I. THE SUPPORT OF THE PRIESTS WAS CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH THE FAITHFUL DISCHARGE OF THEIR OFFICE. They were provided for in the very act of carrying out their priestly duties. Forsaking the appointed service of God at his altar, they found themselves forsaken of his providence. He might have continued for them some miraculous provision by manna or otherwise, if such a course had seemed fitting; but he rather arranged it that in faithful waiting upon the altar their support should come from day to day. Faithfulness was required of them, first of all, in keeping the people instructed and reminded as to all the offerings required. An omitted offering might mean an impoverished priest. Faithfulness also was required in being continually at the altar. It was the appointed place for the people to give and for the priest to receive. There was no call for him to go on mendicant expeditions round the land, or lean upon the suggestions of his own prudence in order to make sure of daily bread. When he went to the altar it was as to a table provided by rite Lord himself. So when God manifestly calls any of us to special service, our very faithfulness in the service will bring a sufficient supply for all our need. If we leave the path of duty we leave the path of Providence. II. THIS MODE OF PROVISION TENDED TO BIND PRIESTS AND PEOPLE CLOSER TOGETHER. The priest, while in some respects separated from the people by an impassable harrier, was in others united by an indissoluble bond. Standing before them as an anointed one, with awful and peculiar powers, treading unharmed where the first footstep of a common Israelite would have wrought instant death, he nevertheless appeared at the same time dependent for his bodily sustenance on the regular offerings of the people. Thus the priest was manifested as one of themselves. There was everything in this remarkable mingling of relations to keep the people from presumption and the priest from pride. Their dependence on him was not more manifest than his dependence on them. Thus, also, we observe in many and touching ways how dependent our Saviour was on those whom he came to save. He threw himself, as no one ever before or since, on the hospitality of the world, manifesting that there were real needs of his humanity which he looked even to sinful men to supply. And may we not well suppose that even in his glory Jesus is not only a giver to men, but a receiver from them? May it not be that by our fidelity and diligence in respect of the living sacrifice we are ministering a very real satisfaction to the glorified Jesus? III. As this provision required faithfulness in the discharge of duty, so also it required FAITH IN GOD. If he had said he would provide manna or some direct miraculous gift, such an intimation would have been easier to receive than the one actually made. That which has to come to us indirectly, gives occasion for a greater trial of faith than what has to come directly. The food of these priests was to flow through a circuitous and, to judge by late experience, not very promising channel. Had not these very people, whose offerings were to support the priests, only lately shown their contempt for Aaron and unbelief as to the reality of his office? How then should they be the channels of God's providence? Thus the opportunity for faith comes in. Looking towards man, all is unlikely; looking through man to God, all appears certain and regular. God will make his own channels, in places we think unlikely, for those who put their trust in him. He knew that, stubborn and unsympathetic as the people now were, yet the day would come when their offerings might be looked for with a reasonable confidence. We are very poor judges by ourselves of what is likely or unlikely. The Divine arrangements, perplexing as they may appear on the surface, have in all cases a basis of knowledge and power which it is our wisdom humbly and gratefully to accept. IV. This provision EVIDENTLY GUARDED AGAINST ANYTHING LIKE EXTORTION. The people themselves knew exactly how the priests were to be provided for. And this was no small matter, seeing that in course of time the holy priesthood became in the hands of arrogant and grasping men an occasion for priestcraft. Priests learned only too soon the power of an ipse dixit over superstitious and timid minds. But God does not allow the authority of an ipse dixit to any but himself. The priest was bound by a written and definite commandment which lay open to the perception of every one who had to do with him. All these offerings, of which he had a certain part, were to be presented in any ease. They were not presented in order that he might be provided for, but, being presented, they gave occasion sufficiently to provide for him. The people were to feel that he was being supported by a reasonable service. V. THERE WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO GIVE IN A RIGHT SPIRIT. If any one had a grudging and fault-finding disposition there was certainly opportunity for him to exercise it. He could say, not without plausibility in the ears of like-minded men, that the priests were managing things very cleverly, so as to be provided for at the public expense. Misrepresentation is not a very difficult thing to achieve if certain considerations, and these alone, are brought into view. God's appointments for the support of the priesthood: were a standing trial of the people's views with respect to it. Misrepresentations cannot be escaped, but woe to those who, without troubling fully and honestly to understand the thing of which they speak, are the authors of misrepresentations. The priesthood itself was a Divine, a necessary, and a beneficial institution, and every devout Israelite would count it a joy to support it, even though particular holders of the office might be very unworthy men. We must honour and support every Divine appointment, and that all the more if the persons appointed show themselves insensible to the duties laid upon them. - Y.
