "If he came
in alone" is "If he came in with his body." Do we not see in Hebrews 10:5 the
manner in which Christ came in with His body? "Thou hast prepared me a body." In
Psalms 40:1-17, from which the writer to the Hebrews quotes, it reads,
"Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; mine ears hast Thou opened (or
bored)."

Christ also loved His "children," His own considered individually, loving them
unto the end, with a changeless, measureless and unwearied love. That holy body,
prepared for Him, the Son of God has devoted to God, to the assembly, and to the
children whom God has given Him. In the light of this, how deeply moving are His
own words, spoken on the night in which He was delivered up, "This is my body,
which is for you: this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). It is
a memorial in which Christ is called to mind.

There is a very blessed expression in verse 4, "If his master have given him a
wife." How precious is the thought that those who constitute the assembly were
given to the Son as the expression of the Father’s love to Him. It is on account
of this that the Son says to the Father, "I demand concerning them; I do not
demand concerning the world, but concerning those whom Thou hast given me, for
they are Thine (and all that is mine is Thine and all that is Thine mine), and I
am glorified in them" (John 17:9-10). Then in Hebrews 2:13 we have the
remarkable words spoken by the One that sanctifies, "Behold, I and the children
which God has given me."

Those precious tokens of Christ’s suffering love become expressive of His
serving love, as He declares to His disciples, "I am among you as one that
serveth." How blessed is His present service of love to His own as set forth in
John 13:1-38, in order to our having part with Himself where He is, while we are
still treading these defiled scenes where He was. And when we are with Him
forever, still those loving, ministering hands will minister to us, according to
His words of Luke 12:37, "Verily I say unto you, that He will gird Himself and
make them recline at table, and coming up will serve them."

Much spiritual profit can be derived from the prayerful consideration of the
remainder of the chapter, which is specially suited to private study. These
statutes contain moral principles which are unaffected by dispensational
changes. While the law is not the rule of the believer’s life, yet, as the
Apostle says in Romans 8:3-4, "God . . . has condemned sin in the flesh, in
order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who
do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit." May we have a heart
like Solomon’s, a "heart that hears," a heart of unquestioning obedience to
God’s word, giving heed to the following words written many years ago, "Is it
not appalling to think of Christians generally, now accepting truth so set forth
in terms, without any apparent intention of carrying it out practically? On the
contrary, pressing the world and its ways into it. I think that adopting the
terms of the truth, without submission to what it involves, is a very fearful
aspect of the times."

Exodus 22:1-31. In chapter 22 we continue our consideration of the "judgments"
introduced at the beginning of chapter 21 and extending to chapter 23. There is,
however, an observable difference in the character of God’s judgments from
Exodus 21:33 onwards, for these deal mainly with the possessions or property of
the children of Israel. The most scrupulous observance of God’s demands is
enjoined, as in the case of their persons, to which our attention has already
been drawn, and in which is displayed God’s tender and compassionate care for
the lives and persons of His people. We see, therefore, that every aspect of
their lives is taken into account with a comprehensiveness of detail which is
truly remarkable and worthy of God, who, as the psalmist says, is "the God of my
mercy" (Psalms 59:17). By these ordinances God would instruct His people, who
were in covenant relationship with Himself on the ground of law, as to the
solemn character of all that was righteously required of those whose continuance
in "the goodness of God" was determined by their unswerving obedience to those
requirements. The character and measure in which God has been pleased to reveal
Himself, whether under law or under grace, is that which determines the conduct
of those who stand in relationship with Him, so that we should reflect and
express the character of God according to that relationship.

While these "judgments" reveal the true character of the law, inflexible
righteousness with its inescapable demands of restitution and penal sanction,
for there could be no evasion of their responsibility, yet the spirit in which
the children of Israel dealt with each other, according to these divine
instructions, was expressive of the beautiful features of grace and compassion.
The following words sustain the truth of this assertion: they were not to vex a
stranger, or afflict the widow and the fatherless (Exodus 22:21-22); no interest
was to be charged to the poor who borrowed money (Exodus 22:25), and a
neighbour’s pledged garment was not to be kept overnight (Exodus 22:26-27). To
this last God adds this beautiful expression, "for I am gracious." As has been
already stated, there are self-evident truths presented which are specially
suited for private study, but there are certain points which merit closer study,
since in these there is a strongly marked relevancy between what is enjoined on
the children of Israel and the circumstances in which the people of God find
themselves today. Let us therefore consider these points with the desire that
the Spirit of God will increase our knowledge of that which will enable us to
walk worthy of "the God who calls us to His own kingdom and glory," in a world
where "The wicked (saith), in the haughtiness of his countenance, He doth not
search out: all his thoughts are, There is no God!" (Psalms 10:4). The fearful
result of this is that man, in daring presumption by parliamentary enactment,
has virtually set aside that which God has established for the protection of
life. In Exodus 21:12-17 certain offences to which the penalty of death is
attached are given, the case of murder being specifically mentioned. This,
however, is no new enactment as Genesis 9:5-6 unquestionably shows. God who
alone knows the heart of man, and has pronounced it "deceitful above all things
and incurably wicked," when investing Noah with the government of the earth,
provides in the most solemn terms, which no human laws can set aside, for the
preservation of man’s life, "at the hand of Man, at the hand of each (the blood)
of his brother, will I require the life of Man. Whoso sheddeth Man’s blood, by
Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God He hath made Man." In
Genesis 4:1-26, after Cain had slain his brother Abel, God asked him, "Where is
Abel thy brother?" to which Cain insolently replied, "I know not; am I my
brother’s keeper?" So God, in giving these instructions to Noah, places man’s
responsibility for the life of his fellow-man beyond all dispute. Life belongs
to God, and in the exercise of His prerogative as the Giver of life demands the
forfeiture of the life of one who has taken a life he cannot restore, and there
can be no mitigation of the sentence. Even though one guilty of murder should
lay hold of God’s altar (verse 14) this would avail him nothing, as is seen in
the case of Joab (1 Kings 2:28-34). All the misplaced philanthropic movements of
men, with their substitution of men’s ideas in place of God’s established order,
display not merely an ignorance of His ways but a deliberate rejection of God’s
righteous claims. Behind it all are the evil machinations of Satan, the
adversary of God, a rebel greater far than man himself.

There is, however, in Exodus 21:13 a notable exception made, according to the
words, "But if he have not lain in wait, and God have delivered him into his
hand, I will appoint thee a place to which he shall flee." This provision is
dealt with in fuller detail in Deuteronomy 19:1-21 and Numbers 35:1-34, where
the cities of refuge are spoken of. How precious is the grace, and the
compassion of the heart of God, expressed in Deuteronomy 19:6, "Lest the avenger
of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because
the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death,
since he hated him not previously."

It would appear that in this statute, mentioned in Exodus 21:12-13, we have a
typical allusion to the guilt of the Jewish nation in the slaying of their
Messiah. Had they not "lain in wait?" Time and again we are told of how they
counselled together as to how they might destroy Jesus, yet in grace, which
surmounted and surpassed the murderous hatred of their hearts, this crowning act
of rebellion against God is declared to have been done in ignorance, even as
Peter declared, "I know that ye did it in ignorance, as also your rulers" (Acts
3:17). In grace their awful deed is not regarded as wilful, but is attributed to
God having delivered up Jesus by His determinate counsel and foreknowledge (Acts
2:23). How often had they sought to take Jesus, but this could not be until God
Himself delivered Him into their hands, as Jesus said to Pilate, "Thou hadst no
authority whatever against me if it were not given to thee from above." But
through the atoning death of the Lord Jesus, Peter was able to point the way to
the city of refuge, saying, "Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the
Name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). This blessing was not only for the Jew, but also for
the Gentile, as Peter said, "For to you is the promise and to your children, and
to all who (are) afar off, as many as (the) Lord our God may call" (Acts 2:39).
In the super-abundance of His grace, grace that reigns through righteousness,
God has given us by two unchangeable things, His word and His oath, "a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which
entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered,
even Jesus" (Hebrews 6:18-20). And we our great Forerunner see, In His own glory
there;

Yet not ashamed, with such as we, As Firstborn, all to share. In Exodus 21:15;
Exodus 21:17, the solemn sentence of death is passed on those who are guilty of
smiting or cursing their father or mother. By this God sanctions the exercise of
parental authority, and the children’s regard for that authority as flowing from
filial affection. Since this is included among those other enactments, it
clearly shows the importance God attaches to these filial obligations, and how
gravely He regards any breach in conduct coming short of this. Paul, in writing
to Timothy concerning "the last days" when "difficult times shall be there,"
mentions specifically "disobedience to parents" and "without natural affection"
as characteristic of these last days. The fact that believers in Christ are not
under law, but under grace, does not relieve us of these obligations, since the
great point to be pressed is that of obedience to a God-given authority. Under
grace, according to the teaching of Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians, we
rise to greater heights in our observance of these things, as being animated by
heavenly motives and springs of action. The Spirit of God gives the following
exhortation, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is just"
(Ephesians 6:1), and to the Colossians, who were in danger of being entangled by
legal ordinances, the word is, "Children, obey your parents in all things, for
this is well-pleasing in the Lord" (Ephesians 3:20).

It is with deep reverence that we refer to the Child mentioned in Luke 2:48-52,
whose earthly parents had sought Him sorrowing, and to His mother’s gentle
reproof, "Child, why hast thou dealt thus with us? behold thy father and I have
sought thee distressed." He replied, "Why is it that ye have sought me? did ye
not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father’s business?" How remarkable is
this statement, revealing to us the amazing thought that even as a boy of twelve
Jesus realised His relationship with the Father who had sent Him into the world.
In this connection how precious are the words brought before us in Proverbs
8:22-31, where the Lord Jesus as Wisdom makes known His relations with the
Father in the solitude of eternity before ever the worlds were created. How
wonderful are His words, "Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of His way,
before His works of old . . . when He appointed the foundations of the earth:
then I was by Him, His nursling, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always
before Him; rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and my delights were
with the sons of men." In the light of this transcendent glory, how wonderful
are the words of Luke 2:51, "And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth,
and He was in subjection to them." In Exodus 22:1-15 the thought of restitution
is brought to our notice, a very necessary principle since there can be no
evading of responsibility on the part of one who has to do with "the righteous
Lord that loveth righteousness." In this God has shown not only His concern for
the guarding of the life and persons of His people, as already noted, but also a
concern for their possessions, demanding restitution from the offender as being
accountable to Him in their relations with one another. This raises a question
of deeper import and far-reaching significance, for if God regards the robbing
of one’s fellow-man in such a grievous light, what of our infinitely greater sin
of having robbed God, a sin of which all men are guilty; and what can we bring
to God as restitution? It is utterly impossible for bankrupt sinners to make
restitution to God, but another has done so, One who was not only the sin
offering and the burnt offering, but also the true trespass offering (Leviticus
5:1-19), and in Leviticus 14:1-57 both a sin offering and a trespass offering
were necessary. In the case of a Nazarite being defiled, the same two offerings
were required. While the trespass offering is in effect a sin offering, it has
more to do with the government of God, whereas the actual sin offering has to do
with the holiness of God’s nature. The Lord Jesus is the true trespass offering
in Isaiah 53:10-12 and also in Psalms 69:1-36, where, in prophetic language, He
says, "then I restored that which I took not away." This is a very precious
aspect of the death of Christ, the One who "stood between us and the foe, and
willingly died in our stead." Our debt has been paid fully and adequately. Every
demand against us as sinners has been righteously met; every accusing voice is
hushed in the presence of that all-atoning and all-sufficient sacrifice of our
Saviour and Lord. How worthy He is of every tribute we can lay at His blessed
feet.

Yet, Saviour! Thou shalt have full praise:

We soon shall meet Thee on the cloud, We soon shall see Thee face to face, In
glory praising as we would.

How blessed it is to sit in restfulness of heart in the unclouded light and joy
of the presence of God, and say, "If God be for us, who against us? . . . Who
shall bring an accusation against God’s elect? It is God who justifies: who is
he that condemns? It is Christ who has died, but rather has been also raised up;
who is also at the right hand of God; . . . Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? . . . neither death, nor life . . . nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Romans 8:31-39). The solemn sentence, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"
(Exodus 22:18), arrests the mind by reason of its severity, God thereby
indicating His abhorrence of that which, in its true character, was a
trafficking with evil spirits. Many derisory remarks are made regarding this
repelling evil, either to mitigate its dreadful influence or disprove its actual
existence, but the word of God speaks of it as one of the features of the great
apostasy in the last days, "But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in latter
times some shall apostatise from the faith, giving their mind to deceiving
spirits and teachings of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy" (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Throughout Scripture there are solemn warnings given as to the avoidance of the
various forms of this great evil and strong denunciations against it because of
its satanic origin. It is recorded of Manasseh, the son of the godly Hezekiah,
that he built again the high places that his father had broken down, and built
altars to all the host of heaven in both courts of the house of the Lord, "and
he used magic and divination and sorcery, and appointed necromancers and
soothsayers: he wrought evil beyond measure in the sight of Jehovah to provoke
Him to anger" (2 Chronicles 33:4-7).

Consider, too, Saul’s grievous sin in consulting the woman at Endor who had a
familiar spirit, after having "put away those that had familiar spirits . . .
out of the land" (1 Samuel 28:3). In his extremity, as his enemies gathered
together their armies, Saul enquired of the Lord, but God had already rejected
him, and He answered him not, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets."
In having recourse to this woman of Endor, Saul commits this heinous sin in the
face of his own proscription, and in inexcusable disobedience to the command of
God, only to hear again from Samuel the reason for his being rejected by God (1
Samuel 28:18). Samuel had already said to Saul, "For rebellion is as the sin of
witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast
rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king" (1
Samuel 15:23).

How necessary it is for us to accept God’s estimate of what is obnoxious to Him
and calls forth His unsparing judgment. The outstanding characteristic of the
religious systems around is unbelief, which, in its essence, is descriptive of
those who have not hearkened to the word of God. This is not a mere passive
state, but a deliberate, wilful rejection of God, as having come under the power
of him who is a greater rebel than man himself, "the ruler of the authority of
the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2).
By him they are seduced to probe into things unknown and unseen through the
agency of evil spirits. In this ordinance, or statute, God has, by the very
severity of the judgment, recorded His utter detestation of that which is
essentially evil and destructive to the souls of men.

Another solemn sentence, brought to our notice in Exodus 22:20, is "He that
sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly
destroyed." Is it not a solemn reflection that the nation whom God had
sovereignly chosen out of all the nations of the earth, that were so richly
favoured and endowed, should so early in their history be guilty of the most
flagrant idolatry? In Exodus 20:1-26 God had spoken these words, "I am Jehovah
thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thyself
any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them"
(Exodus 20:2-5). With these words graven in our thoughts, what a solemn scene is
opened up before us in chapter 32, as we witness the complete contradiction of
them, as though these words had never been written.

God tells Moses, in Exodus 32:1-35, to "go down! for thy people (not My people),
which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, is acting corruptly . . . they
have made themselves a molten calf, and have bowed down to it . . . and said,
This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!"
(Exodus 32:7-8). The Spirit of God confirms the guilt of the people in these
words, "They made a calf in Horeb, and did homage to a molten image; and they
changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot
God their Saviour, who had done great things in Egypt" (Psalms 106:19-21). May
we profit from the seasonable admonition, implicit in all that God has caused to
be "written for our learning," for, "As in water face answereth to face, so the
heart of man to man" (Proverbs 27:19).

We may not be guilty of bowing down to a god of our own devising, "like gold or
silver or stone, the graven form of man’s art and imagination," but there are
other idols ever seeking to steal our hearts away from Him, of whom the apostle
says, "yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom all things, and we for
Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things" (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).
The greatest and most subtle idol is self. How we need to be warned of this,
since the apostle, speaking of the features of the last days, mentions as the
first thing, "for men shall be lovers of self" (2 Timothy 3:2), and every human
resource is being co-ordinated and applied to enable men to reach this unworthy
end.

Paul, in writing to the saints in Colosse, warns against idolatry, and proposes
the only effective remedy, "Mortify (or put to death) therefore your members
which are upon the earth . . . and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians
3:5). Covetousness, as another has said is "greedy, unsatisfied lust," the
craving of a heart unsatisfied with its portion, and true of many in Paul’s day,
"whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things" (Php 3:19).

How precious it is to turn to Him who is our great Exemplar in this as in all
things. How sweet is the savour of His ointments in Psalms 16:1-11, and how
fragrant is His precious Name, an ointment poured forth so that the virgins love
Him. Speaking as the dependent Man, He says, "Preserve me, O God: for I trust in
Thee"; then, in referring to other gods, He declares, Their sorrows shall be
multiplied that hasten after another . . . and I will not take up their names
into my lips." Not only does He willingly comply with the law that prohibited
all other gods, He would not even take their names upon His lips. As the true
Levite, the dependent Man declares, "Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance
and of my cup." Jehovah was His assigned portion, what rightly belonged to Him,
and also His cup for present enjoyment. Eating and drinking indicate
participation and enjoyment. Are we enjoying our portion as those whose cup is
running over, enjoying the rich, unmeasured bounty of love’s providing? To the
dependent One, His portion and cup were one, and Jehovah was the measure of
both. He had nothing besides, and He wanted nothing more. In the light of this
may the words of the beloved Apostle John assume a deeper significance to our
souls, "Children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21). He also by the
Spirit exhorts us, "Love not the world, nor the things in the world. If any one
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15-16).

Exodus 23:1-33; Exodus 24:1-18. The first verse of chapter 23 deserves careful
consideration, since it makes the hearer of a report responsible to ensure that
what he has heard is true before accepting it, the true rendering of the verse
being, "Thou shalt not accept a false report." How necessary it is to give heed
to such a solemn admonition. The words of the Lord Jesus, "Take heed what ye
hear," though referring to an entirely different matter, are of the utmost
relevance to what we are considering. James, in his Epistle, warns us of the
unruliness of the tongue, using extremely strong terms to describe its unruly
propensities and its defiling and destructive consequences. The heart actuated
by "the wisdom that is from above," which is "pure, then peaceable, gentle, and
easy to be intreated" (James 3:17), will take heed not only to what it hears,
but also to how it hears, since "the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of
them that make peace" (verse 18). In Exodus 23:12-13 the sabbath is mentioned as
a time of rest not only for the people, but also for the animals which served
them, and that "the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger may be refreshed." The
land was to enjoy its sabbaths as a constant token that it belonged to the Lord,
so that not only man, but the land itself, the poor and the beasts of the field
were to share God’s rest. All were the objects of God’s tender compassion. With
the sabbath, there is also the mention of three feasts, which, in their typical
meaning, are of the first importance to us. In Leviticus 23:1-44 the full range
of Jehovah’s feasts is brought before us, typical of the ways of God in blessing
from the cross to the millennium, but in this chapter only three of the feasts.
in addition to the sabbath, are mentioned. Firstly, there is the feast of
unleavened bread, which is the Passover (see Exodus 12:8; Luke 22:1). Unleavened
bread was a necessary accompaniment to the Passover. Then we have "the feast of
harvest . . . and the feast of ingathering" (Exodus 23:16). On these three
occasions, the Passover, Pentecost and the feast of tabernacles, all the males
of Israel were to appear before God. As in Leviticus 23:1-44, so it is here, the
sabbath is first mentioned as setting forth the consummation of all God’s ways
in blessing for all His redeemed, whether heavenly or earthly, when they shall
share with Him His eternal rest. Where deceiver ne’er can enter, Sin-soiled feet
have never trod;

Free — our peaceful feet may venture In the paradise of God.

How appropriate that the sabbath, with its prospect of eternal rest, should have
precedence over the other feasts, and as indicating the divine order attaching
to them. The feast of unleavened bread necessarily follows, which speaks of the
setting aside of all that is of the flesh, that in which God can find no
pleasure, whether it be the leaven of the Pharisees which is religious
pretension, the leaven of the Sadducees which is intellectualism and infidelity,
the old leaven which belongs to man after the flesh ended in the cross, or the
leaven of malice and wickedness which is the fruit of the old nature (1
Corinthians 5:6-8).

We can only celebrate this feast with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and
truth," and having Christ before us, as the true Passover, apart from whom there
could be no "harvest," and without whom we should appear in God’s presence
"empty." we have much to offer in praise and thanksgiving.

Then comes "the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours which thou hast
sown in the field." In Leviticus 23:1-44, where these feasts are mentioned in
greater detail, the "sheaf of firstfruits," which was waved before the Lord, is
typical of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He is the beginning of the true
harvest. "Firstborn from among the dead," the beginning in resurrection of a new
order of things which has sprung up from the "corn of wheat" that fell into the
ground and died. It had been written, "They that sow in tears shall reap in
joy," and how glorious are the achievements resulting from the sufferings of the
cross, and by the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to form a heavenly
company, who are all of one with Him, His joy and boast. It was "in view of the
joy lying before Him, (He) endured the cross, having despised the shame," and
now He "is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). The
feast of ingathering follows, which has in view the gathering in of the children
of Israel, but which in its comprehensive application embraces the myriads of
the redeemed of every age and dispensation. All for God has been established in
resurrection, "the first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ’s at His
coming" (1 Corinthians 15:23). This wonderful ingathering commenced at Pentecost
by the descent of the Holy Spirit. A moral order is discernable in these feasts.
As we enter into the truth of that which is set forth in the feast of unleavened
bread and the feast of harvest, we are prepared to enter into the fulness of
blessing which God has purposed for His people set forth in the feast of
ingathering, with the inheritance in its vast extent "from the wilderness unto
the river" (Exodus 23:31). Israel will have this inheritance in the mediatorial
kingdom of the Lord Jesus, in a scene where righteousness reigns.

During the Lord’s reign He will annul "all rule and all authority and power. For
He must reign until He put all enemies under His feet." At the end He will give
up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father, "that God may be all in all" (1
Corinthians 15:24-28). It is to this we are hastening, the full fruition, the
perfect realisation of every thought of God. As lifted above our own feebleness
of thought, may we, as endowed by the Spirit, with ever enlarging capacity seek
to apprehend the fulness of God’s thought for the blessing of men, founded on
the redemptive work of Christ, and reaching its blessed consummation in the "new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). Then too
will be fulfilled the Scripture, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and
He shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself
shall be with them, their God" (Revelation 21:3). In Exodus 24:1-18 we have
presented to us what is commonly spoken of as the "ratification of the
covenant." In the chapters we have already considered there has been, in the
most solemn manner, the unfolding of the terms, and their interpretation, on
which God’s relationship with His people could be maintained, according to the
inflexible demands of righteousness and holiness. The first verse intimates the
solemnity of the occasion, yet withal a ray of divine grace, worthy of the God
of all grace, illumines that sombre scene. Moses was instructed to bring others
with him, but Jehovah said, "let Moses alone come near Jehovah, but they shall
not come near; neither shall the people go up with him." In these words we are
again reminded of the character of the dispensation, one of distance, as
distinctly emphasised in the words, "and worship afar off." This is in marked
contrast to the spirit of the present dispensation in which we are exhorted,
"Let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith" (Hebrews 10:22).
In choosing that Moses alone should draw near to Him, we see a singular act of
God’s grace in investing Moses with the high honour and dignity of mediator of
the covenant. Grace alone conferred this dignity, and its significance and
importance lie in the fact that Moses, in type, displays in shadowy outline the
more substantial and positive glories of an infinitely greater Mediator, even
"Jesus, Mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 12:24; 1 Timothy 2:5). He is the
"Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, One who in the power of His
own shed blood "entered in once for all into the holy of holies, having found an
eternal redemption . . . who by the eternal Spirit offered Himself spot-less to
God . . . and for this reason He is Mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews
9:12-15).

Having regard to the solemn incident mentioned in Leviticus 10:1-20, where Nadab
and Abihu "took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on
it, and presented strange fire before Jehovah, which He had not commanded them,"
the solemn character of their offence is intensified when we observe that they
were included among that favoured company who "saw the God of Israel." Yet in
the exercise of their priestly functions they acted in complete disregard of
that which was pleasurable to God, and thereby brought upon themselves the
summary judgment of God.

It is of prime importance that we have our attention drawn to the judgment that
fell upon the sons of Aaron, and that we should profit from its solemn
admonition, since all around us today we see the increasing pre-valence of the
mind of man intruding with daring presumption into the holy things of God,
ignorant or forgetful of the fact that he has to do with God who has declared,
"I will be hallowed in them that come near me, and before all the people I will
be glorified" (Leviticus 10:3). What is rendered to God must be in accordance
with His desires, as that which is the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our souls.
When Moses came to the people and told them "all the words of Jehovah, and all
the judgments," all the people replied "with one voice, and said, All the words
that Jehovah has said will we do!" Moses then recorded all these words in a
book, spoken of in Exodus 24:7 as "the book of the covenant," and referred to in
Hebrews 9:19 as "the book itself." It was according to the terms recorded in
this book that covenant relations were to be established and maintained.

How significant and precious in its typical teaching is the action of Moses in
rising up early in the morning and building "an altar under the mountain, and
twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel." It is remarkable that
in Exodus 20:1-26, after God had given the ten commandments, He immediately
speaks of the altar, and of burnt offerings and peace offerings: so it is in
this chapter. As often reiterated, God’s desire is to dwell with His people, but
this could not be realised on the ground of the obedience of man after the
flesh, but by the obedience of the true Mediator even unto death, and that the
death of the cross; a death in which He glorified God and laid the righteous
basis upon which will be fully realised the eternal gratification of the heart
of God in blessing to men. In the "twelve pillars, according to the twelve
tribes of Israel," we are reminded of God’s unwavering purpose to bless the
people, not on the ground of their declared obedience, but wholly in virtue of
the sacrificial work of Christ of which the altar typically speaks. In the mind
of God the blessing of His people would be secured in all the value and sweet
savour of the burnt offering, and it is worthy of note that, before the covenant
was ratified, the people were identified with the altar and so brought on to
that ground by the work of the Mediator.

How precious is the typical significance of these things as pointing forward to
the work of Him who is the true Mediator, and who was Himself the true burnt
offering. Through Christ’s death God has been glorified as to all the breakdown
under the first covenant, and His people have been identified with the work
which has glorified Him, and also with the Person who has wrought this great
work. A new order is suggested in the youths of the children of Israel offering
up burnt offerings, and sacrificing sacrifices of peace offerings of bullocks to
Jehovah (Exodus 24:5). In this we have a new generation intimated, "the youths"
in contrast to "the elders" of verse 1. By the sovereign work of God there will
be a new generation of Israel with the law written in their hearts, instead of
fathers who utterly failed under law. There will be sons in whose hearts the
Spirit of grace has wrought, and who will be taught of God. Of these we read in
Psalms 45:16, "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons," and this new
generation is also spoken of in Psalms 22:31 and Psalms 110:3.

How precious too is all this in its application to the saints in the present
dispensation of grace, who are "sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus," for "God
sent forth His Son . . . that we might receive sonship." As another has said,
"It is receiving the position of sonship as a gift. ` Receive ’ has an active
force here. Jew and Gentile received it as a gift from another, even freely from
God; for the Jew was in bondage under law: the Gentile has right to nothing." It
is because we are sons that "God has sent out the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). See also Romans 8:15; Romans
8:23, and Ephesians 1:5.

We are also children of God by divine generation, "Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the living and abiding word of God .
. . But this is the word which in the glad tidings is preached to you" (1 Peter
1:23-25). Moreover, it is said of those so richly blessed that they are "elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the
Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter
1:2). The obedience spoken of here is in strong contrast to the legal obedience
demanded under law. Those born of incorruptible seed are "children of
obedience," being partakers of a divine nature which delights in obedience.
Having the Spirit of sonship they are competent to obey as Christ obeyed. and by
that same Spirit they are accepted before God in all the value of the sprinkling
of the blood of that Lamb "foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world."
The words just quoted from Peter’s 1st Epistle are a direct allusion to Exodus
24:6-8, as are also the words of Hebrews 9:19-20, which in greater detail recall
the action of Moses in sprinkling the blood as he was commanded. In Hebrews
9:1-28 we find an interesting and instructive addition to that which is recorded
in Exodus, that the book also was sprinkled, as well as the altar and the
people.

We might well ask, What does the sprinkling of blood in this case speak of? It
is certainly not redemption, since we have already considered the types which
set forth redemption in its two-fold aspect; first, by blood according to Exodus
12:1-51, which sheltered them from the judgment of God; secondly, by power, as
witnessed by their triumphant passage through the Red Sea, whereby their enemies
were destroyed and they were delivered forever from their power.

Israel now, at a distance from God, standing on the ground of their
responsibility before God, having pledged themselves to unqualified obedience to
the terms of the covenant, are made to realise their solemn position by the
sealing of this covenant by blood. The sprinkling of blood here is not
propitiation, but penalty, the blood signifying that death is the penal sanction
of the law. By the sprinkling of blood, Israel bound themselves to keep the
whole law in a covenant of death. Nor is it otherwise, in this day of grace,
with those who in principle make the ground of law their rule of life, who are
trusting to their good works as the condition of blessing. Though ignorant of
this solemn fact, they are truly placing themselves under the curse of the law
to which death is attached as the penalty of disobedience. The witness of death
is deeply imprinted on this chapter. The blood was sprinkled on the altar,
speaking typically of that work by which God has been glorified. Christ died
under the solemn curse of a broken law, thereby establishing the will of God in
a path of unswerving obedience to that will which led only to the cross, where
the authority of the law was maintained and every penalty of its infraction
borne. The blood was also sprinkled on the people as speaking to their
consciences, and ours, in type of that "sacrifice of nobler Name" by which
Christ has become the "Mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken
place for redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, the called
might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance" (Hebrews 9:15). From
Hebrews 9:19 we learn that the blood was also sprinkled on "the book." Would not
this typically intimate that every claim of the first covenant has been
righteously met, and that its righteous demands have been completely vindicated
by the full penalty being borne? In that death there has also been the setting
aside of the man who was unable to meet the righteous requirements of the law.
The children of Israel were unable to see Christ as the end of all this typical
teaching, but, as taught by grace, we see that this blessed One was in the mind
of God from the very beginning. In Exodus 24:9-11 a most momentous spectacle is
opened before us. Two of its features will serve to justify the truth of this
assertion, "they saw the God of Israel" and "they saw God, and ate and drank."
God distinctly declared in Exodus 33:20, "Thou canst not see My face; for Man
shall not see Me, and live." Yet here, through special grace granted on the
ground of that blood sprinkling that had just taken place, Moses and his
companions, as representatives of the people, went up and ate and drank in the
presence of the God of Israel. Although they were in the presence of the holy
God of Israel, God did not place His hand in judgment on the nobles, who saw
"under His feet as it were work of transparent sapphire, and as it were the form
of heaven for clearness." All this was in accordance with the dispensation of
law.

How surpassingly great is the glory of the grace displayed in the Person of
Jesus, who was none other than Jehovah, the God of Israel, veiling the glory of
Deity in a body specially prepared for Him, in which He passed through this
world in all the attractive grace and moral excellence of perfect Manhood. As
has been written, "In His humiliation His divine glory was maintained in the
unsounded depths of His Person," and a Scripture says, "In Him all the fulness
(of the Godhead) was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19). In the Gospels we see
the God of Israel in Jesus, allowing men to eat and drink in His presence; and
we also see Him eating and drinking with His disciples, with Pharisees and with
publicans and sinners! Peter, in Acts 10:40-41, also mentions the grace that
allowed the disciples to eat and drink with Jesus, where he says,

"This (Man) God raised up the third day and gave Him to be openly seen, not of
all the people, but of witnesses who were chosen before of God, us who have
eaten and drunk with Him after He arose from among the dead." How surpassing too
the grace that allowed that poor, penitent woman in the Pharisee’s house to wash
His blessed feet with tears, to wipe them with her hair, and to kiss and anoint
them with the ointment she had brought. Immeasurable grace indeed! At the close
of the chapter we find Moses in his place of mediator, called by God to "Come up
to me," that he might receive from Him "the tables of stone, and the law, and
the commandment that I have written, for their instruction." The solemnity of
the occasion is marked by "the appearance of the glory of Jehovah" being "like a
consuming fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of
Israel." Moses was alone with God forty days and forty nights, and as mediator
he alone could approach God to receive from Him the "tables of stone," the
"living oracles" of which Stephen spoke in Acts 7:1-60. The glory seen by the
children of Israel was not the glory of God’s grace, but the glory of holiness
as befitting the age of law. In measureless grace it is given to us now to
behold the glory of the grace that shines resplendent in the face of Jesus (2
Corinthians 3:18).

Exodus 25:1-16

It has been said that this is one of the most outstanding, if not the most
outstanding, chapters of the five books of Moses, commonly spoken of as the
Pentateuch. Even a cursory examination of the contents of the chapter would
establish the truth of this assertion. Here we have a remarkable diversity of
types, which, while appertaining to an earthly order of things, are profoundly
significant in their being typical of that which is heavenly. As the writer of
the Hebrews declares, they "serve the representation and shadow of heavenly
things, according as Moses was oracularly told when about to make the
tabernacle; for See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the
pattern which has been shown to thee in the mountain" (Hebrews 8:5).

We must remember that types are not intended to teach truths, their purpose is
to illustrate them. They are but the shadows and not the very image of that
which they are used to typify. This is perfectly understandable when we realise
that Christ is the great substance of these shadows, the full image of all that
was partial. In none of these types can we find the full truth of Christ and His
work, yet they are the means God has used to convey to our hearts and
understandings the knowledge and enjoyment of those things which in their
intrinsic character are infinite, and which find their full and perfect
expression in the Christ of God, and in no other.

How remarkable it is to see that God Himself draws near with the proposal that
His people make Him a suitable dwelling-place in which He might dwell in their
midst on the ground of accomplished redemption. In so doing, God displays the
infinite grace of His heart towards His people, which is the more accentuated
when we remember that in their song of triumph, celebrating their complete
deliverance from the power of their enemies, Israel spoke of preparing such a
dwelling-place in these words, "He is my God, and I will prepare Him an
habitation" (Exodus 15:2).

It was therefore gracious of God to draw near to Moses and instruct him as to
how this desire of the people, which answered to the ever-present desire of His
own heart, could be brought to pass, and in a way which would glorify Him. This
latter thought is sustained by the alternative rendering of the clause "I will
make Him an habitation," which reads, "I will glorify Him." These two thoughts
are not inconsistent with each other, for God is glorified in His people making
Him a dwelling-place. In Psalms 22:1-31 we find these remarkable words, "And
Thou art holy, Thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel," and also in
Psalms 50:23, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me."

How much is brought to light in this approach of God in grace to His people,
bringing His people to Himself and establishing covenant relationships with
them. None of this could have been possible, nor could this relationship have
been enjoyed, had not God drawn near and revealed what He is to man. The truth
of this is borne out in a very convincing manner by the order in which the
various vessels are brought before us, according to the predetermined design of
the Spirit, consistent with the measure and manner in which God was pleased to
reveal Himself. In accordance with this the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews
begins his letter by stating that "God having spoken in many parts and in many
ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days has
spoken to us in (the Person of the) Son."

It is worthy of our consideration to observe that the various vessels first
mentioned are those which, in their typical teaching, convey the precious
thought that it is God who ever initiates these movements of grace in blessing
to men. Here are these vessels, the ark, the golden table, the golden
candlestick, the tabernacle with its curtains, the veil, the brazen altar and
the court. These form the first division of the types, the common purpose of
which is the display of God in Christ for the blessing of men.

Before considering the vessels in detail, however, let us note how God brings
the people into communion with His own desires respecting the building of this
tabernacle in which He was to dwell among them. The word to Moses is, "Speak
unto the children of Israel, that they bring me a heave-offering: of every one
whose heart prompteth him, ye shall take my heave-offering." Then follows the
description, both interesting and instructive, of the various articles required,
ending with the memorable words, "And they shall make me a sanctuary, that I may
dwell among them."

All this material was to be furnished as the fruit of promptings of heart. No
quantity was specified, but so great was the response that it states in Exodus
36:6 that a special proclamation had to be made to restrain the people from
giving. All is the work of God’s grace, for, as being enriched by Him, we can
offer that which is in accordance with His own thoughts and purposes, as David
declares, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer
willingly after this manner, for all is of Thee, and of that which is from Thy
hand have we given Thee . . . Jehovah our God, all this store that we have
prepared to build Thee a house to Thy holy Name, is of Thy hand, and is all
Thine own" (1 Chronicles 29:14; 1 Chronicles 29:16).

God delights in the spontaneous response of the affections of His people, but
such is His grace that what is offered, being the fruit of His Spirit’s work in
our souls, He reckons it to us as our own offering, and thereby clothes us with
that fine linen which is "the righteousnesses (or righteous acts) of the
saints." When the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife (the assembly) has
made herself ready, the Spirit adds, "And it was given to her" (Revelation
19:8). This is wondrous grace on the part of God whose workmanship we are,
"having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before
prepared that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). Grace works in order to
produce these "good works," precious "fruit of the Spirit," the result of His
indwelling and His gracious work in us, producing the "fruit of righteousness,
which is by Jesus Christ, to God’s glory and praise." In considering the
materials which willing hearts had provided so abundantly in response to God’s
expressed desire, it is of great importance to keep the thought before us that
the Holy Spirit has chosen each of these materials with care and precision to
set forth in typical language the Person of Christ and the varied glories which
are enshrined in His Person, the One in whom "all the fulness of the Godhead was
pleased to dwell." How appropriate therefore that the first vessel presented for
our consideration should be the ark. No type in Scripture is more wonderful than
the ark, each mention of which, throughout Scripture, has a descriptive form,
none of which is without its own peculiar significance as setting forth some
aspect of the glory of the Lord Jesus.

Exodus 25:22 refers to the ark as "the ark of the testimony." Comparing this
description with others, it would seem that this aspect of the ark has special
reference to the wilderness, which typifies the present scene through which
every true child of God is passing, and in which we are set up in the power of
the Spirit in testimony for God. In Christ Himself, the true ark, "the faithful
and true Witness" when all else had failed, we see every element of testimony
sustained in perfection in His matchless life, bringing forth much and abiding
fruit for the Father’s glory and pleasure. Only as we cherish Him in our
affections as the great Witness bearer, "Him whom the Father has sanctified and
sent into the world," will our testimony be fruitful and abiding. Of Ephraim it
will be said in a coming day, "From me is thy fruit found" (Hosea 14:8), Ephraim
meaning "fruitfulness," a meaning so greatly belied throughout the many
centuries that have passed.

It is worthy of note that the ark, after it had crossed over the Jordan, is
never spoken of as "the ark of the testimony," and in Joshua 3:13 it is called
"the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth." In this latter description do
we not have Christ set forth as the One in whom all the rights of God are
secured and maintained? Divine power was seen as completely victorious over all
the strength of death and the power of the enemy as typified in Jordan, for "the
Jordan is full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest" (Joshua 3:15).
It was the far-reaching power of the "ark of Jehovah" that caused the waters of
Jordan to stand up "in a heap very far," as is celebrated in Psalms 114:5, "What
ailed thee . . . thou Jordan, that thou turnedst back?"

It was the same ark that compassed Jericho and brought down its walls, laying
open to Israel the land of Canaan which God had given to them as an inheritance,
but which could only be possessed by the overthrow of those nations who were
ready to challenge their right to the lawful possession that God had given them.
As is well known, this is a beautiful type of the truth brought before us in
Ephesians 6:10-18. Canaan, for the true believer in Christ in this dispensation
of grace, is "the heavenlies" mentioned in Ephesians 1:3, where it is written,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." Then we learn from
Ephesians 2:1-22 that God has "quickened us with the Christ," and "has made us
sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus." In Ephesians 6:1-24 we are
warned of those formidable enemies (typified in the nations of Canaan) who are
ever ready to contest the present possession of our heavenly inheritance. Our
struggle is not against flesh and blood as was the case with the children of
Israel, "but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal
lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the
heavenlies," truly a formidable array of the power of evil against us. But the
"Father of glory," the source of all the wealth of divine blessing to us, has
made abundant provision for us to enable us to follow the Ark (Christ) into
possession of our heavenly inheritance, which has been secured for us by the
death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God, of Christ. The God
who was known to Israel as Jehovah is now known to us as the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and as the God and Father of those who are associated
with Christ in the heavenlies, and in this place of grace and favour we are
accepted "in the Beloved." The consideration of the materials used in the
construction of the ark cannot fail to be of the deepest interest to every true
child of God, since in its typical significance it speaks, on the one hand, of
the manifestation of God in Christ, and on the other of God’s throne and
government in Israel. The first material mentioned is shittim or acacia-wood, a
wood considered by reliable authority to be imperishable or incorruptible. If
this is so, it provides a most appropriate type of the true humanity of our
blessed Lord, for His was a holy and incorruptible humanity as conceived by the
Holy Spirit, as it is written, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and power
of the Highest overshadow thee, wherefore the holy thing also which shall be
born shall be called Son of God" (Luke 1:35). A peculiar glory illumines the
remarkable declaration of the Spirit in Psalms 40:6, quoted in Hebrews 10:5,
"Wherefore coming into the world He says, Sacrifice and offering Thou willedst
not; but Thou has prepared me a body." This holy, incorruptible vessel was
suitable in every way for the setting forth of the glory of God in a Man, and
for the supreme expression of the love of God to men. Everything inwardly and
outwardly connected with Him, who was the Man of God’s counsels, was pleasurable
in the extreme to the heart of the Father as is witnessed in Matthew 3:16-17,
where the opened heavens, the descending Spirit and the Father’s voice all
combine to express the deep and abiding pleasure of the Father in the Son of His
love. The moral features that were displayed in all their perfection in the Lord
Jesus, with all the official glories with which He had been invested, and in
which He will be manifested in the coming day, could only be sustained by Him
who walked this scene in all the grace and perfection of holy Manhood. Jesus was
as a tree growing up in this world, "a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry
ground." To men He had no form or lordliness, and no beauty that Israel should
desire Him. Yet the Holy Spirit delights in this theme, tracing the lowly rod of
the stem of Jesse, growing up before the Lord as a tender plant to the stately
Branch in manifested beauty (Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 53:2; Jeremiah 33:15; Zechariah
3:8; Zechariah 6:12; Luke 1:78). The shittim wood was then overlaid with gold,
that which is a fitting symbol of that which is divine. While clearly
distinguishable the one from the other, the wood and the gold are closely
connected in setting forth the glory of Him in whose Person was displayed the
union of two natures, a perfect Man, yet One "who is over all, God blessed for
ever," and "God manifest in flesh." In John 1:14 there is the wonderful
declaration, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have
contemplated His glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a Father), full of
grace and truth."

Mr Wm. Kelly writes of this profound subject, not in the letter of cold
orthodoxy, but with a warmth of expression commendable to all who love our Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity, "This becomes all the more remarkable because He
deigned for the deepest purposes to become true man. This, however, trenched not
on His deity, for incarnation means not Godhead swamped by humanity, but this
taken into everlasting union with itself, each nature abiding in its own
perfectness, not metamorphosed, but constituting together the one person of
Christ." The "rings" and "staves" on the ark (as on the other vessels) were that
it might "be borne with them." This is an important part of Levitical service,
and is based upon what is priestly, according to the truth brought before us in
the opening chapters of Numbers. Leviticus is necessarily the priests’ book, in
which we learn what suits God in the sanctuary, while Numbers is the book of the
Levites, as bringing into testimony in this world that which we have learned in
the sanctuary concerning the glories of Christ.

Every true believer in Christ is both priest and Levite. As priests we have
access to God in whose presence the glories of Christ are displayed, and as
Levites we carry through this world the precious testimony of these glories,
glories that shine in the face of a Man who has passed into the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God through whom we have been brought nigh to God. Having the
wonderful knowledge of a glorified Christ we are manifested to be Christ’s
epistle, known and read of all men (2 Corinthians 3:1-18), and as the Apostle
Peter declares, we are privileged to "set forth the excellencies of Him who has
called" us out of darkness to His marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). With further
reference to the rings and staves, it states explicitly in verse 15, "The staves
shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not come out from it," but in
turning to 2 Chronicles 5:9 we find the words, "And they drew out the staves of
the ark, that the ends of the staves were seen from the ark before the oracle;
but they were not seen without," There is no discrepancy in this, but rather a
beautiful example of the accuracy of typical language. In Numbers 4:1-49, where
the various services of the Levites are mentioned, the sons of Kohath were given
the distinct honour, yet solemn responsibility, of carrying the ark of the
testimony and the other golden vessels, for of their service only it is said,
"it is most holy." It is worthy of note, however, that it was Aaron and his
sons, the priestly family, who had to prepare the vessels by covering them with
their varied coverings before the Levites could engage in the service allotted
to them. This strengthens the thought already expressed that it is only as
engaged in priestly service, in worship, learning more and more of the glories
and perfections of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, that we as true Levites can
show forth these excellencies as we pass through this desert scene. In 2
Chronicles, however, we view things from a different standpoint. The wilderness
journey is over, the people of God have been brought into their inheritance,
king Solomon is on the throne of Israel, and the temple has been built "unto the
Name of Jehovah, the God of Israel." How moving and memorable is the scene
brought before us in 1 Kings 8:1-66 at the inauguration of the temple, as
Solomon stands before the altar of Jehovah in the presence of the whole
congregation of Israel and gives utterance to the remarkable prayer recorded for
us by the Spirit. The display of glory on that great day was but the
foreshadowing of the day of glory that is yet to come when the One, who is
greater than Solomon, will establish His kingdom in righteousness, bringing joy
and blessing not only to His earthly people, but to the world at large, and we,
His heavenly people, shall be sharers with Him in His deep and abiding joy. Then
will be fully realised the truth of the words of the Psalmist, "Arise, Jehovah,
into Thy rest, Thou and the ark of Thy strength" (Psalms 132:1-18). The staves
are no longer needed for carrying the ark, for the ark is at rest in the
presence of the divine glory.

