cumstance, arising out of the occasion, and done away with it; but was designed, in providence, to be a symbolical representation of the whole Mosaic dispensation: which was nothing else but the gospel under a veil. That this is not a fanciful conjecture, we appeal to the great apostle of the Gentiles, who has removed the veil, and discovered the hidden glory which lies under it, and thus writes, "Not that we," meaning the apostles of the Lord Jesus under the New Testament, "not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious, had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away, in the reading of the Old Testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away."* operation and effects to a particular district; nothing but the religious usages and ceremonies practised by a particular people, that man looks with a bandage upon his eyes, understands not what he reads, and therefore cannot profit. There is a gracious intimation in the passage we have just now quoted, that a period is approaching when Israel too shall turn unto the Lord; when the veil shall be taken away, and Moses, in whom they trusted, shall be seen without a covering; and “if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?"* What glorious views of God, of his providence, of his grace, does the gospel disclose! The gentile nations behold their admission into the family of God, and their privileges, as his children, in the promises which were made to Abraham and his seed. And the Jews will in time discover the intention and design of their political and religious establishment, in the nature, duration, and extent of the Redeemer's kingdom: when "Israel also shall be saved:" as it is written, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."t Human frailty rendered the interposition of a veil necessary between Moses and the people; because "they could not look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished;" but when Moses went into the tabernacle, to converse with God, a veil to cover his face being unnecessary, it was laid aside. It is natural to hold out our most favourable appearance to men, to catch at their good opinion, to secure their approbation; but we see in Moses a mind intent only upon usefulness. He joyfully gives up a little fame, for the sake of doing much good. If the church of God be enlightened, what is it to him that he himself is a little obscured? From the days of Moses down to those of His lustre is to illuminate Israel. Vain glory Paul, and by Paul himself, in the days of his always defeats the purpose which it had ignorance, Moses was heard and read with formed; humility as certainly gains the the veil over his face; was understood in the point at which it aimed not. Who does not letter, not in the spirit; and even after the esteem Moses, modestly shrouded in a veil, veil was done away in Christ, who is "the infinitely more than all the loquacious boastend of the law for righteousness;" after the ers and exhibiters of themselves that ever types were explained, the predictions ac- existed? Moses, in talking with the people, complished, and the great prophet of the employed a veil, not as a mask to insinuate Jews had brought all his glory, and laid at a false idea of what he was not, but to conthe feet of the great Apostle and High Priest ceal the real excellency which he had; unof our profession, still the people who had like the hypocrisy and disguise of the world; the best means of information, who had the and, to use disguise with God he knew would power of comparing spiritual things with be impious, profane, and unavailing. We spiritual, read them, and continue to read find him changing his appearence, as the them to this day, under the power of passion occasion required. This was not, in him, and prejudice. And he who sees in Moses, versatility and address, a cunning accomand the other writings of the Old Testa-modation to circumstances for selfish ends; ment, nothing but the histories of certain but the compliance of wisdom and necessity, events long since past, and confined in their in order to be more extensively useful. Thus *2 Cor. iii. 5--16. Rom. xi. 15. † Rom. xi. 20. Paul "became all things to all men, that he | glory of his person was a rare and singular might gain some." And, for the same rea- attainment; but that of his spirit may be im son, a greater than Moses, a greater than Paul disdained not the festivity of a marriage solemnity; refused not the invitation of one ruler, nor rejected the visit of another; abhorred not to eat with publicans and sinners, if by any means the ignorant might be instructed, the proud and selfish checked and reproved, the modest encouraged, and the mourner comforted. tated and attained by all. His piety, resignation, and obedience; his meekness, gentleness, and compassion, present amiable patterns, and they are the ornaments suited to your present state. It is given but to a favoured few to exhibit heroic virtue, to perform splendid actions, to acquire extensive reputation; but none is excluded from the honour of simple, modest worth, of habitual beneficence, of honest fame. And those are the most valuable and solid acquisitions, which "are in the sight of God of great price." At the first descent of Moses from the mount, we see the glory of a man zealous for God: at his second, the glory of a man owned and honoured of God; "the skin of his face shining." But at his appearance many Steady and persevering intercourse with days afterwards on Tabor, we behold a saint, Heaven will infallibly transform the whole from the world of bliss, altogether glorious. man into the image of God. The very exteSuch is the blessed effect of being with God rior will be meliorated and improved, and the and "seeing him as he is," not for forty days world itself will "take knowledge" of the