:14. a"d in ,·er 2 of thie chapter. By 'l"MI. 2 tion. Some day t.hey would BO provoke him, and :1 tnkPn i11 comhinat,ion it was rendered that be would oouume them in the way. manife•I. hnth to Moses and to the people Ver. 4.-Wheu the people heard. M08ell ( YPr. 4 ). that the~· were threatened with the had communicated to the people what God had said to him. They felt it to he nil J,,s, of Goo', Rctua.1 presence and personal tidiqll-they woke up et last to 11, feeling of protection during the remainder of their the ineffe.ble value of the privileges which wanderingi;, and would have. instead of it, the they had hitherto enjoyed-his guidance by m('re guidance and help of an angel in the the pillar of the cloud (eh. xiii. 21 )-his in forior scDl!e of the word. This was felt to be counsel, if there were need to ask anything (eh. xv. 25)-his aid in the day of battle " e,·il tidings "--nd the people consequently (eh. xvii. 8-18)-his near presence, by day "mourned" and "stripped the111Belves of their Bild by night, constantly (eh. xiii. 22)--nd orne.ments " (ver. 6). Real penitence at last they dreaded 11. change, which they felt must entered their hea.rn;, and led t.o self-abase- involve 11. loss, and one the ext.ent of which ment. they could not mea.mre. " An angel" is 11. poor consolation when we are craving for Ver. 1.-The Loni aid unto :ma.-. In Jehovah I So the people mourned-felt true i,nntinuation of what he had said in eh. xxxii. sorrow-were really troubled in their heart.s- and, to show their penitence, ceased to wear :{:1. 34. hut possibly at another time; a.&d with the object of fully explaining what had been their customary ornamentll. These may ha.ve meant in ver. 34. The land whioh I nvare cousieted of a.rmlets, braceletB, and even, per- haps, anklets, all of which were wom by men unto Abraham. See Gen. xii. 7 ; xiii. 15 ; in ~gypt at thie period. X\". 16, et.c. Ver. 5. - l'or the Lord had ll&id unto Ver. 2. - I will 18D.d an angal befera XOIN, etc. Rather, "And the Lord said thee. NoLe the change from" my angel" (eh. unto M." (BO most recent commentators, as xxxii. 34) t.o "an angel;" which, however, Keil, Kalisch, etc.) The message was sent to would still ha.ve been ambiguous, but for wha.t the people after their repentance, and in reply follows in ver. 8. The angel of God's pre- to it. It was not, however, as our version sence is " an angel " in eh. xxili. 20. I will makes it, a threat of destruction, but only a drive out. The whole covenant had fallen repetition of the ste.t.ement made in ver. 2, with Israel's infraction of it, and it was for that, if God went up with them, the probable God to retract or reuew his part of it as it result would be their destruction. Translate- pleased him. Be here of his free grace "Ye a.re a stiff-necked people; wero I for one renews the promise to drive out the Ce.nae.nitish moment to go up in the midst of thee, I nations. Compare eh. xxiii. 28-31. should destroy thee." Put off thy orna- Ver. 8.-Un.to a land. Ver. 2 is paren- mentll. The command seems strange, when thetic. and ver. 8 coheres with ver. 1-" Go we had just been t.old that " no man did put up hence, thou and the people, unt.o the land on him his ornaments" (ver 4); but the word which I swa.re unto Abraham-unto a land translat.ed " put off " probably means " lay flowillgt etc. On the milk and honey of aside altogether." The int.ention was to make Cmaan, see the comment upon eh. iii. 8. l'or their eontinued disuse of the ornameDts a test I will D.Ot go up in the midst of thee. At of their penit.ence. length there was an end of ambiguity-God's Ver. 6.-The people accepted the test and purpose was made plain - the people had stripped themaelve1 of their ornamen~.e., shown themselves unfit for his near presence, ceased to wear them henceforward. By the .and he would withdraw himself. So it would Kount Roreb. Rather, "from Mount be best even for them ; since, if they were Horeb." From and after this occurrence about to show themselves as perverse in the at Horeb (=Sinai), the Iaraelites wore no future as they had in the past, his near pre• ornaments, in token of their CODtinued con- sence could only lead to their entire destruc- trition for their apostasy
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-6.-Tl.e hi,dvng of God's facefrom man. When God hides away his face from his people, it may be- I. AB A JUDGllENT. It was as a judgment that God separated between himself and roar, after the Fall, and" drove man forth" from the Garden of Eden (Gen. iii. 24). It wa., as a judgment that he withdrew from Saul, and "answered him not, neither Ly <lrcams, Ly Urim, nor by prophets" (1 Sam. xxviii. 6). When he "hid his face" from l>avi<l, ar,d forgot all hio mibcry ar,d trouble, it wao l,ccauoe David haJ. offended him by CII. XXXIII, 7-11,) THE BOOK OF EXODUS.