Vers. 1-33.-Reminiscences of Horeb. I. THE COVE~ANT. (Vere. 2, 3.) 1. Pro- posed by God (Exod. xix. 3-7). 2. Accepted by the people (Exod, xxiv. i). 3. Entailed obligations on subsequent generations (cf. eh. vi. 2). In this covenant, formally n,tified by sacrifice (Exod. xxiv. 6, 7), Israel (1) accepted Jehovah to bo its spiritual and temporal Sovereign. (2) Pledged itself to observo his Law. (3) Was ndopted by him as his peculiar people. (4) Had every blessing secured to it on con- dition of obedience (Exod. xxiii. 22-27). The new covenant in Christ, while in many respects different from, and superior to, that of Horeb, yet resembles it in several of t.hese particulars. II. 'l'HE LA w. (V crs. 6-22.) 1. Holy in its nature. 2. Internally complete as a rnmmary of duty. "He added no more" (ver. 22). 3. Explicative of the character of God. 'l'he absoluteness and unity of God, e.g. taught in first commandment; his ~,irituality, jealousy of his honour, sovereignty, love, and mercy, in second command- ment; his holiness, in third commandment; his searching of hearts, in tenth com- mandment; while in all he appears as the Source of moral obligation, and the Guardian of rights. 4. 'l'o be kept from the motive of love (ver. 10). This Law is not abolished, but fulfilled in Christ, by whose Spirit its precepts are written in the minds and hearts of believers (2 Cor. iii. 3; Heb. viii. 10). III. TrrE MEDIATOR. (Vers. 5, 22-33.) 'l'he mediation of Moses was: 1. Graved by the people (vers. 23-28). The manifestation of God's holiness overwhelms sinful men (cf. Jsa. vi. ::S-6). Moses not only endured this manifestation, but went up alone into the thick darkness wh~re God was. How exceptionally great he appears in this! 2. Acquiesced in by God (vers. 28-32). This transacting through a mediator was in harmony with the principle of his dealings with them from the first. .A figure of the mediation of Christ. 3. Suitable in itself. .As tending to enhance in their minds the impression of God's holiness and the feeling of their own sinfulness.-J. 0. Vers. 2, 3.-The covenant at Horeb. Here spoken of as distinct from the older covenant made with the patriarchs (Gen xv., xvii.). L ITS RELATIONS TO 'l'IlE COVENANT MADE WITH THE FATHERS. H was not a new thing absolutely. It rested on that older covenant, aud on the series of revelations which sprang out of it. It could not disannul that older covenant (Gal. iii. 17). It could not run counter to it (Gal. iii. 21). It must, though "superadded," be in sub- scr,iency to it (Gal. iii. 15-20). Ilut that covenant made with the fathers was: 1. Of pron,ise (Gal. iii. 18). 2. Couched in absolute terms. God pledged his perfections that the promise conveyed in it would be ultimately realized (Rom. iii. 3). 3. In which an interest was obtained by faith (Gen. xv. G; Ilom. iv. 3-?.3). 4. While yet it bound the person received into covenant to a holy life (Gen. xvii. 1). The new covenant could "make void" the older one in none of these particulars. II. ITS DIBTINCT!ON FROM TIIE COVENANT MADE WITH THE FATHERS. 1. It was a national covenant, having reference primarily to national existence and prosperity. 2. lt \\'as a co,enant of Law. It was (1) connected with a promulgation of Law, and (2) required obedience to the. prescribed Law as the condition of acceptance. Docs this look like a retrograde step in the Divine procedure, a contradiction of the covenant with Abraham? Seemingly it was so, but the backward step was really a forward one, Lringing to light demands of the Divine holiness which it was absolutely essential man hl10uld become acquainted with. Two points have to be noticed: (a) that obedience was 1.tot wade the ground of admission to the covenant, or aught else than the condition of contiuuance in privileges freely conferred; and (b) that the requirement of obedienco did 1,ot sta1,d alone, but was connected with provisions for the removal of the guilt contracted Ly trausgression aud shortcoming. This brings into view the pecuiiar feature in tho cuvenant of Horeh-the hidden grace of it. In form and letter it was a strictly legal cuvenant. Obedience to the Law in all its parts, and without failure, was the technical co11<liLiun of the fulfilment of promise, and of continuance in covenant privilege (cf. Matt. xix. 17; Hom. x. 5; Gal. iii. 10). '!'he fact that atonements were provided tu remove the guilt which otherwise would have broken up tho covenant, is proof that ell, V. 1-33,) THE llOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 113
Ruch was its constitution. The same fact shows that in the structure of the covenant it was recognized that sin and shortcoming would mark the history of Israel; that, on the strictly legal basis, standing in the state of acceptance was impossible. A theoretically perfect obedienco no Jew ever rendered. His sta1,ding in no case was in virtue of a perfectly fulfilled Law! but was due to forgi~ing mercy, which ~aily pardoned hi.~ .~lwrt- comings, and gaue hm1, an acceptance which these shO'f'tcoming.9 were as constu.ntly fo,feitin,g. It was faith, not works, which justified him; while yet, in harmony with tho unalterable law of moral life, it was his duty to aim at the realization of the ideal of righteousness which the Law presented. Just as with Abraham, the faith which justified Lim, and did so before a single work had issued from it (Gen. xv. 6; Jas. ii. 23), was a faith which "wrought with wor½s,•: ~nd "by works was faith made perfect" (Jas. ii. 22). H follows from these pecnliar1t1es, and from the statements of Scrip- turo, that it was: 3. A preparatory and temporary covenant. !Ls leading desi<.;n was to develop the consciousness of sin, to awaken a feeling of the need of redemption, to evince the powerlessness of mere Law as a source of moral strength, to drive men back from legal efforts to faith, and so, finally, to prepare the way for Christ (Rom. iii. 20; Gal. iii. 23, 24, etc.). In this we discern the reason of the severe and threatening form in which it was couched, and of the terrors which attended its promulgation. It was a covenant which could not of itself save or do aught but kill (2 Cor. iii. 6-12).-J. 0