only, but during a series of ages. And disciple who "has been with Jesus." The what must it then be, to "be ever with the exercises of the closet will be seen and felt Lord," to glorify God, and to be glorified of in the serenity of the countenance, the kindhim "in body and spirit which are the ness of the eye, the melody of the voice, the Lord's?" And why was Moses again ex-affability and graciousness of the whole dehibited on the mount of transfiguration? portment. "Let your light so shine before Wherefore again displayed in glory? Again men, that they may see your good works, to put a veil upon his face, to empty himself, and glorify your Father which is in heaand to deposit his glory at the feet of Him | ven.' in whose light and likeness he shone-To talk with Jesus "concerning the decease he should accomplish at Jerusalem." The Jewish Rabbins pretend to account for the unabated vigour, the unfading lustre of the latter years of the life of Moses, from these very circumstances. The eye, say they, which had endured the sight of God, could not become dim: the natural strength which supported a fast of forty days, could not sink under any future decay. Christian, consider Moses, the man of God, invested with lustre which dazzled the eye of every beholder, and which length of time could not impair; and reflect, to what a height of glory communion with God can raise a fallen creature; and aspire after a participation of that grace which adorned him. The The time is at hand when the glory which irradiated the face of Moses shall be imparted to the whole company of the redeemed; when the name of God and the Lamb shall shine in every forehead. Behold, and wonder, behold, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." "They that be wise, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."‡ "The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."} HISTORY OF MOSES. LECTURE LXI. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel made all the work. An Moses did look upon all the work, and behold they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it: And Moses blessed them.--EXODUS xxxix. 42, 43. Ir reason were to maintain its full domiaion in man, were the senses perpetually under the control of the mind, a motive to religion would be continually supplied from the natural impulse of a grateful and affectionate heart. The vast universe would become one great temple; every pebble, every plant, every star would be a witness for God; and the heaven-born spirit would arise on the wing of every bird, of every breeze of air, to its glorious Author. But man, degraded by sin, blinded by passion, involved in error; man, impaired in understanding, grovelling in affection, in captivity to sense, needs to be frequently admonished of his obligation to, and dependence upon God, his Creator and Preserver. He needs forms, and seasons, and places of worship; the heart must be approached through the channels of sense; and our acquaintance with the Father of spirits must be preserved, by means of things seen and temporal. Hence a sabbath, a tabernacle, a temple; sacrifices, sacraments, sermons, are the institution of Heaven; are the ordinances of Him "who knows what is in man," and what is necessary to man. It is easy to conceive what the world would be, destitute of the modes and offices of religion, when we consider what men are, with the advantage of "line upon line, precept upon precept," revelation upon revelation. The religious ceremonies and services in use among ancient nations, whatever were their origin, become respectable in our eyes, merely from their antiquity: but when to antiquity is superadded divine authority; when we behold the great JEHOVAH condescending to describe and to appoint the rites of his own worship, to exhibit a model of all the instruments to be employed in his service, we feel something more than respect; we are filled with veneration: we break out into the exclamation of Solomon. "Will God indeed dwell with men upon the earth?" Moses had now finally descended from the mount, furnished with complete instructions for settling the civil government and the religious polity of the nation which God “chose, to place his name there." Under the direction of men divinely inspired for the work, he addresses himself to the execution of the plan which God himself had vouchsafed to delineate. From the liberality and zeal of the people, materials are speedily and amply supplied. Through the skill and assiduity of the artists, the business is speedily and successfully despatched: and, on the first anniversary of the departure out of Egypt, the tabernacle is ready to be reared up. It is not my design to attempt a minute description of that sacred structure, and of its furniture. But I find it impossible to pass them by entirely, as I apprehend a few remarks of a practical nature, fall directly within the design of these exercises, and may, by the divine blessing, render the awful monuments of religion in the wilderness, instructive and useful in gospel times. The name and the nature of the tabernacle were, perhaps, intended to be emblematical of the whole dispensation, of which it was a leading instrument. A tent, or tabernacle is & temporary and portable habitation, suited to a state of journeying or warfare; and this, in particular, was to be the guide to Canaan, to give the signal of motion and of rest; to lead the way to victory and peace: and when full possession was at length given, the tabernacle transferred its transitory glory, to the stationary glory of the temple; or rather was consolidated into one glory with it. Thus, all the positive institutions of religion are designed to be our monitors, guides, and comforters in the wilderness; to introduce us into the promised land; and then the objects of faith shall become objects of vision, and the redeemed of the Lord shall worship together in that temple, from which there is no more going out. Jehovah declared himself not only the spiritual Head of the Israelitish church and nation, but also their temporal Sovereign; the supreme Head and Governor of their political economy. As such, he gave commandment to pitch a tent for the leader and commander of his people, from whence orders were expected and issued; over which the royal standard was seen perpetually hovering in the dreadful glory of a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night. And the final fulfilling of the scriptures is the gathering into one, to the standard of the Redeemer, "a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," ," when at the sounding of the seventh angel, there shall be "great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever."