distinctive glory of the Most High. At the bush Moses had been made
aware of the presence with him of the God of his fathers, the Fear
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His duty also had been made clear.
But the mystery of being was still unsolved. With sublime daring,
therefore, he pursued the inquiry: "Behold when I come unto the
children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers
hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name?
what shall I say unto them?" The answer came in apocalypse, in a
form of simple words:--"I AM THAT I AM." The solemn Name expressed
an intensity of life, a depth and power of personal being, far
transcending that of which man is conscious. It belongs to One who
has no beginning, whose life is apart from time, above the forces of
nature, independent of them. Jehovah says, "I am not what you see,
not what nature is, standing forth into the range of your sight;
I Am in eternal separation, self-existent, with underived fulness
of power and life." The remoteness and incomprehensibility of God
remain, although much is revealed. Whatever experience of life each
man sums up for himself in saying "I am," aids him in realising the
life of God. Have we aspired? have we loved? have we undertaken and
accomplished? have we thought deeply? Does any one in saying "I am"
include the consciousness of long and varied life?--the "I AM" of God
comprehends all that. And yet He changes not. Beneath our experience
of life which changes there is this great Living Essence. "I AM THAT
I AM," profoundly, eternally true, self-consistent, with whom is no
beginning of experience or purpose, yet controlling, harmonising,
yea, originating all in the unfathomable depths of an eternal Will.
Ideas like these, we must believe, shaped themselves, if not clearly,
at least in dim outline before the mind of Moses, and made the
faith by which he lived. And how had it proved itself as the stay
of endeavour, the support of a soul under heavy burdens of duty,
trial, and sorrowful consciousness? The reliance it gave had never
failed. In Egypt, before Pharaoh, Moses had been sustained by it as
one who had a sanction for his demands and actions which no king or
priest could claim. At Sinai it had given spiritual strength and
definite authority to the law. It was the spirit of every oracle,
the underlying force in every judgment. Faith in Jehovah, more than
natural endowments, made Moses great. His moral vision was wide and
clear because of it, his power among the people as a prophet and
leader rested upon it. And the fruit of it, which began to be seen
when Israel learned to trust Jehovah as the one living God and girt
itself for His service, has not even yet been all gathered in. We
pass by the theories of philosophy regarding the unseen to rest in
the revelation of God which embodies Moses' faith. His inspiration,
once for all, carried the world beyond polytheism to monotheism
unchallengeably true, inspiring, sublime.
There can be no doubt that death tested the faith of Moses as a
personal reliance on the Almighty. How he found sufficient help
in the thought of Jehovah when Aaron died, and when his own call
came, we can only surmise. For him it was a familiar certainty that
the Judge of all the earth did right. His own decision went with
that of Jehovah in every great moral question; and even when death
was involved, however great a punishment it appeared, however sad
a necessity, he must have said, Good is the will of the Lord. But
there was more than acquiescence. One who had lived so long with God,
finding all the springs and aims of life in Him, must have known that
irresistible power would carry on what had been begun, would complete
to its highest tower that building of which the foundation had been
laid. Moses had wrought not for self but for God; he could leave his
work in the Divine hand with absolute assurance that it would be
perfected. And as for his own destiny, his personal life, what shall
we say? Moses had been what he was through the grace of Him whose
name is "I AM THAT I AM." He could at least look into the dim region
beyond and say, "It is God's will that I pass through the gate. I am
spiritually His, and am strong in mind for His service. I have been
what He has willed, excepting in my transgression. I shall be what He
wills; and that cannot be ill for me; that will be best for me." God
was gracious and forgave sin, though He could not suffer it to pass
unjudged. Even in appointing death the Merciful One could not fail to
be merciful to His servant. The thought of Moses might not carry him
into the future of his own existence, into what should be after he
had breathed his last. But God was His; and he was God's.
