GLEANINGS IN EXODUS

Gleanings In Exodus

By E. L. Bynum

The Sinaiatic Covenant

Exodus 34:8-17

The key verse to the whole of Exodus 34 is the 27th: “And the Lord said unto Moses. Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.” Hence the title to our present article. In the verse following the one just quoted, we read, “And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.” Thus, the Sinaiatic covenant was a legal one, but as vv. 6, 7 have shown us, it was Law administered in mercy and patience, as well as righteousness and holiness.

We have already considered the Law as expressing God’s government over His redeemed people; let us now look at it in its dispensational bearings. In Romans 5:20 we read, “the law entered, that the offense might abound:” that is, that sin might appear “exceeding sinful” (Rom. 7:13): that the wickedness of the human heart might be manifested: that it should be the more fully demonstrated that men are sinners: and this in order that, “Every mouth might be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).

In the light of what has just been before us, we should carefully bear in mind that God gave the Law to Moses twice: Exodus 31:18: 34:1. 28. The first giving of the Law demonstrated that man is ungodly. As we have seen, before the Law was written upon tables of stone, it was first given to Moses orally (Ex. 20), and Moses then repeated it to Israel (24:3), and they affirmed, “all the words which the Lord hath said will we do.” The first word He had said was. “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” But at the very time He was engraving those words on the stones, Israel was saying to Aaron. “Up make us gods which shall go before us” (132:1). And the next thing was that the golden calf was made and worshipped. The immediate sequel was the visitation of God’s anger upon them (32:27, 28). Thus, the first trial of man—not of Israel only, for “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man” (Prov. 27:19)—ended in judgment.

As the first giving of the Law demonstrated that man was “ungodly.” so the second giving of it was to be followed by a manifestation that he is “without strength” to keep it. These are the two things which characterize fallen man (Rom. 5:6), and these were what the double giving of the law was designed to show. The first was demonstrated speedily: the second was made evident more slowly, yet none the less surely. God gave man fair and full opportunity to show whether he had power to keep the law. In the nation of Israel he was represented and tested under the most favorable circumstances. Israel was separated from the heathen: Jehovah Himself dwelt in their midst. They were given a land flowing with milk and honey; and, as the apostle says, unto them pertained “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises” (Rom. 9:4). Well might Jehovah say to them at a later date. “What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” (Isa. 5:4).

Yes, the vineyard of the Lord’s planting brought forth only “wild grapes.” Graciously and longsufferingly did He bear with them, sending one prophet after another to exhort, admonish, rebuke, and warn. But all to no purpose (see Mark 12:1-5). One generation after another was tested, but always with the same result, in that the Law was “weak through the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). Man had no ability to meet the righteous requirements of God. He was “without strength.” Therefore, as was inevitable, this second testing of man under the Law also ended with Divine judgment. And most impressive was the longsuffering mercy of God seen in that too. The full and final stroke of His wrath did not fall upon guilty Israel all at once, but was meted out slowly and in stages.

First, God delivered up His people into the hands of the Chaldeans. As He said through Isaiah, “O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of My wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to treat them down like the mire of the streets” (10:5, 6). Israel’s second testing under the Law had come to an end. The “glory of the Lord” (the Shekinah) had departed from the holy city (Ezek. 11:23, 24), and Israel’s sons were carried down captive into Babylon: and through the prophet Hosea the Nation was disowned of God: “Then said God. Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not My people” (1:9).

Later, a remnant was permitted to leave Babylon and return to the land of their fathers, unto the city which had been ruined through their folly and rebellion, to raise it up again and to build the temple. But they came back not as God’s people. but as “Lo-ammi.” And though a temple was erected, yet no Shekinah glory abode in it. It was empty! God no longer dwelt in their midst. The prophets which He sent unto them at that period emphasized the ruin which had come in, and pointed forward to the advent of the Savior. The great test then was no longer obedience to the Law (though that was not repealed), but an humble acceptance of the Divine judgment which was upon them, and a waiting in contrition of spirit for the Deliverer. But instead of humbling themselves before God, instead of repenting for their sins, instead of owning that they were “without strength,” they were more self-righteous than ever. Ably has this been set forth by another:

“But now, alas! you find again what the power of Satan is, and how subtly he can blind, through man’s folly, the heart of man. It is very striking, and people generally notice it as favorable to Israel, that after their return, they were no more idolators. It had been their special sin. The prophet asks. you remember, ‘Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.’ Even from the wilderness they had. There was first the golden calf, and all through the wilderness they had taken up ‘the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan, figures which they made to worship them.’ God had declared that he was the one God, but they were idolators to the core of the heart.

“But as soon as there was no god in their midst—as soon as the temple was empty and the glory had departed—as soon as they were in the ruin which their sin had brought about, then immediately Satan came forward, not in the garb of idolatry any more, but now to resist the sentence which God had pronounced upon them—now to persuade them that after all they were not as Lo-ammi—that they were God’s people, and to say, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.’ In fact, pharisaism was the growth of that period, and pharisaism was the self-righteousness which resisted God’s sentence upon them. pretending to have a righteousness when God had emphatically declared that man had none. So it was when that Deliverer prophesied of came. and when the glory, in a deeper and more wonderful way than ever was once more in their midst,—aye, the ‘glory of the only begotten Son, in the bosom of the Father’—the Antitype of the glory of that tabernacle of old,—when He who was to come did come, and was amongst them in love and grace, ready to meet them with all mercy and tenderness,—not coming to be ministered to, but to minister.—not requiring, but to give with both hands—to give without limit—to give as God,—alas! These Pharisees could turn comfortably to one another and say, ‘which of the Pharisees have believed on Him?’ Pharisees they were who slew the Lord of glory” (Mr. F. W. Grant).

Then it was, as a matter of course, that Judaism ended. The high priest’s rending of his garments (Matthew 26:65), though unknown to himself (cf. John 11:51), intimated that the priesthood had served its day. Man’s second trial under Law was over. Nothing now remained but judgment, yet even that lingered for a further forty years, till, in A.D. 70, Jerusalem was captured, the temple destroyed, and the Jews dispersed abroad. Even before that judgment fell, God’s call to His own people was. “Save yourselves from this untoward generation’ (Acts 2:40). And again. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp” (Heb. 13:13). But we must now retrace our steps, and return to the point from which we started. The central thing in Exodus 34 is the “covenant” which Jehovah made with Israel at Sinai.

As we pointed out in the opening paragraphs of our last article, that covenant was based upon the ten words engraved upon the tables of stone. It was a covenant of law, but law administered in mercy, grace, patience, as well as holiness and righteousness. In that covenant God pressed His claims upon man. First, He demanded absolute separation, unto Himself (v. 18). Second, entire consecration for Himself (vv. 19, 20). Third, complete submission to His appointed sabbath, no exception being permitted even in harvest-time (v. 21). Here follows our present passage.

“And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the first fruits of wheat harvest” (v. 22). The central thought in connection with each of Israel’s “feasts” was the gathering together of the people around Jehovah Himself, on the ground of redemption accomplished. Thus, it was corporate responsibility which is here in view, and, we may add, corporate privilege, for there is no greater privilege enjoyed on earth than for God’s saints to be gathered together, in festive assembly, around Himself.

The “feast of weeks.” better known as “Pentecost.” is described at greatest length in Leviticus 23:15-21. Here it is connected with “the first fruits of wheat harvest.” This at once makes us think of James 1:18: “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Dispensationally, the feast received a partial fulfillment at the descent of the Spirit in Acts 2. We say “partial fulfillment,” for Peter’s words in Acts 2:16, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.” rather than “this is the fulfillment of that which was spoken by Joel,” tell us that the complete realization is yet future: as indeed it is. The “two loaves” of Leviticus 23:17 pointed, first, to Jew and Gentile now gathered together and made fellow-members of the Body of Christ; but, ultimately they foreshadowed the re-uniting of the two houses of Israel (cf. Ezekiel 37:16) when, after this dispensation has run its course, the Jews will be restored once more to Divine favor.

“And the feast of ingathering at the year’s end” (v. 22). This is better known as “the feast of tabernacles.” It was the final one on Israel’s religious calendar. Its dispensational fulfillment is therefore yet future. “The feast of tabernacles is the joy of the millennium, when Israel hath come out of the wilderness, where their sins have placed them: but to which will be added this first day (the “eighth day” of Leviticus 23:36″ A. W. P.) of another week—the resurrection joy of those who are raised with the Lord Jesus, to which the presence of the Holy Spirit answers meanwhile. 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; that is, after separation by judgment, and the final execution of judgment on the earth, when heavenly and earthly saints shall all be gathered in” (Mr. J. N. Darby).

“Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel” (v. 23). The particular occasions specified were, “in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles” (Deut. 16:16). Really, those feasts contemplated three distinct dispensations: the first, the O. T., when Israel was separated unto the Lord. The second, this present interval, when in addition to the “remnant according to the election of grace” (Rom. 11:5) from the stock of Abraham, God is also visiting “the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name” (Acts 15:14). The third, to the millennium. when the Lord “will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and will build again the ruins thereof, and will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called” (Acts 15:16, 17). We may add that each of the three persons in the Godhead are, distinctively, contemplated in these feasts. The feast of unleavened bread, which is inseparably connected with the Passover, speaks to us of God the Son. The feast of weeks or Pentecost is marked by the descent of the Spirit (Acts 2:2: Joel 2:28). The feast of tabernacles will witness the answer to that oft-prayed petition, “Our Father which art in heaven . . . Thy kingdom come” (compare Matthew 13:43; 16:27). The order is the same as in the three-one parable of Luke 15: the work of the Shepherd, the work of the Spirit, bringing into the Father’s house. Thus it is experimentally.

As we have said, the “feasts” had to do with corporate responsibility, and corporate privilege too, for: “Behold. how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1). But alas, history has repeated itself. At the beginning of Israel’s national history, they were a united “congregation.” So it was at the beginning of this dispensation: “And all that believed were together” (Acts 2:44). For a time all went well; then failure and sin came, followed by Divine chastisement and judgment; true alike of Israel and Christendom. Ultimately Israel was carried captive into Babylon, so too, all through the ‘dark ages’ the “mystery Babylon” of Revelation 17 dominated Europe. A remnant of Israel returned from Babylon and the true worship of God was restored in Israel, though not after its primitive glory. So there was a Reformation, a remnant was delivered from the papacy, and God again was magnified, though the streams of truth was not as pure as it was at the beginning.

But at the end of the Old Testament period the corporate testimony of Israel was a complete wreck and ruin: the priesthood had “corrupted the covenant of Levi” (Mal. 2:7, 8); polluted bread was offered upon God’s altar (Mal. 1:7). Judah had “profaned the holiness of the Lord” (Mal. 2:11), and Jehovah had to say, “I have no pleasure in you… neither will I accept an offering at your hand” (Mal. 1:10). In like manner, the corporate testimony of Christendom has long since fallen into ruins. The last of the Epistles to the churches depicts Christ as being on the outside (Rev. 3:20), and His voice is addressed to the individual only, “If any man hear My voice.”

“For I will cast out the nations before thee and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year” (v. 24). How remarkably does this verse illustrate Proverbs 16:7: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” God will not allow any man to be His debtor: He has promised, “Them that honor Me, I will honor” (1 Sam. 2:30). So it was here. These Israelites were going up to the temple to worship the Lord; in their absence He would guard their homes.

“Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.” How strikingly does this demonstrate the absoluteness of God’s control of His creatures! And man, though fallen and rebellious, is no exception. As Daniel 4:35 tells us, “He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand.” So it was here. The male Hebrews were to leave their farms and go up to the temple in Jerusalem (Deut. 16:16)—for many of them, a long journey. They were surrounded by hostile heathen but so complete is God’s control of man, every man, that none shall be allowed to molest their families or flocks while they were away. Thus, we see that God not only restrains the activities of the wicked, but even regulates the desires of their evil hearts: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Prov. 21:1).

“Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven” (v. 25), God was very jealous of the types. Why? Because they pointed forward to the person and work of Christ. Thus, His jealousy of the types was His guarding of the glory of His beloved Son. Therefore, inasmuch as the sacrifices pointed forward to the Lord Jesus, leaven (which is an emblem of evil) must be excluded, for He is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26).

“Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven.” Very wonderful and blessed is it to observe how the Lord here refers to the sacrifice: He does not say “the blood of thy sacrifice,” but “My sacrifice.” This is also the language of the antitype: The Sacrifice “offered once for all.” was of God’s appointing, was of God’s providing, was for God’s satisfaction. Man had no part or lot in it whatsoever. “Salvation is of the Lord.” Frequently is this same truth brought out in the types. In Genesis 22:8 we hear Abraham saying to his son’s query of “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?—God will provide Himself a lamb.” In Exodus 12:27 we are told, “It is the Lord’s passover.” In connection with the two goats on the day of atonement, lots were cast. “one lot for the Lord” (Lev. 16:8): and so on.

“Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning” (v. 25). The paschal lamb was to be eaten on the same night it had been slain and roasted in fire. not left over to be partaken of on the morrow (see 12:10). The application of this detail of the type is very solemn and searching. To have eaten the lamb on the morrow, would have been to dissociate it from the import of its death. The eating of the lamb speaks to us of the believer (already sheltered by His blood) feeding on Christ: eating the lamb the same night it was killed, tells us that we are ever to feed upon Christ with a deep sense in our souls of what His death and bearing judgment for us (“roast with fire”) really involved for Him. Note how Christ Himself emphasized this in John 6: first vv. 50, 51, then vv. 53-56!

“The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God” (v. 26). This Divine ordinance receives amplification in Deuteronomy 26:1-11. The interested reader would find it profitable to prayerfully study in detail the whole of that passage for himself: we can but summarize its teaching here. First, it had to do with Israel’s possession of their inheritance (v. 1). Second, this “first of the firstfruits of thy land” was the Divine pledge or earnest of the coming harvest (v. 2). Third, Israel acknowledged this by their presentation unto the priest (v. 3). Fourth, the Israelite was then required to look back and acknowledge his previous state of shame and bondage (v. 5-7). Fifth, he then owned the Lord’s goodness in deliverance (v. 8). Sixth, he expressed his gratitude for the goodly portion the Lord had given him (v. 9). Seventh, he presented the “first-fruits” in worship before Him (vv. 10, 11).

All of the above is rich in its typical teaching, much of which has already been before us in other connections. That which is here distinctive, is the contrast presented between what we find in Exodus 34:22 and here in 5:26. The “firstfruits of wheat harvest” refers to Christ (cf. John 12:24 with 1 Corinthians 15:23). But the “first of the fruits of thy land” or “inheritance” speaks, we believe, of the Holy Spirit, who is “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1:13, 14). Do we not get the antitype of Exodus 34:26 in Romans 8:22. “Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit!” And in the light of Deuteronomy 26:10, 11 are we not taught that we should thank God as heartily for the gift of the Spirit as for the gift of His Son? Do we realize that we are as much indebted to, and therefore have as much cause of praise for, the work of the Spirit in us, as the work of Christ for us!

“Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk” (v. 26). Upon this we have nothing better to offer than the brief comment of Mr. Dennett: “This remarkable prohibition is found three times in the Scriptures (Ex. 23:19: 34:26: Deuteronomy 14:21). God will have His people tenderly careful, guarding them from the violation of any instinct of nature. The milk of the mother was the food. the sustenance of the kid, and hence this must not be used to seethe it as food for others.”

“And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words have I made a covenant with thee and with Israel” (v. 27). This verse summarizes all that has been before us in the previous verses of the chapter. An imperishable record was to be made of all that Jehovah had said unto His servant. The words, “I have made a covenant with thee (the typical mediator) and with Israel,” gives assurance that all will yet be made good through the person and millennial administration of Christ. Israel failed in the past, but there will be no failure with Him who shall yet effectuate God’s counsels and glorify Him in this very scene where His people have so grievously dishonored Him. May the Lord hasten that glad day.

The Passover

Exodus 12
By E. L. Bynum

In Exodus 11:4-7 we read, “Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue against man or beast, that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”. Notice carefully the exact wording of verse 5: it was not “all the firstborn of the land of Egypt shall die, but “all the firstborn in the land of Egypt”. This Divine sentence of judgment included the Israelites equally with the Egyptians. Yet in the seventh verse we are told “not a dog shall move his tongue against any of the children of Israel, for the Lord “put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”. Here is what the infidel would call ‘a flat contradiction!’ But as we are fully assured that there can be no contradictions in “the Word of Truth”, so we know there must be an interpretation which brings out the harmony of this passage. What that is, no mere human wisdom could have devised. The sentence of universal condemnation proceeded from the righteousness of God; the “difference” which He put between the Egyptians and Israel was the outflow of His grace. But how can justice and mercy be reconciled? How can justice exact its full due without excluding mercy? How can mercy be manifested except at the expense of justice? This is really the problem that is raised here. The solution of it is found in Exodus 12. All the firstborn in the land of Egypt did die, and yet the firstborn of Israel were delivered from the Angel of Death! But how could this be? Surely both could not be true. Yes they were, and therein we may discover a blessed illustration and type of the contents of the Gospel.

Exodus 12 records the last of the ten plagues. This was the death of the firstborn, and inasmuch as death is “the wages of sin”, we have no difficulty in perceiving that it is the question of SIN which is here raised and dealt with by God. This being the case, both the Egyptians and the Israelites alike were obnoxious to His righteous judgment, for both were sinners before Him. This was dealt with at some length in our last paper. In this respect the Egyptians and the Israelites were alike: both in nature and in practice they were sinners. “There is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:22, 23). It is true that God had purposed to redeem Israel out of Egypt, but He would do so only on a righteous basis. Holiness can never ignore sin, no matter where it is found. When the angels sinned God “spared them not” (2 Pet. 2:4). The elect are “children of wrath even as others” (Eph. 2:3). God made no exception of His own blessed Son: when He was “made sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21)—He spared Him not (Rom. 8:32).

But all of this only seems to make the problem more impossible of solution. The Israelites were sinners: their guilt was irrefutably established: a just God can “by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:7): sentence of death was passed upon them (Ex. 11:5). Nothing remained but the carrying out of the sentence. A reprieve was out of the question. Justice must be satisfied; sin must be paid its wages. What, then? Shall Israel perish after all? It would seem so. Human wisdom could furnish no solution. No; but man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and He did find a solution. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20), and yet grace was not shown at the expense of righteousness. Every demand of justice was satisfied, every claim of holiness was fully met. But how? By means of a substitute. Sentence of death was executed, but it fell upon an innocent victim. That which was “without blemish” died in the stead of those who had “no soundness” (Isa. 1:6) in them. The “difference” between the Egyptians and Israel was not a moral one, but was made solely by the blood of the pascal lamb! It was in the blood of the Lamb that mercy and truth met together and righteousness and peace kissed each other (Ps. 85:10).

The whole value of the blood of the pascal lamb lay in its being a type of the Lord Jesus—”Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast” (1 Cor. 5:7, 8). Here is Divine authority for our regarding the contents of Exodus 12 as typical of the Cross-work of our blessed Savior. And it is this which invests every detail of our chapter with such deep interest. May our eyes be anointed so that we shall be able to perceive some, at least, of the precious unfoldings of the truth which are typically set forth in our chapter.

The first great truth to lay hold of here is what we are told in the 11th verse: “It is the Lord’s passover”. This emphasizes a side of the truth which is much neglected to-day in evangelical preaching. Gospellers have much to say about what Christ’s death accomplished for those who believe in Him, but very little is said about what that Death accomplished Godwards. The fact is that the death of Christ glorified God if never a single sinner had been saved by virtue of it. Nor is this simply a matter of theology. The more we study the teaching of Scripture on this subject, and the more we lay hold by simple faith of what the Cross meant to God, the more stable will be our peace and the deeper our joy and praise.

The particular aspect of truth which we now desire to press upon the reader is plainly taught in many a passage. Take the very first (direct) reference to the “Lamb” in Scripture. In Geneses 22:8 we read that Abraham said to his son, “God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering”. It was not simply God would “provide” a lamb, but that He would “provide Himself a lamb”. The Lamb was “provided” to glorify God’s character, to vindicate His throne, to satisfy His justice, to magnify His holiness. So, too, in the ritual on the annual Day of Atonement, we read of the two goats. Why two? To foreshadow the two great aspects of Christ’s atoning work—Godwards and usward. “And he shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat” (Lev. 16:7, 8). It is this aspect of truth which is before us in Romans 3:24-26, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness… that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus”. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 we read, “Christ our Passover”. He is now our Passover, because He was first the Lord’s Passover (Ex. 12:11).

If further confirmation of what we have said above be needed it is supplied by another term which is used in Exodus 12:27. Here we are expressly told that the Passover was a “sacrifice”—”It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover”. Nor is this the only verse in the Scriptures where the Passover is called a sacrifice. In Exodus 34:25 we read that God said unto Israel, “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left unto the morning”. Again, in Deuteronomy 16:2 we read, “Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God”. So also in the New Testament, it is said, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). We emphasize this point because it has been denied by many that the Passover was a “sacrifice”. Objectors have pointed out that the pascal lamb was not slain by the priest, nor was it offered upon the altar, for there was no altar which God could own in Egypt. But such an objection is quickly removed if reference be made to the later Scriptures on the subject. After the Exodus the “passover” was never allowed to be killed anywhere except in the place which God had chosen. This is abundantly clear from Deuteronomy 16:4, 5, “And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days, neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee; but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt”. The Israelites were here expressly forbidden to kill the passover in their own homes, and were commanded to sacrifice it only “at the place which the Lord Thy God shall choose to place His name in”. What that “place” was we may learn from Deuteronomy 12:5, 6 and similar passages—it was the Tabernacle, afterwards the Temple.

That the Passover was a “sacrifice”, a priestly offering, is further proven by the fact that in Numbers 9:6, 7, 13, it is specifically designated a “corban”, and it is certain that nothing was ever so called except what was brought and offered to God in the Tabernacle or the Temple. Furthermore, there is definite scripture to show that the blood of the pascal sacrifice was poured out, sprinkled, offered at the altar by the priests. “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until the morning” (Ex. 23:18) — only the priests “offered” the blood. Plainer still is the testimony of 2 Chronicles 30:15, 16, “Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. And they stood in their place after their manner according to the Law of Moses the man of God; the priests sprinkled the blood”. And 2 Chronicles 35:11, “And they killed the passover and the priests sprinkled the blood”. So again Ezra 6:20, “For the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves”. Note “the priests and Levites” killed the passover for all the children of the captivity!

