, ers. 6-25.- Watchwords fur the tribes. The blessings authoritatively pronounced by these old worthies amounted to watchwords for their future development. '!'hey were divinely suggested ideas regarding their future courses. We shall look at the it.leals thus presented in their order. I. THE UNOSTEKTATIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF REUBEN. Deposed from the primacy amoug the brethren, because of his self-indulgence, he is to content himself with pastoral progress amid the mountains of Moab. The blessing is a good one, quiet life and progress. IL THE SOVEB.EIG1'"l'Y THROUGH SUFFERING OF JUDAH. In ver. 7 we have clearly the regal strain. It is the struggle and the victory and the reign. 'l'he brunt of battle is to fall on Judah, and the sovereignty in the end. That it refers to Messiah ultimately is, we think, quite reasonable. Indeed, Kennicott regards ver. 5 as referring to the Messiah and not to Moses, and consistently therewith he would ba\·e the words" bring him to his people" to refer to the king, Shiloh, of Jut.lah's tribe. However this may be, we cau discern in this watchword of Judah the key-note of the Saviour's suffering, life. UL THE SELF-DENIAL AND DEVOTEDNESS OF LEVL The treasure of the oracle was to be with the Levites, and, in prosecuting the work of God, they were to show that they loved their Master more than even father or mother, sister or brother, sons or daughters. In prosecuting their ministerial work, they were to illustrate discipleship as a giving unto God the first place above the nearest and the dearest(cf. Luke xiv. 26). Moreover, in this holy work the sons of Levi shall need the Lord's bleHsing on their substance, since they lived by voluntary contributions, and the Lord's help against calamities. A special blessing is thus looked for in connection with special work, of a self-denying character. And the same is applicable to the ministry still. IV. 'l'HE SHADOW OF GoD FOB BENJAMIN. 'l'his powerful tribe waij to afford shelter to the central government and worship in the time of the monarchy. 'l'he Divine presence thus was specially to overshadow the descendants of Benjamin. As Joseph so teu<lerly overshadowed bis brother, so will the central government and worship his see<l. V. TIIE 6PLEi-DID SUCCESS AND PROWESS OF JOSEPH. All the fatness of the earth and the lavour of God aud the power to push successfully their way against all opposing forces are to belong to Ephraim and to .M:auas~eh. From Joppa unto Carmel, on tho sea OU, XXXIII, 1-20,] THE IlOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. !iG7
ac~oes to the pnstures ~f Gil~ad, the two half-tribes ~ere destined to hold sway, and t,, enJoy all the wealth this oncirclerl. It was the magmficent central province of Samnri:i, with any amount of pasture-land beyond the Jordan. VI. 'l'nE moIIWA Y OF ZEDULUN. It~ outlets are to be peculiarly important, as we know they proved between the Great Sea and the sea of 'l'iberias. Throuah Zebu 11111 the trnmc passed from the great Eastern king<loms, 'l'heir situation, ~ercantilcly regarded, was superb. VII. '1'1m CONFIDENCE AND CONSOLIDATION OF JssACHAR. Settled beside Zebulun with a series of mountain fastnesses behind, and Esdraelon's plain down to the san,l; of the Mediterranean as their coast, the children of Issachar were to feel settled and secure in their tents. '!'be mountain tracts will nurse the piety of the people, while the sen shall yield its abundance, and the sand become a source of treasure. No better home could be found for a trading, manufacturing people. Vil!. 'l'HE VANTAOE·OUOUND OF GAD. This tribe is represented as hemmed in like a lion at bay, and thus compelled to take a prominent part in critical affairs. Lyino- betwcen the mountains and the Jordan, it became the battle-ground of the monarchy~ and at Ramoth-Gilead and Mahanaim important issues were decided. The watchword was vigilance, because of the vantage-ground. IX. TlIE COURAGE OF DAN. He is represented as a lion's whelp, full of courno-c, though small in size. Leaping from Ilashan, he mad~ his lair northwards, but e~er ready to shift to better quarters if he heard of them. He found a lair too at the sea, in the borders of Philistia. X. EABY-GOING NAPHTALI. This tribe is represented as taking a south-west location after the northernmost Danites, and as rejoicing there in the manifold goodness of Go,1. XI. BLESSED BY NAME AND NATURE A3 ASHER. This tribe is to be blessed, as the very name implies, in domestic relations, in fraternal relationR, in the olive-yards yielding such magnificent oil, and in the iron and brass with which, instead of the ordinary wooden bars, they could protect themselves. To this tribe was given the oft- quoted promise, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." They were to have" strength proportioned to their work." It does not appear why to Simeon no blessing is assigned; and yet it is noticeable that this tribe playea but a small part in the drama of Israelitish history.-R. M. E.