NUMBERS, Section 3 of 3, (Num. 17—end).
C H Mackintosh

Numbers 17 & Numbers 18
These two chapters form a distinct section in which we have presented to us the source, the
responsibilities, and the privileges of priesthood. Priesthood is a divine institution. "No man
taketh this honour unto Himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." This is made
manifest, in a most striking manner, in chapter 17. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house
of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write
thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi:
for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in
the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it
shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to
cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod
apiece, for each prince one, according to their father's houses, even twelve rods: and the rod
of Aaron was among their rods." Verses 1-6.

What matchless wisdom shines in this arrangement! How completely is the matter taken out
of man's hands and placed where alone it ought to be, namely, in the hands of the living God!
It was not to be a man appointing himself, or a man appointing his fellow; But God
appointing the man of His own selection. In a word, the question was to be definitively
settled by God Himself, so that all murmurings might be silenced for ever, and no one be able
again to charge God's high priest with taking too much upon him. the human will had nothing
whatever to do with this solemn matter. The twelve rods, all in a like condition, were laid up
before the Lord; man retired and left God to act. There was no room, no opportunity, because
there was no occasion, for human management. In the profound retirement of the sanctuary,
far away from all man's thinkings, was the grand question of priesthood settled by divine
decision; and, being thus settled, it could never again be raised.

"And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass
that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron
for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and
yielded almonds." striking and beautiful figure of Him who was "declared to be the Son of
God with power by resurrection from the dead!" The twelve rods were all alike lifeless; but
God, the living God, entered the scene, and, by that power peculiar to Himself, infused life
into Aaron's rod, and brought it forth to view, bearing upon it the fragrant fruits of
resurrection.

Who could gainsay this? The rationalist may sneer at it, and raise a thousand questions. Faith
gazes on that fruit-bearing rod, and sees in it a lovely figure of the new creation in the which
all things are of God. Infidelity may argue on the ground of the apparent impossibility of a
dry stick budding, blossoming, and bearing fruit in the coarse of one night. But to whom does
it appear impossible? To the infidel—the rationalist—the sceptic. and why? Because he
always shuts out God. Let us remember this. Infidelity invariably shuts out God. Its
reasonings are carried on and its conclusions reached in midnight darkness. There is not so
much as a single ray of true light in the whole of that sphere in which infidelity operates. It
excludes the only source of light, and leaves the soul wrapped in the shades and deep gloom
of a darkness that may be felt.

It is well for the young reader to pause here, and deeply ponder this solemn fact Let him
calmly and seriously reflect on this special feature of infidelity-rationalism—or scepticism. It
begins, continues, and ends with shutting out God. It would approach the mystery of Aaron's
budding, blossoming, fruit bearing rod with a godless, audacious "How?" This is the infidel's
great argument. He can raise ten thousand questions; but never settle one. He will teach you
how to doubt, but never how to believe. He will lead you to doubt everything; but gives you
nothing to believe.

Such, beloved reader, is infidelity. It is of Satan who ever has been, is, and will be, the great
question raiser. Wherever you trace Satan, you will always find him raising questions. He
fills the heart with all sorts of "ifs" and "hows," and thus plunges the soul in thick darkness. If
he can only succeed in raising a question, he has gained his point. But he is perfectly
powerless with a simple soul that just believes that God Is, and God HAS SPOKEN. Here is
faith's noble answer to the infidels questions—its divine solution of all the infidel's
difficulties. Faith always brings in the very One that infidelity always shuts out. It thinks with
God; infidelity thinks without Him.

Hence, then, we would say to the Christian reader, and specially to the young Christian, never
admit questions when God has spoken. If you do, Satan will have you under his foot in a
moment. Your only security against him is found in that one impregnable, immortal sentence,
"It is written." It will never do to argue with him on the ground of experience, of feeling, or
of observation; it must be absolutely and exclusively on the ground of this—that God is, and
that God has spoken. Satan can make no hand of this weighty argument at all. It is invincible.
Everything else he can shiver to pieces; but this confounds him and puts him to flight at once.

We see this very strikingly illustrated in the temptation of our Lord. the enemy, according to
His usual way, approached the blessed One with a question—"If thou be the Son of God."
How did the Lord answer Him? Did He say," I know I am the Son of God—I have had a
testimony from the opened heavens, and from the descending and anointing Spirit—I feel,
and believe, and realise that I am the Son of God?" No; such was not His mode of answering
the tempter. How then? "It is written." Such was the thrice repeated answer of the obedient
and dependent Man; and such must be the answer of every one who will overcome the
tempter.

Thus, in reference to Aaron's budding rod, if any inquire, "How can such a thing be? It is
contrary to the laws of nature; and how could God reverse the established principles of
natural philosophy?" Faith's reply is sublimely simple. God can do as He pleases. The One
who called worlds into existence, could make a rod to bud, blossom, and bear fruit in a
moment. Bring God in, and all is simple and plain as possible. Leave God out, and All is
plunged in hopeless confusion. The attempt to tie up—we speak with reverence—the
Almighty Creator of the vast universe, by certain laws of nature, or certain principles of
natural philosophy, is nothing short of impious blasphemy. It is almost worse than denying
His existence altogether. It is hard to say which is the worse, the atheist who says there is no
God, or the rationalist who maintains that He cannot do as He pleases.

We feel the immense importance of being able to see the real roots of all the plausible
theories which are afloat at the present moment. The mind of man is busy forming systems,
drawing conclusions, and reasoning in such a manner as virtually to exclude the testimony of
holy scripture altogether, and to shut out God from His own creation. Our young people must
be solemnly warned as to this. They must be taught the immense difference between the facts
of science, and the conclusions of scientific men. A fact is a fact wherever you meet it,
whether in geology, astronomy, or any other department of science; but men's reasonings,
conclusions, and systems are another thing altogether. Now, scripture will never touch the
facts of science; but the reasonings of scientific man are constantly found in collision with
scripture. Alas! alas! for such men! And when such is the case we must, with plain decision,
denounce such reasonings altogether, and exclaim with the apostle, "Let God be true, and
every man a liar."

Gladly would we dwell upon this point though it be a digression, for we deeply feel its
seriousness. But we must, for the present, be content with solemnly urging upon the reader
the necessity of giving to holy scripture the supreme place in his heart and mind. We must
bow down, with absolute submission, to the authority of, not "Thus saith the Church"—"Thus
say the fathers"—"Thus say the doctors;" but "Thus saith the Lord" "It is written." This is our
only security against the rising tide of infidelity which threatens to sweep away the
foundations of religious thought and feeling throughout the length and breadth of
Christendom. None will escape save those who are taught and governed by the word of the
Lord. May God increase the number of such!

We shall now proceed with our chapter.
"and Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and
they looked, and took every man his rod. And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod
again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take
away their murmurings from me, that they die not. and Moses did so: as the Lord commanded
Him, so did he." Verses 9-11.

Thus the question was divinely settled. Priesthood is founded upon that precious grace of
God which brings life out of death. This is the source of priesthood. It could be of no possible
use for man to take any one of the eleven dead rods and make it the badge of the priestly
office. All the human authority under the sun could not infuse life into a dead stick, or make
that stick the channel of blessing to souls. And so of all the eleven rods put together; there
was not so much as a single bud or blossom throughout the whole. But where there were
precious evidences of quickening power—refreshing traces of divine life and blessing—
fragrant fruits of efficacious grace—there and there alone was to be found the source of that
priestly ministry which could carry not only a needy but murmuring and rebellious people
through the wilderness.

And here we may naturally inquire, "What about Moses' rod? Why was it not amongst the
twelve?" The reason is blessedly simple. Moses rod was the expression of power and
authority. Aaron's rod was the lovely expression of that grace that quickens the dead, and
calls those things that be not as though they were. Now, mere power or authority could not
conduct the congregation through the wilderness. Power could crush the rebel; authority
might strike the sinner; but only mercy and grace could avail for an assembly of needy,
helpless, sinful men, women, and children. The grace that could bring almonds out on a dead
stick, could bring Israel through the wilderness. It was only in connection with Aaron's
budding rod that Jehovah could say, "Thou shalt quite take away the murmurings of the
children of Israel from me, that they die not.'' The rod of authority could take away the
murmurers; but the rod of grace could take away the murmurs.

The reader may refer, with interest and profit, to a passage in the opening of Hebrews 9. in
connection with the subject of Aaron's rod. The apostle, in speaking of the ark of the
covenant, says," wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded,
and the tables of the covenant." This was in the wilderness. The rod and the manna were the
provisions of divine grace for Israel's desert wanderings and desert need. But, when we turn
to 1 Kings 8: 9, we read, "There! was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which
Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when
they came out of the land of Egypt." The wilderness wanderings were over, the glory of
Solomon's day was sending forth its beams over the land, and hence the budding rod and the
pot of manna are omitted, and nothing remains save that law of God, which was the
foundation of His righteous government in the midst of His people.

Now, in this we have an illustration, not only of the divine accuracy of scripture, as a whole
but also of the special character and object of the Book of Numbers. Aaron's rod was in the
ark during its wilderness wanderings. Precious fact! Let the reader seek to lay hold of its deep
and blessed significance. Let him ponder the difference between the rod of Moses and the rod
of Aaron. We have seen the former doing its characteristic work in other days and amid other
scenes. we have seen the land of Egypt trembling beneath the heavy strokes of that rod.
Plague after plague fell upon that devoted scene, in answer to that outstretched rod. We have
seen the waters of the sea divided in answer to that rod. In short, the rod of Moses was a rod
of power, a rod of authority. But it could not avail to hush the murmurings of the children of
Israel; nor yet to bring the people through the desert. Grace alone could do that; and we have
the expression of pure grace—free, sovereign grace—in the budding of Aaron's rod.

Nothing can be more forcible, nothing more lovely. That dry, dead stick was the apt figure of
Israel's condition, and indeed of the condition of every one of us by nature. There was no sap,
no life, no power. One might well say, "What good can ever come of it?" none whatever, had
not grace come in and displayed its quickening power. So was it with Israel, in the
wilderness; and so is it with us now. How were they to be led along from day to day? How
were they to be sustained in all their weakness and need? How were they to he borne with in
all their sin and folly? The answer is found in Aaron's budding rod. If the dry dead stick was
the expression of nature's barren and worthless condition; the buds, blossoms, and fruit set
forth that living and life-giving grace and power of God on which was based the priestly
ministry that alone could bear the congregation through the wilderness. Grace alone could
answer the ten thousand necessities of the militant host. Power could not suffice. authority
could not avail. Priesthood alone could supply what was needed; and this priesthood was
instituted on the foundation of that efficacious grace which could bring fruit out of a dry rod.

Thus it was as to priesthood of old; and thus it is as to ministry now. All ministry in the
Church of God is the fruit of divine grace—the gift of Christ, the Church's Head. There is no
other source of ministry whatsoever. From apostles down to the very lowest gifts, all proceed
from Christ. The grand root principle of all ministry is embodied in those words of Paul to
the Galatians in which he speaks of himself as "An apostle, not of man, neither by man, but
by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead." Galatians 1: 1.

Here, be it noted, is the sublime source from whence all ministry emanates. It is not of man,
or by man, in any shape or form. Man may take up dry sticks and shape and fashion them
according to His own will; and he may ordain and appoint, and call them by certain high-
sounding, official titles. But of what use is it? We may justly say, They are only dry, dead
sticks.