Now there are two lines of thought associated with sacrifices in Scripture. First, a sacrifice is a propitiatory satisfaction rendered unto God. It is to placate His holy wrath. It is to appease His righteous hatred of sin. It is to pacify the claims of His justice. It is to settle the demands of His law. God is “light” as well as “love”. He is of “purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13). This truth is denied on every side today. Yet this should not surprise us; it is exactly what prophecy foretold (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). Plain and pointed is the teaching of Scripture on this subject. Following the rebellion and destruction of Korah, we read that all the Congregation murmured against Moses and Aaron saying, “Ye have killed the people”. What was God’s response? This: “The Lord spake unto Moses saying, “Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment” (Num. 16:45). How was the consuming anger of God averted? Thus: “And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer and put fire therein off the altar, and put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed” (Num. 16:46-48)! A similar passage is found in the last chapter of Job. There we read, “The Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends; for ye have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams and go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept; lest I deal with you after your folly.” Here, then, is the primary thought connected with “sacrifice”. It is a bloody offering to appease the holy wrath of a sin-hating and sin-punishing God. And this is the very word which is used again and again in connection with the Lord Jesus the Great Sacrifice. Thus, Ephesians 5:2: “Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Again, “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself”, (Heb. 9:26). And again, “This man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God (Heb. 10:12). The meaning of these passages is explained by Romans 3:25, 26: Christ was unto God a “propitiation”, an appeasement, a pacification, a legal satisfaction. Therefore could the forerunner of the Redeemer say, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The second thought associated with “sacrifice” in the Scriptures is that of thanksgiving and praise unto God; this being the effect of the former. It is because Christ has propitiated God on their behalf that believers can now offer “a sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15). Said one of old, “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me; therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy” (Ps. 27:6). Said another, “I will sacrifice unto Thee with a voice of thanksgiving”(Jon. 2:9). This is why, after being told that “Christ our Passover hath been sacrificed for us”, the exhortation follows “therefore let us keep the feast” (1 Cor. 5:7). The Pascal lamb was first a sacrifice unto God; second, it then became the food of those sheltered beneath its blood.

The ritual in connection with the Passover in Egypt was very striking. The lamb was to be killed (Ex. 12:6). Death must be inflicted either upon the guilty transgressor or upon an innocent substitute. Then its blood was to be taken and sprinkled upon the doorposts and lintel of the house wherein the Israelites sheltered that night. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22), and without sprinkling of blood is no salvation. The two words are by no means synonymous. The former is for Propitiation; the latter is faith’s appropriation. It is not until the converted sinner applies the blood that it avails for him. An Israelite might have selected a proper lamb, he might have slain it, but unless he had applied its blood to the outside of the door, the Angel of Death would have entered his house and slain his firstborn. In like manner today, it is not enough for me to know that the precious blood of the Lamb of God was shed for the remission of sins. A Savior provided is not sufficient: he must be received. There must be “faith in His blood” (Rom. 3:25), and faith is a personal thing. I must exercise faith. I must by faith take the blood and shelter beneath it. I must place it between my sins and the thrice Holy God. I must rely upon it as the sole ground of my acceptance with Him.

“For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:12, 13). When the executioner of God’s judgment saw the blood upon the houses of the Israelites, he entered not, and why? Because death had already done its work there! The innocent had died in the place of the guilty. And thus justice was satisfied. To punish twice for the same crime would be unjust. To exact payment twice for the same debt is unlawful: Even so those within the blood-sprinkled house were secure. Blessed, blessed truth is this. It is not merely God’s mercy but His righteousness which is now on the side of His people. Justice itself demands the acquittal of every believer in Christ. Herein lies the glory of the Gospel. Said the apostle Paul, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). And why was he not “ashamed” of the Gospel? Hear his next words, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith”.

“And when I see the blood I will pass over you”. God’s eye was not upon the house, but on the blood. It might have been a lofty house, a strong house, a beautiful house; this made no difference; if there was no blood there judgment entered and did its deadly work. Its height, its strength, its magnificence availed nothing, if the blood was lacking. On the other hand, the house might be a miserable hovel, falling to pieces with age and decay; but no matter; if blood was upon its door, those within were perfectly safe.

Nor was God’s eye upon those within the house. They might be lineal descendants of Abraham, they might have been circumcised on the eighth day, and in their outward life they might be walking blamelessly so far as the Law was concerned. But it was neither their genealogy, nor their ceremonial observances, nor their works, which secured deliverance from God’s judgments. It was their personal application of the shed blood, and of that alone.

“And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). To the mind of the natural man this was consummate folly. What difference will it make, proud reason might ask, if blood be smeared upon the door? Ah I “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him (1 Cor. 2:14). Supremely true is this in connection with God’s way of salvation—”For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God… But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:18, 23). It is faith, not reasoning, which God requires; and it was faith which rendered the Passover-sacrifice effective; “Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood lest he that destroyed the first-born should touch them” (Heb. 11:28).

“To realize what this faith must have been, we have to go back to ‘that night’, and note the special circumstances, which can alone explain the meaning of the words ‘by faith’. God’s judgments had been poured out on Egypt and its king, and its people. A crisis had arrived; for, after nine plagues had been sent, Pharaoh and the Egyptians still remained obdurate. Indeed, Moses had been threatened with death if he ever came again into Pharaoh’s presence (Ex. 10:28,29). On the other hand, the Hebrews were in more evil case than ever and Moses, who was to have delivered them, had not made good his promises.

“It was at such a moment that Moses heard from God what he was to do. To sense and sight it must have seemed most inadequate, and quite unlikely to accomplish the desired result. Why should this last plague be expected to accomplish what the nine had failed to do with all their accumulating terrors? Why should the mere sprinkling of the blood have such a marvelous effect? And if they were indeed to leave Egypt ‘that same night’ why should the People be burdened with all those minute ceremonial observances at the moment when they ought to be making preparation for their departure? Nothing but ‘faith’ could be of any avail here. Everything was opposed to human understanding and human reasoning.

“With all the consciousness of ill-success upon him, nothing but unfeigned faith in the living God and what he had heard from Him, could have enabled Moses to go to the people and rehearse all the intricacies of the Pascal observances, and tell them to exercise the greatest care in the selection of a lamb on the tenth day of the month, to be slain on the fourteenth day, and eaten with (to them) an unmeaning ceremony. It called for no ordinary confidence in what Moses had heard from God to enable him to go to his brethren who, in their deep distress, must have been ill-disposed to listen; for, hitherto, his efforts had only increased the hatred of their oppressors, and their own miseries as bondmen. It would to human sight be a difficult if not impossible task to persuade the people, and convince them of the absolute necessity of complying with all the minute details of the observance of the Passover ordinance.

“But this is just where faith came in. This was just the field on which it could obtain its greatest victory. Hence we read that, “through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood” (Heb. 11:28), and thus every difficulty was overcome, and the Exodus accomplished. All was based on ‘the hearing of faith’. The words of Jehovah produced the faith, and were at once the cause and effect of all the blessing” (Dr. Bullinger)

“And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy, when I smite the land of Egypt” (v. 13). In connection with this it is deeply important that we should distinguish between two things; the foundation of security and the proof basis of peace. That which provided a safe refuge from judgment was the death of the lamb and sprinkling of the blood. That which offered a stay to the heart was the promise of Him who cannot lie. So many err on this second point. They want to make their experience, their feelings, something within themselves, the basis of their assurance. This is a favorite device of Satan, to turn the eye downwards upon ourselves. The Holy Spirit ever directs the eye away front ourselves to God and His Word.

Let us suppose a case. Here are two households on that Passover night. At the head of the one is an unbelieving father who has refused to heed the Divine warning and avail himself of the Divine provision. Early that evening his firstborn says, “Father I am very uneasy. Moses has declared that at midnight an Angel is to visit this land and slay all the firstborn, except in those houses which are protected by the blood of a lamb”. To still the fears of his son, the father lies, and assures him that there is no cause for alarm seeing that he has killed the lamb and applied its blood to the door. Hearing this, the son is at rest, all fear is gone, and in its place he is filled with peace. But it is a false peace!

In the second home the situation is reversed. At the head of this house is a God-fearing man. He has heard Jehovah’s warning message through Moses, and hearing, has believed and acted accordingly; the lamb has been slain, its blood placed upon the lintel and posts of the door. That evening the firstborn says, “Father, I feel very uneasy. An Angel is to smite all the firstborn to-night and how shall I escape?” His father answers, “Son, your alarm is groundless; yea, it is dishonoring to God. The Lord has said, ‘when I see the blood, I will pass over you’”. “But”, continues the son, “while I know that you have killed the lamb and applied its blood, I cannot be but terrified. Even now I hear the cries of terror and anguish going up from the houses of the Egyptians. O that morning would come! I shall not feel safe ‘till then”. But his fears were groundless.

Now observe. In the first case supposed above we have a man full of happy feelings, yet he perished. In the second case, we have one full of fears yet was he preserved. Examine the ground of each. The oldest son in the first house was happy because he made the word of man the ground of his peace. The oldest son in the second house was miserable because he failed to rest on the sure Word of God. Here, then, are two distinct things. Security is by the applied blood of the Lamb. Assurance and peace are to be found by resting on the Word of God. The ground of both is outside of ourselves. Feelings have nothing to do with either. Deliverance from judgment is by the Finished Work of Christ, and by that alone. Nothing else will avail. Religious experiences, ordinances, self-sacrifice, Church-membership, works of mercy, cultivation of character, avail nothing. The first thing for me, as a poor lost sinner, to make sure of is, Am I relying upon what Christ did for sinners? Am I personally trusting in His shed blood? If I am not, if instead, under the eloquence and moving appeals of some evangelist, I have decided to turn over a new leaf, and endeavor to live a better life, and I have “gone forward” and taken the preacher’s hand, and if he has told me that I am now saved and ready to “join the church,” and doing so I feel happy and contented—my peace is a false one, and I shall end in the Lake of Fire, unless God in His grace disillusions me.

On the other hand, if the Holy Spirit has shown me my lost condition, my deep need of the Savior, and if I have cast myself upon Christ as a drowning man clutches at a floating spar; if I have really believed on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), and received Him as my own personal Savior (John 1:12), and yet, nevertheless, I am still lacking in assurance of my acceptance by God, and have no settled peace of heart; it is because I am failing to rest in simple faith on the written Word. GOD SAYS, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”. That is enough. That is the Word of Him who cannot lie. Nothing more is needed. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Never mind about your feelings; do not stop to examine your repentance to see if it be deep enough. It is CHRIST that saves; not your tears, or prayers, or resolutions. If you have received Christ, then you are saved. Saved now, saved forever. —”For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are set apart” (Heb. 10:14). How may you know that you are saved? In the same way that the firstborn Israelite could know that he was secure from the avenging Angel—by the Word of God. “When I see the blood I will pass over you”. God is saying the same today. If you are under the blood, then you are eternally secure. Neither the Law, nor the Devil, can harm you. “It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?” (Rom. 8:33, 34). Receive Christ for salvation. Rest on God’s Word for assurance and peace!

