either before or after His incarnation; as the partaker of our nature, or who expect Him once more from heaven to be our Judge.-The God of Israel descended from the invisible world to Mount Sinai. The angels of heaven were around Him. The mount burned with fire. Clouds and thick darkness rested upon it; a sound was heard in the air, proceeding from the fire and clouds, as of the sound of a trumpet; the mountain shook with earthquakes; the laws of nature were suspended, as they uniformly were, when the God of the Scriptures manifested Himself by appealing to the senses, to demonstrate His presence more effectually. The whole scene represents to us, on a small scale, the still more wonderful and universal display of the future manifestation of the same Jehovah Jesus, when He shall appeal to our senses and to our souls, at the season of His second coming. And he only understands the Scriptures or his own position in the world, or the object of the Creator in forming and preserving him, who thus believes that the present state of things has this predicted end.—The Section before us relates at length the manifestation of the God of Israel before the words of the Law were spoken. On the fiftieth day of their departure from Egypt, the fiftieth day from their celebrating the Passover, as Whit-Sunday with us is still the fiftieth day from the commemoration of the death of Christ, the people, on the first day of the third month (Exod. xix. 1, 2), pitched their tents before the Mount of Sinai, probably on that part of the plain which is called Er-Râhah, and which has lately been visited and described by Robinson, the enterprising American traveller (Travels, i. 158).—The glory of the Lord, the visible Shechinah which had preceded Israel out of Egypt, rested on the top of Horeb, a mount of the great chain in the region of Sinai, which is therefore sometimes called Horeb, and sometimes Sinai.-The superhuman voice which Moses had been accustomed to hear proceeding from the fire, called to him to go up to the mountain, or he could not otherwise have presumed to approach it (ver. 3). His first ascent is related: God commands him to remind the people of His bringing them from Egypt, and to ask them whether they would enter into a solemn covenant with God, and obey Him, that they might be to Him, as indeed all of us ought to be, "God's peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a nation holy," or set apart from all others, consecrated, and dedicated to the service of God (ver. 4-7). Moses descends from the mount, and bears the message to the people. The elders and the people vow their observance of the covenant (ver. 7, 8). Moses ascends the mountain a second time, and returns to God the answer of the people (ver. 8). He is then assured that the God of Israel will come down towards the people in a thick cloud, which was different from the glory from which God was now speaking to Moses; that the people, by this sudden change of the mode by which God was manifested, should be more deeply impressed, and remember their covenant. Moses repeats the former declaration of the people (ver. 9), and he is commanded to direct the people to prepare for the presence of God on the third day, when the cloud should be seen to descend near to the people, on an appointed mountain in Sinai. This mountain He ordains should be deemed consecrated as the holy place of God, and therefore, that a line was to be drawn round the mountain, beyond which none were to intrude, and that the intruder beyond that limit should be instantly put to death; and when the sound, which is compared to that of a trumpet, was heard on the mountain, then the people were to move from their encampment, and approach to the boundary which limited their ascent (ver. 10—13).—All this was done to prevent any undue familiarity or irreverence towards the God of Israel.-The commands of God were obeyed (ver. 14, 15). On the morning of the third day, the long promised descent of the God of Israel took place. "Angels from heaven were present, and the Lord was among them" (Psalm lxviii. 17). Thunders and lightnings were seen. The thick cloud rested on the mount. The sound, the same sound which is called the trump of God, the voice which was heard by Adam in the garden, and which shall be heard by the changing living and the waking dead, sounded from heaven.