Promises of mercy if the people shall repent.

40 If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;

41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.

43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall ac

cept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.

44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.

45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.

46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

LECTURE 232.

Chastisement ought to lead us to repentance and obedience.

How close is the resemblance between the Law and the Gospel, in this point, as well as in many others, that judgment is fenced round about with mercy! The solemn exhortations of this chapter begin with the promise of most abundant blessings. Then follow denunciations of wrath. And now again, at the close, God assures his people, that if they shall confess their iniquity, and be humbled, and take their punishment in good part, then He will remember his covenant with their fathers, and not destroy them utterly, nor abhor them, nor cast them away. And these promises have, we know, been once remarkably fulfilled, when at the end of the Babylonish captivity, the captive people were sent home into the land of Judæa, by Cyrus the conqueror of Babylon. And further we have reason to think, that as they have since that time walked contrary unto God, and have been visited by the most severe of all their visitations, so the way is still open for them again to return; they have but to be humbled, and confess, and repent, and to "accept of the punishment of their iniquity;" and God will again prove, that He has not forgotten to be gracious,

He will again remember for their benefit the covenant which He made with Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob; and He will also "remember the land." Many prophecies have been thought to make it probable, that it is God's purpose yet once more to establish his antient people in the territory of Judæa. Many prophecies make it certain, that He will establish all true Israelites in " better country, that is, an heavenly." Heb. 11. 16.

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In the meantime how striking is the warning which this afflicted and dispersed people perpetually hold forth to us! How forcibly are we reminded, by every Israelite that comes across our path, both of the goodness and of the severity of God! And what a peculiar fitness of punishment to sin, is this which is here again insisted on, that the land should enjoy her sabbaths, whilst its inhabitants were captive or dispersed! The Israelites may have dared to violate the ordinance, they may have neglected to keep account of the appointed years of rest. But the account has been kept in heaven. The ordinance of God must take effect. The land must have its appointed rest. And as many years as have been lost by the neglect of its inhabitants shall be balanced by their captivity or dispersion. See how surely God's will must be fulfilled; by our obedience if we are wise, and would be happy; but if we will walk perversely, then in spite of our disobedience. Nay then our disobedience itself shall be so overruled by his mighty arm, that it shall be made, whether we will or not, to redound to his glory in the end. His wisdom and goodness, if they have no field for exercise in heaping blessings on the faithful and devout, are manifested in the fatherly correction of his erring and headstrong children. And in such as will neither be won by kindness, nor chastened by affliction, whom neither the tidings of salvation, nor the terrors of the Lord, will induce to walk humbly with their God, in them He will still be glorified, by the manifestation of his righteous judgment, in their "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7.

Whensoever therefore we experience the rod of affliction, let us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Let us "accept of the punishment of" our "iniquity.” Let us receive thankfully the evil which we have richly deserved, at the hands of Him who has dealt forth to us so many blessings, which we have in no wise deserved at all. Let us lay to heart that it is his design, in chastening us, to bring us to repentance. Let us bethink ourselves of his covenant made even before the world began, the covenant of redemption through Christ Jesus. Let us be assured that He has not forgotten it, never will forget it. Let us know that He is our God. Let us rejoice to be his people. And let us ever be aware, that if we would approve ourselves as his, we must continually study to glorify his name, by observing watchfully, reverently, and affectionately, his "statutes, and judgments, and laws."

The law of vows.

unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.

22 And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;

23 Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubile: and he shall give thine

estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.

24 In the year of the jubile the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.

25 And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.

LECTURE 233.
Christian devotedness.

These laws neither recommend vows, nor forbid them; but refer to them as an established custom, allowable under proper limitations. A vow consisted in the solemn dedication to God of a man's self or substance, as a voluntary act of devotion. To prevent the inconvenience which might otherwise arise from this way of expressing thankfulness and love, it is here ordered that Moses, or his successors, the rulers of Israel, should estimate the value of the thing or person vowed; which might be redeemed by payment of the appointed price. And this was to be the case whether it were a man, or woman, or child, an animal, or house, or field, that had been vowed; but not if it were "a beast whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord," any one of those animals which might be sacrificed, these could not be so redeemed. In case however a man should vow, or "sanctify" a field, being part " of his possession" by inheritance, the price of redemption would vary according to the number of years wanting to the jubile following, when it would properly revert to its possessor. And the like would be the case, if it were a field which a man had bought, and which at the jubile would be his no longer. In the case of "persons" vowed, the price of redemption was settled by the law. In the case of animals, houses, and fields, there must be a valuation, and a fifth part added to the value. This would act as a check against a man's vowing rashly, and changing his mind hastily. And these seem to be the two chief objects aimed at, throughout the law relating to vows, first that the persons vowing might not suffer too greatly by an act of devotion, secondly that they might not be encouraged by the facility of redemption to trifle with the solemnity of a vow. God watches for man's welfare, but at the same time provides for his own honour. He would not have his servants suffer harm, but He will not let them make light of his service. How exactly is this true of our Christian service, of our Christian vows! We count all things but loss for Christ. But at the same time we gain every thing. We are pledged to devote to Him ourselves and all we have; if we do not in all things really glorify his name, we lose every thing for ever.

O. T. VOL. I. PART II.

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Of things devoted: and of tithes.

26 Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD'S.

27 And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto : or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.

28 Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. 29 None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD.

31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof, 32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

LECTURE 234.

The duty of giving to holy uses.

No man was allowed to vow, or sanctify, the firstlings of the herd or flock, because these already were the Lord's. See Exod. 13. 12. Not as though every thing else were not really and truly his. But "the earth hath he given to the children of men." Ps. 115. 16. He puts us in possession for a time, whereby we gain this advantage above all others, that we may be counted to give something unto Him who has given all to us. And thus it was that Jacob expressed himself, in the earliest vow we have on record; “ of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." Gen. 28. 22. A holy resolution, expressed in words of reverent thankfulness; an acknowledgment of owing all to God, a dedication of a tenth of all to Him! May we have grace to feel deeply and continually, that all we possess on earth is the gift, the free gift, the gift utterly undeserved on our part, of Him who made us and all things! May the Holy Spirit of God also enable us to give largely and cheerfully, of that which we have freely received, to the glory of the Giver of all good things!

This proportion, a tenth, appears to have been not uncommon from the earliest ages. For even before the time of Jacob, we read