Nor are we to be occupied with our faith, any more than with our feelings. It is not the act of faith which (instrumentally) saves us, but the TRUTH itself, which faith lays hold of. If no blood had been placed on the door, no believing it was there would have delivered from the avenger. On the other hand, if the blood had been placed on the door, and those within doubted its efficacy, peace would have been destroyed but not their security. It is faith in God’s promise which brings assurance. For salvation, faith is simply the hand that receives the gift. For assurance, faith is “setting to our seal that God is true” (John 3:33). And this is simply receiving “His testimony”.

In this paper we have only sought to develop that which is central and vital in connection with our salvation and peace. In our next we shall, God willing, take up some of the many interesting details of Exodus 12. May the Lord be pleased to use what we have written to establish His own.

The Passover (Continued)

By E. L. Bynum

Exodus 12

The institution and ritual of the Passover supply us with one of the most striking and blessed foreshadowments of the cross-work of Christ to be found anywhere in the Old Testament. Its importance may be gathered from the frequency with which the title of “Lamb” is afterwards applied to the Savior, a title which looks back to what is before us in Exodus 12. Messianic prediction contemplated the suffering Messiah “brought as a Lamb to the slaughter” (Isa. 53:6). John the Baptist hailed Him as “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The apostle speaks of Him as “a Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19). While the one who leaned on the Master’s bosom employs this title no less than twenty-eight times in the closing book of Scripture. Thus, an Old Testament prophet, the Lord’s forerunner, an apostle, and the Apocalyptic seer unite in employing this term of the Redeemer.

There are many typical pictures of the sacrificial work of Christ scattered throughout the Old Testament, yet it is to be doubted if any single one of them supplies so complete, so many-sided a portrayal of the person and work of the Savior as does the one before us. The Passover sets forth both the Godward and the manward aspects of the Atonement. It prefigures Christ satisfying the demands of Deity, and it views Him as a substitute for elect sinners. Hardly a single vital phase of the Cross, either in its nature or its blessed results, but what is typified here. That which is central and basic we contemplated in our last paper; here we shall confine our attention to details.

1. Following the order of the contents of Exodus 12, the first thing to be noted is that the institution of the Passover changed Israel’s calendar: “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you” (12:2). Deeply significant is this. Passover-month was to begin Israel’s year; only from this point was their national existence to be counted. The type is accurate down to the minutest detail. The new year did not begin exactly with the Passover-night itself, for that fell between the fourteenth and fifteenth of Nisan. Now the Pascal lamb was a type of the Lord Jesus, and the chronology of the civilized world is dated back to the birth of Christ. Anno Mundi (the year of the world) has given place to Anno Domini (the year of our Lord). The coming of Christ to this earth changed the calendar, and the striking thing is that the calendar is now dated not from His death, but from His birth. By common consent men on three Continents reckon time from the Babe of Bethlehem; thus, the Lord of Time has written His signature upon time itself!

But there is another application of what has just been before us. The Passover speaks not only of Christ offering Himself as a sacrifice, a sin offering to God, but it also views the believing sinner’s appropriation of this unto himself. The slaying of the “lamb” looks at the Godward side of the Cross; the sprinkling of the blood tells of faith’s application. And it is this which changes our relationship to God. But our appropriation of Christ’s atoning sacrifice is not the first thing. Preceding this is a Divine work of grace within us. While we remain dead in trespasses and sins, there is no turning to Christ; nay, there is no discernment, and no capacity to discern, our need of Him. Except a man be born again he “cannot see the kingdom (things) of God” (John 3:3). Regeneration is the cause, faith’s application of the sacrifice of Christ, the effect. The new birth is the beginning of the new life. Hence, Israel’s new calendar dated not from the Passover itself, but from the beginning of the month in which it occurred. The true here typified is both blessed and solemn. All the years we lived before we became new creatures in Christ are not reckoned to our account. The past is blotted out. Our unregenerate days were so much lost time. Our past lives in the service of sin and Satan, were wasted. But when we became new creatures in Christ “old things passed away” and all things became new.

2. “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house” (v. 3). This is the first thing in connection with the “lamb”: it was singled out from the flock, separated, appointed unto death four days before it was actually slain. We believe that two things were here foreshadowed. In the antitype, Christ was marked out for death before He was actually slain: “Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:19, 20). It is to this that the singling out of the lamb four days before its slaying points, for four is the number of the world.

The second application of this detail, which has also been pointed out by others before us, has reference to the fact that four years before His crucifixion the Lord Jesus was singled out for death. At the beginning of His public ministry (which lasted between three and four years—cf. Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6, a year for a day) John the Baptist cried, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” It was then that the Lamb was singled out from the flock—”the lost sheep of the House of Israel”! In the Numerical Bible Mr. Grant has called attention to the fact that Christ was about thirty years old at that time, and 30 is 10 x 3 being the number of manifestation and 10 of human responsibility. This shows us why God commanded the Israelites to single out the lamb on the tenth day. Not until He had reached the age which, according to its numerical significance, spoke of human responsibility fully manifested, did the Lord Jesus enter upon His appointed work which terminated at Calvary.

3. “Your lamb shall be without blemish” (v. 5). With this should be compared Leviticus 22:21, 22. “And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. Blind, or broken or maimed, or having a wren or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord”. The moral significance of this is obvious. Nothing but a perfect sacrifice could satisfy the requirements of God, who Himself is perfect. One who had sin in himself could not make an atonement for sinners. One who did not himself keep the Law in thought and word and deed, could not magnify and make it honorable. God could only be satisfied with that which glorified Him. And where was such a sacrifice to be found? Certainly not among the sons of men. None but the Son of God incarnate, “made under the law” (Gal. 4:4) could offer an acceptable sacrifice. And before He presented Himself as an offering to God, the Father testified, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. He was the antitype of the “perfect” lamb. As Peter tells us, Christ was “a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1:19).

4. “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year” (v. 5). “The age of the sacrifice is prescribed. It is to be a male of the first year. The Hebrew phrase is ‘a male, the son of a year’; that is, it is to be one year old. The lamb was not to be too young or too old. It was to die in the fullness of its strength. If we ask how that might apply to Christ, we note that this particular may be fully sustained as a description of Him. For He died for us, not in old age, nor in childhood, or boyhood, or in youth, but in the fullness of His opening manhood” (Urquhart). In the language of Messianic prediction, Christ was cut off “in the midst” of His days (Ps. 102:24).

Before passing on to the next verse we would call attention to a striking gradation here. In verse 3 it is “a lamb”; in verse 4, “the lamb”; in verse 5, “your lamb”. This order is most instructive, corresponding to the enlarged apprehension of faith. While in our unregenerate state, Christ appeared to us as nothing more than a Lamb; we saw in Him no beauty that we should desire Him. But when the Holy Spirit awakened. us from the sleep of death, when He made us see our sinful and lost condition, and turned our gaze toward Christ, then we behold Him as the Lamb. We perceived His uniqueness, His unrivaled perfections. We learned that “neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, (Acts 4:12). Finally, when God in His sovereign grace gave us faith whereby to receive Christ as our own personal Savior, then could He be said to be your Lamb, our Lamb. Each elect and believing sinner can say with the apostle Paul, “Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

5. “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening (v. 6). This is very solemn. The whole congregation of Israel was to slay the “lamb”. Not that every particular individual, man, woman and child, shared in the act itself, but they did so representatively. The head of the household stood for and acted on the behalf of each member of his family. It was not simply Moses and Aaron or the Levites who slew the Lamb, but the entire people, as represented by the heads of each household. The fulfillment of this aspect of our type is plainly brought out in the Gospels. It was not simply the chief priests and elders, nor the scribes and Pharisees only, who put the Lord Jesus to death. When Pilate decided the issue as to whether Barabbas or Christ should be released, he did so by the popular vote of the common people, who all cried, “crucify Him” (see Mark 15:6-15). In like manner it is equally true that it was the sins of each individual believer which caused our Savior to be put to death: He bare our sins in His own body on the tree.

6. “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (v. 6). Here we have defined the exact time at which the Pascal lamb was to die. It was to be “kept up” or tethered until the fourteenth day of Nisan, and then killed in the evening, or more literally, “between the evenings”, that is between the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month. To point out precisely the antitypical fulfillment of this would necessitate an examination of quite a number of N. T. passages. Only by a most minute comparison of the statements in each of the four Gospels can we discover the fact that the Lord Jesus died “between the evenings” of the fourteenth and fifteenth of Nisan. Others before us have performed this task, the best of which, perhaps, is to be found in volume 5 of the Companion Bible. But if the reader will prayerfully study the closing chapters of each of the Gospels it will be seen that the Lamb of God died at the very time that the Pascal lambs were being slain in the temple.

7. “And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening” (v. 6). Here the type passes to the Antitype. This point is very striking indeed. Many thousands of lambs were to be slain on that memorable night in Egypt, yet the Lord here designedly used the singular number when giving these instructions to Moses—Israel shall kill it, not “them” It is indeed remarkable that never once is the plural “lambs” used throughout the 12th chapter of Exodus. “There was only one before God’s mind—The Lamb of Calvary” (Urquhart).

8. “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it” (v. 8). Not only was the lamb to be killed, but its flesh was to be eaten. This was God’s provision for those inside the house, as the blood secured protection from the judgment outside. A journey lay before Israel, and food was needed to strengthen them first. “Eating” signifies two things in Scripture: appropriation and fellowship. The “lamb” spoke of the person of Christ, and He is God’s food for His people—The Bread of Life”. Christ is to be the object before our hearts. As we feed upon Him our souls are sustained and He is honored.

“It is death here which God ordains as the food of life. We are so familiar with this we are apt by the very fact to miss its significance. How we see nature thus everywhere instructing us, if we have but learned to read her lessons in the deepest lesson of God’s wisdom! The laying down of life becomes the sustenance of life. For men this did not begin until after the Deluge; at least it is only after this we read of Divine permission for it. And when we see in that Deluge with its central figure, the ark of salvation, bearing within it the nucleus of the new world, the pregnant figure of how God has saved us and brought us in Christ into a new creation. How its similitude in what we have here bursts upon us! It is only as sheltered and saved from death—from what is alone truly such—that we can feed upon death; that Samson’s riddle is fulfilled, and ‘out of the eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness! Death is not merely vanquished and set aside; it is in the Cross the sweet and wonderful display of Divine love and power in our behalf accomplished in the mystery of human weakness. Death is become the food of life—yea, of a life which is eternal” (F. W. Grant).

But mark carefully the lamb is to be eaten with “unleavened bread and bitter herbs”. In Scripture “leaven” uniformly symbolizes evil. The lesson taught here is of vital importance. It is only as we are separated from what is repugnant to Divine holiness that we can really feed upon Christ. While we are indulging known sin there can be no communion with Him. It is only as we “walk in the light as He is in the light” that the blood of God’s Son cleanseth us from all sin and “we have fellowship one with another” (1 John 1:7). The “bitter herbs” speak of the remorse of conscience in the Christian. We cannot have “fellowship with His sufferings” (Phil. 3:10) without remembering what it was that made those sufferings needful, namely, our sins, and the remembrance of these cannot but produce a chastened spirit.