"Where is there a single cluster of fruit Where is there a single blossom? Nay., where is there
one solitary bud? "Even one bud will suffice to prove that there is something divine. But in
the absence of this there can be no living ministry in the Church of God: It is the gift of
Christ and that alone that makes a man a minister. Without this it is an empty assumption for
any one to set himself up, or be set up by others to be a minister.

Does the reader thoroughly own this great principle? Is it as clear as a sunbeam to his soul?
has he any difficulty respecting it? If so, we entreat him to seek to divest his mind of all
preconceived thoughts, from what source soever derived; let will rise above the hazy mists of
traditional religion; let him take the New Testament, and study as in the immediate presence
of God, 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14; and also Ephesians 4: 7-18. In these passages he
will find the whole subject of ministry unfolded; and from them he will learn that all true
ministry, whether it be apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, or evangelists, all is of God—all
flows down from Christ the exalted Head of the Church. If a man be not possessed of a bona
fide gift from Christ he is not a minister. Every member of the body has a work to do. the
edification of the body is promoted by the proper action of all the members, whether
prominent or obscure, "comely" or "uncomely." In short, all ministry is from God, and not
from man; it is by God, and not by man. There is no such thing in scripture as a humanly
ordained ministry. All is of God.

We must not confound ministerial gifts with office or local charge. We find the apostles, or
their delegates, ordaining elders and appointing deacons; But this was quite a distinct thing
from ministerial gifts. 'Those elders and deacons might possess and exercise some specific
gift in the body; the apostle did not ordain them to exercise such gift, but only to fulfil the
local charge. The spiritual gift was from the Head of the Church, and was independent of the
local charge altogether.

It is most necessary to be clear as to the distinction between gift and local charge. There is
the utmost confusion of the two things throughout the entire professing church,, and the
consequence is that ministry is not understood. The members of the body of Christ do not
understand their place or their functions. Human election, or human authority in some shape
or another, is deemed essential to the exercise of ministry in the Church. But there is really
no such thing in scripture. If there be, nothing is easier than to produce it. We ask the reader
to find a single line, from cover to cover of the New Testament in which a human call,
human appointment, or human authority, has anything whatsoever to do with the exercise of
ministry in its very fullest range. We boldly assert there is no such thing.* Ah, no; blessed be
God, ministry in His Church is "not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the
Father, who raised Him from the dead." "God hath set the members every one of them in the
body, as it hath pleased Him." (1 Cor. 12: 18) "But unto every one of us is given grace
according to the measure of the gift of Christ. wherefore He saith, When he ascended up on
High, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.....and he gave some, apostles; and
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come
in the unity of the faith. and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4: 7-13.
{*Even in the matter of appointing deacons, in Acts 6, we see it was an apostolic act.
"Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy
Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." 'The brethren were allowed to
select the men, inasmuch as it was their money that was in question. But the appointment
was divine. And this, be it remembered, had reference merely to the business of deacons who
were to manage the Church's temporal affairs. But as regards the work of evangelists, pastors,
and teachers, it is wholly independent of human choice and human authority, and rests
simply upon the gift of Christ, Ephesians 4: 11.}

Here all the grades of ministerial gift are placed on one and the same ground, from apostles
down to evangelists and teachers. They are All given by the Head of the Church and, when
bestowed, they render the possessors responsible, at once, to the head in heaven, and to the
members on earth. The idea of any possessor of a positive gift from God waiting for human
authority, is as great an insult to the divine majesty as if Aaron had gone with his blooming
rod in his hand, to be ordained to the priesthood by some of his fellows. Aaron knew better.
He was called of God, and that was quite enough for him. and so now, all who possess a
divine gift are Called of God to the ministry, and they need nothing more save to wait on
their ministry, and cultivate their gift.

Need we add that it is vain for men to set up to be ministers unless they really do possess the
gift? A man may fancy he has a gift, and it may be only a vain conceit of his own mind. It is
quite as bad, if not worse, for one man to go to work on the strength of his own foolish
imagination, as for another to go on the strength of the unwarrantable authority of his
fellows. What we contend for is this—ministry is of God as to its source, power, and
responsibility. We do not think that this statement will be called in question by any who are
disposed to be taught exclusively by scripture. Every minister, whatever be his gift, should be
able, in his measure, to say, "God has put me into the ministry." But for a man to use this
language without possessing any gift, is, to say the least of it, worse than worthless. The
people of God can easily tell where there is real spiritual gift. Power is sure to be felt. But if
men pretend to gift or power without the reality, their folly shall speedily be manifest to all.
All pretenders are sure to find their true level, sooner or later.

Thus much as to ministry and priesthood. The source of each is divine. The true foundation
of each lies in the budding rod. Let this be ever borne in mind. Aaron could say," God put me
into the priesthood;" and if challenged for his proof, he could point to the fruit-bearing rod.
Paul could say, "God put me into the ministry;'' and when challenged for his proof, could
point to the thousands of living seals to his work. Thus it must ever be in principle, whatever
be the measure. Ministry must not be merely in word or in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
God will not know the speech, But the power.

But, ere we turn from this subject, we deem it most necessary to impress upon the reader the
importance of distinguishing between ministry and priesthood. The sin of Korah consisted in
this, that, not content with being a minister, he aimed at being a priest; and the sin of
Christendom is of the same character. Instead of allowing ministry to rest upon its own
proper New Testament basis, to exhibit its proper characteristics, And discharge its proper
functions, it is exalted into a priesthood, a sacerdotal caste, the members of which are
distinguished from their brethren by their style of dress and certain titles. There is no
foundation whatsoever for these things in the New Testament. According to the plain
teaching of that blessed book, all believers are priests. Thus, in Peter we read, "But ye [not
merely the apostles, but all believers] are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2:
9) so also in Revelation "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." (1 Peter 1: 5, 6) God, in
pursuance of the truth set forth in the foregoing passages, we find the Apostle Paul, by the
Holy Ghost, exhorting the Hebrew believers to draw nigh, and enter with boldness into the
very holiest of all. (Heb. 10: 19-22) And further on he says, "By him therefore [i.e., Jesus let
us offer The sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to his name. But to do good, and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is
well pleased." Hebrews 13: 15, 16.

How marvellous it must have appeared to Jewish saints—to those trained amid the
institutions of the Mosaic economy, to be exhorted to enter into a place to which the very
highest functionary in Israel could only approach once a year, and that but for a moment!
And there to be told that they were to offer sacrifice, that they were to discharge the peculiar
functions of the priesthood. All this was wonderful. But thus it is, if we are to be taught by
scripture, and not by the commandments, the doctrines, and the traditions of men. All
Christians are priests. They are not all apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors, or evangelists;
but they are all priests. The very feeblest member of the Church was as much a priest as
Peter, Paul, James, or John. We speak not of capacity or spiritual power, but of the position
which all occupy in virtue of the blood of Christ. There is no such thing in the New
Testament as a certain class of men, a certain privileged caste, brought into a higher or nearer
position than their brethren. All this is flatly opposed to Christianity—a bold traversing of all
the precepts of the word of God, and the special teachings of our blessed Lord and Master.

Let no one suppose that these things are unimportant. Far from it. They affect the very
foundations of Christianity. We have only to open our eyes and look around us in order to see
the practical results of this confounding of ministry and priesthood. And we may rest assured
that the moment is rapidly approaching when these results will all assume a far more awful
character, and bring down the very heaviest judgements from the living God. We have not yet
seen the full antitype of "the gainsaying of Core;" but it will soon be manifested: and we
solemnly warn the Christian reader to take heed how he lends his sanction to the serious error
of mixing up two things so entirely distinct as ministry and priesthood. We would exhort him
to take this whole subject up in the light of scripture. we want him to submit to the authority
of God's word, and to abandon everything that is not founded thereon. It matters not what it
is; it may be a time-honoured institution; an expedient arrangement; a decent ceremony
supported by tradition, and countenanced by thousands of the very best of men. It matters
not. If the thing has no foundation in holy scripture, it is an error, and an evil, and a snare of
the devil, to entice our souls, and lead us away from the simplicity that is in Christ. For
example, if we are taught that there is, in the Church of God, a sacerdotal caste, a class of
men, more holy, more elevated, nearer to God, than their brethren—than ordinary Christians;
what is this but Judaism revived and tacked on to Christian forms? And what must be the
effect of this, but to rob the children of God of their proper privileges as such, and to put
them at a distance from Him, and place them under bondage?

We shall not pursue this subject any further just now. Enough, we trust, has been suggested to
lead the reflecting reader to follow it up for himself. We only add, and that with special
emphasis, let him follow it up only in that light of scripture. Let him resolve, by the grace of
God, to lay aside everything which rests not upon the solid and sacred basis of the written
word. Thus, and thus alone, can he be preserved from every form of error, and led to a sound
conclusion on this most important and interesting question.

The closing lines of chapter 17 furnish a remarkable illustration of how quickly the human
mind passes from one extreme to another. "The children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying,
Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Whosoever cometh anything near unto the
tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?" In the preceding chapter,
we see bold presumption in the very presence of the majesty of Jehovah, where there should
have been profound humility. Here, in the presence of divine grace and its provisions, we
observe legal fear and distrust. Thus it is ever. Mere nature neither understands holiness nor
grace. At one moment we hearken to such accents as these, "All the congregation are holy;''
and the next moment, the word is, "Behold we die, we perish, we all perish." The carnal mind
presumes where it ought to retire; it distrusts where it ought to confide.

However, all this becomes the occasion, through the goodness of God, of unfolding to us, in a
very full and blessed manner, the holy responsibility as well as the precious privileges of the
priesthood. How gracious it is—how like our God, to turn His people's mistakes into an
occasion of furnishing deeper instruction as to His ways! It is His Prerogative, blessed be His
name, to bring good out of evil; to make the eater yield meat, and the strong, sweetness. Thus
"the gainsaying of Core" gives occasion for the copious volume of instruction furnished by
Aaron's rod; and the closing lines of chapter 17 call forth an elaborate statement of the
functions of Aaron's priesthood. To this latter we shall now proceed to direct the reader's
attention.
"And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons, and thy father's house with thee, shall
bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of
your priesthood. All thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring them
with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons
with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness. And they shall keep thy charge, and
the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary
and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die. And they shall be joined unto thee, and beep
the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a
stranger shall not come nigh unto you. and ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the
charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. And I,
behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they
are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the
altar, and within the veil; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest's office unto you as a
service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." Num. 18: 1-7.

Here we have a divine answer to the question raised by the children of Israel," Shall we be
consumed with dying?" "No," says the God of all grace and mercy. And why not? Because
"Aaron and his sons with him shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the
altar; that There be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.'' Thus the people are
taught that in that very priesthood which had been so despised and spoken against, they were
to find their security.

But we have to notice particularly that Aaron's sons, and his father's house are associated
with him in His high and holy privileges and responsibilities. the Levites were given as a gift
to Aaron, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. They were to serve under
Aaron, the head of the priestly house. This teaches us a fine lesson, and one much needed by
Christians at the present moment. We all want to bear in mind that service, to be intelligent
and acceptable, must be rendered in subjection to priestly authority and guidance. "And thy
brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may
be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee." This stamped its distinct character upon the
entire range of Levite service. The whole tribe of workers were associated with and subject to
the great high priest. All was under his immediate control and guidance. So must it be now,
in reference to all God's workers. All Christian service must be rendered in fellowship with
our great High Priest, and in holy subjection to His authority. It is of no value otherwise.
There may be a great deal of work done, there may be a great deal of activity; but if Christ be
not the immediate object before the heart, if His guidance and authority be not fully owned,
the work must go for nothing.