Exodus 25:17-30 In verse 17 the mercy-seat is mentioned, "And thou shalt make a
mercy-seat of pure gold." The descriptive term used by the Spirit cannot fail to
arrest the attention of those who "have tasted that the Lord is good," since it
speaks of God coming out in the exercise of the "rights of mercy." It is the
display of the righteousness of God in the way of mercy toward those who were
utterly ruined by sin; and our state being beyond recovery or remedy, mercy
alone can meet our need as founded on the work of redemption. How reassuring the
words of the apostle, "Being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat,
through faith in His blood, for the showing forth of His righteousness, in
respect of the passing by the sins that has taken place before, through the
forbearance of God; for the showing forth of His righteousness in the present
time, so that He should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus"
(Romans 3:24-26). As the force of this remarkable statement bursts upon our
feeble apprehension as also the greatness and glory of the Saviour and the
magnitude of the work He has accomplished, our hearts rise in responsive praise
to Him who so "loved us, and sent His Son a propitiation for our sins" (1 John
4:10). This mighty work of redemption has shown God to be righteous in "passing
by," not bringing into judgment the sins of Old Testament saints; and also God
is shown to be righteous at the present time in justifying those whose faith is
in Jesus as a Saviour.

There is no mention of the shittim wood in the construction of the mercy-seat;
it was to be "of pure gold." This conveys to us the precious thought that it is
God coming out to us according to what He is in Himself, according to His own
essential fulness, but with thoughts of mercy toward His creatures who were in a
state of enmity with and estrangement from Him.

Let us observe also where the mercy-seat was placed. "And thou shalt put the
mercy-seat above on the ark (Exodus 25:21). The Ark, a precious type of Christ,
as already noted, sustains the mercy-seat, and in virtue of His having
accomplished the work of redemption, the blood of the sin-offering having been
carried into the holiest of all and sprinkled once upon the mercy-seat and seven
times before it (Leviticus 16:11-14), God speaks with the Mediator, and through
Him to His people. "And there will I meet with thee, and will speak with thee
from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark
of the testimony" (Exodus 25:22). How perfectly accordant is this with Paul’s
words to Timothy, "For this is good and acceptable before our Saviour God, who
desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For
God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a ransom for all, the testimony to be rendered in its own times" (1
Timothy 2:3-6). The mercy-seat was measured and supported by the Ark of the
testimony. How all this speaks of the attitude and activities of a Saviour-God
whose disposition of love to guilty men found its perfect and supreme expression
in the gift of an only-begotten Son; "He . . . has not spared His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all." How wonderful the testimony being rendered now
concerning Him who came into the world not to do His own will but the will of
Him that sent Him, and to finish His work. How the thought of the
self-renunciation of the Lord Jesus is intensified in the following words,
"Wherefore coming into the world He says, Sacrifice and offering Thou willedst
not; but Thou hast prepared me a body . . . Then I said, Lo, I come (in the roll
of the book it is written of me) to do; O God, thy will" (Hebrews 10:5-9). How
perfect was the lowly grace in which He came, for in the acceptance of that body
specially prepared Him, He accepted all the limitations which His perfect
manhood imposed on Him, and voluntarily entered that path of obedience which His
manhood entailed in view of accomplishing the will of God, "taking His place in
the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, humbled Himself,
becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of the cross" (Php 2:5-8).
In the intrinsic glory and dignity of His own Person, He was none other than the
One "who is over all, God blessed for ever"; yet His self-abasement assumed a
bondman’s form, and as such, He, who knew only what it was to command, learned
obedience by the things which He suffered. As another has written, "How base to
take advantage of His grace to despise His glory! — to be so occupied with the
humiliation to which He stooped to glorify God the Father and show us both God
and man in His own person and ways, and, above all, to accomplish redemption —
to be so filled, I may say, with the circumstances of shame into which He went
down in love as to forget who He is in Himself that for us descended so low! No,
He that was perfect man was very God, equally with the Father and the Holy
Spirit. All things were made not only by Him but for Him."

How fittingly therefore does the mercy-seat, all of pure gold, rest upon the Ark
of the testimony, made of shittim wood overlaid with pure gold. Observe, too,
the peculiar designation of the Ark as "the ark of the testimony." How precious
the testimony this blessed One, the Substance of all these shadows, has rendered
concerning Himself as the Object of the Father’s good pleasure, and of His
purpose, in virtue of the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, both on and before, to
have sons before Him fully conformed to the image of the Son of His love.

"All like Thee, for Thy glory like Thee, Lord, Object supreme of all, by all
adored."

Moreover, Moses is instructed to "make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work
shalt thou make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat" (Exodus 25:18). From
the various references to the cherubim throughout the word of God, it would seem
that they are representative of God’s power in creation and judicial government.
As attendants upon that throne, which is characterised by righteousness and
holiness, as the psalmist says, "Righteousness and judgment are the foundation
of His throne" (Psalms 97:2), they exercise judicial power in the enforcement of
what is morally suitable to all the attributes of God. The seraphim, on the
other hand, appear to symbolise celestial beings which have to do with the
holiness of God’s nature, according to Isaiah 6:1-13 where one calls to the
other saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of hosts; the whole earth is full of
His glory." The first mention of the cherubim (Genesis 3:1-24) relates to a very
solemn moment in the history of mankind. There they are seen, as commanded of
God, with the flame of the flashing sword guarding the way to the tree of life.
Man, as fallen, could not be allowed to partake of the tree of life and so
perpetuate his sinful history in this world. But how different the attitude of
the cherubim in our chapter; they were to be made "out of the mercy-seat . . .
And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings over it, covering over with their
wings the mercy-seat, and their faces opposite to one another: toward the
mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be turned." How wonderful the design
of the Spirit in noting the significant attitude of these guardians of God’s
throne. It seems to suggest that they were not to look out, as taking account of
man’s sinful condition, but inward and downward on the mercy-seat of "pure gold"
on which had been sprinkled the blood of the sin-offering on the day of
atonement. "And he (Aaron) shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle
with his finger upon the front of the mercy-seat eastward; and before the
mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood seven times with his finger"
(Leviticus 16:14).

Because of the infinite and abiding efficacy of the precious blood of Christ as
typified in the sin-offering. God is a Saviour-God, with thoughts of
forgiveness. justification, reconciliation and life for men, and not of
judgment, giving to men this wonderful ministry of reconciliation, "how that God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning to them their
offences, and putting in us the word of that reconciliation." But why this
surpassing grace and favour to men, so utterly undeserved and unasked for by
men? — because "Him who knew not sin He (God) has made sin for us, that we might
become God’s righteousness in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). "His precious blood
has spoken there before and on the throne." And still "the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel" speaks its own sweet message of
pardon and peace, instead of vengeance as did Abel’s.

What surpassing and eternal glory has been brought to God with regard to the
momentous question of sin through the shedding of Christ’s precious blood. He
was God’s unspotted and unblemished Lamb, "foreknown indeed before the
foundation of the world." How great is the value God places upon the blood of
Christ by which atonement has been affected, for it is the blood that maketh
atonement for the soul, and without the shedding of blood there can be no
remission of sins. In this present dispensation of grace, God, as a Saviour-God,
is not taking account of men in their sinful condition as objects of judgment,
but as objects of mercy with a view to the forgiveness of their sins and the
cancellation of their guilt, on their acceptance of God’s testimony concerning
the atoning value of that precious blood and of their need of its abiding
efficacy. In taking account of the infinite value of the blood of Christ, God’s
disposition toward men is one of unqualified grace. Through the work of
redemption God has been glorified as a Saviour-God and His righteousness
displayed in the exercise of His rights of mercy toward men. How precious Christ
ought to be to those who stand accepted before God in all the unchanging
efficacy of the blood of Christ, "Jesus Christ the righteous; and He . . . the
propitiation for our sins: but not for ours alone, but also for the whole world"
(1 John 2:1-2). We have therefore "boldness for entering into the holy of holies
by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which He has dedicated for us
through the veil, that is, His flesh" (Hebrews 10:19-20). What a wondrous change
the blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat has wrought; God is against sin, but for
the sinner, and all His attributes, as typified in the cherubim, are acting in
perfect harmony to the achievement of all His purposes in grace to men, for in
the work of redemption "mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace
kissed each other." In Exodus 25:23-30 we have another vessel brought before us,
the Table of Showbread. Supposing the tabernacle to have been erected, this
vessel was placed, along with the candlestick of pure gold and the gold altar of
incense, though the latter is not mentioned in our chapter, in the holy place;
while the ark with the mercy-seat and the cherubim which we have already
considered solely occupied the holy of holies, God’s immediate dwelling-place.
The number of loaves to be placed on the table is not mentioned in this chapter,
since it would seem the purpose of the Spirit is to keep Christ prominently
before us as variously typified in these different vessels. The table of
showbread speaks of Christ as the One who alone can sustain before God that
which is for His pleasure in accordance with and flowing from the truth of what
is presented to us in the ark and the mercy-seat. This precious thought is
sustained as we consider that the composition of the table was similar to the
ark, thereby bringing Christ before us in His divine and human natures, combined
in one Person. It is this which makes these types such an absorbing theme where
Christ is everywhere presented as to the beauty and excellency of His person, or
to some of His glories and perfections. In order to complete the typical
teaching connected with the table of showbread, we must refer to Leviticus
24:5-9, where we are instructed as to the composition of the loaves or cakes and
the manner in which they were placed upon the table. In considering the
ingredients used, one is conscious of a notable omission, purposely designed of
the Spirit, since this stands out in marked contrast to the two wave-loaves
mentioned in Leviticus 23:17, which were baked with leaven. The reason is that
the two wave-loaves are figurative of the Church or Assembly, and therefore
leaven, which is invariably a figure of evil, is specifically mentioned; whereas
the fine flour, which was the principal ingredient in the making of the twelve
loaves, brings before us Christ, who was the true meat-offering, the holy,
harmless, undefiled One, unique in His flawless, spotless purity as a Man,
in-comparable to others as being without sin. The "fine flour" was the finest
part of wheat flour (Exodus 29:2) specially chosen by the Spirit as being
descriptive of the One in whom there was the perfect blending of every element
that constituted the moral glory of Jesus as a man; there was no
disproportionate element in Him, all was perfectly even in character and
expression. The fine flour has been characterised by another in these words:
"The meat-offering of God, taken from the fruit of the earth, was of the finest
wheat; that which was pure, separate and lovely in human nature was in Jesus
under all its sorrows, but in all its excellence, and excellent in its sorrows.
There was no unevenness in Jesus, no predominant quality to produce the effect
of giving Him a distinctive character." The twelve loaves, set in two rows with
pure frankincense put upon each row, speak of Israel in its twelve tribal
capacity, set before God in all the precious fragrance of Christ and maintained
there throughout all the dark night of their sore chastening at the hand of God,
because of their unfaithfulness and unbelief, in accordance with these
instructions: "Every sabbath day he (Aaron) shall arrange it before Jehovah
continually, on the part of the children of Israel: it is an everlasting
covenant." Thus do we see on this early page of the word of God an allusion to
the divine principle declared in unequivocal language by the apostle in Romans
11:29, "For the gifts and the calling of God are not subject to repentance", or
"never to be regretted." Other scriptures can be adduced in confirmation of
God’s unchanging purpose to bless His earthly people in accordance with the
terms of the covenant He had made with Abraham. In Joshua 4:1-24 : despite the
fact that two and a half tribes desired to remain on "this side of the Jordan
toward the sun-rising", we are told that "when the whole nation had completely
gone over the Jordan" Jehovah instructs Joshua to take twelve men, one out of
every tribe, who were to take twelve stones from the river Jordan, where the
priests’ feet had stood firm, and "carry them over with you, and lay them down
in the lodging place where ye shall lodge this night." Then Joshua himself "set
up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan . . .and they are there to this
day." The apostle Paul in Acts 26:6-7, declares before Agrippa "And now I stand
to be judged because of the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, to
which our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night hope to arrive."
So Paul can say in words which challenge all contradiction, "I say then, Has God
cast away His people? Far be the thought . . . God has not cast away His people
whom He foreknew" (Romans 11:1-2). God, in the exercise of His sovereignty,
declares the unchangeableness of His purpose and pre-serves it from any
semblance of afterthought. In the showbread, therefore, we see typified the
nourishment God would provide for His earthly people in Christ, and them, as
associated with Him, maintained in their administrative perfection in their
supremacy over the other nations, to whom would flow the rich bounty of God
through their instrumentality. "Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: In those days shall
ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, shall even take hold of
the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard
that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:23).

While the twelve loaves unmistakably refer to Israel, it is significant that the
nation did not eat of the showbread; it was the food of the priests. "And it
shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is
most holy unto him of Jehovah’s offering by fire; it is an everlasting statute"
(Leviticus 24:9). In this do we not have indicated the relevance of its
application to every true believer in Christ of this present dispensation? Those
belonging to Christ are all priests as typified in the expression "Aaron’s and
his sons’." An intermediary priestly class, constituted such by human
ordination, and as it exists in the religious systems of the world today, finds
no sanction or support in the word of God. Not only so, but Hebrews 10:28-29 is
a very solemn and fearful warning given by the Spirit through the apostle, of
the fatal con-sequences of reverting to the old order of worship, as though it
were to be the pattern of our worship, instead of being in every way the
contrast to it. To return, therefore, to the order of worship under the law is
to reject the heavenly order for that which was but a pattern of the heavenly
(Hebrews 9:23). As has been said, this marks the apostasy of worship; the
religious profession around us has appointed a priesthood presumably in a place
of nearness to God and its people at a distance. And is this not to trample
underfoot the Son of God? — as though, after all He has suffered in
accomplishing the will of God, His people were at as great a distance as ever
and as though we needed the intervention of others in our approach to God,
beside the all-efficacious ministrations of Him who is "minister of the holy
places and of the true tabernacle which the Lord has pitched, and not man"
(Hebrews 8:2). To return to the old form, therefore, is characterised by the
apostle as esteeming "the blood of the covenant whereby he has been sanctified
common", having no holy character as that which would still keep us without
instead of that which is our righteous and abiding title to enter into the
holiest of all. It is also to insult "the Spirit of grace" who witnesses to us
of the reality of this heavenly order of priesthood and indwells every true
believer in Christ, and thus gives competency to worship God in accordance with
His own nature. "God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and truth" (John 4:24). To the priests, therefore, the showbread belongs,
and as we have seen repeatedly, the priests represent the people of God who are
all priests (1 Peter 2:5, Revelation 1:6). The showbread is also spoken of as
the presence-bread, and, as the food of the priests, speaks of Christ as the
food of His people, no longer on earth, but as now glorified, and as minister of
the heavenly Sanctuary. We enjoy communion with Him there as the food of our
souls. We have seen that the table upon which the twelve loaves are set speaks
of Christ, as does the ark; it is thus communion is maintained and in which we
are identified with Him, for His place determines our place before God. How
precious to enjoy this sweet communion with Jesus in the holy places, fragrant
with His own perfections and excellencies, as typified in the frankincense.

"’Tis Jesus fills that holy place Where glory dwells, and Thy deep love In its
own fulness (known through grace), Rests where He lives in heaven above."

Exodus 25:31-40 The next vessel brought before us by the Spirit of God for our
wondering hearts to contemplate is the "lampstand of pure gold". It ought to
produce a sense of wonder in our souls as we consider the rich grace of a
Saviour-God displayed in this gradual unfolding of His manner of approach in
saving grace to men, in the person of His only-begotten Son. These types and
symbols are specially chosen by the Spirit for the purpose of bringing within
the range of our feeble apprehension the knowledge of the movements in grace of
a God whose great desire is to dwell "amid the praises" of His people in
conditions answering in every respect to the holiness of His nature.

How the "ages of time" themselves, the various dispensations of which we speak,
serve to enforce this precious thought of God’s desire to dwell with men, for,
in those various dispensations we can discern the progressive steps in which God
was unfolding and developing that which was in His heart in the pursuance of the
fulfilment of His predestined purpose; a purpose conceived in His own heart even
"before the ages of time", until as in our day we stand as those "upon whom the
ends of the ages are come", no longer standing in the twilight of types and
symbols, but in the full noonday splendour of the revelation of God in the
person of the Son. The Word, which had become flesh and graced this sinful,
sin-stricken world with His holy and heavenly presence, after accomplishing the
work the Father had given Him to do, was received up into glory.

"There we see Him crowned with glory, Glory in His unveiled face, And in peace
and rest before Him, In that glory learn of grace". With these precious thoughts
before us, let us now turn to consider the "lampstand of pure gold". A different
vessel, yet symbolising the same blessed Person whose glories have engaged our
hearts in the consideration of these other vessels. Each has borne witness to a
particular aspect of the glory of the Person of the Lord Jesus, and thereby
serving the intention of the Spirit in witnessing to the infinite and
inexhaustible fulness of Christ, the Man of God’s eternal counsels. As with the
mercy-seat, the lampstand was to be made of pure gold. Nothing that spoke of
what was entirely human entered into its construction, all was divine. In its
construction, the number seven, which speaks of perfection, is given a
prominence which is not without significance. In form, it consisted of a central
stem with six branches coming out of the sides of it, three out of one side and
three out of the other. These, with the central stem, provide the seven supports
for the seven lamps, the whole comprising a beautiful entity as indicated in
Exodus 25:36, "Their knobs and their branches shall be of itself — all of one
beaten work of pure gold". The number seven also figures prominently in the
ornamentation of the lamp-stand to which Exodus 25:33-34 refer.

There is no mention of the oil which was necessary to sustain the light. As was
the case with the table of showbread, no details were given of the twelve loaves
which were to be placed on the table. Other scriptures were necessary for this.
It would seem, therefore, that the leading thought in the mind of the Spirit is
to bring before our souls the One who is the Substance of all these shadows, who
is so peculiarly pleasurable to the heart of God, both as to the greatness of
His person and also with regard to the work by which God has secured all that
will be for His glory and pleasure. It may be that this thought is strengthened
by the words of Exodus 25:37 "and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they
may shine out before it". The word "light" means to cause to ascend, a word used
habitually for the burnt-offering, that precious aspect of the death of Christ
where all ascended to God as a sacrifice of supreme excellence, which was to Him
a sweet "savour of rest", yet which was necessary for our acceptance: "And he
shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted
for him to make atonement for him" (Leviticus 1:4).

Oil, however, is necessary if the lamp-stand is to fulfil the purpose for which
it is intended. We are directed therefore to other scriptures where the oil is
mentioned in various connections. This fact in itself ought to produce a spirit
of enquiry in those desirous of learning, like the Bereans who were such as
received the word with all readiness of mind, daily searching the scriptures to
see if these things were so. Oil in scripture is the symbol used to denote the
Person of the Holy Spirit as the power for testimony, and, this being so, the
first mention of the oil in relation to the lampstand will yield much valuable
instruction for our souls. It must be kept in mind, however, that the truth
concerning the Person of the Holy Spirit, His active power so requisite in the
spheres of testimony and worship, the dominant position He holds in relation to
the "new creation", "where all things are of God", is of such magnitude that
only brief references can be made to the typical teaching of the scriptures
foreshadowing this absorbing theme. The first mention of the oil in Exodus 27:20
is of great significance to those who stand in relationship to God. In this
verse the children of Israel were instructed to bring the "olive oil, pure,
beaten, for the light, to light the lamp continually . . . . it is an
everlasting statute, for their generations, on the part of the children of
Israel". Thus they were made to realise the essential part the oil had as a type
of the Spirit according to the divine prescription among those vessels which set
forth in a peculiarly precious way the manner in which God has approached men in
the pursuance of the fulfilment of His eternal purpose to have sons before Him,
fully conformed to the image of the "Son of his love", who will have the place
of pre-eminence among them as "the firstborn among many brethren".

It will be seen, therefore, that the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and of His
ways is of vital concern to those in whom the Spirit has wrought according to
the truth set forth in John 3:1-36, where we have stated by the Lord Jesus
Himself in clear and precise language, beyond all the disputations and cavils of
unregenerate men, the beginning of all God’s ways with us in grace. In John 3:3
the Lord Jesus meets Nicodemus with these memorable words, their divine,
sovereign and infallible authority still unimpaired and undiminished, "Except
any one be born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God". The word "anew" instead
of "again" conveys the proper thought, as indicating an entirely new source and
beginning of life. As another has said, "It is not only ’again’ but entirely
afresh, as from a new source of life and point of departure". John, in his first
epistle, crystallizes this wonderful truth in the remarkable expression, "born
of God", and thereby brought into the family of God.

Again, the Lord Jesus, in seeking to enlighten Nicodemus concerning things he
ought to have known, as pertaining to "earthly things", says in John 3:5,
"Except anyone be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God". Here the water is introduced, a symbol used by the Spirit as that which
purifies, that which cleanses. In this connection it speaks of the Word of God
applied to the soul in power by the Spirit of God. Numerous scriptures could be
adduced to sustain this thought, particularly in Ephesians 5:26, where the water
is definitely identified with the Word in the expression, "the washing of water
by the word". The Spirit Himself applies the word to the conscience, and by this
sovereign operation of the Spirit, we are born anew. By this action we are
convicted of sins, then faith, the gift of God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9),
rests on the testimony which the Spirit renders (1 John 5:6) concerning the
abiding value of that precious blood that cleanses from all sin, and on the
ground of this sacrificial work of Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells every true
believer in Christ, dwelling in us as the Spirit of truth (John 16:13) to be as
power for our present enjoyment of all that has been made good to us by the
water and the blood. The Spirit is not only the Source and Power of this new
life, but brings us into a new order of existence altogether. It is an entirely
new creation, according to the clear and unequivocal statement of the beloved
apostle to the saints at Corinth, expressed in the following words, "So if any
one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away;
behold all things have become new: and all things are of the God who has
reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18) — a new scene,
compatible with the divine and heavenly origin of this new life, revelling in
the blest affections of the Father and the Son, and in all those heavenly
objects which the Spirit brings before it and in which it delights, and by which
it grows and becomes exceedingly fruitful. As already stated, the Spirit is the
power for the present realisation of these things and also for the exercise of
faith on our part, as that by which there is the "substantiating (or assurance)
of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). In John
16:1-33 the Lord Jesus, speaking of the coming of the Spirit as the Spirit of
truth, whom He was to send from the Father, declares in very solemn words what
the presence of the Spirit will mean to the world, and also in words of rich
encouragement what it would mean to His own, as One who "shall glorify me, for
He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you. All things that the
Father has are mine, on account of this I have said that He receives of mine and
shall announce it to you" (verses 14, 15). It would seem that this is faintly
foreshadowed in another reference to the golden candlestick in Numbers 8:1,
"When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the
candlestick". When we consider that the Book of Numbers has to do with
wilderness conditions, the words just quoted assume a very precious
significance. They convey the wonderful thought that during the dark night of
His absence from this world, as rejected by it, the Spirit, in His never-failing
ministry of Christ, brings the glories of that blessed One before the vision of
our faith, occupying us with Him as the risen and glorified One, seated at the
right hand of God. This thought is sustained by the words in the seventeenth
chapter of this same Book. As the result of Korah’s rebellion, God commands
Moses to take twelve staves, "a staff for each father’s house", with each one’s
name written upon his staff; special instructions being given that Aaron’s name
was to be written on the staff of Levi. All were to be laid up before the Lord
where Moses met with Him. The Lord’s choice of priest was to be indicated in a
very remarkable way, "the man whom I shall choose, his staff shall bud forth".
So in verse 8 we read, "And it came to pass, when on the morrow Moses went into
the tent of the testimony, behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had
budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and ripened almonds".
Among those dead and barren staves, one only was marked by distinct evidence of
life, that of Aaron’s; and since all were dead, entirely devoid of any element
of life, this remarkable display of life in full maturity speaks of life out of
death — resurrection life. It will no doubt be remembered that in the
ornamentation of the candlestick, almonds or almond flowers are mentioned. The
almond tree is the first of all trees to bud after the winter season. This may
well speak of the Lord Jesus as the first-fruits, "But now Christ is raised from
among the dead, first-fruits of those fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). The
high priesthood of Christ is of an heavenly order in resurrection, constituted
such "not according to law of fleshly commandment (as Aaron was) but according
to power of indissoluble life" and "because of His continuing for ever, has the
priesthood unchangeable" (Hebrews 7:15-24); none can or will succeed our great
High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, "for the law constitutes men high priests,
having infirmity; but the word of the swearing of the oath which is after the
law, a Son perfected for ever" (Hebrews 7:28).

It is Christ therefore in resurrection who is brought before us in the
candlestick of pure gold. The resurrection number three is clearly stamped upon
it, and the almond flowers, already referred to as part of the exquisite
ornamentation of the candlestick, give added strength to the thought, since the
word "almond" means "watchful" or "vigilant" and is used with this signification
in Jeremiah 1:11-12, "And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. And Jehovah
said unto me, Thou hast well seen; for I am watchful over my word to perform
it". If everything fails and comes to the dust of death as connected with man in
the flesh, as all God’s dealings with man have so indisputably proved, God has
been watching over His word to perform what He has purposed for His own pleasure
in the blessing of men, "according to His good pleasure which He purposed in
Himself". All has been secured and made good in Christ risen from among the
dead, the blessed "first-fruits" of that glorious harvest resulting from the
"corn of wheat" falling into the ground, and in death bringing to an end the old
order of man which God Himself could not remedy, and in resurrection
establishing a new and heavenly order, all of one with Himself as deriving all
from Him, "For both He that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for
which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy
name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing Thy praises"
(Hebrews 2:11-12). In the opening verses of Leviticus 24:1-23 the thought of
perpetuity is introduced and expressed in such terms as to show its perfect
suitability in its application to the children of God of this dispensation. The
children of Israel are commanded to bring "pure beaten olive oil for the light,
to light the lamp continually". We see in Exodus 27:20-21 that this was brought
to Aaron the high priest who in turn was to order it from the evening unto the
morning, before the Lord continually; it was to be a statute for ever in their
generations. Precious, yet solemn, thoughts are brought before us in this
typical language, solemn thoughts because of the lamentable failure of the
assembly, God’s responsible light-bearer in this world of abysmal darkness (See
Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22). The people of God were to furnish the oil
which would maintain the light. How blessed the privilege for the people of God
who form the assembly of God in this present day of grace, for it is through
whom and in whom the light of the Spirit is sustained, and it is as vessels
formed and energised by the Spirit that the light, the precious ministry of
Christ, is maintained in both the individual and the assembly. To Israel was
committed the light of testimony in this world, as to Jehovah as the one only
and true God. Partial though it was, it was nevertheless a wonderful light in
the midst of prevailing idolatry. But Israel failed to maintain this testimony
and has, for the time being, been set aside. And now, with the setting aside of
Israel, God is working out in time what He had purposed in His heart, even
before the ages of time commenced. The wonderful counsels of His love are being
fulfilled in the formation of the assembly, composed of every true believer in
Christ, an entirely new and heavenly and divine concept. This is the assembly of
God, the vessel for the manifestation of Christ in this world. The apostle says
to the Corinthians, "Ye are the epistle of Christ". They were set here as the
expression of Christ to be known and read of all men. But this "epistle" has
become sadly defaced and the image of Christ hardly decipherable because of our
unfaithfulness to maintain the light according to the mind of God, and so calls
for the service of the snuffers and snuff-trays or extinguishers, "and the
snuffers thereof, and the snuff-trays thereof, of pure gold". It may seem
strange at first that these lamps should be provided with snuffers and
snuff-trays, but the explanation becomes simple when we remember that there, as
elsewhere, the Spirit of God is seen as connected with the human instruments He
is pleased to use, and that they — how often, be it to our shame — required
constantly the service which this implies. This provision of such utensils shows
that the lamp-stand and its lamps typify Christ as ministered by the Holy Spirit
through human vessels. If it were Christ personally, it need not be said that
such a provision were unnecessary, nor if the Spirit were viewed apart from the
vessel in which He dwells as the power for testimony. But a priestly hand alone
can use these "snuffers" aright, and so, Aaron, the high priest, is brought
prominently before us in both of these scriptures, Exodus 27:20-21 and Leviticus
24:1-4, for to him was committed the ordering of the lamps upon the pure
candle-stick before the Lord continually, a beautiful type of our great High
Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, who by His priestly care and intercession removes
that which would obstruct the light or dim its brightness, for every ray of
divine light that shines out in this world, whether through the assembly or the
individual, is the result of His priestly activity. We, too, when in a priestly
state, can be used by the Spirit to apply the snuffers to each other in the
removal of what has caused the light of testimony to grow dim. (See Galatians
6:1 and John 13:1-38). Trays also were provided where the obstructing element
could be placed so that the holy garments of the priests would not be defiled.
(See Matthew 18:15 and James 5:19-20).

Another point to be considered is that the olive oil for the light was to be
"beaten", not pressed, but beaten as in a mortar, and the candlestick itself was
to be made of "beaten" work. Would this not suggest that the priestly work and
intercession of our great High Priest is grounded upon His atoning sacrifice,
where He the Just One suffered for us the unjust that He might bring us to God?
Truly He was bruised for our iniquities, and by His stripes we are healed. As
already remarked, the oil which the people had to bring had to be "beaten", and
since the people are concerned in this, as the vessels through which the Spirit
acts, does it not suggest that the ministry of Christ, by the Spirit, is not
sustained without constant exercise on our part? No doubt its primary
application is to the apostles and then to the "gifts" given by the risen Lord
to the assembly for the "perfecting of the saints", but it also applies to every
child of God, as belonging to the priestly family, as seen in type at the
beginning of the Book of Numbers in relation to carrying the sacred vessels with
their appropriate coverings through the wilderness. The Book of Numbers is the
history of the wilderness, the type of our journey through the world to the rest
that remaineth for the people of God. Numbers, being the book of the Levites, is
necessarily preceded by Leviticus, which is the book of the priests, in which we
learn what suits God in the sanctuary before we come out to practise it in the
world. Both are types of believers, who, as priests, have access to God — how
immense the privilege — where now His glory is for us displayed as it shines in
the face of Jesus, and, as Levites, richly favoured, carry through the world the
precious testimonies of that glory displayed to us. Peter speaks of this
two-fold character of every true believer in Christ in these words, "But ye are
a chosen race, a kingly priesthood . . . that ye might set forth the
excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness to His wonderful light"
(1 Peter 2:9). Paul, too, in writing to the beloved saints in Philippi, exhorts
them to "do all things without murmurings and reasonings, that ye may be
harmless and simple, irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked
and perverted generation, among whom ye appear as lights in the world, holding
forth the word of life" (Php 2:14-16). Nor must we confine the shining forth of
this glorious light, before which the legions of darkness shall flee away
forever, to the saints of this present dispensation only, since it justly
applies to God’s earthly people, according to David’s imperishable words, "And
he shall be as the light of the morning, like the rising of the sun, a morning
without clouds, when from the sunshine, after rain, the green grass springeth
from the earth" (2 Samuel 23:4). How blessed, too, to contemplate this light as
it shines, fadeless and cloudless, in that eternal rest of God, when God shall
be all and in all.

"Yes! in that light unstained, Our stainless souls shall live, Our heart’s deep
longings more than gained, When God His rest shall give."

(This is the final article in this series. Beloved brother Shepherd departed to
be with Christ on 21st April, 1981).


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  CHAPTER 4: S.   FRIENDS OF GOD.
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Friends of God.

It is surely the fervent wish of every true child of God to be marked by the
features and comportment that publicly manifest the friends of God. Some one
might ask, But is a true child of God not a friend of God? One would
unhesitatingly reply, Yes! In the counsels of God’s sovereign grace and mercy
every true believer is constituted such, and as being partaker of the divine
nature he is endowed with those spiritual susceptibilities consistent with this
blessed relationship. But I speak of what is characteristic of us in our public
life, our responsible life here upon earth, rather than the place we occupy
before God, graced in the Beloved One. Even in natural things "Rank imposes
obligations;" how true this is of the Christian! What we are before God is to be
wrought out livingly, in the power of the Spirit, in our ways and conduct before
men. The life of Abraham, so fruitful in results for God, provides us with most
interesting and deeply instructive material for our contemplation and imitation.
This life of "the father of all them that believe" exemplifies in a most
beautiful way the truth of the words, that the essential characteristic of the
life of faith is strangership, but this founded upon citizenship elsewhere.
Stephen, in his defence (Acts 7:1-60) before his accusers, declared that the God
of glory appeared into Abraham, and it was this glory that threw into the shade
all the glory of the world around. To us, the Father of glory has been made
known in His blessed Son, the One who has given being to a whole system of
divine glory; and a voice from the unseen calls us to the enjoyment of faith’s
portion even now. As beloved Mr Darby expresses it so beautifully:

What powerful, mighty Voice, so near, Calls me from earth apart —

Reaches with tones so still, so clear, From th’unseen world my heart?

Abraham desired no place in this world, but with his tent and his altar he
waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the Artificer and
Constructor: his tent marking him out as a pilgrim and sojourner before men, his
altar speaking of him as a worshipper before God. Our tent and altar must go
together. If pilgrim ways and character are not maintained down here, we cannot
expect to be in a priestly state to exercise priestly functions before God in
the heavenly sanctuary. Moreover, Abraham pitched his tent, having Bethel on the
west and Hai on the east (Genesis 12:8). Hai means "a heap of ruins," no doubt
typifying the ruin of the old creation; and thus, between a judged world and
Bethel, "The house of God," Abraham’s tent is pitched in view of both; and there
he builds an altar, and calls upon Jehovah’s Name. Do these things not speak to
us with powerful voice, beloved saints of God? We too stand between a doomed
world and that scene of cloudless joy, where "God in His own Rest is fully
known."

What is our attitude to this world? Do we take account of it in its true moral
condition as lying in the wicked one? the whole system in all its ramifications
entirely antagonistic to God and His Christ; its moral features, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Do we desire to settle down,
or have a position, in a world, which, were it not for the restraining mercy of
God, would totter to irrevocable destruction; and this in spite of all man’s
boastful claims to progress and enlightenment? Let us take our stand for God,
with uncompromising resolution, with unflinching courage; and as empowered by
the Spirit of God, and fortified by the word of God. Thus shall we be proof
against all the seductions and blandishments of a world at enmity with God. Let
us give heed to those solemn words in the Epistle of James, "Know ye not that
friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore is minded to be
the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God" (James 4:4). Let these
solemn, searching, sifting words sink deeply into our inner consciousness, so
that their serious implications for time and eternity may be rightly appraised
by us. There are of course those legitimate things, to which we must give due
attention, such as our homes, and our business, and things that touch the world
in some form and degree; yet even these things ought to be held but lightly, as
we lay hold, with purpose of heart, on those things which belong to that scene
where "all things are of God," refusing all that would retard our progress, and
militate against the realisation of being worthy of that title, which Abraham so
richly merited — "FRIEND OF GOD" (James 2:23). A. Shepherd.

All below lies dark and shadowed, Nothing there to claim my heart, Save the
lonely track of sorrow, Where of old He walked apart.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: S.   HEB_6:19
========================================================================

Hebrews 6:19 A stranger launch’d upon this world’s rude sea, My bark still
wending to its port above, Wild winds detain her; but the spirit free Spans the
wide waste to reach the ONE I love.

Whilst faith beholds thee, Lord, with strong desire, The’ on the waters ’tis my
call to roam, The waves obedient from my feet retire, Since thy blest accents
bid me, Savior, come!

Anchor’d in Thee secure, thy light afar, Thou faithful beacon of my midnight
way, Tracks the dark billows, till the Morning Star Wanes in the noon of yonder
coming day.

A. S.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: S.   KING AND PRIEST UPON HIS THRONE.
========================================================================

King and Priest upon His Throne.

It is a matter for solemn and sober reflection that the world of which men are
so proud is torn and riven by the terrifying and revolting happenings of a
devastating and catastrophic war. Munitions of war, the product of man’s genius,
skill, and ingenuity, have rained death and destruction in merciless and
pitiless fury upon defenceless men, women and children. According to the
reckoning of men, the world has not yet reached the glorious climax of its
achievements, it has not yet attained the apex of its culture and civilization.
It is an age-long proverb that "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," and
so men, their hearts filled with fear and perplexity, hope against hope that out
of the welter, ruin, and convulsions of war, some commanding personality will
arise to lead them through the glorious portals of some earthly Utopia; like the
fabulous bird, Phoenix, which arose from its own ashes to begin life afresh.
With a distinct sense of relief the child of God turns from all this fantasy of
futile imaginings to the Word of God, which speaks with the infallibility of the
Spirit of God, declaring with divine certitude and authority that His counsel
will stand, and that He will do all His pleasure. As its pellucid light shines
upon the momentous present events, we gather from its sacred pages that there
never was a greater period in the history of this poor world than the day in
which we live. The portents around us are of the gravest character: man’s world
is about to pass away, and the day of the LORD will then be ushered in. Man’s
day is the long period in which man has been allowed to exercise his own will
without the public intervention of heaven. The day of the LORD is the coming
kingdom of the Lord Jesus, which will he abruptly introduced by desolating
judgments. He will smash to pieces the whole fabric of man’s godless
civilization, and upon the ruins thereof He will establish an order of things
that will perfectly suit the eye and heart of God. The supremacy of God will be
displayed in the securing for His glory and pleasure all that He has purposed
for the blessing of this poor world. As Job exclaims, "I know that Thou canst do
everything, and that Thou canst be hindered in no thought of Thine" (Job 42:2
N.Tr.). At the dawn of this world’s history the supremacy of God is set forth in
grand and majestic language, "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and
the earth." This word Elohim speaks of God as Supreme — it is Deity, God in the
absolute! Creation speaks with eloquent voice of the supremacy of its Creator;
"For from the world’s creation the invisible things of Him are perceived, being
apprehended by the mind through the things that are made, both His eternal power
and divinity" (Romans 1:20 N.Tr.). But while creation thus speaks of its
wonderful Creator, its distinctive glory lies in this, that it is the arena in
which will be displayed the regal glories of that Blessed One Who shall sit as
Priest upon His throne — God’s King set upon Zion, the hill of His holiness;
when, in the language of Psalms 2:1-12 He shall ask, and shall be given, the
nations for an inheritance, and the ends of the earth for a possession. But the
setting up of this kingdom, which is an everlasting kingdom, is conditional upon
the subjugation of all His enemies, when He shall break them with a sceptre of
iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. He shall smite through
kings in the day of His anger, and smite through the head over a great country
(Psalms 110:5-6). Then, in the wake of the retreating storm of devouring
judgment, will the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings; to heal
the deep wounds of earth, and to hush the groans and sighs of a travailing
creation. Loud acclamations of praise and unrestrained joy will then fill the
redeemed creation, manifesting that the work of righteousness shall be peace;
and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (see Isaiah
32:17-18). It need hardly be remarked, beloved, that these things, relatively
important in themselves, relate exclusively to earth.

What of the present? What are the resources of God for His people who are
heavenly in origin and destiny? What provision has He made for those who shall
reign over the earth with their Glorious Lord in the time of display but who for
the present have part in the time of His patience? Let us turn to Psalms
110:1-7, where we find that all God’s resources for us are invested in the Son
of God, a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedec. This blessed portion of
the Word of God gives us the official inauguration of Messiah, the Son of God,
as Priest after the Melchizedec order. Now while the preceding and following
verses are future, verse 4 indicates what is present and perpetual; "Thou art a
Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedec." The references to verse 1 in
the New Testament show His present session at God’s right hand is consequent
upon His rejection by the heads of the nation; but the earth rejected One is the
heaven accepted One, exalted to the Throne of God, which is seen in Revelation
as the Throne of God and of the Lamb; and there He sits until His enemies are
made His footstool. From that place of supreme power upon God’s throne He
administers power, for that is one of His functions as Priest: He also ministers
blessing to His people. In Genesis 14:1-24 Melchizedec blesses Abraham of the
Most High God, and also blesses God who had delivered his enemies into his
hands. Psalms 110:7 also bears upon this Priesthood, "He shall drink of the
brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up the head." He came into this world
in lowliness and dependence, the Man of Sorrows, the Man of Gethsemane and
Calvary, in all His dependence upon God drinking of the brook, even as Elijah
did. In the days of His flesh He offered up both supplications and entreaties to
Him who was able to save Him out of death, and He was heard because of His
piety; and though He were Son, yet learned He obedience from the things that He
suffered. Thus is He able to sympathise with and succour those who tread the
desert path, for He not only exercises the functions of the Melchizedec
Priesthood, but also those typified in the Aaronic, though the order of His
Priesthood is that of Melchizedec. How eminently suited is this Priest for such
a people! At one moment in our experience we tread the wilderness pathway, at
the next we enter the heavenly Sanctuary with hands filled in worship to God the
Father. We need both a Wilderness Priest and a Sanctuary Priest, and both are
combined in Him, in the Son, perfected for evermore. This is the Priest who
becomes us in our mixed condition. May I suggest, in a simple way, what the
chief functions of the Aaronic Priesthood are. Firstly, atonement; secondly,
intercession, with all its resultant succour and sympathy for a weak people. All
is to be found in this blessed One who exercises all these priestly functions
for us in a heavenly way. In Leviticus 9:22-24 we have presented to us in type
this Melchizedec blessing, heavenly as well as earthly. After the sacrifices for
sin for Aaron and for the people had been slain, the blood put upon the Altar,
and the bodies burnt outside the camp, then the Burnt Offerings and Thank
Offerings are slain, and their parts with the Meal Offering are laid in order on
the Altar. At this point Aaron, before going into the Tabernacle with the blood,
lifts up His hands and blesses the people. This is before the acceptance of the
sacrifices is manifested openly but based upon it. Afterwards, Moses and Aaron
both go into the Tent of Meeting, and coming out, the sacrifices having been
accepted, both lift up their hands in blessing, then the glory of the LORD
appears to all the people, and fire went out before Him and consumed the burnt
Offerings and the fat, which were upon the Altar. All then saw their acceptance
in the acceptance of the sacrifices. The blessing of Aaron sets forth in figure
that which our Melchizedec pronounces upon His people now, before the public
manifestation of His accepted sacrifice. This blessing is to be known today. The
Lord being raised from the dead, and Himself knowing the acceptance of His
sacrifice, lifts up His hands in blessing (see Luke 24:50-53): He enters heaven
in this very act. From thence He sends down the Holy Spirit, that we might know
the acceptance of this great Sacrifice and enter into all the wealth of priestly
blessing. On the other hand, the blessing of Moses (King in Jeshurun) and Aaron,
when coming out from the Tabernacle sets forth that blessed One who shall sit as
King and Priest upon His Throne, His people willing in the day of His power
receiving blessing untold from His priestly hand. In closing, let me quote the
words of another: — "Blessed Son of God, invested with a double Kingly glory,
combined with all the holy halo that surrounds the Priest — what glories radiate
from Thy Person there in heaven! All the attributes of God are seen to blend in
Thee and constitute Thy glory. Thyself on high in peace upon the basis of Thy
work in righteousness, Thou stoopest to the lowly! Thou supportest those who
tread the desert path, relieving them of their burdens! Thou empowerest them to
overcome their foes t Thou meetest the weary world conquerors with the bread of
peace, the wine of joy! Thou blessest them with heavenly blessings from God!
Thou leadest them into the Holy Places! Thou presentest the resultant praise to
that same God, an acceptable gift from such hands in all the savour of Thine own
glorious Person and work!" A .Shepherd.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 7: S.   OVERCOMING THE WORLD.
========================================================================

Overcoming the World. The child of God, as led of the Spirit, and as endowed so
richly with the spiritual capacity to understand and appreciate the movements of
divine persons, views with ever increasing wonder the sublime movements of the
Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth, as with scrupulous care He chooses the
materials best suited to His high and holy purpose of bringing the glories of
Christ and revealing them to our adoring hearts. "He (the Spirit of Truth) shall
glorify me, for He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you." As
brought into the heavenly sanctuary, fragrant with all the perfections of
Christ, we are privileged to contemplate the supreme and surpassing glories of
this Blessed One, Who stands without peer in the whole universe of God:
incomparably great! Sovereign among all, receiving tribute from all, and
shedding the light of His own gracious Person upon all; across the pages of the
inspired and infallible Word of the Living God, can be written of Him in words
of unfading glory, "That He might have the first place in all things." One
marvels at the manner in which God has revealed these heavenly things to us;
couched in the most simple language that they might be intelligible to us, and
even in the typology of Scripture this comes into evidence. In seeking to
interpret the beautiful types of the Old Testament we must always apply this
necessary safeguard, "Types are illustrative of truths, not expressive of them."
The propriety of this will be seen when we consider how infinitely greater is
the substance — Christ, of which they are but shadows. How immeasurably superior
is the fulfilment — Christ — to that which is but the figure. How soft and
subdued is the light that emanates from those types. It is not yet the noonday
splendour of the full revelation of God the Father, as made known in the Son; it
is still the starlight of types, symbols and shadows; but the eye of faith can
penetrate these shadows and contemplate with ever increasing delight the
glorious Substance of whom they speak.

