The laver A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thammuz. EXODUS. above, shall give an offering of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. unto the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. d sanctuary. From this we may learn, 1. That the life of every man was considered as being forfeited to divine justice. 2. That the redemption money given, which was doubtless used in the service of the sanctuary, was ultimately devoted to the use and profit of those who gave it. 3. That the standard by which the value of coin was ascertained, was kept in the sanctuary; for this appears to be the meaning of the words, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4. The shekel is here said to be twenty gerahs. A gerah, according to Maimonides, weighed sixteen barleycorns; a shekel, three hundred and twenty of pure silver. The shekel is generally considered to be equal in value to three shillings English; the redemption money, therefore, must be about one shilling and sixpence. 5. The rich were not to give more, the poor not to give less; to signify that all souls were equally precious in the sight of God, and that no difference of outward circumstances could affect the state of the soul; all had sinned, and all must be redeemed by the same price. 6. This atonement must be made that there might be no plague among them, intimating that a plague or curse from God must light on those souls for whom the atonement was not made. 7. This was to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, ver. 16, to bring to their remembrance their past deliverance, and to keep in view their future redemption. 8. St. Peter seems to allude to this, and to intimate that this mode of atonement was ineffectual in itself, and only pointed out the great sacrifice which, in the fulness of time, should be made for the sin of the world. "Ye know," says he, "that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world," &c.; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, 20. 9. Therefore all these things seem to refer to Christ 19 For Aaron and his sons of brass. A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thummaz. shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD: 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations., 22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Take thou also unto thee principal Kings vii. 33.- h Ch. xl. 7, 30. xxvi. 6. Isai. lii. 11. John xiii. 10. xxviii. 43. Ch. xl. 31, 32. Ps. Hebr. x. 22. Ch. Cant. iv. 14. Ezek. xxvii. 22. alone, and to the atonement made by his blood; and upon him who is not interested in this atonement, God's plagues must be expected to fall. Reader, acquaint now thyself with God and be at peace, and thereby good shall come unto thee. kiyor sometimes but it seems to Verse 18. A laver of brass] signifies a caldron, 1 Sam. ii. 14; signify any large round vessel or bason used for washing the hands and feet. There were doubtless cocks or spigots in it to draw off the water, as it is not likely the feet were put into it in order to be washed. The foot of the laver must mean the pedestal on which it stood. Verse 20. They shall wash with water, that they die not] This was certainly an emblematical washing; and as the hands and the feet are particularly mentioned, it must refer to the purity of their whole conduct. Their hands-all their works, their feetall their goings, must be washed-must be holiness unto the Lord. And this washing must be repeated every time they entered into the tabernacle, or when they came near to the altar to minister. This washing was needful because the priests all ministered barefoot; but it was equally so because of the guilt they might have contracted, for the washing was emblematical of the putting away of sin, or what St. Paul calls the laver of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost (Tit. iii. 5), as the influences of the Spirit must be repeated for the purification of the soul, as frequently as any moral defilement has been contracted. Verse 21. And it shall be a statute for ever] To continue, in its literal meaning, as long as the Jewish economy lasted, and, in its spiritual meaning, to the end of time. What an important lesson does this teach the ministers of the gospel of Christ! Each time they minister in public, whether in dispensing the WORD or the SACRAMENTS, they should take heed that they have a fresh application of the grace and The tabernacle, &c., to be anointed. A. M. 2513. An. Exod. Isr. cir. Thammuz. b spices, of pure myrrh five hun-ing oil unto me throughout namon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an "hin: 25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thammuz. 