-The people moved from their tents to the boundary prescribed to them, at the lower part of the mount (ver. 16, 17). So the cloud rested on the mountain, and then, while Sinai seemed to be a mass of smoke, from the darkness of the cloud; the Shechinah, the glory of the Lord, descended into the cloud. The smoke and darkness continued, and the flame of the glory of the Lord occupied the midst of it. The smoke ascended as from a furnace; the mountain was shaken as by an earthquake, and the sound which is called "the voice of the trumpet," became louder and louder, strengthening itself exceedingly, as the Hebrew original affirms; and Moses, terrified at the proofs that the power of the Almighty could sweep away the camp of Israel, destroy the people, and dissolve the mountain and the plain into their elements, at this time uttered the words related by St. Paul, "I exceedingly fear and tremble," and God comforted him by a gentler voice, assuring him of his safety.-His third ascent is commanded (ver. 20); but he is charged to descend again, and renew the direction to the people, not to break through the boundary, and gaze into the cloud and fire, lest they encourage themselves in the idolatry from which the God of Israel would wean them, by observing, remembering, and making any similitude, or likeness, or form, which they might hereafter worship (ver. 21).— He is directed to renew this charge, and to return with Aaron, after the ten commandments, which we shall consider in the next Section, had been spoken. He obeys; and the words of the Law are delivered by the ministration of angels, in a superhuman voice, distinctly heard by all the people, for their instruction and for ours; to be observed by all, in heart, soul, motive, and action, who believe in and worship the God of Israel, the God of Christianity. If we know these things, happy, then only happy are we if we do them, whether at the hour of death, when the same voice of God shall sound in our ears very differently than we have heard it through life; or at the day of judgment, when the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, shall be heard by the gathering world; and when those who know the law and the love of the God of mercy and justice, shall be judged in mercy and in justice, according to their faith and according to their works. BEFORE CHRIST 1490. BEFORE CHRIST The eleventh journey.—From Rephidim to Sinai. NUMBERS XXXIII. 15. BEFORE 1490. 15 And they departed in the wilderness of Sinai. CHRIST from Rephidim, and pitched EXODUS XIX. 7 ¶ And Moses came 1 In the third month, [ 1491. when the children of Israel and called for the elders of were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same Num. 33.15. day b came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 For they were de the people, and laid before 8 And all the people с from ch. 17. 1, 8. parted Rephidim, answered together, and said, and were come to the de- All that the LORD hath sert of Sinai, and had spoken we will do. And pitched in the wilderness; Moses returned the words and there Israel camped of the people unto the deh. 3. 1, 12. before the mount. LORD. ⚫ ch. 20, 21. Acts 7. 38. 'ch. 3. 4. e 9 And the LORD said 3 And Moses went up I called unto him out of the unto thee P in a thick cloud, Deut. 32. 11. Rev. 12. 14. Deut. 5. 2. dren of Israel; * Deut. 4. 20. &7.6. & 14. 2, & 97. 2. Matt. 17. 5. Deut. 4. 12, John 12. 29, 36. 4 8 Ye have seen what of the people unto the 21. & 26. 18. & I did unto the Egyptians, LORD. 3, 4. Rev. 1. 6. & 26. 1 Pet. 2. 5, 9. 6 And ye shall be unto 26. 19. & 28.9. 1 Thes. 5. 27. or touch the border of it: 45. Heb. 10. 22. t ver. 14. Gen. 35. 2. Lev. 15. 5. ver. 16. 18. Deut. 33. 2. ch. 34. 5. CHRIST CHRIST 1491. BEFORE whosoever toucheth the 19 And when the voice BEFORE 1491. mount shall be surely put of the trumpet sounded ▾ Heb. 12. 20. to death: long, and waxed louder ver. 13. and louder, Moses spake, 'Heb. 12. 21. and m God answered him by Neh. 9. 13. a voice. 13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be 20 And the LORD came beast or man, it shall not down upon mount Sinai, on Or, cornet. live: when the "trumpet the top of the mount and soundeth long, they shall the LORD called Moses up come up to the mount. to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. * ver. 16, 19. * ver. 10. y ver. 11. Ps. 81. 7. 14 And Moses went down from the mount unto 21 And the LORD said the people, and sanctified unto Moses, Go down, the people; and they wash-† charge the people, lest Heb.contest. ed their clothes. they break through unto 1 Sam. 6. 19. 15 And he said unto the the LORD to gaze, and See ch. 3. 5. people, Be ready against many of them perish. 22 And let the priests also, which come near to 1 Sam. 21. 4, the third day: Zech. 7.3. at your wives. 5. 1 Cor. 7. 5. • Ps. 77. 18. 19. 2 come not 16¶ And it came to pass the LORD, sanctify them. b 23 And Moses said unto Heb. 12. 18, and a thick cloud upon the LORD, The people canRev. 4, 5. & the mount, and the voice not come up to mount of the trumpet exceeding Sinai: for thou chargedst 8. 