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repentance, that I may know what to do unto thee, whether thou wilt repent, or persist in thy sin, and so do accordingly. 6 And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb.

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And Moses took the tabernacle, (probably the tent in which he inquired of God, and sat in judgment) and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation, or meeting, because here God met Moses, and here the people came to seek direction in difficult cases. And it came to pass, [that] every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which [was] without the camp; which, though it was a mark of God's displeasure, yet gave them hope that he would be found of them that sought him, though he did not dwell in the midst of them. 8 And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, to intercede with God for the people, [that] all the people rose up, and stood every man [at] his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle, acknowledging themselves unworthy to approach nearer.

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And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood [at] the door of the tabernacle, and [the LORD] talked with Moses out of the cloudy 10 pillar, which was a sign of favour, (Psa. xcix. 7.) And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand [at] the tabernacle door : and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man [in] his tent door, adoring the divine majesty, and adding their earn11 est intercessions to those of Moses. And the LORD spake unto Moses, out of the shining cloud, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend, audibly, distinctly, with great kindness and condescension: which showed his approbation of Moses. And he turned again into the camp; but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle, but waited there before the Lord.

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And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, who this angel is that I am to expect; and thou hast withdrawn thy special presence. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in 13 my sight, I have a special and particular regard for thee. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, what course thou meanest to take with us, that I may know thee, how good thou art, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation [is] thy 14 people, thine by covenant, and under thy special care. And he,

that is, God, graciously heard and answered him, and said, My presence shall go [with thee,] and I will give thee rest from thy present perplexity, and will in due time bring thy people to VOL. I. Tt

15 their resting place. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not [with me,] if thou dost not grant us this favour, carry 16 us not up hence, here let us remain. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? [Is it] not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that [are] upon the face of the earth; we shall be distinguished by thy 17 peculiar kindness, and the privileges vouchsafed to us. And

the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken for thou hast found grace in my sight, and 1 know thee by name, know thee above all men; thou art my particular favourite and friend.

18 And he said, If it be so, and I have found such favour in thy 19 sight, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness, which is my peculiar glory, to pašs before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy: I will manifest my sovereign love and mercy to these people, notwithstanding 20 their provocations and idolatry. And he said, Thou canst not see my face, the majesty and glory attending that external shape I have now assumed: for there shall no man see me, and live. 21 And the LORD said, Behold, [there is] a place by me, and 22 thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, which will limit thy view of my glory; and I will cover thee with my hand while I pass by, that thou mayest not be 23 overwhelmed by it. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, as much as thou canst bear: but my face shall not be seen.

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REFLECTIONS.

'HE deepest humility becomes us, when we have lost the sense of God's presence, and the hopes of his favour; when we have fallen into sin, and are grown careless and negligent; this is a time for lamentation; it becomes us to bewail this deeply, and to repent most heartily, for woe unto us, if God depart from us.

2. We learn hence, that God maintains a certain decorum in dealing with his creatures, which he will not, and, as a wise and holy being, he cannot violate; v. 3. I will not go up in the midst of thee, for thou art a stiffnecked people; lest I consume thee in the way. He is obliged to animadvert on the transgressions of his people, and not pardon sin by a mere arbitrary act, but in a manner that

* This is a revocation of the sentence, v. 3.

+ Perhaps there was some glorious appearance within the cloud, that Moses wished to see, still farther to increase his veneration, devotion, and love.

shall express his displeasure, and through Moses the mediator. Thus he removed his tabernacle, and the like. The atonement of Christ stands on the same foundation as this: the same view is carried on, through all the divine dispensations. God does things in such an honourable way, as may give his creatures the highest opinion of his purity and holiness, that they may not think light of sin, or of pardoning mercy.