32 Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34 And the LORD said unto Moses, "Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, Ptempered together, pure and holy : 36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, 28 And the altar of burnt-offering with all and put of it before the testimony in the taberhis vessels, and the laver and his foot. nacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: 'it shall be unto you most holy. 37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people. Cassia, kiddah (cassia spirit of Christ, to do away past transgressions necessary assistances of the divine unction, to make Verse 23. Take―unto thee principal spices] From this and the following verse we learn that the holy anointing oil was compounded of the following ingredients: 500 shekels. — Myrrh is zayith, one hin, about 5 quarts. lbs. oz. dwts. grs. 500 shekels of the first and last, make 48 4 12 213 250 of the cinnamon and calamus 24 2 6 1039 Olive oil is supposed to be the best preservative of odours. As the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit are termed the anointing of the Holy Ghost, therefore this holy ointment appears to have been designed as emblematical of those gifts and graces. See Acts i. 5; x. 38; 2 Cor. i. 21; 1 John ii. 20, 27. the produce of an kinnemon besem (pro- 250 shekels. bably from Arabia) קנה בשם,Sreet calamus keneh bosem, or sweet cane, Jer. vi. 20.—Calamus aromaticus . 250 shekels. Verse 30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons] For the reason of this anointing, see the note on chap. xxix. 7. It seems that this anointing oil was an emblem of divine teaching, and especially of those influences by which the church of Christ was, in the beginning, guided into all truth; as is evident from the allusion to it by St. John: "Ye have an unction from the HOLY ONE, and ye know all things. The Bezaleel appointed for EXODUS. anointing which ye have received from him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you; but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in HIM; 1 John ii. 20, 27. Verse 34. Take unto thee sweet spices] The holy perfume was compounded of the following ingredients: Stacte] nataph, supposed to be the same with what was afterwards called the balm of Jericho. Stacte is the gum which spontaneously flows from the tree which produces myrrh. See the note on ver. 23. Onycha shecheleth, allowed by the best critics to be the unguis odoriferans described by Rumph, which is the external crust of the shell-fish purpura or murex, and is the basis of the principal perfumes made in the East Indies. the work of the tabernacle. The Israelites were most strictly prohibited, on the most awful penalties, from making any anointing oil or perfume similar to those described in this chapter. He that should compound such, or apply any of this to any common purpose, even to smell to, verse 38, should be cut off, that is, excommunicated from his people, and so lose all right, title, and interest in the promises of God and the redemption of Israel. From all this we may learn how careful the Divine Being is to preserve his own worship and his own truth, so as to prevent them from being adulterated by human inventions; for he will save men in his own way, and upon his own terms. What are called human inventions, in matters of religion, are not only of no worth, but are in general deceptive and ruinous. Arts and sciences in a certain way may be called inventions of men, for the spirit of a man knoweth the things of Galbanum] n chelbenah, the bubon gummiferum or African ferula; it rises with a ligneous stalka man-can comprehend, plan, and execute, under from eight to ten feet, and is garnished with leaves at each joint. The top of the stalk is terminated by an umbel of yellow flowers, which are succeeded by oblong channelled seeds, which have a thin membrane or wing on their border. When any part of the plant is broken, there issues out a little thin milk of a cream colour. The gummy resinous juice which proceeds from this plant is what is commonly called galbanum, from the chelbenah of the Hebrews. Pure frankincense] lebonah zaccah. Frankincense is supposed to derive its name from frank, free, because of its liberal or ready distribution of its odours. It is a dry resinous substance, in pieces or drops of a pale yellowish white colour, has a strong smell, and bitter acrid taste. The tree which produces it is not well known. Dioscorides mentions it as gotten in India. What is called here pure frankincense is no doubt the same with the mascula thura of Virgil, and signifies what is first obtained from the tree-that which is strongest and most free from all adventitious mixtures. See the note on ver. 7. the general influence of God, every thing in which human life is immediately concerned; but religion, as it is the gift, so it is the invention of God: its doctrines and its ceremonies proceed from his wisdom and goodness, for He alone could devise the plan by which the human race may be restored to his favour and image, and taught to worship him in spirit and in truth. And that worship which himself has prescribed, we may rest assured, will be most pleasing in his sight. Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord; and their destruction by the fire of Jehovah is recorded as a lasting warning to all presumptuous worshippers, and to all who attempt to model his religion according to their own caprice, and to minister in sacred things without that authority which proceeds from himself alone. The imposition of hands, whether of pope, cardinal, or bishop, can avail nothing here. The call and unction of God alone can qualify the minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. CHAPTER XXXI. Bezaleel appointed for the work of the tabernacle, 1-5. Aholiab appointed for the same, 6. The particular things on which they were to be employed, the ark and mercy-seat, 7. Table, candlestick, and altar of incense, 8. Altar of burnt-offering and the laver, 9. Priest's garments, 10. Anointing oil and sweet incense, 11. God renews the command relative to the sanctification of the sabbath, 12-17. Delivers to Moses the two tables of stone, 18. Aholiab is to A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thammuz. CHAP. XXXI. 4 To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, 5 And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship. 6 And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee; 7 The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy-seat that is thereupon, and all the 'furniture of the tabernacle, 8 And the table and his furniture, and "the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense; 9 And the altar of burnt-offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot, a Ch. xxxv. 34.Ch. xxxvi. 8. Heb. vessels. Ch. xxxviii. 1. k Verse 3. I have filled him with the spirit of God] See the note on chap. xxviii. 3. chochmah, from chacham, In wisdom] to be wise, skilful, or prudent, denoting the compass of mind and strength of capacity necessary to form a wise man hence our word wisdom, the power of judging what is wise or best to be done; From the Saxon, piran, to teach, to advise, and deman, to judge: hence predom, the doom or judgment of the well taught, wise, or prudent man. Understanding] un tebunah, from 12 ban or bun, to separate, distinguish, discern; capacity to comprehend the different parts of a work, how to connect, arrange, &c., in order to make a complete whole. Knowledge] лy daath, denoting particular acquaintance with a person or thing; practical, experimental knowledge. Verse 4. Cunning works] machashaboth, works of invention or genius, in the goldsmith and silversmith line. Verse 5. In cutting of stones, &c.] Every thing that concerned the lapidary's, jeweller's, and carver's art. Verse 6. In the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom] So every man that had a natural | genius, as we term it, had an increase of wisdom by immediate inspiration from God, so that he knew how to execute the different works which divine wisdom designed for the tabernacle and its furniture. Dark as were the heathens, yet they acknowledged that all talents, and the seeds of all arts, came from God. Hence Seneca: Insita nobis omnium artium semina, magisterque ex occulto Deus producit ingenia. In the same way Homer attributes such curious arts to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, and Vulcan, the god of handicrafts. 10 And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office; assist Bezaleel. A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. An. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thammuz. 15 Six days may work be done; but in Numb. iv. 5, 6, &c. m Ch. xxx. 25, 31. xxxvii. 29. 30. xxvi. 2. Deut. v. 12. Ch. xx. 9. Ως δ' ότε τις χρυσον περιχευεται αργυρῳ ανηρ Ιδρις, ὃν Ηφαιστος δεδαεν και Παλλάς Αθήνη Τεχνην παντοιην, χαριεντα δε εργα τελείει. Odyss., 1. vi., ver. 232. As by some artist, to whom VULCAN gives His skill divine, a breathing statue lives; By PALLAS taught, he frames the wondrous mould, And o'er the silver pours the fusile gold.-POPE. And all this the wisest of men long before them declared; when speaking of the wisdom of God he says, I, Wisdom, dwell with Prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions; Prov. viii. 12. See the note on chap. xxviii. 3, to which the reader is particularly desired to refer. There is something remarkable in the name of this second superintendent, Aholiab, the tabernacle of the father, or, the father is my tabernacle; a name nearly similar in its meaning to that of Bezaleel, see the note on ver. 1. Verse 8. The pure candlestick] Called so either because of the pure gold of which it was made, or the brightness and splendour of its workmanship, or of the light which it imparted in the tabernacle, as the purest, finest oil was always burnt in it. Verse 9. The altar of burnt-offering] chap. xxvii. 1. See on The laver and his foot] The pedestal on which it stood. Verse 10. Cloths of service] Vestments for the ordinary work of their ministry; the holy garments— those which were peculiar to the high-priest. Verse 11. The anointing oil] See on chap. xxx. 23. Sweet incense] See on chap. xxx. 34. Verse 13. My sabbaths ye shall keep] See the notes on Gen. ii. 3; Exod. xx. 8. The sabbath a sign A. M. 2513. B. C. 1491. Au. Exod. Isr. 1. cir. Thammuz. put to death. a EXODUS. the seventh is the sabbath of b rest, holy to the LORD: who- 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the children a Gen. ii. 2. Ch. xvi. 23. xx. 10. b Heb. holiness. c Ver. 13. Ezek. xx. 12, 20.