On the morrow all the congregation... murmured. I. A NEW REBELLION RAISED THE VERY NEXT DAY AGAINST MOSES AND AARON. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and wonder, O earth! Was there ever such an instance of the incurable corruption of sinners! (ver. 41). On the morrow the body of the people mutinied —1. Though they were but newly terrified by the sight of the punishment of the rebels. Warnings slighted. 2. Though they were but newly saved from sharing in the same punishment, and the survivors were as brands plucked out of the burning, yet they fly in the face of Moses and Aaron, to whose intercession they owed their preservation. II. GOD'S SPEEDY APPEARING AGAINST THE REBELS. When they were gathered against Moses and Aaron, perhaps with design to depose or murder them, they looked towards the tabernacle, as if their misgiving consciences expected some frowns from thence; and behold the glory of the Lord appeared (ver. 42) for the protection of His servants, and confusion of His and their accusers. Moses and Aaron thereupon came before the tabernacle, partly for their own safety; there they took sanctuary from the strife of tongues (Psalm 37:5; Psalm 31:20), and partly for advice, to know what was the mind of God upon this occasion (ver. 43). Justice hereupon declares, They deserve to be consumed in a moment (ver. 45). Why should they live another day who hate to be reformed, and whose rebellions are their daily practices? Let just vengeance take place and do its work, and the trouble with them will soon be over; only Moses and Aaron must first be secured. III. THE INTERCESSION WHICH MOSES AND AARON MADE FOR THEM. Though they had as much reason, one would think, as Elias had, to make intercession against Israel (Romans 11:7), yet they forgive and forget the indignities offered them, and are the best friends their enemies have. 1. They both fell on their faces, humbly to intercede with God for mercy, knowing how great their provocation was. This they had done several times before upon the like occasion; and though the people had basely requited them for it, yet God having graciously accepted them, they still have recourse to the same method. This is praying always. 2. Moses perceiving that the plague was begun in the congregation of the rebels, i.e., that body of them which was gathered together against Moses, sends Aaron by an act of his priestly office to make atonement for them (ver. 46). And Aaron readily went, burnt incense between the living and the dead, not to purify the infected air, but to pacify an offended God, and so stayed the progress of the judgment (ver. 47). IV. THE RESULT AND ISSUE OF THE WHOLE MATTER. 1. God's justice was glorified in the death of some. Great execution the sword of the Lord did in a very little time. Though Aaron made all the haste he could, yet before he could reach his post of service there were fourteen thousand seven hundred men laid dead upon the spot (ver. 49). Note, those that quarrel with lesser judgments prepare greater for themselves; for when God judgeth He will overcome. 2. His mercy was glorified in the preservation of the rest. God showed them what He could do by His power, and what He might do in justice, but then showed them what He could do in His love and pity. He would preserve them a people to Himself for all this, in and by a Mediator. The cloud of Aaron's incense coming from his hand stayed the plague. Note, it is much for the glory of God's goodness that many a time, even in wrath, He remembers mercy; and even when judgments have been begun, prayer has put a stop to them, so ready is He to forgive, and so little pleasure doth He take in the death of sinners. ( Matthew Henry, D. D..) 1. Terrible disregard of Divine warnings. 2. Base ingratitude to Moses and Aaron. 3. Profane characterisation of the wicked as the people of God. II. THE SPEEDY INTERPOSITION OF JEHOVAH. 1. The manifestation of His glory. 2. The declaration of the desert of the rebels. III. THE EFFECTUAL INTERCESSION OF MOSES AND AARON. 1. The kindness of Moses and Aaron. Their conduct reminds us of Him who prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 2. The courage of Aaron. He feared neither the excited people who were embittered against him, nor the pestilence which was smiting down the people by thousands, but "ran into the midst of the congregation," &c. 3. The zeal of Aaron. He was now an old man, yet he "ran into the midst," &c. An example for Christian ministers. 4. The success of Aaron. "The plague was stayed." How great is the power of prayer! IV. THE EXERCISE OF THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD. 1. Here is an impressive display of Divine justice. Many slain. 2. Here is an encouraging manifestation of Divine mercy. Some spared.Conclusion: Learn — 1. The heinousness of sin. 2. The great value of a faithful ministry. 3. The readiness of God to forgive sin. (W. Jones.) Make an atonement for them. I. THERE IS AN AWFUL CONTROVERSY BETWEEN A HOLY GOD AND A REBELLIOUS WORLD. Our sin resembles theirs in many aspects, and has the same aggravations.1. As it directly strikes against the authority and the grace of God, whatever be the form it assumes. 2. As it is often committed in the face of frequent and awful warnings. 3. As it is heightened by the experience of God's preserving and upholding mercy. II. THERE IS AT HAND A PRESCRIBED AND DIVINELY APPROVED REMEDY. 