The Pulpit Commentaries
Exodus 13:1-16
EXPOSITION
SANCTIFICATION OF THE FIRSTBORN. In connection with the deliverance from death of the Israelite first-born by the blood of the lamb, and still further to fix the remembrance of the historical facts in the mind of the nation, Moses was commissioned to declare all the firstborn of Israel for all future time, and all the firstborn of their domesticated animals "holy to the Lord." There was, perhaps, already in the minds of men a feeling that peculiar dignity attached to the first-born in each family; and this feeling was now strengthened by the assignment to them of a sacred character. God claimed them, and also the first-born of beasts, as His own. The clean beasts became his by sacrifice; but the unclean ones could not he similarly treated, and therefore had to be "redeemed" (Exodus 13:13) by the sacrifice of clean animals in their place. The first-born of men became at the first institution of the new ordinance God's ministers; but as this system was not intended to continue, it was announced that they too would have to be "redeemed" (Exodus 13:13, Exodus 13:15). The exact mode of redeeming them was left to be settled afterwards, and will be found in Numbers 3:40-4; Numbers 18:16.
On the true grammatical nexus of this verse, see note on Exodus 12:51. The injunctions of Exodus 12:2, and probably those of 3-15—were given to Moses on the very day of the setting-forth, most likely, at Succoth in the evening.
Sanctify unto me. Not by any positive ceremony, but by regarding it as "set apart unto the Lord" (Exodus 13:12)—made over to him, that is, as his own. All the first-born. The Hebrew word used is masculine, and by its proper force limits the command to the first-born males, who alone had been in danger from the tenth plague. Whatever openeth the womb. This clause added definiteness, showing that "first-born" did not contain any reference to any later Birth, and that it applied to every case where a woman's first child was a male. It is mine. Or, "it shall be mine." I claim it.
And Moses said. Without relating the directions given to Moses any further, the author passes to the directions given by him. He thus, here and elsewhere, avoids unnecessary repetition. Remember this day. The injunction came with great force at the close of the first day's journey, when the good-will of the Egyptians had been shown, and the people had been helped and speeded on their way, and felt that they were actually quitting the house of their bondage, and setting out for Canaan. By strength of hand the Lord brought you out—i.e.; "by His powerful protection has God brought you on your way thus far." Therefore, "Remember this day, and remember that nothing leavened is to be eaten on it" (see Exodus 12:15-2).
In the month Abib. The name of the month had not been previously mentioned. Some have derived it from the Egyptian Epiphi. As, however, ab means "greenness" in Hebrew, and abib "green ears of corn," while ibba meant "fruit" in Chaldee (Daniel 4:12, Daniel 4:14), and abbon means "green herbs" in Arabic, there is no need of a foreign derivation for the word. The month of "greenness," or of "green ears of corn," would be both appropriate and intelligible.
The land of the Canaanites, etc. Compare Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17. The six nations of these passages are reduced here to five by the omission of the Perizzites, one of the less important tribes. Which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. See Genesis 15:18; Genesis 24:7; and compare the comment on Exodus 6:8. That thou shalt keep this service. This injunction had been already given (Exodus 12:25) almost in the same words; but on the former occasion it was delivered to the elders only; now it is laid upon the whole people.
Seven days. Compare Exodus 12:15. In the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. The feast lasted during the whole of the seven days, but the first day and the last were to be kept especially holy. (See Exodus 12:16; Le Exodus 23:6-2.)
Here again the injunctions are mere repetitious of commands already given in Exodus 12:1. (See Exodus 12:15 and Exodus 12:19.) Repetition was no doubt had recourse to in order to deepen the impression.
And thou shalt shew thy son. Repeated from Exodus 12:26, Exodus 12:27.
