t

18 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the

1 K. 22. 17. Zech. 10. 2. Mat. 9. 36. 1 Pet. 2. 25.

both at home and abroad, in times of peace and of war, and who may undertake the charge of defending them from their enemies; for under this phrase of "going out and coming in before them, of leading them out and bringing them in," all the offices of the supreme magistracy are comprised. Hence Moses, when on the point of resigning the government, uses this language of himself, Deut. 31:2, "I can no more go out and come in.” The similitude is taken from the case of shepherds, whose custom it is to go out and in before their flocks, to lead them forth to their pastures, and then to bring them home again to their folds.

Inauguration of Joshua.

V. 18. A man in whom is the spirit That is, the Spirit of God, as manifested in the gifts and graces with which he was endowed. Thus, Deut. 34:9, "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him." In this respect he was an evident type of Him to whom the Lord "gave not the Spirit by measure.' -¶ Lay thine hand upon him. Heb. sâmaktâ, lean or impose thine hand upon him, i. e. thine hands, v. 23, and as it is rendered in the Gr. "Thou shalt lay thine hands upon him." By this ceremony of the imposition of hands was signified the transfer of the office of leader of Israel from Moses

19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him " a charge in their sight.

8 Gen. 41. 38. Judg. 3. 10. 18. Dan. 5. 14. Acts 6. 3. u Deut. 31. 7.

11. 29. 1 Sam. 16. 13, t Deut. 34. 9. Acts 6. 6.

to Joshua, and the communication of the requisite spiritual gifts and endowments for its right discharge. A similar ceremony obtained subsequently in the primitive Christian church when men were separated and set apart for the discharge of special holy functions. See 1 Tim. 4:14.

V. 19. Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation. The relation which he was to sustain to the high-priest and to the congregation, made it fitting that this act of inauguration or consecration should be performed in the presence of all the people, that they might thus signify their devout reception of their new leader, as designated and appointed for them of the Lord himself. -T Give him a charge in their sight. Heb. "Thou shalt command him." We read the purport of this charge, Deut. 31:7, 8. "And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." In addition to this the Lord himself gave Joshua a charge in the Tabernacle, Deut. 31: 14, of which it is said, v. 23, "And he (the Lord) gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and

said, Be strong and of a good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them; and I will be with thee." The charge thus given tended at once to confirm the authority of Joshua, and to bind him more solemnly to the discharge of his duties. As Moses also gave him his instructions in the name of God, he would be exempt from the imputation of mercenary motives, while Joshua would be strengthened in faith and diligence.

V. 20. Thou shalt put (some) of thine honor upon him. Heb. "Thou shalt give of thine honor, majesty, or glory, upon him." The inserted word "some" is perhaps implied, though not absolutely necessary. The spiritual gifts and endowments conferred upon Moses rendered him honorable in the sight of the people, and the communication of these gifts to Joshua was apparently a divesting of himself of a portion of them, and putting them upon his successor. In like manner, it is said, of the seventy elders chosen to assist Moses in the government of Israel, ch. 11:17, that God would take of the spirit which was upon him and put it upon them. Joshua was not, indeed, to have the full measure of Moses' gifts,

but a certain portion of them, so that the pre-eminence of Moses should remain unimpaired. Of him alone could it be said, that "there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses." The purport of the command is, regard Joshua no longer henceforth as a servant, but as a brother and an equal, united in joint commission with thyself, and entitled to the ensigns and evidences of thine own authority, whatever they may be.

V. 21. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, etc. Notwithstanding his high position as head of the Israelitish host, he shall still be required to render a suitable deference to the priest, and upon all proper occasions to present himself before him, and avail himself of his counsels and intercessions. By the priest's "asking counsel for him after the judgment of Urim,” is meant that he should assume the Ephod, in which was the breastplate, whereunto were affixed the Urim and Thummim, the medium of oracular responses from the Lord. On this subject we refer the reader to our Note on Ex. 28: 30, where it is treated at length. From 1 Sam. 23: 6, we learn that when Saul would have consulted the Lord by Urim, he answered him not.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire for a

a

Moses, saying,

2 Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The stated Sacrifices re-enjoined. V. 2. Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, etc. The people having now been numbered, a leader in the place of Moses appointed, and orders for the distribution of the land given, the Most High is pleased to re-enact the ordinances touching the stated oblations to be made upon his altar in the order of daily, weekly, monthly, and annual. The regular routine of sacrifices and services pertaining to the Tabernacle had doubtless been very much interrupted, if not wholly omitted, during the last thirtyeight years while wandering to and fro in an unsettled state through the desert, and as the generation now living was mostly unborn when the ritual system was at first given from Mount Sinai, it seemed proper to enjoin anew the observance of the sacred rites, that they might have no excuse for neglecting the punctilious performance of them when fully established in the land of Canaan. They were now, moreover, about entering upon a career of war, and as they might be tempted to regard this as a species of dispensation from the regular offering of the appointed sacrifices, the Lord is particular to repeat his injunctions on this score mainly in the form in which they were given in Exodus and Leviticus, but with here and there new explanations and amplifications as occasion seemed to demand. It is deemed probable that these directions were delivered in the eighth

observe to offer unto me in their due season.

a Lev. 3. 11.

