and who changeth not* in his purposes of performing it. Such a revelation, and such a comforting assurance, were especially needful at that time both for Moses and the people; and hence the particular emphasis, which was laid upon the testimony, and the establishment of the covenant with them.t

Pierced to the soul, they, or the greater part of them, could scarcely believe in the promise of so strange and improbable a deliverance. But their unbelief upon this occasion did not make void the promise of God. They had seen, though their anguish had caused them to pass by or forget, the miraculous credentials of Moses, who had showed them this great sign, that the rod of his divine commission, when thrown upon the ground, was a serpent; i. e. when the power, with which he was armed, shall be exerted upon the earth or men of the world, it would be destruction itself to them; but in his hand, as the leader of the people, it would prove a salutary defence and protection. They appear to have neglected also the other tokens of divine presence and authority, which he manifested to them.§ The Redeemer, however, went on with the great design, overcoming the reluctance of Moses, and the doubts of the people; having previously revealed the wonders to be performed, the future obduracy of Pharaoh, and the ruin which should befall him, while Moses was employed in the redemption of his people.

Thus God dealeth with his redeemed in spirit. His

Mal, iii. 6. I Sam. xv. 29.

† Exod. vi. 7, 8.

Exod. vi. 9.

§ Exod. iv. 1-19.

whole

whole church, and every individual member of it, is, by the fall of nature, in misery and bondage to the prince of darkness; and usually in the extremity, or their deepest sense, of this misery, he reveals mercy. And he reveals it, as a sure, because a covenanted, mercy; as that which therefore never fails, and as that which consequently is truly proper to comfort and establish the soul. This is so supereminent a blessing, that, at first, they know not how to believe or receive it; till, by reiterated instances of grace and power, they are enabled to behold, how fit it is for them, and how fit they are for it. The convictions, which attend or lead to these circumstances, are painful; but these painful convictions are as the circumcising knife of the law, cutting off the old man with his works and covenant of works, and preparing them for the joyful reception of a precious Saviour through the gospel. By these means, they go out of the mere condition of nature into the state of grace. They pass over (as the Hebrew word is) into the covenant of Jehovah their Alehim and into his oath,* and from thenceforward are considered in the new-relation to him of children and heirs, instead of rebels and enemies by wicked works.

unto us.

All this was preached to the Israelites in the passover; and, through the passover and its attendant circumstances, The representation of this most interesting truth, under the figure of a lamb slain, is given us in that glorious chapter, the twelfth of Exodus. Our religion is not a new religion, nor essentially different from that of the ancients. So far from it, we ought to

*Deut. xxix. 12.

thank

thank God, with the apostle, and to serve him (as he did) from the forefathers, not contrarily to them, with pure conscience.* They are the cloud of witnesses, who testify those truths which we are to believe and to follow.

The month, in which this great sacrament was exhibited, God commanded to be the beginning of a new reckoning, or epoch, of time to his people; and, accordingly, it became the first month of the sacred, as it was before the seventh of the secular year. And this, perhaps, hath a prophetic view, not here to be explained, Each house was to take a lamb, which was to be slain by the head of each house, according to the patriarchal system then in force: and this being done by these persons, the lamb itself is said to have been killed, or to have its blood drawn out, as though it had been one lamb only, by the ny bap a whole church of the congregation, between the two evenings, i. e. when the sun was declining, or about our three o'clock in the afternoon. This seems to be thus expressed to declare, that the great anti-type was one lamb slain for one whole church; and that the many lambs, distributed to and slain in the respective housholds, signified, that the many communities of God's people, widely separated in place or ages, are conjointly participants of the one common and general benefit of CHRIST once slain in the fulness of time. The application of this is the beginning of a new and heavenly life in the several children of God, as they become, in their order, first partakers of Christ. And these children, or partakers, are collectively the whole of the called, or general assembly of the first-born ;

* 2 Tim. 1. 3, with Acts xiii. 32. and xxxvi. 22,

and

and thus Christ, though once slain as the one undivided offering for them all, is communicated from age to age to each and every one of them, as though he were, in point of interest and efficacy for each, one lamb, or one offering, for each alone.

The lamb was to be drawn out of the flock, to be without blemish, a male of the first year, to be roasted with fire in every part, of which nothing was to remain for another day, not the least portion to be carried to another house, and not a bone to be broken.-This was all typical of Christ. He was one of many brethren, having the same flesh to suffer and to offer for them: he was without blemish or spot of sin, a perfect man in the prime of life: he endured the fiery indignation of Jehovah, as the lamb-like substitute of his redeemed, in every part of his body and soul; whence those bitter exclamations, expounding this circumstance and fortelling the sorrows of the Redeemer, in the 22d and other Psalms: he was to perform this sacrifice of atonement in one day, at one time, never to be repeated: he cannot be carried from house to house, according to the will of man, and so applied beneficially to other

This is the evident sense of Heb. ii. 9. The up manos doth not mean every man, but every one of those, of whom the context treats; the sons and children of God, and Christ's given and sanctified, or separated, brethren. On these his blood was sprinkled spiritually, that is, distributed in its merits among them, for sprinkling is distribution into parts: and hence ensues their separation, or regeneration, from the world. His blood is upon those, and those only; and therefore they are pardoned: his blood, or life is in them, and in none but them; and, therefore they are alive unto God.

men's

men's souls; for they only who feed upon Christ, in their own house, in their own hearts, or in the houshold or church of the faithful, are partakers of the gracious blessing, which they cannot impart to another; according to that text, a brother [the dearest friend in the world] can by no means ransom a man; nor give to God a covering, or atonement, for him. Not a bone of Christ was broken; i. e. he was not overcome by the dreadful conflict; nor shall one of his mystical members, called his bones,† therefore, be demolished or lost.

The lamb, thus slain and sprinkled, became typically the LORD'S PASSOVER. The literal meaning of this. word, (according to Vitringa and Bishop Lowth who quotes him, on Isa. xxxi. 5.) is, to cover, or protect by covering, to spring forward, to throw oneself in the way, in order to cover and protect. Thus the typifying blood and merit of the lamb slain was interposed between the destroyer and the Israelites, and covered and sheltered them from the general calamity, which fell upon the Egyptians.-And, in like manner, CHRIST OUR PASSOVER, who was sacrificed for us, covers his people by the merit of his blood and righteousness, shelters them (as it were) under his wings, and so delivers them from the wrath to come.

The people of Israel, before eating, were to sprinkle the blood of the lamb, or strike it, on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses, wherein they eat it. They were to eat the flesh in that night, with un. leavened bread, and bitter herbs. Their loins were to be girded, their shoes to be on their feet, their staff in their

Ps. xlix. 7.

† Eph. v. 30.

hands;