We now address ourselves more particularly to the extremely fascinating type of
the Lord Jesus set forth in Genesis 14:18-20. Here in typical language, God
would demonstrate the rich provision He has made for us in His Son as set forth
in the Melchizedek Priesthood, enabling us to avail ourselves, more
intelligently, of our privileges, and thus answer more acceptably to the desires
of His heart for us in these darkening days. It is a stringently typical scene
which meets the eye, shorn of all extraneous matter unnecessary for the object
in view, while that which is necessary to express the mind of God as to the
complete and final character of the Kingly Priesthood of the Son is drawn in
strong and convincing lines. The prominent thought before me is that of
overcoming; the features of which are seen in such a high degree of emphasis and
distinction in the deeply instructive life of Abraham, the friend of God. To be
an overcomer, due regard must be given to where we live, to our environment. Is
it not rather significant that the Spirit of God mentions in Genesis 13:12, that
Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and that Lot dwelt in the cities of the
plain? Then again, in Genesis 14:12, as though to give point to what He had just
recorded concerning the carrying away of Lot into captivity, the Spirit
significantly adds, "For he dwelt in Sodom." One cannot dwell in Sodom without
being affected by the vitiated atmosphere and polluting influences of a place
whose inhabitants were wicked and great sinners before God. Poor Lot, by his
associations, was helpless in the presence of the world. He could not stand; he
was involved in Sodom’s troubles; he was not walking in the pilgrim and priestly
path; hence he was brought into bondage.

Abraham, in marked contrast, dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron.
Mamre means "fatness," or "vigour;" Hebron is "companionship," or "fellowship."
These surely suggest that spiritual vitality and energy resulting from the
strengthening and encouraging contact with those who have been called into the
fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This is further emphasised in
the names of Abraham’s allies, Mamre the Amorite, Eshcol, and Aner. Worthy
confederates, surely, of Abraham the overcomer: Eshcol, "a cluster of grapes;"
Aner, "a waterfall." Would not these names speak to us of that spiritual
invigoration, joy, and freshness, resulting from being in the good of the
Spirit’s presence and the enjoyment of Christian fellowship?

Abraham’s portion lay outside the whole field of conflict; he had no links with
any of the world’s confederacies. He was not taking sides with the four kings of
the Babylonish empire, or with the five kings of the cities of the plain; he had
no need to enter the conflict to defend himself; it was for the express purpose
of delivering a brother who had come under the power of the world. This is a
great matter beloved saints of God. Are we set for the deliverance of a brother
who has succumbed to the blandishments of a patronising world? Are we exercised
about the liberation of those who, to make the path easier, would effect a
compromise with the world, or who would lower the standard of truth to placate
or accommodate the religious world, with its vile caricature of Christ, and its
heinous travesty of Christianity.

Lot is delivered by Abraham from the power of an enemy too strong for him, but
in the light of subsequent events, he is not really free, for he goes back to
Sodom; and were it not for the rich mercy of God he would have perished in the
overthrow of those wicked cities of the plain. But Abraham is still the Hebrew,
the passenger — one passing through, "As hireling fills his day;" and as he
comes to the King’s valley, he is met by this unique person, Melchizedek, King
of righteousness, King of peace, who brings forth bread and wine for the support
and refreshment of the overcomer. But the moment of victory, beloved brethren,
is one of peculiar danger! Having overcome the world in its more hostile
character, how easy it would be to be ensnared by its patronage, as typified in
the king of Sodom. The King’s valley is where we meet our true Melchizedek — in
the low place, in the spirit of true humility, conscious of our need of the
priestly ministrations of our great High Priest. My faith looks up to claim that
touch divine, Which robs me of this fatal strength of mine, And leaves me
resting wholly, Lord, on Thine.

Strengthened and refreshed by the bread and wine provided by Melchizedek,
Abraham is now prepared to meet the king of Sodom, and to refuse any honour at
his hand, lest he should say that he had made Abraham rich. This is the spirit
and the path of the overcomer, beloved. What of the bread and wine provided by
our true Melchizedek — the memorial of those sufferings by which alone we have
been eternally enriched; and as those who have tasted it, surely it implies the
refusal of a portion here. If Christ could not accept the kingdoms of this world
at the hands of Satan, but only from His Father, no more can we accept
enrichment at the hands of the world that gave Him but a cross. Do not temporize
with the world in its seductive proposals — "that friendly outstretched hand of
thine is stained with Jesus’ blood." See how beautifully God comes in at the
beginning of Genesis 15:1-21, as much as to say, You have refused a portion in
this world, "I am thy shield and exceeding great reward." With the wonderful
light brought to us by the Holy Spirit, we can truly say "Thou art my portion, O
Lord;" and again, as true Ephraimites, "What have I to do any more with idols? I
have heard Him, and observed Him; I am like a green fir tree. From me is Thy
fruit found . . . for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in
them" (Hosea 14:8-9).

A. Shepherd.

Everything Established in the Second Man.

Whatever has been ruined in the first man will be gloriously established in the
Second Man. Adam fell and was ruined: Christ is the glory of God. The Law was
broken: it shall presently be written on men’s hearts. The priests fell: our
Great High Priest can never fail. The Kingdom failed: His throne is for ever and
ever. It will be a thousand times more glorious than what was lost — infinitely
more so. And so with the church — He will have it for His bride, He will be
glorified in His saints, and admired in all them that believe in that day. J. N.
Darby.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 8: S.   PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM
========================================================================

Practical Reflections from the Life of Abraham.

Introduction The extremely colourful life of Abraham — the pattern man of faith
— provides the Spirit of God with material eminently suitable for the enrichment
of every child of God as they pass through the scene of their pilgrimage and
strangership. The outstanding characteristic of this remarkable man, who is
spoken of as the friend of God, is faith. Paul speaks of him as one who "found
strength in faith" (Romans 4:20); and how the Spirit delights to draw our
attention to the infinite variety of ways in which faith was exemplified in all
its diversity of action and energy in him who heard and responded to the call of
God. This call signified a new departure in God’s ways with men, and was
entirely sovereign in its choice and activity. When the call of God reached
Abraham he was found among the worshippers of other gods on the other side of
the Euphrates (Joshua 24:2). It is very remarkable that in Peleg’s days (Genesis
10:25) men were possessing themselves more than ever of the earth, but in the
call of God Abraham is called to a life of strangership on the earth, for the
essential characteristic of the life of faith is strangership, but this founded
upon citizenship elsewhere (Hebrews 11:13-16). Faith dwells in the unseen with
the substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). The terms of this divine call
is "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s
house, unto a land that I will show thee." The new course proposed calls man to
rise above all visible influences and simply to rest upon God and His
all-sufficient Word. Man had fallen into flagrant independence of God; the call
is now to depend entirely on Him. Observe the character of the call of Abraham:
it was not stated that he should separate from moral pollution and idolatry,
though doubtless there were debasing and revolting practices connected with the
idolatry; he was to separate from the associations of nature and of the earth.
The call of God is a matter of great import: God’s voice from heaven reached the
heart, and it awakes to the consciousness that it has to do with Him.

What powerful, mighty voice, so near, Calls me from earth apart.

Reaches with tones so still, so clear, From the unseen world my heart?

’Tis His. Yes, yes; no other sound Could move my heart like this; The voice of
Him that earlier bound Through grace that heart to His. That wondrous voice has
reached us from the other side of "death’s dark raging flood," for it is evident
to the youngest believer that Christ is not here; and as Christ becomes endeared
to the heart we become more deeply conscious of this that He is not where we
are. It is this that turns us to Him where He is; the Spirit bringing the
glories of that blessed One before us, and leading us to the blessed place where
His glories are displayed. As another has said, "The secret of power — power to
enable us to be here in moral conformity to that heavenly call — is occupation
with Him where He is, that we might be for Him where He was." The first truth
given to a soul at peace with God is that Christ, the One to whom we owe every
blessing and all our joy, has been rejected from the earth; that we are in the
place where He is not, and as we turn to Him, we find that the Spirit of God
leads us to Him in heaven. Then we learn, as in the parable of the prodigal son,
that the place of our reception is the Father’s house; and we are associated
with Him, who rejected upon earth, has been acclaimed in heaven as the worthy
One.

How heartily did the beloved apostle Paul accept the place of Christ’s
rejection, exclaiming in tones of exultation, "Be it far from me to boast save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to
me, and I to the world." When our acceptance with God is known, our home and
joys are in the Father’s house. Hence in writing to the Colossians the apostle
prays first "on account of the hope laid up for you in the heavens" (Colossians
1:5). I am emphasising these things, beloved brethren, to make it plain that
every one in the peace of God and resting in His favour, rises in spirit to
Christ where He is.

Set free from the man under the judgment of God, and belonging to the glorified
Man in heaven, we can behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face (2
Corinthians 3:18). The divine call is to the full enjoyment of the proper
portion of faith, entirely outside the seen and temporal things: apart from that
which the senses can take account of, that which is visible and material, for
"the things that are seen are but for a time, but those that are not seen,
eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Only those instructed in the word of God can enjoy these things according to the
mind of God. It is quite possible to be so zealously affected in a good matter
that there might be the getting rid of worldly things while as yet the heavenly
were but little known. Our one commanding thought should be that we do not
belong to earth, but to heaven, and that all our joys and hopes are centred
there. There is a difference between unearthliness and what is heavenly. Those
who live an ascetic monastic life may claim to be unearthly; but are they
because of this heavenly? One, writing of the revival of truth in the last
century records, "Professions, prospects, position and even lawful callings were
freely surrendered in order that there should be a heavenly calling." This
heavenly position can never be attained practically by the rigorous application
of legal restrictions, nor by scrupulous observance of forms of austerity far in
excess of the commandments of the Mosaic law. Heavenly features are formed by
the Spirit’s gracious work in our souls, and by that alone! Apropos of this the
following is a very apt illustration. "Drops of water sailing on the top of the
ocean longed to join the white fleecy clouds that floated in the blue sky above
them, and they called to the strong North Wind to help them. So it blew in all
its raging fury, dashing them against the rocks in fine spray, and it looked for
a time as though they would have their wish fulfilled, but time and time again
they fell back into the sea. Then the sun came out in all its strength, and
these little drops of water found themselves, without effort on their part,
lifted up by the strong rays of the sun, until they joined the clouds above
them." Let us hear again what the beloved writer of 2 Corinthians 3:18 says,
"But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are
transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord
the Spirit." It was the "God of glory" that appeared to Abraham, and it was this
that threw the Babel world into the shade for him. The Lord of glory has
appeared before the vision of faith: has the glory of that light blinded us to
all that is around? In the pursuance of this profoundly instructive study of
Abraham, the father of all those who believe, it is a matter of prime importance
that we should have firmly established in our minds the heart-searching fact
that divine principles are unalterable, and unaffected by dispensational
changes. Throughout the Scriptures of truth, the observant reader may discern
the progressive development of these principles in all dispensations, in all the
varied manifestations of the ways of God with men. There is a very clear
distinction between the ways of God before and after the flood, and it is a
matter of great encouragement to see that God has never left Himself without
witness. Since the fall there has always been the people of God and the world of
the ungodly, but there was no sovereign call of person, people or nation, by
which they might have been regarded as a divinely constituted witness to the
character and ways of God until the call of Abraham. The inhabitants of the
earth were a fallen race, and the fallen nature of man displayed itself as being
incurably opposed to the witness of God, so that we read, "God saw that the
wickedness of man was great on the earth . . . and God repented that He had made
man on the earth." In righteous judgment God overwhelmed men with the flood, so
that none escaped save the little band that had taken refuge in the ark. The
world that now exists is a new world, reserved for fire in the day of judgment.
In this new world two great principles were established; rule put into man’s
hands in Noah, the setting up of government for the repression of evil; and
separation from the world by the sovereign call of God as seen in Abraham. The
first has been irretrievably corrupted — the cause is not far to seek; man has
failed to acknowledge the source of all rule, the necessary condition, if rule
is to have any real value or significance in the reckoning of the one who
governs or those who are governed. But the one so greatly favoured of God in
being set up as the head of this new world, failed in self-government, and as a
result lost the respect of his own son. Then in Nimrod we see the usurpation of
rule, man basely pretending to be the source of its power; for under Nimrod,
Satan caused the principle of rule to flow from the will and violence of man,
with its resultant condition of strife and violence. The authority entrusted of
God and exercised in righteousness would have brought to men prosperity, peace
and happiness. In writing these things, one is reminded of the scene in Exodus
4:1-31, where Moses is told to cast his rod on the ground, where, out of his
hand it changes its character, becoming a serpent. The rod in the hand of Moses
typifies divine authority in the hand of God’s man, and shall we say, marked by
the tenderness and care of Him Who holds the Shepherd’s rod? The hand that
wields the sceptre of the universe is guided by the heart of Him Who said, "I am
the Good Shepherd." But at the moment the rod is not publicly in the hands of
the true Moses: it is cast to the ground; so that as we look around us today we
see that lawlessness is pronounced, and but for the restraint of God would
prevail. Many are perplexed in contemplating the apparent triumph of evil,
saying with one of old, "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee,
which frameth mischief by a law? They see Satan as Prince of this world boasting
of universal empire, and hear him say, All that is given unto me and to
whomsoever I will I give it. While all authority and power are in the hand of
the Lord Jesus upon the throne of God, publicly before men the rod of authority
is not in His hand, but is on the ground and diabolical. But observe the
beautiful accuracy of the type, and the comfort prepared for us in it. The rod
was cast out of Moses’ hand; it did not slip out. God has not lost control; of
His own will, and for His own wise purposes He has subjected man to the sway of
Him whom the world has chosen for its prince. How sad and how solemn that the
foundation on which the empire of Satan has been built is the rejection of the
Deliverer. Yet "judgment shall return unto righteousness;" for in the coming
day, the Lord Jesus shall take the serpent by the tail, and the authority that
has been used to chastise men through Satan, will be in the hands of the Son of
Man publicly for the blessing and prosperity of men. (See Revelation 12:10).

We see therefore Noah’s abject failure when set up in government; His snare is
the abundance of the new-blessed earth. In Babel we see the rebellion of man in
full flower, only to come under the withering blast and measureless wrath of Him
whose sovereign authority they had impiously and defiantly called in question.
In the building of this city and tower, man sought to perpetuate his name, but
God has decreed that only one Name shall live for ever, "His Name shall endure
for ever; His Name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall bless
them-selves in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed Psalms 72:17. And just as
the cherubim with the flaming sword guarded the way to the tree of life lest
sinful man should eat and live for ever in sin, so God rained His unsparing
judgment on that structure in which perpetuation of man’s name was implicit. The
foregoing remarks are an endeavour to delineate, as simply as possible, the
moral characteristics of the world out of which Abraham was called. It is still
the same world, dear reader, and if you are a true child of God, by faith in
Christ Jesus, the words John writes in his epistle cannot fail to have deep
significance for you, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in
the wicked one." In the preceding verse, the apostle declares very searchingly,
"We know that every one begotten of God, does not sin, but he that has been
begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him." You will
observe that it does not say that God keeps him, but that he "keeps himself." It
is similar to Peter’s epistle, "Beloved, I exhort you as strangers and
sojourners, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." We have
not yet entered into our rest, we are still in a scene which calls forth the
fullest exercise of faith, and in Abraham we see this beautifully exemplified —
called to Canaan, his possession in hope alone. He dwells there, but in
tabernacles, the bringing together of two things typically — the heavenly
inheritance and its earthily consequence, "By faith he sojourned as a stranger
in the land of promise as a foreign country (that is, not his own) having dwelt
in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise." Canaan
is the new land beyond the flood, and as we all know speaks of heaven to us; but
the earthly aspect is, all through the book of Genesis, the prominent one. We
must wait for Joshua before we get a distinct type of the heavenly inheritance.
Here, however, the tent and the altar are as yet the only possessions. I trust
that as we track the footsteps of this remarkable man of faith, that we may
learn valuable lessons deeply and effectively, from all the trials, difficulties
and vicissitudes through which he passed as he sought a better country, even an
heavenly.

Though thy way be long and dreary, Eagle strength He’ll still renew:

Garments fresh and foot unweary Tell how God hath brought thee through.

Let us now seek with purpose of heart to glean from this immense field of divine
admonition and instruction, provided for us in the life of Abraham. Here the
life of faith is strikingly exemplified, and like Ruth of old we can glean in
the field of our true Boaz, the One in Whom there is strength; even as it was
written "And ye shall also sometimes draw out for her some ears out of the
handfuls, and leave them that she may glean. . . We can gather these handfuls
let fall on purpose for us, so that our spiritual vitality might be maintained,
and that practical conformity in our walk and conduct with the place we occupy
in the counsels of God, and in divine love, might be abundantly realised. We
need spiritual energy; we must be "strong in faith" to lay hold of the things
that are really life (1 Timothy 6:19). This life of faith is in the power of
resurrection, and in order that we may grasp what is involved and implied in it,
we quote from the words of another, "In this life of faith we do not merely look
for the principle of dependence on God, or of confidence in Him, though that may
be the thought immediately suggested by such words. It signifies much more. It
is a life of large and various energies: for according to God, or Scripture,
faith is the principle in the soul which not only trusts and believes Him; it is
also that which apprehends His way, acts in consort with His principles and
purposes, receives His promises, enjoys His favours, does His bidding, looks for
His kingdom, in His strength gains victories, and by His light walks in light;
and thus it is ever, though variously, exhibiting a life according to Him, or
formed in communion with Him." Do we not find in the life of Abraham these
attractive features of faith strongly marked for our observation

We must not assume however that this life was one of unbroken triumph; nor one
in which Abraham, who was the friend of God, walked without deviation or
deflection. God had said to him. "Walk before me, and be thou perfect;" but
while there is much for us to admire and learn in our Patriarch, his life was
not ever displaying with unfailing constancy that unequivocable and
uncompromising refusal of the world’s favours and patronage. No, dear reader,
perfection in every feature of the life of faith in all its rich variety of
positive expression was found alone in Him Who is "The Author and Completer of
faith." He was the repository and the expression of faith in all its diversified
activities. Abraham’s life, so changeful, like that of the Psalmist, gave the
Spirit the largest occasion to exercise his soul; and so in the life of the
father of the faithful, where light and shadow alternate, we shall find much to
cheer us, and much to admonish us. The movement in Abraham’s family seems to
originate with Terah, for we read, "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son
of Haran . . . and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land
of Canaan, and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." Terah (meaning "delay")
perfectly justifies his name by his actions, ends his days in Haran, which place
was called after the name of his dead son. Natural things hold him fast, though
death be written on him, and memory but intensities his loss. But his death also
closes the sojourn of Abraham at Haran. The natural influence that was holding
him back having now gone, Abraham rises in the power of the divine call, which
had come to him, and to him alone in the first place; and by which he was
separated from country, kindred, and fathers house, to be blessed and made a
blessing in the land to which God directed him as his inheritance in faith
alone. Natural things no longer clog or hinder; so in the language of Scripture,
"They went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they
came." Which of us does not know something of these compromises in any given
relationship of life, which seem to promise much more than God can offer, and
appear to exact so much less; but in which obedience to God is relegated to the
background, and Haran ("parched place") is the dwelling place, and not Canaan,
the land enriched with the munificence of God. How often does God use
providential circumstances to lead us in the right direction: yet they may
eventually become a hindrance to us. Providential circumstances and natural
things can never bring us into the enjoyment of faith’s proper portion, which
lies outside the sphere of seen and tangible things. The call of God is from the
visible and material things, so that the new creation scene, where all things
are of God, may fill the vision of our faith: for the things that are seen are
for a time, but those that are not seen, eternal."

It is very precious to note how Paul speaks of the Father of glory: suggesting
that He is the One Who has given being to a whole system of glory, and in
sovereign mercy is calling men not only to view it, but to dwell in it, to
possess it, to exult in it; to rejoice in its immensity as the eye of faith
scans its brightly coloured horizons, and marks the limitless bounds of this
land of far distances, stretching far and away beyond the ken of mortal mind.

How beautiful, and instructive, it is for us to see the spirit with which
Abraham entered upon this life of faith. What simplicity and earnestness marked
him: "He went out, not knowing whither he went." He took God for his security
and portion: as another has said, "It is in this that the Spirit of God rests,
as characteristic of his approved faith; for by separation from the world, on
the ground of implicit confidence in God, he lost everything, and got nothing
but the word of God." But the human heart neither understands nor appreciates
such conditions; it desires more clearly defined and specifically detailed
conditions. This race, beloved, "is not to the swift, nor its battle to the
strong." In order to understand and enjoy faith’s portion in the land, we must
be shorn of every vestige of self-sufficiency, and rest implicitly on the word
of God, and on that alone. As already remarked, the heart resents these
conditions, but the renewed mind willingly approves them and justifies God in
them. With reference to this unquestioning of the word of God, Elijah provides
us with a very searching illustration. Under God’s direction he had just
delivered that momentous message to Ahab — a message of unsparing judgment —
then he was again directed of God not now to a place of public testimony, but to
one of retirement and solitude. "The word of the Lord came unto him saying, Get
thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith . . ."
and in that lonely retreat he had to sojourn many days; not however without a
precious promise from the Lord God of Israel in reference to his needed
provision — "I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." Even when the
brook dried up, that word, "I have commanded," was all that this mighty prophet
required to keep him in perfect repose of spirit in the place of separation.

Sweet indeed is this simplicity of obedience: the necessary requisite surely of
a true walk with God. This matter, so important in itself, will be brought
before us very vividly, when we come to compare the walk of Lot with that of
Abraham. There we shall find lessons of great importance, and which have a very
vital bearing upon our comportment as we pass through a world in which we have
no part or lot. With the light of that fair scene shining with imperishable
splendour upon every step of the pilgrim pathway, we reach forward with
ever-hastening steps to the inheritance that is before us; while, as having the
Spirit, the divine Earnest, we taste its joys, its peace and its rest even now.
The manna and the springing well Suffice for every need; And Eshcol’s grapes the
story tell Of where Thy path doth lead.

We have already remarked that it was only after the ties of nature were snapped
by death that Abraham moved with unimpeded step on to the inheritance to which
God had called him. How strong these natural ties can be, and their influences
are invariably hostile to our attaining the full measure of what God desires for
us. The activities and energies of nature ever tend to militate against the full
realisation and practical power of the "calling of God." How tempted we are to
take an easier path than that which alone is compatible with the "hope of His
calling." What is required of us, in order to rise to the full height of God’s
thoughts for us is, singleness of eye, simplicity of obedience, and integrity of
faith (see Ephesians 1:15-22). The beloved Apostle, ever sensitive to the
difficulties with which the assembly would have to contend, in seeking to know
the hope of God’s calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the
saints, prays that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory would
give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full-knowledge of Him,
being enlightened in the eyes of their heart. With failure to apprehend the
calling there would evidently be a lack of consistency in the practical life
corresponding to the heavenly calling. Had Abraham more fully realised that the
call of God was to Canaan, and that there lay his inheritance, the power of the
truth regarding all involved in that call, would have been more than sufficient
for him to meet and overcome the subtle influences and obstructions of nature.
And is it not so with us? If we are led by the Spirit of God into the
understanding of this wonderful truth regarding His calling, could we be guilty
of such treachery as would seek a place, a standing, a portion in the world that
refused our blessed Lord? He gave Himself for our sins, to deliver us from this
present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father (Galatians 1:4).
In Revelation 2:12. John is told to write to the Angel of the assembly in
Pergamos, "These things says He that has the sharp two-edged sword: and then
comes these significant words, descriptive of a moral class, "I know where thou
dwellest, where the throne of Satan is. . . Antipas my faithful witness who was
slain among you, where Satan dwells." It is significant that the word Pergamos
speaks of "marriage;" and despite the ferocious, bestial persecution of the
church during the Smyrnian period, we find the church joined in unholy alliance
with the world in the Pergamos period. How strange indeed to view the church at
her ease in the presence of the "throne" and "dwelling" of Satan, the god of
this world, and its prince. For the church to settle down, where Satan has both
a throne and a dwelling, is to falsify her character as a witness for holiness
and truth. As another has said of that day, "Christianity walked in golden
slippers." How very different from the badgers skins, the essential repellent of
every unwholesome influence. What is true of the church is, of course,
applicable to us as individuals. But it is blessed to see that there were those
of whom it could he said, "Thou holdest fast My Name, and hast not denied My
faith." Wonderful commendation! In Abraham’s history, death came in and severed
the bond which bound him so strongly in Haran; so in our case, the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ proves an impassable barrier to those who realise that they
have died with Christ. Our place in nature, and our standing in the world has
been terminated before God. The cross is to us what the Red Sea was to the
children of Israel — that which separates us forever from the land of death and
judgment. But let us now return to find Abraham in the land to which God had
called him. In verse 6 of chapter 12 we read, "And Abram passed through the land
to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the
land." These names are very significant, and pregnant with divine instruction.
Shechem means "shoulder," and Moreh, "Instructor;" and is it not when we bow the
shoulder to bear that we find instruction? "Take My yoke upon you, and learn
from Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls;
for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." And is it not true that he that
wills to do God’s will shall know of the doctrine? This indeed is the "virtue"
in which is knowledge (2 Peter 1:5). Yes, dear friend, the oak of Moreh still
grows at Shechem; and here too we find a dark shadow in the path of the man of
faith — "The Canaanite was then in the land." A hostile people occupied the
territory of promise, contesting the right of the true heirs to possess their
heavenly inheritance. How forcibly does this speak to us of the influences of
evil, the powers of darkness mentioned in Ephesians 6:12! The adversary seeks to
hinder the saints of God from entering into spiritual possession of that which
God has purposed for them in His love and grace.

How blessed it is for us to see how God met this new difficulty for Abraham:
Jehovah appeared to him and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." Abram
had moved in response to the first manifestation, and now he gets another to
encourage him in the face of the enemy’s power. And it is surely in the land
that this divine confirmation regarding the possession of the inheritance is
fully realised; and where power to possess ourselves of the inheritance is
acquired. It is as Canaan-dwellers that the secrets of God’s heart are opened to
us, and where those blessed manifestations of the Lord Jesus Christ are assured
to us. "He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me:
and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest Myself to him" (John 14:21).

Then we read of Abram building his altar to Jehovah, Who had appeared unto him.
He worshipped God according to his apprehension of Him Who had appeared to him,
and in consonance with the character of the communications made. How beautiful
is the declaration of the Psalmist, "According to Thy Name, so is Thy praise in
all the earth, O Lord." This not only states a most blessed truth, but also
annunciates a principle; for in this dispensation of grace, the Father seeks
worshippers to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Today, there is on earth, a
company indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who are partakers of the divine nature, to
whom the Son has revealed the Father, revealing to them His Name. Such are able
by the Spirit to enter into these wonderful divine revelations, and to gratify,
by their response, the Father’s heart. Such indeed is the character of our
altar. But to walk in practical conformity with this altar, we must pitch our
tent, figurative of strangership here, between Bethel and Hai. The former means
"God’s House:" the latter a "Heap of ruins." Thus, between a judged world and
the dwelling of God we pitch our tent; in view of both. And now Abraham is again
tested; once again succumbing to the influences of nature. He finds a famine in
the land, and goes down to Egypt, leaving the land of which

God had said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." The life of faith implies,
and necessitates trial: and had Abram been walking in the power and energy of
faith, he would have been equal to this fresh test. Elijah proved equal to such
a test as he sat by the brook Cherith, and was fed by the fowls of the air. Paul
showed his superiority to circumstances when called into Macedonia by the Lord,
where a prison awaited him, but where, with his companion, he sang praises to
God. Abraham seeks refuge in another land, of which God made no mention in His
call. But we must take account of this solemn fact: the secret failure had begun
before the famine. Abraham, at the beginning, dwelt between Bethel and Hai; but
it would seem that, when the famine came, he was moving towards the south

— "And Abram moved onward going toward the south country." This is the name
given to the region of Canaan bordering on the desert. How significant and
timely is the warning for us, never to leave the neighbourhood of Bethel. In
leaving Bethel, Abraham departed from the place of blessing. There is no famine
in God’s house: there is "bread enough and to spare." If you find a shortage of
spiritual food, look to it; you are moving in the wrong direction. It is sad to
have to say of a saint of God, Why art thou, being the King’s son, so lean from
day to day." If we are nourished by spiritual food we shall not desire the
world’s food. This border land, in the south, is ever a dry land, and famine
soon overtakes us if we are found there: and who, that has known what God’s path
is, but has not known the trial of a famine in this border land? And when we
have known such, how Egypt tempts! How the seduction of the world causes the
giving up of the path of separation! Are there not many of us who have made this
temporary incursion into Egypt in time of testing? But we all know the price to
be paid for Egypt’s succour. Abrams fall has been too often repeated, and it is
the repetition of this on a large scale that has been a contributory factor in
the sad failure of the whole dispensation.

Following upon our remarks regarding Abraham’s capitulation to the seductions of
Egypt, let us now consider some of the sad and inescapable consequences of such
a retrograde step. One of the effects of going down to Egypt is that we become
afraid to own our spiritual relationships: the very shadow of Egypt, before his
arrival there, made Abraham afraid to own the relationship in which he and Sarai
stood to each other; and this by a carefully prepared arrangement. In all this,
as so faithfully depicted for us by the Spirit in Genesis 12:1-20, we can surely
discern how low the torch of faith was burning, and how the waves of a strong
and exultant faith (which would have carried him in triumph over every obstacle)
were now receding into the dark vortex of unbelief.

Abraham, outstanding man of faith that he was, like us all, was affected by
natural things. Perfection, in all its lofty elevation and refinement of
expression, is found in One, and in Him alone; in Him Who is "the originator and
completer of faith." Let us not forget however that if nature rules us, it will
also expose us. We see in all this that Abraham is thinking only of himself; he
is not endeavouring to protect Sarai, but rather is prepared to sacrifice her to
save himself. Where was the jealous care that Sarai should remain true to her
relationship, and to the faithful confession of it? Here is a saint of God
seeking his own things because he has come under the shadow of Egypt. You will
find that if you descend to the level of the world; if you get on terms with the
men of the world; your lips will become soiled with the language of the world,
and you will be ashamed to confess your true relationship to Christ. One sad
result of this denial of relationship was that Sarai got into the house of
Pharaoh. What a difference from being in the house of God! The way to get the
world’s admiration is to deny your relationship to Christ. How different the
desires of the beloved Apostle who, jealous over the Corinthians with a godly
jealousy, declared "I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a
chaste virgin to Christ."

It is said of Pharaoh that "he treated Abram well." This is just what happened
to the church when she was unfaithful to Christ! Deny your relationship to
Christ, and you shall have the patronage of the world. But the lie practised by
Abraham reaps a bitter harvest. His deception is great; his exposure is greater
still, and Pharaoh’s rebuke puts him to shame. As another has said, "He has to
’do his first works’, to retrace his steps, and regain his standing — sorrowful
works at all times. He has to leave ’by-path meadow’ for the King’s highway
again, betaking himself back from Egypt to the place between Ai and Bethel,
where he had raised up his altar at the first." With what deep joy of heart do
we read the words, "And there Abram called on the Name of Jehovah." And now the
history of Lot is made to yield admonition and instruction of a most salutory
character to those desirous of living in practical conformity to their heavenly
calling. We do well to give earnest heed to the story of Lot as it unfolds for
us in all its sad features in this precious book, where every word is used with
divine precision and intent. The moral import of these happenings, which men
regard as mere historical events, is exceedingly valuable and important in these
days, when the truth of our heavenly calling having been revealed to us,
manifests that there are many Lots. The word Lot means "covering," and under a
covering he is always found. Though with Abram outwardly, he is not at heart
what Abram is, a pilgrim and stranger; nor with the men of Sodom is he a
Sodomite. Though in Sodom, he is a saint of God, even as the Epistle of Peter
states, that God "saved righteous Lot, distressed with the abandoned
conversation of the godless (for the righteous man through seeing and hearing,
dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul day after day with their
lawless works)." But he is a saint untrue to his saintship; his is indeed a
downward path; his history is one of persistent decline, no cheering ray of
recovery or restoration to relieve the ever darkening path of one whose life
ends as it began — under a covering. Falling under deep personal reproach, his
name and memory are forever stained with shame and infamy

Dear reader, listen for a moment to what the word of God has to say: "For as
many things as have been written before have been written for our instruction,
that through endurance, and through encouragement of the Scriptures, we might
have hope." How emphatic the warning and admonition to remember Lot; how near
two roads may be at the beginning, yet at the end how far apart. May all who
read these words be preserved from treading this by-path, and being thus warned
of the dangers which beset the feet of the unwary, seek to walk in "the path of
the just, which is as the dawning light that shineth brighter and brighter unto
the perfect day." But it may be well to enquire if the causes of Lot’s downfall
are not traceable to earlier circumstances. Can it not be seen in nature
presuming to walk in a path which alone can be trodden in the power and energy
of a living faith. In Genesis 11:1-32 we read, "And Terah took Abram his son,
and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son . . . to go into the land of Canaan; and
they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." Here we find nature taking in hand to
follow a divine call, which it had never understood, nor heard for itself. The
heart of Lot had not been touched by the greatness of the One Who had called
Abram, nor yet by the greatness and power of the call of the God of glory. The
highways to that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God,
were not in the hearts of Terah and Lot, as were the highways to the
dwelling-place of God in the hearts of those of whom the Psalmist speaks in
Psalms 84:1-12, "Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will be
constantly praising Thee. Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee — in
whose hearts are the highways." With Terah there is a settling down, short
altogether of the point for which they started; content to dwell in a scene upon
which death has laid its blighting and disfiguring hand. Are these not the moral
elements amid which many a Lot is nurtured? Does not Terah’s character shine out
in him, when, having undertaken to walk with Abraham, he beholds "the
well-watered plain of Jordan," and when "he lingered" in the doomed city from
which, in mercy, the angels delivered him. But there is another beginning after
this, for "Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and they went
forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came." Not
nature now, but the man of faith leads, and they no longer stop short of the
object before them — "into the land of Canaan they came." But Lot merely follows
Abram as he had followed Terah. Abram walks with God: Lot only walks with Abram.
Another has said, "How easy even for a believer to walk where another’s bolder
faith leads and makes the way practicable, without exercise of conscience or
reality of faith as to the way itself! How many such there are, practically but
followers of the Lord’s host, adherents of a cause for which they have no
thought of being martyrs, nearly balanced between what they know as truth and a
world which has never been seen by them in the light of it. For such, as with
Lot, a time of sifting comes, and like dead leaves they drop off from the stem
that holds them." Egypt had acted thus for Lot. The fact that the coveted plain
of Jordan seems to him as "the land of Egypt," shows how powerfully that land
attracted him. It also seems that Abram’s failure, in going down to Egypt, had
loosened the moral hold he had hitherto retained upon his nephew.

Still true to the weakness of his character, it is not Lot, but Abram who
proposes separation, after it was made perfectly plain that they could no longer
walk happily together. In this connection, it is solemn to note that Scripture
records "the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land," as
though to draw attention to the seriousness of strife in the presence of such
unfriendly eves and ears. There are enemies looking on, and noting with
ill-concealed satisfaction the strife and contention which is all too prevalent
among the saints of God. Contention is generally connected with something that
pertains to us in this world, something upon which the heart is set, but the
possession of which will not contribute to spiritual advancement, but rather the
reverse. "A bondman of the Lord ought not to contend, but be gentle towards all,
apt to teach: forbearing; in meekness setting right those who oppose" (2 Timothy
2:24). How beautifully do we see this exemplified in the case of Abram now
before us; he was entirely apart from the spirit of strife: "Let there be no
strife . . . for we are brethren." He meets the spirit of strife with the spirit
of surrender: there was no insistence on his part to any rights of his. How he
endears himself to our hearts as he rises in moral greatness by this act of
renunciation and surrender! "Let your yieldingness be known of all men, the Lord
is near" (Php 4:5). In all this Abram manifests his restoration of soul: but
this is tinged with sorrow as we reflect that many a believer, who has gone down
to Egypt, and has been recovered himself, has been the means of leading another
there; and who has never known the joy of recovery.

Lot, regarding the plain of Jordan with the natural eye, fails to discern the
true character of the inhabitants of the cities of the plain. There he dwells in
his tent at first; soon to find a more permanent dwelling-place in Sodom itself,
toward which from the first he gravitates. At a later date, the children of
Israel were similarly affected when they said, "We remember the fish that we ate
in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, the melons, and the leeks, and the onions,
and the garlic, and now our soul is dried up; there is nothing at all but the
manna before our eyes." They however forgot a matter of profound importance —
the cruel bondage, the bitter servitude with which they were made to serve under
the cruel lash of their task-masters.

Now Abram dwells in the land of Canaan, and God bids him walk through it as his
own; and so we find him dwelling in Mamre (vigour), which is in Hebron
(companionship communion). And is it not as we are in the full enjoyment of our
heavenly portion that we are maintained in spiritual vigour, and in the full
spiritual gain of communion with each other? May we only know and live in the
portion of Abram here, without interruption or distraction.

Rise my soul! Thy God directs thee;

Stranger hands no more impede:

Pass thou on; His hand protects thee —

Strength that has the captive freed.

Art thou wean’d from Egypt’s pleasures?

God in secret thee shall keep:

There unfold His hidden treasures, There His love’s exhaustless deep. In Genesis
14:1-24, which is now before us for our prayerful and attentive consideration,
we find the man of faith as the one who can overcome the world: a feature in
which Abraham stands out in marked contrast to Lot. Following the movements of
Abraham in this chapter, we are impressed with the complete restoration which
had been effected in the experience of the man of faith; he was not only
delivered out of Egypt, but brought back "unto the place where his tent had been
at the beginning . . . unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at
the first" (13:3-4). Complete restoration can only be reached on the principle
that "the point of departure is the place of recovery." Nothing can satisfy the
heart of God, with regard to restoration of a true child of God, who has
declined in his spiritual condition and lost the sense of communion, but his
being entirely restored, through grace, to his former character and measure of
communion. Listen to what God says, through His inspired penman, the prophet
Isaiah: "If thou wilt return, O Israel, return unto Me." It is very significant
that when God is recounting to His earthly people the wonderful way in which He
had led them forth from the land of bondage, He says, "I bare you on eagles’
wings, and brought you unto Myself;" and it was to Himself they were to return,
if they desired full restoration to the enjoyment of their earthly blessings.
When the leper was brought back, it was to "the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation;" when the prodigal returned, he was given a place at the table
with his Father; and consequent upon Peter’s restoration, he can press home upon
Israel their terrible guilt, saying, "Ye denied the Holy One, and the Just." Who
is this that so speaks? Is this the one to whom his Lord had said, "Before the
cock crow twice, thou shall deny Me thrice?" Yes, none other! but in the full
liberty of a restoration, indicated in the words of Him Who was denied, "when
once thou art restored, confirm thy brethren." It can surely be deduced from the
instances cited, that all God’s gracious dealings with us in seasons of
spiritual decline and lack of moral stability is in view of complete restoration
to full and unbroken communion, and in the light of this, are we not reminded of
that exhortation in the epistle to the Galatians, "Brethren, if even a man be
taken in some fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one, in the spirit of
meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." May we ever seek to
act in the spirit of grace, on the line of true restoration.

We now turn to this most instructive and exercising chapter to see in Abraham
one who not only overcomes the world in its hostile character, but also in its
patronising character. How sharp and decisive is the contrast between Abraham,
the overcomer, and Lot, who is always being overcome by one influence after
another. I am not aware of one incident in his tragic history in which he
appears as an overcomer. Egypt had a large and prominent place in his heart; and
then the "well-watered plain" because it was like Egypt; then Sodom, and then
Zoar; he had always some influence in his heart which was not of God. Lot, ever
true to his name, never showed his true colours as a saint; and the consequence
of this is to drift into association with the world, and thereby lose the joy of
the Lord’s approval, and the power to be an overcomer. In view of overcoming,
much depends on where we live. We know where Abraham dwelt, and in verse 12 the
Spirit very significantly says of Lot, "For he dwelt in Sodom." Equally
significant is the word concerning Abraham the Hebrew, "And he dwelt by the Oaks
of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eschol, and the brother of Aner; and these
were Abraham’s allies." The portion of the man of faith was outside the whole
field of conflict. Lot, on the other hand, is already in Sodom, which results in
his being carried captive in the captivity of Sodom.

Hebron means "company," suggesting fellowship: Mature is "vigour;" Eschol is
"cluster of grapes," and Aner means "waterfall." Do these names not speak to us
of that spiritual vigour, and of that joy and freshness resulting from being in
the presence of the Spirit, and of fellowship with saints. Surely the fact that
the Spirit has mentioned these names specifically is sufficient warrant for the
child of God to interpret them, not according to human expediency, but in
perfect suitability with the whole tenor of Scripture. Abraham had no sympathy
with the king of Sodom; his whole reason for engaging in battle was the
deliverance of one who had fallen under the power of the world. So Abraham
brings back Lot; the deliverance of the other captives being incidental. How
good it is, beloved brethren, to have power to rescue one for whom Christ died;
but this power is only with those who are on the line of Abraham. Do we not see
this spirit greatly developed in the beloved Apostle Paul, not only in regard to
individuals, but also in relation to whole assemblies? He speaks to those in
Colosse of the great conflict he had for them; he saw them in danger of coming
under the rudiments of the world, and he marshals all his divinely given powers
for their deliverance. There were many assemblies in the province of Galatia,
and the Apostle saw them in grave danger of coming under the influence of
another gospel. It was a deliberate attempt on the part of troublers among them
to pervert the glad tidings of the Christ, and to bring them into bondage to the
law, and thus to prevent them standing in the liberty wherewith Christ had made
them free. As has been noted, this mighty man of God with irresistible divine
energy brings all his accoutrements of war to bear upon the assailants of the
truth to their discomfiture, and the eventual deliverance of the saints. But the
moment of victory is a moment of specific danger to the saint, as Abraham is
made to realise. Having returned victorious from the smiting of the kings, he is
met by the king of Sodom with honours and gifts; but the one who had overcome
the world in its hostile power is proof against all the seductive blandishments
of a patronizing world. We have all to beware of the seductive proposals of an
alien world. The ministrations of Melchisedec, king of Salem, in the valley of
Shaveh — the King’s valley — had fortified Abraham, so that he was able to meet
and over-come the alluring favours of the king of Sodom. And it is only as we
remain in the King’s valley, the low place, that we experience the priestly
support of our true Melchisedec, the One Who says. "I am meek and lowly in
heart." The spirit of meekness, lowliness and gentleness; the consciousness that
all has been done by divine support; that is the spirit of the King’s valley;
and there it is we meet the King of peace, the King of righteousness, Whose
refreshment and blessing make us superior to all that this world would confer
upon us. This Melchisedec, who meets Abraham returning from the slaughter of the
kings, is a truly remarkable personage; spoken of as the priest of the Most High
God — an unmistakable reference to that glorious day of Christ’s manifested
supremacy when, as true Melchisedec, He shall sit as Priest and King upon His
throne. How wonderfully apposite in this connection, when Christ shall be
manifested as King of righteousness and King of peace, are the words of Isaiah,
"The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance for ever: and my people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." This
stringently typical scene, in which we have the first presentation of the
royalty and priesthood of Christ, is explained to us in the Epistle to the
Hebrews. The words are remarkable for the way in which they bring out and insist
on the perfection and accuracy of Scripture, in what it omits as well as in what
it inserts. "Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither
beginning of days, nor end of life." are words which have been thought to show
that this mysterious person was none other than Christ Himself; but the words
immediately following disproves this, "made like unto the Son of God." Another
has said, "Melchisedec was in his characteristics assimilated to the Son of
God:" He is our High Priest, not reckoned among the transient generations of an
earthly priesthood, but subsisting in the power of an endless life.

If we really taste the blessedness of these heavenly thing, the world has
nothing by which it can attract us: no, not even to a shoe-latchet. For us, This
world is a wilderness wide, We have nothing to seek or to choose. May we crave
to have hearts satisfied with Christ, to such an extent, that we may have
"nothing to seek or to choose" save that which would deepen in our souls the
sense of abiding satisfaction that is to be found in Him, and Him alone.

