duty (of putting away sin) which the rest of Ver. 24.-J'rom twenty and fl.ve years old them failed to perform. Similarly the Levites and upward. A short time before the mini- made an atonement not by offering sacrifice mum age had been fixed at thirty (eh. iv. 3). (which they could no more do than the That direction, however, concerned the trans- children of Judah), but by rendering unto port of the tabernacle and its belongings ; God those personal duties of attendance and this was a permanent regulation designed for service in his courts which all the people the ordinary labours of the sanctuary at a ought to have rendered had they only been fit. time when the Levites would be scattered That there be no plague among the children throughout their cities, and could only serve of Israel, when the children of Israel come by courses. For the latter purpose many ~h unto the sanctuary. See eh. i. 63. The more would be re<J_uired ; and indeed they children of Israel were in this strait. As were found insufficient as it was in the latter "an holy nation," they were all bound, and days of David, when the wealth and devotion their first-born as redeemed from the destroyer of the kingdom were fast increasing (see on were specially bound, to render certain re- 1 Chron. x.rii.i. 24-27). To wait upon the ligious duties to God. But if they had service. Literally, " to war the warfare ; " attempted to render them they would have the idea of the militia 1acra is kept up. erred through ignorance and foolishness, and Ver. 26.-Shall minister . .. to keep the so have incurred Divine wrath and punish- charge, and shall do no service. The word ment, when they came nigh unto the sanctu- "charge" (Hebrew, mi.shmereO,,) seems to ary. From this strait the substitution of the signify the care of the furniture and belong- Levites delivered them. ings of the tabernacle, while '' service " means Ver. 21. - Were purified, or "purified the laborious work of transport, or of pre- themselves." It refers not to the ceremonial paring sacrifice.. The duties of the Levite sprinkling, but to the personal preparation' over fifty were in fact honorary, given to him prescribed. probably for his own sake, that he might have Ver. 22.-In the tabernacle of the con- some place and post in the house of God. gregation. This can only mean that they This careful provision for those who should went in after the holy things had beeu packed attain the age of fifty shows that the com- up in order to take the fabric to pieces ; no mandment was designed for the promised one but the priests went into the tabernacle land rather the.n for the wilderness. for any other purpose, or at any other time.
HOMILETICS.
Vere. 5-23.-The dedication of the Leuites. In this section we han the due preparation of those who are specially devoted to the service of God. Consider, therefore-- I. THAT DEFORE THEY COULD SERVE THEY MUST BE CLEANSED. Even so nil that would do God service, or be useful to others in religious concerns, must first them- selves be cleansed; because all that is human is unclean (Job xv. 14), and nothing that is unclean can do God service, for he requireth holiness in his servants (Prov. xx. 9; Pa. v. 5; Isa. Iii. 11; Hab. i. 13; Matt. v. 48; xxii. 12). II. THAT THIS CLEANSING WAS TWOFOLD, PARTLY WROUGHT UPON THEM, PARTLY wnoUGHT DY THEM. Even so the cleansing which prepares for the service of God, nnd for his nearer presence, is twofold; partly it is done for us by the Medi£1tor, pnrtly by us through our own efforts (Ps. Ii. 7; 2 Cor. vii. 1). Ill. THAT THE CLEANSING A_ PARTE DEI WAS DY SPRINKLING OF BIN WATER, THE EXAC'r NATURE OF WHIOH IS DISPUTED. Even so every one that would belong to the kingdom of God must receive that washing of water and of the Holy Spirit, which ~~- in its natur~. mysterious, and in definition controverted (Ezek. x.x.xv1, 25; John 111. 6; Acts xxn. 16; Heh. x. 22). IV. THAT THE CLEANSING A PARTE BUA WAS DY SEDULOUSLY GETTING BID OF ANY POSSIBLE IMPURITY WHICH MIGHT ADHERE ll'BOM WITHOUT. Even BO he who would truly serve God must be not only careful, but conscious, and according to the ordin- ary standard extreme, to detach and remove from himself all those impurities 0£ common life which so easily cling to us; to reform those private, 11ocial, and domes- tic habits, which sit as closely to us as our clothes, which seem as much a part of u~ as our hair, and which, ns it were, absorb and retain the inherent sinfulness of our nature (1 John iii. 3; 2 Pet. iii. 14; James i. 21; iv. 8). V. THAT l!'OB THE LEVITES WEHE Ol!'l!'EBEl) FlllBT A BIN Oll'l!'ERING, AND A DURNT 70 THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. [CH, VIII. 5-26.