But, on the other hand, the smallest act of service the meanest work done under the eye of
Christ, done with direct reference to Him, has its value in God's estimation, and shall, most
assuredly, receive its due reward. This is truly encouraging, and consolatory to the heart of
every earnest worker. The Levites had to work under Aaron. Christians have to work under
Christ. We are responsible to Him. It is very well and very beautiful to walk in fellowship
with our dear fellow-workmen, and to be subject one to another, in the fear of the Lord.
Nothing is further from our thoughts that to foster or countenance a spirit of haughty
independence, or that temper of soul which would hinder our genial and hearty co-operation
with our brethren in every good work. All the Levites were "joined unto Aaron,'' in their
work, and therefore they were joined one to another. Hence, they had to work together. If a
Levite had turned his back upon his brethren, he would have turned his back upon Aaron. We
may imagine a Levite, taking offence at something or other in the conduct of his fellows, and
saying to Himself, "I cannot get on with my brethren. I must walk alone. I can serve God, and
work under Aaron; but I must beep aloof from my brethren inasmuch as I find it impossible
to agree with them as to the mode of working." But we can easily see through the fallacy of
all this. For a, Levite to adopt such a line of action would have produced nothing but
confusion. All were called to work together, how varied soever their work might be.

Still, be it ever borne in mind, their work did vary and, moreover, each was called to work
under Aaron. There was individual responsibility with the most harmonious corporate action.
We certainly desire, in every possible way, to promote unity in action; but this must never be
suffered to trench upon the domain of personal service, or to interfere with the direct
reference of the individual workman to his Lord. the Church of God affords a very extensive
platform to the Lord's workers. There is ample space thereon for all sorts of labourers. We
must not attempt to reduce all to a dead level, or cramp the varied energies of Christ's
servants by confining them to certain old ruts of our own formation. This will never do. We
must, all of us diligently seek to combine the most cordial unanimity with the greatest
possible variety in action. Both will be healthfully promoted by each and all remembering
that we are called to serve together under Christ.

Here lies the grand secret. Together, under Christ! May we bear this in mind. It will help us
to recognise and appreciate another's line of work though it may differ from our own; and, on
the other hand, it will preserve us from an overweening sense of our own department of
service, inasmuch as we shall see that we are, one and all, but co-workers in the one wide
field; and that the great object before the Master's heart can only be attained by each worker
pursuing his own special line, and pursuing it in happy fellowship with all.

There is a pernicious tendency in some minds to depreciate every line of work save their
own. This must be carefully guarded against. If all were to pursue the same line, where were
that lovely variety which characterises the Lord's work and workmen in the world? Nor is it
merely a question of the line of work, but actually of the peculiar style of each workman.
You may find two evangelists, each marked by an intense desire for the salvation of souls,
each preaching, substantially, the same truth; and yet there may be the greatest possible
variety in the mode in which each one seeks to gain the self-same object. We should be
prepared for this. Indeed we should fully expect it. And the same holds good in reference to
every other branch of Christian service. We should strongly suspect the ground occupied by a
Christian assembly if there were not ample space allowed for every branch and style of
Christian service—for every line of work capable of being taken up in individual
responsibility to the great Head of the priestly house. We ought to do nothing which we
cannot do under Christ, and in fellowship with Him. And all that can be done in fellowship
With Christ can surely be done in fellowship with those who are walking with Him.

Thus much as to the special manner in which the Levites are introduced in our chapter, in
connection with Aaron and his sons. To these latter we shall now turn for a few moments,
and meditate on the rich provision made for them, in the goodness of God, as well as the
solemn functions devolving upon them, in their priestly place.

"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine heave-
offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee have I given them, by
reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance for ever. This shall be thine of the
most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat-offering of
theirs; and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall
render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons. In the most holy place shalt thou
eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee." Verses 8-10.

Here we have a type of the people of God looked at in another aspect. They are here
presented, not as workers, but as worshippers; not as Levites, but as priests. all believers—all
Christians—all the children of God, are priests. There is, according to the teaching of the
New Testament, no such thing as a priest upon earth, save in the sense in which all believers
are priests. A special priestly caste—a certain class of men set apart as priests, is a thing not
only unknown in Christianity, but most positively hostile to the spirit and principles thereof.
We have already referred to this subject, and quoted the various passages of scripture bearing
upon it. We have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, for if He were on earth
He should not be a priest. (Compare Heb. 4: 14 and 8: 4 "Our Lord sprang Out Of Judah; of
which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood." Hence, therefore, a sacrificing
priest on the earth is a direct denial of the truth of scripture, and a complete setting aside of
the glorious fact on which Christianity is based, namely, accomplished redemption. If there is
any need of spriest now, to offer sacrifice for sins, then, most assuredly, redemption is not an
accomplished fact. But scripture, in hundreds of places, declares that it is, and therefore we
need no more offering for sin. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this
building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, He entered in once
into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. 9: 11, 12) So also, in Heb. 10
we read, "By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." And again,
"Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is
no more offering for sin."

This settles the great question as to priesthood and sacrifice for sin. Christians cannot be too
clear or decided in reference to it. It lies at the very foundation of true Christianity, and
demands the deep and serious attention of all who desire to walk in the clear light of a full
salvation, and to occupy the true Christian position. There is a strong tendency towards
Judaism—a vigorous effort to engraft Christian forms upon the old Jewish stem. This is
nothing new; But, just now, the enemy seems peculiarly busy. We can perceive a great
leaning towards Romanism, throughout the length and breadth of Christendom; and in
nothing is the leaning more strikingly apparent than in the institutions of a special priestly
order in the Church of God. We believe it to be a thoroughly antichristian institution. It is the
denial of the common priesthood of all believers. If a certain set of men are ordained to
occupy a place of peculiar nearness and sanctity, then where are the great mass of Christians
to stand?

This is the question. It is precisely here that the great importance and gravity of this whole
subject are made apparent. Let not the reader suppose that we are contending for some
peculiar theory of any particular class or sect of Christians. Nothing is further from our
thoughts. It is because we are convinced that the very foundations of the Christian faith are
involved in this question of priesthood that we urge its consideration upon all with whom we
have to do. We believe it will invariably be found that in proportion as Christians become
clear and settled on the divine ground of accomplished redemption, they get further and
further away from the Romanism and Judaism of an order of priests in the Church of God.
And, on the other hand, where souls are not clear, not settled, not spiritual; where there is
legality, carnality and worldliness, there you will find a hankering after a humanly appointed
priesthood. Nor is it difficult to see the reason of this. If a man is not himself in a fit state to
draw nigh to God, it will be a relief to him to employ another to draw nigh for him. And,
most certainly, no man is in a fit state to draw nigh to a holy God who does not know that his
sins are forgiven—has not got a perfectly purged conscience—is in a dark, doubting, legal
state of soul. In order to come boldly into the holiest of all, we must know what the blood of
Christ has done for us; we must know that we ourselves are made priests to God; and that, in
virtue of the atoning death of Christ, we are brought so near to God that it is impossible for
any order of men to come between. "He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his
own blood, and made us priests unto God and his Father." (Rev. 1) "But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth
the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light." and again,
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2: 5, 9) "By him therefore let
us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to his name. But to do good and to communicate, forget not: for with such sacrifices God is
well pleased." Hebrews 13: 15, 16.

Here we have the two great branches of spiritual sacrifice which, as priests, we are privileged
to offer, namely, praise to God, doing good to men. The very youngest, the most
inexperienced, the most unlettered Christian is capable of understanding these things. Who is
there in all the family of God—in all the priestly household of our divine High Priest, who
cannot, with his heart, say, "The Lord be praised" And who cannot, with his hand, do good to
His fellow? And this is priestly worship, and priestly service—the common worship and
service of all true Christians. True, the measure of spiritual power may vary; But all the
children of God are constituted priests, one as much as another.

Now in Numbers 18 we are presented with a very full statement of the provision made for
Aaron and his house; and, in that provision, a type of the spiritual portion of the Christian
priesthood. And surely we cannot read the record without seeing what a royal portion is ours.
"Every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and
every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee
and for thy sons. In the Most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be
holy unto thee."

It demands a very large measure of spiritual capacity to enter into the depth and meaning of
this marvellous passage. To eat the sin offering, or the trespass offering is, in figure, to make
another's sin or trespass one's own. This is very holy work. It is not every one who can, in
spirit, identify himself with the sin of his brother. To do so in fact, in the way of atonement,
is, we need hardly say, wholly out of question. There was but one who could do this; and
He—adored for ever be His name!—has done it perfectly.

But there is such a thing as making my brother's sin my own, and bearing it in spirit before
God, as though it were my own. This is shadowed forth by Aaron's sons eating the sin
offering, in the most holy place. It was only the sons who did so. "Every male shall eat it.* It
was the very highest order of priestly service. "in the most holy place shalt thou eat it." We
need to be very near to Christ in order to enter into the spiritual meaning and application of
all this. It is a wonderfully blessed and holy exercise; and it can only be known in the
immediate presence of God. How little we really know of this the heart can testify. Our
tendency is, when a brother has sinned, to sit in judgement upon him; to take the place of a
severe censor, to look upon his sin as a something with which we have nothing whatever to
do. This is to fail sadly in our priestly functions. It is refusing to eat the sin offering in the
most holy place. It is a most precious fruit of grace to be able so to identify oneself with an
erring brother as to make his sin one's own—to bear it in spirit before God. This truly is a
very high order of priestly service, and demands a large measure of the spirit and mind of
Christ. It is only the spiritual who really enter into this; and alas! how few of us are truly
spiritual! "Brethren, 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. Bear ye one
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." (Gal. 6: 1, 2) May the Lord give us grace to
fulfil this blessed "law!" How unlike it is to everything in us! How it rebukes our harshness
and selfishness! Oh! to be more like Christ in this as in All beside!
{*As a general principle, the "son" presents the divine idea; the "daughter," the human
apprehension thereof: the male" sets forth the thing as God gives it; the "female" as we
realise and exhibit it.}

But there was another order of priestly privilege, not so high as that which we have been
considering. "And this is thine: the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of
the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons, and to the daughters with
thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it." Verse 11.

The daughters of Aaron were not to eat of the sin offerings or the trespass offerings. They
were provided for according to the utmost limit of their capacity; but there were certain
functions which they could not discharge—certain privileges which lay beyond their range—
certain responsibilities too weighty for them to sustain. It is far easier to have fellowship with
another in the presentation of a thank offering than it is to make his sin our own. This matter
demands a measure of priestly energy which finds its type in Aaron's "sons," not in his
"daughters." We must be prepared for those varied measures amongst the members of the
priestly household. we are all blessed be God, on the same ground; we all stand in the same
title; we are all in the same relationship; but our capabilities vary; and while we should all
aim at the very highest standard of priestly service, and the very highest measure of priestly
capacity, it is of no possible use to pretend to what we do not possess.

One thing, however, is clearly taught in verse 11 and that is, we must be "clean" in order to
enjoy any priestly privilege, or eat of any priestly food—clean, through the precious blood of
Christ applied to our conscience—clean, through the application of the word, by the Spirit, to
our habits, associations, and ways. When thus clean, whatever be our capacity, we have the
richest provision made for our souls, through the precious grace of God. Hearken to the
following Words: "All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the
firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. And
whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every
one who is clean in thy house shall eat of it." Verses 12, 13.*
{*Let the reader consider what the moral effect must be of taking the above passage literally
and applying it to a certain priestly class in the Church of God: Take it typically and
spiritually, and you have a striking and beautiful figure of the spiritual food provided for all
the members of the priestly family, which is, in one word Christ in all His preciousness and
fullness.}

Here, assuredly, we have a princely portion provided for those who are made priests unto
God. They were to have the very best, and the very first of everything which the Lord's land
produced. There was "The wine which maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face
to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart." Psalm 104: 15.

