"Doc Notes" Plagued Israel (Part 63)

 Gentle Readers, for this next study, please read Exodus 32:28 - 33:2

Hirhurim Musings posted a very thought-provoking Dvar Torah on Parashat Ekev entitled: The Snare of Idolatry. The concept presented is both intriguing, disturbing and – unfortunately - very applicable to our situation today. It’s well-worth a read:




(Excerpt)

“…Perhaps we can suggest that it is not either forced or assimilated idolatry but accidental idolatry. The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 8a) says that the Jews in exile worship idols in purity. What this means is that through their close personal connections with idol worshipers, it is as if they worship idols themselves. They cause others to worship idols. They praise idols. They discuss idolatry and value the contributions idol worship has brought to society. In this way, while they don't technically worship idols, they encroach on idolatry and associate overmuch with it. Perhaps that is part of exile and is an aspect of the punishment of living outside of our land.”



What’s most disturbing is that while the commentary refers to those living in exile, today it appears that those living in Eretz Yisrael have also fallen into this trap. And, as we all know, ”if the Jews in the Land of Israel worship idols, they will be exiled” (G-d forbid).



In his commentary on Parashat Ki Tisa, in his book Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah, Rabbi Moshe Lichtman also explores the concept of the “snare”, and “worshiping false gods in purity” (unintentionally - without paying attention).



Perhaps it’s time we all took a closer and more profound – albeit painful – look at the concept of Avodah Zarah and all of its trappings -especially since Israel is currently swarming with idolaters.



To Continue with our study...

Our last study closed with the descent of Moses from the mount and, upon his beholding the idolatries of Israel, his giving a stern commission to the Levites: "Put every man his sword by his side, go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." In their response we behold the spirit triumphing over the flesh, the claims of Jehovah’s holiness over-riding all natural and sentimental considerations: "And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that He may bestow upon you a blessing this day" (vv. 28, 29).



The above verses present several most striking contrasts. First, from what is recorded in Genesis 34:25, 26, where, too, the "sword" is seen in the hand of Levi, not for Jehovah’s glory, but in fleshly anger—cf. Genesis 49:5-7. Second, from what is said in Exodus 28:41, where we read of the sons of Aaron being consecrated that they might minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office. The word "consecrate" means to "fill the hand," the reference being to the sweet-savor offerings and fragrant incense with which they were to appear before Jehovah. But here in our present portion their hands were filled with swords, to slay those who had apostatized. Third, from what is recorded in Acts 2:41: on the day of Israel’s idolatry there fell of the people "about three thousand men," on the day of Pentecost "about three thousand souls" were saved!



Fearful was the ensuing carnage. Stupefied with terror and awed by the irresistible power with which Moses was known to be invested, and by the sight of the threatening Cloud upon the mount above them, the people offered no resistance, and three thousand of them were put to death. "And so they were left for the night: the day of sin had ended in lamentation and woe. The camp, which in the morning had resounded with unholy merriment and licentious song, was full of groans and sighs: the dead awaited burial, and the wounded cried for pain. And every soul was weighed down, if not with remorse for the sin, at least with dread, lest wrath should go forth from the Lord, and the destroying angel appear with sword outstretched to smite the wicked people, who, after hearing the law uttered by the awful voice of God Himself, and promising to do all that tie had spoken, and then, even before the signs of His presence were removed, lightly passed over to idolatry and fornication" (G. H. Pember).



"Now all these things happened unto them for types" (1 Cor. 10:11), that is, types for us; "types" mark, not precedents, not examples for us to imitate. The weapons of our warfare "are not carnal," (2 Cor. 10:4), but "spiritual." No place for the literal sword is provided in the Christian’s equipment. It is a perversion of the Scriptures, a failure to rightly divide the Word of Truth, to appeal to Israel’s history as warrant for us to use physical force. No, No; the material things connected with them, were but figures of the spiritual things which belong to us. What, then, is the lesson for us in this solemn work committed to the Levites? Is not the answer obvious? Uncompromising and unsparing dealing with all that is dishonoring to God, with everything that savors of idolatry.



The Christian possesses a sword, but it is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Eph. 6:17). With that sword we are called on to smite every enemy which lifts up its head against Christ. "The sword must be drawn against every influence that corrupts the people of God, even though it may have a place in those nearest us. It might seem very severe to treat brethren, friends, neighbors, in this way, but it was the only way to be consecrated to Jehovah, and to secure His blessing. When what is due to the Lord is in question, it is with those nearest to you that you have to be most decided. There is no particular consecration in drawing the sword against people you care little about. But to take a definite stand for the Lord against influences which are not of Him, even in those that you regard and truly love, secures great blessing... If I am going on with something that does not recognize the rights of Christ, or maintain what is due to God, the kindest thing we can do is to take a definite stand against it. I may, now call you narrow, uncharitable, bigoted! But when I meet you in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ I shall thank you for it?" (C. A. Coates).



As we said in the preceding study, these Levites were the "overcomers" of that day, and if the reader will consult Revelation 2 and 3 he will find that all the promises contained in those chapters were made to the overcomers (all Jews) . How blessed then to find that these Levites were richly rewarded for their faithfulness. In Deuteronomy 33:8-11 we read, "And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummin and Urim be with thy holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah and with whom Thou didst strive at the water of Meribah: Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed Thy word and kept Thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob Thy judgments, and Israel Thy law: they shall put incense before Thee. and whole burnt sacrifice upon Thine altar." It was because they crucified the flesh "with its affections and lusts," (Gal. 5:24) ignoring natural ties, knowing no man according to nature, not even acknowledging their own brethren when it came to maintaining the claims of God’s holiness; it was because they observed His word and kept His covenant, that unto this Tribe were committed the "Thummin and Urim," the gift of teaching, and the privilege of burning incense on the altar. Truly God does honor those who honor Him, but they who despise Him are lightly esteemed.



"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people ye have sinned a great sin" (v. 30). It is solemn to note the absence of any recorded word of Israel’s repentance. Nothing is said of their contrition and horror at having so grievously offended against the Lord. Ominous sign was that. The rod of chastisement had fallen heavily upon them, yet, so far as we can gather, they had not bowed in heart beneath it. But God will not be mocked; if His chastening be "despised" (Heb. 12:5) it will return in a more acute form. It did so here, as we shall see in the immediate sequel. May the Lord grant each of us the hearing ear.



Moses did not wink at their wickedness, nor did he attempt to minimize the enormity of it. Just as when he first came down from the mount he charged Aaron with having brought "so great a sin" upon Israel (v. 21), so now, on the morrow, he says unto the people, "Ye have sinned a great sin." That he truly and clearly loved his people, the verses that follow plainly testify; yet, this did not deter him from dealing faithfully with them. As the Holy Spirit declares in Hebrews 3:5, "Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after." In this too was he a type of Christ, the Holy One of God, who ever stressed the heinousness of sin.



"And now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin" (v. 30). Care needs to be exercised lest we read into these words what they do not really contain. It was not the penal sentence upon their sin, but, we believe, the remitting of the governmental consequences to which Moses referred. It must not be forgotten that we have already been told in v. 14 that "The Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people." In answer to the earnest supplications of the typical mediator, the wrath of God in utterly "consuming" the people (v. 10) had been averted, and this, we say, should be carefully borne in mind as we endeavor to understand that which follows—admittedly a most difficult passage.



"Peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin." The "peradventure" here ought not to occasion any difficulty, though more than one commentator has tripped over it. The uncertainty was due to the character and circumstances of his mission. Moses was about to appear before God on behalf of a people who had evidenced no sorrow for their great sin; therefore it was doubtful whether or not the governmental consequences of it might be remitted. There are quite a number of similar cases recorded in Scripture. In a Samuel 16:12, following Shimei’s cursing of him, we find David saying, "It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day. When wayward Israel was threatened by the Assyrians, Hezekiah sent to Isaiah saying, "It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God."



Nor are such cases restricted to the O.T. In N.T. times we read of Peter saying to Simon the sorcerer, "Repent therefore of this that wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee" (Acts 8:22). While in 2 Timothy 2:25 we read, "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." The careful reader will observe two things common to all these instances: first, each had in view the governmental consequences of sin; hence, second, each emphasizes the note of uncertainty—because forgiveness was dependent upon their repentance.



"And Moses returned unto the Lord" (v. 31.) Very blessed is this. Moses was, preeminently a man of prayer. In every crisis we find him turning unto the Lord: see Exodus 5:22; 8:30; 9:33; 14:15; 17:4. Beautiful foreshadowing was this of the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who, in the days of His flesh, ever maintained and manifested a perfect spirit of dependency upon the One who d sent Him. "And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin;—and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written" (vv. 31:32). Let us consider first the practical lesson which this incident contains for our hearts. Most helpfully has this been brought out by another.



