We have now to contemplate something very different from that which
has hitherto engaged our attention. "The patterns of things in the
heavens" has been before us--Christ in His glorious Person, gracious
offices, and perfect work, as set forth in the tabernacle and all its
mystic furniture. We have been, in spirit, on the mount, hearkening to
God's own words--the sweet utterances of Heaven's thoughts,
affections, and counsels, of which Jesus is "the Alpha and Omega--the
beginning and the ending--the first and the last."
Now, however, we are called down to earth, to behold the melancholy
wreck which man makes of every thing to which he puts his hand. "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 as for this Moses,
the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what
is become of him.'" What degradation is here! _Make us gods!_ They
were abandoning Jehovah, and placing themselves under the conduct of
manufactured gods--gods of man's making. Dark clouds and heavy mists
had gathered round the mount. They grew weary of waiting for the
absent one, and of hanging on an unseen but real arm. They imagined
that a god formed by "graving tool" was better than Jehovah,--that a
calf which they could _see_ was better than the invisible, yet
every-where-present, God,--a visible counterfeit, than an invisible
reality.
Alas! alas! it has ever been thus in man's history. The human heart
loves 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 imitations. 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 the guidance
of 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.
"_Make us gods!_" What a thought! Man called upon to make gods, and
people willing to put their trust in such! My reader, let us look
within, and look around, and see if we cannot detect something of all
this. We read, in 1 Cor. x., in reference to Israel's history, that
"all these things happened unto them for ensamples [or types]; and
they are written _for our admonition_, upon whom the ends of the world
are come" (ver. 11.). Let us, then, seek to profit by the
"admonition." Let us remember that although we may not just form and
bow down before "a molten calf," yet that Israel's sin is a "type" of
something into which we are in danger of falling. Whenever we turn
away in heart from leaning exclusively upon God Himself, whether in
the matter of salvation or the necessities of the path, we are, in
principle, saying, "Up, make us gods." It is needless to say we are
not, in ourselves, a whit better than Aaron or the children of Israel;
and if they acknowledge a calf instead of Jehovah, we are in danger of
acting on the same principle, and manifesting the same spirit. Our
only safeguard is to be much in the presence of God. Moses knew that
the "molten calf" was not Jehovah, and therefore he did not
acknowledge it. But when we get out of the divine presence, there is
no accounting for the gross errors and evils into which we may be
betrayed.
We are called to live by faith; we can see nothing with the eye of
sense. Jesus is gone up on high, and we are told to wait patiently for
His appearing. God's word, carried home to the heart in the energy of
the Holy Ghost, is the ground of confidence in all things--temporal
and spiritual, present and future. He tells us of Christ's completed
sacrifice; we, by grace, believe, and commit our souls to the efficacy
thereof, and know we shall never be confounded. He tells us of a great
High-Priest, passed into the heavens--Jesus, the Son of God, whose
intercession is all-prevailing; we, by grace, believe, and confidingly
lean upon His ability, and know we shall be saved to the uttermost. He
tells us of the living Head to whom we are linked, in the power of
resurrection life, and from whom we can never be severed by any
influence, angelic, human, or diabolical; we, by grace, believe, and
cling to that blessed Head in simple faith, and know we shall never
perish. He tells us of the glorious appearing of the Son from heaven;
we, through grace, believe, and seek to prove the purifying and
elevating power of "that blessed hope," and know we shall not be
disappointed. He tells us of "an inheritance, incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who
are kept by the power of God," for entrance thereinto in due time; we,
through grace, believe, and know we shall never be confounded. He
tells us the hairs of our head are all numbered, and that we shall
never want any good thing; we, through grace, believe, and enjoy a
sweetly tranquilized heart.
Thus it is, or, at least, thus our God would have it. But then the
enemy is ever active in seeking to make us cast away these divine
realities, take up the "graving tool" of unbelief, and "make gods" for
ourselves. Let us watch against him, pray against him, believe against
him, testify against him, act against him: thus he shall be
confounded, God glorified, and we ourselves abundantly blessed.
As to Israel, in the chapter before us, their rejection of God was
most complete. "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 them unto me.'... 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.' And when Aaron saw it, he
built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said,
'To-morrow is _a feast unto the Lord_.'" This was entirely setting
aside God, and putting a calf in His stead. When they could say that a
calf had brought them up out of Egypt, they had evidently abandoned
all idea of the presence and character of the true God. How
"_quickly_" they must "have turned aside out of the way," to have made
such a gross and terrible mistake! And Aaron, the brother and
yoke-fellow of Moses, led them on in this; and, with a calf before
him, he could say, "To-morrow is a feast unto Jehovah"! How sad! How
deeply humbling! God was displaced by an idol. A thing "graven by art
and man's device" was set in the place of "the Lord of all the earth."
