Ver. 2.-The abiding warning of the wilful, The narrative of Nadab and Abilrn which is here recalled is given in Lev. x. 1-5, 'l'he wording of the verse is taken from Numb. iii. 4. It is a story which we find it difficult to understand, Probably its explanation depends on e.n intimate acquaintance with the Jewish system, and the sentiments prevailing in those earlier times. Nade.b and Abibu bad been honoured with special privileges (see Exod, xxiv. 1, 9, 10); by reason of this they may havo become unduly exalted, and have been tempted by spiritual pride to imagine that they were not bound by ordinary rules in the discharge of the duties of the priest's office. Kitto gives a brief but suffici~nt sketch or the inciden;. "Among. th~ priestly servicee was that of offering the prec10us mcense upon tho golden altar wnhm the tabernacle, at the very time that the daily sacrifice was being consumed upon the brazen altar iu the court without. At the time the ritual service bad been inaugurated, the fire of the great altar was kindled from heaven; and it was me.de e.n ordinance that this holy fire should always be kept up and preserved, and that this, and this alone, was to be Us(•d in e.11 the sacred services. The priests who olJered incense had, therefore, to fill their censers with fire from the great altar when they went into the tabernacle to burn incense. It was in this matter that Nadab and Abihu sinned. Treating this ordinance •ITIE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES, [cH. x:uv. 1-31.
as ?f no importance, thinking to themselves th11.t common fire would bum their incense qmte as well as the other; or, perhaps, as there is reason to fear, havincr been led into a mistake, or neglect, by inebriety, they filled their censers with • stranre fire, unhallowed fire, not from the altar, and ventured to bring it into the tab:rnacle.'• Permanent instruction·may be drawn from this incident by regarding wilfulness as the very essence of these men's sin. When there we.s a distinct, definite, and well-known Divine command, it pleased them to act on the dictate of their own feeling. In view of that full loyalty to Christ, and daily waiting upon him for guidance and direction, which are necessary features of the Christian life, wilfulness is as perilous and as wicked in the modern dispensation as in the older. In setting forth this evil and its fatal influence, consider- !. \\' ILFULNESS AS A DISPOSITION OF CHARACTER. It is the bias left on humanity from our first father's fall. We see the signs of human depravity mainly in this-that men's ·wills are set against God's will, and have to be subdued to his obedience. This is true of man as an individual, and equally true of men when acting together in society or in the nation. But there are different degrees of wilfulness, and in some the self-will is a master-passion. Some measures of wilfulness in the common affairs of life ensure energy and mastery of circumstance; but it is wholly Ol!t of place in the religious spheres, where energy must depend on the spirit of service to Christ. II. WILFULNESS FINDING EXPRESSION IN ACTS, Illustrate from King Saul in his later and worse moods, or from Judas Iscariot., who, with views of his own, came to betray his very Lord. The apostle warns us concerning those who "will be rich, and so fall into temptation and a snare." Wilfulness expressed in acts brings us at once under Divine notice, because it then affects the comfort and well-being of others. Ill. WILFULNESS CORRUPTING THE WHOLE RELIGIOUS LIFE. It puts a wrong tone npon all the relations, and spoils the whole life by possessing it with the spirit of self. God the Spirit cannot rule the life, and self rule at the same time; and if it be self that really rules, then we are "dead while we live.'' Practically dead, because none of the "means of grace " can prove the soul's nourishment when wilfulness rules. IV. WILFULNESS BRINGING us UNDER DIVINE JUDGMENTB. Illustrated in the case of Nadab and .Abihu. Where wilfulness is but growing, Divine chastisements come for correction. Where wilfulness has gained full mastery, there must be Divine judgments, such as utterly crush down the pride. Exactly what Christianity proposes is the" conversion of self-will," and the bestow- ment of the spirit that worships, and follows wholly, the "sweet will" of God,-R. T.
Ver. 19.-.Ancient Divine rules preserved in modern adjustments. David fonnd it necessary to make alterations and adaptations when he reconstituted the worship for the new tabernacle and the anticipated temple, but in all his adaptations he anxiously preserved the Mosaic principles and the Mosaic order; thereby giving an important example of the spirit and the manner in which modern adjustments of permanent principles should be made. We must accept the fact of the changeableness of human life, thought, and forms of relationship and society. .Age differs from age. .A succeed- ing ai!:e will often strive to realize a contrast with the age preceding; it will prefer what it disliked, and put in the front what it had set in the background. We must take care that the changes are set under wise limitations, and the first of these is the fair and adequate representation, in the new scenes, of the old and permanent social, or moral, or religious principles. Some persons love change for change's sake; and such persons often put the best things in peril, and prevent the noblest schemes for human well-being from gaining an adequate trial. Others resist change as if it were wholly wrong and injurious; and such persons help to keep the yokes pressing on men's necks long after it is manifest how the neck has become galled and painful. .And many persons fail to take " change" at the hopeful time, and so they lose all the finest opportunities that life brings. These diversities of relation to necessary change may be illustrated in relation to human customs, to political history, to ecclesiastical order, and to Church doctrine. We are instructed not to" meddle with those who are given to change;" but we have a very proper admiration for such a man as the Apostle St. Paul, who, with far-seeing wisdom, discerned how Judaism was passing into the broader spiritual Christianity, and put himself forward as a leader in the change. Another fact on. xxv. 1-31.] 'l'RE FIR8T BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 395