SERMON XXVI.

ON THE BUDDING OF AARON'S ROD.

BY THE REV T. CHALKLEN.

Numbers xvii. 6-9.

"And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked and took every man his rod.”

WHEN the Holy Word is truly regarded as a divine revelation— as the wisdom of God expressed in natural language for the use of man, given purposely to instruct him in all things relating to bis regeneration; it will be seen that every portion of it is properly conducive to this end, and essential to its perfection as such a work; and while much of its contents may remain as yet unopened to the understanding, the desire will be to pursue the investigation of its truths and the examination of its various passages; and where this desire is accompanied with the endeavour to make progress in the regenerate life, by a right appropriation of its instructions, there will doubtless be afforded from the source of wisdom the requisite help for increasing in the knowledge of spiritual truth. The individual who has attained to any degree of spiritual life, will rejoice to discover, as he proceeds to search the scriptures, that every tittle of its heavenly wisdom, while it is immediately directed to the understanding, is expressly for the purification of the affections, and thence for the regulation of the life; that no part of them is given for the mere amusement of the intellect, that their design is not to make us clever, but to make us wise, wise unto salvation-unto the removal, that is, of

the evils of our selfhood, and the replenishing us with affections of heavenly goodness. The natural man may read the scriptures with attention, and experience much gratification in becoming acquainted with the many strange and wonderful things recorded in the letter, but the spiritual man, instead of suffering his mind to be absorbed with the consideration of these outward things, will begin to look, as he reads them, for that spiritual instruction intended for the improvement of his spiritual condition, which he rationally believes them to contain ; aware that spiritual truth is to be found within the literal expressions, he not merely asks for their significations for the sake of furnishing his understanding with knowledge, but his inquiry is "what can I find in them for directing me onwards in the present state of my affections? what, to discover the evils now besetting me, and to correct the mistakes which I may now have fallen into? what, to guide my steps towards a state of purity? what, to contribute to the building me up into the image and likeness of God?" With such inquiries on his mind, there is no passage of the Word on which his attention needs alight in vain; not that he is to expect fully to understand every particular immediately on reading it, but every effort made to perceive the interiors of divine truth, in such a state of mind, will prove effectual in' yielding something new for his use. Let us, then, on the present occasion give full play to these feelings of spiritual desire, while we look for some of the truth that is clothed with the narrative of which our text is a part.

In the preceding chapter we have an account of the rebellious murmurings of the congregation of Israel against the authority with which Moses and Aaron were invested, and of the awful consequences which followed, in the destruction of thousands of the murmurers; and then, in the 17th chapter, is related the means used by the Lord for proving to the people his choice of his servants, and also the propriety of such choice. The princes of the twelve tribes were commanded to bring each his rod, which, with their names written upon them, were to be laid up in the tabernacle, and the rod of the man whom the Lord would choose should be found to blossom. Accordingly "Moses spake to the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was

budded and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked and took every man his rod." Religion among the Israelites consisted of little more than the observance of external representations or types of the principles of goodness and truth, so that we can scarcely regard them as forming more than the outward representation of a spiritual church. As such, however, their use was very great, for attaching holiness so fully to outward and visible things, they were better adapted for furnishing, by their rites and ceremonies, a perfect typical image of true worship, than a more spiritual people could have been. Their representative character, however, was not confined to the rites and ceremonies of their worship. Every thing connected with them was typical. The whole of their history, as recorded in the Word, was so. Every event recorded of them, represents, according to the science of correspondence, something belonging to spiritual truth-something, therefore, for our spiritual instruction. The children of Israel, as a nation, represents the Lord's church. By the twelve tribes, of which they were constituted, were represented the several principles of goodness and truth which make up the church. Twelve is a number invariably signifying completeness. All constitutive of the true church, is, therefore, included in what is represented by the twelve tribes. But it is essential to the state of a genuine church, that there should be not merely the existence or acknowledgment of all the various principles of goodness and truth, but that these should be arranged, and each made to sustain its proper relations to the rest. Divine perfection consists in the harmonious arrangement of infinite varieties, and the perfection of the church consists in having all its principles of goodness and truth arranged, not merely arranged but properly arranged. It is so in the church universal, and it must be so too in the individual.

