Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread as making a whole (verses 1-8). Of the two latter, the unleavened bread was the feast, properly speaking; the Passover was the sacrifice on which the feast was grounded. As the

been careful to record. The Sabbath itself—Jesus passed in the state of death-a terrible sign of the position of the Jews as to their covenant: for us, of the birth of much better things. It has been tried, with much trouble, to prove that the seventh day was in fact the first. A single remark demolishes the whole edifice thus reared : it is, that the word of God calls this last, the first in contrast with the seventh. What is then the first day? I is for us the day of all days-the day of the Resurrection of Jesus, by which we are begotten again unto a lively hope, which is the source of all our joy our salvation, and that which characterizes our life. Thus we shall find the rest of God in the resurrection. Morally, in this world, we begin our spiritual life by the rest, instead of finding it at the end of our labours. Our rest is in the new creation-we are the beginning, after Christ of that new dispensation. It is clear then that the rest of God cannot be connected with the sign of the rest of creation here below. Have we any authority in the New Testament, for distinguishing the first day of the week from the others? For my part, I do not doubt it. It is certain we have not commandments like those of the old law, they would be quite contrary to the spirit of the Gospel of grace. But the Spirit of God has marked out in divers manners, the first day of the week, though that day is not made binding upon us, in a way contrary to the genius of the economy. The Lord being raised on that day, according to His promise, appears in the midst of His disciples gathered according to His word: the week following, He does the same. In the Acts, the first day of the week is marked as the day on which they gathered together to break bread. In 1 Cor. xvi. Christians are exhorted to lay by what they had earned, each first day of the week. In Revelation it is positively called the Lord's day, that is, designated in a direct manner by a distinctive name, by the Holy Spirit. I am well aware that it has been sought to persuade us that John speaks of being in Spirit in the Millennium, but there are two fatal objections to that interpretation: first, the Greek says quite another thing and uses the same word that is used for the Lord's Supper. Lordly or dominical-the dominical supper-the dominical day. Who can doubt as to the meaning of such an expression, or, consequently, can fail in admitting that the first day of the week was distinguished from others, (as the Lord's Supper was distinguished from other suppers) not as an imposed sabbath, but as a privileged day. But the reasoning against this thought is founded on a totally false idea, in that only a minimum portion of the Revelation speaks of the Millennium. The book is about the things which precede it, and in the place where the expression is found, there is decidedly no mention whatever of it, but of the existing churches, whatever

Apostle says, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, not with leaven," etc. What was indeed necessary for the Sabbath, for the rest of God, was the sacrifice of Christ and purity-the perfect absence of leaven in Him, and accomplished in us, inasmuch as we possess Christ as our life. It is thus that we have seen the manna connected with the Sabbath in Exod. xvi. Without leaven-was the perfection of the person of Christ living upon earth, and of the walk upon earth of him who is a partaker of His life. The sacrifice of Christ and purity of life render one capable of participating in God's rest. After that comes the power.

The first-fruits-that is, the resurrection of Christ on the morrow after the Sabbath-the first day of the week. It was the beginning of harvest gathered, by power, beyond the natural life of the world: nothing of the harvest could be touched before-it was the beginning, the first-born from the dead. With these first-fruits were offered sacrifices for a sweet savour, but not for sin. It is clear there was no need for it. It is Christ who is offered to God, quite pure and waved before God-placed fully before His eyes for us, as raised from the dead. Connected with that comes the meat-offering at the end of the seven weeks. It is no longer Christ here, but those who are His-the first-fruits of His creatures; they are considered

besides might be their prophetic character; so that if we hold to the Word of God, we are forced to say that the first day of the week is distinguished in the Word of God as being the Lord's day. We are also bound to say, if we desire to maintain the authority of the Son of man, that He is superior to the Sabbath-" Lord of the Sabbath :" so that in maintaining, for us, the authority of the Jewish sabbath as such, we are in danger of denying the authority, the dignity, and the rights of the Lord Jesus Himself. The more the true importance of the Sabbath, the seventh day, is felt, the more we shall feel the importance of the consideration that it is no longer the seventh, but the first day which has privileges for us. Let us take care, on the other hand, because we are no longer under law, but under grace, not to weaken the thought not only of man's rest, but of God's-a governing thought in the whole of the revelation of His relationships with man. The rest for us is rest from spiritual labours in the midst of evil, not only of sin :which we, as fellow-labourers shall enjoy with Him who has said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."

:-a rest

as being upon earth, leaven is found therein; therefore, though offered to God, they were not burned as a sweet savour (Lev. ii. 12); but with the loaves was offered a sin-offering, which answered by its efficacy to the leaven found in them.