So the personal drama of many acts and scenes draws to a close with
forebodings of the end, and yet a little respite ere the curtain
falls. The music is solemn as befits the night-fall, yet has a ring
of strong purpose and inexhaustible sufficiency. It is not the "still
sad music of humanity" we hear with the words, "Get thee up into this
mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given unto the
children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be
gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered." It is
the music of the Voice that awakens life, commands and inspires it,
cheers the strong in endeavour and soothes the tired to rest. He who
speaks is not weary of Moses, nor does He mean Moses to be weary of
his task. But this change lies in the way of God's strong purpose,
and it is assumed that Moses will neither rebel nor repine. Far away,
in an evolution unforeseen by man, will come the glorification of
One who is the Life indeed; and in His revelation as the Son of the
Eternal Father Moses will share. With Christ he will speak of the
change of death and that faith which overcomes all change.
* * * * *
The designation of Joshua, who had long been the minister of Moses,
and perhaps for some time administrator of affairs, is recorded in
the close of the chapter. The prayer of Moses assumes that by direct
commission the fitness of Joshua must be signified to the people.
It might be Jehovah's will that, even yet, another should take the
headship of the tribes. Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, "Let
Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the
congregation which may go out before them, and which may come in
before them, and which may lead them out and which may bring them
in; that the congregation of Jehovah be not as sheep which have no
shepherd." One who has so long endeavoured to lead, and found it so
difficult, whose heart and soul and strength have been devoted to
make Israel Jehovah's people, can relax his hold of things without
dismay only if he is sure that God will Himself choose and endow the
successor. What aimless wandering there would be if the new leader
proved incompetent, wanting wisdom or grace! How far about might
Israel's way yet be, in another sense than the compassing of Edom!
Before the Friend of Israel Moses pours out his prayer for a shepherd
fit to lead the flock.
And the oracle confirms the choice to which Providence has already
pointed. Joshua the son of Nun, "a man in whom is the spirit," is to
have the call and receive the charge. His investiture with official
right and dignity is to be in the sight of Eleazar the priest and
all the congregation. Moses shall put of his own honour upon Joshua
and declare his commission. Joshua shall not have the whole burden
of decision resting upon him, for Jehovah will guide him. Yet he
shall not have direct access to God in the tent of meeting as Moses
had. In the time of special need Eleazar "shall inquire for him by
the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah." Thus instructed, he shall
exercise high authority.
"A man in whom is the spirit"--such is the one outstanding personal
qualification. "The God of the spirits of all flesh" finds in Joshua
the sincere will, the faithful heart. The work that is to be done is
not of a spiritual kind, but grim fighting, control of an army and of
a people not yet amenable to law, under circumstances that will try a
leader's firmness, sagacity, and courage. Yet, even for such a task,
allegiance to Jehovah and His purpose regarding Israel, the enthusiasm
of faith, high spirit, not experience--these are the commendations
of the chief. Qualified thus, Joshua may occasionally make mistakes.
His calculations may not always be perfect, nor the means he employs
exactly fitted to the end. But his faith will enable him to recover
what is momentarily lost; his courage will not fail. Above all, he will
be no opportunist guided by the turn of events, yielding to pressure
or what may appear necessity. The one principle of faithfulness to
Jehovah will keep him and Israel in a path which must be followed even
if success in a worldly sense be not immediately found.
The priest who inquires of the Lord by Urim has a higher place under
Joshua's administration than under that of Moses. The theocracy will
henceforth have a twofold manifestation, less of unity than before.
And here the change is of a kind which may involve the gravest
consequences. The simple statement of ver. 12 denotes a very great
limitation of Joshua's authority as leader. It means that though
on many occasions he can both originate and execute, all matters
of moment shall have to be referred to the oracle. There will be a
possibility of conflict between him and the priest with regard to
the occasions that require such a reference to Jehovah. In addition
there may be the uncertainty of responses through the Urim, as
interpreted by the priest. It is easy also to see that by this method
of appealing to Jehovah the door was opened to abuses which, if not
in Joshua's time, certainly in the time of the judges, began to arise.
It may appear to some absolutely necessary to refer the Urim to a
far later date. The explanation given by Ewald, that the inquiry
was always by some definite question, and that the answer was
found by means of the lot, obviates this difficulty.[12] The Urim
and Thummim, which mean "clearness and correctness," or as in our
passage the Urim alone, may have been pebbles of different colours,
the one representing an affirmative, the other a negative reply.
