EXPOSITION. THE SIGNALS OJ' GOD (vers. 15- 23). kept. Apart from the strict grammatical Ver. 15.-0n the day that the tabernacle question, the comparison of other passages was reared up. Here we are sent back cited (especially Exod. xl. 34) seems in again to the great day of Israel's sojourn at favour of the first interpretation, and so Sinai, when God took visible possession of apparently the Septua,,oint anrl the Targums. his dwelling in the midst of them (Exod. xl. Ver. 16.-Bo it was alway. This super• 84). Everything after that was but pre- natural phenomenon was not transitory, like paratory to the approaching departure, and the glory-cloud within the tabernacle (Exod. therefore is narrated not in any order of xl. 35 ; cf. 1 Kings viii. 10), but permanent, time, but either as it referred back to the as long at least as the Israelites were in the first day of the first month, or forward to wilderness. the twentieth day of the second month. Ver. 17.-When the cloud was taken up. The cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, This verse and the following to the end of the tent of the testimony. The testimony the chapter are an amplification of Exod. xl. was the decnlogue written on the two tables 36-38 (cf. Exod. :xiii. 21, 22; Neh. ix. of stone, and enshrined within the ark, the 12; Ps. luviii. 14). It would nppear from moral law which lay at the heart of JudRism. Exod. xiii. 21 that there was nothing new The tent of the testimony was the holy of in the fact of the cloudy fiery pillar directing holies in which the ark dwelt (see on eh. x. the movements of the host, but only in the 11 ; xvili. 2). The exact meaning of the fact of its resting on the tabernacle when in words n1V.0 ?v'k? t~~ is disputed, or repose. In the place w]iere the cloud abode, or " came down." r;,~. All the tabernacle rather the significance of the~ with which was taken all to pieces, and its portions the phrase '' tent of the testimony" is ap• widely separated on the march, the cloud pended to the word "tabernacle" (dwoll- could not rest upon it e.s a signal for halting. mg). Some tELke it as equivalent in con• We must probably picture to ourselves the struction to the genitive, "the dwelling of cloud rising to some considerable height when the tent of the testimony ; " in \vhich case it was " taken up," so as to be visible for o. it would simply mean that the cloud covered great distance, aud as settling down again the whole tabernacle, the mi.shca11 whi,!h over the spot where the tabernacle was to be enveloped and enclosed the ohel, which set up. In this way the signals given by the again enshrined the ark and the testimony. cloud would be immediately perceived by o. Others te.ke ';, here in the sense of "at" or vast multitude. " towards," and read, " covered the dwelling, Ver. 19.-Tarried long. Hebrew, "if'.l~, towards the tent of the testimony," i. e. over " to prolong," i. c. the resting. The Septna• that part of it in which the testimony wns gint has l,pi>..t11ra1 .. ~pipa, 7rXEiov,. 80 THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. tOH. IX. 15-23, Ver. 20. - And so it W&{- Rather "did occasion the Israelites actually remained in it happen that." "I~~ ~\, hypothetical camp for a year. But it is evident that this clallSe introducing several other cases which passage must have been written after the actually occ=d, and by which their perfect wanderings were over, because it is a kind of obedience was proved. retrospect of the whole period as regards one Ver. 21.-From even unto the morning. important feature of it. It may of course Allowing but a single night's rest. have been added here by the hand of Moses Ver. 22.-Or a year. Rather, "days" on the eve of entry upon the promised land : (yamin): an undefined period (Gen. iv. 3; or it may have been added by a later hand, xl. {~ often equiv&lent to a year (Levit. xxv. perhaps that of Ezra when he revised these 29). It is not known whether or on what books (see the Introduction).
HOMILETICS. Vers. 15-23.-Divine guidance. In this section we have, spiritually, the Divine guidance of the faithful through the wilderness of this life. Consider, therefore-- I. THAT THE THEOPHANY, OR DIVINE APPEARANCE UPON THE TABERNACLE WAS AS A CLOUD BY DAY AND AS FIRE Bi NIGHT. Even so is the Lord unto his p;ople both shelter and illumination,-shade that they faint not, light that they wander not astray (Ps. xxvii. 1; mvi. 9; cxxi. 5; Isa. xxv. 4; Matt. xi. 29; John viii. 12). JI. THAT THE CLOUD WAS UPON THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS, WITHOUT, AND YET IN A MANNER CONNECTED WITH THE "TESTIMONY" ENG RA VEN UPON THE TABLES OF STONE. Even so the comfort and illumination of the faithful, albeit not of themselves but of God, are yet vitally connected with the law of holiness which is enshrined in their hearts (John xiv. 16, 23; Heh. xii. 14). Ill. THAT THIS THEOPHANY WAS THE INFALLIBLE GUIDE TO THEIR MOVEMENTS, WHETHER TO REST OR TO ADVANCE. Even so the Lord himself, even God made manifest in Christ, is our only guide along the way to heaven (Ps. xlviii. 14; Luke i. 79 ; John :x:xi. 22 b. ; 1 These. iii. 11 ). IV. THAT THE BEHAVIOUR OP' THE CLOUD WAS APPARENTLY ARBITRARY, SOMETIMES LINGERING LONG AS THOUGH IT HAD FORGOTTEN HOW TO MOVE, SOMETIMES HASTENING ON WITHOUT REST. Even so the Divine guidance, whether of the Church or of the individual, is often unintelligible and sometimes apparently perverse: how unequal are the ad,ances of the Church, or of the soul, towards perfection (John xiii. 7): what need of (1) patience, and (2) preparedness (Luke IK. 59, sq. ; xii. 36 ; xxi. 19; Eph. vi. 15; Rev. xiii. 10 b.). V. THAT THE PEOPLE WERE STRICTLY OBEDIENT IN THIS, THAT THEY JOURNEYED NOT EXCEPT BY THE DIRECTION OF THE CLOUD, BECAUSE THEY .FEARED TO BE WITHOUT IT. Even so the faithful will follow him that leadeth them as obediently as they can, because away from him and hi£! guidance they would neither be able to endure, nor to progress (John vi. 68; x. 4; xiii. 37; xiv. 6). VI. THAT WHEN ONCE, AND ONLY ONCE, THEY PRESUMED TO GO ON WHEN THE CLOUD BID THEM NOT, THEY MET DISASTROUS DEFEAT (eh. xiv. 44, 45). Even so if any will presume to go beyond the command and permission of his Lord ( even in zeal) he will be overthrown of Satan (cf. Luke xxii. 65 b. sq.; 1 Cor. vii. 6 b.).