is my rule; and you must do it without working on Sunday, or I will try to get somebody else.' This had the desired effect: they set to work, and worked till twelve o'clock on the Saturday night, and began again at twelve o'clock on the Sunday night; and the repairs were finished, and the mill was in full work, at the usual hour on Monday morning." 32, 33. (32) third.. shekel," this ordinance wh. they made for themselves was within the spirit of the law. (33) for, etc., this was the purpose of this poll-tax, levied upon all above the age of twenty. B.C. 445. they make ordinances for them selves a Ex. xxx. 13; 2 Ch. xxiv. 6. It was half a she kel in our Lord's time, Ma. xvii. 24. War and captivity had re they c Bp. Taylor. Two Port-Royal divines visiting, Nicole to assist him in a new work; when the Arnauld desired Christian duty.—The duty of a Christian is easy in persecution, it is clear under tyranny, it is evident in despite of heresy, duced their reit is one in the midst of schism, it is determined amongst infinite sources, and they disputes; being like a rock in the sea, which is beaten with the had to pay fotide, and washed with retiring waters, and encompassed with reign tribute, mists, and appears in several figures, but it always dips its foot in hence the same bottom, and remains the same in calms and storms, and agreed to a third. survives the revolution of ten thousand tides, and there shall 6 Nu. xxviii. 2— dwell till time and tides shall be no more. So is our duty 6, 9-15. uniform and constant, open and notorious, variously represented, but in the same manner exacted; and in the interest of our souls God hath not exposed us to uncertainty, or the variety of anything that can change; and it is by the grace and mercy of God put into the power of every Christian to do that which God through Jesus Christ will accept to salvation; and neither men nor devils shall hinder it, unless we list ourselves.c-Duty and obligation. All duty depends upon moral obligation which subsists between man and man, or man and his Maker; in this abstract sense, therefore, there can be no duty without a previous obligation, and where there is an obligation it involves a duty but in the vulgar acceptation, duty is applicable to the conduct of men in their various relations; obligation only to particular nity to rest in ?" circumstances or modes of action; we have duties to perform as parents and children, as husbands and wives, as rulers and subjects, as neighbours and citizens. The debtor is under obligation to discharge a debt; and he who has promised is under obligation to fulfil his promise; a conscientious man, therefore, never loses sight of the obligations which he has at different times to discharge.d a ; (36) first 34-37. (34) wood offering, for use of temple, fuel for sacrifices, etc.b (35) firstfruits, Ex. xxiii. 19. born,d Ex. xiii. 2. (37) firstfruits, etc.,e Nu. xv. 21. Duty moulded by religion.-Suppose the case of a young man entering upon life, with the sense of duty beginning to form in him. or at least working itself clear and firm in his mind, how directly must all his views of the near and the present be affected by his thought of the Supreme and the future! It may not be that he has any distinct consciousness of moulding his views of the one by the other. But not the less surely will the "life that now is " to him be moulded by the character of the life that he believes to be above him and before him. The lower will take its colour from the higher-the "near from the " 'heavenly horizon." There will be a light or a darkness shed around his present path in proportion as his faith opens a steady or a hesitating a comprehensive or a partial-gaze into the future and unseen! VOL. V. O.T. G latter observed, "We are now old; is it not time to rest?" "Rest!" returned Arnauld: "have we not all eter d G. Cralb. D.C. 445. 38, 39. (38) priest.. tithes, the priests were to unite in this duty for their own sake, that they might have their share, they promise and for the people's sake, to see that they gave the due proportion. (39) we.. God,a by wh. all our homes are blessed and in wh. He is worshipped from whom all prosperity personal and national-comes. not to forsake the house of their God a He, x. 25. v. 39. M. Clarke, 66; J. Cawood, 1, 171. Christians in Greenland very seldom, if ever, weather. When it is so cold that their breath freezes, and forms icicles on their faces, they yet go long dis tances, - men, 66 : The house of God-We call our churches temples. Now you know, or ought to know, they are not temples. They