may havo been to mo.rk the unity of the Ver, 50.-Thus did all the children of Church in Christ thnt his bones were not Isro.el - i. e., the Israelites, at their fust broken, and in view especinlly of that unity, po.ssover, e.cted in e.ccordance with these pre- that the type was mnde to correspond in this cepts, especially in e.dm.itting to the fea.qt all pnrticulnr with tho nntitype !See John xix. circumcised persons, whe~her natives or :13-36.) foreigners, and rejecting o.11 the nncircum- Ver. '17.-All the congregation . , . shall cised. koep it. Rnther "shall sacrifice it." (Com- Ver. 51.-Tbis verse should be transferred pare ver. G.) to the commencement of the next chapter, Vere. 48, 49.-And when a stranger, etc. which should run as follows:-" And it came Hero we ho.ve the positive ordino.nce corre- to pass-on the self-so.me day that the Lord sponding to the implied permis~ion in ver. 19, brought the children of Israel out of the land e.nd modilying in the most importo.nt and of Egypt by their a.rmies-that the Lord spake striking wo.y the prohibitive enactment of unto Moses, saying," etc. The word "armies," ver. 43. The "stro.nger, '' even if he only which at first sight may seem inappropriate, "sojourned" in the land, was to be put on occurs also in eh. vi. 26. It is probably in- exactly the so.me spiritual footing as the tended to mark that the people were tho- Isro.elite (" One lo.w she.II be," etc.) if only he roughly organised, and marshalled in divisions and his would be circumcised, e.nd so enter resembling those of an army into covenant
HOMILETICS. Vers. 41-50.-Passover precepts ,·ealised in (fhruitian practice. The precepts were:- !. 'fHAT NO UNCIRCUMCISED STRANGER, NOT EVEN THOUGH A HIRED SERVANT IN A HEBREW FAMILY, SHOULD EAT OF IT. Formally, baptism corresponds to circumcision, both of them admitting into covenant with God; and thus the rule of Christian com- munities generally, that the reception of baptism must precede that of the Lord's Supper, is a carrying out of this precept. But it is also carried out in another way. Spiritually, the correspondent to the circumcision of the flesh is the circumcision of the spirit; and thus all Churches which warn the wicked from approaci:iing the Lord's table, do their best to enforce the precept," No uncircumcised person shall eat thereof." Hired servants of the Church, unless circumcised in heart, are as unfit to co=unicate as those who have no external connection with Divine things. Nay, may we not say more unfit? II. THAT ALL THE CONGREGATION OF ISRAEL, FREEMEN A...'ID SLAVES ALIKE, SHOULD EA'.I.' OF IT. The frequent exhortation of all Christian Churches to all their members to receive the Communion, especially at Easter-time, and the general allowance of the duty by those who have any real sense of religion constitute a realisation, to a considerable extent, of this precept in Christian practice. It is to be wished that the realisation were complete. The joint participation of freemen with slaves has always characterised the Christian Church ; and though there have been Christian co=unities which have acted differently, tile cases a.re too exceptional to deserve much notice, and are disappearing as slavery disappears. Ill. THAT IT SHOULD BE EATEN IN ONE PLACE, AND NONE OF IT Cal\RIED FORTH. Churches which allow not only reservation, but the carrying forth of the holy elements to the bedsi.l~s of the sick, break at any rate the letter of this precept. But the Reformed Churches, which disallow even reservation, keep close to it. IV. THAT NOT A DONE OF IT SHOULD DE BROKEN. This precept can only be spiritually observed, for in the Christian passover, the "flesh" to be eaten has no "bones." But it is spiritually kept wherever communicants are warned against dividing Christ in their thoughts, against separating his humanity from his Divinity, or against practising special devotion to any separate portion of his person, as to his " Sacred Heart " or his " Five wounds." It was the essence of one of the early forms of heresy to "divide Christ ;" and on this account the Church of England protests in her second article of religion, that in him "two whole and perfect natures are joined together in one person, never to be d-ivided, whereof is One Christ." 298 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [en. xm. 1-10.