+ From the contemplation of a tabernacle constructed of parts that might be separated, and joined together again, as occasion required, we are led to contemplate the "city of our solemnites," Jerusalem that is above, "a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby." The fabric in the wilderness was not a design of human skill, nor fashioned according to models seen in Egypt, but planned of infinite wisdom, erected, to a single pin, according to a pattern shown to Moses on the mount. In things which relate to the management of this world, a latitude is given to the exercise of human prudence and discretion; but in what regards the immediate worship and service of God, men are tied up to an iota and a tittle. "Thus saith the Lord." The work of God is perfect, his law is perfect, his word is perfect, none can with safety add thereto, or diminish from it. A holy and a jealous * Rev. vii. 9. ↑ Rev. xi. 15. Isaiah xxxiji. 20, 21. God has fenced himself and his ordinances as with a wall of fire, which presumption attempts to break through at its peril. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophesy of this book: if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophesy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."* When we consider the dreadful import of these words, who but must tremble to think on the rash, the irreverent, the profane use that is daily made of the name and the book of God. Is it thus ye requite your Maker, foolish creatures and unwise! "He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength, who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered ?† The tabernacle consisted of three several apartments one within another-the court, the holy place, and the most holy place, or the holy of holies. The temple of Solomon was built upon the same plan. And the earliest Christian churches preserved something of a resemblance to it. For they consisted first, of a spacious porch, where the penitents who implored the prayers of the faithful, the catechumens, the Gentiles, the Jews, and the heretics, were stopped short. The second compartment was the Naus, the nave, or body of the temple, where the faithful assembled, and performed their devotions; and the third was the Beema, or choir, into which ecclesiastics only were admitted, and in which were placed the altar, the throne of the bishop, and the stalls of the clergy. breadth, being an hundred cubits by fifty, that is, according to the most approved calculation, an hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five. It was encompassed on all sides by curtains of fine twined linen, fixed to fiftysix pillars of Shittim, that is, as the seventy interpret it, incorruptible wood, filleted with silver, of the height of five cubits, or seven feet and a half. The gate or passage into the court was a hanging of twenty cubits, curiously embroidered, and supported by four pillars of the same materials and workmanship. On all which particulars, I shall detain you to make this only remark: when we see the great God condescending to give directions concerning the formation and use of the most minute implements pertaining to sanctuary service, of pins, rings, loops, and hooks, man is taught to consider nothing as beneath his notice which can affect his own credit, usefulness, and comfort, or the same, virtue and happiness of his neighbour. "Let all things be done by us decently and in order." Be it the glory of a fabulous Jupiter, that it is beneath his dignity, and inconsistent with his higher occupations, to attend to small matters. It is the glory of the living and true God, the Maker and Preserver of all things, it is the excellency of his administration, the beauty of his providence, that "the hairs of our head are numbered of him.” "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."* On entering the court, the objects which first presented themselves were, on the one hand, the altar of burnt-offering, and on the other the laver for the priests to wash in. The materials and form of these two instruSome learned men have given it as their ments of divine worship, have afforded to the opinion, that the Grecians borrowed their no- learned and ingenious, many curious subjects ble and beautiful style of architecture, from of speculation, some of which might perhaps the perfect Hebrew models described in the amuse, but could not greatly edify you. As the sacred volume; that it was transmitted by whole service of the tabernacle was typical, them to the Romans; from whom it has de- and represented the "shadow of good things scended to all the provinces of their great to come," it will not, I trust, be deemed a empire, and continues to be the ornament mere flight of imagination to suppose, that by and the glory of the modern world. Indeed, the altar of burnt-offerings, and the use to it seems to be something more than human which it was devoted, the great atonement, invention and art, that, through the lapse of