households, who oJ.!sses the life which is free from the defilement of sensual indulgencG, and in which thG bonds of relationship and virtuous marriages and the sanctities of home are deeply reverenced. WG read nfterwards (eh. xxxv. 5) "the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them."-R. ' Ver. 30.-Anger um·utrai'Md. "And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me." It was not merely the fear of retaliation by neighbourino- tribes. He felt the act was wrong (eh. xlix. 5---7); God's blessing could not rest upon it (cf. Ps. xxxiv. 7); and he and his family were involved in that wrono- (cf. Josh. vii. 13 ; 1 Cor. xii. 26). But was not the anger of Simeon and Levi just? No doubt there was cause, and no doubt a measure of righteous indignation. But (1) thev thought more of the wrong against themselves than of the sin against God (ver. 31). (2) Their anger was unrestrained by mercy, or even by justice (ver. 25). (3) It led them into acts of sin-deceit, murder, robbery. (4) It was soiled by selfish gain (ver. 27). Anger may be right; but need of special watchfulness (Ephes. iv. 26). For under its influence the heart is not in a state fitted to judge; and much danger of self-deception, of mistaking a selfish for a godly anger. I. A JUST CAUSE FOB ANGER DOES NOT EXCUSE ITS EXCESS, Anger may be called for ( 1) as a protest against wrong ; (2) to deter others from wrong. But vengeance, retribution, belongs to God (Rom. xii. 19). He alone has the knowledge to apportion it, looking both to the past and to the future. But anger tempts to retaliation (Matt. v. 38). The wrong fills the mind. Our own errors and acts of wrong (cf. John viii. 7), and the plea, Thine anger brings harm to the innocent, are unheeded. The fact that there was cause for anger blinds to its real nature; for unrestrained anger is in truth an offering to self-love. The plea, of zeal for right and of godly indig- nation may seem sincere ; but "ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." II. A JUST CAUSE FOR ANGER DOES NOT EXCUSE WRONG-DOING. God's laws cannot be set aside. And he who takes on himself the office of judge should be especially watchful not to transgress (Ps. xxxvii. 3). To do wrong on the plea of doing God's work is to distrust his providential care (Rom. xii. 19-21). It is to do evil that good may come; a form of being drawn aside by our own lusts (cf. 1 Sam, :xxiv. 7; x:xvi. 9). Such acts of wrong are especially evil in Christians. They are " o. city set on an hill." Men nre ever ready to point to their errors as excusing their own. Men see and judge the act, hut cannot estimate the provocation, or, it may be, the sorrow, for a hasty action. Ill. WoBKS DONE IN ANGER HINDER THE WORK Oil' THE CHURCH. That work is to draw men together in one (John xvii. 21). The power by which this is done is love. The love of Christ reflected in us (1 John iv. 7). Love wins men's hearts, reason only their minds. And the presence of anger hinders love ; not merely in him against whom it is directed ; like a stone thrown into still water, it distmbs its surface fnr and wide. IV. THE POWER BY W!WlH ANGER MUST DE CONTROLLED, Dwelling on the work and example of Christ. He bore all for us. Is not wrath rebuked in the presence of his patience? And if as a II strange work''. we are c?netra~ed _to indignation, must we not watch and pray that no selfish feeling may mmgle with it; and, knowing in how many things we offend, that we be "slow to wrath," ready to forgive, and ever II looking unto Jesus" ?-M.
EXPOSITION. to eh. x:xviii. 13-16, which by partitionists CHAP'fER XXXV. is almost univorsally assigned to the J ehovist, Ver. 1.-And God-Eloliim. The em- prove that both sections hove proceeded from ployment of this n1me for the Deity through- the same author, and that, "though the out the present chapter has been deemed mention of the name is avoided, this chapter, conclusive evide1,ce that, with some Jeho- there is no doubt, substantially relates to vistic alterations, it belongs to the funda- Jehovah" (Hengstcnberg), while the name mental document (Tuch, Bleek, Delitzsch, Elohim me.y simply indicate that Jnco~'s Kalisch, el alii); but the frequent allusions journey rrom Shcchcm wus undertaken ID Ott. XXXV. 1-15. TllE BOO!<: OF GBNESrn. 411