have never had, never can have, anything whatever to do with temples. They are synagogues, gathering-places," where you gather yourselves together as an assembly; and by not calling them so, you again miss the force of another mighty text"Thou, when thou prayest, shall not be as the hypocrites are; absent them for they love to pray standing in the churches (we should transselves from public worship on late it), that they may be seen of men; but thou, when thou account of the prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is "-not in chancel nor in aisle, but "in secret." Now you feel, as I say this to you-I know you feel-as if I were trying to take away the honour of your churches. Not so; I am trying to prove to you the honour of your houses and your hills; I am trying to show you not that the church is not sacred but that the whole earth is. I would women, and have you feel what careless, what constant, what infectious sin children, there is in all modes of thought whereby, in calling your churches only "holy," you call your hearths and home profane; and have separated yourselves from the heathen by casting all your household gods to the ground, instead of recognising, in the place of their many and feeble Lares, the presence of your One "As much as and Mighty Lord.-Duty more than sacrifice.-Sacrifice was lies in thy power, never despised by Christ, but relatively He undervalued it. The shun the resort idea of sacrifice among the Jews had taken precedence of of worldly men; for much humanity, justice, and right. Christ said, "If thou bring thy versation on se- gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath cular business, aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and cently managed, thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and greatly retards offer thy gift." What does it mean but this, Do not think that the progress of sacrifice to God is the highest religious duty? Sacrifice depends the spiritual life." for its value on preceding moral qualities. A principle is higher -Kempis. than the ordinance which you take to exhibit that principle. The life of religion in the soul is first in importance; the instruments by which you develop that life are of secondary consideration.c through snow and ice and storm, to the house of prayer. b Ruskin. con however inno c H. W. Beecher. the rulers dwell at Jerusalem a Jud. v. 9. 6 Ezr. ii. 1. c Ezr. ii. 70, x. 11: Ne. vii. 61, xiii. 3. CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH. go 1-6. (1) rulers.. Jerusalem, true patriots take the post of honour and danger. rest.. lots, etc., a curious but effective mode of securing a population for the capital. (2) that.. themselves," their service the more valuable bec. voluntary. (3) province, Judah. but.. cities, 1 Ch. ix. 2. Israel, the nation as a whole. (4) dwelt.. Judah, etc., 1 Ch. ix. 3, ff. The Church's benefactor.-I. This was no doubt a post of honour, but it was also one of great danger. II. But it was also a post of great need and usefulness. III. Those who offered other, without themselves for this post deserved and obtained the blessing of No one can make sacrifice for an the people. IV. The Church has now posts of great honour and of great difficulty, yet associated with useful toil. V. Ministers, missionaries, S. S. teachers, arbitrators, deputations, etc., often deserve more thanks than they get. Earthly work developed in eternity.-There are many of you that seem to yourselves to have done little on earth. You do not know what you have done. God writes you a cheque, and seals it up, and gives it to you to carry to the bank, and you will not know how much it is till it is paid, and then you will be surprised. You do not know what you have done in your own family, to the poor, or for those that live next door to you. You, it may be, teach your servant to read the word of life, and he directs his attention to the salvation of his poor heathen fellows, and through him many are saved, and in the other world how your work will open up!d Benjamin of thinking that there are no 7-9. (7) Sallu, 1 Ch. ix. 7. (9) second.. city, either the sons of second in command,a or over second part of the city." The power of work."To show capacity," a Frenchmana As Vulg., described as the end of a speech in debate. "No," said an LXX. Englishman, "but to set your shoulder at the wheel, to advance b As Gesenius. the business." Sir S. Romilly refused to speak in popular as-"To guard the semblies, confining himself to the House of Commons, where a mind against the measure can be carried by a