The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 287

YN~. _18-'!.0.-Impflrfinl _iu.dge~. We have here the election or judges or magis- trnt<'s laid d()wn as a duty. Jn the election they are to secure impnrtinl and incorruptible mPn. A bribe is not to be thought of by the judges-nor arc they to respect porsone, A no. hN<' let us notice- I. THAT ALL JUDGMENT AMONG MEN IS THE FORESHADOWING OF A DIVINE JUDGMEN'I AT THE LAST. " 7 e ii,·e under a moral Governor who has not yet delivered final .i11dgment upon his creatures. That final review of life is naturally expected from the imperfect jnstice of the world. Men in their judgments can at best only approximate to what will be tbe Di,·ine decision. II. GoD DDIA::---us IMPARTIAL JUDGES FROM HIS PEOPLE BEOAUSE HE IS THE IMPARTIAL JUDGE IIll\lSELF. The impartiality of God's administration will be vindicated at last. All seeming ,·iolations of the principle will be exhibited in their true light. For instance, God's plan of salvation is the very essence of impartiality, since it proposes to save men without regard to any personal consideration, as a matter of free grace alone. \Yhosoever takes exception to this is taking exception to the Divine impartiality. Again, in providence we shall doubtless find that, by a series of compensations and or drawbacks, each person's lot in life is impartially and graciously ordered. The "farnurites of fortune" find some drop of bitterness in their cup, and the sweetness is more apparent than real. III. MEN 1'"EED NOT TRY TO BRIBE Gon, HOWEVER THEY MAY SUCCEED WITH MEN. For although this may seem a strong way of putting it, it is nevertheless the attempt that sinners thoughtlessly make. For instance, when an anxious soul thinks that a certain amount of conviction of sin, a certain amount of penitence, a certain amount of frames and feelings, will secure acceptance and. peace, he is proposing to bribe God. It is as if an insane person tried to corrupt a judge on the bench by the present of a bundle of rags-" all our rightcousnesses are as filthy rags." God will take no bribe. He ";11 accept no man's person. Unless we give up the idea of personal claim and personal fitness for his reception of us, we cannot be accepted. IV. WE MAY EXPECT AN IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT AT THE LAST. It is Jesus who is to sit on the throne when the appeal cases from the injustice of earth to the justice of heaven arc hem-d. He knows our cases so thoroughly that he cannot, as he would -not, err. All wrongs shall then be righted; all unfair advantage taken shall then be con- demned. "Behold, the judge standeth at the door." Let us see to it that we learn of him impartiality, and men shall regard us as truly Godlike in our dealings with them !-H. M. E. Vers. I-8.-The Passover a memorial and a prophecy. In a singular and a miraculous manner, the national existence of the Hebrews had commenced. God had signally interposed as their Champion, in a way altogether unparalleled. Without question, it "as an event pregnant with vast issues to the history of mankind. Every opportunity "·as afforded Pharaoh to escape from destruction. 'l'he host of God, composed of natural forces and invisible powers, enclosed him gradually within narrower and narrower bounds, until the king himself was captured and destroyed. This was a conspicuous step in the development of the redemptive scheme. In that night of destruction the elect nation was born. l. EM.A....'\"CIPATION OF NATIONAL LIFE FROM BONDAOE IS 4 FIT SUBJECT FOR YEARLY coIDIBM0RATION. It is God's \\'ill that such commemoration should be observed, and be observed in a most religious spirit. The effect of such commemoration upon the minds of the people would be most beneficial. 'l'he nation is but a collection of units; and as every unit bad shared in the boon, so every unit Bhould partake in the acknow- ledgment. It is a sin when we forget our participation: in national blessings. Our 1,ious example will be a benign stimulus to others. IL GnATEFUL COMMEMORATION SHOULD PERPETUATE ALT, THE METHODS AND INCI- DENTS oF THE lJrvrnE DELIVERANCE. l. Life had to be sacrificed in order to obtain tltat redemption. It was, in the most proper sense, a redemption. 'l'hey had belonged to God; a usnrper bad despoiled God of bis right; hence, the people had to •be "bou 6Lt back." Natural agencies had been employed to soften Pharaoh's heart; but in vain. Nothing short of the death of the firstborn sufficed to procure deliverance. Therefore the commemoration of the event fitly included tho sacrifice of the lamb. cm. 1tv1. 1-22.J '1'1-tF: IlOOK OF DEUTERONOMY.