any doctrine of an imruor tal spirit. The time-at which time he was himself to be the Septuagint uses ,/,vxq here. La.mb slain. With unleavened bread and Ver. 7.-Wberefore are we kept baek1 bitter herba. These and the follo,ving di- The direction to remove from the camp all rections a.i:e expressly ad~ed for fear lest any that were defiled by the dead (eh. v. 2) had should think that the little passover might not apparently been given &t this time, nor be celebrated with less solemnity and with was tl1ere any express command that such less carefulness than the great passover. should not partake of the passover, for Levit. Ver.12.-According to all the ordinances '!'ii 20 may probably refer only to such un- of the passover. The later Jews held that cleannesses as are mentioned in Levit. xv. 8; this passover need only be kept for one day, but that men were in fact considered as defiled and that leaven need not be put awa.y from by contact with the dead is clear from Levit. the house. But this wa.s a dear defarture xx:i. 1. The men, therefore, had reason for from the original rule, for it was evidently asking why they were excommunicated, and intended that it should be in all respects a Moses for referring the matter to the Divine true passover, and in this oo.se six clear days decision. were allowed for the keeping of it (see on eh. Ver. 10.-If any man of :yon or of :your x. 11). posterity. The particular case of these men is Ver.13.-Bnt the man that is clean, and ma.de the occasion for a general provision for is not in a journey. This threa.t was added all succeeding times. Shall be unclean by no doubt in order to prevent men from taking reason of a dead body, or be in a journey. advantage of the permission to keep a sup- It is somewhat st=ge that these two cases plemental passover in order to suit their own only were provided for: o. man otherwise nn• convenience or interest. Only two reasons clean (as, e. g., in the case described Levit. could absolve a. man from the absolute neces• xv. 13), even if actually recovered, wa.s unable sity of keeping the passover at the due sea.- to take advantage of the little passover. son, and these reasons must be bond fa:k, Probably the real reason of it is to be found and not pretended. Because he brought not in this, that both the far jo=ey and the the offering of the Lord. In the original burial of the dead would presumably be works institution the paschal lamb did not appear of charity. IJia oft This word, i1~M\ is distinctly in the character of an offering one of ten in the Pentatench distinguished ma.de to God, although undoubtedly it was in the Hebrew Bibles with p1.tit1da e2/,r!UJ1'di11,- such. It was rather the ea.ting of the lamb arui,, for some utiknown and probably trifling that was insisted upon, as placing the par- reasoil.!l. The Rabbins ruled that it meant a taker in communion with the God and Chureh distance of fifteen miles or more from the of Israel, and so in a state of salvation. But temple at sllllrise of the fourteenth of .A.bib. after the law of sacrifices had been elabol'ated, Ver. 11. -The fourteenth day of the then the paschal lamb, though prior to them second month. The interval gave ample time all, naturally took its place amongst them as to return from any ordinary journey, or to be the greatest of them all, and as uruting in purified from pollution of death. It was in itself the special beauties of all the spirit of this command, though not in Yer. 14.-Ye shall have one ordinance. the letter of it, that Hezek:ie.h acted (2 Chron. This is re:eeated from Exod. :xii. 49 as a fur- :u:x. 2). And possibly it wa.s in the spirit of ther warnmg not to tamper more than o.bso- this command tha.t our Lord acted when he lute necessity required with the unity, either ate the passover byanticipa.tion with his dis- in time or in circnmstn.nce, of the great ciples twenty-four hours before the proper national rite.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 1-14.-The vaschal feast. In the keeping of the passover we llllve, under the law, what the celebratini' of the sacrn.ment of the Lord's Supper is under the gospel; for it was the nature and use of that to show the Lord's death until hs came the first time, na of tku to show the Lord's death until he come the second time. Consider, therefore- !. THAT IT WAS THE WILL 01! GOP, SPECIALLY DECLARED, THAT ALL lsRAEL SHOULD DE PARTAKEBS THERli!OF ERE THEY LEFT THE HOLY MOUNT OF CONSECRATION AND PLUNGED IN'f, THE DESERT OF WANDERINGS. Even so it is the will of God that all his people, when they l1ave been taught of him, should be partakers of "that one bread," and thereby be brought into closer union with one another and with him for the journey of life (John vi. 56; Acts ii. 42; 1 Cor. L 17). lL THAT THE lsRAELl'l'EB KEPT THAT PASSOVER UNDER DIJ!FlCULTIEB, LITTLE DBE.AM• 1.NG THAT IT WAS TO BE THEIi!. LAST; for only Caleb and Joshua survived to tnke part on. rx. 1-14.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 75