pecting, that he will be compelled to agree with us, that our Lord's doctrine is a commentary on that of Moses. We have already said, that the perfect fulfilment of this law was manifested in the Son of the Highest, and in him alone: we recommend to our readers to compare with such parts of the law of Moses as those now before us, the 15th Psalm, and many other similar passages in that book, where he will find the character of the PERFECT ONE described, with a plain reference to such statutes of the law of Moses. One great evil which has resulted from the neglect of the law of Moses, as to its typical design and tendency, has been the darkening of the Christian hope, particularly as to the millennial reign of Christ. It is wonderful to observe, how constantly that glorious subject is brought to view. In the 10th and 11th verses of this chapter, the sabbatim of the earth is enjoined. What moral, civil or natural purpose could this serve? nothing but a blindness (we had almost said wilful blindness) to this object, which stands on all occasions in a prominent point of view, could lead to overlook the typical design of such precepts. In like manner, a fresh injunction as to the Sabbath immediately follows. From such passages we are led to hope, that the • earth which the Lord hath cursed,' will in every respect participate in those times of refreshing which shall come from the presence of

the Lord.'

From the 14th verse, Moses proceeds to enjoin the three great feasts of Israel, at which all the males of Israel were to appear before the Lord. 1st, The feast of unleavened bread, the typical precursor of the Christian passover, of which says Paul, Ye shall keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the un⚫ leavened bread of sincerity and truth.' 2d, The feast of the first fruits, corresponding with the Christian pentecost, when Christ the ripe sheaf was waved before the Lord. Lastly, The feast of ingathering, representing that great feast, which shall be held in the mountain of the Lord, at the time of our gathering together to him. We have now one day, which the Lord hath set apart, on which we keep our feast; a day which brings to mind the great design of all the three feasts of Israel. On this day, we keep the feast of unleavened bread; this is the day on which the disciples of Jesus meet to break bread in remembrance of him. This is our pentecost, on which we are called to remember the resurrection and ascension of the first ripe sheaf; and, lastly, on this day we are called to keep a feast of rejoicing, in the hope of that glorious Sabbath, on which the man, Jesus of Nazareth, who went forth weeping, bearing the precious seed, shall come again rejoicing, bringing with him the sheaves of the fullripe harvest. Blessed and holy are they who are called to eat bread in the kingdom of God, to feast with Jesus at his marriage supper. From the law of Moses at these feasts, we are reminded of several things highly entitled to attention in our professed observance of the Christian feast. It is never forgotten in the law, that at these feasts none were to appear empty. Among the first Christians, the first day of the week was the day on which their bounty was to be dispersed abroad,' because on this day they were particu

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larly called to remember the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though rich, for our sakes became exceeding poor.' Hence the connection which took place between the fellowship and the breaking of bread. Many will go up to the house of the Lord, with as much devotion as their countenances can carry, but utter strangers to liberality. On these feasts, the poor of the people were to rejoice.' And indeed, if our minds are at all awake to the great things which this day is set apart to commemorate, our hearts will be opened to shew mercy. We recommend on this subject, a careful perusal of Malachi, i. 6—14. and iii. 8. 12. Such words as the following may well strike the mind: Cursed be the deceiver, who hath in • his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing!' Is it not remarkable, that although our Lord, in all his doctrine, discovered more jealousy as to covetousness than any other worldly lust, nay used such language as he applied to no other: It is impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God; yet any fear on this head is now little thought of by any. Christian teachers in the general acceptation of the term, Evangelical preachers, in a more strict sense, and moral Arminianis, are equally without any apprehensions on this head. If a man sustains a decent character in society as an honest man, the richer he grows he is the more praiseworthy. Go, sell that thou hast, give to the poor, and ' come and follow me,' are words of no meaning in the present state of society. Where such an error exists as to the practice, a no less dangerous one must lurk as to the doctrine of the gospel.