But inquiry appears to have been made by these means after certain
rites, and with forms which the priest alone could use. It is
evident that absolute sincerity on his part, and unswerving loyalty
to Jehovah, were an important element in the whole administration
of affairs. A priest who became dissatisfied with the leader might
easily frustrate his plans. On the other hand, a leader dissatisfied
with the responses would be tempted to suspect and perhaps set aside
the priest. There can be no doubt that here a serious possibility
of divided counsels entered into the history of Israel, and we are
reminded of many after events. Yet the circumstances were such that
the whole power could not be committed to one man. With whatever
element of danger, the new order had to begin.
Moses laid his hands on Joshua and gave him his charge. As one
who knew his own infirmities, he could warn the new chief of the
temptations he would have to resist, the patience he would have to
exercise. It was not necessary to inform Joshua of the duties of his
office. With these he had become familiar. But the need for calm and
sober judgment required to be impressed upon him. It was here he was
defective, and here that his "honour" and the maintenance of his
authority would have to be secured. Deuteronomy mentions only the
exhortation Moses gave to be strong and of a good courage, and the
assurance that Jehovah would go before Joshua, would neither fail
him nor forsake him. But though much is recorded, much also remains
untold. An education of forty years had prepared Joshua for the hour
of his investiture. Yet the words of the chief he was so soon to lose
must have had no small part in preparing him for the burden and duty
which he was now called by Jehovah to sustain as leader of Israel.
FOOTNOTE:
[12] "Antiquities of Israel:" "The Priesthood."
XXIII
_OFFERINGS AND VOWS_
NUMBERS xxviii.-xxx
The legislation of chapters xxviii.-xxx. appears to belong to a
time of developed ritual and organised society. Parallel passages
in Exodus and Leviticus treating of the feasts and offerings are by
no means so full in their details, nor do they even mention some of
the sacrifices here made statutory. The observances of New Moon are
enjoined in the Book of Numbers alone. In chapter xv. they are simply
noticed; here the order is fixed. The purpose of chapters xxviii.,
xxix. is especially to prescribe the number of animals that are to be
offered throughout the year at a central altar, and the quantities
of other oblations which are to accompany them. But the rotation of
feasts is also given in a more connected way than elsewhere; we have,
in fact, a legislative description of Israel's Sacred Year. Daily,
weekly, monthly, and at the two great festal seasons, Jehovah is to
be acknowledged by the people as the Redeemer of life, the Giver of
wealth and blessedness. Of their cattle and sheep, and the produce
of the land, they are to bring continual oblations, which are to be
their memorial before Him. By their homage and by their gladness, by
afflicting themselves and by praising God, they shall realise their
calling as His people.
The section regarding vows (ch. xxx.) completes the legislation
on that subject, supplementing Lev. xxvii. and Numb. vi. It is
especially interesting for the light it throws on the nature of
family life, the position of women and the limitations of their
freedom. The link between the law of offerings and the law of vows
is hard to find; but we can easily understand the need for rules
concerning women's vows. The peace of families might often be
disturbed by lavish promises which a husband or a father might find
it impossible or inconvenient to fulfil.
1. THE SACRED YEAR
NUMBERS xxviii.-xxix
Throughout the year, each day, each sabbath, and each month is to
be consecrated by oblations of varying value, forming a routine of
sacrifice. First the Day, bringing duty and privilege, is to have its
morning burnt offering of a yearling lamb, by which the Divine blessing
is invoked on the labour and life of the whole people. A meal offering
of flour and oil and a drink offering of "strong drink"--that is, not
of water or milk, but wine--are to accompany the sacrifice. Again
in the evening, as a token of gratitude for the mercies of the day,
similar oblations are to be presented. Of this offering the note is
made: "It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in Sinai
for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord."
In these sacrifices the whole of time, measured out by the
alternation of light and darkness, was acknowledged to be God's;
through the priesthood the nation declared His right to each day,
confessed obligation to Him for the gift of it. The burnt offering
implied complete renunciation of what was represented. No part of
the animal was kept for use, either by the worshipper or the priest.