5. & 11. 19. e Rev. 1. 10. 2 Chron. 5.14. loud; so that all the people us, saying, Set bounds' ver. 12. was in the camp about the mount, and sanctify it. & 4. 1. that 24 And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests 18 And mount Sinai and the people break was altogether on a smoke, through to come up unto because the LORD descended the LORD, lest he break upon it in fire: hand the forth upon them. h Gen. 15. 17. smoke thereof ascended as 25 So Moses went down PRAYER. LET US PRAY, that as the Law was given from Heaven to make the people of Israel a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation unto God, —we who believe that Christ shall come again in glory, with His holy angels, and the voice from heaven, may be received by Him as His own peculiar people, and daily, so long as we live, be looking for that blessed hope and the appearance in His glory, of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ. ALMIGHTY and merciful God, Father of the spirits of all flesh, who hast not only imparted to us the knowledge of Thy will, but hast condescended also to reveal to us the merciful reasons and causes for which Thy holy Law has thus been made known to us; that we might become, now that we are upon earth, a chosen and elect people, zealous of good works, and devoted in heart and soul to Thee, and also, that in the world to come, we may live with Thee for ever!-Give us such grace, we beseech Thee, that Thy mercy be not granted in vain. Make us Thy peculiar people. Make us Thine own inheritance. May God be our own God. May Christ be our own Saviour, and not only the Saviour of others. May the Holy Spirit of God be our own Sanctifier, and not only the Sanctifier of the souls of our brethren, our kindred, and our friends. May we be so blessed, both in body and in soul, that we make God our portion, by receiving in our hearts faith in the Father, hope in the Son, and the strength and comforts of the Holy Spirit. May we be so blessed by the God of Revelation, that we become now, even now, the peculiar people of God, the peculiar children of the Creator and Father of the soul; the peculiar brethren of Christ; the peculiar elect, the sanctified, the holy ones, among the members of the visible Church of God.-Make our whole lives, and hearts, and souls, such as Thou wouldst have us to be. So may we be to Thee our God a holy nation, a royal priesthood unto Thee. When the day of our death shall come, and the soul shall be parted for a time from the frail and perishing body, may our absence from the body be our presence with the Lord." We believe that Thou shalt come to be our judge. We therefore pray Thee help thy servants whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy most precious blood," that when the day of judgment shall at length come; when all the dead, small and great, shall stand before God; when the Lord Himself shall again appear in glory, as He once appeared in humiliation,— we may awake from the dead with joy, and not with grief. Even so, come Lord Jesus.--As Thou didst descend on Mount Sinai, surrounded by Thy ministering angels, while the voice from heaven declared, amidst the thunders and the lightnings which shook the earth, that the words of the Law were the words of God; so do we believe Thou shalt again descend from heaven to awake the dead, to change the living, to summon the gathering dead of all nations before Thee. 0 prepare us for that day. Lord, prepare us for the hour when our own eyes shall behold Him, who, though divine in heaven, became human upon earth; that we who are human on earth might become partakers of the divine nature with Christ in heaven.-O prepare us for the day when the angels of heaven shall attend their God and our God, and execute the sentence of the Law which had been given by their ministration, and shall sever the tares from the wheat in the field of the Church of God.-Then, O then, may the angels of heaven be only the ministering spirits of their Father to us, who shall be the heirs of salvation. Then may they welcome us with joy as their brethren and companions for ever. -When the voice of God shall sound once more-when the same power which said to the dead body of Lazarus, "Come forth and live," shall be heard by the sleeping dead of all ages, and nations, and kingdoms, and people,-when the sound, as of the trump of God in heaven, shall call them and us from the grave where we shall have so long waited them, O may that voice be as the shout of triumph to our souls.-When the Lord Jesus Christ Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, and when the dead in Christ shall rise first, may our souls be |