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes. There can be no doubt that the Jewish system of tephillin, or "phylacteries," grew mainly out of this passage, and was intended as a fulfilment of the commands contained in it. The tephillin were strips of parchment with passages of Scripture written upon them and deposited in small boxes, which were fastened by a strap either to the left arm, or across the forehead. The modern Jews argue that they were what Moses here intended, and that their employment began from this time. Some Christian commentators agree with them. But the great majority argue, from supposed probability and from the entire absence of any reference to the actual wearing of tephillin in the Old Testament, that the custom must be, comparatively speaking, a modern one. It is generally supposed to have originated, with other superstitious practices, in the time of the Babylonish captivity. Those who take this view regard the words of Moses in the present passage as merely metaphorical, and compare them with Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 6:21; Proverbs 7:3. Kalisch, however, observes with reason, that if the injunction to write passages of the Law on the door-posts of their houses (Deuteronomy 6:9; Deuteronomy 11:20) was intended to be understood literally, and was literally carried out (Isaiah 57:8), the commands with respect to tephillin, which are coupled with them (Deuteronomy 6:8; Deuteronomy 11:18) must have been similarly intended. And probability, which is said to be against the Mosaic origin of tephillin, may perhaps rather be urged in its favour. The Egyptian practice Of wearing as amulets "forms of words written on folds of papyrus tightly rolled up and sewn in linen" is well attested. Would it not be in harmony with the general character of his legislation, that Moses should adopt and regulate the custom, employing it to do honour to the Law and keep it in remembrance, without perhaps purging it wholly from superstitious ideas? Moses allowed the Israelites in many things "for the hardness of their hearts," content if he could introduce some improvement without insisting at once on an impracticable perfection. That the law of the Lord may be in thy month. The Israelites are instructed from the first, that the tephillin are to be a means to an end; and that the end is to be the retention of God's law in their recollection—" in their mouth," and therefore in their heart, since "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
This ordinance. The ordinance of unleavened bread. See Exodus 12:14, Exodus 12:24.
Set apart. The expression is especially appropriate to the case of first-born animals, which would have to be separated off from the rest of the flock, or of the herd, and "put aside" for Jehovah, so as not to be mixed up and confounded with the other lambs, kids, and calves. The males shall be the Lord's. This limitation, implied in Exodus 13:2, is here brought prominently into notice.
Every firstling of an ass. The ass was the sole beast of burthen taken by the Israelites out of Egypt. (See Exodus 20:17.) Neither the horse nor the camel was among their possessions in the wilderness. This is agreeable to the Egyptian monuments, by which the camel appears to have been rare in Egypt at this time, and the horse as yet mainly used for war and by the nobles in their chariots. With a lamb. A lamb or a kid. The word used is the generic one. (See the comment on Exodus 12:3.) If thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck. This enactment was evidently made to prevent a refusal to redeem. It would not require to be put in force, since by refusing under such a penalty a man would suffer pecuniary loss. All the first-born of men among thy children. Rather "among thy sons." Shalt thou redeem. Later on, the amount of the redemption money was fixed at five shekels of the sanctuary for each. (Numbers 3:47.)
When thy son asketh thee. Compare Exodus 12:26, and the comment ad loc.
When Pharaoh would hardly let us go. Bather, "when Pharaoh hardened himself against letting us go." At his last interview with Moses, Pharaoh had absolutely refused to let them go with their cattle (Exodus 10:24-2), and Moses had absolutely refused to go without them. I sacrifice all that openeth the womb, being males. And being clean animals. The common sense of the reader or hearer, is expected to supply the restriction. Of my children. Rather, as in Exodus 13:13, "of my sons."
A sign … frontlets. See the comment on Exodus 13:9. It is the custom among the Jews to write this entire passage—Exodus 13:1—on two of the four strips of parchment contained in the tephillin. The others have inscribed on them Deuteronomy 6:4, and Deuteronomy 11:13-5.
HOMILETICS
The Dedication and Redemption of the First-born.
In commemoration of the great mercy whereby their first-born sons were spared, when all those of the Egyptians were slain, God required the Israelites to do two things:—
(1) To dedicate all their first-born sons, not only of the existing but of all future generations, to himself; and,
(2) to redeem them, or buy them back for the purposes of secular life, by a money payment. It is analogous to this—
I. THAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS ARE REQUIRED TO DEDICATE, NOT THEIR FIRST-BORN SONS ONLY, BUT ALL THEIR CHILDREN, TO GOD IN BAPTISM. All have deserved death. All have been in danger of it. All have been spared by the mercy of God, on account of the atoning blood of Christ. All therefore are to be dedicated by their parents to God's service—brought to the font, and presented to him to be his faithful soldiers and servants until their life's end. All are to receive a species of consecration, whereby they become "priests to God" (Revelation 1:6), and may have boldness to approach him without the intervention of a human mediator. But all are not to be ministers. The ministry is for such as have a special call, which cannot be known in infancy, or indeed until persons are well advanced towards manhood.