-d Gen. i. 31. ii. 2.- Le Ch. Verse 14. Every one that defileth it] By any kind of idolatrous or profane worship. Shall surely be put to death] The magistrates shall examine into the business, and if the accused be found guilty, he shall be stoned to death. Shall be cut off] Because that person who could so far contemn the sabbath, which was a sign to them of the rest which remained for the people of God, was of course an infidel, and should be cut off from all the privileges and expectations of an Israelite. between God and man. xxiv. 12. xxxii. 15, 16. xxxiv. 28, 29. Deut. iv. 13. v. 22, ix. 10, 11. 2 Cor. iii. 3. more, BUT HE WROTE THEM on two tables of stone;" Deut. v. 22. It is evident therefore that this writing was properly and literally the writing of God himself. God wrote now on tables of stone what he had originally written on the heart of man, and in mercy he placed that before his eyes which by sin had been obliterated from his soul; and by this he shows us what, by the Spirit of Christ, must be re-written in the mind, 2 Cor. iii. 3; and this is according to the covenant which God long before promised to make with mankind, Jer. xxxi. 33. See also what is said on this subject, chap. xx. 1, and see chap. xxxiv. 1. See the note on chap. xvii. 14. Verse 16. A perpetual covenant.] Because it is a sign of this future rest and blessedness, therefore the religious observance of it must be perpetually kept up. The type must continue in force till the antitype come. "No time," says Dr. A. Bayley, seems so proper Verse 17. Rested, and was refreshed.] God, in con- from whence to date the introduction of letters descension to human weakness, applies to himself among the Hebrews as this, for after this period here what belongs to man. If a man religiously rests we find continual mention of letters, reading, and on the sabbath, both his body and soul shall be re-writing, in the now proper sense of those words. See freshed; he shall acquire new light and life. Verse 18. When he had made an end of communing] When the forty days and forty nights were ended. Deut. xxvii. 8; xxxi. 9. Moses, it is said, raidevin, was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians-in all the learning they possessed; but it is manifest that he had not learned of them any method of writing, otherwise there had been no want of God's act and Two tables of testimony] See on chap. xxxiv. 1. Tables of stone] That the record might be lasting, because it was a testimony that referred to future gene-assistance in writing the two Tables of the Law, no rations, and therefore the materials should be durable. Written with the finger of God.] All the letters cut by God himself. Dr. Winder, in his History of Knowledge, thinks it probable that this was the first writing in alphabetical characters ever exhibited to the world, though there might have been marks or hieroglyphics cut on wood, stone, &c., before this time; see chap. xvii. 14. That these tables were written, not by the commandment but by the power of God himself, the following passages seem to prove: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mountain, and be thou there; and I will give thee tables of stone WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN, that thou mayest teach them;" Exod. xxiv. 12. "And he gave unto Moses, upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD;" chap. xxxi. 18. "And Moses went down from the mount, and the two tables of testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides. And the tables were THE WORK OF GOD, and the WRITING WAS THE WRITING OF GOD, graven upon the tables;" chap. xxxii. 15, 16. "These words [the ten commandments] the Lord spake in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no need of a miraculous writing. Had Moses known this art, the Lord might have said to him, as he does often afterwards, Write thou these words; Exod. xxxiv. 27. Write on the stones the words of this law; Deut. xxvii. 3. Write you this song for you; xxxi. 19. Perhaps it may be said, God's writing the Law gave it a sanction. True; but why might it not also teach the first use of letters, unless it can be proved that they were in use prior to this transaction? It might be thought too much to assert that letters no more than language were a natural discovery; that it was impossible for man to have invented writing, and that he did not invent it: yet this may appear really the case from the following reflections. 1. Reason may show us how near to an impossibility it was that a just and proper number of convenient characters for the sounds in language should naturally be hit upon by any man, for whom it was easy to imitate and vary, but not to invent. 2. From evidence of the Mosaic history, it appears that the introduction of writing among the Hebrews was not from man, but Gon. 3. There are no evident vestiges of letters subsisting among other nations till after the delivery of the law at Mount Sinai; nor then, among some, till very late." |