clearly defined. But we at least discern in them a double element, (1) eucharistic, (i'i propit.iatory. 1. Eucharhitic. There was thanksgiving for victories and deliverances thus fal' n,uchsafed. 'Well might the hearts of the people rise to God with the smoke of their sacrifices, after such proofs as He had given them of His favour. Every fresh manifestation of Diyine goodness demands a fresh ascription of praise; the providence thnt " redeems our life from destruction and crowns us with loving- kindness '' calls for daily acknowledgment. Gratitude is 0, perpetual obligation, because God·s love is ever assuming some new phase of benediction. Let every stage in om career, every vantage-ground gained, every difficulty surmounted, ei-ery peril passed, every v-ictory won, be signalised by some new expression of personal devotion. To the devout spirit life will be a continual thank-offering, a ceaseless hymn of praise. • " If on our daily course our mind Be set to hallow all we find, New treasure still of countless price God will provide for sacrifice." 2. P1·opitiatory. These oft.repeated sacrifices kept the grand truth of atonement by expiation continually before the minds of the people. We need to keep it con- tinually before our minds, inasmuch as we live by the mercy of God through the self-immolation of a sinless victim. Every revelation of God is fitted to awaken the sense of om· own sinfulness, and so prompts a constant reference, in penitence and faith, to the " Great Propitiation.'' Daily life should be a perpetual presentation- in spirit before the mercy-seat of the sacrifice of Him by whom we "receive the atonement." But such trust in the sacrifice of Christ is of no avail unless coupled with a personal surrender that draws its inspiration from His. The " burnt: offering" and the" peace offering" must go together. "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought mth a price: therefore,'' &c. (1 Cor. vi:19, 20). • II. THE PROCLllU.TION OF THE LAW. There was a peculiar fitness in this, inasmuch as the people had now gaine~ a firm footing in the land which was to be the scene of their organised national life. They are made to understand the funda• mental moral conditions of that life. Observe- • I. The supremacy of the law of God over all huma7j, law. The commonwealth of Israel was emphatically a theocracy. But every commonwealth is a theocracy in the sense that harmony with the Divine will is the· secret of its order and prosperity. As righteousness alone " exalteth a nation," so the public assertion and nndication of God's law is essential to the well-being of any land and people, Human law has enduring authority in proportion as it aecords with the Divine· (Pro,. viii. 15, -16). 2. The breadth of the law of God as em,b,racing all relations of life, all classes and conditions of men. "The whole congregation oflsrael "heard th_e law, with the " elders, officers, and judges," the " women, little ones, and strangers." . All social i-elations, all official functions, all periods and conditions of life are amenable to this supreme authority, this impartial Judge. 3. The weal or woe of every man depends on his relation to the law of God, Here lies the alternative of blessing or cursing, life or death (Deut. xxx. 19), "What was read may have been only that summary of the law contained in Deut. xxvii. and xxvi.ii. But of the whole law, in its essential principles, this is true: rnoral and practical harmony with it is the condition of blessedness. 4. Men are brought into their true relation to the lO!W only by the gospel of Christ. "Christ is tlie end of the law for righteousness,'' &c. (Rom. x. 4). Faith in Him disarms the law of its terrors. "Christ bath redeemed us from the curse of the law," &c. (Gal. iii. 13). In Him the blessing overcomes the curse, the. "<'oicc of Gerizim prevails over that of Ebal, "mercy rejoiceth against judgment.'' Christ engraves the law not on tables of stone, but 011 the living hearts of men. {J er. xxxi 31, 34; Heb. viii. 10, 12). In Him the law is not, as in Moses, literal, local, adapted to special circumstances and the Jlloral needs of a particular people, on; nc. t-27.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 147
but spiritual and universal. Not that Christianity hae less to do in shaping the relative duties of human life, or enters less minutely into its details, hut rather has so much to do with everything that, like the all-pervading atmosphere and tha gladdened sunshine, it is tha very vital air of every social problem, and the guiding light in the determination of every question between man and man.-W.