speech. The business of the House temptation of Commons is conducted by a few persons, but these are hardworked. Sir Robert Peel "knew the Blue Books by heart." His colleagues and rivals carry Hansard in their heads. The high civil and legal offices are not beds of ease, but posts which exact frightful amounts of mental labour. Many of the great leaders, like Pitt, Canning, Castlereagh, Romilly, are soon worked to death. They are excellent judges in England of a good worker, and when they find one like Clarendon, Sir Philip Warwick. Sir William Coventry, Ashley, Burke, Thurlow, Mansfield, Pitt, Eldon, Peel, or Russell, there is nothing too good or too high for him.c 10-14. (10) priests, 1 Ch. ix. 10. Jedaiah, etc., prob. names of chiefs of classes of priests. (12) eight.. two, 1 Ch. ix. 13. (14) son.. . men," or the son of Haggedolim; Hag. being a prop. name. The service of God.-"I hope," said Mr. Knill, when a missionary at St. Petersburg, in a letter, "the subject of devoting ourselves and our children to God and to His service will be thought more of, and more acted upon, than it has been hitherto. I am more and more convinced, that if St. Paul had ever preached from 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature,' he would have laid great stress upon the word 'go. On your peril, do not substitute another word for 'go.' Preach is a good word. Direct is a good word. Collect is a good word. Give is a good word. They are all important in their places, and cannot be dispensed with. The Lord bless and prosper those who are so engaged! But still lay the stress on the word 'go;' for 'how can they hear without a preacher? and how can they preach except they be sent?' Six hundred millions of the human race are perishing, and there are perhaps thirty among all the Christians in Britain, who are at this moment preparing to 'go.' Alas! my hand shakes, and my heart trembles. Is this thy kindness to thy Friend?'" good people, say to them, Te such as you would like to see others,' and you will find those who resemble you." Bossuet. c Emerson. the priests a So LXX. and Vulg. 15-19. (16) outward business,a as civil and judicial affairs. (17) begin.. prayer, one who, with a loud clear voice, led the rest. "The leader of the choir which chaunted the public praise at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice. ” Spiritual works. As in a building, after the foundation is laid, great labour, diligence, and expense are necessary to finish and furnish it; even so in the heavenly edifice of our soul. All our lifetime is to be employed in building up the walls and other parts of our spiritual structure, by the exercise of all virtues, and by diligent observance of God's commandments, without which it will be as useless to look for salvation, as it would be to expect to have a house because a foundation had been laid." 20-23. (20) Ophel, iii. 26. (22) over.. God, as dist. fr. outward business, v. 16. (23) for .. them,a i.e. king of Persia. portion, or a sure ordinance. due.. day, as their service so their pay was, daily. The singers' portion.-I. The service of song in the house of the Lord is one of the most important parts of Divine worship. II. Those who take part in this should be persons with hearts in sympathy with the Being praised, and with the congregation whose praises they lead. III. Too often the singers' portion is much criticism and few thanks from those who have the advantage of their services, and who know little of music or the difficulties of singers. IV. Under the temple ritual, the singers were a paid choir; but then they gave their whole time to this work, and their duties were very onerous. V. The singers' best portion is the joy and satisfaction felt by those who know that they are offering the gift of a sweet voice to make the service of God attractive to those who are without. Singing in eternity.-A young lady who had an exquisitely sweet voice, but who had no love for the Saviour in her heart, and lived only for the pleasures of the world, was one day in company with an earnest Christian minister, who knew her well. After hearing her sing a song with great feeling and power. he went to her side, and in a low voice said, "You have a beautiful voice; where will you sing in eternity?" The "word in season was like an arrow piercing her heart; she could not forget it; and had no rest until she found rest in Jesus. 24-29. (24) king's.. people, an official who adjusted civil matters, or fiscal concerns. (25) Kirjath-arba, Hebron." Dibon, Josh. xv. 22. villages, lit. daughters. Jekabzeel, Kabzeel. (26-29) See Josh. xv. 26-40. The benefit of work.