1. That our only escape from threatened wrath is through the mediation and advocacy of our High Priest. 2. That the plan of salvation by faith is as efficacious in reality as it is simple in its mode of application. 3. That an immediate application to it is our only protection against certain ruin. "Go quickly." (S. Thodey.) I. AN AWFUL SPECTACLE EXHIBITED. When private prayer is a task, and the minor moralities of life begin to be disregarded, there are fearful symptoms of decay and declension. "The plague is begun."II. THE SURPRISING REMEDY FOUND. "Take a censer," &c. Where is the physician who would have recommended this as a cure for the plague? Who would have thought that the appearance of a single priest amidst the dying and the dead should have stopped the progress of the pestilence? Yet the incense and the fire and the oblation accomplish that for Israel which all the wisdom of the Egyptians could never have achieved. Who does not, in like manner, rebel against God's appointed method of pardon? or question the mysterious virtue of Christ's atoning blood, and doubt the efficacy of faith, repentance, and prayer? III. A PRACTICAL APPLICATION DEMANDED. 1. What infinite solemnity attaches to all the offices of religion! Death and life are involved. The two hundred and fifty men that offered incense perished: their spirit was bad. What if we bring strange fire! Aaron's offering saves life. If awful to preach, so also to hear. 2. How dreadful if the plague be in the heart, and we, unconscious of danger, neglect the remedy! "Examine yourselves." 3. What need ministers have for the prayers and sympathies of their people! 4. Rejoice in the absolute sufficiency of salvation applied by the Spirit. (S. Thodey.) I. THE WILLINGNESS OF AARON TO INTERCEDE.1. Regardless of the plague. 2. Regardless of the people's enmity. II. THE NATURE OF AARON'S INTERCESSION. III. THE SUCCESS OF AARON'S INTERCESSION. Conclusion: 1. Let us tremble at the wrath of an offended God. 2. Let us rejoice in the intercession of our Great High Priest. (J. D. Lane, M. A.) I. THE EVIL.II. THE PUNISHMENT. 1. Divine. 2. By the plague. (1) (2) (3) III. THE REMEDY. 1. In itself, not apparently adapted. 2. Connected with pious intercession. 3. Intercession grounded on sacrifice. 4. Efficient. (1) (2) 1. The extreme evil of sin. 2. The riches of the grace of God. 3. The immediate duty of the sinner — to call earnestly on the Lord. (J. Burns, D. D.) 1. The sin of the Israelites was rebellion against God. 2. The terrible visitation. II. THE ATONEMENT, AND ITS SUCCESS. 1. A significant act. (1) (2) (3) 2. The completeness of His atonement. II. THE SPECIAL LESSONS TO BE DERIVED FROM HENCE. 1. The faithful minister of God's Word dares not withhold the instruction to be derived from it concerning the terrible judgments which ungodly men bring on themselves by continuing in sin against a just and holy God. 2. If the judgment against sin is so terrible to contemplate, how much need have we to accept God's own way of deliverance! (E. Auriol, M. A.) I. First, look at Aaron as the LOVER of the people. See in Aaron the lover of Israel; in Jesus the lover of His people. Aaron deserves to be very highly praised for his patriotic affection for a people who were the most rebellious that ever grieved the heart of a good man. You must remember that in this case he was the aggrieved party. Is not this the very picture of our Lord Jesus? Had not sin dishonoured Him? Was He not the Eternal God, and did not sin therefore conspire against Him as well as against the Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit? Was He not, I say, the one against whom the nations of the earth stood up and said, "Let us break His bands asunder, and cast His cords from us"? Yet He, our Jesus, laying aside all thought of avenging Himself, becomes the Saviour of His people. Well, you note again, that Aaron in thus coming forward as the deliverer and lover of his people, must have remembered that he was abhorred by this very people. They were seeking his blood; they were desiring to put him and Moses to death, and yet, all thoughtless of danger, he snatches up his censer and runs into their midst with a Divine enthusiasm in his heart. He might have stood back, and said, "No, they will slay me if I go into their ranks; furious as they are, they will charge this new death upon me and lay me low." But he never considers it. Into the midst of the crowd he boldly springs. Most blessed Jesus, Thou mightest not only think thus, but indeed Thou didst feel it to be true. Thou wast willing to die a martyr, that Thou mightest be made a sacrifice for those by whom Thy blood was spilt. You will see the love and kindness of Aaron if you look again; Aaron might have said, "But the Lord will surely destroy me also with the people; if I go where the shafts of death are flying they will reach me." He never thinks of it; he exposes his own person in the very forefront of the destroying one. Oh, Thou glorious High Priest of our profession, Thou mightest not only have feared this which Aaron might have dreaded, but Thou didst actually endure the plague of God; for when Thou didst come among the people to save them from Jehovah's wrath, Jehovah's wrath fell upon Thee. The sheep escaped, but by "His life and blood the Shepherd pays, a ransom for the flock." Oh, Thou lover of thy Church, immortal honours be unto Thee! Aaron deserves to be beloved by the tribes of Israel, because he stood in the gap and exposed himself for their sins; but Thou, most mighty Saviour, Thou shalt have eternal songs, because, forgetful of Thyself, Thou didst bleed and die, that man might be saved! I would again draw your attention to that other thought that Aaron as a lover of the people of Israel deserves much commendation, from the fact