9. “Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire” (v. 9). How very explicit—rather, how carefully God preserved the accuracy of the type! In the previous verse we read, “eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire”, here, “eat not of it raw”. The Israelites were to feed not only upon that where death had done its work, but upon that which had been subjected to the fire. Solemn indeed is this. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). These are two separate things. For the lost, death is not all, nor even the worst that awaits them. After death is “judgment,” the judgment of a sin-hating God. Therefore if Christ was to take the place of His sinful people and suffer what was righteously due them, He must not only die, but pass under and through the judgment of God. “Fire” here, as ever, speaks of the wrath of a holy God. It tells of Christ being “made sin for us” (2 Cor. 5:21), and consequently being “made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13) and as such, enduring the judgment of God. Speaking anticipatively by the Spirit, through the prophet Jeremiah, the Savior said, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow, which is done Unto Me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted Me in the day of His fierce anger. From above hath He sent fire into My bones”. It was this which caused Him to also say through the Psalmist, “My moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:4). And this it is which, in its deepest meaning, explains His cry from the Cross—”I thirst”. His “thirst” was the effect of the agony of His soul in the fierce heat of God’s wrath. It told of the drought of the land where the living God is not. “Not sodden (boiled) at all with water”, because water would have hindered the direct action of the fire.

“His head with his legs, and with the purtenance (inwards) thereof” (v. 9). “The head, no doubt, expresses the thoughts and counsels with which the walk (the legs) keep perfect company. The inwards are those affections of His heart which were the motive-power impelling Him upon the path He trod. In all, the fire brought forth nothing but sweet savor; for men, it prepared the food of their true life; all is absolutely perfect; and all is ours to appropriate. Occupation with the person of Christ is thus impressed upon us; we need this. Not the knowledge of salvation alone will suffice us; it is the One who saves whom we need. Christ for our hearts alone keeps and sanctifies them, (Mr. Grant).

10. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning” (v. 10). The lamb must be eaten the same night as it was slain. Communion must not be separated from the sacrifice on which that communion was founded. Communion is based upon redemption accomplished. We find the same truth brought before us again at the close of Christ’s parable of the prodigal son. As soon as the lost son enters the Father’s house and is suitably attired, the word goes forth “Bring hither the fatted calf, and kill; and let us eat and be merry” (Luke 15:23). Another thought is also suggested here by the words “ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning”. “The sacrifice in all its ceremonial was to be completed within a single night. The rising sun was thus to see no trace of the slain lamb. In like manner the atoning work of Christ is not a progressive but a completed thing. It is not in process of being accomplished; it has been accomplished definitely and eternally. As a fragrant and hallowed memory Calvary’s costly sacrifice abides with God and the redeemed forever; but the sacrifice itself is past and completed. For God’s suffering Lamb the dark night of judgment is no more, and He lives on high in the eternal sunshine of Divine favor and love” (Mr. W. W. Fereday).

11. “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover” (v. 11). The little word “thus” is very emphatic. It defines for us the accessories, what should accompany feeding upon Christ; four things are mentioned. First, their dress; ‘loins girded”. “Having your loins girt about with truth”, says the apostle. “The garments are spiritually what we may designate by the old word for them—‘habits’. They are the moral guise in which we appear before men—what they identify with us at least, if they are not, after all, ourselves. And if not just ‘ourselves’ we may be in many ways read in them; pride or lowliness, boldness or unobtrusiveness, sloth or diligence, and many another thing.

“The long robes of the East, as we are all aware, required the girdle in order that there might be no hindrance in the way of a march such as Israel now had before them. If they were allowed to flow loose, they would get entangled with the feet and overthrow the wearers; and the dust of the road would get upon them and defile them. The truth it is which is to be our girdle, keeping us from the loose and negligent contact with ever-ready defilement in a world which the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life characterizes, and from the entanglement to our feet which lax habits prove.

“Garments un-girded are thus practically near akin to the ‘weights’ (Heb. 12:2) which the apostle bids us ‘lay aside’, and which are not things in themselves sinful, and yet nevertheless betray us into sin. Have you noticed the connection in that exhortation of his ‘lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us’? If you had a pack of wolves following you, you would understand very quickly, why if carrying a weight you would be indeed ‘easily beset’. And herein, many a soul may discern, if he will, why he has so great and so little successful conflict. The ‘weight’ shows, like the flowing garment that whatever else we may be, we are not racers . . .Fit companions then with unleavened bread and bitter herbs are these girt loins. We must arise and depart for this is not our rest” (Mr. Grant).

“Your shoes on your feet”. This, again, was in view of the journey which lay before them. It tells of preparation for their walk. There is a most interesting reference to these “shoes” in Deuteronomy 29:5, where at the close of his life, Moses said, “I have led your forty years in the wilderness; your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot”, And again he reminded them, “Neither did thy foot swell these forty years” (Deut. 8:4). Remarkable was this. For forty years Israel had wandered up and down the wilderness, yet their shoes were neither torn to pieces nor did their feet suffer. How this tells of the sufficiency of that provision which God has graciously provided for the walk of His saints! When the prodigal son came to His Father, there was not only the best robe for his body, and the ring for his hand, but there were also “shoes for his feet” (Luke 15:22)! The significance of these “shoes” is explained for us in Ephesians 6:15—”Your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace”.

“Your staff in your hand”. The staff is the sign of pilgrimage. As they journeyed to the Promised Land, Israel were to pass through a wilderness in which they would be strangers and pilgrims. So it is with Christians as they pass through this world. Their home is not here: “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). Therefore does God say, “I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims” (1 Pet. 2:11). Staff in hand signifies that as Israel journeyed they were to lean on something outside of themselves. Clearly this is the written Word, given us for a stay and support. The dependent soul who leans bard upon it can say with the Psalmist, “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” (23:4).

“And ye shall eat it in haste”. “They were to eat it in haste because they expected that any moment the Lord might come and pass over them; any moment they might be called to arise and go out of the land of bondage. They expected the imminent Coming of the Lord. That is to say, because the Coming of the Lord was imminent they expected it”. (Dr. Haldeman).

12. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). Upon this Mr. Urquhart has made some illuminating remarks. “The term rendered Passover ‘pesach’ does not seem to have that meaning. It is entirely different from the Hebrew verb, a-bhar, or ga-bhar, so frequently used in the sense of ‘to pass over’. Pasach (the verb) and pesach (the noun) have no connection with any other Hebrew word. They closely resemble, however, the Egyptian word pesh, which means ‘to spread the wings over,’ ‘to protect’. The word is used—we may say explained—in this sense in Isaiah 31:5: “As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over (pasoach, participle of pasach) He will preserve it’. The word has, consequently, the very meaning of the Egyptian term for ‘spreading the wings over’, and ‘protecting’; and pesach, the Lord’s Passover, means such sheltering and protection as is found under the outstretched wings of the Almighty. Does not this give a new fullness to those words of our Savior, ‘O Jerusalem! Jerusalem!..how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen does gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not’ (Luke 13:34.)? Jesus of Nazareth was her PESACH, her shelter from the coming judgment; and she knew it not! Quite in keeping with this sense of protecting with outstretched wings is the fact that this term pesach is applied (1) to the ceremony, ‘It is the Lord’s Passover’ (Ex. 12:11), and (2) to the lamb (v. 21); ‘draw out and take you a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover’. The slain lamb, the sheltering behind its blood and the eating of its flesh, constituted the pesach, the protection of God’s chosen people beneath the sheltering wings of the Almighty”. This interpretation is clearly established by what we read in verse 23: “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel and upon the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the Destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you”. It was not merely that the Lord passed by the houses of the Israelites, but that He stood on guard protecting each blood-sprinkled door!

13. “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever” (v. 14). It is interesting to trace Israel’s subsequent response to this command. Scripture records just seven times when this Feast was kept. The first in Egypt, here in Exodus 12. The second in the Wilderness (Num. 9). The third when they entered Canaan (Josh. 5). The fourth in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30). The fifth under Josiah (2 Chron. 35). The sixth after the return from the Captivity (Ezra 6). Just six in the O. T. The seventh was celebrated by the Lord Jesus and His apostles immediately before the institution of “the Lord’s Supper, (Luke 22:15, etc.). In that last Passover the true Lamb of God is seen, who had been prefigured by the preceding pascal lambs. “It should also be observed, that Jesus Christ, who celebrated the last Passover, had been Himself in Egypt, where the first had been observed. As the Passover came from Egypt, so Jesus Christ, who is the true Passover, was called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15)” (Robert Haldane: Evidence and Authority of Divine Revelation).

14. “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin” (v. 22). This gives us a marvelous typical picture of the sufferings of our blessed Lord upon the Cross, though the picture is marred by translating here, the original word, “basin”. Once more we avail ourselves of the scholarly help of Dr. Urquhart The word rendered ‘basin’ is sap, which is an old Egyptian word for the step before a door, or the threshold of a house. The word is translated ‘threshold’ in Judges 19:27 and ‘door’ in 2 Kings 12:9—apparently for the sole reason that the sense ‘basin’, favored by lexicographers and translators could not possibly be given to the word in these passages…No direction was given about putting the blood upon the threshold, for the reason that the blood was already there. The lamb was evidently slain at the door of the house which was protected by its blood”. We may add that the Septuagint gives “para ten thuran”, which means along the doorway! While the Vulgate reads, “in sanguine qui est limine”—in the blood which is on the threshold. This point is not simply one of academic interest, but concerns the accuracy of the type. The door of the house wherein the Israelite was protected had blood on the lintel (the cross piece), on the side posts and on the step (The objection that blood on the step would cause the Israelite to walk upon it, is obviated by Jehovah’s instructions. “And none of you shall go out at the door until the morning” (v. 22)!). How marvelously this pictured Christ on the Cross; blood above, where the thorns pierced His brow; blood at the sides, from His nail-pierced hands; blood below, from His nail-pierced feet!!

15. The blood was to be applied with “a bunch of hyssop” (v. 22). Nothing in the Word is meaningless: the smallest detail has its due significance. Nor are we ever left to guess at anything; Scripture is ever its own interpreter. The “hyssop” was not connected with the “lamb”, but with the application of its blood. It speaks, then, not of Christ but of the sinner’s appropriation of His sacrifice. The “hyssop” is never found in connection with any of the offerings which foreshadowed the Lord Jesus Himself. It is beheld, uniformly, in the hands of the sinner. Thus in connection with the cleansing of the leper (Lev. 14); and the restoration of the unclean (Num. 19). From Psalm 51:7 we may learn that “hyssop” speaks of humiliation of soul, contrition, repentance. Note that in 1 Kings 4:33 “hyssop” is contrasted with “the cedars”, showing that “hyssop” speaks of lowliness.

Perhaps a word should be added concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread which followed the Passover: “And ye shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread” (vv. 17-20). The interpretation of this for us is supplied in 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”.

Upon the above we cannot do better than quote from Mr. C. H. MacIntosh: the Feast spoken of in this passage is that which, in the life and conduct of the Church, corresponds with the Feast of unleavened bread. This lasted seven days (a complete circle of time A. W. P.); and the Church collectively, and the believer individually, are called to walk in practical holiness, during their days, or the entire period of their course here below; and this, moreover, as the direct result of being washed in the blood, and having communion with the sufferings of Christ.