All this involved, on Israel's part, a deliberate abandonment of their
connection with Jehovah. They had given Him up; and, accordingly, we
find Him, as it were, taking them on their own ground. "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: they
have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them.... I
have seen this people, it is a stiff-necked people: 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.'" Here was an
open door for Moses; and here he displays uncommon grace, and
similarity of spirit to that Prophet whom the Lord was to raise up
like unto him. He refuses to be or to have any thing without the
people. He pleads with God on the ground of His own glory, and puts
the people back upon Him in these touching words, "Lord, why doth Thy
wrath wax hot against _Thy people_, which _Thou_ hast brought up out
of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Wherefore
should the Egyptians speak and say, For mischief did He bring them
out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face
of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil
against _Thy_ people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy
servants, to whom Thou swarest 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.'" This was powerful pleading. The glory of God,
the vindication of His holy name, the accomplishment of His
oath,--these are the grounds on which Moses entreats the Lord to turn
from His fierce wrath. He could not find in Israel's conduct or
character any plea or ground to go upon; he found it all in God
Himself.
The Lord hath said unto Moses, "_Thy_ people which _thou_ broughtest
up;" but Moses replies to the Lord, "_Thy_ people which _Thou_ hast
brought up." They were the Lord's people notwithstanding all; and His
name, His glory, His oath, were all involved in their destiny. The
moment the Lord links Himself with a people, His character is
involved, and faith will ever look at Him upon this solid ground.
Moses loses sight of himself entirely His whole soul is engrossed
with thoughts of the Lord's glory and the Lord's people. Blessed
servant! How few like him! And yet when we contemplate him in all this
scene, we perceive how infinitely he is below the blessed Master. He
came down from the mount, and when he saw the calf and the dancing,
his "anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and
break them beneath the mount." The covenant was broken, and the
memorials thereof shattered to pieces; and then, having executed
judgment in righteous indignation, he "said unto the people, 'Ye have
sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; _peradventure_
I shall make an atonement for your sin.'"
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; and, having done all, He went back to heaven,
not with a "_peradventure_ I shall make an atonement for your sin,"
but to lay upon the throne of the Majesty in the highest the
imperishable memorials of an atonement already accomplished. This
makes a vast and truly glorious difference. Thank God, we need not
anxiously gaze after our Mediator, to know if haply He shall
accomplish redemption for us, and reconcile offended Justice. No; He
has done it all. His presence on high declares that the whole work is
finished. He could stand upon the confines of this world, ready to
take His departure, and, in all the calmness of a conscious Victor
(though He had yet to encounter the darkest scene of all), say, "I
have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou
gavest Me to do." (John xvii.) Blessed Saviour! we may well adore
Thee, and well exult in the place of dignity and glory in which
eternal justice has set Thee. The highest place in heaven belongs to
Thee; and Thy saints only wait for the time when "every knee shall
bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father." May that time speedily arrive!
At the close of this chapter, Jehovah asserts His rights, in moral
government, in the following words: "Whosoever hath sinned against Me,
him will I blot out of My book. 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." This is God _in government_, not God _in the
gospel_. Here He speaks of blotting out _the sinner_; in the gospel He
is seen blotting out _sin_. A wide difference!
The people are to be sent forward, under the mediatorship of Moses, by
the hand of an angel. This was very unlike the condition of things
which obtained from Egypt to Sinai. They had forfeited all claim on
the ground of law, and hence it only remained for God to fall back
upon His own sovereignty and say, "I will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
CHAPTERS XXXIII. & XXXIV.
Jehovah refuses to accompany Israel to the land of promise.--"I will
not go up in the midst of thee, (for thou art a stiff-necked people,)
lest I consume thee in the way." At the opening of this book, when the
people were in the furnace of Egypt, the Lord could say, "I have
surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their
sorrows." But now He has to say, "I have seen this people, and,
behold, it is a stiff-necked people." An afflicted people is an object
of grace; but a stiff-necked people must be humbled. The cry of
oppressed Israel had been answered by the exhibition of grace; but the
song of idolatrous Israel must be answered by the voice of stern
rebuke.
"Ye are a stiff-necked people: I will come up into the midst of thee
in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments
from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee." It is only when we
are really stripped of all nature's ornaments that God can deal with
us. A naked sinner can be clothed; but a sinner decked with ornaments
must be stripped. This is always true. We must be stripped of all
that pertains to self ere we can be clothed with that which pertains
to God.
