nt large. They lee.d inovHnbly to the e.ssoci£1tion of thought with what is lowest in humnn nntme, re.thcr than with what is highest and best. And, unless renounced, these sins will drag the whole man after them, and make of him a. wreck and a ruin. Hence the terrific we.ruing of our Saviour in Matt. v. 29. Nothing will sooner becloud nnd denden the moral sense than indulgence in sensual sins. III. 'l'm: EVIL EFFECT OF BUCH BINS STOPS NOT WITH THE MAN HIMSELF'. With re<1ard to those whose good opinion and respect are most worth having, it is impossible for them to look on one who indulges in such sins otherwise than with profoundest pity and shame, nnd even with disgust I They see that one who by his sex is meant to be the guardian of woman's pmity, honour, and joy, is basely tampering with them all! Not even Jacob, though the tenderness of the old patriarch under such circumstances must have been at its height, could bring himself to pronounce a rich blessing even on his firstborn, whose life had been thus disfigured and disgraced. Reuben's whole family and tril;e shared in the stigme. of their father's sin; not as being guilly in like manner, bnt because the name of their sire could not henceforth be dissociated from the thought of base and treacherous lust. IV. NoR DOES THE ILL EFFECT OF STJCII SINS ExrIRE WITH THE GE:!IERATI0:-1 IN WHICII THEY WERE COMMITTED. The foul odour of Reuben's crime rises up before Moses. ''J'is not named indeed. But he has no blessing for his tribe of any richness or depth. "May he not become so weak as to be lost sight of altogether!" Such is the gist of it. 'l'he descendants of Jacob's first born were long, long under the gloomy shadow cast on them by the sins of their sire! There is nothing in this record of the Word of God which does not frequently find its counterpart in the generations of men now. Many, many there are who inherit some physical ill, some mental weakness, or some moral incapacity or obliquity, through a constitutional taint from sins long gone by I Learn-I. We know not whence, on the physical and moral side of our constitution, a mightier argument can be drawn for purity of life and manners, than from such a theme as that suggested by the text. If men have little care for themselves, let them at least guard against shading with sadness or marring with weakness the lives of those who may hereafter owe their existence to them. 2. Maybe some who may read these words may be disposed to say," If I may possibly be the possessor of an enfeebled constitution on account of some sins which preceded me, then how can I or any one judge of my measure of responsibility before God as to how far it is affected thereby?" We reply: (1) No living man can gauge exactly another's responsibility, or even his own; but God can. He does, and he makes all allowances that equity requires. He who is most just is most kind. (2) God invites every man to come to him through hiti Son Jesus Christ, that sin, as guilt, may be forgiven; and that, as disease, it may be cured. (3) Wherever God's invitation is accepted, his grace will cancel guilt and cure corruption; thus imparting health and soundness for the life that now is, and promising the life to come. (4) 'l'o this each one may well be urgerl, not only on the ground of his individual well-being, but also on the ground that the streams of purifying grace, cleansing his nature, may do much to check the onward flow of the poison he inherit~, and to help towards a sounrler life in those who shall follow him.
Ver. 7.-Tlie blessi'.ng of Judah; or, help needed to fulfil destiny. It cannot but suggest itself to the student to compare the blessing on Judah pronounced by Moses, with the renowned prophecy of Jacob concerning him and his tribe. That the ratriarch's words declared the future pre-eminence of that tribe is well known ; consequently, it could not be surprising to the other tribes to find precedence given to Judah in the order of encamping and of me.rching (cf. Nu.mb. ii. 1-4; x. 14). This thought of Judah's firstness gives its hue to the words uttered respecting him. They take the form of a prayer, which is at once the holy benediction of the dying leader, the pious breathing of the saint, and the prophetic fore-glance of the seer. It could not be n matter of doubt, that being in the front would involve not only eminence in honour, but also precedence in weight of responsibility; and in order to sustain arigb t great responsibility, there is need for an unusual supply of Divine strength. This it is which forms the contents of tho prayer. Jacob had said, "To him shall the gathering of the people be;" Moses pm}'.s, " Lord, fulfil t~at pr?diction, and (1) sustain him; so th"t he may be brnught to his people; (2) give hnn all the strength he 542 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [ea. xx.xm. 1-29,