"But if we speak of drawing the sword in this way, let us remember that the same man who said in the camp, ‘Slay every man his brother’ went up to Jehovah and said, ‘And now, if Thou will forgive their sin... but if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book that Thou hast written.’ It was the same spirit of Christ which led him to take a decided stand in public against those who had allowed what was contrary to God, that led him to go up and pray for them in secret with such intense yearning for their good. He went as far as it was possible fox man to go in the way of self-sacrifice. He could not be made a curse for them; only the Blessed One could go to that depth; but he was truly in the Spirit of Christ. It might be thought that slaying the people and interceding for them were not consistent. But the same spirit of Christ that would stand for Jehovah even against the nearest and dearest, was the spirit that would plead with God to be blotted out Father than that they should not be forgiven. The man who takes the strongest ground against me when I am wrong, and when I have set aside what is due to the Lord, is probably the one who prays most for me" (C. A. Coates).



"And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin;—and if not, blot me I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written." Unspeakably precious is the typical picture presented here. How it brings out the intense devotion of Moses both to Jehovah and to His people. No sin on their part could alienate his affections from them. "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it" (Song 8:7). Superlatively was this manifested by the One whom Moses here foreshadowed: Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1). Yes, notwithstanding the fact that all would be offended because of Him that night, yea, that all would forsake Him and flee, yet, He "loved them unto the end."



Moses gave proof that his affections were bound up with Israel, though they were a sinful people. So much were their interests his, he was willing to be blotted out of God’s book, if He would not forgive them. Here again we must be careful not to read into his words what is not there. Moses said, "Thy book," not "the book of life." In Psalm 69:28 we read, "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." In Isaiah 4:3 it is said, "And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem." Thus it seems clear from these references that the "book" mentioned by Moses was not "the Lamb’s book of life" (Rev. 21:27), which was written "from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 17:8), but the Divine register in which are recorded the names of those living on the earth, whose names are "blotted out" at the death of each one. God has various "books:" see Malachi 3:16, Revelation 20:12.



"And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book" (v. 33). God was speaking here from the viewpoint of the unchanging principles of his righteous government. Is not Galatians 6:7, 8 a parallel passage? "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Does not Romans 8:13 sound-forth the same warning note? "For if we live after the flesh, we shall die?"



"Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, Mine angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them" (v. 34). Here is further proof that their penal deserts were cancelled. Equally clear is it that the governmental consequences of their sin were not remitted. They were not consumed, yet in due time God would deal with them. Does then our type fail us at this point? Certainly not; it only serves to exhibit the perfect accuracy of it. In connection with the mediation of Christ, we find the same two things: His intercession averts the penal wrath of God, but does not remove the governmental consequences of His people’s sins. The latter is conditioned upon our true repentance and confession, and the laying hold of God’s restoring grace.



"And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made" (v. 35). In view of what we said in our last article, namely, that what is found here in Exodus 32 has prophetic application not only to Israel in the Tribulation period, but also to Christendom in this present era, probably the reader is ready to ask, But how could this terrible sequel to Israel’s sin ever have its counterpart in God’s dealings with His own in this Dispensation of Grace? Surely Christ has never called for the "sword" to smite His own; surely He does not "plague" His redeemed! Ah, dear friend, the picture that is now before us was not drawn by man, and the heavenly Artist makes no flaws. If it be recalled that Revelation 1 to 3 supplies the key to the present application of our type, it will not be difficult to discover the antitype.



In the second of the seven epistles found there, we read, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the Devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried." This epistle to Smyrna contemplates the second stage in the history of the Christian profession. It was a period marked by opposition and persecution, suffering and death. It was the martyr age, covering the last half of the first century A.D. and most of the second and third centuries. It was the time when the early Christians suffered so sorely under Nero and the other Roman emperors that succeeded him. It is unnecessary to enter into detail, most of our readers being doubtless aware of the fearful conditions that then prevailed, and of the fiery trials through which the people of God were called to pass. But what is not so well known, what in fact has been quite lost sight of by most Christian historians, is the cause of that era of suffering, as to why God permitted the Enemy to rage against His people—for, of course, neither the Roman emperors, or Satan who stirred them up, could move at all without His direct permission.



God does not afflict willingly (Lam. 3:33), nor are the sufferings of His people arbitrary. The Scriptures expressly declare, "When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov. 16:7). The reason why God sent such tribulation upon His people in the second era of Christendom’s history was because of their evil conduct in the first period. The epistle which precedes the Smyrean in Revelation 2, namely, the Ephesian, makes known what that evil conduct was: "Thou hast left thy first love" (Rev. 2:4)—Affection for Christ had waned: He was no longer "all and in all" to them. And, inward decline was swiftly followed by outward corruption, as is evidenced by the fearful fact that by the time the Smyrean era had dawned the "synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2:9) had already become established in their midst. Thus, as cause stands to effect, the leaving of "first love" at the beginning, occasioned the sufferings of the second and third centuries. It was God chastening His backslidden people!



Had the people of God remained true to Christ, had not the love of the world crept into their hearts, haw vastly different history would have been! Nor is this a mere conjecture of ours. After Israel had suffered so severely from their enemies (see the book of Judges) God said through the Psalmist, "Oh that My people had hearkened unto Me, and Israel had walked in My ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned My hand against their adversaries" (81:13, 14)! But they did not "hearken" unto Him, nor did they walk in His ways. Sadly did history repeat itself. Just as God chastened Israel with the sword and "plague" then, so did He chasten and plague the early Church, using the Roman emperors as His scourge. Thus, what is seen in our type in Exodus 32 finds its counterpart in the history of Christendom. When there was departure from the Lord, when the spirit of idolatry came in, He called for the sword to smite them.



"And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sward unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee: and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittie, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way" (33:1-3). Thus Moses by his supplication secured the immediate safety of the people, and the promise of an angelic guide and protector, to go before them; but the further chastisement of their sin must yet be visited upon them. Nor were they restored to their covenant relations with Jehovah.



Moses was next directed to return to me camp with a message from the Lord. The details of that message, its effect upon the people, with the sequel, we must leave for consideration till our next study. May what has been before us bring to each of our hearts a greater horror and hatred of sin, and a more earnest crying unto God to be delivered from it.

To Be continued . . .

Doc Notes "Here comes the Judge" ( Part 62)

 Gentle Readers,  for this next study you need to acquaint yourself with Exodus 32:15-29




Our present section presents to us a vastly different scene than the one upon which we gazed in the preceding verses. There we beheld the typical mediator pleading so graciously and effectually before the Lord, turning away His wrath from His stiffnecked people. Here we see Moses coming down from the mount, where he had been in such wondrous and blessed communion with God, angered at the sin of idolatrous Israel, breaking the tables of stone, grinding the golden calf to powder, strewing it upon the water and making the people to drink. Here we see this man of prayer arraigning Aaron, the responsible and guilty leader, and then calling upon the Levites to put on their swords and "slay every man his brother." The contrast is so radical, so strange, that many have been perplexed, and grotesque have been some of the explanations attempted.



It is therefore pertinent to ask at once, Does our type now fail us? Is Moses in our present passage no longer a foreshadowing of Christ? Surely after all that has been before us in the previous chapters of Exodus we should be slow to answer these questions in the affirmative. If we are unable to perceive the spiritual meaning and application of this picture, certainly that is no reason why we should say or even imagine that there is a defect in the holy Word of God. Far better and becoming for us to confess the dimness of our vision and betake ourselves to the great Physician, that He may anoint our eyes with eyesalve that we may see (Rev. 3:18). It is only in His light that we ever "see light" (Ps. 36:9). If we who take up our pens to write upon the Oracles of God did this more faithfully and frequently, there would be far less of darkening "counsel by words without knowledge" (Job 38:2). Not that we dare to imply, though, that other writers have done this less than ourselves.



In his "Notes on Exodus," which are for the most part very spiritual and helpful, and from which, under God, the writer himself has received not a little help, C.H.M. says on the opening verses of our present passage, "How different is this from what we see in Christ! He came down from the bosom of the Father, not with the tables in His hands, but with the law in His heart. He came down, not to be made acquainted with the condition of the people but with a perfect knowledge of what that condition was. Moreover, instead of destroying the memorials of the covenant and executing judgment, He magnified the Law and made it honorable and bore the judgment of His people in His own blessed Person, on the cross" (page 316). Here is a case in point which shows the need for all of us to heed the Divine admonition, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5:21)—which applies to our own writings equally as much as any others—for only thus shall we be able to "take forth the precious from the vile" (Jer. 15:19).



In the first place, what we have here is not a type, either by comparison or contrast, of the first advent of God’s Son to this earth, coming here to seek and to save that which was lost. How could it be, when the section immediately preceding gives us a picture of His intercession on High? In the second place, when Christ was here, He did come with the ten commandments in His hands, came to enforce their righteous demands, though not to execute their inexorable penalty. He came here, full not only of "grace," but of "truth" as well (John 1:14), saying, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). In the four Gospels we see the tables of stone in the hands of Christ again and again: see Matthew 5:27-32; 15:3-6; 19:16-19; 23:2-3. In the third place, Moses did not come down from the mount" to be made acquainted with the condition of the people," instead, he already had full knowledge of their awful state and sin before he descended, as vv. 7-9 clearly enough show.



That what is before us in the second half of Exodus 32 possesses a deep and wondrous typical significance we are fully assured, though nought but Divine guidance will enable us to rightly divide this portion of the Word of Truth. We believe that this type has a twofold application, first to Israel, second to Christendom. Its application to Israel has already been pointed out at the close of our comments upon Exodus 24 (Article 32), but as many of our present readers have not seen them, we shall here repeat briefly what was then said.



