1,otonce? Righteousness shall, sooner or later, be triumphant. All opposition to Jehovnh's will shall eventually be crushed out. He who created is ah\,, "!so to rlcst r,,y. For tho present his patient love provides other remedies; and if rcrne,!ial meo.surcs Cail, then fell destruction shall sweep into eternal darkness all opposition to his s111,re111c will. II. Trm ENDS 011' RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY BE ATTAINED BY PEACEABLE MEA");S IF ,IF.'! WILL BUllMIT TO GoD's TERMS. (Ver. 10.) Terms of peace were to be offrrecl liy th•! Hebrews in their wars with outlying nations. The main condition of peace an.I fricn,1- ship was tho relinquishment of idolatry. If men will fear and serve God, they shall live. 'l'o know God as our God is life eternal. If men will turn their backs upnn the sun, they must dwell in shadow; so if men will sever themselves from the S011rcc of life, they inevitably die. Not once, but often, does God offer to us reconciliation, blessing, peace. By every method of persuasion and entreaty the Father of our spiritd has endeavoured to win us to paths of ri~hteous obedience. His will is our sanctifica- tion; purity or perdition-here is the alternative! III. THE EXECUTORS OF JEHOVAII'S WILL SHAU, BE AMPLY REWARDED. "All tbe spoil thereof shalt thou take unto thyself" (vcr. 14). The harder the work, the more abundant shall be the reward. God's remuneration is ever ample and munificent. Most carefully does he weigh every hardship we endure for him. Our every tear Im puts into his bottle. Blind unbelief may co,.mt him an "austere Master," who requires irksome and painful work; but the man of filial temper will run on most dilliCLtlt trrands, and his language is uniformly this," I do always the things that plearn him;" '' They who suffer with their Lord now shall be glorified by-and-by together." IV. EXCESSIVE WICKEDNESS INVOLVES MEN IN COMPLETE DESTRUCTIO~. Terms of ,,eace were offered to less gnilty nations lying in Israel's vicinity, but for the inhabit- 1tnts of Canaan-such was their moral rottenness-there was no alternative but destruc- 1.ion. "'l'hou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth" (ver. 16). It is well for us to learn that there is a stage in our moral disease when the remedy of mercy ceases to take effect. It becomes "a savour of death unto death." "With the breath of his mouth shall he slay the wicked." When the heart has become identified with rebel- lion, when all feeling is averse frqm God, when total depravity has set in,-then God abandons the man to his inevitable doom. " Israel would have none of him, . . . so he gave them up to their own hearts' lust," This is man's blackest doom. Yet this is mercy for others. V, THE WORK OF DESTRUCTION SHOULD BE BLE1''DED WITH PRUDEX'l' KL,D~SS, In laying siege against a city, not an axe was to be laid upon any fruit tree. Here we have a sample of God's thoughtful and generous love for men! Whatever can minister to the need and comfort of his servants shall be secured to them. Though engaged in the awful work of destruction, he does not forget mercy; he is planning all the while for his servants' good. Though a. frown is upon his face, tenderest love is active within his heart. More careful is he for us than we are for ourselves. Not a want, however minute, is by him overlooked. The desolating flood is upon the earth, but an ark is provided for Noah. The rain of fire is consuming Sodom, but Lot is safe ill Zoar. "Even the hairs of your head are a.ll numbered."-D.
EXPOSITION. the la.ws in this chapter together, a.s well as OBA PTER XXI. connects them with the laws in the two EXPIATION OF UNCERTAIN MURDER. TREAT- preceding chapters. MENT 01!' A CAPTIVE TAKEN TO WIFE. Vers. 1-9.-If a body wus found lying RI<lBTS 011' THE FIRSTBORN, A REBELLIOUS, dead from a wound, and it was not known REFRACTORY SON TO BE JUDGED AND PUN• by whom the wound had been inflicted, the ISHED, A MALEFACTOR WHO HAS BEEN whole laud would be involved in the guilt IIANGED TO BE BUIIIED ERE NIGUTFALL, of the mw-der, unless it was duly expit\tccl One general idea, viz. the sacredness of as here directed. First, the eltlcrs unJ j11,lges human life and of pereounl rights, oouuects 1 (presumably of the ueigb bouriug towu:;; DEUTERONOMY, 7. 838 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [ell, XXI, 1-2a