II. THAT CHRISTIAN PARENTS HAVE, AFTER DEDICATING THEM, TO TAKE THEIR CHILDREN BACK, AS IT WERE, TO SECULAR LIFE. Hannah gave her son up to God from the time that she weaned him, took him to the Temple, and left him with the priests. Christians cannot do this. Though some of their sons may ultimately have a call to the ministry, this will not be the case with all, and they must act as if it would not be the case with any. They must take their children back to their houses, give them a secular education, and prepare them in most instances for secular life. But they have not to buy them back. This arises from the difference between the two dedications, the one having been a dedication to the ministry and the other not. Christians do not need to retract the dedication of their children by any subsequent act. They may and should maintain it. Laymen may lead lives as truly sanctified as clergymen. They may serve God as well, though in a different way. They may be, and should be "holy to the Lord." Who would not desire his children to be such?
The rightful use of Church ordinances.
Church ordinances are
(1) Commemorative;
(2) Disciplinary;
(3) Channels of supernatural grace.
The benefits derivable from them depend mainly upon their rightful use. We learn from the instructions hero given to the Israelites by Moses, that their rightful use consists especially—
I. IN THE REGULAR KEEPING OF THEM. "Thou shalt keep this ordinance in his season from year to year." Spasmodic observance, enthusiastic and frequent at one time, perfunctory and infrequent at another, ten times this year, once the next, will bring no blessing, conduct to no good result. Each ordinance has its own time or times—baptism and confirmation once in a lifetime—the Holy Communion weekly, if opportunity offers; if not, monthly; or, at the least, thrice a year—attendance at public worship, each Sunday, twice—fasting, on Fridays and in Lent—commemoration of chief festivals, once a year—and so on. Fitness has in every ease been considered, and set times appointed at proper intervals. Let the rule of the Church be regularly followed, let there be no needless variation, no will-worship, no caprice, and the greatest benefit may be confidently anticipated. But following one's own fancy in the matter, now observing rules, now breaking them, making ourselves in fact a law to ourselves, is a course that will assuredly obtain no blessing upon it. "Thou shalt keep each ordinance in his season."
II. IN THE STRICT KEEPING OF THEM. "There shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy quarters." Lukewarmness, double-mindedness, half-and-half measures, are everywhere condemned in Scripture. "If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, then follow him." "Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." If the ordinances of the Church are worth following at all, they are worth following strictly. If the Church says—"Put away gaiety and amusement during this or that season," then all gaiety and amusement should be put away—none should be seen "in all our quarters." If she appoints two services, or (as some understand it) three for Sundays, then men should not limit their attendance to one. If she urges frequent communions, they should attend frequently, and not be content with the minimum of three times in the year.
III. IN THE KEEPING OF SUCH OF THEM AS ARE COMMEMORATIVE WITH REMEMBRANCE. "Remember this day, in the which ye came out from Egypt"—"the Lord slew all the first-born—therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix." A large part of the ritual of every church is commemorative. Sunday is a commemoration. The Friday fast, enjoined by the Church of England and others, is a commemoration. Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide, Ascension Day, are commemorations. And the Holy Communion is in part commemorative. To observe, in a certain sense, these days and seasons and ordinances, without giving serious thought to the historical events with which they are connected, and out of which they have arisen, is to lose half the benefit which their observance was intended to secure to us. It is scarcely, perhaps, to be supposed that any one could receive the Holy Communion without some thought of the death of Christ upon the Cross; but it must greatly conduce to the rite having its due and full operation on our minds and hearts, that we should vividly present to ourselves on the occasion a mental picture of the agonies suffered for us, that we should dwell in thought upon the whole scene of the trial and the crucifixion, and seek to realise its particulars. We cannot have too deeply impressed upon us the recollection of the day on which, and the means by which, God brought the Church of the first-born out of the spiritual bondage of Egypt, saved them from the destroyer, sanctified them, and made them his "peculiar people."
