of eh. iii. But it, remains to notice other interesting and important aBpects of the con ten ls of this chapter. As soon as these are exhibited in such a m1mner as to mnke their rclatfrc importance apparent, they <lo indeed become of marked interest, I. First, and no doubt first in importance, we read of the great ALTAR OF BRABB. The contents of the temple begin from this. The 3acrijice is the great feature; nay, the gr<'nt fact of worship on the part of the Chmch on earth. Dy this early forecast of prophecy; by the earlier of the tabernacle; by the much earlier of the p11triarchs' house and family; by one earlier even than that-by the earliest of all, just outside the gar<len of Eden, and "eastward" of it, and in the presence of "cherubim" and "flaming sword" there,-the sacrijfoe is what Scripture brings prominently to our view. Take note also of the" golden altar" (ver. 19). Well may it be that, though in every corruptest form of religion, no heathen tribe that emerges to view in our wide fields of missionary enterprise needs to be taught one thing, viz. the place of "sacrifice and offeriwi:" in reli)!ion, the call for it, the efficacy of it. Can we deny, aU charity granted, that the lesson all this teaches nothing short of blindness can fail to see and acknowledge! ll. We notice that, second in order, comes the great BEA OF MOLTEN BRASS, with its symbolic lily-flower ornamentation. The use of the "molten sea" is expressly stated. That use reminds us primarily of the need on the part of the priests of old, and of those of modern day, who in even a more real sense take their place, of all cleanness of hand of deed, of word, of thought, of conscience; furthermore, of the perpetually recurring need of the cleansing and renewing of their spirit; and of this most solemn thought, that even in their holiest work impurity and defilement may be first contracted, and most disastrously. .And then, by all most just and certain of inference, it reminds all believers, all servants of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, all saints and faithful, of their perpetual need of such purification as consists of self-examining and self-watching together with the direct and only all-sufficing sanctification of the Holy Ghost. III. We notice, third in order, the TEN LAVERB. These, for the washing of the victims and sacrificial offerings themselves, remind ue what pure offerings and genuine sacrifices all that we bring to God should be; broken and contrite hearts, simplest motives, genuine affections, and the outward objective gifts we bring, not merely ungrudged, but-best proof of the same--of our best, of what may have cost us self- denial, some preparation, some honest labour to make them a little less unworthy of the Master's work. To bring the blemished, to bring what we can so utterly dispense with, that we either do not know it is gone, or are glad to know it, is, in pie.in words, to bring polluted offerings. IV. We find, next in order, the TEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS, each probably of seven- fold lamps. They were for actual light. They were typical of that yet mor? actual spiritual light that must ever be present in the ·true Church, must ever be witnessed to by it, and which must ever be shed forth from the true Church. We are not to forget that these, too, were made from the pattern shown in the mount. And the various and beautiful Scripture references to them are most animating to think of (see, for instance, Zech. iv. 1-3, 11-14; Rev. i. 12, 13, 20; ii. 1; xi. 3-5), V. We have next TIIE TEN TABLES on which was placed the; shewbread, which lay there one week, and was after that to be eaten by the priests alone. Though it is not distinctly revealed what the twelve loaves of shewbread intended, the very mystery left banging about it enhances our interest in it, since high importance is repeatedly attached to the mention of it. It must justly be regarded as an ordinance; it must surely typify nourishment, and that not the mere nourishment of the bo~y, but of very spiritual life. It was the shewbread, i.e. of God; the presence-bread, i.e. of God. Was it not one perpetual standing type of the Bread of life-the Bread that was to come down from heaven for the life of the world? And after these five leading declarations of the contents of the temple, and the preparation of them, there follow descriptions of several lesser ones, all beautiful, all pure and costly in their material, each with its distinct tributary service and use. Distinct attention may be invited to the seventeenth verse, specifying the place where King Hiram cast the precious metal vessels, and the pillars, etc. It must not be ea.id that this statement may not be important, and may serve merely some perhaps evidential use at some time or another, in corroborating the general contents of this holy history. on. 1v. 1-22.J THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES 47
Yot, if it be so, tho mere suggestions it inevitably excites are worth giving some oxprossion to. The moral suggestions of the clay ground and thickened clay, by help of which and in which the finest vessels, e.nd most enduring monuments of metal were cast and fashioned, e.ro fruitful. They may recall to us the very mould original of t.hnt body into which the Almighty breathed the breath of life, and countless instances in the history of the individual and of the Church, when the Master-Potter has indeed shown his sovereign power and unchallengeable right over the clay. Out of it, what vessels of grace and beauty and enduringness has not he fashioned! by aid of it, and all its humiliation, whe.t grand results to character, discipline, and sanctification, has not he brought about I e.nd-not the least encouragement to our faith and patience in trial, in affliction, in the horrible pit and miry clay-how has the very contrast astonished and delighted the beholding Church and world, between the methods used and the Divine results obtained! But the humble sufferer himself has been not a mero admiring beholder. His tears have been turned into smiles and joy; and even on earth he has learnt how the "suffering" has been outweighed beyond all estimate by gain, advantage, and that which he best knows to be the earnest of a certain "eternal weight of glory.n