What a figure have we, in all this, of our portion in Christ! The olive, the grape, and the
finest of the wheat were pressed and bruised, in order to feed and gladden the priests of God;
and the blessed Antitype of all these has, in infinite grace, been bruised and crushed in death,
in order that by His flesh and blood, He might minister life, strength, and gladness to His
household. He, the precious corn of wheat, fell into the ground and died, that we might live;
and the juices of the living vine were pressed to till that cup of salvation of which we drink,
now, and shall drink for ever, in the presence of our God.

What, therefore, remains? What do we want, save an enlarged capacity to enjoy the fullness
and blessedness of our portion in a crucified, risen, and glorified Saviour? We may well say,
"We have all and abound." God has given us all that even He could give—the very best He
had. He has given us His own portion. He has called us to sit down with Himself, in holy,
happy fellowship, and feast upon the fatted calf. He has caused our ears to hear, and our
hearts, in some small degree, to enter into these most marvellous words, "let us eat and be
merry."

How wonderful to think that nothing could satisfy the heart and mind of God but to gather
His people round Himself and feed them with that in which He Himself delights! "Truly our
fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1) What more could
even the love of God do for us than this? And for whom has He done it? For those who were
dead in trespasses and sins—for aliens, enemies, guilty rebels—for dogs of the Gentiles—for
those who were far from Him, having no hope, and without God in the world—for those who,
had we our deserts, should lie now burning in the eternal flames of hell. Oh! what wondrous
grace! What profound depths of sovereign mercy! And, we must add, what a divinely
precious atoning sacrifice, to bring poor self-destroyed, guilty, hell-deserving sinners into
such ineffable blessedness!—to pluck us as brands from everlasting burnings, and make us
priests to God!—to take away all our "filthy garments" from us, and cleanse, clothe, and
crown us, in His own presence, and to His own praise! May we praise Him! May our hearts
and lives praise Him! May we know how to enjoy our priestly place and portion, and to wear
our mitre well! We can do nothing better than praise God—nothing higher than to present to
Him, by Jesus Christ, the fruit of' our lips giving thanks to His name. This shall be our
everlasting employment in that bright and blessed world to which we are hastening, and
where we shall soon be, to dwell for ever with Him who has loved us and given Himself for
us—our own blessed Saviour God—to go no more out for evermore.

In verses 14-19 of our chapter we have instruction as to "the firstborn of man and beast." We
may remark that man is placed on a level with the unclean beast. Both had to be redeemed.
The unclean beast was unfit for God; and so was man, unless redeemed by blood. The clean
animal was not to be redeemed. It was fit for God's use, and was given to be the food of the
entire priestly household—sons and daughters alike. In this we have a type of Christ in whom
God can find His perfect delight the full joy of His heart —the only object, throughout the
wide universe, in which He could find perfect rest and satisfaction. And—wondrous
thought—He has given Him to us, His priestly household, to be our food, our light, our joy,
our all in all for ever.*
{*For further remarks on the subject presented to Numbers 18: 14-19, the reader is referred
to "Notes on Exodus," chapter 13 we are anxious to avoid, as much as possible any repetition
of what has been gone into in previous volume.}

''Jesus, of thee we ne'er would tire:
The new and living food
Can satisfy our heart's desire,
And life is in thy blood.'

The reader will notice, in this chapter, as elsewhere, that every fresh subject is introduced by
the words, "And the Lord spake unto Moses," or "unto Aaron." Thus, from verses 20-32, we
are taught that the priests and Levites—God's worshippers and workers, were to have no
inheritance among the children of Israel, but were to be absolutely shut up to God Himself,
for the supply of all their need. Most blessed position. Nothing can be more lovely than the
picture here presented. The children of Israel were to bring their offerings, and lay them
down at the feet of Jehovah, and He, in His infinite grace, commanded His workers to pick
up these precious offerings—the fruit of His people's devotedness—and feed upon them, in
His own blessed presence, with thankful hearts. Thus the circle of blessing went round. God
ministered to all the wants of His people; His people were privileged to have the rich fruits of
His bounty with the priests and Levites; and these latter were permitted to taste the rare and
exquisite pleasure of giving back to God of that which had flown from Him to them.

All this is divine. It is a striking figure of that which we should look for in the Church of God
now. As we have already remarked, God's people are presented, in this book, under three
distinct phases, namely, as warriors, workers, and worshippers; and in all three they are
viewed as in the attitude of the most absolute dependence upon the living God. In our
warfare, in our work, and in our worship, we are shut up to God. Precious fact. "All our
springs are in Him." What more do we want? Shall we turn to man or to this world for relief
or resource? God forbid! Nay, rather let it be our one grand object to prove, in our entire
history, in every phase of our character, and in every department of our work, that God is
enough for our hearts.

It is truly deplorable. to find God's people, and Christ's servants, looking to the world for
support, and trembling at the thought of that support being withheld. Only let us try to
imagine the Church of God, in the days of Paul, relying upon the Roman government for the
support of its bishops, teachers, and evangelists. Ah! no, dear reader; the Church looked to its
divine Head in the heavens, and to the divine Spirit upon earth, for all its need. Why should it
be otherwise now? The world is the world still; and the Church is not of the world, and
should not look for the world's gold and silver. God will take care of His people and of His
servants, if they will only trust Him. We may depend upon it, God's gift is far better for the
Church than the government gift—no comparison in the estimation of a spiritual mind.

May all the saints of God, and all the servants of Christ, in every place, apply their hearts,
earnestly, to the consideration of these things! And may we have grace to confess, practically,
in the face of a godless, Christless, infidel world, that the living God is amply sufficient for
our every need, not only while passing through the narrow archway of time, but also for the
boundless ocean of eternity. God grant it for Christ's sake!

Numbers 19.
One of the most important sections of the book of Numbers now lies open before us,
presenting for our consideration the deeply interesting and instructive ordinance of "The red
Heifer." A thoughtful student of scripture would naturally feel disposed to inquire why it is
that we get this type in Numbers and not in Leviticus. In the first seven chapters of the latter
book, we have a very elaborate statement of the doctrine of sacrifice; and yet we have no
allusion whatever to the red heifer. Why is this? What are we to learn from the fact that this
beautiful ordinance is presented in the Book of Numbers and nowhere else? We believe it
furnishes another striking illustration of the distinctive character of Our book. The red heifer
is, pre-eminently, a wilderness type. It was God's provision for defilements by the way, and it
prefigures the death of Christ as a purification for sin, to meet our need in passing through a
defiling world, home to our eternal rest above. It is a most instructive figure, and unfolds
most precious and needed truth. May the holy Ghost, who has penned the record, be
graciously pleased to expound and apply it to our souls!

"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, Saying, This is the ordinance of the law
which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring
thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke."
Verses 1, 2.

When, with the eye of Faith, we gaze upon the Lord Jesus, we not only see Him to be the
spotless One, in His own holy Person, but also One who never bore the yoke of sin. The Holy
Ghost is ever the jealous guardian of the person of Christ, and He delights to present Him to
the soul in all His excellency and preciousness. Hence it is that every type and every shadow,
designed to set Him forth, exhibits the same careful guardianship. Thus, in the red heifer, we
are taught that, not only was our blessed Saviour, as to His human nature, intrinsically and
inherently pure and spotless, but that, as to His birth and relationships, He stood perfectly
clear from every mark and trace of sin. No yoke of sin ever came upon His sacred neck.
When He speaks of "my yoke" (Matt. 11: 29), it was the yoke of implicit subjection to the
Father's will, in all things. This was the only yoke He ever wore; and this yoke was never off,
for one moment, during the entire of His spotless and perfect career—from the manger,
where He lay a helpless babe, to the cross, where He expired as a victim.

But He wore no yoke of sin. Let this be distinctly understood. He went to the cross to expiate
our sins, to lay the groundwork of our perfect purification from all sin; but He did this as One
who had never, at any time during His blessed life, worn the yoke of sin. He was "without
sin;" and, as such, was perfectly fitted to do the great and glorious work of expiation. To
think of him as bearing the yoke of sin in His life, would be to think of him as unfit to atone
for it in His death. "wherein is no blemish, and whereon never came yoke." It is quite as
needful to remember and weigh the force of the word "whereon," as of the word "wherein."
Both expressions are designed by the holy Ghost to get forth the perfection of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, who was not only internally spotless, but also externally free from every
trace of sin. Neither in His Person, nor yet in His relationships, was He, in anywise,
obnoxious to the claims of sin or death. He—adored for ever be His name!—entered into all
the reality of our circumstances and condition; but in Him was no sin, and on Him no yoke of
sin.

"Touched with a Sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For He has felt the same.

"But spotless, undefiled, and pure,
The great Redeemer stood,
while Satan's fiery darts He bore,
And did resist to blood."

"And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp,
and one shall slay her before his face." Verse 3.

The thoughtful reader of scripture will not pass over any expression, how trivial soever it
may seem to be. Such an one will ever bear in mind that the book which lies open before him
is from God, and therefore perfect—perfect as a whole—perfect in all its parts. Every little
word is pregnant with meaning. Each little point, feature, and circumstance contains some
spiritual teaching for the soul. No doubt, infidels and rationalists altogether fail in seizing this
weighty fact, and, as a consequence, when they approach the divine volume, they make the
saddest havoc. They see flaws where the spiritual student sees only gems. They see
incongruities and contradictions where the devout, self distrusting, Spirit-taught disciple
beholds divine harmonies and moral glories.

This is only what we might expect; and it is well to remember it now-a-days. "God is His
own interpreter," in scripture, as well as in providence; and if we wait on Him, He will
assuredly make it plain. But, as in providence, "Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His
ways in vain," so in scripture, it is sure to err, and scan His lines in vain. And the devout poet
might have gone farther; for, most surely, unbelief will not only scan God's ways and God's
word in vain, but turn both the one and the other into an occasion of making a blasphemous
attack upon God Himself, upon His nature, and upon His character, as well as upon the
revelation which He has been pleased to give us. The infidel would rudely smash the lamp of
inspiration, quench its heavenly light, and involve us all in the deep gloom and moral
darkness which entrap His own misguided mind.

We have been led into the foregoing train of thought while meditating upon the third verse of
our chapter. We are exceedingly desirous to cultivate the habit of profound and careful study
of holy scripture. It is of immense importance. To say or to think that there is so much as a
single clause, or a single expression, from cover to cover of the inspired volume, unworthy of
our prayerful meditation, is to imply that God the Holy Ghost has thought it worth His while
to write what we do not think it worth our while to study. "All scripture is given by
inspiration of God." (2 Tim. 3: 16) This commands our reverence. "Whatsoever things were
written aforetime were written for our learning." (Rom 15: 4) This awakens our personal
interest. the former of these quotations proves that scripture comes from God; the latter
proves that it comes to us. That and this, taken together, bind us to God by the divine link of
holy scripture—a link which the devil, in this our day, is doing his very utmost to snap; and
that, too, by means of agents of acknowledged moral worth and intellectual power. The devil
does not select an ignorant or immoral man to make his grand and special attacks upon the
Bible, for he knows full well that the former could not speak, and the latter would not get a
hearing. But he craftily takes up some amiable, benevolent, and popular person—some one
of blameless morals—a laborious student, a profound scholar, a deep and original thinker.
Thus he throws dust in the eyes of the simple, the unlearned, and the unwary.