that it is expressly said, he ran into the host. That little fact of his running is highly significant, for it shows the greatness and swiftness of the Divine impulse of love that was within. Ah! and was it not so with Christ? Did He not baste to be our Saviour? Were not His delights with the sons of men? Did He not often say, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished"? His dying for us was not a thing which He dreaded. "With desire have I desired to eat this passover." II. Now view Aaron as THE GREAT PROPITIATOR. Wrath had gone out from God against the people on account of their sin, and it is God's law that His wrath shall never stay unless a propitiation be offered. The incense which Aaron carried in his hand was the propitiation before God, from the fact that God saw in that perfume the type of that richer offering which our Great High Priest is this very day offering before the throne. Aaron as the propitiator is to be looked at first as bearing in his censer that which was necessary for the propitiation. He did not come empty-handed. Even though God's high priest, he must take the censer; he must fill it with the ordained incense, made with the ordained materials; and then he must light it with the sacred fire from off the altar, and with that alone. Behold, then, Christ Jesus as the propitiator for His people. He stands this day before God with His censer smoking up towards heaven. Behold the Great High Priest! See Him this day with His pierced hands, and head that once was crowned with thorns. Mark how the marvellous smoke of His merits goeth up for ever and ever before the eternal throne. 'Tis He, 'tis He alone, who puts away the sins of His people. His incense, as we know, consists first of all of His positive obedience to the Divine law. He kept His Father's commands; He did everything that man should have done; He kept to the full the whole law of God, and made it honourable. Then mixed with this is His blood — an equally rich and precious ingredient. The blood of His very heart — mixed together with His merits — these make up the incense — an incense incomparable — an incense surpassing all others. Besides that, it was not enough for Aaron to have the proper incense. Korah might have that too, and he might have the censer also. That would not suffice — he must be the ordained priest; for mark, two hundred and fifty men fell in doing the act which Aaron did. Aaron's act saved others; their act destroyed themselves. So Jesus, the propitiator, is to be looked upon as the ordained one — called of God as was Aaron. But let us note once more in considering Aaron as the great propitiator, that we must look upon him as being ready for his work. He was ready with his incense, and ran to the work at the moment the plague broke out. The people were ready to perish and he was ready to save. Jesus Christ stands ready to save thee now; there is no need of preparation; He hath slain the victim; He hath offered the sacrifice; He hath filled the censer; He hath put to it the glowing coals. His breastplate is on His breast; His mitre is on His head; He is ready to save thee now. Trust Him, and thou shalt not find need for delay, III. Now view Aaron as THE INTERPOSER. Let me explain what I mean. As the old Westminster Annotations say upon this passage, "The plague was moving among the people as the fire moveth along a field of corn." There it came; it began in the extremity; the faces of men grew pale, and swiftly on, on it came, and in vast heaps they fell, till some fourteen thousand had been destroyed, Aaron wisely puts himself just in the pathway of the plague. It came on, cutting down all before it, and there stood Aaron the interposer with arms outstretched and censer swinging towards heaven, interposing himself between the darts of death and the people. Just so was it with Christ. Wrath had gone out against us. The law was about to smite us; the whole human race must be destroyed. Christ stands in the forefront of the battle. "The stripes must fall on Me!" He cries; "the arrows shall find a target in My breast. On me, Jehovah, let Thy vengeance fall." And He receives that vengeance, and afterwards upspringing from the grave He waves the censer full of the merit of His blood, and bids this wrath and fury stand back. IV. Now view Aaron as THE SAVIOUR. It was Aaron, Aaron's censer, that saved the lives of that great multitude. If he had not prayed the plague had not stayed, and the Lord would have consumed the whole company in a moment. As it was, you perceive there were some fourteen thousand and seven hundred that died before the Lord. The plague had begun its dreadful work, and only Aaron could stay it. And now I want you to notice with regard to Aaron, that Aaron, and especially the Lord Jesus, must be looked upon as a gracious Saviour. It was nothing but love that moved Aaron to wave his censer. The people could not demand it of him. Had they not brought a false accusation against him? And yet he saves them. It must have been love and nothing but love. Say, was there anything in the voices of that infuriated multitude which could have moved Aaron to stay the plague from before them? Nothing! nothing in their character! nothing in their looks! nothing in their treatment of God's High Priest! and yet he graciously stands in the breach, and saves them from the devouring judgment of God! If Christ hath saved us He is a gracious Saviour indeed. And then, again, Aaron was an unaided saviour. He stands alone, alone, alone! and herein was he a great type of Christ who could say, "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Me." Do not think, then, that when Christ prevails with God, it is because of any of your prayers, or tears, or good works. He never puts your tears and prayers into His censer. They would mar the incense. There is nothing but His own prayers, and His own tears, and His own merits there. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Nor doth He need a helper; "He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." "He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him." He was, then, you will perceive, a gracious Saviour, and an unaided one; and, once more, Aaron as a saviour was all-sufficient. Trust thou thy soul with Christ, and thy sins are at once forgiven, at once blotted out. V. Aaron as THE DIVIDER — the picture of Christ. Aaron the anointed one stands here; on that side is death, on this side life; the boundary between life and death is that one man. Where his incense smokes the air is purified, where it smokes not the plague reigns with unmitigated fury. There are two sorts of people here this morning, and these are the living and the dead, the pardoned, the unpardoned, the saved, and the lost. A man in Christ is a Christian; a man out of Christ is dead in trespasses and sins. "He that believeth on the Lord Jesus Christ is saved, he that believeth not is lost." Christ is the only divider between His people and the world. On which side, then, art thou to-day? ( C. H. Spurgeon.) 1. This offence involved in it an overlooking of God's providence; at all events, a refusing to acknowledge it. God will not allow us to say for ever, "Accident brought this evil on me, chance this disease, a casualty this bereavement, the injustice or treachery of my fellow-man this loss and poverty." Either by His Spirit, or by His providence, or by both, God will drive this atheism out of us. He will force us to say, "It is the Lord. He is in this place, and I knew it not. Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." 2. The murmuring of these sinners included in it also a daring censure of God's ways. Whatever God does bears the impress of God. In some way or other it manifests His perfections, and consequently is calculated to bring honour to His name. Now a mind in a right state praises Him for every work of His hands; and it does so on account of the traces of His glory it either discovers in that work, or, though hidden, believes to be there. Indeed, this is God's great design in all His doings, to draw forth praise from His creatures by revealing to them His excellencies, and thus to surround Himself with a delighted and adoring universe. It follows, then, that to censure any of God's ways is, as far as in us lies, to frustrate the object at which God aims in these ways; to rob Him of His honour, and worse than this — to asperse His character and vindicate His enemies. And of this offence these Israelites were guilty. 3. There was yet a third evil comprehended in the murmuring of these Israelites; and this was a contempt of God's warnings. Millions of our race have already perished; the destroying angel is hastening to cut down millions more. The world some of us deem so fair and happy is nothing better than the camp of Israel — a scene of mercy, it is true, but yet a scene of misery, terror, and death. How anxious, then, should we be to look around for a deliverer! Blessed be God, there is One near. This history speaks of Him. II. Consider now THE CESSATION OF THE PESTILENCE. 1. It was effected by one who might have been supposed least likely to interfere for such a purpose. Can we fail to discover here the great High Priest of God's guilty church, the despised and rejected Jesus? Aaron was a type of Him. 2. The cessation of this plague was attended with a display of the most self-denying and ardent love. 3. The cessation of this plague was brought about by means that seemed altogether inadequate, that appeared, in fact, to have no connection at all with the end proposed. (C. Bradley, M. A.) 2. The means adopted to arrest its devastating progress. Mediation. 3. The feelings of gratitude which the removal of the plague must have inspired. (W. C. Le Breton, M. A.) (J. Slade, M. A.) (T. De Witt Talmage.) (Bp. Horne.). 1. An end hereby put to murmuring. By an incontrovertible sign they knew who was the true priest. 2. A preventative furnished against future rebellion. Miracles apt to be forgotten; of this the evidence was to be preserved. Kept for a token. II. SUGGESTIVE TO CHRISTIANS. Every man has some rod on which he leans. The Christian's is faith. Like Aaron's rod, faith flourishes — 1. Most in the sanctuary. There are strengthening influences, and a Divine power. It will become a barren stock elsewhere. 2. Under circumstances in which other rods cannot live. The almond flourishes even before the winter is fully past. Faith budding in adversity. 3. Produces fruit and flowers on the bare stock of adversity. 4. Bears fruit speedily when God causes His blessing to rest upon it. "Believe and be saved." 5. Stirs the Christian up to vigilance. Almond-tree a symbol of watchfulness. III. TYPICAL OF CHRIST. 1. For it is perpetual. Aaron's rod laid up as a lasting remembrance. 2. It bore fruit on a barren stock. Jesus, a root out of a dry ground. 3. It was distinguished among the sceptres of the princes. Christ's kingdom and sceptre rule over all. He is a plant of renown. 4. It was the object of special favour. So in Jesus, He "was well pleased." He was "elect and precious." IV. SYMBOLICAL OF A TRUE TEACHER. 1. His home the house of God. 2. Presents himself constantly before the testimony. 3. In himself dry and barren. 4. Relies upon God for fruitfulness. 5. Produces by Divine help not flowers only, but fruit also. 6. As a dry and lifeless stock he receives quickening power from God; so with his flowers and fruit he presents himself before God, and offers all his works to Him.Learn — 1. The wisdom of God in choice of methods. 