"believe in him," and "live upon him," and "dwell in him," as our sure and only deliverer from the wrath to come.] 2. The importance of inquiring into our state before God [The generality go to their rest as securely as the Egyptians did, unawed by the threatenings of Almighty God, and unconscious of the danger to which they were exposed. But ow many wake in eternity, and find their error when it is too late! Let me then entreat you to inquire whether you have ever dreaded the stroke of God's avenging arm? whether you have been made sensible that God has appointed one way, and one way only, for your escape? whether you have regarded "Christ as your passover that has been sacrificed for you?" whether you have fed upon him, with the bitter herbs of penitence and contrition? Have you dipped the hyssop, as it were, in his blood, and sprinkled your souls with it? And do you feel that it would be at the peril of your souls, if you were to venture for one moment from your place of refuge? Make these inquiries; and be not satisfied till you are assured, on scriptural grounds, that you are out of the reach of the destroying angel. Till then, adopt the prayer of David; “ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."] 66 LXXIX. REDEMPTION OF THE FIRST-BORN. Exod. xiii. 14-16. And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt. THE works of God deserve to be had in continual remembrance. His interpositions on behalf of our forefathers ought not to be forgotten by us; for we ourselves are greatly affected by them. The whole nation of the Jews at this day, and to the remotest period of time, are deeply interested in the mercy shewn to their ancestors when the Egyptian first without exception, shall be smitten with the second and his friends be exalted to eternal glory and felicity. terror will be seen in that day! what weeping, and w and gnashing of teeth among the objects of his displeas... what exultation and triumph amongst those who sha!! monuments of his distinguishing favour! That delivera be indeed wonderful; and eternity will be too short to the unsearchable riches of grace and love contained in ::. The manner in which it was effected also des particular attention [There was not one agent only in this transa. two: a destroying angel, that went forth to execute indiscriminately on one in every house; and God, wh him, as it were, to intercept his stroke, and ward of wherever the blood was sprinkled on the houses. clearly intimated in the text; and it is as clearly. by the Prophet Isaiah, who combines this image w bird darting between her offspring and the bird order to protect them from their voracious enen ̧ the very name given to the ordinance which was commemorate this event, was taken from the ci God's leaping forward, and thus obliging the an every house where the blood appeared. In reflecting on this, we take comfort fro that, whoever may menace the Lord's people, their protector; and that, "while he is for 1 effectually against them." If all the angels all the devils in hell too, were employed to on the earth, we need not fear; since G discern, and almighty to protect, the leas believing people.] We may LEARN from hence, 1. The use and excellence of [It was "by faith that Moses k sprinkling of blood, lest he that dest touch them." It is by faith also. can obtain an interest in the Lord can we present to God his sacrifi we sprinkle our hearts with his ... way can Mile in him till : 1 nt of their duty—— e claim which he has over all Maker, has a peculiar claim to deemed. In this view he called ne calls upon us also, ourselves to him Torn of beasts (as has been observed) were his right to the first-born of men was acmption-price paid for them. The same all (five shekels, or about twelve shillings), nan's soul was of equal value in the sight of here are some important points of difference. male or female, and whether first or last in are accounted as the first-born: nor can any mpt us from a personal consecration of our of the Lord. The Levites were afterwards blace of the first-bornd: but for us no subted. "We are not our own, we are bought d Numb. iii. 44-50. • Heb. xii. 23. This was, 1. Commemorative [The deliverance of Israel from the sword of the destroying angel, and from their bondage in Egypt, was great, and unparalleled from the foundation of the world. And, in the commemoration of it, God appointed that in all future ages one of the junior members of each family should ask the reason of the institution, and the head of the family should relate what God had done for their nation in passing over the houses of the Israelites when he slew the Egyptians, and in bringing them out of their cruel bondage. To this the Apostle refers, when he speaks of the Lord's Supper as an ordinance appointed for "the shewing forth of the Lord's death, till he come" again at the end of the world to judgment d.] 2. Typical [Every the minutest particular in this ordinance seems to have been intended to typify the redemption of the world by the death of Christ. "The lamb," which was to be "under a year old," denotes Christ, "the Lamb of God," in a state of perfect purity. It was to be "a male," as being the most perfect of its kind, and "without blemish," in order to represent the perfect manhood of Christ, who was indeed "a lamb without blemish and without spot!." It was to be set apart four days before it was slain; not only to mark God's eternal designation of Christ to be a sacrifice, but to foreshew that Christ, during the four last days of his life, (from his entrance into Jerusalem to his death,) should be examined at different tribunals, to ascertain whether there were the smallest flaw in his character; that so his bitterest enemies might all be constrained to attest his innocence, and thereby unwittingly to declare, that he was fit to be a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. The precise hour of the day wherein Jesus was to die, is thought to have been predicted by the time appointed for the slaying of the paschal lamb, which was "between the two evenings," or soon after three o'clock in the afternoon: and it was ordered to be slain by all the congregation; to shew that all ranks and orders of men, both of Jews and Gentiles, should concur in his death. Its blood was to be sprinkled on the door-posts and lintels, to shew that the blood of Christ must be sprinkled upon our hearts and consciences, if we would not fall a prey to the destroying angel: but it was not to be sprinkled on the threshold, because the blood of Christ is not to be trodden under foot, or counted by a Deut. xxvi. 8. b Deut. iv. 34. c ver. 25-27. d 1 Cor. xi. 26. e This seems more suited to its tender age than the explanation generally given, of Christ being cut off in the midst of his years. f 1 Pet. i. 19. any as an unholy things. Its flesh was to be roasted, (not to be eaten raw or boiled,) that the extremity of our Saviour's sufferings from the fire of God's wrath might be more fitly depicted. It was to be eaten by all; because none can ever be saved, unless they eat of Christ's flesh, and receive him into their hearts by faith. It was to be eaten whole, and not a bone of it to be broken; probably to intimate, that we must receive Christ in all his offices and in all his benefits; and certainly to foreshew, that he should be exempt from the common fate of all who died his death, and be marked out thereby with the most undoubted evidence, as the true Messiah. And none of it was to be left till the morning, lest it should be treated contemptuously by the profane, or become an occasion of idolatry or superstition to mistaken zealots; and to guard us also against similar abuses in the supper of our Lord.] Some other particulars worthy of observation will occur, while we consider, II. The manner of its celebration In this also was the ordinance both commemorative and typical. The bitter herbs and unleavened bread were intended to keep up a remembrance of the bitter sorrows which they endured, and the bread of affliction which they ate, in Egypt'; and their standing, with their loins girt, and shoes on their feet, and staves in their hands, denoted the haste with which they were driven out of the land, as it were, by the Egyptians themselves. As types, these things declared in what manner we should feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that it is possible enough to strain types and metaphors too far: but in interpreting the import of the paschal sacrifice, though in some smaller matters we may not be able to speak with certainty, the great outlines are drawn by an inspired Apostle; who says, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Taking him then for our guide, we say that we may learn even from the manner in which the passover was celebrated, how we are to feast upon the Lamb of God that has been slain for us. We are to do it, 1. With humble penitence [The bitter herbs reminded the Israelites of the misery. they had endured: but we must further reflect upon the guilt 8 Heb. x. 29. John xix. 36. i Deut. xvi. 4. k 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. |