the means of pardon and acceptance with God so many ages, so many revolutions of empire, were shadowed forth; and that by the laver so many changes of taste and opinion, the and its use, on the other hand, was representsame arrangement and proportions should ex-ed the purity which becomes all who apcite universal admiration, and yield universal delight; and that the slightest deviation from the principles of that noble art should instantly be observed, and universally offend the eye. Does it not seem as if he who formed the eye, had also deigned to design the model of what would fill and please it? proach to a pure and holy God. In their nearness to, and union with each other, they exhibit that which brings the guilty near unto God, and that which fits them for communion with God. Justification freely by the grace of God, "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;" and sanctification by the The court, then, was rather the large space Spirit of God, whereby we are prepared to be of ground in which the tabernacle was erect-"partakers of the inheritance of saints in ed, than any part of the tabernacle. Its form light." An altar without a laver were to enwas an oblong, whose length was double its courage the offender to "continue in sin, Rev. xxil 18, 18 ↑ Job ix. 4. *Matt. x. 29. because grace abounds;" a laver without an altar would be to inspire a vain confidence in an external and imperfect righteousness, to the neglect of that which is of God by faith, and which purifieth the heart. In conjunction, they represent man's happiest state, and highest glory, sin forgiven, and nature renewed. "The holy place," which was properly the tabernacle, presented itself at the upper end of the court. Its dimensions are not laid down by Moses. Those who take it for granted that the tabernacle was a miniature representation of the temple from the measurement of that great edifice as described in the first book of Kings, make the length of the holy place of the tabernacle to be twenty cubits, or thirty feet. It was separated from the court by a curtain, within which none but the priests were permitted to enter, and where they officiated at the altar of the Lord, in the order of their course. Josephus affirms, that when the priests ministered in the holy place, the separating veil was drawn up, so that they could be seen of the people. Philo, with greater appearance of truth, maintains the contrary opinion. It is clear from a passage in the gospel according to Luke, that the priest who officiated in the holy place of the second temple, was out of the sight of the people; for it is said of Zacharias, when he was offering incense in the holy place," the whole multitude was praying without;" that they waited for him, and "marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple," and they discovered not the cause of it till he made it known to them by signs. Though we are not informed of the exact dimensions of the "holy place," we know that it was a covered tent, with one fold of various materials upon another. First, ten curtains of equal size, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; embroidered with cherubims; and coupled together with loops of blue and taches of gold. Above these were extended eleven curtains of goats' hair, hung together by taches of brass. These again were covered with rams' skins dyed red; and over all there was a covering of badgers' skins, probably as a protection from the injuries of the air and weather. The intention and meaning of this multiplied and variegated ceiling we pretend not to explain. Was it intended to represent the impenetrable recesses of the Eternal Mind; to check the folly and sinfulness of an over curious inquiry into mysteries which are intentionally concealed; and to teach men to make a wise and temperate use of known and revealed truth? Was it not sufficient to every pious Israelite, that the altar of burnt-offering and the laver of purification were under the open canopy of heaven, seen of all, accessible to all? And by this circumstance, did not even * Luke i. 10, 21. the law teach the open and unlimited extent Chain'd to his throne a volume lies, His Providence unfolds the book, Here he exalts neglected worms Not Gabriel asks the reason why, The furniture of the holy place is minutely described, and its meaning and use are not obscurely pointed out in many places of the sacred writings. It consisted of three articles, the golden candlestick with seven lamps; the golden altar of incense; and the table of shew-bread. Each of which might easily furnish matter for a separate discourse; but we confine ourselves to general ideas, and practical observations. The first piece of furniture in the holy place was "the golden candlestick to give light;" all whose appurtenances were of pure beaten gold. It was placed on the south side, that is on the left hand as you enter the tabernacle, directly opposite to the table of shew-bread. It was a talent in weight; which is about one thousand five hundred ounces, or one hundred and twenty-five Roman pounds, whose value, according to the calculation of the learned bishop of Peterborough, was five thousand and seventy-five pounds fifteen shillings and a fraction, of our money. It is the most generally received opinion, that all, or some of these seven lamps in the candlestick, were kept continually burning that they were extinguished in turn, to be cleansed and supplied with fresh oil; and that their parts were made to separate for this very purpose. As the priests alone could enter the holy place, to them of course was committed the whole charge of lighting, trimming, and cleaning the lamps. It is much easier to ask many questions on this subject than to answer one. Why the number of seven lamps in one candlestick; that number of perfec*Watts, Hore Lyrica. |