How very remarkable is the opening of the 15th chapter of Genesis, consequent
upon Abram’s victory over the kings, and his refusal of the "goods" and
patronage of the King of Sodom. So many Christians speak of their loss of
present things in the path of faith, not being occupied with the spiritual
enrichment and measureless eternal benefits that any little sacrifice for Christ
brings. The beloved Apostle Paul puts these things in true perspective in the
3rd of Philippians when he says, "But what things were gain to me, those I
counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and count them to be filth that I may have Christ for my
gain." All was relinquished that he might have Christ for his gain. And were all
these things surrendered in a spirit of passive resignation, or in a spirit of
irresponsible abandonment as though he were a victim of some deep,
uncontrollable emotion? No! this was the calculated decision of one whose
innermost soul had been deeply moved by that heavenly light which shone upon him
on that memorable journey to Damascus, and by hearing the heavenly voice of that
glorified Man. The thoughts of his heart are found in the words:

"I have seen the face of Jesus, Tell me naught of aught beside, I have heard the
voice of Jesus, And my soul is satisfied!" So in the case of our Patriarch; we
find that his gain is beyond all human reckoning, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward." The Lord will not suffer His servant to
be a loser by rejecting the offer of the world. Surely it was unspeakably
greater, and infinitely better to find himself protected by Jehovah as his
shield, than to hide behind the patronage of the world in order to enjoy a more
congenial path; and better far to find enjoyment and satisfaction in the
knowledge of Jehovah as his exceeding great reward than to have the transient,
ephemeral pleasures which the goods" of Sodom would minister to the heart. How
forcibly do these precious realities come home to us, who stand in the noon-tide
light of the revelation of the Father in the Person of the Son, in Whom dwells
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, the worthy object to fill and satisfy
every heart. In this chapter we have a new beginning; the inner life and
experiences of Abram rather than the external view of his path and circumstances
are brought out by the Spirit of God. Abram is presented to us now as righteous
by faith, a condition fundamental to all spiritual relationships, and all right
experiences. This was surely not the first time that Abram believed God; yet it
is here, when God says, "So shall thy seed be," that God is pleased to declare
publicly his righteousness. In the 3rd chapter of Romans we have an extremely
soul-stirring presentation of the doctrine of the righteousness of God. In the
1st chapter Paul declares "For I am not ashamed of the glad tidings; for it is
God’s power to salvation . . . for righteousness of God is revealed therein on
the principle of faith to faith." Beloved Mr Darby has said regarding
"Righteousness of God;"

"The absence of the article (’the’) may arrest the mind here, and in some other
places in this part of the epistle. It is likely to do so, because the
righteousness of God is now a known doctrine, not so when the Apostle taught.
The righteousness of God was a wholly new thought. The gospel, or glad tidings,
was the power of God to salvation, because righteousness of God (that kind of
righteousness) was revealed, not righteousness required of man." In the light of
this profound doctrine how wonderful it is to read in Romans 4:1-25. "And
Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Referring to
the word "as" Mr Darby remarks, "I am not quite satisfied with ’as,’ but it is
the nearest approach to the sense in English. ’For,’ I object to; because then
faith is made of positive worth, having the value of righteousness, whereas the
sense is that he was holden for righteous in virtue of faith. ’For’ does not go
far enough as righteousness; too far as a positive value of faith. Faith might
be reckoned for righteousness, and yet the righteousness come short of what was
required; whereas if it be reckoned as righteousness, then the full value of
righteousness as such is seen; the man was held to have righteousness."

I have dwelt at length on this extremely instructive and emancipating portion of
the Word of God because it is of the first importance that we should have an
intelligent apprehension of this great truth; but after this lengthy digression
let us now return to the consideration of the two assurances God gave to Abram,
and to the two questions these assurances inspired in the heart of the man of
faith. These assurances are, "Fear not Abram, I am thy shield and exceeding
great reward," and "I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees,
to give thee this land to inherit it;" words which, in their application to us
may surely read, "God the Father is our portion," and "Heaven is the place where
we enjoy our portion." To the first assurance Abram replies, "Lord God, what
wilt Thou give me, seeing I go childless?" and to the second, "Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it?" Does not this questioning, on the part of
Abram, strike strangely on the ear in the presence of those absolute assurances
which the Lord had given him? Supposing Abram’s faith to be at the ebb on this
occasion, how blessed it is to see that if we cannot rise to God’s thoughts, God
can come down and carry out His sovereign will. Here, God assures Abram that his
own son would be his heir, then He brings him forth and says, "Look now toward
the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said
to him, So shall thy seed be!" The many seeds and the One are here; and the many
to be reached by means of the One.

Abram’s "One seed" is familiar to us all. Through and in Isaac we read Christ.
"He does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed;
which is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). In the symbol of the starry heavens we have
in type the seed innumerable as the stars — the heavenly seed of faith; and here
we see Abram as "great father," head of the family of faith. How greatly
indebted we are to the beloved Apostle for telling us that all who are on the
principle of faith are "blessed with believing Abraham." The innumerable seed
who have been secured in and for Christ will inherit the promises.

Let us now consider Abram’s second question. God had said to him, "I am the LORD
that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit
it;" and Abram says, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall possess it."
How beautifully God brings Christ before us in His answer, "Take me a heifer of
three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years
old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon." The first two females are types of
fruitfulness; the heifer of the patient Workman; the she-goat, the victim for
our sins. The ram is descriptive of energy; and afterwards it becomes the animal
of consecration. The birds speak of One from heaven, Whom love made a Man of
sorrows (the turtle-dove), and a Man of faith on earth (the rock-pigeon). These,
the five-fold type, expressed in One perfect Man, Abram divided in the midst,
and laid each piece one against the other, but the birds he did not divide; and
Abram drove the fowls of the air away when they came down upon the carcases.
Faith’s vigilance in guarding the sacrifice from profanation by Satanic agency
is manifested in Abram until "the sun was going down, and deep sleep passed upon
Abram, and he slept." The vigilance of faith is over, and darkness succeeds the
light, but this only tends to bring out the supreme value of the sacrifice which
sustains faith.

Under the symbol of the smoking furnace and the burning lamp, God is seen as the
Refiner of His people, passing them through the crucible of affliction, and
pledging Himself to fulfil His promise of the inheritance (see Jeremiah 34:18).
God pledges Himself to give the discipline needed in faith’s failure, and the
light for His own while passing through the darkness of this world towards their
inheritance. In conclusion I quote the words of another: "How complete and
beautiful is this then as the answer to Abram’s second question, if with his eye
upon himself, he asks, "How shall I know that I shall inherit it?" He is
answered by the revelation of the infinite value of all that puts a holy God and
a righteous One in both characters upon his side; underpinning faith in all its
frailty and securing holiness as fully as it secures the inheritance itself. . .
. Ours is indeed a wider and a wondrous inheritance. But so ours is a sacrifice
of infinite value, and which alone gave value to these symbols themselves. How
precious to see God’s eye resting in delight upon that which for Him had such
significance, ages before its import could be revealed! How responsible we are
whom grace has favoured with so great a revelation!" On further consideration
Genesis 16:1-16 acquires a distinct measure of importance which is not readily
discernible to the superficial reader. This is due in no small degree to those
gleams of divine light projected in typical language into the sphere of doctrine
relating to law and grace as set forth in Galatians. Furthermore, the truth
annunciated in this chapter can only become intelligible to us as we view it in
the greater and fuller light of the New Testament doctrine, and in this
instance, as already mentioned, particularly in the Epistle to the Galatians,
where the truth of law and grace is authentically defined and authoritatively
established, and where the Spirit of God refutes the false doctrine of those
whom it repudiates in no uncertain terms. It is in this spirit we must interpret
Sarai’s attitude to Hagar, where it is said, "And Sarai oppressed her: and she
fled from her face."

Hagar, as the bondwoman, is typical of the legal system, which is "Mount Sinai
in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which is now, for she is in bondage with
her children" (Galatians 4:25). What is of the world, what is legal and genders
to bondage, all partakes of one character, and as such cannot be tolerated in
the presence of Sarai, the freewoman, who is typical of the heavenly Jerusalem:
"But the Jerusalem above is free, which is our mother." To continue the
language, Paul, in writing to the Galatians, declares with a deep sense of
urgency, "Cast out the maid servant and her son; for the son of the maid servant
shall not inherit with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not
maid servant’s children, but children of the freewoman" (Galatians 4:30-31).
Paul will have none of Hagar, the bondwoman. The foregoing remarks, while
anticipating much that has to be mentioned, are explanatory of the apostle’s
attitude regarding that which is a grievous perversion of the glorious truths of
Christianity, and in this, as in all other things, we would do well to be his
imitators. Does it not appear at the beginning of chapter 16 that Abram had
failed to benefit from the great lessons of the previous chapters? Otherwise it
would be right to conclude that he would have been preserved from the course he
takes here to secure what was bound up in God’s infallible promise to him. Apart
from the fulfilment of the promise regarding the coming of Isaac, the true seed
in whom the promise reposed, nothing of all that lay in the heart of God,
relative to these wonderful purposes, could have their fulfilment: "In Isaac,
shall a seed be called to thee" (Genesis 21:12). Another consideration, very
solemnizing to the saint who is truly exercised concerning the path of
separation from the world presents itself to us in this chapter. What takes
place here is but the fruit of Abram’s brief sojourn in Egypt, for the Egyptian
maid servant becomes a snare to him. In the previous chapter, God had shown to
Abram that the true seed would be a heavenly seed, and that He would secure the
inheritance and bring the seed into it on the ground of the death of Christ,
which involved the complete setting aside of man; and in this way God had shown
that all had been secured to Abram by indefeasible promise, on the ground of
sacrifice. Abram fails in the test as to how far the light of these things had
been made good in his soul.

How solemn is Abram’s defection here, as in the energy of nature he seeks to
bring in the seed which had been unalterably secured by the immutable promise of
a God that cannot lie; yet this was the one who, at the moment the promise was
given, "hesitated not at the promise of God, but found strength in faith, giving
glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He is able
also to do; wherefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness" (Romans
4:20-22). But the true seed cannot be brought in on the principle of law. Hagar,
whose name means "flight" suggests an order of things which must disappear as
not ministering in any way to the pleasure of God: "He takes away the first,
that He may establish the second:" For if that annulled (was introduced) with
glory, much rather that which abides subsists in glory." It is rather remarkable
that the turning aside of the Galatians is what we have presented to us in
divine figure in Genesis 16:1-16. It is an attempt to secure heirs for the
favour and pleasure of God in an entirely fleshly way; in a worldly and legal
way. The principle can be seen all around us today. It is the line of Hagar; a
way in which the grace of God is ignored, and faith is not in exercise. How all
this is contrary to the mind and will and purposes of God, Whose will is to have
heirs in the liberty of heavenly grace as those who are the true children of the
Jerusalem above, children of the Freewoman. The principle of which Hagar is a
type supposes that the flesh can bring pleasure to God. It is significant that
Abram should move in this line; and how striking the resemblance seen
figuratively in Abram and what marked the Galatians morally. They were true
believers; they had the Spirit; yet they were taking up law and circumcision to
make a fair show in the flesh, which caused the beloved Apostle to speak to them
in language and terms which betray his great concern for them: "Have ye received
the Spirit on the principle of works of law, or of the report of faith? Are ye
so senseless? having begun in the Spirit, are ye going to be made perfect in
flesh" (Galatians 3:2-3). The history of the children of Israel is extremely
illustrative of the innate propensity of the human heart to gravitate towards
legality with its resultant state of bondage. All God’s ways with them in Egypt
and the early days of the wilderness were intended to teach them that the grace
of God was the one and only means of blessing. At the Red Sea, and in the early
experiences of the wilderness, the manifestation of divine power on their behalf
was the expression of His grace towards them: all their murmurings were met in
purest grace, and were not accompanied by governmental chastening in any way.
One would have thought that all they experienced at the hands of their
covenant-keeping God would have bound their hearts for-ever to His grace, but
no; how readily they turn from this to take up responsibility in the flesh,
fatally pledging themselves to keep the law — that which was God’s righteous
requirement of man — only to find that all God had borne with in grace now
invoked the penal sanctions of a broken law. This chapter under consideration
shows us in figure the coming in of the law, the bringing in of what is of the
flesh, that which gives man in the flesh status before men, but which ends in
bondage. The pride of man despises grace, and this is seen in Hagar’s attitude
to Sarai. When we come under the influence of Jerusalem above, we make
everything of God and Christ, we magnify the grace of God, rejoicing in the
complete displacement of self and in the new place given to us in grace with
Christ on the risen side of death. The whole system of heavenly grace is filled
with Christ, the true Isaac, the Son of God.

Hagar can only bring forth what the angel describes as a "wild ass of a man:"
the adoption of the legal line leads to biting and devouring one another, as the
Apostle charges against the Galatians. The spirit of grace was lacking, the
works of the flesh were greatly in evidence, and all this was the result of the
will and pride of man being allowed. Hagar despised Sarai: the pride of the
flesh despises the influence of grace; "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh; and these things are opposed one to the other"
(Galatians 5:17). It is only as we come under the power of the teaching of
grace, applied by the Spirit of God, that the formative influences of the
heavenly Jerusalem are made good in our souls. Walking in the Spirit we shall in
no way fulfil the flesh’s lust, but shall display the fruits of the Spirit,
against which there is no law. The influences of grace are brought to bear upon
us by new covenant ministry, that which is the outcome of the love of God,
supremely displayed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How necessary is it therefore that the bondwoman and her son should be cast out;
the spirit of grace cannot tolerate what is legal, and what gives man a standing
in the flesh. But though Hagar is cast out, she and her son become the objects
of divine care in the grace of God. It is like the elder brother who would not
come in to the feast: he had the same proud spirit as Ishmael; yet the father
went out and entreated him. What a striking picture of the nation of Israel: all
the testings of the wilderness only provided the complete justification of God’s
pronouncements as to their moral condition — a disobedient and opposing people —
"a wild ass of a man," unsubdued. Like Ishmael, whose hand was against every
man, and every man’s hand against him, the Apostle says of Israel, "They please
not God, and are contrary to all men." Yet, as having come from Abram, they are
beloved for the fathers’ sake. In this connection, how blessed to learn that God
heard Hagar’s cry, and provided for her refreshment the well Beer-lahai-roi,
"Well of the living who was seen." God not only sees me, but has revealed
Himself in grace that I may see Him.

God has ever been the God of all grace, and what God is, is always the line of
blessing for man. This is so now, when the heavenly seed are being gathered
together, and it will be so in the day when He will gather the earthly seed to
inherit their wonderful inheritance. Israel shall then come under the sweet
subduing power of heavenly grace; the unsubdued heart of stone, that made them
like Ishmael, will become a heart of flesh. They will then acknowledge Christ,
Whom they despised, as the true Seed — the true Isaac. When our hearts this
place accord Him, When as Isaac He has come, Cast the bondslave out and ruleth
As the Lord upon His throne;

Then our hearts bow down before Him, This world’s glory waxeth dim, Every
hindrance then must vanish, All be subject unto Him.

Genesis 17:1-27 appears as the rising of the sun after the darkness. God
declares Himself to be the Almighty God, Who works all in His own almighty
power. The incidents mentioned in the previous chapter tell their own sad tale
of how greatly the man of faith was at variance with the mind of God respecting
the manner in which all that God had promised was to be accomplished. Abram’s
movements were unmistakable indications of how grievous was his departure from
the line on which God would bring in the seed of promise. He had to learn that
all connected with the flesh must be set aside.

God now declares Himself as "El Shaddai," the God of power, the all-sufficient
One, and the effect of this fresh revelation is immediate and significant —
Abram fell on his face. He did not fall on his face when God appeared to him in
Genesis 15:1-21; he stood, conscious of being in the light with Jehovah, without
a shade of reserve. But now, prostrate at His feet, in silence and amazement, he
finds that the God with Whom he has to do is the unchanging One; His love is the
same, whether in rebuke or comfort. In this lowly place we see the lofty
pretensions of man brought low, the resources of nature exposed in all their
impotency, the energies of the flesh subdued and the will of man broken. Truly
the light is good and pleasant to our eyes as faith apprehends the far-reaching
implications of this divine title, which assures that all counseled by God for
His pleasure will be carried through triumphantly.

Hitherto Abram had known God as a mighty God, but now he was to walk in
dependence before Him as the Almighty. How greatly does the idea of power in
ourselves limit the apprehension of the fact that "all power belongeth unto
God." The great lesson of this chapter is that God can and must do everything if
there is to be a true seed to inherit His promises. "The gracious work must all
be Thine, begun and ended in Thy power." It is this vain expectation of
something from nature, the flesh or law, which has resulted in great
enfeeblement amongst the saints of God. What a wonderful day has dawned upon our
souls when we can truly say, "All that we are we owe to Thee, Thou God of grace
alone." In Genesis 24:1-67. Abraham says "The God before Whom I have walked;"
but Jacob can only say "The God before Whom my fathers walked," and "The God Who
fed me." Abraham and Isaac walked before God, but Jacob could only speak of
God’s care for him being too busy scheming to accomplish the divine end in his
own way. He had to learn, after God’s disciplinary ways with him, because of his
tortuous ways, that the whole work must be of God.

We might paraphrase this sublime declaration: — Just walk before Me in the sense
that My eye is constantly upon you for blessing, and in the sense of what My
power can and will do, and all will be well. There can be little doubt that if
we walked in the practical enjoyment of these things, the conditions of
perfection would be present, and we would be content that the flesh, and all
expectation from it, should be cut off. "For we are the circumcision, who
worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in
flesh."

You will have noticed that at least ten times God says, in this chapter, "I
will;" strangely contrasting with the "thou shalt" repeated in the law. It is
extremely beautiful to note how God engages Himself to work out all He has set
His heart upon. He says, "I will set my covenant between Me and thee;" thus
establishing a definite bond between Himself and Abram in view of accomplishing
His purpose. Consequent upon the establishment of this covenant, God gives him a
new name, exercising His divine prerogative in this ennoblement of Abram. The
name Abram signifies "great, or high, father;" setting forth what he was
personally as head of the family of faith: but Abraham directs our attention to
the greatness of the family of which he is the head, for it means "father of a
multitude;" not only of individuals, but of nations. In giving this name God is
indicating the vast results of the principle of faith and of promise. There is
nothing so fruitful as the faith principle, it is "exceedingly fruitful," being
the only principle that brings forth anything for God, because it counts on His
power alone.

We now come to a most interesting part of this chapter: Abraham and all the
males of his house are to be circumcised, which is a figure of the setting aside
of the flesh. If God pledges Himself to bless His people and to be everything to
them, He will not tolerate any confidence in the flesh on their part. In Romans
2:28 we are told "He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither that
circumcision which is outward in flesh." This Scripture conveys to our minds
beyond any doubt that true circumcision is an inward thing, a divine work "of
the heart" and "in spirit." In Romans 4:11 we learn that Abraham "received the
sign of circumcision as seal of the righteousness of faith which he had being in
uncircumcision." The Spirit of God affirms in a most convincing way that the
principle of Abraham’s justification is faith, not works. How consistent and
effective is the testimony of Scripture that no flesh shall glory in God’s
presence. It is very remarkable to find this very principle in the Old Testament
(Jeremiah 9:23-24): "Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty glory in his might; let not the rich glory in his riches: but let him
that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am
Jehovah, who exercise loving-kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth,
for in these things I delight." See also 1 Corinthians 1:27-31.

It is blessed to see therefore that faith was reckoned to Abraham for
righteousness. But when was it reckoned to him? In circumcision or
uncircumcision? The answer sweeps aside every vestige of fleshly presumption by
which the religious Jew sought to make his position unassailable. But his own
father Abraham was uncircumcised when he possessed the faith by which he was
justified. Abraham therefore appears as the father of circumcision (the one in
whom began that separation to God implied in it) to those who walked in the
steps of that faith which he had while yet uncircumcised. To the child of God in
this dispensation of grace, the Spirit as the seal of the righteousness of faith
comes in as divine power, which alone is effectual for the practical setting
aside of the flesh, and keeping it in the place of death. God intends that we
should realise that adequate power has been made available by the presence of
the Spirit, so that we may refuse the flesh and all its workings, and thus be
manifested as His people. As another has said. "As having the Spirit, our
capability is equal to our responsibility."

Let us turn now to Colossians 2:9. Circumcision stands here in relation to
Christ. When we see that the fulness of the Godhead is in Christ, and that we
are filled full in Him, surely we would gladly relinquish anything that would
contribute in any way to the distinction of the flesh, and like the beloved
Apostle "count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord." In the presence of such a wealth of divine
realities is it conceivable that we should require or desire anything outside of
Christ? When we enter into the practical enjoyment of these surpassingly
excellent things, we are prepared to accept what was done when He died —
circumcision, the cutting off of the flesh absolutely in His death.

Then in Php 3:1-21, to which we have already referred, we find the true meaning
of circumcision. If any man could have trusted in flesh, Paul could; but he
gladly refused all in which man could glory: for, forgetting the things that
were behind, he pressed on towards the mark for the prize of the calling on high
of God in Christ Jesus. It is very helpful to see both in Genesis 17:1-27 and
Php 3:1-21 how circumcision comes in in connection with the inheritance. Paul
had his eye on the inheritance in a risen and glorified Christ, which enabled
him to accept the cutting off of every hope and glory belonging to man in the
flesh. In the end of this chapter we see the solemn end of those who refused the
truth of circumcision in relation to the cross (vers. 18, 19).

Sarai’s name too is changed to Sarah, meaning "Princess." She is a figure of
Israel as the vessel of promise; dead, according to the flesh, by God’s power
she becomes the princess to give birth to the seed of promise. Abraham
intercedes for Ishmael, but it is God’s will to give Isaac the first place.
Isaac means laughter: how faith rejoices in discerning the wondrous results of
God acting entirely from Himself and for His glory, in bringing in the true
Isaac in resurrection power, the One in Whom the covenant would be established,
and the inheritance secured. But Ishmael, type of stubborn and rebellious Israel
is remembered in goodness by their covenant keeping God. Yet how sad to see
that, while they claimed the privilege of the covenant, they never realised what
was involved in the sign of the covenant: they always had confidence in the
flesh. God had to tell them that they were uncircumcised in heart and ears. As
we consider the amazing character of the scene depicted in the opening verses of
Genesis 18:1-33, we are confronted with the inescapable conviction that the
truth of circumcision, presented in the previous chapter, must be learned and
accepted before the elevating privilege here delineated can be enjoyed. It is
truly an amazing scene which is opened up before us here, in which God not only
appears to Abraham, but openly associates Himself with him in circumstances
designed to convey the impression of how great is His pleasure in doing so. When
God, the Almighty God, is known as the One who effects everything for His
pleasure, and faith has learned to rejoice in the bringing in of the true Isaac
as the Seed of promise, with the consequent displacement of all that is on the
line of nature and the flesh, when circumcision is accepted and its truth
experienced in a practical way, conditions are present in which the inestimable
privilege of communion with heavenly Visitants can be enjoyed. John 14:18 gives
us to expect this, "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you." Should
not the desire to know this experimentally provoke in us a jealous care for
moral suitability for communion with the Father and the Son? "He that hath my
commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me
shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to
him" (John 14:21). In further considering the chapter before us, there is a
suggestive contrast with the next chapter in which Lot is brought before us for
the last time. The foundation of the contrast is seen in the respective
positions occupied by Abraham and Lot; one sits at the door of his tent at
Mamre, the other is found in the gate of Sodom; one is still the persistent
pilgrim, cherishing the promises and looking for the city of which God is the
Builder; the other, untrue to the pilgrim character, coveting a prominent place
in a world ripening for judgment. It is remarkable that elsewhere in Scripture
Lot is referred to as a "righteous man" (2 Peter 2:8), while in Genesis he is
regarded as having settled down amidst the pollutions of a sinful world. The
contrast is a beautiful instance of the style of Scripture. Although he was
righteous before God, his unfaithful walk required that God should deal with him
in government. God had called Himself the God of Abraham, but could not call
Himself the God of Lot. How searching and solemn for each one of us is this! How
is it with us? Is God confessing or denying us? We cannot dispose of this
question by saying, I am a Christian. It is on this ground that the question
assumes its serious aspect. In the narrative then, God makes Himself strange to
Lot, and it is a matter of note that when God saved Lot from the holocaust of
judgment that swept in all its devouring fury over the doomed cities, we are
told, "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God
remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He
overthrew the cities in the midst of which Lot dwelt." God’s dealings with Lot
at this time were in keeping with the discipline his soul required, but the need
for these disciplinary dealings being past, He can look back on that history,
and select the elements of good which His eye only could discern; that which He
noted all through, and which He placed to Lot’s account, He makes mention of in
His own good time. Such is our God! such is His holiness, such is His grace.

How blessed to see on the other hand the pilgrim ways of Abraham ministering to
God’s pleasure, and to read of the unstinted commendation written for our
instruction, "By faith he sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a
foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob . . . wherefore God
is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for He has prepared for them a
city" (Hebrews 11:1-40). In the light of these things therefore it would be
right to say that the tent at Mamre and the gate of Sodom are characteristic and
contrasted things. As another has said, "Faith looking for a city which hath
foundations, is content to scratch the earth with a tent pole merely." Such is
the consistent life of Abraham, with few deviations, the pattern man of faith.
As he sits in his tent door, under the cool, refreshing and spreading shade of
the great oak at Mamre, three illustrious visitants from heaven come to him for
the specific purpose of announcing the coming of the true seed — Isaac. Once
again the heart is refreshed in beholding how the man of faith is equal to this
great occasion. Though appearing as men, the practical eye and heart of Abraham
discerned the true character of One of the three visitors, so that he says,
"Lord if now I have found favour in Thy sight, pass not away, I pray Thee, from
Thy servant."

How disarming is the approach of the three strangers there is no distance there
is intimacy; three men come, two of them angels, the other, Him before Whom the
angels veil their faces; but they come as men, and keep this place. This is all
the more striking because these same "men" appear in Sodom explicitly as angels.
While the scene before us is capable of various interpretations, the one which
endears itself to the heart is that which fore-shadows the coining of Immanuel,
God with us, not as a mere Visitant, but as tabernacling in flesh.

"See within the manger God, on earth a Stranger! As a Babe in swaddling bands
the world’s Creator lies. By the great neglected, Unto scorn subjected, Though
the angels haste to feast on Him their holy eyes." (J. Boyd) The faith displayed
by Abraham in the reception of his visitors manifests itself in an engaging
manner by the way he prepares to entertain them. There is no attempt to dismiss
them as conscious of his own unworthiness, such as we find in the case of Job
and Peter. In beautiful confidence of faith he meets the One who has come as
man, and to whom he extends as man a human welcome. Can we not see in all this a
faint analogy with the home at Bethany? It is blessed to see the readiness with
which Abraham’s hospitality was received on the part of his distinguished
visitors: all is met with unhesitating acceptance: "He stood by them under the
tree, and they did eat." How much there is in all this for the blessing and
enrichment of our souls. We too can enjoy in the simplicity of faith communion
with the blessed Lord in what speaks of Himself. These "three measures of meal"
and the "calf tender and good" speak of none other than Christ Himself.
Occupation with Christ is still the essential prerequisite for communion with
Him.

There is an engaging simplicity and intimacy attaching to all this, introducing
us into a sphere of divine truth where we enjoy communion with Divine Persons in
all the intimacy of spiritual affection, as is suggested in John’s Epistle, for,
having spoken of that eternal life which was with the Father, he says, "That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye may have fellowship
with us:" then he adds, "and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
His Son Jesus Christ." If then our souls lack fellowship — if we are not in the
full enjoyment of communion — would it not be of the first importance to ask
ourselves if lack of occupation with Christ is not the prime cause of this
unhappy state of things. The lack of this creates a void into which crowd those
spiritually enervating influences of the world — the cares of this life, the
pleasures of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, all combine to deprive the
child of God of the desire to feed on this heavenly food, which is Christ,
Himself.

All this finds its reflex in the children of Israel, who despised the manna,
God’s gracious, all-sufficient provision for the wilderness. With obduracy of
heart they said, "Who will give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish that we
ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the
onions, and the garlic; and now our soul is dried up: there is nothing at all
but the manna before our eves." But what does the Psalmist say of this manna
that fell upon the dew by night? "Though he had commanded the clouds from above,
and had opened the doors of the heavens. And had rained down manna upon them to
eat, and had given them the corn of the heavens: Man did eat the bread of the
mighty." Let us beware, beloved reader, lest we too should be guilty in the
minutest degree of despising Christ, the true Manna, as the food of our souls,
for, let us not forget, this was the first point of departure with the children
of Israel: they turned from the manna.

How blessed to perceive that Abraham’s tent is provided with that by which he
can suitably entertain a heavenly guest. The "three measures of meal" is
actually the "fine flour" of the meat offering spoken of in Leviticus, which
speaks of the perfect Manhood of Christ, who is the Bread of God, and the food
for His people. The calf, young and fresh, reminds us of Him who was the true
and perfect Workman for God, who, in resistless energy, gave His shoulders to
the yoke to carry out the will of God.

Now we have the wonderful announcement of the promise concerning the birth of
Isaac, the son that was to gladden the heart of Abraham. We know of whom Isaac
speaks, even Him of whom the prophet writes, "For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given;" One who came to dwell. Is not this the thought that lays
hold of Paul’s heart so powerfully in Ephesians 3:14-19?

We come now to the solemn disclosure of the doom of Sodom; and it is to the
"Friend of God" that this communication is given. And the LORD said, "Shall I
hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become
a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in
him? for I know him that he will command his household and his children after
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord." How sweet the encouragement in
maintaining in one’s household the authority, rapidly being given up in these
days, from God and for God. And how beautiful is the intimacy with which Abraham
intercedes with God for the doomed city, over which the dark clouds of divine
wrath were already lowering; and how patiently God answers the man of faith when
he says "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" How sure and stable is
faith’s resting place, as the blighting winds of infidelity and agnosticism blow
with increasing fury, in knowing that peace which passeth all understanding, a
peace that has been righteously established on an enduring foundation. Yes! the
Judge of all the earth will do right, though, for the present, man’s proud will
may appear to be in the ascendancy.

There can be little doubt that, in comparing the 18th chapter of Genesis with
the 19th chapter, the Spirit of God has chosen words to emphasise the
contrastive features of the circumstances and environment in which Abraham and
Lot are found: every circumstance which would accentuate the contrast is
designedly noted. For instance, we are told in Genesis 18:1-33 that Jehovah
appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the tent door in the heat
of the day. Some one might remark that to dwell in a tent in a hot, eastern
country was commonplace, and therefore a circumstance too trivial to be regarded
in any spiritual sense. But to so regard this circumstance is to over-simplify
it, and to ignore the rich spiritual instruction and admonition the Spirit
intends it should yield to us; for when we turn to the 11th of Hebrews, where we
have a record of the diversity of faith’s expression in the great cloud of
witnesses, we are expressly told in the 9th verse, "By faith he (Abraham)
sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a foreign country, having
dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for
he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
Hebrews 11:9. Is this not a wonderful connection in which to find the simple
statement, "Having dwelt in tents?" How timeously does it speak to us of the
thought of pilgrimage and strangership in this world, in view of citizenship in
heaven. And what is the full measure and character of this pilgrimage and
strangership! Nothing less than that is encompassed in that touching declaration
of the beloved Son to the Father, "They are not of the world, as I am not of the
world." How solemn the consideration dear saint of God that, it is possible,
despite this precious pronouncement from the lips of the Divine Son, we may be
morally like those of Pergamos, to whom, it is said, "I know where thou
dwellest, where the throne of Satan is;" like Lot, "Sitting in the gate of
Sodom," the place of authority in the world — not merely settling down in the
world, but administering its affairs. In human assessment, he had "got on in the
world." At first, he had "pitched his tent toward Sodom;" but when we come to
Genesis 19:1-38 his tent is no longer mentioned, it is his house: he had given
up his pilgrim character, and had settled down in the world.

These are solemn considerations for the child of God! Are we to walk in
uncompromising fidelity and devotion in the footsteps of that "Ever homeless
stranger," in this world, enjoying as our present portion the sweet foretaste of
that moment of surpassing excellence when, "With Thee in garments white, Lord
Jesus we shall walk?" or are we to covet and solicit the favour of a world where
the blessed Son of Man had not where to lay His head?

Let us consider some more of these distinctly contrastive features. Two angels
come to Sodom — not men as was the case with Abraham here is distance, not an
atmosphere in which communion can be known and enjoyed. Evening too has fallen:
how different from the heat of the day, the sun "shining in its strength." But
here the purple and golden banners of the evening sky are furled away, and gloom
settles down upon the whole scene; a gloom soon to be intensified by the dark
menacing clouds of divine wrath, which will only be relieved by the light of
that awful conflagration of divine judgment that will consume the cities of the
plain and their inhabitants. The angels come at night as though not to be seen;
and while Lot’s hospitality was ready and spontaneous, there was not the
readiness of acceptance on the part of the two angels as there was in the three
men who willingly accepted of Abraham’s hospitality. In the 18th chapter we are
told that when Abraham lifted up his eyes he saw three men standing near him.
The true rendering of this word is "stationed themselves," and conveys the
meaning of a desire to remain there in circumstances wholly congenial to them.
Is not this in marked contrast to the behaviour of the two angels who, to the
urgent pleadings of Lot replied, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all
night?" Are we exercised, according to the Spirit of God, to be found morally
suitable for the present enjoyment of communion with God? The choice is ours:
are we to be found in the way of Abraham, or in the way of Lot?

"Be not to me my God, as One that turned aside To tarry for a night, and trod
His onward path. Abide With me as light divine, that brings into my breast Those
gladdening scenes e’en now as mine, soon my eternal rest."

Lot’s importunate entreaties, however, prevail with the angelic messengers who,
as we learn further on, have been sent in the providential ways of God for Lot’s
preservation in the eventual overthrow of the guilty cities. What Lot sets
before the angels displays a refined sense of discernment, which is all the more
touching as we consider the environment in which this was eaten. "And he made
them a repast, and baked unleavened cakes, and they ate." Here was one who vexed
his righteous soul from day to day with the lawless works of ungodly men;
himself apart from the corruption around, who could provide that which in every
way was suited to his heavenly guests, but who had no power to maintain what was
pleasing to God, because of unholy and defiling associations. How immeasurable
was the distance between Abraham and Lot, who, though they started off together,
reached a very different goal. How truly do the Scriptures say, "There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." In
such unholy surroundings it is impossible to enjoy communion with those whose
presence can only prove to be a perpetual reproach and rebuke to one who has in
his ways renounced the path of faith. Unlike Abraham, he is not master of his
circumstances, but they of him.

How solemn the ribald intrusion of these ungodly men of Sodom as Lot entertains
his heavenly guests; and despite his earnest entreaties and dishonourable
overtures to these wicked men, the good he seeks is spurned, and judgment falls
on those with whom he had chosen to associate himself. How solemn and searching
is all this in a day when heaven is regarded as a sheltered haven to be safely
reached at the end of life’s journey, and not as the present dwelling-place of
the saint of God; and when saints — for whom Christ gave Himself, to deliver
them from this present evil world — count it no shame to be citizens of this
world, to be yoked in every possible way, commercially, politically, socially,
and even ecclesiastically, with unbelievers. The Word of God insists that one’s
personal state is reflected in the associations voluntarily assumed. Not to be
unequally yoked with unbelievers" is the condition God gives on which He can be
a Father to us; and to be purged from vessels of dishonour fits one to "be a
vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and pre-pared to
every good work" (2 Corinthians 6:17-18 :2 Timothy 2:21). Those who seek to obey
these Scriptures must be prepared to have every charge of narrow-mindedness and
legality levelled against them by those who would seek to establish that strange
amalgam of friendship with the world and friendship with God, spite of the
solemn declaration of God’s Word, "Whoever therefore is minded to be the friend
of the world is constituted enemy of God." Despite such plainness of speech on
God’s part, evangelical leaders identify themselves publicly with modernists,
and whole companies of professed Christians gather together in hearty fellowship
with those who are regardless of the Lord’s glory. How solemn indeed that many,
who would protest strongly of their allegiance to Christ, can nevertheless be so
easily content to leave Him aside on any utilitarian plea by which they may have
fellowship with His rejectors. As has already been remarked, communion was
impossible for Lot in Sodom. How is it possible to say to the world "I will walk
with you," and stretch out the other hand to God saying "Walk with me?" How
little with most of us is Christ the abiding occupation and enjoyment of our
souls, and when we would thus enjoy communion with Christ, how many are the
unwelcome intrusions to mar its enjoyment — just as unwelcome as the men of
Sodom were to Lot: but the responsibility for which he could not evade — nor can
we! Let us not forget that Abraham, the man of faith, had no such intrusions.

If Lot had not a calf "tender and good" to entertain his heavenly guests, as
Abraham had, he had the "unleavened bread" with which the Apostle Paul bids us
keep our passover feast, that which speaks of "sincerity and truth." How then
may we interpret this in relation to Lot, whose ways and associations were so
far removed from these? Is not the solemn answer found on the first occasion the
feast was observed? where we read, "And the people took their dough before it
was leavened . . . for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of
Egypt" (Exodus 12:34-39). Does not this show that their obedience to the divine
command was the fruit of their being forced out of Egypt, and therefore the
result of stern necessity? And in tracing the church’s history, do we not see
many points of resemblance as to the circumstances in which the feast has thus
been kept? Has it not been often the world’s hostility that has forced the
church into the place of separation from it? (See also Psalms 119:67; Psalms
119:71). With Lot there is no recovery, and in him we see the complete
prostration of faith: his life ends in shame and dishonour, as he sows the seeds
of a terrible harvest by bringing into being two nations, Moab and Ammon, who
proved themselves to be the determined and implacable enemies of the people of
God. May all these solemn realities speak with divine admonition and timely
warning to our souls, as we remember that as in water face answereth to face, so
the heart of man to man." In Genesis 20:1-18; Genesis 21:1-34, which we are now
to consider, we are introduced to a people who, because of their fierce and
unrelenting opposition to God’s earthly people, figure very prominently in the
after-history of the children of Israel, and who, throughout the times of
Samson, Eli, Samuel and Saul, hold the chief place among the implacable enemies,
whom God uses to scourge His erring people. David defeats and subjugates them,
but they rise again in the times of his degenerate successors, still marked with
the same relentless, ruthless and insatiable spirit of antagonism, despite the
many unmistakable indications of divine intervention on behalf of His wayward
and wilful people. The Philistines, for such is their name, were not Canaanites,
although sons of Ham.

It is not only a matter of interest, but of great spiritual instruction, to
refer to Genesis 10:1-32, where we find the origin of those nations whose
histories are so intimately and vitally interwoven with that of the people of
God. Many of the nations, who were afterwards great adversaries of Israel,
sprang from Ham, who was under the curse. We find many familiar names there,
such as Babylon, Nineveh, Egypt, the Canaanites and the Philistines, and all
these were the inveterate enemies of Israel; all belong to the family under the
curse. But it is particularly with the Philistines that we have to do at this
juncture in the history of Abraham, and it is a notable fact that these were
always found in the land of Canaan, in a part of the country adjoining Egypt,
with which they had the most unhindered and unobstructed communication. The
spiritual interpretation of these historical facts brings home to the exercised
soul that morally, the world, through which we wend our pilgrim way to Canaan’s
rest, is marked by the same spirit of opposition and antagonism as Abraham
encountered in his day. These Philistines therefore, spiritually interpreted,
are natural men in heavenly things, and their typical importance must correspond
to their place in an inspired history of "things" which "happened unto them for
types" or "ensamples," and their general history and character throw great light
on truths of great moral import.

We have seen in Genesis 18:1-33; Genesis 19:1-38 the significant contrast
between the privilege of faith enjoyed by the truly circumcised that is one who
accepts death upon all that is of nature and the flesh — and the loss suffered
by unbelief, even when found in a righteous person who has not accepted
circumcision, who walks in practice after the flesh. Lot was providentially
cared for in the faithfulness of God, but faith’s privilege was not his. In
Genesis 20:1-18; Genesis 21:1-34 we have another contrast. We see the believer
walking in such a way that he comes under the rebuke of the world (20); then we
see him walking so that the world has to acknowledge that God is with him in all
that he does (Genesis 21:22). In the former chapter, the same weakness and
failure betray themselves in Abraham as were evidenced in chapter 12, where he
denies his true relationship with Sarah; but the denial here assumes a much more
serious form. This is generally the case when unbelief is left unjudged. When
faith is at a low ebb, how easy it is to succumb to importunities, and to
indulge in the shameful subterfuges of unbelief. The sharp knives of Gilgal can
alone deal adequately with the morbid out-growths of the flesh in whatever form
it may seek to express itself. The working of unbelief in Genesis 12:1-20 was in
connection with Abraham giving up the heavenly position, leaving Bethel and
going down to Egypt; in chapter 20, it was after the promise that Sarah would be
the mother of Isaac, with whom God’s covenant would be established, and who
would inherit all the promises that God had pledged Himself to fulfil. The
special testimony in chapter 12 was of the inheritance; in chapter 20 it was
concerning the heir. Is it not a very solemn reflection, dear reader, that the
special testimony of the moment was the focal point against which all the
efforts of the enemy were directed with unabated tenacity. If Abraham had been
in the practical faith of the promise which had been divinely confirmed to him,
he would have realised how essential it was to maintain the true relationship in
which he stood to Sarah; it was the essential thing in relation to the testimony
of God at that moment. As another has said, "The top shoot goes first."

Unbelief, weakness or fear always leads to the giving up of the choicest thing;
and so Abraham fails at Gerar as long before he had failed in Egypt. These
Philistines too are but Egyptians, though in Canaan; even as the world, though
come into the church, is still the world. Sarah, as typifying the covenant of
grace, belongs still, as always, to the man of faith; but how often has he
failed to assert uncompromisingly this absolutely exclusive claim! It is a
solemn warning for every true-hearted child of God, that one so privileged — one
who enjoyed such nearness to God — should so grievously depart from faith, as to
his public testimony. But has each one of us not to own with deep shame and
sorrow of heart, as we review our own history in the light of Abraham’s sad
failures, that these are but faithful portrayals of our own failures by the way.
Have we not known what it was to speak and walk inconsistently with the path of
faith, even after having tasted the joy of heavenly things. The unfriendly eyes
of the world would not always have detected in our walk and ways that we were in
the dignity and blessedness of our calling and privilege. It is sad indeed to
see how the thoughts of nature can come in and practically set aside the
thoughts of faith.

Abraham was afraid, the fear of man had been a snare to him; "they will kill
me," he exclaimed. But the root of this sad defection is laid bare in verse 13,
where we read, "God caused me to wander from my father’s house." Is this
Abraham’s estimate of that sovereign call of the God of glory, that reached him
when he was worshipping other gods? What a low and natural conception of that
wondrous call from the unseen. The call, the inheritance and the privileges of a
heavenly man were all lost sight of for a moment in "God caused me to wander
from my father’s house." Is this the thought or the confession of faith? But is
Abraham alone in this? How often do we find words on our lips that do not rise
above the level of natural men? In the storm, the disciples cried out in great
distress, "We perish." In the wilderness they said, "Whence should we have so
many loaves to satisfy so great a crowd?" When the Lord warned them against the
leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, they said, it is "because we have taken
no bread;" and again, when He told His disciples that He had meat to eat that
they knew not of, they said, "Has any one brought Him anything to eat?" Peter
did seem to rise to thoughts of faith when he confessed Jesus to be "the Christ,
the Son of the living God;" but almost immediately he displays how far removed
he was in spirit from His divine Master in relation to the path of suffering
that lay before Him, as he exclaims, "This shall in no wise be unto Thee." This
all shows how quickly the thoughts of faith can be departed from; and when this
occurs, there is sure to be the denial of the relationships in which we stand
spiritually.

It is good to see how God’s controlling hand is over the principal actors in
this scene, acting in perfect consistency with His nature and attributes, as the
One Who can snatch victory out of defeat, and lay signal honour upon His failing
servant by saying to Abimelech, "he is a prophet and will pray for thee, that
thou mayest live." God always loves to honour His people. Think of how
wonderfully this is brought out in Job 42:1-17, where God says, "My servant Job
shall pray for you, for him will I accept; lest I deal with you after your
folly, for you have not spoken of Me rightly like My servant Job." It was
necessary for Abraham however, that he should come under the rebuke of the
world. In spite of the world’s hatred to Christ and those who seek to be true to
Him, it expects a standard of behaviour eminently greater and more elevated than
its own, even though it regards such conduct with critical and disapproving
eyes.

Sarah was the vessel of promise for the bringing in of Isaac — typically, Christ
— and because of this the enemy was behind all the weakness and fear of Abraham
and also the actions of Abimelech to defeat this purpose. How solemn is the
admonition contained in all this for our souls. Depend upon it, if we seek to
effect a compromise with the world, it will entail the denial of our
relationship with Christ, and the moral inability to present Him in testimony to
those whose capricious friendship we have bought at such a price. The Galatians
provide us with a very instructive illustration of what has been asserted: they
were taking ground as having "fallen from grace," which involved the denial of
their divine relationships.

How humbling too the rebuke Abimelech administers to Sarah! She ought to have
been veiled, as Abraham’s wife; then Abimelech would not have seen her. Twice in
the fourth chapter of the Song of Songs the veil is mentioned. "Thine eyes are
doves behind thy veil;" "As a piece of pomegranate are thy temples, behind thy
veil" (vv. 1, 3). All the varied beauties that mark the saints of God are for
the eye of Christ alone. The moment anything is done to attract the eye of man,
the true character and comeliness of the spiritual life are gone. When Rebecca
saw Isaac she veiled herself; a very precious indication that she was to be for
Isaac exclusively. The church ought to have been always veiled — to have kept
herself exclusively for Christ, instead of displaying herself before the world
that has refused and rejected her Lord.

Unmoved from His purpose of wisdom and love, despite the failure and
unfaithfulness of Abraham, God fulfils the promise He had made. A son is given
to gladden Abraham’s life: Isaac is born; a type surely of a greater, in whom
all the promises find completion. The "great feast" which Abraham provides
signifies that wondrous day in the history of the soul when Christ is
acknowledged as the only One to have the place of unchallenged supremacy. This
has been called the "coronation day;" setting forth in figure "Christ’s day,"
when He shall be supreme and without a rival. But there is one discordant voice
heard amid the rejoicings of the great feast — Ishmael mocks! When Isaac is
given his rightful place, the true character of Ishmael is exposed. And it is
the bringing in of the true Isaac, and according Him the place of undisputed
pre-eminence, that exposes all that man is after the flesh and arouses the deep
enmity of his heart. If we insist that man after the flesh must go, and that
Christ alone must have the place of pre-eminence, we shall find that Ishmael is
still a mocker. The flesh in us cannot endure the thought of being set aside;
but it must go! The bondman and her son must be cast out; and this having been
accomplished, we see Abraham in moral superiority in the place where his
weakness had been so apparent, so that Abimelech has to own that God is with
him. This is the result of Isaac getting his rightful place.

