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dutifully upon th e assistance of His wise and ju st providence.— South. v. 2. Aaron said unto them . Let us learn th e lesson th a t lovers of God must set themselves sometimes dead against th e ru sh of popular feeling. There are tim es when silence or compliance is sin.— Exp. Holy Scrip. v. 3. B rak e off golden earrings. Men will pay any price to g et w h at they w ant in religion.— J. A. Davis. v. 4. H e received them a t th e ir hand. Aaron seems to keep in the rear. Like all cowards he though t th a t he was lessening his gu ilt by thu s keeping in th e background.—Maclaren. These be th y gods. Some men p refer to preach w hat is palpable ra th e r th a n w hat is profitable.— F a rr. He who offers God a second place offers Him no place.— Ruskin. v. 6 . They rose up early, an d offered offerings. I am sorry to see how sipall a piece of religion will make a cloak. —W aller. B rough t peace offerings. Obedience to God is th e first element of peace.— Sewell. S at down to e a t and to drink, an d ro se up to play. Those who had least expectation of Moses’ re tu rn sat down to e a t and drink and rose up to play. Those in la tte r days who are w ithou t th e blessed hope (T itus 2 :1 3 ) are m erely playing a t religion.— Bennett. This has all been repeated on C hristian grounds, th e rit ualistic religious worship appealing to th e senses filled w ith dishonoring coun terfeits. The invention of th e religious n atu re under Satanic control is nothing bu t idolatry. Be su re th a t th a t religion cannot be rig h t th a t a man is th e worse for having.— Penn. F o r th e n atu re of th e “play” see verses 18, 19, 25, where we learn th a t it included singing and dancing in to tal or p artial nakedness.— Dummelow. v. 7. Thy people have corrupted themselves. The cloaks of sin may p artly cover th e ugliness here, b u t they a r e tran sp a ren t to God’s eyes, and much
worship which is said to be directed to Him is in H is sigh t ran k idolatry.— Sel. Religion is the best arm or b u t the w orst cloak;— Bunyan. God will put up w ith a g rea t many things in the hum an h eart, b u t th ere is one thing th a t He will not p u t up w ith— second place,— Ruskin. v. 8 . They have tu rn ed aside. When we read how some professed Christian has gone wrong, it simply means th a t a hum an arm is broken. The man has forsaken th e everlasting arm s and ven tu red him self upon self-support.— Cuy- ler. v. 9. A stiffnecked people. This common m etaphor is tak en from a stubborn ox th a t refuses to subm it to th e yoke.— Sel. Mules and hum an jack asses are— proverbially stubborn.—- ■H aliburton. If men were stubborn ju st in proportion as they were righ t, stub bornness would ta k e h er seat among th e virtues, h u t men are generally stiffnecked in proportion as they are igno ran t and wrong.— Shaw. v. 11. Moses besought th e Lord. For th e believer th e re is an Advocate w ith th e F ath e r, whose p rop itiato ry sacrifice -never loses efficacy. 1 John 2:1-2. Moses pleads a covenant, b u t Christ points to a sacrifice. John 17:4.— Sco field Bible. In a sp irit of noble gen erosity Moses effaces h im self'an d in te r cedes w ith all his soul fo r th e people. He does no t minimize th e ir sin (v. 31) b u t w ith holy boldness pleads th a t they are God’s own people, th a t th e ir de stru ction would be m isunderstood by the Egyptians, and th a t it would make the prom ises to Abraham of no effect. — Dummelow. W h at in terest we have in th e th rone of grace we should improve fo r th e Church of God and for our friends.— Henry. v. 18. The noise of them . Much of th e world’s religion is b u t noise in God’s ears.— Bennett.
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