First, in Exodus 24:18 we behold Moses entering the glory (the "cloud") consequent upon his having erected the altar and sprinkled the blood (vv. 4-8). If the reader will consult 24:16, 18 he will find that it was after "six days"—which speaks of work and toil, on the seventh day, which tells of rest, that the typical mediator was called by God to enter the glory Beautiful foreshadowment was this of Christ, as it is said of Him in Hebrews 4:10, "He that is entered into His rest, He also hath ceased from His works, as God from His." And what was the "rest" into which He entered? Does not His own request in John 17:4, 5 tell us! Thus, Moses going up into the mount and entering the cloud to commune with Jehovah is a type of the ascension of Christ, following the triumphant completion of the work which had been given Him to do. That which formed the subject of communion between the Lord and Moses in the mount was the revelation concerning the Tabernacle and its priesthood, which, coming in at this place in the book, tells of the provision of God’s grace for His people, secured to them by and in Christ during His absence.



Now the next event, chronologically, was Moses’ descent, recorded in Exodus 32. He did not end his days on the mount, but, in due time, returned unto the people. In like manner, the One whom Moses foreshadowed, is not to remain on High forever, but will come back again as truly and as literally as He went away. It is indeed striking to observe that Moses came down from Sinai twice after he had entered the glory. First, as recorded in 32:15; second, in 34:29, having of course returned thither in the interval. So also will there be two stages in the second advent of Christ: the first when He descends into the air, to catch up His mints away from this scene (1 Thess. 4:16, 17); the second when He returns to the earth itself (Zech. 14:4). These two stages in the Redeemer’s return will affect Israel very differently: the first will be followed by terrible judgment, the second will usher in an era of unparalleled blessing, even the Millennium.



That which we have in our present passage is what immediately followed the first descent of Moses. During his absence in the mount, the people had gathered themselves unto Aaron, saying "Up, mike us gods which shall go before us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him" (32:1). Is not that an accurate description of the spiritual state of the Jews all through this Day of Grace? They are all at sea over the long absence of their Messiah, not knowing what to think. While Moses was away, they made and worshipped a golden calf. And has not history again repeated itself? That which has characterized the Jews has not been the love of conquest or the lure of pleasure, as it has been with the Gentiles, but the lust for gold.



Now just as at his first descent Moses found Israel worshipping the golden calf, so at the first stage in the second advent of our Savior, Israel will still be pursuing their mad quest after material riches; and just as Moses’ response was to act in judgment, making them drink the dust of their idol and calling for the sword to smite them, so shall the Jews be made to drink the outpoured vials of God’s wrath and suffer beneath the sword. But just as the Nation was not completely exterminated under the anger of Moses, neither shall it be under the far sorer afflictions of the Tribulation period. In Exodus 33 and 34 that which followed the second descent of Moses anticipates millennial conditions.



Having dwelt on the application of our present type to Israel, let us view it now as it bears on Christendom. The action of Moses in the passage before us foreshadowed Christ in another character than that which was before us in our last article. There we viewed Him as the Mediator, making intercession for His people; here we behold Him as Judge, not consuming, but inspecting and executing corrective judgment. "Moses coming down from the mountain to expose and judge what was going on in the camp is very much like the Lord’s attitude in Revelation 2, 3. He takes His place in the midst of the seven lamps to pass judgment upon what is evil and idolatrous, and also to take account of such faithfulness as might answer to what was found in the sons of Levi" (C. A. Coates). We believe it is the first three chapters of the Revelation which supply the key to the meaning of our present type.



"And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables" (vv. 15, 16). This is not contradictory, but complementary, to that which precedes. First we have that which speaks of the grace of God, now that which Brings out His government. The tables of stone in the hands of Moses announced that the righteous requirements of the law cannot be set aside. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" was addressed not to worldlings, but to Christians. Let the reader note attentively the inspired description of Christ in Revelation 1:12-18. There we behold One "like unto the Son of man" (cf. John 5:27) in the midst of the seven lamp-stands, and "out of His mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (v. 16)!



"And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome; but the noise of them that sing do I hear" (vv. 17, 18). An important spiritual principle here receives exemplification. If the reader will turn back to Exodus 24:13-18 it will be found that though both Moses and Joshua went up into the mount, leaving the congregation below at its base, yet Moses alone went into the midst of the cloud, to talk to Jehovah. For forty days Joshua had, apparently, been left alone, while Moses "communed" with the Lord (31:18). The effect of this we see in the verses before us: Moses, and not Joshua, is the one who discerns the true state of affairs in the camp. His ear was able to interpret aright the noise and din which came up to them. Ah, it is not only true that in God’s light we alone see light, but only by much communion with Him do we acquire the hearing "ear."



"And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount" (v. 19). A most appalling spectacle was spread before these servants of God. The very people who had only recently bowed before the manifested majesty of Jehovah, were now obscenely sporting around the golden image of a calf. In holy indignation Moses dashes the tables of stone to the ground, just as in the days of His flesh the Lord Jesus "made a scourge of small cords" and drove out of the Temple those who had desecrated His Father’s house; and just as in Revelation 1 He is seen with "His eyes as a flame of fire" (v. 14).



"And Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount." This affords a most striking illustration of what is said in James 2:10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Israel had offended "in one point." God had said to them: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth be-hearth, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them (Ex. 20:4, 5). This they had disobeyed, and the law being a unit, they are guilty of all"—hence the breaking of the two tables to show that the ten commandments, as a whole, had been violated.



"And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it" (v. 20). Some of the so-called "higher critics" with their customary skepticism have called into question the reference to Moses strawing the powder upon "the water;" but if these men would but take the trouble to "search the Scriptures," they would find that the Holy Spirit has granted light upon this point, though not in this chapter (for the Bible does not yield its meaning to lazy people), but in another book altogether. In Deuteronomy 9:21 we read, "I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount." What that "brook" was that "descended out of the mount" Exodus 17:6 tells us.



Moses’ actions here in grinding the idol to powder, strewing it upon the water, and making the children of Israel drink thereof, are very solemn. The Christian is bidden to keep himself from idols (1 John 5:21), which, we need scarcely add, covers very much more than bowing down to graven images. An "idol" is anything which displaces God in my heart. It may be something which is quite harmless in itself, yet if it absorbs me, if it be given the first place in my affections and thoughts, it becomes an "idol." It may be my business, a loved one, or my service for Christ. Any one or anything which comes into competition with the Lord’s ruling me in a practical way, is an "idol." And if I have set up an idol, then God, in His faithfulness and love, will break it down; not If I sow to the flesh, then of the flesh I must reap corruption (Gal. 6:8).



"And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?" Moses now arraigns the one who had been left in charge of the people, just as in Revelation 2, 3, Christ addresses, in each case, the responsible "angel" or "messenger" of the local church. Sad it is to hear the reply of the one who should have maintained the honor and glory of Jehovah.



"And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is be come of him" (vv. 22, 23). Very sad indeed is this. There was no sense of the terribleness of the sin committed, no sign of repentance; instead, there was a throwing of the blame upon others. Thus it was at the beginning: when the Lord arraigned Adam, he blamed his wife (Gen. 3:12); and when Eve was questioned, she blamed the Serpent. How often we hear the leaders in Christendom saying, "We have to make these concessions because the people demand it."



"What a contrast there is here between Aaron and Moses! Aaron afraid of the people, instead of protesting against their idolatrous wishes, actually making the calf; and then excusing himself in a way which is just a sample of the kind of excuses people make for doing evil (v. 24). Moses comes down in an energy that could take a stand single-handed against six hundred thousand men, that could execute judgment on their sin, and maintain what was due to God. It is just the contrast between the servant who is with men and the servant who is with God. If a man acts with God he always acts in power. He may have plenty of exercise as to his own weakness in secret, but in public he acts in power and with no uncertainty or hesitation" (C.A.C.).



"And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf" (v. 24). The breaking off of their "golden" ornaments was a figure of their being stripped of their glory. This is ever what precedes all idolatry. What is man’s "glory?" To be in subjection to his Maker and to be grateful for His mercies. Man is only in honor when God is given His true place. Just as we read of the Gentiles, in Romans 1:21, "When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful." What followed? This: they "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man" etc. Nothing will preserve from idolatry but a will bowed to God’s authority and a heart lifted up in thanksgiving for His bounties. If I do not bow to God, I shall quickly bow to something else that is of the creature, and thus be stripped of my "gold," my glory.



"So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." In this purile manner did Aaron seek to deny all personal responsibility in the matter. Really, he told a downright lie, as a reference to v. 4 will show. Great indeed was his sin: marvelous the mercy which pardoned it. It is blessed to learn from Deuteronomy 9:20 that the life of Aaron was spared in answer to the supplications of Moses. Thus we see in type, again, the efficacy of the Mediator’s intercession for His people.



"And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had make them naked unto their shame among their enemies): Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me" (vv. 25, 26). The situation called for drastic action. Having arraigned Aaron, Moses now considers the condition of the people, and beheld them naked and demoralized, having indulged in the idolatrous sensualism which they had so often witnessed in Egypt, and whose mad merriment they had, no doubt, remembered with many a sigh. They had been disturbed in their abominable orgies, and had yielded only to the terror of Moses’ presence. A swift and summary vengeance must therefore be visited upon them, in order that the survivors might be brought to soberness and repentance, and that the Divine wrath, which had only been suspended by his entreaties, might be averted from utterly consuming the Nation.