Christian reader, we pray you to remember this. If we can deepen in your soul the sense of
the unspeakable value of your Bible; if we can warn you off from the dangerous rocks and
quicksands of rationalism and infidelity; if we are made the means of stablishing and
strengthening you in the assurance that when you are hanging over the sacred page of
scripture, you are drinking at a fountain every drop of which has flowed into it From the very
bosom of God Himself; if we can reach all or any of these results, we shall not regret the
digression from our chapter, to which we now return.

"And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp,
and one shall slay her before his face." We have, in the priest and the victim, a joint type of
the Person of Christ. He was, at once, the Victim and the Priest. But He did not enter upon
His priestly functions until His work as a victim was accomplished. This will explain the
expression in the last clause of the third verse, one shall slay her before his face." The death
of Christ was accomplished on earth, and could not, therefore, be represented as the act of
priesthood. Heaven, not earth, is the sphere of His priestly service. The apostle, in the Epistle
to the Hebrews, expressly declares, as the sum of a most elaborate and amazing piece of
argument, that "we have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord
pitched, and not man. For every High priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices:
wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on
earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the
law." (Heb. 8: 1-4) "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption." "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made
with hands, the figures of the true But into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of
God for us." (Heb. 9: 11, 12, 24) "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for
ever sat down on the right hand of God" Heb. 10: 12.

From all these passages, taken in connection with Numbers 19: 3, we learn two things,
namely, that the death of Christ is not presented as the proper, ordinary act of priesthood;
and, further, that heaven, not earth, is the sphere of His priestly ministry. There is nothing
new in these statements; others have advanced them repeatedly; But it is important to notice
everything tending to illustrate the divine perfection and precision of Holy scripture. It is
deeply interesting to find a truth, which shines brightly in the pages of the New Testament,
wrapped up in some ordinance or ceremony of Old Testament times. Such discoveries are
ever welcome to the intelligent reader of the word. The truth, no doubt, is the same wherever
it is found; but when it bursts upon us, with meridian brightness in the New Testament
scriptures, and is divinely shadowed forth in the Old, we not only have the truth established,
but the unity of the volume illustrated and enforced.

But we must not pass over, unnoticed, the place where the death of the victim was
accomplished. "That he may bring her forth without the camp." As has already been
remarked, the priest and the victim are identified, and form a joint type of Christ; But it is
added, "one shall slay her before his face," simply because the death of Christ could not be
represented as the act of priesthood. What marvellous accuracy! And yet it is not marvellous,
for what else should we look for in a book every line of which is from God Himself? Had it
been said, "He shall slay her," then Numbers 19 would be at variance with the Epistle to the
Hebrews. But no; the harmonies of the volume shine forth among its brightest glories. May
we have grace to discern and appreciate them!

Jesus, then, suffered without the gate. "wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the
people with his own blood, suffered without the gate." (Heb. 13: 12) He took the outside
place, and His voice falls on the ear from thence. Do we listen to it? Do we understand it?
Should we not consider more seriously the place where Jesus died? Are we to rest satisfied
with reaping the benefits of Christ's death, without seeking fellowship with Him in His
rejection? God forbid! "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his
reproach* There is immense power in these words. They should rouse our whole moral being
to seek more complete identification with a rejected Saviour. Shall we see Him die outside,
while we reap the benefits of His death and remain within? Shall we seek a home, and a
place, and a name, and a portion, in that world from which our Lord and Master is an
outcast? shall we aim at getting on in a world which could not tolerate that blessed One to
whom we owe our present and everlasting felicity Shall we aspire after honour, position, and
wealth, where our Master found only a manger, a cross, a borrowed grave? May the language
of our hearts be, "Far be the thought! and may the language of our lives be, "Far be the
thing!" May we, by the grace of God, yield a more hearty response to the Spirit's call to "Go
forth"
{*The camp, in the above passage. refers primarily to Judaism; but it has a very pointed
moral application to every system of religion set up by man, and governed by the spirit and
principles of this present evil world.]

Christian reader, let us never forget that, when we look at the death of Christ, we see two
things, namely, the death of a victim, and the death of a martyr—a victim for sin, a martyr for
righteousness—a victim, under the hand of God, a martyr, under the hand of man. He
suffered for sin, that we might never suffer. Blessed be His name for evermore! But then, His
martyr sufferings, His sufferings for righteousness under the hand of man, these we may
know. "For unto you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake." (Phil. 1: 29) It is a positive gift to be allowed to suffer with Christ. Do we
esteem it?

In contemplating the death of Christ, as typified by the ordinance of the red heifer, we see not
only the complete putting away of sin, but also the judgement of this present evil world. "He
gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to
the will of God and our Father." (Gal 1: 4) Here the two things are put together by God; and,
most surely, they should never be separated by us. We have the judgement of sin, root and
branch; and the judgement of this world. The former should give perfect repose to the
exercised conscience; while the latter should deliver the heart from the ensnaring influence
of the world, in all its multiplied forms. That purges the conscience from all sense of guilt;
this snaps the link which binds the heart and the world together.

Now, it is most needful for the reader to understand and enter experimentally into the
connection existing between these two things. It is quite possible to miss this grand link, even
while holding and contending for a vast amount of evangelical truth and it may be
confidently affirmed that where this link is missing, there must be a very serious defect in the
Christian character. We frequently meet with earnest souls who have been brought under the
convicting and awakening power of the Holy Spirit, But who have not yet known, for the
ease of their troubled consciences, the full value of the atoning death of Christ, as putting
away, for ever, all their sins, and bringing them nigh to God, without a stain upon the soul, or
a sting in the conscience. If this be the present actual condition of the reader, he would need
to consider the first clause of the verse just quoted. "He gave himself for our sins." This is a
most blessed statement for a troubled soul. It settles the whole question of sin. If it be true
that Christ gave Himself for my sins, what remains for me but to rejoice in the precious fact
that my sins are all gone The One who took my place, who stood charged with my sins, who
suffered in my room and stead, is now at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and
honour. This is enough. My sins are all gone for ever. If they were not, He could not be
where He now is. The crown of glory which wreathes His blessed brow is the proof that my
sins are perfectly atoned for, and therefore perfect peace is my portion—a peace as perfect as
the work of Christ can make it.

But then, let us never forget that the very same work that has for ever put away our sins has
delivered us from this present evil world. The two things go together. Christ has not only
delivered me from the consequences of my sins, but also from the present power of sin, and
from the claims and influences of that thing which scripture calls "the world." All this,
however, will come more fully out as we proceed with our chapter.

"And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with His finger, and sprinkle of her blood
directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times." Here we have the solid
groundwork of all real purification. we know that, in the type before us, it is only, as the
inspired apostle tells us, a question of "sanctifying to me purifying of the flesh." (Heb. 9: 13)
But we have to look beyond the type to the antitype—beyond the shadow to the substance. In
the sevenfold sprinkling of the blood of the red heifer, before the tabernacle of the
congregation, we have a figure of the perfect presentation of the blood of Christ to God, as
the only ground of the meeting-place between God and the conscience. The number "seven,"
as has frequently been observed, is expressive of perfection; and, in the figure before us, we
see the perfection attaching to the death of Christ, as an atonement for sin, presented to, and
accepted by God. All rests upon this divine ground. The blood has been shed, and presented
to a holy God, as a perfect atonement for sin. This, when simply received by faith, must
relieve the conscience from all sense of guilt and all fear of condemnation. There is nothing
before God save the perfection of the atoning work of Christ. Sin has been judged and our
sins put away. They have been completely obliterated by the precious blood of Christ. To
believe this is to enter into perfect repose of conscience.

And here let the reader carefully note that there is no further allusion to the sprinkling of
blood throughout the entire of this singularly interesting chapter. This is precisely in keeping
with the doctrine of Hebrews 9, 10. It is but another illustration of the divine harmony of the
Volume. The sacrifice of Christ, being divinely perfect, needs not to be repeated. Its efficacy
is divine and eternal. "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, He entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the
ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb. 9: 11-14.)
Observe the force of these two words, "once" and "eternal." See how they set forth the
completeness and divine efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ. The blood was shed once and for
ever. To think of a repetition of that great work would be to deny its everlasting and all-
sufficient value, and reduce it to the level of the blood of bulls and goats.

But, further," It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be
purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For
Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true;
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor yet that He should
offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of
others; for then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now, once
in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Sin
therefore, has been put away. It cannot be put away, and, at the same time, be on the
believer's conscience. This is plain. It must either be admitted that the believer's sins are
blotted out, and his conscience perfectly purged, or that Christ must die over again. But this
latter is not only needless, but wholly out of the question; for, as the apostle goes on to say,
"As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement; so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second
time, without sin, unto salvation."

There is something most marvellous in the patient elaborateness with which the Holy Ghost
argues out this entire subject. He expounds, illustrates, and enforces the great doctrine of the
completeness of the sacrifice in such a way, as to carry conviction to the soul, and relieve the
conscience of its heavy burden. Such is the exceeding grace of God that He can not only
accomplished the work of eternal redemption for us, But, in the most patient and painstaking
manner, has argued and reasoned, and proved the whole point in question, so as not to leave
one hair's breadth of ground on which to base an objection. Let us hearken to His further
powerful reasonings, and may the Spirit apply them in power to the heart of the anxious
reader.

"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers
thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the
worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in these sacrifices
there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins." But that which the blood of bulls could never do,
the blood of Jesus has for ever done. This makes all the difference. All the blood that ever
flowed around Israel's altars—the millions of sacrifices, offered according to the
requirements of the Mosaic ritual—could not blot out one stain from the conscience, or
justify a sin-hating God in receiving a sinner to Himself. "It is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins." "Wherefore when he cometh into the world he
saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the
volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God . . .. . By the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once." Mark the contrast. God had
no pleasure in the endless round of sacrifices under the law. They did not please Him. They
left wholly unaccomplished that which He had in His loving heart to do for His people,
namely, to rid them completely of sin's heavy load, and bring them unto Himself, in perfect
peace of conscience and liberty of heart. This, Jesus, by the one offering of His blessed body,
did. He did the will of God; and, blessed for ever be His name, He has not to do His work
over again. We may refuse to believe that the work is done—refuse to commit our souls to its
efficacy—to enter into the rest which it is calculated to impart—to enjoy the holy liberty of
spirit which it is fitted to yield; but there stands the work in its own imperishable virtue; and
there, too, stand the Spirit's arguments respecting that work, in their own unanswerable force
and clearness; and neither Satan's dark suggestions, nor our own unbelieving reasonings can
ever touch either the one or the other. They may, and alas! they do, most sadly interfere with
our soul's enjoyment of the truth; but the truth itself remains ever the same.

"And every priest standeth daily ministering, and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins; but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for
ever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made
his footstool. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." It is
due to the blood of Christ that it should impart eternal perfection; and, we may surely add, it
is due to it likewise that our souls should taste that perfection. No one need ever imagine that
he is doing honour to the work of Christ, or to the Spirit's testimony respecting that work,
when he refuses to accept that perfect remission of sins which is proclaimed to him through
the blood of the cross. It is no sign of true piety, or of pure religion, to deny what the grace of
God has done for us in Christ, and what the record of the eternal Spirit has presented to our
souls on the page of inspiration.