2. To seek a strong and living and practical faith. 3. To rejoice in and rely upon the perpetual high priesthood of Christ. 4. To endeavour, like the almond-tree, to bring forth fruit early. (J. C. Gray.) ! we perish! we all perish!" But beyond the age wherein the marvel occurred, this putting vegetable life into that dry staff has frequently been borrowed and used for other objects. Thus Achilles, in classic poetry, when enraged against Agamemnon, is made by Homer to refer to this miracle: — "But hearken! I shall swear a solemn oath By this same sceptre, which shall never bud, Nor boughs bring forth, as once ; which, having left Its stock on the high mountains at what time The woodman's axe lopt off its foliage green And stript its bark, shall never grow again :- By this I swear!" And amongst Latin literature you will, some of you, remember that a certain king confirms a covenant with AEneas by a similar oath. I. We begin by reminding you that AMONG THE GREATEST OF OUR BLESSINGS IN THIS WORLD IS OUR STRICT OBLIGATION TO DO THE DIVINE WILL AND TO KEEP THE DIVINE LAW. It is far more worth our while to sing of God's statutes than it is to sing of God's promises. Where should we be in a country without human authority, and a human authority founded on a reverence for the Divine? Very truly does Bushnell say that, "without law, man does not live, he only grazes." If he had no government he would never discern any reason for existence, and would soon not care to exist. How different is the world of Voltaire from the world of Milton I The one finds nothing but this clay world and its material beauties, flashes into a shallow brilliancy of speech, and, weaving a song of surfaces, empties himself into a book of all that he has felt or seen. But the other, at the back of all and through all visible things, beholds a spirit and a Divinity. Now is there not a very beautiful picture of the comeliness and the beneficence of law in the old miracle that was wrought upon the rod of Aaron? That staff, as we have put it to you, was selected as the sign of authority. This was a declaration, first, that no law was perfect that did not display life and beauty and fertility; and a declaration, secondly, that by God's choice that perfect law dwelt in the high priest. But apart from the imagery as a message to the children of Israel, I cling to that blooming staff as the very best type I can find anywhere of what God's rule is amongst us and in His Church. I find myself taught by this early prodigy on Aaron's staff that God's dominion is the dominion of the almond-branch. It is a rod; alas! for us, if there were no rod. But it is a rod displaying all the three several pledges and gradations of life; and thus — oh! beautiful coincidence, if it be nothing more — God turns His law towards the children of men into what the forbidden tree so falsely appeared to the first transgressor — "pleasant to the eye, and good for food." Of course I know that the staff or the sceptre is the symbol of authority, because a staff is that with which one person smites another. The ultimate significance of a rod is a blow. But is it nothing to be taught by God's picture-alphabet of the Old Testament that He smites only with buds, and with flowers, and with fruit? This seems to change, even to any child's apprehension, the whole character of the sovereignty under which we bow in the modern camp of the Church. You tremble as you read the chapter of hard duties. Turn the leaf, and you will come upon the chapter of precious promises. There is not a verse in the Bible that is not in flower with some comfort; aye, though it be a verse that smites you with a difficult commandment. You are never to tell a man to do a single thing in religion without telling him that God will help him to do it. You are never to command a sacrifice from me for Christ's sake without comforting me with the assurance that "God is able to give me much more than this." If you have a strong, rough, hard stick of responsibility, you must show it to me bursting out all over with the rich petals and the hanging clusters of the sovereignty of Divine grace. Aye, for I want you to mark well that here was a miracle within a miracle. The natural almond-branch never has upon it at one time buds, blossoms, and fruit. But I seem to be taught by this accumulation of successive life all at once on one stem that there is no element of mercy wanting in the code by which I am to be managed. But remember that if we deserve nothing but the rod, and yet if God never uses the rod save with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit, "He may well record it against us if either we despise the chastening of the Lord, or faint when we are rebuked of Him." II. BUT NOW THE REAL AND ONLY PROPER COMMENTARY ON THE FACTS OF THE PENTATEUCH WILL BE FOUND IN THE DOCTRINES OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. Do you believe that all those lives would have been lost, and all that commotion would have been made about the prerogative of Aaron's priesthood, but for that other Priest on whom the whole world was to rely — the Priest for ever — "made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life"? It is not by one Scripture, it is by scores, that I find myself pointed, through that staff, to the real government of this world in the rod out of the stem of Jesse. "He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness." And yet, all the while, He was the "rod out of the stem of Jesse." And when I read, in the Book of Numbers, how the Hebrews rose up against Aaron and put him to shame, I can only take it for a foreshadowing of another rebellion, when they insulted another Sceptre, who was "despised and rejected of men." We preach to you Christ, a stumbling-block to the Jews. And scarcely can you wonder that so long as the rod was only the root out of a dry ground, the Son of the carpenter and the Friend of sinners, there was " no beauty in Him that they should desire Him." But that is not the staff with which, this day, God governs His Church. No, no! He hath declared that lowly peasant preacher to be "the Son of God with power, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Ah, that night in which they concealed Aaron's rod in the tabernacle of witness, it was never less living, never less blossoming, than then. But it was not left in darkness, neither did it see corruption. And on the appointed morning men found it, marked by the choice of the Omnipotent with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit. In like manner the coldest, darkest, least living period in Immanuel's career was when they hid Him, among all the other millions of the dead, in the tomb cut out of the rock in the garden of Joseph. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." He was raised up "a plant of renown." And from that glorious Easter morning the "rod out of the stem of Jesse" has been "the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations," and "filling the face of the world with fruit." Men can be governed by a Mediator and yet not perish. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." That is a rod, but "if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father," that is, "Aaron's rod that budded" — the rod of the Priest. Reuben, Gad, and all the rest have rods. Christianity is not alone in the sternness of its government or the severity of its sanctions. But it is alone in telling me how I can receive remission of sins that are past, and how I can obtain the strongest of motives for a life of obedience in the time to come. (H. Christopherson.) 1. The atonement and death of our Lord Jesus were matters of Divine appointment. The whole work of our salvation originated with God. 2. But more than this — which is the essential truth here enshrined — we see here that God often manifests Himself in unexpected forms of beauty and of grace. The dry rod blossomed and bare fruit. The powers of Divine salvation were enshrined in the person of the Carpenter of Nazareth. There was life for a dead world in the Cross and in the grave of the dead Christ. II. THERE ARE SUGGESTIONS HERE CONCERNING CHRISTIAN LIFE. 1. Christian life begins with God. 2. The Christian life manifests itself in unfavourable conditions. It is in human souls a power of active benevolence, or it is nothing at all. It takes hold of human misery with a healing hand, and it changes it into blessing. Where sin abounded there grace does much more abound. 3. There is beauty associated with the developments of Christian life and character. There is nothing half so winning as Christian grace. III. SUGGESTIONS IN RELATION TO THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 1. There is a Divine designation of men to the highest service of the Church. 2. But what is the qualification of men thus sent? Evidently the possession of Divine life, the gift which is to be imparted to those needing it. To be a Christian teacher a man must be a Christian and must know the things of Christ. 3. How, then, are we to judge a man's Divine call and authority? Only and solely by the blossoms and fruit — by the spiritual results of his ministry. IV. LAST OF ALL, THERE ARE HERE SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING CHRISTIAN HUMILIATION. 1. The world has not known its best benefactors. It has always had a scornful word for the saintly and the true-hearted. It has always risen up in rebellion against the anointed of the Lord. 2. Here is a word of encouragement to all weak and mistrustful and diffident and self-emptied souls. "I am but a dry rod," says the old labourer in the Master's vineyard, and the holy matron whose life has been careful and troubled about many things, but who has ever been anxious to honour and serve her dear Lord in lowliest ways and household duties. "I am but a dry rod," says the saint, waiting dismission to rest, who has not done what he would or been as useful as he desired and hoped and prayed to be. "I am but a dry rod," says one whose strength has been weakened by the way, and whose unfinished purposes lie sadly enough at his feet, fallen out of hands which could not longer hold them or fashion them into completeness. "We are but dry rods," say many earnest, anxious, longing souls who hardly dare to trust for the future, because so often when they would do good evil is present with them. We are not saved by trust in our own righteousness or by satisfaction with our own goodness and deeds. But God's grace is all-sufficient, and He can work miracles of beauty and fruitfulness where human might is feeblest, and self mistrust is greatest, and humility of spirit is deepest. (W. H. Davison, D. D.) II. IT IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE THAT MEN SHOULD KNOW THAT THEIR MINISTERS OF RELIGION ARE CALLED BY GOD. 1. In order that they may regard them with becoming respect. 2. In order that they may take heed to their message. III. THE VITALITY OF SIN IS OF DREADFUL TENACITY. "Many men's lips," says Trapp, "like rusty hinges, for want of the oil of grace and gladness, move not without murmuring and complaining." It is a thing of extreme difficulty to eradicate any evil disposition from the human heart. "For such is the habitual hardness of men's hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy can possibly mollify. Nothing can do it but an extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven." IV. GOD IS ENGAGED IN ERADICATING SIN FROM HUMAN HEARTS. (W. Jones.) I. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1. Life, 2. Beauty. 3. Fruitfulness. II. THE ORIGIN OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. God's creation, and gift to the Church. III. THE INFLUENCE OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. Abiding. (W. Jones.) (Dean Law.) I. LIFE IS A RESISTLESS FORCE. The smallest blade of grass that raises its tiny head into light, or the feeblest insect that sports in the sunbeam, displays a force superior to that which governs the ocean or controls the stars. Man stands erect, the tree rises, and the bird soars, because of life. II. LIFE IS AN APPROPRIATING FORCE. Vegetable and animal existences have a power of appropriating to themselves all surrounding elements conducive to their well-being, just as the life of the plant converts the various gases around it into nutriment to promote its strength and development. Wherever there is true religion, there is a power to render all external circumstances subservient to its own strength and growth; all things work together for its good. III. LIFE IS A PROPAGATING FORCE. It has "the seed in itself." Forests start from acorns, and boundless harvests from the solitary grain. It is said that the grateful Israelites, anxious to carry away a bud, a blossom, or almond as a memento of the occasion, the flowers and fruit on the rod were repeatedly and miraculously renewed for that purpose. Be that as it may, wherever there is religious life it will spread; it scatters broadcast the incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever. IV. LIFE IS A BEAUTIFYING FORCE. There are two kinds of beauty — the sensational and the moral. Nature in her ten thousand forms of loveliness, and art in her exquisite expressions of taste, are ministries to the former, whilst spiritual truth, moral goodness, and the holiness of God address the latter. The one is the poetry of the eye and ear ; the other, of the soul. The beauty that appeals to the religious nature of man is the beauty of holiness — the beauty of the Lord — the glory of God in His goodness. V. LIFE IS A FRUCTIFYING FORCE. The true Christian not only lives and unfolds a noble disposition, but is really useful. St. Paul speaks of "the fruit of the Spirit" — righteousness, goodness, truth. The first, as opposed to all injustice and dishonesty; the second, as opposed to the ten thousand forms of selfishness; the third, as opposed to all that is erroneous and false in the doctrines and theories of men. (G. L. Saywell.) 1. That a dry rod — made of the almond tree — should bring forth buds in a moment. 2. That those buds should presently become blossoms anal flowers. 3. That these should immediately become ripe fruit, and that all at once, or at least in a little space.Nature makes no such leaps. All this was supernatural to these ends. 1. For a testimony of God's calling Aaron to the priesthood. 2. For a type of Christ, the Branch (Isaiah 11:1). 3. For a figure of the fruitfulness of a gospel ministry. 4. For a lively representation of a glorious resurrection. (C. Ness.) 1. As first to consider that if the power of God can do this in a dry stick, cannot He make the barren woman to bare, and be a joyful mother of children? Can He not do whatsoever He will do? By this power the sea is dried, the rock gives water, the earth cleaveth under the feet of men, fire descends whose nature is to ascend, raiseth the dead, and calleth things that are not as if they were. In a word, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, &c. 2. This rod is a notable type of Christ, His person and office. Of His person, in that He was born of the Virgin Mary, who, though He descended of the royal blood, yet was now poor and mean, as that royal race was brought exceeding low, nothing remaining but as it were a root only. Now the said Virgin flourisheth again as Aaron's rod did, and beareth such fruit as never woman bear. Of this speaks Isaiah the prophet, when he saith, "There shall come a rod forth of the stock of Jesse, and a graft shall grow out of his roots." Of His office both priestly and kingly. His priestly office is figured in that being offered upon the cross He was as Aaron's dried rod, or as the Psalm saith, "dried up like a potsherd." But when He rose again He became like Aaron's budding and fruit-bearing rod, bringing forth to man, believing on Him, remission of sins, righteousness, and eternal life. His kingly office, in that He governeth His Church with a rod or sceptre of righteousness, as it is in the Psalm: "The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre." Which rod and sceptre is the preaching of the gospel, &c. 3. Again, it was a resemblance of true ministers, and of all faithful men and women, for none of all these ought to be dry and withered sticks, but bear and bring forth buds and fruit according to their places. 4. It is a shadow also of our resurrection by which we should grow green again, and flourish with a new and an eternal glory, having like dead seed lain in the ground, and we shall bring forth ripe almonds, that is, the praise of God's incomprehensible goodness to us for ever and ever. 5. It resembleth our reformation and amendment of life, for when our heart feeleth what is amiss, this is as the bud; when it resolveth of a change and a future amendment, this is the blossom; and when it performeth the same by a new reformed life indeed, this is as the ripe almonds of Aaron's rod.(Bp. Babington.) (C. H. Mackintosh.) (C. H. Mackintosh.) (C. H. Mackintosh.). Whether Angels Grieve for the Ills of those whom they Guard? Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus. Numbers |
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