rolls his sins, like sweet morsels, under his tongue, though he come before the Lord. Either he thinks it is of no consequence, and so sins, or that he is delivered to do these abominations, and so continues in evil. The case is plain. His wickedness is upon him. He is liable to be cut off from the Lord's people; even if the case be not so; if he only contract defilement by intercourse with others polluted by sin, he is unclean; he is guilty; he needs mercy; he must be pardoned and accepted through the great atonement, before he can acceptably worship and serve the Lord.

Further, even a case of unwitting trespass requires reparation and forgiveness. It is of much importance that each should know what he wants, and how to use what he needs. The thunders of the law must rouse the dead. The grace of the Redeemer must cheer the penitent. The bruised reed is not to be broken; the Lord hath done that already. The smoking flax is not to be quenched. You are to bind up the broken heart; not tear it in pieces, nor trample it in the dust. You are to heal the contrite spirit; not disregard nor contemn that acceptable work of the Lord. To the weary proclaim rest; to the tempted, grace; to them that are in darkness, light; to such as are in bondage, liberty, the glorious liberty of the children of God. Attending to these matters in their due order, you will not irreverently disregard them, nor will you unwittingly misuse them; every thing will be attended to decently and in order. (v. 14.)

Besides, in all these sacrifices the Lord required a willing observance of his statutes. Is not this the case under the dominion of grace? Are not all the Lord's people made willing in the day of his power? When they mourn for sin, do they not willingly mourn? When they come to Christ and lay the hand of faith upon him as their sacrifice, atonement, and redemption, do they not willingly do so? When they yield themselves up to his service, is not that surrender willingly made? When they consecrate their time and their talents to the furtherance of his glory, do they not willingly do so? "Not grudgingly or of necessity," is the apostle's maxim, "for God loveth a cheerful giver."

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ND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.

4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.

6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.

7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no

servile work therein.

9¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a 'sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

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11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.

13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.

14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor

parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15 ¶ And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the

LORD.

17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord.

19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.

20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 ¶ And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.

23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

25 Ye shall do no servile work therein : but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and

ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

28 And ye shall do no work in that same day for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.

29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.

30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.

31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye 'celebrate your sabbath.

33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.

35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.

36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:

38 Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD.

39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a

sabbath.

THE service of God is a constant service. We every day need his mercy. We ought every day to call upon his name. We are every day bound to love and obey him. But there are some seasons when we are more especially called to do so; the people under the law were so commanded. Some of those particular times and seasons are specified in this chapter. As they are all typical of spiritual privileges and gospel blessings, we are to seek to improve them, or, at least, some of them, for that purpose.

The Sabbath. This stands at the head of sacred days and holy seasons. How often is the due observance of the Lord's day enforced throughout the whole Word of God! How often are we told, that "six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings!" (v. 3). Ought you not, then, to remember to keep holy the sabbath day? Does it not remind you of the great work of the creation, when the Lord rested on the seventh day, and sanctified and blessed it? (Gen. ii. 2, 3.) Does it not remind you of the far more glorious work of redemption, when Jesus, who was delivered for our offences, rose again for our justification? (Rom. iv. 25.) Does it not also remind you of that rest which all who believe in Christ now find to their souls here on earth, and of that rest into which all who die in the faith of his name will enter hereafter in heaven? Remember to hallow the Lord's day. (Heb. iv. 3, 9.)

The Passover. Next to the sabbath, this was one of the chief typical feasts under the Mosaic dispensation. Its institution took place when the Lord was about to deliver them from the hand of Pharaoh and all the Egyptians. It was a night much to be re

membered unto the Lord. The lamb slain; the blood sprinkled; the token upon their houses; the destroyer going forth; the destruction made; the cry that arose; the terror of Pharaoh, and the fear of the Egyptians; the people thrust forth; and the deliverance accomplished in the very year, and on the very day foretold, all conspired to invest the memorial with the most sacred solemnity. Do we not here see our far greater deliverance by virtue of Christ's precious blood shed for our redemption and salvation? Do we not here perceive the safety and deliverance of all that trust in him? Let us never forget that Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. v. 7.)

The feast of unleavened bread. This also stood intimately connected with their great deliverance. What did it teach them; and what does it teach us? Sincerity and truth. As their deliverance was real, their gratitude, love, and praise should be sincere. Is it not so with us? Is not ours a real redemption, and a real salvation? Ought we not to be really devoted to the Lord? Ought not our repentance, our faith, our love, our gratitude, our zeal, our devotion, all to be without leaven; without mixture or alloy; a pure and sacred flame kindled by the Redeemer's love, and shewing forth his glory?