IV. IN THE CONTINUED KEEPING OF THEM THROUGH TIMES OF PROSPERITY. "When the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, thou shalt keep this service." The discipline of adversity is apt to draw men nearer to God than that of prosperity. Many are very careful and regular attendants on Church ordinances when they are afflicted, or in poor circumstances, or suffering from a bereavement; but, if the world smiles upon them, if they grow rich and respected, if men court and flatter them, they grow careless and irregular in such matters. They think that they cease to have the time for them; but in reality they cease to relish them. "The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches," choke the good seed that was in them, and "they become unfruitful." They forget God, and the marvellous things that he hath done for them. Hence a warning is required. We must not let the "milk and honey" of Canon wean our hearts from God, or make us less zealous in his service, or less constant attendants upon his ordinances. The higher we are lifted up the more we need his grace; the greater attraction that the world offers to us, the more helpful to us are those holy rites and usages, which draw our thoughts away from earthly things, and fix them upon things Divine and heavenly.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
The sanctification of the first-born.
This command has its basis in the fact that on the night when God executed his tremendous judgment against Egypt, the first-born of Israel was spared. Because this great mercy had been shown to Israel, the first-born of man and beast were ever afterwards to be reckoned as specially belonging to Jehovah. The first-born of the generation then living was his by direct purchase; all later first-borns were to be his by grateful dedication. It was required, in addition, that the first-born of man, as well as of unclean beasts, should be "redeemed." This may have been designed to teach that the lives of these later first-borns were as truly forfeited by sin as were those of the original first-born, on the night of the exodus; and that the nearer the relation in which the individual stands to God, the more pressing becomes the need for atonement.
I. REDEMPTION IS BY SUBSTITUTION. This is well illustrated by the law for the redemption of unclean animals (Exodus 13:13; cf. Numbers 18:15). The firstling of an ass, being unclean, could not be offered on the altar. It was, therefore, to be redeemed by the substitution of a lamb. If not thus redeemed, its neck was to be broken. This teaches the further lesson—unredeemed life must die. It was on the same principle that the lamb was substituted for the first-born on the night of the exodus. This law does not specify the mariner of the redemption of the first-born of male children, but it was probably originally by a lamb also. The redemption was subsequently effected by a money-payment of five shekels (Numbers 18:16). This gave prominence to the idea of a ransom, already implied in the use of the word "redeem." The principle of the redemption was still the substitution of life for life, the money-payment pointing back to the lamb or other victim of which it was the price. Jesus has fulfilled the type under both its aspects. He has redeemed us by the substitution of his holy life for our sinful ones (Hebrews 9:26). His life has been given as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6).
II. REDEEMED LIFE BELONGS TO GOD (Exodus 13:1, Exodus 13:12, Exodus 13:15). As all later generations of Israel were represented in that first one, so all later first-borns were represented in those of the night of the exodus. By redeeming them from death, God purchased the firstborn of Israel in a peculiar manner to himself. What held true of the first-born, held true, in-a wider sense, of the nation as a whole, and holds true now of all believers. They are God's, because God has redeemed them. We must not seem to lessen the natural claim which God has upon our service. All souls are God's; and no moral being has a right to use his powers otherwise than for the glory of him who gave them. But in a special manner Jehovah claims redeemed life for himself. "I have redeemed thee, thou art mine" (Isaiah 43:1). "Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:20).
III. THE ANIMAL CREATION SHARES IN MAN'S RUIN AND REDEMPTION. First-born of man and beast.—J.O.
Remember this day.
The exhortation in these verses may very well be applied to Christians. They are to remember the fact add the might of their redemption. They are to commemorate it by observance of appointed ordinances. They are to beware of forgetting it in days of prosperity. They are to show their remembrance of it by a holy walk, and by due instruction of their children.
I. REMEMBER THE FACT AND THE MIGHT OF YOUR REDEMPTION.
1. The fact of it (Exodus 13:3-2). How Jesus has brought you up "out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay" (Psalms 40:1); has redeemed you from the law's curse, from Satan's tyranny, from a condition of wrath, and from spiritual death; has introduced you into the liberty of God's children, and started you on your journey to an everlasting and glorious inheritance. Redemption from the thraldom of Pharaoh sinks into insignificance as compared with this "so great salvation." If Israel was summoned to remember the day on which they came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, much more is it the duty of Christians to remember what great things God has done for them.
