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atonement, the sacrifice of Christ, to which the sacrifices under the law had regard, and were designed to typify.

3. Let us honour the Lord with our substance, as we desire his blessing. They offered their first fruits to God; let us acknowledge his goodness and mercy in the blessings of harvest, and our plentiful provisions; nor let us forget to do good and to communicate, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. It was attended with great expense to come to these feasts at Jerusalem, where lodgings and provisions were scarce and dear, as a considerable part of their cattle were taken with them to be used for sacrifices. Since we are delivered from all these expensive rites, let us grudge nothing that we can do for God, his cause, or people, and for his ministers too. This is the way to obtain his blessing, which maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it.

CHAP. XXIV.

In this chapter we have directions about the lamps and the shew bread for the sanctuary: and the conviction and execution of a blasphemer, &c.

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ND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee, at the public charge, pure oil olive beaten, run from the olive, just bruised, and not squeezed or pressed in a mill, for the light, to 3 cause the lamps to burn continually, every night. Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron and his family, all the priests, order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually : 4 [it shall be] a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick, the candlestick of pure gold, before the LORD continually.*

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And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof, answerable to the number of the twelve tribes represent 6 ed by them: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD, on the table covered with pure gold. 7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon [each] row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, [even] an offering 8 made by fire unto the LORD.† Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, it shall be renewed every sabbath by the priests who minister in their courses, [being taken] from the children of Israel, at the common expense, by

Some think the lamps burned all day, as well as all night, because there were no windows in the tabernacle.

† when the bread was eaten this was to be burned, probably on the altar of incense.

an everlasting covenant between God and them, in which they 9 engaged to observe these laws, (1 Chron. ix. 32.) And it shall

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be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place, after it hath stood a week upon the table before the Lord : for it [is] most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.*

And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father [was] an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel, came with them out of Egypt: and this son of the Israelitish [woman] and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; we are not told the ground of their quarrel, but the contention grew 11 warm; And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name [of the LORD,] and cursed, uttered some reproachful speeches in his fury against God, (v. 15, 16.) And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name [was] Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan ;) 12 And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be showed them; there being then no particular law against 13 blasphemy, Moses sought direction from God. And the LORD 14 spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed,

without the camp, as an unclean thing; and let all that heard [him] lay their hands upon his head, to mark out the man, and give evidence against him; to denote that having witnessed nothing but the truth, they were free from his blood, which therefore must be on his own head; and to imply that he was to be a sacrifice to the justice of God; and let all the congrega15 tion stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Henceforth this shall be the law in all such cases, 16 whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 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.t

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And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for 19 beast. And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as 20 he hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in 21 a man, so shall it be done to him [again.] And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it and he that killeth a man, 22 he shall be put to death. Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country I [am] the LORD your God. See Exodus xxi.

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God being King of the Jews, the tabernacle was his palace, the priests his servants: the lamps were to light his palace, the incense to perfume it; the sacrifices and shew bread were the provisions of his house and table, and the priests, as God's household and servants, were to partake of what came from his table.

The stranger was not obliged to worship God in their way; in this he was left to kis own choice; but if he blasphemed the God of Israel, he was to be put to death.

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.

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· REFLECTIONS.

REAT honour is done to christian ministers, when they are called to prepare light and food for God's people. The priests were appointed to serve in God's temple. The christian ministry is an excellent and important office, designed to enlighten men's minds, and feed them with the word of God. In order to this, they should shine with knowledge and burn with zeal; they should be the light of God's sanctuary; illuminate the mind, warm the heart, and endeavour to turn men from darkness to light. They are stewards of God's house; should provide bread for his people, and should take care to feed them with pure wheat, not with chaff: speaking the word of God faithfully; warning every man, and proving themselves to be workmen that need not to be ashamed.