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From the 20th verse, we have the great office of the angel of the Covenant set before us. It is unnecessary to enter into any proof that this angel was the Son of God himself: this is now very gene rally acknowledged. He is the angel who was with the church in the wilderness, and spake to Moses in Mount Sinai, Acts vii. 38. He appeared in the character of an angel, as the sent of God, foreshewing his great service for his church, as the Father's righteous servant. His office is represented as keeping them in the way,' and bringing them to the place which God had prepared.' This is his office still. The way in which he keeps them, is the way into the heavenly holy place, through the vail, that is, the flesh of the Son of God: thus, he says, I am the way;' and again, No man cometh • unto the Father but by me.' He kept his Old Testament church in the way which he led them, through the waste-howling wilderness. He kept them from their enemies by his almighty power. He fed them with the food of the mighty. He supplied them with water from the rock. He suffered not their clothes to wax old, nor the shoes on their feet to fail. In a word, his divine power kept, preserved, and sustained them, till he brought them to the place prepared for them. Canaan was prepared for Israel, as the heavenly inheritance is for God's redeemed. In the 21st verse, we have those admonitions which we have as much need to attend to, as Israel of old. Although the gospel of the grace of God proclaims mercy to the chief of sinners, it concerns us all very nearly to beware of Him, and provoke him not.' When it is added, For he will not par

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don your transgressions,' it will remind of that part of his character, as revealed to Moses, Clearing, yet not clearing the guilty." Often did that generation provoke him, yet he stirred not up all his wrath; in love and pity he forgave them. These words were, however, awfully fulfilled on that generation, for they fell in the wilderness, and came short of the promised rest through unbelief. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and are written for our learning on whom the ends of the world are come.' The expression, For my name is in him,' is a plain declaration of the divine nature of this angel. This is that name of which, said the apostle Peter, There is no other name given under heaven among men, by which we must be saved.' The 22d verse expresses the promise in terms similar to that given to Abraham, Gen. xii. 2. The obedience here required, is the same with that expressed by our Lord himself, My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me.' The voice of the angel whom God sent, was to Israel the voice of mercy. He was the enemy of their enemies'; and thus he drove out the Amorites, &c. to make room for that vine which he brought out of Egypt. The manner in which the angel of the old covenant drove out the enemies of Israel, was a striking representation of the manner in which Jesus Christ spoiled principalities and powers on his cross; and, now that he sits on the heavenly throne, he rules in the midst of his enemies; the day of vengeance to be executed on the spiritual Amorites is in his heart, for he must reign till he hath vanquished every foe, and destroyed even the last enemy, death himself. In the mean time, let us not bow down to their gods, nor serve them,' verse 24. The blessings that are connected with this obedience, are enumerated from verse 25. to the end; and here it may not be improper to remind the reader of the mistaken view which has been too generally adopted of these promises, viz. that because they are wholly temporal and carnal, so the whole old covenant was of a carnal nature, and had nothing spiritual in it: this is an important mistake. Canaan, and all the blessings and curses connected with it, were intended to represent spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. To bless their bread and water, represented God's blessing on their spiritual food; when he says, I will take away sickness from among you,' it was intended to remind them of Him of whom it is said, Himself bare our sickness,' to instruct them in the nature of that gospel which heals all our spiritual sickness, and relieves all the pains of our guilty consciences. Indeed, it is worthy of remark, that although, as a nation, Israel occasionally enjoyed much outward prosperity and blessing, yet the followers of Christ have, in all ages, been a poor and an afflicted people. It was of Old Testament saints, that Paul says, They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep skius, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy,' &c. Heb. xi. 37, 38. In verse 31. we have the exact limits of their kingdom fixed, as actually took place in the days of Solomon. It is remarkable, that we have nearly the literal words of this verse adopted in Psalm ixxii. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

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and from the river to the ends of the earth.' That this psalm re spects the Great King's Son, and his millennial reign, we conceive is capable of the clearest proof: this promise to old Israel will therefore be fully accomplished, when the Throne of the House of David is established on Mount Zion, and the heritage of the Son of God will be earth's utmost line.'

