Vers. 16-20.-Warning against heathenish idolatry. J. THE ORIGIN 0ll' HEATHEN IDOLATRY. 'l'he result of a" corruption" (ver. 16). Not a ~tage in the advance up- wards from fetichism, etc.; but, as inquiries arc tending mor ➔ and more to show, the consequence: 1. Of a depravation of the idea of God. 2. Of a corruption of the worship of God. 3. Arising in turn from the substitution of ,he creature for God in the affections (cf. Rom. i. 20-26). II. 'l'HE FORMS OF HEATHEN IDOLATRY. 1. Hero-worship (ver. 16). 2. Animal- worship (vers. 17, 18). 3. Nature-worship .(ver. 19). Greek idolatry furnishes con- spicuous instances of the first; Egypt was notorious for the second, so Hinduism ; while Parseeism, and the early Vedic worship illustrates the third (cf. Job xxxi. 21). III. 'l'HE FRUITS OF HEATHEN IDOLATRY. 1. A degraded intellect. 2. Degraded affections. 3. Degraded morals (Rom. i.). Therefore Israel must not "corrupt" theroselves.-J. 0. Ver. 20.-The iron furnace. God had passed his people through a hot furnace in the terrible sufferings they endured in Egypt, but with the gracious purpose of ultimately delivering them, and giving them an inheritance in Canaan. We learn- I. 'l'HAT Gon's PEOPLE ARE SOMETIMES BUllJECTED TO SUFFERINGS OF INCREDIBLE SEVEI\ITY. The expression an 'iron furnace," i.e. a. furnace for smelting iron, conveys no weaker an idea. \Ve know that in fact it sometimes is so. Bodily anguish- mental anguish-stroke after stroke of heaviest trial. An instance in the history of Job. Shakes faith to its foundations-seems to argue that God has utterly forsaken them. JI. THAT THESE SUFFERINGS ARE APPOINTED, AND BEBVE DISCIPLINARY ENDS. The use of the figure oi a furnace implies a purpose in the sufferings. Iron is put into the furnace deliberately, and with a. design. '!'rials, difficult enongh tb bear in the faith that God sends them, would ofttimes be absolutely intolerable without that faith. 'l'he furnace acts on the tough, hard, impure iron to separate it from dross, and make it soft o.nd workable. The severe sufferings through which God passes believers: 1. Purify character. 2. Make the nature plo.stic to God's will, and snbdne it to meekness. 3. Fit the man thus sanctified for new and higher uses. III. Gon HAS AN INHERITANCE IN STORE FOR THOSE WHO El'IDUI\E THE FUfu'iACE SUCCESSFULLY. 1. Their sufferings fit them to be God's inheritance. "To be unto him a. people of inheritance." He bas to melt, mould, and spiritually prepare for bis own indwelling those whom he chooses. 2. Their sufferings fit thern for the inheritance which God gives them (1 Pet. i. 3-10). By creating a pure, chastened, heavenly disposition. By strengthening faith, brightening hope, and increasing love. By subduing pride, rebellion, and impatience; and making the will absolutely pliant in the hands of the Divine.--J. O.
Vers, 1-14.-0bedience the secret of success. Moses here reminds Israel of the privilege it possesses as a nation in bavin" the oracles of God committed unto it (Rom. iii. 2). He urges obedience upon the~ as the one purpose for which they are to be introduced into the promised land. National prosperity depends upon this. And here we have to notice- . I. DISOBEDIENCE HAS ALREADY PROVED FATAL. He recalls the terrible e:rperience m_ connection with Baal-peor-how the people in large numbers became lewd_ ~dolaters with the Israelites (Numb. xxv.), and bow fierce anger from the Lord v1S1ted the people. In Canaan they shall be exposed to similar temptations, but the chastisement at ll~al-pcor must not be lost upon them. Past judgments are to secure more complete obedience. 72 THt: nooK OF DlWTEIWNOl\tY. [en. 1\r. 1-24.
rr. Gon's 1''"EARNESB TO THEM SHOULD PROVE A HALLOWING PRIVILEGE. How gracious is God to dwc,11 among them, always near at hand to be inquired of, a most servicenblo King! He dwelt in their midst as a Pilgrim with his people. Upon his accessibility and wisdom they could always calculate. This distinguished Israel from the other nat.ions. Such a pri,ilcge should of itself hallow them, and make them to abide under his shadow. Equally near is God still to all of us who seek him. III. His LAW IS WISER TIIAN ALL MAN'S DEVELOPED LEGISLATION, The surround- ing nations had their laws and customs, but the superiority of the Mosaic code was admitted by all acqnain1ed with it. It was an immense moral advance for Israel, as great an adrnnce as in tJ.at rude age the.v could t~ke in. Similarly, lhc morality of the gospel is ahead of all jurisprudence, Indeed, en- lightened legislation an.J reform tend towards the scriptural ideal. God is wiser than man. and the Bible better than all acts of parliament. lV. 'l'HE LAW WAS GIVEN AS A RULE OF LIFE FOR A COVENANT PEOPLE, They were redeemed from bondage, and then received the Law at Sinai to guide their redeemed lives. Obedience should be a matter of gratitude for deliverance, and would prove the secret of success. It is so still. "Christ redeems us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us." But as grateful and saved people, we feel that we are "under the Law to Christ" (1 Cor. ix. 21). A11d this grateful obedience proves the secret of comfort and success. It is the meat of life to do the will of him who bath sent us, and to finish his work (John iv. 34). Palestine becomes "paradise regained" to the grateful and obedient souls. We find a promised land where God's precepts are gratefully observed by redeemed souls. It is the attitude within, rather than the circumstances without, which constitutes life a blessed country and an antepast of heaven.-R. M. E.