Is not

The first fruits. When they should come into the land which the Lord gave them they were to bring a sheaf of the first fruits before the Lord. Was not this instructive? Christ the first fruits of all the glorious harvest of salvation? Did he not rise from the dead as the first fruits of them that slept; and as the pledge of the final resurrection to eternal life and glory of all his redeemed church and people? Stands he not first in all the glorious scheme of love and work of grace? Is he not first in the covenant; first in the Father's choice; first in the revelation of his love; first in the work to be done; first to be accepted when accomplished; first that is heard and answered before the mercy comes down from above? Is he not also the last, as the first; the ending, as the beginning; the Omega, as the Alpha; the finisher, as the author of our faith? Do not all believers, too, stand in a similar relation to Christ? When God begets a soul to the faith of Christ,

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CHAPTER XXIV.

1 The oil for the lamps. 5 The shewbread. 10 Shelomith's son blasphemeth. 13 The law of blasphemy. 17 Of murder. 18 Of damage. 23 The blasphemer is stoned. ND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, 'to cause the lamps to burn continually.

3 Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually it shall be a statute for ever in your generations.

4 He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.

5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.

6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.

7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting cove

nant.

9 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.

10 ¶ And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;

11 And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)

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12 And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. 13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay

their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.

16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

17 ¶ And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.

18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; 'beast for beast.

19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;

20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.

22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.

23 And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.

HERE are certain regulations concerning the oil for the lamps, and the ordering for the shewbread. Twelve cakes, six in a row, with

pure frankincense upon each row, were to be set forth upon the table in the holy place from sabbath to sabbath continually. It was to be a perpetual statute. What is the typical use and intent? (v. 1-4).

Was it not to set forth Christ as the true bread of life, and the true life of the soul? Was it not to shew, in an especial manner, how that Saviour is thus to be exhibited, from one sabbath to another, by those who preach the everlasting gospel of our salvation? Here were twelve cakes, one to represent each of the twelve tribes, and each to intimate there was bread enough for them all. Is not this the case with Christ as the bread of life? Is there not a sufficiency in his fulness to feed all the redeemed tribes of

the Israel of our God? Yea, bread enough and to spare? salvation for ourselves, and salvation for others also? (v. 5, 6).

This bread was to have sweet frankincense put thereon; some on each cake, in each row. Did not this shew how delightful is this office of Christ, as the food and life of the soul, to the Father who gave him to be our Saviour; and to the souls which feed on him by faith? Is not Christ he in whom the Father declares, my soul delighteth? In him is he not well pleased? And what so precious to the hungry soul as this bread of life? No frankincense on earth was ever so delightful to the natural senses, as is Christ to the spiritual perception, and the spiritual feeding by faith on his name (v. 7).

This bread was set forth on the table in the sanctuary, over against the lamp, that was filled with the holy oil, and kept burning continually. (Ex. xl. 22-24.) But for that light emanating from that burning oil, though there, this bread would not be perceived by any who entered within the holy place. This light, therefore, was needful both to see the bread itself, where it was placed, and how it was ordered for reception and use. Is not Christ also the light as well as the life of the soul? Can any one see him till the Lord opens his eyes? Can any one perceive the nature, order, and worth of his salvation, unless Christ himself shine into his mind to give him light; shine upon his word to give him knowledge; and shine in his heart to reveal his salvation? Is not all spiritual light in him? Is not that light the life of men? Is it not in his light we shall see light? Is he not the light of the world? and shall not he who followeth him walk no more in darkness, but have the light of life? (v. 4, 6; John viii. 12.)

But mark the sin of blasphemy. Here is one, not an Israelite born, nor an Israelite bred, but a mixture between Israelite and Egyptian, who blasphemes the name of the Lord. First, he quarrels with an Israelite; then, he strove with him; then, he began to curse and swear; he blasphemed the name of the Lord. What was the mind of God

concerning this sin? What says the law? Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. What was the decision in this case?"Bring forth him that hath cursed

without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him" (v. 14).

Hear this tremendous sentence, all ye who curse and swear; all ye who blaspheme the name of the Lord. If the Lord commanded this man to be put to death, will he not hold you guilty? Shall not he bear his sin who curseth his God; as well as the murderer die the death? Is God any respecter of persons? Will the fact of your being a stranger, or one born in the land, be any excuse? Shall there not be one law for both; for rich and poor; all alike? Repent of this sin; ask God to pardon this sin; learn to bless, and not to curse; love the Lord, and you will not blaspheme his holy name.

CHAPTER XXV.

1 The sabbath of the seventh year. 8 The jubile in the fiftieth year. 14 Of oppression. 18 A blessing of obedience. 23 The redemption of land. 29 Of houses. 35 Compassion of the poor. 39 The usage of bondmen. 47 The redemption of servants.

AND the LORD spake unto Moses in mount

Sinai, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land 'keep a sabbath unto the LORD.

3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;

4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.

5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.

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6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,

7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

8 ¶ And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.

9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall