HOMILETICS. Ver. 19.-Tlte wl,u.e in God's sight of whaJ, is common and h01n1Jly. God does not despise anything that he has made. "His mercy is over all his works" (Ps. ex.Iv. 9). Each of them has its fit and proper place. Ea.eh one of them is needed in his universe. Much less does he despise any of his human creatures. He has seen fit to gift them variously, to make some of gold, some of silver, and some of brass, some to honour, and eome to comparative dishonour; but for ell he has a use. No intellect is too homely, no nature too rude end unrefined to find a place somewhere in his Church where it can do him service, end even perhaps do it better than a more refined and more highly gifte<: nature. Difference, gradation, variety, is the le.w of his universe. "There is one giory of the sun, and another glory of the moon. and another glory of the st.a.rs ; for one star differetb from another star in glory" (1 Cor. xv. 41). In the angelic hierarchy there are angels and archangels, principalities, and powers; in the Church triumphant there are grades-princes who sit on thrones, judges of tribes, rulers over ten cities, rulers over five cities, and a" great multitude" who have no authority, but are simply "saints." And so it is, end must ever be, in the Church militant. "There are diversities of gifts," higher and lower natures, minds of extraordinary power, and dull, homely intellects. Bnt all Lave their use; fur all there is room; and God values ea.eh. God will have c11. xxvn. 20, 21.] TTm flOOK OF EXODUS. 275
nono despised. The brnzen vessels of tho outer courl:,--ash-p1ms 11.nd hasins, am! ftesh- hooks, 11nd firo-p11ns, 11nd tent-pins-were as much needed for the t11.bcrn11ele an<l its service, 11B the silver sockots and rods, or the golden taches, a.nd rings, and snulf-<lisbes. Drom:o is more suitBblo for rn11ny purposes than gold; and ordinBry human natnrti can do God's work better in many positions than great gifts or extraordinary intellect.
EXPOSITION. Vel'll. 20, 21.-TIIl!I OIL FOB THE LAMP. It duty of the high-priest to light tho lamps ho.s been obsened that this p11rngraph is some- every evening, e.nd to give them II sufficient what out of plo.ce. It wonld moro appro- supply of oil to last till daybreak, at which time" the lo.mp of God went out" (1 Sam. priately, IICCOrding to humllil idee.s, have I. s. c.) The supposition that "one light dt terminated eh. xxv. But " God's ways a.re least was e.lwe.ys bnruing" (Kalisch), becaose not e.s mllil's we.ye, nor his thoughts e.s man's no daylight conld penetrate into the structure thoughts." It is frequently difficult--some- through the /O!W/o/,d, covering, ignores the fact times impossible-for the keenest hnmllil in- that light wonld enter through the iri.ngle cur- tain e.t the entrance, as well as the prob11bility tellect to tre.ce the connecting links between that some portion of that curtain may gcner- one portion of God's word !lild the next. In e.lly have been looped op. If we rege.ril the such ce.ses it is best not to specnlnte on the lamp as extingwshed during the daytime, we nature of the connection, but to content our- must understand "e.lways" here to mean selves with le.ying to bee.rt the lesson which " regularly every night." Ver. 21.-The tabernacle of the oongrega eo.ch portion teaches separately. tion. Rather, "the tent of meeting "-the tent where God wonld meet the earthly rnler Ver. 20.-Thou ahalt OOIDIDILlld. Comps.re of the people ( eh. x:xv. 22), e.nd give him eh. xxv. 6, where the general comm.and he.d comm.e.nds e.nd directions-not the place of been given. Here certs.in additions a.re me.de meeting for the people themselves, who might as to the qua.lity of the oil which was to be in no case go beyond the entrance to the brought. The oil we.s to be pure olive oil structure. The teatimony-i.e., the ark which bee.ten-that is to say, it was to be olive oil contained the "testimony," or two tables of purified from e.ny e.dmi.xtnre of that watery stone written with the finger of God. Aaron juice which the Romans celled amurca; e.nd and hie BODS. Comps.re eh. x.'tiv. I. The it was to be of the kind which is obtained by intention to confer the priesthood on the mere beating or pounding in e. mortar, end descendants of Aaron, first openly revealeil not by crushing in a mill. Oil of this kind, in the next chapter (vers. 1-43), is tacitly which is usually me.de from the unripe fruit, assumed from time to time in the earlier is reckoned much the best ; it is clear !lild narrative. She.ll order it from evening to colourless, e.nd gives a bright pnre light with morning. See the comment on ver. 20. It little smoke. To ca.ue the la.mp to burn is difficult to assign these words e.ny distinct always. It has been supposed from this ex- meaning onless we accept the view, that the pression that the lamp must have been kept lamp bnrut during the night only. It shall constantly burning both day e.nd night ; e.nd be a statute for ever. This expression is not Josephus declares that this was o.ctua.lly so, e.t e.t e.11 common. In Exodus it occurs only here least with three out of the seven lights (Ant. e.nd in fonr other places. In Leviticus it is met Jud. iii. 7, § 7). But there a.re several places with some six or seven times. The portions m Scripture which state, or imply, the con- of the le.w thus characterised must be regard,·,! lre.ry. (See especially Ex. xxx. 8 ; and as of specie.I imports.nee. (See the homiletics I Sam. iii. 3.) It seems to have been the on this verse.)
HOMILETICS. Vers. 20, 21.-Oil for the lamp. I. THE PEOPLE'S DUTY. (1) The people were tci bring the oil regularly-to attend to what may have seemed to them a little matter, but what was in God's sight of such importance that he made it "a statute for ever "-and to attend to it with such regularity that oil should never be lacking. (2) They were to bring of their best. 'l'he oil was to be from the olive-not from th~ sesa.m.e_pla.nt, ?r the castor-oil plant, or the Raphanus ol ifer, or from any vegetable which furrushed oil of a coarse kind. It was to be " pure," not adulterated, e.s oils often were in Egypt ( Plin. H. N. xiii. 1), and not mixed with the amurca, or watery juice of the olive, whicl.1 mad11 T 2 2,G THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [on. n.vn. 1-20.