We then find that Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away a well of water
which Abraham had dug. (It is worthy of note that the hostility of the
Philistines towards Abraham and Isaac is manifested in relation to their wells).
As already noted, the Philistines represent those who are professedly on divine
ground, but who have not faith. Their undeviating purpose is to deprive the
saints of these sources of spiritual refreshment. Unlike a pool or a cistern, a
well is fed and kept in freshness by a living spring, and is a store of
refreshment from which we can draw at all times. The ministry of Christ by the
Spirit is necessary to maintain us in spiritual freshness and vigour; the Spirit
Himself being the source of the never-failing spring. If we wish to have
unhindered enjoyment of the well, we must see to it that we honour Christ alone,
and do not give Ishmael, the man after the flesh, any place. The seven ewe lambs
might suggest the spirit of yieldingness and of grace towards those who have
been hostile. "Let your gentleness be known of all men; the Lord is near" ((Php
4:5). The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle towards all. The
presence of God with Abraham, and the grace displayed by Him, result in
Abraham’s title to the well being established. May we cherish more and more the
source and means of divine refreshment, which the Father Himself has provided
for us; and in the spirit of grace seek to make good our claim to the wells in
the presence of those who would deprive us of them. In Genesis 22:1-24 we have
the historical account of that which is so beautifully and touchingly epitomised
by the Spirit of God in the Epistle to the Hebrews. "By faith Abraham, when he
was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up
His only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be
called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from
whence also he received him in a figure ’ (Hebrews 11:17-19). It might be
helpful, at this point, to note with reference to that remark-able expression ".
. . he that had received the promises," that despite the fact that Abraham was
asked to offer up Isaac, the one in whom all the promises reposed, he had so
found that inward strength in faith as to lay hold upon the One Who had made
these wonderful promises, and which he had taken up and appropriated, although
in the present circumstances it seemed as though they had been given to be
capriciously revoked.

It may seem strange, at first thought, that God should put to the proof a faith
He held in such precious regard; but this was Abraham’s justification by works
before men; God demonstrating before others that which he had long before seen
and borne witness of. This is what James refers to, "What is the profit, my
brethren, if any one say he have faith, but have not works? can faith save him?
. . . Show me thy faith without works, and I from my works will show thee my
faith . . . Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac
his son upon the altar? Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and that
by works faith was perfected" (James 2:18-22). In all this, the spiritual mind,
instructed and taught of the Spirit by the Word, sees yet another indisputable
and convincing proof of the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; whereas
the hyper-critical disputant, his mind evilly disposed by agnostic prejudices,
sees nothing but irrelevant contradictions. The child of God discerns with ever
growing wonderment and delight how each inspired pen-man, as borne along by the
Spirit of God, adds to the harmonious completeness of the Word of God, which is
indivisible in character and divine in origin; so that in the doctrine of
justification by works, as set forth in the Epistle of James, he sees how this
forms an integral and complementary part of the emancipating doctrine of
justification by faith, as so strenuously affirmed by the Apostle Paul in the
Epistle to the Romans.

Paul gives us the inward principle, James, the outward development of that
principle; but there must be the inward principle before there can be the
outward acting. Abraham was justified when he believed God, and was accounted
righteous in virtue of his faith this was his secret standing before God. But he
was also justified when he offered up Isaac: this was before men, and in this
way the reality of his faith in God was demonstrably witnessed to by God, so
that the trial of Abraham’s faith, which is more precious than of gold that
perisheth, and which was sustained to a triumphant conclusion, stands forth in
the most honoured position. The trial of faith, at the hand of God Himself,
invariably results in great enrichment of soul, as we acquire an enhanced sense
of the measureless resources which are available for us.

How these great men of faith, Abraham, Paul, Peter and others exemplify in a
pre-eminent degree the truth of these words, "Ye have . . . seen the end of the
Lord: that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful" (James 5:11).

How touching, though rebuking to us, the unquestioning, unhesitating obedience
exhibited by Abraham in the carrying out of God’s command. There is no emotional
outburst, no plaintive entreaties; nature is entirely silent and subservient to
the will of Him Who has demanded so great a sacrifice. All is measured with
divine intent and precision, and in language calculated to impress Abraham with
the magnitude of his sacrifice. "And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son,
whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and there offer
him up for a burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."
But faith sees in all that took place between Abraham and Isaac the movements of
another Father and Son, and in these carefully measured ingredients of sorrow
which filled Abraham’s cup to the brim, can we not discern the shadowy outline
of a sacrifice transcendently greater than this by far? Yes, it is the Father
laying bare the deep and changeless love of a heart that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all.

"Take now thy son, thine only son," God says to Abraham, and how significant is
this in the light of that profound Scripture, "God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life." Such is the manner and the measure of the love He
has manifested to us in the gift of His only begotten Son, the Son Whom He
loved. To some, this is too human a term to use, and profess to do Him honour in
denying that this is His divine Name. They own Him Son of God as "that holy
thing," born of the virgin Mary; they own Him too as "God over all blessed for
ever," but His eternal Sonship they do not own. As another has said, "Had the
Father no bosom before Christ was born on earth?" If there was no Son then,
there was no Father. "He that denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father."
And if such be the case, what of all the blessed consequences which imply and
necessitate the existence of this eternal relationship; "The Father has sent the
Son as Saviour of the world;" and "God gave His only begotten Son." This
expression is in contrast to His title "First-begotten;" "First-born among many
brethren." The former as decisively excludes others from sharing with Him, as
the latter just as definitely includes others. And when "The Word became flesh
and tabernacled amongst us," the glory of Deity, seen in the tabernacle of His
manhood, was "the glory as of an only-begotten with a Father, full of grace and
truth." Again, if only God could reveal God, it is "The only-begotten Son, Who
is in the bosom of the Father" Who hath declared Him. This Blessed One, whom no
one knows but the Father, was the nursling of His love, daily His delight in a
past eternity. "The Father only that blest Name of Son can comprehend." How
John, whose peculiar theme is the manifestation of God in the Word made flesh,
loves to bring before us the surpassing glory of Him Who is the only-begotten."
The Jews, the unrelenting persecutors of the Son of God, understood that in
claiming God to be His Father, the Lord Jesus made Himself equal with God (John
5:18). How very solemn, in spite of the clearest testimony of these and many
other Scriptures, certain men, in our own day, have had the temerity to say that
the Sonship of our blessed Lord constitutes Him inferior to the Father. Our
safety, in considering the truth relative to Divine Persons, lies in adhering
unshakably to the sublime pronouncements of the Word of God. When the waves of
infidelity lap with all their subtle, insidious, and disintegrating power, or
dash themselves in all their destructive and unrestrained fury, we are safe only
as we take our stand on "the impregnable rock of holy Scripture;" for in this
infallible source of divine communication, the revelation of the Father and the
Son is the very essence of Christianity. In considering the offering up of
Isaac, how significantly do these precious words fall upon our ears, "He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Romans 8:32). It is
the loved object of a father’s heart that is to be delivered up in this most
touching and affecting scene. Think of what Isaac was to Abraham; his son; his
only one; his loved one, whose name conjures up the deep joy which his birth
occasioned in the heart of the aged patriarch. And in all this we have a faint
foreshadowing of what lay in the heart of the blessed God. Who can tell what it
was to God to give up His blessed Son to death? a death which was the full
manifestation of the love of God. How precious are these Scriptures that reveal
to us the deep, intense affection that existed between the Father and the Son;
how spontaneous the reciprocation of affection! "On this account the Father
loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again," and "But that
the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has commanded me,
this I do" (John 10:17; John 14:31). The Lord Jesus was that perfect "burnt
offering" in which was expressed the sweet savour of perfect affections devoted
to God in death. Truly His death was "an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2). All the offerings mentioned in Genesis
partook of the character of the burnt-offering, and in this chapter we are
presented with another aspect in the development of the truth concerning this
particular offering. It has been suggested that in Abel’s offering we have the
thought of excellence; then in Noah’s the thought of cleanness — moral purity:
but what we have here is a beautiful and touching picture of the affections
involved in it. How precious is this aspect of the death of Christ, inasmuch as
it was entirely for the pleasure of God.

Think of how the Son cherished the thoughts of the Father concerning those who
were to be His companions in glory, consequent upon His work of redemption; and
who, in order to bring these precious thoughts into effect offered Himself in
all the fragrance of affection "which no suffering stayed," by which He provided
a holy and divine basis on which all the purposes of eternal love could be
brought to fruition.

How the Father cherished these affections which were expressed in so supreme and
profound a measure in death. We are so prone to consider only what the Lord
Jesus took away in His death; but how supremely great is that which His death
secured for the pleasure of the Father. Christ has also displayed, in the
offering of Himself, the affections of sonship in Manhood; and the fruit of that
offering will be that the "many sons," whom He is bringing to glory in triumph,
will respond to God eternally in all the strength of these affections proper to
sonship. In Isaac’s submission to the will of his father we see obedience in its
perfection and beauty. He was not the child often pictured to us; he was in the
full vigour of early manhood; yet how perfect and absolute is his submission,
and it is this which gives emphasis to the touching words twice repeated, "they
went both of them together." The Father had sent the Son to accomplish His will,
and the Son had come to do it; and in the Gospel of John we read, "I am not
alone, but I and the Father Who has sent me" (John 8:16); the Father and the Son
are going on together. Again, the Son said, "My Father worketh hitherto and I
work" (John 5:17), and "He that hath sent me is with me; he has not left me
alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to him" (John 8:29).
These and many more Scriptures can be adduced as supporting the peculiar
suitability of these words to the Father and the Son. Indeed, the whole of
John’s Gospel can be read in the light of these words, "They went both of them
together."

Throughout the trial of Abraham’s faith, we must not lose sight of the fact that
the faith of resurrection cheered his heart; ". . . counting that God was able
to raise (Isaac) even from among the dead, whence also he received him in a
figure" (Hebrews 11:19). The promises of God were assured in him of whom He had
said, "In Isaac shall thy seed be called." If therefore God called for him to be
offered up, the resurrection power of God must restore him from the very flames
of the altar; and indeed he was restored, for Abraham received him from the dead
as "in a figure." This figure of resurrection must be borne in mind, for it is
to Christ in resurrection that the events following typically refer.

There appears to have been no suggestion previously of the action of
resurrection power: it is an entirely new feature brought in in connection with
this type. Abraham had said, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come
again to you." Yes, Isaac would "come again." It could not be otherwise to
Abraham’s faith, considering who Isaac was, for, as has already been stated, all
the promises of God and their accomplishment were wrapped up in him. And how
certain it is of the true Isaac that He would "come again," for the "pains of
death" must be loosed, "Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt make known to me the path of life" (Psalms 16:10-11). The power of
resurrection was inherent in Him, ". . . marked out Son of God in power,
according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead" (Romans 1:4).
He was "The Resurrection and the Life." And so Isaac is spared; the ram caught
in a thicket by his horns is his substitute; a beautiful type surely of Him who,
in all the energy of divine love, offered Himself in devoted and unswerving
obedience for the carrying out of the Father’s will, even unto death. It has
been truly said that Christ was held by the strength of His love for the
accomplishing of all that precious work that was needful for the glory of God
and for the gratification of the Father’s heart, so that the many sons might be
brought to glory. The voice of God stayed the hand of Abraham and pre-served the
life of Isaac, but there was no voice from heaven to stay the rod of divine
judgment that fell in all its crushing power upon the blessed head of our
sinless Substitute. No alleviating power or influence was allowed to enfeeble
the sense of divine wrath that pressed in upon His holy soul. He could say, "I
looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to
uphold." This, however, was more in accordance with the character of the
sin-offering, where the Holy One of God was "made sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him." On the cross He bore our sins, and as
made sin was forsaken of God, and endured the fire of divine wrath against sin.
As the sin-offering, God took up the question of sin with Him according to His
holiness, and in this connection the fire of necessity takes the character of
wrath. But as the burnt-offering, the character in which He is set forth
typically in this chapter, the fire brings out all the sweet savour and
acceptable fragrance of the spotless Victim. Under the most intense searching
and testing, even as suffering in the outside place, even when forsaken of God,
having reached the culmination of His measureless sufferings, suffering all that
was due to the righteousness and holiness of God, even then the searching action
of the fire only brought into more distinctive relief the superlative and
surpassing excellence of the sinners’ Surety. The intense searching and testing
of the fire as applied to Christ, the Beloved Son, only disclosed His inward
devotion and perfection.

How beautifully the chapter ends with the introduction of Rebecca — beautiful
type of the church as brought to Christ, risen and glorified in heaven. It is a
risen and glorified Christ who secures the bride. The true Isaac has been
offered up, and now another divine Person is brought typically into view — the
Holy Spirit. With in-creasing wonder we contemplate the movements of the Spirit
of God, Who makes every circumstance subserve the end for which He came into the
world; sent of the Father for the express purpose of securing a bride for the
Son of His love; and this is the work which is going on in the present
dispensation, and will go on, in spite of all the evil machinations of the enemy
to avert it, until in the glorious and triumphant consummation of the ways of
God, the bride, with bridal affections for her absent lover, will say in unison
with the Spirit, "Come, Lord Jesus."

Lord Jesus come! The Man of sorrows once, The Man of patience waiting now — The
Man of joy, for ever, Thou, Come, Saviour, come!

Yes, the "Man of joy," the true Isaac — he will laugh. In Genesis 23:1-20 we
have the intimation of the death of Sarah, the vessel of promise. Sarah’s death
typifies the passing, for the time, of Israel and the promises in relation to
the earth, so as to make way for the heavenly blessings and relationships
according to the wondrous purposes of the Father concerning the Son and all that
He has counseled for Him. The Son has gone through death, and taken up a
heavenly position, in consequence of which the Bride is being formed here upon
earth, united by indissoluble links of undying affection to her heavenly
Bridegroom — nourished and cherished by Him as members of His body — "we are of
His flesh, and of His bones;" for it was from the side of the last Adam, so to
speak, when He lay in the deep sleep of death, that the church is being built.

How blessed it is to consider that all our relationships with the Father and the
Son have been established on the risen side of death, beyond any and every
possibility of failure or breakdown — eternal, unchangeable, inviolate and
enduring. What fact is more wonderful than this there is a risen Man in the
glory of God? How blessed it is to behold the risen Son of God as He is
presented to us in John 20:1-31, announcing to Mary the establishment of that
wonderful relationship with the Father, "I ascend to my Father and your Father,
and to my God and your God."

Mary had been led by the unerring instinct of affection to the place where the
body of her beloved Lord had been laid, but her night of weeping was dispelled
by the radiant beams of that glorious resurrection morning as she heard the
voice of Him, Who had emerged triumphant from death’s dark domain, announcing to
her the establishment of a relationship surpassingly great in character and
extent, and founded on His resurrection. He had laid down His life and taken it
again, as He had said in John 10:17; but He had taken it upon new and heavenly
conditions, suited to that place of surpassing glory and excellence He was so
soon to occupy at the Father’s right hand.

Mary imagined that He had come back, like Lazarus, on the old footing; but she
had to learn that, as risen from the dead, all her links with Him now must be of
a heavenly character. This Blessed One, in spite of that perfect life, which was
ever marked by every moral beauty and perfection, was not restored to continue
life in this world; but, thrice blessed it is to consider, He is still Man
though in the glory; resurrection for Him did not involve discarding the Manhood
He had assumed in incarnation. No element of corruption lurked in the holy body
prepared for Him, even as had been written of old, "Thou wilt not leave my soul
in hades, neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt
make known to me the path of life." But even in the contemplation of these
astounding truths, let us not be limited in our apprehension, or in our
conception of them, for this glorious One was not only raised from the dead, but
was set down by God at His own right hand in the heavenly places. There, He is
far above all the great spiritual heavenly beings, and the fame of His Name
transcends that of all the great of earth or heaven, either of the present age
or of the great age that is yet to come. This glorified Man is not only above
them all, but is far above them. He is Head and Chief over every one of them,
and further, He is Head to His body, the church, "the fulness of Him Who fills
all in all."

How excellent the thought that, in the risen and exalted Man, Christ Jesus, we
see the pledge and beginning of those Bright and blessed scenes, Where sin can
never come, Whose sight our longing spirit weans From earth where yet we roam.
In spirit we are there already, associated with our true Isaac who, as the last
Adam, has breathed into us His own Spirit; and we await that wonderful moment
when the saints as a mighty army shall stand forth in glory, our bodies of
humiliation transformed "into conformity to His body of glory, according to the
working of the power which He has even to subdue all things to Himself." In
continuance of the thought concerning the offering up of Isaac as typifying the
offering up of the Son of the Father’s love, we would do well to remind
ourselves that types are essentially illustrative in character and not totally
expressive of the truths they are intended to convey. The importance of this
cannot be too greatly emphasised when dealing with that which the Spirit brings
before us in this 24th Chapter of Genesis. Here, in stringently typical
language, the counsels of the Father for the securing of a suited companion for
His Son are unfolded. The true Isaac has been offered as a burnt-offering, and
on the ground of this every thought of the Father’s heart can be brought into
effect. Nothing will be lacking that will gratify His own heart and that of the
Son of His love.

We have the death of Sarah, the vessel of promise, in Chapter 23; Sarah gives
place to Rebekah, the mother to the bride. Sarah bespeaks the covenant of grace
in connection with the people "of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came"
(Romans 9:5). Sarah’s death typifies the passing, for the present, of Israel and
the promises connected with the earth, so that a new order of things might be
brought in, characterized by heavenly blessings and relationships. Isaac is
typically the heavenly One, Who went into death to lay the basis on which every
thought of the Father might be fully realised.

Here, Isaac remains in Canaan, as Christ in heaven, and the Spirit of God,
having all the fulness of the divine treasury "under His hand," comes down as
the un-named servant. Thorough devotedness to the father’s will and to the
interests of the son marked the servant’s course; he is thus truly
representative of One Who does not speak from Himself, or seek His own glory,
even as we read, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me" (John 15:26). See also John 16:13-14. In contemplating the
prominent features of this exceedingly interesting and instructive narrative,
one is brought to the conclusion that to give this chapter an exclusively Gospel
application would be to falsify the purpose for which it was written. The
servant is sent by Abraham to find a bride in every way suited to Isaac. In the
first place, the bride must be suitable in origin; none of the daughters of the
Canaanites could be a worthy or suited companion for Isaac, even as Abraham
directed his servant, "I will make thee swear by Jehovah, the God of the heavens
and the God of the earth, that thou take not a wife for my son of the daughters
of the Canaanites, among whom I am dwelling; but thou shalt go to my land, and
to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

Rebekah is of Isaac’s kindred, she is portrayed as perfectly suitable to be his
bride; she does not represent the call of sinners by the Gospel but rather the
call of saints to a special place of relationship with Christ on high, though,
as to the present, still found in wilderness conditions. This is a dispensation
unique in the world’s history, a dateless period of time, singularly precious to
the heart of God the Father, a period marked by the movements of the Godhead,
gathering together "the children of God that were scattered abroad" (John
11:52). All in whom the mighty work of the Spirit of God has been effected, from
Pentecost until the Lord comes for His own, these are kindred to Christ and
constitute "His fair and ransomed bride." Whom does the Lord own as His kindred
in Matthew? "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, Who is in heaven." In
Mark, it is "Whosoever shall do the will of God;" and in Luke, "Those who hear
the word of God, and do it." This makes it very plain who are His kindred.

John, in his Gospel and in the Revelation makes very marked reference to the
Bride. At the beginning of the Gospel he speaks of John Baptist as one who had
recognised that the Son of God was the Bridegroom, and that He alone was
entitled to have the bride. Then at the close of the Revelation, the bride is
seen responding as the "Bride-groom of her heart" speaks of Himself so
touchingly in the words "I Jesus." In unison with the Spirit, Who has been her
faithful and unfailing Companion throughout her long pilgrimage, she exclaims
with earnest expectation, "Come!" Do we not see from such Scriptures that the
Spirit of God is graciously forming in the saints the bridal character and
affections that are suitable to Christ? The servant goes out to find a bride
suitable for Isaac; He does not find an unsuitable one and make her suitable.
The bride of Christ of which Rebekah is a figure is a meet companion for Christ
as a result of the work of divine generation, which makes her kindred to Him.
(It is necessary to state here that we cannot make the bride individual, though
individuals partake of the divine nature, and as such form part of the bride.)
This unknown servant, figurative of the Holy Spirit, finds Rebekah by the well
of water — a constant figure of truth as a living reality for the soul — and in
consistency with this, and as acting in the spirit of grace, she goes far beyond
the request of the servant, ministering to him and his camels the needed
refreshment with a lavish hand in which there was no element of restraint. It
was this that conveyed to the servant that Rebekah was the one suitable to be
the bride of Isaac, and worthy to be adorned with the ring and bracelets. And
so, as the fruit of divine working, there are those found with the moral
features which are eminently suited to Christ.

There would have been no "treasure hid in the field," and no "pearl of great
price," if there had not been the sowing, and the preparation of the heart by
the Father for the reception of the good seed. Resulting from this divine work
there has been brought to light a generation upon which those spiritual
ornaments (suggested by the silver, gold and clothing) rest with becoming
propriety. Coming under the precious ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of
truth, the saints of God have entirely new conceptions of the deep, unchanging
and measureless love of the Father, and the love of the Son for the bride of His
heart. The Lord Jesus, as the true Isaac, has invested those who compose the
bride with those precious ornaments which are descriptive of Himself and
expressive of His love for her. He becomes their excellency and ornament the
hidden man of their hearts is adorned with the characteristics and moral
features of Christ.

It was not until the proposal of the servant had been made and accepted that his
reserve vanished, and he brought out all the wealth with which he had been
en-trusted for the bride. How richly have we been endowed with all the wealth of
the Father’s love, and in its lavish bestowal we discern the greatness of His
thoughts for us. The "jewels of silver" suggest the treasures connected with
God’s grace in redemption through which He has secured a bride for the Son of
His love. The death of Christ is the price God has paid to set us in all the
sweet and abiding savour of His love before His face; and it is with unspeakable
joy that we rest in all this wealth of blessing and divine favour, which alone
is the adequate answer to the atoning and wondrous death of His beloved Son. The
"Jewels of gold" suggest the treasures concerning the glory and righteousness of
God, all connected with the revelation of Himself so that the saints might be
filled even to all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19). How blessed it is to
see the Lord Jesus in John 14:1-31 — 16 setting forth the divine enrichment of
His disciples, and of those who would believe on Him through their word, as a
consequence of His going to the Father. The Spirit has come, as we also see in
these chapters, to unfold these heavenly treasures to those who have been
associated with Christ on the risen side of death, to tell them of all that He
has secured for them through His death, resurrection and glory.

Then the "raiment" speaks of how the saints are clothed with the features of the
heavenly Christ. How the Spirit delights to tell out the glories of Christ, and
to speak of the wealth and blessedness in which He can grace the saints! Do we
desire to be found here manifesting the beauty and grace of that heavenly One
our every relationship down here characterized by that meekness and lowliness
and gentleness that were ever seen in Him? Do we desire that all our movements
might carry with them the sweet savour of Christ? In this connection it is very
instructive to compare what is said of ornaments in Isaiah 3:1-26; Isaiah 4:1-6
In the former chapter, all the ornaments of the daughters of Zion are to be
taken away, and all would be ruin and corruption; but in Chapter 4, the Christ
is spoken of as "a sprout of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the
earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel."

Another point worthy of note is the readiness with which Rebekah responded to
the desire of the servant to return to his master. The servant said "Do not
hinder me, seeing Jehovah has prospered my way;" and to the question "Wilt thou
go with this man?" Rebekah replies without restraint or hesitation, "I will go."
How touching this is as we consider that in verse 5 the servant had been
concerned regarding the willingness of the woman to return with him. Already her
thoughts were with the one to whom she was to be betrothed; these beautiful
words of Psalms 45:1-17 were true of her, "Forget also thine own people, and thy
father’s house, so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty."

How attractive is this simplicity of faith on the part of Rebekah; she believes
the report concerning the one she had not seen; the precious things she received
being the earnest of what awaited her. Is this eagerness, this willingness, to
meet our heavenly Bridegroom ever with us? Has the thought of seeing Him as He
is, and of being like Him, so stimulated our affections that we press on with
renewed ardour and quickened footsteps for the prize of the calling on high of
God in Christ Jesus?

We have no details of the journey, but at the end Isaac comes to meet her, "And
Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac . . . she said unto the
servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant
said, It is my master; therefore she took a veil, and covered herself." She was
to be exclusively for him. And at the end of our pilgrim journey, now so near,
when the cry, "Behold the Bridegroom" has already gone forth, shall there not be
with those to whom the Spirit has spoken anything that answers to this beautiful
action of Rebekah’s? Our heavenly Bridegroom is He Whose glory Isaiah saw, and
before whom the seraphim cover themselves; and the nearness of the place to
which we have been called, and the intimacy enjoyed, will only produce deeper
and more self-effacing reverence.

It is a point of great interest that Rebekah was brought to Sarah’s tent, and
speaks of the present compensation that Christ has in having the assembly. He
has lost Israel, the vessel of promise, figuratively set forth in the death of
Sarah, but how great is His compensation as possessing the bride. And it is
blessed to consider that nothing that was represented in Sarah is lost; all is
cherished and maintained in the assembly. How blessed to view the bride as the
expression of the Father’s love to the Son, since she is the object which the
Father’s love has secured for Him.

It would doubtless be right to consider the close of Genesis 24:1-67 as
concluding historically the life of Abraham, the friend of God, the man of
faith. There are certain actions and incidents, however, brought before us in
the chapter following which, separately and in combination, serve as a fitting
epilogue to this fruitful and instructive life that we have been privileged to
consider in the clear and unsullied light of that infallible and uncompromising
arbiter of all that claims to be truth — the Scripture of truth. In the
beginning of Genesis 25:1-34 we read, "Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac"
(Genesis 25:5), and "God blessed his son Isaac" (Genesis 25:11). These are very
simple statements, but in their typical application how very important they are,
and how far-reaching in their spiritual significance, suggesting as they do that
all blessing and every promise is made good in Him, Who is the true Isaac — the
One Who is now out of death, and Who awaits the accomplishment of the Spirit’s
mission, the formation of the bride, in accordance with the Father’s counsels.

We see in type in the death of Abraham that the promises give place to the One
in Whom they are made good, even as the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
1:20, "For whatever promises of God there are, in Him is the yea, and in Him the
amen, for glory to God by us." In this connection it stands in relation to what
Paul and Silas and Timothy had preached among the Corinthians. Was the Son of
God, Whom they preached, One in Whom there existed conflicting elements — yea,
and nay? Was He the Author of a conditional and uncertain blessing? Far be the
thought! All was affirmed and assured with divine certitude in Him; He is the
certainty of every divine promise, both as to its announcement and fulfilment.

There is not only in the Son of God the substantiation of every positive
blessing; there is also the full and perfect revelation of God; and this is
brought before us in Isaac dwelling at Beer-lahai-roi, the well of the living
One Who reveals Himself. How immense, how infinite, how great indeed are the
blessings that flow from this stupendous fact, that God has revealed Himself in
grace. "No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, Who is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John 1:18). "And confessedly the
mystery of piety is great, God has been manifested in flesh. . ." (1 Timothy
3:16). Yes, He is the living One Who reveals. The interpretation given by the
Authorised Version, "Thou God seest me," conveys a most solemn truth, but surely
it is a much greater thought for me to see God in Christ. It is not only that He
sees me, but that I see Him revealed in perfect grace. "Isaac had just returned
from Beer-lahai-roi" when he met Rebecca. This is the true and proper
environment for the saint of God; standing in the noon-tide splendour of the
revelation of God in Christ, and feeding where the new nature develops and
becomes exceedingly fruitful.

Another incident to be noted in this chapter is the death of Ishmael "in the
presence of all his brethren" (Genesis 25:18). It would appear that Ishmael and
his brethren set forth Israel after the flesh; and it is not without
significance that twelve princes are mentioned here. Ishmael had been rejected,
and cast out; now he passes from the scene, where Isaac and Israel have their
place according to the promise of God. And so it will be in the coming day:
Israel after the flesh, as under the old covenant, will pass away, and instead
Israel under the new covenant will remain to enter into all that God has
promised. What a moment it will be for Israel when they discover that as in the
flesh, and as under law, they are under death; and in deep contrition of heart
they are constrained to cry out in their great distress to Him Who will
assuredly open their eyes to see the well. Then will they be brought to know God
as "The Living One. Who reveals Himself." To the observant reader it will be
evident that a new history opens with Genesis 25:19, even that of Isaac; a
history richly patterned with exercises relative to the promises of God, which
are most instructive; for we all pass, in measure, through similar exercises. At
every step God would have His people shut up to Himself for the exercise of
faith, illustrating the truth of Hebrews 11:6, "For he that draws near to God,
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them who seek Him out."
Rebecca, like Sarah, is barren, and is therefore the subject of divine
intervention; and the result of God intervening is the occasion of another
exercise in which the sovereignty of God is disclosed. Rebecca has to learn that
the two peoples represented in her two children are quite distinct; the one
according to the priority and strength of nature, the other according to the
choice of God. Moreover, she has to learn to set aside every natural thought,
and to acknowledge the pre-eminently greater claim of God’s choice.

It is very interesting and instructive to note the exercises of Eve, Sarah and
Rebecca, three women who occupy a prominent place in the Book of Genesis. The
exercises of Eve were with Cain and Abel; those of Sarah were connected with
Isaac and Ishmael, while Rebecca’s exercises were in relation to Jacob and Esau.
It has been suggested that in relation to Cain and Abel the lesson to be learnt
is that a divine seed is "not of blood." Eve thought that she had obtained the
promised "seed," who would bruise the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), when Cain
was born, for she said, "I have acquired a man with Jehovah," but she had to
learn that sinful parents could only beget sinful children, and that on the line
of nature there was nothing for God. It would appear that Eve had learned this
lesson, for when her second son was born, she called him Abel, meaning vanity.
We have to learn that as born into this world, everything under the sun is
marked by vanity. In connection with Ishmael and Isaac, we are taught that the
divine seed is not "of the will of the flesh." What was of the flesh must needs
be cast out as being unacceptable to God; the divine seed is secured on the line
of promise, and on the principle of faith. In relation to Esau and Jacob we
learn that the seed is not "of the will of man." Rebecca learned that divine
sovereignty must have its way, that the will of man can have no place.
Unquestionably, the will of man would prefer Esau to Jacob; from the natural
view-point Esau would be, indeed has been, considered the better and the nobler
of the two; but when God is working, the will and thoughts of man must give
place to His unerring sovereignty. Divine sovereignty excludes all that
originates with man, and man hates this, and challenges it. Well did the Apostle
say, "O man, who art thou that repliest against God?" (Romans 9:20). God had
told Rebecca that the elder would serve the younger, and we find from her
subsequent history that her affections were guided and controlled by God’s
sovereign choice.

God is not influenced by the natural character and qualities of man. This is
also seen in 1 Corinthians 1:1-31, where we read, "For consider your calling,
brethren, that there are not many wise after the flesh, not many powerful, not
many high-born. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that He may
put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world, that He
may put to shame the strong things; and the ignoble things of the world, and the
despised, has God chosen, and things that are not, that He may annul the things
that are; so that no flesh should boast before God" (vv. 26-29). Do you think
that Christians are the kind of people that men would have chosen to be
ennobled, elevated, and placed in the most exalted position? Hannah has spoken
of this in her prayer, where she said, "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust;
from the dung-hill He lifteth up the needy, to set him among nobles; and He
maketh them inherit a throne of glory" (1 Samuel 2:8). The man with the Esau
qualities and characteristics takes precedence in the world; and there may be
many qualities that we can admire; but God is not influenced by these things;
for what "is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke
16:15).

How restful to our spirits when we are brought to see the unassailable workings
of the sovereignty of God, which has been spoken of by another as that "which
purposes and acts just because God purposes and wills to act and to appoint, and
for no other reason whatever." In the light of God’s sovereignty, how shallow
and futile do all the busy movements of men appear, as they strive with "might
and main" to reach the paradise which they have forever forfeited.

It is very beautiful to see the effect produced in the Apostle Paul as he
contemplates the amazing and wide-spread operations of divine sovereignty; how
rich the outpouring of his heart to this God Who is rich in mercy:

O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable His
judgments, and untraceable His ways! . . . For of Him, and through Him, and for
Him are all things; to Him be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:33-36).

A. Shepherd.


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  CHAPTER 9: S.   SIMPLE REFLECTIONS ON PAUL'S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS.
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Simple Reflections on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians.

Galatians 1:1-24.

It is at once interesting and instructive to remark that secular historians, in
their racial analysis of the various nations, have described the Galatians as a
quick, warm, impulsive, and exceedingly changeable race; and the character
ascribed to them by the beloved apostle, in the body of his letter, seems to
bear out the truth of this description. The pliable disposition of these saints
offered the enemies of the glad tidings of God and of Christianity extremely
fertile soil, in which would flourish the seeds of those wicked heresies of evil
men, which, in their essence, were destructive of the heavenly character of
Christianity, and subversive of the grand, sublime truths of the glad tidings.
How necessary it is to exercise constant and unrelaxing vigilance, lest the
enemy within — that which is of nature and of the flesh — at the instigation of
the arch-enemy, opens wide the gates so that he can take possession of the
stronghold. Only as we take our stand behind the mighty bulwarks of divine
truth, those towering ramparts of divine revelation, can we hope to withstand
the onslaughts of ever relentless foes and put them to flight by the sword of
the Spirit.

One of the keystones of Christianity is "The righteousness of God," which is
developed doctrinally in Paul’s letter to the saints at Rome. Through the
persistent efforts of false, Judaizing teachers, the warm-hearted, but fickle
saints of the region of Galatia were in grave danger of departing from the glad
tidings of God’s grace, and were in great measure alienated from the great
apostle. The recovery to them of the truth developed in Romans is the great
point in the Epistle to the Galatians; both epistles treating of the same
precious subject — the way of a sinner’s justification before God. But there is
a marked difference between the two epistles: in Romans, the apostle brings out
what the gospel really is, "The power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; . . . for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith "; but in the letter to the Galatians he has to do with those who had
received the grace of God, and were attempting to add to it the works of the
law, thereby nullifying the wonderful gospel made known to them by the apostle.

Here was a deliberate and systematic attempt on the part of the enemy to bring
about an admixture of Christianity and Judaism to the detriment of the former,
so as to obscure its heavenly character, and pervert the precious truths of the
gospel. With so much at stake, should we be surprised at the severity of tone
adopted by the apostle in his scathing denunciation of those who sought to
overthrow the true character of Christianity? So keen was the discernment of
this devoted servant of the Lord, so sensitive to anything that would besmirch
the true greatness and glory of Christ, that he detected in those Judaizing
philosophers the pernicious and reprobate machinations of the enemy himself. It
cannot be too strongly emphasized that the divine authority of the apostle was
ever linked with the heavenly character of Christianity. The enemy attempted to
set aside the peculiar administration and authority of Paul, and to mix Judaism
with Christianity, so as to neutralize Christianity’s heavenly character. These
two systems can never coalesce, save to the ruin of souls; and although both
agree in setting before men a very high standard of conduct, they are otherwise
diametrically opposed. Judaism is the religion of man in the flesh, which
supposes him capable of keeping the law; a supposition that received its
death-blow in the cross. The beloved apostle shows that the glad tidings he
preached to them were unique in source and power. With great joy and
thankfulness the Galatian saints had received these glad tidings which they now
seemed to be surrendering, little realising what they were doing. In adding the
law to the gospel they were surrendering the truth of the gospel. A sense of
urgency and deep emotion can be detected throughout the whole epistle; the
apostle writing with his characteristic earnestness, but with a sharpness that
was not usual. No one is saluted in the letter, and he starts immediately with
his theme, wishing them indeed, grace and peace from God the Father, and from
our Lord Jesus Christ. He stands, as he says, in doubt of them; having to
travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in them. Their doctrinal
wandering he treats more seriously than the moral evil of Corinth, which men
naturally think of a far worse character. Another has said. "Without the gospel
morality cannot maintain itself, and in the doctrine of Christ is the root of
all morality."

Paul begins by declaring the unique ministry committed to him; insisting upon
the special character of his apostleship; affirming in solemn and unequivocal
terms his entire independence of man in it, declaring that his commission was
received not from men, nor through men, but "Through Jesus Christ, and God the
Father." Unlike the twelve, he received his commission from the risen Christ
direct from heaven, after Jesus had finished His work; a commission to which he
refers in Acts 20:1-38 "That I might finish my course with joy, and the
ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus." He saw the Lord in glory,
and it was the glorified Christ who sent him. Note too how the apostle valued
the fellowship of the brethren in the gospel, associating them with him, as
having their sympathy and concurrence in what he states here; and as showing
that the Galatians were in danger of departing from the faith held by all the
brethren with Paul.

Now we come to the core of the matter, "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He
might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and
our Father." What has law to do with those for whom Jesus gave Himself to
deliver them out of this present evil age? This "age" is marked by implacable
opposition to God, and is led by Satan, the god of this age. For believers to
have recourse to law is to go back into the world, out of which to deliver them,
Christ gave Himself. This is of immense practical importance, for it is the
Father’s will for us.

How deep and real the emotion of this devoted servant of the Lord, as out of a
full heart he expresses his wonderment that they were so quickly changing from
Him, who had called them in Christ’s grace, unto a different gospel, "which is
not another." How arduous were the labours of the apostle, how sore his trials,
how intense and perilous his combats in seeking to maintain, and preserve in its
purity, the truth of the gospel. By the Holy Spirit he saw the truth of God
imperilled, where others could see no harm; peril, not from without, but rising
up in the very bosom of the assembly. (Acts 15:1-41 may well be called the
Christian’s Magna Carta). And now from this custodian of divine truth comes
these solemn words, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed;"
and to show that this was no ill-considered outburst, spoken rashly, he
reiterates these solemn words. Beloved brethren, have we this appreciation of
the gospel? What is our assessment of its inherent greatness as being the truth
of God? Such faithfulness will not call forth the plaudits of men; but may we be
preserved from the desire to conciliate men in these things. "For if I yet
pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." The apostle then goes on to
show how he had learned the gospel: he neither received it from men, nor was he
taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. This revelation had transformed
him from a persecutor and injurious person into an ardent, faithful,
uncompromising witness for Christ. He now speaks of the circumstances of his
wonderful con-version, of the good pleasure of God who set him apart, even from
his mother’s womb, and called him by His grace. He knew all about this Judaism
the Galatians were embracing, for did he not say that as touching the law he was
a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is
in the law, he was found blameless? But God had something far better for him: He
revealed His Son in him; not merely to Him, but in him. The call of God was
accompanied by an inward revelation of the Son of God to his soul; and from
henceforth this was the abiding power and reality that enabled him to count all
things loss for Christ.

How touching is the close of this first chapter; "He which persecuted us in
times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed; and they glorified
God in me" What an amazing transformation the sight of Jesus in the glory of God
had wrought! In misguided zeal he once thought he ought to do many things
contrary to the Name of Jesus; but now he can say, "For me to live is Christ!
Little wonder that the dear saints, in that day, glorified God in him.

Galatians 2:1-21. The Spirit’s elaborate vindication of Paul’s apostolate is
truly remarkable, as is also its distinctness from that of the twelve, who, as
Paul says "were apostles before me." Here we also have the Spirit’s refutation
of the specious fallacy of apostolic succession, so dear to the human heart. The
one who held with unwavering’ tenacity to the traditions of men, whose fanatical
zeal for Judaism was unmatched among his contemporaries, was lifted completely
out of that environment, set free from the restrictive and binding influences of
legalism, so that he might proclaim the divine and heavenly character of
Christianity. With such a commission entrusted to him from the Lord Himself how
entirely irrelevant to confer with flesh and blood concerning these heavenly
communications.

Having therefore received this revelation he went off into Arabia, into the
desert, to return from the same school as Moses, who was raised up of God to
lead His people out of the land of bondage. How significant that Paul too was
raised up of God to lead His people out of a bondage greater far than Egypt’s,
into the glorious liberty of the sons of God — wherewith Christ makes us free.

After fourteen years had elapsed, Paul goes up to Jerusalem accompanied by
Barnabas and Titus, the occasion of this visit coinciding with the raising at
Antioch of questions which affected the character of the Gospel preached among
the Gentiles; the history of this we have in Acts 15:1-41. Paul and Barnabas, as
we find there, went with the full concurrence of the brethren at Antioch to have
this momentous issue, which was causing considerable distress and agitation
among the assemblies, settled and put beyond dispute. "It seemed good to us . .
. to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have
given up their lives for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." But let it again be
remarked that, in going up to Jerusalem, he did not do so as yielding to the
solicitation of others, but by express revelation from God. The time was now
opportune for such a visit to Jerusalem. Had Paul gone at the time of his
conversion it might have been argued that he went to receive authority from
those who were apostles before him. Because he went under direct divine
sanction, Paul had divinely given confidence at Jerusalem. The time had in fact
arrived when, if there was not to be an open breach, there must be the
manifestation of unity among the recognised leaders at Jerusalem, the very
stronghold of Judaism, and those who preached the Gospel given by the Lord to
Paul. And so this devoted, courageous herald of Christianity placed before them
the Gospel that he preached, first of all "privately to those who were of
reputation," lest the outbreak of legalism, which was carrying the multitude,
should work disaster among those who had been gathered out from among the
Gentiles. This was no superficial matter; the opposition was strong, determined
and formidable; there must be no yielding to the enemy, who was behind it all,
in the slightest degree. Titus was with him, a Greek in fullest Christian
fellowship and without being circumcised. This was not a chance circumstance; he
was there under divine guidance to furnish convincing proof that nothing must be
added to faith in Christ Jesus in order to salvation. The apostle resisted the
circumcision of Titus, yet allowed the circumcision of Timothy (Acts 16:1-3).
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any force, nor uncircumcision; but
the moment an attempt is made to enforce it, unyielding resistance must be made,
lest the liberty of the Gospel be infringed or conscience towards God be
wounded. For the sake of avoiding needless offence to the Jews Paul circumcised
Timothy, but to preserve the liberty of the Gospel he sternly resisted the
efforts of false brethren to have Titus circumcised. The apostle makes special
mention of false brethren who had been brought in unawares, and who were seeking
to bring into bondage Christ’s free men. Christianity, in fact, at Jerusalem,
was so little more than a Jewish sect, that one can readily understand how open
would be the door for men of such a class to flock into; but the apostle
withstands them, not giving place, as he says, "for an hour." It might seem a
small matter to others, that for which be was contending, but with him it
involved the whole truth of the Gospel. How gratifying to see the measure of
agreement reached between those dear servants of the Lord, men who rejoiced that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. The right hand of
fellowship is given to Paul and Barnabas by James, Peter and John, when they
perceived the grace given to Paul. How regrettable to find Paul having to
withstand Peter, because he was to be condemned. The element of Judaism was
deeply ingrained in Peter and the others who had been eating with the Gentiles
in unrestricted Christian liberty until certain came from James, when they
withdrew in fear of those who opposed the truth of Christianity. The power of
God to resist this opposition was with Paul, and Paul alone. And so he reasons
with them in strong contrastive language concerning Christianity and Judaism,
demonstrating, as another has said that, "the passing, transient glory of
Judaism is but as tinsel compared with the supine and perennial glory of
Christianity." They had professed to give up the one for the other. They had
believed in Christ to be justified by faith: it was the faith of Christ that
justified them, not the deeds of the law: "because on the principle of works of
law no flesh shall be justified." How solemn the language of the apostle here:
"Now if in seeking to be justified in Christ we also have been found sinners,
then is Christ minister of sin." We shudder at the thought dear brethren; yet
what are we doing if we build again the very things we have thrown down? we are
constituting ourselves transgressors! The apostle now turns from "we" to "I" as
he does in Romans 7:1-25. In the death of that blessed One, who had died under
the solemn curse of a broken law, he had died; and in that death he had died to
law, to the intent that he might live unto God. "I am crucified with Christ;"
Saul, the Pharisee, with all his religious accomplishments as well as with all
his sins, has come to an end judicially in the cross of Christ, and a new man is
risen up in his stead. "Not, I, but Christ liveth in me;" a life communicated
from the risen Jesus, a life that death cannot touch. As this life has its
source in heaven, its tendencies are to things in heaven. It is spiritual life
in contrast to natural life, and so the apostle adds, "The life which I now live
in the flesh;" it is lived in the flesh now, in a poor, groaning, earthly
tabernacle; but it will not always be so; we await our house from heaven, a body
perfectly suited to its heavenly environment. "I live by the faith of the Son of
God." Soon we shall be manifested with Christ in glory, but meantime, before we
see Him as He is, we live by the faith of the Son of God. He is "the object
bright and fair, to fill and satisfy the heart." With what feelings of
unspeakable joy and delight do we utter these precious words "Who loved me, and
gave Himself for me." By so reasoning the beloved apostle did not set aside or
disregard the grace of God, "for if righteousness is by law, then Christ has
died for nothing;" but praise God this is not so; for it is only by that one act
of accomplished righteousness we have been set in a "state of accomplished
subsisting righteousness before God (J.N.D.). Christ is indeed the end (or
object) of the law for righteousness to every one that believes.

