Y ers. 1, 2.-..4.gainst conformity with heathen customs. Israel had been called to honourable privilege; therefore it was fitting there should be seemly conduct. Iloyal children should be royal in all their acts. I. IsuAEL's SPECIAL PRIVILEGE. They enjoyed a position superior to all the nations of the earth. 1. They were the objects of God's choice. Out of all the peoples and tribes which dwelt on this round globe, Israel had been selected for a noble purpose. ·we may not be able to divine the re:1Sou, for our knowledge is exceedingly small, Yet God, who does nothing unwisely, did in this matter the wisest thing. 2. They had been chosen to sonship. God bad revealed himself to these Hebrews in a special and endearing character. Had he not informed them of bis dispositions towards them and his loving interest in them, they would not have dared to call him Father, In special condescension he informed them that he would treat them, in all substantial respects, as a father doth his children. 3. They had been chosen to 'l'ighteous character. Dy Yirtue of this choice, they were on the high road to perfection. Their destiny was not secured irrespecti \'e of their own will and choice. They were now consecrated to the l)i,·ine scn·ice of Jeho,ah, and must perform holy actions, foster holy habits so as to accl'1irc a holy character. This is man's highest reward-a heaven within. ' 11. A SPECIFIC PROHIDITIO:S-. A. prohibition against self-mutilation. There were natural outlets for abundant grief-tears, sighs, and moans; these self-mutilations were unnatural and irrational. 1. Because inO'l'dinate sorrow for the death of f'l'iends is siuful. Moderate grief is allo"CVable: it is the necessary concomitant of strong affec- tion. But as we should enjoy every friend as a gift of God, so our"Sorrow at separation should be accompanied by filial submission. 2. Because such symbols of mourning were ,ften preteuccs. Frequently, if not usually, this manifest sorrow was assumed. "fwas mere trickery and falsehood. Such actions injured and deteriorated character. 3. Because e1Jen the body is the property of God. There is no part of his nature which the true hraelile docs not recognize as belonging to God. 'l'hroughout, he is Jehovah's temple. Ernry faculty of body, every organ and member, is to be utilized for God, is to be prescr"ed in health and vigour to do credit to Jehovah, "His Name is to be upon our foreheads." 4. Because this self-mutilation would be conformity with heathen customs. The practices connected with idol-worohip were dictated by a spirit of cruelty-by the genius of Satan. Far as the east is from the west, or north pole from the suuth, were the followers of God to withdraw from heathen practices. A.s sane men flee from 1iestilence, so should pious men avoid_ the neighbow-hood of sin.-D.
Vers. 3-21.-Discrimination in meats. The prohibition of some kinds of food proceeds upon the principle that it is not wise to gratify every appetite. 'l'here must Le denial somewhere. If every desire and lust of the body be indulged, injury will ensue to the nobler capacities of the soul. Pruning of the wild growths of carnal desire is essential to real fruitfulness. Divine restraints are acts of genuine kindness. Discrimination in animal food was based on true wisdom. I. BECAUSE IT WAS A SANITARY BENEFIT. In that early age, the sciences of physio- Joay and health were unknown, and even now they are in their earliest infancy. We ar~ however, now aware of the fact that some (at least) of the flesh prohibited to the Hehrews is more or less unwholesome. Nor is it improbable that in that Eastern climate some flesh i:s more unwholesome for food than in our own land.- A.s a father cares for the healLh of his child, so God cared for every part of Israel's well-being. Nuthing escapes God's attention. "The Lord is for the body." With infinite tendcr- ucss, God legislated for the meals of the Hebrews, and gave them the advantage of his unerring judgment. II. BECAUSE PARTIAL ABSTINENCE WAB SALUTARY FOi! THE SOUL. 1.. It taugltt them t/,at fleshly appetite was not to be gratified for its own sake--not for mere pleasure. Tu strengthen and broaden the desires of the mind is an advantage in itself; but, ei;.ccssive strength of bodily appetite is an evil, an injury to the 1·eal man, 'l'hc lesson requires to be early learnt, that our natw-e requires government, that our highest good can Le reached only by self-restraint and self-mortification. Bodily desires and OH, XIV, 1-20.J TilE BOOK or DEU'rERONOMY. 251