The variety occurring in the order of naming the twelve tribes in different parts of scripture, is to shew the various arrangements which take place of the principles of goodness and truth in the states severally represented. During the process of regeneration from a state of disorder and perversion into the image and likeness of God, it is the constant effort of divine truth to overcome the tendencies of the natural man to disorder and confusion, and to induce the order of heaven. This object, however, is not attained without considerable struggles and severe combating with the opposition of evil and false principles. These are represented

by the murmurings and rebellions of the Israelites; teaching us that the self-hood of man, in all that proceeds from itself, is only evil and that continually; its propensities are in continual opposition to the instructions of divine truth, and is unremitting in the exercise of its unconquered power in seeking to pervert whatever is received from the Lord. If the cultivation of goodness and truth of the natural degree, has prepared for the reception of spiritual truth, then there will be a struggle for the mastery, an endeavour to subdue the spiritual principle, and to bring it under the domination of the natural man. But in all these the power of the Lord is manifest in removing the rebellious feelings and thoughts, and bringing about a state of order, and an acquiescence in the divine will. This was represented by the fire, the opening of the earth, and the plague destroying the rebellious Israelites who murmured at the appointment of Moses and Aaron to the sacred offices they held amongst them, and by the budding of Aaron's rod.

When the spiritual significations of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob are understood, it will be seen why the tribe of Levi was chosen for the service of the tabernacle, and that one of its families was chosen for the priesthood. The prevailing ideas in the literal meanings of their names, according to the original language, represent, severally, the characteristics of the principles of the church represented by the twelve tribes, and the order in which they were born represents the order in which these principles begin to unfold in the church or in the process of regeneration. It will be well just to go through their names in the order of their births, and connect with each its prevailing idea as would be understood by the words in the original tongue. Reuben, seeing; Simeon, hearing; Levi, conjunction; Judah, praising the Lord; Dan, judging; Naphtali, struggling; Gad, a troop; Asher, blessedness; Issachar, reward; Zebulun, dwelling; Joseph, adding; Benjamin, right hand or power. By these names, then, and their occurring in this order, we are instructed that the spiritual church is commenced by means of some truth seen by the understanding. The truth seen is then heard or obeyed, which is what hearing spiritually signifies. When truth is thus seen and heard, conjunction takes place between truth and goodness, or a degree of union is effected between the will and understanding. Then comes an acknowledgment of or praising the Lord as the source of all that is good and true. When the principles of the church are thus far awakened, then the truly rational principle begins to open, and the power of judging between real and appa

rent truth and between spiritual and natural goodness, begins to be exercised. Then follow the strugglings of temptation, the result of which brings a troop, or many heavenly affections and knowledges; a state of blessedness is then experienced, the influences of which descend into the natural principles, and afford to them what they have been looking for, the reward of their service, and by bringing them into a state of orderly agreement with the spiritual principles, secure by them a permanent dwelling or everlasting basis for these. When all this is effected then is reached a state of fitness for receiving uninterrupted and eternal additions of heavenly riches and felicities; and, finally, the enjoyment of the full power of heavenly goodness and truth in undisputed operation through all the regions of the internal and external man. This is the order in which the principles of the church become awakened or are born in man. The order in which they stand, varies in different stages of the regenerating process, hence the names of the twelve tribes in different parts of the word are variously arranged. But we must come now more particularly to the consideration of the tribe of Levi, as that one from which the priesthood was chosen. True spiritual worship consists of something more than engaging in social or in private acts of piety and devotion. Indeed the reading or hearing the Word, joining in songs of praise, and offering up the language of humble prayer and of thanksgiving, although necessarily the delightful employ of every spiritual mind, are but the external form or the outward clothing of real worship. That truly is worship which immediately conjoins man with the Lord,-which brings him into such communion with his maker as that the divine influence or Holy Spirit is at once received. A man may be very pious and sincere in his closet or in the sanctuary, his applications at a throne of grace may be frequent and always fervent, and yet he may perform very little of true worship. The worship of the mere formalist may be compared to an altar on which is no fire. But it is also possible for our altars to blaze with unhallowed fire; devotion may be warm, it may burn with a steady flame, or it may be fierce and rage with zeal and importunity, while it may be derived from self, instead of from heaven. It is not the high flown sentiment, nor the impassioned feeling, that will suffice to bring down the divine blessing into the soul; nothing less than that charity, that love of the neighbour, which assimilates man to God, can attract the Holy Spirit of divine benevolence and wisdom, and testify the divine acceptance. But the fire of charity comes from heaven. Our self