"And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by
the mount Horeb." There they stood, beneath that memorable mount,
their feasting and singing changed into bitter lamentations, their
ornaments gone, the tables of testimony in fragments. Such was their
condition, and Moses at once proceeds to act according to it. He could
no longer own the people in their corporate character. The assembly
had become entirely defiled, having set up an idol of their own making
in the place of God--a calf instead of Jehovah. "And Moses took the
tabernacle, and pitched it _without the camp_, afar off from the camp,
and called it 'The tabernacle of the congregation.'" Thus the camp was
disowned as the place of the divine presence. God was not, could not,
be there. He had been displaced by a human invention. A new
gathering-point was therefore set up. "And it came to pass, that every
one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the
congregation, which was without the camp."
There is here a fine principle of truth, which the spiritual mind will
readily apprehend. The place which Christ now occupies is "without the
camp," and we are called upon to "go forth unto Him." It demands much
subjection to the Word to be able, with accuracy, to know what "the
camp" really is, and much spiritual power to be able to go forth from
it: and still more to be able, while "far off from it," to act
towards those in it in the combined power of holiness and
grace;--holiness, which separates from the defilement of the camp;
grace, which enables us to act toward those who are involved therein.
"And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto
his friend. And he turned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua,
the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle."
Moses exhibits a higher degree of spiritual energy than his servant
Joshua. It is much easier to assume a position of separation from the
camp than to act aright towards those within.
"And Moses said unto the Lord, 'See, Thou sayest unto me. Bring up
this people; and Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with
me; yet Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found
grace in My sight.'" Moses entreats the accompanying presence of
Jehovah, as a proof of their having found _grace_ in His sight. Were
it a question of mere _justice_, He could only consume them by coming
in their midst, because they were "a stiff-necked people;" but
directly He speaks of grace, in connection with the mediator, the very
stiff-neckedness of the people is made a plea for demanding His
presence.--"If now I have found grace in Thy sight, O Lord, let my
Lord, I pray Thee, go among us; _for it is a stiff-necked people_; and
pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance."
This is touchingly beautiful. A "stiff-necked people" demanded the
boundless grace and exhaustless patience of God. None but He could
bear with them.
"And He said, 'My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest.'" Precious portion! Precious hope! The presence of God with us,
all the desert through, and everlasting rest at the end! Grace to meet
our present need, and glory as our future portion! Well may our
satisfied hearts exclaim, "It is enough, my precious Lord."
In chapter xxxiv. the second set of tables is given, not to be broken,
like the first, but to be hidden in the ark, above which, as already
noticed, Jehovah was to take His place, as Lord of all the earth, in
moral government. "And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the
first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto Mount
Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two
tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with
him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by
before him, and proclaimed, 'The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and
gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the
third and to the fourth generation.'" This, be it remembered, is God
as seen in His moral government of the world, and not as He is seen in
the cross--not as He shines in the face of Jesus Christ--not as He is
proclaimed in the gospel of His grace. The following is an exhibition
of God in the gospel: "And all things are of God, _who hath reconciled
us to Himself by Jesus Christ_, and hath given to us the ministry of
reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, _reconciling the world
unto Himself_, NOT IMPUTING their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us _the word of reconciliation_." (2 Cor. v. 18, 19.)
"Not clearing" and "not imputing" present two totally different ideas
of God. "Visiting iniquities" and canceling them are not the same
thing. The former is God in government, the latter is God in the
gospel. In 2 Cor. iii. the apostle contrasts the "ministration"
recorded in Exodus xxxiv. with "the ministration" of the gospel. My
reader would do well to study that chapter with care. From it he will
learn that any one who regards the view of God's character given to
Moses on Mount Horeb as unfolding the gospel, must have a very
defective apprehension indeed of what the gospel is. Neither in
creation nor yet in moral government do I or can I read the deep
secrets of the Father's bosom. Could the prodigal have found his place
in the arms of the One revealed on Mount Sinai? Could John have leaned
his head on the bosom of that One? Surely not. But God has revealed
Himself in the face of Jesus Christ. He has told out, in divine
harmony, all His attributes in the work of the cross. There "Mercy and
Truth have met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each
other." Sin is perfectly put away, and the believing sinner perfectly
justified, "BY THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS." When we get a view of God as
thus unfolded, we have only, like Moses, to "bow our head toward the
earth and worship;"--suited attitude for a pardoned and accepted
sinner in the presence of God!
CHAPTERS XXXV.-XL.
These chapters contain a recapitulation of the various parts of the
tabernacle and its furniture; and inasmuch as I have already given
what I believe to be the import of the more prominent parts, I will
not add more. There are, however, two things in this section from
which we may deduce most profitable instruction, and these are,
(first) _the voluntary devotedness_ and (secondly) _the implicit
obedience_ of the people with respect to the work of the tabernacle of
the congregation.