Galatians 3:1-29. The controversial character of the apostle’s letter has no
doubt been noted by the careful reader. It manifests a conflict from which there
is no discharge, where the divine ground must be held in the face of formidable
and determined opposition. Galatians is in character a controversy! It is a
buttress to the grand foundation truths presented in Romans, yet carries further
the truth of Christian position. In Romans we are dead to sin and dead to the
law; in Galatians we have one crucified to the world and in the light of new
creation. New creation is not unfolded in Romans, though doubtless implied in
the later chapters; but in Galatians this great truth is stated in that most
expressive and comprehensive utterance, "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but new creation." Earlier we had a
history of the apostle’s own ministry, in which he reiterates that he received
his ministry from the Lord directly, owing nothing to those who were apostles
before him; nor will he allow anything inconsistent with it, not even in Peter,
so that the doctrine which was now to be unfolded should be established on a
sure and infallible foundation. In this chapter we come to the doctrinal part of
the epistle. From verses 1-13 the inspired writer contrasts law and faith as
entirely opposite principles, and demonstrates in a masterly and convincing
manner the utter impossibility of obtaining blessing on the principle of works
of law: on that principle there is nothing but a curse. From verse 14 to the end
of the chapter the contrast is between law and promise; "showing their entire
distinctness, not only in date and circumstances, but also in principle,
character and purpose." This is a portion of special interest and instruction as
showing the peculiar fascination of the law for true believers. It was as though
the law had set its eyes on them, like the snake on its victims, so that they
were powerless to get away from it. One form of the corruption of the Glad
Tidings of the grace of God is the reducing it to a system of ordinances. This
tendency displayed itself very prominently in the Galatian assemblies, and the
correction of this forms the subject of this part of the epistle. So grave was
the departure that the apostle is moved to exclaim with feelings of deep
emotion, "O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you?" How great was their
folly in turning to the law for righteousness after having known the grace of
the gospel. It seemed as if a bewitching power was drawing them away from divine
grace. in which the doctrine of the Cross of Christ had been conspicuously
presented to them; desiring to add their own supposed righteousness to the
justification procured on the principle of faith; or having recourse to a system
of ordinances to make up for their defect in righteousness. In both cases it is
the fascination of law preventing them from looking to the Lord Jesus Christ in
whom alone righteousness can be found. Observe how strong is the expression.
"before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among
you." The publicity and prominence which the apostle gave to the doctrine of the
cross was that of a proclamation set forth by authority in the most frequented
part of the city. The doctrine of the cross strikes at the deeply imbedded roots
of all man’s pretensions to wisdom, righteousness and strength: and it is this
that still makes this doctrine offensive to them: but how acceptable it is to
those who know that through the cross, God was "making an end of sin, and
bringing in everlasting righteousness."

Then the apostle asks, Did you receive the Spirit by keeping the law or by
believing the testimony of the finished work of Christ? The Spirit is God’s seal
on those who believe the gospel, who have come under the efficacy of Jesus’
blood; a work to which the flesh can add nothing. God had given them His Spirit
that all might be wrought in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Moreover they had
been sufferers: was it because of their attempts to keep the law, or because of
their confession of Christ? How easy the answer to such questions.

Paul now turns their attention to Abraham, the pattern man of faith, "the father
of them that believe;" whose history is given in great detail in the Scriptures
as God’s portrait of a believer. The features of faith in the believer now are
the same as were manifest in Abraham for "They which are of faith, the same are
the children of Abraham;" and they therefore share the divine blessing, "So then
they which be of faith are blessed with faithful (or believing) Abraham." The
beloved apostle in the pursuance of his emancipating doctrine pens one of the
most solemn passages in the word of God, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us." The curse of the law rests on every one
under it, for none have kept it, even as we read, "Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do
them." God’s righteous requirements of man are set forth in the law; and
whosoever contravened one point was guilty of all, and came under the law’s
penal sanction. Law knows nothing of mercy, and must take its course. With what
reverential feelings does the heart contemplate this fact of immense import,
that Christ magnified the law and made it honourable; and nowhere was this so
richly exemplified as when on the cross He died under the solemn curse of a
broken law. "Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a
curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is every one hanged upon a tree.") This
has opened the way for the outflow of God’s rich grace to sinners of the
Gentiles: He is not now demanding righteousness from men, but setting forth
Christ in the gospel, "a propitiatory through faith in His blood."

If a man makes a will, bequeathing certain things absolutely, no one would allow
an executor to alter this in the slightest degree or impose conditions of any
kind. God’s covenant with Abraham was one of unconditional promise, which God
Himself undertook to carry out. "For if the inheritance be on the principle of
law, it is no longer on the principle of promise, but God gave it in grace to
Abraham by promise." The question very naturally rises, "Why then the law?" It
was added for the sake of transgressions; that is to make manifest to man the
character of sin, which God knew to be in man; and to demonstrate that if man
had not a faithful Promiser, One who had the ability to fulfil all He had
promised, he could not attain to blessing. The law was added till the seed
should come to whom the promise was made. In this way the law, instead of
invalidating or superseding, only served to confirm the way of promise made
known to Abraham, as the only means of obtaining blessing for man. The law was
ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator: there were two parties to the law,
hence the mediator, Moses standing between God and the people. "Now a mediator
is not of one, but God is one," for now there are not two parties; it is not a
people undertaking to answer the requirements of God, but God making known His
grace in the death and resurrection of His Son. Yes, indeed, God is one, and
there can be no failure. Is the law then against the promises of God? By no
means! Righteousness and life are inseparably linked together both in the law
and in the gospel. The law said, "This do and thou shalt live;" but it could not
give righteousness nor life. Such was the condition of man that the holy, just
and good law could only bring condemnation and death to him. It was neither a
minister of righteousness nor a minister of life to the sinner. The fault was
not in the law, but in man.

Now the apostle changes the figure: he had been referring to the law as a
jailor, holding men in bondage and captivity: now he refers to it as a
schoolmaster or confidential servant of the house, who kept his watchful eye on
the young members of the household. Under him they had no more liberty than the
servants, and it was so until they reached manhood’s estate. This place the law
had until Christ came. What a change when the Holy Spirit came on the day of
Pentecost, the witness of a glorified Christ and of the acceptance of the blood
of His cross; bringing the saints into the liberty of sons. They were now grown
up: they had reached maturity and man’s estate, and could enter into the
enjoyment of their rich inheritance.

Now the believer in Christ is regarded by God as having died with Christ, as
having been buried with Christ, as raised up with Christ, and to have put on
Christ. Surely if we have put on Christ we neither need works or service to
commend us to God. We stand before Him arrayed in all the beauty of Christ,
Christ our righteousness before the face of God. All the differences and
distinctions that existed in the human family are lost in Christ Jesus;
difference of nation, Jew and Gentile; difference of social condition, bond and
free difference of sex, male and female; "all one in Christ Jesus." How
comforting for sinners of the Gentiles, like ourselves, to know that through
believing in Christ, the true seed, it is said of us "If ye be Christ’s, then
are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Galatians 4:1-31.

Continuing our brief study of this epistle we come to the chapter in which is
contrasted the legal condition of the saints under the dispensation of law with
that of the saints brought into the sweet liberty of grace, where Christ the Son
makes us free indeed. How this blessed truth of adoption stands out in strong
relief against the dark background of the law with all its legalizing
propensities. The law brought distance; but here is nearness of a most intimate
and endearing character. Under law there was a yoke of bondage, of which Peter
could say, "which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear;" a bondage
characterising the children of law, the seed according to the flesh. How great
the contrast with the portion of those who are children of the free woman.

Having mentioned heirs "according to promise," the apostle proceeds to contrast
that condition with that of the heirs under law. The heir under law is like a
child under guardians; though in title he possesses all the estate, he cannot
act even on his own property without the permission of the guardians. How
elucidating the conclusions of Paul in giving this to illustrate the condition
of the heirs under law. The elements of the world — their much vaunted ritual
and ordinances — all that was so gratifying to the flesh, kept the Old Testament
heirs in a state of pupilage and bondage until God’s due time came for sending
forth His Son, the promised seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). To Him the eye of
faith had ever been directed, from the moment of the fall; but He came under law
"to redeem them that were under the law."

"The fulness of the time" is a remarkable expression. All God’s dealings with
man, prior to this wonderful event, were of a probationary character; which
served to show how incurably evil man was, and how great his need for divine
intervention with a redemption in which he could stand before God. Redemption
was ever in God’s mind for man’s blessing: and here we are brought to that
auspicious moment when God sent forth His Son. How the heart lingers over these
precious words, charmed by the kindness and pity of our Saviour God (Titus 3:4).
As come under the law He magnified it by His unswerving and implicit obedience:
yea, He magnified the law in a more profound degree by bearing its solemn curse,
and thus redeeming from under it the heirs, that they might come into the place,
proper to them as sons, which they could not do so long as they were under the
law. The apostle then contrasts the state of the Gentile believer, standing in
the full liberty of the Glad Tidings, with that of the saint of old under the
law; pointing out the folly of the Gentile putting himself under law, from which
the godly Jew required to be redeemed by the work of Christ on the cross. They
were sons, not servants — heirs who had attained maturity, and who had liberty
of access unto the Father with all confidence. How striking Paul’s argument: how
clear his distinctions: "that we might receive the adoption of sons" (5: 5), and
"because ye are sons" (5: 6). The Spirit of adoption or sonship was not the
portion of the saints of old; it is the blessed fruit of accomplished
redemption, for which even the disciples of the Lord had to wait till after His
ascension (Acts 1:4-8). How sad to reflect that, because of a low state of soul,
we may not realise the blessedness and power of having the Spirit of sonship
that enables us to cry "Abba, Father." The Father’s Name Thou hast declared, The
Father’s love with Thee is shared.

How the vigilant eye of the beloved apostle discerned the elements of
retrogression in the conduct of the Galatian saints. Things which others might
have passed as harmless and of no moment, the faithful servant of the Lord
detects as deflection from the truth that would bring devastating results. With
loving appeal he writes to them, "But now after that ye have known God, or
rather are known of God." What an appeal! to turn from their knowledge of God to
His knowledge of them. At best our knowledge of God is very imperfect, but He
has taken us up in the perfect knowledge of all that we were and all that we
would be, and has justified us freely by His grace, through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. How sad to see those who have been so richly blessed and
favoured of God turning again to the weak and beggarly elements of the world.
These things of Judaism were all right in their time and place as shadows of the
good things to come, but how weak and beggarly in the presence of the blessed
Son of God, in whom the shadows found their substance. Alas, men still think
that God is to be served by men’s hands as though He needed something. They know
Him not in His blessed character as Giver, and so do not come to Him to receive.
How distressing to see those who once enjoyed the truth of the Gospel bowed down
under a system of ordinances, observing days and months and years; thus
obscuring for themselves the one great object that God would bring before them,
even His own blessed Son, in the glory of His humiliation and in the greatness
of His exaltation.

Again, as at the beginning, the apostle argues from his own case, "I am as ye
are:" I take no ground of superiority over you because I was an Israelite, "as
touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." No, I come down from
my legal standing, and take the same ground as a poor sinner of the Gentiles.
Peter, too, takes the same ground: "We (Jews) believe that through the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they (the Gentiles)." There is
no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It is not
for the Gentile however to take Jewish ground, but for the Jew to take Christian
ground where there is "no difference." The physical infirmity of the beloved
apostle had not deterred their reception of the Glad Tidings: yea, it had only
served to evoke their deep affection for him, to the extent that, if it had been
possible, they would have plucked out their own eyes to give to him. They had
received him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. But now the cold,
chilling, blighting wind of legality had blasted the tender shoots of grace, and
the apostle stands in doubt of them. The only antidote to legality is to have
Christ formed in us. This is the work of the Spirit of truth who, disengaging
the mind from the law, engages us with Christ who is the end (or object) of the
law for righteousness, to every one that believeth.

Paul then shows how that the principle of the law disturbed the family of
Abraham, and how that there was no rest until the legal element was cast out.
The failure of the believer comes through lack of simple reliance on God.
Abraham and Sarah became impatient and thought to get by their own wisdom and
strength the blessing that God had promised. Hagar is given to Abraham by Sarah
in the attempt to procure the divine blessing by fleshly means, which
immediately results in Sarah being despised by Hagar. The Pharisees, monumental
in their legality and so proud of their righteousness, despised Him by whom came
grace and truth. The inspired writer proceeds to demonstrate in allegorical
language the unbridgeable gulf between these two principles, law and grace — the
two covenants; the one from Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, Hagar: the other,
Jerusalem above, our Mother, which is free. We are come to Mount Zion, and to
the heavenly Jerusalem; and as there we have the garment of praise for the
spirit of heaviness.

Contemplating all the blessedness of what is connected with the true Isaac, the
apostle breaks forth in praise, using the words of the prophet of salvation,
Isaiah, "Rejoice, thou barren (Sarah, not Hagar) that barest not; break forth
and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than
she which hath an husband." How blessedly does this follow immediately on the
details of Christ’s suffering for us, in the previous chapter of the prophet.
Laughter, joy is connected with Isaac the son of Sarah, not with the son of
Hagar. "Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise:" born of the
Spirit, children of God, born of incorruptible seed, of the word of God, by the
word of truth. The bondwoman and her son must go, for Isaac and Ishmael cannot
go on peaceably together. In the day that Isaac was weaned, Ishmael mocks; he
regards Isaac as insignificant and despicable; no doubt mocking too at the old
age of Sarah as compared with the vigour and comeliness of Hagar. There is
nothing man more instinctively dislikes than grace. The oft-repeated story of
religious persecution is but the story of Isaac and Ishmael here pointed out by
the apostle; and this mocking of Isaac is characteristic of the day in which we
live. But let us rejoice in this that we are not children of the bondwoman, but
of the free; privileged to stand in the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free.
Free from the entangling yoke of bondage we can rejoice in the Lord always: like
Paul. "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." "Rejoice in the Lord O ye righteous;
for praise is comely for the upright."

Galatians 5:1-26. The recovery of the truth taught in the Epistle to the Romans
is the great point in this letter to the Galatians. Here we have the religion of
man and the religion of the Spirit contrasted — the bondage of souls under the
law with the liberty of saints under Christ and grace. The hopelessness of
attaining righteousness or blessing under law is amply demonstrated. In this
chapter the flesh and the Spirit are strongly contrasted, as are also the moral
fruits produced by those under the sway of these respective principles. The
first verse of this chapter marks the close of the exhortation begun in the
previous chapter. It is into the liberty of sons that Christ has brought us, and
although we wait for the full blessedness belonging to sonship when we shall be
manifested with Christ the Son in glory, yet even now it is in wondrous liberty
we have access with confidence into the presence of God the Father. Instead of
having a yoke of bondage imposed on us by those who would tempt God (Acts
15:1-41), we have the Spirit of sonship, whereby we cry Abba, Father. What
marvellous liberty is this wherewith Christ has made us free: it is the liberty
of the truth (John 8:32). What liberty to be delivered from the vain attempt to
find some ground of confidence in ourselves towards God: what liberty to see in
Christ, our righteousness before God — "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30). How trenchant the call
therefore, Stand fast in the liberty of Christ — freedom from all condemnation,
freedom of nearness to God, freedom of holiness, freedom of service. Bring in
law and all this freedom is gone, and in its place a heavy yoke is placed upon
us. The stern language of the apostle is very arresting: any dependence on legal
righteousness, moral or ceremonial, renders Christ profitless unto us. It is
extremely misleading to say, "I know that I can do nothing by myself," for this
only puts Christ in the place of a helper, and the thousands who are relying on
Christ as a helper for righteousness will never find the salvation of God. The
ten lepers were alike helped by Christ, but only one had faith to throw himself
at Jesus’ feet; and he alone received the words, "Thy faith hath made thee
whole." The nine were content to remain as Jews in Judaism, and knew not the
blessedness of giving glory to God at the feet of Jesus. Many thousands bear the
name of Christ, but what profit is He to them? If you are looking only partly to
Christ and partly to yourself "Christ shall profit you nothing." Christ was
everything to Paul: once he had profited in the Jews’ religion above many," but
he had given up every natural and acquired advantage for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, and could well instruct others regarding the
profit to be found in Christ.

Well might Paul reiterate the testimony, "He that is circumcised is debtor to do
the whole law." The holy majesty of the law, the rich grace of the Gospel, and
the glory of Christ, alike forbid the vain and senseless attempt to make our own
partial obedience, together with Christ, the ground of our salvation. To do so
is to virtually disown the work of Christ as Gods means of justifying the
sinner, and to think lightly of the sacrifice of the Christ of God. Those who
think themselves justified by their own efforts in any way are fallen from
grace. It is a very solemn and grievous thing for a Christian to fall into sin,
but for such an one there is the rich and effectual provision of God; "If any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He
is the propitiation for our sins." But to fall from grace is to reassert
confidence in the flesh, and to displace Christ, with all the injurious
consequences, not the least of which is the abandoning of the truth of the
Gospel as to present justification before God by faith in Christ. There is also
the surrendering of the true Christian hope, by making the attainment of
righteousness the hope, instead of making present righteousness, through faith,
the sure warrant for expecting glory. "We," says the apostle in the name of all
believers, "wait" (not for righteousness, but for) "the hope of righteousness by
faith" — the hope to which righteousness is entitled. If we tamper with the
truth of present acceptance in the Beloved we undermine the blessed hope for
which, through the Spirit, we are entitled to wait, even glory. With unfailing
and unwavering insistence it has been stated that all distinctions in the flesh
are of no account where there is faith in Christ. Circumcision, the badge in the
flesh of God’s earthly people, availeth no more than uncircumcision. Faith alone
is needed, a faith that is wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God, and that
works by love. The law could give neither life nor righteousness; it might
command love to God and man, but it had no power to produce what it enacted; but
faith worketh by love to God and to man.

Now the apostle speaks of his confidence in them through the Lord, knowing that
the truth set forth would find a response in the hearts of those who had been
quickened by the grace of God, even if for the moment that truth had been
overlaid by legalism. How much in these days of great leavening do we need to be
reminded earnestly and constantly "to continue in the grace of God" (Acts
13:43). But the inspired writer is unsparing in his condemnation of those who
were troubling the saints of God. The apostles, in their united testimony, in
their one memorable council recorded in the Acts, declared, "Forasmuch as we
have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words,
subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law." So
here, the apostle speaks of the legal teacher as "he that troubleth you."

Paul then goes on to show how liberty according to the Spirit would express
itself. Liberty according to man is every man doing that which is right in his
own eyes, the free expression of his own will, every restraint removed that
would fetter his unbridled self-will, a liberty that results in lawlessness. But
we are called to quite another kind of liberty, not for the activity of the
flesh, but in which we can serve one another according to the will of God. "His
service perfect freedom is." The Gospel brings a law of love — love with its
constraining power, not the restraining power of a law which gendereth to
bondage.

How important it is to have God’s thoughts with respect to the Spirit as
contrasted with the flesh. The judgment of God has been passed on the flesh in
the cross of Christ, where God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him." In consequence of this, life
in the Spirit flows forth from the risen and glorified Jesus. The new man is a
new order of man, coming forth after death and judgment have passed on the old
man. It is therefore according to the new order of man that we should walk. The
Spirit makes us alive to new thoughts, desires, affections and interests; "If
therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above,
where the Christ is sitting at the right hand of God." Our thoughts are to be on
Christ in heaven, and down here we are to walk in the Spirit. Beloved J.N.D.
says that "walk" refers to the general manner of life: the Spirit is to be the
characteristic of the life and walk, the instrument and power of every activity.

Verses 17 and 18 bring before us a great truth, namely that the Spirit and the
flesh are contrary one to the other. There is hardly a Christian who has not
attempted in practice to contradict this assertion; but the flesh, even in the
believer, is unchangeably the same. The flesh is enmity against God, is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. It is the presence of the
Spirit in us which enables us to know the evil of the flesh. The Spirit and the
flesh are ever opposed to each other. Here we impinge very decidedly on the
doctrine of the 7th of Romans: — "For I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
good does not dwell, for to will is there with me. . . I find then the law upon
me who wills to practise what is right, that with me evil is there." There is
that which is born of the flesh and that which is born of the Spirit. But true
Christians have come under the leadership of the Spirit, and as such are not
under the law. The verses which follow (Galatians 5:19-21) give us a very dark
catalogue of the works of the flesh, which are manifest. There are other
workings of the flesh which are not open and palpable, which can only be
discerned by those who are spiritual. There is the mind of the flesh (Colossians
2:18); and the flesh in its religious aspect, in which Paul could have no
confidence (Php 3:3-4). But even in the manifest works of the flesh, while some
are morally offensive to us, others are not so; but they are all offensive to
God "for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of
God" (Luke 16:15). In this epistle, whilst the beloved apostle presents us with
a rich exposition of the grace of God, he deals unsparingly with the flesh, its
lusts, its affections, and its works. How happy the contrast to the works of the
flesh is the fruit of the Spirit. This precious fruit is produced by the Spirit
as we abide in Christ. "In Me is thy fruit found;" and again, The branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye
abide in Me. . . . He that abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit" (John
15:4-5). Compared with the dark catalogue of the works of the flesh, the fruit
of the Spirit is a cluster of beautiful variety, fragrant with the perfections
of Christ. Let us repeat the words of the apostle, "Against such there is no
law! How searching is the closing exhortation! "If we live by the Spirit, let us
walk also by the Spirit. Let us not become vain-glorious, provoking one another,
envying one another." If we were ever walking in the Spirit, we should be
"unknown, yet well-known;" passing as pilgrims and strangers through the world,
without joining in its restless interests. The words of the Lord would then
assume a deeper significance for us, "They are not of the world, even as I am
not of the world."

Galatians 6:1-18.

We now come to the closing chapter of this wonderful epistle of emancipation.
The heavenly character of Christianity has been convincingly demonstrated: the
perverters of the Glad Tidings of the glory of the blessed God, the devotees of
Judaism with all its ritualistic and legalising influences, stand dishonoured
and confounded in the presence of a light that shines from heaven itself. At
this juncture it would no doubt be helpful to go back a little over the ground
we have covered. To sum up Galatians 5:1-26, the Spirit is shown to be the power
for sanctification. It is by the Spirit that holiness is produced. The apostle
does not allow the law, either as a means of righteousness or sanctification. As
justification is by faith in the blood of Jesus, so also sanctification, or
holiness, is from the new nature in the energy of the Spirit of God. In all
this, the apostle will not, under any pretext whatever, allow the law any
standing. The law is not allowed any part in the Christian economy; it is an
element of the world, and as such has gone in the cross of Christ. That wondrous
cross has swept away all that belongs to this world; every vestige has gone for
God and for faith. The beloved apostle, in his own inimitable way, takes up the
elements one by one, and demonstrates that the Christian is delivered from them
by the death of Christ. We are God’s workmanship; we have received the divine
nature; and it is unthinkable that anything of the old economy can have part in
this.

Viewing ourselves as still in the body, we have the two principles within us,
but the old is not allowed; only the new is recognised. In Galatians 2:20, Paul
says, "I am crucified with Christ;" and in Galatians 5:24, "They that are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." In this latter
portion the truth is applied to every Christian but it is another thing for the
individual Christian to apply it to himself: to know the power of the truth
experimentally in the experience of the soul from day to day. The practical
application of the death of Christ is of immense importance, and it may help us
to consider some Scriptures where it is brought before us. First let us consider
Colossians 3:3. "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Here the
truth is stated positively from God’s standpoint. We have died in regard to the
old order of things, and we have a hidden, divine life with Christ above. How
appropriate then the exhortation, "Seek the things which are above." In Romans
6:11 we have the exhortation, "So also ye, reckon yourselves, dead to sin and
alive to God in Christ Jesus." God accounts us to be dead with Christ; we are
therefore to reckon ourselves dead (see verses 2 and 8). Faith always acts with
God, as we also see in the Scripture, "We thus judge, that if one died for all,
then were all dead; and that He died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose
again." In the power of the new life, by faith in Christ Jesus, we see ourselves
as dead in His death, but as living in His life for His pleasure. If we turn now
to 2 Corinthians 4:10 we shall find how Paul applied this truth to himself.
"Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus may be manifested in our body." Paul was in practice holding himself as
dead to everything here, passing in an experimental way through the sufferings
and afflictions that kept him in truth altogether apart from things here, God
helping him in this, even as he says, "We who live are always delivered unto
death on account of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our
mortal flesh." Who delivered him unto death? God did! In what way? Read verses 8
and 9; "Every way afflicted, but not straitened," and so on. Why was the apostle
allowed to pass through persecution, to be cast down, perplexed and troubled? It
was because he desired to bear about in his body the putting to death of Jesus;
and God says I will help you to do it. It was like the breaking of the pitchers
of Gideon’s three hundred men; it let the light shine out. Beloved saints of
God, let us take account of this in days of adversity and distress. This is the
way God helps us to reckon ourselves dead to all that is around, so that we
might live unto Him. It is evident that the death and the life go together. I
have dwelt at length on this particular line of truth, convinced of the
necessity of knowing these things as power in our lives, so that we can stand
perfect and complete in all the will of God.

We shall now address ourselves briefly to the chapter before us. At the close of
Galatians 5:1-26, the apostle warns the saints of what necessarily results from
the cultivation of the legal spirit, vainglory, provoking one another, and envy.
In the beginning of Galatians 6:1-18 we have another kind of spirit, the spirit
of grace, "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore
such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted." This is what we need to do, not to glory over each other, but to help
each other; ever seeking the profit and advancement of our brethren. In
appealing to those who are spiritual, the apostle does not desire us to be
testing ourselves to discover our degree of spirituality. The spiritual man
lives too near to God to think anything of himself; and the spirit of meekness
is the antithesis of the spirit of fancied spirituality. Those who are spiritual
know that the restoration of the erring one is bound up with the glory of God.
It was said of the Pharisees that they bound upon men’s shoulders, burdens
grievous to be borne; but they would not touch them themselves with one of their
little fingers. This was the spirit that was creeping in among the Galatians;
the direct result of turning to the law as a rule of life.

Since they had a fondness for law, the Galatians are directed to a law of a
different character; "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ." In effect, the apostle says, If you will have law, here is a law for
you; but it is the law of Christ, who was, and is, the great burden bearer: Who
not only bore our sicknesses and carried our sorrows, but also bore the mighty
burden of our sins in His own body on the tree. Now we have what might be called
a Christian paradox. As fulfilling the law of Christ, we are to restore the
fallen and bear the burdens one of another but in connection with work, every
man shall bear his own burden. The apostle was no doubt referring to those who
were seeking to destroy the foundations that he had laid; and for this they
would have to give account to God. The day of appraisal is coming, when every
man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour. It is salutary to
remember that grace never interferes with the exercise of God’s government, nor
modifies its application.

God’s government is brought before us in Galatians 6:7. It requires spiritual
discernment to place grace and government in their true and proper setting.
Grace makes me a child, and government will chasten me with a rod if I am
naughty. The principle, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," is
divine and irrevocable. Our own experience; the experiences of such as Abraham,
Lot, David, and the children of Israel, are all examples that confirm the
inevitable reaping of what has been sown. How encouraging, in this matter of
sowing, are the words which follow, "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in
due season we shall reap, if we faint not." The harvest has not yet come; we
have need of patience; let us then be patient in our sowing to the Spirit,
knowing that from the Spirit we shall reap life everlasting; and all the good
done in the sowing time will reap its full reward. Let us not forget the white
stone with the new name, which no man knoweth but he that receives it. We are
sparse sowers enough, but the word reminds us that "He which soweth sparingly
shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also
bountifully" (2 Corinthians 9:6). Then let us do good unto all men, especially
unto them who are of the household of faith. The saints of God must have a
special place in our affections, which is surely in keeping with the word that
God is the "preserver of all men, specially of those that believe."

One discerns throughout this epistle the intensity of feeling, and the
earnestness of Paul’s desire for the saints to whom he is writing; and the fact
that he writes the epistle with his own hand is the crowning proof of his deep
concern for them. How solemn and affecting are the words, "But far be it from me
to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom the world is
crucified to me, and I to the world." That wondrous cross in all its majestic
greatness stood as an impassible barrier between the apostle and all that
constituted the world out of which he had been delivered by the death of Christ
upon the cross. Christ was entirely outside of this world’s system: He was the
Head of a new creation, where circumcision or uncircumcision availed nothing.
These belonged to the world, not to the new creation. Here was a new rule, a
rule which made a man a pilgrim and a stranger on the earth: the rule of
belonging to that scene where the glory of Christ shall be displayed. For the
things of the new creation he suffered, in faithfulness to Christ, bearing in
his body through sufferings, afflictions and trials, the brands of the Lord
Jesus, his beloved Master.

A. Shepherd.


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  CHAPTER 10: S.   THE EVERLASTING PRIESTHOOD.
========================================================================

The Everlasting Priesthood.

Hebrews 7:1-28.

Across the pages of this wonderful Epistle can be written, as with the finger of
divine truth, "That HE might have the first place in all things." As another has
expressed it: "The transient glory of Judaism is but as tinsel compared with the
surpassing and perennial glory of Christianity;" and this as presented in a
living, glorified Man — Jesus, the Son of God. In His blessed Person every ray
of divine glory is gathered up: every attribute and every glory of God shines in
His face, graciously tempered to our feeble sight so that we can discern and
contemplate them adoringly. Like the facets of some beauteous gem, each having
its own peculiar lustre, but all combining to display the deep beauty of the
whole stone. The contrastive features in this Epistle are indicated with extreme
refinement, as contrasting between what was of divine appointment in an earthly
position, and that which is supremely greater as being heavenly. The disparity
in the degree of contrast is so great as to be immeasureable: Prophets, Moses,
Aaron, Joshua, Levi, Abraham, amongst persons; and the Sanctuary, Veil; Censer,
Mercy-seat, and Sacrifices amongst things, pay homage to Jesus, and then stand
aside that "Jesus only" might occupy and fill our vision. In this 7th chapter of
Hebrews, the heavenly and eternal priesthood of the Son of God is contrasted
with the Levitical priesthood. It is evident that the chapter before us, which
sets forth the order and character of the priesthood of the Son of God, is a
resumption of the subject which was broken off at the 10th verse of chapter 5.
All that comes in between is a parenthesis, in which the writer, on account of
the Hebrews’ indifference and slowness of heart, seeks to awaken their
consciences in solemn measured tones, desiring for them the maturity which would
enable them to receive what he was about to disclose concerning this heavenly
order of priesthood. The chapter opens with a reference to the incident in the
life of Abraham, recorded in Genesis 14:1-24. There we have the first mention of
Melchisedec, priest of the Most High God, and this in connection with Abraham as
here turns victorious from the slaughter of the kings. (Abram the Hebrew, a true
son of Eber, the pilgrim, one who was passing through, lived in direct contrast
to Lot, who had settled down in the world — in Sodom, let it be remarked, of
which God could say, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and . . . their
sin is very grievous." Lot, who had settled down in Sodom was thus exposed to
all the attacks of the enemy, who attacked that wicked place; and when the King
of Elam carried its inhabitants into captivity, Lot was captive too. The only
safeguard against being held captive by the world, beloved, is to maintain
pilgrim isolation from it. Abraham, who had not settled down in the world, was
the instrument in God’s hand for the liberation of Lot: just as the spiritual
amongst God’s people are sometimes enabled to set at liberty those ensnared and
led captive by the world.) When Abram returns from the conflict, it is to enjoy
the ministrations which come so lavishly from the priestly hands of Melchisedec,
partaking of the bread to stay and the wine to cheer the heart of the true
pilgrim. With meaningful intent does the Spirit interpret the names of this
remarkable personage, who is assimilated to the Son of God. Not only are the
names interpreted to give their true meaning, but the order in which they occur
is given with precision. He is first of all "King of Righteousness" — his
individual name, then also "King of Salem" — his official place. There is no
mention of his ancestors or of his successors, and this in a book where men’s
ancestry is traced back to Adam, and their succession carefully recorded. In
considering the Levitical priesthood, certain, in the Book of Ezra, claimed
priestly descent, but when their genealogy could not be found, they were, as
defiled, put away from the priesthood. So, for an Israelite, genealogy was
essential! But the very opposite is said of Melchisedec, "Without father,
without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor end of
life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually:" The
Spirit of God declares that he is like the Son of God in these respects. As to
His eternal relationship to God there is no question of His genealogy, He is the
Only One, God’s only-begotten Son in eternity. And in a very unique and in a
very blessed sense, He is God’s only Son, even in time. If He brings many sons
to glory, it is as being in association with Him, and not in any sense as being
in succession to Him. Here then the blessed Lord is typified by this
Melchisedec, the Abiding One, One who comes on the scene without ancestry; who,
when He leaves the earth leaves no successor, but passes into the presence of
God, where "He abideth a Priest forever!

How worthy is this blessed One of those kingly titles King of Righteousness and
King of Peace. Was it not at the cross that He acquired the full right to this
title of King of Righteousness, where He met the whole question of God’s
righteousness; where mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace
kissed each other? And what is the result of that work of righteousness — peace!
And the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever!

"Christ of God, our souls confess Thee King and sovereign even now!

We pass on now to that which compares Him with all other priests. The writer
tells us to dwell upon the greatness of this man, to whom even the patriarch
Abraham, the head of the Hebrew race, gave the tenth of the spoil. The giving of
the tenth was the acknowledgment of superiority, for tithes are given to a
superior. Levi, as yet unborn (and thus the whole Aaronic priesthood) in Abraham
representatively, gave tithes to Melchisedec. How infinitely greater and
superior is this heavenly Priest compared with the earthly order of priests, who
have paid homage to Him and acknowledged His superiority. He is indeed a
glorious Person, whose order of priesthood has superseded and set aside the
Aaronic order of priesthood, a priesthood which did not bring in perfection in
relation to the conscience. If this order of priesthood could have perfected the
conscience, there would have been no need for another order of priesthood. But
another Priest has arisen, one who pertaineth to a different tribe, of which no
one has been occupied with the service of the altar: and with the change of
priesthood, there is of necessity a change of law. Under the Levitical
priesthood the people received the law, and the Scripture tells us that by the
law is the knowledge of sin. The law was given that the offence — not sin —
might abound. Every movement of man’s will was shown to be positive
transgression. But with the change of priesthood there has been a change in the
principle of God’s dealing with men. What light this sheds on such a Scripture
as that in Romans, "Ye are not under law, but under grace." No more distance,
but brought near to God; and sustained by the priestly support of this Great
High Priest, who belonged to another tribe, even that of Judah — praise.

He dwells in the midst of His people’s praises, and leads the praises of His own
to the Father. Truly He is the Priest of praise. His priesthood is also after
the power of an endless life. No carnal commandment made Him priest. His
priesthood is not connected with that which vanishes away; and it is as Son He
is Priest; His eternal existence as the Son of God bearing witness to the
greatness of His priesthood. His order of priesthood was confirmed and
established by the oath of God: the oath which emphasises the unchanging
character of what God declares. When God established Aaron as priest, He did not
swear that he should have an abiding priesthood. It was a temporary institution,
being weak and unprofitable it could not abide: but this heavenly order of
priesthood, established by a divine oath, which continues eternally, is the
priesthood of the Son of God in the power of an endless life. There were many
priests under the old order; they were not allowed to continue, for death came
in; but here is One who abides a Priest forever; One upon whom death has no
claim; yea, rather is He the Destroyer of death. This is the Priest who becomes
us — so pre-eminently suited, and qualified, for the office that He fills. "Able
also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for them."

Weary pilgrim, in the midst of many trials and difficulties, it may be with
"sorrows surging round," look up and see that Great Priest who graces the Throne
of Grace, and from whom flows all the succour and sympathy that is necessary for
the pilgrim path. Live constantly in the sense of His priestly grace, strength,
and affection, and let these precious words re-echo in your heart from day to
day, "He abideth a priest forever!"

A. Shepherd. The Authority of Scripture.

"The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestants." We want more than
this; we want to be, in all things, absolutely governed by the authority of
Scripture — not by our fellow mortals interpretation of Scripture, but by
Scripture itself. We want to have the conscience in a condition to yield, at all
times, a true response to the teachings of the divine word.

C. H. Mackintosh.

What Trial Accomplishes.

Trial cannot of itself confer grace; but, under God’s hand, it can break the
will, and detect bidden and unsuspected evils: so that the new life is more
fully and largely developed. God has a larger place in the heart, there is more
intelligence in His ways, more lowly dependence, more consciousness that the
world is nothing, more distrust of flesh and self. The saint is more emptied of
self and filled with the Lord. What is eternal and true, because divine, has a
much larger place in the soul; what is false is detected and set aside. There is
more ripeness in our relationship with God. We dwell more in the eternal scenes
into which He has brought our souls. We can look back then, and see the love
which has brought us through it all, and bless God with dependent thanksgiving
for every trial. Such only purge away the dross, and confirm us in brighter,
fuller, clearer hope, and increasing our knowledge of God, and self being
proportionately destroyed.

J. N. Darby.


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  CHAPTER 11: S.   THE HEAVENLY CALLING.
========================================================================

The Heavenly Calling. The heavenly calling has been before the mind of God from
the beginning, the man of the earth, in every age, from the fall of Adam
bringing only grief and sorrow to the heart of God; the children of God being
sufferers and strangers here. Of old it had been disclosed "There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9); and from this same epistle
we learn that this rest is in heaven (Hebrews 6:20); a blessed rest indeed for
the tried, suffering, weary saints of God. When we turn to the 11th chapter of
Hebrews, where faith is displayed in all its diversity of action and energy, as
seen in the lives of that illustrious "cloud of witnesses," it is recorded of
Abraham, "By faith he sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise, as in a
foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him
of the same promise" (Hebrews 11:9). Was his strangership referred to because he
had left Ur of the Chaldees? nay, verily! Abraham was a stranger because he had
not yet reached the heavenly inheritance. Nothing could cure or close his
strangership but possession of the inheritance to which God had called him. "All
these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from
afar off and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and
sojourners on the earth . . . they seek their country . . . that is, a heavenly;
wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has
prepared for them a city." Well might the Spirit of God say of such, "of whom
the world was not worthy."

Moses and Enoch, too, of patriarchal days are witnesses to this heavenly
calling: "Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis
5:24); and Moses, who was not allowed to enter the earthly inheritance, got the
Pisgah of God. Elijah among the prophets did not see death, but was translated
to heaven as Enoch was. And so the elect of God of the ages we have considered
have their part in heaven, in the heavenly country and in the city God prepared
for them. But their part is to be distinguished from the part of the saints of
this dispensation, from the church which is the body and the Bride of Christ, in
the Epistle to the Galatians the Old Testament saints are shown to be heirs, and
here in Hebrews to be soon perfected in heaven; but they have no place with
those of whom the hymn writer says:

Thou gav’st us, in eternal love, To Him to bring us home to Thee.

These are the men that the Father has given Him out of the world.

If our place of privilege and of blessing is so great, the responsibilities
attaching to it are correspondingly great. How do we measure up to this? How
miserably we have failed in walking consistently with our heavenly calling and
in the light of the heavenly inheritance. The condition of the saints of God
today attests only too convincingly to the disruptive and disintegrating
agencies that have combined to bring about such a deplorable condition of
things. Had the heavenly calling been held in constant remembrance, in all its
pristine lustre and perennial freshness, these disruptive elements would have
had no place whatever. Another has said, "Declension begins with the surrender
of the calling." These are searching words beloved! Those who are more matured
in the things of God all agree that a saint always surrenders the highest truth
which he has received when he declines. In this he acts in direct contrast with
the man of the world who will, as a rule, sacrifice everything so that he can
retain that upon which he has specially set his heart. Yes, it is very sad and
solemn, that in every time, declension begins with the surrender of the calling,
the glory of the position. The calling is God’s, and so the energy of Satan is
directed against it, in order to contravene the will of God. The calling gives
character to the present testimony, and hence if any one can be diverted from
it, the enemy has gained the day. The glory of the Christian calling is that we
are associated with the glorified Man in heaven, and every defection, since the
day of its inauguration until now, begins with the surrender of the calling. In
the light of these things how necessary it is to "have ." A partial Gospel will
result in the allowance and sanction of that which beclouds the glory of the
heavenly calling, such as earthly prosperity and the things of the world. I
believe that the great characteristic of the revival of the truth at the
beginning of the nineteenth century was that ours is a heavenly calling. Many
joyfully parted with their goods knowing in themselves that in heaven they had
"a better and an enduring substance" (Hebrews 10:34). The one commanding thought
was that they did not belong to earth, but to heaven; and all their hopes and
joys centred in heaven. Professions, prospects, position, and even lawful
callings were gladly surrendered, so that there should be a heavenly testimony.
Do not say that this is carrying things to extremes. Was it not for this purpose
that the blessed Lord gave Himself? "Who gave Himself for our sins, so that He
should deliver us out of the present evil world, according to the will of our
God and Father; to whom be glory to the ages of ages" (Galatians 1:4-5). By the
same mighty work on the cross we are justified; we are brought to joy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, "through whom now we have received the
reconciliation" (Romans 5:11). Then our old man being crucified with Him, we
reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus; by
death we are freed from the man of sin and shame, the man under the judgment of
God, and we now belong to the glorified Man in heaven. "He died for all, that
they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them
and has been raised" (2 Corinthians 5:15). As being in Christ there is a new
creation; the old things have passed away, all things have become new, and all
things are of God; and the blessed One who is the centre of all these things is
the object for the undivided attention and affection of our hearts. A great day
has dawned upon our souls when we realise that the One whom the Father has set
at His own right hand is none other than the Head of the body; my Head. How
differently human things and thoughts appear as we contemplate Him thus.

Let us ever seek therefore the things which are above, where Christ sitteth; the
things with which the Spirit of God would engage our hearts, the things which
God has prepared for them that love Him, the deep things of God. Here we find
the things prepared for us in the eternal counsels of His love, revealed now
that we may enjoy them. But these things can only be enjoyed in the sphere to
which they belong; and so the Spirit would bring us in spirit into those
heavenly scenes as the only proper environment, where the new nature develops,
expands, and becomes fruitful in us. One of the greatest anomalies in this world
is the presence of the saints of God in it; they belong to heaven; and it ought
to be our constant exercise that while absent from the place which is truly our
home, we should display in heavenly ways and demeanour that we belong morally to
that scene "prepared for us by Christ our Head." There are the things of the
flesh in which those after the flesh enjoy themselves; but there are the things
of the Spirit, the scene and elements for the engagement and enjoyment of those
who are after the Spirit; otherwise we should be like fish out of water; that is
with a new life, having different affections, tastes, desires, and capacities,
and no sphere of things suited to them. In closing I quote the words of beloved
J. A. Trench, "The heavens, with Christ there as the intimate link that connects
with all that is there, are the present revealed scene of our home,
relationships, objects, hopes, joys, interests, and pursuits, that thus a
heavenly people may be formed practically as such by what is heavenly on earth —
showing out nothing but what is heavenly." May we so know the Lord’s love to us
that the least of heavenly things may be incomparably greater than all the
things of this scene.

A. Shepherd.


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  CHAPTER 12: S.   THOUGHTS ON THE OFFERINGS.
========================================================================

Thoughts on the Offerings. At the close of Luke’s Gospel we have the Lord Jesus
setting the seal of His divine approbation on the Old Testament Scriptures, when
He said to His disciples, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to
enter into His glory." Having thus admonished His disciples, He began "at Moses
and all the prophets," and "expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself" (Luke 24:25-27). In verse 44 of the same chapter the Lord
Jesus with His divine authority shows that all the Old Testament is inspired,
where He says, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses,
and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." The offerings, which we
are about to consider, are found written in the law of Moses . . . concerning
Me;" and they set forth in language chosen by the Spirit of God the superlative
greatness of the Person of Christ, the matchless perfection of His life, and the
stupendous import of His death, Godward and manward. In the four Gospels we have
a four-fold presentation of Christ; in Matthew He is "Son of David, the Son of
Abraham;" in Mark He is seen "in the form of a Servant;" in Luke He is found "in
fashion as a Man;" while in John we behold "His glory, a glory as of an
only-begotten with a father . . . the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom
of the Father." If the Person of Christ is brought out in this four-fold way in
the Gospels, the work of Christ is brought out in its distinct and varied
aspects in the typical language of the book of Leviticus.

Out of the five offerings of Leviticus 1:1-17; Leviticus 2:1-16; Leviticus
3:1-17; Leviticus 4:1-35; Leviticus 5:1-19; Leviticus 6:1-30, while one (the
meat offering) very clearly presents the character of the perfect matchless life
of the Lord Jesus, the four others, clearly identified in their distinct
application by the out-poured blood, present His atoning work in all its varied
glories and perfections. How sweet and wonderful it is to contemplate these
precious things in their detail, in the transforming light of the Word of God,
and to find the pages of the Old Testament corresponding to each other with
pleasing exactitude as type to antitype, these wonderful offerings of Leviticus
being but the picture of the living reality that is found in the Gospels. The
Christ of God, in all the superlative excellence and greatness of His Person and
work, is mirrored in the Old Testament Scriptures, for, is He not the centre of
all divine revelation, and the glorious object and theme of all Scripture? Let
us seek therefore to explore this rich field of divine wealth, which is ever
ready to yield its exhaustless treasures to the searchings of the earnest
seeker, assured indeed that there is "much increase in the tillage of the poor."

