Beloved reader, we beseech thee, by the most weighty arguments that can possibly be urged upon the soul of man, not to turn away from this subject until thou hast come to a right conclusion. By God’s great love, by the cross and passion of Christ, by the powerful testimony of God the Holy Ghost, by the awful solemnity of a never-ending eternity, by the unspeakable value of thy immortal soul, by all the joys of heaven, by all the horrors of hell—by these seven weighty arguments, we urge thee, this moment, to come to Jesus. Delay not! argue not! reason not! but come now, just as you are—with all your sins, with all your misery, with your misspent life, with your dreadful record of mercies slighted, advantages abused, opportunities neglected—come to Jesus, who stands, with open arms and loving heart, ready to receive you, and points to those wounds which attest the reality of His atoning death upon the cross, and tells you to put your trust in Him, and assures you you will never be confounded. May God’s Spirit carry home this appeal to thy heart, this moment, and give thee no rest until thou art savingly converted to Christ, reconciled to God, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
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We shall now return, for a moment, to our chapter.
Nothing can be more lovely than the picture here presented. We have vows, and free-will offerings, sacrifices of righteousness, and the wine of the kingdom, all based upon the sovereign grace which shines in the very first verse. It is a fair sample, a beauteous foreshadowing of the future condition of Israel. It reminds us of the marvelous visions which close the book of the prophet Ezekiel. The unbelief, the murmuring, the rebellion, are all over and all forgotten. God retires into His own eternal counsels, and from thence looks forward to the time when His people shall offer an offering in righteousness and pay their vows to Him, and the joy of His kingdom shall fill their hearts forever. (Ver. 3-13.)
But there is a very striking feature in this chapter, and that is, the place which “the stranger” gets. It is most thoroughly characteristic. “And if a stranger sojourn with you, or whosoever be among you in your generations, and will offer an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord; as ye do, so he shall do. One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, _an ordinance forever_ in your generations: _as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord_. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.”
What a place for the stranger! What a lesson for Israel! What a standing testimony on the page of their favorite and boasted Moses! The stranger is placed on the very same platform with Israel! “_As_ ye are, _so_ shall the stranger be;” and this, too, “before the Lord.” In Exodus xii. 48, we read, “And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it.” But in Numbers xv. there is no allusion to circumcision at all. And why? Is it that such a point could ever be waived? No; but we believe the omission here is full of meaning. Israel had forfeited every thing. The rebellious generation was to be set aside and cut off; but God’s eternal purpose of grace must stand, and all His promises be fulfilled. All Israel shall be saved; they shall possess the land; they shall offer pure offerings, pay their vows, and taste the joy of the kingdom. On what ground? On the ground of sovereign mercy. Well, it is on the self-same ground that “the stranger” shall be brought in; and not only brought in, but “_as_ ye are, _so_ shall the stranger be before the Lord.”
Will the Jew quarrel with this? Let him go and study Numbers xiii. and xiv. And when he has drunk into his inmost soul the wholesome lesson, then let him meditate on chapter xv, and we feel assured he will not seek to push “the stranger” off the platform, for he will be ready to confess himself a debtor to mercy alone, and to acknowledge that the same mercy which has reached him can reach the stranger, and he will rejoice to go in company with that stranger to drink of the wells of salvation thrown open by the sovereign grace of the God of Jacob.