Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-07-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON II, THIRD QUARTER, IN
TERNATlCNsL SCo'-5, JULY IA.

1. up, make us gods" Some one has
said that whenever we turn away from
leaning exclusively upon God either for sal
walton or for the necessities of the path
we are virtually saying, UP, make us
gods" This is equal to rejection of
God. They had not seen Moses nor heard
from God for several weeks, and they can
trust no longer. They cannot walk by
faith they must have something to look
upon. Blessed are all who are content to
believe without seeing or feeling-content
to live by faith.
2, 3. Aaron, the anointed high priest,
seems to have no word of warning or help
for them as from God. He was Moses mouth
or spokesman, and Moses was to him in
stead of God zen. iv, 16; vii, y, and Moses
being absent he, like false prophet, speaks
out of his own heart this evil advice der.
xiii, 16). 1t is sad when we depend upon
man instead of upon God for the message
then when the man is absent we have
no message. Observe also that as they
gave the ornaments of their ears to make
an idol so they gave sheir ears to the
devil Deut. xxi, lG, ~.
4. Instead of receiving at their hand the
gold to make an idol they should have re-
ceived at his hand and from his lips the
living words of the living God. 1t is sad
case indeed when the one who ought to
represent the people before God msrepre-
sents God to the people and joins the peo-
pie in heathenish desires and customs.
Through him who should have led them to
the God of Glory they changed their glory
into the similitude of an OK ops. cvi, POI.
1t looks as if Aaron had wholly lost his
L.. IL.
thy gods O Israel" Compare II Thess ii,
10, II.
5. "And when Aaron saw it, he built an
altar before it," See this sin repeated in
the case of Jeroboam and the very words
of Aaron used q Kings XII, IS, 49, This is
all the work of the devil from beginning to
end, and so is everything like it in the
churches and among the people Of God to-
day God is a Spirit, and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in
! truth. And when any person or thing
comes between the soul and God it is idol
airy.
6. 1.-The people sat down to eat and drink,
and rose up to play" See Cor. X, Z, and
it would he we'll to read the whole chapter
Is it not on the same line of things when in
houses built for the worship of God people
bearing the name of Christ meet to eat and
drink and be entertained or amused? There
is a wonderful likeness TO the dancing and
singing of the naked people around the
golden calf Oversees 10, 25) in some things
done in our midst in the name of religion.
Z. The Lord said to Moses that the people
had corrupted themselves, and He ordered
him down from the mountain to see to it.
All the good is from God, all the evil is on
our side with satan back of it. Long after
! nd | A.1 suiI = &c p,,1f 4
thou hast destroyed myself, but in Me is
thine help O Israel, return unto the Lord
thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine in
iquity" (ios. xiii, 0; xiv, y. The sin is
ours, the salvation is all His.
s. They have turned aside quickly out
of the way which | commanded them"
Blessed are the undefed in the way who
walk in the law of the Lord Ops. cXix, y.
! There is no way for the child of God to walk
in but THE WAY, which is Jesus Christ
Himself (John xiv, G). We are not to turn
| from Him either to the right or the left
| Joshua i, ~ and when tempted to turn we
have the promise of help and guidance if
we are only willing to be guided lisa. xxx,
81 Cor. Y, 49,
30. Il will go up unto the Lord, perad-
venture | shall make an atonement for
your sin" Before coming down from the
mount Moses had pleaded for Israel and
obtained the assurance that God would
spare them as nation. The account of
this, and the meeting with Joshua, and the
destruction and disposition of the calf is
found in the intervening verses, also the
significance Of the question "Who is on the
Lords sde?" and the true meaning of con
secraron. Compare Luke xiv, 20, %; Math
X, 81, IS.
81. And Moses returned unto the Lord &"
While all sin is sim and even the thought
of foolishness is sin prov. xiv, -, vet
some sins are more heinous than others.
Moses calls this "a great sin. Jesus himself
spoke of a sin that hath never forgiveness
ut the same time that he spoke of the for
giveness of all manner of sins except this
particular sin Mark iii, 2S, 30 The sin
that overtops ali others is the rejection of
Christ the Son of God.
30. And, if not, blot me- pray thee, out
of thy book which thou hast written" He
is willing to suffer in their stead if neces-
sary in order to save them. The same
spirit is seen in Paul on behalf of this same
people Israel (Rom, tx, 81 The reality is
seen and fully carried out in the Lord esus
Christ, who was made a sin Offering for
Israel and for us that we might be saved
Oh Cor. V, 2I.
80. "Whosoever hath sinned against me,
him will blot out of my book" In Rev.
Xxx, - we read of books being opened, and
another book which is the book of life In
Nal iii. 16 we read of book of remem-
brance. What book is referred to in our
lesson we may not now know, but we may
be sure that if it were possible to have a
name blotted out of the book of life CIR
Lord would not have made it such a great
ground of rejoicing to have ones name