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CHAP. XXIV. This chapter is one of the most remarkable we have yet considered, and requires very particular attention. It records the ratification of the old covenant by the shedding and sprinkling of blood, and exhibits a proper view of the nature and design of that covenant. Before Moses went up the second time to the mount, he came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said, will we do,' verse 3. This public profession of the church of Israel has been very much misapplied; they have been here represented as engaging to fulfil all the moral law, or the ten words; an engagement which they were truly incapable of performing. But the slightest examination of the text will shew, that what they professed obedience to, was what Moses told them from the Lord, viz. the judgments recorded in the three preceding chapters. To these words they professed obedience; and God declared his satisfaction in that profession, for, said he, the ⚫ people have well said, all that they have spoken,' Deut. v. 27. It is true there was no such heart in them, because they erred in heart, by their ignorance of God's ways; but we are certain that heaven never stamped with approbation, any of the human race engaging to pay obedience to the divine law in its broad extent. The church of Israel, on this occasion, had the gospel preached to them by Moses, who, at the same time, laid before them those statutes and judgments, by obedience to which their faith in the promises of God was to be proved: they professed subjection and obedience to the word of God, and God approved of this profession, though he foresaw that they would turn aside like a bow which shoots deceitfully. All those words which Moses rehearsed in the ears of the people, we are told in verse 4. that he wrote down; and this in verse 7. is called the Book of the Covenant, which he read in the audience of the people, to which they again professed obedience, when read to them from the book. Now this Book of the Covenant, written by the pen of Moses, is clearly distinguished from the TEN WORDS, written and engraven on stones. Moses received his law, as the mediator of the covenant which it respected; he rehearsed it first vivâ voce in the ears of the people, and he was faithful as the Lord's servant in doing so; and lastly, he, with his own fingers, wrote and recorded what he had thus delivered in a book, often afterwards called The Book of the Covenant. Now, all this stands clearly distinguished from the TEN WORDS which the Lord spake, and added no more.

These TEN

WORD'S God himself thundered in the ears and consciences of all the camp of Israel; and, in doing so, Moses was not employed, but stood trembling in the camp, with the rest of the people. These

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words Moses did not write; God himself recorded them on tables of stone. The Book of the Covenant was to wax old and vanish away; the Eternal Rule of Righteousness was written and engraven on stones, because it is permanent, and undergoes no change. It is strange that a distinction so clear, striking, and marked, has been so little attended to.

After rehearsing the words of his law, Moses builds an altar, and erects twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. The law of the ten words spake nothing of an altar, or atonement; the words of the Book of the Covenant were founded on the shedding of blood. That book said, Thou shalt not offer the blood of MY SACRIFICE with ⚫ leavened bread,' Chap. xxiii. 18. Hence, when Moses read this law, he arose in the morning and built an altar, under the very hill where the words of this covenant had been pronounced; and twelve pillars, a pillar for each tribe, to point forth the connection which the whole Israel of God had at the one altar. He then sends young < men to this altar, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice peace offerings,' verse 5. Before the tribe of Levi was consecrated to the priesthood, the first born sons officiated. And here the communion of the twelve tribes in the Lord's sacrifice was grandly displayed. Burnt offerings were offered, to point forth atonement, by the one offering of the Son of God. Peace offerings were sacrificed, to shew forth that peace, which in due time should be made by the blood of his cross. We have a commentary on verses 6, 7, and 8. of this chapter, from the pen of an inspired apostle, Heb. ix. 19-28. The apostle is there proving the necessity of the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, for the remission of sins; and he clearly demonstrates, that all the blessings of the New Covenant or Testament, flow to the guilty through the divine worth of that blood aloue. 'Wherefore,' says he, neither was the first covenant ratified without blood. If the old covenant was a Covenant of Works; if the blessings of it were the wages of obedience to a law; if, in a word, the ten words were the terms of that covenant, what need was there for blood to ratify it? If, as men have long unscripturally taught, the old covenant said, Do and Live; for what purpose did Moses sprinkle the people with the blood of the peace offerings? Half of the blood was sprinkled on the altar, for even the altar needed consecration; half of it was put in basons, and as the people professed faith and obedience, Moses sprinkled them with the blood, saying, Behold! the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.' Here was a grand display of the old covenant, its nature, object, and purpose. Never will all the jargon with which human teachers have darkened this subject, overthrow the plain meaning of this glorious transaction. The old covenant, a Covenant of Works! Light and darkness are not more incongruous! We are at a loss for words to express the strong reprobation in which we hold every attempt to throw a veil on this glorious display of the gospel of the grace of God! The old covenant was God's promised blessings; his declaration of mercy and peace, ratified by the blood of bulls and goats, to point forth that glorious