,, ,•nter into it. 'l'he linv was uttered bv God's own voice. The II judgments" were r<'cited to them by Moses. They were read 11. second time from the II book." '!'heir n8S<'llt to the covenant WIL8 thus sought to be made an ;ntelligent one. If we engage .. nr~<'lves to God, be would have us do it with II understanding." 3. Amidst ,:mpressiw ,o/em11itie1, '£bese-the reading of the words from the book, the sprinkling of the blood, etc.-wero of a nature adapted to arouse the minds of the people to a just sense of the momentousness of the transaction. From the whole we learn that if dedice.tion is the result of an act, it should be of a calm, sober, thoughtful act; it ce.nnot be done too solemnly or too int.elligently. Our religious life should have a rational basis. II.. 'l'HE BOKD OF THE OOVENANT. The nucleus of the transaction is the peoplu's promise--" All the words which the Lord hath said will we do" (ver. 3)-11 All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient" (ver. 7). There is a tone of rashness---of self-confidence-in this promise, as given by Israel, which forewarns of subsequent defection. The people evidently had but little knowledge of their own hearts. They had little perception of the spiritual requirements of this law. They had not learned to distrust themselves. Their surrender to the Divine will was not thorough or heart- "·hole. (See on eh. xix. 8.) It remains true, however, that surrender of the will to God, in the spirit of obedience, is an indispensable condition of being received into covenant with him. " The idea of the servant of God is complete only when he who i8 bound to God also binds himself to God's will, following God perfectly." (Oehler.) Tiu~ 1s a.s true of the Gospel as of the law. The obedient will is implicit in faith. The end contemplated in salvation is obedience. We are made free from sin that we may beco1Ue servants of righteow;ness (Rom. vi. 18). The recognition of this-the acceptance of the obligation-is involved in conversion, in saving faith, in the new birth, in the coming to Christ, or however else we may express the change from death to life. If we no longer speak of the promise of obedience a.s the II bond" of the covenant, it is only because that which the Gospel primarily demands of us, viz. faith, goes deeper than such a promise, while implicitly containing it. The object of spiritual trust is, ulti- mately, God himself, and in the Gospel, Christ, as the sent of God to be the Saviour of the world ; but such trust invariably involves the yielding up of the will to God, and is on its practical side, an energy of holiness. The true believer is, of necessity, a doer of the will of the Father. "Faith, without works, is dead" (James ii. 17-26). (See further, on eh. xix. 5.) It is, however, well that this implicit element in faith should also be allowed to become explicit in distinct acts of consecration or of self-dedication t.u God. This brings us very near to what we have in this covenant with Israel. See below. III. THE CEREMONIAL OF RATIFICATION. (1) Moses "builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel" (ver. 4). (2) Young men of his appointment sacrificed burnt-offerings and peace-offerings unto the Lord (ver. 5). (3) The blood of the sacrificed animals was divided: half was put in basins, and half sprinkled on the altar (ver. 6). (4) The words of the book of the Covenant were next solemnly read in the audience of the people; and the latter renewed their assent to them (ver. 7). (5) The blood was then cast upon the people out of the basins, aud the Covenant was declared to be concluded (ver. 8). Two points here claim our attention. 1. The ratifying of the Covenant with sacrifice; and 2. '!'he action with the blood. Both were significant. 1. The sacrijkes. The burnt-offering was primarily a symbol of self-surrender (cf. Ps. Ii. 16-19). The idea embodied here, therefore, was, that in the institution of the Covenant, wha.t was required was the unconditional sur- render of the offerer, with all that belonged to him, to God. The peace-offering sym- lx,lises reconciliation and fellowship. But the offering of the sacrifices had also a propitiatory reference. This is plain from the sprinkling of the blood on the altar. It i.s sprinkled there as atoning for the people's sins. It was through the blood of propi- tiation that peace was made, that reconciliation was brought about. This teaches :;e\"'eral things. It shows (1) That Israel was viewed by God as sinful (2) That it was not on legal grounds, but as an act of grace, that they were being admitted into covenant. (3) That the covenant embodied grace as well as law. (4) That God would deal graciously with Israel, if they sincerely endeavo1J1ren, to keep his law, not- withstanding many defects and failures. (5) That their attitude under the law, in ieekiDg to fulfil its righteow.uess, ought to b1; an evu.ngelicr,\, not a legal one, i.e., they CH. XXIV. 7, 8.] THE BOOK OF EXODUS.
ought to dro.w their motives, their encouragement, and their hope, not from the thouuht of t~eir _se~f-sufficiency to keep the law, or_ from the idea that they were actually keepmg 1t m such a way as legally to entitle them to the blessing, but from the conviction of God's mercy to them, which, as it was the /owndation of their national existence, so was it the real ground of their standing all along. 2. The sprinkling of the blood on tlie people. It is, as Keil remarks, the one blood which is sprinkled on the altar and on the people; and it is not sprinkled on the people, till it has been presented and o.ccepted on the altar. Applied to the people, the blood had the effer,t of formally cleansing them from sin, and of consecrating them to God's service. God thereafter claimed them as his special property. Redeemed life is his. Made fre.3 from sin, we become servants of God (Rom. vi. 22).-J. 0.