Christian reader, anxious inquirer, does it not seem strange that, when the word of God
presents to our view Christ seated at the right hand of God, in virtue of accomplished
redemption, we should be, virtually, in no wise better off than those who had merely a human
priest standing daily ministering, and offering the same round of sacrifices? We have a divine
Priest who has sat down for ever. They had a merely human priest, who could never, in his
official capacity, sit down at all; and yet are we, in the state of the mind, in the apprehension
of the soul, in the actual condition of the conscience, in no respect better off than they? Can
it Be possible that, with a perfect work to rest upon, our souls should never know perfect
rest? The Holy Ghost, as we have seen in these various quotations taken from the epistle to
the Hebrews, has left nothing unsaid to satisfy our souls as to the question of the complete
putting away of sin by the precious blood of Christ. Why then should you not, this moment,
enjoy full, settled peace of conscience? Has the blood of Jesus done nothing more for you
than the blood of a bullock did for a Jewish worshipper?

It may be, however, that the reader is ready to say, in reply to all that we have been seeking to
urge upon him," I do not, in the least, doubt the efficacy of the blood of Jesus. I believe it
cleanseth from all sin. I believe, most thoroughly, that all who simply put their trust in that
blood are perfectly safe, and will be eternally happy. My difficulty does not lie here at all.
What troubles me is, not the efficacy of the blood, in which I fully believe, but my own
personal interest in that blood, of which I have no satisfactory evidence. This is the secret of
all my trouble. The doctrine of the blood is as clear as a sunbeam; but the question of my
interest therein is involved in hopeless obscurity."

Now if this be at all the embodiment of the reader's feelings on this momentous subject, it
only proves the necessity of his deeply pondering the fourth verse of the nineteenth of
Numbers. There he will see that the true basis of all purification is found in this, that the
blood of atonement has been presented to God, and accepted by Him. This is a most precious
truth, but one little understood. It is of all importance that the really anxious soul should have
a clear view of the subject of atonement. It is so natural to us all to be occupied with our
thoughts and feelings about the blood of Christ, rather than with the blood itself, and with
God's thoughts respecting it. If the blood has been perfectly presented to God, if He has
accepted it, if He has glorified Himself in the putting away of sin, then what remains for the
divinely exercised conscience but to find perfect repose in that which has met all the claims
of God, harmonised His attributes, and laid the foundations of that marvellous platform
whereon a sin-hating God and a poor sin-destroyed sinner can meet? Why introduce the
question of my interest in the blood of Christ, as though that work were not complete without
anything of mine, call it what you will, my interest, my feelings, my experience, my
appreciation, my appropriation, my anything? Why not rest in Christ alone? This would be
really having an interest in Him. But the very moment the heart gets occupied with the
question of its own interest—the moment the eye is withdrawn from that divine object which
the word of God and the Holy Ghost present—then spiritual darkness and perplexity must
ensue; and the soul, instead of rejoicing in the perfection of the work of Christ, is tormented
by looking at its own poor, imperfect feelings.

"The atoning work is done,
The Victim's blood is shed;
And Jesus now is gone,
His people's cause to plead.
He stands in heaven their Great High Priest,
And bears their names upon His breast."

Here, blessed be God, we have the stable groundwork of "purification for sin," and of perfect
peace for the conscience. "The atoning work is done." All is finished. the great Antitype of
the red heifer has been slain. He gave himself up to death, under the wrath and judgement of
a righteous God, that all who simply put their trust in Him might know, in the deep secret of
their own souls, divine purification and perfect Peace. We are purified as to the conscience,
not by our thoughts about the blood, but by the blood itself. We must insist upon this. God
Himself has made out our title for us, and that title is found in the blood alone. Oh! that most
precious blood of Jesus that speaks profound peace to every troubled soul that will simply
lean upon its eternal efficacy. Why, we may ask, is it that the blessed doctrine of the blood is
so little understood and appreciated? Why will people persist in looking to anything else, or
in mingling anything else with it? May the Holy Ghost lead the anxious reader, as he reads
these lines, to stay his heart and conscience upon the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Having thus endeavoured to present to the reader the precious truth unfolded to us in the
death of the red heifer, we shall now ask him to meditate, for a few moments, upon the
burning of the heifer. We have looked at the blood, let us now gaze upon the ashes. In the
former, we have the sacrificial death of Christ, as the only purification for sin. In the latter,
we have the remembrance of that death applied to the heart by the Spirit, through the word,
in order to remove any defilement contracted in our walk from day to day. This gives great
completeness and beauty to this most interesting type. God has not only made provision for
past sins, but also for present defilement, so that we may be ever before him in all the value
and merit of the perfect work of Christ. He would have us treading the courts of His
sanctuary, the holy precincts of His presence," Clean every whit.' And not only does He
Himself see as thus; But, blessed for ever be His name, He would have us thus in our own
inward self-consciousness. He would give us, by His Spirit, through the word, the deep
inward sense of cleanness in His sight, so that the current of our communion with Him may
flow on without a ripple and without a curve. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin. (1 John 1) But if we fail to walk in the light—if we forget, and, in our forgetfulness,
touch the unclean thing, how is our communion to be restored? Only by the removal of the
defilement. But how is this to be effected? By the application to Our hearts and consciences
of the precious truth of the death of Christ. The Holy Ghost produces self-judgement, and
brings to our remembrance the precious truth that Christ suffered death for that defilement
which we so lightly and indifferently contract. It is not a fresh sprinkling of the blood of
Christ—a thing unknown in scripture; but the remembrance of His death brought home, in
fresh power, to the contrite heart, by the ministry of the Holy Ghost.

"And one shall burn the heifer in his sight...... And the priest shall take cedar wood, and
hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer......And a man that is
clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean
place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of
separation: it is a purification for sin."

It is the purpose of God that His children should be purified from all iniquity, and that they
should walk in separation from this present evil world, where all is death and defilement. this
separation is effected by the action of the word on the heart, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
"Grace to you and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for our sins, that he might deliver as from this present evil world, according to the will of
God and our Father." (Gal. 1: 4) And again, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works." Titus 2: 13, 14.

It is remarkable how constantly the Spirit of God presents, in intimate connection, the full
relief of the conscience from all sense of guilt, and the deliverance of the heart from the
moral influence of this present evil world. Now, it should be our care, beloved Christian
reader, to maintain the integrity of this connection. Of course, it is only by the gracious
energy of the Holy Ghost that we can do so; but we ought to seek earnestly to understand and
practically carry out the blessed link of connection between the death of Christ as an
atonement for sin, and as the moral power of separation from this world. Many of the people
of God never get beyond the former, if they even get that length. Many seem to be quite
satisfied with the Knowledge of the forgiveness of sins through the atoning work of Christ,
while, at the same time, they fail to realise deadness to the world in virtue of the death of
Christ, and their identification with Him therein.

Now, when we stand and gaze upon the burning of the red heifer, in Numbers 19—when we
examine that mystic heap of ashes, what do we find? It may be said, in reply, "We find our
sins there." True, thanks be to God, and to the Son of His love, we do indeed find our sins,
our iniquities, our trespasses, our deep crimson guilt, all reduced to ashes. But is there
nothing more? Can we not, by a careful analysis, discover more? Unquestionably. We find
nature there, in every stage of its existence—from the highest to the lowest point in its
history. Moreover, we find all the glory of this world there. the cedar and the hyssop
represent nature in its widest extremes; and, in giving its extremes, they take in all that lies
between. "Solomon spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the
hyssop that springeth out of the wall."

"Scarlet" is viewed, by those who have carefully examined scripture on the point, as the type
or expression of human splendour, worldly grandeur, the glory of this world, the glory of
man. Hence, therefore, we see in the burning of the heifer, the end of all worldly greatness,
human glory, and the complete setting aside of the flesh, with all its belongings. This renders
the burning of the heifer deeply significant. It shadows forth a truth too little known, and,
when known, too readily forgotten—a truth embodied in these memorable words of the
apostle, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whereby
the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

We are all far too prone to accept the cross as the ground of escape from all the consequences
of our sins, and of full acceptance with God, and, at the same time, refuse it as the ground of
our complete separation from the world. True it is, thanks and praise be to our God, the solid
ground of our deliverance from guilt and consequent condemnation; but it is more than this.
It has severed us, for ever, from all that pertains to this world, through which we are passing.
Are my sins put away Yes; blessed be the God of all grace! according to what? According to
the perfection of Christ's atoning sacrifice as estimated by God Himself. Well then, such,
precisely, is the measure of our deliverance from this present evil world—from its fashions,
its maxims, its habits, its principles. The believer has absolutely nothing in common with this
world, in so far as he enters into the spirit and power of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That cross has dislodged him from everything here below, and made him a pilgrim and a
stranger in this world. The truly devoted heart sees the dark shadow of the cross looming
over all the glitter and glare, the pomp and fashion of this world. Paul saw this, and the sight
of it caused him to esteem the world, in its very highest aspect, in its most attractive forms, in
its brightest glories, as dross.

Such was the estimate formed of this world by one who had been brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel. "The world is crucified unto me," said he, "and I unto the world." Such was Paul,
and such should every Christian be—a stranger on earth, a citizen of heaven, and this, not
merely in sentiment or theory, but in downright fact and reality; for, as surely as our
deliverance from hell is more than a mere sentiment or theory, so surely is our separation
from this present evil age. The one is as positive and as real as the other.

But here let us ask, Why is not this great practical truth more pressed home upon the hearts
of evangelical Christians at the present moment? Why are we so slow to urge upon one
another the separating power of the cross of Christ? If my heart loves Jesus, I shall not seek a
place, a portion, or a name where He found only a malefactor's cross. This, dear reader, is the
simple way to look at the matter. Do you really love Christ? Has your heart been touched and
attracted by His wondrous love to you? If so, remember that He was cast out by this world.
Yes, Jesus was, and still is, an outcast from this world. There is no change. The world is the
world still; and be it remembered, that one of Satan's special devices is to lead people to
accept salvation from Christ, while, at the same time, they refuse to be identified with Him in
His rejection—to avail themselves of the atoning work of the cross, while abiding
comfortably in the world that is stained with the guilt of nailing Christ thereto. In other
words, he leads people to think and to say that the offence of the cross has ceased; that the
world of the nineteenth century is totally different from the world of the first; that if the Lord
Jesus were on earth now He would meet with very different treatment from that which He
received then; that it is not now a pagan world, but a Christian one, and this makes a material
and a fundamental difference; that now it is quite right for a Christian to accept of citizenship
in this world, to have a name, a place, and a portion here, seeing it is not the same world at
all, as that which nailed the Son of God to Calvary's cursed tree.

Now we feel it incumbent on us to press upon all who read these lines that this is, in very
deed, a lie of the arch-enemy of souls. The world is not changed. It may have changed its
dress, But it has not changed its nature, its spirit, its principles. It hates Jesus as cordially as
when the cry went forth," Away with him! Crucify him!" There is really no change. If only
we try the world by the same grand test, we shall find it to be the same evil, God-hating,
Christ-rejecting world as ever. And what is that test? Christ crucified. May this solemn truth
be engraved on our hearts! May we realise and manifest its formative power! May it detach
us more completely from all that belongs to the world! May we be enabled to understand
more fully the truth presented in the ashes of the red heifer! Then shall our separation from
the world, and our dedication to Christ, be more intense and real. The Lord, in His exceeding
goodness, grant that thus it may be, with all His people, in this day of hollow, worldly, half-
and-half profession!