"Who is on the Lord’s side?" That was now the issue, clearly defined. "It was no time for concealment of the evil or for compromise. When there is open apostasy there can be no neutrality. Neutrality when the question is between God and Satan is itself apostasy. He that is not with the Lord, at such a time, is against Him. And mark, moreover, that this cry is raised in the midst of those who were the Lord’s professing people. They were all Israelites. But now there must be a separation, and the challenge of Moses, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side?’ makes all manifest. He becomes the Lord’s center; and hence to gather to Him was to be for, to refuse his call was to be against the Lord" (Ed. Dennett).



"And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him" (v. 26). The Levites were the "overcomers" (cf. Revelation 2, 3) of that day. They had, apparently, been preserved from the awful sin of their nation, and now promptly responded to the call of God’s servant. A most searching and severe test was presented to them: "And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate through the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor" (v. 27).



Natural inclinations might well shrink from compliance with such a command. Sentiment would say, Not so, let us be gentle and gracious, we shall accomplish more by kindness than severity. Reason would argue, We can do no good by slaying people: there is far more power in love than in the sword; let us seek to woo and win them back to God. Such arguments sound very plausible, but the call was distinct and decisive, "Put every man his sword by his side." There was nothing else for it in view of that calf. So in preaching to idolators today it is the wrath of a holy God, and not His love (which is a truth for His own people only), which needs pressing upon them.



As another has said in his application of this verse to the saints today, "It was obedience at all costs to the divine call, and hence complete separation from the evil into which Israel had fallen. God often tests His people in the same way; and whenever confusion and declension have begun, the only Path for the godly is that which is marked out by the course of Levi—that of full-hearted, unquestioning obedience. Such a path must be painful, involving for those who take it the surrender of some of the most intimate associations of their lives, and breaking many a tie of nature—of kindred and relationship; but it is only the path of blessing. Well may all challenge their hearts and inquire, if in this evil day they are apart from all that dishonors the Lord’s name, in subjection to His Word."



The terrible sequel we must leave for our next article. May the Lord sanctify to our souls the solemn yet salutary lessons contained in the verses which have been before us.




To be continued . . . .

Doc Notes "The Mediator" (Part 61)

Gentle Reader, For this study please read Exodus 32:11-14




In our last study we occupied ourselves  with the inspired account of Israel’s idolatrous worship of the golden calf. It was the first time that they were guilty of this awful sin since their leaving of Egypt as a nation. The subject of idolatry is both solemn and important, and as the nature and cause of it are so little understood we propose to offer here a few general remarks on the subject.



Man is the only creature who lives on the earth that was originally created with faculties capable of apprehending God, and with a sentiment of veneration for Him. True, all creation is to the praise of the Creator, but man’s praise is the homage of an intelligent heart and of a conscious choice or preference. But this capacity to offer intelligent praise is necessarily accompanied by responsibility. This was made evident in connection with Adam. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the visible means of the first man’s paying homage to God: abstention from its fruit was the witness of his subjection to the authority of his Maker. Obedience to God’s command concerning that tree would not only secure to him all the blessings of Eden, but was also the link which bound him to the Creator. Thus, that which united man to God at the beginning was the obedience of the will, subjection of heart. Whilst this was maintained God was honored and man was blest.



But that link was broken. Through disobedience man became "alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18), and thus he lost his happiness and was turned out of the Garden. The original link being broken, it could never be reformed. If man was ever again to be in relationship with God, it must be on entirely new ground, namely, redemption-ground, resurrection-ground, the ground of new creation. Into Eden fallen man could never re-enter. It was a garden of delights for innocence alone; and guilt once incurred made a return to it impossible. But for His own people God has provided a new garden, the "paradise of God" (Rev. 2:7), where the guilty are restored to more than the pleasures of Eden. That new garden is anticipated by faith, and there is found forgiveness of sins and eternal life.



Now when man fell, though he became alienated from God (which is what spiritual "death" is) he lost none of his original faculties, nor was his responsibility destroyed. in his essential nature man remained after the Fall all that he was before it. True, his nature became vitiated by sin, and, in consequence, his whole being was corrupted; nevertheless, the" breath of life" which God had breathed into him at the beginning, remained his portion after his expulsion from Eden. True, all the faculties of his being now became the "instrument of unrighteousness unto sin" (Rom. 6:13), yet none of them had ceased to exist or to function.



It is the very character of man’s nature (that which distinguishes him from and elevates him above the beasts) which has made his fall his ruin. It has been rather vulgarly said that "Man is a religious animal," by which is meant that man, by nature, is essentially a religious creature, i.e., made, originally, to pay homage to his Creator. It is this religious nature of man’s which, strange as it may sound, lies at the root of all idolatry. Being alienated from God, and therefore ignorant of Him, he falls the ready dupe of Satan. It was to this fact of fallen man’s essential nature that Christ had reference when He said, "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness" (Matthew 6:23). The "light" in man is that which distinguishes him from the beasts, and that which is (potentially) capable of communing with God. But, as we have said, that faculty in man which is capable of communion with God, is, as the result of sin, put to a wrong use, and thus the "light" in him has become "darkness." Instead of worshipping God, he now serves his own lusts, and honors idols which are patterned after his lusts.



Man must have his god, otherwise he would not be man, and because the "natural man "—what he now is as a fallen creature—has lost his knowledge of the true God, he turns to the resources of his own mind to fill the void. And, as another has said (from whom part of the above has been condensed), "From the mental image formed in a corrupt mind, it is but a short step to the golden or wooden idol in the temple. Every shape and form had its prototype in the imagination, which to the philosopher was supplemented by the material things of nature; but to the vulgar, surrounding objects were the basis upon which the superstructure of idolatry rested. Through the senses their imagination was fed by the things seen and felt; and though these be not the sole source of idolatry, they greatly modified its form and multiplied its gods. For the mountain and the valley, the river, the grove, the heavens above and the waters beneath had their divinities, and everywhere that which in nature most impressed man soon took rank as a god.



"Nor let us forget the greatest factor which produced this confused mass of superstition and credulity. Not only did man not like to retain the knowledge of God and thus became the dupe of his senses, but over all was the delusive power of Satan, who held man in captivity through his fears and lusts. The loss of the knowledge of the true God, to a creature endowed with religious faculties, must result in subjective idolizing. Satan, the god of this world, presented himself in a tangible form and made it objective.



"The religious element in man’s nature was not eradicated by sin, but while every faculty of his mind and every instinct of his nature is debased and perverted, man’s complete ruin and his greatest guilt are seen in the degradation of those same faculties, originally given as the means of worshipping God. The endowments which placed him above all other creatures, now sink him beneath them" ("The Bible Tresury, 1882).



What has been said above not only serves to explain the universality of idolatry, but supplies the key to what is recorded in Exodus 32. There we behold the favored Israelites making and worshipping a golden calf. It was inexcusable, open, blatant, united idolatry. For a very good reason, the first command which God had written, with His own finger, upon the tables of stone, was "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"; and here was the deliberate and concerted violation of it. What, then, must be the sequel? Jehovah turns to Moses, acquainted him with the awful sin of the people down below, and says, "Now there- fore let me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation."



Solemn and fearsome as those words sound, yet a closer examination reveals a door of hope opened by them. When the Lord said to Moses, "Let Me alone . . . I will make of thee a great nation," it was as though He placed Himself in the hands of the typical mediator. "Let Me alone" plainly suggests that Moses stood between Jehovah and His sinful people. This was indeed the case. But for Moses they were surely lost: he only stood between the holy wrath of God and their thoroughly merited doom. What would he do? When menaced by the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Moses had cried unto the Lord on their behalf (14:15). So, too, at the bitter waters of Marah he had supplicated Jehovah for them (15:25). When at Rephidim they had no water, yet again Moses had cried unto the Lord and obtained answer on their behalf (17:4). When Amelek came against Israel, it was the holding up of Moses’ hands which gained them the victory (17:11). But now a far graver crisis was at hand. Would Moses fail them now? or would he again intervene on their behalf?



"And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?" (v. 11). Moses did not fail his people in this hour of their urgent need. Most blessed is it to behold how he conducted himself on this occasion: God had said to him, "Let me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them . . . and I will make of thee a great nation," but Moses uses his place of nearness to God not on his own behalf, but for the good of the people.



At an earlier date he had "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward" (Heb. 11:24-26). So now he declines to be made the head of another nation, choosing rather to be identified with this stiff-necked and disobedient people. Is there not here a blessed foreshadowing of Him who "made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. 2:7), and who became one with His sinful people? Yes, indeed; and, as we shall see, in more respects than one.



"And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?" This was the typical mediator’s response to what Jehovah had said to him in verse 7, "Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves." We believe there is a double force to these words. In their local significance they furnish God’s answer to the wicked declaration of Israel recorded in verse 1. There the people had disowned their Divine Deliverer; here He righteously disclaims them. But there is a typical meaning, too, and most precious is it to contemplate this.



