Chapter 21:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Genesis Leviticus
Exodus 21
The following commentary covers Chapters 19 through 23.
The
law and its character of fear, with blessing conditional
on obedience
But having thus terminated
the course of grace, the scene changes entirely. They do
not keep the feast on the mountain, whither God, as He
had promised, had led them—had "brought them,
bearing them, as on eagles' wings, to himself." He
proposes a condition to them: If they obeyed His voice,
they should be His people. The people—instead of
knowing themselves, and saying, "We dare not, though
bound to obey, place ourselves under such a condition,
and risk our blessing, yea, make sure of losing
it"—undertake to do all that the Lord had
spoken. The blessing now took the form of dependence,
like Adam's, on the faithfulness of man as well as of
God. Still farther was it from being, as ours, based on a
fulfilled and accomplished redemption; it was not even
based on an unconditional promise, as in the case of
Abraham [
1]. The people, however, are not
permitted to approach God, who hid Himself in the
darkness. In fact they undertook obedience far from God,
in a state in which they could not approach Him in that
majesty to which obedience was due. Nevertheless God gave
all possible solemnity to the communication of His law,
and sees it good that the people should fear before Him;
but what can fear do towards giving power at a distance
from Him? The feeling may, perhaps, be proper; but it is
not proper to undertake to obey in such a state. Terror,
and the condition of obedience when the people are far
from God—such is the character of the law, a rule
sent out to man, taken in its largest character, when man
cannot approach God, but a barrier is set up, and the
question of righteousness as the way of life raised and
claimed from man when man is a sinner.
Man's work and
order in worship equally prohibited
Moses, when God had spoken
to the people, and the people dared no more to hearken,
drew near to the thick darkness, and received the
instructions of God for the people—moral and general
instructions—relating to their possession of the
land, in case they should enter upon it according to the
covenant of the law. Two things are pointed out as to
worship—the work of man, and his order, in which his
nakedness will certainly be made manifest; and they are
equally and together prohibited by God.
Christ's
devotedness, love, and service "for ever"
We have (as we may observe
by the way) a beautiful type (chap. 21) of the
devotedness of Christ to the church and to His Father,
and His love to us. Having served already faithfully His
full service as man, during His lifetime, He would remain
a servant even in death for the sake of the Father, the
church, and His people. He made Himself a servant for
ever. (Compare John 13 for the present time, and Luke 12
even for glory).
[1] It is important for us to see that our standing before
God does not rest on promise, but on accomplished
redemption. All that concerned that and the basis of our
assurance of faith is accomplished promise. Glory is in
hope.
Chapter 21:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Genesis Leviticus
This version of Darby's Synopsis of the Old Testament is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1995 by L. Hodgett. Used by permission. The files of the Synopsis found on this site may not be reproduced without permission from L. J. L. Hodgett, Stem Publishing. A special thanks to L. J. L. Hodgett and Stem Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Darby's Synopsis of the Old Testament.
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