“The Israelite did not put away leaven in order to be saved, but because he was saved; and if he failed to put away leaven it did not raise the question of security through the blood, but simply of fellowship with the assembly. The cutting off of an Israelite from the Congregation answers precisely to the suspension of Christian fellowship, and if he be indulging in that which is contrary to the holiness of the Divine presence. God cannot tolerate evil. A single unholy thought (entertained: A. W. P.) will interrupt the soul’s communion; and until the soil contracted by any such thought is got rid of by confession, founded on the advocacy of Christ, the communion cannot possibly be restored (see 1 John 1:5-10)”. May the Lord stir us up to a more diligent and prayerful study of His wonderful Word.

The Glorified Mediator

Exodus 34:28-35

The Law had “a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1). A beautiful illustration and exemplification of this is found in the closing verses of Exodus 34, in which we behold Moses descending from the mount with radiant face. The key to our present portion is found in noting the exact position that it occupies in this book of redemption. It comes after the legal covenant which Jehovah had made with Israel: it comes before the actual setting up of the tabernacle and the Shekinah-glory filling it. As we shall see, our passage is interpreted for us in 2 Corinthians 3. What we have here in Exodus 34 supplies both a comparison and a contrast with the new dispensation, the dispensation of the Spirit, of grace, of life more abundant. But before that dispensation was inaugurated, God saw fit that man should be fully tested under Law, and that, for the purpose of demonstrating what he is as a fallen and sinful creature.

As was shown in our last article, man’s trial under the Mosaic economy demonstrated two things: first, that he is “ungodly;” second, that he is “without strength” (Rom. 5:6). But these are negative things: in Romans 8:7 a third feature of man’s terrible state is mentioned, namely. that he is “enmity against God.” This was made manifest when God’s Son became incarnate and tabernacled for thirty-three years on this earth. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11). Not only so, but He was “despised and rejected of men.” Nay, more, they hated Him, hated Him “without a cause” (John 15:25). Nor would their hatred be appeased till they had condemned Him to a malefactor’s death and nailed Him to the accursed cross. And, let it be remembered, that it was not merely the Jews that put to death the Lord of glory, but the Gentiles also: therefore did the Lord say, when looking forward to His death, “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31)—not of Israel only. There the probation or testing of man ended.

Man is not now under probation. He is under condemnation: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one” (Rom. 3:10-12). Man is not on trial: he is a culprit, under sentence. No pleading will avail: no excuses will be accepted. The present issue between God and the sinner is, will man bow to God’s righteous verdict.

This is where the Gospel meets us. It comes to us as to those who are already “lost,” as to those who are “ungodly, without strength, enmity against God.” It announces to us the amazing graces of God—the only hope for poor sinners. But that grace will not he welcomed until the sinner bows to the sentence of God against him. That is why both repentance and faith are demanded from the sinner. These two must not be separated. Paul preached, “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Repentance is the sinner’s acknowledgement of that sentence of condemnation under which he lies. Faith is the acceptance of the grace and mercy which are extended to him through Christ. Repentance is not the turning over of a new leaf and the vowing that I will mend my ways; rather is it a settine of my seal that God is true when He tells me that I am “without strength,” that in myself my case is hopeless, that I am no more able to “do better next time” than I am of creating a world. Not until this is really believed (not as the result of my experience, but on the authority of God’s holy Word), shall I really turn to Christ and welcome Him—not as a Helper, but as a Savior.

As it was dispensationally so it is experimentally: there must be “a ministration of death” (2 Cor. 3:7). before there is a “ministration of spirit” or life (2 Cor. 3:8):—there must be “the ministration of condemnation,” before “the ministration of righteousness” (2 Cor. 3:9). Ah, a “ministration of condemnation and death” falls strangely upon our ears, does it not? A “ministration of grace” we can understand, but a “ministration of condemnation” is not so easy to grasp. But this latter was man’s first need: it must he shown what he is in himself: a hopeless wreck, utterly incapable of meeting the righteous requirements of a holy God—before he is ready to be a debtor to mercy alone. We repeat: as it was dispensationally, so it is experimentally: it was to this (his own experience) that the apostle Paul referred when he said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Rom. 7:9). In his unregenerate days he was, in his own estimation “alive,” yet it was “without the Law,” i.e., apart from meeting its demands. “But when the commandment came,” when the Holy Spirit wrought within him, when the Word of God came in power to his heart, then “sin revived.” that is, he was made aware of his awful condition; and then he “died” to his self-righteous complacency—he saw that, in himself, his case was hopeless. Yes, the appearing of the glorified mediator comes not before, but after, the legal covenant.

“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.” And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant the ten commandments” (v. 28). Our passage abounds in comparisons and contrasts. The “forty days” here at once recalls to mind the “forty days” mentioned in Matthew 4. Here it was Moses: there it is Christ. Here it was Moses on the mount: there it was Christ in the wilderness. Here it was Moses favored with a glorious revelation from God: there it was Christ being tempted of the Devil. Here it was Moses receiving the Law, at the mouth of Jehovah: there it was Christ being assailed by the Devil to repudiate that Law. We scarcely know which is the greater wonder of the two: that a sinful worm of the earth was raised to such a height of honor as to be permitted to spend a season in the presence of the great Jehovah, or that of the Lord of glory should stoop so low as to be for six weeks with the foul Fiend.

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.” Very blessed is it to compare and contrast this second descent of Moses from the from the mount with that which was before us in the 32nd chapter. There we see the face of Moses diffused with anger (v. 19): here he comes down with countenance radiant. There he be held a people engaged in idolatry, here he returns to a people abashed. There we behold him dashing the tables of stone to the ground (v. 19): here he deposits them in the ark (Deut. 10:5).

“And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him.” This also reminds us of a N. T. episode, which is very similar, yet vastly dissimilar. It was on the mount that the face of Moses was made radiant, and it was on the mount that our Lord was transfigured. But the glory of Moses was only a reflected one, whereas that of Christ was inherent. The shining of Moses’ face was the consequence of his being brought into the immediate presence of the glory of Jehovah: the transfiguration of Christ was the outshining of His own personal glory. The radiance of Moses was confined to his face, but of Christ we read, “His raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:3). Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone: Christ did, as is evident from His words. “Tell the vision to no man” (Matthew 17:9).

This 29th verse brings out, most blessedly. what is the certain consequence of intimate communion with the Lord, and that in a twofold way. First no soul can enjoy real fellowship with the all-glorious God without being affected thereby, and that to a marked degree. Moses had been absorbed in the communications received and in contemplating the glory of Him who spake with him: and his own person caught and retained some of the beams of that glory. So it is still: as we read in Psalm 34:5. “They looked unto Him, and their faces were radiant” (R. V.). It is communion with the Lord that conforms us to His image. We shall not be more Christlike till we walk more frequently and more closely with Him. “But we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord. are changed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18).

The second consequence of real communion with God is that we shall be less occupied with our wretched selves. Though the face of Moses shone with ‘a light not seen on land or sea,’ he wist it not. This illustrates a vital difference between self-righteous phariseeism and true godliness: the former produces complacency and pride, the latter leads to self-abnegation and humility. The Pharisee (and there are many of his tribe still on earth) boasts of his attainments, advertises his imaginary spirituality, and thanks God that he is rot as other men are. But the one who, by grace, enjoys much fellowship with the Lord, learns of Him who was “meek and lowly in heart.” and says “Not unto us, O Lord. not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory” (Ps. 115:1). Being engaged with the beauty of the Lord, he is delivered from self-occupation, and therefore is unconscious of the very fruit of the Spirit which is being brought forth in him. But though he is not aware of his increasing conformity to Christ, others are.

“And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw, Moses, behold the skin of his face shone: and they were afraid to come nigh him” (v. 30). This shows us the third effect of communion with God: though the individual himself is unconscious of the glory manifested through him, others are cognizant of it. Thus it was when two of Christ’s apostles stood before the Jewish Sanhedrin: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled: and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Ah, we cannot keep company very long with the Holy One. without His impress being left upon us. The man who is thoroughly devoted to the Lord needeth not to wear some badge or button in his coat-lapel, nor proclaim with his lips that he is “living a life of victory.” It is still true that actions speak louder than words.

“And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of His face shone: and they were afraid to come nigh him.” The typical meaning of this is given in 2 Corinthians 3:7, “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance.” Concerning this another has said: “Why then, were they afraid to come near him? Because the very glory that shone upon his face searched their hearts and consciences—being what they were, sinners, and unable of themselves to meet even the smallest requirements of the covenant which had now been inaugurated. It was of necessity a ministration of condemnation and death, for it required a righteousness from them which they could not render, and, inasmuch as they must fail in the rendering it, would pronounce their condemnation, and bring them under the penalty of transgression, which was death. The glory which they thus beheld upon the face of Moses was the expression to them of the holiness of God—that holiness which sought from them conformity to its own standards—and which would vindicate the breaches of that covenant which had now been established. They were therefore afraid, because they knew in their in-most souls that they could not stand before Him from whose presence Moses had come” (Mr. Ed. Dennett).

Typically (not dispensationally) the covenant which Jehovah made with Moses and Israel at Sinai, and the tables of stone on which were engraved the ten commandments, foreshadowed that new covenant which He will yet make with Israel in a coming day: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall lie clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers: and ye shall he My people, and I will he your God” (Ezek. 36:24-28). “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah… After those days, saith the Lord. I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;… and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me. from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord” (Jer. 31:31-34).

Spiritually, this is made good for Christians even now. Under the gracious operations of the Spirit of God our hearts have been made plastic and receptive. It is to this fact that Paul referred at the beginning of 2 Corinthians 3. “The saints at Corinth had beer, ‘manifested to be Christ’s epistle ministered by us, written not with ink, but the Spirit of the living God: not on stone tables, but on fleshly tables of the heart.’ Their hearts being made impressionable by Divine working, Christ could write upon them, using Paul as a per, and making every mark in the power of the Spirit of God. But what is written is the knowledge of God as revealed through the Mediator in the grace of the new covenant, so that it might be true in the hearts of the saints—‘They shall all know Me.’ Then Paul goes on to speak of himself as made competent by God to be a new covenant ministry, ‘not of letter, but of spirit’” (C. A. Coates).

“And Moses called unto them: and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with them in Mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face” (vv. 31-33). Ah, does not this explain their fear as they beheld the shining of Moses’ face? Note what was in his hands! He carried the two tables of stone on which were written the ten words of the law, the “ministration of condemnation.” The nearer the light of the glory came, while it was connected with the righteous claims of God upon them, the more cause had they to fear. That holy Law condemned them, for man in the flesh could not meet its claims. “However blessed if was typically, it was literally a ministry of death, for Moses was not a quickening Spirit, nor could he give his spirit to the people, nor could the glory of his face bring them into conformity with himself as the mediator. Hence the veil had to be on his face” (C. A. Coates).

The dispensational interpretation of this is given in 2 Corinthians 3:13: “And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of hat which is abolished.” Here the apostle is treating of Judaism as an economy. Owing to their blindness spiritually. Israel was unable to discern the deep significance of the ministry of Moses, the purpose of God behind it. that which all the types and shadows pointed forward to. The “end” of 2 Corinthians 3:13: is parallel with Romans 10:4. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” “The veil on Israel’s heart is self-sufficiency. which makes them still refuse to submit to God’s righteousness. But when Israel’s heart turns to the Lord the veil will be taken away. What a wonderful chapter Exodus 34 will be to them then! For they will see that Christ is the spirit of it all. What they will see, we are privileged to see now. All this had an ‘end’ on which we can, through infinite grace, fix our eyes. The ‘end’ was the glory of the Lord as the Mediator of the new covenant. He has come out of death and gone up on high. and the glory of all that God is in grace is shining in His face” (C. A. Coates).