The smoke ascending to heaven dissipated the entire substance of
the oblation, signifying that the whole use or enjoyment of it was
consecrated to God. In the way of impressing the idea of obligation
to Jehovah for the gifts of time and life the daily sacrifices
were valuable; yet they were suggestive rather than sufficient.
The Israelites throughout the land knew that these oblations were
made at the altar, and those who were pious might at the times
appointed offer each his own thanksgivings to God. But the individual
expression of gratitude was left to the religious sense, and that
must often have failed. At a distance from the sanctuary, where
the ascending smoke could not be seen, men might forget; or again,
knowing that the priests would not forget, they might imagine their
own part to be done when offering was made for the whole people. The
duty was, however, represented and kept before the minds of all.
In the Psalms and elsewhere we find traces of a worship which had
its source in the daily sacrifice. The author of Psalm cxli., for
example, addresses Jehovah:
"Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto Thee.
Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."
Less clearly in the fifth, the fifty-ninth, and the eighty-eighth
psalms, the morning prayer appears to be connected with the morning
sacrifice:
"O Lord, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice;
In the morning will I order my prayer unto Thee, and will keep
watch" (Psalm v. 3).
The pious Hebrew might naturally choose the morning and the evening
as his times of special approach to the throne of Divine grace, as
every believer still feels it his duty and privilege to begin and
close the day with prayer. The appropriateness of dawn and sunset
might determine both the hour of sacrifice and the hour of private
worship. Yet the ordinance of the daily oblations set an example to
those who would otherwise have been careless in expressing gratitude.
And earnestly religious persons learned to find more frequent
opportunities. Daniel in Babylon is seen at the window open towards
Jerusalem, kneeling upon his knees three times a day, praying and
giving thanks to God. The author of Psalm cxix. says:
"Seven times a day do I praise Thee,
Because of Thy righteous judgments."
The grateful remembrance of God and confession of His right to the
whole of life were thus made a rule with which no other engagements
were allowed to interfere. It is by facts like these the power of
religion over the Hebrews in their best time is explained.
* * * * *
We pass now to the Sabbath and the sacrifices by which it was
distinguished. Here the number seven which recurs so frequently
in the statutes of the sacred year appears for the first time.
Connection has been found between the ordinances of Israel and of
Chaldea in the observance of the seventh day as well as at many other
points. According to Mr. Sayce, the origin of the Sabbath went back
to pre-Semitic days, and the very name was of Babylonian origin.
"In the cuneiform tablets the _sabbatu_ is described as a 'day of
rest for the soul.'... The Sabbath was also known, at all events in
Accadian times, as a _dies nefastus_, a day on which certain work
was forbidden to be done; and an old list of Babylonian festivals
and fast-days tells us that on the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth,
twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days of each month the Sabbath rest
had to be observed. The king himself, it is stated, 'must not eat
flesh that has been cooked over the coals or in the smoke, he must
not change the garments of his body, white robes he must not wear,
sacrifices he may not offer, in a chariot he must not ride.'" The
soothsayer was forbidden on that day "to mutter in a secret place."
In this observance of a seventh day of rest, specially sacred, for
the good of the soul, ancient Accadians and Babylonians prepared the
way for the Sabbath of the Mosaic law.
But while the days of the Chaldean week were devoted each to a
separate divinity, and the seventh day had its meaning in relation
to polytheism, the whole of time, every day alike, and the Sabbaths
with greater strictness than the others, were, in Israel's law,
consecrated to Jehovah. This difference also deserves to be noticed,
that, while the Chaldean seventh days were counted from each new
moon, in the Hebrew year there was no such astronomical date for
reckoning them. Throughout the year, as with us, each seventh day
was a day of rest. While we find traces of old religious custom
and observance that mingled with those of Judaism and cannot but
recognise the highly humane, almost spiritual character those old
institutions often had, the superiority of the religion of the One
Living and True God clearly proves itself to us. Moses, and those
who followed him, felt no need of rejecting an idea they met with in
the ancient beliefs of Chaldea, for they had the Divine light and
wisdom by which the earthly and evil could be separated from the
kernel of good. And may we not say that it was well to maintain the
continuity of observance so far as thoughts and customs of the far
past could be woven into the worship of Jehovah's flock? Neither was
Israel nor is any people to pretend to entire separation from the
past. No act of choice or process of development can effect it. Nor
would the severance, if it were made, be for the good of men. Beyond
the errors and absurdities of human belief, beyond the perversions of
truth due to sin, there lie historical and constitutional origins.
