holier R man is, the more will he suppress the one, the more will he develop the other I 2. He hreaks the tables (ver. 18). This is a symbolic act, reminding the people that by their apostacy they had violated their covenant vows. 3. He grinds the calf to l'"wder, etc. (,·er. 21). Another symbolic act, meaning, "This sin will come back to I hem ai!nin; iL will mar their joy for long to come." 4-. He calls Aaron to account (Exod. xxxi(. 21-24). '.' There came out this calf." Aaron I you, the eloquent man, makmg a silly speech like that! Oh, the wonderful touches of nature in tho Old Book! Moses, the truly bra,·e man, though slow of speech, can speak to purpose at such a time as this; but Aaron, eloquent as he is, when his conscience is ill Rt case, makes the lamest Rnd tamest excuse. 5. He ascertains how far the contaaion has spread (Exod. xxxii. 2ii-29). Was it a revolt of all the people, or had ma~y been dr:nrn away at sui!gestion of the few? "\Vho is on the Lord's side?" 'Tis not enouah for people lo be on the Lord's side, specially in days of abounding iniquit.y; they mt~~t say on which side they are. The sons of Levi come forward, and are entrusted with the awful task of stamping out the evil. Better for 3000 to die than for 2,000 000 to· hP infected with a mortal poison! That was a holy defensive ,var. And it 'speaks ,·"lu1nes for the grandeur of the moral power of Moses, that he COl}ld so inspire the men ol' his 011'11 tribe to chastise the re,·olt. and save the people. 6. Bnt the most strikina feature of the spiritual heroism of Israel's leader is,, that 1:.e pleads with God. I~ this he reveals a force of character and an unselfishness of spirit which are far too rare ~Yen in these "advanced" times. Let us watch this 11leader. (1) He acknowledaes the ~reatness of the sin. At first, before he was near enough to see, he asks, "Lord, ,;j1y doth thy wrath?" etc. But afterwards, he puts no such question. "Oh I this people have sinned a great sin." He cannot palliate it. (2) He entreats the Lord not to con~ ~ume them, but to turn from bis fierce wrath, and to bring them yet into the promised land. (3) Ee uses arguments in prayer. (a) The honour of God's Na.mo among the nations. Joshua, David, Jeremiah, did the same. (b) Ho pleads the Divine acts already put forth on behalf of the people, as if he would say," Didst thou not know from the first what they were?" (c) He pleads the Divine promises; "remember Abraham," etc. ( 4) Moses prays for Aaron ( ver. 20) ! Aaron "can speak well," but he. acted ill. He broke down when pnt in charge. 'l'hough appointed by God as special helper tci Moses, he proved himself unreliable. Yet not a word of complaint appears to have been uttered to him, only a prayer offered for him by the very brother who had relied on him in vain! (5) There is a more wonderful feature still in his prayer, viz. this: a conception which to self-seekers would have been most captivating, has for hiw no charm whatever-" I will make of thee a great nation;" "let me alone, that I may destroy them," and I will begin afresh with you, and make you the head of a less unworthy race! ·would not that have fired his ambition, if he had had any? But no! see the lot which he preferred (Exod. u:xii. 32, 33): "No! I cannot accept any position, however elevated, if they perish! Oh, forgive them! If not, let us a.ll t,erish togetl,e,·." Noble captain he l if the ship sinks, he will go down with it. He would rather not li,e if vessel and passengers are beneath the waves! (Cf. Rom. ix. 2, 3, with wLicb passionate fervour the prayer of Moses may well be compared.) (6) This inter- cession was long continued (ver. 25): "forty days and forty nights I " All this while ·J,e cry was ever and anon going up from his heart,l" Forgive them ! forgive ! forgive ! "· Have we not here, in Moses, a model of intercessory vrayer? Men who can thus plead ll'ith God are the greatest heroes of the Church. We can imagine that some may• 0bjtct, and may seek to turn the edge of the truth, so that it makes no impression, by fillying, " Ah! but see what a great occasion that was! give us an occasion like that, :,.od maybe we should pray like that! It is folly to bring the acts of a man at O.· Jkriod of such intense excitement, and tell us that we ought to pray like that. W c :,.re told that we cannot live at boiling point; then, why adduce Moses, on such an occasion, as a sample of what we should do on ordinary occasions?" No, we do not always want boiling water, but what sort of water would that be which no amount or Leat ever could get lo boil? We do not and cannot expect to be always in the midst of ,·iolent crises. But who are the men who are to be relied on when the crises come? Where was Aaron now? What of him? 'l'hcre is no indication that he ever caught a giimpse of the tremendous cri;;il! he had helped to bring about! " There came out tl,i, calf! " How Moses could restrain himself at such words, we cannot imagine.· Cl!. lX, 1-20.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 171
Dut even if Aaron had not shown such uUer inability to perceive the seriousness of the moment, how could he now take any active part in vindicating the injured riaht 0 8 of God before the people, or in craving mercy for the people from God? Com plic 1 ty with evil means paralysis of power in speeding the right. If Aaron had not bad a brother to plead for him with God, he would have been swept away with the besom 0 { dr.strnction I He can talk well rather than stand firm. '!'here is a similar contrast here between Moses and Aaron, to that between Abraham and Lot. Abraham pleaded for the doomed city. Lot's aims in life had been too selfish for him to be a plearler. And wo fear there are some who, if their own dear land were brought to a. mighty crisis, would just read the daily papers to gratify curiosity, or to give them somethina to talk about, but as for taking the case of a nation on their hearts before God, they could do nothing of the kind I If they are succumbing to the evils of the day, they can have no strength in intercessory prayer, nor can they be of any use in national struggles. The Moses of Exod. xxxii. is the same self-forgetful Moses of Exod. ii. If men want to be the heroes of their age, let them try the power of intercessory prayer. Such heroism is of a kind the world cannot appreciate, but is recorded in Go<l'~ book of remembrance; "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels." Yers. 22, 23.-Taberah (see Homily on Numb. xi.). Massah (see Homily on Exo,I. xvii.). Kibroth-battaavah (see Homily on Numb. xi.). Kadesh-bamea (see Homily on eh. i. lll-40).