3. It is desirable, wherever we go, to carry along with us the tokens of the divine presence, especially when entering on new settlements in life: our language should be that of Moses, v. 15. If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence. The wilderness was an uncomfortable situation; and to have stayed there would have been very unpleasant; yet he had rather stay there, with God's presence, than remove without it. God does not manifest himself so now; but still he has ways of manifesting himself to his church and people. There is a special presence of God with good men ; and that may be known, as his presence formerly was, by its signs and operations, in preparing and assisting men to holy actions, conforming them to holy habits, and affording them strong consolations. It is, in one word, a lively sense of religion upon the soul, promoted and maintained by the Spirit of God. Let us earnestly seek this; take pains to secure it, by attending on religious ordinances, praying for the Spirit, and the like. Let us begin every day, and every action, with these words of Moses, Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us ; and establish thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

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4. The more we know of God the greater will be our desire to know more of him so Moses says, v. 18. I beseech thee, show me thy glory. We shall see such excellencies and beauties in him, and find such comfort and advantage to ourselves, that our desires will be fervent to know more of God, and feel more of his love. Let us labour after this, for then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord.

5. The goodness of God is the most illustrious part of the glory of the divine majesty: it renders all his other attributes amiable, lovely, and desirable. Let us consider it in this view, as a foundation of hope, as a ground of admiration and cheerful confidence. We are taught what is the glory of his rational creatures; to be good, and to do good. Benevolence renders us like God; generosity, kindness, and charity, are the greastest glory of a moral agent, better than wealth, honour, or any other accomplishment. Let us then be merciful, as our Father in heaven is merciful.

6. When we have the brightest discoveries of God's presence and glory here below, let us long for those more perfect views of it, which are to be expected when mortality shall be laid aside, v. 20. Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me,

and live. We cannot rest satisfied with what we see and taste here below; we should indeed be thankful for it, but be desirous of something better. God could easily overpower us with his glory; but we are earthen vessels, and he proportions his communications to our capacities. But when mortality shall be swallowed up of life, the people of God shall be so strengthened, as to take in the brightest beams of his presence; and that, which would now overwhelm them, shall be an immortal source of life and vigour. We shall see Christ, not through the cloud, as Moses did, but as he is. With God is the fountain of life; in his light we shall see eternal light. Let us long for that glorious day; and so improve our present discoveries, that we may be made meet for an inheritance among the saints in light, to behold God's face in righteousness, and to be satisfied with his likeness.

CHAP. XXXIV.

Contains further proof of God's kindness to Israel. Moses returns to the mount; beholds the glory of God; intercedes for the people; the covenant is renewed; directions are given about the nature and manner of worship; and Moses returns to the people with a splendid countenance,

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ND the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: (God did this before, but norv Moses is commanded to do it :) and I will write upon [these] tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou 2 brakest. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and persent thyself there to me in 3 the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount, 4 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.

5 And the LORD descended in the cloud; that is, the cloud which stood over the mountain came down and covered it, and Moses entered into it; and the Lord stood with him there, 6 and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed his name with an audible, distinct voice, The LORD, The LORD God, the self existent almighty Jehovah, merciful in pitying his people's afflictions and miseries, and gracious in showing favour to the unworthy, longsuffering, bearing long with their provocations, and abundant in goodness and truth, whose bounty is large, extensive, and

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constant, and so is his truth and fidelity to all his promises; 7 Keeping mercy for thousands of generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, all kinds and degrees of sin, and that will by no means clear [the guilty,] but awfully and severely punish them; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth [generation;] particularly the sin of idolatry, as forbidden in the second commandment, the fatal effects of which will extend to their children, if they continue to walk in their father's steps.

And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped; being greatly affected, he prostrated himself before God, with humble reverence and holy joy; and seized this happy, favourable moment, to intercede for this sin9 ful people. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us; for it [is] a stiffnecked people, and need thine awful presence to rule them; or, though they be a stiffnecked people, yet show them compassion; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

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And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, terrible things in thy sight, and especially in the sight of thine enemies, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation and all the people among which thou [art] shall see the work of the LORD; for it [is] a terrible thing that I will do with thee, 11 that is, by thy hand. Observe thou that which I command thee this day behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the 12 Hivite, and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou

make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither 13 thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves, where they worship their images, which were 14 often impure and polluted places: For thou shalt worship no other god for the LORD, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a 15 jealous God, and will endure no rival or competitor: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, forsake the Lord, and cleave unto idols, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and [one] call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; and so partake with him in idolatrous worship, because such feasts were a part of the 16 worship offered to the idol; (1 Cor. x. 20.) And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, in marriage, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a 17 whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods, nor any other kind of idol,

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