This feast was followed by a long space of time in which there was nothing new in the ways of God-only they were commanded, when they reaped the harvest, not to make clean riddance of the corners of the field; a part of the good grain was to be left in the field after the harvest was gathered into the garner, but not to be lost; it was for those who were not enjoying the riches of God's people, but who would participate exceptionally by grace in the provision which God had made for them-in the abundance which God had granted them. This will take place at the end of this age.

Pentecostal work being ended, another series of events begins. They blow up the trumpet (compare Ps. lxxxi. Num. x. 3, 10). It was the renewal of the blessing and the splendour of the people-Israel, gathered as an assembly before the Lord. It is not yet the restoration of joy, but at least this reflection of the heavenly glory of God appears in their eyes, and they gather the assembly to re-establish the glory.

But Israel must at least feel their sin; and in the solemn feast which follows, the affliction of the people is connected with the sacrifice of the day of atonement: Israel shall look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn. The nation (at least the spared remnant who become the nation) will participate in the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, and that in their state here below, repenting and recognised of God, so that the times of refreshing will be come. This is then the repentance of the people, but in connexion with the atoning sacrifice. The efficacy is in the sacrifice-their participation in that is connected with the affliction of their souls (compare Zech. xii). But Israel did nothing-it was a Sabbaththey were assembled in humiliation in the presence of God. Then follows the feast of tabernacles: they offered during seven days, offerings made by fire unto the Lord, and on the eighth day there was again a holy convocation

-an extraordinary day of a new week which went beyond the full time-including, I doubt not, the resurrection; that is, the participation of those who are raised, in that joy. It was a solemn assembly-that eighth day, the great day of the feast on which the Lord (having declared of the then time that His hour was not yet come to show Himself to the world-His brethren [the Jews] not believing in Him either) announced that for him who believed in Him there would be, in the meanwhile, rivers of living water which would flow from his belly—that is, the Holy Spirit, who would be a living power in the intimate affections of the heart. Israel had indeed drunk of the living water out of the rock in the wilderness, the sojourn in which, now past, was celebrated with joy in the memorial of that which was over, to enhance the joy of the rest into which they were ushered. But believers were not only to drink, the river itself would flow from their heart-that is, the Holy Spirit in power which they would have received through Christ. Thus, the feast of tabernacles is the joy of the millennium, when Israel have come out of the wilderness where their sins have placed them, but to which will be added this first day of another week-those who are raised with the Lord Jesus.

Consequently, we find that the feast of tabernacles took place after the increase of the earth had been gathered in-and as we learn elsewhere, not only after the harvest, but after the vintage also. Israel would rejoice seven days before the Lord. The Passover has had its anti-type, Pentecost its also; but this day of joy is yet awaiting Him who is to be the centre and the impulse of it, the Lord Jesus, who will rejoice in the great congregation, and whose praise will begin with Jehovah in the great assembly (Psalm xxii). He had already done it in the midst of the assembly of His brethren, but now the whole race of Jacob is called to glorify Him, and all the ends of the world shall remember themselves. The expression, solemn assembly, is not found applied to any of the feasts but this, except to the seventh day of the Passover (Deut. xvi.), somewhat in the same sense, it seems to

me.

The feast of the tabernacles could not be kept in

the wilderness. In order to observe it, the people were to be in possession of the land, as is plain: it is also to be observed, that it never was kept according to the prescriptions of the law, from Joshua till Nehemiah (Neh. viii. 17). Israel had forgotten that they had been strangers in the wilderness. Joy, without the remembrance of this, tends to ruin; the very enjoyment of the blessing leads to it.

The remaining chapters of this book appear to me to have a special bearing. The Spirit of God has presented, in chap. xxiii., the history of the ways of God towards His people upon earth, from beginning to end. Chapter xxiv. presents first the internal work, so to speak, which related to priesthood alone, and the public sin of an apostate the fruit of the alliance with an Egyptian who blasphemed the Lord. Through the care of the priesthood (whatever might be God's public ways, and the state of Israel), the gracious light of the Spirit would be maintained, and that particularly from the evening until the morning-the time during which darkness brooded over Israel. Moreover, the incense which was on the memorial of the bread, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, was burned as a sweet smell to the Lord, and the priests identified themselves with the tribes-a continual signification of feeding thus employed. Thus priesthood maintained the light with respect to Israel, when all was darkness in the midst of them, and the memorial of Israel was in sweet savour before God, the priesthood identifying itself with them; although the people were in the eyes of man as lost, they existed through the priesthood of Jesus as a memorial before God. There is a certain sense in which the Church participates in this, as is explained doctrinally in Rom. xi. In Isaiah liv., we see that believers are reckoned to Jerusalem, in grace, though she was a widow.

Externally the judgment of cutting off and death without mercy is executed against him that had cursed.

CHAP. XXV. The land itself is held for the Lord, as being his—it must enjoy God's rest, and moreover he who had lost his inheritance therein should find it again, according to the counsels of God, at the appointed time: 7

VOL.II. PT.II.