It is remarkable that our apprehension of these sacrifices, and their adaptation
to our need, stands in reverse order to the manner of their institution. The
burnt offering is the first presented, and the highest in character of all the
sacrifices, but as sinners we first know Christ as the trespass offering,
"delivered for our offences." Led on by the Holy Spirit into the fuller
knowledge of Christ and His work, we travel upwards till we stand as worshippers
around the altar of burnt offering, and wonderingly worship and adore as the
ascending flame, laden with divinely-prepared perfume, goes up to Jehovah for
the satisfaction and rest of His heart. The sacrifice in which God finds His
eternal delight is also that which provides the answer to our need as sinners
and our communion as saints. Atonement was effected by the burnt offering and by
the sin offering, but not by the meat or peace offerings. In the burnt offering
we see the sacrifice of Christ in its deep and matchless perfection, His
voluntary surrender of Himself even unto death in the carrying out of the will
of God, and also God’s delight in and acceptance of the sacrifice. The burnt
offering was to fulfil what had been written of Him, "Lo, I come . . .to do Thy
will, O God" (Hebrews 10:7). It is that aspect of the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus which directly and exclusively has reference to God. Atonement in the sin
offering was to secure forgiveness for the sinner; atonement in the burnt
offering is for our acceptance.

Let us not forget that the supreme and impelling motive which actuated the
blessed Lord in coming into this world was to accomplish the will of God, and to
glorify Him, even in death. It was when He took our sins upon Him, and was made
sin, that God was glorified in relation to sin. Anticipating this, the Lord
Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him" (John
13:31). Do we not find in John’s Gospel the Spirit of God bringing before us the
burnt offering character of the work of Christ? There we have opening before us
the deepest and fullest glories of the Son of God, as well as the highest
character of His work. In John 14:31 we have the love and obedience that ever
marked the Lord Jesus down here in His relationship with His Father, "But that
the world may know that I love the Father: and as the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." He, the doer of the Father’s
will, and the object of the Father’s delight, goes forth to consummate in death
His perfect obedience. He had authority to lay down His life, and authority to
take it again, and could say, "And He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath
not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29).

It is very instructive to note that different animals could be offered in
approach to God. A bullock without blemish, a sheep or goat without blemish, or
turtle doves or young pigeons, could be offered. These are presented in a
descending scale of values, suggesting varying apprehensions that we might have
of the death of Christ. The ground of our acceptance however does not depend on
the measure of our apprehension, but solely on the unqualified acceptance of the
wondrous sacrifice of Christ by God, Who alone can fully appreciate the infinite
value of Christ’s death.

Whether a bullock, a sheep or goat was offered, it is specifically stated that
it must be a male without blemish, as indicating the matchless dignity and
unblemished character of Him they set forth typically. The offering of doves or
young pigeons bespeaks the poverty, feebleness, and perhaps even faulty
apprehension of Christ’s death, for we read that the priest "shall pluck away
his crop with his feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by
the place of the ashes." The rejection of the crop and feathers suggests that a
worshipper might mix up unworthy and unacceptable thoughts of Christ’s death
with what is worthy and acceptable. How different in the case of the bullock and
the sheep; all was burned on the altar. The birds were to be cleft in two, but
not divided; suggesting that while the offerer had some little apprehension of
Christ’s death, he was not able to enter into the precious details of that
wondrous sacrifice. Yet how blessed it is to see the delight that God finds even
in the feeblest apprehension of His beloved Son and His sacrificial work: and
how richly His grace shines forth in the words which are used in the case of the
fowls as in that of the bullock and the sheep, "It is a burnt sacrifice (an
ascending offering), an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour (savour of
rest) unto Jehovah."

There is no room here for the erroneous idea that the death of Christ was only
that of a martyr, for the Spirit of God is very careful to maintain, in each
offering, the sacrificial character of that death, by giving specific
instructions regarding the blood.

How blessed also to consider how the unblemished animal was treated! It was
killed, flayed and cut in pieces. The parts enumerated, the head, the fat, the
inwards and the legs, denoting the intelligence, will, motives and walk of the
blessed One in thus offering Himself wholly, and in intelligently surrendering
Himself in death for the glory of God. All were laid upon the altar, and
subjected to the fire — the searching judgment of God. What the offering was
ceremonially, as washed in water, the Lord Jesus was intrinsically. The fire of
divine judgment searched Him inwardly and outwardly; the motives and springs as
well as the walk and ways, and in result all went up to God as a sweet savour.

Through sovereign grace we are identified with the One Who so perfectly
glorified God in death, for it is written, "And he shall put his hand upon the
head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement
for him." We are accepted before God in all the abiding and unchanging value of
Christ’s Person and work.

God’s eternal delight in Jesus as the burnt offering is beautifully told out in
the words, "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go
out" (Leviticus 6:13). The Meat Offering. This gift offering, which in the law,
was restricted to bloodless offerings, derives its impressiveness from the
simplicity of the terms used by the Holy Spirit in portraying the distinctive
glories of Jesus as Man presenting to God an unblemished life with all its grace
and moral perfectness — the matchless life of Him Who is holy, harmless,
undefiled and separate from sinners. It is not only a sweet savour offering, but
"most holy of Jehovah’s offerings by fire" (Leviticus 2:3), and it was based
upon and its value declared by what God found in the burnt-offering, and as
setting forth the holy humanity of the Lord Jesus. In the meat-offering Jesus is
presented to God as the Second Man, a true and perfect Man, yet essentially in
contrast with other men and with the world by which He was surrounded, and in
which He was in result a Man of sorrows. Across His pathway, marked by every
moral perfection, lay the dark shadow of man’s unceasing and unrelenting hatred
and enmity, the quality of which was accentuated by the glory of that divine and
heavenly light which was accompanied by the Father’s voice expressing His
unqualified delight in the Man of His good pleasure.

It is very blessed to see the close relation of the burnt-offering and the
meat-offering to each other as intimated in the expression frequently used, "The
burnt-offering and its meat-offering," which is never, and could never, be
reversed, since the death of Christ is that alone by which the immeasurable
distance between God and man has been removed, and in virtue of which we have
"boldness for entering into the (holy of) holies by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews
10:19). We marvel at the prescience of the Spirit of God in providing this
necessary safeguard against the erroneous ideas of ungodly men that the
blameless life of the Son of God is that by which righteousness is vicariously
reckoned to them. Such deceive themselves by the fond yet ensnaring delusion
that Jesus kept the law for them during His life, and so the righteousness of
His life is reckoned to those who believe; but there is not a shred of support
in the Word of God for such satanically inspired theorizings of men.

Scripture does assure us that Christ Jesus has been made to us from God,
"righteousness, and holiness, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30); and that
"Him who knew not sin He has made sin for us that we might become God’s
righteousness in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21), but this is in resurrection
consequent upon His death. No, we must not reverse the order of precedence —
"the burnt-offering and its meat-offering;" beyond all question and objection
the meat-offering is supplemental to the burnt-offering, and this not because of
any element of inferiority attaching to the latter offering, which indeed speaks
of the perfections of the Manhood of Christ, but because our approach to God is
not through the perfect life of Christ, but through His death. Other Scriptures,
such as Numbers 15:1-12, show that the meat-offering was normally offered with
sacrifices of blood, not independently.

It is essential that the momentous truths respecting the holy life and the
sacrificial death of the blessed Lord should be held with divine power in all
their peculiar and distinctive teaching in our souls, lest we fall an easy prey
to the specious doctrines so prevalent among men, which endeavour to set aside
the "offence of the cross," and to rob the cross of its true character and
glory.

Another has written of this offering, "This meat-offering of God, taken from the
fruit of the earth, was the finest wheat; that which was pure, separate and
lovely in human nature was in Jesus under all its sorrows, but in all its
excellence and excellent in its sorrows. There was no unevenness in Jesus, no
predominant quality to produce the effect of giving Him a distinctive character.
He was, though despised and rejected of men, the perfection of human nature. The
sensibilities, firmness, decision (though this attached itself also to the
principle of obedience), elevation and calm meekness, which belong to human
nature, all found their perfect place in Him. In a Paul, I find energy and zeal;
in a Peter, ardent affection; in a John, tender sensibilities and abstraction of
thought united to a desire to vindicate what he loved, which scarce knew limit.
But the quality we have observed in Peter predominates and characterizes him. In
a Paul, blessed servant though he was, he did not repent, though he had repented
— in him in whom God was mighty towards the circumcision, we find the fear of
man break through the faithfulness of his zeal. John who would have vindicated
Jesus in his zeal, knew not what manner of spirit he was of, and would have
forbidden the glory of God, if a man walked not with them. Such were Paul, and
Peter, and John."

"But in Jesus, even as Man, there was none of this unevenness. There was nothing
salient in His character, because all was in perfect subjection to God in His
humanity, and had its place, and did exactly its service, and then disappeared.
God was glorified in it, and all was in harmony. When meekness became Him, He
was meek; when indignation, who could stand before His overwhelming and
withering rebuke? Tender to the chief of sinners in the time of His grace;
unmoved by the heartless superiority of a cold Pharisee (curious to judge who He
was); when the time of judgment is come no tears of those who wept for Him moved
Him to other words than, "Weep for yourselves and your children," — words of
deep compassion, but of deep subjection to the due judgment of God — Such was
Christ in human nature"

(J. N. Darby. Synopsis Vol. I., pp. 151-153).

Let us now consider the accompaniments to the meat-offering, which we cannot
doubt are used with the divine intent of throwing into more blessed relief the
surpassing glories of the Man, Christ Jesus, the One Who graced this defiled
scene with His own blessed presence, displaying in that matchless, blameless
life which He lived in a world that witnessed to God’s dishonour and Satan’s
apparent triumph, all that God was for man, and all that man ought to have been
for God. On the fine flour oil was poured, expressing in a very precious way the
anointing of the Lord Jesus with the Holy Spirit, even as we read in Acts 10:38,
"God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power — for God was
with Him." His anointing declared His perfection and the Father’s delight in
Him. Frankincense also was to be put on the fine flour, speaking to us of
Christ’s moral graces and excellencies. In that wondrous pathway of Jesus, in
all His words, His ways, His actions, and in all the lovely traits exhibited in
His path trodden for the glory of God, there was ever that exquisite fragrance
ascending to delight the heart of the Father. A handful of flour with all the
frankincense was burnt upon the altar for a "memorial" — a beautiful word, used
by the Spirit to indicate God’s constant remembrance of a life lived entirely to
Him, fragrant with His praise, and which He alone could appreciate. What
remained of the offering was the portion of the priest — the worshipper. The
whole of the matchless life of the Lord Jesus, from the manger to the baptismal
waters of Jordan, was covered by the Father’s "well pleased." It could not be
otherwise, for from His conception by the Holy Spirit, He was the true
meat-offering, "fine flour mingled with oil" (Leviticus 2:4). There were three
distinct forms in which this offering was prepared. It might be "baken in the
oven," or "in a pan," or "in the frying pan." The increasing severity of the
tests to which the personal devotedness of the Lord Jesus would be subjected
seems to be indicated in these different modes of preparation. The first might
cover the thirty years of His private life — these were not open sufferings, so
to speak, as suffering violence. Baken in the oven suggests trial in the heated
atmosphere of a world estranged from God, and at enmity with Him, where the
unrestrained will and passions of men were seen on every hand. Another has said,
"In this world of sin and misery Christ necessarily suffered — suffered also
because of righteousness, and because of His love. Morally, this feeling of
sorrow is the necessary consequence of possessing a moral nature totally opposed
to everything that is in this world." The second form might apply to the three
and a half years of the Lord’s ministry, for the pan seems to speak of open
suffering. The third form of testing, "in the frying pan," or "cauldron," might
have reference to that last awful trial in which the personal devotedness of
that Blessed One was tested to the full — the dreadful hour of the power of
darkness, and the judgment of the cross. The cauldron combined the action of the
fire and the water, the water speaking of Christ being directed in all His ways,
even in His hour of greatest trial, by the word of God. (See Matthew 26:53-54;
John 19:28). His unwavering devotedness to His Father’s will enabled Him to pass
through every trial, the greatest of which was when He suffered at the hand of a
righteous and holy God, on the cross, as the sinners’ substitute.

Fine flour mingled with oil would speak of "That holy thing which shall be born
of thee shall be called Son of God" (Luke 1:35). Leaven and honey are both
forbidden to be put into any offering made by fire to Jehovah, the former
invariably speaking of evil, as in "The leaven of malice and wickedness,"
producing the ferment of the lust of the flesh, and the revolt of the human will
from God. With regard to the prohibition of leaven, there is a notable
exception, in Leviticus 23:17, where the wave loaves set forth the church at
Pentecost, sanctified and presented to God. Because these loaves set forth those
in whom there was sin, a sin-offering was offered with them.

Honey speaks of the sweetness of nature, and of human affections which, though
not evil in themselves, have no part in the worship of God. Salt symbolizes that
which opposes corruption, and is therefore the opposite of leaven. On no account
was salt to be lacking in any offering; it was "the salt of the covenant of thy
God," a God Who is of holier eye than to behold iniquity, and who can only be
satisfied with what is holy. In "the oblation of thy first-fruits," it is the
same Blessed One Who is brought before us. The first-fruits represent the new
harvest, the revival of the buried seed, and fruitfulness out of death. The
"green ears of corn roasted in fire" recall the Lord’s solemn words to the women
that followed Him, "If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done
in the dry." He alone was the green tree, full of the sap and vigour of true
spiritual life: all other men lay under the desolating power of death. He was
also the green ears that were "full," complete and perfect, even unto death. As
these glories of "Christ, once humbled here," pass in vision before our souls,
may it result in a sincere upsurge of affection toward the blessed Son of God.
The Peace Offering.

We can readily understand and appreciate the appropriate place which this
offering occupies, in the divine record, in relation to the burnt offering and
the meat offering, which we have already considered. The heart discerns, in some
feeble measure, the infinite care, the faultless precision and the purposeful
intention of the Holy Spirit, not merely in the choice of materials with which
to set forth the matchless and unrivalled glories of the Person of the Christ,
and the character and the magnitude of the work He has accomplished, but also in
respect of the progressive order in which they are presented in the Scriptures
of truth. The essential character of the peace offering is communion, and the
true child of God would do well to ponder its meaning and implications, for it
derives its character from the sacrifice of Christ as accepted by God: from the
burnt offering and the meat offering in which God has found perfect delight. Of
the Lord Jesus, the apostle Peter says. "To whom coming, a living stone, cast
away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious . . . Behold, I
lay in Zion a corner stone, elect, precious." How beautifully he adds, "To you
therefore who believe is the preciousness." Well does the hymn writer exclaim,
"And to know the blessed secret of His preciousness to Thee." Through the death
of Christ we have the privilege of communion with God, with Christ and with each
other. What immense and exalted privilege!

God claimed for Himself exclusively "The food of the offering," which was all
the fat and the inward parts. How beautifully this speaks of the excellency,
energy of will, the feelings, motives and affections of that Blessed One, which
none but God could rightly or fully appreciate. All were tested by fire, and the
action of the fire on the fat would bring out its supreme excellence. Everything
in Jesus was divinely tested, and the trial only brought out His deep
perfections; the more intensive the trial the greater the manifestation of the
excellencies that were His. All went up to God as a sweet savour of rest; yea,
more, God fed upon it, finding rest and delight in every movement of the heart
and will of His beloved Son. In connection with this offering God claimed, as a
perpetual statute, the fat and the blood; that which spoke of the will and the
life of the Lord Jesus.

It is not without significance that a male or female could be offered. In
Scripture, the male signifies position and the female state. Our communion with
God has been secured through the death of Christ giving us a new place and a new
state before Him: "We have also access by faith into this favour in which we
stand," and we are "Sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and
washed as to our body with pure water." The peace offering has been taken by
many as typifying the work of Christ making peace with God, but it is rather a
praise or thanksgiving offering; in the French it is a "Sacrifice of
prosperity." It is unquestionably a communion sacrifice, and thanksgiving and
praise naturally flow from communion. This is confirmed in Leviticus 7:12 by the
expression, "If he offer it for a thanksgiving." In chapter 3 we have what the
offering is for God; it is reserved for the law of the offering to reveal the
part of the priest and the offerer.

How blessed it is to note the repetition of the details in relation to each
sacrificial animal; indicating that God never wearies of speaking of His beloved
Son. Nothing was left to the imagination of man; all was carefully, minutely and
divinely prescribed, so that God’s people had only to obey. In the seventh
chapter we are told what was to be done with the various parts of the sacrifice:
the fat, Jehovah’s portion, was burned as incense, on the altar of burnt
offering; the breast, which speaks of the devoted love of Christ, was fed upon
by Aaron and his sons, who are typically Christ and His saints as the priestly
family. We have been brought into a relationship where we can feast upon the
love of Christ which passes knowledge; where each one can say, "The Son of God
loved me, and gave Himself for me," and where together we can say, "Christ also
loved the church, and gave Himself for it."

It was a love, divine in its source, mighty in its power, measureless in extent,
quenchless in its character, eternal in its duration, that brought Him from the
profound solitudes of an eternity that is past, into this world where man
regards God as someone austere, Reaping where He had not sown, and gathering
where He had not strawed. Into such a world, characterized by estrangement from
God, and in a state of enmity towards Him, came the Son of the Father’s bosom to
lay bare the heart of God. Is it not when we come together to partake of the
Lord’s Supper that we taste in a peculiar way the depth and sweetness of
Christ’s love? It is as those who love the Lord that we are brought together,
drawn by the cords of His love; the bread and the cup speaking simply and yet so
affectingly of the blessed Lord giving Himself in love to carry out the will of
God. One has said, "In the Lord’s supper, man is nothing, but Christ and His
love is everything;" and another has touchingly remarked, "We have nothing to do
in this retreat, but to sit down and enjoy what the Lord is." In the assembly we
are on the distinct footing of being part of Christ’s company, associated with
Him in resurrection. The breast was waved as a wave offering before the Lord,
and in the assembly, as gathered around the Lord at His supper, we have the
privilege of presenting to the Father the precious features of the Lord’s love
made known in death.

We are associated with the risen Christ, being suited to His company, for "Both
He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause
He is not ashamed to call them brethren." How beautiful, therefore, in the light
of this, are the words, "And the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons." With
Christ we can enter into the deep joy that comes from feeding upon His love made
known in His death for us. When we come together, and function as priestsbefore
God (1 Peter 2:5), we not only feed upon the breast, but also upon the right
shoulder, upon the mighty strength of Him who went down into the depths of
death, and ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things. He is
the true Benjamin, the One in whom there is strength, the Son of God’s right
hand: "Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand, upon the Son of Man whom
thou madest strong for Thyself" (Psalms 80:17).

Christ the Son of God was strong to resolve in His death the great and momentous
question of sin, and to effect the conciliation of mercy and truth,
righteousness and peace, in accordance with the requirements of God’s holiness;
and He was strong to take His great power to reign, consequent upon the
overthrow and subjugation of every enemy: "Arise, Jehovah, into Thy rest, Thou
and the ark of Thy strength" (Psalms 132:8). When he comes forth to reign His
sceptre will be a sceptre of righteousness, as indicating the character of His
reign, and there shall be no evil occurrent.

After the wave-breast and the right shoulder had been given to those for whom
God had reserved them, the rest of the sacrifice was to be eaten on the day, or
the day after, it was offered; whatever remained on the third day was to be
burned with fire. Communion cannot be prolonged beyond the measure of spiritual
power, and any endeavour to keep up a semblance of communion by fleshly effort
is "An abomination" in the sight of God (Leviticus 7:18). The peace offering
presents a truly wonderful picture of God, Christ and the saints together
feeding, delighting together in the Lord Jesus and in His love, in His Person
and His work. May the language of another be the sincere prayer of every heart:
"Precious Saviour, Thou joy of our hearts, Thou infinitely Blessed One, maintain
our communion uninterrupted until we see Thee face to face." The Sin Offering.
The accustomed phrase "And Jehovah spake unto Moses," with which the Holy Spirit
marks the fresh revelation of Leviticus 4:1-35, will no doubt arrest the
attention of the devoted reader of Scripture. While we have three distinct
offerings in the previous chapters, they all belong to the same revelation, and
they are all similar in character, since they are all declared to be a sweet
savour to God, which the sin offering and the trespass offering are not. This
notable distinction furnishes us with another convincing illustration of the
infinite care and faultless precision of the Holy Spirit in His choice of words,
for every expression of sin is infinitely abhorrent to the nature of a holy God.
By its very nature the sin offering could not be regarded as a sweet savour
offering, for in it God’s holiness is expressed in unmitigated wrath against
sin. God has no delight in judgment; it is His "strange work"; but His
righteousness demands judgment on sin.

It is also significant that different words are used with regard to the burning
of the sacrifices, words which in themselves distinguish between what was sweet
savour and what typified or implied the wrath of God. The word relating to the
former means to burn as incense, while the other signifies consuming to ashes.
Let it, however, be remembered that even in those sacrifices which represented
Jesus made sin for us, and thus only on the cross, He never was more dear to His
God and Father, for the blood was sprinkled before God, and in certain cases put
upon the horns of the golden altar; while all the fat which speaks of His
excellence, was burnt as a sweet savour to God upon the altar.

God alone can rightly value and appreciate that "Sacrifice of richer blood" than
those that were offered under the legal covenant, and which were but faint
shadows of Him who is the glorious substance. May our thoughts be so controlled
and governed by the Word of God as we consider these wonderful types, that we
shall glean from the minute details given by the Spirit of God His own divine
thoughts of the perfection of the work of the Lord Jesus. The various sin
offerings being identified with that which was in itself abhorrent to God, were
not burnt on the altar. Those for the anointed priest, or for the sin of
ignorance of the whole assembly of Israel were wholly consumed "outside the
camp," like the sin offering of the Day of Atonement. The flesh of other sin
offerings was eaten by the males of the priestly family (see Leviticus 7:6-7) in
the holy place.

It is well for us to recognise the character of sins for which God made
provision in the sin offering, as the divine command to Moses is, "Speak unto
the children of Israel saying, if a soul shall sin through ignorance or
inadvertance against any of the commandments of Jehovah, in things that ought
not to be done, and do any of them..." The sacrifice was for unintentional sins,
committed through unwatchfulness and lack of proper exercise in the fear of God.
There was no provision made for sins of deliberate intent which manifested the
high-handed assertion of man’s will in defiance of God’s commandments. Of wilful
sin, it is written, "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously . . . that
soul shall be cut off from among his people, because he hath despised the word
of Jehovah, and hath broken His commandment, that soul shall be utterly cut off:
his iniquity shall be upon him" (Numbers 15:30-31).

There were many cases in which the soul was compelled to look outside the
sacrificial forms, and to say like David, "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else
would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt offering"; and "Deliver me from
blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing
aloud of Thy righteousness" (Psalms 51:16; Psalms 51:14). Faith laid hold for
salvation upon that to which these typical offerings pointed, but which they
themselves were unable to effect. No ignorance, however, avails to lessen the
need for or alter the character of atonement. Sin is sin no less because we are
too ignorant or indifferent to recognise it as such, and God must bring us to
recognise His standard; He cannot come down to ours; and for the least sin, the
wages of sin is death — the atoning victim dies. It is upon the penalty of sin
that this offering insists more strongly than any other, as its name
unmistakably implies. If the burnt offering speaks of the perfect obedience of
Jesus, even unto death, in which we are accepted; and the peace offering gives
us the ground of sweet communion that we enjoy with God consequent on the work
of redemption; the sin offering declares the judgment of God which the
sin-bearer must remove by coming under it.

It is rather remarkable that while we have three grades of burnt offerings, and
three — though not quite so precise and distinct — of peace offerings, the sin
offering has no less than seven forms. This is all the more remarkable when we
consider that the voluntary element so conspicuous in the offerings of the
earlier chapters is entirely lacking in the sin offering. The former offerings
were an expression of the devotion of the worshipper, apart from any
commandment, and according to his means. It was not so with the sin offering and
the trespass offering; these were the inescapable claim of God upon the sinner,
which could neither be diminished nor added to.

How precious it is to note the various grades connected with this offering,
seven in all, the complete provision which God has made to meet every need of
the sinner. All is perfectly apportioned in strict relation to the status of the
offender, and how the heart is moved with a sense of the great mercy of God, as
in the descending scale of apportionment we take account of the large
concessions God makes, so that even the most impoverished can meet His righteous
demands. The various grades in the burnt offering express the different measures
of apprehension found among the people of God in respect of the infinitely great
and precious sacrifice of Christ. If there are measures of apprehension, there
are also degrees of sin, and these latter are indicated in the different sin
offerings. The gravity of sin must be measured in a two-fold way; first, with
regard to the dignity of the offended One; secondly, with regard to the relative
position of the offender.

We have therefore, first, the sin of the anointed priest (Leviticus 4:3-12);
secondly, the sin of the whole congregation (Leviticus 4:13-21); thirdly, a
ruler’s sin (Leviticus 4:22-26); fourthly, the sin of one of the people of the
land (Leviticus 4:27-35). If the priest, who represented the people before
Jehovah, or if the whole congregation sinned, the blood, which was the witness
of death, was sprinkled seven times before Jehovah, and was put upon the horns
of the golden altar. God’s claims were perfectly met in the blood sprinkled
seven times before Him, and the worship and communion of the redeemed
congregation restored by the blood on the horns of the altar. When a prince, or
ruler, or one of the people of the land transgressed, the worship of the host of
Jehovah was not interrupted, and in such a case the blood was put upon the horns
of the brazen altar. That the consequences of the sins of the anointed priest
and of the whole congregation were most serious is not only seen in the place of
the application of the blood, but also in the burning of the body of the victim
outside the camp.

It may be remarked that so thoroughly is this aspect of the death of Jesus
identified with the sin of man, that in the original tongue, the word for "sin"
and "sin offering" is the same. In the light of this, does not that wonderful
verse in Romans 8:1-39 assume a more significant aspect? "God, having sent His
own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin (or as a sin offering) has
condemned sin in the flesh."

All these sacrifices, and the solemn and momentous teachings based thereon,
speak with increasingly solemn voice to us, and read us deeply impressive
lessons; and as we look more closely at some of the more outstanding features,
may the Holy Spirit engrave these lessons upon our hearts.

"The priest that is anointed" is the first case considered. As has already been
shown, the consequences of the sin of one near to Jehovah in priestly office are
much greater than those of one not so highly favoured. But as having Christ
before us in all the perfection of His work as the true sin offering, it would
not be true to assert that the greater sins require a greater offering. No
greater offering could be offered than that of the Blessed One who, by the
Eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God. This offering of infinite
and eternal value avails for the sins of all who trust in Him, no matter how
near or how far off they may have been in privilege to God, or whether they are
five hundred pence or fifty pence debtors.

It is very sad when one who enjoys priestly relationships with God sins
"according to the trespass of the people." How grave is the defection that
brings into evidence the workings of the flesh in some form or other, which not
only brings personal consequences, but which causes the assembly of God to
suffer. Nor is it without significance that in connection with the priest it
does not speak — as in the cases of the assembly, the prince and the people — of
his sin becoming known. Would not this suggest in regard to the three cases
mentioned that there would be an interval of time between the sin and its
becoming known to them? The omission in the case of the priest suggests that he
would at once have the conscious, instinctive knowledge that he had sinned
against the commandments of Jehovah. From this we can readily discern that in
those who are habitually near to God there is a holy sensitiveness that at once
detects anything that is displeasing to God in the life and service, and which
immediately turns the heart to God in self-judgment and confession. Is it not in
this way that we can estimate how far we have advanced in our apprehension of
the holiness of God? by our sensitive reaction to what is contrary to it. How we
ought to covet the development of the spiritual sensibilities whereby we should
detect instinctively the merest deflection from that which is pleasing to God.
With many of us, when there have been actions or words or feelings which are
distinctively of the flesh, some time may elapse before there is any true
movement towards self-judgment. Does this not indicate that nearness has not
been known or preserved? Otherwise the distance that sin produces would have
been more quickly and keenly felt. If we are not habitually near to God, we may
go on for a long time with what is of the flesh without detecting it, and it may
take a sharp word of warning from that Word which is "Living and operative, and
sharper than any two-edged sword," to awaken us to the reality of our state, or
it may even necessitate a season of humbling discipline to arouse us from the
stupefying effects of the activity of the flesh.

Sin is never quiescent, and by its innate virulence it saps our spiritual
vitality until we reach such a state of powerlessness as to be unable to resist
its onslaughts: but God, in His faithful love, would by His Word, and also in
His disciplinary ways with us, open our eyes to see that "The way of
transgressors is hard." With what conviction can the beloved Psalmist say,
"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Thy Word." Our true
liberty lies in judging what is of the flesh inwardly, so that although it is
fully discerned by us, and we are humbled in discerning it, there is no outward
manifestation of it by which occasion would be given for "The way of truth to be
evil spoken of." How comforting then to reflect that the very moment there is
the consciousness of having sinned, the divine provision is seen to be at hand.

Such indeed is the wondrous grace of Him who is the God of all grace — Christ is
at once introduced as the true sin offering. Let us therefore turn to God at
once when there has been a movement of the flesh, and avail ourselves of the
rich and effectual provision which God has set forth in Christ as the sin
offering. That deep and holy self-judgment that God desires is not brought about
by undue occupation with the sin committed, but by apprehending Christ in
relation to it, and by taking up with God what it has cost Him to deal with it
and put it away. The enemy would seek to keep sin before us, and darken our
spirits with it, and in this way hinder us from turning to God to learn the
all-sufficiency of Christ in relation to it. It will be seen therefore that from
God’s side restoration is not necessarily a lengthy process, nor need it be from
ours if there is that sensitiveness to what is so abhorrent and so dishonouring
to God.

How blessed it is to realise that "if any one sin, we have a patron with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." J. N. Darby helpfully remarks, "The word
Patron is the same word translated Comforter in John 14:1-31, etc. Christ
manages all our affairs for us above, the Holy Spirit below. There is no word
satisfactory to embrace both passages in English. I use Patron in the sense
rather of the Roman patron who maintained the interests of his client in every
way. So Christ on high: the Spirit here for saints." The advocacy of our blessed
Lord produces in the soul of the one who has offended those healthful exercises
which result in complete restoration to that place of communion with the Father
which had been lost by reason of sin. In the light of this, how touching and how
deeply significant are the words of the blessed Lord to Peter, "I have prayed
for thee." The sin offering, in each case, is brought to the entrance of the
tent of meeting, or to the place of the burnt offering. While it is not
necessary or desirable to speak indiscriminately of our wrong-doing, there must
be perfect transparency and willingness to acknowledge our sin. There can be no
attempt to cover things up; there must be the full realization, and complete
acknowledgment, of the enormity of our guilt. How readily we can do this if we
have a true apprehension of Christ as the sin offering. As we place, so to
speak, our hand upon the head of the sin offering, thereby signifying complete
identification with it, the thought presents itself to the heart and conscience,
that in Christ the offering is greater far than the sin. The priest then brought
the blood into the tent of meeting and sprinkled it "before Jehovah, before the
veil of the Sanctuary," not once, or twice, but seven times, thereby indicating
that God would have the offender in the sense of the perfection of the efficacy
of the blood of Christ that removes the stain of sin before Him, and from the
conscience. The blood is then put on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense.
Would not this intimate how the offerer is restored to full liberty of communion
and confidence in prayer?

All the blood of the bullock being poured out at the bottom of the altar of
burnt offering seems to provide the basis, as it were, for the offering of the
fat, which speaks of Christ in all His excellence. While Christ is viewed as the
sin offering, His blood shed fully vindicating every righteous claim of the
altar, yet His value could not be limited to the removal of sin, for in the
offering of the fat, all of which was burnt on the altar, we see the infinite
satisfaction and good pleasure of God in the excellence of Him who offered
Himself to secure His glory. In the burning of the whole bullock outside the
camp, we see typically the complete consumption in holy judgment of what was so
offensive to God; and the ashes speak of judgment eternally exhausted.

Having dealt in detail with the sin offering of the anointed priest, it will
suffice to mark some of the outstanding features connected with the other
offerings mentioned in the chapter, since the same wonderful Sacrifice is more
than sufficient to meet every demand, no matter how exacting those demands may
be. The sin of "The whole assembly" is a very serious matter since, like the sin
of the anointed priest, it interferes with the service of God. The thing may be
"hid from the eyes of the congregation," but it is not hid from the eyes of Him
before whom everything is "open and naked."

All around us today we see unmistakable evidences of the sin of "The whole
assembly," and this is brought before us in a very marked way in Revelation
2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22. The assembly has left its first love, and has ceased
to be in subjection to Jesus as Lord. It does not hold Christ as Head, nor does
it own in a practical way the blessed reality of the presence of the Holy
Spirit. What we see around us is an established order affiliated to the world,
which is of man and not of God. The Lord has called upon the assembly to repent,
and gives space for repentance (see Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16; Revelation
2:21-22; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 3:19), and grace has provided the sin
offering. Alas! Alas! The professing church is found in Laodicea with Christ
outside its door. A prince or ruler was one who cared for God’s order among His
people. It was more serious for such to sin than for "one of the people of the
land." So it is today; failure in one who leads among the saints of God, or who
professes to be a leader, is viewed by God very seriously. The restoration of
such calls for a more mature and intelligent apprehension of Christ as the sin
offering as the means of forgiveness and restoration, and for deeper
self-judgment, since the measure of self-judgment is the measure of our
apprehension of Christ as the sin offering. So the prince who has sinned brings
a "male" offering. The blood being put on the horns of the altar of burnt
offering, and the fat burnt on the altar, links the sin offering with the burnt
offering. How precious the thought that in passing through the deep exercise of
self-judgment with God in regard to our sin, we are brought into the blessed
realization of what Christ is to God as the true burnt offering. It would not be
in keeping with God’s movements towards us in grace to leave us merely with the
negative thought of being relieved of our sin; He would also give us the
precious sense of the sweet odour of Christ as the burnt offering.

Little need be added regarding the sin of "one of the people of the land," save
to note that the offerer brings a female goat or sheep, thereby indicating a
weaker apprehension of Christ than the prince. Let it not be thought, however,
that this infers his sin is more easily atoned for, or that anything less than
the full value of the death of Christ could atone for it. In all that has passed
before us in these pages the dominant thought has surely been how Christ and His
death is apprehended by the faith and affections of the saints of God, and in
this we cannot go beyond our measure. How blessed to find in the all-sufficiency
of Christ the perfect and absolute answer to every need, whether as sinners or
as saints. It was sovereign mercy that met us in all our deep need as sinners;
it is divine mercy that sustains us in all the trying and difficult
circumstances of the pilgrim pathway as we "await the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ unto eternal life." To understand the book of Leviticus, it is essential
to understand that access to God in His dwelling place, the tabernacle, is in
view. The burnt offering was for the acceptance of the offerer before God. Even
the sin offering, as brought before us here, is to meet the errors and failures
of those who had been brought to God through redemption. Israel had been
sheltered from divine judgment by the blood of the paschal lamb, and the sin
offering of the Day of Atonement secured their relations with God. In Leviticus
5:1-6 we have three specific cases, which in principle appear to cover every
kind of failure in the practical ways of God’s people. The first is failure in
respect of witness; the second is failure as to the maintenance of separation;
and the third is failure regarding sobriety or self-control. The first instance
of guilt concerns one who, forgetting that there is a "time to be silent,"
forgets also that there is a "time to speak," and has failed to divulge that
which he was responsible to make known. It is not unknown among the people of
God that those who could have borne witness have maintained a reprehensible
silence so as to shelter an evildoer. This is a serious matter, especially in
relation to the things of God, for it is said of such, "If he do not give
information, then he shall bear his iniquity." The Blessed Lord is in this
matter, as in all others, the great Exemplar. When before the High Priest, He
heard the voice of adjuration, and witnessed a good confession (Matthew 26:63).
It is not merely a great privilege, it is our bounden duty to be confessors of
the truth, witnesses to Christ in every sphere and in every circumstance. Alas!
how often we fail to speak well and worthily of Him who witnessed the good
confession before Pontius Pilate (1 Timothy 6:13). We shrink from the reproach
attaching to His precious Name. The words of the hymn-writer come with a
definite challenge to each of us, "Jesus, and shall it ever be, a mortal man
ashamed of Thee?" What an example the apostles give us in Acts 5:41, "They
therefore went their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to be dishonoured for the Name."

It will no doubt be readily acknowledged that the character and energy of our
testimony will only be in proportion to the measure in which we have apprehended
the truth concerning the Person of Christ; as the beloved apostle could say in 1
John 1:3, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also
may have fellowship with us." Our witness is to be of what we have seen or known
in Jesus. He is the great subject-matter of all divine testimony; He is the
inexhaustible source from which it flows, and the peerless object to which it is
directed.

Let us not discount the value, nor the importance of our testimony for the Lord
Jesus. It may not partake of the character of what was seen in the great apostle
— strong, positive, robust, and unyielding. Natural timidity and a reserved
disposition, such as were in Timothy, may mark us, but even these will not
hinder a valiant testimony to Christ, for "God hath, not given us the spirit of
fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). In
Leviticus 5:2-3 we have another instance of failure; failure to maintain a walk
in separation from defilement. The word of God speaks with no uncertain voice as
to the true character of the world through which the children of God pass as
pilgrims and strangers. God’s word tells us that "The whole world lies in the
wicked one"; and exhorts us, "Love not the world, nor the things of the world.
If any one love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 5:19; 1 John
2:15-16). The world’s system, in all its ramifications, is inherently and
implacably hostile and antagonistic to God and His Christ. Do not temporise,
dear saint of God, with its alluring approaches, do not parley with its
plausible and seductive sophistries. Men have christianised the world,
substituting other names to make its contours less offensive, but in spite of
all his purposive and well-intentioned activities, that friendly outstretched
hand of the world is still darkly stained with the blood of the Son of God.

How necessary, therefore, it is for us to maintain that inflexible and
uncompromising separation from such a world, not in the spirit of legality which
results in a state of austere monasticism, but in the all-conquering, overcoming
power of the Spirit by which we shall be able to say with the beloved apostle,
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom the world is crucified to me. and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14). On
this subject, the late J. N. Darby wrote, "Whatever Christ’s present relation to
the world is, that is the Christian’s too — the place which the Lord is in
above, and the place that He is not in below, defines our place. Whence is all
this? Will it surprise anyone to hear that Satan is the god of this world . . .
the manager of this stupendous system? His is the energy, his the presiding
genius; he is its prince. When Jesus was on earth the devil came and offered Him
all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them; for, said he, that is
delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it, if thou therefore wilt
worship me all shall be thine. Here we have the curtain lifted, and the real
object of all human religious worship exposed. Scripture describes him as "full
of wisdom, perfect in beauty" arraying himself "like an angel of light." Who can
wonder if unthinking men, yea, and the more thinking ones, are deceived and
deluded."

Privilege and position always carry with them weighty responsibility; and so the
child of God, heavenly in character and origin, finding himself in a world where
defilement is so easily contracted, realizes that it is incumbent upon him to
keep himself unspotted from the world. How sweet therefore to us the word of the
Blessed Lord as He pours out His heart to the Father concerning His own, "They
are not of the world as I am not of the world. I do not demand that Thou
shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them out of
evil" (John 17:14-15).

Many kinds and degrees of uncleanness are presented in figure in the touching of
the things mentioned in these verses. In a world of forfeited life, the
defilement of death lies heavily on the whole sphere where he who wields the
power of death holds sway. We cannot be on terms of intimacy and friendship with
those who belong to this world, or make companions of them, and walk with them,
without being rendered unclean. The unclean creatures of verse 2 would perhaps
typify that which is outside of ourselves — associations with unbelievers, as
referred to in 2 Corinthians 6:1-18; while the uncleanness of man in verse 3
would perhaps suggest what we have in 2 Corinthians 7:1, "Having therefore these
promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Surely the Spirit of
God places these promises before us as providing the necessary stimulus to
practical personal purity. Can anything be more obnoxious than the pretension of
separation from the world along with indifference to true holiness? Of the
saints collectively the apostle Paul writes, "Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" and of us individually he
writes, "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you?" In the light of these solemn Scriptures it is surely our clear and
habitual duty to cleanse ourselves from every kind of pollution. In verse 4 of
our chapter we have the third form of sin specified, "talking rashly with the
lips, to do evil or to do good, in everything that a man shall say rashly with
an oath." If it was to do evil, one ought never to have said it; if it was to do
good, one ought not to say it without doing it. The more rash a man is in his
speech, the more likely he is to strengthen what he says by an oath. Peter was
guilty of great rashness when confronted with his association with Jesus the
Galilean. He denied with an oath, "I do not know the man"; and at the third
challenge he began to curse and swear. A man whose words and ways are formed in
subjection to the Spirit and word of God does not speak rashly with his lips, he
heeds the word, "But let your word be Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more
than these cometh of evil" (Matthew 5:37). How often does the unsubdued state of
the heart expose itself in the rashness of the lips. Indeed, James says, "If
anyone offend not in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body
too."

If one has sinned therefore in any of the ways referred to, the moment comes
"when he knoweth it." The probe of conviction, employed so skillfully by the
Searcher of all hearts, reaches the conscience through the word. A cloud comes
over the joy which comes through communion; our spiritual strength is enfeebled;
our faith sensibly weakened, and there is the surrender of liberty in the
service of the Lord, in prayer and in fellowship with the saints.

One who is upright cannot remain long in this state of defilement, and so turns
to God in confession, and learns afresh the abiding value of the work of Christ
regarding our sins. This secures the restoration of the offender to the joy of
his acceptance, and to the joys of communion.

There are differences in capacity in the saints of God, and He has graciously
made provision for this. The one considered in verses 7-10 is feebler in his
exercises and in his apprehension of the work of Christ, but he receives the
needed forgiveness though he can only bring "two turtle doves or two young
pigeons."

There is even a feebler apprehension in him who brings "the tenth part of an
ephah of fine flour." He has no true perception that his sin necessitated the
death of Christ; he fails to measure it in its true gravity, and does not
realise that sin is such a heinous thing in God’s sight that death alone is the
measure of its condemnation. Yet he has the sense that he has done wrong, and
with this the sense of the perfectness of Christ and that only through Him can
he be restored to communion with God.

Whatever our apprehension of the death of Christ, how blessed it is to realise
that our acceptance and forgiveness rest, not on our apprehension, but on the
intrinsic value of Christ’s sacrifice as known to God alone. The Trespass
Offering.

Leviticus 5:14-19; Leviticus 6:1-7.

While there is a strong correlation between the sin and trespass offerings, the
distinguishable features belonging to each are sufficiently outstanding to
permit of the following distinctions being made. Trespass refers to acts done
against God or man, and to the root from which these acts proceed. No doubt it
has been noticed, when considering the sin offering, that specific acts are not
enumerated, since the primary object to which our thoughts are directed is the
condemnation of that which is totally abhorrent to the holiness of God, and in
the light of which man is shown to be a sinner; but with the trespass offering
specific offences are recorded, and man is regarded as a transgressor.

Without question, all transgression is sin, but all sin does not necessarily
partake of the character of trespass. It can be confidently affirmed therefore
that in the sin offerings the condemnation of sin is the main point to be
considered, whereas in the trespass offering the confession of sin is necessary.
In the sin offering the victim and the offerer are identified, the laying on of
hands on the head of the victim being the suited expression of this; but this
was never done in cases of trespass, although confession, full and ample, was
required.

It cannot be too often asserted that sin is not measured by conscience or by the
knowledge of what is evil, but exclusively by the holiness of God; so that, as
we saw in Leviticus 4:1-35, sins of ignorance were neither ignored nor lightly
passed over, but were provided for in the most solemn manner possible. The
mention of sins of ignorance or inadvertence is not made in the spirit of
indulgence, for the child of God having the word of God and being indwelt by the
Spirit of God should not be guilty of negligence. In the trespass offerings to
meet offences done against the Lord, whether known or unknown, the blood of a
victim alone could suffice; and added to this the offender had to make ample
amends for the harm done. In cases of trespass against one’s neighbour, adequate
restitution had to be made for the wrong done; not only had the principal to be
restored, but a fifth part added. Even when human claims were met, forgiveness
and atonement could only be obtained through the death of another, "for without
the shedding of blood is no remission."

How blessed it is to see all that is signified in the trespass-offering divinely
met in Christ’s sacrifice, who restored that which He took not away, and who
brought glory to God in doing so. In this brief review of the contrasting
aspects of these offerings it would appear that in the sin offering the offence
is regarded in relation to God and His dwelling place, hence self-judgment and
confession are needed. But there is another aspect, equally important, in which
sin is viewed as an offence against God’s government; and it is in this
connection that restitution has to be considered.

We read in Leviticus 5:15, "If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through
ignorance, in the holy things of Jehovah." It is very evident that such an one
has failed to render what was due to God, and is therefore guilty of an offence.
What was true of God’s earthly people is alas also often true of saints in these
days; we fail to render to God what is His due.

It is very blessed to note that it is not left to the capricious judgment of men
to determine the measure of trespass inflicted. Christ, as typified by Moses, is
the only One competent to estimate the degree of unfaithfulness in accordance
with divine requirements. When Christ brings this before the soul, one who is
intelligent in God’s mind would be concerned to make good the deficiency, and
even go beyond it.

Following this there is the presentation of the divine standard, the shekel of
the sanctuary, by which the trespass is measured. It ought to occasion great
concern to see how holy things are trifled with and made the plaything of the
mind of man; God’s rights of redemption are ignored, and the holiness of his
sanctuary defiled in many ways. May we be found therefore acting with reference
to these holy things in intelligent concert with Him who rightly estimates
everything in accordance with that invariable standard, "the shekel of the
sanctuary." In Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22 we see the Lord Jesus
estimating the church’s failure according to the divine standard.