“But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses. that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the veil upon his face again. until he went in to speak with Him” (vv. 34, 35). Moses unveiled in the presence of the Lord is a beautiful type of the believer of this dispensation. The Christian beholds the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6) therefore, instead of being stricken with fear, he approaches with boldness. God’s law cannot condemn him, for its every demand has been fully met and satisfied by his Substitute. Hence, instead of trembling before the glory of God, we “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2).

“There is no veil now either on His face or our hearts. He makes those who believe on Him to live in the knowledge of God, and in response to God, for He is the quickening Spirit. And He gives His Spirit to those who believe. We have the Spirit of the glorified Man in whose face the glory of God shines. Is it not surpassingly wonderful? One has to ask sometimes, Do we really believe it? ‘But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory even as by the Lord the Spirit’ (2 Cor. 3:18). If we had not His Spirit we should have no liberty to look on the glory of the Lord, or to see Hint as the spirit of these marvelous types. But we have liberty to look on it all, and there is transforming power in it. Saints under new-covenant-ministry are transfigured.

“This is the ‘surpassing glory’ which could not be seen or known until it shone in the face of Him of whom Moses in Exodus 34 is so distinctly a type. The whole typical system was temporary, but its ‘spirit’ abides, for Christ was the Spirit of it all. Now we have to do with the ministry of the Spirit and of righteousness, and all is abiding. The ministry of the new covenant subsists and abounds in glory” (C. A. Coates).

As a sort of appendix to this article we shall proffer, for the sake of those who may value it, an outline of the apostle’s argument in 2 Corinthians 3. The authority of Paul’s apostleship had been called into question, by certain Judaisers. In the first verses of this chapter he appeals to the Corinthians themselves as the proof of his God-commissioned and God-blessed ministry. In v. 6 he defines the character of his ministry, and this for tire purpose of showing its superiority over that of his enemies. He and his fellow-gospellers were “ministers of the New Testament” or covenant. A series of contrasts is then drawn between the two covenants, that is, between Judaism and Christianity. That which pertained to the former is called “the letter” that relating to the new, “the spirit,” i.e., the one was mainly concerned with that which was external, the other was largely fraternal: the one slew, the other gave life—this was one of the leading differences between the Law, and the Gospel.

In what follows the apostle, while allowing that the Law was glorious, shows that the Gospel is still more glorious. The old covenant was a “ministration of death.” for the Law could only condemn; therefore, though a glory was connected with it, yet was it such that man in the flesh could not behold (v. 7). Then how much more excellent would be, must be, the glory of the new covenant, seeing that it was “a ministration of the Spirit” (v. 8)—compare v. 3 for proof of this. If there was a glory connected with that which “concluded all men under sin” (Gal. 3:23), much more glorious must be that ministration which announces a righteousness which is “unto all and upon them that believe” (Rom. 3:22). It is more glorious to pardon than to condemn; to give life, than to destroy (v. 9). The glory of the former covenant therefore pales into nothingness before the latter (v. 10). This is further seen from the fact that Judaism is “done away,” whereas Christianity “remaineth” (v. 11)—compare Hebrews 8:7, 8.

At verse 12 the apostle draws still another contrast between the two economies, namely, the plainness or perspicuity over against the obscurity and ambiguity of their respective ministries (vv. 12-15). The apostles used “great plainness of speech,” whereas the teaching of the ceremonial law was by means of shadows and symbols. Moreover, the minds of the Israelites were blinded, so that there was a veil over their hearers, and therefore when the writings of Moses were read, they were incapable of looking beyond the type to the Antitype. This veil remains upon them unto this day, and will continue until they turn unto the Lord (vv. 15. 16). Literally the covenant of Sinai was a ministration of condemnation and death, and the glory of it had to be veiled. But it had an “end” (v. 13). upon which Israel could not fix their eyes. They will see that “end” in a coming day: but in the meantime, we are permitted to read the old covenant without a veil, and to see that Christ is the “spirit” of it all, and that it had in view that which could only have its fulfillment under new covenant conditions, namely, God’s glory secured in and by the Mediator.

The language of v. 17 is involved in some obscurity: “Now the Lord is that Spirit.” This does not mean that Christ is the Holy Spirit. The “spirit” here is the same as in v. 6—”not of the letter. but of the spirit:” cf. Romans 7:6. The Mosaic system is called “the letter” because it was purely objective. It possessed no inward principle or power. But the Gospel deals with the heart, and supplies the spiritual power (Rom. 1:16). Moreover, Christ is the spirit, the life, the heart and center of all the ritual and ceremonialism of Judaism. He is the key to the O. T. for, “In the volume of the Book” it is written of Him. So also Christ is the spirit and life of Christianity; He is “a quickening Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). And “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Apart from Christ, the sinner, be he Jew or Gentile, is in a state of bondage: he is the slave of sin and the captive of the Devil. But where the Son makes free. He frees indeed (John 8:32).

Finally the apostle contrasts the two glories, the glory connected with the old covenant—the shining on Moses’ face at the giving of the Law (when the covenant was made)—with the glory of the new covenant, in the person of Christ. “But we all, with open (unveiled) face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Note here: first, “we all.” Moses alone beheld the glory of the Lord in the mount: every Christian now beholds it. Second, we with “open face,” with freedom and with confidence; whereas Israel were afraid to gaze on the radiant and majestical face of Moses. Third, we are “changed into the same image.” The law had no power to convert or purify: but the ministry of the Gospel, under the operation of the Spirit, has a transforming power. Those who are saved by it, those who are occupied with Christ as set forth in the Word (the “mirror”) are, little by little, conformed to His image. Ultimately, when we “see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2), we shall be “Like Him”—fully perfectly, eternally.

Gleanings In Exodus

By E. L. Bynum

The Accompaniments of the Passover

Exodus 12, 13

Though we have entitled this paper “the Accompaniments of the Passover”, other things will come before us. The instructions which Jehovah gave to Israel concerning the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are found part in Exodus 12 and part in Exodus 13. Therefore as these two chapters are to be the portion for our study, we must not pass by other incidents recorded in them. First, then, a brief word upon the carrying out of the death-sentence upon the Egyptians.

“And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn, of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captives that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead” (12:29, 30). The very first message which the Lord commanded Moses to deliver to Egypt’s ruler was, “Thus saith the Lord, Israel is My son, even my firstborn; And I say unto thee, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn” (4:22, 23). It is evident from the sequel that Pharaoh did not believe this message. In this he accurately represented the men of this world. All through this Christian dispensation the solemn word has been going forth, “Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3): “He that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). But, for the most part, the Divine warning has fallen on deaf ears. The vast majority do not believe that God means what He says. Nevertheless, though oftentimes men’s threats are mere idle words and empty bombast, not so is it with the threatenings of Him who cannot lie. It is true that God is “slow to anger” and long does He leave open the door of mercy, but even His long-sufferance has its limits. It was thus with Pharaoh and his people. Pharaoh received plain and faithful warning and this was followed by many appeals and preliminary judgments. But the haughty king and his no less defiant subjects only hardened their hearts. And now the threatened judgment from heaven fell upon them, and neither wealth nor poverty provided any exemption—”there was not a house where there was not one dead”. A most solemn proof is this unto rebels against God to-day, that in a short while at most, unless they truly repent, Divine wrath shall smite them.

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt” (12:40, 41). It is very striking to observe the accuracy of the type here. It was not until the day following the Passover-night that Israel was delivered from Egypt. As we have gone over the first twelve chapters of Exodus we have witnessed the tender compassion of God (2:23-25); we have seen the appointment of a leader (3:10); we have listened to the Divine promises (6:6-8); and we have beheld remarkable displays of Divine power (in the plagues), and yet not a single Israelite was delivered from the house of bondage. It was not until the blood of the “lamb” was shed that redemption was effected, and as soon as it was shed, even the very next morning, Israel marched forth a free people—remarkable is the expression here used: “All the hosts of the Lord (not “of Israel”) went out from the land of Egypt” (12:41). They were the Lord’s by purchase—”bought with a price”, and that price “not corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of a Lamb”!

The same thing is to be seen in the Gospels. Notwithstanding all the blessed display of grace and power in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, at the close of His wonderful works of mercy among men, had there been nothing more, He must have remained alone. Listen to His own words; “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (John 12:24). As another has well said, “Blessed as was that ministry, great as were His miracles, heavenly as was His teaching, holy as was His life, yet had He not died, the Just for the unjust, not one of all the sons of Adam could possibly have been saved. What a place this gives to redemption!” (Mr. C. Stanley). How sadly true. Though Christ “spake as never man spake” (John 7:46), and though men confessed “He hath done all things well; He maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak (Mark 7:37), yet at the close we read, even of His apostles, “they all forsook Him and fled”. But how different after His precious blood had been shed! Then He is no longer “alone”. Then, for the first time, He speaks of the disciples as His “brethren” (John 20:17).

The order of truth in Exodus 12, like every other chapter in the Bible, is according to Divine wisdom, yet the writer has to confess dimness of vision in perceiving the purpose and beauty of the arrangements of its contents. One thing is very clear, it evidences plainly that it was not of Moses’ own design. Here, as ever, God’s thought and ways are different from ours. A trained mind, accustomed to think in logical sequence, would certainly have reversed the order found here. Yet we have not the slightest doubt that God’s order is infinitely superior to that of the most brilliant human intellect. These remarks are occasioned by what is found in verses 43-50. After telling us in verse 45 that “The self-same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt”, verses 43 to 50 give us the “ordinance of the Passover”, and then in verse 51 it is repeated that “The Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt”. The strange thing is that this ordinance was for Israel’s guidance in the future, hence one would naturally have expected to find these instructions given at a later date, as a part of the ceremonial law. But though, at present, we can offer no satisfactory explanation of this, several points of interest in the “ordinance” itself are clear, and these we will briefly consider.

“And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover; There shall no stranger eat thereof; but every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof” (vv. 43-45). Here we learn that three classes of people were debarred from eating the Passover. First, no stranger was to eat thereof. This Feast was for Israel alone, and therefore no foreigner must participate. The reason is obvious. It was only the children of Abraham, the family of faith, who had participated in God’s gracious deliverance, and they alone could commemorate it. Second, no hired servant should eat the Passover. This too is easily interpreted. An “hired” servant is an outsider; he is actuated by self-interest. He works for pay. But no such principle can find a place in that which speaks of redemption: “To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). Third, no uncircumcised person should eat thereof. (v. 48). This applies to Israel equally as much as to Gentiles. “Circumcision’ was the sign of the Covenant, and only these who belonged to the Covenant of Grace can feed upon Christ. Circumcision was God’s sentence of death written upon nature. Circumcision has its antitype in the Cross. (Col. 2:11, 12).

“But every man’s servant that is bought for money when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof . . . and when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof” (vv. 44, 48). A wall was erected to shut out enemies, but the door was open to receive friends. No hired servant could participate in the Feast, but a bondservant who had been purchased and circumcised, and who was now one of the household, could. So, too, the foreigner who sojourned with Israel, provided he would submit to the rite of circumcision. In this we have a blessed foreshadowing of Grace reaching out to the Gentiles, who though by nature were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise”, are now, by grace “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God” (Eph. 2:12, 19). —a statement which manifestly looks back to Exodus 12.

