The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 449

JJ. TIE,ELATION TB NOT COEXTENSIVE WITH REALITY AND FACT. There is yet II, !'<'Alm 0f the unknown which God bas not disclosed to men. 'l'be class of "secret thin[!s" is in God's kC'cping. Such confidence have we in the benignity of the Most High. that rrc anticipate further revelations, yea, an unending series of disclosures; but the time and method of these gradual unveilings God has wisely reserved unto himself. One thing inspires a hope of increased knowledge: we have a Divine promiso that what we know not now we shall know hereafter. Compared with the unknown, tbo known is a speck, an atom, an alphabet only. The universe of knowledge is still beyond us, enticing our inquiry. III. RE,ELATION 1s A REsro:-;srnLE TRUST TO ITS rossEsson. The "things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever." So long as this revelation is quite external to us it cannot be said to be ours. To possess it, it must fill the understanding, move the affections, quicken the desires, cheer the conscience, mould the ?lrnracter.. T_hen only does it '.' belong to us_." Thus we arc to conserve it, viz. by a wise apprccmt10n and by practical use. It 1s to be handed down to our children intact; i.e. not the written scroll so much as the livina belief. We are so to prize and practise_ this revelation that 01;1r children shall see it is our precious treasure, our anchor m trouble, our pole-star Ill darkness, our daily chart and guide. H belonas to us; therefore as wise men we should use it, yea, extract from it all the advantaa~ we can. For the right improvement of the written Word we shall be counted respo;sible. ,, e "are stewards of the mysteries of God." IV. REVELATION IS MEASURED OUT FOB PRACTICAL USE. It is given to us "that we may do all the words of this Law." It possesses regal authority, for it is a" Law." In gi..-ing us this Law, God deals with us as with intelligent beings, capable of under- standing his will, capable of rendering him efficient service. There is no niggardliness in any of God's gifts. As soon as we have improved to the utmost our knowledge of God's will, we shall receive more. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord." Honest obedience enlarges the capacity of knowledge; it whets the appetite for higher spiritual acquisi- tion; it awakens expectation. 'J'o know God and his Son Jesus Christ, this is life; this is an ever-expanding life-life eternal.-D. ,ers. 1-9.-Time-defying habiliments. After the extensive list of curses to be recited amid the mountains, Moses proceeds to speak of the perfect providences of the pilgrimage as a loud call to obedience out of gratitude. He points out not only the miracles connecled with the Exodus, but also the arrangements of, as we should say, the commissariat. They harl not to manufacture bread, for the manna fell from heaven; they had not to carry with them wine or strong drink, for the pure water out of the smitten rock followed them all the way. Nor had they to concern themselves about clothing, for their clothes defied the march of time, and their shoes stood intact all the rou(Th journey of the wilderness. Vi7 e have only to consider what such an arrangement sav~d them, and how at the end of the forty years' march, instead of "ragged regi- meDts," they presented themselves in bright and impressive array, to conclude that this merciful care of their clothing as well as of themselves was a crowning experience of the wilderness. It has indeed been suggested that all here implied is a providential blessing upon their ordinary endeavours and barters with the surrounding tribes; 1 but we imagine there is much more in this reference to their time-defying garment11. We are led to speak again of the "peilosophy of clothes" (cf. eh. xxii. 5). I. THE PUIIP0SE OF' CL0TIIEB IS TO COl'ER OUR NAKEDNESS. This was shown in Eden, and as Carlyle says about his alter ego (Teufelsdriicld!), "The utility of clolhcs is altogctl,er r .•parent to him; nay, perhaps he has an insight into their more recon- dite and almost mystic qualities, what we might call the omnipotent virtue Qf clothes, such as was never before vouchsafed to any man . . . . Society, which the more I think of it astonishes me the more, is founded upon cloth." 1 And into this most proper purpose of hiding our nakedness, let us observe, the Lord entered in Eden and after- wards. Man is a spirit, but it is also evident that in this present world he was meant to wear cioihes and to conform to decency thereby. 1 Kitto'e 'Pictcrial Bible,' in l.ooo. 1 .' Sartor Resartll8,' pp. ll8, ll9. OIi. XXIX, 1-20.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 461