In verse 7 the Lord practically turns the Nation over to Moses, calling them "thy people"; here in verse 11 the typical mediator, as it were, gives them back again unto God, saying "Thy people." Was not this a plain adumbration of what we find in John 17? First, in verse 2, the antitypical Mediator speaks of a people whom God had given to Him: "As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him." Then, in verse 9, we behold Him giving back that people to God, "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me; for they are Thine."



Let us notice now the various grounds upon which Moses pleaded before "the Lord his God." They are three in number: he appealed to the grace of God, the glory of God, and the faithfulness of God. His appeal to God’s grace is found in verse 11, "Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the laud of Egypt?" It was grace, pure and simple, which had actuated Jehovah when He delivered the Hebrews from the House of Bondage. There was absolutely nothing in them to merit His esteem; rather was there everything in them to call forth His wrath. It was sovereign benignity, unadulterated grace, the Divine favor shown to them, unasked and unmerited.



But let it not be overlooked that the Divine grace which was shown to unworthy Israel was not exercised at the expense of the claims of justice, for it is ever true that grace reigns "through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21). So it was in Egypt: the passover-lamb had been slain, its blood shed and applied. Thus, it is on the ground of redemption that grace flowed forth. And it is still the same, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:24).



Now it was to this that Moses made his first appeal. Israel had sinned, sinned grievously, and Moses made no effort to deny or excuse it. Later, we find him acknowledging the Lord’s charge against His people, owning "it is a stiff necked people" (34:9). Nevertheless, they were God’s people—His by redemption. They were His purchased property. Unworthy, unthankful, unholy; but yet, the Lord’s redeemed. Blessed, glorious, heart-melting fact: O may the realization of it create within us a greater hatred of sin and a deeper appreciation of the precious blood of the Lamb. Is it not written, "If any man (Greek "any one"—of those spoken of in 1 John 1:3) sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1)? And what is the ground of His advocacy? What but His blood shed once for all!



"Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountain, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people" (v. 12). Here is the second ground on which Moses pleaded with God: he appealed to His glory. Where would be His honor in the sight of the heathen were He to consume the children of Israel here at Sinai? Would not reproach be cast upon His name by the Egyptians? The thought of this was more than Moses could endure; therefore did he beseech Jehovah to relent against His erring people.



"Spite of their shameful apostasy, the plea of Moses was that they were still Gods’ people, and that His glory was concerned in sparing them—lest the enemy should boast over their destruction, and thereby over the Lord Himself. In itself it was a plea of irresistible force. Joshua uses one of like character when the Israelites were smitten before Ai. He says "the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?’ (Josh. 7:9. In both cases it was faith taking hold of God, identifying itself with His own glory, and claiming on that ground the response to its desires—a plea that God can never refuse" (Ed. Dennett).



This ground of appeal to God is not made by any of us today nearly as much as it should be. The prayer of Moses here in Exodus 32 is also recorded for our learning. It brings before us the essential elements of those "effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man" which "availeth much." This was not the only occasion on which Moses appealed to the glory of the Lord’s name: let the reader consult carefully Numbers 14: 13-16, and Deuteronomy 9:28, 29; for others who used this plea, see Psalm 25:11; Joel 2:17, etc. It is the glory of His own name which God ever has before Him in all that He does.



It was for the honor of His name that He had, originally, brought Israel out of Egypt: "I wrought for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt" (Ezek. 20:9). So, at a later date in Israel’s sinful history He declared, "For My name’s sake will I defer Mine anger, and for My praise will I refrain from thee, that I cut thee not off . . . For Mine own sake, even for Mine own sake, will I do it: for how should My name be polluted?" (Isa. 48:9, 11). It is "for His name’s sake" "that He leads His people in the paths of righteousness" (Ps. 23:3).



Blessed is it to behold the Lord Jesus in His high priestly prayer, recorded in John 17, using this same plea before God. In that prayer He is heard presenting many petitions, and varied are the grounds upon which He presents them. But underlying all, first and foremost He asked, "glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee" (v. 1)! Here is one of the prime secrets in prevailing prayer. Just as bowing of the heart to God’s sovereign will is the first requirement in a praying soul, so the having before us the glory of God and the honor of His name is that which, chiefly, ensures an answer to our petitions. "Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31) applies as strictly to our praying as to any other exercise. Let us take to heart, then, this important lesson taught us in this successful prayer of Moses.



"Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swearest by Thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever" (v. 13). Here is the third ground which Moses took in his intercession before Jehovah. He appealed to His faithfulness; he pleaded His promises; he reminded Him of His oath. There was no ground to go on and no plea which he could make from anything that was to be found in Israel, so he fell back upon that which God is in Himself.



"In the energy of his intercession—fruit surely of the action of the Spirit of God—he goes back to the absolute and unconditional promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, reminding the Lord of the two immutable things in which it was impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:18). A more beautiful example of prevailing intercession is not to be found in the Scriptures. Indeed, in the emergency which had arisen, everything depended on the mediator, and in His grace God had provided one who could stand in the breach, and plead His people’s cause—not on the ground of what they were, for by their sin they were exposed to the righteous indignation of a holy God—but on the ground of what God was, and on that of His counsels revealed and confirmed to the patriarchs, both by oath and promise" (Ed. Dennett).



But let us look a little more closely at this third feature of Moses’ prayer. In the above quotation there are two slight inaccuracies: it was not God’s promises to "Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," but "and Israel"—the difference intimating the height to which Moses’ faith had risen; nor were God’s revealed counsels confirmed to the patriarchs "both by oath and by promise," but, instead, by promise and oath—note the order in Hebrews 6:13-18, which is the same as in Genesis 12:3, and then Genesis 22:15, 16. But that which we would here dwell upon is that Moses made these the final grounds of his pleading before God.



The Word of God is "quick and powerful" (Heb. 4:12), not only in its effects upon us, but also in its moving power with God Himself. If this were more realized by Christians, the very language of Holy Writ would have a larger place in their supplications, and more answers from above would be obtained. God has magnified His Word above all His name (Ps. 138:2), and so should we. He has expressly declared, "Them that honor Me, I will honor," and how can we more honor Him in our prayers than by employing the very words of Scripture, His words, rather than our own? Ah, here too, our speech betrays us. If the Word of Christ dwelt in us more richly, it would find fuller expression in our intercessions, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Christ has left us a perfect example: His prayers were the outbreathing of the Psalms, and a close examination of the one which He taught His disciples reveals the fact that every clause of it was a quotation from the O.T.! And He explicitly enjoined His disciples, "after this manner therefore pray ye" (Matthew 6:9). But we do not; hence so many unanswered prayers.



Now that which Moses pleaded before God from His Word were the promises which He had made to the patriarchs. This, too, is recorded for our learning. It is the humble, simple, trustful spreading of the Divine promises before the throne of grace which secures the ear of God. That is what real prayer is: a presenting of our need before the Lord, and then reverently reminding Him of His own declaration that He will supply it. It is a confident asking with David, "Do as Thou hast said" (2 Sam. 7:25). This is what the "exercise of faith" signifies: a laying hold of God’s promises, an "embracing" (Heb. 11:13) of them, a counting upon them. "Hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" (Num. 23:19).



Men like a written agreement in "black and white," and the great God has condescended to give us such. How strange, then, that we do not treat His promises as realities. Jehovah never trifles with His words: His engagements are always kept Joshua reminded Israel, "This day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, not one thing hath failed thereof" (Josh. 23:14). Then let us seek grace to emulate Abraham, the father of all them that believe, of whom it is recorded, "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform" (Rom. 4:20, 21).



"And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people" (v. 14). These words do not mean that God changed His mind or altered His purpose, for He is "without variableness or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). There never has been and never will be the smallest occasion for the Almighty to affect the slightest deviation from His eternal purpose, for everything was foreknown to Him from the beginning, and all His counsels were ordered by infinite wisdom. When Scripture speaks of God’s repenting it employs a figure of speech, in which the Most High condescends to speak in our language. What is intended by the above expression is that Jehovah answered the prayer of the typical mediator.



"And the Lord repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people" (v. 14). Blessed is it to note how Israel is still spoken of as "His people." "What encouragement to faith! If ever there was an occasion when it seemed impossible that prayer should be heard, it was this; but the faith of Moses rose above all difficulties, and grasping the hand of Jehovah claimed His help; and, inasmuch as He could not deny Himself, the prayer of Moses was granted" (Ed. Dennett). May this little meditation be blest of God to many to the enriching of their spiritual lives.





To be continued . . . .

"Doc Notes" on Exodus The calf of Gold (Part 60)

                                              Bronze figure of Apis, the sacred bull ( The calf of Gold in Exodus)


From Lower Egypt

Late Period, about 600 BC

Length: 16 cm

Width: 6.13 cm

Height: 20.5 cm

Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (study collection)

Item: EA 37448

Location: British Museum, London

Gentle Readers, 

 In reading ahead in Exodus 32:1-10




Our present studywill run  on to the end of chapter 34, commences a new and distinct section of Exodus, a section which, in one sense, is parenthetical in its character and contents. This will at once appear if Exodus 32 to 34 be omitted and chapter 35 be read right after chapter 31. In Exodus 24 to 31 inclusive we have recorded the communications which Moses received from Jehovah while he was with Him in the mount, instructions which concerned the making of the tabernacle and the institution of the priesthood. In chapter 35 Moses makes known to the people the revelations which he had received from the Lord, and forthwith the making of the holy vessels and the house for them is proceeded with. But in chapters 32 to 34 the flow of the tabernacle theme is interrupted, and a very different subject is brought before us. Here we are given to see what transpired among the Congregation while Moses was in the mount. Here we behold the awful sin of Aaron and the people during the interval of their leader’s absence, with the fearful consequences which it entailed.