Let us now consider, for a moment, how the ashes were to be applied.
"He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify
Himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not
himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Whosoever toucheth the
dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the
Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not
sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him."

It is a solemn thing to have to do with God—to walk with Him, from day to day, in the midst
of a defiled and defiling scene. He cannot tolerate any uncleanness upon those with whom He
deigns to walk, and in whom He dwells. He can pardon and blot out; He can heal, cleanse,
and restore; but He cannot sanction unjudged evil, or suffer it upon His people. It would be a
denial of His very name and nature were He to do so. This, while deeply solemn, is truly
blessed. It is our joy to have to do with One whose presence demands and secures holiness.
We are passing through a world in which we are surrounded with defiling influences. True,
defilement is not now contracted by touching "a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave."
These things were, as we know, types of things moral and spiritual with which we are in
danger of coming in contact every day and every hour. We doubt not but those who have
much to do with the things of this world are most painfully sensible of the immense difficulty
of escaping with unsoiled hands. Hence the need of holy diligence in all our habits and
associations, lest we contract defilement, and interrupt our communion with God. He must
have us in a condition worthy of Himself. "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

But the anxious reader, whose whole soul breathes after holiness, may eagerly inquire,
"What, then, are we to do, if it be true that we are thus surrounded, on all hands, with defiling
influences, and if we are so prone to contract that defilement? Furthermore, if it is impossible
to have fellowship with God, with unclean hands and a condemning conscience, What are we
to do?" First of all, then, we should say, be watchful. Wait much and earnestly on God. He is
faithful and gracious—a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God—a liberal and an
unupbraiding Giver. "He giveth more grace." This is, positively, a blank cheque which faith
can fill up to any amount. Is it the real purpose of your soul to get on, to advance in the
divine life, to grow in personal holiness? Then beware how you continue, for a single hour, in
contact with what soils your hands and wounds your conscience, grieves the Holy Ghost, and
mars your communion. Be decided. Be whole-hearted. Give up, at once, the unclean thing,
whatever it be, habit, or association, or anything else. Cost what it may, give it up. Entail
what loss it may, abandon it. No worldly gain, no earthly advantage, could compensate for
the loss of a pure conscience, an uncondemning heart, and the light of your Father's
countenance. Are you not convinced of this? If so, seek grace to carry out your conviction.

But it may be further asked, "What is to be done when defilement is actually contracted?
How is the defilement to be removed?" Hear the reply in the figurative language of Numbers
19. "And for an unclean person, they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification
for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel. And a clean person shall take
hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and
upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one
dead, or a grave. And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and
on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and
bathe Himself in water, and shall be clean at even."

The reader will remark that, in the twelfth and eighteenth verses, there is a double action set
forth. There is the action of the third day, and the action of the seventh day. Both were
essentially necessary to remove the ceremonial defilement caused by contact with the varied
forms of death above specified. Now, what did this double action typify? What is it that, in
our spiritual history, answers thereto? we believe it to be this. When we, through lack of
watchfulness and spiritual energy, touch the unclean thing and get defiled, we may be
ignorant of it; but God knows all about it. He cares for us, and is looking after us; not,
blessed be His name, as an angry judge, or stern censor, but as a loving father, who will never
impute anything to us, because it was all, long ago, imputed to the One who died in our stead.
But, though He will never impute it to us, He will make us feel it deeply and keenly. He will
be a faithful reprover of the unclean thing; and He can reprove all the more powerfully
simply because He will never reckon it against us. The holy Spirit brings our sin to
remembrance, and this causes unutterable anguish of heart. This anguish may continue for
some time. It may be moments, days, months, or years. We once met with a young Christian,
who was rendered miserable, for three years, by having gone with some worldly friends on an
excursion. This convicting operation of the holy Ghost we believe to be shadowed forth by
the action of the third day. He first brings our sin to remembrance; and then He graciously
brings to our remembrance, and applies to our souls, through the written word, the value of
the death of Christ as that which has already met the defilement which we so easily contract.
This answers to the action of the seventh day—removes the defilement and restores our
communion.

And, be it carefully remembered, that we can never get rid of defilement in any other way.
We may seek to forget, to slur over, to heal the wound slightly, to make little of the matter, to
let time obliterate it from the tablet of memory. It will never do. Nay, it is most dangerous
work. There are few things more disastrous than trifling with conscience or the claims of
holiness. And it is as foolish as it is dangerous; for God has, in His grace, made full provision
for the removal of the uncleanness which His holiness detects and condemns. But the
uncleanness must be removed, else communion is impossible. "If I wash thee not, thou hast
no part with me." the suspension of a believers communion is what answers to the cutting off
of a member from the congregation of Israel. The Christian can never be cut off from Christ;
but his communion can be interrupted by a single sinful thought, and that sinful thought must
be judged and confessed, and the soil of it removed, ere the communion can be restored. It is
well to remember this. It is a serious thing to trifle with sin. We may rest assured we cannot
possibly have fellowship with God and walk in defilement. To think so, is to blaspheme the
very name, the very nature, the very throne and majesty of God. No, dear reader, we must
keep a clean conscience, and maintain the holiness of God, else we shall, very soon, make
shipwreck of faith and break down altogether. May the Lord keep us walking softly and
tenderly, watchfully and prayerfully, until we have laid aside our bodies of sin and death, and
entered upon that bright and blessed world above, where sin, death, and defilement are
unknown.

In studying the ordinances and ceremonies of the Levitical economy, nothing is more striking
than the jealous care with which the God of Israel watched over His people, in order that they
might be preserved from every defiling influence. By day and by night, awake and asleep, at
home and abroad, in the bosom of the family and in the solitary walk, His eyes were upon
them. He looked after their food, their raiment, their domestic habits and arrangements. He
carefully instructed them as to what they might and what they might not eat; what they might
and what they might not wear. He even set forth, distinctly, His mind as to the very touching
and handling of things. In short, He surrounded them with barriers amply sufficient, had they
only attended to them, to resist the whole tide of defilement to which they were exposed on
every side.

In all this, we read, in unmistakable characters, the holiness of God; but we read also, as
distinctly, the grace of God. If divine holiness could not suffer defilement upon the people,
divine grace made ample provision for the removal thereof. This provision is set forth in our
chapter under two forms, namely, the blood of atonement, and the water of separation.
Precious provision! a provision illustrating, at once, the holiness and the grace of God. Did
we not know the ample provisions of divine grace, the lofty claims of divine holiness would
be perfectly overwhelming; but being assured of the former, we can heartily rejoice in the
latter. Could we desire to see the standard of divine holiness lowered a single hair's breadth?
Far be the thought. How could we, or why should we, seeing that divine grace has fully
provided what divine holiness demands? An Israelite of old might shudder as he hearkened to
such words as these, "He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven
days." and again, "Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth
not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel."
Such words might indeed terrify his heart. He might feel led to exclaim, "What am I to do?
How can I ever get on? It seems perfectly impossible for me to escape defilement." But, then,
what of the ashes of the burnt heifer? What of the water of separation? What could these
mean? They set forth the memorial of the sacrificial death of Christ, applied to the heart by
the power of the Spirit of God. "He shall purify himself with it the third day, and on the
seventh day he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day
he shall not be clean." If we contract defilement, even though it be through negligence, that
defilement must be removed, ere our communion can be restored. But we cannot get rid of
the soil by any effort of our own. It can only be by the use of God's gracious provision, even
the water of purification. An Israelite could no more remove by his own efforts the
defilement caused by the touch of a dead body, than he could have broken Pharaoh's yoke, or
delivered himself from the lash of Pharaoh's taskmasters.

And let the reader observe that it was not a question of offering a fresh sacrifice, nor yet of a
fresh application of the blood. It is of special importance that this should be distinctly seen
and understood. The death of Christ cannot be repeated. "Christ being raised from the dead,
dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him, For in that he died, he died unto sin
once; but in that he liveth, He liveth unto God." We stand, by the grace of God, in the full
credit and value of the death of Christ; But, inasmuch as we are surrounded, on all sides, by
temptations and snares; and as we have, within us, such capabilities and tendencies; and,
further, seeing we have a powerful adversary who is ever on the watch to ensnare us, and
lead us off the path of truth and purity, we could not get on for a single moment, were it not
for the gracious way in which our God has provided for all our exigencies, in the precious
death and all-prevailing advocacy of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not merely that the blood of
Jesus Christ has washed away all our sins, and reconciled us to a Holy God, but "We have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." "He ever liveth to make intercession for
us," and "He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." He is ever in
the presence of God for us. He represents us there, and maintains us in the divine integrity of
the place and relationship in which His atoning death has set us. Our case can never, by any
possibility, fall through, in the hands of such an Advocate. He must cease to live, ere the very
feeblest of His saints can perish. We are identified with Him and He with us.

Now, then, Christian reader, what should be the practical effect of all this grace upon our
hearts and lives? when we think of the death, and of the burning—of the blood, and of the
ashes—of the atoning sacrifice, and the interceding Priest and Advocate, what influence
should it exert upon our souls? How should it act upon our consciences? Should it lead us to
think little of sin! Should it cause us to walk carelessly and indifferently? Should it have the
effect of making as light and frivolous in our ways? Alas! for the heart that can think so. We
may rest assured of this, that the man who can draw a plea, from the rich provisions of divine
grace, for lightness of conduct or levity of spirit, knows very little, if indeed he knows
anything at all, of the true nature or proper influence of grace and its provisions. Could we
imagine, for a moment, that the ashes of the heifer or the water of separation would have had
the effect of making an Israelite careless as to his walk? Assuredly not. On the contrary, the
very fact of such careful provision being made, by the goodness of God, against defilement,
would make him feel what a serious thing it was to contract it. Such, at least, would be the
proper effect of the provisions of divine grace. The heap of ashes, laid up in a clean place,
gave forth a double testimony; it testified of the goodness of God; and it testified of the
hatefulness of sin. It declared that God could not suffer uncleanness upon His people; but it
declared also that He had provided the means of removing it. It is utterly impossible that the
blessed doctrine of the sprinkled blood, of the ashes, and of the water of separation, can be
understood and enjoyed, without its producing a holy horror of sin in all its defiling forms.
And we may further assert that no one who has ever felt the anguish of a defiled conscience
could lightly contract defilement. A pure conscience is Far too precious a treasure to be
lightly parted with; and a defiled conscience is far too heavy a burden to be lightly taken up.
But, blessed be the God of all grace, He has met all our need, in His own perfect way; and,
He has met it, too, not to make us careless, but to make us watchful. "My little children, these
things write I unto you, that ye sin not." But then he adds, "If any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins;
and not for ours only, but for the whole world." 1 John.

But we must draw this section to a close, and shall merely add a word on the closing verses
of our chapter. "And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water
of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be
unclean until even. and whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean, and the
soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even." (Num. 19: 21, 22) In verse 18, we are taught
that it needed a clean person to sprinkle the unclean; and in verse 21, we are taught that the
act of sprinkling another defiled oneself.

Putting both these together, we learn, as another has said, "That any one who has to do with
the sin of another, though it be in the way of duty, to cleanse it, is defiled; not as the guilty
person, it is true, but we cannot touch sin without being defiled." And we learn also that, in
order to lead another into the enjoyment of the cleansing virtue of Christ's work, I must be in
the enjoyment of that cleansing work myself. It is well to remember this. Those who applied
the water of separation to others had to use that water for themselves. May our souls enter
into this! May we ever abide in the sense of the perfect cleanness into which the death of
Christ introduces us, and in which His priestly work maintains us! And oh! let us never forget
that contact with evil defiles. It was so under the Mosaic economy, and it is so now.