“In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof (v. 46). “The lamb was to be eaten under the shelter of the atoning blood, and there alone. Men may admire Christ, as it is the fashion very much to do, while denying the whole reality of His atoning work, but the Lamb can only be eaten really where its virtue is owned I Apart from this, He cannot be understood or appreciated. Thus the denial of His work leads to the denial of His person. Universalists and Annihilationists slip naturally into some kind of Unitarian doctrines as is evidenced on every hand.

“Thus this unites naturally with the commandment ‘Neither shall ye break a bone thereof’. God will not have the perfection of Christ disfigured as it would be in type by a broken bone. With the bones perfect a naturalist can show the construction of the whole animal. Upon the perfection of the bones depends the symmetry of form. God will have this preserved with regard to Christ. Reverent, not rash handling, becomes us as we seek to apprehend the wondrous Christ of God. And looking back to what is in connection with this, how suited a place to preserve reverence, the place ‘in the house’ under the shelter which the precious blood has provided for us! With such a one, so sheltered, how could rationalism or irreverence, we might ask, be found? And yet, alas, the injunction, we know too well is not unneedful” (Mr. Grant).

It is indeed blessed to mark how God guarded the fulfillment of this particular aspect of the type. That there might be no uncertainty that Christ Himself, the Lamb of God, was in view here, the Spirit of prophecy also caused it to be written (in one of the Messianic Psalms), “He keepeth all His bones; not one of them is broken” (34:20). And in John 19 we behold the antitype of Exodus 12 and the fulfillment of Psalm 34. “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain upon the Cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (v. 31). Here was Satan, in his malignant enmity attempting to falsify and nullify the written Word. Vain effort was it. “Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with Him” (v. 32). Thus far might the agents of the Roman empire go, but no farther—”But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs,” (John 19:33). Here we are given to see the Father “keeping” (preserving) all the bones of His blessed Son. Pierce His side with a spear a soldier might, and this, only that prophecy might be fulfilled, for it was written, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced, (Zech. 12:10). But brake His legs they could not, for “a bone of Him shall not be broken”, and it was not!

“And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel both of man and of beast it is Mine” (13:1, 2). “The narrative of the Exodus from Egypt is suspended to bring in certain consequences,—responsible consequences for the’ children of Israel—consequences which flowed from their redemption out of the land of bondage. For, although, they are still in the land, the teaching of the chapter is founded upon their having been brought out, and it is indeed anticipative of their being in Canaan. If God acts in grace toward His people, He thereby establishes claims upon them, and it is these claims that are here unfolded” (Ed. Dennett).

A redeemed people become the property of the Redeemer. To His New Testament saints God says, “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price”(1 Cor. 6:19, 20). It is on this same principle that Jehovah here says unto Moses, “Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn”. The reference to the “firstborn” here should be carefully noted. It was the firstborn of Israel who had been redeemed from the death-judgment which fell upon the Egyptians, and now the Lord claims these for Himself. Typically this speaks of practical holiness, setting apart unto God. Thus the first exhortation in Romans which follows the doctrinal exposition in chapters 1 to 11 is, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (12:1). Personal devotedness is the first thing which God has a right to look for from His blood-bought people.

“Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters” (13:6, 7). Typically this shows the nature of sanctification. Throughout Scripture “leaven” is the symbol of evil, evil which spreads and corrupts everything with which it comes into contact, for “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6). To eat “unleavened bread” signifies separation from all evil, in order that we may feed upon Christ. That this Feast lasted “seven days”, which is a complete period, tells us that this is to last throughout our whole sojourn on earth. It is to this that 1 Corinthians 5:7, 8 refers. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Because we are saved by grace, through the sprinkled blood of Christ, it is not that we may now indulge in sin without fear of its consequences, or that grace may abound. Not so. Redemption by the precious blood of Christ imposes an additional responsibility to separate ourselves from all evil, that we may now show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Carelessness of walk, evil associations, worldliness, fleshly indulgences are the things which hinder us from keeping this Feast of unleavened Bread.

But much more is included by this figure of “leaven” than the grosser things of the flesh. We read in the N. T. of “the leaven of the Pharisees, (Matthew 16:6). This is superstition, the making void of the Word of God by the traditions of men. Formalism and legality are included too. Sectarianism and ritualism as well are the very essence of Phariseeism. Then we read of “the leaven of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). The Sadducees were materialists, denying a spirit within man, and rejecting the truth of resurrection, (Acts 23:8). In its present-day form, Higher Criticism, Rationalism, Modernism answers to Sadduceeism. We also read of “the leaven of Herod (Mark 8:15). This is worldliness, or more specifically, the friendship of the world, as the various statements made about Herod in the Gospels will bear out. All of these things must be rigidly excluded. The allowance of any of them makes it impossible to feed upon Christ. Is it not because of our failure to “purge out the old leaven” that so few of the Lord’s people enter upon “the feast of unleavened bread”!

“And thou shall show thy son in that day, saying, this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt” (13:8). Striking indeed is this. The basis of this Feast was what the Lord had done for Israel in delivering them from the land of bondage. In other words, its foundation was redemption accomplished, entered into, known, enjoyed. No soul can really feast upon Christ while he is in doubt about his own salvation. “Fear hath torment” (1 John 4:18) and this is the opposite of joy and salvation, of which “feasting” speaks. Little wonder then that there are so many joyless professing Christians. How could it be otherwise? “Rejoice” said Christ to the disciples, “that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Until this joy of assurance is ours there cannot be, we say again, any feasting upon Christ.

“And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth; for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt” (13:9). The Feast was a “sign” upon the hand, that is, it signified that their service was consecrated to God. It was also a “memorial between the eyes”, that is, upon the forehead, where all could see; which being interpreted, signifies, an open manifestation of separation unto God. Finally, it was to be accompanied with “the Lord’s law in their mouth”. The correlative of “law” is obedience. God’s redeemed are not a lawless people. Said the Lord Jesus, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15); and as John tells us, “His commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3). Those who insist so urgently that in no sense are Christians under Law evidence a sad spirit of insubordination; it shows how much they are affected and infected, with the spirit of lawlessness which now, alas, is so prevalent on every side and in every realm.

“And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee, That thou shalt set apart unto the Lord all that openeth the matrix and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the Lord’s. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck; and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem”. (13:11-13). The deep significance of this cannot be missed if we observe the connection—that which precedes. In Exodus 12 we have had the redemption of the “firstborn” of Israel, here it is the redemption of the “firstling” of an ass. In the second verse of chapter 13 the two are definitely joined together—”Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb of the children of Israel, both of man and of beast; it is Mine”. That there may be no mistaking what is in view here, the Lord gave orders that the firstling of the ass was to be redeemed with a lamb, just as the firstborn of Israel were redeemed with a lamb on the passover night. Furthermore, the ass was to have its neck broken, that is it was to be destroyed, unless redeemed; just as the Israelites would most certainly have been smitten by the avenging Angel unless they had slain the lamb and sprinkled its blood. The conclusion is therefore irresistible: God here compares the natural man with the ass! Deeply humbling is this!

The “ass” is an unclean animal. Such is man by nature; shapen in iniquity conceived in sin. The “ass” is a most stupid and senseless creature. So also is the natural man. Proudly as he may boast of his powers of reason, conceited as he may be over his intellectual achievements, the truth is, that he is utterly devoid of any spiritual intelligence. What saith the Scriptures? This: “Walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them” (Eph. 4:17, 18). Again; “If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Cor. 4:3, 4). How accurately, then, does the “ass” picture the natural man! Again; the “ass” is stubborn and intractable, often as hard to move as a mule. So also is the natural man. The sinner is rebellious and defiant. He will not come to Christ that he might have life (John 5:40). It is in view of these things that Scripture declares, “For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt” (Job 11:12).

It is instructive to trace the various references to the “ass” in Scripture. The first mention of the “ass” is in Genesis 22; from it we learn two things. “Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his “ass” (v. 3). The “ass” is not a free animal. It is a beast of burden, saddled. So, too, is the sinner—”serving divers lusts”. Second, “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship”(Gen. 22:5). The “ass” did not accompany Abraham and Isaac to the place of worship. Nor can the sinner worship God. Third, in Genesis 49:14 we read, “Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens”. So, too, is the sinner—heavily “laden” (Matthew 11:28). Fourth, God forbade His people to plow with an ox and ass together (Deut. 22:10). The sinner is shut out from the service of God. Fifth, in 1 Samuel 9:3 we are told, “And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost”, and though Saul and his servant sought long for them they recovered them not. The sinner, too, is lost, away from God, and no human power can restore him. Sixth, In Jeremiah 22:19 we read, “He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem”. Fearfully solemn is this. The carcass of the ass was cast forth outside the gates of the holy city. So shall it be with every sinner who dies outside of Christ; he shall not enter the New Jerusalem, but be “cast into the Lake of Fire”. The final reference to the “ass” is found in Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy King cometh unto thee, He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass”. Most blessed contrast is this. Here we see the “ass” entering Jerusalem, but only so as it was beneath the controlling hand of the Lord Jesus! Here is the sinner’s only hope—to submit to Christ!

In Genesis 16:12 we have a statement which is very pertinent in this connection, though its particular force is lost in the A. V. rendering; we quote therefore from the R. V., “And he shall be a wild-ass man among men; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him”. Those were the words of the Lord to Sarah. They were a prophecy concerning Ishmael. From Galatians 4 we learn that Ishmael stands for the natural man, as Isaac for the believer, the seed of promise. In full accord, then, with all that we have said above is this striking description of Sarah’s “firstborn”; he was a wild-ass man. The Bedouin Arabs are his descendants, and fully do they witness to the truth of this ancient prophecy. But solemn is it to find that here we have God’s description of the natural man. And more solemn still is what we read of Ishmael in Galatians 4; he “persecuted him that was born after the Spirit” (v. 29), and in consequence had to be “cast out” (v. 30).

In view of what has been said above, how marvelous the grace which provided redemption for “the firstling of an ass”! “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Ah, dear reader, have you taken this place before God? Do you own that the “ass” is an accurate portrayal of all that you are in yourself—unclean, senseless, intractable, fit only to have your neck broken? Do the words of the apostle suitably express the real sentiments of your heart—”Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:15)? Or, are you like the self- righteous Pharisee, who said, “God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers” (Luke 18:11)? Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, (Luke 5:32). He came “To seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Again, we ask, Have you taken this place before God? Have you come to Him with all your wretchedness—undone, corrupt, guilty, lost? Have you abandoned all pretentions of worthiness and merit, and cast yourself upon His undeserved mercy? Have you seen your own need of the sinner’s Savior, and thankfully received Him? If you have, then will you gladly “set to your seal that God is true”, and acknowledge that the “ass” is a suitable figure to express what you were and still are by nature. And, then, too, will you praise God for the matchless grace which redeemed you, not with corruptible things as silver and gold, “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19). Thank God for the Lamb provided for the ass. The more fully we realize the accuracy of this figure, the more completely we are given to see how ass-like we are in ourselves, the deeper will be our gratitude and the more fervent our praise for the redemptive and perfect Lamb.