A more frightful contrast than that which is presented in these two sections in the book of Exodus is scarcely possible to imagine. In the former we are permitted to witness the condescending grace of Jehovah as He spoke with Moses; in the latter we are called upon to gaze at that which exhibited the awful depravity of fallen man. In the one we are occupied with that which unveils to us the manifold glories of Christ; in the other we have exposed the awful abominations which Satan produces. First we are shown the provisions which God made for His people to worship Him, according to His own holy appointments; then we witness the idolatrous manufacture of a golden calf, and the children of Israel bowing down before it in worship. Verily, truth is stranger than fiction. "God hath made man upright," but they have sought out many inventions (Eccl. 7:29), inventions which only serve to make manifest the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the fearful depths of depravity into which fallen man has descended.



Above, we have stated that Exodus 32 to 34 forms a parenthetical section of the book, inasmuch as the contents of these chapters break in upon the narrative concerning the tabernacle. But looked at from another standpoint they contain the historical sequel to what is recorded in Exodus 19. There we see the children of Israel, in the third month after their going forth out of Egypt, encamped before Sinai. They were bidden to sanctify themselves, wash their clothes, and come not at their wives, and then on the third day, the Lord came down "in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai." Most awe-inspiring was the Divine manifestation: "There were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people in the camp trembled... And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly" (19:16, 18).



Moses was then called up into the mount, where he received the laws enumerated in Exodus 20-23. Then, in 24:3 we read, "And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do." This vow of the people was most solemnly ratified: Moses wrote all the words of the Lord in a book, "And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words (24:7, 8).



Following this, we are told, "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to Me into the mount, and be there . . . And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God. And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you: and, behold Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matters to do, let him come unto them . . . And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights" (24:12-14, 18). It was while Moses was on the mount on this occasion that he received the Divine communications recorded in chapters 25 to 31. And what of the people during the interval? How were they conducting themselves during this most solemn period? Our present portion contains the answer; to it we are now ready to turn.



"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him" (v. 1). The key to this incident is found in part of Stephen’s address, recorded in Acts 7: "This is He that was in the church in the wilderness.. to whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us" (vv. 38-40). It was not that they were peeved at the lengthy absence of Moses, but that they had cast off their allegiance to Jehovah, their hearts had departed from Him.



What we have said above is confirmed by Israel’s reference to Moses on this occasion as "the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt." Instead of owning their Divine Deliverer, their vision was narrowed to the human instrument which had been employed. It is ever thus with a people whose hearts are divorced from God. Compare the words of apostate Israel at a later date: "Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian" (Judg. 8:22). Here in Exodus 32 the human instrument was contemptuously referred to as "this Moses," so little did they appreciate his unwearied service and prayers on their behalf.



It is not without reason that our present portion is immediately preceded by these words: "And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (31:18). On those tables of stone were written the ten commandments, the first of which was, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." And the second, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" (20:3, 4,). It is the deliberate, public and united disobedience of these commandments which our lesson records. Man must have an object, and when he turns from the true God, he at once craves a false one. What we have here has been perpetuated in every generation: nor has Christendom proved any exception to the rule. As another has said, "Alas! alas! it has ever been thus in man’s history. The human heart lusts after something that can be seen; it loves that which meets and gratifies the senses. It is only faith that can ‘endure as seeing Him who is invisible.’ Hence, in every age, men have been forward to set up and lean upon human imitations of Divine realities. Thus it is we see the counterfeits of corrupt religion multiplied before our eyes. Those things which we know, upon the authority of God’s Word, to be Divine and heavenly realities, the professing Church has transformed into human and earthly inventions. Having become weary of hanging upon an invisible arm, of trusting in an invisible sacrifice, of having recourse to an invisible Priest, of committing herself to an invisible Head, she has set about ‘making’ these things; and thus from age to age, she has been busily at work, with ‘graving tool’ in hand, graving and fashioning one thing after another, until we can at length recognize as little similarity between much that we see around us, and what we read in the Word, as between a ‘molten calf’ and the God of Israel" (C.H.M.)



Israel had served false gods in Egypt (Josh. 24:14), and the flesh in them was still unchanged. It is true that Israel as a nation were only typically redeemed—the vast majority of them being children in whom was no faith (Deut. 32:20)—yet we must never forget when reading their history that, "These things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted" (1 Cor. 10:6). Yea, does not the apostle at once follow this with, "Neither be ye idolators as were some of them" (v. 7). And again he says, "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry" (v. 14). So, too, John, whose Epistle is addressed to those to whom he could say, "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ," closes with the exhortation, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." May God grant us hearts to heed these solemn and needed warnings. There is but one safeguard and preventative, and that is, being constantly occupied with Christ.



What has just been before us is of Such immense practical importance that ere passing on we feel we must add a further word. The typical picture is unmistakably plain in its present-day application to God’s people. Moses was away from Israel, up in the mount; so Christ is away from the earth, on High before God. But before He went away, He said to His disciples, "Ye believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1). He is the Object of faith, and it is only as our affections are set upon Him, as we are in daily communion with Him, that our hearts are kept from idols. But just as surely as Israel’s turning away from Jehovah was at once followed by the making of the golden calf, just as surely as (in the history of the corporate Christian profession) the leaving of first love (Rev. 2:4) was followed by the setting up of the "synagogue of Satan" (Rev. 2:9), so now, the estranging of the heart from Christ opens the door for all sorts of abominable idolatries.



"And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring unto me" (v. 2). As Exodus 24:18 informs us, Moses was absent from Israel for forty days, a number which, in Scripture, is almost always connected with probation. It hardly needs to be said that such a length of time was not needed by God: had He so pleased He could within the space of a few hours (or even in a moment) have told Moses all that is recorded in Exodus 25 to 31 and made him understand it. Why, then, those forty days? For the testing of Israel—to make manifest whether or no they would patiently wait for the ordinances they had promised to observe. But so far from keeping their solemn vows, they would not even wait to hear what God said.



Aaron, with Hur, was left to adjudicate upon any question that might arise while Moses and his minister, Joshua, was away (24:14). Aaron is now put to the test. It was the first time he had been left in charge of the Congregation, and wretchedly did he acquit himself. Instead of putting his trust in the Lord, the fear of man brought him a snare. Instead of boldly withstanding the people, he, apparently without any struggle, yielded to their evil designs. Alas, it but supplies another tragic illustration of the fact that when responsibility is committed to man, he betrays his trust. Thus it has been in the history of Christendom: instead of the leaders refusing to follow the worldly wishes of their people, they have heeded, and oftentimes encouraged them.



"And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (vv. 3, 4). Another has pointed out an analogy between what we have here and that which is recorded in Matthew 17:1-18. "There is a striking resemblance, in one aspect, between this scene and that witnessed at the foot of the mount of transfiguration. In both alike Satan holds full sway. In the one before us, it is the nation who have fallen under his power, in the other it is the child whom he has possessed; but the child again is a type of the Jewish nation of a later day. The absence of Christ on high (shown in figure also by Moses on Sinai) is the opportunity seized by Satan—under God’s commission—for the display of his wicked power, and man (Israel) in the evil of his heart becomes his wretched slave" (Ed. Dennett.)



The calf, or ox, was the principal Egyptian god—"Apis"—with which they had been familiar in the land of bondage. "These be thy gods" is expounded in Nehemiah 9:18 as meaning, "This is thy god." The inspired comment of the Psalmist is very solemn, "They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. They changed their Glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgat God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt" (106:19-21). The making of that idol and the rendering worship to it was an act of open apostasy, the bitter harvest from which continued to be reaped until they were carried into Babylon (Acts 7:43). Such is the flesh: ever ready to forget God’s deliverances, despise the light He has given us, disobey His commands, act in self-will, and bring in that which effectually shuts Him out.



"And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it" (v. 5). Still darker become the clouds which hang over this awful scene. Not content with substituting a false god for the true One, they must, perforce, cover up their wickedness under the cloak of religion. An "altar" is now erected. Thus it has always been, and still is: man ever seeks to hide the shame of his idolatry by putting over it the name of Deity. Therefore the next thing that we read here is that, "Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the Lord" (v. 5). As a fact, this was a pretense, for there were no "feasts" in either the third or fourth months. (See Leviticus 23.)



What is before us in this 5th verse but gives the prototype of what is now going on almost everywhere in Christendom. Men have set up their idols and then sought to dignify and sanctify their inventions by worshipping them in the name of Christ. Romanism and Ritualism give us one form of it. Wordliness and fleshly indulgencies another. Just as Aaron proclaimed the honors paid to the calf and the carnal merriment that followed as "a feast unto the Lord," so many a "church supper," bazaar, religious carnival, whist drive, etc., is officially carried out under the name of Christianity. What a mockery it all is! Aaron had no Scripture to justify his proclamation, nor have the present-day leaders any word from God to warrant their doings.



