Category: EXPOSITIONS

    ‘And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live    before Thee!    GENESIS xvii. 18.These words sound very devout, and they have often been used byChristian parents yearning for the best interests of their children,and sometimes of their wayward and prodigal children. But consecratedas they are by that usage, I am afraid that their meaning, as they…

          ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His          resurrection, and the fellowship of His          sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if          by any means I may attain unto the resurrection          from the dead.’–PHIL. iii. 10-11 (R.V.).We have seen how the Apostle was prepared to close his letter at thebeginning of this chapter, and how that intention was…

    ‘I am not able to bear all this people alone, because    it is too heavy for me.’    NUM. xi. 14.Detail the circumstances.The leader speaks the truth in his despondency. He is pressed with thefeeling of his incapacity for his work. We may take his words here asteaching us what men need in him who is to be…

          ‘If there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if          any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the          Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 2.          Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be of the same mind,          having the same love, being of one accord, of one          mind; 3. Doing nothing through faction or through          vainglory, but in lowliness of mind…

    ‘And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities    unto a land not inhabited….’-LEV. xvi. 22.The import of the remarkable treatment of this goat does not depend onthe interpretation of the obscure phrase rendered in the AuthorisedVersion ‘for the scapegoat.’ Leaving that out of sight for the moment,we observe that the two animals were one…

    ‘Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people    according unto the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou    hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.’    –NUM. xiv. 19.See how in this story a divine threat is averted and a divine promiseis broken, thus revealing a standing law that these in Scripture areconditional.This striking incident of…

    ‘And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the    Red Sea, to compare the land of Edom: and the soul of    the people was much discouraged because of the way.    5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses,    Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in    the wilderness? for there is no…

    ‘… I have given your priest’s office unto you as a    service of gift.’–NUM. xviii. 7.All Christians are priests–to offer sacrifices, alms, especiallyprayers; to make God known to men.I. Our priesthood is a gift of God’s love.We are apt to think of our duties as burdensome. They are an honour anda mark of God’s grace.1. They…

    ‘The Lord is my strength and song, and He is become my    salvation….’    EXODUS xv. 2.These words occur three times in the Bible: here, in Isaiah xii. 2, andin Psalm cxviii. 14.I. The lessons from the various instances of their occurrence. Thefirst and second teach that the Mosaic deliverance is apicture-prophecy of the redemption in Christ. The…

    ‘Esau despised his birthright’–GENESIS xxv. 34.Broad lessons unmistakable, but points strange and difficult to throwoneself back to so different a set of ideas. SoI. Deal with the narrative.Not to tell it over again, but bring out the following points:–(_a_) Birthright.–What?None of them any notion of sacred, spiritual aspect of it.To all, merely material advantages: headship…