The Sabbaths, the sacrifices, and the prayers of ancient Chaldea had
their source in demands of God and needs of the human soul, which
not only entered into Judaism, but survive still, proving themselves
inseparable from our thought and life.
The special oblations to be presented on the Sabbath were added to
those of the other days of the week. Two lambs of the first year in
the morning and two in the evening were to be offered with their
appropriate meal and drink offerings. It may be noted that in Ezekiel
where the Sabbath ordinances are detailed the sacrifices are more
numerous. After declaring that the eastern gate of the inner court
of the temple, which is to be shut on the six working days, shall be
opened on the Sabbath and in the day of the new moon, the prophet
goes on to say that the prince, as representing the people, shall
offer unto the Lord in the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and
a ram without blemish. In the legislation of Numbers, however, the
higher consecration of the Sabbath as compared with the other days
of the week did not require so great a difference as Ezekiel saw it
needful to make. And, indeed, the law of Sabbath observance assumes
in Ezekiel an importance on various grounds which passes beyond the
high distinction given it in the Pentateuch. Again and again in
chapter xx. the prophet declares that one of the great sins of which
the Israelites were guilty in the wilderness was that of polluting
the Sabbath which God had given to be a sign between Himself and
them. The keeping holy of the seventh day had become one of the chief
safeguards of religion, and for this reason Ezekiel was moved to
prescribe additional sacrifices for that day.
We find as we go on that the week of seven days, ended by the recurring
day of rest, is an element in the regulations for all the great feasts.
Unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven days. Seven weeks were then
to be counted to the day of the firstfruits and the feast of weeks.
The feast of tabernacles, again, ran for seven days and ended on the
eighth with a solemn assembly. The whole ritual was in this way made to
emphasise the division of time based on the fourth commandment.
* * * * *
The New Moon ritual consecrating the months was more elaborate. On
the day when the new moon was first seen, or should by computation
be seen, besides the continual burnt offering two young bullocks,
one ram, and seven lambs of the first year, with meal and drink
offerings, were to be presented. These animals were to be wholly
offered by fire. In addition, a sin offering was to be made, a kid
of the goats. Why this guilt sacrifice was introduced at the new
moon service is not clear. Keil explains that "in consideration of
the sins which had been committed in the course of the past month,
and had remained without expiation," the sin offering was needed.
But this might be said of the week in its degree, as well as of
the month. It is certain that the opening of each month was kept in
other ways than the legislation of the Pentateuch seems to require.
In Numbers it is prescribed that the silver trumpets shall be blown
over the new moon sacrifices for a memorial before God, and this
must have given the observances a festival air. Then we learn from
1 Sam. xx. that when Saul was king a family feast was observed in
his house on the first day of the month, and that this day also,
in some particular month, was generally chosen by a family for the
yearly sacrifice to which all were expected to gather (1 Sam. xx. 5,
6). These facts and the festal opening of Psalm lxxxi., in which the
timbrel, harp, and psaltery, and joyful singing in praise of God, are
associated with the new moon trumpet, imply that for some reason the
occasion was held to be important. Amos (viii. 5) implies further
that on the day of new moon trade was suspended; and in the time of
Elisha it seems to have been common for those who wished to consult
a prophet to choose either the Sabbath or the day of new moon for
enquiring of him (2 Kings iv. 23). There can be little doubt that the
day was one of religious activity and joy, and possibly the offering
of the kid for expiation was intended to counteract the freedom the
more thoughtless might permit themselves.
There are good reasons for believing that in pre-Mosaic times the day
of new moon was celebrated by the Israelites and all kindred peoples,
as it is still among certain heathen races. Originally a nature
festival, it was consecrated to Jehovah by the legislation before
us, and gradually became of account as the occasion of domestic
gatherings and rejoicings. But its religious significance lay chiefly
in the dedication to God of the month that had begun and expiation
of guilt contracted during that which had closed.
* * * * *