- My bread

month of the last year of their travels in the wilderness.- - My offering (and) my bread, etc. Rather according to the Heb. "My offering, (even) my bread," as the conjunction "and" is wanting in the original. "Offering" is moreover there expressed by " korban,” equivalent to gift, of which we have formerly given a full explication. See especially Note on Lev. 1:2. The following is the literal rendering of the whole verse: "Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, Mine oblation, my bread for my fire-(offerings), the savor of my rest, ye shall observe to offer unto me in their due season."for my sacrifices, etc. Chald. "The bread ordained for my oblations." Under the term "bread" is included all kinds of food, even the flesh itself, or the fat of sacrifices, as is remarked in the Note on Lev. 3:11.-¶ A sweet savor unto me. Heb. "The savor of my rest." Implying that the savor or odor of sacrifices had the effect of quieting or pacifying the divine displeasure, and causing the services of the people to be acceptable to him. Gr. "For a savor of sweetness." Chald. "To be accepted with favor."—¶ In their due season. Heb. "In his appointed time." At the season especially appointed and prescribed by the Lord himself. Gr. "In my feasts;" as the original word for "appointed time" is used also for a solemn feast appointed by God. See Lev. 23: 2, with the Note. Every sacrifice is here limited to its specified season, so that if it were passed over the omission was not to be attempted to be

supplied by that oblation being offered at another day or time, as it is said v. 10, "The burnt-offering of the sabbath in or on his sabbath." Hence the Jewish saying, "If the time be past, the oblation is past." On the same ground Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12:32, 33, who kept the feast of the seventh month "in the eighth month," is virtually rebuked for it, in its being said that he did this "in the month which he had devised of his own heart." The general purport of the passage is therefore very explicit, that that which the Lord calls his food or bread is to be rendered to him with the utmost regularity in its appointed season, so that without violence we may say, that as we are to call upon him for our daily bread, he in like manner says to us, "Give me day by day my daily bread."

The Daily Offering.

V. 3. Two lambs of the first year, etc. This is the daily sacrifice of two choice and perfect lambs, one for the morning and one for the evening, making an offering which was upon no account to be intermitted, whatever additional sacrifices might at any time be offered. It is therefore called the "continual burntoffering," of which a full account is given in the Notes on Ex. 29: 38-45, where it will be seen that the continued manifestation of the divine presence

was made dependent upon the regu larity with which this daily service was performed. So in our private and domestic devotions, if we are remiss, inconstant, and irregular, allowing trifling or inadequate occasions to break in upon the fixed routine of worship, we shall be very certain to forfeit and lose the tokens of the Lord's presence with us, and bring leanness into our souls.

V. 4. The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning. Heb. “Shalt thou make;" a sacrificial term implying all that was necessarily involved in the act of oblation, such as killing the victim, sprinkling its blood, cutting it in pieces, laying and burning it on the altar, etc., as indicated Lev. 1.—¶ At even. Heb. "Between the two evenings." That is, in the afternoon, as will be seen explained at length in the Note on Ex. 12:6. It pointed typically to the Lord's being offered in his crucifixion at the same hour. Comp. John 19:14. Matt. 27: 46, 50.

V. 5-8. Ordained in Mount Sinai. The order respecting the two lambs is repeated with little variation from Ex. 29, but he speak more respecting the concomitants of flour and wine, which are the bread and the beverage of the divine meal partaken from off the altar as from a table. The reference of this ordinance back to Mount Sinai, the scene of

thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.

8 And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meatoffering of the morning, and as the drink-offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

gled with oil, and the drinkoffering thereof.

10 This is the burnt-offering of every sabbath', beside the continual burnt-offering, and his drink-offering.

9

11 And in the beginning of your months ye shall offer a burnt-offering unto the LORD; two young bullocks, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without spot;

12 And three tenth deals of flour for a meat-offering, mingled with oil, for one bullock

so much sanctity, would commend it the more to their devout observance. To each of the lambs was to be annexed, as bread and drink requisite to the furniture of a table, about three quarts of the finest flour, about a quart of pure oil for mixing with the flour, and as much, we may suppose, of the strongest wine, to be poured upon the fire along with the rest. The action of the fire upon these materials was the Lord's consuming them, as one and the principal party to the feast.- - Strong

wine.

"The richest and most generous, and best-bodied wine they could get. Though it was to be poured out upon the altar, and not drunk (they might therefore be ready to think the worst would serve to be so thrown away), yet God requires the strongest, to teach us to serve God with the best we have."-Henry.

The Sabbath, or Weekly Offering. Vs. 9, 10. And on the Sabbath day two lambs, etc. The special feature of the Sabbath or weekly offering is the duplication of the lambs. This ap

ƒ Ezek. 46. 4. c. 15. 3-11.

g c. 10. 10. 1 Chr. 23. 31. 2 Chr.

pears, from comparing vs. 9 and 10, from which it is evident that the two lambs here spoken of were over and above "the continual burnt-offering." This suggests to us the propriety of doubling our devotions on the Sabbath.

Offering on the New Moons.

Vs. 11-15. In the beginning of your months ye shall offer, etc. The third stated sacrifice was monthly, being offered on the first day of every month. This is not, indeed, included in the list of solemn feasts enumerated Lev. 23, yet we find there was a celebration of this kind to which special allusion is made, Num. 10: 10, and which was distinguished by extraordinary sacrifices, by abstinence from servile labor, Am. 8:5, by the sounding of trumpets, and by sacred assemblies, 2 Kings, 4: 23. The design of this commemoration undoubtedly was not only to teach the chosen people that all the separate portious of time, whether days, weeks, months or years, were to be consecrated to the Lord as in reality his, and