lesson. Hebrew Christiane were not likely to give up their old times and seasons, nnd so the Passover feast was still further glorified by the recollect1on of Jesus dying for them, and the Pentecost feast by the recollection of how the Spirit had been poured upon all flesh. It ie very certain that we do not sufficiently appreciat11 the practical significance of that memorable Pentecost. It ought to stand in our minds side by side with that other memorable day when the Word that became flesh first breathed at Bethlehem the air of this sin-tainted world. Is it not a matter of the greatest significance t.hat after Pentecost the Holy Spirit of God was among men as he was not before? What a blessing, and yet what a responsibility, to feel that thus and then he came, and, as he came, still remains 1-Y. Vere. 7, 12.-.A. solemn fast and a joyous feast. Lessons may be drawn from the dates and the order of these two annual solemnities, viz., (1) the day of atonement, on the tenth day of the seventh month; (2) the feast of tabernacles, on the fifteenth day of the same month. I. God's order is first an atonement; secondly, r,. festival. The expiation of the nation's sins on the most solemn day of the year was God's preparation for the most joyous season of the year (cf. Levit. xxv. 9-the trumpet of Jubilee was sounded on the day of atonement). The world's great atonement must precede the world's feast of tabernacles. The feast of tabernacles was-1. A commemoration of the nation's low estate during its life in the wilderness. The booths ordered probably lest they should, in their prosperity, forget the lowliness of their past condition (Dent. viii. 2- 18). 2. A thanksgiving for harveijt blessings (" feast of ingathering," Exod. xxiii. 16). We too may "keep the feast" (1 Cor. v. 8) of the Christian life as-(1) A grateful commemoration of the low estate out of which God called us. (Illustrate from Deut. xxvi. 1-11; cf. Ps. xl.1-3; Ephes. ii. 4-7.) (2) A joyous feast of ingathering of spiritual harvest, of blessings for ourselves and others through the atonement of Christ (Ephes. i. 3, 7-13; 1 Pet. i. 3-5). II. The knowledge of personal reconciliation with God prepares for the joys of life. Each Israelite who was penitently confiding in God's mercy could appropriate the blessings of the day of atonement (cf. Rom. v. 1, 11; Gal. ii. 20). (lllustrate from 2 Chron. xxix. 27.) An accepted sacrifice brings songs to the offerer's lips. Humiliation precedes exaltation in Christ (Philip. ii. 7-11) and in Christians (Luke i. 52; John xvi. 20; James iv. 10). Those who "sow in tears" of genuine humiliation and "afflicting of the soul" on the tenth day shall '' reap in joy" on the fifteenth. Many seek to reverse this order; e. g. Isn. xxii. 12, 13. III. Days of rejoicing are yet to be days of sacrifice. More sacrifices were offered at the feast of tabernacles than at either of the other great festivals. So the joys of life and the greater joys of salvation are to be the occasion of the more entire dedication of ourselves to God, and of cheerful service to others (Neh. viii. 9-12; Heb. xiii. 10-16).-P.
Ch. xxix.-The offerings of the seventh month. I. CONSIDER THE INCREASE IN THE OFFERINGS DURING THIS 111:0NTB. There was the customary morning and evening offering for every day; the customary offering at the beginning of the month ; and an additional offering, as if to signify that it was the beginning of a more thnn ordinary month. There would also be the appointed offerings on the sabbaths of the month. The tenth day of the month brought the great dny of atonement, when there was to be much affliction of soul because of sin. Then, to crown all, there were the eight days of the feast of tabernacles, when an unusual quantity of offerings were presented. We may therefore consider the seventh month as being, conspicuously, a month devoted in Israel to the service of God. II. CONSIDER THE LESSONS WE ARE TAUGHT BY THIS MONTH OF SPECIAL SERVICE. 1. Note that it was at the season of the year when the fruits were all gathered in. "Tho feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field" (Exod. xxiii. 16). There was thus a time of leisure-not tho commanded leisure of the sabbath, but the natural leisure of the man who has finished his year's work. There is an interval between gnthering the fruits of one year and preparing for the fruits of the next. What is to be done with this time 1 The answer 392 '!'RE BOOK OF NUMBERS. [Olis, XXVIII,, XXIX.