sacrifice one kid of the goats, for a sin offering." Coming, as it did, at the close of the harvest, "when they had eaten and were full," it was highly probable, that like the sons of Job, “in the days of their feasting"" they might have sinned in their hearts ;" and, therefore, God mercifully provided the remedy, which at the former and less joyous festival was not required. The hint suggested by it, will not be lost upon the reflecting Christian in the days of his prosperity; more especially if he be a member of that church which teaches her children to pray, "In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us!"

There is something very affecting to the Christian in thus tracing, not only all his mercies, but every portion of all his mercies, to a Father's hand; that they begin, continue, and end in God; that He who gives him wisdom to sow, and patience to wait, and strength to reap, gives him also the joy, and comfort, and nourishment that flow in the ordinary course of things from these employments. At the end of the christian course, the believer will probably look back with something of the same feelings as the Israelite at the close of his harvest. He will remember the day when he entered by God's grace upon the holy and happy occupations of a christian life, when the seed was sown. He will recollect

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the joy with which he presented "the first fruits" of his heart, the first accents of praise and gratitude, to the Almighty; a thank-offering for the great, the abounding mercies, which then, for the first time, lay spread before his eyes in all the spiritual blessings, to a rich participation in which, through the merits of his Redeemer, he had been so lately awakened by the divine power of the Holy Ghost. And now, when the grain is grown, and when the harvest is finished, when he is able to say with the apostle, "The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day," he still can only again offer his "first fruits" unto God, the same at the close of harvest, as at the beginning of the seed-time, and say, Thanks be unto Him, who is the Author and Finisher of my faith, by whom alone I was enabled to sow, and through whom alone I am permitted to reap. His present more complete and triumphant thanksgiving may differ, indeed, as much from his former offering, as the two fine wheaten loaves at the end of the harvest, from the handful of grain at the beginning; but they will

* 2 Tim. iv. 6-8.

still be equally inadequate to express all that he feels, and all that he hopes to feel, of grateful love to God in Christ Jesus throughout eternity.

EXPOSITION LX.

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CHAP. Xxiii. 21, 22.

21. And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

While speaking of the passover in a preceding section, we were reminded of the fact of our Saviour's death taking place upon the day on which the paschal lamb was offered, and his resurrection occurring upon the day of the waving the first fruits of the corn before the Lord. Another great event was appointed by the Almighty to honour the feast to which the scripture we have read refers. For we are informed in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that" when the day of Pentecost was fully come,

they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." How peculiarly appropriate, that this solemn and yet joyous feast, which commemorated the delivery of the Law, and the in-coming of the harvest, should at the very hour of its abrogation be thus honoured, by what was in fact the sealing of the apostles' commission, the delivery of the Gospel, and the in-coming of their great and glorious harvest. For mark the first fruits which it witnessed. "The same day, there were added unto them about three thousand souls!" How was the delivery of the law, for ever overshadowed by the far more splendid manifestations of divine wisdom and love in the proclamation of the Gospel! How were the two wheaten loaves that were offered to God, under the old dispensation, for ever eclipsed by the three thousand souls that were on that day presented to Him under the new, as cleansed by the blood of his Son, and made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light!

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22. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt leave them unto the and to the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

poor,

This single verse comes in with striking and affecting propriety, at the close of the directions for celebrating what might be termed the Jewish "harvest-home."

They were forbidden to make any gleaning of their fields, or to rake up any of the loose ears of corn which the reaper had left, that something might always remain for the poor and the stranger. This was not merely enjoined on the score of charity, but knowing the hardness of men's hearts, it was absolutely bound upon them by the Almighty on the score of duty; and the solemn reason thus added, "I am the Lord your God." As if Jehovah had said, the whole of your harvest, every blade of corn that you cut, every ear that you gather, comes entirely from my bounty, and I therefore order you to reserve the little that escapes the mower, for the poor and the stranger. For many centuries, in our own happy country, this merciful privilege of the poor, although certainly not binding upon us, was still almost universally vouchsafed to them. The increase of machinery-and must we not