"And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings" (v. 6). Terrible travesty was this. Those offerings which spoke of the devotedness of Christ unto the Father, and the fellowship which He has made possible between a holy God and His people, were now presented to this fetish of their own corrupt imaginations. It is significant to mark the absence of any sin offering! But that had no place in their thoughts. How could it? When there is departure from God, the conscience becomes callused: "The way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they stumble" (Prov. 4:19). That is why the unscriptural and Christ-dishonoring performances in the churches occasion no uneasiness to those engaged in them.



"And the people set down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play" (v. 6). Having formally presented their offerings, they now felt free to indulge the lusts of the flesh. And, be it remembered, what we have here is something more than the inspired record of an incident which happened long ago. God’s Word is a living Word, describing things as they actually are. It was in the "early" hours that the burnt and peace offerings were presented. So the early morning mass or "communion" remains popular, and is still followed by the offerers spending the remainder of the clay eating, drinking, and playing: "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man" (Prov. 27:19)!



"And the Lord said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves" (v. 7). These words of the Lord must be read in the light of what is recorded in Exodus 24:6-8. There we read of a "covenant" which the Lord made with Israel on the ground of His law and their avowal to keep it. It was a purely legal compact between the two contracting parties. Israel had now broken their agreement: they had disowned their Deliverer (32:1), they had broken His law (32:6) Therefore the Lord now, in view of the broken covenant, disowns them: He speaks of them to Moses as "thy people."



"They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (v. 8). Alas how "quickly" had they departed from the path of obedience and loyalty! Less than five months before they had declared, "The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation: my father’s God, and I will exalt Him" (15:2). Instead of so doing, they had raised up that which effectively shut Him out, and instead of exalting Him they had debased themselves. It is solemn to note the Lord here quotes to Moses the identical language the people had used with Aaron: though engaged in "communing" with His servant. He had heard the very words of His wayward people down below. And He still hears and records all our words!



"They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them." It has been thus all through the piece. How "quickly" Adam "turned aside" from the way of his Creator’s command! How "quickly" Noah failed after he came out from the Ark! How "quickly" Nadab and Abihu did that which the Lord "commanded them not" (Lev. 10:1) after the priesthood was instituted! How "quickly" sin entered Israel’s camp after Canaan was entered (Josh. 7). And so we might go on. Alas, how "quickly" the young Christian leaves his "first love" and loses his early joy! Failure is written large across every page of human history. And what is the chief cause of all such failure? Do not the next words of Jehovah to Moses make known the answer?



"And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people" (v. 9). What is signified by this oft-used figure? It signifies a state of insubordination: note the order in Deuteronomy 31:27, "I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck." It is the opposite of submission to the will of God: "Be ye not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord" (2 Chron. 30:8). It is a state into which we may bring ourselves: "They obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their necks stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction" (Jer. 17:23). It is brought about by not yielding ourselves to God: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). A stiff-necked person is one who bows not to God: he is one in whom self-will is at work. This was the state of Israel, therefore did God go on to say:



"Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation" (v. 10). Having by their sins forfeited all the blessings engaged to them on the terms of their own covenant, the Lord at once stands against them, disclaims them, and threatens to execute consuming judgment upon them. "Thus Israel, if dealt with according to the righteous requirements of the law which they had accepted, and to which they had promised obedience as the condition of blessing, were lost beyond recovery, and would perish through their own willful sin and apostasy" (Ed. Dennett). The reason why God did not totally destroy His stiff-necked people on this occasion we must leave for consideration, D.V., to our next article. In the meantime let us seek grace to heed this solemn warning. By nature none of us are a whit better than Aaron and the Israelites. Were God to withdraw His grace from us, we, too, would surely and speedily fall into as great and gross sin as they did. Then let us cry with the Psalmist, "Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe, and I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually" (119:117).





To be continued . . . .



Doc Notes "The Sabbath" Exodus 31 (Part 59)

Gentle Readers,

For this study read Exodus 31:13-18




As was pointed out at the commencement of our last study, the contents of Exodus 31 fall under three clearly-defined divisions. First, the provision made by Jehovah for the carrying out of the instructions which He had given to Moses concerning the making of the tabernacle. This, as we have seen, was His calling and equipping of the principal artificers and the appointing of their work. Second, the mention, once more, of God’s holy Sabbath, and the defining of its special relation to Israel. Third, a brief word in v. 18 of the actual giving to Moses of the tables of testimony, on which were inscribed the ten commandments. It is the last two divisions we are about to consider; may the Spirit of God graciously preserve us from all error and guide us into all truth.



"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested. and was refreshed" (vv. 12-17). In pondering what is here said concerning the Sabbath we propose to look first at its typical significance, then at its dispensational bearings, and lastly at the judicial aspects of our passage.



It may strike the thoughtful reader as strange that any reference should be made here to the Sabbath: coming right after the description of the tabernacle, its furniture, its priesthood and its artificers; the more so, as full mention of it had already been made in Exodus 20:8-11. There are no mere repetitions in Holy Writ, and though a thing may be mentioned more than once, or the same command or ordinance be given again and again, yet it is always with another end in view, or for the purpose of enforcing a different design, or with the object of bringing in fuller details. Generally the Spirit’s purpose may be discerned by taking note of the connection in which each statement occurs.



The first time the Sabbath is mentioned in Exodus is in 16:23-29, from which it should be quite apparent that this holy day unto the Lord was no new appointment at that time: the words of v. 28 (occasioned by Israel’s desecration of the Sabbath, see v. 27) are too plain to be misunderstood: "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?" Thus, the initial reference to the Sabbath in Exodus contains the Lord’s expostulation with His people for having disregarded His commandments—referring no doubt to the evil way in which they had, for centuries, conducted themselves in Egypt: see Ezekiel 20:5-9.



The second time the Sabbath is found in Exodus is in chapter 20, where we have the ten commandments given to Israel orally. They were given to Israel as a redeemed people, which the Lord had brought "out of the house of bondage." They expressed the rights of God, His claims upon His people, that which He righteously required from them. Those commandments were not a yoke grievous to be borne, but the making known of a path in which love was to walk. In them God promised to show mercy unto thousands (not "millions") of them that love Me and keep My commandments" (v. 6). God’s commandments are just as truly the expressions of His love as are His promises, and a heart that loves Him in return should rejoice in the one as much as in the other. God’s commandments express both His authority over and His solicitude for His people. It is in that light this second mention of the Sabbath in Exodus is to be viewed.



The third reference in Exodus to the Sabbath is found in chapter 31, a section of the book where everything speaks loudly of Christ. Unless this be carefully noted the meaning of our present passage will be missed. It should be evident at once that the typical significance of the Sabbath is the first thing to be looked at here. True, that by no means exhausts the scope and value of these verses, yet it does supply the key which unlocks for us their primary meaning. Here, again, we have another example of a principle which holds good of every part of the Word, namely, if we ignore the context we are sure to err in our interpretation.



Now in seeking to discover the typical meaning of the Sabbath we cannot do better than turn back to the first mention of it in Scripture: "And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made" (Gen. 2:2, 3). It will be observed that three actions of God in connection with the Sabbath are here mentioned: He ended His work which He had made and "rested on the seventh day," He "blessed the seventh day," He "sanctified" it. We believe the order in which these three things are mentioned is the order of spiritual importance—confirmed by the first thing mentioned being repeated.



In order to apprehend aright the spiritual import of the Sabbath, it is most necessary to observe that the first thing of all connected with it is the rest of God. The fact that God rested on the seventh day is undoubtedly recorded for the purpose of teaching that the Creator graciously condescended to set an example before His creatures of how to spend and enjoy the Sabbath; yet that there is also a deeper meaning to this statement will scarcely be denied. Nor do we think that the reference is solely to the Creator’s delight and satisfaction in the works which He had made during the six days preceding; rather would it appear (from subsequent scriptures) that this "rest" was anticipatory—spiritually, of that rest which the Christian enjoys now; dispensationally, of the millennial Sabbath; typically, of the eternal Sabbath.



Now in the light of what is before us in the first eleven verses of Exodus 31, is there any difficulty in discovering the perfect propriety of a reference to the Sabbath in what immediately follows? What else could have been more appropriate? In the first part of the chapter we have a most lovely foreshadowing of Him who had ever dwelt in the bosom of the Father, the Son of Light, voluntarily undertaking to "work in gold, silver, brass, and of precious stones." The stupendous work therein typified having been gloriously completed, we have at once mentioned that which speaks of the rest of God. How suitable, how blessed the connection! As cause stands to effect, so is the relation between the labors of the tabernacle-artificers and the mention here of the Sabbath. The rest of God is the consequence of the finished Work of Christ: first, that in which God Himself finds complacency; second, that into which His redeemed are brought.