-Men who have half a dozen irons in the fire are not the men to go crazy. It is the man of voluntary or compelled leisure who mopes and pines, and thinks himself into the madhouse or the grave. Motion is all Nature's law. Action is man's salvation, physical and mental. And yet nine men out of ten are wistfully looking forward to the coveted hour when they shall have leisure to do nothing, or something only if they feel to like it-the very syren that has lured to death many a successful man. He only is truly wise who lays himself out to work till life's latest hour; and that is the man who will live the longest, and live to the most purpose. 30-36. (30) dwelt.. Hinnom, this scattered through the land S. of Jerus. (31) Geba, Josh. xii. 12—24. (35) Lod.. a B.C. 445. a Ezr. ii. 26-35. the Jer. In London there are curious ex amples of trade settlements; as Paternoster publishers in Row; watchmakers in Clerkenwell; weavers in Spitalfields, etc. Ono, Ezr. ii. 33. the.. craftsmen, they appear to have dwelt together for convenience of their calling. (36) Levites.. Benjamin, those who were not in Jerus. had settlements here. Exhortation to work.-Weep with them that weep, if youb Ne. vi. 2, vii. 37. cannot relieve them. Bestow personal service, if you cannot c Thus give gold. Teach children, if you be not competent as an bakers, instructor of men. Xxxvii. 21. Be a support to the household, if you are not able to become a pillar of the State. Be a lamp in the chamber, if you cannot be a star in the sky. Gladden the circle of home, if it transcend your powers to illumine the town. Talk to the few, if you have no vocation to preach to the crowd.d-Conviction.-Conviction, were it never so excellent, is worthless till it convert itself into conduct. Nay, properly, conviction is not possible till then inasmuch as all speculation is by nature endless, formless, a vortex amid vortices: only by a felt indubitable certainty of experience does it find any centre to revolve round, and so fashion itself into a system. Most true is it, as a wise man teaches us, that "doubt of any sort cannot be removed except by action." On which ground, too, let him who gropes painfully in darkness or uncertain light, and prays vehemently that the dawn may ripen into day, lay this other precept well to heart, which to me was of invalvable service: Do the duty which lies nearest thee," which thou knowest to be a duty! Thy second duty will already have become clearer.e CHAPTER THE TWELFTH. 1-9. (1) now.. priests, i.e., v. 7, "the chief of the priests," the heads of the 24 courses, only 4 of wh. returned fr. the captivity, wh. 4 were divided by Joshua, or Zerubbabel, into orig. num., of these 22 are enumerated here, and 20 in vv. 12-21. Ezra, not the Ezra. (4) Abijah, ancestor of Jo. the Baptist. (8) Levites, etc., Ezr. ii. 40. (9) watches, or stations, v. 24, "places where they stood officiating." d S. Coley. e Carlyle. "Toil and be strong. By toil the flaccid nerves grow firm and gain a more compacted tone." --Jolin Armstrong. b vii. 39–42; Ezr. ii. 36-39. c Who returned B.C. 458, 78 yrs. The sphere of work springing from the sphere of sin.-Bad men are usually acquainted with human life. They know the dispositions of their fellow-men, and whatever knowledge there is of bad men they have. And such men are bound to consecrate their knowledge and to bring it into the service of the Lord Jesus Christ, who has forgiven them and renewed their life, if they are born again. No man ought to be so glad to pluck men out of the burning, as those men who have been themselves brands in the burning, and have been rescued. If a man has been rescued from drunkenness, he ought to take a special interest in those who are in that burning realm. If a man has been a gambler, and is converted from his wicked way, that ought to be a sphere in which he feels peculiarly called to labour. If a man has been a dissipated man, he, more than all the two cannot others, ought to feel that he is an apostle to the Gentiles in that be separated regard. If a man has from his youth gone step by step down with impunity." toward wickedness, when he is converted he ought not to be-Ruskin. ashamed of his past life in such a way that he will not use it for e H. W. Beecher. the good of others. "It is only by labour that thought can be made healthy, and only by thought that la bour made can be happy, genealogy of the 10-21. (10) Jeshua, "important enumeration, as establishing individual purity of descent." (11) Joiada, whose son mar. high priest |