and divorce were suffered, on account of the hard- ness of the people's hearts, and in order to prevent the still greater evils which would have resulted from the entire prohibition of them. Slavery also was per- mitted for the same reasons : but still there were restraints put upon men in relation to these things, and many regulations were framed, to counteract the abuses which were likely to flow from the licence afforded them. It was permitted to men to purchase slaves, and that even from among their brethren. But an express command was given, that no man should " rule over them with rigour ;" that every slave should be liberated after six years of service ; and that ample provision should be made for him on his dismission, in order that he might be able in future to support himself. It is of this ordinance that we are now to speak: and in it we may see, I. An encouraging emblem —
As the whole of the ceremonial law, so parts also of the judicial law, were of a typical nature. This appointment in particular emblematically represented two things;
1. The redemption which God vouchsafes to his people —
[Both Scripture and experience attest, that all mankind are in a state of bondage. They are " tied and bound with the chain of their sins :" they are " led captive by the devil at
his will " But the time is come when we are permitted
to assert our liberty. The Lord Jesus Christ has " proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound :" and it must be by our own voluntary consent alone that we can be retained any longer in our former bond- age. Whatever had been the occasion of the Hebrew servant's bondage, whether he had sold himself through poverty, or been sold by a relentless creditor to pay his debts, or been sentenced to such a punishment by the civil magistrate for his crimes, he was equally free the very moment that the six years of his servitude were expired. Thus it is with us : there is no room to ask in desponding strains, " Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered a?" for the truth now sounds in our ears, and " the truth shall make us free V
a Isai. xlix. 24, 25. b John viii. 32.