CHAPTER VI.

REDEMPTION AND SALVATION.

When God delivered Israel from the hands of Pharoah, king of Egypt, and brought them out of the land of their bondage, He established certain ordinances to be observed by them in all their generations for ever, which ordinances will be found, on examination, to have had a two-fold signification-a memorial of the past and a type of the future. Thus, the killing Ex. xii. of the paschal lamb was a memorial of the escape of the eldest sons of the Israelites when the destroying angel smote the firstborn in all the houses of the Egyptians, as it is written, "When your children shall Ex. xii. 26, say unto you, what mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of "Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians and "delivered our houses." It was also a type of the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God for the redemption of His people.

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The feast of unleavened bread was ordered to be Ex. xiii. observed in remembrance of the haste with which the people came out of Egypt; and the unleavened cake may be taken as a type of the pure religion that was to be revealed by Christ, in which there should be no leaven of idolatry or of the world. The word unleavened was clearly accepted in this sense by St. Paul, when he wrote, "Purge out, therefore the old leaven, that ye 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. 66 may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened; for even "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let

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us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with "the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the "unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

13.

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A third ordinance made at the same time was the setting apart of the firstborn of all flesh, being male, Ex. xiii. 12, for the service of God. "Thou shalt set apart unto "the Lord all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the "males shall be the Lord's. And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb, and if thou wilt "not redeem it then thou shalt break his neck; and "all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt "thou redeem." This act of setting aside the firstborn of all flesh, being males, for the service of God, was established as a further commemoration of the last Ex. xii. 14— great plague brought upon Egypt in consequence of Israel's bondage. The redemption of the firstborn of man was also most certainly a type of that great redemption of Israel, which was thereafter to be enacted on Calvary.

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The law of redemption formed a very important part under what is commonly known as the Mosaic dispensation. This redemption of the firstborn of man Num. xviii. 15. Was again enjoined by God to Aaron; and in the estab

lishment of the jubilee year, at which liberty was to be Lev. xxv. 31 proclaimed throughout all the land unto all the in

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habitants thereof, and every man was to return unto his own possession, and unto his own family, provision was reserved for the redemption of lands, houses, slaves, &c., upon equitable terms, at any period short of the fiftieth, or jubilee, year; and all that was not thus redeemed, was to return to freedom, or to its former owner, in that year.

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As regarding the redemption of man, it was enacted Lev.xxv. 47— as follows:-" If a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner poor, by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family; "after that he is sold he may be redeemed again; "one of his brethren may redeem him, and he shall "reckon with him that bought him from the year that "he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee; and the

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price of his sale shall be according unto the number "of years. If there be yet many years behind, according "unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. "And if there remain but few years unto the year "of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and accord"ing unto his years shall he give him again the price "of his redemption. And if he be not redeemed in "those years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he and his children with him." After this comes a very remarkable observation, to which attention will be directed more particularly by-andbye. "For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I have brought forth "out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your

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"God."

In this law of redemption may be traced a type of the destinies of the two houses of Israel and Judah; but before showing how the type may be applied, it will be necessary to enquire a little further as to whom the term "redeemed " refers in Scripture.

The first great redemption undoubtedly was to the whole of Israel, when they were released from their Egyptian captivity; and, in making reference to that event, it is described in the Bible as a redemption of Israel by God. Another, and a still greater redemption was, however, in reserve, which was only to be accomplished by a sacrifice, and it is this latter redemption to which attention must now be directed.

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Isaiah most distinctly declares of Israel, "All flesh Isaiah xlix. "shall know that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy "Redeemer;" and in the following chapter God declares his power to redeem Israel, who had sold himself into bondage; for "Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill Isaiah 1. 1, 2. "of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put

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away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have "sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold "yourselves, and for your transgressions is your "mother put away. Wherefore, when I came, was

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"there no man? When I called, was there none to "answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot "redeem? or have I no power to deliver?"

Here we find a striking instance of Israel having sold himself in the manner described in Leviticus, and also a declaration by one-even by Christ, his brother -of His power to redeem.

Again, a somewhat similar promise will be found in Hosea: "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but "in me is thy help. The iniquity of Ephraim is bound 66 up; his sin is hid. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death." There not only is Israel named generally, but Ephraim, the firstborn, and inheritor of the birthright, is 1 Chro. v. 2. specially selected as the object of redemption. This

Jer. xxxi. 9.

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is further confirmed by Zechariah, who mentions. Ephraim particularly as the redeemed of the Lord; Zech. x. 6-8. for he says, "And I will strengthen the house of Judah " and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring "them again to place them, for I have mercy upon

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them, and they shall be as though I had not cast "them off; for I am the Lord their God, and will hear "them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty "man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; yea, and their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. I will hiss for them "and gather them; for I have redeemed them, and "they shall increase as they have increased."

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Whilst in other passages redemption is promised to Israel, in the above it is to Ephraim that the promise is particularly given. By this special reference to Ephraim it may be intended to be inferred either that redemption was only for Ephraim; or that he, being the heir of the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, should most largely benefit from that redemption, in which also the rest of his brethren of Israel were destined to share only to a lesser extent. Probably the latter interpretation will be found to accord best with the Scripture writings generally, as also it seems to be the more probable of the two.

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After a careful examination of the prophecies on the subject of redemption, it is impossible to doubt that they have special reference to Israel, and it would appear from the New Testament writings that they were so understood by the Jews and Hebrews in our Saviour's time, for Zacharias, moved by the Holy Ghost, prophesied, saying, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; Luke i. 68— "for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and "hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the "house of His servant David; as he spake by the "mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since "the world began. Anna also, the prophetess, when she met the child Jesus at Jerusalem, "gave thanks Luke ii. 38. "unto the Lord and spake of Him to all them that "looked for redemption in Israel." Cleopas, too, in his road to Emmaus, being joined by our Saviour after His resurrection, said, speaking of Christ, but not knowing

to whom he was addressing himself, "But we trusted Luke xxiv. 21. "that it had been He which should have redeemed "Israel."

However unorthodox this interpretation of the Scriptures regarding redemption may be at the present day, it is unmistakeably clear that they were understood in a similar sense nearly nineteen hundred years ago, and not only so, but the hope of the redemption of Israel in accordance with the prophetic writings was shared alike by a priest of the tribe of Levi, by a prophetess of the tribe of Aser, by Cleopas, and doubtless also generally by all to whom the Scriptures were a subject of study.

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It is a fact to be particularly borne in mind, that when our Saviour sent forth His twelve disciples, He commanded them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Matt. x. 5, 6. Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye "not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of "Israel." It may be argued that there is nothing in these words to show that Christ's mission was not as much to the Jews and to the Gentiles as to the Israelites. Our Saviour himself during His ministration