Numbers 20
"Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin, in the
first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there."
Verse 1.

The chapter which now opens before us furnishes a very remarkable record of wilderness life
and experience. In it, we see Moses, the servant of God, passing through some of the most
trying scenes of his eventful life. First of all, Miriam dies. The one whose voice was heard,
amid the brilliant scenes of Exodus 15 chanting a hymn of victory, passes away, and her
ashes are deposited in the wilderness of Kadesh. The timbrel is laid aside. The voice of song
is hushed in the silence of death. She can no longer lead in the dance. She had sung sweetly,
in her day; she had, very blessedly, seized the key note of that magnificent song of praise
sung on the resurrection side of the Red Sea. Her charms embodied the great central truth of
redemption. "Sing ye to the Lord. for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider
hath he thrown into the sea." This was, truly, a lofty strain. It was the suited utterance for the
joyous occasion.

But now the prophetess passes off the scene, and the voice of melody is exchanged for the
voice of murmuring. Wilderness life is becoming irksome. The trials of the desert put nature
to the test; they bring out what is in the heart. Forty years' toil and travail make a great
change in people. It is very rare indeed to find a case in which the verdure and freshness of
spiritual life are kept up, much less augmented, throughout all the stages of Christian life and
warfare. It ought not to be such a rarity. It ought to be the very reverse, inasmuch as it is in
the actual details, the stern realities of our path through this world, that we prove what God
is. He, blessed be His name, takes occasion from the very trials of the way to make Himself
known to us in all the sweetness and tenderness of love that knows no change. His loving
kindness and tender mercy never fail. Nothing can exhaust those springs which are in the
living God. He will be what He is, spite of all our naughtiness. God will be God, let man
prove himself ever so faithless and faulty.

This is our comfort, our joy, and the source of our strength. We have to do with the living
God. What a reality! Come what may, He will prove Himself equal to every emergency—
amply sufficient "for exigence of every hour." His patient grace can bear with our manifold
infirmities, failures, and shortcomings; and His strength is made perfect in our utter
weakness. His faithfulness never fails. His mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Friends
fail or pass away. Links of fond friendship are snapped in this cold, heartless world. Fellow-
labourers part company. Miriams and Aarons die; but God remaineth. Here lies the deep
secret of all true and solid blessedness. If we have the hand and the heart of the living God
with us, we need not fear. If we can say, "The Lord is my shepherd," we can, assuredly add,
"we shall not want."

Still there are the scenes of sorrow and trial in the desert; and we have to go through them.
Thus it was with Israel, in the chapter before us. They were called to meet the keen blasts of
the wilderness, and they met them with accents of impatience and discontent. "And there was
no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and
against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had
died when our brethren died before the Lord! And why have ye brought up the congregation
of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have
ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or
of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink." Verses 2-5.

This was a deeply trying moment to the spirit of Moses. We can form no conception of what
it must have been to encounter six hundred thousand murmurers, and to be obliged to listen
to their bitter invectives, and to hear himself charged with all the misfortunes which their
own unbelief had conjured up before them. All this was no ordinary trial of patience; and,
most assuredly, we need not marvel if that dear and honoured servant found the occasion too
much for him. "And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the Lord
appeared unto them." Verse 6.

It is deeply touching to find Moses, again and again, on his face before God. It was a sweet
relief, to make his escape from a tumultuous host, and betake himself to the only One whose
resources were adequate to meet such an occasion. "They fell upon their faces: and the glory
of the Lord appeared unto them." They do not appear, on this occasion, to have attempted any
reply to the people; "they went from the presence of the assembly" and cast themselves upon
the living God. They could not possibly have done better. Who But the God of all grace could
meet the ten thousand necessities of wilderness life? Well had Moses said, at the very
beginning, "If thy presence go not with us, carry as not up hence." Assuredly, he was right
and wise in so expressing himself. The divine presence was the only answer to the demand of
such a congregation. But that presence was an all-sufficient answer. God's treasury is
absolutely inexhaustible. He can never fail a trusting heart. Let us remember this. God
delights to be used. He never grows weary of ministering to the need of His people. If this
were ever kept in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, we should hear less of the
accents of impatience and discontent, and more of the sweet language of thankfulness and
praise. But, as we have had frequent occasion to remark, desert life tests every one. it proves
what is in us; and, thanks be to God, it brings out what is in Him for us.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly
together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it
shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou
shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. and Moses took the rod from before the
Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together
before the rock; and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of
this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the
water came out abundantly; and the congregation drank, and their beasts also." Verse 7-11.

Two objects, in the foregoing quotation, demand the readers attention, namely, "The Rock,"
and "The Rod." They both present Christ, most blessedly, to the soul; but in two distinct
aspects. In 1 Corinthians 10: 4, we read, "They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed
them: and that Rock was Christ." This is Plain and positive. It leaves no room whatever for
the exercise of the imagination. "That Rock was Christ"—Christ smitten for us.

Then, as regards "the rod," we must remember that it was not the rod of Moses—the rod of
authority—the rod of power. This would not suit the occasion before us. It had done its work.
It had smitten the rock once, and that was enough. This we learn from Exodus 17, where we
read, "The Lord said onto Moses, go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of
Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river (see Ex. 7: 20), take in thine hand and
go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the
rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the
sight of the elders of Israel."

Here we have a type of Christ smitten for us, by the hand of God, in judgement. The reader
will note the expression, "Thy rod wherewith thou smotest the river." Why the river? Why
should this particular stroke of the rod be referred to? Exodus 7: 20 furnishes the reply. "And
be (Moses) lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of
Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned
to blood." It was the rod which turned the water into blood that was to smite "that Rock
which was Christ" in order that streams of life and refreshment might flow for us.

Now, this smiting could only take place once. It is never to be repeated. "Knowing that
Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." (Rom. 6:
9, 10) "But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself.....so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.'' (Heb. 9: 26, 27)
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to
God." 1 Peter 3: 18.

There can be no repetition of the death of Christ; and hence Moses was wrong in smiting the
rock twice with his rod—wrong in smiting it at all. He was commanded to take "the rod,
Aaron's rod—the priestly rod, and speak to the rock. The atoning work is done, and now our
great High Priest has passed into the heavens, there to appear in the presence of God for us,
and the streams of spiritual refreshment flow to us, on the ground of accomplished
redemption, and in connection with Christ's priestly ministry, of which Aaron's budding rod
is the exquisite figure.

Hence, then, it was a grave mistake for Moses to smite the rock a second time—a mistake to
use his rod in the matter at all. To have smitten with Aaron's rod would, as we can easily
understand, have spoiled its lovely blossom. A word would have sufficed, in connection with
the rod of priesthood—the rod of grace. Moses failed to see this—failed to glorify God. He
spoke unadvisedly with his lips; and as a consequence he was prohibited going over Jordan.
His rod could not take the people over—for what could mere authority do with a murmuring
host—and he was not suffered to go over himself because he failed to sanctify Jehovah in the
eyes of the congregation.

But Jehovah took care of His own glory. He sanctified Himself before the people; and,
notwithstanding their rebellious murmurings, and Moses' sad mistake and failure, the
congregation of the Lord received a gushing stream from the smitten rock.

Nor was this all. It was not merely that grace triumphed in furnishing Israel's murmuring
hosts with drink; but even in reference to Moses himself, it shines out most brilliantly, as we
may see in Deuteronomy 34. It was grace that brought Moses to the top of Pisgah and shewed
him the land of Canaan from thence. It was grace that led Jehovah to provide a grave for His
servant and bury him therein. It was better to see the land of Canaan, in company with God,
than to enter it in company with Israel. And yet we must not forget that Moses was prevented
entering the land because of the unadvised speaking. God, in government, kept Moses out of
Canaan. God, in grace, brought Moses up to Pisgah. These two facts, in the history of Moses,
illustrate, very forcibly, the distinction between grace and government—a subject of the
deepest interest, and of great practical value. Grace pardons and blesses; but government
takes its course. Let us ever remember this. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also
reap." This principle runs through all the ways of God in government, and nothing can be
more solemn; nevertheless "grace reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus
Christ our Lord." All praise to Him who is at once, the fountain and the channel of this grace!

From verses 14-20 of our chapter, we have the correspondence between Moses and the king
of Edom. It is instructive and interesting to notice the style of each, and to compare it with
the history given in Genesis 32, 33. Esau had a serious grudge against Jacob; and albeit,
through the direct interposition of God, he was not suffered to touch a hair of his brother's
head, still, on the other hand, Israel must not meddle with Esau's possessions. Jacob had
supplanted Esau; and Israel must not molest Edom. "Command thou the people, saying, Ye
are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and
they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore. Meddle not with
them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth, because I have
given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye
may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. (Deut. 2: 4-6.)
Thus we see that the same God who would not suffer Esau to touch Jacob, in Genesis 33,
now will not suffer Israel to touch Edom, in Numbers 20.

The closing paragraph of Numbers 20 is deeply touching. We shall not quote it, but the
reader should refer to it, and compare it carefully with the scene in Exodus 4: 1-17. Moses
had deemed Aaron's companionship indispensable; but he afterwards found him to be a sore
thorn in his side, and here he is compelled to strip him of his robes and see him gathered to
his fathers. All this is very admonitory, in whatever way we view it, whether as regards
Moses or Aaron. We have already referred to this instructive piece of history, and therefore
we shall not dwell upon it here; but may the good Lord engrave its solemn lesson deeply
upon the tablets of our hearts!

Numbers 21
This chapter brings prominently before us the familiar and beautiful ordinance of the brazen
Serpent—that great evangelical type. "And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the
Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged
because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have
ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there
any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." Verses 4, 5.

Alas! alas! it is the same sad story, over and over again—"The murmurs of the wilderness." It
was all well enough to escape out of Egypt, when the terrific judgements of God were falling
upon it in rapid succession. At such a moment, there was but little attraction in the flesh pots,
the leaks, the onions, and the garlic, when they stood connected with the heavy plagues sent
forth from the hand of an offended God. But now the plagues are forgotten, and the flesh pots
alone remembered. "Would to God we had died at 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."

What language! man would rather sit by the flesh pots, in a land of death and darkness, than
walk with God through the wilderness, and eat bread from heaven. The Lord Himself had
brought His glory down into connection with the very sand of the desert, because His
redeemed were there. He had come down to bear withal their provocation—to "suffer their
manners in the wilderness." All this grace and exceeding condescension might well have
called forth in them a spirit of grateful and humble subjection. But no; the very earliest
appearance of trial was sufficient to elicit from them the cry, "Would to God we had died in
the land of Egypt!"

However, they were very speedily made to taste the bitter fruits of their murmuring spirit.
"The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of
Israel died." (Ver. 6) The serpent was the source of their discontent; and their condition,
when bitten of the serpents, was well calculated to reveal to them the true character of their
discontent. If the Lord's people will not walk happily and contentedly with Him, they must
taste the power of the serpent—alas! a terrible power, in whatever way it may be
experienced.

The serpents' bite brought Israel to a sense of their sin. "Therefore the people came to Moses,
and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray unto
the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." Verse 7.

Here, then, was the moment for divine grace to display itself. Man's need has ever been the
occasion for the display of God's grace and mer