2. Let us learn to act with caution in every important affair, and earnestly desire to know the mind of God in it: thus Moses did. We have no warrant to expect extraordinary revelation, have no oracle to consult, but the law and the testimony. Let us then attend to the voice of Providence, and compare it with his word. It is especially the duty of judges and magistrates to deliberate in the affairs of blood, and observe what the law of God requires, and what will be for the welfare of society. We have great encouragement to acknowledge God in all our ways, and to hope that he will direct our paths. But the principal use of this passage of scripture is,

3. That we learn to treat the name of God and religion with the greatest reverence. Profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, are most scandalous abominations, such as should grieve every pious heart. Those bold transgressors we should courageously reprove, and endeavour to bring them to that punishment which our laws have appointed; and not hear the sacred name of God blasphemed with silence. Let us guard against every thing that borders on this enormous crime. In order to avoid it, let us guard against pride and passion. It is not a sufficient excuse for swearing or cursing, that it was done in a passion, or to say, 'I was provoked.' Passion leads men to forget religion and reason too; but God abhors, and will punish such transgressors. Let us never allow ourselves to jest with the word or worship of God, or any thing serious and sacred. It is the light, irreverent use of his sacred name, that leads men into a neglect and contempt of him. It is trifling with those solema

words, salvation and damnation, that makes men neglect the for mer, and run headlong into the latter. These sins of the tongue, threaten the ruin of our country. Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen; because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory, Isa. iii. 8. Let us resolve to take heed unto our ways, that we sin not with our tongues: for as the apostle expresseth it, James i. 26. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, that man's religion is vain.

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CHAP. XXV. 1–34.

Of the sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee.

ND the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, in the plain about it, where Israel still encamped, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD; not the first year, but probably the 3 seventh year after their settling in it. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and 4 gather in the fruit thereof; 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, not do any 5 work of husbandry. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap for thy own private use, but in common with others, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed, but share them in common with thy neighbours: [for] 6 it is a year of rest unto the land. And the sabbath of the land, the fruits of this sabbatical year, shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired 7 servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, And for thy cattle, and for the beast that [are] in thy land, shall the increase thereof be meat.*

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And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths 9 of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound,† on the tenth [day] of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land, that is, the

It was a proof of the extraordinary fruitfulness of the land, that it should be suffisient to lie fallow once in seven years; whereas prudence would certainly have dictated that different parts should lie fallow in different years. The appointment, that the whole should lie untilled every seventh year, seems also to have been intended as an exercise of their faith, and a constant pledge of the divine care.

It was probably called the jubiles, because it was introduced by the sound of a trumpet, and other expressions of joy.

10 jubilee shall begin from the day of atonement. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, not the forty ninth, (as some learned men think,) but precisely the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout [all] the land unto all the inhabitants thereof, Israelites, chiefly servants and the poor, who were now acquitted from all their debts, and restored to their possessions; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his fam11 ily. A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor 12 gather [the grapes] in it of the vine undressed. For it [is] the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you, dedicated to God, and 'to the exercise of holy joy and thankfulness: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field, that is, what it produces of itself. 13 In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession.

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And if thou sell aught unto thy neighbour, or buyest [aught] of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one an15 other, neither by selling too dear, nor buying too cheap: According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, [and] according unto the number of 16 years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for [according] to the number [of the years] of the 17 fruits doth he sell unto thee. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God; for I [am] the LORD your God.

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ments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in 19 safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat 20 your fill, and dwell therein in safety. And if ye shall say,

What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not 21 sow, nor gather in our increase: Then I will command my

blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth 22 fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat [yet] of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat [of] the old [store.]

This was designed to keep the tribes distinct; to preserve their genealogies clear, that the Messiah might be known; to prevent the ill consequences of avarice and prodigal ity; that families might not be impoverished by losing their estates; and to keep their on a nearer equality with one another.

Enough to suffice for the remainder of the sixth year, the whole of the seventh, and the beginning of the eighth, till the harvest of that year should come: this might be called three years, as the time which Christ lay in his grave is called three days. It was a standing miracle; for in the course of things the smallest crop might be expected in the last year of tillage; and it is a strong proof that Moses knew his law to be divine, or he would not have presumed to make a promise, which must in all probability Have brought a disgrace upon the whole system, before the people had been settled seven years in the land.

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