The wicked are like the troubled sea which cannot rest (Isa. 57:20). And why? Because they are away from God. Away from God, they are seeking satisfaction in that which cannot provide it. Theirs is a ceaseless quest after that which will give peace and joy. But over all the varied cisterns to which they have recourse, is written these words, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again" (John 4:13). "There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked" (Isa. 57:21), for they are strangers to the Prince of peace. It is not until the Spirit of God has shown us that all under the sun is but "vanity and vexation of spirit," has convicted us of our sinful and lost condition, has shown us our desperate need of the Savior, and drawn us to Him, that we hear the Lord Jesus saying, "Come unto Me, all ye, that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Then it becomes true that, "we which have believed do enter into rest" (Heb. 4:3).



"Verily My sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep My Sabbaths therefore, for it is holy unto you" (vv. 13, 14). Surely the meaning of this is too plain for us to miss. The Sabbath was now, for the first time, appointed as a "sign" between Jehovah and Israel that they were His "sanctified" people—a people set apart unto Himself. So, also, that of which the Sabbath spoke—the rest of God—was also the portion of a sanctified people, a people "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). This people was sanctified by God the Father before they were called (Jude 1), even from all eternity. They were sanctified by God the Son "with His own blood" (Heb. 13: 12). They are sanctified by God the Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13) when they are quickened into newness of life, and thus separated from those who are dead in sins. And the "sign" between God and His sanctified people is still the "Sabbath," i.e., the fact that they have entered into rest.



Turning back from the antitype to the type, we can see at once why the Sabbath should be the appointed "sign" between Jehovah and Israel. At the time He entered into covenant relation with them, all other nations had been given up by God (Rom. 1:19-26). Not liking to retain Him in their knowledge, they gave themselves unto idolatry. For this cause God gave them up to a reprobate mind. The heathen nations, therefore, kept no Sabbath, and, in all probability, by that time knew not that the Creator required them to. But to Israel God made known His laws, and the appointed sign or token that they were His peculiar people was their observance of the Sabbath. So that of which, spiritually, the Sabbath speaks, is still the portion of none but God’s chosen people.



Dispensationally, the rest to which the Sabbath pointed, was the Millennial era, the seventh of earth’s great "days." In view of the inspired declaration, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Pet. 3:8) we believe, with many others, that the "six days" of Genesis 1 give us a prophetic forecast of the world’s history, and that the "seventh day" of Genesis 2:2, 3 points to the final dispensation. This is confirmed by Revelation 20 where, again and again, the reign of Christ and His saints over this earth is said to be of a "thousand years" duration. The Millennium will be the earth’s great Sabbath. Then shall this scene which has witnessed six thousand years of strife, turmoil, bloodshed, enjoy an unprecedented era of rest. The Prince of peace shall be here; Satan shall be in the bottomless pit; war shall be made to cease to "the end of the earth" (Ps. 4:6:9); the curse which now rests upon the lower orders of creation shall be lifted (Isa. 11:6-9).



But not only did the original Sabbath of Genesis 2:2, 3 anticipate the spiritual rest which is, even now, the portion of God’s people; not only did it forecast the millennial peace which this earth will yet enjoy; but it also typified an eternal Sabbath, into which nothing shall ever enter to disturb and mar its perfect tranquility and bliss. This is what the Work of Christ (adumbrated in Exodus 31:1-11) has secured, and toward which all things are moving. When the present heaven and earth shall have passed away, and a new heaven and earth shall have come into existence, then shall be fulfilled that precious word of Revelation 21:3-5, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold. I make all things new."



A beautiful foreshadowing of this is to be found in Zephaniah 3:17, "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." The immediate reference is to the restoration of Israel to God’s favor, to their land, and to the fulfillment of His purpose and promises concerning them. But the ultimate reference, we believe, is to that which shall characterize the Eternal State. Then, in the midst of His redeemed, and as the fruit of His Son’s perfect work, God Himself shall rejoice over. His people with joy and "rest in His love."



Once more we pause to admire the striking and lovely order in which God’s truth is presented before us. In the first part of Exodus 31 we behold the Divine provision made for giving effect to all that was in the will of God; therefore, in the very next section, that which speaks of Divine rest, is brought before us. In keeping with this it is most blessed to take note of one word which is found here, and nowhere else: "In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed" (Ex. 31:17). The fact that these words are found not in Genesis 2:2, 3, or Exodus 20:8-11, but here, right after what is typically in view in 31:1-11, tells, unmistakably, of that refreshment, that joy, that resting in His love, which shall be the eternal portion of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What is here in view is that rest of God which is the consequence of the bringing into effect, the actual realization, of the whole will of God as set forth in the tabernacle. When "the tabernacle of God is with men" (Rev. 21:3), then shall there be an holy, unbreakable, eternal rest. God will rest in His love, and His sanctified people will rest with Him.



"I think it is in the light of the tabernacle system, and of its taking form for the pleasure of God, that He adds the words, ‘And was refreshed.’ God was refreshed because even in the material creation He was forming a sphere where all His own blessed thoughts of grace and glory in Christ could be worked out. Those thoughts first came to light in a definite, though figurative, form in the tabernacle, and in the light of them all being brought into effect God could, as it were, carry back into Genesis 2 a secret not revealed. When God made the heavens and the earth He had ‘the holy universal order of the tabernacle in His mind. He was making a material universe, and this in itself could not afford Him refreshment. But He was making it so that it might be the scene for the introduction of ‘the holy order of the tabernacle,’ which represented the vast scene in which God’s glory is displayed in Christ, and in view of the introduction of this He was ‘refreshed’! The Sabbath speaks of things being brought to completion, so that there is no more work to be done; all is finished, and there is holy rest for God and His people" (C. A. Coates).



Having pondered the typical significance of the Sabbath’s being mentioned in Exodus 31, having sought to point out its dispensational application, it now remains for us to consider the judicial aspect of our passage. This is brought before us in vv. 14, 15, "Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death." A solemn example of this threat is recorded in Numbers 15:32-36, "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died."



It seems strange that so many have experienced a difficulty with the above passages. The key to them is surely found in noting the character and design of the Mosaic economy. That Dispensation was a legal and a probationary one. It was preparatory to the fuller and final revelation which God made of Himself in and through Christ. It is a mistake to look upon it as a stern regime of unmixed law. True, it was marked at the beginning by the proclamation of the Ten Commandments, but it should not be forgotten that this was immediately followed by the revelation concerning the Tabernacle and the institution of the priesthood, and (see the book of Leviticus) by the Divine appointment of a series of offerings and sacrifices, wherein provision was made for God’s people to approach unto Him through their representatives. Though all of this was a typical foreshadowing of that which was to be made good and secured by and through the person and work of Christ, yet it should not be forgotten that it was also a most gracious provision of God for His people at that time.



On the other hand, there was not, and, in the nature of the case, could not be, a full and perfect revelation of the grace of God during the Mosaic economy. Law is law, and righteousness requires the strict enforcing of its terms and penalties. Mercy might, and did, make provision for "sins of ignorance" (Lev. 4:2-4; Numbers 15:27, 28), and for the unavoidable contact with that which defiled (Num. 10:11-19); but for pre-meditated or deliberate transgressions no sacrifice was available—"he that despised Moses’ law died without mercy" (Heb. 10:28). A notable case in point which illustrates this distinction is to be found in connection with the requirement of the Mosaic law when a man had been slain. We refer to the "cities of refuge": let the reader carefully consult Numbers 35:9-24. If any person had been killed "unawares" (vv. 11, 15)—that is, without "malice aforethought"—then he might find an asylum in one of those cities; but if that person had been deliberately slain, then the word was, "the murderer shall surely be put to death" (vv. 16:17). What has just been said explains a reference in Psalm 51, which, though very familiar, is understood by but few. That Psalm records the deep penitence of David. He was guilty of murder, the murder of Uriah. In v. 16 he says, "For Thou desireth not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering." No "sacrifice" was available for murder! What, then, could poor David do? This: cast himself on the "mercy" of God (v. l), acknowledge his transgression (v. 3), and cry for deliverance from "blood-guiltiness’ (v. 14). That his cry was heard, we all know, and the very hearing of it testified to the blessed truth that "mercy rejoiceth against judgment" (James 2:13).



What has just been pointed out should greatly modify the prevailing conception of the harshness of the Mosaic dispensation. True, the Law, as such, showed no mercy; but side by side with the Law was the Levitical sacrifices, and over and above these was the mercy of God, available for those who sought it out of a broken heart. Thus, unless we keep both of these facts in mind, and learn to distinguish between things that differ, confusion of thought and conception must necessarily ensue.



"Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death." This was the exaction of Law as such, the righteous enforcement of its penalty. Nor was this peculiar to the fourth commandment; it obtained equally with the other nine. The following passages may serve as illustrations and proofs, "And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death" (Ex. 21:15); "And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that commiteth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" (Lev. 20:10); "And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death" (Lev. 24:16); see also Deuteronomy 13:6-10, etc.



Our chapter closes with the mention of God’s giving the tables of testimony unto Moses: "And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God" (v. 18). This completes the section of the book of Exodus begun at 24:18. For forty days Moses had been in the mount receiving instructions from Jehovah. That those instructions closed with the giving of these two tables of stone is most significant. Coming here after the appointing of the tabernacle-artificers and the mention of the Sabbath it announces, typically, that the rights and claims of God have been made good and eternally secured by and through the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Grace now "reigns," but "through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21). That there is also a close connection between Exodus 31:18 and what follows.

To be continued . . . .