EXPOSITION. Vers. 17-21.-TBE BRAZEN LAVEii That wards " of victims (ib. 17). We have now the tabernacle was to have an ample supply in this place, the special wrections given to of water bad been implied in the directions Moses on the subject. He was to provide a given for the washing of Aaron o.nd his sons brazen, or rather a bronze !aver, which was to at its outer door ( eh. xxix. 4). That it would stand on a separate " foot," or base, of bronze, contain some provision of the kind is further in the court of the tabernacle, between the indicated by the command to " wash the in• entrance to the tabernacle o.nd the " brazen X 2 808 THE BOOK OF EXODUS.
eltar." This WII.S to be kept conste.nt.ly eup- exBCt!y in the middle, but a little towe.rds the plied with we.t.er. e.nd \\"llS to furnish "·hew•er south side. might be needed for t.he ve.rious ceremonies. Ver. 19. Aaron and hi.a 10n1 ahall wash Among its other usee, it w11.S t.o supply liquid their handa and their feet. Ablution by clear fresh water is so plain and eimlile a for the constant eblution of the prieste, who type of purity RB to have beeu used in a most ...-ere to wuh both their hands and their feet all religions. The hands and the feet would on every OOCRBion of their entering the sacred designate symbolically all a man 'e e.ctive doings, tent and even on every O<l<l88ion of their and even his whole walk in life-hie " goings ministerio.g at the brazen alt&r (ver. 20). Thie out" and hie "comings in,"' in the phraseology of the Hebrews. There would also be a special le."· was to he "a statute for ever" (ver. 21), practical need for such ablutions in the CSBe of and ite tioletion was to he puniBhed by death. pen;ons who were employed about bloody sacri- fices, who slew the victims, sprinkled the blood, Ver. 18.-A laver. It is remarkable that and even dashed it against the base of the nothing is said respecting either the shape or altar. On some rare occasions the priests the size of the !aver. In I Kings we have an were required to bathe their whole pen;ons, elaborate description of the "molten sea," and no~ their bands and feet only (see above, which replaced it in Solomon's temple, RB eh. xx1x. 4; and below, Lev. xvi. 4). ,.-ell as an almost equally elaborate one of ten Ver. 20.-That they die not. Compare other laven; mode by Hiram, Solomon's artist, eh. xxviii. 85 and 48. Contempt of the at the sa.me time. We may perhaps assome simple and easy regnlation to wash at the from these examples that the brazen !aver of laver would imply contempt of purity itself; the tabeme.cle WB6 a large bronze vase or and so an entire hypocrisy of life and cb11- basin, st.anding upon a stem, which was fixed ra.cter, than which nothing could be a greater into a base. It was probably fitted up with an offence t.o God. apparatus of taps and cocks. Between the Ver. 21.-It ahall be a lltatute for ever. tabernaale . . . . and the alta.r. The Ra.b- Compare eh. x.xvii. 21 ; xxviii. 43 ; ~ - 9, bi.uical commentators say that it was not etc. Even to him-i.e., t.o Aaron.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 18-21.-T/1P, Bf"(U(ffl, Lawr.-Prim&ri..ly, the brazen altar has itsantitype in TBl!I CHRISTIAN F01''T. "Baptism save.s us," says St. Pet.er (1 Pet. iii. 21). "Arise and be baptised, and wash away thy sins," sa.id Ananias (Acts x.xii. 16). "There is on, baptism for the remission of sins," said the Nicene Fathers. As the priests had to wash at the !aver ere they might ent.er the sanctua.ry, so entrance into the Church, by the institution of Christ (Matt. xxviii 19; Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 6), is by baptism. To wash, of course, is by itself not enough-ea.eh of us must "lead the rest of his liftt according t.o this beginning." So the priests, besides washing, had to observe all God's other ordinance&. Ultimately, both the l.e.ver a.nd the font, both the priestly ablutions and the Christi&n sacrament of baptism, are types of the true washing, which is WAl!EING IN THB BLOOD oF CHRIST. This washing is- I. A.BsoLUTELY, AND IN ALL CASES, NEEDFUL. Only "the blood of Jesus Christ clea.nseth us from e.11 sin" (1 John i. 7). " If Christ wash us not, we have no part in him" (John xiii. 8). The saved in heaven a.re those who have" washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. vii 14). Baptism is "generally necessary" since Christ came and instituted it; yet no one doubts that many unbaptized persons have ent.ered heaven. But not one has entered, or will ever enter, whom the blood of Christ has not cleansed.. "Wash me, Saviour, or I die," is the constantly repeated cry of every Christian heart. II. A SOVEREIGN REMEDY TH.AT NEVER FAILS TO SAVE. Thus "washed," we are at once both "justified and sanctified" (1 Cor. vi. 11); both pardoned and made pure. Thus washed, we have access to the Father; we are made fit to enter his courts; our robes are made white, and not only our robes, but our souls. God will never reject one who cumes to him in the wedding ge.rment of a robe that Christ has cleansed. Unly we must be 11ure to keep our robes clean-we must not "defile our garments" (Rev. iii. 4) -we must wash them again and again in the purifying blood ; we must look nowhere else for 1111.lvation, but only to the Cross, and we mlllit look to that perpetually. OH. XXX, 22-33.] THE BOOK OF EXODUS. 30\)
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 17-34.-The laver and t'he anointing oi7. 1. 'fHE LAVER (vers. 17-22). This we.e to be made of brass (bronze), and was to be ple.ced near t_he door of the tabernacle be~ween it and the altar. It was to be use<l by Aaron and his sons for purposes of ablution. A new symbol of the purity required in those who serve before Jehovah. The Christie.n contracts daily defilements in his walk for which also daily cleansing is required (cf. John xiii. 10; 1 John i. 7). ' II. THE ANOINTIN_o OIL (vers. 22--34). Precious, fro.grant, holy. To be applied not only to Aaron and his sons, but to the tabernacle and all its vessels. See Homily on Consecration (eh. xxiv. 6, 7). The oil is the symbol of the Spirit. The holiness imparted to Ae.ron and his sons by this e.nointing, and by the rites of consecration generally, was indeed no more than a ceremonial or official holiness. It pertained to the office rather than to the man. Yet the holders of the office were, in virtue of their con- secmtion, laid under obligations to personal holiness e.s well. The private cha.a.cter Oi the priest might not ave.ii to nullify his officio.I acts; but the absence in the public representative of the spiritual qualifications for his office would not be allowed to uo unpunished. Iniquity in the priest would be visited both on priest and people.-J. ().