Joseph.-Gen. xlii.-xlv. In the spotless and lovely character of Joseph, we trace faintly, as it were, the lineaments of his, who in his moral features especially, would be seen to be "fairer than the children of men," and who would not be ashamed to call his people his brethren. With consummate wisdom he would conceal the tenderness of his heart towards them; appear severe, and often perplex them in their circumstances, until they would be truly humbled for their sins, and confess them with heartfelt sorrow; then would he fully pardon, give them peace of mind, and bestow on them every needful good abundantly. Job's confidence in his Redeemer.-Job xix. 23-27. That Job was a real person there can be no doubt (see Ezek. xiv. 14; James v. 11). He is supposed to have been a descendant of Esau; and from his great age, and from the absence of any reference to occurrences in or after the time of Moses, to have lived at a very early period. Job, under the influence of the Spirit of God, expresses an ardent desire that what he was about to utter might be recorded in the safest and most indelible manner, according to the several methods then in use, of registering remarkable transactions. It was his confidence that he has a Redeemer; he foretells his appearance upon earth *We shall quote Dr. Good's translation of verses 23, 24, as it presents the meaning and force of the original better than any other we have consulted, though the Vulgate approaches it.-KITTO. "O that my words were even now written down! With a pen of iron upon lead!— That they were sculptured upon a rock for ever!" at the judgment day; he also, in the strongest manner, declares his certain expectation of his own resurrection. In Job's time, a redeemer was one who paid a ransom for prisoners taken in war; these unhappy persons, bound in chains, had often to traverse, in haste, burning deserts, -without sandals, without water, and then to be sold into perpetual slavery. In after times, it was a law in Israel, that if a man became so poor as to be obliged to sell his inheritance, his nearest kinsman should buy it, and restore it to him in the year of Jubilee. The word translated redeemer in this place, signifies a kinsman or near relative, to whom the redemption of captives or alienated estates belonged by custom. Thus, Jesus paid the price of his own blood to ransom sinners from the power of Satan, and the bonds and misery of sin. He is the nearest kinsman of his people, and will restore to them their lost inheritance in the family of God! It is he who has "led captivity captive," and was sent to proclaim their liberty-the opening of the prison "to them that are bound." There have been many captives, who, being without a redeemer, have pined away a hopeless existence; but all who come to Jesus by faith, and diligently keep his words, may feel assured theirs "lives." Redeemer is a name by which the Saviour of the world is very frequently spoken of, without attaching this or any distinct meaning to it. CHAPTER II. THE ENTIRE OF THE MOSAIC RITUAL, A TYPICAL SERVICE The appoint -Ex. iii. 1-10. MOSES relinquished earthly glory, and, like ment of Moses. his great Antitype, was preserved in infancy when many other children were slain. Whilst tending his flock at one of the hills of Horeb, and in communion with "him who is invisible," whom he saw by faith, and who had strengthened him to give up "the pleasures of sin," which are but "for a season;" his attention was arrested by seeing one of the humble bushes on the side of the mountain on fire; he continued to gaze upon it, and the Angel-Jehovah, who is the Surety of the covenant of grace, manifested himself to Moses in the midst of the flame in which the bush was enveloped; no doubt, in the bodily form in which he was wont to appear on extraordinary occasions, and the only way that Moses would be able to look upon him; and as this mighty Being addressed him by name, we read, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, commanding him to give the greatest outward expres sion of reverence it was possible for him to do where Deity was pleased to reveal himself in a manner evident to the senses. In words of sublimest import and tender feeling for his suffering people, he appointed Moses their leader, and consequently the founder of the Jewish Church -its dangers and security he exhibited to him in the wonderful sight he beheld. The Church has been in the same condition in every age, enveloped in trials of various degrees of intensity; persecutors attempted, by the infliction of every form of suffering that could be devised, to extirpate it; false teachers endeavoured to overthrow it; the inconsistency of many of its own members placed it in greater danger than all the others; but "God is in the midst of her," and He restrained and destroyed the persecutors; he removed the false teachers; he raised up new members to walk circumspectly, and be "followers of him, as dear children," and the Church has been preserved. A bush burning and not consumed has been used as the crest of her armorial bearings, distinguished by perfect truthfulness from the boasting assumptions of the heraldry of earth. The Passover. From the death of Joseph till the institu-Ex. xii. 1-30. tion of the Passover nearly two hundred years intervened; it was a dark and sorrowful period,-nothing is recorded, excepting the declaration of Job, and the bush on fire seen by Moses, that could give hope to a benighted world, that the promised Friend of the fallen race would surely come. At length the Passover was celebrated the lamb was slain-a bunch of hyssop dipped B in its blood, and sprinkled on the two side-posts, and on the upper door-post of the houses of the children of Israel, wherein the lamb was eaten. The Lord passed through the land in the night; he saw the blood on the doorposts of the children of Israel, and passed over them; he sent not the plague to destroy them. All the houses in the land of Egypt mourned one dead on that memorable night. Israel must never forget this wonderful interposition for their safety; it was appointed to them to keep, at that season of the year, a feast to the Lord, every year throughout their generations, until the time came of which the apostle could write, "Even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. v. 7). A bone of the paschal lamb must not be broken; the reason for that injunction was shown on the day the Roman soldier pierced the side of Jesus with a spear. At the day of judgment, all who have sought the application of the blood of Jesus to themselves by faith, shall escape the dire calamities that will fall upon the ungodly; but how shall they abide the terrors of that day who have neglected that blood, or considered it unnecessary for their salvation? (Rev. i. 5.) The manna.- After a series of wonders, which Jehovah enabled him to perform, Moses led the childen of Israel into the wilderness, and exactly one month after their departure from Egypt manna was rained from heaven around their tents. Moses directed the people, having received instructions from the Lord, in what quantities, and at what times to gather it. They had no |