2. The might of it. "By strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place" (Exodus 13:3, Exodus 13:9, Exodus 13:14). They were to remember this as enhancing their sense of the greatness of their redemption, and as affording a pledge that God was able to accomplish all else that he had promised (Exodus 13:5). The might expended in the Christian redemption is not less, but greater, than in the exodus from Egypt. It does not detract from its greatness that it is chiefly moral strength—power exerted in overcoming evil, in producing moral effects in the minds and consciences of men, and in making them new creatures in Christ Jesus. Redemption has both its objective and its subjective sides, and in both is displayed the power of God. God's might is seen in the upholding of Christ; in the victories which, while on earth, he was enabled to gain over the powers of evil; in the gigantic triumph of the Cross; and in the spiritual effects produced since, through eighteen centuries, by the preaching of his Gospel; in the regeneration of souls, in the strength given to his servants to do spiritual work, in the victory whereby they overcome the world.
II. BEWARE OF FORGETTING YOUR REDEMPTION IN THE DAYS OF YOUR PROSPERITY, Exodus 13:15. Prosperity has a subtle influence in leading away the heart from God. When men have eaten, and are full (Deuteronomy 8:12-5), they are very apt to grow haughty and self-sufficient. This danger is one to be jealously watched against.
III. SHOW THAT YOU REMEMBER YOUR REDEMPTION BY DOING THE THINGS THAT GOD COMMANDS.
1. By observing his ordinances. The special ordinance here alluded to is the feast of unleavened bread—a sequel to the passover (Exodus 13:3-2). Christians are to observe the Lord's Supper.
2. By a holy life. The observance of the outward ordinance would be valueless if that which it spiritually represented was lost sight of, viz; the need of a walk in "newness of life." We are to "keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:7). To this end has Christ redeemed us, that we may walk in holiness (Romans 6:4; Ephesians 5:25; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:18).
3. By instruction of children. God lays stress on this (Exodus 13:8-2; cf. Deuteronomy 6:6-5; Deuteronomy 11:18-5). It is his chief way of perpetuating a holy seed. The responsibility of instruction rests primarily on the parent. No task should be more delightful to him, or should be discharged more faithfully. If the parent is willing, many opportunities will present themselves. A child's curiosity is ever active. The ordinances of the Church will furnish starting-points for conversation. We have in these verses, and elsewhere in the book, specimens of the instruction that is to be given.—J.O.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
The consecration of the first-born.
I. THE MEANING OF THE TYPE.
1. Man's first-born the type of the first-born of God, in his authority and priestly function among his brethren, and as the object of the father's love and trust.
2. In Egypt's and Israel's first:born we find the two-fold type of Christ and his people. Egypt's die, Israel's are saved. The death of Egypt's first-born bursts the bends of Israel, the death of God's first-born, the bonds of his people.
II. GOD'S DEMAND.
1. His claim upon the saved life: "It is mine."
(1) His right to our service. He has bought us with a great price.
(2) His delight in us. We are a treasure and a joy to him. Because he loved us he gave Christ to die for us.
2. The life which Christ has redeemed is to be set apart for God (Romans 12:1).
(1) With full purpose of heart.
(2) Under the power of Christ's love: "the love of Christ con-straineth us."
(3) With unceasing prayer for the Spirit's indwelling.
How to declare God's salvation.
I. BY THE REMEMBRANCE OF HIS MERCIES.
1. "Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt."
(1) The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of remembrance: "Do this in remembrance of me."
(2) The remembrance of deliverance extends over the Christian's whole life: "unleavened bread is eaten."
2. The celebration of the Passover awoke inquiry among those who had not witnessed God's deeds (Exodus 13:8).—True gratitude, heartfelt thanksgiving, will make the reality of God's love to be felt by those who have not known him.
(1) The place and use of the Lord's Supper in the Christian Church.
(2) The power of love in the Christian life.