And first, as to their voluntary devotedness, we read, "And all the
congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of
Moses. And they came, every one _whose heart stirred him up_, and
every one whom _his spirit made willing_, and they brought _the Lord's
offering_ to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for
all His service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men
and women, _as many as were willing-hearted_, and brought bracelets,
and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every
man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every
man with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,
and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought
them. Every one that did offer an offering of silver and brass,
brought the Lord's offering: and every man with whom was found shittim
wood, for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that
were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which
they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of
fine linen. And all the women _whose heart stirred them up_ in wisdom
spun goats' hair. And the rulers brought onyx stones, and stones to be
set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; and spice, and oil for
the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. The
children of Israel brought _a willing offering_ unto _the Lord_, every
man and woman, _whose heart made them willing_ to bring, for all
manner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of
Moses." (Chap. xxxv. 20-29.) And, again, we read, "And all the wise
men that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from
his work which they made; and they spake unto Moses, saying, 'The
people bring _much more than enough_ for the service of the work,
which the Lord commanded to make.'... For the stuff they had was
sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much." (Ver. 4-7.)
A lovely picture this of devotedness to the work of the sanctuary! It
needed no effort to move the hearts of the people to give, no earnest
appeals, no impressive arguments. Oh, no! their "_hearts_ stirred
them up." This was the true way. The streams of voluntary devotedness
flowed from within. "Rulers," "men," "women,"--all felt it to be their
sweet privilege to give to the Lord, not with a narrow heart or
niggard hand, but after such a princely fashion that they had
"_enough, and too much_."
Then, as to _their implicit obedience_, we read, "_According to all
that the Lord commanded Moses_, so the children of Israel made all the
work. And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, _they had
done it as the Lord had commanded, even so had they done it_: and
Moses blessed them." (Chap. xxxix. 42, 43.) The Lord had given the
most minute instructions concerning the entire work of the tabernacle.
Every pin, every socket, every loop, every tach, was accurately set
forth. There was no room left for man's expediency, his reason, or his
common sense. Jehovah did not give a great outline and leave man to
fill it up. He left no margin whatever in which man might enter his
regulations. By no means. "'See,' saith He, 'that thou make _all
things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount_.'" (Exod.
xxv. 40; xxvi. 30; Heb. viii. 5.) This left no room for human device.
If man had been allowed to make a single pin, that pin would most
assuredly have been out of place in the judgment of God. We can see
what man's "graving tool" produces in chapter xxxii. Thank God, it had
no place in the tabernacle. They did, in this matter, just what they
were told--nothing more, nothing less. Salutary lesson this for the
professing church! There are many things in the history of Israel
which we should earnestly seek to avoid,--their impatient murmurings,
their legal vows, and their idolatry; but in those two things may we
imitate them. May our devotedness be more whole-hearted, and our
obedience more implicit! We may safely assert that if all had not been
done "according to the pattern showed in the mount," we should not
have to read, "then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and
the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to
enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode
thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." (Chap. xl.
34, 35.) The tabernacle was in all respects according to _the divine
pattern_, and therefore it could be filled with _the divine glory_.
There is a volume of instruction in this. We are too prone to regard
the Word of God as insufficient for the most minute details connected
with His worship and service. This is a great mistake--a mistake which
has proved the fruitful source of evils and errors in the professing
church. The Word of God is amply sufficient for every thing, whether
as regards personal salvation and walk, or the order and rule of the
assembly. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness, that the man of God may be _perfect, thoroughly
furnished_ unto _all good works_." (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) This settles
the question. If the Word of God furnishes a man _thoroughly_ unto
"_all_ good works," it follows, as a necessary consequence, that
whatever I find not in its pages cannot possibly be a good work. And,
further, be it remembered, that the divine glory cannot connect itself
with aught that is not according to the divine pattern.
* * * * *
Beloved reader, we have now traveled together through this most
precious book. We have, I fondly hope, reaped some profit from our
study. I trust we have gathered up some refreshing thoughts of Jesus
and His sacrifice as we passed along. Feeble, indeed, must be our most
vigorous thoughts, and shallow our deepest apprehensions, as to the
mind of God in all that this book contains. It is happy to remember
that, through grace, we are on our way to that glory where we shall
know even as we are known, and where we shall bask in the sunshine of
His countenance who is the beginning and ending of the ways of God,
whether in creation, in providence, or redemption. To Him I do most
affectionately commend you, in body, soul, and spirit. May you know
the deep blessedness of having your portion in Christ, and be kept in
patient waiting for His glorious advent. Amen.
_C. H. M._
* * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained
except in obvious cases of typographical error.