_Vers. 8-10.-~im ~nd worship: The prohibition of the text only extends to the- pnest about to offimate in the 'Yorsh1p of _God; "w~en_ ye go into the tabernacle." It had no reference to the domestic use of wine; nor did 1t separate "strong wine n from ~red ser.ice altogether (Exod. X;l'.ix. 42; Numb. xxviii. 7). Perhaps, as some think, 1t was consequent upon the foregoing scene. But if not so closely connected with it as to be occasioned by it, the fact that its announcement followed that scene in order of time suggests the truth- I. THAT FROM THE WORSHIP OF GoD EVERY TEMPTATION SHOULD BE RELIGIOUSLY EXCLUDED. If )ntoxicants wo~ld have even the slightest effect on !he understanding so that error might be committed, they should be scrupulously avoided: and so with any and every source of peril, whatever it may be. Whatsoever would lead the mind aw:a;r fr~m God and_ his trut~; whatsoever would interfere with the purity, sincerity, spmtuahty of public worship, should be shunned. It may be beautiful attire, ornamentation, music, rhetoric, philosophizing, etc. Every man must judge for him- self; "happy is he who condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth" (Rom. xiv. 22). JL THAT IN THE WORSHIP OF GOD EVERY FACULTY SHOULD BE IN FULLEST EXERCil!E, If intoxicants are anywise injurious, they enfeeble, they make the body drowsy, the intellect clouded, the spirit heavy and unaspiring. To the worship of God we should bring our best; not by any means the lame and the blind, etc. (Mai. i. 8), nor the second best, but the very best we can bring-the flower in the bud, the fruit adorned with its bloom; not the wearied bodily frame that sinks to sleep while God is being approached; not the mind that has lost its elasticity and strength, but our most viligant and wakeful, our most vigorous and energetic self. We ~hould bring to his altar the power that can discern betwet'n the evil and the good, between the acceptable and the offensive (ver. 10); and the power that can rise on fleetest and most enduring. wing into the heavens of joyful praise and earnest prayer and saving truth. Ill. THAT FOB THE WORSHIP OF GOD THERE SHOULD DE CAREFUL PREPARATION,. 'I'he priests were, in virtue of this and other precepts, to consider carefully beforehand what they should do and what they should avoid, that they might be ready to minister unto the Lord. Whether our offering of spiritual sacrifices unto God in his- sanctuary (1 Pet. ii. 5) be acceptable or not, depends not more on the provision which is prepared in the house for us than on the conscientious preparing of our heart before- we go up unto it.-C.
Ver. 11.-Instruction as well as sacrifice. These words point to- I. A BECONDA.BY DUTY OF THE PRIESTHOOD-INSTBUCTION. No doubt the primary object of their appointment was sacrifice. Their function was, first of all, to mediate between God and the people, to stand at his altar and present sacrifices unto him, But this did not constitute their whole duty; they were to "teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord had spoken." No doubt the whole tribe of Levi was associated with the priesthood in II teaching Jl\cob the judgments and Israel the Law" of the Lord (see Deut. xx:xiii. 8-11; Mai. ii. 7; Hos. iv. 6). II. THE TWOFOLD TASK THIS INBTRt'CTlllN INVOLVED. The priests and Levites would< have: 1. To make known the particular precepts of the Law, so that the people might bring their proper sacrifices, come at the appointed seasons to the sacred festivals,. shun all those things which were prohibited, act rightly in their various domestic and social relations, etc. 2. To explain the spirit and significance of the ritual, so t!13t when the worshippers came to the tabernacle they might not only go through the. nght forms, but also enter into the spirit of them i 10 that they should be affected b~ CB. X, 8-20.] THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. Hi7