(3) Of true praise and worship in the congregation. To make God something to others, he must first be something to ourselves.
II. BY THE DOING OF HIS WILL. The Israelites, in sacrificing or redeeming the first-born, woke again the question, "What is this?" (Exodus 13:14, Exodus 13:15). Our obedience to tile good and holy will of God, our consecration to his service will show the reality of his salvation and awaken in many hearts the question whence this consecration flows and the desire to share it. "Let your light so shine" (Matthew 5:16).—U.
HOMILIES BY G.A. GOODHART
Remember.
Utmost pains taken that the day should be honoured and remembered.
(1) The month in which it occurred became the beginning of months.
(2) A special ordinance as to the first-born pointed back continually to the event celebrated (Exodus 13:11-2).
(3) The annual feast was specially devised to keep it in memory (Exodus 13:14, etc.). Why all this?
I. REASON OF OBSERVANCE. It commemorated:
1. A great judgment. Nine plagues had passed; the members of each successive trial following one another at shorter intervals and with increasing severity. [Illustration, siege of town. Besiegers draw parallels closer and closer, each time sounding summons to surrender. Every summons disregarded; at length word given for the assault.] God laying siege to Egypt, now preparing for the assault (cf. generally Amos 4:1.). "Therefore, prepare to meet thy God" (Exodus 11:4). "I will go out;" the representatives stand aside that the arm of Jehovah may be recognised. Fourteenth of month; midnight. God accompanied by the angel of vengeance. Picture result—palace, dungeon, stables, fields, temples, streets. The judgment was upon Egypt and her gods.
2. A great deliverance.
(1) From death. God the judge is impartial. If Egypt has sinned, so also Israel. Three plagues shared by both, both now threatened by self-same danger. Israel, however, trusting God, may escape by obedience. Lamb chosen four days earlier. Slain that afternoon at sundown. Light of full moon shows blood streaks on lintels and doorposts of houses in Goshen; inside, people prepared for departure, feeding on lamb. Midnight: Is it imagination that rush and quiver of unseen wings? The shadow of the wings of God shelter each blood-stained door, whilst the angel of vengeance passes over, sparing those whom God protects.
(2) From slavery. Wailing throughout Egypt. Midnight message, "Go, get ye gone." At once families gather to standards of their tribes. Soon one great army, harnessed and equipped, laden with spoils of Egypt, the Israelites march forth from the land of their captivity. The time fulfilled to the day (Exodus 12:41), when their hour is come their God is ready.
3. A great exhibition of Divine power. Not a mere judgment or a mere deliverance, but judgment by a personal judge, deliverance by a personal deliverer.
(1) The Egyptians needed to learn who Jehovah was. The Israelites had not done much to make him respected; rather had brought his name into disrepute as the patron of a slavish multitude. Must cause his own name to be hallowed (cf. Ezekiel 36:20).
(2) Israel needed to learn that Jehovah was the deliverer—a God faithful to his promises, yet who could not endure sin. Moses and Aaron his instruments, but the victory due only to his right hand and his holy arm.
II. USE OF THE OBSERVANCE. By communicating the judgment and the deliverance, it was calculated to keep men mindful of the judge and the deliverer, and to prompt respect for his law (Exodus 13:9). Commemorations are an aid to memory, reminding of past events, and recalling associations connected with them. Mere observance as an end in itself, bondage (cf. Galatians 4:9, Galatians 4:10); as a means to an end, helpful and necessary. The Pharisee makes a virtue of observance; the right thing is to draw virtue from it. See what this observance taught:—
1. God is long-suffering, but the day of vengeance comes at length. The help to memory, as to what he had done, was a help to conviction as to what he might do.
2. God will not clear the guilty, yet his mercy doth endure for ever. Even with the help, how often were these truths forgotten; would any have remembered them without it?
Apply. Life, which forms the memory of the future, grows out of memory of the past. A good memory is a help to good living. What helps do you use to prompt memory? The marked bill, the birthday text-book, the diary—all these helpful; above all, the day, the anniversary, if we use it rightly. Commemorations are but sign-posts pointing to that which is commemorated; use them as such, follow out their indications. So, remembering past mercies, faith will be strengthened and hope sustained.—G.