HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. "Vers. 34--38.-lndwelling and guidance. J. 'ion OWNS THE DWELLINO-l'T,ACE BET ur ACCORDING TO HIS COMMANDMENTS. "Then the cloud," etc. "And Moses WAS not nhl.:! to enter in," etc.; it WA.S claimed e.s hie own e.nd ta.ken possession of by the Lord. 1. The soul which comes by God's we.y will be filled with God's glory. 2. The Chur~i1 which honours God he will glorify. 3. The full glory of the perfected Church th·; brirle of Oh.rut. ' 11. WeERE THE Lonn DWELLS HE GUIDES. When the cloud was taken up they went onward; when it rested they rested. 1. He is our guide in our onward journey. (1) In providence. We mUBt me.ke sure the.t we follow him. It will not ave.il to choose our own way and then e.sk God to be with us. We a.re to follow his lee.ding, not he our,;. (2) ln grace. We may he mourning departed joy. There may be no longer the freshness e.nd power we once felt in the ministration of the word, or in prayer. \\·e have been slumbering and loit.ering. Wehe.ve not striven to press through our sins and into fuller light. The cloud he.s lifted and gone onward, and we must follow after. "This one thing I do." 2. He is our guide into patience. (1) He teaches us to bear and so to overcome. (2) By the resting of faith to possess and to grow.-U.
Vers. 34-38.-The house filled with g"lory. The close of the book of Exodus is worthy of the greatness of its subject. It ends where the history of the world will end, with the descent of Jehovah's glory to dwell with men (Rev. xxi. 3). We have seen Israel in bondage ; have beheld its redemption ; have followed it through the wilderness ; have heard the thunders of the law e.t Sinai; have been witnesses of the nation's covenant with God; have seen its shameful apostasy ; have traced the steps of its reconciliation; have heard the instructions given for the building of this ta.beme.cle; have viewed the t.aheme.cle itself. We see now the symbol of Jehovah's glorious presence in the midst of the people whom he has thus in so many ways made his own. What a wondrous succession of subjects we have thus bad before us in the course of our review. The intolerable anguish of oppressed Israel; the birth of the deliverer; the singular providence of his early life; his great choice ; the call in Midian; the revelation of the name ; the return to Egypt ; first failures ; the long and tragic contest with Pharaoh; the hardening of Pharaoh's heart ; the exodus ; the Red Sea ; the miracles of the desert ; the law; the covenant; the "patterns" shown to Moses in the mount; the sin of the calf; the great intercession ; the na.me of mercy; the preparation of the sanctuary. There remains to complete the series only this :final scene of the entrance of Jehovah's glory into the house prepared for his habitation. This was the true consecration of the sanctuary, and the true C',0nsecration of the nation. "A cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabeme.cle" (ver. 14). In what is related i.u these verses we have:- L A THREEFOLD PRIVILEGE. 1. Indwelling. The filling of the tabeme.cle with the glory was the syI!lbol of Jehovah's taking up his abode in it, and so in Israel (cf. eh. x.xv. 8). It testified (1) to the completeness of his reconciliation with the people. Cf. ls. xii. 1-" 0 Lord, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned a.way, and thou comfortedst me." (2) To his complacency in the beautiful house they had reared for him. Cf. Ps. cxxxii. 14--" This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell; for I have desired it." (3) To his desire to dwell among them. Not.e-L The true glory of the Church is Goo. .. residence in her midst. This was Israel's highest distinction (eh. :x.xxiii. 16). 2. We should pray that the time may come when the Church shall be, not only dwelt in by her Lord,. but "filled" with the " glory" of his presence (Is. Ix.). 2. Prow:twn. The glory filled the ta.beme.cle within, while the cloud spread itself above the tent as a protective covering without. So is Jehovah the prot.ection of his Church (Is. iv. 5, 6; Zech. ii. 5). 3. Guidanr,e (vers. 36-38). See Homily on eh. xiii. 21, 22. JI. A HINT OF llD'ERFECTION. "Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation," etc. (ver. 35). Thus are we reminded that, amidst all these glorious circumstances, that which is perfect is not yet come. 1. Law, not gospel. 2. A material building, not a spiritual house. 3. Earth, not heaven. It was a gla:y (1) too CH. IL. 34-38,) TUE IlOOK OF EXODUS. 40ii
great for man to see . . Even Moses, who had seen so. Ill:uch of the Divine glory, w118 not able to look upon 1t. (2) Too great for such a bu1lding--a mere material structure -to contain. Man longs for nearer co=union. So great a glory needs a better house to contain it-a spiritual (1 Pet. ii. 6). III. A FORECAST OF WBAT SHALL BE. That which is perfect is not yet come, but it will come by-and-by. 1. The tabernacle of God will be with men, and he will dwell among them (Rev. ui. 3, 4). His glory will fill it. 11 The glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof" (Rev. xxi. 23). 2. Thls glory will be no lonuer un- approachable. We shall be able to endure the sight. 11 His servants shall c1e~e him, and they shall see hie face" (Rev. xxii. 3, 4). We shall receive the Vision. 3. ThiB, however, will only be when earthly conditions have been exchanged for heavenly. "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality~ (1 Cor. xv. 63). Till that hour arrives, we must be content to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. v. 7), seeing only "as through a glass darkly" (1 Cor. xiii. 12).-J. 0. HOMILETIC.AL INDEX
TO
THE BOOK OF EXODUS.