II. 'rm,; SECOND COVENANT SIGN WAS cIRCUlllCIBION. When God selecte<l Abrnh:nn out of tho entire m11Rs of m11nkinci to be the progenitor of the chosen rnce an<l 0f J,irn especi11lly in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, and entere<l into a covenant with him, it was in these words-" Thou shalt keep my covenant, th0 11 an•I thy seed after thee in their generations-this is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you, and thy seed after thee, every man child among you shall 00 circumcised" (Gen. xvi i. 9, 10). Hence the covenant itself was called " the covenant of circumcision" (Acts vii. 8). This rite of initiation, the covenant sign of th~ Abrahamic dispensation, shadowed forth the great truth that man has 11n impurity of nature, which must be put away before he can be brought near to God and received into his full favour. III. THE THIRD COVENANT SIGN WAS THE SABBATH. Its institution to be a covenant sign is set forth in the words," Verily, my sa.bbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me 11nd you throughout your generations" (Ex. xxxi. 13). It witnessed to the truth that God requires distinct 11nd open acknowledgment at the hands of men, and not only so, but material worship at stated times, the least that will content him being one day in seven. The nations, when they served him at a.II (Acts x. 35), served him irregularly. They knew nothing of a definite day, or a formal apportionment of time, for his service. By the institution of the Sabbath the Israelites were taught, and through them the world, that God is interested in man, claims his thoughts, sets a value on his worship, and will not be satisfied with mere occasional acknowledgment, but dem11nda that a fixed proportion of our time shall be dedicated to his worship exclusively. IV. OTHER COVENANT BIONB. No further coven11nt signs were given until our Lord came upon earth. Then two were instituted in the Sacraments. Baptism taught the same truth as circumcision-the need of putting away impurity ; but taught it by a simpler rite, and one to which no exception could be taken. The Lord's Supper taught 11 new truth, the necessity of reconciliation through the death and atoning blood of Christ. It witnessed to the certain fact that man cannot save himself, cannot atone for his own sins, but needs a mediator, a redeemer, an a.toner, to make satisfaction for him.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 12-18.-The Sab'bath. H this prohibition to work upon the Sabbath is intro- duced, as probably it is, lest the people, in their zeal for the service of the sanctuary, should be tempted to infringe upon the holy day, it has certain obvious sides of instruction turned towards ourselves. We cannot but see in it the high honour whir:h God puts upon his Sabbath. 1. It is the one co=and of the Decalogue to which reference is made in the conclusion of this series of instructions. This implies its great importance. It shows that, in God's esteem, the observance of the Sabbath was inti- mately bound up with the best interests of Israel. 2. The Sabbath is declared -to be a sign between God 11nd the Israelites. It was to be a memorial to future generations that Jehovah had made a coven11nt with the nation, and had sanctified them to himself. But its very selection for this purpose was a tribute to its import11nce. The reason of the selection could only be that the Sabbath was in itself a boon of the highest kind to Israel, and had important bearings on the state of morals and religion. A well- or ill- spent Sabbath, as all history shows, has much to do with the character both of the individual and of the community. 'l'he Sabbath, further, is a "sign" in this respect, that it is at once a means for the promotion of true religion, 11nd a test or indication of its presence. A disregard of Divine authority shows itself in nothing more readily than in a disposition to break in upon the day of rest-to take from it its sacred character. 3. The t:iabbath is not to be infringed upon, even for the work of the tabern_acle. '.l'here was no such excessive haste, no such imperative call, for the sanctuary bemg finished, that the Sabbath needed to be broken by the plying of handicrafts, in order to get it done. We are taught that even our zeal for God's work is not to be allowed to betrny us into unnecessary infractions of the day of rest. This is not, of course, to be nppli~d to spiritual work, to afford an opportunity for which is one end of the giving of the Sabbath. 4. 'l'he breaker )f the Sabbath was to be put to death. This was not too THE BOOK OF EXODUS. (en. xxn 18,
!<<'Vere 11. puniRhment for the deliherat.e brellking of 11. 111.w so repeat.edly enforced and the ohsPrv11.ne!' of which hRd been mRde by Jehovah a "sign" of the covenant' betwe~n him~elf anrl Israel. Slight as the act seems, it. w11.11, in this CRSe, a crime of a very llagmnt. nrder. It WM punished as an act of treRBon. At the conclusion of these com- mand~, God g11.ve t-0 Moses the two t.aliles of testimony, "tables of Atone, written with tbe finger of God." A symbol (1) of the perpetuity of the law, (2) of its want of 110war to regenerate (2 Cor. iii. 7).-J. 0.
EXPOSITION. Ver. 18.-Tm: TA.IILEB OF TEll'l'IlllONY, Jt Ver. 18.-When be had made an end of bad been llllSllllled, in the directions given for 001nm'lllllll8'-Literally," when he had finished theeolll!truction:of the ark, that God would give, speaking." Two t&blee. Rather, "the two tables '"-i.e., the tables promised when be in some mat.eria.1 form, a document to be called went up into the mount (eh. xxiv. 12). "the t.estimony," which was to be laid up in- Of atone. Stone was the ordinary materie.I side it (eh. xxv.16). Itisnottoomnchtosay on which Egyptian documents were engraved, that the tabernacle, with its various appurte- both at the time of the Exodus, and before nances, was constructed for this purpose ; the and after. They were, however, for the most rest of the tabemacl• R1l6 designed with a view part, either inscribed upon the natural rock, or engraved on the wells of t.emples or tombs. to the holy of holies-the holy of holies was Inscriptions upon slabs of stone are rare, more designed as a receptacle for the ark-and the especially in the early times, and would vk was designed as a receptacle for the tables scarcely have occurred t.o Moses himself. of testimony. This section could, therefore, Written with the ll.nger of God-i.e., " in- scarcely be concluded without some definite ac- scribed supernaturally " - not cut by any human band. Compare eh. x.xxii. 16. It is count of the document which wast.ogive the ark idle t.o specolate on the exact mode of the and the tabernacle i1Belf, i121 main significance Divine operation..