Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-06-28
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
Third Quarter: Lesson /. July I, 1888.
THEME: Cons COVENANT WITH ISRAEL
EXODUS "a; 1-12.

lnu, ana seventy OF the elders OF Israel ana
worship ye afar of. 2. And Moses alone
shall come near the Lord; but they shall
not come nigh neither shall the people go
up with him. 3. And Moses came and told
the people all the words of the Lord, and
all the judgments; and all the people an
swered with one voice, and said. All the
words which the Lord hath said Will we do.
4. And Moses wrote all the words OF the
Lord, and rose up early in the morning,
and builded an altar under the hill, and
twelve pillars, according 10 the twelve
tribes of Israel. 5. And he sent young men
'of the children of Israel, which offered
burnt offerings and sacrificed p clce offer
ings of oxen unto the Lord. q. And Moses
took half of the blood, and put il in basins;
and half of the blood he sprinked on the
altar. I, And he took the book of the GOV
enant, and read in the audience OF the PEG
pie; and they said, All That the Lord hath
said will we do, and be obcdient. s. And
Moses took the blood, and sprinkled 1t on
the people, and said, Behold the blood OF
the covenant, which the Lord hath made
with you concerning all these words. 9.
Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab,
and Abihu, and seventy of the elders OF Is
rael: 10. And they saw the God of Israel;
and there was under his feet as 1t were a
paved work of sapphire stone, and aS 1t
were the body of heaven in his clearness.
II. And upon the mobiles of the children OF
Israel he laid not his hand also they saw
" anu dlu Ohb anu vi ~ @hAN biAC
Lord said unto Moses, Come up TO me into
the mount, and be there; and | will give
thee tables Of stone, and a law, and com
mandments which l have written; that
thou mayst teach them.
GOLDEN TEXT will be to them a God,
and they shall be TO me a people.
The events of the present lesson took
place soon after the giving of the law, which
was just fifty days after the first Passover;
according TO chronology on the margin or
our Bibles, 1891 B. &. Troy according to
ancient history was founded about this date,
and Athens was less than 100 years old.
Egypt was under the rule of the Menephtah
(Son of Rameses ~.
The place was the plain of about 400 acres
IN front Dismal which rises 6,S3Ofeet above
the sea and from the plain in a precipitous
Cliff $500 feet.
The book is named from its leading event
"the Exodus: " a description of the going
out of Israel from Egypt; a company esti-
mated at 1000 900 people Numb. 40. Mo-
SEES is the acknowledged author (EX 2i:4,
and Mark - :26, Luke 20:3O. The minute
details of the journey, and the customs Of
the day prove the book to have been written
by an eye witness.
Beginning with the 22d verse of the TWEEN
tieth chapter of Exodus and continuing
through three chapters are given a series
of laws divinely delivered to Moses, which
SNAAA6 W " ~ f't@N 49, 49, 49,
the Book of the Covenant. The enactments
contained in these three chapters number
seventy and are a very wonderful conden-
sation of the essence of the law, embracing
the more important matters which Moses
put forth during the following forty years
pilgrimage. ''The Book of the Covenant
was the practical application to daily life of
the great moral principles of the ten COM
mandments." While Israel was a numer-
Gus people, it was not u nation; for 1t had
no formulated laws of government, until
given its code by miraculous revelation.
The lesson is naturally divided INTO three
parts: lst, Covenant relations divinely pro
posed; I'd, Covenant relations humbly
accepted; Sd, Covenant relations ratified
and enjoyed.
V. 1,2. Andhe said unto Moses. That's
God said unto Moses, ''Since the people fear
lest they die, at my presence, bring unto me
chosen representatives: Aaron who was
made the first high-priest Of the nation, Ma
dab and Abihu his sons, and seventyof the
elders of Israel, y leading men of the tribes,
heads of families, influential persons, born
chiefs. These seventy with Nadab and Alb
thu giving "A representation of six from each
of the twelve tribes. These were TO come
near, as compared with the distance OF the
masses, but they were TO ascend the noun
tain TO n certain height only, remaining as
il were ''afar ON while Moses alone was
TO approach n%earunto the Lord. The males
" and holiness of God were thus most forci-
bly, impressed upon the people.
V. D.. And Moses came and told the peo-
pie. Having receivedthe commands of God
he returned and told the people of the laws,
commands and promises, OF blessings II they
proved obedient; with all the judgments,
laws and statutes by which to decide ques-
tons of right and wrong. This was the di-
vine proposal OF termS of a nationalc covenant
TO be ratified if accepted with solemn cere-
monies. And all the people answered with
100 -AsA2 NhA AnN
pact, declaring their allegiance to God,
promising TO obey him and acknowledge his
supreme authority; God assuring them of
his loving care and protection upon their
fulfllment of the reasonable conditions.
As with Israel, so with the heirs of the
Lord Jesus there is "a covenant relation;
God sent his Son as an atonement for sin,
promising TO accept and save those who
comply with the divinely instituted means
of salvation.
V. 4. And Moses wrote all the words of
the Lord that there be no mistake, that
they might be transmitted to posterity.
These words or characters no doubt were
those in part which Ezra re-wrote or re-
vised somewhat as the King James ver-
sion Of the Bible was prepared from the
original MSS, substituting modern words,
for those whose meanings might be obscure
by reason of antiquity. And they builded
an altar under the hill or mountain of
Sinai, as a representation Of God, the
twelve pillars representing the twelve
tribes of people. The Levitical priesthood
not having been instituted, chosen young
men were appointed to offer the burnt sac
rifice as a ratification ceremony. The
burnt offering was a sign of expiration and
was fully consumed the peace Offering was
Indicative of mans gratitude for mercies
received. Both were offered together to
mark ~Israel's thankfulness for being taken
into covenant relation with God, and was
also a sign of conservation to his service.
BY this, peace was made between God and
man. for all who would bring that sacrifice
in faith and lay it on his altar. TIL people
were thus taught tn need of sacrifice
Bush.
V.6. And Moses took half of the blood,
and put il in basins; and half of the blood
he sprinkled on the altar. This was enact
ed i'm the presence of the congregation as u
sign Of Gods promised faithfulness in full
filing his covenant agreement: the confer
ring of all blessings which their correspond
ing fidelity would entitle them TO expect.
And Moses read 10 them from the book Of
the covenant, thus were the words twice
repeated, and twice they solemnly vowed
TO fulfill; in other words, they took upon
themselves the oath of allegiance to God.
V. 3. And Moses sprinkled the blood upon
the people. Upon the representatives Of