Another marked difference between the sin offering and the trespass offering is
that in the former the offering is according to the capacity of the offerer, the
one who has sinned, but in the latter all is according to the valuation of Moses
— typical of Christ. How suitable it is that in every case the offering is a
ram; speaking of Christ who, in the selflessness of a love in which every-thing
was subordinated to the will of God even unto death, displayed in complete
consecration to that will a steadfastness of purpose which resisted every
attempt to deflect Him from the path of unquestioning obedience upon which He
had entered for the glory of God. A ram indicates maturity and energy, and
suggests, in accordance with divine evaluation, a definite and distinct
apprehension of Christ as affording in His death that adequate covering of the
sin which has been committed in the "holy things." In keeping with this, the
measure and character of self-judgment must be in perfect correspondence with
the divine estimate of our sin which can only be met by the "ram of the trespass
offering." In Leviticus 5:17-19 we have one who does not even know that he has
sinned, "Yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity . . . he has certainly
trespassed against Jehovah." One should always realise the possibility of having
sinned without knowing it. What carefulness and sensitiveness this would produce
in the path of one who desires to walk with God, even as Paul could say, "I am
conscious of nothing in myself; but I am not justified by this; but He that
examines me is the Lord" (1 Corinthians 4:4). We may not know that we have
trespassed, but the One who measures all by the inflexible standard of the
shekel of the sanctuary knows. The words of the Psalmist, in this connection,
come home with much-needed reproof and admonition to each one of us, "Search me,
O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

It is truly remarkable to see the spirit that actuated Job; how concerned he was
lest his sons should have offended in word or in deed to provoke the displeasure
of God; and with divinely given intelligence he provided sacrifices to meet
God’s claims. Nor was this a fitful exercise, for it is recorded, "This did Job
continually."

We shall no doubt have the Lord’s valuation at the judgment-seat, but is it not
desirable to have it beforehand? The trespass offering is available now, and
those healthful exercises connected with this offering would lead to an
increased appreciation of Christ, and an enlarged apprehension of the value
which God places upon Christ’s offering of Himself as being more than sufficient
to meet every trespass occasioned by our failure to walk in subjection to the
will of God. As already stated, the trespass offering involves restitution.
Grace comes in to enable one to make full reparation. It is not only that
atonement is made, but what is due to God or one’s neighbour is fully rendered
with a fifth part added. Nor is it only being forgiven, and going on with God as
forgiven, but the failure is made good, so that the one whose rights had been
infringed is better off than before. If we have injured a brother in any way,
having said anything untrue about him, or the like, and have really brought the
trespass offering according to the Lord’s valuation, we shall restore in full.
The Lord will enable us to take a low place in the acknowledgment of the fault,
and the injured will rejoice in the display of grace. The opening verses of
Leviticus 6:1-30 are concerned with "If any one sin and act unfaithfully against
Jehovah, and lie to his neighbour as to an entrusted thing or a deposit." As
children of God, being partakers of the divine nature, and as having the Spirit
of God indwelling us, we can take account of each other as vessels in which
there has been deposited precious heavenly treasure. This divine grace, given
according to the measure of the gift of Christ, we must regard as a "good
deposit entrusted," and we must see that this priceless treasure suffers no
diminution or damage in our hands, but that it is held faithfully for the Lord
and His saints.

All that the Lord has given to us we hold on trust, and we are under obligation
to use it to full advantage for the good of all His own. The beloved apostle
Paul was deeply conscious of having things entrusted to him, and how exercised
he was that he should not be guilty in regard to them, as we can see in such
Scriptures as Romans 1:14-15; 1 Corinthians 9:16-23; 1 Timothy 1:11. Like the
apostle, each saint in his measure, is to be faithful in regard to what the Lord
has entrusted to him.

"Earthen vessels, marred, unsightly, Bearing wealth no thought can know;

Heavenly treasure, gleaming brightly, Christ revealed in saints below." The Law
of the Burnt Offering. In Leviticus 6:1-30 and Leviticus 7:1-38 we come, in our
consideration of the offerings, to a very important and instructive portion of
the Word of God. The oft repeated phrase "Aaron and his sons" brings into
prominence the thought of the priestly family to which every child of God,
without exception, belongs: and it is connected specially with "the law of the
offerings," which indicates the principle on which the service of God relating
to the offerings must be carried on.

Before considering the detail of this attractive and absorbing subject, let us
view the divine order in which these offerings are brought before us here by the
Spirit of God. (1) The Burnt Offering, of which the central thought is "it shall
not go out." There is constantly before God the voluntary and absolute surrender
of Christ in which He delights, the unhesitating obedience and devotedness of
the Son to the Father. The fragrance of that one offering, unchanged in
character and its fulness unimpaired, ever ascends to God.

(2) The Meat Offering, of which a memorial, with all the frankincense, was
claimed for God; Aaron, his sons, and all the males among his children eating
what remained. (3) The Sin Offering, which is constantly referred to as "most
holy." (4) The Trespass Offering, all the fat of which was burned on the altar
to the Lord, the flesh being eaten by the priests in a holy place. (5) The Peace
Offering, which in the earlier chapter came after the meat offering and before
the sin offering, here comes last. Jehovah, Aaron and his sons, the offerer and
his friends, feast and joy together. Joint communion is generally last to be
apprehended when considering the meaning of the sacrifices. The type with which
we are now engaged has manifestly to do with those who are now God’s "holy
priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5), a precious thought which cannot fail to arouse and
hold the attention of every redeemed heart. We find in this type the application
of the sacrifice of Christ as bringing the saints into all the unspeakable
blessedness of fullest communion with God. Our place before God as priests is
brought before us in the consecration of the priesthood, in chapter 8.

How very significant is the statement "the burnt offering shall be on the hearth
on the altar all night unto the morning." For the saint of God this is the night
period, the time of Christ’s absence. Our adorable Saviour and Lord, whose
claims we own, has been disowned by this world over which a usurper exerts his
baneful power; but amidst the darkness the saints in fidelity to their absent
Lord are privileged to witness for Him. The professing church is in
irretrievable ruin, the object of disrepute and dishonour in the eyes of a
hostile world, the refuge of every God-dishonouring religious faction that takes
the name of Christ though shorn of every vestige of divine approval, and which
in a coming day will have the unqualified repudiation of Him whose witness it
claims to be. How dark indeed is the night as the moral darkness settles down
with ever increasing intensity upon this deluded world.

Those who are patiently waiting for the dawning of that wondrous day which knows
no decline will be cheered with the words "it shall never go out," knowing that
they tell us that the value and the sweet savour of the great sacrifice of
Christ is as fresh before God as the day on which it was offered. Despite our
waywardness, our wilfulness and our unfaithfulness, our acceptance before God
remains unimpaired because of the abiding efficacy of the work of Him "who by
the eternal Spirit offered Himself spotless to God." And when we reach the
glorious consummation of all God’s ways in grace, where God shall be all in all,
the fragrance of that offering shall still pervade the sublime scene where God
eternally smells that sweet savour of rest.

Christ’s offering of Himself was a "whole burnt offering," in which all that He
was in complete devotedness to the will of God in the place of sacrifice was
found to be infinitely perfect and fragrant to the heart of the Blessed God.

It was the priests’ business to keep the fire burning, "all night unto the
morning," and the fragrance of Christ is ever kept in remembrance in the praises
of the saints. Fervent affections in which the preciousness and perfections of
Christ are maintained and cherished in the hearts of the saints by the Holy
Spirit rise in glad songs of praise to the Father. Neither natural activity, no
matter how intelligently directed, nor fleshly ardour, can have any part in
these responsive movements of the heart and spirit. In the oil for the
Candlestick (Exodus 27:20) there is a beautiful type of the Spirit maintaining
the light of Christ in refreshing ministry to His own during the night of His
absence; and can we not see in the "continual fire" the Spirit as the power in
which we present Christ in all the fragrance of His Person in our praises to God
the Father; as we sometimes sing:

"His deep perfections gladly sing And tell them forth to Thee."

It is a most inspiring thought that the Father should in the Son be seeking
worshippers from among men. How wonderful to find the Son of God in Samaria
ministering to the woman at the well the precious things of heaven, pouring into
the heart of a weary sinner in copious measure those streams of heavenly grace
which find their source in the heart of the Father Himself. Here we find the
branches running over the wall in blessing to those who were "sinners of the
Gentiles." The worship the Son sought for the Father was "in spirit and in
truth." In spirit is according to what God is essentially; and in truth in
accordance with that full revelation of Himself in the Son. What a blessed place
is this where we can so worship God! As another has said, "Here is the true
Beulah land for the saint, where the birds sing ever, and the heart goes forth
in perpetual melody. God delights to have us remind Him — though He can never
forget it — of the work of the Son of His love: how sweet our occupation!" As we
read of the work of the priest in relation to "the ashes" do we not learn that
God would have us brought into practical conformity with that which calls forth
the worship of our hearts. The linen garments indicate that we should be
characterised by practical righteousness, and in taking up the ashes we should
live in conformity to the death of Christ. How fittingly does the passionate
utterance of Ruth rest upon the lips of those who have been brought into God’s
favour through Christ’s death: "Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I
be buried."

We have a similar thought in Acts 8:1-40, where Philip had spoken to the
Ethiopian eunuch about Jesus, whose life was taken from the earth. The response
of the eunuch was, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?" As
though he would say, "I want to accept the place of death with Him whose life
was taken from the earth." It is only righteous that we should accept death
here, and we can only act in the current of God’s thoughts when we do so. Paul
makes this the basis of his appeal in his epistle to the Colossians, "If ye be
dead with Christ" (Colossians 2:20); and again in 2 Timothy 2:11, "If we be dead
with Him, we shall also live with Him."

Having taken our place before God as having died with Christ, we "put on other
garments." Do not the other garments suggest the character we bear as walking
before men in conformity with the death of Christ? We go forth "without the camp
unto a clean place." We must leave everything here that has a name, or a place,
or a religious sanction upon earth, to bear the reproach of One who has no place
here, save in the hearts of those who love Him, even as exhorted in Hebrews
13:12-14, "Therefore let us go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His
reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." The Law
of the Meat Offering. In the pursuance of the wonderful theme of these richly
expressive types, which are descriptive of Him who is the glorious substance of
these shadows, we are deeply conscious that without the sustaining power of the
Spirit the heart would be overwhelmed with such a presentation of the
excellencies and perfections of Christ. And nowhere is the truth of this more
greatly emphasised than in the Meat Offering. In Leviticus 1:1-17 we have what
relates to the offering itself, but in the law we have the relation of the
priests, "Aaron and his sons," to the offering.

Every child of God is a priest, and God would have all His children aware of the
holiness which becomes His house at all times, and realising the necessity for
unrelaxed vigilance with respect to our comportment before men, lest we should
allow anything inconsistent with priestly ways and behaviour. As priests we
should ever be marked with the holy concern consistent with handling the holy
things of God.

We come in Leviticus 6:14 to the law of the meat offering or oblation, which
means "gift offering," or "food offering," which the sons of Aaron offered
"before the LORD, before the altar." What an accept-able offering to bring to
God! that which speaks of Christ as the food of His people. And how wonderful
that we should be able to feed on Him who is thus acceptable to God, Christ in
all the perfections of His Manhood, the One conceived by the Spirit, and the
anointed Man for God’s pleasure in this world. In John 6:51-57 we feed upon
Christ as the Bread of God, the Living Bread. Under law the privilege of feeding
on the sacrifices was sometimes restricted, but it is the privilege of all
believers in Christ to feed upon the provision that God has made for us in
Christ. We feed upon Christ not only for the maintenance of the life that God
has given us, but also for its development. Let us consider some of the ways in
which we may feed on Christ. When the feast of the Passover was instituted, God
commanded the children of Israel to take a lamb and kill it and sprinkle its
blood upon the door-posts and the lintel of the houses in which they were to eat
the flesh of the lamb "roast with fire," saying, "When I see the blood, I will
pass over you." They were to eat it with bitter herbs and with girded loins,
with shoes on their feet and a staff in their hands. How touchingly this speaks
of our own deliverance from a bondage greater far than that out of which the
children of Israel were delivered, even from the bondage of sin.

Awakened by the Spirit of God to a sense of our perilous position, and alarmed
at the thought of impending judgment, how eagerly we fed upon the spotless Lamb
that had passed through the fire of God’s holy judgment, borne for us upon the
tree. It was indeed with bitter herbs we ate the Lamb, as we realised it was our
sins that brought Him to that solemn hour in which He was alone. The second time
we read of Israel keeping the Passover was in the wilderness, and it is as
pilgrims and strangers awaiting our absent, yet soon-returning, Lord that we
feed upon Him. Again, in the land, Israel kept the Passover. Over the Jordan it
was not only a memorial of deliverance, but of accomplished redemption. So with
the believer now: we have a position corresponding to being "in the land," for
not only have we been quickened together with Christ, but are already raised up
together, and made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 2:6).

Another character in which the Lord Jesus is presented as food for His people is
as the Manna, and the fulfilment of this type is seen in the passage to which we
have already referred in John 6:1-71. Manna was food for the wilderness, and
presents to us Christ, a humbled Christ in this world. This singularly
attractive type brings before us the matchless, heavenly grace which marked Him
in His lowly path of pleasure for His God and Father, exhibiting His obedience,
meekness, gentleness, dependence, the love of righteousness, the hatred of
lawlessness, and every other feature of perfection.

All these traits of beauty came down from heaven in the wondrous Person of "the
Son of Man who is in heaven," and were displayed in a life of lowly grace here
upon earth, and now provided for us as food — the true Manna. Another has said,
"For instance something may make me impatient during the day; well, then Christ
is my patience, and thus He is the Manna to sustain me in patience. He is the
source of grace, not merely the example which I am to copy." A third character
in which the Lord Jesus is food for our souls is as the Old Corn of the land
(Joshua 5:11). In verses 10-12 of this chapter we have the three kinds of food
mentioned of which we have spoken, the Passover, the Manna and the Old Corn (or
Stored Corn) of the land. The Old Corn speaks to us of the Glorified Christ: He
is the true food of the heavenly land that strengthens us for the conflict
against principalities and authorities (Ephesians 6:12), who would contest our
right to the possession of the inheritance God has given to us in Christ.

Coming back to the Law of the Meat Offering our attention is drawn to the
portion of the priests. In feeding upon the Meat Offering we are not then
contemplating what is found in the other offerings, atonement and acceptance,
but are engaged pre-eminently with the perfections and matchless beauty of
Christ in Manhood that were so delightful to the Father. As occupied with Jesus
in this way we enter in sweet communion into the enjoyment of the Father’s
thoughts concerning His Son, and under the Spirit’s guidance the heart wells up
and overflows in praise and worship.

"His deep perfections gladly sing And tell them forth to Thee." In the
presentation of the gift before Jehovah we have indicated the privilege of our
coming before God to present Christ in His perfections, the heart delighting in
the display in Him of every feature of Manhood before the Father’s eye. A new
kind of humanity has come in the Person of Jesus, perfect in every detail, and
suitable to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. No flaw of mortality lurked in His
blessed Person, and even in the grave his flesh saw no corruption. How
touchingly the Father has expressed His unqualified delight in the Man of His
good pleasure; how fittingly therefore in the type before us that God has the
first portion as the priest takes or heaves his handful of fine flour of the
oblation and of the oil, and all the frankincense, for Jehovah. The remainder
was for Aaron and his sons to eat. There was no feeding on the Burnt Offering:
all went up to Jehovah on the altar. We can in varying measures appreciate what
this offering means, but it is not ours to feed upon; it speaks of what Christ
was to God His Father in the giving of Himself upon the cross. But how wonderful
that we can feed upon Christ as the True Meat Offering! It is as feeding upon
Him in this way that the moral sensibilities and characteristics which are
descriptive of Christ are formed in us.

It was to be eaten in a holy place, unleavened, "in the court of the tabernacle
of the congregation they shall eat it." Does not this indicate that it is only
as we are withdrawn in spirit from the sphere of human thoughts and activities
that we can feed on Christ? In the tabernacle the priest was surrounded with
God’s interests, and it is as engaged with what belongs to God that we feed on
Christ.

Feeding on the Manna we receive the grace that enables us to meet all the trials
and temptations of the wilderness, but the oblation is the suited provision to
sustain those who stand in relation to the testimony of God in this world, and
to strengthen us in the worship of God. Feeding on Christ as the oblation will
give us spiritual vitality for our exercises in communion with the Lord. The
oblation was to be unleavened. The insidious, fermenting motions of the flesh
could not be tolerated by Jehovah. As most holy, it calls for a consistent walk
in the Spirit, and for continual self-judgment; for true sanctification in
occupation with Christ.

Then we read "It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the
offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy"
(Leviticus 5:18). Feeding on Christ produces moral separation from the world and
sin and the flesh. What then are we nourishing our affections on? Is it Christ
or the worthless, enervating things of the world? In Leviticus 6:20 another
offering is mentioned, which was to be presented by the priest on the day of his
anointing; it was not a voluntary offering, it was obligatory. Half was to be
offered in the morning, the other half at night, indicating that the day was to
commence and finish with thoughts of Christ. The normal oblation was either
mingled with oil or anointed with oil; this offering was to be saturated with
oil, a more intensive thought. As Mr Darby has said, "The Son of God in power,
who, in the midst of sin walked by the Spirit in divine and absolute holiness
(resurrection being the illustrious and victorious proof of who He was, walking
in this character). That is to say, resurrection is a public manifestation of
that power by which He walked in absolute holiness during His life. . . . Here
it was no question of promise, but of power, of Him who could enter into
conflict with the death in which man lay, and overcome it completely; and that
in connection with the holiness which bore testimony during His life to the
power of that spirit by which He walked, and in which He guarded Himself from
being touched by sin." Is this the Blessed One with whom we begin the day? as
the Psalmist said, "When I awake, I am still with Thee." And can we, after the
busy day is over, present to God in all the freshness of sustained communion our
appreciation of that wondrous Person in correspondence with the measure in which
we began the day? A day which begins and ends thus will be filled with the
fragrance of that which is peculiarly for the Father’s delight, for this
offering "shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten" (Leviticus 6:23).

"The baken pieces of the meat offering" (Leviticus 6:21) might suggest that
spiritual discernment by which every part and detail of Christ’s wondrous life
can be discovered by those who find Him truly to be "all things and in all." The
Law of the Sin Offering and of the Trespass Offering Leviticus 6:24-30;
Leviticus 7:1-10.

It is solemn to reflect that no matter what relationship God has been pleased to
establish with men, holiness can never be dispensed with. We have this
emphasized in the song of Moses: "Who is like unto Thee Jehovah among the gods?
Who is like unto Thee, glorifying Thyself in holiness, fearful in praises, doing
wonders? Thou by Thy mercy hast led forth the people Thou hast redeemed; Thou
hast guided them by Thy strength unto the abode of Thy holiness" (Exodus
15:11-13). We would do well to consider that these are the choice and elevated
expressions of a people who stood only in a place of external relationship to
God, who moved still in the twilight of types and shadows, for God was but
partially revealed; yet holiness was essential in all their dealings with a God
who is of holier eyes than to behold iniquity. To us therefore, who stand in an
immeasurably nearer and more intimate relationship to God these wonderful
expressions are pregnant with divine meaning and instruction. How forcibly the
truth of this is brought home to us in Peter’s first epistle, "But as He who has
called you is holy, be ye also holy in all (your) conversation; because it is
written. Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16). As another has said, "The
word used here in relation to God speaks of Him as holy, knowing good and evil
perfectly, and absolutely willing good and no evil. When applied to men, it
designates them as separated, set apart to God from evil and from common use."
These brief remarks will serve as a fitting preface in our consideration of the
law of the sin offering. In no other offering is holiness so insisted upon as in
this; four times within the narrow compass of a few verses the Spirit of God
states of the sin and trespass offerings (there is one law for them) "It is most
holy." Let not the simplicity of this phrase take away from its deep, searching
significance and solemn import. How easy it is for us, when our loins are not
sufficiently braced with the girdle of truth, to be carelessly tolerant of that
which ought to be unsparingly judged and confessed before God. Let us be
watchful, lest we are snared by the sentimental philosophies and moralizings of
men who declare that to "Err is human, to forgive divine"; with little or no
thought of how abhorrent our "erring" is in the sight of God, and are entirely
ignorant of the holiness without which "no man shall see the Lord."

There are men of the world who naturally favour the beautiful and more
attractive things of life, recoiling with marked distaste from what is gross and
offensive; but this is not holiness; their abhorrence has no reference to God
whatever; and all sin is against God. In deep penitence the Psalmist confessed,
"Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight: that
Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest, be clear when Thou judgest. The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise" (Psalms 51:4; Psalms 51:17). Of precious significance are
the words, "At the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered shall the sin
offering be slaughtered before Jehovah." The sin offering is necessary where
there has been the allowance of that which has been condemned in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ — sin in whatever aspect or measure. We are to take up
this solemn matter according to the mind of God, in the sense of the deep
perfections and excellence of that there is no breaking, but there is the
intense application of the word in its searching and discriminating power, as
suggested by the scouring. There is also the rinsing, suggesting the sanctifying
and purifying virtue, so that moral suitability might be maintained.

Regarding the trespass offering we read, "As the sin offering, so is the
trespass offering; there shall be one law for them." The priests who made
atonement with the sin or trespass offering, received the offering for his
service, suggesting the gain for our souls in taking up this priestly exercise.
The priest who presented any man’s burnt offering, received its skin, so that he
might be shod and adorned with the beauty of the offering that gave such
pleasure to Jehovah. The offering priest also received "all the meat offering
that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan, and in the
pan." There is always great personal gain in having to do with the things of
God; how profound is the enrichment of soul in ministering to the pleasure of
God of that which savours peculiarly of Christ. The one so engaged feeds with
unspeakable delight upon that blessed One as the food of his soul, nourished
inwardly as he finds in Him the all-absorbing object for his heart. The Law of
the Peace Offering.

Leviticus 7:11-38.

How powerful is the divine constraint laid upon us, as we consider these
precious types, to walk in the practical reflection of all that has been
portrayed of an offering of superlatively greater worth, and which in all its
sacrificial aspects has ministered unspeakable delight and satisfaction to the
heart of God. We can discern in the offerings something of the order and purpose
with which the Spirit presents the truth, which in all its fulness and
perfection is seen in Christ; and it is so presented that the devoted and
exercised heart should be furnished with powerful inducements to bring its
practical ways and behaviour into correspondence with all that is set forth in
Christ. This divine order can also be observed in Paul’s writings to the various
assemblies: first, there is the comprehensive unfoldings of the truth, which is
then used as the basis for an affectionate and earnest appeal to the saints, so
that they might be marked characteristically as those coming under the formative
power of the truth. When we consider "the law of the sacrifice of
peace-offering," we are impressed with the indication of spiritual exercises
relating to our practical ways, and to our fellowship with each other — a
fruitful and profitable field for our tillage, surely. If these spiritual
exercises are entered into intelligently, according to the mind of God, we shall
be able to maintain and enjoy the communion to which God has called us.
Submission to the Word and Spirit of God will give us the necessary spiritual
state in which alone we can enjoy together Christian fellowship. In considering
the shameful disorder and confusion that existed in the assembly at Corinth, it
is not difficult to perceive that it resulted from their low moral state. As we
look around us today, and note with deep sorrow of heart the desolations the
adversary has made among the saints of God, we would venture the question, has
the solemn warning come too late, or has it fallen upon ears grown dull of
hearing? "He that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall." It is not
therefore without significance that in the law of the offerings, the peace
offering comes after the sin and trespass offerings.

Since the law of the peace offering brings before us the enjoyment of the
spiritual blessing and profit that we have together in communion, does it not
show the propriety of bringing in the sin offering first, as relieving us of any
tendency to self-occupation because of our state, and the trespass offering, as
having to do with any infringement of the rights of God or trespass against the
saints. What this fellowship involves for us is brought out in 1 Corinthians
10:1-33, where all true believers are spoken of as partakers of the Lord’s
Table.

It is only as we are true to the fellowship of Christ’s death that we can really
enter into the sweetness and joy of the Lord’s Supper, the truth of which is
brought out in 1 Corinthians 11:1-34. This fellowship with its divine provision
for us is in marked contrast to all that is in the idolatrous world around. If
we seek the pleasures of this world, we cannot properly enter into the enjoyment
of the fellowship of the Lord’s Table. The first feature mentioned in respect of
the law of the peace offering is that of thanksgiving: "If he present it for a
thanksgiving." How fittingly does thanksgiving and praise rest upon the lips of
every child of God as he contemplates the wonderful place of divine favour in
which he stands, as one who can give "thanks to the Father, who has made us fit
for sharing the portion of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12); and as he
feasts upon the blessed Son of God, the true peace offering, who is the object
of the Father’s heart. With the "sacrifice of thanksgiving" is offered
"unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and
fine flour saturated with oil, cakes mingled with oil." There is not only the
thought of the death of Christ, and all that has come to us as a result of that
death, but there is also an enhanced conception of the Kind of Man it was who
died for us: One who knew no sin, who walked through this scene in the grace and
power of the Holy Spirit; marked out the Son of God with power, according to the
Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead. In our fellowship together we
are to display those precious features of Christ, which are the fruits of the
Spirit, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness," etc. If these are
not expressed, our coming together may degenerate into mere sociability, such as
the men of the world seek after. How blessed it is therefore for us to walk in
all the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, whose gracious work it is to form us
in the features of Christ.

There is the recognition of what we are in ourselves in verse 13, where we read
of "his offering of leavened bread." Though rejoicing in the wonderful place
that sovereign mercy has accorded us as members of the one body, united to the
Risen Head in glory, yet are we ever conscious that we are in a mixed condition,
with the flesh still in us; even as it is written, "If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves " (1 John 1:8). The constant realization of this would
engender that spirit of self-judgment and self-distrust, which is essential for
the development of the spirit of lowliness that is so attractive in our
relations with each other.

Then "the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering of thanksgiving shall be
eaten the same day that it is presented" (Leviticus 7:15). Our communion with
each other must not be separated from that which is the basis of it — Christ as
the True Peace Offering. Only by observing this will our communion be maintained
in its true character. Moreover, our communion with each other must spring from
communion with God; a daily communion, which expresses our appreciation of the
blessed Son of God. In the case of "a vow" or "a voluntary offering" the flesh
could be eaten the next day. Do we not learn from this of the greater spiritual
energy and devotion manifested in these special sacrifices? The vow implies a
deeper work of the Spirit in the soul, which results from sustained communion
with the Father and the Son. The voluntary offering is the expression of the
pleasure that belongs to a devoted heart that has found its joy in the Person of
Jesus.

Pointed emphasis is laid on the necessity for cleanness on the part of those who
have part in divine communion. In the Book of Leviticus, discernment of, and
discrimination between, what is clean and unclean is not left to the capricious
judgment of men; but is stated in clear, precise and unequivocal language by the
Spirit of God. So also must we, in this dispensation of immeasurably greater
light, refuse with uncompromising decision any-thing and everything that falls
short of the divine standard of holiness set forth in God’s word. There was
unsparing judgment for those who, in Israel, compromised God’s holiness with
their uncleanness upon them. The fat and the blood of the offerings were for
Jehovah: they could not be eaten. Christ’s unique excellence, as the One who
said, "I delight to do Thy will, O God," could only be rightly appreciated by
the Father. God alone could measure the immense issues involved in the
unreserved acceptance of His will, which included all the suffering and shame of
the cross. In the light of these solemn considerations, how appropriately does
the Spirit refer to the fat as "the food of the offering." It is Jehovah’s
exclusive portion; that which He alone can appreciate. As another has said, "We
can contemplate what is not given us to appropriate." The blood also is reserved
for God as being wholly for His pleasure, and chapter 17 tells us why, "For the
life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to
make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul" (Leviticus 17:11). On the night of His betrayal, the Lord spoke of
"The cup of the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke
22:20). How richly is the truth of atonement, embracing substitution and
propitiation, brought before us in the types, and in their fulfilment in the
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the closing section of this chapter it is
clearly stated that the offerer shall with his own hands bring Jehovah’s
offering by fire, "the fat with the breast shall he bring " (Leviticus 7:30).
God would have us hold in a very personal way what Christ is for Himself, in all
His excellence and affections. In Ephesians 3:19, where the Apostle prays that
we might know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, do we not see the "fat
with the breast" in his hands? The priest waved the breast before it was eaten
by "Aaron and his sons." The waving would speak of our apprehension and
enjoyment of the love of Christ, in correspondence with the delight that God has
in it. None of the priestly sons are excluded from the enjoyment of "the love of
Christ"; it was the portion of all to feed upon the breast. But the right
shoulder was the portion of the priest that offered the blood and the fat of the
peace offering. As presenting Christ to God in communion, we can feed upon Him
who, in His walk down here, was ever for the will and pleasure of God, and in
this way would we acquire the strength to walk "even as He walked" (1 John 2:6).

Only as we are formed by these things, which are brought before us by the Spirit
in these extremely instructive types, can our fellowship with each other be
maintained in its true Christian character and in the spiritual energy that will
preserve it from deterioration and diminution.

Association With Christ

We come now to consider Leviticus 8:1-36, a chapter of profound interest and
instruction for every true believer in Christ, and a fitting climax to all the
precious truth concerning the various offerings and the laws respecting them.
From the very commencement of God’s dealings with the children of Israel
priesthood was in view, even as we read, "Ye have seen what I did unto the
Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself; now
therefore if ye will obey my voice . . . ye shall be a kingdom of priests and a
holy nation." From 1 Peter 2:9 we learn that God’s purpose, as set forth in this
Scripture, is fulfilled in the saints of the present dispensation. The
remarkable expression, "Take Aaron and his sons with him," draws our attention
to the precious truth that our title to priesthood is derived from our
relation-ship with Christ, even as that of Aaron’s sons was because of their
relationship with him. Aaron was called of God to the high honour of priesthood,
and as such was a type of Him to whom God said. "Thou art My Son." and "Thou art
a Priest." How the heart delights to linger over the Spirit’s utterances
concerning Christ as Priest, the One who is a "merciful and faithful High Priest
in things relating to God"; and "who has passed through the heavens"; a "High
Priest of good things to come" (Hebrews 2:17 : Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 9:11).

Although the priesthood of believers is not expressly mentioned in Hebrews, it
is implied in our drawing nigh to God, and in our having boldness for entering
into the holy of holies, as also in the offering of the sacrifice of praise. We
can see from 1 Peter 2:5-9 that all believers are now priests, and from Hebrews
10:19 that all alike have liberty of access into God’s presence.

Aaron is therefore a type of Christ when viewed alone; but when he is mentioned
in company with his sons, he with them is a type of the assembly as the priestly
family; but, be it carefully noted, the assembly in association with Christ.
What distinction this gives to the words, "Take Aaron and his sons with him!" It
is not sons of Adam, but sons of Aaron. The saints are not here viewed in their
natural condition, but in association with Christ as being the subjects of God’s
workmanship and grace, and as knowing our relationship with Christ in divine
affection.

God’s command for the consecration of the priests is given in Exodus 28:1-43;
Exodus 29:1-46; but Leviticus 8:1-36 describes how Moses, who was faithful in
all His house, carried out the divine command. The first action in the work of
consecration was the washing of the priests with water at the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation. Aaron, considered by himself, bathed with water,
typified Him who, in His own Person was ever spotless and undefiled, Aaron, in
association with his sons, presents to us the Christian company that has been
cleansed by the washing of water by the Word, and made morally competent by the
Spirit of God to minister in the holiest of all. Reference to this cleansing is
found in Hebrews 10:22, "our bodies washed with pure water." Only those in whose
hearts God’s mighty work of grace has been effected can be regarded as priests
according to the thought of God. How grievous the perversion of the thoughts and
intentions of God by presumptuous and lawless men who have arrogated to
themselves the right of priesthood, unrecognised and unsanctified by the Word of
God. In the next action, Aaron is separated from his sons; he is robed and
anointed alone. As a figure of Christ he is anointed without blood, for that
Holy One, "Who knew no sin," and "Did no sin," being absolutely holy needed not
the application of the blood. At the Jordan, He was anointed by the Spirit of
God in virtue of His own intrinsic holiness, the designation of Holy Spirit
speaking of perfect correspondence with the One upon whom He had rested. Of the
garments for glory and beauty the ephod was pre-eminently the priestly garment.
The gold, emblem of divine righteousness and glory, signifies the character of
Him who exercises before God the priestly office; One who is spoken of as "Jesus
Christ, the Righteous"; and who is priest because He is Son. The blue sets forth
His heavenly Manhood; the purple and the scarlet, His glories as Son of Man and
Son of David. His spotless, flawless purity is indicated in the fine twined
linen, for He is the "Holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners." The
materials considered reveal the unique character of Christ’s priesthood. His
royal glories are portrayed as well as His divine nature and heavenly character.
He will indeed yet be a priest upon His throne, displaying the glories of His
kingdom as King of righteousness and King of peace.

Two girdles are mentioned here; one was on the vest, but the other, to which our
attention is particularly drawn, is described as "the girdle of the ephod." The
word for girdle here is only used for this peculiar girdle of the ephod, and it
means "of skilful workmanship," indicating the unique perfection of the service
of Christ as our Great High Priest. There is no service like His, who ever lives
before the face of God to make intercession for us. The girdle is throughout
Scripture the emblem of service. How beautifully is this seen in the Lord, where
he says, "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh, shall find
watching; verily I say unto you that He shall gird Himself, and make them sit
down to meat and will come forth and serve them" (Luke 12:37). This perfect
Servant ever delighted to do His Father’s will when in this world, and remains a
Servant in His place of exaltation and glory, carrying on unremittingly His work
of unwearied intercession on our behalf, securing for us those never-failing
ministrations of divine mercy to meet us in our weakness, and grace for
sustainment in the midst of many and varied temptations.

Each name of the children of Israel was on a separate stone on the breastplate:
on the two onyx stones, which were on the shoulders of the priest, there were
six names on each. The names on the onyx stones were "according to their birth,"
but on the breastplate of judgment they were for "the twelve tribes," speaking
of the people of God as set here according to the sovereignty of God in relation
to the truth committed to us. The people of God are borne on the heart of Christ
according to the manner in which God has been pleased to set us here in
testimony. It is a very precious and strengthening thought that not only are we
borne upon the shoulders of Christ’s strength, but we also have a place in His
heart and affections before God continually.

Christ bears us up on the shoulders of His everlasting strength, which can never
fail, for "No one shall seize them out of my hand"; and he presents us as the
objects of His everlasting love — changeless in its character, measureless in
its extent, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" He has bound us
upon His shoulders, as supporting us with His own omnipotent strength, and He
has fastened us upon His heart with His own deathless and unfathomable love. Who
can doubt therefore the prevailing efficacy of His priestly intercession on our
behalf based as it is on His sacrificial work? As another has said, "He presents
us as that which He has on His heart, to God. He cannot be before Him without
doing so; and whatever claim the desire of Christ’s heart has to draw out the
favour of God, operates in drawing out the favour on us. The light and favour of
the sanctuary — God as dwelling there — cannot shine out on Him without shining
on us, and that as an object presented by Him for it." These are soul stirring
words; but how far have our souls entered into them practically.

Then we have the Urim and the Thummim, placed in the breastplate of judgment,
and meaning "lights and perfections." In Nehemiah’s day there were matters which
could not be settled until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim. In the Lord
Jesus we have such a Priest; One in whom is all the mind of God, in whom all
light and perfections are found. In the bells and pomegranates, which were on
the hem of the robe of the ephod, we have presented to us the fruits and
testimony of the Spirit. How blessed was the sounding of the golden bells on the
day of Pentecost as the Spirit bore testimony through the apostles of the "going
in" of the Lord Jesus, when He ascended up on high; and how rich and abundant
the fruits accruing from that testimony. Can we not say that on the day of
Pentecost, as is written in Psalms 133:1-3, the anointing oil ran down to the
hem of His garment, where were the golden bells and pomegranates in orderly
alteration?

Graven on the plate of gold were the words "Holiness unto the Lord," so that the
priest might bear "the iniquity of the holy things." How precious is the truth
suggested in this typical language, for in this we have God’s provision for all
the defilement and imperfections of our service and worship during our sojourn
in this scene. Everything presented to God must bear the stamp of holiness, for
He can only accept that which is in perfect suitability to His own nature.
Despite the fact that we have been cleansed and brought into relationship with
Him, and having title to approach, left to ourselves our offerings would be
wholly unacceptable. But this need has been fully met, for our Great High Priest
bears the iniquity of our holy things, and blessed be God, He is "Holiness to
the Lord," so that our worship as presented through Him is acceptable in every
way to God.

How rich is the consolation in knowing that we have such an High Priest over the
House of God! As these rich and varied glories and excellencies of Jesus, the
Son of God, the Great Priest, pass before the vision of our souls in
ever-deepening concentrations of grace and beauty, how suited is the language of
the hymn to express our own thoughts and feelings:

Each thought of Thee doth constant yield Unchanging, fresh delight.

Offering Strange Fire

It is clearly discernible to the diligent and careful reader of Scripture that
in the oft-repeated phrase "Aaron and his sons," the Spirit of God is indicating
in typical language those who are truly born of God, and are kindred to Christ.
The apostle Peter speaks of such as constituting "a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1
Peter 2:5). The ignoring of this truth has resulted in the formation of
exclusive priestly casts in some of the great systems in Christendom, which have
arrogated to themselves a travesty of priestly functions, unsanctioned by and
unknown to the Word of God.

If we desire to understand and enjoy the wonderful place of association that God
has given us in amazing grace with the Son of His love, this precious truth of
the priesthood of all believers must be maintained in its unalloyed purity, free
from the adulterations of human philosophy. Our place in the priestly family, in
nearness to God, involves dissociation from all that is contrary to His mind and
will. Our associations are of vital importance to the highest interests of
Christ in this world, so that it behoves us not to link His Name with anything
that would dishonour it. At the beginning of Leviticus 10:1-20 we are brought
face to face with grievous failure on the part of Aaron’s two elder sons, and
this is used by the Holy Spirit, as in many other instances, to instruct us as
to that which is unsuitable in the worship of God, and which calls forth His
displeasure and condign judgment. Because of our nearness to God it is necessary
for us to remember that "our God is a consuming fire," and to heed the
exhortation of the apostle Peter, "But as He who has called you is holy, be ye
also holy in all your manner of life."

"And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, took each of them his censer, and put
fire in it, and put incense on it, and presented strange fire before Jehovah,
which He had not commanded them." So reads the divine record of an act of man’s
presumptive will, which met with the righteous judgment of God, summarily
executed. The sin of Nadab and Abihu is not said to be in doing what God had
forbidden, but in doing what He had not commanded. It was a case of the will of
man obtruding itself upon the holy things of God, independent of divine
instructions; the will of man dictating in spiritual things, a sin now thought
little of, and which has become regularised in the religious systems of this
world. All around us today we see countless instances of ungodly men offering
"strange fire before God which He has not commanded them;" but the day of
judgment will assuredly overtake the religious system of men, when Babylon the
great, which has been a constant reproach and dishonour to the Name of Christ
will be overthrown, never to rise again.

Strange fire indicates what is of the world or of the flesh. It would appear
that Nadab and Abihu went outside for their strange fire; and this is the secret
of all the failure in that which has professed to be a public witness for God.
Is it not significant that in Leviticus 8:33, it expressly states, "And ye shall
not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting seven days, until the day
when the days of your consecration are at an end"? This has direct reference to
Leviticus 8:35 : "And ye shall abide at the entrance of the tent of meeting day
and night seven days and keep the charge of Jehovah."

How solemn, yet how blessed, is the thought of "keeping the charge" day and
night during the whole period of our consecration, for our whole lifetime in
this world. The Lord has entrusted His saints with that heavenly deposit of
divine truth, which constitutes our testimony for Him here; that which is
contained in the Holy Scriptures, all made known in the Son of God, all
connected with Him in heaven, the formation of the assembly by the Spirit in one
body, and as God’s habitation by the Spirit. We have the privilege of "going in"
with Christ, into the presence of the Father; but also the privilege of holding
fast His word in the place of testimony. In bringing the two thoughts together,
the keeping of the charge at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and the
offering of the fragrant incense, have we not clearly indicated that nothing but
the fragrance of Christ is acceptable to God in worship, and that everything
offered apart from Christ is "strange fire" and utterly unacceptable? The action
of the fire brought out the essential fragrance of the incense; and the fire
used for this purpose was taken from the brazen altar (Leviticus 16:12-13). It
must be God’s fire, taken from the altar of burnt offering, with all the sweet
savour of Christ’s death. Whether on the altar of burnt offering, or on the
golden censer, the fire, which speaks of the holiness of God in its searching
and judicial character, served only to bring out all the sweet, fragrant perfume
that was in Christ.

Aaron, on the day of atonement, entered into the holiest to sprinkle the blood
upon and before the mercy-seat, and he was covered by the overshadowing cloud of
incense. So our blessed Lord entered into the heavenly sanctuary, having
obtained eternal redemption, the fragrance of His deep perfections filling the
heavenly place. The essence of all true worship lies in communion with God in
regard to all that Christ is and all that He has done, and in the contemplation
of all the precious and eternal results flowing from that stupendous work of
redemption. Neither our thoughts nor our feelings have any place here, only what
delights the heart of God, of Christ Himself, who could say, "I have glorified
Thee on the earth, I have completed the work which Thou gavest me that I should
do it." True worship is alone by the Spirit, even as we read, "We are the
circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God."

How sad it is to consider the foreign elements that man has introduced from
without, those adulterants which have completely falsified the true character
and spirit of worship, and this because the Word and Spirit of God have been set
aside in favour of the wisdom of a world that knows not God. Let us be certain
of this, that no matter in how pious a garb the philosophy of men may be
presented, they will be found to be basically opposed to the divine and heavenly
order which God has established. Only those indwelt by the Spirit of God can
apprehend that which is pleasing to God.

Still, we can rejoice that God, in His faithfulness, has preserved a remnant
within the rack and ruin of the public testimony, characterized by the brightest
features of the original, the fruit of His own grace. Undue occupation with
man’s failure would dishearten, so that it is good to realise that God will not
be frustrated by human failure in giving effect to all that He has purposed with
regard to maintaining a testimony, though it be in weakness, for His own glory,
and the glory of Christ. And so in Leviticus 8:6-7 we are encouraged to maintain
that which is for God. To bewail the burning is a right and proper exercise with
those who desire to act in intelligence and sympathetic concert with the mind
and ways of God in regard to the grievous failure of the witness for God in this
world; but it is only as we are in spirit superior to all that would affect us
naturally that there can be the continuance of priestly dignity in our approach
to God as worshippers. There is the tendency to exclaim, "all is over, the ruin
is complete and beyond remedy." But this is not the language of faith, nor of
the remnant of the true children of God, for "the foundation of God standeth
sure. . . And, Let every one that nameth the Name of the Lord depart from
iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). In Leviticus 8:9-11 we have a statute which is of
permanent importance, "Thou shalt not drink wine nor strong drink, thou and thy
sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting." The probability is strong
that Nadab and Abihu were acting under the influence of stimulants when they
offered "strange fire." Natural emotions and natural fervour have no part in
divine worship, which is only by the Spirit of God. The effects of wine simulate
those produced by the Spirit (Acts 2:13-15). Religious excitement, produced by
music, art, eloquence and other stimulants for the flesh, have each contributed
to the presentation of "strange fire" in the worship of God. In spite of the
failure there are still "sons" to eat of the priestly food, and there is
something left for them to eat (Leviticus 8:12). We can eat of the true meat
offering, the One in whom there was no failure or possibility of it. There was
nothing that savoured of natural exhilaration or excitement in Him: we can feed
on Him "beside the altar," as realising that this holy food will strengthen us
for our priestly service before God.

Then "the breast of the wave-offering and the shoulder of the heave-offering
shall ye eat in a clean place." Here we have the thought of fellowship, shared
by all in the priestly family, daughters as well as sons. The weaker vessels are
not debarred from enjoying sweet fellowship in the enjoyment of the love of
Christ, or of appropriating His grace for strength for walking here for Him. The
oblation was to be eaten in "a holy place," for it pertained to priestly
function; the parts of the peace offering in "a clean place," referring to the
purity of our associations, which must be free from anything dishonouring to
God.

Spite of the public breakdown we can come before God with our hands filled
(Leviticus 8:15), a company of consecrated priests, presenting Christ in His
love and strength to God. Shall we not avail ourselves of these adequate and
never-failing divine resources, and so ensure that there will be the
strengthening of the things that remain for God’s pleasure?

Now we come to another important matter which deals with failure among the
people of God: the goat of the sin offering should have been eaten by the sons
of Aaron that were left, but instead it had been burnt. This had to do with "the
iniquity of the assembly," and it was a great and solemn matter in the eyes of
Moses. It is easier to burn the sin offering than to eat it, since the eating
requires a moral state not always possessed. We may have righteous indignation
against evil, and deal with it in a harsh and judicial way; but God would have
us deal with it as if it were our own. In the attitude of Moses to Aaron we have
another remarkable touch of grace. Conscious of being under the discipline of
God in relation to what had happened to his sons, Aaron was not free to take up
before God the sins of Israel. It was not indifference, but the burden of the
failure of his own house, and Aaron owned his weakness and inability, pleading
also what was appropriate in the sight of God in the circumstances. In the
solemn pleading of Aaron there was spiritual judgment as to what was acceptable
to Jehovah in a time of failure. On hearing these things, "Moses was content."

Aaron had to do with one who was faithful in all God’s House as a ministering
servant: we have to do with Him who is Son over God’s House. May we be given
grace to own how becoming it is for us to eat the sin offering, but confessing
how little spiritual ability we have to take up this solemn and much-needed
exercise.

A. Shepherd.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/sermons-of-a-shepherd/
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